Broadway Tour of "Jagged Little Pill" at the Orpheum Theatre

The Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill, with the title and most of the songs coming from her iconic 1995 debut album, only ran for six months on Broadway, due to a long interruption by a global pandemic. But the good news is that it's now touring across the country, and you can see it in Minneapolis now through August 13. Alanis is such a great storyteller; her songs are so full of complex and clearly written characters, drama, and emotion, that they're perfect fodder for a musical. Diablo Cody, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno, wrote the book and has crafted a modern story of a family dealing with a multitude of issues, that utilizes the songs well. There are occasional slight tweaks to the lyrics to fit the story, but the emotional core of each song, and Alanis' work in general, is retained. It's a messy, dramatic, and ultimately hopeful story about a family and community that loves and supports each other, even if they're flawed people who make mistakes, i.e., humans. As a longtime fan of Alanis (Jagged Little Pill came out when I was in college, but I wasn't really into pop music at that time, so I didn't embrace her until the mid-aughts, and prefer the 10th anniversary acoustic version of JLP), I loved hearing her songs onstage sung by this amazing company of actors. How someone unfamiliar with these songs would appreciate the show, I can't say, but I like to think it would stand on its own. See for yourself at the Orpheum Theatre - click here for the official ticket purchasing site, and to find information on the student/educator rush.

Broadway Tour of "Waitress" at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

The 2016 Best Musical Tony nominee Waitress is back in the Twin Cities! Last seen in 2017, the tour is coming back around again, and it's better than ever. The quirky little 2007 movie of the same name upon which it was based (written by and co-starring Adrienne Shelly, who was tragically murdered before its release) is one of my favorites, and the musical adaptation retains the sad and joyful sweetness of this story of a woman gaining control over her own life. Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles wrote the Tony-nominated score, and it's a great one, with a more folky stripped-down sound than is normally heard on Broadway. This show gives me all the feels - it's sad, and funny, and hopeful, and inspiring. But it's playing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts until Sunday only, so don't wait! (Click here for info and tickets.)

"Waitress" on tour at the Orpheum Theatre

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Broadway musical about a woman who bakes amazing pies rolls into Minneapolis. Based on the 2007 indie movie Waitress (written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, who was tragically murdered before it was released), the musical (also written by women - book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, who also took a turn in the lead role for a few months) received several Tony nominations in 2016 and is still running on Broadway. This is a movie I loved so much I bought the DVD (back when people watched DVDs), and similar to a movie I love even more, Once, the creative team has done just about as good a job as possible turning it into a musical. The musical is much more comic and light-hearted, and doesn't have as much of the beautiful sadness of the film, but it's hard to do subtle emotions on a Broadway stage. I find it to be a successful adaptation with a fantastic score, modern and interesting choreography, and this touring cast really beautifully brings it to life.

"Finding Neverland" on tour at the Orpheum Theatre

Based on the 2004 movie Finding Neverland, which was in turn based on the 1998 play The Man Who Would be Peter Pan, the 2015 Broadway musical Finding Neverland, now playing at the Orpheum Theatre, is not what one would call an original musical. Although based on the life J.M. Barrie, the author and playwright who created Peter Pan, the characters and plotlines are not particularly original either, with cliched relationships and predictable plot turns. But don't worry, there's a but. Even if it's not the most original musical you'll see, it's still quite delightful in execution. I had never heard the score before, and found parts of it quite lovely. The design is magical, the movement and choreography is innovative and interesting, and this touring cast (including children and a dog) is wonderful. As long as you're not expecting anything too deep or original, Finding Neverland is sure to delight, at least in some moments, and has an inspiring message about the power of imagination, which is what theater is all about.

"Pippin" at The Music Box Theatre on Broadway

The revival of the 1972 Stephen Schwartz/Bob Fosse musical Pippin debuted on Broadway last year and won four Tonys and had audiences and critics raving. It was on my list of shows to see this week, but not very high up because of all the new shows coming out this season. It was actually our second or third choice when we got to the TKTS window Saturday night, but after some indecisiveness, it's what we ended up with. Turns out it may have been the best decision we made all week! Pippin is truly spectacular in the best possible way. Many different artforms are combined - circus, Fosse-style dance, a great score, even a sing-along! And the result is a fantastically creative and entertainingly unique evening of entertainment.

Pippin is very very loosely based on the historical figures Charlemagne, a King in the Middle Ages, and his first-born son Pippin, a "hunchback" who was passed over for his father's thrown. But in this version, Pippin is a lost young man who's dissatisfied with life and searching for something to make his life meaningful. He tries war, the pleasures of the flesh, and an ordinary life, flitting from one thing to the other, but still feeling empty and unfulfilled. In the original production, the story was told through a performance troupe, but in this version it's a circus, complete with contortionists, trapeze, balancing acts, and acrobatics. It's hugely fun and light-hearted, like a musical/comedy/circus version of Game of Thrones with a touch of Monty Python's Spamalot, where dead men talk and come back to life, and battles are a beautiful dance. In the end, Pippin rejects the circus for his real life, but the circus lives on in our imaginations, always there when we need it.

Ciara Renee and Kyle Dean Massay
have taken over the roles of Leading Player and Pippin

The huge ensemble combines artists of many talents - circus performers, Broadway dancers, and singers. Most of the original cast remains one year later, with three important exceptions. Patina Miller and Andrea Martin, who both won Tonys for their portrayals of the Leading Player and Pippin's grandmother, and Pippin himself. Annie Potts (if you're a fan of 80s sitcoms like I am, you'll remember her from Designing Women) took over the role of the grandmother in January, and she's fantastic, literally singing while hanging upside down from a trapeze (I told her I want to be her when I grow up). Ciara Renee as the Leading Player and Kyle Dean Massey as Pippin are only in their second week of performances, but you'd never know it. Ciara owns the role and is a commanding, confident, and entertaining ring leader of this crazy circus. Kyle's beautiful voice (I saw him Next to Normal a few years ago) is perfection on these songs, and he has the awkward grace of this boy who becomes a man. Also fantastic are original cast-members Terrence Mann as Pippin's father the King, Charlotte d'Amboise as his stepmother (with some head-spinning quick changes), and Rachel Bay Jones as the charmingly loopy woman who wins Pippin's heart. And then there are a couple dozen gorgeous and talented women and men moving around the stage in all kinds of wonderful ways, and one precocious little boy (Ashton Woerz) who sings a capella alone in the center of a Broadway stage.

I really love this score, even though I'd never heard any of the songs before, and will definitely be downloading it. There's Pippin's lovely ballad "Corner of the Sky," the singalong "No Time at All," and the 70s-feeling "Love Song." There are some pretty incredible Fosse-inspired dance numbers, and one jaw-dropping moment after another. It's just good old-fashioned entertainment. Even though I'm a fan of the smaller, more intimate music-theater pieces (like Violet which I saw earlier in the same day), a big beautiful spectacle of a show like Pippin can be so much fun when performed to creative perfection as this one is. It's a revival (directed by Diane Paulus, with her third brilliant revival in a row - see also Hair and Porgy and Bess) that manages to pay tribute to the original and still bring something fresh and new and original to the piece. If you find yourself in NYC, this show is one that cannot be missed. But don't worry, Pippin is coming to us in Minneapolis - the tour will stop at the Orpheum for a week in February next year. Trust me, you'll want to get your tickets to this one as soon as you can!

"The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway

The new production of the Gerswhins' Porgy and Bess is one of those classic epic musical theater experiences, like I haven’t had since seeing South Pacific at Lincoln Center four years ago. The kind of show where from the opening bars of the orchestra to the last curtain call, you know this is something special, this is the real deal. A new and exciting interpretation of a classic piece of music-theater history that is still so resonant it feels fresh and new.

Everything about this production is top-notch – the gorgeous music by George Gershwin, the staging and choreography, the sparse but effective set (with working water pump!), and the cast. Oh the cast! Audra McDonald has long been one of my favorites, mostly because of the Ragtime soundtrack (not to mention her role on the pretty good TV show with the really good cast, Private Practice). She’s a four-time Tony winner, and will no doubt be nominated for her performance as Bess when the nominees are announced on May 1. So raw and real, tough and vulnerable. Not to mention her incredible voice singing these amazing (and difficult) songs. Matching her in excellence is the heretofore unknown to me Norm Lewis as Porgy. His body is painfully contorted, but his voice is easy and beautiful, and his presence strong. Surrounding the two main characters is a strong cast of supporting characters and ensemble. Joshua Henry (a Tony nominee for Scottsboro Boys, which played at the Guthrie before its Broadway run), brings his gorgeous voice and charismatic presence to the role of the doomed Jake. NaTasha Yvette Williams is great as the mother figure Myriah. David Allen Grier (who's more well known for his movie and TV roles, but is also a trained and experienced theater actor) is the comic relief as the smartly dressed drug dealer called Sporting Life, but he also has the musical and dramatic chops needed.

I'm not very familliar with the original opera Porgy and Bess, first produced in 1935, so I can’t talk about how this production reworked and reinterpreted the original. I hear they’ve tried bring more depth to the characters, to change what some saw as a racist portrayal of African American life. But I only know what I saw, which is wonderful. I was so unfamiliar with the story that when the show began with another actress singing the classic song “Summertime,” I thought we were seeing an understudy for Bess. Fortunately I was wrong, and Audra made her entrance a little bit later to my great relief. Bess and her man Crown are in the “bad” crowd of Catfish Row, SC – involved in drugs, violence, gambling. When Crown kills a man, he skips town, and agrees that Bess should find a “temporary” man to live with (I guess a woman living alone is out of the question). Porgy is available and willing, so he takes her in. He's beloved by the community, but they think he can never “keep” a woman because he’s a “cripple”    (his foot is turned completely in at a 90 degree angle and his whole body leans, but don’t worry, Norm told us he works with both a chiropractor and a physical therapist to prevent permanent damage to his body). For some reason Porgy loves Bess completely and unconditionally, and is the only person who can see the good in her. It’s a confidence and stability she’s never known, and it teaches her to begin to believe in herself. Until her past comes back to haunt her, and she falls back into old ways. The town turns on her, but Porgy refuses to give up on his Bess. I was frustrated at the open ending, but as Norm said when we met him after the show, it’s an ending of hope, and I have to believe that these two damaged people find each other again.



with Norm Lewis (Porgy)

The music is, of course, divine. The score includes several songs familiar to anyone who’s grown up in Western culture – in addition to “Summertime,” there’s “I Got Plenty of Nothin,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” As much as I enjoy seeing a modern band on stage, I geek out over a full and luscious pit orchestra, as this is. The choreography is so evocative of the time and place, not too smooth and polished but organic to the people and the situation, from the carefree picnic scene to the tense fight scenes. The costumes are simple but also help to explain who these people are, with Bess changing from a form fitting red dress to a soft floral dress as she becomes an accepted part of the community.  Diane Paulus seems to have a knack for directing classic pieces of music-theater history and bringing them to modern audiences; she also directed the 2010 revival of HAIR that I loved so much.
  

with the great Audra McDonald (Bess)

It’s a tough year for revival of a musical, with the fabulous production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies last fall. But there’s something about this piece that’s so all-around satisfying, it’ll be hard to beat.