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[0:00] Rob Russo: Welcome to Stage Left, a bi-monthly podcast where we talk about the latest shows on Broadway and beyond. I'm your host, Rob Russo, writer, theater critic, and founder of Stage Left at NYC, and co-host and co-producer of the Fabulous Invalid Podcast, also on the Broadway Podcast Network. This podcast provides a platform for younger critics and theater journalists with the goal of broadening the cultural conversation to elevate and include as many diverse perspectives as possible. This week, we're back for the first time since Broadway shut down in March for a special episode in celebration of the abbreviated 2019-2020 season of theater here in New York. Instead of our usual two-person panel, this week I'm joined by four panelists, plus myself, and together, for the first ever Stage Left Awards, not a real thing, we are going to share our picks for the most outstanding theater that we saw from May 2019 until the shutdown in March.

The pool of nominees consists of every show that we each saw. We've got eight categories and a lot of opinions, so without further ado, I'd like to introduce our panelists. Going alphabetically by first name, first up is freelance theater critic and founder of RBK Social, the Queen of Kings County, Ayanna Prescod. Welcome back, Ayanna. Hi.

[1:36] Rob Russo: Next, we have senior staff writer at Backstage and president of the Katrina Lenk Fan Club, the inimitable Casey Mink. Welcome back, Casey.

[1:41] Casey Mink: Thank you, and I'd like to be vice president of the Tony Shalhoub Fan Club.

[1:46] Rob Russo: Done, absolutely. Perfect, thank you. Then, in that case, I am happy to be back. Amazing. Next is freelance theater critic, French pastry chef, and jam enthusiast, Christian Lewis. Welcome back, Christian.

[1:58] Christian Lewis: Thanks, Rob. I love all these extra titles, too.

[2:03] Rob Russo: Yeah, well, you can have a little fun. And last, but never least, joining us for the first time as a panelist is Jamie Dumont. In a crossover moment from our other podcast, The Fabulous Invalid, Jamie is a co-producer of this show and, according to Playbill.com, a theater savant. Welcome, Jamie.

[2:18] Jamie Dumont: Hi. I feel like my being here is a tiny bit of a cheat, but I'm very happy to be here.

[2:23] Rob Russo: You're young at heart.

[2:29] Jamie Dumont: Yes, and that's what's important. You know, I didn't even think of the age thing. Thanks for pointing that out, Rob. All right, so we know the rules. I've introduced our panel, but before we dive in, it would be tone deaf, to say the least, for me not to acknowledge the twin viruses that our country is currently fighting. Of course, there's the COVID-19 pandemic, but there's also the virus of racism. In this particularly difficult time, I just want to say, and I know our panelists agree, that I'm proud to stand in solidarity with everyone who is taking to the street to express rage, demand justice, and say with one voice, unequivocally, that Black Lives Matter. Like all people of goodwill, I am angry, I'm heartbroken, and I'm fed up with the racist violence against Black people.

Before I step off my soapbox, I just have to say that if we want to see progress, in addition to massive structural reform, it's going to take white people stepping up, listening, learning, and changing. To paraphrase from playwright Jeremy O'Hara's slave play, we are the virus. Okay, I've talked now long enough. Let's dive in. Our first Stage Left award category is Outstanding Solo Performance. To kick us off, I'm going to go to Ayanna first. Ayanna, what's your pick for Outstanding Solo Performance?

[3:39] Ayanna Prescod: I love this category, but I feel like I didn't see Dana H, and that pretty much would have been the winner from what I'm hearing from everyone, but because I didn't get to see that, my pick goes with Michael Benjamin Washington for Fires in the Mirror. I thought he was amazing. He did over 20 different characters from dialect to mannerisms. He was phenomenal, and I think he doesn't get his just due, so I think it's time he does for this category.

[4:20] Rob Russo: Well, I'm glad you mentioned it because I missed Fires in the Mirror, so we all miss things, right? So that's why I said the nominees are every show that we saw, right? So we didn't all see the same things. Casey, what's your pick for Outstanding Solo?

[4:30] Casey Mink: I totally second Ayanna in that that performance was incredible, but I also second her in that my pick is Dana H, obviously. That was, for those who don't know, it's a play in which Deirdre O'Connell lip syncs an entire transcript, basically, of an hour-long event from the playwright Lucas Nath's own mother's life, and you forget within five minutes that she's lip syncing and she's not speaking. I truly remember my jaw just dropping to the ground when it first started because I'd never seen anything like that, and she is just, I mean, she's just one of these great New York theater actresses when you're like, oh, we really do have the deepest and best well of talent of any performance space. It was just, I've thought about it so many times since. So yeah, Dana H for sure.

[5:31] Christian Lewis: 100% same. Deirdre O'Connell, Dana H was phenomenal. She lip synced so much that when Lucas's mother in the recording shook her bracelet, Deirdre O'Connell shook her bracelet on stage. So crazy, so crazy. I've seen a lot of drag lip syncs in my life, and I am one of those people on Twitter that's always complaining about who lip synced better on drag race, and this was it. Deirdre O'Connell is the lip sync master.

[6:02] Jamie Dumont: For me, it was all about the water bottle in Dana H. There's a moment where she pulls a water bottle out, and she caresses it, and she fidgets with it, and many, many moments go by. It felt like five minutes, but it probably wasn't. And then finally, she takes a sip from it, and you hear the water go back, and it's also beautifully timed. And I will never forget that. So yes, mine is Dana H as well. However, I will say the thing that I loved about it the most was the set. I thought that that claustrophobic motel room was so scary and comforting, and I felt like I was a prisoner. I felt like I had been kidnapped, and yet I also felt very calmed by the pink salmony walls. So Dana H.

[6:59] Rob Russo: Yeah, and I'm going to, I guess, fourth that and say Dana H as well. I'm so jealous right now. I'm bummed that I missed Michael Benjamin Washington. But yeah, Deirdre O'Connell was my pick 100%. All righty, so moving on to our second category, it's outstanding performance in a musical. And since I got to make the rules for my own fake award show, I'm always like, I just, again, beyond my soapbox, I hate that we gender awards for performance, because I don't understand what your sex or gender has to do with performing. So I decided not to do actor, actress, and that whole cutesy thing. We just have performance. Also, it makes it a harder choice for all of us. So outstanding performance in a musical. Casey, who'd you pick?

[7:45] Casey Mink: Yeah, well, I mean, eliminating the gender, you'd think it would make it a harder decision, but for me, it changed absolutely nothing. Miss Adrienne Warren gave the performance of this year, maybe, you know, the last couple years. And that's why I mean, not to, you know, bring up a rival awards show, but the Tony's really just coming for our sort of deal here. But she was just such a surefire win for that Tony. And I'm so sad that that's, you know, whatever. But it was just, I mean, just the physicality and the sheer, you know, feet of what she was doing in that show was just something unlike anything I've seen. And also, she did it at one point with like, what, a sprained ankle or something. She just wrapped that thing up and kept doing it. And I mean, it was so moving, but also so fun. And yeah, Miss Adrienne Warren, that is a performance.

[8:41] Christian Lewis: Yeah, it turns out that Stephanie J. Block and The Cher Show was the John the Gospel to Adrienne Warren's Jesus.

[8:53] Rob Russo: Right. If I can go that far. She walked so, SJB walked so Adrienne Warren could run. That's exactly right.

[8:58] Christian Lewis: That's what I was going to say.

[9:04] Jamie Dumont: Mine goes to the entire ensemble of A Strange Loop, if I'm allowed to do that.

[9:52] Rob Russo: It's a fake award show. You get to do whatever you want.

[9:54] Jamie Dumont: Right. With a special hat tip, of course, to Larry Owens. But also, I think that it's unfair to really pick one person out of that ensemble, because I think that the entire thing was so beautifully orchestrated as a unit. And I think that it would be unfair to single any one person out. So, the entire company of A Strange Loop.

[10:21] Rob Russo: Okay, well, now I feel terrible, because I singled out Larry Owens as my favorite musical performance of the year. But I agree with you. And when we had Michael R. Jackson on the Fabulous Invalid, our other podcast, and he talked about how you can't talk about Larry's performance, I'm Larry like I know him, Larry Owens' performance, without talking about all the other characters in the ensemble. Because, thoughts, right? They're the thought one, thought two, thought three, right? Because the show is really written, you know, sort of tailored on their bodies, right? And they were such an integral part to the development of the piece. So, major tip of the hat to Larry Owens in my book, because, I mean, talk about a role meeting an actor, right?

Like, hand in glove, just such an extraordinary tour de force. Also someone who never left the stage. And, you know, for 90 minutes, anchored that musical, and anchored it as, you know, a queer Black man. And when do you ever see a musical anchored by a queer Black man, right? So that, to me, was just such a breakout and something I'll never forget. Okay, Ayanna, what's your outstanding musical performance of the year?

[11:30] Ayanna Prescod: 100% agree with Larry Owens, but definitely Adrienne Warren. I feel like Tina Turner has these magical legs. I just want to talk about Adrienne Warren's legs and how she worked out extremely well to make sure they match Tina Turner's insured legs. And the way she worked the stage was phenomenal to me. She would have won that Tony, and I'm so sad that she doesn't get to cross Radio City Music Hall stage with her legs. So, she deserves that.

[12:10] Casey Mink: Yes, the legs alone.

[12:15] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, yeah. There is a moment, and I've seen it a couple of times, been fortunate to see the show a couple of times. There is a moment in that, like, Megamix concert at the end where she does that leg thing, and then she turns up the audience and just kind of winks. And it gets me every single time, like, just owning the stage like that. It's so thrilling. It's just like saying, you're welcome.

[12:35] Tia Hill: She's like, yeah, yeah, I did that, you know.

[12:37] Adrienne Warren: I just live for a star making performance. And that is just, you know, the definition of like, oh, we're watching someone become a bonafide Broadway star right before our goddamn eyes.

[12:51] Tia Hill: I was able to see the understudy. I went on a day where I got to see the understudy and by far, Adrienne Warren knocks it out because it's like two different performances with the understudy and Adrienne. So she definitely deserves it.

[13:05] Adrianne Warren: I have a confession to make. I hadn't seen it yet before the shutdown. So I didn't get to see, I haven't seen it yet. So.

[13:13] Tia Hill: Wow.

[13:14] Adrianne Warren: I know. Well, I was saving it. I wanted to see it right around Tony time. Because there's always an excitement in the theater after the nominations come out. And, you know, she'd be in the middle of a campaign. So she'd be all pumped up and probably gonna win. And I thought, oh, that's my moment to see it. Maybe the weekend of the Tony's.

[13:33] Tia Hill: Well, if there's any justice, they will find a way to get her a Tony Award. I don't know how I don't know when but that remains to be seen. Alrighty, so moving on to our next category, outstanding performance in a play. So although I'm not here for gender, I am here for the musical play division. So and to kick us off, we're gonna go with Christian.

[13:55] Christian Lewis: Oh, Rob, I really struggled with this one.

[13:57] Tia Hill: Oh, okay.

[13:58] Christian Lewis: Okay, I'm gonna do like rapid fire tie and I'll try not to like, justify if it will take too long. Okay, my rapid three way tie are Joaquina Calacongo in Slave Play, Rose Byrne in Madea. And I will not shut up about this, but Ashley Park and Grand Horizons, because supporting actor is a lot of great work. Yes, 100%. So those are my three that I just can't stop thinking about. And apologies for the three way tie.

[14:24] Tia Hill: No, again, fake award show, you can make up all the ties you want. Can I just say Ashley Park did more with no lines than any other actor I've seen in a really long time. Just like when she went through her bag when she's sitting on the couch, and other action is happening. Just those moments. She's brilliant. There was a portion in Act Two where she didn't speak for like 20 minutes. And instead of sitting in the corner silent, she had a full on panic attack. And I was like, this is acting. This is it. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Okay, so Jamie, what's your what's your pick?

[15:01] Jamie DuMont: Oh, I have a tie too. A lot of ties. Actually, technically, mine's a three way tie. So that would be Marianne Plunkett and Brenda Wheel for The Michaels, but also The Baking Bread, which was a performance in of itself. But those two women, I don't know if anybody saw The Michaels, I would not have gone if it hadn't been for Rob Russo, who really pushed me to go. And those two women, just in again, like with Ashley Park, just in simplicity, the beauty of their performance, the beauty of the connection of the two actors, but also the connection of the characters was just magnificent. And you don't see understated simple perfection like that very often.

[15:50] Tia Hill: Yeah, well, it's funny, you had a confession about Adrian Warren. I have a confession. The first Richard Nelson play I'd ever seen was The Michaels. And after seeing that one play, I am a full on convert to his style of theatre making. I was completely blown away by that piece. And I agree that bread. Oh, you walk in a minute, the bread was a character in of itself. I am always here for less, you know, when things are slice of life when it's really there's no huge pun intended. Oh yeah. But and this play really demonstrated that but the performances these two women really nothing better.

[16:30] Tia Hill: Okay, well, my pick is Emily Davis for Is This a Room? That is another piece at the Vineyard Theatre, another piece of you know, documentary theatre. This time it wasn't lip syncing, but they use the transcript of a real FBI interrogation as the text of the play. And just like Deirdre O'Connell sort of matched every sound, Emily Davis captured every single sort of, you know, verbal flub or tick or incomplete thought and to translate that real life text onto stage the way that she did was just breathtaking. And, you know, it's a play I know, Casey, you were on when we talked about Is This a Room? on Stage Left. And I, you know, it wasn't my favourite play of the year. I didn't, you know, I didn't necessarily sort of, you know, I had some issues with the ideology behind it. But the performance itself to me was just unimpeachable. And Emily Davis, like, God, what a star. I hope that I get to see her do all the plays moving forward.

[17:31] Ayanna Prescod: Great. Okay. And Ayana, what's your pick for outstanding performance in a play?

[17:36] Ayanna Prescod: So I had a two way tie, but it's two people from the same play. I chose Jonathan Price and Eileen Atkins from In the Height of the Storm. It was one of my favourite plays from this season. It's a memory play. And they did so well with tricking the audience's mind in who was alive, and who was actually dead in the show. And they were so phenomenal. They brought such humour and horror to the show. And I think that, you know, as I've said before, I love senior citizens in shows that do eight shows a week. And I think they are beyond deserving of that, this recognition. Let's round out this category. Casey, who's your pick?

[18:28] Casey Mink: Yeah, honestly, this was the hardest category for me, for sure. And even just hearing all of you guys, I want to make it like a 16 way tie, because I agree with all of those. Like, Rose Byrne, Madea, I didn't even, she didn't even register as going into this, of course. But my pick is kind of, well, no, I was gonna say boring, but it's only just because she's such a master. But Mary Louise Parker in The Sound Inside. I have thought about that performance. So I saw it three times, which obviously, it's a David Crummer directed thing. Like, obviously, I have to see it more than once, I'm obliged. But just what, I mean, it was basically not to, you know, diminish the work of the other actor in this two person play.

But she was, you know, she was that whole play. And it's, you know, about an ailing woman. And that could be really unfun to watch. And instead, she just plays it with such strength and humanity. And, oh my god, it's funny, too. It was just so brilliant. And the thing is, talk about, you know, so many things we've lost this season, but she was going to star in another play in the spring, How I Learned to Drive, and I didn't get to, I mean, no one got to see it. I don't think it even played its first preview. But if we only got one Mary Louise Parker performance for the season, like, I'm so glad that it was this one. It was just rich, and I'll think about it forever. She was going to be my fourth if I did a fourth one.

[20:00] Tia Hill: Amazing. Yeah, this was a tricky category for me, too, I have to admit. Alrighty, so moving on to our next category, Outstanding Revival. So this can be a play or a musical or any other form of theatre. And we're going to kick off with Jamie.

[20:14] Jamie DuMont: You know, I totally misread this. In my own addled brain, I read Revival of a Musical. And I was like, well, that doesn't give us a lot of choices, right? Because naturally, I want to choose Company, but I don't feel that it's fair to do that, because I only saw the first preview.

[20:35] Christian Lewis: Right, it never officially opened.

[20:35] Jamie DuMont: Right. And also, again, this was going to be my Sophie's Choice of this whole past season was because I loved Company, and I knew I would love it as it continued to grow and evolve throughout the preview process, but also West Side Story. So that's my official pick, West Side Story, because I thought it was a brilliant reimagining of something that we've seen many, many, many times before in many different forms, but always sort of traditionally performed. Although I did, when I was in high school, Loyola Academy did a breakdance version of West Side Story, which I always thought was ambitious, if misguided. But at any rate, this one, because I think they took the form, they reimagined it, they made it contemporary, it was exciting, it was sexy. And that video wall, hat tip to Luke Halls for that incredible, incredible wall of video.

[21:26] Tia Hill: Yeah, this is not going to be surprising to you, Jamie, but my pick for Outstanding Revival was also West Side Story. I was obsessed with this production. I know it was very divisive, people have a lot of feelings about it, but I was firmly on the side of just loving every second of it. I admit there were some parts that were a little heavy handed, but the concept itself, to me, was just outstanding. And the execution of it, I was at the first preview, and the fact of the technical side of the show, that they were able to nail it, even on the first preview, was so incredibly impressive. And just the vision of it, making it contemporary, giving younger actors and people of colour the opportunity to play these roles, because so often that is not the case.

And it was the first time ever, ever, ever, ever that I actually believed that there was any sort of thing between Tony and Maria. Usually, it's just such a tossed off thing. And they had an outstanding chemistry, Isaac Powell and Shereen Pimentel. And I thought they both give outstanding performances. So I, head over heels, whatever that phrase means, loved West Side Story. And it's my pick for Outstanding Revival.

[22:47] Ayanna Prescod: My pick, actually, as you guys know, I've said I don't like West Side Story, sorry. For coloured girls who considered suicide, when the rainbow was enough at the public, was phenomenal. And the feeling that I got watching that, because I've seen it so many times, but this revival, I don't remember who the director was. But this revival was groundbreaking for me. From the costumes with Black historical figures on them, to the acting, to being in an audience filled with people of colour, and just everything about that show moved me. And it's probably my best, my favourite production of that show. I will always regret that I missed this production at the public. I just my dance card in October was just so full, I kicking myself. And Jamie likes to point out that I missed it.

[23:51] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, often, because I wasn't gonna do that now.

[23:57] Tia Hill: Well, why hold back? Yeah, you be you. Alrighty, Casey, your Outstanding Revival.

[24:06] Casey Mink: Well, the thing about this category is that so, as Jamie said, company didn't even get to make it to press performances. So I mean, most everyone didn't see it. I however, obviously did, because I went to the first preview. So that's my pick. And I sneakily chose this because I wanted to find a way to get it in there. And it was one of my favourite experiences of the season for sure. I mean, going to that first preview, it was so long, because there was, I think some sort of technical difficulty at intermissions, there was like a 35 minute intermission. And I didn't get out of that theatre until like 11.15. I don't fucking care. Getting to see the first preview of that show. I mean, if it were up to me, I'd still be clapping for you know, Patti LuPone's Ladies Who Lunch. It was just the kind of energy that we got.

[25:39] Ayanna Prescod: As you know, I was across the orchestra at that performance and it was truly electric. I mean, it was so thrilling to see that show back on Broadway with that cast, with this vision. Marianne Elliott, give her all the awards. You know, it's going to be interesting to see. I mean, at this point, who knows what's coming back when this is all over. But the show will have such an added resonance, I mean, as it does in every incarnation with every cultural milestone and touchstone, but it will mean something else entirely. It will be a whole new experience if it does come back.

[26:36] Christian Lewis: Yeah. Oh, yeah. From another 100 people to being alive. I mean, hello.

[26:37] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, exactly.

[26:37] Christian Lewis: Hello. Yeah. Alrighty. Christian, your pick for Outstanding Revival?

[26:42] Christian Lewis: I have a lot of thoughts about revivals, like capital R. And if I was going to write a book about theater, it would be about the politics of revivals. So I have a couple of different answers here. For a play, 100% agree with Ayanna. For colored girls who have considered suicide, it was my first time experiencing it other than reading it, and it was like everything I could have ever wanted. Kicking myself, kicking myself. Which I similarly will say about Fefu, that like just a play that I've read that I got to see, and I was like, oh my god. It wasn't a revival to me, it was a first, but it was like, this is everything I've ever wanted out of a play that I've read so much and love. On a similar like nostalgia perfect production, the production of Little Shop that happened off Broadway was like everything I could ever want in a production of Little Shop. But my actual number one pick...

[27:32] Christian Lewis: Floorway tie, floorway tie. I know that was not my actual number one pick. Sorry, my actual number one pick is Unthinkable Molly Brown because I love revivals that really rework things and try to make things work and don't just take things at 100% nostalgia. So I loved what that show did.

[27:48] Ayanna Prescod: Christian, we know the next episode of Stage Left that we were planning to record before the shutdown was going to be about the Unthinkable Molly Brown. And I could not have had more of an opposite reaction to that show. I hated every second of it. So I'm so bummed that we were deprived of the opportunity. We might have to do a bonus episode and duke it out.

[28:10] Casey Mink: And me, you, and Casey were all there together too.

[28:13] Ayanna Prescod: Yes, oh my gosh.

[28:14] Christian Lewis: Everyone was there that night.

[28:14] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, there was another one of those nights that was very special. Okay, that is Outstanding Revival. So I saw this category on the Drama Desk this year of Outstanding Adaptation and was like, yes, why isn't there this category more often? And it's only triggered when there's enough nominees for the Drama Desk. And I guess there was this year. So Outstanding Adaptation, I'm going to kick off this time. And my pick is Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow by Hailey Pfeiffer, which obviously is an adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters. I loved every single moment of this play. I saw it twice. The irreverence of it, the wit, the intelligence, the way that she translated this novel and these characters to internet speak and millennial age ethos, while still at the same time, getting at Chekhov's point and honoring the integrity of the underlying work, while also at the same time, kind of satirizing it.

I don't know how she pulled it off. And it was an MCC theater production with a perfect cast. Like every single one of those actors, if I could give an ensemble award, which at next year's fake stage left awards, I will add an ensemble category. I would have given it to that cast because every single person was just pitch perfect. I love, love, love that show. I wish more people had seen it. I wish it had transferred to Broadway. I wish all the things my favorite adaptation of the year. Okay. Next up, Ayana, your pick for adaptation.

[29:52] Ayanna Prescod: This one was really hard because I was confused on if I were to read the book and then go to the stage play. So I really don't have a pick for this one because I didn't read a lot of books that went to stage play. So I don't have a pick.

[30:07] Casey Mink: Okay. That's fair. That's fair. Casey, your pick for adaptation.

[30:13] Casey Mink: Yeah. I mean, this wasn't the most competitive category in that I absolutely hated My Name is Lucy Barton. But I really did also love Moscow Times Five. And Christian and I have actually talked about that a lot. And I feel like I should be, in addition to being president and vice president of the Tony Shalhoub fan club, vice vice president of the Hallie Pfeiffer fan club, because I know that she is so brilliant. And like, I want to see everything from her from this point forward. She's doing some TV now. Good for her. Pay those bills. Yeah. I mean, pretty much everything that you said, Rob, but like, it was just such a smart adaptation of a play that I frankly don't care for. I know I said it.

But yeah, I honestly wish I could have seen it one more time, because it was just so funny. It kind of reminded me of, I don't know if you guys saw last season at Abrams Arts Center, there was a play called Everybody's Okay with Virginia Woolf, or Everybody's Fine with Virginia Woolf. And it kind of did the same thing. It was like a new work that took the same shape and characters of an existing play, obviously, and turned it upside down, but yet was still a tribute to it. And I think to be able to pull that off, it's hard.

[31:37] Ayanna Prescod: Right. It's not like making fun of the source material, because that would just be counterproductive. You'd run out of steam.

[31:42] Casey Mink: Yeah, exactly. And also, she's paying homage to the original writer and everything. But yeah, loved it. 100%.

[31:49] Rob Russo: Okay. So maybe this is going to be no surprise, but Christian, what's your pick?

[31:53] Christian Lewis: I swear, you put this in just so Casey and I could talk about Moscow.

[31:57] Rob Russo: Or maybe I put it in so I could talk about Moscow.

[32:00] Christian Lewis: I mean, Casey and I have declared ourselves co-presidents of this fan club, but you can come in too.

[32:05] Ayanna Prescod: Can I be treasurer?

[32:06] Christian Lewis: Yeah. This play is everything I've ever wanted, but have never gotten from Chekhov. I had to do so much Chekhov work in school, and it was always slog. And this was what I've always wanted. Chris Perfetti playing Masha made me want to be an actor again. This was just so perfect. Myself, I've written an adaptation of old plays into modern day. And what Hayley Pfeiffer did is what I was always trying to do. This was just so perfectly done, and I just want to see it a million times. I want to be in it. I want to do everything with this play.

[32:41] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, 100%. I agree.

[32:45] Jamie DuMont: This category really fucked me up. I had a really hard time with it, and I didn't really understand. I texted Rob about it several times. He was useless and not helpful.

[32:54] Rob Russo: Wow. It's a fake award show, guys.

[32:58] Jamie DuMont: It is. Make up your own rules.

[32:59] Christian Lewis: It's going to be a live bylaw, Rob.

[33:00] Jamie DuMont: An adaptation is whatever you think an adaptation is. Right. And so it took me a really long time to get to it. And so for a moment, I had Moscow, Moscow, Moscow. And then I figured everyone was going to choose that. It wouldn't be interesting. I didn't get to see it. Lucky you.

[33:17] Jamie DuMont: And then when I was doing my research, just refreshing my memory on Dana H, there was the word adapted by. And I was like, oh, there it is. Dana H. Brilliant. And then I thought, well, no, because that's not really what I think. Does that count? It does count. But my choice. Where did you land?

[33:35] Jamie DuMont: I landed on Judgment Day at the Park Avenue Armory. Yes. And that is it's it was an adaptation by Christopher Shin of a German play from 1937. And I will butcher his name, but I will try. Udon von Hovarth.

[33:52] Christian Lewis: Sounds good to me.

[33:53] Jamie DuMont: What was so stunning. And this is where I really this is really where I wrestled because the play wasn't really what struck me. It was the production. It was being at the armory. It was its scale, its scope, its nightmare quality. Its simplicity. It just it really was a magnificent evening in the theater that I hadn't had that kind of experience in a really long time. And it reminded me that, you know, there's stuff beyond Broadway and off Broadway and theater can be many different shapes and forms. I run to see everything that's a Park Avenue Armory because I crave theater on that scale that just sort of eviscerates our conventions of, you know, the, you know, Victorian sort of theater. Right.

And like is willing to work in three dimensions and occupy such a space. I saw that with you and I would endorse anyone checking out anything at Park Avenue Armory, even if it's bad. It's always fun to look at. Okay, so we're rounding down to our final three categories. Outstanding new play. And to kick us off is going to be Ayana.

[35:02] Ayanna Prescod: Um, okay, so I picked I didn't know it had to be a new play, but I picked.

[35:08] Christian Lewis: Oh, so yeah, that's outstanding play.

[35:09] Ayanna Prescod: Okay, you know, I picked a soldier's play and I don't don't shoot me guys, but I picked Frankie and Johnny.

[35:15] Casey Mink: No bullet.

[35:22] Ayanna Prescod: But I just feel like a soldier's play. It was so magnificent. Um, everybody who started and I feel like the whole ensemble spoke to me. I think that that play speaks to me more now than it did when I saw it because of the times we're in. And Frankie and Johnny, I mean, Audra, the queen of everything, even if the play is like, not everybody's favorite. I feel like anything that she is in recreates itself because she can do that. Yeah, so those two are my favorite from the season.

[36:03] Casey Mink: A strong cosign with a soldier's play. I had never seen it. I'd never read it. And God, I loved that play. I thought it was terrific. And it felt new, even if it was a revival.

[36:16] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, it was making its Broadway debut. It hadn't been seen in New York since the 80s. Okay, Casey, your pick for outstanding play.

[37:44] Jamie DuMont: On your side and interested in what you're saying. Oh my god, I need to buy it and read it because it's the kind of thing that I actually think would translate just as well to the page. Just genius work. Yeah. And part of a season of Playwrights Horizons that was just off the wall. Like insane. I mean, between that and A Strange Loop in the same year. Oh my god. Crazy. And I mean, they did the Lucas Nath play in their second stage. I feel like I lived there for a few months. Yeah, which was phenomenal. So yeah, totally. Okay. And Here's the Fourth Turning was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Losing to A Strange Loop. Losing to A Strange Loop, right. Yeah. So excellent programming at Playwrights. Okay. Christian, your pick for outstanding play.

[38:34] Christian Lewis: A tie between Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, which I didn't get to talk nonstop about like Casey did, but I do online all the time. And Make Believe, which is a play so good that I made my whole extended family buy tickets and go see it. Yes. Shout out to BestWall. Season of BestWall. What a year. Yes. Three premieres. Special award. Special Stage Lefty for BestWall. Stage Lefty. I love that. Okay. We're going to use that moving forward. TM. Alrighty. Jamie, outstanding play.

[39:07] Jamie DuMont: Well, I think actually I know one person on this that saw it. Mine is kind of an offbeat one. It is Streetcar Named Desire at the Mr. Rogers Performing Space directed by Kevin Horrigan and Precariat and Coven Productions. It was an immersive streetcar. It was a very small audience. Everybody was on one side of the stage, which was in the center. And you really felt like you were in the living room with them. It was very suffocating. It was very intense. It was very scary. It was really an intense and really wonderful evening in the theater. And Blanche was played by a genderqueer actor, which completely upended the way that the play lands in terms of the gender politics of the whole thing. And I saw it with you, so I'm clearly showing my hand.

But I jumped at the opportunity because A, Tennessee Williams. Duh. But B, if it wasn't the first time, it was certainly the first time in New York that anyone had done that sort of take on the casting of the character. And for me, it was a bit of a slow burn. But in the end, in that final scene, when the wig came off, and if you know the play, you know what's happening in that final scene. I still think about it.

[40:45] Jamie DuMont: Yeah. Wow. Okay. My pick for Outstanding New Play, it's a bit of a cheat because it was off-Broadway last season, but on Broadway this season, and that is Slave Play by Jeremy O'Harris. I didn't know we could count last season. There are no rules. Fake, fake, fake. I co-signed for it. I know that Ayanna hated this play. I still do. I think even more now. Sorry, guys. No, never apologize for your opinion. But I loved it. And I just felt like, you know, even more so than the play itself, which I think is outstanding, the fact of its existence on Broadway was just something to me that more and more and more, I want to see more young playwrights. I want to see more playwrights of color. And I want to see more plays that force white audiences to think about our complicity in a sort of systems of oppression.

And this play certainly did that and more. And it was just also really funny. That's the thing that I always forget about Slave Play is that I found it to be as serious as the subject matter was. I think Jeremy was, again, here I am with the first names. Like, I know. I'm like, we're hanging out. Mr. Harris, Mr. Harris was, you know, so, so just smart with his pen and getting us to laugh at things and then like, be devastated by things. So that would be my pick for Outstanding Play.

[42:10] Casey Mink: Alrighty, our last real category, then we have a fake category. But aren't they all fake, is Outstanding Musical. And that we're starting with Casey, your pick for Outstanding Musical.

[42:20] Casey Mink: Not even a question. I saw Six the night before. Literally, so March 12th, Broadway shut down. March 11th, your girl was sitting in the Brooks Atkinson, like living because I knew, we all knew at that point, it was only a matter of time. What a show to, you know, end my theater going days with for however, however long. What a celebration of womanhood, of female autonomy. It was, and the thing is about it. So obviously, I've been hearing about Six, Six, Six for like a year and a half, two years. And I never listened to the music because there was a cast recording available. I said, no, you are not doing it. You are going to wait until your butt is in that seat and you're going to listen to it for the first time when you see the show.

I'm so glad I did because that music and that score and that book, oh my God, it is just a perfect, perfect musical. I am almost certain it would have won Best Musical. Well, actually, I don't know. Obviously, there's a lot of voting practices when it comes to the Tonys, so who knows? But I mean, it was just some of the most fun I've ever, ever had at the theater in my life. And just also, again, speaking to our favorite performances or experiences of the season, I mean, we all knew that that was the end of our days and to go out with that was just, oh, it's a perfect musical written by 24-year-olds. Kill myself, I want to die, but yeah, that perfect musical, perfect musical.

[44:04] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I saw it in London a year ago and was just waiting for it to come to New York. I didn't get to see it on Broadway, but I agree 100%. And I'm going to say something that I'm just going to have a hot take here. And it's not fair to compare the two because whatever, they live in different worlds, kind of, but I think it's better than Hamilton. Said it.

[44:27] Christian Lewis: Oh, 100%. Said it. At this point, it's not even controversial to say things like that because liking Hamilton is almost more subversive for people like us. But that said, totally agree. Finally, a piece of theater that, I don't know, centralizes female narratives rather than pushes them to lay margins. Lin-Manuel, I'll talk whenever you're ready, you know what I mean? Also, I want to say that we didn't get it open and we didn't get replacement casts on Broadway, but it was really significant that the casting call for Six said that it was open to any women or non-binary performers. And that the creators were really open to that, to having a non-binary performer play one of the Six Queens. And I think if it was open long enough and that eventually happened, that would have been a very significant moment.

[45:13] Jamie DuMont: For sure. Well, let's put it out into the world that it will happen. It will happen at some point. I want the 10-year-from-now stunt casting of Countess Luann from Housewives. Put her in.

[45:30] Christian Lewis: You don't want that.

[45:33] Jamie DuMont: No, I definitely don't.

[45:38] Christian Lewis: Okay. My pick for Outstanding Musical? I would pick Six if I got to see it, but I didn't. But I'm going to pick Octet because it's something that I've been thinking about ever since I saw it and something that literally I can't stop thinking about now that my entire life is only online and on the computer. And we don't even have a choice right now to be internet addicts or not. But internet addict is just a way of life. And I think Octet has a whole new meaning and can feel even more prescient after this. But it's just a musical I thought so much about. And it's just so tight and so perfect. It's one of those rare off-Broadway premieres that I'm like, this is perfect. You don't need to change it. It's all set.

[46:14] Christian Lewis: Yeah. And I just cannot get over the fact, and I still, how they technically pulled it off because it's an acapella musical. And unlike In Transit, this one is quite good. Dave Malloy is such an incredible writer and such an incredible thinker. There's just layers upon layers upon layers operating on you as an audience member. And I saw it, I was a little under the weather and it was part of a crowded schedule. I wish I could see it again. Because it's the kind of work that I think there's more to see the more you interact with it.

[46:55] Jamie DuMont: It's a quick tie, A Strange Loop and Soft Power.

[47:02] Christian Lewis: Care to expound?

[47:04] Jamie DuMont: Well, I think I've said a lot about A Strange Loop. I thought it was brilliant. I love that musical. I want it to have another life. I think it will. And Soft Power is just something, again, that's very close to my heart. I feel that it's a very important piece of theatre. I think it's a really interesting look at not only politics, but culture clash. I think actually Soft Power might be more relevant when theatre returns. So hopefully we can see that again. I think that's a tougher sell than A Strange Loop. But they're both incredibly interesting and unique and slightly form-breaking. And I think that we need a lot more theatre like this, like these shows, for sure.

[47:50] Ayanna Prescod: 100%. Well, my pick for outstanding musical is A Strange Loop. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it. And to your point, Casey, about centering characters and perspectives and stories in a musical, both Soft Power and A Strange Loop did that in addition to Six in this season. And to me, just the force of truth behind Michael R. Jackson's writing still floors me. The specificity with which he wrote, the vulnerability with which he put that character and that story and that arc on stage. And then just the sheer brilliance of the dramaturgy behind the whole thing. I mean, the way that musical is structured. He wouldn't say that it's necessarily breaking the form, but it certainly represents an extraordinary nailing of the form, of taking musical theatre as a vehicle, as a delivery system, to use Denise Tesori's phrase from Soft Power, and putting it into hyperdrive and really pushing to see what it can be and do when perfected. I'm so glad it won the Pulitzer Prize, and I can't wait to see the next production, which will happen when this is all over.

[49:17] Ayanna Prescod: For sure.

[49:19] Ayanna Prescod: I'm going to pick an underdog because I didn't get to see Six. I feel like Casey made all the right choices before quarantine. I feel like she went to the best theatre. But I'm going to go with The Wrong Man. I feel like Joshua Henry was phenomenal. He deserves recognition like now. But I want to talk about Ross Golan, who created the show. I mean, he went from a writer for Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj to creating an entire musical that really bumps. Everyone in the theatre was knocking their head. It was such good music. The book could be a little bit better, but I just felt like as a musical, the ensemble, everyone in it, for me, it was phenomenal. I'm sure I would have picked Six.

[50:19] Rob Russo: Okay, so this last category, as I said, is kind of fake. But I wanted to give everyone an opportunity to share something that didn't fit into one of the boxes that I already sort of laid out. And so this category is just favorite theater-going experience. So this can be a moment, it can be a song, it can be a performance, it could be a whole show. It could be something that happened while you were waiting during intermission to go to the bathroom, right? Something that stuck out to you over the last season, a favorite theater-going experience. We're going to start with Christian.

[51:06] Christian Lewis: Okay, so I have one that's before the show, which was at, that I briefly mentioned already, it was Unsinkable Molly Brown. Because in a bizarre PR fluke, every single press person was at the exact same performance. Helen Shaw was behind me, Casey was in the same row as me, Rob was a few rows behind me, Al Henry was there, Louis Spitzman, literally all of my- I was behind Jose Solis. There you go. Everyone was there. And I think this is especially relevant for us because this whole podcast is about younger theater journalists, that it made me really feel part of this in a way that I often don't. It just really made me feel like part of the theater critic journalist community. But then one that was more about the actual show was one of the last shows that I saw before the pandemic hit and theaters closed was We're Gonna Die.

And it's like, yeah, that's it. This is the show that will be on my head and is getting me through this pandemic. And it was just such a meaningful goodbye to theater temporarily about understanding and embracing death in this world in a more positive musical way. And a tight hour, 60 minutes in and out. Such an underrated-

[52:20] Ayanna Prescod: We stand. Yes.

[52:21] Christian Lewis: And we got balloons at the end.

[52:23] Rob Russo: There you go. All righty. Jamie, your favorite theater-going experience?

[52:30] Jamie DuMont: Well, this is a tiny bit of a cheat, but it would be Betty Buckley and Jason Robert Brown at Subculture. It was a concert, part of his concert series that he does through Subculture. Betty Buckley is a particular favorite of mine. She might be my Katrina Lenk, Casey.

[52:51] Casey Mink: I don't know about that.

[52:54] Jamie DuMont: I said my Katrina Lenk. But what was so great about it is that Betty Buckley is an incredible actor and performer, but she also has a very unique and specific style of performing in a concert setting. And Jason Robert Brown picked the most incredible music for her to perform or they picked it together, however that process happened. And it was a really beautiful melding of two artists who are incredibly talented coming together to just give pure pleasure and joy to a very small, intimate group of people. And it was absolutely extraordinary. I've been going to see Betty Buckley perform for a very long time, and it's one of the best things she's ever done.

[53:41] Casey Mink: Okay, I have kind of two. The first is, we lost Jerry Herman back in December. And not only am I a big fan of his oeuvre, you know, from Hello Dolly and Mame to La Cage, and even the ones that folks don't talk about as much like Milk and Honey and the Grand Tour, and Mac and Mabel, of course, which we saw at Encores! But I went to the memorial concert that they did at the Lunt-Fontaine, which was very clearly designed by Jerry in terms of the program. And at one point during the concert service, whatever, it was a celebration, Donald Pippin came out and conducted Mame. And it was just such an incredible moment of witnessing history and the passage of time and the tradition of the theater, seeing this very old man who in 1966 was conducting the orchestra at the Winter Garden Theater step up to that platform again and wield that baton and lead an orchestra through a title song of one of the greatest composers in Broadway history.

It was just such an overwhelming combination of things that made me feel very blessed to be in this world and a part of it and able to celebrate it. So that's one thing. And then the second thing, which I've already talked about, but is that first preview of West Side Story that I went to, because there was a lot of pent up, you know, what is it going to be? What is Ivo van Hove going to do with West Side Story? And, you know, I don't think I'm spoiling anything at this point, because it's been written about, but the second that sort of like fake back wall of the theater turned into a screen, and you realize that you've been kind of tricked the whole time you were sitting there watching, you know, the smoke pass on the stage, I was hooked.

And if I had to single out one other moment, it was the dance at the gym. Because, again, with the show, it was like, you know, they were not doing the Jerome Robbins choreography. You know, Anna-Theresa de Keersmaeker was re-choreographing this iconic show. There are very few shows that, you know, the average theater goer actually knows the choreography to, right? As a chorus line, there's West Side Story, maybe like Turkey Lurkey from Promises Promises. There are not many, you know, moments in musical theater history where the average theater goer can say, oh, that's the choreography. And West Side Story, almost every freaking minute of that show, you know it because of the film, you know, capturing Jerome Robbins' choreography.

And to me, the dance at the gym was so thrilling to watch. And at no point during it, I mean, not during the whole show, but especially during that number, did I ever miss or think of Jerome Robbins' choreography. And to me, that's just such a credit to the artistry of Anna-Theresa de Keersmaeker that she could take that on. Because, look, I think it was Rob Ashford who did that revival of Promises Promises. And you know what? I missed Michael Bennett's choreography, right? And, you know, other people have done. Wayne Solento did Sweet Charity. And like, sure, it was great. But like, where's the Bob Fosse choreography, you know? And for me to not miss Jerome Robbins' choreography while seeing West Side Story, to me, is just the favorite theater-going experience of the season.

[57:05] Rob Russo: Alrighty, Ayanna, your favorite theater-going experience?

[57:09] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, my favorite is one that I'm going to miss this season. Shakespeare in the Park, Much Ado About Nothing. The entire experience from waiting online with theater lovers to getting your frosé to going in and seeing a show about Black joy. It was so phenomenal to me. And I think I'm really going to miss Shakespeare in the Park this year. So that definitely takes 2019 by far.

[57:42] Casey Mink: Yeah, that was a magical, magical evening.

[57:44] Ayanna Prescod: Yeah, for sure. One of the best Shakespeare's in the Park ever.

[57:49] Casey Mink: Yeah. I'm willing to say that. Absolutely. Yeah. Incredible. Alrighty, Casey, last word, your favorite theater-going experience?

[57:56] Casey Mink: Oh, perfect. Because mine is two-tiered because, I mean, as anyone who's ever done a podcast with me before, sorry to all of you, because I guess that's now you guys, you know, I have a certain checklist that I have to get through. And on that checklist is, first, Miss Carrie Coon. You would think that I wouldn't have a way to work her in here. However, the weekend before New York City shut down, I actually was in Chicago, visiting my literally so old grandparents. But obviously, you know that I fit in a little matinee of Bug, which is a play written by her spouse, Tracy Letts, who sometimes I like, sometimes I otherwise. Sam, Sam. Sam. She was just out of control in this play. And I took my 95-year-old grandpa, Carrie Coon does full frontal nudity in this play.

So I'm just sitting there and my grandpa didn't care, though. And there was, again, directed by David Cromer, and there was some talk that it was going to make its way to New York. I imagine those conversations are just obviously, you know, stunted for the time being. But, you know, I will just put that wish under my pillow from now until it happens. And then the other thing on my checklist, so let's see, we got Katrina Lenk, we got Carrie Coon, we got Tony Shalhoub. So last of all, we have to talk about what the Constitution means to me, which was last season, but-

[1:00:03] Jamie DuMont: But we're not done talking about it.

[1:00:06] Casey Mink: No, we're not done talking about it. And I went to its final performance in August. So that was since then. And just to, you know, see what, just how it was such a culmination of everything Heidi Schreck had done with that play. And she really sort of changed, she changed the conversation around plays by and about women. And grateful to her forever.

[1:00:06] Casey Mink: Well, that's, you guys, I'm such a psycho. That same day that I saw Bug in Chicago, I like had to choose here. I went to a matinee of Bug, and then I went to the evening performance of what the Constitution means to me, starring Maria De Sia as Heidi Schreck in Chicago.

[1:00:20] Rob Russo: I expected nothing less from you.

[1:00:22] Casey Mink: The fact that I lived through that day, but then literally, Broadway shut down three days later. They were like, all right, that's it. You've gotten what you've gotten, like you're done. Barely lived through that day.

[1:00:30] Ayanna Prescod: She's a Shiro, for sure.

[1:00:30] Ayanna Prescod: Literally. So that's that.

[1:00:32] Jamie DuMont: Did you catch the tour?

[1:00:35] Rob Russo: Oh my gosh. Well, the whole point of doing this show is to get us to talk about things that we love. And I absolutely loved hearing all the things that you loved, which I also loved. Love, love, love. This was so much fun. Thank you, guys, for participating in the first ever Stage Lefties. That's going to stick. We're going to make that a thing. And let's just keep putting wishes under our pillows, as Casey put it, for all the theatre that we want to see. And for theatre, of course, to come back when this is all over.

[1:01:04] Ayanna Prescod: Right? Yes. Amen.

[1:01:09] Rob Russo: So thank you to all of you. Thank you for those listening. And Stage Left, we'll be back. We'll figure out another way to do another episode, even if we can't go to the theatre in person.

[1:01:18] Christian Lewis: Well, Christian had a very good idea, which is to do a streaming episode where we talk about all the stuff that's been streaming.

[1:01:28] Rob Russo: Done. Done. You're now a co-producer, Christian.

[1:01:32] Christian Lewis: Thanks, Rob. I mean, you and I could do a four-hour episode on Significant Other.

[1:01:37] Rob Russo: Well, yes. The bonus episode, for sure. Okay. All right. Well, that's coming soon. Coming soon.

[1:01:45] Rob Russo: That's it for this week. Stage Left, the podcast, is a co-production of the fabulous Invalid LLC and O&M Etc., and a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network. This episode was edited and engineered by Jamie Dumont and Charles Van Kirk. And special thanks to Jason Robert Brown for our theme song, Wait Till You See What's Next, from his spectacular album, How We React and How We Recover. You can find this podcast online at stageleft.nyc, on the Broadway Podcast Network website, on iTunes, and wherever you listen to podcasts. And as always, you can read my archive of reviews at stageleft.nyc, and find me on Twitter at stageleft underscore NYC. Thank you for listening. I hope you'll tune in next time.