Some NY show musings...

[danny416]

Posted: 2/23/06 at 1:43am

Made it to NYC this past weekend in the midst of some President's Day Weekend madness (never again...), missed out on seeing Grey Gardens, Bernarda Alba, Avenue Q, and the new cast of Doubt, but made it to 3 shows nonetheless.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS: Ultimately a very entertaining evening that works in spite of some major flaws. Yazbek's score is very underrated and a perfect fit for the source material. I think it's undermined by a book that goes for lowest common denominator humour when it should be aiming for a bit more class and wit. That having been said, the second act book scenes are much, much stronger than the first. Butz is pretty damn amazing, Gregory Jbara and Joanna Gleason are sublime (I do wish that Gleason actually had a character to play, instead of a bunch of good wisecracks), Jonathan Pryce is a bit too regal to pull off the low comedy, but he's quite a presence and has a great singing voice, and it was a pleasure to see Butz break him up on a couple of ocassions. Rachel York was in amazing voice, I just wish she played her scenes with a bit more sincerity. Jack O'Brien's staging was very smooth, I just wish the choerography was a bit less tacky (and the ensemble a bit more distinctive). But a worthwhile evening.

SWEENEY TODD: yeah, it's artsy, pretentious, and the storytelling is very muddled on ocassion. I also wish that it could have been staged, with the same cast, in some abandoned warehouse instead of in a broadway theatre. But it's been a long while since I've been that thrilled and excited by a show. I thought the actors-as-musicians conceit completely worked, as kind of a brilliant once-in-a-lifetime kind of way. Michael Cerveris is way too internalized in the earlier scenes , but his 'Epiphany' was the greatest I've ever seen, superbly acted and sung, and 'Little Priest' was a joy. Patti LuPone was fearless and committed, the ensemble flawless, save for the unintelligible Pirelli of the clearly talented Donna Lynne Champlin. In spite of some very wrongheaded directorial moments, this Sweeney Todd grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. (and that's a really good thing).

SPELLING BEE: What a perfect little gem of a show. I think William Finn's score and James Lapine's direction really haven't been given their due, and the remaining original cast members were responsible for the most beautiful, truthful acting moments in either of the 3 shows I saw. the new Vice Principal is a riot, Josh Gad as Barfee starts off as a decent Dan Fogler facsimille but really comes into his own by the show's end, and the Chip Tolentino understudy was just fine. It's impossible not to be won over by the honesty and sincerity of the piece.