"The Threepenny Opera" at Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway

Prior to my annual theater week in NYC this year, I had never seen the Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill ground-breaking opera The Threepenny Opera, and was unfamiliar with the music, except of course for the standard "Mack the Knife." But in a strange coincidence, I will see it twice in a little over a week - at the Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway in NYC as well as a production by Frank Theatre in Minneapolis. I'm happy to have the opportunity to see it twice; it's not an easily accessible piece of music-theater but it's worth the effort.

First produced in 1928 in Berlin, The Threepenny Opera tells the story of a criminal/mobster/thief named Macheath (aka Mack the Knife) in Victorian London. When Mack marries the daughter of his rival Mr. Peachum, head of the beggers, Mr. Peachum retaliates by trying to get Macheath arrested and hung. Despite Mack's many crimes, it's not an easy task since the police chief is Mack's buddy. But eventually, Mack is jailed and about to be hung when he's suddenly miraculously freed. The story is told through a series of vignettes and songs, with each character getting their moment to be heard.

Laura Osnes and Michael Park

The Threepenny Opera is gorgeously staged at the intimate Atlantic Theater Company stage in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC. The wonderful orchestra is placed in a little room at the back of the stage, alternately hidden and revealed by a drawn curtain. At the front of the stage is another curtain, but not a typical luxurious theater curtain, just canvas hanging on a wire that is opened and closed manually by the cast as the scene requires. Clutter resides on the edges of the mostly bare stage with furniture moved in when necessary - tables, chairs, a jail cell. The costumes are gorgeous, from the pristine finery on Mack and his bride Polly to the mismatched rags worn by the prostitutes Mack visits. (Set by Robert Israel and costumes by Donna Zakowska.)

This is a wonderful cast, including TV/film/stage vet F. Murray Abraham as Mr. Peachum and Mary Beth Peil as Mrs. Peachum (see also Follies). I was thrilled to see Michael Park as Macheath, since I've long been a fan of him on stage (his voice is on the original cast recordings of Smokey Joe’s Café and Violet, and I saw him in How to Succeed a few years ago) and screen (his Emmy-winning performance as Jack on the dear departed soap As the World Turns). This is a great role to showcase his many talents; his Macheath is a charming rogue with a sinister presence on stage that can silence or beguile with just one look, and his voice is divine! Minnesota's own Broadway star Laura Osnes sings like an angel as Polly Peachum. She's come a long way since I last saw her seven and a half years ago on the Chanhassen stage as Sandy in Grease, becoming a regular on the Broadway boards and racking up two Tony nominations. I'm so proud of her success and happy I finally got to see her perform in NYC, and meet her and chat about Minnesota theater. The entire ensemble is just wonderful, especially Sally Murphy as Jenny, Mack's one-time love who turns him in.

Atlantic Theater Company's production of The Threepenny Opera is seedy, sexy, raw, earthy, and gorgeously staged and sung by the talented cast. I'm so grateful I had the chance to see it during it's two-month run, and I'm looking forward to seeing The Threepenny Opera again soon back home in Minnesota.

"Now. Here. This." at the Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway

This is Now. We are Here. Let’s do This! Such is the premise of the new original musical from the creators of the 2008 Tony-nominated [title of show], a musical about writing a musical. I saw a production of [title of show] at Yellow Tree Theater last year, which turned me on to the fictional (?) version of these four talented and wacky friends. So I was excited and grateful to find out that their new show happened to be playing last weekend when I was in NYC, and jumped at the chance to see the real thing. In this Off-Broadway show at the Vineyard Theater (where Scottboro Boys and Avenue Q got their start, as well as [title of show]), they talk directly to the audience and ask for their full attention. What are the odds that the 100 or so people in that theater arrived at that place at exactly at the right time? Slim, so let’s give it our full attention and make the most of the 100 minutes we have together.

Real life buddies Jeff Bowen (who wrote the music and lyrics), Hunter Bell and Susan Blackwell (co-writers of the book), and Heidi Blickenstaff (who apparently contributes nothing but her amazingly gorgeous voice) play themselves and explore nothing more and nothing less than the origin of the universe, as well as their own personal origins. How we came to be as a species, and how each of them came to be as individuals. They visit a museum together, and try to focus on the now-here-this of it all – being fully present in the moment (inspired by philosopher and monk Thomas Merton). They visit different exhibits in the museum (with some nifty videos showing us birds or turtles or hominids), which serve as the background for each character/actor telling a story about their past (I’m not sure where the actor ends and the character begins in this show). It’s a clever device to get at universal experiences of growing up in this world. Jeff puts on a persona to hide who he really is. Susan fills her days with activities to avoid a home that embarrasses her. Heidi is an over-achiever desperate for attention, always trying to please her stoic lawyer father. Hunter likes to escape into his little fantasy world when reality isn’t so great. There’s something to relate to in each of these characters. For their next project, I'd love to see a musical about how these four very different but very compatible people met and became friends.

Like [title of show], Now. Here. This. is hilarious, adorable, and surprisingly poignant. The songs are fun and catchy, and sometimes go deeper than that (I hope they record a soundtrack of the show). I found myself wiping away tears on several occasions, particularly when Heidi and Hunter talked about their grandmothers’ deaths, quickly bringing me back to my own grandmother’s passing two years ago. These are very relatable stories that will make you laugh, cringe, cry, and be happy that the universe brought you to that place at that moment. At least that’s the effect this show had on me. There's no great plot here, just the sharing of very human experiences.

Hunter, Jeff, Susan, and Heidi

We met Jeff and Hunter after the show (the girls had to leave quickly to catch the opening of Peter and the Starcatchers, bummer, because I really wanted to get a picture side by side by Susan Blackwell). Hunter spotted the medals that my friend and I were wearing (we had run a half marathon in Central Park that morning and were dorky enough to wear our medals around town). He shared about when he and Jeff ran a marathon, and he agreed that a race, some good local brew (at Little Town NYC next door to the theater), and a show comprised the perfect day! This was the last of the four shows that we saw in NYC, and it was a perfect ending to our theater weekend. A light but satisfying and surprisingly rich dessert.


And just for fun, my favorite song/video from [title of show].

"Freud's Last Session" at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater Off-Broadway

After four straight musicals (three on and one off Broadway), my theater buddy and I decided to conclude our New York City trip with a one-act Off-Broadway play.  We heard good things about Freud's Last Sesson (we always like to talk to the helpful people hanging around outside the TKTS booth, most of whom are young actors, and will give you the real scoop if you ask for it).  It's currently playing at the "Little Theater" in the West Side YMCA, just off of Central Park, but will be moving to New World Stages in October.  This new play written by Mark St. Germain ran from July through November of 2010, and was brought back in January due to popular demand.  It has gotten rave reviews; this move will hopefully mean that even more people get to see this intelligent, throught-provoking, moving play.

Freud's Last Sesson tells the story of a fictional encounter between two historical figures, Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) and C.S. Lewis (author of the Chronicles of Narnia).  It takes place in London in 1939, when Freud is 83 years old, having recently fled from his native Austria, and Lewis is 41 and teaching at Oxford University.  Freud is suffering from a painful cancer of the mouth (he died a year later).  In the fictional story, Freud contacts Lewis and asks him to visit him.  Lewis is initially nervous and unsure why Freud would want to see him, thinking possibly he offended Freud in one of his recent books.  It turns out Freud just wants to have a conversation with him.  Freud is an atheist, and is curious why Lewis converted from atheism to Christianity.  They have a long conversation about a number of topics, including religion, God, family, love, and sex.  They rarely agree, and really have no hope of changing each other's mind.  But it's obvious these two men have a great respect for each other as well as a willingness to have an open and non-judgemental dialogue about their beliefs.  Which is is an attitude I wish more people had.

This is a two-person cast, and both actors are marvelous and well-matched.  Martin Rayner is a kindly, curmudgeonly Freud, and Mark H. Dold plays Lewis with a deference to his elder, while still staying firm and confident in his beliefs.  As the play goes on Freud's pain increases to the point where it's almost painful to watch him, for the audience and the character of Lewis.  The pain of both characters is palpable due to the performances of the actors.  They've been playing these roles for over a year and have really settled into their characters.  With a play like this, I'm sure they find greater depth in the piece with every performance.

By the end of the play, nothing had been resolved.  I wanted them to keep talking so I could keep listening to their discussion.  My friend bought an (autographed) script; I'll have to borrow it so I can more deeply study this piece.  They discussed the German word Sehnsucht (one of those great German words that describe such a complicated concept it cannot be accurately translated).  Freud says that our deepest desires are never fulfilled, but to Lewis that's the definition of joy.  I'm not sure what to think about that, but think about it I do.

"RENT" at the New World Stages Off-Broadway

RENT is my favorite musical (as you can see in the "About Me" blurb to the right).  My obsession with the show dates back to when it premiered in 1996 and I first saw it on tour (twice) in 1997.  It's really the first musical I fell in love with as an adult and it's where I mark the beginnings of my love for theater.  I've now seen it 13 times: once on Broadway, every tour that came to St. Paul or Minneapolis (including the 2009 tour that starred original cast member Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp), and a fabulous local production at the Lab Theatre in Minneapolis last year.  So when I heard that there was a new production Off-Broadway directed by original director Michael Greif, but with a new perspective on what has become a musical theater classic, I had to see it.  And I loved the show as much as I ever have.

New World Stages is like a multiplex of Off-Broadway theater (there are six theaters in the building), and seems to be the place where Broadway shows go to downsize (Avenue Q, Million Dollar Quartet).  The stage and the house are much smaller than the Nederlander Theatre where RENT played for 12 years (making it the ninth longest running show on Broadway).  With the exception of one local production, I've only see the Broadway/touring version of the show.  And even though every time you see it's different (cast), it's also somewhat the same (costumes, sets, direction).  So it was a thrill for me to see a fresh new production with all new sets, costumes, choreography, and direction, not to mention a talented, young, (mostly) unknown cast.

For those of you who've never seen RENT before, basically it's about a group of young starving artists in New York City's East Village in the late 20th century, struggling with poverty, AIDS, love, creation, and trying to find their place in the world.  It was written by the late Jonathan Larson (he died the night before the Off-Broadway premiere of the show in 1996), and is based on the opera La Boheme. 


with Adam Chanler-Berat (Mark)

This cast is young and talented.  Annaleigh Ashford is perhaps the best Maureen I've ever seen (with the caveat that I've never seen the original Maureen, Idina Menzel, perform the role).  She's delightfully kooky and has one of those voices that she just effortlessly throws around for comedy, when in reality it takes a lot of skill and control to sing well comedically.  She has a great match in Corbin Reid's Joanne; their duet "Take Me or Leave Me" is a highlight.  Matt Shingledecker and Adam Chanler-Berat are a well matched Roger and Mark, respectively, and well cast for their roles.  Adam is the one cast member I knew before seeing this show; he originated the role of Henry in Next to Normal ("perfect for you....").  He makes a really good Mark (my favorite character); the Mark/Roger duets were great as was the Mark/Joanne duet "Tango Maureen."  We had an understudy for Collins, Marcus Paul James, and he was wonderful (as understudies often are, I find).  As I told him at the stage door, the second act reprise of "I'll Cover You" always gets to me, and his version was no exception.  The casting was very well done for all of the roles, with the possible exception of Mimi.  Arianda Fernandez's performance is ferocious, but lacks the vulnerability needed to make the audience care about what happens to her.  It's a difficult line to walk.

The Off-Broadway stage is smaller with not as much room to run around as the Broadway stage, but they make good use of the vertical space.  It reminds me of a smaller version of Next to Normal (not surprising since Michael Greif directed that as well, and they share the same set designer, Mark Wendland), with its multiple levels and stairways.  The sparse furniture of the original show, consisting of long tables and folding chairs, has been replaced with actual desks and chairs and moving set pieces.  The iconic costumes have been changed, but still retain the spirit of each character.  Upon seeing each them I'd think - that looks like something Mark would wear, even though I haven't seen him wear it before.


with Matt Shingledecker (Roger)

When I met the cast at the stage door I was shocked at how young they looked, as did most of the fans waiting for them (I guess I looked that young 15 years ago when I first saw the show).  I'm a first generation RENThead, but it's pretty cool that there's a whole new generation of young people falling in love with the musical for the first time.  There were plenty of empty seats on a Friday night, so if you're in town definitely check it out.  You can most likely get discount tickets at the TKTS booth.  This show has such heart, and such a feeling of friendship and togetherness and living in the moment (made even more poignant by knowing the creator's story).  This new production captures that spirit beautifully.  It's still the musical that I've loved for 15 years, but a new creation too.

No day but today!