This Week on Broadway for November 23, 2025: Chess

Summary

BroadwayRadio – This Week on Broadway for November 23, 2025: Chess, Spelling Bees, and Buzzy New Musicals

Date: November 23, 2025
Panel: James Marino (host), Peter Filichia, Michael Portantiere, Jan Simpson
Main Theme: This episode explores several notable Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, centering on the much-anticipated Broadway revival of Chess, with reviews and discussion of Little Bear Ridge Road, the 20th anniversary production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York, Tom Hanks’ new play This World of Tomorrow, the London transfer of Oedipus, Sweet Smell of Success in concert, and the cult favorite The Baker’s Wife. The panelists share frank, lively, and informed critiques, and celebrate standout performances throughout the current theatre scene.

---

Panel Introductions and Show Tune of the Day

• Show Tune: “Fran and Janie” from Is There Life After High School?
  • Peter Filichia highlights its “nostalgic and bittersweet” vibe, explaining its aptness due to many high school reunions occurring around Thanksgiving.
    • [02:00] “[It’s] both nostalgic and bittersweet and real. … Craig Carnelia was so underrated and we’ll hear more about him a little later.” — Peter Filichia

---

Chess: The Broadway ‘Revisal’ in The Spotlight

Context

• Panel Impressions: The group discusses the perennial attempt to salvage the show’s book, outstanding vocal performances, and the production’s overall value.

Peter Filichia’s Take [06:23]

• Admits to having seen Chess on “three continents.”
• Critiques the book: “There’ll never be a good book for Chess. … The political machinations made no sense to me at all.”
• Praises the music and performances, especially Lea Michele: “It’s just amazing to me how it seems that singing to her seems as natural as speaking or breathing out and breathing in.”
• Notes casting:
  • Aaron Tveit (“very good… certainly impressed by Nicholas Christopher as well”)
  • Bryce Pinkham as the narrator
• Observes the inconsistent use of accents and suggests “trips to the restrooms during the book scenes may be well advised.”

Jan Simpson’s View [09:28]

• First-time viewer of Chess: compares it in scale to an Encores! concert, with “orchestra on stage, very minimal set, very few costume changes.”
• Big fan of Bryce Pinkham’s performance.
• Finds Danny Strong’s new book overly meta, crowded with political jokes, “self-referential comments,” and gratuitous use of profanity:
  • “[W]henever Strong runs out of what he thinks are funny things to say, he has the character say ‘fuck.’ And that just really annoys me.”
• Likes the singing and choreography, but “I don’t get what all the fuss was about.”

Michael Portantiere’s Thoughts [11:31]

• The music is the enduring draw: “Some of us love it so much we’re willing to put up with these ridiculous books that keep getting written.”
• Prefers previous versions with little to no dialogue (e.g., Actors Fund and Royal Albert Hall concerts).
• Bemoans the book’s inconsistent tone—lurching from dramatic nuclear war references to “childish jokes about this ‘Cold War musical.’”
• On performances: “The seeming effortlessness of Lea Michele’s singing applies equally to Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher.”
• Criticizes the obvious reshuffling of “Someone Else’s Story” late in the show to give Michele a showpiece moment.

James Marino’s Final Word [17:15]

• “Every time Lea Michele opened her mouth, I was thinking, she’s going to win the Tony.”
• “Word of mouth on the street is that it’s not great. But you have to go see these performances.” Grosses are “pretty solid.”
• “Trips to the restrooms during the book scenes may be well advised.” — Peter Filichia [09:25]

Notable Moment:

• [09:30] Jan’s first time seeing Chess: “Oh my god.” — Michael Portantiere

---

Little Bear Ridge Road: Broadway Debut for Samuel D. Hunter

Jan Simpson [20:23]

• Summary: Two lonely relatives sheltering together in rural Idaho during COVID, coping with grief and broken family bonds. Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock star.
• “A play about two very solitary, very lonely people trying to make a connection and trying to figure out what is possible to forgive.”
• Praises its quiet depth despite a jokey start.

Michael Portantiere [23:43]

• Less enthusiastic; finds some actions unrealistic (esp. one character scrolling on his phone during a love confession).
• Appreciates the acting but is “not as convinced by the realism.”

---

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – 20th Anniversary Revisal

Michael Portantiere [28:19]

• Notes this is a transfer from Kennedy Center with several original cast members carrying over.
• Calls it “a total crowd pleaser … audience response is just rapturous.”
• Praises new cast members, especially Justin Cooley and Jasmine Amy Rogers.
• Mentions modern tweaks (Mitch Mahoney now a laid-off gym owner instead of ex-con).
• Calls it “very, very high on the list of shows I’d recommend.”

Peter Filichia [32:55]

• Calls the intimate Off-Broadway setting ideal, with the audience size matching the small-town bee feel.
• Not his favorite William Finn score, but “the laughs come furiously fast.”

Jan Simpson [35:00]

• Commends the ensemble’s versatility: “They were able to claim the roles for themselves.”
• Minor criticism: not keen on all the new “meta” material.
• Observes a trend toward unit sets/smaller bands/orchestra on stage.

Notable Quotes

• “[T]his is really where it belongs.” – Peter Filichia [32:55]

---

Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York: Quiet New Musical Sensation

Peter Filichia [40:38]

• Raves about the songwriting team’s “terrific musical," comparing their career boost to those of other writers.
• Story: British youth arrives for his father’s NYC wedding, paired with his jaded future aunt; “a lot of surprises along the way.”
• Mixed on the set: “Bizarre beyond belief … If there’s any show that ever called for projections, this is it. … It’s gray!”

Jan Simpson [45:35]

• Loves the clever set, which uses suitcases evocative of both the skyline and emotional baggage.
• Appreciates the absence of video projections.
• “The show made me fall in love with New York again.”

Michael Portantiere [49:00]

• Connections to recently experiencing NYC as a tourist; “Sam Tutty is absolutely adorable.”
• Wishes the show were trimmed and a bit shorter.
• Strongly positive on the chemistry of the leads; ambivalent on set color but overall charmed by the show.
• Unusual, non-cliché ending appreciated: “It was absolutely perfect.”

Producer note:

• Celebrates the risk-taking of the producers (“not based on any IP … totally original").

Notable Quotes

• “My big problem with the show had everything to do with the set.” — Peter Filichia [40:38]
• “[S]how made me fall in love with New York again.” — Jan Simpson [47:44]

---

This World of Tomorrow at The Shed (Tom Hanks & Kelly O’Hara)

Jan Simpson [57:40]

• Summarizes this new play by and starring Tom Hanks, with Kelly O’Hara: time-travel love story set at the 1939 World’s Fair.
• “Very sweet show. … People going for Tom Hanks will be pleased and more.”
• Praises O’Hara’s “most natural, seemingly effortless performance.”
• “I thought here they [projections] were used really, really well.” [58:50]

Peter Filichia [62:45]

• Finds the plot “predictable and obvious,” though concedes “Kelly O’Hara is magnificent.”
• Suggests the sets are under-imagined (future scenes look like present day).
• Points out Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s “ultra professional” supporting turn.
• “Go to the website and put your name in the waiting list because that’s what it’s going to have to be.” [65:58]

---

Oedipus at Studio 54 – London Transfer

Michael Portantiere [67:23]

• Praises the tension and use of a digital clock “counting down … and when it does, you can kind of hear in the audience …”
• Mark Strong and Leslie Manville deliver “magnificent” performances—with Manville nearly stealing the show.
• Conflicted about keeping Greek names in a modern context: “I just didn’t get it.”

Jan Simpson [72:39]

• Loved the production, especially Leslie Manville and seeing Greek tragedy on Broadway.
• The clock both tracks election results and the play’s revelation.
• Focused perhaps too much on how the adaptation mapped onto the original myth.
• “If you’re not a Greek theater nerd … you’re able to just enjoy it because this is, I think, really a magnificent production.”

---

MasterVoices: Sweet Smell of Success in Concert [78:01]

Michael Portantiere

• Excellent use of the large chorus as a Greek chorus.
• Strong cast: Ali Louis Bourzgui, Raúl Esparza (miscast as J.J.), Lizzy McAlpine, Noah J. Ricketts.
• “Raúl’s singing is as intense and fabulous as ever, but I didn’t think that kind of voice really worked so well for J.J.”

---

The Baker’s Wife at Classic Stage Company

Jan Simpson [84:09]

• Unfamiliar going in, finds it “a really charming production.”
• Scott Bakula and Ariana DeBose praised; production “makes us feel as though we’re all in the village.”
• “The plot’s a little silly, but the music was lovely and I thought the production was charming.”

Michael Portantiere [88:03]

• Admires Schwartz’s score but “cannot stand the book of The Baker’s Wife.”
• Faults the portrayal of townsfolk as “ridiculous caricatures.”
• “Ariadna DeBose … wonderful as Geneviève … but a contemporary feel that did not jibe with the others.”
• Draws a parallel to Chess: “Great, great, great scores, but very, very problematic … books.”

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [09:25] "Trips to the restrooms during the book scenes may be well advised." — Peter Filichia on Chess
• [11:28] "The fuss is about the music." — Michael Portantiere on Chess
• [45:35] “I was totally charmed. … The show made me fall in love with New York again.” — Jan Simpson on Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York
• [67:23] “The performances are absolutely magnificent.” — Michael Portantiere on Oedipus
• [72:39] “I really was very happy that I got to see this production and got to see these two incredibly strong performances.” – Jan Simpson on Oedipus

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Chess Review: 06:23–19:27
• Little Bear Ridge Road: 20:23–27:38
• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: 28:19–39:12
• Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York: 40:38–56:22
• This World of Tomorrow (Tom Hanks): 57:40–66:57
• Oedipus: 67:23–77:39
• Sweet Smell of Success in concert: 78:01–83:39
• The Baker’s Wife: 84:09–93:20

---

Final Thoughts

• Chess: Worth seeing for the performances; the book remains deeply flawed, but the vocalists thrill.
• Little Bear Ridge Road: A moving, quiet, acting showcase; reactions split on authenticity of interactions.
• Spelling Bee: Extended run, cast earns raves, and the production’s intimacy is widely praised.
• Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York: Surprising, endearing, likely Broadway sleeper. Divides the panel on set design but united in performance praise.
• This World of Tomorrow: Tom Hanks’ play is "sweet," if predictable; Kelly O’Hara is, as ever, superb.
• Oedipus: High-tension, star-driven modern classic, with inventive staging.
• Sweet Smell of Success concert: Musical gains new dramatic focus via MasterVoices.
• The Baker’s Wife: Glorious music undercut by a weak book, but strong leads and charming CSC staging.

---

For More

• Full show notes, links to ticket info, and more at BroadwayRadio.com.
• [96:05] “Please, please go see both of these shows and please get both of the cast albums.” — Michael Portantiere on Spelling Bee and Cake

Episode closes with musical moments from Spelling Bee and “New York” from Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York.

---

Happy Thanksgiving from the BroadwayRadio team!

Transcript

[Peter Felicia]

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big.

[Michael Portantier]

Damage before you even notice.

[Peter Felicia]

Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U B R-I K.com Ms. Peretti, please spell syzygy.

[James Marino]

S Y.

[Michael Portantier]

Z Y G Y Syzygy.

[Peter Felicia]

We have a winner.

[James Marino]

Thank you.

[Peter Felicia]

Thank you.

[Jan Simpson]

Thank you.

[James Marino]

At the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. My parents keep, keep on telling me just being here is winning, although I know it isn't so.

[Jan Simpson]

But it's a very nice, very, very nice.

[Peter Felicia]

Very, very nice.

[Jan Simpson]

Very nice beginning.

[James Marino]

Our winner here last year, Chip. Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios this week on Broadway for Sunday, November 23, 2025. My name is James Marino, and in the broadcast today we have Peter Felicia, Michael Portantier and Jan Simpson. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day Desk Calendar, A show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year is available at finer retailers. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select, and many of the places. Hello, Peter.

[Peter Felicia]

Hi.

[James Marino]

Hello. Our show tune for today is Brandon Janie.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, that's a song from Is There Life After High School? The second act of the show was a high school reunion, and I chose it for this week because so many times 20th reunions of high school are held on Thanksgiving weekend because kids come back to see their parents for Thanksgiving. So it's a good time to do it. Of course, when it comes time for the older reunions, it's never on Thanksgiving because indeed, they don't want to visit their parents anymore or their parents are dead, or the parents come to them to see their grandchildren, etc. But Fran and Janie is a marvelous song by Crane Carnelia. Just terrific because it's about these two old friends who haven't seen each other in a long time. But when they were in high school, boy, were they devoted to each other. They were best friends, as the lyrics go, playing records, sleeping over, talking girl talk, calling boys up, painting posters, building snowmen. And yet, you know, they just lost touch. I mean, nobody. There were no fits, no fights, no feuds, no egos, but they just lost touch. And here they are. And, and they're happy to see each other. And yet at the song ends, each of them is aware that they have little in common. Now Fran has a husband and two children while Janie is still single and coming off a romance. As she says, she's up for a new and important job. And they talk until they both admit there's nothing more to say. It's, it's both nostalgic and bittersweet and real. So Craig Carnelly was so underrated and we'll hear more about him a little later. But nevertheless, if you don't know is there if there's life after high school, you'll really be impressed by his work on the show, not just on Fran and Janie.

[James Marino]

All right. Also with this is Michael Portentier. Michael's a theater critic and interviewer. He, he's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. He also writes and reviews cabaret shows for NightLifeExchange.com Additionally, Michael is known as a producer and director of shows at 54 below the Laurie Beechman Theater and other venues. Hello, Michael.

[Peter Felicia]

Hello.

[James Marino]

So, Michael, you also have coming up on December 16th, an evening with Len Cario at the Laurie Beechman Theater.

[Jan Simpson]

Theater.

[James Marino]

So how's that going? We all prepping?

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. As I said, he, he, he just has such an amazing career and must have hundreds of stories about the people he's worked with and the, the shows he's done. If, you know, but he's one of those if only people, if only he were the original Sweeney Todd, if that were the only thing he had ever done, that would be, that would be in my mind worth an evening's interview. But of course, he had so much more than that. A little night music and applause on Broadway and now Blue Bloods on tv. And he has a great history as a classical actor in Canada and that most people don't know about. And so, yeah. So really looking forward to that. Please join us if you can, Tuesday, December 16th at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Cafe.

[Peter Felicia]

All right.

[James Marino]

Also with us is Jan Simpson. Jan is a theater journalist who writes the blog Broadway and Me and hosts the Broadway radio podcast Stagecraft and all the drama. She has thrice served as a Pulitzer Prize juror. Hello, Jan. Hi, Jan. You have been so, so busy. We are lucky to get some of your time this morning to discuss the4003,322 shows you've seen in the last two.

[Jan Simpson]

Months, last two weeks.

[James Marino]

I am telling you, you've got that time machine going, that's really great. But first, let's start off with the Broadway revival. Revisal, the Broadway, some would say concert of chess. So, Peter, get us started on chess, which you have seen on 18 continents.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, three, anyway. Yeah. Because not only Europe and North America, but Australia as well. I guess there are three truisms in life, and that is George Washington was the first president. Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning monarch in English history. And there'll never be a good book for Chess is the third one. I mean, it's just so impossible. Everybody tries. This one, I thought was really off the wall. And it was very interesting to me at the end of the show that there was this line. They told me it was because of a chess match that I am finally free. And the audience laughed in derision because here's a man who has been imprisoned. And somehow a chess max seems to be the most important thing in diplomatic relations in the history of mankind. The way that it is so aggrandized is just beyond me. But anyway, of course, whenever Russia or the Soviet Union and America have any type of interaction, people root for one side or the other. Absolutely. Certainly the Russian people want Russia to win, et cetera, et cetera. But, good Lord, there are so many political machinations in this that made no sense to me at all. That. That this would really be something that each side is so intent on winning for diplomatic reasons. Not just bragging rights, but something far more serious. And I couldn't grasp why this chess match would be so important politically. So that was a real problem. However, that said, My God, is a beautifully sung. I'll tell you, Lea Michele, it's just amazing to me how it seems that singing to her seems to be as natural as speaking or breathing out and breathing in. It seems so effortless in the way that she delivers the songs. Of course there's effort. Of course there is. But nevertheless, she makes it seem so easy. And when a performer could do that, that's really something. Aaron, how was his last name pronounced? Thank you. Very good, too. Yes, absolutely. As the American chess player. And indeed, I was certainly impressed by Nicholas Christopher as well. I thought playing the Russian, Bryce Pinkham did a very nice job as the narrator. I thought he was quite fine. I had heard good things about Hannah Cruz in advance playing the Russian Life. And yet there was no Russian accent whatsoever, which really struck me as strange because other people were using them. But all things considered, it's going to do very well with people who love the music. And Lord knows There are millions who love that music, and if they come for that, they're going to be very pleased. But trips to the restrooms during the book scenes may be well advised.

[James Marino]

Okay, Jen, what did you think of Chess?

[Jan Simpson]

I'd never seen chess before.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, my God.

[Jan Simpson]

Yeah. And so I went in as a virgin, and it seemed to me to be basically an encores concert. The orchestra was on stage, there was a very minimal set, very few costume changes, and the narrator was there tying all of the scenes, such as they were together. I am a big Bryce Pinkham fan and I thought he did a very good job in a ridiculous role. The new book writer Danny Strong tried to turn it into a metamusical. And so there are references about self referential comments about the musical. There are references and allusions to Robert Kennedy and Joe Biden and of course, Donald Trump. And I hope it's okay to say this. Whenever Strong runs out of what he thinks are funny things to say, he has the character say fuck. And that just really annoys me. I thought Lauren Lotaro created some nifty choreographic movements and I too enjoyed the singing. But I have to say, having heard for years about Chess, and it is the favorite musical of some people I know. So I was really eager to see it. And I have to say, I don't really get what all the fuss was about.

[James Marino]

Okay, Michael, what did you think?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I would say the fuss is about the music. And some of us just love it so much that we're willing to put up with these ridiculous books that keep getting written. Every time we have discussed chess on this podcast and elsewhere, I have said the same thing. I do not know why they keep writing new books for the show, because the most successful presentations have absolutely been the ones that had very little dialogue whatsoever. For example, the the Actors Fund concert that was done some years ago with Julia Murney and Josh Groban and Adam Pascal. And then there was a Royal Albert hall concert version with some of those same people, but Idina Menzel was in it and Adam was in that one and Josh was in that one. And I thought maybe that the success of that Royal Albert production had proven to the creators that they did not need or want a book for chess. But unfortunately not. Interestingly enough, this current production is based on one that I saw and reviewed in 2018 at the Kennedy Center. It was actually the first presentation of the Broadway Center Stage series at the Kennedy center, which of course now is no longer happening because of the tragedy of what has happened at the Kennedy Center. And interestingly enough, later on we'll get. Two shows are currently playing in New York City that got their start in that Broadway Center Stage series, the other one being the 25th annual spelling bee, which is playing off Broadway. So just a brief moment to lament what has happened to the Kennedy Center. Anyway, this. The tone of the book that Danny Mefford wrote for this is so wildly, wildly varying and inconsistent. They start out with a very, very serious invocation about how close to nuclear war, nuclear war, the world has come at least two occasions between, due to hostilities between Russia and the US and that is immediately followed by these ridiculous childish jokes about this quote unquote, Cold War musical and all these meta references that, that Jan made reference to. It's just ridiculous. And I cannot believe that it was allowed, you know, for professional people to put that, that level of stupidity on a Broadway stage.

[Peter Felicia]

It's.

[Michael Portantier]

It's really quite shocking. And the, the irony is that I think that some of the dramatic scenes, the new dramatic scenes, some of them that Danny Mefford wrote, are actually quite good.

[Jan Simpson]

Danny Strong.

[Michael Portantier]

No, Danny. Danny Strong. I'm sorry. Danny Meffert is the choreographer of the other show. Thank you very much. I'm. They're really quite strong. And so it just seemed like he, as Jan said, whenever he didn't know what to do, he would have somebody say or he would put in this silly joke about this Cold War musical. So really, really, really offensive in that way. But as Peter mentioned, the singing is absolutely phenomenal. And I would say that Peter's comment about the. The seeming effortlessness of, of Lea Michele singing applies equally to Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher. In fact, I turned to Michael Levine, with whom I saw the show at intermission, and I said, they're all singing so helpfully. Those three roles, but especially the two male roles can be voice killers. Very, very difficult. And I never got the impression that Aaron and Nicholas were hurting themselves while they were singing. So I think that's a really, really major thing. And if you go to this production for the score, although you will be upset by the fact that some of the slotting of the songs makes no sense whatsoever as far as the actual singing and presentation of the score, I think you'll be very happy. One thing they did that was so obvious, Lee done only to give leah michelle an 11:00 clock number, was they moved this song, someone else's story to very, very, very, very late in the action and they gave it to Leah. Whereas sometimes it is sung, I think sometimes it's sung by the other characters, Svetlana. So it was so clear that that was the reason they did it. And, and, you know, I understand why they need to, to, to. To appease this one of the stars, but it just was really unfortunate, all of that said. The, the, the singing, the, the orchestrations, the musical direction, just absolutely, incredibly thrilling. I cannot wait to get the cast album. And if you go, if you love the score and you go just for the music, you will be in absolute heaven.

[James Marino]

So I've. I've been a longtime fan of Chess and I've loved this, the songs and performances here. I really am a big fan of Bryce Pinkham, as, you know, similar to Jan. Some of the things were absolutely ridiculous. Some of the choreography was absolutely ridiculous. Did you guys see the.

[Peter Felicia]

I.

[James Marino]

Because I saw the very beginning of the previews. Did you guys see the. I don't know if it's still in the show that they did the wave. In the beginning of the show. The. When the ensemble is sitting on that. Those U shaped benches, they did the wave. I don't know if it still exists, but the, the audience burst out laughing when I, when they did that because it was just so, like, what in the world is going on there? But with that said, every time Lea Michele opened up her mouth, I was thinking, she's going to win the Tony. So these are some amazing, amazing performances. I don't know if the music writers, Benny and Bjorn from ABBA are, you know, Teflon and can't be taken back down by reviews. Yeah. As Mamma Mia. Continues to run and run and run and run. So we will see what happens here. The, the grosses are pretty solid. High 1.7, 1.8 million, $2 million a week. So there's very strong. We'll see what January, February does here. But I think word of mouth on the street is that.

[Jan Simpson]

It.

[James Marino]

It's not great. But you have to go see these performances, and I agree with that. So there is Chess now and forever at the end.

[Michael Portantier]

We're including in the show notes a link to when. When the show was done in 2018 at the Kennedy Center. Both Debbie Schrager and. And me, we both discussed it on the podcast and it's interesting. A lot of the. The things we both said would apply to this production, even though the only carryover in the cast is Bryce Pinkham.

[James Marino]

All right, so I'm gonna call an audible here. We're gonna go from big musical to small play. Little Bear Ridge Road, Very, very buzzy right now. Everybody Seems to love this, but I haven't spoken to these two folks if they love this. Michael and Jan saw it. Jan, why don't you get us started on a Little Bear Ridge Road?

[Jan Simpson]

This is the playwright Samuel D. Hunter's Broadway debut, which surprises a lot of people because he's been a fairly prolific playwright writing lots of wonderful, lovely plays about people who live out in Idaho. Yeah, in Idaho. Some of the titles that people may recognize. The Whale, A Bright New Boise Greeter, Clements, Lewiston, Clarkston, and my favorite, A Case for the Existence of God. This play is a little different. It's still set in rural Idaho, which is where Sam Hunter is from. It was commissioned by Steppenwolf for Laurie Metcalfe, and she and Micah Stock are the stars of this play. And it is not a two hander, but it is about a woman who is a nurse who is really the real opposite of an extrovert. Not even an introvert. The real opposite. And her nephew has returned to their small community because his father died and he has come back. He's been estranged from his father. He's come back to settle what's left of his father's estate. It is at the time of COVID and they end up the aunt and nephew sheltering together. But, and this is not a spoiler, he doesn't really leave, even after the quarantine period is over. And as we watch their relationship develop, we find out things about their relationship in the past. And it's really a play about two very solitary, very lonely people trying to make a connection and trying to figure out what is. What it is possible to forgive. And it started off a little jokey for me because Sam Hunter was leaning into that wry sense of humor that Laurie Metcalf has. But it settled into, I thought, just a really very moving play. There are two other actors, John Draya and Megan Guerakis, and it's directed by Joe Mantello. It's a small work, a quiet work, but it really packs punches way, way beyond its. Its. Its weight. It's, I thought, just a lovely play.

[James Marino]

Okay, Michael, what did you think?

[Michael Portantier]

I didn't love it as much. And in fact I liked it less than the other Samuel D. Hunter plays that I've seen, which include the Whale, A Case for the Existence of God, which I agree with. Jan is my favorite and also greater Clements. I can see, I can absolutely see why actors on the level of Laurie Metcalfe and Micah Stock would be drawn to this play because there's so much to play there in terms of both subtext and. What's the opposite of subtext on the surtext?

[James Marino]

Text.

[Michael Portantier]

Text. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, there's a lot of subtext, but there's a lot of very, very open, rich, obvious emotion in the play. And, and actors love playing that. And I can see why audiences would respond to it because audiences like to watch actors playing that kind of stuff. But to me, there were many things in the play, many little things that happened that struck me as they would never happen between actual human beings and in an actual real life situation. And you know, that to keep the relationship going, it is mostly. The play is largely a two handers, as Jan mentioned, between Laurie Metcalfe as Sarah and Micah Stock as her nephew Ethan. And so there's lots of reversals of emotion, you know, tentative forgiveness followed by shouting matches and, and things like that. And it just got a little too much for me. And there's one thing that I don't think this is a spoiler, so I will mention it. John Drea, in a lovely performance, plays a fellow who Ethan meets in a bar. He does manage to find a. A gay bar somewhere in the vicinity of this small Idaho. And, and they meet there and then they, they start forming a relationship. And it looks like it's going really well, but the Ethan, the Micah Stock character is supposed to be very, very damaged. And so it comes down to a beautiful scene. Starts out as a beautiful scene where John Dreya, as his boyfriend, gives a. Just a really heartfelt, beautiful declaration of love to Ethan. And what does Ethan do? He pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through it and makes no response whatsoever. Now, I just think you may disagree with me. I don't think anyone in real life would ever do anything quite so cruel as that. And it struck me as something that's very dramatic but so unrealistic that it took me out of the play.

[Jan Simpson]

A lot nicer people than some of the people I know.

[Peter Felicia]

Really.

[Michael Portantier]

Someone's telling you that they love you and you're just scrolling through. You gave. You give no response whatsoever and you continue scrolling through your phone for three minutes of silence. No. Yeah, I, I just, I didn't like it. And there's nothing like that that I recall in, in Samuel D. Hunter's Other Place. So I, I was a little surprised at that. But as an acting showcase, I think this is very, very entertaining and a good opportunity to see Laurie Metcalf on stage, if you have not already. And so that's, that's basically my take on it.

[James Marino]

Okay, Little Bear Ridge Road is at the Booth Theater. It's currently scheduled through February 8th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Next up, Jan, Michael and Peter got over to New World Stages to see the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which is the 20th anniversary production of the 25th annual 45th. Would they be up to. Anyway, so, Michael, tell us what you thought about this Revisal.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, as I said, this is sort of a transfer from the Kennedy center with the same creative team. This is the Danny Mefford show. Sorry for that brain lapse earlier. Danny Mefford directed and choreographed this production, which originally was seen in the Broadway Center Stage series at the Kennedy Center. And it was as recently. It was October 2024. I didn't remember it was that recent, that one. The cast in that one was Philippe Arroyo as Chip Talle, Leanna Ray Concepcion as Marcy Park, Vinnie Feldstein as Logan Schwartz and Guberniere. Noah Galvin as Leif Coney Bear Alex Joseph Grayson as Mitch Mahoney, Taran Killam as Vice principal Douglas Patch, Kevin McHale as William Barfi, Bonnie Milligan. And you know what? The notes I'm reading from, the notes I'm reading from have the accent. I goo. So there's no excuse that I did that. Well, I mean, except there is an excuse. Anyway, Bonnie Milligan as Ronalisa Peretti and Nina White as Oliver Stravsky in this production. Currently, the only three who are carryovers are Philippe Arroyo, Lina Marie concepcion and Kevin McHale, who's really, really. They're all wonderful in this show. Then we also have an unrecognizable. Jasmine, Amy Rogers in the role of Oliver Ostrovsky. I really did not realize it was her until I looked at my program. If you saw her in boop, you won't believe it's the same person, but she's just, just wonderful in this. Then we also have Jason Kravitz as the vice principal and Lilly Cooper as Ronalisa Peretti. And the wonderful Justin Cooley, whom we all loved so much. In Kimberly Akimbo is Leaf Coney Bear. Who am I leaving out? Autumn Best is now Logan Schwartzen Grubiniere. It's really, really wonderful production of a show that I loved the first time and looked forward to seeing it again at the Kennedy center and look forward to seeing it again here. And I mentioned many times I don't like to do double headers of show because I just, I didn't think it's too Much. You know, I'd rather have time to, like, savor things rather than rushing from one show to another. But I did have to, the way the schedule worked out. I had to see this spelling bee in the afternoon recently. And then in the evening, two strangers carry a cake across New York, which we'll discuss soon. But in that particular case, I didn't mind because I absolutely loved both of them. I think spelling bee is being done as well as it possibly could be by this cast and, and this director. And it. The audience response is just rapturous. I mean, there's so many laughs and so many really emotional moments as well to balance them that it's. It's a. It's a total crowd pleaser. This. It was just been announced that this production was extended and I not be surprised if it continues at New World Stages for a very long time because it's so, so, so good. And oh, Matt Manuel, by the way, is new here in the role of Mitch Mahoney, which has been rewritten a little bit. He originally was supposed to be an ex con, but now he is a fellow who used to run a gym that had to close during the pandemic. So that was a good rewrite that was done. I think everyone involved here just did an amazing job. And I would absolutely put this very, very high on the list of shows that I'm going to recommend to anyone who comes to town and says, what should I see that I'm really going to love.

[James Marino]

Okay, Peter, what did you think?

[Peter Felicia]

I agree with all of the above, but I want to mention that this is the ideal setting for the show Off Broadway. When it was a circle in the squ, it was far upstage. And if you were sitting in the center seats, you were far away from it. And here it is so intimate that it makes such a difference. So I really do believe, even though the cast is large for an off Broadway musical, that this is really where it belongs. And I don't know if it's cost effective to do it here, but nevertheless, the audience has a better time here, I dare say, than they did at Circle in the Square, where it certainly ran a long time. But the real trick to it is the intimacy. And I dare say that in Putnam county, there aren't that many people who would attend a spelling bee. So in that sense, the audience is even the right size. So a total delight. I don't think it's William Finn's best score. I'll always go back to in trousers, not the way he rewrote It. If you get the original cast album of In Trousers, which starred the unknown Chip Zine, the unknown Alison Fraser, the unknown Mary Testa, boy, that's changed for all three of them. You will really see the type of thing he used to write. But nevertheless, the songs are funky and fun with a lot of pithy lyrics. But, yes, I agree. You know, I couldn't believe that that was Jasmine Amy Rogers. And so I had so much more respect for her, even though I was crazy for her in. In. Boop. Both times that I saw it, I had no idea it was she. I got to the theater just in time as the lights were coming up, so I didn't even know who was. And at the end, when I looked at the playbill on the way home, my God, that's who that was. I had no idea. So, yes, it is a triumph in that sense as well. But, yes, a wonderful, wonderful production. And the laughs come furiously fast. There are just so many funny things. It really. Because when people ask for a definition of the word or use it in a sentence, that type of thing. Hilarious. So, yes, by all means, attend.

[James Marino]

Okay, Jan, what did you think?

[Jan Simpson]

I enjoyed it, too. I was also happy to see Jasmine show a different side of herself, show that she can be very versatile. And I was particularly impressed by Justin Cooley because in both plays that he. Both musicals that he's done, he's playing a kind of a nerdy kid, and yet they were so different. And he just brought such different colors to Coney Bear Leaf, Coney Bear here. And I thought, you know, that also shows a different kind of range to be able to take what might be a stock character and really enliven it. And, you know, tough for all of these young people because they were following in the steps of people who really put their marks on those roles and are so memorable, and yet they were able to claim the roles for themselves. I wasn't crazy about some of the meta stuff that I think I saw. Additional material by Jay Reese. I don't know who that is, but again, there was some contemporary references that they thought, we don't really need them. This is already a fun, enjoyable show. We don't really need that. And I've noticed, I don't know that I can repeat all of the shows, but I've seen three or four shows in the last two weeks where the orchestra is on stage and where there is sort of a unit set. And I imagine that we're going to be seeing more of them because the bands are smaller, the orchestras are Smaller. And the sets, as I say, are unit sets, often very simple. This one wasn't. It was in a gym that looked like a gym. But I imagine for cost purposes, we're going to be seeing these sort of smaller versions that make me wonder how Encores in the future is going to distinguish itself.

[Peter Felicia]

It bothered me that the orchestra was very visible. I. I don't know why they didn't put a curtain in front of them, because it does take away from the fact that the reality of a spelling bee, it becomes a musical when you see the orchestra up there. So I think that was a mistake.

[Jan Simpson]

Yeah. But when I got home and told my husband about it. My husband's a former. A retired pit musician. And when I told him that the orchestra was on stage and he said, why were they on in a gym?

[Peter Felicia]

Indeed. Indeed.

[Michael Portantier]

We should mention that people are plucked from the audience to actually participate in the bee. And do either of you know how that works? I didn't see a sign up. I know at the box office.

[Peter Felicia]

I got there late, you know. Yeah, I'm not.

[Jan Simpson]

I don't know. But obviously they had already knew who these people were.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[Jan Simpson]

And the. The. At my performance, there was one guy, when I came in, I should have known he was going to be on stage because he was just bouncing in his seat. He was before the show started. And when they called his name, I thought, oh, that's why he was bouncing.

[Michael Portantier]

At my performance, one of the audience participants was a girl who looked like she was about 7. She was absolutely adorable. And they had to artificially get her out of the.

[Peter Felicia]

The.

[Michael Portantier]

The competition by giving her, like, you know, several words in a row.

[James Marino]

All right, so the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at New World Stages is running through April 12th. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. So. Oh, did you guys hear that the spelling bee is doing some promo with Carvel? Any show that does a promo with Carvel.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, no, I hadn't heard that.

[James Marino]

They got a big Carmel Carvel crossover promo promo. And Carvel is sort of a northeast thing. I don't think it's. Is it. Is it countrywide? It's definitely not international, but no, I.

[Peter Felicia]

I don't think this country was.

[Michael Portantier]

I don't think so.

[James Marino]

Ice cream. Ice cream. So which leads us to two strangers carry a cake across New York, which. This is my second favorite thing.

[Michael Portantier]

At least they don't have to carry an ice cream cake across New York.

[James Marino]

Well, not in August. You could do it. You could do it this Morning. You know, this morning would work a Fudgy the Whale cake. That could be the next tie in there. So Peter, Michael, and Jan saw this as well. So, Peter, get on us started on this. This. This quiet little show that seems to be making big waves.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, I'm going to start by saying something that's going to sound irrelevant, but I'm going to go say it anyway because I want to make a point here about songwriters. And that is the fact for the last 25 to 30 years, I don't know what it is. I've been the judge at ASCAP for musical theater, meaning that people submit applications every year and saying, can you give me some money? And I give anywhere from a hundred dollars to $6200. And it was really exciting this September when I was doing it, and I saw that two gentlemen who got $200 last year got $6200 this year because they wrote maybe happy Ending. So it really changed very quickly for them. And I don't know if Jim Barn and Ken Kit Butchman Buchan are ascap people, but if they are, they may have been people I didn't pay much attention to based on what they had done. But they're going to get that 6,200 if they're ASCAP people, because they certainly have a Broadway show of great distinction. It's a terrific musical about a young man who comes to New York from England, ostensibly to come to his father's wedding, but he's also here looking forward to seeing the Statue of Liberty and every other tourist thing you can imagine. He's being picked up by his father's fiance's sister, who is a jaded New Yorker and has very little patience for a guy who is such a puppy dog when it comes to New York City. She's been there, done that. Okay, so a lot of things can happen in the show like this, and you anticipate that it's going to end, that these two are going to fall in love. Well, I'm not going to tell you whether or not they do, but I will say that there are a lot of surprises along the way. There are surprises in the fact of what this young woman's relationship is with her sister, with her grandmother, and also the boy's relationship to his father. We find out a great deal about that as well. They are two strangers and they are strange to each other, but they bond every now and then. My big problem with the show had everything to do with the set. I just. I thought it was bizarre beyond belief. And to me, it represented a minor league version of the barricade in Les Mis. I hear Jan Simpson reacting differently already. But nevertheless, here's my point. For one thing, it starts off at the airport where they're going to pick up luggage. So it looks like there's a lot of suitcases there. And I thought, okay, that's a great start, no problem. But you're going to see them all Night long. And the thing is, they're gray. What kind of musical uses gray? It's just so bizarre. Every now and then you know when you open the suitcase that there is a neon light, a horizontal neon light that shows up in different colors and that brightens up things a little bit. But if there's any show that ever called for projections, this is it. Let's see. Dynamic photographs of New York City that this boy, you know, the statue of Libya. But terrific photographs from different angles, different times of day, etc. Etc. Etc. That would have served this show so much better because it really is thematically linked to what's going on. He's really crazy for New York City. Or at least he thinks he will be. Let's see that. I don't understand why we have to stay in front of these boring things all Night long. Yes, indeed, the set is clever in the fact that it's not just luggage. There are refrigerators that open up, et cetera, et cetera. It does surprise you, I'll grant you that. But good Lord, I. I thought it was pretty tedious to look at All Night Long. And it, it is, by contemporary standards, a long show. It's not intimationless. It's like the old days when you had two act musicals and the second act sags a little. Not a lot a little. But the secrets that do come tumbling out are worth hearing and certainly are well substantiated. Dramatically. I can really understand why this young woman wants to please her sister so much. It makes perfect sense. You may figure it out beforehand, but even if you don't, you will understand why she's doing what she's doing. I know I'm being purposely vague here because I don't want to spoil it, because I do believe just as maybe Happy Ending was the sleeper of last season, this is going to be sleeper this season. I can't imagine that. Indeed, it won't get nominated for book, music, lyrics, and certainly Christiani Pitts as the young woman and Sam Tutty as the young man. That's it. Two characters. That's it. You don't need any Anymore, they do the job.

[James Marino]

Okay, Jan, what did you think of this?

[Jan Simpson]

I was totally charmed. I was surprised. I didn't know what to expect. Peter's right in terms of comparing it to maybe happy ending, because it sounds when you're going in, or at least when I was going in, like, eh, all right. And then it's a surprisingly entertaining show, I think, largely because of these two wonderful performances. Sam Tutty is just so endearing. He's just irrepressible. And Christiana has a more difficult, in a way, role because she's playing actually the straight man to. To him. And yet she finds ways to give a very nuanced performance as well. So really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the songs as I was listening to them, but I have to say I don't remember much about them now. This was not one of those, except maybe for the opening number where he's sort of, you know, yelling out New York, New York. So that. But coming to the set, Peter and I are on totally opposite ends of this. I thought this was such a smart way to do a small show, and I think a small budgeted show. The way the suitcases are piled, they're supposed to be evocative of the New York City skyline. And also they're metaphorical. They're about the baggage that we all carry and that we all take into relationships. They're also clever because of these doors that open out and one door opens onto a refrigerator. One door opens and a table comes out and they're a restaurant. One door opens and there's a bed. I thought, very clever. And I have to say, in my notes, I say I really appreciate that they didn't use video projections. I liked that because I thought that's what I would have expected to happen. And they didn't. They allowed you to experience and see this marvelous New York through the eyes of this character and to experience it just the way he did. And I have to say, you know, native New Yorker here, when I came out of it, out of the theater, I wanted to, like, go around the city. He just made me fall in love again. The character's name is Dougal for the guy, Robin for the. For the girl. The show made me fall in love with New York again.

[James Marino]

Okay, Michael, did you fall in love with New York again?

[Michael Portantier]

Yes. And in fact, I recently had friends in town, I mentioned before we started recording. I went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with them. And we also went to the Statue of Liberty for the second time in my life. And we climbed all the way up to the crown.

[Peter Felicia]

Wow. Yeah, I'm impressed.

[Michael Portantier]

And so to see Dougal running around New York with this Statue of Liberty felt hat and, you know, the. And all of that stuff, it was just. It was so well written and so perfectly acted by that Sam Tutty. I had heard much praise of his performance, you know, carrying over from England before, and I would say it's 100% justified. He's absolutely adorable in the role. And superbly partnered by Christiani Pitts in a very different role. She's almost the foil for him, and as Jan said, the straight man, or a straight woman in this case. So it's a more difficult role in that sense, and maybe not as immediately appealing to the audience, but as things proceed, you know, the chemistry between the two of them is just off the charts and been really amazing. I agree that the second act gets a little tedious. I think that this would have been greatly improved if it was an intermissionless show with maybe, I don't know, 10 or 10 or 15 minutes cut out of it as they proceed around New York in various situations. Not all of those situations seem necessary to me. And the biggest flaw to me, and I don't want to give a spoiler here, is that as the two characters, Robin and Dougal, as they get to know each other more while they're carrying a cake across New York, we're naturally wondering if their relationship is going to proceed to a higher level. And I think the wrong decision was made in. In that case. I. I think it would have been better if the opposite decision had been made. And I don't know if I should say more than that, because I think it would. It might be a spoiler. Yeah. Yes. Yes. So let me stop now and. And just say that I. I wish the writers had gone in the different direction, but that said, I loved the ending. I loved the ending of the show. I think it was absolutely perfect. What happens to them at the very end. It's not a cliche ending by any means. Oh, and as far as. I'll end there. But I will say, as far as the. The comments on the set, I don't. Not to sound like Tevye, but while Peter was. Was talking about it, I said, you know, he's right.

[James Marino]

Right.

[Michael Portantier]

And then. And then when Jan was talking about, you know, she's also right. I think they're both right. I. I can see both. Both things. I think it would not have hurt to have some projections to bring some color to the stage, even if not really clear. Projections of, of absolute, you know, specific locations didn't necessarily have to be. But just to give an idea of this guy, this young guy being absolutely dazzled by New York, I think that that would have helped a little bit. It did not destroy my enjoyment in the show by any means that it didn't have that. But I, I, I do think that might have upped the, the enjoyment quotient.

[Peter Felicia]

Just a little bit, Jan, in terms of the, the baggage and all that. And that does sound well to me too. But do you really think gray was a good choice for the color?

[Jan Simpson]

Well, I thought, I thought that they enlivened it when they had the lights.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, I agree.

[Jan Simpson]

Come. And if it had been, if the luggage had been different colors, that would have been distracting.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, no, but, but certainly luggage comes in very different colors. There could have been another color that was completely used on the set. But I, I don't understand gray. I mean, I don't see very many luggage, pieces of luggage that look the color gray that I saw in that set. So I, I think, I agree a unified color is the answer if you're going to go with that set, but I don't think gray is the answer.

[Michael Portantier]

Maybe Jen was correct in thinking that it's supposed to evoke the skyline. Not that, not that most buildings are gray, but, but what other color would you make them, huh?

[Peter Felicia]

You know, well, you know, sometimes comedy plays very well against black, so that might have, you know, I, I've noticed that so many times that it really sharpens things. And so black might have been. There is black luggage after all, so that might have been. I know that sounds oppressive for a funny show, but nevertheless, I have seen so many times when something is played against a black background in comedy, it really works very, very well.

[Jan Simpson]

Well, for whatever reason, I just, before we end this part of the discussion, I just want to give a shout out to the producers for this show. This is a small show by people at least. I've never heard of starring people that most of us haven't heard of. Some people may remember Christiana Pitts for being in that last King Kong, but maybe they don't because they don't want to remember that.

[Michael Portantier]

You know, that is, that is exactly what I did. I forgot until you mentioned it. Oh, my God.

[Jan Simpson]

And so the producers really backed this very small show. It's not based on any ip, as they say. It is just this small, totally original, totally entertaining and endearing musical. And so I just want to give a shout out to the producers, not naming Them. They know who they are.

[Peter Felicia]

You know, we don't have time to name.

[James Marino]

Yeah, well, actually, this. This production's only got four producers.

[Peter Felicia]

My.

[James Marino]

And I believe that I heard Matt Taminini say on Today on Broadway that Kevin McCullough found this project at Fringe, maybe.

[Jan Simpson]

Yeah, I think so.

[James Marino]

So Kevin McCollum, you know, huge, huge, huge Broadway producer with tons of really great shows, large and small, found this at Fringe. So, you know, I. I think that. That I think their props are well deserved here. I haven't seen this yet. I have this scheduled in. In the next couple of weeks. Can we call this a happier last five years?

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, yeah. That's a very good way of putting it. I think there was something to be said for that. Sure, sure.

[Jan Simpson]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Jan Simpson]

And here in the playbill, Kevin McCollum's bio reads, Kevin McCollum, producer, is no stranger to Broadway and loves cake.

[Peter Felicia]

Cake. Who can.

[James Marino]

These are reasons why I love Kevin McCollum.

[Peter Felicia]

Very nice guy.

[James Marino]

And he's. He's from Hawaii, right?

[Peter Felicia]

I didn't know that.

[James Marino]

I believe he's from Hawaii.

[Peter Felicia]

He always claims he always. He produced Drowsy Chaperone. He always claims I'm the real man in chair. But I don't know if that's true or not. But he does say that every time he sees me.

[James Marino]

So I've tried to get Kevin on. On. Yeah. Sunday Morning. He can't do it and do Sunday Morning. All right, so there is another tiny play that is happening over at the shed. It's starring Kelly o' Hara and some lucky guy. It's called this World of Tomorrow. And Peter and Jan have seen it. Michael will see it in the upcoming weeks and we'll talk about it again there. But, Jan, why don't you get us started on this world of Tomorrow?

[Jan Simpson]

This World of Tomorrow was written by or co. Written by and stars Tom Hanks. And it is based on a collection of short stories that Tom Hanks wrote. And this particular episode, it's very similar what they've done to what Rodgers and Hammerstein did with South Pacific, where they took James Michener's tales of the South Pacific and drew characters and incidents from a couple of different short stories and put them into one. And that's what they've done here. And the basic plot is about a man who lives either the end of this century or the beginning of the next century. He has become a very, very successful mogul. He has billions of dollars, and one of the things that he indulges himself on is time Travel. Time travel, however, is relatively new and is somewhat limited. And you can only go to certain days in the past. And the day he chooses is a day at the 1939 World's Fair and he goes and when he's there at the fair. And also time travel is limited because you can only stay in the past for a certain number of hours. And then you have to return to a certain spot and be transported back to your present, which would be our future. And while he's at the 1939 World's Fair, he meets this woman and he falls in love with her. And he continues to return to that day in hopes of making her fall in love with him.

[Peter Felicia]

Him.

[Jan Simpson]

There are some other small subplots that are thrown in. I don't know why. They didn't really need them. So I'm not even going to talk about them. The plot is sort of improbable and in some ways I thought it might have worked better as a movie. But it's a very sweet show. People who don't like sentimentality probably don't like Tom Hanks because Tom Hanks is like the master of that kind of good old Americana, sentimental kind of feeling. He seems far more comfortable on stage than he did the last time out when he was in that Nora Ephron play. Lucky Guy, I think was the name of it. It was produced right after her death. I don't know if he's more comfortable, he co wrote the show or if he's also more comfortable because he's playing against Kelly o'. Hara. And she just delivers one of the most natural, seemingly effortless performances. And I think it helped to elevate his performance. This is directed by Kenny Leonard. It does use video projections to move you from place to place. And I thought here they were used really, really well. The stage looks very simple. When you enter at the shed where the show is playing, there are just a lot of columns and the projections play on these columns. And they're not flashy projections. And yet I thought did a wonderful job of moving from place to place. Obviously the, you know, the question is, will he make her fall in love with him? And if he does, what can he do about it? Because to stay in the past is going to. It's going to take a great effort and is going to change very much things for him. I liked it. A lot of critics did not, but I thought it was very sweet. And people who are going to see Tom Hanks will be pleased and I think that they will be even more pleasantly Surprised that they didn't just play pay their money to see a star on stage, but a lovely little thing, stable.

[James Marino]

Okay, Peter, what did you think?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, when you have somebody who's living in 2089 and he goes back to 1939, he meets a woman who he loves at first sight, what's going to happen? He's going to come back to 1939. I mean, so I. I found it quite predictable and obvious. Kelly o' Hara is magnificent in adopting an accent that will make you believe that she certainly grew up in the sneck of the woods. Terrific performance. For that reason, he's good too. No question about it. Kaylee Car, excellent as Kelly o' Hara's sister, who has a great deal to say in the show and says it very, very well. One of the strangest things to me, and here we go with the set again, is the fact that it starts in a conference room in 2089. And I wish that there was some attempt to make the furniture look futuristic. It looks like a conference room you'd see today. So something has happened between now and 2089 in terms of the way se. The styles of seating and conference tables. I mean, so it was very lackluster to me in that way. I thought it was very bizarre. And of course, anything dealing with the future, nobody knows anything, needless to say, nobody can predict anything with any real knowledge. It's all guesswork. But still, I would have liked to have seen an attempt at something to say, oh, yeah, yeah, you wouldn't see that today. And maybe even going back to early American furniture in a retro way would have been interesting. But I guess this could be considered retro as well. Maybe that's what they were going for. But I would have liked more imagination in the set, but. And I guess I would have liked more imagination in the play too. Very, very engaging because of the people in it and. But utterly predictable. Let's also give a shout out to Ruben Santiago Hudson, who works with Tom Hanks in the future and. And always delivers such ultra professional performances. And this is one of them as well. So I agree that the, the way the set moves here and there and the projections are quite good. So. And it's. It was something to be thinking about the 39 World's Fair, as opposed to the 64 World's Fair, which is probably more famous because many of us are still alive who were there and I guess for. Not as many people are alive who saw the 39 World's Fair. But when I heard it was going to be World's Fair. I thought it was going to be 64, 65 World's Fair. But. But there are reasons, specific reasons, which I won't give away, why it has to be 39 and so. So certainly enjoyable. It's funny, I was going on the website to get the names of the people to talk about this and the first thing that comes up is put your name here for the waiting list for tickets. I mean, obviously any play with Tom Hanks is going to be of interest to people just because it's Tom Han. If you do want tickets, go to the website and put your name in the waiting list because that's what it's going to have to be. And that almost leads us to a show that Michael saw, which certainly is selling out, but that's another story. I'll let him talk about that.

[Jan Simpson]

I will just say for this World of Tomorrow, which I said is based on a story in his short story collection. And Peter, I think is absolutely right in that the play hits very predictable beats. It was interesting to me. I came home and read the story after I saw the play. The play, the short story has a very different ending. And so they made a choice. They made a real choice. I don't know that the. If they had stuck with the short story ending that it would be as crowd pleasing.

[Peter Felicia]

Ah.

[James Marino]

Okay. This World of Tomorrow at the Shed is running through December 21st. We'll have a link to that in the show. Notes. Michael and Jan were over at Studio 54 to see Oedipus. This transfer from London is an Olivier Award winning production. Did it hold up to your standards, Michael?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I will say it's a gripping production. I think the audience is on the edge of their seats for much of it, especially because there's a brilliant gimmick in the show in which a very large digital clock is prominently placed on the stage and it's counting backwards to something that you don't necessarily know what it's counting back to until it happens. And then when it does happen, you can kind of hear in the audience. And on that note, and without saying too much more in fear of giving a spoiler, it's absolutely amazing. Amazing that the actors time their delivery of the whole play so perfectly so that they reach that moment at the exact time that the clock does. Now, I guess maybe they can sort of glance at it or somehow maybe there's a monitor in the audience that allows them to see the clock also so that they can speed up or slow down a little bit and maybe, maybe Give more of a pause at certain points. But it's still got to be extremely difficult to exactly coincide the thing that happens with that with the clock finally reaching zero. So that was incredible. The performances are absolutely magnificent. Led by Mark Strong and by Leslie Manville, both of whom I, I don't have a lot of experience with, but they were equally fabulous. I would say. Leslie Manville was almost became the center point of the show in her performance as Jocasta. My big problem with this, the adaptation and this, there may be no one else in the world who agrees with me about this, but I think if they were going to have the idea of telling the story of Oedipus through a modern lens with him as a modern politician, and if they were going to go so far as to open the show with a film or a video of this politician outside interacting with people on the street as he's being interviewed about his candidacy and the person who came before him and all of that. And this is all done in modern dress and completely modern set. When the set finally is revealed, it looks like very much a modern day setting. I don't know why they kept the original names, Oedipus and Laios, who is referred to, and Jocasta and Antigone and Polynices. It seems just at cross purposes to me. And I think, I don't know, maybe some people think that's a good idea and creates more dramatic tension. But I think I just didn't get it. I, I almost felt it would have been better if they had come up with modern names for the characters. Years ago I once gave some thought to try to write a modern adaptation of Medea and had I actually done it, I, I, I, I would have done that. I, I would have updated the names. But they, they did not choose to do so here. Other than that, I think it's quite, as I said, a gripping evening of theater. And of course much of it goes back to the power of the original play by Sophocles. If anyone has ever seen a production of Oedipus in the original version with more traditional staging, I think we would all agree that it holds up so well thousands of years later. It's, it's just absolutely astounding. And so it, and, and I think it always will hold up no matter what is done to it. In terms of the adaptation, which in this case I think was only partly successful in terms of the writing by Robert Ick Icky. I see.

[Peter Felicia]

Ike.

[Michael Portantier]

Ike. Oh wait, did you have that on good authority, Jen?

[Peter Felicia]

Yep.

[Jan Simpson]

Robert, Ike.

[Michael Portantier]

Robert, Ike. I C K E. So that's my take on this Oedipus.

[James Marino]

I was thinking Harold Ickes from Annie, but Jan, of course, Janice. Right. So, Jan, what'd you think?

[Jan Simpson]

This is the show I was most looking forward to for the whole season. And I love when they do the Greeks because we get a lot of Shakespeare, we don't get a lot of the Greeks. And the Greeks, God loves, gave strong great female roles. And I was also very, very excited to see Leslie Manville. I had not seen her on stage. I've seen many of her movies, and she is always wonderful, just always wonderful. And she did not let me down here. Ike did the adaptation himself. And he has done this in the past where he's taken a Greek play and modernized it. He does keep the names because he feels as though he is doing the play. And any Greek play we see today, we are not seeing the original because we're seeing translation. Translation. It's not like seeing Shakespeare, where we have Shakespeare's words, Shakespeare's language. So we're seeing, in a sense, an adaptation. And I thought it was interesting to cast Oedipus as this progressive politician who on election night is waiting for the results. And that clock that Michael talks about serves two purposes. Is first, it is. They're waiting for the polls to close. And so the clock is ticking down to when the polls close and he can declare victory at the same time. As Rob Johnston says in the notes, spoilers for a 2,400-year-old play. We know what's going to happen. And so we're counting down, waiting for the moment of the revelation. I hear in some audiences, people did gas. People didn't gasp in mine. I guess they paid attention in high school English. I thought the performances mark strong. Those of us who were lucky enough saw him in A View from the Bridge, that wonderful adaptation a few years ago that I still think is the best Eva Van Hove production that I've seen. The. I really was very happy that I got to see this production and got to see, I thought these two incredibly strong performances. They have such chemistry. You believe that these two people were drawn to one another, are hot for one another, really are just wrapped up in one another, which obviously makes the revelation. And here I'm going to spoil it that Jocasta is actually the mother of Oedipus come alive. Ike found ways to introduce some contemporary themes into the play as well. The only problem for me is that as I watched it, I kept waiting to see how he was going to make the connections, make the parallels between his Oedipus and the classical version that we know. So how was the soothsayer going to be introduced? What about. I mean, I found myself ridiculous. I found myself going when his children came in, the daughter Antigone and the two sons, I thought to myself, where's the other daughter? And then I thought, quiet down, it's okay. He found ways to connect things, and I think I spent too much time watching how he made the connections as opposed to watching the play itself. He did a wonderful job with the productions. And if you're just if you're not a Greek theater nerd, and I hope you're not, then you're able to just enjoy it because this is, I think, really a magnificent production.

[James Marino]

Okay, Oedipus is at Studio 54 through February 8, 2026. We'll have a link to that in the show. Notes Michael was over at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose hall, fourth one of the three performances only of Master Voice's Sweet Smell of Success. So, Michael, tell us about this.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, they did a really wonderful job with the show, directed and conducted by Ted Sperling and the beautiful Rose Hall. In this case, for those of you who have been to Rose hall, there is seating above and in back of the stage, you know, in like a semicircle proceeding around the back of the stage as it as in the house, you know, the normal part of the house and that is often used for seating for audience, for concerts where it's an orchestra concert and it doesn't matter if you're, you know, if you're sitting there because you're not missing people facing out front and singing and acting for you. But in this case, that space was used for the very large Master Voices chorus. And my big problem, as I recall with this show when it was done on Broadway, was I didn't feel like the creators. Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Craig Carnelia, and book by John Guare, based on the novella by Ernest Lehman and the film of the same title. I didn't think the original production production incorporated the chorus in a way that really worked very well. But oddly enough here I thought it worked a lot better to have them, for the most part, sort of separate from the action and almost as a as a Greek chorus, pardon the expression, given our recent discussion. And separate from the action, I mean, there was also an ensemble that appeared on stage and doing choreography by Andrew Palermo at certain points. And there again, I didn't think that, that worked as well, but having the large chorus in the back and commenting almost in a disembodied way on the action, I thought really worked very well and better than a more literal way of presenting it as it was done on Broadway originally. Very strong cast here. Ali Lewis Bourski, who you may remember for his playing the title role of Tommy in the recent Broadway revival, was excellent, I would say, as Sidney Falco. I wasn't sure if he would be well cast in this role, but he turned out to be very much. Lizzie McAlpin as Susan and Aline Mayagoitia as Rita. Noah J. Ricketts, Very, very, very good as Dallas here. Reconceived from being played by a black performer, which makes complete sense for the story. I thought he's supposed to be a jazz musician. And also it, although it was completely unspoken, it gave further reason for JJ to be completely opposed to Dallas being in a romantic relationship with his sister Susan. So I think that was great casting. Oddly enough, to me, Raoul Esparza was quite miscast as J.J. hunsicker. And I have to preface this by saying I have, there is, I don't think Raul has a greater fan than me. I have loved him in everything. But here I just thought, I don't know, I just thought in terms of physical presence and looks and quality of his voice, I really thought he was not right for the role. Now, who would be right for the role? I thought John Lithgow was wonderful when he did the musical originally, but John Lithgow is, I would say, a very different type from Burt Lancaster who played the role in the movie. So I'm not, I think JJ can be played in different ways, but it didn't seem to me a very good role for Raul. His, his singing is, you know, as intense and fabulous and, and beautiful as ever, but I didn't think that kind of voice really worked so, so well for J.J. so it was great to see him on stage again and I, that's always a pleasure. But I, I, I personally did not think he was very well cast here. And, and interestingly enough, when the cast was first announced, it was announced who would be in the show, but not what roles they would be playing. And I initially thought that Raul might be playing Sidney. A role. Yeah, a role that he would have been much more obviously and effectively cast in if he, he were just a little bit younger. And I think he probably still could maybe get away with it if, if he wanted to, you know, try to, try to make himself look younger. But, but no, he, he was Sydney and, and that was a surprise to me. And, and I still think that it was a, A, a rather odd choice. So. But again, still, always, always wonderful to see him on stage and I look forward to. To what he will do next.

[James Marino]

Okay, as I mentioned, it was just three performances only. And we'll have a link back to Master Voice's website in the show notes, so you can check that out. Finally, this morning, we have Michael and Jan. So the Baker's Wife at Classic Stage Company. Peter talked about it last week or the week before. Jan, why don't you get us started on Baker's Wife?

[Jan Simpson]

This is the Stephen Schwartz, Joseph Stein musical that's become kind of a cult favorite that I don't think ever made it to New York or no. And it is about a much younger wife who marries this baker and they move to this small French village that has been without a baker and so without bread, which to them is just terrible. And they're all very happy to have them there until she runs off with a hunky young man from the village. Now, the plot shares a lot with the Most Happy Fella and Sidney Howard's 1925 Pulitzer what they wanted, which was the basis for the Most Happy Fella. But this is another one of these cult musicals that everybody knows about except me. So I did not know the Baker's Wife and went into it pretty, you know, again, pretty virginal in that sense. And I thought this production was lovely. It's stacked with a whole bunch of. Of what I call MVPs. There was Arnie Burton and Robert Cuccioli and always, always happy to see Judy Coon. Baker is played by Scott Bakula and the wife, which is, I'm imagining, part of the reason the production's done. It's played by Ariana DeBose. I thought it was just a really charming production directed by Gordon Greenberg. And I thought Scott Bakula, who people sort of forget, got his start in musicals many years ago. I thought he was particularly wonderful as a man who is. He realizes he's married up. He's married this young, beautiful woman. He can't believe that she has married him. He's so grateful for her and so desperate and down when she leaves him. When she leaves him, he stops baking, which causes the people in the village church to try to find a way to find her and bring her back again. As I said, the plot's a little silly, but the music was lovely and I thought the production was charming. And it's a Classic Stage Company. And I've never seen as elaborate a set as they did. The way the set is designed, it makes us feel as though we're all in the Village and we are in the town square where much of the action takes place. I would say, oh, they're doing this with the idea that they'll move to Broadway. The set wouldn't work in the same way in a Broadway house. They've just done this very well. The friend I was with said, do you think Stephen Schwartz shot them some dollars to fancy it up? If he did, you know, cheers to him for that. If he didn't, cheers to all of them for just a lovely, lovely production.

[James Marino]

All right, Michael, what did you think?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I have loved the, well, what I guess you would call the original cast recording of Chess ever since it was released. The songs on that are just so superb. One of Stephen Schwarz's absolute best songs. And I understand what Peter said last week that, you know, since it came after Godspell and Pippin, I. I think many people were surprised that Stephen could write in a very different, more traditional, less rock oriented musical theater mode. So I remember, Petey, you said that.

[Peter Felicia]

That.

[Michael Portantier]

Steven seemed to be maybe even a little bit offended when you said that to him, because, you know, but. But I can completely understand because it's not, you know, it's just we did. We didn't know, you know, and there was another score in there too, right? The Magic Show. Yeah, yeah. So it's absolutely beautiful.

[Peter Felicia]

The.

[Michael Portantier]

The songs on the original album, which focus completely on the. Those three. And then one other. There is the song Chanson, which is sung by the character of Denise, originally played by Terry Ralston here. So beautifully played and sung by Judy Kuhn, who, by the way, of course, was the original Florence in the original Broadway production of Chess. So I kept. When I was watching Chess and when I was watching Baker's Wife, I kept thinking, gee, I wonder if she's seen Chess. You know what she thinks of it.

[Peter Felicia]

Been busy.

[Michael Portantier]

She's been busy. Yeah. Probably hasn't got a chance to see it. To me, in a nutshell, you know, we're running long. I love what they did with the production, for the most part, as far as the overall production and the leads, I. I cannot stand the book of the Baker's Wife. And I have always said, I can't believe that it's written by Joseph Stein, the same person who wrote the book for Fiddler on the Roof, especially because they're somewhat similar in some ways. The great downfall of The Chess book. Excuse me, the Baker's Wife book, as far as I'm concerned, is that the townspeople are presented as ridiculous caricatures, whereas in Fiddler, they're written as real, wonderful human beings. So I don't know what happened to Joseph Stein. Maybe he just felt uncomfortable in the supposed French milieu. But there are all of these things that happen that try to create interest in these, all of these supporting characters. The mayor, the priest, and then there is not one, but two other couples in the show that seem to have very troubled marriages. So that's over. Kill. There is a moment that it was. Was absolutely unbearable to me where Kevin Delagila, who has proven how wonderful he can be in previous shows, most notably in Some Like It Hot, he. He gives it an endless monologue where the. The joke is supposed to be that he's taking forever to explain where he found Genevieve and. And her. Her lover. And. And I, you know, I was like, please, God, let this end. It was just. Just unbearable to me. I think Scott Bakula did a wonderful job and still sings beautifully. Not in the style of Paul Sorvino, who, you know, who recorded the role back then, but. But very well. And I. And I thought that Kevin, William, Paul. Is that his name? The three. Three names, three first names, was perfect for Dominique in. In terms of looks and also acting and sound. To me, I. I agree with Peter that although Ariana DeBose was wonderful as Gen Viev, and in many ways, and in terms of certainly her delivery of Meadowlark, there is a contemporary, temporary look and feel about her that did not seem to jibe with the others. So that was a small bit of a minus for me, but not. Not as big a negative as the book, which I think is just really quite poor. A comparison could be made between this show and Chad. Yes, great, great, great scores, but very, very problematic if, you know, if not worse books. And that's my ultimate take on the Baker's Wife in this production.

[James Marino]

All right, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on our brain tease and our musical moments, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of Broadway radio radio.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 podcast for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to Cinepo podcast as many ways to get us. One way is Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com Broadway radio is one way that you can support all of Broadway radio shows, as well as get us early and get a few extra bonuses here and there. Contact information for Peter, for Michael, for Jan, and for me can be found in the show [e-mail] 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?

[Peter Felicia]

You're on the subway in Boston. The train is noisy, so you can't quite make out what passengers are saying to each other. But when you hear a person mention I saw a musical, well, you try to hear the rest. When he praises a performer, the name means nothing to you. But when he says the name of a character the performer drummer played, you can narrow the musical down to Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakground or Annie. Well, first off, remember, I'm a native Bostonian, and although I've lived more than 60% of my life in New York City, I have retained some of my Boston accent, which was a big part of this answer. You see, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has a character named Peppa spelled P E P A, while Annie has a character named Pepper. Pepper, P E P P E R. But we Bostonians have a tendency not to pronounce the R at the end of a word. So in Boston, Pepper is Pepp. Juliet Green was the first to get it, followed by Sean Logan, Paul Whitty, Tony Janicki, Rob Johnston, Nikki Juvan, Josh Israel, Lee Korn, Arthur Robinson, Jeff Lalenga, Steve Bell, J. Aubrey Jones, Stephen Sokoloff, who got last week's answer too, but I neglected to mention him. I apologize. Add to the list Deb Popple, Brigadude, and newcomer Spencer Cuomos. Welcome. This week's question the Beggar's Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Do I Hear a Waltz? Princess Zyder, the Sorcerer, the Prom, A song title from each of these musicals, listed in this order for a reason, contains one word that was one of the five words that became very famous as a list made by an author and psychiatrist in 1969. Who is she? What are the songs, and what are the words?

[James Marino]

Okay, if you have an answer for that, email [e-mail] 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]

Well, we have selections from two shows that I saw in my recent double header day and absolutely loved both of them. I could not find any promo video or audio for the current production of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. So, for opener, we had a brief excerpt of the title song as performed by the original Broadway cast. And for the Closer, we have an excerpt from what is billed as a. A studio cast album of two strangers Carry a cake across New York. I think that's because when the show was done in. In England, it was done in several different productions with different casts. But Sam Tutty, the wonderful Sam Tutty, has been with the show for a while now and is very, very happily recreating his role of Dougal. Dougal. Is that how you pronounce it? Dougal? Dougal on Broadway. So the Closer is an excerpt from one of his best moments in the show. The song is titled New York. And you will hear him in this, along with some brief interjections by Dujana Gift, who played the other role in this studio cast recording, which was released in 2024. Please, please go see both of these shows and please get both of the cast albums. Well, I don't know if they're. I wonder if there will be a Broadway cast album. I think he may, maybe not, because the. Because Sam Tutty does carry over from the studio cast recording. But. So if there is a Broadway cast album, you can get that one. If not, you can get this studio cast recording of New York. And I hope there will be a new cast recording of Spelling Bee because it's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful production.

[James Marino]

All right, so on behalf of Jan Simpson, Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your Broadway videos this week on Broadway. Bye bye.

[Michael Portantier]

Bye, bye bye.

[Jan Simpson]

And happy Thanksgiving.

[Peter Felicia]

Yes. Everybody home.

[James Marino]

The snow in the city tomorrow to see it come twinkling down and that's why they all call it tinsel town. There's hundreds of thousands of people Just living a dream out there and there's.

[Michael Portantier]

Love in the air.

[Jan Simpson]

Okay, we're about to leave the train.

[Michael Portantier]

And then we're going to be in New York. Yes.

[Jan Simpson]

You're not going to freak out?

[James Marino]

Oh, who New York? I'm already talking to talking New York.

[Jan Simpson]

Good morning.

[James Marino]

Pop in the corkers. I'm ready I'm ready to be New York Yes, I'm ready Are they ready for me?

[Peter Felicia]

New York for two old days only.

[James Marino]

Truly me in New York, nyc jfk, ica, AC I'm already talking and talking I'm ready I'm ready to be in New York Yes, I'm ready Are you ready for me?

[Peter Felicia]

Are you ready for me?

[James Marino]

Are you ready for me? In New York.

[Michael Portantier]

The world is buzzing with AI tools. But instead of making things easier, they've made things over overwhelming. There's a better way. Meet Superhuman, the AI productivity suite that gives you superpowers so you can outsmart the word chaos with Grammarly, mail and coda. Working together, you get proactive help across your workflow. No matter how you work, experience AI that meets you right where you are. Learn [e-mail] podcast that's superhuman.com podcast did.

[James Marino]

You know you can opt out of winter with VRBO? Save up to $1,500 for booking a monthlong stay with thousands of sunny homes. Why subject yourself to the cold? Just filter your search by monthly stays and save up to $1,500. Book [e-mail].