Saw The Apple Tree at Studio 54, c/o The Roundabout. This cute production -- three one-act musical fables -- was great fun, due to the leads, Kristin Chenoweth and Brian d'Arcy James. Chenoweth has been in some TV and was the original Glinda in Wicked. She should be an even bigger star soon, as she can act, sing, and make 'em laugh. Trivia: in the first act, based on Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam and Eve, the voice of God was spoken by Alan Alda, who starred as Adam in the original 1966 production.
The New York Philharmonic hosted a short benefit production of My Fair Lady starring a thankfully wonderful Kelsey Grammer as Prof. Higgins. Though there were several shades of "Frasier" to the performance, Grammer made it clear that was more by choice than laziness - Higgins is almost as pompous and self-centered as Frasier, after all. The star of the production was Kelli O'Hara, who we last saw in the beautiful Light In The Piazza . Her Eliza was great and her performance of "I Could Have Danced All Night" was practically perfect, getting a standing ovation from the Lincoln Center audience. The rollicking character of Alfred P. Doolittle was exuberantly played by the burly Brian Dennehy. All in all, a great evening for a great musical.
Finally, New York City Opera's production of "Pirates of Penzance" was a real disappointment. Insisting on a post-modern staging with distracting sets and miscellaneous characters running around on stage served only to diminish and undermine the sweetness and glory of the music. After the Act I ending hymn "Hail, Poetry" was ruined by some comedy business involving a moving backdrop, we left at the intermission. True, the cast, including Brian d'Arcy James (again!) as the Pirate King, was excellent, but the production was a mess.