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 Tim and I caught Next to Normal a couple of nights before Alice Ripley left the Broadway cast. Like a lot of people, we were a bit leery of what sounded like some pretty dark subject matter. So we kept putting it off. But we didn’t want to miss it, having heard such good things, and we certainly didn’t want to miss Ms. Ripley. We first saw her perform when she went on in the role of Mrs. Walker the night we saw The Who’s Tommy. We were absolutely blown away by her work, and couldn’t believe she was the understudy. Then came Sideshow, in which she and Emily Skinner were nothing less than magnificent; they were that show, and utterly, utterly believable as the lovesick conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. We also enjoyed them in James Joyce’s The Dead.
When we went to see Next to Normal, we were disappointed that Brian D’arcy James (another favorite since his astonishing work in The Wild Party) was out that whole week–something the show’s web site had not mentioned when we bought our tickets! But Ms. Ripley and the rest of the superb cast did not disappoint. It’s so refreshing to see a musical that embraces the form on its own terms, and succeeds so well. And the theatrical device that authors Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey employed (which I will not spoil here) was beautifully handled. Michael Grief’s direction was admirably restrained and unfussy, letting the story speak for itself. Was it a “feel-good” show? Well, it was funny, thought-provoking, upsetting at times, and moving. That’ll do nicely. Ms. Ripley happily has a few months off to rest before headlining the national tour; it’s great that audiences around the country will have a chance to see her performance, and this powerful show, somewhere close to home. Because that’s exactly where the show hits. The new Broadway cast, meanwhile, now stars the wonderful Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley (real-life husband and wife, for those few who don’t already know that!). She deserved a Tony for her showstopping turn in Kiss Me, Kate a few years back, and he broke my heart in The Full Monty. We may just have to go back to Normal. And if you haven’t gone yet, you should.
 Saturday night, Tim and I went to see my buddy Steve Hauck take on the title role in The Screwtape Letters at the Westside Arts Theatre, Off Broadway. Steve is standby for star/adaptor Max McLean, and happily knew in advance that both he and his fellow standby, Elise Girardin, would be going on for both shows Saturday. As expected Steve made a wonderful Screwtape, and Ms. Girardin also aquitted herself elegantly as the wordless but expressive Toadpipe. Tim and I were both familiar with the original C.S. Lewis work, so it was interesting seeing it adapted for the stage–always tricky for a work in epistolary format. It was a handsome production, and Steve was delightful. Well done! Steve played Estragon to my Vladimir in Vermont Stage Company’s production of Waiting for Godot, and we had a fantastic time. Here’s hoping we get to play together onstage again sometime soon. In the meantime, keep an eye out for Steve!
 We went to see Everyday Rapture recently, as we had loved Sherie Rene Scott in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She did not disappoint! What a lovely, gracious onstage presence. And then that fabulous voice! It was no surprise that she can turn on the wattage whenever she wants, but what was especially lovely about this self-created piece was a lot of the quiet moments, of which there seem to be very few in today’s “big” musicals. I imagine it must be very satisfying for Ms. Scott to be receiving such recognition for a piece she co-wrote, where she had the option of deciding just what aspects of her talent she wanted to share, as we performers so rarely have that level of control. Ms. Scott is surrounded by a talented supporting cast and band. The night we saw it, her backup singers were Lindsay Mendez and Natalie Weiss, both of whom rocked, and Eamon Foley scored big-time in an extended second act sequence about an internet teen outreach attempt gone hilariously (and all too believably) wrong. It was also great to see an artist not afraid to touch on some challenging topics in a mainstream entertainment. I can’t wait to see what she does next!
Tim and I went to catch The Temperamentals before its closing. The five member cast did a beautiful job of telling the remarkable story. I really knew nothing about Harry Hay, or his Mattachine Society, the first gay rights organization in America. It’s a remarkable tale, and a humbling one. And the fact that he was brave enough to advocate for gay rights in the 1950’s, in the era of McCarthyism, makes his story all the more remarkable. Who knows; perhaps fine organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the Empire State Pride Agenda, among many others, might not even exist yet if Hay and his four compatriots hadn’t taken the first step back then. I salute them, and playwright Jon Marans for telling their story.
 I’ve been enthalled by the work of Stephen Sondheim since my freshman year at Harvard, when a college friend played the LP of A Little Night Music for me in his dorm room many years ago. I had never heard anything like it, and I fell in love. I decided right there that I had to write theatre lyrics–which I still do.
The latest tribute to Sondheim’s genius is the lovely, intimate revue Sondheim on Sondheim, which is notable not only for the wonderful songs and wonderful cast (eight superb performers, including Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, and Tom Wopat), but also for the film clips of Sondheim himself explaining how he does what he does, with tongue firmly in cheek. It’s a don’t-miss evening for any fan of his work.
Seeing Mr. Sondheim talking humorously at length in his own home also brought up wonderful memories of the one time I met him. It was 1982, I was 22, and had just moved to NYC to start my career as a lyricist and performer. I had been told that Mr. Sondheim was very supportive of young writers, and had lots of advice. I mustered up the nerve to write to him to ask for his guidance, and displayed even more nerve by telling him that while I loved his songs in Merrily We Roll Along, I didn’t like the book! Ah, youth. I received a courteous but firm hand-typed note on small stationery, saying politely that he liked the book just fine, thank you, but that if I wanted to stop by some afternoon, he’d be glad to speak with me.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading! But I called his assistant and set up a time to visit him at his home. I arrived wearing a summer-weight seersucker 2-piece suit, bowtie, and my best lace-up shoes. He opened the door and looked at me, probably wondering to himself from what planet I had just arrived! He invited me in, and excused himself for a moment to stir some soup he was making. I looked around, still in shock. It was a beautiful room. He came back in, invited me to sit, and started firing career questions at me. I don’t even remember what they were. I just remember that every word out of his mouth was so articulate, so pointed, so penetrating, that it took my breath away. And he was just chatting. My answers must have been halting, because he looked at me for a moment, the seersucker deer in headlights, and said: “Would you like a drink?” I answered yes immediately, and sure enough, while I have never been much of a drinker, I started to calm down and breathe after a couple of sips. We had a fantastic conversation, and he recommended both the BMI and ASCAP musical theatre workshops (I went on to attend both). We talked a bit about the project my composer friend of the time and I had been working on (a musical based on The Seagull), and I told him there were so many other ideas out there that I’d encountered that I wasn’t sure where to start. I asked him if he’d ever seen a film called Passione D’Amore by Italian director Ettore Scola. He said he wasn’t familiar with it. I told him my childhood best friend and I had been mesmerized by it recently, and that it seemed perfectly operatic in scale. I had loved the fact that when the repellent heroine finally made love to the hero, she remained ugly. I remember telling him it seemed more suited to opera than musical because of the grand passion, but that it definitely felt like it needed to sing. I suspect the idea was filed away in that brilliant mind of his and forgotten until sometime later when perhaps someone else mentioned the film, or he came across it on his own later, or perhaps he was already working on his musical Passion and didn’t want to burst my bubble. But it’s nice to believe that in exchange for all the advice and encouragement he gave me, maybe I unwittingly gave him something useful, too.
When we were wrapping up, I remember telling him I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by New York City and the challenges that lay ahead. I told him I had always thought I was fearless, but now that I was really in the city on my own, I wasn’t so sure anymore. He looked at me and said: “How old are you?” I told him, 22. He said “And you moved from Boston to NYC alone to be in the theatre without knowing a soul here?” I nodded. He looked me in the eyes, smiled, and said “That sounds pretty brave to me.” I have never forgotten those words, and I will never forget his kindness. See his new show. You won’t be disappointed.
 I love John Lithgow. I’d love him even if I hadn’t worked with him on that fun video for New York Public Library. I also love Jennifer Ehle, and sure hope to work with her someday. I also love Douglas Carter Beane’s plays. So I had to see Mr. and Mrs. Fitch. I found myself struck by some sympathies between the play and another play I saw Off-Off Broadway a few months ago, Inventing Avi, by Robert Cary and Benjamin Feldman, starring our dear friend Alix Korey (who was brilliant as a wigged-out producer). In both cases, the main characters found fame by inventing a make-believe personality–only to have it take life and take over to disastrous effect. All three playwrights clearly had a lot of fun exploring this clever idea. Mr. Lithgow and Ms. Ehle were wonderful, of course, playing in a kind of contemporary Noel Coward vein. It seems they can both truly play anything, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
 Being a former resident of Brooklyn’s Park Slope added a special zest of enjoyment when my partner and I went to see God of Carnage with its third cast. We enjoyed the performances greatly, and recognized the characters as people we could have seen on the Slope’s 7th Avenue any day. It was especially fun seeing Janet McTeer sink her teeth into a viciously comic role, having loved her performances in A Doll’s House and Mary Stuart previously. It was a fun evening of theatrical bloodletting and the audience loved both Yazmina Reza’s witty barbs and the four strong actors’ energetic deliveries. An amusing and also thematically sobering play.
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