REVIEWS

Phones are ringing off the hook at Edgely Prep, a private Kindergarten academy in Manhattan that admits only a chosen few. Cristine (Christina Bianco) is tasked with handling all of the calls, having just been promoted from kindergarten assistant to admissions director. Her predecessor was fired after being involved in numerous illegal activities at the school and Cristine was thrust into the job. Under the oppressive supervision of her demanding boss and headmaster, Dr. Bradshaw, she must plan for an important gala, juggle inquiries from her colleagues in financial aid, coordinate plans with her best friend, and maintain her composure with pushy parents walking the precipice of berserkdom over their child’s admission application.

Welcome to Application Pending a scathing take down of the admissions process for New York City Schools. The amusing new comedy, written by Greg Edwards and Andy Sandberg, stars Christina Bianco, who single-handedly plays each character in this zippy one woman show. Bianco, whose prior credits include Forbidden Broadway and Newsical also became a YouTube sensation with her cabaret performance of “Let It Go” from Frozen. In each of these outlets she has transformed herself into a maven of mimicry. As Cristine, she morphs into each of her callers- from a passive-agressive Southern Belle who uses her persuasive charm to an angry PETA activist hell-bent on preventing Edgely from exploiting their live beaver mascot. She’s also Dr. Bradshaw, George Clooney, the Pope, police detectives, her California valley girl friend, her ex-husband, the school janitor, and countless other characters who keep Cristine’s desk phone ablaze. Bianco is a marvel to watch and never skips a beat.

The conceit of this one person roller-coaster is similar to Fully Committed, a one man entree  in which one reservationist takes calls at a swanky New York City restaurant, imitating the kitchen staff and various patrons desperately in search of a table. The show was a critical smash in 2000 and skewered fine dining in the same way that Application Pending grills the pampered and privileged of Gotham. Both require incredible acting skills and a captivating talent. Bianco more than fills the criteria and passes with flying colors.
Application Pending plays now through April 19th at the Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd Street between 9th and 10th avenue. For tickets and information, visit the box office or  For tickets and information, visit the box office or applicationpendingplay.com

“Sometimes part of love is letting go,” sing John (Conor Ryan) and Jen (Kate Baldwin) towards the end of Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald’s musical John and Jen. The sentimental two person show is celebrating a 20th year anniversary production in Keen Company’s latest offering. In Act 1 (set in rural 1950s), older sister Jen welcomes her younger brother, John into the world and promises to “make sure he’s happy and safe.” As the pair grow older, the promise mostly endures. Jen does everything in her power to protect him from an abusive dad and other harms of the world. But as time passes, John forms an unhealthy idol-worshipping view of his father and finds his masculine identity through baseball and enlisting in the military. Meanwhile, older sister Jen escapes to New York, becoming a conscientious objector and falling for a groovy guy named Jason who does pottery, poetry, and LSD. Eventually, the sibling pact is strained. John is headed to Vietnam and Jen packs her bag to Canada. John views this as an act of cowardice but Jen is convinced in the power of love over war. Baldwin and Ryan provide excellent chemistry as brother and sister with a truthful and honestly written book by Lippa and Greenwald. Anyone who has ever had a sibling will recognize the duplicitous relationship between love and hate that such a dynamic can induce.
In Act 2, Jen is now divorced from her hippie husband and is the single mother of John, named for his Uncle. Here, Ryan portrays her son from infancy to adulthood. Jen can’t seem to cut the umbilical cord and smothers him at every turn because, as she points out, “My son has no one else to love him.” John’s good nature turns toward resentment towards his formerly free spirited mother. Like many maternal relationships, time is the soothing balm that heals and the complicated mother and son find themselves at a place of forgiveness and understanding before the curtain falls.
John and Jen covers much emotional territory in just under two hours. Still, it never glosses over any moment nor lingers on a particular scenario for too long. Lippa’s score is at times joyous and fun, yet tempered with beautifully somber and poignant ballads. Baldwin, who appeared in Lippa’s Big Fish and shines once again as a marvelous actor with an even more marvelous voice. Her boyish counter-part, Ryan, is a handsome, versatile performer whose range is quite impressive, especially given the fact that he is charged with fully developing two separate characters. Under Jonathan Slverstein’s smart direction, Lippa and Greenwald beautifully demonstrate the fragile, but essential need for family love and connection.

John and Jen plays at Theater Row 410 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th. Now through April 4th. For tickets, visit the box office or online: https://www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/John-and-Jen/Overview?&aid=ven000202600

Candice Bergen is a five time Emmy Award winner, two time Golden Globe award winner, and an Oscar nominee. Alan Alda has also been nominated for Academy Awards and has taken home  entertainment trophies  for his roles on television’s The West Wing and M*A*S*H. Both Bergen and Alda have graced Broadway stages and have convinced us that they can handle the medium of live theater  with comfortable ease.

How is it then  that their pairing in Broadway’s Love Letters seems so awkward and mismatched? Love Letters is A.R. Gurney’s 1989 Pulitzer prize-winning play that has found its way back  to the Brooks Atkinson theater. Since September, producers have lined up big name talent to read letters written between two complicated lovers slash friends over the course of their lifetimes. Mia Farrow began the run as Melissa Gardner, a girl of affluence who blossoms into an adult in search of herself Along the way, she battles heartbreak, depression, and rehab. In the midst of life’s trials, Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, her childhood sweetheart, comforts, encourages, and at times, frustrates Gardner. Brian Dennehy assumed the role of Ladd upon the show’s opening.

Bergen’s performance  is much too brash and self-assured. Gardner is sweet, vulnerable and girlish  but still expresses a confidence which suggests that she is not a complete pushover. Here, Bergen plays her too much like Murphy Brown, the character in the sitcom of the same name, and the role  for which she is best known. A a  hard-hitting TV Anchor, a caustic, annoyed demeanor works. Here, however, her Melissa is too defensive, making it difficult to empathize with her. Alda seems altogether disengaged from the material. Ladd’s likeability hinges on the fact that he is torn between the loves that he did have as adult versus the possibilities of a life with Gardner.  Through the years,an abding respect and devotion for  Gardner remains intact. This  makes Ladd  perfectly human and relatable.  But Alda’s body language suggests that he is bored and would rather be at a bar, sipping a martini with Loretta Swit. At this particular performance he actually lost his place in the script–with the pages  directly in front of him.

And…the…dramatic…pauses…seem…endless. Both actors interject so many of them that the usually brisk 90 minutes feel painfully interminable.  There is a fine line between dramatic pause and a lunch break. Candice Bergen is a fine actor. Alan Alda is worthy of critcal praise. Love Letters is a poignant, thoughtful, and deeply felt play. The combination of all three, though, generate an exchange of correspondence that is not much  more than a string of misfired missives.Let’s hope that the next line-up (including Diana Rigg and Stacy Keach, Angelica Huston and Martin Sheen) will handle Gurney’s poetic script  with more depth and sensitivity.

Love Letters  on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson theater, 256 W. 47th (between Broadway and 8th ave.) Tickets available at the box office or by visiting: http://lovelettersbroadway.com/. Visit the site for the guest star schedule.

This is it! Producers of Broadway’s It’s Only a Play have  been waiting with bated breath to see what “Manhattan Digest” has to say about playwright Terrance McNally’s revival of his 1982 comedy.  Ticket sales hinge upon this very review and so the words are chosen carefully to  ensure that the hard-working cast  remain  employed for the next few  months.

Surely, these words are written  in jest. Director Jack O’Brien’s star packed revival sent ticket sales soaring through the roof at the Schonefeld theater when it was announced that  Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick  (of The Producers fame) would reunite. It that weren’t enough to clinch the deal, producers wisely added other stage and screen celebs including Megan Mullally, Stockard Channing, and F. Murray Abraham. To attract a younger crowd, Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint and rising star, Micah Stock were tacked on  to the marquee.  The show has become the toast of Broadway and has already announced an extension to March 2015. Originally it was slated to run only through January 4th, 2015.

What is the point then,  of writing a review? With such a line-up, one might believe that  it would be immune to criticism, even  to  heavyweight critics whose printed  and digital opinions can often dictate the success or failure of a show. (Note: “Manhattan Digest” is not one of these publications!)  But, you know what they say about opinions?  If you don’t, ask someone for  the crass answer.  Without further fanfare, I shall share my humble opinion about  Broadway’s hottest ticket.

In short, It’s Only a Play is a fun night at the theater. Zippy lines are delivered  often enough to keep audiences laughing (or at the very least, smiling). Its’ shortcoming  lies in its’ length. For a play with little substance, the bit is drawn out a bit too long and once the curtain falls on this  two and half hour sitcom,  you’ll  feel as though you’ve exceeded your  time at the party.

Set in the home of producer Julia Budder (Mullally), “friends” and creative members of Peter Austin’s (Broderick) new play The Golden Egg  assemble  on the opening night of  his show for the cast party and, more importantly, for the reviews.  Dimwit Gus Head (Stock) serves as the coat check guy and more than  holds his own in his Broadway debut. Head is a self-proclaimed “actor-slash-singer-slash-dancer-slash-comedian-slash-performance-artist-slash-mime”.  Attend  nearly any cocktail gathering and  you’ve rubbed elbows with the type.  Austin’s best friend, James Wicker (Lane), is an egotistical television  star, who turned down the opportunity to star in his buddy’s play. Lane is doing his usual schtick here, but it works without fail. If there is any other leading man on Broadway working with such comic ferocity as him,  please let  me know. (Lane will depart the production on January 4th, as Martin Short assumes the role).   Channing is  Virgina Noyes, a washed up, pill popping diva whose problems with the law interfere with her stage work.  As always, the  skillfully talented Channing commands the stage, this time with a heavy dose of attitude and self-delusion.  Her character’s antics  could well be ripped from today’s entertainment headlines.  Abraham is  the most subtle  here as Ira Drew, a theatre critic  with an alter ego and bitter disposition. Polished and proper, Abraham’s Drew is wryly delightful as he  plays the straight man  with great panache. Frank Finger (Grint) is the boy genius director who is lauded  by critics, but plagued by his own insecurities. Grint makes a flamboyant and impressive Broadway debut among this predominantly seasoned troupe.

In less talented hands, McNally’s updated  romp would not be nearly as entertaining. While it is a work  that even outsiders can enjoy, those in theatre circles will find many of the zingers even more enjoyable. Broderick’s Austin may  well deliver one the best lines uttered on any stage at the moment: “New York  without theater would be Newark!” . While it won’t move mountains,  It’s Only a Play  is pure escapism which serves as both a valentine and  a gently self-deprecating mirror to the fabulous gift of live theater.

It’s Only a Play  on Broadway  now  through March 2015 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, West 45th street between Broadway and 8th Ave. For tickets and information, visit the box office or log onto: http://itsonlyaplay.com

Riding the Midnight Express 

Riding the Midnight Express is a nearly unbelievable (but true) tale about Billy Hayes, a young man who was arrested in 1970 at the Istanbul airport for possession of marijuana. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he escaped after five years and returned to the U.S. Here, he wrote a tale which was translated into 18 different languages and became an American best seller. Hollywood heavyweights Alan Parker and Oliver Stone turned the work into a successful film as director and screenwriter, respectively. The movie was released in 1978 and the title was shortened to Midnight Express.

Now, Hayes is 67 years old and is recalling his escape to freedom in his one man show, currently running at the Barrow Street theater. Is it a gripping story? Sure. Is our leading man a captivating personality? Absolutely. But, is this actual theater? Not really. In 70 minutes, Hayes spins his tale, perched only a single bench with a static projection of amber lit hues as a backdrop. While great theater need not rely on the gimmicks of large sets and splashy costumes, it seems that Hayes could have accomplished the same goal by promoting this as a TED talk or cabaret piece. He does, after all, beat this same drum in lectures and talks throughout the country.

It is obvious that Hayes wanted to confine his tale to this one specific incident in his life, and yet we never get a clear picture of who this man really is. Aside from the folly of youth, what was his motivation? He does manage to correct some of the misrepresentations of the film, which was a much more sensationalized cinematic treatment. Still, one gets the feeling that this is simply a self promoting marketing vehicle for Hayes and with many other fine solo shows jockeying for attention, reading his book might be a more affordable alternative.

Riding the Midnight Express runs now through Nov. 30th at the Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St at 7th ave South. For tickets and information, visit http://ridingthemidnightexpress.com

Bad With Money 

Just a few blocks north of the Barrow Street Theater, Ben Rimalower is tackling difficult topics with humor and honesty in his one man show, Bad With Money. Rimalower, a well known figure in cabaret circles, authored and starred in the smash hit solo show, Patti Issues, where he recounted his obsession and eventual interactions with stage and screen diva Patti Lupone.

He returns in a show that is even more personal, intimate, and soul-baring. Here, Rimalower takes us through his financial history, beginning with the debt accrued on his first credit card to attending (and then shirking) Debtor’s Anonymous meetings. In between, he acquires cash in ways unimaginable to most. The results are both hilarious and heartbreaking. While this cabaret piece does maintain its’ focus on Rimalower’s economic woes, he also confronts his other self medicating addictions with substance abuse. It is a brave and courageous move that pays off (no pun intended) through his engaging narrative. Aaron Mark’s keen direction has served the show’s writer and performer quite well. One only wishes the he would close the loop by detailing how he was able to dig himself out of the deficit.

Rimalower acknowledges that “money talk” is the most taboo subject-and he is absolutely correct in his observation. His show will strike a chord with anyone who has attempted to roll like a Rockefeller on a barista’s budget. If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we can probably admit that most of us have  walked this same precarious road–but without the fabulous, blaze of destruction stories to accompany it.

Bad With Money runs through December 18th at the Duplex, 61 Christopher Street at 7th Ave. South. For tickets and information, visit http://badwithmoney.net