B'way/Off-B'way Reviews: The Fear of 13; Becky Shaw; You Got Older; My Joy Is Heavy

Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson in
The Fear of 13.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

The fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia. But you wouldn’t learn that from Lindsey Ferrentino’s play The Fear of 13 now at the James Earl Jones after a London run. That’s because the definition is brought up in the documentary film directed by David Sington but not in the play which is based on the doc. Both works focus on Nick Yarris, wrongfully accused of murder. While awaiting execution in a Pennsylvania prison, Yarris labored to improve his vocabulary. The rare fear of the unlucky number was one of the many new definitions he acquired. In her otherwise moving and proficient adaptation, the playwright omits this detail leaving playgoers who have not seen the doc, now airing on Netflix, scratching their heads as to the title’s meaning. Perhaps the irrational phobia has to do with hero’s fear of being fated to wind up on Death Row with no hope of reprieve?

Apart from this annoying omission, some overlong speeches and sequences, Fear is a powerful indictment of our justice system and a chilling examination of one prisoner caught up in it. Ferrentino adapted another documentary earlier this season, the musical The Queen of Versailles. In that misguided effort, it wasn’t clear how we were supposed to feel about the protagonist, Jackie Siegel. Did Ferrentino want us to admire Jackie for her determination to rise from her middle-class origins and attempt to build the largest private home in the USA or should we have disdained her for her materialistic values? 

Adrien Brody in The Fear of 13.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Yarris (a multileveled, appealing Adrien Brody) is a stronger, clearer central figure. The playwright reveals his character and backstory slowly through his jailhouse romance with prisoner-rights advocate Jacki Miles (compassionate Tessa Thompson). At first Nick comes across as a fabulist spinning incredible tales of petty crimes and outwitting the law. But we gradually learn his complete story though flashbacks, fluidly staged by David Cromer, aided by Arnulfo Maldonado’s ingenious set and Heather Gilbert’s scene-shifting lighting.

A few words on Moldanado’s versatile set: At first it appears to be just a dark, forbidding, multi-storied prison, but other environments magically emerge as in a pop-up book. Suddenly we’re in a Florida pawnshop or a cozy suburban living room with Cheers on the TV. The setting facilitates the flow of the narrative.

Oscar winner Brody makes an auspicious Broadway debut. He presents Nick as a charmer who could be a lying con man or an incredibly unlucky schlub. As his layers of cockiness are peeled away, he reveals the suffering, wounded child at Nick’s core. It’s entirely believable that the empathetic Jacki (played with warmth and tenderness and just the slightest bit of neurotic self-doubt by Thompson) would fall in love with him. A large, mostly male supporting cast ably fills in the remainder of the roles, with Ephraim Sykes standing out as a lovesick gay inmate and Nick’s crafty accomplice in a series of teen heists. 

Off-B'way Reviews: Saturday Church; House of McQueen; Jamie Allan's Amaze!

J. Harrison Ghee and Bryson Battle in
Saturday Church.
Credit: Marc J. Franklin

While it feels a bit like an Afterschool TV Special, Saturday Church, the new Off-Broadway musical celebrating LGBTQ youth, is fun, infectious, and lively, and could very well follow the path of Rent, another New York Theater Workshop production, and make a Broadway transfer. The story is achingly familiar, but there is so much joy here, the predicability of the plot really doesn’t matter.

Based on the 2017 independent film with a cliched but compassionate book by the film’s screenwriter Damon Cardasis and Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames (Fat Ham), Saturday Church employs the tried and true trope of an alienated outsider kid finding self-acceptance and community and delivers enough zest and zip to overcome its flaws. African-American teen Ulysses (a vibrant Bryson Battle) longs to join his church choir, but his starchy Aunt Rose (intense Joaquina Kalukango) forbids it, claiming his flamboyant mannerisms are “too much” for the congregation. At home, Ulysses is dealing with the recent death of his loving dad and the frequent absence of his hard-working mom Amara (tender, conflicted Kristolyn Lloyd), struggling to make ends meet as a nurse. 

In a parallel story, Ebony (a sizzling and buoyant B Noel Thomas) is grieving the suicide of her friend Sasha and feeling overwhelmed as the organizer of Saturday Church, a weekly gathering for trans and gay youth who are experiencing little if any family support. Serving as a sort of supernatural narrator is Black Jesus (played with sparkling panache by J. Harrison Ghee), a fabulous non-binary deity figure. In a clever case of double casting, Ghee also plays the conservative pastor of Ulysses’ church. Ghee was so convincing in both roles, I didn’t realize it was the same performer until the intermission when I checked the program.

Off-B'way Update: Tartuffe, Spelling Bee

Brian Bedford and Henry Goodman in
Tartuffe (2003) from
Roundabout Theater Company.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Moliere is having a modern moment. In addition to contemporary updates of The Imaginary Invalid and The Would-Be Gentleman (new title: Prosperous Fools) currently presented by Red Bull Theater and Theater for a New Audience respectively, New York Theater Workshop will present a new adaptation of the French master's Tartuffe by NYTW Usual Suspect Lucas Hnath (A Doll's House: Part 2, Red Speedo) this late fall. The cast, which is full of Tony, Emmy, Obie and Drag Race winners and nominees, will include Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick (Plaza Suite, How to Succeed) as Tartuffe, Emmy Award winner David Cross (“Arrested Development”) as Orgon, Obie Award winner Emily Davis (Is This A Room) as Mariane, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Bianca del Rio as Mme Pernelle, Tony Award nominee Amber Gray (Hadestown) as Elmire, Obie Award winner Ryan Haddad (Dark Disabled Stories) as Damis, Tony Award winner Francis Jue (Yellow Face) as Cleante, Tony Award winner Lisa Kron (Fun Home) as Dorine, and Emmy Award nominee Ike Ufomadu (“Ziwe”) as Valére.

A satire on pious hypocrites, Tartuffe has been seen on Broadway five times, most recently in 2003 from Roundabout Theater Company. Since it was written in 1664, the play has been in the repertory of France's Comedie-Francais.

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

Also Off-Broadway this fall, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will return for its 20th anniversary in a new production at New World Stages. Performances begin Nov. 7 before a Nov. 17 opening. Danny Mefford directs. The musical with a score by William Finn (Falsettos) opened Off-Broadway in 2005 at Second Stage and moved to Broadway's Circle In the Square, winning two Tony Awards for Rachel Sheinkin's book and Dan Fogler as Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Off-B'way Review: Goddess; Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole

Austin Scott and Amber Iman in Goddess.
Credit: Joan Marcus

There are several thrilling elements in Goddess, the new musical at the Public Theater, and in Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, the new play with music at the New York Theater Workshop. But both shows fail to coalesce into a satisfying whole. Goddess features the exciting voice of Amber Iman, a vibrant score by Michael Thurber, and dazzling choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie, but the book by Saheem Ali (who also directs) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames (credited with “additional book material”) is cliched and underdeveloped. 

The plot revolves around the divine singer Nadira (a stunning Iman) who is in reality Marimba, goddess of music. Like the Rita Hayworth character in the Hollywood movie musical, Down to Earth, Marimba has descended from the heavens and experiences internal conflict when she falls in love with a mortal (a virile Austin Scott as Omari, the son of politician in modern-day Mombasa, the capital of Kenya). 

Austin Scott and Amber Iman in Goddess.
Credit: Joan Marcus

In order to fulfill her destiny as mankind’s muse, Marimba must defy her mother, the evil goddess of war (represented by a giant puppet beautifully designed by Julian Crouch). Similarly, Omari, who longs to expression himself as sax player, is forced to confront his conservative parents and veer from their plans for him to continue the family’s political dynasty. The authors fail to deliver on either of these fronts, denying us the battle for either character which will resolve their conflicts. Instead, their romance is cut short when Marimba returns skyward and all struggles are quickly wrapped up in a tidy finale. 

Nick Rashad Burroughs and cast in Goddess.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The ending and the tired plot are something of a let down, but there are plenty of musical pluses along the way. Iman is a divine vision with a soaring voice to match. Austin Scott makes an attractive equal as her leading man, skillfully depicting Omari’s inner conflict and he plays a mean sax. Nick Rashad Burroughs and Arica Jackson provide generous comic relief as saucy emcee and barmaid at Moto Moto, the nightclub where Nadira plies her trade. Destinee Rae as Omari’s ambitious fiancee, J Paul Nicholas as his oppressive father, and Ayana George Jackson as his loving mother do their best to bring life to their stereotyped roles. Reggie D. White is an intriguing, mystifying presence as a sagacious seer. Melissa Clark, Teshomech Olenja, and Awa Secka comprise the vibrantly sexy GrioTrio, an African Greek Chorus narrating the tale.