Monthly Archives: March 2012

BAYLESS/LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE: ‘CASCABEL’ (REVIEW PICK, CHI) · Mar 31st

 

(Chris Jones’s article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, 3/28.)

Lubricated by a salty margarita purloined in the lobby, clearly besotted with the environmental theatricality of period Mexican chic, and with the taste of Rick Bayless' tuna ceviche apparently dancing cartwheels on his lips, one intensely aroused gentleman at the Lookingglass Theatre opening Tuesday night just couldn't contain his glee. "This," he shouted, plenty loud enough for all of his communal table-mates to hear, "is an experience."

At that juncture of the evening, the main show known as "Cascabel" hadn't really fully started. But it was a pretty good one-word review, although I might have gone with "aphrodisiac." For across the room, one hot-and-heavy couple was so taken with each other in this evocative sensory setting one started to ponder how good this unusually commercial Lookingglass enterprise might end up being for Magnificent Mile hotels. Or the local birth rate.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/theaterloop/ct-ent-0329-bayless-review-20120329,0,2991319.column

JOHN ARDEN, REST IN PEACE (1930-2012) · Mar 30th

(Michael Coveney’s article appeared in the Guardian, 3/29.)

One of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s, John Arden, who has died aged 81, was in later life an almost forgotten theatrical figure. However, a revival of his early classic, Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, by the Oxford Theatre Company in 2003 was a stunning reminder of his rich talent for theatrical poetry and political metaphor.

The play told a tale of four Victorian Army deserters arriving in a northern mining town to exact retribution for an act of colonial violence. Arden had been prompted by an incident in Cyprus in 1958 when British soldiers killed five innocent people in an anti-terrorist reprisal. Its time had come again as public concern grew over the war in Iraq – to which Arden was unflinchingly opposed – and the terms of the British involvement. The revival made most of new contemporary drama seem puny and self-indulgent in comparison.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/30/john-arden

RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN: ‘PIPE DREAM’ (REVIEW PICK, NY) · Mar 30th

 

(Charles Isherwood’s article appeared in The New York Times, 3/29.)

Unless you happen to be a marine biologist, “Pipe Dream” is probably not your favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. This little-cherished 1955 show, based on John Steinbeck novels and set among the bottom feeders of Cannery Row in Monterey, Calif., had a troubled gestation — Richard Rodgers underwent surgery for cancer just as it went into rehearsals — and it played just seven months on Broadway after a cool reception from the critics.

The central romance, between a starfish-studying biologist and a drifter who resides at the local brothel without exactly earning her keep there, was not in the wholesome sweet spot for Rodgers and Hammerstein, and their ambivalence about the material may have had something to do with its ultimate failure. But as the endearing, wonderfully sung City Center Encores! production firmly proves, even second-tier Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals have their undisputable charms.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/theater/reviews/pipe-dream-from-rodgers-and-hammerstein-at-encores.html?hpw

BELL/BLACKWELL/BOWEN: ‘NOW. HERE. THIS.’ (REVIEW PICK, NY) · Mar 29th

 

(Charles Isherwood’s article appeared in The New York Times, 3/28.)

Good news, ardent fans of offbeat musical theater. The lovable gang from “[title of show]” is back with an endearingly goofy new diversion called “Now. Here. This.” Thin as a vanilla wafer but just as sweet, it opened on Wednesday night at the Vineyard Theater, where the same collaborators’ first show played before its little-engine-that-could chug to Broadway. (It closed pretty quickly, but still: Broadway!)

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/theater/reviews/now-here-this-at-the-vineyard-theater.html?hpw

*****SMITH/MCHUGH: ‘I DREAMED A DREAM’ (REVIEW PICK, UK) · Mar 28th

 

(Domic Cavendish’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 3/28.)

Do you remember the moment Susan Boyle went from being a nobody to an absolute sensation? Do you remember that Saturday night, nearly three years ago, when we saw her walk out in front of the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, stumble over the word “villages”, suffer ironic wolf-whistles, jiggle her hips to the hilarity of Ant and Dec, and declare that she wanted to be a professional singer, as successful — who could believe it? — as Elaine Paige.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9170944/Susan-Boyle-Musical-I-Dreamed-a-Dream-Theatre-Royal-Newcastle-review.html

MICHAEL BILLINGTON ON POLITICAL THEATRE · Mar 27th

 

(Billington’s article ran in the Guardina, 3/27.)

"Does political theatre ever have any impact?" That, more or less, was the question that came from the floor during my session with David Hare during the Guardian Open Weekend. I replied that it was pointless to expect political theatre to topple governments or provoke legislation. What it can do, I suggested, is inform, illuminate, entertain, raise awareness: sometimes, if we're lucky, all at once. "I'm glad you answered that," said Hare afterwards. "It comes up at every forum I do. I'm starting to run outof replies."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/27/p-political-theatre-modern-drama

‘NEW YORKER’ THEATRE LISTINGS, 4/2 PLAYDECK · Mar 26th

  

CLYBOURNE PARK

Bruce Norris wrote this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, which expands on Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Pam MacKinnon directs the original cast, which includes Christina Kirk, Annie Parisse, Jeremy Shamos, and Frank Wood. In previews. (Walter Kerr, 219 W. 48th St. 212-239-6200.)

 

DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER

The Roundabout Theatre Company presents a new comedy written by Marc Camoletti (“Boeing-Boeing”), about a web of infidelity among a husband and wife, his mistress, and his visiting friend. Starring Ben Daniels, Patricia Kalember, Adam James, and Jennifer Tilly; John Tillinger directs. Previews begin March 30. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St. 212-719-1300.)

 

ELEPHANT ROOM

Steve Cuiffo, Trey Lyford, and Geoff Sobelle play deluded illusionists in this comedy show with magic. Opens March 28. (St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water St., Brooklyn. 718-254-8779.)

 

END OF THE RAINBOW

Tracie Bennett stars as Judy Garland in this play, by Peter Quilter, set in December, 1968, less than a year before her death. Also starring Michael Cumpsty, Tom Pelphrey, and Jay Russell. Terry Johnson directs. In previews. Opens April 2. (Belasco, 111 W. 44th St. 212-239-6200.)

 

EVITA

Ricky Martin (as Che), Michael Cerveris (as Juan Perón), and Elena Roger (as Eva Perón) star in a revival of the 1978 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Michael Grandage directs. In previews. (Marquis, Broadway at 46th St. 877-250-2929.)

 

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MIKHAIL BULGAKOV: ‘THE MASTER AND MARGARITA’ (REVIEW PICK, UK) · Mar 26th

 

(Charles Spencer’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 3/22.)

WHAT an extraordinary and thrilling production this is. Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita is one of the great novels of the 20th century, a scary, darkly comic allegory about Stalinism and a work of fantastical imagination as it describes the devil and his retinue, including a talking black cat, paying a visit to Moscow in the 1930s.

Yet it is also a meditation on Jesus, Pontius Pilate and Christianity, written at a time when the Bible was a banned book in Russia, as well as a deeply moving love story, inspired by the author’s relationship with his third wife, Elena Sergeevna.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9161473/The-Master-and-Margarita-Barbican-review.html 

ALMOST A YEAR LATER, JULIANO MER-KHAMIS’S MURDER REMAINS UNSOLVED (FREEDOM THEATRE, WEST BANK) · Mar 25th

 

(Killian Fox’s article appeared in the Observer, 3/24. The New York City memorial, in the video above, was held at St. Paul's Church on May 4th, 2011.)

On 4 April 2011, Juliano Mer-Khamis turned up unexpectedly at the Freedom theatre in Jenin and went inside to talk with his students and staff. Usually he'd call ahead whenever he planned a return to Jenin, but this time, driving up from Ramallah where he had just premiered a new production of a play by Eugène Ionesco, he gave no advance warning.

An actor and director who had forged a successful film and stage career in Israel, Mer-Khamis moved to Jenin in 2006 to set up the Freedom theatre in the city's sprawling refugee camp, one of the most deprived areas in the West Bank. In his five years as artistic director, he had created a hub of cultural activity in Jenin and, by touring home-grown productions abroad, had given young people in the camp a sense that they had a voice in the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/25/young-palestinians-freedom-theatre-jenin