Profile for Wallman2

If Kenny Leon is at the top of his game, as he was last year with "TopDog/Underdog", and is matched by Leslie Odom, Jr. (this is first time back on Broadway since he won a Tony for "Hamilton" and Kara Young (who was nominated for a Tony two years in a row) this could be a surprise.  The play was a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize.   If its merit is evident, there's a lack of plays on Broadway in September and October, so it could well find an audience.   

Prayer for the French Republic

Pal Joey 

Purlie Victorious

Merrily We Roll Along

I Can Get It For You Wholesale

Home 

Godot?  again?   

There have been powerhouse casts:  Robin Williams and Steve Martin; Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin; Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart ...now Reeves and Winter?  

Well, it does need minimal scenery.  No doubt Jamie Lloyd will wind up directing it in a very hip interpretation.

 

 

I thought it was an excellent production when I saw it down at the CSC and was looking forward to its transfer.  Parsons has been a big asset to Broadway and I think at long last he would have secured a Tony nomination for his sensitive and compelling performance.  This musical would have been a perfect fit for a Circle in the Square and certainly would have gained this very worthy musical a wider audience than it has ever had.

CAMELOT-- excited to see how Aaron Sorkin has revised the book

SHUCKED- Robert Horne is a very funny writer

SWEENEY TODD-Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban make it a must see in my book

Would like to be more excited about the line-up of plays, though Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht in the play at the Manhttan Theatre Club is a very appealing entry.

 

Danielle Deadwyler, who was so terrific in Till, would be wonderful in this.  

PARADE- late February at the earliest.  Should be an interesting transfer....

When David Merrick presented Shelagh Delaney's acclaimed play "A Taste of Honey," it was claimed that she was the youngest playwright in Broadway history at 21 years old.  That was quite a cast-- Joan Plowright, Angela Lansbury, Nigel Davenport,Billy Dee Williams.  It played for almost a year and Plowright won the Tony Award as Best Actress.

Cooper may be the second youngest but...it's still quite an achievement, even if he is 6 years older.  

Surprised by how much I liked this.  I found it a completely compelling and beautifully designed and directed production.  Audra's performance is heartbreaking and mesmerizing...the play lasts 70 minutes.  My only concern was the interview we heard at the beginning of the show...it must be the playwright but it was a little confusing.   And not sure it was necessary.  But I am recommending this one highly.

Really looking forward to this but orchestra seats are priced at over $200 during the week.  That's very high for a straight play.  Hoping there will be discounts!  

"when it comes to musicals (no closed show has ever won Best Musical or Best Revival)".    I think that statement is incorrect.  Didn't "Hallelujah Baby!" win the Tony for Best Musical way back when and it had been closed for several weeks when the Awards were given out?

"Buffalo" has been a thrilling evening of theatre for me and I think this cast is a knockout.  Rockwell, Fishburne, Criss.  I'm excited.  It's at the top of my list...Mamet's dialogue is sharp and it's one of his best.  Just my two cents.  I've always been a fan of Tracy Letts' plays and I can't wait to see Noah Reid on stage.  He was pretty wonderful in "Schitt's Creek".   And I hear the play is very, very good (funny and powerful) from friends who saw it when it was in previews during the pandemic.   And timely.  Re "Hangmen"-- I do like Martin McDonagh's work, though I'm not really familiar with the cast.  Also have heard good things about it.  But Buffalo and The Minutes have such stellar casts, so I'd go for those two first.  Tracy Letts is also a great actor ("Virginia Woolf" and it's always fun to see Blair Brown and Austin Pendleton.

Pal Joey is the best of the Rodgers and Hart shows and it was ground-breaking in that it was the first Broadway musical to depict an anti-hero at the center of the story.  Though it received a mixed receptionin in its initial production,  when it was revived in 1952 it actually won the NY Drama Critics Circle Awad for Best Musical...I don't think a revival ever won again.  And it's interesting that Jule Styne ("Gypsy," "Funny Girl" produced the 1952 production which was also a "hit".    I am really looiking forward to this revival or revisal, I think that placing this show in a club will in the South Side of Chicago will justify inclusion of additional songs.  They should find room for "Ten Cents a Dance" as well as "Where or When".  Perhaps this will do for "Pal Joey's" score what "Crazy For You" did for "Girl Crazy".  

If the Oscars supposedly are headed to very disappointing ratings, what does that portend for the Tonys being carried on a network as a major event?  

In late August it was announced that the Tonys would happen this fall and the nominations were announced six weeks ago and as of yet there doesn't seem to be a date.  Will the awards happen before 2021 and I guess the real question now is what will be the interest factor?