Passion: Pass It On (TRU Benefit)

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the TRU (Theater Resources Unlimited) benefit. The TRU mission:

TRU was formed to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theatre community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the capacity of producing organizations, individuals producers, self-producing artists and other theater professionals.

TRU achieves its mission through 1) maintenance of a member network of producers and other industry professionals in the New York area; 2) linking members to valuable resources both within and beyond the theatrical community, 3) providing public forums for introducing and sharing information, including specific requests for help and support, 4) publishing a printed and electronic newsletter for services, discount offers and other programs of benefit to the membership, 5) providing educational opportunities (including TRU-sponsored events and competitive scholarships) on industry-related topics and training, and 6) serving as producer for selected events that provide practical opportunities to the membership and other theater professionals.

Cool, huh?

To be honest, I'm usually one of those people who go to benefits for the entertainment. And the entertainment was pretty wonderful: Norm Lewis singing "Summertime"; Nona Hendryx singing "Winds of Change"; and so on. 

But this benefit introduced me to two amazing women, and I am most grateful. I'd been pessimistic and misanthropic since the election, but these dynamic passionate women reminded me that humans can be incredible, and that they/we can work together to achieve beautiful things.

Susan E. Lee received the TRU Humanitarian Award. Lee works to make theatre more accessible and relevant to people of all ages. She advocates for arts in schools and creates opportunities for young people to actually experience theatre. This dry description fails to capture her passion and commitment to theatre. Her speech was charming.

Irene Gandy received the TRU Spirit of the Theater Award. Gandy has been a trail-blazer for decades in her role as publicist (she is the only black woman in the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers with over 100 Broadway productions to her credit), producer, and Drama League Board member. Those are only some of her accomplishments, and again, they can't begin to do her justice. She is a magnificent, larger-than-life woman who to me epitomizes how uniquely wonderful theatre people can be. Her speech was great.

You can meet these women too, on TRU's YouTube page (click here), where you can also view videos on producing, important and fascinating theatre people and groups, marketing, and using theatre as a force for good.

Wendy Caster

Strike Up the Band

Last week, the wonderful MasterVoices presented the Gershwins' Strike Up the Band. In 1927, its book, about a war over cheese tariffs, was written by George F. Kaufman with a pretty satiric point of view. When that failed to sell tickets, Morrie Ryskin did a rewrite where the war was now over chocolate tariffs (and a dream sequence), the book leaned more toward romance and silly comedy, some new songs replaced some old songs, and the show was a hit.  

David Pittu, Victoria Clark, John Ellison Conlee
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

Last week's version featured a book rewritten by Laurence Maslon (NYU arts professor) and Ted Sperling (MasterVoices conductor and director) and songs from both earlier versions. Songs included "The Man I Love" and "I've Got a Crush on You."

Strike Up the Band was a great deal of fun in terms of the book, and flat-out glorious in terms of the music and singing. Both the MasterVoices chorale and the MasterVoices orchestra soared, and the individual singers in the cast were fabulous. Perhaps my favorite part of the whole evening was a clarinet solo in the overture (reminiscent of the one at the start of Rhapsody in Blue) aced by Andrew Sterman.

MasterVoices stalwart Victoria Clark stole the show in a supporting role of a wealthy woman who wants to fix the world. She got one of the biggest laughs of the evening with a line that wasn't actually funny. And, of course, her voice was spectacular. Other impressive performers included Bryce Pinkham, Lissa deGuzman, David Pittu, John Ellison Conlee, and Shereen Ahmed. 

For information on the MasterVoices next shows and access to their new podcast, click here.  

Wendy Caster

Sump'n Like Wings

Lynn Riggs (1899-1954) wrote 30 plays, a few of which were produced on Broadway, along with screenplays and poetry. Nowadays he is known--when he is known at all--for having written Green Grow the Lilacs, which Rodgers and Hammerstein turned into Oklahoma!

A gay man and a Native American, Riggs had a strong sense of "otherness" and how it affected people's lives. He often wrote about Oklahoma, where he was born, in the early 1900s, and he was frank about the ways limited opportunity and frequent violence circumscribed the lives of many people, particularly women.

Joy Avigail Sudduth, Lukey Klein,
Julia Brothers, Mariah Lee
Photo: Maria Baranova 

In Sump'n Like Wings, currently being produced by the invaluable Mint Theatre, Riggs focuses on 16-year-old Willie, whose bitter mother is trying desperately to rein in her daughter's energy, desire, and anger. Willie's mother wants to protect Willie from the dangers of the world--i.e., men--but Willie is far from rein-in-able, and she breaks out of the role life has given her, at great cost.

This important theme is familiar from other Mint productions, including Becomes a Woman, by Betty Smith, and The King of Spain's Daughter, by Teresa Deevy. Unfortunately, Sump'n Like Wings is not at their level. It has one-dimensional characters, awkward dialogue, and weird plotting. On the other hand, it does do an excellent job of depicting the claustrophobia that results from women's legitimate fear of men. In the world of this play, fear of violence--particularly rape--runs women's lives. 

Riggs has little use for straight men. The one decent man in the play is a gentle bachelor who is described in the script as walking "about with quick nervous steps--like a bird," i.e., gay.

This production is not up to The Mint's usual standards. The acting is hampered by the dialect and accents used in the play, e.g.:

OSMENT: Well, she done it! I'm as shore of it as I'm shore of goin to heaven when I die—

CLOVIS: Well, I doan know about you and heaven—

MRS. CLOVIS: Pass me sump'n, fer heaven's sake!

And while, granted, the actors don't have a lot to work with, they rarely rise above the material. 

The overall result is an opportunity to catch a museum piece, but that's about all. I wish the Mint had done Green Grow the Lilacs instead, but perhaps they someday will.

Wendy Caster

Honor

What is honor? That's a particularly relevant question as we head into the election. Is honor reputation? Or is it something between a person and herself? What value does honor have? Do most people care about honor?

Dictionaries define honor as being the same as reputation (e.g., "high respect; great esteem," "good name") and as being more about ethics (e.g., "adherence to what is right," "integrity").* While these definitions are different, they are not mutually exclusive.

Altman, Hamilton, Blaylock
Photo: Marjorie Phillips Elliott

Honor, a one-act written and directed by T.J. Elliott and presented by Knowledge Workings Theater Company, utilizes both definitions, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes separately.

As the show starts, Ludwig Cade (John Blaylock), General Counsel of an unnamed company, and Ronnee Emerson (Alinca Hamilton), Associate General Counsel, are sitting in a conference room, waiting for Don Troy (Ed Altman), former VP and now "R&D Consultant." Don shows up, cheerful and obnoxious and full of himself. Ludwig says that they have two things to discuss, and before he can get any further, Don hijacks the conversation. When Ludwig is finally able to get the meeting back on track, they get to the subject at hand:

Ronnee (to Don): ... you will be very glad to hear that the investigation is concluded. (Consults paper) And we found no support for the accusations that you helped in any bullying of any employee.

Don: (Beat) The accusations against me were false? (Exhales) False accusations. That’s your verdict?

Ludwig: The investigators did not find them to be true.

Don: Which is generally the definition of false....

Ludwig: Unsupported and false are not synonyms…

We gradually learn the details of the situation, although there is disagreement as to their meaning. 

Don and Ronnee debate the meaning of honor at length, both evidencing an unusual (and unconvincing) familiarity with The Iliad and The Odyssey. They also debate the meaning of facts and how the world looks different and is different for White men and Black women (Ronnee is Black). Ludwig is more pragmatic and not interested in theoretical conversations.

Altman, Hamilton, Blaylock
Photo: Marjorie Phillips Elliott

This is a good set-up, with a lot of potential, and I'd say that this production achieves maybe 60% of that potential. First, the play itself needs to be better focused. While Don's many tangents are sometimes interesting and always help define his character, there are too many of them. Some of the actual useful information gets lost in the noise. I would also wish that the set-up be streamlined and that the rest of the play take its time a little more. 

The direction could also be better focused, as could the acting. The physical expression of the acting is sometimes neglected and sometimes just wrong. In particular, Ronnee is too casual in her physicality and her speech. Being a Black woman and a corporate lawyer generally requires a tremendous amount of care and some formality, along with a high emotional cost. 

While Don's speech and movement can certainly be justified, I would have found the play more compelling if he weren't so committed to being obnoxious. We are told that he is very popular, but we see little reason why. Ludwig feels like a third wheel and a bit generic. Also, Elliott has given Ludwig stomach problems; they might reflect character, but they come across as the playwright trying to get the character out of the room.

The strengths of the play lie in its situation, its embrace of ambiguity, and its recognition that people are, well, people. Complicated, self-focused, messy. As Ronnee says:

When did I realize that Martha Wilton was doing things for her own advantage? I realized it the same moment I realize that in everyone. The second they open their mouth. Everyone is always doing things for their own advantage.

And the way Hamilton says these lines reflects a strength of the play: not cynical, just real.

Wendy Caster

*Definitions from https://www.google.com/search?q=honor+def and https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honor.

American Classical Orchestra 40th Anniversary Concert

The American Classical Orchestra (ACO), described by its founder/conductor as "our labor of love," utilizes period instruments to better produce classical pieces as the composers composed them. Their 40th Anniversary Concert included Mozart's Andante in C Major for Flute & Orchestra, with Sandra Miller as soloist. Miller is a founder of and principal flute for the ACO, and she was wonderful on the wooden period flute she used. 

Sandra Miller

The program also included Mozart's Andante from Serenade, K. 388, played by the woodwinds section, again with period instruments. I don't have the musical vocabulary to discuss in detail period instruments vs modern ones, but I do know that they are harder to play--and particularly harder to play loud enough to be heard in a good-sized auditorium. The piece was completely audible, present, and beautiful. I'm sure the superb acoustics of Alice Tully Hall enhanced the performance.

Thomas Crawford

The program ended with Beethoven's 7th Symphony, on which ACO did an okay job. The experience may have been injured by Crawford's prefatory remarks, which included snippets of the piece with explanations of how they were written and why they were notable. The remarks were interesting in themselves, but acted as spoilers. In addition, the performance lacked oomph. 

Wendy Caster

In Search of Elaina

Annette is winning at life. She has just negotiated a major promotion; her boyfriend Charles is attractive, considerate, and wealthy; their major life challenge is whether to stay in the Upper West Side or move to Greenwich Village. Then Annette receives a text: her high school boyfriend has been killed in a car accident. Her earlier life, which she has happily abandoned, comes flooding back. 

Garrett Richmond,  Aimée Fortier

Photo:  Al Foote III

Annette decides not to go to the memorial, in California, ostensibly because she'd have trouble getting back to New York in time for work on Monday. But Charles talks her into going back and then talks her into his coming along. He tells her, "I’d just like to see where you’re from." She answers, "I'm from here now!"

After a cross-country plane ride, followed by driving a long, snaking road up the side of a mountain, they are in the world of Annette's childhood: rural, poor, lacking resources and opportunity, battered by drug addiction. Annette's old friends greet her with differing levels of enthusiasm; she hasn't been in touch in ten years. And, to Charles's astonishment, they call her "Annie Rae."

Rachel Griesinger, Aimée Fortier

Photo:  Al Foote III

To describe what follows--culture clashes, drunken confidences, old wounds reopened, secrets revealed--sounds cliché, but in Kara Ayn Napolitano's exceptional new play, In Search of Elaina, everything is new, real, and earned. The play is well-served by excellent direction, by Joy Donze, and vivid, convincing acting. As Annette/ Annie Rae, Aimée Fortier moves seamlessly from being a sophisticated professional in her early 30s to a confused, yearning teenager and back again. The rest of the cast is also excellent: Greg Carere, Jamie Effros, Alexandra Gellner, Rachel Griesinger, Garrett Richmond, and Lee Tyler. It is a first-class production of a first-class play. 

(For tickets, click here.)

Wendy Caster

Attorney-Client

One is not supposed to focus so much on trees that you miss the forest, right? I get that. But what if they're really big, ugly, focus-grabbing trees?

I suspect that Client-Attorney, Alex Ladd's drama at Theater for the New City, is a solid, thoughtful play with a careful structure and something important to say. But I don't know for sure because the same repetitive, abrasive, and unpleasant music is played during every scene change. And there are a lot of scene changes. The music neither enhances nor complements the show. It does, however, interrupt the play's rhythms and knock the audience out of the world of the play and the characters. By the end of the show, I was sticking my fingers in my ears each time a scene ended. If I had been able to quietly consider what had just occurred before each scene change, this review would be much more useful. As it is, the deeply annoying music/tree made it impossible for me to fully appreciate the play/forest. 

The basic set-up of the play is that two young men, one White and rich (Joss Gyorkos), the other Black and poor (Lovell Adams-Gray), are arrested for a hit-and-run car accident in which a young woman is injured. The White man's father gets him the best defense that money can buy, with the attorney also played by Adams-Gray. The Black man ends up with a public defender (also played by Gyorkos), who does what he can to help him but is limited by a lack of resources and the built-in inequities of the justice system. The young men are pressured to behave in the ways their lawyers think best, which have little to do with who the young men are, what they want, and whether or not they are guilty. 

All of this is, of course, underlined and misshapen by systemic racism. This theme is more referred to than developed. That the white guy is rich and the black guy poor stacks the deck. And the constant costume changes (accompanied by that damn music), don't allow the impact of the show to build as it might. While switching off the roles might be fun for the actors, I suspect a four-person cast, with a more streamlined presentation, would be better for the play.

Adams-Gray, Gyorkos

Adams-Gray and Gyorkos acquit themselves pretty well, although Gyorkos's accent for the rich white guy is puzzling at best. The direction, by Pat Golden, has strengths and weaknesses. She has helped the actors develop well-differentiated characters, and that is certainly a plus. But she clearly feels a need to avoid a static stage picture, and has the characters--the white guy in particular--get up and walk around for no reason other than to have someone moving on stage. But the writing is sufficiently interesting to keep the audience's attention all by itself.

Please remember to take this review with a huge grain of salt. The music was so off-putting to me that I just couldn't give the show my full concentration. If the creators promised to remove the music, or replace it with much better, more varied music, I would actually like to give the play a second chance.

Wendy Caster 

The Ask

There's a little gem playing at the Wild Project through September 28th. One set, 80 minutes, with terrific and compassionate writing (Matthew Freeman), directing (Jessi D. Hill), and acting (Colleen Litchfield and Tony-nominated Betsy Aidem, both of whom were in Leopoldstadt on Broadway).

Aidem, Litchfield
Photo: Kent Meister

Tanner (the vivid and canny Litchfield), a nonbinary person who uses "they/their" pronouns, is a fund-raiser with the ACLU (where playwright Freeman worked for years) and they have come to the home of Greta (the compelling and wry Aidem), a long-time generous donor.

Greta wants to be heard, seriously heard. She feels abandoned by the ACLU on a personal and political level. She argues that the ACLU is suffering from mission creep by expanding the issues the organization addresses. In addition, as a liberal, second-generation feminist in a world of changing beliefs, customs, language, and even gender, she feels marginalized. She used to be the cool one.

Tanner  has to treat Greta with kid gloves, but they also want to be honest and not to disrespect their own being and beliefs. It's a tightrope for sure!

What makes this piece way better than it might have been is that Freeman doesn't fall into the simple equation of "rich oblivious person bad/hip nonbinary person good." Greta has legitimate points to make, and Freeman lets her make them. Tanner has legitimate points to make as well, and Freeman and Lichtfield let them make their arguments (and mostly keep their integrity), while trying to entice Greta to quintuple her donation. The debate/dance is fascinating and full of texture; I'm still thinking about it days later.

Aidem, Litchfield
Photo: Kent Meister

In the small space of the handsome set (designed by Craig Napoliello), Greta feels free to pace and wander. Tanner, a guest in Greta's house and in the less-powerful position, never leaves their chair. Greta sometimes feels like a predator stalking her prey, though she would never see herself that way. Greta wants to get her way, and also to be approved, liked, and sympathized with.  (In a funny/horrible moment, Greta asks nonbinary, nonwealthy, working-for-a-living Tanner if they have any idea how it feels to be marginalized.) Aidem manages to make Greta a genuinely sympathetic and even likeable character while never diminishing her vivid faults. It's a great performance.

As Tanner, Litchfield has perfected the meaningful squirm and the eloquent gesture. She gives an amazingly physical performance, brilliantly done. We can feel who Tanner is.

(It's worth taking a moment to point out that this fabulous female character and equally fabulous nonbinary character were written by a male playwright. Good writers can indeed write across gender, race, age, etc. In fact, it's what good writing is.)

If this show were on Broadway, both performers would be nominated for Tonys--and it would cost hundreds of dollars to see them. But at the Wild Project, they can be seen in an intimate space for a reasonable ticket price. It's excellent theatre; it's a bargain.

Wendy Caster

Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His Legacy (Book Review)

On one hand, there could never be too many books about Stephen Sondheim. On the other hand, each book should be able to justify its existence through untold stories (are there any?), a new point of view, or access to previously un-interviewed people. 

Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His Legacy, by Stephen M. Silverman, justifies its existence in a number of ways. It's thorough (though not quite complete, since Here We Are opened too late to be included, except in passing). It is a large and handsome book, with dozens of photos, many of them in color. It includes a bibliography, source notes, and index, and is all in all a classy book. And yet.

It's just not that good a book. 

Silverman is frequently inaccurate. For example, he writes that Mandy Patinkin won a Tony as Best Actor in a Musical for Evita, when he actually won for Best Featured Actor.

Here's another example, about Night Music: 

A musical duel, set in waltz time, between Fredrik and the Count, "In Praise of Women," takes place before an actual duel with firearms. Said duel leads to young wife Anne running off with Henrik, Fredrik's sexually frustrated seminary student son.

Well, no. The duel takes place after Anne and Henrik run off. In fact, the only reason Fredrik agrees to the duel (Russian roulette, actually) is that he is in shock from losing his wife and son and not thinking straight.

The quote above can also be used as an example of another weakness of the book: an oddness in presenting information. Why specify that "In Praise of Women" is in waltz time when the whole show is in waltz time or variations thereof? Isn't that the more salient point?

And some of Silverman's conclusions are just bizarre. Here is an example:

It was said, just as it later was of Sondheim, that Babbit's "difficult music" required repeated listening before it could be appreciated, even comprehended.* [Asterisk in original]

[The footnote:] *Which might explain the line in Merrily We Roll Along, when the producer tells the crestfallen theatre hopefuls, "It's not a tune you can hum."

Why attach that line to Babbit when it was completely and 100% about Sondheim and his work--and is based on, at least to some extent, Sondheim's experiences getting his foot in Broadway's door?

Here's another example of the klutziness of the writing:

"One of the things I couldn't care less about is posterity," said Stephen Sondheim. "If you can't enjoy life while still alive, what is the point?"

As usual, he gave the statement a quick second thought.

"However, while I'm still alive, I'd like my shows to be done as much as possible.

That's not a second thought! That's more of the first thought!

And, and this is a big and, Silverman tells the famous story about Ethel Merman, Loretta Young, and the swear jar, and makes it not funny. (I guess, in its own way, that's an impressive accomplishment.) Sondheim tells the story here.

Am I picking nits? Yes. But there are an awful lot of nits in this book. Here are some more:

• Pacific Overtures: [The song being referenced is] "Next," of which it could be said that it is to Tokyo what Company's "Another Hundred People" is to New York City. 

• Merrily: The theme of the 1934 play and the 1981 musical and, presumably, the 2040 movie is that ambition trumps friendship. 

• In keeping with the narrative structure of Merrily We Roll Along--which is told in chronological order but backward--this book's account of Sondheim's musical begins in the the future, with what will be [the movie's] 2040 premiere ... 

• Pacific Overtures: The placid "Pretty Lady" is sung by three foreign sailors positioning themselves to take unfair advantage of an innocent Japanese woman. 

• Sweeney: [Mrs. Lovett's] business success is short-lived, however, when Mrs. Lovett herself ends up in the oven at the hands of Sweeney, who disposes of her for having kept secret that the insane beggar woman on the street is, in fact, Barker's wife. After this horrible moment, the apprentice, Toby, slits Barker's throat out of an act of love for Mrs. Lovett. 

• Pacific Overtures: "Chrysanthemum Tea, like A Little Night Music's "A Weekend in the Country," advances the action, but this time with lyrics delivered by a shogun's mother as she slowly poisons her son.

 Completist Sondheim fans may want to own Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His Legacy. It does cover Sondheim's whole life, and nearly all his work. It does allow a trip down "Memories-of-Sondheim Lane." If only it were better.

Wendy Caster

Suffs

First, how cool is it that Suffs exists, and that it's so good, and that it's been recognized and rewarded? And how sad is it that the show is still timely? But things are changing. The night it became clear that Kamala Harris would be the democratic nominee for president, the audience chatted "Kamala, Kamala, Kamala" as the show started. The cast had to freeze to wait for the audience to wind down, and how moved they must have been! History honoring history. (You can watch a video here.)

Shaina Taub's book, music, and lyrics have been compared to those of Hamilton, and the show has even been called "Hamilton for women." Ignoring the fact that Hamilton is Hamilton for women, and that Suffs is Suffs for women and men, there are certain similarities. Both are excellent shows. They share a more-or-less-historically-accurate depiction of a scrappy, outspoken protagonist; the humanization of people from the past; some nontraditional casting; and occasional similarities between songs. 

But Suffs is its own, unique, excellent show. It is full of joy, comraderie, warmth, and humor. It also depicts the mistreatment suffered by suffs both in jail and on the street--and it acknowledges just how long it took for suffrage to be achieved. 

(And who kept women from having suffrage in the first place? Those ostensible heroes of Hamilton!)

It seems to me that there is something missing from Suffs, some song or scene or something that would unify the show and bring it home. But while it's not perfect, its quality is undeniable, and the festive feel in the audience--full of women and girls when I saw it--is inspiring and moving. The cast is wonderful, and the all-female orchestra is fabulous.

I tip my hat to Shaina Taub for her talent and her heart and also for her ability to make this show happen! To get it to Broadway! 

Suffs depicts history and it makes history. It's a hell of an accomplishment.

Wendy Caster

Illinoise

A lovely, if somewhat overlong, dance revue about humans telling stories and being oh-so-human, Illinoise is based on the beautiful songs of Sufjan Stevens and an original story by choreographer Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury. The singers, musicians, and dancers are nearly all wonderful, and watching the show often feels like being bathed in warm bath of emotion. 

The content of the various episodes is not always clear. The billboard/screen that is part of the scenery is wasted most of the time; it could  be announcing the names of the various songs/stories. Parts of the show take place on the stage floor and cannot be seen clearly by much of the audience. As a result, the people in one row must move their heads to see past the people in front of them, and then the people in back of them must move their heads, and then the people in back of them must move their heads, and so on. From row G, seat 13, it felt like I was part of klutzy choreography that blocked and distracted from the actual dancing on stage.

However, whatever its weaknesses, Illinoise is a unique theatrical experience that is well worth seeing.

Wendy Caster

The Transport Group: Follies in Concert:

The Transport Group's Follies in Concert had all the makings of a magical evening, but for many of us, the magic was intermittent at best. For a fascinating, multifaceted discussion of the evening, I suggest that you read this All That Chat thread, here. Beside the many incisive comments in the thread, it is also vivid proof that nothing is objectively good or bad, no matter what some critics would have us think. 

I don't want to harp on the many negatives (okay, one: the oboe player was seriously out of his depth), so here are some positives:

• A lovely "In Buddy's Eyes" by the incomparable Christine Ebersole
• Alexander Gemignani's thoughtful, moving version of "The Road You Didn't Take."
• "The Right Girl," forcefully sung and danced by the wonderful Michael Berresse
• The gorgeous "One More Kiss," performed by Harolyn Blackwell and Midaela Bennett
• The delicate "Losing My Mind" by Kate Baldwin

As you can see, it's not that long a list of highlights. I think the main problem was that, while some people (see above) were performing Follies, others were performing songs from Follies, with little attention paid to where the characters were at that point or what they were thinking. Christine Ebersole was Sally, Alexander Gemignani was Ben, and so on. Many of the others did irrelevant interpretations, or flat-out shtick, without bringing anything new or interesting to the table.

Jennifer Holliday is an exception. She was not being Carlotta from Follies but she was being a survivor with a convincing, compelling take on "I'm Still Here." I'm not a fan of hers, but she did bring something new and interesting to the table.

Despite the disappointment, I still thank Transport Group for making it happen, and with accessible ticket prices!

Wendy Caster

Breaking the Story

Second Stage's Breaking the Story (closing today) has a lot of goals for its 85 minutes: depict the PTSD of a war journalist, discuss the meaning and ethics of journalism, show a woman trying to turn away from what she wants most, and explore the effect on her family of the journalist's constant absences and seeming attraction to danger. It succeeds to some extent with all of these goals, but the play has a certain hollowness. The characters are bundles of traits that don't quite cohere, so it is hard to be totally invested in their lives and stories. 

It doesn't help that Time Stands Still, written by Donald Margulies and starring Laura Linney, covers similar territory and is so much better. I have a more emotional response to Time Stands Still 14 years after seeing it than I had at any point during Breaking the Story. I don't think it's completely fair to judge a play in the light of a previous work, but sometimes you just can't help it.

Wendy Caster

Tony Awards Show 2024: A Very Satisfying Event

Well, this is an opinion piece, so I should perhaps make the subtitle "A Very Satisfying Event for Me." A quick glance around the web reveals that I was not in the majority. 

I do, of course, mark my satisfaction on a curve. Before the show even started, I accepted that (1) it would be at least a partial ego-a-thon; (2) Ariana DeBose would be annoying; (3) the Tony people would not give a full spotlight to many winners, delegating lifetime achievement and various other awards to an earlier show before the show-show. Jack O'Brien, George C. Wolfe, Billy Porter, and Best Book should not be treated as second class! None of the awards should, of course, but Lifetime Achievement? That's huge!

I would usually add that I accepted that there would be horrible non-witty repartee, but I'm glad to say that it was much less of an issue than in the past. And, although DeBose's opening number was truly terrible, her screen time was kept to a minimum.

As for the ego-a-thon moments: I agree that many of the winners are as wonderful as they think they are. And theatre does save lives--or if not lives, hearts and sanity. (A friend and I texted about what it would have meant for us to see the Illinoise number when we were closeted teens!) But the back-and-forth-and-sideways adoration of each other and themselves at the awards, as though they are curing cancer rather than acting, can really be a bit much!

So, stipulating that certain negatives come with the territory, I am able to focus on the positives--and there were so many!

Many of the numbers came off really well. I am now considering seeing Illinoise, The Outsiders, and Water for Elephants, and I hadn't been. The number from Merrily seemed insufficient to represent the show, but I can't think of how one could represent that show in less than two hours. Also, having stars such as Alicia Keys--and, years ago, Carol King--in numbers for shows that they do not appear in seems a little dishonest to me. (Oh, and if I ever had any interest in seeing the current version of Cabaret, the number on the Tonys nipped it in the bud.)

The winners were great choices. Not everyone I wanted won--I wish Leslie Odom, Jr., had won for Best Actor in a play, for example--but there were no outright miscarriages of justice (eg, like not awarding Tonya Pinkins for Caroline, or Change!)

I loved that people mostly got to talk for as long as they wanted to--even the people who really did go on too long. It takes decades of work and sacrifice to get to that podium; let them have their moments (or minutes, as it turned out).

I was glad Maria Friedman lost. I have nothing against the woman, but she has received way too much credit for reviving Merrily in the "bringing back from the dead" sense. The main credit must go to Jonathan Groff, who didn't find the heart in Merrily so much as he brought the heart to Merrily. (And as for those who say that Merrily was a masterpiece back in the 1980s, well, no. The score was mostly fabulous, of course, but the show was truly unpleasant and, uh, lousy.)

What fun that Shaina Taub and Danya Taymor won! And Jonathan Tunick! And, in particular, Kara Young. What an incredible talent she is, and I hope she gets cast in at least one show every year from now on--and that they're shows I can afford to see. I was sad that Kelli O'Hara lost and that her one Tony so far is for her least interesting performance in her least interesting show--Anna in The King and I. But, good for Maleah Joi Moon!

I think an important point that is generally ignored in giving awards--and in hiring people for shows and for regular jobs--is that there is rarely, if ever, one best. Look at the incredible nominees this year. Jessica Lange beating Sarah Paulson would hardly have been an injustice. Groff may be truly and really one of the rare actual "best bests," but Brian D'Arcy James was also extraordinary. Broadway is magical because the most talented people on earth want to be here, so why wouldn't each category have more than one possible winner? We are blessed in this city!

One little churlish nitpick: Winners often say, "Never give up!" as though perseverance is sufficient for success. Yes, they never gave up, but they were also incredibly talented and incredibly lucky. I'm glad they want to inspire people, but their comments are almost mathematically equivalent to a lottery winner saying, "Never give up!" The odds are bad. 

But, in 20 years, a winner will be telling us how hearing that "Never give up" speech changed their life!

Wishing us all a great Broadway season with accessible prices.

Wendy Caster

How'd We Do? Tony Predictions 2024

 

Seers, we ain’t.

(Categories are in the order the awards were given.)

Here’s how we did:

	Sandra	Liz	Wendy
TOTALS (out of 26)	13	14	12
Book: Shaina Taub, Suffs	P	P	P
Costume Design Play: Dede Ayite, Jaja's African Hair Braiding	P		P
Costume Design, Musical: Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby	P		P
Orchestrations: Jonathan Tunick, Merrily We Roll Along		P	P
Scenic Design, Musical, Tom Scutt, Cabaret
Scenic Design, Play, David Zinn, Stereophonic		P
Choreography: Justin Peck, Illinoise	P	P	P
Lighting Design, Musical: Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim, The Outsiders
Lighting Design, Play: Jane Cox, Appropriate
Sound Design, Play: Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic	P	P	P
Sound Design, Musical: Cody Spencer, The Outsiders
Lead Actor, Play: Jeremy Strong, Enemy of the People	P
Featured Actor, Play: Will Brill, Stereophonic		P
Featured Actress, Play: Kara Young, Purlie Victorious	P	P	P
Director, Play, Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic	P	P	P
Director, Musical, Danya Taymor, The Outsiders
Featured Actor, Musical, Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along	P	P	P
Featured Actress, Musical, Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen		P
Best Original Score, Shaina Taub, Suffs
Revival, Play: Appropriate
Best Play: Stereophonic	P	P	P
Best Revival, Musical: Merrily We Roll Along	P	P	P
Lead Actress, Play, Sarah Paulson, Appropriate	P	P
Lead Actress, Musical: Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Lead Actor, Musical: Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along	P	P	P
Best Musical, The Outsiders