#terrence mcnally i miss you. so much.

[winterstarfall]

do you ever read the anastasia broadway script and just want to die

[insanityclause]

The last Broadway season ended, unexpectedly, nearly a year ago. The next one will begin who-knows-when.

But deep in this winter of our theaterlessness, a dormant tradition is starting to stir: the Tony Awards.

Hundreds of voters, this week and next, are casting ballots for the best shows, and the best performances, of a theater season abruptly cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

The jukebox shows “Jagged Little Pill,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’ are competing for best musical, and hope to resume performances whenever Broadway reopens. All five of the best play contenders have closed. They are “Grand Horizons,” by Bess Wohl; “The Inheritance,” by Matthew López; “Sea Wall/A Life,” by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne; “Slave Play,” by Jeremy O. Harris; and “The Sound Inside,” by Adam Rapp.

In this strangest-of-all Tony competitions, the voting is disconnected from both the period being assessed, which ran from April 26, 2019, to Feb. 19, 2020, and the ceremony for handing out awards, which has not yet been scheduled.

In other words, we won’t know the results until — well, for a long time.

But here’s what we do know:

Who’s going to vote?

Not a lot of people.

There are 778 Tony voters, but they can only cast ballots in categories in which they’ve seen all the nominees. Because the pandemic prevented any spring theatergoing, there are fewer qualified voters than usual.

There are 25 prize categories; the Tonys won’t say how many people will actually be able to vote in each category, but producers believe slightly fewer than 400 people will qualify to cast ballots for best musical, and fewer than that for best play.

What’s missing?

Parties.

The usual Tonys season is all-encompassing. Shows that opened in the fall (and that would have included all three of last season’s nominated musicals) invite voters back to see them again. Monday nights are jammed with nonprofit galas at which nominees mingle with voters, and those who can sing, do. There are press junkets and mixers; display ads in The New York Times and caricatures at Sardi’s; plus, of course, a raft of spring openings to catch up with.

So much hugging. So much schmoozing. So many four-hour dinners. Everyone complains. And now they long for it.

“I can’t believe I miss buffets,” said Eva Price, a lead producer of “Jagged Little Pill.” “So much that we took for granted, and sometimes grimaced at, we would give our left arms for right now.”

Is it appropriate to campaign?

Yes, but very gingerly.

We’re still in the middle of a devastating pandemic and a huge number of people who work in theater are currently unemployed. Also: money is tight because there are no ticket sales.

“The 2020 shows can’t run a campaign in the usual way, and even if we could it would feel icky to try,” said Carmen Pavlovic, the lead producer of “Moulin Rouge!”

“This is not a moment for cocktail parties and gossip,” she added. “It’s just a moment for lifting up artists from darkness, and hoping that lifts everybody else along the way.”

So swag is minimal. “Moulin Rouge!” and “Jagged Little Pill” sent voters coffee table books about their shows, but that’s about it. The main form of campaigning this year is in the form of “For Your Consideration” emails.

The nominated show that is furthest in the rearview mirror — a revival of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” which closed in July 2019 — sent voters a video montage of interviews including its playwright, Terrence McNally, who died eight months later from complications of the coronavirus.

Nominees are sitting for profiles with theater trade publications. And last week, “Tina,” “Jagged Little Pill,” “The Inheritance,” “Slave Play” and “Betrayal” bought daily sponsorships of Broadway Briefing, an emailed industry newsletter whose subscribers include many Tony voters.

And there are other, newfangled ways to refresh voters’ memories. “Betrayal” on Sunday held a cast reunion on Instagram Live; “The Sound Inside” sent voters videotaped selections from the production; “Jagged Little Pill” released a video reflecting on the year and is re-airing a concert version of its show. “Moulin Rouge!” and “The Inheritance” built voter web pages with performance clips, interviews, scripts and more.

The message needs to be focused, producers say. “We have to be very mindful and respectful of what people’s experiences are right now,” said Tali Pelman, the lead producer of “Tina.” At the same time, she said, “Honoring our talent and their contribution is important. More than ever, we have to shout out about their exceptional value in society.”

What happens when the votes are tallied?

An accounting firm sits on the results.

The voting period runs through March 15, with votes cast electronically via a password-protected website, and tabulated by Deloitte & Touche LLP. Even in pre-pandemic years, results are not shared with the leaders of the organizations that present the awards — the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing — or anyone else before they are announced.

This year they will just be kept secret for longer than usual.

Can you lose if you’re the only nominee?

Theoretically, yes.

Aaron Tveit of “Moulin Rouge!” is the only person nominated as best actor in a musical. This is an unusual circumstance, for which the Tonys have imposed an unusual rule: to win, Tveit must get a positive vote from 60 percent of those who cast ballots. But, to be clear, he’s likely to pick up his first statuette this year.

There are a couple of other nomination quirks, too. There will be no prize for best musical revival, because the only one that managed to open, “West Side Story,” did so after the retroactively imposed eligibility date. And the contenders for best score were all from plays.

So when will we know the winners?

Stay tuned.

It seems clear that the ceremony will only take place after live performance is allowed to resume in New York and tickets to Broadway shows have gone on sale.

That’s because the industry’s priority will be to use the ceremony to remind potential audiences that Broadway is back. The goal, said Heather A. Hitchens, the Wing’s president and chief executive, “is to be most helpful to the industry.”

Several producers and publicists say they are now thinking the most likely time frame is after Labor Day, a full year and a half after Broadway shut down.

The organizers have shared a few other details. This year’s ceremony, like those before the pandemic, will be overseen by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner. There will be some noncompetitive awards (those are honors like lifetime achievement). But there has been no announcement about whether the ceremony will be in-person or virtual, televised or streamed, live or taped; only that it will take place “in coordination with the reopening of Broadway.”

“We hope to have news very soon,” said the League’s president, Charlotte St. Martin.

[randomtheatrethoughts]

An Update on Broadway and COVID-19

Short Update on the Current Condition:

As far as I know, Broadways is still expected to be shut down until April 12. But that could’ve changed, considering the amount of COVID-19 cases in the USA.

I’m sure many of you know that Moulin Rouge’s Aaron Tveit, the man himself, has contracted the virus. He did say that his symptoms were mild, almost like a cold, but he had lost his sense of taste and smell, which were some of the warning signs. This just shows how the symptoms can vary for each person. He is on the road to recovery and said he had been in quarantined since the shutdown. On Instagram, he posted:

“Hey everyone. I just wanted to update you all that I’ve found out that I’ve tested positive for Covid-19. I’ve been in quarantine since Broadway shows shut down on Thursday, March 12th, and I’m feeling much better. I consider myself extremely lucky that my symptoms have been very mild - cold like with no fever - as so many are experiencing much more serious symptoms, because this is a very dangerous virus. One thing I have been experiencing is the loss of taste and smell, which I think is a big sign for people who are otherwise asymptotic. I was tested last Monday, and just found out the results, however, I have been taking this situation extremely seriously, even before I was tested. I want everyone to realize that this can affect anyone. And even if you aren’t feeling sick or showing drastic symptoms - please take heed, stay safe, stay healthy and I hope to see everyone at the theater again soon. And I wanted to post this with a picture of Miles because, they’re loving all this extra time at home with their Humans!”

Other actors that tested positive for the virus include Matt Doyle, who also had relatively mild symptoms, and Chad Kimball, who had worse and more flu-like symptoms, but “not the worse flu I’ve ever had”.

The Tony Awards have been postponed, which has caused a lot of controversy among the theatre community. Personally, I don’t see why people are reacting negatively because IN MY OPINION, its still positive for us. We’re still going to see the Tony’s. We’re still going to get to watch those performances on the Tony’s. By pushing the Tony’s back, more eligible shows can have the time to perform for people including the Tony Committee, and therefore the shows can still receive a Tony Nomination. 2 shows, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Hangmen will not be continuing their performances. In addition, Flying Over Sunset, Birthday Candles, and Caroline, or Change have been postponed their openings until the fall.

Actors are certainly devastated by the shutdown. On her YouTube channel, Krystina Alabado from Mean Girls the Musical said that she misses everything about performing and that it’s so weird having something you love being taken from you so suddenly.

And of course, we are all mourning the loss of the incredible Terrence McNally, an extraordinary playwright and director who unfortunately passed away due to COVID-19. “Devastated to hear this. One of the great joys of my professional life was getting to work with Terrence on Catch Me If You Can. I was constantly inspired by his amazing work which included pages of new dialogue on a preview day, flowing as if there was an unending well he was drawing from. One page better than the next. And I was so grateful for his gloriously supportive spirit. And I’m even more grateful to have gotten to know he and his dear husband Tom. We have lost a true legend of the American Theatre. Please watch his Documentary Every Act Of Life. Sending condolences and love to his family in this difficult time 💔❤️💔”- from Aaron Tveit’s Instagram

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I know I promised more posts, but I have no inspiration. Do you guys have any ideas on what you want me to post? Here are some options:

Moodboards for a specific musical, character, or song

Favorite Parts of [insert song here]

Fanfics

Letterings or Backgrounds of Lyrics

Analyzations of Songs

Any other suggestions?

Thanks! I love you all, stay healthy, and keep in mind your safety as well as everyone else’s. 💖💖💖

[lunawho47]

Anastasia Survey

 stolen from my-bicepsburg

Why is Anastasia special to you? I was introduced to the story when I was 10.  I love stories in general, and some just naturally stick with me more than others.  This one really stuck.  Add in the fact that I adored Dimitri, and have now had a 20 year crush on that character, and there you have it.

Do you prefer musical, movie or real life Anastasia?  All three.  Was that an option?

Which one of the impostors should have been the real Anastasia in your opinion? None.  I’ve done a lot of research on the Romanovs over the last two decades, and sadly none of the impostors were her.  I have little respect for them now because I know they were fake.  I do feel a bit sorry for Anna Anderson though, because I do think that after awhile she believed her own story and due to her mental instability, she could not tell the truth for herself anymore.

Favorite song? In the film, it is Once Upon a December.  In the stage play, it is In A Crowd of Thousands.

Least favorite song? In the film, probably Learn to Do It (Reprise) and in the stage show, it would have to be Land of Yesterday (cos I’m always anxious to get to Crowd of Thousands.)

Would you have been friends with Anastasia? I would like to think so. I like pranksters and people who don’t take themselves too seriously.  

Favorite character? Dimitri/Dmitry.

Least favorite character? Probably Gleb.  Not because of anything the character does in the show, but because the fandom has over romanticized him.  He’s supposed to be like Javert -- believable and understandable, but not a genuine love interest, despite what his feelings may be.

Favorite cast member? In the film, John Cusack. (I’ve followed his work ever since, and he was an absolute sweetheart when I met him last year).  In the show, I genuinely can’t pick.  I love all the main cast too much.

Favorite characteristic of Anastasia? Her sassiness.  I’ve tried to emulate it as I’ve grown up.

Tony categories it should have been nominated for? Best Actress in a Musical (Christy Altomare), Best Song (In A Crowd of Thousands), Best Stage Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Derek Klena), Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (John Bolton), Best Music Score (Terrence McNally).  Just...all the awards.

Unpopular opinion? I think the final confrontation between Gleb and Anya is really anti-climactic.  All that build up and then he just drops the gun and cries on the floor?  I can’t seen it ending any other way in that situation, but it was still just...meh.

Have you seen it live?  Yes.  Twice -- once in the Hartford Previews, and once on Broadway.

When did you become a fan of it?  When I was ten and the movie came out.  When my BFF and I read in 2014 that they were adapting it for the stage, we decided then and there, we would see it when they did.

If you could travel through time and meet Anastasia, which question would you ask her?  Are you happier at home in Tsarksoe Selo or on the Standartt?

Part of the musical/movie that makes you sad?  Watching the final moments/attempted survival of the Romanovs (the prologue of the film and the Last Dance of the Romanovs in the stage play).

Favorite fact about the real Anastasia? That she was a huge prankster who never lost her sense of humor -- she was pranking and teasing the soldiers even in her final hours at Ipatiev House.

Favorite quote by Anastasia? The few quotes we have from letters from the real Anastasia are all sad, so I won’t quote those here.  From the film, it’s “Men are such babies!” and from the stage show, it’s “The Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov would beg to disagree, Dima!”

Opinion on the movie and its inaccuracies?  They don’t bother me.  It was never intended to be a historical re-enactment.  It’s a fairy tale, based in a mystery from history -- a mystery never near explained until 50 years after the live action film and ten years after the Don Bluth animated film.

Opinion on the Royal Misfits backstage vlog?  It gives me life on Tuesday.  I’m endlessly amused by it.

Opinion on the musical?  I love it.  (Check out my blog the last year for proof.)  It took a story I already loved and made me love it even more.

Which character do you relate to?  Probably Lily (from the stage show).  Funny, stuck in the way things were, sassy, and a side character in most main stories.

Dream cast for the musical?  They can’t have a more perfect cast than they already do.

Do you wish there was a really good mini series about NAOTMAA?  I’d kill for one.  But I’d mainly cry through it, I’m sure.  Cos I’d already know what was coming.

Do you want to have a live action remake? Who would you cast in it?  It could be really good!  I’d want the stage show cast though.  I’m picky like that.

Favorite costume?  Anya’s costume for the ball in the 1997 movie/stage show.

Favorite Anastasia related video?  Probably the Anya/Dimitri one to Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon that’s on youtube.  It’s a few years old, but it’s perfect.

Favorite fanart?  Anything focused around Crowd of Thousands. 

Favorite thing about the story?  It’s a tie between the Conman and Princess finding a happily ever after and the Dowager Empress’ sassiness.

Do you speak Russian? A little.  Just everyday terms such as “hello,” “goodbye,” “thank you,” “I love you,” etc.

Would you like to travel to Paris and St. Petersburg? I love to travel, so...YES.

Have you been to Paris or St. Petersburg? I’ve been to Paris (it was overrated, but it was also the height of anti-American sentiment, so I’d probably enjoy it more now).  I still have not made it to St. Petersburg, but it’s one of the top four places on my list.

Opinion on Dimitri Sudayev actually trying to save the real Anastasia?  I think it’s a cool fact, if it’s true.  I looked into it, but I only find it spoken on fandom pages for Anastasia that claim to link to real sources, but the information on the links contradicts itself.  For instance, it says that it’s hidden in FSB records, but that said records were scrubbed almost thirty years ago.  Sounds fishy to me...

Do you believe Anastasia survived? It has been proven that she did not.  It’s sad, but there it is.

Have you ever visited the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg?  Not yet, but I plan to before I die, assuming we don’t go to war with Russia.

Opinion on replacing Rasputin by Gleb in the musical?  It works well, in terms of historical accuracy.  I felt bad for Rasputin getting a bad name in history (although, it wasn’ because of Anastasia; any film with Rasputin painted him as evil).  And I enjoyed having a Javert style antagonist. I missed the humor that Rasputin brought though.

Do you have the music box and/or the necklace?  Yes, I do actually.

Have you met one of the cast members?  Yes. I’ve met two of the 1997 movie cast (John Cusack and Christopher Lloyd) and almost all of the main stage cast (minus Caroline O’Conner, who didn’t stage door that night.)

Have you seen the 1956 movie?  Yes.  I own it actually.

Do you have something in common with Anastasia or even look a little like her?  Sadly, no.  Unless you count my penchant for sassiness and a stubborness that gets me into trouble.  Oh, and I do get attracted to con men, so we have that in common.

[newyorktheater]

Chita Rivera and Fred Ebb

Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli rehearse for the musical The Rink also with the musical’s songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Kander and Ebb

Joel Grey in Cabaret

Liza in “The Act”

Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year

Robert Goulet in The Happy Time

Jerry Orbach in Chicago

Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart & Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly in scene fr. the original Broadway production of the musical “Chicago.” (New York), 1975. Fosse directed, choreographed and wrote the book.

Anthony Quinn in Zorba

Cabaret

Brandon Victor Dixon in The Scottsboro Boys Off-Broadway by Kander and Ebb

The Visit, with a book by Terrence McNally, a score by Kander and Ebb

Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York”

Joel Grey, Fred Ebb, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth

Fred Ebb

Although Fred Ebb is best known for partnering with composer John Kander on “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” Kander and Ebb together created some two dozen Broadway musicals and musical revues, from 1964 until Ebb’s death in 2004 – and beyond, since several of their collaborations debuted on stage posthumously.

Here is Ebb singing one of their most popular songs “All That Jazz” from “Chicago,” with Kander on the piano. Since Ebb was a lyricist, the lyrics will follow many of the videos below.

Come on, babe Why don’t we paint the town? And all that jazzI’m gonna rouge my knees And roll my stockings down And all that jazzStart the car I know a whoopee spot Where the gin is cold But the piano’s hot!It’s just a noisy hall Where there’s a nightly brawl And all that jazz And all that jazz

Slick your hair and wear your buckle shoes And all that jazzI hear that Father Dip Is gonna blow the blues And all that jazz,Hold on, hon’ We’re gonna bunny hug I bought some aspirin Down at United DrugIn case you shake apart And wanna brand new start To do that- jazz!Find a flask We’re playing fast and loose And all that jazz

Right up here Is where I store the juice And all that jazzCome on, babe We’re gonna brush the sky I betcha Lucky Lindy never flew so high’Cause in the stratosphere How could he lend an ear To all that jazz?

Oh, you’re gonna see your Sheba shimmy shake And all that jazz

Oh, she’s gonna shimmy Till her garters break And all that jazz

Show her where to park her girdle Oh, her mother’s blood’d curdle (If she’d hear her baby queer) For all that jazz

Come on, babe Why don’t we paint the town? And all that jazz (And all that jazz)

I’m gonna rouge my knees And roll my stockings down And all that jazz (And all that jazz)

Start the car I know a whoopee spot Where the gin is cold But the piano’s hot! It’s just a noisy hall Where there’s a nightly brawl And all that jazz

No, I’m no one’s wife But, oh, I love my life And all that jazz That jazz

Flora The Red Menace, 1965

Nineteen-year-old Liza Minnelli sings “Sing Happy”

Sing me a Happy song about Robins in spring Sing me a happy song with a happy ending. Some cheerful rondelet about catching the ring Sing Happy

Sing me a sonnett all about rolling in gold Some peppy melody about rainbows blending Nothing with phrases saying you’re out in the cold Sing Happy

Tell me tomorrow’s gonna be peaches and cream Assure me clouds are lined with a silver lining Say how you’ve realized an impossible dream Sing me a happy song

Play me a madrigal about trips to the moon Or some old ballad about two eyes shining It can’t be loud enough or a moment too soon Sing Happy

No need reminding me that it all fell apart I need no lyrics singing of stormy weather There’s quite enough around me that’s breaking my heart Sing Happy

Give me a hallelujah and get up and shout Tell me the sun is shining around the corner Whoever’s interested helping me out Please keep it happy.

I’m only in the market for long loud laughter I’ll let you serenade me till dawn comes along Just make it a happy Keep it a happy song.

Cabaret, 1966

“Cabaret” won the Tony Awards for best musical and best score — the first of three shows for which Kander and Ebb won Tonys. Twelve of their shows were nominated for best score.

Jill Haworth, the original Sally Bowles, sings the title song

What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret.

Put down the knitting, The book and the broom. Time for a holiday. Life is Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret.

Come taste the wine, Come hear the band. Come blow your horn, Start celebrating; Right this way, Your table’s waiting

No use permitting soem prophet of doom To wipe every smile away. Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret!

I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie With whom I shared Four sordid rooms in Chelsea

She wasn’t what you’d call A blushing flower… As a matter of fact She rented by the hour.

The day she died the neighbors came to snicker: “Well, thats what comes from to much pills and liquor.”

But when I saw her laid out like a Queen She was the happiest… corpse… I’d ever seen.

I think of Elsie to this very day. I’d remember how’d she turn to me and say: “What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret.”

And as for me, I made up my mind back in Chelsea, When I go, I’m going like Elsie.

Start by admitting From cradle to tomb Isn’t that long a stay. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Only a Cabaret, old chum, And I love a Cabaret!

The Happy Time, 1968

Robert Goulet sings the title song

Remember the Christmas morning long ago, The frosted glass, the dancing snow, The Happy Time Remember the painted horse, the carousel. The chocolate kiss, the caramel, The Happy Time. Remember the pale pink sky, Your first Easter Hat. And if you should ask me why The reason I ask you this is that I want to remember you remembering The Happy Time. 2. Remember the day you found the dollar bill, Or roller skating down the hill, The Happy Time. Remember the compliment you once received/ The lie you told they all believed. The Happy Time Remember your first school play, the sound of applause. Why do I go on this way?

70 girls 70, 1971

Mandy Pantinkin sings “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup” from the musical (he was not in the Broadway cast.)

The trouble with the world today it seems to me Is coffee in a cardboard cup The trouble with the affluent society Is coffee in a cardboard cup

No one’s ever casual and nonchalant No one wastes a minute in a restaurant No one wants a waitress passing pleasantries Like “Hiya miss” “Hiya sir” “May I take your order please”

The trouble with the world today is plain to see Is everything is hurry up It’s “rush it through” “Don’t be slow” “BLT on rye to go” And coffee I think she said ‘coffee’ I know she said ‘coffee In a cardboard cup’

The trouble with the helter skelter life we lead Is coffee in a cardboard cup The trouble the psychologists have all agreed Is coffee in a cardboard cup

Tell me what could possibly be drearier Than seaboard from the Belnord cafeteria Seems to me a gentleman would much prefer An “afternoon, how you been Would you like the special sir?”

The trouble with the world today is plain to se Is everything is hurry up There’s Reddi Whip Instant tea Minute rice and my oh me There’s coffee I think she said ‘coffee’ I know she said ‘coffee In a cardboard cup’

The trouble with the world today beyond a doubt Is coffee in a cardboard cup The trouble is the way we like to take things out Like coffee in a cardboard cup

No one knows the meaning of utopia Is dining at your coner cornucopia Seems to me we wouldn’t be such nervous wrecks With ‘hello there, be right back Would you care for separate checks’

The trouble with the world today is plain to see Is everything is hurry up It’s all become Looney Tunes With sugar packs and plastic spoons And coffee I think she said ‘coffee’ I know she said ‘coffee’ I’m sure she said ‘coffee In a cardboard cup’

(spoken): “Hurry up!”

Chicago, 1975

Jerry Orbach sings “Razzle Dazzle.” (The last minute or so is an interview with cast members)

Give ’em the old razzle dazzle Razzle Dazzle ’em Give ’em an act with lots of flash in it And the reaction will be passionate Give ’em the old hocus pocus Bead and feather ’em How can they see with sequins in their eyes? What if your hinges all are rusting? What if, in fact, you’re just disgusting? Razzle dazzle ’em And they;ll never catch wise! Give ’em the old Razzle Dazzle Razzle dazzle ’em Give ’em a show that’s so splendiferous Row after row will crow vociferous Give ’em the old flim flam flummox Fool and fracture ’em How can they hear the truth above the roar? Throw ’em a fake and a finagle They’ll never know you’re just a bagel, Razzle dazzle ’em And they’ll beg you for more! Give ’em the old double whammy Daze and dizzy ’em Back since the days of old…

Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon sing “Nowadays”

The Act, 1978

Liza Minnelli and company sing “City Lights” at the Tonys

The little old lady sat on the porch of the farm-house. The little old lady rocked back and forth and crocheted. “Oh, listen to the cricket, look at the rooster, smell the hay,” I told her. “And see the pretty little egg that the hen just laid.” The little old lady took off her glasses and squinted. And how she responded literally had me floored. She said: “I’m glad to meet someone who appreciates the beauty that nature initiates. It’s sweet to hear, but me, my dear, I’m truly bored. I miss those city lights, those sparkling city lights, those twinkling city lights blurring my eyes. I love those city lights, the color of city sights that shine under city lights tinting the skies. New mown hay gives me hay fever. There’s the rooster, where’s my cleaver? So laid back, my mind might crack, and when the thresher’s up my pressure’s up. City lights, oh, I long for those city lights, the bulbs of those beaming brights beckoning me there. Be there. Take the crickets and go shove ’em, urban crises, how I love ’em! Grime and grit and pretty city lights. Walking lanes to pick a daisy, that could drive a person crazy. Home-made bread lies here like lead, and Polly’s peach preserves– oh, please, my nerves! City lights, how I long for those city lights, the bulbs of those beaming brights beckoning me there. Be there. Sties and stables sure are smelly, let me sniff some Kosher deli, brightly lit by pretty city lights. Pluck your lillies of the valley, let me sally up some alley dimly lit by pretty city lights. Country air means zilch to me, I won’t breathe nothing I can’t see. So let me quit and hit those pretty city lights. Hit them city lights! Love them city lights! Fairs and socials ain’t no pluses, I saw more on cross-town buses brightly lit by pretty city lights. Hold that udder and churn that butter, me, I’d rather shoot some gutter dimly lit by pretty city lights. Slop those sows, go on and fill your pails, Honey, just let me plant my buns down in Bloomingdale’s. Yes, let me quit and hit those pretty city lights. Love them city lights!

Woman of the Year, 1981

The second show to result in a Tony Award for best score. Lauren Bacall sings “I Wrote The Book”

The kicker: So when it comes to losing a man, you’ll find it unsurprisingly true. That last week I wrote that book, too.

Zorba, 1983

Norm Lewis (not from the original cast) sings “Life Is” at the March 2010 Vineyard Theater gala honoring John Kander!

Life is a glass of rum! No! Life is a sip of sage! No! Life is the taste of raki flowing warmly from the cup!

Shut up!

Life is a walnut leaf! No! Life is an olive tree! No! Life is a scented melon-breasted woman when her lips are red and full… No! Life is a barbered, planted orchard and two lovers passing by it!

Life is my fist in your face if you don’t keep quiet! What did you say? I said, “Life is my fist in your face if you don’t keep quiet!” Oh? Oh? Oh! Oh!

Wait. Listen to me. I will tell you.

Life is what you do while you’re waiting to die, Life is how the time goes by! Life is where you wait while you’re waiting to leave, Life is where where you grin and grieve!

Having if lucky, wanting if not, Looking for the ruby underneath the rot, Hungry for the pilaf in someone else’s pot, But that’s the only choice you’ve got!

Life is where you stand just before you are flat! Life is only that, mister, Life is simply that, mister, That and nothing more than that!

Life is what you feel, ‘Til you can’t feel at all, Life is where you fly and fall!

Running for shelter, naked in the snow Learning that the tear drops any where you go Finding its the mud that makes the roses grow That’s the only choice you know!

Wait! Once again…

Life is what you do while you’re waiting to die… This is how the time goes by!

The Rink, 1984

Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli sing “Don’t ‘Ah Ma” Me” This is not a high-quality video, but I choose it because the lyrics show off Ebb’s skill at a theatrical song (with aid, no doubt, by book writer Terrence McNally)

[ANGEL, spoken] Oh I’ve got a lot of things to tell you Ma

[ANNA, spoken] How long was it this time Angel? Seven years?

[ANGEL, spoken] Ah Ma!

[ANNA, spoken] Basta! Finito! We’re closed! I’m finished!

[ANGEL, spoken] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] If the earth had opened up If it swallowed me inside Would my baby darling girl even realise I’d died? You were sitting on hill With some yippee on your lap Talking love and life and art and that transcendental crap With the dope I’m sure you smoked And a healthy dose of coke up your nose

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Up your nose!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] And for all you ever knew I was hustling for the rent ‘Cause you only call collect maybe every other lent While I’m bleeding in the street from some maniacs attack You’re in some Ramada Inn seeking wisdom on your back Making kibble of your brain An emancipated pain in the ass

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] In the ass!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] And don’t ah Ma me! You said you had to find yourself so find yourself some other place And don’t ah Ma me! I don’t need you around to help me complicate my life

And if you really gave a damn You’d have never stayed away When you break a mother’s heart does it make a Guru’s day? But you’re nearly thirty now And you’r panicked and upset So you walk back in the door And expect me to forget Welcome home, my little pig! Boy you’ve really got a big set of balls

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Oh some balls!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] And don’t ah Ma me! You said you had to find yourself so find yourself some other place And don’t ah Ma me! I don’t need you around to help me complicate my life, capisce? And don’t ah Ma me! The sign on the apartment doesn’t say Salvation Army does it? Don’t ah Ma me! I’ve heard it all your life and I don’t need to hear it now

[ANGEL] Ah Ma! It’s like it was before I just walked through the door! And right away you start to fight and curse

[ANNA, spoken] That’s bullshit

[ANGEL] Ma! I thought there’d be some tears

[ANNA, spoken] Tears?!

[ANGEL] And after all these years You might have mellowed some But Jesus was I dumb

[ANNA] So you thought I might be calm? Maybe jolly you along? Well believe me I’m not calm And believe me you were wrong Should the sound of your hello Be like music to me years When I haven’t seen your face in, what is it, seven years? So you walk back in my life Should I really bless my luck? That’s an outfit you could wear on a sanitation truck “Have a daughter” I was told “They’re a blessing when you’re old” Ah Stugatz!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Stugatz!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Enough

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] That’s it

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Shut up. I quit

[ANGEL] Ah Maaaaaaaaaaa!

[ANNA] Now I’ve got a good thing going And I don’t need you to hex it Did you notice where you entered You can also make an exit? So go out and find a husband Don’t try to be a whore I am sick and tired of your ah Ma!

[ANGEL] Ah Ma!

[ANNA] Shush!

Cabaret, 1988 revival

Liza and Joel Grey sing “Money.” This is actually from the 1972 movie, but I had to fit in somewhere

Kiss of the Spider Woman, 1993

The show won Kander and Ebb a third Tony for best score. Chita Rivera sings the title song

Spider Woman: Sooner or later You’re certain to meet In the bedroom, the parlor or even the street There’s no place on earth You’re likely to miss Her kiss Sooner or later In sunlight or gloom When the red candles flicker She’ll walk in the room And the curtains will shake and the fire will hiss Here comes her kiss And the moon grows dimmer At the tide’s low ebb And her black beads shimmer And you’re aching to move But you’re caught in the web Of the Spider Woman In her velvet cape You can scream But you cannot escape Sooner or later your love will arrive And she touches your heart You’re alert and alive But there’s only one pin That can puncture such bliss Her kiss Sooner or later you bathe in success And your minions salute They say nothing but “YES” But your power is empty It fades like the mist Once you’ve been kissed And the moon grows dimmer At the tide’s low ebb And your breath comes faster And you’re aching to move But you’re caught in the web Of the Spider Woman In her velvet cape You can run You can scream You can hide But you cannot escape!

Charles Pistone sings The Day After That (he was not in the original cast)

Valentin: It was made out of mud And pieces of tin And boxes nailed together Cardboard boxes My castle

My home And we slept on the floor My sister and I With gunny sacks for our pillows Coughing, hungry, cosy My home And every Sunday on our knees We would thank the Lord For his bountiful blessings And our mother poured soup Into little cracked bowls As she spoke of something better Beef steak, maybe, someday My home And that lady had eyes That were empty and cold At the ripe old age of thirty Death came Welcome To my home And still that Sunday On our knees How we thanked the Lord For his bountiful blessings And my sister and I Swore the day that we left There’d be no more children like us In the filth there in the heat there. In the smell there And no more Sundays On our knees Would we thank the Lord For his bountiful blessings And we came to the city And begged for our food Then, one April day we heard it Thunder rumbling One man speaking Thousands singing .. Someday we’ll be free I promise you, we’ll be free If not tomorrow Then the day after that And the candles in our hands Will illuminate this land If not tomorrow Then the day after that And the world that gives us pain That fills our lives with fear On the day after that Will disappear And the war we’ve fought to win I promise you, we will win If not tomorrow Then the day after that Or the day after that

Valentin: and families of the disappeared Someday we’ll be free I promise you, we’ll be free If not tomorrow Then (Or) the day after that And the candles in our hands Will illuminate this land If not tomorrow Then the day after that And the world that gives us pain That fills our lives with fear On the day after that Will disappear Will disappear And the war we’ve fought to win I promise you, we will win If not tomorrow Then the day after that Or the day after that Or the day after that Or the day after that Or the day after that Or the day After that

Chicago, 1996 revival

This revival is closing in on its 25th anniversary, and is currently the second longest musical in Broadway history. I feel free to choose songs by singers anytime during its run. So here are Marcia Lewis singing “When You’re Good to Mama,” Brandy Norwood singing “Roxie,” and then Carol Womack singing “When You’re Good to Mama” again.

Steel Pier, 1997

Debra Monk sings “Everybody’s Girl,” a raunchy song that’s one of the few comic moments in a bleak scenario

Shelby A long time ago A lady whose name was Carmen Drove a man wild Until he was out of control

I truly believe That i am a modern day Carmen In spite of the fact I do not habla espa?ol

That girl was exactly like me We share this philosophy Ol?, I say

I’m not the type who’s ready For datin’ someone steady I’m everybody’s girl

On sunday night it’s Danny On monday maybe Manny I’m everybody’s girl

There’s a point to my behavior Which is: Smart girls always share their riches

So, if your heart succumbs Don’t let it You’re certain to regret it All others, come and get it I’m everybody’s girl.

I could never be a cowhand’s

La la la la la la

And you wanna know why?

All: Why?

Shelby: I just can’t keep my calves together.

I’m everybody’s girl Some old Greek called Aristotle Said it If you got it, why not spread it? So don’t go rattling any sabres Exerting any labors Just share me with the neighbors I’m everybody’s girl

In case your passion rages, I’m in the yellow pages I’m… Girl.

You won’t be disappointed I’m also double-jointed I’m everybody’s girl Though it leaves a lot of fellas Cursin’ I’m a person Needs disbursin’

And so to reaffirm my status It’s absolutely gratis To use my apparatus I’m everybody’s girl

Men and me are like pianos. When they Get upright, i feel grand!

Everybody’s girl!

Scottsboro Boys, 2010

Joshua Henry and company sing “Go Back Home,” as they await their unjust fate in prison.

Lyin’ all alone I’m thinkin’ Starin’ at the stars I wonder Since I been away I’m lonely When I’m gonna go back home

Walkin’ through the world Things happen Right before ya eyes Things happen Soon enough you’re lost And thinkin’ When I’m gonna go back home

Oh me oh my Time goes slow Where’s it gone to I don’t know

But maybe times’ll turn I pray so Maybe some day I’ll get lucky Someone’s gonna say Alright son Take the train and go back home Hop a freight and go back home

SPOKE: Hop a freight? I’d walk all the way back to Atlanta if I could. I wouldn’t stop til I got there. No more nightmares. Guards beatin’ me. Teasin’ me. And I’d be home for my birthday too! Now that would be some present.

SUNG: Oh me oh my Time goes slow Where’s it gone to I don’t know

But maybe times’ll turn I pray so Maybe some day I’ll get lucky Someone’s gonna say Alright son Take the train and go back home Hop a freight and go back home

The Visit, 2015

Chita Rivera sings “Love and Love Alone”

Claire When you’re young Feeling oh, so strong what can prove you wrong? Love and love alone When the sun seems forever bright what can dim its light Love and love alone So beware young love lost in a kiss there’s a truth, young love

Simple as this Every fond hello ends in goodbye what seems certain to live will die So enjoy all the time there is if you’re his, be his make each day your own when tomorrows come and your heart is stone what has made it numb? Love and love alone Da da da da da love and love alone

We Can’t Do That Anymore

Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly Ebb had written this song with Kander for the musical “Wait for Me, World,”” which was never produced. He cleverly repurposed it for the “comeback” TV special he wrote in 1973 for Frank Sinatra

New York, New York

Their most popular song was not written for a Broadway musical, but it would be impossible to omit it. It is written for Liza Minnelli as the title song for the 1977 Martin Scorsese film “New York,New York.” Frank Sinatra is one of its main interpreters

Start spreading the news I am leaving today I want to be a part of it New York, New York

These vagabond shoes Are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city That doesn’t sleep And find I’m king of the hill Top of the heap

These little town blues Are melting away I’ll make a brand new start of it In old New York

If I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere It’s up to you New York, New York

New York, New York I want to wake up in a city That never sleeps And find I’m a number one Top of the list King of the hill A number one

These little town blues All melting away I am gonna make a brand new start of it In old New York

And If I can make it there I’m gonna make it anywhere It’s up to you New York, New York, New York

New York

  That’s the 11 o’clock number, no doubt. But I prefer to end with Liza, and a less iconic song from the same movie, “But The World Goes Round”

Sometimes you’re happy And sometimes you’re sad But the world goes round And sometimes you lose Every nickel you’ve had But the world goes round

Sometimes you’re dreams get broken in pieces But that doesn’t alter a thing Take it from me There’s still gonna be A summer, a winter, a fall, and a spring

And sometimes a friend Starts treating you bad But the world goes round And sometimes your heart breaks With a deafening sound Somebody loses, somebody wins One day it’s kicks Then it’s kicks in the shins But the planet spins And world goes round

But the world goes round But the world goes round

Sometimes your dreams get broken in pieces But that doesn’t matter at all Take it from me There’s still gonna be A summer, a winter, a spring, and a fall

And sometimes a friend Starts treating you bad But the world goes round And sometimes your heart breaks With a deafening sound Somebody loses, and somebody wins Then one day it’s kicks Then it’s kicks in the shins But the planet spins And the world goes round And round and round and round and round The world goes round And round And round And round

F is for Fred Ebb. Broadway Lyricist to the Stars Although Fred Ebb is best known for partnering with composer John Kander on “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” Kander and Ebb together created some two dozen Broadway musicals and musical revues, from 1964 until Ebb’s death in 2004 – and beyond, since several of their collaborations debuted on stage posthumously.

[brothermarc7theatre]

"The Full Monty" show #655

They had the goods! StageWorks Fresno just closed a remarkable production of The Full Monty, David Yazbeck and Terrence McNally’s adaptation of the 1997 film of the same name.  Though it didn’t win any of its ten Tony nominations, the title alone garners interest, curiosity, and excitement as to what a Full Monty is. As demonstrated by the six actors portraying unemployed steel mill workers in Buffalo, the Full Monty is more than just stripping down to the birthday suit for some singles. It’s a mentality, a brotherhood (or sisterhood), a commitment to bearing it all to win what is most precious to the individual, a sense of pride in this case. Director Joel C. Abels helmed the production, one that had as much heart as it did laughter and skin-bearing performers.

Leader of the gang is Jerry Lukowski, an unemployed divorced father who needs quick cash to pay child support to ex, Pam. James Schott delivered an excellent Jerry, complete with stellar vocal turns in Yazbeck’s demanding rock-esque score, specifically in “Scrap,” “Man,” and “Michael Jordan’s Ball.” His smooth, quiet tone did justice to the melancholy “Breeze Off the River,” and was met with comedic delight alongside Jeffrey Lusk and Dominic Grijalva in “Big-Ass Rock.” Mr. Schott balanced the personality of down-on-his-luck dad with being completely dedicated to his son, Nathan’s, welfare. Jeffrey Lusk was an excellent compadre to Mr. Schott’s Jerry, as the heavier-set friend in the bunch, Dave Bukatinsky. Mr. Lusk’s drab demeanor and self-deprecating inflection drew the audience in to absolutely adore the character,  as much as Meg Clarke’s committed, spirited Georgie, Dave’s Wife. Mr. Lusk and Miss Clarke shared an infatuated chemistry all performance long, one that showcased a very real side of marriage, not just the musical dramedy versions that can take little effort to create. Miss Clarke shined in her leadership of “It’s a Woman’s World,” and in the near all-call number, “The Goods.” Miss Clarke’s passionate presence and energy played well off Mr. Lusk and the other ladies in the cast.

Dominic Girjalva’s pitch-perfect tenor voice brought a level of comedic legitimacy to his performance as Malcom, a homebody whose endearing dedication to his mother matched the character’s nerdy persona and complete lack of social awareness. Mr. Grijalva’s ‘ooohs’ and ��ahhhhs’ in “Big-Ass Rock” prepped the audience well for what was one of the best physicalized performances I have seen on stage this year. Mr. Grijalva led a stirring “You Walk with Me” at the most dramatic point of the plot, and did so with astute composure and a sound vibrato. Aaron Pierce’s performance as Ethan was also a comedic highlight, making him a memorable performer among a cast of excellent actors and actresses. Chris Mangels’ turn as Harold, former boss man of the out-of-work mill workers was a demonstration in how whole-heartedly committing to the mood of each scene can result in an outstanding, fully-developed character. Mr. Mangels’ chemistry opposite Julie Lucido’s flamboyant, loving Vicki Nichols was a carefully crafted, engaging relationship to watch, culminating in one of Mr. Abels’ most poignantly blocked scenes in Act Two leading up to a beautiful “You Rule My World (reprise)” with Vicki and Georgie expressing the love they have for their husbands.

Rounding out the six Buffalo strippers was LaRon Lee Hudson as Horse, an older black man whose fulfillment of a particular stereotype makes him an ideal member of the sextet. Mr. Lee Hudson’s performance of “Big Black Man” is literally a breakout number for the “older” character, dazzling the audience with dance turns and vocal riffs that diversifiy Mr. Yazbeck’s score with a more-groovy, soul-filled tune. Tessa Cavaletto was gifted with one of the best-written roles of the show as veteran of the stage, accompanist Jeanette. Miss Cavaletto delivered every insult, reference, and one-liner with class and gruff timbre, letting it all loose in the Act Two ringer, “Jeanette’s Showbiz Number.”

Reining in all the personalities and talents to fit the dance demands of the musical was Josh Montgomery’s vibrant, dashing choreography. Starting with the sexy Keno strip number to a pulsating “Scrap,” the choreography was executed with excellent precision. Miss Lucido performed Mr. Montgomery’s Latin ballroom-ography in “Life With Harold” with the right amount of flare and passion for her to warrant the show-stopping applause it received on the matinee I attended. Follow that with Mr. Lee Hudson’s fantastic performance of the chicken, jerk, and slew of other “dated” dances in “Big Black Man,” and Act One was all set for “Michael Jordan’s Ball” to finish Act One. The athleticism coupled with numerous formations made for a non-stop finale, tipping its hat to the Broadway company while still incorporating lots of nuanced movement that complemented the six abilities of the six men. Act Two comes and it’s time to “Let it Go,” the culminating number that audience (and probably cast) have anxiously been waiting for. The energy was contagious, and the six men delivered all the goods, vocally and physically, that earned the near-immediate standing ovation post-light cue.

A technically sound production, Mr. Abels left no aspect unchecked. Mr. Mangels did double-duty, as he also built the set with the right amount of visual aid to help the audience know when we were in a new location, while being stripped down enough to allow space for action rather than crowding the cast in the intimate Dan Pessano Theater. Kyle Jensen’s sound design was a job well done of balancing the cast’s more tender singing moments with Dakota Simpson’s gloriously rocking band. Jennifer Malatesta’s lighting design absolutely did the job of illuminating the group numbers and focusing on just the intimacy of the solos and duets.

The Full Monty has moved on, but StageWorks Fresno has plenty more theatre in store for Fresno later this season. By all means, head over to their website or social media outlets and pick out your next date night at theater so you don’t miss it. Go see a show!

[larryland]

Review by Gail M. Burns

“You just sit there going, ‘This is our country as we know it.’ Black people are crying out that their lives matter. Women are saying, ‘I can never go back to before.’ Immigrants are saying, ‘What is wrong with this country?’ These are all lyrics from the show, and they’re all words from the television today…it really makes you think about where we are as a country and where we need to be and how do we get there.”

– Lynn Ahrens, lyricist for Ragtime, in a recent interview in The Interval

Immigrants are being openly discriminated against. Violence against black people goes unpunished. Women are fighting for their rights. The rich are getting richer. Workers are struggling for fair pay. Welcome to 1906.

That was the year that the house in New Rochelle, NY, owned by novelist E. L. Doctorow in the mid-1970’s, was built. And it was in that house he wrote Ragtime, named one of the best novels of the 20th century, which provides the source material for this musical.

At Barrington Stage director Joe Calarco and scenic designer Brian Prather have set this production in the attic of that handsome home in New Rochelle, NY. The stories that the mementos there provoke are at once immediate and of another time. They “hold the mirror up to nature” and we clearly see our reflection in our ancestors’ lives.

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While Ragtime centers on three families – upper-middle-class white, immigrant, and black – it takes sweeping in the glances at America as a whole. Fictional characters mingle with real-life notables – Emma Goldman (Anne L. Nathan), Harry Houdini (Joe Ventricelli), J.P. Morgan (Allen Kendall), Booker T. Washington (Lawrence E. Street), Evelyn Nesbit (Leeane A. Smith), Henry Ford (Eric Jon Mahlum) – as they tell the story of our very recent past.

The upper-middle class white family do not have names, except for the youngest member, a little boy called Edgar (Elliot Trainor), which was Doctorow’s given name. Otherwise they are Mother (Elizabeth Stanley) who grows from a complacent wife to a more worldly woman aware of issues beyond her family sphere; Father (David Harris) a munitions manufacturer with a penchant for travel and a narrow view of the world; Mother’s Younger Brother (Hunter Ryan Herlicka) who is searching for something; and Grandfather (John Little) who is sadly underutilized after having one funny line in the opening number.

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Father takes off for the Arctic with Admiral Peary and Mother makes an alarming discovery in her flower bed that brings the family in contact with a young black washerwoman named Sarah (Zurin Villanueva) and her estranged lover Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Darnell Abraham). Coalhouse is a successful musician, successful enough to buy himself a Model T Ford and set off to the suburbs to locate and reunite with Sarah, but their happiness is short-lived. Enraged, Coalhouse seeks revenge in a most violent and dramatic manner.

A Jewish widower from Latvia named Tateh (J. Anthony Crane) arrives in America on a “rag ship,” determined to make a new and better life for him and his Little Girl (Frances Evans). Tateh’s story is the one with a happy ending, although his early trials as an immigrant speak volumes about how Americans assimilate newcomers then, and now.

Elizabeth Stanley is her usual luminous self as Mother. I was interested in costume designer Sara Jean Tosetti’s choice to have her put on and remove her corset on stage, a poignant symbol of women’s literal bodily liberation from painful constraints more than a decade before the 19th amendment passed. Mother is a traditional woman of her time and socio-economic status, but she finds her voice and her backbone (hence no more need for a corset) during the course of the play, and she finds it through her mothering instincts.

Sarah, also, is a traditional woman, who longs for all that Mother has – a home, a husband, a family – but as Villneueva plays her she has internalized all the racial and gender hatred the world has heaped on her and vanished into herself. When she finds that her dream is within reach, she fights bravely for it, and pays the ultimate price. Villaneuva is a beautiful, willowy woman with a smile to melt your heart.

The final number of Act I is powerfully led by Allison Blackwell, in role designated only as Sarah’s Friend. It is a tour de force that will leave you in tears.

The two famous women in the show are the unconventional ones. Evelyn Nesbit (1884-1967) was the “It Girl” of the time. Having clawed her way up from poverty as to become America’s first super-model and then an actress, she became international celebrity when her insane millionaire husband killed the famous architect who had deflowered her, resulting in the “Trial of the Century.” There is no need to cast an actor who looks like Nesbit since few alive today know of her, but I was interested that Calarco cast the Barbie blonde Smith, who is very much America’s current version of feminine pulchritude, when Nesbit was a brunette beauty.

Booker T. Washington

Henry Ford

J.P. Morgan

Emma Goldman

Evelyn Nesbit, wearing even less.

Nathan’s performance as Emma Goldman (1869-1940), the firebrand anarchist, is a stand out, and indeed she often seems to be the only character on stage whose world views make sense.

Abraham has the real star turn as the mercurial Coalhouse Walker, Jr. The role demands a strong triple-threat who can be convincing as a loving partner and father, as well as a cold-blooded killer out for revenge. Abraham delivers on all fronts.

Crane is also strong as Tateh. Parenthood and the succession of generations is an important theme in Ragtime, and Tateh’s relationship with his daughter is at the heart of the show. Crane is at his strongest in his powerful number in response to a threat against his daughter in Act I.

Child roles are often doubled, but Calarco has elected to have the same three children play the roles at all performances, and they do a fine job. Trainor has the most demanding role, and he brings to it the open enthusiasm of a rising sixth grader. A third generation Berkshire thespian, Trainor’s grandfather performed on the stage of the Union Street Theatre before it was acquired by Barrington Stage.

Ragtime is a powerful show. This is the third production I’ve seen and reviewed and I was still moved to tears on several occasions. Flaherty’s music will stick in your head and Terrence McNally’s book is full of moments that truly shock. There is violence and gunfire in the show, so if those things upset you stay home, but that would be the only reason to miss this glorious production.

The Barrington Stage Company production of Ragtime runs June 21-July 15 on the Boyd-Quinson Main Stage at 30 Union Street in Pittsfield, MA. Book by Terrence McNally; music by Stephen Flaherty; lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; directed by Joe Calarco, choreographed by Shea Sullivan; musical direction by Darren R. Cohen; orchestration by William David Brohn. Scenic Design by Brian Prather; Costume Design by Sara Jean Tosetti; Lighting Design by Chris Lee; Sound Design by Ed Chapman; Hair & Wig Design by Dave Bova & J. Jared Janas; Production Stage Manager Renee Lutz.

Cast: Darnell Abraham as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Allison Blackwell as Sarah’s Friend/Ensemble, J. Anthony Crane as Tateh, Frances Evans as the Little Girl, Matt Gibson as Willie Conklin/Ensemble, David Harris as Father, Hunter Ryan Herlicka as Younger Brother, Allen Kendall as J. P. Morgan/Ensemble, John Little as Grandfather/Ensemble, Eric Jon Mahlum as Henry Ford/Ensemble, Anne L. Nathan as Emma Goldman, Marie Putko as Kathleen/Brigit/Ensemble, Leeane A. Smith as Evelyn Nesbit/Ensemble, Elizabeth Stanley as Mother, Lawrence E. Street as Booker T. Washington/Ensemble, Elliot Trainor as Edgar, Joe Ventricelli as Harry Houdini/Ensemble, Zurin Villanueva as Sarah, Spencer-Mathias Reed as Coalhouse Walker III. Additional Ensemble: Christin Byrdsong, Danielle Lee James, and Alex Nicholson.

The show runs two hours and forty-five minutes with one intermission and is suitable for ages 8 and up. For tickets call 413-236-8888 or visit https://barringtonstageco.org/single-tickets/.

REVIEW: “Ragtime” at Barrington Stage Review by Gail M. Burns “You just sit there going, ‘This is our country as we know it.’ Black people are crying out that their lives matter.

[newyorktheater]

The Spring 2018 season Off-Broadway promises some thrilling shows, as the preview guide below should make clear. There are new plays by superstar playwrights — Caryl Churchill (about revolution) Terrence McNally (about Nijinsky) Bruce Norris (about slavery), Adrienne Kennedy (about Jim Crow and Nazism), Lynn Nottage (about an elephant)…as well as New York premieres of plays by Tracy Letts, Martin McDonagh, Dominique Morisseau, and Aristophanes (in Greek!).

Idina Menzel, Will Swenson, Jeremy Irons, Jayne Houdyshell and some of the hottest Broadway directors, many of them women, are working Off-Broadway in Spring 2018. Off-Broadway offers off-kilter, foreign, fresh, and also familiar. The playwright of “The Vagina Monologues” brings her recent memoir to the stage. The���Hedwig” composer brings back the 70s in a new musical (the second of two shows to have “Disco” in the title this season.) The “In The Heights” playwright creates a new musical for Daphne Rubin Vega as an undocumented immigrant. For its 25th anniversary, the Encores cobbles together a new musical that’s a collage of old ones.

Unlike Broadway,  Off-Broadway is more than a collection of individual potential hits or misses. (See my Broadway Spring 2018 Preview Guide.)  It’s marked by theaters/theater companies that present whole seasons of original or originally interpreted work.

That’s why the Off-Broadway preview below largely groups shows according to the theaters that are producing or presenting them. I list those theaters in order of my preference for them (determined by such factors as their recent track record, the promise of the new season, and by the overall experience I’ve had with the theater.)

Clink on the theater’s name for more information about the theater, and on the show title for more about the individual production.

(The asterisk *, explained more fully at the bottom, indicates those theatrical empires that are both on and Off Broadway. Listed here are only their Off-Broadway offerings.)

I’ve put a red check mark — √ — besides a few shows about which I’m especially excited, or intrigued, or at least notably hopeful. It was hard to narrow it down this year.

  THE PUBLIC THEATER

425 Lafayette Street. Twitter: @PublicTheaterNY

Having originated Hamilton, Fun Home,and, most recently, Latin History for Morons, the Public is on a roll, the latest of many in the successful downtown empire that Joe Papp created half a century ago. The Public is so popular these days that members have been complaining that their membership doesn’t guarantee tickets to the Public shows they want to see. But it’s sounds hard to miss with any of these shows:

Thomas Kail and Sarah Burgess

Bruce Norris

Daniel Alexander Jones

Lynn Nottage

Rinne Groff

Under the Radar Festival

January 4-15

  Kings

January 30 – March 25, 2018

Written by Sarah Burgess (Dry Powder), directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton,) A comedy about a lobbyist named Kate who worries that her Congresswoman client is so high-minded it will ruin her career. But then for the first time Kate is faced with a choice that might change everything for her: back the system, or back what she believes in?

The Low Road

February 13 – April 1

Written by Bruce Norris (Clybourne Park), directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen.) Set in the 18th century, this wild new work imagines America’s first laissez-faire capitalist, a young man inspired by a chance encounter with Adam Smith to put his faith in the free market. But his path to riches becomes inextricably entangled with that of an educated slave, a man who knows from experience that one person’s profit is another’s loss, in this parable about the true cost of inequality.

Black Light

February 12 – March 25, 2018

Daniel Alexander Jones returns to Joe’s Pub as Jomama Jones, going on a painful personal journey set to pop, rock, soul and disco.

√ Miss You Like Hell

March 20 – May 6

Book and lyrics by Quiara Alegria Hudes (In The Heights, Water by the Spoonful), music & lyrics by Erin McKeown. Directed by Trip Cullman. Daphne Rubin-Vega is Beatriz, flawed mom to 16 year-old Olivia, and an undocumented immigrant on the verge of deportation. They take a road trip together.

√ Mlima’s Tale

March 27 – May 20, 2018

The play written by Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat) tells the story of a magnificent elephant trapped in the clandestine international ivory market.

Henry V

April 23 – May 13

Fire in Dreamland

June 19 – August 5

Written by Rinne Groff. Directed by Marisa Wolf. On Coney Island, in the aftermath of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy, a disillusioned do-gooder named Kate meets Jaap Hooft, a charismatic European film-maker who sees in the devastation wrought by the storm an opportunity to make a work of art about another disaster that struck Coney Island some hundred years before: the 1911 fire that started in the amusement park known as Dreamland.

SIGNATURE

480 West 42nd Street. Twitter: @signaturetheatr

As the first New York theater to win the Regional Tony Award, the Signature now has some solid proof of what has been clear to its patrons for years.  What has distinguished this theater is not only its track record, but its commitment to keep the price of all tickets for initial runs relatively low —  $30 now (up from $25.)

With the recent expansion of both their facilities and their mission, some longtime subscribers have had to adjust to the introduction of work by more untested playwrights.  But it feels hard to go wrong given the three playwrights on offer:

Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo

January 30 – March 11

Directed by  Lila Neugebauer. A new production of Albee’s two-act play that incorporated his older, and seminal, The Zoo Story. In act one, Homelife, we meet Peter and his wife, who live a comfortable but vaguely unhappy bourgeois existence; in the second act, The Zoo Story, Peter is forever altered by an oddly persistent stranger in Central Park.

√ Paradise Blue

April 24 – June 3, 2018

By Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew, Pipeline). Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Jitney.)  In 1949, Detroit’s Blackbottom neighborhood is gentrifying. Blue, a troubled trumpeter and the owner of Paradise Club, is torn between remaining in Blackbottom with his loyal lover Pumpkin and leaving behind a traumatic past. But when the arrival of a mysterious woman stirs up tensions, the fate of Paradise Club hangs in the balance

  Our Lady of 121st Street

May 1 – June 10, 2018

By Stephen Adly Giurgis (Between Riverside to Crazy, Jesus Hopped the A Train, The M-F With the Hat.) After the death of the beloved Sister Rose, a group of her former students return to their Harlem neighborhood to pay respects. But at the Funeral Home, there’s a problem—her dead body has been stolen

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS

416 W. 42nd St. Twitter: @PHNYC

Annie Baker’s “The Flick” is one of six plays that originated at Playwrights Horizons that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The theater offers new plays and musicals that are consistently worthwhile, in an environment that feels dedicated both to the theater artists and the theatergoers.

Mankind

December 15, 2017 – January 28, 2018

Playwright and director Robert O’Hara imagines a future world in which women are extinct and men can get pregnant.

Miles for Mary

January 11, 2018 – February 04, 2018

Created by the Mad Ones and directed by Lila Neugebauer, a comedy about the planning committee for Garrison High School’s ninth annual Miles For Mary Telethon in 1988.

This Flat Earth

March 16, 2018 – April 29, 2018

Written by Lindsey Ferrentino (“Ugly Lies The Bone“) and directed by Rebecca Taichman (“Indecent“) At a middle school in this seaside town, the unthinkable has happened, placing a bewildered community in the national spotlight. Stuck at home in a state of shocked limbo, Julie and Zander, two thirteen-year-olds, try to make sense of the chaos they witnessed, their awkward crushes, and an infinitely more complicated future. There’s a second Ferrentino play at the Roundabout.

Clare Barron

√ Dance Nation

April 13, 2018 – May 27, 2018

Written by Clare Barron,co-winner of the first Relentless Award. Directed and choreographed by Lee Sunday Evans. Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Tampa Bay.

Log Cabin

June 01, 2018 – July 15, 2018

Written by Jordan Harrison, directed by Pam McKinnon. When a tight-knit circle of comfortable married gays and lesbians  see themselves through the eyes of their rakish transgender pal, it’s clear that the march toward progress is anything but unified

NEW YORK THEATER WORKSHOP

79 East 4th Street. Twitter: @NYTW79

NYTW got much attention for presenting David Bowie’s musical “Lazarus.” and r its “Othello” with David Oyelowo and Daniel Craig. Its fare has ranged from the innovative and tuneful — “Hadestown” — to the cutting edge and incomprehensible — “Fondly, Collette Richland”

An Ordinary Muslim

February 7 – March 11

Written by Hammaad Chaudry his professional playwriting debut, and directed by Jo Bonney. A Pakistani-British couple struggle to straddle the gap between the doctrines of their Muslim community and the demands of secular Western culture.

  √Light Shining in Buckinghamshire

Dates to be determined

Written by Caryl Churchill (Love and Information, Cloud Nine), and directed by Rachel Chavkin (Great Comet, Hadestown) In 1647 England, power is shifting and, amid the chaos and confusion, revolutionaries across the country are dreaming of a new future. Anything by Caryl Churchill is worth seeing.

  The House That Will Not Stand

Dates to be determined

By Marcus Gardley (X), directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (Pipeline). In the heat of summer in 1813, Louisiana passed from France to the United States. On the eve of the transfer, in a house in mourning, freedom hangs in the balance for a steely widow and her three eligible daughters, all free women of color. Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba.

ST. ANN’S WAREHOUSE

Although it primarily presents avant-garde European exports,  this Brooklyn theater climbs up in my preference thanks to Taylor Mac’s homegrown   24-Decade History of Popular Music  late last year. This season’s offerings give us a sense of what’s happening politically overseas.

Ballyturk

January 9-28

Written and directed by Enda Walsh. The lives of two men unravel quickly over the course of 90 minutes.Where are they? Who are they? What room is this, and what might be beyond the walls?

Also in January: The Irish Rep Theater is also mounting a 20th anniversary production of Walsh’s Disco Pigs.

Returning to Reims

Feb 4-25

Based on the memoir by Didier Eribon. Directed by Thomas Ostermeier. Philospher Didier Eribon, returning to his childhood home, discovers that the left-wing and liberal middle-class have abandoned the working-class, and workers are running into the arms of the right-wing National Front. How is this possible?

The Fall

March 8-25

Devised collaboratively by a cast of seven actors, the play recounts their experiences as student leaders of the #RhodesMustFall protest movement, which called for the teardown of a colonialist monument on their University of Cape Town campus.

The Birds

May 2-13

By Aristophanes, adapted and directed by Nikos Karathanos in Greek with English subtitles. Two Athenians, fed up with their city and the gods who rule over it, travel to the countryside to ask the birds to build them a new utopia.

BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC

I always love attending BAM. Theater is only one of their many offerings, and (similar to St Ann’s Warehouse), they are primarily European exports, either classical or avant-garde.   But the three plays this Spring strike me as must-see, at least for me.

King Lear

April 7-29

Directed by Gregory Doran for Royal Shakespeare Company, starring Antony She.

Long Day’s Journey into Night

May 8 -27

by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Sir Richard Eye for Bristol Old Vic, starring Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville

Love and Intrigue

June 6 – 16

.Friedrich Schiller,Directed and adapted by Lev Dodin, for Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia. Two young lovers meet their fate in German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller’s tragedy of class warfare and courtly intrigue, first produced in 1787.

  ATLANTIC THEATER

      The Homecoming Queen

Written by Ngozi Anyanwu in her Off-Broadway debut, directed by Awoye Timpo. A bestselling novelist returns to Nigeria to care for her ailing father, but before she can bury him, she must relearn the traditions she’s long forgotten.

January 10 – Feb 11

  Hangmen

January 18 – March 4

Written by Martin McDonagh (The Beauty Queen of Lenane), directed by Matthew Dunster. A play about the second-best hangman in England hanging out in a pub on the day they’ve abolished hanging.

  This Ain’t No Disco

May 11- July 1

Music and lyrics by Stephen Trask  (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)and Peter Yanowitz. Directed by Trip Cullman. The story of drifters and dreamers in the night world in 1979 New York of Studio 54 and Mudd Club

May 11 – July 1

  The Great Leap

May 23-June 17

Written by Lauren Yee. Directed by Taibi Mgar. San Franciscan sidewalk basketball star Manford Lum, talks his way onto a college team as they travel to Beijing in the era after th Cultural Revolution, forcing him to juggle international politics and his own personal history.

   PARK AVENUE ARMORY

Although the Armory has been presenting theater for ten years, it’s not been a regular stop for me. A Room in India convinced me it should be. As with St Anne’s Warehouse and BAM, the theater they present is largely European, cutting-edge, often hybrids, and they require patience and an open mind. But, offered in the vast expanse of the Armory’s Drill Hall, these aren’t just shows; they’re events.

Yerma

Federico García Lorca’s 1934 drama is reimagined by Australian director and dramatist Simon Stone, who transforms the tale of a provincial Spanish woman’s desperate desire to have a child into a parable of modern life

March 23–April 21, 2018

  Myriad

May 22–24, 2018

I can only quote the description: “a hyperstitial ‘concertscape’ imagined from the perspective of an alien intelligence that explores disorienting relationships between space and sound and mutates forms of live musical performance.”

  The Let Go

June 7–July 1. 2018

Nick Cave’s hybrid installation, performance, gathering and dancing environment acts as an alternative platform for viewers to speak their minds through movement, work out frustrations, and celebrate independence as well as community.

 √ The Damned

July 17–28, 2018

Ivo van Hove in collaboration with Comédie-Française adapts Luchino Visconti’s film about the disintegration of the wealthy Essenbeck family and their steel dynasty during the seizure of power of the Nazis in 1933 in Germany. In French with English supertitles.

  LINCOLN CENTER THEATER*

@LCTheater

The shows at Lincoln Center’s Off-Broadway venues are inexpensive (especially at the Claire Tow theater, where initial-run tickets cost $20) and often rewarding.

  Queens

Feb 10 – March 25

Written by Martyna Majok (Ironbound, Cost of Living.) The lives of two generations of immigrant women collide in a basement apartment. When the choices they’ve made about their security, dignity, and desires come back to haunt them, they must ask:  what cannot – and should not – be left behind?

Admissions

Feb 15 – April 29

By Joshua Harmon (Significant Other). Directed by Daniel Aukin. The admissions officer and her husband the headmaster of The Hillcrest School are proud of their efforts to diversify the student body. But when their only son sets his sights on an Ivy League university, personal ambition collides with progressive values. Harmon has a second play, Skintight, at Roundabout.

ROUNDABOUT* LAURA PELS

The empire that is now Roundabout includes three Broadway theaters, and that’s where most of the attention is focused, mostly on star-studded revivals, especially musicals.  But its fourth building houses two Off-Broadway theaters (one of them a tiny “Black Box” theater.) It is in its Off-Broadway facility that Stephen Karam’s The Humans originated.

Amy and the Orphans

Feb 1 – Ap 22

Written by Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies The Bone). Directed by Scott Ellis (She Loves Me.) After their father’s death, two unhinged siblings reunite with Amy, their movie-loving sister who has Down syndrome. An unexpected turn reveals the moment that changed their lives…and the fact that Amy may be the only one who knows her own mind.

Bobbie Clearly

March 8 – May 6

Bobbie killed Casey in the middle of a cornfield in Milton, Nebraska. Two years later, Milton’s residents are ready to tell you their side(s) of the story.

Skintight

May 31 – August 26

Written by Joshua Harmon. Idina Menzel stars in a play by Joshua Harmon as a woman who discovers her fashion-designer father is wrapped up in his West Village townhouse with a 20-year-old who may or not be gay, but is the same age as his gay grandson.

MCC THEATER

Address: The Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street. Twitter: @mcctheaterl

Relevance

Feb 1-Mar 11, 2018 

Written by JC Lee. Directed by LIesl Tommy (Eclipsed.) Jayne Houdyshell (The Humans) portray a celebrated author and veteran feminist warrior who may have met her match in a promising young writer (Pascale Armand from Eclipsed)  who is quickly becoming the leading cultural critic on race, class, and gender for a new generation — and far more conversant in social media.

Transfers

Ap 5 – May 13

Written by Lucy Thurber (Insurgents), directed by Jackson Gay

Two gifted students from the South Bronx are competing for a life-changing scholarship at an elite northeast university when they  are unexpectedly confronted with their shared past during a campus visit.

Reasons To Be Pretty Happy

Aug 16 – Sep 23

Written by Neil LaBute. Directed by Leigh Silverman.fter five years in New York, Greg and Steph return to their blue-collar hometown for their 20th high school reunion and to a dramatic encounter with Kent and Carly, the friends they left behind. The third play that uses these characters — preceded by Reasons to be Pretty, and Reasons to Be Happy

SECOND STAGE*

This is the first year the theater is programming the Helen Hayes on Broadway. Here are the two that are being presented in their Off-Broadway house a few blocks away:

Cardinal

January 9 – February 25

Greg Pierce’s new play about a rivalry in a Rust Belt town, directed by Kate Whoriskey , who directed Sweat.

Mary Page Marlowe

Written by Tracy Letts (August: Osage County). Directed by Lila Neugebauer (The Wolves, Signature Plays). A seemingly ordinary accountant from Ohio has experienced pain and joy, success and failure — forgotten moments adding up to a memorable life.

  OTHER  HIGHLIGHTS

  Fire and Air (Classic Stage Company)

January 17-February 25, 2018

Terrence McNally explores the rich history of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev’s itinerant Russian ballet company. Surrounded by great talents of art, design, and music, the tempestuous relationship between Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky revolutionizes dance forever.

  Hey Look Me Over (Encores at City Center)

Feb 7 – 11

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the concert series, this new musical features Bob Martin, as his beloved Man in Chair character from The Drowsy Chaperone, plays an opinionated Encores! subscriber who leads the audience on a guided (and sometimes mis-guided) tour of his favorite scenes and songs from musicals he’s always wanted to see at City Center: All American, George M!, Greenwillow, Jamaica,Mack & Mabel, Milk and Honey, Sail Away, and Wildcat.

In The Body of the World (MTC)

January 16 – March 25

Directed by Diane Paulus and starring Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) in a play based on her memoir: While working with women suffering from the ravages of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ensler was stunned by a life-threatening diagnosis.

He Brought Her Heart Back In A Box (TFANA at Polonsky)

January 18 – February 11

Adrienne Kennedy’s first new play in a decade is set in Georgia and New York City in 1941,  and “braids together the indignities of Jim Crow, rising Nazism, sexual hypocrisy, Christopher Marlowe, and the lingering shadow of a terrible crime.”

Jerry Springer The Opera (The New Group) 

January 23 – March 11, 2018

 Starring Terrence Mann and Will Swenson.

—

Other companies and theaters worth checking out:

Ars Nova

Rattlesticks Playwright Theater

Mint Theater

Mayi Theater Company

Primary Stages

  There are also commercial shows put together by independent producers that appear in theaters for rent, such as:

Cherry Lane Theatre Daryl Roth Theatre Gym at Judson Lucille Lortel Theatre New World Stages Orpheum Theater The Players Theatre Snapple Theater Center Theatre Row – The Acorn Union Square Theater Westside Theatre

*THE ASTERISK: Off-Broadway AND Broadway

*Just to complicate matters, several of the resident theaters also present shows on Broadway –  Lincoln Center, Manhattan Theater Company (MTC), the Roundabout Theater Company., and starting this season, Second Stage Theatre, which has bought the Helen Hayes. Their Broadway offerings are listed in my Broadway 2016-2017 Preview Guide.

What Is Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway?

Off-Broadway theaters, by definition, have anywhere from 100 to 499 seats. If a theater has more seats than that, it’s a Broadway house. If it has fewer, it’s Off-Off Broadway.

There are some terrific Off-Off Broadway theaters, sometimes confused for Off-Broadway. These include (but are not limited to) The Flea, Labyrinth Theater, and LaMaMa ETC.

Monthly Calendar of Openings

Because there are so many shows Off-Off Broadway, and their runs are so limited, I include them in my monthly theater preview calendar (along with Broadway and Off Broadway openings) posted near the beginning of each month.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Off-Broadway, go to  The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers (aka The Off-Broadway League).  This should not be confused with the Off-Broadway Alliance, which is a separate organization (though they should probably merge, no?)

What’s Off-Broadway Dough? Does that mean there’s not much of it? pic.twitter.com/KHH1kApUzb

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 4, 2016—-

Off Broadway Spring 2018 Guide The Spring 2018 season Off-Broadway promises some thrilling shows, as the preview guide below should make clear.