The Guilty Ones
Ladies and gents,
ORDER IN THE COURT! And another round at the bar.
Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men returned to Broadway for the first time since its original run, and judging by the crowd at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, practically everyone in show business had been subpoenaed.
The occasion? A swanky opening night for Michael Arden‘s revival of the courtroom drama that made Sorkin a name long before The West Wing made him a household one.
Onstage, Tom Blyth, making his Broadway debut, stepped into the role of Daniel Kaffee, with Krysta Rodriguez as the formidable Joanne Galloway and Bradley Whitford as the formidable-er Colonel Jessep. Whitford, of course, spent seven seasons delivering Sorkin’s dialogue on The West Wing. Apparently, he developed quite a knack for it!
And what a jury of the peerless turned up!
Bernadette Peters, Anna Wintour, Rachel Zegler, David Corenswet, Gina Gershon, Jeremy Jordan, Wendell Pierce, Lynn Nottage, Jessica Vosk, Arian Moayed, François Arnaud, and enough Broadway royalty to make the Vivian Beaumont look like a Tony Awards greenroom.
Also on the guest list: Richard Schiff and Janel Moloney, two more veterans of Sorkin’s White House.
Meanwhile, Sorkin himself was spotted doing a little walking and talking around Lincoln Center’s famous reflecting pool while waiting to hit the red carpet. And just across the street, Bryan Cranston was spotted picking up takeout at The Smith.
After the final curtain, the festivities moved to Tavern on the Green, where the verdict was unanimous: an opening night very much worthy of celebration.
A few nights earlier, the theatrical crowd gathered at the Edison Ballroom for A Tectonic Cabaret, a benefit for Tectonic Theater Project.
The company, which Moisés Kaufman founded with Jeffrey LaHoste in 1991, has spent 35 years making theater that asks uncomfortable questions. The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency, I Am My Own Wife. Not exactly the sort of material for the relatives in-from-out-of-town seeking easy diversion, but that’s rather the point.
The evening was hosted by the marvelous Jenn Colella, whose voice could probably be heard from the Edison Ballroom all the way to Newfoundland.
Among those providing the entertainment were Tony winner Nikki M. James, Robin de Jesús, Christiani Pitts, Sam Tutty, the New York Vocal Collective, and the extraordinary dance-and-percussion trio Soles of Duende.
The evening also honored longtime theater champion Ruth Hendel with the James C. Hormel Spirit of Tectonic Award. A fitting tribute to a woman who has spent years helping artists make the kind of work that doesn’t always arrive with a guaranteed box-office bonanza.
And speaking of ambitious undertakings, Kaufman’s latest, Here There Are Blueberries, written with Amanda Gronich, begins performances on Broadway this very evening at the Barrymore Theatre, with an official opening November 9.
And this one arrives with quite a pedigree.
Already a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play won two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play, following its acclaimed Off-Broadway engagement at New York Theatre Workshop. The critics have been positively beside themselves.
The play investigates a collection of photographs depicting Nazi officers and their families enjoying themselves at Auschwitz, revealing the chilling ordinariness of people capable of extraordinary evil. It’s the sort of material Kaufman has made his life’s work: theater that forces us to confront the things we’d rather not see.
And with a cast that includes two-time Tony winner Michael Cerveris, Kathleen Chalfant, Montego Glover, and Conrad Ricamora, this Broadway engagement has assembled some formidable talent to do the confronting.
With more than ten new works in development, Tectonic has plenty more uncomfortable questions to ask.
And thank heavens for that. I’ve always believed New York audiences can most certainly handle the truth.
Tidbits from around town…
Spied Isabella Rossellini slipping into The Corner Store looking as effortlessly elegant as ever.
Saw John McEnroe making his way up Madison Avenue at a pace suggesting he was late for match point.
Caught Candace Bushnell holding court over cocktails at Odeon.
As always, a toast of something sparkling to you and yours!
Kisses,
