BOTTOM LINE: It’s wordy and long and the subject matter seems less than current, but the production is great, the direction is interesting, and the cast is one of the best ensembles on Broadway. If you want to see it, do it now — Top Girls closes on Sunday!

In 1982 Caryl Churchill wrote a play about what it takes for a woman to achieve great professional success. Although it was performed professionally in London and off-Broadway in the States, it never made it to the Great White Way. But this year Manhattan Theatre Club included Top Girls in its season, the play’s first-ever Broadway production. In ‘82 Top Girls was cutting edge in its poignancy and honest rhetoric on the issue of equality in the workplace; in 2008 it comes off as somewhat historic and outdated. How far we’ve come in 26 years.

It’s not that Top Girls is unrelatable. The play centers on Marlene, a British woman who has just been made managing director at the employment agency where she works. Told in three separate scenes with intermissions in between, the audience learns who Marlene is, how she achieved her success, and what she lost along the way. It seems that women can’t be professionally successful and have families or loving relationships. We learn that Marlene has sacrificed everything to get where she is, and maybe doesn’t regret her personal sacrifices anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still issues with gender equality in the workplace. Women still don’t make as much money as men, and they often have to work harder to prove themselves. But the issues presented in Top Girls seem almost antiquated to what women encounter today. In 2008 it is possible for a woman to have both a family and a career; resources are available and society doesn’t shun women who desire both. Also, there are many women CEOs and even heads of state. Hell, for a few months there it looked like we might even have a woman president!

Top Girls is an interesting look at the history of this issue, and Manhattan Theatre Club’s production, directed by James Macdonald, keeps the story line firmly set in 1982 intead of updating it to modern times. The play has a feminist air about it — strong women achieving great things and all — and my boyfriend, who saw it with me, requested that I only recommend it for “people with vaginas.” I think that’s somewhat accurate, though anyone with an interest in the subject matter would be intrigued.

Although Top Girls is well executed and incredibly well acted — Martha Plimpton is friggin’ amazing — it doesn’t resonate as completely as it should. Maybe it’s that the specific subject matter doesn’t hold up 26 years down the road, or maybe it’s because Churchill’s script is wordy and somewhat tedious. You should know that Top Girls is not a passive or light experience; the audience has to work a little to stay with the story. But it does have its funny moments, and the acting is top-notch.

Top Girls plays at Manhattan Theatre Club at the Biltmore Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., but only for one more day — Sunday, June 29, at 8 PM. Visit mtc-nyc.org for ticket information, and check out more New York theatre reviews at theatreiseasy.com.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Attention, theatre buffs: the 2008 Tony Awards are Sunday, June 15, and that means it’s time to place your bets! Theatre Is Easy presents the coolest Tony Awards competition this side of a Lin-Manuel v. Stew cooking contest — the 2008 WIN A TONY Guessing Contest!

Visit theatreiseasy.com/tony and list who you think will win a Tony in each category this year. Submit your selections and cross your fingers. The Tonys air June 15 at 8 PM on CBS, and the winner will be announced Monday, June 16, on theatreiseasy.com.

THE PRIZE: The winner will receive a Fringe Festival VIP Fiver — five pairs of tickets to the five FringeNYC shows of the winner’s choice. Check out fringenyc.org to see all of the shows that are in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival.

Visit theatreiseasy.com/tony to vote today! Good luck! And visit theatreiseasy.com for other valuable information and reviews about what’s playing on and off Broadway.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The newest revival of Gypsy, starring queen diva Patti LuPone, opened in March to obnoxiously good reviews. How good, you ask? The Wall Street Journal wrote that “you’ll never see a more exciting production.” The New York Post said the show is full of “unassailable talent and showbiz genius.” And nearly every other major news outlet loved it just as much. I chalked it up to hype and “Patti LuPone goggles” (she really is captivating onstage) but went to see it for myself.

Instantly, I understood everyone’s raves, and then I felt a little guilty for my cynicism. It was as good as they said. Let me rephrase that — she was as good as they said. LuPone raises the bar when she’s onstage, partly because she’s intensely enthralling. She is a presence, and I imagine that she always radiates, even while ordering a latte at Starbucks. Add to that an amazingly good voice and a strong sensibility as an actor and you can see why she’s pretty much unstoppable.

Gypsy was written in 1959 and has been revived on Broadway four times since its original production. The last revival was in 2003, starring Bernadette Peters (another stage diva in her own right), and I’m not sure why another revival a mere five years later was necessary. I suppose it’s a little offensive to the Peters production, as if to say, “You did alright, but we’ll do it better.” The current revival is directed by Arthur Laurents, the man who wrote Gypsy’s book and directed two previous Broadway revivals, one with Angela Lansbury, the other with Tyne Daly.

LuPone plays Mama Rose, the stage mother extraordinaire. Set in the Depression and based on the true story of Gypsy Rose Lee, Mama just wants her little girls to be stars and will do anything she can to get them to the top. Her prodding and intrusiveness eventually scar her relationship with her talented daughter, June, and she’s left to make the less talented daughter, Louise, into a star. This seems like an impossible task until they find themselves in a burlesque house and Louise discovers her niche as a stripper. She becomes Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper of her time.

Gypsy is a classic musical and a defining piece of American musical theatre. It’s conventionally traditional, but the story has a ton of heart. The music, written by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, is one of the most consistently solid scores of the century. Although this production isn’t without fault –- it lacks creative staging, for one -– overall the cast is incredible. It’s definitely worth seeing, especially because they can’t do another revival anytime soon. Or, at the very least, they shouldn’t.

Gypsy plays at the St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., Tue-Sat 8 PM (also Wed and Sat 2 PM) and Sun 3 PM. Tickets are available at telecharge.com. Visit gypsybroadway.com for more information, and check out more New York theatre reviews at theatreiseasy.com.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, but some It girls should stick to acting in front of a camera. That’s not exactly how the song goes, but it might be my new motto after hearing that Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek, Batman Begins) has been cast in next season’s revival of Arthur Miller’s 1947 play All My Sons; she’ll be starring alongside the legendary John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, and Patrick Wilson. Sure, all three of the aforementioned actors have excelled in roles both on-screen and onstage, but I’m just not convinced Holmes has the same aptitude for both mediums (and have we even seen said aptitude on-screen yet?). I’m not one to care about celebrities and their professional pursuits, but I do care about the integrity of live theatre, and I know a whole lot of actresses with the chops to play Holmes’s role in All My Sons who would kill for the chance to do so.

I completely understand why producers like to cast “names” in their shows; it definitely helps sell tickets. But let’s be honest — a Katie Holmes fan is probably not an Arthur Miller fan (we can compare and contrast The Crucible and Dawson’s Creek in another post). A New York theatergoer who purposely buys a ticket to All My Sons to see Katie Holmes would probably be much happier at a performance of, let’s say, Mamma Mia!

(more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

On Tuesday the American Theatre Wing announced the 2008 Tony Award nominees. A Tony is the highest honor given to Broadway shows and performers, basically like an Oscar for the movies’ less powerful but more pretentious sibling. The fight for professional acknowledgment can be a contentious battle, especially among moneymaking musical extravaganzas. Certainly tourists will see shows that seem fun, regardless of accolades (i.e. certain Disney productions), but having “Best Musical” on a marquee does suggest higher ticket sales and the best bragging rights around.

This year’s fight for the the honor of Best Musical has been an interesting one. In years past, there has been an obvious winner, one new show that appeals to all the major demographics: the gays, the tweens, the theatre students, American tourists, foreign tourists, and older New Yorkers who can afford to see Broadway plays. I’m talking about musicals whose cast recordings are sold all over the world and whose songs become the trendy ones sung at auditions. Last year the Best Musical award went to Spring Awakening, the year before that it was Jersey Boys, in 2005 it was Spamalot, and in ‘04 Avenue Q heroically beat out Wicked. You see where this is going — these are collectively adored new musicals that have taken their rightful place as this decade’s best.

But this year the winner isn’t so visible. The four shows that are up for Best Musical are all completely different and pretty innovative in individual ways, especially when it comes to their music. The two most musically impressive nominees are Passing Strange and In the Heights, which both began as off-Broadway endeavors with little budgets and big hearts; they were both picked up for Broadway runs last fall.

(more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

BOTTOM LINE: A solid play about straight guys that both genders should find relatable and entertaining. See it now — it closes Sunday, May 18.

The Four of Us is the story of Ben (Gideon Banner) and Dave (Michael Esper), the former a novelist, the latter a playwright. Both are in their mid-20s and trying to get their professional lives in order. Friends from summer camp, they’ve gone through their formative years together, always there for one another to lean on. But the usual nature of things is disrupted when Ben gets a superlucrative book deal. Dave has to deal with his innate jealousy of Ben’s success and their subsequent drifting apart as their careers advance.

Like many other productions at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Four of Us is a new work by an emerging playwright, written about recognizable characters and set in the present day. The dialogue is reflective of two friends who are both expressive and self-aware — it’s witty, snarky, and touching, and most importantly, it feels real.

The storytelling techniques in The Four of Us are utilized successfully, especially for a story that’s essentially about storytelling. Playwright Itamar Moses uses nonlinear narration, and as the scenes progress the audience learns more about why Ben and Dave are who they are, and how their friendship propelled them to their current state of being. Banner and Esper are perfectly cast as two well-intentioned guys trying to navigate through the early part of adulthood; their professional lives are about written expression and they’ve got a lot to say.

The Four of Us has been extended through May 18. Check it out while you still can. It’s the kind of story that could certainly live on a movie screen but is much more compelling when told onstage. It’s thought-provoking in all the right ways, and an overall enjoyable experience.

The Four of Us plays off-Broadway at NY City Center’s Stage II, 131 W. 55th St., but only for a little while longer: Tue-Sat 7:30 PM, Wed, Sat, and Sun 2:30 PM. Tickets are normally $50, but use the following discount codes — 3792 (visit nycitycenter.org) or 4TAF (call 212-581-1212) — to get tickets for $30. The show runs 90 minutes without an intermission. Check out mtc-nyc.org for more info, and visit theatreiseasy.com for more NY theatre reviews and other useful information.

Popularity: 7% [?]

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Cry-Baby

Opinions aren’t fact, but everybody has ‘em, especially your trusty theatre reviewers at Theatre Is Easy. This week marks the first installment of a new series, “Point/Counterpoint,” in which my friend Zak and I go head to head on various plays. To start it off, we tackle the new John Waters-inspired musical Cry-Baby.

POINT — Zak
So, where do I begin? Cry-Baby, the new musical based on the 1990 John Waters film of the same name, tells the story of a strait-laced, bobby-socks-wearing girl who falls for the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. And that’s pretty much all that happens in just over two hours of “musical mayhem.”I was actually pretty excited about this show because the songwriting team includes David Javerbaum, executive producer of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and Adam Schlesinger, a member of one of my favorite bands, Fountains of Wayne, and an Academy Award nominee for penning “That Thing You Do!,” the title song from that ’60s-tastic Tom Hanks movie from 1996. Needless to say, there’s a lot of talent on this team, so I don’t know what happened — all of the music captures the era perfectly, but none of it’s that memorable, with the exception of Alli Mauzey’s offbeat rendition of “Screw Loose.” It’s nice, but don’t expect to leave the theater humming or remembering it or any of the other songs from Cry-Baby.

But the problem isn’t really the music — it’s the story. The innocent good girl falls in love with the hip-swiveling Cry-Baby in the first scene and then two and a half hours later they end up together. So why do we care? Oh, right — we don’t. The show tries to be dirty and bizarre but falls completely flat. The dancing is fun and high-spirited, and the tap number performed on license plates in the second act is actually pretty amazing. But don’t go expecting a show that is anywhere near as satisfying as Hairspray. Go for an evening of completely mindless entertainment.

(more…)

Popularity: 8% [?]

BOTTOM LINE: An interesting story with realistic characters in compelling relationships. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny and socially relevant.

From Up Here is a refreshing piece of theatre for mid-April 2008. I’m not sure it would seem quite as stimulating at another time, but for right now it’s a treat to see. From a theatrical standpoint, it’s been a while since I’ve simply seen a story being told onstage without bells, whistles, and video projections adding to or messing with the story’s integrity. And from the perspective of the plot itself, From Up Here gives a unique vantage point on the very timely issue of violence in schools.

The story takes place in a typical midwest suburb, at a typical midwest high school. The playwright, Liz Flahive, carefully weaves the characters’ personalities so their interactions are believable and sincere. Tension is high on this particular morning as Kenny (Tobias Segal) is allowed back at school after he, months before, brought a gun to school and threatened to use it. Kenny’s mom (Julie White) and stepdad (Brian Hutchison) try to keep things “normal” as he prepares to rejoin society and essentially begin a new life. Even though Kenny seems rehabilitated (though it’s hard to believe he was ever capable of mass murder), he knows his peers won’t accept him with open arms.

Adolescent angst is hard enough without the label of psycho killer, and Segal plays Kenny with an uncomfortable edge while still letting us see his raw and genuine spirit. He’s not a bad guy, but rather a disturbed kid who elicits sympathy. At Kenny’s side are his younger sister Lauren (Aya Cash) and world-traveling aunt Caroline (Arija Bereikis). Lauren is cynical and Juno-esque, and Cash brings out the conflicted attitudes of a 15-year-old who is too aware for her own good. Caroline is a big hippie and the only family member who assures Kenny that life will continue and inevitably improve after he gets through his teenage years.

The main reason I enjoyed From Up Here is because I actually cared about these characters and I wanted to know what would happen and how they would resolve their conflicts. The story never drills plot points into your head, nor does it expect you to pick up on inane details to understand what’s happening. The exposition occurs at a comfortable, conversational pace, and the dialogue is colloquial enough to ease you right into these people’s lives. Leigh Silverman’s direction keeps the energy high, and the talented designers (and sizable budgets) make it all realistic.

From Up Here is a well-crafted piece of theatre with the emphasis on telling a story live and on a stage. Without the frills and tactics of overproduced theatre, From Up Here is what it is: an interesting story that sucked me in and won me over.

From Up Here plays through June 8 at NY City Center, Stage 1, 131 W. 55th St. Tickets are $75 and available at the City Center website or by calling the box office at 212-581-1212; student tickets are $25 and are available day of show up to one hour before showtime (call the box office for more info). Visit mtc-nyc.org to learn more about From Up Here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The other day I saw Jersey Boys, a Broadway musical unlike any other I’ve seen before. It’s not that the show itself was that phenomenally groundbreaking, or touching, or thought-provoking. And it’s not as if the cast, although they were quite good, were any more talented than any other ensemble out there. I’ve simply never before seen an audience so intensely connected with what was happening onstage.The Jersey Boys audience demographic is easy to pinpoint. If the performance I saw is any indication, I’d say 98 percent are upper-middle- to upper-class white folks between the ages of 50 and 65. The other 2 percent are conspicuously younger and tagging along with their parents/in-laws/sugar daddies. Yes, it’s true that the aforementioned demographic is pretty consistent for all Broadway shows, but there’s normally a younger and/or foreign faction in the audience too.

Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It’s a musical with very little dialogue, performed by what is essentially a really great Four Seasons cover band (although I fear some of the especially giddy audience members thought it was the real Four Seasons up there). Jersey Boys has officially been on Broadway for a couple of years now, and it won the Tony for Best New Musical in 2006. Although the buzz has died down significantly since it opened, Jersey Boys is still one of the hardest shows in town to get tickets for. I guess I should note that the reason I saw the show was because my boyfriend’s parents were in town and they bought our tickets — last summer.

Jersey Boys is still making scads of money and selling out regularly, in large part because it connects so deeply with its audience. As I sat there bopping my head and really enjoying the production, I still felt like I was missing out on something, like I wasn’t part of some inside secret. It was as if my fellow audience members were connected to the stage by a rope that was pulling them closer and closer until their happiness became audible, until they were literally singing along. I could see the flashbacks behind their eyes. Don’t get me wrong — I’m familiar with many of the Four Seasons’ songs and they remind me of fond times too, except that “Oh, What a Night” reminds me of summer camp and “Walk Like a Man” reminds me of Robin Williams in drag in Mrs. Doubtfire.

So this Jersey Boys experience got me thinking: if the Four Seasons’ songs can define a generation so fiercely that 40 years later this music incites weeping, what will represent me a few decades down the road? Here are some things I hope will not epitomize my generation: boy bands (from New Kids on the Block to ‘N Sync and every one in between), Boyz II Men’s Motownphilly, and the theme song from 90210. I did listen to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins during my formative years, but I’m not sure a Billy Corgan musical would be a big sell either.

Revolutionary movements like grunge and hip-hop certainly have their place in pop culture and music history, but it’s hard to tell if one band or act or artist can bring my generation together the way the Four Seasons entrances the baby boomers. Truthfully, I’m not sure there is one epitomizing band or sound or musical revolution that can sum up the ’90s, especially since music branched out into so many genres, and so much of it was overproduced anyway. Maybe someday we’ll see the Nirvana story with Frances Bean playing Courtney Love. But maybe it’s just as well if we don’t — my kids don’t need to see me reliving my teenage years as I sing along to “Come as You Are.”

Popularity: 13% [?]

BOTTOM LINE: One Coen brother behind the curtain is a lot like two Coen brothers behind the camera. Glorious!

Almost an Evening is written by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ethan Coen, who normally writes and directs alongside his brother, Joel, but this is a solo writing venture and also Ethan’s off-Broadway debut. And it rocks. The Coen brothers’ films are known for eccentric characters, dry humor, and an undertone of intellectual merit. If you haven’t already seen No Country for Old Men (2007’s Best Picture winner), Raising Arizona (1987), The Big Lebowski (1998), Fargo (1996), or O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), well, what are you waiting for?

This production is actually three short one-acts that aren’t related in subject matter but are certainly similar in tone and humor. The cast includes nine actors who play multiple parts throughout the show. The cool thing about Almost an Evening is that it brilliantly walks the line between poignant and funny; it’s not a passive theatre experience, but it’s also not a chore to follow along. Ethan doesn’t try to put anything past you, but it is intended for a more “with it” audience (read: not the geriatric crowd).

Almost an Evening brilliantly incorporates that great Coen mindfuck. You know what I mean — in a Coen brothers movie, it might be “Gee, how gruesome can this scene get before the audience vomits all over themselves?” or “Let’s convince the audience that something is true and then pull the rug out from under them at precisely the right moment.” Well, in this play, it’s more like Ethan is saying, “Hmm, I wonder if I can still tell this story if I keep it pitch black for five minutes.”

Almost an Evening premiered at Atlantic Theater Company in a sold-out run earlier this year; it’s now playing a limited off-Broadway engagement until June 1. It’s no surprise it was picked up for a longer run — the cast and crew are an acclaimed team. The cast includes many seasoned actors; they’re the kind of people you recognize but then have to look up on IMDB when you get home. The most notable cast member is F. Murray Abraham, who plays God like the curmudgeon-y love child of George Carlin and Lewis Black, and the show is directed by the very capable Neil Pepe, the artistic director at Atlantic Theater Company. Check it out while it’s still playing. It’s a good time.

Almost an Evening plays at the Theatres at 45 Bleecker, 45 Bleecker St., between Mott and Lafayette. Tickets are $50 and are available at the box office, at telecharge.com, or by calling 212-239-6200. Student tickets are available at the box office on the day of performance for $20. Visit almostanevening.com for more information.

Check out theatreiseasy.com for more reviews and info about the New York theatre scene.

Popularity: 9% [?]