Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Jan Simpson talk about The Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre, Burning House by Joe Nelms, The New Group production of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Medea @ BAM, American Utopia, Chekhov/Tolstoy: Love Stories @ Mint Theater Company, Stew @ Walkerspace, Sister Calling My Name @ The Sheen Center, A Soldier’s Play, Grand Horizons, and Roundabout Underground’s Darling Grenadine.
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Panel:
Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. His columns appear at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select and many other places.
James Marino | [email protected] | Twitter | Facebook
BroadwayStars
Jan Simpson | [email protected] | Facebook | Twitter
Broadway & Me
JAN SIMPSON is the Director of the Arts and Culture Journalism Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and also writes for TDF Stages, American Theater and has her own blog at Broadway & Me. She sits on the executive board of the Outer Critics Circle and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
Notes and links for the podcast.
Peter’s Trivia Answer
Discussion:
Peter Filichia • February 7 at 2:22 PM
Forty-two years ago tonight Linda Konner and I had our first date.
We’re still here.
And together.
PF: The Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre
The Kleban Foundation Announces 2020 Winners
Lyricist Daniel Messé and co-librettists Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew are this year’s awardees.
New Shows in Development:
PF: Burning House by Joe Nelms
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Reviews:
JS + PF: The New Group production of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice @ The Pershing Square Signature Center, The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre, 480 West 42nd Street, through March 15, 2020
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a world premiere production arriving as part of The New Group’s 25th Anniversary Season, Book by Jonathan Marc Sherman, Music by Duncan Sheik, Lyrics by Duncan Sheik and Amanda Green and Musical Staging by Kelly Devine, features Jennifer Damiano, Jamie Mohamdein, Ana Nogueira, Joél Pérez, Suzanne Vega and Michael Zegen. Scott Elliott directs.
A bittersweet comic take on the sexual revolution in which the suavely conventional lives of two successful young couples, all friends, are both stirred and shaken when they open their minds to the changing attitudes around them. Jonathan Marc Sherman (Book), Duncan Sheik (Music, Lyrics) and Amanda Green (Lyrics) evoke both the confusions of the time, and the hard timeless lessons of marriage and emotional commitment, inspired by the brilliant and irreverent Oscar-nominated film. Scott Elliott directs this world premiere musical of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice featuring musical staging by Kelly Devine.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice features Jennifer Damiano (Carol), Jamie Mohamdein (Ensemble), Ana Nogueira (Alice), Joél Pérez (Bob), Suzanne Vega (Band Leader) and Michael Zegen (Ted).
This production includes Scenic Design by Derek McLane, Costume Design by Jeff Mahshie, Lighting Design by Jeff Croiter and Sound Design by Jessica Paz. Orchestrations by Duncan Sheik. Music Supervision, Vocal Arrangements and Additional Orchestrations by Jason Hart. Music Coordinator is Antoine Silverman. Casting is by Telsey + Company, Rachel Hoffman CSA. Production Stage Manager is Valerie A. Peterson.
Based on the Columbia Pictures motion picture directed by Paul Mazursky and written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker.
PF + JS: Medea @ BAM, Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St, Brooklyn, through March 15, 2020
Written by Simon Stone after Euripides
Directed by Simon Stone
Produced by BAM, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, and David Lan
Euripides’ controversial icon is reborn in visionary director Simon Stone’s (Yerma) stunning contemporary rewrite. Rose Byrne (Damages, Bridesmaids, You Can’t Take It with You) and Bobby Cannavale (The Lifespan of a Fact, The Hairy Ape, The Motherf**ker with the Hat) face off as a husband and wife in the tumultuous throes of an unraveling marriage. Transposing the devastation of Greek tragedy to a modern American home, Stone’s stripped-bare staging throws the couple’s every raw emotion into stark relief, from jealousy to passion, humor to despair. Who will pay the price?
This critical sensation riveted audiences across Europe and now comes to BAM for its US premiere, featuring an all-new cast, including Dylan Baker (The Good Wife, Happiness).
Cast:
Victor Almanzar (Herbert)
Gabriel Amoroso (Edgar)
Dylan Baker (Christopher)
Jordan Boatman (Elsbeth)
Rose Byrne (Anna)
Bobby Cannavale (Lucas)
Emeka Guindo (Gus)
Orson Hong (Gus)
Jolly Swag (Edgar)
Madeline Weinstein (Clara)
Understudies:
Renata Friedman (Anna)
Thomas Michael Hammond (Christopher/Herbert)
Nick Mills (Lucas)
Sam Morales (Clara/Elsbeth)
Set by Bob Cousins
Costumes by An d’Huys
Music & Sound by Stefan Gregory
Lighting by Sarah Johnston
Video by Julia Frey
Costume Associate Fauve Ryckebusch
Production Stage Manager David Lurie-Perret
Assistant Stage Manager Amanda Kosack
Casting by Jim Carnahan, CSA
Originally produced by Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
Ivo van Hove has been director of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam since 2001
JS: American Utopia, closing next week weekend (Feb. 16)
Spike Lee will be directing a movie version
PF: Chekhov/Tolstoy: Love Stories – Mint Theater Company @ Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, through March 14, 2020
Adapted for the stage by Miles Malleson
Directed by Jonathan Bank & Jane Shaw
Chekhov wrote more than five hundred short stories in the years before he wrote the four plays that made his theatrical immortality. “If you ask any writer whom they revere as the founder of the modern short story, the chances are the answer will be Chekhov,” writes Rosamund Bartlett, author of books about both Chekhov and Tolstoy.
Chekhov’s An Artist’s Story tells the story of Nicov, a painter who encounters two very different women on a visit to the country. The flirtatious Genya flatters the artist with questions about miracles and the eternal, while her pragmatic sister Lidia ridicules the artist, questioning the necessity of landscapes in a world where people are poor and hungry. Together, they bring him to a new understanding of himself.
The first production was in 1919, directed by Edith Craig and produced by the Pioneer Players: an independent theater society known for its productions of feminist and Russian drama. Malleson played the title role.
Tolstoy’s What Men Live By tells the story of a Russian peasant couple whose lives intersect with a mysterious stranger whose odd ways and brilliant smile bring them to a new understanding as well. What Men Live By reflects Tolstoy’s dedication to living out a Christian pacifism based on personal conscience.
In the midst of World War I, the pacifist Malleson was inspired by Tolstoy’s empathetic vision. Infusing his adaptation with string quartet music composed for the production by Norman O’Neill, Malleson’s adaptation premiered as part of an all-female student program by London’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, providing audiences with “the pure milk of the Tolstoyan word on loving-kindness.” Audiences shell-shocked by the war welcomed this balm; audiences today will also warm to this hopeful tale of love and redemption.
Mint’s production will be the first-ever pairing of Malleson’s Russian gems, co-directed by Mint Artistic Director Jonathan Bank and his longtime collaborator, Jane Shaw. Jane has designed sound, and composed and arranged music for thirty Mint productions; she will be making her directorial debut at the Mint.
JS: Stew @ Walkerspace, A Page 73 Production
Page 73’s world premiere production of STEW, written by Zora Howard (Premature, IFC Films) and directed by Colette Robert (Behind the Sheet).
Mama is up early to prepare an important meal, and even with her family on hand to help, time is running short. Tensions simmer with three generations of Tucker women under one roof, but things come to a boil as the violence hovering around the periphery of their lives begins to intrude upon the sanctity of Mama’s kitchen.
The cast for STEW includes Portia (The Rose Tattoo), Kristin Dodson (Patience), Toni Lachelle Pollitt (Hurricane Pxarty), and Obie Award winner Nikkole Salter (In the Continuum).
PF: Sister Calling My Name – The Sheen Center
Presented by Blackfriars Repertory Theatre and The Storm Theatre
January 24 – February 16, 2020
Written by Buzz McLaughlin
Produced by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P.
Directed by Peter Dobbins
Susie Duecker as Sister Anne
John Marshall as Michael
Gillian Todd as Lindsey
A young man, Michael Stouffer, disillusioned by divorce and a failed academic career, is tricked into returning to his hometown after a self-willed separation of nearly eighteen years to face an emotionally charged encounter with his past.
An enthralling tour de force, this award-winning play deals with issues of love and loss, faith and doubt, the strength of family ties, and the possibility of personal redemption.
JS: A Soldier’s Play @ Roundabout Theatre Company, American Airlines Theatre, through March 15, 2020
A Soldier’s Play at Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO). This is first Broadway production of Charles Fuller’s award-winning drama, directed by Kenny Leon.
A Soldier’s Play stars David Alan Grier as “Sergeant Vernon C. Waters” and Blair Underwood as “Captain Richard Davenport.” The cast also includes Nnamdi Asomugha as “Private First Class Melvin Peterson,” Jerry O’Connell as “Captain Charles Taylor,” McKinley Belcher III as “Private Louis Henson,” Rob Demery as “Corporal Bernard Cobb,” Jared Grimes as “Private Tony Smalls,” Billy Eugene Jones as “Private James Wilkie,” Nate Mann as “Lieutenant Byrd,” Warner Miller as “Corporal Ellis,” J. Alphonse Nicholson as “Private C. J. Memphis” and Lee Aaron Rosen as “Captain Wilcox.”
A Louisiana Army base. A sergeant is murdered—and the crime, with its masterfully unfolded investigation, triggers a gripping barrage of questions about sacrifice, service, and identity in America. A hair-raising drama that reverberates with the “authentic and exciting pulse” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times) of mystery, Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece rockets onto Broadway for the first time, starring three-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier and two-time Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun).
JM: Second Stage production of Grand Horizons @ Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, through March 1, 2020
Broadway premiere of GRAND HORIZONS by Bess Wohl. Directed by Leigh Silverman, GRAND HORIZONS stars Jane Alexander, James Cromwell, Priscilla Lopez, Ben McKenzie, Maulik Pancholy, Ashley Park, and Michael Urie.
Bill and Nancy have spent fifty full years as husband and wife. They practically breathe in unison, and can anticipate each other’s every sigh, snore and sneeze. But just as they settle comfortably into their new home in Grand Horizons, the unthinkable happens: Nancy suddenly wants out. As their two adult sons struggle to cope with the shocking news, they are forced to question everything they assumed about the people they thought they knew best. By turns funny, shocking and painfully honest, Bess Wohl’s new play explores a family turned upside-down and takes an intimate look at the wild, unpredictable, and enduring nature of love.
The full creative team for GRAND HORIZONS includes scenic design by Clint Ramos, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, projection design by Bryce Cutler and casting by TELSEY + COMPANY.
JS: Darling Grenadine @ The Roundabout Underground through March 15, 2020
Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
Black Box Theatre
111 West 46th Street
Roundabout Underground debuts its first new musical in a decade.
When charismatic songwriter Harry falls for clever chorus girl Louise, all of Manhattan glitters with the blush of new love. But what happens when the sparkling fantasy begins to dissolve?
Bubbling over with charm, wit, and whimsy, Darling Grenadine navigates the tension between romance and reality, light and dark, bitter and sweet. Featuring a vibrantly eclectic score and stirring book and lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik.
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
Please Note: There is no late seating for this production and the show begins promptly. If you arrive after the designated performance time you will not be admitted.
Limited availability of tickets are available to members of our Chairman’s Circle, beginning with a tax-deductible donation of $3,000. Join now to access seats today. Email Us or Learn More.
Darling Grenadine benefits from Roundabout’s Musical Production Fund with lead gifts from The Howard Gilman Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere, Diane and Tom Tuft, and Cynthia C. Wainwright and Stephen Berger.
Development of Darling Grenadine was supported by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director) during a residency at the National Music Theater Conference of 2016.
Darling Grenadine was presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in 2017.
Darling Grenadine was originally produced by Goodspeed Musicals in 2017.
Produced and further developed summer, 2019, at The Marriott Theatre (Terry James, Executive Producer; Aaron Thielen, Artistic Director).
Darling Grenadine benefits from Roundabout’s Musical Production Fund with lead gifts from The Howard Gilman Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere, Diane and Tom Tuft, and Cynthia C. Wainwright and Stephen Berger.
Development of Darling Grenadine was supported by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center (Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director) during a residency at the National Music Theater Conference of 2016.
Darling Grenadine was presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals in 2017.
Darling Grenadine was originally produced by Goodspeed Musicals in 2017.
Produced and further developed summer, 2019, at The Marriott Theatre (Terry James, Executive Producer; Aaron Thielen, Artistic Director).
Produced and further developed summer, 2019, at The Marriott Theatre (Terry James, Executive Producer; Aaron Thielen, Artistic Director).
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