(Continued from page 48)

THEATRE

NY theatre

steals the show as Guido's impatient producer, and Maureen McGovern (remember There's Got to Be a Morning After) vocally strong and sympathetic as his wife. Highlight is a wonderful number called Be Italian, where one of Guido's childhood mistresses sings lustily with his nine year old alter ego and playmates. If I had any criticism of the show, it would be that it never really lets us know the characters, but its remoteness is part of its originality.

A NEW MUSICAL

OF

BYRD

Dreamgirls is all everyone had said about it and more. A lavish and brilliantly staged extravaganza, performed almost entirely in song, it features some of the best black singing talent in America. As probably everyone knows by now, it's based on the life and times of Diana Ross and the Supremes. But Michael (Chorus Line) Bennett has taken their story one step further and turned it into a hymn to the joy and the pain of show business. The story at times could seem a little pat and trite were it not for the extraordinary staging (the scenery changes are choreographed) and the electricity of the performances. It has been described as the most original Broadway musical since Gypsy.

Ben Harney, Cleavant Derricks, Sheryl Lee Ralph and most of the Broadway originals are still with the show. The new addition is Vanessa Townsell as Effie, the show's pivotal character. Vanessa has replaced Jennifer Holliday, who won a Tony for her performance. I'm told Miss Townsell is even better. She certainly grasps the part with both hands and gives it everything. Her rendition of I'm Telling you I'm not Going is one of the great moments of musical theatre. Effie has been thrown out of the group, her man is leaving her, she is pregnant (but no one knows). The song captures the poignancy, the rage, the feelings of anyone who has ever been rejected. The applause breaks constantly into the song, it's an exciting moment. By the end of the show Vanessa is given a standing ovation, it's that sort of part.

Of the other musicals, the only really disappointing show is Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which seems like it's been around forever and isn't helped by a tacky set. The producers should be chastised for charging top Broadway prices ($45) for such a tacky set. The one saving grace is the vocal excellence of the cast.

Good drama is scarce on Broadway, with only three shows stand outs. Arthur

Miller's A View from the Bridge is strong and forceful theatre, the type that Broadway seems to have forgotten how to produce. Tony Lo Bianco gives a star performance as the frustrated Italian who lusts after his neice, but will not admit it to himself, causing ultimate tragedy. This is Miller at his best and makes for a good night of theatre.

Agnes of God is a real winner. Full of fruity dialogue and powerful performances. It is a tour de force for its two leading ladies, Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Ashley, who play a crusty old nun and a frustrated psychiatrist respectively. Both are fighting for the mind and soul of a simple saint-like nun, Agnes, who has given birth to a baby and supposedly strangled it and dumped it in the dustbin. Carrie Fisher played this part with simple charm, though I am told Amanda Plummer was much more potent. (She recently left the cast after receiving a Tony for her work.) Agnes is a rarity in commercial theatre, a potently written drama that mixes quick witted humor with tragedy in the way Leonard Gershe and Neil Simon once did.

Torch Song Trilogy is an experience all its own. A story of the life of a gay female impersonator, it has been written by the brilliant Harvey Fierstein, who also plays the leading role of Arnold. This play does a mighty thing in bridging the gap between the gay and straight world without compromising itself. Almost four hours long, Torch Song is consistantly funny and tragic as we look at three separate incidents in Arnold's life.

If there is any fault in the show, it is the uneven way Fierstein handles the narrative in the first two plays, his style is original, but, at times contrived and confusing. The third act is the best, a sort of gay Butterflies Are Free, as Arnold tries to defend his lifestyle to his excitable, bigoted but lovable Jewish

momma.

Geraldine Page and Carrie Fisher

Of the cast, young Fisher Stevens stands out as David, a young boy Arnold is trying to adopt to save him from the indignities of being a gay hustler. But the acting honors belong to Harvey Fierstein. Here is a unique performer, full of love and chutzpah. He is also without doubt a performer extraordinaire (at present writing the book for the new musical version of La Cage Aux Folles). He has done what many have failed to do, that is to bring a gay play uptown and sell it to commercial audiences. Torch Song has been so successful a full scale West End version is slated for later this year.

So that's New York. With all its faults and greatnesses, to a theatre lover, it's Disneyland and Hollywood hype all rolled into one. Theatre anywhere else in the world always seems a little duller after you've been blinded by the tinselled professionalism of the Great White Way.

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