Curtain Up, at Last, Sort of...
This past Saturday, the first "show" on Broadway opened since the pandemic. It was only a 40-minute production, and the audience was extremely limited, socially distanced and required to wear masks -- comprised mostly of staffers from the Actors Fund and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
It was a matinee, directed by Tony-winner Jerry Zaks, and featured Tony-winners Nathan Lane and Savion Glover, who each had solo performances in their halves of the evening. Only three minutes of each are available, but it's worth it.
Lane performed a new monologue written by playwright Paul Rudnick. It's the story of a theater-obsessed man self-isolating in his small apartment, as he talks about what he says are his encounters with Hugh Jackman and others.
It's not only very funny, but Nathan Lane is a total joy, and I’ve love to see the whole thing and hope it either gets released (perhaps as a fund-raiser) or that Paul Rudnick can expand it to a full evening, or at least a regular one-act that can be paired with something else..
Savion Glover's piece is very enjoyable, though from just these two clips -- admittedly not a fair comparison -- Lane's is the standout for my taste. In his work, Glover uses tap dance to "reflect on his life in the theater, while exploring what Broadway is, was, and will be."
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