Update: The contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner was picked at random. Congratulations Jose Solís!
Following a sold out run in Los Angeles, Nothing to Hide is now playing at the Pershing Square Signature Center through December 8. Sleight-of-hand artists Derek DelGaudio and Helder Guimarães star in this unconventional magic show directed by Neil Patrick Harris. I have a voucher to give away for tickets to see the show through November 5. Because that's coming up soon, I will pick the winner tomorrow at 3 p.m. to give the winner enough time to see the show.
In order to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me why you want to see the show. You can also tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (if you enter this way, you must be following on Twitter to win). You can enter once each way for a total of two entries. A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Tuesday, October 29, at 3 p.m. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle in the comments so I have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
An Early Preview of The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters
Playwrights Horizons invited me to attend and write about an early preview of The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters by Marlane Meyer. I say this to make clear that I'm not breaking any press embargoes. The show wasn't really for me, so I want to explore why that is rather than just give a review because as I said, it was one of the first previews.
Aubrey (Laura Heisler) gets out of her small western town to become a doctor but she comes back to open a free clinic. She starts to date her high school crush Calvin (Rob Campbell). There are a number of other eccentric characters, all played by the four other people in the cast (Candy Buckley, Haynes Thigpen, Danny Wolohan, and Jacqueline Wright), who all do an impressive job of making each character distinct. It seems like a straightforward enough story, but I struggled to make sense of it all. The tone is very over-the-top, but towards the end it seemed like we were supposed to feel something for the characters, which I had trouble doing. And when the characters make political statements and look at the audience, I wasn't sure if those were supposed to be taking seriously or if that was Meyer's way of making fun of characters used as a mouthpiece for the playwright.
Not that we can always know what a playwright intends or that it matters in how we experience a play, but in this case I wanted to know what Meyer was going for. I always appreciate the material Playwrights Horizons has material available on the website about their playwrights. I listened to interviews with Meyer, and she says Patron Saint is a love story and it's about trying to work out your dumb ideas about love and how you trick yourself. I did get that from the story, but the way it was told alienated me.
Discount Tickets to The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters
Regular run: October 18-December 1
Tues-Fri at 7:30, Sat at 2 & 7:30, Sun at 2 & 7
Order by Nov. 5 and use the code SAINTBLOG
$40 (reg. $60) for all performances Oct. 18-Dec. 1
Online
Call Ticket Center at (212) 279-4200 noon to 8 p.m. daily
In person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues
Aubrey (Laura Heisler) gets out of her small western town to become a doctor but she comes back to open a free clinic. She starts to date her high school crush Calvin (Rob Campbell). There are a number of other eccentric characters, all played by the four other people in the cast (Candy Buckley, Haynes Thigpen, Danny Wolohan, and Jacqueline Wright), who all do an impressive job of making each character distinct. It seems like a straightforward enough story, but I struggled to make sense of it all. The tone is very over-the-top, but towards the end it seemed like we were supposed to feel something for the characters, which I had trouble doing. And when the characters make political statements and look at the audience, I wasn't sure if those were supposed to be taking seriously or if that was Meyer's way of making fun of characters used as a mouthpiece for the playwright.
Not that we can always know what a playwright intends or that it matters in how we experience a play, but in this case I wanted to know what Meyer was going for. I always appreciate the material Playwrights Horizons has material available on the website about their playwrights. I listened to interviews with Meyer, and she says Patron Saint is a love story and it's about trying to work out your dumb ideas about love and how you trick yourself. I did get that from the story, but the way it was told alienated me.
Discount Tickets to The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters
Regular run: October 18-December 1
Tues-Fri at 7:30, Sat at 2 & 7:30, Sun at 2 & 7
Order by Nov. 5 and use the code SAINTBLOG
$40 (reg. $60) for all performances Oct. 18-Dec. 1
Online
Call Ticket Center at (212) 279-4200 noon to 8 p.m. daily
In person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Contest: Win Tickets to Disaster!
Do you like '70s music, Mary Testa, Seth Rudetsky, and/or disaster movies? If yes, then you might want to enter this contest to win a pair of tickets to Disaster! A 1970s Disaster Movie Musical, which takes place in 1979 at the grand opening of Manhattan's first floating casino and discotheque.
In order to win*, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite '70s song. You can also tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (if you enter this way, you must be following on Twitter to win). You can enter once each way for a total of two entries. A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Friday, October 25, at 5:30 p.m. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle in the comments so I have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!
*Winner will receive a ticket voucher redeemable for two tickets to a performance of his/her choice through November 20, 2013. Blackout dates and other restrictions may apply.
If you don't win tickets, you can still see the show at a discount.
OFFER:
$39.50 (tickets are regularly $79.50) for October 14th through November 1st
$49.50 November 5th and beyond
TO REDEEM:
Online: Visit BroadwayOffers.com and enter code DIRRGEN
Phone: Call 212-947-8844 and mention code DIRRGEN
Restrictions: Offer may revoked at any time and is subject to availability. Not valid on prior purchase. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions; blackout dates and restrictions may apply. Maximum of 10 tickets with offer. Ticket price includes $1.50 facility fee.
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Limitations of Theater
As much as I love theater, even I have to admit that it has its limitations, just like any medium, and not all works translate to the stage. John Grisham's A Time To Kill might be one of those works. It's possible that a production could be more effective than the one adapted by Rupert Holmes and directed by Ethan McSweeny that opened last night at the Golden Theatre, but I doubt it would ever really work as a play.
In a small town in Mississippi, a 10-year-old black girl is raped by two white men. Her father, Carl Lee Hailey (John Douglas Thompson), takes the law into his own hands and kills the rapists in a courthouse. He hires Jake Brigance (Sebastian Arcelus) as his attorney. It's a compelling story that brings up interesting questions about justice and race, though that mostly gets lost in this production.
The 1989 novel was turned into a popular movie in 1996. But there is a lot you can do on film that you can't do on a stage due to budget and size of cast. Projections are used for some scenes, such as to show a crowd of protestors, but that's just not as scary as it would be to see a mob of KKK members, who threaten Brigance and his family (they are never shown; neither is Hailey's daughter). All of the violence takes place offstage and there is a more humor than necessary, which makes it easy to forget the stakes involved. It's difficult to watch a play that includes description of the rape of a 10-year-old girl and some lightness to relieve the tension is welcome, but at times it plays too much like a comedy.
It is fun to watch Patrick Page chew scenery as the smarmy D.A. And it's nice to see the dependable Thompson in a big Broadway role, but I hope next time to see him star in a play that will stay with you longer than the subway ride home.
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| Photo credit: Carol Rosegg |
The 1989 novel was turned into a popular movie in 1996. But there is a lot you can do on film that you can't do on a stage due to budget and size of cast. Projections are used for some scenes, such as to show a crowd of protestors, but that's just not as scary as it would be to see a mob of KKK members, who threaten Brigance and his family (they are never shown; neither is Hailey's daughter). All of the violence takes place offstage and there is a more humor than necessary, which makes it easy to forget the stakes involved. It's difficult to watch a play that includes description of the rape of a 10-year-old girl and some lightness to relieve the tension is welcome, but at times it plays too much like a comedy.
It is fun to watch Patrick Page chew scenery as the smarmy D.A. And it's nice to see the dependable Thompson in a big Broadway role, but I hope next time to see him star in a play that will stay with you longer than the subway ride home.
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Revisiting a Playwright's Early Work
Keen Company's revival of Jon Robin Baitz's The Film Society is the first time the playwright's work has been revived in New York, but one has to wonder why. When a playwright has success, as Baitz had with Pulitzer-finalist Other Desert Cities, it can be appealing to go back and revisit his early writing, but maybe this creaky 1988 play didn't need a second look.
The Film Society of the title is one run by young teacher Jonathon Balton (Euan Morton) at a boarding school in South Africa in the 1970s. His colleague Terry Sinclair (David Barlow) is an activist whose politics shake things up at the school while Jonathon tries to stay out of the politics as best he can.
A play about a boarding school with no students is already lacking something and the production is low on energy. Director Jonathan Silverstein stages each scene similarly with the actors standing around rather stiffly conversing with one another. It becomes tedious. I'm generally a fan of Keen Company, but I guess every company is bound to have the occasional miss.
The Film Society of the title is one run by young teacher Jonathon Balton (Euan Morton) at a boarding school in South Africa in the 1970s. His colleague Terry Sinclair (David Barlow) is an activist whose politics shake things up at the school while Jonathon tries to stay out of the politics as best he can.
A play about a boarding school with no students is already lacking something and the production is low on energy. Director Jonathan Silverstein stages each scene similarly with the actors standing around rather stiffly conversing with one another. It becomes tedious. I'm generally a fan of Keen Company, but I guess every company is bound to have the occasional miss.
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