You might wonder what Broadway and Atlanta have in common; for starters, how about the 2007 Tony Award for outstanding regional theatre to the Alliance Theatre? So here's a big shout out and congratulations to the Alliance for this signal honor. May it spur them on to produce more must-see, exciting plays, especially on their 800 seat mainstage. It's well known that their smaller stage, the Hertz, has far outpaced its larger sister (brother?) for for vital, visceral theatre: Savvy local theatregoers know it; even The New York Times knows it and reported as much in an article on Sunday, June 3. But for now let us bask in the reflected glory of our hometown theatre—and especially next Sunday night (June 10) when the Tony Awards are given out live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS. (The regional theatre award is the only award revealed in advance.)More on the Broadway-Atlanta connection: theatre lovers in Atlanta are constantly zipping up to New York to see plays. Just last week I ran into Rick and Lynne Brice, an Atlanta couple, at “Spring Awakening,” the exciting odds-on favorite for best musical this year. And what did yours truly think of this show and the others I saw? Why, so glad you asked! Here are capsule reviews of the plays I saw: “Spring Awakening” is a terrific, provocative, melodic version of an old German play about teenagers discovering themselves and their sexuality in the absence of any parental discussion of such a “forbidden” topic. With a book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik and a dream cast of attractive, super-talented young people (especially Jonathan Groff and John Gallager, nominated for best actor and best featured actor respectively—Gallager will win), this is a breakthrough musical.
Moving along—Joan Didion's superb memoir of surviving the deaths of her husband and daughter (“The Year of Magical Thinking") is now a one-woman play starring the luminous Vanessa Redgrave. It is worth the price of a ticket simply to watch this peerless artist walk on stage, sit in a chair and proceed to mesmerize the audience. This is not, however, a cheery piece; but is ultimately uplifting.
Another tour de force performance is provided by Liev Schreiber as the late night radio shock jock in Eric Bogosian's "Talk Radio." The call-in listeners and Schreiber's abrasive "advice" become a corrosive commentary on the state of American culture and prejudice; this is stimulating theatre, as bracing as a plunge into ice-cold water.
Everyone should go to the Metropolitan Opera House at least once; it fairly drips opulence. I saw an outstanding performance of the ballet "Othello" by the American Ballet Theatre starring guest artist Rasta Thomas (who was last in Atlanta two years ago starring in Billy Joel's "Movin' Out"). Rasta Thomas was described at that time by the AJC as a mixture of James Dean and Baryshnikov; I would not disagree. At 25, he is probably the greatest American dancer. It was quite an evening.
The revival of "A Chorus Line" was quite riveting, but that landmark show has lost some of its magic for me, probably because I'm too familiar with it. "In the Heights" is an off-Broadway musical with an Hispanic hip-hop beat that has success written all over it. Finally, the hottest ticket in town is "Jersey Boys," the musical inspired by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It's an absolute knockout. Thus ends my Manhattan theatre orgy. Get thee to the Apple, gentle reader. The feast is waiting.
