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November 23, 2016
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THE INDEPENDENT • Traveler Watchman
Broadway Reporting From
REAL ESTATE
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
IN THE NEWS
Falsettos
(& Sometimes Off)
By Isa Goldberg
Watching this revival of Falsettos on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, one feels as though its time is now - more so even, than when it premiered in 1992. Then, William Finn and James Lapine’s musical brought the AIDS epidemic into focus. Still, the narrative revolves around the break-up of a nuclear family and the emergence of a blended one. That would have been something of an anomaly in the ‘90s, and certainly in the late ‘70s/ early ‘80s when the play is set. Today, with marriage equality, blended families are far more commonplace. At the center of it all is a coming-of-age story. By Act II, Jason (Anthony Rosenthal)
is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. His father, Marvin (Christian Borle) is living with his gay lover, Whizzer (Andrew Rannells). And his mother, (Stephanie J. Block) has married again . . . to Marvin’s psychiatrist (Brandon Uranowitz). As Marvin, Christian Borle is cynical and entitled, but ultimately loveable. His is a role that requires significantly more depth than his signature Broadway appearances in musical comedies, the last of which was Something Rotten. Playing his young lover, Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon) is tall, handsome, and sensitive, with an awesome stage presence. And Stephanie J. Block tells a story in song like no other.
Her “I’m Breaking Down” evokes the power and shrillness of Ethyl Merman. As helmed by James Lapine, who wrote the book with William Finn, the narrative feels as though it’s been streamlined, into a concert version of William Finn’s poetic, melodic songs. Fastpaced, the story rockets into place with Spencer Liff’s vigorous choreography, which underscores the story. David Rockwell’s scenic design, on the other hand, lives in an abstract reality. Various oversized soft grey cubes,
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mocking both children’s blocks and the concrete structures we move within, are set against backdrops of the New York City skyline. There’s no fluff here. Unto the nature of our spinning world, the production resonates with the high pitched pace of modern life. There is no time for sentimentality or loss, even though loss happens. Les Liaisons Dangereuses In the Donmar Warehouse Production of Les Liaison Dangereuses, at the Booth Theatre on Broadway, the scandalous love affairs of 18th century French aristocrats conspire to amuse, if nothing else. To that end, he or she who amuses best, is the winner. And with Janet McTeer (La Marquise de Merteuil) and Liev Schreiber (Le Vicomte de Valmont) on the stage, the stakes are as high as they get. McTeer, who won our hearts for her dramatic portrayals in plays such as A Doll’s House and Mary Stuart, plays an evil seductress here. To the Marquise, the game of crossed love, and the skill of manipulation, are entirely the motive. Schreiber, more the master of daunting sexuality, behaves with a ruthless, albeit comedic edge. Still, Christopher Hampton’s play based on the novel by Choderlos de Laclos, scrutinizes the perception of desire among the very rich. Unto that end, the comedy titillates with amorous scenes and deceptions. Directed by Josie Rourke, Tom Scutt’s period costumes play into the spectacle, while his set – velvet chaise center stage, and peeling paint on the walls - is all we need to recognize decay. A Life Adam Bock’s, A Life, at Playwrights Horizons through December 3 only, is a poetic reflection about loneliness and the uncertainty that comes with it. Nate Martin, played by the unusually affable David Hyde Pierce, is lovelorn and lonesome, but what makes him tick, or what galvanizes this story escaped me. “The truth is impossible to find, and it’s almost impossible to hold on to,” he opines early in this 90-minute drama, most of which is his monologue. That there is no explanation for what happens to him, resonates a kind of theatrical existentialism. In fact, his outcome is oddly perverse, and something of a shocker. Laura Jellinek’s set design unfolds that mystery in the most bizarre way. Directed by Anne Kauffman the story settles comfortably into the ineffable nature of Bock’s drama, and with an edge of necromancy that is also pretty creepy.