Reflections in the Light

Theater Review: Porgy & Bess

2012-01-27T14:51:00.000-05:00

The Gershwins’ PORGY AND BESS (2012): Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis
Photo By: Michael J. Lutch

Norm, You is My Porgy NowBy Lauren Yarger
Consider that headline a love letter to Norm Lewis, who brings to life the character of Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess, getting a revised and slimmed-down production on Broadway directed by Diane Paulus.

Lewis brings such warmth, strength and humanity to Porgy, that his performance alone is reason to see the production which found itself embroiled in controversy before it even hit the Great White Way (Composer Stephen Sondheim wrote in the New York Times criticizing changes to the original version featuring music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, who wrote the libretto.)

For the revised version, which had a pre-Broadway run in Cambridge, MA, Suzan-Lori Parks (who wrote the Pulitzer-Prize winner TopDog, Underdog) adapted the 1935 book and is credited with additional scenes (though a planned happy ending was scrapped). Deirdre L. Murray, a composer and jazz instrumentalist, adapted the music which is orchestrated by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke.

While I understand Sondheim's and others' well intentioned concerns about altering an artist's work and the dangers of changing classic works to fit in with current culture, I think Porgy & Bess might be one of the best examples of how this can work well. The two-and-a-half hour piece infuses all of the best parts of the original with new vitality that will interest a new generation of theatergoers.

The opera tells the story of African-American life in Catfish Row, a fishing community in South Carolina (depicted here on a minimal set designed by Ricardo Hernandez. The characters are dressed in costumes designed by ESosa). Frankly, except for the wonderful music which includes classics like "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman, Now," and "It Ain't Necessarily So," among others, I didn't much care for the story in other versions I have seen. It's a real bummer and tends to get lost in the lengthy production, which can run more than three hours.

Here, though, thanks to Lewis' compelling portrayal, I got to know, and really care about Porgy, a crippled beggar (Lewis' twisted limp seems truly painful) who finds love with Bess (a surprisingly lackluster Audra McDonald the day I attended). Lewis' "I Got Plenty of Nothing" defines Porgy as a strong, confident man, content in life despite his hardships and accepted as a valued member of the community despite his circumstances -- not the wimpy sap who gets taken advantage of whom I had met in other productions. In fact, Lewis' portrayal is the one I will use as a measure for future Porgys.

In the tale, Porgy offers Bess shelter when Crown (Phillip Boykin) the man who is keeping her, murders a man and goes into hiding. He leaves Bess behind knowing that some other man will be happy to have the woman's sexual favors until he can return to claim her. He is amused to discover that the unfortunate Porgy has taken the job.

Bess, however, is more attracted to the disabled man's pure heart and kind, accepting love than she is to the towering, muscular stevedore physique that houses a cruel personality. Crown is outraged when she doesn't want to return to him. Boykin creates such an excellently vivid characterization of Crown's repulsive nature that he is soundly booed at the curtain call.

Standing out among the residents of Catfish Row are three: the wonderful Joshua Henry (his dreamy voice is a pleasure on any stage) as fisherman Jake, who leads beautiful renditions of "A Woman is a Sometime Thing," and "It Takes a Long Pull," David Alan Grier as Sporting Life, a drug dealer who tries to keep Bess hooked on "happy dust," and a delightfully humorous NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mariah, a sort of matriarch of the community.

Also deserving special mention are excellent vocals by Bryonha Marie Parham (who plays Serena, wife of the man killed by Crown), Nikki Renee Daniels (as Clara, Jake's wife) and Andrea Jones-Sojola as the Strawberry woman.

Overall, Paulus deserves Kudos for invigorating the piece, though some choreography by Ronald K. Brown seems awkward and out of place.

The limited engagement of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th St., NY C, runs through June. 24. Tickets: 877-250-2929 or visit www.porgyandbessonbroadway.com.

Student rush tickets, which are subject to availability, can be purchased for $37 each, one ticket per student ID and cash only. If available, tickets can be purchased the day of the performance starting at 5pm for evening performances and noon for matinees.

Christians might also like to know:
--Language
--Lords' name taken in vain
--Sexual activity
--Drug usage

Note: Thanks to a computer glitch, a draft version of this review was delivered by email to our subscribers. This is the version appearing online. We apologize for any confusion.

Theater Review: The Picture Box

2012-01-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

Arthur French and Jennifer Van Dyck. Photo: Carmen L. deJesus

A Portrait of Love, Friendship and Changing Times
By Lauren Yarger
When Carrie (Jennifer Van Dyck) wraps her arms around 89-year-old Mackie (Arthur French), his deep, warm, loving smile is the expression of the security she has found in his guidance and caring. Somehow, we also know that without him as her caretaker, she would have ended up a very different, troubled person.

Such is the sweet story that unfolds in Cate Ryan's The Picture Box, being presented Off-Broadway in a limited engagement by the Negro Ensemble Company, Inc.

It's election day, 2008, and Mackie, who worked as a servant for Carrie's mother at her large Florida home, is tickled that he has gotten to see a black man running for president of the United States during his lifetime. The white folks who have arranged to buy the house following the death of Carrie's mother, Bob (Malachy Cleary) and Karen (Marisa Redanty) aren't happy about the prospect of Barack Obama sitting in the Oval Office, however. In fact, Bob isn't too pleased that there is a black neighborhood nearby and he makes plans to install an alarm system and ensconce his personal arsenal of weapons in the new house once they renovate by knocking down most the existing structure (set design by Patrice Davidson).

Their fears might be moot, however, as Carrie has been unable to bring herself to sign the purchase agreement, even as Bob and Karen do their walk-through before heading over to the closing (after stopping to vote for the other guy). Carrie's relationship with her absent and oft-married mother wasn't ideal, but she did care about her deeply and she doesn't want to sell the house. Mackie's wife, Josephine (Elain Graham), feels the presence of her best friend still in the house too, and understands Carrie's reluctance. She tells her it is what her mother wanted, however, and urges Carrie to move on with her life in Manhattan.

While cleaning out the house, Carrie finds a box of photos left by her mother for Mackie and as the three reminisce, we discover how Mackie came to look after Carrie, what happened to the man's son and even a secret about the family dog. It's a lovely stroll down memory lane with touching, layered performances, particularly from French, directed by Charles Weldon.

Ryan's script manages to convey a sense of family and how it can provide an anchor during changing times despite some structure flaws. We have to wonder, for example, why Bob, the most unbelievably, horribly stereotypical personification of a white bigot that ever lived, would even consider buying a home near a black neighborhood. It's also unlikely that a real estate closing would be taking place in a couple of hours if the papers hadn't been signed already and with boxes and furniture still in the house at the walk-through. There also are unanswered questions about why Carrie's mother had a box of photos mostly containing snapshots of Mackie's life, or why everyone loved her so much (what we know about her doesn't necessarily indicate that scenario).

Regardless, the play is a lovely slice-of-life piece that focuses on how family -- and the people and love by which we define it -- form the people we become.

The Picture Box runs through Jan. 29 at the Beckett Theatre, 410 West 42nd, St., NYC. For tickets and information visit http://www.necinc.org/.

Christians might also like to know:
-- No content notes. Enjoy.

The mission of the Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) is to provide African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. The overall mission of the NEC is to present live theatre performances by and about black people to a culturally diverse audience that is often underserved by the theatrical community.

Theater Review: The Road to Mecca

2012-01-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

Physical, Emotional Freedoms Can Be Very Different Things

By Lauren Yarger

The stunning pinks, oranges and purples that light up the walls and ceiling of the otherwise small and uninteresting dwelling are a sharp contract to their artist creator: an insecure, grandmotherly loner who just wants to stay in Mecca. But then 1974 South Africa is a world of contradictions.

For Africaner Miss Helen (Rosemary Harris), Mecca is the house where she lived with her late husband in the Karoo village of New Bethesda, South Africa, and where her odd sculptures (unseen) adorn the property. Inside, the colors and light reflected by candles, glitter and mirrors are the magical expression of her true self. (The terrific set is by Michael Yeargan.)

The villagers mostly have put up with her quirks over the years. Sometimes they throw rocks at her statues of owls and other things -- He's pulling up his trousers, not taking them down, she asserts -- but mostly they have ignored her. A series of accidents which have left Helen's hands burned, however, might rob her of her freedom and the sanctuary of her home crammed with the beloved odds and ends she has collected throughout her life.

Minister Marius Byleveld (Jim Dale) and a 17-year-old black woman who visits to avoid the abuse of a drunken husband are the only people Helen sees regularly at her home. Marius pressures Helen to sign papers giving up her home and to relocate to a nice room with space for a few of her possessions that has become available at a retirement home run by the church. Helen's resistance is waning until the unexpected arrival of good friend Elsa Barlow (Carla Gugino).

Elsa isn't afraid of stirring up a little trouble. After all, she has been reprimanded for having her students in an all-black school in Capetown write essays about racial inequality. She always has been a lifeline to the widowed artist and when she receives an alarming letter from Helen about the turn of events in her life, she drops everything to drive 12 hours down the road to Mecca and help her friend.

After catching up on all the latest village gossip, Elsa privately encourages Helen to stand up to Marius. When he arrives, and almost competes for Helen's loyalty and friendship, Elsa oddly won't take the role of Helen's champion despite the artist's pleas for help. Instead, she urges her friend to sign the papers if she can't take a stand on her own.

It's all a little confusing, perhaps because the script isn't up to par with most of Athold Fugard's other tales of South Africa under Apartheid, despite the fact that this Roundabout Theatre Company production is directed by Gordon Edelstein, who has helmed premieres of the playwright's works (Coming Home and Have You Seen Us?), as well as The Train Driver at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT where he is artistic director. The first act is very slow moving, bogged down with long stretches of monologue. Dale's arrival, and his sharp, subtle humor, is a welcome addition in the second act, though it meanders on with multiple false endings to bring the complete run time to two and a half hours.

Ultimately it is a story of how someone can be in prison, even if he or she is free. The 17-year-old black girl's plight as well as a young black woman and her baby who haunt Elsa are reminders of the oppression that permeated 1974 Sounth Africa. Costumes are by Susan Hilferty and John Gromada provides original music and sound design.

The Road to Mecca runs through March 4 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd St., NYC. For tickets, call 212-719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Christians might also like to know:

-- Language

-- God's name taken in vain.