Theater Reviews

Broadway Musicals You Can See At Home

Susan Granger’s LIST OF BROADWAY MUSICALS YOU CAN SEE AT HOME:

 

C’m on, get happy…here’s a list of popular Broadway musicals you can see at home:

On Netflix:

CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND

HAIRSPRAY

JERSEY BOYS

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

SHREK

SWEENY TODD

On Amazon Prime:

BYE BYE BIRDIE (free with ads)

CAROUSEL

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

FUNNY GIRL (free with ads)

HAMILTON: ONE SHOT ON BROADWAY

HEATHERS

HOLIDAY INN

KISS ME, KATE

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

OLIVER TWIST

SWEENEY TODD

On Hulu:

CHICAGO

FAME

HELLO DOLLY

KISS ME, KATE

LES MISERABLES

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

MAMMA MIA

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

RENT

THE PRODUCERS

UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN

WEST SIDE STORY

WIZARD OF OZ

On Disney Prime:

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

NEWSIES

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

On Broadway HD:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

DADDY LONG LEGS

FALSETTOS

HOLIDAY INN

INDECENT

PETER PAN

PRESENT LAUGHTER

ROMEO AND JULIET

SALOME

SHE LOVES MNE

SLEEPING BEAUTY

SWAN LAKE

And check out those listed on YouTube…

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“My Name Is Lucy Barton”

Susan Granger’s review of “My Name Is Lucy Barton” (Samuel J. Friedman Theater/Manhattan Theatre Club)

 

Told in monologue, this is a memory play, set at a time when Lucy Barton (Laura Linney) was seriously ill and confined for nine weeks in a New York hospital as complications arise after what was supposed to be a routine appendectomy.

When she awakens, middle-aged Lucy finds her long-estranged mother ensconced at her bedside, straight from rural Amgash, Illinois, relating gossipy stories in a flat Midwestern accent.

Seamlessly, Linney switches from Lucy, who is now married with two daughters of her own, to her embittered mother.

Lucy’s unhappy childhood was filled with deprivation and hardship; supper was often molasses on bread. Her father punished her by locking her in his pickup truck with “a really long brown snake.” The emotional scars of his abuse and her mother’s ineffectual response remain raw.

Lonely Lucy found refuge in books. She secretly thought that, if she could write, it would open the world to her: “I knew I was a writer.”

Now, Lucy has great empathy for victims, particularly the men suffering from AIDS who live in her West Village neighborhood and for her doctor’s relatives who were killed in the Holocaust.

Literally adapted for the stage by Rona Munro from Elizabeth Stout’s best-selling 2016 novel, it’s deftly directed by Richard Eyre with lighting and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Peter Mumford and video projections of cornfields, a ramshackle farm house and the iconic Chrysler building that serve as backdrops by Luke Halls.

Often described as “luminous,” Laura Linney is a consummately controlled stage actress. Her embodiment of Lucy feels equally personal and universal in its searing intensity and its brilliant willingness to entertain.

Most recently, Linney was nominated for a Tony for her performance in the 2017 revival of “The Little Foxes.” Before that, she was nominated for her role in the 2002 Broadway revival of “The Crucible” and in two plays by Donald Margulies, “Sight Unseen” and “Time Stands Still.” And she’s currently starring in the new season of “Ozark” on Netflix.

If you cannot get into Manhattan to see this 90-minute solo production at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street, it’s been recorded by Penguin Random House Audio.

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“Harry Townsend’s Last Stand”

Susan Granger’s review of “Harry Townsend’s Last Stand” (New York City Center, Stage II)

 

Theater can be provocative, even if it’s predictable, and nothing could be more timely and relevant than dealing with the vicissitudes of aging parent.

George Eastman’s new two-hander finds Harry (Len Cariou), a feisty, widowed octogenarian, living alone in the lakeside Vermont home he shared with his wife. Although he’s forgetful and falls too often, he’s still an active, gregarious member of the community where he was once known as “The Voice of the Valley” on local radio.

Harry is monitored by his daughter Sarah who lives nearby, but when she leaves for a weekend away with her husband, her twin brother Alan (Craig Bierko), a divorced real estate broker, arrives from San Diego, California, where he lives and works.

As this topical serio-comedy evolves and several glasses of whiskey are consumed, amid Harry’s randy recollections involving his late wife, Alan proposes the idea of his father’s moving into a retirement community, where he’d buy his own condo apartment and retain his independence but have the assurance of assisted living/health care available when needed.

Needless to say, that doesn’t go over well, even though Sarah has revealed that she’s planning to move to New York with her husband – her fourth, but who’s counting?  That would leave Harry alone.

Which brings up some perennial questions:  Can elderly parents realistically judge their own capabilities? Do children have the right to place an elderly parent in a facility without their consent?

Deftly directed by Karen Carpenter, both Len Cariou (“Sweeny Todd”) and Craig Bierko (“The Music Man”) are charming and convincing as father-and-son, pacing back and forth on Lauren Helpern’s cluttered living room/kitchen set. But this play is filled with sentimental clichés and runs far too long.

Jeff Davis’s lighting differentiates each of the four scenes, while John Gromada’s sound, using a piano rendition of “Autumn Leaves,” adds a bittersweet tone.

“Harry Townsend’s Last Stand” is Off-Broadway at City Center Stage II (131 W. 55th St,) through Sunday, February 9, 2020.

 

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“The Inheritance”

Susan Granger’s review of “The Inheritance” (Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway)

 

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel “Howard’s End,” Matthew Lopez’s ambitious elegy of ancestry, directed by Stephen Daldry, relates a nearly seven-hour saga of contemporary gay men in Manhattan, a generation after the AIDS crisis.

It begins with a literary spiritual guide (Paul Hilton) encouraging men who are struggling with writing about their professional triumphs and tangled romantic lives. But, behind these interludes of friendship, love and loss is a debt this younger generation owes to the gay rights pioneers who came before them.

“I can’t imagine what those years were like,” says social activist Eric Glass (Kyle Soller), a 33 year-old Yale grad. “I can understand what it was. But I cannot possibly feel what it was.”

Much of the drama centers on Eric and his self-destructive playwright partner Toby Darling (Andrew Burnap), who live in Eric’s spacious, rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side that belonged to his grandmother, a refugee from Nazi Germany. But now Eric’s lease is being contested.

Then there’s elderly, ailing Walter Poole (also Paul Hilton), long-time partner of real estate developer Henry Wilcox (John Benjamin Hickey); Walter’s beloved country house became a rustic sanctuary where the dying could “leave this world with the kind of dignity they had long been denied while living in it.”

Walter wants Eric to inherit the house but Henry’s sons (Jonathan Burke, Kyle Harris) intervene. Plus, there’s a laundry list of LGBTQ issues, like the loss of gay bar culture in an age of hookup apps.

As the mother whose son who died of AIDS, Margaret’s (Lois Smith) lengthy monologue near the end of the play summarizes everything with E.M. Forster’s most famous line: “Only connect.”

 “New York felt like it was ground zero for the AIDS epidemic,” explains playwright Matthew Lopez. “There are so many ghosts here.”

Problem is: Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” explored this subject matter, as have many other plays and movies. So why sit through this compassionate, yet indulgent marathon? The second half quickly becomes repetitive and the sentimentality feels manipulative.

“The Inheritance” opened on 11/17/2019 and is scheduled to close on 3/20/2020.

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“Cyrano”

Susan Granger’s review of “Cyrano” (Off-Broadway at Daryl Roth Theater)

 

Writer/director Erica Schmidt wisely deleted most references to the title character’s huge nose in this new version of Edmond Rostand’s 19th century verse-drama because Peter Dinklage places a different focus on the plight of a lonely French Army officer who believes that his physical appearance means that no woman could ever really love him.

Schmidt, who is married to Dinklage, has devised a hilarious entrance for Cyrano, as he interrupts a theatrical performance by a celebrated thespian (Scott Stangland).  Drawing his sword and challenging anyone to defend the hammy actor, he empties his wallet to provide refunds for the entire audience.

Witnessing this is beautiful Roxanne (Jasmine Cephas Jones), accompanied by her arrogant suitor, the Duke de Guiche (Ritchie Coster), and vigilant chaperone Marie (Grace McLean). Countering the Duke’s mockery, Cyrano acknowledges, “I am proof that God has a sick sense of humor.”

Cyrano has adored Roxanne since they were children, so when she requests to meet with him, he hopes it might be an opportunity for him to express his feelings.  To his dismay, Roxanne tells Cyrano that she’s smitten with Christian (Blake Jenner), a callow cadet in Cyrano’s company, although they’ve never spoken to one another.

For his part, Christian knows he’s too inarticulate to express how he reciprocates her affection. So he recruits Cyrano to write love letters to Roxanne in his name and then to ‘coach’ him in the play’s most memorable balcony scene.

“I will make you eloquent,” Cyrano promises, “And you will make me handsome.”

There’s melancholy music by the Grammy-winning alternative rock band The National, but the score by Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner isn’t memorable, and the lyrics by frontman Matt Berninger & Carin Besser tend to be dull and repetitious.  There’s not much improvement since it was previously staged in a workshop production at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut.

Nevertheless, Peter Dinklage’s rich, natural baritone is a revelation. To see this Emmy-winning actor, who played Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” for eight years, is the only reason to trek to the Daryl Roth Theater at Manhattan’s Pershing Square Signature Center. The show runs 100 minutes without an intermission.

“Cyrano” plays there through December 22nd.

 

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“Joanna Gleason: Out of the Eclipse”

Susan Granger’s review of “Joanna Gleason: Out of the Eclipse” (Quick Center)

 

The death of parents is one of the most emotional and universal human experiences, yet it’s one that’s seldom discussed.  ‘Til now.

Joanna Gleason is the Tony Award-winner as Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as the Baker’s Wife in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” on Broadway and lauded for her screen roles in “Boogie Nights,” “The Wedding Planner” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

Now she’s created the magical, wonderful “Out of the Eclipse,” wryly delving into the devastating, complicated, surprising and maddening emotions evoked by the traumatic loss of both her parents within a four-month period in 2017 during which there was a solar eclipse.

As she tells it, her father (game show host Monty Hall) and mother (Marilyn) came to the United States from Canada, filled with hopes and dreams. Settling in Los Angeles, they raised three children.

“Humor and love were the greatest currency in our family, and it’s important we share our stories,” she says – and so she does.

Told directly to the audience, their painful, powerful saga is filled with revelation, wonder and remarkable twists of fate.  It’ deeply funny and perfectly peppered with music and songs that build up the narrative.  There’s a Yiddish lullaby, along with music by Rogers & Hart, Paul Simon, James Taylor and others..

Serving as her Greek chorus, Gleason is accompanied by the Moontones (Michael Protacio, Christine Cornell, Christiana Cole) and four musicians: Jeffrey Klitz on piano, Katherine Spingham on cello, Shane Del Robles and Justin Rothberg on string instruments.

Plus, there’s an endearing duet with Gleason’s husband, Chris Sarandon, whom she met during rehearsals for the ill-fated Broadway musical “Nick and Nora.”

Above all, Joanna Gleason acknowledges that being ‘on your own’ is not the same as being alone.  In hindsight, when we experience grief, we often come to a greater understanding of our connection to each other and to the universe.

After her performance at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts, next stop on Joanna Gleason’s tour is Los Angeles’ LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center on February 15 & 16, 2020.

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“Don Juan”

Susan Granger’s review of “Don Juan” (Westport Country Playhouse)

 

Adapting a classic French play with a new translation has its perils and rewards.  Collaborating with director David Kennedy, playwright Brendan Pelsue sets Moliere’s 1665 comedic drama in modern dress with contemporary allusions.

Known as the “Seducer of Seville,” philandering Don Juan is a snobbish scoundrel who has never met a woman he doesn’t yearn to seduce. An avowed atheist, he continually mocks the tenets of Catholicism. And only his valet Sgandarelle (scene-stealing Bjavesh Patel) dares to chastise him.

Allegedly, Don Juan is so charming that no woman can resist him – a difficult role for any actor to play -and Nick Westrate is hardly up for the challenge. Nevertheless, he acquits himself admirably.

Perhaps his most scandalous conquest is Dona Elvira (Suzy Jane Hunt), a once-pious nun who begs him to repent his evil ways. His caddish behavior has become so reprehensible that his father, Don Louis (Philip Goodwin), threatens to disinherit him.

(To find an actor with that kind of charisma, one need look no further than George Clooney’s TV Nepresso commercial: “The Quest”)

But I digress, which is not difficult since Pelsue’s interpretation of this narcissistic womanizer veers off-course in a multitude of ways, and Kennedy’s direction includes having Don Juan open the second act perched on the toilet and, later, grabbing and kissing one of scorned Dona Elvira’s brothers sent to kill him in the forest. Bisexuality, anyone?

“Don Juan” is the conclusion of Moliere’s satirical hypocrisy trilogy, which also includes “The School for Wives” and “Tartuffe.” So one can easily understand its societal critique and timely relevance, particularly during Sganarelle’s final speech.

Also appearing in this production are Jordan Bellow, Paul DeBoy, Carson Elrod, Claudia Logan, Bobby Roman and Ariana Venturi – with set design by Marsha Ginsberg, lighting by Matthew Richards, and costumes by Katherine Roth.

“Don Juan” runs through Nov. 23 at the Westport Country Playhouse.

 

 

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“The Height of the Storm”

Susan Granger’s review of “The Height of the Storm” (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre)

 

When is a puzzle not intriguing? When it gets so tedious that you just don’t care anymore!

That’s the case in this Manhattan Theatre Club production about the disconcerting relationship between an elderly Parisian couple, one of whom may or may not be dead.

“You think people are dead, but it’s not always the case,” notes Andre (Jonathan Pryce), who has been married to Madeline (Eileen Atkins) for 50 years.

Written by Florian Zeller (“The Father,” “The Mother,” “The Son”), translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton (“Les Liaisons Dangereuses”), its purpose is to confuse and disorient the audience. Which it does, perhaps giving a glimpse into the uncomprehending effects of dementia.

As it begins, Andre’s concerned daughter Anne (Amanda Drew) is in the kitchen, arranging ‘condolence’ flowers and reminiscing about their cluttered childhood home in the French countryside. We see Andre standing by the window, but is he really there?  Did her mother just die?

Hard to tell – because acerbic Madeline then appears, toting a bag of fresh mushrooms to be sautéed with chives for an omelet. Plus there’s Anne’s younger, more self-centered sibling Elise (Lisa O’Hare), talking about her latest lover (James Hillier), along with a mysterious woman (Lucy Cohu) from Andre’s past who prattles on about an affair and an illegitimate son.

Along the way, playwright Zeller drops hints about the play’s essential uncertainty, like when Anne explains she’s reading her formidable writer/father’s diaries, trying to understand his work, and he childes: “There’s nothing to understand. People who try to understand things are morons.”

So I gave up trying to make sense of the cryptic narrative, particularly since director Jonathan Kent has characters, who may or may not exist, look directly at one another. (In contrast in “The Sixth Sense,” some characters never made eye-contact, indicating that one of them might not really be present.)

Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins are acclaimed British thespians but even their insightful performances cannot redeem the frustration of Zeller’s enigmatic theatrical concept.

Andrew Ward’s high-ceilinged set design and costumes contribute authenticity, along with Hugh Vanstone’s dramatic lighting, Paul Groothuis’ sound and Gary Yershon’s original music.

The limited run of “The Height of the Storm” concludes on Nov. 24th

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“Derren Brown: Secret”

Susan Granger’s review of “Derren Brown: Secret” (Cort Theatre)

 

For captivating, mesmerizing entertainment, head to the Cort Theatre to see Derren Brown manipulate and maneuver your mind into absolute incredulity.

A two-time Olivier Award-winner, Brown is a charismatic British mentalist who dares his audience to examine how their expectations and beliefs influence how they perceive the world around them, noting, “Sometimes you need to be aware of the bigger picture you’re missing.”

At the beginning of the show, Brown asks the audience (and critics) not to reveal the titular ‘Secret’ so I won’t. But what I can tell you is that he recruits audience members by randomly tossing out Frisbees. Catch one and, suddenly, you’re on-stage participating in mental marvels.

For example, an audience member is asked a series of questions whose answers are determined by subtle non-verbal, physical cues. And Brown doesn’t always get them all right, which only serves to up his ‘likeability’ quotient.

The one ‘secret’ Brown, a former Roman Catholic schoolboy, does reveal is that he’s gay, an admission which sets the tone for a climate of confessions from vulnerable members of the audience.

“There is no actual psychic mind-reading going on, because that would be impossible,” Brown maintains. “I use a spectrum of activity, conjuring through hypnotic and other suggestion-based techniques, blended into a compelling experience.”

Directed by Andy Nyman and Andrew O’Connor, who co-wrote the material with Brown, the show enjoyed a sold-out run in 2017 at the Atlantic Theatre off-Broadway, where it won the Drama Desk Award – and not much has changed.

There’s Takeshi Kata’s scenic design, Ben Stanton’s lighting, Caite Hevner’s projections and Jill BC Du Boff’s sound design. The selection of songs that play before the show and during intermission eventually becomes relevant, as do posters placed around the theatre. It’s all subliminal messaging.

Running two hours and 20 minutes, Derren Brown’s dazzling one-man show is a limited engagement, playing through January 4, 2020.

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“Felix Starro”

Susan Granger’s review of “Felix Starro” (Theatre Row – Off-Broadway)

 

This new musical by novelist/playwright Jessica Hagedorn and composer Fabian Obispo marks the first-time-ever that a musical created by Filipino Americans has been presented Off-Broadway and its subject – psychic surgery – is one that’s intrigued me for years.

Based in the Philippines during the Marcos regime, Felix (Alan Ariano) is a famous faith healer whose clients once included politicians and celebrities. But now times are tough. So in 1985, Felix decides to travel to San Francisco for one last healing mission with ailing Filipinos in the Bay Area.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term “psychic surgery,” it’s a pseudoscientific deception in which the practitioner supposedly performs surgery with his bare hands. The fraudulent illusion often involves fake blood and chicken guts which are used to convince the patient that diseased lesions have been excised, leaving no scar.

Travelling with him from Baguio City as his assistant/protégé is Felix’s 19 year-old, orphaned grandson, Junior (Nacho Tambunting), who helps the huckster settle into a seedy hotel room to consult with vulnerable patients for “$200 cash only.” Like Mrs. Delgado (Francisca Munoz), accompanied by her skeptical lawyer son (Ryan James Ortega). But Junior has plans of his own.

Directed by Ma-Yi’s Producing Artistic Director Ralph B. Pena and choreographed by Brandon Bieber (FX’s acclaimed “Fosse/Verdon”), it’s based on a short story from a 2012 collection called “Monstress” by Lysley Tenorio and explores issues of faith, family, love, loss, betrayal and what it means to be an undocumented immigrant in America.

Unfortunately, the music and lyrics are quickly forgettable. Since the concept is so intriguing, perhaps it might have worked more effectively as a straight play.

FYI: In 1984, entertainer Andy Kaufman was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer (large cell carcinoma). He went to the Philippines for a six-week course of psychic surgery with Jun Labo and believed he was cured but died soon afterwards. Then in 2005, Alex Orbito, a psychic surgeon, gained recognition via Shirley MacLaine. In 2005, Orbito was arrested by Canadian authorities for fraud but, a year later, the charges were dropped since it seemed unlikely that Orbito would be convicted.

Extended through Sept. 21, “Felix Starro” runs 1 hour, 45 minutes with no intermission.

 

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