How interesting and compelling (or, telling, considering the past few years of sorrow this world has experienced) that a substantial number of Broadway offerings this season are couched in loss, sadness and injustice (often coupled with bigotry). Four major plays currently on the boards capture this mood in different, yet thematically linked, fashions. Pictures From Home deals with a photojournalist’s meditation on both a lost era, and the passing of his parents whom he tried to love and understand, though never fully achieving either. And Life of Pi, about a teen boy stranded at sea in horrifying conditions, whose life is irretrievably altered. Then, there’s the revival of the 1998 musical Parade, about a wrongly convicted man whose life is unfairly destroyed. And, continuing on that theme, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, about a barber imprisoned à la Jean Valjean (by an evil, vindictive judge) who comes back to exact revenge on his tormentors, only to bring still more devastation into his life.
Pictures From Home – (Through April 30 at Studio 54)
****/***** 4 stars out of 5
It’s hard to go wrong with a three-hander starring talents as big as Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein and Zoe Wanamaker. Pictures From Home is the story of a photographer (Burstein) trying to understand and appreciate his parents through, quite literally, the lens of his profession, photography. As expected, his parents, hobbled by a generation gap and a lack of appreciation of photography as art, tolerate (barely) his project despite not really understanding it. Though Burstein and Lane are a bit too close in age to be credible as father and son, their performances (and heartbreaking clashes) are terrific, both hilarious and touchingly painful; Wannamaker, too, is exquisite. Based on photographer Larry Sultan’s actual photographic memoir, and featuring some of his photos, the audience gains insight into the family’s dynamics and history not just via sharp dialog, but through an expressive visual medium that hits on a still deeper level.
Life of Pi (Through September 3 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater)
***/ ***** 3.14 stars out of 5
Life of Pi began its life as author Yann Martel’s much ballyhooed magical realism novel in 2001 which, to many, didn’t live up to the hype. From there it was produced as a well-respected Ang Lee film that took effective advantage of CGI. It’s now a play that has landed on Broadway after a successful run in London’s West End. But once again, despite some intriguing and creative elements—zoo animals, including a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker, sharing a life raft with a teenage boy in the middle of the Pacific Ocean following a tragic shipwreck—it again fails to be as enticing as it feels in concept. With remarkable puppetry (some of which features gory animal-on-animal violence) and set work, the animals and the boat come to life; and Hiran Abeysekera’s terrific performance as Pi brings dimension to the story. But other character and story arcs are never fully developed and the play ends up feeling only superficial, never really delivering on its potential. Pi has lost his family and any sense of normalcy his life ever had; but he’s effectively also lost his mind, and one never gets the sense in this production that he’ll ever return to normal, leaving us feeling rather empty at play’s end.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Open run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre)
****/***** 4 stars out of 5
As expected, Stephen Sondheim’s death a year ago led to numerous productions of his much loved musicals, both on Broadway and off. While not the maestro’s best, Sweeney Todd is beloved, and this lush, magnificently orchestrated production lives up to its potential. Josh Groban’s rich, deep voice lends grandeur to the production (helmed by Hamilton’s Thomas Kail), but it’s both Annaleigh Ashford’s delightful comic turn as incompetent pie maker Mrs. Lovett and Gaten Matarazzo’s fun and sympathetic performance as Tobias that tie the loose ends of the production. Those not fanatical about Sondheim will thoroughly enjoy the show and fans will go wild for it.
Parade (Through August 6 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre)
***½ / ***** 3.5 stars out of 5
A rather significant number of Broadway and off-Broadway shows this season are specifically addressing racism and anti-Semitism—a reflection, no doubt of a rising tide of bigotry. While Parade addresses a particularly heinous incident—an ostensibly false accusation of rape and murder against a Jewish businessman, followed by a lynching upon his apparent exoneration—that took place in Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century, it does not delve as deeply into the incident as it could. Though Parade won numerous Tonys and Drama Desk Awards when first produced in 1998, Jason Robert Brown’s songs and lyrics and Alfred Uhry’s book lack the snap of a classic musical. Ben Platt’s and Micaela Diamond’s performances are lovely, but lack specialness and charisma. And Dane Laffrey’s scenic design is a mere hodge-podge of furniture and lamps—leaving the set lacking a sense of place. Nevertheless, Parade is dearly held in the hearts of many and audiences have been enthusiastic.
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