NY part 2

I'll get to the earlier part of my visit eventually! For now, today's events:

MATINEE: Paul Rudnick's new play Regrets Only at City Center. Maybe it's best to see new plays -- comedies in particular, I find -- with expectations lowered by mixed reviews. I expected to enjoy the glittering cast and a few choice one-liners; I walked out thinking this was the best Rudnick play I've seen or read, an opinion unquestionably facilitated by the aforementioned fabulous cast. Three wonderful women -- Christine Baranski, Sian Phillips and Mary Testa (replacing Jackie Hoffman for a few weeks for some reason) -- with solid support from David Rasche and Diane Davis; gorgeous set and costumes (the latter by William Ivey Long); skillful direction by Christopher Ashley (who else?). Best of all: George Grizzard, cast against type as an aging designer whose lover has recently died. He remains the only actor whose performances *always* make me think that yes, I'd pay to hear him read the phone book. (I'd previously seen him in Nicky Silver's disturbing Beautiful Child [2004] and two sensational Albee revivals: Seascape [2002, I think, at Hartford Stage, not the subsequent Broadway version] and of course his Tony-winning appearance in A Delicate Balance [1996].)

EVENING: Met revival of Bellini's I puritani di Scozia, the 1976 production (Sutherland/Pavarotti/Milnes/Morris) that's resurfaced in ways that might define "diminishing returns" -- Sutherland back in 1987 alongside the likes of Salvatore Fisichella, Edita Gruberova (in a 1991 apparent house farewell) paired with the unpleasant Chris Merritt, and a 1997 run starring an overstretched Ruth Ann Swenson with Stuart Neill (no thanks), Thomas Hampson (not his rep) and Alastair Miles (zzzz). (And whatever you do, DON'T check the Met archives for 18 April 1991. Your blood will FREEZE.)

So into this tired, ill-starred production comes the diva of the moment, Anna Netrebko, who'd better have something going on to get this show going. Her scheduled tenor (promising young Eric Cutler) has bronchitis, so Gregory "my voice may be leathery and bone-dry, and all the C-sharps are chancy at best, but I WILL take that F in the finale, goddammit" Kunde steps in as Arturo. Franco Vassallo (as Riccardo) can handle the little notes in "Ah, per sempre" and belts out interpolated high endings in "Bel sogno beato" and "Suoni la tromba"; still, who cares? And John Relyea (= Giorgio) is -- as always in my experience -- solid, accomplished, not distinctive.

Well, Miss N certainly looks great, and there's no question but that she possesses a major voice. It's the closest thing, sound-wise, to prime Freni: a rich, well-placed "juicy lyric" (thanks, Miss Price), effortlessly carrying to the top of the house (I sat in the Family Circle) at whatever dynamic level she chooses. That was exciting to hear live. And bless her heart, she'll run all over that stage given the chance (God knows whether Sharon Thomas even tried to control her); she sang the opening of "Vien diletto" lying supine, with her hair flowing into the pit! What she needs is more discipline and focus, both dramatically and vocally. All florid passages were smudged at best. She has no trill, nor any interesting ideas about ornamentation. Her best moments -- and they were very good -- were the climax of "Ah, vieni al tempio" (yes, she follows the orchestra up to C and D, very strongly) and all of "Qui la voce" (some nice phrasing and lovely soft singing). So, a mixed bag, but I'm glad I heard her, however much I pray for more refinement ...

NY week, Part 1

I'm back (he posted, to abundant disinterest). Let's see whether I can do a better job of getting this blog off the ground this time ...

I'm about halfway through my latest NY week, so I'll report on the theater-, movie- and opera-going in a few posts. Rather than begin at the beginning, I'll do today's items:

1:00 MATINEE --> Met Die Zauberfloete. This was the prima of the Met's abridged, "family friendly" version. This means English translation (and not a bad one, yay! -- but *with* titles, ick ick ick). This also means lots of cuts, some of entire numbers (the Overture, the Pamina-Papageno duet, the chorus "O Isis und Osiris," the Pamina-Tamino-Sarastro trio and -- saddest of all -- Pamina's scene with the three boys), some within numbers (Sarastro's and Papageno's solos lose verses wherever possible; ugly snips in the Act I ensembles featuring the Three Ladies; deletion of the Armed Men's duet; Tamino's aria is essentially gutted, jumping to the end at the first harmonic opportunity). This keeps things moving but also makes the plot even stranger (my companion, a theater-savvy opera novice, was pretty confused). My future spouse Nathan Gunn was in top (!) form as Papageno: musical, charming, acrobatic, touching and (yes) sexy as Hell. Matthew Polenzani sounded gorgeous in Tamino's music (except for the damage to his aria, he got to sing pretty much all the rest of it). Met debutante Ying Huang started weakly but grew to a not-too-bad "Ach, ich fuehl's"; still, her part was damaged most by the cuts. Erika Miklosa totally underwhelming as Astrafiammante, soft-grained, smudgy in coloratura, 3 out of 5 of the high Fs in place.

3:15 MOVIE: Volver, which wound up being worth the ride despite some of my early misgivings. I AM Carmen Maura -- it was great to see her back in Almodovar's clutches, in a fascinating role -- and the other ladies (yes, including Penelope Cruz) all did well. I want to see this again. I bet I'll like it better the second time, but it wasn't at the Talk to Her or Bad Education level, for me. (Then again, few recent movies are ...)

7:00: The Apple Tree at Studio 54. The reviews on this were generally love letters to Kristin Chenoweth (which she deserved) that made a point of dismissing the show as a weak brew of sketch material, with a second-rate score, etc., etc. Shame! It may not be a deep evening at the theater, but as fun/light/"frothy" (pick your favorite) entertainment, it's to me vastly preferable to ... well, fill in the blank. Bock & Harnick's score is a series of delights, some agreeable, many more than that. Few out and out showstoppers here, but every item rich in intelligence, charm and wit. What's not to like, especially in the hands of these stars? Chenoweth, Brian d'Arcy James and the divine Marc Kudisch (get that man a Tony, and get it to him NOW) all look great, sound glorious and move superbly. They play off one another effortlessly and just make the whole thing *work*. Who cares if there's no glitzy scenery? Overproducing this material would have strangled it. Yes, it would be nice to have a full orchestra playing the original charts, but a reduction to 13 pieces playing new Tunick charts isn't the worst imaginable alternative, now, is it? And I won't even mention my personal delight in seeing a high school classmate's name under "choreography by"; he didn't get to do a lot, but his ensemble does him proud, and I hope it leads to bigger and better opportunities ...