Cult of Love (2024) (Broadway)

I had no expectations for Cult of Love, a stressful Christmas eve family drama. I had no idea what it was about. I got this ticket on Culture Pass simply because I saw Shailene Woodley and Zachary Quinto were in it. Little did I know the rest of the cast were also very good and some recognizable: Mare Winningham, David Rasche from Succession, and Barbie Ferreira from Euphoria. And I was very pleasantly surprised at the very engaging play that also features a number of songs, Christmas carols sung by the cast in four-part harmony as well as played on instruments played on stage by the actors (banjo, drums, piano, tambourine, etc.). The cast are not all known for singing but they sing valiantly in harmony. They're a convincing dysfunctional family who learned to sing as kids in church. The plot unfolds slowly and deliberately, secrets withheld until they're released at a time to land most dramatically on the audience. There are themes of mental illness, religiosity, drug addiction, bigotry and family. It deals with heavy themes with some levity.The playwright Leslye Headland has written a cycle of plays about the Seven Deadly Sins; this one is about pride. I don't think it's obvious, not necessarily the most prominent theme. But pride in a religious sense is about putting oneself above God. And I guess they all kind of do that, not least the would-be prophet. But I think in another sense, the four children have a pride represented by a burden they feel to their family; and they each feel like they must be the bigger person to take it upon themselves because the other kids are negligent. It's not exactly pride but it blinds them nonetheless from having relationships with their siblings. And we have to mention the casting of Shailene Woodley, the biggest star in the cast, who has a reputation that precedes her that she kind of leans into by playing this character. She is a would-be cult leader who is mentally ill but presents as an ultra-religious nutjob who is compelled to say awful things to her family. They're stunning zingers that either silence the audience or induce audible gasps. But don't we love to be shocked. 

McNeal (2024) (Broadway)

In Robert Downey Jr.'s Broadway debut, he plays a writer using AI to write his new book. There's a confusing meta plot where he may be writing the play that we're watching unfold before our eyes. It's fine but the gimmick about AI isn't really saying anything new or meaningful about AI. And I bet AI technology improves so much over the next couple years that this will quickly feel outdated. And it's just kind of boring. I did fall asleep a bit in the scene at the agent's office. It's really unfortunate because I like Andrea Martin a lot. She's so funny but I missed half her scene and don't know if she landed any jokes.

There is a plot in here that is very similar to The Wife. McNeal wins the Nobel Prize in literature but he might have sold his wife's writing as his own. Or he might've adapted her story into his own, and does that make it his? There's some gender politics thrown in there. And much to everyone's surprise, he says multiple times that he admires Harvey Weinstein. Just wasn't on my bingo card this year. The character though is very much Iron Man. Robert Down Jr basically plays the same character, and I bet that's why he was cast. He's a macho man who is successful and brazen, fast-talking, generally dismissive of other people--not exactly likeable but on some level respectable? That plays out in real time to as his profiler from the newspaper starts our repulsed but is slowly converted to write a piece about him that's just about as good as it was going to get based on the garbage he's spewing at her.

The set was pretty cool. The sets at Lincoln Center Theater are always handsomely made. It makes use of screens to display the AI. There are some deepfakes that don't really add anything to the story.

Yellow Face (2024) (Broadway)

We came for Daniel Dae Kim and was pleasantly surprised when Ryan Eggold from The Blacklist and New Amsterdam came on stage. I thought he looked familiar but I couldn't quite place him. I thought he might've just been a generic looking white guy they cast. Alas he was but a famous one at that. Funnily, he plays a macho white guy pretending to be Asian. The plot is hilarious with some genuine laughs. It cleverly blurs the line between reality and fiction, drawing from David Henry Hwang's own life. I love that meta plot. David and his father are two of the main characters. Francis Jue reprises his role as the father from the Off-Broadway run in 2007. Some 15 years later, Jue is older, perhaps a more convincing elderly Chinese father. I thought he was excellent. I saw Jue play Hwang himself in Soft Power a few years ago. I think time has probably served this play well. The thorny topics the play tackles are more germane now than ever in a post-Crazy Rich Asians, post-#OscarsSoWhite, post-Shang-Chi, post-Hamilton world. The play does need a lot of background context on Hwang's life. The small cast of seven feature actors who play multiple parts without regard to race or gender, while commenting hilariously on race-conscious casting. They recite lines from real (or we're at least led to believe they're real) articles to place us in context. It's a bit of a cheap conceit but it works. We enjoyed this very much! Lastly, the curtain call was super short. The small cast took their bows and they were off the stage in probably a minute, definitely no more than two. And it's not because the audience wasn't applauding. They were just really brief.
 

Ripley (2024)

The Steven Zaillian miniseries adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley is stunning. Shot in crisp black and white, it looks unlike anything else Netflix has ever made. Cinematography Robert Elswit deserves his Emmy for this. He has an Oscar for There Will Be Blood, and was nominated for another black-and-white project Good Night, and Good Luck. Zaillian also won an Emmy for directing. He does an incredible job at building suspense. The interesting shots and the mise-en-scene say so much without words. And the production design (and location scouting) is phenomenal. From episode 1 in 1960s New York to Roma and Atrani and Napoli and Palermo and Venezia, we are completely transported.  Those palazzi are to die for. The old American Express travel offices take you to a past when international travel was limited to the wealthy--who knew all the random services they used to offer!

I like the Anthony Minghella adaptation, but this is arguably better, perhaps with the lone exception of Dickie and Marge. I don't think Johnny Flynn nor Dakota Fanning are very compelling. They don't ooze the pretty boy allure of Jude Law. Andrew Scott makes the Ripley character his own. His Italian is very passable. I watched the first 6 episodes without subtitles, not realizing that there should've been subtitles. I thought I was supposed to be in Ripley's head not understanding the language, but as his Italian got a lot better, the subtitles still weren't appearing. I actually understood probably 75% of the Italian anyways; I at least got the gist of it. It wasn't until episode 6, which is almost entirely in Italian, that started to get more complex for my skill level. The real standout for me is Maurizio Lombardi, who plays Inspector Ravini. His Italian-accented English is so good. And his Italian is spoken so clearly, I could follow everything he was saying.

I think this version sort of de-emphasizes the themes of homosexuality and class and race. And I don't mind that. This is just a totally different standalone adaptation. It's slow, dragging out for 8 episodes whereas the movie runs just over 2 hours. It luxuriates in its slowness, building suspense and allowing all the consequences to unfold. It's funny at times, though subtle. And though it went over my head a little at first, I liked the Caravaggio analogy. His signature chiaroscuro is a clear inspiration for the look of the show. 

The Marriage of Figaro (Opera)

Anthony Roth Costanzo is a force of nature. He might be the biggest name in opera right now, surely the most famous countertenor.  The Little Island amphitheater is a perfect venue for him to experiment a little. It was my first time seeing a performance there, and I like that there is a cool outdoor space for avant garde work. Costanzo sings all the parts in this abridged Figaro; his tenor as powerful as his soprano. That doesn't mean he's the only person on stage. There are a handful of actors who mime and lip-sync but you can always see Costanzo somewhere on stage belting out the lyrics. Sometimes he's standing or sitting or lying or hiding--it's really impressive in every respect. And it is downright hilarious. Aside from it being a comedic, albeit confusing, opera, there is abundant physical comedy. I found myself, along with the rest of the crowd, actually laughing out loud...at the opera! There is a small 9-piece orchestra, with an interesting orchestration featuring instruments like guitar and saxophone that surely didn't exist in Mozart's time. There's even a circus element to the show. One of the actors is a circus guy, jumping up and down on a trampoline. There is a comedic interlude, allowing Costanzo a short break while the actors give us a ridiculous synopsis and recite the original French source material for the libretto. This show truly has everything.

Next to Normal (Regional) (2024)

I was not familiar with Next to Normal. I'm pretty well-versed in musical theater but this one had sort of slipped my attention. But it's one of those that's a big fan favorite of real theater nerds. We did come all the way out to the Berkshires because Aglaia is a fan. And the guy sitting in front of me (who might have gotten the tickets through work, since his co-worker also came but separately) feels similarly to Aglaia about the play. It's emotionally very powerful, quite a downer of a show. It deals with very heavy topics of mental health. And frankly, I don't see the appeal of the music, not very memorable melodies to me. And I kind of dozed off in the first act. The second act is stronger on the whole. But the big reveal in Act I is revelatory. It makes you rethink everything you've seen before, all the blocking, the dialogue, the acting choices.  That's really well done. The set is fairly simple with two levels. The second level is notable for the circular sliding door, with a step that I thought for sure someone would trip over. The production also uses projections on the white wall of live footage of the characters we're seeing on stage. The theater is small enough that you don't exactly need the magnification. If anything, I thought the projections were kind of distracting. The actors in this regional production at the Barrington Stage Company are all great, especially Natalie Joy Johnson in the lead role of Diana. And Joseph Morales who plays Dr Madden kind of reminded me of my own therapist; something about the way he dresses and talks.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball (2024) (Off-Broadway)

The cherry on top of the inaugural season at PAC NYC, Cats: The Jellicle Ball may just be the gayest thing I've ever seen. I mean that in the best way. It's a fun time, honestly to the credit of the audience. The audience was very into it, cheering and hollering and dancing along. There was the guy to my left kneeling on his high stool at the cabaret table, yelling "Bitch!" at every cat to strut down the runway.  There were no fewer than 2 standing ovations in the middle of the show, including a showstopping Memory. And the curtain call was a wonderfully energetic party. There is a lot of crowd interaction at the cabaret tables; I gladly sat a little further back in the orchestra. The stage is a catwalk, with seating on either side as at a fashion show, and then cabaret seating around the front part of the stage. All good seats with unique perspectives on the show.

On it's face, it's not an obvious combination, the camp of Cats and the Ballroom culture of New York in the 80s. But there's a message in there about belonging, and embracing being yourself, and finding your community. There isn't exactly a plot to Cats, not a sensible one anyways. And that sort of lends itself to Ballroom competitions, running category by category, introducing new cats who aren't necessarily dressed as cats but as whatever extravagant outfit suits them. Junior LaBeija from Paris is Burning plays Gus as the emcee. He is fantastic, co-leading with Andre DeShields, a cast that comes half from the theater world and half from Ball culture.

Despite all the excitement, I did doze off a little in the first act, because again there is no plot. There is a little bit of plot in the second act with Old Deuteronomy taking the fall for the stunting (robbery) Macavity is responsible for. Andre DeShields plays the wizened regal old cat, with a fabulous wig and a luxuriously slow gait. Magical Mr Mistoffelees brings Old Deuteronomy back. And finally the old washed up queen Grizabella, a former champion carrying around her old trophy, who gets no respect from the new cats who don't know their history about those that came before them, belts out Memory and becomes The Jellicle Choice, whatever the heck that means. She either dies or attains enlightenment in cat heaven or god knows. Cats as a show is still nonsense but this is stylish nonsense that somehow manages to be as life-giving as The Jellicle Choice and ballroom itself.