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 . . .