Interludes

THE STATE OF THE ARTS – March 4, 2015

• By drediman
• March 4, 2015
• No Comments

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The resourceful Mint Theater Company has long excelled at respectfully if dutifully dusting off forgotten classics on a dime. With Ferenc Molnar’s delightful Fashions for Men, the Mint have outdone themselves with a revival that’s just about pitch perfect in all aspects – design, direction, and performance.
• There was much excitement around Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ mind-bending An Octoroon when it premiered at the Soho Rep last spring. Suffice to say, I was floored by it then. I’m happy to report that the production’s current incarnation at Theatre for a New Audience – it’s been almost entirely recast and the design elements have been expanded to fit the larger venue – is even stronger. The production is tighter (kudos to brilliant director Sarah Benson and the sterling new cast) and it’s its serio-comic dissection of race in America hits us more clearly and powerfully than before.
• David Ives’ latest collection of short plays entitled Lives of the Saints is receiving an inspired production at the Duke, courtesy of Primary Stages. Director John Rando has done a masterful job at breathing deeply-felt humanity into Ives’ amusing and eclectic sketches. Also, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a more exciting ensemble currently in New York; they are sublime.
• Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like or not, John Cameron Mitchell! He’s everything you could ever wish for and more in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco Theatre. Mr. Mitchell, who has re-tooled the book for himself (and why shouldn’t he?), has channeled Neil Patrick Harris’s all-out punk energy (which I never really bought into) into a portrayal that’s more truth-telling downtown cabaret – to astonishing effect. Yitzhak’s (Lena Hall was on fire, but when is she not?) relationship with Hedwig seemed much stronger and more tender than I’ve seen in the past; very touching to see this. Even his minor disability was turned into an advantage; I did not miss for one second the physicality of the role. You won’t want to miss this.
• Despite two very bland but serviceable productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Rossini’s La Donna del Lago, the Metropolitan Opera is now offering two of the most thrilling vocal performances I have heard in a long time. Swedish baritone Peter Mattei as Don Giovanni was magnificent – his big, smooth, expressive voice perfectly matched his Giovanni’s impetuous and charismatic persona. And, boy, does he have sex appeal. Also appearing in a titular role is the great American soprano Joyce DiDonato at the top of her game as the Lady of the Lake in Rossini’s rarely-performed tuner. In addition to a peerless bel canto voice (her “Tanti affetti” was riveting), she also has an appealingly natural and lovely stage presence. Ms. DiDonato shared the stage with the ardent Juan Diego Florez (also in fine form), who is no slouch either.
• Tanya Barfield’s beautiful two-hander Bright Half Life via Women’s Project Theater was a pleasant surprise, especially after suffering through the similarly-structured Constellations. The simple story tracks, in fits and starts, the rise and fall of a relationship between two women, here exquisitely played by Rebecca Henderson and Rachael Holmes.