Almost Famous (c) Matthew Murphy
Theater: Almost Famous
Broadway at the Jacobs Theatre
Sooner or later, with all these movies-to-musical adaptations on Broadway, it would only be inevitable that one of my beloved films would get the theatrical makeover. After sitting through musicals based on films I only had passing knowledge of, like “Bring It On, “Elf” and “Shrek,” comes a movie I almost know by heart, 2000’s “Almost Famous” from writers Cameron Crowe (the director and writer of the semi-autobiographical original) and composer Tom Kitt. “Almost Famous” is the Oscar-winning film in which a young music critic named William is asked by Rolling Stone magazine (not knowing he’s only 15) to interview and write a piece on the rising rock band Stillwater in 1973. William is played here by the charismatic newcomer Casey Likes, who is usually just asked to react to the chaos that is a rock-and-roll tour life, but he does it charmingly. With advice (“Don’t make friends with the band–”) from his mentor Lestor Bangs (Rob Colletti, not quite up to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s level, but who can be?) and warnings (“Don’t Do Drugs,” another song title) from his overprotective mother (the always reliable Anika Larsen), he goes on the road with his trusty tape recorder, and immediately becomes enamored with Stillwater’s golden god guitarist Russell Hammond (Chris Wood, in the evening’s best performance), and falls in love with one of the band-aids (don’t call them groupies) Penny Lane (a so-so Solea Pfeiffer).
Almost Famous (c) Matthew Murphy
Act One goes through the familiar beats of the first half of the film, with director Jeremy Herrin moving things along in a quick clip, ending with the classic bus singalong of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” The second half is bogged down by all the plot points that need to get resolved, including sojourns to both New York City and San Francisco, a tumultuous plane ride and a drug overdose. Still, I had a fun time revisiting these moments, releasing all my happiness serotonin, even though I knew the show itself was flawed. Some of the original songs aren’t quite up to the snappiness of the actual rock songs used. An unspoken rule of these musicals is that any famous line fans are salivating for like “Bend and Snap” from “Legally Blonde” and, for this musical, “It’s All Happening,” always becomes a song. But I had a smile throughout the two-and-a-half-hour runtime, especially during the creative curtain call using Stillwater’s one hit-wonder “Fever Dog.” Was I pandered to? Yes. Is this a perfect adaptation of the film? Pretty much. Is it a good musical on its own? I have to admit, it’s only fine. But I had a great time. By chance, a second favorite film, “Back to the Future,” will be making its Broadway musical debut next season. It’s, indeed, all happening, and heavy, Doc.
You Will Get Sick (c) Joan Marcus
Theater: You Will Get Sick
At the Roundabout Theater Company
It is no coincidence that I’ve seen two plays in as many months in which characters are dealing with scary illnesses in a world full of dread. Last month was “I’m Revolting,” about skin cancer patients, and now an even more dire title, “You Will Get Sick.” Another pandemic allegory play, “Sick” takes place in a parallel world in which people are in constant fear of being swooped up by giant birds and never coming back. And although this threat hovers over this metropolitan city at the center of Noah Diaz’s play, it is not the main plot. The play is about a young man, identified as #1 (Daniel K. Issac), who has an unnamed chronic disease in which body parts go numb at unexpected times and he becomes immobile. He is told, per the title, that it’s not going to get better. But #1 is at a loss with this diagnosis as he doesn’t have that many friends to talk to about this life-altering news. So he does what any lonely person would do, put up fliers around the city asking for a person to call, and for a fee, he would unload his problems. I guess a therapist would be too expensive. So enter #2 (Linda Lavin), who thankfully has a name, Callen, and she’s a late-in-life actress, who answers the ad. From there we follow this unlikely pair through many situations, including him going to her improv class and her meeting his sister, #3 (Marinda Anderson). The play itself has a very distinct sterile feel to it, with its monochromatic color scheme (which is turned on its head at the end of the play) and elliptical dialogue pattern. As we have all just gone through a Jungian collective trauma, a play dealing with these wounds may, unfortunately, not get a fair shake.
You Will Get Sick (c) Joan Marcus
What saves this play from being too clinical or too twee is the wonderful relationship that Issac and Lavin have together. The two characters slowly grow to like each other, even though they can always fall back on the façade that everything is just a business transaction. Issac, last seen in “The Chinese Lady,” is becoming a very confident actor on stage, which is important here as Diaz and director Sam Pinkleton put him through a very complicated stage metaphor for his disease (hint, “The Wizard of Oz” is brought up a lot). But it’s really Lavin who’s the heart of this play. Callen is a very complicated character, not always the nicest, and Lavin relishes every moment. She’s so good that sometimes she has to pause to make sure the audience gets what she’s talking about (some may call it milking a moment, it just depends on your tolerance for such things). These two actors make their characters feel sympathetic, whereas on paper, they would read as more dry. And thanks to Lavin, you will never be able to hear the lyric, “Somewhere over the rainbow/Way up high –” the same way ever again.
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A Man of No Importance (c) Julieta Cervantes
Theater: A Man of No Importance
At Classic Stage Company
Even before the pandemic, there was a push to revisit many of playwright Terrence McNally’s older works in New York, with revivals of “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair du Lune” and “It’s Only a Play,” all with varying degrees of success. But now, after his death from Covid-related complications, comes the first posthumous revival of one of his musicals, the quiet and relatively modest “A Man of No Importance,” co-written with his “Ragtime” collaborators, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, from 2002. Based on the 1994 film of the same name, the show, which takes place in 1960s Dublin, Ireland, revolves around Alfie Byrne (Jim Parsons). He is a perpetual bachelor, still living with his sister Lily (Mare Winningham) and has a job as a bus conductor, welcoming people on the bus (with the occasional poem) as his friend Robbie Fay (A. J. Shively) drives. He does have one hobby, and that’s directing plays, mostly from his favorite playwright, fellow countryman, Oscar Wilde. His next production, to be performed at the local church’s basement, is Wilde’s “Salomé.” (Side note: Even with the accented e in the title, Americans usually pronounce it as SAL-o-may, while the Brits and Irish pronounce it sal-O-may, closer to how we say salami. Of course, even though the play includes religious figures such as John the Baptist, Wilde’s version is famous for its dance of the seven veils, considered blasphemous, which is what Alfie has to deal with once rehearsals start.
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A Man of No Importance (c) Julieta Cervantes
The joy of this musical is how much McNally has invested Alfie with his own love of theater, especially on the community theater level. And Parsons is the perfect conduit for Alfie, not understanding why people would object to a play that is this poetically powerful. The songs are serviceable, but the show lacks a signature song which, ironically, “Ragtime” had an abundance of. The acting ensemble makes the show so believably intimate and heartfelt, despite the varying degrees of misdemeanors butchering of the Irish brogue. This is John Doyle’s last production as CSC’s artistic director, and it’s a fine send-off. Doyle’s tenure at the theater has been a success, ushering in many memorable musical revivals, including “Carmen Jones,” “Pacific Overtures” and now this production. Whether the “Man” we are talking about is Alfie, Parsons, McNally or Doyle, the title certainly should swap “No” with “Much.”
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