Dear World

May 24/12 - Dear World – I feel fortunate to have seen the original when it played Boston prior to Broadway in 1969 – it is a charming musical based on The Madwoman of Chaillot, and starred Angela Lansbury as the Countess Aurelia, with Milo O'Shea as the Sewer Man. Unfortunately the musical was quite different by the time it reached Broadway and the changes were not for the better. It is a great opportunity to see this vehicle without the star power, as I do not think the audience was ready to accept Ms. Lansbury as a raging lunatic, especially following her brilliant performance in Mame. The Civic Light Opera version has Barbara Boddy as Aurelia and David Haines as the Sewer Man, and it becomes a much more balanced show. The performers give it their all, and it comes off as was meant, to be a small charming musical, and succeeds. There are some wonderful Jerry Herman songs, Each Tomorrow Morning, Kiss Her Now, I Don't Want to Know and the title song Dear World.

Semele

May 22/12 – Semele – George Frideric Handel's opera, with Jane Archibald in the title role, shows off her magnificent voice, in a staging by Zhang Huan, which literally steals the show, from a huge dragon, to horses, to a sleeping giant on the roof, two sumo wrestlers, an orgy....what more could one ask in a COC production? The three acts move quickly and it is the visuals that give the production it's dynamic force. This is my first Handel opera, and shades of The Messiah are heard throughout, and like most operas in English, another more lyrical language may have disguised the inane repetitious lyrics projected overhead.

Bring It On

May 16/12 – Bring It On – The Musical – news that this show is heading to Broadway seems strange in that this pastiche of cheerleading will certainly not be welcomed by the critics, even with the talent of Lin-Manuel Miranda, there is no reason to see this show!

May 7-14/12 – New York – We got to see 10 shows in NYC, in alphabetical order – Cole Porter Exhibition at the New York Library for the Performing Arts – an unbelievable collection of memorabilia of Mr. Porter, from his Academy Award, Tony Award, various cigarette cases from his adoring friends, great letters from the likes of Vivian Leigh thanking Cole for spending Christmas at his home when she had just separated from Laurence Olivier, correspondence from Katharine Cornell and her female lover, again thanking him for his hospitality, his dressing gowns etc., a treat for everyone; End of the Rainbow - with an incredible performance by Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland during her last days appearing at Talk of the Town, she also plans to tour with the show so it may just end up in Toronto; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Megan Hilty from Smash gets to once again recreate Monroe, in a great performance in this Encore presentation of this 1949 broadway musical, a concert presentation with full orchestra and a large number of great actors, fully costumed with settings suggestions, a few years back I saw Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town and it managed to transfer to Broadway. Their shows are always highly professional, and a treat when one gets to see one of their productions; Ghost the Musical, based on the film, with fantastic illusions, and a great supporting performance by Da'Vine Joy Randolph in the Whoopy Goldberg part; Leap of Faith, the final performance with a great performance by Raul Esparza, choreographed by our own Sergio Trujillo; The Lyons with a stand-out performance by Linda Lavin in a very black comedy; The Disney musical Newsies, a very energetic recreation of the newsies strike in 1899 in a limited engagement at the moment but we know it will be around for many years to come – the singing and dancing are both standouts; Nice Work If You Can Get It, a loosely based on an early Gershwin musical with music taken from various Gershwin shows, featuring Matthew Broderick, Kelli O'Hara with featured performances by Judy Kaye, and Estelle Parsons, the show ended up being a pleasant surprise as neither of us expected much after the lukewarm reviews; Once, an Irish musical based on the film, which was a little like Riverdance without the dance – the set is an Irish pub and the audience could go up and get drinks and listen to the music before the show started—the first act had a lot of charm, but by the time it was over we were glad it was, the critics however think it may just win the Tony Award for best musical; the low point of the week, One Man, Two Guvnors, a Commedia dell'Arte version of The Servant of Two Masters, we found just silly, and only a few of the audience members seemed to find it funny as well, in spite of it's success in London and James Corden's raves from some critics; Venus in Fur – a sexual diversion with great erotic performances by Nina Arianda (Born Yesterday) and Hugh Dancy, directed by Walter Bobbie