`The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
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This review was prepared by Simon Saltzman for the March 13, 2005
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Review : Off Broadway Roundup
Top Of Page`The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’
There is no need to brush up your spelling before you see the new
William Finn (music and lyrics) musical, because you won’t be able to
keep up with the delightfully eccentric and touchingly nerdish
pre-teen brainiacs who are competing with whiz kid enthusiasm for the
championship. Finn, the composer of the award-winning “March of the
Falsettos,” in collaboration with Rachel Sheinkin (book), has written
an absolutely charming show based on the play “C-R-E-P-U-C-U-L-E” by
Rebecca Feldman. A small show with a big heart, “Spelling Bee”
vibrates with the hopes and aspirations as well as the doubts and
personal issues that trouble these bright but incontestably socially
challenged young people. Part of the show’s joy comes from adults
playing the six contestants, all of whom will have you holding your
sides from laughter. Presided over by an equally funny moderator (Jay
Reiss), a hostess (Lisa Howard), and a parolee grief counselor
(Derrick Baskin), this is one Bee that gets an A. ****
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Second Stage,
307 West 43rd Street. $75. 212-246-4422 or visit
www.secondstagetheatre.com. The production will begin performances on
Broadway at Circle in the Square beginning Friday, April 15, with an
official press opening on Monday, May 2.
If some of the major reviewers had not danced a metaphysical jig in
praise of Will Eno’s existential stream of anger management monodrama,
subtitled “based on nothing,” and had not the audience that attended
the same performance that I did respond with enthusiasm, I would have
been inclined to dismiss it as an enervating and unfathomable journey
into a splintered mind. I’m still so inclined. But it is possible that
I just didn’t get it. Deep in a state of mental disarray and
depression, the title character (James Urbaniak, who played the shoe
fetishist in “Sex and the City”) uses the audience both as an ally and
as a therapist. This, as he ponders aloud whether his disjointed
memories of childhood, his aptitude for failure at romance and his
general anxieties about other random things that keep popping in and
out of his head, are, in the scheme of things, of any value or
consequence. My question is what could director Hal Brooks have done
to bring shape and coherency to this slightly more than one hour’s
worth of existential gobbledygook? Did I mention this is one of the
hottest tickets in town? *
ThomPain, DR 2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street. $45.212-239-6200. Extended through July 3.Top Of Page‘Shockheaded Peter’‘Shockheaded Peter” is a macabre, darkly-humored entertainment withluridly-conceived esthetics grounded satirically in Grand Guignol. Wehaven’t had much from that genre since “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barberof Fleet Street” sliced his way through Stephen Sondheim’sblood-spurting opera. Inspired by Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter),Heinrich Hoffman’s 19th century book written expressly for(misbehaving) children, this part vaudeville, part penny-dreadfulstaging by Julian Crouch & Graeme Gilmour of selections from thebook’s 10 cautionary morality tales may leave many in the audienceamused but others scratching their heads. I’m still trying to figureout whether watching Harriet, the infant pyromaniac go up in flames; athumb-sucker literally lose his thumb; a child starve himself into askeleton to save on wood for his funeral; and parents dispose of theirnewly-born physically-impaired baby under the floor boards,constitutes anything other than strictly adult entertainment. Ofcourse, if the art of Edward Gorey and the films of Tim Burton areyour cup of cyanide, then by all means partake of the ghoulish doingsthat include puppetry and intervals of morbid songs sung by a castratowith instrumental accompaniment supplied by a diabolical musical groupcalled the Tiger Lillies. With shades of Victorian melodrama,”Shockheaded Peter” should enthrall those who have a craving fornightmarish bedtime stories performed by scenery-chewing actors. **Shockheaded Peter, Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42ndStreet. $49.50 to $65; $25 at every Thursday performance at 10 p.m.212-239-6200.Top Of Page‘Hiding Behind Comets’Brian Dykstra’s “Hiding Behind Comets” is just the kind ofin-your-face gutsy, violent, scary, and sexy drama that the 29thStreet Rep has built its reputation upon. In it, Troy (RobertMollohan) and his sister Honey (Moira MacDonald) are preparing toclose up for the night their father’s seedy little roadside bar innorthern California. Troy’s horny girlfriend, Erin (Amber Gallery) isgyrating in front of the blaring jukebox when a mysterious,scruffy-looking, middle-aged stranger named Cole (Dan Moran) entersand begins to taunt Troy with unnerving questions that lead to ashocking admission and his more frightening agenda. Cole may be thesiblings’ father, or maybe it was Jim Jones, the cult preacherresponsible for 900 deaths and for whom he had worked. The potentialfor violence percolates as Troy’s fear is matched by Honey’sincreasingly unstable behavior. A bizarre sexual triangle is woveninto this well-acted and riveting potboiler directed by DavidMogentale. **Hiding Behind Comets, 29th Street Rep, 212 West 29thStreet (between 7th and 8th avenues). $19. 212-868-4444 or visitwww.smartix.com. Through April 17.Top Of Page‘McReele’Undoubtedly playwright Stephen Belber (“Match”) has kept aconscientious ear and an observant eye on the manipulative power ofour easily misguided/hoodwinked mainstream media and its ability towillfully deceive itself. His play, “McReele,” courageously if notalways cogently illustrates this unfortunate state of affairs in theaffairs of state. In it the title character (Anthony Mackie), aself-educated African-American, is serving a jail sentence for murder.A man with a plan, he is not only able to convince an earnestinvestigative reporter Dayne (played by Michael O’Keefe) of hisinnocence but also to astonish him with his intellectual prowess andpassionately felt political and social views. With Dayne’s help,enough evidence is collected to exonerate him. Eager and enthusiasticabout assuming the role of McReele’s manager and promoter, Dayne, inwhat seems to be a rather illogical decision to groom his protege‚ forpolitical life as well as to change the course of his own, Dayne putsMcReele on a strict regimen to mold his public persona and master hisalready glib manner of speech. If the play, under Doug Hughes’surprisingly pedestrian staging, takes a notably superficial pathtowards its not very revelatory conclusion, it does manage to hold ourattention. **McReele, Roundabout Theater Company at Laura PelsTheater, 111 West 46th Street. $51.25 to $61.25. 212-719-1300. ThroughMay 1.– Simon SaltzmanThe key: **** Don’t miss; *** You won’t feel cheated; ** Maybe youshould have stayed home; * Don’t blame us.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
