the morning line - Boneau/Bryan

THE MORNING LINE
DATE:
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
FROM:
Michelle Farabaugh
Faith Maciolek, Eliza Ranieri
PAGES:
10, including this page.
March 10, 2015
Review: ‘Fashions for Men,’ a Revival at the Mint Theater
By Laura Collins-Hughes
Tall and stately, the elderly woman leaned on a cane, heading down in the elevator after a matinee of Ferenc
Molnar’s “Fashions for Men” at the Mint Theater. “When I was in high school, Molnar was the hottest thing
going,” she told her companion.
It’s been a while. The Broadway heyday of Molnar, a Hungarian playwright, stretched from the 1920s to the
’40s, when Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted “Carousel” from his drama “Liliom,” about a brutish barker at a
Budapest amusement park.
“Fashions for Men,” a romantic comedy that came to Broadway in 1922, the year after “Liliom,” could hardly
be more different. At its center is a man, Peter Juhasz (Joe Delafield), so tenderhearted and trusting that he has
nearly run himself out of business.
The customers at his high-end Budapest clothing store love him, just not enough to pay their bills. A gentle
husband to his wife, Adele (Annie Purcell), he has failed to notice that she’s fallen in love with their lying clerk,
Oscar (John Tufts) — and given him all their savings so they can start a new life together in Berlin.
“I owed it to you to provide for her future decently,” Oscar reasons to Juhasz. “You would have every right to
despise me if I hadn’t.”
“Fashions for Men” is about how Juhasz — jilted, bankrupt, exiled from his shop — finds his way back to
happiness. We suspect from the first act that he will fall for Paula (Rachel Napoleon), the employee who tags
along when he goes to work on the estate of his dashing patron, the Count (Kurt Rhoads). The question is how
they will get together.
It would be nice to report that the director Davis McCallum, who breathed such life into John van Druten’s
“London Wall” last season at the Mint, had done it again with this production, which is smartly costumed by
Martha Hally. Molnar’s script — refreshed by the Mint’s producing artistic director, Jonathan Bank — offers
plenty of opportunities for silliness and fun. Lots of them are missed here.
Mr. Delafield gives an intelligently understated performance as Juhasz, portraying him not as a sap but as a man
who would vastly rather give others the benefit of the doubt than risk causing any pain. As the unctuous,
morally blank Oscar, Mr. Tufts is similarly restrained, to good effect, while Mr. Rhoads’s Count is a comical
friend turned rival.
But the cast of 12 handles the material in a mishmash of styles and tones, too often lunging for laughs that don’t
follow. The play itself has a quiet charm, but this revival is tepid.
Total Daily Circulation – 1,897,890
Total Sunday Circulation – 2,391,986
Monthly Online Readership – 30,000,000
“Fashions for Men” continues through April 12 at the Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton; 866-8114111, minttheater.org.
March 10, 2015
Review: ‘Woyzeck, FJF’ Is a Quixotic Adaptation at the New
Ohio Theater
By Alexis Soloski
Georg Büchner, who died in 1837, was a playwright so ahead of his time that the theater is still playing catchup. Before his young demise, he wrote the historical epic “Danton’s Death,” the odd comedy “Leonce and
Lena” and perhaps his trickiest play of all, the unfinished “Woyzeck,” which exists only in jumbled fragments.
A definitive text, production or even an ordering of scenes proves elusive.
Based on a tawdry true-crime story about an unstable soldier who murdered his common-law wife, Büchner’s
play gives the tale an eerie Expressionist twist, showing how the military, the medical establishment and
conventional notions of sexuality and masculinity further unhinge the title character.
Writers and directors like Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Robert Wilson and William Kentridge have all
gone up against the play. The latest to step into the ring, at the New Ohio Theater, is Jeremy Duncan Pape, the
founding artistic director of No-Win Productions. With “Woyzeck, FJF,” a reference to the character’s first
three initials, he doesn’t walk away with the championship belt (much of the production barely lands a punch),
but it’s a brave thing to take on one of world literature’s heavyweights.
Mr. Pape, who adapted the play with D. L. Siegel, sets the action in the padded cell of the asylum where
Woyzeck (James Kautz, an Amoralists regular) and his semi-catatonic roommate await visits by a doctor
(Alessandro Colla). Other characters drift into the room, figments of Woyzeck’s imagination or scraps of his
memory.
It’s a tidy approach but not a particularly rewarding one. The tone doesn’t vary much between reality and
fantasy, and the acting, though determined, isn’t credible enough for naturalism or formal enough for
Expressionism. The script (mostly colloquial, occasionally fusty) simply gets the better of most of the
performers, with Mr. Colla’s lurid doctor the notable exception. No-Win has announced itself as a company
interested in “works that embrace humanity’s struggle against obstacles that cannot be overcome.” Büchner’s
play just might be one of them.
“Woyzeck, FJF” continues through March 21 at the New Ohio Theater, 154 Christopher Street, West Village;
888-596-1027, newohiotheatre.org.
March 10, 2015
Review: ‘Bambi______/Kaffeehaus’ Mixes Up an Absurdist
Linguistic Orgy
By Claudia La Rocco
“What smells so good?” an audience member wondered as she perused the fantastically unhealthy buffet laid
out for Saturday’s matinee performance of Little Lord’s “Bambi______/Kaffeehaus” at the Brick. (The title
includes an obscenity.)
An actor’s prompt answer — “the Pop-Tarts” — was greeted with a brief silence by the theatergoer, and then,
more statement than question, “You’re kidding.”
But no, it was true: baking in a toaster oven (this buffet spared no detail), that Pop-Tart made this little theater
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, smell divine. It also gave a hint of the delicious and tacky pleasures soon to come,
in a production that plays slice and dice with Austrian and Brooklyn cafe culture, anthropomorphic literature,
pornography, Zionism, anti-Semitism, psychoanalysis and some other things.
The organizing principle within this cheeky hot mess is Felix Salten, the Viennese-Jewish author of both
“Bambi” and, anonymously, “Josephine Mutzenbacher: The Life Story of a Viennese Whore, as Told by
Herself.” Spliced together by Laura von Holt and Michael Levinton (also the director), and collaged with
myriad other sources, these two texts entwine for an absurdist linguistic orgy in which the lines between
sentimentality, sexual euphemism and, yes, political commentary, are constantly being mucked with.
The cast largely avoids — or at least makes fruitful use of when it doesn’t — the tiredly ironic default mode
that has settled over so much theater. (Polly Lee is a particular highlight, as is Anne Gridley, in a brilliant
cameo.) And they do it all in aprons, suspenders, punishing tighty-whities and high heels, worn on their hands
as daffy hooflike appendages. Doing impressive double duty as Bambi and a prostitute, Joshua William Gelb
wears heels on his actual feet as well.
The costumes are designed by another performer, Elizabeth Barrett Groth, who also created the winningly
chintzy set. This, of course, includes two stuffed deer heads, which begin the show balanced on their necks,
their throats stretched back as if in erotic abandon.
There’s very little actual eroticism in the show. But there are darker currents sweeping under, and occasionally
subsuming, the campy surfaces in which Little Lord traffics. These depths, like the aroma of Pop-Tarts, are a
welcome and heartening surprise.
“Bambi______/Kaffeehaus” runs through March 21 at the Brick, 579 Metropolitan Avenue, at Lorimer Street,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-285-3863, bricktheater.com.
Broadway press agents
receive a minimum
base salary of about
$2,000 a week per
show – although
producers usually pay
more – according to a
New York Times report.
BEHIND
THE
CURTAIN
Theater aficionados, especially those who frequent
Broadway, often wait months or more in order to
see a much-ballyhooed play. The pre-play hype
that draws people to the performances work its
intended magic by creating a media buzz that
can’t be ignored. It’s all part of an intentional public
relations effort by influential publicists who can
help propel a play to big box office numbers. And
because a Broadway musical can often cost
upwards of $10 million to produce, while dramas
can be staged for $3 to $4 million, the pressure on
publicists to deliver is immense.
Bradley Cooper’s appearance on “The Tonight
Show” to promote the highly anticipated
“Elephant Man” was not happenstance. On the
contrary, Cooper and other stars often receive
their marching orders from their publicists, who
capitalize on an actor’s star power. Because
80 percent of Broadway shows fail in terms of
financial success, it’s incumbent upon savvy
publicists to generate every smidgen of publicity
possible.
In addition to pitching their product to
theater critics and talk show bookers, publicists
also advise producers during casting on which
actors may help generate the most publicity for
a play. In effect, they work with all aspects of
a production, whether it be on Broadway, offBroadway, a national tour, or European production.
80 BELLANYC.COM | March/April 2015
Adrian Bryan-Brown and Chris Boneau
Veterans of the Craft
Chris Boneau and Adrian BryanBrown, founders of the highly
respected New York City theatrical
press agency Boneau/Bryan-Brown,
have been among the leaders in
this very competitive industry for
more than two decades. They’re of
the philosophy that public relations
can’t simply be bought, but it must
be organic.
As opposed to representing the
stars – who almost always have
their own publicists – Boneau
and Bryan-Brown work with the
play itself, advising producers
on everything from soup to nuts.
Quite literally, if the need arose,
they would suggest which soup to
order for lunch during a production
meeting if they felt it would benefit
their clients.
Their present and past client
list reads like a Who’s Who in
American theater, and includes such
blockbuster shows as “The Book
of Mormon,” “Jersey Boys,” “The
Lion King,” “Gigi,” “The Audience”
and “Mamma Mia!” Since 1991,
the plays and musicals they have
represented have won 195 Tony
Awards, eight Pulitzer Prizes, 168
Drama Desk Awards, and 128 Outer
Critics Circle Awards.
Boneau and Bryan-Brown are the
first to shy away from any direct
credit for these awards, but don’t
be fooled by their modesty. Public
relations does wonders for a play or
musical both in terms of box office
numbers and awards garnered, and
a lack of publicity can quickly sink
even the best production.
“We need to analyze where the
strengths and weaknesses are
for each play that we represent,”
says Texas native Boneau, “so
it’s important as publicists to get
involved with the production as
early as possible.” Bryan-Brown,
who hails from England, adds, “We
always look for every possible
intriguing or interesting angle in
order to help publicize the play.”
A favorable review in The New
York Times is still the Holy Grail
for publicists, but the Internet
has somewhat altered the media
landscape. “Today’s media is so
different from our early days, and
we now look for ambassadors,
such as influential bloggers, to help
spread the word,” explains BryanBrown. “It’s also important for us to
work hand-in-hand with the star’s
personal publicist in order to ensure
that everyone is [sharing] the same
message,” says Boneau.
Photo: Timmy Blupe
The lights dim and the rich rubato
of the orchestra begins. It’s a
goose-bump moment for lovers of
the theater. Nowhere else, neither
sporting events nor the movies, can
such an overwhelming feeling of
anticipation fill a venue.
Photo: Joan Marcus
By Roger Sands
New Kid on the Block
Rick Miramontez faced a dilemma all
publicists would welcome. Last year,
the president of O&M Co., an eightyear-old New York City theatrical
press agency, represented three
musicals that were nominated for the
coveted Tony Award – “A Gentleman’s
Guide to Love and Murder” (winner
of Best Musical), “After Midnight,”
and “Beautiful” (winner of Best
Performance by an Actress). To further
add to his considerable portfolio,
he also consulted with Disney on
“Aladdin,” the fourth nominee.
“It was our job to not only do
everything possible to enhance the
profile of all nominees,” explains
Miramontez, “but also to promote
Broadway itself. “This is easier said
than done, says the almost 20-year
PR veteran, who believes today’s
national media pays less attention
to Broadway than in the past.
“Certainly the media has an effect
on the public’s appetite,” he says.
“Beautiful” the musical about
legendary singer/songwriter Carole
King, initially presented several unique
challenges for Miramontez and his
enthusiastic staff. “Carole King herself
stayed away from the production in
the early stages, but I viewed that as
an opportunity,” he says. “It allowed
the show to speak on its own terms.”
Miramontez, who grew up in Los
Angeles, moved to New York in 1996
as a publicity assistant. He dabbled
in singing, but eventually returned
to his true calling of squeezing
every inch of publicity from a
production. His gregarious approach
works wonders for his clients.
This fall, O&M Co. will be
transatlantic with productions of
“Kinky Boots” and “Beautiful”
opening on the West End, and “School
Of Rock” opening on Broadway.
Other projects that will be playing
around the country, en route to NYC,
are new musicals “Moonshine: That
Hee Haw Musical” (Dallas Theatre
Center), “Gotta Dance” (Chicago),
and a unique collaboration with
Carole Shorenstein Hays and San
Francisco’s iconic Curran Theatre.
According to Miramontez, “Wherever
there is theater, we’d like to be.” B
BROADWAY, BACKSTAGE
Theatrical publicists receive
a behind-the scenes-look
at an industry most people
only view from a seat in the
audience. However, rubbing
elbows with stars, who can
often be eccentric by nature,
isn’t all lollipops and roses.
“Backstage Pass to Broadway,”
a fascinating book by New York
City publicist Susan L. Schulman,
chronicles her personal
involvement with theatrical
history on the Great White Way.
It’s a must-read for theatergoers,
told from the vantage point of
someone who’s “been there and
done that.” According the Playbill
Magazine, the book contains just
enough backstage glitz and dirt
to be compulsively readable.
March/April 2015 | BELLANYC.COM 81