Stage Door: Great actressing in "Summer 1976"

by Nathaniel R

It begins with a gesture. Twinned gestures, really, though they’re not identical. Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht enter from stage right and stage left, respectively and face the audience. Linney’s hand sweeps away from her body presentationally to the audience, It’s a fun and curious movement as if to say  ‘here you are and here we are’ at once. There’s a sharp edge to it, though. Is it mocking and, if so, who is the target? Hecht soon makes a similar gesture, though the body language is sloppier with a ‘whatever’ nonchalance.  And we’re off. 

The two actresses begin to recount the story of how two very dissimilar mothers, Diana (Linney) and Alice (Hecht) met and how they improbably became close friends…

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Stage Door: "The Minutes" by Tracy Letts

'Stage Door' is our new theater column. Because this is a film site, each column ends with related movie suggestions for those who don't have access to live theater. - Editor 

Mayor (Tracy Letts) and a new city councilman (Noah Reid) make small talk early in "The Minutes"

Even if you don't attend live-theater, you're probably fond of Tracy Letts. He pops up as recurring characters on acclaimed TV shows (Homeland, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and is one of Hollywood's most reliable character actors in prestige flicks like Ford Vs Ferrari, The Big Short, Little Women, and Lady Bird  (for which he should have been Oscar-nominated). His talents don't end there. Unfair as it may be, some people are great at everything. In addition to being a terrific actor, theatergoers know him as a prolific Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright. His ninth original play, The Minutes, concludes its Broadway run this coming Sunday so you have one week left to see it...

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Stage Door: The restless moving "Chains"

'Stage Door' is our new theater column. We'll review plays and musicals but, because this is a film site, we'll end each column with related movie suggestions. - Editor 

Mr & Mrs Charlie Wilson, the suddenly precarious couple at the heart of "Chains"

The work of British playwright Elizabeth Baker (1876-1962) has never been adapted to the cinema but not for lack of worthiness. Her most famous play, "Chains", is currently enjoying a revival Off Broadway. On the night we attended we learned, via the introduction, that the Mint's artistic director worried during its pandemic-forced delay that "Chains" might not resonate to modern audiences. The Mint forged ahead anyway only to realize that the fears were unfounded; class struggle and existential dilemmas are timeless topics...

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Stage Door: The unkillable 'Little Shop of Horrors'

'Stage Door' is our new theater column. We'll review plays and musicals and, because this is a film site, we'll end each column with related movie recommendations. - Editor 

Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon, the doo-wop chorus of Little Shop, are still a major highlight

The October 2019 Off Broadway revival of the singular scifi-horror-comedy-whatsit musical Little Shop of Horrors is still going strong at the West Side Theater in NYC. Well, minus 18 months off for the pandemic of course. The production has been through five Seymours now in its run (Jonathan Groff, Jeremy Jordan, Gideon Glick, Conrad Ricamora, and Skylar Astin) with a fifth on the way; Rob McClure takes over on July 12th so this is your last chance to see Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect) in the role. Curiously its original Audrey (Emmy winner and Tony nominee Tammy Blanchard) and Orin (Tony winner Christian Borle) are still recycling their sadomasochistic relationship every night in this iteration of Skid Row.  Why can't the show keep a Seymour!?

Well, it is surely an exhausting role even if the anemia and sore fingers from feeding the bloodthirsty plant is fictional...

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Stage Door: Wonderful Mare Winningham in 'Girl From the North Country'

Mini Intro: We've always wanted to launch a weekly theater column here so we're finally doing it. Though theater is not film (the focus of this site), it relates in many ways to the screen arts. So we'll end each column with screening recommendations!  In weeks where we don't get invited to shows, we'll get creative to keep it going. This will be a Monday night series from here on out. - Editor 

Mare Winningham in 'Girl From the North Country'. Photo © Matthew Murphy

by Nathaniel R

The Tony-nominated jukebox musical Girl From the North Country closes on Broadway tomorrow, Sunday June 19th with the 3:00 PM matinee. While it's too late to urge you to attend (unless you're right here in the five boroughs) there are still ways to enjoy the show in retrospect. The easiest of those is listening to the cast recording with its Tony-winning orchestrations. But the most crucial way to appreciate the show at the moment (happily it was filmed for posterity) is to join us in deep appreciation of its leading lady Mare Winningham...

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