As 2002 commences, a baker's dozen of Back Stage critics review the highs and lows of New York theatre and dance in that most iconic of years, 2001. And while the actions of history may have overwhelmed the accomplishments of art in the year originally made famous by Arthur C. Clarke, that hasn't prevented Back Stage's scribes from finding much to remember and celebrate.
Ranging Through the Classics
I was up to my doublet in classics this year, as if immersed in a survey course on theatre history. Traveling through the ages (Greeks and Romans excluded), I encountered four Shakespeares, three Strindbergs, plus Marlowe, Webster, Brontë, Ibsen, Zola, Coward, Ionesco, Stoppard, Sondheim, Albee, and Mel Brooks.
Mel Brooks?! Well, why not, since "The Producers," as even Osama bin Laden must know by now, is not only the biggest sensation in years, but also one destined for the record books. It's also the kind of work that throws its arms around you and squeezes until you cry, "uncle!" Okay, "uncle!"
Susan Stroman, the reigning genius behind "The Producers," proved you can't win 'em all. Her "Thou Shalt Not" was a mishmash of styles, failing to integrate story, score, and choreography.
Musical revivals included a rethought "Follies," somewhat disappointing, but worth sitting through for its great Sondheim score. Comden and Green's "Bells Are Ringing" came a cropper, but an extravagant "42nd Street" is still with us. Encores! provided concert versions of an uneven "A Connecticut Yankee," a rapturous "Bloomer Girl," and a vigorous "Hair."
Two strong dramas made their marks. Edward Albee's "The Play About the Baby" was piercing and very funny. Tom Stoppard's aching "The Invention of Love," in a production that surpassed the one I saw in London, was the kind of work that enriches lives. Too bad it was under-appreciated.
Among the memorable performances were Tony-winners Richard Easton and Robert Sean Leonard in "Invention," Liev Schreiber in "Othello," Séan Martin Hingston in "A Connecticut Yankee," John Ortiz and Rosie Perez in "References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot" (the year's best title), the cast of "The Producers," Anna Paquin in "The Glory of Living," and Elaine Stritch in her one-woman "At Liberty."
Remember that name: Elaine Stritch. Got it?
David A. Rosenberg
True Comic Relief
Any highlights list of 2001 must acknowledge the devastating events of Sept. 11. The attacks on America wounded our spirits, and many comic plays and performances lifted them. First and foremost was David Lindsay-Abaire's "Wonder of the World" at Manhattan Theatre Club. This playwright's specialty is mixing outlandish farce with heartbreaking pathos—a perfect mirror image of out post-WTC disaster environment. In this play, a young woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) leaves her dull husband for a road-trip adventure to Niagara Falls. In addition to energetic limning by Parker, there was gallant work by Kristine Nielsen, Alan Tudyk, and, especially, Amy Sedaris.
David Sheward
An Under-appreciated Pair
The two pieces that stand out as my favorites for this past year were both rather unrecognized by much of the critical and popular mainstream, despite associations with hugely prominent artists and institutions.
It's frankly hard to believe that anyone could underrate a Peter Brook production given the aging British director's status as perhaps the preeminent theatre thinker in the world today. And yet, many were dismissive of Brook's stunningly streamlined, Eastern-influenced adaptation of "Hamlet" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I dissent, respectfully. Always the maverick, always conscious of avoiding cliché, and always an original mind, Brook opted to accent the universality of the piece and to slice off much of the dialogue, including some of the more delicious speeches in playwriting history (even Polonious' "neither a borrower nor a lender be" speech). The result was challenging, fascinating, and memorable, especially as presented by the supremely gifted, flexible, funny, moody Adrian Lester, simply one of the most extraordinary talents to be seen in New York in recent times. A black Hamlet with dreadlocks? Why the hell not?
I also couldn't understand the limited appreciation for a very tight, satisfying play, "The Credeaux Canvas" by Keith Bunin, at Playwrights Horizons during the summer. The piece, about how pressures force a struggling young painter into forgery, presents a relatively new playwright; sharp, vivacious dialogue; deft plotting; moving characters; and some really brilliant young actors, especially Lee Pace, a recent Juilliard graduate who will surely be doing other major things very shortly. What else could one ask from a major theatre company than to present a gifted, relatively unrecognized young playwright and a gifted, relatively unrecognized, mostly young cast? It happens all too rarely in the theatre world, where big names tend to get produced and cast irrespective of suitability. Let's hope that more plays like "The Credeaux Canvas" will be seen at major theatres in the forthcoming season.
Michael Lazan
A Year for Plays
Setting aside certain musicals (i.e., "The Producers"), 2001 was a fertile year for plays, whether daring, nervy explorations of new work, or a few flights of discovery into the past.
Off-Broadway, for one, had a smashing new-play year. Kenneth Lonergan's "Lobby Hero" reaffirmed the dramatist's mastery of construction as well as his unerring facility for the subtle slow build. Angus MacLachlan's "The Dead Eye Boy," by contrast, lacked subtlety. A quick-action parable of violence and addiction performed at supersonic speed, Lili Taylor and Aaron Himelstein delivered soul shattering, depth-charge performances ranking among the year's best acting.
Springtime on Broadway brought Steppenwolf's revival of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to town, returning Gary Sinise to the New York stage after a lengthy absence. Sinise delivered a finely textured performance rather than a showy star turn, melding seamlessly into the kooky, cathartic, spot-on ensemble. More ensemble excellence was found late in the year in the mirth- and madness-inducing revival of "Noises Off."
Solo shows scored too, and none as well as "Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly." The charming Charles Nelson Reilly fastened our seat belts and transported us back decades to the inception of his career. Instead of wallowing in the "and then I wrote" stage biography style, he kibitzed, pondered, and wistfully showed the world the true, real tears of a clown.
As always, Off-Off-Broadway proved the proving ground for plays of guile and gumption. The Vital Theatre Company's mounting of Arlene Hutton's "Women@ Work," frothy one-acts detailing career challenges from the female perspective, was puckish and delightful, while the one-acts in "Homosexual Acts" gave us what's great and galling about gayness. Best was big art group's "Shelf Life," which indicted our mass consumption culture by breaking it into bite-sized bits just tasty enough to swallow.
Leonard Jacobs
Catching Up with the Past
One of the pleasures of attending Off-Broadway is seeing plays that you missed the first time around. David Rabe's atypical "A Question of Mercy" in The Initiative Theatre Company revival directed by Michael Cruz Sullivan proved to be one of the most moving plays of the season. Although the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's "Rashomon" by Fay and Michael Kanin and the Innocent Theater's "The Vortex" by Noël Coward failed to impress, it was the first chance in years to see these rarely revived plays.
Edward Einhorn's Ionesco Festival reviewed all the work of the French-Romanian playwright, allowing New York a chance to see "Man with Bags," "Hunger and Thirst," and the hilarious Shakespeare spoof, "Macbett." Thought you'd seen the Scottish play? Peter Royal's production for Diamondpoint Theater Company rethought the play as if it were a world premiere.
Is the book musical dead? James Valcq and Fred Alley's lovely adaptation of the movie, "The Spitfire Grill," at Playwrights Horizons, and the Judy Freed-Jon Steinhagen "Emma and Company" based on turn-of-the-century stories by Edna Ferber at the Wings Theatre Company proved otherwise. Garrett Long and Steven Pasquale in the former and Jennifer Little and Tim Zindle in the latter made indelible impressions.
The New-York Historical Society turned into an unlikely venue for scintillating comedy with all-star casts. British playwright Nick Dear's adaptation of Ostrovsky's classic Russian farce, "A Family Affair," gave Genevieve Elam, Cynthia Darlow, Tom Brennan, Nora Chester, Gregory Salata, and Greg McFadden a chance to shine. The London-based Lost Musicals staged a sidesplitting revival of Cole Porter's "Let's Face It." Under Ian Marshall Fisher's assured direction, veterans Catherine Cox, Becky Ann Baker, and Delphi Harrington and bundles of energy Linda Romoff, David Costabile, and David Pittu demonstrated there is life in the Fabulous Invalid still.
Victor Gluck
Dancers Aplenty, Choreographers Scarce
A look back at the dance performances we reviewed this year suggests that today's contemporary dance scene abounds with gifted performers, yet sports only a select group of exceptional choreographers.
We were wowed by the electrifying dancing of Patricia Kenny and her troupe of top-flight terps. Veteran Graham dancer Terese Capucilli was absorbing in her artful performances of dramatic works presented by Buglisi/Foreman Dance. Jeff Moen mesmerized us with his tranquil interpretation of Saeko Ichinohe's choreography. The arresting athleticism of Nathan Trice was as astounding as always, while the warm charisma of Keith Sabado made for an affecting premiere of choreographer Richard Daniels's moving autobiographical solo.
Never have we had more fun at a dance performance, however, than we had watching "Antigravity's Crash Test Dummies." The clowning and Olympic-caliber gymnastics of this group of fearless dancers pretending to be "dummies" testing consumer products was truly delightful.
The notable choreographers whose work we saw in 2001, though few in number, offered remarkably imaginative and memorable dances. It is impossible to forget "Jill in Brazil and The Orchid Show," the wacky journey through comedic dance-theatre vignettes inspired by orchids concocted by Neta Pulvermacher. Heather Harrington's duet, "Ruth and Judith," presented in Dance Theatre Workshop's "Fresh Tracks" series, will forever haunt us with its spine-tingling images of throat-slicing, tickling, and nestling in a child's playroom.
With his outstanding, tango-inspired "Shall We…?," Kun-Yang Lin proved to be the year's most promising choreographer. His work engaged us in the dramatic conflicts of human needs, offered insights into why we dance, and had us laughing as we questioned the logic of all we saw and heard. What more can we ask from a choreographer? May many more contemporary dance-makers provoke us likewise in 2002.
Lisa Jo Sagolla
A Major 'Major Barbara'
George Bernard Shaw is not doing so well these days on the stock exchange of literary and theatrical reputations. No longer is he commonly regarded as second only to Shakespeare among playwrights in the English language. Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht, and Beckett are far more often on the minds of theatre intellectuals. Among theatre artists, Shaw is often assumed to be merely a bland Edwardian entertainer—or else a pamphleteer disguised as a playwright, his characters only mouthpieces for their, or his, ideas. But Shaw's ideas raise issues still of haunting relevance to us today, and one of his greatest gifts was the ability to make these issues matters of urgent, personal, crucial, life-changing importance to his characters—as demonstrated by the magnificent revival of "Major Barbara" staged by Daniel Sullivan for the Roundabout Theatre this past summer.
Major Barbara of the Salvation Army devotes her life to saving humanity one soul at a time, until her faith is ruthlessly broken by her father, Andrew Undershaft, an armaments tycoon. Undershaft believes that only "money and gunpowder" can bring about real social change—a doctrine that we all abhor, and live by. It is not easy to play religious idealism for a New York audience, but Cherry Jones made Barbara's dedication radiant, her agony moving, and her renewal of faith clear and convincing. Shaw has surrounded this powerful drama of spiritual crisis with exquisite comedy, exquisitely played by Dana Ivey as Barbara's aristocratic mother, Denis O'Hare as her quirky fiancé, and Rick Holmes as an upper-class twit engaged to Barbara's sister. But the stage was commanded by David Warner, dignified, urbane, formidable, as Andrew Undershaft, "the Prince of Darkness." The production's final image of Undershaft, standing in his death factory as the curtain falls, stays in the mind.
Julius Novick
Year-End Bouquets
In a year when much was mediocre, the following made memorable impressions: The Howard Carter Archeology Award for Unearthing Worthwhile Plays: To The Mint Theatre for their production of "Rutherford & Son," a 1912 work by the young woman playwright, Githa Sowerby—a British family play of conflict, passion, and social change; and to The Metropolitan Playhouse for their production of "The Woman," an engaging 1911 political drama by William C. de Mille (brother of Cecil B. and father of Agnes). Discovered on microfilm at the New York Library, it was adapted and directed by David Zarko. The two leading female roles speak volumes about emerging feminism.
The Ruth Draper Award for a Solo Performance: To Britisher Bette Bourne for his resurrection of Quentin Crisp in "Resident Alien," a distillation of Crisp's writings by Tim Fountain. The witty performance also captured an underlying sadness that is never acknowledged.
The Judy Holliday Award for a Performance in a Musical Comedy: To Alix Korey for her loud-mouthed but lovable real estate agent in the modest but pleasing musical, "Suburb", by a new creative team: Robert S. Cohen and David Javerbaum.
The Sweetest Sounds Award: To David Lawson for his sound design of "I Love America," the one-woman show written and performed by Lidia Ramirez about the plight of refugees from the Dominican Republic. Lawson's evocations of water actually put you on the boat to freedom.
The Laurette Taylor Award for a Performance by a Woman: To Jurian Hughes in "Rutherford & Son." Hughes, as the love-torn daughter of a steely industrialist, delivered a sustained performance that was impassioned and remarkably sympathetic.
That Dirty Word "Promising" Award: To Joshua Park for his stylishly melodramatic playing in Dion Boucicault's 1857 "The Streets of New York," adapted by Charlotte Moore for the Irish Repertory Theatre.
Karl Levett
Diversity Leads the Way
As the first year of this new century comes to a close, diversity among plays and their themes emerged as a common factor in the theatre season. Blue Heron Theatre's "Blood Orange" and the Women's Project's "St. Lucy's Eyes" were the most deliberate in exploring sexual and racial hot topics in compelling drama, while Shaw's classic, "Misalliance," produced by Theater By the Blind, breathed new life when performed famously by a mixed-ability cast.
The New Federal Theatre focused on a post-apartheid South Africa in "Beautiful Things," an unconvincing love story where violence against women went unchecked. In a similar fashion, Shakespeare's "King Lear," staged by the Pulse Ensemble Theatre, played a different hand when Hanna Hayes, a woman, played the central role of the Earl of Gloucester, whose eyes were gouged and bloodied, and changed the setting to an Italian-American crime dynasty in the 1950s.
Late in the summer, the Fringe Festival brought the most diverse range of plays, comedies, performance art, dance theatre, politics, issues, and actors to New York. The French language comedy, "L'Hiver Sous La Table," had a dated sensibility but a winning cast. And the Rise Ensemble Theatre integrated slave narratives into their unique style of dramatic dance performance in "Notice Me."
Violence certainly lost its appeal in the re-imagining of the characters and victims of the Columbine High School massacre as dramatized in "Doing Justice." This solo performance needed more polish, but captured the array of troubling emotions of different people as they grappled with this horrifying event.
English actor Dave Gorman played the funniest diversity note in his one-man transcontinental expedition, "Are You Dave Gorman?" It certainly gave New Yorkers something to laugh about. After living though our own real-life mass tragedy, Gorman arrived at just the right moment to regain the hope of a new century.
Jeanette Toomer
Dance Highlights at the End of a Strange Year
For pure artistic values and sublime choreography, Compania Nacional de Danza, headed by Nacho Duato, was a summer highlight. In "Bach Multiplicity," Duato succeeded in layering glorious Bach music on his sleek and powerful company and creating, with his meticulous style and taste, a memorable evening of dance.
Garry Stewart's Australian Dance Theatre brought another take on "Swan Lake," a kitschy combination of hip-hop, ballet, modern, and acrobatics, with a stir of yoga. The dancers infused the runaway work with extraordinary, risk-taking gustiness. Another Australian choreographer making waves in New York was Stanton Welch, giving a refreshing look at the ties that bind two people in "Kisses," performed by the Chamber Dance Project.
Ballet Hispanico is surely one of the best collections of dancers under one roof. The lovely Irene Hogarth graced the choreography with her lyricism, and Pedro Ruiz exhibited admirable partnering skills. Ruiz also choreographed the gentle "Guajira," a loving remembrance of his Cuban home.
In Pascal Rioult's new piece, "La Vie En Rose," the lively Penelope Gonzalez danced away with honors in her solo to Piaf's signature song, "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien." Rioult is assured his place in dance history with his masterful classic, "Wien," for each time the piece is seen, it is not only a verification of his range, but a grim reminder of history not to be forgotten.
The opportunity to see a new Peter Pucci piece is always an occasion, and "Hoop-La," choreographed for Infinity Dance Theater, was a witty exercise on what one can do with the plain old hula-hoop. The company is directed by Kitty Lunn, a lady who fought off a debilitating setback only to return to the stage to become a most spirited and elegant performer. Somehow, she seems an appropriate metaphor for the determination of all New Yorkers at the end of this strange year.
Phyllis Goldman
Off-Broadway Innovations Triumph
In recalling favorites for this year's round-up piece, I noted several shows that were particularly innovative in concept, content, or techniques. Topping my list was David Fishelson's adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot." Fishelson's company, the Manhattan Ensemble Theater, had taken as its mandate the dramatizing of literary classics—a challenge squarely met in his opening effort. He took the sprawling novel with its cast of thousands and brought it to heel.
The Classic Stage Company, in the same vein, offered a chilling musical version of Kafka's "In the Penal Colony," complete with the relentless beat of Philip Glass' music and John Conklin's harrowing set design. The piece explored the question of morality raised by Kafka: should a bystander take action against atrocities? Is an obedient officer equally guilty of crimes carried out under order? Is capital punishment ever justified?
And at LaMama, director Ellen Stewart staged an extraordinary version of Aeschylus' "Seven Against Thebes"—an impressive production, which told the Oedipus legend through music, dance, and spectacle. Haunting music (Elizabeth Swados), striking imagery, puppets, masks, and costumes all came together to create a sense of the Great Mystery.
In a different vein was the Mint Theatre revival of a 1908 play, "Diana of Dobson's." This was feminist theatre before its time, but a play that opted for romantic comedy over diatribe. Eleanor Reissa staged it with imagination and verve, undaunted by the Mint's pocket-sized stage.
And it was a grand night for the Irish at the Irish Rep when Charlotte Moore directed Hugh Leonard's "A Life," a tale of regrets and losses and roads not taken. Not a false note anywhere in this production. Actors sent the sparks flying as they made the most of Leonard's sharp dialogue.
These five shows lent considerable sparkle to the Off-Broadway season.
Irene Backalenick
Performers Dominate in 2001
C. C. Seymour (perky young comedienne), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (soulful character actor), and Rinde Eckert (unclassifiable countertenor) wouldn't appear to have much in common, but each was responsible for as dazzling a theatrical evening as 2001 had to offer. Seymour lit up the Fringe Festival with her delightful "I'm Bangin' in the Kitchen," while Santiago-Hudson delivered the nostalgic and vibrant "Lackawanna Blues" at the Public. And Eckert combined two of his earlier pieces into the superb "An Idiot Divine," which I personally found more gripping than Eckert's (admittedly more ambitious) "And God Created Great Whales."
Elsewhere, the high-octane pairing of Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright earned much of the press, but Suzan-Lori Parks contributed yet another virtuosic parable in "Topdog/ Underdog" at the Public. The Drama Department gave David and Amy Sedaris an always-welcome chance to weave their perverse magic in "The Book of Liz," and Daniel Kleinfeld gave this year's Fringe Fest a dose of gravitas with his chilling "A Little Piece of the Sun." "The Book of Liz" and the "Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" revival featured fine sets by Hugh Hamrick and Steven Capone, respectively.
Among the individual performances deserving of mention: Jason Crowl as a silky Creon in "Oedipus the King" at Jean Cocteau Rep; Anthony Mackie's tour de force in New York Theatre Workshop's Tupac Shakur bio, "Up Against the Wind"; Jeremy Shamos as the (relatively) calm center of the "Complete Works (Abridged)"; Tom Reid as a mild-mannered sex criminal in "A Little Piece of the Sun"; and Jackie Hoffman, who went caricature for caricature with Amy Sedaris and held her own in "The Book of Liz." But as impressive as those individual efforts were, nothing else matched up to the theatrical wizardry exhibited by Seymour, Santiago-Hudson, and Eckert. I would gladly see any one of those three do just about anything on any given night.
Eric Grode
Stirring Moments of 2001
Although nothing can compete with the dramatic real-life events of the past year, New York's theatre scene did have its share of stirring moments in 2001. So it's time to present my annual "Stimy" Awards.
Following in the wake of the attack, John van Druten's World War II play, "The Voice of the Turtle," was particularly poignant. Presented by Keen Company, the wartime romance was sensitively staged by Carl Forsman, and featured the talented trio of Nick Toren, Megan Byrne, and Elizabeth Bunch (the year's most compelling actress, in my book).
"The Flood," Peter Mills and Cara Reichel's musical ode to courage in times of tragedy, offered moving portrayals by Richard Todd Adams, Lawrence Brustofski, Jennifer Blood, Kate Bradner, Gavin Creel, and Mary Mossberg (Prospect Theater Company). Alice Tuan's "Ajax (por nobody)," directed by Jim Simpson, was a stark dissection of modern relationships (Bat Theatre Company). Richard Foreman returned with an invigorating "Now That Communism Is Dead My Life Feels Empty," comically handled by Tony Torn and Jay Smith (Ontological Hysteric Theatre).
Fringe Festival highlights included a bittersweet valentine from Elizabeth Edlow in her intriguing solo show, "Hands in Me," directed by Eva Minemar (Lemonade Productions/Angry Bubble Productions); writer-director Anthony Gelsomino's campy crowd-pleaser, "Chelsea Murder Mystery" (Lucky devil Theatre Company); and a freaky, funny fairy tale from playwright John Kaufmann and director Liesl Tommy titled "Two Girls from Vermont" (Key Theatre/Present Company).
The happiest surprise of 2001 was discovering the pre-Broadway production of "Urinetown" at the American Theater of Actors. (The Araca Group/Dodger Theatricals/TheaterDreams Inc./Lauren Mitchell). The sardonic social satire—a former Fringe Fest discovery—was inventive and irreverent, showcasing Greg Kotis' book, Mark Hollmann's music, John Rando's direction, and John Carrafa's musical staging. John Cullum, Jeff McCarthy, and the especially endearing Spencer Kayden led the irrepressible, indelible cast.
Elias Stimac