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insanityclause · 4 years

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The 2020 Tony Awards may represent a shortened Broadway season, but there is a wealth of contenders to consider for the play categories. Fall and winter on the rialto is chock full of non-musical dramas, which will make for plenty of tense races at this year’s ceremony. To help you predict which productions and performers might come out on top this year, you’ll find my best insights into the potential nominees for the play categories below.

Best Play

There are ten eligible dramas from the 2019-2020 season, which should give us five nomination slots. The two biggest conversation starters of the fall were “The Inheritance” by Matthew Lopez and “Slave Play” by Jeremy O. Harris. Both should easily land a spot. I’m also betting that Adam Rapp grabs a slot for “The Sound Inside.” He’s won acclaim for years Off-Broadway, and nominators will be eager to highlight his Broadway debut.

The final two slots could go several ways. I think the love for Tracy Letts will help propel “Linda Vista” to a nomination, even if some audiences found the main character too unlikeable. “Sea Wall/A Life,” two short plays from Simon Stephens and Nick Payne, respectively, is a possibility. But voters may opt out of rewarding one acts. “A Christmas Carol” was praised for the new adaptation by Jack Thorne and it’s engrossing visuals, but a holiday themed play has never competed in this category. “My Name is Lucy Barton” and “The Height of the Storm” seem to be remembered for star performances more than their script, and this category has increasingly been tied to the writer in recent years. So I think “Grand Horizons” by Bess Wohl will fill out the category. The play depicts marriage issues in an aging relationship in a way that isn’t often seen.

Revival of a Play

With just four contenders, this will be a three nominee category. “Betrayal” was a box office hit thanks to the star power of Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox. “A Soldier’s Play” features powerhouse performances and feels more “important” than the other revivals. “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” didn’t get the audience turnout it deserved, but the production should still make the cut thanks to two dynamite performances and the desire to honor the late Terrence McNally. That means “The Rose Tattoo,” which received a chilly reception, will get left out in the cold.

Director of a Play

The three perceived frontrunners for Best Play should easily get their directors nominated. Stephen Daldry had the most massive undertaking of the bunch with “The Inheritance,” Robert O’Hara helped chart the wild tonal shifts of “Slave Play,” and David Cromer crafted an almost uncomfortable sense of intimacy with “The Sound Inside.” They all should look out for “A Christmas Carol” director Matthew Warchus. Even if the play fails to make the top category, the massive cast and sprawling set he had to wrangle make Warchus a huge threat here. I suspect Kenny Leon will take the remaining spot for “A Soldier’s Play,” but there are several directors nipping at his heels. Leigh Silverman (“Grand Horizons”), Jamie Lloyd (“Betrayal”), and Arin Arbus (“Frankie and Johnny”) are all poised to make a surprise.

Lead Actress in a Play

Mary-Louise Parker gave a career defining performance in “The Sound Inside” and leads the pack here. She faces tough competition from Laura Linney, who is looking for her first Tony win with the solo show “My Name is Lucy Barton,” and Joaquina Kalukango, who became a critical darling for a brutally raw performance in “Slave Play.”

The final slot is a close call between Audra McDonald (“Frankie and Johnny”), Zawe Ashton (“Betrayal”), and Eileen Atkins (“The Height of the Storm”). In a close race, I’m leaning towards all time Tony Awards champ McDonald in a baity Terrence McNally role.

Lead Actor in a Play

This is a race without a clear frontrunner. “The Inheritance” has three eligible lead actors, and the big question is how many of them will get in? Andrew Burnap seems like the safest bet thanks to his explosive and tragic role, and Olivier winner Kyle Soller should also make the cut for his sympathetic performance. Samuel H. Levine played two characters which allowed him to show range. However, the role feels like it belongs in the Featured Actor race, which could push him out of contention. “Betrayal” presents a similar prediction conundrum with both Charlie Cox and Tom Hiddelston contending in this category. If only one can make it, I give a slight edge to Hiddelston. Both men were widely praised however, and nominators might just check off both names.

One contender who won’t have to worry about splitting support with costars is Ian Barford. Even if his character makes dubious choices in the play, Barford should easily land a nomination for his towering performance. If any of these contenders falter, Jake Gyllenhaal (“Seawall/A Life”), Jonathan Pryce (“The Height of the Storm”), and Michael Shannon (“Frankie and Johnny”) would make worthy nominees.

Featured Actress in a Play

Lois Smith is the early favorite here. The stage legend has never won a Tony Award, and this small but mighty role gave her the perfect opportunity to show why she’s long been treasured by New York audiences. But plenty of women had roles with more stage time than Smith this season, and could provide stiff competition. Chief among those actresses is Sally Murphy, excellent in “Linda Vista” at portraying hopeful highs and heartbreaking lows of a doomed romance. Annie McNamara should also score here for “Slave Play,” thanks to her comedic moments dealing with white guilt and a wild sex scene.

There are four major contenders, from two plays, looking to fill the remaining two slots. In “A Christmas Carol,” Tony winners Andrea Martin and LaChanze embody the Ghost of Christmas Past and Ghost of Christmas Present, respectively. It’s usually a bad idea to bet against these women when it comes to Tony nominations, but I’m going out on a limb for two performances from “Grand Horizons.” Ashley Park is quickly proving to be one of the most versatile Broadway performers and should snatch a nomination for her scene stealing work. And most pundits thought Jane Alexander would be placed in Lead Actress for this role, but now that she’s in Featured she might just have the largest role of the bunch.

Featured Actor in a Play

The expected showdown here is David Alan Grier (“A Soldier’s Play”) vs. Paul Hilton (“The Inheritance”). I have no idea who will win that close race, but safe to say I’d be shocked if either actor missed a nomination. Of course, the four men of “Slave Play” might have something to say about the race. But their chances at winning may come down to just how many of them are nominated. I’m betting that Paul Alexander Nolan (who shares the brutal final act with Joaquina Kalukango) and Ato Blankson-Wood (who is asked to do plenty of emotional heavy lifting) make the cut. James Cusati-Moyer and Sullivan Jones are certainly in the running, but it’s difficult to score four nominations in a single category.

Who takes the last slot? John Benjamin Hickey (“The Inheritance”) would make a great choice, but his role is fairly subdued for most of the play. If voters are looking for more of a scene chewer they might opt for Michael Urie or James Cromwell of “Grand Horizons” or Will Hochman for “The Sound Inside.”

#Tony predictions #still no date though #Tom Hiddleston #Charlie Cox #Zawe Ashton #Betrayal

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alexdarke · 6 years

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Hi! First off, love to you both -- it's been awesome watching your guys' trip through pictures and vids. Second: I've been gravitating towards more queer-oriented art/film/literature lately as I've become more confident/conscious of my own queerness. I just read E.M. Forster's "Maurice" as well as the two-part play "The Inheritance" by Matthew Lopez, and both have left such a lasting impression on me. I'm currently reading "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer and I'm really falling in love with it.(1of2)

(2of2) SO, with taking in a lot of queer literature lately, what are some of your favorite queer literature/film/art/etc. picks that you could recommend? I want to hear more about what speaks to previous generations of (specifically) gay/bi men and learn from it so as to have a better understanding of the community I belong to.

===============================Put both halves together so it would be coherent. First and foremost: awwww. thanks. :) Secondly: What a great question! I am happy to answer, but I want to clarify that my list will be a list of things that were personally huge for me in my own exploration of my “queerness” and not necessarily a Queer Lit 101 primer (for which I am not very well equipped to provide but know plenty of people that can! :) ) I’ll also try to include a little bit of why each piece was so monumental for me so it can help you gauge if you are interested in looking at it.

Also, bear in mind… I’m still of a generation where things were still a bit bleak and my list relfects that. So much has changed in the last 25 years, it astounds me. Not to say that it is all easy breezy these days, but it’s considerably more hopeful than it used to be on the acceptance front.

With that said, here’s the list!

Writing

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee WilliamsI loved all of Williams works and was considered kind of strange by my friends for it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I felt like he was writing in a secret code that I could just barely make out and if I just stared harder, it would make complete sense to me. I feel absolutely robbed of my own history that it would take until I was in college to learn that he was queer and that so much of the coded language that was resonating with me was an expression of that experience. I earned one of my top acting marks for playing Brick in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. They said my physicality was positively divine. A drunk self loathing gay guy who had been in love with his best friend? I wasn’t acting. I was literally living it at the moment. :p

Becoming a Man & Borrowed Time by Paul MonetteI feel like these two books should be required reading in any sociological class that looks at minority lives or queer studies class. Paul Monette documents his life in two segments. The first being from birth until he meets the man that would be his husband. Borrowed Time documents the HIV/AIDS crisis and losing his husband along with so many friends. They are literally like huge gut punches of big, heavy emotional things. But they are so good at documenting where our community was pre-HIV and what happened to literally wipe out an entire generation of gay men that I feel like everyone should read them to just acknowledge this piece of our collective history/story and understand the period from the mouth of a survivor of it. His shorter pieces in other collections, particularly “My Priests” were well worth reading as well.

The Transfiguration of Benno BlimpieA one act play that is deeply disturbing, completely riveting, and utterly shocking in how clearly it lays bare the desire for love and sex as a fat kid and the harm caused by abuse of said fat kid, as we watch Benno buy his family home and lock himself in and eat himself to death. Note, while not specifically gay in tone (it’s more about his weight and quest for love from a world that hates him), there’s a rape scene in it that is pivitol and for many gay kids…including myself…all too familiar. It’s why the play resonated so strongly for me as a fat kid who survived rape but had to deal with a lifetime of shame around it that almost killed me. This play needs trigger warnings all over it though. Fair warning. :p

Bent by Martin ShermanDirecting this play was literally my coming out in college. A play about a gay man that is made to do something horrific so he can get a Jewish star rather than a pink triangle (because he knows the pink triangles are treated the worst in the camps) is made to do physical labor with someone who wears his pink triangle proudly. The two of them fall in love (and even have sex) without ever stopping to look at each other. There’s a shot of me holding up the pink triangle shirt with a smug look on my face because I was told not to direct this show and I did it anyway and had my actors literally standing toe to toe with blue haired old ladies as they verbally described homosexual sex and had orgasms…. and every performance had standing ovations so I knew I would get away with having done it. :p

Movies

De-lovelyA musical show about the life of Cole Porter that is both incredibly sad and awfully inspiring. Love is a complex emotion and doesn’t always fit inside of the Hollywood script of one man/one woman forever and ever. The Wedding BanquetI’m starting to realize a lot of the stuff on my list is about love being complex. This one fits that as well. A well told story about family and love that is all the more surprising, given the time period it was written in (while states were rushing to ban gay marriage and the Defense of Marriage act was enacted) and I feel like it is completely relevant to today.Check ItThis is actually a really recent film but absolutely deserves a place on this list. A documentary about the gangs of trans and gay kids on the streets of DC who figured out that alone they were vulnerable but together they could rule the streets…and so they do. PrideGod, I love this movie. A brilliant cast depicts the story of one piece of how gay rights came about in the UK. I wish I could show this movie to everyone and make them understand that sometimes it takes being willing to hold your hand out first, sometimes to people that would never have held theirs out first, to really create change.

The Celluloid ClosetA must see documentary that explains our place in cinema up to at least the 90s.

Well, that’s a few of them anyway. We’re about to hit our stop at Kyoto so I have to stop. Let me know if you watch or read any of them and what you thought!

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mastcomm · 4 years

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What I Wanted to Say in ‘The Inheritance.’ And What I Didn’t.

Theatergoers of different generations have had passionate responses to “The Inheritance,” Matthew Lopez’s two-part play about gay culture and the legacy of AIDS. The show was celebrated in its original runs in London, but the reception has been more divided on Broadway, both among professional critics and regular attendees. While many have found the show inordinately moving, others have criticized a lack of diversity in the central cast and narrow representation of contemporary gay life. We asked Lopez to write about what inspired the play and to reflect on why some audience members don’t like what they see.

In March 2018, my play “The Inheritance” began performances in London. Until its first preview, it was anyone’s guess how it would be received. A reimagining of E.M. Forster’s “Howards End” — using three generations of gay New Yorkers to explore class, community and the legacy of H.I.V. — hardly bears the makings of an obvious hit. And yet audiences, then critics, embraced the play.

Since then, over 200,000 ticket-buyers have seen the play in its three productions, two in London and now on Broadway. Almost every one of those people, whether belonging to or allied with the L.G.B.T.Q. community, has a story to share relating to its themes. I have heard from many of them — people who, after seeing the play, have healed broken relationships with their queer children, have decided to save their lives by seeking help for addiction, have finally put away their grief over those they lost during the epidemic.

My journey to writing it began when I was 15 years old, watching the Merchant Ivory film adaptation of “Howards End.” Somehow a gay Puerto Rican kid from the Florida panhandle was able to see some part of his experience reflected back in the story of the Schlegel sisters. He could identify with scenes of Londoners making sense of life at the turn of the last century, and even find a version of his abuela in the character of Ruth Wilcox.

I fell madly in love with Forster that day. We are an unlikely couple. But, besides my marriage, it has been the happiest union of my life. At least Forster doesn’t make me go buy eggs at 7 in the morning.

In writing “The Inheritance,” I wanted to take my favorite novel and retell it in a way that its closeted author never felt free to do in his lifetime. I wanted to write a play that was true to my experience, my philosophy, my heart as a gay man who has enjoyed opportunities that were denied Forster. It was my attempt to explain myself to the world as a gay man of my particular generation.

I wasn’t attempting to create a generationally defining work of theater that spoke for the entire queer experience. I think that if I had started with that intention, I never would have finished. There are some who feel the play should have done just that, and who fault me for not painting on a broader canvas.

Those responses led me to wonder: What do we expect from art, particularly when it is made by members of our own community? And, conversely, what are the responsibilities of artists to the communities to which they belong?

Art can be expected to hold a mirror up to society, but it cannot be expected to hold a mirror up to every individual who is engaging with it. Even with its long running time, there is a lot “The Inheritance” does not and cannot cover.

No one piece of writing about our complex, sprawling community will ever tell the entire story, and I believe that is a good thing: It creates an unquenchable thirst for more and more narratives — a thirst that has been evident in audiences for “The Inheritance” and a thirst that the theater, television and film industries have been too slow to satisfy.

“The Inheritance” was not my attempt at a grand summation of the past quarter century of queer history. What I was attempting was an examination of class, economic inequality, and poverty within the gay community — issues I have rarely seen depicted in theater. I have painted on a broad canvas. It is simply not the canvas others might have chosen.

I wanted to write about addiction and alcoholism — a disease I have struggled with, and an epidemic that plagues our community just as perniciously as H.I.V./AIDS did 30 years ago. I also wanted to write about sex: how it can be used as a vehicle for pleasure and intimacy, but how it is also used as a tool to cauterize pain.

Such examinations run counter to our current desire for affirmative representation. But avoidance of uncomfortable truths is not the role of the artist. Healing is impossible if you don’t understand the cause of the injury.

And while I examine race in “The Inheritance,” it is not one of its central themes. This is a decision for which I have been criticized, but it is a decision that I made consciously as a person of color. It is a consideration that is not asked of white writers, but it is one that writers of color must face with every project we begin.

Responsibility to community is the first question we must answer for ourselves. I believe that in writing honestly about my experience as a gay man, I have also contributed one more example of what it means to be a Puerto Rican man.

I have been asked by some why I didn’t write “The Inheritance” from a Latinx perspective. It is a question that reveals to me just how far we have to go in understanding the true nature of diversity of expression. I answer: Can you not see how, by virtue of the fact that I have written it, “The Inheritance” is a reflection of a Latinx perspective?

It reminds me of Sonia Sotomayor’s formulation that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion” than her white colleagues. Justice Sotomayor is not given only the Puerto Rican cases to decide; she helps decide all the cases. And her decisions are based just as much on her knowledge of the law as it is by her experiences as a Puerto Rican woman.

The same is true for “The Inheritance” and me. It is because I am Puerto Rican that “The Inheritance” is the play it is, not in spite of it. Eric Glass, my central character, may be a white man, but he is a white man who was created by a Puerto Rican one. That has fundamentally informed his journey through the play.

Others have questioned why there isn’t more representation of the younger generation in the play. It is true that most of the characters are near or close to my age. That is partly due to the function of adaptation — the Schlegel sisters (who became the mid-30s boyfriends Eric Glass and Toby Darling) are, after all, the central characters in “Howards End.” It is also a function of my own perspective. I wrote mostly about people in their 30s because that’s the experience I was living as I wrote the play.

There is a reason, however, that I chose to end the play in the future, focusing on the creative output of the youngest and most marginalized character in the play. I end “The Inheritance” with the acknowledgment that the future has yet to be written — and when it is, it will be written by the youngest among us.

My hope is that, while not presuming to speak for the younger generation, I have spoken to it, and that its members might come to the play in an attempt to understand the life of someone who came before them, and who, for better or worse, through his words and actions helped shape the world that they will inherit.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/what-i-wanted-to-say-in-the-inheritance-and-what-i-didnt/

#Entertainment

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newyorktheater · 4 years

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My ten favorite individual performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2019 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews.

Ian Barford‘s role as Wheeler, a recently divorced middle aged man in “Linda Vista,” was remarkably demanding: Tracy Letts’ play lasted nearly three hours, and Barford never left the stage, often delivering long complicated monologues. He was also required to be cruel, to be rejected, to beg abjectly and to engage in simulated sex in the nude. But above all, the actor had to accept that may the audience would hate him.

Always a wonderful actress, Quincy Tyler Bernstine portrayed both the pioneering real-life 19th century nurse at the center of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s “Mary Seacoles,” and several 21st century caretakers, with shades of differences but always keeping a core for all of them that lets us know not just how complicated and heroic Mary Seacole was, but how much she shares with every Mary who has followed.

As Beatrice in the Public Theater’s all-black production of “Much Ado About Nothing,” Danielle Brooks proved herself a Shakespearean actress of a high order – and at the same time redefined what it means to be one. Best known for portraying Taystee in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” and for her 2016 Tony-nominated Broadway debut as Sofia in a revival of “The Color Purple,” Brooks is a Juilliard-trained actress. She took complete command of Shakespeare’s language, especially in the feisty character’s “merry war” and “skirmish of wit” with Benedick. But Brooks also created her own language – a body language, whose every expression and gesture brings us clarity and joy….and takes us to the state of Georgia in the year 2020.

Andre De Shields commands the stage of “Hadestown” from the get-go. The show begins in complete silence as the rest of the cast watches Hermes, in his elegant, grey silk suit, slide across the stage, pause, and open a button to show a loud and splendid vest, before trombone player Briane Drye lets out a blast from jazz heaven and De Shields launches into the get-down “Road to Hell.”

Raûl Esparza either had a day job that we didn’t know about, or he spent a lot of time training with a real chef for his role as the hilariously persnickety chef in Theresa Rebeck’s culinary comedy “Seared.”. It is a surprisingly mesmerizing experience to witness the long wordless scene in which Esparza meticulously prepares and cooks a wild salmon dish.

Santino Fontana is a charmer and a great talent – and in “Tootsie” he acted! he danced! he sang in different octaves! After an initial bumpy ride, Fontana seems clearly on his way to major stardom.

Samuel H. Levine makes a breathtaking Broadway debut in Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance” as both Adam, the naive adopted son of a rich family, and Leo, a teenage hustler who’s had a hard life. The two characters actually have a scene together!

I normally hate child actors, just on principle, but I cannot deny the extraordinary performance by 12-year-old Aran Murphy in the title role of Hamnet, a play that conjures up William Shakespeare only son, who died at the age of 11. Murphy seemed unfazed by all the elaborate avant-garde theatrics (video experimenting and the like), maintaining a professional self-assurance without being bratty or losing the sense of natural innocence.

Lois Smith as Margaret and Samuel H. Levine as Leo

Every single line Lois Smith utters in “The Inheritance” is more than persuasive; it’s an astonishment. You’re likely to cry just remembering her performance as a mother who rejected her son because he was gay, and has been making up for it since his premature death. The 20 minutes Lois Smith is on stage would be rewarding even for people who didn’t care for the remaining six plus hours of the show. This is an actress who made her Broadway debut 67 years ago!

“Tina” belongs to the show’s Tina Turner, a star-making performance of extraordinary stamina. At the end, dressed in trademark tight red leather mini-dress, highest of heels and tallest of wigs, ascending a staircase of flashing lights backed by a raucous band each in his own Hollywood Square, Adrienne Warner delivers Tina Turner’s greatest hits –and we all rise as one, ecstatic, and swoon..

Amber Gray as Persephone and cast in Hadestown

Paul Hilton, who portrays both E.M . Forster and Walter

Joaquina Kalukango and Paul Alexander Nolan (

Toni Stone TONI STONE CAST Stretch Eric Berryman Alberga Harvy Blanks King Tut Phillip James Brannon Spec Daniel J. Bryant Elzie Jonathan Burke Jimmy Toney Goins Millie Kenn E. Head Woody Ezra Knight Toni Stone April Matthis u/s Alberga, Millie Melvin Abston u/s Toni Stone Jennean Farmer u/s Elzie, Jimmy, Spec Alex Joseph Grayson u/s Woody, Stretch, King Tut Damian Thompson TONI STONE CREATIVE Playwright Lydia R. Diamond Set Design Riccardo Hernandez Costume Design Dede Ayite Lighting Design Allen Lee Hughes Original Music & Sound Design Broken Chord Hair & Wig Design Cookie Jordan Choreography Camille A. Brown Fight Director Tom Schall Production Stage Manager Charles M. Turner III Director Pam MacKinnon Author of Original Book Martha Ackmann

Lauren Patten (center) as Jo, with the company of “Jagged Little Pill,” performing “You Oughta Know.”

Sarah Stiles as Sandy

Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin

Michael Benjamin Washington

It’s impossible to cap an appreciation of New York stage performances in 2019 at only ten. There were enough good ones for another top ten, and here they are: Amber Gray in Hadestown, Joshua Henry in The Wrong Man, Paul Hilton in “The Inheritance,” Marin Ireland in Blue Ridge, Joaquina Kalukango in “Slave Play,”April Mathis in “Toni Stone,” Lauren Patten in “Jagged Little Rock,” Sarah Stiles in “Tootsie,” Ephraim Sykes in “Ain’t Too Proud”, Michael Benjamin Washington in “Fires in the Mirror.”

Patrice Johnson Chevannes (Wanda Wheels), Elizabeth Canavan (Rockaway Rosie), Benja Kay Thomas (Queen Sugar), Pernell Walker (Munchies), Victor Almanzar (Joey Fresco), Liza Colón-Zayas (Sarge), Andrea Syglowski (Bella), Neil Tyrone Pritchard (Mr. Mobo), Wilemina Olivia-Garcia (Happy Meal Sonia), Sean Carvajal (Mateo), Kara Young (Lil Melba Diaz), Viviana Valeria (Taina) and Esteban Andres Cruz (Venus Ramirez). Photograph by Monique Carboni

Also: the entire casts of Generation NYZ, Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven, and Octet.

Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2019 My ten favorite individual performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2019 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews.

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