Into The Woods at McCarter

Into The Woods
Fiasco Theater Company @ McCarter Theater
Sunday, May 26, 7PM

It's been a couple of weeks and my memory ain't what it used to be, but I think I can muster up enough coherent thoughts on this extraordinary production to write a review.

As I posted previously, Fiasco's stripped-down production is pretty much perfection.  It's creative, surprising and moving in ways that I don't necessarily associate with Into The Woods.  Most productions seem to emulate (i.e. copy) the well-known original Broadway production's lavish design and feel or else ignore the material's dark undercurrents in favor of twee preciousness.

This production takes place on a bare stage decorated with discarded piano parts and strewn with dusty old relics you might find in grannie's attic.  But in the whimsical hands of the cast and with a little imagination, these garage sale finds transform into trees, towers and birds.

The upside to this stripped-down approach is that it focuses our attention on Sondheim's pithy lyrics that expound on complex themes of family and responsibility.  I'm very familiar with the show, having directed it as well as been forced to sit through many a tedious production, and Fiasco has managed to make the scenes and songs seem fresh and the quick, dense lyrics intelligible to my jaded ears.

The cast of 10 (I'd actually include pianist, Matt Castle - who, incidentally, I replaced in a show many, many moons ago - as an 11th cast member) play all the roles, creating some hilarious doubling opportunities.  Some even do triple duty, supplementing Castle's piano accompaniment by playing random instruments scattered about the stage.

It seems redundant for me to continue my review considering Brantley's capture my thoughts so well in his review in the New York Times.  So I'll just list some of my favorite moments and leave the critical dissection to the pros.

• Double casting the princes as Florinda and Lucinda.
• Using shadows to represent the Giant's murder.
• Having the entire female ensemble speak/sing the role of Cinderella's mother.
• Creating a communal feel by eliminating the narrator and distributing his lines to the cast so that it seems like a group of storytellers re-enacting the events for us rather than us just watching a play.
• Re-orchestrating the music for Jack's mother to give her character a more folk/country feel.
• Andy Grotelueshen's comedic use of a cowbell as Milky White.
• Staging "On the Steps of the Palace" as if Cinderella were actually stuck on the steps.

Sure, the singing voices aren't always optimal, but the trade off is an emotional clarity and depth that, in this case, transcends a perfect belt.  Though I won't lie, I would sell my left nut to hear Carolee's "Last Midnight."  A girl can dream.

"Magic Flute" frustrations & melodic colonic at "The Little Mermaid"

The Bad Seed, 1956

Dante has obviously never produced a full length opera performed entirely by 12 to 18 year olds, otherwise he'd most certainly have included a tenth level of hell somewhere between the fifth (anger) and the seventh (violence) rings.  I found myself precariously poised between anger and violence following Saturday afternoon's tedious Magic Flute rehearsal at which several of the leading performers were still stumbling over lines and blocking after a mere four months of rehearsal (the show opens in one week).

Is it no wonder Val decided to take last season off from producing operas?  Sure, producing any kind of classical art form, let alone opera, in this economy and within a youth culture of instant gratification and entitlement is an iffy proposition.  But last season's break was as much a mental health issue as it was a financial one.  Sometimes you just need to cleanse the mental palate - or in this case, scrape it clean.

Okay, rant over.  Moving on...

Trish matches the poster!

With those damn Magic Flute melodies insinuating themselves into our brains like a bad case of head lice, we decided on an impromptu trip to the Paper Mill Playhouse for a melodic colonic via Alan Menken’s tuneful Little Mermaid score.  There is nothing more catchy (or annoying) in all the musical theatre canon than Ariel’s three-note, ascending theme.  I bet you're hearing it in your head right now and cursing me.  Bwah ha ha ha.

The Little Mermaid

Paper Mill Playhouse

Saturday, June 1, 7PM

Apparently, Saturday's gay night (aka actor night) at the Paper Mill.  In the audience we spotted Ra-Sean Holloway, Don Rey, Matt LaBanca, Matt Tweardy and Daniel Torres all slumming it in Jersey for tonight’s performance.  At least we were in good company.

The original Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, though it had its moments (specifically the glorious vocals of Sierra Boggess), was mostly a bloated, stylistically inconsistent mess.  But that’s what happens when you attempt to stretch the near perfect original Disney movie into two acts in order to justify charging over $100 a ticket. 

For Paper Mill’s production, Disney granted the artistic team permission to re-write and tweak the original script.  It could still use some judicious snipping (the added Ursula songs are abysmal and the eels do not need their own song), but the Paper Mill version is superior, with a clearer, more streamlined book.

The physical production has also been re-thought.  No more mer-folk in heelys.  Instead, our scaly friends are suspended from cables and “swim” through the air.  It’s a major improvement visually over the skates, though the novelty began to fade by the second act.  And all those body rolls to approximate swimming are a little much.  We get it.  You're underwater.  You're fish.  But please stop.  

One major misstep with the flying/swimming is during “Part of Your World.”  Poor Jessica Grové is being whipped around the stage the entire song and as a result, suffers vocally and dramatically.  In the Broadway version, Sierra made me cry simply sitting there onstage.  Grové’s version only succeeded in making me seasick (not her fault, of course).

The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent with Nick Adams showing off a surprisingly legit voice (who knew he had that hidden underneath his Priscilla drag).  I wish Ed Watts had more opportunity to show off his ringing baritone voice, but he fills out his wet suit nicely.  And poor Liz McCartney valiantly tries to put over the two worst songs in the show (though in consolation, she also gets the best song, "Poor, Unfortunate Souls").

Don't forget to come out this summer and check out our middle school Spotlight Theatre students present Disney's Little Mermaid Jr.  We promise lots of flying and stunning visual effects!  And by "flying" I mean "walking" and by "stunning visual effects" I mean "a backdrop."

Newsies!

Newsies
Papermill Playhouse
Saturday, Oct 1, 2:00 PM performance

Newsies hits the “big 2” musical theatre audience demographic - gay men and tween-age girls.  Seriously though, who doesn’t like a stage full of handsome, young, muscular men dancing and flipping around a stage?  The director knows his audience, so the very first scene with all the “boys” features several shirtless Abercrombie & Fitch-types shaving.  Funny they should be shaving when they all appear to be completely hairless otherwise.  Not that I’m complaining. 

Disney’s latest effort almost makes up for the overblown and badly conceived The Little Mermaid from a few seasons back (though I still have a straight crush on Sierra Boggess - that voice!).  This time, Disney creatives have actual human characters to work with and a story set against a real historical event, no roller skates or weird hand puppets this go around.  From the audience reaction (wildly enthusiastic applause and several mid-song ovations), it seems Newsies is a hit with audiences.

From my front row, center mezzanine seat (jealous much?), I witnessed a slick, streamlined production that takes the best elements from the movie while retaining the spirit and energy of the cult film classic.

Jeremy Jordan has that indescribable “it” factor as well as a freakishly high, clean voice that is thrilling in the first act closing reprise of “Santa Fe.”  His newly created love interest (not in the movie) is a spunky pre-feminist, Katherine Plumber, played by Kara Lindsay.  Though the chemistry with Jordan is there, she seemed to be pushing vocally - at least at the performance I attended.  Otherwise, she’s a great actress and incredibly likeable in a role that could easily slip into “bitch” territory.

Some reviews describe the set as “ugly,” but I think it’s completely satisfactory and conveys the many and varied scene changes swiftly and economically.  I didn’t mind the projections and thought they were used tastefully and sparingly enough to evoke each location.

The choreography was out of control in a good and bad way.  Not much of it is character-driven, but it was so athletic and energetic, you couldn’t help but be impressed and excited.  I only wish it was more show-specific and not so much dance recital “show-off”-y.  Though Ryan Steele can do no wrong.

Broadway bound?  So it seems from insiders.  But I think it would be a mistake to move it without Jordan who’ll be starring in Bonnie and Clyde on Broadway beginning next month.  What’s the rush?  Wait for the fall and have a big-ass opening in the new season.  Let Jordan have back-to-back Tony nominations.

Little Shop of Horrors

Well, the Pineda’s (plus honorary Pineda, Chris Johnson) were ass-tired after spending the day torturing our lovely conservatory students. But I knew we’d need some form of stress relief anyway, so I bought us all tickets to Little Shop at the Paper Mill. All in all, it was an extremely solid and enjoyable production. Probably most impressive were the urchins - holla’ to Montego Glover (Chiffon), a NY acquaintance of mine - those bitches can sing ya’ll. Not to be all racist and sh*t, but it was nice to hear African-American performers not “push” the singing and riffing so much, a la American Idol. All three just sang full and healthy and riffed tastefully but judiciously. It was obvious they were all kick-ass vocalists and didn’t need to have a my-dick’s-bigger-than-yours contest with each other - no jealousy or vocal envy between these three.

The physical production was also quite good. Much more appropriate and interesting than the hideous “modern” empty stage they tried to pass off as a “concept” for the last show I saw there, Baby. The rest of the cast was more than adequate with Jenny Fellner (Audrey) giving a surprisingly moving and funny rendition of “Somewhere That’s Green.” The only disappointment was Asa Somers (Orin) who I’ve seen do great work in Dance of the Vampires and recently in Next To Normal. He seemed miscast and not very distinctive as the sadistic dentist. Maybe it was on off night. Oh well, overall a solid B+. On a side note, there was an extremely loud farter sitting right by Trish and I. Nasty! He/She literally blew their horn twice, quite loudly during the first act. He/She must have downed the tums at intermission because we were fart-free during the second act. Well, unless they were letting loose some SBD’s. Good times at the Papermill.