LIVE Spring NYC Theater Round-up – 'Oh, Mary!,' Finds Sweet Spot. 'Teeth' Has Bite

A scene from "Oh, Mary!"

Two queer shows – a hilarious parody about Mary Todd Lincoln and a dark musical about Dentata – are amongst shows currently on the NY stage.

'Oh, Mary!'

In the days leading to her husband Abraham's assassination, a miserably mean Mary Todd Lincoln goes on a bender. The stuff of melodrama? Or the most side-splitting lunatic comedy?

Cole Escola's smash off-Broadway hit, "Oh, Mary!," features a hysterically funny plot (see, Mary wants to be a cabaret star), wacky antics, and zany dialogue. The uber-celebrated Escola is outrageous and riotous as Mary Todd Lincoln, but out actors Conrad Ricamora (Lincoln) and James Scully (Mary's Teacher) are no slouches, proving equally deft at irreverent hilarity.

Escola brilliantly takes the inference that our 16th president may have had same-sex leanings and goes to town with it as he hits on his male assistant (Tony Macht), who is savvy enough to oblige... for a price. Meanwhile, Mary is canoodling with her drama teacher (handsome Scully) and plotting her next move. Things escalate, and the climax is simply scandalous... in the best possible way.

The playwright/actor finds that sweet spot where drag meets performance embodiment.

"Oh, Mary!" is playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) through May 12, 2024. I can't imagine it won't find another home. Soon.

For more information about "Oh, Mary!," follow this link.

'Teeth'

Based on the 2007 cult horror movie by Mitchell Lichtenstein (and improving on it immensely), "Teeth" is about a young woman who comes to the realization that when her body is violated, it has learned to bite back via her vaginal incisors, known as dentata. (Dentata is also an ancient crusading goddess out to dismember men.)

Michael R. Jackson ("A Strange Loop") teams with Anna K. Jacobs to deliver the year's best new musical (so far). Yes, the show pushes the boundaries of excess and extremity, but it works magnificently. It is not for the squeamish.

"Teeth" takes place in a town called Eden, where teens called Promise Keepers wear purity rings and remain virgins until marriage. Dawn O'Keefe (amazing newcomer Alyse Alan Louis) worries about giving in to her sexual urges for her hottie beau (yummy Jason Gotay of "Gossip Girl") and is being hounded by her angry stepbrother (smoldering Will Connolly).

One of the best additions to the plot is that Dawn now has a gay bestie (a terrific Jared Loftin) who plays a central role in being Dawn's champion, until he decides to use her to prove he can be heterosexual. In fact, every male in the cast, including the church parson who is also Dawn's step-dad (sensational Steven Pasquale), is in some way out for harm or exploit her...until her vagina takes its revenge.

"Teeth" is campy, dark comedy satire that turns into a wondrous gore-fest. As the severed penises mount, the musical reaches a stunning, female-empowering crescendo. Boys, beware! Dentata is out there.

"Teeth" is currently playing at Playwrights Horizons, off-Broadway, extended through April 28, 2024.

For more information, follow this link.

'The Notebook'

Adapting movies and novels into stage musicals is nothing new, but has become epidemic on Broadway. The problem (to paraphrase the subversive stage show, "Xanadu') is that too often creatives only toss the title onto a stage. The few that go out of their way to re-conceive the source material for the stage have struggled with finding an audience ("Sweet Smell of Success" and "The Bridges of Madison County," to name two examples).

"The Notebook," based on the wildly popular Nicholas Sparks romance novel and the equally beloved 2004 Nick Cassavetes film, is an example of creatives attempting something different, but not quite succeeding. Towards that end, book writer Bekah Brunstetter and songwriter Ingrid Michaelson settle on three sets of actors to portray lovers Noah and Allie (played so well onscreen at different ages by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and Gena Rowlands and James Garner), and take on loftier themes (such as chance, fate, desire, death, and the power of love) in telling the story. In addition, I sensed an attempt to comment on how age changes people, both physiologically and psychologically. Alas, the production only manages to skim the surface.

There is also a missed opportunity with the facile conception of Older Allie (a wonderful Maryann Plunkett) who, suffering from dementia, is played as frustrated and irascible, which is a simplistic and clichéd approach.

Still, the show is entertaining and some of the songs are actually memorable.

"The Notebook" is playing at the Schoenfeld Theatre (236 W. 45th St.)
For more information, follow this link.

'Water for Elephants'

Another novel/screen to stage star-crossed-lovers adaptation, "Water for Elephants" is highly recommended... if you like the circus... and acrobats... and puppets. For those looking for the season's best new musical, keep looking. Based on the book by Sara Gruen and the harrowing film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Richard LaGravenese ("The Fisher King"), the show follows handsome young veterinary student Jacob Jankowski ("The Flash's" Grant Gustin), inadvertently joining the Benzini Brothers circus and falling for performer Marlena (Isabelle McCalla), who happens to be wed to the troupe's bipolar owner August (Paul Alexander Nolan). And there's your conflict.

Like "The Notebook," the narrative begins with the "older protagonist recounting his story" device. The musical strips the project of most of its grit and adds songs that are fairly forgettable. One must ask why the creatives felt "Elephants" was the best candidate for a stage production, especially when the film's central attraction, Rosie, a 53-year-old elephant, was the film's heart and soul. On stage, Rosie is certainly adorable (for a puppet), but is in no way as moving or as formidable. And the attempt to recreate an 11th hour stampede on stage fails miserably.

The astonishing puppeteer Antoine Boissereau plays the head and mane of an ailing horse named Silver Star and is the reason to see this show. In just a few incredible moments, Boissereau shows us the kind of daring and beguiling experience "Water for Elephants" could and should have been.

"Water for Elephants" is playing at the Imperial Theatre (249 W. 45th St)
For more information, follow this link.

'The Who's Tommy'

"The Who's Tommy" is a 30-year-old musical, based on the near-50-year-old film and the 1969 rock opera double album. The book (by director Des McAnuff and Pete Townsend) is full of holes and gaps. Many of the songs are repetitive. So why did I enjoy this revival so much? Quite simply, the cast is so sensational you forgive the WTFs. "Tommy's" ensemble is led by a mesmerizing Ali Louis Bourzgui in the titular role. Alison Luff, Adam Jacobs, John Ambrosino, and, especially, Bobby Conte provide fierce and fabulous featured support.

Townsend's score has such power when sung by these incredible voices that the redundancies within the songs become a valiant plea for overcoming trauma. And there has never been a more traumatic Tommy, both the character (as played by two children and Bourzgui) and the story. Mercifully, there are no scenes of melodrama or syrupy forgiveness. Instead, we are presented with a wounded boy who becomes a deeply damaged man who eventually heals, if only slightly.

The album and the flamboyant Ken Russell film were released during the tumultuous Vietnam/Watergate era. We are again, living in divisive and insane times. Tommy's deep and unyielding stare into the mirror reflects back on all of us as a coping mechanism but also as a cry for understanding, unity, and empathy.

"The Who's Tommy" is currently playing at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st Street.

For more information, follow this link.

A New Sweeney & Mrs. Lovett

Last year's spectacular revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's "Sweeney Todd" recently had a cast change, with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster taking over the roles of Todd and Mrs. Lovett – and "Heartstopper" star Joe Locke as Tobias. All three deliver, but it's Foster who steals the show and reinvigorates Lovett with her own wacky and wonderful charms.

"Sweeney Todd" is playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 W. 46th St.) through May 5, 2024.

For more information, click here

A 'Dead Outlaw'

Finally, the very bizarre, true story of an inconsequential (and almost accidental) Old West outlaw whose remains would be found decades later, strangely preserved, during the shooting of an episode of the popular TV series "The Six Million Dollar Man." It is contained in the musical "Dead Outlaw," set to music by the creators of the brilliant Tony-winning musical "The Band's Visit." The results are quite different, and yet absolutely captivating – buoyed by a beguiling central performance by "Shucked" thesp Andrew Durand.

"Dead Outlaw" has completed its run.

For more information, follow this link.