Interludes

THE STATE OF THE ARTS – February 19, 2015

• By drediman
• February 19, 2015
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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The Civilians’ niche brand of the “documentary musical” is alive and well in the swell little show about the porn industry entitled Pretty Filthy playing at that under-utilized Lower East Side jewel box of a theater, the Playhouse Theater at the Abrons Arts Center. Despite the musical’s title, the show is good old fun with clever, funny, and insightful songs which the game, talented cast perform with aplomb. The audience lapped it up the night I saw it, and so did I. Good times were had by all.
• The New York City Ballet continued it’s winter season with a mixed bill of contemporary ballets entitled New Combination and Peter Martins’ full-length Romeo and Juliet. The former program included exquisite ballets by some of today’s most sought-after choreographers: Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (which I admired this time around, though not quite as effective as when I first saw it last year with a better-suited cast), the world premiere of Justin Peck’s Rodeo (which fit Aaron Copland’s optimistic score like a glove), and Christopher Wheeldon’s Mercurial Manoeuvres (thrilling in its formality). Romeo and Juliet overcame Martins’ pedestrian choreography with winning, heartfelt performances from its young leads, particularly Erica Pereira (who is really coming into her own this season) as an utterly lovely and believable Juliet.
• Down at the Public Theater, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ambitious game-changing hip-hop musical Hamilton opened to rave reviews last night, and deservedly so. Lin-Manuel’s work here is a significant step forward from his previous musical outing, the joyous though somewhat simplistic Tony Award-winning In the Heights. I’m hard pressed to think of musical theater storytelling this inspired and sophisticated since, say, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Lin-Manuel (astounding as the titular Alexander Hamilton) also leads an extraordinary cast.  Thomas Kail directs the dynamic, ever-moving piece to perfection. This is the best musical I’ve seen all season (perhaps several seasons?), hands down. Don’t miss it.
• Jason Robert Brown’s under-rated Parade enjoyed a thrilling one-night-only concert at Avery Fisher Hall courtesy of Manhattan Concert Productions. Mr. Robert Brown himself authoritatively led the New York City Chamber Orchestra to give an impassioned reading of his own glorious score. The all-star cast threw themselves at the material to varying results (Jeremy Jordan as Leo Frank was very fine, but Laura Benanti was surprisingly somewhat miscast as Lucille Frank), but the powerful cumulative impact of the evening negated any shortcomings.
• Over at the Harvey at BAM, the Goodman Theater’s atmospheric, already-legendary production of Eugene O’Neill’s mammoth The Iceman Cometh is wowing East Coast audiences. The mostly Chicago-based cast (original to this revival) are an extraordinary ensemble, and their work is thrilling to behold. Both Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy’s portrayals of Hickey and Larry, respectively, have deepened over the last two years since the Chicago run (where they were already quite majestic).  One minor gripe is director Robert Fall’s decision to maintain his proscenium staging within Harvey’s semi-thrust stage, therefore somewhat muting the power of his moody production. Minor gripe aside, the 5-hour, 4-act affair flew by.