Full Article Text

Theater:  Venice   Underwater;  A  Few
Reasons  to  Be  Happy
VENICE no stars out of ****
REASONS  TO  BE  HAPPY ** out of ****
VENICE no stars out of ****
PUBLIC  THEATER
Contrary to popular belief, it's no fun writing a negative review. It's a lot more fun to come
out of a show bristling with excitement over talented performers and behind the scenescreative types whose work you're certain you'll be watching for years to come. Nothing like
that happens at Venice , an incomprehensible mess of a show with a hackneyed plot,
characters that don't maintain a shred of consistency from one scene to the next and
relentlessly bad hip-hop lyrics.
The ringleader is the Clown MC, played by Matt Sax, who you feel sorry for until you
realize he wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with director Eric Rosen, who alsowrote the book. Sax struts around the stage like a peacock, flicking his hands this way andthat with dramatic gestures as if he's in on the birth of Rent or In  The  Heights, despite
delivering lyrics like, "Night blankets the sky/And ghosts roam the streets where theynever quite died/ Meanwhile -- all alone -- /A story unfolds for the very first time/ On theeve of the turning tide/ Let's spy -- and see their history come to life." That's a very typicalsample of the generic lyrics that combine cliches like "turning tide" with nonsensical ideas(ghosts that never died?) and awkward rhymes, all delivered in a bland rap style.
At least Sax seems somewhat comfortable in that genre. Most of the actors on stage are far
less fluid in their rapping and the desire to belt out Broadway style comes over them fromtime to time. It doesn't help that they're trying to deliver bad hip-hop, mind you, amidst astory that makes no sense.
It's sort of Othello crossed with post 9-11 NYC. Venice is a generic city state that has been
in a military lockdown since a terrorist attack 20 years ago. The 1%ers have fled to a safe
zone ever since while the masses live under the boot heel of the military and privatecontractors led by Theodore Westbrook (Jonathan-David). All the main characters are thechildren of iconic figures. Westbrook is the son of the cruel figure of power hated by thepeople. Our hero Venice Monroe (Haaz Sleiman) confusingly has the same name as thecountry; he's the son (a child of rape) of a woman who called the people to resist and fightfor freedom.May 9, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view »
Posted: 06/14/2013 9:07 am
Both hunky young men are attracted to Willow (Jennifer Damiano), a girl so earnest and
pure you know immediately she'll be martyred before the night is over. She's engaged to
marry Westbrook but has always loved Venice -- both the man and the city; it really is
annoying that you have to parse which one people are referring to throughout the night.
She runs away from the safe zone, reunites with her childhood love and they pledge to get
married.
The sight of the two young people uniting will apparently be enough to overthrow the
military industrial complex once and for all. Enter our Iago, the half-brother of Venice
and General of the military named Markos Monroe (Leslie Odom, Jr.). Markos plots to
undermine one or both men, perhaps angling to make sure he's in favor with whomever
wins or maybe just waiting to seize power himself.
Sax and Rosen struggle and fail to maintain any coherence from scene to scene. Willow
left when she was 7 years old but immediately recognizes the General's wife, god knows
how. Westbrook has been a cruel leader for years and represents everything Willow has
risked her life to destroy once and for all but blandly tells Venice "he's my friend!" Um,
why?
A Beyonce-like pop star named Hailey Daisy (Angela Polk) has slept her way through the
hated military but is also for some reason a beloved figure of the resistance. Daisy knowsthe General has betrayed Venice and when she's captured and brought to Venice, she begsfor protection, saying "He'll kill me." Who, asks Venice. "You know," she says, suddenly allcoy even though she believes Markos will kill her the moment he can. When she spotsMarkos watching her interrogation, she still refuses to say he's a traitor. When she's beingdragged away Daisy still doesn't scream out "It's Markos! It's Markos!" even though she'sgoing to be handed over to him. Why? Who knows. Even the playwrights realized theabsurdity and have her immediately gunned down offstage.
This is one tiny example of the plot's idiocy but the play is filled with them, along with
lyrics of equal absurdity or simply flat banality. Venice's mother sings in a flashback to thebaby Venice: "Markos be decent and generous/ Your brother is ahead of us/ A vision ofthe best of us/ That we can live as one/ Two worlds collide and fill his soul/ With wisdomwe will never know/ Your brother will help your heart grow/ And learn to live as one."
When Willow's not singing "I can see the sunrise/ When I close my eyes," she must
shoulder lyrics like this at a funeral: "I am a desert of unfulfilled memories/ Skeletalpictures of that which will never be/ What it is we dreamed/ Lost in the thoughts of whatnever was/ A child in a storm of madness because/ Death calls unspoken unseen." And soon.
Amidst all this mess, one doesn't want to single out actors for not performing well. The
leads have no spark for each other or the material but how could they? The spurnedJonathan-David as Westbrook actually creates a few genuine moments of drama, in nosmall part due to the fact that he gets the closest to a decent song with a number thatends with the chorus "I want to love and be loved." Unfortunately, that line is reprisedand repeated and beaten into the ground by the end of the show, along with the one aboutseeing the sunrise when you close your eyes.
In limited space, choreographer Chase Brock at times creates a good sense of energy
among the cast, though the Itsy-Bitsy Spider routine with actors sort of twirling theirfingers around while standing still didn't come off. Still, Brock and director Rosen keptthings moving along somewhat. It didn't make any sense but it did chug along at timeswith some sorely needed energy. Uzo Aduba shamelessly over-emotes as the revolutionary
figure Anna, but under the circumstances what else could she do?
REASONS  TO  BE  HAPPY ** out of ****
MCC  AT  LUCILLE  LORTEL  THEATRE
Playwright Neil LaBute is clearly entering a new, more humane phase of his career. The
main women in his plays are still vicious ball-busters, but they seem to be aware of thisand are at least a little more nuanced about it.
Said busting of balls begins right away when Steph (Jenna Fischer of The  Office) bumps
into her ex Greg (Josh Hamilton) in the parking lot of a grocery store. Furious that he's
dating her best friend, Steph rips into Greg and his mousy, non-confrontational, book-reading ways, even as his ice cream bars melt and he lashes back once thoroughlyprovoked.
For those who caught his play Reasons  To  Be  Pretty (in which Greg and Steph broke up
when he admitted that he didn't think she was pretty), this is a sequel though it certainly
stands on its own. Greg is a substitute teacher of some sort and dating Steph's old friend
Carly (Leslie Bibb), the security guard at a factory he once worked in. Carly is the ex of
Kent (Fred Weller), a dumb jock who considers Greg a friend but still pines for Carly.
Though "pines" is not the right word for a lug like Kent. He has so few friends that Kent
tries to talk to Greg about wanting to still bang Carly, which is a phrase more in keeping
with Kent's lifestyle.
This awkward rondelay is disrupted when Steph tells Greg she wants him back and he
realizes he still kind of wants her too. Is Steph just screwing with Greg to destroy his
romance with her best friend? Is Greg running towards Steph or just running away fromCarly? Will Kent beat him up now or later?
LaBute's plays and films have been notable for having high concepts and often a twist ofsome sort. Watching Reasons  To  Be  Happy can create a false sense of insecurity among
audiences who know his work. You keep waiting for the spin on the plot that never comes.It's like reading an O'Henry short story that doesn't employ a surprise ending.
That's a welcome development but too much of LaBute's waspishness shines through tomake this tale wholly satisfying. First, there's his typical misanthropy. Greg is oftenreading a book (he's a teacher after all) but the other three characters are so aggressivelydumb and disdainful of this that it beggars belief. Steph in particular seems far toointelligent to have never heard of the books he's read or see his reading as some sort ofbizarre quirk. They're not ignorant in any interesting or amusing manner; it feels morelike LaBute's problem than theirs, a setting up of a paper tiger that he can tear down or
just mock. Steph's never heard of Kurt Vonnegut? Fine, but that's neither funny or
interesting.
Secondly, Greg is called out for avoiding confrontation and putting off decisions the entire
play. But when he does it again at the finale in the most dramatic fashion possible, no onecalls him on it and suddenly we're supposed to think the strong-willed Steph might bepining for him after all.
But a bigger problem than the script (which starts off strong in that parking lot scene but
slowly peters out) is perhaps the casting. All four actors are solid onstage but they're all
also a good ten or more years too old for these characters. Steph and Greg and the rest
feel like they're in their late 20s, while all the actors are in their 40s (except for Bibb, who
is 38). When Steph talks about wanting a baby at some point, you shouldn't be thinking
that her biological clock is ticking and time's a wasting. But with this casting, that is
inevitable.
All four actors are appealing and would have been ideal casting...a decade ago. The set by
Neil Patel is notably lacking in imagination, with one office set and a few benches pushed
together or pulled apart to stand in for every other location. Otherwise tech elements are
fine. LaBute directed and he certainly encouraged a rounded, complete performance from
the actors. He just didn't write a script that would allow them to deliver. It's an interesting
but ultimately unsuccessful work that indicates some welcome growth from LaBute that
might pay dividends down the road.
NOTE: In the comments below, a reader wrote in and suggested I was wrong in thinking
that the characters in this play were in their late 20s. As support, they wrote that actressMarin Ireland was in her late 30s when playing Steph in the prequel Reasons  To  BePretty back in 2009. I pointed out that what's important is the age of the characters, not
the age of the actors playing them. However, Marin Ireland contacted me and said that infact the birth date the commenter provided was wrong and she was in her 20s whenperforming in the play. Finally, in the published edition of the play, Greg and Steph aredescribed as mid-twenties while Kent and Carly are described as late twenties.
THE  THEATER  OF  2013 (on a four star scale)
The  Other  Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus  No.  7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life  And  Times  Episodes  1-4 **
Cat  On  A  Hot  Tin  Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The  Jamme r ***
Blood  Play ** 1/2
Manilow  On  Broadway ** 1/2
Women  Of  Will ** 1/2
All  In  The  Timing ***
Isaac's  Eye ***
Bunnicula:  A  Rabbit  Tale  Of  Musical  Mystery ** 1/2
The  Mnemonist  Of  Dutchess  County * 1/2
Much  Ado  About  Nothing ***
Really  Really *
Parsifal  at  the  Met *** 1/2
The  Madrid * 1/2
The  Wild  Bride  at  St.  Ann's ** 1/2
Passion  at  CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The  Revisionist **
Rodgers  &  Hammerstein's  Cinderella ***
Rock  Of  Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old  Hats ***
The  Flick ***
Detroit  '67 ** 1/2
Howling  Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit  The  Wall *
Breakfast  At  Tiffany's * 1/2
The  Mound  Builders at Signature *
Vanya  And  Sonia  And  Masha  And  Spike *** 1/2
Cirque  Du  Soleil's  Totem ***
The  Lying  Lesson * 1/2
Hands  On  A  Hardbody *
Kinky  Boots **
Matilda  The  Musical *** 1/2
The  Rascals:  Once  Upon  A  Dream ***
Motown:  The  Musical **
La  Ruta ** 1/2
The  Big  Knife *
The  Nance ***
The  Assembled  Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll  &  Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly  Modern  Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The  Testament  Of  Mary ** 1/2
The  Drawer  Boy **
The  Trip  To  Bountiful ***
I'll  Eat  You  Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This  Side  Of  Neverland ***
A  Public  Reading  Of  An  Unproduced  Screenplay  About  The  Death  Of  Walt  Disney ***
Natasha,  Pierre  And  The  Great  Comet  Of  1812 ***
Colin  Quinn  Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A  Family  For  All  Occasions *
The  Weir *** 1/2
Disney's  The  Little  Mermaid **
Far  From  Heaven **
The  Caucasian  Chalk  Circle **
Somewhere  Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons  To  Be  Happy **
Thanks  for  reading.  Michael  Giltz  is  the  founder  and  CEO  of  BookFilter,  a  book  lover's
best  friend.   It's  a  website  that  lets  you  browse  for  books  online  the  way  you  do  in  a
physical  bookstore,  provides  comprehensive  info  on  new  releases  every  week  in  every
category  and  offers  passionate  personal  recommendations  every  step  of  the  way.  It's  like
a  fall  book  preview  or  holiday  gift  guide  --  but  every  week  in  every  category.  He's  alsothe  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  makersas  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  also  available   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.  All  productions  are  in  New  York  City  unless  otherwise
indicated.
Follow  Michael  Giltz  on  Twitter:  www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz