#Roundabout theatre

[aliesafenlock]

Looks like there are some Cabaret fans here, so I found my programme of Roundabout Theatre Company's production I saw many years ago.

This Broadway revival was was based on the 1993 London production, directed by Sam Mendes, and performed at Club 54!

The main cast were:

Alan Cumming as the Emcee

Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles

John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff Bradshaw

Mary Louise Wilson as Fräulein Schneider

Ron Rifkin as Herr Schultz

[stephenlangfans]

Stephen as "Rosencrantz" in a 1987 Roundabout Theatre production of the play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead".

[jaredwormsboyslizardsquad]

Aromantic Squad I need your help because words fail me. Describe the difference between a Normal Friendship, a Squish (a crush but for desire to be homies), and a QPR (if that's thing you do/consider). Thank you.

[redcarpet-streetstyle]

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

The Counter

November 2, 2024 | Off-Broadway | Roundabout | Matinee | Play | Original | 1H 15M | Talkback

Need something to do today, so here are a bunch of inconsequential theatre reviews while we pretend like we're not all going to hell in a handbasket.

Although, this play from last Saturday is prescient. Two unlikely friends forge a life-saving human connection in a series of two-hander scenes that take place in a small upstate NY diner. An older man has all but given up on life and sets out to forge a friendship with a young waitress so that she can one day drop poison into his coffee and surprise him (at his amiable request). It takes time for this show to get off its feet, but I enjoyed myself once it did. There's pleasure in simplicity and hope in a story where the power of genuine human connection can be a balm for deep and despairing doom. Loneliness is an intoxicating concept to bring to life on stage. And finding a way to be a little less lonely with another person is even better.

Verdict: A Lovely Night

A Note on Ratings

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

"Looks like neither of us could sleep" for Gus and Demeter

"Looks like neither of us could sleep, eh?"

Demeter startles at the new voice in the dawnlight, tail bristling. Though it wasn't entirely uncommon to find other cats straggling around the clearing after the Ball had concluded, she hadn't expected somecat to approach her; most kept decidedly to themselves after an evening spent in such close proximity, and, frankly, Demeter had been counting on it while she got her bearings about her, trying to loosen the tightening that had settled in her lungs.

The scent that trails just behind the comment diffuses her initial flash of fear quickly, but her nerves persist in their scraping away at the lining of her stomach, prickling unpleasantly under her skin.

"Oh, hello Gus," Demeter greets politely in spite of herself, instinctually standing and holding her paws before her. "What are you doing out here? I figured you'd have gone back to the theatre."

"You would have been correct, but that walk gets longer every year," Gus grumbles, waving at her to sit back down, the end of his sentence hitching as he slowly settles himself nearby. "And my granddaughter is a very good host. Though -" He winces as he rolls his shoulder back. "Her little bed is not the best option for an old tom like me."

Demeter half smiles at the picture that conjures in her head. "Jellylorum didn't put you up?"

"Oh, of course she did," Gus snorts, faux offense written across his muzzle in spades; the idea that his own daughter wouldn't over accommodate in every way - for her own flesh and blood no less - imagine that. "Etcetera is very persuasive."

The two cats fall back into a companionable silence. Or at least companionable from Gus' end; he seems satisfied enough with where he ended. Demeter - meanwhile - tucks herself back in her own thoughts, watching as the baker down the street hauls his supplies inside to begin the morning preparations anew; he'd been waiting for his delivery for an hour. She resists the urge to tangle the fur by her ear in a knot.

"Would you like me to ask why you're out here on your own?" Gus prompts eventually, following her line of sight. "You've a new one at home, haven't you? Full house now?"

It is, in its own way, surprising that Gus remembers that much of her goings on, though he'd pointedly avoided Sillabub's name. Jellylorum had told them day-to-day - even hour-to-hour - was wildly different for him, so perhaps she shouldn't be surprised; she must have caught him in a good something or other - at least about as good as they were wont to get.

"No?" Gus asks when she doesn't respond, after a perfectly timed beat. "Then none of my business."

Demeter worries the inside of her lip in her teeth. She feels the sudden desire to slip her tongue between them instead and allow the conversation to fizzle out. 

However…

"I just felt…"

"Smothered?" the older tom ventures, unprompted.

Demeter, taken aback at the forthright statement, pauses. Considers…nods.

Gus hums, settling his chin on his paws. "Very common, you know, especially around this time."

The comfort was simple and direct, but it did very little by way of making any headway in the tangled net of her thoughts. Though the effort certainly should be appreciated - and it was - Demeter tugs at her claws, guilt unassuaged.

It is a long time before Gus speaks again, seemingly having fallen asleep. The exact goal - she would have hoped - of getting out in the first place.

"Change is a rather troublesome beast," he murmurs, opening a single, yellowed eye to look at her. "You get used to doing things a certain way, then they're different."

Demeter pulls her knees to her chest, listening to the pivot curiously.

"I remember sleeping all on my own for years and years," he continues, shaking his head. "And then suddenly there was another cat in my bed and kittens kicking me in the ribs, and I thought: 'What has become of me - how ever did I get here?'"

Demeter holds herself very still, as though any movement would knock the tom off his trail of thought. "But you get used to that change after a time - wonder how you possibly could have been without it."

Gus sighs; a forlorn sound that whistled past his teeth. "Then, someday, they change again, and again, and again, and you're slower to keep up. Think maybe you won't be able to this time, but you manage."

"At some point, things change once more, but you're too old and too set in your latest way to be comfortable. But it happens whether you like it or not. And that," Gus concludes, looking as though he were merely commenting on the weather, but there was something heavy trailing behind his words. He yawns, and pointedly rolls his shoulder again. "Is the way we stay. Though often, you've forgotten where it is you left off."

Demeter carefully pieces together what she believes the old tom is attempting to explain to her; wonders if he was explaining anything to her consciously at all, or if he'd forgotten why he'd started in the first place, and she'd fallen into the trap of projecting onto him.

When Gus sits up to look at her directly, gaze intent somewhere behind the milky white of his cataract, she finds the latter thought fade into the back of her mind. "Sometimes, you just need a moment to remember. They'll wait for you." 

The theatre cat says no more to her that evening, returning contentedly back to his own world as though he'd never spoken to begin with.

Demeter continues to stare after where the baker has disappeared, feeling the cool air of the morning sting in her eyes as her shoulders begin to lift.

Send me a sentence and I’ll fill at least five more in after it for a little mini-fic.

[frontmezzjunkies]

Roundabout's "The Counter" Off-Broadway and LCT's "McNeal" on Broadway Dig Deep Into Death, Escapism, and the Surprise of Life in the Real World and AI

#frontmezzjunkies reviews 2 new plays: #MeghanKennedy's #TheCounterPlay @roundaboutnyc d: #DavidCromer w/ #AnthonyEdwards #SusannahFlood #OffBroadway & #AyadAkhtar's #McNEALBway @LCTTheatre d: #BartlettSher w/ #RobertDowneyJr #AndreaMartin #Broadway

The On and Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Lincoln Center Theater’s McNeal and Roundabout’s The Counter By Ross Death is something that generally people don’t like to talk about. I wrote about this just a few days ago when reviewing Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film, “The Room Next Door“, which had one character so terrified by the idea of Death that she wrote a whole book about it. The titular…

[markagorman]

Edinburgh Fringe: Day 24

Now this was a great day, although I started it exhausted. Five shows later I was reborn, then slept like a log in preparation for a big posh-Festival Sunday. Let’s start with the unexpected. Late afternoon I was walking along Chamber Street and couldn’t believe the crowd and the noise coming from the steps of Chamber Street’s Royal Scottish Museum. Booming beats and a crowd of youths.…

[showbiziz]

Question: does anyone have a video bootleg of the 2016 Roundabout Theatre revival of The Robber Bridegroom with Steven Pasquale? If so, I’d love to see it, and I’ve got a few bootlegs I can trade for it. Let me know! ☺️

[caroleditosti]

'Home,' The Journey of a Lifetime in Wisdom and Poetry, Review

'Home,' by Samm-Art Williams is one to see for its performances and Leon's acute direction.

(L to R): Brittany Inge, Tory Kittles, Stori Ayers in Home (Joan Marcus) With lyricism and poignancy in this Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Home, directed by Kenny Leon, Samm-Art Williams spins a story of life’s rhythms, spanning decades during the Great Migration, the time when thousands of Blacks moved with hope to northern cities, leaving Jim Crow’s economic oppression and lynching…

[chenoweths]

IM NOT OK. THEY FINALLY REUNITED AT THE SAME THEATRE 😭😭🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[didtheykiss]

Jonah at Roundabout Theatre Company

Did they kiss?

Yes, Ana (Beans) did kiss Jonah (Oliveras), Danny (Levine), and Steven (Zdrojeski). (Is there another play where the lead kisses every other character?) There was also physical intimacy beyond kissing.

Should they have?

Yes, it was good that Ana and Jonah kissed. It's important to establish the sweet, fantastical, feel-good kiss to contrast with her reality as well as her relationship with Danny. Once we realized Jonah is her fantasy, it also felt important for us to understand what her desire looked like (even though I have some questions about the racial implications of her desires...).

In that same vein, yes, it was good (for the play!) that Ana and Danny kissed, as upsetting as their relationship was. They also share an intimate gesture of Ana holding Danny's head as a way to calm him down, which was a great way to both show how Danny needs and uses Ana and also track Ana's perspective on their relationship as they get older.

In their first scene together, Danny touches Ana intimately in a way that Ana is not expecting, which was a very effective way for us to understand how their relationship toes the line of consent. Thus, I don't know if their onstage sex scene was necessary as it communicated something similar in a much more visceral way. It's important for the story to understand that they have a sexual relationship, but there are other just as uncomfortable ways to imply they do that don't involve an audience witnessing it.

Finally, no! Ana and Steven should not have kissed! If the purpose of Steven as a character is to allow Ana to have a real relationship with a (white-presenting?) man who allows her safety and a reconnection with her body, then does that relationship have to be romantic/sexual? Would it perhpas have been more healing to see her for once have an intimate but platonic relationship with a (white-presenting??) man? If the purpose of Steven is allowing Ana to have agency in an initmate relationship in a way she dreamed of with Jonah and didn't with Danny, then would it not be more empowering to see her, say, withhold a kiss and do something else, especially as her fantasies were always more psychological than physical? Or if they must kiss, as Ana's body has been so sexualized throughout the play, would it not be more empowering if an audience is not allowed the satisfaction of seeing the kiss? The lights going out before their lips touch, her desires being for her and herself only...

Before they kiss, Steven offers Ana a hand to hold should she need it. A offering to care for her, unlike the way Ana was expected to care for Danny. She deicdes to take Steven's hand. That was enough for me.

Jonah written by Rachel Bonds directed by Danya Taymor produced by Roundabout Theatre Company starring Gabby Beans, Samuel H. Levine, Hagan Oliveras, and John Zdrojeski Jonah runs from January 11 – March 10, 2024. It runs 1hr and 40min.

[therealsoulking]

If he shows up, he wasn't the real Godot

If you meet Godot at the tree, KILL HIM!

[alltrekvarnews]

Tyne Daly y Liev Schreiber protagonizarán el renacimiento de 'Doubt: A Parable' en Broadway

[droughtofapathy]

Think you can't afford Broadway? Do I have an offer for you.

Broadway tickets to see Home as low as $5 (pay-what-you-can) with the code RETURNHOME. It is not selling well, despite positive reviews, and I need all of you to support live theatre, straight plays, and especially Black creatives and stories. If you can pay more than the minimum asking price, please do, even if it's only ten or fifteen dollars more. It's vital we keep the arts alive and well.

[rodspurethoughts]

A Soldier's Play: Exploring Race, Identity, and Sacrifice in America

Don't miss the Tony Award-winning drama "A Soldier's Play" exploring race, identity, and sacrifice in America. Gripping and powerful. 🎭🇺🇸 #theater #drama #socialjustice

A Soldier’s Play is a powerful drama that explores complex themes of race, identity, and sacrifice in America. Set in 1944 on a Louisiana Army base, the play follows the investigation of a Black sergeant’s murder, which triggers a series of interrogations that reveal deeper questions about the nature of service and the sacrifices that soldiers make for their country. At the heart of the play is…