2/22/2026 An Old Man’s Musings
THE INSIDIOUS APPEAL OF NON-CREATIVITY
I’m embarrassed to confess my copious time is not filled with the creative spark that drove my young-man desire to be a writer and my middle-age-man desire to create a new aesthetic of criticism, applied specifically to the remarkable consistently excellent output of Atlanta Theatre, both professional and not-so-professional. I can rationalize that every show I’ve seen here in Florida was not worth a written response (senor citizens playing ingénues, just-off-book (if that) line readings, even totally dropped lines and scenes). All this is true. And yet, nothing is as bad as that final performance I gave of Book of Will during my TGA attack, an embarrassment that drove me to never audition again (can I really promise no recurrence?) and drove me to avoid writing about older artisans who fight with the same “senior issues” as do I.
It’s easier to just avoid writing altogether, to avoid engagement with plays altogether, to avoid my still-lingering ambitions to anthologize columns that I still find elements with which to take pride. It’s easier to fall into a daily regimen of television binges and script readings, of iPhone “mental games” and tap-tap-tappable apps, of frequent visits to the Villages Squares with their availability of cheap (but competent) wine and the many cover bands doing homage to the musical tropes of my own long-distance youth.
In essence, that “cannot not-write” nature required of consistent creative output has been Florida-sun burned out of my psyche.
To add to my ever-growing roster of regrets, I have a number of theatre-centric video streams I’ve been meaning to write about, avoiding because does anyone really care what I have to say about them? Feedback from my readers has been scant of late, even more scant than my output (apart from movie thumbnails on the BZB Facebook page – if you don’t know it, you should look for it – countless good recommendations on classic (and eminently streamable) movies and TV).
Conversely, I am narcissistic enough to answer that question, “Gosh, I really hope so. Let’s try them and see!”
All of this is a long-winded intro to a collection of those (short) columns I’ve been avoiding writing. Let’s see if I remember enough to be fair (and coherent). Since the actual dates of my experiencing these are in a place in my memory I’m too lazy to uncover, let’s just assume I’ve seen them all sometime in 2026.a
WICKED: FOR GOOD Amazon Prime (et alia) / Blu-Ray/DVD
RETURN TO OZ
So, last year I confessed in my review of the first part of Wicked my lack of enthusiasm for the liberties the musical took with Gregory Maguire’s original novel, and my appreciation for the specific choices the movie’s creative team took with the material. Wicked: For Good makes even stronger choices, and I came away truly appreciating its energy and the talent involved (on both sides of the camera). I’ve seen it three times now, once with Jon M. Chu’s Director’s commentary, which, to be honest, is fascinating, and my enjoyment has not diminished on additional viewings.
Wicked: For Good picks up many years after the conclusion of Part One. Elphaba is in full “Wicked Witch” repute and doing what she can for the beleaguered animals of Oz. Glinda has become the ‘Good Witch” spokesperson for the propaganda arm of the Wizard’s autocracy. Fiyero has become the captain of the Wizard’s guard. Nessa has become Governor of Munchkinland. The Yellow Brick Road is nearing completion, and Madame Morrible is conjuring a tornado to draw Elphaba out of hiding. What could possibly go wrong?
I really appreciate the “plot strings” that lead to the creations of The Tin Man and Scarecrow, plot strings that were nebulous (at best) on stage and were a slap in the face of fans of the novel. Here, they not only make sense, they become inevitable and add to the emotional resonance of the vilification of Elphaba. A card-carrying leftie like me cannot help making allegorical inferences to current American politics, even though the source material predates us by decades.
Act Two of the musical was always a sticking point for me, less interesting musically and carrying more than a little “filler.” Here, there is still filler (in the form of two new songs from Stephen Schwarz – “No Place Like Home” for Elphaba -- which IMHO deserved an Oscar nod -- and “The Girl in the Bubble” for Glinda. The latter song left me cold at first, but the more I listened to it, the more I appreciated its construction and the way it deepened Glinda’s character. That it is filmed with a one-shot tracking cut that uses mirrors and trickery made me appreciate it even more (especially after hearing Chu’s description of its creation).
The movie positively races to its inevitable conclusion, clarifying details that were only hinted at in the book and stage version, and ends with the absolutely best shot I could imagine.
Yes, this movie is darker than Part One, but there are so many bravura sequences – the aforementioned mirror song, the wedding/dungeon montage, the sadness behind Ariana’s eyes, the vocal dynamics of the stars (even Jeff Goldblum acquitted himself well), the overall impact of watching the two movies back-to-back in a single sitting. This is musical-to-movie adaptation at its absolute finest.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: TWELFTH NIGHT PBS Passport
THE FOOD OF LOVE
Because I am old and lazy, much of this will be copy, pasted, and edited from my (self-professed) clever musings on North Fulton Drama Club’s 2015 production.
(1) THE SCRIPT. This is one of my favorite Shakespeares (this is my umpteenth foray into Illyria, not counting all the videos, movies, and modern adaptations). It has passion, hidden desire, fops, clowns, prigs, music, magic, and mayhem. And it has some of the most beautiful language ever uttered on a stage.
(2) THE PRODUCTION. This is a video capture of last summer’s star-studded Shakespeare in the Park production, and rocks on every level.
(3) THE CONCEPT: An ethnically mixed, gender fluid cast, a more-or-less contemporary milieu. A production that celebrates the universality of love, attraction, gender roles, cruel trickery, and drunken revelry.
(4) THE SET: Bare Stage backed by “What You Will” in large letters (providing the impetus for an amusingly not-out-of-place Fonzie-esque “A-A-A-A” from Sir Toby). Set changes were primarily furnishings raised and lowered via trap doors -- changes so fast and seamless as to be seemingly invisible
(6) THE CASTING: Amazingly, the diverse cast gelled into true ensemble. Lupita Nyong’o as Viola, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Sir Anthony, Sandra Oh as Olivia, b as Antonio, and John Ellison Conlee as Sir Toby all excelled and made memorably original characterizations. But it’s Peter Dinklage’s Malvolio who absolutely steals the show. (Smart choice to have Ms. Nyong’o’s actual brother, Junior, playing Sebastian – at least it was smart until they’re on stage together – Junior is noticeably taller than Lupita. OTOH, the ensemble play on it with a wry and self-deprecating “How could we think this was the same person?” subtext).
(7) THE COSTUMES: Semi-modern design (with exaggeration) that works 100%,
(8) MALVOLIO: As I said, Peter Dinklage absolutely OWNS this role. His forced smile is enough to give me nightmares, and his priggishness is (almost) a thing of beauty. More to the point, he consistently inspired me to shout "Sneck up!" to my computer screen. (IYKYK)
(9) FESTE: Moses Sumney beings a funky street quality to the songs and attitudes and is a pure delight to watch.
(10) OLIVIA: Sandro Oh very successfully navigates that razor’s edge between grief and lust and finds more opportunities for humor than I’m used to seeing from this character.
(11) SIR TOBY and SIR ANDREW: John Ellison Conlee and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are a marvelous team, and milk every drunken pretentious foppish moment for pure comedy gold.
(12) THE EXPERIENCE: Watching Shakespeare in the Park in video format has to be a pale experience next to being there with the bats and the squirrels and the mosquitos and the humidity. This was one of the finest experiences in an admittedly high-bar collection. I strongly urge you to wend thy way Illyria-ward (PBS-ward?), generously dropping donation dollars on thy way to a Passport. Just do not wear yellow.
If Shakespeare be the food of life, play on;
Give me excess of it, that surfeiting,
Our humor may quicken and so fly.
This play again! It has a soaring grace;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Lifting and giving color. More! Much more!
'Tis much more sweet now than it was before.
O spirit of life, how quick and fresh art thou,
That notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, all enters there,
Of such validity and pitch that e'er
Our burdens fall like dark forgotten dreams
That fade like smoke. So full of shapes is this,
That quibbles fade like snow into the night.
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Amazon Prime
OLD FRIENDS
Meet Franklin Shephard, musical theatre genius, Hollywood entrepreneur. We meet him at the height of his fame, his success, his self-betrayal. We go backward in time to witness his friends, his wife, his ambitions un-falling by the wayside. We end with him and his friends watching Sputnik from a New York City rooftop, celebrating their youth, their talent, and the world opening before them with its promise of a rosy tomorrow.
Sound depressing? It’s not.
This is Sondheim’s oft-revised Merrily We Roll Along, based on an equally unprofitable 1934 play by Kaufman and Hart (You Can’t Take it With You). Told in reverse chronological order, it achieves a profound emotional response as we eventually see what Franklin Shephard has lost along the way, Yes, he is successful and rich and (perhaps) even happy (we can debate that point later if you’d like), but at what cost?
I’ve been a fan of this show since the Original Cast release of its original 1981 opening, the one that closed after only 16 performances (but 44 previews). I saw a production in Philadelphia (mumble mumble) years ago that positively knocked my socks off and have been hopeful that a revival would also “revive” its reputation. Through many Off-Broadway revisions (and a single London attempt), the show failed to find an audience, despite generally good reviews and word-of-mouth. The show is rarely performed in regional and non-professional settings.
But a 2022 Off-Broadway revival achieved some success and transferred to Broadway in 2023, where it achieved even more success, receiving a bevy of Tony nominations and winning four (including Best Revival of a Musical). This is the version here, created by the same video team that gave us streaming versions of Hamilton and Come From Away. (This version is not to be confused with a new movie adaptation by Richard Linklater that will be shot over the next twenty years so the actors will accurately reflect the ages of the characters. The end scenes are reputed to be already completed.)
Which brings us the inevitable question, is this streaming version any good? I think so. Combining my fondness for the show – the concept, the score, and the script -- with some outstanding performances by the main cast, what’s not to like?
Jonathan Groff makes an immediate impression as Shephard, combining a charisma and charm that tells us right away that his dark side is kept so under wraps no one “today” (actually 1976) could possibly see it. Except for maybe his long-time gal-pal Mary (Linsay Mendez), who has a drunken breakdown at the party celebrating his latest movie. Not even seen in this opening scene is Franklin’s long-time friend and collaborator, Charlie Kringas (Daniel Ratciffe). We soon learn what drove them apart and Ratcliffe totally nails the frenzy and sadness and energy that drive the song “Franklin Shephard Inc.”
Along the way back in time we meet Franklin’s wives (Katie Rose Clarke and Krystal Joy Brown), his first producer (Reg Roberts), and various others he used and cast aside when they no longer met his needs.
For the record, I found the musical highlight of the show to be his first wife Beth’s ripped-from-the-gut ”Not a Day Goes By” that brilliantly brings to life her pain and love and ambivalence and despair.. Katy Rose Clarke gives such an impressive performance here that she totally sells us on all the layers of this character, even though, technically, it’s her first scene.
And that’s the beauty of Merrily – rather than building subtextual layers song-by-song, incident by incident as a normal chronology would allow, we are shown these characters fully formed, at the end of the story, and the actors must gradually uncover the layers, cast them aside, and leave us with the semi-pristine young idealists that shared that roof-top appreciation of Sputnik.
Apropos of nothing, I was pleasantly surprised in this last scene by a totally new (I think) piece of business involving Mary’s roommate at the time, a character who has not appeared before this, but who holds an important role in the development of Charlie as a character. It was an elegant grace note to what is usually a compelling ending (beginning?) honoring youth and talent and optimism and the future.
So, yes, I really really loved this show, (at least this video version of it), and hope to watch it again and again, especially if it’s released on Blu-ray.
-- Brad Rudy (BKRudy@aol.com)