Off-B'way Review: Well, I'll Let You Go

Michael Chernus in Well, I'll Let You Go.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Bubba Weiler’s new play Well, I’ll Let You Go at the Space at Irondale in Brooklyn breaks a few rules and doesn’t seem to have much going for it at first. But the tension and emotion build gradually to a heartbreaking finish and the play dispenses many insightful observations about grief, family, and community along the way.

This is the playwright’s Off-Broadway debut and I’m only familiar with him as an actor. He gave a piercing performance in Swing State at the Minetta Lane in 2023 and was nominated for Drama Desk, Lortel and Outer Critics Circle awards. With this loving drama of everyday life, Weiler proves to be as thoughtful an author as he is a performer. 

The play opens without much theatricality. Scenic designer Frank J. Oliva’s environment is a mostly bare playing area with audience members on both sides. Avery Reed’s casual costumes are similarly understated, but they tell us much about the characters wearing them. There are a few pieces of simple furniture—a card table with two folding chairs, a group of six additional folding chairs arranged together, a mini-fridge, a table with a coffee maker and a microwave. The play begins with an actor entering without the house lights dimming. (They are not fully lowered until the final scene and the audience is so close they seem to be a part of the action. Stacey Derosier sparingly lights the play but her design achieves maximum impact.) Much like the Stage Manager in Our Town, the affable Michael Chernus explains the social and economy history of the setting and introduces the characters as they appear. This is a “get-by” kind of town of modest houses and strip malls where manufacturing jobs have disappeared to replaced by an Amazon fulfillment center. The house we’re in “attracts people who have had a rough go.”

Gilded Age Season Finale Thoughts

Carrie Coon in The Gilded Age.
Credit: HBO Max

SPOILER ALERT (IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED EP. 8 DO NOT READ YET) Thoughts on the season finale: so Oscar and Mrs. Winterton would get married and have separate lovers upstate on the weekends? Do you think Winterton knows Oscar is gay? Maybe they can talk about musical shows together. Perhaps Oscar will fall in love with one of the boys at the Haymarket--maybe the one in drag in the background--and install him at the country house. (Also why didn't Oscar go to the ball with the family? I guess there wasn't enough room in the two carriages if they were including Aurora.)

I didn't believe the Russells' break-up. It seemed that was it stuck in there to provide a cliffhanger for next season. The whole motivation for George's anger at Bertha was she forced Gladys to marry the Duke. But They're happy now and she's expecting a baby, so what's the big deal? George and Bertha may get divorced if they are following the Alva Vanderbilt storyline and she'll marry again, then become a suffragist.

The thing with Mrs. Foster and the whole Historical Society was drawn out over two episodes to provide a conclusion for the conflict between Ada and Agnes. Mrs. Foster could have written her offer to Agnes in the first letter instead of being so cryptic.

Hopefully season 4 will have more episodes. The investigation into the shooting will probably provide material for a few episodes. maybe it will turn out NOT to be Clay and that will provide a whole new storyline. Maybe it's an anarchist who is George's illegitimate son.

I think Larry and Marian will eventually work it out. Peggy and Dr. Kirkland will get married but they will have conflicts over her continuing to work. Phylicia Rashad will be an interfering mother-in-law and try to tell Peggy how to do every little thing.

Someone suggested on the Gilded Age Fan Club Facebook group that George will become addicted to Laudanum because of the close-up of the bottle before he joined everyone at the ball. Just like Mary Tyrone. Interesting, as Bertha said on a previous episode.

I also wrote earlier on Facebook that John Adams would leave his money to Oscar but the family would dispute it. They would win and the money form the basis of the family fortune so Gomez and Morticia would live in the lap of luxury.

B'way Update: Two Strangers Musical

Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty
in Two Strangers (Carry a
Cake Across New York)
Credit: Andreas P. Verrios

Following runs in London and Boston, the original musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) will open on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre with previews commencing Nov. 1 with an opening set for Nov. 22. This brings the total of new musicals which have defintely announced they are opening this season to only four--the other three being Dolly: An Original Musical, Queen of Versailles, and The Lost Boys. 

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is written and composed by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan and is directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson (Merrily We Roll Along, Dylan Mulvaney’s The Least Problematic Woman in the World). Starring in the musical’s Broadway premiere are Olivier Award-winning actor Sam Tutty (Dear Evan Hansen) in his Broadway debut as Dougal, and Broadway leading lady Christiani Pitts (A Bronx Tale, King Kong) as Robin, who reprise their roles from the show’s acclaimed run at American Repertory Theater this summer. 

Two Strangers is an original new musical comedy about timing, connections, and unexpected detours. Meet Dougal, an impossibly upbeat Brit who has just landed in New York City for the first time to attend the wedding of the father he’s never met. Meet Robin, the sister of the bride and a no-nonsense New Yorker with a lot of errands to run—including picking up the groom’s estranged son from the airport. These two strangers begin their journey together, navigating New York City, secrets, and second chances. 

Book Reviews: Obscure Plays from the Lincoln Center Library

I decided to read a bunch of obscure plays from the Lincoln Center Library for Performing Arts. They range from British drawing-room comedies nobody produces anymore by high-toned authors like TS Eliot and Graham Greene to Broadway flops from Paul Zindel and Henry and Phoebe Ephron, the parents of Nora and Delia. It was fun imagining these productions from bygone days of plays that will probably never be done again.

The Secret Affairs of Margaret Wild by Paul Zindel: I was curious about this Broadway flop which starred Maureen Stapleton, Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley and Doris Roberts. Following his Pulitzer Prize for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds which had a long run Off-Broadway and on the summer stock circuit (I saw Shelley Winters do it in at the Philadelphia Playhouse in the Park), Paul Zindel was a hot item. But his three Broadway shows flopped (And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, The Secret Affairs of Margaret Wild and Ladies at the Alamo). I can see why Stapleton was attracted to this sitcom-y play about a woman obsessed with movies who wins a contest just as her marriage and candy-store business are falling apart. She indulges in cinema-themed fantasies which would have been elaborate and fun, but the play is shallow, solving her problems too neatly like her Hollywood-inspired daydreams.

The Confidential Clerk by TS Eliot: TS Eliot's articulate, bizarre attempt at a drawing room comedy. Nobody knows who is whose long-lost illegitimate son or daughter or what occupation they should follow.

Off-B'way Review: Ava: The Secret Conversations

Elizabeth McGovern in
Ava: The Secret Conversations.
Credit: Jeff Lorch

“The story you are about to see is true…except for the parts that aren’t.” So reads a disclaimer flashed on the curtain before the start of Ava: The Secret Conversations, an intoxicating brew of Hollywood gossip and bedroom talk written by and starring Elizabeth McGovern as Ava Gardner, perhaps the most magnetic star to emerge from the studio system. We start from a point of unreliability but the veracity of information conveyed is not the point of the play, it’s capturing Gardner as she attempts to make sense of her chaotic life and earn enough money to pay her mortgage by publishing a memoir. 

McGovern is charismatic and stunning as the eccentric and glamorous Gardner. Clad by Toni-Leslie James in tasteful gowns and dresses subtly suggesting the pizzazz of old Hollywood, McGovern captures the ineffable “it” quality which made this woman a goddess on the screen. Simultaneously, she conveys her tender vulnerability as the star tries to analyze the impulsive choices which led her to being alone while being the most desired woman on the planet. She is raucously funny, punctuating nearly every sentence with the “f” word and then complaining “I hate foul-mouthed women!” Her Gardner is also frustratingly elusive as she dismisses the possibility of suffering abuse from the like of mysterious millionaire Howard Hughes. McGovern shows us all the facets of Gardner  from the wide-eyed North Carolina girl who rides to Tinseltown on the strength of a photograph in a Manhattan storefront to the cynical veteran of three marriages and numerous love affairs. “Love is nothing,” she spits out with venom, “it’s all a power play.” You can feel every twist and turn of a life’s roller-coaster ride in how McGovern delivers that line.

Aaron Costa Ganis and 
Elizabeth McGovern in
Ava: The Secret Conversations.
Credit: Jeff Lorch

McGovern’s script is fast and fun and Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s staging flows brilliantly with the aide of David Meyer’s elegant, fluid scenery, Amith Chandrashaker’s subtle lighting and Alex Basco Koch’s cinematic projections which feature numerous clips of Gardner and her various husbands. At 80 intermissionless minutes, the author-star does not go very deeply into her subject’s motives and psychology. We get the greatest hits of Gardner’s dazzling life and career, much like the star’s own autobiography Ava: My Story.

The play is based on another Gardner tome, The Secret Conversations which consisted of taped talks between the star and writer Peter Evans who was contracted to co-author a book with her. Eventually, Gardner broke off the collaboration and published her own bio. Gardner put out the transcripts of their dialogues after her death.  

Aaron Costa Ganis in
Ava: The Secret Conversations.
Credit: Jeff Lorch

The action is seen from Evans’ point of view as he meets with Gardner in her London home and together they retrace her tumultuous life. In addition to playing Evans and masterfully narrating the action, Ganis does a credible job of impersonating the star’s three spouses—the hyperactive adolescent Mickey Rooney, the overbearing intellectual jazz musician Artie Shaw, and the blustering, rough-edged Frank Sinatra. Ganis is particularly impressive with his singing Sinatra. He sounded so much like the voice of America’s greatest pop male vocalist, I actually thought he might be lip-synching when he began to croon “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” (Gardner’s love affairs with George C. Scott and bull-fighter Luis Miguel Dominguin are not included.)

Gardner calls Evans at odd hours, shamelessly flirts with him, pulls back when Sinatra expresses displeasure at her revealing their secrets, and finally pulls the plug. McGovern writes the breakup in metaphoric fashion with stagehands disassembling Meyer’s set and a director (Chris Thorn who also provides the voice of Evans’ agent) calling the shots for a final scene. McGovern enters as Gardner in a stunning red-carpet gown claiming “Someday everyone will get a chance to be famous” (a little too on the nose as a comparison to our social-media-saturated world) and disappears. Evans is finally left with projected images of the movie star and the sense he didn’t really get to know his subject at all. The audience might feel similarly short-changed. 

Aug. 7—Sept. 14. New York City Center Stage I, 131 W. 55th St., NYC. Running time: 80 mins. with no intermission. nycitycenter.org.

The Super Heroes of Summer 2025

David Corenswet in Superman (2025)
Credit: Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros/DC

I haven't been to a superhero movie for the past few summers. The recent crop seemed pretty lackluster. But two of this year's cinematic comic-book efforts caught my attention and drove me back to the theater, in 3-D no less: Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Both feature the figureheads of their respective comic houses, DC for Superman and Marvel for the FF. Both have been adapted for film and TV numerous times before with varying success. The Man of Steel has flown into pop culture through multiple media since his birth in 1938. He remains one of the few characters to be the subject of a series of movies, at least one live-action TV show, and a Broadway musical (the others are Spider Man, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, The Addams Family, and Nick and Nora Charles.) In addition, Supes was immortalized on the radio (voiced by To Tell the Truth host Bud Collyer) and in several animated cartoon series. Though they are the first family of Marvel Comics, the FF have not fared as well in their transitions to the silver and video screens. They have had no less than four different cartoon series--I remember 1968's Hanna-Barbera iteration best since I used to watch it every Saturday morning--and four sets of actors have played them in live action, receiving mixed notices for the first three times. Now both franchises have been given new life in cinematic form.

James Gunn's Superman has come under fire from conservatives for being too "woke," meaning Superman is portrayed as being too supportive of immigrants since he is one himself, arriving on Earth after his home world Krypton exploded. The parallels between our current political climate continue. The plot is set in motion as Superman interferes when a Russia-like country invades a Ukraine-like neighbor. In a story trope echoing a move the Man of Steel made with Adolph Hitler, the superhero flies the Putin-esque dictator to a remote location and sits him on a cactus, promising worse treatment if the invading leader doesn't behave himself. Also Superman's traditional arch enemy Lex Luthor is a sort of Elon Musk-Donald Trump type who imprisons anyone he doesn't like in a pocket universe resembling detention camps in El Salvador. The villain is in cahoots with the Putin-like despot and actually kills an immigrant food vendor in cold blood just because he was nice to Superman. Luthor also uses trolls (actual monkeys typing on keyboards) to smear Superman on social media. 

Superman was always woke--meaning in favor of social justice and sticking up for the rights of minorities--so the right-wing whining feels petty and churlish. This Superman played with humor and humility by David Corenswet is a champion of the underdog and not a toady of the rich (Trump). 

Off-B'way Reviews: Joy A New True Musical; Rolling Thunder

Betsy Wolfe in Joy A New True Musical.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Joy, subtitled a New True Musical, Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels, is a serviceable enough product to entertain intermittently for two hours, but it’s basically a knock-off of stronger, more original female empowerment tuners such as Waitress, Wicked, Legally Blonde, and even Boop!, the recently departed cartoon fantasy. Based on the life of Joy Mangano, a struggling Long Island inventor who became a successful entrepreneur and media saleswoman through her Miracle Mop and other creations, Joy is fun and silly, but trods a familiar path lined with cliches. Note: Joy’s life also served as at the basis of a 2015 film starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Ken Davenport’s book is laden with stereotypes (chauvinistic execs, twangy Texans, fast-talkin’, flinty Long Islanders, 30-ish golddiggers matched with silver-chained daddies) and Annmarie Milazzo’s score heavily relies on generic tunes and unimaginative lyrics. But the game cast is professional and Lorin Latarro’s direction is brisk enough to hold our attention. There are occasional pops of wit and satire, but not to enough to push the show beyond just okay.

We start as beleaguered Joy (a commanding Betsy Wolfe) struggles to hold down her overflowing household. Not only is she putting up both her divorced, squabbling parents (Adam Grupper, Jill Abramovitz), but her ex-husband Tony (Brandon Espinoza) is bunking with Dad Rudy in the basement as Tony unsuccessfully tries to eke out a singing career. Joy’s mom Toots is permanently in her bathrobe and glued to the couch. Joy’s meager paycheck as an airline ticket clerk is the sole source of income, stressing her out and causing her to constantly miss soccer games and school events for her and Tony’s unhappy daughter Christie (Honor Blue Savage).

Jill Abramovitz, Honor Blue Savage, Brandon 
Espinoza, Jaygee Macapugay, and Adam Grupper
in Joy A New True Musical.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Joy has always had brights idea for gizmos which never panned out (realized in a musical number with a younger version of herself played by Nora Mae Dixon). Now she has a light bulb moment when she spills a glass of soda. Why not a mop that can wring itself out with the poor housewife user not having to bend over? Thus the Miracle Mop and a musical are born. 

There follows Joy’s against-the-odds sojourn to market her creation. She is pitted against  sexist QVC higher-ups (led by Charl Brown) and a Stetson-wearing villainous manufacturer named Cowboy Eddie (Paul Whitty) who attempts to purloin her patent. The former are given a rock alpha-male dance number complete with supposedly sexy hip thrusts, and the latter is joined by a chorus of central-casting cowboys (and a few token gals) in an intimidating hoedown. Choreographer Joshua Bergasse gives both numbers much needed energy.