Favorite Productions 2000-2005

In my book, NEW YORK STAGES: A JOURNAL OF NEW MILLENNIUM THEATRE, I picked out ten favorite productions between 2000-2005.  It was difficult to pick just ten, but I still stand by this list:

The Laramie Project

“It is an exploration of prejudice against homosexuals and it was astonishingly potent.  Split into three acts, the first two acts ended with speeches so moving that I had to work to keep myself from sobbing.  The first is from the Doctor who has to announce the actual death and through his quivering voice, he delivers a message from Matthew’s mother to all parents: Tell your children you love them every chance you get because you might wake up one morning and not have them anymore.  What is more tragic than parents having to bury their children?  The second is a speech from Matthew’s father, delivered to the murderer and deciding that he will let the young man live so that he will have to think about his horrific act for the rest of his life.  It is a strong thing for the father to allow the murderer of his son to live after the way Matthew was tortured to death, but he hopes that imprisoned life will be worse–a living nightmare.  How can you go on after such an ordeal?  My faith in humanity was rattled.”

Urinetown

“The cast was superb in every way.  The dry delivery of the Officer from Jeff McCarthy; the only surviving cast member from the Fringe production, Spencer Kayden as the innocently blunt Little Sally; Nancy Opel’s knock ‘em dead belting as Pennywise and Hunter Foster’s original take on a leading man with amazing singing versatility.  A sort of star was found in John Cullum as the villain, Cladwell, who regularly received entrance applause thanks to his stint on TV’s NORTHERN EXPOSURE, but a formidable veteran of the Broadway stage a few decades ago as well.  The entire experience just came together, then moved to the Henry Miller Theatre until some nasty real life big business villain bought the property and tore down the theatre.  Good-bye Henry Miller Theatre.”

The Producers

“The songs are by Mel Brooks himself, but this is how it had to be.  The world has been waiting for a Mel Brooks musical.  We all knew he was capable of it and finally here it is.  We would all be happy if he adapted every one of his films for the musical stage.  For now we have the glorious THE PRODUCERS.  It was even fun with other people in it.  The worth of the show does not rest solely on Lane and Broderick’s shoulders, there is as much talent in the supporting players and the inventive staging by Susan Stroman.  And, just for fun, get this:  Cubby O’Brian of the original Mickey Mouse Club plays the drums in the pit.”

Liza’s Back

“The most lovely thing in the show, and the first cry of the evening, was a beautifully done ‘Something Wonderful,’ from THE KING AND I.  She did her signature version of ‘Some People,’ which made the audience go crazy as it always does. Oh why, oh why hasn’t the woman ever played Rose in GYPSY?  It’s the misfortune of us all that the universe is not making it possible for Liza Minnelli to star in GYPSY.  Can you imagine?  It would be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced in a star turn.  It would be pandemonium in the audience if the fevered craze that went on at the Beacon was any indication.”

Henry IV.

“If you’re going to see it, see it with Richard Easton, Ethan Hawke, Michael Hayden, Kevin Kline and Audra McDonald.  This director, Jack O’Brien, made it work for me.  It was the whole darn thing for nearly four hours and I was right with it the whole time.  Poor Ethan sounded like he was blowing his voice.  Perhaps his movie training didn’t prepare him for a two a day schedule of four hours of Shakespeare, but he was still very good in it.  His scenes with Audra McDonald were terrific.  Some of the press didn’t like her, but I’m sure I don’t know what they were talking about–Audra is one of our greatest working theatre stars and there’s a reason she has four Tony Awards.  Everything just came together in the best ways, from design to direction to performance.  How often does this happen?  So rarely that it makes one almost give up hope, but then there you are in the theatre and you are reminded that it is possible for great theatre to happen–even on Broadway where it hardly happens at all anymore.”

Nijinski

“John Neumeier, Artistic Director, is the brilliant choreographer responsible for creating this wonderful and honest tribute to an unsurpassed artist of the 20th Century.  We can still learn from Nijinski, for his world was passionate and possessed depths of understanding the complications of human beings.  There is no better way to showcase the artist’s life than to do it in the form in which he worked.  We were able to learn about the man in all his complexities, sample his own work, and experience the thrill of a fresh ballet, which exhibited all of the technical strengths of great dancers, while keeping focused on the telling of a good story.  This is no small accomplishment in dance, but it was accomplished by the Hamburg Ballet.”

Our Town

“Then there was something truly great.  It has always been great and if it is considered to be ‘over done’, why, there is a good reason–it’s great.  OUR TOWN transferred to the Helen Hayes from the Westport County Playhouse with Paul Newman as the Stage Manager.  It was a limited run, which immediately sold out and those of us lucky enough to see it were reaffirmed, in a Broadway of commercial blandness, that the theatre can be one of the most affecting art forms on earth.”

Gem Of The Ocean

“When one, Citizen Barlow, knocks on the door to have his soul cleaned by Aunt Ester, the cleaning releases Citizen Barlow’s connection to his ancestors.  This moment, not unlike a moment in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF or Wilson’s own JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE, brings on the theatrics; surreal lighting depicting the lower depths of a slave ship, the ferocity of an ocean and thunder and lightning crashing through the windows.  It is one of Mr. Wilson’s most effective tricks: a play in a realistic setting that suddenly leaps into the world of nightmares.  GEM OF THE OCEAN was the most exciting play of the season, and perhaps the best play of the new millennium to date.”

Twelve Angry Men

“TWELVE ANGRY MEN is an astonishing work, for it will always speak to us and undoubtedly give anyone who sees it pause to consider that our snap judgments can have major ramifications, possibly adding to the bad in the world before the good.  The play has a simple idea, told in real time in a realistic setting and it has, after all these years since its debut as a television film in 1957, lost none of its profound power.”

The Light In The Piazza

“What Adam Guettel is up to is something extraordinary, for he is not thinking in the language of his grandfather at all.  What he is doing is something else–rich in melody, but also expressing in song how people might also talk; aware of structure, but not conscience of writing what could be a popular song.  There is a feeling about THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA that Mr. Guettel is doing something unusual, if not completely new, but it is refreshing as Broadway swims in a period of uninventive old forms and songbook shows.  What the future of this beautiful little show holds is something only time will tell.  I suspect it will be a cult show, rarely produced and never finding a place among the thirty or so always produced classics.  Too bad, for the world outside of New York deserves to see how beautiful an unconventional musical can be.  This one could open minds, just as the authors purport Italy itself has the power to do.”