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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:22.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Women on the Verge of
a Nervous Breakdown<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This latest Broadway musical from our extremely talented
friend <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>David Yazbek</b> (music and
lyrics; whose prior musicals were <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Full Monty</i> and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/DRS.html"><span style='color:purple'>Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels</span></a></i>), his partner from <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels</i>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jeffrey
Lane</b> (book), and the wonderful director <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Bart Sher</b> (most recently having come from his triumphant, Tony
Award winning production of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>South Pacific</i>
at Lincoln Center) is a completely novel, wildly exciting, and deeply
satisfying experience.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It successfully
brings together David�s fabulous music and emotionally charged, yet always
witty and incisive lyrics and <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Jeffrey
Lane</st1:address></st1:Street>�s inventive and humorous writing with the
iconic 1988 film by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pedro Almod�var</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The great Almod�var played a major role in
every step of the development of the musical, and his participation shows in
how well the theatrical version captures so much of what made the film so
extraordinary.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The storyline faithfully follows that of the film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a complex, convoluted, madcap farce
centered about Pepa (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sherie Rene Scott</b>),
who has just been jilted via an answering machine message by her boyfriend, the
aging Lothario Ivan (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Brian Stokes
Mitchell</b>), with whom she works doing voice dubbing for films.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>While Pepa tries frantically to contact Ivan,
her girlfriend model Candela (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span
lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>Laura Benanti</span></b><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>) is desperately trying to reach her for help with
her latest of numerous infatuations�this one complicated by the fact that the
man involved is a Shi�a terrorist with a bomb.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>On her search to find Ivan, Pepa encounters Ivan�s deserted lunatic wife
Lucia (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Patti LuPone</b>), newly released
from a mental hospital, and also intent on tracking down Ivan.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Add in Lucia�s son Carlos (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Justin Guaini</b>) and his girl friend (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Nikka Graff Lanzarone</b>), who show up at
Pepa�s looking to rent her apartment, Lucia�s attorney Paulina (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>de�Adre Aziza</b>), who turns out to be
Ivan�s new love interest, and an ever-present taxi driver (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Danny Burstein</b>) who here as in the film is eerily a suggestively
Almod�var-looking (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>deus <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>in</b> machina</i>?) presence, and you have
the same wonderful mix of elements and themes that made the movie such a wildly
funny, deeply satisfying experience.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
momentum of the musical carries us through all this complexity with the same
humor and energy that made the film work so well.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It even has actually succeeded in capturing
the physical appearances of the characters�and even of the taxi cab and Pepa�s
apartment with <span class=GramE>its</span> unmistakable, meaning-laden terrace
(also a major presence in Pedro�s latest film, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-09.html#_Toc245911494"><span
style='color:black'>Broken Embraces</span></a></i>; <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>q.v.</i>, my review from the<a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-09.html"><span style='color:purple'> 2009
New York Film Festival</span></a>).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But,
far more importantly, it captures the texture and feel of the world Almod�var
created for his characters and their interactions.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As with most of his films, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Women on the Verge</i> was not essentially
plot-driven, despite the complexity of its plot.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is the special, meaning-imbued, lovingly
odd relational context that Almod�var creates that is so unique and special;
and it is this that this wonderful new musical most faithfully recreates.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I got to speak with Pedro at the Opening
Night Party, and he expressed his particular pleasure about how much the
musical had succeeded in doing this.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>The mood of this
film that is being captured is, in many ways, the quintessential expression of
the spirit of post-Franco <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The late Tony Judt (in his masterpiece, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Postwar</i>), used the films of Almod�var in
this period as both evidence of the end of Fascist influence in Spain at that
time and as a window into the vitality and freedom of the spirit which replaced
it)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In an essay Pedro wrote, quoted in
the Playbill, he said:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:
EN'>In 1987, when I wrote the script of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Mujeres
al borde de <span class=GramE>un</span> ataque de nervios</i>, <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Madrid</st1:State></st1:place> was a party.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Democracy had arrived in our country a decade
before, and the most playful, hedonistic side of the Spanish character had
exploded�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had the good fortune to be
young at that time.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>My films from the
�80s reflect that explosion of freedom which illuminated everything.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>You could say that even grief was joyful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>And this musical
captures the same �party��the same vibrant vitality, the same emotional freedom
and intensity�as did the film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>David Yazbek</span></b><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>�s music, as always, is sensational and provides
the major emotional expression of the spirit of the work:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>energetic, soulful, witty, and moving�but
this time with a Sapnish feel.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Right
from to opening number (the exciting, toe-tapping �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Madrid</b>,� sung by the taxi driver against a projected collage of
photographic images of that city [you can hear the demo version of David Yazbek singing this song
by clicking <a
href="http://www.rickrubens.com/Madrid.mp3"><span style='color:purple'> here </span></a>), through Pepa�s wonderful number �<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Lovesick</b>� and the hilarious,
show-stopping patter song �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Model
Behavior</b>� (a series of answering machine messages left by Candela in her
desperate attempt to get in touch with Pepa), and including all the women
singing the riveting �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>On the Verge</b>�
at the end of the first act, and then Ivan�s �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow</b>,� Lucia�s movingly fabulous recounting
of her loss and madness in �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Invisible</b>,�
right through to the moving and beautiful �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Talk
to Me</b>� with which Pepa ends the show�every part of the show is made vibrant
by David�s fabulous score.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>The acting and
singing is <span class=GramE>all of the</span> highest caliber, although
certainly <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Patti LuPone</b> and<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Laura Benanti </b>are incredible
standouts, and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Danny Burstein</b> also
gives an impressive performance.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One of
my few disappointments was that <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sherie
Rene Scott</b> was not as wonderful as I have come to expect:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>her performance was perfectly adequate; it
just never soared to the levels it might have�and that some of the others
achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>The combination
of the incredible set design by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Michael
Yeargan</b> and the projections by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sven
Ortel</b> add amazingly to the energy and richness of the experience, creating
a visual environment that is at once a realistic evocation of the physical
spaces of Madrid in which the action tales place, while at the same time being
an almost Mondrian-esque symbolic expression of the emotional meaning of those
spaces.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The effect is both novel and
rewardingly successful�and very much in keeping with the multi-dimensional
cinematographic spaces created by Almod�var himself in the film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Women on the Verge</i>
is not your run-of-the-mill musical.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Almost everything about it is novel and�appropriately��on the
edge.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The pacing is unusual, the set
design is unusual, the format is unusual�the wonderful part being that, in the
end, <span class=GramE>it</span> all works <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>unusually</i>
well!<span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Even the ending is a brave�and ultimately
very successful�departure from the expectable, formulaic Broadway approach:
rather than a big, rousing finale, </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Women
on the Verge</i> <span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>ends with the
tender, poignant �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Talk to Me</b>.�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is as beautiful and moving as it is
unexpectedly and contrapuntally tranquil in relation to the high energy of what
has preceded it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>As was mentioned
in Patrick Healy�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>NY Times </i>article
of 6 October (which I sent out as a Culture Alert at the time), the play also
took the unusual and risky step of opening directly on Broadway, without an out
of town run first.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This decision led to
an incredibly hectic and pressured month of previews, during which time </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Women on the Verge</i> <span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>was extensively and repeatedly reworked, changed,
tweaked, and reworked all over again.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>If
you saw the play in its earliest incarnations, you have not seen anything like
the finished product.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was only in the
final days before opening night that the energy and complexity of all that goes
on within this fantastic production finally came together and resolved in a
completely integrated way.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I find myself
wondering whether some of the reviewers who found it too frenetic, or who did
not appreciate the incredibly coherent flow which ultimately ties the
experience together and creates an understandable and powerful motion through
it, may actually have seen too early a performance of it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(This possibility hardly justifies the
inexplicably snotty, often self-contradictory negative reactions of the <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>NY Times</i>� Ben Brantley; but, then, what
ever does?)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>Nevertheless,
when all is said and done, it was still an amazingly complex undertaking to
make this unbelievably complicated story into a musical; and director <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bart Sher</b> deserves enormous credit and
admiration for pulling it all the elements together and orchestrating the
experience in a form that works so extremely well.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>At the party I said to him, �Bravo, bravo,
arcibravo!�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Given Ivan�s womanizing
that underlies the experience of the women about whom the play revolves, can it
be too far off to quote <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Don Giovanni</i>?)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>If you love
Almod�var, you cannot afford to miss this musical.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>If you do not know Almod�var, then go see
this musical and you will then discover you <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>want</i>
to know Almod�var.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And, Almod�var aside,
go see </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Women on the Verge</i>
because it is so much fun, and just<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> so
damn good</i>!<span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown</i></b> is now playing at the
newly <span class=GramE>renovated<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Belasco</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'> Theatre</b>, <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">111 West 44<sup>th</sup>
Street</st1:address></st1:Street></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tickets are available through <a
href="http://www.telecharge.com/BehindTheCurtain.aspx?prodid=8194"><span
style='color:purple'>Telecharge</span></a>.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><img border=0 width=573 height=6
id="_x0000_i1025" src=line1.gif></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/"><i>Return
to Dead Parrot home page. </i></a></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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