Today is Sunday, and this week’s Report features a review of Complications in Sue, and previews of my forthcoming reviews of Bigfoot!, Chez Joey, Little Miss Perfect, Night Side Songs, and Starstruck. Plus, a quote of the week; select press announcements from the past week; and a list of the upcoming week’s previews and openings.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Of course women can write songs and plays as well as men can. If they haven’t done it so much until lately, it was only because they hadn’t the chance.” -Clare Kummer, author of Annie Dear (1924), Noah’s Ark (1907), The Opera Ball (1912), and Three Waltzes (1937)

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REVIEWS

• Bigfoot! opened a world premiere engagement this evening at New York City Center Stage I. It has a book by Amber Ruffin and Kevin Sciretta, lyrics by Ruffin, music by Ruffin and David Schmoll, and direction by Danny Mefford, and it is a vigorously inept affair, despite a nearly fantastic first 30 seconds. Even the cheaply comic program biography of co-producer Stark Sands is an overt failure, given its placement. My review should be published next Sunday.

• Chez Joey is currently playing a pre-Broadway engagement at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. It is a new musical based on the 1940 musical Pal Joey, inspired by a series of fictitious letters penned by John O’Hara. Chez Joey has a book by Richard LaGravenese, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers, and direction by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, and it is a happy surprise, with the potential to be a great piece of theatre, pending a combination of refinements and revisions. My review will be published as a special dispatch during the week.

• Complications in Sue, a new opera in one act, premiered last month at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia under the auspices of Opera Philadelphia. It has a libretto by Michael R. Jackson, based on an idea by Justin Vivian Bond, and each of its ten scenes features music from a different composer. Perhaps, from a standpoint of opera, it is adequate, effective, or even enjoyable – my operatic frame of reference is too narrow to make such an assessment – but, from a standpoint of theatre, of drama, of storytelling, of social satire and social comment, it is half-baked and occasionally slapdash, despite an exciting conglomeration of conceits. Here is my review.

• Little Miss Perfect, a new musical inspired by a song of the same name, is currently playing a world premiere engagement at Olney Theatre Center outside Washington, DC. It has a book, lyrics, and music by Joriah Kwamé and direction by Zhailon Levingston, and it is an exceedingly rough, strangely bland affair. Leanne J. Antonio is nonetheless giving a strong central performance. My review will be published next Sunday.

• Night Side Songs, a new musical with communal singing, opened an Off-Broadway engagement this evening at Lincoln Center Theater’s Claire Tow. It has been written by Daniel and Patrick Lazour and directed by Taibi Magar, and the seismic positive changes that have been made since its unsatisfactory premiere engagements last year are astounding. And commendable. (I first encountered the piece at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theater as part of Under the Radar, and then at Philadelphia Theatre Company.) Night Side Songs is still neither a complete nor a wholly effective work, suffering especially from song, but it has moments and items to appreciate, including a stronger (than before) sense of story and character. My review should be published next Sunday.

• Starstruck, a new musical based on Cyrano de Bergerac, is currently playing a world premiere engagement at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It has a book by Beth Malone and Mary Ann Stratton, lyrics and music by Emily Saliers, of the Indigo Girls, and direction by Lorin Latarro, and it is a dreary affair. My review should be published next Sunday, and, in the meantime, I would like to share the two takeaways of a pair of Indigo Girls fans who were seated next to me, and who bought tickets for the show principally because of Saliers’ involvement. First, they found the story’s scientific background intriguing; and second, they found the prevalence of preexisting songs disappointing. Indeed, they wanted a greater number of original songs, because they felt that the preexisting songs did not serve the story. (“It is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”) I remain both shocked and heartened by their (unprompted) second point, and I hope that the industry, at large, will take note.

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PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Here is a list of select press announcements from the past week. Each headline is clickable for more information.

• TLC Musical CrazySexyCool Finds Its Stars
• Kenita Miller Will Lead Animal Wisdom at Signature Theatre
• Titaníque Reveals Full Broadway Cast
• Vampire Pop Opera Blood/Love Extends Off-Broadway

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PREVIEWS AND OPENINGS

Here is a list of the new musicals and revivals either opening or beginning previews during the upcoming week, specifically on Broadway and Off-Broadway. It contains, as well, select new musicals beginning performances regionally, and select new musicals and revivals beginning performances in New York City. Each title is clickable for more information.

Monday, March 2

Tuesday, March 3
• Regional: Safety Not Guaranteed
• Opening: Blood/Love

Wednesday, March 4
• NYC: The Paparazzi

Thursday, March 5

Friday, March 6
• Opening: Mexodus

Saturday, March 7

Sunday, March 8

Photo of a scene from Starstruck by Joan Marcus.