Off-B'way Reviews: Curse of the Starving Class; Dakar 2000

Christian Slater, Calista Flockhart,
and Lois in
Curse of the Starving Class.
Credit: Monique Carboni

Sam Shepard’s darkly funny and tragic family drama Curse of the Starving Class premiered in London in 1977 and then Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 1978, winning an Obie Award for Best Play. Bruce Beresford direct a 1996 film version starring James Woods and Kathy Bates. It has been revived by Signature Theater Company in 2019. Despite this relatively recent production and its age, a new staging in Signature’s theater complex by a different company (The New Group), Curse does not feel repetitive or dated to the late 70s thanks to a muscular production by New Group artistic director Scott Elliott. When this unflinching portrait of the symbolic disintegration of the American Dream and the nuclear family was first produced, the country was reeling from Watergate and the first major spell of mass disillusion with our trusted institutions. In 2019, we were sharply divided by Trump’s populism and politics of rage. Now we are even more shattered and conflicted and Shepard’s bleak vision feels especially relevant. 

The basic plot echoes the works of Chekhov, Williams and O’Neill with the dysfunctional Tate clan clawing each other over the fate of their home and ranch in California (Arnulfo Maldonado designed the hyper-realistic kitchen set.)  Alcoholic dad Weston (a grizzled Christian Slater) plans to sell off the land in order to pay his enormous debts, mostly for bar tabs and restoring antique cars. Mother Ella (appropriately desperate and harried Calista Flockhart) has similar designs, but wants to use the profits to flee to a fantasy life in Europe. Their two children, Wesley (a zombie-like Cooper Hoffman) and Emma (razor-sharp Stella Marcus) seek to establish their own identities in different ways. Wesley wants to stay on the land and make it work while Emma, like her mom, indulges in elaborate dreams of escape involving fishing boats and becoming a mechanic. 

Cooper Hoffman and Christian Slater
in Curse of the Starving Class.
Credit: Monique Carboni

Shepard uses the clashes of the Tates to develop his themes of alienation and disconnection from American society. No one trusts banks, institutes, or the country at large. When asked to describe a slick real-estate dealer (appropriately glib Kyle Beltran) looking to purchase the family spread, Emma tartly replies, “You know, ordinary, like a crook.” Also, the family is caught in an economic squeeze, unable to make their land pay. Ella often exclaims they are not starving, but not rich either. “We’re somewhere in the middle,” she declares. They are constantly opening the refrigerator, seeking sustenance which is hardly ever there. There are myriad images and references to food, eating and livestock. Emma has been saving a chicken to dissect for her 4-H Club, but Ella boiled it before the demonstration. Wesley brings a live sheep onstage (In one of the few instances of miscasting, Lois the animal actor appears a bit too well-fed for her role.)

Live-Action Oscar Shorts; Sing Sing; Nickel Boys

The Last Ranger

Last year, most of the Oscar nominated live-action short films were available for streaming, but this year only two were--I'm Not a Robot on YouTube and Anuja on Netflix. So I was forced to spend the $15 at IFC to see them in person. All five shared a common theme--the individual crushed by an oppressive system or outside evil forces, mostly based on real events. It's hard to chose a winner, since each was powerful in its own way. The Man who Would Not Remain Silent chronicles a harrowing train ride where in Serbia where paramilitary thugs are pulling Muslims off the train, presumably for execution. Anuja follows two Indian sisters toiling in a sweat shop. The younger has an opportunity to go to school but it means leaving her sibling behind. I'm Not a Robot is a darkly funny, but ultimately scary semi-sci-fi tale about those Catchpa tests to prove one is not a bot. 

The last two really shattered me. A Lien follows a couple applying for a Green Card for the undocumented husband when ICE makes a surprise raid. Trump appears on the TV in the waiting room and the couple's baby daughter is in danger of being taken into custody. The direction is very taut, adding the suspense as the wife scrambles to retrieve passports and stop her kid from being seized by ICE. In The Last Ranger, it started kind of slow as a ranger watches over a herd of rhinos in an African game preserve and the father of a young girl looks for work. They all come together in a tragic collision as poachers seek to mutilate the rhinos for their black-market-prized horns. Like A Lien, the action started with an seemingly innocent series of scenes--the park ranger chatting with her supervisor, the unemployed father advising his daughter to play quietly and not disturb her grandmother--but then it picked up tension surprisingly quickly for a devastating outcome. If I were an Oscar voter, I'd go with The Last Ranger.

Nickel Boys

I also caught up with the final two films nominated in the major categories--coincidentally both are about African-American men held in prison situations--Sing Sing and Nickel Boys. Colman Domingo is brilliant as an intelligent prisoner involved in the theater program and most of the cast are ex-cons playing themselves. Nickel Boys is a stunning piece of work, filmed totally from point-of-view shots. Director RaMell Ross and cinematographer Jomo Fray weren't even nominated for Oscars. The National Society of Film Critics chose it as Best Picture and I'm tempted to go along with them. Final Oscar predictions to come before Sunday night's big show.

Book Review: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

(Borrowed from the Jackson Heights Library) Finished off the short stories collected in The Complete Sherlock Homes, Vol. I, a 1000-plus page paper back. Doyle was forced to revive Holmes after a public outcry in reaction to his supposed death over the falls with Prof. Moriarty. Holmes and Watson are reunited at Baker Street. It appears Watson is now a widower since they are rooming together once again. Doyle attempts to finish off Holmes once and for all by retiring him to Sussex to take up beekeeping. (It didn't take, he came back again--in movies, TV and radio as well as more stories.) We have another round of puzzling mysteries with Holmes always outsmarting the thick-witted Inspector Lastrade and the eager Hopkins. In many of these stories, Holmes acts as judge and jury of the committer of the crime, often allowing them to go free since their violation was justifiable in his opinion. That strikes me as a dangerous precedent. Still enjoyable. The Golden Pince-Nez was my favorite of this group.

Book Review: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

(Borrowed from the Jackson Heights Library) Once I finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I continued reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic stories collected in The Complete Novels and Stories Vol. I. The next volume of stories Doyle published as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Several of the pieces deal with Holmes' early life and also introduce us to his smarter but lazier brother Mycroft (I imagined Robert Morley in the role.) The collection is tight and elegant. My favorite story in the group is probably The Yellow Face which includes a surprisingly progressive and liberal  twist. No spoilers. This collection was meant to be the popular detective's farewell with the final story chronicling a climactic confrontation with the sinister Prof. Moriarty, but Doyle was forced to bring him back in The Return of Sherlock Holmes. A fun fast read.

Conclave and Chalamet Surprises at SAGs

Timothee Chalamant as Bob Dylan
in A Complete Unknown.
Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Conclave was the surprise winner of the top prize at the SAG Awards, presented Feb. 23 on Netflix, further skewing the race for the upcoming unpredictable Oscars. The top award for Best Ensemble meaning the best acted film which does not necessarily mean it is now the favorite for the Oscar Best Picture. In addition, Timothee Chalamet won for Best Actor as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, defeated GG and CC winner Adrien Brody of The Brutalist. Demi Moore, the GG winner for The Substance, took Best Actress and expected front-runners Zoe Saldana of Emilia Perez and Kieran Culkin of A Real Pain continued to dominate the Supporting Categories.

Shogun was the big winner in TV categories with wins for Best Drama Series Ensemble, Actor Hiroyuki Sanada and Actress Anna Sawai. Only Murders in the Building was the unexpected winner for Comedy Ensemble and Actor for Martin Short, who was not present. Emmy and previous SAG winner Jean Smart won Best Comedy Actress for HBO's Hacks. Smart opened the show with as her character preparing to host the awards, but in the comedy bit she was only getting a letter from SAG for non-payment of her union dues. Kristin Bell was the real host and started her comedy with a song highlight clips of the nominees' early careers. As in other recent LA-based awards shows, first responders who fought the city's sweeping wildfires were invited and honored.

Jane Fonda received the Lifetime Achievement Award and delivered a politcally charged speech defending the notion of "woke" meaning you care about people.

Anora Wins Big at the Film Independent Spirit Awards

Mikey Madison of Anora at the
Film Independent Spirit Awards

Anora continues to dominate the last-minute rush of awards season, winning big at the 40th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards presented on Feb. 22. The comedy about a Brooklyn exotic dancer marrying the son of a Russian oligarch had similar big wins at the Critics Choice, PGA, DGA, WGA and BAFTA awards. At the Indies, Anora was voted Best Feature, Best Director and Lead Performance by Mike Madison in the title role. The Indies performance categories are gender-neutral. Kieran Culkin continued his preeminence in the supporting category for A Real Pain. His director and co-star Jesse Eisenberg won for Best Screenplay. The SAG Awards presented tonight will be the last major film awards ceremony before the Oscars on next week on March 2. Aidy Bryant hosted the event.

A complete list of winners follows:

Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts; Wiseman at Lincoln Center

Magic Candies

On Presidents' Day, I had an early morning appointment with my physical therapist and had the rest of the day free. So I decided to treat myself to a cinephile's double feature of unusual movie fare. At 10:45 AM, I went to IFC and took in the Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts. Then after lunch I took the subway to 66th St. for Lincoln Center Films' Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution Retrospective screening of Welfare (1975) at 2:30 PM. The following Thursday, we took in Wiseman's Juvenile Court which I saw in high school 50 years ago. 

The Animated Shorts were all enjoyable. It's difficult to predict which will win. My favorite was the joyfully silly Magic Candies from Japan. An isolated little boy chews on mysterious candies and each produces a different startlingly effect. The sofa tells him to remove the TV remote from its cushions and requests that the boy's father stop farting into it. The boy's dog speaks. His late grandmother returns to him in the form of bubble gum balloons. A delightful visually stunning fantasy. The voters will probably go for the more complex and adult Wander to Wonder or Beautiful Men. In the British Wander to Wonder, three tiny humans who starred in a kids' TV program are coping with the death of their normal-sized creator. The detailed clay-motion creatures were expressive and pitiful as they struggled for survival amidst the debris of their late creator's corpse and the remains of his TV studio. Beautiful Men is the strikingly realistic of three bald Belgian brothers traveling to Istanbul for hair transplants, but they have only been booked for one treatment. Sibling rivalry and suppressed emotions boil just beneath the surface of this touching stop-motion tale. Yuck from France was cute and In the Shadow of the Cypress from Iran was mystifying and beautiful (The Iranian filmmakers cannot leave their country due to diplomatic breakdowns between the US and Iran.)

Off-B'way Reviews: Liberation, The Antiquities

Susannah Flood and Betsy Aidem in
Liberation.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The trouble with most “issue” plays is the characters seem more like animated talking points, rather than complex, flesh-and-blood human beings. Fortunately, Bess Wohl’s Liberation (at Roundabout’s Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theater) does not fall into this trap. Wohl addresses the feminist movement, where it has succeeded and where it has failed. You might suspect from the play’s basic structure, she would employ a checklist of stereotypes to examine the different aspects of the topic. But each of her characters is a unique individual.

Wohl begins with what appears to be a fairly obvious device: a narrator, Lizzie, greets the audience while the houselights are still up and explains she will be leading us into a memory play about a 1970s female consciousness-raising group founded by her mother, also named Lizzie. “We’ve lost something,” the 2025 Lizzie tells us, “and how do we get it back?” The implication is that recent years, the women’s quest for equality is moving backwards, best exemplified by the new Trump administration and its rejection of the concept of DEI in the workplace. But there’s also a personal dimension. By reenacting her mom’s early forays into the Women’s Lib movement, Lizzie hopes to find out why her parent chose the path of traditional marriage and motherhood and did not continue on the road to individual identity.

Audrey Corsa, Irene Sofia Lucio,
Kristolyn Lloyd and Adina Verson in
Liberation.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Lizzie plays her own mother in the flashbacks (once the lights have dimmed) and the other members of the group could easily have been characterizes as types, but Wohl adds depth to all with telling details and ambivalent motivations. There’s Margie, the conventional housewife who has been performing domestic duties for her entire adult life and is ready to cut her husband’s throat. That’s a joke, she laughs, but is it really? Attractive Dora is subjected to humiliating male chauvinism at her wine-selling job and feels pressure to marry. Radical African-American activist Celeste struggles with her identity as a black woman within a predominately white movement. Rootless Susan lives in her car, having been rejected by her family, and finds her ultimate freedom on a beloved motor-bike. Fiery Isidora is an Italian immigrant trapped in a green-card marriage, ready to explode the oppressive patriarchy by any means necessary. Harried mom Joanne appears to reject the group’s intentions, but she has several valid points to make and plays a deeper role than you might expect. And there is Lizzie herself (the mother) torn between a career in journalism (though she is relegated to covering weddings and obituaries) and marriage with Bill, the sole male in the play.

Drama Desk Awards Set Dates

The 69th annual Drama Desk Awards will be held on Sun. June 1 at NYU Skirball, as a benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund. The DDs are the only major NYC theater awards where Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions compete in all of its multiple categories. Productions must open by April 27 to be eligible and the nominations will be announced on April 30. All performance categories are gender-neutral. Voters chose two candidates in each category and in the case of a tie, there may be more than two winners. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on by the DD membership of about 100 critics, reporters, editors and publishers covering NYC-based theater.

"We are thrilled to be back again this year Executive Producing the Drama Desk Awards and honored to be benefiting the essential Entertainment Community Fund to raise much needed funds, particularly as our colleagues in the non-profit community face so much uncertainty for continued support," said Co-Executive Producers Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen. "It is especially gratifying to produce an event which celebrates the remarkable artistry gracing our stages in a manner that is fully inclusive to our entire NYC theater community, and entirely gender neutral."

The 2024-25 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is comprised of: Chair: Martha Wade Steketee (freelance: UrbanExcavations.com); Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News); Daniel Dinero (Theatre is Easy); Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio); Kenji Fujishima (freelance: TheaterMania); Raven Snook (TDF Stages). Ex Officio: Charles Wright (OffOffOnline.com). Wright and David Barbour of Light and Sound America serve as Drama Desk Presidents.

Cynthia Erivo to Host Tony Awards

Cynthia Erivo will host the Tonys
and then play Jesus in Jesus Christ
Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl.

Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo will host the 78th annual Tony Awards on June 8 from Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS. Erivo won her Tony for the revival of The Color Purple and is currently Oscar-nominated for the film version of Wicked. She was just cast as Jesus in a three-night performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl (Aug. 1-3, 2025) which had led to some backlash with conservative social media users accusing her of blasphemy. 

“I am so proud and excited to take on this glorious honor,” said Erivo of the Tony hosting gig. “I am looking forward to ushering the theatre community at large through a night that celebrates the wonderful performances we have witnessed throughout the year. I hope I can rise to the occasion.”

 “Through performances on both stage and screen, Cynthia has extended the magic of musical theater to millions of new fans around the globe — and that is exactly the mission of the Tony Awards,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO of the American Theater Wing and Jason Laks, President of The Broadway League. “Her talent defies gravity and boundaries, and we are beyond thrilled to welcome her home to Broadway for what will be a joyful and inspiring celebration of the theatrical artform. We hope audiences are ready to leap to their feet, cry tears of joy, and maybe even get up and dance.” 

“Cynthia is a remarkable talent and with her deep roots in the theater community, we are honored to have her host this year’s Tony Awards on CBS” said Mackenzie Mitchell, Vice President, Specials, CBS. “There is no doubt with her innate creativity and captivating presence, she will deliver an unforgettable evening highlighting the extraordinary achievements of this Broadway season.”

The Tony nominations will be announced on May 1.

B'way Update: Coal Miner's Daughter

Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter.

Coal Miner's Daughter, a new musical aimed for Broadway based on the life of country music legend Loretta Lynn, is currently in development. Tony winner Sutton Foster is slated to play Lynn. The production is in development under the direction of Tony Award-winner Sam Gold.  Music Production is by Tony Award-winner Jeanine Tesori.  Gold and Tesori last worked together on the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home.

Inspired by the award-nominated 1980 film and autobiography by Loretta Lynn and George Vecsey, Coal Miner's Daughter chronicles Loretta’s rise from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to country music legend. Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for starring in the film. The stage adaptation will include songs from Loretta’s career and share stories from Loretta’s life beyond the film’s ending. 

Loretta Lynn's manager, producer, and daughter, Patsy Lynn, and longtime adviser, Nancy Russell, will act as consulting producers.

Conclave Surprise at the BAFTAs

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave.

In a surprise win, Conclave was named Best Picture and Best British Picture at the BAFTA awards presented on Sun., Feb. 16 in London, further complicating the Oscar race. Conclave and The Brutalist tied for most wins with four each. Brutalist took Best Actor for Adrien Brody and Bet Director for Brady Corbet. In another surprise, Mikey Madison took Best Actress for Anora which has moved to the head of the pre-Oscar pack, after scoring big wins at the Critics Choice, DGA, PGA and WGA awards. Kieran Culkin was not present to accept his Best Supporting Actor Award for A Real Pain. His co-star and director Jesse Eisenberg who also won for Best Original Screenplay, explained he was staying with a sick family member. Zoe Saldana added another Best Supporting Actress prize for Emila Perez to her collection. Former Doctor Who David Tennant hosted and made a few Donald Trump jokes about his hair in his opening monologue. A few of these quips were edited out of the BBC Broadcast (the three-hour show was pre-taped and an edited, two-hour version was shown.) The complete version is available on YouTube.

More Oscar Catch-Up: I'm Still Here, Nosferatu, The Apprentice, Etc.

The race to see as many Oscar-nominated films continues as odds for the winners continue to shift. Anora has suddenly surged to front of the pack with major wins at the Critics Choice, DGA, PGA and WGA, plus Mikey Madison unexpectedly won Best Actress at the BAFTAs. Emilia Perez and The Brutalist have slipped behind. Conclave surprisingly won big at the BAFTA Awards with prizes for Best Picture and Best British Picture and next week's SAGs will offer more trends. (Separate blog on the BAFTAs to come.) I think Conclave may win the ensemble award at the SAGs, but that's not necessarily a predictor for the Best Picture Oscar. 

Selton Mello and Fernanda Torres in
I'm Still Here.
Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

This week I had jury duty, but was let go after only one morning when I wasn't chosen and all the other cases were either settled or dismissed. Since I had a free day, I took the subway from the courthouse to Kew Gardens for a 1:30PM showing of I'm Still Here, the Brazilian film nominated for Best Picture, Actress and International Feature. (Not to be confused with Sondheim's song from Follies.) I've now seen all the Best Picture nominees except for Nickel Boys. I'm Still Here is a moving portrait of a real-life family devastated by Brazil's military dictatorship. Fernanda Torres won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actress but will probably lose the Oscar to Demi Moore. Now that I've seen all the Best Actress nominees, If I were a voter, I'd go with Torres. But I'm still miffed Marie-Jean Baptiste was not nominated for Hard Truths. I'm Still Here could win Best International Feature since previous front runner Emilia Perez has been surrounded by controversy because of leading actress Karla Sofia Gascon's anti-Muslim and anti-Black tweets surfaced. 

Nosferatu is nominated in four categories (Cinematography, Costumes, Production Design, Hair and Make-Up) so it seemed like a good idea to take it in when a lead performer in an Off-Broadway show I was scheduled to review wouldn't going on that night. This is a hypnotically mesmerizing horror film, instilling terror. The scariest parts were not horrific blood sucking, but the shadow of Count Orlock appearing on fluttering curtains. Kudos also to the rat wrangler.

Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan in
The Apprentice.
Credit: Tailor Films

Memoir of a Snail was the final film of the Animated Feature category. It's a charming Australian film about a introvert, snail-obsessed woman dealing with loneliness. Then, last night, we watched The Apprentice on Amazon Prime for $6. I was really reluctant to watch this Trump bio because I'm sick of seeing and hearing him. But I'm glad I did, Ali Abbasi's penetrating portrait of greed charts charts rise to power in the New York real estate world from the 1970s to the 1990s. The focus is on Trump's relationship with cutthroat lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn. Screenwriter Gabriel Sherman's theme is that Trump learned his wolfish strategies for success from Cohn's ruthless mentoring. There are several prophetic moments where Trump's behavior as President is foreshadowed. Cohn's three rules for success are drummed into Trump: always be on the attack, deny everything and admit nothing, and never acknowledge defeat. Sebastian Stan nails Trump's quirks and gestures and Jeremy Strong is stunningly evil as Cohn, a hollowed-out, hypocritical demon. 

Off-B'way Reviews: Kowalski; Cellino v. Barnes

Robin Lord Taylor and Brandon Flynn
in Kowalski.
Credit: Russ Rowland

The potential is there for a gripping and informative play in Gregg Ostrin’s Kowalski, but sadly all we get is forced conflict and sitcom-level humor. The premise is promising. Ostrin’s subject is the real-life, first meeting of two legendary artists—Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. On the insistence of director Elia Kazan, Brando hitchhiked from NYC to the gay mecca of Provincetown, Mass. to audition for Williams for his new play A Streetcar Named Desire. After fixing the plumbing and electricity, Brando delivered a socko reading of Stanley Kowalski, Williams’ animalistic anti-hero and nemesis of Blanche DuBois and made theater history. You’ve got plenty of possibilities for an explosive encounter. Williams was openly gay and the young Brando aggressively macho and hetero. Both Brando and Williams represented a new style of theater, challenging the old guard of presentational melodrama. Both were teetering on the edge of major breakthroughs in their careers, with a lot riding on the outcome of the audition. Ostrin could have mined any of these veins for dramatic gold, but comes up with dross.

We begin with Williams in the 1970s addressing an unseen TV interviewer and reluctantly describing that first meeting with Brando in 1947. The lights shift and we are in Williams’ Provincetown cottage (excellently detailed set by David Gallo). The playwright and his friend, the director Margo Jones with whom he collaborated on his first success The Glass Menagerie, deliver exposition. Williams’ abusive boyfriend Pancho staggers in to deliver threats and tension. Margo and Pancho exit separately—Ostrin’s obvious device to leave the stage clear for the core of this 90-minute piece: the confrontation between Williams and Brando, which Ostrin embellishes with Odd Couple-style gags. Brando’s crude vulgarities contrast with Williams’ Southern-belle extravagances. They play Edward Albee-ish head games and exchange intimate feelings—hardly believable for two who have just met—and keep delaying the audition, the whole purpose of Brando’s lengthly sojourn.

When Ostrin runs out of ideas, he introduces Jo, Brando’s semi-girlfriend and wanna-be actress who has accompanied him from Gotham. The power plays are expanded to three with each trying to out-manipulate the other two. Ostrin also slips in meta-references to Streetcar with Brando calling after Jo, “JOEEEEY!” echoing the famous cry of “STELLLA!” Finally, Margo and Pancho return, Brando is about to deliver his big reading of Stanley…and Williams is snapped back to 1977, admitting some of what we have just witnessed may be true or it may not, but it made for a good story, right? Wrong. Blackout and curtain calls. 

Colin Hanlon’s direction emphasizes the comic aspects of the script and fails to add shadings to the relationships. Brandon Flynn has the muscular physique and good looks of Brando and does a creditable vocal approximation. He also captures the legendary actor’s charisma and arrogance. Robin Lord Taylor’s Williams is all effete mannerisms and rushed delivery. I did not get a sense of Williams’ complex vulnerability and sensitivity. Alison Cimmet and Sebastian Trevino as Margo and Pancho were not on stage long, but they did strongly establish their characters’ needs and desires. Ellie Ricker is most impressive as Jo. She skillfully and credibly plays an intelligent young woman who is able to gauge her own lack of acting ability and judge Brando’s colossal talent, but equally huge character flaws. 

Noah Weisberg and Eric William Morris
in Cellino v. Barnes.
Credit: Marc J. Franklin

Kowlaski is a mish-mash of anecdote, speculation, and imitation of Streetcar and Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Meanwhile, another Off-Broadway production based on a real-life story, Mike B. Breen and David Rafailedes’ Cellino v. Barnes, is nothing more than an extended comedy sketch, has been running since August, and succeeds on its own terms. Breen and Rafailedes take the history of the law partners known for their famous TV jingle and create a wildly funny satire of the commercialization of the legal profession and our shallow society as a whole. Cavorting around the tiny stage at Asylum NYC, Eric William Morris and Noah Weisberg throw their whole bodies and expressive features into creating exaggerated versions of a slick slacker Cellino and an attention-starved Barnes. Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse’s staging is just madcap enough, but doesn’t go too over the top for an uproarious 80 minutes.

Kowalski: Jan. 27—Feb. 23. Duke at 42nd Street, 229 W. 42nd St., NYC. Running time: 85 mins. with no intermission. cur8.com.

Cellino v. Barnes: Aug. 1—March 30. Asylum NYC, 123 E. 24th St., NYC. Running time: 80 mins. with no intermission. asylumtix.com.

B'way Review: Redwood

Idina Menzel in Redwood
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

There’s an awful lot of talk about trees in Redwood, the uneven new musical at the Nederlander after a run at the La Jolla Playhouse. During one of the many discussions on the titular forest king, it’s revealed that the roots of the massive monarch are deceptively shallow. That same could be said for the show itself. All the elements involved with presentation such as Tina Landau’s impressive direction, Jason Ardizzone-West’s ingenious set, Scott Zielinski’s versatile lighting, and Hanna S. Kim’s breathtaking videos, are truly dazzling. But the story conveyed in the book by Landau (conceived by Landau and star Idina Menzel who also is credited with “Additional Contributions”) is as overly familiar and slight as a Hallmark card. Likewise the score with music by Kate Diaz and lyrics by Diaz and Landau is trite and cliche-ridden. The heroine Jesse (a commanding Menzel) sings of “Somewhere else to be/Where I’m no longer me.” 

Like many a Lifetime-TV-movie protagonist, Jesse is going through major grief and midlife issues. She is fleeing her home and job as a gallery owner in Manhattan, driving aimlessly cross country in order to avoid confronting an undisclosed tragedy. The sharper members of the audience will guess the nature of the calamity based on flashbacks featuring her son Spencer (fiery Zachary Noah Piser). She ignores urgent texts and voice messages from her wife Mel (De’adre Aziza in a strong supporting performance). One of the few refreshing pluses of the show is the matter-of-fact handling of Jesse and Mel’s same-sex marriage. Eventually, Jesse just happens to stumble upon a California redwood forest, strikes up a friendship with aboriculturists Finn and Becca (crusty but warm Michael Park and prickly, fierce Khaila Wilcoxon), and finds peace by climbing the redwoods. “I’m a believer/That trees can heal ya,” Finn and Becca sing in typically bland lyrics which also rhyme “silence” with “giants.” Diaz’s music is at time captivating, but unable to raise above the pedestrian words.

There are so many holes in the plot it resembles one of the trees attacked by woodpeckers. In a matter of days, the acrophobic Jesse is scaling a majestic sequoia and spending several nights on a platform up there to dispel her fears and face her tragedy. Even more unbelievably, Finn allows her to do these dangerous stunts, risking his scientific project and her safety. To top it all off, the redwoods are attacked by a wildfire. It’s an unfortunate matter of timing, but the conflagration comes across as a tasteless exploitation of a natural disaster.

Scoundrel Time in the 21st Century

Lillian Hellman

In her memoir of the 1950s blacklist era Scoundrel Time, Lillian Hellman quotes her letter to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee where she was expected to name colleagues as Communists. When called as a witness before HUAC, she wrote a letter to the Congressmen saying she would answer for anything she had said or done, but would not name others whose careers and lives could be ruined. "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions." She meant that in the 1930s in the depths of the Depression when capitalism was seen as a failure to many American citizens, it was okay to join the Communist party, but at the time of the McCarthy and HUAC hearings, it was not only unfashionable, but down right traitorous to hold to Marxist ideals. Many former party members were turning in their ex-comrades to save their own reputations. Hellman was not a perfect person. She played fast and loose with the truth in her memoirs, but she was right on this.

I thought of Hellman's words in the days and weeks following the second Trump inauguration. Many tech and communications giants are acting like the friendly HUAC witnesses and dropping their liberal stances to kiss up to Trump's authoritarianism. People and entities like Jeff Bazos, Mark Zuckerberg, ABC and CBS were giving money, directly and indirectly, to Trump because evidently they didn't want to get on his wrong side. Bazos paid several million dollars to Melania Trump for her life story for Amazon. Zuckerberg settled a lawsuit with Trump out of court over banning him from Facebook right after his dangerous bogus claims of really winning the 2020 election. ABC also settled Trump's lawsuit over George Stephanopolous' saying a judge had adjudicated the Orange Felon as a rapist. CBS is probably going to give him money over his suit for editing a 60 Minutes story on Kamala Harris to make Trump look bad. Zuckerberg said you can go overboard in hiring women and there should be more "male energy" in the work place. WHAT? What is he talking about? If he means there should be more aggressiveness and ruthlessness in the work place, there are plenty of women who can be just as ferocious as men. Does he mean women are too nurturing? There can be too much kindness in his offices? 

We are now seeing the results of this ass-kissing with Trump slashing and destroying vital programs in the federal government. Okay, stopping minting pennies which cost more than their face value is not a bad idea. But stopping shipments of food to starving people and letting it rot is not. Claiming the US should "take over" Gaza, exile its people, and turn it into a luxury resort for rich people is not. Making yourself chairman of the Kennedy Center because they hosted one or two drag shows is not. Turning over all the keys to the kingdom to an unelected billionaire who has a financial interest in the outcome of his government actions is not.

I haven't written about politics since the election, but I had to get my thoughts out.

Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

(Borrowed from the Jackson Heights library) After watching Lucy Worsley's TV series on Arthur Conan Doyle, I picked up the Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. I at the library. Also The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes contained therein is one of the 100 books the BBC says I should read before I die. I was familiar with several of the short stories from listening to the Sherlock Holmes radio series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce on a collection of CDs found at a second-hand store in upstate NY. This volume contains the Adventures, Memoirs and Return of Sherlock Holmes as well as the novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four. The stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes mostly follow a formula: Holmes and Watson are in their Baker Street digs, a distraught client arrives with a perplexing problem which he/she describes in detail, Holmes investigates and finds the solution using his amazing powers of observation, deducing the answer from small details. I was never a huge Holmes fan, but these tales are enjoyable. 

Critics Choice Awards Spread the Wealth

Anora is suddenly at the front of the pack
thanks to wins at the Critics Choice, DGA and PGA

Anora, Wicked, Emilia Perez, and The Substance were among the top winners at the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards held Fri. Feb. 7 in Los Angeles after two postponements due to wildfires in the area. No one picture dominated the proceedings, throwing the race for the Oscars even further into disarray with no clear frontrunner before the big night on March 2. Anora unexpectedly won Best Picture though it lost in all of its other categories. The comedy about an escort marrying the son of a Russian oligarch suddenly leapt to the head of the Oscar pack since it also won the top prize at the PGA Awards and its director Sean Baker won at the DGA Awards, both presented the next day on Feb. 8. Wicked's John Chu was named best directed by the Critics Choice though he was not nominated by the DGA or the Oscars. Emilia Perez took awards for Best Foreign-Language Film, Supporting Actress Zoe Saldana, and Best Song. The French-made, set-in-Mexico film has been embroiled in controversy since anti-black and Muslim tweets by its transgender star Karla Sofia Gascon have surfaced. The Substance won for Best Actress Demi Moore, Original Screenplay and Make-up. Best Supporting Actor Kieran Culkin of A Real Pain was not present since he is rehearsing Glengarry Glen Ross for Broadway in NYC.  Adrien Brody of The Brutalist was named Best Actor.

Host Chelsea Handler opened the show by paying tribute to LA first responders, a sampling of whom were special guests at the ceremony. In the TV categories, FX's Shogun dominated with four wins while Hacks won three.

Off-B'way Review: A Knock on the Roof

Khawla Ibraheem in
A Knock on the Roof.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The most striking image in Khawla Ibraheem’s disturbing and moving solo play A Knock on the Roof at New York Theater Workshop is not the one you’d expect. In a play about life in war-torn Gaza, it’s not a horrifying nightmare of bombs falling or buildings collapsing that sticks in my mind, but a scene of children playing a game. Ibraheem as Mariam, a Palestinian wife and mother struggling to maintain her sanity under the constant threat of Israeli bombardment, describes watching a group of kids pretend to follow a coffin and imitate a military band playing a stirring tribute to the fallen dead. She delivers the shattering observation without tears or histrionics, it’s a merely a casual recording of an everyday occurrence in her city. The ordinariness and acceptance of death permeates Mariam’s existence so that it become the subject of children’s play. 

The destruction of Gaza has become a constant headline on cable news, but the average American knows little about what everyday life is like for its citizens. Ibraheem paints a vivid picture of that life, centering on practicing for what happens if a bomb falls on her apartment building and how she will deal with her aged mother and six-year-old son. A Knock on the Roof refers to a warning explosion, a small bomb, delivered in advance of a much bigger one so residents will have a chance to flee for their lives. 

In a series of darkly funny, but ultimately terrifying vignettes, Mariam rehearses gathering her possessions, carrying a pillow to stand in for her boy, and running as far as she can within five minutes. Her attitude is so relaxed and off-hand, you often forget this is potentially a life or death drill. She argues with her sarcastic mother, scolds her son, copes with restrictions on electricity and water, and humorously chats with the audience. At one point, she asks us if she should take any of the things belonging to her husband, who is studying abroad. At the performance attended, the majority voted no, to much laughter and applause.

Ibraheem creates an entire world with no scenery save for a single chair. (She debates whether of not to take it with her on her run since it’s her favorite.) Oona Curley’s evocative lighting design and Hanna S. Kim’s projection effectively shift the scene and Oliver Butler’s well-paced direction provides keeps the action fluid, which is especially important in a one-person play.

With Donald Trump’s recent surprising and absurd proposal that the residents of Gaza be pushed out in order to make way for a US-owned Riviera-style resort, the fate of Palestinians becomes even more relevant and this Knock on the Roof could not be more timely or pertinent.

Jan. 27—Feb. 16. A co-production of New York Theater Workshop and piece by piece productions as part of the Under the Radar Festival, NYTW, 79 E. 4th St., NYC. Running time: 85 mins. with no intermission. nytw.org.

Off-B'way Review: Mrs. Loman

Monique Vukovic in Mrs. Loman.
Credit: Mari Eimas-Dietrich

Sequels of classic plays have a mixed history. Some are total bombs such as the famous flop musical A Doll’s Life which follows Ibsen’s Nora after she slams the door on her husband’s stifling household. While others, such as Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House Part 2, based on the same work, offer intriguing insights on the original and modern times. Barbara Cassidy’s Mrs. Loman at Theater Row starts with an intriguing idea: what happens to the widow of Arthur Miller’s tragic everyman Willy Loman after he expires in Death of a Salesman? Unfortunately, Cassidy has plenty of ideas, but fails to develop any of them fully, leaving us with a pale imitation of Miller’s classic.

In press materials, Cassidy states “While having great admiration for [Salesman], I have always had immense trouble with the female characters and the misogyny. I decided I wanted to make a play about a Linda Loman who becomes a very different person after Willy’s death.” In Cassidy’s aftermath of Willy’s demise, Linda (a valiantly vibrant Monique Vukovic) becomes a “different person” in such surface ways as taking a philosophy course at Brooklyn College, flirting with lesbianism (with Willy’s mistress from Boston who has somehow wound up as Linda’s neighbor), smoking pot, listening to jazz, and briefly discussing the Atomic Bomb and America’s rejection of Jewish refugees during WWII. As if we didn’t get the point, the playwright has an unnecessary character called Contemporary Woman (Patricia Marjorie in a mannered performance playing a symbol) emerge from the audience to explain Linda’s metamorphosis.

Linda Jones and Monique Vukovic in
Mrs. Loman.
Credit: Mari Eimas-Dietrich

In addition, Cassidy addresses a plethora of social issues as if checking off boxes on a list of “important topics.” She has Loman eldest son Biff (conflicted Matt “Ugly” McGlade) embark on an affair with an African-American waitress with intellectual ambitions (Ara Celia Butler displaying intelligence and grit). Younger son Happy (an appropriately slimy Hartley Parker) becomes a brutal sexual predator and expresses bigoted sentiments as do neighbors Charley and Bernard (Jerry Ferris and Joe Gregori, believable). It’s a perfectly valid point to incorporate the prevailing sexist and racist attitudes of Salesman’s era (the late 1940s), but it feels as if these attitudes have been plastered on the characters rather than emerging naturally. Linda, her friends and family speak like textbooks rather than real people. 

Charles Busch and Cats: Jellicle Ball Among Obie Winners

Charles Busch, in his play Ibsen's Ghost,
received a lifetime achievement Obie Award.

Playwright-performers Charles Busch and Cole Escola and the director, choreographer and ensemble of Cats: The Jellicle Ball were among the winners of the 68th annual Obie Awards, announced on Feb. 1 on NY-1 News. Rather than holding an awards ceremony, the American Theater Wing will present grants to the 35 winners totaling $250,000. There will be a private event to toast the winners on Feb. 10. The awards cover shows opening from Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2024. The Obies are now the only major NYC-based theater award to make their presentations in February rather than in late May-June when all the others including the Tonys, Drama Desks and Outer Critics are handed out.

The 68th Obie Awards recognizes the outstanding contributions made throughout the 2023-2024 Off- and Off- Off-Broadway theatre season in New York City. The complete panel of judges for the current Obie Awards season are: Aya Ogawa, award-winning writer, director, translator and performer; David Greenspan, Obie-winning playwright and actor; Diep Tran, Editor in Chief of Playbill; Heather Alicia Simms, actor most recently seen in the Pulitzer Prize winning production of Fairview and Broadway’s Purlie Victorious; Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, multi-hyphenate artist; Nikiya Mathis, recipient of the Henry Heard Design Award and The Antonio Award; Ryan J. Haddad, actor and playwright; and Taylor Reynolds, Obie Award winning director. Returning to the Obie panel are Wilson Chin, scenic designer for theater, opera, film, and television; and Obie-winning playwright Haruna Lee. Lee and Chin serve as co-chairs of the panel, as well. The judges thoroughly evaluated over 300 productions, engaged in thoughtful discussions, and, through their votes, selected the recipients.

A full list of winners follows:

Book Review: Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius

(Bought at Barnes and Noble on sale for $10) Carrie Courogen's detailed and enjoyable biography of the comedy legend Elaine May made me think of Orson Welles. Both May and Welles were regarded as geniuses who acted in, directed and wrote a successful early picture (A New Leaf for May and Citizen Kane for Welles), but never fulfilled this promising beginning--or so the conventional wisdom goes. Both were never really able to confine themselves to the Hollywood power structure in order to make the movies they wanted to. Were Welles and May too perfectionistic and individual to play ball with the studio bigwigs? Or were they just undisciplined brats? The Hollywood party line is that May overindulged herself while making A New Leaf and Mikey and Nicky, and had a reasonable comeback with The Heartbreak Kid since she concentrated on just directing Neil Simon's screenplay and did not act in it. But she blew all her goodwill capital on the colossal flop Ishtar which along with Heaven's Gate became a byword for bloated disasters. She saved her reputation by becoming Tinseltown's go-to script doctor, fixing up Tootsie, Reds, and Heaven Can Wait, only taking credit on the last named. 

Courogen makes the case that May's exile status was not entirely her own fault. Plenty of male directors like Kubrick, Scorsese, Bogdanovich and Coppola went way over budget, produced box-office stinkers and were given a second, and sometimes a third, chance. In the 1970s and 80s, you could count the number of women directors on the fingers of one hand and still have a few digits left over. But sexism was not the sole cause of her erratic movie work. She would film endless takes, spend months editing miles of footage and sometimes refuse to turn over the final print at the deadline, resulting in legal battles.   

The author also examines May's penchant to remain behind the scenes. Hence the title which was May's gag biography on an early comedy album with Mike Nichols. Her performing partnership with Nichols and their dynamic effect on comedy is carefully scrutinized. May was brilliant at creating new characters and improvising while Nichols edited their sketches and reigned her in. Once they split up, Nichols went on to become a top director while May struggled to maintain a solid career arc. She is a brilliant writer, but her playwrighting efforts were variable. Rarely more than one act, her works ran the gamut from wildly funny (Hotline, George Is Dead, Adaptation, Power Plays) to so-so extended sketches (Mr. Goggle and Mr. Preen, After the Night and the Music, Adult Entertainment, Taller than a Dwarf). As an actress she is also fantastic, winning a Tony Award for The Waverly Gallery and the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actress for Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks. She was a highlight of Enter Laughing, Luv and Allen's woebegone Amazon series Crisis in Six Scenes.

May is finally getting the industry recognition she deserves with several life time achievement accolades including an honorary Oscar. Courogen's bio beautifully chronicles May's eccentric path.

More Catching Up With Oscar and Razzie Films

Alessandro Nivola and Adrien Brody
in The Brutalist.

In recent years, I've tried to see as many of the Oscar nominated films before the Big Night as possible. The pursuit makes me feel important, as if having partaken of all the nominees somehow transforms me into a qualified Academy voter. At the very least, I might do better at the Oscar pool. This year the race is unpredictable with several films including The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, Conclave and A Complete Unknown in the forefront for top awards. Last year, Oppenheimer had it all sewed up. Now various factors could play into the final outcome. Transgender actress Karla Sofia Gascon of Emilia Perez appeared to be a favorite, but some nasty politically incorrect tweets have emerged and she was forced to issue an apology. The Brutalist appears to be in the lead for Best Picture. It checks all the boxes--a staggering three-hours-plus running time, Holocaust subject matter, enigmatic, flawed protagonist, critique of the American Dream. Recently viewed at Kew Gardens Cinema, the massive epic of a Hungarian-Jewish architect reminded me of Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will be Blood and The Master. Both featured disagreeable protagonists scaling the heights of American economy and crushing those who stand in his way. I can't say I liked the film. The characters were so negative. I was never bored and I admired the direction, cinematography and screenplay. But I didn't enjoy myself as I do at the films of Woody Allen, Wes Anderson or Robert Altman. I've seen all but two of the Best Picture nominees (only missing I'm Still Here and Nickel Boys). Brutalist is still my prediction for the winner, but I have a feeling my preference would be Nickel Boys--it sounds fascinating with its POV angles and it won Best Picture from the notoriously picky National Society of Film Critics.

Inside Out 2: Sweet Without Being Cloying

In the less flashy Oscar categories, I've caught four of the five Animated Feature films (only missing Memoirs of a Snail.) The poetic Flow is the probable winner. The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2 were sweet without being cloying. Wallace and Gromit was too gimmicky, extending its jokes too long. In Documentary Features, I streamed Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat and Black Box Diaries, both unqiue depictions of societal cruelty. I tried to watch the Doc. Short Subject nominee Incident on YouTube, but it was very difficult. I only got through half of its 30 mins. of dashboard-surveillance footage of police shooting a man. Very uncomfortable to watch the overreaction of the police and then their attempts to cover it up. I will try to finish it.

Jerry Seinfeld (c.) in Unfrosted
Credit: Netflix

At the other end of the taste spectrum, I viewed Netflix's multiple Golden Razzie nominee (for the worst movies of the year), Unfrosted. Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix comedy throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. The ridiculous plot revolves around the creation of the pop-tart and which cereal giant, Kellogg's or Post, will get to the supermarket shelves first. Every comic actor that owed Seinfeld a favor and every early 1960s trope shows up in a chaotic screenplay co-authored by Seinfeld (he also directed). There's even a goofy satire of Jan. 6 with Hugh Grant leading an army of cereal mascots to stop the certification of the breakfast treat which may put them out of business. There were funny moments, but few and far between. Even so, it was silly fun to watch this gigantic goofball of a movie.

The cast of Unfrosted

Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis
certainly looks good.

The same could be said for Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi passion project Megalopolis, nominated for Worst Picture and Shia LaBoeuf and one of Trump's "Ambassadors to Hollywood" (whatever that means) Jon Voight as Worst Supporting Actor. Voight is also nominated for his bad performances in Reagan, Shadowlands and Strangers. There's just too much going on in Coppola's fever dream of a futuristic fantasy with idealistic Adam Driver attempting to build a utopia against the wishes of slimy politicians Giancarlo Esposito and Voight. It's beautiful to look at and important to see because Coppola is the director-writer, but ultimately a confusing mess.