Theater Eisenberg Play Spoils Cinderella Again

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12/16/2015Theater: Eisenberg's "Spoils;" Cinderella... Again | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6ea7b444-c075-4e22-b28a-8c46ad7f616d&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/4Theater: Eisenberg's "Spoils;" Cinderella... AgainTheater: Eisenberg's "Spoils;" Cinderella... AgainTHE SPOILS * 1/2 out of **** EVER AFTER ** out of ****THE SPOILS * 1/2 out of **** THE NEW GROUP AT THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE THEATREIt's shaping up to be a stellar year for Jesse Eisenberg. He has a collection of short stories (Bream Gives MeHiccups) due out September 8. He's got several strong festival films due out in the fall, including a flick aboutwriter David Foster Wallace and one about a family recovering from the death of their mother. As a perfectcapper to those art house projects, Eisenberg is the next Lex Luthor, has a sequel to Now You See Me and arole in the next Woody Allen movie.And here he is writing and starring in a new play. You might think Eisenberg would write a role for himself thatothers haven't: a charming romance, for example. Instead, The Spoils is exactly what you might expect for astereotypical Eisenberg role. He plays a hyper-verbal, prickly, downright unlikable fellow with obsessions andrages and simmering self-loathing. Romance can wait.Wisely, Eisenberg is surrounded by a strong cast and the capable direction of Scott Elliott. The Spoils wears outits welcome long before it's over (and long after we realize it doesn't know where it's going) but it's certainlygiven a first-class production any playwright would appreciate.Eisenberg is Ben, a would-be filmmaker who enjoys the luxury of a nice apartment and endless funds to keephim happily situated while he (sort of) tries to make it in the movie industry. HIs roommate Kalyan (KunalNayyar) lives rent-free on Ben's insistence. Kalyan is Nepalese and he's written a book on the economicsituation of his home country. Thanks to Ben's largesse, Kalyan doesn't have to deliver pizzas anymore. Butdespite an excellent degree and being a published author on economic issues, Kalyan can't seem to get entreeto Wall Street so he can gain some practical experience. He's simply too self-effacing.It could be worse. At least Kalyan has a girlfriend, the attractive and driven Reshma (a fun Annapurna Sriram)who can barely contain her disdain for the rude and overbearing Ben. Ben is so filled with quirks and lies andself-destructive egomania that it's no surprise he doesn't have a girlfriend. Of course, Ben would be the first toinsist he doesn't want one. Then he unexpectedly bumps into a kid he grew up with named Ted (MichaelZegen). Ben is flummoxed to hear Ted is marrying his first and only crush Sarah (Erin Darke, solid). Benimmediately invites them over with the implausible scheme of reminding Sarah how much they liked each otherwhen they were eight, ending her engagement and getting Sarah for himself. Needless to say, it doesn't endwell.Ben is a confusing character. For the first 30 minutes, he has an aggressive energy that keeps the show lively.First, Ben has a playful bromance of a friendship with Kalyan, who seems both understanding of Ben'sinsecurities and the only person who can keep Ben in check. It's a genuinely odd friendship and not simply acase of Ben dominating Kalyan or Kalyan sucking up to keep his free room. The comic momentum grows withthe introduction of Ted, an amusingly simple financial dude who takes people at face value and always seems tobe laughing two or three steps behind everyone else but doesn't really mind. Both Nayyar of The Big BangTheory and Zegen (who was acclaimed for Bad Jews) are excellent, especially early on.12/16/2015Theater: Eisenberg's "Spoils;" Cinderella... Again | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6ea7b444-c075-4e22-b28a-8c46ad7f616d&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/4Yet just as we think we know Ben and his relationship with Kalyan, it shifts into something entirely new. WhenSarah shows up, Ben is not dominating in a hatefully pushy manner; he's needy and ineffectually rude and theidea he might actually woo Sarah or even make it through the evening without being hospitalized is hard toswallow. His self-lacerating attitude grows more out of control to the point where you can't understand whyeveryone doesn't just stay away from his toxic meltdown. Ben's boasts and lies are sadly transparent toeveryone but him. He never seems strong enough to bring anyone else down with him, so there's no realtension.A very long first act is followed by a shorter but somehow more drawn-out second one. The story, which wasalways more intellectual fireworks than flesh and blood, becomes increasingly divorced from reality until theartificiality of it all becomes overwhelming. Revelations are made, characters behave in ways that make nosense and almost none of it adds up, down to the final speech and abrupt fade out. It's never a good sign whencharacters and plot grow more mystifying as the show goes on. Eisenberg has some good dialogue and deftcharacterization, but spoils whatever groundwork he and this cast accomplish at the start.EVER AFTER ** out of **** PAPERMILL PLAYHOUSECinderella is put through her paces yet again in a world premiere musical directed by Tony winner KathleenMarshall. The actors are pros throughout and the presentation solid. But nothing can disguise the very familiarfeeling of the modernized book and the mildly pleasant but difficult to remember songs and score of Ever After.Following on the heels of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Papermill has again showcased a work in the bestpossible light but it's not enough to make the work worthy of such care.One could imagine the hit film's cachet and the easy familiarity of Cinderella might get this produced regionallyand at community theaters. But it's hard to imagine why they wouldn't just choose the Rodgers & HammersteinCinderella instead, since that show has a spunkily modern book as well, not to mention much better songs.You know the story, though in this umpteenth telling there are some songs but no real magic (in more than onesense of the word). Danielle nee Cinderella (Margo Seibert) has a wicked stepmother (Christine Ebersole), acruel stepsister and a kind but ineffectual stepsister. She takes solace in her books a la Belle, especiallyThomas More's Utopia, the last book her late father ever shared with Danielle.The handsome Prince (James Snyder) doesn't really like the idea of an arranged marriage and runs away, onlyto cross paths with the commoner Danielle, who pummels him with apples for trying to steal her father's horseand then pummels him with quotes from Utopia when the Prince isn't suitably class conscious. They bicker, theyfight, they kiss, she's afraid to reveal her lowly stature, the evil stepmother will do anything to make her spoileddaughter the next Queen and it all comes out in the wash.Ever After has echoes of Disney's Beauty And The Beast and Camelot and a dozen other fairy tales, withoutever really establishing a style or tone of its own.It's also oddly conflict-free. Time and again, problems are raised and then immediately solved. A servant andfriend of Danielle is wrongly accused of stealing and sent away? In the next scene Danielle receives gold coinsand buys his freedom. The Prince balks over having to marry a Princess of Spain? The King quickly allows thePrince to marry whomever he chooses. The Prince and Danielle are kidnapped by gypsy thieves? Theyimmediately declare her their Queen and start dancing for joy. Again and again, a plot twist threatens for just amoment before it's dismissed.That book is by Marcy Heisler. It's not helped much by the songs (the music is by Zina Goldrich and the lyrics byHeisler). Most have a mid-tempo, gently comic tone to them and are fine enough. They just aren't memorableenough or worse, memorable for the wrong reasons like the tepid Act One closer "Out Of The Darkness" (which12/16/2015Theater: Eisenberg's "Spoils;" Cinderella... Again | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6ea7b444-c075-4e22-b28a-8c46ad7f616d&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&3/4of course follows that title with "into the light").A handful of exceptions stand out. "Who Needs Love?" and "My Cousin's Cousin" are enjoyable amusing tunes,along with "Is There Anything Leonardo Can't Do?," a second act highlight with Marshall's most satisfyingchoreography and staging. But without question the show's peak moment dramatically and musically isEbersole's rendition of "After All," in which the stepmother bares her soul to Danielle in the cruelest but mosthuman fashion.Indeed, the show is blessed with a strong cast (especially the women) that elevates the material tremendously.Seibert and Snyder are a handsome couple as Danielle and the Prince, doing what they can with rote material.Tony winner Ebersole almost single-handedly brings complexity to the show. But there's also the marvelousJulie Halston putting her droll spin on the Queen of France, Charles Shaughnessy as the King and TonySheldon as Leonardo Da Vinci. In utterly thankless smaller roles, Annie Funke must play the nice, curvier sisterand endure fat jibes from her mother before inevitably getting spunky in the second act; while the delightfulAndrew Keenan-Bolger has literally nothing to do but stand around and smile as Danielle's nominal best friend.(He's surely got his fingers crossed for a Broadway run from Tuck Everlasting, the new musical he starred induring its Atlanta debut.)The tech elements were strong if simple, from the solid sound design of Nevin Steinberg to the orchestra itcaptured so well led by music director David Gardos. Derek McLane's scenic design was good, along with thecostumes of Jess Goldstein, with the very notable exception of the silly costume designed for Danielle'sentrance at the finale. She's given fairy wings but the effect is to make her look childish, not beguiling ormagical.Unlike so many musicals, it should be said that Act Two was superior to Act One. After a long buildup (ironicallynot helped by the overly familiar story at hand), Marshall put the pedal to the floor. While Act One was filled withtime-killers (like that gypsy dance-off that was not one of Marshall's better efforts), Act Two positively spedalong, moving briskly from one moment to the next. It wasn't enough to rescue the evening. But a strong castand a quick-paced finale did at least send you home without having to wait forever to hear they'd be livinghappily ever after.THEATER OF 2015Honeymoon In Vegas ** The Woodsman *** Constellations ** 1/2 Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2 Let The Right One In ** Da no rating A Month In The Country ** 1/2 Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2 Hamilton at the Public *** The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2 Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 ** Verite * 1/2 Fabulous! * The Mystery Of Love & Sex ** An Octoroon at Polonsky Shakespeare Center *** 1/2 Fish In The Dark * The Audience *** Josephine And I ***

Theater Eisenberg Play Spoils Cinderella Again

📄 Theater Eisenberg Play Spoils Cinderella Again

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