My most recent NYC theater attendances:
- Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt”, in November 2022.
- Lorraine Hansberry’s “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), in March of this year.
- Then jump backward to pre-Pandemic days, circa November 2019, when I did a bursting week of theatrics: “Hamilton”, “American Utopia” (David Byrne’s Talking Heads Review), Mary-Louise Parker in “The Sound Inside”, and an off-Broadway “Macbeth. I’ve seen a few “Macbeths”, and I am still riveted by the hero’s embrace of evil (regicide, patricide, treason, madness), and his tormented recognition that he was trapped and doomed by his evil doing—ah, the stirring, elevated moment of tragedy. But this version did not get me to that place. On the same trip I also attended (and slept through most of) an opera at the Metropolitan Opera, “Madama Butterfly”, likely my last opera ever. I know, it’s me, not you.
- Before that, circa 2018, I saw “Girl from the North Country” off-Broadway (Joseph Papp Theater), a show that incorporated Bob Dylan songs into its sad, sad, story of Depression times in backwater Minnesota. I like everything to do with Bob, but this show brought me down, into a dark and cold place where plausible hope expired, which his songs on their own never do.
- Before that, it’s a blur. Several Tom Stoppard’s, who is my favorite playwright, and never disappoints (“Leopoldstadt”, cited above, for example: close to the bone, and not so funny). Some musicals, including the “Hair” revival, which I liked almost as much as the original production, which was transformative to me. Unaccountably, I also went to a Bette Midler one-person show, a Saturday matinee, while the others in my entourage attended tea at the Plaza. I’m a fan, but I left disappointed. Maybe I should avoid the matinees.
I was taught early on that there is no theater like NYC theater. And also that there is no glitz like NYC glitz, no corned beef like NYC corned beef (or bagels, or pickles, or rye bread), and no swagger and sass like they can do in NYC. I have always been a rube in Gotham.
Since my long ago youth, a trip to NYC from my provincial home has often tried to include a piece of theater. I was taught early on that there is no theater like NYC theater. And also that there is no glitz like NYC glitz, no corned beef like NYC corned beef (or bagels, or pickles, or rye bread), and no swagger and sass like they can do in NYC. I have always been a rube in Gotham.
More recently, with my daughter’s move to Brooklyn, raising her family there, I have come to understand that NYC also includes outer boroughs (sp?), and not just fancy folk living large in Manhattan (like in the movies). And outer borough theater: see the Hansberry revival, above, which starred Rachel Brosnahan, who you will recall was Mrs. Maisel!
My conclusion is that sometimes NYC theater can be worth the price of admission, sometimes (rarely) more than the price of admission, and sometimes (see “Urinetown” for example, winner of Tony Awards in 2002) I want a refund.
jonathancanterHere is what I said about myself on the back page of my 2020 humor/drama/politico novel "The Debutante (and the Bomb Factory)" (edited here, for clarity):
"Jonathan Canter Is a retIred attorney; widower; devoted father and grandfather (sounds like my obit); lifelong resident of Greater Boston; graduate of Harvard College (where he was an editor of The Harvard Lampoon); fan of waves and wolves; sporadic writer of dry and sometimes dark humor (see "Lucky Leonardo" (Sourcebooks, 2004), funny to the edge of tears); gamesman (see "A Crapshooter’s Companion"(2019), existential thriller and life manual); and part-time student of various ephemeral things."
The Deb and Lucky are available on Amazon. The Crapshooter is available by request to the author in exchange for a dinner invitation.
You can be my theater critic any day, Jon. I am dying to see “Leopoldstadt”, but don’t think it will happen when we go to NYC later this week, since my primary focus will be my 15 month old granddaughter, visiting from London and we promised to babysit! As I have written, “Shakespeare in Love” is my favorite movie and I’m sure it benefitted greatly having Tom Stoppard do the rewrites. I haven’t been to NYC since 2019. My 65th birthday present was a matinee of “Dear Evan Hanson”, followed by “Hamilton”. Now THAT was a weekend!
I loved Shakespeare in Love, it was so free, and intoxicating, and broke the boundaries, sort of like another favorite of mine Adaptation, and to an extent the Thomas Pynchon movie Vice (?) and thd movie Boyhood. Happy babysitting in NYC; according to my internal calendar, spring will be blooming in the burros.
I’m with you Jon, and for me even bad theater is better than no theater!
I too didn’t like Girl from North Country, and also do love Stoppard, and thought Leopoldstadt masterful and of course heart-wrenching. And if you haven’t read Maureen Dowd’s interview with the playwright look it up!
I will look up the Dowd interview (although I dimly recall reading it). But I am not on board with bouquets to bad theater; I get easily antsy and uninvolved and wish I could leave without making a fuss. Always try for an aisle seat for smooth getaways, I say.
You are lucky to have had access to such great theater. Yes, sometimes I also fall asleep these days, but I would love to see a revival of “Hair.”
The original Hair felt to me like a voice of peace and love and joy amid a shambles of anger and demogogery. “…in this dive we re-discover sensation…: Sign me up!
This is a great whirlwind tour of your theatrical experiences. I’m with you about being annoyed by bad productions and wanting to walk out, although the only show I ever actually walked out of (at intermission) was Les Mis.
I do love Tom Stoppard, and wish I could see Leopoldstadt, but it looks like the final performance is July 2nd, and I won’t be in NY before then. One of my favorite plays of all time is Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which I saw on Broadway my senior year of high school (1968). Unforgettable!
I should have included in my list of recents, the revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s “Twilight:Los Angeles, 1992” which was recently at the ART (fka The Loeb), and was formidable, but I stuck with my NYC-only conceit.
I enjoy your walking out on Les Mis (and I enjoyed Dana’s like story of walking out on Mormon). I’ve done my share of walking out, and it always feels good to escape a stuffy turgid theater and get some fresh air blowing in my face, even if the fresh air smells like Manhattan.
You have seen some great theater over the years and your comments are fun. I never saw “Hair” but admit to have been warbling “When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace with rule the planets and love with steer the stars” just this morning. Sheesh. I attribute it to the conjunctions of planets in the sky last night.
I was surprised when they pushed Hair back on stage a few years ago, long after the last hippie died, long after the sweet optimism of its message died, long after my youth when I was ripe for it…moved on. But surprise to me, I was still touched by it, maybe with the looking-back sadness of lost time, of experience, of limitations.
For having lived so close for so long, I have seen but one Broadway play. I could never really afford box office prices, and waiting in line at TKTS held no charm for me.
That one was Equus, with Leonard Nimoy. I went to see Nimoy and left profoundly disturbed.
Dave,
I did not see Equus, but I remember that it was controversial, wrenching, and award-winning. Why were you profoundly disturbed? And is that a recommendation for going to theater or a warning against?