The Man In Room 306

photo: Pier Baccaro

In this pedestrian solo one-act, Craig Allen Edwards plays Martin Luther King Jr. om the eve of the civil rights leader's assassination, holed up in his Memphis motel room and plagued by doubts. The portrait of King as written is not especially convincing - there's no trace of the talented strategist we know from movies like Boycott and the play The Conscientious Objector - and the playwrighting is labored: there's a limit to how often we want to sit still for passages that begin with a variation of "I remember when such and such happened". If King's remembrances have been shaped toward a purpose, it's one that attempts to remove the hero's halo and humanize him. But apart from a few stretches about King's relationship with his father, the material isn't intimate enough for the task. Edwards delivers most of the play's lines as if he's playing to a balcony that doesn't exist.

The Second Time Around

The amazing Tyne Daly is appearing through January 30th at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in a cabaret act she has named The Second Time Around (although, interestingly, she does not sing the song of that name). She opens the evening with a cleverly self-referential rewrite of "The Hostess With the Mostes' on the Ball," then presents an unusual and satisfying array of songs, including a lovely a capella mid-13th-century air called "O Waly, Waly"; a poignant medley combining "Sonny Boy" and "Ain't No Sunshine"; a sweet and funny "Adelaide's Lament"; and a wonderful version of "Stardust" in French. Her voice is not the best in the world, but it is pleasing, and her acting, if not the best in the world, is in the top 1% of the top 1% of the top 1%. She seems incapable of doing anything false or phony; even her most potentially cliche moments--a joke about singing flat, a dramatic long pause--lose their "used" feeling because of her honesty, subtlety, and commitment. And her diction is perfect. Daly's soft-spoken patter is charming, and she has the wisdom to surround herself with a top-notch quintet (piano, cello, bass, winds, and drums). My favorite moments were her kick-ass bluesy rendition of "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair" (lyrics by Bessie Smith), with wonderful work by the band, and her medley of three songs from the Jerry Herman musical Dear World. The latter had the feeling almost of an audition, and I hope that some producer or other or the people at Encores! make sure she gets to star in that show--she'd nail it and then some. (By the way, the generally expensive Feinstein's has instituted a limited-availability $40 ticket with no minimum, putting it in reach of a larger audience.)

Beautiful Girls

Marin Mazzie

A revue of songs about women, written by Stephen Sondheim and sung by Marin Mazzie, Donna McKechnie, Jenn Colella, and Zoe Caldwell--what could possibly go wrong? Here's what: Lonnie Price could direct and write the "continuity." Price is a master of schlock, and he did not miss an opportunity to insert a stupid joke or an annoying bit of business. His decision to interrupt a lovely overture of songs from Follies (beautifully played by the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia) with a truly embarrassing bit about three of the performers not knowing when the show started revealed immediately that he was more interested in displaying his (far-from-prodigious) imagination than the genius of Sondheim and the great talent of the performers. His two running gags--age jokes and bitchy competition between women--were not only dated and puerile, but they also were insulting to the intelligence and professionalism of the performers and really tiresome to the audience (not to mention arguably sexist). For the time he devoted to his directorial/writing schtick, there could have been three or four more songs--and we were there for the songs. Luckily, Price's tastelessness was not enough to completely ruin the evening. Any occasion to hear Sondheim's work with a full orchestra is a special occasion--after all, if you pay $135 to see A Little Night Music on Broadway you only get to hear a small band. Many of the performances were wonderful--for example, Donna McKechnie's "I'm Still Here," Jenn Colella's "Anyone Can Whistle," and Zoe Caldwell's "Liaisons." The highlight of the show was anything and everything by Marin Mazzie, from her angry "Not a Day Goes By" to her heartfelt "Every Day a Little Death" to her best-I've-ever-heard "Miller's Son." (An unexpected treat occurred when Mazzie's mike died and her voice rang out, unamplified, clear as a bell, gorgeous. I was sad when they fixed it.) Someone needs to write that woman a show!

The Good Negro (Boston Premiere)

I can't think of too many better ways to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we observe this weekend, than to attend a performance of Tracey Scott Wilson's critically acclaimed The Good Negro. This also happens to be the opening weekend of the play's Boston premiere. It's the first play I've seen in Boston since my time here in the dimly remembered 1980s, but if it's characteristic of the quality of the city's homegrown theater, I have a lot to look forward to during my stay here in 2010. This is a solid production of a very good play, brought to life by an excellent cast. It succeeds in humanizing the civil rights leaders who too often appear in history books as pure angels of perseverance and moral clarity. Read the full review.

Ernest In Love

photo: Carol Rosegg

I wouldn't go so far as to say that this musicalization of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is a lost gem found, but it certainly has its charms. To its credit it's true to the spirit of Wilde's delicious comedy of manners, and its songs are well-placed and musically pleasing. This revival (at Irish Rep) is not ideal - for one thing it's cheap-looking to a distracting degree - but most of the cast is terrific and make the most of the lively, amusing material. I especially liked male leads Noah Racey and Ian Holcomb - the former gets a moment to give his tap shoe leather a workout, and the latter rides a fun line between carnal and dandy. The always-great Beth Fowler has still-lipped fun with the patter song "A Handbag Is Not A Proper Mother".

10. Teaser Cow

Using a teaser cow's artificial vagina to capture prime bull semen may seem like a good idea at the time (well, an efficient idea), but in actuality, it's just a way for everyone to get fucked faster. Clay MacLeod Chapman's collaboration with the Greek-centric company One Year Lease rushes to mash-up Crete and Fast Food Nation, and the result compromises much of what made them good in the first place. When focused on the Minos family--Minos (Gregory Waller), bull-fucking wife Pasiphae (Sarah-Jane Casey), and outcast teenage daughter Ariadne (Christina Bennett Lind)--his monologues work, particularly in relation to the tragic theme: "We treat our meat like family!" (Yes, but how do you treat your family?) But the corporate bits fall flat: though Daedalus (Nick Flint) has mad cow, he shouldn't be singing an explanation of steroidal farming, and Theseus (Danny Bernardy) abruptly shifts from Ariadne's beau to a minotaur "slaying" wage-slave. To get corporate for a moment, what's missing is the synergy: you can't just herd a bunch of talent together and expect something fresh.

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