James Marino (3:33)

Okay. Also with us is Jenna Tessa Fox. Jenna has written about theater for many publications including Playbill, Broadway World, timeout, and Howl Round. She's a member of the League of Professional Theater Women and the Drama Desk and is a contributor to Broadway Radio. Hello, Jenna.

Jenna Tessa Fox (3:52)

Good morning, James. How are you doing?

James Marino (3:54)

Doing well, thank you. Also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael is a theater reviewer and interviewer. 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 at shows at 54 below and the Laurie Beachman Theater and other venues. Hello, Michael.

Michael Portantier (4:23)

Hello.

James Marino (4:24)

And Michael, it's just 30 days or so before you spend an Evening with Charles Bush.

Michael Portantier (4:30)

Yes. And everyone's invited to the Laurie Beechman Theater. I guess this is becoming a series that we're, that we're doing there and evening with the first one was Sandy Duncan and the second one was Len Cariou. And of course, there's so many people that are worthy of these in live interviews with clips of their work and then maybe a song or two, which is what the program is going to be. But Charles was, I mean, certainly someone I've known for years and admired for years, and he was actually suggested specifically by Michael Dangoro, who's one of the owners of the, of the Lloyd Beechman in the West Bank. So I asked Charles and he was all for it. He seems very into it. He's got Jono Minelli, his frequent pianist, lined up. I don't know yet what he's singing, but we'll save that as a surprise what Charles is singing. And I think it's going to be. And it's only 25 tickets plus fees, which bring it up to like 31 and 2 cents. And then there was a 25 food and beverage minimum. But I think that's, you know, that's more than reasonable to be in the presence of Charles Bush and, and anyone who knows him, anything about him knows that he's worked with incredible people aside from his own great talents. And I'm sure he's got 3 million and 500,000 stories, so we'll get to some of them that night.

James Marino (6:12)

All right. We'll have a link to that in the show notes as well. So you can get right over to An Evening with Charles Bush. So the three of you? I hope not at the same time because you know, the president, vice president, Secretary of State, shouldn't be in the same place at the same time. The good ones, not the evil. Not the evil ones. The good ones.

Michael Portantier (6:40)

Well, in a way it might be good if they were all in same place at the same time anyway, but we.

James Marino (6:48)

Yeah, that's a whole other podcast. Yeah, I suppose it is. So the three of you got over to Mud Dirt, which remarkably looks like City Center Stage 1, to see a production of Bigfoot. So Peter, why don't you get us started on Bigfoot?

Peter Marino (7:10)

Well, of course, when you go to see a show called Bigfoot the Musical, you have a preconceived notion of what you're going to see. Well, I think two shows come to mind for me. Both Bat Boy and Honk Honk is a musical we haven't quite seen here in New York. It won the Olivier Award over the Lion King many years ago in London and it's a musical version of the Ugly Duckling. Well, okay, the thing with Bigfoot is you do expect it's going to be one of those so bad it's good musicals that, that it's a great opportunity for people who hate musicals to come and mock musicals, that type of thing. Not quite. Now the reason Bat Boy I mention is because when I went to Bat Boy, I was really charmed by the fact that once Bat Boy got into the the house where he was going to be staying, that he worked so hard, so hard indee learn and be a better person. I mean, it was just you really cared for him. He got so frustrated when he didn't get something right. And so that was great. Now here Bigfoot is quite self actualized, quite intelligent, with a tremendous vocabulary and he's a guy who wants to help people and that's really very impressive. But of course, because he doesn't look like everybody else, indeed the town people fear him. You do fear what you don't know. And that's what's going on here. So while it seems like it's going to be a stupid show, it really isn't. I'm not saying that it captured my heart or anything like that, but it didn't turn out to be the insulting your intelligence musical than I expected. Ray Henson, who has done some fine work, was really such a great leader as well as a leading man in Elf not so long ago, is very, very fine. Of course, he does resemble Bert Lahar's famous Cowardly Lion. The suit is pretty much the Same, but he really navigates very well. And the rest of the cast is quite fine too. So if somebody says to you, let's go see Bigfoot the Musical, you could do worse. You could.

James Marino (9:42)

Okay. Michael, what did you think of Bigfoot?

Michael Portantier (9:46)

Well, a show that came to mind for me while I was watching Bigfoot was Toxic Avenger. You know, I mean, it's, it's that same kind of sensibility, you know, and there's a lot of shows that, in that same vein when you think about it. But to me, there's a great variance in terms of quality of the writing. And unfortunately, this one, as far as the score, I would say reminded me much more of, unfortunately, the Silence musical. Silence of the Lambs musical, which I thought was one of the worst scores I've ever heard in my life, as opposed to, you know, certainly Bat boy, which is 3 million times better as far as the quality of the score. And I seem to remember Toxic Avenger having a pretty good score as well. I'm sorry to say. I thought, and I'm a little surprised, you know, Peter didn't focus on it, but the lyrics here are just, just. I mean, there was one point where, you know, I never heard the songs before and someone was singing and they sang a line, and obviously it was the way the line was set. There was going to be a rhyme coming, like a big rhyme coming to, you know, and the, the word that appeared was not even close to a rhyme. And, and not only that, but it seemed to me like in, in, in most cases it would have been so easy, just a little more effort to come up with a, a line that rhymed, you know, a word that rhymed. So I, I don't think that much effort was put in here. And if it was, then I, I just think it was not, not very productive. Ironically, though, the, the book. So the lyrics are credited to Amber Ruffin, the book, Amber Ruffin and Kevin Shiretta. I think the book was quite good overall and far superior to the lyrics. So for whatever that's worth, I thought there was a lot of talent. I'm a huge Gray Henson fan. I think he makes the show. It would not be enjoyable at all if, if someone not as talented as he were in the part, but he is really something special. And then a lot of other good people. Crystal Lucas Perry, Jade Jones, Katerina Crimmin, Alex Moffat and Jason Tam as the Doctor. I thought he was one of the best performers in it. I, I, you know, I really loved Danny Mefford's direction of the current production of 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. As I have said here, I thought he let some of the actors maybe go a little over the top, and that, to me, was counterproductive. Particularly Alex Moffat, who I've liked in many things in the past. But he was the mayor here playing the mayor, and I thought he was just so over the top. You know, mustache twirling, villain and a lot of screaming. A lot of screaming in this show. I was surprised at that because the spelling bee is not performed that way at all. And there's certainly a lot of room for caricature in that show if it was misdirected. So that was a disappointment to me. And the score was a tremendous disappointment. But Gray Henson is really. He is one of our best comic actors, and he has such a sweetness about him that has been evident in this show and in Shucked and certainly an elf. So, yeah, I think he's going to be around for a long time, and I hope to see him in many, many other things in the future.

James Marino (13:52)

All right, Jenna, what did you think?

Jenna Tessa Fox (13:54)

Well, I largely agree. Yes. Thank you for bringing up Shut Michael, because that was. Of course, everyone is going to think about Bat Boy. Understandably. To me, this was Bat Boy crossed with Shuck. Sorry. The humor is dumb, it's corny, but I will say I had a really good time at the show. Sometimes dumb, corny humor is exactly what you need. For the first few scenes, I'll admit I was rolling my eyes. And then once I started getting into it, I was just cackling. And at some points, I was laughing through scene changes into the next moment because some dumb line from late in one scene just kept me laughing that long. There is nothing deep here. The script does try to have its more poignant moments. I will say the poignant moments don't really land that much. But Amber Ruffin's book is what really shines here. The jokes are fast and constant. If they don't always land as well as they could, that's okay. The next one is five seconds away. I agree with Michael. The lyrics are not great. Schmoll's music is fine. Somewhat forgettable. The book is the star here. And I agree. Gray Henson is the star here. Absolutely hilarious as Bigfoot. And he looks as though he's just having a blast up on that stage. And that, that enthusiasm, that joy is just infectious. Got excellent comic timing, beautiful singing voice. I'm so glad to see them getting really great leading roles like this. The rest of the cast is also excellent. Crystal Lucas Perry is very, very funny as Bigfoot's adoring mom, Francine. Most of the actors play multiple roles in the show and they do great work jumping from part to part, from scene to scene. Especially Jade Jones, who just steals every moment they're on stage in a wide range of roles. One scene, they have a fight with two characters, both played by Jade Jones, get into an argument and they just jump back and forth from one side to the other. To have this dialogue. It's dumb, but it's funny. It was just really brilliant. I agree about Danny Mefford's direction. It's fast and it's funny. It's not terribly deep, but, you know, neither is the book, so that's fine. The choreography is also fine. Not particularly memorable. Alejandro Sr's music direction really does a nice job involving or evoking sorry, 80s synth sound. It sometimes sounded a little bit too smooth and processed. I don't know if that was because of soon he kills sound design or if that's just the sound they were going for. That very, I don't know, canned 80s vibe. And the show does take place in the 80s, so maybe that's very deliberate. Tim Maccabee's set makes really good use of the City Center Stage 1. It works well with Mexli Cousin's lighting. Ricky Reno says costumes, yeah, they deserve a lot of praise, especially when the actors are jumping from part to part from scene to scene. And the costume for Henson is especially brilliant. And bless Henson, because that has to be hot up there under those lights in this full body enveloping costume that just. How do you breathe wearing something like that and dancing. It was very impressive. It's a dumb show. It's. But it's funny. And if you just need a laugh, you need to get the tension out. This is a fun 90 minute escape. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was walking out humming Mud, Dirt, mud, dirt. Oh, dumb, but God, it's funny.

Michael Portantier (17:59)

I would think that Gray Henson's costume must have cost a lot. It looks fantastic.

Peter Marino (18:05)

Does.

Jenna Tessa Fox (18:05)

Yes. Yeah. And like I said, just really impressed with how quickly the actors were able to jump from role to role. Sometimes just walking off stage one brief moment and then walking back on a moment later as a completely different character. Really effectively done. I enjoyed myself and, you know, it's been a hell of a week. It was good to see something that just made me laugh and forget about everything for 90 minutes.

James Marino (18:35)

So Bigfoot is at City Center. It is scheduled through April 26, 2026. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. I. I get very concerned about losing Gray Henson to a television show. No, you know, no. Yeah, it seems like must not happen. Yeah. I hope it doesn't happen for us, but. But I would understand. You know, it seems that, you know, there are some people that were able to keep coming back.

Michael Portantier (19:07)

Yeah. Like Jesse Tyler Ferguson. He can follow that path.

James Marino (19:11)

Exactly.

Jenna Tessa Fox (19:12)

This is acceptable. I will take it.

James Marino (19:15)

Okay. So, Jenna, you spent some time at the Laura Pels hanging out with some Chinese Republicans.

Jenna Tessa Fox (19:25)

I did, yes.

James Marino (19:27)

So tell us about it.

Jenna Tessa Fox (19:28)

So, yeah, this is Alex Lin's new play. Alex Lin is an up and coming new writer. The piece really tries to be a lot of things at once, and unfortunately, it isn't quite great at any of them. The play follows four women, three Chinese Americans and one Chinese immigrant, who work at a big Investment bank in 2019. They are all very ambitious, they are ruthless, and they're all very different from one another. So you would expect that these women would support one another as they try to climb metaphorical ladders, as they try to break through metaphorical glass ceilings. But it largely follows how antagonistic they are to one another. They're from different generations, they have roots in different parts of China, and they tend to focus on their differences rather than their similarities. And this could make for really compelling drama. But unfortunately, Lyn makes her characters rather two dimensional. They snipe at each other, they criticize each other, and their reactions to each new development in the story become really predictable. Fairly early on, one of the characters begins to change her perspectives on the business world. And Lynn, yeah, Lynn makes it very clear where her sympathies lie, rather than exploring some nuance and complexity of being minority women in the business world. And Lyn also occasionally shifts the play into absurdism and farce. And the shifts in tone just don't serve the story very well. And it's a shame because this really could have been a fascinating piece. A nuanced exploration of these women and their connections to each other. Their lives in the business world could have been really thought provoking. Chey Yu's direction is also rather uneven, especially when the tone of the play shifts from real to surreal. Similarly, several of the performers deliver their lines in exactly the same way, the same cadence, which makes me wonder how much space they had to develop their characters. The cast does their best with the uneven material. Jennifer Akita does really good work as the main character and does a nice job of balancing the character Ellen's ambitions with her frustrations and her sense of loss with everything she's had to sacrifice. Anna Zavilson also does really good work as Katie, the young up and comer, although her character is arguably the most cartoonish of the lot. Jelly Lee and Jody Long get less to do as the co workers. Ben Langhorst gets some cute moments late in the show, but doesn't have an awful lot to do. Wilson Chin's set design and Hannah Kim's projection design and Jeanette Oisuk Yu's lighting design work really nicely together they convey time and place, reality versus surreality. Anita Yavich's costume design convey class and background for the different characters. So those elements are very effective. I really hope Alex Lynn comes back to the piece and works on this a bit more because there's some really good material to work with, but the piece just isn't there yet and it could use another draft or two, but I think there's really something worth mining here.

James Marino (23:08)

Okay, Chinese Republicans over at the Laura Pels Roundabout Theater Company's Off Broadway space is running through April 5th, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you got to see the Unknown with Sean Hayes. So tell us about this.

Michael Portantier (23:28)

Yeah, I don't have much to add with to what Jan said when she reviewed the show a week or two ago. This is a one man show showcase for Sean Hayes. So even more of a showcase, I guess, in that sense than, than when he played Oscar Levant on Broadway. And it's by David Kale is the playwright and the director is Lee Silverman. And Sean Hayes plays a writer who goes off to a remote cabin somewhere to write with no distractions. So that includes no WI fi and no phone signal, no phone service. He makes that clear from the very beginning. So, you know, we know that's a setup for something. And oddly enough, I was surprised while watching the show. He's only at that remote location very, very briefly. You would think if you're gonna put someone in a location like that with no communication, you might have them stay there because the, the, the opportunities for creepy things happening are, are so abundant. But no, he, he leaves almost immediately because he's alone in the cabin and he's, he's going to try to write. And he suddenly hears a, a male voice outside, presumably outside the, the cabin somewhere, singing a song that he himself had, had written. This writer named Elliot played by Sean Hayes. So of course he's very, very unnerved by that, but he's unable to find the source of the song. And then he comes back immediately to New York because he's so spooked by the, by the, by the occurrence. And then a lot of, a lot of plot happens in the course of this 75 minute play. He, he meets a guy at the gay bar, Julius, down in the Village, that, that landmark gay bar. And the guy immediately, you know, the audience is going to question what is going on, you know, with this person. And then all these cases of unsure identity start to happen. And as I think I've said before, I, you know, I, I think it's fine to have ambiguity. And especially in something like a thriller or a mystery play, you know, not everything needs to be spelled out. And I think it's usually more effective if not everything is spelled out. But there comes a point where things become so confusing that to me, again, it's just a negative rather than a positive. And I think that's the case here. So Sean Hayes does a phenomenal job of playing multiple characters, including a pair of twins, although we're not sure if they're actually a pair of twins. That's one example of what I'm talking about. And you know, he, he is very charismatic and he's obviously proven himself to be a, an excellent stage actor. So I hope he, he's another one who keeps coming back. I guess he's not, I'm, I'm not sure yet. As we, as we all know, I watch very little tv. I don't know if he has a current recurring TV job. I don't believe so. But either way, I, I, you know, I, I, I hope we keep seeing him and I think we will.

James Marino (27:25)

Okay, so the Unknown with Sean Hayes at Studio Seaview is running through April 12th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you are over at Western Connecticut State University where you saw our production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. So why don't you tell us about this?

Peter Marino (27:44)

This is my third visit to the school to see main stage productions of Allegro, Sunday in the park with George, and now Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Ironically enough, this is the fourth time I've seen the show. I saw the Broadway production, I saw the British production, I saw a dinner theater production in Munster, Indiana, and now here I am in Connecticut seeing it again. Now the thing is that the Broadway production was very muddled. It certainly had star power. Patti LuPone was in it, Danny Burstein was in it, Laura Benanti was in it. Really, it should have been wonderful. Bart Luchir had directed it, but boy, was it muddled and one of those things where you didn't know where to look. And what was so impressive when I saw it in London, Bart Lashear directed again, but completely reimagined what he had done. And it's so nice when the director looks at something and says, okay, maybe I did the wrong thing. I guess I did do the wrong thing, so it's time to do the right thing and I'll do it completely different. Now, one of the reasons it went in London too, had to do with the fact that it is a slamming door farce, when you come right down to it. That type of. And of course, the English thrive on that type of show. So. But while we're talking about thriving, let's talk about the direction by Justin P. Cowan and the choreography by M.K. lawson, which was really magnificent. Now, the thing is, you may not know about this school. I mean, after all, it may not be so famous as so many other musical theater schools, but here at Western Connecticut State University, they've really developed a tremendous program. And one of the great things to know about it is if you live in the Tri State area, it's a very good deal economically. So pay attention to that. This is in Danbury, Connecticut, very close to the New York state line, and they have a theater that could pass for a Broadway theater with a tremendously large stage and, and a balcony even. So, I mean, really, this is a very impressive place. But of course, the play is the thing and the production's the thing. And here it was a top notch production. Now, I have to say that I don't know to whom I can give praise because there are so many people in this program, they had to double cast it. And the playbill simply talked about the cast known as Gazpacho and the cast known as Matador. Because Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown certainly takes place in the part of the world where those two things are very relevant. So in case you don't know the story, Peppa has been running around with Ivan, who's been cheating on her, and she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I mean, anything. And it's astonishing to watch the original movie and watch her inadvertently set fire to a bed. And for the longest time, just look at the bed burning before she does anything to put out the fire. I mean, this lady's quite. When she's angry at a telephone boy that goes through the window and it shatters. I mean, and a real problem is people are coming to look at the apartment to rent it. So you want the best foot forward when you. When you're going to rent an apartment. So. And they come in, they see a burnt bed and a broken window. I mean, really not a. Not a good thing. There are a lot of coincidences here. The people who show up to rent the apartment certainly have quite a history with Pepper, even though she and the people involved did not know that. There's also a great, great situation involving Candela, who is Pepper's very good friend. Now in the movie, she is very upset and she calls Pepper and leaves, you know, maybe three or four messages on the answering machine. David Yazbeck wrote the score, went to town with that idea, and came up with a very, very, very, very astonishing song that involves many more, many more than just a few messages. So Model Behavior is the name of the song. To call it a song is. Is a very strange appellation to this thing because really, when you come right down to it, it's. It's a musical scene, a one person musical scene. It. It's not a song you're going to wind up humming because it's fragments. Because she's leaving messages and Pepper is simply going from one to the other. She doesn't really care. She's got her own problems. But the problems that indeed Candela has will certainly turn relevant to the show as well. So it's that type of crazy show, but boy, did these kids do it. Well. Did I see Zoe Nieland or Isabella Venore as Peppa? I don't know, but whoever it was, it was terrific. The voice on Ivan, was it Carlos Perez? Was it Max Weatherhold? I don't know. The Taxi Driver. The Taxi Driver has a small part in the movie but a much bigger part in the musical. And I. I'm pretty sure I saw Max Conidaris doing. They do have pictures of the cast and of course, people and have the pictures that they don't necessarily look like the people they're playing on stage because of makeup and what have you. So I'm pretty sure because I thought I overheard somebody call her by name, Yasmin de Jesus as Candela. But if I'm wrong, I apologize to Chanel Jamie Guzman, who. But again, how you can even memorize this piece of material is just astonishing to me.

Michael Portantier (33:17)

So call Laura Benanti and ask her how she.

Peter Marino (33:19)

That's right. Yeah, we're still speaking. I've been nice to her. So sure. Natalie Kitchen or Zyga played Lucia, who's Ivan's wife of long standing and certainly Has a number of opinions and wants to take action here. So wonderfully staged. It never stopped being terrific. And again, this is not that far out of the city. And I really think we should pay attention to this university. I think it's going to be a major player as time goes on at the moment. Certainly. I don't know about the moment. It may have closed, but the I Wish My Wife Life were like a musical, had Tyler Gallagher in it, and he's a graduate from that school. So. So they're getting out there, and I'm delighted with their success. And I do expect we're going to really, really see them emerge the way, you know, a few years ago, Baldwin Wallace was a school that had a musical theater program. Okay, fine. Good luck to them. And boy, they've become a major player in a short period of time. So it's really great when this happens. And I do expect great things from this university as time goes on.

James Marino (34:34)

Peter, forgive me if I missed this. Did you say which date you were there?

Peter Marino (34:40)

Yesterday? Yesterday afternoon.

James Marino (34:42)

So it was the 28th. So on the website it says it was the Matador cast.

Peter Marino (34:48)

Oh, is that right? Okay, so good for you for noticing that.

James Marino (34:53)

Cast. Matador with. Oh, names. I'm gonna blow these names.

Peter Marino (34:59)

Oh, I know, I know, I know.

James Marino (35:04)

Ivan was Maxwell Weatherhole.

Peter Marino (35:07)

Yeah. But, you know, I have to say this, too. I did hear that, like, somebody was sick and somebody had to take over. Sure. You know, so why don't we just leave it as it is and hope that we use these names in the future for wonderful professional gigs.

James Marino (35:26)

So who's the head of the department there?

Peter Marino (35:31)

The guy who directed. Yes, indeed. Justin P. Cohen is his name. And I'm not going to be so specific here, but I will say that we talked afterwards and he's thinking of doing, not next year, but the year after a big hit show from the 1950s. And. And it'd be fun to see if he can do it. So it's a show that was very topical at its time, and everything that comes around, goes around, etc. So it. It may very well surface and be topical again, though who knows what's going to happen in two years? But anyway, I'm not going to tell you what it is because it not set in stone by any stretch of any imagination. But it's nice to see a young man looking to the 50s and saying, oh, this would be a good show for us.

James Marino (36:26)

All right, Women on the Verge of the Nervous Breakdown playing at West Rep Stage at Western Connecticut State University. We'll have a link to that in the show notes the last performances this afternoon. Be tough to get to it.

Peter Marino (36:42)

Maybe next year. Maybe next year.

James Marino (36:45)

All right. So Jenna, you were over at the Lucy Lortel to see Data. Michael and Peter have spoken about this, but what's your take on Data?

Jenna Tessa Fox (36:57)

Yes, yeah, Michael and Peter already talked about Matthew Libby's new play. Jan Simpson had a wonderful interview with the playwright himself. I don't need to add an awful lot to their raves, but of course after the play I emailed James saying I have thoughts once again. You must be so tired of those emails. I'm sorry. But yes, I definitely had thoughts. I was wandering around the West Village in a bit of a daze for a while after getting out of the Lucille Lortel the play is frighteningly timely and Libby just so skillfully addresses the issues that he raises. And by now I'm sure everyone knows the play looks at the intersection of technology and ethics when young computer programmers or engineers I'm not sure quite what their title would be when they learn that the technology they're developing is going to be used for some morally ambiguous purposes. And what makes the play really effective is how Libby gives every character very good reasons for why they're doing what they're doing. It would be so easy to make some characters evil and greedy and power hungry and make others naive and clueless, but Libby does really great work, making them very nuanced and complex. They all believe that they are doing the right thing, and even if they have qualms, they find some justification to quiet those qualms. It's terrifying and it's really believable, and I think that's what makes the play just hit so hard. It would have been so easy to make the characters into caricatures, but Libby fleshes them out beautifully. I really recommend listening to Jan Simpson's interview with Libby. It's fascinating and you get to hear how the story was developed, which was wonderful. Tyne Rafaeli's direction is very tight. It keeps the energy up. She also finds some really nice moments to let the tension dissipate a little bit. I think that helps the drama just build very effectively. The cast is also excellent, as Peter and Michael already said. Sophia Lillis has already established herself in film and tv. She proves here she's got great stage presence as well. Karin Brar is just quietly devastating in the lead role of Maneesh. Forgive Me. He makes the characters conflict very sympathetic and moving. Brandon Flynn and Justin H. Min also make their supporting charact very Compelling, balancing their ambition with their humanity very effectively. Marsha Ginsburg's set is also really effective in conveying a range of locations with fairly few changes from scene to scene, even though most scenes take place in very different locations. Amit Chandrashakar's lighting does a lot to emphasize the mood, especially as the stakes get higher as the play goes on. One detail I really liked was the lined with these lights that flicker like fiber optics. And it gave the set a really cool high tech, postmodern vibe that fit the story very nicely. I really agree. This show deserves a transfer to Broadway. I hope it gets one. Given the small cast and as we've seen, a fairly uniform set that can serve a lot of different locations. Well, I think this play could do really beautifully in regional theaters as well, and I hope it does because I really hope people see the play. I hope it sparks a lot of very important conversations. Like I said, it's incredibly timely and the more people see it and discuss it, the better.

James Marino (40:59)

Okay, so data at the Lucy Lortel is scheduled through March 29th and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you were over 54 below to see your friend Christine Petty in the Wicked Stage Songs about show business. So tell us about this.

Michael Portantier (41:20)

Yes, the aforementioned Christine Petty, who be in Peter's show tomorrow night. She is a frequent presence on cabaret stages. You know, every Christmas she does a show called Snow Business. And I saying the obvious, I said to her the other night, well you should have called this one that because it was right after. Right, right after the latest wizard, you know. But no, the Wicked Stage is, is a wonderful series of shows that she does featuring songs about show business and in all its incarnations. And she's had wonderful people in the past performing with her. In this case the wonderful people included Alice Ripley in excellent voice. Had not seen or heard her on stage in quite some time. So it was a real pleasure to see her. And the amazing, unique, one and only Jackie Hoffman and the incredibly talented John Riddle and A.J. shively. So it was a wonderful, really wonderful night of songs about, as I say, songs about show business. And one thing I will say is, and this is something I've encountered too, I, you know, I know these one nighters, you know, one can't expect them to have as much rehearsal as a, you know, as a regular show. But I do find a lot of lyrical paraphrasing in these shows including you know, frankly in some of my own. Some people have done that and you don't Want to be too hard on them because again, they're, they're making very little money and there are not many rehearsals. But it does make me a little sad when a wonderful lyric gets changed a little bit and for the worse, which is almost always the case. For example, two examples here. Or let me just give one example. Someone sang the wonderful song the other side of the tracks from Little Me and the Lie. And, and it's about, it's about someone who's poor, imagining themselves being rich and above it all and one of the haves rather than the have nots. So at one point the character, well, it's in the show, it's Belle Poitrin and she sings, she's singing about these rich people and she sings, and the muscles keeping your nose up are the only muscles you tax, which is a great Carolyn Lee lyric. But here what we got was, and the muscles keeping your nose up are the only muscles you lack. So, yeah, yeah, so I, you know, I, I, I just wish that didn't happen so often in these kind of shows, but other than that, it was really terrific. And I, you know, I, I, I, I point that out. This is a very specific thing not to, not to indicate that it was not a wonderful, really fun evening overall. And as I, as I said, I acknowledge that it's, I've heard it in some of my shows as well, some shows that I produce. So I just would urge people to really try your best to sing the lyrics word perfectly because these were very talented people who put a lot of effort into it and, and you know, almost. Well, I think it goes without saying that what they wrote is probably going to be better with something else that you come up with by mistake. So, so just wanted to make that point.

James Marino (45:28)

Okay, so the Wicked stage is, as Michael mentioned, somewhat of a recurring thing. Michael, you were at the February 25th performance, was that correct?

Peter Marino (45:42)

Correct.

Michael Portantier (45:42)

Yes.

James Marino (45:43)

Yeah. So you can check out 54 Below's website and see they're pretty good at showing you when Christine Petty is going to be performing there, that it's a great, it's a great website because it cross references all the different shows that they have been in, they will be in and things like that. It's all great.

Michael Portantier (46:03)

Christine, by the way, sang two songs from Funny Girl and she was also in great voice. So, you know, I, I, I guess she's maybe a little past that role now, but she might have been a great, great Fanny Brice back in the day.

Jenna Tessa Fox (46:17)

Ah, yes,

James Marino (46:20)

Jenna, our friends over at Elevated Repair Service had A production of Ulysses. Yes, that was at the. The Public Theater. It is wrapping up, but we did want to talk about it because, you know, just like a good elevator, elevated repair service productions come and go, and you never know when they're going to show up again. So tell us what you think about this.

Jenna Tessa Fox (46:51)

Yeah. Now that Ulysses is in the public domain, just like Great Gatsby, it's ripe for adaptation. And just like Elevator Repair Service did with Great Gatsby, they take on the book as a book, which is kind of a neat gimmick, I should say. I have not read Ulysses. I'm just not that smart. So I cannot compare the adaptation to the original novel. And also, this was my first elevator repair service production, so I know I'm way behind. I'm truly sorry about that.

Peter Marino (47:25)

As best we can.

Jenna Tessa Fox (47:27)

I know. But I should have seen their other work, and I'm glad I got to see this one, though. But I can't compare it to Gat's or to their other work. So for the most part, the play follows the book as the performers read and recite James Joyce's text. So if you like James Joyce and you like the novel Ulysses, this will be a very good show to catch. A friend of mine who loves Joyce and loves the novel commented, he texted me that he really appreciated the balance of evoking but not illustrating the text, and I really love that analysis. There are a few points in the play when one of the performers, Scott Shepard, breaks character and explains what Joyce is doing in certain chapters of the novel. And I really appreciated those moments, especially since I'm not very familiar with the book and I don't know what to look or listen for. It clued me in on what to pay attention to. So I hope if the show continues evolving, they might add a few more moments like that. I really appreciated the guidance about what makes the story so beloved among literature fans and why so many people love the language that Joyce uses throughout the book. The cast. Oh, please forgive me if I mispronounce these names. Dee Basnol, Kate Benson, Maggie Hoffman, Vin Knight, Scott Shepard, Christopher Rashi Stevenson, Stephanie Weeks. They do very nice work in a range of roles. Midnight makes Leo Bloom. I'm so sorry. Leopold Bloom. Gosh, I keep getting that name wrong.

Michael Portantier (49:06)

There's so many.

Peter Marino (49:07)

We all do. We all do.

Michael Portantier (49:10)

Well, Leo is short for Leopold, isn't it?

Jenna Tessa Fox (49:13)

Right. Thank you, Mel Brooks. He makes Bloom very sympathetic. Maggie Hoffman does really beautiful work as Molly Bloom, especially in the final moments of the play, which I'll Be honest, I was really waiting for that first yes to drop because Love that speech. John Collins's direction, co direction and dramaturgy by Scott Shepard is kept at a fairly gentle pace. There were several moments where I thought things could have moved a bit faster. Dots. Scenic design is simple and effective. Rather reminded me of Rent in certain ways. Three large tables that gradually become a range of locations as the story goes on. Marika Kent's lighting could have been a bit brighter. It was sometimes hard to see what the performers were doing, especially when they moved upstage. But Matthew Deinhardt's projections, especially of the text as it scrolled by, it was really clever. I thought that was really effective. Also, this production is presented as 2 hours and 45 minutes. That's a damn lie. It's a solid 3 hours. Plan accordingly. I get really irritated when my lie.

Peter Marino (50:23)

I hate that.

Michael Portantier (50:24)

I hate that.

Jenna Tessa Fox (50:26)

Yes, it was a solid three hours. By 2 hours and 30 minutes, I was thinking, no. I said, no, I won't. No. It's a really compelling piece, especially for newbies to Joyce. I mean, and I have read other Joyce pieces that I preferred to Ulysses, which, again, I've just not been able to get through. But for fans of the story, I hope they can see it. I hope they enjoy it. And that, as with my friend who was really moved by it, I hope it. It touches them in a similar way that the book does.

James Marino (51:02)

Okay, so elevator repair service production of Ulysses. Ulysses, Odysseus is. Is that plural? Ulyssi public through March 1st. So that's today, that's this afternoon, and it is sold out. So even if you can get down there, you better have a ticket. So we'll have a link to that in the show notes. It's part of the. What was that, Michael?

Michael Portantier (51:39)

Have I not seen that? There is an upcoming new movie about the Odyssey.

Jenna Tessa Fox (51:46)

Oh, yes, there is.

Michael Portantier (51:48)

Yeah, I thought so. I'm not sure if it's out yet.

Jenna Tessa Fox (51:51)

That would be fun. Compare and contrast the new cinematic Odyssey with James Joyce's Ulysses.

James Marino (51:57)

Is it adapted by Bart Scher and Aaron Sorkin?

Michael Portantier (52:01)

I don't think so.

James Marino (52:03)

I just wanted to see if Michael would see it or not. So this is the Ulysses under the under the Radar festival. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Finally this morning, Peter, you were over on West 57th street, your old neighborhood, to see Masquerade. So did you wear a mask? Did you make a mask? Did you bring a mask? Did you get dressed up?

Peter Marino (52:41)

Well, I did bring my tuxedo. Yes, indeed. I thought that would be a good idea. They, they, well, they don't demand. I mean, they make it sound like a demand, but there were people there in conventional suits. But they do want you in black and white. So I, I, I followed direction and I did that. So this is at the old Lee's art shop on 57th street, which still has these art shop above the entrance. It's very hard to know that anything is playing there because the windows are all newspapered up, so there's no signage whatsoever that tells you a show is playing there. So they really want to keep this a secret in a very strange way. So you go in and you walk around quite a bit. Now, even though you walk around quite a bit, let me make it very clear that I doubt that you walk more than a minute at any time. Probably about 15 times you walk a minute. So for those of you who are a little afraid that you're going to be tuckered, it's not an arduous experience. Experience, not at all. It's very much like Sleep no More, if you went to that, because there are plenty of rooms you go into that have been very, very carefully appointed. I'm told the budget for this show was $25 million. And I have to say it looks at especially for the costumes, which are not quite the Phantom costumes that we saw at the Majestic Theater for all those years. Some are, yes, you will say. Oh, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, yeah, that's right, too. But for the most part, they seem to be new costumes. Now, the thing about this that's kind of interesting is the playbill insert. The playbill itself does not tell you who did these things. I had to go on the Internet to find out that the settings were by James Floor and Scott Pask, a name we know. The costumes by Emilio Sosa and the lighting by Ben Stanton. All three are terrific. Terrific. So they spent the money and it shows. I will tell you this. You do, you do wind up going all through this building and even to the point of which you go on the roof again for far less than a minute. But, baby, it's cold outside, you know, and I'm telling you. And there's this great mountain of snow that they had to plow so that you can get past it. So, but you do hear these songs, and I have to say that it really whetted my appetite for Phantom of the Opera once again. As soon as I came home, I put on the movie, and which is a handsome movie, there's no question. The movie takes a lot of grief and I, I can't see why, frankly. I think it's a very good representation of what it, it should do. And I also applaud the fact that the chandelier falls at the end of the show rather than the intermission, and it does here too. So, boy, I hope that's not a spoiler. I can't imagine that any people who I'm talking to right now don't know Phantom. But I have to say that the woman I took had no knowledge of Phantom whatsoever. And here's the thing. Yeah, and here's the thing I said to her afterwards, could you follow it? And she said, at the beginning I didn't think I was going to be able to, really. If you don't know the show, you may have a problem finding out who's what and what's going on, so on and so forth. So a very, very strong cast. Now it's. I, I don't know how it works, but they, they do let you in 15 minute intervals. I mean, I, I had a 7 o' clock ticket, but there was a 7:15 ticket, the 7:30 ticket. And I'm not sure if indeed the same people do the show as you go from room to room or if they have an alternate cast doing it. I know, but it really is a production that is very, very hard to imagine doing. And here's Diane Paulus doing it and doing it extraordinarily well. I mean, the, the traffic cop ism of the show is astonishing. And so it's not an inexpensive ticket, granted. And, and even though they didn't spend money on signage on 57th street, they certainly spent a lot of money. Money. So I think it's a terrific experience. I had a very fine time. It lasts a little over two hours, by the way. And, and you know, for all the talk about Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc. Etc. You know, because a lot of people don't like him simply because he's been so wildly successful and there's a lot of bad schadenfreude going on, you know, when he has a flop. But one really has to applaud the fact that there's so much imagination going on here. And we had heard for a long time when Phantom closed, it was only closing for a little while and was going to come back. That was the rumor. And to a degree it has. But you have to give them credit for not just doing a revival that's nuts and bolts as is. So, so I had a very good time and let me point out, the woman I took, Linda refused to go. And she refused to go. And she said she has a birthday party every year. She only has her female friends. The sign off front says no boys allowed with everybody's mate crossed out, picture crossed out. And so she gives out birthday presents every year to the people who show they don't give her presents. She gives them presents. And one of them was, you can go to see Masquerade with Peter. And that was the present. So that's how it happened. So. But after we both talked to Linda, she was, I think, a little disappointed that she didn't rise to the occasion and go to the show.

James Marino (58:45)

So, Peter, a few quick things. You were mentioning that you got to the roof and there was snow on the roof. This Phantom Masquerade production has been extended through July 19th. So it could be that you got to the roof and it would be 110 degrees. Which would you have preferred?

Peter Marino (59:11)

Oh, cold. I much prefer cold to heat. So. But of course, everybody's different. But. But if it's been extended that long, it will have been playing almost a year because its first preview was July 31st. It's amazing that it's so low key and yet people seem to know about it and they're going. I mean, there was no dearth of people.

James Marino (59:32)

The other part of it, it was famously the Phantom tours. Phantom, the opera musical tours that, that were somewhat launched, identical to the Broadway production, went through a reworking of the tour and cost cutting and things like that. So it's interesting that you say that they have spent a lot of money here, so you would think that they would have saved money on Masquerade. But I'm sure that if 25 million is an accurate number, then that is a good 10 times the cost of what it cost to mount the original Phantom.

Peter Marino (60:14)

Wow.

James Marino (60:16)

So that's interesting. And if 25 million, they would have to be profiting 500,000 a week to break even. So think about that. If they're running just about a year or so. And then the Phantom of the Opera movie did bring Patrick Wilson back to our our view. So we do like the Phantom of the Opera movie. If you're not a fan of the Phantom the Opera movie, one of my favorites is Sierra Boggess in the Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert hall, which is a 2011 filming that is available as well. So just Masquerade really is flying under the radar. But it is super expensive to attend.

Peter Marino (61:11)

Yeah.

James Marino (61:11)

So I thought about attending and I looked at those prices. And I was like, I, you know, I've seen Phantom a number of times. Yeah.

Peter Marino (61:20)

And I'm putting my kids through college.

James Marino (61:22)

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser 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 each and every time we have a new episode of this Week on Broadway be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us in Apple Podcasts. There's many ways to get us. One of the ways is Patreon P A T r e o n.com broadrayradio is one way to support all of the Broadway radio shows as well as get us a little bit earlier, get a few bonus episodes here and there. I think Matt Tammanini's Some Like It Pop just came out last week, a little bonus episode. Also, you can listen to Last week on Broadway on Patreon and the Broadway Grosses and the Week Ahead and things like that.

Michael Portantier (62:19)

That.

James Marino (62:20)

So there's a lot of info there. Contact information for Jenna, for Peter, for Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain Teaser?

Peter Marino (62:35)

I do. This musical that was set in the 1930s has a song whose title someone in the 1940s might say when greeting a group of people associated with the military. Now, I thought that was a tough question, so I gave a hint. The musical received only one Tony nomination, but that one nomination did result in a win. Okay, the musical was Floor of the Red Menace, for which Liza Minnelli was its only nominee and yet won a Tony. All right, the organization that I'm talking about, well, from 1942 to 1945, there was a group called Women Accepted for Volunteer Service that was more commonly known by its semi acronym, him Waves. And in Florida, Red Menace, there was a song called hello, Waves. So if you ran into the these women while walking down the street, you would say, hello, Waves. So that's the answer to the question. Tony Janicky vaulted back into first place with Sean Logan, Josh Israel Paul Witty, Lee Korn, Steve Sokoloff, newcomer Ray Uster and Ingrid Gammerman. This week's question, if future Tony winners Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ron Rifkin and Marianne Plunkett had attended a 1970s Tony winning musical. The first line of a second act solo just might resonate with them more than it would with most everyone else. What's the musical? What's the solo? What's the first line that would resonate with them? And why would it?

James Marino (64:07)

Hey, if you have an answer for this, email us@triviaroadrayradio.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?

Michael Portantier (64:18)

Well, I was online recently, I forget where it might have been, Facebook or some website that I go to, and someone just out of the blue posted a music video of Elaine Page singing Nobody side from Chess. This was the, you know, a music video done to the actual track from the concept album. And I had never seen it. So I wrote back and I said, wow, this is great. I, you know, I, I love that song. I love that track. But I had no idea there was a music video. And somebody wrote back. It was the 80s. There was always a music video. So sure enough, I looked it up and found three others from, you know, the same situation using the actual tracks from the concept album of Chess, the original recording. The other two are One Night in Bangkok, Murray Head and Company. And also, I know him so well, Elaine Page and Barbara Dixon. And then there was also another one which I was aware of, which is not so much a music video in the sense that all of those are with choreography and production values, but it's just a straightforward video of Tommy Corberg recording Anthem for the concept album. And it's obviously the same take you hear on the concept album. So it's phenomenal to just see this video of him recording that exact take. And it's, you know, the. With simple camera work going back and forth between him and the orchestra and the, and the ABBA guys in the, in the control room. So that, that is a great video. But then the other ones are just so wonderfully over the top with the choreography and the, the costumes and the, the hairstyles and, and all of that. So I've included links to all four of those videos in the show notes. But the two, we thought we would use it for our musical moments. The opener is Nobody side as sung by Elaine Page, and the closer is Anthem as sung by Tommy Corberg. So enjoy.

James Marino (66:43)

All right, so on behalf of Jennifessa Fox, Michael Portentier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much, Felicia to Broadway videos this week on Broadway. Bye Bye.

Jenna Tessa Fox (67:08)

How can I leave her?

James Marino (67:14)

Where would I start? Let man's heginations tear themselves

Peter Marino (67:27)

apart. My lands only borders lie around

James Marino (67:39)

my heart,

Peter Marino (67:43)

Sa.