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Off-Broadway Musical Review—“Suffs” at the Public Theater

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 03:14; Written by Kevin Filipski

Suffs

Book, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub

Directed by Leigh Silverman; choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly

Performances through May 29, 2022

Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, NY

Publictheater.org

Philippa Soo (left) in Suffs (photo: Joan Marcus)

Suffs wants so desperately to be like Hamilton—an explosive show that tackles American history through a unique musical and dramatic prism—that it forgets to be Suffs. The story of women suffragists and the 19th amendment giving them the right to vote is not nearly well known and could have been the basis of a great, truly original musical. Too bad Suffs is not it.

Suffs centers on Alice Paul, who shook up the staid women’s movement by pushing for and organizing the Woman Suffrage Procession, a large parade in Washington DC the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913. Along with the planning for this event, there is enough rousing history and vivid characters to make Suffs a necessary addition to the small but formidable canon of musicals based on our fraught history.

Unfortunately, Shaina Taub—who wrote the book, music and lyrics as well as starring as Alice—is at the helm. Taub has definitely taken on more than she can chew by cramming so many characters and incidents into Suffs’ 2-1/2 hour running time that we want to pause, catch our breath and refer to a scorecard to see who’s who and what’s what. Paring down the story and focusing on fewer women—as hard as that would have been, since Taub obviously bled sweat and tears creating the show from scratch—would have made Suffs a living, vital work rather than a messy, ultimately tedious history lesson.

Taub’s tunes and lyrics are lacking in originality and variety. Moments where the songs coalesce into something more than simply musical pastiches are few and far between, and mostly because of a trio of magnetic performers in the cast: Jenn Collella, Philippa Soo and Nikki M. James all do wonders with the material.

But all three Broadway veterans are shortchanged by Taub’s book: Collella’s Carrie Chapman Catt (president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association), Soo’s Inez Milholland (the charismatic labor lawyer who led the Procession while riding a white horse) and James’ Ida B. Wells (legendary journalist, educator, and a founder of the NAACP) all deserve to be lead characters in their own musicals, but here, they simply appear, reappear, then disappear into the ether.

The only others who make much of an impression are Hannah Cruz as the witty and sardonic Polish activist Ruza Wenclawska and Nadia Dandashi as the naïvely earnest student-turned-chronicler Doris Stevens. The talented Grace McLean makes Woodrow Wilson into a ridiculous caricature, which is Taub’s obvious point, but it’s also an unilluminating cheap shot compared to the humorously pompous King George in Hamilton. That Suffs directly descends from Hamilton is undeniable, but the all-female, colorblind casting here comes off as less purposeful than merely willful.

Mimi Lien’s set of massive white marble columns and stairs perfectly represents the metaphorical—and literal—journey the women must take, while Leigh Silverman’s adroit direction and Raja Feather Kelly’s clever choreography keep things moving briskly—sometimes too much so, as scenes get shortchanged as we move onto another set piece.

The ultimate failure of Suffs to illuminate the women at its center and their history-making accomplishments shows that Shaina Taub did have her shot—but misfired.

April '22 Digital Week II

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 13 April 2022 03:23; Written by Kevin Filipski

Streaming/In-Theater Releases of the Week

Cow

(IFC Films)

British director Andrea Arnold, who to her credit has never made the same film twice—from Fish Tank to Wuthering Heights to American Honey—now tackles the nature documentary in the form of a dairy cow named Luma whose existence on English farm is followed by Arnold’s probing camera.

The mind-numbing sameness of Luma’s life, giving milk, calving, and finally—shockingly—dying, is recorded by Arnold and her cinematographer Magda Kowalczyk with clinical precision but not much clarity; even at a fleet 90 minutes, the sense of repetition, of going over the same ground, as it were, is strong, and the ending is not as powerful as it wants to be.

¡Viva Maestro!

(Greenwich Entertainment)

Gustavo Dudamel went from being the whiz kid conductor from Venezuela who took the classical music world by storm to the 40-year-old not-quite-elder statesman who is classical’s ambassador and superstar, making the L.A. Philharmonic into a force to be reckoned with.

Theodore Braun’s documentary provides inside access over the course of a season as Dudamel rehearses in L.A., returns to his home country to work with young musicians of the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra that he founded, and even—against his nature—gets involved politically when Venezuela is taken over by an authoritarian government. It’s all exciting and fascinating, both musically and as a portrait of the artist as a not-so-young man.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

American Flyers

(Warner Archive)

It’s Kevin Costner week at Warner Archive as two of his early starring roles from 1985—also see Fandango, below—are given belated Blu-ray releases. John Badham directed this meandering, at times silly but heartfelt sibling rivalry drama as Costner plays a doctor who reunites with his distant brother to enter a bike race in an attempt to bond after their father’s death from a congenital heart defect that could reappear in them.

Steve Tesich’s snappy dialogue hides the fact that this is a lesser cousin to Breaking Away (also penned by Tesich), but attractive performances by Costner, David Grant (brother), Janice Rule (mother), Rae Dawn Chong (Costner’s GF) and Alexandra Paul (Grant’s GF) make this an appealing watch. But, oh, that synth-heavy mid-'80s score—ugh!

Fandango

(Warner Archive)

Kevin Reynolds’ 1985 road movie expands his USC film-student short, Proof, which was seen by Steven Spielberg and who financed the feature through his Amblin Entertainment. Set in 1971, Fandango follows a group of Texas college students who go off on a wild road trip before the inevitable events that will soon overtake them—graduation, marriage and possible draft for the Vietnam War.

The cast is led by Kevin Costner, charmingly boisterous, but the movie, scruffy and likeable, stops dead several times, notably during an extended skydiving sequence that’s basically Proof dropped into the longer movie. Still, it’s watchable throughout, and has a poignant final shot that hints at more gravitas than it has. There’s a first-rate hi-def transfer.

Oranges and Sunshine

(Cohen Media)

The shocking true story of thousands of British children being sent to new, orphaned lives in Australia was brought to the screen in 2010 with the humane anger of a Ken Loach film—not surprisingly, since Jim Loach, the brilliant director’s talented son, directed this.

As his father does, Loach fils smartly casts his central role, as Emily Watson (one of those rare actresses believable in anything) beautifully plays the woman who helps the now grown-up adults discover—or at least find out about—their real families. This nicely understated drama delivers an emotional punch in the usual Loach tradition. There’s a sturdy, understated hi-def transfer; extras include interviews with Loach, Watson, writer Rona Munro and other actors.

CD Release of the Week

Francis Poulenc—Complete Chamber Music

(Naxos)

One of my favorite composers, Frenchman Francis Poulenc created music of elegance and delicacy, from his masterly opera Dialogues des Carmelites and his melodious keyboard concertos to his dozens of gorgeous songs and his voluminous chamber output, the latter of which is included in a welcome Naxos boxed set of five discs, performed with understated eloquence by a variety of musicians, particularly pianist Alexandre Tharaud, in performances recorded between 1995 and 1997.

Many of Poulenc’s sonatas are short, compact and lovely works: disc one’s sonatas for oboe/piano and flute/piano are prime examples of such beguiling virtuosity. And throughout the set are other magnificent works, like the sonatas for violin/piano and cello/piano, as well as the playful vocal pieces Le Bal masqué and Le Bestiaire. But there are gems everywhere in this set.

Juilliard Orchestra Performs at Lincoln Center

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Friday, 08 April 2022 17:14; Written by Jack Angstreich

Barbara Hannigan with the Juilliard Orchestra. Photo by Steve Sherman.

At Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, on the evening of Thursday, March 31st, I was privileged to attend a terrific concert presented by the excellent musicians of the Juilliard Orchestra under the assured direction of the esteemed and attractive soprano, Barbara Hannigan, a 2021-22 Creative Associate of the ensemble.

The program opened brilliantly with a marvelous reading of the magnificent Symphony No. 26, “Lamentatione,” of Franz Joseph Haydn, a composer in whose music the conductor has had an abiding interest. In this work, the influence of the Baroque style is much stronger than in his later, more familiar symphonies. The opening Allegro is stirring, while the ensuing Adagio has an almost elegiac quality, and the concluding Menuet is unusually weighty for a dance-movement.

An extraordinary soprano, Nicoletta Berry, then took the stage for an impressive performance of the mysterious, powerful, and unexpectedly dramatic Lonely Child of 1980 by the acclaimed French Canadian composer, Claude Vivier. I found the work surprisingly accessible despite the author’s serialist affinities—Hannigan has had an enduring commitment to modernist and contemporary music.

After an intermission, the event resumed with an arresting account of Haydn’s outstanding “Representation of Chaos”—the prelude to his celebrated oratorio, The Creation—which has an awesome, thrilling character even as it has a slow tempo. In an unexpected and innovatory move, this was followed without a pause by an exquisite rendering of Ferruccio Busoni’s haunting, enigmatic Berceuse élégiaque.

The evening ended stunningly with an exalting version of Claude Debussy’s sublimely beautiful, sumptuous, and ethereal La damoiselle élue, an early cantata that contributed to fulfilling an obligation acquired by winning the Prix de Rome, and based on an adaptation of a text by the great English poet and Pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Two outstanding singers joined the ensemble—soprano, Seonwoo Lee and mezzo-soprano, Maggie Reneé—along with the admirable Musica Sacra chorus under the distinguished direction of Kent Tritle.

Michael Feinstein Serenades a Century of Love Songs

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Friday, 08 April 2022 14:46; Written by Jack Angstreich

Michael Feinstein at the piano. Photo by Richard Termine.

On the evening of Wednesday, April 6th, I was fortunate to attend the annual Standard Time with Michael Feinstein concert at Zankel Hall—this iteration was titled “A Century of Romance: 100 Years of Love Songs.” He received superb support from his jazz trio: Tedd Firth on piano, David Finck on bass, and Mark McLean on drums.

The program opened charmingly with the classic “At Long Last Love” by Cole Porter from his 1938 show, You Never Know, where it was introduced by the inimitable Clifton Webb. (Peter Bogdanovich borrowed the title for his ill-fated musical comedy film of 1975, a work that has been recently reevaluated.) He followed this with the delightful "It All Depends on You" from 1926, with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, a song recorded by Ruth Etting among many others. He then performed a wonderful mash-up of two songs by the great Sammy Fain—author of Doris Day’s transcendent “Secret Love”—from his 1938 musical, Right this Way: the lovely “I Can Dream, Can't I?” and the ever popular “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

The singer then invited an up-and-coming musical theatre student, Sadie Fridley, to the stage, where she delivered a marvelous version of another hit, “A Fine Romance” by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, which was written for the terrific George Stevens film, Swing Time, from 1936, where it was introduced indelibly by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Feinstein returned for another mash-up, here of two songs by the masterful Victor Young: “When I Fall in Love” which was written for the 1952 Tay Garnett film, One Minute to Zero, recorded by many, including, notably, Nat King Cole; and, the perennial, “My Foolish Heart,” composed for 1949 Mark Robson film of the same title—surprisingly a work that was defended—on non-auteurist grounds—by Andrew Sarris.

Feinstein then invited the terrific Catherine Russell to take the stage as his special guest of the evening. Her set began delightfully with “Love is Just Around the Corner,” a lovely song with lyrics by Leo Robin that was written for the 1934 Frank Tuttle film, Here is My Heart, where it was introduced by Bing Crosby. With “What a Difference a Day Makes,” the 1934 Maria Grever song originally written in Spanish, the singer evoked the immortal Dinah Washington, who later made what is now the most famous recording. One of the most beautiful songs of the evening was “My Ideal,” from 1930, by Richard Whiting with lyrics by Leo Robin, which was introduced by Maurice Chevalier in the film, Playboy of Paris. She followed this with the 1946 “Come Rain or Come Shine” by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, written for the musical, St. Louis Woman. Feinstein returned to the stage to sing a duet with Russell, the 1938 “You Go to My Head” by J. Fred Coots.

Feinstein then went on to perform the 1962 “I Wanna Be Around,” co-written by Mercer, and he successfully recalled such artists as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Bobby Darrin, all of whom sang it. He dedicated the next song—from the 1978 musical, Ballroom, where it was introduced by Dorothy Loudon—in memory of the recently passed Marilyn Bergman, who wrote the lyrics were husband, Alan. He then sat alone at the piano to sing two requests from the audience: the 1935 “My Romance” by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, from the musical Jumbo, and Jerry Herman’s 1974 “I Won't Send Roses,” from his musical Mack and Mabel, where it was introduced by Robert Preston. Russell returned to the stage to join Feinstein in another duet: Porter’s 1936 “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” written for the film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Virginia Bruce. Feinstein closed the show with “For Once in My Life.”

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