Hurricane Christie

Memo to conservatives: These images of President Obama and Gov. Christie did not lose you the 2012 Presidential Election.

President Obama is touring the Jersey shore with Gov. Christie later today.  Like an approaching hurricane far off in the distance, the conservative criticism of Gov. Christie that is about to reappear is both predictable and ludicrous.  Before the “conservative intelligencia” restart the anti-Christie movement, let’s take a moment and set the story straight.

The president’s visit is sure to remind conservatives of Gov. Christie’s post-Hurricane Sandy comments, comments they viewed as tantamount to treason. 

Six days before the election on NBC’s Today, Gov. Christie was asked about the federal response to Hurricane Sandy to which he replied, “The federal government response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president personally. The president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA … have been excellent.”

President Obama and Gov. Christie brief the press after touring New Jersey and seeing the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

Matters, in the eyes of conservatives were made worse when Gov. Christie was photographed showing President Obama the decimated Jersey shoreline.  Too some in the conservative movement, including many Romney aides, Gov. Christie’s comments were what helped sway the 2012 election towards President Obama.

To that I say, get real!  Is it any reason you lost?

Chris Christie did not lose the 2012 race for Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney did that for himself.  And furthermore I counter by asking what should Gov. Christie have done?

President Obama and Gov. Christie tour the Jersey Shore via Marine One after Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy, in New Jersey alone, killed 37 people, damaged 346,000 homes and caused $30 billion in damage.  Gov. Christie, did what good public servants do.  He put service ahead of party and went to bat for his state.

The real act of treason is that the conservative movement still views the anti-Christie sentiment as acceptable.  So before the conservative movement re-ignites the debate, this conservative want to get out ahead of the storm and set a course-correction.

Happy Liza Doolittle Day!

Next week, on the twentieth of May, I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day!

-My Fair Lady

Ok, it isn’t, Christmas or the 4^th of July, but every year on the 20^th of May, I look forward to Eliza Doolittle Day!

The 20^th of May reference comes from My Fair Lady’s Act I fantasy number “Just You Wait (Henry Higgins).”  While not an official holiday, Eliza Doolittle Day is the nearest event I’ll ever have to celebrating the brilliance of My Fair Lady because it conceptualizes the definition of a masterpiece.

My Fair Lady is about a professor named Henry Higgins, and his attempt to turn cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady by teaching her how to speak properly.  Underpinning the entire show is a romantic, dare I say sexual, tension between the two as they struggle to understand one another in their attempt to master the English language.

It wasn’t until last December when I finally saw My Fair Lady on-stage for the first time in an ill-conceived production at Washington, DC’s Arena Stage.  This revival had many errors including: poor casting, an over-stated and misguided focus on the issue of class relations, and the removal of the show’s glorious overture.  Why though, was I still applauding at the show’s curtain call?

Herein lays what defines a masterpiece and why My Fair Lady is one.

At its core, My Fair Lady addresses one of humanity’s great enigmas: the relationship between the sexes.   Despite attempts to re-frame the story, My Fair Lady’s book and musical structure are so solidly constructed that it’s impossible to lose focus on the show’s underlying theme.

A masterpiece is something whose integrity, meaning and impact never change throughout time.  Their statement on society is timeless.  One of the great attributes of this masterpiece, is that regardless of whatever future artistic interpretations may bring, nothing can diminish how the elegant-simplicity of Alan Jay Lerner’s lyrics, the beauty and innocence of Frederick Lowe’s score or the pitch perfect wording of Lerner’s book tell the story of Eliza and Higgins.

A lot of musicals have opened and closed since My Fair Lady first debuted in 1956, but none have continued to capture the public’s attention quite like My Fair Lady.

It’s a rare musical that can continue to please generations of thespians, theater critics and audiences, not to mention moviegoers as well.  So on this Eliza Doolittle Day, give the cast album a listen or the movie a viewing.  And remember, you’re in the presence of a masterpiece!

Just You Wait Henry Higgins – Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in the original Broadway Cast of My Fair Lady

 

The Art of Storytelling Part II

The nature of love and the meaning of life are two abstract concepts which Broadway shows seem to be in a constant struggle to forever define.  Fortunately, I saw two shows on my recent trip to Broadway which employed unconventional methods to answer these unconventional questions.

Pippin – The Music Box Theatre

The theatre was pitch black, the curtain a dingy tent flap and from the orchestra a faint piano could be heard as a slinky black shadow slithered toward the audience beckoning, “Join us…”

It’s easy to hook an audience with a great opening number, and Pippin has one of the best in “Magic to Do.”  But it’s also easy to lose an audience when trying to define an abstract question, which is what Pippin is all about.

The musical follows the story of a boy named Pippin as he searches for the meaning of life.  It’s a quest everyone in the audience is familiar with, both personally and on-stage, for Pippin’s journey is not unlike Princeton in Avenue Q or Candide in Candide.

What makes Pippin’s journey different from those before (and after) him is the honesty with which life’s choices are laid out.  Pippin, like many of us, searches through life’s all too familiar phases including: military glory, sex, politics, family and even ordinary life before finally arriving at what he views as the best way to make his life extraordinary.

The emotional and physical choices Pippin must address are conveyed by the fact that the show is performed by a troupe in a circus like atmosphere.  This troupe not only breaks the fourth wall in addressing the audience, but uses the circus setting to symbolize the hoops one must jump through and the beams one must walk across to find the answers to life’s most complex questions.

Life as circus is not an original metaphor, but it is an honest one.  And Pippin’s quest to find life’s meaning is an innocent and honest enigma we all try to solve.  Pippin’s greatest attribute as a musical is the clarity in the portrayal of life’s choices through its spectacles.

The Last 5 Years – Second Stage Theatre (Off-Broadway)

Countless musicals have told love stories on linear paths regardless of their ending.  But what about telling the story from two different angles and time perspectives?  That’s what makes The Last 5 Years a modern classic.

The Last 5 Years is a one act, two character, 90 minute show.  It tells the story of Jamie and Cathy over their five-year relationship, from the first date to their divorce.  Now, I’m not spoiling the ending, because the audience learns of the couple’s demise within the first song.  But the real question is how did they get there?

To answer that question composer Jason Robert Brown, who also directed this magnificent production, told their story in two distinct directions.  The songs alternate between Cathy and Jamie, with Cathy starting the show at the end of the marriage, and Jamie starting at the beginning of the relationship.  When the show concludes, it is Jamie who laments the marriage’s demise while Cathy is celebrating their meeting.

The real joy in watching The Last 5 Years is seeing this one-story told in two different and opposing emotional directions.  Even more fascinating is that both characters only meet and appear onstage together one-time throughout the show.  That happens mid-way thru when both stories intersect, at their wedding.  The scene is both heartbreaking because you know what’s coming, but also thrilling because you see the joy in their eyes.  Now, that’s great storytelling!

Finale

I saw The Last 5 Years and Pippin on the same day, one at the matinee and the other in the evening.  It was perhaps one of the greatest days in my theater-going journey, and reinforced what I love so much about the American theater: its ability to tell a story and the creativity involved.

The Last 5 Years will conclude its limited run on May 18, tickets are available by clicking here.

Pippin currently has an open-ended run, tickets are available by clicking here.

The Art of Storytelling: 2013 NYC Broadway Recap

Warning: This post will contain plot spoilers for the show’s mentioned.  Proceed at your own risk!

MarqueePolitics has been busy traveling and just returned from a whirlwind weekend in New York City seeing four shows: Matilda, The Last 5 Years, Pippin and Cinderella.  And while each musical was different in its style and staging, one thought kept popping into my head.  Sometimes it’s not the story that counts, but how you tell it!

Matilda – Shubert Theatre 

Matilda sailed into Broadway from London last month with a lot of hype and dazzling reviews.  Yet, it was the most anticlimactic-boring musical I have sat thru in a long, long time.  I arrived at this summation when heading to the men’s room at intermission, thinking about the Act I Finale and simply saying, “That’s it?”

Based on the Roald Dahl book, Matilda centers on an extremely intelligent five-year old girl. Despite having parents who hate her, and a nasty headmistress, she’s able to conquer life’s problems using her intelligence and, later on, telekinetic powers.

The problem with the telekinetic plot twist is that for a good 70% of the show, Matilda uses her intelligence to outwit those who wish her ill-will.  This shtick maybe cute, but by Act II it becomes quite predictable.  When Matilda’s telekinetic discovery finally is made,  it arrives in the form of Matilda knocking over a glass of water.  This discovery had a feeling of suspense comparable to hanging wallpaper.

I know the British are stereotyped as being rather dull, bloated and uptight, but that’s exactly how Matilda came off.  It was charming, yet dreadfully dull.  Good stories hold your attention, Matilda forced my attention to think about which bar I would frequent after the show.

Cinderella – Broadway Theatre

If Matilda was prim and proper, than Cinderella was its musical sibling of an adverse nature.  Originally a 90-minute Rodgers & Hammerstein (R&H) television musical, the show was elongated by one hour for its Broadway debut this spring.  To fill the gap, the producers imported music from other R&H shows and commissioned a new book (the spoken text of a musical) to be written.

The result was a mismatched narrative of a show, akin to wearing a tuxedo shirt and jacket with gym shorts and flip flops.   Cinderella is a classic fairy-tale where formality, elegance, manners and grace are as essential as the white ball gown and glass slippers.  Yet the words being spoken out of the characters mouth placed them in a B-movie comedy circa 2002.

While the new book attempted to freshen-up the show’s well-worn plot, the use of modern slang and colloquialisms not only cheapened the characters, but a lovely musical.  Cinderella is a reminder that in musical theater, music and lyrics simply don’t tell the story.  They ONLY work when combined with a well written book.

Storytelling maters….

Despite technological advances in stagecraft, Matilda and Cinderella confirmed that nothing can overrule a well told story.  Matilda and Cinderella were nice productions, but lacked the essential tools of drama (Matilda) and eloquence (Cinderella).

In Part II of this post, I’ll explore two shows which redefined the art of story-telling in vastly different ways including: forwards, backwards and with a little bit of magic to do!