Tag: Theater

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

“A Steady Rain”: Hugh Jackman & Daniel Craig, Tuesday, September 15 – The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

As someone who attends a great deal of Broadway theater, I am a little nonplussed about the “star effect” that many producers have increasingly introduced to that wondrous island of American theater between 55th and 41st Streets (my apologies to Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont a few blocks north). Oftentimes when Rodeo Drive meets Broadway, the results can be disastrous (I love you, Julia Roberts, but your turn in the Broadway play, “Three Days of Rain” . . . Ouch!!). This past season on Broadway featured a generous helping of Hollywood star power, including Jane Fonda, Will Ferrell, James Gandolfini <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001254/>, Jeremy Piven, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden, and Hope Davis. Please indulge this writer in saying bless you, Will Ferrell, for that deeply cathartic and hilarious send-off of our 43rd President—”You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush.” Mr. Ferrell broke all box office records for the Cort Theatre and had audiences whipped into a frenzy worthy of a Texas vs. Oklahoma football clash.

This past season’s group of West Coast stars moved east acquitted themselves very well, achieving critical acclaim and for the most part box office success. However, last season was the exception to the rule. Even our most accomplished film stars often would do better to keep their performances confined to the big screen. With this reality in mind, I was a bit skeptical while walking to the theater to see two of Hollywood’s sexiest, squeal-inducing leading men in a piece of theater featuring only them, two chairs, and a grim tale of human descent into hell. Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, otherwise known as Wolverine and James Bond, seemed unlikely candidates to carry an evening of monologue-heavy serious theater. I am very happy to report that for the most part I was wrong.

“A Steady Rain” is the story of a couple of rough-hewn Chicago cops who have been lifelong friends and couldn’t be more different from one another. Denny (Mr. Jackman) is a family man with a wife and kids and is clearly the alpha in the friendship. Denny is big, strong, supremely confident and loyal and possesses a skewed moral compass and explosive temper that eventually leads the two friends down a tragic path. Mr. Craig plays Joey, a somewhat withdrawn, self-conscious bachelor who has had some real problems with the bottle and never seems to meet the right women. Joey is also fiercely loyal to his alpha friend and puts up with consistent abuse from Denny because he loves him like a brother. As the curtain opens on “A Steady Rain,” we find our ultra sexy action heroes—er, I mean two Chicago cops—sitting on simple wooden chairs in understated lighting, facing us dead on. The two are dressed unremarkably: Mr. Jackman in the more casual jeans and blue plaid shirt and jacket, sleeves rolled up with tats, a look belying Joey’s natural confidence and arrogance; and Mr. Craig’s Joey wearing a well worn Woolworths-looking suit, that of a man who takes comfort in routine and anonymity.

The play starts slowly as Mr. Jackman starts off recounting the story of Denny and Joey’s longtime friendship. Initially, it is hard to get past the Australian Mr. Jackman’s struggle to maintain a working class Chicago accent. Mr. Craig, conversely having a serious London stage acting resume (“Angels in America,” “A Number”) hits his stride early and really transforms into Joey, accent and all (absolutely no resemblance to 007). We are taken through a tale of two not too overly intelligent beat cops, who never seem to make the grade in the move up to detective. Through dialogue and monologue we begin to understand how the characters’ lives are inextricably intertwined. Could they pull away from each other if their lives depended on it? Slowly the play starts to gain momentum and diverts the audience’s attention from the two actors’ Adonis-like physiques and toward a story that very plausibly makes us understand how two profoundly loyal friends could turn against one another with the most devastating of results.

It should be noted that much of the credit for the success of “A Steady Rain,” beyond the considerable talents of its actors, should go to the subtle and self-effacing direction of John Crowley, who stunned Broadway with the brutal and brilliant “Pillowman” several seasons ago. Mr. Crowley took the two actors through a very demanding rehearsal period but directed to the talents of his actors and did not impose a forced director’s will. For his part Mr. Craig gives a fine performance and is eerily subtle in how he transforms Joey from a loyal friend to a betraying enemy. In the story’s moments of acute tragedy, Mr. Jackman makes his mark. In these moments when Denny is completely bewildered and overwhelmed by what has become of his life, what Mr. Jackman might lack in stage acting technique, he more than makes up for with his physical presence and intense passion. We truly feel the tragedy that has become these two men’s existence. And after all, isn’t that what we want to feel when we go to the theater? Mission accomplished 007 and Wolverine! You reached this theater snob. Thank you, Mr. Jackman and Mr. Craig.

Reviewed by Michael Reed

“Wishful Drinking”- Carrie Fisher and “Hamlet” – Jude Law

The tragedy of human foibles gone too far is the centerpiece of this work that has taken up brief residence on Broadway. Tens of thousands have flocked to the theater this fall to witness the well known personal catastrophe that this famous film performer portrays on stage eight times a week. It is a familiar story, one of betrayal within the family, one where the protagonist is lost, devastated and searching for a way out of the madness of her existence. This is a story worthy of Shakespeare’s quill.

You might have guessed by now that the tragic stage character and performer being referenced here is, of course, Carrie Fisher and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) in “Wishful Drinking” at The Roundabout Theatre Company’s Studio 54 Theater through January 17. What were you expecting? “Hamlet” and British heartthrob Jude Law? In fact, both performers have graced the Broadway stage this fall in a continuation of last spring’s prevalent Broadway down-economy formula of film and television stars in limited run shows. (Mr. Law appears through December 6 at the Broadhurst Theatre.) The economy’s woes have been Broadway goers’ good fortune as Ms. Fisher and Mr. Law, in very different ways, have added considerable richness to an eclectic fall on the Great White Way. Their performances do have some valuable characteristics in common that we will get to later.

In a young New York theater season that has already included the familiar, original, in your face “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Race,” “Fela!” and something subtitled “The Vibrator Play,” the two productions, “Hamlet” and “Wishful Drinking,” add welcome gravitas, and unexpectedly in the case of Ms. Fisher, poignant, touching, and hilarious elements to the theater scene.

In the first few minutes of “Wishful Drinking” one realizes that the evening will not be a typically quaint and conventional theatrical biography of tightly produced self-serving scenes. Instead the audience is treated to Ms. Fischer’s recent experience of waking up next to a friend who was no longer, literally dead in the night . . . and away we go on a ride equal to any of Hans Solo’s in the Millennium Falcon. Ms. Fischer, indelibly Princess Leia for those of us who experienced the Star Wars phenomenon, created and stars in her story of infamous parents, skyrocketing fame, and the hell of addiction. The show’s style might be described as delightfully engaging gallows humor presented in a tell-all fusion of Oprah, Jerry Springer, and psychotherapy gone very wrong. The low brow, celebrity confessional opening did have this reviewer cringing in anticipation of a very long night; however, Ms. Fisher’s self-effacing infectious humor, unbelievable story, and the adept direction of Tony Taccone soon had me laughing out loud . . . between gasps of disbelief. The show’s casual tone is wonderfully enhanced by the fact that our heroine greets us barefoot in her jammies on a set that is a charming living room amalgamation of Star Wars memorabilia. From a family tree photo chart guide (“Hollywood Inbreeding 101”) that ends with Ms. Fisher’s daughter dating Elizabeth Taylor’s grandson (the same Elizabeth Taylor for whom her father left her mother) to tumultuous on again off again with Paul Simon, the Star Wars saga, and the dark purgatory of addiction and mental illness. Carrie Fisher commits the ultimate celebrity confessional. Instead of being turned off by what could easily have played as self-absorbed sympathy seeking, we are wowed by her as she makes us feel like a friend chatting on the couch. Is Ms. Fisher a celebrity in need of attention? Of course she is, but she has such a welcoming, side splitting way of letting us into her train wreck of a life that we forget the narcissism and celebrate the survivor that Carrie Fisher has become.

Seen in the context of Ms. Fisher’s turbulent life and self-engineered exit from hell, “Hamlet” could easily be seen as a wimp of sorts. Luckily, the dark prince of Denmark’s latest appearance on Broadway comes in the form of Jude Law, who gives a physical and viscerally stirring performance in the role. While his performance has been met with some considerable criticism in the New York press, it is an interpretation that holds true for many who perhaps don’t remember every actor’s “Hamlet” since Olivier and are not capable of reciting every line of Shakespeare’s most known play. The rest of the cast from this Donmar Warehouse Production acquits itself quite well with standout performances by Ron Cook as Polonius and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who manages the tricky tightrope of creating an Ophelia who is at once feminine and innocent, yet never weak or pitiful in her madness.

Getting back to Mr. Law’s “Hamlet,” it will not be mistaken for the most nuanced or introspective interpretation ever done; but it does succeed where many others have failed, and in a way that the Bard himself just may have approved of. Mr. Law’s Hamlet is accessible—yes, the dreaded “A” word. It is no mystery that Shakespeare’s prose and iambic pentameter can be a problem for some audiences. Mr. Law’s take on “Hamlet” allows the Shakespeare uninitiated in, the moderately knowledgeable to enjoy, and hopefully many of the experts to appreciate. This after all follows Shakespeare himself in creating for a wide range of audience in order to pay the bills. Which brings us back to the connection with Ms. Fisher’s “Wishful Drinking” and a long running debate about Broadway. Does an accessible and popular production automatically preclude it from being of the highest theatrical caliber? Since we can’t ask the Bard, I recommend that you get to the Broadhurst and Studio 54 Theaters before “Hamlet” and “Wishful Drinking” close, and decide for yourself.