Off-B'way Review: The Monsters; High Spirits

Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan
in The Monsters.
Credit: T. Charles Erickson

The two-actor cast of Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters at the intimate Stage II at City Center in a Manhattan Theater Club production, go through quite a workout in its 90-minute running time, both physically and emotionally. So does the audience. Anyanwu’s tight and devastating script rings some familiar bells in the estranged-family division, but her script is honest and heartfelt. Her direction is well-paced and, with the aide of Cha See’s lighting, creatively transforms Andrew Boyce’s simple gym setting into a myriad of locales.

As the play opens, Big and Lil (short for Little) are disconnected African-American siblings, survivors of an abusive father. Big, whose real name is not revealed until the end of the play, is a champion mixed-martial arts fighter. His half-sister Lil (actual name: Josephine) attempts to resume their once close relationship after 15 years of silence. Gradually, their severed bond is knit back together as Big trains Lil in MMA. As she raises in the ring ranks, long buried resentments and secrets are revealed and their conflict erupts in a grueling grudge match. (Gerry Rodriguez is the masterful fight director.)

B'way Update: Galileo Musical

Raul Esparza in Galileo: A Rock Musical 
at Berkeley Rep.
Credit: Kevin Berne

According to Playbill.com, Galileo, a rock musical based on the life of the 17th century astronomer, will open on Broadway this fall after a run at the Berkeley Rep in 2024. Performances begin Nov. 10 at the Shubert Theater where Hell's Kitchen is running through Feb. 22. Opening is Dec. 6. The cast will be headed by Tony nominee Raul Esparza (Company), Jeremy Kushnier and Joy Woods. Tony winner Michael Mayer (American Idiot, Spring Awakening) directs. The book is by Emmy winner Danny Strong (Chess) with music and lyrics by Michael Weiner and Zoe Sarnak.

Book Review: The Pursuit of Love

(Borrowed from the Mid-town NYPL at 40th St.): Nancy Mitford's comic novel is funny and disconcerting. I found myself laughing hysterically at the antics of the heroine's eccentric landed-gentry family, but then recoiling at their disgusting traits. The patriarch Uncle Matthew is a violent, bigoted bully but he's so funny. Kind of like Archie Bunker with an upper-crust accent. Matthew dominates his family, beats his children, harbors racist attitudes towards all foreigners, yet he's riotously unfettered by the constraints of mannered society. He is described as a "cardboard ogre." The heroine, his daughter Linda, is totally amoral and self-absorbed, drifting from marriage to marriage, and finally ending as the kept mistress of a charming French Duke. She marries a Nazi-sympathizing Tory politician, then a Communist freedom fighter, neither of whom she really loves. She does throw herself into refugee service work while married to the radical, but as soon as she leaves him she spends her days in pre-war Paris shopping for clothes. 

Mitford based the characters on her own illustrious family and the book offers a fascinating look at life in England among the gentry between the wars. I did laugh out loud several times but also cringed as often. 

Off-B'way Review: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The cast of The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Credit: Joan Marcus

In a program interview, director-choreographer Danny Mefford reveals he never saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee before taking on its first-ever NYC revival playing now Off-Broadway at New World Stages. His virgin encounter with William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s adorable 2005 tuner about a crew of misfit kids vying for the top prize at the titular academic event, is a blessing. He sees the material with fresh eyes and delivers a sparkling, warm, and intimate production. The original production opened Off-Broadway at Second Stage and later transferred to Circle in the Square where it won two Tonys and played 1,138 performances. 

Sheinkin’s quirky book and Finn’s tuneful yet innovative songs combine compassion and humor so that we are laughing with the odd characters but never at them. Mefford’s staging is economical and swift, giving equal weight to all six tween spellers, three supervisory adults and the four audience members recruited to join the contestants. Teresa L. Williams’ colorful and funny school auditorium set, with the aide of David Weiner’s imaginative lighting, accommodates shifts in tone and flashback settings. Emily Rebholz’s delightfully off-kilter costumes delineate character. 

Jason Kravitz and Lilli Cooper in
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The excellent ensemble skillfully imparts their characters’ eccentricities and displays impressive musical liming (Carmel Dean is credited with the vibrant musical supervision and vocal arrangements). The six spellers are also quite believable as middle schoolers. Most impressive is Jasmine Amy Rogers whose shy Olive Ostrovsky, longing for a deeper connection with her distant parents, is the exact opposite of the bubbly cartoon Betty Boop Rogers played on Broadway last season. Her sweetly aching rendition of “My Friend the Dictionary” is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Kevin McHale exposes nasally-challenged William Barfée’s arrogance and his vulnerability. He shines in Mefford's hilarious staging of “Magic Foot,” William’s celebration of his secret spelling weapon. Justin Cooley is adorably off-kilter as self-doubting but ultimately self-affirming Leaf Coneybear, drowning in a sea of siblings. 

The cast of The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Philippe Arroyo is a riot as Chip Tolentino whose distracting hormones disastrously interfere with his spelling performance. Lana Rae Concepcion delightfully explodes as the high-achieving Marcy Park, finally giving weight to the idea that she doesn’t have to be the top at everything. Autumn Best is enchantingly desperate to please as Loraine Schwartzandgrubenuerre, a frazzled loner eager to be a winner for her two gay dads. Lilli Cooper, Jason Kravits and Matt Manuel bring depth to the spelling bee officials, each with their own neuroses and conflicts. 

This fun and fuzzy production originated at the Kennedy Center, now the center of a political storm. There are some new jokes about the controversy of the President’s involvement with the Center and the COVID pandemic, perhaps provided by Jay Reiss who is credited with “Additional Material.” The topical references add bite, but they are not the main reasons for this revival. It’s the charm, the compassion for outsider kids who enjoy learning and the snappy wit that makes this Bee buzz. 

Nov. 17—Sept. 6. New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., NYC. Running time: one hour and 45 mins. with no intermission. telecharge.com.

Horror Makes a Comeback in Oscar Films

Amy Madigan as Aunt Gladys in Weapons.
Credit: Warner Brothers

This year, I'm not as driven to see ALL of the Oscar-nominated films in every categories as I have been in previous years. For the past few seasons, I obsessively followed all the award nominations and ceremonies and gone to the movies in cinemas or streamed them. Remember Barbenheimer? This time I'm not as enthused about the choices. One Battle After Another, the frontrunner for Best Picture, did not grab me emotionally. It struck me as a brilliant technical achievement by Paul Thomas Anderson (all those long tracking shots with hundreds of background players), but the story and characters were extreme cartoons. Battle looks like the likely winner for Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay. Sinners will take Original Screenplay. Treyana Taylor of Battle could take Supporting Actress, but there is a lot of support for Amy Madigan for Weapons. Timothee Chalamet and Jessie Buckley are the favorites for Actor and Actress, probably Stellen Skarsgaard for Supporting Actor.

Horror is a prevalent genre this year with Sinners (16 noms, the most ever), Weapons, and Bugonia prominently featured. Perhaps this is a metaphorical response to our national trauma. Jessie Plemmons' character is a victim of abuse in Bugonia as are the missing children in Weapons and the juke joint patrons in Sinners are victims of racism. 

Oscar contenders seen:

Frankenstein (Netflix)

Nuremberg (Kaufman-Astoria)

Blue Moon (Kew Gardens Cinema)

One Battle After Another (Amazon Prime)

Train Dreams (Netflix)
Wicked: For Good (Regal Union Square in 3D, 4DX)

Hamnet (Kew Gardens Cinema)

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (Amazon Prime)

Sentimental Value (Angelika Cinema)

Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Sinners (HBO Max)

Familiar Touch (Amazon Prime)

Marty Supreme (Kew Gardens Cinema)

Bugonia (Apple TV)

Weapons (HBO Max)

Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple TV)

Short Film Docs

All the Empty Rooms (Netflix)

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud (HBO Max)

The Devil Is Busy (HBO Max)

Book Review: Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?

(Downloaded on my Kindle for $6): I loved the title of Lorrie Moore's early novel and enjoyed this quirky story of two teen girls' summer of verging on adulthood in upstate New York. The narrator is Berrie, reflecting back on her girlhood friendship with the pretty and somewhat dangerous Sils, while accompanying her husband to a medical conference in Paris. In her recollection, Berrie and Sils work at an amusement park and skirt the edges of bad behavior. They rescue frogs tortured or injured by callous boys, hence the title. Moore captures their yearning for maturity and freedom in their dreary little town. The adult Berrie is not quite as well developed. It's not clear why she is slightly dissatisfied with her marriage. Her friendship with Sils fades as they move apart and Berrie regrets the lost connection. The evocation of lost youth is affecting.

Book Review: I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution

(Bought at the Strand Book Store for $10): Pulitzer Prize winning critic Emily Nussbaum's collection of reviews and profiles from the New Yorker forms a fascinating history of the evolution of TV in the early 21st century. From the rise of cable to the current state of streaming, Nussbaum digs deep into the meaning of such cult and pop hits as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Americans, Law and Order: SVU, Jane the Virgin, and many others. Her take on David Chase's love-hate relationship with his audience in The Sopranos brings up several interesting points like the moral ambiguity of Dr. Melfi helping Tony not to be a better man but a more efficient gangster. She says Chase makes us love Tony but then makes us hate ourselves for loving him and watching him every week.  I haven't watched ALL of these shows, but Nussbaum makes me want to. 

Her extended profiles of prolific show-runners Kenya Barris (black-ish), Jenji Kohan (Weeds, Orange Is the New Black) and Ryan Murphy (Glee, Pose, Feud, etc.) offer a glimpse into the shifting power struggle in entertainment as these black, female and gay voices become more powerful. There are also views of the past with ruminations on Norman Lear, Joan Rivers, and Sex and the City.

Nussbaum recently was reassigned to cover theater for the New Yorker and I'm looking forward to her perspectives.