Northlight Theatre :: BJ's Blog :: Spring/Summer 2006

Now that The Retreat from Moscow has opened, I was able to spend the last few days in New York City , seeing shows and checking in with artists who will be joining us next season (and seeing some old friends). I saw 5 shows in 4 days and would have seen 6 but I had dinner on Sunday night with David Ira Goldstein from the Arizona Theatre Company. We even stopped at the Magnolia Bakery for one of their legendary cupcakes.

Included in today’s entry are some pictures I took (captions below), since NY is endlessly fascinating to me—the street life, the food the culture and, of course, the theatre. I am never happier than going to shows 2 a day, with a great meal somewhere in there, and wandering the streets, viewing the real life we should be replicating on stage.

Show report: 1st night I got into Drowsy Chaperone which is up for 13 Tonys and is absolutely original and hilarious. An archetypal theatre queen sits in his apartment and decides to give us a narrated glimpse of a 1920’s musical called the Drowsy Chaperone which he has on a two album set that his mother bought him as a child. As he puts the album on the musical magically comes to life in his 1 room apartment and is a thorough delight.

Friday morning: I’m off to Chinatown on the subway in the rain. I am under orders to buy purses for my youngest daughter Michaela, and for Rosie Forrest my Artistic Associate, and the redoubtable Rondi Reed at the bazaar known as Canal Street . When I get there, a young woman approaches me to ask if I want to buy watches but I throw her by asking for purses instead. Maybe it’s the goatee that throws her off. In the end, I pick out a few knock off Chanel’s, Louis Vuiton’s and Coach’s and scuttle away happy, having handled birthday gifts for the next year.

At lunch, I meet up with Judith Ivey who will be directing Bad Dates and who hooks me up with producer Michael Alden. Michael’s show Bridge and Tunnel just won the Tony and he will be producing Bad Dates out on the west coast just before ours opens, so I talk to him about bringing the costumes that our star Beth Broderick has already been using here to Chicago , which will simplify our process considerably. Michael invited me to a backers audition at an apartment across from Lincoln Center to see some numbers from a new show called Palm Beach directed by Des MacAnuff. It’s headed for Broadway next year. It seemed charming and heaven knows they both have long and successful track records. Mr. MacAnuff is already represented on B’way with Jersey Boys, a show I could not get a ticket for Sunday and which is up for a number of Tonys.

It was great to see Judy, whom I have know since 1975 and whom I first worked with at Northlight. She has always been generous and loyal as a friend and anyone who’ll put up with me for 30 years is either a masochist or saint. We swap kid stories and play “where are they now,” with some old friends names. Time flies.

2nd night: I see Bob Fall’s production of Shining City featuring old friend Martha Plimpton and Oliver Platt. It’s a wonderful ghost story written by Conor McPherson who wrote The Weir and it’s told breathlessly. It has a real shocker at the last moment—the woman next to me grabbed me and leapt out of her chair. Martha was very moving in the show as the psychiatrist’s wife and it was good to catch up with her. She may be visiting Chicago this summer.

Saturday was a theatre slam with Stuff Happens at the Public Theatre and Sweeney Todd on Broadway. Stuff Happens is a quote of Donald Rumsfeld, and is the title of a David Hare play written from actual transcripts and fictionalized conversations between George Bush and Tony Blair, members of their administrations, as well as the extraordinary cast of politicians and players on the world stage leading up to the beginning of the Iraq war. It is challenging, informative and harrowing. I had a celebrity sighting in the Public lobby, as Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman dropped in to meet friends. Then I had dinner at Angus McIndoes at 258 W 44th St. It’s rumored to be a celeb hangout but despite that, the food is good and it’s close to all the B’way shows. I haven’t seen any celebs there, but there is a painting of Nathan Lane on the wall. Does that count? It does to him.

Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite Sondheim musicals and it is done imaginatively by utilizing an extraordinary cast as both performers and musicians playing all their own instruments. Patti LuPone, the original Evita, played the tuba! Highly original and creatively staged. It was a real treat.

On Sunday I went to see Awake and Sing! directed by Bart Sher who runs INTIMAN theatre where I just directed Rounding Third. He and the show are up for 8 Tony Awards, and INTIMAN won a special Regional Theatre Tony. Quite an achievement, and his production is beautiful, starring Ben Gazzara, Mark Ruffalo and Zoë Wannamaker among others. Congrats to Bart and INTIMAN! I also had coffee with Paul Sparks, who will be doing the workshop, reading and hopefully production of Lady by Craig Wright in our winter slot next year. Paul is currently appearing at the Signature Theatre in Landscape of the Body and received wonderful reviews. It was a great talk and I am very excited to get to work on the new play with Craig, Mike Shannon and him.

I stayed at my old friend JR Sullivan’s apartment, who is the associate artistic director of Utah Shakespeare Festival and is rehearsing Hamlet there right now. My thanks to Gina Daniels and Ted Dacy, wonderful actors and friends of Jim were kind enough look after me while there. I had a great time chatting and getting to know them. Jim is a brilliant director and got me started directing for him at the theatre he founded in Rockford, Illinois 30 years ago and I will always be grateful. I look forward to having him at Northlight, where he has directed some very successful productions in the past.

In sum…if you have one show to see and you love musicals…see Drowsy Chaperone. Have dinner at Angus McIndoes, which is an alleged show biz hang out, you may just see some stars. And then head to the Village for a cupcake at the Magnolia Bakery.

Just another service of our blog. I’ll give you advice and you can ignore it, but at your own peril. The people I met at Angus McIndoes are still slapping their foreheads over their insistence on seeing Tarzan. So proceed at your own peril!

More Anon,
Beej

Photos:
1) The gentleman playing the “harp”, hitting it with the hammers, was playing " Red River Valley "
2) I came out of the matinee of Awake and Sing! and saw this man in a fish suit checking out the people in the window across the street on 44th St. I have no idea what they were doing or what it meant but…it’s NY and as they say…Only in NY!
3) And here is a picture of the Magnolia Bakery, legendary not just to me…check out the line!