'A Kid Like Jake': Another Winner for Lincoln Center Theater

Carla Gugino and Peter Grosz: Harried Parents in ‘A Kid Like Jake’

What appears at first to be a satire on the desperate gamesmanship of getting a four-year-old admitted into one of New York City’s elite private schools turns into an increasingly human struggle for one family in Daniel Pearle’s A Kid Like Jake, now playing at the Claire Tow Theatre at Lincoln Center.

The play, well directed by Evan Cabnet, opens on Alex (played with an edgy neuroticism by Carla Gugino), who has given up a legal career to be a stay-at-home mom.  She is struggling with a pile of applications to a dozen $40,000-a-year schools—Dalton, Ethical Culture, Trinity, and the like—believing with absolute certainty that her son’s entire future hangs on her choosing just the right strategy to get him admitted.  “After that,” she tells her husband Greg (a fine performance by Peter Grosz), “our job is done.”

But there is more to getting in than filling out forms.  The sticking point is the extent to which she can get their son Jake to game the system as well, to present himself in the best light through high marks on admissions tests, interviews, and observations at his current pre-school. 

Jake, an only child who has been hovered over since he came into the world, does not necessarily fit the profile of perfection.  Although he is sufficiently smart, creative, and imaginative, he is also stubborn and fiercely independent, and he does not always play nicely with the other children at the pre-school run by Judy (richly realized by Caroline Aaron), who has been helping Alex work through the application process.

Then there is the matter of Jake’s predilection for all things Cinderella and playing dress-up.   

Judy thinks they should highlight Jake’s “gender-variant play” as a form of self-expression that would appeal to the schools’ interests in diversity. Greg, a psychoanalyst, is wondering if they need to take Jake to see a therapist to help him sort through his “gender confusion.”  

Alex, on the other hand, is conflicted—and it is her struggle with her personal demons that lifts the play out of the realm of easy jokes about overweening ambition and progressive parents who live vicariously through their children. 

What drives Alex is a pressing and self-perceived need to redeem herself by getting things right with her son.  Her inner turmoil, the sources of which are revealed over the course of the play, may not be the stuff of grand tragedy, but they represent the layers of life’s vicissitudes that we all can recognize and many of us can identify with. They are affecting her relationship with her husband, her friends, and her son, as well as her own well-being, as revealed in a series of conversations she has with a nurse (Michelle Beck) at the office of her OB/GYN.     

Daniel Pearle, a rising young playwright with a number of awards under his belt, has done impressive work with this play, especially through his gradual modulation of tone from cartoonish to psychologically complex and emotionally authentic (though, arguably, an uplifting denouement may be an unnecessary addition). 

I would like to tip my hat to Lincoln Center Theater for its commitment, through its LCT3 program, to nurturing new playwrights over the past five years.  The Claire Tow Theater, LCT3's new home, is a welcome addition to the complex that houses the Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi Newhouse, and I look forward to seeing it thrive in the years ahead.  

 

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The 2013 Tony Awards Show: Bigger, Better, and Uncut

Neil Patrick Harris hosts the 2013 Tony Awards Show

Last night was the theater industry's annual lovefest known as the Tony Awards Show.  I’ll share my comments in a minute, but hang on first while I finish ordering my tickets for Cinderella.

Yes, Cinderella, a show that I had no interest in seeing until last night.  The brief, lovely performance by Laura Osnes (Cinderella), Victoria Clark (fairy godmother), and Santino Fontana (the prince) made me immediately nostalgic for a good, old-fashioned tuneful musical.  Leave out the noise; leave out the funk! 

As to the Tony broadcast itself, they pretty much got everything right this time. Neil Patrick Harris was a delightful host, the pacing was the best I’ve seen in years, and, especially, the nominated musicals were given enough time and space to be able to represent the flavor of what it is they have to offer.

I was not looking forward to the return of the Tonys to Radio City Music Hall after a couple of years in the smaller Beacon Theater.  But it does seem they have figured out how to tame the vast expanse of Radio City, and perhaps position the cameras in such a way that it felt you were watching from a seat in a theater instead of observing from a great distance. 

Cinderella was one of the big surprises for me.  The other was the “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid” number from A Christmas Story.  It was terrific, and the kids in that show sang and danced rings around the gang from Annie and Matilda, as well as the performers playing the Jackson Five in Motown:  The Musical.  

This year, for the first time ever, I published my own predictions (April 30) of the winners.  So, how did I do?  Let's compare my successes with those of the two first-tier critics from The New York Times, Ben Brantley and Charles Isherwood.  I will also comment as I go along.

In the category of Best Featured Actor in a Play, Brantley was the only one who called it:  Courtney B. Vance (Lucky Guy).  Isherwood picked Richard Kind (The Big Knife), and I picked Tony Shalhoub (Golden Boy).  I confess to having not seen Lucky Guy, so I cannot comment on Mr. Vance’s work.  I did enjoy Mr. Kind’s performance, but I did think it was too one-note and overblown.  When I saw Golden Boy, Mr. Shalhoub gave a heart-felt performance that got at the soul of the play, as the loving immigrant father forced to watch his son go up in flames. 

For Best Featured Actress in a Play, all three of us correctly pegged Judith Light (The Assembled Parties) as the winner.  Ms. Light really did give an outstanding performance, and she and Jessica Hecht (sadly, not nominated) were terrific as the sisters-in-law in Richard Greenberg’s play.  Brantley liked Judith Ivey (The Heiress), more, and Isherwood thought Condola Rashad (The Trip to Bountiful) ought to have won.  I agree that Ms. Ivey did give the best performance in The Heiress, but that, unfortunately, is not saying a lot.  Ms. Rashad is a terrific actress; I’ve liked her immensely in Ruined and Stick Fly, as well as The Trip to Bountiful, but she simply did not have nearly enough to do in Bountiful to be able to fully display her talent. 

For Best Featured Actor in a Musical, the winner was Gabriel Ebert (Matilda).  Here, I was the only one who got it right.  Brantley thought that Charl Brown would take it for his work in Motown:  The Musical, while Isherwood gave the nod to Terrence Mann (Pippin).  If Mr. Mann had won, I would not have been disappointed; he is giving an excellent performance.  But I will allow myself the tiniest of gloats for having outguessed Messrs B and I.

For Best Featured Actress in a Musical, there really was no competition.  The odds-on favorite, Andrea Martin (Pippin) did win and scored an easy point for each of us.

For Best Book of a Play, all three of us got it right by selecting Dennis Kelly (Matilda).  He should share the honors with Roald Dahl, that most sublime of darkly humorous authors, whose book of the same title was the source for the musical.

For Best Score of a Musical, Isherwood thought that Tim Minchin’s score for Matilda would pair up with the Best Book Award, but Brantley and I both correctly named Cyndi Lauper (Kinky Boots) as the winner.  Certainly Kinky Boots is the kind of upbeat crowd pleaser that establishes Ms. Lauper as a Broadway composer to be reckoned with.  Let’s hope she finds another project worthy of her talents.

For Best Leading Actor in a Play, all there of us fell into the cynical expectation that Tom Hanks (Lucky Guy) could not be beaten, but we were wrong, and it was Tracy Letts who picked up the Tony for his performance as George in the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

For Best Leading Actress in a Play, all three of us correctly named Cicely Tyson for her star turn in The Trip To Bountiful.  Ms. Tyson, by the way, gave the most polished and classy acceptance speech of the evening. 

For Best Leading Actor in a Musical, it really was a tight race between Bertie Carvel in Matilda and Billy Porter in Kinky Boots.  All three of us went with Mr. Carvel, but it was Mr. Porter who carried the day.

For Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Isherwood and I correctly identified Patina Miller (Pippin), while Brantley thought the Tony would go to Laura Osnes for Cinderella.

For Best Director of a Play, the Tony went to Pam MacKinnon for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  Both Isherwood and I called it, while Brantley thought it would go to George C. Wolfe for Lucky Guy. 

For Best Director of a Musical, Brantley went for Matthew Warchus (Matilda), while Isherwood and I both correctly identified the winner, Diane Paulus (Pippin).  Ms. Paulus has done outstanding work in putting together this revival, which is sure to have a long life on Broadway. 

For Best Revival of a Play, Brantley incorrectly named Golden Boy, while Isherwood and I got it right with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

For Best Revival of a Musical, all three of us correctly named Pippin.  This terrific production pulled off a last-minute coup against the only other really strong contender (in my view, at least), The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 

For Best New Play, the three of us were split. Isherwood correctly predicted Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as the winner.  Brantley picked Lucky Guy, and I thought it would go to The Assembled Parties.  I am a big Christopher Durang fan, but I thought it was the performances rather than the writing that launched Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike into a higher plane.

And, finally, for Best New Musical, the battle for the top spot was won by Kinky Boots, though all three of us expected Matilda to would pull it off. 

So to the tote board:

In third place, Brantley – 7 correct predictions, or 44%

In second place, Isherwood  – 10 correct predictions, or 63%

And, in first place, ProfMiller – 11 correct predictions, or 69%

And so, I graciously step up to the winner’s podium to collect my own Self-Satisfaction Award for Best Predicting, at least in these 16 categories.  Just don't ask how I did with making predictions in the technical categories.  

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Forget the Tonys! Time for the Annual ProfMiller's Kudos Awards

The theater community’s annual awards season comes to a close with Sunday’s Tony Awards, which means it is time to announce our own ProfMiller Kudos Awards for Outstanding Theatrical Achievement, 2012-2013.

In all honesty, this past year has not been the greatest, on or off the Great White Way.  This is not, I think, the place to name names, but suffice it to say, too many productions turned out to be lacking in imagination and creativity. 

But there certainly were pleasures to be derived, and The Kudos Awards are here to celebrate those special moments, when everything magically came together and everyone involved could say—in the words of Blanche DuBois—“oh look, we have created enchantment.”   

For the record, The Kudos Awards encompass Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions and do not take into consideration length of run, size or location of theater, or any life-after-New York touring potential.  What they do take into consideration are the personal biases and judgments of one theatergoer, underpinned by more than a half century of experience as a member of the audience. Do take it in that light.

And so, without further ado, the envelope, please.

Special Awards

We’ll begin with several special awards that don’t fit into any of the usual categories. 

The first is a Special Kudos Award for Outstanding Work By a Repertory Company, which goes to the Irish Rep. I never cease to be amazed at how the production team—headed up by its creative founders Ciarán O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore—manage to put together such entertaining plays and musicals within their tiny performance space. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them repeat themselves in terms of staging, so I can only conclude that they have one or more helpful leprechauns hanging about.  Special nods this year to two of its shows:  a thoroughly charming production of the musical Donnybrook! and the current first-rate revival of Conor McPherson’s atmospheric play, The Weir.

Speaking of charming, The Kudos Awards now has a new category called Most Charming Solo Performance, created just for Michael Urie, in recognition of his star turn as a factotum for an unseen character known as Barbra Streisand, in Jonathan Tolins’s Buyer and Cellar. The play is slight, but the performance is indeed Kudos-worthy. 

And finally, a Special Kudos Raise-‘Em-From-The-Dead Award goes to Keala Settle for the way in which she did just that with her rendition of the gospel number “Joy of the Lord” in Hands On A Hardbody.  Ain’t nobody gonna nod off in church with Ms. Settle leading the choir!

  

Acting Awards – Plays

For Best Actress in a Play, the winner is Cicely Tyson, who beguiles the audience into singing hymns with her in the revival of Horton Foote’s The Trip To Bountiful. 

For Best Featured Actress in a Play, the winner is Judith Light, whose performance as a conflicted Jewish mother and loving sister-in-law in Richard Greenberg's The Assembled Parties quite lifted the play to a higher level altogether and contributed greatly to its success.   

For Best Actor in a Play, the winner is Danny Burstein, for his lead performance in the revival of that grown-up Valentine of a play, Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folly.  After his splendid work in last year’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Mr. Burstein might do well to seek out or commission plays with “folly” in the title. 

For Best Featured Actor in a Play, the winner of the Kudos Award is Tony Shalhoub for his heartfelt performance as the immigrant dad in the very solid revival of Clifford Odets’s Golden Boy. 

Acting Awards – Musicals

For Best Actress in a Musical, the winner is Patina Miller, who ringmasters the many strands that make up Pippin.   She’s got the moves, the pipes, and the sass needed to pull this off. 

For Best Featured Actress in a Musical, no one goes near to matching Andrea Martin’s featured number in Pippin.  She gives a master class in musical performing every single time she shows up.  Kudos and Brava to her!

For Best Actor in a Musical, the winner is Billy Porter, who, like Patina Miller, has the moves, the pipes, and the sass, which he uses to great effect in the out-there role of Lola, the drag star in Kinky Boots. 

For Best Featured Actor in a Musical, we have a tie with the delightful duo of Will Swenson and David Pittu for their teamwork in the Encores! production of It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman, itself a strong contender for best musical revival.

Directing Awards

Winning the Kudos Award for Best Director of a Play is Ruben Santiago-Hudson, for his outstanding work with the revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre. 

For Best Director of a Musical, the Kudos Award goes to the team responsible for much of the success of Pippin, Diane Paulus, Gypsy Snider, and Chet Walker.  Paulus is credited as director, Snider as being in charge of the circus elements, and Walker as choreographer, but it is their collaborative efforts that have resulted in this terrific and original production.

Plays

The hands down winner in the category of Best Revival of a Play is the Signature Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Brilliantly acted under the perfect direction of Ruben Santiago-Hudson, this was the frontrunner early on, and nothing that has appeared since then has come close.     

For Best New Play, the Kudos Award goes to Richard Greenberg’s The Assembled Parties.  This was a strange play, especially the first Act, with its false trails and unanswered questions, but somehow it all came together in the second half and boasted a pair of memorable performances by Jessica Hecht and Judith Light, and a very creative set design by Santo Loquasto. 

Musicals

The Kudos Award for Best Revival of a Musical goes to Pippin.  Individual performances and the overall production more than make up for the rambling nature of the show, and the artifices enhance rather than distract from the work.   

And, finally, for Best New Musical, the Kudos Award goes to Kinky Boots, largely on the basis of Cyndi Lauper’s infectious score.  A thumping crowd pleaser!

And that, folks, is a wrap. Cue the music and call it a night!

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