Bright lights, big city

The past few days have been very cold here in Manhattan. Winter has decided, belatedly, to make a comeback, which meant taking out my winter coat and scarf, and shopping successfully for cute booties.

If there’s anything winter is good for, it’s spending time indoors, and my favorite indoor activity in New York City is to sit in a dark theater and watch some wonderful shows.

I’ve been fortunate, as there are quite a few good new shows that have opened this season. There is an abundance of both plays and musicals on the Great White Way, and audiences are all the better for it.

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’

This wasn’t the first show that I saw, but it is certainly one of the more brilliant pieces I know. Playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, the show is the back story of the boy that would become Peter Pan, the pirate that would become Captain Hook (and how he actually loses his hand), how the Lost Boys came to be and what Star Stuff is. (It’s not fairy dust!)

Christian Borle (“Smash”) is all kinds of brilliant in this play. His physicality, comic timing, and complete commitment to his portrayal of the pirate Black Stache sent everyone in the audience into fits of heavy laughter. Adam Chanler-Berat (“Next to Normal”) as Peter Pan and Celia Keenan-Bolger (“Les Miserables,” “Merrily We Roll Along”), along with a motley crew of actors, reenact the events that would create one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature.

The actors do just about everything in this amazing show and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of something really extraordinary to watch. No big sets, no technological wonders, no complicated costumes. Only a dozen or so talented actors on a stage, creating something magical.

‘End of the Rainbow’

This show has gotten so much buzz over here, thanks to Tracie Bennett’s performance as Judy Garland in the last months of her life. The play takes place in London, 1969, in Garland’s hotel suite at the Ritz and at the Talk of the Town nightclub, where she is scheduled to hold a five-week run of performances.

At the beginning, Judy’s new fiancé Mickey Deans (Tom Pelphry) is resolute in keeping Judy free from drugs and alcohol. However, he and Garland’s pianist Anthony (Michael Cumpsty) find that over the run, she starts to deteriorate, and the only solution that gets her back on stage is the same formula that kept her performing throughout most of her career: taking pills and washing them down with alcohol.

Bennett captures Garland’s essence, down to her signature vibrato. Her frenetic energy, hyper-sexualization and ever present foul mouth are heartbreaking, despite the entire audience knowing exactly what would follow. The performance vignettes at Talk of the Town are unpredictable, just like she was. From blindingly brilliant to slurring words, Garland can’t remember what song she’s about to sing, misses lyrics and starts to break down. When she sings “Over the Rainbow” at the very end of the show, the audience is shattered. I was an absolute mess before the curtain call.

‘Newsies’

Based on the Disney movie of the same name (remember a teenage Christian Bale in the role of Jack Kelly?), “Newsies” is a showcase of energetic male singing and dancing, and a leading man oozing with charm, sensitivity and a great singing voice.

Set in New York City in 1899, “Newsies” is about newsboys that are not treated well by their employer, the newspaper The World. They are poor, starving and neglected, and depend only on whatever income they can get from selling the paper on the street. When the newspaper’s price goes up, the boys are directly affected and they decide to go on strike.

Jeremy Jordan plays Jack Kelly on the Broadway stage. He’s a great singer for sure, but he’s also an emotive actor, engaging us from start to finish. All the other newsies are equally talented, including four male dancers from “So You Think You Can Dance.” The dancing was ridiculous (great) and the music by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, infectious and catchy. We were on our feet!

Shameless Plug

I’ve got a concert tomorrow night, May 4, at Town Hall here in New York, and May 5 in Troy, NY. Hope to see you there!