Theater Mean Girls PLay Nice O Harry Connick Where Is Thy Sting

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FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018 THEATER: "MEAN GIRLS" PLAY NICE; O, HARRY CONNICK, WHERE IS THY "STING?" MEAN GIRLS ** 1/2 out of **** THE STING ** out of **** MEAN GIRLS ** 1/2 out of **** AUGUST WILSON THEATRE In theater there are first nighters and second nighters. First nighters get to see a show right before it opens. Second nighters get to see ashow right after it opens. One of the benefits of being a second nighteris that you hear the buzz -- you can either get pumped up for a greatnight or lower your expectations. That leaves you open to a happy surprise, which is certainly the case of Mean Girls. It's a three star production of a two star work and so I chose the friendly leaning twoand a half stars out of four. I'll say this: sitting in the theatersurrounded by a very happy audience that broke out in chatter duringthe break and applause at the end, I'd happily invest in Mean Girls right now. It's going to have a good run on Broadway, a successful tour and then mop up in community theater and high school productionsfor years to come. The Tina Fey-penned film (based on a young adult novel by Rosalind Wiseman) is a kinder, sweeter Heathers. A new kid in school is adopted by the school's fierce queen bee Regina, turned into a star andthen all hell breaks loose when she tries to claim the throne forherself. At the end, instead of the nihilistic nightmare of Heathers, weget some girl power and the message to be nice to others. All of that translates easily to the stage in a musical that improves on the 2004 film on every level. Some modest additions about social media (and not one but two Trump zingers) make clear our story is settoday without belaboring the point. (Those two Trump jokes will date quickly but boy did the audience love them.) The Tina Fey role isMICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK Michael Giltz is a freelance writer based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com FAVORITE LINKS Americablog Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN Radio Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl Chin's Blog Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce Greenspan's Blog BLOG ARCHIVE ▼ 2018 (18) ► June (1) ► May (6) ▼ April (6)wisely trimmed down. And with the young women all getting their solos, their characters are given a tad more complexity without straining too hard. And really, how much complexity do you want in a show about the new kid at school who tries to fit in? Not much,honestly. All Cady wants to do is make friends. She grew up in Kenya surrounded by animals and home schooled by her scientist parents. Now Cady (an appealing Erika Henningsen) is exploring thehazardous terrain of high school in Chicago. (In one of the show'sniftier gambits, characters break into animalistic rituals and screeches as if they're marking territory and the like.) She finds safe harbor with Janis and Damian (scene stealers Barrett Wilbert Weed and GreyHenson), who teach her to beware of Regina, the girl most likely toshred you with a vicious takedown or -- worse-- ignore you as notworth noticing. Regina's "friends" are the needy Gretchen (AshleyPark) and the dumb but not so mean Karen (Kate Rockwell) but really, she stands alone. Among the show's many painless but unmemorable numbers is the clunky tune "Apex Predator" in which Cady tagsRegina as the most dangerous person around. With the help of Janisand Damian, she plans to take down Regina's dominance. But willCady become a mean girl in the process, losing both her real friendsand the dreamy boy Aaron (who -- duh -- dumped Regina because she was mean)? Of course she will! Followed quickly by the moral of the story and hugs all around, though not before a school bus killssomeone dead. (No one dies, though they kind of do, actually.)THEATER: "HENRY V" CONQUERS ACCENTS, NOT AUDIENCES... THEATER: METROMANIACS, DISCO-MANIACS ANDDYPSOMANI... THEATER: "SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE" THEATER: "MLIMA'S TALE" OF SHAME; "CHILDREN OFA L... THEATER: "MEAN GIRLS" PLAY NICE; O, HARRY CONNICK,... THEATER: WRESTLING WITH "ANGELS IN AMERICA" ► March (4) ► February (1) ► 2017 (6) ► 2016 (2) ► 2015 (14) ► 2014 (2) ► 2013 (5) ► 2012 (18) ► 2011 (15) ► 2010 (10) ► 2009 (43) ► 2008 (86) ► 2007 (781) ► 2006 (2412) ► 2005 (5)In other words, Mean Girls is thoroughly familiar territory done with enough energy to make you forget that for a while. In the thankless role of adults, Rick Younger is smoothly affable as the principal and Kerry Butler does yeoman's work as both the Tina Fey teacher and twoparents (notably the dippy Mrs. George). Taylor Louderman has ablast with her Shirley Bassey-circa Bond theme song numbers and a drawling delivery. But really, everyone scores nicely, from Park's desperate need to be liked to Rockwell's lovely timing as the dippy Karen down to Selig making something out of the nothing role ofboyfriend-to-be Aaron and Cheech Manohar having over-the-top funas mathlete and rapper Kevin Gnapoor. (And props to his parents for the name Cheech!) Toss in an ensemble so cute and sharp in their dancing you'd gladly take them to prom and you can see why a showwith a poor score manages to be such fun. At the center of it all isHennginsen as Cady -- like Fey on 30 Rock, she's the straight personsurrounded by a carnival of clowns. That's no easy task. While the melodies of Jeff Richmond are awkward, the lyrics of Nell Benjamin are at best workmanlike. Its' hard to judge anyone as asinger on this show since few of the songs give them a melody worthdelivering. So this is the rare musical whose book is superior to thesongs -- and good enough to make you not care. Give Fey the Most Improved award. You can also credit the nimble direction and choreography of Casey Nicholaw, who earns the school'sMost Talented by taking not-bad songs like "Where Do You Belong?""Stop" and "Whose House Is This?" (the show's best three, by far) and turning them into rousing successes with great staging and clever touches like the Busby Berkeley-like use of lunch trays. And amidst astrong ensemble, Barrett Wilbert Weed and Grey Hanson deserveClass Clown awards for their thoroughly winning hijacking of the entire night. And a special nod to scenic designer Scott Pask and video design team Finn Ross and Adam Young. Broadway has been embracing digitalprojection to set scenes for a number of years now. And the technology has caught up with their needs. In the past, digital displays simply looked like a cheap way to cut corners. No more. From a brick-linedschool hallway to a bathroom to a classroom to the wilds of Kenya, thesharp and utterly convincing backdrops allowed for cinematic scenechanges with a minimum of props like a few rolling desks or somebathroom stalls. In the future, when a show decides to build an old- fashioned practical set, it will be a choice rather than a necessity. And video displays won't be a cheesy alternative but a tool for the artistsworking on the show to make wise use of -- exactly as they do here. Sure, it's a Broadway show and you want to have fun. (Anyone who thinks critics show up ready to throw darts has never gone to thetheater three times a week every week. We really, really want a show towork.) And when your expectations are a little lowered, it's easier to be pleasantly surprised. So Mean Girls is by no means a great or even especially good show. Seeing it at your kid's high school a few years from now will probably be a chore. But with this talented cast anddirector Nicholaw energizing the evening, who would want to be a mean girl and put it down? THE STING ** out of **** PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE After five years in development, the creative team behind The Sting got two things emphatically right. First, they hired Harry Connick Jrfor this musical adaptation of the classic Robert Redford/Paul Newman flick about con artists and they made damn sure he played the piano and charmed the crowd whenever possible. Second, theydidn't keep Scott Joplin at arm's length -- there's no tepid nod toragtime and his signature tune "The Entertainer." They introduce itright at the start and Joplin songs are scattered throughout. Unfortunately, Harry Connick Jr. on the piano remains the high point of the show (rather than a pleasing bonus as in The Pajama Game ) and Joplin's music is so melodically strong it leaves the original scorein the dust. There's not enough Joplin to lift the evening and justenough Joplin to make you miss him when it's gone. Since a musical version of Ghostbusters is probably right around the corner, no idea is too wacky. But unlike most movie to Broadway adaptations, a musical version of The Sting makes sense. You've got the period setting, lots of colorful characters, a rock-solid script andthe music of ragtime to play with. Paper Mill has been a launching pad for Broadway hopefuls and while a first class production can sendsomething like Newsies right into the Tony mix, it can also expose ashow's many flaws. Give the top-notch talent involved, no excuses canbe made for a show that wouldn't con even a tourist into thinking they're having a good time. (The audience was notably tepid.) Have you seen the Oscar-winning film, one of the most popular movies of all time? If not, here's the set-up. Some small time con artists get"lucky" and scam a guy out of his wallet. Turns out the guy is making a delivery for the feared crime boss Doyle Lonnegan and their luck is all bad. In the blink of an eye, the elderly Luther (a charming KevynMorrow) is dead and the kid Johnny Hooker (J. Harrison Ghee) hasfled for his life. He ends up in Chicago, searching for the one manLuther said was as talented as Hooker at the con. That's Henry Gondorff (Harry Connick Jr.), a washed up alcoholic playing piano in a brothel. Hooker pours a pitcher of water on Henry, Henry barks at the "kid" that he's got a lot to learn and a bromance is born. With the sexy and capable aid of Billie (Kate Shindle) -- a woman who is Henry's sometime lover and full-time equal in scams -- they gather an all-starteam of shysters and swindlers to pull off the "long con," fleece Doyle but good and get sweet revenge for Luther. Henry poses as an obnoxious gambler who transparently cheats the cheating Doyle at a private poker game. Then Hooker plays thedisgruntled underling who gives Doyle a chance to ruin Henry by placing a bet on the horses at Henry's (fake) gambling den. Doyle test drives the plan, enjoys humiliating Henry with his winnings and thengoes all in with a massive $500,000 bet. With crooked cops and astraight arrow FBI team closing in and Doyle the epitome of a soreloser, how will they pull it off? In a sting, only the scammers get the pleasure of knowing how it's done. But in The Sting the fun for the audience is learning how they've been fleeced as well. The con men and women are not the only ones gambling here. The Sting is also the story of its creators. Book writer Bob Martin enjoyed a rousing Broadway debut with The Drowsy Chaperone, followed only by the shoulder-shrug of a holiday offering Elf . Most of the music and lyrics are by the team of Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, whothemselves enjoyed a remarkable Broadway debut with the musicalUrinetown , which famously progressed from a stag party sketch to fringe fest success to Tony-winning triumph. Like any gambler, once you get a taste of the big score, you want nothing more than to do it again (and again) and this property is the sleekest bid yet for theseartists. They're surrounded by blue chip properties: director John Rando, choreographer Warren Carlyle, scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Paul Tazewell and on down the line can all boastimpressive credits. But you can have all the chips in the world. If thecards you draw are duds, you're not going to win.The problems start at the very beginning. As in the film, it begins with a con. But unlike the film, the show prefaces that with Luther as a sort of narrator, telling us we're about to see a show about con artists andnot to trust what we see. Then we're walked through the con they'reabout to pull, then they fleece the guy -- all done in such a laborious "here comes the switch" manner that the fun is drained out of it. You want to be scammed and then realize it was a trick, not have the trickexplained to you at length in advance. (I have not seen the film in many years, even though it's my favorite from 1973. I preferred to give the stage version the best shot possible by not rewatching the film. If I get any details wrong, then I'd suggest that even if the film did spell out this con in advance, it was able to doso quickly and deftly. On stage, it has to be drawn out so thew puntersin the back can track what is happening and the fun is spoiled.) The problems mount. Choreographer Warren Carlyle emphasizes tap, which somehow is perfect for con artists. Maybe it's because we get so hypnotized by their feet we have the sneaking suspicion they could liftour wallets at the same time and we'd never notice? Whatever thereason, that rhythmic style feels right. But one gets the impression most of the actors are dancers first and singers second. Not that I'd make much of a judgement on anyone singing the songs here. A fewhave the right lyrical idea, such as "Don't Treat Your Friends LikeMarks" and the cleverly done act one closer "The First Race," whichallows numerous betters to pepper the song with their cheers for a certain horse while Christopher Gurr has a blast delivering the sports announcer commentary. That's the show's modest high point, alongwith "The Card Game," with Connick Jr. having a grand old timeinfuriating the gangster with his boorish manner. Everything else from "The Thrill Of The Con" to Billie's torch song "Sometimes" feels rote and interchangeable. And while tap is surely the right style for The Sting, it's perhaps not ideal for staging chase scenes. Too many scenes involve people tappingthis way and that across the stage, fine if you're staging a lark like On The Town but deadly if you're looking to create any suspense. A scene where Hooker is on a staircase trying to outrun some bad guys isespecially ludicrous -- they face each other and tap up a step and downa step and you can't imagine what anyone was thinking. (Another poorchoice is attempting to duplicate scenes of a mysterious assassin hunting down Hooker. That person in the movie is usually off camera. On stage, they stand around waving a gun and it just doesn't work.) The sets of Boritt are serviceable though it wavers between the full-onrealism of the casino and the more suggestive style of other scenes. (And why are the paintings on display in Lonnegan's home andelsewhere so blurry?) In another example of poor staging by directorJohn Rando, we have six or so doors to suggest the hallway of an apartment building. One would have been plenty and when that scene is over they sort of slide over to one part of the stage, waiting for achance to be dragged off. And why are they there? So a neighbor canspot Hooker and a waitress he's fallen for having a tryst. But since the next scene dismisses the crucial importance of that neighbor (a plot point from the movie), they never needed her or the other five doorsin the first place. These minor faults of the book can't hold a candle to the major missed opportunity. The film starred Redford and Newman in a re-teaming oftheir work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. (Those two menhad so much chemistry they should have followed up The Sting withBrokeback Mountain.) Yet the original screenplay by David S. Ward conceived of the younger man Hooker as black. This version jumped on that idea and cast Ghee alongside Connick. Brilliant! You canimmediately introduce the blues and all other sorts of musical colorsand rethinking that character gives the show a great chance to see thisstory anew. The story is set in1936 during the Great Depression and a white man and a black man teaming up to defraud a gangster and some crookedcops immediately becomes more interesting if one of them is black.But other than a few throw-away lines by Lonnegan and that crookedcop (played by Robert Wuhl, who has little to do but glower) the show makes absolutely nothing of this. That might be admirable if it weren't such a wasted opportunity. Hooker's pushy manner with Lonneganworks in the movie because Paul Newman has such a twinkle in his eyeeven Lonnegan (played by Robert Shaw) can't help admiring hischutzpah. That would hardly be the case if it were a black man eating off his plate, a moment which is just ridiculous here. Imagine Hooker using his race to con Lonnegan: Hooker's bristling anger towards hisboss could be more easily understood (though a chance for Connick todemean him racially is ignored) and Lonnegan's own prejudice wouldmake it impossible for him to consider Hooker might be conning him . So much might have been done with this decision but book writerMartin doesn't even try. What they do instead is bring Luther back from the dead. Morrow is immediately appealing in his opening scenes. Yet the show has no narrator and once he's dead, he's dead. In a too-long act two, however, Hooker blithely says he wishes Luther could have seen the trick he justpulled off...and lo and behold, there is Hooker for a very unnecessarymusical break when what we want to do is tighten the screws and letthe long con take its course. And that brings us to the casting. Despite the thin material, some of the supporting talent bring humanity and depth to parts thatotherwise lack it, including Shindle as Billie, Janet Dacal as the waitress Loretta, Gurr as Singleton and Morrow. Others with more to do can't paper over the show's deficiencies, such as Tom Hewitt as theentirely unthreatening Lonnegan, Wuhl as the crooked cop and PeterBenson as the nervous Erie Kid, a part better left out entirely. Connick is certainly up to the role of Henry and does a lot of heavy lifting to make the evening bearable. Musicals move fast but this one does sucha poor job of spelling out the characters anyone who hasn't seen themovie will probably be wondering why Henry and everyone is so eager to take part in this con and be surprised when we're told Henry and Hooker have become friends. (They have.) But the biggest problem is Ghee, who has huge shoes to fill when it comes to Paul Newman in his wily prime and doesn't come close. As Hooker he offers nothing -- no danger, no anger, no humor, no charm.It's a shock to see he played the flamboyant Lola in Kinky Boots on the road, given how tamped down he is here, so I will adamantly stick tomy rule of not judging people's talent based on their appearance in apoor show. The more stage time people have, the less they shine (except for hard-working Harry) and that surely is the fault of The Sting, not the artists. It's a dispiriting evening towards the end. Could they rescue thisproject? Would recasting, a little cutting and maybe another number turn it around? No, I don't think so; not even close. Gamblers know when you've tossed in a lot of chips, the hardest thing in the world todo is to fold...and that's when suckers really lose their shirts.Sometimes you just have to walk away from the game. THEATER OF 2018 Homelife/The Zoo Story (at Signature) *** out of **** Escape To Margaritaville ** Broadway By The Year: 1947 and 1966 *** Lobby Hero *** Frozen ** Rocktopia * Angels in America ** 1/2 Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book lover’s to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter? Wondering w categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It’s a w you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases e personal recommendations every step of the way. It’s like a fall book preview category. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podc of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s avail website. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also iTunes. Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understan are in New York City unless otherwise indicated. 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Theater Mean Girls PLay Nice O Harry Connick Where Is Thy Sting

📄 Theater Mean Girls PLay Nice O Harry Connick Where Is Thy Sting

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