Gallimaufry -- a Hodge Podge of Thoughts Prompted by Local, Global & Cultural Events
By Elyse Sommer
Friends with whom I maintain a steady email conversation often receive one from me with a subject heading of "This and That." The contents include a numbered list of topics to which the recipient can then respond. And so, by calling this missive Gallimaufry, I'm simply indulging in a linguistic borrowing from sixteenth-century French cooks who concocted a stew that contained a little of this and that.
I'm using this old-world title to gather some glad/sad thoughts and memories kicked up by life right where I live and further afield. I'll start with what's closest -- my home territory. I'm fortunate to live in a neighborhood that remains a suburban-like oasis, with tree-lined streets convenient to restaurants, grocery markets and quick transportation (subway, Long Island Railroad, buses) to NewYork's business and entertainment hub. Despite skyrocketing rents and purchase prices, young people continue to move here. What's more, instead of allowing the dire climate disasters and deplorable incidents of gun violence to discourage them, they courageously opt to raise families. Watching some of their "pandemic babies" become lively toddlers and getting to know them and their parents has socially enriched my daily walks and compensated somewhat for the social interaction that was integral to my previous busy life as Curtainup's editor and critic-in-chief.
Less upbeat and decidedly worrisome is the rise of authoritarian heads of state and the disastrous conflict in the Middle East. To ramp up these worries, that conflict has led to protests and an increase in antisemitism on local campuses and streets.
As for theatercentric happenings, I may be retired but I remain an armchair observer of the beat that kept me super busy for a quarter century. Thus, below are comments on some happenings along the area encompassing what's known as The Great White Way.
For starters, the practice of renaming theaters to honor notable practitioners of playwriting, directing and performing continues, which also supports the bottom line and makes them more commercially viable enterprises. Several theaters have been renamed since my retirement. But the most spectacular new look on Broadway is the renovated Palace Theater. Eight years of work culminated in the entire theater being raised 30 feet in the air. The airlifted venue will open with a concert by Ben Platt and then followed by Tammy Faye, a new musical about the famous and also infamous preacher's wife. Katie Brayhen plays Tammy Faye and Andrew Rannells plays her spouse.
While I'd probably go to press previews of both the above, I would have had one of my musical enthusiast backups do the reviews. On the other hand, two upcoming plays would top my see-and- write-up list: Good Night, and Good Luck and The Mother.
Of course, I wouldn't miss anything by the great Paula Vogel -- not the revival of her Pulitzer-Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive when it was at the Samuel Friedman or her new play, The Mother, which revisits the story about the brother whose loss she dramatized in The Baltimore Waltz before she and its downtown cast became famous. The reviews of the new take at the Helen Hayes rejiggered one of my most memorable theater outings.
As always, and especially given that audiences are still hesitant to pay costlier-than-ever ticket prices except for big-cast, sure-fire musicals, the remarkable solo play Prima Facie is having an unusual and fascinating off-stage life. A recorded version of the show is being made available to judges who deal with sexual assault cases in Northern Ireland's courts. Bravo for harnessing the play for this valuable function.
Hopefully, the whole season, but especially the plays, on what would be the top of my must-see-and- review list will be filmed so that I'll have a chance to watch on my home screen. No, it won't be the same, but will give me a front-row view of the actors' faces and gestures. That view is only available to people in the first five or six rows of a Broadway theater's top-priced orchestra seats.
