Before the rains came Wednesday afternoon, the weather in New York was beautiful.
And with a little time to kill in Chelsea before an interview with composer-lyricist-orchestrator Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County), I went up on the High Line, an elevated park/promenade that runs from 34th Street to Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District, along the far Westside. A sublime thing to do on a spring day, getting out and strolling above the city’s bustling traffic.
Afterwards, it was a two-show day, both winners. At the matinee, I saw Fun Home, a musical for those of us who believe that any story, no matter how dark-toned, can be turned into a musical. This one is based on Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel (yeah, a comic book) about growing up in a very dysfunctional family with an angry father who runs a funeral home.
And that’s not the dark part. Alison is played by three terrific actresses — Beth Malone, Emily Skeggs and Sydney Lucas — representing her at different ages. Gradually, she figures out that she is a lesbian and, warily coming out to her parents, she learns that her dad (Michael Cerveris) is also gay, soon before he commits suicide. Did I mention that the show is dark?
But adaptor/lyricist Lisa Kron (Well, The 2.5-Minute Ride) renders Alison’s story with heart-breaking empathy and composer Jeanine Tesori matches her with a low-key, yet effective score. Fun Home was acclaimed off-Broadway last season, got near-unanimous rave reviews when it re-opened on Broadway on Sunday and looks to be the front-runner for the best musical Tony.
Chances are it needs that win to drive theatergoers accustomed to lighter musical fare to see it. Fun Home deserves to attract an audience and run, but most of its natural audience of art-musical fans has probably already seen it.
In the evening, I saw an unabashed musical comedy, a revival of 1978’s On the Twentieth Century, based on an even earlier Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur comedy about a conniving impresario (a precursor of The Producers’ Max Bialystock) who has to hoodwink movie star Lily Garland into appearing in his next stage show and thus salvage his career. And he has to do it aboard the 20th-Century Limited train on its 16-hour journey from Chicago to New York.
The show belongs to the actress playing Lily, a larger-than-life character with a freakish vocal range and many operetta-like arias. Played originally by Madeline Kahn and then Judy Kaye, the show has probably never been revived for lack of a female lead who can sing it at all, let alone eight times a week.
Enter Kristin Chenoweth in — as they say — a role she was born to play. She is extremely funny as self-absorbed Lily and delivers the Cy Coleman-Betty Comden-Adolph Green score without breaking a sweat. The sentimental vote for best actress in a musical this season will go to perennial bridesmaid Kelli O’Hara for what is undoubtedly a fine performance as Mrs. Anna in The King and I, but my money is on Chenoweth.
Next up: British stage royalty, Helen Mirren, playing Queen Elizabeth (Yes, again) in The Audience.