Broadway Breakdown: Reviewing Shows and Remembering Artists

Host: Matt Koplik
Episode Air Date: October 5, 2024

Episode Overview

This special bonus episode of Broadway Breakdown, hosted solo by the ever-passionate (and hilariously opinionated) Matt Koplik, offers a double feature:

• Thoughtful reviews of three recent theater experiences: Grounded (the new Janine Tesori opera at the Met), Big Gay Jamboree (Off-Broadway at the Orpheum), and Yellowface (Broadway premiere at Roundabout).
• A raw, heartfelt reflection on recent losses within the theater community, particularly the passing of Gavin Creel, Ken Page, Maggie Smith, Adrienne Bailey, and Kris Kristofferson, with deep dives into legacy, grief, and what it means to remember.

Matt’s signature blend of deep analysis, personal anecdotes, “foul-mouthed” candor, and cultural context runs through the whole episode, making this an essential listen or read for any theater lover.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Housekeeping & Thank Yous [00:17 - 06:13]

• Appreciation for Listeners’ Support:
  Matt expresses gratitude for recent podcast donations, sharing the amount raised and individual thank-yous.
  • “With only nine donations we have almost $600. That is. And in 48 hours no less. So I am feeling very moved by that.” [04:29]
  • Notes the importance of every contribution, large or small.

2. Reviews: Recent Shows

A. Grounded at the Met (Janine Tesori Opera) [06:14 - 23:09]

• Background:

  • First opera by a woman to open the Met season.
  • Adapted from George Brant’s one-woman play about a fighter pilot turned drone operator, exploring morality and modern warfare.

• Personal Experience & Audience Reaction:

  • Matt and his mom left at intermission; found Act 1 slow, despite Tesori’s talents.
    • “I’m a huge nin tesori, honestly whore. I love the woman. I think that she’s one of the most versatile and influential ... composers ... but ... I’m not really enjoying this.”
  • Points out the challenge of adapting an 85-minute play into a protracted opera.

• Composition Analysis:

  • Praises some passages as “beautiful” or “reminiscent of Copeland ... Americana, heavy strings, Semi Oklahoma-y”, but much of it felt “try-hard”, leaning into dissonance that felt unnatural for Tesori.
  • “It felt a little try-hard ... this is opera. We are at the Met. And so this has to feel much more artistic and avant garde. It just didn’t sound natural to what she normally does.” [13:22]
  • Notes opera buffs often dislike modern opera, feeling validated by friends’ opinions and the NYT review.

• Casting & Sound:

  • Emily d’Angelo (“thrilling”) and Ben Bliss (“sounded much more like a classically trained Broadway singer than a full-blown operatic tenor—very smooth and enjoyable.”) get high marks.
  • Design: Impressive for some (especially his mother); Matt less enchanted.

• Libretto/Language Issues:

  • English opera with swearing sounded awkward:
    “A lot of the recitative sounded off because they would sing things like fuck and shit ... with the timbre of opera.” [20:59]
  • Comparison to Jerry Springer: The Opera: “...it gave me Jerry Springer the opera vibes ... after a while just became grating.”

• Final Verdict:

  • “I can’t say that I totally recommend it. But if you are interested, by all means go see it.” [22:52]

B. Big Gay Jamboree at the Orpheum [23:10 - 41:35]

• Background:

  • Follow-up from Titanique’s Marla Mindelle; described as “Schmigadoon meets Pleasantville ... plus AI”.
  • Mindelle (a straight woman) wakes up inside a musical on her supposed wedding day; meta, high-concept comedy with queer thematics.

• Design, Direction, and Performances:

  • Show is “beautifully designed ... very well staged ... very funny ... money behind it, which is impressive for off-Broadway.”
  • Cast praised for being uniformly “on the same page ... everyone is a weirdo ... singing their face off.”
  • Special shout-out to Natalie Walker:
    “She is giving a performance full of choices that are big, that are fast ... she does Megan Hilty as Marilyn Monroe. So it’s a caricature of a caricature.” [28:21]

• Writing/Structure:

  • “A much bigger swing ... throwing spaghetti at the wall ... not a lot of structure, not a lot of continuity.”
  • Comparison to Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar: “... carte blanche. And that movie is bonkers. It’s hilarious, but it’s bonkers.”
  • Show exists for “dumb time,” but misses the memorability, structure, and payoff of classics like Little Shop of Horrors or Noises Off.

• Critiques:

  • References galore—more name drops than actual comedic craft at times (e.g., Real Housewives/Bravo jokes, theater in-jokes).
    • “They also will lean into the kind of jokes that aren’t really jokes. They’re just references. They’re just name drops.” [34:15]
  • Lacks actual queer cultural depth—leads are straight woman; queerness comes later and is somewhat superficial.
    • “For a show called Big Gay Jamboree, there’s not a lot of queerness in [it] ... the lead [is a] straight woman who then is like, here’s what gay culture is. It’s not my fave.” [37:12]
  • Score is “not terribly memorable,” though “well-structured, perfect rhymes.”

• Final Take:

  • “I had a fun time, but with each passing day, I’ve thought about it less and less ... See it for yourself. Decide how you feel ... not a waste of time, but not what I hoped it would be.” [41:12]

C. Yellowface at Roundabout (Broadway Premiere) [41:36 - 01:13:44]

• Background:

  • David Henry Hwang’s play is “semi-autobiographical ... account of the Miss Saigon controversy, followed by Face Value’s flop, and all the hypocrisy and identity conflicts therein.”

• Play & Production:

  • Explores authentic casting and the murky politics of race on stage.
  • “Very funny and much funnier than I expected it to be, honestly.”

• Casting & Performances:

  • Diverse company plays multiple, often cross-racial, cross-gender roles; casting intentionally muddles boundaries.
  • Daniel Dae Kim as Hwang: “... might be the weakest in it, which is not to say he is bad. He is very good ... a little overly presentational for the first half ... but comes into his own in the second half.”
    • “That is probably Daniel’s best scene in the whole show.” [55:42]
  • Huge praise for Kevin Del Aguila and especially Francis Jue:
    • “Francis Jue ... my previous experience with Francis was in Thoroughly Modern Millie ... He is a phenomenal talent in this ... there’s something about both the character and how he approaches the whole show where it has that archness ... but it’s all rooted in this realistic optimism.” [58:54]
    • “I will be lobbying hard for him to be remembered for Tony nominations in April, May ... he deserves it.” [59:20]
  • “Everyone else in this company is really fantastic ... making big, fast, specific choices.”

• Structural Observations:

  • Tight, sharp, and insightful for the first hour; slightly loses focus as it veers into business/politics late in Act 2.
    • “... It could use a little bit of tightening. It did lose me a little bit in the second half as things took a turn for the political and business side.” [01:04:16]

• Overall Verdict:

  • “One of my favorite things I’ve seen this season ... tackling big issues in a very light way is a very neat trick, and that’s not something we should ignore.” [01:13:43]
  • Notes theater might be a little too large for the play, but otherwise a “phenomenally fun time”.

3. Remembering Artists: Reflecting on Loss [01:13:45 - End]

Overview

• Matt pivots to a candid, emotional monologue commemorating actors lost in the past week: Maggie Smith, Ken Page, Gavin Creel, Kris Kristofferson, Adrian Bailey, John Amos.

Highlights & Quotes

• On Ken Page and Adrian Bailey:

  • “You don’t have to be a Tony winner for your career, for your life to have mattered. You don’t have to have been under 50 when you pass for your passing to be tragic.” [01:17:36]
  • “Ken was the original Old Deuteronomy in Cats ... very identifiable ... just a gorgeous, gorgeous voice.”

• On Gavin Creel:

  • Explores what it means to grieve for someone you didn’t know but who shaped your sense of art, identity, and community.

  • “Losing anybody is hard. And it’s weird to be a fan of someone who meant so much to you, who impacted you so much that you never knew ... if I’m allowed to feel how I feel when someone passes who I didn’t really know.”

  • The Impact of Gavin as an Artist and Human:

    • “There’s that post of Benj Pasek ... the last thing he got from him ... was just saying how proud he was of Benj for truly living, of taking life by the hands and making the most of it. And that’s sort of how I understand Gavin always lived.” [01:27:44]
    • “As an actor ... to watch him go from debonair leading men to then becoming much more of a messy artist ... to do it is very impressive.”

  • Hearts, Humanity, and ‘Walk On Through’:

    • Delves into Creel's latter years as a writer, especially his project Walk On Through:
      • “It was very fascinating and very exciting to watch how he approached other people’s art through song ... a very theatrical type of storytelling.”
      • “What I appreciated about Walk through so much, in addition to the craft of the songs, was how much of himself Gavin Creel put on stage ... It was a very personal work. He was very open ... and acknowledging all the things about himself ... are not always the best. When you are romantically involved with someone.” [~01:41:00]

  • On Grief, Legacy, and Letting Go:

    • “When we have a pain like this ... you do eventually have to continue on with living. And it can feel disingenuous, it can feel hurtful, it can feel selfish to want to have a good experience when something so sad has happened.” [01:58:50]
    • Quoting ‘The Facts of Life’: “I realized I wasn’t forgetting my dad when I was having a good time. I was letting go of some of the pain of losing him. It's okay. That's how we get on with our lives.”

  • On Commemoration:

    • Emphasizes holding onto the happiness these artists brought and acknowledges the complexity of public grieving.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• On ‘Grounded’:
  • “But there are a lot of dissonant passages, and ... it felt a little try-hard ... like, here's opera, here's the Met, let's make it weird.” ― Matt Koplik [13:22]
• On Modern Opera:
  • “Opera fans hate modern operas ... Even the Hours, which ... you couldn’t get in ... No one, from what I understand, who all saw it, enjoyed it.” [16:44]
• On Big Gay Jamboree’s Humor:
  • “Bridesmaids was the guarantor ... then Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar was their blank check ... That movie is bonkers ... so Big Gay Jamboree is sort of Marla Mindell and team’s Barb and Star ... just throwing everything out there and seeing what sticks.” [25:57]
• On Reference-Driven Comedy:
  • “They also will lean into the kind of jokes that aren’t really jokes. They're just references. They're just name drops.” [34:15]
• On Queerness & Authenticity in BGJ:
  • “For a show called Big Gay Jamboree, there's not a lot of queerness in [it] ... the lead straight woman who then is like, ‘here’s what gay culture is’. It’s just not ... not my fave.” [37:12]
• On Francis Jue in Yellowface:
  • “I will be lobbying hard for him to be remembered for Tony nominations ... he deserves it.” [59:20]
• On the Pain of Loss & Moving Forward:
  • “Moving on is not forgetting. It's not letting go of the memory. It's letting go of the pain. And that is how we continue onwards into this world.” [02:03:39]

Notable Moments

• Personal Reflection on Theater Fandom & Grief:

  • Matt’s honest grappling with what it means to grieve a public figure, the boundaries of genuine sharing versus self-indulgence, and how theater binds communities together.

• References & Storytelling:

  • Recalls family stories (e.g., his grandmother’s changing response to Company – see [01:39:00]), adding both humor and heartfelt empathy to the podcast’s tone.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:17 – 06:13: Housekeeping & Thank Yous
• 06:14 – 23:09: Grounded at the Met Review
• 23:10 – 41:35: Big Gay Jamboree Review
• 41:36 – 01:13:44: Yellowface at Roundabout Review
• 01:13:45 – 01:17:36: Remembering Ken Page, Adrian Bailey, others
• 01:17:37 – 02:03:39: The Legacy, Loss, and Inspiration of Gavin Creel
• 02:03:40 – End: Reflection, letting go of pain, closing notes and song

Conclusion

This episode is a poignant tribute to the ever-evolving landscape of Broadway—a mix of sharp show reviews, loving admiration for its artists, and a meditation on the bittersweet business of being a theater fan. Matt’s compelling voice, equal parts comic and compassionate, makes this an episode that both mourns and celebrates theater’s luminous, fleeting stars.

Recommended song to end on:

• Gavin Creel’s “Greenwich Time” or a selection from Walk on Through—as Matt says, “Gavin’s interpretation ... is just vocal caramel, as it always was.” [02:07:09]

End of summary.