The Night of the Iguana Written by Tennessee Williams Directed by Emily Mann James Earl Jones Theatre December 8, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
The Night of the iguana is one of Tennessee Williams’s later and less successful plays. It takes a haphazard group of people and really just spends too much time with them going repeatedly over the same themes. The story focuses in on Shannon who is struggling with his sanity as he leads a travel group of prim Baptist ladies from America through the backroads of Mexico. Having committed an act of statutory rape on the youngest member of the group he is losing his mind, and, it this is not helped by a group of obnoxious Germans staying at a hotel. The only possible lifeline is Hannah, a well-spoken penniless artist from Nantucket traveling with her 97-year-old frail old poet grandfather.
Purlie Victorious a Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch Written by Ossie Davis Directed by Kenny Leon The Music Box December 7, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
I was just not “invited” to this play. From the very first moment, this play just roared on by. Leslie Odom, Jr. just exploded on stage – – speaking and moving so fast that I could barely understand what he was saying and what was going on. I really have no idea what was gained by this storm of behavior. It took a good long time before the play settled down so that I could understand what was going on. I just felt that everyone in the play was working too hard – and not to the betterment of the story. They were squeezing each line to get just as much as they could out of each word – – which ended up making all words of equal importance. It was truly hard to connect with any of the characters; they were so busy acting.
How to Dance in Ohio Book and Lyrics by Rebekah Greer Melocik Music by Jacob Yandura Choreographed by Mayte Natalio Directed by Sammy Cannold Belasco Theatre December 6, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
Of my 10 shows that I saw on this trip I was most looking forward to seeing How to Dance in Ohio, but it was my least favorite show. I was so excited to witness a show that brought the inclusion of a cast of individuals who were self-identifying as people with autism. I thought it a great chance to give voice to people who would not normally be seen on Broadway. But, as the show made clear, no special exception, was to be given to any of them. They were going to be judged – – in fact, they wanted to be judged, on their own merits – – and it just didn’t work.
Stereophonic Written by David Adjmi Songs by Will Butler Directed by Daniel Aukin Playwrights Horizons December 5, 2023 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
I was really NOT looking forward to seeing Stereophonic. It was one of those shows that was offering a good price at the right time in my schedule. But boy was I wrong. This turned out to be the best show out of the 10 that I saw for this particular trip – – In fact, this show had one magical aspect that I’ve had with so few shows in New York – – There was a span of time in the show, when I truly, truly forgot that I was watching a play; I believed that I was in a recording studio, watching singers, actually working on an album struggling to find the right way to present it. I was not in the theater. I was not watching a play. I was watching real life unfold in front of me. That happens almost never for me in the theater. It was magical.
Waiting for Godot Written by Samuel Beckett Directed by Erin Arbus Theatre for a New Audience December 3, 2023 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Waiting for Godot is my absolute favorite play. When asked by my students for all my years of teaching, what was my favorite play? I was always proud to answer, waiting for Godot. I think it is the most perfect play that illustrates the most central core of human experience: waiting. Waiting is something that we all do and actually spend most of our life doing. Waiting for Godot illustrates that perfectly. I must have seen this production over 20 times – – sometimes good – – sometimes bad – – sometimes ugly – – but each time I’ve learned something new about the play . Here in the hands of Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks. I felt I really saw the quintessential version.
