Would someone please give Laurie Metcalf a Tony Award? Not necessarily for her current Broadway performance (more on that later), but for her gracious ability to contrast what is quite possibly one of the worst performances being delivered on Broadway in recent memory. I’m speaking of Bruce Willis, the usually charismatic personality from the Die Hard movie franchise and television’s Moonlighting. Personally, Willis has always been a benign actor. While likable enough, I honestly never put that much thought into his work (and I’m sure after this review, he won’t be thinking much of mine either). So I was unable to make a distinction on his depth as a performer, at least until I saw him in his Broadway debut. As the “star”-and I use that term incredibly loosely-of William Goldman’s stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery–Willis is displaying such an immense talent for non-acting that one must wonder if audiences are watching a cardboard cut-out. [Read more…] about Theater Review: Misery
THEATRE
Theater Review: Dada Woof, Papa Hot
We’ve come a long way from The Boys In the Band. This isn’t to speak poorly of Mart Crowley’s 1968 portrayal of gay life, but it was not without a heaping dose of self-loathing and shame. As gay drama progressed into the seventies and eighties, the focus centered upon the politics of HIV and AIDS- diseases that are no longer a death sentence but still play prominent roles in the lives of many. So as I watched Peter Parnell’s play Dada Woof, Papa Hot, I couldn’t help but ponder a few questions: Has the homosexual fight for equality subconsciously forced us back to expected normative behavior? Has the conversation of AIDS become obsolete? Are we really this privileged? None of this is meant as opprobrium against Parnell’s story, but is intended as more of a rhetorical dialogue . [Read more…] about Theater Review: Dada Woof, Papa Hot
An Interview with Lesli Margherita: The Queen is a Broad
If you happen to be Christmas shopping for Broadway star Lesli Margherita this year, here are a few helpful hints: Science fiction books rate high on her list of favorites, along with the music of megastars Celine Dion, Cher, Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, and Janet Jackson. Hip-hop also gets her vote. When it comes to clothing, Marchesa gowns grab the eye of this self-proclaimed, “fashion whore” who also prefers to mix and match higher end apparel with simple, everyday, Forever 21 pieces. But do not even think of bringing her reggae or any music of the folk genre. “It’s too hippy-ish and it’s just not sparkly enough,” said the Olivier Award winning actress who originated the role of Mrs. Wormwood in Broadway’s Matilda. “I’m so gaudy. I’m so tacky. I’m so Italian. The more rhinestones or bling, the better,” she joked recently in a sit down interview at the Helen Hayes theater where she stars as brassy diva Mona Kent in Dames At Sea.
The inexhaustible actor prepared for her current role while she was still performing in the smash hit Matilda, located across the street in the Shubert theatre. For three weeks, she went back and forth between rehearsals and performances. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but that scenario just never happens,” she said. “I knew that my last week at Matilda would be my 1000th performance and I really wanted to be there for it.” Her energy prevailed, however. As the over the top, scene stealing mother in Matilda, Margherita had kept herself in top physical shape with spin classes. Now, she is shaking her wicked legs in the tap heavy Dames At Sea in which she single-handedly opens the show with a solo song and dance number. Although her recent shows hadn’t focused on tap-dancing, the skillful triple threat- who had started tap dancing at the tender age of 4- wiped the dust from her tap shoes and quickly reacclimated to the form.
On Monday November 30th and December 7th, Margherita will appear in a more intimate venue as she takes to the stage at Birdland for her new solo show, Broad, which explores sultry and sassy women who have made Lesli…Lesli. With a 5 piece orchestra, she’ll be performing songs of Sophie Tucker, Jessica Rabbit, Judy Garland, and other personalities who sang banned lyrics from past decades. It’s a bit of a diversion from her usual material, All Hail the Queen, a show based a persona she adopted from childhood. “I called myself a Queen growing up,” she explained. “And when I thought about putting a solo show together, I wanted to create a character similar to Bette Midler’s Divine Miss M, so I came up with the idea of “Queen Lesli’ (also her current twitter handle). As an uber diva, things are constantly going wrong for Queen Lesli so in reality, the shtick relies more on self-deprecation than superiority. “It’s not that I think I’m better than anyone. My message is ‘rule your own kingdom. Be the king or queen of yourself and don’t let anybody rule you’. It’s a positive message.” It’s also a popular one, as Margherita’s twitter feed provided the basis for her book, Neck Punch and Carry On, available here.
“I’m glad I didn’t call myself ‘Fart Leslie’ or something like that”, she laughed. We are too, Queen. We.Are.Too.
Margherita became hooked on performing at an early age after witnessing a clumsy orphan in the stage version of Annie in San Francisco, close to her home in nearby Fremont, CA. “I saw this kid in the cast mess up some steps and I was so irritated! The next year the tour was coming through the area again, so I auditioned.” The determined youngster was told by her parents that she might be cut and they warned her not to be too upset if that happened. After hours in the audition room, she walked out, looked at her mom and said, “Well, I got it!” She soon climbed the ranks from “random girl” to playing the title role. Margherita hasn’t looked back.
Immediately after graduating from UCLA, she was cast in a television show and shortly thereafter, the stage beckoned . When Matilda was offered, she instantly made a geographic transition to the east coast. While she misses her car, the beach, and the laid back vibe of California, she admits to liking New York more than she thought. “New York has really been nice to me,” she said with a broad grin. Incidentally, that sentence has been used by absolutely no one else I’ve ever talked with, but when two Broadway shows are vying for one’s participation, it makes perfect sense.
Those who have seen Queen Lesli in either Matilda or Dames At Sea can attest to the originality, talent, and flair she brings to each role. She took home an Olivier award for cryin’ out loud! That’s british for “big freakin’ deal”, folks.
Fans will have a chance to see her in an all new light when she’ll bring those same winning qualities to Birdland on Nov. 30th and Dec. 7.
Rhinestones welcome, but not in lieu of the modest cover charge. After all, a broad’s gotta eat!
Lesli Margherita at Birdland (West 44th between 8th and 9th) , Mondays Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 at 7 PM ET. For tickets and information visit Queen Lesli’s Website
For tickets to Dames At Sea (Helen Hayes Theater West 44th between Broadway and 8th), click here or walk your bad self to the box office.
York Theatre Honors Dame Angela Lansbury
How much would you pay to dine with Angela Lansbury? That was the question posed by actor Richard Kind this past Monday evening in front of theater aficionados at Manhattan’s posh Guastavino’s. Kind led an auction which raised funds for the York Theater Company. Stage and screen celebrities were gathered to honor Dame Lansbury, who turned 90 years old last month. With her extensive Broadway credits, it was only fitting that she be honored with the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award.
The term “legend” is used so often that its meaning has become diluted. Few would argue, after watching Monday’s line-up however, that there is hardly a more appropriate descriptive. The answer to Kind’s question turned out to be a total of $6,800 (2 separate parties bid $3,400 and they decided to share a meal).
Following the dinner and auction, Something Rotten star Brad Oscar kicked off the evening with a parody of “It’s Today” from Mame and introduced the evening’s emcee: Lansbury’s former Sweeney Todd co-star and silver haired heartthrob, Victor Garber. Brian Stokes Mitchell followed with a rich and stirring version of “This Nearly Was Mine” from South Pacific.
Melissa Errico performed a medley of Anna’s songs from the The King and I, a role which Lansbury played for a very brief time in the 1977 Broadway revival. Later, John McMartin read a letter written by an absent Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim wrote, “If Oscar Hammerstein would have lived long enough to see you play Anna, he’d have written a sequel.”
Lansbury made her Broadway musical debut in 1964 in Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle. The fresh faced Yale Whippenpoofs vocalized on a lovely arrangement of the title song.
Composer Alan Menken was particularly moving as he sat down to the piano and recalled the day when Lansbury and the late Jerry Orbach shared the recording studio for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. He then sang the title song, made popular in the movie by Lansbury’s character, Mrs. Potts.
Klea Blackhurst, Karen Ziemba, Judy Kaye, Karen Mason, and Marilyn Maye all payed individual homage through song to the octogenarian. Maye sang a beautiful rendition of “If He Walked into My Life” from Mame and told the audience that her birthday is next month. “I will be as old as there are keys on the piano,” she said. Then continued, “Usually I’m the oldest person in the room. Thank goodness for Angela Lansbury!”
Len Cariou, who originated the title role in Sweeney Todd, wound down the evening with a musical mash up tribute parody, but not before James Earl Jones took to the microphone to offer some words about his Driving Miss Daisy co-star. “When you drive someone to the Piggly Wiggly eight times a week, you get to know them quite intimately,” he quipped. He then went on to lavish praise on Lansbury citing the fact that in spite of her age, she remains “younger than springtime”
A visibly touched and humbled Lansbury expressed her gratitude, both for the award and for everyone who has ever supported her career. Those in attendance could surely echo Auntie Mame’s jubilant observation: “I know that this very minute has history in it, we’re here!”
The York Theater Company will continue to celebrate the joys of musical theatre with the New York premiere of the Stuart Ross charmer, Plaid Tidings, beginning December 8th and running through the 27th. For tickets and info, click here.
Theater Review: SYLVIA
Is “sweetness” enough to sell a Broadway show? The producers and creative team behind A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia certainly think so—and they’re absolutely correct. But the playwright’s latest revival, which originally opened off Broadway in 1995, also adds heaping teaspoons of charm to the mix, creating a recipe for a satisfying night of theater.
Set in a posh New York apartment, Sylvia invites us into the home of Greg (Matthew Broderick) and Kate (Julie White), a couple whose 22 year old marriage has grown dull and uninspired. After finding Sylvia, a dog in human form (Annaleigh Ashford), Greg adopts her, much to Kate’s chagrin. Kate focuses on her plans to teach Shakespeare to high school students and ignores Greg’s mid-life crisis (and Greg, for the most part). Robert Sella rounds out the quartet cast in three roles: Tom- a fellow friend in the dog park, Phyllis-Kate’s college friend, and Leslie-a “gender fluid” psychiatrist. Sella, who was marvelous in last year’s 30th anniversary production of The Mystery of Irma Vep, brings his versatile comedic skill to the table once again.
Tony winner Julie White, who could easily let her character slip into the territory of “unlikable shrew”, carefully straddles the fence between frustration and eventual understanding. White, even in this year’s unsuccessful Airline Highway, can do no wrong in her roles. She is a master of the craft and continues to perfect it here.
Broderick brings appropriate lackluster to Greg, a man desperately seeking improved existence. Although Broderick’s stage career is comprehensive, his default acting always steers into blasé territory. Here, it works to his advantage though as this Eeyore of a man slouches through life in search of his greater purpose.
Let’s not kid ourselves, though. This show undeniably rests in the capable…paws? hands?… of Ashford, who injects this show with more enchantment than should rightfully be allowed by law. Her agile antics and physical embodiment of a canine is truly impressive. Like her previous roles, Ashford never “overdoes” it, but manages to add the exact amount of quirkiness needed to charm audiences. David Rockwell’s smart costuming allows her to sniff, scamper, and scoot with uninhibited energy. Within moments, we’re won over as though a puppy has been placed directly into our laps.
Gurney’s work doesn’t reach the depth of his other plays, but there is simple poignancy here. It’s not a particularly new observation that many of us inhabit lives of quiet loneliness in this congested city of masses. Yet with eyes and ears yearning for connectedness, Gurney shows us that even a domestic pet can gently nudge us to a comforting space of validation.
Sylvia plays at Broadway’s Cort Theater (West 48th between 6th and Broadway). For tickets and further info, click here or visit the box office.
An Interview with LOST GIRLS Playwright John Pollono and Star Tasha Lawrence
John Pollono can relate to struggle. The New Hampshire raised, Los Angeles based playwright struck dramatic gold in 2013 with Small Engine Repair, a comic thriller about blue collar high school buddies-now grown- who meet regularly at a repair shop. Pollono both wrote and starred in the critically lauded production, which was first seen in Los Angeles and later at New York’s MCC Theater. Prior to that, however, he was well accustomed to making ends meet, much like the characters he’s created.
His latest play, Lost Girls, is a sort of companion piece to Small Engine Repair and deals with similar themes and personalities. Set in New Hampshire, The MCC Production tells an inter-generational tale about a teenage girl who skips school during a snow storm and embarks on a daring road trip with her star athlete friend turned boyfriend. Her mother, grandmother, father, and step-mother anxiously await news of her safety. In the meantime, they learn more about themselves and their damaged,but caring relationships to each other. The play has plenty of girl power, an angle which Pollono knows quite well, having been raised with three sisters. “Small Engine Repair was very testosterone driven and I was really interested in creating Lost Girls with similar themes, but from a woman’s point of view.”, he said in a recent phone conversation. “My leading lady, Maggie, is flawed and aggressive, but she’s also tough and is a survivor.”
Pollono’s two older sisters were single mothers, one of whom battled a nasty divorce. Pulling from those influences, as well as from his native New Hampshire town, Pollono’s work defines verisimilitude and his audiences have shared their reactions with him. “My experience from an audience perspective is that, the more specific you get with location, time, and people, the more universal the piece becomes. When you specify rather than generalizing, people feel more connected,” he said. He continued by explaining the personal touch he infused into his teenage characters. “When I was 17, I fell in love with a girl and really believed—like this kid—that love would conquer all. when we’re young, we think that it will work out. But when we get older and look back, we think we were idiots,” he admitted. Still, he hopes his audience to fall in love with the idea of his teen leads falling in love.
Pollono also wishes to share a glimpse of working class hardship with the masses. “For the most part, New York theater audiences are white, upper class, and educated. For me, the struggle has always been a real experience, but somehow, when you put it on stage, it’s as if audiences are looking through a peephole at the working class. It’s not as if I want to humanize these characters, but at least I can maybe get people to understand someone’s stress a little bit better.”
Lost Girls star Tasha Lawrence plays Linda, a take no prisoners, opinionated matriarch who Lawrence said (also via phone), “hasn’t given up on life. She just doesn’t give a shit what other people think.” Lawrence is also quick to share her enthusiasm for Pollono’s work. “His characters are so well carved out that I just pulled everything from the story. The beauty of his writing is that he’s able to make potentially unlikable characters quite likable.” she said. “The heart of the script is that these people have a deep love and understanding for each other” She also relishes in the fact that she doesn’t need to do her hair when she comes to theater. “It’s fun to put on your pajamas and slouch around onstage!” Lawrence had a clear understanding in playing the role through childhood memories with her father, a Canadian car auctioneer. “When I was a kid, I used to love to go with him. There were gruff men eating hot dogs and smoking. It was this big loud world—and I loved it. Pollono’s characters remind me a lot of that.” Incidentally, Lawrence herself followed in her father’s footsteps and also became a certified auctioneer. Lawrence did a reading of the play about a year ago with director Jo Bonney (who she enthusiastically praises as a director who “makes everyone a better actor” ) and received an offer to join the cast when the MCC premiere was announced. (On a personal note, Lawrence is a must see in this show. Her fellow ensemble members are also fantastic, but Lawrence is quite simply a marvel.)
On the surface, Pollono’s latest work could be viewed simply as a “slice of life” piece, but he asserts that there is more. “I’ve really tried to put a lot of challenging, thematic stuff in this, specifically in regards to gender. If these characters were men, we wouldn’t have the same perception. Because these are strong women, we quickly label them in a derogatory manner.” he observed. “At our core, we all just want connectedness.”
Pollono’s last two works clocked in at 90 minutes or less, an increasing trend in today’s theater landscape. It’s not intentional, however. “I’ve written longer plays,” he said. “By design, Lost Girls is a simple story with complicated characters. But I think that if you can tell a story and be satisfied from beginning to end in 90 minutes, it will be more effective than telling that same story in two hours.”
Pollono’s next tale will take him to the silver screen. He’s hard at work on an adaptation of the book Stronger, the real life story of Boston marathon survivor, Jeff Bauman. He recently spent a month with Bauman and hopes that the film will begin shooting in Spring 2016. Pollono is also writing an original TV series with his friend and fellow writer, Kemp Powers, with the working title My First Black Friend. With such a full docket, let’s hope to the creative Gods that Pollono will speak of struggle in the past tense.
Lost Girls has been extended through December 4th at the Lucille Lortel Theatre 121 Christopher Street. For tickets and info, click here.
Theater Review: WHO’S YOUR BAGHDADDY? OR HOW I STARTED THE IRAQ WAR
Hamilton may have the hype, but it’s not the only show in town to leave you in astonishment. Who’s Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started The Iraq War not only has a long-ass title. It has bad-ass style with a bad-ass cast that pulls off one of the most bad-ass musicals I’ve seen in a very long time.
With minimal staging at midtown’s Actor’s Temple, the intimate show takes us into the machinations, manipulations, and mishegas of the origins and ultimate execution of the Iraq War. It begins and ends as a twelve-step support group, where each of the members confess to starting the War. As I took my seat a few minutes before the performance, people invited me to coffee and doughnuts centered inside the seating circle. I was skeptical. Unless you’re in a legitimate support group, things like this do not happen in New York. Once the strains of composer Marshall Pailet and lyricist A.D. Penedo’s catchy songs began, my attitude shifted from apprehension to pure elation.
Pailet and his co-director Nora Ives, have assembled a top notch cast that is skillfully adept at the triple threat skills of singing, dancing, and acting. The eight person ensemble works so well together that picking out a favorite performer is like asking a parent to choose their favorite child. Particular mention should be made to choreographer Misha Shields, however, who obviously knows how to teach her cast to dance with chairs like nimble cheetahs.
Watching Who’s Your Baghdaddy? is both entertaining and enraging. Like any fine satire, it is smart and savvy and does a terrific job at reflecting our own inadequacies and failures. It is maddening, however, when we stop to think why this true to life theater piece had to be created. It is sobering to recall that 52,000 American lives and 500,000 Iraqi lives were lost at the cost of human error-scratch that- human deception. Where were the checks and balances? Furthermore, where was the American interest and outcry? Baghdaddy takes a smart jab at our own reality show/selfie obsessed nation with a news report covering the events of 9/11:
“This just in: everything is not cool here. And if you’re a terrorist, it’s about to be not cool where you are too. Because even though we may not know where Afghanistan is, our military probably does, so watch out!”
Pailet and Penedo handle the subject of 9/11 quite carefully, for although it remains a delicate topic, it would be impossible to tell the story without it. However, they rightfully skewer our Government and our “trusted officials” by exposing blatant disregard for protocol,abuses of power, and ego-driven decisions by dunces.
Pailet and Penedo appear to be relative newcomers to the New York musical theater scene, but for the sake of quality , let’s hope they keep creating work of this caliber.
Who’s Your Baghdaddy? is slated to run through November 22nd, so while we’re hoping for continued brilliant creations from the writers, let’s also add a wish for an extension or a revival soon. It’s an easier (and cheaper) ticket to score than Hamilton and worth every penny.
For tickets and information to Who’s Your Baghdaddy? Or How I Started the Iraq War, click here. It runs through November 22nd at The Actor’s Temple (West 47th between 8th and 9th)
William Schermerhorn brings “The Hope of Christmas”
William Schermerhorn isn’t a pie-eyed Pollyanna, but he is a self-described optimist. The two time Emmy Award winning lyricist recently commented during a face to face interview about the state of New York City before and after Pope Francis’ visit. “Everyone had this burst of optimism and a feeling of good will. After he left, it was as if the world fell apart again. So why can’t that feeling go on just a little longer?” Fortunately, Schermerhorn may be getting his wish with the release of a brand new Christmas album entitled The Hope of Christmas. Earlier this year, he teamed with Multi-platinum and Tony nominated singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway to pen 12 holiday themed songs for the album, released on October 9th. Schermerhorn admits that the title song was a challenge, but one worth taking. He writes:
The hope of Christmas/Touching hearts beyond all reason/The Yuletide flame that burns anew/Warming souls with love and cheer/A wondrous glow to last throughout the year.
“It’s really the way that Ann and I conduct our own lives,” he says. “I think that putting out songs with positive messages and working together is a way for that spirit to catch on again,” he continues. “It’s a way for me to ask how I can contribute to humanity instead of taking from it.”
His full time contributions meet that criteria. In addition to lyric writing, Schermerhorn’s day job as the creative director for Macy’s brings joys to the masses with both the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade and their Fourth of July spectacular. It’s a post he has held primarily since college graduation and the platform for which he nabbed his Emmy awards.
He draws inspiration from “just about anywhere” and they can strike at any time, but he prefers to write lyrics first, rather than fitting them into a finished song. “I’ve dabbled with doing it the other way around,” he says, “and it really doesn’t work for me. Sometimes the idea has been rolling around in my head for a week or two, and all of a sudden, I just put it right there on the page.”
Schermerhorn had the great fortune to be mentored by his childhood neighbor, Clark Gesner, who wrote You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. “We met because I was on his huge farm house property making a high school film about Abigail Adams. I often filmed on his property without permission. One day he came out to talk with me. We hit it off and he sort of taught me how to write lyrics.”
Once a song is finished, The Philmont, New York native determines who would be the best composer for the piece. He has many fine ones to choose from, including Callaway herself, who has contributed hits for seven of Barbara Streisand’s CD and wrote the theme to the hit Televison series The Nanny. He’s also teamed with Michael Feinstein, Matthew Sklar, and fellow Emmy Award winners. Each of the composers have contributed to the album including “Christmas Isn’t Christmas At All”, composed by his late friend, Milton DeLugg.
DeLugg, who passed away in April the age of 95, was the music director of the Macy’s parade and also a World War II Veteran. He often shared some remarkable stories with Schermerhorn about the company he kept in the military. “He composed music alongside Frank Loesser and began telling me stories about his fellow solider, Freddy Brisson (who went on to become a well-known Broadway producer). Actor William Holden was their commanding officer, and legendary baseball star Ted Williams was their coach. I said, ‘Milton, there’s a show here!’ Shortly thereafter, we started putting together a musical which I’m still writing called Swing Wings. It’s all about the Army Air Corps in 1942.”
For now though, the decorous lyricist is focusing his energies on sharing The Hope of Christmas with the world. The creative team behind it is proud to share proceeds of the recording with MCG Jazz, a non-profit that supports jazz and music education in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Grammy Award winner Marty Ashby, executive producer of MCG Jazz, produced the album.
Those wishing to meet Schermerhorn and Callaway in person will have the opportunity on December 1st at Barnes and Noble, 150 East 86th Street between Lexington and 3rd ave. The discussion and performance begins at 7 PM.
The genteel Schermerhorn is both enthusiastic and humbled by the project. “If I touch a life through music years down the road, then it will have been worth it.”
To purchase The Hope of Christmas click here , buy on iTunes, or ask Santa Claus for an early present and avoid naughty behavior until 2016.
An Interview with Capathia Jenkins: “Knight” Time is the Right Time
As a girl growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Capathia Jenkins didn’t necessarily aspire to sing at Carnegie Hall. “I just wanted to sing,” she said in a recent phone interview. “And I knew that I would, but I didn’t know to what capacity. As I progressed in my career, I made it an aspiration to sing there. With my third time approaching, I now find myself asking Whose life is this?”
Her life is that of a Broadway and Symphony Hall Diva. On Friday, November 13th, she’ll command the stage, along with her fellow stage star Montego Glover, recording artist Sy Smith, and the New York Pops Orchestra for a night entitled Sophisticated Ladies. Here, the trio will perform songs made popular by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. The sworn to secrecy Jenkins wouldn’t share any details about the program, but told me that, “they’ve all put together a list of their favorites and are now combing through to determine what the final selections will be.” She also shared some insight into each of the classic singers. “Ella really used her voice as an instrument and part of the band, which is just so impressive. Sarah is my ‘go-to’ singer. Her voice is like molten chocolate. She’s always been my guide for jazz standards because she just sings the ink off the page and makes it her own. Billie didn’t have an incredible range or a beautiful tone, but what she did have in spades was her phrasing. Her emotion, honesty, and soulfulness is really what draws me in. Dinah—I just love the raw sound of her voice.” In addition to these ladies of soul, Jenkins is enthusiastic about one singer in particular. “Gladys Knight is my all-time favorite,” she raved. “She just has it all: tone, range, and soulfulness like no other.” Jenkins also enjoys D’Angelo, and singer-songwriters like Adele, Jason Mraz, and India Arie.
With five Broadway credits to her name, the New York native recalled the first Broadway show she ever saw. “It was The Wiz. I remember that I was 11 or 12 and watching Stephanie Mills thinking, ‘Look at this little black girl from Brooklyn who is just like me’. With great reflection she said, “It absolutely changed my life.” Jenkins is now working for a second time with Mills in NBC’s new reinvented version of The Wiz (the pair first worked together in Children of Eden at Paper Mill Playhouse) and calls the current experience a “full circle moment.”
From her dramatic turn in Caroline or Change to a sassy Vaudeville singer in Newsies, Jenkins has explored a range of characters, but she is especially fond of her time in Martin Short’s 2006 show Fame Becomes Me, where she brought down the house every night with a gospel-inspired song entitled “A Big Black Lady Stops the Show.” Watch it here
“Between Martin and my co-star Brooks Ashmankas, it’s really amazing that we got any work done,” she recalled. “We’d just laugh and laugh from the beginning to the end of the day.” She spoke quite fondly of the comedian. “Marty is the real deal; a consummate comedic actor, but also a very generous and kind human being. It just made for a wonderful atmosphere and we were able to make huge choices during rehearsal. He is just so great.”
Even though she frequently graces the stages of concert halls around the world, Jenkins is well aware of the gravitas of Carnegie Hall. “I’ve been there before , but it’s just everything that anyone would ever dream it to be. It’s like, ‘Oh My God! I’m at Carnegie Hall.’ “, she laughed. “My homework is the same here as anywhere else; Learn the lyrics and tell the story, but for Carnegie, it’s all about preparing for the enormity of the event, to stay within myself, and be present in the moment.” She admits to getting butterflies and having the desire to “run out of the building 60-90 seconds before she goes onstage,” but said that the buildup is more nerve-wracking than actually doing it.
With such a unique name, I inquired about the origin. Jenkins explained, “When my mom was pregnant with me, my Auntie met a little girl in Florida with the same name so she and my mother decided to name me Capathia. It’s really that simple! But Capathia, in spite of my research to find a meaning, is just a name. I joked with her that, loosely translated, it means “bad ass”, and once she opens her mouth to sing with the New York Pops on November 13th, those in attendance are sure to agree.
Capathia Jenkins in Sophisticated Ladies with the New York Pops Orchestra. Friday, November 13th 8 PM at Carnegie Hall (57th and 7th). For tickets and more information, go to http://www.newyorkpops.org/sophisticated-ladies or visit the Carnegie Hall box office
Bolton Towards The Spotlight: An Interview with DAMES AT SEA’s John Bolton
Broadway star John Bolton has an embarrassing secret: His favorite sweet-indulgence is Lucky Charms cereal. It may be a vocational metaphor however, as this song and dance man has combined his own charms and talent to rise from a replacement in the 1994 revival of Damn Yankees to his current dual comedy role in Broadway’s whimsical Dames At Sea. Here, he plays Hennessy, an all in one writer-producer-director at an ill-fated theater. In the second act, he becomes The Captain who helms the ship where his once doomed show has found a new home. Dames is derived from a combination of three movies: Footlight Parade, 42nd St, and Gold Diggers of 1933. To bring his role(s) to life, Bolton drew inspiration from James Cagney and Warner Baxter (who starred in the first two films, respectively). Bolton was asked to be a part of the production just one day after the show’s workshop was performed about a year and a half ago. Producers waited specifically for the Helen Hayes theater since they wanted to house the cozy musical (which consists of 6 players) in such a cozy space.
Bolton has several Broadway credits under his belt, but this is the first time that he gets to flaunt his tapping prowess. “I learned my tapping chops doing musical theater, but I never had any formal training”, said Bolton in a recent sit down interview. “Randy Skinner, our director, knew that I could tap. Originally the role didn’t require it, but he kept throwing more and more at me and all of a sudden, I was in the number!” Bolton is rightfully proud of his efforts. Those who have seen-or plan to see- the show, will attest to the fact that he’s holding his own in some of the more complex and face paced dance breaks. “I love being funny and I love acting, but if there is one thing I’m most proud of with this show it’s being able to finally tap on Broadway.” He is well aware of the challenges that the show holds, though. “The biggest challenge,” he said, “ is doing it right.” He explained, “A lot of people hold this classic with such high affection. There is a fine line between spoofing and holding it with affection. You have to ride that perfectly. It can’t be too satirical or else it will come across as rude or unkind or overly ‘meta’. We are also doing this for the original writers, who actually never saw their piece come to Broadway.” (The show ran in various venues downtown in the late 1960s/early 1970s and starred a relatively then unknown Bernadette Peters.) For Bolton, the challenge is well worth it. During our talk, he lavished praise on his co-stars citing the joy of working with such a wonderful cast, with whom he occasionally shares a sip or shot of celebratory bourbon following performances. “ I can’t wait for the world to discover some of these young performers we have in the show,” he said, and went on to express gratitude for the opportunity. “This is my eighth Broadway gig, but I never take it for granted. It’s still a thrill.”
The Rochester, New York native acquired the acting bug at the age of twelve. His parents took him to see Annie and The Wiz and the tiny tyke was mesmerized. “When I saw those shows, I just knew that I wanted to be a part of it.”, he recalled. As he grew older, he made another trip to Manhattan during his early years of college, where the star struck Bolton saw a life changing performance by Lily Tomlin. “I was only able to see two shows. The first night, I saw Tomlin’s one-woman show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. It made such an impression on me that I went back to see it again the second night. His list of influences is long and he also credits Ray Bolger ( Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz), Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies), Harvey Korman (The Carol Burnett Show), and legendary personalities like Gene Rayburn (Match Game) and Orson Bean. Bean, who was a prominent fixture on game shows in the 1960s and 70s and has become a friend to Bolton offered him some valuable advice on comedic acting: “Don’t clutter the joke. Don’t put a cherry on a cherry or a hat on a hat. Just get out of the way of the joke and don’t try to make it funny.”
That advice has served the adept funny man quite well, as his acting credits extend past the Broadway stage and onto the small screen. He has also appeared on television in Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, and Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. “I’m much more at home on the stage,” he confessed, “But I’ve loved being on television. It’s something I never thought that I’d do, but because some of the casting directors saw my work onstage, they considered me. I’m very lucky that they’ve called and cast me!”
Bolton’s already heavy schedule includes teaching master classes at PACE University, where he used to be a full time faculty member. Since the footlights of Broadway have beckoned, he is now a substitute instructor there. He enjoys his college teaching role , though and believes that he’d likely be doing that as a full time profession if Broadway weren’t banging down his door. The journalism major suggested that writing might be another passion. , “I wanted something more steady, so I chose musical theater.” (Note to readers: After writing this article, this journalist grabbed his tin can and began panhandling on the 1 train.) With such a grueling schedule, Bolton has one daily activity that he favors: “I’ve grown very fond of the 20 minute nap,” he said with a wry smile.
For a musical theatre man, Bolton boasts a broad range of genres from Fats Waller, Dean Martin, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, The Cure (“Always The Cure,” he emphasized), Mozart, and The Beastie Boys. True to his roots, he also admires Cy Coleman’s swinging Broadway score to City of Angels and the Sondheim classic A Little Night Music.
Does the affable actor have any gripes? The din of New York City! “I live in midtown,” he said. “And the sirens and street noise have gotten way out of hand.” He’s also laments the current state of how Broadway is being produced. “It’s become so expensive and is really a money game now,” he confessed “There is not a lot of room for things that are new and exciting. And I think that there should be room for everyone to enjoy theater, not just the ultra-rich.” But he added, with hopeful optimism, “Hopefully shows like Hamilton will open some more doors for producers to take risks.”
While most performers have a dream role, Bolton prefers living in the moment and is just happy “doing what he’s doing.” “Everything I’ve done has led to something else,” he said, “but I suppose that doing something original would be ideal.” For now, he’s happy to be hoofin’ it at the Helen Hayes theatre eight times a week. Whether Divine Intervention or the Lucky Charms elf, it’s clear that John Bolton continues to have a full and “magically delicious” career.
Dames at Sea is now playing at the Helen Hayes Theater (West 44th street between 8th and Broadway). For tickets and more information, visit: http://damesatseabroadway.com/ or visit the box office.