My mom sang at Carnegie Hall!

Part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival.

This was my first time seeing a Broadway show more than once, and let me tell you, it was completely worth it. We were sitting in the middle of the fourth row (three rows back from where I sat the first time). And if it’s possible the show has gotten even better. I’m absolutely in love with Raul; Barbara is perfection; the company is not to be trifled with. Yes, John Doyle needs to stop doing this cast as orchestra thing, but I’m glad he didn’t stop before creating this production.

Basically, you are seeing this play for Ms. V. As expected, it is incredibly sad. However, the surprises come in the happy and nostalgic moments which give the play the realism the book it is based on is known for. I have not read Joan Didion’s book, but having seen this performance, I’m not sure that I would want to. Given the option between a two hour theatrical experience and days of depressing reading, I’ll take the theatre any day.

110 in the Shade is an old school musical. The plot is vapid, the songs are catchy, and the characters are wooden. Yet, somehow Audra McDonald breathes new life into this production. Of course she could breathe life into a wet sock so it’s not a particularly special event. That said, any time you can see Audra on stage in a leading role, you should go. She’s amazing!!!!

Liev Schreiber was awesome in this performance of Eric Bogosian’s Drama; everyone else, however, I found lacking. Schreiber has a command of the stage that surely places him at the top of any list of the greatest theatre actors. At the end of the play when Shreiber’s character, Barry Champlain, is breaking down, I couldn’t see a bit of acting in Schreiber’s performance. By that I mean that I couldn’t see the actor, I could only see Champlain. That is hard enough to do in one performance, but to do it day after day and be as believable as Shreiber is incredibly difficult.

Despite Schreiber’s exemplary (and probably Tony Award winning) performance, the production had some issues. First, the other actors couldn’t hold a candle to their lead actor. Their performances were fairly flat and predictable. The real issue, however, was the writing. It seemed that Bogosian, in his rush to create a realistic Champlain, lost sight of the supporting characters. Even worse was Bogosian’s attempt to break up the action of the play (2 hours without intermission) with monologues from the supporting actors. The strength of the production is it’s realism. To suddenly take down the fourth wall and allow the characters to talk to the audience destroys that power. If the monologues needed to happen, it would have been far more desirable for them to be directed at a third party within the world of Talk Radio instead.

If you are in New York between now and June 24, see this play! You’ll be glad you did.

Salvage is the last in Tom Stoppard’s series on the Russian revolutionaries. While the acting remained excellent in this production, I felt that it was an afterthought on the part of Mr. Stoppard. The sudden inclusion of music (and even musical numbers) into the story seemed jarring based on the previous productions. It is possible, however, that Mr. Stoppard had intended to illustrate that as the revolutionaries transitioned into their old age, they became more concerned with happiness and peace over their previous thoughts of revolution by any means. Without access to him, Mr. Stoppard’s thoughts will just have to remain a mystery. In the end, The Coast of Utopia as a whole was an excellent foray into the human side of the Russian people, and specifically one group of their revolutionaries.

Highwire Theatre was created by three Brandeis alumni (Jill Landaker, Evan Greene and Julia Davis). We went to the staged reading of Through the Aperture primarily because Rachel Beth Wagner was reading the stage directions. What I didn’t expect was that the play was going to be as good as it was. Certainly, it still has a lot of work to do, but the concept was good (despite the Crash/Traffic/Babel style of playwriting). My chief complaint with the play is that it clearly hasn’t done its research there were a variety of references to things that the playwright must not have had first had experience with. That said, with some good editing it might make it to a full production one day. Ms. Wagner was excellent.

Shipwreck is the second play in Tom Stoppard’s three part series; for me, it was even better than the first (Voyage). The series centers on the Russian renaissance; Shipwreck is not only preoccupied by how the thinkers of the renaissance affected Russia and greater Europe, but also the destruction of one family. Anyone wanting a real literary theatrical experience should see this production, the actors are masterful, the production is beautiful, and the writing is clever.

This show was the best show I think I have ever seen. I already know that I have to go back to see it again. My seat for the performance was the very first row in the very center (we were close enough to see the veins in Raul Esparza’s hands). For many musicals this would be a bad seat because they are the performances are so huge as to not work at that close range, for this one, however, the actors were dealing with such inward looking characters that it became the best seat in the house.

Esparza was fantastic, handsome, and completely on target. I was shocked by how much he looked like Steve (that’s Stephen Sondheim for you none fanatics) at that age. If you look at Steven’s work you can always see how it syncs up with his life, Company is no exception. So the idea of having the main character not only act but look so much like him was eerie.

As for John Doyle’s interpretation, there is no question that it worked perfectly. Unlike Sweeney Todd (which was also very good), Company is set up to continually remind the audience that it is a performance. All the scenes are vignettes and most of the songs are comments to the audience. More importantly the way the actors used their instruments as extensions of their performance were brilliant.

If I really tried hard and spent hours on it I’m sure I could find faults with this production, but it would take so much effort it wouldn’t be worth it. Anyone considering what to see this season should put Company at the very top of their list.

What can you say about this performance? It was gay, it was the holidays, it was good wholesome fun. I went because Michael is in the chorus, and I was glad I did because the chorus was not only very professional and talented, but funny. If you get a chance to see the NYCGMC, you should.

I must start by saying that our seats could not have been better: first row one seat off the aisle. Yes, we were looking up at the actors, but we were, as my mother would say, “Close enough to watch them sweat.” The first act was all glitz and glamour, good, but nothing amazing; the second half was fantastic. Watching the Bouviers women decay into mindless cat lovers was frightening and moving. Ms. Ebersole’s performance, as both Edith Bouvier Beale and “Little” Edie Beale, was a knock out. The supporting cast was also generally very good, except for the young lady playing young Edie. She seemed to have difficulty staying connected with the other actors (playing catch with the ball, for you theater students). In the end this was a fantastic show, and I would recommend everyone see it.

This was the first of three new plays by Tom Stoppard. The Coast of Utopia focuses on the Russian Renaissance.

Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley starred together in the musical Side Show. They recorded two CDs together: Duets and Unsuspecting Hearts. This concert was not only a reunion for the two performers, but also an opportunity to record their new CD.

The original Broadway production opened in 1975, after a successful run at the Public Theater. It closed in 1990; the new difficient production opened in 2006. While the musical is still excellent, the case seems to struggle with it.

The Pilobolus Dance Company was formed in 1971 and named for a fungus. Pilobulus is known for their physical beauty and choreographic daring.

In 2006, Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal conceived a new opera based on the novel Grendel by John Gardner and the epic poem Beowulf. The production was performed from Grendel’s perspective. While it was beautifully envisioned, Grendel fell short in the vocal delivery.

The History Boys originally opened at the National Theatre of Great Britain. The story focuses on eight students studying for their A-level exams, and a discussion of the meaning of education. The movie version with the original cast opened in November 2006.

The Lieutenant opened in May 2006 and closed in September. Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy focuses on a merciless soldier’s bloodlust, and his love of his little black cat (Wee Thomas). The production was bloody, gory, and hilarious.

Sweeney Todd first opened on Broadway in 1979, was converted to a concert in 2000, and revived for Broadway in 2005. It’s interesting to note that there is a line of succession for these production: Len Cariou to Angela Lansbury, Lansbury to George Hearn, Hearn to Patti LuPone, LuPone to Michael Cerveris. This production distinguished itself with its Brechtian approach: the actors played the instruments, the characters spoke directly to the audience at all time, and the overall conception was distinctly minimalist.

The 1988 film was transformed into an even better musical in 2006. The show is whimsical, yet touching, and David Yazbek’s songs are awesome. I did not have the opportunity to see Sherie Rene Scott or John Lithgow, but Rachel, Jonathan, and Norbert were amazing. Obviously I am hopelessly devoted to Joanna Gleason for her work in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, but her performance was one of the funniest I have seen in awhile.

If you know Jean-Paul Sartre’s play at all, you know it is best described as a surrealist nightmare. It is from this play that we get the phrase, “Hell is other people.” This production was unique in that the actors were placed on a stage that was centered on a fulcrum and moved with their weight. The stage acted as another layer of surrealism.

This live concert was a benefit for the North Shore Music Theatre. Jason Robert Brown conducted and played piano and ended the evening with Moving Too Fast from The Last Five Years. The best moment of the concert was Lauren Kennedy (the original Cathy from The Last Five Years) singing Flying Home.

We all know Shakespeare’s story of Hamlet, but this production was excellent. They used troughs of water on the stage; Ophelia actually died in a river of sorts.

What can I say, this production of Evita was only fair. Sad, because the music is actually pretty good for a Lord Andrew Lloyd Weber production.

August Wilson’s play is set at the turn-of-the-century in Wilson’s home town, the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The story takes place as Pittsburgh’s economic growth began drawing thousands of African-Americans from the south to the city. This is the first play of Wilson’s in which we meet the mystical Aunt Ester (and Phylicia Rashad did not disappoint). In 2004, Gem of the Ocean came to Broadway and was nominated for six Tony Awards.

Raisin originally opened on Broadway in 1959. It is an authentic depiction of Black American life. Lorraine Hansberry and this play in particular, are known for drastically changing the way African-American writers and subject matter were regarded in America. This production was particularly amazing because while the setting was still the 1950s, the actors lent their own modern perspective.

Assassins originally opened on Broadway in 1991; in 2004 it was revived to critical acclaim by the Roundabout Theatre Company. The music and lyrics were written by musical theatre god, Stephen Sondheim. The story follows the activities of nine would-be (and successful) presidential assassins.

The one man show, I Am My Own Wife, is a retrospective of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite who survived the various regime shifts in East Berlin. The story is based on Dog Wright’s interviews with Charlotte, letters exchanged, and matters of public record. Jefferson Mays’s performance was fantastic!