Off Broadway
The Complex Exciting Layers of “Sally & Tom” at The Public Theater
A simple dance to a well-played violin masks the compelling undertones of The Public Theater‘s fascinating new play, Sally & Tom, written with a sharp edge by Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog). The deep dive, we are reminded, “is not a love story,” but a clever investigation into the story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Unpacked on two levels, unaware from the onset, we watch a shoestring-style theater troupe by the name of “Good Company“, attempt to stage a period piece drama about the complicated, and historic relationship of these two. Simply called “The Pursuit of Happiness,” it’s a clear reminder of what is at the core of this play within a play, which attempts to “speak truth to power“, while not always finding the path to victory. The play, clocking in at two hours and thirty-five minutes, rarely falters in its fascinating layering, but it also doesn’t manage to find its way to rise up beyond the straightforward intellectualisms.
Sheria Irving, Gabriel Ebert, and the company of The Public Theater’s Sally & Tom. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Beginning at the end, Luce, played strongly by Sheria Irving (Public’s White Noise), is struck with a feeling of discomfort in her own last few lines of the play. It’s a play she has written and stars in as Sally Hemings, the slave who had a long-lasting affair (and numerous children) with Thomas Jefferson, yet she’s perplexed by this internal feeling. The framework in those last few moments of the play doesn’t exactly sit well inside her soul, especially as her boyfriend, Mike, played by Gabriel Ebert (Public’s Gently Down the Stream), who is both the director of her play and is performing the role of Thomas, suggests they hold hands for the last few moments. The rehearsal abruptly comes to a halt, altering the platform in a sharp wonderful instant, and all the actors, playing actors (and some other backstage duty) throw suggestions around, hoping to help.
The biggest question being asked is whether this Founding Father actually loved this woman, pointing out the uncomfortable fact that he kept her as his slave rather than freeing her when he was able. And how could this woman aged 14 and kept as property, love him back? It’s a very clever unraveling that registers strongly, as Parks grapples with and explores this explosive subject. As the author of the Declaration of Independence, a document that declared that all men are created equal, Jefferson continued to own enslaved people on his estate, including his ‘beloved’ Sally. Parks, as described in the program notes by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public, “doesn’t just write about freedom, although that is her great subject: she embodies it in the process of her own creation.” And inside the play within a play, she challenges long-held assumptions of this pair, while also weaving in the story of the Good Company and its pregnancy parallels, as we watch this radical downtown troupe of actors navigate a system that is ruled by funding and other complications that come into play behind the scenes.
When the actors abruptly drop their 18th-century stance and return to their modern personas, the edges of the play become more entertaining and captivating, but maybe not as profound, dancing through doorways and behind curtains exposing touches of lightness and seriousness within almost the same beat. Each actor has a sideline job inside the company, from scenic designer to stage manager, while also portraying at least one role in the production. The pursuit gives sly witty opportunities for jokes and jabs about the art of theatre-making, with post-it notes being thrown at the playwright from moneyman Terry asking for alterations to the writing. It’s a complex conundrum, probably known well by someone like Parks, who continues to challenge the complicated issues of our time. Much like Luce.
Embedded within the play, there is a TV actor, played forcibly by Alano Miller (McCarter’s Brother/Sister Plays) who has stepped down onto the stage so he can deliver some serious lines; and a stage manager, wonderfully embodied by Sue Mee Chomet (LCT’s brownsville song…) who dreams of being a serious actor, as she takes on, quite wonderfully, the secondary role of the youngest of Jefferson’s two daughters. The other older daughter, played wisely by Kate Nowlin (“Blood Stripe”), unwinds wonderfully, while holding her breath on a big acting break that lingers on the horizon. There is commentary on nontraditional casting within the system, white actors being cast in “Black Plays“, and what the definition of that label really means. The play within a play’s set designer, Geoff, wonderfully portrayed by Daniel Petzold (59E59’s Switzerland), is that actor who takes on every role or action given, while leading us through the process day by day, as he leads himself through his own anxiety and attraction. Miller as TV actor, Kwame, along with Kristolyn Lloyd (ATC’s Blue Ridge) as actor Maggie, and Leland Fowler (TNG’s one in two) as actor Devon; play Hemings’ brother and sister, James and Mary, and her brother-in-law, Nathan in the “Pursuit” play, navigating and unveiling Jefferson’s treatment of his enslaved people and what will become of them when Jefferson leaves for Washington.
Directed smoothly inside the backstage chaos by Steve H. Broadnax III (Broadway’s Thoughts of a Colored Man), the formula delivers on all fronts and planes, played out to strong effect on a simple, but effective stage designed with care by Riccardo Hernandez (Broadway’s Frankie and Johnny), with superb costuming by Rodrigo Muñoz (Minetta Lanes’ Sorry for Your Loss), distinct lighting by Alan C. Edwards (Vineyard’s Harry Clarke), and a strong sound design by J. Jared Janas (Public’s The Low Road). Much of the contemporary commentary revolves around the money that is financing the show. The money, named Teddy, unseen and just referred to by Ebert’s director/actor/boyfriend Mike, is determined to have a complex, somewhat incendiary speech dropped, an interference that riles the TV actor, and the playwright. One holds to their faith, while the other, falters, in an unexplained configuration.
The speech, delivered by Kwame’s character, James, against the oppression experienced, is Miller’s finest moment, and maybe the play’s, as it gets to the heart of the conflict, both then and now. It breathes life into the question and conflict around Jefferson owning a few hundred slaves, including his mistress, Sally, and not freeing any of them when he could, even when promised. Ben Franklin and George Washington did exactly that, and even though it was on their deathbed, those two men rose up to the Jefferson idea of equality. Jefferson left that liberating act up to his daughter, after his death. So it is difficult to take in his mid-play proclamation of not being a ‘bad man‘.
On the more contemporary side of things, the framework is not as clear, with Luce and Mike mirroring Sally and Tom, in frameworks that are paralleled, but not as fleshed out emotionally. Sally & Tom is not nearly as rough and tumble as Good Company’s The Pursuit of Happiness”. The production is Public polished and clear, although the gay relationship that is developed throughout fails to really find its understated importance in the proceedings. It’s cute and connecting, like most of the modern side of the play, but the serious part remains steadfast in the bad play within the good play.
By Dennis W
The mixture of fantasy, twisted history, gender identity, and the fluidity of time and being is what still keeps readers pouring over Virginia Woolf’s dazzling historical best-selling novel about Orlando, an Elizabethan hero/ine who will live for centuries defying both death and time, and who also changes gender from male to female.
Orlando: A Rhapsody, is based on Woolf’s character and was written and performed by the father and daughter team of Steven Epp (Formerly Co-Artistic Director of Theatre de la Jean Lune, 2005 Tony for Best Regional Theater) and Vinora Epp (2018 Graduate: l’Ecole de la Comédie de Saint-Etinne in France) who is also making her directorial debut. Vinora says she was fascinated with Virginia Woolf and was “compelled to transcribe her world to the stage… (she) knew that the aesthetic dialogue between her, myself, and my father could be fertile ground to work on.” Orlando: A Rhapsody is having its world premiere at The Tank in The Garment District in May.
When the house opens and I enter the theater, I am drawn to a single man sitting upstage left casually reading, lost in his own world, and listening to something on skimpy headphones (they do not appear substantial enough to drown out people talking and finding their seats.) Perplexed, I find my seat.
The rhapsody begins with old Orlando, the lone man (Steven Epp) once again, just reading in the corner seemingly unaware of the goings-on around him. Taking his place at a table center stage, he speaks “Now to sum up.” Meanwhile, Vinora begins her transformation into Orlando. Starting with the most obvious change of binding her breasts, a wisp of a mustache is put on with a pencil, as well as an Elizabethan-styled coat with a ruffled collar. Then with a flourish, Orlando has arrived. The stream-of-consciousness script pays homage to Woolf’s style but is confusing to stay engaged with and to follow as the words tumble from actors. The script moves from Orlando’s tragic love affair with Sasha, a vague Russian Princess, who mysteriously abandons him during the Great London Frost, to his/her writings and the “The Oak Tree” poem begun by Orlando as a young man and finished 300 years later by a later Orlando after his fantastical transformation into a woman.
There is no traditional dialogue as the two players effortlessly pick up where the other leaves off. The only real interaction is when old Orlando changes clothes with young Orlando, putting on the Elizabethan look and the two together transform him making up his face to be neither male nor female. This exploration is evident throughout the rhapsody that gender is fluid and this idea of gender haunts the story from beginning to end.
Moving on from Orlando the two actors, as father and daughter, get into a dialogue about experiences, youth, gender, pain, and storytelling then slip back into Orlando.
Orlando: A Rhapsodyis not for everyone. You can hear the language of Virginia Woolf as the Epps examine feminism, their relationship to each other, and death in the fantastical world of Orlando that stretches for centuries and in their own lives. The richly colored material is dense and heavy with description, and the difficult stream-of-consciouses style of Virginia Woolf has ideas flowing by you in a torrent like a fast-moving river that is easy to get lost in.
And not just a glorious show but a real celebration of the York Theatre Company and all that it’s done in the last half century to keep the spotlight on the work of our beloved composers, whose shows and songs are the gift this country has given to the world. More importantly it’s our cultural heritage, and as such deserves to be honored and preserved.
In a show entitled Their Story Goes On…everyone’s favorite chanteuse, Liz Callaway, was the guest artist delivering these gems, accompanied by her award-winning Music Director Alex Rybeck. This talented pair took the audience through not only a review of some of the lesser-known shows of the York, but through a bit of its history. The title of the show referred not only to the composers but to the York itself. Photographs of composers were projected beautifully, and not over-whelmingly (designed by Noah Glaister) as the music was presented. I don’t think one photo was from the usual stockpile, which attested to the care and attention to detail that went into this show. Credit for this goes to Director Joseph Hayward, whose seamless work kept the attention of the audience where it should be throughout. His masterful work on last year’s Julie Sings Jule (Benko and Styne) was clearly the warm-up for this year’s event—can’t wait for next year’s!
The York is celebrating its 55th Anniversary and has been under the stewardship of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan for 27 of those years, though he’s been associated with it for almost 50 years. He is, after all, the person who made it an all-musical theatre and came up with the phrase “where musicals come to life.” During the more than five decades, the York has presented over 700 shows, and therein delivered over 8,000 songs! Who else can make such a claim? Damn few, to borrow a phrase. I became acquainted with them in 2002 when they were celebrating the birth centennial of Richard Rodgers by producing Jumbo, By Jupiter, Androcles & The Lion and Me & Juliet. The only place offering this cornucopia of Rodgers’ work was the York.
That said, I’ll step off my soapbox and just kvell a little about the mastery of the evening, from so many points of view. It was truly a celebration of this valued institution. This was not the usual one-song-after-another type of cabaret performance. Each one related to something, or someone, so that by the end it felt like they were all strung together, creating a gorgeous strand of pearls. The evening’s finale was most touching. Liz sang “With So Little To Be Sure Of,” as projections of not only the composers but others like Joe Stein and Hal Prince whose contributions to this art form were vital. One of the last photos was of Janet Hayes Walker, who founded the York in 1969. A Stuart Ross parody, almost a given at any York Gala, concluded the evening with his take on “I’m Still Here,” which Liz ably delivered before being made a member of the Honorary Board of the York.
Much thought and effort went into this production—the care and brilliance that makes an event sparkle, and not just shine. As I sat behind Richard Maltby and Flaherty & Ahrens, and across from Doug Cohen, I thought of the composers I’ve met through my years at the York. How gratifying to be able to tell Harnick, Kander, Strouse et al, and even Hal Prince, how significant their work has been to me.
The York continues to be an example of the little engine that could. Despite a pandemic and a flood, and losing their longtime home, they continue at their current location. They began at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, moved to St. Peter’s for a long residency, and now reside at St. Jeans on East 76th Street. The Guardian Angels of the East Side are clearly looking over them!
Nominations for the 68th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced today by stage and screen star Kathleen Turner.
In keeping with the Drama Desk’s mission, the nominators considered shows that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway during the 2023-2024 New York theater season, that the Drama Desk determined ended as of April 25, 2024. Productions must run for 21 or more live performances to be considered eligible.
In determining the eligibility of productions with runs in prior seasons, the nominating committee considered only those elements that constituted new work. These productions included Appropriate, Cross That River, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Harmony, Here Lies Love, Just For Us, Mary Jane, Prayer for the French Republic, Public Obscenities, Suffs, and Sunset Baby.
Productions deemed not eligible, either because they were considered in their entirety in prior seasons or because they did not invite awards consideration in the current season, included Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Here We Are, Merrily We Roll Along, The Animal Kingdom, The White Chip, and Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice.
And the nominees are:
Outstanding Best Musical
Dead Outlaw
Illinoise
Lizard Boy
Teeth
The Connector
The Outsiders
Outstanding Best Play
Infinite Life
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Mother Play
Stereophonic
Swing State
The Ally
Outstanding Revival of a Musical
Cabaret
Gutenberg! The Musical!
I Can Get It For You Wholesale
Outstanding Revival of a Play
Appropriate
Doubt
Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Purlie Victorious
Uncle Vanya
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play
Nicole Cooper, Macbeth (an undoing)
William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust
Jessica Lange, Mother Play
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Tobias Menzies, The Hunt
Leslie Odom, Jr., Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
A.J. Shively, Philadelphia, Here I Come!
Juliet Stevenson, The Doctor
Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots
Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Santino Fontana, I Can Get It for You Wholesale
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses, Atlantic Theater Company
Liam Pearce, How to Dance in Ohio
Gayle Rankin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Ben Levi Ross, The Connector, MCC Theater
Ricky Ubeda, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play
Brittany Adebumola, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club
Marylouise Burke, Infinite Life, Atlantic Theater Company
Michael Esper, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Marin Ireland, Uncle Vanya, OHenry Productions
Will Keen, Patriots
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play, Second Stage Theater
Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Sheila Tousey, Manahatta, The Public Theater
Bubba Weiler, Swing State, Goodman Theatre
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical
Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen
Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company
Dorian Harewood, The Notebook
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Steven Pasquale, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook
Thom Sesma, Dead Outlaw
Emily Skinner, Suffs
Outstanding Direction of a Play
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Rupert Goold, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre
Kenny Leon, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Ciarán O’Reilly, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Irish Repertory Theatre
Outstanding Direction of a Musical
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Daisy Prince, The Connector, MCC Theater
Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants
Danya Taymor, The Outsiders
Outstanding Choreography
Camille A. Brown, Hell’s Kitchen
Graciela Daniele and Alex Sanchez, The Gardens of Anuncia, Lincoln Center Theater
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders (includes fight choreography)
Lorin Latarro, The Heart of Rock and Roll
Justin Peck, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants (includes circus choreography)
Outstanding Music
Jason Robert Brown, The Connector, MCC Theater
Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company
Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders
Shaina Taub, Suffs
David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Lyrics
Rachel Bloom, Eli Bolin, and Jack Dolgen, Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Show
Jason Robert Brown, The Connector, MCC Theater
Michael R. Jackson, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons
Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders
David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Book of a Musical
Justin Huertas, Lizard Boy, Prospect Theater Company
Michael R. Jackson, Teeth, Playwrights Horizons
Michael John LaChiusa, The Gardens of Anuncia, Lincoln Center Theater
Rebekah Greer Melocik, How to Dance in Ohio
Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw
Outstanding Orchestrations
Timo Andres, Illinoise, Park Avenue Armory
Will Butler and Justin Craig, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Andy Evan Cohen, The Greatest Hits Down Route 66, New Light Theater Project
Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company
Erik Della Penna, Dean Sharenow, and David Yazbek, Dead Outlaw
Michael Starobin, Shaina Taub (vocal arrangements), and Andrea Grody (vocal arrangements), Suffs
Outstanding Music in a Play
Michael “Mikey J” Asante, The Effect, The Shed
S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis, (pray), Ars Nova and National Black Theatre
Will Butler, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Dionne McClain-Freeney, The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company
Ben Steinfeld, Pericles, Classic Stage Company and Fiasco Theater
Outstanding Revue
Amid Falling Walls, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play
Es Devlin, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre
dots, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Derek McLane, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
Scott Pask, Grey House
David Zinn, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical
AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, The Outsiders
Paul Tate dePoo III, The Great Gatsby (includes projections)
Riccardo Hernández, Suffs
Arnulfo Maldonado, Dead Outlaw
Grace Smart, Good Vibrations: A Punk Rock Musical, Irish Arts Center
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play
Alex Berry, Macbeth (an undoing)
Karen Boyer, Warrior Sisters of Wu, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Lux Haac, Manahatta, The Public Theater
Rodrigo Muñoz, Sally & Tom, The Public Theater
Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical
Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club, Atlantic Theater Company
Márion Talán de la Rosa, The Connector, MCC Theater
Loren Elstein, Once Upon a One More Time
David Israel Reynoso, Water for Elephants
Paul Tazewell, Suffs
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play
Jane Cox, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Stacey Derosier, Uncle Vanya, OHenry Productions
Natasha Katz, Grey House
Lizzie Powell, Macbeth (an undoing)
Eric Southern, Swing State, Goodman Theatre
Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical
Lap Chi Chu, Suffs
Heather Gilbert, Dead Outlaw
Bradley King, Water for Elephants
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim (projections), The Outsiders
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, The Connector, MCC Theater
Outstanding Projection and Video Design
Eric Dunlap, Our Class, MART Foundation and Arlekin Players Theatre
Jared Mezzocchi, Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy, Vineyard Theatre
Peter Nigrini, Hell’s Kitchen
Olivia Sebesky, Melissa Etheridge: My Window
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, The Connector, MCC Theater
Outstanding Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, The Hunt, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre
Tom Gibbons, Grey House
Palmer Hefferan, The Comeuppance, Signature Theatre
Bray Poor and Will Pickens, Appropriate, Second Stage Theater
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic, Playwrights Horizons
Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical
Jason Crystal, Suffs
Kai Harada and Joshua Millican, Dead Outlaw
Nick Lidster for Autograph, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Cody Spencer, The Outsiders
Walter Trarbach, Water for Elephants
Outstanding Wig and Hair
J. Jared Janas and Cassie Williams, Sally & Tom, The Public Theater
Charles G. LaPointe, Suffs
Nikiya Mathis, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Manhattan Theatre Club
Nikiya Mathis, The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in he Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company
Robert Pickens and Katie Gell, Stereophonic, Broadway production
Outstanding Solo Performance
Michael Cruz Kayne, Sorry for Your Loss
Madeleine MacMahon, Breathless, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Wade McCollum, Make Me Gorgeous!, triangle productions!
Robert Montano, SMALL, Penguin Rep Theatre
Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain
Unique Theatrical Experience
A Eulogy for Roman, Through the Tollbooth Co.
A Simulacrum, Atlantic Theater Company
ADRIFT: A Medieval Wayward Folly, Happenstance Theater
I Love You So Much I Could Die, New York Theatre Workshop
Grenfell: in the words of survivors, St. Ann’s Warehouse, National Theatre, and KPPL Productions
Outstanding Fight Choreography
Michael G. Chin, Warrior Sisters of Wu, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre
Cha Ramos, Water for Elephants
Steve Rankin, The Who’s Tommy
Outstanding Adaptation
An Enemy of the People, by Amy Herzog
Macbeth (an undoing), by Zinnie Harris
The Comedy of Errors, by Rebecca Martínez and Julián Mesri, The Public Theater Mobile Unit
The Doctor, by Robert Icke, Park Avenue Armory
The Hunt, by David Farr, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Almeida Theatre
The Whole of Time, by Romina Paula, Joben Studios
Outstanding Puppetry
Matt Acheson, Hotel Happy, Houses on the Moon Theater Company
Adrian Kohler and Handspring Puppet Company, Life & Times of Michael K, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Baxter Theatre Centre, and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, and Camille Labarre, Water for Elephants
David Valentine, Poor Yella Rednecks, Manhattan Theatre Club
Special Awards
The How to Dance in Ohio Authentic Austistic Representation Team
Lighting designer Isabella Byrd
Publicist Irene Gandy
Ensemble Award
The Cast of Stereophonic
Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award
Cole Escola
This year’s awards will be held on Monday, June 10 at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (556 LaGuardia Place). Staci Levine and Jessica R. Jenen will Executive Produce the Awards.
David Barbour and Charles Wright are the Drama Desk co-presidents.
As was the case last year, all performance categories are gender-free. The updated gender-free categories are: Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical.
Each of these categories has twice as many nominees as the former gendered categories and voters will cast two votes for each category. These categories will also have two winners each. If there is a tie, there may be more than two winners in a category.
What sets the Drama Desk Awards apart is that they are voted on and bestowed by theater critics, journalists, editors, and publishers covering theater. The Drama Desk Awards honor all aspects of New York’s professional theater.
The 2023-2024 Drama Desk Nominating Committee is composed of: Martha Wade Steketee (Chair; freelance: UrbanExcavations.com), Linda Armstrong (New York Amsterdam News), Dan Dinero(Theatre is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance: Theatermania), Margaret Hall (Playbill) and Charles Wright (ex-officio).
Productions with multiple nominations:
Dead Outlaw – 11
The Outsiders – 9
Stereophonic – 8
Suffs – 8
The Connector – 8
Appropriate – 7
Water for Elephants – 7
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club – 5
Hell’s Kitchen – 5
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch – 5
The Hunt – 5
Illinoise – 4
Macbeth (an undoing) – 4
Teeth – 4
Buena Vista Social Club – 3
Grey House – 3
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – 3
Lizard Boy – 3
Mother Play – 3
Philadelphia, Here I Come! – 3
Swing State – 3
Uncle Vanya (OHenry Productions) – 3
Days of Wine and Roses – 2
How to Dance in Ohio – 2
I Can Get It for You Wholesale – 2
Infinite Life – 2
Manahatta – 2
Patriots – 2
Sally & Tom – 2
The Doctor – 2
The Gardens of Anuncia – 2
The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand
Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel – 2
The Notebook – 2
Warrior Sisters of Wu – 2
Mary Todd Lincoln staunchly supported her husband in his quest to save the Union and was loyal to his policies. Mary however also suffered from severe headaches, depression, a history of mood swings, fierce temper, public outbursts, as well as excessive spending, so I can understand why Cole Escola would want to spoof her. Their show Oh Mary! has met with some standout reviews, so much so it is moving to Broadway.
Escola (they/them), is also a cabaret performer, writer and an actor. They play Mary. I have friends, who do shows like this in Provincetown and do it well, but I am seriously not into the over the top camp, frat boy grossed out humor. Like the eight couples that walked out during my performance, this show was not for me.
The cast is terrific, as is the set design by dots, Cha See’s lighting, Daniel Kluger and Drew Levy’s sound design, as well as the costumes by Holly Pierson and Astor Yang who did the gowns worn by Escola.
Mary is a ex, not so great cabaret performer, who feels she should have never married Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora). She wants out and considering Abraham keeps bribing his assistant (Tony Macht) into giving sexual favors, you can understand why. Abraham is constantly pledging to “never do anything homosexual again” in exchange for winning the Civil War and keep his wife from ruining his name. In the meantime Mary is a raging alcoholic bit*h.
Then there is an acting coach (James Scully) Abraham has hired to keep Mary off his back and a chaperone (Bianca Leigh) that Mary abuses intensely.
Directed by Sam Pinkleton, who gives Mary the ending she longs for and for most of the audience a show they love.
Oh, Mary!: Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street through May 12th, then Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th Street starting June 26th.
If adventure is what you seek, run over to the AMT Theater on West 45th Street and take a bit of a time travel into the world of lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Composer Jule Styne is along on this ride, and with Garson Kanin providing the story for Do Re Mi, it’s bound to be a fun-filled and heart-warming romp.
The conductors (choo-choo, not baton-waving variety) of this journey are the Co-Founders of The J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, Jim Jimirro and Robert W. Schneider. Their appreciation of Broadway musicals is apparent from the moment you are warmly greeted entering the theater. They both exude a love of what they are doing and a joy that you can be part of it.
The time is 1960 and place NYC according to the program, but it feels more like the 1950s. With as much set as can fit on a small stage, we enter the world of Hubie and Kay, who could be Ralph and Alice or the Nortons. The plot may remind you of Fiorello! (which opened the year before) and is just as satisfying. Juke boxes, German accordionists, slot machines, angles, mobsters and singing waitresses all propel this plot, which does end happily, as all the zany musical comedies do from that era. Mention of long-gone New York landmarks like the Hotel Piccadilly and Dinty Moore’s added to the verisimilitude, as did the costumes. Each character is played to perfection by a cast of familiar faces, with some new. Eric Michael Gillett, along with his two partners in crime Richard Rowan and John Leone, are the gangsters, seemingly right out of a Cagney movie and ready to jump into “Brush Up Your Shakespeare”. Ian Lowe plays Hubie, the beleaguered husband long on dreams and short on luck of Kay, the long-suffering yet ever-loving wife, played beautifully by Rebeca Spiegelman. Lowe steered clear of any imitation of the original Phil Silvers, and instead delivered a more palatable-for-our-time Sean Hayes-esque performance. Spiegelman’s delivery of the Act II opening number “Adventure” was one of the highlights as she explained, as we’d been wondering, why she married Hubie. The rest of the cast, despite the youth of many of them, caught the spirit of the beginning of the golden age of musicals and delivered eye-catching and thoroughly convincing performances.
As if all this fun were not enough, the producers provide what they call a lagniappe—a little something extra at the end of the show. We were fortunate to have one of the esteemed authorities of the American Musical, Peter Filichia, who reviewed the other shows that opened in 1960 and added informative and amusing commentary. It was like a double serving of your favorite dessert!
Hats off to Rob Schneider, whose directorial skills kept this fast-moving train firmly on its tracks. Like most Comden & Green musicals, this one was a bucketful of zany—just what we need right now. It closes on April 28, so get your tickets for this, and also Flaherty & Ahrens Lucky Stiff being offered from May 3 – 12. J2spotlightnyc.com
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