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

Iolanthe

Once again, MasterVoices has provided an evening of charm, joy, and fabulous music. In this case, it was Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, not one of their best, but still great fun. (There are fairies, there are humans, there are misunderstandings, stuff happens.) 

Ashley Fabian
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

The cast was amazing: Christine Ebersole (glorious), David Garrison, Santino Fontana (having a grand time in a supremely silly wig and demonstrating a gorgeous legit voice), Jason Daniely, Ashley Fabian (combining excellent comic chops with truly stunning singing), Phillip Boykin (adorable, with a bass that vibrated Carnegie Hall), Shereen Ahmed, Schyler Vargas, Nicole Eve Goldstein, Kaitlyn LeBaron, Emy Zener, and Tiler Peck.  

Christine Ebersole, Shereen Ahmed
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

And then there are the MasterVoices singers and the MasterVoices Orchestra, doing their usual fine work, led by the incomparable Ted Sperling.

Ted Sperling
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

And, although this performance was a staged reading, it was given an extra dimension by Tracy Christensen's beautiful and clever costumes. Also, the supertitles were clear, informative, and witty.

Santino Fontana, David Garrison
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

As always, reviewing MasterVoices is frustrating, because their one-night performances are always gone by the time I write about them, and I can't urge you to go, go, go. However, I can give you a link to their website so that you can catch the next wonderful show: MasterVoices.

Phillip Boykin
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

Wendy Caster

War Paint

I didn't stay for the second act of War Paint, and it's closing in early November, so I'll make this brief.

• My response to Patti LuPone's first solo: "I wish they had closed captioning."
• My sister's response to Patti LuPone's first solo: "Was she singing in English?"

Patti LuPone
Photo: Joan Marcus
Lyric interpretation: Wendy Caster

• The dancing was lame. 
• They have a lot of nerve having a scene at The Cotton Club with zero black performers.
• LuPone and Christine Ebersole sounded fabulous musically--and Ebersole was frequently even intelligible. 
• A show so completely lacking in plot really needs something else to make it worthwhile. They went for two amazing stars, having all sorts of scenery and costumes, and generally trying to be stylish. It is not enough. 
• I am a big fan of Grey Gardens, also by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie, but this show has little of that show's individuality, character, and humor. 
• I suppose that War Paint's lyrics may be as good as Grey Gardens', but, really, who could tell? (By the way, the chorus was also pretty difficult to understand. And we were in the 7th row, so that wasn't the issue.)
• The show curtain is ugly. It's a huge painting of a woman putting on lipstick. Only her face from the nose down, her neck, and her hands are visible. It's completely out of proportion and the color choices are awful. 
• After I got home, I texted my sister, "Did it get any better?" She texted back, "No!!! But great fun and BAAAAAAAAD." I guess that's something...

Oh, and:

• This isn't the show's fault, but it is part of my experience: Before the show started, the guy behind me was crinkling something. I figured he'd stop when the show started. He didn't. I gave him a look. He said, "I'm trying to make less noise." The crinkling got fainter. I figured he was getting something he needed, and he'd be done. But it kept on. So I turned again and saw that he was taking pieces of candy, one at a time, out of a crinkly bag. I hissed, "Seriously?" He did stop after that. Except...
• After I was gone, the guy started crinkling again during the second act, until my friend turned and mouthed "Stop!" at him. Considerate fella.

Wendy Caster

(7th row, audience left; tdf ticket, around $47)