Theater Digest - April 28, 2022
New thoughts on A Heated Discussion at the Robey, Tootsie at the Dolby, and Hadestown at the Ahmanson
Hello theater lovers!
I’m Katie, and I see a lot of theater! Currently, I’m seeing 1-2 shows a week, a pace I haven’t experienced since late 2019. I do my best to include the Covid protocol for in-person shows, but things change rapidly, so if you decide to see something, please double check what the protocol are before you arrive at the theater!
As a rule, I won't be talking about any Disney/Fox/Hulu shows. Since this newsletter is geared towards people in the entertainment industry, there's a good chance I won't like a show that you or someone you know was involved in. I'm sure that you/your friend put a lot of effort into your/their work! I've been in a few shows, I know how much work goes into putting on a show. But just as you're entitled to dislike TV shows your friends worked on, I'm allowed to dislike theater you/your friends may have worked on. I try not to be vindictive, but I also do make it clear when I don't think a show is worth the price of a ticket or the time spent watching it.
I won't be writing much/any synopsis in these blurbs, but feel free to check out other reviews for synopses! Or just check out other reviews in general! Keep theater journalism alive & well!
Each week, I'll remove everything that’s closed, and put ** next to anything that’s new!
Worth Seeing:
A Strange Loop on Broadway [NY] (reviewed in DC in December 2021). As a general rule, I try not to listen to a cast recording of a show before I see it, but when seemingly everyone I follow on Twitter was raving about this cast recording when it came out last summer, I gave it a listen, and then I gave it a dozen more listens, and I’m so glad I did. This is a revelatory new work from composer & writer Michael R. Jackson that illustrates how a young, fat, Black, queer composer & writer navigates the world. It’s introspective and self-aware, which is not a combination that I typically love (I am, for example, decidedly not a fan of [title of show]), but Jackson really is a voice demanding to be heard. His tunes are undeniably catchy, and his lyrics have a specificity that is laugh-out-loud funny, provocative, and heartbreaking. In all honesty, I will admit that I did not care for the second half of the show, but I am fairly certain that that is Jackson’s intention, which underscores his brilliance as a writer. It takes boldness to push away an audience, knowing that you’ll pull them right back in before the finale.
Open-ended run in NY
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination (but not booster) required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Company on Broadway [NY] (reviewed in London in 2018). I’ve studied Company, Sondheim’s seminal 70s musical about a 35 year-old man who can’t/won’t find love, and I’ve never really enjoyed it, mostly because I never really cared for the main character, Bobby. But this production, which gender-swaps about half the characters (Bobby becomes Bobbie; Amy, who sings “Not Getting Married Today,” becomes Jamie, half of a same-sex couple; and the three girls Bobby dates are now three guys) really spoke to me. All the critiques of why Bobby hasn’t settled down yet, which feel facile when Bobby’s a straight man, suddenly gain new depth when they’re launched at Bobbie, given the age-old debate about whether women can really “have it all.” Not everything translates seamlessly when gender-swapped, but I really appreciated the nuance and complexity the director (Marianne Elliot, whose War Horse, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, or Angels in America you may have seen—all were on Broadway, and the first two came to the Ahmanson) brought to this new take. Elliot primarily works in plays, rather than musicals, and some of the staging choices did feel like generic musical theater blocking, but those are small quibbles, given how radically she transformed the text. And of course, Patti LuPone is a delight as Joanne, who sings “The Ladies Who Lunch.”
Note: While I have not seen the NY production of this yet, I have heard from multiple friends whose opinions I trust that Katrina Lenk is not great in this role. That is a shame, but I think the production is still worth seeing!
Open-ended run in NY.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination (but not booster) required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas and London [Vegas/London]. Both of these shows are quite fun, and the show’s writers (none officially credited, but they seem to be Channing Tatum & Lyndsay Hailey) have done a great job of creating a non-sleazy environment and a relatable guide in the emcee. The choreography (by Alison Faulk, Teresa Espinosa, and Luke Broadlick) is also astounding. There are some differences between the Vegas and London stagings, with each being tailored to both the different performance spaces and the casts, and I have to admit, I didn’t love the emcee I saw in London (and the British audience was also pretty rude, talking throughout the show), but all in all, it’s an entertaining and empowering night.
Open-ended run in Vegas and London.
Vegas Covid protocol: Indoor venue with close proximity to (unmasked, vaccinated) performers. Proof of vaccination or recent (within 72 hours) negative test required. Masks required at all times.
London Covid protocol: Indoor venue with close proximity to (unmasked) performers. Unclear if proof of vaccination or negative test is required. Unclear if masks are required.
A Mixed Bag:
**Hadestown at the Ahmanson [LA] and on Broadway [NY]. Keen readers and/or longtime subscribers might notice I’ve moved this up from “Not Worth It” to “A Mixed Bag.” As much as it is possible for one to be objectively right or wrong about art, I am likely objectively wrong about Hadestown. Subjectively, though, I don’t love it as much as everyone else I know does. I stand by what I previously wrote about the show, but after a second viewing with a different cast, I’ll admit that when the songs are good, they soar. The touring ensemble is outstanding, and Nathan Koci’s music direction makes the good songs simultaneously lush and crisp. But I’m still troubled by the songs that are too high or too low for male voices, particularly Orpheus’ “Epic” and its reprises, and Hades’ “Hey, Little Songbird,” respectively. Acting moments that I chalked up to quirks of Reeve Carney’s performance I now realize are blocking choices, presumably from director Rachel Chavkin, that come across as affected, even on Nicholas Barasch, playing the same role. I’m also troubled in a way I’m not quite capable of articulating to see Levi Kreis play Hermes, a role that seemed expressly written for André De Shields. That’s not to say that no one else can play the role, and Kreis is a phenomenal performer, but dialogue and mannerisms in De Shields’s performance make me feel uneasy in Kreis’. Even on a second viewing, despite familiarity with the myths of Orpheus & Eurydice and Hades & Persephone, I still struggle to follow the plot, which feels piecemeal to me. But perhaps my mind is preternaturally disposed to wander during this show. Most of these quibbles are to say, feel free to disregard me, since many many people love this show and I am a lone voice of dissent! (But if you also didn’t love the show, know you’re not alone!)
Open-ended run in NY. At the Ahmanson through May 29; later at Segerstrom in Costa Mesa Aug 9-21.
LA Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required. Masks required at all times.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Come From Away on the West End & Broadway [London/NY]. My expectations going into this were pretty low, and the show exceeded them, but it didn’t win me over. The story is good, but because 9/11 plays such an important role in it, it’s at odds with the musical form. Also, the songs weren’t that good. The music was passable, but the lyrics were poor, over-relying on rhyming couplets, and, failing that, leaving lone lines to land with a thud. The book (the scenes between songs) was charming enough, and the whole thing was well-directed and -acted, but I couldn’t get into it. The book, music, and lyrics are all credited to the same two writers, so it’s hard to separate out individual elements.
This is set up at eOne, and a filmed version is available to stream on Apple TV+.
Open-ended run in London, reopening imminently in NY, coming back to LA summer 2022
London Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Unclear if proof of vaccination or negative test is required. Masks not required.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination (but not booster) required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
& Juliet on the West End [London]. This is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet from Juliet’s perspective, set to a catalogue of songs written by Swedish pop maestro Max Martin, including “Teenage Dream,” “I Want It That Way,” and “Since U Been Gone.” If you’re the kind of person who looks at the track listing and has sung at least 75% of the songs in the show at karaoke, you’ll probably love & Juliet. It’s very fun, but, much like a Max Martin song, it falls apart the more you try and think about it (indeed, it’s cringeworthy to hear a professional actress sing, with perfect diction, “Now that I’ve become who I really are”). The cast’s accents are an incomprehensible melange, and I’m personally not a fan of the Tumblr-meets-Ed Hardy aesthetic the show has going on (it’s certainly… a choice), but it’s the kind of show that makes it easy to forget your troubles. I did feel that the way it addressed the non-binary character in the script was pretty clueless (i.e. continually using lyrics with female pronouns to describe a character who is trying to make clear that they’re neither male nor female), and overall, the creative team is regrettably not representative of the characters they’re showcasing on stage.
Open-ended run in London.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Unclear if proof of vaccination or negative test is required. Masks not required.
The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway and on the West End [NY/London]. There are some really funny moments in this show, but it's too long, even at two hours, including intermission. I wish it had been 80 minutes, sans intermission.
Open-ended runs in New York and London.
My review: http://stageraw.com/2019/07/15/play-that-goes-wrong/
London Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Unclear if proof of vaccination or negative test is required. Masks not required.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination (but not booster) required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway & the West End [NY & London]. I originally saw this right after it opened on Broadway, and loved it then, loved it much less the second time, but I think it’s still worth seeing once, if you can afford the ticket price. If you can’t, don’t fret too much.
Feature adaptation released by Universal.
Open-ended run in NY and London, coming back to LA this summer
My original review of the Broadway production: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/review-dear-evan-hansen.html
My full review of the production at the Ahmanson: http://stageraw.com/2018/10/24/dear-evan-hansen-theater-review/
London Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Unclear if proof of vaccination or negative test is required. Masks not required.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination (but not booster) required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Not worth it:
**Tootsie at the Pantages [LA]. This show is offensive to women, both trans and cis, and to taste. I’m not sure why the decision was made when adapting this 1982 movie to set it post-Me Too, when all the characters should be aware of the existence of trans people, but that is certainly a choice that was made. The book, by Robert Horn, seems to think that if the characters around Michael Dorsey criticize him, it’s ok for Michael to have a happy ending, but it just retreads the Dear Evan Hansen problem. This is also a non-Equity tour, which results in most of the characters, who are all around 40 years old, being played by recent college grads. Many of the sets are pared down for the road in a way that feels remarkably cheap. The best part of the show is the costumes, which are designed by an alleged sexual predator. Don’t feel guilty about skipping this one.
Closes May 15 in LA; later at Segerstrom in Costa Mesa from May 31-June 12.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Masks required at all times.
**A Heated Discussion at the Robey at LATC [LA]. This play, which imagines how three Yoruba gods and 13 Black American luminaries, from Ida B. Wells to Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, would respond in a parlor discussion about what life is like for Black Americans in 2020, starts with video footage of cops killing and injuring Black people. It’s horrific, and information that could easily be presented as audio talking about the events, or with a content warning. Many of the points the historical figures make are salient, if not revelatory, but I was troubled by the presentation of the aforementioned Dr. Welsing as having views that were as valuable as those of James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston. After starting her monologue with a joke about child genitalia, the character of Dr. Welsing spouts conspiracy theories about AIDS, Covid, and homosexuality. While those are challenged by the other characters on stage (particularly Baldwin), it feels disingenuous to present that on the same stage as a spirited debate between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X about nonviolent vs. violent protest. A debate about facts is not the same as a debate about opinions, and I’m wary when it seems like the two may be conflated.
Closes May 15 in LA.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required. Masks required at all times.
The Unsackable Man at Zombie Joe’s Underground [LA]. This is a musical adaptation of Moby Dick, set in the NFL, and as someone who is neither a fan of Melville nor football, this one wasn’t for me. The writing is alright, but the performances aren’t great. It does, at times, achieve high camp, and everyone else in the audience the night I attended was laughing their butts off, but I can’t say I enjoyed it. I also wasn’t thrilled that Melville wrote this story with a diverse ensemble, but the cast is mostly white, including the actor playing Queequeg, a Polynesian character in the original.
Closes April 30 in North Hollywood.
Covid protocol: none.
Full review for Stage Raw here.
On my radar:
Six on Broadway & the West End
The Music Man on Broadway
Suffs off-Broadway
John Proctor is the Villain at Studio Theatre in DC
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Geffen
Tambo & Bones at the Douglas
King Lear at the Wallis
Man of God at the Geffen
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Katie any thoughts on Cages? Seeing that in a couple weeks