Round I: Broadway Casualties

          April 4^th -- Easter Sunday, no less -- both All About Me and the first Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker are heading out. And granted, while I feel bad about saying good-bye to Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein, All About Me was not without problems - and I'm not all that sure the critics who put it to rest were all that astute about the reasons.

The general consensus was the contrived tiff-off between two diverse talents caused its early demise, but in my opinion the damning factors were a) yes, the execution of the contrived set up, and b) the overwrought banter between two over-the-top personalities - scarily reminiscent of the pre-packaged, back-and-forth made ubiquitous by celebrity presenters on every awards show to hit the air.

I can't imagine where Christopher Durang - one of my favorite playwrights, incidentally -- was thinking, and have my own thoughts on what would have made production work, but all this is water under the bridge, the show will be gone taking with it some gloriously funny moments and bunches upon bunches of gladiolas.

As for The Miracle Worker, I get that the producers were backed into a make-or-break fiscal decision, but this show deserved far, far better. Conceptually, the big critical guns shot it down - which ultimately kept audiences away. This upsets me no end given the fact that the production was both imaginative and featured beautiful performances from everyone involved, particularly Alison Pill as Annie Sullivan, Abigail Breslin as Helen Keller and Jennifer Morrison as Helen's mother, Kate. Sadly, its closing also puts the kibosh on potential attendance young audiences and school groups, and I mourn its loss on this level as well.

Round II: Roundabout Triage

          Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Terrence McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart, slated to debut at the American Airlines Theatre on April 9^th, took a header into the theatrical terra incognito before it opened thanks to that old standby, "artistic differences." Evidently, Megan Mullally (Young Frankenstein, Will & Grace) appealed to director Joe Mantello to dump costar Patton Oswalt (King of Queens) who, she felt was not up to snuff. Montello, disagreed, contending Oswalt was more than en route to snuff, at which point Mullally opted to take it on the lam rather than damage her professional stage cred. With previews looming and no Mullally, Roundabout's artistic director, Todd Haimes, announced the show was a no-go. 

          Enter Everyday Rapture, the critically acclaimed musical by Dick Scanlan & Sherie Rene Scott and directed by Michael Mayer, that premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage in May of 2009 to rave reviews and two extensions.

          Called "Sensational! One of the year's most extravagantly entertaining new musicals," by the New York Times, Everyday Rapture will begin previews at the American Airlines Theatre on April 19^th and officially open ten days later. The final production of Roundabout's 2009-2010 season, the production is a limited engagement through July 11^th. [www.roundabouttheatre.org]

          Starring Ms. Scott, (The Little Mermaid, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Everyday Rapture "is the story of a young woman's psycho-sexual-spiritual journey on the rocky path that separates her mostly Mennonite past from her mostly Manhattan future. Her life takes her from the cornfields of Kansas to the clover fields of New York (with a disturbing detour through YouTube)."  The score boasts songs made famous by David Byrne, Roberta Flack, Mister Rogers, The Supremes, Tom Waits, U2 and Judy Garland.

Missed it Off-Broadway, can't wait to see it on Broadway - I mean, come on, what's not to love?  For full details and tickets visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Posted on April 02, 2010 - by

Browse: Broadway