R

ARELY does a new ballet receive as much publicity as Ocean's Kingdom, when it was announced that Paul McCartney was writing the music and libretto for the New York City Ballet. It was his first venture composing ballet. Apparently he had seen very few ballets in his lifetime.

The music was quite pleasant, composed like a symphony in four movements. John Wilson assisted the music arrangement and Andrew Cottee the orchestration. The orchestra played the score beautifully, under the baton of Clotilde Otranto.

The choreography of Peter Martins was appropriate for the libretto, and featured two outstanding dancers, Sara Means as an underwater Princess Honorata and Robert Fairchild as an earthly Prince. Their duets were the highlights of the fifty minute ballet.

The libretto, unfortunately, was trite. It was a typical fairy tale, but without much clarity, especially in the character of Scala, in charge of the underwater hand maidens and the villainess of the piece.

The costumes designed by Stella McCartney, Paul's daughter, added little to the production. Some were garish and ghastly.

Paul McCartney is to be commended for this brave attempt, which I hope he will continue in the future.

Nina Arianda and Hugh Dancy Photo by Joan Marcus

S&M Broadway Style

D

AVID IVES’S Venus in Fur is an expanded version of an Off-Broadway play, in which Nina Arianda received rave reviews. Now transferred to Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, she repeats her performance brilliantly.

In this two-character outing, an actress auditions for a play, adapted from a novel by the director (Hugh Dancy). With sadomasochism as the theme, we see the two characters transformed as they play two lovers in the nineteenth century.

It is tour de force for both actors, expertly directed by Walter Bobbie. Arianda may be nominated for a Tony again.

Still A Crowd Pleaser

T

HE 1971 success of Godspell, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, a tale about Jesus and his disciples, has been revived at the Circle in the Square Theatre. It is updated with many topical references, and the pleasant music remains basically the same.

The ten-member cast is energetic and enthusiastic, under the direction of Daniel Goldstein, who has them jumping around, even on trampolines, and interacting with the audience. The musicians are also placed in the audience. It is a hyperactive production, which youngsters will enjoy. The night I saw it, the audience greeted the actors with a tremendous ovation. It is obviously a crowd pleaser.

Adam Driver, Frank Langella, Michael Siberry and Zach Grenier Photo by Joan Marcus

A Tony-Worthy Performance

I

T’S　impossible　for　the　audience　to　take　their　eyes off　Frank Langella in a virtuoso performance as a ruthless　financier, whose world economically and physically is collapsing due to his irregular manipulations in Man and Boy, by Terence Rattigan, at the American Airlines Theatre.

While trying to forestall his doom, he reunites with his estranged son (Adam Driver) in his son's 　Greenwich Village apartment, where again he tries to deceive a potential partner in a merger.

Langella is simply brilliant, supported by six other fine actors, under the expert direction by Maria Aitken. It is an old-fashioned play, yet up to the minute with its theme of business chicanery. Langella deserves a Tony nomination.

Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach Photo by Joan Marcus

You Must See This

F

OLLOWING an Off Broadway success, Other Desert Cities, by Jon Robin Baitz, is now on Broadway where it belongs. Settled in at the Booth Theatre, this superb five member cast, expertly directed by Joe Mantello, gives Tony worthy performances.

It is Christmas in Palm Springs. The daughter (a brilliant Rachel Griffiths in her Broadway debut) arrives with copies of her soon-to-be-published memoir. Her right-wing parents (Stacy Keath and Stockard Channing) are upset with how they will be portrayed in the book.

Their son (Thomas Sadoski) and the mother's sister (Judith Light) add fuel to this family melodrama. It is one of the most intelligent, well-written plays on Broadway, replete with humor with magnificent acting.

I urge all theatre lovers to see this play. It will be a memorable experience.

A Mesmerizing Performer

I

T is only the second show of the 2011-12 Broadway season (Spider-Man being first), but I predict that Tyne Daly will receive a Tony nomination for her performance as Maria Callas in the revival of Master Class, by Terrence McNally, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

She is superb as the vain, frustrated, once world famous opera singer, now reduced to giving a master class to young hopefuls, whom she treats extremely badly.

She reminisces about her tragic relationships with the two most important men in her life, her husband and her lover Aristotle Onassis. Opera lovers will love this play with its portions of opera arias, and the insights to acting that Callas provided. Daly dominates the play, and her fluency in Italian is amazing.

She is mesmerizing and a delight to behold on stage.

Here’s A Standing Ovation

T

HE word from Washington D. C. was that this was the revival to see, and Follies, book by James Goldman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, at the Marquis Theatre, lives up to its hype.

With an all-star cast of Broadway professionals, it is a splendid production, expertly directed by Eric Schaeffer, with excellent choreography by Warren Carlyle, especially in the second act.

The story takes place in 1971 on the stage of the Weismann Theatre, the night before it will be demolished. It is a reunion of performers that includes two unhappily married couples, Bernadette Peters and Danny Burstein, and Jan Maxwell and Ron Raines. We see them years before as young chorus members and now as embittered middle aged people.

Many of the songs are now legendary, such as I'm Still Here, Could I Leave You and Losing My Mind, and they are interpreted wonderfully. It is a large cast and everyone deserves a standing ovation, but Jan Maxwell is outstanding.

A Disturbing Play

S

AMUEL L. JACKSON and Angela Bassett are trapped in a two character play, The Mountaintop, by Katori Hall, which opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

It is a fantasy about the last night of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his motel room in Memphis. When a maid arrives with room service, the two characters smoke, drink, flirt, and apparently the maid is not who she appears to be.

The dialog is raunchy at times, the humor is juvenile and, at times, offensive. The acting by the two actors is fine, under the direction of Kenny Leon. The play does, however, reach a rousing climax, which makes the final minutes worthwhile. Unfortunately, the play itself does not enhance the reputation of　the Nobel prize winner, who is honored in the United States with a national holiday.

Three Do Not Add Up to One

R

ELATIVELY SPEAKING are three one-act comedies, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, that are not particularly funny. Talking Cure, by Ethan Coen, takes place in a mental hospital and a doctor tries to communicate with a patient. We also see a brief scene with the parents of the patient. It is a short play.

George is Dead, by Elaine May, stars Marlo Thomas as the widow of the title character seeking refuge in the apartment of the daughter of her nanny. Again, the play defies credibility, and is silly, not funny.

Honeymoon Motel, by Woody Allen, has a great joke after the first few minutes, and runs downhill from there. A couple enter the bridal suite of a tacky motel, and six guests at the wedding, plus a doctor and a pizza delivery man, intrude. John Tuturro was responsible for the direction. It certainly is not one of the highlights of the Broadway season.

Supertitles On Broadway

H

ALF the dialog in Chinglish, by David Henry Hwang, at the Longacre Theatre, is in Mandarin, so the audience has to read what the Chinese characters are saying. This is quite unusual for Broadway, and even foreign movies with titles find it hard to attract American audiences.

That said, the play is about miscommunication and lack of cultural understanding.

An American businessman (Gary Wilmes) goes to China to sell signs in English, to replace poorly translated signs. This is basically the humor of the play.

A second theme is the love, or maybe better, the lust affair between the American and an attractive Chinese vice minister (Jennifer Lim) who has to approve his business venture. The seven member cast is excellent, under the direction of Leigh Silverman. The turntable set by David Korins, from hotel lobby to business room to bedroom, is simply terrific.

Another Revival Too Many

A

 REVIVAL of Privates Lives by Noel Coward, at the Music Box Theatre, stars Kim Cattrall. As she has become well known as the sex obsessed character in Sex and the City, audiences will flock to the theatre to see her in person.

This production is energetically performed. Cattrall sings, dances and works as hard as any actress on Broadway. Her co-stars are also fine. Coward represents elegance on stage and, unfortunately, this hyperactive production lacks that essential ingredient.

This is the fourth production I've seen on Broadway since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton revived it years ago, and frankly, this one cannot compare with the last revival starring Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman.