Punch

Punch completely blew me away, as it did the people I saw it with. A wild, disaffected young man, Jacob, punches another young man, James, for no particular reason. That one punch kills James. James's parents, particularly his mother, become interested in Jacob, who he is, why he did what he did, and who he might become. Astonishingly enough, this is based on a true story.

Sam Robards, Victoria Clark, 
Camila Canó-Flaviá, Will Harrison
Photo: Matthew Murphy

At first, the play, written by James Graham and directed by Adam Penford, practically explodes on stage as Jacob and his friends wreak havoc as a lifestyle. The production is tremendously physical (movement by Leanne Pinder), and Jacob's lostness and stupidity seize the audience. The presentation is so vivid that it's hard not to feel part of all that happens.

Will Harrison
Photo: Michael Murphy

The superb play is supported brilliantly by an excellent cast, led by Will Harrison as Jacob. Harrison is both large and subtle, full of energy and quieted by pain, with an English accent so convincing that many people (myself included) assume that he's from the original cast in London. (The dialect coaches are Ben Furey and Charlotte Fleck.) It is a truly great performance.

The rest of the cast includes Victoria Clark and Sam Robards, both deeply real, as Jacob's parents. The other performers are Camila Canó-Flaviá, Cody Kostro, Piter Marek, and Lucy Taylor, all solid in multiple parts. 

To my surprise, a number of reviewers were lukewarm about Punch, comparing it to an afterschool special. I  think they missed the forest for the trees.

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

Lady in the Dark

What an odd show is Lady in the Dark. Consisting largely of three dream sequences, it lacks forward propulsion and is frequently overdone and/or pointless and/or flabby, particularly in the first act. But it has some gorgeous songs, and the recent MasterVoices version had Victoria Clark in the lead role. She of course nailed the second act's two wonderful numbers, the energetic and funny "Saga of Jennie" and the wistful and lovely "My Ship."

Victoria Clark et al.
Photo: Richard Terminer

The plot, such as it is, is simple: Liza Elliott (Clark), editor of the fashion magazine Allure, is slowly unraveling and doesn't understand why. Her main symptom is her inability to decide between using "the Easter cover" or "the circus cover"; she has lost her certainty at work and in the world. Elliott lives with a married man and is glad of the limitations of the arrangement. She also goes on a few dates with a movie star. And then there is the advertising manager of the magazine, with whom she spars regularly and who seems to get who she really is. But she feels detached and at sea, so she goes into therapy, and her problems are solved in three sessions (if only!) via the dream sequences.

Ted Sperling who directed this Lady in the Dark and who runs MasterVoices, has spoken of wanting to do this show with Clark since they were teenagers. I'm glad for them that their dreams came true. However, the MasterVoices chorus was not well-served, particularly in the large and awkward City Center, where their 100-plus voices were lost amid the murky acoustics. (In contrast, in their most recent show, Night Songs and Love Waltzes, they could be heard loud and clear and were downright thrilling. But that was in Alice Tully Hall, whose acoustics are about a million percent better than City Center's.)

Sperling made at least a couple of other tactical blunders. One was having Clark sing "My Ship" sitting on the floor the stage. He has probably never sat in the balcony of City Center, but I have, so I know how mediocre the sight lines are up there. Even in theatres with good sight lines, many audience members will have trouble seeing someone sitting on the floor! It's a particularly questionable decision considering the importance of the song to the show. Another bad choice was having/allowing David Pittu to play a gay character in a wince-worthily fey performance that would have been cliché/offensive decades ago, let alone in 2019. (On All That Chat, sergius called his performance "gay minstrelsy," which sums it up perfectly.)

I enjoyed "Lady in the Dark" only intermittently. I'm not a huge fan of Ira Gershwin; I hated the choreography; I didn't like the costumes; and I thought the dream sequences were way too long. But many other people loved it, and I suspect this is a classic case of "to each her own."

I look forward to the next time I can actually hear the MasterVoices singers.

Wendy Caster

(1st row, grand tier, press ticket)

Show-Score: 70

Light in the Piazza 10th Anniversary Reunion Concert

Perhaps the single most salient fact about theater is that it is ephemeral, evanescent. Even if you get to see a production 10 times, it eventually closes, and it's gone. Poof. But in some incredibly wonderful cases, a show reappears, even if only for an evening, as with the magical 10th Anniversary Reunion Concert of A Light in the Piazza last night, with virtually the entire original cast.

Did the show and the performers live up to my golden memories of the eight times I saw it?

They were even better.

Bows at Light in the Piazza 10th Anniversary Reunion Concert

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)

He's not really the messiah. His mom is Mandy, not Mary. She's certainly not a virgin. For that matter, neither is he. Well, you know the story.

It's Monty Python's Life of Brian, only now it's an oratorio, called Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy). It's written by Eric Idle with Pythonian flair and composed by John Du Prez in a variety of styles (e.g., pop, Broadway, folk, etc.), all delightfully ear-friendly. Ted Sperling does a fabulous job conducting and directing, using the Collegiate Chorale and Orchestra of St. Luke's to their fullest, as they don hard hats, comment on the action, argue really well, and make a truly joyful noise.

Eric Idle, Victoria Clark, William Ferguson, Laura Worsham
with the Orchestra of St Luke's and the Collegiate Chorale,
conducted by Ted Sperling
Photo: Erin Baiano