Theatre: Present Laughter at the St. James Theatre (May 2017)

My spouse and I attended a Sunday afternoon performance of Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” in early May 2017. The play stars Kevin Kline as Garry Essendine, Cobie Smulders (Robin from “How I Met Your Mother”) as Joanna Lyppiatt, and Elizabeth Burton (Richard Burton’s daughter) as Garry’s estranged wife Liz Essendine. 

We saw the play at the St. James Theatre, which first opened in 1927 as The Erlanger Theatre. In 1930, after Mr. Erlanger passed away, the Astor family bought the theatre and renamed it the St. James. The theatre continued to change owners until 1970, when the Jujamcyn Theaters group purchased it. (Jujamcyn derives its name from the names of owner William McKnight’s grandchildren: Judith, James, and Cynthia.) Jujamcyn also owns the Eugene O’Neill Theatre (running “The Book of Mormon”), the Hirschfeld Theatre (running “Kinky Boots”), the August Wilson Theatre (running “Groundhog Day”), and the Walter Kerr Theatre (running “Amelie”).The Michael Keaton movie “Birdman” was filmed in the theatre’s lobby, stage, and backstage areas, and it has also been featured in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan”, in an episode of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, and in a few episodes of “Smash”. Years ago, we saw “The Producers” (March 2002) and “Swing!” (September 2000) at the St. James Theatre.

On the afternoon that we attended the play, the theatre offered seats only in the orchestra/floor level and in the first/lower balcony; seats in the second/upper balcony were not available for sale. General public restroom are located on the basement level; you must descend a wide set of L-shaped stairs. Men line up on the left side of the stairs, and women line up on the right. To reach the orchestra/street level afterwards, guests must climb the stairs between the two lines of people, which can be difficult because there is no handrail. (A handicap-accessible restroom is located on the street level.) An attendant in the restroom calls out the number of the empty stalls, a remarkably efficient system. A bar on the street level offers drinks both before the show and during admission. (There is a 15-minute admission between the first two acts, with two 1-minute pauses during each act.). You can take drinks and snacks into the theatre to enjoy during the performance.

We won the right to buy our tickets in an online lottery presented by Jujamcyn. For about $40 per ticket (booked through Ticketmaster with a special code), we were able to choose from a pool/map of available seats, some of which were marked as limited/partial view. (The limited view seats were primarily located on the outer aisle of either the left or right orchestra, or more central located but in the orchestra rear.) We chose to purchase two seats in the third row (C), numbers 14 and 16, which were the last two seats in the row on the orchestra right. In hindsight, we should have chosen the same seats but on the orchestra left side so that we could see Kevin Kline make his grand entrance down the set’s staircase, and so that we could see other characters enter the off-stage “office” on the right side of the stage itself. (As it was, we could only partially view those areas, as the visibility indicator on our tickets stated.) One other obstruction on the right side of the stage was the placement of a furniture ottoman that was sometimes in our line of sight, depending on where the actors stood on the stage. If you have a choice, select seats on orchestra left side of the stage for the better view.

Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama “This Happy Breed”. Later Coward's new play “Blithe Spirit” was added to the repertory for the tour.

The play's title “Present Laughter” comes from a song in Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night”, which urges “carpe diem” ("present mirth hath present laughter"), and so the word “present” in the title should be pronounced as the adjective.

The plot follows a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light-comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on absurd, Garry must deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his estranged wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis (since he has recently turned forty). The story was described by Coward as "a series of semi-autobiographical pyrotechnics”.

All three acts of the play occur in Garry Essendine's London flat.

Act I

Daphne Stillington, a young admirer of the actor Garry Essendine, has finagled herself into the flat and spent the night there, stating that she has lost her “latchkey”. Garry is still asleep, and while waiting for him to wake, Daphne encounters in turn three employees of Garry, housekeeper (Miss Erikson), valet (Fred), and secretary (Monica). None of them displays any surprise at her presence. Garry finally wakes and with practiced smoothness, ushers Daphne out.

Liz Essendine, who left Garry years ago, nevertheless remains part of his life along with Monica and his manager, Morris Dixon, and producer, Henry Lyppiatt. Liz tells Garry that she suspects that Morris is having an affair with Henry's glamorous wife Joanna, and is concerned that this might break up the family. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Roland Maule, an aspiring young playwright, whose play Garry has rashly agreed to critique. Liz leaves, and Roland rapidly becomes obsessively fascinated by Garry, who ushers him off the premises as quickly as he can.

Morris and Henry arrive and discuss theatrical business with Garry. Henry leaves for a business trip abroad, and Garry privately interrogates Morris, who denies that he is having an affair with Joanna. Garry telephones Liz to reassure her.

Act II

Scene 1, midnight, three days later

Garry, alone in the flat, answers the doorbell to find Joanna. She claims (like Daphne in Act I) to have forgotten her own latchkey and asks Garry if she can sleep in his spare room. He correctly suspects her motives, but after much skirmishing allows himself to be seduced.

Scene 2, the next morning

Joanna emerges from the spare room wearing Garry's pajamas just as Daphne did in Act I. She too encounters Miss Erikson, Fred, and then Monica, who is horrified at her presence in such compromising circumstances. Liz arrives and puts pressure on Joanna by threatening to tell Morris that Joanna has spent the night with Garry. Joanna retreats to the spare room when the doorbell rings, but the caller is not Morris but Roland Maule, who says he has an appointment with Garry. Monica leads him to the office to wait for Garry.

Frantic comings and goings follow, with the flustered arrivals and departures of Morris and Henry, Roland's pursuit of Garry, and the arrival of a Lady Saltburn, to whose niece Garry has promised an audition. The niece turns out to be Daphne Stillington, who recites the same Shelley poem with which Garry bid her farewell in Act I. Joanna flounces out from the spare room, Daphne faints with horror, Roland is entranced, and Garry is furious.

Act III

A week later, on the eve of Garry's departure on tour in Africa, he is once more alone in the flat. The doorbell rings and Daphne enters saying she has a ticket to sail with him to Africa. The doorbell rings again, and Daphne retreats to an adjoining room. The new caller is Roland, who announces that he too has a ticket for the voyage to Africa. Garry tries to get him to leave, but as the doorbell rings a third time Roland bolts into the spare room and locks the door. The third caller is Joanna, who has also bought a ticket for the Africa voyage and has written a letter to Henry and Morris telling them everything. Liz arrives and saves the tottering situation, announcing that she too is travelling to Africa.

Henry and Morris arrive and berate Garry for his night with Joanna. Garry fights back by revealing the details of Morris and Joanna's affair, and Henry's extramarital adventures. Joanna angrily slaps Garry's face and leaves for good. Her departure goes unnoticed because Garry, Henry, and Morris have begun to fight when it emerges that Henry and Morris have committed Garry to appear at what he considers a shockingly unsuitable theatre. Garry objects, but it is business as usual and Henry and Morris leave in good humor.

Liz pours Garry a brandy and tells him she is not only going to Africa with him but is coming back to him for good. Garry suddenly remembers Daphne and Roland lurking in the adjoining rooms and tells Liz: "You're not coming back to me ... I'm coming back to you", and they tiptoe out.

Theatre: An American in Paris (September 2016)

My spouse and I saw the Broadway show “An American in Paris” on a Saturday afternoon in late September 2016. We won tickets to the show in an online lottery, where we received front-row seats for $40 each. We liked the show, but we would prefer to sit farther back in the audience next time so that we could better enjoy the fancy footwork and set design. On the other hand, it was interesting to look into the orchestra pit to see the musicians and their instruments. (Some of the woodwind musicians played up to six different instruments during the course of the show.) It was also fascinating to glimpse to the wings of the stage to see the inner workings behind the show, and to see the costume area under the stage behind the musicians.

“An American in Paris” is a musical inspired by the 1951 Academy Award-winning film starring Gene Kelly (which was inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin). The Tony award-winning show opened at the Palace Theatre in April 2015, and incorporates songs from George and Ira Gershwin including "I Got Rhythm", “Love Is Here to Stay”, "Liza", "'S Wonderful", "But Not For Me", "I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise", as well as orchestral music.

Struck by a mysterious girl and ready to rebuild his life at the end of World War II, American soldier Jerry decides to stay in Paris and paint. With a help from new friends Adam (a composer and fellow veteran) and Henri (the son of a wealthy French couple and wannabe song and dance man), they imagine a bright future. When Jerry reconnects with the mysterious girl—a stunning French ballerina named Lise—he is certain that he made the right decision. That is, until he discovers that she is the very same woman Adam and he have been encouraging Henri to propose to. Meanwhile, Jerry meets American philanthropist Milo, who is enthralled with Jerry’s talent and good looks, ushers him into the Paris art scene. Lise struggles to choose between her obligations to Henri and what she thinks might be her true love for Jerry. As each man comes to terms with his own fate, it is revealed that Lise is beholden to Henri because he and his family saved her life during the occupation. But both she and Henri realize that it is time to let go. When the curtain falls on the opening night performance of a ballet that will allow Lise to claim her place as an accomplished artist in France, she realizes that she and Jerry are meant to be together. They reunite at the River Seine and walk off into the Paris night.

 

Theatre: The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center (November 2005)

The Light in the Piazza is a musical with a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Margaret Johnson, a wealthy Southern woman and her developmentally stalled daughter, Clara, who spend a summer together in Italy. When Clara falls in love with a young Italian man, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own deep seated hopes and regrets as well.
The score breaks from the 21st century tradition of pop music on Broadway by moving into the territory of Neoromantic classical music and opera, with unexpected harmonic shifts and extended melodic structures, and is more heavily orchestrated than most Broadway scores. Many of the lyrics are in Italian or broken English, as many of the characters are fluent only in Italian.

The Light in the Piazza was developed as a musical at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle in June 2003 and then at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in early 2004. After 36 previews, the Broadway production opened on April 18, 2005 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center, where it ran for 504 performances and closed on July 2, 2006.  

On June 15, 2006, shortly before its closing night, the show was broadcast on the PBS television series Live from Lincoln Center, and drew more than two million viewers. The cast consisted of Victoria Clark (Margaret Johnson), Katie Rose Clarke (Clara Johnson), Aaron Lazar (Fabrizio), Chris Sarandon (Signor Naccarelli), Patti Cohenour (Signora Naccarelli), Michael Berresse (Giuseppe Naccarelli), Sarah Uriarte Berry (Franca), and Beau Gravitte (Roy Johnson).

 Synopsis:

ACT 1

In the early morning of their first day in Florence, Margaret reads from her guidebook to Clara as the piazza around them is waking up and coming to life ("Statues and Stories"). A breeze carries Clara’s hat off her head and across the square where a young Italian man, Fabrizio, miraculously catches it, mid-air, and returns it to her. The two are instantly smitten. But Margaret steers her daughter away from the encounter, bringing her next to the Uffizi Gallery where the reaching figures in the paintings speak to Clara of her own yearnings ("The Beauty Is"). Fabrizio appears, hoping to arrange a time to meet with Clara, but once again Margaret intervenes.

Alone, Fabrizio sings in Italian his declaration of love at first sight for Clara, along with a heartfelt cry of fear that she could never love anyone as lost and without position as he ("Il Mondo Era Vuoto"). Fabrizio begs his father and his brother Giuseppe to help him dress more presentably for Clara. Giuseppe attempts to teach Fabrizio some dance steps as well ("American Dancing").
At the Duomo, Fabrizio once again catches up with Margaret and Clara, and this time Fabrizio’s father, Signor Naccarelli, is able to help penetrate Margaret’s resistance to any further involvement. They all agree to meet at sunset to take a walk and admire the view of the city from above at the Piazzale Michelangelo ("Passeggiata").

Margaret and Clara are invited to have tea at the Naccarelli home. Giuseppe’s wife, Franca, takes Clara on a tour of the apartment, and alone in a separate room, she warns Clara about how quickly love can stale in marriage ("The Joy You Feel"). Though the Naccarellis are universally impressed with Clara, Margaret tries without success to share her deep reservations. When she looks in Fabrizio’s eyes and sees the love there, she can’t bring herself to disappoint him, as much as she feels she must; for there is something about Clara that none of these people know. Clara secretly makes plans to meet Fabrizio at midnight near the hotel.

Margaret calls her husband Roy, who is back in the states. She tries to tell him what is happening with Clara and Fabrizio, but he is brusque and not very understanding, cutting short the conversation. Margaret, alone in her hotel room, reflects on the loneliness in her marriage ("Dividing Day"). She checks in Clara’s room, and finds that she is missing.

On her way to meet Fabrizio, Clara becomes lost in the maze-like streets of Florence. She loses all poise and control, becoming hysterical and screaming like a child ("Hysteria"). Her mother takes her back to the hotel and, as Clara sleeps, reveals the source of her disquiet. When Clara was a young girl, she was kicked in the head by a Shetland pony, and the accident has caused her mental and emotional abilities to develop abnormally. Margaret feels that she must take Clara away from Florence at once, and she steps down into the lobby to have a drink. While she is away, Fabrizio comes to the room, distraught; he cannot find the right words to express his feelings, and Clara urges him to use any other means; Clara accepts Fabrizio’s proposal of marriage, and the two are embracing, half undressed, as Margaret walks in on them ("Say It Somehow").

ACT 2

Margaret takes Clara to Rome to distract her and put an end to the affair. Back in Florence, the Naccarelli household is in complete chaos. As the family despairs, Signora Naccarelli translates in an aside; Fabrizio believes he has ruined everything with Clara, his father attempts to comfort him, and Giuseppe and Franca desire finer details ("Aiutami").

No matter what Margaret tries, her daughter refuses to give her an inch, culminating into a painful confrontation wherein Margaret slaps Clara across the face. Clara erupts with a torrent of feeling, centered on Fabrizio and the nature of love ("The Light in the Piazza"). This causes Margaret to relent, to set aside her doubts and considerations, and to no longer stand in the way of the wedding. The two return to Florence.

Clara is instructed in the Latin catechism in preparation for converting to Catholicism while around her everyone in the extended family sings of their feelings, stirred up by the immediate presence of such intense, young love ("Octet Part 1"). Franca, in an attempt to arouse her husband’s jealousy, kisses Fabrizio right on the mouth, and Clara witnesses it, breaking into a furious rant that ends with her throwing a drink on Franca. As Clara breaks down, Franca commends her for her bravery and declares her own desire to fight for Giuseppe. She toasts the upcoming union and is joined by the rest of the family ("Octet Part 2").

At the wedding rehearsal, Clara and Fabrizio are filling out the necessary forms when Signor Naccarelli sees something on Clara’s form that causes him to call off the wedding and take his family away at once. Clara wants to know what is wrong with her, but her mother says there is nothing at all wrong. With Clara sobbing and broken, alone in one of the pews of the church, Margaret reveals her worst fears and her shame at having been the source of her daughter’s lifelong suffering. She resolves to do whatever it takes to give Clara a chance for happiness ("The Beauty Is [Reprise]").

Margaret tries to reason with Signor Naccarelli, who saw Clara's childlike handwriting as she completed her marriage form. Seemingly unconcerned with her immaturity or her handwriting, Signor Naccarelli admits that he saw Clara write her age on the forms – 26 – and that this makes her an unsuitable bride for his son who is only 20. Relieved that he has not discovered their secret, Margaret begs him to change his mind, but he will not. She invites him to take a walk with her, and the two wander from one end of Florence to the other as the sun slowly sets and the night comes on ("Let’s Walk"). By giving him time to mull things over and by not pressuring him, Margaret succeeds in putting the wedding back on track; Signor Naccarelli says he will meet them at the church the following morning.

From the hotel room, Margaret calls Roy to tell him about the wedding. As might be predicted, he insists that Clara cannot handle the responsibilities of marriage. Clara, in her wedding dress, stands in the shadows, overhearing her mother’s side of the conversation. Margaret says, “Just because she isn’t normal, Roy, doesn't mean she's consigned to a life of loneliness. She mustn't be made to accept less from life just because she isn't like you or me.” Shattered, Clara slips out of the hotel room and runs once more through Florence ("Interlude"), meeting Fabrizio at the church in order to tell him that she cannot marry him; she won’t allow herself to cause him any pain. Fabrizio assuages all of her fears ("Love to Me").

Moments before the wedding, Clara tells Margaret she can’t leave her; Margaret assures her she can. Left alone, Margaret breaks open all the repressed doubts and yearnings that she has carried for years on end about love, realizing at last that the chance of love somehow outweighs the terrible risks. She joins the wedding ceremony ("Fable").

Link to the Variety review here

Theatre: Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theatre (August 2005)

Hairspray is an American musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. In 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, plump teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, and meets a colorful array of characters. She then launches a campaign to integrate the show.

The musical's original Broadway production opened on August 15, 2002.
In 2003, it won eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical, out of thirteen nominations. It ran for over 2,500 performances and closed on January 4, 2009. Hairspray has also had national tours, a London West End production, and numerous foreign productions and was adapted as a 2007 musical film. The London production was nominated for a record-setting eleven Laurence Olivier Awards, winning for Best New Musical and in three other categories.

Hairspray opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on August 15, 2002. It received Tony Award nominations in 12 categories, winning eight, including for best musical, book, score and direction. Winokur, Fierstein and Latessa received awards for their performances. The production ran for more than six years, closing on January 4, 2009 after 2,642 performances. Thorell returned to the cast for the final ten months. Fierstein and Winokur returned to the cast for the final performances.

Act I

As “pleasantly plump” teenager Tracy Turnblad lies in bed, she muses about her love for her hometown, her love of dancing, and her desire to be famous (“Good Morning Baltimore”). She goes to school and is given a warning for "inappropriate hair height". After school, Tracy rushes home with her best friend, Penny, to catch the local teenage dance show, The Corny Collins Show (“The Nicest Kids in Town”). Edna, Tracy’s shy and plus-sized mother, is ironing and complains about the noise of the music coming from the television, while Penny’s mother, Prudy, complains about it being race music. After an announcement that auditions for a place on the show will be held due to the fact that Brenda (one of the Corny Collins Council Members) has taken a leave of absence from the show due to being pregnant, Tracy begs her mother for permission to audition. Edna, fearing that Tracy will be laughed at due to her weight, refuses. Penny and Amber (the main dancer on The Corny Collins Show) have similar arguments with their mothers ("Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now").

After gaining permission and support from her father, Wilbur, Tracy auditions for the show and bumps into teenage heartthrob, Link Larkin, which leads into a dream sequence ("I Can Hear the Bells"). Velma Von Tussle, the racist producer of The Corny Collins Show, rejects Tracy from the audition because of her size ("(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"), as well as refusing a black girl, Little Inez. Back at school, Tracy is sent to detention for her "monumental hair-don't". There she meets black dancer Seaweed J. Stubbs (the son of the hostess of "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, Motormouth Maybelle), who teaches her several dance moves. She uses the new dance steps at the Sophomore Hop the following day to introduce herself to Corny Collins ("The Madison"). When Corny sees how well Tracy can dance, he gives her a place on the show ("The Nicest Kids in Town" (Reprise)). During the broadcast, Link, following Corny’s suggestion, sings "It Takes Two" to Tracy, much to Amber’s dismay. After the show, Mr. Spritzer, the show’s worrisome sponsor, appeals to Velma over Tracy’s appointment to the Council. Velma, threatening to fire Corny from the show, is eventually left distraught and determines to ruin Tracy ("Velma’s Revenge").

At the Turnblad house, Edna is receiving calls from fans who saw Tracy on the show. A call comes in from Mr. Pinky, the owner of a plus-size dress shop, for an endorsement. Tracy pleads with her mother to come with her and to act as her agent although Edna has not left their apartment in years. Finally making it outside, Edna is given a huge makeover ("Welcome to the 60's") and Tracy becomes the spokes-girl for the shop. At school, signs of Tracy’s fame are evident in the schoolyard, with graffiti on the walls and Shelly, another Council Member sporting Tracy’s signature hairdo. During a game of dodge ball, a jealous Amber knocks Tracy out, and Link rushes to her side. Penny and Seaweed, who have developed a liking for each other, rush to fetch the school nurse, only to find her out sick. Seaweed, suggesting that some fun would make Tracy feel better, invites all of them to his mother’s record shop for a platter party ("Run and Tell That"). At the shop, Tracy rallies everyone to march against the station on the following day’s Mother-Daughter Day, as blacks are not allowed on the show except for the monthly Negro Day. Before they start, Motormouth Maybelle convinces the initially reluctant Edna and Wilbur to march as well. Link declined to participate for the sake of his contract with the show. During the protest, led by Motormouth, Velma calls the police and fights break out. When the police arrive on the scene, almost everyone is arrested ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful").

Act II

After the march, most of the women are locked up in a women's penitentiary ("The Big Dollhouse"). Because of Velma’s dirty tactics, the governor pardons and releases both her and Amber. Wilbur bails out the remaining people, excluding Tracy who is forced to remain in jail through another one of Velma’s manipulations. Tracy is alone and wishes that Link could be with her ("Good Morning Baltimore" (Reprise)). Back at the Har-De-Har Hut (Wilbur's joke shop), Wilbur and Edna are left destitute because of the money it cost them to bail everyone out and with Tracy still in prison. Edna sympathizes with her daughter’s dream – she had dreamt of making her “own line of queen-sized dress patterns”. Edna and Wilbur reminisce about their past and how they can never be parted from each other (“(You’re) Timeless to Me”). During the night, Link sneaks into the jail where he finds Tracy in solitary confinement. As Link and Tracy reunite, Penny’s mother, Prudy, punishes Penny for “going to jail without her permission” and ties her up in her bedroom where Seaweed comes to her rescue. Both couples declare their love for one another ("Without Love"). After escaping from their respective prisons, the couples seek refuge at Motormouth Maybelle’s Record Shop. Tracy thinks that it is unfair that after all of their hard work, The Corny Collins Show is still segregated. They devise a plan to help integrate the show, and Motormouth remembers their long fight for equality ("I Know Where I've Been").

On the day of the Miss Teenage Hairspray competition, Corny Collins starts the show with a song ("(It’s) Hairspray"). Amber shows off her talents in a bid to get more votes from the viewers ("Cooties"). Just as the results are about to be announced, Tracy stuns Amber as she makes her entrance in a magenta dress without any petticoat underneath, taking over the stage, and is joined by Link, Penny, Seaweed, Edna, Wilbur, Little Inez, and Motormouth. Tracy is declared the winner of the competition. Amber and Velma protest the results, claiming that it is all wrong. Little Inez then tries to take the crown by force when Amber refuses to hand it over, but Tracy stops her, claiming that her heart is set on something more important, which is Link and her future. She then proclaims the Corny Collins show is "now and forevermore" racially integrated, to much applause. When all is announced, Mr. Spritzer runs onstage thrilled with the public’s response to the telecast and announces that the governor has pardoned Tracy and gave her a full college scholarship and he offers Link a recording contract and Velma the position of vice president of Ultra Glow – beauty products for women of color, much to the latter's chagrin. Prudy arrives at the station and, seeing how happy Penny is with Seaweed, accepts her daughter for who she is. At the height of the moment, the company invites Amber and Velma to join the celebration. With the station in joyous celebration, Tracy and Link cement their love with a kiss ("You Can't Stop the Beat").

Read the review by Playbill here