Pitmen, Scottsboro, Brief Encounter, Lombardi, Elf

[MrJNLong]

Posted: 11/27/10 at 12:24am

So we got furlough'd the couple of days before Thanksgiving, so I thought I would fly out to New York and see some shows...here's what I thought:

PITMEN PAINTERS: I love intellectual plays and so I appreciated this, even though I was struggling to stay awake at times as I had just flown the red eye. It seemed like a bunch of interesting thoughts Lee Hall had and he just used this story as a vehicle to say them. I didn't totally buy into the conflict so it wasn't totally interesting to me, but the acting was solid, and I appreciated the thought that art needs to belong more to the lower classes again...of course that seemed incredibly ironic to me considering I was in a theatre with mostly upper-class people who had spent more than $100 to see the show, but oh well. At least they tried.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: Probably the most disturbing piece of musical theatre I have ever seen. Using the minstrel show format to tell this story was such a bold choice. Most of the time I didn't feel right applauding. What a horrifying story. I really liked that they made that choice and were bold about it. Stroman's work was very very nice and once again the performers were very solid. (SPOILERS AHEAD) I loved the twist with Rosa Parks, didn't see that coming. Also, when they turned around all in blackface, I audibly gasped in horror. What an extremely powerful moment. My friend I was with wondered though, if the irony of the blackface/cakewalk/other minstrel attributes were lost on audiences that didn't have degrees in theatre or american history. So she wasn't sold on the efficacy on the show. I, myself, commend them for making such bold choices to say something important.

BRIEF ENCOUNTER: Although I liked it, I actually didn't love this as much as I had anticipated. The acting was all very good, especially from the two supporting women in the cast. Obviously, it was very creative. It somehow didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked, but I'm glad artists are trying new things and stretching the limitations of live theatre.

LOMBARDI: I actually really enjoyed this show. I thought Lauria and Light were impeccable. They totally brought me into their world. My only complaint is that nothing really exciting was going on and the stakes could have been raised with more conflict, but for some reason, I was still totally enthralled. I think sports and straight Broadway theatre make a good team. Really liked Tommy Kail's direction and the lighting design for this. They took what they had and made it work in a sparse yet interesting way. The 3 football players were all very good as well I thought. One of my favorites.

ELF: After a week of otherwise very thought-provoking, creative, new and "important" theatre, this was definitely different. I felt like I had seen it all before in a splashy Broadway musical. However, with that said, I thought they did a great job with what they set out to do. It was funny, warm and even made me feel bad for not having more Christmas cheer. I've never seen the movie, so for me, Sebastian Arcelus did a great job with the character. He was very endearing. Loved Beth Leavel. Like a lot. I decided during this show that Amy Spanger seems like a disinterested artist. I don't love her. I did think the set design came off as kinda cheap even though I got the idea that it was supposed to be out of a children's book. And there were other times that the professional polish wasn't there (the paper angels 'trick' they didn't seem to even try to make look magical; set decoration fell off the set at one point; a couple chorus dancers were a little too much I thought...either that or the others needed to raise their game) but overall, I commend them for excelling with good, honest family holiday entertainment.

I ended the trip seeing FREUD'S LAST SESSION Off-Broadway and absolutely loved it. What a great idea for a play. I feel like the playwright could have gone further, but the ideas were intriguing and I appreciated how they acknowledged that good, intelligent people can exist in both schools of thought. One does not have to be superior to the other. Especially loved the actor playing Freud. I love thought-provoking theatre, so this was great for me.

Any way, yay for theatre in New York for trying some new things. For the first time, every show I saw this trip I liked. Some (Lombardi, Freud, Scottsboro) I liked more than others (Elf, Pitmen), but it was all solid stuff I thought. Thanks New York.