Sweeney Todd

As far as I am concerned, Sweeney is one of the best damn musicals ever written. Get past the sick plot, and you find a dense, thrilling, beautiful masterpiece.
Michael Cerveris was chilling. A singing Demon. Terrifying.
La LuPone, Mrs. Lovett, was understated and very well sung. A role that could so easily be over the top, taken down a peg in size so all the notes and tongue twisting words make sense. Fabulous.
Manoel Felciano was the perfect as Tobias. Playing violin, piano, clarinet, singing, acting the hell out of the part, each like it was his sole concentration of training. A new kind of triple-threat.
Donna Lynne Champlin gave a surprising turn as senor Pirelli. Very funny and ultimately convincing.
I love this show. The staging was stripped down and compact, the lighting very effective, and the whole concept of the actors doing all the work (including set moves, dressing, orchestrations and blood pourers) works beautifully. It is Sweeney deconstructed, and perfect.
My three crazy and wonderful cousins Ginny, Ceal and Cathy met Me, Bill, John and Bruce for dinner at Chez Josephine where Josephine Bakers son entertained us (over a wonderful dinner) with stories of Sondheim and Marakesh. Fun to spend time with the ladies. They are each a gem, a diadem. These beautiful girls.
At the theater, we got to chat with Liz Callaway. Cynthia Nixon was there with her girlfriend, and John Slattery was sitting across the isle.
Terrific day in the city.

Jackie Hoffman Chanukah at Joe's Pub

Hmmm, how to describe this show...Racist, Insensitive, Foul-mouthed, Self-deprecating, and hysterically funny.
Calling herself the poor-mans Bette Midler, no, the guy who sleeps under the cardboard box, his Bette Midler, and on and on.
Jokes about how much she hates children, Muslims, her mother, and a few choice songs including the entire history of every Jewish holiday and a show-stopper about all the benefits she has to do (and not get paid for). Funny edgy stuff. Holidays were never meant to be like this, but I am so glad there is someone out there doing it. This is the furthest you can get from the canned music and sentiment of the Rockefeller Center Lighting Of The Tree spectacle. Real vs. Manufactured. I'll take the real any day. Thank you Jackie.

Doubt

We finally got to see Doubt. Trudging through the NYC wintry slop of rain and sleet, squeezing into the sardine can seats.
As soon as Brian F. O'Byrne bellowed his first line fro the pulpit, the audience, the noise, the outside world melted away for the next 90 minutes. I love when that happens. When great words and great acting transport you to another place, where you sometimes feel like an intruder who just happened onto that place, hearing things you are not supposed to hear. Thank goodness there was no intermission, the interruption would have just been a nuisance.
John Patrick Shanley has written the tightest, sharpest play I have seen in years. Stripped of anything superfluous, it moves like a dance between four characters. I found myself thinking how interesting it would be to see this story put to dance, as a pas de quatre. Only to realize that a dance was exactly what I was watching.
The acting, perfect. Cherry Jones is brilliant and Brian O'Byrne walked the line so eloquently that my emotions flipped from anger to relief to anxiety to finally, doubt. Beautiful.
I wish all plays were written this well. It is a gem. A perfect little piece of theater.

Souvenir

The story of pianist/composer Cosme McMoon and his 20 year relationship with socialite Florence Foster Jenkins.
Ms. Jenkins was an aspiring singer with one small problem. She couldn't sing. That, combined with her outrageous wardrobe, made her New York City Recitals and her eventual triumph at Carnegie Hall the butt of many jokes throughout the 1930's. You see, Mr. McMoon, nor the audience, ever told her she was tone deaf. Even hearing her own recordings, she heard something else. Something beautiful. It became a must-see joke every time she gave her yearly recital at the Ritz Ballroom.
Judy Kaye was hysterically funny and Donald Corren gave a wonderful take on what could have otherwise been a one-note character.
Great fun. It did not need to be a Broadway play though. Wonderful, but a little small for current Broadway ticket prices.