Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musical - Pippin

PIPPIN (REVIVAL)

From Wikopedia

The play begins with a Leading Player of a troupe and the accompanying actors in various costume pieces of several different time periods, establishing the play's intentionally anachronistic, defamiliarized, unconventional feel. Channeling the style of Bertolt Brecht, Hirson breaks thefourth wall, and the Leading Player and his troupe speak directly to the audience. They invite members of the crowd to join them in a story about a boy prince searching for fulfillment ("Magic to Do"). They reveal that the boy who is to play the title character is a new actor. Pippin tells the scholars of his dreams to find where he belongs ("Corner of the Sky"), and they happily applaud Pippin on his ambitious quest for an extraordinary life. Pippin then returns home to the castle and estate of Charlemagne (King Charles), his father. Charles and Pippin don't get a chance to communicate often, as they are interrupted by nobles, soldiers, and courtiers vying for Charles' attention ("Welcome Home"), and Charles is clearly uncomfortable speaking with his educated son or expressing any loving emotions. Pippin also meets up with his stepmotherFastrada, and her dim-witted son Lewis. Charles and Lewis are planning on going into battle against the Visigoths soon, and Pippin begs Charles to take him along so as to prove himself. Charles reluctantly agrees and proceeds to explain a battle plan to his men ("War is a Science").

Once in battle, the Leading Player re-enters to lead the troupe in a mock battle using top hats, canes, and fancy jazz as to glorify warfare andviolence ("Glory"). Fosse's famous "Manson Trio" is performed by the Leading Player and his two lead dancers in the middle of this number. This charade of war does not appeal to Pippin, and the boy flees into the countryside. The Leading Player tells the audience of Pippin's travel through the country, until he stops at his exiled grandmother's estate ("Simple Joys"). There, Berthe (his grandmother, and Charles's mother, exiled by Fastrada) tells Pippin not to be so serious and to live a little ("No Time At All"). She sings, "Oh, it's time to start livin'. Time to take a little from this world we're given. Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall in just no time at all." Pippin takes this advice and decides to search for something a bit more lighthearted ("With You"). While he initially enjoys these meaningless sexual encounters, he soon discovers that relationships without love leave you "empty and unfulfilled."

The Leading Player then tells Pippin that perhaps he should fight tyranny, and uses Charles as a perfect example of an unenlightened tyrant to fight. Pippin plans a revolution, and Fastrada is delighted to hear that perhaps Charles and Pippin will both perish so that her beloved Lewis can become king. Fastrada arranges the murder of Charles, and Pippin falls victim to her plot ("Spread a Little Sunshine"). While Charles is prayingat Arles, Pippin murders him, and becomes the new king ("Morning Glow"). However, after petitions from the masses, Pippin realizes that neither he nor his father could change society and had to act as tyrants. He begs the Leading Player to bring his slain father back to life, and the Leading Player does so. At this point in the currently licensed production, the Leading Player then introduces Pippin to The Finale.

Pippin is left without direction until the Leading Player inspires him ("On the Right Track"). After experimenting with art and religion, he falls into monumental despair and collapses on the floor. Catherine finds him on the street, and is attracted by the arch of his foot ("And There He Was") and when Pippin comes to, she introduces herself to Pippin ("Kind of Woman"), a widow, with a small boy, Theo. From the start, it is clear that the Leading Player is concerned with Catherine's actual attraction to Pippin—after all, she is but a player playing a part in his yet-to-be-unfolded plan. At first, Pippin thinks himself above such boring manorial duties as sweeping, repairs, and milking cows ("Extraordinary"), but eventually he comforts Theo on the sickness and eventual death of his pet ("Prayer for a Duck") and warms up to the lovely Catherine ("Love Song"). However, as time goes by, Pippin feels that he must leave the estate to continue searching for his purpose. Catherine is heartbroken, and reflects on him (much to the Leading Player's anger and surprise) ("I Guess I'll Miss the Man").

All alone on a stage, Pippin is surrounded by the Leading Player and the various troupe members. They all suggest that Pippin complete the most perfect act ever: the Finale. They tell Pippin to jump into a box of fire, light himself up, and "become one with the flame." Pippin is reluctant at first, but slowly loses resistance ("Finale"). He is stopped by his natural misgivings and also by one actress from the troupe—the woman playing Catherine. Catherine and her son Theo stand by Pippin and defy the script, the Leading Player, and Fastrada. Pippin comes to the realization that the widow's home was the only place where he was truly happy ("Magic Shows and Miracles") "...I never came close my love". Having experimented with every possible path to fulfillment, he feels humbled, and realizes that maybe the most fulfilling road of all is a modest, ordinary life. He comes to the conclusion that, while "settling down" may at times be mundane and boring, "if [he's] never tied to anything, [he'll] never be free." After removing the sets, lighting, makeup, and costumes from the stage (to no success at dissuading Pippin), The Leading Player becomes furious and calls off the show, telling the rest of the troupe and the orchestra to pack up and leave Pippin, Catherine, and her son alone on an empty, dark and silent stage: "You try singing without music, sweetheart!" Pippin realizes that he has given up his extraordinary purpose for the simplest and most ordinary life of all, and he is finally a happy man. Well, perhaps. When Catherine asks him if he feels like a compromiser or a coward, he says no. But he does feel "trapped," and that, so he says, "isn't too bad for the end of a musical comedy."

Alternate ending[edit]

Some newer productions of Pippin have featured a slightly different ending. After the troupe shuns Pippin for not performing the grand finale, and he avers his contentment with a simple life with Catherine, Theo remains on stage, and sings a verse of "Corner of the Sky", after which the Leading Player and the troupe return onto the stage. The light on Theo becomes brighter, and presumably, the cycle continues. Blackout. Current productions vary between the two possible endings, though Schwartz himself has expressed his preference for the newer ending.^[4]Furthermore, the 2013 Broadway revival uses the alternate ending.

Awards - Tonys 20213 - Musicals - The Mystery of Edwin Drood

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (REVIVAL)

From Wikopedia

Act I

At London's Music Hall Royale, preparations are underway for the premiere performance of the resident troupe's version of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Members of the troupe (who venture out into the seats) explain to audience members the historical details of Dickens's untimely demise, as well as the role the audience will play in determining the outcome of the mystery. From various locations in the theater, the cast members perform the opening number, "There You Are." The Chairman, a kind of Master of Ceremonies, informs attendees that this is going to be an unusual production, and invites all to be as "vulgar and uncivilized as legally possible." With this announcement, the play-within-the-play gets underway.

The first Dickens character introduced is the choirmaster John Jasper, a "respectable" member of society who shares with the audience the fact that he actually suffers from inner torment ("A Man Could Go Quite Mad"). Next to be introduced is Jasper's nephew, Edwin Drood (whom the Chairman reveals is being played by the famous male impersonator, Miss Alice Nutting), who discusses his impending arranged marriage with Rosa Bud, as well as his plans to leave for Egypt after the wedding ("Two Kinsmen").

Drood's fiancee, Rosa Budd, is then introduced at the "Nun's House" (a ladies' seminary). It is her birthday, and Jasper, her music tutor, has composed a song for Rosa ("Moonfall") which he insists on hearing her sing. During the encore, two orphans from Ceylon, Neville and Helena Landless, enter with the Reverend Mr. Crisparkle. After Rosa faints from the lustful lyrics of Jasper's song, Helena comes to her aid ("Moonfall Quartet") while Neville displays an attraction to Rosa. Next to introduce herself is the Princess Puffer, the madame of an opium den ("The Wages of Sin"). We see that respectable Jasper is himself a customer of the den, and, as he dreams of Drood and Rosa, Puffer reacts when she hears Rosa's name.

Back in Cloisterham, the gravedigger Durdles and his Deputy enter to discuss a newly completed tomb for the wife of Mayor Thomas Sapsea. It is announced that the actor playing Sapsea is too drunk to perform, so the Chairman himself takes over the role.

The following day, Rev. Crisparkle introduces Edwin and the Landless twins. When Drood shares his plan to pave a desert highway with stones from the Egyptian pyramids, he offends his new rival Neville and his sister: the three then proceed to argue ("Ceylon"). When Jasper enters with Mayor Sapsea, he points out to the mayor that everything is not always what it seems, a statement the Chairman, confused by his dual roles, agrees with. ("Both Sides of the Coin").

Jasper sneaks around the cemetery, where he obtains a key to Mrs. Sapsea's tomb. Afterwards, Edwin and Rosa reveal that they both have strong misgivings about their upcoming nuptials ("Perfect Strangers"), and decide to break off their wedding plans, but not to tell anyone until after the Christmas holiday. At Jasper's home, the major players join together to celebrate Christmas dinner, but all is not jolly as the rivalries and dark motivations of all are revealed ("No Good Can Come From Bad"). Edwin and Neville head out to the river as the others depart, and Jasper offers his topcoat to Edwin.

The following day Edwin has disappeared, and Crisparkle's assistant Bazzard has found Jasper's coat torn and bloodied. Drood is presumed murdered, and Neville is the chief suspect. The Chairman stops the show to allow Philip Bax, the actor playing the small role of Bazzard, to briefly take the spotlight ("Never the Luck.") Though Neville is captured, he is soon released after his sister points out that Drood's body has never been found. Meanwhile, Jasper sinisterly declares his passions to Rosa, who angrily rebuffs him. Their heated confrontation ("The Name of Love") leads to an intense reprise of "Moonfall." The Chairman ends the first act by filling in the audience with the information given throughout the first act and telling them to think it over.

Act II

Six months later, Edwin Drood is still missing and Princess Puffer and a stranger, Dick Datchery, arrive to investigate the mystery of Edwin's disappearance ("Settling Up The Score"). At this moment, the Chairman returns with Deputy and Durdles to remind the audience to pay attention to the clues ("Off to the Races").

 

While looking for Jasper, Puffer meets Rosa Budd and, joined by the rest of the cast, tells her not to give up her ambitions ("Don't Quit While You're Ahead"). Abruptly, in the middle of the song, all stops: this is as far as Dickens got before he died. It is now time for the audience to decide how the story ends. First it must be determined whether Edwin is actually dead or not. It turns out that Alice Nutting, female impersonator, has been wearing the Datchery costume in order to fulfill her contract to appear in two acts of the play—but are Datchery and Drood one and the same? The cast votes unanimously that Drood is, indeed, dead. Alice angrily tells the cast that they were all jealous of her and that that is the only reason why she is being dismissed, and storms offstage and moments later out of the theater in a huff. After her exit, the Chairman reveals the truth: Alice was a pain, but now it remains to be determined who Datchery truly is. The audience votes for a new Datchery by applause (anyone who has already appeared in scenes with him is ruled out), and the actor chosen goes to make a costume change for the finale.

Next to be determined is the murderer. The Chairman runs down the list of possible murderers and their motives for the crime. The audience is asked to vote by "districts" for the killer, and while the votes are tallied a reprise of "Settling Up The Score" leads into the resolution of "The Mystery".

Puffer finds Rosa and reveals that, years before, she had been Rosa's nanny ("The Garden Path To Hell"). She continues with "Puffer's Revelation" and reveals the identity of Datchery (previously chosen by the audience.) The evening's Datchery (either Bazzard, Reverend Crisparkle, Helena, Neville, or Rosa) explains why he or she wants to find the killer ("Out On A Limerick") and promptly accuses Jasper of being the murderer. Jasper soon admits that he strangled his nephew while in a laudanum haze ("Jasper's Confession"). Durdles the gravedigger, however, disagrees; he witnessed the crime and knows who truly killed Edwin Drood. Depending on the audience's vote, the finger is pointed at Bazzard, Crisparkle, Helena, Neville, Puffer, Rosa, or Durdles himself. The murderer confesses, then sings a reprise of one of several numbers to admit his or her culpability. (If, albeit not likely, the audience chooses Jasper as the murderer, Durdles does not interrupt and a second confession is not performed.)

Still, a happy ending is needed, and the Chairman asks the audience to choose two lovers from among the remaining cast members. The two chosen members declare their love, and then reprise "Perfect Strangers". Just then, there comes a noise from the crypt, and a very-much-alive Edwin Drood appears, ready to tell all what really happened on the night of his disappearance ("The Writing On The Wall"). The mystery is solved, and the members of the company take their bows ("Don't Quit While You're Ahead" (reprise)).

Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musicals - Annie (Revival)

ANNIE (REVIVAL)

(From Huffington Post0

Broadway is for little girls. Or at the very least, a compelling argument can be made for that statement. Look, Wicked is still pulling them in.Matilda is brilliant in London and -- unless there's an unforeseeable sea change -- will be the same in Manhattan come spring. Cinderella, which features slightly older girls but nonetheless has enormous appeals for younger ones, is due in February.

And now just as prominently at the Palace is that long-time favorite Annie, revived on the Great White Way for the second time since its initial 1977 production. The first return was 1997, and now, 15 years later, an entire generation of target-audience theater-goers is with us, which has to be how the producers suss it out.

For those newbies as well as for their parents, not much of what the critics have to say is likely to deter them from what is at best -- and at worst -- a competent mounting of the Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin-Thomas Meehan enterprise, first directed by Charnin with, it was widely rumored, an assist from Mike Nichols.

The part of the return that continues to stand up is the likable, hummable score, which includes "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile," "Easy Street" and most famously "Tomorrow." That outburst highlights the comic strip heroine's optimism near the action's beginning and is reprised in this version's most delightful sequence -- a meeting of cabinet members and advisors in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's oval office.

The lead question for an Annie outing is how does this Annie fare, and Lilla Crawford fares well enough as she leaves the orphanage where she was abandoned eleven year earlier to take up a two-week Christmas residence in a swanky David Korins-designed Fifth Avenue mansion owned by bald-headed Oliver Warbucks. He's Anthony Warlow, imported from Opera Australia for his bravura voice, affable manner and possibly for his surname's first syllable.

Young Crawford, whom some might gauge a smidge too advanced for the 11-year-old tough-talking do-gooder, belts "Tomorrow" as if there's no tomorrow, but whether she's truly thinking about what she's singing raises some doubt. Not enough, though, to do any damage to her delivery.

On the plus-plus side Crawford has a no-nonsense, Brooklynese manner that also lends ballast in dealings with her raucous orphanage pals (Emily Rosenfeld, Georgi James, Taylor Richardson, Madi Rae DiPietro, Junah Jang, Tyrah Skye Odoms) and at Daddy Warbucks's classy squat with exec secretary Grace Farrell (Brynn O'Malley) and head butler Drake (Joel Hatch).

The next question in any Annie concerns the comic-cruel Miss Hannigan role. This frame, it's the usually divine Katie Finneran, who owns deserved Tonys for the most recent revivals of Promises, Promises and Noises Off. No third Tony seems to be waiting in the wings for the work here -- or perhaps "overwork" is the better word. Finneran's Miss Hannigan is a mean drunk without the inherent wink the musical's primary villain needs. Most egregiously, she plays the wonderful comedy song "Little Girls" in such a state of garbled inebriation that she loses every laugh.

Others not rising to their usual high standards don't extend to Susan Hilferty, whose costumes are swell, but do extend to director James Lapine and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler. Neither of them seems cut out to deal with a orphanageful of rowdy tykes and their well-meaning or ill-meaning elders.

Lapine brings little to the scenes involving Miss Hannigan's cohorts, brother Rooster (Clarke Thorell, who does nicely anyway) and brother's sidekick Lily (J. Elaine Marcos). Blankenbuehler rises to some vivacity with his work but looks to have a penchant for getting the song-and-dance cast into circles that eventually register as repetitive.

An unfortunate result of a so-so Annie is that the libretto's deficiencies -- masked in more inspired productions -- are exposed. The plot is meager with the main complication -- Annie's adoption by Daddy Warbucks endangered by a Hannigan-Rooster-Lily plot -- doesn't have much pizzazz. It unfolds for about five suspenseless minutes -- and among more of the overabundant lame Meehan jokes.

Another aspect starting to plague the until-now fabulously Warbucks-ian property is its being irrevocably a Depression period piece. When the parents of some of the children in the audience don't look old enough themselves to have seen the 1977 undertaking, it's no surprise that a song about Hoovervilles, a joke with a "New Deal" punchline, a spoof of a 1930s radio variety show, and characters based on Harold Ickes (Gavin Lodge). Frances Perkins (Jane Blass) and even F. D. R. (Merwin Foard, and very good) fall on unknowing eyes and ears.

In this production, Sandy, the homeless dog Annie rescues (and whose name has fresh connotations this week), is played by Sunny, a devil-may-care pooch giving one of the enterprise's more satisfying performances.

Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musicals - Hands on a Hardbody

HANDS ON A HARDBODY

(Review from the New York Times)

This show is both touching and upbeat. For those of us who are tired of most musicals, in recent years, being either imports or revivals this is quite refreshing.
The premise is simple, win a truck by keeping your hands on it the longest. It is based on an actual event that took place at a dealership in Texas in 1996 and the subsequent documentary. I was never a great fan of Phish but Trey Anastasio hit the mark here.
The stark staging and lack of scenery along with the emphasis on the individual stories of the contestants has drawn comparisons to Chorus Line. I have even seen it referred to as the red neck Chorus Line. While there may be some validity to this I also saw parallels to The Fantastics. The red truck, like the wall in The Fantastics, is a metaphor. In this case for the great American dream that seems to be slipping away from so many segments of our society. This leads to extensive discussions of everything from 401ks to immigration in the course of the show.
The performances are all excellent, particularly Keith Carradine and Hunter Foster. There may be a few production numbers that fall short of the mark, such as the choreography for the song stronger, but they do not detract from the show enough to matter.
In short, a wonderful night at the theater. If you do not like serious musical drama ( I'm not sure that is even a term but I don't know how else to categorize it) then go see Lion King or Spiderman.

Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musicals - Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN CINDERELLA (2013)

Review from USA Today

The new production of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (* * * 1/2 out of four) that opened Sunday at the Broadway Theatre finds Osnes less surprisingly cast, but just as beguiling. The musical, appearing on the Great White Way for the first time, began its life as a 1957 TV movie starring Julie Andrews -- leaving the current star with a pretty big pair of glass slippers to fill.

But with guidance from director Mark Brokaw and librettist Douglas Carter Beane, Osnes and a gifted supporting cast make this fairy tale very much their own -- a scrumptious trifle that, for all its hokey moments, will charm theatergoers of all ages.

Beane has revised the plot so that Cinderella is not merely a kind maiden in distress, but a curious young woman becoming aware of injustices beyond her own shabby treatment. As in Hammerstein's original book, her wicked stepmother and stepsisters are funnier and less cartoonishly cruel than in the Disney version; but now one stepsister, Gabrielle, is being courted by a fledgling revolutionary named Jean-Michel, who sees the ruling regime as corrupt and oppressive.

We learn that peasants were treated fairly until the king and queen, who don't appear in this incarnation, died, leaving young Prince Topher and the community at the mercy of the greedy, wily Lord Protector Sebastian. Though Topher is about to become king, he's a little nervous, and clueless to Sebastian's machinations; it will be Cinderella's task to both open his eyes and boost his confidence.

If the twist sounds a bit like a post-feminist contrivance, Beane keeps things sufficiently light and whimsical; the satire may verge on dopey at times, but it's never pretentious. And Brokaw elicits breezy, witty performances from his players, who could hardly be better suited to their roles, from Harriet Harris' deliciously tart stepmother to Peter Bartlett's drolly pompous Sebastian.

As Topher, Santino Fontana, one of the most promising young stage actors of his generation, manages to be both charming and endearingly neurotic. Marla Mindelle's Gabrielle and Greg Hildreth's Jean-Michel make an adorably goofy couple, while Ann Harada brings just enough shrillness to the cattier stepsister, Charlotte. And Victoria Clark is predictably enchanting as the fairy godmother, who disguises herself as a poor old woman before transforming -- just as Cinderella does -- into a vision of glittering elegance, who soars through the air.

The visual effects are, in fact, more dazzling than the score, which despite the inclusion of additional Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes remains a sub-par representation of the legendary duo. Still, it's a delight by today's standards -- as is this disarming production itself.

Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musicals - Matilda

MATILDA

Synopsis (From Wikipedia)

As a chorus of children boast "My mummy says I'm a miracle" the ballroom-dancing obsessed T.V. addict Mrs. Wormwood gives birth to a baby girl called Matilda Wormwood. Whilst the doctor professes Matilda the most beautiful child he has ever seen Mrs. Wormwood is more worried about a dancing-contest she has missed and Mr. Wormwood, a dodgy used-car salesman, dismisses the child as "an ugly little thing" (and also automatically assumes it is, and wishes it were, a boy) ("Miracle").

Five years later, Matilda lives an unhappy existence with Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and her older, gormless brother Michael. At only five years old Matilda can already read and gets through several books a week. The Wormwoods are oblivious to Matilda's gift and frequently mock and verbally abuse her. Matilda, who believes that anything that's not right must be put right, realises that sometimes, to make things right, you have to be a little bit ("Naughty"); so adds some of her mother's hydrogen peroxide to her father's hair oil, leaving Mr. Wormwood with bright green hair.

At the local library Matilda, who frequently entertains the librarian, Mrs. Phelps, with exciting tales, begins to tell Mrs. Phelps a new story about an extraordinary Acrobat and Escapologist; internationally famous they are beloved by all and wow crowds with their daring performances. The Acrobat and Escapologist long to have a child but have been unable to conceive. To distract themselves from their sadness the pair announce to the world press that they will be performing an exciting and dangerous new act: "The Burning Woman Hurling Through The Air, With Dynamite In Her Hair, Over Sharks and Spiky Objects Caught By The Man Locked In The Cage".

The next day is Matilda's first day at school. As her classmates arrive with the usual nervousness of a child going to school for the first time, the older children do nothing to dispel their fears, instead warning them that even putting in effort there, is a waste of energy ("School Song"). Her teacher, Miss Honey, is immediately impressed by Matilda's precociousness and ability, so she resolves to recommend that Matilda is moved to the top class with the older children ("Pathetic"). However, the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull (a cruel and sadistic disciplinarian and former hammer-throwing world champion, who firmly believes in the school motto: "Bambinatum est Maggitum"—Children Are Maggots), dismisses Miss Honey's suggestion and lectures her on the importance of adhering strictly to "The Rules" ("The Hammer").

Back at the Wormwood household, Mr. Wormwood is frustrated that a group of wealthy Russians didn't fall for his lies about a number of worn-down old cars he had been trying to sell them at exorbitant prices. He takes his frustration out on Matilda and destroys one of her library books; prompting her to put superglue around the rim of his hat. ("Naughty" Reprise).

At school, Matilda learns of Miss Trunchbull's cruel punishments, including Chokey, a tiny, dank cupboard with broken glass and nails in the walls and floor that she locks naughty children in for hours on end ("The Chokey Chant"). Matilda soon witnesses Trunchbull's wickedness firsthand when the furious headmistress spins a small girl around by her pigtails and throws her across the playing field.

Meanwhile, Miss Honey decides to pay the Wormwoods a visit to express her recommendation that Matilda be put in an advanced class. She meets Mrs. Wormwood and her faux-Italian ballroom-dance partner Rudolpho. It soon becomes apparent to Miss Honey that Mrs. Wormwood couldn't care less about her daughter's advanced intelligence and Mrs. Wormwood mocks Miss Honey's interest in books and intellect over television and make-up ("Loud"). Alone outside the Wormwood household, Miss Honey is desperate to help Matilda ("This Little Girl").

Matilda tells Mrs. Phelps more about the Acrobat and the Escapologist. The performance of their new feat has been arranged by the Acrobat's sister, a former world champion hammer-thrower who loves to scare small children. Just before their act begins the Escapologist announces that the performance will be cancelled as the Acrobat is pregnant. The crowd is thrilled, but the Acrobat's sister is furious at the prospect of refunding the crowd's money and produces a contract that the Acrobat and Escapologist have signed binding them to performing the act or else spending the rest of their lives in jail.

At school, Bruce Bogtrotter, a boy in Matilda's class, has stolen a slice of Miss Trunchbull's personal chocolate cake. When she discovers this, she decides to punish Bruce by forcing him to eat an entire cake all by himself in front of the class, who bravely support him ("Bruce"). After Bruce has finished the cake, the class celebrates his success but Miss Trunchbull drags Bruce away for the second part of his punishment: Chokey. (End of Act 1)

At the end of the interval, Mr. Wormwood appears with a disclaimer, apologising for the show's rampant support for reading and warns children that if they do read they will go blind, become smelly and get verrucas (of the soul). He then introduces what he considers to be "the pinnacle of man's success and the reason we evolved out of unicorns in the first place": television ("Telly"), after which Lavender, a girl in Matilda's class, confides in the audience that, in a bit "coming up", after being given the job of preparing Miss Trunchbull's jug of water, she finds a newt and puts it in the jug.

After the 'Entr'acte' the children sing about how they imagine adulthood is like, Miss Honey laments and Matilda resolves to put an end to Miss Trunchbull's cruelty ("When I Grow Up").

Matilda tells Mrs. Phelps more about the Acrobat and the Escapologist. Bound to their contract they perform the feat and all seems to go well until the last moment when the Acrobat slips and falls to the ground breaking every bone in her body (except the ones at the ends of her little fingers); she lives just long enough to give birth to a beautiful baby girl. The Acrobat's sister soon moves into the house with the Escapologist and his daughter. She is incredibly cruel to the little girl, forcing her to do menial tasks and frequently abusing her verbally and physically, but the Escapologist is too saddened by his wife's death to notice.

Mr. Wormwood returns home from work delighted that he has been able to sell the worn-down cars to the wealthy Russians after all, having hit on a plan to use an automatic drill to wind back the odometers on the cars, seemingly reducing the mileage. Matilda is annoyed at her father's flagrant deceit and tells him off for it. This angers Mr. Wormwood and he verbally abuses Matilda before locking her in her bedroom. That night Matilda continues the story of the Acrobat and the Escapologist on her own. After years of cruelty the Acrobat's sister's fits of rage have grown to the point where, one night, she beats the Escapologist's daughter, tells her she is a "useless, filthy, nasty little creep" and locks her in the basement and goes out. However that evening the Escapologist returns home early and hears his daughter crying in the basement. He breaks down the door and discovers the extent of the Acrobat's sister's cruelty. As he comforts his daughter he promises her he will always be there for her from now on, as his wife had made him promise on her deathbed. Filled with a sudden rage, he runs out into the night to find the Acrobat's sister, but is never seen again ("I'm Here").

The next day, Miss Trunchbull forces Miss Honey's class to participate in a grueling physical education lesson ("The Smell of Rebellion"). When she goes to drink from her water jug, she discovers the newt inside and immediately accuses the first child she lays eyes on. Matilda stands up and tells Miss Trunchbull off for being a bully. Trunchbull launches into a tirade of abuse against Matilda, but Matilda retreats in her mind to a place where everything is 'quiet' and discovers she has the ability to move objects with her mind ("Quiet"). With her newfound ability, she tips over the Trunchbull's water jug, soaking her in water, with the newt ending up in her knickers. Afterwards, Matilda demonstrates her powers to Miss Honey. Taken aback, Miss Honey invites Matilda back to her house for a cup of tea. On the way there Matilda finally admits that her father is not proud of her and calls her names (having previously failed to correct Mrs Phelps's assumptions of how proud her parents must be).

Miss Honey's house turns out to be nothing more than an old farm shed. Matilda discovers that Miss Honey has been forced to live in abject poverty by her cruel and abusive aunt, who looked after her as a child after her parents died. When Miss Honey first got her job as a teacher, the aunt produced a bill of every meal and drink Miss Honey had ever had as a child, as well as any other conceivable expense, and forced Miss Honey to sign a contract binding her to pay it all back. Despite all this, Miss Honey manages to find a simple beauty in her meagre living conditions. As Miss Honey tells her story, Matilda soon realises that the story of the Acrobat and the Escapologist is the story of Miss Honey's childhood, and that the wicked aunt is Miss Trunchbull, who murdered the Escapologist, Miss Honey's father ("My House").

Back at school Miss Trunchbull forces the children to participate in a spelling test; anyone who fails to spell a word correctly will be sent to Chokey. As she discovers the children have been taught well by Miss Honey, and fail to misspell a single word, Miss Trunchbull invents a word to force the children into Chokey. As the victim of being given this word to spell fails and is about to be taken to Chokey, her classmates one by one deliberately misspell simple words, declaring "I spelt it wrong miss, you'll have to put me in Chokey too" and "You can't put us all in Chokey". But Miss Trunchbull replies that she can - she has built many, many more Chokeys. At this moment Matilda uses her powers to make a piece of chalk write on the blackboard and make Miss Trunchbull believe that it is the ghost of Miss Honey's father demanding that the Trunchbull give his daughter back her house or he'd get her "like she got him" and then leave. This causes the Trunchbull to run from the school screaming, and the children celebrate their new-found anarchic freedom ("Revolting Children").

At the library, Miss Honey and Mrs. Phelps tell of the aftermath of the events; a few days after the Trunchbull had run away, Miss Honey received a letter from a solicitor saying that her father's will had mysteriously been found and all his money and his house were left to her. Miss Trunchbull was never seen by anyone ever again, and Miss Honey became the new headmistress of the school. They tell how Matilda was never again able to use her powers - Matilda says she doesn't need to, but Miss Honey would be angered that the girl who'd done so much to help her and others was still stuck with such a cruel family. Mrs Phelps says that's the end and that stories don't always have happy endings. At that moment the Wormwoods arrive at the library in a panic telling Matilda that she has to leave with them now, as they are running away to Spain. It transpires that the wealthy Russians Mr. Wormwood was dealing with were in fact the Russian Mafia, who are not at all happy about being sold broken cars. Miss Honey asks if Matilda can stay with her, but before a decision can be made, the Mafia arrive. Sergei, the head of the Mafia, is impressed and moved by Matilda's intellect and respect, and he agrees to not harm the Wormwoods (as long as he never has to deal with Mr Wormwood again when doing business) ("This Little Girl" Reprise).

A grateful Mr. Wormwood thanks Matilda and agrees to let her live in happiness with Miss Honey.

Awards - Tonys 2013 - Musicals - A Christmas Story

A CHRISTMAS STORY

Synopsis:

(From IMDb – composite synopsis of movie by several contributors)

Ralphie Parker is a nine year-old boy living in the small down of Hohman, Indiana in the late 1940's. As he, a few friends, and his younger brother Randy look into the display window of a local store, Ralphie has his eyes set on the only item he wants for Christmas; an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, with a compass in the stock and "this thing which tells time" (a sundial).

Knowing full well that he could never request this item openly to his parents, Ralphie sneaks advertisements for the gun into his parents' magazines the next morning. He then accidentally lets slip his desire to his mother who immediately rejects the idea with the dreaded phrase: "you'll shoot your eye out."

Disappointed, Ralphie enjoys a reverie about how he alone, armed with his gun, stands between his family and a gang of stripe-shirted ruffians in a Western-style standoff. Meanwhile his grouchy father is forced to battle the temperamental house furnace in the basement amid a slur of inaudible curses.

While walking through the frozen, snow-covered neighborhood on his way to school, Ralphie meets up his two friends, Flick and Schwartz, while Randy lags behind. Before class, Flick and Schwartz argue over what would happen should someone stick their tongue to a frozen flag pole, engaging in a delicate nuance of phrase during which Schwartz dares Flick to stick his tongue to the pole. Upon the dreaded triple-dog-dare, Flick puts his tongue to the pole to find it stuck tight. He starts screaming but the others run into school as the bell rings. Their teacher, Miss Shields, notices Flick's absence and, when she sees him outside, calls the fire department and local police and tries to comfort Flick. As the students watch with excitement, Ralphie feels a pang of guilt. Still, when Flick is escorted to his desk, a bandage around his tongue, and Miss Shields gives a brief speech on how whoever put Flick up to sticking his tongue to the pole should atone for their misdeed. But Ralphie explains that kids know better not to get caught. Miss Shields then gives them an assignment; to write a theme about what they want for Christmas. Ralphie sees this as an opportunity to write about the Red Ryder gun, hoping that his teacher will sympathize with him and secure a little reprieve with her authority as an adult.

The doorbell rings at dinner and everyone immediately stops. They run to the door where Mr. Parker allows the delivery men to wheel in a large box and opens it with fervor to reveal a lamp that's designed to look like a woman's leg, complete with stocking, high heel shoe, and a shade that looks like a skirt. While Mr. Parker gushes over it, Ralphie's mother is clearly uncomfortable, especially when her husband tells her to display it in the front window for the entire neighborhood to see. Only one thing draws Ralphie and his brother away from the glow of electric sex gleaming in the window, and thats their favorite radio program; Little Orphan Annie.

At home, his mother puts a bar of soap in his mouth for swearing, one that he dislikes in taste above all others he's had the opportunity to sample. His mother asks where hes heard that word and, although Ralphie admits to us that his old man used the word as fluently as an artist would use paint, he chickens out and blurts out his friend Schwartz's name. When Mrs. Parker calls Schwartz's mother and tells her, we hear her screaming maniacally and giving Schwartz a sound beating.

At school, Ralphie is handed his theme back from Miss Shields. He looks in horror at the large C+ stamped across the top with the phrase "youll shoot your eye out". He imagines his teacher clad in a witch's outfit, laughing at him next to his harlequin mother who must have surely gotten to her. Ralphie spends the rest of the day in class feeling depressed and hopeless that he'll never get the Ryder BB gun.

On the way home, Ralphie walks alone and is suddenly hit in the face with a snowball. He takes his glasses off and sees Scut Farkus and Grover Dill approach him. Ralphie tears up until Scut starts to mock him and laugh, something that causes Ralphie, in all his disappointment and anguish, to snap and charge angrily at Scut, tackling him to the ground and beating him. Grover runs off as the neighborhood kids cheer Ralphie on. Randy picks up his discarded glasses and goes to get their mother who arrives just as Ralphie is finishing a rant of slurred curses. She gets Ralphie off of Scut and helps him walk home. Scut is left to pick himself up with a bloodied nose. The cowardly Scut runs off, yelling to Ralphie that he'll tell his father about beating him up.

Suddenly, the furnace blows black smoke into the kitchen again and the Old Man rushes down to do battle. Mrs. Parker appears complacent as she strolls into the living room with a watering can before a loud crash is heard. Ralphie watches as his father rushes up the stairs and finds his wife holding his broken lamp. She admits it was an accident before shouting, after Mr. Parker claims she was jealous that he won it, that it was the ugliest lamp she's ever seen. Mr. Parker attempts to fix the lamp but it quickly falls apart, much to his wife's amusement. He musters all the dignity he can as he takes the remains to the back yard and buries them. Before going to sleep, Ralphie decides that if no one else will help him in his quest to obtain the Red Ryder gun, he should ask Santa.

Ralphie is escorted by an irritable helper elf (Patty Johnson) to sit on Santa's lap. His perspective, as he's swung around, shows clearly why most kids are afraid of Santa. In shock himself by Santa's intimindating face, Ralphie is unable to tell Santa exactly what he wants. Santa suggests a football to which Ralphie numbly agrees. He comes to his senses just as he's about to go down the slide and stops himself, struggling back to the top where he blurts out what he really wants. He gives his best smile, but Santa merely repeats what Ralphie fears, "you'll shoot your eye out, kid" before putting his boot to Ralphie's forehead and pushing him down the slide. Ralphie's parents collect him and Randy at the bottom and take them home where they decorate the tree (a task that results in blowing a dangerously packed outlet).

The next morning, Ralphie wakes up to see that fresh snow has fallen overnight and goes downstairs eagerly with his brother, who claims that everything in sight is his. Their parents follow suit and presents are unwrapped with frantic excitement (except for socks). When all is said and done, Randy lies sleeping amid the wrappings with his toy zeppelin as Ralphie sits on the couch with his parents. His father asks if he got everything he wanted that year before pointing out a mysterious package behind the desk. Ralphie goes to unwrap it and finds what he thought he'd never get; the Red Ryder BB gun. His father chuckles as he fills it with BB pellets and asks to try it out. Mr. Parker explains to his wife that he had one when he was eight years old, though she still worries Ralphie will hurt himself.

Ralphie takes aim, fires, and falls back; the pellet having bounced off the target and hitting him on the cheek, knocking his glasses off. Fearful for a second that he actually did shoot his eye out, the half-blind Ralphie collects himself and looks for his glasses but accidentally steps on them, breaking them. Despondent, he tries to think of a way to explain the accident to his mother and decides that an icicle falling off the garage would have to work. He fakes some tears and goes to his mother. She takes him to the bathroom upstairs to wash his face off (though Ralphie is ecstatic that his plan worked) and gives him an old pair of glasses to use.

That night, Ralphie sleeps with his Red Ryder held close, the best Christmas gift he ever received, dreaming of hunting ducks and making spectacular shots.