Friday, January 24, 2025

00059: GYPSY WITH AUDRA MAcDONALD (BROADWAY)

January 12, 20255

As someone who teaches musical theatre and has dedicated his last 10 years of teaching to centering people of color within the theatre world, I have talked about George C. Wolfe and other African American theatre artist who have tried to break the Broadway mold. Going to see Gypsy was not about seeing the musical but the work of George C. Wolfe as director and the star of the show, Audra McDonald.

During the fall semester, I talked about Shuffle Along (among many other shows), which was done on Broadway in 1921, and how this musical was an influence to many other musicals of the time. I also talked about George C. Wolfe and his reimagining of the musical, giving it a new titled, Shuffle Along or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and all that Followed. And while I never saw the adaptation, I know a few things about it to understand that George C. Wolfe tried to make a statement in regards to African American entertainers and Broadway. And so, with this in mind, I took my seat at the Majestic Theatre to enjoy the greatness of Audra and Wolfe, but I was not ready for what was about to happen. 

To say that the production under George C. Wolf was spectacular is an understatement. To say that Audra was a marvel to watch on stage is diminishing her talent. Both the direction and acting were strong (as expected) and far more emotional and challenging (in a good way) than expected. I also anticipated the director to make settle but very important statements about race with the production. He didn't disappoint. 

The music, the lyrics, and the story are all great, most of us know that. After all, the majority of historians and theatre critics considered Gypsy the best musical ever written. They are not wrong, okay, we are not wrong. The sets, the lights, the costumes, and the makeup, were all, of course, on point. The acting, the singing, and the dancing, as well as the choreography were also all excellent. What I want to concentrate on, instead, is the directorial approach by Wolfe and the interpretation of Rose by McDonald.

To start, when Rose "collects" the different boys that will be part of June's act, all the boys are African American. I expected this because this is George C. Wolfe and he could make that happen. Also, Rose and her two daughters are African American so it made sense to have an ensemble of Black boys. But once the musical number that serves to show the passing of time comes around and the boys "grow up," they are all replaced by White teenagers. And while this switch may not have a significance to many in the audience, it does become a very important choice and statement from the director. It sets up the question: Why make such change? The answer, of course, comes later in the story. 

Second: When June and Louise find themselves waiting for her mother and George to discuss their new vaudeville contract with an influential producer, the two sisters sing the musical number "If Mama was Married." It is here in this number where we clearly see two sisters who, although love their mother, have started to develop a desire to be free from their mother's tight grip. But while Louise (played by Joy Woods) always sings the phrase "if mama was married," in a sweet tone, projecting a hope that she may or may not be able to reach, June sings the same phrase with anger, projecting a very strong resentment towards her mother.

Never before have I seen such interpretation of the song. People, including myself, laughed at some of the commentary the girls made about their mother, and we also start to feel sorry for the young women. With Jordan Tyson in the role of June, you also start to see how this song becomes the moment when June expresses the hate she feels toward her own mother. While both actresses have strong voices, sing with energy, and beautiful harmonies, their interpretation under Wolfe's direction, turns this song into a foreshadowing and a sad reality for the sisters, who, sooner or later will have to be strong enough to disengage from their mother, especially June who is now showing us a life that is horrifying to her rather than filled with joy. Her anger and resentment is real.

Later in the story, Rose finds out that June and one of the boys from the act have gotten married behind her back; they also have eloped. Rose, then decides that Louise will now lead their vaudevillian act but instead of creating a new act for Louise, Rose simply tries to make Louise like June, forceing her to wear June's blonde wig. But Louise isn't happy with Rose's choice so she tells her mother, "I don't want to be blonde; I want to use my own black hair." It is at this moment when we are able to connect the reason why Rose "switched" from having young black boys to white teens. We come to realized that Rose not only wanted June to be successful in show business, but understood that in oder to "make it," June needed to portray the "blonde beauty." This is a very poignant moment in the musical because without changing anything in the musical, in terms of its writing, Mr. Wolfe highlights the difficulty and struggles vaudeville black troupes experienced (and how today Black actors continue to experience) in show business. Rose's decision to replace her black boys for white teenagers is a "smart" career move, and a smart directorial decision to highlight the struggle of Black entertainers. 

Let's move now to Audra's performance. From the start, Audra commands attention, mainly because she is a powerhouse on stage. One cannot help but to cheer and clap the moment she enters. But also because the way she slowly injects little acting choices to Mama Rose. At first, she's just a regular stage mom, with demands about this and that. But soon, we start to see beyond the strong-will woman who wants her daughter June to succeed in show business. We start to see her obsession, her over-powering control over every single detail of those around her, including George (played incredibly strong by Danny Burstein), who slowly and surely figures out that Rose has only one objective: show business. 

As the story develops, Audra's Rose start to show signs of weakness and fear. "Everyone always leaves me," she tells us. And while we all may feel sorry for her, we quickly start to understand that it is her own doing that makes people leave. I was closed enough to see Audra's eyes twitch, her hands tremble, her mind drifting in thought whenever a situation became difficult. When June leaves, Rose only allows her a few seconds in her mind, and you almost see the pain in Audra's face, but, all of the sudden, she hides her pain by deciding to rebuild the vaudeville act with Louise at the front. 

Later, when the day comes for Rose to marry George, we all know is not going to happen because, in  previous scene, when George asked her to marry her, Rose's answer was "yes," but Audra's body language and facial expression was telling us otherwise-the twitching and hand-shaking was there again. The day of the wedding, we see Rose feeling uneasy, and it is Audra's defeated body language and mumbling lines that let us know that not only her show business dream has come to an end, but also that she does not want to marry the man that loves her. Yet there is no escape for she promised George to marry him when their vaudeville act contract ended. And by now, all the members of their vaudeville act have gone, so she must fulfill her promise. Yet, when she suddenly hears that the headliner for the burlesque act is nowhere to be found and that the show is in a bind, Audra's body suddenly perks up, and as if hit by a lightning bolt, Rose is full of energy and decision making, telling the burlesque director that her daughter Louise can fill the lead's spot. It is here where George comes to a realization and decides to leave Rose as she sacrifices her daughter Louise's freedom and happiness, over a burlesque act.

And so, Louise becomes the infamous Gypsy Rose Lee, and even with all her success, she isn't able to make her mother Rose entirely happy. We see a depressed woman now, and, at the same time, a woman who sacrificed everything for her daughters, and who also regrets not being under the spotlight herself. When Audra sing the gut-wrenching last song ("Rose's Turn") we are witnesses to a woman who slowly starts to deteriorate before our very own eyes. The repetition of the lyrics and the inability to sing some of them, suddenly become hunting, shocking, and horrifying as we see Rose loosing her composure, her mind, and her spirit. By the end of the song, we are devastated because Mrs. McDonald delivers one of the most powerful interpretations of the song ever done before. The Rose we met at the top of the show is no more. Yes, many actresses before Mrs. MacDonal have belted the song to stratosphere levels, Audra doesn't need to do that, all she needs to do is deliver a powerful interpretive performance, which she does as no one ever before. And that brought not only chills but tears to Louise, who is watching her mother from the sidelines, and also to the eyes of many audience members, including me. 

At the end of the song, the audience stood up on their feet, given Mrs. McDonald an almost five-minute ovation that was only stopped by Louise's first line in the last scene, and while in prior performances Louise has walked off stage, leaving her mother behind, or has walked off stage and has signaled Rose to join her, in this production, Louise gives her mother her expensive lush fur shoulder boa and a very strong heart-felt hug. Then, showing her compassion, offers Rose her hand, and slowly both, mother and daughter walk off into the sunset. And the tears continue. 

GYPSY BOWS

This musicals gets four very emotional snaps!





Tuesday, January 21, 2025

00058: THE OUTSIDERS (Broadway)

January 11,2025

This musical is based on the 1967 book written by S. E. Hinton and the 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The musical's book is  by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine and music and lyrics by Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance and Justine Levine.

The Outsiders tells the story of a group of teenagers who are called "The Greasers," and their story is told from the point of view of one of the group's members: Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy is writing about his own experiences as part of "the greasers," which eventually would become the book he's writing, titled, "The Outsiders."

Like the book, the musical is touching and emotional. And although the music genre isn't something I like (country), the lyrics are strong and heartfelt. The ensemble of actors (mostly male) do an incredible job at performing and singing. Their dancing, interpretive moment, and fight choreography are some of the highlights of the show. The three actors playing the Curtis Brothers worked together well and have a strong sense of emotional responsibility. And while they are brothers, each is very distinctive in their personalities, ways of thinking, and looks. 

Ponyboy is our leading man (teen actually.) He has a best friend, Johnny, and both look up to an older member of their gang, Dallas. Dallas has been to prison and knows the ways of life, and he makes an effort to show the younger ones how to survive. Of course, in this story, things do not go well for many of the young people, they either get killed or killed themselves, which makes "The Outsiders" a musical that has a tragic ending... and a hopeful one too. Mostly everyone knows the story of "The Outsiders," if you are one of the few that doesn't, it is time to pick up the book and read it or just watch the film. 

In terms of performances, every cast member in this ensemble piece performed with strength and professionalism. The emotional moments were there and the singing and dancing were top notch. And while all the characters have their great moments, songs, and personal stories, my favorite character and story became the one about the older Curtis Brothers, Darrell. Being the oldest, he felt a responsibility to take care of his younger siblings. The pressure to be a young man, a responsible person, and a father figured, really became a very frustrating burden to him. His song "Throwing in the Towel" was one of my favorites, along with "Great Expectations," which is a reflection on how people expect certain things from others or how we set up goals and have great expectations for ourselves but life gets in the way. Both songs truly resonated with me. 

Despite the tragic endings for some of the characters and the hopeful ending for others, the musical is a very strong theatrical piece that I can see being produced all over the country. It is about teenage life in rural America, like "Footlose" the musical, but with much better music and lyrics and with a much stronger and emotional story. And despite that sometimes musical delude the emotional core of a narrative, especially of a book, I feel that "The Outsiders" musical does a very good job at offering us strong characters and an emotional story while entertaining us through song and dance, and artistic achievement. 

This musical gets three musical snaps! 

Friday, January 17, 2025

00057: SUNSET BOULEVARD (BROADWAY)

January 13, 2025

Before I start my review on this Broadway revival, let me be very transparent about one thing: I DO NOT LIKE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S MUSIC. I find it simplistic, repetitive (read boring), and from a whole musical theatre composition one or two song are good and the rest are just noise. And while I will never be able to compose a single musical group of two notes myself, I believe his musical theatre compositions are to theatre what pop music is to music in general: catering to the simplistic mind. You may agree or disagree with me. That isn't important.

Now that such thing is out of the way, allow me to talk about the Broadway production of SUNSET BLVD's revival. This production was excellent, not because of the music and/or lyrics, but because of its directorial concept and approach. 

The musical is based on the 1950's film of the same name, a film that was done in black and white and received an OSCAR for its art direction (being filmed in black and white.) The revival's director, Jamie Lloyd, took note of such achievement and follow on such steps by presenting the musical as a black and white cinematic concept. Such approach paid off. 

The actors wear black costumes with touches of white here and there, a white t-shirt, a white tank top, or white socks, or a hint of white in some of the costumes. The lighting is stark, harsh, and white, and coming from all directions, projecting giant shadow on the standing walls found in front of the proscenium arch. There is no set, just an empty stage where actors are free to move as slow as possible, or a fast as needed, and in configurations where the choreography at times is dance moves, at times is interpretive dancing, and at times is simply artistic movement. Add to that movie cameras manipulated by different chorus members, projecting the actors on stage and/or close ups of specific actors on a giant moveable screen that appears and disappears, and you have a musical that is being done not only onstage but also on the screen as a black and white movie. The result, a cinematic feast on a live stage. Pure art!


Mandy Gonzalez

The original actress playing Norma Desmond is Nicole Scherzinger, which according to reviews and word of mouth is fantastic in the role. I, however got to see Mandy Gonzalez and I couldn't be happier because as a Latinx Theatre artists, seeing another Latinx Theatre artist in such a role brings personal pride. I only mention this fact because in the show I saw, all the original cast, but one of the actor, performed on stage, and all of them did a wonderful job. 

This review is not about the music or the lyrics or the musical composition, trust me, it is not. There are a couple of songs that stand out ("Sunset Boulevard" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye"), but nothing else. does This review is about the directorial concept and the technical aspects of the show, which make the musical bearable to watch. Honestly, I was bored with the music but the lighting, the choreography, and the camera work kept me paying attention, even when I wanted to leave. 

As I said before, all the actors did a wonderful job in their roles as actors and singers. The chorus also played an incredible role in this production and they all did an excellent job. It is the music that doesn't really convince me. Several times I heard short snipes from other shows: CATS, Evita, Phantom. And like in the other musicals, in Sunset Blvd, only a couple of songs become a highlight. But the visual creation on stage and the camera work, brought the scenes to life and gave them new perspective. 

Before the Show

There is one particular scenes when two characters are confessing their love for each other, even though they are dating other people. During this scene we see one of the other people on stage (Norma), in the background, hovering like a menacing shadow (and it does makes sense), while the other character being talked about is seen on the screen, crying, and as audience members we understand what is going on and how their heart is being or will be broken when learning that the women he loves is actually in love with someone else. This is an emotional moment that stays with us for a while. It is, because like in a film, the camera help us focus our attention on who is being affected by the scene being performed. It is scenes like this that makes this on stage musical, feel like a film. And for this reason, along with all the excellent technical work and directorial choices that Sunset Blvd is a good piece of theatre, as long as you are able to put up with the musical mediocrity of its composer. 

This Broadway revival gets two artistic snaps. 

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

00056: DEATH BECOMES HER (BROADwaY)

January 12, 2025

Death Becomes Her is a new musical based on the 1992 film starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis. And while I have not been a strong fan of musicals based on films because, well, the musical is just retelling the same story using the same songs, (read "The Bodyguard" or "Sister Act" musicals), Death Becomes Her, the musical is different because the original source is a campy comedy rather than a musical film like "Moulin Rouge" or "La La Land." Both were good films, by the way, but Moulin Rouge, the musical, however, is just a horrid amalgamation of cheesy pop songs and tired sentimentality catering to the simplistic mind.  

But I digress. 

I had no expectations about the Death Becomes Her, the musical, except knowing the story was in fact the same as the film, and since I've seen the film and like its twisted/corky comedy, my only hope was to see a musical that at least would take a cue from the comedy. I was not disappointed. The musical was that and more, slap comedy and over-the-top acting, with a doze of tongue in cheek. The director and the actors knew that this comedy needed to be handled with unseriousness seriousness, and they understood the assignment. 

Michelles Williams (formerly a member of Destiny's Child) belt songs and demanded our attention whenever she was on stage as Viola Van Horn, the mysterious woman that sells the "fountain of youth" elixir. Megan Hilty, best known for playing an actress auditioning for the role of Marilyn Monroe in the series "Smash," had the audience cheering, clapping, and laughing out loud as she portrayed Madeline Ashton, the famous aging movie star. Jennifer Simard, best known in the theater circle, was funny, caring, and campy as Helen Sharp, the wannabe writer and Madeline's long time friend and rival. Christopher Sieber, another successful Broadway actor, nominated for a TONY Award for Best Supporting Actor in the musical Spamalot, stole the show with his magnificent comedic timing as the drunk and neurotic Dr. Ernest Menville. Props also go yo Taurean Everett as Chagall and Josh Damon as Stefan. Both, shine in their respective roles. 

(Right: Megan Hilty, Left Jennifer Simard)

Breaking the fourth wall from the start, actors wink at the audience whenever an obvious joke or action happened. They delivered lines in an exaggerated way, taking deep breaths, holding the last syllable for a long time or brining the pitch up or way down whenever necessary. They broke line delivery several times as they look at the audience and waited for reactions, they switched their voice tones, sounding like children or cartoonish, and all these choices made the musical enjoyable, entertaining, and fun to watch. 

One of the most entertaining and camping number was sang by Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton, while performing in the musical "Me Me, Me" she was starring in (yes, a play within a play). The song: "This is for the Gaze," referring to her character as someone that needs to be looked at at all times, yet, the whole song was about "the gays" and oh, how fun it was to watch as the musical number was campy to the max as Hilty not only play Madeline but also became Liza Minnelli and Julie Andrews during the number.

And while many other numbers were entertaining and highlights, the top prize goes to Mr. Sieber when he interpreted "The Plan," a song that is not truly sang but "delivered" when such comedic timing that it comes a lesson in monologue presentation for any aspiring comedic actor. 



The music was lively, fast, and uplifting. The choreography was filled with classic and modern moves, and plenty of acrobatics. The special effects, recreating those from the film, such a broken neck, head twisting all around, big whole in the body, were all there, meticulously planned and one done with excellent.

Death becomes her is a very campy and cheerful musical, one that should be watch by the entire family and one that, when released for performing will, no doubt, be a favorite of many colleges, universities, and regional theaters. 

This production gets three campy snaps all around.