Theatre Thursday: The 2026 Tony Awards

I think this is the first time since I started blogging that I’ve thought to do a post-Tony Awards post for Theatre Thursday. It’s never occurred to me before, probably because I never see enough Tony-nominated shows/performances to have a really strong opinion about nominations/winners or to make any kind of serious predictions. But this year it occurs to me that I can talk about the broadcast itself and what I enjoyed and who I *hoped* would win out of the shows I did see.

And what were those shows? In order of when I saw them: Oedipus. Chess. Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York). The Lost Boys. (I had tickets to see Marjorie Prime back in December on the same day I was supposed to see Oedipus but got sick and then had a ton of work travel and only managed to see one of them before they both ended their limited runs. I did see Titanique during the off-Broadway run, but I don’t think any of that cast is in the current production (we saw Marla Mindelle’s understudy). (The links embedded in the show titles are to my reviews.)

THE HOST

There’s not much I can say about P!nk as host that hasn’t been said already by countless reviewers, pundits, and Broadway-going Instagram accounts. So I’ll just add my voice. Yes, she was an unlikely choice. Yes, she owned it and ran with it. I think she did an excellent job, especially with the opening number and with “All That Jazz” in the Chicago tribute. Her love of live theatre/performance shone through the entire night. That opening number, “Leading Lady Marmalade,” was truly impressive not just in the reworked lyrics but also in the sheer number of performers they worked in (170!), giving all of the Musical-nominated shows (and a few of the Plays) a moment to shine. I’ve rewatched it several times and have attempted to watch it with sub-titles on … and I know I still missed a bunch of references and callouts. (My favorite moments: June Squib’s little spoken word bit; the intro for Megan Thee Stallion and her “cake” comment; Sam Tutty’s Dougal having no lines but wandering the stage looking in-character confused and excited; the little “spoiler” that maybe the Paddington musical is coming to Broadway next season (there’s a family history involving my sister and Paddington, so we WILL be seeing that show if it comes to NYC, no matter what I have to pay for tickets).)  I have to admit that I didn’t really get the interstitial comedy bits with Darren Criss and Ariana DeBose. But that’s fine, not every bit of the show has to be for me!

THE PERFORMANCES

I loved most of the Best Musical and Best Musical Revival performances. I was very happy that The Lost Boys and Two Strangers opted for medleys. While “New York” is clearly the signature song of Two Strangers, it doesn’t really give Christiani Pitts much to do so I was hoping they’d combine it with one of her solos (perhaps “This is the Place”) but “American Express” worked very well and kept the energy super-high. I have said this multiple times, but watching Pitts and Tutty perform together is truly a joy; clips of them online immediately bring a smile to my face. And while The Lost Boys’ “I Have To Have You” clearly establishes David’s (Ali Louis Bourzgui) allure and Michael’s (LJ Benet) attraction to Star (Maria Wirries), it doesn’t feature Shoshana Bean’s Lucy or Benjamin Pajak’s Sam. And I always prefer it when the Musicals that have more than one performer nominated feature most or all of them (My complaint about Death Becomes Her’s performance last year was that it was just Megan Hilty, leaving co-nominee Jennifer Simard out. I understand why they wanted to showcase that number, but still.) For similar reasons, I was happy that Ragtime went with a shortened version of the Prologue which not only sets the tone of the show but also featured all four of their nominees (Caissie Levy, Joshua Henry, Brandon Uranowitz, and Ben Levi Ross). It wasn’t surprising that Shmigadoon! went with their title number, which was old-style fun even if it didn’t feature nominees Sara Chase and Ana Gasteyer heavily. The Rocky Horror Show medley was also raucous fun, again even if it didn’t give Stephanie Hsu as much to do as Luke Evans and Rachel Dratch (at least it was a number where she was on stage, again unlike Death Becomes Her). And (warning! I’m about to be a hypocrite!) while the Cats: The Jellicle Ball performance barely included nominee Andre DeShields, I think they made the smart choice to go again with a truncated version of their opening number, because I already wanted to see it but now DAMN do I really want to see it. The disappointment to me was Titanique! I loved the show when we saw it down in Union Square last year. It is a ridiculously good time. My face hurt from laughing so much, and that is not an exaggeration. But the Tony performance seemed disjointed, and it seemed like Marla Mindelle’s energy was off compared to what I’ve seen in online clips (or even to her earlier appearances on the Tony broadcast, which were fun!). It’s almost like they tried to do too much in the time they had allotted, and it didn’t really sell the show – or give nominee Layton Williams a real moment to shine.

THE WINNERS

Again, having not seen most of the nominated shows/performances, I can’t say categorically who I thought should have won versus who did. I can say that I thought most of the acceptance speeches felt like the right length (okay, it did feel like John Lithgow meandered a bit). I was hoping that Ali Louis Bourzgui, Shoshana Bean, and Lesly Manville would win their categories and was happy when they did. I was hoping that Mark Strong, Nicholas Christopher, Christiani Pitts, Oedipus, and The Lost Boys would win their categories, and they didn’t. I was still happy for John Lithgow, Joshua Henry (who I suspected would win), Caissie Levy, Death of a Salesman, and Schmigadoon! I can also say I was surprised that Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele didn’t get Lead noms for Chess (although I didn’t see Lea, friends who did say she really was compelling in the role), that Anne Reid didn’t get a Featured Actress nom for Oedipus, and that LJ Benet didn’t get a Lead nomination for The Lost Boys.

I haven’t commented on any of the Technical or Writing awards because I didn’t see “Act One” on Pluto TV and I haven’t had a chance to look up the lists of nominees versus winners for those. And as this post is already overdue (at least it’s still Thursday in other time zones), I’m going to wrap this up the way several Tony Awards hosts have in the past:

Go support live theater! You don’t have to be in New York (or London’s West End) to do so. See a touring show. Find your nearest Regional Theater. Support community theatre and high school and college theater programs.

 I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

THEATRE THURSDAY: Oedipus and CHESS

I know, I know … today’s not Thursday, it’s Saturday. Work life happened, and I really want to post at least short reviews of the other two 2026 Tony Award nominees I saw before the Tony Awards happen, which is tomorrow (Sunday, June 7) as of when I’m writing this. One closed back in January, and the other is closing soon after the Tony broadcast.

OEDIPUS

I was supposed to see Oedipus and Marjorie Prime during Christmas week but got sick. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze a performance of Oedipus in before the run ended in January (sadly, I did not make it to Marjorie Prime before it closed). I went in expecting the original Sophocles, or something close to it, in modern dress as is so often done with Shakespeare. That’s not what creator and director Robert Icke gave us. This is a modern language, modern dress, retelling of the original. It takes place on Election Night in Thebes, in the last hour and a half before the race’s results are to be announced. The front-runner is Oedipus, an immigrant to Thebes and second husband to Jocasta. Jocasta was married to the former ruler of Thebes, who died twenty years earlier under what some consider questionable circumstances. Over the course of a strict hour-and-a-half (with no intermission), counted down by a large LED clock on the stage, Oedipus and Jocasta, along with their family and staff, uncover secrets that end in tragedy. (SPOILERS: If you didn’t study Greek myths in school, suffice to say: the prophecy at Oedipus’ birth that he would kill his father and have sex with his mother came spectacularly and gruesomely true, to everyone’s horror.)

Mark Strong and Leslie Manville led the company as Oedipus and Jocasta, and they fully deserve their Tony nominations, Manville in particular. Strong was a commanding Oedipus, even in his confusion and despair. Manville’s Jocasta, the true power of the family and the cause of her younger husband’s political rise, in comparison, deteriorates in minutes before our eyes. I could not take my eyes from her during the final 20 minutes of the play. As with Hadestown, I knew what was coming and still kept hoping this time the story would turn out differently.

I have to say that I thought Anne Reid, as Oedipus’ adoptive mother Merope, would score a Featured Actress nomination. Reid walked that fine line of managing grief, anger, and despondency so incredibly well.

This was the only 2026 Tony-nominated play I managed to see this season. I do hope Strong and Manville win in their categories.

CHESS

The other Tony-nominated show I saw was CHESS. Now anyone who knows me knows I’ve loved this show since the concept album came out (and will therefore probably be surprised that this is the first time I’ve seen it performed live). I went in with hopes, rather than expectations. The show has a rough history, and I knew the book had been rewritten and song order rearranged with some songs dropped and others added. I also saw it the during the period Lea Michele was out.

Let me just say: I know the category is full of powerhouses this year, but I will be severely disappointed if Nicholas Christopher does not win Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. I’d previously seen him as Sweeney in Sweeney Todd (during the period after Josh Groban left and before Aaron Tveit took over) and he was phenomenal, so I went out of my way to make sure he’d be in CHESS the night I saw it. He did not disappoint. You’ve seen the viral clip of the note he holds at the end of “Endgame.” It’s even more powerful in person. If you need one reason to see CHESS before it closes … that note should be enough. (Full admission: Anatoly’s songs are my favorites in the show, the ones I would belt (not necessarily well, mind you) along with the concept album vinyl in my living room. So yes, Nicholas Christopher made me cry. Multiple times.) Aaron Tveit’s Freddie is appropriately slimy and smarmy; the revised book tries to give him a bit more depth and Tveit tries his best, but there’s not really a lot that can be done to make Freddie at all likeable or sympathetic. I am also happy that Bryce Pinkham got a Featured Actor nomination as the Narrator/Arbiter. His comedic talent injected the otherwise dark show with much needed lighter moments. With Lea out, I saw Katerina Papacostas as Florence and she was terrific. I hope she gets snapped up by a new show after CHESS closes and has a chance to create a role. She’s further proof that being an understudy or standby does not mean the performer is any less talented than the full-time cast.

It only occurs to me as I’m rereading the above reviews that what these shows both have in common is how appropriate they are for our current political climate. Oedipus comments on the nature of celebrity and celebrity-in-politics, how that spotlight can both blind the populace and reveal every shadow of a politician at the same time. CHESS’s grounding in the Cold War machinations of the 1980s shines a light on how those same machinations are still happening right now.

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)

Two weeks ago, I saw Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York). Full honesty: I went into it knowing very little about the plot, and wanted to see it mostly because I remember Sam Tutty’s various filmed performances of songs from Dear Evan Hansen when he played the lead role on the West End as well as videos from the West End run of Two Strangers, and I have a well-known catastrophic attraction complex to cute funny redheads. Yes, that’s a pretty superficial reason to see a play. At least I’m honest.

Two Strangers is a two-hander – just two actors, Tutty as Dougal, newly arrived in NYC on his first visit from England to attend the wedding of the father he’s never met, and Christiani Pitts as Robin, the younger sister of the bride tasked with running all the wedding-related errands too menial for the bride and groom, including picking the groom’s son up from LaGuardia airport. Dougal and Robin do not instantly hit it off, and the show is about how they gradually get to know each other while, among other tasks, retrieving the titular cake from Flatbush and getting it back to Manhattan. The play also explores Dougal and Robin’s relationships with their families (his mom and imagined meeting with his father, her grandmother and sister).

Along the way, there are twists and bumps and secrets revealed leading to a cathartic and sweet denouement. Jim Barne and Kit Buchan have written a well-structured show, full of banter and balancing the comedic with the serious. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is the perfect Broadway musical rom-com. It doesn’t take itself too seriously even when dealing with some weighty subjects (none of which I will spoil here). You don’t leave feeling like you’ve been lectured to, but you’ve still learned something about dealing with abandonment and betrayals of trust (whether you are the abandoner or the abandoned, the betrayer or the betrayed). I find myself still thinking about the character arcs two weeks after seeing the show.

I also find myself still thinking about the set design by Soutra Gilmour, which manages to be abstractly concrete … or should it be concretely abstract? The set is basically two giant stacks of luggage, most of which open in various configurations to form bedrooms, coffee shops, hotel rooms, the interior of a rideshare, and the streets of New York. Combined with Jack Knowles’ lighting design the set is as much a character as the characters are.

If you’re on social media at all, you’ve seen clips of the songs “New York,” “This Is The Place,” “About To Go In,” and “American Express.” Barne and Buchan’s songs swing from raucously funny to introspective, all appropriate. It’s not unusual for me to suddenly have snippets of each of the four songs I just mentioned, as well as “This Year” and “If I Believed” dancing around inside my head.

Tutty’s Dougal is adorkable – a movie geek who loves his mother and really just wants to be everyone’s friend, including the father he’s never known. His mannerisms are appropriately exaggerated when he’s excited, but what was really touching was the smaller gestures when Dougal is anxious or a little unsure of his footing. Dougal tries too hard sometimes, but just when that might start to be annoying Tutty pulls it back in and shows why Dougal is trying so hard.

Pitts’ Robin is more guarded, with just enough simmering anger at the start to telegraph that this cool, collected woman has some inner conflict that needs addressing. Pitts spools that out to the audience as much in body language as in the written dialogue throughout act one, and when she explodes in act two, every moment of it is earned and relatable.

When I sat down in the theater and flipped through the Playbill, I realized I actually had seen Christiani Pitts before … in King Kong! This is a very different role in a very different scale production. In Kong, she was overshadowed by the puppet work (which was phenomenal) and not necessarily well-served by the music. Here, she really gets to shine. Her Tony nomination is well-deserved (as is Tutty’s, and the show’s) and honestly, if I was a Tony voter, she’d have my vote. (No, I haven’t seen every Tony-nominated performance from this season’s musicals; I’m confident that she’d get my vote even if I had).

It’s probably obvious from this review that I highly recommend if you’re near New York City you go see Two Strangers at the Longacre Theatre. Of the musicals I’ve seen so far this year, it’s in the top two for me (after The Lost Boys).

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

THEATRE THURSDAY: The Lost Boys

I realized that while I’ve seen 8 live theatre productions so far in 2026 (5 Broadway, 2 Off-Broadway, 1 local high school), I haven’t posted a single review. So I’m going to try to squeeze in a few of the Broadway productions before the Tony Awards on June 7, starting with the most recent, which I saw this past weekend.

Admission #1: I was skeptical about a musical based on The Lost Boys. First of all, as has been well documented, vampire plays in general don’t do well on Broadway, and vampire musicals even less so. (Or even Off-Broadway. Years ago, we saw a production of Dracula with George Hearn as Van Helsing. It was … uneven to say the least. At the stage door, my friend told Hearn what big fans we were. His response: “Even after this performance?”) Second of all, while I haven’t watched the movie in a long time, it remains one of my favorite non-Dracula, non-blood-soaked/all about the violence, vampire movies.

I’m very glad I overcame my skepticism and went to see The Lost Boys at the Palace Theatre before the cast performs at the Tony Awards (and mostly before they’d performed on any of the TV talk shows). Because I have a feeling that even if performances on The Tonight Show and such haven’t boosted ticket sales, the Tony Awards performance will. As will, hopefully, word of mouth like this.

Michael Arden’s staging and direction are a perfect blend of vampire movie tropes (jump scares, bloody necks and mouths, lingering suspense) and musical theater tropes (the use of the ensemble as a bit of a Greek chorus; soaring solos). Deciding which moments needed to lean into which of the genres could not have been easy and could have resulted in a jumbled mess, but he pulled it off.

The book by David Hornsby and Chris Hoch captured everything I loved about the original movie while shading in character nuances that added depth (especially for Lucy and Sam Emerson). The music by The Rescues moves from effusive rock (“I Have to Have You”) to musical comedy (The Frog Brothers’ “Murder Capital of the World” and the act two opener “My Brother Is A…”) to soul-searching (“Belong To Someone”) to romantic ballads (“Now, Forever”), and so on. Also, full marks for Gwyneth Larson and Billy Mulholland’s aerial design – another aspect of the show that was mind-boggling and which, done poorly, could have scuttled the audience’s investment. Dane Laffrey’s multi-level set has so many moving pieces and yet nothing feels temporary or “sketched in.”

LJ Benet is the story’s center as Michael Emerson. I knew nothing about him going into this, and I have to say … I’m surprised he didn’t get a Tony nom for Leading Actor in a Musical. Without a Michael who is relatable, who we can sympathize with and feel fear for, the show doesn’t work, and Benet really is that good in the role. His “Belong to Someone” got me to cry, not gonna lie.

Shoshana Bean is someone I should have seen on stage a long time ago, but somehow just haven’t. Her Lucy is real, down to Earth, just trying to do her best by her boys after leaving a bad situation, and her yearning to protect them at the same time she just wants to start a new life (as exemplified in “The Good Part” and “Wild,” her duet with Paul Alexander Nolan) gives her a strong arc to play. She does not disappoint. The Tony nomination is well deserved.

As is Ali Louis Bourzgui’s for David, the leader of the teen vampire gang. It’s hard to fill Keifer Sutherland’s shoes. Bourzgui does it – there’s enough of Keifer’s interpretation to recognizably be the same character, but it’s not an impersonation. And his voice – man, do I now wish I’d seen him in The Who’s Tommy. He is capably backed up (in both vampiric activity and as a band) by Brian Flores, Sean Grandillo, and Dean Maupin.

Maria Wirries, who I last saw in the Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends revue, brings some depth to Star that I’m not sure was in the movie. Her duets with Benet are beautiful, but her act two number “War” is show-stopping.

Paul Alexander Nolan (who I last saw in Water For Elephants) as Max is an understated presence for most of the show. He’s there, he’s clearly into Lucy Emerson, he’s a bit old-fashioned/conservative, he exudes no menace at all. Which is exactly what you want in Max. If you know, you know. Miguel Gil and Jennifer Duka as the Frog Brothers provide excellent comedy relief; as mentioned, “Murder Capital of the World” is over-the-top hysterical.

And then there’s Benjamin Pajak as Sam Emerson (played by Corey Haim in the movie). He’s the annoying little geeky brother, part comic relief/part plot device for Michael and Lucy’s arcs. I saw Pajak as Oliver! at City Center a few years ago and was impressed by his stage presence and his singing (my review of OLIVER! HERE. (He was also great in The Life of Chuck, which I still need to post a review of.) So (Admission #2) when we got to the end of Act One, and Sam was the only Emerson family member who hadn’t had a Big Solo Number/“I Want” song, I was disappointed. I’m a savvy enough writer that I should have known there was a reason. I believe other reviews have already mentioned that the writers and director have added a subtle “coming of age/coming out” nuance to Sam. Comments are made in act one that pay off in act two in two big ways: Pajak’s big solo number, “Superpower,” which elicited cheers and long applause at the performance I was at, and an absolutely hysterical line during the big vampire showdown that I will not spoil.

The show ends with a fantastic and cathartic eleventh-hour ensemble number, “If We Make It Through The Night,” that really wraps the show up well … or does it? Come on folks, this is based on a classic 80s horror movie … you KNOW there’s a stinger at the end.

 If I haven’t made it clear, The Lost Boys is my favorite show so far this year. I’m hoping it does well at the Tonys and I can’t wait to see which number they perform. It’s at the Palace Theater … if you’re near New York and you love vampires and musicals, go see it!

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: 2025 RoundUp

I saw 11 theatrical productions in 2025. Eight musicals and three dramas. The fall got quite busy with work travel combined with a planned surgery and then a hospital stay to conspire against seeing any live theater anywhere. Then I got sick at Christmas and had to cancel a planned 2-show day. Ah well! The goal of an average of 1 show per month is a goal, not a requirement.

Here are the shows I saw, with links to full reviews if I posted one, and short thoughts for the shows I didn’t.

January

Kowalksi, at the Duke at 42nd Street, NYC FULL REVIEW HERE. I saw it off-Broadway. In June 2025 plans were announced to bring it to Broadway in 2026, but no official announcement naming dates or a theatre has been made.

February

Titanique, at the DR Theatre in Union Square, NYC: This absolutely hysterical take on James Cameron’s Titanic, narrated by Celine Dion and featuring a ton of her songs worked into the plot, had us laughing from start to finish. The show is mostly scripted, but there are a few scenes of total improvisation that were just fantastic. We saw it off-Broadway. A short Broadway run at the St. James Theatre has been announced for spring 2026. I plan to see it if it does.

Hadestown, at the Walter Kerr Theatre, NYC. Why did I wait 5+ years to see this? Especially given my love of Graeco-Roman mythology. The music is stunning, the story eternal and yet still topical. The cast I saw included Lillias White as Hermes, Tom Hewitt as Hades, Allison Russell as Persephone, Carlos Valdez as Orpheus, and Hailey Kilgore as Eurydice. What they say is true: even knowing how the story will end, you still hope this time the ending will be different, and you still gasp when it isn’t.

March

Moulin Rouge!, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, NYC. Despite enjoying the movie 20-something years ago, this really wasn’t on my list of “must see.” But my goddaughter wanted to see it for her birthday, so I joined her. I quite enjoyed it. If I have one complaint, it’s that there were just too many rushed medleys. The actual full-song numbers tend to be more powerful and memorable (Satine’s version of “Firework,” the “Your Song” duet, Zidler’s “Chandelier” and “El Tango de Roxanne” were all showstoppers, or close to showstoppers, at our performance.). See it while you Can Can Can (see what I did there?).

Here There Are Blueberries, at the Bram Goldsmith Theatre at The Wallis, Beverly Hills CA. Written by Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project), this ensemble piece is  a true story, about the discovery of a book of photographs taken at the Auschwitz concentration camp which show the lives of the German military and civilians who worked there and whether such images should be made public. I lucked into seeing it during its run at The Wallis during a work trip. I have no idea if it’s still touring but it if it is … see it.

April

Old Friends, at the Manhattan Theatre Club, NYC FULL REVIEW HERE

Guys and Dolls, at Beacon High School, Beacon NY. One of my favorite musicals. Beacon High School has a really great musical theatre department.

June

Passengers, at Perelman Performing Arts Center, NYC FULL REVIEW HERE

July

Pirates! The Penzance Musical, at the Todd Haimes Theatre, NYC FULL REVIEW HERE

August

Cabaret Live at the Kit Kat Club, at the August Wilson Theatre, NYC. Finally got to see this near the end of the run. Billy Porter as the Emcee. Marisha Wallace brought down the house as Sally Bowles. The rest of the cast were also excellent, in particular Fraulein Schneider.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow, at the Marquis Theatre, NYC. The stagecraft on this show is amazing. I am still unsure how they did some of the practical effects. Fans of the television show will not be disappointed (although I’m not sure why you’d see it if you were not a fan of the show). The prequel plot fills in gaps between the flashbacks we saw in seasons four and five, and so we see the high school age versions of Joyce and Lonnie Byers, Hopper, Bob Enby, the Wheelers, Dr. Brenner, and other adults from the tv show as well as Henry Creel and his family. I thought the actors playing the younger Joyce and Hopper, and Louis McCartney as Henry Creel, were particularly good.

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Review: PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL

To say I never stopped smiling throughout Roundabout Theatre Company’s Pirates! The Penzance Musical is not an over-statement or hyperbole. The show is just that much fun. The cast is clearly having fun, and that fun is infectious. I realize that standing ovations have become somewhat de rigueur, but this one was enthusiastic and well earned by everyone from the leads to the chorus to the orchestra.

I have always thought David Hyde Pierce’s comedic timing was impeccable, and I was not disappointed with this first time seeing him on stage. As both William S. Gilbert (during a pre-curtain speech) and as Major-General Stanley, his vocal inflections, facial expressions, and body language are always on point and never overdone in even the post slapstick moments. He is a total joy in the role even when winkingly acknowledging to the audience how ridiculous most of the plot is. And his “I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major-General” is truly show-stopping.

He is joined in the pre-curtain speech by Preston Truman Boyd as composer Arthur Sullivan (Boyd also plays the Sergeant of Police later in the show and has a crowd-favorite number). The patter between Gilbert and Sullivan, explaining the re-setting of the show to take place in New Orleans and making pointed commentary about copyright infringement, is perfect (illustrated best by Sullivan listing the cities the tour has played in prior to New Orleans, and Gilbert offering color commentary, starting with New York (Gilbert: a rhapsodic “Ah, New York!”) and ending with Philadelphia (Gilbert: an equally rhapsodic “Ah, New York!”).

Ramin Karimloo’ Pirate King Santiago du Bouchard (“late of the West Indies”) is every bit as swaggery and sexy as one would expect (said expectation on my part based solely on video clips, as this was also my first time seeing him on stage), from the moment he swashbuckles in on the prow of his ship with the bawdy, rousing “I Am The Pirate King” (which is NOT sung to the tune of “I, Jack, The Pumpkin King” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, despite seeming like it would scan perfectly onto that melody…) Throughout the show, characters come and go through the audience, and from my fourth row orchestra aisle seat I was close to Karimloo several times. His arms and chest are all that. (I am not usually one to include detailed male-gaze-y commentary in my reviews, but as those arm and chest muscles are a big part of the character it feels appropriate here.)

I was not sure what to expect of Jinxx Monsoon as Ruth, having only seen her as Maestro in Doctor Who and in short video clips from this show and from Chicago and Little Shop of Horrors. I will absolutely see anything else she is in (and in fact, will be looking to get tickets to Oh, Mary! When she joins the cast.) Her comedic timing is on spot and her singing (the heartbreaking “Alive and Yet Alone”) is powerhouse Diva-designation worthy.

Nicholas Barasch as Frederic and Samantha Wiliams as Mabel have great chemistry and great fun poking fun at their characters’ “insta-love.” Both have wonderful voices (Barasch’s high notes are impressive; Williams’ swings from pure ingenue to sexy Eartha Kitt growl seamless) and effortless dance skills.

I also have to give a shout out to the Ensemble playing the Pirates and the Stanley Daughters: every one of them had some identifiable character trait that enabled them to be individuals within the ensemble (not always an easy thing to do, not always something directors desire). I particularly noticed the slack-slouch (and often slack-jawed) of Tommy Gedrich (I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of him during the ensemble numbers), the arch facial expressions of Cicely Daniels, the coquettish physicality of Bronwyn Tarborton, and the “would-be second-in-command” attitude of Rick Faugno (who also had perhaps the most powerful voice of all the pirates).

Scott Ellis’ concept for this production and direction make pretty much every moment of it enjoyable, as I mentioned at the top of the review, with more than one show-stopping moment and enough self-awareness to admit this show has a very very flimsy plot without playing it too “meta.” David Rockwell’s set design evoking both the port of New Orleans and the graveyard of a remote estate is colorful and full of fun details. Linda Cho’s costume design combines classic Gilbert & Sullivan aesthetic with the vibrant colors of New Orleans, both beautiful and full of character. So is Donald Holder’s lighting design. Rich Sordelet and Christian Kelley-Sordelet’s fight choreography is thrilling and Warren Carlyle’s choreography makes the group numbers pop (in particular, the group choreography behind David Hyde Pierce on “Major General” and the act two number “Daughters With Cat-Like Tread,” which was a huge showstopper, with a full minute-plus of applause, which gave Karimloo, Barasch, Monsoon, and the Pirates time to catch their breath, which they surely needed. What a number!)

I know there’s a lot of controversy about the book for the show (and some lyrics) being rewritten by Rupert Holmes and some songs being imported from other G&S operettas, most notably in the act one ender “The ‘Sail The Ocean’ Blues” as seen on the Tony Awards. I found the additions (two songs from Iolanthe, two from HMS Pinafore, one from The Mikado) to all fit seamlessly with the story, enhancing characterization and the plot.

Pirates! The Penzance Musical is at Roundabout Theatre’s Todd Haimes Theatre through this Sunday, July 27th. I have no idea if tickets for the final few performances are still available but if they are – go see it!

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is my occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: Sondheim's Old Friends

Revues of the music of Stephen Sondheim are not exactly a rare thing. We’ve had Side by Side by Sondheim and Marry Me A Little (both of which younger Me wore out the vinyl/CDs of); Putting It Together (ditto, plus endless rewatches of the filmed version with Carol Burnett, George Hearn, Bronson Pinchot, John Barrowman and Ruthie Henshall), Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (okay, this was a one-night thing, but I wore out the CD and the DVD!) and Sondheim on Sondheim (back to “wore out the CD”) – none of which I ever saw on stage.

So as soon as I saw posts online about Sondheim’s Old Friends opening in London, I knew that if it came to Broadway, I’d need to see it; especially if certain members of the London cast transferred. Which they did.

Unlike Marry Me A Little and Putting It Together (each of which has a loose plot and unnamed characters, pulling Sondheim classics and cut/forgotten numbers into a new storyline) but like Side by Side by Sondheim and Sondheim on Sondheim, Sondheim’s Old Friends is a true revue: very little talking except at the very beginning and end, no new storyline, just song after amazing song after brilliant song. Two-and-a-half hours of songs, with only pauses long enough for the audience to applaud (and applaud we did. Loudly.). And several of those songs brought down the house.

The ensemble is led, just as it was in London, by the iconic duo of Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. I’ve seen Bernadette several times before and she never disappoints. This was my first time seeing Lea live on stage, and she was as phenomenal as I’ve heard she is. They are backed up by an ensemble of 17, including Beth Leavel, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb (who was out the night we saw the show), Kyle Selig, Bonnie Langford (who I was overjoyed was continuing on from the London cast, as I’ve always wanted to see her on stage), and Gavin Lee (who I last saw as Squidward in The SpongeBob Musical and who is always fun to watch).

Bernadette mentions at the start that the song selection is drawn heavily from shows Cameron Macintosh (who produced this revue) had a hand in. Thus, the show has solid sequences showcasing Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, and Follies, with a generous helping of Company interspersed, along with bits of Gypsy, Passion, and A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. Unlike earlier revues, the show is light on Sondheim’s lesser-known material (nothing from Saturday Night or the Frogs, which usually show up in these revues, for instance) with the exception of “Live Alone and Like It” (performed jauntily by Jason Pennycooke), “The Boy From…” (performed hysterically by Kate Jennings Grant), and a bit of “Bounce” (in a sort-of-medley with “I Know Things Now,” performed with tongue planted firmly in cheek by Bernadette). Past Sondheim revues have been known for weird mashups that work well (I’m thinking of Dorothy Loudon’s “Losing My Mind/You Could Drive A Person Crazy” from the Carnegie Hall concert in particular), and the “Know Things/Bounce” combo worked as well.

Powerhouse moments of the night: Beth Leavel STOPPED. THE. SHOW. with “Ladies Who Lunch.”  Lea did the same in Act Two with “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” Both songs are acerbic and angry, and Beth and Lea let it all out. Bernadette’s renditions of “Send in the Clowns” and “Losing My Mind” had the tears flowing, as did Lea’s “Loving You” (not one of my favorite Sondheim songs, and Lea still managed to make me sob) and “Somewhere,” and all of the women singing “Not A Day Goes By” to a photo of Sondheim. Equally powerful on the comedic side: Lea as Mrs. Lovett alongside Kevin Earley as Sweeney on “Worst Pies in London” and “A Little Priest.”

Personal highlights for me: Bonnie Langford’s take on “I’m Still Here,” Gavin Lee’s “Could I Leave You?” and Gavin and Beth’s “It’s The Little Things You Do Together,” three of my favorite Sondheim songs. Those first two could easily have gone to Bernadette and Lea, who of course would have been phenomenal, but I felt something special seeing one of my favorite Doctor Who companions sing about still being in the game after all these years and seeing Gavin chew the scenery on a song from Follies usually sung by a woman (they used this conceit in Side by Side by Sondheim as well).

If most of the highlights I’ve mentioned featured the female cast members, I have to admit that the show feels more heavily weighted to them both as solo performances and in the group numbers. The women have pretty much all of the true showstoppers. Jacob Dickey does have the lead on “Being Alive,” but it quickly turns into a full-cast number; Kyle Selig shines during the “Tonight Quintet” but I would love to have seen what he would have done solo with “Maria” or “Something’s Coming.” Kyle, Jacob, and Daniel Yearwood harmonize wonderfully on “Waiting For the Girls Upstairs,” and Gavin, Jason, and Kyle are very funny on “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” both of which got boisterous applause. I also personally liked Jason’s “Live Alone and Like It,” one of my favorite Sondheim ditties, but let’s be honest: the song doesn’t pack the emotional heft of the songs Bernadette, Lea, and Beth have. It’s possible this sense of imbalance is because there’s no male cast member of the stature of Bernadette and Lea. Or maybe it’s just the way director Matthew Bourne put the show together and chose who would get each number.

I also have to give kudos to “the Sondheim orchestra,” on stage throughout the show, conducted by Annbritt duChateau, and to the set design by Matt Kinley, which made brilliant use of minimal set pieces to move from a classic concert staging to full scenery for the Sweeney and West Side sequences, and to Warren Letton’s lighting design and Jill Parker’s costumes.

Sondheim’s Old Friends runs through mid-June at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. It’s well worth the price of admission.

We saw the show during the annual fundraising competition for Broadway Cares. I have no idea who bought Bernadette or Lea’s earrings, offered from the stage. I did spring for a copy of the commemorative program signed by the entire cast.

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: Kowalski

My first theatrical show of 2025 was Kowalski, at The Duke on 42nd Street in New York City.

In Kowalski, playwright Gregg Ostrin imagines what might have gone on the night Marlon Brando showed up at Tennessee Williams’ Provincetown house to audition for the role of Stanley Kowalski in the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the behest of director Elia Kazan. I am a sucker for tales of backstage/off-screen drama, so I knew I had to see Kowalski even with as little as I know of the personal lives of Williams and Brando (does that make me a bad theatre fan? Should I turn in my gay card?), and no matter how much of the 90-minute encounter is conjecture on Ostrin’s part.

Robin Lord Taylor was mostly known to me previous to this as Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, on Gotham, but his turn as Tennessee Williams now supersedes his TV work in my mind. His body language betrays Williams’ combination of insecurity and hubris with almost every gesture, some of it flamboyant enough to be real and real enough to avoid caricature. His whiskey-soaked voice soars when he’s excited and drops gutturally when he’s no longer amused, trying to stay in command of his home despite the overwhelming presence of Brando (and eventually, Brando’s female traveling companion).

Brandon Flynn (also previously known to me mostly from his television work on 13 Reasons Why, where he proved he could handle tough material) captivates from the moment he breaks into Williams’ house (easy, because the front door doesn’t latch properly); he exudes the calm sexuality Brando did at the start of his career mixed with playfulness but underscored with some bitterness. He avoids doing a Brando impersonation, giving his dialogue just enough of a mumbly quality to justify the number of times Williams comments on the way he speaks but otherwise avoiding the cliches.

When Taylor and Flynn are alone on stage together, they have a connection that made the audience the night I saw the show sit still and focus on every word, every gesture. The connection is in turn playful (especially with the misunderstanding of their first meeting), commiseratory (sharing stories of troubled childhoods), and confrontational (as each tries to control the other). Even when the characters are angry with each other, when Williams sulks or Brando rages, the actors are perfectly in synch.

While this is essentially a two-man show, there are three other characters. I estimate two of them have about twenty minutes of stage time each, and the third less than that. Ellie Ricker’s Jo, the young girl who has traveled with Brando to Provincetown from New York only to be left behind at the bus station until she takes matters into her own hands, is effervescent and easily manipulated by both men. I spent the whole time she was on stage wanting to tell her to pay attention to the way they’re using her as a pawn. When she does, Ricker’s transition from sweet to hurt to angry is pitch perfect. Alison Cimmet (who I think I last saw way downtown in a production of Machinal, twenty or more years ago) plays Williams’ long time friend Margo Jones … and man, do I wish the script gave her more to do. She is wonderfully acerbic as the long-supporting friend who is deeply hurt by being passed over as director of Streetcar in favor of the much more in-demand Elia Kazan; acerbic but loving. She and Lord also have solid chemistry in their too-few scenes together. Sebastian Treviño has the least stage time as Pancho, Williams’ live-in lover. He handles what little he’s given to do (sexily smolder, physically threaten, get drunk) very well but the Pancho is there mostly as a possible basis for the role Brando is there to audition for.

If I have any complaint about the show, it’s the way it is structured as a memory play. The first minute or so, with an older Tennessee Williams sitting in a chair talking to an unseen, and unheard, television interviewer, felt awkward and unnecessary, as did the closing narration.

Colin Hanlon’s direction is superb, making full use of the single set (the living room and kitchen of Williams’ home) designed by David Gallo with an eye towards keeping your attention on the actors. Jeff Croiter’s lighting design is subtle and warm and Lisa Zinni’s costumes capture the essence of Williams and Brando with period perfection. The Duke at 42nd Street is an intimate black box space which made it even easier for the audience to be pulled into the drama. I hope the show does well enough to garner a transfer to a Broadway house eventually, but I fear some of the immediacy of being in a smaller house will be lost. So go see Kowalski during this initial limited run. It closes February 23rd.

Kowalski set design by David Gallo, lighting design by Jeff Croiter

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA

I’m a bit late when it comes to admiring the work of Jez Butterworth. But after seeing The Ferryman in 2019, the first of his plays I’d ever seen staged, I vowed not to miss whatever came next. (I saw the mostly American replacement cast a month or so after the show won the Tony Award for Best Play, and the show blew me away, even with some not-so-great fake Irish accents in the mix.) So as soon as The Hills of California was announced, I knew I had to see it. We got tickets for what I didn’t realize at the time was the final preview performance, September 28th. The show officially opened the next night. You won’t be surprised to hear that it blew me away.

The Hills of California is set in a family-owned hotel/rooming house in Blackpool, England in 1976, where the estranged Webb sisters are reuniting in their childhood home upon the impending death of their mother. Well, three of them are. Jill has apparently never moved out and been their ailing mother’s caregiver for quite some time. Youngest sister Ruby shows up with her husband Dennis, followed shortly by third sister Gloria with her husband and offspring – but only Jill is convinced that oldest sister Joan will bother to come from America. The play explores, through scenes set in 1976 as well as flashbacks set twenty years earlier, what drove these sisters apart; they were extremely close as kids, with each other and with their single mother Veronica despite her taskmaster-like method of bringing them together as a four-member version of the Andrews Sisters and conflicting stories about what happened to their father. There’s a lot of great four-part harmony singing in the flashbacks; not so much in the 1976 scenes.

As my friend Dave said: “It’s a Jez Butterworth drama. You know from the beginning something bad is coming. It’s just a matter of when it happens and what the fallout is.”

I’m a big fan of stories that alternate present and past to build tension, and Butterworth manages it expertly here, with just enough time spent in each time frame before a switch occurs to move the action forward and reveal something about how each sister has changed, progressing inexorably towards the reveal of the bad thing that happened (which I won’t spoil here) and clarifying what we already know of the fallout in the characters’ present.

As adults, Helena Wilson’s Jill is the people-pleaser, Ophelia Lovibond’s Ruby the most naïve, and Leanne Best’s Gloria the inexplicably bitter one. Each actress was fantastic, and the distance between their character played perfectly. The scenes where they try to confront that distance, without truly getting to the heart of what pushed them apart, were tension-packed and at points heart-breaking. Equally heart-breaking was watching the scenes with their much more joyful, playful, bonded younger selves (Nancy Allsop as Young Gloria, Nicola Turner as Young Jill, Sophia Ally as Young Ruby, and Lara Donnell as Young Joan), knowing where those relationships are headed. Sam Mendes clearly had the younger and older actresses spend time together perfecting matching body language and facial expressions; there was no doubt from the moment the younger versions stepped on stage who was who. The younger actresses are also all wonderful singers, it should be noted.

If there’s a core character the play revolves around (which even in ensemble shows like this there usually is), it’s mother Veronica in the flashbacks. Lara Donnelly was a tour-de-force in the role. Veronica is a strict “stage mother” but also fiercely protective of her daughters, and there are moments when the fight between ambition and protectiveness threatens to overwhelm her. Donnelly’s swings from one to the other, and the internal conflicts that result, were impressive. Donnelly also plays the adult Joan in the play’s final act, and I can honestly say I didn’t realize it was the same actress (obviously, I didn’t read the full cast list in the Playbill before the show, nor did I really pay attention when the adult sisters comment on how much like Mother Joan was…).

If I have any complaint about the show, it’s that Ruby’s husband Dennis (Bryan Dick), and Gloria’s husband Bill (Richard Short) and kids Tony and Patty (Liam Bixby and Nancy Allsop) seem truly extraneous in the 1976 scenes and don’t really add to any understanding of how the sisters are different as adults (particularly the two children, who are in one scene together), whereas the other adults in the flashback scenes (especially Richard Lumsden’s Joe Fogg, Bryan Dick’s Jack Larkin, and David Wilson Barnes’ very skeevy Luther St. John) add to our understanding of Veronica and how far she’ll go to both promote and protect her daughters.

Kudos also must be given to designer Rob Howell and lighting designer Natasha Chivers for creating a set that feels cavernous and claustrophobic at the same time, reflecting the sisters’ closeness and division. Director Sam Mendes uses the rotating stage to move between the present and the past, which further illustrates how the sisters’ relationship has changed: in the past, they are always gathered around the kitchen table, where boarders/guests are not allowed; in the present, they only interact in the hotel’s lobby/common room, as though they are all guests/visitors in what used to be their home.

The Hills of California closed on Broadway in December. I am sure it will be nominated for several Tony Awards this season.

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is a new occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.

Theatre Thursday: 2024 Wrap-Up

I challenged myself to see at least 12 pieces of live theater (an average of one per month) in 2024, and I managed 16:

1.      Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC)

2.      Drunk Shakespeare NYC (Macbeth) (Ruby Theatre, NYC)

3.      Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age (Studio 54, NYC)

4.      All The Devils Are Here (DR2 Theatre, NYC)

5.      Macbeth (an undoing) (Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, NYC)

6.      Water For Elephants (Imperial Theatre, NYC)

7.      Or, What She Will (Red Bull Theatre, NYC)

8.      The Play That Goes Wrong (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Central Valley PA)

9.      N/A (Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, Lincoln Center, NYC)

10.  Back to the Future: The Musical (Winter Garden Theater, NYC)

11.  Once Upon a Mattress (Hudson Theater, NYC)

12.  The Hills of California (Broadhurst Theater, NYC)

13.  Drunk Dracula (Ruby Theatre, NYC)

14.  The Man of La Mancha (Beacon HS Theatre, Beacon NY)

15.  The Comedy of Errors (modern language version) (Newton HS Theatre, Newton NJ)

16.  The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (The Other Palace, London, UK)

So that’s 6 musicals, 1 cabaret act, 5 comedies, and 4 dramas. 6 of those were in Broadway houses (Sweeney, Alan Cumming, Water for Elephants, Back to the Future: The Musical, Once Upon a Mattress, and The Hills of California), four were Off-Broadway/elsewhere in NYC (Drunk Shakespeare, Drunk Dracula, Macbeth (an undoing) and Or, What She Will); two were high school productions in which a nephew or niece appeared (La Mancha, Comedy of Errors), one was at a regional festival (The Play That Goes Wrong) and one was in the London equivalent of an “off-Broadway” house (do they call it “off the West End”?) (Lightning Thief).

Leaving aside the high school productions (because of obvious “That’s my nephew/niece” prejudice), favorites were Sweeney Todd (we saw it after Groban, Ashford, and Gaten Matarazzo left, but before Tveit, Foster, and Joe Locke came in – and it was still utterly fantastic); Drunk Shakespeare / Drunk Dracula; Or, What She Will; Once Upon a Mattress and The Hills of California. (This does not mean the other productions were bad – just that I enjoyed these productions more.)

I have set myself the same “see at least 12 pieces of live theatre” challenge. I’d like to see more live regional theatre when I’m on the road for work, but that’ll always be sort of last-minute decisions. I already know we’ll be seeing Old Friends on Broadway in April (starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, co-starring among others Bonnie Langford (one of my favorite Doctor Who companions, Mel!) We’ll see what January brings….

I’ve always loved live theater, and in the past couple of years I’ve been making a stronger effort to see more of it. Theater Thursday is an occasional series where I talk about live theater, both shows I’ve seen recently and shows I’ve loved in the past.