Stars in the alley, ‘The Mysteries’ downtown
Whatever the weather there’ll be “star-shine” on May 21, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Broadway’s Shubert Alley with theater superstar Norm Lewis (who takes over the title role in “Phantom of the Opera” on May 12) as host, the legendary Alley will become the dazzling setting for performances by members of the casts of 20-plus current top Broadway musicals, from brand new hits and fresh revivals to perennial favorites.
The annual event is a tribute to the coming Tony Awards, and a rare chance to revel in musicals you’ve seen or will become inspired to visit on the spot! And it’s all free! The participating shows include current Tony nominees “After Midnight,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” “Aladdin,” “Beautiful: the Carol King Musical,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” the exquisitely scored “The Bridges of Madison County,” the magnificent revival of “Les Miserables,” “Rocky,” “Violet” and more.
Cast members from ongoing audience pleasers and some “forever favorites” will also light up the Shubert Alley stage for sing-along reminiscing. Included will be numbers from “Kinky Boots,” “Chicago,” “The Lion King,” “Newsies,” “Rock of Ages,” “Mama Mia” and musicals like “Phantom” and “Cinderella” that go by one-name calling cards rather than their full titles (one would hope the pre-awards Tony tribute will include host Norm Lewis delivering one of his stirring numbers as the benighted Phantom!)
Not to slight Tony nominees from the spate of new Broadway dramas, there will also be appearances by the stars of such as “Act One,” “All the Way,” “Casa Valentina,” “Mothers and Sons, ”and “Of Mice and Men.” Additional information on “Stars In the Alley” can be found at StarsinTheAlley.com. More about the Sunday, June 8 Tony Awards is available at TonyAwards.com.
If you’re a musical theater buff, on May 21 the path to Shubert Alley will likely seem like a stairway to heaven! Come early, wear comfortable shoes, be prepared to bask in the glow of the glory of the great American Musical. Kudos in advance to The Broadway League, annual producers of this yearly “singular sensation.” Finally, in the tradition of “the show must go on,” “Stars in the Alley” will take place rain or shine.
\Irreverent insights rule at ‘The Mysteries’
Currently the very intimate Flea Theater just below Canal Street in Tribeca, home to its young, enormously talented resident company, The Bats, is presenting the newest irreverent gem from the mind of the 32-year-young director Ed Sylvanus Isklander. If you were fortunate enough to thrill to the latter’s 2012 production (with those same Bats) of ”These Seven Sicknesses”— a five-hour condensation of seven Sophocles plays —which was one of this critic’s most memorable theater experiences ever — you’ll likely have already seen or booked tickets to “The Mysteries.”
This time out what Isklander took on was a hark back to the medieval York Cycle, which dramatized the Old and New testaments, from “The Fall of the Angels” to “The Last Judgment.” For such an undertaking the director enlisted some four dozen playwrights (the likes of David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, Dael Orlandersmith and Jeff Whitty (creator of “Avenue Q”— talk about irreverence!) and their estimable ilk. The result was 50 short plays to be performed, as it turned out by more than 50 members of the Bats.
Currently the Flea is a must destination for any hardy, open-minded, passionate theatergoer who appreciates their theater raw — five-plus mesmerizing hours long —with a vegan dinner served at one intermission and delicious desert at another; an evening that will surely boggle all your senses — oft-times tickling your funny bone and sending you home saturated by the combustible talents of the altogether captivating, mind-bending Bats!
In Isklander’s collaborative take on Bible history, Jesus is a very mortal, sexual being. “The Mysteries” is set ironically in the here and now, then finally in a possible future. God is played by 4 foot-2 Matthew Jeffers, who moodily rises — and falls — to the occasion. Lucifer and the Angel Gabriel are played by women and there is a heavenly chorus of equally talented young budding stars who act as a Chorus guiding us through the play’s three Acts (“The Fall,” “The Sacrifice” and “The Kingdom”).
The title of the short plays which flow one into another capture the bold spirit of the evening: “God Rules,” “Christ with the PHD’s,” “Jesus Grows Up Fast,” “The Next Supper,” and “The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene” are just a few of them.
If all the above sounds like an exhausting experience: it is — but above all an exhilarating one, with special kudos to dramaturg Jill Rafson, David Dabbon’s magical musical chores and most inspired costume design by Loren Shaw. Go and be transported by this sublimely directed marathon. It is provocative theater that at time may assault your senses. What I guarantee is that in five-plus hours you will never be bored for one second! 41 White Street, tickets at 212-352-31101 or www.theflea.org.
