Reviews Off Broadway

Jessica Walker finds The Girl I Left Behind Me

2013-05-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

The 59E59 Theater does a great job of bringing unique performers to its occasional Cabaret venue, and they have hit another solid winner with The Girl I Left Behind Me. Performer / Co-creator Jessica Walker inhabits the spirit and songs of musical hall players who were male impersonators.

Jessica Walter in
The Girl I Left Behind Me

Ms. Walker tells the story of these women and the curious area they occupied as sexual beings, obviously women playing men – but singing about the joys, the beauty and the sexuality of the female form. The practice was different and more complicated than lesbian attraction; although Ms. Walker makes clear there was some of that as well. In societies that were uncomfortable with female sexuality, acting that same sexual tension out as a man, particularly an unconvincing one, was acceptable and often applauded.

The Girl I Left Behind Me explores the world of these women who were popular in Dance Halls and on stage from about 1860 through 1920. This time frame means that most of these performers were unknown to most of the audience, particularly the British performers. This unfamiliarity allows Ms. Walker to introduce the numbers and the performers to us. She gives out background details, theatrical histories and personal details that bring life and deeper meaning to the songs.

Joe Atkins plays the piano and the two work together beautifully, paring on everything from Opera’s Der Rosenkavalier to a reimagined Down By The Old Mill Stream. The one misstep was a Harlem Blues number Baby Won't You Please Come Home, but kudos for including it with the history and story behind it. Co-created and Directed by Neil Bartlett, the brisk show moves speedily, wrapping up with a poignant After The Ball Is Over.

Left unsaid are that many performers that have following in the tradition blazed by these trendsetters. Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn followed many of the same paths, pushing to define a powerful female role model. Grab a cocktail and enjoy a great little show at 59E59, The Girl I Left Behind Me.

It would be tragedy for me not to acknowledge a beautiful encore. Ms. Walker and Mr. Atkins did a fantastic job on Take Me Home – a little heard Tom Waits number from the little seen movie, One From The Heart. It was performed in a manner that left me a little breathless. Bravo.

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Creators: Jessica Walker, Neil Bartlett

Director: Neil Bartlett

Cast: Jessica Walker

Pianist: Joe Atkins

Website

Bull Goes All In

2013-05-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

Bull – The Bull Fight Play, getting its US premier at 59E59 theaters as part of Brits Off Broadway week, is a viscerally scarring play dealing with the fight for life. In Bull, that “life” is viable employment, but it is truly a fight to the metaphorical death.

Staged in a high-tech boxing ring - even down to the water cooler in the corner, Bull lays out its sensibilities clearly. Three gladiators enter, but only two will exit. In this particular scenario, the three are current sales team employees at an unidentified firm in an unidentified industry. Neither industry nor firm is identified because these aren’t the critical circumstances of the characters. Survival is the critical circumstance.

Eleanor Matsuura, Sam Troughton and Adam James in the ring for Bull

The three people up for the job have stereotypical characteristics, but dont' fall into caricature. Isobel is an icy, calculating woman who stalks the arena in stilettos and steely smile. Eleanor Matsuura is frightening, funny and oddly erotic in the role. Her Isobel is a very competent bitch, as she describes herself. If hers was the only character so shrewish Bull might venture into misogyny, it does not because Tony matches her in ruthlessness, swagger and vanity.

Tony is an upper class toff with charm, wit and an ability to disparage others with rapier precision. Adam James gives devilish life to this bullying sociopath. Tony can, in the same moment and even the same sentence, be flirtatious with Isobel and yet painfully cutting to the other member of the team, Thomas.

Thomas is the low man on the totem pole, the man destined to be conquered at the end of the evening. Sam Troughton gives voice to the frustrated Thomas, a man who knows he can’t win and yet can’t afford to lose.

Eleanor Matsuura & Adam James

Thomas seems at the mercy of Isobel and Tony from the moment they come together. Tony and Isobel feast on Thomas’ insecurities. They tag team Thomas to reduce his self-esteem by methods both obvious and subtle. Watching their work is like watching an emotional vivisection, where Thomas is the frog, helpless to stop the action. When Carter, the manager, comes into to evaluate the results, there is no coherent argument left in Thomas, just the rantings of a punch drunk fighter. Neil Stuke plays Carter with a air of self-importance that is neither overpowering nor too subtle.

Bull is a swift 60 minutes, with much of the audience standing around the boxing ring. It races by. For a moment near the end, the Bullfight metaphor was too obvious, but it ends quickly and the hyper-stylistic theatrics returned.

Beautifully directed by Clare Lizzimore, Bull isn’t realistic in a traditional sense, but it has crystalline clarity when defining the journey of Thomas. Everyone has had their Thomas moments; being on the outside not understanding why. Isobel eventually tells Thomas why she acts the way she does. It is scary, painful and what we all fear in our darkest hour.

Mike Bartlett has written this exceptional piece, and it feels a companion his artful work shown here last year, Cock – the Cockfight play. Both shows are a three-way tug of war, driving their participants to their most raw emotions. The most obvious difference is that Bull – The Bull Fight Play has a very limited run here, go see it immediately.

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Bull - The Bull Fight Play

Playwright: Mike Bartlett

Director: Clare Lizzimore

Cast: Adam James, Eleanor Matsuura, Neil Struke, Sam Troughton

Website

Scrambled Eggs

2013-04-29T14:24:00.000-04:00

I am not the target audience for Scrambled Eggs, now playing at The Beckett Theater. I could tell that from the raucous laughter than erupted around me over and over during the 90 minutes show. Scrambled Eggs plays to an appreciative audience that filled the Beckett Theater and reveled in the show.

Jim Frangione and Amy Von Nostrand in Scrambled Eggs

The story, by Robin Amos Kahn and Gary Richards, is a trip with Karen through the funhouse which pre-menopause has made of her life. Amy Van Nostrand gives voice to Karen, taking us along with her on the hideous and hilarious emotional rollercoaster. Ms. Nostrand plays the role extremely well; delivering the piece as a shared survivor experience that resonated with the crowd. She made the entire feminine journey seem like one of those war-time buddy moves, complete with both friendly and enemy fire.

Annie O’Sullivan proved the funniest foil as Karen’s mother, accidently provide lots and lots of friendly fire. She delivered some great moments as the member of the older generation who saw all of womanhood as a plight to be tolerated. Jim Frangione as Karen’s husband also provided comic relief as the loving but befuddled husband.

Amy Van Nostrand as Karen with Jim Frangione & Anne O'Sullivan as her parents

The other players, Candice Brecker, Michael Dean Morgan and Mary Catherine Wright along with Mr. Frangione and Ms. O’Sullivan played a variety of characters that Karen interacted with. All did yeomen work within the parameters of the play.

The play's dynamics proved more challenging to audience members that couldn’t directly relate to the shared experience. It is set up as a monologue / comedy set by Karen, where the other characters exist to provide a punch line or set up a joke. Karen’s indiscriminate but contained anger and angst is viewed as funny, when it sometimes borders on the maniacal. Her frustration shows through, but is rather one note stretched to 90 minutes.

Karen has little patience for people, situations or entire states when they get on her bad side. In reasonable doses this is funny, at a constant stream it begins to grate. One wonders if Karen has a good side (she does, late in the play we see a softer Karen).

Matthew Penn directs Scrambled Eggs less as a story and more as a change for Karen to vent. The venting is funny for a while, but like a Spielbergian war-time buddy movie, I wanted it to be over long before it was.

Scrambled Eggs

Playwright: Robin Amos Kahn & Gary Richards

Director: Matthew Penn

Cast: Amy Van Nostrand, Candace Brecker, Jim Frangione, Micheal Dean Morgan, Anne O’Sullivan, Mary Catherine Wright

website

Pippin is Joyous!

2013-04-26T12:55:00.002-04:00

Pippin has burst onto Broadway as a traveling show of wonder – aflame for a moment only, but dazzling with flash and verve. All the shinier for those who haven’t seen it before, or have a dim memory from the 1980 broadcast of it. This Pippin is a feast of color, a flurry of feathered costumes and a marvel of daredevil tricks, but underneath lies the story of a young man trying to make sense of his place in life. Pippin is what James Franco's Wizard would have life be like if he could really do magic. The tricks are obvious, the flare is false, but the emotions shown by Matthew James Thomas as Pippin are gut wrenching.

Patina Miller and Company (Erik Altemus on far right)

The story is basic, almost unimportant and yet quite a bit of fun. Pippin is the heir apparent to King Charlemagne. He is sent off to school before the show starts and we meet him upon his graduation. Freshly educated, young Pippin wants to do Great Things with his life, but he isn’t sure what those Great Things are. And so, he sets out to find his own greatness.

Pippin is supported, counseled and guided by the Leading Player, Patina Miller in a turn so different from Sister Act you wonder if the credits are somehow wrong. Patina Miller inhabits the role first created by Ben Vereen, and they are large shoes to fill; but Ms. Miller does it all just as well and in heels. She is as charming, beguiling and intriguing as the snake in Eden. She moves with a liquid grace and can light up The Music Box with her eyes. She is great. Pippin, and the audience, is enthralled.

Pippin’s father and stepmother are played by veterans Terrence Mann and Charlotte d’Amboise. Mr. Mann bellows lines with a wink and a grin that is appropriately imperious in nature. Ms. d’Amboise schemes to put her son (lithe Erik Altemus in a lithe and hammy turn as the usurper) on the throne. Ms. d’Amboise breaks out in wondrous dance, credited as “in the style of Bob Fosse”, for her number. These two know how to work the stage and relate to the audience. In Pippin, nearly all the players break the 4^th wall, with the exception of our young hero who is earnestly trying to find answers.

Andrea Martin as Pippin's Grandmother schools Matthew James Thomas

When Andrea Martin arrives as Pippin’s grandmother, the 4^th wall isn’t broken, but moved to the back of the theater. Ms. Martin pulls the audience into the show in a way that is hilarious, fun and infectious. If you haven't yet, you will fall in love with Andrea Martin.

Director Diana Paulus has amped up the background into Technicolor with the incorporation of the circus performers of Les 7 doigts de la main. These gymnasts, aerialists and strongmen weave a constant and beguiling sideshow vibe throughout the show (and no, there are no clowns). They pull Pippin into the temptation of the moment, of the glamorous and of the hyper-real. It is effective on Pippin and entertaining to all.

Matthew James Thomas as Pippin and Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine in a quiet moment

Rachel Bay Jones plays Catherine, the widow that introduces Pippin to love and monotony – to the joy of a job well done and the disappointment that it must be well done again tomorrow. Ms. Jones does a wonderful job with the role; she makes the mundane appealing.

The heart of the show is Matthew James Thomas as Pippin, and an astounding heart it is. Mr. Thomas forever seems like a puppy who finds his footing at the last possible minute. His joy in life is only matched by his frustration in not finding his Calling - with a Capital C. Even his voice sometimes wavers early, only to deliver power and purity as he gains momentum.

I fear overselling the show, because high expectations often lead to let downs. I myself went in with no expectations. And there are some problems with the show. The music is a little simple in spots and the second half is, reasonably, slower. But Pippin is joyous and you are guaranteed to walk out of The Music Box with a smile on your face.

Pippin

Book: Roger O. Hirson, Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz

Director: Diane Paulus

Cast: Matthew James Thomas, Patina Miller, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, Rachel Bay Janes, Andrea Miller, Erik Altemus

website

First Wave: Spoken Word and Hip Hop in Harlem

2013-04-25T13:59:00.002-04:00

Christian Robinson, Cydney Edwards (par. obscured) Andrew Thomas, Janel Lee, Thiahera Nurse (sitting)
in the Langston Hughes Atrium

Five remarkably talented young people make up the touring group of First Wave - a university sponsored Spoken Word / Hip Hop group. They are the representatives of the first major college program that promotes the art of Hip Hop and the Spoken Word with scholarship, mentoring and support. And these kids are smart, if they drop below a 3.0 at school, they are not allowed to continue with the First Wave Group.
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Christian Robinson & Janel Lee at the Apollo

I was lucky enough to see this group at an intimate venue before they took stage at the Apollo Theater. They performed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the Langston Hughes Atrium. And their performance was enthralling. It was a mix of poetry, song, movement and dramatic tension that took hold of your emotions and swept you along.
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Later they took to the Apollo Stage for the full length version of the same piece.
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Now that I have given you the basics, let me say that this program - the first of its kind, is from University of Wisconsin - Madison. Having been to Madison, Wisconsin let me say it is not the first place I think of when I think urban spoken word. It's not even in the top 25. Hell, it's not the first place in Wisconsin I think of. But something wonderful is happening on the (oft frozen) lakes of Mendota and Monona.
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These five performers, who also wrote the piece, represented their program magnificently. I listened to the various supporters, professors and fund raisers say that I would be impressed, and I waited - thinking they might have oversold the whole thing. They did not. Two of the pictures are pretty ragged, because I took them. I had to, I was moved to celebrate these artists.
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Wow.
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Following are two more pictures, the blurb from the school and then the artists' bios.

First Wave Info

Founded by UW Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble is a groundbreaking collective of spoken word poets, emcees, dancers, singers, actors, and activists from across the United States, brought together as scholars at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. First Wave brings together top artist & scholars into a unique community to create progressive and innovative art, to push the academic man, and explode the artistic & scholarly canon. Under the artistic direction of Chris Walker, the Touring Ensemble has performed in England, Mexico, Panama, Ghana, South Africa and Jamaica as well as across the USA including featured performances on Broadway.

2013 Touring Production:

Janel Lee, Thiahera Nurse, Christian Robinson & Cydney Edwards onstage at the Apollo

Kingdom Bequeath

What does it mean to be in a position of power and why are we so slow to place ourselves on the throne? Kingdom Bequeath is an exploration of power and how close or far from home that power tends to fall. In this production, the First Wave Touring Ensemble pushes us to look at our responsibility in the stagnant stance of out world & begs us to start moving it forward. It exposes and questions the roles we all play in fueling and diminishing the light in ourselves and others.

CAST

Thiahera Nurse, Cydney Edwards, Andrew Thomas and Janel Lee

Cydney Edwards is a daughter of many things. As a performing poet, author, director, scholar and activist raised in Chicago, she aims to use her struggles and successes in order to encourage and provoke esteem in those w. She's currently attending UW Madison, and will ultimately serve as an attorney in the fields of Entertainment and Education.

Janel Lee is a singer/poet from Brooklyn, New York. She currently attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a First Wave Hip-Hop scholar. As both a student studying Social Welfare and an artist, Janel Lee wishes to capture attention from her audience through her words and utilize it as a gateway towards self-reflection and communal understanding.

Thiahera Nurse, originally from Queens, New York, is a junior studying creative writing here at the UW. She is a poet in the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Community. She is invested in telling her own story and the stories of the voiceless. Thiahera uses her art as a way to heal and be healed.

Christian Robinson is a poet, emcee, and music engineer born in the suburbs of Chicago and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He began Spoken Word his sophomore year of high school and has been growing as a poet and lyricist ever since. He has won multiple poetry awards, including the Ishma Stewart award in honor of a fallen classmate’s memory. He currently is studying English/Creative writing as well as Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin as a part of the First Wave program.

Andrew Thomas is a Poet, Actor, playwright, director, Singer/Song writer, Producer, Rapper, and soon to be alum of UW Madison with a BA in Theater and Drama. Andrew was born in Minneapolis, MN. Andrew has been performing in the local Minneapolis Hip Hop scene Since his early teens. Since attending UW Madison as a first wave Scholar, has performed at across many states and stages, including last year’s National College battle of the Bands.

Irish Redemption In The Eyes of a Ugandan Child

2013-04-22T09:18:00.002-04:00

Who’s Your Daddy? follows a rich tradition of Irish storytelling in theater. The storyteller in this case is Johnny O’Callagahan playing with the tradition in some interesting ways.

Johnny’s story concerns his last minute trip to Uganda with a friend, a trip taken more out of boredom than anything else. His friend, a Hollywood acquaintance armed with little more than a camera, a dream of a documentary and an inflated sense of self-importance, was on a mission to an orphanage near the Congo / Rwanda border. Johnny relates the trip, and the circumstances that prompted it, in humorous detail.

Johnny O'Callagahan in Who's Your Daddy at The Irish Repertory Theatre

Once there, Johnny was stunned by the conditions, but his story isn’t one of a sudden transformation into Florence Nightingale. It is a refreshing tale of hope and a boy that brings a sense of wonder back to Johnny’s life. And Johnny, like anyone who would decide on a whim to go to Africa instead of look for his lost dog, decides to adopt the boy – because, well it was the thing to do.

The process turns out to be much more complicated and extensive than Johnny expects. And here is where the story delivers to it’s teller, a fork in the road. Johnny is at the whims of various tribal elders in Uganda and government bureaucrats in the United States. Johnny O’Callagahan’s journey through the labyrinth of laws and customs will require a determination and perseverance than he has never shown in the past. It is full of false promises, dead ends and well meaning people deciding that a single man in Hollywood might not be the best guardian for a young Ugandan boy. And Johnny has proven, so far, to be less than dedicated to a cause.

Who’s Your Daddy? is a great story, told with wit and energy that is not normally associated with the stereotypical Sad Irish Tale. Mr. O’Callagahan forsakes the dark stage and single spot that normally comes with these stories as well, preferring a stage with various places to perch and lean and pace. He (and Director Tom Ormeny) give physical immediacy to emotional rollercoaster this experience prompted.

It is a tale not to be missed.

Who’s Your Daddy?

Playwright: Johnny O’Callagahan

Director: Tom Ormeny

Cast: Johnny O’Callagahan

website

OWNED playing at TBG in Hells Kitchen

2013-04-19T12:08:00.000-04:00

Don DiPaolo

New Play by Drama Desk Nominee Julian Sheppard Premieres
OWNED
Previews begin April 26 at TBG Theatre

Knife Edge Productions will present the World Premiere of OWNED by Drama Desk Award nominee Julian Sheppard. Directed by Sam Helfrich, previews begin April 26 at TBG Theater. Opening night is slated for Thursday, May 2.

In OWNED, Ray and Ed are bartenders who know what they want. Morgan is a rich girl who wants everything. When Ray and Ed get a last shot at fulfilling their dreams, what could possibly go wrong?

The production stars Don DiPaolo, Susannah Hoffman and Neil Holland with a production team that includes Eric Southern (lighting), Blanca Añón (set), Nancy Leary (costumes), Daniel Spitaliere (sound design) and Chelsea Parrish (production stage manager).

OWNED runs April 26 - May 11, Monday & Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm with additional performances Saturday, May 4 at 6pm & 10pm (please note that there is no 8pm show that night) and Tuesday, May 7 at 8pm. TBG Theatre is located at 312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues -- accessible from the 1,2,3,C&E trains at 34th Street. Tickets are $18, available at 212-868-4444 or www.knifeedgeproductions.com.

The Big Knife: Time Hasn’t Dulled Its Edge

2013-04-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

The Big Knife is the second Clifford Odets’ play to staged by the Roundabout Theater Company this year. Someone at the Roundabout deserves a raise. Having seen many of Odet’s works on the screen, I would not have expected the emotions that arise from these works. On film, both Golden Boy and The Big Knife seem overly melodramatic and turgid; but on as staged by the Roundabout, they sing. The Big Knife is a tight drama of a man who has achieved stardom at the cost of his freedom. What would you do, and who would you indebt yourself to, in order to reach your goals.

Chip Zien, Bobby Cannavale, Richard King and Reg Rogers in The Big Knife

Bobby Cannavale plays Charlie Castle, film star who is stuck in unfulfilling, but commercially successful, roles. Set in the waning days of the studio system, Charlie Castle is locked into a deal with Studio Boss Marcus Hoff, a dazzling turn by Richard Kind. Charlie Castle is being pressured by the studio and his agent to sign another long term, exclusive contract, and he is being pressured by his estranged wife to quit the movie industry.

Marin Ireland & Bobby Cannavale

Charlie has less leverage than a star would normally have, because the studio is covering up a criminal matter for him (minor spoiler). At the same time the studio is turning the screws on Charlie, his wife is promising reconciliation if they get back together and a previous indiscretion is threating to go to the press. Charlie is stretched thin.

Mr. Cannavale does a wonderful job playing a man who has everything, but is in control of nothing. He even laughs at the predicament of a movie hero, who can’t escape his own contract. Marin Ireland, as his wife, is a perfect counterweight for Charlie Castle. She is resolved to leave Charlie and this life behind. But the love and connection between them breaks down her best intentions when they are together. Ms. Ireland plays the role well, being almost as tough as she needs to be. Mrs. Castle is a great partner, and Ms. Ireland is remarkable in the role, bring her to life in a realistic manner.

The wonderful Reg Rogers plays the studio boss’ sidekick, with a eye towards making the fewest waves possible.

It is the interaction of Mr. Cannavale and Mr. Kind that electrifies The Big Knife. Both are playing against type, Mr. Kind as a rough edged type A asshole and Mr. Cannavale more impotent than we ever see him. The stage sizzles when they share it.

Director Doug Hughes lets The Big Knife show its age, there is no attempt to bring it into the moment because its message is still relevant. Mr. Odets’ words and phrasing are integral to the proceedings, and Mr. Hughes manages his cast well in inhabiting this world. The sets by John Lee Beatty and costumes by Catherine Zuber are gorgeous, contributing to the totality of the experience. I highly recommend it.

The Big Knife

Playwright: Clifford Odets

Director: Doug Hughes

Cast: Rachel Brosnahan, Bobby Cannavale, Marin Ireland, Billy Eugene Jones, Richard Kind, Ana Reeder, Reg Rogers, Joey Slotnick, Brenda Wehle, C.J. Wilson, Chip Zien

website

The Nance Comes Into the Open

2013-04-15T22:18:00.001-04:00

Nathan Lane plays the title role in The Nance, now playing at the Lyceum Theatre. The play showcases the 1930s era look at homosexuality and stereotypes both in the theater and off-stage. It is the story of Chauncey Miles, a burlesque “nance”, the effeminate comic relief between stripper numbers. Usually the “nance” on stage was played by a straight man, but Chauncey is homosexual in his private life as well.

Nathan Lane and Jonny Orsini in The Nance

But in the 1930s, homosexual in private life was not easy. Chauncey is part of a community of sly winks, quick looks and furtive rendezvouses. He is a successful performer on stage, with a close family that knows he is gay. The Nance opens with Chauncey picking up a sex partner in an Automat, Ned a straight looking young man from Buffalo. Ned is broke and Chauncey picks him up as trade, so it is a surprise when Ned wants to stay and be with Chauncey. Chauncey suddenly has to navigate the world of relationships.

The first act is a fun trip through the family of burlesque, watching the nance in action on stage and watching Ned and Chauncey navigate relationships in real life. Outside the theater, the mayor of New York (LaGuardia) is cracking down on burlesque. The strippers and the queer that inhabit burlesque houses don’t present the image Mayor LaGuardia is cultivating for the Worlds Fair City. But it is all still a few steps or theaters away – until it isn’t. And Chauncey can’t help himself from standing up to the hypocrisy.

The second act starts fast, with Chauncey giving a court room soliloquy that is, by turns, funny, biting and painfully honest. But the second act deals with the closure of the theater and the slow implosion of Ned and Chauncey’s relationship – and it is necessarily solemn. Ned is committed to Chauncey, but that isn’t the world Chauncey grew up in. Chauncey is a Republican and sees Commies all around him, what he can’t see is a future as a gay man. He transfers his self-frustrations into critics of Ned.

Nathan Lane is excellent in the role. He is hilarious on the burlesque stage, funny off stage and believable as a gay man who doesn’t really think there is a place for him in the world. As Ned, Broadway newcomer Jonny Orsini is terrific. Born in the wrong time, Ned is hopelessly in love with Chauncey, doomed to be let down. But Mr. Orsini is never down in the mouth, his Ned is fun and excited to be experiencing life. To the very end Ned has trust that life is on the upswing.

The rest of the cast is made up of the burlesque crew, Geoffrey Allan Murphy, Jenni Barber, Cady Huffman and Andrea Burns play the performers. A sort of family, losing the theater crushes their spirit. Ms. Barber as Joan burns up the joint. These players bring the burlesque stage to life in a riot of colors, feathers and bad jokes.

The Nance is an interesting and entertaining show, but a little long. The second act runs towards the maudlin and, despite the excellent portrayals, you just want it to wrap up already. Director Jack O’Brien and playwright Douglas Carter Beane have brought a great new play to life, shining a light on the recent past.

The Nance

Playwright: Douglas Carter Beane

Director: Jack O’Brien

Cast: Nathan Lane, Jonny Orsini, Jenni Barber, Andrea Burns, Cady Huffman and Geoffrey Allan Murphy

Lincoln Center Theater Website

According to Goldman - Don’t Trust Movie People

2013-04-14T19:45:00.002-04:00

Theater Breaking Through Barrier’s According to Goldman at the Clurman Theatre is a a new take on the old story of the Hollywood writer shuttle. It covers a lot of the same territory we’ve seen before, but brings some honest emotion that makes this trip worthwhile.

Pamela Sabaugh, Stephen Drabicki, Nicholas Viselli in According to Goldman

Gavin Miller, well played by Nicholas Viselli, teaches screenwriting at an Eastern college. He has had success in Hollywood, with family films he isn’t particularly proud of, and has turned this success into a teaching gig. Into his class walks Jeremiah Collins, touchingly played by Stephen Drabicki. Jeremiah is a Missionary’s son with an interesting back-story that he turns into a screenplay.

Gavin takes an interest in Jeremiah and his story. An interest that turns into a collaboration, one

Nicholas Viselli and Pamela Sabaugh

that Gavin thinks might be his ticket back to Hollywood. What makes this story feel fresh and genuine is Pamela Sabaugh’s performance as Gavin’s wife. It is a painfully honest portrayal of a wife trying to stand by her husband, even when she questions his judgment.

Mr. Drabicki’s young Jeremiah is an earnest young man, who tries to act honorably in all things. He’s moral compass makes a second act twist feel a little artificial, even though Mr. Draicki pulls it back to reality quickly. Mr. Viselli’s Gavin is perfectly believable as the insecure and slightly desperate screenwriter. It loses a little sympathy only by being a character we’ve seen often before.

But Ms. Sabaugh grounds her performance so much, that both men become more believable. She wants, so much, to think the best of these men that she drags us alone with her. Her reaction to their scheming is laced with disappointment, but not surprise.

Director Ike Schambelan does a good job with According to Goldman, helped by great sets from Bert Scott. The Viselli house is a shrine to movies and the people that make them. The set reminds the professor constantly that he isn’t where he thinks he should be. PS – love the idea about Ann Frank’s cat – gold!

According to Goldman

Playwright: Bruce Graham

Director: Ike Schambelan

Cast: Stephen Drabicki, Pamela Sabaugh, Nicholas Viselli

website

Matilda is Excruciating

2013-04-11T23:31:00.000-04:00

Matilda - Coming At You.

Perhaps it is because I have never read Roald Dahl’s book of Matilda, or perhaps it was being trapped in a theater for over two hours with a chorus of children screeching at me, but, whatever the reason, I found no joy in Matilda, now at the Sam Shubert Theater. Matilda arrives on a tray of laurels from London, the most anticipated show since Billy Elliot. I found it loud, aggressively mean and altogether un-charming.

Starting with the good points, the sets are interesting, fantastical and fun, converting the Shubert into a playground of faux scrabble sets. And young Frenie Acoba, playing background child Lavender, is a delight.

And there we complete our tour on the charms of Matilda.

The story of Matilda Wormwood is one of excessive hardship for the young child. Her birth is a surprise to her ballroom competing mother – apparently unaware she was pregnant until her water broke, and her smarmy used car salesman father – unaware the child is a girl even after seeing the little bundle of joy sans “thingy”. This is their second child, the grunting brother Tommy, hovers in the home scenes screaming at the audience. Guffaws ensue.

Judah Bellamy, Lesli Margherita & Gebriel Ebert: Matilda's Family

Lesli Margherita and Gabriel Ebert play these one-note characters excellently; the more I saw them the less I enjoyed them. Ms. Margherita sings a number that sums up the show for me, “Loud”. The gist of which is, if you don’t know something, just be LOUD – a message the writers took to heart. Matilda’s parents berate her for reading and thinking, thrilled when she finally hits five years old when they can finally send her off to school.

School, in this case, is a torture chamber where older students prey on younger students and the staff preys on everyone - which is the textbook definition of bullying. Here we are introduced to Matilda’s teacher – wane and skittish Miss Honey, Lauren Ward in excellent voice and wilting character. Miss Honey is frightened by life, class and, most of all, Miss Trunchbull – the Headmistress. Miss Trunchbull, in true British Panto fashion, is played broadly by Bertie Carvel as the "bloke in the frock". The word misogyny probably has no place in a kid’s musical like this, but I cannot think of any other way to put it. Miss Truchbull is unattractive in the extreme, torturous to children and (hilariously?) she was the women’s hammer throw champion of the UK at some point. A little of Miss Trunchbull goes a long way, and there is a lot of Miss Teunchbull.

Matilda is played by four different girls. I saw Bailey Ryon for 2/3s of the show and she was competent and pleasant. She had an expressive voice and personality. In the last third of the show, Milly Shapiro had to step in, due to an injury to Ms. Ryon. Ms. Shapiro did a very good job picking up the role without missing a beat. The two girls' drastically different takes on the role mean that your experience may vary.

Frenie Acoba
Matilda's Friend

Matilda’s brand of pluck and vigor, of course, changes the direction of everyone around her. She doesn’t change, mind you. In her very first song, she sings about having to be a little bit “Naughty” - and she reprises the song and sentiment at the end of the show. There isn’t any growth in character of Matilda or any other character. Miss Honey doesn't find her own voice; Matilda fixes Miss Honey’s problems by frightening Miss Trunchbill. Matilda’s parents don't change either. At long last, rather than value their daughter; they hightail it out of the country sans child. And all ends well.

Argh.

Most songs are yelled at the audience by enthusiastic children, which is energetic if not understandable. It makes one think fondly of Lou Grant’s comment, “I hate spunk.” Director Matthew Warchus does an amazing job of keeping the action moving and the audience engaged. My congratulations go out to him.

Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull

I am not Matilda’s target audience, which is probably children, particularly those who have read the book. But Broadway is awash in kid’s musicals right now, Lion King, Newsies, Annie, Cinderella – to bring yet another show aimed at children means it should be something really special. I am afraid Matilda isn’t that show.

Matilda

Book; Dennis Kelly, Muisc & Lyrics: Tim Minchin, Based on the book by: Roald Dahl

Director: Matthew Warchus

Cast: Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon, Milly Shapiro, Bertie Carvel, Gabriel Ebert, Lesli Margherita, Lauren Ward

website

Sleeping Rough: Now Playing at the Wild Project

2013-04-09T17:41:00.001-04:00

Now – Saturday, April 27
SLEEPING ROUGH, written by Kara Manning, directed by Sam Buntrock
Produced by Page 73 Productions
Performance schedule: Tuesday - Saturday at 8 PM; Saturday at 3 PM
There is an added performance on Monday, April 8 at 8 PM; no performance on Saturday, April 6 at 3 PM
Ticket price: $35, $25 general

In Kara Manning's SLEEPING ROUGH, an American woman, unable to forgive her country for a grave offense, ignores the entreaties of her daughter and ex-husband and flees to London to graffiti her anguish across the city of her youth. It's December 2008, and as America broadcasts news of financial crisis and political change, a fractured family roams the London streets trying to understand what sparked a fatal decision.

Website

how i learned to become a Superhero Soars

2013-04-07T18:48:00.001-04:00

The new play how i learned to become a Superhero sneaks up on you. Expectations played a large part in my enjoyment, so I want to undersell the piece. Too much hype or expectations raised too high might well doom a play as fragile and simply touching as Superhero. The show benefits from lower expectations.

Gwynneth Bensen, Sean Logan and Christopher Sears

Superhero plays out in a small space, with homemade sets built from painted boxes. It begins with some humorously awkward openings, where the three heroes are introduced. Safety Pilot is the Ohio raised younger brother of a man who has escaped the mid-west to Brooklyn. Guardian Angel is a young woman with a loved one that was abducted and now speaks only in clichés. And Hope is a shy and goofy young man who wants to be helpful and remembered in nearly equal parts.

Their stories are interwoven as we see them in action, both touching and goofy. Early on, it is

Sean Logan as Hope with Christina Norris

unclear if these people are deluded or understand their limitations. The show starts by laughing at them, while slowly building empathy for these individuals. Ultimately we are privy to the reasons they have resorted to building these characters, and then the sophomoric sets and jokes fall by the wayside as we identify with the universal needs that these alter-egos fulfill.

Gwynneth Bensen plays Guardian Angel with a raw pain which she covers with sarcasm and anger. She has a single mission in life, no matter how improbable it seems, to find an outlet for her rage. Christopher Sears plays Safety Pilot as a stunned young man who is suddenly alone and set to live with a brother that abandoned him. He transforms into the only person who stood up for him. Sean Logan plays Hope with a heartbreaking earnestness. Hope, the hero, is trying to bring dreams of a better future to those that have none, himself most of all.

Christopher Sears as Safety Pilot with Zack Griffiths and Curran Connor

What makes how i learned to become a Superhero relatable is that these characters aren’t responding to outlandish circumstances; there are no planets blowing up or radioactive bug bites. These people find real life tragedies too much to cope with, and so they invent a personality that can overcome the problems. There responses are painful inadequate for the tasks they have set up for themselves. The outcomes are often painful in a way that is funny and sad, but never pitiful.

The acting is very good, even though you don’t notice it until the superhero masks drop a little. Beyond the superheroes, Curran Connor, playing two roles (foil in one and sidekick in another), grounds the play beautifully and is a standout in an excellent cast.

This is playwright Dennis Flanagan’s second full length play and it displays a beautiful sense of organic flow. Director Christopher Klinger does a wonderful job of letting the show revel itself to the audience. Superhero doesn’t leave you with a nice set of uniform answers, but with a feeling that we are all in this together.

how i learned to become a Superhero

Playwright: Dennis Flanagan

Director: Christopher Klinger

Cast: Gwynneth Bensen, Curran Conner, Mara Gannon, Zack Griffiths, Sean Logan, Robert Manning Jr. Christina Norris, Christopher Sears, Carrie Watt

website

Kinky Boots Delivers - Fun, Flirty and Fabulous (for a bit to long)

2013-04-05T09:06:00.000-04:00

Kinky Boots, freshly opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, is great fun. A toe-tappy, big dance number, ball of fabulousness - riding in on drag queens and lessons on self-confidence and redemption. Which is to say, a bit of old-fashioned Broadway.

The cast and the Kinky Boots

What makes Kinky Boots special are the songs by Cyndi Lauper. Here infectious brand of sweetness and sentimentality, without being saccharin or dull, moves the musical and all the pieces. Director Jerry Mitchell makes perfect use of the material, and the diverse players to produce a great time.

It is a familiar tale; a young man wants to leave a dry stuffy town to make his way in the big city. Dad dies and he has to take over the business, all the while yearning for the life he could have had. Until, he discovers there really is no place like home, once you change it enough. In the case of Kinky Boots, the dry town is in England, Clarence the Angel is a drag queen named Lola (with her own Angels) and the young man saves the factory and himself by making designer footwear for men that like to dress as women – sequined, shiny, fabulous women.

Stark Sands, Annaleigh Ashford & Billy Porter

Stark Sands plays the young man in question, Charlie Price – recipient of Price and Sons shoes. Mr. Sands brings a nice understated earnestness to the role, trying to find a way to save the factory, but still be with his fiancé in London. A veteran of American Idiot, Mr. Stark knows when to let the song take center stage, and also when to belt it out.

Billy Porter has the far showier role of Lola, Drag Queen extraordinaire, sassy show muse and dispenser of wisdom. I can’t image the role being any good without Ms. Lauper’s songs. Her songs allow Mr. Porter to explore both sides of a stereotypical role and bring a warm heart to the proceedings.

Two first act numbers, The Sex Is In The Heel and Everybody Say Yeah are big time Broadway at their best. Infectious and fun, these set up high expectations for Act 2. Expectations that aren’t, always, meet. In Act 2, writer Harvey Fierstein hues a little too closely to the movie – taking us down some sentimental lanes better left hinted at or imagined. Here Kinky Boots occasionally feels formulaic and too obvious.

All is forgiven quickly though as Kinky Boots ends as it should - in a big brassy number that leave the audience happy and the cast in afore mentioned designer footwear. Great Fun.

Kinky Boots

Jerry Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein & Cyndi Lauper

Book: Harvey Fierstein, Music & Lyrics : Cyndi Lauper

Director: Jerry Mitchell

Cast: Stark Sands, Billy Porter, Annaleigh Ashford, Celina Carvajal, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Marcus Neville, John Jeffery Martin, Nathan Peck, Joey Taranto

website

Red Bull Theater: The Dance of Death

2013-04-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

April 10 - May 4THE DANCE OF DEATH
by August Strindberg New version by Mike Poulton

Strindberg's searing portrait of a husband and wife locked in deadly battle is a masterfully witty vivisection of love and marriage. Four-week-only limited engagement at the Lucille Lortel Theater.
Starring Daniel Davis, Laila Robins, Derek Smith
Directed by Joseph Hardy

Upcoming: queerSpawn

2013-03-29T11:59:00.000-04:00

David Greenspan stars as Dan Savage in It Gets Worse Comedy
queerSpawn
Previews begin May 10 at HERE

A Collection of Shiny Objects will present the world premiere of queerSpawn. This new play by Mallery Avidon will be directed by Jesse Geiger, starring Obie Award winner David Greenspan. Previews begin May 10 at HERE with opening slated for May 14.

When you've got two moms in a small town sometimes it's hard to believe that "It gets better". For this queerSpawn kid, freshman year of high school looks like it's only going to get worse. A scathing & humorous look at standing up to bullies, surviving high school, and finding the strength to keep going.

In addition to David Greenspan (who plays sex columnist and It Gets Better creator Dan Savage), queerSpawn also stars Noel Joseph Allain, J. Alexander Coe, Akeem Baisden Folkes, Chris Perfetti, and David Ryan West. The production features set by Carolyn Mraz (Target Margin), lighting by Natalie Robin (The Bad and the Better), costumes by Kerry Gibbons, and sound by Nathan Leigh (2 time IRNE Best Sound Design winner)

Upcoming March 28th

2013-03-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

World Premiere

Old-Fashioned Prostitutes
(A True Romance)
Written, Directed, and Designed by Richard ForemanFeaturing Stephanie Hayes, Alenka Kraigher, Nicolas Noreña, Rocco Sisto,
David Skeist

April 30 - June 2

Snapshots from an enigmatic fairy-tale in which Suzie, the elusive coquette, brings Samuel to his knees – from where he worships a life he only half understands. OLD-FASHIONED PROSTITUTES (A TRUE ROMANCE) is an expressionistic chamber-play that twists emotional heartache into a landscape of continual mental invention, marking the return to theater of a celebrated artist whom The New York Times has dubbed “the Godfather of the American avant-garde.”

Presented in association with Ontological-Hysteric Theater.

Project: Theater is proud to present the World Premiere of OCCUPATION, written by Ken Ferrigni and directed by Joe Jung. OCCUPATION begins performances on Thursday, June 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 23. Press opening is Wednesday, June 12 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday – Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, Sunday at 2 PM. Please note there is no performance on Sunday, June 9 but an added performance on Monday, June 10 at 8 PM. There is no matinee performance on Saturday, June 15. Performances are at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Tickets are $18 and are available by calling Smartix at (212) 868-4444 or online at www.smarttix.com. For more information, visit www.projecttheater.org.

In 2017, a crushing national debt, skyrocketing inflation, and crippling unemployment have frozen the United States’ access to global credit. Against the backdrop of economic catastrophe, the US government finds an unexpected savior when China purchases Florida for $5 trillion. But there is a radical, violent insurgency holed up in the Everglades attempting to oust the Chinese proconsul and his army. How far will this militia go to keep the States united?

Hands on a Hardbody Is a Great Surprise

2013-03-21T23:14:00.000-04:00

The cast of Hands on a Hardbody

The story behind Hands on a Hardbody doesn’t immediately suggest a musical. It is the story of a competition in West Texas where a dozen people vie to see who can keep one hand on a new truck the longest. The winner takes home the truck. The story became a documentary and now a musical. Along with its East Texas setting and strong accents, it opens as if it might be a parody of hick stereotypes. But Hands has something else on its mind. It evokes a new recession version of They Shoot Horses Don’t They, with all the pathos that suggests, but without the persistent bleakness. It is a fun piece, with an constant undercurrent of reality.

We are treated to the stories of the contestants, who see the truck as a reward for perseverance and a ticket to better things. The automobile as a symbol of the American dream has a long history, retold to a new generation every year. The winner, whoever it is, dreams of driving away from their current troubles; for some of them, escape is figurative but for others it is the thought of quite literally leaving small town Texas.

Jay Armstrong Johnson & Allison Case

The music that gives voice to these dreams is by Trey Anastasio (of Phish) and Amanda Green, lyrics by Ms. Green. It is a broad sweep of styles including traditional Broadway along with country, folk and gospel. Not all songs hit, but when they do, they soar. Stronger and Joy of the Lord are two numbers that touched me, but there are a lot of great songs in this show. The cast moves about surprisingly often, giving that they are often rooted to a truck (which swings and moves as much as anyone else).

Hands on a Hardbody is awash with local accents and colloquialisms, all carried well. The show doesn’t make fun of these people, but exposes them and their dreams individually to the audience. It stresses the commonality of experience and recession driven angst, despite the differences in location or economic status.

Filled with well-known names like Hutton Foster and Keith Carradine (who are both excellent), it was some lesser known members of the cast that made my throat catch. Keala Settle plays a Latina mother with a strong faith in God. She occasionally steals the show. David Larsen and Jay Armstrong Johnson both turn in moving performances as young men on different paths - they look at the same truck and see salvation in different forms. These 3 performers are lucky to get 3 excellent songs (Mr. Armstrong duets with the lovely and talented Allison Case).

Since it is a test of endurance, the energy begins to fade for a short while near the very end, but the play moves on and up quickly. Book writer Doug Wright has created a nice level of tension that is expanded by the individual stories. It explores the very American expectation that things will get better if you only work at it, but doesn't hide the ever-present possibility of failure. And, how quickly Americans recover from it. Predestined outcomes often figure in Europe stories (star-crossed and doomed lovers, children paying for the sins of their parents or grandparents). What Mr. Wright has done is take an American set of beliefs, things get better with perseverance and each set-back is temporary, and given them un-ironic voice in Hands on a Hardbody.

(facing) Keala Settle, Hutton Foster and David Carradine

Neil Pepe directs this group well. Working with choreographer Sergio Trujillo, they have introduced plenty of movement and action into a piece that could easily have been static and boring. Hands on a Hardbody is a very good show, uplifting without being sentimental.

Hands on a Hardbody

Music: Trey Anastanio and Amanda Green

Lyrics: Amanda Green

Book: Doug Wright

Director: Neil Pepe

Cast: Keith Carradine, Allison Case, Hunter Foster, Jay Armstrong Johnson, David Larsen, Jocob Ming-Trent, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Mary Gordon Murray, Jim Newman, Connie Ray, Jon Rua, Keala Settle, Dale Soules, Scott Wakefield, William Youmans

Website

Red Valley: The Color of Despair

2013-03-20T11:48:00.000-04:00

RED Soil Productions is a new theatre company founded to showcase new works and tell stories that American culture might never hear, based on real life material. Red Valley is one of their first works, created to tell the story of the Mau Mau rebellion in colonial Kenya. Based on this emotional piece, RED Soil has an excellent future ahead of it.

Red Valley tells its story in layers, opening with the “peaceful” transplanted Brits being attacked by hooded African Mau Mau killers. And it finds a simple expository tool in the British child Charlotte (played with wide eyed innocence by Rachel Jane). Charlotte is closer to the African farm help than she is to her mother, and asks why these things are happening.

Matthew Vitticore as Jack and Aimee Marcelle as Beth in Red Valley

As explained by Flora and Joseph, we come to understand that there are (at least) two major tribes in Kenya, the Maasi and the Kikuyu, both of whom want their land and their way of life back from the settlers. But only the Maasi have launched a rebellin to get it back It is a very bloody rebellion, killing both the British and the Kikuyu that will not join them. Richard Nwaoko, who plays Joseph, shines with an easy warmth that spreads through-out the room. Joanna Kasamba, who plays Flora, is a beautiful and delicate creature who, later in the play, displays a very strong will.

Joanna Kasamba as Flora

Almost a mirror to the two tribes of African Kenyans, Charlotte’s own parents represent the two types of British settlers. Her father Jack, played well by Matthew Vitticore, is a quietly charming man who has embraced the lifestyle of African farmer, but realizes it is coming to an end. However Jack is overwhelmed emotionally and in resolve by Beth, his wife.

Aimee Marcelle is amazing as Beth, a hard woman trying to keep the farm running with little help from her husband and little loyalty from her daughter. She is tough, angry and, most of all, determined. Ms. Marcelle makes Beth feel human in rare, momentary glimpses of venerability, which she immediately quashes. It is as if Beth is repulsed by any show of self-doubt in herself or others. She lashes out quickly and often.

This is the one problem with the show. Beth is the center of attention and action, but she is a rather terrible person. We can infer why she behaves like this, and a speech late in the show sheds a little more light, but we cannot relate to her. Playwright Matthew Stannah is walking a fine line here, pulling the audience to identify with the settlers, but not too much. After all they have taken land that is not rightfully theirs and displaced the indigenous people.

Beth is willing to give up everything to keep the farm and stay on the land in Red Valley. She has fallen in love with the beauty of Africa, but not the Africans - whom she treats with remarkably little respect or graciousness. Ms. Marcelle does an excellent job of keeping Beth from falling into a caricature of evil, always imbuing the character with a sense of purpose.

Director Yudelka Heyer has given Red Valley a nice simple structure, allowing the audience to figure out right and wrong without spelling it out in giant letters. Red Valley brings to life a story we rarely hear about, and one that might place parallels to our own Western Expansion in an entirely new light. Well done.

Red Valley

Playwright: Matthew Stannah

Director: Yudelka Heyer

Cast: Aimee Marcelle, Matthew Vitticore, Rachel Jane, Joanna Kasamba, Richard Nwaoko, Brian Clancy, Steven Daniel, Miles Alexander, Christopher Willis, Kristen Wulf, James Physick

RED Soil Productions Website

Annie Baker wins Blackburn Prize for "The Flick"

2013-03-19T16:47:00.000-04:00

Well, I did not like "The Flick". You can read my review here, but it appears I am in minority. Ms. Baker won multiple awards for "The Flick". (from the New York Times)
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Annie Baker Wins Blackburn Prize and Horton Foote Honor

By ALLAN KOZINN

Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesAnnie Baker

Annie Baker has been awarded the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an international award given annually since 1978 to women who have written works of outstanding quality. The prize, which Ms. Baker won for “The Flick,” her three-hour incisively nuanced exploration of love and friendship, includes a cash award of $25,000 and a signed, numbered print by the artist Willem de Kooning.

Cynthia Nixon, one of six judges on this year’s panel, presented the prize to Ms. Baker at a private ceremony on Sunday at the Alley Theater in Houston. Ms. Baker was also chosen as the second recipient of the Horton Foote Legacy Project, which includes a four-week writing residency, starting in May, at Foote’s preserved home in Wharton, Tex.

Reviewing Ms. Baker’s “Flick,” which is in its premiere run at Playwrights Horizons in Manhattan, Charles Isherwood wrote in The New York Times that “Ms. Baker, one of the freshest and most talented dramatists to emerge Off Broadway in the past decade, writes with tenderness and keen insight about the way people make messes of their lives — and the lives of people they care about — and then sink into benumbed impotence, hard pressed to see any way of cleaning things up.”

More than 100 plays were considered for the 2013 prize. Besides Ms. Baker’s award, nine finalists received $2,500 prizes. They are Karen Ardiff (“The Godess of Liberty”), Jean Betts (“Genesis Falls”), Deborah Bruce (“The Distance”), Katherine Chandler (“Before It Rains”), Amy Herzog (“ Belleville”), Dawn King (“Foxfinder”), Laura Marks (“Bethany”), Jenny Schwartz (“Somewhere Fun”) and Francine Volpe (“The Good Mother”).

Peter and the Starcatcher Opens Tonight @ New World

2013-03-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

New World Theaters, just east of 8th, has become home to many Broadway shows that have ended their run in the Broadway houses, but still are popular. Peter and the Starcatcher has moved to New World and opens tonight. It follows Ave. Q and Rent to the New World Theater.
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Peter and the Starcatcher, a wisp of a play that is delightful, appropriate for kids but still magical for adults - opens tonight. If you missed it on Broadway, see it now.

Lesson Learned: It's Tough to Imitate Bette Davis

2013-03-14T09:43:00.001-04:00

The Lying Lesson, now playing at the Atlantic Theater, picks up and moves quite well in the second half of the show. I start with that caveat because the first half of the show is a little creaky and some of the audience was lost – which was a shame. The Lying Lesson concerns Bette Davis in the later years of her life. She has come to a small Maine town to investigate buying property in a town she visited in her youth.

Playing the iconic Bette Davis is Carol Kane, in a performance that was spot on in looks, stage business and mannerisms, but she doesn’t always match Miss Davis’ voice and cadence. That was a definite problem at times, since the character hides her identity for part of the first half while interacting with the house’s caretaker.

Mickey Sumner played that caretaker, a young lady named Rose. Ms. Sumner had her own problems with accents, occasionally fading in and out of the distinctive clipped Maine sounds.

Mickey Sumner and Carol Kane in The Lying Lesson

Rose, apparently unfamiliar with Bette Davis, ingratiates herself by providing local color and much appreciated help – not the least of which is providing Scotch and cigarettes. As the evening proceeds, it turns out that Rose may know more than she lets on. Bette Davis and Rose play a cat and mouse game with the truth that brings out the best performance from both of the actors. It is in this second half that Carol Kane begins to inhabit Bette Davis and Mickey Sumner steps up her work in response.

Miss Davis is past her prime and thinking of leading a simpler life. Rose is afraid of being stuck in this simple life for the rest of her days, and so she is auditioning for the role of Bette’s new assistant – whether Bette wants one or not.

There are a fair number of references to old Better Davis movies like Of Human Bondage and Old Acquaintances. The highlight of the play is a scene in which Bette explains the opening of The Letter, shot by shot – as an example of how to lie (hence the title).

The Lying Lesson is a fairly low stakes affair, neither homage to stars of old nor a comic tragedy at their expense. Prolific writer Craig Lucas has stocked the play with the trappings of movies, to the point of parody (it starts on a dark and stormy night…). Yet Director Pam Mackinnon, who did the new Broadway version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, doesn’t let the show fall into a joke. She keeps the story focused on the human desires of these two women. Which is critical, the entire play could have turned into an over the top drag performance rather easily.

It is a lightweight affair, but good fun if you are a fan. On reflection, it might play very well as a drag performance.

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The Lying Lesson

Playwright: Craig Lucas

Director: Pam Mackinnon

Cast: Carol Kane, Mickey Sumner

website

Upcoming: The Assembled Parties

2013-03-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES

World premiere play by Richard GreenbergDirected by Lynne Meadow
with Jessica Hecht, Judith Light, Jeremy Shamos, Mark Blum, Lauren Blumenfeld, Alex Dreier, Jake Silbermann andJonathan Walker

Tony winner Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out, The American Plan) and MTC begin their 10th collaboration with the world-premiere production of THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES. MTC Artistic Director Lynne Meadow (Wit, Collected Stories) directs the stellar cast that includes Tony nominee Jessica Hecht (A View from the Bridge, Harvey), Tony and 2-time Emmy winnerJudith Light (Other Desert Cities, Lombardi) and Tony nomineeJeremy Shamos (Glengarry Glen Ross, Clybourne Park).

THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES welcomes us to the world of the Bascovs, an Upper West Side Jewish family in 1980. In a sprawling Central Park West apartment, former movie star Julie Bascov and her sister-in-law Faye bring their families together for their traditional holiday dinner. But tonight, things are not usual. A houseguest has joined the festivities for the first time and he unwittingly - or perhaps by design - insinuates himself into the family drama. Twenty years later, as 2001 approaches, the Bascovs‘ seemingly picture-perfect life may be about to crumble. A stunning new play infused with humor, THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES is an incisive portrait of a family grasping for stability at the dawn of a new millennium.

Previews Begin: Thursday, March 21, 2013

Opening Night: Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Tickets currently on sale for performances through: June 2, 2013

The Flick Winds Down at Playwrights Horizon

2013-03-13T09:10:00.001-04:00

The Flick is a new play by the very talented Annie Baker, now at Playwrights Horizon Theater. While there were a number of admirable qualities about the piece and the production, it wandered slowly and randomly into the night.

Matthew Maher and Aaron Clifton Moten in Annie Baker's new play The Flick

The action takes place in a shabby, single screen theater in Massachusetts, a wonderful set by David Zinn. With row after row of stained, reddish-burgundy seats - empty after each performance, the set gives off the flavor of desperation and loneliness. Two of the main characters, Sam and Avery, enter after each show to sweep up and discuss life as only listless young men can.

Sam, well played by Matthew Maher, has been at the theater for a long time and teaches newbie Avery the ins and outs of the job. It is a small theater, still showing by projector instead of digital, and the guys have to sweep up popcorn, soda and whatever else the spoiled patrons leave, before they can head back out to the box office and candy counter. Sam has a litany of complaints against the customers, the management and life in general.

Aaron Clifton Moten plays Avery, fresh as a baby seal. Avery has dropped out of college and is kind of "floating around" right now. He has followed his love of movies to this outpost where digital hasn’t taken over yet. Avery and Sam bond over life’s indignities, games of 6 degrees of separation (which Avery has a encyclopedic knowledge of) and a passion to run the big projector.

The job of projectionist (which Sam thinks should rightfully be his) is held by Rose. Rose is a venerable young woman, hidden under a mass of black t-shirt and green hair. Louisa Krause plays Rose with the right amount of tenderness and tentativeness for the character. Rose is always almost approachable.

There are some wane passes made and connections missed, which shows how hard it is for people now to connect emotionally. But the action is spread so thinly, across so much time, that it is hardly worth the effort.

There is the spark of an amazing idea in The Flick. The idea that we have lost something magical in the rush from the old to the digital, that the flicker image left a deeper impression. But the glacial pace of the show drowns the idea, slowly. It is the theatrical equivalent of Woody Allen’s September. Perhaps the idea is just that, a great idea that can’t support an entire evening – particularly one with an intermission.

Excellent director Sam Gold spins the tale out as written, and has brought out a wonderful subtly in the cast. But the emotion that the show leaves with the audience is frustration. To little story stretched out way too long. It is a story told in the movement of mops, sweeping of aisles and hints of longing – I just wanted them to get on with it already.

The Flick – Playwrights Horizon (website)

Playwright: Annie Baker

Director: Sam Gold

Cast: Alex Hanna, Louise Krause, Matthew Maher, Aaron Clifton Morten

Mike Barlett's BULL at Brits Off Broadway

2013-03-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

If you, like me, were blown away by COCK- The Cockfight Play last year, then this is exciting.
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(from the Sheffield Theater UK promo)

Mike Bartlett's BULL, the companion piece to last season's Off Broadway hit Cock, is added to the Brits Off Broadway line up

New York, New York March 4, 2013—59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to announce playwright Mike Bartlett's (Artefacts in 2008) return to Brits Off Broadway with the US premiere of BULL, which just ended a successful run at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield.

Directed by Clare Lizzimore, BULL begins previews on Thursday, April 25 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 2. Opening Night is to be determined. BULL is produced by Sheffield Theatres.

Called "Lord of the Flies in sharp suits for grown ups" (Yorkshire Post), tickets for BULL go on sale on Friday, March 8.

Two jobs. Three candidates. This would be a really bad time to have a stain on your shirt… Written as a companion piece to last season's Off Broadway hit Cock, BULL is a razor sharp play about office politics; or playground bullying – depending which side you’re on.

Presented by 59E59 Theaters, Brits Off Broadway launches on Wednesday, March 27 and runs through Sunday, June 30. The single ticket prices range from $25 - $70 ($17.50 - $49 for 59E59 Members). Tickets to Brits Off Broadway are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. For more information on Brits Off Broadway, visit www.59E59.org or www.britsoffbroadway.com. ###