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Jesse North

Stage Rush TV: Episode 13

Talking points:

• Red set designer Christopher Oram kicks off Stage Rush’s Tony series!
• The cast of White’s Lies somehow enjoys themselves, despite the horrific writing
• Broadway grosses

What do you think, Rushers? Have you seen Red? What did you think of Christopher Oram’s set? Did you find White’s Lies as embarrassing as I did? Leave your questions, thoughts, and suggestions in the comments!

Broadway Brain: 'Red' set designer Christopher Oram doesn’t like color

Few artists get the chance to recreate artwork that has had an effect on their own craft. British set designer Christopher Oram, who is nominated for a Tony for his work in Red, got to do just that with the Mark Rothko murals intended for (yet which never became a part of) New York’s Four Season’s restaurant. The play features Alfred Molina as the American painter who squares off with his young assistant (played by Eddie Redmayne) over the elements of art, as well as the struggle for student and teacher. The minimalist production, which is up for seven Tony awards, including Best Play, rests on the shoulders of two actors and the massive canvases on display in Rothko’s Bowery studio. In a phone interview from London, Oram (who pulls double duty as the show’s costume designer) told Stage Rush about the building sets in one week, the luxury of being picky about projects, and keeping tabs on a show once it’s opened. 

What were your thoughts or reaction when you found out you were nominated?

Very excited. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I don’t consider my work to be flashy like [the work that the Tonys tend to recognize]. What I do is make the play work, and that’s good enough or me. When it gets recognized, that’s good for me too. 

What does the Tony nomination mean to you?

I haven’t done a good amount of work in United States. To work on Broadway is a major achievement, as is to be recognized at this high level. The play itself has been successful in connecting with audiences. I believe in it, and in the writing. When it was offered to me, I felt it was an important and exiting play and wanted to be a part of it very much. As a set and costume designer, you read a new play and you try to asses if you like it and if the audience will like it. It’s difficult with new works, because with works of Shakespeare, you know there will always be an audience for it. Red is unique and has no history as a piece. You’re looking to create an audience for it that will be interested in the subject matter. It’s great to find a play that makes a connection. 

What are some of the responsibilities of set designing?

Design is a discipline and it covers everything about the piece. These days, there are fewer boundaries to each person’s work. The crossover between lighting affects video designers, which affects set designers. I worked very closely with Red’s lighting designer, Neil Austin. The description of Mark Rothko’s studio was key about how he controlled life. I knew I had to have close dialogue with Neil about how I would design the space, how he would light the play.

Stage Rush TV: Episode 12

 

Talking points:

• Tony nominations announced: predictability and disappointment
• Collected Stories: another well-developed Donald Margulies relationship
• Stuffed and Unstrung: foul-mouthed, hysterical puppets without a script
• Enron’s producers act hastily and close the show
• Broadway grosses 

What do you think, Rushers? What are your reactions to the Tony nominations? Do you think the Best Score category should have been eliminated this year? Do you think Memphis is a worthy opponent for Fela? Do you think the producers of Enron are acting too fast by closing the show? Leave your thoughts, questions, and suggestions in the comments!

2010 Tony Awards: Nominations & Reactions

Well, here they are folks. And just like Christmas morning, we’re excited about some things, and disappointed about others. Check out the list of the 2010 Tony Award nominees below, where you’ll also find what predictions of mine were incorrect (not too many!) and my take on the categories.

Best Play
In The Next Room (or the vibrator play) by Sarah Ruhl
Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts
Red by John Logan
Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies

Predictable category. Tonys got it right. Note though how few nominations Next Fall received, including getting shut out of the acting categories.

Best Musical
American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet 

My wrong guess: Everyday Rapture 

Surprised Million Dollar Quartet made it in here, particularly with so few nominations. At least it wasn’t The Addams Family.

Best Revival of a Play
Fences by August Wilson
Lend Me A Tenor by Ken Ludwig
The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller

Best Revival of a Musical
Finian’s Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime

2010 Tony Awards: Nominee Predictions

It’s been a Broadway season dominated by straight plays and Hollywood names adorning marquees. It’s also been a weak year for the original musical, with only two entries (The Addams Family and Memphis) having original scores. Nevertheless, the Tony nominations are upon us. Before Lea Michele and Jeff Daniels announce the 2010 Tony Award nominations Tuesday morning over a live webcast on the Tony website, check out Stage Rush’s predictions on which names will make the cut and will be seen at Radio City Music Hall on June 13. 

Best Play

In The Next Room (or the vibrator play) by Sarah Ruhl

Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts

Red by John Logan

Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies 

Best Musical

American Idiot

Everyday Rapture

Fela!

Memphis

Best Revival of a Play

Fences by August Wilson

Lend Me A Tenor by Ken Ludwig

The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber

A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller 

Best Revival of a Musical

Finian’s Rainbow

La Cage aux Folles

A Little Night Music

Ragtime

Review: Everyday Rapture

We all know that Broadway and hamminess go hand in hand. One is just a part of the other as peanut butter is to jelly. Yet the level of obnoxiousness that Sherie Rene Scott reaches in her one-woman show Everyday Rapture is downright off-putting. 

As a last-minute replacement for Lips Together, Teeth Apart, (the play that Megan Mullally unprofessionally ditched), causing the show to cancel) the Roundabout Theatre Co. rustled up Everyday Rapture, which performed at the off-Broadway Second Stage Theatre last May. Written by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott, the one-woman show (with backup vocalists and a brief character role, so… kinda sorta) focuses on Scott’s journey from oppressed childhood in Kansas to her self-proclaimed semi-stardom on Broadway. 

Most know Scott from her Tony-nominated turn in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and for playing Ursula in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. In addition, she and her husband Kurt Deutsch founded S-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, which is one of the largest Broadway record companies that publish cast recordings. Scott is by no means short of talent or artistic ability. That’s actually not my issue with Rapture—it’s the manner in which the material is presented.