Laura Loves Steven, and Broadway Loves Joe's Pub

If you've attended your fair share of one-night-only benefit concerts, you don't need me to tell you that these special events are often very special indeed. Perfect example: The 2005 World AIDS Day concert performance of The Secret Garden at the Manhattan Center, which was produced by Jamie McGonnigal and which boasted among its stars Steven Pasquale as the grief-stricken Archibald Craven, Laura Benanti as the beautiful ghost of his deceased wife Lily, and Will Chase as his misguided brother Neville.

The concert was unforgettable, and the onstage chemistry between Benanti and Pasquale was so palpable that no one present can have been very surprised when the two subsequently became engaged. Now married, they're so busy with their separate careers that they rarely have the opportunity to perform together. But that's just what they'll do this coming Sunday, November 2, at 9:30pm as part of a concert at Joe's Pub that will reunite them with Will Chase and will also showcase such super-talented folks as Nikki Blonsky, Gavin Creel, Cady Huffman, Jackie Hoffman, Hunter Parrish, and Anthony Rapp.

Titled Broadway Loves Joe's Pub, the evening will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the indispensable music venue that's tucked into a corner of The Public Theater on Lafayette Street. McGonnigal is really jazzed about the event and is pleased to once again be presenting Benanti and Pasquale onstage together, especially since it was his production of The Secret Garden that connected them in the first place. "Before our concert, they had only met in passing," McGonnigal says. "I have some publicity photos that we took in Central Park. There's a beautiful shot of Laura and Steve in front of a fountain; I gave them a copy of that photo for their wedding. They credit me with introducing them, and I'm very proud of that accomplishment!"

Broadway Loves Joe's Pub will be hosted by the hilarious Judy Gold, and Lynne Shankel (Cry-Baby, Altar Boyz) will serve as musical director. Though McGonnigal declines to provide specific details of the program, he said that a "revisitation" of The Secret Garden is a strong possibility, and he also promises some great original stuff from Creel and his musical partner, Rob Roth. For tickets, call 212-967-7555 or visit www.joespub.com.

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Mass Appeal

Performances of Leonard Bernstein's Mass are so rare that one hopes against hope for something approaching perfection whenever this mammoth "theatre piece for singers, players, and dancers" turns up. The recent presentation at Carnegie Hall fell short of that mark, but it was nevertheless thrilling -- and it certainly made an excellent case for a work that was roundly criticized upon its premiere in 1971 and has only in recent years begun to be fully appreciated.

Let's get the disappointing news out of the way first. Although Jubiliant Sykes displayed a beautiful, expertly controlled baritone in the role of the Celebrant, his performance was disconcertingly affected in terms of his facial expressions, his vocal mannerisms, and his over-reliance on a pretty but odd pianissimo voix mixte. If the Mass were mounted every other season, or even once every five years, such an idiosyncratic interpretation might be welcome; since that isn't the case, I for one would have preferred a more conventional approach.

This presentation also suffered from the strange layout of the forces assembled. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was placed way downstage and bifurcated, with a not very large playing area in the middle -- and another one upstage -- where the Celebrant and the Street Chorus performed. (Kevin Newbury directed.) The whole thing looked cramped, and whatever was happening in back of the orchestra was largely obscured from certain vantage points in the auditorium. (Note: The day after the Carnegie performance on Friday, October 24, the concert was given again at the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights, which may have proven to be a better venue.)

On the plus side: Marin Alsop conducted an eloquent performance that featured the Morgan State University choir and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus in addition to the great orchestra. And it was a happy surprise that the Street Chorus featured such musical theater talents as Sarah Uriarte Berry, Telly Leung, Theresa McCarthy, Mike McGowan, and Timothy Shew. Though far from definitive, this Mass was worthy enough to tide us over till the next world-class presentation, whenever that may occur.

On Broadway!

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. On Monday evening, October 27, that same glow lit up City Center, the site of Career Transition for Dancers' 23rd Anniversary Jubilee. Fittingly titled On Broadway!, the event was hosted by Angela Lansbury and featured awards to Brian Heidtke (presented by Lansbury) and Sono Osato (presented by Mikhail Baryshnikov). Here are some photos of the program's entertainment, captured during the afternoon dress rehearsal.

Noah Racey and Karen Ziemba in a sequence from Crazy for You, choreographed by Susan Stroman.

Terence Duncan and Elena Zahlmann in Agnes de Mille's revolutionary Dream Ballet from Oklahoma!

Leo Ash Evans (as Riff) and ensemble in "Cool" from West Side Story, choreographed by Jerome Robbins.

David Warren Gibson, Bebe Neuwirth, and Pam Sousa in the "Manson Trio" dance from Pippin, choreographed by Bob Fosse.

Most Excellent

The Theatre Museum doesn't have a permanent location yet, but that hasn't stopped it from holding lots of fabulous events at various locations throughout NYC. On Tuesday, October 21, the museum presented its 2008 Awards for Excellence at The Players' Club.

The Theatre History Preservation Award for Individual Achievement went to Rick McKay, creator of the invaluable documentary Broadway: The Golden Age. Here's McKay with the great Barbara Cook, who presented the award to him.

The perennial Joe Franklin won the museum's Lifetime Career Achievement award.

The Theatre Arts Education Award went to Five Towns College. Representing the school were these four lovely young women, collectively known as "The Jingle Bells." They're pictured here with the eminent theatrical designer and director Tony Walton, who helmed the evening's entertainment program.

Jessica Grové and Euan Morton added to the festivities by singing the sweet old song "Yours Sincerely."

Elizabeth Inghram and Maxime de Toledo, "With a Song in My Heart."

Among the event's attendees: Comedian Pat Cooper, who presented the award to Joe Franklin...

...composer Ervin Drake, who presented the award to Five Towns College, with his lovely wife...

...and the ever-gorgeous Jo Sullivan Loesser, pictured here with one of the evening's most happy fellas, Tony Walton.

True Originals

Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, returned to the New York stage some 20 years after his last Broadway performance in that mega-hit to give a concert at The Town Hall on Saturday, October 18. The event was part of the venue's annual Broadway Cabaret Festival, produced by Scott Siegel, which this year kicked off on Friday the 17th with A Tribute to Lerner & Loewe and ended spectacularly on Sunday the 19th with Broadway Originals! Here are some in-performance photos of the last two concerts.

Wilkinson saved "Bring Him Home" from Les Miz for his second encore at the end of his nearly three-hour concert. When he finally performed it, he did so to the hilt, donning a jacket he wore in the show.

Many of the Broadway (and Off-Broadway) originals in Sunday's concert represented shows that opened decades ago, but they all still sounded and looked fabulous. Here's Lucie Arnaz (They're Playing Our Song).

D'Jamin Bartlett (A Little Night Music).

Gary Beach (Beauty and the Beast, The Producers, La Cage aux Folles).

Rita Gardner (The Fantasticks).

Stephen Mo Hanan (Cats).

Jerry Lanning, the original Patrick in Mame.

The amazing Karen Morrow (I Had a Ball).

Pamela Myers (Company).

Terri White, reprising her really-old-lady routine from Barnum.

We Bombed in New Mexico

I'm not going to pretend that I have sufficient technical knowledge of music to offer a thorough analysis of John Adams' opera Doctor Atomic, especially not after one hearing. I will say that I found the score far more enjoyable and accessible than I ever dreamed I would, with its often gorgeous, arching vocal lines over a sometimes minimalist, sometimes spiky, always intriguing orchestral component. And it should be noted that Adams is expert at setting dialogue to music, a talent that even some of his most esteemed confreres cannot claim.

Peter Sellars' libretto for this largely brilliant opera is culled from various texts, including several books about the Manhattan Project, interviews, poems by Baudelaire, Muriel Rukeyser and John Donne, and the Bhagavad Gita. The central character is J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who headed the project that led to the development and explosion of the world's first atomic bomb over Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1945.

Ironically, the opera is most involving when Adams sets prosaic conversation or seemingly dry scientific text to music, as in the opening phrases of the chorus: "We believed that matter can be neither created nor destroyed, but only altered in form. We believed that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but only altered in form. But now we know that energy may become matter, and now we know that matter may become energy and thus be altered in form." This may read as boring, but believe me, it doesn't sing that way. Conversely, while Adams' music for Oppenheimer's wife and maid is unfailingly beautiful, the poetic utterances of these characters seem forced into the work to make it more "operatic" (and to provide opportunities for solo female voices).

Doctor Atomic has been performed elsewhere to deserved acclaim, but the Met production is the company's own. It boasts direction by Penny Woolcock, sets by Julian Crouch, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Brian MacDevitt, and choreography by Andrew Dawson, all at the top of their game. Two huge set units that dominate the stage in the opening scene consist of narrow cubicles in which those involved in the Manhattan Project are ensconced. These units break apart to show other locations, including the Oppenheimers' house and the "Trinity" test site. The final image of the explosion is done in the simplest way possible, but you won't soon forget it. Throughout the production, eerie sound effects (by Mark Grey) and video projections (by Leo Warner & Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions, Ltd.) enhance this chilling tale.

Baritone Gerald Finley is vocally and dramatically perfect as Oppenheimer. Sasha Cooke does what she can with the problematic role of Mrs. O., and Meredith Arwady is a wonderfully grounded presence as the maid, Pasqualita. Richard Paul Fink and Thomas Glenn create memorable characterizations of two of Oppenheimer's colleagues, Edward Teller and Robert Wilson. (Isn't it nifty that an opera with music by John Adams and a libretto by Peter Sellars should include a character named Robert Wilson?) Eric Owens sings sonorously as General Leslie Groves, and one of the highlights of the opera is his performance of the character's weirdly funny "diet aria."

Alan Gilbert, in his Met debut, conducts the orchestra (and the singers) with great skill and assurance. I don't care how well-trained a musician you are: It must be fearsomely challenging to lead a score like this, with its ever-changing time signatures and other complexities, not to mention its huge dynamic range. Gilbert's achievement is one of the most impressive aspects of the Met's excellent production of that rara avis, a new American opera so worthy -- and so accessible -- that it has a very good chance of joining the standard repertory.

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The Ghostlight Fantastic

Here's to Ghostlight! This enterprising company continues to issue high-quality cast albums and other musical-theater-related material at such a rate that my CD roundups end up being mostly or entirely about their product. Here are brief notes on three new Ghostlight releases.

It's understandable that some people might not respond to 13 because they consider the joys and problems of tweens to be insignificant, or because they just don't like to hear kids that age sing for an hour and a half in occasionally grating, not-fully-developed voices. But Jason Robert Brown's music and lyrics for the show are just as great as we've all come to expect from this super-talent. Among the score's highlights as heard on the cast album are the catchy, kinetic title song; the hilarious "Hey Kendra," in which three pubescent, wannabe studs make fools of themselves as they imagine how to get over on a babe; the rollicking "All Hail the Brain," sung by protagonist Evan (Graham Phillips) when he thinks he's found a path to acceptance by the kids in his new school; and the touching penultimate song, "A Little More Homework."

Just because a recording has historical interest doesn't necessarily mean it's crying out to be made available to the general public. Case in point: Patti LuPone at Les Mouches. The cuts on this CD are taken from sound-board tapes of LuPone's very first club act, which she performed for 27 weeks at midnight during her Broadway run in Evita in 1980. The lady is a unique talent, and few would disagree that she possesses one of the greatest musical theater voices of the 20th and 21st centuries; but this recording was never intended for commercial release, and even some of LuPone's staunchest fans may find that the free-reign vocal mannerisms and sometimes slurred diction displayed here don't reward repeated listening. (By the way: Given that LuPone played Evita six times a week rather than eight because of the role's vocal difficulties, it's staggering to think that she was simultaneously doing a midnight club act in which she sang 20 songs! Call her "leather lungs.")

If you love Lea DeLaria's way with jazz, give a listen to Lea DeLaria: The Live Smoke Sessions, including persuasive interpretations of such standards as "Down With Love," "Miss Otis Regrets," "Love Me or Leave Me," and "Come Rain or Come Shine." And if you feel you need TWO recordings of a marginally successful, not very good musical spoof, check out the double-CD set of Reefer Madness, which packages together the original Los Angeles cast recording as well as the soundtrack of the Showtime film version.

That's Acting!

I think it's fair to say that the general level of theatrical talent is significantly higher in the arena of acting than in such other disciplines as directing and playwriting. This is only natural: Over and above whatever formal training one receives, any human who's part of society can be said to "study acting" by observing the facial expressions, speech, and body language of others on a daily basis, whereas few of us are regularly required to pen our own dramatic scenarios and/or instruct people on how to perform them.

Still, having attended professional theater performances for more than 35 years, I remain awed by the terrific acting I enjoy almost every time I see a show. The reason I was prompted to write an article in praise of New York theater actors at this particular juncture is that the overall quality of work being done on our stages right now seems even more impressive than usual.

Let's start with MCC Theater's Fifty Words, at the Lucille Lortel. Elizabeth Marvel and Norbert Leo Butz are brilliant in Michael Weller's unnerving play about a man and wife who have an epic, potentially marriage-ending fight during a night spent alone together while their young son is away on a sleepover. These two performances are so finely observed in every detail, and the characters' constantly shifting emotions are so affectingly communicated, that the line between art and reality blurs to the point of disappearance.

Elsewhere Off-Broadway: Clifton Oliver, Nathan Lee Graham, Andre Holland, and Erik King shine in the ensemble cast of the Vineyard's Wig Out! Angela Christian, best known as the sweet ingénue Miss Dorothy in Broadway's Thoroughly Modern Millie, gives an unsparing performance as the distraught wife of a prisoner of war in the Platform Theatre Group production of Lee Blessing's Two Rooms at the Lion Theatre. And Logan Marshall-Green and Corey Stoll were frightfully good as two grievously injured Iraq war veterans in the New York Theatre Workshop production of Beast, another play by Michael Weller, which closed on October 12.

There was a time when British actors were generally considered to be better at their craft than Yanks, but three current Broadway revivals remind us that there's excellence on both sides of the pond. Kristin Scott Thomas and Mackenzie Crook of the U.K. are wonderful as Arkadina and Konstantin in the London import production of The Seagull, and so are Americans Peter Sarsgaard as Trigorin and Zoe Kazan as Masha. Daniel Radcliffe is very good in Equus, as are Anna Camp and Lorenzo Pisoni -- this despite a poor effort on the part of director Thea Sharrock, whose lack of guidance must be at least partly responsible for the unsatisfactory performances of the normally excellent Richard Griffiths and Kate Mulgrew. In the Roundabout revival of A Man for All Seasons, New Jersey native Frank Langella comes through with yet another of his magnificent, classical-theater-style portrayals, having recently demonstrated in Frost/Nixon that he can be great in just about any type of role.

When it comes to musical theater, the performing talent pool in this city is so deep that even some of the worst shows have had great people in their casts. Looking back over the past few seasons, we note that the disastrous Lennon featured such top-drawer singing actors as Will Chase, Julia Murney, Chuck Cooper, and Terrence Mann, while the awful Dracula had the wonderful Tom Hewitt, Melissa Errico, and Kelli O'Hara in the leads. Currently, James Barbour is so powerful in A Tale of Two Cities that he practically carries this disappointing musical on his shoulders.

The recently concluded New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) provided ample opportunity to savor the talents of triple-threat performers, even when their vehicles weren't up to snuff. The quality of writing in the shows I caught ranged from excellent (Bonnie & Clyde) to abysmal (a production in the developmental series that will remain nameless), but the average level of performance was very high. Among the best of the best: Elena Shaddow as neo-ingenue Cassie Purdy, Beth Curry as the fabulously slutty Ida Dunham, and Jennifer Perry as earthy Aunt Pearlie in Idaho!; Kevin Carolan, whose turn as a cross-dressing J. Edgar Hoover in Bonnie & Clyde was the stuff of comic genius; and Jim J. Bullock, hysterically funny in The Fancy Boys Follies.

Those with an eye towards the future can only be heartened by the accomplished-beyond-their-years performances of the all-teenage cast of 13, whatever the long-run prospects of this funny and touching new musical. I haven't yet seen Billy Elliot on Broadway, but it's a safe bet that there are a several very talented young performers in that show, too. And don't forget the little girls in Gypsy!

In sum, I've been generally thrilled by the stage acting I've experienced over the past several weeks -- and I can say that without having yet seen All My Sons, Speed-The-Plow, or any number of other shows that promise great things from such worthies as Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow, Raúl Esparza, and Jeremy Piven. It would be very wrong of us to take the extraordinary abilities of these thesps for granted. So, here's to the people who act. Aren't they the best?