Patty & Emily at It’s Only a Play

When we go into a Terrence McNally play, we have certain expectations. Maybe that’s our fault, but with Mothers and Sons fresh in our minds and Ragtime forever playing in the back of our minds, it’s hard to reconcile the straight up comedy that we saw. We expect to be moved by a Terrence McNally play. We want to laugh, yes, but also cry. So, it was just a little strange to see this early work (updated for today), It’s Only a Play.

There was a lot to like about It’s Only a Play, and that was mostly the cast. Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane especially led this show. Megan’s odd southern accent and bright optimism in her producer character nailed that type of rich person who just wants to do something fun with their money. And Nathan Lane is Nathan Lane and is great in anything, even The Addams Family (joked about in this show). We were also “introduced” (as their posters say) to Micah Stock. He was fantastic as the coat check guy, who is allowed into this crazy world, and gives the best rendition of Defying Gravity on a Broadway stage this side of 49th street. The rest of the cast was great, though with so much going on, the outsized characters played by Stockard Channing, F. Murray Abraham, and Rupert Grint got to be a bit much. Matthew Broderick was apparently doing his Matthew Broderick thing and seeming to float his way through everything, even his long and strange monologues on “Great American Theatre.”

The play itself was wacky and fun, though sometimes seemed to try a little too hard. There’s a bit with the coats of guests coming in, and one of the running jokes is that casts of other Broadway shows are crashing the party. But their coats look like costumes from the shows and we all know you’re not allowed to leave the theatre in your costume! For a show that calls out real people and makes very real New York theatre references, bits like this for the sake of a laugh take a way from the reality. If you’re going to have Nathan Lane mention The Addams Family (and Nathan Lane), then you have to mention Curious Incident, not make up a show when talking about those imports from London. Shows about New York often have jokes that are for New Yorkers and jokes that are for tourists. It’s Only a Play had some fantastic jokes for New Yorkers, but too many terrible jokes for tourists. If there could be a better balance and a little more heart, it might feel like a Terrence McNally play.

Patty & Emily at The Country House

Well, the title of the play says it all. It’s called The Country House. And the types of people who have country houses are typically rich families. So, here’s another play about a rich family all stuck in one place getting their shit out together. A slight twist on the formula, though borrowing from another formula: this family is all actors. So it’s a play about actors too! And frankly, it was all a lot of stuff we’ve seen before.

The cast was fine. Led by Blythe Danner, whose character makes some comment about how she wouldn’t be able to open a play on Broadway because she’s not a movie star. Cut to the marquee of the Friedman that is just a giant photo of movie star Blythe Danner. It’s supposed to be a self-aware joke, but it kind of fell flat since that tends to actually be the sad reality.Sarah Steele was really great, and funnily enough, hers was the only character who wasn’t in the “family business” of acting. Unfortunately, the play didn’t really make it easy to like any of the other characters, so the actors had to work extra hard because we think we were supposed to like them?

The one thing this play about a family didn’t have was a “big reveal.” Instead, the second act devolved into everyone discussing the unloved son and his issues with his mother. Again, how original. But not to be outdone, everyone got a chance to explain why their situation was worse. It was like that scene in Notting Hill where Julia Roberts tries to convince everyone that her life as a super rich, super famous actress is worse than the others (including a woman in a wheelchair). She doesn’t win the brownie, and neither did any of the characters in The Country House. It did have a lovely living room set, though. That’s about it.

Patty & Emily at Love Letters

If you don’t know anything about Love Letters before you see it, don’t let the title fool you. This was not, in our opinion, a romantic show. It was a tragic one. If you find it romantic, we’d love to talk to you about why. It also wasn’t much of a show. While we may gravitate towards bigger, splashier shows (and musicals), we don’t need those elements to enjoy ourselves. But this was two actors sitting at a table on an otherwise empty stage, reading their lines. That’s not to say they weren’t performing. But the nature of the play has them literally reading the letters to each other. It was like seeing a staged reading, but this was no benefit. It was a full price, for profit Broadway show.

The story itself is not anything that hasn’t been told before. An upper class boy and girl (then man and woman) weave in and out of friendship and more as their lives pull them apart. But they can’t seem to stop writing letters to each other. Emily was pretty angry that it seemed as soon as Melissa said they were better off friends, her life went downhill. Patty just wasn’t very moved by the relationship between the two, many problems which seemed to arise by bad decisions by one or both of them. The redeeming part of the show was Mia Farrow, who had some really great moments, and gave humanity to what could be a thankless role. Brian Dennehy was commanding, but we weren’t able to sympathize with or like his character at all.
All this being said, there is a rotating amazing set of actors tackling this play. And since it’s really just the actors on stage alone, with no sets, costumes, sound, etc., you really are paying to see them. So if you want to see Brian Dennehy, Mia Farrow, Carol Burnett, Alan Alda, Candice Bergen, Stacy Keach, Diana Rigg, Martin Sheen, or Anjelica Huston, here’s your chance.
You can get tickets to Love Letters here.

Patty & Emily at Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter

Yes, that is the full title. This dystopian musical takes place in the elbow of a man, Ragnar Agnarsson. Throughout his body, there are cities and colonies, as if the Magic School Bus took a field trip there and never left. We went into this pretty blind, which was fun, so we don’t want to tell you too much. But based on the ideas of one resident, Peter (Marrick Smith, giving us Jonathan Groff realness), the residents of Elbowville find themselves in a financial crisis mirroring that of 2008.

Egging Peter along and profiting off her residents’ ignorance is the delightful Cady Huffman, as the Mayor of Elbowville. Her elaborate plans are matched only by her elaborate costumes. The main industry in Elbowville is fishing lobsters, which end up being a running theme in her amazing costumes. Peter also wants to help his brother Stein (Brad Nacht) and Stein’s wife Asrun (Kate Shindle — who also has her own costume moment in an amazing latex outfit), so pulls them unknowingly into the financial spiral. (There’s another brother played by Graydon Long, who leaves Elbowville as part of an unnecessary love triangle.) When the bubble bursts, Kate Shindle gets pissed off and confronts Cady Huffman in an amazing, but WAY too short belt off.

Without giving anything away, the ending is pretty satisfying. It’s not quite Urinetown in its clever and bleak truth, but it does point out interesting things about society. There were a few strings left untied; it seemed as if Kate Shindle was going to have a bigger role in the end. But Revolution in the Elbow… was a fun, strange, thought-provoking musical.

Revolution in the Elbow… runs through September 20th, so go see it! Get your tickets here.

Patty & Emily at Here Lies Love

Audience participation. Standing for 90 minutes. Historical subject matter. Even the most seasoned theatregoer might give pause at seeing this show. But when you add innovative direction, amazing disco music, and a super talented cast, suddenly everyone is talking about Here Lies Love. In fact, the show was so talked about after its successful run last summer, it has returned to The Public Theater. No one is happier than Patty, since Emily saw the show during its last run. And even now, we would both see it again.

Here Lies Love tells the story of how Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines, became an infamous world figure. But, it’s how this story is told that makes the show special. Everyone is ushered into an open space with platforms and stages all around. Some people are up in the balconies, but those on the floor are really part of the show. We’re all at a disco, and the DJ tells you at the beginning Filipinos invented karaoke, so we’re all expected to participate and have fun. Alex Timbers’ direction has us all moving around and looking everywhere, while Fatboy Slim and David Byrne’s music has us dancing and sometimes crying. Everything helping to create the atmosphere of the performance.

The cast really helps pull this off. They make the audience feel comfortable and also excited about their involvement. The ensemble is full of amazing performers, giving their all, especially Sara Ramirez look-alike Maria-Christina Oliveras. At the performance we saw, an understudy, Jaygee Macapugay, was on as Imelda. She was great, and Emily said some of her choices really made her performance stand on its own. And Jose Llana and Conrad Ricamora played off each other and Jaygee so well, it was fun to see their relationships change. Here Lies Love ends with the cast, fittingly, leading the audience in a sing-along, everyone participating in the show we created together (though we guess most of the work was done by the cast and creative team).

Get tickets to Here Lies Love here.