Six the Musical: Divorced! Beheaded! Live! And Here to Save British Musical Theatreby Randi / April 4, 2019Just kidding there are no jazz hands in here, unless you just imagine me doing them but then how would I be typing? The Olivier Awards, the most bonkers awards show in the world (yes even crazier than the Golden Globes, if you can believe it) are this Sunday, April 7, and even though I have rage bubbling inside me, RAGE, about all aspects of the Oliviers (not least of all the fact that this is the one award show I can watch on TV in the UK?? no Tonys, no Oscars, but this? (and they don’t even let the TV audience see the whole thing OR see it live! They make a supercut and air it after the fact BRITS GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER STAY IN THE EU AND DO AWARD SHOWS BETTER)) (also the Mastercard sponsorship visibility is excessive and obnoxious), they are still an award show honoring musical theatre, I mean, you’re doing my two favorite things guys I’m still EXCITED even though I’m ANGRY, okay? It’s like Amy Adams’ anger in “Enchanted” when she is excited about being angry. “Oh! I’m angry! ha ha! I’m angry!” You know? You don’t know!
Why am I such a nonfan of the Olivier Awards? Why am I experiencing some serious agita and going through my stash of Rennie all week (nb: that’s British for Tums)? How on earth could anyone in their right mind say they are crazier than the Golden Globes? Because they are, Mitch. One peeve with the Oliviers is that they loves, LOVES, them some group nominations when they aren’t really appropriate. Group nominations are okay when it’s children rotating in the same part: the four Matildas, the three Billies Elliot. They are not the right move when voters simply can’t or SHANT choose between cast members that are all doing a good job. Guys, I don’t know if you know this, but they’re all supposed to do a good job, that’s literally their job. And your one job, you insane voters, is to CHOOSE. MAKE A G-D CHOICE! Oh it’s too hard for your pale British sensibilities? IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE HARD! THAT MEANS PEOPLE ARE DOING GOOD WORK IN YOUR THEATRES! In recent years, Olivier voters have literally nominated ENTIRE CASTS into ONE slot instead of choosing among them. They’ve done so this year with the three lead actors in The Lehman Trilogy – all playing different roles, this is not a child-rotating sitch – and with all six of Henry VIII’s wives in the musical Six, all put into one supporting actress slot. Not only is that not fair to the other competitors (who wants to compete against an entire cast?), it’s the same as giving a participation trophy. They’d all deserve a nomination in their own right, of course. These are all incredible performers and I’d have trouble deciding who to nominate among them. But that’s the point of an awards show, to choose the best of the best. lol like that’s what voters ever do.
My other biggest gripe with the Oliviers is my same problem with most award shows: they’re hella wrong all the time and I can’t punch them in the face about it. Oh also the aforementioned refusal to air the telecast live on BBC, choosing instead to show a ‘highlights’ reel hours later. First of all, how dare you.
The indisputable biggest problem of this particular year, hoo boy, is that we’re just going to pretend that Hadestown, the best musical of the year, the best musical on Broadway this season likely to win the Tony, and one of the best musicals in years period, wasn’t eligible for the Oliviers, because if we recognize that it was eligible and the voters just completely overlooked it, I might explode. Honestly get some new voters; they are obviously incompetent. Okay so we are all in agreement that Hadestown wasn’t eligible because that’s the only way we can get through this, right, because otherwise they would have swept every category? Right, good. Let’s do this infuriating nonsense!
This one isn’t even a question; it’s The Inheritance by a mile. Or by more than 7 hours of amazingness, as this play is an epic in every sense of the word but not least because it’s a two-parter of almost four hours each part. And I loved all of it! The exquisite Part 1 on its own would still be the best new play of this year and probably most years, but together with Part 2, The Inheritance is one of the most important, impressive, emotionally taxing shows ever. I can’t wait for it to go to Broadway and get even more acclaim. The only other new play I’d love to be in this category is the great Home, I’m Darling, which, because it’s funny, is nominated in the separate Best New Comedy category, which is another reason why I hate the Oliviers. I mean I’m glad it has a better chance to win in that one but still, comedies are plays too, guys. So classist.
THIS SOME BULLSHIT, HEAR ME? Poor Kyle Soller, gave the best performance by a longshot but will lose to either Ian McKellen (because it’s Ian McKellen and doing King Lear at that, a pairing that’s like the theatre version of Ricky Gervais telling Kate Winslet on ‘Extras’ how in order to win an Oscar she should do a Holocaust role (which she did because she did)), or to the triumvirate that shouldn’t be of Adam Godley, Ben Miles, and Simon Russell Beale all nominated in one slot. All five men are doing excellent work (and should be the five nominees total ok you get it) but Kyle’s performance was the most human, touching, and with over 7 hours of material, difficult. Shouldn’t that give him the edge? I wish.
Oh and one more reason to hate the Oliviers this year a bit extra: Kyle is the only actor from The Inheritance nominated, out of a cast of all incredible performances. I’m not going to write separately about supporting actor in a play because I’m too furious, but how Andrew Burnap wasn’t nominated for his Toby Darling when I would have bet the world on his win is beyond me, let alone no Walter? No JBenj Hickey? What a mess.
I haven’t seen Summer and Smoke yet, which is a shame because I’ve heard that Patsy Ferran is the one to beat. I did see all the other nominees, though! Gillian Anderson should not be nominated for the pile of rotting garbage that was All About Eve. The other three though are all worthy competitors. Eileen Atkins was heartbreaking and vibrant in The Height of the Storm, Sophie Okonedo was crayballs and fire emoji power in Antony and Cleopatra, and Katherine Parkinson would have my vote for her wonderful starring role in Home, I’m Darling. Love her! Excited to see what happens here.
This one’s hard for me, a fight between my head and my heart. Caroline, or Change was not my cup of tea; in fact, I was quite disappointed in the story and score, though I can admit this production is doing a good job of presenting those subpar elements. I know, we all know, that the much-beloved, much-raved about, much-exalted gender-swapped and groundbreaking revival of Company is going to win and possibly sweep. But The King And I is better. The Broadway transfer lost a little of its magic as it crossed the pond, but it’s still a solid production of a great show. The Company revival, on the other hand, revealed all the weaknesses of that show. I get that it will (and should win) because it’s an important revisioning of an old property, but honestly I just did not enjoy it. And I saw it twice, convinced it was my fault. It wasn’t. It’s a very impressive show visually, but there’s no heart in that story, no matter what gender Bobby is. The more I think about what message it was trying to convey this time around, the more I want to throw up my hands and sigh petulantly.
But because Company is such an otherwise well received and yes important show this year, with yes groundbreaking changes, Marianne Elliot will probably also win for direction. Oh this is ANOTHER reason I hate the Oliviers – they combine all directors, of plays and musicals, into one category. What a way to show how little you value their work! Ashley’s direction was the one part I liked of Come From Away, and I understand why he won the Tony, and I would be okay with him winning here (if that was the only thing CFA won, of course. The only one it deserves). Although I would be voting for Daldry’s impeccable work on The Inheritance, I admit that Elliot’s win would be deserved. Her vision of a new Company is notable, even if I don’t like the finished product.
How forking STACKED is this category! I’d be okay with any one of these actresses winning. Well that’s not true; I’d be okay with Kelli (since she won’t win a Tony this year) or Adrienne (working harder than anyone ever has worked up on that stage) winning, yet I realize that it’s more likely for Rosalie or Sharon to win. I was so ready to be awed by the latter two, and while they were good, the flaws of their respective shows did them no justice in my eyes. I’m pretty sure it’s Rosalie’s award, but I’d be happier for my queen Kelli or the incredible Adrienne to win.
Whereas Best Actress in a musical is the tightest race, Best Actor in a Musical is the weakest. None of these stand out to me. I love Ken Watanabe’s King but I’d be shocked if he won. And out of all the many nominations Fun Home deserved, I’m beyond shocked that the one acting nod it received was for the weakest performance in the show. (Zubin was good, but it was the weakest. I’m shocked that Middle Allison wasn’t nominated.) This race will surprise me, I’m sure, but I think it’ll go to Suddenly Seymour.
Faaaack, I take back what I said about the strongest race being Best Actress in a musical. It’s definitely Best Supporting Actress. All of these are pretty worthy performances, even though one of them should have five fewer people in there. Oof. Okay, let’s start at the top. Patti LuPone is going to win, because everyone loves Patti. I love Patti too, but I think her Joanne is her least inspired performance to date. It felt like pandering for cheap laughs to her devoted audience that would cheer for her even if she slapped their grandmothers. Ruthie, my god I love Ruthie and would love this win for her, but she didn’t actually perform on the show’s official opening night (she had an alternate), so some bozos are salty that she even got nominated, which stinks, because she is so lovely in this role. Rachel Tucker gets to perform the one great song in Come From Away and she does incredible things with it, but she’s one of a superbly hard-working ensemble that all play numerous characters, and they don’t really get the chance to make an impression as any of the characters, too busy running around and changing hats. And then we have six actresses from Six sharing the last nomination, which by now you know how ridiculous I find that. Yes, they were all great in a spectacular show, but it’s not that hard to pick the best of them. Why can’t voters vote for their favorite and see what happens? I could have helped them narrow the field to the very best: it’s Katherine Howard, played by Aimee Atkinson. She has the best song and forking kills it beyond belief. She is spectacular and deserved to get an nomination in her own right.
This is the only category that’s a lock: It’s Jonathan Bailey in Company, the first man to play Jamie and sing about how he’s Not Getting Married Today. He was the main reason I was almost happy to see the show again, with a performance that’s the definition of award-worthy. He’s hilarious, riveting, magnetic, and did I say hilarious? I hope he performs on the telecast. The best part of the show.
All the other critics and audiences are loving Come From Away, and even though I don’t think it’s actually great, the show as a whole is moving and that tricks people into thinking all its parts are of great quality. I get that, but there’s no excuse for thinking the music is the best of this bunch. That honor belongs to Fun Home, who should win for its elegant, sophisticated, deeply felt score about a real family and all the intimate thoughts and memories that come with that. If Fun Home can’t win, the honor should go to Six, for some of the catchiest, most riotously fun and clever music to come out of British musical theatre. I’ll be pissed if Come From Away wins for its mediocre score. The other two nominees are plays!! No surer sign of a dip in musical theatre quality than when plays are nominated for score. (I mean unless they are absolutely incredible play scores but I don’t even remember the music from The Inheritance.)
All the momentum and good will (however misplaced I feel it is) belongs to Come From Away, no matter how wrong I hope I am. Maybe Fun Home would have had a better chance if it didn’t end all the way back in September, but regardless of when it played, it deserved to win. I’m sad that it won’t. I’d be happy with Six winning, even though it is not a fully-fledged book musical and more of a fun rock concert. Everyone enjoys Tina but, like most jukebox musicals, it has a weak book. I will be surprised if CFA doesn’t win, but I will be happy.
What kinds of crap do you think will go down on Sunday? Will the voters ever live down their shame for ignoring Hadestown? Will someone with no ties to NYC talk about 9/11? Will Patti LuPone talk so long that they try to play her off and she tells them to can it? My guesses are no, yes, and hell yes.
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“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” Lives Up To Its Name, & Then Some
Jukebox musicals have filled Broadway houses for the past decade or so, for better (“Jersey Boys”) or worse (“Mamma Mia!”) and in between (“Motown: The Musical”). (Also, if we are counting the West End, the so-bad-it’s-almost-good-nope-wait-it’s-the-worst-thing-mine-eyes-have-ever-seen Spice Girls musical “Viva Forever”). Apparently the way to make easy money, producers take a famous catalog of popular music and either force a story around it (“Mamma Mia” and the Spice Girls shittastrophe) or you take your cue from the Tony-winning “Jersey Boys” and tell the story of the music, of how it was written and how its writers lived what they sang about. Thankfully, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”, does indeed follow this latter, superior format, and it is absolutely beautiful.
Despite not having much drama save (some serious and heartbreaking) marital woes, “Beautiful” never drops its interesting narrative thread. The impressive book (impressive because it is still a jukebox musical) keeps you hooked, the songs keep you extremely happy, and Jessie Mueller as Carole King keeps you captivated. In Mueller’s presence, you witness Broadway history as she reinforces her status as the next big musical star. Manipulating her insane voice to evoke King without being an imitation, Mueller makes you love her. You never want to stop listening to her. With the show being entirely the famous songs written by King (and her ex-husband Gerry Goffin, as well as Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, all the main characters of the show), you’d assume you don’t need the cast recording. But you’d be wrong. I couldn’t wait to buy the recording as soon as the curtain fell because the interpretations of these beloved songs are that good. It’s pure magic on that stage.
The friendly rivalry between King and her husband-and-writing-partner-for-most-of-the-show Gerry Goffin, and Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, provided an enjoyable way to structure the show. I loved that the performances of the songs came about because they were writing them. It was never “Let’s break out into song here to express our feelings” it was “Listen I just wrote this song want to hear it?” The realism is a good way to win over musical theater haters, not that I care about such weirdos.
The friendly rivalry between King and her husband-and-writing-partner-for-most-of-the-show Gerry Goffin, and Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, provided an enjoyable way to structure the show. I loved that the performances of the songs came about because they were writing them. It was never “Let’s break out into song here to express our feelings” it was “Listen I just wrote this song want to hear it?” The realism is a good way to win over musical theater haters, not that I care about such weirdos.
Jarrod Spector and chorus member
Aside from Mueller, a standout actor is Anika Larsen as Weil. She’s always so darn pleasant, and is effervescent here. I think she is one of the most pleasant people to watch onstage. As her partner Mann, Jarrod Spector, a Philly native who is as nice as he is adorable (see pic at right), was as lovable as he was neurotic. I’m glad he found a great post-“Jersey Boys” role so he wouldn’t be pigeonholed. Jake Epstein as Gerry is very charming, as charming as one can be while portraying a pretty sad story. The catharsis felt when Carole finally leaves him is so strong, like it’s happening to you. That’s how immersed you get in this show, and also how proud you are of fake Carole for finally acting with sufficient gumption.
Mueller really is just perfect, as perfect as anyone besides the real-life figure could be in a role. She is heartbreaking and relatable, and it’s a special performance to witness. What she is doing with her voice, an homage more than an imitation of king, is so impressive. I asked her if it was hard and more importantly if it hurt, because doing a different voice for that many hours a week can’t be healthy. But she seemed fine and I’m sure is being coached well. She is the newest star of this generation and I am thrilled for her. She breaks your heart and then together you’re healed through the powerful music.
Even if you are a King fan, you will be surprised by just how prolific a songwriter she was before she started singing her own tales. Not only did she write “One Fine Day”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Some Kind Of Wonderful”, “Up On The Roof”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, but she also freaking wrote “The Loco-Motion”! Can you even believe that? And then of course you get a smattering of King’s more personal work that she sang herself: “Natural Woman”, “Too Late”, “I Feel the Earth Move”, “Beautiful”, &c. Damn she is brilliant. I can’t wait to see this show again.
So, because of the very familiar music, and because so many adults grew up with this music, “Beautiful” is the kind of show that brings hundreds of middle-aged ladies out for ‘girls night’. If you can stand these perhaps slightly tipsy women pretty much announcing “OH I LOVE THIS SONG!” and “OH THIS IS SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL!’ when they hear the beginnings of each piece, then you’ll be fine. If, like me, the mere thought of this lack of decorum makes your blood run cold as if you were watching a Spice Girls musical, you should probably have a drink first. But you should absolutely still see the show. Here’s a sneak to enjoy while Telecharge.com loads.
Mueller really is just perfect, as perfect as anyone besides the real-life figure could be in a role. She is heartbreaking and relatable, and it’s a special performance to witness. What she is doing with her voice, an homage more than an imitation of king, is so impressive. I asked her if it was hard and more importantly if it hurt, because doing a different voice for that many hours a week can’t be healthy. But she seemed fine and I’m sure is being coached well. She is the newest star of this generation and I am thrilled for her. She breaks your heart and then together you’re healed through the powerful music.
Even if you are a King fan, you will be surprised by just how prolific a songwriter she was before she started singing her own tales. Not only did she write “One Fine Day”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Some Kind Of Wonderful”, “Up On The Roof”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, but she also freaking wrote “The Loco-Motion”! Can you even believe that? And then of course you get a smattering of King’s more personal work that she sang herself: “Natural Woman”, “Too Late”, “I Feel the Earth Move”, “Beautiful”, &c. Damn she is brilliant. I can’t wait to see this show again.
So, because of the very familiar music, and because so many adults grew up with this music, “Beautiful” is the kind of show that brings hundreds of middle-aged ladies out for ‘girls night’. If you can stand these perhaps slightly tipsy women pretty much announcing “OH I LOVE THIS SONG!” and “OH THIS IS SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL!’ when they hear the beginnings of each piece, then you’ll be fine. If, like me, the mere thought of this lack of decorum makes your blood run cold as if you were watching a Spice Girls musical, you should probably have a drink first. But you should absolutely still see the show. Here’s a sneak to enjoy while Telecharge.com loads.
Ratatouille the Ratatoosical, the Rata tat tat TikTok Musical We Need Ratatata
It’s Theatre Thursday y’all!!!! We haven’t had a #TT in literally what 7 months and I regret that verily. This was written before the attempted coup in the USA! Clearly! Who can do anything today!
BEEN SO LONG, mes babies! I’ve been watching a lot of streaming theatre, obviously, as that plus bread is the only thing getting us through secluded life in this hellscape. But I hadn’t really felt the need to write about most of what I’ve been watching. (Also I am just so tired.) AND THEN CAME A LITTLE RAT NAMED REMY and the world was like oooh and I was like yeahhh and Tituss was like SAAAAANG! So here we are.
In all of history, there have been three incredible ways that people have come together to prove that when we remember what community means, we can achieve remarkable things. First is the way Americans came out for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in November (and how the world rallied around Gritty, obviously). Second, the way Georgians shoved a big hell no up Mitch Mcfuckfaceturtlecud’s arse to elect Reverend Warnock and my lil Shabbat treat to the Senate. The third way is how yoots on TikTok took a brilliant idea for a new musical and forking RAN with it, running so far that the Broadway community had to take notice and had to MAKE IT HAPPEN. Thanks to TikTok-ing yoots, the world saw a workshoppy benefit concert version of what was once just a funny meme-ish thing to have fun with online: Ratatouille the Musical.
When you think about it, it’s a no-brainer to make a musical version of such a great Pixar film. There’s a cute little rat protagonist, his goofy ginger friend who is Parisian but has an American accent even though his coworkers have French ones, and a slew of rich side characters who need big musical numbers perfect for an endless list of our best character actors. Sure it would be more difficult to stage the concept of a rat hiding in the chef’s hat of a young man and controlling him via hair pulls than it was to draw it in an animated movie but the magic of theatre can solve that problem! Probably! So even though it was quite the lovely surprise to see the Ratatoosical become a real thing, with real theatre people and backers and promoters involved, it’s not a huge surprise that this idea took off in the first place.
The benefit concert/edited Zoom video, presented last weekend via TodayTix (now branded as TomorrowTix), had all the joy and excitement from the collaborative creative process of the TikTok days but amplified it with the help of a stellar cast and some impressive songs. Our star, Remy the Rat, was none other that Tituss Burgess, one of the funniest ever actors with one of the most gorgeous voices – and highest belts, like seriously, how do you belt that high?? He was inspired casting, as was Andrew Barth Feldman, one of the replacement Evans Hansen, as Linguini. Listen, I don’t mean this in anything but a positive way, but no one has ever looked as much like anything as Andrew looks like that stringbean wide-eyed ginger cartoon. To go even further, he definitely did his homework and watched the movie a whole bunch because he was making cartoon-Linguini’s exact facial expressions. It was uncanny and amazing. I would love to see most of this cast stick with any further development, but Tituss and Andrew are definitely necessary.
I was happy to see that one of the composers involved is Daniel Mertzlufft, the dude whose Thanksgiving musical got a performance on James Corden’s show with Audra, Patti, Kristin, two Joshes, and more. Man he’s had quite the year and probably the most uniquely modern composer origin story ever. Leading the team of other TikTok composers – which includes Broadway actor Kevin Chamberlin, who plays Gusteau in the production, singing the song he wrote (what a talent) – was director Lucy Moss, a.k.a. the co-creator of Six, so like, okay this shit’s for real.
Along with real-life Linguini and Tituss, the A-list cast featured Ashley Park (doing a French accent almost as good as Emily in Paris (read: not)), Mary Testa (just the greatest, my god); Adam Lambert (cute for him!), Wayne Brady (did his damn PREPARATION with that costume and that trash can, good work), and my favorite person ever Andre de Shields, still going strong, fueled by sweet potatoes (he told me).
As for this concert itself, it was so much fun, even though the video kept buffering (or pretending to buffer but not actually doing anything to get better) even though our internet was fine. Oh well that’s the price we pay for getting theatrical content without sitting next to gross other people (ugh other people, gross). I loved how clear it was that everyone involved was a lover of musical theatre: Right from the start came the allusions and call-outs to the MT canon, like the early Sweeney Todd reference when Tituss sang “Not Remy! not Remy the rat!” Amazing! The musical highlight had to be Mary Testa’s Skinner singing the best song of the bunch, “I Knew I Smelled a Rat” – just SUCH a great double meaning my dudes! – by Sophia James. One of the funniest parts of dialogue was when Mary and Ashley performed what was essentially Dueling Banjos but for bad French accents. The big emotional numbers need some work to be more special and lose the generic lyrics and melodies, but of course the score needs work – this is like Round 1 and it’s already so enjoyable. It’ll be interesting to see what the book is like when it’s not just Tituss reciting plot summaries (although I’d pay to hear him do anything (except probably his geisha play ‘Kimono You Don’t’, since the Asian-American message board called him one of their top 5 Hitlers over that (“real Hitler wasn’t even on the list!”))). Man alive I hope that this show progresses further into a full-fledged stage production. With so much talent on display, both in terms of the fresh composers and the theatre stars, future iterations will be increasingly amazing and we have no choice but to love it.
