LESLIE WON!!

Yeah!! I beat that damn Casey in the Tony's pool last night. I correctly predicted 25 out of 27 categories . . .Casey--22, Ann--19, and Ben--11. I am so proud of my big gold medal and plan to wear it on the bus ride home today. More later on our last day in NYC.

Grand Slam Homerun!!

We have been waiting for one of the oodles of plays we are seeing this week to blow our socks off. We have seen good plays, really good musicals, interesting revivals but nothing that ranked as a home run until today. We saw all three plays in The Norman Conquests trilogy, and they hit the ball out of the park. These are some of the funniest hours the CBs have ever spent in the theater. Ben Brantley said it best in his New York Times review: "These plays cripple you with laughter and more subversively fracture your soul."

We saw the plays in the order in which they were written. We saw Table Manners at 11:30, Living Together at 3:30 and Round and Round the Garden at 8:00. The plays take place over one weekend and involve the same 6 people - two married couples and one unattached couple. The plays are connected, showing the action from different times and places within and without the house during the weekend. Seven hours of theater in one day sounds exhausting, but this was an exhilarating experience and left us wanting more.

The main character is a hilariously, naughty Lothario named Norman who is played to perfection by Stephan Mangan. He manages to seduce all three women in the play at various times. The six actors are so hilarious that the CBs had stomach aches from laughing and - at times - were actually guffawing, as were the rest of the audience. Being at the theater with the same audience for all three plays and getting to know and understand the characters so well was a wonderfully communal experience.

Alan Ayckbourne wrote this series of plays in the 1973 (it feels like it was written last week, not 36 years ago!) and this revival transferred from the Old Vic in London with the great London cast intact. The director is the amazing Matthew Warchas who is directing God of Carnage a couple of blocks away and directed the hilarious Boeing Boeing last season. No one directs a farce better than he does. Although all six actors were wonderful, we especially enjoyed the performances of Amanda Root as the uptight Sarah, wife of the equally hilarious Reg played to perfection by Paul Ritter.

We urge you to rush to see these plays and recommend that you see all three in the same order that we did. You won't be disappointed. This is a chance to see this classic series of plays with a truly A level group of actors. If you are a theater lover, this is a not to missed experience.
Blythe Danner and Richard Kind saw all three plays with the CBs today!

Waiting for Godot

We had great tickets to see Waiting for Godot last night. Although the play itself is a little weird at times, we would wager that this is the best production of it you could ever hope to see. Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin (both Tony winners) play Vladimir and Estragon, two seemingly homeless men waiting near a tree on a barren stretch of road for someone—or something—named Godot. To pass the time, they engage in absurd conversations and comical wordplay and nonsense. Irwin and Lane play off each other brilliantly and make an unusually tender pair of wanderers--they sound like an old married couple repeating recycled stories and trying to remind each other what happened yesterday. They are also very funny--Lane goes for the laughs a bit too overtly at times, but their comedic timing definitely makes this an entertaining production. Irwin's performance is Tony worthy in the CB's humble opinion. Amazingly enough, he didn't even receive a nomination.

John Goodman (who is huge!) plays Pozzo, an "upperclass" bully and windbag who is attached by a rope to his subhuman slave, Lucky. John Glover plays Lucky, and his performance is pretty amazing--he brings out Lucky's madness, his stubborn determination to stick with Pozzo at all costs, his bursts of violence, and his vulnerability, all the time looking like a cross between a ghost and a man. These four actors are at the top of their game and bring this classic to life in a completely memorable way. We were glad to have seen it!
Once again Jeff Goldblum was in the audience with the same young lady as last night!

Exit the King

Last night we saw Eugene Ionesco's absurd comedy, Exit the King. A brilliant Geoffrey Rush plays 400-year-old King Berenger who is ruling over a once-thriving country that has fallen into complete decay. His kingdom has shrunk from a few million people down to a few thousand and from miles to yards; the few citizens and buildings left are falling into a giant hole. To make matters worse, Berenger's first wife, Queen Marguerite (Susan Sarandon) announces that he only has until the last minute of the play to live. Berenger refuses to die--he is determined to outwit death, to live forever. Of course, he's fooling himself.

You wouldn't think that watching someone die over the course of a couple hours would be entertaining, but this production is funny, irreverent, and totally wacky. The actors break the "fourth wall" often, speaking directly to the audience in a way that usually evokes laughter. At one point, Rush actually wanders up and down the aisles pleading for guidance from audience members. Comic relief is also provided by Andrea Martin as the sole overworked maid left in the castle, and Brian Hutchinson as a guard who clanks around in a suit of armour and consistently announces the most random pieces of information to whoever might be left in the kingdom to hear his updates. Their sense of timing and physical humor provide lots of laughs.

There are also plenty of moments of intimacy, of quietness, and of poignancy when we are reminded that the theme here is death and mortality. Somehow Rush manages to age right before our eyes--slowly his over-the-top persona shrinks into an infirm old man. The loving exchanges between Berenger and his new wife (Lauren Ambrose) add a sweetness to the production, and Susan Sarandon's bitchy, sarcastic delivery throughout most of the play sets up an effective contrast to the warm, gentle tone she has as she guides Berenger through the last stages of death.

This is not a crowd-pleasing play for everyone, but it was certainly a great night of theatre for the CultureBuddies. (By the way--Jeff Goldblum was sitting in front of us!)

If It's Good Enough for the Obamas . . .

We caught the matinee of Joe Turner's Come and Gone yesterday afternoon, the Lincoln Center Theater's revival of the second of August Wilson's cycle of plays tracing the 20th-century experiences of African-Americans. Director Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, Light in the Piazza) has done a remarkable job bringing Wilson's rich play to life and drawing out the best in an ensemble of incredibly talented actors.

Set in 1911, Joe Turner deals with the period immediately following the emancipation of slaves, as African-Americans struggled to find a place to call home. The play centers on a boarding house run by Seth (Ernie Hudson) and his kind-hearted wife, Bertha. Boarders drift in and out, paying by the week, looking for work and a place to sleep for awhile until they move on to the next place, the next job, the next relationship. The one long-time boarder is an older "conjure-man" named Bynum (played brilliantly by Roger Robinson, who is favored to win a Tony award on Sunday). Bynum peddles his services as a "binder" (an agent for bringing people together) and tells anyone who will listen that discovering, and embracing, "one's own song" is the step they must take before they can move on in life. Other boarders include the young and impetuous railroad worker Jeremy; the unlucky in love Matty C, man-eating Molly, and the intense and mysterious Herald Loomis and his young daughter, Zonia. Loomis and his daughter have been searching for his missing wife for four years. Rutherford Selig (Arllis Howard) the only white man in the ensemble, is a peddler who specializes in finding missing persons.

The easy, comfortable delivery of Wilson's dialogue, the sparks of humor, the fully drawn characters, and the sharing of food and stories around a large kitchen table infuse this production with a sense of community that is set against the struggle of these transcient African-Americans as they search for identity, for connection, for freedom, for roots, and for respect. They are no longer slaves, but they are only one step away from slavery and the world around them is still oppressive and racist. We both loved this play, and it's one that has provided lots of conversation between us. It was kind of cool to be there while the staff in the theatre was still buzzing about the Obama's visit last week . . . the CultureBuddies are nothing if not cutting edge!

West Side Story

We had to pay full price for the tickets to West Side Story (a rarity since we can almost always find a discount code for at least 40% off), but we felt this show would be worth it and we were right. Many things are terrific about this show--the dancers' crisp and precise execution of the original Jerome Robbins choreography, the incredible music accompanied by a huge Broadway orchestra, the colorful costumes of the 37 singers and dancers, and the innovative set design.
The two standouts in the show are the actresses who play Anita and Maria. Karen Olivo (the original Vanessa in In the Heights) is feisty and beautiful as Anita--she is fantastic in this part. Newcomer Josefina Scaglione is lovely as the young, innocent Maria, and she is in complete control of her crystal-clear, perfectly-pitched soprano voice. On top of that she is a natural actor and a wonderful dancer. It's no wonder that she was nominated for a Tony award.

We were both disappointed, however, in the performance of Matt Cavenaugh as Tony. Although he is handsome and has great chemistry with Maria, his voice is just not strong and rich enough for this role. We also found the male ensemble as a whole a little weak--it seems like the casting directors went for dancers, not for actors who could make their characters seem distinct or great singers. Great dancers they are, but something is missing; there is no edge to any of their performances. The show would have been richer if they had chosen dancers who were just as outstanding as actors and singers. The women really carry this show, and the performances of Karen Olivo and newcomer Josefina Scaglione, along with the chance to experience the incredible original choreography and the beautiful score of West Side Story make this a must see revival.

What a Way To Make a Living

We had one of those 'everything goes right' kind of days on Tuesday. We took an early bus to Boston expecting to have to wait an hour for the next bus to NYC, but a bus was waiting to leave for NYC less than 5 minutes after we got there. So we arrived in NYC early, and, of course, our room at the Hilton Garden Inn was ready hours early. We had a nice long lunch at Pigalles and were welcomed back to our favorite city by the nice host, Greg. We headed off to see 9 to 5 and , naturally, our discount seats were superb--in the center of the orchestra. Alan Alda and his wife sat in the row in front of us, and Morley Safer was across the aisle.

The show was pretty much just what you would expect from Dolly Parton--a silly, campy, over the top musical. But there were many aspects of this show that made it better than the average over the top musical made from a popular movie. Allison Janney was very good as Violet, the Lily Tomlin role. She has a commanding stage presence, and, although she doesn't have much of a voice, she has a couple of very nice dance numbers and does herself proud in her first musical. The other actresses who play the leads-- Megan Hilty as the Dolly character and Stephanie J. Block as the shy divorcee (both recently from Wicked) are capable musical comedy actresses, and Block has an amazing voice. The real standout for us was the great choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler. Every dance number is clever and noteworthy. They make moving desks and the watercooler into a dancing event! He is definitely one of the hottest choreographer on Broadway right now- fresh from doing fabulous work in the CB's favorite In the Heights.

The choreography and Allison Janney's performance make this is a worthwhile show to see, although it is pretty over the top . . .

Desire Under the Elms

Watching a Eugene O'Neill play is like experiencing a Greek tragedy, and the recent production of Desire Under the Elms on Broadway was no exception. We had to squeeze in an extra NYC trip before the Tony's to see it, as the production closed early and we had tickets for June.

The director had condensed the three-act play into one powerful act that grabbed you by the seat of the pants and didn't let go until you had witnessed the devastating affect of misguided passion and violence wreck havoc on the universal longing for a home of one's own and for unconditional love. Brian Denehy was excellent as Ephraim Cabot, the cold tyrant of a father/husband/and farm owner. Carla Gugino played Abbie, the third (much younger) wife Ephraim brings home to his three grown sons--she was in her role as a hard-as nails seductress and opportunist who loses herself in a passionate affair with Cabot's son, Eben (played by the hunky Pablo Schreiver). This was one worth seeing, and it's a shame that it closed ahead of schedule due to mixed reviews and poor ticket sales. The CBs are glad they made the effort to see it . . .

A Must See (If Unlikely) Musical

The only reason the CultureBuddies went to see Next To Normal is because it received 11 Tony nominations. A bipolar housewife seemed like such a grim topic for a musical. Well, it wasn’t five minutes into the show before we knew we were 100% wrong. This show is not any ordinary feel good musical, but as The New York Times described this show, it is a “feel everything” musical. Next To Normal is funny, smart and heartbreaking. The music is great, the performances are amazing, and the set is perfect for showcasing the movement of the play's themes. Whoever cast this show should get a special Tony for picking the perfect people for these roles. Alice Ripley is nothing short of fantastic as the mother. She is pitch-perfect in every scene, and she breaks your heart. What a role for this actress! Her husband is played by J. Robert Spencer and her two children are played by Jennifer Damiano and Aaron Tveit. We had seen Aaron Tveit in the musical Saved last year and put him on our ‘people to watch’ list. He is brilliant in the role and he has incredible charisma on stage.

Next to Normal brings the devastation mental illness can wreck on a whole family to life in a respectful, and incredibly powerful, way. Drugs are used and abused, treatments are experimented with and abandoned, children become invisible, and loving relationships are tested every single day. The music tells the story in such a compelling and effective way that you are on the ride with this family from the first minute of the play to the last. Along the way you experience heartbreak, humor, hope, and a great amount of empathy for every character.
This play left us with the kind of wonderful exhaustion we have felt at a few, select shows (Spring Awakening, In the Heights, Come Back Little Sheba, God of Carnage) over the last three years. We were exhausted and wrung out by the end (and Leslie had gone through four Keenex), but we were also exhilirated from such a great night of theatre.

Message to Alice Ripley: Wear your prettiest dress Sunday night because you may very well be accepting the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. If we had a vote, you would get both of them!