A distinct gloom has descended upon conversations among those of us whose business it is to attend the theater as often as some people turn on the television set. By which I mostly mean critics, although I do number among my friends a few obsessive civilians who see almost as much as I do. As the fall season dwindles to a close, the general opinion is that this has been an unusually grim and often grueling couple of months for New York theater, with the more hollow-eyed and enervated among us even suggesting that it’s the worst season in memory.
Of course, I can remember years in which similar doom-laden cries were heard early in the season, as the turkeys were piled up high on Broadway long before it was time to make pumpkin pie. The pain of the toothache you have today smarts a lot more than the recollection of a more severe malady you endured long ago. But it does seem that since the season got under way in September, dispiriting, mediocre or misbegotten shows have far outnumbered those evenings that leave you dizzy with pleasure at having witnessed some kind of theatrical magic.
In the spirit of the day, I am going to buoy my spirits by concentrating here on the high spots. Thanksgiving often seems to be more about food preparation and consumption, and the careful tending of simmering family tensions, than actually giving any thanks. So to put myself in a proper frame of mind, pre-turkey, I have decided to celebrate all the good tidings of the season so far, with the occasional backhanded swipe at the trials I’ve endured. (Hey, I am grateful that they are in the past, at least.)
Oddly enough, I am thankful for the unusual preponderance of reruns on Broadway stages this fall. Much of the best new theater this season was some of the best new theater of last season. Donald Margulies’s “Time Stands Still,” with Laura Linney and Brian d’Arcy James giving performances as fine as any on Broadway right now, is a rare and welcome return engagement. With the enduring Broadway veterans Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch now in the lead roles, Trevor Nunn’s revival of “A Little Night Music” has taken on a bright, bewitching new sheen. “Brief Encounter,” the inventive charmer I caught in both London and San Francisco before it made its way to Brooklyn last season, is thriving on Broadway. And the arrival of the Public Theater’s summer production of “The Merchant of Venice,” with Al Pacino and Lily Rabe squaring off in a climactic scene of spellbinding power, offers reason to cheer, or at least to profitably brood over this troublesome Shakespeare play.
I am grateful that it has been at least 24 hours since I’ve had to read anything at all about the travails of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” possibly the most-written-about and least-eagerly-awaited new musical in Broadway history. Here’s hoping the blackout of news on this front will endure through the holiday weekend. If Julie Taymor breaks a nail, I don’t want to hear about it.
While it has not been a rich season for musical theater, thanks should be given for the delicious pairing of Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase in the Encores! production of “Bells Are Ringing.” Although much of this perky musical comedy seems to consist of laborious subplot amplified by filler, Ms. O’Hara and Mr. Chase lit up the stage with their warm charisma, and sang with style, finesse and heart. Someone write them a show, please.
“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” ranks among the more piteous misfires of the fall season. But salvation from its numbing hyperactivity arrives in the second act, when Patti LuPone stops the busy traffic of the show with a powerful, keening lament for loves and looks lost, “Invisible,” that made me grateful to have seen the show, despite its disappointments.
This season Broadway got into the business of undermining its own allure by mounting inappropriately overscaled productions of Off Broadway hits like“Driving Miss Daisy” and “A Life in the Theater.” But the strongest new writing appeared on some of the smaller stages in town: Amy Herzog’s pointed family drama “After the Revolution,” at the upstairs space at Playwrights’ Horizons; “Tigers Be Still,” by Kim Rosenstock, part of the Roundabout’s Underground series; and Will Eno’s “Middletown” at the Vineyard Theater.
Mark Rylance: No explanation needed.
Last but by no means least, the enterprising troupe the Civilians reminded us that great theater in New York City is not confined to the narrow strip of self-absorption known as Manhattan. “In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards,” the company’s entertaining, insight-rich show about the controversial redevelopment plan in Brooklyn, restored my faith in the ability of theater artists to engage meaningfully with the world, here and now.
So here’s hoping that with the new year on the horizon the theater season will offer more such rewarding theater to celebrate. Now I just have to clear one last, potentially dispiriting hurdle: “Donny and Marie: A Broadway Christmas.” OK, that was decidedly not in the Thanksgiving spirit. But then again, given the bruising I’ve taken in the past couple of months, it is not out of the question that this festive holiday offering will end up on my top 10 list for the year.
If you are among those efficiently organized folks who have the holiday meal in hand and can spare a few minutes to offer your opinions on the season so far, please chime in. Do you share the view that it’s been an endurance-test fall at the theater? Dispute it? Care to nominate another year as the all-time nadir?
I should note that I have not been able to see absolutely everything that’s opened this fall – my double date with “Angels in America” is still in the future – and would be happy to hear about under-sung productions I might still be able to catch.
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