Season in and season out over the last 30 years, The New Group has produced smart mixes of fresh plays with vintage works that often address the trends and topics of the current moment. Excellent actors and bigtime names usually are involved with these productions, which tend to be stylishly designed. Not all of its shows (and I have seen most) prove to be artistically rewarding, but they rarely if ever have been dull. It is admirable how Scott Elliott, who founded the Off Broadway company and remains its artistic director, has managed to scout the plays and nab the stars and maintain such sharp production standards for three decades.
The New Group’s latest show, Babe, which opened Wednesday, is a case in point. First produced by Echo Theater in Los Angeles in 2022, Jessica Goldberg’s absorbing comedy-drama illuminates a hot issue: Gen Z and sexual harassment in today’s workplace. The notable name attached to Babe is Academy Award-winner Marisa Tomei, who happens to an excellent actor, too. Directed by Elliott, the play is staged within a handsome setting sleekly designed by Derek McLane. The show flies by in 80 minutes, affording time afterwards to grab a beverage to talk over Goldberg’s entertaining play, which in certain aspects recalls both David Mamet’s Oleanna and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve.
Set recently in the upper echelons of the pop music industry, the story begins as Katherine (Gracie McGraw), a confident overachiever some five years out of Berkeley, interviews for a junior talent scout/developer position. Backed by the gold records on the wall of his swank office, the aging Gus (Arliss Howard) is a legendary producer whose crude manners recently sent him through sensitivity training, and he is not impressed by Katherine. But Abigail (Marisa Tomei), his trusty lieutenant and “secret weapon” for the last thirty years, convinces him otherwise. Let’s not tell too much of the story about Katherine’s subsequent doings in the office – as well as in Abigail’s apartment – except to note that another character in this mix is Kat Wonder (also played by McGraw), a now-deceased grunge rock star in the fiery Liz Phair-Courtney Love manner.
[Read Frank Scheck’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
Flashbacks reveal Abigail’s past connection with Kat, whose music she brought to Gus’ attention. Music history was made and Abigail found a career assisting Gus. Katherine reminds Abigail of her lost darling. It is ironic how the younger woman claims Kat Wonder’s messages of independence inspires her actions, yet employs sexual tactics to achieve her interests while criticizing Abigail for supposedly going that same route.
Is Katherine a glib Tik-Tok social warrior or is she actually a predator? Perhaps both? The play also studies loyalties and says interesting things about developing talent and what the corporate mindset really thinks about sexual matters in the office today. If the play delves too briefly into such subjects – and its conclusion seems hasty – Babe packs plenty of thought into a well-observed production.
Appearing quite young one minute and considerably older in the next as Abigail, Marisa Tomei brings a quietly wry attitude to this ailing, middle-aged woman caught between two generations and comprehending both points of view. A grizzled figure dressed too youthfully for his 70s-something years as the foulmouthed Gus, Arliss Howard vigorously rants out tirades about music and soul and hot times way back when. Not entirely convincing as a feral punk rocker of CBGB vintage, Gracie McGraw coolly projects an increasingly formidable personality as Katherine, whose short black leather tunic suggests she’s dressed for battle. The clothes designed by Jeff Mahshie help to illustrate the characters.
Other production details are similarly solid. The alternative pop/rock band BETTY provides sometimes thrashing, occasionally smoldering music in support of the drama. Designer Cha See employs side-lighting for romantic touches. Jessica Paz’s sound design does well by the music and brings in a faint echo for those scenes from the past. Elliott capably stages the play’s varying rhythms and moods in the cozy Alice Griffin Jewel Box space at Signature Center, where Babe represents another typically classy production from The New Group.
Babe opened November 20, 2024, at Signature Center and runs through December 22. Tickets and information: thenewgroup.org
