OK, here's a technically timely Review Preview of "The Miracle Worker" at Paper Mill. Only technically, cause I saw the show two weeks ago. But the review does not publish until Friday, so it's fresh as a daisy.
No play last week and none this week, but following is another busy stretch, I think seven plays in six weeks.
Oy.
FYI congrats to all the new management types at Paper Mill, recently announced. We're all hoping things turn around.
If you want to go:
What: “The Miracle Worker”
When: through Feb. 24
Where: Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn
How much: $25-92
Info: (973) 376-4343; www.papermill.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Staff Writer
The New York Giants recently completed a miracle season in the Meadowlands. For additional inspiration, the Miracle in Millburn plays on a while longer.
There’s no denying the power of “The Miracle Worker,” which is enjoying a high-profile revival at Paper Mill Playhouse. William Gibson’s adaptation of the true-life saga of Helen Keller and her teacher is one of those stories that cannot fail to move an audience.
“The Miracle Worker” also is a fairly simple production to stage, making it one of the most frequently seen plays in the United States. So when a company with a large stage and a lot of seats decides to present this important but intimate drama, several questions come to mind.
Practical considerations include how the director will prevent the huge stage from swallowing the story. Another concern shared by prominent professional theaters is how to make a given production stand out among its many predecessors.
Paper Mill takes on this challenge every year about this time. Last year, it was Tennessee Williams’ “Summer and Smoke.” The season before showcased another inspirational classic, “Diary of Anne Frank.” Both were worthy productions that struggled to connect with the audience beyond the orchestra seats.
Paper Mill, like competing stages across the Hudson, sometimes ups the ante with big-name actors such as “Summer and Smoke” stars Amanda Plummer and Kevin Anderson. Director Susan Fenichell has no such ringer in her cast, although the actors all do an admirable job. And to be fair, it’s hard to find a ringer actress capable of playing a 12-year-old, especially with Miley Cyrus busy on her concert tour.
Instead, Paper Mill has split the daunting responsibility of playing Helen between two up-and-comers: fifth-grader Meredith Lipson of Pennsylvania and New Jersey sixth-grader Lily Maketansky.
Lipson drew the assignment of playing Helen for the press opening and was a bundle of energy in a role normally played by an older “young” actress. Her dark, wild hair, tossed back like a lion’s mane, and high forehead made her eyes stand out like the coal nuggets on a snowman’s face. But those eyes never showed any sign of usefulness as she quickly groped her way around the stage, arms flailing and hands dancing over everything she touched.
The untamed nature of her character—left blend, deaf and largely mute by a childhood fever—leads to the entrance of the title character, Anne Sullivan (Annika Boras). Barely 20 years old and graduated from a special school, traumatized as an orphan and with her own limited vision, Sullivan seemed ill-equipped to reach Helen when many other professionals had tried and failed.
But Helen’s wealthy family in 1880s Alabama was running out of options more humane than a mental institution.
As we all know, Sullivan’s unique perspective and stubborn determination proved to be exactly what Helen needed. The rest is popular history — Helen learned not only to communicate, but became an inspirational speaker, advocate for the disabled and a celebrity, and enjoyed a lifelong friendship with her mentor.
Fenichell does a better job than most directors in adapting an intimate story to the large space. Center stage functions largely as the courtyard of the Keller estate. It later gives way to the dining room set for what is sometimes referred to as the longest battle scene in American drama. Boras and Lipson execute the complex and exhausting scene, in which Anne forces Helen through a lesson in table manners, with admirable precision.
Fenichell also emphasizes the subtle humor that Gibson sprinkles through the story, including Anne’s famous line after emerging from her battle with Helen.
“The room’s a wreck, but her napkin is folded.”
Among the supporting cast, John Hickok nicely blends Captain Keller’s mix of compassion and Confederate bluster, while Emily Dorsch, as Kate, is a sympathetically desperate mother. Scenic designer David Zinn, who also designed the costumes, fills the stage with real estate.
Still, there’s very little here to recommend as a must-see. Certainly, if you have not yet seen “The Miracle Worker,” this would be a fine choice to start. But at $95 for top-priced ticket, you’ll want to search the discount schedule for an acceptable admission.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Review Preview rewind: TNJ, McCarter
Neglecting my duties again as me and Mrs. Willie go into full home-improvement mode. We're refinancing to lower our rate and grab some cash for renovations. My home has been a revolving door of contractors, while evening conversations center around countertops and door sizes.
But I am getting to the shows. Following is a draft of the review we already published last Friday, which sort of perverts the whole Review Preview concept. But for the record,we post.
I'll follow with my Review Preview of Paper Mill's "The Miracle Worker."
FYI: "Me, Myself and I" closes Sunday, so if the review inspires you to go, move your booty. Also, tickets are tight.
Theater review
What: “Me, Myself and I”
When: through Feb 17
Where: Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton University, Princeton
How much: $15-49
Info: (609) 258-2787, ext.10; www.mccarter.org
What: “Flying Crows”
When: through Feb 17
Where: Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road, Madison
How much: $25-$27.50
Info: (973) 514-1787, ext.10; www.ptnj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Daily Record
It’s not every week that you can find two famous writers staging world premieres in New Jersey.
One of these novel stories comes from a novel, “Flying Crows,” by PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer. James Glossman adapted and directed this fascinating mystery.
At Princeton, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee is exploring more familiar territory, at least for him. “Me, Myself and I” is a dark, abstract, absurd comedy, full of confrontation and twisted conversation that would drive a grammar convention to the hotel bar.
“Flying Crows” is more complicated, but easier to follow. It reconstructs the life of a vagrant discovered living in Kansas City’s Union Station in 1997. Detective Randy Benton (Dan Domingues) finds Birdie Carlucci (Anthony Blaha) there during a final inspection before the historic building’s demolition.
When Birdie reveals he’s lived there since escaping from the infamous Somerset Medical Institution in 1933, Benton searches for answers. How did Birdie avoid detection? How did he eat? And what happened to Birdie at Somerset?
Benton’s only clue is the name Josh (Reathel Bean), whom Birdie says escaped with him. As Benton follows the trail, “Flying Crows” becomes a memory play. We see scenes of Josh and Birdie building a friendship and enduring hardships at Somerset, where thug-like attendants kept the peace with baseball bats.
We also see the memories of other witnesses, including a waitress from Union Station’s fabled Harvey House restaurant, who became more than a friend to Birdie back in the day.
There’s no active crime to solve, but Lehrer has crafted some rich characters and pulls you into this world of shadows.
Glossman’s adaptation moves at a brisk pace and covers a lot of ground. He’s also assembled a talented and brave cast. The problem is they are nearly overwhelmed by having to play two dozen characters in at least as many scenes.
Prentiss Benjamin spends the most time donning new skins. She begins as a narrator, although everyone takes turn providing narration that sounds like it came straight from the book. She also plays an aunt, a doctor, an EMT and the “Harvey Girl” waitress, both in flashback and in 1997.
Benjamin and Domingues know the territory, having done similar ensemble duty in Glossman’s “Sunrise at Monticello” on this stage a few years back. They are up to the task, but the audience has trouble keeping up with who’s who, where and when.
Newcomers Bean and Blaha both turn in rich performances in their principal roles. Bean’s calm, country manner and deep voice give Josh the kind of dignity his character never experienced at Somerset. Blaha is a convincing lunatic and a believable ladies man, both qualities essential to the tale.
Glossman adds a video screen with images of the station real structures that serve as the setting for this fictional story, along with datelines to remind you which decade you’re in. It helps, but so would trimming a few scenes and characters.
But as it stands, “Flying Crow” is worthy of an audience that, in the middle of a Hollywood writer’s strike, could use a good story right about now.
In Princeton, Albee’s “Me Myself and I” doesn’t offer much of a story — a mother who named both of her twin sons Otto and can’t tell the evil one from the good one. We never learn why the doctor who delivered them replaced the father who left on their birthday.
But this darkly hilarious gem is a brilliant showcase for the fabulous Tyne Daly (showing off some rarely seen comic skills) and Broadway favorite Brian Murray as the mom and the doc, who have a ball with Albee’s intricate wordplay. Artistic director Emily Mann wisely clears the set of everything but actors and a few beds, and lets them coin phrases, then twist them into knots like Eagle Scouts at a jamboree. Along the way, we learn a bit about maternal bonds, sibling rivalries and individual identity.
Like “Flying Crows,” it gets confusing at times, but the “Me, Myself and I” audience also can enjoy how the characters are as confused as they are.
But I am getting to the shows. Following is a draft of the review we already published last Friday, which sort of perverts the whole Review Preview concept. But for the record,we post.
I'll follow with my Review Preview of Paper Mill's "The Miracle Worker."
FYI: "Me, Myself and I" closes Sunday, so if the review inspires you to go, move your booty. Also, tickets are tight.
Theater review
What: “Me, Myself and I”
When: through Feb 17
Where: Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton University, Princeton
How much: $15-49
Info: (609) 258-2787, ext.10; www.mccarter.org
What: “Flying Crows”
When: through Feb 17
Where: Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road, Madison
How much: $25-$27.50
Info: (973) 514-1787, ext.10; www.ptnj.org
By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Daily Record
It’s not every week that you can find two famous writers staging world premieres in New Jersey.
One of these novel stories comes from a novel, “Flying Crows,” by PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer. James Glossman adapted and directed this fascinating mystery.
At Princeton, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee is exploring more familiar territory, at least for him. “Me, Myself and I” is a dark, abstract, absurd comedy, full of confrontation and twisted conversation that would drive a grammar convention to the hotel bar.
“Flying Crows” is more complicated, but easier to follow. It reconstructs the life of a vagrant discovered living in Kansas City’s Union Station in 1997. Detective Randy Benton (Dan Domingues) finds Birdie Carlucci (Anthony Blaha) there during a final inspection before the historic building’s demolition.
When Birdie reveals he’s lived there since escaping from the infamous Somerset Medical Institution in 1933, Benton searches for answers. How did Birdie avoid detection? How did he eat? And what happened to Birdie at Somerset?
Benton’s only clue is the name Josh (Reathel Bean), whom Birdie says escaped with him. As Benton follows the trail, “Flying Crows” becomes a memory play. We see scenes of Josh and Birdie building a friendship and enduring hardships at Somerset, where thug-like attendants kept the peace with baseball bats.
We also see the memories of other witnesses, including a waitress from Union Station’s fabled Harvey House restaurant, who became more than a friend to Birdie back in the day.
There’s no active crime to solve, but Lehrer has crafted some rich characters and pulls you into this world of shadows.
Glossman’s adaptation moves at a brisk pace and covers a lot of ground. He’s also assembled a talented and brave cast. The problem is they are nearly overwhelmed by having to play two dozen characters in at least as many scenes.
Prentiss Benjamin spends the most time donning new skins. She begins as a narrator, although everyone takes turn providing narration that sounds like it came straight from the book. She also plays an aunt, a doctor, an EMT and the “Harvey Girl” waitress, both in flashback and in 1997.
Benjamin and Domingues know the territory, having done similar ensemble duty in Glossman’s “Sunrise at Monticello” on this stage a few years back. They are up to the task, but the audience has trouble keeping up with who’s who, where and when.
Newcomers Bean and Blaha both turn in rich performances in their principal roles. Bean’s calm, country manner and deep voice give Josh the kind of dignity his character never experienced at Somerset. Blaha is a convincing lunatic and a believable ladies man, both qualities essential to the tale.
Glossman adds a video screen with images of the station real structures that serve as the setting for this fictional story, along with datelines to remind you which decade you’re in. It helps, but so would trimming a few scenes and characters.
But as it stands, “Flying Crow” is worthy of an audience that, in the middle of a Hollywood writer’s strike, could use a good story right about now.
In Princeton, Albee’s “Me Myself and I” doesn’t offer much of a story — a mother who named both of her twin sons Otto and can’t tell the evil one from the good one. We never learn why the doctor who delivered them replaced the father who left on their birthday.
But this darkly hilarious gem is a brilliant showcase for the fabulous Tyne Daly (showing off some rarely seen comic skills) and Broadway favorite Brian Murray as the mom and the doc, who have a ball with Albee’s intricate wordplay. Artistic director Emily Mann wisely clears the set of everything but actors and a few beds, and lets them coin phrases, then twist them into knots like Eagle Scouts at a jamboree. Along the way, we learn a bit about maternal bonds, sibling rivalries and individual identity.
Like “Flying Crows,” it gets confusing at times, but the “Me, Myself and I” audience also can enjoy how the characters are as confused as they are.
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