AWAITING REVIEW

Feb 2 West Side Story
At the Palace Theatre, a musical revival directed by Arthur Laurents (who wrote the original book). Reportedly, the Puerto Rican characters speak Spanish.

Feb 26 Blithe Spirit at the Shubert Theatre
A new Broadway revival of Noel Coward's comedy. A man’s second marriage is threatened by the arrival of his first wife’s ghost, called back at a bungled seance. Angela Lansbury plays the medium, Christine Ebersole plays the first wife, and Rupert Everett (in his Broadway debut) plays the husband.

TOP PICK: Billy Elliott

Playing at the Imperial Theatre on W. 45th Street. The dance musical won an enthusiastic review from Ben Brantley of the New York Times:

"Your inner dancer is calling. Its voice, sweet but tough and insistent, pulses in every molecule of the new Broadway musical Billy Elliot, demanding that you wake up sleeping fantasies of slipping on tap or ballet shoes and soaring across a stage. Few people may have the gift of this show’s title character, a coal miner’s son in northern England who discovers he was born to pirouette. But the seductive, smashingly realized premise of Billy Elliot... is that everybody has the urge. And in exploring that urge among the population of a down-at-heels coal town suffering through the Britishminers’ strike of the mid-1980s, this show both artfully anatomizes and brazenly exploits the most fundamental and enduring appeal of musicals themselves.
It’s been more than three years since Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry and featuring a score by Elton John, first sent critics and audiences into a mass swoon in London, where it continues to play. The delay in bringing the show to Broadway hinted at fears that it might not sit comfortably on American soil.Adapted by Lee Hall from his screenplay for the affectionately remembered 2000 movie of the same title (also directed by Mr. Daldry), Billy Elliot is told in thick working-class accents and an argot that, even in London, necessitated putting a glossary in the program. What’s more, the show traffics in a particularly British brand of bitter treacle, wallowing in the glory of the bravely defeated and the pathos of small, trapped lives."

This report came from our good friend Steve Fetter:

"I have seen the musical three times in London and have tickets for Thanksgiving week in NYC -- and this from someone who very rarely sees a show a second time. It counterbalances the gritty life of miners in Northern England with a miner's son who has ballet talent but a hard road having it recognized within his blue-collar existence. Music and lyrics are superb, energizing, moving and touching -- count on tears at least a couple of times -- with British politics thrown in. And as one would expect, the dancing is a treat. My hope is that the language (must have been a couple of hundred four-letter words, because I understand that's how miners speak to each other) and the accents stay true in the Atlantic crossing -- I've read in the NYTimes that that is the intent."

TOP PICK - South Pacific

Left: Lincoln Center Theater cast ensemble.
Lincoln Center Theater's new revival of South Pacific, directed by Bart Sher wowed audiences and garnered seven Tony awards with its loving recreation of the great Rogers and Hammerstein classic.
Harriet sent us her review:

"Well, the revival is terrific, a first-class job in every respect. Comparisons are inevitable--Mary Martin, Enzio Pinza, Juanita Hall, Bill Talbot--but this young, gorgeous, extremely talented cast won my heart right from the start in this musical classic, not seen since 1954. The audience, whether they'd seen the original or not, was charmed and enthralled by the performance. The music is gorgeous. The staging is creative. The themes of apple pie and racism are carefully and artfully developed. You'll be cheering in your seat long before the curtain calls and humming all the way home."

I heard several people say as they left the theater: "I didn't realize what a dark play this is." Perhaps that is because the technicolor movie version sugar-coated the dark themes, but also because Bart Sher has brought forward the aspects that earlier stage and screen productions didn't accentuate. Lieutenant Cable (played by Matthew Morrison) is more of a coward and less like a hero in this version, and Nellie Forbush (the wonderful Kelli O'Hara, who previously starred in The Light in the Piazza and The Pajama Game) does not belt the songs as Mary Martin did in the same role. The stage setting is not lush and tropical, but rather it is a claustrophobic naval base on a tiny island, the temporary resting place for people who would have been brought into improbable proximity by the coincidence of a global war.
NOTE: There have been numerous changes of cast; most notably, Paulo Szot left the cast of South Pacific to fulfill opera engagements from December 2, 2008 - Janaury 25, 2009, and will also be away from March 10 - April 12, 2009. During his absences, David Pittsinger plays the role of Emile de Becque. Matthew Morrison has also been replaced. -- Ellen

MIXED - Sessions

At the Algonquin Theatre on E. 24th Street, you can see an engaging little musical that centers around Dr. Peter Peterson, a New York therapist who learns that he is as much in need of therapy as his patients. The play concerns a therapy group that include a comically bickering couple, the Murphys, the lonely young man who for 15 years has obsessively loved a woman from afar, an abused wife, the real estate tycoon who is unhappy despite his wealth, a brash young woman named sunshine, and a singer who believes himself to be Bob Dylan. And then there is Leila, the seductress who is intent on seducing her therapist, Dr. Peterson. Book, music, and lyrics are by Al Tapper. This musical premiered off-off-Broadway in 2007.
Somewhere between a light musical revue and a full-blown musical, Sessions has an engaging cast, and I genuinely enjoyed many of the musical numbers. However, the plot seemed thin and its psychological insights a bit too pat.
-- ELLEN

PICK - August: Osage County

Estelle Parsons as Violet Weston. Photo by Joan Marcus.
I recently returned to August: Osage County at the Music Box Theatre on West 45th St. to see if the play's magic depended upon its original cast of Chicago actors, or if it still crackles now that virtually the entire cast has changed out. I was happy to find that the new cast is an impressive ensemble and the play continues to send out sparks of energy. Estelle Parsons has taken over the role of the tough, pill-popping Violet Weston from Deanna Dunagan, and she puts her own spin on this juicy role. Amy Morton continues in the cast as the eldest daughter Barbara, and I was even more aware of how central her role is to this busy, jam-packed play. The play won numerous Tony awards last year, including best play.
Upon the disappearance of their alcoholic patriarch, an award winning poet who hasn't published any poetry in decades, the Weston clan gathers at their three-story home in rural Oklahoma to respond to the crisis and help mom, a pill addict with an attitude. The three Weston daughters bring in their significant others and all the attendant baggage. The stage set is huge, an open view into a three-story house that effectively allows the audience to view all the interactions among the family members inside the house and on the doorstep. The play is bursting with activity and emotions; it is a dark and corrosive comedy which violates all of the viewer's sentimental hopes for a silver lining and happy ending. August: Osage County satirizes feel-good family dramas in which a family crisis causes all to pull together and eventually find a hopeful resolution.
The best parallel I can give is that AOC is like "Long Day's Journey Into Night" with constantly shocking humor. The play also brings to mind "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" in mood and in its constant shifts and surprises. It is long - 3 hours plus, with two 10-minute intermissions, but the show never dragged, and it held my attention from start to finish. Compared to most recent plays, the cast is very large. The ensemble acting is superb,with no celebrity stunt casting.
Upon viewing the play for a second time, I was struck by two impressions. First, Tracy Letts is the rare modern male playwright who can write credible and interesting female characters. Second, the opening scene, in which we meet the patriarch Beverly Weston (he is missing for the rest of the play and does not appear again) and he hires the young native American woman Johnna to care for his wife and oversee the household, is probably unnecessary and is to blame for the excessive length of the play. Letts could have cut this scene and tucked one or two bits of exposition in other spots to make the play more concise.
Check for ticket discounts at TKTS, www.broadwaybox.com, and www.theatermania.com.
-- ELLEN

PICK - Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

If you're looking for off-beat entertainment in the East Village on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30 pm, here's an idea: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind at the Kraine Theatre on E. 4th Street.
This review was sent in by Mike, who rates it a PICK:

Too Much Light is an eclectic and innovative format combining the thought-provoking intensity of rehearsed, premeditated theater with the energy and unpredictability of in your face improvisation. The goal of the production is to perform in 60 mintues 30 plays written by the show's six performers. The production is particularly entertaining because of the high level of audience participation and the use of chance. Even before the audience has made it's way to seats in the small theater, the excitement has already begun, each having rolled a die to determine the price of his own ticket. Chance and audience participation continue throughout the show, with the audience choosing the order of the plays by shouting numbers at the top of their lungs, and several plays involve volunteers from the audience, making each performance unique while keeping you on the edge of your seat. And yet, what I found truly impressive about Too Much Light is that the cast manages to deliver a range of plays from melancholy to philosophical to whimscal, despite frantically running around the set to manage the time constraint and relying on dollar-store props and gags. Each week, the performance changes as new plays are added and old ones are removed, so you can enjoy this show again and again without ever again seeing the same thing.
With tickets costing a flat $15 in advance or $11-$16 at the door (depending on your luck), Too Much Light is a great value and an entertaining way to kick off a Friday or Saturday night in the Village. You might even find yourself donating a little extra to this non-profit organization on the way out.

A few years back, when this show was resident in a Brooklyn theater after a long run in Chicago, Jeffrey Lewonczyk reviewed it for www.nytheatre.com

How is it that theatre isn't considered... to be as exciting and immediate as sports? A play and a game are both live, physical events performed in front of an audience that, if all goes right, is intimately embroiled in the fortunes of the players. I suppose an exploration of the issues surrounding this disjoint could fill volumes, but no one can deny that it exists, and that it finds theatre at a noticeable disadvantage. What, the frustrated lover of theatrics wails as he beats his breast and rends his garments, is to be done?
Well, the Neo-Futurists have come up with a pretty good example of how the gap can be narrowed. Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, which has been running in Chicago for 16 years, presents a group of actors who attempt to perform 30 original plays in 60 minutes—an athletic endeavor to be sure, and one which viscerally exploits the connection between performer and spectator for maximum ka-pow...
The randomness-loving interactivity of the evening becomes apparent before the audience is even let into the space, when each attendee must roll a six-sided die to dictate how much admission will set them back... Next, audience members are brusquely asked their names and given name tags that in no way resemble their answers (mine said "Avenue"). Then, after being given a program, or "menu," the games begin.

PICK -The 39 Steps

After a long run in London and a limited run at the Roundabout Theatre, this stage farce based on Hitchcock's film of The 39 Steps has transferred to a commercial Broadway run at the Cort Theatre. The film was a classic spy thriller melodrama; this version is a satire and irreverent imitation and send-up not only of the film, but also of the entire Hitchcock body of films. In brief, this is the story of an innocent man who learns too much about a dangerous spy ring and takes off on the run, suspected of murdering the young woman found dead in his flat. Handcuffed to the woman who believed he was the murderer and turned him in, he is pursued across Scotland, before returning to London to foil the villain’s dastardly plans. On stage, four actors play all the roles, using some pretty clever stage tricks and mime to convey all the characters and famous scenes from the movie, such as the chase on a railroad train, the escape on the Forth Bridge, and the grand finale in the London Palladium.
Caveat 1: You may enjoy this more if you have seen the classic 1935 film, although that is not strictly necessary. I suggest that you rent the film and view it again if you have not seen it in the past 20 years. (Film: The 39 Steps)
Caveat 2: If you don't like Monty Python-style humor and never liked the zany satires of movies and plays done by Carol Burnett or Sid Caesar/Imogene Coca, you probably will think that the gag goes on too long.
Sue Goldman reported "39 Steps is really extraordinarily well done," and I agree.
There are discount tickets available at TKTS and to TDF members. Also check such services as www.broadwaybox.com and www.theatermania.com for discount codes.
-- ELLEN

MIXED- In The Heights

Photo: Cast of In The Heights

We saw In The Heights off Broadway and rated it a PICK when it ran at 37Arts until July 15 of 2007. It is now at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on W. 46.
Regarding the off-Broadway production, Stagestrucknyc said:
"This musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda is drawing an enthusiastic young audience, and its fans return with their friends to see it repeatedly. No wonder, because the show has novel and exciting music, high energy dancing, and some really engaging performers. Nearly everyone has expressed exasperation with the corny story line, which is simplistic but sincere, but the music, dance and high spirit of the whole production make up for it."
Tickets available via http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/