War Paint Review

Before I start the review, there is something you need to know. I may use the actors' names instead of the characters, so here is what you need to know. Patti LuPone plays Helena Rubinstein. Christine Ebersole plays Elizabeth Arden. Douglas Sills plays Harry Fleming. John Dossett plays Tommy Lewis. Anyway, on with the review. Sadly for all Broadway theater people, War Paint is closing early because Patti LuPone has to get hip surgery. This information was disclosed at Seth Rudetsky’s Deconstructing Patti concert. Try your best to see it while you still can. It is one of the best musicals on Broadway this season. Its origins, as many of you know, were from the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. If that theater was much smaller than the Nederlander, I wonder if thee were any changes. The show opens with four women onstage singing,and being reprimanded by voices seeing to come from the walls of the theater. Automatically you think, which one is Patti LuPone? Which is Christine Ebersole? None. It is perhaps Michael Greif’s clever decision to give each star a grand entrance. The next place we see is the famous Red Door. A mediocre song follows about all the women getting dolled up in their free time, punctuated by occasional calls saying Christine Ebersole is getting closer and closer. Finally, the music builds in “she’s coming, she’s coming, she’s HERE!”, as the legend arrives. Then the song is again interrupted by John Dossett, her husband, pulling her aside and telling her of Patti LuPone’s return. If this isn;t a convenient place for a scene change, I don’t know what is. Anyway, LuPone enters from a ship with a fur, blowing kisses to her fans, a la On the Twentieth Century, escorted by Douglas Sills.They then reminisce, and go back to her factory, and she sings about her triumphant return “Back on Top”, and showing us, for one of the only times, her beauty technicians. Next comes a song-transition called “My Secret Weapon”, where they both sit back-to-back, unknowingly, in a cafe. They both sing this song to their men about how they value them a lot. In it, Harry comes up with the genius idea of having 2 bottles labeled day cream and night cream, but having them be the same thing! Also Elizabeth has fight with her cohort. Then, Helena sings about her background “My American Moment”, and her and Harry get into a fight. As Harry excuses himself, he is cornered by Arden, who offers him a better job. After Elizabeth’s previous assistant sees them together, he rebels by taking out the showgirls for a wild night on the town. “Step On Out” is a rather useless song, and put in only for plot reasons. When Elizabeth sees the evidence, she quickly divorces John Dossett and hires Doug Sills. Next, LuPone and Ebersole sing about the trials of being a woman business mogul “If I’d Been a Man”, and this is a good point of Frankel and Kories’ wonderful score. The next part is a letdown. When fellow businessman Charles Revson offers to partner, she notices his model more than him. When she interprets him as a male chauvinist, she has a private talk with his model, Dorian Leigh. In “Better Yourself”, she sings about how Dorian can build a reputation for herself. Obviously, she turns down Revson’s offer. Next, in a neat plot clean-up by Michael Arden, Patti LuPone hires John Dossett, Arden’s previous husband and coworker. Dossett discloses a full list of controversial ingredients Elizabeth Arden uses in her products. Helena takes her to court, and she is found guilty. On the way out, Sills tells Ebersole all about LuPone’s ingredients, and she makes a twin lawsuit. Both are found guilty, and the judge orders both t stop production and change labels to every actual ingredient used. In a great song called “Oh, That’s Rich”, all of this is conveyed. It is what I consider to be the best song in the score. Next, in what is not just a showcase for the two’s voices but also an effective first act finale, “Face To Face" soars and brings the show to a pause with a song worthy of the position. So worthy, in fact, that one wonders if it shouldn’t have closed the entire show. Anyway, when the act 2 curtain opens, out step the same 4 ladies that opened the show! This time, they sing the bitter “Inside of the Jar” where they complain about the unfair treatment they received because they didn’t know all the ingredients of their makeup. Next is a moving and funny sequence where both ladies learn of World War 2. In a song, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”, they advertise on radio their feeble attempts at useful products for fighting women. Rubinstein invents bullet-proof lipsticks that won’t break “even when you drop them on the floor”. Arden makes it so that women can draw seams in their pants with eyebrow pencil, and repurpose other makeup products as well. Next comes a reprise of the first song, with again the same four women. They sing about their conflicting opinions on which is better, Arden or Rubinstein. On a related note, I bet everyone’s wondering which is better, LuPone or Ebersole. I’d be curious to hear what you think. I say overall, Ebersole. If LuPone had better diction, she would be my top choice. But back to the plot. In the next scene, in the same cafe, Helena gets turned down on an apartment application because she is Jewish. Later, it turns out she bought the whole building. Anyway, Arden also suffers a blow. Because she is a working woman, her society friend informs her she has been rejected form the biggest women’s club in town. Rubinstein, presumably having heard, sings the deliciously bitter “Now You Know”, the other high point of the score. In the song, she relentlessly reminds Arden that she is prettier, maybe, but not valued more in society. She says that Arden now knows what it’s like to be rejected for an unreasonable cause. The next song is also amazing. “No Thank You”, as it’s called, is a song where both women turn down an offer by William Paley to advertise their products on television. The men are both outraged, because they think the rival will take him up on the offer. Both say something along the lines of “let her make a fool out of herself!” This is a perfect way to portray Arden and Rubinstein rejecting the modern world. The next song is yet another high point. In it, we see who did take Paley up on the offer. Charles Revson and Dorian Leigh. They do a vulgar commercial, and it is interrupted periodically by Arden or Rubinstein reminding us of this. Also during it, the men remind the women that Revson sales are going way up, and theirs are going way down. The next song is, again, a dull one for the two men. “Dinosaurs” is a corny song with the men reminiscing and essentially repeating their message in “No Thank, You”, but it also portrays their genuine anger at being bossed around. Next come the two vehicles for the women. The first one, “Pink”, is the better one. When Elizabeth Arden gets told her board wants to keep the name and signature color, but transfer the ownership of her company to someone more new and avant-garde, She sings about her color, pink, and how it has shaped her life so far. It ends with a joke, which I won’t spoil for you. The next song is LuPone’s vehicle, “Forever Beautiful”. When two businessmen come over and attempt to make her sell her self-portraits. She sings a rousing song about how they portray her life for her, and how she stays beautiful in each one. The last segment is where the chairman of the club Elizabeth was rejected from, announces that she will make a speech instead of Rubinstein, who refused. Then, it turns, out both will be co-hosting. There follows a scene where not only do Rubinstein and Arden meet (which never happened in real life), they reveal their liking for each other, and lament the decline of real beauty. It is capped off by an awkward valley girl, Brenda, who escorts them form and to the stage. They end together centerstage, holding hands, and wonder, after they’re gone, “who will stand for beauty in the world?” It is a hair-raising and powerful ending, if the staging is a bit anti-climactic. Over all, it is a show crucial for every theater lover to experience, and if you don’t get to see it, listen to the cast album. I’m sure you’ll all love it as much as me.

Prince of Broadway Review

PRINCE OF BROADWAY

My first review will be of this show, a compilation of songs from 16 shows, connected only by the fact that they were all either directed or produced by Hal Prince. A surprisingly small cast of 9 does the material very well. The show begins with a dramatic overture, a mixture of songs from all of his shows. Then flashing logos of all of his shows come one by one, and the whole cast assembles on stage. Soon they disperse, to reveal one person dressed as Hal Prince. As the music builds, they all have soliloquies as Hal, about his life and early career. The first real number is “Heart”, from the classic Damn Yankees, about a baseball team that loses every game. Chuck Cooper, Tony Yazbeck, Michael Xavier, and Brandon Uranowitz, all four male performers. It is a charming song, if not a showstopper. The next songs are the only letdown of the show, making West Side Story seem so boring and simple that you almost think ‘that’s not the West Side Story I saw.’ Tony Yazbeck and Kaley Ann Voorhees are adequate. My favorite musical, She Loves Me, is tackled next. The numbers are done well, but not tackled as well by Bryonha Marie Parham and Brandon Uranowitz as they were by Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi in the recent revival. Next comes the best number in the show, “You’ve Got Possibilities” from It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman! It makes you wonder how the show could have flopped. Janet Dacal has a real acting flair that makes it apparent why they gave her that part.  Michael Xavier is perfect as straight man Clark Kent, and especially funny when Dacal reveals his Superman costume, but doesn’t see it herself. The rolling chair is also made good use of. Follies, the great Sondheim musical, is the next one to be presented. “Beautiful Girls” and “Waiting for the Girls Upstairs” are done well, if not especially well. Next, though, comes the show stopping “The Right Girl”, sang and danced beautifully by Tony Yazbeck. It was smart of choreographer Susan Stroman to let him shine as a tapper. Next comes the brilliantly sophisticated “A Little Night Music”. “Night Waltz” is as entertaining as possible, and “You Must Meet My Wife” is so funny, and Michael Xavier is so perfect, that you feel like you’re watching the actual show. “Send in the Clowns” is put over well, but is not the highlight you’d expect it to be. Fiddler on the Roof comes next. Chuck Cooper is a decent Tevye, but nothing to come out of the theater talking about. Next come four numbers from Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret. “Wilkommen” is not as entertaining or lively as you’d expect it to be, instead it drags along at a slow pace. “If You Could See Her”, the controversial number with an anti-semitic line at the end, is done so well that you an partially overlook the bad message. “So What?” is done so drily and comically by Karen Ziemba that she immediately makes you love her. The first act appropriately ends by bringing the house down with the title song,knocked out of the park by Bryonha Marie Parham. She brings feeling and expression, but also razzle-dazzle. Special shout out here to Howell Binkley’s lighting designs. The 2nd act opens with a surprisingly dull and mundane Company sequence. First the company does a convincing, but not thrilling title song. Next, The Ladies Who Lunch is done so disappointingly by Emily Skinner, that I almost groaned. Next Being Alive is brutally attacked by Michael Xavier, made dull and boring not to mention not fun to listen to. He only is okay at the ending, when he gets to show off his vocal chops. Next comes a disappointing Evita sequence. Janet Dacal is a letdown as Evita. She has the personality, but not the voice. She shies away from belting “Don’t Cry for me, Argentina”, and Buenos Aires is so unmemorable I can’t even remember how she does it. A New Argentina is almost ridiculous when done by Tony Yazbeck, because it is so out of place. Next comes Show Boat, from 1927, which is a bit of a stretch because he did a revival. Anyway, Ol’ Man River was not properly thrilling (listen to the ultimate Norm Lewis version), and Chuck Cooper was not especially good. Next was “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”, done very well by Bryonha Marie Parham, and Kaley Ann Voorhees in a properly boring role. It is good, but not memorable. “Now You Know”, Emily Skinner’s triumphant moment, comes next. This Merrily We Roll Along song is done so well, it makes you want to listen to the whole show. (listen to the one with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Colin Donnell.) Parade, a disturbing Jason Robert Brown musical, comes next. The song is done stirringly, and Tony Yazbeck is good, though he looks ridiculous. Next comes Kiss of the Spider Woman. Also a rather disturbing musical, the first song is about a crossdresser who lands in jail, and sings about dressing up mannequins at his store. Then Janet Dacal performs the sweeping title song, and does not disappoint. She brings real dramatic intensity. Shout out here to set designer Beowulf Borritt. Next comes perhaps the all-time scary musical Sweeney Todd.

Karen Ziemba does an amazingly funny Worst Pies in London, and this is one of the instances where you think, (s)he could actually play the part. Chuck Cooper then tears apart the house with an absolutely thrilling My Friends. Then comes an awkwardly condensed “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”, and the small ensemble is not really right for it. Next comes the smash hit Phantom of the Opera. I literally can’t even remember them doing the title song. I guess it must have been bad. Ironically, Kaley Ann Voorhies was Christine on Broadway, and Michael Xavier was not Phantom, but he’s much better at his role than she is at hers. Her “Wishing you Were Somehow Here Again” is lackluster without the special effects. “The Music of the Night” is thrilling, though, and you wonder why Xavier has;t yet been Phantom on Broadway. For the curtain call, one of my all-time least favorite composers, Jason Robert Brown, has written an original song, that is quite awful. It features such inane lyrics as “Do the work, get it done”. It is a disappointing ending to a great show. See the show before it ends on October 29th. An after show talkback revealed that there will probably be a cast album. I will tell you when further plans are made. Be sure to check the blog again Sunday, and have a good rest-of-week.

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Hello. Welcome to my blog. This blog is exclusively about theater, Broadway in particular. I will be posting articles in the form of show reviews, CD reviews, or book reviews. Occasionally, there will be another kind of article. I will try to cover every show I've seen as well as any major Broadway news items. Check on Wednesdays and Sundays for new articles. I will try to tell you about openings and closings of new Broadway shows. Broadway is one of my favorite things, and I will tell you things from my perspective, which may be biased. I have often wanted to have a blog so I can communicate my opinions about things. Articles will usually come with some sort of recommendation about something to see, listen to, or read. Read on, and enjoy!