Our Town

 Our Town
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
September 28, 2024 

Photo courtesy of Our Town

Director Kenny Leon brings Thornton Wilder’s Our Town into the 21st Century.  His casting choices are purposeful and comprehensive.  His timing is compact and concise.  He trimmed down this three act classic to a one hour, forty-five-minute running time, with no intermission.  The action flows continuously, and the pace impacts the theme.  Even though a few of the quaint, defining moments are missed, Thornton Wilder’s words and philosophy ring with effortless sincerity, giving the audience timeless truths to contemplate.

Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The play opens as the cast slowly assembles on stage singing a spiritual hymn that unites an extensive population.  The Stage Manager (played by Jim Parsons) silently enters.  As the cast disperses, he welcomes the audience, introduces the play, and describes the town.  He presents the characters, focusing on the Gibbs and Webb families.  Dr. Gibbs (played by Billy Eugene Jones) is returning from delivering twins on the other side of town, as Mrs. Gibb (played by Michelle Wilson) and their neighbor, Mrs. Webb (played by Katie Holmes), prepare breakfast for their families.  It is a day in the life of the residents of Grover’s Corners.  Time passes with ease and grace. 

Ephraim Sykes, Richard Thomas, & Zoey Deuth
Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The action swiftly moves into the second act with the wedding of George Gibbs (played by Ephraim Sykes) and Emily Webb (played by Zoey Deutch).  The pace picks up.  The anticipation of this event is high and full of anxiety.  The Stage Manager takes us back a few years to the day that George and Emily discover that they are meant to be together for the rest of their lives.  This is a life changing moment for them.  We move forward to the nuptials, when Mrs. Soames (played by Julie Halston) proclaims that it is a beautiful wedding. 

Act III is where Thornton Wilder makes his statement about life and eternity.  It is in this act that every subtle detail from Acts I and II are profoundly seamed together.  The writing is poignant and touching.  The action is unexpected and reflective.  The journey might end here, but the experience continues to exist in perpetuity. 

Jim Parsons as the Stage Manager
Photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly First Look

The hymn sung in the opening is “Braided Prayer” by Abraham Jam, which features prayers from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths.  Anyone knowing this play is aware that this is a new addition, and a brilliant one.  The audience is immediately pulled into an experience that extends beyond the scope of any previous production.  With interracial casting and the casting of a deaf actor playing Howie Newsome (John McGinty), the diversity of Our Town now reflects who we are as a nation.  The ease in which the characters communicate in sign language and live together as a united multiracial community speaks volumes.  This story has always been universal, and now, due to Mr. Leon’s vision, is fully inclusive.

Our Town is playing at The Ether Barrymore Theatre.  It is a new interpretation of a great American classic. 

Domenick Danza

Purlie Victorious

 Purlie Victorious
 A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
The Music Box
September 23, 2023 

Photo coourtesy of Purlie Victorious

The Broadway revival of Ossie Davis’s 1961 play, Purlie Victorious, is truly joyous.  Kenny Leon directs a stellar cast, with the right touch of style, melodrama, and grit that allows Ossie Davis’s writing to ring with truth, humor, and relevance.  

Purlie Victorious Judson (played by Leslie Odom, Jr.) searched for a young girl to pretend to be his deceased cousin so he could get a five hundred dollar inheritance that is being held by Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee (played by Jay O. Sanders).  He finds Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (played by Kara Young) on his travels through Alabama, and brings her back to Georgia.  Missy Judson (played by Heather Alicia Simms) thinks Lutiebelle will pass as their deceased cousin, but her husband, Gitlow (played by Bille Eugene Jones), needs some convincing.  They almost pull it off until Lutiebelle signs the wrong name on the papers.  Purlie is on the run for trying to swindle Ol’ Cap’n Cotchpie, but comes back in force to preserve Lutiebelle’s reputation.

Leslie Odom, Jr., & Kara Young
Photo courtesy of Purlie Victorious

Leslie Odom, Jr. and Kara Young are great together.  Mr. Odom is full of life as Purlie.  His vitality fills the stage and energizes all the characters to take action.  Ms. Young portrays Lutiebelle as an innocent, nervous girl who transforms into a determined young woman.  She is willing to open up and take a risk, all due to Purlie’s inspiration.  These two actors have a great chemistry, and keep the audience fully engaged in the action of the story. 

Heather Alicia Simms & Billy Eugene Jones
Photo courtesy of Purlie Victorious

Heather Alicia Simms and Billy Eugene Jones are a strong pair as Missy and Gitlow Judson.  Their relationship is full of fire, and their timing is fast and sharp.  Jay O. Sanders creates a wicked villain in the character of Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee.  This role is played with a precise balance of humor and malice to keep it from being too dark.  There are also strong performances by Vanessa Bell Calloway as Idella Landy and Noah Robbins as Charlie Cotchipee.

This cast delivers a completely enjoyable experience of a gem of a play.  Purlie Victorious is playing at The Music Box.  Don’t miss it. 

  

Domenick Danza

Fat Ham

 Fat Ham
American Airline Theatre
April 1, 2023 

Photo courtesy of Fat Ham

Playwright James Ijames adapted Shakespeare’s Hamlet to tell the story of finding happiness through self-acceptance.  The stunning outcome is his Pulitzer Prize winning play, Fat Ham.  It is set at a family wedding celebration / bar-b-cue in the "American south…a kind of limited space between the past and the present."  Director Saheem Ali skillfully sculpts the moments in this piece so they deliver hardy laughs, while distinctly highlighting the plot points of a bold and poignant story.  The action rises as the family holds back their secrets.  The tension builds to the point of no return.  

Tio (played by Chris Herbie Holland) is helping his cousin, Juicy (played by Marcel Spears), set up the back yard for a bar-b-cue / wedding celebration.  Juicy’s mother, Tedra (played by Nikki Crawford), married his uncle, Rev (played by Billy Eugene Jones), only two weeks after the death of his father, Pap.  Juicy is unsure of his feelings for the events, until he is visited by Pap’s ghost (also played by Billy Eugene Jones), who tell him that Rev had him killed.  Pap wants Juicy to avenge his murder.  Juicy knows what he needs to do, and also  knows he can’t.  He’s too “soft.”  Rabby (played by Benja Kay Thomas), her son, Larry (played by Calvin Leon Smith), and her daughter, Opal (played by Adrianna Mitchell), arrive for the wedding celebration.  They all eat Rev’s bar-b-cue, sing karaoke, and play charades.  During charades, Juicy and his team act out a book title that mirrors Rev’s guilt.  This propels events to unravel faster that anyone can handle.  Juicy pushes Larry to come out to his mother, which motivates Opal and Rabby to uncover their private sides.  Tio speaks of his marijuana-induced vision for finding happiness, and everyone faces the music. 

Photo courtesy of Fat Ham

Mr. Ijames’ play is brilliantly structured.  His characters are complex and complete.  They open up about themselves at precisely the right moments to emotionally pull you into the events as they evolve.  His incorporation of Shakespeare’s soliloquies is genius.  These moments are personal.  They heighten the action, while deepening the psychological layers of the characters.  They are skillfully directed and masterfully performed. 

Marcel Spears as Juicy
Photo courtesy of Fat Ham

Marcel Spears is excellent as Juicy.  He has an ease about him that lures you into his predicament.  The audience understands his indecision, and is fully on his side.  Nikki Crawford and Billy Eugene Jones are fierce as Tedra and Rev.  Their timing and chemistry are consistently in sync.  Chris Herbie Holland delivers sharp humor in the role of Tio.  His monologue in the later part of the show is wicked, wild, and touching.  Calvin Leon Smith portrays Larry as a strict conformist.  When he opens up, it is pure poetry.  Adrianna Mitchell catches your attention the minute she enters as Opal, and never lets you down.  Her character is determined and rebellious.  Benja Kay Thomas is funny as Rabby.  She imposes rules and expectations, then lets them all go for the good of her family.

Fat Ham is playing at the American Airline Theatre.  It is a MUST SEE!  

Domenick Danza