Broadway, Meet Jon Michael HillTake a close look at the smiling face to the left. Examine it very carefully. Because this is the exciting face of tomorrow's Broadway.
Actor
Jon Michael Hill has been a
Steppenwolf ensemble member for a mere three years, but as one of the estimable troupe's youngest actors, he's quickly become one of its most awe-inspiring contemporary stars. And now, Jon Michael Hill is heading to the
Music Box Theatre for his Broadway debut. Watch out!
Earlier this afternoon, the full casting for Steppenwolf's Broadway transfer of
Tracy Letts'
Superior Donuts was announced. The best part of the announcement was that the entire Chicago cast, including Hill, will be reassembled under
Tina Landau's brilliant direction.
I first witnessed Hill's star on ascent three years ago this month when Steppenwolf world premiered
Bruce Norris' riveting and raucous four-star
The Unmentionables, directed by
Anna D. Shapiro and starring
Amy Morton. At the time,
I noted:
Even as the booming off-stage voice instructs the audience to silence their cell phones, a menacing, cocky young man named Etienne (Hill) saunters down the aisle looking as if he might not belong before finally calling out to the audience that they should not bother staying for this show. Of course, it's all a ruse, but it's clearly designed to set the stage for the play and challenge some pre-conceived notions about race and appearance even before the performance begins.
Nobody knew who this guy was as he toyed with the audience on his way to the stage. Hill ended up with them in the palm of his hand. No wonder that right around the same time, Steppenwolf announced that this gifted young actor was becoming part of its increasingly eclectic ensemble and summarily infused it with no-holds-barred excitement.
Next, Hill starred opposite
Michael McKean of
Superior Donuts last summer to tremendous effect. Giving the show four stars, I
was effusive with praise:
McKean has clearly lost himself in this most unglamorous of roles, but the audience wins as a result. Equally excellent is Hill's Franco, whose tremendous zest for living is infectious, and whose woes make us actually give a damn.
Since last summer, Steppenwolf fans have had two additional opportunities to see Hill further burnish his credentials with seemingly little effort in
Kafka on the Shore (2008) and earlier this year as he more than held his own alongside
Frank Galati and
Lois Smith in
The Tempest, another Landau-helmed triumph.
Now, with the transfer of
Superior Donuts, New Yorkers will get to know one of the Windy City's formerly best kept secrets. Now that the word is out that Jon Michael Hill is coming to Broadway, do yourself a favor and see him early to get those bragging rights for you'll be seeing a true star of tomorrow shine today.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Jon Michael Hill, Kafka On The Shore, Steppenwolf, Superior Donuts, The Tempest, The Unmentionables, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts
You've Got To Be Carefully TaughtI've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you
- Wicked
There's nothing like a little trip down memory lane, particularly when it involves going home again. But it's always most rewarding when you stop and take in the landmarks of your life.
Less than two months ago,
I filled in some of the blanks on my own personal back story. In
my April post, I detailed how I became a bona fide theatre devotee after taking in a London production of
Annie 30 years ago. In addition to discussing my genuine excitement about that trip, I also alluded to my burgeoning theatre interest leading up to it:
Prior to this trip, I could probably count the number of times I had seen stage performances on both hands, and with one exception, they were all high school productions (Bye Bye Birdie, Don't Drink The Water, Fiddler On The Roof, Gypsy, Harvey, Oklahoma!, Romeo And Juliet, South Pacific and You Can't Take It With You). Mind you, I really enjoyed seeing each show, especially those under the expert direction of Homestead's musical director Sonia Simonsen, but they only hinted at the overall experience that professional theatre would afford.
Over the course of this past weekend, I returned home to
Mequon, Wisconsin for the reunion of the
Homestead High School's Class of '79. In addition to being able to see so many of the dear friends from my formative years, I was thrilled to see the one and only
Sonia Simonsen herself, a major landmark teacher and director in my life. Not only did she helm several of the shows listed above, but she also directed me in my one true stage role when I played Lieutenant Joe Cable in Homestead's 1977 production of
South Pacific.
Sonia has long since retired from teaching and now makes her home in Florida. But she made the trip to Mequon, and were we ever glad she did.
As you can see from the photo above, Sonia still has that unmistakable twinkle in her eye. She has managed to maintain that same incredible wit and outspoken tell-it-like-it-is vitality that her students came to respect, admire and love. And how could I not adore the woman who first opened my eyes to stage musicals and their mesmerizing capacity to tell moving stories? It was Sonia who directed the very first stage musical I ever saw --
Gypsy -- way back in the mid-70s at my then future high school.
Then is it any wonder that the musical I (and so many others) routinely rank as the best musical of all time is also my unequivocal, hands-down favorite? I had no idea until this past weekend that Sonia, an accomplished actress in her own right, has even portrayed Mama Rose. Would I have loved to see that! Fortunately, she sang a few lines for me, and I was spellbound.
Seeing Sonia was an absolute highlight of a weekend filled with extraordinary memories. Fortunately, it also provided me with a long overdue opportunity to express to her my deepest appreciation for first exposing me to the limitless magic and wonder of musical theatre. Without Sonia's influence and passion for the art form, both instrumental in shaping the person I've become, I have no doubt that my life could have been dramatically different.
Sonia, I know you read this blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the landmarks you have placed in my life. I know I'm who I am today because I knew you as a landmark teacher and director. I'm especially grateful to count you among my cherished friends.
Now, let's plan on seeing each other at a Broadway show!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Gypsy, Homestead High School, Mequon, Reunion, Sonia Simonsen, South Pacific, Wisconsin
Will Steady Rain Open Box Office Flood-gates?Yesterday came
official news that
Hugh Jackman and
Daniel Craig are Broadway-bound this September in what is sure to be one of the 2009-10 Theatrical Season's hottest tickets.
The dynamic duo will bond as Chicago cops in
Keith Huff's
A Steady Rain, directed by
John Crowley, who received a Tony nomination for helming
The Pillowman in 2005.
As everyone knows, neither of these two actors are just another couple of pretty faces.
Jackman, of course, scored bigtime with his heartbreaking take on the late
Peter Allen in
The Boy From Oz back in 2003. Almost in spite of the lackluster material, the Australian actor soared high above it, winning praise, adoring fans and a permanent place in the hearts of Broadway theatregoers with his Tony-winning performance.
As for Craig, although this marks his Broadway debut, he's an established stage presence in London theatre circles. Long before he captured the public's attention as James Bond, he first made his mark doing Shakespeare in the
National Youth Theatre when he was just 16. Craig burnished his stage credentials with West End roles, including in the
Royal National Theatre's original London production of
Angels In America; Craig played four roles, including Joseph Porter Pitt.
A Steady Rain made its debut at the tiny
Chicago Dramatists in 2007 under the direction of Russ Tutterow. At the time,
Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune described the two-hander play as:
...a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale of two Chicago police officers whose inner need to serve and protect both consumes them and rips them apart.... [T]he storytelling skills of this Iowa-trained playwright are truly remarkable.
A Steady Rain will pour at the
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre beginning September 10 with opening night slated for September 29. The limited engagement will run through December 6.
Expect a deluge at the box office (American Express cardholders get first dibs tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. EDT via
Telecharge). If it goes dry, then the economy is really much worse than any of us thought.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Steady Rain, Broadway, Chicago, Daniel Craig, First Word On New Show, Hugh Jackman, John Crowley, Keith Huff, Play
Paving The Way For Fresh Theatre In ChicagoUnless you're a new Steve On Broadway (SOB) reader, you already know how much I absolutely adore Chicago's
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, along with all the incredible individuals behind the scenes who make it all come together.
As with many maturing theatre organizations, Steppenwolf takes enormous pride in championing tomorrow's creative stage visionaries today. Each year, Steppenwolf provides a select group of talented young men and women with the opportunity to intern and learn the ropes, often quite literally.
During my visits through the last several years, one highlight for me has been getting to know many of these incredibly gifted individuals. When one of them, a remarkably self-assured David Perez, happened to tell me that he was starting a theatre company with two of his peers from the Steppenwolf Theatre Apprentice Program (Brittany Barnes and Julia Dossett), I was intrigued. Being regaled by Perez's fearless determination and sheer grit, I just knew that this was someone to watch -- no matter that he may have been serving me a drink as part of his apprenticeship duties.
Perez, Barnes and Dossett, along with Tim Schoen, formed
Pavement Group "with the endeavor to provide bold artistic opportunities for emerging playwrights, designers, directors, and arts managers." I love the fact that the vision of these Steppenwolf graduates is to serve as a test-kitchen for new plays and playwrights alike.
To date, I've had the good fortune of seeing two incredibly well-acted and directed plays,
fracture/mechanics and
Lipstick Traces - A Secret History Of The 20th Century. Mind you, since I'm a generation older than these brilliant twenty-somethings, I know I'm not exactly their target audience. But no matter. They are striking a powerful chord by providing riveting entertainment geared toward weaning a whole new generation on the joys of live theatre.
Pavement Group has taken a very important step forward in their evolution. In addition to producing many plays, they have jumped through the necessary hoops to become a bona fide 501(c)(3) organization. And with that, they're able to accept your tax-deductible donations. I hope you'll consider
giving to this fledgling and immensely exciting theatre company.
Who knows? Pavement Group could very well be the Steppenwolf of tomorrow. But you can get those early bragging rights by
supporting it today.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Brittany Barnes, Chicago, David Perez, fractured/mechanics, Julia Dossett, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of The 20th Century, Pavement Group, Steppenwolf, Tim Schoen
More August Down Under With American Original
When
August: Osage County posted its closing notice for Broadway a couple weeks back, those prone to parsing statements may have noted
I concluded my wrap-up saying:
But something tells me that you haven't heard the last of the original cast of August: Osage County. And with that, I'll just say so long for now.
Now I can reveal what I had only hinted at.
According to the
Tuesday, July 7 issue of The Age:
The biggest-selling stage show so far this year, the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of hit August: Osage County will be staged in Sydney next year. But audiences will not get to see one of the grande dames of Australian theatre, Robyn Nevin, in one of her most defining roles.
Instead, the Sydney Theatre Company is importing the original production by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company that has appeared in New York and London. It will be presented in the 900-seat Sydney Theatre and follows on from the importation of Alan Bennett's The History Boys by London's National Theatre in 2006.
It was the Steppenwolf production that Tracy Letts' play that won five Tony Awards in New York.
So, now you know more about this ever-evolving story that began just over two years ago last month in Chicago.
Anyone game for going Down Under?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Osage County, Australia, Chicago, First Word On New Show, Play, Sydney, Sydney Theatre Company, Tracy Letts
Up (The SOB Review) – Downstairs Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago, Illinois
***1/2 (out of ****)Maybe it’s that the title is exactly the same as the current
Disney/
Pixar hit.
You know the one. The
film out a pie-in-the-sky dreamer who yearns to be lifted from an ordinary life and uses balloons to take flight from the comfort of his own surroundings. Oh wait, that also neatly summarizes
Bridget Carpenter’s stirring and tender
Up as well. Funny though how dissimilar these two takes on the same essential theme can be.
After being lulled into a false sense that the only way
is up during the first act, Carpenter’s emotionally satisfying play about a wide-eyed visionary named Walter Griffin (a remarkable
Ian Barford) really takes off, even if against any predictable prevailing winds.
With
Anna D. Shapiro’s marvelous direction providing appropriately measured ballast and pitch,
Up is nothing short of a lofty, ambitious play about hope and capacity for discovery, including those of a decidedly introspective nature. And it works.
Years after Walter has succeeded in raising his personal stature by floating three miles high on his own lawn chair, he continues -- perhaps vainly -- in pursuit of the next big thing. He remains undaunted, even as others beat him to the punch.
But there’s a cost to these ongoing pipedreams. Patience is wearing thin at home.
His desperate non-house wife Helen (a beautifully raw
Lauren Katz) is tiring of being the lone family breadwinner and implores Walter to go out and find a real job, even if it means giving up on his dreams. Their emotionally awkward high school son Mikey (a brilliant
Jake Cohen) believes so strongly in his father that he lacks any faith in his own capabilities.
That is, until he meets Maria, a chatty pregnant classmate (the tremendously talented
Rachel Brosnahan), who not becomes his first real friend, but also provides him with an introduction to a new self-awareness wakened by her free-spirited Aunt Chris (
Martha Lavey in one of her two deliciously funny roles from each end of an amazingly wide spectrum).
There is so much to recommend this heartfelt production. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that the penultimate scene was what ultimately had my trio of friends and I arguing long and hard afterward about what had just transpired and all it symbolized.
Far be it from me to even allude to what we discussed, but our strikingly disparate conclusions and our eagerness to vociferously debate points to the true genius in Carpenter’s brilliant writing. There aren’t many shows I experience where I’m passionately discussing it long after.
But Carpenter’s work, inspired by
true events, is nothing short of inspirational.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anna D Shapiro, Bridget Carpenter, Chicago, Ian Barford, Jake Cohen, Lauren Katz, Martha Lavey, Play, Rachel Bresnahan, Steppenwolf, The SOB Review, Up
Mary Stuart (The SOB Review) – Broadhurst Theatre, New York, New York
*** (out of ****)
It was the best of times (and sigh!) it was the dullest of times.
Fortunately, once you sit through the extraordinarily dry exposition of the first act of
Phyllida Lloyd’s ultimately worthy revival of
Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart (with new adaptation by
Peter Oswald), you’re in for one of the year’s most powerfully explosive acts, period.
Thanks to the unusually fierce, bravura performances from
Janet McTeer and
Harriet Walter starring as cousins
Queen Mary of Scots and
Queen Elizabeth I, respectively,
Mary Stuart comes close to becoming a theatrical
tour de force of epic proportions.
Certainly from the start, McTeer and Walter are more than enough to whet anyone’s appetite. But it’s not until the gales from the onset of Act Two that their portrayals of the original dueling divas truly reigns down on the stage with an intensity so pure and genuine that you forget for a moment you’re watching something set back in time over 400 years.
For the second year in a row, I’ve witnessed a level of virtuosity from McTeer I never before could have imagined (in 2008,
I saw her extraordinary turn in the earlier London mounting of the Tony-winning hit
God Of Carnage). While Walter nearly goes toe to toe, McTeer offers that rarest of theatrical delights: a performance for the ages.
So if you’re like me and easily tire of
Mary Stuart’s labored first act (despite McTeer and Walter’s exceptional efforts), rest assured that after intermission, you’re bound to get just a little, well, moist.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Friedrich Schiller, God Of Carnage, Harriet Walter, Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart, Peter Oswald, Phyllida Lloyd, Play, Revival, The SOB Review
