The Visit at the Lyceum Theatre: The Stunning Return of Chita.
Chita Rivera is back on broadway, and she is one of three reasons I went to see this strangely beautiful, poetic, and oddly mesmerizing new musical by the famous other two reasons, John Kander and Fred Ebb, not to mention or forget, Terrence McNally. Chita is a powerful presence on stage, one you can’t take your eyes or ears off of. She inhabits that eerie, beautifully designed stage (Scott Pask/Scenic Designer, Japhy Weideman/Lighting Designer) in both song and stature.
The musical, directed by the skilled John Doyle, tells a complex tale of hate, revenge, and love. Desire for reunion and destruction. Of greed and pain. And ultimately, of sacrifice. It’s a quick 90 minute musical that will not go down in history as one of the composers best, but maybe as one of their most odd and compelling triumphs of style and substance. And for me, a chance to see, once again, the magnificent Chita do what she has always done, captivate us.
front mezz junkies 
[…] with wild applause, and with the famed actor Rudolph Schildkraut, played majestically by Tom Nelis (The Visit) starring, the play begins its successful tour throughout Europe, eventually landing on the […]
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[…] grandmother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, regally played to perfection by Mary Beth Peil (The Visit). Is it for money? fame? acceptance? This is the hook that is being dangled before our eyes (and […]
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[…] battle. The perfectly crafted and designed lighting by Japhy Weldeman (Broadway’s Old Times, The Visit), costumes by Emily Rebholz (Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen), and sound design by Leah Gelpe […]
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[…] of this deal. Thomas Everson, Jr, played earnestly and tragically by Rick Holmes (Broadway’s The Visit), his faithful lawyer Maximilien Cizik (Henry Stram), and the more complex Jacqueline Blount, […]
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[…] CSC’s John Doyle (As You Like It, Pacific Overtures) . The man who brought us the musical, The Visit (book) and the magnificent play, Master Class, presents us with an exploration of the tempestuous […]
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[…] the wacky and wonderful number, “Love Is an Open Door“. John Riddle (Broadway’s The Visit), who plays the handsome too-good-to-be-true Prince of the Southern Isles, convinces us at the […]
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[…] And then there is Father Tom, played with a strange aura of distance by Tom Nelis (Broadway’s The Visit). He doesn’t connect at first (which makes complete sense later on), feeling like the man on […]
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[…] by the glorious chords from Kandor, assisted by the music supervisor, David Loud (Broadway’s The Visit), music director, Greg Jarrett (Broadway’s Fun Home), music arrangements and orchestrations […]
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[…] musical quickly to a more heavenly place by the Hollywood sign. Jason Danieley (Broadway’s The Visit) as the slimy Philip Stuckey and Ezra Knight (Ivo Van Hove’s A View From the Bridge) as […]
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[…] view inside Alice Walker’s epic heart-breaking novel by the same name, but the John Doyle (The Visit, Company, Sweeney Todd) directed Broadway show, warming itself in the huge housed sun of the Paper […]
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[…] Iceman Cometh), and surprisingly too modern or clean costumes by Ann Hould-Ward (Broadway’s The Visit), the wound and word is ripping apart, and history and oppression is crashing in on […]
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[…] symbolizes all that is wrong with America is played perfectly by David Garrison (Broadway’s The Visit) has all these characters waiting for his money granting salvation. He is the man with the wads of […]
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[…] the play’s collage-like aesthetic, reminding me of the equally weird but stronger framed The Visit. The hole is dug and the cards are dealt, setting us off to the races with the two escapees, […]
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[…] glory in her You’ll Never Walk Alone as does the handsome Jason Danieley (Broadway’s The Visit) as Carrie’s beau, Enoch Snow, who does this music and the part proud. New York City Ballet […]
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[…] Bob Cratchit, Sarah Litzsinger (Beauty and the Beast) as Sissy Jupe, Tom Nelis (The Visit) as Dedlock, Em Grosland (Emotional Creature) as Smike, Phoenix Best (Dear Evan […]
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[…] serve us up every delicious slice and crumb of Joe Masteroff’s devious book and John Kander and Fred Ebb’s magnificent score. The final product delivers with an inventiveness that is both curious and […]
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[…] Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and the wonder that is Michelle Veintimilla (Broadway’s The Visit; ABC’s The Baker and the Beauty). To say more about how they both dig in and unearth […]
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[…] the stage with precision and pizzazz. I must admit, it made me wish that I could hear all of Kander & Ebb‘s music through completely virgin ears all over again just so I could turn off my comparative […]
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