Spiderman: Turn off the Dark

             Why anyone thought to call Spider man: Turn off the Dark a new musical is as great a puzzlement as one can find. It is not a musical. It is a two and half hour long theme park stunt show that happens to have singing and dancing in it. What is happening on stage every night at The Foxwoods Theater is admittedly visually stunning. Creatively speaking, it's stunning in a different way.

          The show begins somewhat promising. The first 15 minutes are quite good. The visuals seem to be coming from an organic and specific place driven by plot, story and character development. After that initial first 15 minutes it's all down hill from there. There is a 5 minute song and dance number called "bullying by numbers" in which high school kids who look as though they've repeated senior year 8 times beat up Peter Parker for the entire number.

          It's hard to say which is worse, the book, or the music. It's almost as if they are competing to see which can be more cringe inducing. The songs, admittedly, are not all bad. There are some very interesting melodies at work. Unfortunately the lyrics don't make sense, have no sense of plot or character development, and are some times even laughable. Most of the songs do not serve the story, but rather slow it down.

   There are a few notable exceptions with the songs, the book however, is all bad. The dialogue is shoddy at best. It's embarrassing some of the things these people are forced to say. Not only that, but so much of it doesn't make any sense. Songs and battles come out of no where. It's hard to imagine that twelve weeks ago this was actually worse.

    Patrick Pages deserves kudos as Norman Osborne/The Green Goblin. He sells that crap like it's Sondheim. His portrayal of Norman Osborne is as real and emotional as you're going to get in what is essentially a circus. Jennifer Damiano has a pleasing voice, but unfortunately gets bogged down by the material. She is unable to "rise above" the crap dialogue and deliver a commanding performance.

    The biggest disappointment is Reeve Carney as Peter Parker. This is not the face of Peter Parker. This is the face of Peter Parker if Peter Parker were tall, blond, sexy, and joined an Emo Rock band. Not only does he not look the part, he cannot act, and sings just like Bono, which is not appropriate for Broadway, nor is it pleasant to listen to for two and a half hours.

     Visually, it's a masterpiece, and there is nothing in the world to parallel what is happening on that stage. The Act II battle between The Green Goblin and Spider man is absolutely jaw dropping. The rest of the show is just plain boring. If this had been a 45 minute theme park show with a few hummable tunes and spectacular effects, I'd be humming a different tune, so to speak.

      The team that was brought in when Julie Taymore was ousted had a lot of work to do, and they did the best that they could in 8 weeks. Perhaps the show will live on in either a touring company, Vegas edition, or London production that will offer them the chance to make further tweaks to the book and the score.

    In closing, I advise knowing what you are getting yourself into before you see this show. It's a lot of money to be spending on a night out if you aren't prepared for what you're in for. Also, if you have a chance to listen to the score (I use that term loosely) before you attend you should do so, as some of the lyrics are difficult to understand in the theater.

Tony Time

        Mien Dammen und Herren, ma dames et mesuers, ladies and gentlemen, it's Broadways biggest night! The 2011 Tony Awards ceremony is this evening (June 12th) on CBS! This will be the 16th year in a row that I have watched The Tony Awards, and it never ceases to be like Christmas morning to me.

      Some people hate awards shows. I'm not one of those people. Nor am I one of those who likes to see who people are wearing and all of that gossipy type stuff. I enjoy most awards shows, but Tony and I have a special bond. It's because I feel a certain connection with the shows that are nominated. I feel like these shows are my friends. Some of them are my enemies. When my friends win I like to cheer for them. When my enemies win I like to tell my friends it's alright because they're prettier. Either way, I enjoy watching what happens. So, what will happen tonight?

     If The Book of Mormon does not win in nearly every category that it is nominated for I will be surprised. My take on things is below.

Best musical: The Book of Mormon (and it should)

Best Play: War Horse (Jerusalem should)

Best book: The Book of Mormon (and it probably should)

Best original score: The Book of Mormon (The Scottsboro Boys should)

Best revival of a play: The Normal Heart (and it most definitely should)

Best Revival of a musical: Anything Goes (and it should)

Leading Actor in a play: This is where things get interesting. It will probably go to Mark Rylance for Jerusalem, but COULD go to either Bobby Cannavale or Joe Mantello. Brian Bedford and Al Pacino are in the wrong category simply because they are big stars and therefore have no chance of winning.

Lead Actress in a play: Francis McDormand hands down.

Leading Actor in a musical: This is also interesting. Some people are predicting a split vote between Andrew Rannels and Josh Gad for The Book of Mormon putting one of the other guys on top. I think Andrew Rannels will squeak by with a win, but seriously, as long as Norbert Leo Butz (as talented as he most def is) does not win for that piece of poo Catch me if you can I will be happy.

Leading Actress in a musical: I think it's gonna be Sutton Foster, but it COULD be Patina Miller. Both got excellent reviews.

Featured Actress in a play: Ellen Barkin for the The Normal Heart will probably win. This is the category I am most torn up about who I think SHOULD win. Judith Light elevated Lombardi to a place it wouldn't have been brought to without her, and  Edie Falco in The House of Blue Leaves just melted your face off with acting power.

Featured Actor in a musical: Probably go to Rory O'malley for The Book of Mormon but could also go to John Larroquette for How to Succeed. I think one of the Scottsboro boys should win.

Featured Actress in a musical: Nikki M. James could win just for being in The Book of Mormon. I would LOVE to see Tammy Blanchard win, or Laura Benanti.

Scenic design of a play: War horse

Scenic design of a musical: The book of Mormon

Costume design of a play: The Importance of Being Earnest

Costume design of a musical: Priscilla Queen of the desert

Lighting of a play: War horse (Bengal Tiger SHOULD win)

Lighting of a musical: The Book of Mormon

Sound design of a play: War horse

Sound design of a musical: The book of Mormon

Direction of a play. Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe for The Normal Heart

Best direction of a musical: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker for The Book of Mormon

Best Choreography: Kathleen marshal should win for Anything goes but it could go to Casey Nicholaw for The book of Mormon. I'd also be thrilled if Susan Stroman won for The Scottsboro boys because it was the best choreography of her career thus far (even better than The Producers).

Orchestrations will probably go to the book of Mormon.

Well there you have it folks! It's 7:55 pm and it's time for me to grab a drink, use the rest room and park my butt in front of the TV! Enjoy the show!

The House of Blue Leaves

          John Guares The House of Blue Leave is an excellent play about how celebrity has completely engulfed our culture and tainted those of us who do not have it into believing that we are entitled to it. The production currently on display over at The Walter Kerr theater does not do well in conveying this or any other theme of the play.

       The production starts awkwardly, with struggling songwriter and Zoo keeper Artie Shaugnessy (Ben Stiller) playing the piano at an amateur night. Director David Cromer chose to stage the first ten minutes with Stiller having his back to the audience. There is nothing wrong with this in theory, but Stiller is not commanding enough onstage to pull this off.

      There are wonderfully written pages of dialogue in this script, and the characters are comedic gold. Most of the cast unfortunately never gets past what lies beneath the surface. Jennifer Jason Leigh is fine as Bunny Flingus, (Artie's mistress and neighbor) and nails all the jokes convincingly, but you can't help but feel that there is more to be had from that performance.

   The brightest spot on the stage is Edie Falco as Artie's wife, Bananas Shaughnessy. You see not a single trace of Edie Falco, Carmella Soprano, or Nurse Jackie on that stage. Through all her success as a television actress, we have forgotten that Edie Falco is a New York actor who trained for, and starred in the theater before she was plucked up by Hollywood. She still has the acting chops that she first displayed in the original 1998 production of Side Man.

     As Artie's Schizophrenic and mildly Agoraphobic wife she hits more emotional notes than the New York Philharmonic. It's very easy to play crazy as crazy, but Ms. Falco comes from a place of genuine specificity. You never doubt that what you are seeing comes from a truly grounded place. You are watching a masterful performance by a true artist.

    Ben Stiller is disappointing from beginning to end. If Edie Falco is a symphony, Ben Stiller is Hot Crossed Buns. There is very little depth to his performance. And because of his casting, and the way he has chosen to deliver certain moments, the audience is laughing when they aught to be listening.

    The set design by Scott Pask, costumes by Tom Watson, and the lighting and wig design are spot on. The tepid performances and bland direction make this rich, and satisfying entree merely an appetizer.

The Motherfucker With the Hat

             Relationships are difficult things. They challenge us all through our lives. At the very top of Stephen Adly Guirgis new play we meet Veronica, who has a somewhat troubled relationship with her mother as we can tell from the phone conversation we are privy too. This shows us the type of home Veronica comes from, and gives insight into what the rest of the play will be like.

              The true troubled relationship at the center of the play is between Veronica and Jackie, a former drug user/dealer and Alcoholic who has only recently been released from prison and is trying to get back on his feat, when he finds a mans hat on his table, and his bed smells like Aqua-velva and dick.

                Who IS the Motherfucker with the hat? Is motherfucker one word or two? It would be cheating to tell you. All I can and will say is that  the play is very funny from beginning to end. I found the play to be emotionally satisfying as well as very well written.

                The set design is very good, and so is the costume and lighting design. I found the acting performances and the direction to be a tad misguided. There is a huge scream fest right at the beginning of the play, and it never backs down from there. Because the actors are beginning at such fever pitch they have no place to go but down.

              Bobby Cannavale is excellent as Jackie. He gives him the right amount of Machismo but also keeps him vulnerable, and therefore likable. We never stop rooting for Jackie to do the right thing. Elizabeth Rodriguez is excellent as Veronica, though I wish she had been directed not to scream so much. Yul Vasquez steals every scene he is in, and Annabelle Scciora is wonderful in her supporting role. In his Broadway debut Chris Rock is not at all a disappointment. He does not really offer much in the way of a deep, layered, meaningful performance, but he is able to deliver both the comedy and the more serious tones convincingly.

            Overall the play is very good, and has a serious chance of taking home the prize for best new play at this years Tony Awards. I think Yul Vasquez at the very least, as well as Bobby Cannavale have a tremendous chance of also winning in their respective categories as Best Featured Actor and Best Actor. If you are in New York and you have a chance, check it out.  There are not very many plays of this caliber on the boards these days.