Redwood (Nederlander Theatre)

By Harry Forbes

Idina Menzel fans certainly get their money’s worth in this tailor made musical conceived by the lady herself in tandem with director Tina Landau. The star vehicle, which started out at the La Jolla Playhouse last year, tells the tale of Jesse, an unhappy art gallery owner who, grieving the death of her adult son (Zachary Noah Piser),  leaves her photographer wife Mel (De’Adre Aziza), and drives out to California where she ultimately finds redemption and peace of mind among the majestic Redwood trees. 

When she gets there, botanists Finn (Michael Park) and Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon) come upon Jesse sleeping al fresco in the woods and, though they insist she leave by morning, Jesse stubbornly keeps returning, inexorably drawn to the place. In short order, she begs them for a chance to join them as they make their daily climb. And, of course, eventually she’ll do just that, thanks to the empathetic and paternal Finn who overrules his more pragmatic colleague Becca’s objections. 

After she proves herself, Jesse is even allowed to sleep overnight on the tree’s towering platform. Jesse’s nighttime panic attack and an encroaching forest fire while she’s aloft provide a couple of the show’s few truly compelling moments. 

Thanks to the spectacular scenic and video designs by Jason Ardizzone-West and Hana S. Kim, respectively, there is a wonderful sense of exhilaration during the climbing episodes, but generally, on the human level, the book by Landau is distinctly on the mild side. Even though the other characters have their respective issues too, dramatic interest is thin. And it doesn't help that Jesse, as written, is fairly irritating throughout, and it’s not tempered by much in the way of charm. 

The power ballad-heavy score by Kate Diaz (lyrics by Diaz and Landau) is not particularly memorable on first hearing either and registers as loud and not a little repetitious. But it clearly plays to the strengths of Menzel’s trademark vocal talents. Her big numbers sound like close cousins of her“Wicked” and “Frozen” hits, “Defying Gravity” and “Let It Go.” Some of these are pitched so high that I had trouble deciphering the lyrics. But it must be said her uniquely belting pipes sound as powerful as ever.

Easier on the ear, all in all, were the numbers for Mel, Finn, and Becca. Finn has a rousing number called “Big Time Religion.” Mel’s “Looking Through This Lens” is particularly lovely. And it’s followed by Becca’s big solo moment “Becca’s Song.” (“The Stars” gives Menzel one of her less bombastic numbers.)

Still, Menzel -- a savvy actress as much as a powerhouse singer -- does a commendable job throughout, at one point executing some impressive aerial flying, even singing upside down as she’s strapped to a harness during her song “In the Leaves.” (Vertical movement and choreography are the work of Melecio Estrella, BANDALOOP.)

Piser, who has appeared in other roles throughout the show, returns as Jesse’s son Spencer, and he, too, has an affecting musical moment. 

The show is 110 minutes, sans intermission, but even so, I'm afraid feels protracted.  

(Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st Street; RedwoodMusical.com)

Photo by Matthew Murphy: Idina Menzel

Garside’s Career (Mint Theater Company)

By Harry Forbes

British playwright Harold Brighouse (1882-1958) is best remembered for his 1915 “Hobson’s Choice,” frequently revived and famously filmed by David Lean in 1954 as a vehicle for Charles Laughton. But kudos to the Mint for resurrecting this rarity of his from the same era, and according it a belated New York premiere. (Though produced in Boston in 1919, a proposed New York staging never materialized.) 

The play turns out to be a highly absorbing story of a Northern England engineer (mechanic) the titular Peter Garside (Daniel Marconi), who after obtaining a prestigious degree unique for working class background, is persuaded to run as a Labor candidate for a seat in Parliament.

His doting mother (Amelia White) has absolute faith in his chance of success. But his pragmatic schoolteacher fiance Margaret (Madeline Seidman) is skeptical of Peter’s temperamental suitability, given his facile gift of gab (“The itch to speak is like the itch to drink,” she warns), so much so that their engagement is broken. As it happens, Peter wins the seat, but his subsequent overblown sense of self importance and braggadocio about his demagogue-like ability to control the masses with his smooth rhetoric will surely lead to a downfall. And indeed it does.

Contrasted with the working class folks of his hometown of Midlanton, which also includes Peter’s cronies and local party organizers Karl Marx Jones (Michael Schantz), Ned Applegarth (Paul Niebanck), and Dennis O’Callaghan (Erik Gratton), all finely characterized, are the upper crust characters we meet in the second act.

There's the imperious Lady Mottram (Melissa Maxwell), the mayor’s wife and head of the school board where Margaret teaches, who disdains Garside’s socialist views, and her frivolous son Freddie (Avery Whitted) and independent-minded daughter Gladys (Sara Haider) who falls under Peter’s charismatic spell, and who Peter claims is his inspiration after spotting her adoring look during one of his speeches.

Performances are uniformly strong anchored by Marconi who believably captures the charm and hubris of the increasingly cocky Garside, Seidman’s sensible and wise Margaret, and White’s plain speaking mother. 

 

Under Matt Dickson’s assured direction, “Garside’s Career” proves a solid, exceedingly well constructed play with crackling dialogue, both muscular and witty, all of which makes its neglect all the more puzzling. Throughout, Brighouse has skillfully devised many dramatic scenes which unfailingly hold our interest.. 

Christopher Swader and Justin Swader’s sets neatly encompass the Garside’s humble Midlantan cottage, the Mottram drawing room, and later, Peter’s posh London digs. Yiyuan Li’s lighting likewise captures the respective ambience of each locale. Kindall Almond’s costumes are period perfect. And Carson Joenk’s expert sound design includes convincing effects to suggest an unruly mob. 

(Mint Theater Company, 401 West 42nd Street; through March 15)

Photo by Maria Baranova: (l.-r.) Michael Schantz, Erik Gratton,  Paul Niebanck, Daniel Marconi, Madeline Seidman and Amelia White

Dear Jack, Dear Louise (Penguin Rep Theatre and Shadowland Stages)

By Harry Forbes

Playwright Ken Ludwig’s touching two-hander concerns the extraordinary World War II-era courtship of his parents before they had ever actually met: Jacob (Jack) Ludwig, a medical doctor stationed at an Oregon army hospital; and Louise Rabiner, the aspiring Broadway performer. The fathers of both were friends and had suggested they write to each other.

The play premiered in 2019 at Washington DC’s Arena Stage, and now stars Alexandra Fortin and Michael Liebhauser. They are utterly engaging as Jack and Louise begin their awkward, then increasingly comfortable, correspondence. Jack especially is, at first, shyly stiff and formal in their exchanges, but the effervescent Louise loosens him up soon enough.

Ludwig deftly balances the poignancy and humor of the situation, and skillfully avoids any sense of the static sometimes characteristic of an epistolary format. “Conversation” flows briskly between the two, each on opposite ends of the stage. Director Stephen Nachamie must be commended for the smooth pacing, as well as for guiding his appealing leads to give pitch perfect performances. The rom-com flavor of the first act gives way to high drama and heightened suspense in the second, which sees Jack stationed overseas.

It will no doubt amaze younger audience members to learn of a pre-computerized time when, in a situation such as Jack and Louise found themselves, they could only communicate through letters, not even seeing photos of the other until their correspondence was well underway. Though Jack and Louise would not actually meet until V-E Day, Louise did have a memorable visit Jack’s parents in Pennsylvania, and her recounting of the trip -- including the hordes of relatives who greeted her at the train station, and the events which followed -- is a comic highlight. 

Given Louise’s theatrical leanings, showbiz buffs will get a kick out of cultural references to period offerings like “Blithe Spirit,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Hellzapoppin',” and “Oklahoma,” though (one small nitpick) some of the chronology in that regard is somewhat inaccurate. In any case, when Louise volunteers at the Stage Door Canteen, there are fun references to Betty Grable, Hedy Lamarr, and other silver screen luminaries. 

Christian Fleming’s simple setting -- mainly Jack’s army quarters, and Louise’s New York apartment -- cannily differentiated by lighting designer Keith A. Truax -- and swing-era costumes convey the times beautifully. So, too, does Jeff Knapp’s sound design encompassing, as it does, a mood-setting 40s playlist and vivid sounds of battle.

Ludwig is a hugely prolific and unfailingly entertaining playwright as everyone knows, but on this occasion, given the deeply personal subject matter, he writes with particular warmth and genuinely touching sentiment.

(59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street; boxoffice@59e59.org or 646-892-7999; through February 16)

Photo by Dorice Arden: (l..-r.) Michael Liebhauser & Alexandra Fortin