Peter Pan Live!

Source: Imbd.com

Peter Pan Live! had me excited. I watched the backstage special and the commercials, and by the time December 4th came, I was ready to be wowed by the spectacle that NBC was promising me. And alas, I was disappointed. As many reviewers have expressed since the broadcast last week, my reason for being underwhelmed is not that it was bad, it's that it was fine. The cast (with the exception of Kelly O'Hara and Christian Borle who were outstanding) was fine, the choreography was fine, the singing was fine. It was all just fine, but in this case, fine was boring. After last year's tragic production of The Sound of Music - I think Carrie Underwood is still losing sleep over that decision - NBC was looking to up their game. And visually, they certainly did. The elaborate sets that they created for the broadcast looked as though they had taken much time, money and effort. Not to mention that they show included loads of flying, a computerized Tinkerbell and shadow, and a live dog. NBC certainly cannot be accused of shying away from this one. But it felt that in its effort to blow last year out of the water, the show itself got lost. This production felt as though each part had been rehearsed individually, but never actually thought about how it fit together as a whole. 

 Allison Williams in Peter Pan (Source: Nydailynews.com)

First of all, Peter Pan was an odd choice to begin with. The show has always been seriously flawed, since it lacks a catchy score and a cohesive book. It has also always featured a woman in drag as Peter, making some people shift in discomfort when the sexual tension between Peter and Wendy rises. The has always relied on its star to carry it through - i.e. Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby to name a few. This leads me to the second point that Allison Williams was probably not the best choice to play Peter Pan. While she may have been trained in musical theater in high school and college, her singular popular credit, HBO's Girls, is hardly enough to qualify her for a star role. She sung, danced, and acted well enough, but she did not have nearly enough of a compelling spark to carry such a big role or production. I do, however, commend her for her effort. I similarly commend Christopher Walken for his effort in the dancing department, but the rest of his take on hook was pretty much a passive snooze.

                                                                    Allison Williams and Christoper Walken in Peter Pan (Source: thewrap.com)

Overall, I am glad that NBC did the show and I am glad they are making this an annual tradition. For years the media has largely pretended that the theater community does not exist. It is spectacular for Broadway to be given this kind of main stream, primetime exposure. But NBC really needs to get their act together when it comes to the actual production. Last year, they had a great show in The Sound of Music, but the cast and production was dreadful. This year, they threw all their effort into the production value, but all along had the wrong show and the wrong cast. My hopes are high for next year. NBC is soon expected to announce that they will be doing a live production of The Music Man, which with the right cast could be a home run. Here's to hoping!

Last Chance for The Last Ship

I have a lot of respect for Sting, and not Grammy-winning career as the front-man for The Police and solo act (though that is impressive). I have a lot of respect for Sting as a Broadway creator and producer. The Last Ship, which opened in October, is a semi-biographical show created by Sting about his life growing up in a ship-building town in England. In the show, the shipyard is closing, sending the town into a panic since it is where many of the residents make their living. The show is also a love story between the main character, Gideon, who returns to the town after years away, and Meg, who has moved on with someone else. 

It is already impressive enough that Sting conceived of and wrote all of the music for a Broadway show. This is not to say that he is the first rocker to do so. A few years ago Bono and The Edge wrote the music for the failed Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. And a few years before them, David Bryan, who plays the keyboard for Bon Jovi, wrote the music for Memphis.

 Sting at the Neil Simon Theater - Source: Nypost.com

What has been impressive is Sting's undying commitment to the show. Sting was present at all of the show's rehearsals, ready to give guidance and tweak the music wherever it was needed. Many in the cast have said that he has become like a father figure to them. He also joined the promotional tour, accompanying the cast on shows such as Jimmy Fallon and Today. He has been happy to use his star power wherever it is needed to help the show. This is in stark contrast to Bono and the Edge a few years ago with Spiderman. The duo wrote most of the music out on the road, and decided to tour rather than attend rehearsals and even opening night.

The Cast of The Last Ship - Source: Nypost.com

Unfortunately, Sting hasn't been able to keep the show from doing dismally at the box office. Since it started previews, the show has been losing money each week. This led to Sting's most impressive move yet - a few weeks ago, he announce that he will be joining the cast from Dec. 9 through Jan. 10.  This comes after much speculation that he would do so, since he has been performing at the curtain call almost every night, hoping to lure audiences to the show for the chance of getting to see him. This will really be the last chance for The Last Ship. They couldn't succeed with just his name attached to the music, and if they can't succeed with him in the cast, there really is not much more to be done. But certainly if the the show fails, not one person will be able to pin it on Sting's lack of trying.

Showbusiness

Source: Imbd.com

As a theater enthusiest, it isn’t always as easy to get an inside look at things as it is with TV and movies. That is why when a documentary like Showbusiness: The Road to Broadway comes around, it is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Showbusiness follows four musicals in the year leading up to their Broadway opening and the Tony Awards during the 2003 theater season. The four shows featured in the movie are Wicked, Avenue Q, Caroline or Change, and Taboo. Each hopes that they will receive the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical as well as have a commercially successful run. The movie gives an inside look into what it takes to get a Broadway musical from the page to the stage, as well as what the tenacious and ruthless world of commercial theater is like.

A Rehearsal of Wicked - Source: Fandango.com

What’s great about this documentary is that it plays with the intensity of a sports documentary, as if we are following a team from the preseason all the way through to the championship. I was so invested in all three shows by the end, that it was as heartbreaking as it was thrilling to see only one take home the Tony. What is shocking is the amount of blood, sweat and tears that go into creating a Broadway Musical. Creative teams spend years, sometimes over a decade writing, rewriting, and raising the money to see their dream of getting their show to the stage come to fruition.

Where Showbusiness really gets interesting is that it shines a bright light on critics and how they are having a negative effect on the industry. Boy George, whose life is the inspiration for Taboo, has the best quote of the movie when he says, refereeing to critics, “those who are supposed to be the biggest champions of the art are the ones who are destroying it.” I have thought for a long time that critics are moving in the wrong direction and are causing serious damage to the industry with their constant negative reviews. It is one thing to offer criticism, but it’s another to try and destroy a show with their words. Critics should remember that without Broadway, many of them would be out of a job. It was superb to see this pointed out by someone in such a prominent position.

Even if you have no interest in theater, Showbusiness is entertaining for everyone. It offers just the right amount of behind-the-scenes, history, and criticism to make it a quintessential documentary. I have no doubt that you’ll be on the edge of your seat.

To watch the trailer, click here.

Found: The Musical

If you’re looking for a creative new show, the Off-Broadway musical, Found is for you. The show is playing a limited engagement through the Atlantic Theater Company at the historic Linda Goss Theater. Found tells the story of Davey, a young man whose life is altered when he finds a handwritten note on his windshield that was intended for someone else. After finding the note, Davey keeps his eyes open for others, and ends up creating a magazine with everything he finds. The story also involves Davey’s love and loss along the way as the magazine’s success rises.

The cast of Found - Source: Broadway.com

What makes Found particularly special is that all of the notes featured in the show are real notes from the actual “Found Magazine” which inspired the show. The story’s narrative is driven by these notes; as dialogue is being exchanged by the main characters, ensemble members step on the stage and recite a note that offers some insight into the main characters’ heads. The notes become the main source of comedy for the audience, as what we are thinking in our heads is often more extreme than what actually comes out of our mouths. The notes are also the main source of the lyrics in the show and are often verbatim what is written. 

Never before have I seen a show quite like Found, since it draws it’s story and lyrics in such a unique way. The audience is easily able to keep up with the rapid-fire appearance of the notes, since as they are being read or sung, a projection of the actual thing is displayed on the stage. The cast does a magnificent job here with the material that they are given. Nick Blaemire, Davey, is able to make us sympathize and root for Davey, even when he is making selfish decisions. Barrett Wilbert Weed, who plays Davey’s complicated love interest, does a fine job revealing the pain of rejection and has the most superior voice in the cast. The ensemble seemingly outshines the main cast in their inventive delivery of the notes.

The cast of Found - Source: Playbill.com

The only true downside of Found is the actual dialogue between the characters, often feels forced, contrived, and can do little to compare to the notes. While it is a fantastic show, I don’t know that I can envision a future for it passed it’s Off-Broadway home in its current state. Since many of the songs in the show are just characters singing a note word for word, the music would not satisfy a traditional Broadway audience. However, Found is working just fine Off-Broadway, and there’s nothing wrong with staying there.

On the Town

This past Sunday I took in a performance of On the Town at the Lyric Theater in midtown. The original production of On the Town originally premiered on Broadway in 1944, and now it’s being revived on the Great White Way.

The Cast of On the Town - Source: Broadway.com

I was excited to see the show because I had heard such great things about it. The production currently on Broadway was mounted last summer at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, and it received rave reviews from critics. So I had high expectations, especially for the dancing which has been a trademark of the show since it’s beginning in 1944.

Right from the outset, the show did a marvelous job at making an experience, something that is crucial to creating a successful show. Music from the 1930’s (the time period of the show), flowed throughout the lobby. Also in the library was an old-fashioned candy and soda shop, transporting the audience immediately into the world of the show. Inside the theater, with the American Flag curtain covering the stage, the orchestra played the national anthem while the audience stood and sang. And with that, we were transported to a different time, both in life and in musical theater.

                                                                                         The Cast of On the Town - Source: Broadway.com

It was the transportation to a different time in musical theater, which is where On the Town stumbled slightly. The show began with a big song and dance number as expected, which did not disappoint. However, many of the big numbers after that were presented as dances (in ballet style) without singing. This was the style of many shows at the time of On the Town’s original premiere, but is not the custom today. While the dances were beautiful, it would have been nice to see them follow more of a modern song and dance style. Speaking of songs, while many of them were catchy, I didn’t leave the theater remembering many of them. The dialogue between them included some entertaining jokes that got better as the plot went along, however many of them would have landed with more weight had script gone through a bit more updating. The numbers were, however, creatively and intriguingly staged, especially the romantic dance number which took place in an imagined Coney Island boxing ring.

The cast, including the ensemble, were extraordinary dancers, not only in physicality but also in expression, which I could see from the last row of the theater. Where they fell short was in their chemistry together and I often felt that the lead actors were on different pages, especially in terms of their comedy. Since On the Town’s opening night took place October 16^th, they could just need more time to get used to each other.

The Cast of On the Town - Source: Broadway.com

The interesting thing about this show, was the producers’ decision to put the show in the Lyric Theater. The Lyric is the largest theater on Broadway at 1,874 seats. Being in the last row of the theater, the show did not fully reach me, nor did I feel like I was having a unified experience with the rest of the audience. A show of this nature would have played better in a smaller venue where the audience could have been drawn in more significantly by the show’s old fashioned charm.

Overall, On the Town is an entertaining and fluffy production, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that.

Click here for a preview of On the Town

Broadway Idiot

Broadway Idiot is a documentary that follows the Broadway play that adapted Green Day's American Idiot album into a rock opera. I adore musicals, so it was very entertaining to see how the director, Michael Mayer, worked with the band to turn one of their most famous albums into a play. 

Broadway Idiot Movie Poster (Source: Imdb.com)

The documentary follows the cast and crew through the initial development of ideas to the play's debut on Broadway. It portrays all the hardships and uncertainty that comes along with creating an entirely new musical as well as the major triumphs and highlights that these artists attain. Viewers can see Mayer's spin on various well-known Green Day songs and how they are incorporated into a complex plot. I was drawn into the documentary to the point where I felt very nervous alongside Mayer and the crew as they first pitched their take on "Last Night on Earth" to the band. And I felt such relief when lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong said, "That was fucking sick!" 

Billie Joe Armstrong and the American Idiot cast (Source: thedisolve.com)

One of the most touching moments was when Green Day was asked to perform "21 Guns" at the Grammy's and asked the Broadway cast to perform with them. Besides their incredible voices that literally gave me chills, it was great to see how rewarding the experience was and how it validated all of the hard work they had put into the show. 

Broadway Idiot is available on Netflix, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in musicals, behind-the-scenes type documentaries, or Green Day. 

Written by: Amber Pak

Celebrity Vehicles on Broadway

With Emma Stone arriving on Broadway as Sally Bowles in Cabaret on November 11^th, I thought it would be a good time to discuss celebrities on Broadway. These days, it’s hard to find a Marquee that doesn’t have a movie star’s name on it. Bradley Cooper, Michael C. Hall, James Earl Jones, Glenn Close…and the list goes on. The reason? Quite simply, movie stars sell tickets.

Emma Stone in Cabaret - Source: Playbill.com

However, this practice is slightly different than what it used to be in the past. Broadway used to make movie stars, now it depends on them. Movie legends such as Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Meryl Streep, and more, all got their start in theater on Broadway. Even if it wasn’t on Broadway, most movie stars had their beginnings in the theater, since that was the acting outlet available to them growing up.

This is not to say that Broadway actors aren’t making it in Hollywood. Lea Michele, Josh Gad, Nick Jonas, and Kristen Bell all started on Broadway. However, now it seems that the funnel moves in the opposite direction; movie stars are being enticed to Broadway in order to boost ticket sales. It is an understandable strategy, but now that it is becoming such a regular practice, isn’t it starting to take away from the art?

Denzel Washington in A Rasin in the Sun - Source: Nytimes.com

Rather than going to see a Broadway show for it’s own sake, some audience members are going in order to see their favorite celebrity. In some way then, it feels as if there is little difference between going to a Broadway show and going to the mall to have Jane Lynch sign a copy of her book. On the other hand, you might be attracting an audience that otherwise would not go see a Broadway show. And if the show were to close without it’s celebrity vehicle, isn’t it better that the show stay open with them in it?

Not to mention that many movie stars are incredibly talented. Jane Lynch recently starred in Annie and she’s won an Emmy Award. Bradley Cooper has been nominated for two Oscars. And is there anyone who wants to argue that Denzel Washington isn’t talented enough to perform on Broadway? But what it does is marginalize and disenchant true theater and musical theater actors. People who have worked their whole life to perfect their singing, dancing, and acting on stage, are passed over for someone in Hollywood. While many theater actors also recognize the legitimate talents of movie stars, they certainly feel frustrated that producers do not trust that their names and talents will be enough to sell tickets.

The marquee for The Elephant Man Starring Bradley Cooper - Source: Broadwayworld.com

I certainly see both sides of the argument and I can’t say definitively that one perspective is right or wrong. But it would be nice to see theater actors be more appreciated in their own medium because after all, they perform eight times a week with no extra takes.