Saturday, September 29, 2012
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is playing at the Booth Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Virginia Woolf: The Houseboy Edition (They Couldn't Get It Up)
By Jonathan Jones
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is playing at the Booth Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is playing at the Booth Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
An Enemy of the People: A Play for Our Time
By Jonathan Jones
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
An Enemy of the People is playing at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
An Enemy of the People is playing at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
War Horse: Not As Good As London's Version but Still a Thrill
By Jonathan Jones
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
War Horse is playing at The Vivienne Beaumont Theatre through January 2013 only. Tickets can be purchased here.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
War Horse is playing at The Vivienne Beaumont Theatre through January 2013 only. Tickets can be purchased here.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
A Delightful Little Show, for a Delightful Little Tramp
By Jonathan Jones
Thursday, August 30, 2012
As I see so many Broadway shows, I know how rare it is for a show to arrive on Broadway that truly does warm the heart. Chaplin delivers on all accounts.
Perhaps it is the adoration that our culture has towards The Little Tramp that spills over into this production - but the feat of capturing that charm is itself amazing.
There is nothing earth shattering here. This does not try in any way to re-define the form, as many shows try so desperately to do today. Chaplin is a traditional book musical with a traditional story - good guy goes bad needs redemption - but it is just lovely.
I'm not sure this will have an extended life here on Broadway - it's not gimmicky enough to live on for years (and that is part of its charm) - but it will live on in regional and community theatres and school productions for years to come.
Chaplin is playing at The Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
As I see so many Broadway shows, I know how rare it is for a show to arrive on Broadway that truly does warm the heart. Chaplin delivers on all accounts.
Perhaps it is the adoration that our culture has towards The Little Tramp that spills over into this production - but the feat of capturing that charm is itself amazing.
There is nothing earth shattering here. This does not try in any way to re-define the form, as many shows try so desperately to do today. Chaplin is a traditional book musical with a traditional story - good guy goes bad needs redemption - but it is just lovely.
I'm not sure this will have an extended life here on Broadway - it's not gimmicky enough to live on for years (and that is part of its charm) - but it will live on in regional and community theatres and school productions for years to come.
Chaplin is playing at The Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Bring It On!!
By Jonathan Jones
Monday, July 30, 2012
I LOVE this show.
I’ve said it.
I first saw Bring It
On during its premiere engagement at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta
in January 2011 (yes, I traveled there specifically to see the show). Here’s
what I had to say then:
The first 40 minutes were a snore and made me think that High School Musical had forever ruined
my favorite art form, but then came the hip hop and the dance crew and two
amazing talents and I loved every subsequent minute - until the closing number
(which is hideous cheese). With some tweaking, this could sit nicely next to Hairspray as a personal favorite.
I was deeply concerned at first, but then the joy began to shine through. Jon Rua (who played Sonny when in In the Heights on Broadway) is one of the stars - he's incredible - look him up - he's really great. And then this woman was just in the Dreamgirls tour (which I never saw=shame) - Adrienne Warren - she is a
Further, any show that mentions that Madonna used to be a cheerleader in order to convince a hip-hopping basketball player boy to join a
cheerleading squad has to be a success.
What I’d add now:
The audience contributes so much to this show. The
subscribers in Atlanta were mainly
old ladies and they appreciated the acrobatics but showed nothing of the pleasure
and enjoyment that the young crowd on Broadway did. They laugh at the jokes,
cheer on the performers, and are clearly not Broadway regulars as they didn’t
all stand up at the end – it was like being in London = LOVELY.
As for the first 40 minutes that I loathed the first time
around, I had no idea what to expect going into that show t and I was terrified that the un-amusing drek would carry on for the rest of the
show. It's 40 minutes of exposition that moved quite quickly tonight and I didn't mind it nearly as much as I now understood what purpose it served. That said, I still nearly exploded with joy when we
moved from Truman High to Jackson High. From that moment on, the smile never
left my face.
The casting has changed somewhat and I knew Jon Rua left
after the Atlanta engagement. His replacement,
Nicolas Womack, is good, but pales in comparison as his performance is more imitation
than making the role his own, as Jon did.
Adrienne Warren is still amazing. I adore her and I will see
her in anything she does. She is incredible and I look forward to where her
career will take her.
After suffering through LysistrataJones last season, I was worried that I would now hate this show too, but
there really is something special in Jeff Whitty’s book that is completely
endearing and really gets the audience going. The young women about me in the
mezzanine kept commenting, “I had no idea this would be so funny.” I imagine
the movies are a poor-man’s Clueless
or Legally Blonde, but the book here
really stands its own against those films and would make a powerhouse movie
musical.
The score has some fine moments. “It’s All Happening” derives much from “Blackout” in “In the Heights” but I’ll take it. The ballad “Enjoythe Trip” is stirring and the finale “I Got You” is still cheesy as can be, but
pure joy nonetheless.
I adore this show and I hope that you will too.
Bring It On is on
Broadway at The St. James Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Memphis: A Jukebox Musical Without Any Hits
By Jonathan Jones
Thursday, July 26, 2012
It took me two years to see Memphis because I was convinced that it was a stinker. Tony night surprised me, but did not shift me view so I stayed away. However, with the addition of Adam Pascal, my interest was piqued, but it was only the posting of their closing notice and the emergence of tickets on TDF that got me into the theatre.
Unfortunately, my suspicions were accurate - Memphis is a stinker. I can't recall what initially made me think it would be a stinker, but I now know that like Sister Act, the music is the problem. The emergence of the jukebox musical has had an indellible impact on the Broadway musical, largely in the proliferation of the form. Memphis, like Sister Act and Once, relies heavily on performance numbers that are thematically related to the story but fail to tell the story with any necessity. The songs could be cut, reduced, or removed and the plot wouldn't really change. Jukebox musicals often have to be structured this way because pop music rarely tells a story on its own, and when it does and is then put into a larger narrative as was seen in Julie Taymour's visually brilliant Across the Universe, the audience recoils in the requisite schmaltz. The form is what it is, and audiences seem to like it, so I will not judge the form - the problem with Memphis (like Sister Act) is that it doesn't use pop hits - so now the audience is left with irrelevant, derivative music that is far from compelling. Worse, because of the running undercurrent of race relations, the lyrics sound like they should be in an Avenue Q style parody rather than a serious telling of musical history - but sadly lacking all humor and wit. "Everybody Wants to be Black on a Saturday Night"? You've got to be kidding me. And then of course, there is the fact that a parallel story was told with wit, humor, and unforgettable musical moments in Hairspray (the original film and the Broadway version; the 2007 movie is unfortunate at best).
That is not to say that Montego Glovers' "Someday" is charming, as is she. Adam Pascal was awkward at best and none of his costumes seemed to fit him. I desperately searched the stage to see if any of the other men were having this issue - perhaps it was a stylistic choice - but no - only he looked like he traded in one potato sack for another as the show progresses.
The only musical moment of the show that really uplifted the production was the 11 O'clock number, "Memphis Lives in Me," which really was incredible. The rest - well - Broadway isn't losing anything when this show closes next week.
Adam Pascal sings "Memphis Lives in Me":
Memphis will end its three-year run at the Shubert Theatre on August 5, 2012.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
It took me two years to see Memphis because I was convinced that it was a stinker. Tony night surprised me, but did not shift me view so I stayed away. However, with the addition of Adam Pascal, my interest was piqued, but it was only the posting of their closing notice and the emergence of tickets on TDF that got me into the theatre.
Unfortunately, my suspicions were accurate - Memphis is a stinker. I can't recall what initially made me think it would be a stinker, but I now know that like Sister Act, the music is the problem. The emergence of the jukebox musical has had an indellible impact on the Broadway musical, largely in the proliferation of the form. Memphis, like Sister Act and Once, relies heavily on performance numbers that are thematically related to the story but fail to tell the story with any necessity. The songs could be cut, reduced, or removed and the plot wouldn't really change. Jukebox musicals often have to be structured this way because pop music rarely tells a story on its own, and when it does and is then put into a larger narrative as was seen in Julie Taymour's visually brilliant Across the Universe, the audience recoils in the requisite schmaltz. The form is what it is, and audiences seem to like it, so I will not judge the form - the problem with Memphis (like Sister Act) is that it doesn't use pop hits - so now the audience is left with irrelevant, derivative music that is far from compelling. Worse, because of the running undercurrent of race relations, the lyrics sound like they should be in an Avenue Q style parody rather than a serious telling of musical history - but sadly lacking all humor and wit. "Everybody Wants to be Black on a Saturday Night"? You've got to be kidding me. And then of course, there is the fact that a parallel story was told with wit, humor, and unforgettable musical moments in Hairspray (the original film and the Broadway version; the 2007 movie is unfortunate at best).
That is not to say that Montego Glovers' "Someday" is charming, as is she. Adam Pascal was awkward at best and none of his costumes seemed to fit him. I desperately searched the stage to see if any of the other men were having this issue - perhaps it was a stylistic choice - but no - only he looked like he traded in one potato sack for another as the show progresses.
The only musical moment of the show that really uplifted the production was the 11 O'clock number, "Memphis Lives in Me," which really was incredible. The rest - well - Broadway isn't losing anything when this show closes next week.
Adam Pascal sings "Memphis Lives in Me":
Memphis will end its three-year run at the Shubert Theatre on August 5, 2012.
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