Broadway Breakdown with Matt Koplik

Episode: Matt Reviews: ROMEO + JULIET, THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA & Off-Broadway

Date: October 27, 2024

Episode Overview

In this bonus episode, host Matt Koplik offers passionate late-night reviews and sharp opinions on two high-profile Broadway productions—The Hills of California and the starry RomeO and Juliet—as well as a trio of current Off-Broadway offerings. Known for his brash but insightful takes, Matt serves up honest reactions, quick production histories, analysis of design and performance, and plenty of memorable one-liners. The episode’s central theme: what makes a show truly connect—script, performance, staging, or, sometimes, none of the above?

Housekeeping & Podcast Updates

(00:00–13:20)

• Podcast Announcements:

  • Reads and responds to a new glowing five-star iTunes review, reflecting on podcast’s growing notoriety and references to “the manor” as a running show joke.
  • Urges listeners to join the Discord channel for community chatter, episode updates, and opportunities to buy collectible playbills and programs—some quite rare and up for grabs as he downsizes his personal archive.
  • Ongoing Streetcar Named Desire play fundraiser has topped $12,400, aiming for $20,000. “If 10 of you... who haven’t donated yet... all donated 10 bucks, that’s a hundred dollars. That puts us to $12.5K, which is honestly a much more fun number. It’s more sexy to say 12.5 thousand than 12.4 thousand...” (11:30).
  • Advocacy moment: encourages all eligible listeners to make voting plans, as early voting is open.

• Errata Corrections:

  • Responds to Discord corrections from previous podcast episodes:
    • Hal Prince did not direct Porgy and Bess; confusion with Jack O'Brien’s production (14:30).
    • Clarifies script details about West Side Story; Maria’s “I forgot why I called you” is, in fact, lifted from Romeo and Juliet.

Reviews: Off-Broadway Roundup

(13:20–49:25)

1. Vladimir

(13:30–19:30)
Play by Erica Scheffer at Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Norbert Leo Butz

• Premise: Russian journalists and civilians from 1999–2004 living through Putin’s regime and censorship.
• Thoughts:
  • “It felt like it was produced because it felt like an important topic, but one that’s hitting very close to home.”
  • Many walkouts at Matt’s matinee; “felt like eat your vegetables theater.”
  • “Well-acted—Norbert is very good, lead actress Francesca...very good. But all the design, all the acting, all the ‘importance’...doesn’t add up much for me because at the root is just people talking...with no human connection.”
  • Verdict: Respectful but disengaged; a hard pass for Matt.

2. Little House on the Ferry

(19:32–31:08)
Musical at The Duplex (Cabaret), queer rom-com set on Fire Island during 2011 marriage equality

• Physical production impresses:
  • “We didn’t really know what to expect, but could not get over how inventively they designed the space and reconfigured it for this production.”
  • “Major props to management and stage management for keeping it very crisp, timing cues in such a small space.”
  • Talented cast, strong vocals, tight ensemble work.
• Book & Score Critique:
  • “But...at the center of it, we just didn’t think there was really any show there...it doesn’t really go anywhere. Characters don’t make much sense, all kind of terrible people which is fine...but they want you to feel for their moral center and we just couldn’t.”
  • Attempts to blend camp and heart, but “you can’t go too big at the top and then want us to take it seriously.”
• Overall Impression: Charming production values but weak writing undermines its impact. Matt calls it akin to “queer musicals you would see Off-Broadway in the 90s...old fashioned, kind of silly, probably not very good.”

3. Forbidden Broadway (Current Edition)

(31:10–49:25)

• A personal favorite series:
  • “Forbidden Broadway is at its best when it is specific...even songs that didn’t make us necessarily laugh, we were appreciative of the cleverness.”
• Highlights:
  • Jabs at & Juliet, Back to the Future, and Cabaret (the latter over its grotesque metamorphosis), with standout parodies of Ben Platt and Bernadette Peters (“Not the most accurate, but blew up her quirks and was very, very funny.”).
  • “Jenna Lee Stern was probably the MVP of the night...surprisingly nailed Shaina Taub’s idiosyncrasies.”
• Performance notes:
  • Special applause for John Miscavige, going on as a swing for a double show day—“totally wiped.”
• Verdict:
  • “Maybe not my favorite...could have gone a little more vicious,” but fresh, fun, and testament to Gerard Alessandrini’s enduring wit.

Broadway Reviews: The “Meat” of the Episode

The Hills of California

(49:25–01:26:34)
By Jez Butterworth, Broadhurst Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes

• Attendance:

  • “...playing at 60% capacity, which is a shame because it’s a very beautiful play.”

• Content & Structure:

  • A family drama about four northern English sisters in the 1970s, flashing back to their 1950s teenage years under the grip of a fierce single mother who runs a hotel.
  • Central thread: The unachieved dreams of a family girl group (à la Andrews Sisters), the fallout of abuse and ambition, and how a family reckons with collective and individual memory.

• Play’s Significance:

  • “On the surface it may not seem like a ‘quote unquote, important’ play...but Hills has very human themes at its core.”
  • “I’ve never appreciated when plays wear their ‘importance’ on their sleeve. It makes me feel pandered to, talked down to...Hills of California is a message play in the shape of a play.”
    • (52:00–54:30)

• Key Scenes and Staging:

  • Notes emotional and technical improvements since the West End transfer: “The third act is now 15 minutes shorter—tighter, more focused...and there’s a staging moment with Joan ascending the stairs and meeting her younger self coming down that is very, very powerful. That wasn’t in the London version.”
    • (01:10:50) “She can’t bring herself to go up. Joan, who...is very hippie-dippy-ish, cool as a cucumber, almost unaffected, and yet she can’t bring herself to do it...”
  • Memoir vs. truth theme: “Joan remembered so many things differently...as things unravel, all the issues bubble to the surface...each sister clings to a different ‘truth.’”
  • Show’s central question: “Who is to blame for a dream not being realized? Was it ever your dream to begin with? Was it even achievable?”

• Performance Shout-Outs:

  • “Laura Donnelly is incredible. The whole cast is wonderful—the four young women as the sisters, the adult cast—strong across the board. And you know how I feel about child actors—but this is a good bunch of kids.”

• Reception:

  • Matt was moved even as two audience members behind him dismissed it as “about nothing.” He reflects: “It’s not about nothing—and if you think that, that tells me more about you than about the play. I was on the phone with my dad after...‘it’s about so much!’”

• Bottom Line:

  • “Highly recommend. There are better plays, but this is a very, very good one—a beautiful show that is wonderfully acted, well-directed, and beautifully designed. There’s not much of that on Broadway right now.”

Romeo + Juliet

(01:26:34–end)
Broadway revival starring Rachel Zegler (Juliet) and Kit Connor (Romeo), directed by Sam Gold

• Cultural Context:

  • “At this point, the plot is immaterial—the characters have become shorthand for star-crossed lovers. There are so many versions...this one directed by Sam Gold, who’s given us Enemy of the People, Fun Home...”
  • Anticipation: “Rachel Zegler in West Side Story, I maintain is one of the best movie debuts of this century...Kit Connor, swoon-worthy...so I say this in context with my Instagram review, which was just pictures. Some found it mean-spirited, but that’s their interpretation.” (01:28:30)

• Matt’s Take:

  • Not an unmitigated disaster—but not good.

  • Best Elements:

    • Kit Connor: “By far the best performance...He leans into the heart-on-sleeve Romeo...a hot and horny puppy channelling earnest desire and affection.”
      • (01:34:11) “He is not perfect, not brilliant, but you can’t help but fall in love with his Romeo.”
    • Lighting design (Isabella Byrd): “Sounds so cliché: ‘the lighting was neat’—but I do mean it. Gorgeous, stark, and very specific.”

  • Concept/Direction:

    • Sam Gold goes for TikTok-era, “youthful, lusty, impulsive” energy, with Jack Antonoff songs, flashing lights, and actors running wild through the theater, even up into the lighting grid.
    • “It felt very try-hard...a team desperately trying to connect with a generation just beyond them. It rang very ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’”

  • Chemistry and Casting:

    • Rachel Zegler as Juliet: “Best scene is the balcony scene, leans into Juliet’s analytical side—but you never really get hot passion from her...almost in ‘big like’ with Romeo, not all-consuming love.”
    • Cast-wide issues with Shakespeare’s language: “Except for Kit, [Shakespeare] doesn’t drip off anyone’s tongue...Many are too busy trying to make it modern or are way too in the floweriness of the poetry.”
    • Tommy Dorfman (Tybalt/Nurse): “Biggest issues making the language sound organic...Valley Girl energy as Nurse—which is a take, but didn’t land for me.”

  • Notable Quote:

    • “This production is a little bit of a ‘Shorejan’ meme through an HBO Euphoria filter... in the middle of all that is Kit, who is truly just playing heart. And it works.”

  • Design:

    • Stage pictures are “sometimes beautiful, sometimes tiresome...There’s a big flower bed reveal that is cool, but stays so long the magic is lost and it becomes cheap.”

  • Final Ranking (Broadway Season):

    • “Romeo and Juliet is in last place right now simply because I’ve only seen nine shows...I’m sure it will not be the absolute bottom, but I can’t say it’s a bold interpretation that lands.”

  • Final Word:

    • “Listen, it is selling like a motherfucker and bringing kids into the theater to see Shakespeare...There’s nothing wrong with trying to bring Shakespeare to the young...But these things are not negatives until they don’t work.”

Concluding Thoughts and Community

(End segment)

• Encouragement to join the Discord for sneak previews, merch chat, and community (Brian may design T-shirts with in-joke episode quotes.)
• Urges listeners to keep submitting reviews, which get noticed by the Broadway Podcast Network.
• Affection for the podcast’s listenership: “The people who choose to listen to this podcast fucking rock. And they’re good writers. They take after me.”
• Shoutout to Rachel Zegler’s talent: “Much as I found her disappointing in Romeo and Juliet, girlfriend is a very good actress in general and an amazing singer... She is 17 pounds soaking wet. What a time to be alive.”

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• On earnestness in plays:
  • “I’ve never appreciated when plays wear their importance on their sleeve. It makes me feel pandered to, talked down to...” (53:00)
• On Off-Broadway experimentality:
  • “They make a lot out of very little. Major props to management and stage management for keeping it really crisp.” (ca. 22:00)
• On Forbidden Broadway’s style:
  • “It is a marathon. You lose probably 10 pounds doing it. It’s also hell on your vocal cords—it’s nonstop. When you’re not onstage, you’re changing costume.” (39:10)
• On Hills of California's theme:
  • “Who is to blame for a dream not being realized? Is it you? Is it your circumstances? Or was it even your dream to begin with?” (01:19:30)
• On Romeo + Juliet’s youthful take:
  • “This production...is a little bit of a shorejan meme through an HBO Euphoria filter. And in the middle of that is Kit, who is just playing heart.” (01:36:00)
• On audience reactions:
  • “There were two women behind me who couldn’t get on board with it. They thought it was about nothing. It’s not about nothing. And if you really think that, that just tells me more about you.” (01:18:00)
• On critical discourse:
  • “Every reason why one of you loves it is the reason one of you hates it. That’s kind of how it works and why we talk about it.” (01:58:00)

Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–13:20 — Announcements, Discord, fundraiser, and corrections.
• 13:20–19:30 — Review: Vladimir.
• 19:32–31:08 — Review: Little House on the Ferry.
• 31:10–49:25 — Review: Forbidden Broadway.
• 49:25–01:26:34 — Review: The Hills of California.
• 01:26:34–End — Review: Romeo and Juliet + closing community/season remarks.

Final Thoughts

This episode delivers Matt Koplik’s quintessential blend of humor, scholarly insight, and bracing honesty. Whether he’s lauding exceptional design in cabaret, lamenting important plays that feel emotionally empty, or swinging for the fences on Broadway’s buzziest shows, Matt roots his opinions in both deep knowledge and raw reaction. Fans and Broadway skeptics alike will find plenty to chew on in this detailed late-night roundup.