Broadway has rarely been known for risk-taking. A commercial institution focused on the bottom line, theater producers like to give the audience what they think they want, over and over again, until the cash registers ring.
But with the opening (in preview) this week of a revival of Tennessee Williams’Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Broadway is both playing it safe in restaging a classic, and taking chances–in the choice of performers–in a way that should leave producers and audiences most satisfied.
Williams’ 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is getting a unique and innovative all-Black recasting, which while staying faithful to the original story of a wealthy, yet dysfunctional family in the Mississippi Delta, now has added nuance because of it.
The theater community has never completely embraced the concept of what it calls “alternative casting.” While White actors have always felt it their right to don blackface to do Othello, heaven help the Black actor who dares to perform a role previously conceived with a White person in mind. Drowning Crow, the 2004 all-Black adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, received compliments for performance but rankled the nerves of critics seemingly for the shear audacity of touching the classics.
This revival works largely because of its strong cast. It is remarkable how Williams’ words seem just as authentic, just as believable, coming out of the mouth of James Earl Jones as Big Daddy, as they did from Burl Ives in the original production (and later the film) more than fifty years ago. Jones uses his massive voice and presence to portray the most ornery and irascible old man you ever saw, on the evening of his 65th birthday celebration.
Joining him is one of the best actors working in theater today, Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama. (If you only know her work from The Cosby Show, you don’t know her work at all. Get your butt to the theater!) Rashad is simply delightful to watch as Big Daddy’s doting wife, mistrusted by him but perhaps the only real loving person in the family.
Movie actor Terrence Howard (Academy Award nominated for Hustle & Flow) makes not only his Broadway but his stage debut as their son Brick, the ex-star athlete who is descending rapidly into alcoholism following the death of his very close friend Skipper and the pressure to produce offspring. Calling Howard a movie actor is not a knock, merely a statement of his past credentials. Though less experienced than others on this stage, he more than holds his own in balancing the emotions of a man in a loveless marriage, still mourning the loss of a friend he deeply cared about. Had Howard not been up to the task, he might have withered like a raisin in the sun or some other less skilled celebrities who have attempted to work in the theater.
His wife Maggie is played by yet another Tony winner, Anika Noni Rose. A beautiful, young, social climber who has married into the family, she is skilled at using her abundant feminine charms to get what she wants, but not skilled enough to get Brick to love her. She understands all too well that the price of inheriting Big Daddy’s estate and thus securing her future, is a baby. Rose’s Maggie is a bundle of energy, mixed with raw sex appeal, laced with cunning and guile and just a smidge of spite.
This half-century-old play seems timeless under Debbie Allen’s direction. In light of contemporary discussions of “the DL,” the show’s insinuation of a homosexual underpinning to Brick’s mourning and marital indifference, is perhaps more easily accepted by today’s audience than when it originally opened. It also allows us to better understand the machinations one goes through to keep up appearances for family and society’s sake.
Giancarlo Esposito and Lisa Arrindell Anderson are eldest son Gooper and his wife Mae, a successful corporate attorney and a fertile wife, who have done all the right things to provide heirs to the empire, but who still can’t seem to ingratiate themselves. Both performers amuse us with their calculated missteps before Big Daddy and well-aimed backstabs at Maggie and Brick.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens officially on March 6 for a limited run at the Broadhurst Theatre. I give it my “run, don’t walk” recommendation.
Washington DC’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate the entire ten-play cycle of work by the late Pulitzer Prize-winner August Wilson. August Wilson’s 20th Century is an epic undertaking, rallying together some of the theater community’s most talented artists.
Wilson’s critically acclaimed dramas chronicle the African-American experience in the 20th century and will be offered in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre March 4-April 6. Kenny Leon is the artistic director for the project.
The creative team also includes David Gallo (sets), Reggie Ray (costumes), Allen Lee Hughes (lighting) and Dwight Andrews (music supervision). Todd Kreidler is associate artistic director.
Casting and directors for each of the ten plays follow:
Directed by Kenny Leon, Gem of the Ocean (set in the 1900s) will feature James A. Williams as Eli, John Erl Jelks as Citizen Barlow, Michele Shay as Aunt Ester, Raynor Scheine as Rutherford Selig, Anthony Chisholm as Solly Two Kings and Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Caesar. The role of Black Mary has yet to be cast.
Directed by Todd Kreidler, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1910s) will feature Eugene Lee as Seth Holly, LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Bertha Holly, Keith David as Bynum Walker, Raynor Scheine as Rutherford Selig, Montae Russell as Jeremy Furlow, Russell Hornsby as Herald Loomis, Dominique Ross as Zonia Loomis, Cherise Boothe as Mattie Campbell, Terrance Thomas as Reuben Mercer, Michole Briana White as Molly Cunningham and Rosalyn Coleman as Martha Pentecost.
Lou Bellamy will direct Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1920s), which will feature Raynor Scheine as Sturdyvant, Jerry Whiddon as Irvin, Harry Lennix as Cutler, Roger Robinson as Toledo, James A. Williams as Slow Drag, Anthony Mackie as Levee, Ebony Jo-Ann as Ma Rainey, Jeff Allin as Policeman, Rosalyn Coleman as Dussie Mae and Eric Berryman as Sylvester.
The Piano Lesson (1930s), with direction by Kenny Leon, will feature Bill Nunn as Doaker, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Boy Willie, Jason Dirden as Lymon, Heather Alicia Simms as Berniece, Alexandra Brooke Perrin as Maretha, Afemo Omilami as Avery, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Wining Boy and Cherise Boothe as Grace.
The cast of Seven Guitars (1940s), under the direction of Derrick Sanders, will include LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Louise, Russell Hornsby as Canewell, Harry Lennix as Red Carter, Vanessa Bell Calloway as Vera, Afemo Omilami as Hedley, Keith David as Floyd Barton and Crystal Fox as Ruby.
Fences (1950s) will star Bill Nunn as Jim Bono, Tamara Tunie as Rose, Montae Russell as Lyons, Hassan El-Amin as Gabriel, Anthony Mackie as Cory and Autumn Malhotra as Raynell; the role of Troy Maxon has yet to be cast. Kenny Leon directs.
The Israel Hicks-directed Two Trains Running (1960s) will feature Glynn Turman as Memphis, Russell Hornsby as Wolf, Michole Briana White as Risa, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Holloway, John Earl Jelks as Sterling, Hassan El-Amin as Hambone and Eugene Lee as West.
Jitney (1970s), directed by Gordon Davidson, will include Anthony Mackie as Youngblood, John Beasley as Turnbo, Anthony Chisolm as Fielding, Eugene Lee as Doub, Afemo Omilami as Shealy, Montae Russell as Philmore, Paul Butler as Becker, Roslyn Ruff as Rena and Hassan El-Amin as Booster.
The King Hedley II (1980s) company, directed by Derrick Sanders, will feature Russell Hornsby as King Hedley II, Lynda Gravátt as Ruby, John Earl Jelks as Mister, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Elmore, Heather Alicia Simms as Tonya and James A. Williams as Stool Pigeon.
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the Radio Golf (1990s) company will comprise Harry Lennix as Harmond Wilks, Michole Briana White as Mame Wilks, James A. Williams as Roosevelt Hicks, John Earl Jelks as Sterling Johnson and Anthony Chisholm as Elder Joseph Barlow.
August Wilson (April 27, 1945-Oct. 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the 20th century. Wilson’s plays have been produced at regional theatres across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Wilson’s works garnered many awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars and Jitney.
Does the face we show the world represent who we really are? Can we ever show the world another face if others are only willing to see us as we were before? Who gets to decide who is authentic?
These are but a few of the many questions raised, debated and bandied about in the refreshingly new, highly amusing, yet profoundly introspective play Yellow Face by Tony Award winning playwright David Henry Hwang, recently extended at The Public Theater through January 13.
Hwang takes the unusual approach of placing himself as the central character DHH—played with tremendous wit by actor Hoon Lee–in this semi-autobiographical, partly fictitious, partly factual exploration of the ways in which race and identity from an Asian-American perspective play out in America. The term yellow face, at least in one context, refers to non-Asians putting on makeup to perform roles that could or should have been given to Asian actors, as in the Charlie Chan movie series of the 1930’s and ‘40’s.
Hwang, who exploded onto the theatre scene with 1988 Tony and Drama Desk Award wins for M. Butterfly, cleverly takes us through the period immediately following when he led a group of Asian-American show business professionals in opposition to the casting of a White man, Jonathan Pryce, as a Eurasian in the 1991 Broadway production of Miss Saigon. Hwang was both praised by Asian groups for his outspokenness and vilified by Broadway power brokers for his stance to the point where his activism was affecting his career.
Hwang, as DHH, tries to move on with his life and get back to writing. He creates a new play with Asian characters but when a casting decision puts a White actor mistakenly believed to be Eurasian in the lead role, he jumps through hoops trying to cover up his error or just make it go away. This is where fact and fiction blend together at its entertaining best, lending to some of the cleverest and most amusing scenes of the show.
Marcus (Noah Bean), the White actor, reluctantly goes along at first with the charade of being passed off as Eurasian, but later sees an opportunity to get in touch with his new Asian roots and become a credit to the race, much to the annoyance of DHH. Its theater of the absurd as Marcus becomes the new face of the Asian acting community, rivaling DHH himself in stature.
Weaving another layer of reality into the story, Hwang recounts the United States Senate investigation of Chinese government business transactions with Chinese-American banks the late 1990’s. Hwang’s father Henry Y. Hwang, founded the first Asian-American-owned federally chartered bank in America and his bank was a target of those investigations, although no charges were ever brought against him.
Still this brought no shortage of personal angst and drama to the Hwang family and DHH himself who was at one time a board member of the bank. In the play’s most serious turn, DHH faces off with a NY Times reporter he feels has engaged in a vendetta against his father and the Chinese community in general. Through this scene and those with his father, we glean the true significance of this play and its title.
As DHH explains it, Asians in America are often asked, “Where are you from?” They may be native-born, second or third generation citizens, but upon informing questioners of this, the response is always, “No, where are you really from?” The inference being, no matter how hard they try, they are never accepted as full citizens.
In a five member ensemble supporting cast that expertly assumes several roles, Francis Jue stood out as DHH’s father, as actor B.D. Wong and assorted other scene-stealing characters. Leigh Silverman kept the entire pace lively with crisp direction.
It has been an exciting week in show business with labor action affecting both the television and theatrical communities.
Last Monday, members of the Writers Guild of America walked off the set, shutting down production on the late night talk shows, sitcoms and any dramas that hadn’t put enough episodes in the can. The issue is over compensation for internet and DVD usage of produced product. Writers want a piece of the pie, greedy producers want to keep it all for themselves.
As all of us realize, the future of all media is on the internet. No one buys CDs any more, we all download. Networks increasingly release their first run programming on YouTube or other websites, or put out DVDs of entire seasons so viewers can watch the reruns at their own discretion. Currently, writers, actors and directors–the creative people without whom there would be no television–get little if any of the revenue generated from these non-broadcast means of distribution.Writer/comedian and Writers Guild member Tim Kazurinsky, appeared recently on Chicago television station WGN and broke it all down.
Next June, contracts between producers and members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America expire and the same issues are on the table. Everyone is watching how this negotiating plays out to see if producers will come to their senses and share the revenue, or if they will remain the selfish idiots we’ve always known them to be, and force a walkout by actors and directors.
(In 2000, while still a working actor, I spent five months on the picket line when SAG and AFTRA struck commercial producers, over the very same issue of residuals and internet airing of advertising. I learned first hand how soulless producers are.)
While most performers stand behind their union brothers on the writing side, not everyone is. Apparently, comedian and talk show host Ellen Degeneres has chosen to go on with her show despite the strike. She will come to New York November 19th and 20th to tape her show. Members of the Writers Guild of America East plan a frosty reception.
On the theatrical front, when talks between Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) broke down in their negotiations with the League of American Theatres and Producers, that union representing stagehands authorized a strike. At 11am on Saturday, November 10th members of Local One set up picket lines shutting down nearly all of Broadway.
A total of 35 shows are currently running, with the majority of them affected by the strike. The non-profit houses and a handful of others operate under separate contracts and will remain open. They include: The New Amsterdam (Mary Poppins), Helen Hayes Theatre (Xanadu), Hilton Theatre (Young Frankenstein), Circle in the Square (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), American Airlines Theatre (Pygmalion), Studio 54 (The Ritz) and Biltmore Theatre (Mauritius) and Vivian Beaumont (Cymbeline).
Explaining their situation to confused ticket-holders, the union issued the following statement:
Theatre owners and producers are demanding a 38 % cut in our jobs and wages. They have built a $20 million fund to be used against us from the sale of theatre tickets to the public.
Broadway is a billion dollar a year industry and has never been more profitable than now.Cuts in our jobs and wages will never result in a cut in ticket prices to benefit the public, but only an increase in the profits for producers.Unlike the producers, we are not fighting for our second or third homes; we are fighting to keep the one that we have.
We ask for your understanding in our efforts to defend ourselves and protect our families.
The strike will not effect off Broadway or off off Broadway plays however, which in my opinion, usually offer more interesting shows anyway. Attendance was up by about 30% over the weekend at off-Broadway houses and at least 57 non-Broadways shows are running.
Writers Guild of America, East statement concerning Ellen Degeneres LINK Writers Guild of America, WestLINK International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local One LINK
New York theater-goers are enjoying an abundance of riches at the present moment. No, I’m not talking about the over-blown, stunt-cast tourist fare found on Broadway. I’m talking about the more thought-provoking, literate and risk-taking productions being staged off Broadway and in particular the arrival of exciting new playwrights demanding to be heard.
Opening this week at the Public Theater is such an example. The Brothers Size is a compelling, lyrical one-act play that uses a contemporary style and ceremonial presentation to tell the story of two brothers and the friend whose presence threatens to tear them apart.
Like Hoodoo Love, reviewed here last week, this project is the brainchild of a new writing talent, Tarell Alvin McCraney, a May 2007 (yes, just six months ago) MFA graduate of the Yale School of Drama. The Brothers Size was performed at The Public last year as part of the UNDER THE RADAR festival, after getting on the radar screen of some of the theater community’s current movers and shakers.
McCraney draws from West African culture and mythology in naming his characters after Yoruba religious figures. Ogun (Gilbert Owuor), is the god of war and iron and here a hard working auto mechanic and older brother to, Oshoosi, the deity of the wanderer and hunter. This Oshoosi (Brian Tyree Henry), is a recently released ex-convict and friend of Elegba (Elliot Villar), the shape-shifting trickster, who was his prison cellmate. The story is set in San Pere, Louisiana near the Bayou, in the “distant present.
“Using a minimalist set in the black box space of The Public’s Shiva theater, and an off stage drummer to provide musical accompaniment and sound effects, the actors play in and out of a chalk circle drawn on the floor. Who stands inside or out, illustrates the relationships between the characters.
Ogun is trying to help his brother stay on the straight and narrow, by getting him a job at his garage. He has grown frustrated by his brother’s lack of direction and the sacrifices he made to help raise him. Oshoosi is less driven, wanting only the use of a car so he can seek out the pleasures of the flesh he’s lived without while in prison.
As Elegba, Villar plays with a just-below-the-surface sense of danger that makes you suspicious of every word he utters. While Oshoosi has made it clear to his brother he has no desire to go back to jail–in an emotional challenge between the two–it becomes increasingly apparent that Elegba has had a hard time leaving the penitentiary behind. The counterweight he provides to Ogun’s influence compels Oshoosi to face the choices he has made in life.
If there is one drawback to this play it is that it is a tad predictable. With just three characters it is easy to see how the story will play out. But that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the various performances. Owuor is an earnest Ogun who has accepted his own place in life while maintaining his dignity. Henry has the juiciest role, allowed to be the free spirit, the beset-upon younger brother and the unknowing co-conspirator all at once and he does so with an arresting stage presence, charisma and sensitivity. McCraney, director Tea Alagic and the three actors, developed and worked on this play together over the past two years and their comfort level with the material and each other is evident.
This play has the unique distinction of a simultaneous staging on both sides of the pond. It runs through Dec. 23 here in New York and November 8 to December 8 at London’s Young Vic theater. Future productions are set for Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theatre.
The Brothers Size at The Public Theater LINK The Brothers Size at The Young Vic LINK The Brothers Size at The Studio Theatre LINK
