THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS AIRDATE: August 04, 2006
Competitive
women; it’s not always a pretty picture. But sisters or friends, onstage, they
all wind up loving each other in the end. In the mega-hit musical “Wicked,” two
very different girls grow up to be witches… one ‘good,’ one not-so-good. But in
terms of humanity, humility and compassion, the Good and the Wicked got their
monikers mixed up – at least according to the best-selling novel by Gregory
Maguire. In the comedy, “The Sisters Rosensweig,” the sibs are edging into
middle age, but still recalling early antagonisms as they struggle to reunite.
The
Brooklyn Jewish Rosensweigs have moved away from their home, their religion –
and each other. One is a high-powered executive; another a peripatetic
journalist. And the third, hewing close to her heritage, is a suburban
housewife who’s reimagined herself as a ‘doctor,’ dispensing personal advice on
the radio. In celebration of oldest sister Sara’s 54th birthday,
they convene in her posh London home. There are man-problems galore: Sara’s a
single Mom halfheartedly dating a conservative but promiscuous MP; Pfeni is
having a wild time with a delightfully flamboyant director – who happens to be
gay. Even Dr. Gorgeous has a few cracks in her carefully constructed life. The
Old Globe production isn’t as sharply funny as it should be, but it’s laced
with poignancy, not only in the script, but also in reality, in the death, this
past January, of Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein. Though
she defined a generation of women, and broke down barriers for female theater
artists to come, Wasserstein’s plays have never been produced at the Globe.
This first bittersweet effort, directed by David Warren, is beautifully designed
and inconsistently acted. These disparate sisters can scratch like cats, but
they’re basically loving and supportive.
Not so in
“Wicked.” Those witches can be brutal. In this campy, convoluted back-story of
“The Wizard of Oz,” Glinda the Good is beautiful, selfish, envious and
ambitious. Elphaba, on the other hand, is … plainly green. Shunned by her
peers, she nonetheless possesses sharp intelligence and magical powers, which
she uses to good – and political – effect, until she’s ostracized by the Wizard
-- and we all know how she ends up. In this flashback, the two opposites become
unlikely friends, then enemies, and finally, allies. The glitzy touring
production of the pop-rock musical is terrific -- packed with powerhouse
voices, knockout numbers, killer costumes and the cleverest lyrics composer
Stephen Schwartz has ever written. The two-week run has been sold out since
tickets went on sale. But there’s a lottery for 20 seats two hours before every
performance. So try your luck; maybe you
can work a little magic, too.
©2006 Patté Productions
Inc.