STAR BRIGHT

I took a brief leave of absence from my beautiful Island in South Florida to attend a 100th birthday party hosted by my long-time, very good pal, Joe Fuery, for his wife… Academy Award winning actress and director, Lee Grant.

I have known Joey and Lee since my early days in the Malibu(“movie”) Colony back in the late 1960s; we have been fast friends ever since.

Understand… Lee may be 100 but you would never guess it. She was on her feet throughout the entire party, greeting her guests (of which there were close to one for every one of her years), smiling, animated and enjoying the accolades and the company. There must be something to those weekly Yoga classes she continues to enthusiastically attend.

I want to honor Lee as some of her semi-contemporary fellow celebs who were in attendance did …. such as Michael Douglas, Blythe Danner, Joy Behar, Tony Shalhoub, Marlo Thomas, Sharon Gless, Forbes 50 over 50 recipient Dawn Lafreeda, Dinah Manoff, Ron Rifkin, and Brenda Vacarro to name those I know.

Not exactly the Taylor Swift crowd, but it was an extremely warm and loving one. Personally, I am looking forward to the 101st in 2026 but while waiting, I took in a few shows on Broadway.

Anyone who saw Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway as part of the original cast of Wicked would know that before them on that stage was an authentic Broadway star. A less successful Broadway revival of On the 20th Century would confirm Chenoweth’s stardom, in the unlikely event there were any doubters out there in the audience.

Ms. Chenoweth is now back on Broadway in the title role of The Queen of Versailles. She is taking no prisoners. It does notmatter, until you think on it later… like, maybe the next day… that the musical play itself is not worthy of her. What could be? The star simply sweeps you away in number after number with her voice, her comedic turns, and her own physicality. She can do it all and she does.

I saw the show in previews and will hold… sort of… to my policy of not reviewing shows that have yet to have their official premiere. 

By the time this review is read by you, opening night of The Queen of Versailles may well be part of Broadway history… and I suspect it will be that part of the historical record indicating an early closing… a show somehow misguided, unworthy of the effort it took for a lot of talented people to bring it all together.

Not because The Queen of Versailles is lame… it is not. But because it simply is a bad idea for a musical. An opera, maybe. But that is a vastly different genre with a lot of different requirements. This tale of American greed, excessive opulence,and Trumpian-like poor taste, is not… in my view… something American audiences want to see… either on the stage or in the mirror. 

And, yes, if the title sounds familiar, it is based on the documentary of the same name. It is a true story and I am sorry to say, all too much like the America in which we now live. You may stream this documentary on Amazon Prime, Roku, and other such venues.

Maybe Happy Ending is something else again. It is everything The Queen of Versailles is not. Very human (despite the lead characters being robots), very loving, very tasteful, and extremely hopeful. A real feel-good evening in the theatre which, for assorted reasons, I put off seeing for far too long. You might remember, or know, that Maybe Happy Ending won sixTonys earlier this year, including Best Musical. It was one of the few Broadway hits that I ignored at the time, so this was catch up and I am so grateful that I did just that. 

It is a wonderful concept, beautifully realized in the writing, and perfectly directed. There are moments where I was one of many in the Belasco Theatre audience where gasping was the only response imaginable. Not at the acting of the two perfectly charming leads… but at the way the thing on stage at that moment was written by Will Aronson and Hue Park and brought to life by director Michael Arden and musical supervisor Deborah Abramson. 

Do you like irony? Mr. Arden also directed The Queen of Versailles. Well, both explore the human condition and my “issue” with his latest choice is just that… his choice. Mr. Arden, again, did a very fine job… and Ms. Chenoweth might be happy to testify to that very fact. I just think it is not the kind of show that enough folks will pay Broadway prices to see. A note about that piece of box-office speculation: I take no pleasure in attempting to predict what people will or will not pay for as it has been demonstrably proven… more than once… that this is not one of the things I do best.

Then there is the revival of CHESS at New York’s Imperial Theatre. It is also in the final stages of previews, but I will go so far as to say I found it loud and long. Too loud by a lot, and way too long. And, yes, you former teenagers who are still young enough to remember such things… this is the Tim Rice rock musical with a new book and new music… I think… but can’t really testify to that in that there is absolutely nothing in those nearly three hours that one can hum. 

The good news? Aaron Tveit is one of the trio of leads. The Tony Award Winner for Best Actor in a Musical (Moulin Rouge!) first came to my attention via the unique limited TV series, Brain Dead… created by the same folks who brought us the terrific, The Good Wife and The Good Fight. If you like political satire, Brain Dead just might be for you… sadly it is pre-Trump but even back in the day there was plenty to make fun of in our nation’s capital. You can find the limited series on Apple TV.

Fans of the TV series, Glee, might well enjoy the female lead, Lea Michele’s turn in the “musical” (quotation marks are intentional). I liked her as Fanny Brice in the recent revival of Funny Girl, but not enough to put her in the same league with her predecessor in that role or with Kristin Chenoweth in anything.

A wrap up by way of the movies. Relay is a tight, little movie you can see in the theatre or on Apple TV or Amazon Prime. I will say no more except to counsel that you not read any reviews before you see it so as to avoid “spoilers.” Let the film surprise you.

F1:The Movie: is about Formula One racing. Something I knew nothing about before seeing this film and pretty much sums up my knowledge of this kind of activity even after spending over two and a half hours watching the thing. The surprise is that this really isn’t as bad as it may sound. Brad Pitt stars in the movie and he is an authentic/likeable movie star. Sometimes that is enough. This is one of those times.

Superman is a bloated, stupid waste of time that can be seen… if you are into self-flagellation… on HBO Max or maybe at a theatre near you. One nice note in the Superman flick is Rachel Brosnahan who plays Lois Lane. She is kinda marvelous and the movie’s only bright spot. You should remember her in the title role of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

As was once said by movie icon, Porky Pig… in any number of films better than this latest rendition of Superman…

“That’s all Folks!”

 

Barney Rosenzweig