James Marino (4:30)

Nothing like a summer in Ohio. All right. Also with us is Michael Portantier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the founder and editor of castalbumreviews.com he is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. You could see his photography work@followspotphoto.com hello, Michael.

Michael Portantier (4:54)

Hello.

Peter Filicia (4:56)

Hello.

James Marino (4:58)

So the three of us, the three of us got over to Manhattan Theatre Club to see a production of Punch. Peter, why don't you get us started on Punch?

Peter Filicia (5:16)

Yes, indeed. This play was one that I thought was going to really beflummics me because the accents were very thick at the beginning and of course they were very thick at the end. But what usually happens to people is they adjust. And I did too. After a little while I could better understand what was going on. But it did get off to a very shaky start for me. And I thought this was going to be a very long night. And it is a long night because it's a two act play which we don't see very much anymore. But anyway, I, I really wound up being tremendously impressed by this play. And the reason I was tremendously impressed had a lot to do with not only the writing but the performances. So what I'm really Talking about is Will Harrison, who plays a young English man, certainly a rough and tumble type guy who hits somebody in a brawl, and he doesn't mean it anything more than a punch. But unfortunately, the guy dies, and this puts him in a terrible tailspin and a terrible trouble. And as you can imagine, he certainly isn't endeared to the family, the father and mother of the boy that he killed. So he has to face them at some point. And what happens when he faces them is pretty fascinating. So beautifully, beautifully staged. Not an easy show to stage. There are a lot of characters in it running around, but Adam Penford, a name new to me, really Traffic Cop, did beautifully. Beautifully. So a real nice surprise with Victoria Clark, you might say. Why are you surprised? I mean, she always does good work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course she does. But we're talking about here is the fact that she is playing in a dramatic role. She plays the mother, and she's very, very effective. Very effective indeed. So I really liked her quite a bit. The whole cast is wonderful, really. Sam Robot shows up, too. He plays the father. And it's. It's quite effective. Quite effective, I think. And, um, I. I w. Well, I have a feeling we're going to be hearing about this one when the awards time comes. Even though it's an early entry in the season, I think we will hear a good deal of nominations for this across the board in all the awards that are given out. So. But if you get flummoxed at the beginning, stay with it because it will reap rewards. And it's ultimately very heartwarming and very nice for a play that does involve, well, let's face it, a murder.

James Marino (8:01)

Peter, not to show any cards or anything here, but awful lot of Broadway debuts in this cast, aren't there?

Peter Filicia (8:10)

Yeah. Yes. Don't think I didn't notice that.

James Marino (8:14)

Okay. So, Michael, what did you think of Punch?

Michael Portantier (8:18)

Well, another reason why Victoria Clarke's performance was a surprise to me, a wonderful surprise, is I was thinking that I had not heard her do a British accent before, and she did it very well, I suppose that I did hear her do a British accent in Sweeney Todd when she played the beggar woman in that. But that's a little different because it's mostly singing and very little dialog, so. But she's such a wonderful actress, and she was very wonderful in this. He had a very moving performance as the mother of the central character. And I certainly agree about the performance of Will Harrison as Jacob, the fellow who kills the son of the Victoria Clark. Character and then that whole relationship that grows between him and Victoria Clark and Sam Robarts as the parents of the boy who was killed, Will Harrison. But I'm just now looking at his bio and it would seem he's American, but you would never know it because his Brit accent is absolutely, to my ears, 100% authentic. And aside from, I mean, it's great to have a perfect accent, but also his emotional navigation of this very fraught role was really quite something. I. I think that this play was hindered greatly by the amount of multiple roles played by certain people in the cast. I think it would have been much more effective if there was less doubling and tripling. I don't know if that bothered either of you folks. And I also thought.

Peter Filicia (10:15)

That's a very good point.

Michael Portantier (10:16)

Yeah, yeah. And I also thought that there were. That it could have been, that could have been done because there. There were a lot of characters, minor characters that were really, to me, not especially necessary to the story. And that would have also. Cutting out those characters would also have cut down the running time, which I do think was a little bit too long, especially in Act 1. I really think there was so much that was not really necessary and not very effective and that we were just waiting to get to the meat. Meat of the play, which really is the, I would say the in person confrontation between Jacob and the parents of the boy that he killed. So I think those are pretty major flaws in the play, which nevertheless is extremely moving because of the subject matter. And there is so much good in the writing based on a true story, by the way. I've always, I have heard and read of in the past of situations where people who kill other people are somehow forgiven, if that's the correct word, by the loved ones of the person that they killed. And that has always fascinated me that some people have the ability to rise above to that point. I am not sure that I could do it, but I think to see it dramatized in this way is amazing. Some people have pointed out I haven't seen this show, but there's the TV show Adolescence, that I think deals with a somewhat similar subject matter, although in that case the boy in question is much younger or considerably younger. So I'm going to see if I can get to see adolescence, which I had wanted to see anyway because I had heard great praise for it. But in the meantime, I would say please go and check out Punch at Manhattan Theatre Club at the Friedman Theater, written by James Graham and directed by Adam Penford, with those people we already mentioned. Plus Camila Cano, Flavia, Cody Castro, Peter Marek and Lucy Taylor, also in the cast.

James Marino (12:47)

So I have to agree with Michael and Peter. I thought this was really a must see show. It's so well put together. We were talking about it offline last week and a little bit this week. And for me, the first act was a lot of exposition and seem to be, you know, they were setting up a lot of pins to knock down in the second act.

Michael Portantier (13:18)

Yeah.

James Marino (13:18)

But it's, it's worth it. Stay with it. I, I, you know, I don't have the talent to tell you how to fix those things, but, you know, maybe it'll be in Peter's new book, how to Fix this. But, but, but the punch is just a, it's, it's gripping. It held me. It is a bit long. Absolutely. But, you know, I thought about it a lot and talked with my wife about it a lot and I'm not sure what I would cut, but the doubling and tripling, I'm not sure how they would do it without that. They'd have to expand the cast and it's already a pretty large cast.

Michael Portantier (14:02)

Well, maybe you disagree with me that, that not all of that stuff in Act 1 was necessary. You know, there were all those other characters to me that were not really that important. Interesting, by the way, that we never do see the young man who is murdered. He's not portrayed in this play.

James Marino (14:23)

Yeah. All right, so Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Punch is at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater through November 2nd. And boy, this will be a good test of whether things get forgotten come awards season because this should definitely be in the mix there. So we'll see what happens next up. Peter, you got over to Theater555 to see Murdoch, the final interview. So tell us about this.

Peter Filicia (14:59)

Well, this is really quite extraordinary from the vantage point of a guy named Jamie Jackson, somebody who wasn't a productionist Weenie. Tod. But it wasn't a time when it made an impression on me. Not that he was bad, it was just that you can't tell all that much from somebody who's playing a judge in Sweeney Todd. But boy, you can tell a lot about his abilities when he's doing Murdoch and the interviewer and other people too, who are in Murdoch's life. It's one person show. Now, Mark Miller, who's one of our brightest critics, and I adore him tremendously, did say that when he had to play John F. Kennedy. And it's actually a movie that you see, it's not on stage that he's terrible. All right, guilty as charged. But everything else is terrific. And, and think of all the important people who are in Murdoch's life and the people he knew and the people he knows, etc. Etc. As. As well as his kids. And it's, it's quite a thing to see this happen. So as a result, I was very, very impressed by this tour de force. And while I guess nothing particularly surprised me about what was going on in the play, because I had my opinions of Rupert Murdoch before I went in and they were validated, but it was not like, oh my God, whoa, he did that too. Maybe I'm just, well read up on Rupert Murdoch. But whether you are or aren't, this performance is really well worth seeing. Hurrah. Huzzah to Jamie Jackson.

James Marino (16:40)

Okay, Murdoch. The final Interview at Theater 555 is scheduled through December 28, 2025. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael and Peter got over to MCC to see Caroline. So, Michael, why don't you get us started on Caroline.

Michael Portantier (16:57)

What's absolutely fascinating to me about this play written by Preston Max Allen and directed by David Cromer at MCC Theater is that it revolves around the character of a young trans person. And yet that is not the main issue in the play. It's almost like a. We've already got a post modern play where the fact that a young person, a very young person is trans is treated almost as an afterthought. But it is very well written here because what the situation is that there's a woman, a young woman named Maddie, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, and she's quite young herself, but she has a young daughter, Caroline, played by River Lip Smith. And Caroline is the trans person in question. And they have left their home because the father has not reacted well to this situation. And so Maddie and Caroline are seeking refuge with Maddie's parents, which is bound to be fraught, a fraught situation because of Maddie's own history as a very troubled young person. And she has been almost estranged, or actually estranged, yeah, from her parents for years. And she really is turning to them just because she has no other option. And she doesn't plan to stay there forever with Caroline, but it's really the only thing she can think to do in the short term. Her mother, Rhea, is played by Amy Landecker. We do not see her father portrayed in this play. It's a three character play. And so I just think there's an absolutely extraordinary performance by young Riverlife Smith as Caroline riverlife Smith. I checked that their pronouns are they, they there. And although Caroline is presented as a. I mean, she presents as that she is a male to female trans person. And I don't know if they use pronouns. I think they use the pronoun she for her, for the character in the play. Yeah. So that's a slight difference there. But I just find it amazing because the thing is that Maddie is assuming that her mother and father are going to have a huge problem with the fact that Caroline is trans. But it turns out that that's almost, almost a non. Issue for Rhea and she is more concerned about the. Well, she. Well, I, I don't want to give away too much because that's the crux of the play, but that is not her major concern. And, and I think that's amazing and fascinating that a play could be written at this point that really treats someone, a young person being trans is almost an afterthought. And it will interest you to find out what the real issue is and how the play ends, which I think is also, again, a very, very moving ending to this story.

James Marino (20:48)

Okay, Peter, what did you think?

Peter Filicia (20:51)

I thought it was terrific as well. And the kid really is quite amazing and.

Michael Portantier (20:55)

Quite amazing.

Peter Filicia (20:56)

Yeah. And it's, it's a very demanding role. I mean, that kid has a lot of talking to do, I'll tell you.

Michael Portantier (21:03)

Yeah.

Peter Filicia (21:03)

And she delivers it well. But one of the marvelous things about it too is the relationship between mother and daughter. Chloe Grace Moretz is tremendous in treating this girl as if she's an equal. That she has as much of a decision making power and how her life is going to go as she wants. The, the relationship. Most of us will wish when we see this play that we could have a relationship like this with our mothers. Maybe some of our listeners have, but at least one of our commentators has not. But that's another story. No, terrific, terrific terr. Interplay between them. That is marvelous. And Amy Landecker as the. As her mother is sensational as well. Now what's really wonderful too about this is the fact that it's one of those plays where both people who are arguing the mother and the daughter, I don't mean, I mean the grandmother, let's say, in the mother. Both have very good arguments. That's what's so wonderful about it. We can understand both points of view because everything these people say, you say, well, that is true. Yeah. You know, we've made up our minds. By the time we have that confrontation, we know whose side we're on. But nevertheless, we cannot deny then the mother has excellent points in the way she's looking at things. I don't know about your performances. At my performance, there were gasps when the mother was bringing out her, her ammunition about the way she felt about here's, here's the situation I want to have happen. And a lot of people, you could tell, a lot of people in that audience did not want it to be that way. That despite the, the mothers. I'm talking about the mother of the daughter, I'm sorry, I'm talking about the, the grandmother, the young daughter. The mother of the young daughter, you know, has, has certainly given her mother ample reason to distrust. But nevertheless, it is an extreme thing that the grandmother is posing. And we have already made up our mind because we have seen and we believe in the mother of the young girl. We believe in her and we want her to succeed. And, and I won't tell you what the ending is any more than anybody else will, but nevertheless, it's very, very nice. So a terrific play. And needless to say, you can almost always, almost always assume that if David Cromer is taking on a project, it does have a great deal of worth, and this is no exception.

James Marino (23:38)

Okay, Caroline at MCC Theater is running through November 16th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, during your out of town travails in the last week or so, you saw a production of Oklahoma in Kentucky, or was it a production of Kentucky in Oklahoma? Which one?

Peter Filicia (23:59)

Well, you know, there's no question that had that musical about Colonel Sanders got on that we might have seen Kentucky Lucky, as it was called in Oklahoma someday, but it, it never appeared anywhere. It's a musical by the guys who wrote oh, Captain and Let It Ride. Anyway, so, yes, here we are at Northern Kentucky University, and they're doing Oklahoma, and they're doing it proud, you know, and I'm very happy to say that because so many times, and it's business as usual and, but this was a production where the director really knew who to cast. Everybody was in the right role, which was really wonderful. And I was so happy to see that because so many times, you know, people have to make do and this wasn't the case. I, I, I get the impression, and I may be wrong, I'll grant you that, but I get the impression that much of the time directors choose a show because they say, oh, so and so would be great for that part, and so and so would be great for that part. And this director certainly had the goods where it came to that he had the people who are in the right roles. So very, very good. The real standout for me, which was astonishingly effective to me was indeed the choreography by Genevieve Perino is her name. And you know, of course it's a very choreographically heavy show, especially with that dream ballet, which was really something. And it didn't borrow what seemed to me too much from Agnes de Milleno. Again, though, I've seen a lot of theater. I was not around in 1943 to see the original, but nevertheless, we've seen enough pictures in books of what that looked like, and at times it did resemble that. But boy, I mean, the ensemble numbers, certainly the Farmer and the Cowman and Oklahoma itself, beautifully, beautifully staged. So my hats off to Ms. Perino for doing such a good job with that. I also enjoyed the curtain call immeasurably. This sounds like a strange thing to mention, but the point is those kids showed such enthusiasm for a show that isn't that far from a century old. And they, they just seemed to be having such a wonderful time in that curtain call. There was, of course, a lot of the fact that, you know, we did it, we got through it, you know, it went well, all that. Of course, that's part of the joy. But they really seem to enj. Singing, singing Oklahoma. And from my front row seat, I was very happy to see the joy on their faces. So. So really a very nice thing. And I was very glad to cross the river from Cincinnati to go to Northern Kentucky University, which isn't far from Cincinnati at all, and, and enjoy the show. So terrific job, guys.

James Marino (26:56)

So Northern Kentucky, this Oklahoma is the first show in their season. They have upcoming productions of at the Wedding, A Christmas Carol. You were to see Mamma Mia. Michael, you and I can go out for that one. And so we'll have a link to Northern Kentucky University School of the Arts in our show. Notes. Michael, you were over at the Audible Manetaline Theater where you saw Mexico. So tell us about this.

Michael Portantier (27:27)

This is an absolutely extraordinary show. And let me say, to begin with that my hats off to Audible because of their incredible track record so far at the Minetta Lane Theater. I'm. I'm not 100% clear. Do you know if they bought it or if they just have a long term lease on it?

Peter Filicia (27:50)

I don't know.

James Marino (27:50)

They bought it.

Peter Filicia (27:51)

Did they really? Good.

James Marino (27:52)

I think they bought it.

Michael Portantier (27:54)

I think so too.

Peter Filicia (27:55)

I hope you're right.

James Marino (27:56)

Yeah, Got deep enough pockets.

Michael Portantier (27:59)

Well, either way, I mean, look at what they've done there so far. You know, just really amazing stuff. These are all shows which are meant to ultimately function as radio plays or radio musicals in some cases. And you can see how all of them would. And yet they're being performed live on stage with audiences to experience them that way. And I mean, I don't. I have to say again how much I loved Dead Outlaw. And this one is. It's an extraordinary, extraordinary piece about part of history that a lot of people don't know about. We all. I think we all. I hope we all are familiar with the Underground Railroad, which was the network of people helping slaves to escape during the. You know, during slavery in.

Peter Filicia (29:03)

In.

Michael Portantier (29:03)

In. In the US and before. And during the Civil War, which, you know, is. I think maybe when we were little kids and we heard the term, some people thought it was an actual railroad that traveled underground. But we soon learned that, no, it wasn't that. It was just a network of. Of people who would help slaves to escape. But I think most of us thought of it as something that only ran north. And it turns out, no, there was also an underground railroad that ran to Mexico. Because another thing that maybe not all of us are in that conscious of or realize that there wasn't only slavery in the southeastern states, it was also in places like Texas. And that's the situation here. There was a character of one man who is a slave in Texas as the show starts, and then he winds up killing his master after a horrendous beating that he received. And so he escapes, feeling he had no other choice over the Rio Grande to Mexico, where he meets another, a Mexican fellow who helps him despite his own history, which is kind of complicated, but. So that's the situation we have here. But it is performed by these two amazingly talented people, Brian Quijada and Nigel D. Robinson, who not only sing and act brilliantly and as good as anyone could ever be expected to, but they also play multiple instruments. And then the. The hook of this show is that there's a lot of looping in it. So, for example, one of them will pick up a guitar and play a riff, and it's being recorded while they play the riff. And then there is this supremely talented fellow named Mikael Fixel, who is billed as the looping systems architecture and sound designer, who runs a looping console to combine the guitar with, you know, then they'll pick up a drumstick and set a beat and a bass and.

James Marino (31:38)

All.

Michael Portantier (31:39)

These different instruments to create this amazing sound world that they sing to. And it's just amazing. I've seen that done before, but never to this extent and never to this such a complicated, complex extent. So it has to be experienced, I would say it has to be experienced live so you can see them actually create this every single night from scratch. I'm sure it would be enjoyable to hear it as a radio play or a radio musical, but you would miss that thrill of it being created right before your eyes. So I, I would absolutely not miss this for any reason. It's like nothing I've ever seen or heard before in my life. And those two, the only issue here is I would imagine it would be extremely difficult to find other people who were able to perform it as well as Brian Quijada and Nigel D. Robinson. So I don't know what kind of future it's going to have in that sense. But while it's here at the Manetta Lane, do not miss it.

Peter Filicia (33:05)

It's so nice that Juliet Green, one of our brain teachers or brains, told me that this was going to be sensational. So I'm going on the 13th and I'm looking forward to it. Counting the days like a kid till Christmas.

Michael Portantier (33:18)

Well, she was right.

Peter Filicia (33:20)

She's often right with the questions, too.

Michael Portantier (33:22)

So, yes.

James Marino (33:27)

One of our listeners in the chat room, Spencer Cuomos, says that Audible did not buy the Mineta Lane Theater. Just entered a long term partnership in 2018. No long term, no end date is listed. Liberty Theaters apparently still owns Minetta.

Michael Portantier (33:44)

Thank you for that.

James Marino (33:45)

Thanks, Spencer. All right, so next up, Peter, you were over at the Public and you saw the Other Americans by John Leguizamo, our latest from our favorite. So tell us about it.

Peter Filicia (34:00)

Yeah, John Leguizamo was aged enough to play the father of a grown man. That might be one reason why he grew a mustache for this part. That could very well be. But anyway, and he's married and their son has had a tough time of it, a very tough time of it. And it's really too bad of what's going on with that boy because everybody in the family, his sister as well, has an opinion on what he should do with his life. Now, I will admit that I knew what was going to happen to this young man by the time the show was over. And I think just by the way I'm putting it, you know what happens too. But nevertheless, the power of the play is really that you find out that everybody is responsible, everybody, because everybody has an opinion and everybody knows exactly what he should do. And while he was en route to making his own decisions. He was always subverted by these other people's opinions. So I'm going to leave it at that. But I will say that while it is predictable, I'm sorry to say, too predictable, it is real and it does make the points that it wants to make very well in terms of people in a family sometimes budding in more than they should. And it's a cautionary tale under those circumstances. So I applaud it for that. Very nicely performed by everybody and I'm. I think it may have a future here, there and other places too. I don't see it moving to Broadway quickly, but I do think it's going to have a number of productions because it does tell the truth.

James Marino (35:54)

Am I remembering this correctly or maybe just anecdotally that a lot of John Leguizamo things end up on, on television?

Peter Filicia (36:04)

Ah, they do. Don't say.

Michael Portantier (36:06)

Yeah, right.

James Marino (36:07)

Yeah. I wonder if that would be another venue for this after the public theater run. We'll have to see what, how that works out. Michael, you were over at the Doctor too to see pen pals. Did you see the Kathleen Chalfont and Ella McLaughlin version?

Michael Portantier (36:27)

I did. I purposely waited to see the show. It's been running for a while, but I wanted to wait until, until there was a cast that I really wanted to see. And I'm glad I did. I mean I have no idea how all the previous pairings were, but Kathleen Chalfont and Ellen McLaughlin who of course work together in Angels in America are just wonderful in this two hander by Michael Griffo. Apparently based on a real life relationship. A 50 year pen pal relationship of two women that starts when they, they are in high school around like age 14. One from Sheffield, England and the other from Newark, New Jersey. And their names are. The Jersey girl is Bernadette, but she likes to be called Bernie. And the British young woman's name is Margaret, but Bernie decides to call her Mags. And Margaret likes that. So that's how they become, they come to know each other and it's, you know, it's a wonderful. Very much along the lines of Love Letters. Except of course that's about a romantic relationship. But here it's about a wonderful deep friendship between these two women. First girls and then women who are very much unalike in some ways, but they still develop a bond. I don't know if either of you guys ever had a pen pal. I, I never did. In this play it's set up by the girls teachers, the girls respective teachers in their schools. But they Continue it over about 50 years. And as I guess maybe happens often, they decide sort of early on that first of all that they're not going to even attempt to speak on the phone because they think it would, you know, it would change the relationship in a way. And also they go for about 50 years before deciding to finally, finally meet in person. I thought that was the one disappointing moment in this play because I think perhaps it was the direction by Susan Barabbas or maybe it was also partly the decision of the two actors, but there was a moment for real, real honest sentiment there when they finally lay eyes on each other in the final scenes of the play, which you know, and now that I've said all this, maybe it's a spoiler, maybe I shouldn't have said that. But in a way it's not a spoiler because as I. It doesn't really. The emotional content of that moment is to me, not anywhere near where it could have been. Maybe it was purposely avoided because they didn't want to seem too sentimental. But I don't think it was a good choice. The play is, did I mention the script is by Michael Griffo, based on an actual real life relationship. But both Kathleen and Ellen McLaughlin, as you might imagine, are both wonderful in it. I mentioned before about Victoria Clarke and her Brit accent. I don't think I've heard Kathleen do a Brit accent before, but she equated herself very well in that respect here. And of course she's just, they're both so Wonderful. And Ellen McLaughlin, her Jersey accent sure sounded authentic to me and I've known a lot of those people, so. So I was very impressed because of course she was nothing like that in Angels in America and anything else I've seen her do. So I would recommend this play very much in the audience on the night I went was Priscilla Lopez and I said, oh, are you going to do this play? And she said, yes, I'm going into it soon. It turns out she is going to be in it October 15th through the 26th. Opposite actress. I don't think I'm really familiar with Pauletta Washington.

Peter Filicia (41:04)

No, I don't know.

Michael Portantier (41:05)

But they're doing it. The cast changes about every two weeks, I believe, in this run at the Dr. 2 Theater, which is a wonderfully intimate space for it. And so I do recommend it, especially if there's a pairing that you particularly want to see. I mean, I'll go see Kathleen Schaalfont in anything, so. But, but it is a worthy play in itself and, and I. I'm glad that I went.

James Marino (41:35)

All right, so Kathleen Chiffont and Ellen Glocklin are through October 12th. So you have another week or so. Just check it out. We have Kate Burton and Pauletta Pearson Washington coming up. Katherine Curtin and Marcia Cross, Sharon Lawrence and Maureen McCormick. And I think maybe.

Michael Portantier (41:55)

I think maybe Priscilla has maybe p. Well, I don't see. I don't see Kate Burton listed on where. Where I'm looking at, but. So maybe there was. Maybe there's been a replacement change. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

James Marino (42:12)

Oh, okay. And then Donal and Champlin and Emily Skinner and all. Of course, your mileage may vary. Please check website for details. Don't hold it against us. The government is closed. So. All right, pen pals. We'll have a link to it in the show notes. That's the easiest thing. We'll have a link to it in the show notes.

Michael Portantier (42:34)

Yes, yes, yes.

James Marino (42:36)

All right, Peter, you go. You went to a backers audition, and we don't typically talk about a backers audition publicly, but you got the green light to talk about Marilyn mom and Me, a new play by Luke Yang. Frankie.

Peter Filicia (42:50)

Yeah, you know, it's luxury casting when indeed Clea Blackhurst is reading stage directions, but she does have a tiny part in the play as well. But yes, Marilyn Mum and me. Who's mum, who's me mom is Eileen Heckert, a wonderful actress who certainly made her mark in the Bad Seed way back when and won an Oscar for Butterflies Are Free after losing a Tony in Butterflies Free on Stage. One of the few people who have done that. A remarkable, remarkable actress. And her son, Luke Yankee is the me now. He wanted to know about her relationship with Marilyn Monroe when both of them did Bus Stop. And it's really quite fascinating to hear what the relationship was like. He did tape record his mother when she was still alive. Even though she was ailing at the time terribly, she wouldn't live much longer. He did talk to her and get the scoop. So in the sense it's very documentary like. Like. But what's really wonderful is that after she talks about. After Eileen Heckert talks about her feelings about Marilyn Monroe, he uses it as an opportunity to talk about the fact of what type of mother she was to him. And indeed, some of the kindnesses and support that indeed she gave Marilyn Monroe weren't necessarily coming to him. So that's what makes the play even more interesting. Sure. There was Adam. I'm sorry, I always get this wrong. Anthony Rapp. Anthony Rapp playing Luke Yankee. Tremendous performance. Wonderful. So great to see him. I mean, he really knew how to zero in on every question he asked and fielded things. It made it seem so, so contemporaneous. I mean, just, just wonderful. Alicia Soper. I don't know if you know who she is. Alicia Soper. S O P E R phenomenalist Marilyn Monroe. And given the fact that we've never lost our fascination with Marilyn Monroe, she's still very much on the scene in so many ways. You still see that famous Andy Warhol thing of her. She's astonishingly big in Britain, where I predict a very big future for this play after it get very big production here and does extraordinarily well. I do believe that's going to happen. The sooner the better for all concerned. But I'm telling you, quite, quite an experience. And keep your eye on Alicia sopa. In fact, try to keep it away from her when she's playing Marilyn Monroe.

James Marino (45:34)

Okay? We will have a link to the Marilyn mom and Me website. Next up, Michael, you were down at NYU where you saw a production of Sweeney Todd. Tell us more about this.

Michael Portantier (45:48)

Yes, this. As I'm sure many of our listeners know, there are many schools and divisions as part of nyu, but this was a production of the Steinhardt School program in vocal performance. And it was at the newish Iris Cantor Theater, which is on Houston and Green Street. It's a wonderful venue, only a few years old. It was a wonderful production overall. The thing that was most magical about it to me is that this theater has a completely open orchestra pit. And they had a full orchestra for this production playing the unbelievable orchestrations of Jonathan Tunick of the brilliant masterpiece score by Stephen Sondheim. And not only is the pit completely open, but the way the theater is configured, it's stadium seating and the first row of the theater is on the same level as the stage. So if you're sitting in the first row, you have the orchestra pit right in front of you, but lower down and then you. And then the action right in front of you on the stage, which is at the same level. So because I was in the second row of the theater, I felt like I was conducting the orchestra because it was right in front of me. And I never dreamed that I would ever have an experience like that, to feel like I was absolutely in the middle of those orchestrations and that brilliant score. So it would have been worth it if only for that. But on top of all of that, it was a very strong production with some extremely talented young people. I want to single out Colby Kendrick as Sweeney Todd and Amanda Zander as Mrs. Lovett. I was very, very unhappy that this is one of several shows I've seen recently that did not have a full program and instead had a QR code that you would scan. But. But as if that weren't bad enough, the QR code didn't work.

Peter Filicia (48:22)

Oh.

Michael Portantier (48:25)

And when I called to complain about it the next day, I was told, oh, that's because the cell reception in the theater is terrible. So I said, well, given that the cell reception in the theater is terrible, don't you think nyu, with all its millions, could have sprung for a printed program? You know, because as it was, we couldn't tell who these people were who were performing. Yes, they did have LED screens in the lobby that did have their names, but they didn't have the character names along with them. And you know, of course people look very different in their headshots.

Peter Filicia (48:58)

No, don't they?

Michael Portantier (48:59)

Sometimes than they do on stage, depending on the costuming and the wigs, you know, so it was really bad. And I couldn't find out until I got home who who was who. And then it was hard to, you know, necessarily remember and pierce it back. So I really hate that. And I wish people would stop doing it. You know, the argument some people give is that, is that it's to help the environment, you know, to go green. But I don't know, doesn't it seem to you guys that the amount of PA that's used for things now is, is unbelievably a tiny, tiny percentage of what it was 20, 25 years ago because of the Internet.

Peter Filicia (49:46)

Right.

Michael Portantier (49:47)

You know, I mean, think of, think.

James Marino (49:48)

Of, think of, you know, news, Sunday Times alone.

Peter Filicia (49:53)

Yeah, right. Yeah.

Michael Portantier (49:55)

I mean, so I haven't actually done the research, but don't you think that that's no longer an issue as far as killing trees? Because it's done so much less than it was for all those decades.

James Marino (50:12)

And then they have a balloon launch, you know, and you can't have a balloon launch. It kills things.

Michael Portantier (50:20)

And anyway, and even if it, even if that is still an issue, the way to solve that is to use recycled paper. So I completely reject the going green issue. I think it's an insult to people's intelligence. So I wish people would stop doing that. Oh, I should mention one more reason I was very glad I saw this production is believe it or not, they did it almost uncut. The only thing they cut was the tooth pulling sequence. But they did the judges Joanna, the judges version of Joanna, which you do you do not see or hear very often anymore. And they even did all of the parlor songs, including if One Bell Rings in the Tower to Bray. They did all of that, that, so I, I, you know, I was a little surprised and I actually, I, I think those two, well, certainly the, the, the, the, the truth pulling sequence and the tower and the, the parlor songs, I think are, are good cuts. So I, I, I don't think they need to be there, but it was just unexpected for me to see and hear all of that in this production.

James Marino (51:30)

All right, so Sweeney Todd. Yet another production of Sweeney Todd at nyu. They seem to do a lot of them. They're all different, they are all different creative teams and different casts and things like that. So check it out, Peter.

Michael Portantier (51:47)

Well, that, yeah, of course that, that one is, is over now, but, but I was really glad that I got there. And you know, one more thing. It's hard to find out about some of these shows because my understanding is correct that they're not allowed to publicize them very much because they're in Manhattan. So when schools do schools like NYU and Manhattan School of Music and man, when they do shows like that, they can't really publicize it. So we have to really work to find out sometimes. But I'm glad that I did in this case.

James Marino (52:25)

So, Peter, you were over at the WP Theater to see Torreira. So tell us about this.

Peter Filicia (52:31)

Well, this is another show set in Mexico, and it's about a woman who wants to be a bullfighter. And of course, she's discouraged here and there. I hate plays where people walk in at the wrong time and hear things that they aren't supposed to hear. This happens twice in this play, not only, but also. So as a result, I didn't respond to it for that reason. Speaking of Sweeney Todd, isn't it interesting that Toby doesn't walk in at the wrong time originally? What he does is suspect something's going on, that he has a feeling something is going on. I think that's wonderful, dramatizing not to have him again. He will be in the wrong place at the wrong time eventually. But the point is, it is beautifully set up with the, that he is suspicious and he has ample reason to be. And then, of course, he sees the, the purse. And he knows then that something really is bad. But notice the steps it takes before you get there. But the steps that these people take are right into the room, not only, but also twice. One man, one woman. So, yeah, it is surprising at the end. Something happened at the end of the show that I didn't expect was going to happen. A pretty impressive surprise, of course. Course, the other person walked in to hear it, but that's the one. Costumes are good. We almost have a Fanny Brice, Eddie Ryan relationship here, where the female would be bullfighter is also dealing with a young man who wants to be a bullfighter. And he seems to like her in the way that Eddie Ryan likes Fanny. But that turns out not to be true. As time goes on, it does seem to be there's another issue going on. I'm sure you're guessing what that issue is, but that is never quite established in the play. I'm not saying that's a flaw. I'm just saying it's never quite established. Whatever suspicions you raise about this guy, you're left to make your own decision at the end of the play. It is not made clear. And I don't mean that in the worst sense of the word. It's just the playwright wants us to make up our own minds. And indeed you can. But there must be a better way than having people walk in at the wrong time. Time.

James Marino (54:47)

All right, so to is at the WP running through October 19th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. And Michael, finishing up our reviews for the morning. There's nothing like Broadway.

Michael Portantier (55:05)

Well, this is a musical playing at the Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater at the Ethical Culture center. And I wasn't going to review it because overall I disliked it so intensely that I didn't see the point. But I decided to because I think this is a case where I honestly think that I could help in, in one particular sense. The show has a book, music and lyrics by David Rakoff. And I guess that's the first red flag, because book, music and lyrics. I, I will say from the beginning, the lyrics I thought were absolutely excellent. Yes, in terms of no false rhymes, the, the, the, the text falling naturally on the, on the melodies. And in every other sense I thought the lyrics were excellent. But here is the damnedest thing. I think the melodies were also good, but I couldn't tell because normally if you hear, you know, if you hear a song being played, usually the accompaniment has something to do with the melody, you know, at least in traditional songwriting. And by the way, David Rakoff in a program note, the first sentence of his program note is nothing like Broadway is my love letter to old fashioned musical theater. So he's definitely going for that. But I swear to God. Now, it's not that the, it's not that the accompaniment has to, has to mirror the melody at all times and, and many accompaniments do not, but they have to be, at least they have to go with it. Here we have someone singing a melody and meanwhile the very tiny band is playing like a counter melody and, or they're playing all these dissonances that, that are just painful to the ear. So I couldn't quite believe what was happening. And I guess I would highly, strongly suggest to David Rakoff that he start collaborating with other people and not doing everything himself. And the first person I guess I would advise him to collaborate with is, I guess, an arranger. I mean, I'm presuming that he wrote all the accompaniments to his own music. And I think that it absolutely destroyed any enjoyment that I would have had. I still can't quite believe it because I don't know why in God's name he would have done that, especially since he was going for a traditional musical theater sound on top of all that. The book, I won't get into it. The book was ridiculous. It was a weird combination of a backstage musical and a spy movie with a Russian spy and a British spy and all this nonsense. But I think that was the weird flaw of it and something I've never experienced before in my life. The cast was quite talented. Marek Zurowski, Mikhail Phillips, Tyler Tanner, and I have to mention a woman named Josie Miller who I. You never know where you're going to find this, do you? I think she had one of the greatest voices I've ever heard in my life. And she also had great comic timing. She played the Russian spy and even though the role was ridiculous, she did a just magnificent job with it. But also, I mean, I think I want to follow trustee, try to follow her career because I, I, I, the voice was just, just great. I, I don't think I've ever heard a better voice in my life. And that's saying quite a bit considering all I've seen and heard. So I, I, I, bravo to her. And, and you know, for, for surviving this and for bringing so much of her talent to it.

James Marino (59:41)

I, I want to point out that this week on, on Facebook, I saw a real photograph, not AI of Julie Andrews kissing Michael Portantier. That's true. He's saying he's never heard a better voice and he's had Julie Andrews kiss him.

Peter Filicia (60:02)

It's a great picture. It really is good for you, Michael.

James Marino (60:08)

All right, so nothing like Broadway, Exclamation point is playing through November 23rd at the Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater on 64th Street. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes quickly, quickly, quickly. In the news, we can't go by without mentioning the passing of Patricia Ridge. Peter, any words?

Peter Filicia (60:32)

Oh, yeah, I was lucky enough to see her twice. I saw her in Married Alive, as Darling of the Day was called in Boston Austin. And she really tore down the house with not on your Nelly, a wonderful Julie Stein ey Harburg song which was done on Ed Sullivan. Nobody can find it. It's really too bad. I hope there'll be a more concerted effort now because believe me, it seems like all the serious collectors have every Ed Sullivan moment that had to do with Broadway, but they don't have that one. That's really too bad because she was spectacular in that. But the original cast album still lives. This is a show that got such a bad break. I mean, you know, Clive Bar just didn't go see it. And the second string critic, showing that he was a tough guy, gave it a bad review. Walter Kerr loved it, but it was too late to save the show, et cetera, et cetera. But she was magnificent. And exhibit A, that she was terrific is the fact that she won a Tony for a show that ran 31 or 32 performances, depending on what reference book you look at. Only Dolores Gray has done better with Carnival and Flanders, which was just a week's run. But anyway, Patricia Rowley, granted, she tied. She tied with Leslie Outcomes, but good Lord, the fact that comparatively fewer people had to have seen Darling of the Day than Hallelujah Baby with Leslie Adams, it really shows you what an achievement it was, but a bigger achievement still. And this is the legendary One was in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which I saw at the national in Washington before it came in, and it only came in for a week. The. The famous number she had was when she was playing two first ladies, one incoming, one outcoming. Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant. These two teams didn't like each other, I'll tell you. And so you could hear them squabbling. The show's song is called Duet for One, which is an oxymoron, but I'll tell you, it had to be a moron not to appreciate what Patricia Routledge did. She had this very strange hit. Hair hat, not hairpiece isn't right either. But she had this very strange doohickey on her head that she flipped back and forth to indicate who was who, and it was just misery. I. I'm telling you, I could take you to within a quarter inch of the stage where she was standing. While doing the song, she walked a little because it was just so mesmerized. Michael was just talking about it. You've never seen anything like it. Indeed. When have you ever seen a duet for one, you know, in a song with two first ladies? So everybody knows the 1600 didn't work. Everybody knows that it had a marvelous score. Everybody knows that Leonard Bernstein made a big mistake in not letting it be recorded because the recording that did happen later is atrocious beyond belief. And it's not even that they even changed the name of it to protect the innocent. So. So she was really terrific. I regret that I didn't get to see her play. Play Vita Louise in the musical version of Harvey, which was called say hello to Harvey, which closed, I believe, in Canada, didn't come in. Leslie Burkus wrote the score. I have a sound system recording, and I like a lot of it. And she's great fun in it, so. But that's better than nothing. But I'm very lucky to have seen her once in the 60s and once in the 70s.

James Marino (63:54)

Peter, I'm afraid that maybe Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde stole that concept of the hair flipping back and forth, the duet.

Peter Filicia (64:03)

I suppose that's true. Yeah. Yeah. And that came late in the show, in the show's genesis, when. That was when I saw it in Houston. He was singing it to a. A movie. Yeah, that came late. Yeah.

James Marino (64:17)

Michael, any words?

Michael Portantier (64:18)

Well, oh, first of all, I should say, according to one in obit that I read, apparently the correct pronunciation of her name was routled, which I didn't know.

Peter Filicia (64:28)

Oh, I did see that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Portantier (64:31)

And I only saw her live once, but it was. It was a great one. It was in the Pirates of Penzance at the Delacorte Theater, the legendary New York Shakespeare Festival production, which she did not continue with after it moved to Broadway because she went in to do a little thing called Noises Off. I believe that's right.

Peter Filicia (64:56)

Yeah.

Michael Portantier (64:57)

She was just great in as Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. And I'm so happy that, belatedly, the video of that production showed up. It was. It was preserved on video, but then was not released for many years for a number of reasons. But you can now purchase it. And it's. It's definitely worth it. She's. She's absolutely delightful in it. And I'm so glad that I. That I saw that, because, as I said, that was one element of the production that was not retained when it moved to Broadway.

James Marino (65:40)

All right, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser and our musical moment, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link. That way each and every time we have a new episode of this week on Broadway Broadway, it'll be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Contact information for Peter for Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain teaser?

Peter Filicia (66:10)

I do. Two of his works made it to Broadway in the 1980s. One was a revival of his play, one was his new musical. Both titles had two words in them. The first word of each show was identical. Pinnacle. Each of the second word of the title started with the same two letters. I'm talking about Terence McNally who wrote the Ritz and the Rink. So Paul Witty was the first, followed by Tony Janicki, Josh Israel, Sean Logan, Mike Meaney, Juliet Green, Michael Wanis, Andrew Barrett, Brigad, and Steve Sokoloff. This week's question this legendary Broadway performer once received an Oscar nomination as best Featured Actress. Some years later, on stage, she played a character who had once won won an Oscar as best featured Actress. Who is she? What are the two properties?

James Marino (66:59)

Okay, if you have an answer for that, email us@triviabroadervideo.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 (67:11)

Well, it's Our musical moments are a tribute to the aforementioned Julie Andrews, who actually featured in one of our musical moments last week because we mentioned that it was the 60th anniversary of the opening of the film version of the Sound of Music. But also I realized belatedly that Ms. Andrew's 90th birthday was coming up and did happen on October 1st. So, you know, I mean, what can be said about Julie Andrews at this point? I should say what I said about that performer in Nothing Like Broadway. I do mean that for her type of voice that she had a really great voice and better than I've ever heard. But Julie Andrews was in a class by herself. And in addition to all of her other accomplishments, she did make several albums early on in her career as well as later. But I mean, she made some albums for Columbia and RCA early in her career. And our two selections today are taken from a Columbia album that was called Broadway's Fair Julie that was released in 1961. And the opener is rather unusual visual choice I. I suppose, for Julie Andrews. How Can I Wait from Paint yout Wagon, which is a terrific song and she does a lovely, delightful version of it. And the closer is, I think, one of my favorite personal songs. If Love Were all from Noel Coward's Bittersweet, Just a very, very, very beautiful song. I think Noel Coward is. Is acknowledged for the wit of his songwriting, but he also could write a beautiful melody with honest sentiment when he wanted to. And this is certainly an example of that. And I'm glad that that Ms. Andrews recorded it especially back in her Vocal prime in 1961. So happy, happy, happy, happy birthday to Julie Andrews. And please enjoy these two selections.

James Marino (69:41)

Okay, so on behalf of 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 (69:52)

Bye.

Julie Andrews (singing) (69:54)

I believe the more you love a man the more you give your trust the more you're bound to lose oh, when shadows fall I think if only somebody split it really needed me.

Peter Filicia (70:26)

Somebody.

Julie Andrews (singing) (70:27)

Affectionate and dear Cares would be ended if I knew that he wanted to have me near But I believe that since my life began the most I had Is just a talent to amuse if love were all.

James Marino (71:33)

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and autopilot policies. Try it at progressive. Com, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.