Watch the Drama Desk Award Nominations Live This Morning

Go to http://new.livestream.com/DramaDesk/nominations2014 to see Fran Drescher and Robert Lopez and Kristen Andersen Lopez announce the Drama Desk Nominations, live at 11 am from 54 Below.

The awards will be presented June 1 at Town Hall. Visit www.dramadeskawards.com for tickets and information.

Broadway Theater Review: Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway

Lots of Song, Dance and Fun, but Bullets Misses Sure-Fire-Hit Target

By Lauren Yarger

The latest film-to-stage production takes a Woody Allen classic, Bullets Over Broadway, and brings it to Broadway with fabulous sets by Santo Loquasto, beautiful costumes by William Ivey Long and lots of old-fashioned, big musical numbers choreographed by director Susan Stroman.

While it's a lot of fun to watch, the musical's elements and some of the performances don't come together in sure-fire-hit form like they did for Stroman in The Producers, however.

Heading the cast are Karen Ziemba, Marin Mazzie, Nick Cordeiro, Vincent Pastore and Helen Yorke in this zany tale of gangsters and Broadway with a book by Allen and Douglas McGrath (who collaborated on the screenplay). The score is a compilation of songs and is not a new work in itself. Music Supervision, adaptation and additional lyrics are provided by Glen Kelly.

One of the show's biggest stars is its sets (lots of them) that almost become characters themselves as they stunningly participate in the choreography. They are creatively lighted by Donald Holder. The deco costumes indicative of the 1929 setting aren't hard to look at either. Long's numerous, shiny silver gowns for Mazzie are stunning.

It's the time of speakeasies and gangsters in New York like Nick Valenti (Pastore) who invest in Broadway shows so that their talentless girlfriends, like Olive Neal (Yorke), can star on stage. This is a bit overwhelming for playwright David Shayne (Zach Braff), who tells Producer Julian Marx (Lenny Wolpe) he is excited about getting his big break, but not happy that Olive massacres every line and wants a bigger part.

One consolation for Shayne is the inclusion in the cast of a couple of veteran stage stars: diva Helen Sinclair (Mazzie) and full-of-himself, overeating leading man Warner Purcell (Brooks Ashmanskas, who seriously made me laugh out loud every time he was on stage).

Valenti doesn't trust his girl on her own, so he assigns his main hit man Cheech (Cordero) to watch out for her during rehearsals. He ends up keeping a better eye on Shayne's troubled script, offering suggestions and rewrites before taking over completely. When Sinclair becomes attracted to the man writing the words, Shayne struggles with letting her know they're not his since he is falling in love with his star, despite having a fiance, Ellen (Betsy Wolfe), waiting for him back in Pittsburgh.

Shayne has to figure out what really is important -- hopefully before more bullets fly.

While Ashmanskas cracked me up with his over-dramatic antics and ever-larger-growing belly, none of the other performances stood out. Mazzie seems too over the top and too overwhelmed to pull Helen off. Ziemba, who plays a woman in Shayne's show, is underused (and has to share the stage with her cute little canine star Mr. Woofles played by Trixie, trained by William Berloni). I kept wondering what it would be like to see Ziemba play Helen. 

The songs, including "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," "Up a Lazy River," There'll Be Some Changes Made," and others don't stay with us. There was a dancing hotdog number, for instance. I remember the costumes, but have no idea how the tune went. Large-scale production numbers consistently wiped out the story.

While the elements don't come together to make a powerhouse musical, it is enjoyable to watch. There are worse ways to spend two hours and 45 minutes. I certainly found Brooks Ashmanskas entertaining.....

Bullets over Broadway shoots over at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th St., NYC. http://www.bulletsoverbroadway.com

Christians might also like to know:

-- God's name taken in vain

--Sexually suggestive lyrics, moves and props

Broadway Theater Review: The Cripple of Inishmaan with Daniel Radcliffe

An Irish Tale Full of Lore and Longing
By Lauren Yarger
A bucolic Irish landscape stretches across the stage at the Broadway premiere of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, but a swirl of clouds clue us in that not all on this coastal island is as peaceful as it seems.

"Harry Potter" film star Daniel Radcliffe (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Equus) returns to Broadway to play Billy, the cripple in the play's title, who dreams of a different life from the one he has know with two spinster "aunts" who took him in as an infant orphan despite deformities to an arm and leg.

Eileen and Kate Osbourne (Gillian Hanna and Ingrid Graigie, who are excellent) love Billy, but fret about everything as they tend to the their little grocery market where absolutely nothing happens. Oh, Helen McCormick (Sarah Greene) might stop by with some eggs, if she hasn't already thrown them at someone or crushed them over the head of her brother, Bartley (Conor MacNeill) before she gets there. Or local newsgatherer/gossip Johnnypateenmike (Pat Shortt) might stop by with the latest tidbits about someone's goose biting a cat or a sheep's being born without ears.

But nothing much ever happens, especially for Billy, who spends a lot of time watching cows -- and secretly loving Helen. The reality is, however, that she -- and any other woman in the village -- would only laugh at the thought of being with someone like him.

One day, Johnny has some very exciting new, however. An American film crew is nearby shooting and is looking for locals to star in a movie. It's a ticket out of Inishmaan to Hollywood! Helen is sure her looks will get her a part, so she bribes Babbybobby (Padraic Delaney) to use his rowboat to get her and her brother to the filming location. Billy convinces Babbybobby to take him along too.

The performances, as directed by Michael Grandage, are superb and the storytelling, played out against a tri-fold set that rotates (design by Christopher Oram, who also designs the 1934-era costumes) is absorbing. McDonagh's script contains a lot of humor (sometimes very dark, though Cripple is less outlandish than some of McDonagh's other works like A Behanding in Spokane, or The Lieutenant of Inishmore, for example. This is more like his Beauty Queen of Leenane.)

Some "outside of reality" moments can be confusing, as is some of the plot. We're never really sure why Billy loves Helen. She's cruel, not only to Billy, but to anyone who has the misfortune to cross her path. In some ways, she is as much of an emotional cripple (there's allusion to priests and others taking advantage) as he is physically, so perhaps he recognizes a soul mate in that?

The performances are excellent across the boards. June Watson is a hoot as Johnny's acerbic, alcoholic mother. (Gary Lilburn completes the cast as the village doctor).

Radcliffe is a hard worker and proves here that he's just not a big name being used to sell tickets (missing the night I attended were the teenage girls who appeared en mass for How to Succeed and Equus). He gives us a layered Billy with the focus on the character, not on the star.  He's funny, sad and evokes sympathy. Hanna and Craigie (who played this role a couple of years ago in New Haven) are sensational. Their droll back-and-forths are the perfection of comedic timing. Just a look speaks volumes.

The Cripple of Inishmaan runs through July 20 at the Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th St., NYC. http://www.crippleofinishmaan.com/

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- This is not for young kids

Note: Ladies, the line for the restroom at intermission will be impossible. Plan accordingly.

Broadway Review: Hedwig & the Angry Inch with Neil Patrick Harris

Performances, Music and Production Excel, but Message Falls Short
By Lauren Yarger
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a cult film by John Cameron Mitchell rocks 'em out at the Belasco Theatre with Neil Patrick Harris in the starring role. His performance, and that of co-star Lena Hall are really good, the music by Stephen Trask is really good and the special-effect projections (designed by Benjamin Pearcy for 59 Productions) are really, really good. The story, however, not so much.

Hedwig tells us his sad tale. As a boy named Hansel, living in pre-wall Berlin,he is with his really cruel mother by his sexually abusive father, and attracts the attention of a guy named Luther who appreciates Hansel's more feminine side. He likes it so much that he insists the boy have surgery to make him a woman before accompanying his love to the United States. His mother thinks that's a splendid idea. The surgery leaves Hansel with an inch of his manhood and a scar that makes it look very angry and a new name: Hedwig.

Later, Luther abandons him and a devastated Hedwig forms a rock band called The Angry Inch (Music Director Justin Craig, Matt Duncan, Tim Mislock and Peter Yanowitz).They play Trask's really wonderful '80s rock tunes and it's a wonder the stained glass in the beautiful Belasco doesn't shake loose, though there are a couple of ballads as well. For one number the audience is invited to sing along with the bouncing balls. No, that is not a typo. It's a plural noun and yes, we see a part of the male anatomy bouncing along to lyrics projected on stage..

Meanwhile, Hedwig falls in love with a young musician named Tommy Speck (not played by an actor), whom he believes is the other half of himself, for whom he has been searching. This search began when his "not-going-to-win-mom-of-the-year" mother sang him a bedtime story based on Aristophanes' speech in Plato's "Symposium." It's all about the origin of love and how people started out as three types of fused couples whom angry gods separated. Now they must search for each other.... The staging of this song is amazing (Michael Mayer directs and musical staging is by Spencer Liff).

Tommy is angry to discover Hedwig's inch, however, and they split with Tommy stealing Hedwig's songs and going off to his own fame and fortune. Hedwig eventually ends up with husband Yitzhak (Hall). And in an ending that is supposed to be about finding your true self, I think, male and female genders are blurred even more.

This musical reminded me of the Broadway revival of Hair and Duncan Sheik's Spring Awakening (which also was directed by Mayer). My thoughts: "Great music, great performances, great staging, but I just wasted two-plus hours of my life watching a story that I can't get behind."

I get Hair and Spring Awakening -- just don't like the messages. Hedwig was plain confusing to me a number of times. I gather, after talking with some fans of the film, that changes have been made to the stage version and this led to more confusion as they tried to answer my questions.

Even if I'd followed the plot perfectly, I probably still wouldn't be a fan. Watching Neil Patrick Harris wear fishnet stockings and heels (and at one point only black leatherish briefs) and a ridiculous blonde wig (Arianne Phillips; Mike Potter design) while licking a guitar, licking Lena Hall, licking the stage floor -- well, using that tongue a lot including posing for the Playbill cover that features it -- just isn't my cup of tea. Give me American Idiot (also directed by Mayer) instead. Great rock music, great performances, great staging -- and a poignant story with a great message.

Hedwig plays at the Belasco, 111 West 44th St., NYC. http://www.hedwigbroadway.com/

Christians might also like to know:
-- Show posts a MATURE advisory
-- Language
-- Sexually suggestive dialogue
-- Mythology
-- Sexually suggestive activity

TOP PICK -- Broadway Theater Review: Act One with Tony Shalhoub and Andrea Martin

Tony Shalhoub, Andrea Martin and Santino Fontana. Photo: Joan Marcus

A Love Story about the Theater, Told with Performances and Direction Worthy of the Legend
By Lauren Yarger
Moss Hart is one of Broadway's legendary playwrights and producers, so it seems fitting that one of the most engaging productions this year on Broadway should tell his story.

James Lapine (Into the Woods, Falsettos, Passion) writes and directs this adaptation of Hart's autobiography Act One starring Tony Shalhoub ("Monk"), Andrea Martin (Pippin) and Santino Fontana (Cindrella). It focuses on Hart's early childhood, his passion for the theater his rags-to-riches story and his writing collaboration with George S. Kaufman, with whom he penned a couple of my personal favorites: the screenplay for the movie "Hans Christian Anderson," and the Pulitzer-Prize winning play You Can't Take it with You.

The story is narrated by an adult Hart (Shalhoub). The role of  Moss also is played b Matthew Schechter (as a young boy) and Fonatana (as a young man). Lapine's direction is so expert, that transitions between Moss at different ages and between actors playing multiple roles is sublime and we can only imagine director Hart himself looking down and giving a thumb's up.

Moss reflects on his humble roots, growing up poor in a small Bronx apartment where his father, Barnett (played by Shalhoub), mother, Lillie (Mimi Lieber) and little brother, Bernie (Matthew Schechter) take in boarders and provide a home for Lillie's sister, Kate (Martin). Kate doesn't help out much around the house, or offer any of her money to help the debt-ridden family get by, but she does open up the world of the theater for young Moss.

Barnett doesn't want young Moss wasting his time on things like the theater, or school, and insists he take a job to help support the family instead. Kate fuels the boy's dream of working in the theater by taking him to some matinees without his father's knowledge. Eventually, Moss secures a job as an assistant to producer Augustus Pitou (Will LeBow) and has a chance to see one of his plays produced.

He forms friendships with other  office boys Irving Gordon (Steven Kaplan), Dore Sherry (Will Brill) and Eddie Chodorov (Bill Army) who help each other secure tickets to shows and help boost each other's careers. Hart gets his first real writing job through one of them when he is tapped to create comedy sketches at The Flagher Hotel in the Catskills. The play's  locations rotate into pace on a large, three-story carousel of a set designed by the always excellent Beowolf Boritt. Lighting design is by nicely handed by Ken Billingham with costumes by Jane Greenwood.

Hart's big break comes when rival producers Jed Harris (LeBow) and Sam Harris (Bob Stilman) vie for who will produce his play, Once in a Lifetime and he is introduced to Bernard F. Kaufman (also played by Shalhoub to the audience's great delight. Kaufman shares a lot of hand-washing type obsession like detective Adrian Monk, the TV character Shalhoub portrayed for years.)

Martin also gets triple duty, playing Hart's agent Frieda Fishbein and Kafman's wife, Beatrice.

Though it errs a bit by trying to include every detail possible in the two-hour, 45-minute presentation (one can almost imagine theater creators Hart and Kaufman looking knowledgeably at their watches) it still is entirely absorbing, with not a weak performance to be found throughout the large cast playing numbers of roles. It's the kind of story you wish would never end, -- maybe Lapine should consider Act Two to continue the story of Hart's success and more personal details from his life, like his marriage to Kitty Carlisle.

Hart couldn't take it with him, but he left a legacy in the theater which audience goers can savor in Act One through June 15 at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 150 west 65th St., NYC. http://www.lct.org/.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language

Broadway Theater Review: The Realistic Joneses

Tracy Letts and Marisa Tomei. Photo: Joan Marcus

We Get a Dose of Reality Keeping Up with These Joneses

By Lauren Yarger

Keeping up with the Joneses in Will Eno's The Realistic Jonses might prove a little more difficult than you think. The story is about everything – and nothing – just like the dialogue, but sooner or later you recognize a character you know, or perhaps yourself, and suddenly the seemingly pointless conversation hits home like it was fired at a bullseye. 

It's a witty exploration of conversations comprised mostly of thoughts you would have during conversations, but which you never would say out loud. But imagine if you did. It would be really funny, if awkward. Sort of like this play. 

Sam Gold, who helmed the world premiere at Yale Rep in 2012, directs. Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tracy Letts (August Osage County) reprises his role from the Yale production, but the other characters are newly cast for Broadway.

The older Joneses are Bob (Letts) and his wife, Jennifer (the always fabulous Toni Colette ("The United States of Tara," "The Sixth Sense," "Little Miss Sunshine"). The younger couple with the same surname are John and Pony (Michael C. Hall -- “Dexter,” Chicago and Marisa Tomei -- "My Cousin Vinny") who have just moved in next door in the suburban neighborhood somewhere in the USA.

Jennifer struggles to care for Bob as a rare degenerative disease attacks the areas of his brain that control language and memory. It’s a good thing this long-married couple can complete each other’s thoughts and sentences. Or can they? And if they can, do they want to any more?

Jennifer apologizes for blurting out her concerns about Bob’s declining health to her new acquaintances.

“That’s what separates us from the animals,” John consoles her. “You never hear animals blurting things out. Unless they’re being run over by a car or something.” 

At first it doesn’t seem like the older couple has much in common with their apparently less intelligent neighbors except a moniker, but after a few chance encounters, it becomes clear that they do – practically as John may have the same illness as Bob and emotionally as the couples turn to each other for comfort and hope. The scenes (designed by David Zinn) play out in a backyard setting that doubles for other locations. 

Eno’s script is a mind-muscle-tightening, word workout that is funny and thought-provoking. It needs a strong gel among the performers to pull it off, however, and what Gold achieved at Yale is somewhat lacking here. We don't get a sense of the "developed-over-many-years" camaraderie between Bob and Jennifer or the attraction between her and John. Tomei plays Pony as an innocent -- accepting of everything -- which negates the opportunity to explore the many layers waiting for the character in the script's pages and allows John to be much more likable than he should be.

Instead of the audience shaking their heads "yes" with nods of understanding and satisfaction (like we did at Yale), I think this production probably has more people shaking their heads "no" and asking, "What was that about?" It's too bad, because it's a meaty play with lots to offer about how we deal with each other and with the hardest times life has to offer.

The Realistic Joneses runs through July 6 at The Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th St., NYC. http://therealisticjoneses.com/.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- Adult situations

Gentleman's Guide Leads Outer Critics Circle Nominations with 11

The cast with Bryce Pinkham as Monty Navarro (standing center), Jefferson Mays as Lord Adalbert D'Ysquith (red), and Jane Carr as Miss Shingle (seated) in a scene from "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" at the Walter Kerr Theater. Photo credit: Joan Marcus.

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Rocky

Outstanding New Broadway Play
Act One
Casa Valentina
All The Way
Outside Mullingar
The Realistic Joneses

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Appropriate
Choir Boy
The Explorer's Club
The Heir Apparent
Stage Kiss

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Far From Heaven
Fun Home
Murder For Two
Storyville
What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined

Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Fun Home
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Rocky

Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Aladdin
The Bridges of Madison County
Fun Home
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
If/Then

Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
The Cripple of Inishmaan
The Glass Menagerie
Machinal
Twelfth Night
The Winslow Boy

Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway)
Cabaret
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Les Misérables
Violet

Outstanding Actor in a Play
Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Ian McKellen, No Man's Land
Brían F. O'Byrne, Outside Mullingar
Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night
Tony Shalhoub, Act One

Outstanding Actress in a Play
Tyne Daly, Mothers and Sons
Rebecca Hall, Machinal
Jessica Hecht, Stage Kiss
Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie
Estelle Parsons, The Velocity of Autumn

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Andy Karl, Rocky
Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Violet
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Jessie Mueller, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Kelli O’Hara, The Bridges of Madison County
Michelle Williams, Cabaret

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night
Michael Cyril Creighton, Stage Kiss
John McMartin, All the Way
Alessandro Nivola, The Winslow Boy
Brian J. Smith, The Glass Menagerie

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Barbara Barrie, I Remember Mama
Andrea Martin, Act One
Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
Anika Noni Rose, A Raisin in the Sun
Mare Winningham, Casa Valentina

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Danny Burstein, Cabaret
Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway
Joshua Henry, Violet
James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin
Jarrod Spector, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Anika Larsen, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Marin Mazzie, Bullets Over Broadway
Lisa O’Hare, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder

Outstanding Director of a Play
Tim Carroll, Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Lindsay Posner, The Winslow Boy
Bill Rauch, All the Way
Lyndsey Turner, Machinal

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Laurence Connor & James Powell, Les Misérables
Sam Gold, Fun Home
Alex Timbers, Rocky
Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder

Outstanding Choreographer
Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Peggy Hickey, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Steven Hoggett & Kelly Devine, Rocky
Casey Nicholaw, Aladdin
Susan Stroman, Bullets Over Broadway

Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical)
Christopher Barreca, Rocky
Beowulf Boritt, Act One
Bob Crowley, Aladdin
Es Devlin, Machinal
Alexander Dodge, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)
Gregg Barnes, Aladdin
Linda Cho, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway
Jenny Tiamani, Twelfth Night
Isabel Toledo, After Midnight

Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical)
Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Howell Binkley, After Midnight
Paule Constable, Les Misérables
Natasha Katz, Aladdin
Philip S. Rosenberg, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Outstanding Solo Performance
Jim Brochu, Character Man
Debra Jo Rupp, Becoming Dr. Ruth
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, How I Learned What I Learned
Alexandra Silber, Arlington
John Douglas Thompson, Satchmo at the Waldorf

John Gassner Award
(Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright)
Scott Z. Burns, The Library
Eric Dufault, Year of the Rooster
Madeleine George, The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence
Steven Levenson, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin
Lauren Yee, The Hatmaker’s Wife

Cicely Tyson and Vanessa  Williams announce the Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations Tuesday at the Friar's Club. Photo: Lauren Yarger

The Outer Critics Awards will be announced Monday, May 12. The awards dinner will be held May 22 at Sardi's.