Le monde des musicals

Version 1

American Son (2018-11-Booth Theatre-Broadway)

Type de série: Original
Théâtre: Booth Theatre (Broadway - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 2 mois 3 semaines
Nombre : 33 previews -
Première Preview : Saturday 06 October 2018
Première : Sunday 04 November 2018
Dernière : Sunday 27 January 2019
Mise en scène : Kenny Leon •
Chorégraphie :
Producteur :
Avec : Kerry Washington (as Kendra Ellis-Connor), Steven Pasquale (as Scott Connor), Jeremy Jordan (as Officer Paul Larkin), and Eugene Lee (as Lieutenant John Stokes)
Commentaires : Golden Globe & Emmy Award nominee Kerry Washington and Drama Desk nominee Steven Pasquale return to the Great White Way to star in the Broadway premiere of American Son, written by Christopher Demos-Brown and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. The cast also features Broadway, "Smash" and "Supergirl" favorite Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee.

Version 2

Children of a Lesser God (2018-04-Studio 54-Broadway)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Studio 54 (Broadway - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 1 mois 2 semaines
Nombre : 23 previews - 54 représentations
Première Preview : Thursday 22 March 2018
Première : Wednesday 11 April 2018
Dernière : Sunday 27 May 2018
Mise en scène : Kenny Leon •
Chorégraphie :
Producteur :
Avec : Joshua Jackson (as James Leeds), Lauren Ridloff (as Sarah Norman), Kecia Lewis (as Mrs. Norman), Julee Cerda (as Edna Klein), Treshelle Edmond (as Lydia), Anthony Edwards (as Mr. Franklin), and John McGinty (as Orin Dennis)
Commentaires : The acclaimed Berkshire Theater Group revival of Mark Medoff's 1980 Tony Award-winning "Best Play" Children of a Lesser God transfers to Broadway under the helm of Tony Award winner Kenny Leon.

TV favorite Joshua Jackson, known for his recurring roles on shows such as "The Affair", "Fringe", and "Dawson's Creek", reprises his performance as James Leeds, alongside co-star Lauren Ridloff as Sarah Norman. Both actors are making their Broadway debuts in the production, which began performances at Broadway's Studio 54 on March 22, 2018.

With supertitles and closed captioning at every performance, as well as American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters at select performances, this production is perhaps the most accessible show in Broadway history and is shedding light on the non-hearing world - a demographic of society that receives sadly too little media attention. Kenny Leon's interpretation is a highly-stylized piece with minimalistic set pieces, surrounded by doorways and tree-trunks, bathed in cold and clinical lighting. The warmth of the piece is solely emitted through the intensity of the interactions between James Leeds and Sarah Norman, and with the latter's relationship with her mother, which evolves from estrangement to redemption. The text also highlights the deaf person's ability to enjoy music on a couple of occasions (through sensitivity to vibrations) and Mr. Leon has taken that opportunity to delve into his own collection of favorite artists to supply a soundtrack to Children of a Lesser God, beginning with Stevie Wonder.

For hearing members of the audience, the play is an intriguing insight into the non-hearing world, especially in its consideration of how members of the deaf community relate to each other and if they desire to be a part of the hearing world or shut themselves away from it. For non-hearing members of the audience, Children of a Lesser God is a rare opportunity of total inclusion, where their trials, tribulations and triumphs stand rightfully in the limelight.
Presse : "The pungency of sign language is not the subject of Mark Medoff’s Children of a Lesser God, which opened on Wednesday at Studio 54 in a mixed bag of a Broadway revival directed by Kenny Leon. But it’s a wonderful bonus to the play’s fierce rivalry between those who promote spoken English as the highest attainable form of communication and those who are staunch partisans of silence." Jesse Green for New York Times

"In the role for which Phyllis Frelich won a Tony and Marlee Matlin an Oscar, Ridloff, a wonderfully expressive actress, provides the show with its vibrant beating heart. She connects with and conveys Sarah’s anger, desire, vulnerability and independent spirit — and leaves a lasting impression." Joe Dziemianowicz for New York Daily News

"Children of a Lesser God is ultimately about how hard it is to understand Sarah’s inner life, but Ridloff is the only thing in the play that seems to have any inner life at all. She is a wonder; the rest is mostly unspeakable." Adam Feldman for Time Out New York

"If there's a more indigestible lump of bouncy 1970s pop schmaltz than Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs," right now it escapes me. It's one of a handful of intrusive music choices that director Kenny Leon makes in the dreary Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God, a once-groundbreaking 1979 play by Mark Medoff that today needs no help showing its age." David Rooney for Hollywood Reporter

"Memory can be deceptive, but it does seem as if this existential conflict between the speaking world and the silent world was portrayed more forcefully in the original production. In this revival, directed by Kenny Leon, the argument doesn’t really surface until the end of the play. Lacking that solid thematic foundation, Medoff’s play deflates into just another romantic drama about mismatched lovers struggling to surmount their differences and live happily ever after." Marilyn Stasio for Variety