Charles
Busch’s The
Third Story, presented
by MCC, which just
finished its run at the de
Lys, was a familiar
visit to his campy satirical
haunts. This one was about a mother-son screenwriting team (let’s not
explore it
more than that), embarking on a screenplay to get themselves back into
the
game, one that, as it unfolds, starts to audaciously combine genres,
1950s
style, so that a noir thriller
folds into a science fiction scarefest which folds into a medieval
enchanted
forest fantasy. The authors (one of whom was played by the redoubtable Kathleen
Turner!) step into
various roles
in their creation; among the other roles are those played by a younger
man,
those played by an older man, and those played by an older man playing
an older
woman (aka Busch in full drag, full mugging at no extra charge). It all
sounds
a lot more interesting and funny than it really was. And it occurs to
me, that’s
all I really need to say. Or want to. Sometimes life’s too short to
dwell on
the oblivious, I mean the obvious…
At
the White Plains Performing Arts Center, there’s a lovely little production of
Stephen Sondheim and
Hugh Wheeler’s A
Little Night Music,
playing
through March 22.
Presented
in a white (as opposed to black) box set, director Sidney J.
Burgoyne’s production
seems a conscious paraphrase of the
original Hal Prince/Patricia Birch blocking-choreography most times (when not literally, in intent),
but the
adjustments made for the lack of real scenery are smart and tasty ways
of
emphasizing the communion between audience and performance, as they
enhance the
engagement of the imagination in filling in the spaces.
All
the cast are worthy successors to the Broadway originals, many
themselves
Broadway veterans, notables being Stephen R. Buntrock (carl-Magnus), Rachel de Benedet (Charlotte), Grey Gardens’ Erin Davie (Anne), and Eddie Egan.
In the topline roles, Mark
Jacoby is
a stalwartly bewildered Frederick, Sheila Smith’s Madame Armfelt gets more mileage out
of
Liasons” than anyone in NY since Muriel Resnick at NYCO; and Penny
Fuller may
be my favorite Desirée Armfelt of all time—certainly she
delivers the
best Send in the Clowns” I’ve ever seen: utterly unaffected, yet
connected beat
for beat. When it was over, the lady in my life turned to me and said,
“I think
that’s the first time I really understood
that number.” And as well as I know it, I had to agree.
****************
At
the Triad on 72nd
Street, Brother Can You Spare a Dime is a pleasant, heartfelt revue of
Depression-era
songs. The vocal polish of the cast varies, but all are engaging, with
standouts and audience favorites being cabaret veteran Bill
Daugherty (who also
directed), the ever-beautiful Deborah
Tranelli representing
the
middle-aged and older generation of women; and a perfectly winning young soprano
with a
unique brand of perkiness and versatility, Jennafer Newberry.
****************
Finally
at the Paper Mill Playhouse there’s
a striking new production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class.
Barbara Walsh, a
sophisticated
and seasoned actress best known for her work in musicals rips into the
(non-singing) role of opera diva to play Maria Callas near the end of her career and life, a
guest
artist running a conservatory master class in vocal technique. If it
seems odd
that, even at Paper Mill, a “non-star” should be featured in such a
role, the
originally announced actress, Kate Mulgrew, pulled out just prior to
the start
of rehearsals, and Ms. Walsh was offered the role with only about 48
hours’
notice. I do know better than to say things like, “If she wasn’t a star
before…” because even in this circumstance, the luck of the draw counts
for a
lot. But if anybody ever wonders whether she can charismatically
shoulder a
role that is probably at least as demanding as Lear, and even more
front and
center (interestingly, I was just noticing as I flipped through books
in my
library recently, Herb Gardner has written roles almost as operatic and
demanding—just a sidebar curiosity, now back to the point), wonder no
more. Ms. Walsh holds her own with the Broadway Callases—Zoe Caldwell,
Patti
Lupone, Dixie Carter—making the role her own with towering, terrifying
and vulnerable diva-osity. The direction by Wendy C. Goldberg is uncomplicated and clean, yet in its
way as
impressive for hitting all the right notes.
Which
are also hit by the musical members of the cast: Sarah Uriarte Berry, Mike McGowan and Lauren
Worsham as the
students, and Andrew
Gerle (pronounced
GAIR-luh,
himself an award-winning musical theatre/classical composer, arranger
and
pianist) as the stalwart accompanist.
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