This was my first trip to the new, and difficult-to-locate Laura Pels Theatre. Beautiful theatre, and a good place to house this new play, written by the creative team that did Urinetown.

The particular matinee that I attended this show, I’m pretty sure the audience didn’t quite understand that they were watching a farce until about 2/3 of the way through. But once they got it, I they were able to just throw down and laugh.

The plot is pretty weak. A pig farmer and his wife employ a juvenile delinquent to work on the farm. A relationship ensues between the boy and the farmer’s wife (messiest, dirtiest sex scene ever- don’t sit in the front row). Then a government agent from the EPA comes to investigate the fecal sludge dumping that’s been going on in the area. Chaos ensues. Not the best plot I’ve ever seen, but it’s the jokes and the performances that make the show.

Logan Marshall Green (of The O.C.) plays the young kid with an over-the-top campiness that’s almost too much. Whereas the other characters have some degree of complexity, he plays his role more like a charactiture - too much mugging to the audience. But he was very funny in parts. And so attractive that you forgive him.

Kate Finneran is good as the farmer’s wife. Is very believable as an embittered woman who isn’t getting what she wants from life. She plays the bitterness and dejectedness well, without sacrificing comedy, which is a hard combination. She does it well.

John Ellison Conlee plays the farmer with a sense of reality and groundedness, which again, he does without sacrificing comedy. Essentially, he’s the protaginist, but also the least interesting character.

Stealing the show (as usual) is Dennis O’Hare (Assassins, Sweet Charity) as the EPA officer. He is so committed to the role and adds a quirkiness to the character that is so bizzare, but somehow not stagey or fake-looking. He is able to do camp without making it look campy. Amazing.

The committment of the cast is what makes the show work. There are slow moments where even the constant jokes aren’t enough to keep us engaged, and honestly, it’s far too long for what it is. It really could have been a one-act, and feels like it was stretched out for too long.
However.
The last 2o minutes is some of the funniest schtick I’ve ever seen on stage. Violent, murderous slapstick with everyone bleeding all over each other for a ridiculously long time. Very, very funny - if you like that kind of broad comedy. Which I do. But I assume most audiences will not. In fact it got so silly at one point that Finneran just lost it, and started outwardly laughing at the ridiculousness and was clearly affected by the comedic talents of her costars. It was just like when Jimmy Fallon would laugh during a skech on SNL. In a way that’s the biggest compliment an actor can give to another; being so funny that you’re physically unable to stay in character! I loved it, you don’t get to see that too often, at least in professional productions!

This show is for anyone who likes stupid slapstic, interspersed with some really clever writing. But I have a feeling audiences will be lukewarm about it all.

I recently had the chance to see Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of The Threepenny Opera. The show was written by Bertolt Brecht, with music by Kurt Weill. A match made in Weimar heaven.

The show’s story is one that I’m familiar with, having been a cast member of last year’s Fringe show The Banger’s Flopera, which was based on the original play The Beggar’s Opera, upon which Threepenny is also based. All three plays share the same basic story. Mack the Knife is a famously corrupt criminal. He seduces the young Polly Peachum, daughter of Mr. Peachum, who runs a gang of street beggars. Mack marries Polly in a warehouse, among his own gang of thieves and crooks. Meanwhile he’s hiding the fact that he’s already married to Lucy, the daughter of the corrupt cop Tiger Brown, who keeps him out of trouble with the law. Then there’s Jenny, the whore that Mack used to love, before abandoning her.

The dark, bleak nature of the show grew out of the authors’ own experiences in Germany; after facing military defeat and economic hardship, the country was in hard times. The characters in the piece are all horrible people; criminals, murderers, liars, etc. Yet somehow all of their motivations are clear, and within the world of the play, we understand why they do the things that they do. We almost sympathize with them. They are products of their unfortunate environment.

This production stars Alan Cumming as Mack, who is charismatic, charming, slimy and scary all at the same time. I did have trouble hearing him vocally in some of the music numbers, unfortunately. Thankfully he uses his true voice in this show (scottish accent) which is rare for him, and it works well for this character. His acting is far better than his singing, though, and as the score is quite challenging vocally, he is shown up by some of the other actors.

In her broadway debut, Cindy Lauper is perfect for the prostitute, Jenny. Her haunting, powerful voice is as strong as ever, and she looks incredible for her age (especially in trashy lingerie and heels, which she wears the whole show). Her stage presence is excellent as she is an experienced performer, but I noticed she was slow to pick up some of her line cues. But other than that her acting was surprisingly good.

Jim Dale and Ana Gasteyer play Mr. and Mrs. Peachum. He is one of the most gifted physical comedians I’ve ever seen. He is able to make his limbs look like they’re made of rubber. It’s pretty cool. And he plays the role with all the appropriate cunning of a sucessful entrepreneur. Ana Gasteyer plays the role as an ageing trophy wife with big hair, big heels and big shoulder pads. And a big Jersey accent. A very appropriate and modern choice for the character. And her voice is just amazing. Thankfully, she has a ton to sing in the show and belts the heck out of it.

Nellie Mackay as Polly is a revelation. It’s so nice to see an ingenue role not played as an ingenue role. The best way I can describe her character; she’s like a character from a Tim Burton horror story, if he had been making movies in the 1930s. If that makes any sense. Visually, she looks like the Corpse Bride; all blonde and pale, dressed all in white. Her manner of speech was highly stylized, soft, articulate, and reminiscent of hollywood starlets of that era. And although she’s known mostly for her career as a singer/songwriter, she doesn’t sing her songs, she performs them. Her stylized speak/singing performance is very effective and works well with the music. I especially loved her version of Pirate Jenny. Very spooky.

Also I must mention Brian Charles Rooney who plays Lucy, as a drag role. He plays her as a pissed off, goth teenager bitch, and steals every scene he’s in. I love his aria which is sung in full soprano voice, in German, with the English translation on the LCD screen. Verse two is in English, with the German appearing on the screen. Funny stuff.

My one complaint about the production is the space. Studio 54 is such a huge theatre, and it’s such an intimate show, that a lot of the intensity is lost due to the lack of intimacy in the theatre. Had I been much closer to the stage I may not have felt the same way. But other aspects of the producion were good. I liked the rolling LCD screen at the top of the stage that sometimes displayed the lyrics of the song. In true Brechtian fashion, the production really beats you over the head with certain points, and goes so far as to make you read the song’s lyrics. This is sometimes done in true opera, where the text is often unintelligable, where diction is often sacrificed for better vocals. But this is the first time I’ve seen it in a more traditional musical, and it was a nice way to follow Brecht’s philosophy of theatre. Which, if you’re unfamiliar, is basically the concept that the audience should always be aware that they’re watching a play; that what you are seeing is not reality. It is a story. The LCD screen, as well as the overall presentational style of the direction, stayed very true to Brecht’s original vision.

But the real star of the show is Weill’s score. The music is just breathtaking. Having never heard it before, it was a treat to hear it live, sung by a powerhouse cast. The music has a haunting quality that sounds quintisentially German to me - it’s jazzy and fun and operatic all at once. So much complexity, both musically and lyrically. A Spooky goth/jazz musical about criminals. A classic.