Janyl

Hate subtitles? Janyl will make you long for them. I was drawn to the theater by the idea of a multicultural Kyrgyz theater, but what I got was far from epic. Three musicians, four performers, and an American translator, basically ululating and dancing wildly before a slideshow of places in some foreign country. I couldn't understand the plot, nor why there were some actors in traditional clothing and others wearing silk suits. It seemed anachronistic, antagonistic, and pointless to me, and it bothers me that I can summarize this rich oral saga with less than a sentence: strong-willed girl captured; strong-willed girl escapes. Also, the cast kept mentioning something about magic horses that could sing like the wind, but also that their story was entirely true. I'd beg to differ, but if this evening of lackluster performances is something they'd call magical, maybe it's an apt description after all.

Spring Awakening

photo: Monique Carboni

My friend and I risked the scolding looks of strangers by taking her two twelve year old daughters and their schoolfriend to Spring Awakening. Fifteen minutes in, the first question was whispered my way: "When is this supposed to take place, Patrick?" Big thumbs down on the "stupid" on-stage seating. But otherwise, according to the three middleschool gals, it is "a great story" that is "like Rent" and "good for teenagers to see." All three agreed that they liked "the gay guy" (Jonathan B. Wright) and that Jonathan Groff would be cute if he didn't spit so much ("That's SO gross!") At intermission they pronounced the "I can feel your heart beating" lyric "way cheesey". Nonetheless, they had the cast album loaded into their IPods in a matter of days right alongside Fall Out Boy and Blink 182, deciding that "I Don't Do Sadness" and "The Bitch Of Living" were the show's hits, and that the musical is even better than their previous favorites Hairspray and Wicked. Best performance? John Gallagher; even I could agree with that. Critic-approved and tween-tested, Spring Awakening will win the Tony for Best Musical in June. It won't even be close.

Men of Steel

Vampire Cowboy Theater Company isn't about being glamorous or being profound: it's about kicking ass. Their new show, Men of Steel, takes the same approach as Heroes for the first three chapters, using a comic book format of narration (complete with video montages during scene changes), and over-the-top acting to go with over-the-top action. The first segments are uneven, especially the opening fight, but charismatic performances help, like Paco Tolson's super villain, "The Mole." There's also a great stop-motion-animated Lego battle that spoofs the genre, and plenty of in-jokes about the nature of superheroes and vigilantes. The only problem is that Men of Steel's themes have recently been addressed by the comic universes, which threatens to leave this show an entertaining parody alone. Scene 3 the surprise: the tale of an invulnerable retarded man who lets people pay him to beat him up is tragic and elevates the show for a brief moment. And speaking of elevation: the superhero melee in Act 2 has some real chops: not as impressive as Big Time Theater's The Jaded Assassin, but fun all the same.

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Fugue

****
Cherry Lane

"Oh my God, this is so Prince Of Tides!", SNL's Linda Richman once said. Yes, this play about a psychiatrist and his amnesiac patient follows the old formula of the damaged dr./patient healing each other through a series of breakthrough sessions and that's just fine because it works here. Dealing with issues that I knew little about and the fluid way the patient's memories are theatrically presented made this a very interesting and thought provoking play. Most importantly though, Deirdre O'Connell as the amnesiac running from her past is giving an extraordinarily natural, honest, likable performance that is the soul of this production.

Also blogged by: [Aaron]

Our Leading Lady

photo: Joan Marcus

The first act of Charles Busch's new play, in which grand, self-centered actress Laura Keene behaves despicably to her fellow actors as they prepare to perform An American Cousin for President Lincoln, is meant to be a comedy, but it's merely busy rather than funny. The second act, in which Keene undergoes a reality check after Lincoln is assassinated, is more interesting and successful but it doesn't succeed at bringing the play into focus. Does Busch mean this to be a valentine to the theatre and its ability to create truth and illusion? I couldn't be sure. In the title role, Kate Mulgrew works her ass off to sell the first act but sweat is the last thing we want to be aware of watching a comedy that depends on the appearance of effortlessness. She's wonderful in the second act - the play's best scenes are the quiet moments between her and Ann Duquesnay as her attendant and confidante - but it's not enough to shake the feeling that the play's themes are muted and its higher aims unclear.

Magpie

Magpie is something of a cross between the operatic stretches of The Light in the Piazza and (probably) the Latin-inspired themes of In the Heights. I didn't love the former, and I haven't seen the latter, but Magpie is a cute little show that bursts through the small space of The Players Theatre. The latest in a series of shows that seem branded more for a younger audience, Magpie succeeds with the bouncy up-tempo numbers and the story of two young, medicated (but otherwise star-crossed) lovers whose racially divided parents would rather tear them apart. But it's a lot more The Fantasticks than West Side Story, with cheesy numbers set aside for the parents, and lots of developmentally awkward side-songs to establish the auxiliary cast (in this case, a trio of bike messengers with attitude and their thuggish boss). Generally, Magpie is a fun show, but it's limited by technical difficulties in the sound, a predictable (even for musicals) book, and a score that, after a few bouncy beats, succumbs to the same old ballads we've heard a million times before.

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