Devastating

This would be my one-word review for August: Osage County.

Really, there isn't much to add to the chorus of unanimous praise Tracy Letts' play has received. Yes, 3:45 minutes in the theater moves like time is flying by. Yes, you laugh. Hard. Yes, the direction of this show by Anna Shapiro is extraordinary. This is great theater.

Two shows this season left me literally catching my breath: Passing Strange and August: Osage County. The possibility that a play might be so good that I forget to breathe is what keeps me going to the theater. A lot. Whenever I can. And this is after experiencing Welcome to the Club all those years ago. Two have had two such breath-taking experiences in one season is a first, and it gives me great hope.

The August replacement cast, led triumphantly by Estelle Parsons, honor this amazing work. Not a line is wasted, not a moment is misused. Parsons is harsh, unforgiving and not a little crazy. Amy Morton, as daughter Barbara, is beautiful and frightening as she becomes her mother. I also thought that understudy Dee Pelletier gave a truly riveting performance as Ivy. But these performances were simply the rising tide that allowed everyone in the cast to give the most memorable of performances.

August: Osage County is, in the end, a show of dichotomies. We love these characters as much as they disgust us. We laugh hard (honest laughs) as we gasp at the gravity of the pain these characters inflict on each other. We're energized even as we endure.

Now go hug your mother

Oh, Oh, Oh Woke Up Today, Feeling the Way I Always Do...

Hairspray is tremendous fun. From the opening number I had a big grin on my face. The transition from stage to screen has been handled very well. The performances are almost uniformly good (more on that in a moment), the story translated well, and there is great wit and humor throughout.

I am a big fan of the musical on stage. The things that bother me about the film have more to do with that than things that are particularly wrong with the film. Much of the second act, for example, is excised from the film, so "Without Love," Tracy's prison visit from Link, happens (very creatively, I must admit) with them in separate locations. None of the actors outshine their stage counterparts , though some (see Nicky Blonsky, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfieffer) bring equally seductive interpretations to their roles. Travolta, though, just didn't do it for me. While he gives us a full figured Edna, and plumbs some depth from the role, his Edna seems to fade into the scenery much more than the Edna's of his predecessors.

The stage version of Hairspray had less bite than the original film, and the latest film has less bite still. "There's a road..." brings some gravitas to the proceedings, but it almost seems forced. The film has been mainstreamed even more than the musical. The orchestrations have less bite; the new songs are more generic.

All that being said, the nods to the film and stage versions make it a great ride for those hair hoppers who've been with the show since the beginning, and the film is an amazing ride for those who are new to Hairspray. Our six filmgoers represented that range, and all had big fun.

What about those Tony's

A quick review of the Tony Awards. The show was very enjoyable, especially early on. There was an eloquence to the acceptance speeches that gave the show heart and meaning. A big shout out to both Johnny Gallagher and Billy Crudup who gave the show huge class and warmth right up front.

The performances were good. A Chorus Line needed more time. Company needed more people. Mary Poppins came off better than any of the other performances I've seen. Thanks for not doing "Supercal...ious" again. Christine Ebersole was fierce in "Revolutionary Costume for Today" from Grey Gardens and Audra was fiercer still 110 in the Shade. Curtains came off far better than it had on Regis and Kelly, but did they need to do "Show People" again? Is there another song in the show?

As for Spring Awakening, I'm thrilled they took home the awards they did--particularly thrilled for Johnny Gallagher--and very glad that the box office spiked this week. I just have to say the medley didn't work for me. After "Mother" the songs were poorly linked and it made no sense to do "Totally Fucked." ("We're so revolutionary on Broadway we got bleeped at the Tony's.) The performance also reminded me of those "What's wrong with this picture" puzzles I did as a kid where you had to figure out 10 things wrong with the copy of a picture from its original: 1. Jonathan Groff sang John Gallager's verse in "Bitch of Living," 2. Skylar Astin's lyric was changed, 3. The choreography for Jonathan was very different, etc., etc.

I had fun. I'll watch it again. In fact, usually I watch the performances a second and third time. This year, I might be inclined to watch some of the acceptance speeches.

Tony Award Weekend

The Tony Awards are here. The net is beginning to fill with peeps making their predictions. The boys at 365gay predict major wins for Spring Awakening and The Coast of Utopia, but there have been a few who've voiced support and confidence in Frost/Nixon. Everyone seems solidly behind Christine Ebersole and Frank Langella, with strong support for Raul Esparza and Julie White.

Check out Modern Fabulousity for a category by category analysis of the awards. I'm with ModFab on just about all of the will wins, except Dana Ivey for featured actress in a play. We diverge more when it comes to who should win in the categories.

I think Spring Awakening deserves the awards it will win, and I think it is the best musical of the year. I'm a fan of Grey Gardens, but it resonates mostly on an intellectual level.

Check out the official Tony Awards site. There's some delicious stuff there. And support the theater community on Sunday evening at 8. Check out my media box at the right for a song from Spring to get you in the mood.

Coram Boy--A Belated Review

Although Coram Boy ended its run at the Imperial Theatre last Sunday, the show has stayed with me long enough to make a few comments postmortem. I saw Coram Boy at the May 19 matinee to a half-filled house. It doesn't surprise me that the show would struggle to find an audience. It's a difficult one to categorize, but one that I found ultimately compelling.

Except for the fact that Coram Boy was not written by Dickens, it is Dickensien through and through. Based on the novel by Jamila Gavin, it has the clash of wealth and poverty, orphans, darkness and light, coincidences beyond the imagination and an ending that leaves you awash with tears. All this drama is connected with a choir and live orchestra (hence the difficulty in classifying) performing music by Handel. Handel, by the way, is a major character in the play.

The acting was fine; the production was really extraordinary. It was theatrical without the huge special effects that drive some productions these days. It's not the perfect show, but it builds to something that is quite special. It's a shame more people won't see it.

While it's still active, it is worth taking a look at the official web site: http://www.coramboyonbroadway.com/