The BEST Tacos, & What Happens When They Turn Out To Not Be Tacosby Randi / April 12, 2014
None of these three guys is the most happy. But they look regular happy.
Does Encores! ever disappoint? No, it really doesn’t. The program’s just-about-one-weekend-only productions (at NY City Center) of classic musicals are always as good as full throttle Broadway productions, and in some cases better. Its recent presentation of “The Most Happy Fella” was the latter type. While the show itself has issues, this production and this spectacular cast were undoubtedly the greatest ever of this musical. If the New York theatre crowd didn’t already know to run, money waving in hand, to the NYCC box office every time an Encores! production was announced, everyone knows now. The full, gorgeous production outshone most of what’s on the boards now, or has been lately, thanks to Casey Nicholaw’s (of “Book of Mormon” fame) efficient direction, good cuts for time, the perfectly cast leads, and most of all the lush, romantic Frank Loesser operatic score.
Yes, “Fella” is totally operatic, but no it is not an opera and don’t call it one or Laura Benanti will yell at you. It feels like one because a lot of the scenes are sung-through in recitatives that aren’t quite full songs on their own, like an opera. Yet it is pure classic musical theatre. But it does require singers (at least in the lead female role of Rosabella) somewhat of opera caliber, and that’s why the casting of Benanti as Rosabella, whose legit soprano voice we don’t get to hear enough in most of her roles, was the key that made this production work so well. Even with the flu – she had the flu baaad the entire run – she was perfection. You could not tell she was sick at all. (She is pretty much the definition of trooper. Also, during her first big song, “Somebody Somewhere”, someone up front sneeze-cough-died SO LOUD I could hear it in the balcony like it was in my ear, and Benanti was completely unfazed. (She told me afterwards that it was “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard”.)) It was crazy how perfect she was in this role of a San Francisco waitress, who finds at the end of the night that a customer left her a lovely pin as a tip, along with a letter written on his menu professing his love for her. Okay yeah, that’s how the show starts, and it sounds corny as hell, but it’s old-fashioned and just swell.
The customer is Tony, an Italian farmer in the Napa Valley, who has to deal with everyone always commenting on how this Italian is so foreign and exotic which is kind of awkward, but then again he still speaks broken English in a very heavy Italian accent so we’ll just let that go. Tony is the biggest-hearted man, but he’s also pretty damn old, which is why Rosabella at first is like ew gross old man get away from me. (She actually says this, sort of.) Well that’s how it is supposed to be, but Shuler Hensley (playing Tony, in his best performance poss ever) is like only ten years older than Benanti. So it just felt mean but whatever. Anyway so plot. Rosabella (this is just what Tony calls the beautiful waitress and what she ends up being called by everyone in Napa; we find out her real name at the end and it’s prettayy funny) writes to the address Tony left on the menu and sends a picture of herself. Tony receives the picture and shares it with his entire community in Napa, and they all perform the title song that has been stuck in my head for 2 weeks now. (Seriously I’m even singing to my dog “YOU’RE THE MOST CUTEST FELLAAAA”.) P.S., we learn that all the gals in Napa shop exclusively at Modcloth. So Tony is the most happy fella, over the moon that she actually responded to his love letter, but then he’s upset, rightly so, that she asks for his picture in return (he’s not the most handsome slightly overweight old man). But then! Cheyenne Jackson, the most gorgeous person to ever walk on this planet (this is not an exaggeration, it’s like even his Wikipedia entry) enters as Joey, Tony’s right-hand farmhand, and Tony’s all heyyyy Joeyyyyy lemme ahh take ahh peetch of ahh youuuuu! Then Cheyenne sings and everyone dies from happy. Including Rosabella, who gets Joey’s picture and is all “This guy’s HAWT I’m gonna go to Napa and marry him!” So, this show is not the most feminist piece of theatre.
Watch the below video to get a feeling for it all. And also to understand why Cheyenne and Laura are two of the best people ever. And everyone else.
The customer is Tony, an Italian farmer in the Napa Valley, who has to deal with everyone always commenting on how this Italian is so foreign and exotic which is kind of awkward, but then again he still speaks broken English in a very heavy Italian accent so we’ll just let that go. Tony is the biggest-hearted man, but he’s also pretty damn old, which is why Rosabella at first is like ew gross old man get away from me. (She actually says this, sort of.) Well that’s how it is supposed to be, but Shuler Hensley (playing Tony, in his best performance poss ever) is like only ten years older than Benanti. So it just felt mean but whatever. Anyway so plot. Rosabella (this is just what Tony calls the beautiful waitress and what she ends up being called by everyone in Napa; we find out her real name at the end and it’s prettayy funny) writes to the address Tony left on the menu and sends a picture of herself. Tony receives the picture and shares it with his entire community in Napa, and they all perform the title song that has been stuck in my head for 2 weeks now. (Seriously I’m even singing to my dog “YOU’RE THE MOST CUTEST FELLAAAA”.) P.S., we learn that all the gals in Napa shop exclusively at Modcloth. So Tony is the most happy fella, over the moon that she actually responded to his love letter, but then he’s upset, rightly so, that she asks for his picture in return (he’s not the most handsome slightly overweight old man). But then! Cheyenne Jackson, the most gorgeous person to ever walk on this planet (this is not an exaggeration, it’s like even his Wikipedia entry) enters as Joey, Tony’s right-hand farmhand, and Tony’s all heyyyy Joeyyyyy lemme ahh take ahh peetch of ahh youuuuu! Then Cheyenne sings and everyone dies from happy. Including Rosabella, who gets Joey’s picture and is all “This guy’s HAWT I’m gonna go to Napa and marry him!” So, this show is not the most feminist piece of theatre.
Watch the below video to get a feeling for it all. And also to understand why Cheyenne and Laura are two of the best people ever. And everyone else.
Rosabella and Tony get to know each other though and, despite Rosabella’s initial anger at being tricked (plus some other sheet that goes down), of course they fall for each other while singing absolutely glorious songs, with a full orchestra (such a rarity nowadays, and such a g-d treat). Meanwhile, Rosabella’s best friend Cleo (Heidi Blickenstaff, hilarious as always but dancier than normal) comes to keep an eye on everything (this is effectively a mail-order bride situation, so good on Cleo for being all um I’m gonna check this shit out…) and falls for a different farmy guy named Herman (Jay Armstrong Johnson, wonderful and FOR REAL channeling Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf…he even says “I love smiling smiling’s my favorite!!” Well he says style but in the same way). They realize they’re both from Dallas and they sing the second most fun song in the entire show, “Big D” (as in “Big D, little A double L-A-S!”). Blickenstaff also sings one of the most ridiculous songs in musical theatre, “Ooh! My Feet!” It is a ballsy way to open a show, with a supporting character rubbing her aching feet and literally wailing “Ooh, my feet, my poor poor feet” and singing about each one of the little piggies. The first time I heard this song I cried from laughing so hard. Blickenstaff’s was a little too well sung and not groany enough for me, but it was still funny.
Texans looove each other
The first most fun song in the show was “Abbondanza”, sung by like chefs getting ready for the wedding (which happened as soon as Rosabella arrived, like wtf give a girl a day or something) and I was crying during it. The three chefs repeat the names of items and then sing “Abbondanza” a lot and I don’t know why but it killed me. It was so well done for comedic effect. That was clearly the work of Nicholaw, because otherwise that song can be kind of dumb. But somehow they made “I frutti i frutti i frutti…la torta la torta la torta…Abbondanza! Abbondanza!” freaking hilarious.
Everything was so perfectly done, but in making the show only 2 acts (instead of the usual 3), some necessary story was cut. Like all of a sudden Rosabella actually does love her old man husband? We think she and Joey are totes into each other but then Joey is not really in the second act? I mean, the end reveal makes all of this make sense, but it could have been written better. However, every other aspect, from the lighting (except for one spotlight mistake) to the costumes to the cast to the direction, was wonderful. Unless a heavenly decree comes down and declares a Broadway run with the same cast (or at least a cast recording for chrissakes), the 5 days when “Fella” was on the Encores! stage will be remembered as one of the most magical times in recent New York theatre.
Everything was so perfectly done, but in making the show only 2 acts (instead of the usual 3), some necessary story was cut. Like all of a sudden Rosabella actually does love her old man husband? We think she and Joey are totes into each other but then Joey is not really in the second act? I mean, the end reveal makes all of this make sense, but it could have been written better. However, every other aspect, from the lighting (except for one spotlight mistake) to the costumes to the cast to the direction, was wonderful. Unless a heavenly decree comes down and declares a Broadway run with the same cast (or at least a cast recording for chrissakes), the 5 days when “Fella” was on the Encores! stage will be remembered as one of the most magical times in recent New York theatre.
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Emmy Awards 2018: What You Need to Know Before this Garbage
Like most everything in our world right now, the Emmy Awards are trash. I don’t know what the voters have been smoking, probably weed with Elon since they are also mostly rich white men who can get away with it, but their annual nonsense is upon us again. The problem with the Emmys is that voters take too long to catch up to what is actually good, and when they do, it’s too late and the thing is no longer the best but they’re too lazy and proud of themselves to change their voting habits for another four years. They get stuck in ruts, they have old-fashioned taste, and most of all they don’t actually watch everything so they JUST DON’T KNOW. Honestly make me an Emmy voter, I know what’s up, and I’m going to share with you what should be winning this worthless award that I care so much about on Monday night.
First of all, putting the nominees aside, let’s talk about the trashiness of this year’s actual ceremony. Wait there are two aspects of trash (trashspects?) about the ceremony! First of this first of all, the hosts are two regular old straight guys. Yep, in a world where Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are still alive and working and I bet happy to join forces and demolish all memory of prior award show hosting, this year’s Emmys – this year, the year of MeToo – is going with two bros. BRO, WTF? What about all the amazing female comedians in the game right now that need exposure more than the hosts of Weekend Update do? What about someone like Tiffany Haddish, who has a movie coming out right now? What about any of the women from Ghostbusters? What about any of the women Louis CK yackled in front of instead of yet another couple of dudes with viewpoints that are questionable at best and downright disgusting (like defending aforementioned yackler Louis CK) in truth? YAWN SLASH RAGE.
Second of the first of all, these forking awards are on a MONDAY this year, instead of a Sunday. To quote one of the most snubbed should-be-nominees on our list, WHAT….MAN….DID THIS. Sunday is award show day. Sunday is the day you can spend sleeping in to prepare yourself for the excitement and the stress, making theme foods (my initial plan was: (veggie) shrampies with white chocolate sauce, clam chowder, frozen yogurt (can you tell what show I’m going to be talking about the most yet?)), and getting your tweeting fingers ready. More importantly, Sunday is the day I could have watched this forking show! Readers probably know I live in London, but I’m writing this from the USA. When I booked this visit, I was looking at dates and remembered thinking, ‘oh that weekend is the Emmys! I’ll fly back to London Monday night then so I can watch them on Sunday night with my family! What an auspicious turn of events! I get to watch live for the first time in years instead of cobbling together shitty youtube videos that random people took of their own TVs!’ But NOOOOOOPE. Now instead of getting to live tweet I’m going to have to stick to day-after tweeting, which NO ONE cares about but I’m STILL going to do OBVIOUSLY because my takes are hot.
The show I’m going to be talking most about
Speaking of schedule changes that I did not approve of, the Creative Arts Emmys, which are usually the Saturday night before the Sunday telecast, were LAST WEEK. You’re killing me Smalls!! As you may know, the Creative Arts Emmys are the ones that most of the public don’t care about, sadly: the technical awards (lighting, cinematography, makeup, editing, sound), the reality TV ones (RuPaul all day), and artsy ones (choreography, music), and whatever else isn’t Best Comedy, Drama, Actor, and Actress, pretty much. There are two things I want to complain heavily about from the Creatives, and it’s not about who won – it’s about who wasn’t nominated. (That’s what all of this is really going to be about, naturally.)
First: The most infuriating abomination of a category this year is Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, which means Best Song. And not to belittle any of the nominees, but they’re bullshit compared to literally any song from ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’, the CW’s musical dramedy about mental illness. It is one of the greatest shows ever to exist, and 80% of that is because of the songs. Each episode has 2-3 original songs that brilliantly evoke musical theatre standards, pop genres, and/or famous bands. The songs are written by Adam Schlesinger, who you may know either as the guy from Fountains of Wayne or as the guy who wrote the one-hit-wonder’s hit song from ‘That Thing You Do!’ If you have any doubt in my opinion that his Crazy Ex songs should be the pictures next to the dictionary definition of Emmy-winning songs if audio could be captured as pictures, then just think for a second about how movie producers were like ‘hey we are making a movie that ENTIRELY REVOLVES around a song being so great that it catapults all the action forward and we need you to just like, go write that song and have it all be believable’ AND HE DID.
Here are the nominees:
- (WINNER) SNL: “Come Back Barack” – a very funny song and great moment on the show but not better than the actual best topical song of the year, “Let’s Generalize About Men“. I dare you to watch this and not squeal with glee at every moment.
- Big Mouth: “Am I Gay?” Again, fun song on an absolutely incredible show, but not better than the HILARIOUS and perfect ABBA-inspired “The First Penis I Saw“!
- A Christmas Story Live: “In the Market for a Miracle” Haven’t Pasek & Paul won enough in literally like a 15 month span?? CHILL BOYS. Also, if we’re talking Christmas miracles, what about “Maybe She’s Not Such a Heinous Bitch After All”?? I mean hello, talk about perfectly capturing an era of music.
- The Good Fight: “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” I’m not even going to talk about how RUDE it is to nominate a song from the drama about lawyers and not the MUSICAL COMEDY about lawyers, but I’ll say what about the Fosse-inspired “Strip Away My Conscience”?? I mean, you wanna talk clever writing, talk about what they rhymed with ‘luridness’ and still got approval from the censors. Man alive.
- Steve Martin & Martin Short’s special: “The Buddy Song” JFC. I love these guys so much but puh lease. How about the Gene Kelly-evoking “Head in the Clouds”? This song is considered one of the WEAKEST of the season and listen to how great it is.
- If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast: “Just Getting Started” I don’t know what this documentary?? is, but how about the amazing song “End of the Movie”? They actually got JOSH GROBAN to sing a song! And it was incredible! Man alive if this category were a table full of glasses I would knock it over.
Also, I was a little sad that Kelli O’Hara, my queen, lost for Actress in a Web Series (even though I didn’t watch it, she wasn’t singing right?), as did her co-nominee Megan Amram, who is becoming another one of my queens for her work on my favorite show (The Good Place). But they lost to Christina Pickles! Who is amazing! I’m just going to pretend she won for her work as Judy Gellar, especially when she tells Monica and Ross that “that was a lot of information to receive in 30 seconds” and then tells Rachel “no, you weren’t supposed to put beef in the trifle.” So we’re okay. Kelli’s going to win the Olivier this year though, right??
Let’s get to tonight’s nominees already.
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
- Atlanta (FX)
- Barry (HBO)
- Black-ish (ABC)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
- GLOW (Netflix)
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
- Silicon Valley (HBO)
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
EIGHT? FORKING EIGHT NOMINEES and they still don’t get it right??? Ughhhhh. I haven’t finished ‘Atlanta’ so I can’t comment. I know it is genius but from what I’ve seen it is a drama. ‘Barry’ was great but was also FORKING HARROWING and made me terrified and anxious more than it made me laugh. And that ending?? And it’s a comedy? Fuck no! But it is great. GLOW I really like but it’s not best of the year! A few of the episodes this season were stellar but it took a while to get going. This is one of the shows that got really lucky with voters deciding to adopt it as one of its faves and nominating it across categories at every event even though it’s not the best. Maisel is the one show on this list that is actually outstanding, perfect in almost every way (the almost courtesy of the Jane Lynch storyline) and deserves to win. It is THE BEST. Maisel is absolutely pitch perfect from the writing to the music to the performances. And it has Tony Shalhoub! SHALHOUB! ‘Silicon Valley’ is an example of the voters’ rut they like to get stuck in, and more than that they should have gotten a year off after the TJ Miller bullshit. Now, as for our pal Kimmy. You know I am a long-term Kimmy Schmidt apologist. Despite its pitfalls, its had some of the funniest lines, and it introduced classic characters to us, mainly Kimmy and the unmatched Titus. I’ve even tried to excuse the Jane Krakowski storylines because of her incredible quips. But this season was NOT. GOOD. I honestly can’t believe it got nominated. Aside from the one part where a guy introduced himself to Kimmy and said “Hi I’m whatever” and she responded “Not me, I’m Kimmy”, nothing was really great about it. Give Titus and the writers a backdated Emmy for his viral interview scene in season 1, and get rid of this nonsense.
Now what should be up there? ‘Maisel’ should be fighting neck and neck with the most brilliant, hilarious, and surprisingly sincere comedy in existence, “The Good Place”. I honestly cannot get over how wonderful this show is. Every inch of the writing, the production (those special effects, my god), and the acting is across the board magnificent. It has an extremely clever premise that keeps getting twisted and turned onto itself, with storylines you just seem to get a handle on blowing up with equal chance of im- or exploding. And they’ve made a generation of tv-watchers interested in moral philosophy and being better people. It’s also beloved by critics. I love this show so much. Its absence is kind of hilarious, proving yet again that awards mean nothing.
Also, ‘Crazy Ex Girlfriend’ should be on this list. Its latest season was riveting, dark, and risky. They took chances that no other show would take, and kept a story, one that could have gone out of control, together with a steady hand.
And what about ‘Brooklyn 99’, after how much it was in the news after being cancelled (and picked up again)?? We love that damn show! I mean even my beloved ‘Jane the Virgin’ is better than some of the stuff on this list. And ‘Big Mouth’ in its debut season was flawless! Where is that? Ugh Emmy voters. Also, enough with these expanded categories. It’s clearly not helping to refuse to narrow it down, so keep it to 5. I hate treating this like participation trophies. When the best of the year aren’t competing, the winner isn’t really going to be the best, is it. When Federer or Serena decline to play in a slam it’s not like the eventual winner is the best if they didn’t play the best.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
- The Americans (FX)
- The Crown (Netflix)
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
- The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
- Stranger Things (Netflix)
- This Is Us (NBC)
- Westworld (HBO)
Ugh miss me with these extra long nominee lists, guys. It’s such nonsense. Nominations are supposed to mean something, not just be a slapdash list of all the shows an old man could remember at that given moment.
I’m so tired, like sooo tired, of ‘Game of Thrones’. Is it really still on? Still treating women like objects and what not? Hates it. I did love this season of ‘Stranger Things’, but not in like an ’emmy-winning’ way. They’re all FINE, I guess, but if anything but ‘The Americans’, in its perfect final season’, sweeps tonight, it’ll be wrong. ‘The Americans’ played the long game over 6 seasons, drawing subtle, nuanced storylines with outstanding performances and writing that came together in its depressing, unavoidable, great ending. It should absolutely win.
PERFORMANCES
I don’t have time to go into every category of acting nominees; I got a plane to catch. But I’ll say a few things. Ted Danson MUST win for TGP. He is American’s national treasure for a reason. If you thought his laugh in Season 1 episode 13 was iconic, wait till you see his relieved “Oh you guys!” from this season. I could cry just thinking about that and about when he solved the trolley problem. Tell me any of the other nominees deserve to win. I’ll wait. And then I’ll tell you why you’re wrong.
I don’t have time to go into every category of acting nominees; I got a plane to catch. But I’ll say a few things. Ted Danson MUST win for TGP. He is American’s national treasure for a reason. If you thought his laugh in Season 1 episode 13 was iconic, wait till you see his relieved “Oh you guys!” from this season. I could cry just thinking about that and about when he solved the trolley problem. Tell me any of the other nominees deserve to win. I’ll wait. And then I’ll tell you why you’re wrong.
As for lead actress in a comedy, it doesn’t even really matter. Rachel Brosnahan on ‘Maisel’ is the clear best option, and even if a properly done category should probably win. But all her competitors should be different. This hundo p should have been Rachel for ‘Maisel’, Kristen Bell for ‘The Good Place’ (absolute BRILLIANCE), Rachel Bloom for ‘Crazy Ex Girlfriend’ (if you aren’t jumping up and down in agreement, you haven’t watched her), Tracee Ellis Ross for ‘black-ish’ I guess, and Gina Rodriguez for ‘Jane the Virgin’. No matter what you think about that show, how telenovela it is (ps it’s a telenovela), Gina is sensational. And yeah, that’s five. FIVE NOMINEES PEOPLE. IN EVERY AWARD SHOW, IN EVERY CATEGORY. DO IT.
As for lead actors in drama, if anyone but Philip and Elizabeth, our beloved Russian spies, win, it’s wrong. WRONG.
What else is wrong?
Supporting actress, comedy: How D’Arcy Carden wasn’t nominated for ‘The Good Place’, I’ll never know. She’s a critical darling, like everything about that show, and created an entire KIND Of character. I also would have voted in Donna Lee Champlin for ‘Crazy Ex’. She’s remarkable. I don’t even want to talk about how many people are in this category (too many) and how many make no sense. But lets please give it to Alex Borstein for being incredible on ‘Maisel’.
Supporting actor, drama: Does a category that doesn’t include Noah Emmerich in ‘The Americans’ even count? No, no it doesn’t. Stanny Beems will always have a place in viewers’ hearts, and no one else on this list can come close to what he did.
Ok I am going to stop ranting about awards that DO NOT MATTER and finish taking this out of my suitcase (it’s too heavy (as always)). Watch tonight and let me know your thoughts in the comments; I’ll be on a plane so keep me informed. And if you haven’t watched the shows on this list that I’ve said are amazing, what are you waiting for???
Twelfth Night at the Young Vic: Shakespeare Gets the Modern Musical Treatment
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today we are talking about ‘Twelfth Night’, the new musical version at the Young Vic in London
Two years ago, everyone in the know in New York was raving about this exciting new production at the Public Theatre. It was a fast-paced, rollicking rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a play we all thought we knew every possible version of yet were seeing in a new light – as a hip musical. (If you use the word hip are you automatically not hip?) I was sorry to have missed that original run, but luckily the production has come to London’s Young Vic to stir things up. With original director Kwame Kwei Armah on board alongside the Public’s Oskar Eustis, this version of Twelfth Night is a short and sweet modern musical with rocking original songs by Shaina Taub. Although the overeager chopping actually cut too much of the story, the overall concept successfully makes a familiar play feel new again.
Two years ago, everyone in the know in New York was raving about this exciting new production at the Public Theatre. It was a fast-paced, rollicking rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a play we all thought we knew every possible version of yet were seeing in a new light – as a hip musical. (If you use the word hip are you automatically not hip?) I was sorry to have missed that original run, but luckily the production has come to London’s Young Vic to stir things up. With original director Kwame Kwei Armah on board alongside the Public’s Oskar Eustis, this version of Twelfth Night is a short and sweet modern musical with rocking original songs by Shaina Taub. Although the overeager chopping actually cut too much of the story, the overall concept successfully makes a familiar play feel new again.
Twelfth Night tells the story of twins separated after a shipwreck who believe the other has died. Viola, the girl, makes her way to the shores of Ilyria, a colorful city that here looks like if Lin-Manuel’s ‘In the Heights’ had the upstage space to create more storefronts besides the bodega. She disguises herself as a boy in order to work for Duke Orsino. She does this by donning a suit and taking off her wig and calling herself Cesario. The prettyboy Duke is like sooo in looove with Olivia, a wealthy countess who is mourning the death of her father and brother and so refuses to be courted or like go out to parties and meet dukes. Lovesick, the Duke orders his new boy, Cesario, to go to Olivia and profess the Duke’s love for her on his behalf and try to get her to see him because he sooo lurves her even though someone who *actually* loved someone would maybe be respectful of the fact that they were in mourning and maybe wait to try to get in their pants after some time had passed, but what do I know, I’m not a duke. As all such great (so great) plans are wont to do, this plan goes bananers because instead of listening to Cesario’s words about the Duke and falling in love with the absent third party (because that’s how that happens), Olivia falls in love with Cesario, the person who is actually there in person talking so like DUH. But Cesario’s a girl Cesario’s a girl! Dramaaaz. It would be cool to see a retelling where they let them be lesbians.
The Duke (Rupert Young) and Viola/Cesario (Gabrielle Brooks) have some of the most compelling, watchable scenes, but too much of the buildup of their story has been cut. She starts working for the Duke and like immediately falls in love with him? Sure he’s handsome but it’s hard to buy without proper time devoted to their story. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVES me a 90-minute show, but for such a classic like Twelfth Night – and for such an intriguing, provocative take on it – it deserves more time. Because, while more time and scenes would help the story that’s there, the scenes that are there are pretty strong. All of our leads find really hilarious comic moments in the seemingly nothingest of moments, elevating the production with every little laugh. Brooks has a voice, and even though her final scenes seemed all the same level of smiling-so-I’m-happy acting, it was nice to have a leading lady who could really sing. Natalie Dew (from the ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ musical, poor girl) has the impossible task of following the last Olivia I saw – Mark Rylance, who won another Tony for his work as the much-sought after lady of Ilyria. He really found humor in the dullest bits of the script (“What is your parentage?! Ugh!” was reason enough for him to win). While this Olivia wasn’t quite a laugh-riot, she did a very nice job.
Surprisingly, I thought one of the most riveting performances was that of Feste, the fool, who kind of acts as a narrator in this production. Surprising, because I never thought much of Feste before. But here the character is kind of the string holding the show together, and so interesting that I want to reread the play and see what I was missing. As played by Melissa Allan, Feste is a recognizable girl from the East London club scene (I would know), with leather pants and a cut-out top, down on her luck and keeping an observant eye on the fortunes of those around her. And fork me, Allan can SANG. Not just sing, but SANG. It helps that she gets the best song of the production – “Is This Not Love”, a song I can’t wait to download and play all the time and sing in the shower until my neighbors call the cops and I can be like “joke’s on you I’m not breaking any laws!”
We get a shitload of time devoted to Malvolio (Gerard Carey), Olivia’s steward. Even though Carey gives a fantastic performance and his were the comic best moments (how he made an entire audience cry laughing just by turning around on a segway is a feat), the unmatched attention made him seem like the lead character, and, as a result, didn’t allow for enough heft to be given to Orsino and Viola/Cesario’s relationship. Also, this brought too much attention to the worst part about Twelfth Night – the Malvolio/Toby Belch/Maria subplot. In this supposedly ‘comic’ subplot, Sir Toby Belch and Maria (the uncle and maidservant of Olivia, respectively) trick Malvolio into believing that Olivia is in love with him, by having Maria write a fake letter in Olivia’s handwriting. The letter contains declarations of love for a certain man that is undeniably Malvolio, as well as the notorious request for him to dress in ‘yellow stockings cross-gartered’ so he looks silly. And, as punishment, Toby and Maria…get married. I mean. It’s THE WORST. They deserve to DIE. Probably my most hated Shakespeare story. Sure, Malvolio is kind of a prick but he’s nothing compared to these two absolute wankers who take someone’s sanity and use it as a plaything. In this rendition, sadly, full weight is given to this subplot, so it takes over. And, sadder, they don’t do anything to fix how horrible it is. In fact, it’s clearer that Malvolio loses his mind and is taken away to an asylum! I want the version of Twelfth Night that sees Toby and Maria punished and banished from Ilyria, for a start. And while Carey’s “Count Malvolio” is a superb number (a perfect musical comedy song, too; Taub knows what she is doing for the genre), it doesn’t need two reprises.
It’s a little odd that the story is put in a modern setting – Ilyria is a regular, diverse city – yet has a duke and counts and countesses. As such, the modern setting and clothes and language feel a little off. Either a full commitment to modernity (i.e. getting rid of the nobility and having them be different kinds of upper class) or a fully realized traditional production just with modern music would have been more overall convincing.
As for the real boy twin, Sebastian (Jyuddah Jaymes), he is saved by a sea captain named Antonio (Jonathan Livingstone), who here looks like straight outta wartime. Antonio saves and helps Sebastian get back on his feet because of his ‘affection’ for him, which is never really explained. Here, Antonio gets to profess his feelings for Sebastian through song, and it works to make it clear that Antonio is in love with Sebastian, but the brevity of every section of the story means that it kind of comes out of nowhere, and it doesn’t go anywhere. And we don’t get a satisfying reunion of the two friends after all the twin-caused confusion in the final act. I would like to see a version where Antonio gets the boy. I already said something about Olivia and Viola being lovers, didn’t I? I guess I want someone to change the ending and do a full-on LGBTQ version.
But that’s besides the point! As is, the fact that I wish this was a full two-act work speaks volumes for how much fun I had. It’s not perfect, and I do (obviously) have a lot of criticisms, but mostly I had a forking blast. It may be a lightweight version, and only 90 minutes, but each minute was full of new life given to this old play. The talented cast and this vibrant, often electrifying production is not to be missed. And some of the music is magnificent. I can’t wait to see what Taub does next.
INFORMATION
Twelfth Night is at the Young Vic until November 17.
If you can’t get to London to see it, you can download the album (vocals by Shaina Taub) here and apparently it’s a ‘name your own price’ jawn! Amazing! Off to listen to “Is This Not Love” a million times. Oh and “If You Were My Beloved”!!
The Duke (Rupert Young) and Viola/Cesario (Gabrielle Brooks) have some of the most compelling, watchable scenes, but too much of the buildup of their story has been cut. She starts working for the Duke and like immediately falls in love with him? Sure he’s handsome but it’s hard to buy without proper time devoted to their story. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVES me a 90-minute show, but for such a classic like Twelfth Night – and for such an intriguing, provocative take on it – it deserves more time. Because, while more time and scenes would help the story that’s there, the scenes that are there are pretty strong. All of our leads find really hilarious comic moments in the seemingly nothingest of moments, elevating the production with every little laugh. Brooks has a voice, and even though her final scenes seemed all the same level of smiling-so-I’m-happy acting, it was nice to have a leading lady who could really sing. Natalie Dew (from the ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ musical, poor girl) has the impossible task of following the last Olivia I saw – Mark Rylance, who won another Tony for his work as the much-sought after lady of Ilyria. He really found humor in the dullest bits of the script (“What is your parentage?! Ugh!” was reason enough for him to win). While this Olivia wasn’t quite a laugh-riot, she did a very nice job.
Surprisingly, I thought one of the most riveting performances was that of Feste, the fool, who kind of acts as a narrator in this production. Surprising, because I never thought much of Feste before. But here the character is kind of the string holding the show together, and so interesting that I want to reread the play and see what I was missing. As played by Melissa Allan, Feste is a recognizable girl from the East London club scene (I would know), with leather pants and a cut-out top, down on her luck and keeping an observant eye on the fortunes of those around her. And fork me, Allan can SANG. Not just sing, but SANG. It helps that she gets the best song of the production – “Is This Not Love”, a song I can’t wait to download and play all the time and sing in the shower until my neighbors call the cops and I can be like “joke’s on you I’m not breaking any laws!”
We get a shitload of time devoted to Malvolio (Gerard Carey), Olivia’s steward. Even though Carey gives a fantastic performance and his were the comic best moments (how he made an entire audience cry laughing just by turning around on a segway is a feat), the unmatched attention made him seem like the lead character, and, as a result, didn’t allow for enough heft to be given to Orsino and Viola/Cesario’s relationship. Also, this brought too much attention to the worst part about Twelfth Night – the Malvolio/Toby Belch/Maria subplot. In this supposedly ‘comic’ subplot, Sir Toby Belch and Maria (the uncle and maidservant of Olivia, respectively) trick Malvolio into believing that Olivia is in love with him, by having Maria write a fake letter in Olivia’s handwriting. The letter contains declarations of love for a certain man that is undeniably Malvolio, as well as the notorious request for him to dress in ‘yellow stockings cross-gartered’ so he looks silly. And, as punishment, Toby and Maria…get married. I mean. It’s THE WORST. They deserve to DIE. Probably my most hated Shakespeare story. Sure, Malvolio is kind of a prick but he’s nothing compared to these two absolute wankers who take someone’s sanity and use it as a plaything. In this rendition, sadly, full weight is given to this subplot, so it takes over. And, sadder, they don’t do anything to fix how horrible it is. In fact, it’s clearer that Malvolio loses his mind and is taken away to an asylum! I want the version of Twelfth Night that sees Toby and Maria punished and banished from Ilyria, for a start. And while Carey’s “Count Malvolio” is a superb number (a perfect musical comedy song, too; Taub knows what she is doing for the genre), it doesn’t need two reprises.
It’s a little odd that the story is put in a modern setting – Ilyria is a regular, diverse city – yet has a duke and counts and countesses. As such, the modern setting and clothes and language feel a little off. Either a full commitment to modernity (i.e. getting rid of the nobility and having them be different kinds of upper class) or a fully realized traditional production just with modern music would have been more overall convincing.
As for the real boy twin, Sebastian (Jyuddah Jaymes), he is saved by a sea captain named Antonio (Jonathan Livingstone), who here looks like straight outta wartime. Antonio saves and helps Sebastian get back on his feet because of his ‘affection’ for him, which is never really explained. Here, Antonio gets to profess his feelings for Sebastian through song, and it works to make it clear that Antonio is in love with Sebastian, but the brevity of every section of the story means that it kind of comes out of nowhere, and it doesn’t go anywhere. And we don’t get a satisfying reunion of the two friends after all the twin-caused confusion in the final act. I would like to see a version where Antonio gets the boy. I already said something about Olivia and Viola being lovers, didn’t I? I guess I want someone to change the ending and do a full-on LGBTQ version.
But that’s besides the point! As is, the fact that I wish this was a full two-act work speaks volumes for how much fun I had. It’s not perfect, and I do (obviously) have a lot of criticisms, but mostly I had a forking blast. It may be a lightweight version, and only 90 minutes, but each minute was full of new life given to this old play. The talented cast and this vibrant, often electrifying production is not to be missed. And some of the music is magnificent. I can’t wait to see what Taub does next.
INFORMATION
Twelfth Night is at the Young Vic until November 17.
If you can’t get to London to see it, you can download the album (vocals by Shaina Taub) here and apparently it’s a ‘name your own price’ jawn! Amazing! Off to listen to “Is This Not Love” a million times. Oh and “If You Were My Beloved”!!
