Vegan Guide to Michelin Restaurants: Lyle's, London UKby Randi / August 1, 2016
I have not allowed myself to have such high hopes for an original London production in a long ass time. Why did I make the exception for “Groundhog Day”, the new musical based on the iconic Bill Murray film? Because it a) stars Andy Karl, one of my faves from Broadway, and b) was written by Tim Minchin, who wrote the last London musical that met or exceeded my expectations, “Matilda”. It’s also at the Old Vic, which is renowned in its renown. While “Groundhog Day” didn’t bowl me over, it was a solidly good show and a fun time. Also, it’s really nice to see something different and original (though not “original” if you catch my drift) on the West End. (Does Old Vic count as West End? I still don’t understand the demarcations of what’s London’s Broadway/off Broadway. I mean I traveled west for it.)
“Groundhog Day” tells the really tragic, depressing, horrifying tale (but comedy) about Phil Connors, a suave, egotistical (in the show) Pennsylvania weatherman (yebop!) covering that beloved Pennsylvania traditional holiday, Groundhog Day. But instead of getting to leave the tiny village of Punxsutawney, PA after the little beaver-squirrel looking animal sees his shadow (or not) and predicts an early spring (or 6 more weeks of winter), Phil instead wakes up every. single. day. in the same place, in the same rented room in Punxsutawney, and it’s still Groundhog Day. He is doomed to live the same exact day over and over, no matter what he does. It’s pretty frightening and anxiety-ridden and can you even imagine. If you don’t know the story of “Groundhog Day”, you really should go watch the movie, because it is a fantastic movie. Just consider how original and provocative and wrenching that storyline is, and then try to tell me that it’s just some Bill Murray comedy and not one of the best screenplay ideas like ever. Then consider how ‘experts’ online (all of us, really) with lots of time on their hands and math in their brains figured out that, for Phil to have learned all the skills he learned (like become an incredible pianist), read all the books he read, memorize all the information he learned, &c, he would have been stuck in the loop for more than 100 years. A HUNDRED GODDAMN YEARS, waking up in Punxsutawney and knowing everything that was going to happen. You would die. Phil, as you know, tries to kill himself a whole bunch of times (and ways) but it doesn’t stick. Nothing sticks. He keeps waking up as if nothing happened. God that is absolutely hell. This movie is about hell.
REAL TALK PSA: When the actual real talk about Groundhog Day (the holiday) and all the accompanying traditions began, the audience laughed. Not at jokes, just at the exposition of establishing the setting: that we’re in Punxsutawney (do you realize how hard it is not to keep typing Pennsatucky?), that old men dressed in period costumes wait to see if a groundhog sees its shadow, that the area where this all goes down is called ‘Gobbler’s Knob’, these kinds of things that are ACTUAL FACTS. The audience cackled at these. Then we realized, holy shit, British people do not have ANY CLUE that this is all 100% accurate. Holy shit. They think this holiday and all these WACKY ASS traditions were made up as part of a comedy movie to get some cheap laughs. Oh especially Gobbler’s Knob – these bros sitting near us could not get over Gobbler’s Knob, because knob is slang for their (raisin-sized I bet DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO) manparts. I mean, why would people outside of the USA know of this tiny cultural phenomenon in this tiny ass village in Pennsylvania about an animal that is sort of a beaver sort of a squirrel seeing its shadow TO PREDICT THE WEATHER? If something like this happened in England (I’m sure there are equivalents) hell if I’d know anything about it, and I live here now.
This was all confirmed last weekend at a wedding. We were seated across from a very nice couple (letsbefriends!) who had seen the evening show the same day we saw the matinee of “Groundhog Day”! How f-ing random is that! I like to think that the grooms hacked the computers of all the guests to see who had calendar appointments that reflected similar tastes and/or plans and then made the seating charts accordingly. Okay no I don’t like to think that at all but seriously how did they know? So this couple consisted of one Aussie and one Brit, and in talking about the play, we asked them if they thought Groundhog Day was a made up thing. They were ASTOUNDED that it was real. OF COURSE WE THOUGHT IT WAS MADE UP, they positively shouted in disbelief. Are you KIDDING ME?? HOW CAN THAT BE REAL? It went on. They were flabbergasted and hysterical about it. The programmes for this show really by all means need to have a piece inside about how this is a real holiday. They have all other kinds of crap in those programmes that we have to PAY for AND have to spell with extra m’s and e’s so the very least they could do is educate their audiences about small-town USA.
Okay let’s maybe talk about the actual show a bit because you know what, it was good! It was not fantastic; I wanted it to be fantastic. I want everything to be fantastic. But you know what, not everything can be fantastic. I saw so much fantastic stuff in the past year so the bar was really insanely high for the world premiere of a new show. I strongly believe that, after the run in London, its eminent move to Broadway will be for a much tighter, more exciting, more edited show. That’s what pre-Broadway runs are for, to make necessary changes and see what audiences respond to and what needs work. I mean, unless they don’t change anything because audiences are jumping to their feet every show, so we’ll see. I hope they make some changes.
Actually, honestly, I don’t know what they could change on the small scale, because the only really disappointing thing was the score! The acting was wonderful (we’ll get to that), the book was really f-ing hilarious at times, the set was fine (more on that later), the NUMEROUS shout-outs to Penn State were great (so many ensemblists in PSU gear!!!), so really, the score is what needs work. And the score is usually the last thing to undergo huge overhaul, because, well, it’s the cornerstone of a musical. But the score is what was I would want worked on here out of the whole of the show. Well, the music was; the lyrics were clever, as you’d expect of Tim Minchin (who I must admit I know primarily because of the genius that is “Matilda”). Yet we know he also writes beautiful and provocative music. If I heard the music without knowing who wrote it, Minchin would be the very last composer I would guess. It felt very blah. I remember not one part of one song. And that is usually the test for whether a score will catch on in popularity – whether audience members walk out at the end of the show humming any bits to themselves. It shows something hit them and stuck. But guys, I didn’t remember how songs went immediately after the songs themselves ended. Like 2 seconds later, not the usual gauge of ‘after the show ends’. That’s crazy. It just felt uninspired and more like ‘generic musical’ than the challenging genre-bending stuff a creative show like this needs. Husband and the wedding couple, however, disagreed, and they all thought the score was fine. But I am right.
Even with a lackluster score, the show was highly enjoyable. Why? Andy Karl. Le sigh. Andy Karl is a fantastic stalwart on Broadway, having starred in “Legally Blonde” (not as Elle) like DECADES ago it feels like, and then went on to star in “Rocky” (which was panned but I liked!), “Unfinished Dickens”…that’s not it…um…OH “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, “On the Twentieth Century” with Kristin Chenoweth which he was AMAZ in and wore the nicest suit my husband really liked it (he has good taste), and now finally is starring on the West End (I’m just gonna go for it). His impeccable comic delivery lifts every inch of this show higher and higher and turns some whatever lines into things that made us cackle hysterically. Not joking, hysterically. The book and lyrics really had some hilarious parts, and his timing made everything even better. In one of the early songs, before he realizes he’s actually stuck in a time loop and is still acting very cocky, he sings blah blah I’m leaving, “suck my balls I’m outta here”. Ridiculous in a musical! And hilarious when delivered, because he is magicked. Something I laughed at way too hard was in this flashback sort-of number, a duet with an old flame. As they reminisced about their fling, with Phil remembering one thing and then the woman repeating the line, one time she didn’t repeat so much as paraphrase and I couldn’t stop laughing: Phil sang something about their picnic “And we ate half a pound of pate” and the woman responded, “We ate way too much pate”. It was so stupid but something about their delivery made us laugh so hard. The funniest ensemble scene (because everything Andy did in the early stages of Act I was top notch hilarity) came as a montage of doctor visits. As Phil begins freaking out about his circumstances, he goes to see every doctor imaginable to see if there’s a medical explanation for his predicament. One is a Scientologist who tells him to read Dianetics; one is this great red-head-dreaded nerd; and the best ‘doctor’ tells him he feels like he’s reliving the same day over and over because, you guessed it, he’s allergic to gluten. It was so funny!
One thing I don’t understand is how this show cost so much. It’s rumored to have cost $16.5 million, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a Broadway musical nowadays, but I am pretty sure is unusual for the West End and the Old Vic. I expected that money to be put to good use, but I would not have guessed from the set that it was so expensive. The sets were good and very appropriate, but nothing stood out as being anything more than standard set design. The opening used projections (on the curtain), the best use of projections I’ve yet seen (because it was supposed to be television), but I doubt that was that expensive. Seriously, I don’t get it! Was Minchin expensive? I kinda hope Karl is making bank but I doubt it. Just flabbergasting. I also really am curious why previously attached producer Scott Rudin (god he has a hand in EVERYTHING) walked.
The coolest thing design-wise, however, maybe was worth all the money, although it was really just stage magic and not things that cost lots of money. When Phil starts spiraling into a depression, he tries to kill himself. I mean, he succeeds, but then he just immediately wakes up starting the day over. He kills himself again and again and again, tries every way imaginable, but keeps waking up. It’s really incredibly morbid. But, this production makes this whole section of the story absolutely mind-blowing because we see Phil die in some way, but then an instant later Andy Karl sits up in the bed at 6:00am. It first became noticeable that this was some incredible stage work going on when Phil takes the head from a guy wearing the groundhog costume, puts it on, and then steps in front of a truck. Honk, crash, 2 seconds pass and Andy Karl sits up in the bed on the opposite side of the stage. People started applauding. I kept trying to follow Andy himself to see what was happening but it was seriously magic. Lots of doubles and trapdoors, I’m sure, but also magic. This was definitely the most impressive part of the physical production. I really want to know how they were doing this!
The only parts I thought were actually bad can be easily fixed. Well, maybe not easily, but they are fixable. First of all, I’ve talked in the past about how important rousing Act II openers are, because you need to get the audience re-engaged after checking out for 20 minutes. It’s really important to quickly gain some of the momentum back that was lost at intermission. Well. I hate to say it but I think Groundhog Day’s Act II opener was the worst one yet. It was performed really well, and done nicely, but seriously, WHAT THE F. The girl playing Nancy, the ‘hot’ chick that Phil picks up early on, sings the song, alone, about how she grew up thinking about Barbies and beauty standards and is doomed to just be seen as the hot one all her life when there is more to her. Now, of course, that’s a sentiment I will not condemn, and she sings well, but the entire song I was staring wide-eyed asking WHY?? This is a character who had maybe 1 line in Act I and has maybe 1 more line in Act II, so why on EARTH does she have a whole song to herself? We barely knew anything by this point about Rita, the female lead (Carlyss Peer, who is good but in an underwritten role so doesn’t shine really until the end), but this tiny ensemble character begins Act II? DOES NOT COMPUTE. Give Andy another song ffs! Or Rita! Or, really, do what I thought was happening before Nancy moved on to Verse #2 – make it a song where every ensemble member sings one verse about who they are, the people Phil never gets to know about. That would be interesting at least, to give every single townsperson the chance to say one little thing that Phil will never learn no matter how long he interacts with them. But a whole song for Nancy? PUH-LEASE. It made me really mad.
Luckily, something else happened soon after that made me even madder!!! This wasn’t the fault of the show at all, but of the audience. Ned Ryerson, that great old classmate who recognizes Phil but also annoys Phil so much that sometimes Phil punches him, was just as good here as he is in the movie. However, later on, when Phil starts trying to be a decent person, Ned shows him pictures of his family, and Phil says, “Whoa, is that your wife? She’s hot.” And Ned replies, “She was.” And the lad-filled/ignorant audience CACKLED hysterically because they thought Ned was saying that his wife is no longer hot. But no you drunk pale-ass simpletons, he was saying that SHE’S DEAD. We were horrified for the cast and for humanity that so many audience members just assumed bro-humor. It was really atrocious. I think perhaps this can be fixed if they change the word ‘hot’ to ‘beautiful’ maybe? Or something softer? Because lads hear the word ‘hot’ and it primes their brain into lad-humor mode, so maybe that would work. I don’t know, it’s not the show’s fault but they do need to address that this sort of misunderstanding should not be allowed to keep happening. Oh humanity is so scary sometimes.
Thank goodness those are the only real standouts for badness. The show as a whole is a wonderful effort, really enjoyable and with the potential to be really great. It does need some editing to move to Broadway, and just to be the best it can be, so I hope its producers aren’t babies about making those changes. I would really like more development for Rita, who I understand can’t really be a fully fleshed out character until Phil starts trying to see others as full-fledged people, which happens towards the end of the show, but still, give her something better than the songs she has about how she is a woman. Let’s just say you can tell men wrote this.
Question: Why didn’t Phil ever try to leave the town before the storm hit, like as soon as he woke up? I wonder what would have happened. Is it just because he couldn’t get anyone to drive him? Because I’m sure he stole a car or two during his 130 years stuck in this loop. Also, how did he not lose his mind? I would have in 5. At the end, when he realizes SPOILER that it’s actually a new day, he stares at Rita so long in silence that was incredibly powerful and actually made me cry. But hot damn, if this were realistic, he would have been absolutely driven clinically insane by now.
Anyway, see it if you can because Andy Karl is amazing, it’s a new musical that is really quite good and well done, and then hopefully when we see it in a year or so it will be even better. Also Andy better be nominated for an Olivier.
AUDIENCE
Ugh. See above. At least no phones rang or lit up in my field of vision, but lad-duos were talking to each other THE ENTIRE TIME. Like these guys who don’t go to the theatre often were so excited to see the play of the movie they like, but they didn’t bother behaving properly. I almost punched heads.
STAGE DOOR
Andy came out really quickly after a matinee! I was so happy! He was so nice! I didn’t wait for anyone else but bumped into some chorus members on the street and they were very nice and appreciate when I said heyyyyyyy.
REAL TALK PSA: When the actual real talk about Groundhog Day (the holiday) and all the accompanying traditions began, the audience laughed. Not at jokes, just at the exposition of establishing the setting: that we’re in Punxsutawney (do you realize how hard it is not to keep typing Pennsatucky?), that old men dressed in period costumes wait to see if a groundhog sees its shadow, that the area where this all goes down is called ‘Gobbler’s Knob’, these kinds of things that are ACTUAL FACTS. The audience cackled at these. Then we realized, holy shit, British people do not have ANY CLUE that this is all 100% accurate. Holy shit. They think this holiday and all these WACKY ASS traditions were made up as part of a comedy movie to get some cheap laughs. Oh especially Gobbler’s Knob – these bros sitting near us could not get over Gobbler’s Knob, because knob is slang for their (raisin-sized I bet DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO) manparts. I mean, why would people outside of the USA know of this tiny cultural phenomenon in this tiny ass village in Pennsylvania about an animal that is sort of a beaver sort of a squirrel seeing its shadow TO PREDICT THE WEATHER? If something like this happened in England (I’m sure there are equivalents) hell if I’d know anything about it, and I live here now.
This was all confirmed last weekend at a wedding. We were seated across from a very nice couple (letsbefriends!) who had seen the evening show the same day we saw the matinee of “Groundhog Day”! How f-ing random is that! I like to think that the grooms hacked the computers of all the guests to see who had calendar appointments that reflected similar tastes and/or plans and then made the seating charts accordingly. Okay no I don’t like to think that at all but seriously how did they know? So this couple consisted of one Aussie and one Brit, and in talking about the play, we asked them if they thought Groundhog Day was a made up thing. They were ASTOUNDED that it was real. OF COURSE WE THOUGHT IT WAS MADE UP, they positively shouted in disbelief. Are you KIDDING ME?? HOW CAN THAT BE REAL? It went on. They were flabbergasted and hysterical about it. The programmes for this show really by all means need to have a piece inside about how this is a real holiday. They have all other kinds of crap in those programmes that we have to PAY for AND have to spell with extra m’s and e’s so the very least they could do is educate their audiences about small-town USA.
Okay let’s maybe talk about the actual show a bit because you know what, it was good! It was not fantastic; I wanted it to be fantastic. I want everything to be fantastic. But you know what, not everything can be fantastic. I saw so much fantastic stuff in the past year so the bar was really insanely high for the world premiere of a new show. I strongly believe that, after the run in London, its eminent move to Broadway will be for a much tighter, more exciting, more edited show. That’s what pre-Broadway runs are for, to make necessary changes and see what audiences respond to and what needs work. I mean, unless they don’t change anything because audiences are jumping to their feet every show, so we’ll see. I hope they make some changes.
Actually, honestly, I don’t know what they could change on the small scale, because the only really disappointing thing was the score! The acting was wonderful (we’ll get to that), the book was really f-ing hilarious at times, the set was fine (more on that later), the NUMEROUS shout-outs to Penn State were great (so many ensemblists in PSU gear!!!), so really, the score is what needs work. And the score is usually the last thing to undergo huge overhaul, because, well, it’s the cornerstone of a musical. But the score is what was I would want worked on here out of the whole of the show. Well, the music was; the lyrics were clever, as you’d expect of Tim Minchin (who I must admit I know primarily because of the genius that is “Matilda”). Yet we know he also writes beautiful and provocative music. If I heard the music without knowing who wrote it, Minchin would be the very last composer I would guess. It felt very blah. I remember not one part of one song. And that is usually the test for whether a score will catch on in popularity – whether audience members walk out at the end of the show humming any bits to themselves. It shows something hit them and stuck. But guys, I didn’t remember how songs went immediately after the songs themselves ended. Like 2 seconds later, not the usual gauge of ‘after the show ends’. That’s crazy. It just felt uninspired and more like ‘generic musical’ than the challenging genre-bending stuff a creative show like this needs. Husband and the wedding couple, however, disagreed, and they all thought the score was fine. But I am right.
Even with a lackluster score, the show was highly enjoyable. Why? Andy Karl. Le sigh. Andy Karl is a fantastic stalwart on Broadway, having starred in “Legally Blonde” (not as Elle) like DECADES ago it feels like, and then went on to star in “Rocky” (which was panned but I liked!), “Unfinished Dickens”…that’s not it…um…OH “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, “On the Twentieth Century” with Kristin Chenoweth which he was AMAZ in and wore the nicest suit my husband really liked it (he has good taste), and now finally is starring on the West End (I’m just gonna go for it). His impeccable comic delivery lifts every inch of this show higher and higher and turns some whatever lines into things that made us cackle hysterically. Not joking, hysterically. The book and lyrics really had some hilarious parts, and his timing made everything even better. In one of the early songs, before he realizes he’s actually stuck in a time loop and is still acting very cocky, he sings blah blah I’m leaving, “suck my balls I’m outta here”. Ridiculous in a musical! And hilarious when delivered, because he is magicked. Something I laughed at way too hard was in this flashback sort-of number, a duet with an old flame. As they reminisced about their fling, with Phil remembering one thing and then the woman repeating the line, one time she didn’t repeat so much as paraphrase and I couldn’t stop laughing: Phil sang something about their picnic “And we ate half a pound of pate” and the woman responded, “We ate way too much pate”. It was so stupid but something about their delivery made us laugh so hard. The funniest ensemble scene (because everything Andy did in the early stages of Act I was top notch hilarity) came as a montage of doctor visits. As Phil begins freaking out about his circumstances, he goes to see every doctor imaginable to see if there’s a medical explanation for his predicament. One is a Scientologist who tells him to read Dianetics; one is this great red-head-dreaded nerd; and the best ‘doctor’ tells him he feels like he’s reliving the same day over and over because, you guessed it, he’s allergic to gluten. It was so funny!
One thing I don’t understand is how this show cost so much. It’s rumored to have cost $16.5 million, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a Broadway musical nowadays, but I am pretty sure is unusual for the West End and the Old Vic. I expected that money to be put to good use, but I would not have guessed from the set that it was so expensive. The sets were good and very appropriate, but nothing stood out as being anything more than standard set design. The opening used projections (on the curtain), the best use of projections I’ve yet seen (because it was supposed to be television), but I doubt that was that expensive. Seriously, I don’t get it! Was Minchin expensive? I kinda hope Karl is making bank but I doubt it. Just flabbergasting. I also really am curious why previously attached producer Scott Rudin (god he has a hand in EVERYTHING) walked.
The coolest thing design-wise, however, maybe was worth all the money, although it was really just stage magic and not things that cost lots of money. When Phil starts spiraling into a depression, he tries to kill himself. I mean, he succeeds, but then he just immediately wakes up starting the day over. He kills himself again and again and again, tries every way imaginable, but keeps waking up. It’s really incredibly morbid. But, this production makes this whole section of the story absolutely mind-blowing because we see Phil die in some way, but then an instant later Andy Karl sits up in the bed at 6:00am. It first became noticeable that this was some incredible stage work going on when Phil takes the head from a guy wearing the groundhog costume, puts it on, and then steps in front of a truck. Honk, crash, 2 seconds pass and Andy Karl sits up in the bed on the opposite side of the stage. People started applauding. I kept trying to follow Andy himself to see what was happening but it was seriously magic. Lots of doubles and trapdoors, I’m sure, but also magic. This was definitely the most impressive part of the physical production. I really want to know how they were doing this!
The only parts I thought were actually bad can be easily fixed. Well, maybe not easily, but they are fixable. First of all, I’ve talked in the past about how important rousing Act II openers are, because you need to get the audience re-engaged after checking out for 20 minutes. It’s really important to quickly gain some of the momentum back that was lost at intermission. Well. I hate to say it but I think Groundhog Day’s Act II opener was the worst one yet. It was performed really well, and done nicely, but seriously, WHAT THE F. The girl playing Nancy, the ‘hot’ chick that Phil picks up early on, sings the song, alone, about how she grew up thinking about Barbies and beauty standards and is doomed to just be seen as the hot one all her life when there is more to her. Now, of course, that’s a sentiment I will not condemn, and she sings well, but the entire song I was staring wide-eyed asking WHY?? This is a character who had maybe 1 line in Act I and has maybe 1 more line in Act II, so why on EARTH does she have a whole song to herself? We barely knew anything by this point about Rita, the female lead (Carlyss Peer, who is good but in an underwritten role so doesn’t shine really until the end), but this tiny ensemble character begins Act II? DOES NOT COMPUTE. Give Andy another song ffs! Or Rita! Or, really, do what I thought was happening before Nancy moved on to Verse #2 – make it a song where every ensemble member sings one verse about who they are, the people Phil never gets to know about. That would be interesting at least, to give every single townsperson the chance to say one little thing that Phil will never learn no matter how long he interacts with them. But a whole song for Nancy? PUH-LEASE. It made me really mad.
Luckily, something else happened soon after that made me even madder!!! This wasn’t the fault of the show at all, but of the audience. Ned Ryerson, that great old classmate who recognizes Phil but also annoys Phil so much that sometimes Phil punches him, was just as good here as he is in the movie. However, later on, when Phil starts trying to be a decent person, Ned shows him pictures of his family, and Phil says, “Whoa, is that your wife? She’s hot.” And Ned replies, “She was.” And the lad-filled/ignorant audience CACKLED hysterically because they thought Ned was saying that his wife is no longer hot. But no you drunk pale-ass simpletons, he was saying that SHE’S DEAD. We were horrified for the cast and for humanity that so many audience members just assumed bro-humor. It was really atrocious. I think perhaps this can be fixed if they change the word ‘hot’ to ‘beautiful’ maybe? Or something softer? Because lads hear the word ‘hot’ and it primes their brain into lad-humor mode, so maybe that would work. I don’t know, it’s not the show’s fault but they do need to address that this sort of misunderstanding should not be allowed to keep happening. Oh humanity is so scary sometimes.
Thank goodness those are the only real standouts for badness. The show as a whole is a wonderful effort, really enjoyable and with the potential to be really great. It does need some editing to move to Broadway, and just to be the best it can be, so I hope its producers aren’t babies about making those changes. I would really like more development for Rita, who I understand can’t really be a fully fleshed out character until Phil starts trying to see others as full-fledged people, which happens towards the end of the show, but still, give her something better than the songs she has about how she is a woman. Let’s just say you can tell men wrote this.
Question: Why didn’t Phil ever try to leave the town before the storm hit, like as soon as he woke up? I wonder what would have happened. Is it just because he couldn’t get anyone to drive him? Because I’m sure he stole a car or two during his 130 years stuck in this loop. Also, how did he not lose his mind? I would have in 5. At the end, when he realizes SPOILER that it’s actually a new day, he stares at Rita so long in silence that was incredibly powerful and actually made me cry. But hot damn, if this were realistic, he would have been absolutely driven clinically insane by now.
Anyway, see it if you can because Andy Karl is amazing, it’s a new musical that is really quite good and well done, and then hopefully when we see it in a year or so it will be even better. Also Andy better be nominated for an Olivier.
AUDIENCE
Ugh. See above. At least no phones rang or lit up in my field of vision, but lad-duos were talking to each other THE ENTIRE TIME. Like these guys who don’t go to the theatre often were so excited to see the play of the movie they like, but they didn’t bother behaving properly. I almost punched heads.
STAGE DOOR
Andy came out really quickly after a matinee! I was so happy! He was so nice! I didn’t wait for anyone else but bumped into some chorus members on the street and they were very nice and appreciate when I said heyyyyyyy.
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Broadway’s “Shuffle Along, Or the Longest and Most Unnecessary Title Since the Horrors of Birdman” Is Prettayy Good
Best show art of the season
In this Broadway season of beyond splendid revivals and nice enough new shows dwarfed by “Hamilton”, one important show is kind of a mix of the two. “Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed” (I know) (whose idea right) (so ridic) (but it is accurate) actually petitioned to be considered a revival, because it uses the score of the original show “Shuffle Along” from 1921. But it was wisely considered a new show because this new Shuffle is telling the story of that 1921 show, how it was made, who was involved, and how it was received. And of course all that followed.
What makes the 1921 “Shuffle Along” worth discussing? It was a groundbreaking musical revue written by four African-American men – Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, F.E. Miller, and Aubrey Lyles. Not only was it the first musical for all four writers, it was the first major production in a long time to be created and produced entirely by African-American, like at all. That it played in New York of all places, and that it had an incredibly successful run for its time, shows how important a cultural milestone it was.
Why was it groundbreaking? It convinced the theatre community (and white producers) that a ‘black show’ could be successful, and that people of all races would pay to see an exciting, quality show like this. The black community embraced it wholeheartedly for showing the world its exuberant singing and dancing styles, and the theatre community at large embraced it too, legitimizing these new-to-them styles for the uptight people of that world. “Shuffle Along” famously had to add a midnight showing (always sold out) so that other celebrities with similar schedules – fans like Fanny Brice and Al Jolson – could catch it regularly. And not only did the show introduce a new kind of theatre to the world, it also launched the careers of luminaries like Florence Mills, Gertrude Sanders, and Josephine Baker, while showcasing already-famous stars like Lottie Gee.
So the original “Shuffle Along” stands as a vital moment in theatre history, yet so few people know about it. George C. Wolfe, legendary Broadway director, decided to bring its story back to Broadway, but not the story the original told (some forced plot about a mayoral race that no one really cared about because the score and the dancing was really what they were after). Instead, he wanted to tell the story behind the mounting of that show and how it came to be and what happened to those four creators and all those stars they made after all the success of the musical sensation of 1921. Naturally, to tell this story, you hope to gather the most incredible African-American performers there are today. You hope to get Audra McDonald, queen of everything, to play the diva Lottie Gee. You hope that Brian Stokes Mitchell, Broadway’s longtime beloved leading man, will join you as one of the four creators, along with other Broadway stars Billy Porter, Joshua Henry, and Brandon Victor Dixon. You even have the pipe-dream that Savion Glover, the best tap dancer in the entire world, will choreograph the whole thing and attract the most incredible dancers to the ensemble. And then that all happens! And you get “Shuffle Along 2.0 or the Show That Could Have Been Amazing But Is Really Just Very Good”.
Yeah, not joking. All those amazing parts came together, but yet you are left feeling a little unsatisfied. You expect the show to really hit you and resonate with you, but it never fully makes that emotional connection. No matter how far I put out my feelers, the ones coming from their end never made contact. “Shuffle” is wonderfully exciting to watch for the most part, but it’s more like the original than it wanted to be: The score (the same score as the 1921 one) is great, the dancing is out of this world, but the book is a bit of a mess. Such a mess that, unlike most shows, “Shuffle” wisely took advantage of its preview period, making necessary changes night after night until the show was frozen. Unfortunately, this is one show that definitely could have benefited from an out-of-town tryout so it was in even better shape before the move to Broadway. Then it could have used previews to hone and tighten rather than reimagine and rewrite as much as it did. Because of the wattage of all the stars involved, an out-of-town tryout was nigh impossible, but I wonder what could have been possible if they made it happen. As it is now, “Shuffle” has a fine story in the first act, and you pull for them to make it to New York and have success and be able to buy train tickets and stuff. It is positively magical when Audra, one of the greatest divas of our time, sings as another great diva; when BSM sings because oh my god that voice (and they didn’t make nearly enough use of it); and when the ensemble dances to Savion’s insane choreography. I say insane both in the way I describe things that are amazing, and also in the way that means actually insane. Some of the dancing is almost manic, all maniacally energetic and so fast and disjointed and trippy that you can’t believe they aren’t falling down or convulsing but somehow they are still dancing. The ensemble really deserves as much credit for doing these moves as Savion deserves for making them do it.
But then much of it feels blank. My mind wandered a little in the first act and then a lot in the second, when they tell you how important everything that happened in the first act was and how monumental the original “Shuffle” was and how it affected all their lives, but they kind of just tell you. Repeatedly, yet nothing sticks. I know some people are still confused at what Joshua Henry’s Noble Sissle talks about in a monologue about how his former military officer was killed and made Noble promise to continue what he was doing by creating opportunities for black musicians…I think. It was obviously a really important moment, but it didn’t come across very strongly. There’s a lot of talk about how these men had such an important job to do and how meaningful what they did was, and it was of course, but this show didn’t do much to make you believe it and know it for yourself. Without any background about the original “Shuffle”, it’s not easy to jump in accepting how significant it really was. It’s a difficult task this show took on, and they do a good job, but not great.
The big dance numbers are the best parts of the show, by far. My favorite featured the ensemble split into two groups, facing each other, kind of having a dance-off but using crazy tap-as-weapons that looks like their feet are falling off. It was crazy fun. I wanted more of those kinds of numbers to fill the holes in the book. Luckily, the entire cast is terrific. Of course Audra and B(d)SM are phenomenal, and it’s really special, beyond special, to see them onstage together again after starring in “Ragtime” so many years ago. One of my favorite facts is that Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Eubie Blake (one of the few creatives who had success after “Shuffle”), said his first Broadway show was “Ragtime”, starring his now his costars (and Audra plays his love interest). I love that! Hooray for this community! I also loved Billy Porter’s big number, “Broadway Blues” (I think). He gets a big bluesy number to bring the house down, and he does. It’s tailored to his talents – overdoing it, but in a fun way. It’s the perfect opportunity for him to let loose, because it works as this huge and exaggerated number, and it’s not bad if Billy overacts, which he sometimes does but we love him for it. And Adrienne Warren, Tony nominee for this show, was really fantastic pulling double-duty as Gertrude Sanders & Florence Mills. She really performed the two characters so distinctly and was truly lovely. Sadly, I don’t remember Joshua Henry getting to really shine on any song. He’s solidly good but has the smaller role of the four men, so his beautiful voice doesn’t get enough airtime. I loved loved the train station song that had Brian lifting the spirits of the ensemble, leading to some impeccable dancing, but I wanted Brian to sing more too. That voice is just velvet and I would have been happy if he (and Audra) just started singing the phone book (or “Ragtime”). I wish I could speak specifically on each song, but weirdly, there is no song list in the Playbill. This made sense during previews when the show was changing every night, but now it’s been frozen for a while so I don’t get it. I can say of course that “I’m Just Wild About Harry” was phenomenal, as sung by Audra, because that is the most famous song Sissle & Blake wrote so I’m pretty sure it was in there. RG.
The surprising thing to me, though, is that if “Hamilton” wasn’t around this season, “Shuffle” would be winning the Best New Musical Tony Award (it has already won the lead-up awards that Ham was eligible for last year). I’m kind of like whoa about it, because the book is a mess – which makes it all the more upsetting that some pundits think it should win the Best Book Tony over Hamilton just to spread the wealth. And, without this current cast, I have some doubts about how it will hold up. Audiences will get an answer to this sooner rather than later, as Audra’s preggernancy will bring in her replacement Rhiannon Giddens. I don’t know her, and I’m sure she is wicked talented, but a lot of the magic of this show came from knowing you were watching Audra, the greatest musical theatre actress maybe ever, play another famous singer. And a lot of the magic from watching the men’s scenes came from knowing you were watching a group of beloved Tony winners and nominees shine. Without a strong second act and with the importance of the original cast, it would be a winner on the weaker side. Still, as it is now, it’s a solid show with an all-star cast that I would jump at seeing onstage together again if I could. I am so lucky I saw it before Audra got preggers. She’s leaving soon, and I’ve heard reports that in the meantime she is sometimes a bit scaled back, probably because the alien inside her is making her nauseous. And it’s the best tap dancing you’ll see maybe ever. The story they are trying to tell is one of great importance, and I wish it was told a little more clearly, a little more cleanly. But you know, it did get me interested enough in the original “Shuffle” to do my own research into it. If other audience members do the same, and if a lot more people now know about the original show and what it did for African-Americans and for theatre, then that is a big success.
AUDIENCE
I think fine. One night when I didn’t have to yell at anyone! OH important note – this is a Scott Rudin production, and he famously does not allow late seating in his shows. If you miss the very start of the show, you don’t get to come in from the lobby until Act II, no joke. This is really great to stop all the shitheads who don’t think live theatre is important enough to stop them from hanging at the bar a little longer or stuff like that, but I do worry about the very few people who will be negatively affected who don’t deserve to be for reasons out of their control (read, I worry that one day I will be late). But for the most part it’s a good idea. I did hear from a few people that ushers at his shows don’t let you bring water bottles in, but that shit should be illegal and if anyone tried to take mine away I would have starting railing about all the amendments. ALL OF THEM.
STAGE DOOR
No one came out boooooo. I wanted to ask Brian to record my outgoing voicemail. Just kidding. Not really. #velvetteddybear
All My Sons at the Old Vic: I Don’t Know How Many Sons We’re Talking About But I’m Bored
You tell me Sally Field is coming to London, I’m gonna be there front and center holding up a big sign with GO SALLY! WE LIKE YOU! written in bubble letters. Metaphorically speaking, of course; I’m not a monster. So the chance to see the absolute ledge, what a ledge, perform live is something I’m grateful for. I’m glad I got to see her. What a treat.
You can tell I’m trying to delay talking at all about the play, huh? Okay, well let’s just say it’s fitting that I saw All My Sons at the Old Vic theatre in London in the same week I finished reading Zadie Smith’s book Swing Time, as both were not unpleasant to experience, but ‘not unpleasant’ is literally all I can say about them. There was nothing gripping about either work. While I liked watching both Sally and Bill Pullman (seriously, Bill Pullman! ledge on ledge!), everyone else felt slightly (or heavily) miscast and misdirected. It felt like Arthur Miller’s classic play has aged out of relevance, and rather than feeling like a noteworthy period piece, it instead felt like a dusty relic.
Sally and Bill (I met them; we’re friends) play a married couple of an adult son. Just one son. They had another son but he died in the war (sad). Two sons is still not enough for an ‘all’, you’re correct – the title phrase reveal was one of the only creative turns of phrase in the whole script. Anyway, so the dead son (sorry) had a sweetheart when he went off to war (as they do, as they do). Ever since – three years now – the girl, Ann, has been corresponding with the other (living) (sorry) son, Chris, and THEY now want to get married. This play was written in a time when it was SUPER NORMAL for a girl whose sweetheart died in war to marry the guy’s brother instead, and that is WEIRD. Luckily, the family also thinks it’s weird, but not in a women-aren’t-property-to-be-inherited-when-a-family-member-dies-that’s-super-gross way, more in the they-don’t-actually-believe-their-son-died way.
Turns out, War Son was only reported ‘disappeared’ those three years ago, so even though all signs point to Dead, Sally (let’s just call her Sally) is making herself sick holding onto any thread of hope that her son is alive. Which you can’t really fault her for, it’s so sad. Poor sad Sally! But even WITHOUT the hope that the son is still alive, it’s still super weird to sign off on your other son marrying the fiancee. Oof.
Anyway, the girl, Ann, comes to visit the family so she and Chris can announce the engagement, and we learn about the friction between the two families that exists for reasons other than brother-swapping weirdness. Bill and Ann’s father worked together, and some shady shit went down, but only Ann’s father ended up in jail. Did her father do crimes? Or was Bill guilty but got away with it by throwing Mr. Ann under the bus? The problem with this being the main conflict is that no one cares.
The other main problem with the show is that Chris (Colin Morgan, Merlin) is miscast, and without a strong Chris to really nail all the nuance and emotional beats and relationships, it all falls apart. His choices felt off, like surprisingly off; I’m surprised at the director here. The only confident, successful directorial choice was the very opening moment, with the house moving upstage amid flashing Americana television screens. I’m disappointed that that new, confident display of this classic work wasn’t continued at any other moment.
In fact, the only emotional beat that rang true was an extraordinarily minor moment between Ann’s brother George and a super-minor-character-neighbor-lady when they acknowledged that they would have ended up together had George not gone off to army, mother. It’s like, literally the neighbor lady’s only scene, so great job making your mark, but the fact that nothing else in the entire show felt as authentic is a shame. Of course, London audiences being as insane as they are, they laughed when George declines meeting her kids, even though it’s a heartbreaking moment, but that’s CLA (crazy London audiences) for you.
While I’m sure this play was revelatory in its time, what being about the problems with profiting from war and all the emotional turmoil it causes in its wake, it felt irrelevant today. And some of the twists seemed nonsensical. When Bill Pullman yells at his son (living) in the climax, he all of a sudden asks, “Was the money the problem? You had too much money?” and I literally went, “um, weird flex”, because that was literally the most random reaction to the argument, coming out of nowhere and clearly not the issue. Everything sort of felt untethered like that, disjointed and random. Even the big reveals at the end, both about Bill’s true actions regarding the crime and the other son’s disappearance, feel incredibly unsatisfying. (They also don’t make a ton of sense on examination. If Larry (dead son) knew about the dad’s trial and potential crime, that means it was at least MONTHS since the incident/arrest, and he never once spoke to his family to hear their response or thoughts? He just assumed his father was guilty and then decided to do what he did? do not buy it.)
And yet, despite all this disappointment in the play, I think Sally (and Bill, really) did a nice job. Poor sad Sally was literally shaking the entire time, but you believed that she was a grieving mother with too many traumas to keep in their appropriate boxes, leaving everything threatening to unravel. I just didn’t think this production was strong enough for her talents.
