augusta 2001
ell, it wasn’t the worst of seasons, and it
certainly wasn’t the best of seasons.
Instead, the 2001 Broadway theater
season was, with one exception, one of
the most forgettable in recent memory.
O f course, any discussion of the year must
begin with that exception. It is a mega-huge,
super-spectacular, record-breaking phenomenon
of a show— a little musical comedy you might
have heard of called The Producers.
Few overhyped shows manage to live up to
audience expectations,
but The Producers man
ages to do just that— it
is a gloriously idiotic
way to spend three
hours. Based on Mel
Brooks’ outrageous
1968 film about two
schleps who concoct a
plot to make a fortune
by producing the worst
show ever done (a leg
endary masterpiece of
bad taste called Spring
time for Hitler), the
musical takes the film and transforms it effort
lessly into a sublime stage adaptation. Everyone
connected with the show is a consummate pro,
and they all are working at the height of their
talents.
Brooks (with the savvy theatrical aid of
Thomas Meehan) has turned his sometimes-
sloppy screenplay into a perfect model of an old-
fashioned book musical, and his songs are
punchy, affectionate and deliciously brassy. The
remarkable Susan Stroman once again proves
herself the Queen of Broadway with her razor-
sharp, witty and beautifully balanced direction
and choreography. Robin Wagner’s sets and
William Ivey Long’s costumes are both stylish
and funny— and then there is the cast.
Few shows ever have had such a perfect
ensemble of clowns as this one. Peerless vaude-
villians all, they race through their antics with
precision and panache, and their delight is
infectious. All of them shine: Gary Beach’s
outlandish Roger De Bris (you haven’t lived
until you’ve seen him channel Judy Garland
into the gayest Adolf Hitler in history; his
“Bom in a Tank” moment as he sits on the
edge of the stage and tosses his forelock is price
less); the delightful Cady Huffman of the end
less legs, bravado bosom and brassy belt; Roger
Bart creating the apotheosis of the Sissy with his
Carmen Ghia; and Brad Oscar as the crazed
Nazi playwright who adores his Furher and can
put across a big number like a Broadway storm
trooper.
The starring team of Nathan Lane and
Matthew Broderick is on an elevated plane of
its own. Watching these two together is like
takes over for McCormack this month.
Leonard is a fine young actor, and his
wrenching performance as the young A.E.
Housman in The Invention of Love is the emo
tional glue that holds this intricate show togeth
er. Tom Stoppard’s play is a complex and deli
cate study of the renowned poet and his literary
circle. Its examination of Victorian mores and
Housman’s crippling, repressed homosexuality is
often moving and engaging but also can get lost
in Stoppard’s self-indulgence. It demands a ster
ling production, and it does get one on Broad
way. Rich performances from Leonard, Richard
Easton’s elder Housman, Daniel Davis’ haunted
Oscar Wilde and the inspired Michael
Stuhlbarg create a memorable evening of pure
theater out of an often unwieldy and difficult
script.
The La Scala Ballet Company reinvents Amacord
A similar act of theatrical alchemy can be
found off-Broadway in Edward Albee’s latest,
The Play About the Baby. This fantasia on many
of his favorite obsessions (truth and illusion,
age, sexual ambiguity, gay panic) is really noth
ing more than a fascinating parlor trick. There
might not be a baby and there certainly isn’t
by J on K retzu
much of a play on view, but the results are
haunting nonetheless because of Albee’s ever-
watching the great comedy teams of Abbott and
Rockwell’s ingenious designs, a kick-ass band
engrossing, lethally entertaining brand of witty
Costello, Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Broth
and a superb cast (led by the wry, dry Narrator,
wordplay and the work of a superb quartet of
ers. They are sheer musical comedy perfection,
Dick Cavett, and featuring the peerless Lea
actors. The young couple of David Burtka and
and their antics will be talked about for many
DeLaria, Alice Ripley and Jarrod Emick) make
Kathleen Early are affecting and passionate,
years to come. Even though it requires time and
for a fun evening, even if it lacks the anar
while Brian Murray is a model of
persistence to get a ticket (the show is sold out
chic danger and trashiness of the original.
dangerous affability as their
until next March, although each performance
A great antidote to these overstuffed
genial tormentor. And then
has cancellations and standing room tickets
revivals can be found in a surprisingly won
there is theatrical legend
available on the day of the show), it is definitely
derful off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy. The
Marian Seldes. This role is
worth the trouble.
work of some fresh and exciting new
Albee’s valentine to her, and
voices— Laurence O ’Keefe, Keythe Farley
she responds with a perform
he rest of the Broadway musical season pales
and Brian Flemming— this cult hit fash
ance that is a master class in
in comparison. The highly acclaimed revival
ions a delightfully fang-in-cheek,
exquisite affectation.
of 42nd Street struck me,as an inflated bore.
fiendishly clever musical out of the
If you happen to be in New
Having somehow missed the original Gower
demented purple prose of Weekly World
York or London soon, do not by
Champion/David Merrick production I have
News. With a catchy score that man
any means miss the rare appear
nothing to compare it with, but this elephantine
ages to parody every musical style of the
ance (outside of Milan, that is)
revival seems like a soulless
past three decades and an ideal cast
of the famed La Scala Ballet
exercise in energetic tedi
(led by the remarkable Kaitlin Hop
Company. I managed to catch
um. The large cast has the
kins and Deven May), Bat Boy is a show that
the company in the plush, beauti
demented jollity of one of
soars into pure musical comedy nirvana.
ful surroundings of the Orange County Per
those horrific theme park
One musical holdover from last season is
forming Arts Center and was astonished by its
extravaganzas, and the
Susan Stroman s dazzling reimagining of The
technique and artistry. The double bill of
whole show seems oddly
Music Man. The cast is mostly intact and as mar Amarcord (based on Fellini’s film masterpiece)
velous as ever. Leading the band as the new
robotic. This 42nd Street
and Roland Petit’s Carmen was highly enjoy
is big, loud and stupid
Harold Hill is Eric McCormack (Will of televi
able, but artistic director Sylvie Guillam’s new
and the epitome of what
sion’s popular Will & Grace). He reveals a fine
interpretation of the classic Giselle was a reve
gives Broadway musicals
singing voice and a polished stage presence, but
lation. With its detailed attention to character
a bad name.
he seems so in love with his own performance
ization and dramatic detail, its elegant designs
it’s difficult for anyone else to enjoy it! Plus he
A much better
and its spectacular dancing, this was a Giselle
has the disconcerting habit of playing all his
revival bet is the
to stir the senses and haunt the heart for years
scenes to the audience as opposed to all those
inventive if somewhat
' to come.
overblown Circle in the Square production of
other people on stage with him. Still, this is a
Music Man to cherish, and it will be interesting
that cult classic The Rocky Horror Show.
JON KRETZU is associate artistic director of Artists
Christopher Ashley’s clever direction, David
to see what happens when Robert Sean Leonard
Repertory Theatre in Portland.
The sometimes-Great White Way
Veteran Portland director reviews the new shows
T
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