1)
“Traditional” Casting Is Over
Well,
not totally, obviously, but, as Hamilton
showed (among so many other things), anyone can play anything.
I’m
old enough to remember when musicals had all-white casts, then, little by
little, there would be one African American male and one African American
female in the ensemble, and they always danced together. Gradually, you began
to see more and more people of color in choruses, and they were now free to
interact with anyone.
Now,
of course, pretty much any role is up for grabs by any actor of any race or
gender – or should be. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see an Asian female
eventually playing Hamilton himself. Whether this – and the other innovations
of Hamilton – percolates into more
mainstream fare remains to be seen, but it’s certainly to be hoped.
2)
A Good Director Can Make Even the Most Tired
War-Horse Fresh and Vital
For
my money, there aren’t many major playwrights whose work has aged more badly
than Arthur Miller. Yeah, Death of
Salesman is still powerful, but the rest of the canon isn’t faring so well.
Years and years ago, I saw a lousy production of A View from the Bridge, and even then, it struck me as obvious,
tired, and dull. Ivo van Hove’s production, then, had a couple of hurdles to
overcome: 1) it’s a London import, and 2) it’s, well, it’s A View from the Bridge. Van Hove’s 2004 production of Hedda Gabler (surely one of the worst “important”
plays ever written) was enough of a revelation that I wanted to see what he
could do with this one, and boy, did he come through. Tough, powerful, and visceral,
it’s nothing so much as what we hear Greek tragedy was so good at. It was so
good, I’m anxious to see his upcoming production of The Crucible, and see if he can make another truly terrible play
interesting.
3)
Even a Good Director Can’t
Make a Tired Old War-Horse Work
In
2008, Bartlett Sher directed Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, a show I’d seen too much and from which (I’d
thought) all the juice had long since been squeezed. By digging deep into the
text and back story, though, Sher and company were able to make it vital, exciting,
and relevant. Flash forward to last year and the reunion of some of the band to
remount The King and I, another show
whose time has all but passed. Despite breathtaking sets, more delving into
two-dimensional characters by very good actors (Hoon Lee and Kelli O’Hara are
doing superb work in the title parts), and marvelous staging, it just sits
there. The problem to these tired old eyes is that musical dramaturgy of today
doesn’t always fit well with that of the early 1950s, and the show itself just
has too many fundamental flaws to work anymore. It’s a pity, because a lot of
time and effort is being expended in a futile effort to make the unworkable
work. In the words of Horace, “The mountain labors, and brings forth … a mouse!”
4)
There Is No Show So Bad That
No One Will See It
We’ve
dealt with the awfulness of China Doll
before. Despite barely having a script and offering audiences little more than
the chance to watch Al Pacino alternately get fed his lines and chew scenery,
it’s still drawing people. Sure, that attendance is falling week by week, but
last week, it was still 72% full and took in more than $600,000. Running costs can’t be that much (two actors,
one set), but even with what imagines is a monumental amount being paid Mr.
Pacino, it’s probably still making money. If I may (correctly) quote the late Mr.
Henry L. Mencken of Baltimore: “No one in
this world, so far as I know - and I have researched the records for years, and
employed agents to help me - has ever lost money by underestimating the
intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost
public office thereby.”
5)
It’s
Still Magical
Despite the heavy lifting of New York theatre being
done off- and off-Broadway and regionally, there’s still something that can’t
be duplicated in seeing a really good show on Broadway that has a ton of money
thrown at it – especially one you weren’t expecting anything from. I went into
shows like An American in Paris or Something’s Rotten or – especially – Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of
1812 knowing next to nothing about them and came out
enthralled and invigorated by what writers can create and actors can do. In the
best cases, they give me something to shoot at. (And in the worst, multiple
lessons on what to avoid … )
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