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This Week on Broadway for August 2, 2026: The Saviors @ Atlantic Theater Company
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- [00:01]
Michael Portantier
When it's time to scale your business. It's time for Shopify.
- [00:04]
Peter Felicia
Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha chings from every channel right in one spot.
- [00:18]
James Marino
And turn real time reporting into big time opportunities.
- [00:21]
Michael Portantier
Take your business to a whole new level.
- [00:24]
James Marino
Switch to Shopify.
- [00:25]
Peter Felicia
Start your free trial today. Once upon a time there was a railroad line. There was a PO boy working on a sound.
- [00:43]
James Marino
There was a road to hell. It was hard times.
- [00:48]
Michael Portantier
It was the world of God
- [00:52]
Peter Felicia
and man. It's a love song, love song. It's a tale of a love from long ago.
- [01:00]
James Marino
It's a sad song. Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios this week on Broadway for Sunday, August 2, 2026. 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 tune for today. 366 songs to brighten your year. It's available finer retailers. Hello, Peter.
- [01:35]
Peter Felicia
Hi.
- [01:36]
James Marino
So Peter, our show tune for today surprised me. This was a year from Roadshow. So tell us about it.
- [01:49]
Peter Felicia
Well, the reason I chose it for today is because Addison Meisners brother Wilson, who we only know because of Steven Sondheim, I don't know if we much remember him. I guess if you were in Palm beach area he would. But, but anyway, he co wrote a play called the Only Law which opened on the state in 1909. Okay. And the thing was the strange story, I'd love to know more about it is that it opened to the theater on 42nd street that no longer exists, that had 880 seats. So it got lousy reviews. So the producer said no, let's move it to a theater with 2,065 seats. Why? I mean really. So it lasted 12 days there and they tried doing things like Thursday matinees on the roof garden and that didn't bring in any customers. Anyway, so here's the story. A chorus girl is in love with a not so nice guy when a Wall street broker offers her $1,000 free of charge plus the tip on how to invest it. She takes both and soon has $18,000. But her previous lover tries to steal it and take it to Europe with him along with the chorus girl. So she winds up with the Wall street broker. So I understand the twist of it. You know, you expect when she's going to get involved with the Wall street broker he's going to do something nasty to her and the poor guy who she loved before is going to be left in. No, it's just the opposite. So I guess the twist of that is kind of interesting, but who knows what the play was like. But anyway, Meisner would go on to write two more plays, each with a different collaborator, but couldn't get a four month run out of them. So. But won't Wilson Meisner's name always be known to us now and forever because of Stephen Sondheim?
- [03:51]
James Marino
All right, well, that was a year. Also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael has been a theater journalist for more than 50 years. 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 publications and he writes reviews of cabaret shows for NightLifeExchange.com Additionally, Michael is known as a producer and director of shows at 54 below the Lori Beachman Theater and other venues. Hello Michael. Hello and sort of welcome back. You are on the road today, but also with us.
- [04:34]
Michael Portantier
Oh, you know, I canceled my, I was supposed to be in Jersey at the Jersey Shore this weekend, but various things happened. So no, I'm in situ on in Hell's Kitchen.
- [04:46]
James Marino
Oh, okay. I was, I was gonna say you have a very nice setup for the brood. You know, you sound at home and you are at home.
- [04:54]
Michael Portantier
I am at home, yes.
- [04:57]
James Marino
Let me catch up folks on other things happening on Broadway radio. Jan Simpson's all the Drama. Her series on various Pulitzer Prize winning musicals and plays. The 1988 winner for the Pulitzer Prize for drama was Driving Miss Daisy and Jan talks about it this week. It is out and available for Patreon members. You can get it at broadwayradio.com patreon patreon.com broadwayradio if you would like. It will be out next week to the general public. And next week you can listen to it on the Broadway Radio app, which is available on iOS and Android. And let us know if you have any problems or suggestions with the newly released apps. First up in our review section, Michael and Peter have seen the Saviors over at Atlantic Theatre Company. Michael, why don't you get us started on the Saviors?
- [06:04]
Peter Felicia
Sure.
- [06:04]
Michael Portantier
This is a play by Bubba Wyler, directed by Jack Serio, both of whom were very recently represented by another play called well, I'll Let yout Go, which was very, very, very well received. Interestingly enough, I'm looking in the playbill for the Saviors and In Bubba Wyler's bio, the title of that play is rendered correctly. But in Jack Sario's it's listed as well, I'll Let Go, which is, you know, something very different. Minor point, but they might want to fix that. And that play, I had an experience that is not too common, I think. I'm sure I talked about it here on the podcast. I was able to, while watching it, separate it in my mind. And I felt like I really loved the play itself, but I did not like the production because of the casting. And so that was an unusual experience. As I say here, no problem with the casting at all. They have found two extraordinary ordinary young performers. Ivan Howe in the role of Michael and Julius Rinsel in the role of Paul. And they play two altar boys. Two young altar boys. And it's primarily about their relationship, but also their relationship to each other, but also their relationship to God and the church and how it seems at the beginning that everything is pretty much status quo and they're typical altar boys and they're about to be confirmed and they're excited about choosing their confirmation saints and nothing seems out of the ordinary, Very, very conservative and pre planned and all of that. But then what happens is a stranger shows up at the church. I suppose it's supposed to be late in the evening when no one else is around other than he and the two boys. And he seems to be a homeless individual. One of the boys, Michael, does not react that well to his presence. But Paul really reaches out to him in it, I guess what you would say is a very Christian way, and offers him food, etc. So that character, by the way, is played by Stanley Simons in the role of Julian. So then we get to see what happens as the play proceeds because Julian sticks around. It's not his only scene and it turns out he has a connection to the area and the church, which I won't give too much more information. The fourth character is Judy, played by Crystal Finn. And she is, you know, has a position of leadership in the church, but she. That includes her leading a youth group of, you know, to keep young people interested and engaged and involved in the church. Unfortunately, when we see the group meet, there's only one member and it's Michael. So they're trying to get more people there and, and I guess maybe that's indicative of, you know, of apparent loss of interest in religion among the general public over the decades. So I liked a lot of this play. I thought there was a tremendous handicapping it for me in That I am sorry to say I could not understand a huge percentage of the dialogue delivered by the two boys. I think it's a combination of the fact that, that young people's, you know, their, their voices aren't developed quite fully. But not only that, there was a lot of them walking around the stage and performing various tasks while talking. And so when they weren't facing towards me and they were often facing upstage, I, I really missed a lot of it and that makes me sad. I, I don't, I don't think they sent out a script with the press materials. I'm going to see if I can ask for one separately because there are a few things I, I think I really did not get and I would say fortunate because I did like so much of it construction wise. I don't think it's the best written play that I've seen lately. Apparently it was written when the author, Bubble Wyler, was very young, I think, I believe 19 is when he started it, at least. I don't know what revisions there have been since then. And I think that really helps in terms of the dialogue of the two boys because it sounds so wonderfully slice of life realistic. They really talk like boys, not like a playwright, you know. So I, I think that's great. You, you might be interested to know and I, I don't think this is a spoiler or an anti spoiler, but there doesn't seem to be any issue of sexual abuse of altar boys in this play. There is this character, Julian does refer to some trauma that he went through, but he never specifies it and it. I. So I guess it could be that, but I don't think so. It's not. It doesn't seem to be. It seems more like a crisis of faith and the way that, that people treated him while he was in the church and in the school. So I don't know about that either. That would be an interesting question for the playwright if he ever chose to divulge what exactly is supposed to have happened to Julian, etc. But finally I will end by saying that it does seem that there is an undercurrent perhaps of, of love or physical attraction between the two boys, perhaps more on, on the part of one than the other. And it's very interesting the way that plays out in terms of the very last lines of the play. I thought the, the final scene was maybe the strongest of all and so therefore I forgave some of the flaws that I had perceived previously. So that's my review. Wonderful production. At Atlantic Theater Company, the sets by David Zinn have been praised as a very, very photorealistic recreation of that kind of a situation. And costumes, Avery Reed. Lighting, Stacy derozier. Sound, Leah Gelpy. I am curious to hear Peter's thoughts.
- [13:52]
Peter Felicia
Well, I agree with you that the way it is blocked makes much of the dialogue very hard to hear. So I really fault the director on that. I don't expect these kids to be Ethel Mermans, who always used to look out the audience while delivering lines when somebody else was on stage, as Fernando Lamas complained bitterly in Happy Hunting. But, yeah, that was a real problem because this is dialogue worth hearing. Yes, I think Bubba Wyler is major. I loved well, I'll let you go. And I was very impressed with this play too, because the point of it is that the Christian people in this play aren't very Christian. The thing is that the young boy who wants to help the homeless man also is somebody who is really thinking seriously. Even more than that, he's made the decision to give up religion. It just doesn't speak to him, it doesn't appeal to him. It's the other boy who's crazy about religion who doesn't want to help the homeless man at all. He doesn't like him. He thinks. He's not afraid of him. He just thinks he's beneath him. And so that's really interesting. Also, the woman who Judy, who Michael mentioned, who was a staunch Christian, also turns out to be not only a liar of a very important fact, but also somebody who could be far nicer to this homeless person, and we would expect her to be. Now, of course, there are three sides to every story. His story, her story, and the truth. But nevertheless, there's very little compassion here from the people who you expect to be most compassionate, and they're not. So that's my take on this play. And I think it really does a great job of showing rather than telling. And it, I. I hope that it does have a life. It reminded me a lot of Doubt. And I thought, well, Doubt got a movie. Maybe this will too. And I think it should. So. And also I was. Well, I remember back in the late 70s, there was a play that was simply called Altar Boys. And I remember my late great friend David Wolf saying, it's going to be about gay kids, I'll tell you that right now. And I went, and indeed it was, because you do expect it's going to go there. This play waits a long time before it gets to that. And I was very grateful for that because I didn't want that to be the story. I was very interested in the who's Christian, who's not, and it's so lightly touched upon. And pretty soon the blackout occurs and we go home. So I was very grateful for that too, because that to me is too obvious a story. And as Michael says, you know, so nice to see a play set in a Catholic church that doesn't deal with sexual abuse. So all things considered, Bubba Wyler took many a high road and certainly rose to the occasion and walked that high road very, very nicely.
- [16:51]
James Marino
All right, so the Saviors at Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater is running through August 15th. We'll have a link to this in the show notes. Also, anecdotally, just at a quick glance, there's hardly any tickets left for this thing. So if it is something you want to get on, you want to see, get on a quickly, because it doesn't seem like there's many tickets left. Peter, you were over at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons to see soho Rep and Intars presentation of the Potluck. So tell us about this.
- [17:40]
Peter Felicia
Well, I wish this story was simply told rather than have it framed by a guy trying to write a musical about it. The first five minutes. I may be exaggerating, but I don't think I am. The first five minutes you see this writer saying that he's been commissioned to write a musical and he gave the people six ideas. They didn't like any of them, but they finally agreed that there'd be a great musical. In the 1979 event that took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, when the KKK and the American Nazi party and anti clan members tussled and people died. Five people died. Well, I. I don't. I don't know if that's really something that this writer as personified would be able to tackle very well. He's very much a lightweight guy, very flamboyant, very over the top. Doesn't even seem to be taking it seriously. But the thing is that. But he is certainly connected to two people who are witnesses and he wants to get the story from them. So that's what the show is about. It's a musical. But I do think there is a difference between poetry and lyrics. And really these lyrics, and I put quotation marks around them, really seems to me like free verse poetry. The music fits. It rather fits them rather well. And this is a quintessential example of how people are trying to find new forms in musical and trying something very, very different. And it's. There aren't songs as much of the time. They're just snippets of songs. I don't know if the performance I saw yesterday had super titles because it was a performance for the deaf. I don't know, it may be something that happens all the time, but the lyrics are up there. And again, free flowing, free verse, really. That's so. So anyway, you know, we talk about the lemons in the musical in my life and how strange that was that big lemons came on the stage. Well, here there's a mention of mops and you actually have people dressed as mops who are doing a strange dance while dressed as mops. So it's an atypical show. There's no question about it. The music is satisfying. I did respond to the music. I have to say I didn't respond as well to Anthony Alfaro, our would be writer of the musical. But I was glad to see Barbara Walsh and Reuben Flores, two real pros, playing his parents who again were there. And they're. They really feel that he's doing a very superficial job. And I, I have a feeling they're right. So very nice performance by a young woman named Jasmine Raphael, who is an intern who's there to assist. Cesar, by the way, is his name writing the show. She sort of gets lost in the second act. She seems to disappear. And I missed her tremendously because she's the type of character that Carrie Young used to play, you know, the backwards baseball, cap street, tough kid. So she really does a very good job. And as I say, I would have liked to have seen more of her. So it's a show that satisfies every now and then, but nothing can compare to watching the film that exists of the massacre. And we do see that it lasts for about three, four, five minutes. I don't know. And it really is something to see what really happened that day. And nothing in the show can approach the power that the film has. And when that happens, there's something wrong.
- [21:56]
James Marino
All right, the potluck over at Playwrights Horizons runs for another week through August 9th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you were over at MCC to see Jonathan Specter's book Birthright. So tell us about this.
- [22:11]
Michael Portantier
Yes, Jonathan Spector wrote it and Teddy Bergman directed it. And the first thing you need to know about this play, well, maybe not the first, but certainly something you should be aware of because I was completely surprised. The running time, including two intermissions, is about three hours and 20 minutes. And it is, let's see, part one of the play is set in 2006, part two in 2016, and part three in 2024. And those are especially significant dates if you know that. It's about a group of friends, quite young when it starts and a little older when it ends, all of whom are Jews, and it's about their relationship to each other and their relationship to Judaism in the same way that the last play we talked about was about relationship to Catholicism. So we have, let's see. Lev, played by Hale Appleman, Izzy, Molly Bernard. Noah, played by Eli Gelb. Deborah, played by Liz Larson. Emerson, played by Nate Mann. Alona Molly Ranson and Haya Zoe Winters. This they play is set in Annandale, Virginia, which is interesting. It's at the home of the mother of one of the women and the mother is played by Liz Larson. That's her character, she's the older one in the group. Everyone else is supposed to be more or less the same age. And for a three hour and 20 minute play, I will say I was never bored. It is very interesting, the discussions they have about hot button issues, including one of the hottest button issues of the time, which is, you know, if you want to boil it down, can one be against Israel's policies without being anti Semitic? Which many people, myself included, would say yes, but apparently not everyone agrees. And again, the dates here, 2006, 2016 and 2024, very significant in terms of what has happened in the world in that regard, in terms of Israel and Palestine, etc. So I was not bored. I, I two things. I was conscious of everyone in the place speaking very, very, very, very fast. It's as if the director said, we have got to get this thing in. We cannot make it four hours long. So you've got to talk really, really fast because presumably Jonathan Spector would not have cut anything. And I think that is the flaw because people don't talk like that constantly. There are bursts of a very quick speech from people sometimes, I'm sure we've all heard that, but not line after line after speech after page after page. So I, yeah, I think that that really was not. And, and, and you know, I would not say that there is nothing that could be cut from it while I wasn't bored. I, that doesn't translate into it's uncuttable. So I'm sorry that Mr. That the playwright did not take another look at it in terms of editing, doing his own editing, or maybe they could have brought a dramaturg in to do that. The other thing was. This is odd. All three of the acts are presented, I would say, in a different style in terms of writing and direction. For example, Act 1, set in 2006, is played in real time, you know, for about an hour. No interruptions, no fade outs, no blackouts, no flashbacks, nothing like that. Just a linear story of what happens in one hour in this home. In 2006, in 2016, it was. It was also more or less real time, but every 10 minutes or so, there would be an unexpected blackout and suddenly the players would be. The actors would be in another position on stage. At one point there's a hot tub and. And they suddenly are in the hot tub and then there's a blackout and then they're out of the hot tub, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And small amount of time is passing, but it wasn't completely real time. And I didn't know why we were getting those. All of those interruptions when we would not. Did not have any in part one and then part three. Now, this was done for a very specific reason, but in part three, there is a great deal of. While the characters are talking, there's also projection on the walls of the sets of what they are googling and, and searching, etc on their phones. You know, whether to verify a fact or to try to remember the name of a. An author, whatever it is. But constant, constant projections. And yes, I mean, I understand that's supposed to show the increased reliance on that kind of stuff, but. And you wouldn't have. That wouldn't have existed in 2006 anyway, because those were the real early days. But it certainly would have been 2016, I guess, right? Maybe, if not to the same extent. So for that reason, it made it seem almost like three different plays to me. And I didn't think they hung together stylistically as well as they would have if that hadn't been the case. So those are my issues with the play. I still think that Jonathan Spector is a major playwright and you should pay attention to him for that reason. And of course, the. I named all of the casts. They're all stellar, so plenty of reasons to go.
- [29:09]
James Marino
Okay, how many varies was that?
- [29:15]
Michael Portantier
Oh, well, they really talk like this. This is how they talk. This is how they're talking in the play. You know, what do you think of that? Because, actually, because I don't agree. And here's why. Because, you know. Yes, last week you said there's a nice.
- [29:28]
James Marino
So I understand.
- [29:29]
Michael Portantier
You get my boy.
- [29:31]
James Marino
Yeah, obviously you're not a big fan of the Gilmore Girls or any Aaron Sorkin walk and talk shows on television, you know.
- [29:41]
Michael Portantier
Oh, I love those Aaron Sorkin shows. But, and I know you're joking, but I, I think that's, that's what I said. In, in, in doses, I think that's very effective. But just like not all the time,
- [29:56]
James Marino
you know, but yeah, certainly, I guess, you know, the, the length of the show, trying to, trying to, you know, not do an Angels in America part one and two.
- [30:08]
Michael Portantier
Right.
- [30:09]
James Marino
So. All right, so birthright at MCC through August 23rd. We'll have a link to that in the show. Notes. Peter, you had three quick things that we wanted to talk about. The first is I had, I chuckled to myself after you described to me what was going on here with Last Laugh that just played at the Vino Theater. I was thinking that they had their out of town tryout in New York City for the Fringe because everything is geared towards launching this as the world's premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. So tell us about Last Laugh.
- [30:53]
Peter Felicia
Well, something I've never experienced before. Isn't it wonderful when that happens? Because the two women come out. One is named Pimprinel Noel, first name spelled P I, M, P R E N E L L E. The other one has a more conventional name, Lydia Sims. And they come out and they said, we're going to do improv. And what's hilarious is that whatever the word is said from the audience may have a household object, please type of thing. They said that reminds me of a story. And they tell a story that has nothing to do with the suggestion that was made. So I thought that was very, very funny. This is actually a play that is written by Zoe Redlich is her name. But what I really want to stress is I have a feeling that these two women, if they stay together and really keep working, that they are going to be major. I mean, major, I mean Nichols and May, Kathy and Mo, that type of thing. They're not there yet, but they're going to be. And certainly if they stay with Elena messenger who directed them, I think they're going to be very wise to do that too, because she really got such great things out of them as well. But the real bottom line of this is that I dare say if you have to be at Netinburgh when they're going to be there, make sure you drop in. But more to the point, I don't expect you to do that. More to the point is the fact that you may very well want to See them now so you can brag later. And also, you know, I mean, I do believe that they're going to be so major that they're going to. Tickets are going to cost a lot of money and you won't want to spend an arm and a leg because you're going to need that arm to applaud wildly and you're going to need that leg to get to the theater. So I do believe we have the beginnings of major careers here.
- [32:54]
James Marino
So, yeah, You will be able to check this out in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I just had their dates in front of me. Showtime's August 7th to the 30th. They have a whole website dedicated to this. So if you are lucky enough to get over into Edinburgh, you can check it out there. And we look forward to them coming back this side of the pond to either do this again or their next work. Also, you were over at the Jean Frankel Theater Festival, or actually you wanted to talk about the Jean Frankel Theatre.
- [33:36]
Peter Felicia
Well, I was. I did go. Yes, indeed, I did go. And I saw three quick little plays. But there are going to be a total of 27. And that's the reason I want to mention this. So there's still time to get over to the Jean Frankel Theatre, Bond street, and see some new works, because each of the works had great potential. And the first one was called the 10 plagues. And it was about two restaurant critics going into a new restaurant and saying, God, what's this going to be like? Look what we've gone through recently. And they each recount what they've gone through recently. Frankly, I think they would be better off if it was one critic who brought either a boyfriend or a girlfriend who says, gee, what was that place we went to where we had blah, blah, blah, you know, I mean, but the. The fact that these two would ra. Reminisce. The two critics would reminisce at that moment in time seems to me a little wonky. I don't think they'd have those discussions. But anyway, so. So the restaurant is called the Ten Plagues. My God, what a name for a restaurant, huh? And there's good reason why it's called that. And that's the fun of the play. The next one is called Burnt Toast. I'm not quite sure that the title really is indicative of what goes on, but this guy was always late, Always late. He never shows up in time for anything. And here he is showing up for a job interview, I think was something like 45 minutes late. And of Course, the interviewer has no patience with this whatsoever. The interview, by the way, was played by J J A I Seda. Terrific comic performance, really wonderful timing. But the thing is, he gives good reason why he's always late. And that's the fun of the play. I'm not going to say anymore as you may see it again. Three D's A Crowd was the third play. This was written and directed by Anthony Welch. And this is about a guy whose wife has died and he's going to go back in the dating game and he's met someone online and she's going to show up at this bar and won't it be fun to talk to her? But he has his misgivings about her, so he brings with him his best friend to assess her. Well, needless to say, when the lady shows up, she's not the least bit thrilled that, you know, you brought a chap around. So. So I really thought the direction was going to go something like a variation on what happens in Peter Schaffer's play the Privateer. That a guy is dealing with a a young woman and his roommate essentially tries to interest her her in him. I thought it was going to go in that direction. No, no, it wasn't quite that. But for a while there she seems to be more interested in the friend that she is in him. But that doesn't turn out to be true. Anyway, so anyway, if you want to give new writers a chance and you're going to have a few opportunities as time goes on in the next couple of weeks to see these new one act, really 10, 15, 20 minute plays and I, I hope that the other ones are good too.
- [36:40]
James Marino
And also you got to see a backers audition the other day of a new musical called Walter Paisley.
- [36:48]
Peter Felicia
Yeah. Now of course we're not allowed to review backers auditions. I mean there's no question about that. But I really wanted to mention some assets here so. Because I was so impressed by so much of it. Now first off, the director is Jerry Zaks. I mean that ain't smell potatoes. And certainly if they say 90% of directing is casting well. Ethan Slater plays Walter Paisley, the title character. We also had Mary Test on hand and we had Samantha Williams, a lovely, lovely presence. She was in the recent Pirates Rupert Holmes musical on Broadway and they really terrific. And also Preston Truman Boyd, an actor who really keeps getting work and I understand why. He's very, very funn and very, very endearing. I'm going to describe the show as Little Shop of Horrors meets Sweeney Todd. They do get along. It's described as a Beat Nikhara comedy musical. And that is entirely true. And here's the. Here's the real reason I mentioned this. The real reason I am mentioning this is because I think we have a major songwriter in Randy Rogel. I guess that's how it's pronounced. R, O, G, E, L. Rochelle, I don't know. But nevertheless, whoa. The show takes place in the late 50s, in the beatnik era. There's a. There are characters called beatnik boy and beatnik girl, and he really understands the music of that period. You also get from Walter Paisley himself a little bit of 50s rock, which is so right for the time and the character. And that's what's so impressive. You know, I'm going to mention rhymes. They're all perfect. God love you, Randy. May you live to be a hundred. May you continue to write musicals. So my point, the reason I'm mentioning this, if we have producers who's listening to this, you might want to find out more about Walter Paisley. And certainly if you have an idea for a musical and you're looking for a composer, lyricist. Yeah, Randy Rochel, he's your guide.
- [39:02]
James Marino
So Randy wrote Animaniacs for those of you who like tv. And this has been kicking around for a few years, was done at La Miranda Theater for the performing arts in 2023. And there's a YouTube video of it, so I'll throw that into the show notes as well. But, God, you know, I don't know, Randy, but Animaniacs, I loved Animaniacs. So great stuff to check out. Finally this morning. Michael, are you now or have you ever been at the City Center Stage 1?
- [39:46]
Michael Portantier
I have been there recently. I was quite late to the party, in fact. This show closes today after several extensions at New York city center stage one. And this is a 1972 play by Eric Bentley, which is drawn, I would say, like 99% word for word from the transcripts of the House UN American Activities Commission hearings during the McCarthy era. That notorious, notorious time. And, you know, almost too obvious to make the point that given what is happening in the present day in terms of witch hunts and repression and attacking people who don't agree with you politically, there could not be a more timely time for this play to be brought back. And I'm so glad that they did. Jeffrey Richards, Rebecca Gold and Ira Piddleman are the lead producers. Always powerful and, and, you know, all the more powerful knowing that you're hearing word for word, exactly what happened as these various Actors and writers and directors etc, were being grilled in front of the committee mercilessly, all desperately trying to get them to, quote, unquote, name names of other people who were supposedly, at one time or another, to one degree or another, even if only very, very slightly, involved with the Communist Party. Directed by Anna Shapiro, this play has had a rotating cast of absolute stars. The cast that I saw alone consisted of NORBERT Leo Butts, T.R. knight, Harry Lennox, Bob Odenkirk, Molly Ringwald, Brooks Ashmanskas, Stephen Boyer, Frederick Weller, Jason Babinski, Adam Kantor, Melvin Abston, Noah Pisik, and Bill Timoney and Michael McKean. So have tried that on for size. It was. It's absolutely riveting. I would say that. I wouldn't say that any of the actors necessarily were attempting to do imitations of the people that they were portraying, but they certainly did seem to get their essence. For example, an absolute standout performance for me was Norbert Leo Butts as Abe Burrows, whom many of us know as the author of Guys and Dolls and many other things, and. And known for his comic brilliance. So Norbert Leo Butz gave a performance that is. It seems like the guy is, you know, he's very affable at first and smiling a lot and seems like he's gonna, you know, just try to, you know, help if he can, but doesn't necessarily quite turn out that way. Other standouts were Bob Odenkirk as Lionel Stander, T.R. knight as Larry Parks, Brooksmanskas as multiple characters. Many. Everyone played more than one role except for the committee members. They each only played one role. Molly Ringwald was in the performance I saw. And my only criticism of the play is that while I thought she was actually very good in her role of Lillian Hellman, she seemed very flat in the narration. There was a very small amount of material written by Eric Bentley to basically tie up the play at the end. And much of that narration went to Molly Ringwald as Lillian Hellman. And she did seem very flat in that to me. It was almost as if she didn't work on it as much as she worked on the rest of the script. But other than that, everyone was just amazing. And it's absolutely chilling, as I said, to. To hear those transcripts and hear how history repeats itself in terms of people acting so, so badly and. And. And supposed democracies and republics becoming fascism.
- [44:58]
James Marino
Okay, are you now or have you ever been at. City center is wrapping up today, August 2nd, so we'll have a link to that in the show notes if you can. If you're interested in checking it out. You only have this afternoon to do that. Yeah, so just a two, maybe three things in the news that I just wanted to touch upon is that a couple of weeks ago we heard that Cat's the Jellicoe Ball is going to be wrapping up at the Broadhurst next Saturday, August 8th. And we got the official announcement overnight last night that there's going to be a cast recording. And also a lot of talk this week about a possible move to a different venue off after the Broadway production closes. So, you know, it's something just, just we should just talk about. It's good, good to have a cast recording coming of it. Michael.
- [46:12]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I'm, I'm glad you brought that up. I, I read something online, you know, I go to these quote unquote gossip sites and theater, theater aficionado places and, and it is, it sure runs the gamut from like really dumb remarks to real smart analyses by some people. Somebody wrote this about Cats. The Jellicoe Ball closing, they wrote it failed to identify and market to a sustainable audience. It underestimated how much people hate Cats. It ran too long off Broadway in a house that was Broadway size 12 weeks in a 700 plus seed house, thereby killing off a decent subset of the market. When it moved, it waited two years to transfer to Broadway, by which time any hype had died down. Had it moved to a different Off Broadway venue, it would probably still be running two years on. They had to transfer and botch the transfer in the process. Their problems are indecent, part of their own making. So one person's opinion, but I, I think that sounds to me like there's a lot of sense in that. Originally, originally I had heard that they were not going to move it to Broadway and that they were going to keep bringing it back at the Param Parl Hunter. Who knows? You know, none of us can predict what would have happened, but that might have worked out much better for them.
- [47:47]
James Marino
So there's no release date on the cast recording, but it is. I. Oh, I don't have it in front of me. I think it's. Atlantic Records is, Is recording it. So it's gonna happen. I, I don't, you know, you know, making an announcement like that and then don't do it.
- [48:07]
Michael Portantier
The ironic thing there is the, the thing that really makes this production so unique is, is the visual and the concept of it. So I don't know, maybe they might have considered instead of doing a cast album, just putting the Money into some kind of a video. I realize that's much, much, much more expensive.
- [48:30]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah.
- [48:31]
Peter Felicia
Also, the music has some money, so he could make that happen.
- [48:37]
James Marino
Yeah, well, the music doesn't like to put his money into things.
- [48:44]
Michael Portantier
Right. Don't put your money in the shop.
- [48:50]
James Marino
Yeah. Sort of like, you know, for so many, so many, so many years, we kept on saying, you know, well, why doesn't Harmony come to Broadway? You can't get investors. Can't get investors. You know, Barry Manilow could finance it out of just jingles, but Barry Manilow was not. He's like, I'm not a producer. I am a writer. And I mean, Andrew Lydd Webber is a major producer, but it doesn't seem to be. Doesn't seem to be that hot on Broadway. Now. He has. He feels as though the Broadway is broken. You know, we. We saw that in the last couple of weeks and we're like, I'm glad you woke up and saw the. Saw the.
- [49:40]
Michael Portantier
Well, but some people looked askance at that essay because, as one person put it to me, it could certainly be argued that he's very much a part of the problem because what he. What he charges in terms of royalties, A. And plus, he's a theater owner. Not in New York yet, but yes. So, yeah, I don't know. Talking out of both sides of your mouth is something that he apparently is able to do on occasion.
- [50:15]
James Marino
You know, he's a big dj. And. Did either of you. I didn't ask you before we started. Did either of you happen to catch Whistle down the Wind? I saw Seth Christianfeld was the there.
- [50:27]
Peter Felicia
No, it was in Poughkeepsie.
- [50:29]
James Marino
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So.
- [50:34]
Michael Portantier
So no.
- [50:35]
James Marino
And also, you know, there's been so much back and forth between Angelo Weber and boy, I can't remember his name. What is that director's name that directed Sunset? What's the Sunset, Michael?
- [50:50]
Michael Portantier
Jamie Lloyd.
- [50:52]
James Marino
Jamie Lloyd. That's right. So. So Jamie Lloyd and Andrew Lloyd Webber have been back and forth in the last few months about some new works and things like that. But, Peter, we're gonna have at least something announced for 44th street with. With Purple Rain. Heading back to the Majestic. Heading back to the Majestic that was just announced that we're going to see that. But it's interesting because while they did an out of town tryout of Purple Rain in Minneapolis.
- [51:31]
Peter Felicia
Right.
- [51:32]
James Marino
There's massive, massive changes between the Minneapolis production and the Broadway production with a new director, new book writer, you know, new possible new leads. They haven't announced the cast yet, but it seems like there's going to be massive changes in the Purple Rain thing. I almost feel like they should settle this and get it out of town again. Well, you know, bring it in.
- [52:00]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, they're in the 60s, whatever the show was called. They would say a new musical. You know, that was always the sobriquet that was used. I always thought that Do I hear a Wall? Should have had a magical, mystical musical because it's a play on the actual lyric that Sondheim wrote. But maybe this one could be described as the show formerly known as a Minneapolis show, because, of course, I'm very interested to see that they're using the word Prince because didn't he have that symbol that replaced his name and all of that? So. But, you know, I mean, it's amazing to me that when Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali and really, really put his past aside, that when he did his Broadway musical, Buck White, he was Cassius Clay. That was the big. In enormous print underneath. It said AKA Muhammad Ali. So that was very surprising to me that he approved that. I. I didn't think there was a chance in the world that he would. But. But yes, he. He did do a Broadway musical during the time when he was not allowed to fight. Fight, at least fight in the ring. They did want him to fight, but not in the ring. They wanted him to fight in Vietnam, and he didn't want to do that.
- [53:24]
James Marino
Yeah. All right, so that wraps it up for this week. But wait for me. I'm coming. Oh, before we get on to that, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to our broadcast by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link that way each and every time there's a new episode of this week on Broadway a be download its Apple podcast view. Of course, you don't have to listen to us an Apple podcast. There's many ways to get us. One way is Broadway radio app now available on iOS and Android. Contact information for Peter from Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to Less Week's Brain Teaser?
- [54:07]
Peter Felicia
In fact, I do. The play in which he starred opened on the sixth anniversary of the opening of one of the world's most famous musicals. His wife opened a comedy 22 days later on the 16th anniversary of a hit musical that's more remembered for its film version. Well, I'm talking about Jason Robards Jr. Who opened the ill fated the Devils on November 16, 1965, six years after the Sound of Music open. Robards then wife Lauren Bacall opened the smash hit cactus flower on December 8, 1965, 16 years after gentlemen Prefer Blondes, better known as a Marilyn Monroe vehicle than the Carol Channing vehicle, opened. Paul Witty was first, followed by Tony Janicki, Sean Logan, Jack Leshner, Steven Sokoloff, Fred Abramowicz and Brigad. This week's question this performer was nominated for a Tony and lost in a Broadway debut before becoming a household name. One year later, another performer was also nominated for a Tony in the same category and also lost for the second time, but would become an even bigger household name before the end of the decade. One year after that, the two performers joined forces to do a show together. Who were the two Tony losers? What was the name of the show they teamed to do?
- [55:33]
James Marino
If you have an answer for this, email us@triviaroadraperadio.com we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?
- [55:44]
Michael Portantier
Well, in case you haven't heard, there is a film, or I guess you would not call it a film, although so many of us still use that word. Yeah, a motion picture version of Hadestown that has been playing in theaters and much to my delight it apparently has been a huge success to the point where it's originally scheduled for only a five day run and now I'm reading that it has been extended indefinitely. Rob Johnston said it's back in theaters at least through this coming Wednesday and I am so happy from, from my part of view because I thought I had missed it. I, I was away the weekend that it was originally scheduled and could not figure out a way to get to see it. But now that it's extended, I'm going to go today at 2:30. The reviews have been absolutely phenomenal. I saw some clips of it. Well we, we are putting in the show notes a clip to YouTube for a promo of the show which indicates just from that alone how wonderful it is in terms of the camera work and the direction. So I can't wait to see the whole thing later this afternoon. So what a wonderful boost for Hadestown. And our musical moments for today are both taken from this promo trailer for the motion picture version. The opener is the beginning section of the promo and the closer is the final section. Will be great to see. Andre de Shields and Patrick Page and Reeve Carney and Eva Noble Zada on the big screen. I'm just, just so excited and so happy.
- [57:58]
James Marino
It's so. I don't know if funny is the right word to use there, but Patrick Page had an injury during the filming and he's wearing a medical boot during the
- [58:13]
Peter Felicia
night.
- [58:14]
Michael Portantier
Did not remember.
- [58:16]
James Marino
Yeah. And so he's walking with a cane and using a medical boot. And it's in the film.
- [58:20]
Peter Felicia
Film.
- [58:20]
James Marino
And it's like, it's awesome because it's like, it's a. It's a capture of the stage show. So you get so much more of the feeling of live theater here than if they went out and spent tens of millions of dollars, you know, building sets and, and, you know, re. Re envisioning Hadestown musical. This really is just, just a, A, a digital capture of the, of the show on stage.
- [58:53]
Michael Portantier
Not to belabor this, I promise to be short, but this was produced in England with the original cast, but it, it was done in England. And I hear that six is also coming up. A movie of six is coming up, so I'm guessing that that was done there too, because that's where that started. We really have to figure out, to go along with what Andrew Lloyd Weber said about the costs on Broadway, it would really be great if they could figure out something with the unions here that would allow for really high quality motion captures of shows at some point during their run, even if it has to be right about when they're going to. That there's some fear of cannibalizing the audience. But as far as cannibalizing the audience, I think we have proof that that is no longer something that people worry about because look at what happened with Chicago and several other shows. Wicked, you know, so, yeah, it's. It kind of amazes me that with so much money to be had to be potentially be earned, that the unions haven't come together and figured out a way to make. Make it financially viable to do high quality video captures of Broadway shows.
- [60:24]
James Marino
All right, so on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye bye.
- [60:42]
Michael Portantier
Lay down under the ground
- [60:45]
James Marino
Mr. Hades is a mighty king.
- [60:48]
Michael Portantier
Must have been making some mighty big deals. Seems like he owns everything.
- [60:54]
James Marino
Kind of makes you wonder how it feels.
- [60:59]
Peter Felicia
Eu was a hungry young girl your ticket and Hades gave her a choice to make a ticket to the underworld. Wait for me, I'm coming
- [61:18]
James Marino
Wait I coming with you Wait for me I'm
- [61:26]
Michael Portantier
coming I'm waiting I you
- [61:36]
Peter Felicia
I'm coming
- [61:37]
James Marino
to take me home I'm coming.
- [61:55]
Peter Felicia
This summer there are 250 reasons to
- [61:59]
Michael Portantier
join Team Movie Girls Trip booked and
- [62:03]
James Marino
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Peter Felicia
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James Marino
And honestly that hundred dollars back I'm
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Michael Portantier
putting it towards the zipline now.
- [62:22]
Peter Felicia
That's how you do summer.
- [62:25]
James Marino
Exactly.
- [62:26]
Michael Portantier
Best switch I ever made.
- [62:28]
Peter Felicia
This is just one reason to join T Mobile this summer. There are 250 reasons find yours
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Michael Portantier
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James Marino
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Peter Felicia
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James Marino
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Peter Felicia
Banks and a member FDIC allow eight
- [62:54]
Michael Portantier
weeks a colossal monster.
- [62:57]
Peter Felicia
A city in ruins.
- [62:58]
Michael Portantier
No way out except inside of the
- [63:01]
Peter Felicia
all electric Toyota Chr John Cho stars
- [63:04]
Michael Portantier
in Escape Test drive Toyota's new all
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Peter Felicia
electric family today Toyota let's go places.