This is an excellent musical theatre evening. And its for adults! It's short, about 85 mins or so, but jammed packed and it's never ever tedious or uninteresting.
Superbly mounted: conception & direction by Roger Rees (A MAN OF NO IMPORANTCE, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, and TV's CHEERS); choreography by Ann Reinking (yep!) doesn't waste a step and every movement is precise and finely executed; music is by one of the greats of the musical theatre, Kurt Weill (3PENNY OPERA, LADY IN THE DARK, LOVE LIVE; JOHNNY JOHNSTON); and lyrics by the likes of Ira Gershwin, Bertolt Brecht, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash, Weill himself, and several others.
Equisitely sung (without amplification I might add) and danced by Bebe Neuwirth (A CHORUS LINE, CHICAGO, TV's CHEERS, etc.) She is a terrific actress, too. You care about her from the moment whe walks into the seedy bar on stage and you won't stop caring. Adding to the class of the piece are Gregory Butler, Ed Dixon, Shawn Emamjomeh, and the sole pianist Leslie Stifelman.
There is no dialogue except for the song lyrics. And although each song was written for another show in another time together here they work perfectly.
JENNY is one of the most satisfying evenings of musical theatre I've personally enjoyed in months, including two on Broadway just last week.
Eventhough JENNY is in the tiny and funky off off-Broadway Zipper Theatre, everthing about JENNY is superlative. This includes what at first appears to be no set. The lighting creates its own magic, too. This is a first class production: material, performing artists; and creative artists.
Try to see JENNY if any of the above appeals to you. But hurry, it's a limited engagement (through the end of June I believe) and it only plays Thursday-Saturday at the Zipper Theatre on W. 37th Street. Curtain is 11pm. There a bar in the lobby, too, if you come early.
I'd like to think JENNY lies around for quite a while to come.
I've no idea who you're talking about but your friend is entitled to his/her opinion.
I believe this thread was addressed to those who might be interested in this show...so that doesn't include you or your friend, it seems. Why are you wasting your time on this thread?
But there may be other folks who might be interested in Weill or Bebe Neuwirth and for them its worth a visit.
Updated On: 6/6/04 at 12:00 AM
As I said before Jose, I know you run the show around here now, I mean, it seems that way, right? But still, I didn't know your threads were monologues. I thought it was a message board. Besides which, I was responding to Corine, which is what people on message boards do. But, you know, I said it before.
Well...either way, I definitely thought it was great and I'm glad to hear it's extending. I hope I get to catch it again...
(formerly bronte604)
"You really just love money and power and capitalism? You know they're never going to love you back."
"Things happen for the best...I don't even believe that myself."
Jose must work for Bebe! The show simply isn't good--a strained attempt at a story line through Weill's songs leaves only a meandering narrative. Bebe is no Ute Lemperer for certain--she's out of her element here, and it shows. The show is thankfully short.