There is little drama, and no dramatic stakes are raised, and for that reason it may struggle to be remembered in the lexicon of gay drama. However, that is also the strength of the play, its beautiful performances and its self reflection.
A Bronx Tale Original Broadway Cast Recording Ghostlight Records 4 Stars Buy A Copy A Bronx Tale is a new Broadway musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater. Based on the one man show and later film of the same name that was devised by Chazz Palminteri. It’s great to see Alan Menken return to Broadway with a non-Disney based show. Menken’s ability to channel the musical stylings of the period for which he is writing is perhaps his greatest strength and in A Bronx Tale you are effortlessly transported back in time through the brassy, sax driven pulse of the sixties. A Bronx Tale is the story of a young boy from a working-class family growing up in a neighbourhood dominated by organised crime. Befriending the local mob boss as a young boy, Calogero grows up in the middle of his father ( a bus … Read more
Go for the music, and you’ll have a ball.
The Goat is a fascinating play by one of America’s greatest playwrights; a depiction of life utterly undone by an unforgivable transgression. Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo are excellent as disintegrating couple Martin and Stevie, ably supported by West-End debutant Archie Madekwe as their son Billy. The play suffers from too much ‘telling’, rather than ‘showing’, and in spite of Jason Hughes’ best efforts his character Ross is little more than a plot device. Nevertheless, this is an admirable production and a must-see for Albee fans.
Treading similar terrain as the recently seen ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’, it has an infectious score, well-written dialogue, and a story that revolves around more than one centre of gravity.
This is a worthwhile exercise, it is well produced, well acted and well nigh bound to leave you thinking that, as far as the development of nineteenth century British theatre was concerned, so much better was yet to come.
Aside from the device of making it an all-female cast, this is a powerful, enjoyable production. It may lose some of the masculine menace of the original but brings out more of the comedy in the writing and gives us plenty to ponder about the impact of gender in theatre performance.
It touches on the brutality of the death penalty at a time when the number of executions is on the rise around the world but it is ultimately a sharply written tale of what motivates an ordinary man who kills for a living.
