MACBETH at Lincoln Center

Jack O'Brien's production of Macbeth at Lincoln Center is unique in its sparseness. He retains all the classic elements, but the lines are sleek and modern. You'd expect "over the top" from the director of Hairspray, but he defies your expectations. The stage and characters are primarily dressed in black, with Lady Macbeth's white dress and the red splotches of blood serving as highlights.

The production seems economic, with the witches playing multiple characters, but could this doubling be purposeful? When you truly examine the plot, you realize that the witches are controlling all of the action in the play, so it only makes sense that they assume other roles in the ensemble. O'Brien has chosen to cast men as the witches, which is fine, but one in particular is dressed as a female and flits about the stage as if he were a teenaged girl. It isn't interesting or creepy as intended; it is just distracting.

Anne-Marie Duff is fantastic in the role of Lady Macbeth. I always forget how little time she spends onstage, but when she is onstage, it is powerful. Duff's training is evident through her diction and command onstage. She excels at the iconic moments from "unsex me" to "out damn spot". Ethan Hawke's Macbeth is putty in her hands. Speaking of which, Hawke's lack of Shakespearean training stands out in this otherwise very convincing cast. His actions are strong and he is visually energetic and exciting, but vocally, he seems out of place. His diction is not nearly as precise as the other characters; it is almost as if Macbeth is a Texan living in Scotland. Daniel Sunjata is a surprising standout in the role of Macduff. His stage presence radiates into the audience, his speech is impeccable, and most importantly, you root for him every step of the way. His Macduff is sympathetic, endearing, and the hero of the play.

Shakespeare can be difficult to watch if you are unfamiliar with the text or the style, but Lincoln Center Theater's production of Macbeth is highly engaging. The dark, brooding drama pulls you in from the opening lines, forces you to choose a side, and live with that decision as you await the bloody results.

Use the code "MACBLOG" for discounted tickets.

GOLDEN BOY on Broadway

The American Dream hangs in the balance in Clifford Odets' GOLDEN BOY directed by Bartlett Sher and produced by Lincoln Center Theater. If The Great Gatsby and Rocky met up in New York during the Depression, that is this story of Joe Bonaparte, affectionally referred to as Napoleon. He is torn between prizefighting and music, with family members and managers pushing and pulling him back and forth. Seth Numrich is a standout in the role of Joe. He has the sensitivity and nuance of a violin player, but all the rage and aggression of bull. For a smaller guy, his physicality in the fight scenes is very natural-it's all heart.

This 3-act epic isn't flashy. There aren't many bells and whistles. Show up ready to focus and concentrate, or you will be lost. Act I, which is much too long, introduces the characters, but it's all surface. We don't really get to know any of our characters until Act II, which opens in a boxing gym. When the curtain opens on those sparring fighters, that's when you know what this play is really about. It's not about the businessmen or the managers, it's about the soul of a fighter. Act III depicts Joe's rise to fame and his demise. It again forces us to question the American Dream. Sure, Joe has become famous, successful, and rich, but at what cost?

Tony Shalhoub is a brilliant foil to Joe in the role of his father. Every time Joe pulls closer to fighting, his father tries to pull him back toward music. A simple, happy life is all this immigrant wants for his son. He grows more fragile and downtrodden throughout the play as pride and greed rear their ugly heads within Joe. One of the most poignant scenes in the show unfolds as Mr. Bonaparte asks a seasoned fighter about his hands. He sees that they are permanently clenched and crippled and, without saying anything, understands that if his son fights his hands will no longer be able to bring music to the family. The single most heartbreaking image in the show is Joe removing his gloves after his final fight, only to realize that he cannot straighten his fingers.

Catherine Zuber's costumes are very appropriate for the Depression era and the muted shades suit the solemn, melancholy tone of the piece. Michael Yeargan's sets certainly fit the time and the themes, but a more minimalist design would have sufficed. We didn't need an overhead traffic light to understand that Joe was on the streets of New York and we didn't need lockers and showers to realize that we were in a locker room. The bulky set pieces created too much lag time in between scenes and the lengthy transitions ruin the mood.

GOLDEN BOY is A Chorus Line for fighters. It sheds light on a world that many are unfamiliar with and strips it down to bare bones. When you take away the lights and the audience, what are you really left with? This thing that was supposed to bring Joe fame and fortunate ripped him apart in the end. After proving himself time and time again, our Golden Boy is left with nothing but blood on his hands.

Catch this glimpse of prizefighting's past at the Belasco Theater through January 20th. For a chance to win a fantastic ticket package including dinner for two at Saju Bistro, enter our Pinterest contest here http://pinterest.com/lctheater/golden-boy-contest/.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

The three most exciting things about great musicals should be the score, the book, and the performances. Well in the case of Lincoln Center Theater's production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown based on Pedro Almodovar's film of the same name, the three big highlights are Patti LuPone with a gun, Patti LuPone on a motorcycle, and Sherie Rene Scott singing next to a burning bed. To say that this show relies too heavily on its special effects is a gross understatement. I'm afraid that director Barlett Sher, who did a stellar job with the recent revival of South Pacific, missed the mark with this show. The use of projections to further the story is an attempt to make up for holes in the book and the score, but then that is simply a cop out for sub-par material. Sher underestimates the intelligence of the audience and presumes that we need to actually see a moving street scene on the scrim to believe the taxi is moving. The very idea behind theatre is that the audience will suspend disbelief and use their imagination to fill in the blanks.

Composer David Yazbek who delivered hits with The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels fails to write one hummable tune, aside from the act I closer "On the Verge." The lyrics are just as forgettable and a week after seeing the show, I can't remember a single line except "Welcome to the edge, to the verge," which the title practically gives us anyway. Having not seen the film, it is difficult for me to judge Jeffrey Lane's book because it is challenging to tell what is from the source material and what was written by Lane himself. There are certainly holes in the plot and loose ends are never tied up. For example, in the song "Mother's Day" Pepa's (Sherie Rene Scott) mother is introduced but is never addressed again in the play, leaving the audience hanging without a resolution. Also, we are led to believe that the uptight Carlos (Justin Guarini) has left his fiance for Candela (Laura Benanti), yet she has been flighty and noncommittal in the past and all he really wants is monogamy and security, so why choose her?

In terms of performance, Benanti in the role of Candela steals the show, turning a small part into a star turn. Her true commitment to the character is evident not only in her speech patterns but also in her body language and her walk, or well, her prance. We truly believe that she is a scatterbrained but lovable model who honestly would fall for a terrorist. Patti LuPone as Lucia gives a dominating performance as usual and her starpower speaks for itself. She is the only actor to get entrance applause and though the material given to her is shallow, she tries her damnedest to give life to this stock character and I did sympathize with her greatly. Sherie Rene Scott in the role of Pepa is tough for me to critique because I saw her at her finest in Everyday Rapture and nothing could ever live up to that. We get the sense in this show that Scott is unhappy as an actor because she does not seem to commit to this role as she has to others. Her Spanish accent is not as strong as that of other actors and in many of her songs, she drops it entirely. It doesn't help that she is given the weakest material of any character and while Pepa is supposed to be the central character, the one that we all root for, we feel no sympathy for her. But then again, I hate to fault Miss Scott for the problems with the book and the lyrics. Her singing is perfectly enjoyable in the show, but with the ballads she is given by Yazbek, she has no opportunity to show off her fabulous belt, which is what makes her truly special. Brian Stokes Mitchell as Ivan is in perfect voice and is lovely as always, though his character does nothing to further the plot and could be eliminated entirely. Guarini in his Broadway debut is surprisingly strong as Carlos and his confusion between his commitment to his fiance Marisa (Nikka Graff Lanzarone) and his infatuation with Candela is palpable.

I'm not the first person to say this and I won't be the last, but this show would have benefited greatly from an out of town tryout. Performing the show in another city, away from New York critics, would have given Sher and the creative team a chance to hear audience reactions and correct some of the show's problems. The actors also would have had more time to experiment with making their characters less generic. This show is a limited engagement and will end in January, and I just get the feeling that the creative team realized the show would never live up to the hype it inevitably received due to its all-star cast and creators. However, because they didn't have to worry about the show's ability to sustain a long Broadway run, they settled for mediocrity. The box office sales may prove me wrong, but I feel pretty confident in saying that this is one limited engagement that will not extend.

My Most Memorable Theatre Experiences: #9 South Pacific (2008 Revival)

Like most theatre fans, I grew up watching the Rogers and Hammerstein musicals on video. I started with The Sound of Music and a bit later I fell in love with Carousel, and then South Pacific. I loved the romance of these shows and the glorious, sweeping scores. When I began to study vocal performance, I gravitated toward the R&H songs as they fit wonderfully into my soprano voice. They are still among my favorite repertory pieces today. Unfortunately for me, most contemporary musicals are written for belters so when I knew that Lincoln Center Theatre was reviving South Pacific, I jumped at the chance to see it. I had seen a charming little community theatre production of South Pacific in Walla Walla, WA a few years before and fell in love with the score and staging, but what I saw and experienced at Lincoln Center blew me away. I had listened to the cast recording before I saw the show and fell in love with the voice of Kelli O'Hara. She has a glorious soprano and while she mixes down into her chest voice, she is definitely not a power belter, and she became a singer that I could relate to. Unfortunately when I saw the performance Miss O'Hara was on maternity leave, but Laura Osnes was perfectly lovely in the role of Nellie Forbush and Paulo Szot was, and I do not use this word lightly, a revelation in the role of Emile de Becque.

Now while I have always said I'm an old soul, contrary to popular belief I was not around in 1949 for the original Broadway production of South Pacific. But you could have convinced me otherwise as the opening notes of the overture transported me to the 1940s when full orchestras and romance trumped rock scores and electronic music. When the stage retracted from the thrust to reveal the orchestra as they played excerpts from Bali Hai and Some Enchanted Evening, the water works began and continued throughout the opening sequence (did I mention I love a good cry at the theatre). The opening sequence of Cockeyed Optimist, Twin Soliloquies, and Some Enchanted Evening was enrapturing. Everything about the production was captivating, from the wonderful performances by Danny Burstein as Luther Billis and Loretta Ables Sayre as Bloody Mary and picture perfect direction of Bartlett Sher, to the visually stunning scenic and lighting designs. One of the most unique aspects of this experience, for me, was the fact that I was one of the youngest people in the audience of the Vivian Beaumont theatre that night. It felt so wonderful to be in the presence of a more mature generation that may indeed have seen the original production with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, and above all, that truly maintained respect for the theatre as a venerated art form, and not simply as entertainment. I guess what really touched me the most about this production of South Pacific was the realization that classical musical theatre and timeless talents like Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot still have a place on The Great White Way.

Fun Fact of the Day: South Pacific becomes the longest running R&H revival

Lincoln Center Theatre's 2008 revival of South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, played its final performance on August 22nd. The production was recently broadcast live as part of PBS' Great Performances series. Paulo Szot and Kelli O'Hara, the production's original Emile de Beque and Nellie Forbush returned for the final performance. This production, which ran for more than 2 years, will go down as the longest running Broadway revival of a Rogers & Hammerstein show.

Barbie's Showtune(s) of the Day #7: A South Pacific Medley

In honor of my girl Kelli O'Hara's return to South Pacific, I've chosen a medley of songs from the gorgeous revival as performed at the 2008 TONY awards. Enjoy her glorious voice and the rest of the amazing cast of South Pacific.

Barbie's Showtune of the Day #1: I Dreamed a Dream

Every day there seems to be a certain musical theatre song that gets stuck in my head so I'm planning to add a song of the day feature to my daily blogging. I will try to post a youtube link to the song when available. So without further ado, my pick of the day, Miss Patti LuPone singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Week Two Poll Results: CATS

Cats won the 2nd weekly poll by the slimmest of margins with 28% of the vote. Miss Saigon followed with 23% and Carousel received 19%. Godspell and Guys and Dolls each took 9%, Hello Dolly and Gypsy each took 4%, and Sweeney Todd finished last with zero votes.

Here are some of my casting ideas for this nonexistent upcoming revival of Cats...some are funny ideas but some are actually serious.

Old Deuteronomy-Harvey Fierstein (I just want to hear that voice singing those crazy lyrics)
Grizabella-Stephanie J Block (she recently played the role at the MUNY in St. Louis and was breathtaking)
The Rum Tum Tugger-Jonathan Groff (because he is a rock star and we love him from Glee)
Macavity-Aaron Tveit (we loved him in Next to Normal and he is just so cute)
Skimbleshanks-Wesley Taylor (we loved him in Rock of Ages and he is just precious)
Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer-My partner cartwheeling friend and myself

A Trio Of Broadway Alums Join Lincoln Center Theater's Newest Production

An announcement was just made that Broadway veterans Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sherie Rene Scott will join Lincoln Center Theater's newest production--Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The production, directed by Bartlett Sher, will begin previews at the Belasco theatre on October 2nd with an official opening date of Novemner 4th. The show features a score and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane. This casting is truly monumental, not only because LuPone and Scott were just featured in "My Fave Five Broadway Belters" list, but also because a group of actors of this caliber has not been assembled in years. Two-time TONY winner LuPone has recently been focusing on revivals, so this will be her first original role in decades. TONY-winner Mitchell also makes a return to Broadway after a several year hiatus. Two-time TONY nominee Scott is fresh off her triumphant original show Everyday Rapture and I am praying that this upcoming role may finally give her the TONY she deserves. I hear that both LuPone and Scott will be playing featured roles so without even seeing their performances or knowing the rest of the Broadway season, I predict these two Divas will battle it out for the top prize at the 2011 TONY awards.

**photo courtesy of Broadway.com