{"id":92454,"date":"2024-03-24T20:36:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T03:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=92454"},"modified":"2024-03-24T20:36:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T03:36:28","slug":"merrily-corruption-ibsen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2024\/03\/24\/merrily-corruption-ibsen\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrily, Corruption & Ibsen"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent last weekend in NYC and, shocking as it may seem, even Billy Masters <\/strong>sometimes has to pay for it.  It\u2019s true, I\u2019ve spent more money on Jonathan Groff <\/strong>than I have on most exes.  But that\u2019s what you do to secure a ticket for the acclaimed Broadway <\/em>revival of Sondheim<\/strong>\u2019s Merrily We Roll Along<\/em><\/strong>.  The musical\u2019s backward chronology has always been problematic.  You meet the characters at a point where they have achieved some success at great personal loss, and then you go back in time to see them as young idealistic kids filled with hopes and dreams.  Having a cast that embodies youthful exuberance and world-weary dissolution helps.  Groff is as lost here as he was in Spring Awakening<\/em><\/strong>.  But the boy has become a man \u2013 by, ironically, playing a boy.  While he\u2019s gotten the lion\u2019s share of praise by critics, one can\u2019t underestimate the work of Daniel Radcliffe <\/strong>and his fearless enthusiasm and boundless talent (to say nothing of the twinkle in his eye).  If Lindsay Mendez <\/strong>doesn\u2019t have a standout musical moment, her strong presence permeates the show.  A lesser actress could kill the alchemy of this trio.  This may be the best company assembled for a problematic show.  And that alone makes it a must-see \u2013 even at these prices.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile at Lincoln Center<\/em>, the play Corruption<\/em><\/strong> dramatizes the British hacking scandal of 2011 that threatened to bring down the Rupert Murdoch <\/strong>empire (as if).  The play by J.T. Rogers <\/strong>is dense and a tad overly ambitious.  I wondered if people who didn\u2019t follow the story when it happened would be able to follow the many twists and turns.  It is almost like a stage documentary \u2013 and that\u2019s not a bad thing.  In a time when we are fed a steady diet of real crime dramas on television, this play serves to not only entertain but enlighten.  There is nary a weak link in the large cast, and the production is compelling (and, my God, the stagehands should be paid extra).  Halfway through the taut second act, a few chilling points are made.  First, the \u201cbad guys\u201d aren\u2019t all bad and the \u201cgood guys\u201d make some bad decisions.  And, despite protestations to the contrary, the public likes tabloid journalism.  Without it, hard-hitting journalism cannot survive.  A somewhat cynical viewpoint, but perhaps one not so far off the mark.<\/p>\n

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The point of my trip was to see Charles Busch<\/strong>\u2019s latest oeuvre <\/em>at Primary Stages<\/em>.  Ibsen\u2019s Ghost<\/em><\/strong> focuses on the days following the death of Henrik Ibsen <\/strong>(who is currently represented on Broadway <\/em>in an acclaimed revival of An Enemy of the People<\/em><\/strong>).  Subtitled \u201can irresponsible biographical fantasy\u201d, Busch stars as Suzannah<\/strong>, the Widow Ibsen<\/em>, who is as fetching and salty as a piping hot plate of kippers.  Suzie is quite concerned about securing herself a place in history rather than just a footnote.  While a healthy knowledge of the Norwegian playwright is helpful, it is not a prerequisite.  This is a loving homage to Ibsen through Busch\u2019s elevated and elegant lens.  Frequent collaborators populate the proceedings \u2013 including the scene-stealing Jen Cody<\/strong>, the always-effective Jennifer Van Dyck<\/strong>, the still-hunky Thomas Gibson<\/strong>, the versatile Christopher Borg<\/strong>, and the legendary Judy Kaye<\/strong>.  The stylish costumes and wigs, effective lighting, tasteful set design, and appropriate interstitial music are all under the effortless direction of Carl Andress<\/strong>.  But if it isn\u2019t on the page, it isn\u2019t on the stage.  As usual, Busch delivers.<\/p>\n

To catch either of these off-Broadway <\/em>plays, you must be fleet of foot.  They both close on April 14th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent last weekend in NYC and, shocking as it may seem, even Billy Masters sometimes has to pay for it.  It\u2019s true, I\u2019ve spent more money on Jonathan Groff than I have on most exes.  But that\u2019s what you do to secure a ticket for the acclaimed Broadway revival of Sondheim\u2019s Merrily We Roll<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92455,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92454\/revisions\/92455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}