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This Week on Broadway for February 2, 2025: English
01:07:41
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about the Broadway production English, Dangerous Corner @ ActorsNET in Morrisville, PA, Kowalski @ The Duke on 42nd Street, Dear Jack, Dear Louise @ 59e59, Bent @ Out/Play Studio Theater,
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- [00:00]
Unknown Singer
It's the wrong time in the wrong place. Though your face is charming it's the wrong face. It's not her face. But it's such a charming face that it's alright with me. It's the wrong song and the wrong style. Though your smile is lovely. It's the wrong smile. It's not her smile. But it's such a lovely smile that it's all right with me.
- [00:26]
James Marino
Ooh, yeah.
- [00:27]
Unknown Singer
You can't know how happy I am that we met. I'm strangely attracted to you. You see, there's somebody I'm trying so hard to forget. Don't you want to forget somebody, too? It's the wrong game with the wrong chips. Though your lips are tempting. They're the wrong lips. They're not her lips. But they're such tempting lips. That is all right with me. Come on, Russell.
- [00:53]
James Marino
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios. This week on Broadway for Sunday, February 2, 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 Wall Calendar, A show tune for today. 366 songs to brighten your year has been released. Peter has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway, select, and many other places. Hello, Peter.
- [01:23]
Peter Felicia
Hi.
- [01:24]
James Marino
February 2nd. Peter, what is our song of the day?
- [01:29]
Peter Felicia
Well, of course it's Punxsutawney Phil from Groundhog Day.
- [01:33]
James Marino
That's what I was going to ask you.
- [01:35]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, well, the thing is. Here's the irony. When Groundhog Day was being produced in 2017, it would start previews on March 16, which is literally six weeks away from from today. Which is kind of funny, because the whole thing about Groundhog Day is if the groundhog sees his shadow, we'll have six weeks more winter. So it's. It's a wonderful little coincidence. Now, if indeed you're the type of person, like me who has a problem with improper rhymes, you may be turned off by the fact that this song tries to rhyme either with beaver. But if that's a problem for you, well, then I suggest that you instead, on Today, play Grand Old Ivy from How to Succeed in Business without really Trying. If you give that a little thought, you'll know why I'm suggesting that for today.
- [02:31]
James Marino
All right. So, Peter, any predictions on our. Is the theater season gonna heat up?
- [02:38]
Peter Felicia
Yes, it is. I have great confidence that it will. So there.
- [02:43]
James Marino
I tell you the rumors of us being out on the town every day in April, every evening in April for a Broadway opening.
- [02:56]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [02:57]
James Marino
Are certainly seem to be coming to fruition.
- [03:00]
Peter Felicia
Perfectly fine with me.
- [03:03]
James Marino
All right, well, you know, Peter doesn't have that congestion pricing to worry about there, you know, so I'm surprised that none of the restaurants in the theater district don't have like some sort of indigestion pricing.
- [03:19]
Peter Felicia
Ah, great idea. Good for you.
- [03:22]
James Marino
So also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he's also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. And you could see his photography work at Follow Spot Photo. Hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. You know, so many people in the industry are bicoastal, and when we say bicoastal, we say, you know, New York and LA. But you are bicoastal New York and the DMV, which is the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia area where you are in Washington, D.C. right now, right?
- [04:02]
Michael Portantier
Correct. Yes.
- [04:04]
James Marino
All right. And even though you are in D.C. cast album reviews, takes, no breaks. So what do you have new for us that we should be going over and checking out?
- [04:15]
Michael Portantier
Oh, yeah, we've been really adding a lot of new reviews of very recent recordings and some older ones that we didn't get to, you know, until now. So I've got Forrest Hutchinson and Charles Kirsch and Dan Rubens and some other wonderful people writing these reviews. And we have the Sabbath Girl, Far From Heaven. Remember that?
- [04:43]
Peter Felicia
Very friendly, in fact.
- [04:44]
James Marino
Oh, that's that Kelly person.
- [04:46]
Michael Portantier
Right, exactly. Dr. Zhivago, how to Dance in Ohio, Hell's Kitchen, Water for Elephants, Stereophonic and teeth. So, yeah, so we're trying to really, really fill in the gaps and get all the new ones as well.
- [05:08]
James Marino
Excellent. So we'll have a link over to castopenreviews.com where you can check all of those things out. And that's, you know, where do you find the time, Michael? Where do you find the time?
- [05:22]
Michael Portantier
Well, I find other people to write.
- [05:24]
James Marino
The review, you know. You know, David Merrick couldn't do it all himself. No, he tried, but yes, he did. He did have some other people that starred in the shows.
- [05:36]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [05:36]
James Marino
Did David Merrick ever take his own stage?
- [05:40]
Peter Felicia
Not that I know of. He seems Alexander Cohen did.
- [05:45]
James Marino
Oh, yeah, Alexander Cohen did, definitely. Yeah, that. That is true. That is true. And funny, I was thinking the other.
- [05:53]
Peter Felicia
Day, you know, there's that famous expression, Jesus saves and Moses invests. Well, we. We could say Cohen drives and Hildy Parks.
- [06:13]
Michael Portantier
Wow.
- [06:14]
James Marino
Sort of feel like there we could figure out some sort of trivia question, some sort of new brain teaser there. So.
- [06:22]
Peter Felicia
All right, later.
- [06:24]
James Marino
So, Peter, you were not parked at all. You were driving all over because you were out in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, where you saw a community theater production of Dangerous Corner at Actors Net. So tell us about it.
- [06:37]
Peter Felicia
Well, you know, again, this is an amazing experience in community theater. I mean, there's a dynamo who runs this place named Kat Malone. She has been there 22 years. She was perfectly frank in admitting that she started when she was 19. So now we know how old she is. But I am telling you, she is so devoted to this theater to the point to which she even sells concessions during intermission. So I'm not saying she's a one man band, but certainly she represents many musicians in an orchestra because. And what a terrific director. Now here's the thing. This was the very first performance of this J. Priestley play. And the thing is that you would never know it. These people were raring to go. They were so accomplished. There wasn't a false move all night. Each of them was terrific and beautifully staged. And because Priestley really had a big thing about time, the set design was terrific in having clocks everywhere, or at least pictures of clocks everywhere. So. But I am so impressed, so impressed with the actors here. Now, again, as your life goes on, you may never hear about Susan Fowler or Nicholas Pacht or Joseph Ryan, but I'm telling you, they were sensational. Just amazing. Now, this is a complex play. This is a group of people getting together for dinner and one of their friends has committed suicide. And as a result is a lot of talk about why it happened and who was responsible and what may have happened, so on and so forth. There is a very surprising ending that you wouldn't expect. Well, I guess if it's surprising, you wouldn't expect it, would you? But. But nevertheless, it really does pack a wallop when it finally comes. So because this play is so rarely produced, I had to get down there and see it. And what this company does is four shows a year and they do not do musicals, dress plays as. As Ms. Malone said, you know, a lot of places you can see musicals, a lot of community theaters do them. We want to concentrate on plays. And so they always do a Shakespeare every year. They always do a play that frankly is in the public domain, but they don't necessarily do it in the way that it was originally done. For example, they did A Doll's House, but they said it in the early 60s, and I think that's very smart because indeed, this is pre Betty Free Dan, and I think that's a very good idea to do it in that pie period of time. So this is well worth experiencing. Now, Pennsylvania sounds far away, but this is just south of the border of Trenton. You go over the bridge and there you are in Morrisville. And again, this is a very, very important thing in Morrisville, because indeed, as Captain Malone pointed out, they don't even have a movie theater there, but the town is really behind them. It's a small theater. It's only 73 seats, but I'm telling you, it was virtually filled. And in fact, when in touch with them, just a week before I went, I had to sit in row I. Yes, there's a row I in this theater because indeed, there were so many people there. So it really was quite an experience. And I have to say that I am very, very proud once again, of community theater for showing me that it is indeed professional. That professional doesn't necessarily mean that you're paid. It's how you conduct yourselves. And, boy, did these people conduct themselves brilliantly. Yes, brilliantly.
- [10:17]
James Marino
Okay, so I just had it in front of me, and I've misplaced it here.
- [10:27]
Peter Felicia
Oh, they're running till February 16th.
- [10:29]
James Marino
February 16th. That's what I was looking for. Thank you.
- [10:32]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [10:32]
James Marino
And we'll have. We've got a link to their website in the show notes, and so go check it out and see what else they have. Coming soon. So the three of us got over to the Todd Haims to see English. So, Peter, why don't you get us started on this transfer from Off Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company?
- [10:57]
Peter Felicia
Well, it's a terrific play, and it has a very, very smart idea behind it, and that is the fact that when people are speaking English, these Iranians, they haltingly do it, and they have a thick accents and all that goes with that. However, there are times when they speak Farsi, but when they speak Farsi, they sound perfectly normal to us in English. That's what's really so skillful. The playwright Sanaz Tusi was very smart in doing that, that we. We switch back and forth from English that we hear as English, but it's really Farsi and English that we hear as broken English, so to speak, with a thick, heavy accent. It's not heavy enough to drive us crazy the way that the production New York Theatre Workshop, A knock at the door, which is very hard to understand, but the people here are very, very easy to understand. I'm happy to say, and this is a transfer from the Atlantic Theatre Company, and it's a very successful one with one drawback and that's the set. The set is rotates. You're laughing.
- [12:14]
James Marino
I was going to say this and I thought to myself, am I being petty or not? But the set drove me insane and I. Yeah, yeah.
- [12:21]
Peter Felicia
I mean, the thing is that the same problem that maybe happy ending has the fact that if you're on the sides, you're going to really suffer because you're not going to see nearly as well. I don't understand why the set has to rotate at all. But in doing the rotating, a lot of people are going to miss things, especially because there are curtains from floor to ceiling in the room where the, the. The class. It's a. It's about a class of teacher teaching students how to speak English. So I think that's a real problem. That said, I really have to point out the fact that the cast is spectacular. They're all making their Broadway debuts and it's going to drive us theater world nominated as crazy in determining who gets a prize. I won't be surprised if my fellow nominators think that it's a good idea to give them all an ensemble award for their Broadway debuts. But really very impressive that five people do so well.
- [13:22]
James Marino
Okay, Michael, what did you think of English?
- [13:25]
Michael Portantier
Well, I did not see it at the Atlantic. I don't remember why. I guess this was a co production of the Roundabout and the Atlantic that started there and then. And then moved here. And it was at the Atlantic in 2022, I believe. And am I correct that this play won the Pulitzer?
- [13:45]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [13:46]
Michael Portantier
Yes. So that's quite a statement, isn't it? I really loved it. I've always been fascinated by language and people speaking in different languages and the effort involved there, what that means. And here there's discussion of. Really interesting discussion of how some of these characters feel so different when they're speaking in Farsi, their native language, or in English. I think one of them says, basically comes down and says, I feel like a different person. And I can completely understand that. I mean, of course, the more fluent you become in another language, language that lessens. But I suppose there's always a bit of that feeling that remains regardless of how fluent you become. So I really appreciated all of that discussion. I'm going to admit something and maybe it'll make me seem stupid, although a friend of mine said the same thing. It took me a while to figure out that when they were speaking Farsi, they were actually speaking English with no accents and that when they were speaking English, they were speaking with Farsi accents. At first I thought for the first scene or two that I said to myself, gosh, that dialect work is really very inconsistent because I didn't get it. But then I'm not sure when it kicked into me, but it did eventually. And I was like, oh, I see. And I think that's a really great device that they use. It seems to me that I've seen that in at least one or two other plays in the past, but not used to this extent. So I loved it. I love the way that the individual dramas of the individual characters fit into the larger story here of people studying English for their various reasons. And yes, the cast. Tala Ash Puia Mohsani Marjan Nishat Hadi Tabal. And now let me say this last one really slowly and maybe I'll get it. Ava La Lezarzadeh La Lazar Zadeh. Directed by Knud Adams. And as Peter mentioned, the playwright's name is Sanaz Toussi. So I think this was a really wonderful choice by the Atlantic Theatre Company and the Roundabout. And I loved seeing it. And I turned to a friend and I said, you know, this is now, I guess the third really excellent play, you know, as a post to musical that we've seen on Broadway recently between Eureka Day, Cult of Love and this one. And I just think they're all stellar and that doesn't always happen where you have a really great streak like that. So I'm very happy with the plays we've been seeing on Broadway recently. And I know they never obviously sell as well as the musicals, but I really urge people, you know, maybe people who think they only want to see musicals. When a play is this good, I think if you check it out, you're very likely to be very, very happy. So that's my advice.
- [17:47]
James Marino
Michael, I'm right there with you with not understanding at first the difference between the Farsi and the English. And I thought exactly the thing. So I don't think you're stupid for that.
- [17:59]
Peter Felicia
I agree entirely. I think it takes everybody a while because we're not used to this type of thing, but it. Eventually the moment of alignment comes and it kicks in. So, yeah, I'm with you, James. I agree with.
- [18:11]
James Marino
And the other thing is, is that you did see it before at the Atlantic, correct?
- [18:16]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [18:17]
James Marino
So this is, you know, in your second viewing, it seems, you know it. Your mind fills it in.
- [18:23]
Peter Felicia
That's exactly right.
- [18:24]
James Marino
And this was the first Time I saw it, the first time Michael saw it. So I, I do agree with that. Did you guys see Vladimir at City Center?
- [18:35]
Peter Felicia
Huh?
- [18:36]
James Marino
And they, they did this as well with the Russian when. When they were speaking in Russian versus speaking in English and.
- [18:45]
Michael Portantier
Right, that. Yeah, that was another example. Right.
- [18:48]
James Marino
You know, so I was right there with you, Michael. And also Peter. It just drove me crazy with the set. Had that fourth wall post at the corner of the thing.
- [19:08]
Michael Portantier
That was the problem that it divided.
- [19:12]
James Marino
The stage in half for me. And it seemed to always be exactly where the action was. And I was like. And there was no need for it because they could have not had the post there and it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever. They didn't need it for structural support or anything like that. There's nothing very tremendously interesting happened there. But that post made me crazy. I just hope that they don't do it. And it took away from an absolutely stellar five star production. What a cast, what direction, a great story. I really loved English and I think it's gonna. I think it's gonna get a lot of awards.
- [19:59]
Peter Felicia
I agree.
- [20:00]
James Marino
I think it's gonna get a lot of awards and.
- [20:02]
Peter Felicia
Which it deserves.
- [20:04]
James Marino
Did the Tony Awards give any rulings on English? I. I can't remember if English was in any of the rulings about who they're going to consider for lead and supporting and if this is going to be a revival or a. Or a new production or anything like that. Do you haven't heard anything?
- [20:25]
Michael Portantier
No. But you did read that, if I'm correct, that Eureka Day.
- [20:31]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [20:31]
Michael Portantier
Will be a revival.
- [20:33]
James Marino
Revival. Yeah. Eureka Day is going to be a revival. All right, so English at the Todd Haymes. It's running through March 2, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you were over at. Actually, let's do. Michael, you saw Kowalski. So Peter talked about it last week. Why don't you give us your thoughts on it now?
- [21:01]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I really liked it. Overall. It was pretty much what I expected it was going to be, except better written. I think this is really a case where, depending on how much you already know about Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando and Streetcar Named Desire, if you know a lot about that stuff. Some of this play might seem very on the nose and like it's spelling a lot out for you, but if you're less familiar with all those things, I, I think it's. It's appropriate for audiences who, who don't know as much. And so I think they basically hit a nice balance as far as that, I. I really liked the cast very much. Robin Lord Taylor, who I. I first saw about 20 years ago, 25 years ago in a play called the Shooting Stage off Broadway when he was a kid. And then I sort of lost track of him. And then he. Apparently he became a quite a star on Gotham on tv, in which he played the Penguin. So I think he's the big marquee name in this production, although very much up and coming. Also is Brandon Flynn, who plays Marlon Brando. And they. Much of the play is about the two of them, so they were both fantastic. And I had a similar reaction to a friend of mine when Brandon Flynn first came on. We thought, well, he's very nice to look at, but he doesn't really look that much like Brando. But. But he really won us over because he has the body language and the. And more importantly, the voice. He really has them down pat. And he, like, stands in a certain way and poses in certain ways that, that really read Brando. So I think he worked very hard at it and I'm very impressed with what he did in that regard. There are some other characters as well. Margo Jones is played by Allison Simmit and Pancho Rodriguez by Sebastian Trevino. And then there's a role of Joe, who is a girlfriend that Brando has brought with him to Provincetown in hopes of auditioning for Tennessee Williams for Streetcar Named Desire. So he brings this girl with him who's also an actress and her name is Jo and she's played by Ellie Ricker. And I thought that was actually one of the better, best written roles in the play because she seemed to work well as a foil for Brando and actually for the other characters too. So I really enjoyed it. It's more of a, you know, a comedy than. It doesn't get very serious. But, you know, I. I think that's okay. And I like seeing. I mean, I did. I know the story pretty well, but. But there were some things in it that I did not know about that I assume are historically accurate. So I. I really enjoyed it and I. And having spent so much time in Provincetown myself, I. I also, you know, I got a kick out of that, you know, because when they're talking about places there like the. The Atlantic House, which is a bar that's still there, and I know that Tennessee Williams frequented it because if you go there to this day, they have. There's a large. The Atlantic House is broken into two sections, really. There's a very large section that has a Dance floor. But then there's another part of it which I think was the original building called the A house. And it's much smaller and very dingy and very Provincetown like. But if you look, you have to look closely because it is so dark in there. But on the walls there are photos of Tennessee Williams because I guess he sat there and wrote plays. So there's a lot of history in Provincetown. And I was glad that they brought that into this play, which I really, really enjoyed.
- [26:07]
James Marino
So Kowalski is at the Duke on 42nd Street. It's running through February 16th, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you were over at 59 East 59 to see Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise, which you had talked about up at Penguin Rep over the summer. So tell us about this production.
- [26:32]
Peter Felicia
Well, it's still terrific. This is a very moving play in which a medical doctor, military doctor, I should say, because they're all medical doctors. Well, no, I guess they're PhDs. Anyway, you get my point. So, yes. So Jack is a doctor who's serving in the military during World War II and he's encouraged to write this aspiring actress out of the blue. And he does. And they start a correspondence. And there are ups and downs, but there are far more ups than downs. And they long for the day that they can meet each other, but life gets in the way and so does his occupation and her occupation, occupation. So it takes a while before they get to meet. But it's, it's really the story of indeed Ken Ludwig's parents and how they met. There are a few strange mistakes. There's talk about Oklahoma. Oh, yeah, there's talk about Oklahoma and it's much too early for Oklahoma to have opened. There's also talk about how Lindsay and Krauss, the people who wrote Life With Father, produced Helsa Pop and they did not. I mean, well, anyway, aside from that, it's very, very moving. But here's what I want to stress more than anything else. There were a whole group of students there the night I attended. Kids, teenagers, probably high schoolers, undoubtedly high schoolers. And I thought to myself, are they going to be interested in a story about something that happened 80 odd years ago? Because a number of teenagers are only interested in the time they're born and will this take. And what was so amazing is how they were into it, how they laughed, how they moaned when things didn't go the way that the characters expected them to. And it made sense to me because indeed These kids are in the throes of first love and as a result, this story tied into that because here's a story of young love. And I thought, this is magnificent. It doesn't matter that it took place almost a century ago. The point is that it's a universal theme about people getting together, trying to get together, hoping to get together in infatuated with each other, intoxicated with each other and being so moved by each other. And kids are experiencing that. So what an unlikely situation. I never expected that these kids would be so into it. And I'm telling you, there was a moment that's slightly ribbled and I mean slightly, but I mean, these kids really pounced on it and were just so shocked to hear these people from the 40s be so frank about a certain issue. I don't want to give it away, but in fact, this is my way of saying you should go see Dear Jackson, Dear Louise, at 59, he's 59th. It's going to be there not that much longer again, February 16, which by the way, happens to be Linda's birthday, if you care to send a present. So a very, very moving experience and much enhanced by the audience I saw it with, by the way, you didn't have to be a teenager to appreciate it. The laughs really came fiercely on the money. Every time there was a left. The audience, including the teenagers, but aside from the teenagers, really, really responded. Was so nice to see an audience so into this play.
- [30:26]
James Marino
So, dear Jack, Dear Louise, at 59 East 59, as Peter mentioned, is through February 16, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you got over to the studio theater where Outplay produced a production of, Of Bent. I know that you had said that it was two nights only, but they've added another show for February, February 7th.
- [30:52]
Michael Portantier
Oh, really?
- [30:53]
James Marino
Yes. There's one more chance to see it after, after today. So tell us what you think about this production event.
- [31:03]
Michael Portantier
Oh, that's really interesting. I wonder why they, you know, I, I, I, I couldn't figure out why they had only two to begin with and, and you know, why they would add one. Bent is a very challenging work and to put all that work into it and then do it for only a few couple of performances. You know, I, I don't know if it's the availability of the space, the actors or whatever, but that, that is really good news. I have mostly very good news about, about this production in terms of the acting. I should mention, as I may have mentioned before, I directed a production of Bent in the early 80s on Staten Island. And I really have loved it ever since. I surprised that it has not become a more famous play, although probably that's because the subject matter is quite brutal with scenes actually taking place in a Nazi concentration camp, including scenes of some great brutality. So I think that alone would maybe account for why there have not been more productions or I should say not been more major productions I have seen. This is probably my fifth Off Broadway production, or I guess be more accurate to say Off Off Broadway production that I have seen alone in, in Manhattan. So actors love it, directors love it, but I guess they feel they have to do it in small venues because it's not something that has mass appeal unless maybe you do it on Broadway with Richard Gere in the lead, which was the case of the original production, which I did see. And it's almost amazing now to think back that that that play happened with him in the lead at that time. So fascinating somehow sometimes when things get on or how they get on, you know. Anyway, so it's the story of the central characters, a fellow named Max who's living in Berlin just as the. The Nazis are really, really starting to crack down and brutalize and ship people off to concentration camps. And Max is gay and he's in a relationship with Rudy and they. Max winds up picking up the wrong person as a, as a, you know, a one night fling because that person happens to be a Nazi. And this all happens on the. The night of Kristal knocked. So lots of really, really bad stuff is going down and people are being rounded up and there are purges and et cetera, et cetera. And so, so Max and Rudy do in fact end up being shipped off to Dachau. One of them does make it. And I, I probably shouldn't say anything else because anything else might be a spoiler. And now that James has told us that there will be this other performance, I urge you to go. The acting is superb. Zach Sana is Max. And the only other time I saw him was in a very, very different role in Romeo and Bernadette. You know, that was very light comic role. This is very serious, excellent acting. He. He played Max Gayer, more obviously gay than any Max that I have seen before. And I thought that worked really well. I had always seen it as someone who was trying to maybe pass, but he doesn't do it that way. And I thought it was completely valid and I really appreciated seeing a different take on it in that way. Charlie Reed as Rudy. Excellent. Tyler Bay as Horst, another major character who I. Well, who. Who winds up forming a relationship with Max once they get to Dachau. And I wish I could say more about that, but I can't. And. And in the cameo role of Uncle Freddie, this fellow named David McDermott. All these people were just brilliant. One tremendous miscalculation at the performance. I saw to the point where I actually wrote to someone I know involved in the production and said, I have never, ever, ever given a note, you know, to a director or anyone after seeing a show like this. But someone decided that several of the scenes should be backed by music played rather loud. And not just music, but music with vocal singing in it. So you had scene after scene of the actors dialogue competing with this rather loud music. And I was like, who. Who thought that that was smart? And if you did think that it was smart when you tried it, did you not see that it doesn't work at all and that it shouldn't have been cut immediately? I. I was aghast. So. And in fact, I almost left. It was so bad in Act 1 that I almost left. I was planning to leave an intermission, and at one point, it was so bad that I thought I might leave after a particular scene. Wow. And the only reason I didn't was because they didn't really have any scene break in this production. But then I said, well, I. I was thinking ahead, as. Since I know the place so well, and I was thinking, I can't imagine where they would find places in Act 2 once they're in Dachau to put music in, so maybe Act 2 will be much better. And in fact, it was. There was no music in act two, so I was glad I stayed, especially since the meat of the play is in Act 2, and it gets very, very, very powerful and very difficult to watch. So thanks, James, for noticing that they've added that show. I. I would recommend it highly for the acting, and maybe. Maybe they will have addressed that other issue. I certainly hope so, because, you know, the acting is so good that the. That actors don't need to have to compete with music and singing that's playing while they're talking. I mean, have you ever seen anything like that? I mean, it's. I think it's a first. I mean, it's. It was so idiotic. I don't know where people get these ideas. I think they're being creative.
- [39:18]
James Marino
All right, so Bent is playing at the studio theater up on 8th Avenue. There's one show left on February 7th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes, so you can check it out.
- [39:31]
Michael Portantier
And also it's 528th Avenue, which is the. A lot of people may know as the building where Ripley Greer is located.
- [39:39]
James Marino
Oh, one of the. Ripley Greer.
- [39:42]
Peter Felicia
Yeah. Well, yes.
- [39:43]
Michael Portantier
Right, yeah. Yes.
- [39:45]
James Marino
Yeah, that's. That's a whole industry now know Ripley Greer is a whole industry within itself.
- [39:51]
Michael Portantier
Yes.
- [39:52]
James Marino
All right. There was something else I was going to say. Oh, the. Even if you can't make it into town, the Outplay, the link that I put in the show notes, you can check out more from Outplay and download the Playbill and things like that. So tons of great information there. There. I. One of the other things that I forgot to ask you guys about before we started, and I'm imagining that the answer is no here, but have you seen the movie Emilia Perez?
- [40:31]
Peter Felicia
In fact, I have. In fact, I have.
- [40:34]
James Marino
You have, Peter?
- [40:36]
Peter Felicia
Yeah. And that's surprising.
- [40:37]
James Marino
Yeah, well, it's sort of surprising, but it's a movie musical that is nominated for an Academy Award and has caught a lot of buzz and has divided people into lovers and haters.
- [40:53]
Peter Felicia
Which side of the coin are you sure has.
- [40:56]
James Marino
Which side of the coin are you on for Emilia Perez?
- [41:00]
Peter Felicia
I hate to say this, but I'm in the middle.
- [41:03]
James Marino
Ah.
- [41:04]
Peter Felicia
Frankly, it seemed we talk about plays with music. This really seemed to me a film with music rather than a musical film. There are stretches that are as long as the sequence in 1776 where there's no music. So it's very easy to forget it's a musical because the songs come so infrequently. But otherwise I. I was taken by it and moderately interested in what was going on, and I think was handled with great taste and style. But I could have turned it off at any time and not felt that I missed very much of anything. So it wasn't compelling and it wasn't terrible. So I. I hate to sound wish washy, but that's the way it struck me.
- [41:52]
James Marino
Okay, Michael, any thoughts about seeing Emilia Perez before the Academy Awards?
- [41:59]
Michael Portantier
Well, I feel I should see it just because of the reaction that it's gotten in the nominations.
- [42:06]
Peter Felicia
It doesn't seem like it. It should have gotten 13. It's 13, right? I don't. It doesn't seem to me like a 13 nominated film that. That struck me as excessive. So I guess if I'm wishy washy, I guess I would give it six and a half nominations.
- [42:23]
Michael Portantier
And parenthetically, this would probably be a good place to mention that the movie of the Kiss of The Spider Woman is just open, right?
- [42:32]
James Marino
Oh, yeah, yeah. Festivals.
- [42:35]
Michael Portantier
And from what I've read, very mixed reactions, but I would say mixed to positive.
- [42:42]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [42:42]
Michael Portantier
And. And some raves. So that I'm definitely going to check out.
- [42:50]
James Marino
That's JLo.
- [42:51]
Michael Portantier
That is JLo.
- [42:53]
James Marino
It is. So. And our friends, for those who are not into cultural memes, Jennifer Lopez is the actor.
- [43:03]
Michael Portantier
Yes. Oh, thank you. Thank you.
- [43:07]
James Marino
The formerly formerly married to lots of people. Is she currently married to somebody? Did she.
- [43:17]
Peter Felicia
I never know.
- [43:17]
James Marino
Back together with Matt Ben?
- [43:21]
Peter Felicia
No idea.
- [43:22]
James Marino
No. Yeah.
- [43:24]
Michael Portantier
And our friend. Our friend Giuseppe Bosilio, who's been on our podcast, is in it as one of the prisoners. This is his first movie, so that's exciting for him.
- [43:39]
James Marino
Excellent. First of many. Excellent. Also in the news this week, we had a press release that the Lost Boys is going to be the next tenant at the Palace Theater come spring of 2026, which I found was a really, really odd announcement because it. It's so far into the future. And why would the palace lock itself up for a year, for more than a year, unless there's going to be some. A few limited productions going in there. But that. That's really, really odd. But we knew that the Lost Boys was coming. It had been talked about for a while, so. And they had some industry readings and things like that. Did either one of you go to the industry readings or see or have any buzz or get any listens to it?
- [44:43]
Peter Felicia
Nope. All news.
- [44:45]
Michael Portantier
No, no, but I. James Carpinello has recently been in Little Shop of Horrors as the Dentist. And I interviewed him for that and he talked about that, but he talked a lot about the Lost Boys. He's very excited as one of the producers, the three main producer actor people we know as actors. James Carbonello, Marcus Chait and Patrick Wilson. Yeah, I wonder if they. I wonder if they got interested in this years ago when they thought they might play those roles, you know, But I mean, I'm just speculating and let's see. New musical will feature direction by Michael Arden, who is hot, hot, hot at the moment and very deservedly so. Parade and maybe happy ending, etc. Book by David Hornsby and Chris Hawk. Music and lyrics by the Rescues, which I'm not familiar with, but music supervision by Ethan Ethan Pop. Sorry. And choreography by Lauren Yolango Grant and Christopher Cree Grant. Based on the Warner Brothers film of the same title, the 1987 supernatural horror comedy, directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Richard Donner, follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, only to discover that the town is a haven for vampires. The film won the award for best horror film by the Academy of Science fiction. Fantasy and horror films spawned a franchise that included two sequels and two comic book series. So even though I don't know what the Lost Boys is, a lot of other people do.
- [46:48]
James Marino
Yeah. So going one direction from the screen to the stage, we have stage to the screen of Hadestown is going to be filmed in London with many of the original Broadway cast principals.
- [47:04]
Peter Felicia
What a wonderful thing. I mean, how often does that happen so many years after the fact? That's really great.
- [47:10]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [47:11]
Michael Portantier
You know, and needless to say, they're doing it in London because it's so much cheaper and easier to arrange to, you know, I guess because of union contracts. Think of all the one similar things that have come from London. There was that, that video capture of the King and I. You know, basically the Lincoln center production of the King and I. But they had to wait, you know, till it went to London to make it feasible to film it or video it.
- [47:46]
James Marino
And this week Cult of Love is closing on Broadway and the announcement that they're making Cult of Love into a movie. They haven't talked about casting or anything if it's gonna. If they're gonna bring their Broadway or if they're gonna put a camera up and film it on stage or what. They haven't really said details of how Cult of Love is happening, but it is seemed to be happening. And as Matt Taminini pointed out on Today on Broadway, many of the people on the Broadway stage in the last few months are film and television stars in their own right. So I wonder if they're just going to pick up that castle guest if they're available and. And do that. So we'll find out more about that as it comes to fruition. And then finally there was this production of Peter Pan in Boston that Michael, you wanted to tell us about. The reviewers did something. What happened there?
- [48:47]
Michael Portantier
Oh yeah, Don Okoyne o'clock. How does he pronounce it? Reviewed the. The show and he. It was a. I would say a mix to negative review. But there was a couple of things in it that. That kind of pissed me off. One paragraph begins the so so score by Carolyn Lee lyrics and more Morris Moose Charlot music makes you think about how much better it could have been if the great Julie Stein, credited with additional music, had been the primary composer. Ditto for the legendary team of lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, credited with additional lyrics along With Adolf's daughter Amanda Green in the hands of Condon and Green, there would have been more snap, crackle and pop to the lyrics. Well, you know, we can speculate, who knows. But I, I, I once did the research to determine who wrote which songs for Peter Pan and they're not necessarily the what you would guess, but I entirely.
- [50:07]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, yes.
- [50:08]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. But also I, I, I, frankly I, I really like both. Both. I mean, Carolyn Lee should not be dismissed. I thoroughly agree and neither should most Charlots. So, so I thought that was an odd reaction of the reviewer. And then what's, then there's this, this, this version is rewritten, I guess with a nod towards political correctness with a new book or a revised book by Larissa Fast, because Native Americans, or I guess they would call them now, they're called Indians in the show are prominent characters. But. So according to this review, Wendy is restless and eager for adventure. She and her brothers and little, I'm sorry, she and her brothers need little prodding to join Peter on a journey to Neverland. Kudos to projection designer David Bengali, who brings video wizardry to the dreamlike sequence where Peter and the Darlings take flight. And to Paul Rubin, who choreographed the flying sequences. There they encounter Tiger Lily and her tribe who are allies to the Lost Boys in their never ending battle with a band of pirates. Cue the, cue the verbal and physical sword play. Well, that's not such a big change from the original because in the original version we're meant to think in the beginning that the Lost Boys are fearful of the Indians. But that changes rather quickly and they do in the original version they become allies and they do fight together against the pirates. So that is not, not such a big change as this review seems to be making it out to be. And I don't know if I will get to see this production. I don't know where it's where if at all it's planning to go after Boston. Does anyone know?
- [52:36]
Peter Felicia
No, but it has been around a great deal. I was actually at a rehearsal so I can say that the big change is that Ugga Wug, as you may have inferred, right, was dropped and Amanda Green substituted a song from Subways off of Sleeping Her Daddy and Betty Compton's musical that came some years later. The song comes once in a lifetime, has been had new lyrics and that's and that's what's in place now. So I have to say I didn't think that the book was profoundly changed. It seemed pretty much business as us to me, a young man is playing Peter Pan, which is, I think, always welcome. And so I know that the one who has been playing it has had to leave. He, he, has, he got a TV spot or something like that. So I don't know who you, um, who wound up in Boston. I wasn't sure if the replacement had come in or if indeed the replacement is still being readied right now. But, um, anyway, if Peter Pan comes to your city, you're going to see a different Peter Pan than the one that started the tour.
- [53:48]
James Marino
That wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser and our musical moment, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to 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 view. Of course, you don't have to get us an Apple podcast. There's many ways ways you can get us. One of the ways is Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio is one way that you can get all of our broadcasts early and support all the Broadway radio shows. Jan Simpson also had a new all all the drama come out this week, so take a listen to that. It'll be out to the public next week. Contact information for Peter for Michael and Me could be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain teaser?
- [54:46]
Peter Felicia
In fact, I do. She never appeared on Broadway, but she did appear in the film version of a 50s play as well as the film version of a 50s musical. The play opened a mere 47 days before the musical and both were hits that ran over 500 performances. And yet the two shows had a far more famous person who was connected to both stage shows. Well, I'm talking about Nancy Kwan. She never appeared on Broadway at not yet. She's still with us. But she did do the films of Flower Drum Song and the World of Susie Wong. Now, of course, we know that Richard Rogers wrote music for Flower Drum Song, but he actually had a song in Susie Wong as well, the one that he had written with Lorenz Hart many years earlier. So Tony Janicki regained his usual first place spot, followed by Paul Witty, Sean Logan, J. Aubrey Jones, David Robinson and Brigadude. Okay, this week's question. Two musicals that opened 11 days apart in the early 60s. Each had an 11 o'clock number that mentioned a credit card. What are the shows, the songs and the credit cards?
- [56:01]
James Marino
Okay, if you have an answer for that, email us at trivia and broadwayradio.com will let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, you got a chance to see one of my favorite performers in the world, Harry Connick Jr. And so tell us about. This was a concert, right?
- [56:24]
Michael Portantier
Yes, it was a week of concerts in celebration of Cole Porter, who certainly is worth celebration. And Harry previously did a whole album of Cole Porter, which is fantastic. You should check that out if you can. And he. This is. I have not. I have seen very few pop concerts at the Met Opera House, but this was one of them. And it was quite a production. It wasn't just a concert. They had the orchestra, which I guess maybe was about 25 or 30 pieces roughly on a moving platform that started at the back of the stage and then moved down and then would move back at certain points. And then in addition to that, there were at least two set pieces, like wagons that rolled on. One was to indicate a New Orleans jazz club, and another one was a set of a hotel room room where Harry sang a couple of songs in that set. And then also on top of that, lots of projections, huge projections of, like, films on the back wall, which I. I turned to my friend and I said, you know, they spent a lot of money on this because that, that the film was not. I mean, it. It was. Isn't some little silly, inexpensive thing. It looked like it had pretty great production values. This film of Harry discovering this huge statue of Cole Porter and, like, going into it, and it was. It was really quite something. So people, I think, who went to this really got what they paid for. In addition to all the great music. It was not just a concert. It was a real production. Luke Hawkins was also involved as choreographer and. And a dancer. And he at one point did a tap dance with Harry. Apparently these two met some years ago when they did the Sting at Paper Mill. And I guess Harry really recognized that. Luke is a great talent. I've spoken of him many times. He performed at Jim Caruso's cast party many times. He. He also used to. I'm not sure if he still does it in the warm weather. He used to dance on the street. He would, you know, one of those, like, platforms. Yeah, yeah. No, he. But he would bring one of those, like, loose sight or whatever platforms to put on. On the, on the ground. You know, at the corner of, like, 43rd and 9th. And just tap dance and. And get money that way. So a lot of people knew him from that. And he. Yes. So now he has this alliance with Harry, and Harry seems to use him in everything he does now. So it was a wonderful concert with, as I said, a large orchestra, really great arrangements and orchestrations. Lots of songs you would expect to hear. Why can't you Behave? The sexiest version of why can't you behave that I've ever heard in the still of the night all of you Night and day Night and Day was really interesting because Harry broke it down for us and sat there, like, with a piano and was like, writing the orchestration and the arrangement in which we then saw projected on the screen. And he was talking about the steps that one takes in arranging and orchestrating a song. And he went through really, like, the first 12 measures or so doing that. And I find that fascinating. I hope the audience did as well. And then after that, he. Of course, he sang the whole thing. There was, as I said, a New Orleans section with a set that was a New Orleans jazz band playing. That's part of. That was part of the orchestra that usually travels with Harry and some of the other songs. Begin the Begin so in Love it's all right with Me, which is one of my absolute, absolute favorites. The sto. The strings in the orchestra Harry mentioned were from the Met Opera Orchestra. I guess he doesn't normally have strings in his orchestras, so he picked them up from there. And that was great. What else? Oh, well, there was an extraordinary thing that happened at the end of one number. There was. The orchestra had receded to the back of the stage and this. Lights were going down. And we heard a tremendous bang, like something really big had fallen. And. And then we saw the orchestra get up and get off the stage. And then the curtain came down. And then for several minutes, the house lights were brought up to half and no one said anything. And then Harry came out and said something like. He said, I'm sorry, we've had a mishap backstage. We will do everything possible to give you the end of the show. And then he said, just say a prayer that everyone is okay. Which, needless to say, really caused a stir in the audience, because what could that mean? So then about 10 minutes after that, the stage managers came on the mic and said, all right, we're about to begin again. And they started again and they did a number or two. And then Harry spoke to the audience again and said, I just Wanted you to know that everyone is okay. Later, afterwards, I found out through various sources that apparently, what I was told is that a huge lighting or projection unit fell to the floor and that if. And it was, like, within three feet of one of the musicians, so had had the platform, you know, not come back that soon or whatever. Somebody. I really, you know, I think somebody might have died. It was. It was incredible. It was incredible. Oh, and Harry also said, after. After he came back, he said, thanks to everyone here, you know, and we're glad to continue. He said, frankly, he said, I'm. I'm surprised that the Orch came back. He actually said that. So, you know, I mean, part of the problem is the Met, you know, they're used to doing their operas and they. And they have it down to a science as far as the sets and everything, but when you do something like this, you have to bring in all this equipment that's not normally there. And I guess there's just more possibility of something going wrong because there's less rehearsal and, you know, etc. So that was a huge relief for everyone, as you might imagine, and just certainly hope that nothing like that happened again. I believe the final performance is tonight. Maybe you could check that, James.
- [64:41]
James Marino
So there is two shows remaining on Sunday, February 2, and at 2pm and 7pm so as you're listening to this, you might be able to get over there to the Met Opera and see the 7pm Show.
- [64:55]
Michael Portantier
Recommended. And the tickets, if you're not too picky about where you sit, are remarkably affordable. I paid $25 for a box seat and it was fine. It was just. Just fine.
- [65:12]
James Marino
All right. So, Michael, why don't you tell us about our. This song we're going out. We came in on or we're going out on?
- [65:20]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, both. As I said, one of my absolute favorite Porter songs from Cancan, It's All Right With Me. I think most people feel that, like some other composers, that Porter was not as great in his later years as he was earlier. And I think, generally speaking, maybe that's true. But there were exceptions. And for example, in Cancan, you have It's All Right With Me, and you have I Love Paris and a couple other really good songs, but It's All Right With Me. It's just both the music and the lyrics, so, so wonderful. And Harry does it to. To a T. He just really has exactly the kind of voice that you want to hear in that song. So. Yeah. So our opener is the beginning of this song from his Cole Porter album. And the closer is the ending of it.
- [66:26]
James Marino
Okay, so on behalf of Michael Port Portentiere and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your Broadway radios this week on Broadway.
- [66:35]
Unknown Singer
Bye.
- [66:36]
James Marino
Bye.
- [66:36]
Peter Felicia
Bye.
- [66:37]
Unknown Singer
Girl, there's somebody I'm trying so hard to forget. Don't you want to forget someone, too? Well, wrong game and the wrong chips? Though your lips are tempest stink? They're the wrong lips? They're not her lips. They're such tempting lips. Some light. It's all right? It's all right? It's all right?
- [67:10]
Peter Felicia
All right?
- [67:11]
Unknown Singer
All right? It's all right? It's all right? Ooh, baby, baby? Shut up. Darling, it's all right with me?