Coram Boy

The reason why Coram Boy works, why it grows beyond shallow melodrama, is because of its grandiose vision. One actor making the squalling of a baby is nothing, but a fleet of them becomes an unsinkable and theatrical armada of talent, and it is hard to go wrong with such overbearing emotion. When leading the entire cast (or the underlying choral score and orchestra), Melly Still makes the theater alive with action, from inspiring cathedral scenes to rich balls (not as nice as those in Coast of Utopia), or to the chaos of late-night wharves or underwater rescues. Scenes that are smaller in scope are hammed up and melodramatic, which only goes to illustrate how much of a musical Coram Boy is, despite not having any songs.

[Read on]
Also blogged by: [Patrick]

The Good Thief

****
Prospect Street Productions


In terms of graphic violence this one man play was right up there with Lieutenant Of Inishmore however not a drop of blood stains the floor. Presented as a sad memory of regret, a mournful thug sips down a bottle of Irish whisky as he recounts the events of a "roughing up" gone terribly wrong. With a straightforward, wistful delivery, imposing and naturalistic actor Kit Wannen elicited sympathy as well as laughter from the packed house I sat among. That's no small task considering this here is a guy you wouldn't want to come across in a dark alley.

The Good Thief

Conor McPherson's The Good Thief is problematic to stage as a play: the one-man show is a passive narrative that works better as a short story, actionless as it is. Tom Wojtunik's direction confuses the work even further by adding two musicians to the cast who, stranded against the wall of the already overwhelming Access Theater space, are a constant reminder of the narration. We aren't ever made a part of McPherson's world, and Kit Wannen's interpretation of the role of this Irish street tough is so dispassionate that there's no charisma compelling us to even listen. Worse still, there doesn't seem to be any real reason for Wannen to tell this story; motivation, as in the story itself, seems but an afterthought. The play is built on understatements (which elicit laughs from only the most desperate of audiences); otherwise, it is a matter-of-fact accounting of past events, few of which are interesting. Toward the end of the play, Wannen finds an emotional hook -- the reckoning -- and at last, we can see where this whole production has been leading. "I felt as though my soul was being bleached," he says at one point (the language itself is always appealing), but it's unfortunate that McPherson's story takes an hour to get the point at which we care.

Fast Food

Emerging Artist's Theatre

This was one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants 24 hour play festivals. Six of us playwrights pulled suggestions out of a bag on Friday at 8pm, wrote all night, submitted our scripts to directors/actors in the morning and crossed our fingers at 7pm as the curtain rose. This is what I got:

Place: Stuck on the N Train on the Manhattan Bridge

Time: 1776

Must appear somewhere in play: "Gooaaaaall!!!!" and "Are you in the next EATFest?"

WTF??? I raced home and began typing and at 4 in the morning I was in a panic. What have I gotten myself into?! Happily, the actors got it and sold my 1776 on the N train play and the audience declared mine and the other 5 sleepless playwrights' plays hits. Totally scary but ultimately a blast- I wanna ride again!

Happy End

photo: Lab Photography

With very limited resources, Theatre Ten Ten has put together an entertaining revival of this two-hour, three-act Weill-Brecht musical. To modern audiences, the story (set in motion when a Salvation Army sister becomes romantically involved with a gangster) feels something like Guys and Dolls in a Major Barbara-like moral universe. This production, using the translation by Michael Feingold, emphasizes the pointed comedy in the material and mostly hits the mark. Unfortunately the first act is acoustically problematic, but the second and third acts - which play predominantly downstage and in the audience, gamely taking advantage of the troupe's church-basement venue - sound and work much better. Lorinda Lisitza has been getting some deserved attention for her portrayal of Hallelujah Lil - her renditions of "Surabaya, Johnny" and "Sailor's Song" are powerful and dramatically intense - but I was equally impressed with Joey Piscopo, who plays Bill Cracker, the gangster she falls for whose "tough exterior conceals a heart of stone." He's got the wise guy deadpan down pat and his song and dance style here reminded me of Jerry Orbach in the original Chicago. No small praise.

Les Miserables

Two good things about my recent visit to a matinee of Les Miserables:

1. If in some alternate universe they could ever come up with a track where the same actress could play Fantine AND Eponine then Lea Salonga would rock the hell out of that. Queen of the damaged, pure of spirit underdogs, Salonga's expressive and heartbreaking delivery is right at home in the role of the shat-upon Fantine and I would sneak in at intermish more than once just to hear her sing Eponine's "On My Own".

2. Doug Kreeger (that guy from Thrill Me!) stepping into the role of Marius had not an ounce of understudy vibe about him- in fact it felt like I was watching an originally cast actor in the role. With a youthful, whispering, intensity Kreeger dominated the second half of Les Miz as the urgently lovesick student (especially during his beautifully sung rendition of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables"). It is quite a tall order to breathe fresh relevant energy into this dusty behemoth melodrama but Kreeger (and Salonga) did just that and made my second visit to the Broadhurst very enjoyable.