A View from the Bridge

A View from the Bridge

The Young Vic Production

The Lyceum Theatre

October 24, 2015

Photo courtesy of
A View from the Bridge

This past spring my colleague and fellow blogger, Deirdre DeLoatch, wrote about her theatre trip to England.  “Experiencing the Heart and Culture of London” was posted on this blog on March 20, 2015.  She raved to me about the Young Vic’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and how it was destined for a Broadway run.  That production is presently in previews at the Lyceum Theatre with and opening date scheduled for November 12.  It far exceeds the high expectation that Deirdre setup for me.  Director Ivo Van Hove’s bare bones production revels in the richness of Arthur Miller’s text and makes relevant this impassioned story of family, love, and hubris.

The play takes place in the 1950s in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman and son of an Italian immigrant, opens his home to two of his wife’s cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, who are illegally entering the country to work and send money home to their impoverished family.  At the same time, Eddie’s niece Catherine, who he and his wife Bea raised since childhood after the death of her parents, is coming of age and ready to move forward with her adult life.  When Rodolpho begins romancing Catherine, Eddie is forced to face his true feelings for his niece and Bea faces her biggest fear.

Photo courtesy of A View from the Bridge

The starkness of the production makes clear the skillful structure of Arthur Miller’s play.  Just when he brings the conflict to a high point and you think resolution is ahead, he delves deeper into what is driving each character so we questions what is right and what is truth.  No playwright writes the tragic fall of the American hero like Arthur Miller.  When Eddie Carbone screams, “He took my name… I want my name back,” he echoes John Proctor in The Crucible and Peter Stockman from his adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People.  Once the truth is told, there is no going back.  When Eddie lunges at Marco in the final scene after his wife Bea finally confronts the truth of his desire, it is similar to the tragic ending of All My Sons.

Phoebe Fox, Mark Strong, & Nicola Walker
Photo courtesy of A View from the Bridge

Although physically not cast to type, the actors make Miller’s dialogue ring with vitality and inspired dramatic action.  Mark Strong is audaciously authentic as Eddie Carbone. His is equally matched by Nicola Walker as his wife Bea.  She has honest moments that reveal her true feelings and realistic fears that propel the action of the play forward.  Michael Gould is a grounding force as Alfieri, who carefully and deliberately steps into the action of the play and accepts his role in the outcome.  Phoebe Fox and Russel Tovey, as Catherine and Rodolpho, change and grow as they face their obstacles in order to achieve their dreams.

Russel Tovey, Phoebe Fox, and Mark Strong
Photo courtesy of A View from the Bridge

The set, by Jan Versweyveld, is a designated square box with a single entrance up stage center.  There are no props and no interior or exterior settings.   The playing area is like a boxing ring with audience seating stage right and left, creating a three quarter stage setting.  Other powerful director/designer choices are the fact that all the characters, except for Alfieri before he steps into the playing area, are barefoot.  Also, the shower in the opening and closing make a strong, effective, awe-inspiring statement.  I will not go into detail about these images so you can feel the full impact when you see it… and you MUST.

This production sheds a new light on this American classic by stripping it down and engaging the audience in the beauty, rhythm, and directness of Arthur Miller’s words.  The play runs under two hours without an intermission, and is scheduled for a limited run of seventeen weeks.  It is an impactful work.  Be sure to see it. 

Domenick Danza

Music & Dance: Who Could Ask for Anything More?

An American in Paris

Palace Theatre

May 28, 2015

Photo courtesy of An American in Paris

Having spent a semester in Paris during the eighties, I am particularly enamored with all things Parisian.  I love the language, the food, the architecture, the historical places, and the art.   All of these things make me smile.  When I first heard that An American in Paris was coming to Broadway, I knew that I would imminently see the show. Because I am a movie enthusiast, I looked forward to seeing the musical rendition of this film.  Although Paris is just the setting of the show, the writer, Craig Lucas, manages to infuse some of the language and the culture of Paris into An American in Paris.  The musical is both directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, a former dancer for both the New York City Ballet and for the Royal Ballet.  This musical is his directorial debut.   The creative team includes: Robert Fisher, musical arranger, Bob Crowley, set and costume designer, Craig Lucas, the book's author, and Natasha Katz, lighting designer.  The principal actors are Robert Fairchild, who plays Jerry Mulligan, the American, and Leanne Cope, who plays Lise Dassin, the woman he loves.  Having received twelve Tony nominations this season, An American in Paris is one of the forerunners for best musical.  In the musical, the dancers leap and move flawlessly, holding the attention of the audience as it waits to see whether the dancers will land dynamically with precision.  They leap over furniture and dance in tandem to music by George and Ira Gershwin.  After careful reflection, I wondered what was most important in a musical. Was it the music, the acting, the dancing, or the story?  Does a theater-goer go to the theater to see the creative set design, the lighting, or the audio?  Do the traditional conventions of theater matter?  I have come to the conclusion that normally a great well-defined story is essential, but if there are other great strong creative elements, then the musical may be catapulted to even greater heights.

Leanne Cope & Robert Fairchild
Photo courtesy of An American in Paris

Charles Isherwood of the New York Times said that this musical is typical of Broadway musicals.  This comment was not pejorative, but intended to show that it maintains the typical structure of Broadway musicals.  I disagree; it is atypical.  I believe that there is significantly less singing (not less music) than in traditional musicals and the story is less defined.  The acting is mostly encompassed within the dance compositions.  At the inception of this performance, I was disappointed, because I was accustomed to a traditional musical with a more well-defined plot and more intense acting and singing.  I, however in the end, came to see this musical as levels above a traditional musical, for the dancing and the choreography of this show are veritably unparalleled. The costumes for the dancers and for the prima dancer are exquisite.  Although the story is less developed in the first half, it becomes more defined during the second half.  After intermission, the action and the tempo rise in the musical to a pace that allows the audience to become captivated by the arrangement of Gershwin's music and by both the dance and choreography.  The story becomes sharper as the dancers leap in gran jeté fashion into the air and over props, further enthralling the audience and causing the viewers to applaud and say bravo at the end of the performance.  The dancers seamlessly integrate dance with music within the choreography with contemporary and jazz vernacular.

Photo courtesy of An American in Paris

An American in Paris is the story of an American soldier, Jerry Mulligan, who decides to stay in Paris after the Great War so that he can become a painter.  He meets Lise Dessin, a Jewish woman, who was hidden by a French family during the war.  He soon realizes that he is not the only one trying to woo her.  She feels, however, an allegiance to the French family, especially the son, Henri, expertly played by Max Von Essen.  Lise is an accomplished ballerina and she works to hone her craft so that she can perform adroitly in a performance.  The story is about love and internal conflict.  This story is about staying true to oneself and about reconciling conflict so that true love prevails.

This musical is all about the dancing, the choreography, and the music that make this show a stunning

Photo courtesy of An American in Paris

success, not the story.  It has the audience wanting more at the end.  The dancers demonstrated a variety of movements including pirouettes as they use props when leaping perfectly in such a way that one's eyes remain focused on all of the movements.  The chemistry between Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope is strong and it keeps the audience hoping that they will work through their conflict so that they can be together.  The dancers light up this show with their bright resplendent costumes.  Toward the end of the performance, all of the dancers line up across the stage and do a number similar to the Radio City Rockettes.  At the end, both the dancers and the singers reprise the song, "I Got Rhythm," and sing, "Who could ask for anything more?"  Indeed, I asked myself, who could ask for anything more?

Sunday evening, June 7th, is the Tony Awards.  I look forward with great expectation to seeing this musical and Something Rotten, two of my favorite musicals this year, take top honors.  I admit that my ticket to The King and I is after the Tony Awards; thus, I cannot comment on whether it will take some top honors as well.  Enjoy the awards and let's start a conversation.

     

Deirdre M. DeLoatch

Guest Contributor