← BroadwayRadio
BroadwayRadio
This Week on Broadway for April 27, 2025: Stranger Things: The First Shadow
01:10:46
Louis McCartney (Henry Creel) and Gabrielle Nevaeh (Patty Newby) in STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW; CREDIT: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Stranger Things: The First Shadow,
Loading summary
Transcript131 lines
- [00:01]
Peter
This is it.
- [00:22]
Michael Portantier
Never been another man in here.
- [00:31]
James Marino
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios this week on Broadway for Sunday, April 27, 2025. My name is James Marino, and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portantier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day Desk Calendar, A show tuned for today. 366 songs to Bright New Year has been released. Peter also has columns with Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and many other places. Hello, Peter.
- [00:59]
Peter
Hi.
- [00:59]
James Marino
What is the show tune for today?
- [01:02]
Peter
I'm Throwing a Ball Tonight. It's from. Because 27 years ago, it's hard to believe that, but High Society opened at the St. James Theater and it included this song that was actually from Panama Hattie, a 1940 musical. I'm not necessarily recommending that you listen to it on the cast album of High Society, though that would be a fine thing to do, no question. However, I'm going to recommend Cole Port have revisited a Ben Bagley album on which Bobby Shot appears. Now, the thing is, this was from 1964, long before Bobby Sharp was going to amount to anything significant. Oh, he had been a kid performer. You can even see him at the beginning of the call me Mr. Movie. But. But he really didn't reach his apotheosis until 1968 when he was asked to go to the Cafe Carlisle and fill in for two weeks. Well, it turned out to be substantially more than that, as we all well know, and he became a New York leg. But I'm Throwing a Ball Tonight. It's a delicious song and I recommend it no matter where you find a copy of it.
- [02:11]
James Marino
Excellent.
- [02:13]
Michael Portantier
I seem to recall that didn't Jan Maxwell sing at least some of it in that?
- [02:20]
Peter
Some of it, yeah. Four people were in it. Yeah.
- [02:22]
Michael Portantier
And also I believed that production. I thought there was a lot that was good about it. But I think it got some criticism because Susan Birkinhead rewrote some of the lyrics, the Cole Porter lyrics, and. And some people didn't cotton to that, which. That a similar situation will come up in our discussion of Pirates the Penzance musical today.
- [02:47]
James Marino
That other voice that you heard was Michael Bourtonier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. You could see his photography work@followspotphoto.com hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. I am telling you, I think we Have a winning combination here where two things that go together as good as peanut butter and jelly would be. Boy bands and City Winery.
- [03:25]
Michael Portantier
Yes. I don't know how many of our listeners have been to City Winery, but it's a really great space for a certain type of performance. It's very large, very, very high ceilings. It's right on the water on the Hudson river, down between Little island and Chelsea Piers. And one whole side of it can be open to, you know, so you can see the river. So it's really, really wonderful. But then they also can close that off when they have performances. And for the second time, I saw this show there called the Boy Ban, which is just so delightful. It's four amazing guys and they they really channeled that, that whole energy and, and, and, and the incredible impact that that that genre had and still has on, on, on pop music. I mean, you know, what's not to enjoy? You know, cute guys singing really catchy music and lyrics with really kicky choreography is. So the personnel of the group changes from show to show. But one reason I went back is that Zach Chaney, who I mentioned recently, someone who our listeners may know from his performance in Romeo and Bernadette, but then I saw him in a complete turnaround as Max in that wonderful Off Off Broadway production event a few weeks ago. And so he went from Romeo and Bernadette to Dent to the Boy Band Project. So he's really one of the most talented people I know. But also all four of them or anyone who's in it, because as I say, the personnel rotate. They're all just amazing as far as energy and talent and communication with the audience. And it's very much a very interactive show with the audience becoming involved with the guys dancing with them and going out into the audience. It's just really utterly, totally enjoyable. So they're doing another one on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday at City Winery. The one I went to was so sold out that they actually they moved it into that venue. It was going to be in a smaller venue at City Winery, but it got so full that they put it in the big space and I wouldn't be surprised if they're there again on Tuesday. Zach, I think, is not going to be in it on Tuesday, but as I said, everyone they get is just the best. So I really would check it out. I think you'll love it.
- [06:15]
James Marino
So the Boy Band brunch with the Boy Band Project at City Winery. We'll have a link to that in the show notes and let us know if you got there and found this cross section of events a good fit for you. Also, Michael, you have coming up a couple of weeks from now, just a few weeks from now, Sandy Duncan and Evening with Sandy Duncan been in conversation with you at the Lori Beachman theater on Tuesday, March 13th at 7pm so just a reminder for our listeners that we have a link to that in the show notes and you can get over there and get your tickets early.
- [06:57]
Michael Portantier
May 13th.
- [06:58]
James Marino
Yeah, do what I say.
- [07:00]
Michael Portantier
March. That's right.
- [07:02]
James Marino
Yeah, on the page. Yeah, on the page it says. It does say May 13th.
- [07:08]
Peter
Yes.
- [07:08]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I think we're selling well, so. So get your tickets.
- [07:11]
Peter
Oh, good.
- [07:12]
James Marino
Excellent. All right, so first up, the three of us got over to the Marquee Theater to see Stranger Things, the first shadow, this adaptation of a Netflix television series that none of us have seen. So, Peter, tell me what your thoughts on Stranger Things were.
- [07:40]
Peter
I was tremendously entertained, even though, yes, I didn't know anything about anything. It didn't matter to me. And I'm very grateful, in fact, that this is a prequel, because it doesn't really depend on knowing anything in advance, though it is interesting to me and I may be seduced into seeing the series because I have been told that what I'm looking at at these young kids on stage, that in the series they are parents themselves, but here they are teenagers and they're putting on Dark of the Moon, of all things, Chestnut from way back when, the seldom produced. I don't think it's been produced since, in New York, since 1970, when that was the craze of nudity. And so they did it in the nude, mostly because it takes place in the forest with all sorts of primitive creatures. Anyway, even though I didn't understand anything that was going on particularly, I certainly was dazzled by all the stagecraft. It must have been impossible to design this. And yet, of course, it was designed. And really from the first, well, not first, but second, really, moment when you see a ship, it's staggering to even see that and to think that they spend so much money on that, you'll never see it again. But there are many, many special effect that are. That are dazzling as well. So it didn't matter to me that I didn't know what was going on and it didn't matter to me that it went on for a good length of time. It's not a short show at all. However, this is basically the story of Harry Henry Creel, who's a very disturbed young man and has good reason to be Certainly his parents are not. His father is, is a bit of a problem. His mother is, is loving and tries the best she can, but he is a very tortured soul. But he powers not unlike the ones that Carrie has in her novel and movie and of course musical. So what's really amazing, amazing about the actor who plays Henry Creel, Lewis McCartney, is that he has to be this repressed tight end person. And I urge you, even if you need the restroom, stay for the curtain call because he looks like a completely different person and the curtain call, which is another way of showing what a good actor he is, that he really transformed himself into a completely different being. So stay for the curtain call and see that it's a very, very talented cast. And for those who know the the series, Gabriel Niva playing Patty Newby certainly does. She is a newbie. By the way, this is her Broadway debut as it is for Lewis McCartney as well. So Alison J as Joyce Maldonado is quite wonderful as well. So these are special special effects. And it was impossible for me to get bored, even though I didn't care that I didn't get all the resonance of the story. It did not matter. And I'm telling you, ironically enough, I'm going to London in a couple of weeks and I'm even considering seeing it there. So I mean, really, what could be a higher compliment than that to see something I just saw in London where of course I only have a few days and I have to pick and choose very carefully. It's not on my top of the list. But nevertheless, I won't be surprised if I wander into the theater and see Stranger Things again. So I'm pleasantly intrigued and surprised and delighted that I responded as much as I did in the midst of my ignorance.
- [11:22]
James Marino
Peter, I hear from Matt Tim Andini on Today on Broadway that that the London production was very different than the Broadway production. They did a lot of work in between London and New York and I wonder if these changes have made their way back to. So please move it up your list a little bit, just a notch or two because I want to hear if you felt like it was. It was if the changes made it back to London or if it was a different type of thing. So interesting. Very interesting.
- [11:57]
Peter
Yeah, indeed. I heard there were changes too, by the way, so. Yeah.
- [12:01]
James Marino
So, Michael, how did you feel about Stranger Things?
- [12:04]
Michael Portantier
Well, interesting. I completely agree about the special effects. I completely agree about the performance of Lewis McCartney as Henry Creel, and I guess I agree with everything positive that Peter said about the show. But it mattered to me greatly that I really did not understand what was going on. I did try to be preemptive, and I brought with me a friend who is very familiar with the TV show. So he helped me with questions at intermission and then afterwards. And then actually, there was a wonderful woman sitting in front of me with her daughter, and she heard me asking all these questions at intermission, and she turned around and offered her expertise. And she really did help a lot. But, you know, what I said to both of them is, I don't know. I mean, I am into science fiction. Not as much as I used to be when I was younger, but I still have a love for it. And there are many science fiction, I guess you would call this a combination of science fiction and horror is that. But that is something that. I have a gene that appreciates all that very much. But the examples of that that I love, as I said to my friend and this woman, if I were to give you synopsis of them, I think you would be able to understand the concept right away. Whereas this thing seems so convoluted to me. I mean, if I understand it correctly, there are these two dimensions that exist, and the characters can sort of travel between them. So there are two different dimensions, the real world and whatever this thing called. The Upside Down.
- [13:58]
James Marino
The Upside down, yes.
- [14:00]
Michael Portantier
But then on top of that, there are monsters, which I think originate in the Upside down. But yeah. And it just seems like so much happening at once that I really. I couldn't get invested in the characters because I had so many questions about the plot and very strange things that happened. As far as that, Peter mentioned that they're putting on a production of Dark of the Moon, of all things, and Henry gets cast. Cast as the witch boy.
- [14:38]
Peter
Is that correct? Yeah.
- [14:39]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [14:39]
Michael Portantier
All right. But then there's a very long section where Henry winds up in the hospital being a sort of a guinea pig. People are, like, doing all these tests to find out what is up with him. And then. So you think, oh, all right, well, you know, I guess, you know, he's out of circulation. And at that point, Dark of the Moon hasn't been mentioned for a while. Then suddenly, suddenly we're at opening night of Dark of the Moon. They're preparing for the first performance, and somebody says, henry's not here yet. Well, where has he been? Didn't they notice that he wasn't coming to rehearsals for his leading role in the play until a few hours before opening night? Am I missing something?
- [15:30]
Peter
That's a very good point. That Never even occurred to me. But yeah, right, Yeah.
- [15:33]
Michael Portantier
I mean, that's, to me, that's bad, bad, bad storytelling. So I hoped, as Peter mentioned, because this is framed as a prequel, I thought that it wouldn't matter as much that I didn't know everything, that I didn't understand the concept of the show and the characters interrelationships and all of that. But another issue I think is to me, there are just too many characters, so many supporting characters, which of course you can have in a continuing TV series, but it's different when you try to jam them all into a 2 hour and 45 minute show. So all of that was. Was very, very negative to me. And I, yes, could absolutely appreciate the performances, especially Lewis McCartney's and the amazing special effects. There's something in Act 2 with involving, I guess what you would call a very, very, very large puppet that has to be seen to be believed. And yes, the opening sequence is also amazing. Reminded me a little bit of the opening sequence of Tarzan. In both cases, a shipwreck is involved, although very different circumstances. So I found it. One thing I will say is I'm glad that. Very glad that they decided not to make this a musical. In reviewing things like King Kong and Back to the Future, I've made the point that not everything has to be a musical, as I thought had been proven by the success of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. When you want to move a property from TV or the movies to Broadway, you don't necessarily have to make it a musical in order to make it marketable. And I think it was very smart of them not to do that because I don't know how they would have even begun to. To try to tell the story with all of her. Yeah.
- [17:40]
Peter
However, it is interesting that the audience reacted to this as if it were a musical because many times there was applause after a scene. Did that happen in your performance?
- [17:51]
Michael Portantier
Oh, yes, absolutely. Good point.
- [17:53]
Peter
Isn't that something? You know, I mean, really, you don't see that at plays.
- [17:56]
Michael Portantier
No, you don't. But I guess a combination of the performances and also sometimes there would be like an amazing special effect and the audience would go crazy. Let me end by saying the audience really seemed to absolutely love it. So I would not be surprised if this show is at the Marquis Theater for a very long time. Directed, by the way, by Stephen Daldry, who's done a lot of excellent work in the past and by Justin Martin, co director.
- [18:27]
Peter
Were going to say, yeah, and this. Imagine putting this thing together. I mean, good Lord. Yeah. What an achievement.
- [18:35]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, really. So those are my thoughts.
- [18:40]
James Marino
So I came out of it and I was thinking, my goodness, has the marquee finally found a hit that's going to run for years?
- [18:51]
Peter
Yes, maybe.
- [18:52]
James Marino
I, you know, I, I really had a great time and I know nothing about the television series. And so I was telling my daughter about it who I was trying to take with me, but she couldn't, she couldn't go with me. So I told my daughter about it afterwards and she was like, oh, yeah, no, this and that. I don't want to spoil anything. So I'm being purposely vague about it, but she is very much excited to go see this and we've bought tickets to go see it again. And just as, just what Michael and Peter both said, my audience was beyond excited. And the thing that was very interesting about this was that this did not look like a Broadway audience. They were all so young, a lot of children. But I also was thinking the, you know, the 30 year olds and maybe even 40 year olds in the audience, people that bought their own tickets rather than kids whose parents bought the tickets for them. This is, I think this is a new type of, of family show. I think this is a great family show.
- [20:21]
Peter
I can see.
- [20:24]
Michael Portantier
Although there are moments of that I'm grizzly.
- [20:26]
Peter
Yeah, yeah.
- [20:28]
James Marino
No, no, but I mean, I know what you mean.
- [20:30]
Peter
I follow you.
- [20:31]
James Marino
Yeah. I think that this is going to open up a, you know, for. Is this Netflix's first foray into Broadway itself? I think. Rob Johnston, anybody in the chat room, tell me. I think this is the first Netflix property, first property that Netflix has actively produced on Broadway and Sonja Friedman productions out of London as well. Just, I really enjoyed it. I knew nothing about it. I got home nearly at midnight or so and started watching the television series on Netflix.
- [21:10]
Peter
I did. All right. What greater compliment than that?
- [21:13]
Michael Portantier
And as Rob Johnson did just point out in the chat, it's, it's quite, what's the word? Ironic, coincidental or whatever that Sadie Sink, who is starring on Broadway in another show, eventually joins the cast of the, of.
- [21:34]
James Marino
Of Stranger Things Netflix show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah. So it was quite a few crossovers. Opening night for Stranger Things and John Proctor, a lot of Stranger Things television cast at this, at the John Proctor opening and a lot of, of the John Proctor cast at the Stranger Things opening. At least at the party, I'm sure. So, so sure. It was the, the, the magic is amazing. It's just what they're doing with lights and sound and the scary monster that fills the auditorium. It has to be seen. It has to be seen. So I think this is a huge hit. I loved it. I really had a great time. I thought the cast was amazing. I thought some of it was very funny, some of it was very, very scary. And I can't wait to see it again.
- [22:42]
Peter
I mean, you know, it's funny. I'm going to use a word that I rarely use, but I even. I respected it and, and I didn't expect to use that verb, but yes, indeed I did.
- [22:56]
James Marino
Yeah. So Marquis Marriott Marquis Theater, you know, still hardly designed. Still horribly designed and terrible bathrooms.
- [23:10]
Peter
Yeah.
- [23:10]
James Marino
Really go up to the eighth floor and get a drink, you know, before or after the show.
- [23:16]
Peter
But you know, we have to remember the very first show, not including Shirley Bassey, the very first show that was there ran for years and it would have ran, run longer if Indeed Annie too, Ms. Hannigan's revenge had not booked the theater. It' too bad because had they kept going, they would have been able to keep going because that, of course closed in Washington. So. So that really was a quite a big hit and deservedly so.
- [23:44]
James Marino
So, yeah, Me and My girl ran for three years.
- [23:49]
Peter
Could have done five.
- [23:51]
James Marino
Yeah. Let's see what the total number 1420 performances. Very nice back, but it could. Was it 1986 to 1989?
- [24:03]
Michael Portantier
So, yes, of course, some people have, you know, over the years have said that the theater was cursed because several theaters were torn down in order to build it. But I said, well, I said, maybe, but why didn't the curse take effect until after me and my girl?
- [24:24]
Peter
God's a busy man, you know, I mean, it's hard.
- [24:27]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, maybe that's it.
- [24:28]
Peter
It's a hard job being God. It was once you show by, believe it or not, there was off Broadway musical job.
- [24:36]
Michael Portantier
Maybe.
- [24:36]
James Marino
Maybe God felt that he got there just in time.
- [24:40]
Peter
Good for you.
- [24:41]
James Marino
So, Peter, you got over to the Circle and Square theater to see the Jonathan Groff show just in time. So tell us about this.
- [24:51]
Peter
Well, first off, I want to mention that after Jonathan Groff segued into the audience, he came right over to me, knelt down, I had a Nile seat and said, come on, let's dance. Well, you know, you have to talk to my agent first before anything like that happened. Come on, let's dance. I guess I have the music that makes John Johnathan Groff dance. I guess that's what that means. He. He then said he loved me, which was very nice, and went on his merry way. So anyway, I would like to Say that I am not one of those people who get online and say please vote for me. You know, the way some people do, even though you have no knowledge of what they're running for. But so I'm not asking to be considered as best featured actor in a people, so let's leave it at that. What makes this show very smart and it's interesting, James, that you said the Jonathan Groff show is that at the very beginning I was on this show side because he said a variation on a famous thing we hear in restaurants. Hello, I'm Jonathan Groff and I will be your Bobby Darin tonight. And that to me is the key to this show. He is not pretending to be Bobby Darin so we don't have to worry about does he sound, does he look all that kind of stuff. Although he does sound a good deal like him in replicating some of the biggest hits that Bobby Darin had. It's amazing to me how many of these 45 records I bought when I was a teenager. So it really was a nostalgia trip for me. The story is very well told and certainly there are dramatic parts to it. I had no idea whatsoever that he had a history with Connie Francis who was a big singer at the time who predated him in success and I never had heard that. There is something very startling that happens deep in the show that I had heard of and you who are listening out there may know what I'm talking about already. If you don't, I'm certainly not going to spoil it for you. But it's really quite, quite well done and it's certainly a wonderful fit for Circle in the Square where they set up cabaret tables in the middle and then the usual U configuration is there. But he is just indefatigable and frankly I do believe he has to be the odds on favorite to win the Tony, which would be his second in a row and I am really rooting for him to make that happen. I've seen all the shows now that are eligible for Tony's and even though there are many, many other people who I think are marvelous and I'm going to certainly include Darren Criss in that and maybe happy ending. The fact is, just by a nose or even less than a nose, I would vote for Jonathan Groff as best actor in a musical this season. But whatever the case may be, this is another show where the audience went crazy. Unlike the Stranger Thing audience, this was a generation that knew Bobby Darin from his recordings and his TV appearance and even movie appearances and we are reminded that he did get an Academy Award nomination once, which is pretty interesting for somebody who is basically, no, totally known as a singer. You know, that doesn't happen all that often and certainly Bobby Darin made it happen. So it's also very nice to hear some standards of yesteryear, though. The question I am asked by most people who are super interested in Broadway musicals, does he do artificial flowers? Artificial Flowers is a song from Tenderloin, which is a slow, teary song. It wasn't done that way by Bobby Darren at all. I asked Sheldon Harnick about. I said, what did you think when he did this up tempo razzmatazz version of this tender song about a girl who dies in the cold? And Sheldon didn't quite put it this way, but I could tell that he was very glad to have the money. Anyway, so you're not going to hear that, but you're going to hear plenty of others and of course you're going to hear Just In Time as the second song in the show.
- [28:55]
James Marino
Okay, so Michael and I haven't seen it yet. Michael, when are you scheduled to see it?
- [29:04]
Michael Portantier
This coming Wednesday or Thursday.
- [29:07]
James Marino
All right, so we will talk about Just In Time again. It is in an open run at the Circle in the Square Theater. We'll have a link to that in the show. Notes.
- [29:18]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I didn't know until I read the reviews about that framing device. And that is so interesting to me because as I mentioned, I did see an earlier version of this prototype of this show that was done at the 92nd Street Y several years ago. And as I mentioned, that was much more of a reverse view. So it looks like they, I think, very, very smart of them to, to come out and recognize that, that in many ways Jonathan Groff is, is very different from Bobby Darin. And to remove from him the onus of the. Or the, the burden of having to feel like he had to do a, an impersonation. So, so I, I wonder whose idea that was. But whoever it was, I think it's a very smart one, not from what I'm hearing and from other people.
- [30:17]
James Marino
So I know that one of these is a stretch, but I think all of the shows we're talking about this morning, Stranger Things, Just in Time. Pirates, Floyd Collins, John Proctor is the villain. They all have framing devices, don't they?
- [30:34]
Michael Portantier
Interesting.
- [30:37]
James Marino
So next, next up, the Pirates. The Pirates of Despair. Yes, we're the Pirates. So despair. Did they actually say that using their framing device in New Orleans, Louisiana? So, Michael and Peter, you got over to The Todd Haimes Theater to see Pirates, the Penzance musical. So, Michael, start us off with Pirates.
- [31:01]
Michael Portantier
Well, this is an adaptation by Rupert Holmes, whose work for Edwin Drood I very much admire. But to me, this is far less successful. As James mentioned, the. The concept here is that the action is moved to New Orleans, which I think is the root of the problem here. I mean, maybe that sounded like an interesting thing to do. It gave them license to provide very new arrangements and orchestrations of the songs. And I. I guess they were going for a party atmosphere, which I think is, you know, appropriate to this musical, this Gilbert and Sullivan musical. But to me, it was just an absolute mess from a stylistic standpoint, not to mention a narrative standpoint, because nothing makes sense. I mean, there's no stylistic cohesion to the score whatsoever. First of all, they dragged in songs from other Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, including the opening number. The pirates do sing, sort of sing Pour Au Poor, the Pirate Sherry, but it's almost in counterpoint and very much secondary to the main opening number, which is a song called Good. More Good Morning, Good Morning, which is based on a song called Good Morrow from Iolanthe and which is a solo for Frederick. So he comes out and he sings this song, which is primarily a solo, and then the pirates are singing back of him. And right from the start I thought, well, wow, how much different is this going to be? Then there was a lot that was from the original show, but also some major cuts. That whole scene, that whole musical scene. Oh, false one, you have deceived me. Where Ruth. Where. Yeah, where Frederick rails against Ruth because she has kept from him that she is maybe not the most beautiful woman in the world. All of that is gone, and lots of other changes as well. And the stylistic inconsistency of the music extends to the fact that some of the songs, for example, the Pirate King song and the Major General's song. I am the very model of a modern Major General sound, very much like they always have in terms of tempo and arrangement, because you really can't change those without distorting them terribly. But then other songs are completely revamped to give them a. A New Orleans sound. And I. I didn't know from one song to the next what I was going to be hearing in terms of musical style. And to me, that. That was a. A huge, huge negative. What else have you so many notes here? The. Oh, yes. So moving it from, theoretically from England to New Orleans also made absolute hash of one of the jokes in the show, which is the misunderstanding of the word orphan O R P H A N for the word often O F T Because if you say those words with a British accent, they both do sound very similar as something like often, but not. Not if you were to do it with an American or a New Orleans accent. Now, Ramin Karimlou, who plays the pirate king here, has neither a New Orleans nor a British accent. He has his own very odd, hard to pin down accent, which is a combination of several. But I thought that that whole sequence that he did with David Hyde Pierce basically went for nothing here because it didn't make any sense whatsoever and maybe too much time is spent on that anyway, even in the original. Although when George Rose did it with Kevin Klein, I think it certainly, certainly was a highlight of that production. So I guess it depends. David Hyde Pierce is fabulous in this show, giving a performance as the Major General which certainly would be very, very well at home in a traditional production, but also is a highlight of this one. I thought Ramin. I enjoyed him much better than in anything I have seen him before. I think his comic chops have developed and he sounded very good and I was happy that I liked him much more than expected. Jinx Monsoon as Ruth to me seemed very miscast and also they tried to beef up her role in a way that I thought was not effective, including the addition in Act 2 of a song from the Mikado called Alone and Yet Alive, which I thought just stopped the actual and cold and really was not a showcase for Jinx vocally or acting wise. So I'm not sure why they put that in. I guess just to. To pad the role and make it more of a. Of a lead. Nicholas Barish I very much enjoyed as Frederick and he again, his performance would translate very well to a traditional production. I think he's grown into his voice and his looks and I thought he was. Was utterly delightful. Samantha Williams as Ruth, unfortunately to me, and I'm not sure why she. She barely registered at all. It's not the most dynamic role in, in the show or in the canon. And. And I think Linda Ronstadt managed to make a big impression in it because people were so overwhelmed and astounded by the fact that she had that soprano register that she had never used in her pop recording. So that itself was. Was a point of great interest. But since that's not the case here, I think the, the role just kind of came across as kind of a cipher and not very interesting. Directed by Scott Ellis, which I. The direction itself was fine, but. But I again I didn't like the whole concept of the adaptation. I did very much Joy Warren Carlile's choreography. I thought he did a wonderful job in the music direction of Joseph Joubert. And the design is very, very fun, as one might hope. Designed by David Rockwell and costumes by Linda Cho. Lighting, Donald Holder. So I had a. An inconsistently good time in places where they didn't adapt the show too much. And, oh, and as I alluded to before, be prepared that a lot of the lyrics, a lot. A lot of the lyrics have been rewritten by Rupert Holmes, which I would say takes a lot of nerve considering that we're talking about Gilbert and Sullivan, but our listeners can decide how they respond to the new lyrics.
- [38:55]
James Marino
Okay. Peter, how about you?
- [38:58]
Peter
I had a much better time. I liked it immeasurably. And I am certainly very, very moved by the last song, which is an adaptation from He Is an Englishman From HMS Pinafore, that Rupert Holmes appropriated that and turned it into a song for our times. And I'd be happy to name it Song of the Year, even though the melody is certainly borrowed. But the lyric and the sentiment mean a lot to me. And I'm not saying what it is because I want you to hear it, but nevertheless, I really do. And the audience responded tremendously to it, too. So I think in these times we're going to have a lot of audiences who attend the show enjoy it. Those who would not attend the show would certainly not enjoy, enjoy it. I know I'm being very, very cryptic, but that's the point. One of my drama desk fellow nominators, Dan De Niro, pointed out that this was a show where Ramin's tattoos on his arm were very apt. There were times when he's seen him when they have not been apt. But, yes, for a pirate, they certainly are up. Terrific comic performance. And, you know, you know, that's. That's a bit of a surprise to some degree. I mean, for those of us who certainly saw him in Le Is an Even Funny Girl, which is not a part that requires any comedy. So it was wonderful to see him in the style that was needed for this show as the Pirate King. So I thought he was great fun. Nicholas Barash. Excellent. Excellent beyond belief as this naive young man who becomes a little less naive as time goes on, but is very flummoxed by not only the situation where he is falling in love with somebody with love at first sight, because, of course, he has. Michael mentioned he's only known one woman in his past, and the Fact that he finds out that he's going to be a pirate for a bit longer than he expected due to some sort of little legal loophole. So. But terrific performance. Oh, wow. So winning. Exactly what this character has to be and exactly what this show needed. So I thought that was quite wonderful. And too I have say, arguably my favorite Gilbert Sullivan song is Poor Wandering One. So. And I've certainly had many arguments with my son about this, but that's another story. So anyway, I was very, very happy that Samantha Williams as Mabel did it justice. So that was really quite wonderful as well. So, um, but uh, the New Orleans setting, as Michael said, head gives liberty to have different arrangements and orchestrations. And I think, you know, the famous statement we always hear that usually makes me want to upchuck bring it into the 21st century. I think really helped here tremendously because there are those people who simply knee jerk response, do not respond to Gilbert and Sullivan. And I think this is a nice halfway house of doing it. So I really was very, very glad to hear a new take on the orchestration. I will say too that if they get an album, I think I'm going to listen to it quite a bit because of those orchestrations. So really my hat is off to both Joseph Drubert and Daryl Waters who are responsible for them. So I once wrote a book for teenagers called Cute is Not a Compliment. So I hate to bring up the word cute, but the set is and, and I do mean it as a compliment. So finally, let me also point out Preston Truman Boyd as the sergeant of who has a wonderful, wonderful way and certainly moves well. Yes, indeed, I will agree with Michael that Warren Kylo's Carol Lyle's choreography is quite, quite fine and Scott Ellis certainly directed with the right amount of brio. So I'm much more enthusiastic about Pirates than Michael is. And we'll have to let all of you go and see with whom you agree.
- [43:10]
James Marino
Okay, so Pirates the Penzance musical is at the Todd Haims running scheduled through July 27, 2025. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. The three of us got over to Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater to see Floyd Collins.
- [43:31]
Michael Portantier
Yes.
- [43:32]
James Marino
And so Michael, why don't you get us started on Floyd.
- [43:36]
Michael Portantier
I'd like to start with a question for the two of you. Although you may not know there was a lot of pre publicity about how Adam Gettle was revising the show before, you know, for this production. But I don't know it well enough to have noticed anything major And I was wondering if either of you did.
- [44:03]
Peter
No, I didn't. No. And I have to admit that this is not a show that I respond to tremendously. And this is the fourth time I've seen it. Once a signature when there was in their old glorified garage and once in Niagara on the lake. But it's. It's not a show that stays with me.
- [44:25]
Michael Portantier
James.
- [44:26]
James Marino
No, I did not notice. And I'm very much in the camp that Peter is on this show.
- [44:32]
Michael Portantier
Oh, okay. Well, it seems like none of us know it well enough to. To be able to tell you what the revisions have been, but it seemed to me that there wasn't anything major based on my one previous viewing of the show at the Prince Music Theater years ago with. With Romain Fouger in the lead. He was really excellent. And then, of course, you know, I have the album, but. But honestly, I don't listen to it that much, although I love some of it. And I've always said that, to me, the ultimate song, how Glory Goes, is got to be one of the most beautiful and profound songs ever written for anything, not only the musical theater, just really a gut punch. I loved the show, although I think it has its flaws. It's the story based on the true story of this fellow named Floyd Collins who, 100 years ago, 1925, got stuck in a cave in Kentucky. Is that where it is?
- [45:48]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [45:49]
Michael Portantier
And they tried to get him out, but they couldn't, and he died. And it became what is generally regarded as one of the first media circuses around, revolved around his fate, with people making pilgrimages to the site while he was. You know, while he was still stuck under there before he died, just to. To gawk and. And whatever to say, they were there. And then some people started setting up concession stands to sell merch. I mean, it's. You know, it's amazing for us now. Now to think of that kind of thing happening so long ago, but it did. And I think the score is extraordinary. I don't think that Adam Gettle necessarily followed in that vein and moved into other veins. I do love Light in the Piazza, but as I've said more than once, I just. He then developed a musical language for Days of Wine and Roses that I just personally do not respond to. So it was wonderful for me to hear this again in a beautiful production with Ted Spurling as the musical director and such a. Such a great cast headed by Jeremy Jordan, who would seem. It would almost seem that this role was written for him. Him. Beautiful job of communicating all of Floyd's emotions through the beautiful music and lyrics directed by Tina Landau, who also wrote the book for the show and additional lyrics. That's how she's credited. I do think I alluded to the flaws in the show. I think that some of the scenes that take place above ground, in between, you know, of course, we keep going back to Floyd, who is visited both by his brother Homer and the reporter Skeets Miller, both of whom are somehow able to reach him at his precarious spot. But. But when we're not with Floyd down below, there's stuff on the ground up ground involving his family, including his father, played by Mark Kudish, and his stepmother, played by Jessica Malaski, and his sister, who is played by Lizzie McAlpin. And she gives it, I think, an extraordinary performance for someone who's not primarily an actor. And her voice, her singing fits in beautifully with the. The style of the. The music and lyrics here. So I. I was very, very happy to see the show again, even though I. I think I've always thought it was a flawed work. But it's one of those musicals where what. What is good about it is so beautiful and so good that I think the flaws are easily forgiven.
- [49:20]
James Marino
Okay, Peter, what'd you think?
- [49:23]
Peter
So many people say to me that when they get to heaven, the first question they're going to ask God is, what's the story behind the Kennedy assassination? Mine might very well be, what does Richard Rogers think of his grandson's music? There's a very famous story that when Richard Rogers was just starting out, he was getting discouraged and he had a chance to go into the children's clothing business. But then the song Manhattan took flight and he was well on his way. I wouldn't be surprised if Richard Rogers listened to his grandson's music and said, adam, go into the children's clothing business. Because there really is something that is so hard to hang on to. I will. Will admit that there are so many people who admire his music. I am in the minority. I also know that Stephen Sondheim said that one of these songs is one that he wish he had written. But for me, I keep on. It's like I'm chasing a butterfly. I'm trying to catch on to melody. So I will concede that I. It's a pearl and I'm swine, and that's fine. But there is nothing that I have ever seen in any of the shows, and that includes Light and Piazza, that made me say, oh, wow. And made me play the album. Contin so. And again, I have argued with. I haven't argued. I've conceded the point. I'll give it to you. It's. It's not something I understand. It's too complex for little old me. So as a result, I will never ever respond to Floyd Collins. And as I mentioned, I've given it four opportunities now. And it's not a case where I hope I never see it again. I don't mean that at all. I find it very sit throughable. I don't mind seeing it. And I do think this is a lovely production. Tina Land directed the original one on a tiny stage of Playwrights Horizons. And here she is getting an enormous canvas and she has beautiful stage pictures and there's no question that Jeremy Jordan is doing the job. And wonderfully performed is also the role played by Jason Gotez's brother. A tremendous performance, really, really great. A brother who really cares about his brother and wants to do the right thing at every turn. Mark Kudish is fabulous as the father who certainly has his values. Lizzy McAlpine, as you mention, mentioned Michael, wonderful. I know that she hasn't had a stage career up till this point, but I hope she continues because she has a marvelous voice and a marvelous presence. So I really do believe that this is a terrific production of a show that I really don't cotton to. I also feel that the movie that Billy Wilder made, Ace in the Hole, sometimes called the Big Carnival, I think both those titles have been used probably about 50 50, but it. It somehow, for whatever reason, has had two titles along the way. I think it tells the story better and it does better with the. This Media Circus thing than the show does. But nevertheless, if you like Floyd Collins and I hope you do, it's a good time to see it because it's a beautiful, beautiful production.
- [52:31]
James Marino
So I find myself agreeing with Peter a lot with his statements on Adam Gittle and Floyd Collins. I think that we don't see very many productions of Floyd Collins and every time I see one out there, I said, oh, I have to go see that. Not because I really love the underlying property and I play the recording over and over and over just because I'm sort of drawn to it, but this production sort of left me flat. Although again, I agree with Peter. I'm glad I saw it. I'm not saying don't go see it. I'm just. I just felt like nothing, nothing new came in all the years of it sitting on a shelf and that. Especially when they said that Adam Gittle had written new material for it. And I couldn't really remember where that new material is because it seemed the same to me.
- [53:46]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. I wonder if it wound up being less than originally planned. I would like to find that out because there was all this talk of revision and I just didn't notice anything.
- [53:59]
James Marino
Yeah, exactly.
- [54:01]
Michael Portantier
So before we leave, Floyd Collins also. I did want to make the point. Don't you think it's fascinating that two of the musicals this spring feature a leading man who is immobile for most of the. For much of the action? Because this one, this one and. Well, this one and Dead Outlaw, which does that open tonight?
- [54:29]
Peter
I haven't seen any reviews.
- [54:31]
James Marino
Yeah, Outlaw hasn't opened yet. I, I thought you were going to talk about the corpse in Mincemeat.
- [54:39]
Peter
Oh, you know. And of course, Andrew Durant has a much tougher time of it because he has to do nothing at all while being in that casket. While, of course, Jeremy Jordan at least gets to sing. And, you know, he can move a little. I, you know, so he's got quite.
- [54:56]
James Marino
A few dream sequences.
- [54:58]
Michael Portantier
Yes.
- [54:59]
James Marino
Up and about.
- [55:00]
Peter
Right. You know, so. But Andrew Durand, wow. I don't know how he does it. It really is something. So. Yeah, yeah. There was a book that came out years ago that essentially this isn't the title. It's like the Nine Greatest Fall Guys victims in American History. And one was Floyd Collins and the other one was Leo Frank. So as a result, we have two musicals based on those people. And so those of you out there who write musicals or want to, maybe you should look at that book and see about the other seven. You might get a musical out of it. Who knows?
- [55:33]
James Marino
Yeah, it does look like Dead Outlaw opens this evening, Sunday the April 27th. So. And the last thing I wanted to mention, which is sort of unrelated to Floyd Collins, is that I don't think we mentioned it here, but that a couple of weeks ago Philip Boroff over at the Broadway Journal announced that Ragtime is coming to the Beaumont. So, yes, that would be very interesting to see this a Lincoln center production where it's seems like the budget is, you know, not a restraint. So to see the, you know, King and I style or Act 2 sets or the large productions that have been there, we're going to see maybe. I don't know if we're going to see maybe we'll, you know, see a very large production of Ragtime coming up.
- [56:49]
Peter
Yeah. Long time listeners know that occasionally I will mention the fact that my beloved Linda has been known to Be in the night air at 9 o'clock for many shows that that happens more often than one might suspect. So we were planning to go to Goodspeed to see Ragtime. And I said, well, you know, now it's going to be at Lincoln center. So we, you know, we don't have to go. She said, what do you mean? Why can't we see it twice? So now that's an endorsement. Yeah, I mean, from somebody who walks out all the time. So.
- [57:19]
James Marino
Not to beat a dead horse, but it could be the ice cream.
- [57:23]
Peter
The ice cream.
- [57:25]
James Marino
The good speed ice cream.
- [57:27]
Peter
Yes. I will admit that Linda has found her way over there.
- [57:32]
James Marino
Michael, what are you going to say?
- [57:33]
Michael Portantier
Oh, just. Of course, the original production of Ragtime was very elaborate. So since then we've seen it downsized in one form or another several times. Maybe this will bring us back to the original. I remember the.
- [57:46]
Peter
I don't think so. Yeah, it'll be nicer, but it won't be the original.
- [57:50]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, well, no, I meant in terms of elaborateness of the.
- [57:54]
Peter
No, that's what I mean.
- [57:55]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. One thing I remember specifically from the original was that incredible staging of that moment when Tata and his daughter escape from that riot on the train. And there was. Yeah, and there was an actual sort of train on stage. And you know, you actually saw it happen. I think maybe we'll see that again. Consider.
- [58:19]
James Marino
Wow. So something to look forward to here, you know, I guess. The Broadway Journal says previews are scheduled to begin September 25th ahead of an October 16th opening. People familiar with the production said. So Lear Debessinet is. Is the new artistic director of Lincoln Center. Lear Debessinet was the artistic director at City center where there was a rag time. Is that the one coming over? We don't know.
- [58:58]
Michael Portantier
Yes, that will be interesting to see.
- [59:00]
Peter
That's why I think it's not going to be elaborate.
- [59:03]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [59:03]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Well.
- [59:05]
Peter
Oh, I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just. This is just an assumption I have at the moment.
- [59:10]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [59:10]
Peter
But I hope to be proved wrong. Go ahead.
- [59:12]
Michael Portantier
No, well, I think maybe you're wrong because the shows that have moved to Broadway from encores recently for limited runs, I think they were very purposely done non elaborately in order to possibly recoup their investment. But Lincoln center as a not for profit has all those resources. So that's why I suspect, expect that it won't be like that. But yes, we will have to wait and see.
- [59:50]
Peter
I want you to be right.
- [59:52]
James Marino
Yeah, that'd be great. So finally let's wrap up. This morning, Michael got over to the Booth Theater to see John Proctor is the villain. Peter, Jenna and I talked about it last week. So Michael, tell us about. Well, first of all, did you get their on time? Get me to the church on time?
- [60:13]
Michael Portantier
Yes, this was the show that I had previously missed because I, I had the starting time wrong, but the, the press agents were nice enough to put me back in and I got there on time and I'm really glad I did. I absolutely loved it. I, I had feared, just from reading the subject matter of, of the play, that it might, might be too aggressively, quote, unquote, woke for my taste. But that turned out not to be the case at all. As I mentioned before, I really wanted to see this aside from everything else, because from day one, from the beginning, when I first experienced the Crucible, probably reading it in junior high school or high school, I always thought that John Proctor was presented as an extremely flawed character, if not the villain. But there, you know, there can be a case made that, that he is a villain because he is an adult male who begins a sexual romantic relationship with the much younger girl who works. Works for him, even though he is married. So there's a lot going on there that, you know, is not what we normally associate with an upstanding individual. And I, and I, I always wondered why, and it fascinated me why Miller wrote the character as so flawed because he is the one who is, you know, the, the major victim that we see of the witch hunt, which is he is not guilty of. I mean, aside from everything that he has done, he is not a witch. He does not practice witchcraft. So, you know, since this is a reflection of and a commentary on the McCarthy era and the Communist witch hunts that, that happened during that era, that shameful era, I, I always wondered why Miller didn't pick a more admirable character as his central character for the audience to focus on. And so when I heard the concept of this play, it did not surprise me that John Proctor is the villain would be the title, and that these, these high school students would not come to that conclusion in, in reading the play. But interestingly enough, that aspect of the play is not the major focus here. I thought there was not a whole lot of time spent on the Crucible and John Proctor. It's really more about the interrelationships of the students and also very, very significantly, their relationship with their teacher, who might have first be viewed as a hero in this play, but then turns out to be something very different. And I think that all of that is incredibly well written by Kimberly Bellflower, who also has an uncanny ability to write dialogue in the way that certainly sounded to me very realistic in terms of the way that teenagers today actually speak, based on my somewhat limited experience of that. So I thought that all of that was just brilliantly done and superbly directed by Dania Taymor, with a absolutely fabulous cast of very naturalistic actors headed by Sadie Sink and also including Nyard Javori, Gabriel Ebert as the teacher. Brilliant, just perfectly realized performance. Very, very layered. Molly Griggs, Maggie Kunz, Hagen Oliveris Morgan, Scott Fina Stratza, Amalia Yu and others. I urge everyone to see it and it's one of the nicest surprises of the very end of this packed spring season on Broadway.
- [64:46]
James Marino
All right, so that wraps it up for today. Before we get on to our brain teasing, our musical moment, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcast reviews the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link that way each and every time we have a new episode of this Week on Broadway, it'll be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us on Apple podcast as many ways to get us. One of the ways is paid Patreon P-A-T R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio is one way that you can get us and support all of the Broadway radio shows. Some of the listeners have been writing in and saying that yes, we have new advertisers that are at the top at the beginning and the end of the shows that are automatically added by an advertising network. You won't get the automatic advertising network inserted ads if you are on Patreon right now. At least that's not happening. So if advertising really bothers you, then get over to Patreon and the automatic ads at the beginning and the end of the show will not be added to the Patreon feed right now. Contact information for Peter for Michael and Me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked talked about. So Peter, do we have an answer to last week's brain teaser?
- [66:15]
Peter
We do. Change one letter in the name of a currently occupied Broadway theater so that you'll get the last name of a character in a comedy that ran on Broadway for more than a thousand performances. Well, I'm talking about Barefoot in the park, which ran 1530 performances and featured one Victor Velasco, whose last name is only one letter away from Belasco, where maybe happy ending is happily not plot ending. Steve Bell was the first to get it, followed by Paul Witty, Juliet Green, Tony Janicki, Sean Logan, Josh Israel, Robbie Roselle, J. Aubrey Jones, Brigad, Ingrid Gammerman, and Lee Korn. Somebody new. That's nice. This week's question. Two characters in a musical now playing on West 44th street have something in common with a character whose name is also the the title of a currently running musical. And that's not all. These three have the same commonality as a character whose first name was part of the title of a 1960s musical that was nominated for nine Tonys, but only one 1. What are the shows, the characters, the commonalities?
- [67:32]
James Marino
Okay, if you have an answer for that, email us@trivia rodrairradio.com, we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, tell us what's in this week's musical moments.
- [67:43]
Michael Portantier
Lloyd Collins. Yeah, you know, not to belabor it, Peter, but it's interesting. While I I completely agree with you about Adam Gettles music, if we're talking about Days of Wine and Roses, but I do think that most people do no that that in and both Floyd Collins and Light on the Piazza, there are many moments that are beautifully melodic. There are also moments that are more complex and harder to take. But anyway, that's my feeling. So one of the more melodic moments is the opening sequence called the Call. It's not precisely the opening sequence, but it comes right at the beginning. This is the scene where Floyd Collins spelunking isn't that the word for it? And exploring the cave. And before he gets trapped, he's just very excited because he's an explorer and he thinks he's also going to find his fortune in the cave in that, you know, to find a new cave to create a tourist attraction around. And he's thinking about how that's going to make his life and the life of his family so much better. And he's just very jazzed and very happy about it. So it's a very joyful number that that brilliantly uses echoes the echo concept as part of the music. And so both our opener and our closer today are excerpts from that number. The the opener is the beginning of it and the closer is the a later section of it as brilliantly sung by Jeremy Jordan. And this is from a video that seems to be the video of him recording the original cast album, which has not been released yet. But that's something that I will be looking forward to. So please enjoy these two selections from the Call by Adam Guettle from Floyd Collins.
- [69:59]
James Marino
Okay, so on behalf of Michael Portentier and Peter to Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye. Bye.
- [70:11]
Peter
Bye. And I'm calling, I'm namaste.