American Idiot

(American Idiot was/is probably my most eagerly awaited show of the season. I bought a ticket for the rear mezzanine to the first preview, despite the fact that I couldn't really afford it. Regardless, it was worth every penny.)

As the typical red show curtain rises to reveal a set of televisions and walls plastered with newspaper, the sounds of news anchors and television nonsense in the background, the audience realizes that this is no typical musical. This is Green Day's rock opera. It is closer to Tommy than to RENT.

The score is essentially the album of American Idiot (plus a few B-side tracks and songs from 21st Century Breakdown) turned into a rock opera. It is a "rock opera" by all meanings of the word. The plot is completely driven by the songs woven together in the score, with very little dialogue. When there is dialogue, it is mostly delivered in the form of letters (monologues by John Gallagher Jr, who plays the lead character of "Jesus of Suburbia", named Johnny).

A Tony Award winner for Spring Awakening, Gallagher leads the 19 person cast with strong stage presence and a voice that perfectly fits the score. His portrayal of "Johhny" is the perfect representation of the young angst and frustration that the music represents. Gallagher's character goes through a typical coming of age story, but his acting is honest and nuanced, far beyond his years. He delivers haunting versions of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Whatsername", especially.

Michael Esper plays Will, Johnny's friend who is unable to follow him "to the city" and away from Jingletown, when his girlfriend Heather (a great Mary Faber) gets pregnant. Will spends most of his time on the couch, lamenting his life, but Esper gives complete depth to his character with limited material with his lead on the songs "Give Me Novacaine" and "Nobody Likes You (reprise)".

Stark Sands (Tony nominee for Journey's End), a new addition to the company for the Broadway run, plays Tunny, the third friend who gets seduced by a television commerical to join the Armed Forces. Overseas (the location isn't given), he meets the Extraordinary Girl (played by the underused Christina Sajous). Sands' main numbers in the show are "Are We the Waiting" and "Before the Lobotomy". Sands' performance is great, but his character suffers from lack of material. The Tunny/Extraordinary Girl storyline seems the most underdeveloped in the show, though both performers do well with the material given.

Rebecca Naomi Jones plays the girl of Johnny's dreams, Whatsername. Her powerful voice and presence add a much needed kick of feminity to the plotline (as we rarely see Mary Faber). She powers through the newly orchestrated "Letterbomb" as an anthem for the girls against the men, and her rendition of "21 Guns" (as previewed on the Grammy telecast) is heartbreaking and beautiful.

The other supporting highlight is Tony Vincent as Johnny's alter-ego, Saint Jimmy. (I would venture to say it's appropriate that the actor's name is Tony). While St. Jimmy is the "flashiest" role in the show, Vincent brings darkness and honesty to the evil side of Johnny, his voice being a stand-out. He delivers an incredible performance, full of life, and also truth. He shows an additional depth to Johnny's struggles from a different point of view. Gallagher and Vincent together are a pair not to be missed.

The show is truly centered on the music, which is only improved by (Tony Award winning composer) Tom Kitt's orchestrations. The orchestrations turn this rock album into a rock opera, appropriate for a Broadway house. Kevin Adams (Tony Award winning lighting designer of Spring Awakening) does a perfect job matching the music to the appearance, as well as Christine Jones's set that perfectly represents the media that these Idiots are rebelling against.

The ensemble of the show creates a great backdrop for the story, especially with appropriate choreography by Stephen Hoggett. A highlight performer is Theo Stockman, a featured soloist in "Holiday" and "Too Much Too Soon". His energy and passion for the show is palpable.

This show is not perfect, but it is original and exciting. The book leaves many characters underdeveloped and some songs feel out of place (specific "Rock and Roll Girlfriend"), as does the hallucinogenic ballet before "Extraordinary Girl". The show could use some tweaking but it is definitely worth the 90 minutes of your time. As one of the few original musicals of the season, I can see it sweeping the Tony nominations at least.

ETA: Upon a second viewing, Rock and Roll Girlfriend works much better with the new changes. Also, it's interesting to me that some of the most moving songs in the show do not come from American Idiot. In sequence, these are: When It's Time, Know Your Enemy, 21 Guns. Although Homecoming and Whatsername are wonderful, too.

hair

revisited hair twice in the past month. saw jackie burns as sheila. she does a great job but caissie levy is incomparable. saw jeannette bayardelle as dionne (she will replace sasha allen next month) last week and enjoyed her a lot too. saw josh lamon on for andrew kober in january and he was fantastic. he'll be a great replacement. am curiously/anxiously awaiting the new cast announcement.

Fall

So the fact that my last blog post was early September shows how busy my semester was. I would say "sorry" but considering this blog is currently just for myself...I won't.

The shows I saw since I last blogged were (Not in order):

Othello (Public Theatre production) (4 hours. Not good.)

in the next room or the vibrator play (Enjoyed it!)

next to normal (a few more times)

Oleanna (ehh, decent.)

Hamlet (Jude Law was FANTASTIC)

Ragtime (Favorite thing of the season)

Mary Poppins (Lovely!)

Ordinary Days (Roundabout Underground)

The Understudy (Very funny- great cast)

The Toxic Avenger (a really good time)

Wicked in Philadelphia (Helene Yorke is a star!)

Bye Bye Birdie (Okay. Gina Gershon should not ever be in a musical.)

I'll probably gather my thoughts and decide Ragtime deserves a full review in tribute, as it's closing today.

Revisiting

So this past week I was luckily enough to pay repeat visits to two of my favorite shows running, the Hair revival and 9 to 5 the Musical.

Hair: Tuesday 9/1/09

The understudies were Paris Remillard on for Woof (this week Bryce Ryness's daughter was born), Katie Kiyan for Crissy, and Matt DeAngelis on for Josh Lamon (aka Theo Stockman's roles). Also, Krystal Joy Brown was new to me, since Saycon has since left the show for Fela! (The last time I was at Hair was, I believe, May 5th).

I was thrilled to see that the show was still as energetic and smooth and tight as it was in the spring, pre Tonys. I think a lot of the energy is due to the new faces (swings etc) in the Tribe who are keeping the show fresh and exciting. Gavin Creel and Caissie Levy give consistently passionate yet everchanging performances and I have endless respect for the work they do on stage. Will Swenson was crazy on Tuesday- his opening monologue to the audience was extra long and insane, as well as continued outbursts in the middle of Gavin's lines.

What a beautiful beautiful show, and I have yet to see a bad understudy/tribe member. (Also, I have seen all the Crissy covers now: Allison, Briana and Katie, and they are all great, although Allison is still probably my favorite).

9 to 5: Saturday matinee 9/5/09

I have been meaning to revisit 9 to 5 , as I enjoyed it a lot the first time I saw it in June, so I figured closing weekend was the time to do it. (No understudies!!)

What energy! Everyone was so thrilled and into everything that they were doing, it made me appreciate the show even more. While I thought the fantasy sequence of Dance of Death/Cowgirl's Revenge/Potion Notion was silly and unnecessary the first time through, I really had a great time watching it last night. Stephanie J. Block's emotions were cranked up through the roof, which I could tell as soon as she began to cry during the beginning of "I Just Might". Allison Janney has grown even more into her Drama Desk winning role, as proven with her second act monologue to Tinsworthy about the sacrifices women make in terms of work and career. I wish it was posted word for word online somewhere (as soon as I post this I'm going to look) because I find it so moving and inspiring. Megan Hilty performs a beautiful Doralee. Yes, she copies Dolly. Yes, it's SPOT ON, and also a developed character. I hope Megan moves on to something other than Wicked after this. Also, I found Kathy Fitzgerald slightly annoying the first time, but enjoyed her character more the second time.

Got tickets to the Public's production of Othello at the Skirball Center! Psyched. Thanks NYU for $14 tickets.

8/18/09

On a day trip we went up to NYC to see Population 8 at the Fringe Festival. (http://www.theprocessgroup.org/)

The first act was pretty terrible, I was lost and wanted to get out of there because there was too much projection (like, video on a screen) used, no character development. The only thing that was keeping me there was Spring Awakening alumnus Gideon Glick who was fantastic and well cast. It was clear that it was playwright Nicholas Gray's first play (now my friend insisted that he was a famous critic and I told my friend that I own Frank Rich's book of criticism yet I had never heard of him).

However, the second act was great. The writing found its groove, the characters were real, and the storyline was attention grabbing. It was like a Jekyll/Hyde storyline- it was hard to believe the acts were written by the same person! I would recommend it to Gideon Glick fans, it's only $15, I would recommend it more if you're an Equity member and it's free.

I also happened to win the virtual line for the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Euripides's The Bacchae starring one of my favoriteeee actors (no, seriously) Jonathan Groff. The production was, overall, okay. Jonathan Groff was excellent. Maybe I'm biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed his Dionysus. I thought it was fresh, funny, and surprising. Anthony Mackie was also good as Pentheus but the rest of the production was a complete bore. The direction was a mess, the costumes were terrible, and actors who weren't in scenes at hand were wandering around the stage. It's free, so if you're a Groff fan it's worth it, if you can sit through classical theater. It's only 90 minutes so you won't die of boredom. ;)

Edit- This article/blog from Newsweek perfectly describes how I felt about Groff's Dionysus. Give it a read:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/popvox/archive/2009/08/21/why-jonathan-groff-is-our-best-stage-ingenue.aspx

Shows I Want to See

• Bye Bye Birdie (Matt Doyle, Allie Trimm, John Stamos!!)
• I will probably see the Neil Simon plays (Brighton Beach Memoirs/Broadway Bound) if the reviews are good and/or tickets are cheap
• God of Carnage (They have standing room and I've heard nothing but good!)
• Hamlet (Shakespeare, Jude Law, $25. Done.)
• Ordinary Days
• Othello (with my NYU discount obvs)
• Our Town
• Toxic Avenger (Diana DeGarmo!)