Death of A Salesman

This is the Arthur Miller classic, Pulitzer Prize-winner that is said to characterize “the death of the American Dream.” Time has passed Willy Loman by, despite his memories of sales success and his wife's constant support and prompting. We've seen this play probably four times on Broadway and twice in regional theater. Nathan Lane is the current male lead and he's excellent, Tony-nominated, a convincing “crushed,” shuffling man who realizes “people are laughing at me” and whose boss (the former founder's son) has no respect or loyalty for Willy. But the incredible star here is Laurie Metcalf, who won the Tony for playing the wife, Linda, who gives one of the greatest dramatic performances I've seen in 60 years of attending Broadway performances. The play has only a singe, ingenious set with a car that's driven on at the beginning and off at the fatal ending. And it's interesting how one's perspective of Willy and his changed status affects me differently having seen this through my own passing years. Recommendation: See if if you possibly can.

Titanique

This is a goofy musical about the Titanic “hosted” by Celine Dion (Marla Mindelle, Tony-nominated) with an astounding amount of talent on the stage, particularly Melissa Barrera as Rose. But it's Jim Parsons as Rose's mother who steals the show and chews all the scenery throughout. His funniest bit is when he takes the musical charts from the keyboard player, throws them all over the floor, and when she shrieks he screams, “Memorize it, I had to!!!” Despite all the talent, the show is just an excuse to be outrageous (it's often improv, with the cast working in the Brooklyn Bridge fire that happened the day prior) and even at only 100 minutes it's overly repetitive. Recommendation: See it if you've seen everything else you want to see and have some free time.