The Playgoer: Season Preview: Roundabout

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Monday, June 13, 2005

Season Preview: Roundabout

The Behemoth announceth...

...well, at least two of next season's big shows. First, the already buzzed about Threepenny Opera directed by Scott Elliott, starring Alan Cumming and Edie Falco. There's a lot here already to make Brechtians wary. Elliott shows time and again (case in point: "Hurlyburly") he is a master of gritty naturalism. But the alienation and irony of "Threepenny," both a classic, and a musica (forms in which he has been less successful)... well, we'll see. Cumming as Macheath? We'll try to keep an open mind. (I anticipate a decadent runt, not the traditional blasé roué). And who is Edie Falco playing??? Sopranos shows the required world-weariness in her, but can she transform that into deliberate social gesture?

The surprise news (to me, at leats) is the return of Gabriel Byrne, continuing his challenge to the great Robards O'Neill roles in A Touch of the Poet. Doug Hughes directs. Will Roundabout bring back the Studio 54 "cabaret" table seating so we can all raise a glass? Tune in Fall 2005...

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