Pataphysical Science

The Kids Are Alright in Russian Transport

2012-01-31T00:00:00.001-05:00

If you've been following this blog, you may know that I watch a lot of Disney Channel. Phil of the Future, which ran from 2004 to 2006, was not my favorite (although it seems like a masterpiece compared to some of the latest Disney Channel shows), but it starred the likable Ricky Ullman. As Raviv Ullman (his birth name), he is making his off-Broadway debut in Russian Transport by Erika Sheffer and directed by Scott Elliott. The play also stars Janeane Garofalo, but it was Ullman that was the big draw for me and if this play is remembered for anything, I hope its for launching his New York theater career. He and Sarah Steele (wonderful in Speech and Debate) give memorable turns in an intriguing, if ultimately unsatisfying play at The New Group.

Ullman plays Alex, a teenager growing up in Brooklyn with his Russian immigrant parents, Diana (Garofalo, at times over-the-top, but mostly balancing the comic relief and role as stern matriarch) and Misha (a quietly compelling Daniel Oreskes), and his 14-year-old sister Mira (Steele). Alex has to work a job at Verizon plus help out at his father's car service to help his family pay the bills. He also sells dime bags to earn a little cash for himself. When Diana's brother Boris (an appropriately menacing and alluring Morgan Spector) comes to stay, what starts off as a family dramedy becomes a story about the sex trade. Boris asks Alex to do some work for him, but when Alex realizes that work involves picking up innocent young girls from the airport (all played by Steele), he is torn between money and doing the right thing. Ullman and Steele convincingly portray obnoxious teenagers making bad decisions while getting at their vulnerability and fear. Sheffer has written some believable dialogue, especially between arguing teen siblings. She's also mixed Russian and English, usually effectively except in one scene between Diana and Boris. (Why would they be speaking English to each other and not Russian?) But though individual scenes are strong, they don't quite make a cohesive whole and the play ends on an unresolved note.

Photo credit: Monique Carboni

Contest: Win Tickets To How To Succeed... Now Starring Nick Jonas

2012-01-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Nick Jonas is the latest J. Pierrepont Finch in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Hirschfeld Theatre. Though you may know him as 1/3 of the Jonas Brothers, he got his start in Broadway in shows like Beauty in the Beast and Les Misérables. I for one can't wait to see him. Check out how good he sounds in this clip from the show:

I am very excited to have two pairs of tickets to give away to the show, which also now stars Michael Urie as Bud Frump. In this revival, every Finch gets his own bow tie color (blue for Daniel Radcliffe, purple for Darren Criss, and green for Nick Jonas). So to be entered to win tickets, tell me in the comments which color bow tie you would want to wear if you were cast as Finch. Feel free to get creative--it doesn't have to be one of the three. For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it. (Only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry.) You must be following on Twitter to win. One winner will be chosen at random on Friday, February 3 at 6 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!

And if you just can't wait until then to get tickets, here is a discount code for nearly 40% off:

Now through February 29 get $77 tickets (reg. $132) Orchestra/Front Mezz

Beginning March 1 through April 1 get $87 tickets (reg. $132) Orchestra/Front Mezz

Use code HSFAN105 at Broadwayoffers.com

*Restrictions and blackout dates may apply. Can not be combined with any offer. Offer may be revoked at anytime.

Finally, here is a super adorable video of Jonas and his family watching his billboard unveiling:

Two Ways to See Michael Esper and Bobby Steggert on the Cheap

2012-01-29T20:50:00.005-05:00

Two of my favorite young actors, Michael Esper and Bobby Steggert, will be starring in Assistance at Playwrights Horizons starting on February 4. The satire about a group of young assistants also stars Sue Jean Kim, Virginia Kull, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, and Amy Rosoff. It is written by Leslye Headland and directed by Trip Cullman, whose previous collaboration was Bachelorette. I won't be reviewing the show for a few weeks yet, but I wanted to share two discount opportunities now because I know some of you will be wanting to see this.

If you are 30 and under, all tickets are $25 for the February 16 performance, followed by a 30 and under party. Use code PARTY and order here. Proof of age required at the door.

And here's a discount good for all ages:

Regular run: February 3-March 11
Tues 7, Wed-Fri at 8, Sat at 2:30 & 8, Sun at 2:30 & 7:30
Additional Monday evening perf February 27 at 7

Order by Feb. 21 and use the code HELPMEBLOG
$40 (reg. $70) for all performances Feb 3-19
$50 (reg. $70) for all other performances Feb 21-Mar 11

Online
Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 Noon to 8PM daily
In Person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues

Contest: Win Tickets To Godspell

2012-01-23T10:00:00.002-05:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. The winner was selected randomly from all the entries. Congratulations Caryn! If you didn't win, I have another exciting contest coming up on Monday.

Prepare ye...to win some tickets to Godspell. The revival of the Stephen Schwartz musical is currently playing at the Circle in the Square Theatre. In honor of the new Tuesday Night Talkbacks featuring a different performer every week, I'm giving away a pair of tickets to see the show.

Tell me in the comments which Tuesday Night Talkback you'd most like to attend and why. (It can be one that already happened. The winner will be able to choose from a number of performances via voucher.) For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it. (Only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry.) You must be following on Twitter to win. One winner will be chosen at random on Friday, January 27 at 6 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!

Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

Get Ready For Ghost The Musical

2012-01-21T21:35:00.004-05:00

On Thursday night I got a sneak peek of Ghost The Musical at the Ghost Light Sessions. The event kicked off with a cocktail called "The Unchained Melody" made from Frozen Ghost Vodka (that's a real thing!), sweet and sour mix, blue curacao, and pineapple juice. I assume they will be selling these at the theater and if you don't mind girly/bright green drinks, I recommend.

We were then treated to some performances and introduced to the creative team. First up, stars Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy sang "Here Right Now." It's hard to really get a sense of the musical from out-of-context songs, but this was my favorite number of the evening. I also enjoyed hearing from book writer and lyricist Bruce Joel Rubin, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. One of the most famous lines in the movie is when Molly says, "I love you," and Sam answers with, "Ditto." It was interesting to hear that Rubin was reluctant about a musical because he thought it would be people just singing, "Ditto. Ditto. Ditto." He also explained that this line came from his personal life, since he had a hard time saying the words, "I love you."

Here are a few more photos from the event (by the way, my camera kind of sucks and there was a wire in our way, so I apologize for the quality of the pictures):
Music producer/arranger Glen Ballard and The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, who wrote the score of the musical:
(from left to right) Director Matthew Warchus, Bryce Pinkham, who plays Carl Bruner, Fleeshman, Levy, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Oda Mae Brown, and one of the producers:
The reason I'm most interested in Ghost the Musical is the special effects, but that will have to wait until the show starts performances (previews begin March 15 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, officially opening on April 23). To see the Ghost Light Sessions for yourself, tune in on Facebook on Tuesday, January 24 at 9 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9 p.m. EST. In the meantime, check out the trailer:

A New Theater Festival

2012-01-21T19:25:00.006-05:00

Times Square isn't usually the place for works that challenge the status quo, but that is the mission of the new Times Square International Festival at the Roy Arias Studios. The other part of the mission is to keep the shows affordable and ticket prices are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, and $12 for students and seniors.

Superman 2050 in Union Station, Chicago, IL, July 2011: Marc Frost, Lily Emerson, Thomas Kelly, Melissa Cameron, Brittany Bookbinder, Kathleen Wrinn, Becky McNamara
I only had a chance to see one of the 14 shows presented--a really fun show called Superman 2050 from Theater Un-Speak-Able in Chicago. Seven actors perform on a 3' by 7' platform. It takes place in Metropolis in the year 2050 and in addition to playing characters like Clark Kent (Marc Frost), Lois Lane (Kathleen Wrinn), Jimmy Olsen (Brittany Bookbinder), and Lex Luthor (Thomas Kelly), the actors also act as set and props.

The festival ends tomorrow, but if you don't have any Sunday plans, I encourage you to check it out (Superman 2050 has a show at 7 p.m.), or at least keep it on your radar for next year.

Photo credit: Photographer Max Dionne

On A Clear Day: What Went Wrong

2012-01-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever will close on January 29, after 29 previews and 57 regular performances. The show opened at the St. James Theatre on December 11 to negative reviews. Having seen the show in previews, I wasn't surprised by the response, but over the summer, I was expecting it to be a highlight of the Broadway season. As a member of the Vineyard last season, I had the opportunity to see the promising lab production. But while I still loved a lot of the individual elements on Broadway, as a whole, the production just didn't work. So what changed? Basically, the lab worked because it felt more like a concert. The score (music by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner) is absolutely gorgeous, but once the show was fully staged, it kind of fell apart.

The show now takes place in the '70s instead of the '60s (the original opened on Broadway in 1965). In the revised story (Peter Parnell updated Alan Jay Lerner's book), Dr. Mark Bruckner (Harry Connick, Jr.) uses hypnosis to get David Gamble (David Turner) to quit smoking. While David is hypnotized, he starts speaking as his former self from a past life--female jazz singer Melinda Wells (star-to-be Jessie Mueller). The story is a still a bit muddled owing partly to the fact that David and Melinda are played by two separate people. When watching the lab production, I guess I figured that director Michael Mayer would somehow brilliantly solve all the issues, but the staging was clunky, and I think a lot of that had to do with the set. Mayer's creative team has done wonderful work by him in the past in shows like American Idiot and Spring Awakening, but here, they miss the mark, especially Christine Jones's optical illusion eyesore of a set (see photo), in which pieces of furniture would come on and off in the center of the stage, not allowing for much in the way of inventive staging.

In the workshop, Dr. Bruckner was played by Marc Kudisch, who seemed more comfortable in the role. Still, Connick sings like a dream and so does Mueller. Turner is delightful. I may have wanted more from On A Clear Day, but I appreciate that it was trying to push the envelope and would have liked to see it hold on a little longer. I hope it at least gets a cast recording so the best part of the show can be preserved.

Photo credit: Paul Kolnik

My Introduction To Godspell

2012-01-15T21:58:00.001-05:00

I've been really excited for Godspell basically since it was announced. Many of the cast members (Lindsay Mendez, Hunter Parrish, Nick Blaemire, etc.) have impressed me in other shows. I was fascinated by the People of Godspell and whether a community-produced Broadway musical could be a success for everyone involved. I love the show's social media campaign (see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly) and the idea of a backstage lottery. I think one reason I put off seeing it for so long (the show opened November 7 at the Circle in the Square Theatre) was that I was afraid I wouldn't actually like it (I'm somewhat of an anomaly among theater fans as I've never seen or been in Godspell). I was mostly right--Godspell just isn't my kind of show--but I'm glad I finally saw it and I'm glad it was this production.

Godspell premiered off-Broadway in 1971. The musical with a score by Stephen Schwartz is based on the Gospel of St. Matthew and was originally conceived by book-writer John-Michael Tebelak as a thesis project. The actors--dressed as hippie clowns--use their real names except for Jesus (Hunter Parrish in this production) and Judas and John the Baptist (Wallace Smith) and act out parables. After an introduction with the cast dressed in suits, talking on cell phones and carrying briefcases with names like "L. Ron Hubbard," the show becomes thrilling as Smith sings the a cappella opening of "Prepare Ye" and is joined by the band and cast. But the joy of that first number gives way to dizzying scenes (Daniel Goldstein directs) and dated and unfunny pop culture references. Audience members occasionally are asked to participate in games like Pictionary and charades. It may seem like this show would be up my alley since I was such a huge fan of Hair, but the audience participation in that show seemed a more natural fit, and with the Godspell update, it was unclear why they were acting like hippies. Also, I felt an emotional attachment to the story in Hair, whereas here, to be honest, I didn't know what was going on half the time. I'm sure a lot of it is because I'm Jewish and did not grow up with any of these stories.

It's almost like I was watching two shows. If most of the book scenes were cut out, I might have loved it. The music is infectious and this cast can sing, especially Lindsay Mendez and Uzo Aduba. Towards the end, the show takes a turn for the serious, and a curious thing happened, I started to like it. From Parrish's "Beautiful City" to the crucifixion, all that silliness gives way to something simple and lovely. As morbid as this may sound, I felt the show ended on a high note and I left the theater thinking more about the positive aspects of the production than the negative. I probably never need to see a production of Godspell again, but I'll continue to enjoy the other show--the new marketing strategies, such as the Tuesday Night Talkbacks announced this week, which will feature a different cast member each week speaking about their experience in the show from audition stories to nightly routines.
Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

Contest: Win Tickets to Ionescopade!

2012-01-11T16:25:00.004-05:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. Congratulations Jerry!

I've been a fan of the York Theatre Company, which only produces musicals, since my first visit for a workshop of Yank! The latest York mainstage production is Ionescopade, A Musical Vaudeville, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1974 and presents a new look at the works of absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco (The Bald Soprano, Rhinoceros, The Chairs, Exit the King). Music and lyrics are by Mildred Kayden.

To be entered to win a pair of tickets, tell me in the comments your favorite Ionesco play or the best production of an Ionesco play you've seen (if you're not familiar with his work, just tell me why you're interested in seeing the show). The winner will be chosen at random from the entries on Wednesday, January 18 at 5 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!

SPECIAL OFFER: $40.00 tickets (regularly $67.50)

TO REDEEM: 1. Visit YorkTheatre.org and mention code IONESCOHHC

2. CALL 212-935-5820 and mention code IONESCOHHC

RESTRICTIONS: * Offer not valid in conjunction with any other offer or on previously purchased tickets. Subject to availability and prior sale. All sales final. No refunds or exchanges. Offer may be revoked at any time. Blackout dates may apply. Valid for performances through February 12; buy by February 3.

Lysistrata Jones: Is Fun Enough For Broadway?

2011-12-15T01:05:00.000-05:00

Expectations can make all the difference in how you experience a show. I was expecting Bonnie and Clyde to be a disaster and I ended up liking it. I was all set for Lysistrata Jones to be my new favorite musical, and while I enjoyed myself, I left feeling disappointed. After a successful Transport Group run at the Gym at Judson this summer, Lysistrata Jones, which opened last night at the Walter Kerr Theatre, is now the lowest grossing show on Broadway. I am still rooting for it because I'd like to think that new musicals with no stars can succeed on Broadway, but as much as I want to tell you that I loved it, the best I can say is that it's a really fun show that could have used just a little more work.

If you took a sexed up High School Musical and combined it with Aristophanes' Lysistrata, you'd end up with Lysistrata Jones. Lyssie J (the always adorable Patti Murin) is a recent transfer student to Athens University. Her boyfriend Mick (Josh Segarra) is the team captain of the school basketball team, which hasn't won a game in 30 years. Lyssie forms a cheerleading squad with the other girlfriends of the basketball players, but when that fails to inspire them, feminist Robin (Lindsay Nicole Chambers) introduces her to Lysistrata (via Spark Notes). Lyssie convinces the other girls not to "give it up" until they win a game.

For all of the hilarity and originality of Douglas Carter Beane's book (and there is a lot of it), there are also some cheap laughs in the form of stereotypical characters that have been seen in countless teen movies. And while there is some great raunchy humor, the material is surprisingly safe. Lewis Flinn's score is appropriately poppy. Director Dan Knechtges's basketball choreography is a highlight of the show as is an absolutely charming dance performed by Jason Tam as nerdy activist Xander. Tam brought audiences to tears as Paul in A Chorus Line and here gets a chance to show that he is a gifted physical comedian as well. The young cast is talented and energetic and seem to be having a ball, but there are only 12 of them, leaving the stage feeling a bit empty.

As much as I like to think that there's room for everything on Broadway, some shows are better suited to smaller spaces. Lysistrata Jones could have probably done well in an off-Broadway commercial run. Is it too late for a transfer to New World Stages?

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Confession: I Enjoyed Bonnie & Clyde

2011-12-10T16:19:00.017-05:00

Bonnie & Clyde wasn't everything that I wanted it to be, but I was entertained, I saw some great performers, and I was introduced to a memorable new Broadway score. That's more than I can say for many shows I've seen on Broadway. It certainly isn't the train wreck that some of the reviews make it out to be.

The musical Bonnie & Clyde--not based on the 1967 Arthur Penn movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway--claims to be the most accurate telling of the story of bank robbers Bonnie Parker (Laura Osnes) and Clyde Barrow (Jeremy Jordan). The show starts off with a literal bang as the couple is shot to death in their car. At a talkback after, director Jeff Calhoun explained that he wanted to get that iconic image out of the way at the beginning to be able to tell the story without everyone waiting for that moment, which was a smart decision. From there, the show limps a bit as we have to put up with seeing Bonnie and Clyde as children (played by Talon Ackerman and Kelsey Fowler) dreaming big dreams. One thing the show gets right is that even though it explains how Bonnie and Clyde became killers--Clyde was driven to his first murder after being raped and beaten in prison--it doesn't try to justify or glorify their actions. The show paints them as celebrity driven from the beginning. Unfortunately because of all of this backstory, Ivan Menchell's book lacks a lot of the excitement you'd expect from a show about outlaws.

Jeff Calhoun's direction combined with the visual elements overcome a lot of the book problems. Aaron Rhyne's projections show images of the real Bonnie and Clyde and the depression era which add historic context. This is most compelling when mug shots are taken of characters on stage and the real mug shots are projected. And Frank Wildhorn's gospel and country-infused score is unlike anything he's ever done. It's catchy and at times quite lovely (just don't pay too much attention to Don Black's lyrics) and performed by the powerful voices of current Broadway It Boy Jordan and Osnes, who would probably be the sexiest on-stage couple on Broadway right now if not for Nina Arianda and Hugh Dancy in Venus in Fur. Claybourne Elder is appealing as Clyde's loyal brother Buck, but is underused. One of the best discoveries of the show is Melissa van der Schyff as Buck's wife Blanche--the most fascinating character in both the movie and the musical, even though van der Schyff makes the role her own (she has never seen the film).

Tickets to Bonnie & Clyde are only being sold through December 30 even though the show hasn't announced a closing notice (which seems like a terrible strategy, but I digress), so if you don't want to miss it, go now. You might find yourself being pleasantly surprised.

As I mentioned, after the show, we attended a talkback with Calhoun, scenic and costume designer Tobin Ost, Elder and van der Schyff. One of my favorite tidbits (aside from Calhoun honestly acknowledging how unfair he thought the reviews were) was that there was a song called "This Has Never Happened Before" about Clyde's impotence, but when they learned that the plot point was invented for the movie, they cut it. I hope to one day hear that song.

Later, Elder and van der Schyff ended up at our table, charming us with their Michael Crawford impressions. Elder told us about "Bits O' Buck"--a mason jar where he keeps the blood and brains that he scrapes off himself before curtain call (see a picture he tweeted here) And then Elder showed us a video that changed all our lives: "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper" starring Phantom of the Opera's own Sarah Brightman. Watch it now. Your life will never be the same.

Photo credit: Nathan Johnson

Mamma Mia!: How Can I Resist You

2011-12-10T14:49:00.014-05:00

In my lifetime, only two shows have played Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre, Cats (fun fact: Cats opened the month I was born) and Mamma Mia! Since I hadn't seen Cats until long after it had closed on Broadway and I'd only seen Mamma Mia! in its pre-Broadway Los Angeles run in 2001 and in London in 2003, the Winter Garden was the one hurdle keeping me from my goal of seeing a show in every current Broadway house. So when I got an invitation to a Mamma Mia! blogger night, I had to go check the Winter Garden off my list and of course, see how the show is doing after 10 years on Broadway.

Before the show, we were also invited to Two Boots to try out the new Mamma Mia! pizza--sopressata and sweet Italian sausage with red pepper pesto on a white pie. I don't eat meat, so I enjoyed a cheese slice, but the meat-eaters seemed to enjoy The Mamma Mia.

As for the show, you probably already know whether or not you're going to like it, depending on how you feel about ABBA music and jukebox musicals. I am in more in the "you already know you're going to love it" (the tagline of the show) camp. Look, it's not life-changing theater, but it is fun theater. It's escapist theater. It would also make for a good bachelorette party as it is about a wedding (plus, it has guys dancing in no shirts and scuba gear).

Mamma Mia! is about a young woman's quest to find her father before she gets married. On an island in Greece, 20-year-old bride-to-be Sophie (Liana Hunt) has never known who her father is, but she finds an old diary belonging to her mother Donna (Lisa Brescia) and figures out that she has three potential fathers. She invites them all to the wedding.

The best thing about the show is the way the ABBA songs are integrated into the plot. For example, when Donna's best friends are comforting her and they break out into "Chiquita." I enjoyed the show more the first time I saw it because of the element of surprise, but I still think it's a cleverly put-together show (Catherine Johnson wrote the book connecting the songs by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus). I recently saw Jersey Boys again (also my first time seeing it on Broadway) and I think that has held up better, maybe because the costumes, sets, and dialogue aren't as cheesy, but it also hasn't been around as long.

If you've never seen the show or have been thinking of revisiting, Mamma Mia! is having its first ever winter sale. Every orchestra seat is $49 to $79 from January 9 to March 4, but you must purchase by December 24 (last minute Christmas or Chanukah gift, anyone?). Click here for full details.

Contest: Last Chance For Follies Tickets!

2011-12-05T12:00:00.003-05:00

Update: The contest is now closed and the winner has been contacted. The winner was picked at random from all the entries. Thank you to everybody who entered.

Follies, currently playing at the Marquis on Broadway, must end on January 22. If you've been putting off seeing it, you're running out of time. But I have some good news, Follies fans. Since the last Follies contest was so popular, I have a final pair of tickets to give away.

To be entered to win tickets, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry). If you enter this way, you must be following me on Twitter to win. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can leave a comment here telling me why you want to win tickets. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle in the comments so I have a way to contact you if you win. The contest will end on Friday, December 9 at 3 p.m. Good luck!

Special discount offer through December 25 only!

$97 Orch/Front Mezz (reg. $137) $74 (reg. $87) Mid Mezz

Click Here and enter code 3NEDEB

Call Ticketmaster at: 877-250-2929 and mention code 3NEDEB

Visit The Marquis Theater box office (46th between Broadway and 8th ave)

www.FolliesBroadway.com

*Restrictions and blackout dates may apply.

Review: The Cherry Orchard at CSC

2011-12-05T00:33:00.007-05:00

Earlier this season, John Turturro directed the mostly forgettable Relatively Speaking on Broadway, but there is nothing forgettable about his performance as Lopakhin in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard at the Classic Stage Company. There is a moment when he breaks out in manic dance alone that perfectly captures Lopakhin, forever socially awkward.

For those unfamiliar with the play, a widow, Ranevskaya (an equally captivating Dianne Wiest), returns to her home in Russia after being away for years in France. She has fallen into debt and is soon to lose her estate and cherry orchard in an auction. Lopakhin, a wealthy merchant from poor beginnings, tries to convince her to cut down the cherry orchard and divide the land into lots to be leased out for summer cottages.

Translated by John Christopher Jones and directed by Andrei Belgrader, this Cherry Orchard is fast and funny, accessible and modern, clocking in at only two hours and 15 minutes including intermission. Though it highlights the comedic elements (Chechov did intend the play as a comedy), the suffering of the characters is not lost, thanks to some fine performances. Take Juliet Rylance, who plays Ranevskaya's daughter and housekeeper Varya. Rylance makes Varya's longing for Lopakhin, who everyone says she should marry though he never asks, palpable. Alvin Epstein as the old footman Fiers perhaps most exemplifies the dualities of the play--the comedy and heartbreak--as he shuffles across the stage muttering to himself.

The one misstep is the decision to break the fourth wall (usually done by Carlotta, the governess, played by Roberta Maxwell). It doesn't add anything to the production, which is already intimate enough without having to make the audience a part of it.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Class Is In Session

2011-11-26T14:41:00.009-05:00

An acting class is currently being given at the Golden Theatre, but it's in the guise of a play about writing and writers. That play is Theresa Rebeck's Seminar.

In the funny but slight play, Alan Rickman--best known for playing another professor--stars as Leonard, an author who has chosen four students to be a part of his writing seminar. Rickman should teach a master class in pausing--every pause has so much weight. Though Rickman is the main draw, this is very much an ensemble piece. It's hard to believe that Hamish Linklater is making his Broadway debut as the awkward Martin, but even without the floppy hair he sported in his recent off-Broadway roles, he still proves to be one of the finest actors of his generation. Jerry O'Connell as the privileged but well-meaning Douglas and Hettiene Park as the sexy Izzy also make assured Broadway debuts. I was one of the few not enraptured by Lily Rabe's Portia, but she won me over as Kate, somehow taking a self-pitying character and making her (at least somewhat) likable.

Anybody who has spent time with writers will recognize some of the pretentious conversations in the play, and Rebeck's dialogue is consistently amusing. However, the actions of the characters don't always feel earned. Fortunately for Rebeck, she has director Sam Gold, making his Broadway debut, at the helm. Gold's production is so smooth and the acting is so strong that it's easy to overlook some of the inconsistencies.

Getting Married Today

2011-11-24T13:45:00.011-05:00

At the Minetta Lane Theare, you can experience the joy of weddings in 10 minute increments and you don't have to worry about buying a gift or getting stuck at a bad table. Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays features a rotating cast of six performing nine short plays about gay marriage by well-known playwrights. The staged reading format worked for Love, Loss, and What I Wore and Standing on Ceremony should also be able to run for years.*

Harriet Harris, Craig Bierko, Mark Consuelos, Polly Draper, Beth Leavel, and Richard Thomas are all able to create convincing characters in these short snapshots. Most of the plays are comedic and the funniest is Paul Rudnick's My Husband, in which Harris plays an overbearing Jewish mother who just wants her son (Mark Consuelos) to get married already (I'm sure most singles, gay or straight, can relate). Another highlight is Neil LaBute's Strange Fruit featuring Consuelos and Bierko, which starts off with some raunchy humor and ends with a horrifying twist. The most moving is Moises Kaufman's "London Mosquitos" about a man (Thomas) giving a eulogy for his partner.

The only problem with a show like this is that it feels one-sided (a few of the plays feature crazy conservatives) and preaching to the choir. The people who are going to see it already support gay marriage, when the goal is presumably not just to entertain, but to inform. But the shows might help educate the public through other methods as a portion of all ticket sales go to Freedom to Marry and other organizations promoting marriage equality.

Standing on Ceremony is hosting a contest on their Facebook page to win tickets for a party of 20 which includes a free drink.

*The producers announced on November 29 that Standing On Ceremony will close on December 18.
Photo credit: Joan Marcus

You're Safe and Sound Now Back In Good Old 1955

2011-11-23T22:41:00.003-05:00

Who hasn't watched an old television show or movie and thought how much simpler life would be in those times? For the characters in Jordan Harrison's Maple and Vine at Playwrights Horizons, the appeal of living in a different time is not that life was easier, but more complicated. Not only were there no modern conveniences like Internet, cell phones, and takeout, there was also less tolerance.

Married couple Katha (Marin Ireland) and Ryu (Peter Kim) don't know how to enjoy life again after her miscarriage. Katha is so depressed that she decides to quit her job. That day, she meets a stranger in the park who looks like he walked out of the 1950s. It turns out his name is Dean (Trent Dawson) and he lives in a community that lives life as in 1955 (always the same year). This idea appeals to Katha who convinces Ryu to move there for a six-month trial period, even if it means giving up his job as a plastic surgeon to pack boxes.

Harrison could flesh out the characters further as sometimes their motivations are confusing. It turns out that Dean is gay and he chooses to be married to a woman rather than be out in his own time. Katha encourages the community to be more intolerant of them as a mixed race couple so that their experience can be more authentic. It is distancing to not understand the characters, but it is also fascinating to consider their psychology. I have often daydreamed about going back in time, and the play has given me a lot to think about.

DISCOUNT TICKETS TO MAPLE AND VINE FOR PATAPHYSICAL SCIENCE READERS:

Regular run: November 19-December 23
Tues 7, Wed-Fri at 8, Sat at 2:30 & 8, Sun at 2:30 & 7:30
Additional Monday evening perfs Nov 21, Dec 5, and Dec 19

Order by November 30 and use the code VINEGR
$40 (reg. $70) for all performances Nov. 19-27
$50 (reg. $70) for all other performances Nov. 29-Dec. 23

Click here to order online or call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 Noon to 8PM daily
In Person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues

Contest: Win Tickets to Silence! The Musical

2011-11-21T10:50:00.006-05:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. The winner was picked at random from all the entries. Congratulations stagemaven!

Silence! The Musical--The Unauthorized Parody of The Silence of The Lambs opened this summer at Theatre 80 to positive reviews. It is now playing an open run at The 9th Space Theatre at Performance Space 122 and I have a pair of tickets to give away.

To be entered to win a pair of tickets, tell me in the comments what movie you'd like to see get the musical spoof treatment. For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry). The winner will be chosen at random on Monday, December 5 at noon. 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!

SPECIAL OFFER: $39 (reg $59)
1- CLICK HERE or visit SilenceTheMusical.com and enter code HHCGEN39. Please select the REGULAR SEATS (FBI HEADQUARTERS) section on the online seating chart.

2- Call 212-352-3101 and mention code HHCGEN39.

3- Bring a print out of this offer to The 9th Space Theatre at P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue. Box office is open for walk-up sales. See hours below.

RESTRICTIONS: Offer valid through December 30th. Offer may be revoked at anytime 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 4 tickets total with offer.
Box Office Hours:
Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 4pm to 8pm
Friday 4pm to 10:30pm
Saturday 2pm to 10:30pm
Sunday 2pm to 5pm

Sex in the Settee

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Noël Coward's Private Lives gets revived on Broadway every ten years or so. I can't complain because the current Broadway revival, which opened Thursday at the Music Box Theatre, is the first opportunity I've had to see the play. But those that have seen it may wonder about the necessity of another mounting. The success of the play hinges on who is cast as the two leads. Right now, Paul Gross and Kim Cattrall are making a pretty convincing case for this revival.

Gross and Cattrall play Elyot and Amanda, a couple that have been divorced for five years. They meet again while honeymooning in neighboring rooms with balconies. (It's Noël Coward. Suspend your disbelief.) It doesn't take long to realize they still have passionate feelings for each other, so they run away to her flat in Paris. During intermission, Rob Howell's set is transformed from the exterior of a hotel to a deliciously tacky flat, complete with ducks on the walls and a giant fishbowl.

Gross and Cattrall are a sexy pair and believable as a couple who alternate between wanting to sleep together or kill each other. Fans of Cattrall in Sex in the City (confession: I am one) may see a little bit of Samantha Jones in Amanda with her progressive sexual ideas, but Cattrall is not rehashing that role. She gets at the many layers of Amanda and when the play starts, you get the sense that she could be happy with her new husband, the stuffy Victor (Simon Paisley Day). Gross, who my Canadian friend explained to me is their Tom Cruise, cuts quite the dashing figure and has comedic timing to boot. The rest of the cast, though they don't have as much to do, is strong as well, in particular Day, who manages to give Victor a little bit of an edge so he doesn't come off as a one-note stick in the mud.

As entertaining as most of the play is in these capable hands, the second act starts to drag and director Richard Eyre could have perhaps better tackled the problematic physical abuse. But then again, the play was written in 1930 and I don't think everything needs to be reworked to be made palatable for modern audiences. Still, it's hard to laugh at a couple slapping each other around.

Photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann

Jerry O'Connell: The Most Adorable Man on Broadway*

2011-11-16T10:36:00.006-05:00

Last night, I attended a blogger night of the new Theresa Rebeck play Seminar. I'll wait until the show officially opens to post my review, but I can tell you about the meet and greet with Jerry O'Connell after the show. O'Connell, known for films like Jerry Maguire and Stand By Me, is making his Broadway debut as the privileged Douglas, one of the students in Leonard's (Alan Rickman) writing seminar.

Usually at these events, there's an awkward silence until somebody is brave enough to ask the first question, but O'Connell just said (after shaking everybody's hands), "Where should I start?" and without even waiting for an answer, decided to start by talking about Alan Rickman. He spoke about just watching Rickman act. He spoke about how everyone in the cast has been so terrific and helpful and welcoming. He told us about going out with his castmates after the show and how they fight over the jukebox, though it's mostly Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe who get into debates about the music (O'Connell said he's happy with some Britney.) He said sometimes Rickman joins them and that he always tries to pick up the check. He told us about how he's auditioned for a few Rebeck shows and they've never worked out and he really chased this part (the producer told us that since O'Connell came from LA to audition, he was the only one who didn't get coached by director Sam Gold, and he nailed the audition better than anyone). He told us how he's a New Yorker and how happy he is to be back here, taking his children on the subway. All the while, he was funny, enthusiastic, and charming. Even when the Q&A was over, he kept wondering what else he could tell us. And after he was finished speaking to us, he went out the stage door and took pictures and signed for the fans outside. He seems like a true class act. Welcome to Broadway, Mr. O'Connell. You can stay.

*Credit to @Corellianjedi2 for giving O'Connell that title.

Talking Chinglish

2011-10-31T12:00:00.005-04:00

What would you think if you saw a sign saying "Fuck the certain price of goods"? You probably wouldn't guess that it's a translation of a Chinese sign reading "Dry Goods Pricing Department." This is the jumping off point for Chinglish. Daniel Cavanaugh (Gary Wilmes), an American, sees an opportunity for his company to manufacture signs in Guiyang, China, given that the translations are so often embarrassingly incorrect. Peter Timms (Stephen Pucci), an Englishman fluent in Mandarin is Daniel's consultant. They meet with Minister Cai Guoliang (Larry Lei Zhang) and Vice Minister Xi Yan (Jennifer Lim). In David Henry Hwang's comedy, nobody is exactly who they seem to be.

Hwang and director Leigh Silverman spoke about the play at a digital press event. The characters in Chinglish communicate in both English and Mandarin, and one of the most effective elements of the play is the easy-to-follow translations. Silverman said: "Something that was very important for me as the director was to figure out how we were going to use translation in the play because it's thematically important because our American businessman is selling signage. So the idea of signs and translation and language is very important and I really feel like language and communication is a character in the play. I wanted to figure out how to effortlessly give the audience the chance to understand everything that was happening in the play while also literally watching the action of the play so that it didn't feel like opera. It didn't feel like you had to look outside of the frame. It felt like it was part of the fabric and essentially the DNA of the play were these translations. I think what we learned in Chicago when we did it at the Goodman was in fact the translation portion of it engaged the audience in a way that I think we hadn't expected because literally the audience is the only character who understands everything that's happening, so it gives the audience complete satisfaction in a way to know everything that's being said. Figuring that piece of it out was really crucial in terms of delivering what I feel is the comedy of the play and the fun of the play and the brilliance of the play."

When we saw Chinglish, my friend Emily wondered why the English dialogue wasn't translated into Chinese. At the press event, Silverman said that they are considering options for what they can do with the supertitles, especially if the show tours.

One of the most surprising stories to come out of the press event came from Hwang. In a comic highlight of the play, Angela Lin hilariously plays a very bad translator (I wanted more of her in the play). In another scene, Johnny Wu plays an equally incompetent translator. While this may seem like an exaggeration, Hwang revealed that he had a similar experience when he and Silverman visited Guiyang: "One thing that I really noted from the trip was the quality of interpretation in Guiyang of the interpreters was not particularly high. I was supposed to give a speech to local artists and cultural officials called Artists in the Age of Commerce, in other words, how does an artist operate in a capitalist culture, and they assigned as my translator this very sweet guy, but his only qualification was that he'd lived in London in for a year. He had no capacity to translate any of the ideas that I was talking about and he knew it too and was kind of terrified the whole time. We finally got someone on our team to do the translation and then let him read it, so it all kind of worked out. I feel like I'm actually rather generous to the quality of translators in Guiyang in the play."

Photo credit: Michael McCabe

Contest: Win Tickets to Lysistrata Jones

2011-10-31T10:00:00.001-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. I loved reading all your costume ideas and I'd like to give you all tickets. The winners were picked completely at random from all the entries. Congratulations Amanda S. and dbee!

Trick or treat! I have a treat for you. I'm celebrating Halloween (and my birthday) by giving away TWO pairs of tickets to see Lysistrata Jones on Broadway. In this version of Aristophanes's Lysistrata, the Athens University student Lysistrata Jones dares the basketball squad's girlfriends to stop sleeping with their boyfriends until they win a game. I was bummed when I missed the Transport Group production, which was performed in an actual gym, so I can't wait to see this show. The entire cast of the off-Broadway production is transferring. Since book-writer Douglas Carter Beane did such wonders with the Xanadu book, I'm expecting a fun show. Lewis Flinn wrote the music and lyrics.

In honor of Halloween, tell me in the comments your best theater-related Halloween costume idea. For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it. (Please tell me in your entry if you do this. Only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry.) TWO winners will be chosen at random (each winner will receive a pair of tickets) on Friday, November 4 at 5 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!

Discount offer:
Get special $50 tickets to LYSISTRATA JONES for 12 performances only! Performances begin on November 12!

Visit BroadwayOffers.com and enter code LJPVW50

Call: 212.947.8844

Go to the Walter Kerr Theatre box office, 219 W. 48th St. between Broadway and 8th Ave., with this coupon and mention code LJPVW50

Www.LysistrataJones.com
www.Facebook.com/LyssieJones

*Offer valid on all performances November 11 – November 23, 2011. Certain other blackout dates may apply. Subject to availability and prior. Not valid on previously purchased tickets and may not be combined with other offers. Applicable only to specified performance dates and times. All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. Valid on select locations only. Seating restrictions may apply. Telephone/internet orders subject to standard Telecharge.com service fees. When purchasing at box office, present offer prior to ticket inquiry. Offer may be revoked at any time. Limit 19 tickets per person per week. Offer expires Nov. 23, 2011.

Photos are from the Gym at Judson production

Milk Like Sugar at Playwrights Horizons

2011-10-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

In 2008, the media was buzzing with the story of
a pregnancy pact made by teens in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Kirsten Greenidge was inspired to write Milk Like Sugar, an engaging and enlightening play, which premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in August and opens at Playwrights Horizons on November 1.

Milk Like Sugar starts off light, with Beyonce blasting and three teenage girls at a tattoo parlor, discussing the appeal of certain boys based on their cell phones. But the conversation soon reveals that one of the girls, Margie (Nikiya Mathis), is pregnant, and ecstatic about it, dreaming about Coach diaper bags. She convinces her two friends Talisha (Cherise Boothe) and Annie (Angela Lewis) that they should all get pregnant at the same time, so that they can have a baby shower together.

The story follows Annie, torn between wanting to please her friends and the desire to escape her life and go to college. The appeal of a baby who will love her unconditionally is great for Annie, who feels neglected by her mother Myrna (Tonya Pinkins), but there are various influences--her ambitious crush Malik (J. Mallory-McCree), the tattoo artist Antwoine (LeRoy McClain), her new religious friend Keera (Adrienne C. Moore)--pulling her in every direction--literally illustrated by director Rebecca Taichman in choreographed scene changes.

Pinkins, the big name here, delivers a memorable performance, but the young actors are all ones to watch. It's especially hard to turn away from Lewis when she is on the stage and Mathis gets big laughs as the lovable but dim-witted Margie.

This is an educational piece for someone whose realm of experience is so different from that of these girls, or for vulnerable young girls like the characters portrayed, but Greenidge smartly avoids passing judgment.

DISCOUNT TICKETS TO MILK LIKE SUGAR FOR PATAPHYSICAL SCIENCE READERS:

Order by October 25 and use the code MILKGR
$40 (reg. $55) for all performances Oct. 13-Nov 20

Online: www.TicketCentral.com
Call: (212) 279-4200 Noon to 8PM daily
In Person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street

What I Did Last Night

2011-10-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

Last night, I went to ANT Fest at Ars Nova for the first time. This is the fourth year of the festival dedicated to emerging artists. From October 18 through November 19, you can see concerts, sketch comedy, musical theater, and more for $10 a ticket.

Last night's show was called Ant Tunes, featuring musical excerpts from Lightning Man and Mortality Play. Lightning Man, with music by Jeffrey Dennis Smith, lyrics by Shoshana Greenberg (full disclosure: she's a friend of mine) and Katya Stanislavskaya, and book by Maggie-Kate Coleman, is based on the true story of a seven-time lightning strike survivor who commits suicide at the age of 71. Mortality Play, with music by Scotty Arnold and lyrics by Alana Jacoby, is about a young wannabe rock star trying to find his place in 1349 London.

The shows are not open to review, but I can say that if last night's show is any indication, there will be a lot of up-and-coming talent at Ars Nova in the next few weeks. As a bonus, Ars Nova has cheap drinks and snacks, so your whole evening of entertainment may end up being cheaper than a night at a bar. You can see the complete lineup here.

Contest: Win Tickets to Standing on Ceremony

2011-10-24T10:57:00.008-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. The winner was picked completely at random from the entries. Congratulations to Randi!

Neil LaBute. Wendy MacLeod. Moisés Kaufman. José Rivera. Paul Rudnick. Doug Wright. Mo Gaffney. Jordan Harrison. Jeffrey Hatcher. This group of playwrights has two Pulitzer Prizes, four Obies, one Emmy, and three Tony nominations. They also wrote the seven short plays that make up Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, which starts previews on November 7 at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The plays star Craig Bierko, Mark Consuelos, Polly Draper, Beth Leavel, Richard Thomas, and Harriet Harris.

A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to Freedom to Marry and other organizations promoting marriage equality. I'm very excited to give away a pair of tickets to a show that supports this important cause. To be entered to win, write a comment on this post about why you want to see the show (a description of each play can be found here). For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry). The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, October 28 at 5 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!

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

2011-10-17T17:18:00.009-04:00

When Steve Jobs died on October 5 at the young age of 56, my Twitter feed was filled with messages about him, all positive. I think that's the first time I saw so many Twitter reactions completely without snark. People clearly felt a strong connection to this man. Monologist Mike Daisey's The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs started previews at the Public Theater a week later, on October 11, and opened last night (he has performed the show around the country). Jobs's death was incorporated into the show (Daisey doesn't work with a set script), but his look at the man and the company he created is no less critical.

It helps that Daisey is an Apple aficionado. He was one of the people who worshipped at the house of Jobs, but then one day he saw photos mistakenly left on iPhone taken by workers at a Chinese factory to test the camera on the phone. He began to wonder about the origins of his phone. He went to Shenzhen in China and visited Foxconn, the world's largest electronics manufacturer. He explains the conditions at the factory--the cafeteria, the dormitories, the nets used as a response to mass suicides, breaking up the stories about his own experiences in China with the history of Apple.

Two hours is a long time to listen to one man speak, but anyone who has seen Daisey perform (which I hadn't until last week) knows what a dynamic presence he is. Looking a bit like a cartoon character sitting behind his desk, constantly wiping his sweaty brow, shifting between a gentle and loud voice, he commands attention. The production, directed by his wife Jean-Michele Gregory, is simple, with Daisey sitting behind a desk, and not much more is needed. Suspense is added by Seth Reiser's lighting.

Daisey speaks about hearing the news of Jobs's death in a surprisingly moving end: "He was my hero. He was the only hero I ever had." As the audience wandered out of the theater, I overheard many grappling with turning on their beloved iPhones, but at the end of the day, this show is probably not going to make anyone give up technology or iProducts. And that's not what Daisey is advocating. What it will do is educate. And that's a good first step. (Flyers are handed out at the end of the show with more information about what you can do if you are compelled to take action.)

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Following Up With The Tempest Ladies

2011-10-07T14:49:00.003-04:00

Remember when I told you about The Tempest Ladies? If that profile piqued your interest, the theater troupe released two videos of their production of The Tempest and are in the process of scheduling tour dates across the country. While you wait for the chance to see them live, watch the teaser:

The Tempest - Teaser from Tempest Ladies on Vimeo.

and the full trailer:

The Tempest - Trailer from Tempest Ladies on Vimeo.

Contest: Win Tickets to Chinglish

2011-09-26T13:02:00.005-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. The winners were picked at random from all the entries. Congratulations to Erin and Sarah P!

Of the new plays opening on Broadway this fall, the one that intrigues me the most is David Henry Hwang's Chinglish, which starts previews on October 11. The play, direct from Chicago's Goodman Theatre, is about an American businessman trying to launch a new enterprise in China. It's performed in both English and Mandarin (with English subtitles), which I'm assuming is a first for Broadway. Watch this video to learn more about the play:

To be entered to win a pair of tickets, tell me in the comments the funniest incorrectly translated sign that you've seen. If you can't think of one, you can tell me in the comments why you want to see the show. For an extra entry, tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (only one tweet or retweet will count for an extra entry). TWO winners will be chosen at random (each winner will receive a pair of tickets) on Friday, September 30 at 5 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!

For an over $35% discount through November 13th:
Call 212-947-8844 and mention code CDDMX815
Visit Broadwayoffers.com and use code CGDMX815
Visit the Longacre Theatre Box Office (220 W. 48th Street) and mention code CGDMX815
Orchestra/Front Mezz: $74.50 - $79.50 (regularly $116.50 - $121.50)
Rear Mezz: $62.50 - $66.50 (regularly $86.50 - $91.50)

Recommended Theater: After

2011-09-22T12:00:00.001-04:00

When I heard about the execution of Troy Davis, who may or may not have been guilty, I couldn't help but think about Partial Comfort's After. In Chad Beckim's play, Monty (Alfredo Narcisco), convicted of rape at the age of 17, is finally cleared by DNA evidence after serving 17 years in prison.

Although After raises questions about our justice system, it is (fortunately) not overtly political. Beckim tells a very human story of people just trying to get by. Director Stephen Brackett smartly takes things slow, even though the show runs only 90 minutes.

In a sense, all the characters are imprisoned. Monty lives with the only family he has left, his sister Liz (Maria-Christina Oliveras), a workaholic who has just as much starting over to do as her brother. Monty's co-worker at doggy day care, Warren (Debargo Sanyal, who plays him too much like a caricature), is forced to be there because his father is the owner, even though he would rather be programming computer games. After so many years in prison, Monty is incapable of making decisions for himself. On a trip to CVS, he is overwhelmed by the selection of toothbrushes until sales associate Susie (Jackie Chung) offers to help him. She is spunky and eager, providing much of the comic relief, but as their relationship evolves, she starts to reveal her insecurities.

Monty isn't much of a talker, but Narcisco reveals so much with his facial expressions--pain, confusion, joy. His performance as a 17-year-old trapped in a 34-year-old's body is heartbreaking.

Tickets are only $18, so you have no excuse not to see After at The Wild Project. For an even better deal, Wednesdays are pay what you can.

FRINGE ENCORE SERIES: Facebook Me

2011-09-20T13:41:00.006-04:00

"I'm really glad they didn't have Facebook when I was a teenager," I said to my friend after a performance of Facebook Me at the Soho Playhouse. Middle and high school are tough enough without an even easier way to spread gossip and make others feel inferior. Facebook Me was written by and stars the teenage girls of the Arts Effect All-Girl Theater Company, created in 2007.

Each character in the play will feel familiar--either because you knew her or were her. They deal with body images, jealousy, sexuality, fights with friends, all intensified through Facebook statuses, where everyone can see what you're doing all the time. For example, Liv (Sophie Hearn) made out with her best friend Nicky (Winnifred Bonjean-Alpart) at a party to impress a boy and a video was posted on Facebook. Now that boy won't accept Liv's "in a relationship" status and friends are shunning Nicky because they think she's gay.

Directors Katie Cappiello and Meg McInerney have done an admirable job of staging the play so that the many storylines flow. Only the beginning of the play, where everybody speaks over each other, is confusing. This is an effective way to set up the overwhelming nature of Facebook, but it goes on for too long. The talented actresses are all between the ages of 13 to 15, which adds an authenticity to the play.

Some of the behavior portrayed in the show doesn't just apply to teenagers. Stella (Eliza Price) is helping her friend Sarah (Danielle Stefania) start her first Facebook page. Sarah just wants to be herself, a girl who loves Molly Ringwald movies and The Muppets, but Stella says she needs to be a different, more adult version of herself on Facebook. How many people are guilty of creating different personas online? Everybody using social media, no matter what age, could probably learn something from this play.

Remaining performances are Sat 9/24 @ 2, Sat 9/24 @ 9:30, and Sun 9/25 @ 2 at the Soho Playhouse.

Contest: Win Tickets to Follies

2011-09-19T15:38:00.007-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you to everybody who entered. The correct answers were:
1) 5 (I counted Gypsy)
2) The Royal Family and Lend Me A Tenor
3) Gloria Swanson
The winners were picked at random from the correct answers. Congratulations to Bonnie and Greene!

Follies was the first musical to open on Broadway this fall, and what a way to kick off the season. It received mostly rave reviews and even some early Tony talk. Eric Shaeffer's production of James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical transferred to the Marquis Theatre from The Kennedy Center. The cast of 41 includes two-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters, four-time Tony nominee Jan Maxwell, two-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein, three-time Emmy nominee Ron Raines, and Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige.

To be entered to win tickets, you must answer three trivia questions correctly in the comments section of this post.

The questions are:
1) How many Stephen Sondheim shows has Bernadette Peters starred in on Broadway?
2) Jan Maxwell was nominated for two Tony Awards in the same year. What two shows was she nominated for?
3) It is said that Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman based the show off a photograph of what famous actress?

I have enabled comment moderation until the contest ends. TWO winners will be chosen at random (each winner will receive a pair of tickets) on Friday, September 23 at 5 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!

Save on tickets with the discount offer 2BUDDY.**

Purchase Now Through November 6

$97 Orchestra/Front Mezz (reg. $135/$125)

$75 Mid Mezz (reg. $95/$85)

Call: 877-250-2929 Online: Ticketmaster.com

Visit: The Marquis Theater, 46th Street between Broadway and 8th Ave.

Website: www.FolliesBroadway.com

**Conditions: Valid for performances through 10/2/11 All prices include $2 facilities fees. Limit 8 tickets per order. Offer subject to availability and prior sale. ALL SALES FINAL. No refunds or exchanges. Telephone and Internet sales are subject to standard service fees. Offer may be revoked at any time or modified at any time without notice.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

FRINGE ENCORE SERIES: PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song

2011-09-15T18:00:00.002-04:00

The new college graduates that make up the all-male PigPen Theater Company are doing well for themselves so far. This summer, PigPen became the first company to win the top honor for a play at the Fringe Festival. Company members were still students at Carnegie Mellon last summer when they won overall excellence in a production for The Nightmare Story. The Mountain Song is their first production as official New Yorkers.

The Mountain Song is a fable told by a mountain about a father searching for his mute daughter. The story holds up on its own, but what makes this a worthwhile theater experience is the way its told with the use shadow puppets, folk music, and other inventive bits of lighting and staging. The goofy and likeable cast is made up of seven skilled musicians and natural storytellers--Arya Shahi, Ben Ferguson, Dan Weschler, Ryan Melia, Curtis Gillen, Alex Falberg, and Matt Nuernberger.

I don't think these guys need to worry about making it in New York. Coming up are a production of The Nightmare Story in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and a new show in Manhattan. But if you've never seen them, no need to wait. You still have time to catch The Mountain Song at the Soho Playhouse.

Remaining performances are Sat 9/17 @ 9:30, Mon 9/19 @ 8, Sat 9/24 @ 5, and Sun 9/25 @ 7:30

FRINGE ENCORE SERIES: The More Loving One

2011-09-13T12:41:00.006-04:00

Another Fringe Festival has come and gone, taking the end of summer with it, but the Fringe Encore Series is just getting underway. The series features 18 of the most well-received Fringe shows, including winner of the FringeNYC overall excellence award for best production of a play, The More Loving One.

Cory Conley's play takes place in a college town and explores how a trial affects two couples--Matt (David Beck, who resembles Patrick Wilson in everything but his voice) and his wife Lauren (Adriana Degirolami) and their roommate Heinrich (Jimmy Davis) and his boyfriend Henry (Preston Martin), who have been together just as long as Matt and Lauren. The action mostly takes place on the evening of campus move-in day. Matt has spent most of the day testifying against his friend and colleague in a statutory rape trial and as the couples discuss the events of the day, more about their relationships are revealed. The play treads familiar territory, but it goes in some genuinely surprising directions. It's structured in a way that constantly keeps you guessing. Director Craig Baldwin does well by the flashback scenes that shed light on some of the conversations without feeling forced. There are some laugh-out-loud moments to lighten the tension, mostly courtesy of Martin. The characters aren't all that likable, which makes it hard to care what happens to them (you may find yourself wanting to throw things at them), but Conley is certainly a playwright to watch.

Remaining performances are Wed 9/14 @ 9, Tue 9/20 @ 8, Thu 9/22 @ 9:30, and Mon 9/26 @ 8

Photo credit: Ryan Mekenian

Contest: Win Tickets to Relatively Speaking

2011-09-12T13:35:00.006-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. The winners were picked using a random number generator and have been contacted. Congrats Kristen and Vance and thank you to everybody who entered.

One silver lining to the end of summer is the start of the new Broadway season. Relatively Speaking, an evening of one-act plays by Woody Allen, Ethan Coen, and Elaine May, starts previews on September 20. Each play represents a different branch of the family tree. Coen's Talking Cure deals with the insanity that comes from family. May's George is Dead explores the "hilarity of death." And Allen's Honeymoon Motel takes place on a wedding day. The cast of 15 includes Julie Kavner, Steve Guttenberg, Mark Linn-Baker, and Marlo Thomas.

I'm a Woody Allen fan, so I'm most looking forward to Honeymoon Motel. And I love Rhoda, so I'm also excited to see Kavner aka Brenda Morgenstern onstage. To be entered to win tickets, let me know in the comments which of the one-acts you are most looking forward to and why. I will pick TWO winners at random (each winner will receive a pair of tickets) on Friday, September 16 at 5 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!

If you don't win, you can save up to 40% with this discount offer:
Offer valid on all performances September 20 – November 6 when you order by October 20, 2011

Tickets starting at $45 and Orchestra/Front Mezz from $74 -$79

Visit: Ticketmaster.com (http://www.ticketmaster.com/Relatively-Speaking-tickets/artist/1617884) and use code RSTELE
Bring this offer to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre box office, 256 W. 47th Street (between Broadway and 8th ave)

Call 877-250-2929 and mention code RSTELE

Restrictions:
Offer subject to availability and prior sale. Offer valid for select locations only. Applicable only to specified performance dates and times. Not valid on previously purchased tickets and may not be combined with other offers. All sales final; no refunds or exchanges. Telephone/internet orders subject to standard Ticketmaster.com service fees. All prices include a $2.00 facility fee. Offer may be revoked at any time. Seat restrictions and other blackout dates may apply. When purchasing at the box office, present offer prior to ticket inquiry. Expires 10/20/11.

Completeness at Playwrights Horizons

2011-08-31T11:51:00.010-04:00

You don't have to know anything about science to relate to Itamar Moses's romantic comedy between nerdy scientist types. And don't let the term romantic comedy scare you either. Completeness, directed by Pam MacKinnon, is an accurate portrayal of 20-somethings dealing with relationships.

Molly (Aubrey Dollar) is a molecular biology graduate student and Elliot (Karl Miller) is at the same school in the computer science department. They eye each other in a computer lab (David Zinn's set is deceptively simple at first, then revealing multiple surprises) and he offers to create a computer program that will help her in her research. It doesn't take long for them to end up in bed together and as much as they as they like each other, they both have trouble with commitment.

Moses has a gift for writing realistic dialogue and the leads speak it so naturally that at times it's hard to remember it's scripted. There are so many little details that ring true, like Elliot asking for Molly's number, then changing his mind and asking for her e-mail address because then it's more likely he'll actually get in touch. Even the scientific lingo, or at least the basic gist of it, is pretty easy to follow.

Miller played Elliot in the world premiere of Completeness at South Coast Repertory, but he joined this production already in rehearsals (he replaced Lucas Kavner, who replaced Michael Stahl-David). Considering Miller and Dollar must not have had much time to work together, their chemistry is even more impressive. The other two actors, Meredith Forlenza and Brian Avers play multiple roles, but they don't feel distinct enough.

There is one jarring scene in the second act that will probably prove divisive (without revealing too much, I thought it broke up the realism of the rest of the play and could have done without it, while others thought it was one of the best scenes). At least it will provide plenty to talk about it on the way out of the theater, as will the rest of the play.

Use code COMPBLOG for a ticket discount. Order by September 13 and tickets are $40 (reg. $70) for performances August 19-Sept. 4; and $50 (reg. $70) for perfs. Sept. 6-25. For tickets or more information, visit http://playwrightshorizons.org or call (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily).

Note: The production officially opens on September 13, but I was invited to a preview and asked to post my thoughts.

A Totally Awesome Show You Can't See Right Now

2011-08-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

I saw this great theater piece the other night. I want to be able to tell you to go see it, but it was the last night of its three-night run at the Robert Moss Theater in New York and the theater company is based in Santa Barbara. But I'm going to tell you about it anyway, because you should know about Proximity Theatre Company.

Proximity is a non-profit youth theater company (the actors range in age from 16 to 29) that produces physical theater productions.

Shandy Wilkes by Proximity's co-artistic director Karina Richardson is a reworked version of The Marvellous Shandy Wilkes, presented by Proximity in 2009. It's a really sweet fairy tale about the power of love. Shandy Wilkes (Chiara Perez del Campo) was born with mirrors in her eyes that show people the thing about themselves they fear the most. Her own mother (Richardson) can't bear to look at her, so Shandy is mostly raised by her blind grandmother Maria Carmen (Siena Perez del Campo). Shandy's only friends are a fun-loving unicorn (Jake Himovitz) and a know-it-all dragon (Gabriela London), but eventually, Shandy has to go to school. Only Hymn (Himovitz) can look into her eyes because he is too young to have learned how to hate any part of himself. The rest of the students and teachers fear her, but she gets to keep coming to school on the condition that she will wear sunglasses. The play follows her through her teenage years when she reconnects with Hymn and into young adulthood.

The show has a great message and is appropriate for children, but is just as entertaining for adults. The youthful energy from the cast (most of whom juggle multiple roles) is infectious. Kyra Lehman's (doing double-duty as director) frantic choreography paired with Ken Urbina's original music gives the show a hip, modern edge, but never feels false or trying too hard.

New Yorkers, check out the two promo videos to get a taste of what you missed. If you live in or near Santa Barbara, I encourage you to keep your eye on Proximity's website for future show information. But here's hoping they will be back on the east coast soon.

FRINGE: Keepers

2011-08-23T10:59:00.005-04:00

What's The Benefit, Inc. produces theater that highlights a specific charitable cause. Keepers, a musical about adoption based on real testimonials, was originally presented at Studio 54 last year as a benefit for Spence Chapin Adoption Services and now it's having its first run at Fringe. It's hard to really a judge a show when everybody's hearts are in the right place.

The program doesn't specify how much of the script is directly taken from testimonials, but there are four book writers--Spencer Lavallee, Nicco Franklin, Paul Daniel Cloeter, and Molly C. Blau (Franklin and Cloeter also appear in the show). Short monologues are interspersed with musical numbers, so as is the case with other musicals of this kind, it's hard for the characters to make a lasting impression. But there are many sweet (two brothers--one adopted--in trouble with the principal are as close as any brothers), sad (a man in prison never learned to love his adoptive parents), and funny (a lesbian couple joke that they have to go to the "ballerina store" so their daughter won't end up gay) moments. What the musical does well is present both the positive and negative sides of adoption from the points of view of both children and adults. The music by Daniel Wolpow and Cloeter is pretty, though I think the show would work just as well as a play. As a whole, the actors are better in the individual scenes than when singing all together as in the title number. Erin Breen is particularly memorable in the opening scene on her adopted daughter's first day of school as is Franklin as a young man who finds a box belonging to his birth parents.

If you know anyone who has been adopted or gone through the adoption process, you will probably be moved by the show in some way. Up next for What's the Benefit is Weaker People, a musical dealing with the issue of bullying.

The final performance of Keepers is Sun 28 @ noon.

FRINGE: The Legend of Julie Taymor, or The Musical That Killed Everybody

2011-08-22T11:53:00.006-04:00

I was sick of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark before even the first preview. I was relieved when the musical officially opened, if only so I wouldn't have to hear about it anymore. But The Legend of Julie Taymor was so entertaining that I didn't mind hearing the the well-known saga again. I had a much better time at this Fringe show than at either version of Spider-Man.

The title is the only place where Julie Taymor's name is mentioned. In the musical by Travis Ferguson, producer Frank Kashowitz (Johnnie Moore) has the idea to turn the popular comic franchise Spider-Dude into a musical and he wants Bruno (Clint Carter), lead singer of the band U[squared] to write the music, but Bruno will only agree if they get Julie Paymore (a show-stealing Jennifer Barnhart) to direct.

Sure, Turn Off the Dark is an easy target, but Ferguson's attention to detail is impressive. The musical follows the trajectory of the spectacular failure pretty closely, from lead producer's death to delayed openings to actor injuries, so the more you know about its history, the more you'll laugh. For example, most avid theatergoers will recognize Lionel Weasel (Christopher Davis Carlisle, another standout in the cast), the gossip columnist intent on destroying Spider-Dude, as Michael Riedel of the New York Post. Of course, there is comic exaggeration. I doubt Riedel and Taymor have any sort of romantic history or that Christopher Tierney's accident was purposefully orchestrated by Taymor.

The score by Dave Ogrin (he and Ferguson co-wrote lyrics) is at its best when mocking Turn Off The Dark's score. A highlight is "Boy Falls From the Rafters"--sung by Barry Shafrin as the adorably naive Billy--a perfect send-up of "Boy Falls From The Sky." As someone who saw a preview of version 1.0, "Tweet , Tweet, Tweet!"--sung by audience members tweeting at the first preview--was an accurate depiction of what it was like to watch the mess of a show. ("Where are they going on the tangent? Still can't understand the words. 3 hours in. What's worse, the music or the dancing?")

The creators left no stone unturned with touches like Katie White's comic-book style props (even Starbucks cups are made of cardboard). I would like to see more from Ogrin and Ferguson, but now can we please stop talking about Spider-Man?

The final performance is Wed 24 @ 7.

FRINGE: Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story

2011-08-20T17:45:00.006-04:00

Between Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending, The Bardy Bunch, and the musical Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story by Mariah MacCarthy, there is a lot of Romeo and Juliet going on at Fringe. Add in the somewhat disappointing Royal Shakespeare Company production I saw in July and you'd think I'd be all Romeo and Juliet'ed out. But I never mind revisiting the story when a production is done well or offers a fresh take.

MacCarthy's new spin is that Romeo and Juliet are two young women living in Verona, Iowa. Juliet (Brigitte Choura) is a rich beauty queen engaged to marry Paris (Nic Grelli) and Romeo (Lauren Hennessy) is a wannabe rock star. Their mothers (both played by men--Jeremy Michael Lagunas as Claire Capulet and Matt Welsh as Evelyn Montague) are running against each other for mayor. But the Capulet/Montague rivalry is deeper than that. When Romeo came out in high school (this Romeo and Juliet, at 21, are a little older than Shakespeare's characters), she received threats from Juliet's cousin Tybalt (Craig Hanson). The election is in full swing and Claire Capulet decides to throw a masquerade party. Romeo dresses like a man, hoping to woo college student Rosaline, but ends up dancing with the masked Juliet. By the time each realizes who the other is, it's too late--they've already fallen for each other.

The show works largely because of Hennessy and Choura and their fantastic chemistry. Both women draw you in completely in scenes together and apart. They are supported by a strong ensemble cast, especially Jordan Tierny as comic relief Mercutio and Hanson as frat boy Tybalt.

The other reason this show is so memorable is Brian Kirchner's rock-folk-pop-Lady Gaga hybrid score. The songs start off humorous ("Hey Bitch") and become haunting ("Star-Crossed Lover" performed by the choir Diana Oh, Julie Ek, and Lauren Weinberg). Kudos to Emily Rupp, who juggles guitar, ukele, flute, and vocals.

Ampersand does need some tightening. The two-and-a-half hour show could be shortened as some of the scenes feel extraneous or repetitive. For example, the scenes between Juliet and her grandfather (Anna Savant) are sweet, but don't add much and there is an argument with Juliet and Romeo that goes on for too long. Even with these quibbles, this musical has the strongest potential for life after Fringe that I've seen this year.

Final performance is Sat 27 @ 7:45.

Photo credit: Kacey Stamats

FRINGE: Welcome to Eternity

2011-08-15T14:06:00.006-04:00

I really enjoyed Matt Saldarelli's Getting Even With Shakespeare at last year's Fringe. He abandons Shakespeare characters for a trip down the aisle with his new play, Welcome to Eternity, a series of seven short scenes between soon-to-be-married couple Amanda (Mary Schneider) and Patrick (Patrick Pizzolorusso). (I should probably disclose that I am "Twitter friends" with Pizzolorusso.)

According to program notes, Saldarelli, whose own wedding is in a few weeks, got the inspiration for the play when he told his fiancée that he wanted to write a graphic novel about her family. That idea became "Justice Family of America." As you can see, this isn't your typical marriage play. Though a lot of the issues raised--religion, dieting--are familiar, Saldarelli puts an original spin on them. For example, in "Catholic-22," Patrick and Amanda play a game to test her Catholic knowledge and in "Missionary Sundays," Patrick decides to add some spontaneity into their sex lives by trying out a new sexual position a day.

Saldarelli writes convincing dialogue in which his characters go off on believable tangents. (As in Getting Even With Shakespeare, conversations include many pop culture references.) Though each scene stands solidly on its own and together they start to form a picture of the couple, the play could do with some more establishing of why these two are together. They don't seem to agree on anything and we rarely see them being affectionate with one another. Yes, the play is about how the wedding takes a toll on their relationship, but I wondered why they fell in love in the first place. Luckily, Schneider and Pizzolorusso have an easy rapport that makes it easier to fill in the blanks.

Remaining performances: Sat 20 @ noon and Thu 25 @ 2

Photo credit: Dixie Sheridan

FRINGE: The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady

2011-08-15T13:52:00.007-04:00

If you thought Romeo and Juliet was a story of woe, wait until you hear the tragedy of Keith Partridge and Marcia Brady. The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady is The Brady Bunch meets The Partridge Family meets Romeo and Juliet meets Macbeth meets Hamlet meets Much Ado About Nothing, with bits of other Shakespeare plays thrown in for good measure. So if you're a fan of either singing family or Shakespeare, you will probably find something to enjoy in this violent musical comedy.

The story takes place in the summer of '74, after both shows went off the air. The Partridges and the Bradys are in a Montague/Capulet-type feud when Keith (Erik Keiser) and Marcia (Cali Elizabeth Moore) fall in love. They devise a plan to trick Greg Brady (A.J. Shively) and Laurie Partridge (Carina Zabrodsky) into falling in love. Meanwhile, Carol Brady (Susan J. Jacks) convinces her husband (Jacks's real-life husband Nick Ruggeri) to kill his boss and Danny Partridge (Adam Wald) is haunted by the memory of his father and wants revenge on his mother Shirley's (Michelle Mazza) new husband Reuben (Craig Wichman).

Playwright Stephen Garvey clearly knows his Bradys, Partridges, and Shakespeare. Some of the Shakespeare jokes are appropriately sitcom corny. I particularly enjoyed references to my favorite Brady Bunch episodes, and I didn't feel like I was missing out when The Partridge Family references went over my head.

Eighteen is a large cast by Fringe standards and director Jay Stern deftly maneuvers the chaos. Everybody in the cast fits into their roles perfectly. Standouts include the four young lovers and Jonathan Grunert as Peter, whose "It's Time To Change" is one of the high points of the evening. Logan Medland has done a fantastic job of arranging the songs like "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" for musical theater storytelling. Lorna Ventura's choreography also lovingly references the sitcoms.

There are only three performances left and Friday's is already sold out, so if this sounds like your type of show, I'd suggest buying a ticket soon.

Remaining performances: Fri 19 @ 9, Sun 21 @ 8:45, and Wed 24 @ 2

Photo caption: Erik Keiser as Keith Partridge and A.J. Shively as Greg Brady
Photo credit: Tom Henning

FRINGE: Yeast Nation

2011-08-14T01:57:00.008-04:00

Urinetown is considered the most successful show to come out of the Fringe Festival. The musical opened on Broadway in 2001 and won Tony Awards for best book, score, and direction of a musical. Greg Kotis (book, lyrics) and Mark Hollmann (music, lyrics) return to Fringe with Yeast Nation (The Triumph of Life) and sold out the run before the first performance. But I doubt that Yeast Nation will have the same trajectory as Urinetown.

If expectations weren't so high for Yeast Nation, it would be another amusing, quirky Fringe show, but it's hard not to make comparisons to Urinetown as it is so similar in style and themes. The musical takes place in 3,000,458,000 BC at the bottom of the primordial sea. Although the characters are yeast, the story, which involves power struggles and love against the odds, is familiar. Jan the Elder (George McDaniel)--if you know Urinetown, think of him as Caldwell B. Cladwell--enforces strict rules about reproduction, what the yeast can eat, and where they can go. But his son Jan the Second (Erik Altemus) falls in love with Jan the Sweet (Emily Tarpey) and starts to question his father. The show even has an Officer Lockstock and Little Sally in the form of Jan the Unnamed (Harriet Harris) and a precocious young boy, well yeast (Charlie Plummer), who narrate and break the fourth wall.

Yeast Nation feels long at two-and-a-half hours, but overall the strong ensemble keep energy and entertainment levels up when the show begins to drag. Standouts in the cast include Joy Suprano as Jan the Wise and Jan the Famished (Jennifer Blood), whose duet is a highlight of the show.

The score was catchy, but because Urinetown is one of the funniest musicals I've ever seen, I was expecting to laugh a lot more at the lyrics. Clearly, Kotis and Hollmann have a lot of talent, and I would love to see something completely different from them. Not that I mind musicals with bad titles or being told that my way of living is unsustainable.

Photo from left to right: Manu Narayan, Emily Tarpey, and Erik Altemus
Photo credit: Jay Sullivan

FRINGE: Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending

2011-08-14T01:16:00.012-04:00

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless play, but many of the characters are insufferable and their actions frustrating. So, when I was reading over the 194 selections at this year's New York International Fringe Festival and came across the title Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending, I knew I had to see it. Finally, the chance to control the outcome. It turns out that even when you choose your own ending, the results may not be ideal, but you probably won't find a Romeo and Juliet as fun or short (only 90 minutes) as this one.

There are three points in the play at which audiences vote by a show of hand. The first is when Romeo (James Waters) goes to the masquerade at the home of the Capulets and has to choose between wooing Juliet (Kyra Corradin) or Rosaline (Katie Jeffries). My audience chose Rosaline. In this version, Rosaline is Tybalt's (Matthew Sparacino) sister and a Capulet, so it still turns out to be a tale of star-crossed lovers, except that Rosaline is older and more cynical than Juliet, so she rejects Romeo's advances at first. Waters, whose boyish looks work so well for the lovesick Romeo, and Jeffries make for a believable couple. I suppose it's possible that Rosaline could have been a Capulet, but this almost feels too easy. [Correction: Turns out, Rosaline is indeed a Capulet. Thanks to Katie Jeffries for pointing that out.] So that Juliet is not completely left out, Benvolio (Rob Mueller), who I always thought of as the character in Shakespeare's version the most free from blame, falls in love with her. Kudos to the actors, most of whom have to play multiple parts and memorize each combination of results on top of that.

The play was written by brother and sister team Ann and Shawn Fraistat (with some help from William Shakespeare, of course), who have a knack for writing Shakespearan rhyme so it blends easily with the lines from the actual play, even with some anachronistic language thrown in. There are 8 different endings to choose from, so you might find yourself wanting to go back and see what could have been.

Remaining performances for Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending: Thu 18 @ 7:30, Sat 20 @ 2:15, Sun 21 @ 2:30, and Fri 26 @ 4:15

Photo from left to right: Kyra Corradin as Juliet, James Waters as Romeo, Katie Jeffries as Rosaline

Traces, or A Circus for People Who Hate Circuses

2011-08-09T10:00:00.002-04:00

I'm not a circus person. The thought of having to sit through one makes me a little queasy. If you're anything like me, don't let the word "circus" in the plot description of 7 Fingers's Traces freak you out. 7 Fingers was founded in Montreal in 2002 to bring circus to a human scale, according to program notes. Cirque du Soleil had similar beginnings, but those shows still feel larger than life. Traces feels less about spectacle and more about street art. And let's be honest, it doesn't hurt that the young cast is easy on the eyes.

In Traces, the performers wear regular clothes--no need for elaborate costumes. They take turns introducing themselves with birth dates (warning: if you were born before the late '80s, you will probably feel old), hometowns, heights, weights, and adjectives. Bradley Henderson is reliable and the oldest. Mason Ames is clumsy. Mathieu Cloutier is from Quebec. Valérie Benoît-Charbonneau, the only female in the group, is flirtatious. Philippe Normand-Jenny's parents are psychologists. Xia Zhengqi goes by Daqi and is insecure. Florian Zumkehr (pictured) is romantic.

Sometimes it doesn't even feel like you're watching a performance, just friends goofing off, as the seven make fun of each other or play around with skateboards and basketballs. But then they perform mind-blowing acrobatics like balancing on chairs, jumping through hoops, and climbing on poles (direction and choreography are shared by Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider). The show is very dance-heavy as well and incorporates elements of both hip hop and ballet. The tricks don't always land, but they will get up and try again, and that also adds to the humanness of the show.

This is a limited engagement at the Union Square Theatre through October 9 [Update: Traces has been extended through January 1], but I wouldn't wait to see it. If you need any more convincing to see this show, just watch a few of the videos on the Traces site. For bargain-hunters, $25 rush tickets are available the day of the performance.

Photo credit: Michael Meseke

Nick Jonas: Marius vs. Link

2011-08-07T15:42:00.007-04:00

I used to make fun of my sister for liking the Jonas Brothers, but some time ago, I started to actually like them, mostly Nick. From interviews I've read, he seems like a smart guy and a dedicated musician. I knew he couldn't really act because I've seen episodes of Jonas and Jonas LA. The 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables, in which he played Marius, confirmed this, but it also proved that he can actually sing better than his work with the Jonas Brothers would indicate. This weekend, he played Link Larkin in Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl. I'm in New York, so I didn't see it, but my sister did and she thought he was much more successful as Link than as Marius.

"Nick Jonas does fairly well with characters who aren't too complicated. Link is actually a kind of dumb character to begin with, so it worked out," she told me. "He was a little stiff at the beginning, but later on he got really into it." When he was Marius, he had the same look of concern on his face the whole time he was onstage, but she said he actually did vary his facial expressions somewhat as Link: "While he was dancing he was smiling, but I don't think he can act and smile at the same time."

The highlight of that conversation, courtesy of my sister: "The moral of the story: We need to always give Nick Jonas characters that aren't complex or dramatic, or any character in which he would have to do his 'I'm concerned about the situation right now' constipation face."

Photo credit: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

My TV Debut... StageRush TV

2011-08-05T12:07:00.002-04:00

This week, my friend Jesse invited me to co-host his weekly web series, Stage Rush TV with him. I overcame my fear of speaking on camera and you can watch us discuss this week's Broadway news here. And if you don't already read Stage Rush, you should, for great video interviews, giveaways, and more. Thanks for having me, Jesse!

Quick Q&A With Joyce DeWitt

2011-08-02T15:26:00.004-04:00

Joyce DeWitt, best known as Janet Wood on Three's Company, is currently starring as the adorable Miss Abigail in Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage at Sofia's Downstairs Theater on 46th Street. In the show, Miss Abigail and her sidekick Paco (Mauricio Perez) share Miss Abigail's dating advice. To be honest, I went in thinking the play would be cheesy, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be genuinely funny. And now, five questions with Joyce DeWitt:
Q: What did you think when you were first approached about this show? Was it something you wanted to do immediately?
A: Comedic material that occasionally touches the heart is my favorite kind of material. So, yes, I was immediately attracted to the play.

Q: What appeals to you about the role?
A: That she has dedicated herself to helping people and that as a character she is a joy to play.

Q: There is quite a bit of audience interaction, so I would think you have to be ready for anything. Did you have any improv experience?
A: None whatsoever. It was the one thing that caused me to take some time in agreeing to do the role.

Q: Do you agree with all of Miss Abigail’s advice?
A: Well, if I were 100 years old I might! But, some of it is very sweet and that dearness is a lovely thing to share with the audience.

Q: What is your favorite piece of wisdom from Miss Abigail?
A: That life is short and love is so very precious.

Click here and use the code BLOG for discounted tickets to the show.

Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

Contest: Win Tickets to The Judy Show: My Life As A Sitcom

2011-07-07T15:58:00.005-04:00

Judy Gold (Love, Loss, and What I Wore; 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother) is back with a new solo show that looks at her life through the television sitcoms she grew up watching. I am giving away one pair of tickets to see the show at DR2 Theatre. In order to be entered to win, answer the following trivia question: Judy Gold has won two Emmy awards. What show were they for?

Please answer in the comments section. I have temporarily turned on comment moderation and will wait until the contest ends to post the comments. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle so you can be contacted if you win. I will pick a winner at random from the correct entries. The contest will close on Monday, July 11, at 5 p.m.

Update: The contest is now closed. The winner was picked at random from the entries. Congratulations makingwaves01! I will contact you shortly with details on how to claim your tickets.

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you would still like to see the show, use the following discount to save $20 on tickets:

Three Easy Ways to Save $20 on tickets to
The Judy Show: My Life as a Sitcom!
Get your $45 (regularly $65) tickets today.

1.CLICK HERE or Visit BroadwayOffers.com and use code JSHHC45

2. CALL 212.947.8844 and mention code JSHHC45

3. *IN PERSON: Bring a printout of this offer to The DR2 Theatre Box Office at 103 East 15th Street (between Park Avenue and Irving Place).

RESTRICTIONS: This offer is valid through 9/10/11 and is subject to availability. Not valid on prior purchase. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts of promotions; blackout dates and restrictions may apply. Limit ten (10) tickets per order. No refunds or exchanges. Offer may be revoked at any time. All discounts include .50 facility fee.

*The DR2 Theatre Box Office Hours - Opens 1 hour prior to the performance. Please Note: Tickets may also be purchased at the Daryl Roth Theatre Box Office, 101 East 15Street (Tuesday: 1pm - 6pm Wednesday - Friday: 1pm-8pm Saturday: 1pm -10pm Sunday: 1pm - 7pm)

Review: Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana

2011-06-29T17:52:00.010-04:00

Zarkana's press release describes the show as "an acrobatic rock opera that blends circus arts with the surreal to create a world where physical virtuosity rubs shoulders with the strange." Sound familiar? I couldn't help but think of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, which fails as both a musical (doesn't have a compelling story or music) and a Cirque du Soleil-type spectacular (the acrobatics are too few and far between). Zarkana even has a scene that takes place on a spiderweb, so comparisons are inevitable. If you're into the adrenaline rush that comes from seeing performers in potentially dangerous situations, I'd go with Zarkana, where you get more stunts per dollar spent than at Spider-Man.

Zarkana, now open at Radio City Music Hall, was written and directed by film and theater director Francois Girard (The Red Violin) and features a cast of more than 75. Cirque shows usually have a theme and in this one, there's a magician named Zark (Paul Bisson) who shows up a lot to sing about love (Nick Littlemore's score is appropriately loud and anthemic), but the individual scenes don't really connect. But Cirque du Soleil is about the spectacle, not the story, and boy do they do that well. Some of the most memorable scenes are "Rope Duet," a lovely dance in the air between Di Wu and Jun Guo (Debra Brown and Jean-Jacques Pillet are credited with choreography, Florence Pot with acrobatic performance design) and one of the quieter moments in the show, and "Wheel of Death," in which Ray Navas Velez and Rudy Navas Velez perform stunning acrobatics on a moving wheel.

There are too many clowns for my personal taste, but costume designer Alan Hranitelj, set and props designer Stephane Roy, and image content designer Raymond St-Jean offer such an overload of colors and images, that I had plenty to take in while I waited for those scenes to pass.

Photo credit: Alan Hranitelj

So I saw War Horse...

2011-06-29T16:41:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Lincoln Center's wonderful LincTix program, I was able to see the hottest straight play on Broadway for only $30. I mostly wanted to see War Horse because I had heard a lot about it being a great production of a not-so-great play and I couldn't complain about it winning the Tony without having seen it. And I also wanted to see the horses.

Well, now that I've seen it, I'm not as angry about it winning best play as I thought I'd be, though I think all the plays that were nominated were better written (as was Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo, which wasn't even nominated, and I encourage you all to see before it closes). Yes, War Horse has a simple story and it's emotionally manipulative. But, I wouldn't say it was a bad play. The dialogue wasn't cringe-worthy, though parts of it were slow. And even though I was aware of being manipulated, I am a sucker for stories about children and their animals. And those horses were just incredible. I started to believe that they were actual horses. The Handspring Puppet Company was totally deserving of a special Tony award for their work on the show.

It turns out I'm most stuck on the Tony award that War Horse won for best scenic design. War Horse didn't have too much of a set, but it did use video projection to great effect. I suppose video projections are considered part of the scenic design and should be, but isn't it time for a separate category for video projection? I also wonder if the puppets were considered part of the scenic design. I don't think they should have been, but I guess there's no way of knowing. Awards are so subjective anyway I suppose it doesn't matter, but if anyone out there has thoughts about what scenic design should entail, please write them in the comments.

Theater Deja Vu

2011-06-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

Last summer, I saw the play Veritas by Stan Richardson at the Fringe Festival, and it introduced me to a shocking piece of Harvard history, where students were interrogated about their sexuality. Unnatural Acts has a different director, writer, and cast, but it felt like I had already seen the play. Two plays with the same source material are obviously going to have similarities, but it is interesting that the plays resemble each other stylistically as well. This is an unfortunate coincidence, as a look at the timeline on the play's website indicates that Tony Speciale first got the idea in 2003 and started developing the play in 2006.

Unnatural Acts was directed by Speciale, who wrote the play along with members of the Plastic Theatre. In 1920, Cyril Wilcox, Harvard class of '22 committed suicide at his home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Cyril's brother brought two letters to the Dean which referred to Cyril's homosexuality and other students who might have been leading a similar lifestyle. From there, the Court was created to question students, getting more and more names throughout the investigation. Most of the students were judged guilty and forced to leave not only Harvard, but Cambridge altogether. If you would like to know more about the history before seeing the play, the Harvard Crimson article by Amit R. Paley that first broke the story is available here.

Unnatural Acts uses Shakespeare monologues, overlapping scenes, even a choreographed scene that owes a debt to "Bitch of Living" from Spring Awakening, but as was the case with Veritas, some of these artistic flourishes distance the audience from the characters. Still, Unnatural Acts is an engaging evening of theater with a talented young cast (some of whom are co-authors), the standout being Nick Westrate as Ernest Roberts, the flamboyant son of a politician who hosts parties in his room, Perkins 28. It would be easy to play this role one-note, but Westrate finds the anger and pain underneath Roberts's charisma.

It's horrible to think that this is a true story, but it's important that it continues to be told, so that history doesn't repeat itself. Whether or not you've seen Veritas, but especially if you haven't, Unnatural Acts is a play worth checking out.
Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Contest: Win Tickets to Zarkana

2011-06-23T12:10:00.004-04:00

Want to see Cirque du Soleil's latest show, Zarkana, for free? One Pataphysical Science reader will win a pair of tickets to the show at Radio City Music Hall. To enter, follow me on Twitter @PataphysicalSci and retweet my tweet about the contest. The contest will end on Friday at 5 p.m. Good luck!

Because You Haven't Heard Enough About The Tonys...

2011-06-13T20:23:00.003-04:00

I was able to watch the Tonys last night in a hotel room in Orlando ("Orlando. I love you Orlando." Yes, I now have to sing that every time I say that city's name. Thanks, Book of Mormon.) I didn't have access to a computer, so I didn't get to live blog or tweet, but in case anyone still cares, here are some random thoughts about the evening:
-Overall, I thought it was one of the most entertaining Tonys in a long time in terms of production numbers, but in such a competitive year, the awards themselves ended up being pretty predictable (i.e. boring). The biggest and I think only surprise for me was Nikki M. James winning for best featured actress in a musical. I was pretty sure Laura Benanti would win, but she does already have a Tony and I'm extremely happy for James. She gave the most moving and genuine speech of the night (with Norbert Leo Butz's speech coming in at close second).
-Speaking of Norbert Leo Butz, I think he deserves a Tony every time he opens his mouth, but I still think he should have been nominated for featured actor. I'm guessing the reason the Mormon love didn't extend to either of the male leads is that they split the vote...
-But that doesn't explain why Rory O'Malley didn't win. After James's win, I expected him to ride the Mormon train too. I'm not heartbroken he didn't win, but I thought John Larroquette was the least deserving in the featured actor in a musical category.
-As much as I love Andrew Rannells and the song "I Believe," I didn't think it was fair to only showcase him, especially when so many actors from the show were nominated. However, I was impressed that the song was not censored.
-I thought Priscilla deserved a nomination over Sister Act or Catch Me If You Can, but since it wasn't nominated, a performance from the show made no sense. The Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark number was also unnecessary, but if they want to sell the show, a love ballad isn't the way to do it.
-I don't like Chris Rock as an actor, but I appreciate that he said what everyone was thinking. The Book of Mormon win was a no-brainer. Still, it's exciting that a good musical won this year (especially after last year).
-Speaking of Memphis, it's hard to forget that that musical exists when they insist on performing a selection from the show again. I hope this isn't going to be a regular thing.
-I'm not seeing War Horse until the end of the month, so I can't comment on whether its many wins were deserved until then. Stay tuned.

Review: The Best is Yet to Come at 59E59

2011-06-02T16:55:00.002-04:00

I can hardly call myself an expert on composer Cy Coleman. I know some of his popular music--"The Best is Yet to Come," "Witchcraft"--thanks to Frank Sinatra. As for his musical scores, I'm very familiar with Sweet Charity and I've seen City of Angels. His other musicals include Barnum, On the Twentieth Century, Seesaw, Little Me, and The Will Rogers Follies. The Best is Yet to Come at 59E59 was an introduction to a career I was mostly unfamiliar with.

David Burnham (Wicked), Sally Mayes (She Loves Me), Howard McGillin (The Phantom of the Opera), Lillias White (The Life), and Rachel York (City of Angels) are all in fine voice and accompanied by music director Billy Stritch on the piano (occasionally taking the microphone himself) and a seven-piece band.

Though I personally would have liked at least one full number from Sweet Charity ("Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" appear briefly in medleys), the music selection is representative of Coleman's varied styles (he began his career in jazz clubs). A problem with revues is that the staging can often seem cheesy and director David Zippel does not entirely avoid that here, but there are some notable exceptions, and one in particular is reason enough to see the show--when Lillias White lets loose on "The Oldest Profession" from the show that won her a Tony, The Life, in a powerhouse performance that all but stops the show.

Introducing...The Tempest Ladies

2011-05-27T11:26:00.004-04:00

With so many productions of The Tempest a year, what's special about the production on June 2 (7 and 9 p.m.) at The Players Theatre? Well, it's being performed by six women--Stella Berg, Laura Borgwardt, Julia Giolzetti, Holly Hart, Laura Bess Jernigan, and Jana Stambaugh--who call themselves the Tempest Ladies. Plus, it's only 90 minutes long and $10 a ticket. So, who are the Tempest Ladies?
The Tempest Ladies was formed in 2008 by Syracuse University students studying abroad at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. "Several of us were cast in an all-female scene from Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe (probably more a function of not enough boys in our class, but it was a fabulous experience) as our final presentation," says Borgwardt. "We loved the energy of working together and wanted to bring the work we were doing at the Globe back to Syracuse and put what we were learning into practice."

With this bare-bones version of The Tempest, the Tempest Ladies hope to present an accessible show that will appeal to both children and adults. "It's about taking Shakespeare off of the pedestal. People seem to be afraid of Shakespeare because of the heightened language, but the goal of this production and our productions after is to bring Shakespeare down to its most basic level," Hart says. "In the case of The Tempest, it is simply the story of a powerful man who is seeking revenge but instead discovers that 'the rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.'”

So why The Tempest and not any other Shakespeare play? "The fact that The Tempest is a play made up of mainly male roles was an exciting factor for our all-female cast and was a main reason why we chose this play. But we all have our personal reasons for loving The Tempest," says Berg. "I love that it is a comedy with many layers that go much deeper than a slap-stick, funny show. It contains passion, lust, betrayal, redemption, greed, magic, self-actualization… the list goes on and on. I think it is a beautiful tale and it was Shakespeare’s last masterpiece which adds to its mystery."

After the June 2 presentations of The Tempest, the Tempest Ladies not only hope to continue performing the show around the city and country, but also to perform other Shakespeare plays. They will likely tackle Twelfth Night next. They do not plan to limit themselves to Shakespeare, however, and would like to create an entirely new piece as a company. Berg says, "Ultimately, we want to create innovative, physical and musical ensemble pieces that speak to audiences of any and all ages. We want to make theatre an incredibly enjoyable experience and accessible to the masses."

For $10 tickets to The Tempest, visit their website.

The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

2011-05-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

When I first heard about The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World*, a joint production of Playwrights Horizons and New York Theatre Workshop, I was intrigued. How would the creative team--Joy Gregory (book and lyrics), Gunnar Madsen (music and lyrics), and John Langs (director)--handle such an unusual band? The Shaggs were a sister act from Fremont, New Hampshire in the late 60s who achieved a cult following when their music was rediscovered in the '80s. Would Langs cast actors who couldn't sing? Would Madsen's original music be as dissonant as the music of The Shaggs? No and no. Most of the musical numbers in the shows are imagined, allowing the cast to showcase their talents while not betraying the material.

Austin Wiggin (Peter Friedman) formed the Shaggs as a result of his mother's prediction that his daughters--Dot (Jamey Hood), Betty (Sarah Sokolovic), and Helen (Emily Walton)--would form a successful band. He took them out of school, bought them instruments, and forced them to practice and write songs. My theater companion accurately described him as the "male Mama Rose." The band released only one album on Third World Records, but the man running the label disappeared, taking 900 of the 1,000 copies with him.

One of the best scenes in the show is when the girls record their album. You see and hear the girls playing cheerful poppy versions of the songs (also arranged by Madsen) and then what the music actually sounds like as the engineers listen in the booth. Madsen's original music has a haunting quality that blends well with the quirky music of The Shaggs. The musical does not present the Shaggs as a joke, but rather serves to highlight some of the beauty in their seemingly artless music. Take these simple and innocent lyrics: "There are many things I wonder. There are many things I don't. It seems as though the things I wonder most are the things I never find out."

There are some moving and powerful performances happening onstage and among those who make the strongest impression are Walton, who balances Helen's tormented soul and youthful spirit, Friedman, as a man the audience both fears and sympathizes with, and Cory Michael Smith as Helen's boyfriend, a positive force among the darker characters.

The off-Broadway season is only just beginning, but other musicals have their work cut out for them as The Shaggs has set the bar high and is truly an original musical.

Special SHAGGS offer:
Order by June 1 with code SHAGGLOG and tickets are only:
· $60 (reg. $75)
HOW TO ORDER:
· Order online at www.ticketcentral.com. Use code SHAGGLOG.
· Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
· Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*Note: I know that the show has not officially opened yet, but I was invited to see a preview and asked to post my thoughts about it.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Third Annual Patrick Lee Theater Blogger Awards

2011-05-20T00:26:00.008-04:00

For the third year in a row, the Independent Theater Bloggers Association (the ITBA) presented awards for excellence in Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. The awards have been renamed the Patrick Lee Theater Blogger Awards in honor of Patrick Lee, one of the ITBA's founding members. If you've been reading this blog, following me on twitter, or know me in person, you can probably figure out which of these winners I didn't vote for, but it's a pretty good list overall. Here is a video of the announcement, followed by a complete list of the winners. Congrats to them all!

The 2010-2011 Patrick Lee Theater Blogger Award Winners:

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY MUSICAL
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

OUTSTANDING NEW BROADWAY PLAY
Jerusalem

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY MUSICAL REVIVAL
Anything Goes

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY PLAY REVIVAL
The Normal Heart

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
The Kid

OUTSTANDING OFF-BROADWAY REVIVAL (PLAY OR MUSICAL)
Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches

OUTSTANDING SOLO SHOW/PERFORMANCE (ALL VENUE CATEGORIES)
Michael Shannon, Mistakes Were Made

CITATIONS FOR OUTSTANDING OFF-OFF BROADWAY SHOW
Feeder: A Love Story
Invasion!
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Belarus Free Theater's Discover Love
Black Watch
ReWrite

UNIQUE OFF-OFF BROADWAY EXPERIENCE
Sleep No More

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
The Scottsboro Boys

CITATIONS FOR EXCELLENCE BY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS
Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Reed Birney, A Small Fire
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherfucker with the Hat
Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Hamish Linklater, School for Lies
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
Michael Shannon, Mistakes Were Made
Benjamin Walker, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

CITATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN OFF-OFF BROADWAY THEATRE
La Mama

The ITBA, is comprised of bloggers who regularly see live performances in all its forms in New York City and beyond. Members are in New York, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and London. For further information and a list of our members, visit our website. If you are interested in learning more about the ITBA, email info@theaterbloggers.com. To invite the members of the ITBA to your show or event, please send an email to invite@theaterbloggers.com.

Baby It's Not That Bad

2011-05-13T13:19:00.004-04:00

I'd heard some awful things about Baby It's You!, the new Broadway musical that tells the story of Florence Greenberg, the Jewish New Jersey housewife who discovered the Shirelles and created Scepter Records. Some theater circles have even started referring to it as Baby It's Poo. I have to wonder what these people were expecting. It's a jukebox musical meant to offer crowd-pleasing familiar songs, and on that front, it succeeds. I prefer more ambitious works, but sometimes I like to balance that with mindless entertainment, and this season has offered so much of the former that I think there's room for the latter as well.

The story of Greenberg (Beth Leavel) is an interesting one. She was a married woman who had a romantic relationship with a much younger black man, record producer Luther Dixon (Allan Louis)--pretty radical for the early '60s. Unfortunately, the book by Floyd Multrux and Colin Escott doesn't develop the characters and relationships enough, because the point is to cram in as many songs as possible. These are the men behind Million Dollar Quartet, another musical with great songs and performances but a weak book. The show also has a superfluous narrator (Geno Henderson), whose only purpose seems to be to bring up pop culture references (complete with cheesy graphics) of the era to further excite the baby boomer crowd.

As for the music, you not only hear Shirelles numbers like "Baby It's You" and "Soldier Boy," but other hits of the time like "It's My Party" and "Louie Louie." Vocally, the women playing the Shirelles--Christina Sajous, Erica Ash, Kyra Da Costa, and Crystal Starr--sound terrific, but they don't get a chance to do much more than sing. Then again, it's not a musical about the Shirelles, it's about about Florence Greenberg and Leavel does what she can with lame dialogue, but once again, you'd be hard-pressed to hear these songs sung better anywhere, other than digging up your old records.

I like to think of shows like Baby It's You!, Million Dollar Quartet, and Rain more as concerts than musicals. Maybe I'm being too easy on the show--why should jukebox musicals be an excuse for lazy writing? They shouldn't, but as a fan of the music of this era, I was able to enjoy myself.

Photo credit: Ari Mintz

Review: The School for Lies at CSC

2011-05-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

You don't expect characters in a play taking place in 1666 France to use words like "dude" and "LOL" while speaking in highly-entertaining verse, but they do in The School For Lies, David Ives's adaptation of Moliere's The Misanthrope. These kinds of anachronisms can come off as annoying, as if the playwright is trying too hard, but here the rhymes are so clever that they work.

Aside from language choices, Ives takes some liberties with Moliere's story, but the basic gist is the same. Frank (Hamish Linklater), renamed from Alceste, abhors the hypocrisy of society and likes to speak his mind. He falls in love with Celimene (Mamie Gummer) despite her habit of ridiculing her friends behind their backs. Director Walter Bobbie is a frequent collaborator of Ives and they clearly understand each other such that the show runs effortlessly. So much of the pleasure of the show comes from the language and it takes a skilled cast to speak intelligibly while not slowing down the pace and the ensemble is up to the challenge, but Linklater is clearly the star, delivering each line to comic perfection. The School For Lies is a visual treat as well, thanks to William Ivey Long's brightly colored costumes which fit in with the fun nature of the show.

It appears that nobody told Ives about the rule of three, and a running joke involving flying canapes starts to wear out its welcome (for me anyway, the audience never seemed to tire of it). Still, during this time of year when everyone is rushing to see Broadway shows before the Tonys, there are some gems that you can only find off-Broadway.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Do You Have Tony Fever Yet?

2011-05-03T08:41:00.007-04:00

I wonder if the Tony nominating committee got Hunter Foster's memo and decided to not nominate any stars this year. Also, shows from the fall were not completely overlooked, with The Scottsboro Boys getting a surprising 12 nominations, but I'm sad about the total shutouts of The Pitmen Painters and A Free Man of Color. Here's the complete list of nominations, followed by my thoughts in most of the categories:

Best Play
Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire
Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth
The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Stephen Adly Guirgis
War Horse, Nick Stafford

This is a really strong year for new plays. I haven't seen War Horse yet, but Good People, Jerusalem, and Motherf**ker are all deserving. Still, I'm extremely disappointed that Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo and John Guare's A Free Man of Color (both Pulitzer finalists) were overlooked. From what I've heard, War Horse might be the one to beat, but I'm rooting for The Motherf**ker with the Hat (note: I hate the use of asterisks, but I think that's the official spelling of the play's name now).

Best Musical
The Book of Mormon
Catch Me If You Can
The Scottsboro Boys
Sister Act

The biggest snub here is Priscilla Queen of Desert, which I haven't seen yet. I also haven't seen Sister Act, but I did enjoy Catch Me If You Can, even if it's not in the same league with The Scottsboro Boys and The Book of Mormon. Nothing is a sure thing at the Tonys (just ask Raul Esparza), but I expect The Book of Mormon to win and deservedly so.

Best Book of a Musical
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Alex Timbers
The Book of Mormon, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone
The Scottsboro Boys, David Thompson
Sister Act, Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner, and Douglas Carter Beane

I wasn't the biggest fan of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson's book, but I can't deny that parts of it were very clever. It's nice that two closed musicals from the fall (Bloody Bloody and The Scottsboro Boys) were not forgotten. The Book of Mormon had some of the offensive humor you'd expect from the South Park/Avenue Q guys, but overall I found that it wasn't mean-spirited and it had a surprisingly sweet story, so I hope they take it.

Best Original Score
The Book of Mormon, Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
The Scottsboro Boys, Music & Lyrics: John Kander and Fred Ebb
Sister Act, Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Glenn Slater
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

My love for David Yazbek is no secret, and even if I didn't think Women on the Verge was his best work, Yazbek not at his best is still better than a lot of other composers out there. Again, I'd be happy if either Mormon or Scottsboro won.

Best Revival of a Play
Arcadia
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Merchant of Venice
The Normal Heart

I overall loved this production of Arcadia, but it had its share of haters, so I'm surprised with its nomination. The Merchant of Venice and The Importance of Being Earnest were also very strong productions. I haven't seen The Normal Heart yet, which got some of the best reviews of the season, so I expect that to win. That Championship Season was rightfully shut out, though I did enjoy Born Yesterday and La Bête.

Best Revival of a Musical
Anything Goes
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

No surprises here as there were only two musical revivals this season. I have to say that I preferred How To Succeed, but Anything Goes (which I also liked) is generally considered to be the better production, so I expect it to take the award.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

I was hoping Mark Rylance would get two nominations, the other for La Bete, but it was such a competitive year, that it almost wouldn't be fair for him to get two slots. As much as I liked Brian Bedfored, I don't understand how he is considered a lead when he's only in a few scenes. I was really hoping Bobby Cannavale would get nominated, so I'm super excited for him. I was very impressed with Robin William's understated performance in Bengal Tiger, so it's a shame he was left out, as was Dan Lauria for Lombardi.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

Biggest surprise here is Hannah Yelland for Brief Encounter. I was one of the few people who didn't like Lily Rabe's Portia (I only saw her performance in the park, not on Broadway). I hope Nina Arianda wins and I think she has a really good shot. Her biggest competition is probably Frances McDormand.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

I'm so torn in this category. I'm sad to see that Daniel Radcliffe was snubbed again (the first time was for Equus). He is giving his all up on that stage and he deserves to be recognized for it. The other big snubs were Aaron Tveit for Catch Me If You Can--but if only one male from the show was going to be nominated, I'd rather it be Norbert Leo Butz--and Benjamin Walker, who was the best thing about Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. I'm pleasantly surprised that both Gad and Rannells were recognized as well as Joshua Henry. I really have no idea who will win this one.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Beth Leavel, Baby It's You!
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture

This was such a weak year for women in musicals that there were only four nominations. I've only seen Sutton Foster so far, so I have little to say here, but I think she's looking at another Tony win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Billy Crudup, Arcadia
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Yul Vázquez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Probably my favorite category this year. I'm surprised with Crudup's nomination, since his performance got some of the more mixed reviews out of the actors in the show. As much as I love Crudup, Tom Riley deserved it more. Still, I'm glad to see that Crook, Moayed, and Vázquez were all recognized, especially Vázquez, who is so hilarious in Motherf**ker, but also delivers the sweetest moment in the show.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves
Judith Light, Lombardi
Joanna Lumley, La Bête
Elizabeth Rodriguez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

I'm so glad that Light was nominated since Lombardi was shut out of most categories. It is I believe the only show to open in the fall that is still running, so in that sense, it's the little show that could (of course, it does have NFL power behind it).

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Adam Godley, Anything Goes
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Forrest McClendon, The Scottsboro Boys
Rory O'Malley, The Book of Mormon

Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon!!!! I wish there was an ensemble award so The Scottsboro Boys could be nominated in that because the whole cast deserves recognition. I would have also loved to see John Cullum get nominated, but these two guys were outstanding. Rory O'Malley won me over in one of the show-stopping numbers in The Book of Mormon, "Turn it Off." Same with Adam Godley's "The Gypsy in Me."

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Tammy Blanchard, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Victoria Clark, Sister Act
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon
Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

All I have to say is I really hope Benanti wins. She was the best thing about Women on the Verge. I'm not really sure why LuPone was nominated, to be honest. It was a fun performance to watch because she was enjoying herself so much, but she didn't have much to do.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Rae Smith, War Horse
Ultz, Jerusalem
Mark Wendland, The Merchant of Venice

Again, I haven't seen War Horse yet, but I loved all three of the other nominated sets. I would give the edge to Ultz. But where are Bengal Tiger and Born Yesterday?

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, The Scottsboro Boys
Derek McLane, Anything Goes
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon
Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

This is the one category Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson really deserves to win.

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jess Goldstein, The Merchant of Venice
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest
Mark Thompson, La Bête
Catherine Zuber, Born Yesterday

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Martin Pakledinaz, Anything Goes
Ann Roth, The Book of Mormon
Catherine Zuber, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

This is the one place I thought Wonderland might get a nomination. Oh well.

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, War Horse
David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Kenneth Posner, The Merchant of Venice
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Jerusalem

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, The Scottsboro Boys
Howell Binkley, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Peter Kaczorowski, Anything Goes
Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play
Acme Sound Partners & Cricket S. Myers, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Simon Baker, Brief Encounter
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Jerusalem
Christopher Shutt, War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Catch Me If You Can
Brian Ronan, Anything Goes
Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse
Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Daniel Sullivan, The Merchant of Venice

Sullivan made some brilliant choices in The Merchant of Venice, so I'm glad he was recognized. I really need to see War Horse and The Normal Heart.

Best Direction of a Musical
Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
The best direction of a musical category is almost the exact same as best choreography (with the exception of Trey Parker). Musical theater history buffs, has that ever happened before?

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Marshall's choreography is impressive, but a little too by-the-book for me. It's exactly what I'd expect in an Anything Goes revival. Ashford did some interesting things with his choreography, but I'm pulling for Nicholaw or Stroman.

Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon
Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank, Catch Me If You Can

What do you think of the nominations? Did I forget to mention any snubs?

Live Tony Nominations Webcast

2011-05-02T13:23:00.007-04:00

Watch the 2011 Tony Awards nominations live!

Later today, I'll post my thoughts on the nominations--who I'm excited for and who got snubbed. Come back and let me know whether or not you agree.

The Tonys Are Coming!

2011-05-02T12:46:00.002-04:00

I'm pleased to announce that for the first time, you'll be able to watch the Tony nominations here on Pataphysical Science via live webcast. Tune in tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. EST to watch the nominations, announced by Matthew Broderick and Anika Noni Rose.

Review: Seance on a Wet Afternoon at the New York City Opera

2011-04-27T12:01:00.001-04:00

Seance on a Wet Afternoon is Stephen Schwartz's first opera and it straddles the line between musical theater and opera. This is no surprise, as Stephen Schwartz is the composer and lyricist of such musicals as Pippin, Godspell, and the mega-hit Wicked. As someone with an admittedly limited knowledge of opera, I found Seance on a Wet Afternoon more accessible than other operas I've been to because of those blurred lines between opera and musical.

The opera, playing at the New York City Opera through May 1, is directed by Schwartz's son, Scott Schwartz. It's based on the 1964 film of the same name (which was based on a novel by Mark McShane). Myra Foster (Lauren Flanigan) is a medium who has a plan to get the recognition she thinks she deserves. She convinces her husband Bill (Kim Josephson) to kidnap a young girl (Bailey Grey) so that Myra can be a hero when she uses her visions to find the girl. As things start to spiral out of control, the story becomes darker and more disturbing, but it's also gripping and the 2 hours and 45 minutes go by very fast.

Schwartz's lyrics are fairly straightforward, making the story easy to follow, but they are also not terribly original or profound. The music, however, is lovely. There are some moments, such as when the reporters gather around the house to sing about the scandal, that are reminiscent of "No One Mourns The Wicked" and other big ensemble numbers in Wicked, but that's not to say that Schwartz is simply repeating what he's done before. He's taking a risk here and it mostly pays off.

He is helped by getting a visually striking production. Heidi Ettinger's sets have an ominous quality. The Foster home, with it's pointy roof, looks like a witch's house out of a fairy tale. A curtain looks like rain falling from the sky creates the backdrop.

The cast is excellent all around. Flanigan really captures Myra's undoing and instability. Josephson plays Bill with a tenderness and torment that makes him the most fascinating character. It's refreshing to see two young actors, Grey and Michael Kepler Meo as the ghost of Myra's son Arthur, who are so capable of commanding the stage.

If rock operas are still considered musicals, then I see no reason why an opera with hints of musical theater can't still be an opera. Ultimately, I'm more concerned with how a show makes me feel than what to label it.

Photo credit: David Bazemore

Broadway Recycled at Joe's Pub

2011-04-26T11:22:00.014-04:00

Now in its second year, The Broadway Recycled concert at Joe's Pub, presented by At Hand Theatre Company and Broadway Green Alliance, is quickly becoming one of my favorite annual theater events. As you may have guessed from the name, it's an evening of cut songs from Broadway musicals. Usually, these songs were cut for good reason, but where else would you have the opportunity to hear a song like "Washing the World," written as a finale to Hair, during which the cast would wash the audience with sponges and eventually make their way into the streets?

Directed by Jennifer Ashley Tepper, the concert balanced songs from new and classic musicals as performed by a mix of Broadway regulars, up-and-comers, and composers and backed by Julie McBride (piano, music direction), John Davis (drums), Larry Corban (guitar), and Ken Dow (bass). Some numbers were written for characters who were cut from the show entirely. According to the program notes, The Agent was originally intended to be the emcee of Chicago, but the creatives cut him when they realized his function was too similar to Matron Mama Morton's. Though it's obvious they made the right decision, "Ten Percent" was a hilarious showcase for Jeff Hiller at last night's show.

A character that is mentioned but never seen in RENT is Alison (Muffy), Benny's wife, but she did appear in the 1994 workshop. Adam Kantor, Sean Bradford, and Tracy McDowell (as Alison) sang "Real Estate" from that workshop, allowing the audience get a glimpse of the progression from a workshop to the musical we know today.

Not all songs are cut because they are bad. Jason Robert Brown never wanted to lose "Being a Geek" from 13. The song was in the Los Angeles production, but when the show came to Broadway, the powers that be put in an intermission and cut the song because it was too much of a downer. Eventually, the intermission went back out but the song didn't make it's way back into it the show (though from now on it will be included in all productions). Hearing Brown speak about the process shed a little light into why 13 was in some ways doomed from the start. Plus, there's something special about hearing a composer sing his own work. Brown only appeared at the 7 p.m. concert and Joe Iconis took his place at the 9:30. Michael Friedman was supposed to sing a cut song from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, but he was mysteriously absent. I'm not sure if he attended the 9:30 or not, but I was really looking forward to hearing him perform. That was the only flaw in the evening.

Another highlight was "Comet On Its Way," performed by the male characters in Spring Awakening and later replaced with the show-stopper "The Bitch of Living." Again, ultimately, the creators made the right choice, but "Comet On Its Way" is lovely and it's a shame it had to go. I filmed Andy Mientus, Matt Shingledecker, and Taylor Trensch (with Freddy Hall on guitar) performing the number, but unfortunately, my camera cut off before it finished. Update: here is a link to a video of the full song.

Here's the complete set list:
1. I Said It And I'm Glad (Subways Are For Sleeping)- Kate Pazakis

2. That's The Show Biz (Ragtime)- Jessica Lee Goldyn, Bryan Knowlton

3. Real Estate (Rent)- Adam Kantor, Sean Bradford, Tracy McDowell

4. Being A Geek (13)- Jason Robert Brown

5. Travelin' Light (Guys and Dolls)- A.J. Shively

6. She's Gone (Side Show)- Natalie Joy Johnson

7. Ten Percent (Chicago)- Jeff Hiller

8. Comet On Its Way (Spring Awakening)- Andy Mientus, Matt Shingledecker, Taylor Trensch, with Freddy Hall

9. Play Game (Tick Tick Boom)- Lance Rubin

10. Spread A Little Joy (Betty Boop)- Liz Larsen

11. Tenterfield Saddler (Boy From Oz)- Kevin Michael Murphy

12. Proud Lady (Baker's Wife)- Andy Karl

13. Washing The World (Hair)- Andrew Kober, Kate Rockwell

14. Play The Princess (Bloodsong of Love)- Katrina Rose Dideriksen, MK Lawson, Kate Pazakis, Tracy McDowell

Nina Arianda, Show Stealer

2011-04-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

When the show curtain rises at the current Broadway revival of Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday, there are gasps and applause for John Lee Beatty's delectable hotel room set. Nina Arianda proceeds to wipe that set floor with everyone on it. Anyone who saw Arianda in Venus in Fur, knew they were seeing a star in the making. Now the 25-year-old delivers another unforgettable performance in her Broadway debut (her name is already above the title).

Arianda plays former chorus girl Billie Dawn in the 1946 comedy. Billie and her junk tycoon boyfriend Harry Brock (Jim Belushi) are new to Washington, D.C. so that Brock can get richer by working some shady deals with a senator (Terry Beaver), the details of which are hard to follow, but it's really only necessary to understand the basic gist. Brock thinks that Billie is too dumb to make a good impression on Washington types, so he hires reporter Paul Verrall (Robert Sean Leonard) to educate her.

The play gets off to a slow start, especially since there is a lot of talk between Brock and his lawyer Ed Devery (Frank Wood, in a role not dissimilar to the one he played in Angels in America earlier this season), but once Arianda shows up, the pace really picks up. From her distinctive nasally voice and laugh to facial expressions that seem vacant, but don't betray the fire that Billie has underneath, every choice Arianda makes is the right one. In one of the best scenes, Billie and Brock play a card game, and suffice it to say it's best to keep your eyes on Arianda at all times. Though she deserves a lot of the credit, so does her director, Doug Hughes. If her co-stars don't make as much of an impression, it's only because her performance is such a tour de force, but that's not to say that she isn't ably supported. Belushi balances the humor of Brock's ignorance with a temper that leaves the audience slightly on edge about what he is capable of. Leonard is the perfect straight man in the least showy role. The only thing missing is more chemistry between Leonard and Arianda.

Kanin's script still draws big laughs, especially from Billie's one-liners. (For example, "This country and its institutions belong to the people who inhibit it.") The show holds up, not only because sleazy bargains and corrupt politicians will always exist, but because a well-constructed comedy with a talented leading lady will always entertain.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Does Love Song Live Up To Its Trailer?

2011-04-14T10:47:00.004-04:00

With so many shows opening this month both on and off Broadway, it's hard to narrow down the options. After seeing the trailer for John Kolvenbach's Love Song, I added it to my list (marketing matters). The lines in the trailer are taken directly from the play, but they are more compelling with the striking footage in the video, which makes me wonder when Love Song will be turned into an indie film. As for the play, the writing can be distancing, but Andrew Pastides's performance makes it easy to get sucked in.

The show begins with a dimly lit Pastides sitting in a chair as a lamp lowers towards him. He moves out of the way, sliding across the chair in what becomes a sort of dance with the lamp. It's a beautiful scene (Kolvenbach does double duty as director), one that the rest of the play doesn't quite live up to. We learn that the man in the first scene is Beane (Pastides), a slightly unstable introvert whose only human interaction seems to be with his sister Joan (Laura Latreille) and her husband Harry (Ian Badford). One night he comes home to discover a woman, Molly (Zoë Winters), in his apartment, robbing him for what little possessions he has (not much more than a cup, hat, and spoon). He falls instantly in love with her and their relationship changes both him and his family. Though the writing can be annoyingly quirky for the sake of being quirky--Molly and Beane's romantic exchanges include lines like, "I will live among your teeth, I'll build a house on your molars"--the play redeems itself in the surprising tenderness displayed between Joan and Harry and Beane and Joan.

At first, Latreille tries too hard as an uptight workaholic, but as her character loosens up, the actress also seems to get more comfortable in the role. But Pastides's performance is so engaging that the other actors don't make as strong an impression.

Be A Broadway Star...In Your Living Room

2011-04-13T13:09:00.006-04:00

Last night, Ken Davenport held a game night in his offices for the Be A Broadway Star board game. It was a chance to play the game, meet other theater enthusiasts, and eat pizza.

The game is basically Life meets Monopoly with a Broadway twist. Players start out in acting school and as they move across the board, they audition, join Equity, hire an agent, etc. They may even win a Tony. The object of the game is to have the most fans at the end of the game. You do this by getting "fan cards." The rules are a little complicated, but like most games, you get the hang of it once you start playing. If you love theater and board games (as I do), you will no doubt enjoy this game, but you don't need to have extensive theater knowledge to play. There are some bonuses that require to you to sing from a show and you may have to answer a few trivia questions, but winning the game mostly has to do with luck and fortunately for me, nothing to do with singing talent.

Lyrics and Lyricists Downtown: David Yazbek

2011-04-12T14:42:00.009-04:00

Though he has only written the score for three Broadway musicals--The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown--David Yazbek is one of the best musical theater composer/lyricists of the 21st century. I'm still bitter that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels didn't win a Tony for new musical or score in 2005 (sorry Spamalot and The Light in the Piazza). Yazbek has a true gift for writing clever lyrics (it's the rare modern score that doesn't contain lyrics that make me cringe), so he was a perfect choice for the series Lyrics and Lyricists Downtown at 92YTribeca, despite his claims that he doesn't like writing lyrics.

Yazbek was joined on Monday night by director Jack O'Brien (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, and currently Catch Me If You Can) for a casual and intimate evening of conversation and music, backed by a terrific band--Marco Paguia (music director, piano), Brian Hamm (bass), and Dean Sharenow (drums). They began by talking about how The Full Monty came about. Interestingly, it was Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) who suggested Yazbek to O'Brien, because "his music has edge and he knows the hook of a song." If you didn't know that before, the performances throughout the evening proved it.

Patrick Wilson and John Ellison Conlee from the original cast of The Full Monty were joined by Sean Altman (best known for Rockapella) for "Big Ass Rock," a song about being such a good friend that you'd help your friend commit suicide (it's a lot funnier than it sounds). As somone who wishes I had seen The Full Monty on Broadway, this was quite a treat. "You Walk With Me" (Altmen and Yazbeck), "Man" (Wilson and Conlee), and "Breeze Off The River" (Wilson) were also performed. After that last song, O'Brien told Wilson not to stay away from musical theater too long, and I hope he takes those words to heart.

O'Brien and Yazbek described the process of working on the show as a joyous one and this was obvious from the easy rapport between both them and the actors. One of the highlights of this portion of the evening was Yazbek explaining that he didn't want to write a ballad or an "I want" song (he ended up writing both), so he tried to write an "I'm stuck" song. Wilson gave us a sampling of that song from the wings. ( "Standing in the middle of a parking lot.")

The next segment focused on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. This time, it was Yazbek who wanted to do a musical based on the movie and he teamed up with bookwriter Jeffrey Lane, who subsequently wrote the book for Women on the Verge. Mylinda Hull (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) performed "Here I Am" and Yazbek mentioned that that there were some moments in that song where he was patting himself on the back while writing them--the two main ones being, "Sort of in a spin since Cincinatti," and, "This nice sincere sancerre is French." Those pats on the back were deserved.

Setting up the song "Like Zis/Like Zat," which Hull and Altman were going to perform, O'Brien was explaining how original Broadway cast members Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara weren't dancers, but choreographer Jerry Mitchell said he could get them to dance for the dance break. There were some exclamations from the audience, and it turns out Jbara was in the audience, wanting to make it known that he could hear everything they were saying. Altman ceded the microphone to Jbara, who ended up joining Hull for a surprise highlight of the evening. It says something about the relaxed atmosphere of the evening that he would go up and perform unrehearsed. I still say that Andre is the role Jbara should have won the Tony for, let alone have been nominated for, but that's neither here nor there. Because O'Brien and Yazbek spent so much time talking about how the actors influenced the work in The Full Monty, I would have liked to hear about how this came into play with Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow, but there was a lot of ground to cover in one evening.

When they moved on to Women on the Verge, Yazbek made it clear he is very proud of the show, which was largely panned by critics. He sang a cut song, "My Crazy Heart," the Spanish-flavored original opener which was better than most of what made it into the show, but will be a bonus track on the cast recording. Hull sang "Lovesick" and although I thought Women on the Verge was very flawed, hearing the song out of context made me think that maybe there is a lot to the score that I misjudged. Laura Benanti performed the show-stopper "Model Behavior" in all its manic glory and it was a joy to see and hear again.

The evening ended with some of Yazbek's non-musical theater music, which is just as entertaining. I can't wait to see/hear what comes next from Yazbek, and maybe in a few years we'll get Lyrics and Lyricists Downtown: David Yazbek part 2.

Review: Blue Man Group (finally)

2011-04-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

When I was a college student in the Boston area, it was all the rage to usher for Blue Man Group. That might be a slight exaggeration, but I do remember people constantly talking about it. As much as I wanted to see it/volunteer usher, somehow or another, I never got around to it. When I moved to New York, there was always something new to see, so I would always forgot about those long-running shows. About a week ago, I finally had a chance to see what I've been missing at the Astor Place Theatre, where Blue Man Group has been playing since November, 1991.

Blue Man Group was created by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink, who still perform in the show, along with a rotating cast (there are three Blue Men in each performance). It is immediately obvious why this show has lasted so long. It's appropriate for all ages and you don't need to speak English to understand as the Blue Men don't speak. They do, however, create art using gum balls and marshmallows, make music, and make appealing messes. The Blue Men are like inquisitive children and their sense of wonder is contagious, so even a roll of toilet paper can be the source of entertainment. By the time the show ends, audience members are out of their seats and dancing, but unlike other shows where the party atmosphere feels forced, here it feels natural.

For those weary of audience participation, there is plenty in this show. Luckily, all I had to do was hold a bowl of cereal and two flashlights for a few seconds. One woman had to have a dinner of Twinkies on stage with the Blue Men, but she seemed to enjoy herself.

The show has been revamped and even not having not seen the show before, I could pick out the modern additions, such as a Lady GaGa song and giant iPads, and though these did get laughs, contemporary references aren't really necessary to the show. There is something timeless about the Blue Men where even something as simple as paint on a drum will always make people laugh. You know what they say, if it ain't broke...

Contest: Win Tickets to Tomorrow Morning

2011-04-07T12:38:00.007-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Congratulations Gayle! I will contact you shortly with details on how to claim your tickets.

Currently running at the York Theatre Company, Tomorrow Morning is a new musical with book, music, and lyrics by Laurence Mark Wythe and starring D.B. Bonds, Autumn Hurlbert, Matthew Hydzik, and Mary Mossberg. It follows a young couple about to get married and their older selves ten years later. I am pleased to offer one reader a pair of tickets to the show. Answer the following trivia question in the comments section for a chance to win tickets:

Tomorrow Morning was first produced in London in 2006 and then in Chicago in 2008. What award did the musical win for its 2008 Chicago production? Hint: The answer can be found on the show's website. I have temporarily turned on comment moderation and will wait until the contest ends to post the comments. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle so you can be contacted if you win. A winner will be selected randomly from the correct entries on Friday, April 8.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Hogwarts Comes To Times Square

2011-04-05T13:27:00.000-04:00

If you notice a lot more muggles in Gryffindor ties and wizard cloaks than usual in Times Square, they might be headed to see a singing/dancing Daniel Radcliffe in How To Succeed, or they might be on their way to see Radcliffe's quidditch robes up close in Harry Potter: The Exhibition at Discovery Times Square on 44th Street.

The exhibit is a touring collection of props and costumes from the films and will be in New York--the last U.S. stop on the tour--through September 5. The $25 adult/$19.50 child (13 and up are considered adults) price tag is steep, especially for families, but for huge fans of the movies, it's worth it. I did see someone handing out discounts on Broadway, so you may be able to shave a few dollars off the price.

Guests are first taken into a room where they have a chance to be sorted by the sorting hat (only a few per group will be chosen, so be sure and raise your hand quickly if you want to participate). It's a little bit of a cheat, because they ask you your favorite house and everyone gets into whatever house they say. The exhibit is nicely laid out and very easy to follow. You can purchase an audio tour for an additional $7, which has interviews with the costume designer, producer, and others, but I don't think this portion is necessary to enjoy the exhibit.

When watching the movies, you don't really see the details on the props, such as the carvings on the wands that make each unique. The exhibit allows you to get a closer look and see how much artistry is involved. Some of the props you'll see include Harry Potter's acceptance letter into Hogwarts, the Marauder's Map, and the time turner (if these objects don't mean anything to you, this exhibit probably isn't for you). I particularly enjoyed a notice board from the Gryffindor common room, which was full of hilarious flyers that I never noticed in the films. You are likely to find costumes worn by your favorite actors/characters, as even secondary characters are represented in some capacity. There are also original models used to create the CGI characters like Buckbeak and Kreacher.

Most of the exhibit is look don't touch, but there are a few interactive activities, such as a game where you can throw quaffles into hoops. Some props may be scary for young children, especially the Death Eater masks, but overall, I think it's appropriate for children (and adults) of all ages. As the release date of the final Harry Potter film approaches, the exhibit is a reminder of why so many fell in love with the books and the movies to begin with.

Review: The Promise at 59E59

2011-04-04T10:39:00.008-04:00

It is possible to not enjoy watching a show and still see the value in it. That is how I felt about The Promise, a one-woman thriller by Douglas Maxwell and directed by Johnny McKnight at 59E59. As much as I admired Joanna Tope's performance, I have difficulty with one-woman or one-man shows. My mind is more likely to wander and I miss the human interactions. I know I could have just written a review without mentioning this, but I wanted to explore why I felt bad for not liking the show more, though I personally don't think anybody should have to apologize for their taste. I'd love to hear thoughts in the comments on liking versus admiring a show or any specific examples you'd like to share.

Tope plays Maggie Brodie, a former schoolteacher who is brought in to substitute for a day at a school in London. One of the students is a six-year-old student from Somalia, Rosie, who refuses to speak, and Brodie is appalled by members of the community who believe Rosie is possessed. Tope's performance is fearless in that she is not afraid to delve into her character's demons and show the ugly side of her. At the same time, when she speaks to her students in a soft-spoken but not condescending voice, you can imagine what a good teacher she was. Details such as coats being added or removed from cubbie holes in Lisa Sangster's realistic classroom set and Tim Reid's innovative video projections are effectively used to signal the coming and going of children. Karen MacIver's music is a little too melodramatic and occasionally Maxwell's writing suffers the same fate.

How To Succeed on Broadway While Really Trying

2011-04-01T12:00:00.003-04:00

Whether or not you've seen or care about the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe is sure to charm the pants of you in How To Succeed On Business Without Really Trying, currently playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

How To Succeed, with a score by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, originally opened on Broadway in 1961 and is one of eight musicals to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama (it also won the Tony for best musical). Radcliffe plays J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who gets a job in the mailroom at World Wide Wicket Company and uses the book How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to move up the corporate ladder. He is so consumed with his mission that he doesn't have time for the romantic advances of secretary Rosemary Pilkington (Rose Hemingway). Because there has been much comparison with previous Finches, at this point I feel it is necessary to disclose that I had never seen a production of the musical, so I'm only going to address what I saw on stage that night. Radcliffe's natural charisma and youth make it easy to sympathize with the character, even while he fools others to get ahead. He has a surprisingly pleasant singing voice and for someone who claims to have never taken a dance lesson before being cast in this show, he is quite agile. He doesn't make it seem effortless, but that doesn't make it any less of a pleasure to watch. He is well-matched with both the sweet-voiced Hemingway and a grumbling John Larroquette, making his Broadway debut as the president of the company, J.B. Biggley (owing somewhat to their height difference).

It is hard not to be reminded of choreographer/director Rob Ashford's Promises, Promises of last season, with its brightly-colored '60s nostalgia, and he even brought along some of that ensemble with him, but unlike that production, here the dance numbers energize the show. Some of the jokes are dated and the sexism might be hard for some to take. But for a show with a song called "Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm" where Rosemary sings, "I'll be waiting until his mind is clear while he looks through me. Right through me.," it's actually the women--particularly Ellen Harvey as Biggley's secretary Miss Jones and Tammy Blanchard as his mistress Hedy La Rue--who get the bulk of the laughs. Mary Faber, who was just seen in American Idiot, was the biggest surprise in a sassy turn as another of the secretaries, Smitty. I would be remiss if I closed this review without mentioning Rob Bartlett's crowd-pleasing performance as Twimble (he also plays Wally Womper) in the "The Company Way"--one of those old-fashioned numbers led by a character actor that one doesn't see enough of on Broadway these days.

Photo credit: Ari Mintz

Review: Macbeth at The Duke on 42nd

2011-03-30T17:00:00.001-04:00

Fans of Macbeth have plenty of chances to see Shakespeare's tragedy this spring. Cheek by Jowl's version starts its BAM run at the beginning of April. Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, in which audience members wander through a hotel as actors reenact scenes from Macbeth, is currently running, as is Theatre For a New Audience's staging of the Scottish Play at the Duke. I caught the latter this weekend.

John Douglas Thompson plays the Scot and is once again directed by Arin Arbus (I sadly missed their previous collaboration, Othello, which earned rave reviews). This is a pretty straightfoward production of Macbeth, aside from a few quirks such as casting bearded men (Tommy Schrider, Andrew Zimmerman, Saxon Palmer) as the witches. If you want to see a non-gimmicky approach to the play, that might be reason enough to see it with all the other options, but if that's not enough, the scenes between Thompson and his Lady Macbeth (Annika Boras) should be. TFANA Playbills include a page of quotes about the show called "Perspectives." One in particular stood out to me: "In the ritually bloodstained, all-male warrior world of Macbeth, achieving any male-female relationship as close as that of the Macbeths is an anomaly. The tragedy at the heart of this play isn't just that they destroy Duncan, and Banquo, and Macduff's family, however shocking and affecting those losses are; it's that they destroy their own marriage in the process."-Michael Dobson; "Portrait of a Marriage"

I agree with this assessment, but have never seen it so fully realized. When Macbeth returns home towards the beginning of the play and greets Lady Macbeth, Boras and Thompson are convincing as a couple genuinely in love. It is this chemistry at the beginning that makes their undoing tragic. There is fine restrained acting all around, but the other standout is Albert Jones as Macduff, whose pain upon learning of the death of his family adds to the real and human feel of this production.

Contest: Win Tickets To How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

2011-03-18T14:33:00.011-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I wish I could give you all the tickets. The winner was selected randomly. Congratulations Sara! I will be e-mailing you shortly with details on how to claim your tickets.

Daniel Radcliffe stars as J. Pierrepont Finch in the 50th anniversary revival of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The musical, with a score by Frank Loesser, follows window washer Finch as he tries to move up the corporate ladder. I'm very excited to offer one lucky Pataphysical Science reader the chance to win a pair of tickets to see the show between March 29 and April 28 (certain performances excluded). All you have to do is answer three trivia questions (don't worry--they're not difficult).

Daniel Radcliffe made his Broadway debut in 2008. What was the name of the show? Who was the author? What was Daniel Radcliffe's character's name? Answer all three in the comments section for a chance to win tickets to the show. I have temporarily turned on comment moderation and will wait until the contest ends to post the comments. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle so you can be contacted if you win. A winner will be selected randomly from the correct entries on Monday, March 28 at 10 a.m.

Click here for a special offer on How To Succeed tickets.

Photo credit: Ari Mintz

Q & A With Matt roi Berger

2011-03-17T11:17:00.006-04:00

A certain big-budget Broadway musical was supposed to open on March 15, but for those theater folks who needed to be at the opening of a spider-themed musical that day, there was Spidermusical, running through March 21 at the Mint Theater. Composer Matt roi Berger took time out from the busy opening week to answer a few questions about the show, how someone with an indie rock background writes a musical score, and more.
Q: How did the idea for Spidermusical come about? How long have you been working on it?
A: Spidermusical is the brain love child of Timothy Michael Drucker and Randy Blair, perhaps the two strangest, most talented people I know. I got a call in the middle of the night, if I remember correctly, and I could hear Randy laughing in the background, and Tim says something like, "The three of us are doing a new musical. Here's what it is." We hadn't talked in around a month--it felt like getting the band back together. Let's see. Since late January? I think that's when I got the first 20 pages or so. It was a pretty condensed writing period. I was drinking pretty heavily. I may be forgetting a week.

Q: You worked with Timothy Michael Drucker (director, book) and Randy Blair (book, lyrics) on Fat Camp. What's the typical writing process like for the three of you? Why do you think you work so well together?
A: Tim and Randy are incredible. If it works, that's why. Randy's lyrics immediately convey what a song needs to do--my part's easy from there. My background is not musical theater, it's rock and indie music, and they embrace that. I'm in the room with two of my best friends, writing music. It's just a lot of fun. Usually, I'll get Randy's lyrics and we'll bounce some ideas around. Then I'll record and arrange and send a demo their way. If we're having trouble with a song, we'll meet at Tim's and they'll play me a musical theater track off of YouTube, and say, "It's like this." Then I'll go, "Oh, you mean like this," and find them a recording of a pop or rock song, and we go from there. For Spidermusical, which was a very quick process, I sat down with the lyrics and my guitar and recorded as I wrote, going back for edits. I'd mail the boys a song and then get started on the next one. There was a night when we knocked off 6 songs in one sitting. I thought it would be rough working that quickly, but I'm really proud of what we did. I'm a perfectionist, but I'm also a drunk, which balances (ying yang).
Q: What can you tell me about the show? Is it going to be more of a spoof of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark or just a different interpretation of the Spider-Man story?
A: It's our story, entirely. I think if we'd been approached to do a Broadway musical of a comic book and they'd said, "Oh, and here's 65 million dollars," we'd have written the same thing. It's not a parody. I love the meta-story here, as well. This is what you can accomplish with a group of smart and talented people. This is what live theatre can be when it's not trying to be film/spectacle: exciting, entertaining and engrossing.

Q: Are you a comic book fan?
A: I was. I am? I still have about 400 issues in a closet at my mom's place in Virginia. Some superhero titles (nearly the entire run of Excalibur--why?), but mostly indie press. I was really into Bone, Akiko, Castle Waiting, Usagi Yojimbo. I still pick up a graphic novel every so often.

Q: Have you seen Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark?
A: Nope. I didn't want to see it while we were working on Spidermusical. I'm sort of bummed that it'll be retooled by the time I get a chance to catch it. I wanted to experience Julie's vision (spiders stealing shoes).

Q: Can you tell me a little bit about what the music will be like for the show and what your influences were?
A: It's got a lot of rock influences--it's very up-tempo and angular--but I had a lot of freedom to explore other sounds as well. Fat Camp, our other musical, is very much solid garage and indie rock, built to voice raw, emotional teens. Here there's an entirely different set of voices, and I had fun with spices from all over. Our arranger, Adam Wachter, is incredibly talented, and his additions are fantastic.
Q: There are three other Spider-Man musicals playing next week: Turn Off the Dark, The Spidey Project, and Spidermann. Are you afraid it's going to be overkill? Why should audiences see yours with all these choices?
A: I know nothing about the other productions, so I can't compare. I wish them the very best. I will say we have an amazing cast--Alex Brightman, Sara Chase, Kate Weatherhead, Randy Blair. The backbone of any production is the passion and energy on stage, and I can guarantee you that with Spidermusical.

Q: After this week of performances, do you think that's it for this show? Or do you think it will have a life elsewhere?
A: I hope so. I have massive gambling debts. If this doesn't fly, it's kidney number 2.

Q: What else are you working on these days?
A: I play guitar in Teen Girl Scientist Monthly. I wrote a song each and every week last year and I'm always posting something or other on my website.

Photo credit: Monica Simoes

Review: Kin at Playwrights Horizons

2011-03-08T14:16:00.010-05:00

Family dramas are standard off-Broadway fare. In fact, Bathsheba Doran's Kin is the third family drama at Playwrights Horizons this season (the others being A Small Fire and After The Revolution). Yet, Kin feels fresh through honesty, quirky humor, and original design elements.

Anna (Kristen Bush) is a poetry scholar, working on her dissertation (later book), Keats's Punctuation. She has a habit of dating jerks until her best friend Helena (Laura Heisler) suggests that she change the criteria in her online dating profile. Anna starts dating Sean (Patch Darragh), an Irish personal trainer, and the play deals with Anna and Sean's relationships to their families and each other over the course of several years. Changes in time are signaled by where Anna is at with her book and other small details, but it's never explicitly stated when scenes jump forward in time.

Maybe it has to do with where I am in my life, but I found the conversations (some of which never go anywhere) and characters extremely relatable (credit where credit is due--the fine ensemble is a huge reason for this). Anna and Sean's relationship is realistic--they have problems and don't seem completely happy together, but they still want to make it work. I would have liked to see more of the development of their relationship--we never really know what they see in each other in the first place--but this is somewhat rectified with a flashback scene towards the end.

The main piece in Paul Steinberg's versatile set is a frame that becomes different locations based on the backdrops used or its position (it rotates, sometimes while a scene is taking place). Those with allergies should be aware that there is a lot of fog in the production, but the results are worth it, for perhaps the most effective use of fog ever in a play.

Special KIN offer for Pataphysical Science blog readers:

Order by March 21 with code KINGR and tickets are only:

· $40* (reg. $70) for the first 16 perfs (Feb. 25 – March 10)

· $55 (reg. $70) for all remaining performances March 11 – April 3

HOW TO ORDER:

· Order online at www.ticketcentral.com. Use code KINGR.

· Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)

· Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*A limited number of $40 discounted tickets will be available for purchase. Subject to availability. Valid only in select rows.

Q & A With Joe Iconis

2011-03-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

You may recognize the characters in Things To Ruin, a collection of songs by Joe Iconis (Bloodsong of Love, ReWrite, The Black Suits). They may remind you of yourself, your friends, an ex, or someone you grew up with. Iconis took some time out to answer questions about why he likes to write about real people, where he goes for inspiration, what jobs he may have to fall back on, and more. You can catch Things To Ruin at Le Poisson Rouge through March 28.

Q: Were all the songs in the show written specifically for Things To Ruin? I know it's been around for a few years, but can you tell me a little bit about the origins of the show?
A: Things To Ruin started life as just an evening of my songs--stand alones and songs from musicals. It was the first thing I ever really did in New York--the first time my songs were heard on a stage. We did it at Ars Nova in the summer of 2006 and it marked my first collaboration with director John Simpkins, a collaboration that has changed my life. When we first started, it really was just a very theatrical concert. We did it two more times in the subsequent years at Joe’s Pub, and dropped a couple of songs and added some more. Every time we did it, it began to take on more and more of a shape and feel more and more like a piece of theater. In the fall of 2008, we completely revamped the show and did it at the now defunct Zipper Theater. This is the version of the show that is reflected on the cast album and the version that is now playing at Le Poisson Rouge. A lot of the songs were written as stand alone pieces, but many of them deal with the same themes/types of characters, so putting them together felt kind of natural and then anything I rewrote was informed by the rest of the songs in the piece. A few were written specifically for Things To Ruin. "Never Heard Nothing" was a song I couldn't have written had I not been specifically trying to write something to wrap up Things To Ruin and serve as a bookend for "Born This Morning." "Mamma, Cut Me Deeper!" was the last song I wrote for the show. I wrote it during a very crazy and stressful week of my life, and the experience of writing it was fairly wrought--which I think you kind of hear in the song itself. I didn't finish until hours before the first show. Eric William Morris was learning bits of it as I was writing them, and everyone involved in the show contributed to it in some way.

Q: Congrats on the album! How did that come about? Where you approached by Sh-K-Boom Records?
A: Thanks! I'm very proud of the album and can't take any credit for it sounding as good as it does. I've had the good sense to surround myself with people who are far more talented than I and the album is a product of that. As far as how it came to be, I had vaguely known the folks at Sh-K-Boom for a while and they were familiar with my work. They came to see Things To Ruin at The Zipper and asked if I wanted to make an album of it and we did.

Q: A lot of the songs in Things To Ruin seem to be about, for lack of a better word, losers, or people who are down on their luck. Is that a conscious theme?
A: Not sure if it's a conscious theme, but I definitely gravitate towards writing about people who don't usually get songs written about them--at least not theater songs. I like to write about everyday, normal folks--unremarkable people. It's very interesting to me to see how seemingly tiny, insignificant events can feel huge to people. That's something I return to time and again. I love people who are "losers," because I think everyone's a loser, or, at the very least, everyone has felt like a loser at some point in their lives. That's what is relatable to me. I like people who are scrappy, who have to fight for what they need to survive.

Q: Is there a song in Things To Ruin that has the most significance to you or that you're proudest to have written?
A: I try to be honest when I'm writing--honesty is the thing that is most important to me. And I feel like "Never Heard Nothing" is a very honest song. I'm proud to have written that one because I think it's a song where I allowed myself to write 100% from the gut, without thinking about structure or rules or being too sappy or being too clean. I like that it's a big fucking mess of a song--it's too long and it's all over the place. But I think it's exactly the type of song that I wanted to write and I think I was being completely true to myself when I wrote it.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from typically?
A: I get my inspiration from actors I love, from things I overhear at Dunkin Donuts. I frequently write in Dunkin' Donuts and it breeds creativity in a way that Starbucks never could. From bartenders. From the autumn. I'm very inspired by movies or songs or plays that I love. Nothing revs me up like seeing a really incredible work of art.

Q: Who are some of your biggest influences?
A: Robert Altman, Dolly Parton, Kander and Ebb, The Carousel of Progress, The Country Bear Jamboree, Harry Nilsson, Elton John, The Muppets, Alfred Hitchcock, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, horror movies, Sondheim, John Waters, Times Square from 1940-1987, and Jack Daniels.

Q: You tend to work with a lot of the same actors. Were you friends first and you started putting them in your shows? Or did you just like working with them so much you kept using them?
A: I love great actors and I love the idea of people sticking together. A lot of people say things to me like: “Oh, you are so loyal to YOUR actors” but to me it has nothing to do with loyalty and everything to do with community. I think theater is a community and it makes sense to me that artists should stick together and make art with like-minded people. To speak specifically to the actors I frequently collaborate with (and who are commonly referred to as The Family), I am just the world’s biggest fan of each and every one of them. They are all people who I’ve kind of stumbled upon at various stages in my life. I think there’s the impression that all these folks who perform with me are friends of mine from high school or college days--that’s definitely not the case. They are all actors who I was a fan of and started working with. It’s not like I’m choosing people--everyone who has stuck around has been someone who has clicked with me and the group. We found each other. I like to think that people find each other. I respond to actors who are human, period. There’s a sort of artificiality to a lot of musical theater performance that I really don’t like. It’s distancing to me. I like actors who have personality. I like actors who aren’t afraid to take chances. I long for the days where great fearless actors with huge personalities like Barbara Harris or Len Cariou or Dorothy Loudon could be the big Broadway stars. I feel like it's so hard for that to happen today. Who the hell would Len Cariou play in Mamma Mia!? Is there a Dorothy Loudon role in Spider-Man? I am less concerned with whether or not a particular girl can belt a high E, American Idol-style. If you can belt a high E, good for you, but unless there is a reason why you are belting that high E, I really don’t give a shit. I am proud that the actors I work with (and, for the record, they’ve all got wonderful voices and are deliriously sexy) are all real people, on stage and off. And it doesn’t matter if it’s someone who is freshly out of school or someone like Annie Golden, who is a Broadway legend. I work with people who care about the work and who have a passion to make some art. And have some fun doing it. And who like to go to the bar after rehearsal. That is a huge part of it all.

Q: As a composer, what do you think about the state of musical theater?
A: That's a tricky one. It's a scary time and it's an exciting time. There's lots of great stuff and lots of garbage being produced, and there's lots of great stuff and lots of garbage not being produced. I don't think it's as easy as: "Big Broadway musicals suck and little musicals that can't get out of development hell are all great." All I know is, I love musical theater. I think it's an important and miraculous art form that deserves to thrive and be nurtured. I think it's worthy of that. There are so many humongous musical enterprises that feel cynical to me and some original musicals that could very well be jukebox musicals. The ones that feel like they were written by committee or by exit polls or something. It seems like it's harder and harder to be a young writer with something new to say. Especially if the new thing you have to say isn’t based on a movie or a property with name recognition. There’s part of me that longs for the old days when a writer could open a weird, small musical on Broadway, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. When it seemed like the commercial theater was a little more open to certain kinds of projects. But there’s also part of me that thinks, “OK. What I am trying to do is different. It’s an uphill battle and everyone is telling me that I’m crazy for wanting to do this thing. But I’ve got an army of people who are fighting with me and we all believe in our hearts that what we are doing is worth damn. So we are gonna do everything in our power to make it happen. We are going to get to where we want to be and we are gonna do it by being true to ourselves.” Which is kind of what Things To Ruin, as a whole, is about. It all comes from a place of passion. A place of believing in something so much that you’ve got to try to make it happen with every ounce of your being.

Q: I loved Bloodsong of Love. Are there any plans for another production or a recording? Please tell me there is a future for this show.
A: That does my heart so good to hear. I couldn't be prouder of Bloodsong, and it is currently my life's mission to get another production of it. We learned so much from the world premiere at Ars Nova and I am itching to make some changes to the thing and unleash it on the world in an even bigger way. I don't want to record it until we get our next production because of the changes I want to make. We just need a producer or a theater who is willing to take a shot on the show and who believes in it as much as we do.

Q: If you could write a song for any actor/singer and have them perform it, who would it be?
A: Ah, there are so many. I'd love to have John Goodman sing one of my songs so much. That's kind of a dream. I'd love to write a duet for Shelly Duvall and Martha Plimpton. I've also been really into Laura Benanti lately--wouldn't be awesome to see her do something where she murdered people? I wanna write a murder song for Laura Benanti. I also want to write a very old-timey love song for Sasha Grey. Something you would have heard sung at Sardi's in 1952.

Q: What's coming up for you after Things To Ruin?
A: I'm poor these days, I need to find someone to pay me to do something. Maybe I'll become a milliner. Or a prostitute. Who knows?

Hamlet Just Got All Sexypants

2011-02-15T10:05:00.007-05:00

A couple of years ago, I wrote about this HarperTeen print of Wuthering Heights, packaged to look like a Twilight book. The other day I was killing some time at Borders, when this cover caught my eye. Look at how cool Hamlet looks with his tousled hair and tight pants. Even the font and colors of the title look like they are appealing to a younger audience, and the book was prominently displayed in the teen section (a different floor than the plays). At first I thought it was some updated version, but it's the original Shakespeare text.

Hamlet has that brooding damaged appeal and he was recently played on Broadway by Jude Law, so I can see where they're going with this cover. Plus, it isn't as patronizing as the Wuthering Heights cover, which assumes that teens will only read it if it has a connection to Twilight. I'm left wondering if repackaging classic literature does get young adults excited to read (and I have no evidence that it does or doesn't), which can only be a good thing, but I do wish publishers would give teens more credit.

A Little Something When You're Feeling Blue

2011-02-13T20:20:00.006-05:00

The Gallery Players in Brooklyn once again presents a Broadway musical on a small scale without losing the integrity of the piece. The Drowsy Chaperone, with music and lyrics by Greg Morrison and Lisa Lambert and book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, opened on Broadway in 2006, but if you missed it then, you can see this production (now with a Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark joke!), directed by Hans Friedrichs, through February 20.

Man-in-Chair (Craig Treubert) invites the audience to listen with him to his favorite show, The Drowsy Chaperone, a (fictional) musical from the '20s. As we listen, the characters take over his living room while he provides running commentary. Star Janet Van De Graaf (Whitney Branan) is about to marry Robert Martin (Eric Weaver), but her producer (Robert Anthony Jones) is trying to stop the wedding so that she won't have to give up show business. The show contains jokes that were stale in 1928, but the humor comes from Man-in-Chairs knowing asides. The play-within-a-play aspect involved more elaborate set pieces on Broadway, such as staircases appearing in the living room, but Jared Rutherford theater-memorabilia filled apartment uses a few doors just as effectively.

It's not really fair to the cast that the memories of the Broadway originals are still so fresh. Branan is appropriately deadpan and a fine dancer, but her "Show Off," a highly-acrobatic number about how she wants to leave show business while performing for reporters, isn't the show-stopper it was with Sutton Foster. Standouts in the cast are the endearing Treubert, Weaver as the dashing and vacant leading man, and Edward Juvier, hilarious as the over-the-top Latin lover Adolpho.

Man-in-Chair loves The Drowsy Chaperone because it accomplishes what musical theater is supposed to do, pick you up when you're down and transport you. By these standards, this production succeeds.
Photo credit: Bella Muccari

The Wii Plays at Ars Nova

2011-02-04T12:46:00.003-05:00

Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man just got its third extension at Manhattan Theatre Club's Stage I, but you can also catch his short play Alien Monster Bowling League as part of The Wii Plays at Ars Nova.

As you may have deduced, each of the 12 plays takes its title from a Wii game. The plays were written by the 2010 members of Ars Nova's writer's collective, Play Group. Playwrights are chosen through an open submission process and membership lasts two years. The 2010 collective reads like a who's who of hot up-and-coming playwrights: Chad Beckim, Jenny Connell, Kara Lee Corthron, Kristoffer Diaz, Tasha Gordon-Solmon, Amy Herzog, Samuel D. Hunter, Matthew Lopez, Molly Smith Metzler, Gregory Moss, Janine Nabers, and Joe Tracz. Every year, members select a theme for their final project. The previous themes were The Wikipedia Plays, Playlist, and Missed Connections NYC.

A wide range of games are represented here, from Wii Tennis to Bob The Builder: Festival of Fun, and the way the plays relate to their titles is sometimes more obvious than others. The band Super Mirage provides pre-show entertainment and a soundtrack to the plays. Six actors (Jenni Barber, Andrew Garman, Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Christopher Jackson, Zach Shaffer, and Robbie Collier Sublett) make up the casts. The plays run through February 12 and all tickets are $15.

A Few Thoughts On Chicago Fan Day

2011-01-31T11:01:00.004-05:00

These days, when a new Broadway show is announced, you can expect a Facebook fan page and Twitter account to follow, often even on the same day. It seems that once the account is made, marketing teams sometimes struggle with how best to use it. Short-lived shows like Ragtime, Elling, and The Scottsboro Boys had Facebook and Twitter pages, but they clearly didn't help with ticket sales. A few months ago, Chicago announced the first ever Facebook Fan Day. If 10 of your Facebook friends "liked" Chicago on Facebook, you would get a free ticket. The event was held yesterday and though I was slightly worried when I received my general admission ticket in the mail that it would be chaos, the afternoon went smoothly.

I heard accounts that people started lining up as early as 9 a.m. for the 2:30 show, but I arrived closer to 1. Apparently I should have arrived earlier for pizza, but I did get a cupcake and coffee. Everyone received a commemorative shirt and a plastic bowler hat. Perhaps the trick to keeping everyone civilized was free stuff. When they opened the doors around 2, everyone walked in an orderly fashion, and we were able to get a perfectly fine seat in row G of the orchestra, next to Vincent Pastore and two rows behind Karen Ziemba. There were plenty of Chicago alumni in the house, including Chita Rivera. I wish it would happen more often, but seeing a show with a packed and energetic crowd is a thrill and the cast was clearly loving it. They even added a few Facebook references.

This was a smart marketing move. The end of January is traditionally a slow time for Broadway, especially now with all the snowstorms. Chicago has been running for close to 15 years, so they can certainly afford to give away all the seats for one performance. They received tons of publicity from the theater sites that covered the event, as well as fans tweeting about it and writing about it on Facebook. Fans commented on Facebook about how incredible the show was and how grateful they were to be there, adding to the sense of goodwill. Chicago currently has 19,259 Facebook fans, enough to fill the Ambassador Theatre about 17 times. Time will tell whether this will translate into increased grosses.

An event like this would be harder to pull off for newer shows, but I think the key is to recruit new fans, while being interactive and engaging the fans you already have, which this event accomplished. I look forward to seeing where technology takes Broadway in the future.

Review: Freckleface Strawberry

2011-01-27T12:00:00.003-05:00

No matter how many movies, television shows, books, and musicals teach children that it's OK to be different, bullies still exist. But maybe a few children will see the musical Freckleface Strawberry at New World Stages and think twice about making fun of someone else and for that the show should be applauded. The plot could be tighter, but the game cast keeps parents and children entertained in this adorable show.

Freckleface Strawberry is based on the book of the same name by actress Julianne Moore. Strawberry (Hayley Podschun) is a fun-loving girl with red hair and freckles. Her friends tease her and call her Freckleface Strawberry, so she tries to think of ways to get rid of her freckles. It's a simple concept and maybe book writers Gary Kupper and Rose Caiola felt the need to pad the show, so subplots are introduced, but never developed. For example, girly-girl Emily (Kimiko Glenn) sings the song "I Like Danny" about her crush. Although it is one of the more memorable songs in Kupper's score (due in large part to Glenn's performance), it seems strange to devote such a large song early on in the story to a secondary character. Featuring the minor characters works better in the ensemble numbers that don't highlight one specific character, such as "We Wanna Be Like Them," which realistically depicts how all kids, even the popular ones, are jealous of someone else.

Beowulf Boritt's set is cleverly designed to look like a book, with the pages turning to reveal new scenery. It is also a nice move to have the two-person band set up under a jungle gym. The show may be visually stimulating to younger children (Fabio Toblini and Holly Cain did the colorful costumes), but the many pop culture references would probably be best enjoyed by the pre-tween set.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Avenue Q Blogger Night

2011-01-24T18:00:00.003-05:00

I get asked for theater recommendations frequently and between the disappointing fall season and January show massacre, lately, it's become a tough question to answer. Sometimes I forget about those long-running shows, but after attending Avenue Q's blogger night on Wednesday, it will return to the top of my recommendation list. I'm happy to report that it remains one of the best shows off or on Broadway and the production at New World Stages is as tight as ever.

I'm sure most readers of this blog will have heard of Avenue Q, but just in case, it's about a puppet named Princeton who graduates from college and has to face the real world and everything it entails (looking for an apartment, getting a job, relationships, etc.). The actors playing the puppets (there are a few non-puppet characters) are in full view of the audience and one of the many pleasures of the show is seeing how the expressions on the actors' faces match those of the puppets.

I'm lucky enough to have seen the original Broadway cast, but these performers put their own spin on the characters and get just as many laughs from Jeff Whitty's book and Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx's lyrics. Standouts are Anika Larsen as Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut, Jonathan Root as Princeton/Rod, and Ruthie Ann Miles as one of the adorable Bad Idea Bears.

After the performance, bloggers were treated to a Q&A with the cast. Larsen spoke about the stress of puppet boot camp that is required for final callbacks (many performers in the show do not have a puppetry background). "It's too much to think about. It's not just making sure she's moving her lips at the same time as me. It's does it end on an M, which is different from if it ends on a B," she said. "It's making sure that her eyes are always looking where my eyes are looking." The boot camp must have paid off because it's easy to forget while watching the show that she and the cast are doing all that work and that the puppets aren't real.

If you haven't the seen show yet (What are you waiting for?) or just want to see it again, you can use the code AQBLOG12 to get tickets for as low as $55. The code can be used online at BroadwayOffers.com, over the phone, or at the box office and is valid through 5/26/11.

Photos of the Q&A (from top): Anika Larsen with Kate Monster, Jonathan Root with Rod and Jed Resnick with Trekkie Monster, Ruthie Ann Miles with a Bad Idea Bear, one of the oldest puppets used in the production at 4 1/2 years old, cast of Avenue Q

Shakespeare For A New Audience

2011-01-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

Anyone who avoids Shakespeare because they find his plays confusing or inaccessible should check out Fiasco Theater's Cymbeline (presented by Theatre For A New Audience). The play, one of Shakespeare's "romances" that does not fit neatly into the category of comedy, tragedy, or history, is considered difficult to stage, but you'd never know it from this production, directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld. You only have until January 30 to catch this show at The New Victory Theatre, so I suggest you make it a priority.

The production begins with the cast informing the audience to turn off their cell phones, unwrap their candies, and the like via song. Immediately, we are in the playful mindset of the production. The basic premise is that the King Cymbeline of Britain (Andy Grotelueschen) had three children from his first marriage, but believes only his daughter, Imogen (Jessie Austrian), to still be alive. What he doesn't know is that his two sons have been raised in a cave by Belaria (Emily Young), who kidnapped them after being wrongly accused of treason. Cymbeline's second wife (Young) wants Imogen to marry her son Cloten (Grotelueschen), but Imogen marries Posthumus Leonatus (Brody) in secret. When Cymbeline finds out, he banishes him from the kingdom. It may sound like a tangled web of a plot, but performed by this six-actor troupe, it is remarkably easy to follow.

The play is much funnier than Shakespeare probably intended. The double- and triple-casting of characters and the use of not much more than a few wooden crates as props and set (Jean-Guy Lecat is credited with scenic design) serve to illustrate the ridiculousness of certain aspects of the play, especially the ending, in which all of the characters appear to tie up loose ends. However, this production is not a parody, and not everything is played for laughs. The emotions, such as Imogen's love for her husband, are genuine. The balance is a theatrical feat in itself--contrast the tender relationship between Imogen and her brothers (played by Steinfeld and Paul L. Coffey) to the laughs that Steinfeld rightfully earns as Iachimo, the Italian who bets Posthumus that he can seduce his wife.

A few days before seeing Cymbeline, I saw Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, which is playing at the theater next door. I hope that theatergoers who find themselves sold out of Spider-Man will make their way to The New Victory. They may miss out on a mess of a spectacle, but they will be able to see how theater can be even more magical when at its barest.

Photo credit: Gerry Goodstein

Review: A Small Fire at Playwrights Horizons

2011-01-06T16:00:00.002-05:00

I feel I should prepare you if you are going to see Adam Bock's A Small Fire at Playwrights Horizons (through January 23). Parts of it are upsetting and uncomfortable to watch. But it's a play that will make you think and is sure to stay with you.

Emily Bridges (Michele Pawk) is a contractor whose strongest relationship is with her foreman Billy (Victor Williams) rather than her daughter Jenny (Celia Keenan-Bolger) or husband John (Reed Birney). She is in the middle of planning Jenny's wedding when she loses her sense of smell and slowly, the rest of her senses. Bock writes realistically awkward dialogue between the family members. Though Jenny wants to help her mom, the anger she feels for her doesn't just go away. This is a play about family, and the simplicity of it is such that the intensity of the final moments sneaks up on you.

There are some unanswered questions. The reason for Emily's condition is never stated and only one trip to the doctor is mentioned. It seems odd that Emily wouldn't try harder to explore treatment and so quickly accepts staying home all day. Personally, I would have liked to meet Jenny's fiance, who we hear so much about. Still, these issues are almost forgotten by the end. It isn't giving anything away to say that Bock's ending is perfect for this play and Trip Cullman stages it beautifully.

This another flawless ensemble from Playwrights Horizons. In lesser hands, the play would not have the impact that it does. Birney was part of last year's triumph, Circle Mirror Transformation, and here he delivers another heartbreaking performance. Williams often lightens the mood with comic relief, but he also nails a scene that could have easily been sappy and cliche. Keenan-Bolger broke away from her innocent image in Bachelorette this summer and here she again proves her versatility playing a hard character. And then there is Pawk, who manages to keep her performance from going into caricature. Her final line moved me to tears.

Latest TDF Articles

2010-12-16T15:48:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty excited about the series of articles I've written for TDF Stages about creating the sound for Broadway shows. Earlier this year, I profiled the fascinating Red Press, who has worked on Broadway as a musician and music contractor/coordinator for over 50 years. I also wrote about musicians who perform onstage in musicals, rather than in the pit. My two most recent articles included an interview with Jeanine Tesori about writing the score for a play (A Free Man of Color) and an interview with the orchestrator and music director of American Idiot about adapting Green Day's music for the stage.

A Jolly Holiday With Andrew Kober

2010-12-14T12:53:00.005-05:00

Andrew Kober's Sunday night Feinstein's concert entitled "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" was the musical equivalent of drinking a glass of eggnog (if you don't like eggnog, mentally replace with a winter drink you enjoy) and eating a plate of holiday cookies. That's a good thing, since he said his goal for the audience was to want get wrapped up in a Slanket, drink some hot chocolate, and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas (his rendition of "Christmas Time is Here" definitely put me in the mood for the Snoopy dance). This was a one-off concert, but he should consider a longer run next year.

Kober's sense of humor and natural way of speaking to the audience made it feel like you were joining him in his living room (albeit a very fancy living room). He sang many classics, including "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "White Christmas," and "Jingle Bells," but Jason Sherbundy's jazzy arrangements provided a fresh take. Kober has an impressive range, which he proved in Hair by singing as several characters, including a woman, and he can now add crooner to that list. Kober's girlfriend, Farra Ungar, joined him for "Baby It's Cold Outside" as a last-minute replacement for Megan Lawrence. It was a sweet moment and their chemistry made it a highlight of the evening. With concerts as entertaining as this one, it's no wonder this is considered the most wonderful time of the year.

A Small Fire

2010-12-10T15:34:00.004-05:00

One of the first shows I'll be seeing in the new year is A Small Fire, by Adam Bock and directed by Trip Cullum, at Playwrights Horizons. The talented cast features Reed Birney (Circle Mirror Transformation), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Spelling Bee, Bachelorette), and Michele Pawk (Cabaret). The plot description from the press release states, "When a tough-as-nails contractor finds her senses slipping on the brink of her daughter’s wedding, the impact on her family is nothing less than seismic." I won't be seeing the show, which starts previews on December 16, for another few weeks, and I'll review it then, but I wanted to give you all a chance to use this discount code.

Special A SMALL FIRE offer for Pataphysical Science blog readers!

Order by December 31 with code SMGR and tickets are only:

· $40* (reg. $70) for all performances December 16-30, 2010

· $55 (reg. $70) for all performances January 1-23, 2011

HOW TO ORDER:

· Order online at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Use code SMGR.

· Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)

· Present a printout of this blog post to the Ticket Central box office at 416 West 42nd Street (Noon-8pm daily).

*A limited number of $40 discounted tickets will be available for purchase. Subject to availability. Valid only in select rows.

A Haunting Brenda Blethyn

2010-12-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

Despite three fine performances, there was something alienating about the writing in Haunted that kept me distanced. But there is still plenty to savor in Haunted, part of the Brits Off Broadway festival (an Anglophile's dream) at 59E59. The play runs through January 2.

The memory play is narrated by Mr. Berry (Niall Buggy), a romantic with a vivid imagination, and it's hard to know whether everything happened as he said or whether some of it was in his mind. He recalls the day a young lady, Hazel (Beth Cooke), comes to his house and he is instantly infatuated. After finding out that she gives elocution lessons, he asks her to teach him in exchange for his wife's (who she believes to be dead) clothes. Mrs. Berry (Brenda Blethyn) is very-much alive and working at a doll factory.

Cooke, in her New York debut, is sweet as the delicate Hazel. Buggy gives Mr. Berry just the right combination of charm and creepiness. Not surprisingly, since the play was written as a vehicle for her, Blethyn is the driving force of the play. Her performance is funny, moving, and yes, even haunting. Her tangible pain of a woman still hurting from her long ago miscarriage and husband's infidelities makes Mrs. Berry the only character I cared about.

The design elements are particularly evocative of how bleak the marriage has become. Projections by Jack James, sound design by Pete Rice, and music by Akintayo Akinbode are suitably forboding. The carousel horse hanging from the ceiling of Simon Higlett's living room set is a nice touch, and used effectively later in the play.

All of this does not completely make up for the fact that there are moments when the play gets bogged down in Edna O'Brien's dense writing and there is not enough plot to sustain the 2 hour 15 minute run time, but Blethyn's performance makes the price of admission worthwhile.

Photo credit: Jonathan Keenan

Adam Pascal at Queens Theatre In The Park

2010-11-15T17:09:00.006-05:00

Not even the daunting trek to Queens or a subway ride from hell kept me away from meandlarry, Adam Pascal's concert tour with Larry Edoff. Delays on the 7 train led to the most crowded/uncomfortable train experience of my life, but once I got off the train at Mets/Willets Point, the free shuttle to the theater was incredibly easy to find. The driver was very kind and even called the theater to tell them that there were problems with the subway and to hold the concert.

As you can tell by the photo (credit: Dominick Totino), Queens Theatre in the Park is a lovely space. Events are held all year round and if there is an act performing that you want to check out and you don't live in Queens, I highly recommend making the trip (just check the subway advisories beforehand). But on to the concert.

It was a mostly older crowd, with some teens/tweens mixed in. Pascal took the stage alone for the first song and said, "Here is a song from the worst show I've ever seen," and proceeded to sing an innovative version of "Memory" (think Andrew Lloyd Webber with an indie rock twist). I appreciated his take on the song, but clearly he never saw Starlight Express, which is a far worse show than Cats. There were plenty of empty seats in the small space and this did not go unnoticed by Pascal who said, "This is what we call in the industry sparsely attended." He did thank the audience multiple times for being there and he did put his all into the show, but there were some uncomfortable moments like this one, where it wasn't clear if he was being self-deprecating or bitter.

The set list was a mix of original songs (co-written by Edoff) and show tunes. A highlight was the haunting "I Don't Care Much" from Cabaret (Pascal played the final Emcee in the acclaimed production of the show at Studio 54), which then segued into Elton John's "Rocket Man" and back to "I Don't Care Much." It was a better mashup than anything they've done on Glee.

At one point, Pascal said that he gets asked a lot about what it's like to be a Broadway actor. He told a story about he was brought to perform an acoustic set of original material somewhere in Florida and someone in the audience yelled for him to sing something from RENT. When he apologized that he didn't have that prepared, the audience started walking out. "That's what it's like," he said. He then sang "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line, so I like to think that he was implying with the song choice that it's all worth it and that he is happy to be known for theater rather than rock (which is where his career began).

He only sang one song from RENT, his "one hit" as he called it, "One Song Glory." For this RENT fan who waited 14 years to hear him perform that song live, it made the subway trauma of an hour before worth it.

Reefer Madness is Smokin'

2010-11-08T20:00:00.000-05:00

Pictured: Greg Horton and the cast of The Gallery Players’ production of Reefer Madness. Photo by Bella Muccari.
Though there is no actual pot being smoked onstage, you may leave Reefer Madness with a contact high. Hilariously staged by Dev Bondarin, extremely well acted, and at the bargain price of $18 a ticket, I defy anyone to leave The Gallery Players's production without smiling.

Reefer Madness, based on the 1938 propaganda film against marijuana, was turned into a musical by Kevin Murphy (book, lyrics) and Dan Studney (book, music) in 1998. The show originated in Los Angeles and ran off-Broadway in 2001.

The musical begins with the Lecturer (Greg Horton, with more than a passing resemblance to Jon Lovitz, but funnier and with a powerful voice) warning of reefer and leading the catchy opening number "Reefer Madness." He proceeds to tell the tale of Jimmy Harper (Jason Edward Cook), who just wants to learn to dance to impress his girlfriend Mary Lane (Rebecca Dealy), but gets sucked into the dangerous world of reefer.

The animated Cook is perfectly cast as the square-turned-reefer fiend and Dealy is just as suited to the role of his innocent lover. One of the highlights of the evening is their adorable duet "Romeo & Juliet," in which they speculate about the happy futures that await the characters in Shakespeare's play. The cast is supported by strong dance work from the hard-working ensemble.

With the legalization of marijuana in the news, this is a timely moment for a revival of Reefer Madness, but it's also escapist fun, and who doesn't need that?

Pictured (l to r): Jason Edward Cook, Michele Scully, and Zak Risinger in The Gallery Players’ production of Reefer Madness. Photo by Bella Muccari.

An Explosive New Musical

2010-10-27T17:25:00.007-04:00

Earlier this week, theater fans received the news that In The Heights would close on January 9, 2011. As sad as it is when shows close, especially one as joyous as Heights, it did have an impressive three-year run and made a lasting impact on musical theater. After seeing the explosive (it's a term used in the subtitle, but it's the most appropriate description) new musical Venice at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California, I got to thinking about how a musical like In The Heights made it possible for a musical like Venice to exist.
Venice, with a book by Eric Rosen and music by Matt Sax (Rosen and Sax share a lyricist credit), is loosely based on Othello. The show takes place in a fictionalized Venice after 20 years of war. A group called the Disappeared, who were kept safe during the war, are finally returning to the city. One of them is Willow (Andrea Goss), who is about to marry the new leader Venice (Javier Muñoz). Venice's half brother Markos (Rodrick Covington) is still reeling from Venice's decision to promote Michael Viktor (Erich Bergen), also one of the Disappeared, to lieutenant general over him, and which leads into the Othello-like story of betrayal and jealousy.

Matt Sax has written one of the most contemporary scores I've ever heard in a musical. He is also a skilled rapper as he plays the narrator Clown (the cast is pretty much perfect, not a weak link among them). While In The Heights does have a hip hop score, it is still a traditional musical. Venice is not only much darker (the character of Venice is a product of a rape), but it feels like it's breaking new ground in the way the score is used. Any type of music could be used to tell this story, it just happens to be hip hop, but it's not the point. And because In The Heights set the groundwork, I think audiences will be more likely to accept Venice.

Lately, critics have crowned Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson as the future of musical theater, which is troubling. It relies on silly jokes rather than saying anything all that intelligent about the political situation today or then. Though it's billed as an emo music, it bears little resemblance to the emo music that's played on the radio. I won't include American Idiot in this discussion because that was an album by Green Day first. The music of Venice was composed specifically for a show, but I could hear many of these songs played on the radio. There is a lot of talk of Leap of Faith, also part of the Center Theatre Group's season, coming to Broadway in the fall 2011. While that would be nice, especially so Raul Esparza can finally win his Tony, Venice is a show that needs to be on a New York stage, or really any stage.

Photo credit: Craig Schwartz

Social Network (not that one)

2010-10-27T15:20:00.002-04:00

The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York and TheaterMania have teamed up for a social network aimed at independent New York City theaters--New York Theatre Network. The site launched on September 28 with the motto, "The who, what, and where of New York City theater."

The idea for a one-stop shop for independent theaters and theatergoers came from Virginia Louloudes, executive director of A.R.T./New York. She wanted to find a partner to help maintain the website and as the first website where users could purchase tickets and find information about Off-Off-Broadway shows, TheaterMania was the perfect match.

Theater companies can log in to NYTN and update information about their current shows. Even the smallest theaters can create videos by borrowing Flip cams from A.R.T./New York. "Theaters as small as the Dark Lady Players and as large as Roundabout have an equal platform," Louloudes says. In an effort to educate theaters about social networking, A.R.T./New York offers classes to teach theater companies about making YouTube videos, writing for a website, tweeting, creating a social marketing plan, etc.

Visitors to NYTN can search for shows or theaters and buy tickets, get personal recommendations, watch videos, read blogs, and post in discussion boards. Through Facebook connect, visitors can also see what theaters and shows their friends are liking and access Facebook fan pages and Twitter pages in one place. "Liking one theater is never enough. Come and like them all," Louloudes says.

You can log into NYTN here and follow @NY_TN on Twitter.

Photo credit: PR Newswire

A Football Fan and A Theater Nerd Walk Into A Broadway House...

2010-10-27T12:30:00.001-04:00

Since writing this article for TDF Stages on Lombardi's marketing strategy, I've been curious about who would get more out of the show--theater fans or football fans. I had the perfect opportunity to find out when my parents came to New York for a visit. I'm an avid theatergoer (I'm guessing you knew this) and I don't know anything about football. My father is a football fan who only occasionally enjoys the theater. I took him to see Lombardi, a little bit as a social experiment, but mostly because I finally found a way to spend time with my dad while combining both of our interests.

I did not expect to be so engaged in Eric Simonson's play from start to finish. In the play, fictional reporter Michael McCormick (Keith Nobbs), is assigned to profile Vince Lombardi (a convincing Dan Lauria). Most of the action takes place in the home Lombardi shares with his wife, Marie (a scene-stealing Judith Light), though a few scenes take place on the football field. There were only a few moments of football speak where I felt confused.

Usually if I see a play or film with my dad, I'll ask him what he thinks and he'll say, "It was OK," or, "I liked it," and leaves it at that. But after this show, he was eager to discuss it. First, we talked about the performances, which we agreed were the strongest aspect of the show, especially Lauria and Light. Then, we talked about how well the staging worked in the round. The theater was set up to look like a stadium, and the set pieces rotated. My father was especially impressed with the way Thomas Kail staged the action so as not to alienate any section of the audience.

We also discussed what didn't work in the play. We both found that it focused too much on the reporter character and not enough on Vince Lombardi. My father wanted to know more about Lombardi's take on football and thought that sports fans would be disappointed by how little football there was (interestingly, the play got stronger reviews from sports critics than theater critics). I came away learning a lot more than I did before about Lombardi, but I didn't really understand why he was such a legendary coach. We also both felt that the relationship between Lombardi and his son either needed to be more fully developed or dropped entirely.

At the performance I attended, I looked around at the audience to see a mix of ages, races, and genders, a few Packers jerseys, as well as your typical matinee crowd. It may not be the best play ever written, but in terms of bringing new audiences to the theater, Lombardi scores a touchdown.

Contest: Win Tickets To Lombardi

2010-10-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

Update: The contest is now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Congrats to winner Lisa Bodnar! I will be e-mailing you shortly with details on how to claim your tickets.

The 2010-2011 season is officially underway and if you see a lot more football fans hanging out in Times Square than usual, it could be because of Lombardi. Lombardi is about legendary football coach Vince Lombardi (played by Dan Lauria) and explores his life both on and off the field. I'm giving away a pair of tickets to the show. To enter, all you have to do is answer the two following questions (one is about theater and the other is about football to even the playing field) in the comments. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle so you can be contacted if you win. I have temporarily turned on comment moderation and will wait until the contest ends to post the comments. The contest will end on Friday, October 15 at 5 p.m. The winner will be chosen at random from the correct entries. Thanks to Art Meets Commerce for arranging the tickets.

1) Tommy Kail, the director of Lombardi, who was nominated for a Tony Award for directing In The Heights, graduated from which Connecticut University?

2) How many Super Bowls did Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers win?

If you don't win tickets, fear not, the producers are also offering a
special fan offer:

Save over 30% on LOMBARDI on Broadway

$79 Orch (A-G) (reg $115)
$49 Orch (H-K) (reg $115)

· Go to BroadwayOffers.com and use code LOAMC96
· Call 212.947.8844 and use code LOAMC96
· Visit the Circle in the Square Box Office at
50th Street West of Broadway and mention code LOAMC96

*Offer valid for performances 9/23/10-11/21/10, except 10/21/10. Offer valid for select seats. Subject to availability and prior sale. Not valid for prior purchases or in combination with any other offer. Blackout dates may apply. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice. Service charges apply to online and phone orders. Ticket price includes a $2 facilities fee. All sales final; no refunds or exchanges.

It Gets Better

2010-10-10T15:00:00.002-04:00

In response to a recent string of teen suicides as a result of bullying, sex advice columnist Dan Savage started the YouTube channel "It Gets Better." I've been very moved by these videos. I know I've probably had it easy. I'm straight. I'm white. I've never been overweight. But I was a victim of bullying from early elementary until high school. It's still painful for me to go into specifics, but it was very hard for me to go to school. I had to stop going to the restroom during school because there was a group of girls that would wait for me there and give me a hard time. Students would say hateful things to me during class, but if I told a teacher about it, it would just make it worse. There were a few girls who I thought were my friends, but in middle school, for whatever reason, probably because they were middle school girls, they turned on me. I have a very loving family and it is because of them that I was able to get through these years. It wasn't until eighth grade that I was able to make friends I trusted. High school was much easier because it was a large school and I was in honors and AP classes so I never had to see most of the kids who were cruelest to me. In college, I had a fresh start and it just kept getting better from there. Now I'm probably happier and more confident than I've ever been. It really does get better.

St. Billie Rocks The St. James

2010-09-30T11:55:00.008-04:00

When it was announced that Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day frontman, would step into the role of St. Jimmy in American Idiot for only 8 performances, it may have sounded like a stunt, another attempt to boost ticket sales, which it was (here is an interesting New York Times article with more details), but Armstrong's debut on Tuesday night proved to be one of the most exhilarating nights of theater I've experienced.

From the line outside to get into the theater, the excitement all around was palpable, yet there was nothing to indicate that this show would be any different besides the packed house (a rarity for American Idiot these days). There was no sign in the lobby, no insert in the program. During the pre-show announcement, after the request to turn off all cell phones, the announcer added very matter-of-factly, "Tonight, the role of St. Jimmy, usually played by Tony Vincent, will be played by Billie Joe Armstrong." The response from the crowd was defeaning.

The cast seemed a bit more nervous and there was longer applause between each song, but for the most part, the show was the same as it is always is, with the cast working as hard as they always do. The character of St. Jimmy doesn't arrive until about half-an-hour in. Johnny (John Gallagher, Jr.) starts singing "St. Jimmy," and then he appears "like a zip gun on parade," racing down the stairs with the video screens zeroing in on his manic expressions. It is always a thrilling entrance no matter who is in the role, but this time, we were treated to an actual rock star, not just a character who looks and sings like one. Armstrong nailed every bit of staging, choreography, and note, and was a true professional. The only time he broke character was after "The Death of St. Jimmy." Ensemble members carried him off the stage and for a brief moment, he waved to the audience, who ate it up.

I should say that Tony Vincent is excellent in the role (I was shocked when he didn't get a Tony nomination for his performance). Vincent's interpretation of St. Jimmy is much more sinister, while Armstrong is more playful. Armstrong is not better than Vincent, but seeing the person who wrote the material always adds something, whether it be Lin-Manuel Miranda in In The Heights or Stew in Passing Strange. The writer has a connection to the characters that nobody else can.

I encourage any fan of the show or of Armstrong to see him this week (he will be in it through Sunday). While I would recommend the show even when he is not in it, I'm curious to see whether sales will pick up at all after he leaves. Maybe some audience members who saw the show because of Armstrong will want to go back, but I can't really see sales increasing substantially for the future. A friend of mine thought that Armstrong should randomly show up in the musical from time to time but never announce it in advance, so that his fans would buy tickets frequently. But I wouldn't want to see him in the show too often--it would take away from the once-in-a-lifetime feeling. Besides, I don't think that would be fair to the actors.

This week, Rock of Ages announced that Dee Snider will be taking over the role of Dennis. I don't know if this will generate the same level of excitement--he's in it for a longer period of time and didn't write the show (though some of his songs are featured)--but again, I'm interested to see if this becomes a trend. Maybe if Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is not a sellout, Bono and the Edge will step in.

Photo credit: Krissie Fullerton, see more photos at Playbill.com

Now Circa Then

2010-09-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

If you're interested in the history of the Lower East Side, you could go to the Tenement Museum, or you could see Carly Mensch's Now Circa Then at Ars Nova, or even better, make a day of it and do both. Though the play is more about relationship drama, there is a lot of history woven in, and funny, but educational bonus materials are handed out after the show.

The play takes place in a Lower East Side tenement house. The action begins as Gideon (Stephen Plunkett) and Margie (Maureen Sebastian), two historical reenactors playing immigrant couple Julian and Josephine, begin our tour. Gideon is a history enthusiast and an expert reenactor while Margie is a recent transplant from Michigan and just needs a job. Some of the action takes place during the tour and sometimes we see Gideon and Margie interacting on their downtime. Plunkett and Sebastian make it easy to follow whether or not they are in character with subtle changes in posture and voice.

Each act is cleverly set up in a different part of the house. It starts in the parlor as Gideon and Margie get to know each other, then moves into the kitchen as they become involved romantically, and finally ends up in the bedroom, as things start to get serious and complicated. Plunkett and Sebastian easily adapt to the shifts and tone throughout the piece. Though Gideon is an annoying know-it-all, Plunkett makes him likable with a hint of vulnerability. Sebastian is hilarious in Margie's clueless moments, but also manages to make her pain and confusion palpable in later scenes.

As believable as Plunkett and Sebastian are in their roles, I question a few aspects of the play. I'm not an expert on museums, but it seems that eventually someone would catch on that the reenactors are going severely off-course or that a museum patron would complain. Still, it's easy to overlook and get caught up in the relationship between both couples. As an added bonus, Ars Nova is one of the best deals in town. All tickets are $25 and if sign up for a free Super Nova membership online, you get a free drink at every show.

Photo credit: Carol Rosseg

Orlando

2010-09-24T10:00:00.006-04:00

Sarah Ruhl takes a story theater approach, in which the actors narrate the story, in adapting Virginia Woolf's Orlando for the stage and the result is a visually appealing production that highlights the poetry in Woolf's words.

Orlando opened last night at the Classic Stage Company and runs through October 17. Orlando is a young man in Elizabethan England who has a way with women until he wakes up one day to discover he has changed sexes and has to live as a woman, never growing old, through the 19th and 20th centuries. Last year, Nina Arianda stole the show in CSC's Venus in Fur and this year the company has another breakout star in Francesca Faridany. She is believable as both the male and female versions of the character.

Allen Moyer's scenic design is lovely in its simplicity. The stage is a grassy turf with a mirror hung up above and a small portable model of Orlando's house. One of the most stunning moments is when a white sheet is used as frost to cover the grass, and then is slowly peeled away as the frost melts. Anita Yavich's costume design is often playful, such as the Queen Elizabeth costume that David Greenspan dons.

Due to the fact that the characters are often narrating the story with little action or dialogue, the play is somewhat lacking in dramatic tension, especially for one who hasn't read the book or seen the movie, but as the words and movement of the characters flow so effortlessly, it makes for a relaxing two hours of theater.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus