ON THE TOWN… VISITING “SUNSET BOULEVARD,” RE-VISITING “DRAG” AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG”S WORLD

By Chip Deffaa

I was reminded anew of theater’s ability to surprise us, to touch us, to move us in a recent visit to “Sunset Boulevard” at the St. James Theatre, and in re-visits to “Drag: the Musical” at New World Stages and “A Wonderful World: the Louis Armstrong Musical” at Studio 54.

Let me share my experiences….

I kept putting off going to see the current incarnation of “Sunset Boulevard.”  I had such good memories of the original 1994 Broadway production, I didn’t feel a need to see a revival that I doubted could measure up to it.    The original Broadway production was extraordinarily well-cast.  Over the course of that production’s  three-year run, Glenn Close,  Betty Buckley, Karen Mason, and  Elaine Paige portrayed  “Norma Desmond.”  (And in 2017,  Close returned to Broadway to star in a revival of “Sunset Boulevard.” )  The original “Sunset Boulevard “ was lavishly produced, with unforgettably opulent sets.

When I heard, a couple of years ago,  that British director Jamie Lloyd was planning to do a minimalist London revival of “Sunset Boulevard”—without sets or costumes—starring Nicole  Scherzinger, former member of the Pussycat Dolls, I had no interest.

 That  London production, however,  proved to be a great hit.  British  friends of mine who saw it told me, “You’d love it!”  But I couldn’t  imagine a “Sunset Boulevard” without sets or costumes.  The character “Norma Desmond”  is  an aging former Hollywood star, living in seclusion in an ornate mansion from a bygone time.  I couldn’t imagine the show working without us seeing Desmond descending the grand staircase of her mansion.

 I couldn’t imagine a former member of the lightweight Pussycat Dolls doing justice to a score that such musical-theater masters as Glenn Close and Betty Buckley  had performed so stirringly.  (And I’d seen Buckley not only wring all of the drama imaginable out of the show’s best songs, “With One Look” and “As If We’d Never Said Goodbye,” on Broadway, I’d also seen her reprise those numbers brilliantly in subsequent concert and nightclub appearances; I wasn’t much interested in seeing a former girl-group pop-singer attempt them.)

But discerning, demanding London audiences loved the new version.

Director Jamie Lloyd announced he would be bringing his reimagined “Sunset Boulevard” to Broadway next.  Still, I wasn’t too curious.

But I finally, almost grudgingly,  made it over to the St. James Theatre.  And I’m so glad I did!  This is exceptionally powerful theater.  And Nicole Scherzinger, whom I’d remembered amiably but innocuously singing “Sway” with the Pussycat Dolls, commanded the stage with an intensity I sure had not anticipated.  Such fierce energy!

This is Scherzinger’s first appearance on Broadway.  But she won me over, giving a performance that was big and eccentric and wonderfully theatrical.  It’s been many years since I saw such a striking Broadway debut.  I admired her bold choices.  At this point, I’d say that she and Audra McDonald (in “Gypsy”) are the two leading contenders for the Tony Award for best actress in a musical.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that I’d ever be putting the names of Audra McDonald and Nicole Scherzinger in the same sentence, I’d have called them crazy.

Tom Francis makes the most of his role as Joe Gillis, the aspiring Hollywood screenwriter who winds up being kept by the demented, over-the-hill Norma Desmond.  Grace Hodgett Young is an excellent Betty Schaefer.

This is an emotionally rich production, with the quality—for me, at least—of a dream.  There are no sets.  The stage is often swathed in fog.

Video camera operators capture the onstage action as it is happening, and we see intense video closeups on a big screen.  This musical makes the best use of video I’ve ever seen in a stage production.  It’s a treat as the camera, at the start of the second act, follows Tom Francis, as he makes his way from his upstairs dressing room to his entrance on stage. What a terrific way to build anticipation for the second act—while emphasizing that we’re experiencing theater.   It is Tom Francis the actor we see descending the stairs, nodding at castmates—like dance captain Giuseppe Bausilio—he happens to pass along the way, before he steps onto the stage, now once again playing the character of Joe Gillis.

 The story is supposedly taking place in 1949-50; but there are anachronisms and incongruities, just as one might have in a dream.  The characters all feel oddly contemporary.  A writer who should be working on an old-fashioned manual typewriter is seen using a laptop (which certainly did not exist in 1949-50).  But—just as in a dream—the incongruities don’t seem to matter.  The big emotions—unrequited love, jealousy, heartbreak, despair, murderous rage—come through clearly.  And Norma Desmond’s story proceeds with a feeling of inevitability towards its grisly, bloody conclusion.

Sitting a few rows in front of me—and clearly enjoying this unusual, expressionistic production—was Patti LuPone, who famously originated the role of “Norma Desmond” in the 1993 London production of “Sunset Boulevard.”  LuPone was slated to star in the original Broadway production the following year, but was unceremoniously replaced by Glenn Close.  That was mighty big news in the theater world at that time.   I was happy to see her enjoying this production now.

And I won’t soon forget Nicole Scherzinger’s breathtaking, bravura star turn–which took me by complete surprise.  She knows how to hold a stage.

See her, if you can.

* * *

When I first reviewed “Drag: the Musical,” a few months back, I noted that 11-year-old Yair Keydar—one of two actors who alternate in the role of “Brendan”—was the best child actor I’d seen on stage in several years.  I noted, too, that I was not surprised that he’s  a good singer.  Although I’ve never met Yair or his mother, Magdalena Fishman, in person, I’ve long admired the mother’s singing .  Magdalena Fishman is a highly respected  Cantor and concert artist; she’s also done work with the National  Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene,  which I like.  So, I knew that young Yair  had  been raised by a master teacher.

It was sheer chance that I happened to see Yair when I reviewed the show.  Had I gone another night, I could just as easily have wound up seeing  the other actor who alternates in the role of “Brendan.”

I found myself wondering if the alternate actor, identified in the Playbill as one Remi Tuckman, could possibly be as good.  Recently, a friend and I went to see “Drag” again.   And I finally got to see   Remi Tuckman on stage.  He’s a first-rate talent.

Before I write more, I want to explain just how rare it is to encounter a young child actor in the theater who’s really a standout.  If I look back over, say, the past dozen years, very few young children in stage productions really impressed me. (I’m talking today about kids, say, 13-years-old and younger.)

 Sydney Lucas—who was just 10 when she opened in “Fun Home,” Off-Broadway, in 2014–was remarkable. She won an Obie Award that year.  She was just 11 when the show transferred to Broadway; that year, she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Tony. (She’s stayed busy since then with television and film.)  Olivia Chun, at age nine, was a show-stealer when I saw her on Broadway in “School of Rock” in 2016.  That big, strong belt coming out of such a small child was unforgettable.  (Today, at 18, her interests are more in classical singing than in musical theater, and she’s won international recognition in that field.)

The young boy who impressed me the most in the past dozen years was Benjamin Pajak, who was just 10 when he began performances on Broadway, in 2021, as “Winthrop” in “The Music Man.”  After that, he co-starred in a City Center Encores revival of “Oliver.”  (He was the best “Oliver” I’ve ever seen—which is saying plenty. There was a real intelligence in his work. I wish that Encores production could have transferred to Broadway, or could have yielded a cast album.)  And he shined, too, in a concert presentation of “Harvey Milk” that I saw.  He’ll be seen in no less than three motion pictures scheduled to come out this year (“The Life of Chuck,” “Playdate,” “Tiny Fugitives”).  I might be forgetting one or two others.  But off the top of my head, those were three young kids I’d seen on stage in the past dozen years who left a strong impression.

No young male singer/actor in the theater  has particularly impressed me since I first saw Pajak in 2021 until now.

 I don’t know where the producers of “Drag: the Musical” found Yair Keydar and Remi Tuckman (kudos to RBT Casting/Ryan Bernard Tymensky, CSA).  But both boys are exceptional singers.  And both are far better than the young singing actor heard on the “Drag” studio cast album, which was recorded before the New York production was mounted. (At present, it is the only album of the show that is available.)

Of course, I can’t fully assess an actor’s overall abilities from just one stage appearance.  But both boys have certainly done terrific work in “Drag” and I hope to see them in other shows.   They’re both very good singers—in different, but equally appealing ways.  Yair’s singing has a touch of classical training in it; Remi’s singing has more of a traditional musical-theater feel.  (If I can exaggerate a bit to make a point—if they were adults, I could imagine Yair going for a role like “The Phantom of the Opera,” while I could envision Remi making a great  “Emcee” in “Cabaret.”)

Let me reconstruct, from the notes I jotted down in the theater, what I observed when Tuckman took  the stage.  He makes his entrance about 20 minutes into the show.  He appears slight—by far, the smallest person in the show.  When we first see him, he is wearing sunglasses that are much  too big for his face and make him appear even smaller.  The glasses, we learn, belonged to his character’s late mother; he wears them to remember her, which adds a note of poignance—the first note of poignance—to the show.

Up until this point, everything in “Drag: the Musical” has been done in an exaggerated, deliberately artificial, high-camp style.  The cast, directed by Spencer Liff, has carried this off well.  They’ve fully  jelled as a company by now, and they find every laugh in the script by Thomas Costanza, Justin Andrew Honard, and Ashley Gordon (who also wrote the score).  I’ve found myself laughing even more tonight than the first time I saw “Drag.”  There’s a lot of bitchy, campy wit in classic drag-show tradition, with everyone speaking and singing in a loud, brash, fast, push-for-the-laughs kind of way, and there are lots  of strong drum beats on the music. The night often feels like a party.  A loud, high-energy party that’s fun its own way.

When young Remi Tuckman, playing 10-year-old “Brendan,” enters, everything seems to change.  He speaks and sings much more quietly than anyone else in the show.  And the audience quiets to listen. He introduces a note of honesty into a show that has—up until now—celebrated artifice.  He speaks and sings with such sincerity, guilelessness,  and openness, he demands our full attention.

He begins singing “I am Brendan.”  He simply stands in place throughout the song.  (Director/choreographer Liff has made  exactly the right choice  here; many directors would be scared to let a young kid have so much stage time, not moving at all, just singing slowly; but the stillness works.)

Tuckman is singing the song much slower than—and far more expressively than—it is sung by a different young singing actor on the studio cast album.  It is an unusually  sensitive, nuanced performance.  I give credit to Tuckman—and to music director Andrew Orbison, who is conducting the number so deftly, so delicately—for finding far more in the song than was apparent on the cast album.  It is, by far,  the best song in a wildly uneven score, and—whether he realizes it or not—Tuckman is  absolutely  making the most of it.  (Incidentally, I can’t remember another show, except for “Annie,” which I first saw on Broadway back in May of 1977, in which a child actor got the best song in a score.)

I don’t know if music-director Andrew Orbison crafted the arrangement that he’s conducting so tenderly tonight—no musical arranger is  credited in the program. But it is genius.  We hear only gentle rhythm guitar as Tuckman begins singing.  Eventually, to add a bit of cushioning under his voice, a keyboard is added.  And that’s it. No percussion.

 When Tuckman reaches the song’s key lines, the musicians drop out altogether, so that Tuckman sings in-the-clear (a capella): “All I want is to be me. / You can look, /  but can you see me?”

He simply speaks the song’s very last line, knowing instinctively just how long to pause: “I… am Brendan.”  And he tears our hearts out.  It is a stunningly good performance, and the show as a whole is richer for it.  I jotted in my notes, in my own shorthand: “Bud Freeman before he died.”  The performance reminded me of something that the superb jazz saxophonist Bud Freeman told me not long before died:   “There can be real power in gentleness.”

To my knowledge, the only recording of this show that is currently available is the studio cast recording—the concept album that was made prior to the New York production.  And neither Yair Keydar nor Remi Tuckman are on that album.  If I were Yair or Remi, I’d book studio time and record the song, if only to properly document my work.   Shows close, kids move on, voices change as kids grow older.  But if you do work this good, it’s great to have a document of it.  And good opportunities for kids to do shows don’t come along that often.

I’ve produced 45 albums over the years, recording countless singers of all ages. The singing that Remi and Yair are doing in this show is as good as that of any of the younger singers I’ve recorded over the years.  I wish them both good luck with whatever comes next after “Drag.”

Incidentally, one new addition to the cast of “Drag” is Adam Pascal, whose work I’ve relished in many shows since he and Anthony Rapp co-starred in the original production of “Rent.”   To me, it feels like just a moment ago that I was interviewing Pascal and Rapp in the crowded dressing room of the original New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway production, before “Rent” moved to Broadway. I saw “Rent” numerous times and was lucky enough to also  attend the recording session, at Right Track Studios, for the original Broadway cast album.  I’ve loved Pascal’s work for some 30 years now.

Pascal does not get a whole lot to do in “Drag,” compared to most shows he’s done; but it’s always a treat to hear that immediately recognizable voice of his.  I could devote a whole column to him; but much has been written about him in the past 30 years, and today I’ve chosen to focus on Tuckman, since almost nothing has been written about Tuckman to date, and he’s a promising young artist to watch.

Incidentally, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp will be reuniting for a series of concert appearances at 54 Below, June 24-28 and July 1-3, 5 and  6 at 7pm.  Their performances—separately or together—are always warmly recommended.  If you like Jonathan Larson’s music, as I do, they’re the foremost living interpreters of his music.  And  you’ll hear plenty of his music—plus assorted surprises—when they return in June and July to 54 Below, where they had a terrific extended run last summer.

* * *

When I reviewed the  “A Wonderful World: the Louis Armstrong Musical” a few months back, I noted that James Monroe Iglehart, as Armstrong, was giving the performance of his lifetime.  He seemed born to play that role.  And I recommended that  you head to Studio 54 to catch his performance in that new Broadway musical.  The show itself, I noted, had some significant flaws, but—for me—its rewards outweighed the flaws.  There was much to savor in the show.

However,  I also noted in my review that Iglehart was only doing six of the eight performances each week; for two performances each week (Wednesday nightand Thursday matinee),  an alternate, James T. Lane, would be portraying Armstrong.  Since then, people have asked me questions like: “Have you seen Lane?   How is he in the role?  Is the show worth seeing when he’s on, or should we only go if Iglehart is playing?”

I recently paid a return visit to “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” going on a Wednesday night specifically  to see how Lane interpreted the role.  While I personally prefer Iglehart’s take, both Iglehart and Lane give strong performances, well worth seeing,  You will not feel cheated if you wind up seeing Lane; he delivers a solid, thoroughly creditable performance, and earned the enthusiastic audience response he got.  It’s an exceptionally demanding role—the character of “Louis Armstrong” rarely ever leaves the stage; he’s singing, dancing, speaking seemingly nonstop—and from my seat in the very front row, I could see the sweat on Lane’s brow; he certainly holds nothing back.  I’ve admired  Lane’s work on stage in past shows—most notably, “The Scottsboro Boys,” which I saw twice.

  James Monroe Iglehart, I feel, captures Armstrong more completely; he gets the nuances and inflections of Armstrong’s way of speaking and singing better, and he offers a warmer portrayal, with moments of transcendence.  James T. Lane’s characterization of Armstrong isn’t as endearing; but it has more steel in it.  His version of Armstrong has less magic, but  more backbone, more “bite.”  He expresses righteous indignation more forcefully.  When he exclaims  that he loves America but doesn’t love all of the people running it, he speaks with such ardent conviction that the audience bursts into wholehearted applause—as if he’d just offered commentary on Donald Trump and his cohorts, not Dwight D. Eisenhower and company.

 It’s fascinating watching two very good, very different ways of playing the role.  Both offer rewards.  I prefer Iglehart’s performance;  but I can’t imagine anyone feeling disappointed if they wind up seeing Lane.  He’s giving his all.

Incidentally, the fellow who understudies both Iglehart and Lane in the role of Louis Armstrong is one Brandon Louis Armstrong, whom the Playbill says is a great-great nephew of Louis Armstrong. I’d go back again just to see him play Armstrong, if I could–but I doubt that’s going to happen now.  You see,  the show has announced a closing date that’s coming soon:  February 23rd, 2025.  By that date, ”A Wonderful World” will have played 151 performances (including 31 previews).

I’m sorry to see the show close.  The production values are terrific.  The sets and costumes are great.  The dancing is excellent, from the sensuous ensemble work in the first scene (“Basin Street Blues”/”Bourbon Street Parade”) to the always rewarding tap-dancing of  Dewitt Fleming Jr.  And there are strong supporting-role performances from Jennie Harney-Fleming (who’s married to Dewitt Fleming Jr. in real life) as “Lil Hardin”; Gavin Gregory as “King Oliver”; Jimmy Smagula (absolutely perfect as “Joe Glaser”); Rennell Taylor as “Banjo Ben.”  There’s a million dollars’ worth of talent on the stage.

But the show as a whole, unfortunately,  does not work quite as well as it should.

As a jazz  lover, I was bothered by all of the needless historical inaccuracies.  The scene in which Lil tells Louis to form a five-piece band and he reacts as if he’s never heard of  a five-piece jazz band–saying that you can’t play jazz with just five musicians–is ludicrous on multiple levels. Not only was the first jazz band to ever record—the highly influential Original Dixieland Jazz Band—a five-piece band, so were countless other early jazz bands that were followings its example, such as the Original Memphis Five, the Original Indiana Five, the Original Louisiana Five, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band, etc.  Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five was formed in keeping with that popular trend.  (For the life of me, I cannot understand how producers could spend millions of dollars on a show like this and not spend a few bucks to have an expert on jazz history vet it.)

I’d rather have seen greater historical accuracy.  But I don’t think that’s the main problem here.

The show  often feels  disjointed.  Musical numbers evoking different eras are forced into places where they don’t belong, creating a hodge-podge kind of feel.  The show’s  first chapter, set in the 1910s, mixes numbers that have an appropriately old-time sensibility  (like “It’s Tight Like That” and “Avalon”) with others that pull us out of the era, like “Kiss of Fire,” a 1950s pop hit, whose lyrics conjure up that time period.

And in creating a show, you need to have all of your different ingredients in just the right proportions.  Every cook knows you can spoil any good recipe if you add too much one spice, to the point where it overpowers everything else.  This show has lots of good performers, and lots of good music. But I think it has more bitterness than is wise, and that leaves a funny kind of  aftertaste.

I think Louis Armstrong fans, who recall how good his music made them feel, may buy tickets to “A Wonderful World,” hoping—not unreasonably—to have that kind of good experience once again.  Maybe they happily recall basking in the warmth of an Armstrong recording like “What a Wonderful World,” which Armstrong performed with such heart and sincerity and good will that the number took on an almost beatific quality; and they want to experience all of that again.  But here, that great song is performed so soon  after so much bitterness  has been  expressed on stage, the song  can’t work its magic.

Louis Armstrong’s broad smile was so authentic, so much a part of who he was, he could sing a number like “When You’re Smiling” and elevate it to something more than it was.  He made you feel like he was embracing you, enveloping you in good will.  However, this show says that his smile was a calculated effect, something he chose to do to disarm audiences, and to provide him with armor to protect him from racism.  But when the show gets too didactic like this, it makes it harder for audiences to take  much pleasure in a song like “When You’re Smiling,” no matter how professionally the song  is performed.

Armstrong was a giant. He’s one of my all-time favorite artists.  (For decades, a matted, framed photo of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five from the 1920s, with Lil Hardin at the piano, has been hanging in my home.)  I wish a way could be found to fix  the flaws in “A Wonderful World” so that it could perhaps tour or get regional productions, or eventually serve as the basis for a film musical.  Armstrong deserves as much.  There is so much that’s worthwhile in this show, I hope it can be reworked a bit so it can have more of a future life.

One final word regarding Louis Armstrong  before I sign off.  In February, Oxford University Press will be releasing Ricky Riccardi’s third book on Armstrong, “Stomp Off, Let’s Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong.”  I was sent an advance copy of this book, which I’ve just finished reading.  I’ll write a detailed review of the book another time.

But let me just say this before I go:  If you have any interest in Louis Armstrong or in early jazz, this book is essential reading.  It is not just the best jazz biography I’ve read in recent years, it is the best biography of any kind that I’ve read in recent years.  Meticulously researched, well-written, it is a major addition to the jazz library.

                                                                                                                                                                — CHIP DEFFAA