Kiss Me, Kate
Martin Beck Theater

Yes, it's another op'nin of another show, but the new revival of Cole Porter's splendid tuner, Kiss Me, Kate, is anything but ordinary. Staged with nothing less than pure extravagance and cast to perfection, it is a reminder that Broadway was once big and bold, and it steadfastly tries to inject that in every inch of its boundaries. Far too many years have passed since this delightful musical has been staged, and Sam and Bella Spewack's book is still fresh and funny, proving that old tricks sometimes are the best remedy for a sluggish season of musicals.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Ghosts
Century Center Ballroom Theater

As part of the ongoing series of Henrik Ibsen plays at the Century Center for the Performing Arts, Ghosts is the fourth to be revived in this space, though it is actually the third of Ibsen's plays in chronological order, written in 1881 right after A Doll's House, perhaps his most revered work. Ghosts is an even darker look at the ultimate dysfunctional family headed by Mrs. Alving (Kathleen Garrett), a somber matriarch who tells her detailed past to the rigid Pastor Manders (Mark Elliot Wilson).

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
How The Bitch Stole Christmas
Fez

Another wonderful night will be had at Jackie Beat's Christmas special, confirming that in the acidic drag-queen sweepstakes, Jackie certainly is the one to beat. Dressed to the holiday hilt, Jackie still continues to shed her special brand of holiday joy in the guise of her razor-sharp wit and unmatchable bitchiness. A few segments of How The Bitch Stole Christmas sag, notably her reading of a poem from a fed-up housewife fan that recounts her evil revenge on a lout hubby.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Putting it Together
Ethel Barrymore Theater

To put it bluntly, Putting It Together, the Stephen Sondheim "review" that just opened on Broadway, just isn't that well put together. A barrage of 35 of his greatest hits, including songs from Company, Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music and Follies among others, is given tepid treatment, despite the mega-wattage of stars Carol Burnett, Bronson Pinchot, George Hearn and Ruthie Henshall. Quite honestly, I've never experienced Sondheim's admittedly wonderful music performed in such a bitter vein.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Rainmaker, The
Brooks Atkinson Theater

It never really became apparent to me how influential N. Richard Nash's 1954 The Rainmaker, was until watching WPIX recently where I suffered through "Three Men And A Little Lady" and noticed that Tom Selleck and Nancy Travis rehearse a scene from the play early in the picture. It is meant to parallel the Selleck-Travis budding romance, but when watching Scott Ellis' newest incarnation currently on Broadway, one finds it is just better to stick with the original source.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Amadeus
Music Box

It has been 20 years since Peter Shaffer's acclaimed play Amadeus has been on Broadway, and the newest revival is dignified, well acted and also thoroughly wrongheaded. The playwright has revamped the show to remove some of the melodrama that has always bothered him, but in the process has removed the play's sinister allure.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
December 1999
Angels in America - Part One: Millennium Approaches
Southern Oregon University - Department of Theater Arts

For its final drama of the 1900s, Southern Oregon University presents Tony Kushner's acclaimed play, Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. The play, its production and its realization lift the Department of Theater Arts to a new level of achievement, integrity and artistic courage. It will draw controversy here in this small Oregon city, more than in many of the metropolitan and international locations where Angels has been presented and gained praise.

Al Reiss
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Barnum
Players

With red and gold predominating and circus paraphenalia on stage and side stages, The Players of Sarasota might be performing under the Big Top.  Problem: guests from Sailor Circus don't appear until the rousing "Follow the Band," so the antics are indeed mild for a town noted for circus.  This does not apply to Steve Dawson as the dauntless Barnum, who leaps onto the central platform to "defend the noble art of humbug." He takes our vote, and eyes, whether he's performing magic tricks, bouncing on a trampoline or skimming along a high wire.  He persuades us a kid (slick Geo

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Bash
Canon Theater

Neil LaBute's trio of riveting monologues in Bash share a common setup: a seemingly ordinary, innocent person reveals dark, evil secret in banal, deadpan fashion.  In the first monologue, "Medea Redux," Calista ("Ally McBeal") Flockhart turns in a skilled performance as a young woman sitting in a pool of harsh light and recounting for the police how and why she came to kill her small child.  The monologue describes her seduction at 13 by her high school science teacher, an act that contrasts her sweet, trusting humanity against his unctuous, cynical nature.  Pushed to

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Exact Center Of The Universe, The
Century Center Theater

Joan Vail Thorne's The Exact Center Of The Universe takes us to semi-familiar territory in its story of Vada Love Powell (Frances Sternhagen), an aging Southern belle in the 1950s. She's alarmed by her son Appleton's (Reed Birney) shotgun marriage to a sweet Italian girl (Tracy Thorne), all the while being visited by his new bride's twin sister (also played by Thorne), who is softening the blow for her beloved sibling. Vada Love is a feisty old bird, but not your garden-variety, crotchety old widow.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Kiss Me, Kate
Martin Beck Theater

New York, don't bite your nails worrying if they botched up Kiss Me Kate like they did Annie Get Your Gun. Kate is (as in the title of the show's deliciously nostalgic waltz) "Wunderbar." Although un-billed playwright John Guare has done a little tweaking of the original book that Bella and Sam Spewack ingeniously fused with William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, there is no radical revisionism at work here.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Price, The
Royale Theater

The excellent revival of Arthur Miller's The Price currently on Broadway is a fitting companion piece to this season's earlier, acclaimed production of his Death of a Salesman. In fact, it stands ever more firmly at the forefront of Miller's canon.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Rainmaker, The
Brooks Atkinson Theater

In this forever lovely 1954 play, traveling con-man Bill Starbuck brags he can bring rain to the drought-beset western town by "pitching sodium chloride up to the clouds, electrifying the cold front, neutralizing the warm front, barometricizing the tropopause and magnetizing occlusions in the sky." With Scott Ellis' magical staging for the Roundabout Theater Company, there is little doubt in our gullible minds that he is going to do it.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Tango Argentino
Gershwin Theater

Tango Argentino is the show that started a real craze when it hit Broadway 14 years ago. This group of dancers and musicians don't aspire to the splashes of glitz and glamour that marked the Forever Tango troupe two years ago. This company was the first to mainstream the tango internationally, and it still appears rooted in integrity, if somewhat lacking in theatrical imagination. It remains a show designed more for purists than for tourists. The format for this presentation is simple: sensuous movement and evocative music.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
November 1999
Bartenders
Theatre/Theater

Louis Mustillo, a veteran character actor ("High Incident"), comes from a bartending family and has spent time behind "the stick" himself.  He puts his twin talents to good use in Bartenders, a one hour monologue comprising five sharply etched portraits of modern-day barkeeps.  Mustillo uses his strong voice and moon-shaped but expressive face to bring these different barmen to life.  One is a colorful, slangy New Yorker who loves working at a businessman's bar where a choice quip and a flattering remark produce regular and generous tips; another is a lonely, drunken

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Amadeus
Ahmanson Theater

Thanks to tour de force performances by David Suchet and Michael Sheen and to a smooth, glowing production by Hall and designer William Dudley, Shaffer's take on the Salieri/Mozart conflict comes across with considerable power twenty years after first written and performed. It doesn't hurt that the production has come to L.A. after a long run in London, where performances were well honed and the script rewritten.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Apple Tree, The
Goodspeed Opera House

In this revival of The Apple Tree, supervised by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, Joanna Glushak's dazzling transformation in a twitch of her dusty broom from Ella, the grimy bedraggled chimney sweep to Passionella, the blond Hollywood movie star with a voluminous bosom, makes the journey to East Haddam a priority.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Betrayal
Yale Repertory Theater

Under the discerning direction of Liz Diamond, the Yale Repertory Theater is presenting a meticulous production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, which proves that the pen can be more cutting than the sword in this lethally-surgical examination of adultery.  Over the past 40 years, this English playwright, whose name is synonymous with modern theater literature, has written 16 plays, all of which are noted for their spare style, intense pauses and somewhat ambiguous plots.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Beyond Dorothy Parker
Actors Theater of Louisville - Victor Jory Theater

As Dorothy Parker once said to her boyfriend, 'fare the well,' Ella Fitzgerald croons on the recording played just before the lights come up on the world premiere of Beyond Dorothy Parker, a one-woman play written and directed by Barbara H.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Carbon Copy Building, The
The Kitchen

I admit it, I'm lazy as hell when I read the comics.  If I have a minute or two, my eyes will sweep across the three or four cartoon blocks in a strip, searching for the funny.  If I have less than a minute, I'll focus right on the last strip, and if it's cute, I'll backtrack to see the set-up.  Of course, that's not the way to treat what some consider an art form, and it's impossible to treat certain cartoonists that way.  Heaven knows, Ben Katchor's work demands a sedate, museum-like trek from block to block, the cumulative effect being more important than any kind of fina

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Contact
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater

Contact comprises three absorbing and provocative dance dramas. In a forest glade, 1767, a servant pushes a pretty girl on a swing while an aristocrat spreads a picnic basket.  The aristocrat is obviously beguiled by the girl, whose insinuating legs are sent flying over his head like clipping scissors.  His interest in her grows more amorous as she playfully taunts him with each provocative shift of her body. When the doting aristocrat departs to get more champagne, the girl notices that the servant's previously passive behavior is becoming more aggressive.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Come Blow Your Horn
Golden Apple Dinner Theater

Until the third act, both this first autobiographical play and the actors seem a bit long in the tooth. The sarcastic humor of Come Blow Your Horn, however, holds up better than most of the other what-would-become-famous one-liners. Stephen A. Gonya looks perpetually worried rather than a slick playboy, as if he knew his days in that role were numbered. J. Paul Wargo beguiles as his 2l-year-old brother who wants to fill his slick shoes and silken shirts, while gathering material to be a writer.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Complete History Of America (Abridged), The
Actors Theater of Louisville - Victor Jory Theater

Looming over the stage and frequently rolling her eyes at the nonsense being spouted by three frisky actors as they purport to lead us throughThe Complete History of America (Abridged) is a giant head of Miss Liberty herself.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Defending The Caveman
Pantages Theater

I watched Rob Becker's 90-minute stand-up routine about the differences between men and women -- especially husbands and wives -- with constantly conflicting emotions. One moment my inner voice said, "How familiar, how old hat," the next it shut up and I found myself laughing. Never uproariously, never out of some kind of shock of recognition as at early Lenny Bruce / Richard Pryor. Becker isn't that bold or original; his cutting-edge is about as keen as a butter knife.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Dame Edna: The Royal Tour
Booth Theater

Janet Reno wants me to do a makeover. She wants me to bring out her hidden femininity, says Dame Edna candidly and with a sincerity that could serve as a lesson in misplaced diplomacy. Notwithstanding this endearingly egotistical superstar's illusions of being a renowned "beauty consultant, investigative journalist, chanteuse, swami, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin-doctor and icon," Dame Edna is to be seriously considered as a force for the millennium.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Do I Hear A Waltz?
George Street Playhouse

Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' musical, Do I Hear a Waltz?, is rarely produced -- and for good reason, as the revival at the George Street Playhouse demonstrates. Laurents' book, based on his The Time of the Cuckoo, is characterized by trite situations and some unappealing characters. Leona Samish (Penny Fuller) an unmarried American school teacher, travels alone to Venice with dreams of romance.

Donald Collester
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Edmond
Source Theater

Is the moral to David Mamet's modern parable, Edmond, "Don't walk out on your wife or the bogeyman will get you?" Indeed, this is what happens to Edmond (Rick Foucheux in a strong, anguished performance that doesn't quite succeed in eliciting our sympathy for one of Mamet's most unsympathetic characters). Declaring bluntly to his wife (Lucy Newman-Williams) that he stopped loving or desiring her years ago, he threatens to leave, only to have her evict him. Cut loose from propriety, he is promptly swallowed up by his own demons.

Barbara Gross
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Epic Proportions
Helen Hayes Theater

Howevermuch the ancient Israelites would have loved to sprint across the desert towards the promised land, fate decreed that they spend forty years slogging across the sand, turning a joyous deliverance from Egypt into a tedious shlep. To some extent, the same thing happens to Larry Coen and David Crane's zany comedy, Epic Proportions, which has the campiness and punchlines to be a romp but succumbs to inconsistency and clumpy pacing.

David Lefkowitz
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Faith Healer
Rudyard Kipling

Four mesmerizing monologues by three characters -- faith healer Frank Hardy, his wife Grace, and his manager Teddy -- constitute Brian Friel's Faith Healer, the celebrated Irish playwright's exploration, in the style of "Rashomon," of the trio's shared lives.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Fully Committed
Vineyard Theater

One of the delightful surprises of the fall season, Fully Committed, is a shining example of economical theater. The gifted Mark Setlock, playing over 30 speaking roles all by himself, and the wonderful director Nicholas Martin (Betty's Summer Vacation) create an identifiable tale of an actor-hopeful in his stress-inducing job as a receptionist at a posh Manhattan restaurant. Left to his own devices, Sam must man the phone lines all by his lonesome while a flighty co-worker is off doing something vague.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Greenland Y2K
HERE - Dorothy B. Williams Theater

To ring in the new millennium at the North Pole is the ambitious goal of an intrepid explorer (Susanna Speier as the Explornographer), but her determination is outflanked by a pesky Y2K Bug (Ian McCulloch). The Bug must be placated at all costs or the electronic tools in Speier's survival kit will go kaput one by one. A tricky negotiation ensues, with each vying for the upper hand. Their complex and ultimately perverse relationship exacts a physical toll on the weary, white-clad Speier.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Henry V
Mazer Theater

A king that can do no wrong is favored with a stunning victory at Agincourt over French forces against impossible odds: The Life of King Henry the Fifth becomes Shakespeare's paean to the British monarchy. Director Laurie Wessely further focuses this production on the protagonist (played by Brad Raider) with judicious cuts to the text, enabling the actors to add generous space around their lines to ensure clarity, yet keep the running time under three hours.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Saturday Night Fever
Broadway Theater

There is no inoculation for Saturday Night Fever. The only thing that can alleviate the burning desire to return to the disco scene of the '70s, or cure those who still get the shakes thinking of the undulating John Travolta is to either rent the movie or go to the Broadway show. Setting the scene for that "Disco Inferno" called "2001" was apparently easy.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Side Man
John Golden Theater

I'm happy to report that revisiting Side Man is a pleasant experience, still impressive in its intimacy and elegance, supported by the estimable direction by Michael Mayer. The cast has changed a little, but the finely-tuned ensemble is still very strong. This is a great night on Broadway, grown-up theater for people who admire plays and the power they can have.

Jason Clark
Date Reviewed:
October 1999
Alison's House
Mint Theater

This turns out to be the first revival for Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Alison's House since its original Broadway production that included Eva Le Gallienne. A new trove of Emily Dickinson's poetry had just come out in 1929; and in response, author Susan Glaspell created this fantasy (with all names and places changed) about love's many expressions.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
September 1999
A...My Name Will Always Be Alice
Oregon Cabaret Theater

As presented by Oregon Cabaret Theater, A... My Name Will Always Be Alice earns an A-plus. A five-woman ensemble present more than two hours of on-point, sharp edged vignettes of civilization and its discontents, on the feminine side. The journey goes from childhood to old age, from the home to the office, from put-downs in kindergarten to send-ups in the art gallery. Together and individually the cast is excellent. The show, a themed musical revue about relationships, is laced with sketches and monologues; a mix of stops-out laughs and barely-contained tears.

Al Reiss
Date Reviewed:
September 1999
Always...Patsy Cline
Downtown Cabaret Theater

The Downtown Cabaret bring a variety of shows to their stage, many of which are the tried and true musical comedy standards, others are distinctly off-beat. Always...Patsy Cline is certainly a departure, for instead of a cast of many, this true story of a famous country singer uses only two women, albeit backed by a six-piece orchestra.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
September 1999
Bang Bang You're Dead
Kentucky Center For The Arts

William Mastrosimone's 40-minute play, Bang Bang You're Dead, is a powerful response to the wave of school killings that have erupted in recent times.  Mastrosimone wrote the piece for teenagers to perform.  To make it widely accessible, he takes no royalties and specifies that no admission fees may be charged.  The play can also be read and downloaded free from the Internet at www.bangbangyouredead.com.  Walden Theater's teenage actors, in what is believed to be the play's first Kentucky production, opened their season

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
September 1999
Camino Real
Hartford Stage Company

Tennessee Williams is best known and loved for his plays steeped in realism, seething with sexual overtones like A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and The Rose Tattoo. The Hartford Stage is presenting on a multi-level set, a ferocious, feverish party, a swirling crimson-drenched Camino Real, which, although rooted in historical allusion, is far more phantasmagorical and abstract than any of Williams' other seventy plays. It was not well-received when it opened on Broadway in 1953.

Rosalind Friedman
Date Reviewed:
September 1999
Countess, The
Samuel Beckett Theater

[Reviewed at Greenwich Street Theater]

Maya Amis
Date Reviewed:
September 1999

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