Review: Miss. Saigon at Signature Theatre

When Miss. Saigon opened on Broadway in 1991, the production played to 1,700 theatergoers nightly, featured a cast of 40 and a physical production which incorporated a helicopter landing on-stage.    So what would happen if Miss. Saigon was suddenly scaled down to a small regional theater?  Would this epic stage show survive?

That was the question facing Signature Theater when they announced Miss. Saigon as the opener for their 24^th season. The result was astounding.  Not only did Miss. Saigon survive, but 24 years after its world-première in London, I’m thrilled to report that the show has held up unbelievably well in this thrilling new production!

For starters, I can’t stress enough the reduction in the size and scope of this production.  Most musicals are scaled down when they go from Broadway to regional theater, but this reduction was drastic.  Signature’s Max Theater only seats 275 patrons and this revival features a cast of 18, roughly half the size of the original London and New York casts.

One problem with the original Broadway production was that the staging took away from Miss. Saigon’s book, music and lyrics, the heart of any musical.  Whereas with The Phantom of the Opera, audiences could remember both the special effects and the score, with Miss. Saigon it was a different story.  Audiences could remember the helicopter, but none of the songs.  There was no balance between these two storytelling techniques.

In Signature’s production, director Eric Schaeffer has done a remarkable job refocusing the story away from special effects and more towards the love-story at the heart of the show between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl during the fall of Saigon in 1975.  Furthermore, Schaeffer’s staging allows the songs to better tell the story.  And luckily for this audience, the score is beautifully performed by a 15 piece orchestra (much larger than many current orchestras on Broadway).

Adding to the chaos and confusion of Miss. Saigon’s war setting is the environmental set design which is at the heart of this production.  The theater is littered with military paraphernalia including an authentic Vietnam-era airplane wing and cockpit.  All of this leads to the question: Is there a helicopter?  Yes, the helicopter does make an appearance.  And while I won’t spoil the moment, I will reveal that it is only used to enhance the scene, not steal it.

A great deal of praise and credit for this production’s success must also be given to the performances of Thom Sesma (the Engineer), Diana Huey (Kim), Jason Michael Evans (Chris) and Erin Driscol (Ellen).  With a well established show like Miss. Saigon, it’s easy to create performances that are carbon copies of the original Broadway cast.  But this cast has indeed created a Miss. Saigon that is their own and the on-stage chemistry is only adding to the excitement of this production.

There is one final aspect of this production which can’t be ignored and that is a new Act II song entitled “Maybe” making its world-début in this production.  In preparation for next year’s 25^th anniversary London revival of Miss. Saigon, the creative team of Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. decided to rewrite a scene in Act II causing them to remove one song, and substitute it with “Maybe.”  In an effort to not be a spoiler, I won’t disclose much about the song except to say that it’s terrific.  And for audiences, there’s nothing more exciting then to hear a new song before the rest of the theatrical community.

The fall 2013 DC theater season is just beginning, but as of right now, it’s hard to imagine anything more exciting this year than Signature Theatre’s production of Miss. Saigon.  “Why, God, Why?” is not just a ballad in the first act, it’s the question you’ll be asking if you miss this production!

Miss. Saigon is playing thru September 22.  Tickets maybe purchased here.

My Favorite Things

MarqueePolitics is turning two this month, and this blogger is turning the big 27. With these milestones on the horizon, it got me thinking.

I’m often asked about my favorite performances, and to identify which ones made the biggest impact on me.  With my birthday right around the corner, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to reflect on the performances that have never quite left me.

Phantom/Miss. Saigon/Cats

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

All it took was: a crashing chandelier, helicopter landing and dancing cats.  These were first shows I ever saw (ages 3, 6, 7).  Their combination of: high emotions, grand spectacle and memorable pop scores sent my young imagination soaring.  I often call them the holy trinity of musicals, because it was these three shows that introduced me to the great love of my life, the theater.

Evita – 1979 Original Broadway Cast Recording

I had an epiphany in high school, and it was the first time I ever listened to the original Broadway cast recording of Evita.

The rock opera’s themes of politics, revolution and media manipulation hooked this young politico at age 16.  Evita was further electrified by Patti LuPone’s fierce portrayal as Argentina’s First Lady and her ambition to succeed at all costs.  Despite having the album for the 11 years, not a week goes by when LuPone and the original Broadway cast of Evita can been heard from my apartment, giving this show a touch of star quality!

Elaine Stritch at Liberty – 2002 Broadway Production

Rare, intense, humorous, honest and a triumph of the human soul.

I was lucky enough to attend the last Broadway matinee performance of this show.  From that Sunday afternoon, I learned that human’s can triumph over any adversity as long as we don’t stop fighting.  Accompanied by a songbook of classic Broadway hits, Stritch walked the audience thru her: fights with alcoholism, struggles with love, triumphs working with Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim, and life’s journey from being raised in Detroit to having her name adorn Broadway marquees.

Great actors leave it all out on the stage and Stritch set the bar for generations to come.

 Company – 2006 Broadway Revival

Company, more than any other show, changed my perspective on life.

My parents split when I was very young, and what understanding of marriage I had came from television.  Because of that, I never understood the emotional complexity involved when two people enter into a relationship, and what I did know was very one-sided.   Company threw cold-water on that idea, teaching me that relationships are about sharing your life with somebody, not just some-body.  Theater is often a reflection of life through art, and its through art that we learn so much about ourselves as individuals.

The Audience

The one constant in all these productions is the audience, and I’ve been lucky to have always had a supporting audience of my own.  While I won’t use their names, I want recognize the friends and family who have encouraged my love of the theater: My parents who introduced me to the musical at age 3, grandparents who were always game to see a show on Broadway – even if they didn’t quite “get it”, Chief of Staff, and dear friends living across the country in: New York, Pittsburgh, Rockville, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, DC.  All of which I owe a debt a gratitude for indulging in my life’s great passion!

The cast albums to all shows mentioned above are available on amazon.com.

Furthermore, video productions of: Cats, Company, Elaine Stritch at Liberty and Phantom may also be found at amazon.com.

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!

Some Enchanted Recording

It was some enchanted evening on April 7, 1949 when South Pacific opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre.  So culturally significant was this event that last week the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.  While this blogger, and millions others, have always recognized the Rodgers & Hammerstein show for its cultural significance, the Library of Congress has now also taken note.  Now future generations of American’s will know what it is like when ‘you see a stranger across a crowded room.’

To be selected for the National Recording Registry is an immense honor.  It not only signifies a recording’s popular appeal, but more importantly it’s cultural significance to the heritage of the United States.  The recordings aren’t based on trivial matters such as: “weeks spent at #1” or “total # of albums sold.”  Rather, selections are because the albums “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

Each year the National Recording Registry Board accepts nominations in 23 different categories for an album’s inclusion into the Registry.  Those categories include: Documentary/Broadcast/Spoken Word, Heavy Metal, Rap/Hip-Hop and Broadway/Musical Theatre/Soundtrack.  From the nominations, the Board then chooses roughly 25-50 recordings to be preserved by the Library of Congress.  In addition to original cast album of South Pacific this year’s list also includes: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, Van Cliburn’s 1958 rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 and a D-Day radio broadcast by journalist George Hicks.

The Registry is a who’s who of American political, entertainment and religious culture.  While Congress usually gets jeered, I feel that this is one occasion where they should be cheered.  For none of this would be possible had it not been mandated by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000.

Going back to South Pacific, I don’t think it was picked solely because of its success on both stage and screen.  Yes, the show won 10 Tony awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has been produced around the world, but it also represents something more.  On the eve of the American Civil Rights movement, South Pacific unapologetically proclaimed, “You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear.”  This statement is still as bold now as was when it was first sung in 1949.  That declaration alone is reason enough why South Pacific should be preserved, and listened too for generations to come.

Springtime for….

Peter Pan used to tell children that if they wanted to fly, they must think “Happy” thoughts.  Well I’m applying the same logic to staying warm this winter, and so my thoughts are turning to the new crop of Broadway shows opening in March and April.  Below are the productions I’m most excited to see on Broadway this spring!

Pippin – We’ve Got Magic To Do!

Music  Box Theater – Opening Night April 25^th

The revival of this 1972 musical is about a boy prince hoping to find his way in the world.  Throughout his travels, he goes on to basically do ‘sex, drugs and rock n’roll’ all in the hope of discovering fulfillment in life.  With a score by Stephen Schwartz (better known to millenials as the composer of Wicked) this production couldn’t better timed.  With too many millenials still questioning traditional social values after the 2008 financial collapse, hopefully they’ll learn from Pippin’s example about how to make life extraordinary.

Cinderella – A New Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical?

Broadway Theatre – Opening Night March 3^rd

“How can this be,” you’re asking yourself!  “I saw this same musical on television with Julie Andrews?”  True, Cinderella was originally a television musical with Julie Andrews.  In fact R&H wanted to work with Andrews so badly they wrote Cinderella just for her.  The music however has never been heard on the Broadway stage, till now.  Featuring an updated and elongated book, this production of Cinderella will be the first time these R&H songs have been heard on the Broadway stage in a legitimate production.

Matilda – A Non-Spectacle British Musical?

Shubert Theatre – Opening Night April 11^th

It’s fascinating to me watching the transformation of the British musical.  In the eighties it was all spectacle with shows like Starlight Express and Miss Saigon.  Now, with shows like Billy Elliot and Matilda, the musicals are becoming more character driven.  That being said Matilda, a musical based on the beloved Roald Dahl novel, is coming to American via the Royal Shakespeare Company and a lot of theater buzz.  It will be exciting to see whether this shows turns out to be like London productions that had a lot of buzz and flopped (Chess) or still have their marquee burning bright (Phantom).

The Last 5 Years – My First Time…

2^nd Stage Theatre – Opening Night March 7^th

I’ve never been off-Broadway, but if there was ever a reason to go, it would be to see a production of the heart-breakingly beautiful musical The Last 5 Years.  This two-person show is about a couple and the story of their marriage.  The husband and wife alternate singing every-other-song, with the wife starting at the end of the marriage and the husband starting after their first date.  They respectively go forward and backwards, only meeting once and that’s in the middle of the show at their wedding.  This show had a brief off-Broadway run a decade ago, but has since become a modern classic.

As for what makes a show an off-Broadway show?  Off-Broadway are theaters that can house 100-499 seats, thus making them smaller then Broadway theaters.  Many off-Broadway also tend to be out of the realm of the theater district in mid-town Manhattan.

A Valentine’s Day Mixtape

I grew up as a product of the 1990’s, which meant that when you really liked someone, you gave them a mix tape.    Although the older I get, the more I realize that relationships and love aren’t as black-and-white as they first appear.  This Valentine’s Day, whether you’re single or in a relationship, I’d like to give you a mix tape featuring some of the best romantically-themed songs from Broadway that address the complexity of love.

I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You – Evita

It’s probably the most unconventional pick-up line in a musical, but let’s face it, there are relationships built on exactly this notion – I’d be surprisingly good for you.  For Gen. Juan Peron, Eva’s proposition in Act I meant an entryway through which he could rally unions and the lower classes of Argentine society for his political career.  Nevertheless, Eva’s proposition gives definition to the notion that some relationships aren’t exactly built on love.

I Won’t Send Roses – Mack & Mabel

Flop musicals, like bad relationships, are painful to go through, but sometimes they yield unexpected joys.  Mack & Mabel may have only played 66 performances in 1974, but the show yielded one of the greatest romantic songs of all-time, the Act I heart-breaker, “I Won’t Send Roses.”  What’s striking is that so many songs are written to end relationships. This song makes it clear as to why the relationship can never happen to begin with.

Losing My Mind – Follies

Everyone has had heartbreak, but what makes “Losing My Mind” so dramatically beautiful is the honesty with which Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics.  Set late in Act II of Follies, “Losing My Mind” is sung by a woman who suddenly discovers that after 30 years, the man she first loved, doesn’t love her back and never did.  Throughout the song, she goes onto to explain what losing that love means to her.

Maybe This Time – Cabaret

We’ve all been on dates that have gone horribly wrong.  I remember one date where the girl proceeded to tell me how her psychiatrist medicates her so that she can fly on planes.  Still, after every bad date, we leave thinking, “Maybe this time, I’ll be lucky.”  Hence what brings up the Kander and Ebb song expressly written for Liza Minnelli and the movie version of Cabaret.

Sorry-Grateful – Company

This is Stephen Sondheim’s second appearance on this list, and yet a deserved appearance.  After the novelty of a relationship wears off, we’re all left wondering whether we’re sorry to be coupled-up, or grateful to have someone.  For men in particular, Sorry-Grateful puts both music and lyrics to exactly that feeling.

And yes, the actor singing the song in this video is Stephen Colbert

Shall We Dance – The King and I

Relationships are full of ambiguity, and “Shall We Dance” is a perfect interpretation of that feeling.  On paper, the song is literally about Anna teaching the King to dance.  By the sub-context reflects a song where the emotional, physical and sexual chemistry of the lead characters click at the right moment.

 

My Cabbage Patch Doll, The Phantom and I

When I was a kid, the basement of our house used to flood after every major thunderstorm.  Naturally, I would become paranoid that the Phantom of the Opera was going to kidnap me.  This fear was instilled in me at age three when my parents took me to see my first-ever musical, The Phantom of Opera.  Over the weekend, the Broadway production of Phantom celebrated its 25^th anniversary, a remarkable milestone for the show that embedded in me, along with so many others, a love for musical theater.

After the smashing success of Phantom on Broadway and in London, the producers decided to launch two America touring productions and a sit-down production in Toronto, Canada.  In 1989 my parents scored tickets to see the show with its original Canadian cast in Toronto.  Despite only being three, and ignoring the fact that the main character was a deformed madman, my parents decided to introduce me to live theater.  To calm my fears, they bribed me into good behavior by allowing me to bring my cabbage doll named Hannibal (ironically enough, that’s also the name of the first act opera in Phantom).

What my parents failed to tell me was that our seats were two rows from the stage, center orchestra.  Due to the proximity of our seats to the stage, my three-year old self was introduced to live theater by: having a chandelier rise and fall on-top of us, the stage get set on fire, fireballs shot at us from the Phantom himself, the Phantom taking his curtain call without his mask – thus waving at me with his deformed face, and the infamous gondola journey to the underground where he takes Christine to his lair.

Poor Hannibal, he got squashed that evening by me hugging him so tightly.  After that night, and after every rain storm when our basement would flood, I was terrified the Phantom would come and kidnap me, like he did Christine, in his gondola.  Growing up I had numerous sightings of the Phantom in our basement, although none were ever confirmed by my parents.

It wasn’t until the movie version of Phantom came out, when I started re-listening to the cast album and finally decided to revisit the show.  When the tour came to Pittsburgh the next year, my father scored two tickets for my mother and I (Hannibal stayed home).  Same seats, second row, center orchestra, and this time I loved every minute.

Prior to the show, Mom and I went for dinner at a restaurant near the theater.  Sitting at the table next to us was a young boy (age 3) and his mother.  We started chatting with them, and the boy proceeded to talk non-stop about the show, movie and cast album.  This was his first time seeing the show and he could barely contain his excitement.  Leaving dinner, I turned to the woman and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but that was mom and I 15 years ago.”  My mother and I got up and then proceeded to the theater.

I am so proud of Phantom’s 25^th anniversary, and even prouder that it was the first musical I ever saw.  Since originally opening in London in 1986 (three months after I was born), the show has been seen by more than 100 million theatergoers in 150 cities located worldwide in 25 countries.  In a world so wrought with division, Phantom’s success reminds me of the power of the arts to unify us.  We all may have seen the same show, but our takeaways are all different and this allows us to have a dialogue and forge relationships we might have otherwise passed up.

I was unable to attend Phantom’s 25^th anniversary gala in New York City, but could not be happier for their milestone.  With each year that passes, and each performance where the chandelier crashes, I am constantly reminded how special this show is as fellow fans return again, often bringing along their children and continuing the tradition.  The Phantom never did come and kidnap me with his gondola through our flooded basement, but as the years pass I have gone back to the Opera Populaire many times to revisit my old friend and remember how I fell in love with the music of the night.

For tickets to Phantom, please visit: http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/

Movie Review: Les Miserables

The movie version of the hit musical Les Miserables can best be described as a traffic jam.  Why?  Because when the movie hits its stride and proceeds at full speed it reminds of you of how Les Mis can be brilliant and uplifting.  However, when the movie is slow, it’s painfully slow and loses focus on its message: man’s enduring humanity.

Full disclosure: Les Mis has never been one of my favorite musicals. Despite having some great songs, catchy lyrics and an uplifting message, I always felt the show was too long.  Regardless, having seen the show on Broadway, the 25^th anniversary tour and read the original Victor Hugo novel, I feel justified to be in a position to critique the movie.

The overall problem with the movie is it’s uneven pace and loss of focus on the story of Jean Val Jean towards the middle and end of the movie.  Director Tom Hooper did a wonderful job of not cutting any characters from the stage show, however many of the transition scenes/music/lyrics have been cut and that poses a great problem to the movie.  On stage those scenes helped to move the action along.  Part of the problem in cutting those lyrics is that those scenes now move at a glacial pace.

The biggest casualty of the film’s uneven tempo is the ultimate loss of Val Jean’s message: To love another person is to see the face of God.  In its purest form, the stage show and original Victor Hugo novel is about man’s humanity and struggle to do what is good and just.  Somehow, somewhere, Les Mis lost that message in its jump from stage to screen.

The production team behind Les Mis must be credited for not only translating this epic musical to the big screen, but retaining many of the set and costumes designs from the iconic original London and New York productions.  Further credit most also be given to Hugh Jackman (Val Jean), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Sacha Baron Cohen  (Thernadier) and Helena Bonham Carter (Madame Thernadier) for being outstanding in their roles.

However, none of these big name stars can help the movie when it arrives at the slow parts (of which there are many).  Fans of the stage show and the book will not be disappointed.  Overall, the movie retains much of what made the musical an internal phenomenon.  Turning stage musicals into movies is hard and I don’t envy anyone who tries.  I just wish however that they would be more even in their pace, because while I loathe traffic on the highway, I especially loathe it in the theater.

Les Mis is currently touring the United States, playing in London’s West End and still in theaters.  For tickets to these productions please visit: http://www.lesmis.com/

Notes from the Stage Door – Fiscal Cliff Edition

Call the Fiscal Cliff the Grinch that stole Christmas in 2012 or the first Festivus grievance of 2013, but I can’t remember a time when politics left such a dark shadow over the holidays.  In politics, process maters, especially when it involves a policy that will affect every American’s taxes.   This week’s Notes from the Stage Door is dedicated to helping you understand the political process which saved the nation from once again avoiding economic uncertainty.  The underlining in all these stories is this: personal relationships matter…enter Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Mitch McConnell.

Politico: The fiscal cliff deal that almost wasn’t

Politico (a must read for anyone interested in politics) provides a great overview of everything that went down during the fiscal cliff negotiations.  This includes Speaker John Boehner telling Senator Harry Reid to f*ck off, and how Biden and McConnell were able to save the day.

The New York Times: Lines of Resistance on Fiscal Deal

The biggest conundrum of the entire deal is the Republican’s response.  A decade ago, the thought of  making 85% of the Bush tax cuts permanent was a pipe dream.   Now it’s a reality, and even more ironic is that this all happened under President Barack Obama.  Still, Republicans remains unsettled about the deal and unresolved about where they go to next.

Les Fiscal Miserables

Finally, a friend from across the isle, sent this to me last week.  I thought, with this being a blog about the arts and politics, a Les Miserable-Fiscal Cliff theme tumblr could not have been more appropriate!