Liars and Saints

 I had a crush on Gavin Creel from 2009 onward. I saw him in "Hair"--a musical I disliked--and I would listen, again and again, to "Let the Sunshine In." On Broadway, a haircut can be a dramatic event--and the trimming of Creel's character's hair, right before the show's upsetting climax--now makes me think of a similar effect that Victoria Clark used in "Kimberly Akimbo." Creel grew up studying the recordings of Whitney Houston, and he released a naughty pop album, "Goodtimenation," that I played constantly. I often dismiss, or half-dismiss, musicals, but "She Loves Me" is a perfect piece of writing, and Creel's performance (alongside Laura Benanti and Jane Krakowski) is charming. Because the production was captured on camera, you never have to wonder what to do if you're alone for a few hours. You always have the option to make a cup of herbal tea and watch Gavin Creel in "She Loves Me." This nation might...

  Sondheim ended "Into the Woods" with two big emotional "Hammerstein-adjacent" numbers: "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen." But, as a critic correctly noted, the Baker's meltdown ("No More") is an *additional* part of this ravishing KO in the second act. I'm also excited to see Sondheim's two "seduction" numbers, "Hello, Little Girl" and "Any Moment." These are variations on a theme, and Sondheim underlines his point by having one actor play both the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince. (It's Gavin Creel this weekend--a worthy castmate for Heather Headley!) Two young people--Little Red and the Baker's Wife--are maybe a little too happy to stray from their own understanding of what is right. We first see Little Red stealing loaves of bread from a friendly Baker. We also see the Baker's Wife stealing beans, and shrugging: "If the end is right....it justifies the beans!...

My current favorite YouTube clip is Gavin Creel, singing "Something's Coming," from "West Side Story." "Something's Coming" is like THE canonical version of the "I Want" song, the moment when the hero steps downstage, early in the show, and tells us about his ambition. Sondheim was actually more or less finished with "West Side Story" when someone noticed that Tony lacked a major "I Want" moment--and this is when "Something's Coming," maybe the strongest song in the show, came about. I could blather on and on about Sondheim, but here's just one thing I particularly like in this song. For a while, Tony is singing in a passive way about "something coming." "Something's coming....don't know when....but it's soon....Catch the moon! One-handed catch!" BUT, late in the song, there's a shift; Tony becomes more active. Instead of waiting, he is now issuing a com...

If I had to choose a favorite work of non-fiction, I might go with The Ladies who Punch: A History of Barbara Walters and THE VIEW (more on that later), or I might go with The Secret Life of the American Musical. It's possible no other book haunts my thoughts the way American Musical does. Jack Viertel argues, in American Musical , that, although each successful show has "its own magic," there is also a standard blueprint that a show sort-of-needs to follow. An opening number should set the tone and establish the kind of humor you're going to encounter: "Little Shop of Horrors," "Alexander Hamilton," "Comedy Tonight." This leads to one--or several--"I Want" songs. In an "I Want" song, our heroes will present their urges in straightforward terms. The wishes should be larger-than-life; we're not here to see someone dreaming of a new book from the library. "I Want" songs include: "My Shot,...