Drama wears many faces: ‘Blackbird and basketball

When Tiger Woods was in his prime, and this critic, an ardent golfer who followed his every putt with my heart in my mouth, it was because in that era I admired his demeanor as much as his talent. I don’t recall ever watching a basketball game in those years but this past Monday night I had a rare once-removed interest in the NCAA Finals. My granddaughter and her Villanova University law school buddies had been glued to the tournament from the start.

Villanova was an underdog who hadn’t claimed a national title since 1985 —under the same circumstances — a talented team with heart. So there I was, cheering on surely a classic moment in the history of the sport. The circumstances and the thrilling seesaw performances of both teams was as dramatic as any theater performance could be And the final moments of Monday night’s game had me heart in mouth again.

I was immediately reminded by a memo on my computer concerning David Harrower’s newly opened and gripping, haunting drama that traces the long ago relationship that surfaced decades later with further painful repercussions in both of the character’s ongoing lives.

The memo to critics who had been gripped and stunned and haunted by this season’s already Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play in London, were requested “not to reveal the character of the young girl to your readers. We would like to keep her a surprise to our audience.”

Such a request seemed so reasonable in this 90-minute drama, so hauntingly performed by Jeff Daniels as an office worker in h the tail end of mid-life, and Michele Williams as a visitor from his past, that this critic will leave the haunting details of their relationship for you to discover at the Belasco Theatre. Do be prepared to be gripped, emotionally torn and heartbroken by the current events in “Blackbird” that trace the path of a man and woman whose earlier relationship and its still ongoing repercussions which had continued to haunt and define their adult lives.

“Blackbird” is a play that will etch itself into your memory, and perhaps even dredging into mind relationships of your own that had ended badly but over even decades sometimes affected all that followed in your personal relationships in some dimension. Including the inexplicable pull of past attractions that ended, but never quite lost the attraction that made them like a drug back when.
Surely a major partner in “Blackbird” is haunting effect, recommending a “must visit” is Joe Mantello’s utterly sensitive, magically plotted directions as we never heave the office where the past dredges itself up like a dormant volcano, suddenly spitting up memories from a distant perspective that has always remained a haunting present for both the office worker and the woman who long ago changed the path of his life and her own. Look for “Blackbird” to fly at the Tonys. Tickets now at (212) 239-5200, 111W. 44th St.


Make your list and check it twice! Brand new theater signals it’s Tony time, and enjoy with the revivals of both “Fiddler on the Roof” and “She Loves Me.”
March and April are the traditional months when new productions pop up like tulips, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway with the traditional season ending critic saw 26 new shows in March (on and Off-Broadway) with almost as many on April’s calendar. No complaints — just the ongoing desire to be cloned.

In addition to a slew of memorable recent offerings at the Public — having a most banner off-Broadway, but not Tony-eligible, shows you’ll want to book on your own calendar include “American Psycho,” “The Crucible,” “Waitress” and the much anticipated “Shuffle Along” (think Audra McDonald, Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter and more hi-shuffling, the revivals of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “She Loves Me” and still to come under the deadline wire “The Father,” Among my own favorites “The Humans,” “On Your Feet,” ”School of Rock,” “The Royals” (a must see) and the revivals of Fiddler and “She Loves. Me”

For tickets to all the above, the best information for tickets and time schedule is to be found online. There may be windstorms in April, snow out of season, but a visit to the theater will surely make the sun shine brighter in your life!