A Magic Flute

We saw this performance of a minimalist version of Mozart's The Magic Flute.  Titled "A Magic Flute", this version by Peter Brook was stunning: I really enjoyed watching it.  It was adapted for piano and singers, with a minimal bamboo stage set: I could swear that the opening notes echoed the music from Lost (is it possible that it's vice versa?).

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

We saw this energetic, happy musical today!  Act I was so-so at best, but Act II had some great numbers.  I was a bit taken aback that most of the score consisted of non-original music (a lot of Madonna songs) in Act I: but it worked better in Act II.  The cast was clearly into it, and Nick Adams (the character of Adam/Felicia) was a total blast!

Book of Mormon

Wow.  Hard to know exactly what to say about this sometimes profane, always irreverent, profoundly hilarious, and wonderfully written and performed musical.  It had its South Park moments (especially in the Cartman-esque voiceovers that explain the life of Joseph Smith), of course.  And the profanity was extreme enough that it startled me: maybe because when I grew up it would have been unimaginable for such profanity to have been on Broadway.  Overall, though, a fantastic production with a great cast.

La Cage aux Folles

This revival with Kelsey Grammar is entertaining, but doesn't blow you away.  (Although I think I'm getting maudlin' in my old/middle age: some of the songs did move me.)  Kelsey Grammar does a passable job, although he is so well-known as Frazier Crane that it felt like Frazier was playing the part.  The understudy for the Albin role, Chris Hoch, was great, modulo some microphone trouble during his solo at the end of Act One.  Overall, it's good entertainment, but there is probably better stuff on Broadway if you're a connoisseur.

Lend Me a Tenor

We thought we'd see a show, since we're moving out of Manhattan soon, and our anniversary is coming up.  This outstanding farce was hilarious: Tony Shalhoub was just one of the well-known actors in the cast.  The play was directed by Stanley Tucci, too!  Great writing and acting, and just crazy plot twists.

South Pacific

This revival at Lincoln Center (the Vivian Beaumont Theater) was glorious to watch. If you get chance to see this musical, it is well worth it. A lot of memorable songs, and some really great actors with beautiful voices.

The Royal Family

We saw the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of The Royal Family, a parody of the famous Barrymore family. Quite a fun production, with a lot of well-known character actors. They all got to ham it up quite a bit, and there is some sparkling dialogue. We saw the final performance, and the theater was quite full with "theater people". One of our friends saw Tommy Tune, for example.

The Norman Conquests

We saw "Table Manners", the "first" of the three plays in this intertwined trilogy. Hilarious, biting, and a dark commentary on relationships: this was a viciously funny play. It was fun to see Ben Miles (Patrick from the BBC TV show Coupling) in real life!

The Norman Conquests

I read the entire trilogy of plays, The Norman Conquests, by Alan Ayckbourn. (That reminds me of an episode of The Family Guy I saw recently, where the family goes to London and watches an incomprehensible play.) After we saw the first play on Broadway, I decided I wanted to read the whole trilogy. Very funny, although I think I would appreciate it even more to see it performed: I kept envisioning the actors we saw in their roles.

The Seven Boards of Skill

This show is not really describable: it is a combination of modern circus acrobatics and Peking opera, and could almost be categorized as "modern dance". It was a fascinating production, and there were some moments of startling beauty. The production was written and directed by some Frenchmen, and it felt very abstract as well (in that undefinable French way). If you get a chance to see it, I would recommend it highly.

Taming of the Shrew

We saw a British theater troupe's production of Taming of the Shrew in Beijing, which verged on excellent. A few minor flaws, but overall it was funny, easy to understand, and a creative production. The troupe of about 6 was highly talented: they acted, sang, and danced.

Top Girls

We saw the MTC's revival of Top Girls. It was kind of fascinating at times, and painfully long-winded in others. The actresses all spoke with incredibly strong British accents (most of them faked, although I don't have the ear to tell if they were accurately faked or not). I liked Marisa Tomei in her role, and Martha Plimpton was fun to watch.

The first act was a weird dinner involving mostly historical/semi-historical/fictional women characters: pretty hard-to-follow dialogue, unfortunately. The second act depicted a young woman visiting her aunt, who was the center of the dinner in the first act. The third act was the best, with the main character visiting her sister, who apparently had adopted the main character's daughter. The sister was played by Marisa Tomei; the daughter was played by Martha Plimpton.

Sunday in the Park with George

We saw the revival of Sunday in the Park with George, and it was wonderful! A truly moving musical/performance: I'm not sure that I can distinguish between the quality of the music/book and the performers, which were both very high. The lead actor and actress were stunningly virtuosic, and the staging was impressive. The only minor negative was that the pit "orchestra" (just a few musicians) were too loudly miked.

Come Back, Little Sheba

This production of this 1950's play was really well done. At the beginning, it felt a little stilted, but either I got used to it or the performers loosened up. S. Epatha Merkerson was the star: she's the police captain on Law and Order. The play felt somewhat dated, given the 1950's gender roles, but the emotional impact was still there.

Macbeth

Patrick Stewart at BAM in a production imported from England. He was awesome. Great production, if a little loud in the soundtrack. The set was quite stunning and versatile, and the setting in a fascistic WWI-type setting was quite impressive. I feel quite lucky to have gotten a chance to see this performance.

BAM's Harvey Theater is an interesting performance space; they kept most of the original walls, which had a really bombed-out look.

There were some subtleties that were interesting in this performance. "Damned be he who first cries, 'Hold, enough!'" The meaning of that line was altered greatly through the delivery by Mr. Stewart---they executed the fight between the last two words, and although Macbeth had the upper hand, he gives up and mutters "Enough." in a despairing sigh. Also, the porter's name "Seyton" is pronounced "Satan", which was in retrospect obvious, but disturbing in its connotations.

Candide

We watched this semi-staged performance on DVD; the music, as always, is stunning. Kristin Chenoweth was outstanding!

The Homecoming

Wow. This revival of Harold Pinter's play was stunning. I didn't like the play (in the sense that it was highly disturbing and dark), but I was impressed by the visceral intensity generated by the play and cast. Ian McShane was great (we got to know him by watching Deadwood), as was Raul Esparza (we saw him in Company last season). If you're into theatre, it's certainly worth watching; see it soon, though, because the theater was not close to full on a Friday night---this revival might not last that long.

The Receptionist

The Receptionist was playing at the Manhattan Theatre Club, which is an organization that is devoted to helping young playwrights. The Receptionist is a very creepy play that is set in a strangely ambiguous, Kafka-esque world. The entire play revolves around one simple line, which I can't quite recall, and which would also give away the whole premise if I put it here; so I won't. The play occurs in two short acts: the total running time is about an hour. See it if you can!

Mauritius

Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck played at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Great cast, including F. Murray Abraham and Bobby Canavale. The star of the production was Alison Pill. The writing was not the best, but the play had some wonderful moments. F. Murray Abraham's soliloquies were a delight, in particular. Overall, it was definitely worth seeing, and good entertainment. But profound it was not.

Opus

Did you know that the plural of "opus" is "opera"? Ah, Latin.

Anyway, Opus is a wonderful play written by a Oberlin-trained violist who became a playwright instead of a musician. I thought it was wonderfully written, in a style that reflects how people talk in real life. A fine cast, and we were lucky enough to see it on closing night: there was a long wait list to get in!