Theater Digest - December 28, 2021
Hello theater lovers!
Well! What an odd end to 2021. Just as it seemed that the theatrical experience was returning to something resembling what it used to be, along came Omicron. Please, if you don’t feel comfortable seeing theater right now, don’t feel that I am urging you to do so! We all do our personal calculations of what we’re comfortable with, and to me, a person with three Pfizer doses and a KF94 mask glued to my face from the moment I leave home to the moment I return, theater doesn’t scare me, but I fully understand that you may not feel the same way! While the world is in a hybrid place, this newsletter will remain so as well, including both in-person and digital theater, to meet you at your comfort level. I will also 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! Also, please check to make sure that the show is still on—many performances are currently being cancelled with 0-30 hours’ notice.
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 at Woolly Mammoth [DC]. 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. This is a belated transfer of the 2019 off-Broadway production, and will be going to Broadway this spring. One thing to note: the sound design was shockingly bad at the performance I saw, with the band drowning out the singers, making it tough to hear the words they’re singing a mile a minute. In this case, or at least at this theater, it might not be the worst course of action to listen to the cast recording ahead of time.
Closes Jan 9 in DC; opening on Broadway in “spring 2022.”
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination or a negative test required of all patrons. 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.”
Open-ended run in NY.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Slave Play on Broadway [NY] (reviewed in 2019). This play was very controversial when it debuted off-Broadway in 2018, but now the conversation seems to have shifted to how good this play is. It is provocative, yes, and certainly not the kind of show that all audiences are ready for (there’s pretty explicit sexual content and the play frankly addresses how white supremacy effects white and black people today). If you are the type of person who is open and receptive to hearing about those topics, then I’d say it’s definitely necessary viewing, but if you’re the kind of white person who would react negatively to the play’s message (like this person), perhaps stay away. I can’t speak to what the experience of seeing the show would be like for a person of color, especially for a black person, but I did find this article to be a good read: NY Times: What It’s Like to See Slave Play as a Black Person
Closes Jan 23 in NY.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of full vaccination required for patrons 12 and up (proof of at least one dose, at least 14 days prior, required for patrons under 12). Masks required at all times.
Good Grief on Audible. Full disclosure, this is a recording of a play and while I have not listened to the recording, it’s a recording of the Vineyard Theatre production of the show, which I saw two years ago in New York. This is one of my all-time favorite plays, and it was a fantastic production, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re an audiobook type of person! It is sad (as one would expect from the title), and while I don’t usually like sad stories, the playwright, Ngozi Anyanwu, writes so beautifully and balances tone so well that I don’t mind.
Download here.
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. Masks required at all times.
Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway [NY]. This was so fun! It’s a fully improvised rap show, with a rotating cast of three rappers, a beatboxer, and two people on keys/other instruments. There’s also a special guest at every show, and at the show I attended, the special guest was Lin-Manuel Miranda, so that was very fun! I had the hugest grin on my face the entire show—it was just so entertaining and joyful! The cast is so talented, it’s a delight.
Closes Jan 2 in NY.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
A Mixed Bag:
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. Vaccination, recent (within 48 hours) negative test, or proof of recent recovery required. Masks not required.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination 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.
American Utopia on Broadway and HBO/HBO Max. I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for this one at all, I’m definitely not the target demographic for a David Byrne concert/spoken word show, but some of the musical performances are fun, and I’m sure this is a blast for Talking Heads fans. Spike Lee did a great job of capturing the energy of a live performance, and I found myself missing feeling safe enough to walk into a theater with a bunch of strangers and watch something that I didn’t ~get~ and then discuss all the oddities of the show with a friend on the way home. The barrier to entry for this one is pretty low for HBO subscribers, so why not check it out and see if you dig it?
Included with HBO/HBO Max subscriptions. Find it through your TV or their streaming app. Closes Mar 6 in NY.
NY Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway [NY] (reviewed at the Ahmanson in August 2018). I wanted to like this. I mean, it’s a musical based on the Temptations! Great songs. And the musical performances are realllllly good! But the show as a whole is uneven, thanks to a lackluster book. The director, Des McAnuff, who also directed Jersey Boys and Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway, seems to be falling into a visual shtick, but it didn’t bother me too much here.
Note: this may have undergone development between the LA and New York runs, but I still wouldn't be inclined to see it a second time.
Closes Jan. 16 NY; coming back to LA this season
My full review: http://stageraw.com/2018/08/28/aint-too-proud-theater-review/
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
Not worth it:
**Once Upon a One More Time at the Shakespeare Theatre [DC]. I really wanted to like this one. Scored by the songs of Britney Spears, it imagines that all of the fairy tale princesses have lives together when their story isn’t being read, and centers on Cinderella’s discovery of second-wave feminism. While the dancing is great (the directors are primarily choreographers) and the cast is strong, the overall messaging of the story is weak, strongly implying that every princess except Cinderella is stupid, including a running, deeply unfunny joke about how Snow White, played by a Black actress, is illiterate. Just because a woman has not been given the opportunity to be anything other than pretty doesn’t mean she’s inherently stupid, and that’s a point this musical seems to miss, which is especially frustrating in light of the #FreeBritney movement. That said, the audience seemed to love the show, based on the chatter I overheard in the lobby afterwards, so perhaps I am one of the few millennial female voices of dissent. I did find it curious how much this show has in common with the West End show & Juliet (mentioned above), which takes the same concept (apply a revisionist, feminist take to a classic story, giving the previously passive heroine some gumption) and three of the same songs (“…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again” and “Stronger”). Yet, for all its faults, & Juliet succeeds, perhaps simply because it treats both its lead and its supporting characters with respect, something which feels sadly absent from this show.
Closes Jan. 9 in DC, but described as “Broadway-bound.”
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up (negative test required for guests younger than 12). Masks required at all times.
Hadestown on Broadway [NY]. I know! It won the Tony for Best Musical! But I didn’t like it! Ultimately, I didn’t like the score, and since the show is pretty much entirely sung-through, it made it quite difficult for me to like the show as a whole. It seemed like the composer, Anaïs Mitchell, has difficulty writing for a male voice, because it didn’t sound like any of the three leads had a vocal part that sat in a comfortable part of their range, and Reeve Carney, who plays Orpheus, really seemed to be straining vocally when I saw it (I also didn’t care for any of his acting choices). Musically, the score was interesting, though not too hummable, and I found the lyrics to be clumsy, which is a problem as they provide the main/only storytelling mechanism.
Open-ended run in NY, coming to LA in April 2022.
Covid protocol: Indoor venue. Proof of vaccination required for patrons 12 and up. Masks required at all times.
On my radar:
Six on Broadway & the West End
The Music Man on Broadway
Kimberly Akimbo off-Broadway
Caroline, or Change on Broadway
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