During my brief, pre-Christmas trip to New York I was lucky enough to see the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of THE APPLE TREE starring Kristin Chenoweth, Brain D'Arcy James, and Marc Kudisch at Studio 54. I love Studio 54 (the last thing I saw there was CABARET) because I can sit there and imagine all the glitzy debauchery that took place during the disco years. Of course things have been cleaned up quite a bit, and I was sitting in the section of comfy new seats down on the dance floor (where the tables and chairs had been for CABARET).

The original 1966 production was directed by Mike Nichols and starred Barbara Harris. I've seen her version of "Oh, to Be a Movie Star" on those old Tony award collections and I have the original Broadway cast recording, so I was excited to see the whole show. I had a great seat (thanks Susan!) and the place was packed.

What a delightful, wonderful evening of musical theatre. The performances were extraordinary, but so was the writing. The show is comprised of three separate parts; three separate self-contained stories. Part I is called "The Diary of Adam and Eve", based on "The Diary of Adam and Eve" by Mark Twain. I loved this one. I've seen a lot of Adam and Eve pieces and they are usually weighted down by cliche. The writing was so tight and funny that the usual "Eve is smarter than Adam" stuff seemed really fresh. The story is touching as well, and it's the move out of the Garden of Eden that gives their relationship substance and worth. Of course Kristin Chenoweth is brilliant -- funny, eminently watchable and those pipes are amazing. Brain d'Arcy James as Adam (I saw him perform at NAMT, and my hubbie said he was outstanding when he played Freddy in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) was fantastic too. There was great chemistry between the two. And Marc Kudisch was uncannily snakish in his movements as, you guessed it, the snake! Oh, and although not credited in the Playbill, I could have sworn the voice of God was Alan Alda, who also appeared in the original 1966 production.

Part 2, "The Lady or The Tiger?", is based on "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton. This part posed the question -- would a woman let the man she loved be mauled to death by a tiger, or would she see him wed another woman (if those were the only two choices of course!). The sets and colors of this part were beautiful and the small, but powerful, ensemble showed up to dance and sing. Again, the writing was just great. I know it was over 40 years old but it felt really fresh. Kristin Chenoweth played Princess Barbara and Brian d'Arcy James played Captain Sanjar, with Marc Kudisch as the Balladeer. Loved it!

Part 3 was "Passionella, A Romance of the '60s", based on "Passionella" by Jules Feiffer. Kristin Chenoweth played Ella a sooty, plain chimney sweep who gets her wish to become a movie star, Passionella. Brian d'Arcy James plaed Flip, The Prince Charming with a very funny hair flip and British accent. Marc Kudisch played the Narrator. Loved it!

I would love to see this show again!

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