It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

… Tony Awards season!

During the first week in June I experience a joy typically reserved for the Christmas season. For me, it doesn’t get any better than catching up on all the Broadway shows that opened in April just before Tony eligibility cut-off. I’m thrilled to be on the east coast to take advantage of all this fabulous theater.

Flashback to five weeks ago: I’ve just flown in from Los Angeles, asked a nearby hotel to hold my bag, and hopped the subway down to the Public Theater to catch the closing night performance of The Great Immensity.

The Great Immensity is an ambitious new work about the dire need for international commitment to protecting the environment before climate change seriously screws up our planet, told through the lens of a woman searching for her missing husband — who happens to be a videographer for nature shows. She tracks him around the globe and ultimately finds him in the arctic town of Churchill, Canada where hungry polar bears sometimes attack locals. There’s a group of teenagers visiting — young ambassadors for the environment / climate change — and the cynical videographer is taken by their genuine commitment and wants to help them document their work. These teens have a plan to go rogue. They recognize that the world only responds to environmental pressure when ‘charismatic megafauna’ are on the line — think polar bears, pandas, even sharks — the cute mascots of climate change that inspire people sitting at home on their couches thousands of miles away to do something about the issue. By the end of Act 2, these teens have figured out how to up the ante — three days before the next Earth Summit, they will kidnap themselves by taking off on a ghost ship into the arctic, totally off the radar. Until major countries of the world sign an agreement for actual change (with repercussions ensuring follow-through), these teens will hold themselves hostage — ultimately becoming charismatic megafauna themselves. Will the wife get to her husband in time before he takes off to document the teens’ plan? Will nations actually sign an iron-clad agreement to protect our earth?

This is a play with music. And lots of video projections. These Brechtian elements place more emphasis on the problem of rapid climate change — the effects are visually blasted in front of us, as these characters sing about how ineffective past treaties signed at these Earth Summits have proved. Yet we’re drawn in to this story by the wife searching for her husband and his faith that these teens can actually make a difference.

The following week I saw The Threepenny Opera at the Atlantic Theater Co. off-Broadway. It’s an actual Brecht show — the first of his I’ve seen — and his trademark elements are on full display. It’s about Mack the Knife and his romances with various women in the shadows of London. There’s a bevy of big theater names in this show: Mary Beth Peil, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Park, Laura Osnes, Sally Murphy… so that was a treat right there. I didn’t love the music but that didn’t matter as much because I was engaged just taking in the plot and show elements as a first-time viewer.

In the evening I saw The Realistic Joneses starring Marisa Tomei, Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, and Tracy Letts. It’s a 90-minute series of scenes between neighboring couples in an unidentified mountain town. In the opening moments of the show, Toni Collette says to Tracy Letts, “We’re not really talking; we’re just throwing words at each other.” And that’s sort of the perfect way to describe this play. Lots of banter, funny lines, and a few poignant moments, but it stays safely in the shallow end. I was expecting something a little deeper and left a tad disappointed.

Then I did something naughty… I second acted The Bridges of Madison County, which I saw during previews in January and didn’t entirely love. But since then the cast album has come out and I became obsessed with the music, so I was excited to return for a second viewing. This was not premeditated, but I realized upon leaving The Realistic Joneses that Bridges would be at intermission just down the street… so maybe I could walk back inside with the smokers and pretend I’d been there all along? The show had posted its closing notice the week before so I knew it wasn’t selling well and there’d be lots of empty seats. Sure enough, the balcony was maybe 40% full so I grabbed a seat in the back and nervously hoped I wouldn’t get caught. It worked perfectly and I was delighted to see act two again (it has my favorite songs from the show), this time interacting on a much closer level than the first time because I was much more familiar with the score. The leads (Kelli O’Hara & Steven Pasquale) gave it their all and I was heartbroken at its early closing date; this show deserved a bigger audience and longer run.

Next week I saw After Midnight, a revue of jazz standards (lots of Duke Ellington) with strong choreography but no plot or characters. The numbers are linked to the show’s setting, Harlem’s Cotton Club. After Midnight has rotated in big names for the lead singer — I saw Fantasia; other performers this summer include Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, and possibly Aretha Franklin. The dancing is fun and inventive. I’m not one for jukebox musicals (After Midnight is elevated slightly above that classification) but if I’m going to see one from that genre, this is it. AND the theater gods were smiling down on me, because when I approached the box office to buy a rush ticket, an older gentleman in front of me gave me an extra ticket! It was for the front center mezz, valued at $130. He made my day!

That evening I saw Bullets Over Broadway, a new musical based on the Woody Allen film starring Zach Braff and Marin Mazzie. I had low expectations but ended up really enjoying it. There’s no original music, just classic numbers (like “Let’s Misbehave”) added to the storyline. It works better than expected and there are some fabulous performances — shout out to Helene York, who steals every scene she’s in, and Nick Cordero who takes off with the rest of the show. Lots of very funny lines. Both in plot and overall feel, it reminds me of The Producers… which is fitting because Susan Stroman directed / choreographed both of them.

Next up I saw Act One at Lincoln Center. It’s a show about the life of playwright Moss Hart starring Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontana, sharing the lead role (Shalhoub also steps into the part of Hart’s early collaborator George S. Kauffman). It’s based on the best-selling autobiographical book Hart wrote in 1959, adapted for the stage and cleverly directed by James Lapine. From the giant turntable set to multiple actors sharing roles, this show has a lot of moving parts and would’ve fallen apart in less capable hands. Instead, this show is compelling, emotional, and a joy to watch unfold.

That evening I caught the new Terrence McNally play Mothers & Sons starring Tyne Daly. She plays a mother whose son Andre died of AIDS two decades earlier. Since then, she’s been caught in a world of grief while her son’s former lover Cal has moved on and married a younger man, Will, with whom he’s now raising a son. Tyne Daly’s character shows up unannounced at his NYC apartment one winter afternoon, as she happens to be in the area. We observe how they’ve each processed grief and honor the memory of Andrei, while Cal’s husband and son return from playing in the Central Park snow. There’s additional tension as Will reveals his own struggle to compete with the ghost of Andre, a man he’s never met. It’s a compelling play with excellent performances and I’m so glad I caught it.

I was SO LUCKY to score student rush orchestra tickets to the revival-of-the-revival of Cabaret at Studio 54. The creative team from 16 years ago — director Sam Mendes and choreographer Rob Marshall — have brought back their Tony Award winning show, once again starring the uber-talented Alan Cumming as the Emcee and screen vet / stage newbie Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles. The extraordinarily affable Danny Burnstein and Linda Edmond round out the cast. As Alan Cumming led “Willkommen,” the rousing opening number, my eyes welled up — to see him star in this iconic role was like watching Ethel Merman do Gypsy in 1959. Years from now I’ll gratefully look back and say, “I saw him do that live!” as his performance takes its rightful place in the annals of theater history. And my partial view seat was right next to where the performers enter and exit throughout the show, so action happened all around me. It was mesmerizing and I didn’t want it to end.

I surreptitiously snapped this iPhone photo of the Kit Kat Club at intermission. Go ahead, slap my wrist.

I snagged a $21 rush ticket to the off-Broadway play Annapurna starring real-life husband-and-wife team Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. This two-hander ran in Los Angeles last year shortly after I left on my RTW trip. I’m glad for this second opportunity to see it now. It’s about a divorced couple who haven’t seen each other in 20 years. When their adult son (who we never see) tracks down his dad’s trailer in a Colorado mountain town and discovers he’s dying, the mom rushes to clean up the situation before the son arrives. The play follows their day together before the son arrives, where they hash out the long-buried secret that drove Megan Mullally’s character to suddenly leave with their young son 20 years prior. While both actors deliver emotional performances — I was especially impressed with Nick Offerman’s breakdown near the end — the play itself falls short of leaving an impact, at least on this viewer. My main gripe is that they build up the secret so many times throughout the show that when the big reveal happens it’s lost its sting.

Last week I caught Roundabout’s revival of Violet, a musical by lauded composer and lyricist Jeanine Tesori. It’s about a 25-year-old woman named Violet in North Carolina in the ’60s who has a giant ugly scar across her cheek from where her father’s axe accidentally fell on her in their shed 12 years earlier. She’s en route to see a faith healer in Oklahoma who she believes will make her scar disappear. On the bus ride, she meets two soldiers — Monty and Flick. (Flick is black, which complicates matters in 1964.) Both are dashingly handsome and over a game of poker they strike up a friendship with Violet despite her scar, which is much bigger in her mind that everyone else’s (in fact, the production has chosen not to put ANY scar on leading lady Sutton Foster to further demonstrate how much of this problem exists in her mind). During their overnight bus stop in Memphis, Violet hooks up with Monty, despite her growing connection with Flick. She ultimately reaches the faith healer and it’s not exactly a spoiler alert to say he’s a fraud. But Violet’s journey has opened her eyes and left her better off, even though she still has the scar. It’s a beautiful production with outstanding performances and soulful music — Joshua Henry’s “Let It Sing” is infectiously joyful. In fact, if you download the cast album, it’s basically the entire show and you can enjoy the music and story without going to New York. I’m not suggesting you skip seeing this live — definitely get to NYC if you can. But I’m delighted that the creative team has chosen to put almost the entire score on the album.

That evening I caught up with my dear friend Sarah at LPR (Le Poisson Rouge) downtown. That tilted glass fish tank above is on display in their lobby. This venue has a lot of classical musical performances, which typically isn’t my thing — but I’m open to it and Sarah has won us free tickets! We grab dinner and a glass of wine while catching up and listening to performances by the LPR orchestra ensemble accompanied by 29-year-old piano virtuoso Timo Andres, who’s from rural Connecticut and holds two music degrees from Yale. He’s so impressive to watch and listen to. It’s a lovely evening and I so enjoyed taking it all in. It’s especially fun to catch up with Sarah and talk theater.

My most recent theater experiences happened just yesterday — I caught a matinee of All the Way, a new play about the Lyndon B. Johnson starring Bryan Cranston. While I initially had little interest in seeing this play, I’m so glad I saw it because this is GOOD theater. Bryan Cranston is outstanding in this role, deserving of all the awards he’s picked up so far (Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk); we’ll see how he does on Sunday night at the Tonys. This play was a history lesson for me because so much time has elapsed since I studied this era of American History (… in 10th grade). The show begins as Johnson takes office following Kennedy’s assassination and follows LBJ’s attempt to pass a landmark civil rights bill during his 11 months in office as he simultaneously runs for re-election. I truly couldn’t remember if the bill was passed or if Johnson won his bid to stay in office, which heightened the suspense for me (but all you smarties… or slightly older people who lived through it… probably know how those plots pan out). I was immediately struck by similarities to House of Cards — Johnson is so manipulative in his politicking that if most of the actions in the play are based on true records, then he’s got a lot in common with Francis Underwood. Except LBJ is largely motivated by a sense of what’s right, which excuses some of his underhanded moves.

And last night I met up with my uncle to see Here Lies Love at The Public. It’s an immersive theater experience about the former First Lady of Philippines, Imelda Marcos, set to music by Fatboy Slim and David Byrne… and it takes place in a disco club. Doesn’t sound like typical musical theater fare, right? But the recently released cast album is electric and it just returned off-Broadway after a sold-out run last year. We got $40 rush tickets and had a blast dancing as the cast moved around us, weaving the history of Imelda and the Philippines through pop music and dance.

Oh, and Bobby Moynihan from SNL was in attendance. Not as cool as when my friend Sarah saw the show with Anne Hathaway, but we’ll take it.

It is ALWAYS a treat to spend time with my uncle. I’m so glad he could join me on a theater adventure!

And I saw a show in Connecticut, too — one of my all-time favorite musicals, The Last Five Years, by composer Jason Robert Brown. It tells the love story of actress Cathy and novelist Jamie as they get together, get married, and break up — but with a twist. The characters tell their story in opposite directions: Cathy begins the show by signing their divorce papers and works backwards to their first date, while Jamie starts at their first date and moves forward to their divorce. It’s all solo numbers, except they meet in the middle for one duet as they get married. It’s a roller coaster of emotions and the music is just glorious (Jason Robert Brown also composed Bridges of Madison County so you can tell how much I like his music). I had to really think about how many other productions of this show I’ve seen, and I think this was number five (over the past 10+ years). And this might be my favorite — Long Wharf’s artistic director Gordon Edelstein helms a beautiful production in which both of the main characters remain on-stage throughout. Oddly enough, it’s the first time I’ve seen this show staged like that, because usually Kathy changes into (and out of) a wedding dress for the middle number. Actors Katie Rose Clark (a former Glinda in Wicked on Broadway) and Adam Halpin are stellar. Both sing the heck out of the score and are strong actors to boot. And I love the staging — a small turntable surrounded by the numbers 1 through 12 to form the face of a clock. This helps indicate when the story moves backwards and forwards in time, but at the post-show talkback it was disheartening to discover just how many audience members had totally missed the time shifts. (Granted, it’s a largely older subscription-based audience… but still). This show has a cult following among younger theater-goers and, at the very least, I’m glad Long Wharf chose to incorporate it into their season.

Okay, back to New York. I tried the lottery for Hedwig and the Angry Itch twice, to no avail. There were between 200-300 people each time and they only give out 20 tickets (at $37 each). Unfortunately the show is otherwise practically sold out (and super expensive) so this is the only way I could attempt to see it. Both times I actually had tickets to other shows, but thew my name in the lottery just to give it a shot. Oh well.

Neil Patrick Harris plays Hedwig, who has undergone a botched sex change operation to become a woman (hence, the angry itch). He’s earned rave reviews for his performance and recently won the Drama League distinguished performance award, which is given to a single performer in an entire season of New York theater. Winners can only receive the award once in their lifetime and it’s a big honor. I’m sure Neil Patrick Harris will deliver an impressive performance at the Tony Awards this year, which is sadly as close as I’ll get to seeing Hedwig.

Consecutive weeks I’ve walked down 44th St. towards Grand Central just as NPH has emerged to a rabid crowd of stage door fans. I watched a girl JUMP over the hood of his town car just to get closer (security immediately pounced). I remember seeing NPH star in the revival of Sondheim’s Assassins ten years ago — and I waited for his autograph with about 5 other people. He has (deservedly) broken out as a major star in the last decade.

Two weeks ago I took an earlier train into the city to watch Stars in the Alley — nearly every show currently on Broadway each performed a number during this two-hour concert. While I would’ve liked to fast-forward through the long-running shows (Wicked, Mamma Mia, Lion King) and just watch the current season’s performances, it was still a fun event.

Norm Lewis, who is currently starring as the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera (he’s the first African American to play that role on Broadway), hosted the concert. He briefly sang a few bars of “Music of the Night” to tease the audience (pictured below) but said we’d have to buy tickets to hear the rest. Broadway favorite Sierra Boggess — who’s back playing Christine in Phantom — sang All I Ask of You with the actor who currently plays Raoul. Truthfully, I haven’t cared about Phantom in years, but I’d see it again in a heartbeat with these leads.

And I passed by a Tony Awards pop-up store in Times Sqaure. Of course I went in for a photo op.

I am genuinely lamenting the fact that I will miss this year’s Tony Awards. I leave for Africa tomorrow (!!!) and the Tonys air Sunday night on CBS. Last year I watched the live telecast all the way from Australia, but I suspect it’ll be more challenging to find that in Morocco. Oh well — I look forward to watching clips on-line next week and perhaps downloading the awards on iTunes if they make it available again.

Here’s a few more photos from my NYC trips this past month.

Lincoln Center is always gorgeous, and I happened to be there on an especially beautiful day to see Act One.

I’ve enjoyed a few strolls through Central Park.

And this pocket park on 53rd St. (between Madison & 5th) is always lovely.

I met my travel friend Phil in between shows one day — he just got back from traveling around the world (again!) and happened to be in NYC. He brings this stuffed figure of Beaker (from the Muppets) everywhere he goes — Ghana, Jordan, Ethiopia, Japan, etc. — and it’s become a big hit with people in other countries. It’s a conversation starter and locals warm up to him more easily when he takes photos of Beaker (who I then dubbed “Ice Beaker”).

Phil is an outstanding photographer and his work has inspired part of my Africa itinerary. He was eager to show me this shot he calls the “double panorama” — using an iPhone, he begins taking a normal panorama shot as I pose with Beaker on the left. Then I run behind him and stand on the right, just as he completes the shot. Cool effect, right?

There’s a truck in Times Square with this statue modeled after the iconic Lunch atop a Skyscraper photograph. But when I snap a shot on my iPhone, it looks so busy — it’s hard for the eye to separate the background from the foreground and it all blends together. So I use the Big Lens app to sharpen the statue and blur the rest. Now it really pops.

Here’s the Natural Museum of History… sadly I don’t have time to go inside.

I indulged in Shake Shack once, but refrained from the concretes (that took real will power).

I grabbed coffee at this cute place around 20th St. and 9th Ave before seeing The Threepenney Opera.

And I love this place — The Tipsy Parson. It’s been years since I last ate there but it’s delicious.

Just last night my uncle and I had dinner at The Library at the Public Theater. It was perfect — great atmosphere, excellent food, and the most convenient location possible… in the same building as the theater. Plus the waiters are great about getting everyone out in time to see shows.