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Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 10:15 AM

Another theatrical season is under way and, as a tony voter, i see pretty much everything. Here's this season's schedule so far: New plays: opened -- THE PITMEN PAINTERS LOMBARDI A FREE MAN OF COLOR ELLING coming -- GOOD PEOPLE BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT WAR HORSE play revivals: opened -- A LIFE IN THE THEATRE MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION LA BĘTE DRIVING MISS DAISY BRIEF ENCOUNTER THE MERCHANT OF VENICE coming -- IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON new musicals: opened -- BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS WOMAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN ELF coming -- SPIDER-MAN PRISCILLA, QUEEN… BOOK OF MORMON CATCH ME IF YOU CAN WONDERLAND SISTER ACT THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE musical revivals: coming -- HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING ANYTHING GOES Specialty: opened-- RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW LONG STORY SHORT DONNIE & MARIE

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 10:23 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 16 2010 11:45 AM

thumbnail reviews: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON – Mining the vein of post-modern meta-musicals about musicals, this downtown piece evokes SPRING AWAKENING and RENT with its alt rock music and presentational style, and [TITLE OF SHOW] and AVENUE Q, with its amusing self-referential quips. And its themes are surprisingly timely, equating the rise of the first charismatic state’s rights “populist” president with modern Tea Party politics. But, despite my sympathies for its historical revisionism and bad boy attitude, the show is ultimately undermined by a lackluster score. And, as is often the case with this mode of storytelling, you can’t really care about anything because it’s an intellectual conceit, devoid of any real emotion beyond anger and hipster snarkiness. Irony only goes so far. [C+] THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS - Wow. A bunch of white artists got together to express outrage at racism in the 1930s by having African-American actors perform a black-face minstrel show for predominantly white audiences on Broadway. White guilt runs amok on the “great white way”, with a few good Kander & Ebb songs (most of which merely evoke earlier, better K&E scores) and clever Stroman staging. Its goal appears to be to make the audience uncomfortable, but I was more uncomfortable with its innate hypocrisy. Black rage is a lot more justifiable coming from black artists, though not necessarily any more entertaining. For more on this subject, see Spike Lee’s BAMBOOZLED. [C] LOMBARDI - Judith Licht as the coach’s wife is the best thing about this entertaining little play about a successful football coach with rage and control issues. It’s much ado about not very much, but the “in-the-round” production is engaging enough. [C+] BRIEF ENCOUNTER – A love story twice removed, Coward’s screenplay and original 1-act are adapted as a theatrical burlesque about a movie about a tragic love affair. Between the interpolated Coward songs, video and sound effects, gag props, archly stylized performances and 4th-wall breakage, the director is practically daring the audience to care about these characters as human beings. In fact, this production seems all about her direction and very little about the story and characters, which is a mode of storytelling I have very little use for. At its core, ENCOUNTER is a palid romance novel… strangers meet and become instantly enraptured. But they are decent people married to other decent people, so will they act on their love? Well, what’s the difference? They are such genteel middle-class folk that they will be either destroyed by guilt (if they do) or by regret (if they don’t). They’re screwed either way, and that’s pretty clear from the outset. The only way this matters at all is if you treat it like a Greek tragedy about ordinary people, much like DEATH OF A SALESMAN used the tragic form, usually reserved for tales about the fall of great men, to tell about the fall of a small man. But then you have to have the courage to go full out to break the audience’s heart with the full depth of the tragedy. But all this director did by tricking it out with directorial razzle-dazzle was to distract, not add. You have to HEIGHTEN the humanity of the characters, not caricature them, with video of crashing waves or having them sway in every vidiotic breeze. Ultimately, in this production, the play is either a silly, slight little romantic melodrama made barely entertaining by a lot of theatricality, or a powerful romantic tragedy totally undermined by over-the-top direction. Either way, it’s not my cup of tea. [C+] THE PITMEN PAINTERS – Based on a true story, playwright Lee Hall (bookwriter of BILLY ELLIOT) returns to the coal mines of northern England to create a work about the dignity and humanity of those at the bottom of the food chain. The 2nd act becomes didactic and heavy handed speechifying, but a moving play, all in all. [B+] A LIFE IN THE THEATRE - This backstage comedy is the kind of play that is funny in moments but seems like you could throw it up in the air and then perform the scenes in whatever order they floated down in. At some point they’ve got to stop reviving mediocre Mamet plays, don’t they? At least this one is not as off-putting as some of his others, with great performances by Patrick Stewart and TR Knight. [C+] DRIVING MISS DAISY – James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave in the award-winning play. If you like the play, you’ll like the production. I was put off by Ms. Redgrave’s strange vocal interpretation of a southern accent, but I got over it. And JEJ is … well, JEJ. But Boyd Gaines gives a deeper, almost oedipal interpretation of the son that makes it a more interesting role. Still, I find it kind of a glib play, and its middle-brow geniality detracts from the dark reality it pretends to portray [B ] LA BĘTE – A beautiful revival of David Hirson's fascinating and timely play, superior in every way to its original Broadway production. Hilarious and terrifying all at once, it’s a celebration of and cautionary tale about the power of words, and the price of principle in a superficial culture. Mark Rylance gives a tour-de-force performance as the vulgar clown, adding a level of underlying malevolence, and David Hyde Pierce finds the humor and humanity in the otherwise stiff role of the artist who is forced to endure the beast. The gender change of the royal patron from king to queen not only allows a bravura performance by Joanna Lumley, it adds a level of sexual tension and triangularity to the relationships. The physical production adds much to the work, as well. [A] MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION – Cherry Jones seems miscast in this dated bit of Shavian moralizing. My only thought was “why?” [C-] THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW – Fans will be charmed and amused by the child-like but twisted shenanigans of the PEE-WEE persona… a surreal amalgam of Harry Langdon, Soupy Sales and Andy Kaufman. Those new to the character and his cast of supporting players will be bewildered by both what’s happening on stage and the warm reaction of the audience. And those who’ve never cared for him will continue not to do so. Personally, I’ve always loved the guy, so… [A]

Edgy DC Dec 03 2010 10:31 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Is Paul Ruebens' plan to re-establish the character, then turn it over to somebody else?

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 10:41 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

i don't think so. Its a limited run; i'm sure he's planning to tour it. After all, if he's not Pee Wee... who is he? The guy caught yankin' it in a gay porn theater? It's not like he's got other stuff to do. I'm sure his version of HAMLET can wait.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2010 10:46 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Yeah, but how do you play Pee-Wee forever? If (big if, I know) he can find another talented guy to enchant another generation, he can let that guy go to work for him while he rakes in crazy residuals from the property, and for the squeamish, it disassociates his taint from the character. You and I would say that if it's not Ruebens, it's not Pee-Wee, but a new audience may not be so stickly. They're paying $200 a pop to see Pink Floyd and don't seem to care who's in the band anymore.

metirish Dec 03 2010 11:55 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Spider Man.....expectations Vic?, certainly plenty of talk about it.

sharpie Dec 03 2010 12:14 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Saw two of Vic's C+ titles: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON. Pretty much agree, though I'd've probably given it a B and BRIEF ENCOUNTER which I saw in it's initial run in Brooklyn which I liked a lot. Might have been one of those situations where moving to a much larger space took away from the production because one of the charms of the show was the hand-made look and feel it had which in much larger Studio 54 wouldn't work.

Edgy DC Dec 03 2010 12:28 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Here are 10 ideas for musicals which would kill. They would absolutely murder, give anybody in a position to ably mount them a license to print money, and make New York forget they ever heard the word "recession." I post them insisting that anybody who takes them and runs with them gives me modest share (15%?) of ownership on the property and a producer's share on the initial run to be negotiatied. [list:1jek0i9l][*:1jek0i9l]BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]THE RIGHT STUFF! A NEW MUSICAL![/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]LEON URIS' TRINITY[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]A MIGHTY WIND[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]TONYA AND NANCY: A MUSICAL ON ICE[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]FROM MY HOUSE: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SARAH PALIN[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]FLY AWAY: THE STORY OF JOHN DENVER[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]PISH, POSH! HERONYMUS BOSCH![/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]RICK SPRINGFIELD'S JESSE'S GIRL[/*:m:1jek0i9l] [*:1jek0i9l]THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH![/*:m:1jek0i9l][/list:u:1jek0i9l]

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 12:41 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

metirish wrote: Spider Man.....expectations Vic?, certainly plenty of talk about it. i'm trying desperately not to get overexcited about the merger of 2 of my great passions.

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 12:46 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

sharpie wrote: Saw two of Vic's C+ titles: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON. Pretty much agree, though I'd've probably given it a B and BRIEF ENCOUNTER which I saw in it's initial run in Brooklyn which I liked a lot. Might have been one of those situations where moving to a much larger space took away from the production because one of the charms of the show was the hand-made look and feel it had which in much larger Studio 54 wouldn't work. If you like the music, BBAJ is a "B". I didn't, so i gave it a C+, purely for chutzpah. With ENCOUNTER, i'm sure a more intimate space would've helped, but STUDIO 54 ain't exactly THE GERSHWIN. Look, i get that its entertaining. But i'm just immune at this point in my life to the charms of a directorial "bag of tricks" in overwhelming a play. Your mileage may certainly vary. The person i saw it with loved it, too, so what do i know? i know what i like, like everybody else. I just see alot more stuff than most people.

Vic Sage Dec 03 2010 12:48 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, but how do you play Pee-Wee forever? If (big if, I know) he can find another talented guy to enchant another generation, he can let that guy go to work for him while he rakes in crazy residuals from the property, and for the squeamish, it disassociates his taint from the character. You and I would say that if it's not Ruebens, it's not Pee-Wee, but a new audience may not be so stickly. They're paying $200 a pop to see Pink Floyd and don't seem to care who's in the band anymore. oh, i agree that future audiences may not care. But i don't think PEE WEE sees anyone else doing his character for the forseeable future.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 04 2010 08:42 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

PISH, POSH! HERONYMUS BOSCH! Or, as it was known in its US theatrical release, Julie Taymor's Titus. And speaking of whom... Spidey's DL continues to be more robust than its early reviews: this is the second injury this week. Hell, at this point, they may as well use it as a selling point, no? ("Taymor! U2! And someone may die!")

Edgy DC Dec 04 2010 10:33 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

That's all you can say? I offered you 10 gold mines there, baby.

Vic Sage Dec 14 2010 02:05 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

ELF - wow, does this suck! Bad music, bad script, bad production, bad cast... where did they go right? Well, it's a limited run! [F] LONG STORY SHORT - Comedian Colin Quinn does a monologue on the history of mankind as a series of fallen empires done in by humanity's DNA-encoded selfishness ("we're the descendants of the guys who didn't wait their turn") and stupidity ("empires fall when they continue to behave in a way that stopped working years ago" -- that's a paraphrase). Mostly the show is an excuse to do various kinds of ethnic jokes, but he does them well and the show is more thoughtful than you'd think, depicting social evolution as an ongoing war between smart guys and tough guys. The production is kind of neat, too, with its clever computer graphics and an amphitheatrical stage style that suggests ancient architecture. By the way, i went to college with Colin, and he was no more than the 5th funniest guy on our hall. [B+]

Vic Sage Dec 14 2010 02:16 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES – Not the Beatles, but a not-so-incredible simulation! Why this mediocre tribute band got a Broadway production I have no idea. Still, the songs are the songs, and are always worth hearing. [D]

Vic Sage Dec 14 2010 02:22 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

With regard to the Hieronymus Bosch musical, see http://tebreitenbach.com/hieronymus/index.htm

Edgy DC Dec 14 2010 02:25 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

OK, so I gave you nine rock-solid licenses to print money and one that's been done. Here's a new tenth: get the rights to the Rankin-Bass catalog and find an interesting way to stage them (hey, Julie Taymor!). Folks who grew up on that crap would drag their kids and grandkids screaming to those for generations.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 14 2010 02:48 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

OK, so I gave you nine rock-solid licenses to print money and one that's been done. Here's a new tenth: get the rights to the Rankin-Bass catalog and find an interesting way to stage them (hey, Julie Taymor!). Folks who grew up on that crap would drag their kids and grandkids screaming to those for generations. To be fair... THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH! I think this one's been done, too.

MFS62 Dec 15 2010 07:23 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage wrote: LONG STORY SHORT - Comedian Colin Quinn does a monologue on the history of mankind as a series of fallen empires done in by humanity's DNA-encoded selfishness ("we're the descendants of the guys who didn't wait their turn") and stupidity ("empires fall when they continue to behave in a way that stopped working years ago" -- that's a paraphrase). Mostly the show is an excuse to do various kinds of ethnic jokes, but he does them well and the show is more thoughtful than you'd think, depicting social evolution as an ongoing war between smart guys and tough guys. The production is kind of neat, too, with its clever computer graphics and an amphitheatrical stage style that suggests ancient architecture. By the way, i went to college with Colin, and he was no more than the 5th funniest guy on our hall. [B+] I was at the first off-Broadway performance of the show (Bleeker street), and your take on the show is similar to mine. Not an all-time fave, but an enjoyable evening at the theater. Later

Vic Sage Dec 17 2010 09:24 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

spiderman opening delayed to February http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... yed-again/

Edgy DC Dec 21 2010 08:16 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Yeah, and maybe further off than that: http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/12/21/n ... tml?hpt=T2

Vic Sage Jan 04 2011 01:13 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jan 04 2011 03:15 PM

WOMAN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN – Lincoln Center’s new musical based on the Almovodar film is better than I anticipated (based on the reviews). Sure, Jeffrey Lane’s book has an uneven tone as it veers from a comic LA RONDE (narrated by a Madrid cabbie with a romantic optimism), to a tale of female empowerment as an actress finally lets herself grow up, ultimately ending up in cartoonish mayhem with a deranged Patti LuPone (isn't that redundant?) attempting to murder her philandering ex-husband, but suceeding in killing a terrorist bomber, making her an unlikely hero (aka TAXI DRIVER). But it’s a stylish, colorful production (making great use of projections) with funny and warm performances, especially the estimable Sheri Rene Scott and hilarious Laura Benanti, and a memorable score by David Yazbek. A perfect show? No, but engaging enough not to have been met with a hail of bullets and premature closing. [B+]

Vic Sage Jan 04 2011 01:22 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 4 time(s), most recently on Jan 06 2011 09:51 AM

***avi***

sharpie Jan 04 2011 01:42 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Saw A FREE MAN OF COLOR on New Years Eve. One of those research gone amok situations where John Guare surely read about an interesting footnote of history (the racially open New Orleans in the early years of the 19th century) and started writing a play about it and then his research got him into the history of Haiti, the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Napoleon's treaties with Spain and on and on and he kept larding all of this stuff into it at the expense of character, plot development, etc. Had it's moments but I'll give it a C-. Tom Brokaw, however, was in the audience. Wanted to ask him if didn't he really think the era we the play was set in was the greatest generation?

Vic Sage Jan 06 2011 09:51 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE – What happened... was Pacino not interested in doing an adaptation of THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION? Or BIRTH OF A NATION? This is a well acted, well staged production of a truly heinous play. For the first 300 years after the character's creation, Shylock was played as either a comic grotesque or purely evil “Jewe”. Over the last 100 years or so, actors and directors have tried to present a more sympathetic portrait of the character, despite the text presenting a vengeful, merciless money-lender who is as concerned over his lost ducats as his runaway daughter, who despises Christians over abuses alluded to but largely undramatized by the play, who represents a mean-spirited preference for law (old testament) over mercy (new testament), and who gets his comeuppance in this “comedy” with a “happy ending” in which he is forced to convert to Christianity or lose everything. Revisionism has now made Shakespeare's noxious statement of anti-Semitism into a CONDEMNATION of anti-Semitism, to render the play produceable in polite society and high schools. That lie should have been put to rest by the Nazis, who produced and broadcast the play to their populace, to stir up the resentments necessary to allow for a "final solution" to the Jewish problem. But I’ve got to give props to Pacino and Co…they pull no punches in this production and portray its virulence in all of its splendor. However, they do tag on a bit of stage business not present in the text. The conversion of Shylock is played as a vicious forced baptism, with Shylock, afterwards, putting his yarmulke back on in defiance. None of this is actually in the play, but they apparently add it for the same reason as Jewish actors like Jacob Adler took on the role in the first place… to "rescue" Shakespeare from his own time and place. Frankly, anti-Semitism aside, it’s simply not so great a play that one should tie oneself into knots to produce it. It's a romantic comedy without comedy, and ragged subplots of no consequence, that simply fade out unsatisfactorily. In fact, after the forced conversion of shylock, there is 20 more minutes of romantic foolery about which lover gave whose ring to whom, after some typical Shakespearean gender-bending, why? Because it’s a comedy! Ho Ho Ho! Not every thing in the canon needs to be regurgitated, especially when it reinforces the basest of stereotypes. [D]

Vic Sage Feb 23 2011 02:37 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 25 2011 09:29 PM

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST- A perfectly adequate production of Oscar Wilde's mechanical farce about the marital foibles of the Victorian upper classes, filled with his epigrammatic wit. But it is a play of absolutely no importance or relevance to life as we currently know it. As Shaw said of the play when it was originally produced: "I prefer to be MOVED to laughter." Brian Bedford directed ably and stars as Lady Brachnell. Why? The English always seem to find a guy in a dress hilarious, I suppose. And this satire of a society that hasn't existed in over 100 years might be nostalgic for Brits, as well. But what is our excuse, other than a sort of lazy Anglophilia? Sitting through pointless revivals of dated trifles infuriates me and makes me worry for the theater as a living art form, as opposed to some barely surviving museum that entombs culture at a particular point and then returns to that point repeatedly, like a dog eating its own vomit. [C] The rest of the season: March Good People (P) (3/3) That Championship Season (P/R) (3/6) Spider-Man (M) (3/15) ? Arcadia (P/R) (3/17) Priscilla, Queen of the desert (M) (3/20) Ghetto Klown (P) (3/22) Book Of Mormon (M) (3/24) How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (M/R) (3/27) Bengal Tiger (P) (3/31) April Anything Goes (M/R) (4/7) Catch Me If You Can (M) (4/10) Motherf##Ker With The Hat (P) (4/11) War Horse (P) (4/14) Wonderland (M) (4/17) High (P) (4/19) Sister Act (M) (4/20) Jerusalem (P) (4/21) Born Yesterday (P/R) (4/24) House Of Blue Leaves (P/R) (4/25) Fat Pig (P) (4/26) Baby, Its You (M) (4/27) The People In The Picture (M) (4/28)

themetfairy Feb 23 2011 03:37 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Let me know what you hear about Priscilla. I loved the movie.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 23 2011 03:51 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Fat Pig is a revival, isn't it? Of the LaBute play?

Vic Sage Feb 25 2011 08:57 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

I'm not sure if this Broadway production of FAT PIG is technically a revival, for Tony Award purposes. If a show has not had a prior Broadway run, it has to be part of the "popular repetoire" of theatrical production in the US for it to be eligible as a revival. PIG played off-Broadway for 2 months about 6 years ago... other than that, i don't know if it qualifies. The Tony Administration Committee will rule on that in April 29th.

Vic Sage Mar 11 2011 01:27 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Mar 17 2011 03:59 PM

GOOD PEOPLE – Manhattan Theater Club presents a funny, humane, deeply felt new play from Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Shrek). Frances McDormand gives a profoundly truthful and natural performance as a middle-aged Bostonian “Southie”, recently fired, trying to find a job to pay the rent to provide a home for herself and her retarded adult daughter. Daniel Sullivan directs this excellent production, the best kind of kitchen sink “dramedy” which depicts the precipice on which our precarious existence balances, and how luck and character intertwine to define our lives. Are we “good people”? It’s hard to say, and harder still to know. [A]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 16 2011 11:19 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Interesting interview here with That Championship Season's Jason Patric, grandson to Jackie Gleason and son to actor/playwright Jason Miller... author of That Championship Season. He gets a little spicy about the workings of Hollywood... and some of his ex-colleagues: This is your first Broadway show since you did Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Ashley Judd and Ned Beatty. I said I wasn’t coming back to Broadway unless I had more input and creative control. Look, you get to do Tennessee Williams on Broadway every twenty years of your life. And I loved playing the role and I loved the majority of my cast, but I had issues with the producers, I had issues with the director. I loved saying the words and working with most of the people every night. I didn’t like my leading lady. Ashley is just a lazy and arrogant actress. Let’s just leave it at that.

Edgy DC Mar 16 2011 11:27 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Ashley said 'no.' Let's just leave it at that.

Willets Point Mar 16 2011 11:32 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Edgy DC wrote: Ashley said 'no.' Let's just leave it at that. "She kissed Wil Wheaton but not me!"

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 16 2011 11:38 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Edgy DC wrote: Ashley said 'no.' Let's just leave it at that. To committing fully to the craft?

Vic Sage Mar 17 2011 03:40 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Speaking of... THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON - A solid if unexciting production of an equally unexciting play. Jason Patric is a cynical drunk, Kiefer Sutherland his ineffectual, overburdened smaller-than-life brother, Chris Noth the corrupt, rich, sleazy businessman pal of their youth, Jim Gaffigan the boobish smalltown mayor who is the 4th member of their old HS basketball team, and Brian Cox as the mercurial, racist coach who once forged them together into state champions 20 years earlier, and who continues to try and keep them bonded together at their annual reunion... but at what cost? The play is kind of corny and obvious, with a 2nd Act that repeats on itself constantly and a final reveal that is utterly "so what". The performances are superficial, the physical production unremarkable, the direction pedestrian. I've spent worse nights in the theater, but that's hardly an endorsement. [C-]

Vic Sage Mar 17 2011 04:03 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

FAT PIG is postponed. They lost an investor. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/14 ... -12-Season

Vic Sage Mar 23 2011 11:21 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - If you like campy drag shows, this is one. If you think musical theater = bad pop songs + dated screenplay + bad 1-liners + big costumes, then this is musical theater. If you think i made it past intermission, you'd be mistaken. [D] (A for the costume design, F for everything else).

themetfairy Mar 23 2011 11:34 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage wrote: PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - If you like campy drag shows, this is one. If you think musical theater = bad pop songs + dated screenplay + bad 1-liners + big costumes, then this is musical theater. If you think i made it past intermission, you'd be mistaken. [D] (A for the costume design, F for everything else). That's too bad - I remember loving the movie. Thanks Vic for saving us some $$$

Vic Sage Mar 23 2011 01:22 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

of course, your mileage may vary. Did you like XANADU? Its like that, but more so.

themetfairy Mar 23 2011 01:34 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

I never bothered with Xanadu. I didn't have a good feeling about that one.

Vic Sage Mar 29 2011 01:49 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

THE BOOK OF MORMON – Funny, profane and humane, this new musical by Parker & Stone, the South Park guys, with an assist from the AVENUE Q composer Bobbie Lopez, skewers and celebrates religious faith, as 2 naďve Mormon missionaries take on the horrific realities of sub-Saharan Africa. It is a surprisingly traditional book musical, even though it features songs like FUCK YOU, GOD, and has a big heart, too. It’s not flawless (the antagonist is arbitrarily drawn, has no songs, and his “defeat” is not at all satisfactory), but there is so much good, it’s easy to look past its imperfections. Casey Nicholaw co-directs and choreographs a first rate cast. [A]

Vic Sage Mar 31 2011 03:35 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 06 2011 12:36 PM

ARCADIA – The first time I saw this play by Tom Stoppard, I was completely knocked out by its inventiveness, audacity, and intellectual ambition. When your subject is nothing less than an attempt to understand the very nature of reality, you’re hunting big game. 20 years later, while the language still sparkles, and the ideas still illuminate, the characters are forced to carry a heavier burden because of our familiarity with the goings on, but they are not up to the task. Whether that’s a fault of the play or the production, I’m not entirely sure. What I am sure of is that I preferred Billy Crudup in his original role as the 19th century tutor than in his current role as the 20th century academician (originally played by the elegant Victor Garber). The Tutor requires a likeable actor, because the character engages in unlikeable behavior but we must care about his relationship with the girl, his young student, and where the story leaves the two of them in the end. If we don’t care, the play doesn’t work… or at least, not as well as it would otherwise. But the current cast doesn’t elicit the necessary emotional response, so the play has no resonance … it’s just about ideas, not people. The production is especially handicapped by the unfortunate performance of the young girl, who lacks the ethereal quality of the original actress, and plays it more like a pouting debutante. On second thought, it’s the production, not the play. But the ideas still sparkle, and its worth seeing [B+]

Vic Sage Apr 06 2011 12:11 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO - Robin Williams stars as a dead tiger in this new play by Rajiv Joseph. Actually, it’s a theatrical conceit in search of a play, in which various ghosts haunt the living, and each other, in war-torn Iraq circa 2003. It eventually becomes a philosophical circle-jerk contemplating the nature of life, guilt and god. Apparently, the author intends for us to care about an Iraqi gardener, an "artist" who formerly designed topiary for the monstrous son of Saddam, and is now collaborating with the US military as a translator. But despite his many tragedies, the artist's descent into violence and madness didn’t elicit much sympathy... at least not from me. The Tiger's metaphysical rants are amusing commentary on the goings on, but not really integrated into the story (such as it is). But Williams is excellent, and Moises Kaufman's direction evokes mystery. There is certainly some real power here, and more than a little ambition, with a penultimate scene (featuring a dying soldier, a leper, a ghost and a golden toilet seat) that is worth the price of admission. But overall it feels like watching a young playwright's reach exceed his grasp. [B-]

Vic Sage Apr 15 2011 09:46 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 25 2011 01:33 PM

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING - I've loved this show since I saw the movie version as a kid and fell in love with Michelle Lee (don't ask...). It's got one of the classic Broadway scores, with Frank Loesser's clever lyrics and musical pastiche of various styles (from 20s-style crooners, to rousing gospel numbers, to pop ballads) plus great dance moments (originally choreographed by Bob Fosse), and Abe Burrow's subversive Pulitzer-winning story that makes us not only root for but love a totally amoral ambitious young man (originally played by Robert Morse) as he climbs his way to the top of the corporate ladder. The show fell out of favor for a while, because its sexist (and totally accurate) reflection of sexual politics in the workplace rendered it politically incorrect. There was a Matthew Broderick Broadway revival in 1995, but Broderick's typical flat performance rendered the character as affectlessly inhuman. It was an entertaining enough production, but it ultimately de-neutered the story by presenting it as a candy-colored cartoon. But I suppose MAD MEN and corporate theft on a scale unseen since the robber barons roamed the northeastern railways have made the show relevant, realistic, and performable again. So now we have Harry Potter as J. Pierpont Finch, and Radcliffe's alchemical ability is evidenced by turning in a winning performance despite the fact he isn't much of an actor, is a barely passable dancer, and can't really sing. But his grinning asides to the audience, soullessly knowing when done by Broderick, come across as charmingly endearing. Ultimately, you do root for him and that's what counts in this story. He is ably abetted by Finch's love interest, Rosemary (Rose Hemingway), cute as a button even as she weaves her female trap. Another standout is John Larroquette in the Rudy Vallee role of JB Biggley, president of the company. I never thought much of the part, but Larroquette finds all the humor in it and squeezes out every joke. In fact, the height difference between Radcliffe and Larroquette is a sight gag all by itself, ably employed by the director / choreographer, Rob Ashford (who did the recent revival of the similarly stylish, early-60s PROMISES, PROMISES). Overall, Ashford has staged the work with unprecedented inventiveness, finding little narratives within particular songs and dances and scenes that have never been hinted at before. There are some missteps. The nerdy, whiny nephew nemesis Bud Frump (originally played by Charles Nelson Reilly) is not really up to being a charismatic villain, and the sexpot Hedy LaRue is neither comic enough nor sexy enough to make the necessary impact in the role. And I’m not sure I love the set, looking like a grid of oversized pet carriers that move around to create playing spaces. But all in all, while not flawless, it's a thoroughly engaging and clever production of a show as relevant now as it was 50 years ago. [A-]

Edgy DC Apr 15 2011 10:02 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

This is the show that brought Broderick together with SJP, right?

Vic Sage Apr 15 2011 10:06 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

SJP did go into the show as Rosemary, later in the run, replacing Megan Mullally. I don't know if that was where they met.

Edgy DC Apr 15 2011 10:12 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Well, you know me. If a show has any assoiation whatsoever with Charles Neilson Reilly, all you need to do is tell me who to make the check out to.

Vic Sage Apr 15 2011 10:17 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

And yet you have actively rejected the charms of Sid & Marty Krofft's LIDSVILLE... oh, well. Quel fromage!

Vic Sage Apr 25 2011 02:09 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

ANYTHING GOES - The Cole Porter/PG Wodehouse 1930s musical has been revived again. Why? I don’t know. Sure, it has some great Porter songs (at least in Act I) but, as was the style in the show's heyday, the songs have nothing to do with the action or the characters and could've been plopped down anywhere in the show... or in any other show, for that matter. Kathleen Marshall's direction and choreography provides nothing new or original or exciting... or even the least bit interesting, much less the revisionism a revival of this chestnut demands. She gives us 2 big dance numbers, but they feature all the stereotypical moves you've seen a gajillion times before. The production claims a “revised book”, which may account for the gag about bird poop and the scene where a character shoves a shaved dog down his pants. But the dated romance seems otherwise intact, with multiple couples running in and out of state rooms aboard a luxury liner's Atlantic crossing, features the standard number of disguises, mistaken identities, star-crossed lovers, etc., etc., etc., which must have all been sophisticatedly naughty once-upon-a-time but can only be played as the broadest of farces now. The production’s only saving graces are provided by Sutton Foster, a delightful triple threat as Reno Sweeney, and Joel Gray, playing gangster Moonface Martin as if he were a daft, slightly intoxicated Jewish uncle in a strange but endearing performance. But as for the rest? Feh. [C-] CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - This musicalization of the Spielberg film works more often than it doesn't, and more often than it should, despite bookwriter Terrence McNally's less-than-nimble adaptation and an unremarkable score by Mark Shaiman & Scott Wittman. It's a genial show overall, carried by the performances of young Aaron Tveit as the young con artist, Tom Wopat as his dad, and the incomparable Norbert Leo Butz as the earnest Fed in dogged pursuit. Jack O'Brien's direction captures the early 60s period with panache, echoed by Shaiman's jazzy rat-pack musicality and Jerry Mitchell's energetic choreography. But McNally's attempt to frame the whole story as a flashback, told as if a TV special of the era, is a particularly forced and arch device. And giving the love interest, Kerry Butler, a big 11 oclock number, when *** SPOILER WARNING *** the lovers do not end up together *** END OF SPOILER *** is not only misleading, it sets up a disappointingly unfulfilled expectation. Still, it’s not a fatal flaw because the real "love story" here is between the young liar and the old cop on his trail. It's an imperfect show in a sometimes clumsy production, but it’s enjoyable all the same. [B ]

Vic Sage Apr 27 2011 09:34 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

GHETTO KLOWN - The new 1-man show by John Leguizamo is another in his series of funny and heartfelt autobiographical monologues. If you liked FREAK or SEXAHOLIX, you'll probably like this one too. I did and I do. But it is a bit overlong... is it really necessary to have a 2-act 2.5 hour play about Johnny's journey from Queens ghetto doofus to Hollywood sellout to Manhattan artiste? Especially, since he's already covered so much of his personal life in his other plays? Surely a tight 90-minute 1-act piece would've been preferable. Beyond length, its focus is primarily on his "art", which is the kind of off-putting, self-aggrandizing naval gazing by a writer/performer I don't usually like to be subjected to. But it's engaging nonetheless, and it uses some clever projections and video bits to enhance and bridge scenes. It even has "Mets content"... he comes out wearing a Mets hat (the classic blue model) and there is a line where he says, when talking about pursuing a girl who is showing no interest in him: "hey, I'm a Mets fan... I'm used to giving unconditional love and getting absolutely nothing in return." Or words to that effect. So I'll give it an extra +. [B+]

Vic Sage Apr 29 2011 03:19 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT – The Labyrinth Company's co-artistic director Stephen Adley Guirgis's new play is funny, profane, insightful and almost great. Bobby Cannivale gives a titanic performance as an on-the-wagon ex-con trying to get his life together, even as circumstances (i.e., the other people in his life and his own nature) conspire against him. Chris Rock gives an engaging if superficial performance as his double-crossing AA sponsor. The female roles are badly underwritten and performed without subtlety, giving the play a vertiginous imbalance, but it's Cannivale's story anyway. It's excitingly directed and designed, and crackles with theatricality and energy, like an early Mamet play. [B+]

Vic Sage May 04 2011 02:30 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

BABY, IT'S YOU - This amateurish jukebox musical attempts to tell the utterly banal story of The Shirelles and the Jewish housewife who created them. No, it's not you. It's really not. It's not me, either. It's not anybody who isn't a 65-year old suburban housewife who likes to hum along with the "groovin with the oldies" radio station and whose idea of interesting theater is whatever she's seen at a theme park recently.[F]

Vic Sage May 06 2011 12:34 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 2 time(s), most recently on May 12 2011 10:44 AM

WAR HORSE - Lincoln Center presents this startlingly original epic, about a British farmboy, his horse, and the horrors of WWI. While sometimes the "children's book" roots of the story show around the edges, the Brits are masters of this kind of theatrical magic. The puppetry of the horses (and other animals) is amazing, the storytelling engrossing, and the effect heartbreaking. [A-]

Vic Sage May 12 2011 10:16 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

JERUSALEM - Jez Butterworth's UK import features not only the 2nd great Mark Rylance performance of the season (see notes on LA BETE), it is a foul-mouthed, profound, funny, epic play (in length and aspiration) about a larger-than-life man living on the fringes of a modern British suburban world that no longer countenances his ongoing existence. But more, it is a scream from the druidic spirits of the English heart, summoning back its mythic giants to reclaim its ancient and glorious soul. Wow. Best play of the year. [A]

Vic Sage May 16 2011 02:07 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

WONDERLAND - Composer Frank Wildhorn's 5th show to reach Broadway did not break his unbroken string of flops, shuttering shortly after it received no Tony nominations. Like the rest of his oeuvre, WONDERLAND features a public domain tale badly retold and pummeled into submission by power ballads. Here, he and his collaborators have taken Lewis Carroll's classic works (brilliant exemplars of the school of nonsense literature, disguised as children's stories, that satirized the human desire to find meaning where none exists) and "updated" them by transforming Alice into a middle-aged housewife on a bump-on-the-head induced inner quest for meaning and identity. It adds WIZARD OF OZ story elements, apparently to give it an emotionality the material doesn't really have, and in general replace Carroll's nonsensical wit with drippily sentimental MEANING. It has some good performances, some interesting stage effects, and overall is blandly unobjectionable, if not actually entertaining, but overall deserved its quick hook for the sheer stupidity of its conception. [D+]

themetfairy May 16 2011 02:24 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Don't hold back Vic - tell us what you really think! (j/k - I love your reviews)

Vic Sage May 16 2011 03:22 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

don't i always?

themetfairy May 16 2011 03:24 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage wrote: don't i always? Yes - that you do :)

Vic Sage May 18 2011 03:23 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE - How do you do a "Holocaust musical" in the shadow of Kander & Ebb's CABARET? By stepping into every pitfall that classic musical avoided, apparently. Novelist Iris Rainer Dart ("Beaches") wallows in Jewish sentimentality and cliches bordering on stereotype, with lyrics that stretch creakily toward near rhymes and a book that features painfully obvious on-the-nose dialogue. And the once-great composer Mike Stoller is lost without his partner, Jerry Lieber, as he trots out trite and tired tunes. Sure, Donna Murphy is terrific in Act I, but i can only guess how she was in Act II, cuz i was long gone by then. This is amateur night at a Florida senior center. [F]

Vic Sage May 18 2011 03:46 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES - I've tried to watch the original production of John Guare's classic play on TV, taped for PBS, at least twice, and have never gotten through it. Its bizarrely surreal black comedy never struck me quite right, though i might have felt differently if i had seen it live. But in this new production, director David Cromer focuses on the pain and realism of this broken family, letting the comical surrealism take care of itself. And it works, thanks largely to the shattering performance of Edie Falco as Bananas, the schizo shut-in wife to Ben Stiller's angry, bitter failed songwriter, Artie. Stiller is always good playing an unsympathetic a**hole, but he's able to add a few notes of necessary pathos. Jennifer Jason Leigh holds her own as the supportive mistress next door, encouraging Artie's delusional notions about his talent, so she can ride him into the sunset. She reminds me of a Queens working-class version of Sue Ann Nivens crossed with Lady McBeth. Alison Pill and Mary Beth Hurt are sort of wasted in small 2nd act parts, but add the necessary layers of strangeness that rescue the play from kitchen-sink melodrama. Guare's poetical flights, sometimes addressed directly to the audience, also heighten the surreality, but somehow do not undermine the realism of this particular production. It's a tightrope walk, but the play keeps its balance. And Guare's tragicomic portrait of a society in thrall to celebrity, prescient in its day, is more true now than ever. [B+]

Vic Sage May 18 2011 04:04 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

i'm in the home stretch ... all i have left is SISTER ACT, BORN YESTERDAY and THE NORMAL HEART.

Edgy DC May 18 2011 05:36 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage wrote: HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES - I've tried to watch the original production of John Guare's classic play on TV, taped for PBS, at least twice, and have never gotten through it. Its bizarrely surreal black comedy never struck me quite right, though i might have felt differently if i had seen it live. But in this new production, director David Cromer focuses on the pain and realism of this broken family, letting the comical surrealism take care of itself. And it works, thanks largely to the shattering performance of Edie Falco as Bananas, the schizo shut-in wife to Ben Stiller's angry, bitter failed songwriter, Artie. Stiller is always good playing an unsympathetic a**hole, but he's able to add a few notes of necessary pathos. Jennifer Jason Leigh holds her own as the supportive mistress next door, encouraging Artie's delusional notions about his talent, so she can ride him into the sunset. She reminds me of a Queens working-class version of Sue Ann Nivens crossed with Lady McBeth. Alison Pill and Mary Beth Hurt are sort of wasted in small 2nd act parts, but add the necessary layers of strangeness that rescue the play from kitchen-sink melodrama. Guare's poetical flights, sometimes addressed directly to the audience, also heighten the surreality, but somehow do not undermine the realism of this particular production. It's a tightrope walk, but the play keeps its balance. And Guare's tragicomic portrait of a society in thrall to celebrity, prescient in its day, is more true now than ever. [B+] House of Blue Leaves was Edgy DC's acting debut. That sounds a like a not-cheap cast.

Vic Sage May 23 2011 09:27 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

House of Blue Leaves was Edgy DC's acting debut. In what role? Artie, the son, or the movie director? Or did you play one of the nuns? That would've been an interesting interpretation.

Vic Sage May 25 2011 09:30 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

SISTER ACT - This Broadway adaptation of the Whoopi Goldberg movie captures the film's heavy-handed sentimentality and ludicrous plotting, and mixes it with original score by Alan "Disney golden boy" Menken intended to evoke late `70s disco-era musical stylings. The Nun chorus songs are all funny and thrilling high points of the production; everything else pales. Doug Carter Beane's rewrite of the book tries to inject some wit, but the cops & robbers subplot is fairly inept, with a forced farcical ending that is practically painful. The lead, Patina Miller, needs to be a unique talent to carry this production, but she is merely good. The directions and physical production all augment the trite material, and the music (though familiar) has some high points. All in all, its an entertaining evening, but not one that will stand out in your memory, nor will you be missing Broadway history if you miss it. [C+]

Edgy DC May 25 2011 09:43 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Vic Sage wrote: House of Blue Leaves was Edgy DC's acting debut. In what role? Artie, the son, or the movie director? Or did you play one of the nuns? That would've been an interesting interpretation. The film director (Billy). I was a great auditioner, but I couldn't stay sharp enough to bring what I had to the stage. The character first appears in the play a-crying. It took all the emotional energy I had to spend act one backstage getting to the weeping point and staying there until my entrance. After that, I was just keeping up. I probably would have been a better nun. The 80s version with John Mahoney featured Ben Stiller as the kid.

Vic Sage Jun 01 2011 02:36 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 02 2011 11:18 AM

BORN YESTERDAY - Garson Kanin's post-war comedy was a classic vehicle for Judy Holliday, and it provides a similar star-making turn for the eccentrically beautiful Nina Arianda, playing the not-so-dumb blonde opposite Jim Belushi's blustering bullying self-made millionaire. Unfortunately, the romantic triangle, with Robert Sean Leonard as the bespectacled intellectual hired by Belushi to smarten up his dumb girlfriend, fades into the background as the play becomes a heavy-handed civics lesson. Still, its heart is in the right place, and it makes many still relevant points, even if in a stylistically dated manner, and the performances and staging are all first rate. [B-]

sharpie Jun 01 2011 10:14 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Just saw JERUSALEM. I second Vic's rave. Amazing performance by Mark Rylant.

Vic Sage Jun 05 2011 01:46 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

and finally, my last show of the season: THE NORMAL HEART - Larry Kramer's groundbreaking piece of AIDS-era agitprop still packs a punch, but more as a social document than as a drama. It's theatrical elements are strictly playing second-fiddle to its journalistic aspirations. Still, great perf by Joe Mantello in the lead, with a strong supporting cast of Ellen Barkin, TV's Jim Parsons, and Broadway vet Patrick Breen. It made an important statement in its day, but more dramatic works, like Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA, have made it seem creaky and dated. [B-]

Frayed Knot Jun 05 2011 03:57 PM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 06 2011 12:18 PM

My brother once had a part in an off-off-Broadway production of that one. Larry Kramer was in the audience the same night I was. Not sure what his reaction was.

Vic Sage Jun 06 2011 11:23 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

my pix for best of season: best new play - JERUSALEM best new musical - THE BOOK OF MORMON best play revival - LA BETE best musical revival - HOW TO SUCCEED... I never end up voting for the ultimate Tony winners, but i think MORMON is a lock over SISTER ACT, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and SCOTTSBORO BOYS. People either love or hate JERUSALEM, so i think GOOD PEOPLE (or even MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT) are more likely winners in the Play category (i'll not refer to WAR HORSE as a dark horse candidate, though it is). I like all the Play nominees, so i'll be happy with the outcome regardless. However, for some reason, ANYTHING GOES is a more popular choice than HOW TO SUCCEED, and LA BETE wasn't even nominated. Knowing the politics of the voters, NORMAL HEART is the most likely winner for best revival. Of the nominees, i would vote for ARCADIA, i suppose, but mostly by default, over the loathsome MERCHANT OF VENICE, irritating IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST, or relentless and undramatic NORMAL HEART.

metirish Jun 24 2011 06:00 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Just looked at tix for Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark , $306(cheapest) for the three of us...I guess that's normal for a big show? actually , looking at tix for July 2nd , can get them for $68 per but they are all the way in the back right balcony.....Vic, are you familiar with Foxwoods ?, would we have good views of the action?

Vic Sage Jun 24 2011 09:37 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

FOXWOODS is cavernous; just about the biggest house on Bway. I don't know about the sightlines in the rear right balcony, but i do know that the show's virtues (such as they are) are unlikely to be fully appreciated at that distance. I know $35 more a ticket is alot, but so is the first $68, so if it were me, I'd either get best seats i could or not bother.

metirish Jun 24 2011 09:52 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Thanks Vic, that's about what I was thinking, looking at the chart of the interior it did look HUGE....and I'd hate to go only for my son to not see the action form all the way in the back....

Frayed Knot Jun 24 2011 10:55 AM Re: Broadway 2010-2011 season

Plus the peanut and beer vendors almost never get up to those balcony sections.