2013-06-04 Last week in Theatre
All I can say is wow! The week started out with the Broadway revival of Cinderella. Why this is considered a revival is beyond me since it was only done on tv? But what a production it is. Beautifully cast, beautifully designed, and beautifully sung. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are perfect in their roles. And the supporting cast with Ann Harada, Peter Bartlett, Victoria Clark and Harriet Harris were wonderful. Those amazing songs from Rogers and Hammerstein were lovely to hear with a full orchestra. And with a book rewritten by Douglas Carter Beane, that was funny but not mean spirited, the show worked. It should have a long run on Broadway.
That was Weds. night. Thursday night was a completely different story. We traveled to Lincoln Center to see Nikolai and the Others, a play about George Balanchine and his Russian cohorts in America that gave him great support. With a cast led by Michael Cerveris, John Glover, and Blair Brown, I expected this play by renowned playwright Richard Nelson  to be really interesting. I found it to be totally boring. I won't say anything more, because the performers gave it their best, but I was not impressed with the result. It's a shame, because Lincoln Center has had so many wonderful shows in the past couple of years, I found this one to be a real clunker!
On to Friday night and MOTOWN the Musical. I was really looking forward to this one because living in northeast Ohio, I grew up on the Motown sound listening to CKLW, the sound of Detroit. I really liked this show a lot for the music. I didn't think the book was all that good, but the performances of the cast playing all the roles of those Motown groups was impressive. My one problem was the fact that the Diva playing Diana Ross, Valisia LeKae, was missing from the show that night. Disgusting for someone nominated for a Tony missing a performance that close to the Tony Awards. I was not a happy camper. But the music carried me through plus a couple of other performers who I thought were pretty special. I think this show will be around for a long time, like Jersey Boys. It captures a time and place that is very special to the American experience.
Saturday morning, we went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas to see a high definition broadcast of a play "recorded live" at the National Theatre of London. The play was "This House" and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that this was an excellent drama about the trials and tribulations of the House of Parliament during the 70's before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. As usual, the cast of English actors was amazing, great performances and a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours in a movie theatre watching a live telecast of the play.
And to top off the weekend, we went to Town Hall to see Tommy Tune perform his one man show (with two counterparts) and sing and dance and talk about his life in the theatre. He didn't disappoint. His stories were lovely, his dancing impeccable (especially with his two partners), and what a treat to see someone in his seventies still have that charisma and charm that made him a star. He talked about his extraordinary life in the theatre as a performer and a director. It was a masterclass if ever I saw one. And he brought back fond memories that I have of many of his shows from Will Rogers Follies to My One and Only to Grand Hotel to
Nine to A Day in Hollywood, a Night in the Ukraine. He didn't mention the production I saw in Akron, Ohio produced by John Kenley of Kenley Players of Walking Happy that he starred in opposite Joel Grey, moving the musical to the Southwest so Tommy could do one of his famous cowboy boot dances. I loved the show and am glad I had a chance to see it.  But the evening was great, and so was Tommy Tune.
As a sidenote, I saw the Broadway production of Matilda the week before. It was an interesting production, but I really took issue with the sound system. The kids were difficult to understand and the music didn't do much for me. I did appreciate the performance of Bertie Carvel as the headmistress of the school. I think he will probably win the Tony Award this year for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical. He was funny, frightening, and just plain brilliant in the role.