2012 Tony Predictions: Best Featured Actress

Now we get to the meat of the Tonys, the acting awards.  Given the sheer volume of eligible work, someone always gets snubbed when the nominations are handed out, and even then there are still several deserving candidates for each statuette.  Before reading any father, please remember my two caveats:  1) I have not seen all of the nominated shows; and 2) I am predicting who will win, which may be different from who should win, especially in the acting categories.  As always, I will point out those discrepancies in the body of the article.

Since any gentleman knows that its ladies first, here are my predictions for the Best Supporting Actress categories.

Best Featured Actress in a Play

Nominees:  Linda Emond, Death of a Salesman; Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner; Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher; Judith Light, Other Desert Cities; Condola Rashad, Stick Fly

Right off the bat, I think we can count out Spencer Kayden and Condola Rashad.  Kayden is the only bright spot in a critical and commercial failure, and if it weren’t produced by the not-for-profit Roundabout Theatre Company I’m sure Don’t Dress for Dinner would have already posted a closing notice.  Rashad could be called a dark horse candidate, but while critics loved her, Stick Fly as a whole didn’t make much of an impression and closed months ago.  One of the biggest advantages a Tony nominee can have is being in a currently running show, which leaves Rashad with an uphill battle that I doubt she can win.

While I have not personally seen Peter and the Starcatcher, my understanding is that all of the actors play multiple roles, which always impresses Tony voters and is a major plus for Celia Keenan-Bolger.  Unfortunately, Peter isn’t as “serious” a work as Death of a Salesman or Other Desert Cities, which probably negates any advantage the multiple role trick gave her.  In straight plays, Tony voters tend to reward dramatic acting or its exact opposite, full-on farce; anything in-between like Peter goes underappreciated.

If we rule out Keenan-Bolger, we are left with Judith Light and Linda Emond, with the edge definitely going to the latter.  Emond is clearly the female lead in Salesman, with all of the accompanying stage time and character development, giving her more and better material to work with than her fellow nominees.  This same situation led Nikki M. James to a somewhat surprising but wholly deserved Featured Actress in a Musical win last year, and I expect a similar outcome for Emond.  And lest you think it all comes down to politics, I have seen Salesman and can assure you she is devastatingly good, easily holding her own against Phillip Seymour Hoffman and making even the play’s most famous lines sound fresh and alive.

Will & Should Win:  Linda Emond, Death of a Salesman

Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Nominees:  Elizabeth A. Davis, Once; Jayne Houdyshell, Follies; Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Jessie Mueller, On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever; Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical

For me, this is a somewhat odd list of nominees.  It’s not that I think any of the included ladies are bad, but I don’t quite understand what some of them did to edge out other equally fine performances.  For instance, as hilarious as she was singing “Broadway Baby,” was Jayne Houdyshell really that much better than her Follies costars Elaine Page or Terri White?  And how did Elizabeth A. Davis, even with her striking good looks and beautiful singing voice, get herself nominated when the rest of the ensemble of Once went unrecognized?  I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way, and it is a sentiment that will probably prevent either of them from leaving the Beacon theatre a winning next Sunday.

Now, I hesitate to say I don’t want Da’Vine Joy Randolph to win, but…I don’t want her to win.  I haven’t seen her in Ghost, and the problem is I don’t need to in order to know exactly what her performance is like.  I’m sure she’s sassy, fires off a succession of one-liners, and sings the hell out of her big, gospel-tinged solo.  Add in one or two “serious” moments masquerading as character depth, and you have the same performance given by almost every featured black actress in the past ten years.  It’s such a cliché that someone even wrote a song about it, although in fairness to the writers of Ghost they at least had the decency to make Randolph’s character integral to the plot.  But it still isn’t the sort of thing that should be rewarded with Tony Awards, especially because such a win will only encourage musical theatre writers to continue using this stereotype rather than creating roles of substance for black women.

Judy Kaye is perfectly fine in Nice Work If You Can Get It, but I don’t think this role will net the Tony Award-winner a second statuette.  The show as a whole is too run-of-the-mill, and Kaye doesn’t do enough to rise above that.  On the other hand, Jessie Mueller did rise above her subpar show and gave one of the most praised supporting turns of the season.  Everyone who actually saw On a Clear Day agrees that Mueller’s big number was the highlight of the evening and a genuine showstopper.  Plus, Broadway loves a Cinderella story, and what could be more fairy tale-esque than a young woman playing the lead in her Broadway debut, stealing the show, and winning a Tony for it?

Will & Should Win:  Jessie Mueller, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

That’s all for now.  Check back soon to see which Featured Actors should be practicing their acceptance speeches.  And check out the rest of my Tony predictions here:

Score &Book

Direction& Choreography

2012 Tony Predictions: Book and Score

Before I continue my 2012 Tony Award predictions, here’s a quick recap of the two caveats I elaborated on in my first article:  1) I have not seen all of the nominated shows; and 2) I am predicting who will win, which may be different from who should win (reasons for any variance in the two will be elaborated in the article).

Since Tony night is fast approaching, let’s not waste any more time!

Best Book of a Musical

Nominees:  Douglas Carter Beane, Lysistrata Jones; Harvey Fierstein, Newsies; Joe DiPietro, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Enda Walsh, Once

I died a little inside when I read that Douglas Carter Beane was nominated for his atrocious book to Lysistrata Jones.  Beane managed to completely remove the anti-war allegory that’s allowed the Greek Lysistrata to withstand the test of time, and replaced it with poorly developed characters and painfully unfunny one-liners.  He doesn’t deserve to be nominated, and rest assured there is no way he can possibly win (the fact that Lysistrata closed months ago is the final nail in Beane’s coffin).

I would put Harvey Fierstein’s libretto for Newsies and Joe DiPietro’s book for Nice Work on the same level artistically.  Both are perfectly serviceable scripts, free of any glaring plot holes or structural weaknesses.  Both segue nicely into their respective musical numbers while simultaneously crafting characters with the illusion of depth, even if many of them lack actual substance.  Unfortunately, neither libretto takes the extra steps necessary to qualify as Tony-worthy.  The book scenes in both shows primarily serve as filler in between the musical numbers, rather than adding much of substance to their respective shows.

By contrast, Enda Walsh’s book for Once approaches the depth and quality of a play script.  Despite some very long scenes (at least by musical theatre standards), the Once libretto remains engrossing and provides information that greatly enhances the already strong emotional impact of the show’s songs.  Once relies on such a delicately established mood that it would not work without the Walsh’s first rate contributions, and he will deservedly take home the Tony for his efforts on June 10^th.

Will & Should Win:  Enda Walsh, Once

Best Original Score

Nominees:  Frank Wildhorn & Don Black, Bonnie and Clyde; Alan Menken & Jack Feldman, Newsies; Grant Olding, One Man, Two Guvnors; Wayne Barker & Rick Elice, Peter and the Starcatcher

I could (and probably should) write an entire blog entry about the sorry state of musical theatre composition.  The fact that two of the four Best Original Score nominations went to plays instead of musicals proves how little good work is being done in this area.  Unfortunately, the year’s strongest score – the haunting and beautiful Once – was written for another medium and is therefore ineligible.  But while the Tony committee has shown a willingness to nominate play scores in the past few years, I don’t think they are prepared to actually give the prize to a non-musical, which rules out both One Man, Two Guvnors and Peter and the Starcatcher. 

Which leaves Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies, with their oft-nominated but so far unrewarded composers.  Now, if you had told me a year ago that Frank “Modulation” Wildhorn would be the most deserving of a Best Score Tony, I would have laughed in your face.  But this time round Wildhorn wrote a genuinely theatrical score, with many of the songs containing actual narrative action rather than an endless series of ever-higher money notes.  He has successfully fused the bluegrass and folk idioms with show music, and many of the show’s ballads are genuinely beautiful as opposed to his usual manufactured bombast.  All of this, combined with weak competition, makes Bonnie & Clyde legitimately the strongest work nominated this year.

Unfortunately for Wildhorn, there’s clearly no overcoming the tarnished reputation his past work has earned him.  Having his name on the marquee caused Bonnie & Clyde to be unfairly trashed by critics, and the show closed within a month of opening.  Meanwhile Newsies was embraced by critics and has been playing to near sell-out business, and its composer Alan Menken has managed to maintain a high reputation among the theatre elite despite some questionable shows of his own.  For all of its repetitiveness and overly-earnest emotion, Newsies does feature several catchy numbers and one genuinely inventive solo for its leading lady.  And since Menken has never won the big award, the committee will likely give him a Tony statuette that will in name be for this show, but will really be for his body of work.

Will Win:  Alan Menken, Newsies

Should Win:  Frank Wildhorn, Bonnie & Clyde (yes, I really just typed that)

That’s it for now.  Join me next time as I begin dissecting which performers have done award-worthy work this past season.

2012 Tony Predictions: Choreography and Direction

The time has come.  With a little over two weeks left until the Tony Awards ceremony on June 10^th, it’s time for me to get out my crystal ball and predict who will be the winners and losers on Broadway’s big night. But before I start prognosticating, let me mention a couple of caveats: 

1) I haven’t actually seen all of the nominated productions, as I ran out of time and money long before I ran out of shows to see.  But given my 82% success rate in predicting the nominees, I think it’s safe to say I have some idea what I’m talking about. 

2) These are my predictions of who will win, not who should win, which is an important distinction to make.  Like any entertainment award, a fair amount of politics comes into play when determining the winners, especially when a large number of Tony voters are producers themselves and therefore biased.  Which is why in every category, I will pick the nominee who will win and also point out the person I think should win, which is not necessarily the same individual.  Any discrepancies will be addressed in the body of the article.

Now that we’ve laid out the ground rules, let’s get started!

Best Choreography

Nominees:  Rob Ashford, Evita; Christopher Gattelli, Newsies; Steven Hoggett, Once; Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It

The chances of Evita winning a Best Choreography Tony are almost zero, despite some stunning dance sequences that managed to convert this Rob Ashford naysayer into a fan.  The overall production and especially its star were simply too disappointing to too many people.  And while certainly innovative and theatrical, I don’t see Steven Hoggett’s work on Once triumphing over the “real” dancing in the other nominated shows (that show’s playbill credits him with “movement” rather than full-fledged “choreography).

Kathleen Marshall has won this award three times before, most recently for the still running Anything Goes, which automatically makes her a major contender.  In my opinion, she is one of the most consistent and creative choreographers working today, and her musical staging for Nice Work is the only thing about that particular show which isn’t imminently predictable.  But her recent win combined with the lack of a true showstopper in Nice Work’s – nothing in it comes close to the heights achieved by her “Anything Goes” or “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” – could lead voters to give someone else a moment in the limelight.

That someone would be Christopher Gattelli and his work on Newsies.  The one thing against him is the fact that while superbly executed, a lot of the choreography lacks innovation.  Most of the routines look like combinations you would find in an admittedly advanced jazz class, a problem which kept Memphis from even being nominated two years ago.  But the Tony committee will surely want to give Newsies some recognition for becoming one of the spring’s biggest success stories, and I predict two-time Tony nominee Christopher Gattelli will become Tony-winner Christopher Gattelli on June 10^th.

Will Win: Christopher Gattelli

Should Win:  Kathleen Marshall

Best Direction of a Play

Nominees:  Nicholas Hytner (One Man, Two Guvnors); Pam MacKinnon (ClybournePark); Mike Nichols (Death of a Salesman); Roger Rees and Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher)

After years of Broadway being dominated by British imports, I think the Tony voters are going to finally start rewarding Americans for their contributions to the legitimate theatre.  Which means Nicholas Hytner and his work on One Man, Two Guvnors is out.  I must also disqualify Pam MacKinnon, as I think most of the credit for that show’s success is being given to Bruce Norris’ script and its stellar acting ensemble.

Which leaves Mike Nichols and the combined talents of Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, all of whom were integral to the success of their respective shows.  Death of a Salesman is an acknowledged classic, but Nichols’ direction makes the entire production gel in a way that justifies the existence of this latest revival.  While everyone recognizes that the inventive staging has been the key to Peter and the Starcatcher’s success, I have to give the edge to Nichols.  He is an industry giant who commands an enormous amount of respect (see his seven previous Best Direction Tonys as proof), Salesman has become one of the theatrical events of the spring.  Rees and Timbers could score an upset, but I find it highly unlikely.

Will & Should Win:  Mike Nichols

Best Direction of a Musical

Nominees:  Jeff Calhoun, Newsies; Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Diane Paulus, Porgy and Bess; John Tiffany, Once

If Newsies had opened in April instead of March, I would be predicting a virtual sweep for Disney’s tale of dancing newsboys, but just enough time has passed for the theatrical community to realize that for all of its merits, there is simply better work being done this year.  Direction awards tend to be higher-minded than some of the other categories, and Newsies simply isn’t up to that standard.  Similarly, Marshall’s serviceable job on Nice Work is by no means her best, and for a woman more respected as a choreographer than a director it simply isn’t enough to net her a Best Director trophy.

John Tiffany is the clear front runner here.  Once is the most nominated production of the season, and also the most artistically daring.  Without the delicately realized mood and pacing provided by Tiffany’s direction, Once would collapse under the weight of its own ambitions, instead of emerging as arguably the best new musical of the season. 

I think Diane Paulus has done sensational work on Porgy, and few directors have her gift of making the stagecraft behind the blocking seem so completely organic.  She has successfully brought the show into the 21^st century, and made a classic opera seem real and immediate in a way I would not have thought possible.  Unfortunately for Paulus, there are enough purists who cannot accept Porgy as anything other than a 4-hour opera, and while I loved her interpretation I can understand why some people would feel that way.  For a production whose Broadway prospects were once in question – thanks to that infamous letter from Mr. Sondheim – Paulus should consider her inclusion among this year’s nominees a victory in itself.  Without the burden of preconceived notions, Tiffany was free to do whatever he wished with Once, and the results are totally transfixing and definitely Tony worthy.

Will & Should Win:  John Tiffany (although Paulus is a very close second)

That’s it for now, but check back throughout the next two weeks for more of my 2012 Tony predictions!

"Falling Slowly" Under Your Spell

Review: Once

The utterly entrancing Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, stars of the new musical Once

It is exceedingly difficult to accurately describe Once, the new musical based on the 2006 indie film of the same name.  How does one describe something so groundbreaking and original that any analogy or point of reference seems woefully inadequate for the task?  That indescribability proves to be the strongest of Once’s many assets; the show is a wholly new creation that forces you to reconsider exactly what a Broadway musical can be, and it is easily the strongest new work of the current season.

The plot concerns the budding romance between Guy and Girl (the two leads are never named, lending universality to their very complicated and specific emotions).  Guy, an aspiring musician who works in his father’s vacuum repair shop, has all but given up on life after a particularly hard breakup with his unseen girlfriend.  One day Girl whisks into his life, and after hearing him sing insists he pursue his music career so his songs can be heard by a wider audience.  Over the course of one week, the pair struggles to raise the money to record Guy’s music, and finds their bond growing deeper and more complex by the hour.

In most shows, this situation would end in one of two predictable ways.  Either Guy and Girl would get together and live happily ever after, or one of them would end up dead in a tragic tale of unrequited live.  Once foregoes both of these options for something more subdued and ultimately more moving, portraying the reality of such situations in a way few musicals dare.  The deceptively simple plot gives way to a startling emotional complexity, and will stick with you for days after the final curtain falls.

This depth is conveyed by all aspects of the production, and is especially aided by the haunting folk-influenced score by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (who won the Best Song Oscar for their work on the film version).  Sparse instrumental interludes give way to lush, sweeping choruses overflowing with emotion.  The lilting ballads are mesmerizing, delivered as they are with such sensitivity and musicianship by the stellar cast, all of whom play their own instruments.  Once demonstrates how music is truly the universal language, for even when the lyrics become muffled or hard to decipher (an occurrence which happens a tad too much for this reviewer’s taste) the emotional intent of each song is abundantly clear.

The cast is uniformly excellent, offering up the best dramatic acting seen in a Broadway musical in years.  As Guy, Steve Kazee brilliantly conveys all of the pent up sorrow and anguish that his character can only express through music.  In a lesser actor’s hands, Guy’s self-pity and passiveness would result in an unappealing, unsympathetic lead character, and Once would be dead before it even begins.  But Kazee makes the quiet and reserved nature of his character utterly charming, and completely bares his soul with each of his self-accompanied solos.

In her musical debut, Cristin Milioti is a revelation.  From her first entrance, Milioti’s Girl is one of the most fully realized characters in recent musical memory.  Everything about her demeanor tells you exactly what kind of woman Girl is, and the character feels real before she utters a single syllable.  Direct and straightforward to a fault – “I’m always serious. I’m Czech,” she explains – Milioti gives us tantalizing glimpses of the emotional turmoil going on beneath the surface, making her endlessly fascinating to watch.  Between her soft-spoken nature and Czech accent, Milioti can be difficult to understand at times, but rather than becoming frustrating this only adds to her exotic allure.  Even more than costar Kazee, Milioti pours everything she has into her two big solos, and the image of her crying over the piano during the Act II ballad “The Hill” is a moment that will be permanently etched into your memory.  In a season filled with sensational female performances, Milioti ranks among the very best.

Director John Tiffany must be commended for sustaining the delicate mood that makes Once unlike any other musical currently on Broadway.  Although a couple of the supporting characters veer dangerously close to caricature, Tiffany ultimately succeeds in reigning in their broader impulses and keeps the show firmly grounded in naturalism.  Playwright Enda Walsh has crafted a stellar libretto that reads more like a play than a musical, and yet still effortlessly makes room for the show’s many musical numbers.  And the choreographed movement by Steven Hoggett, including some thrillingly theatrical transitions involving both the cast and their instruments, adds another layer of bold invention to a piece overflowing with originality.

For those with (often justified) complaints that modern day Broadway lacks innovation, Once is the answer to all of your prayers.  With its fantastic score, beautifully realized performances, and sensitive but assured direction, Once is easily the best new musical of the season, and deserves to be seen by anyone who values art in their entertainment.  Those who see the show should come prepared to fall under its utterly entrancing spell.

Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

Review: Nice Work If You Can Get It

Judy Kaye and Michael McGarth sing "By Strauss/Sweet and Lowdown," one of the few instances where Nice Work If You Can Get It lives up to its potential.

The worst thing about Nice Work If You Can Get It, the slight new musical comedy currently playing at the Imperial Theatre, is that the whole thing looked so promising on paper.  Reimagining an old Gershwin musical (in this case, the 1926 Prohibition-era romp Oh, Kay) with a new book and Gershwin catalogue songs produced one of the most entertaining shows of the early ‘90s, the Tony-winning Crazy for You.  Hiring the ever-inventive director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall, fresh off the massive success of last season’s Anything Goes, seemed like an inspired choice, as her previous work demonstrates a strong grasp of this particular brand of musical comedy.  Kelli O’Hara is one of Broadway’s top talents, and teaming her with Matthew Broderick in his first musical since the similarly retro-modern Producers sounded like musical comedy gold.

Yet at some point during the development process, Marshall and her team (including new book writer Joe DiPietro) slightly but irrevocably botched the recipe.  Though the bright candy colors promise a sinfully sweet piece of frothy entertainment, Nice Work leaves you with an off-putting aftertaste that becomes more pronounced with each successive number.  You force yourself to consume the whole thing for fear of offending those who put in the effort to make it, all the while knowing that the next time it’s offered you’ll invent some way to politely decline. 

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong with Nice Work. The score is filled with time-tested Gershwin standards like “Someone to Watch Over Me” and the title song, and those classic melodies are as beguiling as ever.  The plot, in which tomboyish bootlegger Billie Bendix (O’Hara) hides her liquor stash in the unused Long Island mansion of billionaire playboy Jimmy Winter (Broderick), is reasonably entertaining despite its predictability.  Joe DiPietro’s book may adhere too closely to the Boy-Meets-Girl formula – you’ll spend the last 15 minutes in particular waiting for the plot to reach the resolution you saw coming from a mile away – but the script is structurally sound and provides its fair share of laughs.  And Marshall stages the musical numbers with the inventive, playful wit and precise choreography that have become her signature, bringing the show closest to the greatness it could achieve with more revisions.

The cast is likewise hard to fault.  Ms. O’Hara’s beautiful voice is perfectly suited to this style of music, and there is a refreshing honesty about her performance that’s missing from too many of the slickly-produced entertainments currently populating the Great White Way.  Michael McGrath provides stellar comic relief as Billie’s sidekick Cookie, who is forced to impersonate the mansion’s butler to maintain their cover.  McGrath is surly but loveable in the role, and does exceedingly well with the multitude of one-liners and physical comedy handed to him.  And as a righteous Prohibitionist on the prowl for any stray bootleggers, Tony winner Judy Kaye really lets loose with her physically demanding and highly humorous supporting turn.

Of the main cast, Broderick is the only one who doesn’t seem quite right for his role.  Essentially reprising his Leo Bloom from The Producers, Broderick’s comic awkwardness isn’t very well suited to playing a womanizer who’s been married three times and is constantly visited by young women willing to take their clothes off for him.  And yet blaming Broderick for all of the show’s problems would be unfair, as he sings and dances as well as he ever did, and does land a consistent number of laughs throughout the course of the evening.

The real problem with Nice Work is that while all of the component parts are perfectly adequate, they don’t play off of each other properly, and the entire enterprise lacks spark.  The cast handles their individual bits quite well, but rarely interacts with one another in a convincing manner, killing any interpersonal chemistry the show might have had.  The show never drags, but it also never achieves the madcap energy and forward momentum needed to pull off the heightened farce that is the essence of musical comedy.

At the end of the day, you just have to wonder why anyone bothered.  Nice Work bears many structural and stylistic similarities to the aforementioned Crazy for You, but the latter work is simply better constructed.  Marshall would be an excellent candidate to helm a revival of that show, and many of this cast would do very well with that material, some of which overlaps with Nice Work anyway.  Instead, we are left with this forgettable “new” show that isn’t the best work of anyone involved.  While you won’t hate your time spent with Billie, Jimmy, and their friends, you probably won’t remember much of it either.  And you certainly won’t be asking for seconds.

Everyone's a Little Bit Racist

Review:  Clybourne Park

Annie Parisse and Jeremy Shamos in Clybourne Park.

While watching the first act of Clybourne Park, the new comedy by actor turned playwright Bruce Norris, you might find yourself wondering exactly what all the fuss is about.  While well written and ably performed, nothing about the play’s first hour seems to justify the mountains of praised heaped upon the work since its 2010 Off-Broadway premiere, which culminated in it winning of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  But by the time you reach the end of the howlingly funny second act, you realize that every word of Norris’ script was necessary to create the non-stop barrage of belly laughs and pointed sociological observations that make Clybourne one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking evenings of the current Broadway season.

Though set 50 years apart, both acts concern the impending arrival of unwanted residents in the fictional Chicago neighborhood which gives the play its title.  Wanting to escape the bad memories associated with their current home, 1950s suburbanites Bev (the excellent Christina Kirk) and Russ (the always outstanding Frank Wood) prepare to leave the all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park in favor of greener pastures.  When it comes to light that the house has been sold at a deep discount to an African-American family (most likely the Youngers from Lorraine Hansbury’s seminal Raisin in the Sun, although that fact isn’t explicitly stated), Bev and Russ find themselves being harassed by their “concerned” neighbor Karl, played by a fantastic Jeremy Shamos. 

While Norris’ writing and Shamos’ acting ensure there’s more to Karl than just bigotry, it remains his overriding characteristic, and we are clearly meant to sympathize with the unseen black family.  Because of the distance provided by the period setting, it’s easy for us to sit in judgment of Karl, making the first act seem preachy and predictable despite its strong writing and convincing characterizations. 

But then Act II turns everything on its head by jumping ahead 50 years and reversing the races involved.  Clybourne Park, now an all-black neighborhood that has seen better days, is about to receive its first white residents in ages.  New owners Lindsey (Annie Parisse) and Steve (Shamos again, even better than before) plan to remodel the now historic building, prompting a meeting with the homeowners’ association that eventually leads to veiled accusations of racism and gentrification. 

Suddenly everything Norris wants to say becomes crystal clear, and you realize you had to sit through Act I to fully appreciate how far we have and haven’t come as a supposedly progressive society.  Norris expertly illustrates how even when talking about racism we don’t actually discuss it, since none of the characters really listen to what the others are saying, and all of the most racist comments come from characters voicing what they think is the subtext behind someone else’s words.  The second act is about everyday people who say occasionally racist things, and Norris forces us to ask the question, “Does that make them racist?”  The play offers no easy answers, making it all the more engaging.

The cast, who have been with the show since it’s Off-Broadway premiere, is uniformly excellent.  They all imbue their characters with a quirky specificity that adds volumes to the show’s charm without becoming grating or irksome, and everyone manages to create two fully realized people over the course of the evening.  The aforementioned Annie Parisse accomplishes the most drastic transformation – from a deaf housewife into a new aged “progressive” – with particular flair, and threatens to steal the show with her especially hilarious work in Act II.  Her Lindsey is a masterful satire on modern racism masquerading as liberalism, and yet Parisse plays her role without a hint of judgment on Lindsey’s increasingly misguided-if-well-intentioned worldview. 

Making her Broadway debut, Crystal A. Dickinson offers a fascinating look into the way modern racism is often a two-way street.  Her Lena devolves from a well-spoken individual with valid points into a vindictive, passive-aggressive antagonist who constantly invokes what has become colloquially known as “the black card.”  Her self-satisfied smugness as she gets under Lindsey and Steve’s skin is an excellent illustration of how any minority can take their righteous indignation too far, actually undermining their own cause in the name of advancing it.  (Dickinson also gets the biggest laugh of the evening with a joke that is, to put it mildly, extremely off-color.)

By the end of Clybourne Park, Norris has certainly earned his Pulitzer.  With a script that is simultaneously entertaining and intellectually stimulating, he leaves the audience with a lot to digest.  Along with the expert cast and superb direction by Pam MacKinnon’s (whose contributions cannot be underestimated), Norris’ script leaves you feeling satisfied and actually excited to go home and discuss the show with friends.  If that isn’t a hallmark of great theatre, then I don’t know what is.

Attention Must Be Paid

Review: Death of a Salesman

Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield in Death of a Salesman

On rare occasions, a piece of theatre will leave you so profoundly affected that finding words to describe what you feel proves difficult.  The writing, direction, and performances all combine and send you into a momentary stupor as your brain attempts to process the depth of what you’ve just experienced.  You remain in your seat after the lights come up, hoping that by lingering in the theatre you’ll be able to enjoy its transcendent nature just a while longer.  The knockout revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is such a piece of theatre.

Miller’s script is such an acknowledged masterpiece that it’s easy to forget just how incredible his writing truly is.  This portrait of aging salesman Willy Loman uses incredibly specific characterizations to reveal something universal about the human experience, and it’s themes of shattering disappointment and unfulfilled potential remain timely over sixty years after its premiere.  Seeing a man who has poured his entire life into a company unceremoniously dismissed strikes an especially potent chord in our post-recession economy.  And in a society where adolescence has stretched into a person’s mid-twenties and beyond, Miller’s parallel tale of the arrested development of Willy’s two sons is instantly recognizable.

But a play, even a great one, does not perform itself.  And for this latest Broadway revival, director Mike Nichols has assembled a cast equal to the monumental potential of Miller’s script.  Oscar-winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman anchors this production with a tower performance in one of the theatre’s great roles, embodying Willy’s crushed soul from his first shambling footsteps onto the Barrymore Theatre’s stage.  Although considerably younger his character, Hoffman so convincingly portrays a man suffering from a lifetime of disappointment that you accept him as Willy immediately.  And while his desperation can be uncomfortably oppressive (as it should be), Hoffman peels back those years during the play’s flashback sequences to offer a glimpse of the great man everyone claims Willy used to be.  Hoffman’s contribution to the success of this production cannot be ignored, and anyone interested in seeing a true master at work owes it to themself to see him in this role.

Hoffman is more than ably supported by his costars, particularly Linda Emond.  As Willy’s long-suffering wife Linda, Emond takes a character type that has become cliché and invests it with such conviction that it seems new again.  While you completely understand and sympathize with Linda, you cannot pity her because Emond makes it clear she doesn’t want to be pitied.  Of the characters in the play, Linda is the most at peace with the family’s current situation, which only makes her final monologue all the more heartbreaking.  The play would lead you to believe that Linda has little left to lose, and yet by the end you know that she had everything to lose, and now that it is gone she is will likely never recover.

And then there is Andrew Garfield, a promising young film talent making a phenomenal Broadway debut as Willy’s son Biff.  Garfield is also too young for his role, but just like Hoffman he makes you forget that fact in seconds.  Biff’s tragedy is that he knows exactly what’s wrong with him and yet is powerless to change, and Garfield communicates that conflict flawlessly.  Resentful of the expectations placed on him by his father and filled with guilt over his inability of meet them, Garfield’s Biff is a cornered animal, dangerous and likely to lash out at any moment.  His scenes with Hoffman are simply electric.

Mike Nichols has guided his cast to perfectly pitched performances, ensuring the play moves inexorably towards its final conclusion.  So expertly paced is the piece that although it never drags, it never feels rushed either, with each revelation being afforded the proper dramatic weight.  The sublimely understated sets, costumes, and lighting keep the focus squarely on the human drama at the play’s center, allowing Nichols and his actors to do their work unimpeded.

This revival of Death of a Salesman is an affirmation of the incredible power live theatre can wield, and is an event that only comes around once in a great long while.  A great production of a great play, it simply cannot be missed.

2012 Tony Nominations React

Emmy-winning Broadway veterans Jim Parsons and Kristin Chenoweth announce the 2012 Tony Award nominations.

The Tony Award nominations came out yesterday, making it the second most important day of the entire Broadway season (the first being the day the awards are actually handed out).  In case you somehow missed them, I’ve listed the nominees in the Big 12 categories below, with the starred names indicating the nominees I correctly predicted.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
*Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow
Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors
*Andrew Garfield, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
*Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
*Linda Emond, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner
*Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher
*Judith Light, Other Desert Cities
*Condola Rashad, Stick Fly

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
*Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
*Michael Cerveris, Evita
*David Alan Grier, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It
*Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Elizabeth A. Davis, Once
Jayne Houdyshell, Follies
*Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It
*Jessie Mueller, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
*Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
*James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors
*Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
*James Earl Jones, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Frank Langella, Man and Boy
John Lithgow, The Columnist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
*Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur
*Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow
*Stockard Channing, Other Desert Cities
*Linda Lavin, The Lyons
*Cynthia Nixon, Wit

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
*Danny Burstein, Follies
*Jeremy Jordan, Newsies
*Steve Kazee, Once
*Norm Lewis, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
*Ron Raines, Follies

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
*Jan Maxwell, Follies
*Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
*Cristin Milioti, Once
*Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde

Best Revival of a Play

*Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
*Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
*Master Class
*Wit

Best Revival of a Musical

*Evita
*Follies
*The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
*Jesus Christ Superstar

Best Play

*Clybourne Park
*Other Desert Cities
*Peter and the Starcatcher
*Venus in Fur

Best Musical
Leap of Faith
*Newsies
*Nice Work If You Can Get It
*Once

I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with myself.  I correctly guessed 46 of 56 nominees, or an 82% average for those of you keeping score at home.  And when it comes to the four production categories (Best Play, Musical, Play Revival, and Musical Revival), I did even better, predicting 11 out of 12 eventual nominees.  Or 10.5 out of 12 if you want to get picky, since I had listed Master Class as my runner-up for Best Play Revival.  Apparently Tony voters don’t appreciate stunt casting in their Tennessee Williams plays.

We’ll dissect who has the best chances of winning at a later date, but for now here are my gut reactions to this year’s nominations:

- I am saddened to see play scores taking up two of the four Best Score nominations, mostly because I think it’s a sad comment on the writing being done for the musical theatre these days.  Too many new musicals rely on preexisting scores that are ineligible for the Tony (that would be you, Once), and the ones that do have new scores aren’t all that memorable.  I don’t think we lack the talent to write great scores; rather, I think these composers are being overlooked in favor of less talented people who can churn out a serviceable movie adaptation rather than a more innovative and therefore challenging theatrical score.

- I am thrilled to see Norm Lewis land his first Tony nomination.  Long recognized as an incredibly gifted vocalist, Lewis’ talents as an actor have been often overlooked, and it’s great to see him receive this kind of acknowledgement.

- On a similar note, good for Laura Osnes scoring a Best Actress nomination in a very competitive category.  At this point, I think we can officially forgive her for using that awful Grease: You’re the One That I Want reality show as a starting point for her Broadway career.  She has definitely proven that she has the talent to back up that lucky break.

- Although it did well in other categories, I’m really glad to see One Man, Two Guvnors excluded from the Best Play category.  It is about time the Tony voters began encouraging homegrown American playwrights after years of giving the Best Play trophy to slickly produced British imports of questionable artistic merit (*cough*War Horse*cough*).

- I’m shocked the critically reviled Leap of Faith managed to land one of the four Best Musical nominations.  It just goes to show you how weak the competition in that category was this year.  The fact that it can land such a high honor as its only nomination nominations proves that most of the exciting work being done this year was in revivals and straight plays.

- I’m not at all surprised but still very happy to see such a strong showing from last fall’s Follies.  While I haven’t seen all of this spring’s musicals (including the much ballyhooed Once), that Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman masterpiece is easily the best musical I’ve seen this season, revival or otherwise.

That’s all for now.  Get ready for a month of wild speculation and heated debate, as I’ve got plenty to say about all of the nominees and cannot wait to share it all with you!  And for a taste of what’s to come, here are my reviews of the Tony nominated productions I have personally seen.

Bonnie and Clyde

Evita
Jesus Christ Superstar
Lysistrata Jones (only listed here because of its completely undeserved Best Book nomination)
Newsies
Porgy and Bess
Venus in Fur

*I saw Follies (three times, in fact) before I started this blog, hence it’s exclusion.  In place of a review, just imagine me gushing praise for every conceivably aspect of the show for 1000 words*