A Clockwork Orange--A Pulverizing Adaptation of a Brutal Novel 

By Joseph Cervelli

Oh, that prolonged stare which is both eerily seductive and frightening. I am speaking of the leader of the Droogs, Alex (a mesmerizing Jonno Davies), who may exude sexual prowess but beware of this maniacal young man who is ready to tear you to shreds on a whim. Based on Anthony Burgess’s dystopian novel “A Clockwork Orange” this pulverizing stage production at  New World Stages utilizes dance in both stunning ballet and military style movements. The book was turned into the brilliant Stanley Kubrick film of the same title. 

Alex and his band of equally crazed hoods Dim (Sean Patrick Higgins), Pete (Misha Osherovich) and Georgie (Matt Doyle) along with a few other undesirables along the way with their androgynous looks take to robbing, rape, mutilation with not the slightest compunction of guilt. For them this is their goal in life and standards of society is something that means nothing. They even have invented their own language to offset themselves from others which is spoken throughout this dazzling work directed with incredible self assurance by Alexandra Spencer-Jones.Don’t be put off by the unintelligible dialogue when these cretins are addressing each other for you will easily get the gist of their conversation. 

When not marauding through the streets, they take up residence at the MilkBar where they're drinking something as wholesome as milk is so incongruous with their sordid behavior.  Although you become aware the milk has been spiked with some drugs which add to their violent nature. 

In one scene you see  Alex in a striking pose of full assault standing on what is supposed to be the roof of the house (no credit for set design)  breaking in with his friends and killing a woman. Throughout all this horrific behavior classical musical is being played (his idol is Beethoven) which gives him the sickening inspiration to carry on.  Interspersed with Beethoven is Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s catchy “Relax.” Taken away by the police (each of the male cast plays a multitude of roles)  Alex enters a program of rehabilitation in which he is forced to look at violent images and films to cure him of his destructive behavior. His eyes are kept open so he cannot look away. During this “treatment” he is also listening to Beethoven so eventually any sight of violence or hearing the composer’s music will make him physically ill.

When released he has nowhere to go for his parents don’t want him (his mother is having an affair with their lodger). His fellow Droogs have now become police officers and while they beat him he lies defenceless, since he is unable to involve himself in any type of violence. I shall not divulge any further except to say that the ending of the play follows the book not the film. 

The production is enhanced by the almost film noir style of lighting by James Baggaley. But what makes the play work so well is the amazingly talented cast who exhibit a Bacchanalian energy to every scene they are in. Led by Davies who looks like he was the inspiration for the statue David he is quite unbelievable as he is transformed from this barbarous young man (he is really supposed to be fifteen) to a cowering, frightened individual. His writhing and convulsive movements  on the floor after the so called  treatment he was given is astonishingly real. 

Spencer-Jones has given the play a more homo-erotic style although there is nothing prurient about it and when Alex plants cold kisses on some other men you are never sure if they are male or female characters. It really does not matter for to these characters sex is just that. Love is anathema to all of them. Spencer-Jones has expertly brought to life Burgess’s creation of characters with their lack of remorse and morality. The infusion of dance (no credit is given to a choreographer in the program) only intensifies the play's savage nature which is so stylish that there is an almost obscene beauty. 

You may turn away at a few of the scenes, but the cast will draw you in as you enter a harrowing world that you will not easily forget.  

         Tickets are available at New World Stages 350 West 50th Street or by calling 212.239.6200. As of this date the limited engagement ends January 8.

PHOTO CREDIT: CAITLIN MCNANEY

For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday

By Joseph Cervelli

Playwright Sarah Ruhl like many writers has her share of admirers and detractors. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. She never travels along the same track in terms of topic which is definitely an admirable trait. While I loved “”In the Next Room, or the vibrator play” and enjoyed “The Clean House,” I found both “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” and “The Oldest Boy” starting off fine until both faded into oblivion. Sadly, her new work “For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday” at Playwrights Horizons collapses almost from the very beginning which is a shame because somewhere here there is a worthwhile statement to be made about dealing with growing old. 

The play begins promising enough when the always superb Kathleen Chalfant as Ann (if you have a bad play put this gifted actress in it and it helps a great deal) stepping out from the curtain with a program in her hand informing us that she played the part of Pan in Davenport, Iowa, about 40 years earlier.  She  jokes about the funny name of the director and how she really hates to fly. 

From that lighthearted moment we are in a hospital  and her four siblings’ dad (Ron Crawford)  keeping a death watch as he lies in a bed. He soon dies and most of the first part of the intermissionless play takes place while the family has an Irish wake in his home in Davenport. One thing was refreshing is that the family is not--thankfully!--another dysfunctional one. They all seem to like and respect each other even if their feelings of politics among other topics are greatly different. There is talk about Clinton--the time is the 90’s--and then about conservatism vs. liberalism. The most outspoken brother is the oldest, Jim (David Chandler), who is a surgeon; Michael (Keith Reddin) also is a physician; John (Daniel Jenkins) is a college professor plays a good bugle; and the skittish Wendy (Lisa Emery) who seems to be on the verge of tears any given moment. Ann is a college professor. The political talk seems to dissipate before they are discussing growing old and death. Meanwhile the spirit of the father sometimes walks around  and on one occasion drops something  in the home as the offsprings stare at each other in confusion and speculation.  After a while all of this talk becomes unnecessary babble leading nowhere. We really learn nothing about the family or even their dynamics together. 

Then suddenly the play takes a new detour and we are in Neverland. Here things go completely off kilter and becomes quite foolish. Ann becomes Pan and I must say that Chalfant flies around with incredible grace and charm. What becomes unclear is that while all the siblings take their roles as characters in”Peter Pan” you are never quite sure if they are supposed to be adults or children. For at one moment one is exclaiming “There’s the volcano” yet at other times one of them states that he has to leave to attend to his patients. Meanwhile, Pan seems to have her own problems when she discusses her “panic attacks.” 

There are many ways of looking at this play--do we really embrace our childhood enough or are too impatient  to get to become adults overlooking all the little joys? While  we accept the inevitable about growing older is there a way to make it a better existence?  Despite the smooth direction by Les Waters and the dedicated performances--especially Chalfont who always has a unique ability to show an unforced depth in all of her roles, the play remains stagnant never shedding new light on much. 

Tickets are available at Playwrights Horizons 416 West 42nd Street or by calling 212.279.4200. As of this date the limited engagement ends October 1.

PHOTO CREDIT: JOAN MARCUS

Prince of Broadway--A Rousing Salute to a Musical Theater Icon

By Joseph Cervelli

The word “Prince” mentioned in the name of the new musical revue “Prince of Broadway”  at the Friedman Theater is director/producer Harold Prince and that word aptly describes him. Prince gave us a staggering amount of unforgettable musicals including “Phantom,” “ Cabaret,” “Evita,” “Fiddler” and the list simply goes on. Even those less familiar shows (about eight or so were flops) still were memorable for a varied amount of reasons.

The show directed by Prince and Susan Stroman (“The Producers”) who choreographed it, is basically a compilation and tribute to the genius of Prince for not only having the intuitiveness to direct such classic wonders but obtaining  some of the best songwriters in the business for his shows. 

The musical is vastly entertaining thanks to an array of very talented performers. There is one slight caveat in casting but other than that the cast is terrific with two standout performances. 

The overture with arrangements by Jason Robert Brown sets the stage for some glorious tunes and what makes the show work so very well is that almost every number aptly recreates scenes from the original show. 

I vividly remember first seeing the brilliant dancer Tony Yazbek in the 2008 revival of “Gypsy” and being blown away by how much his movements in the “All I Need is the Girl” number reminded me of Gene Kelly. For me, I have never seen a better Tulsa than he.   Yazbeck was a standout in “On the Town” and in this musical  he nearly stops the show with his rendition of “The Right Girl” from “Follies.” While dancing did not figure in that number in any of the productions of “Follies,” Stroman has incorporated it here and Yazbek expresses his character’s near breakdown through dance and song. He also makes a perfect Tony along with the charming and gorgeous voiced Kaley Ann Voorhees as Maria in their duet “Tonight” from “West Side Story.”

While I never thought anyone could come close to the late Barbara Cook’s rendition of “Will He Like Me?” from “She Loves Me,” Laura Benanti certain did in the recent revival. And now with the liltingly lovely voice of Bryonha Marie Parham who does a beautifully ethereal presentation she  is up there with the previous two women. She then gives us a powerhouse “Cabaret” which nearly raises the roof off the theater. This young lady needs a show of her own to star in. 

I can never forget the frightening performance Chuck Cooper gave in the underrated musical “The Life” from quite a few years ago. Here he  adds charm and humour to his “If I Were a Rich Man” from “Fiddler” and gives a heartfelt rendition of ‘Ol’ Man River” from “Showboat.”

Emily Skinner (“Sideshow”)  does a perfect job of the wonderfully bitchy “The Ladies Who Lunch”  from “Company” and the always sublime Karen Ziemba makes for a delightful Mrs. Lovett in her number from “Sweeney Todd” and a touching Fraulein Schneider singing “So What?”  from “Cabaret.”

Brandon Uranowitz needs to be considered if there is a revival of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” just for his on spot rendition of “Dressing them Up” while Janet Dacal gives her all as the Spider Woman and provides the fun in “You’ve Got Possibilities” from “Superman.”

While Michael Xavier (“Sunset Blvd”) lends his remarkably powerful voice to “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Being Alive” from “Company” he tends to be bland as an actor. All the others are acting out their respective parts which is quite difficult trying to get into the mood of their respective characters from so many shows yet he stands out only as a singer. 

Each of the performers come out various times holding Prince’s replicas of Prince’s ubiquitous eyeglasses and give some anecdotes about the shows. I just wished there was a bit more of this.

The show has a broad appeal for not only veteran theatergoers who can sit in the audience and mouth many of the songs,  but even those not all that acquainted with some of them. It is worth see how some exceptionally fine performers lend their own brand of talent to some of the most enduring musicals in Broadway history. 

Tickets are available at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater 261 West 47th Street or by calling 2112.239.6200.

PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Murphy (Top: Tony Yazbeck; Center: Bryonha Marie Parham and Kaley Ann Voorhees; Below: Brandon Uranowitz) 

CORRECTION: In my Upcoming Fall/Winter Broadway Shows article which ran this week in North Jersey Media it should have stated that The Parisian Woman will be playing at the Hudson Theater. This will be so noted in next week’s papers. 

Hamlet--Playing A Tragedy For Laughs

By Joseph Cervelli

I first came upon the brilliant actor Oscar Isaac in the off Broadway play “Grace” a few years ago. While the play itself was fair, Isaac took the stage by storm especially in his one scene where his primal scream was electrifying. He has proven to be just a fine an actor in films, most especially “Inside Llewyn Davis” and the more recent “The Promise.” 

In Sam Gold’s muddled new version of “Hamlet” at the Public there are a few saving graces and Isaac is certainly at the top of that list.  As the famous Dane he is true to the character in occasionally being deep in thought though not as contemplative as portrayed by a slew of fine actors including both Ralph Fiennes and Jude Law both of whom portrayed Hamlet on Broadway. Isaac plays him with a visceral, emotional ferocity none of which I have seen before. This is not to say that the actor becomes so demonstrative that his famous soliloquy “To be or not to be” is less than introspective. He is experienced enough to know when to come on strong and when to be pensive. 

Yet, as terrific as he is and almost worth the endurance test of a “Hamlet” which runs close to four hours with two intermissions, Gold whom I normally have a fondness for with his originality flounders badly here. I admired the director’s deconstructing last season’s  “The Glass Menagerie” which worked beautifully for me and his placing actors right at the very front of the stage in his powerful “Look Back in Anger” a few seasons back. However, here he has turned what is considered one of the finest pieces of literature into a silly, convoluted mess. 

Gold who found much more success with his thrilling production of  Shakespeare’s “Othello” from last season staged the opening scene of that play in the dark. While I had some reservations with that, his staging the opening of “Hamlet” also in darkness makes more sense. For it is in the dark when suddenly a faint light comes on and  the two officers on night watch see the ghost of Hamlet’s late father who was murdered by his brother Claudius now King of Denmark. 

Gold has the nine actors doubling various parts which does work although some of the other performers do not match up to the superiority of Isaac. 

Ritchie Coster portrays both the Ghost and Claudius and is a bit too laid back as the latter. His calculating nature is never forthright and his crazed desire for power never is convincing. The  usually fine Charlayne Woodard makes for a less than impressive Gertrude and is not helped by costume designer Kaye Voyce putting her in an unflattering pants suit or is  lounging pajamas?  Roberta Colindrez and Matthew Saldîvar  who was quite funny in “Honeymoon in Vegas” and touching in “Daphne’s Bare” are both far from the bumbling and crowd pleasing clowns Rosencrantz  and Guildenstern. I have never seen such lumbered portrayals of both those characters as portrayed  these two actors. The famed line “Frailty thy name is woman” certainly does not apply to the lasagna (not kidding) eating Ophelia played too strongly by Gayle Rankin. Gold has her singing some blue grass style number in her mad scene. Instead of her being vulnerable she has a hardness that you would expect to see in the new Netflix show “Ozark.”

Yet, on a more positive note the always reliable Peter Friedman does quite well as the pompous Lord Chamberlain Polonius although having him sit on a toilet giving instructions to his son Laertes (a fine Anatol Yusef) was absurdly foolish. Speaking about foolish, having Ophelia drown herself by turning on a garden hose over her head is dumb enough without having her then falling on her father’s grave with. Keegan-Michael Key does well as Horatio although in the staged play “The Murder of Gonzago,” he plays his scene for slapstick laughs going way overboard. 

The purpose of that “play” which mirrors the death Hamlet’s father  has added lines written by our hero pointing  an accusatory finger at Claudius. Yet, for some inexcusable reason Claudius leaves as “Gonzago”  begins which makes no sense whatsoever while  Gertrude’s reaction is so unemotional it is as if she is on a sedative.  

While Gold does adhere to Hamlet’s demise at the end of the play it makes little sense  having both Claudius and Gertrude remain alive. Talk about deconstruction.  

If you are well acquainted with the play you might find yourself shaking your head at much of the director’s interpretation, yet if you are unfamiliar with it you certainly will be completely  baffled at its conclusion if you last that long. 

Tickets are available at the Public Theater/Anspacher Theater 425 Lafayette Street or by calling 212.967.7555. Limited engagement ends September 3. 

PHOTO CREDIT: CAROL ROSEGG

Napoli, Brooklyn--A Family in Crisis

By Joseph Cervelli

Meghan Kennedy’s upsetting new play “Napoli, Brooklyn” at the Roundabout at Laura Pels Theater is very well intentioned, but she is tackling so many topics in this family drama that  there is a scattershot feel. She writes quite well for individual scenes but as a whole the show becomes overbaked and, at times, not quite believable. 

Taking place in 1960 which has a significance that comes at the end of the first act, it  concerns an Italian family with the patriarch Nic Muscolino (Michael Rispoli) a brutish and tyrannical father and husband who runs the family not so much sternly but with physical abuse. We discover that when  his youngest teen  daughter Francesca (Jordyn DiNatale) whom we learn is gay cuts off most of her hair he forcefully attacks sister Vita (Elise Kibler) who is protecting her. He does such forceful damage to Vita that it sends her to the hospital with a broken nose and ribs among other injuries. He has near psychotic rage that Vita eventually ends up in a convent for protection much to her dismay. There is also another sister Tina (Lilli Kay) who works in a factory and either has learning problems along with probably dyslexia since she has an inability to read. She works with Celia Jones (Shirine Babb) whom she has a good relationship with although it is unclear if Celia is doing something that could cost her her her job.
  

The matriarch of the family is Luda (Alyssa Bresnahan) who also bears the brunt of the sadistic Nic who burns her with his cigarette during lovemaking.  Kennedy indicates the subservience of women from foreign countries to be a “good” wife no matter what. No matter how vicious Nic becomes (she does not even wince when he burns her) she is there for him. 

There is a desultory feel to the writing in the first act in which we go from the home, to factory, to convent and to the butcher shop run by Albert Duffy (Erik Lochtefeld) who is secretly in love with Luda. Unbeknownst to them, his teen daughter Connie (Juliet Brett) is in love with Francesca and both decide to stow away on a ship to France. In their way of thinking lesbians are more acceptable in that country. 

All these episodic scenes come to a crashing halt when something catastrophic, which I cannot reveal,  occurs just at the end of the first act. Set designer Eugene Lee has devised something quite amazingly effective which may jolt you from your seat.

The second act does gel better than the first and the Christmas dinner scene is powerfully played out.  While Nic makes a declaration of being a better man you know that can only last a short amount of time. Yet, the problem with the second act is that a number of the scenes just don’t ring all that believable. It is hard to believe the advice Luda gives to Corrine at the last scene in the play. While admirable, it is also rather foolish considering Corrine’s young age.  A decision that Nic makes which helps the family immensely just does not appear to be something he would do. 

While Gordon Edelstein has directed the show admirably and with a pride in  standing up for yourself and the cast is quite good, most especially, Bresnahan, the playwright would have been more successful in focusing on limited scenes. While I admired her stance on the fortitude that women especially need to take to survive in a destructive household and wanting more for their children, the play is in overdrive mode which lessens its effect.

As an aside, I suggest you go into the lobby during intermission to read the information dealing with the true life event that occurs at the end of the first act. 

Tickets are available at the Roundabout Theatre Company--Laura Pels Theatre 111 46th Street or by calling 212.719.1300. As of this date the limited engagement ends September 3. 

PHOTOS: JOAN MARCUS

The Traveling Lady--A Beautifully Realized Play 

By Joseph Cervelli

Some unwind by having a cup of camomile tea or a glass of wine. While I find both to be  helpful, what has even more of a calming affect on me is being immersed in a Horton Foote play. The late wonderful playwright who gave us among others the glowing “Trip to Bountiful” and wrote the screenplay for the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” is having his 1955 play, “The Traveling Lady” revived at the Cherry Lane Theater for a limited engagement.

While not a perfect play and despite some unnecessarily fussy direction by Austin Pendleton , it is still Hoote’s words and situations that have a beautifully real feel to them. Quite fortunately, it is also blessed with a lovely cast who personify the characters he has created. 

As in other Hoote plays, we are in a small Texas town 1950. He dos not signify it being Harrison, TX, where others have taken place but no matter. We immediately find out that a neighbor has passed away. We don’t know a lot about her except she is described by the Judge (George Morfogen) who is lounging in Clara Breedlove’s (Angelina Fiordellisi) backyard as a “funny little woman.” It seems that the late woman took in the rowdy Henry Thomas (PJ Sosko) as a young man whom she disciplined  by beating him “break his spirit.”  Henry eventually moved to Tyler, TX ,marrying  the lovely Georgette (Jean Lichty) but in a drunken stupor killed another man and spent a number of  years in the penitentiary. He never saw his young daughter Margaret Rose (Korinne Tetlow) but is getting out early thanks to Georgette and plans on meeting her where the play takes place. Upon arriving, Georgette is unaware that Henry has been released a month prior and is living in Mrs. Tillman’s (Jill Tanner) house doing handyman jobs. Tillman whose husband was an alcoholic wants to reform this young man despite his still having problems. 

There are several other characters in this tenderly soul-searching play. Slim Murray (Larry Bull) who is Clara’s brother is still trying to recover from the death of his estranged wife Laura. We never learn as to why Laura left this fellow who seems to have sympathetic veins running through him. Nor are we sure why he refuses to attend the funeral of the recently deceased woman. We surmise he felt no affection for someone who might have added to Henry’s problems. Lynn Cohen almost steals the show as the very funny but dotty neighbor Mrs. Mavis who is always trying to get away from the daughter Sitter Mavis (Karen Ziemba) she lives with. I was surprised that Hallie Foote the playwright’s daughter and great interpreter of his work was not in this play for she would have fit the role of Sitter perfectly. But, thankfully, the always reliable Ziemba does  not fail to disappoint as a woman who feels that life has passed her by. Just watch the wistful gaze that Ziemba has down pat as Sitter. Sosko is excellent as the broken Henry who gets into another bad situation at the play’s end. While he is not responsible for what has occurred, as someone who always found himself in the thicket of problems and being drunk again, he offers not objections when arrested. 

There is never a tempest of greed in most of Hoote’s illuminating works with the exception of his exceptionally fine “Dividing the Estate.”  His plays as this one deals with finding the correct path to walk down and if you take the wrong detour hoping to find the right people to help you back on the way to redemption. In Hoote’s optimistic way of thinking we all have purpose even when life feels devoid of meaning. 

There is a very touching line that Sitter speaks near the end of the play to the effect that “my whole life would have been different if I’d just learned to dance.” While it takes more than that to change your life sometimes it is the small steps that help guide you. 

PHOTOS: CAROL ROSEGG

Tickets are available at the Cherry Lane Theater 38 Commerce Street or by calling 212.352.3101.As of this date the limited engagement ends July 16.

Animal--Woman on the Verge

     By Joseph Cervelli 

      No one can play a woman on the verge better than the brilliant actress Rebecca Hall whose performance of a woman convicted and executed for the murder of her husband in the recent “Machinal” was astonishing. In Clare Lizzimore’s fascinating but ultimately disappointing new play “Animal” at the Atlantic Theater Company she again proves how galvanising she someone going though the depths of emotional turmoil. 

Rachel (Hall)  dressed in gray sweats, a hoodie and a woolen cap which she only removes near the end of the play is meeting with her psychiatrist (Greg Keller. ) Her diagnosis is not revealed until the play’s too tidy and unsatisfying  conclusion ,although we find out that she was unable to work and wants the doctor to allow her to do so. He informs her she can return to employment whenever she feels like it and she seems to  have ambivalent feelings about his suggestion. She is not the ideal patient arguing with him and seeming to put up constant barriers. 

The scenes in her home become the most enigmatic which eventually get explained. She lives with her caring husband Tom (a very fine Morgan Spector) who seems to be at his wits end with her centrifugal force of behavioral changes. She can be sweet as is shown in some flashback (at least, one assumes they are) scenes with him and then become belligerent. Living with them is the Old Woman (a wonderful Kirstin Griffith) whom Tom calls his mother. She is in a wheelchair and only mumbles. While Tom is very caring to the woman and expects Rachel to be the same, when he is at work she is anything but. While not physically abusive she succumbs in an almost menacing way to the woman’s taunts by giving her cold soup and getting furious when she spills it all over herself. What are we to make of Rachel? The callousness is disturbing and at the same time she seems unable to control her behavior almost taking pleasure in being at odds with everyone. Her anger towards her husband also is unfounded although things are explained at the conclusion.  

A hunky young man Dan, (David Pegram) breaks into their apartment and instead of robbing her wants to kiss her and tries to coax her in his sexy manner to do more. She is taken by him and he seems to have a relaxing affect upon her in a way that she can escape the web of confusion she is in. Hall is such  an amazing actress that you never take your eyes off her as she almost begins to break through the margins that she feels surround her being. Of course, at the same time you are wondering why isn’t she calling for her husband who is in the other room. 

More of a conundrum is why when she visits the doctor another time he is played by a little girl (Fina Strazza). The dialogue between them never seems to add anything to the play and despite Gaye Taylor Unchurch’s capable direction that particular scene seems more foolish than meaningful.

The conclusion comes a bit too swiftly and tidy and for reasons I cannot get into not entirely believable. 

Still, we are blessed with seeing an actress on a nearly bare stage whose every word you will hang onto. You travel with her on this journey as she pulls you into her edgy world. 

Tickets are available at the Atlantic Theater Company/Stage 2 330 West 16th Street or by calling 866.811.4111. As of this date the limited engagement ends July 2. 

PHOTOS: AHRON FOSTER

Email: jcerv58957@aol.com