Full Article Text
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Broadway Shows , Dave Barry , New York Around Town , Peter And The
Starcatcher , Broadway , Drama , Ninth And Joanie , Off-Broadway , Peter Pan , Play ,
Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Peter and the Starcatcher
Charms Broadway; Ninth And
Joanie Never Lands Dramatically
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER *** 1/2 out of
**** NINTH AND JOANIE * out of ****
Location! Location! Location! It's not just true about real
estate. Location also matters greatly when it comes totheater. Almost every show in the world will be moreenjoyable in as small a space as possible. Obviously, a
massive musical can't be squeezed into a 50 seat Off Off Off Broadway house. So we're talking as small asis practical. But the more intimate the better. Peter and the Starcatcher was one of my favorite plays of
2011 when I saw it at the New York Theatre Workshop. It's still great fun on Broadway but I wish
everyone would have the chance to see it in a smaller setting. On the other hand, Ninth and Joanie is
playing into about as small a theater as you could ask for. But when the play is weak, all the intimacy in
the world won't help.
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER *** 1/2
BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRE
Peter Pan has a curious history. He began as a minor character in a work by J.M. Barrie and then
flourished with the charming and wildly popular stage play. But then Barrie deepened that success bysome strange alchemy: he turned the stage play back into a novel and the story of the boy who wouldn'tgrow up became a profoundly moving and funny and sad reverie for childhood and the inevitable passageinto the adult world for kids that every parent must prepare them for and anticipate and regret.
Now that journey has been turned on its head. Writers Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have spun off four
jokey, unofficial prequels to that novel; bestsellers all, but with none of the depth and insight of Barrie'sunlikely masterpiece. But their first work -- Peter and the Starcatcher -- has been turned into a stage play
with brilliant effect. So instead of a hit play becoming a genuinely great novel, we now have a hit novelbecoming a genuinely great play.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
GOP Approves Abortion Ban FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
Help Us Write 'The Words'
Quick Read | Comments (27) | 08.20.2012August 29, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 04/19/2012 3:17 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 1k
Like 13k
Like 92
Like 1k
Like 4k
Recommend 9kPolitical Hollywood Movie Trailers The Avengers Electronic Dance Music More Log in Create Account
The love that animates this adaptation by Rick Elice (so superior in every way to the book) is the love of
theater. This is a hand-made play, in which the cast of 12 play dozens and dozens of characters using themost basic of props. A simple piece of rope is held at a slant and suddenly you can see charactersheading down into the bowels of a ship. In another scene, that same piece of rope becomes roiling wavesin the sea or a window into a cabin where two lovers are wooing. A ladder playfully levitates a little girl soshe's flying, a string of flags become the mouth of a gigantic crocodile and on and on. Like The 39 Stepsand other recent works, Peter and the Starcatcher demands and rewards the intelligence and
imagination of the audience. It's so much fun, you'll wonder why anyone ever bothers with elaboratespecial effects.
The tale provides the origin story of Peter, an orphan with no name when we meet him, unless you count
"Boy" or "Friendless" as names. He and his pals are being sold into white slavery when they meet Molly,the daughter of Lord Aster. Lord Aster is on a mission for the Queen and a member of the Starcatchers, agroup devoted to making certain that "star stuff" (a material from outer space that can grant your everywish) never falls into the hands of villains. Many adventures ensue during which we see Peter get his firstname (from Black Stache, the foppish pirate) and his last name (from a fish turned into a mermaidnamed Teacher). Peter becomes a leader, Stache becomes Hook and that crocodile swallows a kitchentimer.
I've already described the playfulness of the production but I should also mention it's very much in the
spirit of British pantomimes, annual holiday shows (albeit ones that sometimes have elaborate sets andcostumes) where families see winking versions of fairy tales sprinkled with contemporary asides such as
Stache's offhand comment that star stuff was proving as "elusive as a melody in a Philip Glass opera" or
Lord Aster trying to communicate with Molly and saying, "Can you hear me now?" Combine this with
One Man, Two Guvnors and you'll have a crash course in British humor.
In a panto, the villain is lustily booed and both he and/or a major female character are played by famousmale actors. (The British do love their drag.) In another nice reversal, Peter and the Starcatcher mightjust turn Christian Borle (of TV's Smash ) into a theater star. He plays Stache/Hook with wonderful verve.
Any fears that Borle might go too far over the top on Broadway are soon allayed. Borle delivers thescenery chewing goods in a climactic scene but for most of the show he triumphs with subtle panache,albeit subtlety in the service of broad humor.
He is matched by two excellent co-stars, just as Stache needs Pan to become a great villain. Adam
Chanler-Berat presents just the right combination of defensiveness and slight befuddlement (must adultsalways lie?) that can't quite hide his innate sweetness. But the show's real secret weapon is Celia
Keenan-Bolger as our heroine Molly. She plays the plucky girl with exactly the right sort of brio and self-confidence and keeps the action centered in real human emotion. Her deadpan delivery also nails someof the best lines of the show. Little boys might fantasize about being Peter, but little girls can and shouldbecome like Molly as best they can. Every element is wonderful and the direction by Roger Rees and Alex
Timbers is a marvel.
Now here's the catch. What you've just read is mostly my original experience of seeing Peter And The
Starcatcher Off Broadway. I've just seen it again on Broadway and I wrestled whether to lower the rating
from 3 1/2 stars to just 3 stars. That seemed churlish in the face of such a charming success. But there'sno question that the experience of seeing it is lessened a tad on Broadway.
They didn't go crazy, but the set by Donyale Werle is slightly more substantial here I think, when it
wasn't necessary in the least and in fact goes against the spirit of the show. All the tech elements aresuperb -- from the pitch-perfect costumes by Paloma Young and the ever-inventive lighting by Jeff
MAP: Hurricane Isaac's Path
Aims For Gulf Coast
Isaac Balloons Into A
Hurricane, New Orleans
Threatened
The Most Awkward Wedding
Photobombs
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 7
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3Recommend 289
Recommend 697
Like 1k
Small Town Jerk
Kyra Sedgwick on "The
Possession"
Kim Kardashian Wants a
Star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame
What's Your Favorite
Michael Jackson Memory?
13 Movies That Changed
The Way We View Poverty
Madonna's Message For
Americans: 'Don't Get Fat
And Lazy'
WATCH: Raging Grannies
Have Some Words For
Todd Akin
Croiter to the sound design by Darron L. West. But I refer to the sound elements, not the sound mix. On
Broadway, playing to a larger house means more of the dialogue was a bit garbled. In the smaller setting,the show was effortless. On Broadway one must struggle a bit to follow what's being said in the busierscenes. It doesn't really matter -- you can always follow what's going on and you're just as likely to miss a
line because people are still laughing rather than acoustic issues. Further, some of the playful touches --
like the rope becoming a window into a cabin where characters are squeezed together -- seemed more
magical in the smaller setting. They still work but the charm is ever so slightly less present.
If I could take you back in time to see it in that smaller setting, would I? Absolutely. Should you go
today? Absolutely. If you missed it the first time around, catch it while you can. Arnie Burton's multiple
characters (especially Mrs. Bumbrake) are one of the highlights of the current season, as is Kevin Del
Aguila's turn as Smee. His chemistry with Borle is a key reason why Stache is such a success and defines
the very essence of good supporting work. The rest of the cast is equally hard-working and funny. This isa true ensemble. In a season of great plays -- including Tribes, Sons Of The Prophet and Clybourne Park
-- Peter And The Starcatcher still shines. Just make sure you sit as close as you can; you want to be as
near to the 'star stuff" of this cast and this production as possible.
NINTH AND JOANIE *
BANK STREET THEATER
When you're seeing a play that doesn't work, it can be exhausting. It's not like seeing a movie that
doesn't work. You're actually in the same space as actors who are struggling and giving their all. It's not
an easy task to drain your heart even when a play is good (imagine the exhaustion Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Andrew Garfield must feel every night after Death Of A Salesman ). But it's just as hard if
not harder when a play isn't working. The audience struggles to maintain focus and give the actors the
benefit of their energy and attention while the cast struggles to find a moment of grace to make theevening meaningful.
Such, unfortunately, are the thoughts that arise when seeing Ninth and Joanie , a new drama by Brett C.
Leonard. It's a dour story set in Philadelphia in 1986, where Michael (Dominic Fumusa) has sunk into
bitter despair over the death of his wife and daughter. In the first act -- which begins with anexceptionally long period of silence as characters enter and settle down for the night in a clearly familiarroutine -- we see Michael and his beaten down son Rocco (Kevin Corrigan) back from what turns out tobe the funeral of Michael's wife. His disdain for the hapless Rocco is painful, while Rocco sits aroundbruised and battered (he's gone from a fighter to a guy who just goads people to beat him up and neverhits back), playing with a Ouija board and claiming he's seen the ghost of his little sister.
Their sad dance is interrupted by the appearance of Charlie (playwright and actor Bob Glaudini), the
oldest son who got out of prison after killing the drunk driver that killed his little sister. Charlie couldn'tbring himself to attend his mother's funeral because his confession of being a killer drove her to suicide.Got all that? The daughter is killed by a drunk driver. The eldest son kills him and goes to prison. Themother slits her own throat in despair. The father, a mobbed up figure of some sort, drinks himself intooblivion and runs down everyone in sight, though that seems to have been his modus operandi evenbefore death descended on their household.
Act Two introduces us to Charlie's wife Isabella (Rosal Colon) and son (Samuel Mercedes), with the racist
Michael behaving in an entirely despicable fashion. Pretty it isn't. It's a bleak and, more to the point, anunilluminating story. Glaudini is forced to dance as fast as he can since in his brief scene he must plumbdespair and take desperate action. Corrigan is a very good actor who here spends scene after scenepathetically playing with his Ouija board or miming his old boxing moves. I long to see him in a leading
role he can shine on. Colon makes a good impression as a woman just as steely as any of the men.
Fumusa has the worst of it as the inert, unrevealing Michael. The character's just a type and Fumusa
can't bring him to life.
Director Mark Wing-Davey also struggles with a text that doesn't reward the effort, to the point where
the awkward finale didn't even seem to quite end as the lights came up and characters moved around inthe background. The show could have ended at almost any point and it wouldn't have surprised me sincethe show was going nowhere emotionally. But it's always telling when an audience isn't even certain theplay has finished.
I'm tempted to say the set design by David Meyer is the show's strongest asset. Its plastic-covered couch
and rundown flooring, the flimsy cardboard box containing the Ouija set and the bulky wooden stereoconsole all tell more of a story than the play. However, I was acutely aware of being ideally seated toappreciate it. The set features a living room and behind it a foyer and desk. When someone was in thatarea, I think many of the audience members on the sides wouldn't have a clue as to what was happening.And behind that is a window looking into a kitchen. And when a character is in there, they're completely
invisible to a good third of the audience, leaving them utterly in the dark. Maybe that's fitting, since the
heart of the play was never visible no matter where you were sitting.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four-star scale)
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Hurricane Isaac
2012
George
Zimmerman
Arizona
Politics
AP
Weird Animals
Mitt Romney
2012
Engagements
& Proposals
Climate
Change
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
feliciaday
RetweetThink on it: Cambridge scientists
say all mammals, birds, manyothers including octopi, havehuman-like consciousness.
http://t.co/aF6W2ZQh
The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs ** 1/2
All-American **
All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Assistance **
The Atmosphere Of Memory 1/2 *
Blood Knot at Signature **
Bob *** 1/2
Bonnie & Clyde feature profile of Jeremy Jordan
Broadway By The Year: 1950 ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Carrie ** 1/2
The Cherry Orchard with Dianne Wiest **
Chinglish * 1/2
Close Up Space *
Crane Story **
Cymbeline at Barrow Street Theatre ***
Damn Yankees **
Death Of A Salesman with Philip Seymour Hoffman ** 1/2
Dedalus Lounge * 1/2
Early Plays (Eugene O'Neill at St. Ann's Warehouse) *
End Of The Rainbow *
Ernani at Met w Angela Meade *** 1/2
An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin ***
Evita * 1/2
Follies *** 1/2
Fragments ***
Galileo with F. Murray Abraham **
The Gershwins' Porgy And Bess *** 1/2
Godspell ** 1/2
Goodbar * 1/2
Gore Vidal's The Best Man ** 1/2
Hair ***
Hand To God ***
Hero: The Musical * 1/2
How The World Began * 1/2
Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway ***
Hurt Village ***Irving Berlin's White Christmas ***
It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later *** 1/2
Jesus Christ Superstar * 1/2
King Lear at Public with Sam Waterston **
Krapp's Last Tape with John Hurt ***
The Lady From Dubuque ** 1/2Lake Water **
Leo ***
Love's Labor's Lost at the PublicLab ** 1/2
Lysistrata Jones *
Magic/Bird *
The Maids **
Man And Boy * 1/2
The Man Who Came To Dinner **
Maple And Vine **
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Milk Like Sugar ***
Mission Drift * 1/2
Misterman ** 1/2
The Mountaintop ** 1/2
Newsies at Papermill **
Newsies On Broadway ** 1/2
Ninth And Joanie *
No Place To Go ** 1/2
Now. Here. This. * 1/2
Painting Churches * 1/2
Peter And The Starcatcher *** 1/2
Pigpen's The Nightmare Story *** 1/2
Once *** 1/2
Once on Broadway ****
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever * 1/2
One Arm ***
Other Desert Cities on Broadway ** 1/2
Private Lives **
Queen Of The Mist ** 1/2
Radio City Christmas Spectacular ** 1/2
Regrets * 1/2
Relatively Speaking * 1/2
Richard III w Kevin Spacey at BAM ***
The Road To Mecca ** 1/2
Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History Of The Robot War ** 1/2
The Select (The Sun Also Rises) ** 1/2
Seminar **
Septimus & Clarissa *** 1/2
Shlemiel The First ** 1/2
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
69 Degrees South * 1/2
Song From The Uproar **
Sons Of The Prophet *** 1/2
Sontag: Reborn *
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays **
Stick Fly **
The Submission **
Super Night Shot ** 1/2
Sweet and Sad **
The Table ** 1/2
Titus Andronicus at Public with Jay O. Sanders * 1/2
Tribes *** 1/2
The Ugly One **
Unnatural Acts ***
Venus In Fur ***
We Live Here **
Wild Animals You Should Know ** 1/2
Wit ** 1/2
Zarkana **
NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2011
Blanche: The Bittersweet Life Of A Wild Prairie Dame *** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown ** 1/2
Crazy, Just Like Me ***
Cyclops: A Rock Opera *
Ennio: The Living Paper Cartoon ** 1/2
F---ing Hipsters **
Ghostlight **
Gotta Getta Girl ** 1/2 for staged reading
Greenwood *
Jack Perry Is Alive (And Dating) * 1/2
Kiki Baby ** 1/2
Kissless * 1/2
Madame X **
The Pigeon Boys ***
Time Between Us * 1/2
Tut **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011Araby *
The Bardy Bunch **
Books On Tape ** 1/2
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Leonard Cohen Koans *** 1/2
The More Loving One **
The Mountain Song *** 1/2
Paper Cuts ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENT
Guns N' Roses
Slash Once Caught
David...
Samuel L. Jackson:
'Unfair' Hurricane
Isaac Avoid...
'2016: Obama's
America' Fact-
Check
Rachel Weisz &
Terrence Malick: 'To
The...Pearl's Gone Blue ***
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending **
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
Yeast Nation ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
03:36 PM on 04/21/2012
You know - I don't mind a bad review, but I do mind when a critic who is given the playbill and has
supposedly seen the play gets the characters mixed up. For your information...Michael is the sonwho has been to jail and returns home and Charlie is the father whose daughter is killed and whose
wife kills herself...Like I said, don't mind a bad review, but get your facts straight..Its not that hard.
02:41 PM on 04/20/2012
Mr Glitz, you have your actors mixed up. Bob Glaudini plays the father (Charlie) and Dominic
Fumusa plays the son, Michael.
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Recency | Popularity
Andrea Wales
Permalink | Share it
Jerry Ruiz
Permalink | Share itLike 75k GET ALERTS
Comments 2 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
8 Fans
54 Fans
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost Entertainment
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theatre , Video , Neil Labute , Paul Rudnick , Edward Hibbert , Off-Broadway ,
Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: "Bullet" Shoots Blanks;
"Summer Shorts" Fall Short
SUMMER SHORTS SERIES B ** out of ****
BULLET FOR ADOLF * out of ****
SUMMER SHORTS SERIES B ** out of ****
59 E 59Theatrical shorts are a very forgiving format. When
you're seeing three or four brief plays in an evening, you're often quite friendly. You don't dread a short
play that doesn't immediately grab you -- hey, maybe it will get better and even if it doesn't, in 25minutes you'll be watching something else! Perhaps that explains why I didn't mind this slight evening ofplaylets from artists of considerable talent.
Paul Rudnick provides a monologue for the very talented Peter Bartlett called "Cabin Pressure." Bartlett
plays a flight attendant giving a speech when he receives the Medal of Freedom from the President forfoiling a terrorist. We soon learn the really annoying passenger wasn't the terrorist but a hedge fundmanager who kept being pushy and demanding and rude. We also learn our hero's partner is an out ofwork cake decorator who goes to AA and waves his hand whenever the flight attendant digresses, whichis about once or twice a sentence. Oh, there are amusing lines. Rudnick is incapable of delivering a piecewithout some amusing lines and Bartlett squeezes every bit of humor out of it with impeccable timing.Thanking this and that person and "whomever is managing Lindsay Lohan" may be sort of amusing, but
Rudnick can do this sort of thing in his sleep. And compared to his far superior work in the recent
Standing On Ceremony collection of one-acts about gay marriage, this falls short. Still, there are worse
ways of spending an evening than enjoying Bartlett nail his lines.
"Love and Real Estate" is a curious musical by two talents new to me. Sam Davis (music) is a top
arranger and conductor with some intriguing composing work under his belt (like the upcomingBunnicula .) Sean Hartley (book and lyrics) has delivered some acclaimed work I didn't get a chance to
see. This tale -- very vaguely linked to "The Three Little Pigs" -- is about three sisters who move to NewYork City and are preyed upon by a charming wolf who desires not their flesh but their fabulousapartments. (Any New Yorker can relate.) It's a rather static affair that heads exactly where you think itwill, with a capable cast. They're all overshadowed by Edward Hibbert who plays the narrator anddelivers the one distinctive number, a novelty piece called "Love and Real Estate" with his usual aplomb.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
Yahoo News Bureau Chief
Fired Shocking Romney
Comments FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
Help Us Write 'The Words'
Quick Read | Comments (27) | 08.20.2012August 30, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 08/12/2012 11:15 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 1k
Like 16k
Like 2k
Like 140
Like 375
Like 1kMovie Trailers Political Hollywood Electronic Dance Music The Avengers More Log in Create Account
"The Furies" is the final and least satisfying piece. However it also brings up the vagaries of live theater
and small spaces. For some reason, multiple audience members in the back few rows seemed to exit andenter during this piece, creating a constant source of tension and interruption. Maybe that explains whythe actors never seemed to find their rhythm in this moribund piece about an older man trying to breaksome news to an erstwhile boyfriend, who is shadowed by his angry, defiant sister. All three are distincttypes and remain exactly true to form from beginning to end. The sister (Alicia Goranson) whispers intoher brother's ear throughout until the finale where she lets loose with a long monologue about how shewill make the older man's life miserable if he's lying to them. Unfortunately, that tirade is so repetitiveand dull you don't feel the anger of a fury, just an impatience for something to happen you couldn't see a
mile off. And while one must remember the especially fidgety audience for this particular performance,
Victor Slezak as the older man was notably stumbling over his lines all night long.
And yet for all that, because it was a night of shorts and they were blessedly brief and the whole affair was
over in 90 minutes, the evening was far less of a drag than it might have been at a single show of similar
quality. A second set of shorts called Series A is also in rotation and reportedly received significantly
kinder reviews.
BULLET FOR ADOLF * out of ****
NEW WORLD STAGES
It would be nice to report that the talented performer Woody Harrelson's work as a co-writer and director
was as his good as his acting. That ain't gonna happen but as flat as this comic drama fails, it is not faint
praise to say it fails memorably and completely. It falls on its face but at least it falls rather than just
sitting there, like so many other tepid tales. And as a director, Harrelson wisely encourages his actors toact their asses off. If it isn't working, you might as well let loose and make as much noise as possible.
The story is drawn very, very loosely from his days in construction before he made it big and is co-written
with a buddy from those days, Frankie Hyman. It's set in 1983 as the pop music that blares loudlythroughout the theater before the show begins makes abundantly clear. (Again, turn it up! What thehell!) Then come a barrage of clips containing pop cultural moments and highlights of that era, rangingfrom MTV to AIDS to Ronald Reagan and so on. At first it seemed desperate. Were they that worriedwe'd forget what year the play was set? But as the show progressed, the well-chosen barrage of clipsproved the most entertaining segment so I actually looked forward to them.
The storylines hardly bear repeating since they're so confusing and convoluted. They seem like entirely
separate tales; when the characters start bumping into each other, it's almost a shock. You've got a couple
of guys working on a construction site for a dour German. One of them is fired and this dude, who insists
he be called the "Dago-Czech" and dubs himself a brother to boot, declares he will get revenge. Actor LeeOsorio plays him with red meat verve; if Harrelson told the rest to turn it up to 11, Osorio decided 22
would be twice as good. Again, why not?
Then you've got one of the construction guys with a mild history of embezzlement named Frankie. He
goes on a job interview and rather oddly starts to hit on the beautiful woman he's hoping to work for,raving about the sunset, barely bothering to describe his credentials before asking her on a date and soon. It's hard to describe how awkwardly unconvincing all this is. You think for a while they're trying for acertain tone or heightened reality or maybe Harrelson has some grander purpose, but in fact it's justweirdly off on every level. Throw in an 18 year old girl, a guy who may or may not be closeted and thatGerman's antique Luger which was used to attempt an assassination of the Fuhrer and you've gotyourself a play. Sort of. At least, the gun goes missing.
The first act ends with a frantic dinner party. Racial taunts are tossed out and dialogue is traded but none
of it makes any sense -- none of it ever does. At one point a character laments the Germans doing him
wrong and asks if it's all some sort of Teutonic plot. To which the 18 year old girl responds apropos of
nothing that he better stop treating her like a little kid. Huh? You'll be saying that a lot if you go seeBullet For Adolf .
Despite the utter lack of logic here, the actors soldier on. The women come off better than the men, withMarsha Stephanie Blake delivering some humor as the no-nonsense Shareeta. The talented ShamikaCotton (such a hateful mother in The Wire! ) has an appealing presence. And Shannon Garland almost
makes some sense out of that 18 year old kid. The men have less success, with Tyler Jacob Rollinson asFrankie and Nick Wyman as Jurgen the German coming off best. And Imaginary Media delivered thevideo montages that are peppered throughout. I didn't think I wanted to see a string of old sodacommercials, but darned if seeing Telly Savalas plug a pop didn't make me laugh.
Here's Woody Harrelson chatting about the play on The View.
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
George W. Bush All But
Erased From Republican
Convention
President Obama Holds A
Reddit 'Ask Me Anything'
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 7
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3Recommend 5k
Like 2k
Like 2k
Cheryl Cole and Will.I.Am Injured
in LA Car Crash
How Technology Helped
John Mayer Brake Up With
Katy Perry
Katy Perry Shows Off HerHot Body in Workout
Clothes For New Popchips
Campaign
Will Clint Eastwood Speak
At The RNC?
Leonardo DiCaprio Will
'Bare It All' In ‘Wolf of
Wall Street'
Slash Caught Fellow
Rocker Naked With His
Mom
Why We Aren't Playing at
the RNC
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENTTHE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2
Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Cheese
Elections 2012
Banksy
Jeb Bush
John McCain
Jan Brewer
Islam
Movies
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Like 75k GET ALERTS
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
jilevin
RetweetUnemployment In Europe ByCountry http://t.co/ckVtqKJX via
@huffingtonpost
Samuel L. Jackson:
'Unfair' Hurricane
Isaac Avoid...
Clint Eastwood &
Republican
Convention:
Conservative
Actor...
Leonardo DiCaprio
Will 'Bare It All' In...
Rachel Weisz &
Terrence Malick: 'To
The...
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentRecency | Popularity
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Bring It On , Donna Murphy , Public Theater , Bring It On The Musical , Broadway ,
Musicals , Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Bring It On Doesn't; Into
The Woods Loses Its Way
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL ** out of ****
INTO THE WOODS ** 1/2 out of ****
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL ** out of ****
ST. JAMES THEATRE
This is the show Lysistrata Jones hoped to be: a frothy
high school musical that audiences embraced. Neither show is genuinely good, but at least Bring It On is
painless in its anonymity. Plus, it can ignore brickbats since the show has just extended its "limited" run
through January of 2013.
It's based on the 2000 hit film about high school cheerleaders that rather inexplicably spawned four
direct to DVD sequels. This musical spin on the story is a mishmash of typical high school plots: ourheroine Campbell (Taylor Louderman) yearns to lead her squad to another national championship. Butredistricting forces her to switch schools in her senior year and head to the "scary" Jackson school filledwith metal detectors and crews that dance at parties but think cheerleading is lame. Campbell must makenew friends, whip stylish hip-hop dancers into savvy cheerleading professionals, win a nationalchampionship and oh my gosh, that Latino boy is really cute and I think he likes her!
Anyone who has ever watched the national cheerleading competitions on ESPN knows those kids can
wow an audience with their high flying stunts. Director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehlernaturally draws upon those stunts to send dancers flying high into the air to juice up the audience andgive a nice little spin to the typical Broadway moves. The all-star team behind the scenes includes JeffWhitty of Avenue Q on the book, Tom Kitt of Next To Normal working on the music with Lin-Manuel
Miranda of In The Heights, and Amanda Green working with Miranda on the lyrics. All pros, all with
some great credits to their name and none of it remotely reflected in the by-the-numbers material here.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Fox News: Paul Ryan's
Speech Was Full Of 'Blatant
Lies'
Paul Ryan Speech Built On
Demonstrably Misleading
Assertions
Friar Suggests Teens Seduce
Priests In A Lot Of Sex Abuse
Cases
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
Anti-Obama Signs Create
Controversy
Isaac Continues To Present
Life-Threatening Weather
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
WATCH: Why Michael Moore
Thinks Romney Will Win
9 Other Individuals,
Companies And
Organizations Besides Chick-
Fil-A That Have Funded Anti-
LGBT Politics FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
August 31, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
D.L. Hughley Dr. Dean Ornish
Cheech Marin Bill MoyersHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 107
Posted: 08/12/2012 2:42 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyRecommend 22k
Like 15k
Recommend 8k
Like 18k
Recommend 1k
Recommend 88
Like 1k
Like 2k
Like 1kMovie Trailers iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More Log in Create Account
In the spirit of cheerleading and emphasizing the positive, I'll focus on moments and performances that
worked. Miranda is probably responsible for the rare feat of bringing some modestly effective rap toBroadway -- two solos by Nicolas Womack as Twig actually have a little verve and snap. Gregory Haneymay have the awfully cliched role of the strong, no-nonsense transvestite but that doesn't him from
nailing his lines (and his dance moves) and actually delivering some genuine laughs thanks to his timing.
(However, the final, lazy gay twist -- just to titillate audiences -- is tiresome even if it does give his
character of La Cienega a kiss.) Similarly, Kate Rockwell makes the most of the one-note blonde Skylar, a
self-absorbed competitor of Campbell's.
Neil Haskell is appropriately hunky as Campbell's first boyfriend, though he's given virtually nothing to
do. Jason Gotay has a thin voice but a lot of presence that makes him appealing as Campbell's new flame.
I really disliked the written character of Bridget, the chubby kid with low self-esteem who blossoms at
the new school. But Ryann Redmond certainly tackled it unabashedly. I really can't praise TaylorLouderman, who left no impression as Campbell, but I certainly wouldn't criticize her either. The role istoo bland and filled with mushy inspirational tunes like "What I Was Born To Do" and "One PerfectMoment" to give anyone much of a chance. She certainly worked hard and smiled throughout, just like agood cheerleader
But the real find is Adrienne Warren as Danielle, the leader of the dance crew at the new school who
warily trusts Campbell. Warren has terrific presence and made her equally anonymous role a living,breathing character we immediately understood, believed in and cared about. All in all, the good castingof Rachel Hoffman and Telsey + Company are the main reason Bring It On isn't the train wreck it might
have been.
I wasn't wowed by the dance routines at the finale but they certainly incorporated what you'd expect. I
thought Blankenbuehler's most successful work was for "Friday Night Jackson." The hip hop moves werefun, a few nifty touches (like having Jason Gotay as Randall "swipe" aside dancers to get a better look atCampbell) were clever and the sight of our heroine dancing around in a leprechaun suit (a bit of hazingon the part of Danielle) was funny and offbeat. Seeing Gotay get all romantic while staring lovingly at theleprechaun mascot felt like a brief, weird moment from a very different, far more original show.
INTO THE WOODS ** 1/2 out of ****
DELACORTE THEATER IN CENTRAL PARKLet's not go overboard because of disappointment. The free plays that comprise Shakespeare in the Park
are invariably worthwhile and this production of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods is no exception.
Anyone lucky enough to wait in line or otherwise snag a ticket will get to see a fully realized productionunder the stars with top Broadway talent and some Hollywood actors enjoying a summer on-stage. Apleasant time will be had by all and you can bring the kids since it's not Macbeth we're talking about but
a musical that subverts the fairy tales we all know with wit and emotion.
Still, it's hard not to be heartbroken since the Public Theater's announcement of an open-air production
of Into The Woods had all the makings of a revelation a la Hair . That musical was an ideal combination
of setting and show and the feeling that Into The Woods might be similarly ideal was tempting. It was
overseen by director Timothy Sheader and co-director and movement director Liam Steel, who both didthe same honors for a London open air production in Regent's Park that was critically acclaimed.
In the first act we see characters from all sorts of fairy tales -- Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel,
Cinderella and so on crossing paths while pursuing their fates. At the finale, they've all reached their
dreams though we sense those dreams may prove unsatisfying. Act two shows what happens after the
"happy ever after" as the real world intrudes on a prince and his bride, a boy and his harp and a witchwho has regained her beauty and lost her power. The cast includes the great Donna Murphy as the Witch,the talented Denis O'Hare as the Baker and Hollywood's Amy Adams venturing onto the stage as his wife.What could go wrong?DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
D.L. Hughley
A Question of Legitimacy
Dr. Dean Ornish
A Radical Alternative For
Democrats And Republicans
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 6
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGESStallone's Cause of Death
Revealed
Simon Cowell To the
Rescue
Mila Kunis Shows Her BareMidriff
Country Singer Calls Clay
Aiken A Racist For RNC
Tweet
16 Celebrities Who Shill
For Politicians
Slash Caught Fellow
Rocker Naked With His
Mom
Why We Aren't Playing at
the RNC
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
aol
RetweetJoin the conversation! @huffpostlive
starts now: http://t.co/uuxI5ICg
Quite a bit actually. The scenic design by John Lee Beatty and Soutra Gilmour is a busy, heavy-handed
tree fort that looks like something out of Swiss Family Robinson . I eyed it warily and the cast must have
done the same. Entering and exiting the stage proved a laborious affair, with actors winding their way inand out of the roots of the tree, often visible by the audience long after their characters were meant to be
out of sight. Sheader seemed to have no idea what to do with it all, jamming the cast onto a narrow
stairway at one point, lining them up on another and generally making us feel the set was in the way
rather than an organic part of the world we were in.
I assume the costumes nod to the British production since the punky look of the evil stepmother and her
daughter and numerous other touches (like the garb of Little Red) have what I can only describe as a very
distinctive British take on those tropes, a sensibility I've often found rather narrow and uninteresting. The
costumer is actually Emily Rebholz who has done acclaimed work on Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jacksonand other shows and for all I know she never saw a single photo of the UK production but there you are.Even when the designs worked (such as the Witch's costume that made her seem half-tree), it's spoiledby a wig of dreadlocks by Leah Loukas that was far too much of a punchline for me. Ditto the huge pile ofhair on Adams as the Baker's wife which didn't quite hint at the heightened reality of fairy tales butmerely looked jokey. The puppetry by Rachael Canning for the giant and other bits was quite clever andeffective.
In a subtle way, the most harmful choice of all was to frame the show by having a little boy fight with his
father and then run away and spend the night in the woods. The story we see is really the made-up tale ofthat boy (an affable Jack Broderick). It's a small but devastatingly wrong-minded change. The boy takes
some dolls in hand and starts telling the tale. But as little boys will, he seems to randomly add in touches
of mayhem and destruction. The brilliance of Into The Woods was how Sondheim injected genuine
emotion and real consequences for what we blithely dismissed as fairy tales. People die in fairy tales all
the time but Sondheim forces us to confront that reality. When the Giant describes what Jack did to her
family, how he betrayed their trust, stole from them and killed her husband, you have to admit she's gotan excellent reason to want revenge.
But the little boy Narrator undercuts all that. A kid telling a made-up story might suddenly say, "And
then Godzilla showed up and trampled the village to pieces!" and gleefully smash the toys around. That'sa very different sensibility from Sondheim's desire to show these people not as puppets reenacting a fablebut flesh and blood characters who can love and die and kill and grieve over all those actions. This show'sframing device allows us to disconnect from all that -- it's just a story and their actions don't haveconsequences, they're just the whims of a boy.
Amidst all this wrong-headedness, we still have talented actors and a glorious score. The first act usually
hurtles along to its breathless conclusion, so perfectly constructed it's one of the glories of musicaltheater. This production may sort of trudge along but that can't completely undercut the beauty and
hummability of the songs. (The idea that Sondheim's scores don't deliver catchy melodies is patently
absurd and anyone who sees this show and hums "Into the woods! Into the woods! Into the woods! Iwish!' for days after can attest to it.)
O'Hare and Adams have nice chemistry as the chlldless Baker and his wife. Her voice is untutored but
pleasant and she acts her way nicely through the part. Adams has presence and charm to spare, scoringespecially when she gets to romp with one of the Princes (an amusing Ivan Hernandez). O'Hare stumblesa bit on his big solo number but the decision to cast a non-singer really hurts on the tune "No One IsAlone" with Jessie Mueller as Cinderella. That song is one of the most aching, lovely tunes imaginable. Itwas a daunting prospect to begin with for O'Hare, but the disastrous staging has him high up in a treewith Jack, miles away from Cinderella and completely out of her sight line. O'Hare must awkwardly dothe best he can while Mueller (who scores very nicely in her role) tries her best to ease him along.Standing side by side it would have been hard for O'Hare but Sheader really shouldn't have thrown moreobstacles in his way. It turns the emotional high point of the show into a flop.
Video
Celebrity
babies
Kanye West
Elections 2012
Mitt Romney
AP
Virginia
NFL
Tennis
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENTMurphy is a pro as the Witch, having fun with the comic moments, plumbing the depths of emotion for
the heartrending scenes and of course singing beautifully. She turns the 11 o'clock number "LastMidnight" (which is the one tune in the show I've never quite taken to heart; it wants too much to be an
11 o'clock number) into a peak. Conversely, I remember Gideon Glick fondly from Wild Animals You
Should Know but he doesn't strike the right note as Jack. In many ways, Jack can be the driving
character among this large cast; here he seems just one of many.
If there's a triumph, it's Sarah Stiles as Little Red, who has a blast with that giggly girl on the verge of
puberty. Her every appearance is a welcome reminder of what this show can be: not family friendly fare
as such, but a sophisticated, witty, sexy and real re-imagining of these characters from cardboard cut-
outs to flesh and blood people. I've seen the Broadway revival, this open air production, smaller takes on
it and heard for years about a potential feature film. None truly did the work justice. As for that idealperformance of Into The Woods , I'll continue to hope and say, "I wish!"
THE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2
Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Harrison, TX: Three Plays by Horton Foote ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinionmakers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment... Like 75k GET ALERTS
John Rich Calls
Clay Aiken A
Racist...
Michael Douglas As
Reagan In
'Reykavik': Can...
Chris Lighty Dead:
Hip-Hop Manager
Behind 50...
Celebrity Donations:
16 Hollywood
Heavyweights Who
Shill...
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentRecency | Popularity
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Broadway Shows , Dave Barry , New York Around Town , Peter And The
Starcatcher , Broadway , Drama , Ninth And Joanie , Off-Broadway , Peter Pan , Play ,
Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Peter and the Starcatcher
Charms Broadway; Ninth And
Joanie Never Lands Dramatically
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER *** 1/2 out of
**** NINTH AND JOANIE * out of ****
Location! Location! Location! It's not just true about real
estate. Location also matters greatly when it comes totheater. Almost every show in the world will be moreenjoyable in as small a space as possible. Obviously, a
massive musical can't be squeezed into a 50 seat Off Off Off Broadway house. So we're talking as small asis practical. But the more intimate the better. Peter and the Starcatcher was one of my favorite plays of
2011 when I saw it at the New York Theatre Workshop. It's still great fun on Broadway but I wish
everyone would have the chance to see it in a smaller setting. On the other hand, Ninth and Joanie is
playing into about as small a theater as you could ask for. But when the play is weak, all the intimacy in
the world won't help.
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER *** 1/2
BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRE
Peter Pan has a curious history. He began as a minor character in a work by J.M. Barrie and then
flourished with the charming and wildly popular stage play. But then Barrie deepened that success bysome strange alchemy: he turned the stage play back into a novel and the story of the boy who wouldn'tgrow up became a profoundly moving and funny and sad reverie for childhood and the inevitable passageinto the adult world for kids that every parent must prepare them for and anticipate and regret.
Now that journey has been turned on its head. Writers Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have spun off four
jokey, unofficial prequels to that novel; bestsellers all, but with none of the depth and insight of Barrie'sunlikely masterpiece. But their first work -- Peter and the Starcatcher -- has been turned into a stage play
with brilliant effect. So instead of a hit play becoming a genuinely great novel, we now have a hit novelbecoming a genuinely great play.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
GOP Approves Abortion Ban FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
Help Us Write 'The Words'
Quick Read | Comments (27) | 08.20.2012August 29, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 04/19/2012 3:17 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 1k
Like 13k
Like 92
Like 1k
Like 4k
Recommend 9kPolitical Hollywood Movie Trailers The Avengers Electronic Dance Music More Log in Create Account
The love that animates this adaptation by Rick Elice (so superior in every way to the book) is the love of
theater. This is a hand-made play, in which the cast of 12 play dozens and dozens of characters using themost basic of props. A simple piece of rope is held at a slant and suddenly you can see charactersheading down into the bowels of a ship. In another scene, that same piece of rope becomes roiling wavesin the sea or a window into a cabin where two lovers are wooing. A ladder playfully levitates a little girl soshe's flying, a string of flags become the mouth of a gigantic crocodile and on and on. Like The 39 Stepsand other recent works, Peter and the Starcatcher demands and rewards the intelligence and
imagination of the audience. It's so much fun, you'll wonder why anyone ever bothers with elaboratespecial effects.
The tale provides the origin story of Peter, an orphan with no name when we meet him, unless you count
"Boy" or "Friendless" as names. He and his pals are being sold into white slavery when they meet Molly,the daughter of Lord Aster. Lord Aster is on a mission for the Queen and a member of the Starcatchers, agroup devoted to making certain that "star stuff" (a material from outer space that can grant your everywish) never falls into the hands of villains. Many adventures ensue during which we see Peter get his firstname (from Black Stache, the foppish pirate) and his last name (from a fish turned into a mermaidnamed Teacher). Peter becomes a leader, Stache becomes Hook and that crocodile swallows a kitchentimer.
I've already described the playfulness of the production but I should also mention it's very much in the
spirit of British pantomimes, annual holiday shows (albeit ones that sometimes have elaborate sets andcostumes) where families see winking versions of fairy tales sprinkled with contemporary asides such as
Stache's offhand comment that star stuff was proving as "elusive as a melody in a Philip Glass opera" or
Lord Aster trying to communicate with Molly and saying, "Can you hear me now?" Combine this with
One Man, Two Guvnors and you'll have a crash course in British humor.
In a panto, the villain is lustily booed and both he and/or a major female character are played by famousmale actors. (The British do love their drag.) In another nice reversal, Peter and the Starcatcher mightjust turn Christian Borle (of TV's Smash ) into a theater star. He plays Stache/Hook with wonderful verve.
Any fears that Borle might go too far over the top on Broadway are soon allayed. Borle delivers thescenery chewing goods in a climactic scene but for most of the show he triumphs with subtle panache,albeit subtlety in the service of broad humor.
He is matched by two excellent co-stars, just as Stache needs Pan to become a great villain. Adam
Chanler-Berat presents just the right combination of defensiveness and slight befuddlement (must adultsalways lie?) that can't quite hide his innate sweetness. But the show's real secret weapon is Celia
Keenan-Bolger as our heroine Molly. She plays the plucky girl with exactly the right sort of brio and self-confidence and keeps the action centered in real human emotion. Her deadpan delivery also nails someof the best lines of the show. Little boys might fantasize about being Peter, but little girls can and shouldbecome like Molly as best they can. Every element is wonderful and the direction by Roger Rees and Alex
Timbers is a marvel.
Now here's the catch. What you've just read is mostly my original experience of seeing Peter And The
Starcatcher Off Broadway. I've just seen it again on Broadway and I wrestled whether to lower the rating
from 3 1/2 stars to just 3 stars. That seemed churlish in the face of such a charming success. But there'sno question that the experience of seeing it is lessened a tad on Broadway.
They didn't go crazy, but the set by Donyale Werle is slightly more substantial here I think, when it
wasn't necessary in the least and in fact goes against the spirit of the show. All the tech elements aresuperb -- from the pitch-perfect costumes by Paloma Young and the ever-inventive lighting by Jeff
MAP: Hurricane Isaac's Path
Aims For Gulf Coast
Isaac Balloons Into A
Hurricane, New Orleans
Threatened
The Most Awkward Wedding
Photobombs
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 7
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3Recommend 289
Recommend 697
Like 1k
Small Town Jerk
Kyra Sedgwick on "The
Possession"
Kim Kardashian Wants a
Star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame
What's Your Favorite
Michael Jackson Memory?
13 Movies That Changed
The Way We View Poverty
Madonna's Message For
Americans: 'Don't Get Fat
And Lazy'
WATCH: Raging Grannies
Have Some Words For
Todd Akin
Croiter to the sound design by Darron L. West. But I refer to the sound elements, not the sound mix. On
Broadway, playing to a larger house means more of the dialogue was a bit garbled. In the smaller setting,the show was effortless. On Broadway one must struggle a bit to follow what's being said in the busierscenes. It doesn't really matter -- you can always follow what's going on and you're just as likely to miss a
line because people are still laughing rather than acoustic issues. Further, some of the playful touches --
like the rope becoming a window into a cabin where characters are squeezed together -- seemed more
magical in the smaller setting. They still work but the charm is ever so slightly less present.
If I could take you back in time to see it in that smaller setting, would I? Absolutely. Should you go
today? Absolutely. If you missed it the first time around, catch it while you can. Arnie Burton's multiple
characters (especially Mrs. Bumbrake) are one of the highlights of the current season, as is Kevin Del
Aguila's turn as Smee. His chemistry with Borle is a key reason why Stache is such a success and defines
the very essence of good supporting work. The rest of the cast is equally hard-working and funny. This isa true ensemble. In a season of great plays -- including Tribes, Sons Of The Prophet and Clybourne Park
-- Peter And The Starcatcher still shines. Just make sure you sit as close as you can; you want to be as
near to the 'star stuff" of this cast and this production as possible.
NINTH AND JOANIE *
BANK STREET THEATER
When you're seeing a play that doesn't work, it can be exhausting. It's not like seeing a movie that
doesn't work. You're actually in the same space as actors who are struggling and giving their all. It's not
an easy task to drain your heart even when a play is good (imagine the exhaustion Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Andrew Garfield must feel every night after Death Of A Salesman ). But it's just as hard if
not harder when a play isn't working. The audience struggles to maintain focus and give the actors the
benefit of their energy and attention while the cast struggles to find a moment of grace to make theevening meaningful.
Such, unfortunately, are the thoughts that arise when seeing Ninth and Joanie , a new drama by Brett C.
Leonard. It's a dour story set in Philadelphia in 1986, where Michael (Dominic Fumusa) has sunk into
bitter despair over the death of his wife and daughter. In the first act -- which begins with anexceptionally long period of silence as characters enter and settle down for the night in a clearly familiarroutine -- we see Michael and his beaten down son Rocco (Kevin Corrigan) back from what turns out tobe the funeral of Michael's wife. His disdain for the hapless Rocco is painful, while Rocco sits aroundbruised and battered (he's gone from a fighter to a guy who just goads people to beat him up and neverhits back), playing with a Ouija board and claiming he's seen the ghost of his little sister.
Their sad dance is interrupted by the appearance of Charlie (playwright and actor Bob Glaudini), the
oldest son who got out of prison after killing the drunk driver that killed his little sister. Charlie couldn'tbring himself to attend his mother's funeral because his confession of being a killer drove her to suicide.Got all that? The daughter is killed by a drunk driver. The eldest son kills him and goes to prison. Themother slits her own throat in despair. The father, a mobbed up figure of some sort, drinks himself intooblivion and runs down everyone in sight, though that seems to have been his modus operandi evenbefore death descended on their household.
Act Two introduces us to Charlie's wife Isabella (Rosal Colon) and son (Samuel Mercedes), with the racist
Michael behaving in an entirely despicable fashion. Pretty it isn't. It's a bleak and, more to the point, anunilluminating story. Glaudini is forced to dance as fast as he can since in his brief scene he must plumbdespair and take desperate action. Corrigan is a very good actor who here spends scene after scenepathetically playing with his Ouija board or miming his old boxing moves. I long to see him in a leading
role he can shine on. Colon makes a good impression as a woman just as steely as any of the men.
Fumusa has the worst of it as the inert, unrevealing Michael. The character's just a type and Fumusa
can't bring him to life.
Director Mark Wing-Davey also struggles with a text that doesn't reward the effort, to the point where
the awkward finale didn't even seem to quite end as the lights came up and characters moved around inthe background. The show could have ended at almost any point and it wouldn't have surprised me sincethe show was going nowhere emotionally. But it's always telling when an audience isn't even certain theplay has finished.
I'm tempted to say the set design by David Meyer is the show's strongest asset. Its plastic-covered couch
and rundown flooring, the flimsy cardboard box containing the Ouija set and the bulky wooden stereoconsole all tell more of a story than the play. However, I was acutely aware of being ideally seated toappreciate it. The set features a living room and behind it a foyer and desk. When someone was in thatarea, I think many of the audience members on the sides wouldn't have a clue as to what was happening.And behind that is a window looking into a kitchen. And when a character is in there, they're completely
invisible to a good third of the audience, leaving them utterly in the dark. Maybe that's fitting, since the
heart of the play was never visible no matter where you were sitting.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four-star scale)
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Hurricane Isaac
2012
George
Zimmerman
Arizona
Politics
AP
Weird Animals
Mitt Romney
2012
Engagements
& Proposals
Climate
Change
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
feliciaday
RetweetThink on it: Cambridge scientists
say all mammals, birds, manyothers including octopi, havehuman-like consciousness.
http://t.co/aF6W2ZQh
The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs ** 1/2
All-American **
All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Assistance **
The Atmosphere Of Memory 1/2 *
Blood Knot at Signature **
Bob *** 1/2
Bonnie & Clyde feature profile of Jeremy Jordan
Broadway By The Year: 1950 ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Carrie ** 1/2
The Cherry Orchard with Dianne Wiest **
Chinglish * 1/2
Close Up Space *
Crane Story **
Cymbeline at Barrow Street Theatre ***
Damn Yankees **
Death Of A Salesman with Philip Seymour Hoffman ** 1/2
Dedalus Lounge * 1/2
Early Plays (Eugene O'Neill at St. Ann's Warehouse) *
End Of The Rainbow *
Ernani at Met w Angela Meade *** 1/2
An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin ***
Evita * 1/2
Follies *** 1/2
Fragments ***
Galileo with F. Murray Abraham **
The Gershwins' Porgy And Bess *** 1/2
Godspell ** 1/2
Goodbar * 1/2
Gore Vidal's The Best Man ** 1/2
Hair ***
Hand To God ***
Hero: The Musical * 1/2
How The World Began * 1/2
Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway ***
Hurt Village ***Irving Berlin's White Christmas ***
It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later *** 1/2
Jesus Christ Superstar * 1/2
King Lear at Public with Sam Waterston **
Krapp's Last Tape with John Hurt ***
The Lady From Dubuque ** 1/2Lake Water **
Leo ***
Love's Labor's Lost at the PublicLab ** 1/2
Lysistrata Jones *
Magic/Bird *
The Maids **
Man And Boy * 1/2
The Man Who Came To Dinner **
Maple And Vine **
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Milk Like Sugar ***
Mission Drift * 1/2
Misterman ** 1/2
The Mountaintop ** 1/2
Newsies at Papermill **
Newsies On Broadway ** 1/2
Ninth And Joanie *
No Place To Go ** 1/2
Now. Here. This. * 1/2
Painting Churches * 1/2
Peter And The Starcatcher *** 1/2
Pigpen's The Nightmare Story *** 1/2
Once *** 1/2
Once on Broadway ****
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever * 1/2
One Arm ***
Other Desert Cities on Broadway ** 1/2
Private Lives **
Queen Of The Mist ** 1/2
Radio City Christmas Spectacular ** 1/2
Regrets * 1/2
Relatively Speaking * 1/2
Richard III w Kevin Spacey at BAM ***
The Road To Mecca ** 1/2
Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History Of The Robot War ** 1/2
The Select (The Sun Also Rises) ** 1/2
Seminar **
Septimus & Clarissa *** 1/2
Shlemiel The First ** 1/2
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
69 Degrees South * 1/2
Song From The Uproar **
Sons Of The Prophet *** 1/2
Sontag: Reborn *
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays **
Stick Fly **
The Submission **
Super Night Shot ** 1/2
Sweet and Sad **
The Table ** 1/2
Titus Andronicus at Public with Jay O. Sanders * 1/2
Tribes *** 1/2
The Ugly One **
Unnatural Acts ***
Venus In Fur ***
We Live Here **
Wild Animals You Should Know ** 1/2
Wit ** 1/2
Zarkana **
NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL 2011
Blanche: The Bittersweet Life Of A Wild Prairie Dame *** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown ** 1/2
Crazy, Just Like Me ***
Cyclops: A Rock Opera *
Ennio: The Living Paper Cartoon ** 1/2
F---ing Hipsters **
Ghostlight **
Gotta Getta Girl ** 1/2 for staged reading
Greenwood *
Jack Perry Is Alive (And Dating) * 1/2
Kiki Baby ** 1/2
Kissless * 1/2
Madame X **
The Pigeon Boys ***
Time Between Us * 1/2
Tut **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011Araby *
The Bardy Bunch **
Books On Tape ** 1/2
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Leonard Cohen Koans *** 1/2
The More Loving One **
The Mountain Song *** 1/2
Paper Cuts ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENT
Guns N' Roses
Slash Once Caught
David...
Samuel L. Jackson:
'Unfair' Hurricane
Isaac Avoid...
'2016: Obama's
America' Fact-
Check
Rachel Weisz &
Terrence Malick: 'To
The...Pearl's Gone Blue ***
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending **
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
Yeast Nation ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
03:36 PM on 04/21/2012
You know - I don't mind a bad review, but I do mind when a critic who is given the playbill and has
supposedly seen the play gets the characters mixed up. For your information...Michael is the sonwho has been to jail and returns home and Charlie is the father whose daughter is killed and whose
wife kills herself...Like I said, don't mind a bad review, but get your facts straight..Its not that hard.
02:41 PM on 04/20/2012
Mr Glitz, you have your actors mixed up. Bob Glaudini plays the father (Charlie) and Dominic
Fumusa plays the son, Michael.
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Recency | Popularity
Andrea Wales
Permalink | Share it
Jerry Ruiz
Permalink | Share itLike 75k GET ALERTS
Comments 2 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
8 Fans
54 Fans
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost Entertainment
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theatre , Video , Neil Labute , Paul Rudnick , Edward Hibbert , Off-Broadway ,
Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: "Bullet" Shoots Blanks;
"Summer Shorts" Fall Short
SUMMER SHORTS SERIES B ** out of ****
BULLET FOR ADOLF * out of ****
SUMMER SHORTS SERIES B ** out of ****
59 E 59Theatrical shorts are a very forgiving format. When
you're seeing three or four brief plays in an evening, you're often quite friendly. You don't dread a short
play that doesn't immediately grab you -- hey, maybe it will get better and even if it doesn't, in 25minutes you'll be watching something else! Perhaps that explains why I didn't mind this slight evening ofplaylets from artists of considerable talent.
Paul Rudnick provides a monologue for the very talented Peter Bartlett called "Cabin Pressure." Bartlett
plays a flight attendant giving a speech when he receives the Medal of Freedom from the President forfoiling a terrorist. We soon learn the really annoying passenger wasn't the terrorist but a hedge fundmanager who kept being pushy and demanding and rude. We also learn our hero's partner is an out ofwork cake decorator who goes to AA and waves his hand whenever the flight attendant digresses, whichis about once or twice a sentence. Oh, there are amusing lines. Rudnick is incapable of delivering a piecewithout some amusing lines and Bartlett squeezes every bit of humor out of it with impeccable timing.Thanking this and that person and "whomever is managing Lindsay Lohan" may be sort of amusing, but
Rudnick can do this sort of thing in his sleep. And compared to his far superior work in the recent
Standing On Ceremony collection of one-acts about gay marriage, this falls short. Still, there are worse
ways of spending an evening than enjoying Bartlett nail his lines.
"Love and Real Estate" is a curious musical by two talents new to me. Sam Davis (music) is a top
arranger and conductor with some intriguing composing work under his belt (like the upcomingBunnicula .) Sean Hartley (book and lyrics) has delivered some acclaimed work I didn't get a chance to
see. This tale -- very vaguely linked to "The Three Little Pigs" -- is about three sisters who move to NewYork City and are preyed upon by a charming wolf who desires not their flesh but their fabulousapartments. (Any New Yorker can relate.) It's a rather static affair that heads exactly where you think itwill, with a capable cast. They're all overshadowed by Edward Hibbert who plays the narrator anddelivers the one distinctive number, a novelty piece called "Love and Real Estate" with his usual aplomb.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
PHOTO: The Queen Rolls In A
Range Rover Wearing A
Hoodie
RPatz Agrees To Meet KStew
But Is Selling Their Home
Slash Caught Fellow Rocker
Naked With His Mom
Yahoo News Bureau Chief
Fired Shocking Romney
Comments FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
Help Us Write 'The Words'
Quick Read | Comments (27) | 08.20.2012August 30, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
Bill Moyers Dean Baker
John Hillcoat Bobby BowdenHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 102
Posted: 08/12/2012 11:15 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storySPONSOR GENERATED POST
Like 1k
Like 16k
Like 2k
Like 140
Like 375
Like 1kMovie Trailers Political Hollywood Electronic Dance Music The Avengers More Log in Create Account
"The Furies" is the final and least satisfying piece. However it also brings up the vagaries of live theater
and small spaces. For some reason, multiple audience members in the back few rows seemed to exit andenter during this piece, creating a constant source of tension and interruption. Maybe that explains whythe actors never seemed to find their rhythm in this moribund piece about an older man trying to breaksome news to an erstwhile boyfriend, who is shadowed by his angry, defiant sister. All three are distincttypes and remain exactly true to form from beginning to end. The sister (Alicia Goranson) whispers intoher brother's ear throughout until the finale where she lets loose with a long monologue about how shewill make the older man's life miserable if he's lying to them. Unfortunately, that tirade is so repetitiveand dull you don't feel the anger of a fury, just an impatience for something to happen you couldn't see a
mile off. And while one must remember the especially fidgety audience for this particular performance,
Victor Slezak as the older man was notably stumbling over his lines all night long.
And yet for all that, because it was a night of shorts and they were blessedly brief and the whole affair was
over in 90 minutes, the evening was far less of a drag than it might have been at a single show of similar
quality. A second set of shorts called Series A is also in rotation and reportedly received significantly
kinder reviews.
BULLET FOR ADOLF * out of ****
NEW WORLD STAGES
It would be nice to report that the talented performer Woody Harrelson's work as a co-writer and director
was as his good as his acting. That ain't gonna happen but as flat as this comic drama fails, it is not faint
praise to say it fails memorably and completely. It falls on its face but at least it falls rather than just
sitting there, like so many other tepid tales. And as a director, Harrelson wisely encourages his actors toact their asses off. If it isn't working, you might as well let loose and make as much noise as possible.
The story is drawn very, very loosely from his days in construction before he made it big and is co-written
with a buddy from those days, Frankie Hyman. It's set in 1983 as the pop music that blares loudlythroughout the theater before the show begins makes abundantly clear. (Again, turn it up! What thehell!) Then come a barrage of clips containing pop cultural moments and highlights of that era, rangingfrom MTV to AIDS to Ronald Reagan and so on. At first it seemed desperate. Were they that worriedwe'd forget what year the play was set? But as the show progressed, the well-chosen barrage of clipsproved the most entertaining segment so I actually looked forward to them.
The storylines hardly bear repeating since they're so confusing and convoluted. They seem like entirely
separate tales; when the characters start bumping into each other, it's almost a shock. You've got a couple
of guys working on a construction site for a dour German. One of them is fired and this dude, who insists
he be called the "Dago-Czech" and dubs himself a brother to boot, declares he will get revenge. Actor LeeOsorio plays him with red meat verve; if Harrelson told the rest to turn it up to 11, Osorio decided 22
would be twice as good. Again, why not?
Then you've got one of the construction guys with a mild history of embezzlement named Frankie. He
goes on a job interview and rather oddly starts to hit on the beautiful woman he's hoping to work for,raving about the sunset, barely bothering to describe his credentials before asking her on a date and soon. It's hard to describe how awkwardly unconvincing all this is. You think for a while they're trying for acertain tone or heightened reality or maybe Harrelson has some grander purpose, but in fact it's justweirdly off on every level. Throw in an 18 year old girl, a guy who may or may not be closeted and thatGerman's antique Luger which was used to attempt an assassination of the Fuhrer and you've gotyourself a play. Sort of. At least, the gun goes missing.
The first act ends with a frantic dinner party. Racial taunts are tossed out and dialogue is traded but none
of it makes any sense -- none of it ever does. At one point a character laments the Germans doing him
wrong and asks if it's all some sort of Teutonic plot. To which the 18 year old girl responds apropos of
nothing that he better stop treating her like a little kid. Huh? You'll be saying that a lot if you go seeBullet For Adolf .
Despite the utter lack of logic here, the actors soldier on. The women come off better than the men, withMarsha Stephanie Blake delivering some humor as the no-nonsense Shareeta. The talented ShamikaCotton (such a hateful mother in The Wire! ) has an appealing presence. And Shannon Garland almost
makes some sense out of that 18 year old kid. The men have less success, with Tyler Jacob Rollinson asFrankie and Nick Wyman as Jurgen the German coming off best. And Imaginary Media delivered thevideo montages that are peppered throughout. I didn't think I wanted to see a string of old sodacommercials, but darned if seeing Telly Savalas plug a pop didn't make me laugh.
Here's Woody Harrelson chatting about the play on The View.
Deaf Boy Asked To Make
Controversial Change (VIDEO)
George W. Bush All But
Erased From Republican
Convention
President Obama Holds A
Reddit 'Ask Me Anything'
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Bill Moyers
WATCH: Both Parties Give
Invisible Americans the Silent
Treatment
Dean Baker
Poverty: The New Growth Industry
in America
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 7
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3Recommend 5k
Like 2k
Like 2k
Cheryl Cole and Will.I.Am Injured
in LA Car Crash
How Technology Helped
John Mayer Brake Up With
Katy Perry
Katy Perry Shows Off HerHot Body in Workout
Clothes For New Popchips
Campaign
Will Clint Eastwood Speak
At The RNC?
Leonardo DiCaprio Will
'Bare It All' In ‘Wolf of
Wall Street'
Slash Caught Fellow
Rocker Naked With His
Mom
Why We Aren't Playing at
the RNC
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENTTHE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2
Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Celebrity
babies
Cheese
Elections 2012
Banksy
Jeb Bush
John McCain
Jan Brewer
Islam
Movies
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
Like 75k GET ALERTS
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
jilevin
RetweetUnemployment In Europe ByCountry http://t.co/ckVtqKJX via
@huffingtonpost
Samuel L. Jackson:
'Unfair' Hurricane
Isaac Avoid...
Clint Eastwood &
Republican
Convention:
Conservative
Actor...
Leonardo DiCaprio
Will 'Bare It All' In...
Rachel Weisz &
Terrence Malick: 'To
The...
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentRecency | Popularity
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All
Entertainment
Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from
HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Video , Bring It On , Donna Murphy , Public Theater , Bring It On The Musical , Broadway ,
Musicals , Entertainment NewsReact
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: Bring It On Doesn't; Into
The Woods Loses Its Way
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL ** out of ****
INTO THE WOODS ** 1/2 out of ****
BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL ** out of ****
ST. JAMES THEATRE
This is the show Lysistrata Jones hoped to be: a frothy
high school musical that audiences embraced. Neither show is genuinely good, but at least Bring It On is
painless in its anonymity. Plus, it can ignore brickbats since the show has just extended its "limited" run
through January of 2013.
It's based on the 2000 hit film about high school cheerleaders that rather inexplicably spawned four
direct to DVD sequels. This musical spin on the story is a mishmash of typical high school plots: ourheroine Campbell (Taylor Louderman) yearns to lead her squad to another national championship. Butredistricting forces her to switch schools in her senior year and head to the "scary" Jackson school filledwith metal detectors and crews that dance at parties but think cheerleading is lame. Campbell must makenew friends, whip stylish hip-hop dancers into savvy cheerleading professionals, win a nationalchampionship and oh my gosh, that Latino boy is really cute and I think he likes her!
Anyone who has ever watched the national cheerleading competitions on ESPN knows those kids can
wow an audience with their high flying stunts. Director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehlernaturally draws upon those stunts to send dancers flying high into the air to juice up the audience andgive a nice little spin to the typical Broadway moves. The all-star team behind the scenes includes JeffWhitty of Avenue Q on the book, Tom Kitt of Next To Normal working on the music with Lin-Manuel
Miranda of In The Heights, and Amanda Green working with Miranda on the lyrics. All pros, all with
some great credits to their name and none of it remotely reflected in the by-the-numbers material here.MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Fox News: Paul Ryan's
Speech Was Full Of 'Blatant
Lies'
Paul Ryan Speech Built On
Demonstrably Misleading
Assertions
Friar Suggests Teens Seduce
Priests In A Lot Of Sex Abuse
Cases
Republican Attendees Thrown
Out After Racist Attack On
CNN Worker
Anti-Obama Signs Create
Controversy
Isaac Continues To Present
Life-Threatening Weather
Chipotle Busted For Cheating
Customers Out Of Pennies
WATCH: Why Michael Moore
Thinks Romney Will Win
9 Other Individuals,
Companies And
Organizations Besides Chick-
Fil-A That Have Funded Anti-
LGBT Politics FOLLOW USCelebrity TV Political Hollywood Features Hollywood Buzz Videos
August 31, 2012
Edition: U.S.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA CELEBRITY TV COMEDY FOOD STYLE ARTS BOOKS LIVE ALL SECTIONS
D.L. Hughley Dr. Dean Ornish
Cheech Marin Bill MoyersHOT ON THE BLOG
HuffPost Social Reading
Like 107
Posted: 08/12/2012 2:42 pm
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyRecommend 22k
Like 15k
Recommend 8k
Like 18k
Recommend 1k
Recommend 88
Like 1k
Like 2k
Like 1kMovie Trailers iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More Log in Create Account
In the spirit of cheerleading and emphasizing the positive, I'll focus on moments and performances that
worked. Miranda is probably responsible for the rare feat of bringing some modestly effective rap toBroadway -- two solos by Nicolas Womack as Twig actually have a little verve and snap. Gregory Haneymay have the awfully cliched role of the strong, no-nonsense transvestite but that doesn't him from
nailing his lines (and his dance moves) and actually delivering some genuine laughs thanks to his timing.
(However, the final, lazy gay twist -- just to titillate audiences -- is tiresome even if it does give his
character of La Cienega a kiss.) Similarly, Kate Rockwell makes the most of the one-note blonde Skylar, a
self-absorbed competitor of Campbell's.
Neil Haskell is appropriately hunky as Campbell's first boyfriend, though he's given virtually nothing to
do. Jason Gotay has a thin voice but a lot of presence that makes him appealing as Campbell's new flame.
I really disliked the written character of Bridget, the chubby kid with low self-esteem who blossoms at
the new school. But Ryann Redmond certainly tackled it unabashedly. I really can't praise TaylorLouderman, who left no impression as Campbell, but I certainly wouldn't criticize her either. The role istoo bland and filled with mushy inspirational tunes like "What I Was Born To Do" and "One PerfectMoment" to give anyone much of a chance. She certainly worked hard and smiled throughout, just like agood cheerleader
But the real find is Adrienne Warren as Danielle, the leader of the dance crew at the new school who
warily trusts Campbell. Warren has terrific presence and made her equally anonymous role a living,breathing character we immediately understood, believed in and cared about. All in all, the good castingof Rachel Hoffman and Telsey + Company are the main reason Bring It On isn't the train wreck it might
have been.
I wasn't wowed by the dance routines at the finale but they certainly incorporated what you'd expect. I
thought Blankenbuehler's most successful work was for "Friday Night Jackson." The hip hop moves werefun, a few nifty touches (like having Jason Gotay as Randall "swipe" aside dancers to get a better look atCampbell) were clever and the sight of our heroine dancing around in a leprechaun suit (a bit of hazingon the part of Danielle) was funny and offbeat. Seeing Gotay get all romantic while staring lovingly at theleprechaun mascot felt like a brief, weird moment from a very different, far more original show.
INTO THE WOODS ** 1/2 out of ****
DELACORTE THEATER IN CENTRAL PARKLet's not go overboard because of disappointment. The free plays that comprise Shakespeare in the Park
are invariably worthwhile and this production of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods is no exception.
Anyone lucky enough to wait in line or otherwise snag a ticket will get to see a fully realized productionunder the stars with top Broadway talent and some Hollywood actors enjoying a summer on-stage. Apleasant time will be had by all and you can bring the kids since it's not Macbeth we're talking about but
a musical that subverts the fairy tales we all know with wit and emotion.
Still, it's hard not to be heartbroken since the Public Theater's announcement of an open-air production
of Into The Woods had all the makings of a revelation a la Hair . That musical was an ideal combination
of setting and show and the feeling that Into The Woods might be similarly ideal was tempting. It was
overseen by director Timothy Sheader and co-director and movement director Liam Steel, who both didthe same honors for a London open air production in Regent's Park that was critically acclaimed.
In the first act we see characters from all sorts of fairy tales -- Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel,
Cinderella and so on crossing paths while pursuing their fates. At the finale, they've all reached their
dreams though we sense those dreams may prove unsatisfying. Act two shows what happens after the
"happy ever after" as the real world intrudes on a prince and his bride, a boy and his harp and a witchwho has regained her beauty and lost her power. The cast includes the great Donna Murphy as the Witch,the talented Denis O'Hare as the Baker and Hollywood's Amy Adams venturing onto the stage as his wife.What could go wrong?DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
D.L. Hughley
A Question of Legitimacy
Dr. Dean Ornish
A Radical Alternative For
Democrats And Republicans
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 6
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGESStallone's Cause of Death
Revealed
Simon Cowell To the
Rescue
Mila Kunis Shows Her BareMidriff
Country Singer Calls Clay
Aiken A Racist For RNC
Tweet
16 Celebrities Who Shill
For Politicians
Slash Caught Fellow
Rocker Naked With His
Mom
Why We Aren't Playing at
the RNC
ricky_martin
RetweetMake Room for (the New) Daddy
http://t.co/Q6eIDokm via
@huffingtonpost
aol
RetweetJoin the conversation! @huffpostlive
starts now: http://t.co/uuxI5ICg
Quite a bit actually. The scenic design by John Lee Beatty and Soutra Gilmour is a busy, heavy-handed
tree fort that looks like something out of Swiss Family Robinson . I eyed it warily and the cast must have
done the same. Entering and exiting the stage proved a laborious affair, with actors winding their way inand out of the roots of the tree, often visible by the audience long after their characters were meant to be
out of sight. Sheader seemed to have no idea what to do with it all, jamming the cast onto a narrow
stairway at one point, lining them up on another and generally making us feel the set was in the way
rather than an organic part of the world we were in.
I assume the costumes nod to the British production since the punky look of the evil stepmother and her
daughter and numerous other touches (like the garb of Little Red) have what I can only describe as a very
distinctive British take on those tropes, a sensibility I've often found rather narrow and uninteresting. The
costumer is actually Emily Rebholz who has done acclaimed work on Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jacksonand other shows and for all I know she never saw a single photo of the UK production but there you are.Even when the designs worked (such as the Witch's costume that made her seem half-tree), it's spoiledby a wig of dreadlocks by Leah Loukas that was far too much of a punchline for me. Ditto the huge pile ofhair on Adams as the Baker's wife which didn't quite hint at the heightened reality of fairy tales butmerely looked jokey. The puppetry by Rachael Canning for the giant and other bits was quite clever andeffective.
In a subtle way, the most harmful choice of all was to frame the show by having a little boy fight with his
father and then run away and spend the night in the woods. The story we see is really the made-up tale ofthat boy (an affable Jack Broderick). It's a small but devastatingly wrong-minded change. The boy takes
some dolls in hand and starts telling the tale. But as little boys will, he seems to randomly add in touches
of mayhem and destruction. The brilliance of Into The Woods was how Sondheim injected genuine
emotion and real consequences for what we blithely dismissed as fairy tales. People die in fairy tales all
the time but Sondheim forces us to confront that reality. When the Giant describes what Jack did to her
family, how he betrayed their trust, stole from them and killed her husband, you have to admit she's gotan excellent reason to want revenge.
But the little boy Narrator undercuts all that. A kid telling a made-up story might suddenly say, "And
then Godzilla showed up and trampled the village to pieces!" and gleefully smash the toys around. That'sa very different sensibility from Sondheim's desire to show these people not as puppets reenacting a fablebut flesh and blood characters who can love and die and kill and grieve over all those actions. This show'sframing device allows us to disconnect from all that -- it's just a story and their actions don't haveconsequences, they're just the whims of a boy.
Amidst all this wrong-headedness, we still have talented actors and a glorious score. The first act usually
hurtles along to its breathless conclusion, so perfectly constructed it's one of the glories of musicaltheater. This production may sort of trudge along but that can't completely undercut the beauty and
hummability of the songs. (The idea that Sondheim's scores don't deliver catchy melodies is patently
absurd and anyone who sees this show and hums "Into the woods! Into the woods! Into the woods! Iwish!' for days after can attest to it.)
O'Hare and Adams have nice chemistry as the chlldless Baker and his wife. Her voice is untutored but
pleasant and she acts her way nicely through the part. Adams has presence and charm to spare, scoringespecially when she gets to romp with one of the Princes (an amusing Ivan Hernandez). O'Hare stumblesa bit on his big solo number but the decision to cast a non-singer really hurts on the tune "No One IsAlone" with Jessie Mueller as Cinderella. That song is one of the most aching, lovely tunes imaginable. Itwas a daunting prospect to begin with for O'Hare, but the disastrous staging has him high up in a treewith Jack, miles away from Cinderella and completely out of her sight line. O'Hare must awkwardly dothe best he can while Mueller (who scores very nicely in her role) tries her best to ease him along.Standing side by side it would have been hard for O'Hare but Sheader really shouldn't have thrown moreobstacles in his way. It turns the emotional high point of the show into a flop.
Video
Celebrity
babies
Kanye West
Elections 2012
Mitt Romney
AP
Virginia
NFL
Tennis
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
FOLLOW ENTERTAINMENTMurphy is a pro as the Witch, having fun with the comic moments, plumbing the depths of emotion for
the heartrending scenes and of course singing beautifully. She turns the 11 o'clock number "LastMidnight" (which is the one tune in the show I've never quite taken to heart; it wants too much to be an
11 o'clock number) into a peak. Conversely, I remember Gideon Glick fondly from Wild Animals You
Should Know but he doesn't strike the right note as Jack. In many ways, Jack can be the driving
character among this large cast; here he seems just one of many.
If there's a triumph, it's Sarah Stiles as Little Red, who has a blast with that giggly girl on the verge of
puberty. Her every appearance is a welcome reminder of what this show can be: not family friendly fare
as such, but a sophisticated, witty, sexy and real re-imagining of these characters from cardboard cut-
outs to flesh and blood people. I've seen the Broadway revival, this open air production, smaller takes on
it and heard for years about a potential feature film. None truly did the work justice. As for that idealperformance of Into The Woods , I'll continue to hope and say, "I wish!"
THE THEATER SEASON 2012-2013 (on a four star scale)
As You Like it (Shakespeare In The Park w Lily Rabe) ****
Chimichangas And Zoloft *
Closer Than Ever ***
Cock ** 1/2
Harvey with Jim Parsons *
My Children! My Africa! ***
Once On This Island ***
Potted Potter *
Storefront Church ** 1/2
Title And Deed ***
Picture Incomplete (NYMF) **
Flambe Dreams (NYMF) **
Rio (NYMF) **
The Two Month Rule (NYMF) *
Trouble (NYMF) ** 1/2
Stealing Time (NYMF) **
Requiem For A Lost Girl (NYMF) ** 1/2
Re-Animator The Musical (NYMF) ***
Baby Case (NYMF) ** 1/2
How Deep Is The Ocean (NYMF) ** 1/2
Central Avenue Breakdown (NYMF) ***
Foreverman (NYMF) * 1/2
Swing State (NYMF) * 1/2
Stand Tall: A Rock Musical (NYMF) * 1/2
Living With Henry (NYMF) *
A Letter To Harvey Milk (NYMF) ** 1/2
The Last Smoker In America **
Gore Vidal's The Best Man (w new cast) ***
Into The Woods at Delacorte ** 1/2
Bring It On: The Musical **
Bullet For Adolf *
Harrison, TX: Three Plays by Horton Foote ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinionmakers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be
writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment... Like 75k GET ALERTS
John Rich Calls
Clay Aiken A
Racist...
Michael Douglas As
Reagan In
'Reykavik': Can...
Chris Lighty Dead:
Hip-Hop Manager
Behind 50...
Celebrity Donations:
16 Hollywood
Heavyweights Who
Shill...
Advertise | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | About Our Ads | Contact Us
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of AOL-HuffPost EntertainmentRecency | Popularity
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0 View FAQ
Post Comment Preview Comment
Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter.
Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr.To reply to a Comment: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the
comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly
underneath the comment you replied to.
Share your Comment:
View All