MargoChanning's Best of 2005- Page 3

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 4:29pm

I was about to ask Margo if I could be his apprentice.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 5:18pm

99.9% of the time there really is no reason for me to see a show a second time. My opinion almost never changes. I tend to absorb theatre like a sponge down to the tiniest details, so more often than not I get a bit bored during a second viewing. I saw PIAZZA twice and walked away with the same opinion both times.

However, sometimes shows themselves change over the course of a run -- especially from early previews to post opening, so it's worth returning. I saw SPELLING BEE the the first week of previews at Second Stage and while I loved a lot of it, there were clear book and structural problems (plus some staging issues) which I pointed out in my review. I made a point of returning after the show was frozen and was quite gratified that every problem I saw before had been fixed and the show ran like a dream.

The same thing happened with CAROLINE, OR CHANGE. I saw the 3rd or 4th preview at The Public and posted that I thought that there was a brilliant show in there waiting to emerge, but certain changes needed to happen by opening (and I listed off the problems in detail and suggested a few fixes -- much later I found out that Kushner, Tesori and the creative team actually saw a print out of my post). In fact, a new version of "Lot's Wife" had gone into the show that night -- so new that Pinkins sang it at that performance to a spare piano accompaniment. When I returned a few weeks later, nearly every problem had been fixed and the show had become the masterpiece I had predicted it could become.

I also returned to see SWEENEY a second time. While Doyle had made several cuts and alterations, changed some blocking and clarified some of the staging, my opinion of the overall show was unchanged. Same with DOUBT. I saw the first preview of it at MTC and much later returned to see it on Broadway and my opinion was the same -- a well-acted, well-constructed, well-made play, but hardly the modern masterpiece everyone was claiming it to be.

There were shows like A CHORUS LINE and DREAMGIRLS that are master classes on the art of the musical theatre which I saw repeatedly in order to bask in the joy and accomplishment on that stage. Sometimes I go back to get a second look at a truly great performance (Elaine Stritch, Uta Hagen, Vanessa Redgrave). And there have been very very rare shows like ANGELS IN AMERICA and certain Sondheim shows which are so dense and complex and brilliant that I returned to several times to make sure I had fully appreciated every aspect of the work and was rewarded time after time when I was able to discover new layers of genius.

Unfortunately, only a handful of shows posses that kind of depth and richness and expertise. The vast majority of shows I "get" in a single sitting and I have no interest in seeing them again, whether I thought they were good or bad. Very few shows can hold up to my repeated scrutiny and my opinion of given show will typically lessen with a second, or god forbid, third viewing (I often notice small flaws and inconsistencies I didn't see the first time).

So, more often then not, unless there have been significant changes, I'm much better off NOT seeing a show a second time.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 5:29pm

That sounds like what I would have expected from the master.

I have noticed the more shows I see a similar patern has begun to develop for me although I don't want it to. If I find issues with a show a second viewing just makes it worse. Yet, when I really love something I still find it refreshing to see it multiple times.

I can't watch movies repeatedly for exactly those reasons, but with the stage I feel such an intimate conection to the artists, that, provided I enjoy the show, it gets better with repeat viewings.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 10:22pm

Nice to see special mention of James Yaegashi's performance in Appian Way. I think we're going to see more from this very talented young man in the future.

[nickatnight]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 10:30pm

the night i saw app. way his performance seemed stiff and forced. in fact, to me the only one in that show that really landed their role was ann guilbert (the old lady). great comic timing.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 10:39pm

"It's about time the piano realized it has not written the concerto."

Amen.


Addison De Witt
New York, New York
Updated On: 1/7/06 at 10:39 PM

[dented146]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 1:25am

Absolutely wonderful Margo. I've always enjoyed learning from your insights and can't help being impressed by your passion. I'm a bit surprised that JLY didn't make it on to a rather long list of notable performances. Thank you

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 1:32am

Who?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 8:48am

I'm guessing JLY=John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys), Margo.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 11:34am

Once again, Miz Margo proves to be ten times more erudite and informed than most New York theatre critics. Crazy 'bout the theatre, that gal is.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 11:37am

Margo- You may have already said somewhere else on this board, but what is your favorite musical of all time and favorite actor in a musical?

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 2:07pm

I was suprised to see Gabriel Byrne omitted from your list. I found his performance in Touch of the Poet so deeply affecting.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:26pm

I haven't seen Jersey Boys (I refuse to pay full price for that show -- perhaps if there's substantial discount) or A Touch of the Poet (not a fan of the play). I already see too much theatre as it is and given no one's paying me to do this, I only see what actually interests me. Neither of those shows particularly spark my interest. Now, if someone out there reading this would care to comp me into either of those shows, I'd be happy to write a review of it.

Incidentally, I've received a few PMs asking me how I can afford to see so much and frankly it's not all that expensive if you know what you're doing. I belong to two papering services which allowed me to see about two dozen shows for free. I have memberships to the Public, Lincoln Center, Signature, and Playwrights Horizons, so shows I saw at any of them cost me $25-30 on average (and just $15 for Signature). The Off-Off-Broadway and Fringe shows cost me $15 a piece and the Off-Broadway ones were about $35 on average (discounts are plentiful). I almost NEVER pay full price to see anything (I think the only show I paid full Broadway price for this year was Spamalot -- everything else had a discount at one point or another).

The average actual ticket cost for the shows on my Top Ten was $28 (and just a couple of dollars more for my Honorable Mention List, including one that I saw comped through a papering service).

Bottom line is that the vast majority of GOOD theatre in this city costs a fraction of the $110 Broadway top price.

And Phanty, let me get back to you on that. I'm sure I have an all-time top ten list or two around here somewhere.

Updated On: 1/8/06 at 04:26 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:31pm

No See What I Wanna See?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:31pm

Yes, Mary Testa was on his list for her performance in SWIWS.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 4:32pm

I saw that. But there was no other mention, so I was wondering what his thoughts were on the show as a whole.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:04pm

SWIWS had some gorgeous and clever music and featured some fine performances, but I found the overall experience schematic and distant, more an intellectual exercise than an emotional one and I had difficulty truly connecting with the characters or stories being told. I also thought that it took itself too seriously, lacking in wit and humor and real human warmth (except for Testa). Ultimately, while I found myself admiring it and respecting what it aspired to be, it struck me as too chilly and cerebral to be a truly affecting experience.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 5:15pm

Thanks, Margo.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 6:35pm

I did some searching and found this post about "Top Ten Musicals" from a while ago that I still agree with more or less. I'll see about coming up with a list of performances:


"OK, I'll play, but my list is going to be of just my own personal favorites, not the most "influential," most "important" or some quasi-objective "best" (I've done those lists before and am not in the mood to go down that road again at the moment). This is my own highly subjective "Best" List -- the shows that I enjoyed and admired the most in terms of their book and score and overall construction and were the most thrilling and powerful in performance (I've seen all of these on Broadway, as well as in other professional contexts):

Porgy and Bess
Dreamgirls
A Chorus Line
Gypsy
Sunday In the Park with George
Caroline, or Change
Sweeney Todd
Company
Chicago
Follies (despite its book problems, a brilliant show)

Honorable mentions (some of which could easily be in my top ten):

Pacific Overtures
Guys and Dolls
1776
Show Boat
Candide (various revival versions)
How to Succeed
Threepenny Opera
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A Little Night Music
Urinetown
Carousel
West Side Story (though I've never seen a truly first rate production of it on stage)"

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 7:57pm

A Play Performance List I came up with a while back -- I'm sure I've unintentionally omitted several and I apologize to those performers:

Elizabeth Ashley, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Ashley, Geraldine Page and Amanda Plummer, AGNES OF GOD
Zoe Caldwell, MEDEA
Zoe Caldwell & Jason Robards, A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Vanessa Redgrave, A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT
Vanessa Redgrave, ORPHEUS DESCENDING
Uta Hagen, COLECTED STORIES
Uta Hagen, MRS. KLEIN
Julie Harris, THE BELLE OF AMHERST
Stephen Spinella, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Wright and Kathleen Chalfant, ANGELS IN AMERICA
Kathleen Chalfant, WIT
Rosemary Harris and George Grizzard, A DELCIATE BALANCE
Charles Dutton, THE PIANO LESSON
S. Epatha merkerson, THE PIANO LESSON
s. Epatha Merkerson, F*CKING A
Ian McKellan, AMADEUS
Ian McKellan, ACTING SHKESPEARE
Maggie Smith, LETTICE AND LOVAGE
Alan Bates, FORTUNE'S FOOL
Judi Dench, AMY'S VIEW
Charles Ludlam and Everett Quinton, THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP
Trazana Beverly, FOR COLORED GIRLS
Al Pacino, JJ Johnston and James Hayden, AMERICAN BUFFALO
John Kani and Winston Ntshona, THE ISLAND
James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer, OTHELLO
Christohpher Plummer, KING LEAR
James Earl Jones, FENCES
Tandy and Cronyn, THE GIN GAME
Swoosie Kurtz, John Mahoney and Christine Baranski, THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES
Maureen Stapleton, THE LITTLE FOXES
Harvey Fierstein, TORCH SONG TRILOGY
Stephen Dillane, THE REAL THING
Joe Mantegna, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Lily Tomlin, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
John Malkovich, BURN THIS
Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
Mark Ruffalo, THIS IS OUR YOUTH
Eileen Heckart, THE WAVERLY GALLERY
J. Smith-Cameron, AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN
Janet McTeer, A DOLL'S HOUSE
Bette Bourne, RESIDENT ALIEN
Cherry Jones in THE HEIRESS
Cherry Jones, DOUBT
Brian F. O'Byrne, DOUBT
Brian F. O'Byrne, FROZEN
Adriane Lenox, DOUBT
Jefferson Mays, I AM MY OWN WIFE
Viola Davis, KING HEDLEY II
Keith Nobbs, FOUR
Dallas Roberts, NOCTURNE
Dallas Roberts, A NUMBER
Simon Russell Beale, JUMPERS
Judy Kaye, SOUVENIR
Lois Smith, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL
Julie White, THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED
Kristin Nielsen, MISS WITHERSPOON

Some of the Musical Performances I remember fondly:

Jennifer Holliday, DREAMGIRLS
Jennifer Holliday, SING MAHALIA, SING! (on the road)
Jennifer Holliday, HARLEM SUITE (on the road)
Julia McGirt, DREAMGIRLS
Sharon Brown, DREAMGIRLS
Cleavant Derricks DREAMGIRLS
Loretta Devine, DREAMGIRLS
Raul Julia, NINE
Anita Morris, NINE
Donna McKechnie, A CHORUS LINE
Donna McKechnie, FOLLIES
Ann Miller, FOLLIES
Sammy Williams, A CHORUS LINE
Kelly Bishop, A CHORUS LINE
Ann Reinking, A CHORUS LINE
Ann Reinking, DANCIN'
Angela Lansbury, SWEENEY TODD
George Hearn, SWEENEY TODD
Patti LuPone, EVITA
Lena Horne, LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC
Richard Kiley, MAN OF LA MANCHA
Zero Mostel, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Nell Carter, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Kevin Kline, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
George Rose, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Bernadette Peters, SONG & DANCE
Bernadette Peters, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Mandy Patinkin, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Tyne Daly, GYPSY
Gregory Hines, JELLY'S LAST JAM
Brent Carver, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Chita Rivera, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Donna Murphy, PASSION
Julie Andrews, VICTOR/VICTORIA
Natasha Richardson, CABARET
Nathan Lane, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
Nathan Lane, THE PRODUCERS
Lauren Ward, VIOLET
Michael McElroy, VIOLET
Harvey Fierstein, HAIRSPRAY
Antonia Banderas, NINE
John Cameron Mitchell, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
Hugh Jackman, THE BOY FROM OZ
Mary Testa, FIRST LADY SUITE
Elaine Stritch, AT LIBERTY

Updated On: 2/2/06 at 07:57 PM

[Urban]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 12:47am

This has definately been one of my most enjoyable posts to read. Heck, reading anything you right is enjoyable, but reading it on my birthday is like a little unexpected treat!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 1:00am

Margo, here's to 2006!

I eagerly await each and every one of your reviews!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 1:02am

ps - the laughs following In My Life is a top ten 2005 memory!

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 1:04am

aaaaaaaaand again, never saw any of those performances... but i'm still gonna enjoy the fact i saw a show you didnt



EDIT: WAIT!!!! I SAW HARVEY!!! NEVERMIND!!!

Updated On: 1/9/06 at 01:04 AM

[dented146]

Posted: 1/9/06 at 1:04am

Margo, I would consider it an honor to comp you for Jersey Boys just to hear your honest opinion about the show. How do you do PM?