Warren Carlyle

ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA: “AFTER MIDNIGHT” AT PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE

February 23, 2024

I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed by a Paper Mill Playhouse presentation as I have been by their production of "After Midnight." This adaptation of the original Broadway production has been so severely cut down that the whole point of the original has been lost [more]

Harmony

November 17, 2023

The musical "Harmony," the lovechild of pop music greats Barry Manilow (music) and Bruce Sussman (lyrics and book), has opened at a time when anti-Semitism has peaked once again and lessons to the contrary are in short supply. Harmony’s dive into Nazi era anti-Semitism, though, may fall on deaf ears, but Harmony is also very much an entertainment, not a message show. Certainly, Manilow and Sussman couldn’t have predicted the “perfect timing” of this staging, the last in a long line of productions, most recently at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in April, 2022. The current iteration is basically that production with most of the cast intact and a classier, mirrored set by Beowulf Boritt. [more]

The Music Man

February 22, 2022

Because of changing social mores, some Broadway musicals are assumed to make audiences uncomfortable today. Take for example Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "Carousel" whose protagonist is a wife-beater. The recent revival did everything in its power to mitigate this problem but did not succeed. Now we have the long awaited revival of Meredith Willson’s "The Music Man" starring film megastar Hugh Jackman as Professor Harold Hill and two-time Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster as Marian Paroo, the librarian and music teacher. The problem the director and producers had with this classic piece of Americana, set in 1912, is that the hero Professor Hill is a con-artist and a serial seducer with whom we are supposed to be sympathetic. However, in 2022 this is an obstacle in an era when lovable rogues are not acceptable as heroes. As a solution, Jackman has been directed by Jerry Zaks to play Harold Hill as low-key and muted as he possibly can. What this does is straitjackets Jackman’s personal charm and charisma which he normally has in spades. The result is an undercooked Music Man even though it has been given a big, expensive production – six Tony Award winners on stage and six in the production team - maybe the starriest cast in New York right now. [more]

Kiss Me, Kate

March 29, 2019

While many of the greats have tackled Kate over the years ever since it premiered in 1948, O’Hara brings a subdued charm to the usually more boisterous part of Lilli, even if she is positively beaming when she first arrives on stage. The first was Patricia Morison, and the most recent on Broadway--before O’Hara--was the late Marin Mazzie, who received a Tony Award for the 1999 revival, as did the revival itself. And then there was Kathryn Grayson in the 1953 film version. [more]

Me and My Girl

May 14, 2018

Mr. Carlyle’s giddy opening is a thrilling mise-en-scène of a chorus line of servants, floating props and a grand back drop of a miniature representation of the country estate where the action is set. Act II starts with a rollicking cricket and tennis on the lawn segment showcasing cast members in gleaming casual wear and the commanding gyrations of Mark Evans who wonderfully plays a fatuous cad. There’s also a daffy number where portraits of ancestors in clothing of different eras come to life and dance. [more]

She Loves Me

March 29, 2016

Scott Ellis’ direction avoids caricature, even in the most broadly drawn characters like the man-hungry Ilona, the gigolo Steven and the scared, but pragmatic clerk Sipos. He make the one touch of melodrama, involving Maraczek’s marriage, seem human and a touch tragic, helped by Mr. Jennings subtle, but exuberant performance. He also draws a tender performance from Ms. Benanti who gets to use the more operatic part of her marvelous voice. [more]

New York Spring Spectacular

April 8, 2015

There is audience participation; a huge orchestra—conducted by Patrick Vaccariello—that keeps rising from the depths, acrobatic choreography, and, most of all the mesmerizing Rockettes who look ravishing in their many costumes (designed by ESOSA) and routines. As my grandmother used to say, “What’s not to like?” I agree wholeheartedly. [more]

On the Twentieth Century

April 3, 2015

The best revival of the season to date, Roundabout’s On the Twentieth Century is as streamlined and fast-paced as the actual train and twice as much fun. For her soon to be legendary performance, Chenoweth should assuredly win her first and long-delayed Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Don’t miss this show. It will be one for the record books. [more]

Editor’s Notes: 2014 Tonys Wrapup

June 12, 2014

Broadway had its big night when the 68th Annual Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, were given out at Radio City Music Hall hosted by the genial and charming Hugh Jackman for the fourth time. One of several of the evening's surprises was the four minute opening number in which Jackman hopped from the street to the stage to backstage and back on stage again, recreating Bobby Van's iconic number from the 1953 MGM musical, Small Town Girl, which went unidentified in the course of the evening. [more]