I’m Back…for The Tonys.

Quick thoughts on the nominations this morning…my list is coming from the New York Times blog after watching on NY1:

Play Revival | 8:42 a.m.

“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
“Mary Stuart”
“The Norman Conquests”
“Waiting for Godot”

No surprises here. I’ve only seen Godot, and was definitely impressed.  I think Mary Stuart is more likely to win in the acting categories, and I think that Norman Conquests is too much  of an amorphous monster (three shows? six hours?) to really garner votes.  I’ll call it between Joe Turner and Godot for now.

Musical Revival | 8:41 a.m.

“Guys and Dolls”
“Hair”
“Pal Joey”
“West Side Story”

Two horse race, much as we’d suspect. Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey were critically reviled. The other two were loved.  I still think West Side is the show to beat — it’s West Side after all.

Leading Actress in a Musical | 8:39 a.m.

Stockard Channing, “Pal Joey”
Sutton Foster, “Shrek the Musical”
Allison Janney, “9 to 5″
Alice Ripley, “Next to Normal”
Josefina Scaglione, “West Side Story”

Next to Normal is going to be a mini-juggernaut. It still looks and sounds like something I’d hate, but it’s gathering momentum. I feel confident about Ripley here — theater folks love her.  But the interview she’s giving on NY1 right now is a little bizarre. Pat Kiernan looks a little miserable  and lost.

Leading Actor in a Musical | 8:38 a.m.

The Three Billy Elliots, “Billy Elliot”
Gavin Creel, “Hair”
Brian d’Arcy James, “Shrek the Musical”
Constantine Maroulis, “Rock of Ages”
J. Robert Spencer, “Next to Normal”

It’s hard to imagine voters not being overwhelmed by the three Billys.

Score | 8:38 a.m.

“Billy Elliot”
“Next to Normal”
“9 to 5″
“Shrek the Musical”

If Next to Normal sneaks in here, it’ll be a real interesting night.

Leading Actress in a Play | 8:37 a.m. 
Hope Davis, “God of Carnage”
Jane Fonda, “33 Variations”
Marsha Gay Harden, “God of Carnage”
Janet McTeer, “Mary Stuart”
Harriet Walter, “Mary Stuart”

Jane Fonda will garner support, but McTeer seems like the frontrunner here.  Will the two Mary Stuart actors cancel each other out?

Best Play | 8:26 a.m. 
“Dividing the Estate”
“God of Carnage”
“resons to be pretty”
“33 Variations”

I’m going to bite my tongue.

Best Musical | 8:26 a.m. 
“Billy Elliot”
“Next to Normal”
“Rock of Ages”
“Shrek the Musical”

Congrats to David Lindsay-Abaire and company for the Shrek nod,And the Rock of Ages nod is a bit of a shocker — big congrats to them for pulling this whole Broadway run out – but this is down to the Billy monster and the little show that could. I think the monster is going to win. 

 

There are lots more awards, of course, but I’ll say this: I’m not very excited about most of this year’s nominees.  Except for Karen Olivo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Week in New York Theater.

1.  So they’re casting for the Spider-man musical, and I’ve got say that I’m excited about the potential of the whole project.  If you haven’t heard, Julie Taymor is directing/creating, and U2 (or at least Bono and The Edge) are doing the score.  I’ve heard good things from folks involved.  The casting notice is interesting for a couple of reasons, first of which is the line “all ethnicities are encouraged to audition.”  Now, while my friend Burl would make a perfect Spidey (and I’ve got the pictures to prove it), are we really going to see a Spider-man or even Mary Jane of color?  The fanboys wouldn’t stand for it, I don’t think.  (Although if Stephanie Beatriz was Mary Jane, I’d be there, no questions asked.)

The other weird tidbit from the casting notice is this mysterious “Principal Woman,” described as “Sinead O’Connor with a Middle Eastern/Bulgarian/Greek twist.”  Okay.  I have absolutely no clue what that’s all about–a new villain?  Should they really be adding to the cannon like this?  Maybe a Spidey fan will read this and school me on how this character fits into everything, and I definitely will reserve judgment, but I’m already questioning where they’re taking this.

2.  Whoopi is the new Rosie, as she signs on to join the cast of Xanadu shortly after doing a good job hosting this year’s Tony’s (go back and check out the running diary if you haven’t already).   The difference, of course, is that Whoopi already has a Tony.  I was pretty excited about seeing Xanadu even before this announcement, and I’d like to see it with Whoopi in it, but I’ll probably wait out the crowds and check it out after she leaves.  Xanadu is an interesting case right now–the theater is almost full every night (at least as of the latest Variety charts), but ticket receipts are only about half of what they could be.  Lots of discounted tickets to that show.  So Whoopi would, it would seem, allow them to start selling more full price tickets, hopefully while maintaining that seating capacity.  I hope Xanadu keeps doing well–I didn’t want it to win the Tony (for obvious reasons), but it sounds like a fun little show.

3.  Tickets are still available for Passing Strange’s closing weekend, including the two shows Spike Lee is going to film.  Seriously.  Buy tickets.  See the show.  Be there for the taping and/or the closing.  I’m looking into it myself.  You’re going to be real sad when you watch the filmed version and realize you could have been there.

4.  My boy Rajiv wrote a play about origami.  Yes.  Origami.  It’s called Animals Out of Paper, and it’s pretty damn good.  Full disclosure: I recently wrote a piece about this play for the Brooklyn Rail (should be out soon), and I served as the (super informal) “hip-hop consultant” for the show (I didn’t write the rhymes, just discussed them, and basically just quoted Eminem lyrics at that).  So yeah, I’m biased.  And one of my favorite actors in the world, Utkarsh Ambudkar, is in it–you may remember him as Nelson from The Lark production of Welcome to Arroyo’s.  Either way, this is a play with a lot of heart, some great performances (from what I saw in the first reading), and a deceptive simplicity that pulls back to reveal incredible emotional complexity underneath.  It’s like origami, come to think of it.

5.  Also happening right now in NYC is 12 Ophelias by the wildly prolific Caridad Svich.  If you saw Aya Ogawa’s Oph3lia, you kind of have to see this one, if only to make it a total of 15 Ophelias this summer (plus, of course, Lauren Ambrose, who makes 16–sixteen Ophelias!  *cue Count Von Count’s thunder*).  It happens to be free and site-specific in Williamsburg’s McCarren Park Pool (or as El Puente students would say “MacCarrien Park” — there’s an awfully inside joke for you), and it features bluegrass and a Hamlet with a black eye, so go see it already.  Here’s a blog review of it if you haven’t made up your mind.

I know there’s a lot more, but I’m stopping there–oh wait, no I’m not.

6.  Hair.  It’s in Central Park starting July 22.  I’m a little bummed about only having ten days or so to try to see it (and my birthday is right in there, so that knocks a bunch of nights out of the realm of possibility), but I am going to find a way to make it happen.  It’s Hair, people.  And it’s in Central Park.  Outside.  And there’s a war going on–a war with a “back-door draft.“  I’m not going to tell you about the virtual line, because (a) I’ve already written about it (I think) and (b) I don’t want you beating me to the punch.  I’ll link it all up after I’ve seen it, suckas.

7.  This last one isn’t theater, but it’s the biggest deal in entertainment this summer.  I will be seeing the IMAX.  Somehow.  Possibly at 2am next week.

PASSING STRANGE Announces Closing.

I just woke up from a little impromptu nap, and I check my e-mail, and I’ve got this message from my buddy and sometimes semi-idol Eisa Davis (links added by me):

so we’re closing with a bang, with the Spike Lee shoot.

thanks for taking this ride with us. if you haven’t caught it, hope you can get here before we close.

as Stew says in the show: is it alright?

and as I say back: yes, it’s alright.

eisa

www.passingstrangeonbroadway.com

This is sad, but not unpredictable news. Passing Strange never found its audience, struggling with a title and some marketing materials that didn’t really represent the show perfectly or highlight its strengths. It was also a tough sell on Broadway, a black rock musical that didn’t have an obvious hook for the suburban moms and tourists who make up your major ticket-purchasing block on the Rialto (look at me, getting my Variety on). The Tony Awards seemed to be the show’s big chance, but timing was a problem there, as In The Heights became sort of destined for Best Musical, and Lin-Manuel’s performance in that show may have split the Best Featured Actor vote with Stew (just a theory), leaving that award to Paulo Szot, not that I think anything other than Best Musical would have made a huge difference anyway. The fact that this show made it from Joe’s Pub to the Public to Broadway, and lasted as long as it did (185 performances including previews) qualifies as a huge success in my mind, even with the certain financial hit the producers have taken.

I was describing the show in an e-mail just now, and I said it was the most interesting “hip” young black show since Noise/Funk, and I was struck by the comparison–both were shows that came out of The Public, yeah, both were somewhat overshadowed and eclipsed by other shows that they were linked with in articles about the new cultural zeitgeist of their given time period (Heights now, Rent, of course, then), and both, from some kind of objective standard at least, were better shows then their counterparts. I say “objective standard” because Rent and Heights are two shows with great personal value to me, although I think both are kind of messy and not as consistently strong as the Public shows. The other thing with that is that both Strange and Noise/Funk are untraditional musicals at heart, turning away from what a regular Broadway show tends to do, and ultimately, that’s the commercial downfall of these pieces. But these aren’t commercial shows–just shows that happened to have some success commercially (and certainly did better critically than commercially, especially Strange).

Screenwriter William Goldman has said that he is amazed that a good movie ever gets made in the Hollywood system, because there is so much that could go wrong at any given moment. I tend to think the same thing about great Broadway shows–the odds are against a production going really well, against a show capturing some kind of great moment or aesthetic or thought and making it all the way to the Great White Way with its integrity and heart still attached. There are just too many places where it could go wrong. Passing Strange got almost everything right; the downfall, sadly, was in the most critical area for keeping the show running: the audience.

But still, I celebrate this show, this cast, this creative team, this man named Stew. If you have a chance, go see this show this week. (If you want to buy your favorite blogger a ticket to the Spike Lee shows or even the closing, I wouldn’t turn them down.) You’ll have to film version of this to remember it by, but you’re going to want to have the actual memory too.

A Quick Look at New York Theater.

This will hopefully be a semi-regular feature here on Smichovsky Compensation Syndrome (side note: I haven’t had a single person ask me about the name of the blog, which is awfully surprising. I assume either you all immediately get the reference–which I know is not the case–or you’re all researching it and coming away satisfied. Or you just don’t care). I post on this “general discussion” message board sometimes (okay, a lot of times), and every once in a while I throw up what I call an EASILY IGNORED THEATER POST, since most of the folks who visit that site aren’t really checking for theater like that. But now I have a blog where people show up to read about Rent and Idina Menzel and The Tony Awards (tag tag tag), so hopefully this will be a more effective public service.

1. Not surprisingly, a bunch of shows have posted closing notices after missing out on Tony Awards and ticket bumps. Passing Strange remains my big concern. As of the week ending June 22 (the last week of receipts available on variety.com AND the first week after the Tonys), the show is only playing to 60% full houses, and only pulling in about $260K — one third of its potential net receipts.  As a comparison, In The Heights is up to 99% capacity houses and making over $900 grand a week–just about maxing out.  Now of course, Heights won Best Musical, and the buzz there is undeniable, and there’s no way to compare expectations for one show against the other.  But Strange simply isn’t finding its audience, and its a shame, because as I’ve said here before, it might be a better show top-to-bottom than Heights.  So here’s my last ditch plea: go see Passing Strange.  A lot of these other shows will be around for a while.  You’re going to kick yourself if you miss it.

2.  Other interesting stuff to note from the returns: Grease got a $105K bump after the Tonys — did that performance really convince people they needed to see this show?…Gypsy, to no one’s surprise, had a huge bump after Patti won her Tony, bringing in an additional $125K (or half of what Strange brought in total) for the week.  That show will be close to sold out as long as she sticks around…Legally Blonde also got a MASSIVE bump ($117K), and I’m sure it had to be some kind of coincidence–was there some MTV related activity going on that week?

Okay, enough Broadway.

3.  New York Theatre Workshop has announced its 08-09 season.  I’m reserving judgment a bit.  They’re only doing three full productions, plus an Encores! kinda thing for underappreciated Off-Bway musicals and some political work around the election.  They’ve got some limitations this year due to some budget issues (losing the income from Rent certainly doesn’t help), so the lightened schedule makes sense.  I’m not super excited about anything in the season just yet (which is troublesome, since The Public has such a lights out lineup), but I’ll keep my eyes open.

4.  In a Variety story that will only interest some of you and then only in passing (Strange, go see it), New York is considering tax breaks for Broadway producers.  This is kind of a big deal (c) Ron Burgandy.

5. The Summer Play Festival kicks off this week at The Public.  They’ve limited the slate (now I’m talking like Variety) to just two shows a week (down from four in the olden days on Theatre Row) for a total of just eight shows (down from sixteen–and even more the first year, I believe).  I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for SPF.  Some of you reading this will remember seeing Welcome to Arroyo’s way back in the 2005 Festival.  The folks at SPF and Arielle Tepper Productions always treated the artists well, and certainly knew how to throw a party (or six).  That said, there are limitations to the festival’s structure: it’s great for small, self-contained plays that can easily be produced in two weeks with a little bit of money, but it doesn’t give larger plays a whole lot of time to find their way.  I’ve seen more than a few plays come off poorly at SPF simply because they were too big to get on their feet in the time alotted.

So basically, what I’m saying is this: go to SPF.  See a bunch of shows.  Tickets are cheap.  The shows are usually well-selected and diverse.  You’ll have a good time.  Just keep in mind that the shows are far from finished productions (the SPF people don’t always remind audiences of this).

On a last SPF note, my long-time buddy (we used to play the most ridiculous ER-based speculation game on the planet in college) Caitlin Moon is directing Tio Pepe by Matthew Lopez in the festival’s last week.  Go see it.

Let’s Talk About The Tonys.

The Tony Awards snuck up on me this year.  If I had planned ahead, I would have done a whole week of pre-award analysis, but I’m late, so I’ll bang this stuff out now, then comment again Monday after everything is announced.  The Times has their predictions up, so I’ll riff off that as I do my own.

Musical: I’ve got this sinking, stinking suspicion that Xanadu is going to steal this away from In The Heights and Passing Strange, which happen to be the two most exciting, most important Broadway shows of the last who knows how long.  But both of those shows happen to be young and Brown, and while I don’t think that those are exactly problems for voters, I do think there’s a possibility–more than a possibility–of them canceling each other out, sending the vote to the silly, fun film adaptation that a lot of people really enjoyed.  I haven’t seen Xanadu, but it’s clearly the safer show–and I hope it doesn’t win.  Heights seems the likely juggernaut, but I think Strange was the best show I saw this year, and certainly could use the ticket boost that the Tony would bring.  As long as we’re looking at one of the two, I’ll be happy.

Heights should win best score, if only for numbers like 96,000, which might be the coolest example of melding hip-hop and Broadway that you’re ever gonna get.  My mom thinks they should perform that song on the Tony broadcast, and I agree–it’s something that starts out like nothing on Broadway, then becomes exactly what you expect from Broadway, but with a ton of musical sounds that are still like nothing you’d expect from Broadway.  Strange has a great score too, and is probably more consistent all the way through, but Heights is unabashedly a Broadway show (for better or worse), and that’s what the Tonys should celebrate.

And I’ll say this much: If Lin-Manuel Miranda doesn’t win for Leading Actor, there is no justice in the world.  He’s giving a truly groundbreaking performance in that show, one that people will be studying for the rest of Broadway history.

Plays: I haven’t seen any of the plays this year, but I kind of don’t need to–August: Osage County has everything locked up.

Revivials: I saw Gypsy and Sunday in the Park with George, didn’t love either one, and I’m not sure I’d have loved South Pacific if I had seen it either.  Lupone is a lock for Lead Actress though, and I think South Pacific is almost a lock for the big prize.

And you know what–I’m stopping here, because I realize that I only care about the two musicals in this race, and I hope to hell that voters look at them as two completely different shows that share an energy that Broadway desperately needs right now: young people of color with understandings of popular music and a respect for Broadway traditions but a willingness to shatter them when needed. 

Passing Strange spoke to me like few things speak to me on stage–the story of a young artist, confused, not sure where to fit in, not able to stand in a safe straightforward upbringing, and that’s a simple story that we’ve heard a million times, but this is complicated by race, and class, and religion, and a need to do things exactly your own way, to fail and fall hard in hopes of finding new ways to climb.  It possesses an incredible beautiful cast of incredibly beautiful people of color, and it’s not about race at all, but race is infused in every second of it, and it’s race the way race really is–complicated, invisible, impossible to avoid.  In another year, this would be the hands-down favorite thing I saw, and it’s close even this year.

In The Heights made me cry, and made me cry repeatedly (well, not cry, but tears in my eyes intermittently from the moment the music started), not because of the touching stories of love and acceptance and keeping life going in the face of all kinds of hardships (because honestly, the storylines are nothing we haven’t seen before), but because–and forgive the emotion here, but the emotion is really the point–GOD DAMN IT THOSE ARE PUERTO RICAN FLAGS UP THERE, and Dominican flags, and some Mexican and Cuban, and that’s Washington Heights, and it’s really Washington Heights, and that dude is starting the show by rapping, and it’s good rapping, really good rapping, really real rapping, and there’s a b-boy, and a real b-boy, and the Spanish fits, and no pare, sigue sigue is just, it’s just, god damn it, it’s perfect.  And we’re not gang members or drug dealers or even Lothario Latin lovers–we’re people, hard-working people who struggle with gentrification and self-worth issues and questions of leaving home and putting our pasts behind us to succeed or clutching madly to keep them close and push us even higher.

And I was in the audience on Mother’s Day, and this, I can’t stress this enough, this is what I want Latinos to do on Mother’s Day, I want them to go see In The Heights, all dressed up, full families, and I want them cheering when the lights go down, and I want them cheering and “oooooh”-ing when Nina and Benny kiss on the fire escape, and I want little Puerto Rican and Dominican boys to feel like Usnavi is looking right at them when he’s rhyming the way I felt like John Leguizamo’s Miggy was looking right at me all through Spic-o-Rama.  And you know what?  I’ve got tears in my eyes (just barely, son, just barely) even right now–right now–as I’m writing this.

Damn.  That wasn’t my plan for this at all.

Anyway.  Tonys.  Sunday night.  To say there’s a little bit riding on this year’s awards is an understatement.