Unfortunately, the following nine weeks were filled with far too little theater, as my Washington schedule kept me busy and even caused me to miss a production at the Signature Theater of the Sondheim revue Putting it Together. I was able, though, to catch an outdoor production of King Lear that made me pray for rain—and when it didn’t come—forced me to the car at intermission, making the second show in my life, but also the second this summer, that I simply couldn’t endure past intermission. Mixing too many dramatic and visual styles, as well as lacking a firm grasp of the material, this Lear came quite close to the textbook definition of bad Shakespeare.

The only other theatergoing experience I had in D.C. was attending a performance of the national tour of Kiss Me, Kate at the Kennedy Center. When I was able to look at the stage (and away from the dreadful red velvet motif of the auditorium), I saw what looked very much like a national tour of a show currently on Broadway. Same book, same songs, slightly scaled back set, medium level stars who were inferior to their Broadway predecessors, and an audience who loved it all-the-same. Truth be told, if Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Amy Spanger and Michael Berressee weren’t so dazzling in the Broadway production, I might too have found the production wunderbar, but the cast largely disappointed, and try as he might, rock star-turned-leading-man Rex Smith always seemed artificial and forced to sing in a register below his comfort level. The one bright spot was Chuck Wagner, a man with a long list of Broadway credits, who stole all his scenes as General Harrison Howell, thanks to his booming baritone, robust comic persona, and classic good looks (all of which suggest that the tour would be better served with him in the lead, but c’est la vie).

My mind is clearer now

I must admit that I went a bit stir-crazy in D.C. and stole back to New York for a weekend. While in town I was lucky enough to see a reading at Lincoln Center of William Finn’s A New Brain. Though this work did not enjoy a particularly long NY run, it has had a healthy regional life, and I would love to see it come to a Harvard stage. Its off-Broadway cast is featured on one of my favorite recordings, with Malcolm Gets, best known as Richard on Caroline in the City, but also an accomplished musical theater performer and Yale Drama grad, beautifully assaying the lead role.

Once back in New York for real, I headed out to catch another overlooked musical, Parade, which was receiving its first regional production at Long Island’s Cultural Arts Playhouse. I won’t comment much on the production, which was fine for a low-profile regional theater. However, I can say that I missed Parade during its quite brief stint at Lincoln Center a couple of years back, and knew and loved it only from its recording. I began to understand its mixed reviews when I noted how poorly the book serves the music and the dramatic purpose of the piece. Still, with Jason Robert Brown’s varied and moving score and the powerful true story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn Jew falsely accused of murder, convicted and eventually lynched in turn-of-the-century Georgia, Parade should rise again in New York, hopefully in a revised production, and hopefully soon.

This summer also included my third and fourth trips to the Rocky Horror Show on Broadway. Little has changed since the show opened last year; it is still tremendous fun and all the original performers still with the piece have only deepened their portrayals. Of particular note, Ana Gasteyer, on summer hiatus from Saturday Night Live, made for a winning Columbia, and theater vet Terrence Mann, who originated leads in Cats, Les Mis, Beauty and the Beast, Assassins, and the Scarlet Pimpernel, has recently taken over Frank-n-Furter’s high heels and lingerie from the dazzling Tom Hewitt. He was quite promising in his debut and should be a top-notch Frank.

Unable to stay in one place for too long, I made a brief overnight trip to Vermont, to catch some summer stock, and particularly to watch blockmate Samuel H. Perwin ’04 star as Harold Hill. Ah, theater in a barn—yep, it was summer stock—and it was pretty good. Despite the heat and the rain, the young performers were quite appealing and, wow, are they worked hard. After the show, they put on a cabaret performance, as they routinely do, before ending the night and getting up early the next morning to rehearse their next production. Some impressive talent in that show, not the least of which can be found singing in the halls of Currier House this year.

In praise of BOOM