"Through a Glass Darkly". Photo by Ari Mintz.

The lovely and heart-breakingly talented film actress Carey Mulligan (Pride and Prejudice, Never Let Me Go, and Oscar-nominated for An Education) returns to the stage tonight in an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly. Presented by The Atlantic Theater Company at the New York Theater Workshop through July 3rd, the melancholy play revolves around a family’s struggle to reconnect–and deal with a daughter’s mental illness–while at a beach retreat suffused with memories of their absent mother and wife.

I’ll refrain from giving a full review given opening night protocols (I’m a good Catholic boy like that) but I will say that it is a worthwhile evening, emotionally acute if slightly bound to the straightforwardness of its screenplay roots. It should come as no surprise to anyone who saw her in the magnificent 2008 revival of The Seagull (egregiously overlooked by the Tonys that season) that Carey Mulligan is wondrous. This is no film actress “slumming it” on stage. In fact, following directly after seeing Derek Jacobi in King Lear and Mark Rylance in Jerusalem, her performance completed a fascinating triptych of the last 50 years of (British) theater acting styles. So, put on your tweed jacket, crank up the theme to “Masterpiece Theater” and let’s survey the thespian territory from grand classicism to muscular method-ology, finally landing at bare naturalism:

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Every first Wednesday of the month, get caught up on what’s new on stage with a review round-up. And that vaguely hollow, clinking sound you hear at the end of each segment? That’s me tossing in my two cents. For June, let’s take a tour of two very different “cities” gracing the Great White Way:

Photo by Joan Marcus.

JERUSALEM

A larger-than-life, drug-dealing Pied Piper faces eviction, partying teenagers and the disappearance of a mythic Britain in Jez Butterworth’s comedic drama, anchored by an unimprovable Mark Rylance.

“…a seismic performance that threatens to level the old Music Box Theater…” New York Times

“Jerusalem can be thought-provoking, but it’s also an exercise in nostalgia — an elegy for a country that’s lost its soul.” New York Post

“Jez Butterworth’s half-rejectionist, half-heraldic drinking song of a play…” New York Magazine

“Jerusalem succeeds, above all else, as a vehicle for the talents of Mark Rylance, who invests Johnny with a blazing, barreling intensity and a sort of sordid charisma.” USA Today

Mizer’s Two Cents: Yes, Mark Rylance is a force of nature. Yes, the play is three hours long and may prove tough for those expecting a night of jazz hands and sparkle (though it does have big laughs and a momentum that I found engrossing for much of the play). Yes, it’s deeply British but the characters and situations are universal and the language has a heightened spin that is lovely to hear. So just say “yes” to it. The opening minute alone is a brilliant piece of writing and directing, telling us almost everything we need to know about the worlds of the show (and getting a huge laugh) by raising and lowering the curtain on two contrasting visions of the set. And the final act of the play, featuring a heartbreakingly lovely monologue by Aimee-Ffion Edward (pictured above), is transcendent in the truest sense of the word; it reaches for something beyond words, something elemental that only art can touch.

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We’re spanning the globe for some quick links and tidbits from the week in theater news:

• Let’s start it out like a song with the announcement of New York City Center’s Encores! upcoming season, which includes the life-in-reverse Sondheim/Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along. It should be a must-see given that the show’s score is as tuneful and heartbreaking as anything Sondheim has ever produced.

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  Mark Rylance. Photo by Simon Annand.

  You’ve got another chance to see the Holy Land…at least the theatrical kind. Producers announced that they are extending the run for Jerusalem, the invigoratingly epic new British play featuring an astonishing central turn by Mark Rylance. Tickets are now on sale through August 21.

• Speaking of great performances, do you regret missing out on the divine Cate Blanchett in A Streetcar Named Desire? Learn your lesson and grab tickets for the Sydney Theater Company’s Uncle Vanya, starring the Oscar winner and making its only currently announced U.S. stop at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in August. Tickets go on sale June 1 for members and June 10 for the rest of us.

• Since we’re already Down Under, let’s take note that the Premier of New South Wales revealed that a musical adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom will make its premiere spin at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in 2013.

• Another movie-to-stage adaptation (this is like a free-association chain!) made news; The Pasadena Playhouse announced that it will be the home for a musical version of Sleepless in Seattle, June 2012.

• The Drama Desk Awards were handed out and the Book of Mormon, War Horse and Anything Goes juggernauts rolled on. Three surprises worth noting: Norbert Leo Butz took Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Catch Me If You Can, Bobby Cannavale (The Motherf—-er with the Hat) beat out the blockbuster competition for Outstanding Actor in a Play and a limited-run Off-Broadway show, See Rock City, shockingly took the prize for Outstanding Book of a Musical from those seemingly unstoppable Mormon boys.

• The long-rumored Broadway revival of Godspell is finally a go. It will play Circle in the Square beginning October 13 with direction by Daniel Goldstein and choreography by Broadway Blog friend Christopher Gattelli. With Wicked next door, they might as well dub the block Stephen Schwartz Way.

• The Off-Broadway musical Lucky Guy rides off into the sunset this weekend, closing after a shortened run. Happy Trails.

"Grand Hotel". Image via Youtube.

Unless you grew up in New York City, the annual Tony Awards show was your gateway drug to theater bliss. Before Glee made showtunes safe again for prime time, a burgeoning musical lover had to make due with the three show albums in his parents’ collection (in my case, a reel to reel of Camelot, an 8-track of Godspell and a vinyl copy of the Paint Your Wagon motion picture soundtrack–I could have turned my parents’ into child services for that one alone) and wait it out until that one night a year when the world was shiny and bright.

With this year’s Tony Awards fast approaching (Sunday, June 12 on CBS), let’s take a look at video from some of my favorite Tony moments.  They may not be the best of all time, but these are the ones that came to mind today:

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Every first Wednesday of the month, get caught up on what’s new on stage with a review round-up. And that vaguely hollow, clinking sound you hear at the end of each segment? That’s me tossing in my two cents.

With the spring season about to ramp up, I thought I’d offer a sneak peek edition of “To See or Not to See” featuring a critical look at two shows that are up and running (or tumbling into the pit) and a tease for the three shows I’m most excited to catch in the months ahead.

Image via Google (Sara Krulwich, The New York Times)

SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK

Following multiple delays and bruised bodies (as well as egos), the bank-busting, comic book musical—directed by The Lion King‘s Julie Taymor and with music by U2′s Bono and The Edge—still hasn’t officially opened.  But that hasn’t stopped most major critics from piling on like a spandex sale at the Justice League.

“Spider-Man is not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway; it may also rank among the worst.” New York Times

“An inconsistent, maddening show that’s equal parts exciting and atrocious.” New York Post

“It’s by turns hyperstimulated, vivid, lurid, overeducated, underbaked, terrifying, confusing, distracted, ridiculously slick, shockingly clumsy, unmistakably monomaniacal and clinically bipolar. But never, ever boring.” New York Magazine

“Beyond the offstage drama and lavish budget, and all the feats and flash accompanying them, lies an endearingly old-fashioned musical.” USA Today

Mizer’s Two Cents:  If you love stagecraft, go for the jaw-dropping mixture of high tech wizardry and classic theater/puppetry techniques. And now with reports spreading that major reworking is about to happen (with script and music doctors), this could be a truly fascinating chance to see a new show being built before our eyes. But, at Broadway ticket prices, this graduate level theater class won’t come cheap. All that being said, I do hope folks can take a step back from some of the more sensational talk about the working conditions. One of the guys in charge of the flying harnesses actually flew me for a year when I was on tour and he would have thrown himself in front of a two ton set piece to protect me. Whatever stories have been spread, I’d wager my life savings that the crew of this show is doing everything humanly possible to ensure the safety of the performers.

UPDATE: NY1 is reporting that Julie Taymor is out as director. What a tangled web, indeed.

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