Mrs. Doubtfire Musical is So Much Better than it has Any Right to Beby Randi / January 18, 2022It’s Theatre Thursday! Today’s show is the new production of Spring Awakening at London’s Almeida theatre, which runs until Jan. 29.
One of the best productions in London right now is Rupert Goold’s new take on Spring Awakening, Duncan Sheik & Steven Sater’s Tony-winning musical that originally starred Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff as wee naked babies. The show tells of a bunch of mad horny German teens coming of age as the adults and authority figures in their lives try to keep them ignorant and in line, and the tragic ramifications of trying to control children in such a way. It’s a sad song, it’s a tragedy, one that always felt relevant in Bible-thumping-abortion-hating America, and it has a bit of extra resonance in this climate of the supposed grown-ups failing the youths (and extra extra rez for these particular yoots, trying to build careers in theatre while the grown-ups are like ‘nah theatre isn’t important enough to us, you could try coding?, also we’re gonna tell audiences they don’t need to wear masks anymore so they cough all over you and your shows will probably continually get cancelled’).
Any dreadful outcomes you might imagine resulting from adults keeping truth from kids and holding them to impossible standards and not telling them about what their own bodies can do and being abusive &c happen in Spring Awakening, but the incredible music, story-building, and energy of a youthful cast keep it from feeling like on onslaught of depression porn. Even though there’s so much tragedy and frustration, it’s shown with emotional poignancy that prevents the feeling of utter darkness. There’s also lots of humor, as you’d expect from a show with several songs about masturbating. I particularly loved Hanschen’s (I think?) line to another boy about studying together and maybe ‘doing a little Achilles and Patroclus’, which I now better appreciate having just read “The Song of Achilles”.
I had high hopes for this production, as Spring Awakening is one of my all-time favorite shows and scores that I grew up on, and I saw the original cast an exorbitant number of times and I consider the 2015 Deaf West Broadway production to be one of the top five greatest productions of anything ever done anywhere throughout history, and I am not exaggerating, so yeah going in I was like show me what you got, fire that sucker up and throw it at my face. I wish they were still taking some tips, because my #1 thing is that these kids needed to be miked. There were so many brilliant parts of the score that felt too quiet or literally went unheard against the loud band (not that they were too loud, just the voices were not loud enough). The worst victim of this was “Touch Me”, which never rose with that incredible crescendo that is written into it, when Otto (I think?) belts the best belted line of all-time ‘WHERE I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHEN I GO THERE/NO MORE SHADOWWWWWWWWWWW ANYMORE’ I mean, it was just a lil quiet baby lullaby and I wanted to shout ‘SING OUT LOUISE’, it’s THE BEST LINE.
But otherwise, the staging is what makes this production special. It’s a small intimate space, and the stage is entirely giant steps so the cast goes up and down the whole time building insane calves. I loved the use of all the projections on the steps, from their own scribblings to their graffiti to the gravestones. Some of the staging was a miss for me — the glass cage of emotion (husbo and I were telepathically imitating Ron Burgundy to each other, confirmed post-show), the excessive silent pauses in Act II, and I still wish that the audience found out about Wendla at the same time as Melchior (it packs more punch). But overall it was thoughtful and provocative, and there were moments of actual gasp-worthy brilliance — the beginning of “All That’s Known”, when all the schoolboys come up from below the stage in a vertical line of desks (I mean, the MOTHERFORKING TIMING on that one), and the entirety of “Mirror Blue Night”, which I’ve never seen staged to so perfectly capture the emotional turmoil of Melchior at that moment. That in particular made me think much differently about a scene I usually am a tiny bit whatever about.
The cast is good, with their high energy making up for a lack of high calibre vocal performances. The standout by far is Laurie Kynaston as Melchior Gabor, which works out because Melchior carries the show. We last saw him in Florian Zeller’s The Son, which ALSO went VERY badly for him, so fingers crossed he one day gets to star in a comedy or at least some sort of death-free romp. As for their direction, I was not a fan at how over-the-top evil they made the adult characters. They were presented in a clownish way for humor, but their evil and wrongdoing when played straight is so much more powerful.
Although you probably don’t care, I’ve buried the lead here with the part that stands out most to me that I honestly can’t stop shouting about: The bonus track from the original cast album, Duncan Sheik’s song ‘There Once Was a Pirate’, is included in this! Not only that, it OPENS ACT II. Not only that, IT GETS A REPRISE IN THE FINALE. This marked one of the top five moments I’ve almost screamed in a theatre. What a shock. The song worked so well, and the staging of it the first time was poetic. Its reprise as an intro to the finale was fine, but I was left wanting with the finale in general, because they have rewritten my favorite lines of what is one of my favorite songs ever, “The Song of Purple Summer”. The way the voices have always split into harmonies on “a swallow brings/a song too hard to follow/that no one else can sing” always gives me the feels something terrible and seals the show emotionally for me, making everything make sense and provide hope in a Pandora’s-Box-after-all-the-endless-shit kind of way, especially since the song is about how a new dawn has to be rising. So to have that line gone, along with many others, was aaaaquite the theatrical blueballing. Nonetheless, this is altogether a wonderful, powerful production of one of the great modern musicals.
AUDIENCE
Okay so we could not get over two things: First, that these two jamokes dead front and center were maskless and like BREATHING ON THE CAST. Second, that this complete jackwagon (also up front) absolutely living for “Totally Fucked” was rocking around in her seat and literally fist-pumping the air throughout the number. Look, I GET that it’s a forking banger and you’re definitely feeling it, but you’re still at the theatre and not a mosh pit. It was hilarious though how hard she committed to the part — this production has the kids silently staring at the audience at the end of the song RIGHT up close to us for a long time, powerfully implying ‘what the fuck have you done to us, we actually despise you, you ruined everything, you stupid bitch’, and this girl STILL KEPT FIST-PUMPING. IN AN EXTENDED AND HEAVY AND GROWING HEAVIER BY THE SECOND MOMENT OF SILENCE. Now that’s commitment to being a bellend, I’ll give her that.
INFO
Show is 2 1/2 hours.
The space only has one exit and there is no way to the House Right side of the rows (which have no center aisle btw, a nightmare) around the back, so if you are sitting in the right half of seats, you have to go through the front row and often step onto the first step of the stage, which, well, blows.
The Almeida needs a second set of toilets. Be ready for QUEUES, and the men’s was longer!!
Thanks for the water dispensers on the bar, loves it.
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The Autumn of Dave Malloy Continues with London’s Ghost Quartet
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today’s show is Ghost Quartet, playing at London’s new Boulevard Theatre until January 4.
About 10 seconds into our performance of Ghost Quartet, husbo and I smiled at each other giddily: It sounds like Dave. It is remarkable that a modern composer has so assuredly developed his own unique sound, that you immediately recognize as His (Dave’s not god’s) as soon as you hear it. There are maybe 4 working composers you can say that about. I am grateful for Dave Malloy’s weird and wacky and uncanny sound, what can I say.
As usual with his shows, Ghost Quartet is a challenging assortment of brilliant moments, beautiful music, and lovely abstract storytelling, plus some too-vague storytelling, songs that don’t fit, and moments that should have been cut. Going into a Malloy show, you know that the seeming lack of editing down to its best form is part of the package (common when one individual is writing the music, lyrics, and book (collaboration leads to tighter shows)) but that seems to be a key aspect: he forces you to reckon with what you might consider the fat. He mixes absolute gorgeousness with a lack of clarity, with ridiculous noise, sometimes boring bits, things that go on too long, &c. They sometimes feel like a dare, like he’s daring us to question what he decided to keep in order to understand the project more deeply. And sure I am again questioning what he decided to keep, but I almost kind of love the mixture of high and low, good and not so good.
Ghost Quartet in particular has an exceptionally vague ‘story’ being told through the song cycle sung by the four talented cast members, who announce the side and track number of this ‘album’ before each song. Okay so I just read the synopsis on Wikipedia and said ‘really? what?’ like 18 times. Like I said, the story is so unclear and is actually four interweaving stories told in chaotic order, which helps with the whole mystical tone but I did not get 90% of what the wiki says. It seems generally that there is a woman named Rose, who fell in love, but the guy chose her sister and Rose wanted to get revenge, and then Rose took a picture of her ghost, and then there was a young woman who bought a camera from a witchy lady who also had a sister named Rose who died and was this the camera that Rose used to take the ghost picture?? And then there was a family named Usher in the story (based on the Poe story apparently) and the woman lost her daughter, and then the daughter’s daughter too but I think that daughter was the one who became the starchild? and then the sister was also Rose’s lover in another incarnation and even though it seemed to take place a few 100 years ago someone got pushed on a train platform? When did trains start? ALSO at some point Rose meets The Bear, who wants to help her with her revenge maybe? So The Bear starts Rose (I think) off on a new scavenger hunt of four items to give the Into the Woods “the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the slipper as pure as gold” list a run for its money: the bear requests 1) one pot of honey (naturally), 2) one piece of stardust (not suuure how to acquire that but okay) 3) one secret baptism (wat), and 4) a photo of a ghost (oh). It’s just the eensiest bit harder that Sondheim’s but you gotta hand it to the bear, that’s some f-ing list. (I remembered this because I loved its ridiculousness.) I actually cracked up at ‘one secret baptism’; I just wanted to shout ‘FUCK THAT IS SO DAVE. SO. DAVE.’
Oh and also there’s like a scene with Thelonius Monk, or maybe his ghost. Fork me I have no idea what was happening, but it doesn’t really matter what the details are, just that you feel the essence of it through the music, often haunting, sometimes fun, almost always interesting. And the cast of four definitely conveyed the desired eccentric, eerie, provoking essence beautifully. The two women, Carly Bawden and Maimuna Memon, carry the show with their incredible vocal talents and versatility, while the two men, Niccolo Curradi and Zubin Varla (the latter of whom is almost ready to join our list of Jenna Russell, Imelda Staunton, and Michael Ball for Actors Who Seem to be Cast in Everything (except he has actually been well cast whenever we’ve seen him)) provide strong support. All four have moments of brilliance and even hilarity, all while playing numerous instruments and ever-changing characters. They also hand out shaker eggs and serve several types of whiskey to most of the audience (though not to us; I don’t even drink and I was upset at not getting anything) and ask people to join them for the finale, which was cute but distracted from the power of it. The astonishingly gorgeous and moving a cappella quartet that I believe ends Side 3 should have been the finale.
So, whatever’s going on in this story is super confusing but that’s kind of the point; you shouldn’t have full clarity when talking about ghosts. It helped achieve the right vibe to be so nebulous, since the focus is and should be on what the music makes you feel. And they definitely succeed on that front.
INFORMATION
A pre-show informational email said the show was about 90 minutes with no interval but it was 100 minutes. Given that there were 4 ‘sides’ of the ‘album’ and not 2, this show really would have benefited from an interval. I realize it’s still short for an interval but it would really work here. Also it felt much longer, which is a disservice to the show. (ALSO – it should just be 3 sides. The audience expects there to be 2 sides, so much so that when they announced “Side 3, Track 1” there was a bit of a giggle. It totally flows with the whole Ghosty Weirdness to have 3 sides because that’s a little odd. The 4th side was so short anyway and like, too conventional since it completes the set. Don’t complete the set! Let it be weird!)
Sit in the front row if you want to be involved/get whiskey. Sit in our seats (B13 and B14) if you don’t want ANYTHING AT ALL. I’m not mad. (But I was hundo p that I had booked aisle seats, so I was shocked SHOCKED to find that our seats were smack dab in the center of a long row. Luckily, the ‘stalls’ in the round is only 3 rows, and there’s a big gap between B and C so I hopped over at the end to beat the rush to the bathroom because the toilets are FAR (downstairs and on the far side of the restaurant, which blows).
Aside from the toilet sitch, this new theatre is super lovely. I can’t wait to see more shows use this space in interesting ways. (Apparently the balcony section spins. INTO IT.)
“Pippin” On Broadway Does More Than Magic
If your first introduction to the classic musical “Pippin” was a high school production, as mine was, then you probably have no desire to see it again. I know that’s how most people who saw our subpar production felt, and it’s also how I felt for a while, before I listened to the recording and learned what a spellbinding and deep show this is. If you haven’t had your opinion changed yet, man alive you need to high-step it to Broadway ASAP and get your mind blown. Because the current revival of the Stephen Schwartz/Bob Fosse is truly producing magic far beyond what I could have hoped for. With Diane Paulus’s concise direction and inspired reimagination in a circus setting, the show is more enjoyable and more entertaining than ever.
“Pippin” is a weird show. Let’s just get that out right off the bat. Honestly, when I was IN it I had no idea what was happening. The show follows the post-academic trials and tribulations of the main character, Pippin (played by the adorable Matthew James Thomas), as he tries to find fulfillment upon entering the real world. That’s totally the shared human experience in the first world, right? Well, Pippin is also the son and heir of King Charlemagne. Yeah, it’s like the Middle Ages and these two characters are based on real people (at least in name). But historical accuracy is thankfully tossed aside. Our hero is led by the Leading Player (Tony-winner Patina Miller all Fosseed up) of a troupe through various shenanigans, both trifling and tragic, in his quest for happiness.
“Pippin” is a weird show. Let’s just get that out right off the bat. Honestly, when I was IN it I had no idea what was happening. The show follows the post-academic trials and tribulations of the main character, Pippin (played by the adorable Matthew James Thomas), as he tries to find fulfillment upon entering the real world. That’s totally the shared human experience in the first world, right? Well, Pippin is also the son and heir of King Charlemagne. Yeah, it’s like the Middle Ages and these two characters are based on real people (at least in name). But historical accuracy is thankfully tossed aside. Our hero is led by the Leading Player (Tony-winner Patina Miller all Fosseed up) of a troupe through various shenanigans, both trifling and tragic, in his quest for happiness.
As a high school student, I didn’t really give the plot much thought; I was too busy trying not to forget blocking and make a fool of myself. But the Broadway production clarifies all of the issues that we kind of glossed over. The troupe of players finally makes sense, because Pippin is an actor in the show as well, a member of the circus troupe presenting the story of Pippin for its audience. We learn in the beginning of the show that the actor playing the character Pippin in the production-within-the-show is playing the role for the very first time, allowing for some humorous and telling missteps and changes throughout the show. He has some trouble remembering cues and, more importantly, some trouble following the demands of the increasingly scary Leading Player. To help Pipster find his calling, she leads him to war, to sex, to murder, to the throne, and to a simple country life with a fine woman (Catherine, played by Rachel Bay Jones), which his script says he’s supposed to leave in order to achieve one final, blazing moment of glory, a suicidal idealization that the disturbing Leading Player and her minions crave. But the actress playing Catherine has trouble following the script as well, and the two actors thwart their troupe in favor of a semblance of happiness together. It’s a remarkably complex book that I never fully appreciated until this production.
Matthew James Thomas, Pippin
Matthew James Thomas is a lovely Pippin, and Patina Miller – fantastic, charming and yet totally frightening – is sensational as the Leading Player. But the supporting players steal every scene. Terrance Mann as Charlemagne is a riot, landing more jokes that a normal person would find within his lines and evoking the proper balance between powerful monster and witless kook. Mann’s real-life wife, Charlotte d’Amboise, plays Charlemagne’s conniving, evil wife Fastrada, determined to make her son Lewis the next king, even if it means manipulating her husband and her stepson (Pippin) into terrible deeds, including murder. Fastrada also has the most unbelievable costume changes I’ve seen since “Cinderella”, accomplished literally in seconds with no possible explanation (magic).
As Pippin’s hilariously inappropriate grandmother Berthe, Tovah Feldshuh gets tons of laughs, gasps, and people to sing along with her. I saw one of her first performances after taking over the role from Andrea Martin. She was wonderful, but I can’t help regretting that I didn’t see the much more vivacious comic Martin in her Tony-winning turn. Though Berthe’s onstage time is short, it’s an incredibly physically demanding role (in this high-flying production), especially for an older person, so Martin’s short stint is understood. And Feldshuh’s take is very impressive, especially her trapeze skills. You won’t believe what she is capable of at age 63, and it will probably make you feel bad about your inferior biceps.
As Pippin’s hilariously inappropriate grandmother Berthe, Tovah Feldshuh gets tons of laughs, gasps, and people to sing along with her. I saw one of her first performances after taking over the role from Andrea Martin. She was wonderful, but I can’t help regretting that I didn’t see the much more vivacious comic Martin in her Tony-winning turn. Though Berthe’s onstage time is short, it’s an incredibly physically demanding role (in this high-flying production), especially for an older person, so Martin’s short stint is understood. And Feldshuh’s take is very impressive, especially her trapeze skills. You won’t believe what she is capable of at age 63, and it will probably make you feel bad about your inferior biceps.
Rachel Bay Jones
But my favorite supporting player by far was Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine. This is usually such a thankless role, but she brought it to new life with exceedingly smart timing, varied but meaningful voices, and a heightened clarity with which she and Patina, as her character’s director, make their disagreements about the script known. She deepened Catherine into a complex player rather than the humdrum, nice lady usually seen. And she absolutely killllled every line. She was hysterical. I really was in shock at how funny she made the role, and how heartbreaking at the same time. I want to see it again primarily because of her.
Well, I also want to see it again in large part because of the acrobatics. They are ASTOUNDING. Coming to Broadway mostly from the French acrobatic troupe Les 7 Doigts De La Main, the acrobats in the ensemble are constantly performing the most incredible gymnastic acts left and right that will leave you breathless. I gasped several times, and the woman next to me often exclaimed “No!! Ahh!!” as she watched them do what human bodies should not be able to do. They are truly magical.
Speaking of magic, there’s a reason the opening number is called “Magic To Do”. Crazy illusions (not tricks; tricks are something whores do for money) pepper the entire show, from two-second costume changes to a magic box that several characters somehow emerge from to an Act I wonder involving Charlemagne’s body that I still cannot stop wondering about. How on earth did they accomplish these feats?!
“Pippin” in its current incarnation is one of the most magical productions I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen everything). The excellent score by Stephen Schwartz is sung to perfection. I only had a few issues with this show. Firstly, in the chorus of “Glory”, the ensemble sings “Shout it out, from the highest tower, shout it out, in the darkest hour”…but they whisper it most of the time! It’s like reading the word of a color in a different color. Like YELLOW. See? It messes with your mind! Shout it out! Also, for some reason “War is a Science”, Charlemagne’s big number, wasn’t as much fun as it should have been. Despite the increasingly fast pace (to the point where it’s so fast you can’t understand the words), it didn’t feel nearly as boisterous as it should have.
Honestly, those are the only gripes I had with this production. It was incredible, and if you have the chance to see it, SEE IT. And take me, because I need to see it as many times as possible. It’s that good.
Well, I also want to see it again in large part because of the acrobatics. They are ASTOUNDING. Coming to Broadway mostly from the French acrobatic troupe Les 7 Doigts De La Main, the acrobats in the ensemble are constantly performing the most incredible gymnastic acts left and right that will leave you breathless. I gasped several times, and the woman next to me often exclaimed “No!! Ahh!!” as she watched them do what human bodies should not be able to do. They are truly magical.
Speaking of magic, there’s a reason the opening number is called “Magic To Do”. Crazy illusions (not tricks; tricks are something whores do for money) pepper the entire show, from two-second costume changes to a magic box that several characters somehow emerge from to an Act I wonder involving Charlemagne’s body that I still cannot stop wondering about. How on earth did they accomplish these feats?!
“Pippin” in its current incarnation is one of the most magical productions I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen everything). The excellent score by Stephen Schwartz is sung to perfection. I only had a few issues with this show. Firstly, in the chorus of “Glory”, the ensemble sings “Shout it out, from the highest tower, shout it out, in the darkest hour”…but they whisper it most of the time! It’s like reading the word of a color in a different color. Like YELLOW. See? It messes with your mind! Shout it out! Also, for some reason “War is a Science”, Charlemagne’s big number, wasn’t as much fun as it should have been. Despite the increasingly fast pace (to the point where it’s so fast you can’t understand the words), it didn’t feel nearly as boisterous as it should have.
Honestly, those are the only gripes I had with this production. It was incredible, and if you have the chance to see it, SEE IT. And take me, because I need to see it as many times as possible. It’s that good.
