Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test

The Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test is our personal and highly opinionated Commuter's Guide to New York theater and cultural events, with an emphasis on Broadway and Off-Broadway theatrical productions. The test is simple: is an event worth the always expensive, time consuming, and too often horrendous struggle to commute to New York City from New Jersey, Long Island, Upstate New York or Connecticut? Only truly great or near-great performances and productions may meet this stiff challenge!

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Location: Princeton, New Jersey, United States

James Camner is an antiquarian dealer of autographs, manuscripts and printed music and books of Opera, Classical Music, Theater, Dance, and Film, as well as a published author of more than 10 books on the performing arts including "How to Enjoy Opera" (Simon and Schuster), "The Great Opera Stars in Historic Photographs" (Dover), "Stars of American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs" (Dover - with Stanley Appelbaum); was for over 20 years a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine and has written feature articles and reviews for Opera News.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Ruined, a play by Lynn Nottage at the Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, directed by Kate Whoriskey.
God of Carnage, a play by Yasmina Reza at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Directed by Matthew Warchus, starring Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden.

After a long hiatus from New York Theatre, we doubled up on Wednesday, choosing the two most decorated plays of the season. Interestingly, "God of Carnage" actually has a passing reference to the subject matter of "Ruined", the fighting in the Congo. But awards and acclaim aside, there is no comparison between the plays - "God of Carnage" is a light as air star vehicle of no substance, and except for a few riotous lines, is forgettable fluff, which absolutely depends on its star quartet. Of these, James Gandolfini is by far the most rewarding and enjoyable, but we did like Hope Davis, and to a lesser extent, Jeff Daniels. But Marcia Gay Harden was shrill and stiff, and her Tony Award (over many more worthy candidates, especially the female stars of "Joe Turner") is unfathomable to us. Jeff Daniels does not come close to matching the performance of Ralph Fiennes in the same role in the London mounting of "God of Carnage" which, Gandolfini aside, was superior to its New York counterpart. The reference in "God of Carnage" to the fighting in the Congo is, to put it mildly, flippantly obscene and no one who attends "Ruined" will fail to see just how poor in taste it is. "God of Carnage" is, in our opinion, perhaps the flimsiest play to ever win the Tony.
"Ruined" unlike "God of Carnage" is not a star vehicle, but is instead a superbly written two act play (long acts) of great substance, haunting, heartbreaking, inspiring, and full of drama. It fully deserved the Pulitzer. The play is so old fashioned, it's as if Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee or Harold Pinter had not existed; not for Lynn Nottage is the magic realism of a Tarell McCraney (the brilliant young writer of "The Brothers Size") or the absurdism of Sarah Ruhl (author of the great play "Eurydice."). By the time the harrowing "Ruined" ends, we realize we've watched a masterwork, played to perfection by an outstandingly talented cast. That this cast had three understudies in key roles only underscores the strength of the writing, and the depth of talent employed in this production which has, along with the revival of "Our Town" and the Pulitzer runner up "Becky Shaw" made this a very memorable Off-Broadway season.
Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Grades: Ruined - A+ God of Carnage B

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