Review: Kin at Playwrights Horizons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'

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

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)

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...

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

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.