There is a great deal happening on the Main Stage of the Cherry Lane Theatre through April 1. Most of what is happening is the clear intent of the creative team of “Teresa’s Ecstasy,” the play by Begonya Plaza which is currently playing there. However, there is a significant amount happening which might not be at all in the intent of the selfsame creative team. And that is the problem with the slick production presented by Avila Productions: does the audience see the play Ms. Plaza wrote or the play performed ostensibly from her script?
On the surface, the play is about Carlotta (Begonya Plaza) traveling with her lesbian assistant Becky (Linda Larkin) on their way to Avila to research an article on the play’s namesake Teresa of Avila. Carlotta makes a quick stopover in her former home Barcelona to serve her husband Andres (Shawn Elliott) with divorce papers. Because the airline failed to match her luggage with her flight, Carlotta and Becky have to extend their stay and need to spend the night at Andres’s apartment. (Yes, Carlotta and Andres end up having sex for old time’s sake: let’s get that “conclusion drawing” out of the way). Back to the plot, driven by Carlotta’s internal conflict about her true identity and her external conflict with Andres who still loves her. Andres doesn’t understand Carlotta’s need to go to Avila (and, unfortunately, neither does the discerning audience member) and hopes their lost love can be rekindled on this airline-bonus stay over.
This is where the aforementioned problem begins. Although Carlotta goes to Avila with Becky (this character needs a new name?), the result is not an article about Theresa but awareness on Carlotta’s part of her true sexual status: Carlotta is a lesbian. Becky is a lesbian. Carlotta and Becky are now an item and return to Barcelona to share this good news (and it is good news as all transformative knowledge is) with Andres who has experienced his own (equally significant) ecstatic moment: he is a talented painter, a loving human being, and a husband looking to re-connect with his estranged wife.
Enough plot summary! The readers will experience the rest when they see the play. And this play is worth seeing. The summary was provided to support the thesis of this review: the play can be about more than the playwright intended and that is somewhat problematic. Andres’s ecstasy seems more important than Carlotta’s. The characterization of Andres would allow him to embrace Carlotta’s self-discovery. There is nothing in the characterization of Andres that would suggest otherwise; however, when Carlotta returns to him and shares her good news, Andres pouts and spouts (completely out of character) homophobic drivel.
From the opening scene, Andres, brilliantly played by Shawn Elliott, is the superego of the play: he is intuitive, brilliant, perceptive, and completely loveable. As portrayed by Mr. Elliott, Andres is articulate and believable. When Elliott’s Andres speaks the audience feels they are intruding into an authentic conversation. There is not a dissembling bone in this accomplished actor’s body! In fact, and here is the “rub,” this is Andres’s play, his ecstasy, his coming-of-age – not Carlotta’s.
Andres makes a blender of gazpacho for Carlotta (a veggie fest for old time’s sake) and the symbol of that gazpacho is perhaps more telling than the sum of all the severed and dispersed body parts of Teresa of Avila. The play’s title word ‘ecstasy’ might contribute to the confusion. At heart the Greek work ‘ekstasis’ simply means “any casting down of a thing from its proper place or state.” Teresa’s ecstasy, and Carlotta’s, casts down heteronormative conscripts and allows her to be who she is. However, Andres’s ecstasy is more universal and therefore more accessible to the audience: Andres simply casts down from its “proper place” all societal norms and constructs and inhibitions and creates an ecstasy palatable for all humankind despite race or color or ethnicity or creed or sex or sexual status.
What would truly disturb Andres was that his wife came back from Avila “empty-handed.” The issue was not that she returned to Barcelona a lesbian in seven days but that the time she spent in the cathedral and standing before Teresa’s severed emerald-bedecked finger and writings did not net more transformative results. In short, Andres’s ecstasy is more profound than that of his wife.
Ms. Plaza’s play remains a play of substance despite its flaws. The opening dialogue seems a bit stilted, particularly as it is juxtaposed with Andres’s natural rhythms and intonations. Perhaps director Pomeranrz whose hand skillfully guides this production could address this unfortunate reality.
The play’s strength proceeds from the performance of Mr. Elliott and his character Andres. Unfortunately, the play as written seems not to be about this renaissance painter and thinker. Perhaps Ms. Plaza should step back from the role of Carlotta and gain some new perspective on her protagonist. It is simply difficult to perform in a drama one has written no matter what anyone says. Most unfortunate is the flat character of Becky. As played by Ms. Larkin, this Becky is annoying, static, and not the kind of person anyone would leave one’s life partner for – straight or gay or bi. This reviewer lived in the hope Becky might remain with her Barcelona business partner Paco and not return to the action of the play.
We all need to cast down things from their proper place (that is, experience ecstasy). “Teresa’s Ecstasy” might just equip us to begin that kind of necessary transformative journey. For that reason alone, Ms. Plaza’s play is worth the look. See it before April 1. And that is no April Fools prank.
TERESA’S ECSTACY
Written by Begonya Plaza. Directed by Will Pomerantz. Presented by Avila Productions LLC by special arrangement with The Cherry Lane Theatre. Set design by Adrian W. Jones. Costume design by Suzanne Chesney. Lighting design by Scott Clyve. Sound design by Jane Shaw with original music by Albert Carbonell. Stage management by Michael Alifanz. At The Cherry Lane Theatre, (38 Commerce Street, just west of 7th Avenue, in Greenwich Village). The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 8 PM; Sunday at 7 PM. For tickets, which are $60, call OvationTix at 212-352-3101 or online at www.cherrylanetheatre.org.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"The Maria Project" at 59E59
“The Maria Project” at 59E59 Theaters Developed, Written, and Performed by Marcella Goheen Directed by Larry Moss
Marcella Goheen’s “The Maria Project” is ultimately about consciousness and the journey one needs to take to achieve restorative consciousness. Currently running at 59E59 in Manhattan, “The Maria Project” ostensibly follows Goheen’s extended search to understand the secret her mother shared with her when Ms. Goheen was seven: to honor her grandmother Maria’s legacy and memory. In fact, the project is a brilliant extended metaphor for “the talking cure” gifted to the world by Sigmund Freud. Although Freud has fallen into disfavor in most contemporary systems of psychotherapy, his insistence on bringing to consciousness all those repressed memories which have the power (if we allow them to) to create systemic dysfunction in individual underpins all successful psychotherapeutic endeavors.
Perhaps more instructive in all quests for consciousness, including that of Marcella Goheen, is the work of Freud’s daughter Anna “About Losing and Being Lost” wherein she explores the 'simultaneous urges to remain loyal to the dead and to turn towards new ties with the living' (quoted in Lisa Appignanesi & John Forrester, Freud's Women (London 2005) p. 302). It is Goheen’s quest to honor the secret of her grandmother and her reunion with her uncle Frank that gives “The Maria Project” its impressive and sustained importance.
The determined, obsessive, search for one thing – in this case, the meaning of Maria’s secret – leads the committed trailblazer to yet another search, then to another, and to yet another. Marcella Goheen’s passion to find and honor the “lost” (cf. Anna Freud above) secret of her grandmother Maria is the playwright’s invitation for the audience member to initiate his or her own quest, to assemble our own life “footage,” to confront and interpret our own pain and sorrow until we, as she has done, discover the mother lode (for Marcella it was Uncle Frank) that focuses our own quest: focuses on our questions that will, most likely, send us on to continue our own quests for consciousness, for our Maria. This quest will ultimately give us peace. Or not.
Marcella Goheen’s narrative is sometimes interrupted by director Larry Moss’s somewhat frenetic direction. Movement in this important piece of storytelling is internal not external. It is Marcella’s diction, her syntax, her pathos that drives the piece to success, not her constant crisscrossing movement across the stage. Ms. Goheen needs a stool and a place to kneel, nothing more.
Finally, Marcella, it might be time for “The Uncle Frank Project.” He, too, is “missing” in that formidable 1400 page manuscript. And you, after all, are his favorite niece (well, the only niece he knows. Remember his letter: “Marcella, leave your mother alone. She’s had a hard life. Remember – you are less than you think you are and more than you are. I’ll see ya. Your Uncle Frank.”
THE MARIA PROJECT
Developed, written, and performed by Marcella Goheen. Presented by Pure Products, Inc. and Uncle Frank Productions. Directed by Larry Moss. Technical direction by Perchik Kreiman-Miller. Production Stage Manager, Megan E. Coutts. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM and 7:15 PM through Sunday, April 1. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, March 11, 2012
Eternal Equinox at 59E59
ETERNAL EQUINOX, an erotically charged look at the relationship between two Bloomsbury Group painters and a famed mountaineer, receives NYC premiere at 59E59 Theaters
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Grove Theater Center (Los Angeles, CA) with the New York City premiere of ETERNAL EQUINOX, written by Joyce Hokin Sachs and directed by Kevin Cochran. ETERNAL EQUINOX begins performances on Thursday, March 1 for a limited engagement through Saturday, March 31. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Art, sex, conquest, and love collide on a fall day in 1923. Dashing mountaineer George Mallory, about to leave on his third Everest expedition, pays a surprise visit to the summer home of two of Britain's most important artists, the Bloomsbury Group painters Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. Based on actual events, ETERNAL EQUINOX is a sexually charged look at the emotional impact of bedroom politics.
ETERNAL EQUINOX features Hollis McCarthy (Road to Perdition) as Vanessa Bell; Michael Gabriel Goodfriend (Twelfth Night at The Pearl) as Duncan Grant; and Christian Pedersen (Vieux Carre at the The Pearl) as George Mallory.
The scenic design, which features recreated elements of the flamboyant West Sussex home of these two artists, is by three-time Ovation Award-nominee Leonard Ogden. The lighting design is by David Darwin.
Joyce Hokin Sachs (playwright) is an editor, author, published poet, mother of four, grandmother of six, and long time teacher of English and literature. For over 20 years, she taught Advanced Placement and Honors English at Montclair Private School in California. Ten years ago, at age 66, she decided to retire and give herself time to write rather than just correcting essays. She became a student in UCLA’s writing program and began work on a novel about the Bloomsbury Group, a topic that attracted her interest many years before when she wrote her thesis on Virginia Woolf. After several trips to Charleston in West Sussex, England, the restored country home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant (two of the central artists of the Bloomsbury Group), she became fascinated with their relationship. The discovery of an early letter from Duncan to George Mallory, the famed mountaineer who coined the phrase, “because it’s there,” gave her the spark for her play, Eternal Equinox. It imagines a meeting of the three in 1923, just before Mallory embarks on his final, fatal attempt of Everest. An early version of the play, entitled simply Equinox, opened at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles in 2006. It was nominated for The LA Ovation Award and The LA Drama Critics’ Circle Award for costume, set and lighting design (and won the Ovation for Set and the LADCC Award for Lighting). In 2009, the revised version of the play, now entitled Eternal Equinox, was produced by Grove Theater Center at their home theater in Burbank, California (and was nominated for an Ovation Award for Set Design). Currently, Joyce is writing a play based on the life of Tilly Losch, the Viennese dancer and actress.
Kevin Cochran (director) co-founded Grove Theater Center in Southern California in 1994. Plays he has directed at GTC include Blake...da Musical (LA Ovation Award for Best New Musical, Ovation and LA Weekly nominations for Best Director); Film Chinois (Ovation Award for Best New Musical); R.R.R.E.D., the Red-Head Musical Manifesto (LA Weekly Nomination for Best Director); The Adding Machine (OC Weekly Award for Best Production); Straight Up with a Twist (Ovation nomination for Best One Person Show) and The Beckett Project II (OC Weekly nomination for Best Director). Off-Broadway, Kevin directed the premiere of Lightin' Out by Walt Stepp at the Judith Anderson Theater, Offending Shadows by David Paterson at Ensemble Studio Theater, and The Gospel According to Omaha by Libby Jacobs at the William Redfield Theater. Bobby & Matt, written and directed by Kevin, was presented at The Players Theatre as part of the New York International Fringe Festival this August. Kevin graduated as a Scholar of the House in Theater, Design and Circus Arts from Yale University.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Maria Project at 59E59
The mystery of THE MARIA PROJECT unravels at 59E59 Theaters in March
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Pure Projects, Inc, in association with Uncle Frank Productions, with the Off Broadway premiere of THE MARIA PROJECT, written and performed by Marcella Goheen and directed by Larry Moss. THE MARIA PROJECT begins performances on Tuesday, March 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 1. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM and 7:15 PM. Please note, there is an added matinee on Saturday, March 10 at 2:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Using documentary footage, music and storytelling, THE MARIA PROJECT takes audiences on a road trip across America to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Maria Salazar. Through the voices of family over three generations, an unknown family history is unearthed, down to the very secret that shaped its destiny.
Called “inspiring” by the Star Tribune and “powerful and harrowing” by the City Pages in Minneapolis, this incredible story of survival arrives at 59E59 Theaters after traveling across the US, playing in Los Angeles, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Chicago.
Marcella Goheen (playwright/performer) is a theatre performer, writer and actress who performs and creates solo theatrical pieces inviting audiences to celebrate the tradition of storytelling and folklore. Performance venues include Brooklyn Academy of Music, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Caroline’s Comedy Club, Stand Up NY, The Underground, Bar-B, The Lex (Los Angeles), 45 Bleecker Street Theater, HERE Arts Center, St. Mark’s Church, Columbia College (Chicago), The Theatre Building (Chicago), Stageworks Hudson, University of South Dakota, Theater Wit (Chicago), OpenEye Theatre (Minnesota) and colleges across the country. Solo pieces include B.L.A.K., directed by Tony Award Nominee Reg E. Gaines (LA Times Pick of the Week), and her current piece, The Maria Project, directed by Larry Moss). Off Broadway: Miracle Day (Deborah). Producer: If Trane Wuz Here, a tribute to John Coltrane with Savion Glover ("a fantastic dream.." LA Times). Montblanc de la Culture Awards 2007, 2008. Ms. Goheen has spent the last two years performing The Maria Project as part of her “80 Voices” series - across America on the 80th anniversary of Maria’s passing. Ms. Goheen is working on her first book based on the eight year journey of developing, writing and creating The Maria Project.
Larry Moss (director) directed and developed Pamela Gien’s The Syringa Tree, which had its world premiere at ACT in Seattle. The Syringa Tree opened in New York in September 2000 and won the Obie Award for Best Play 2001, the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Solo Performance, a Drama League Honor, and a nomination for the John Gassner Playwriting Award. The Syringa Tree has played to sold out houses and critical acclaim around the world, including London (The National Theatre) and Toronto (Can Stage), where it won the Dora Award for Best Actress and Best Play of 2005. Moss directed the TV version that was filmed by Trio Arts Network and most recently, Pamela and Larry, with their producer Matt Salinger, took The Syringa Tree to the Baxter Theater in South Africa.
Moss developed and directed Bo Eason’s Runt Of The Litter at Manhattan Class Company in January 2002 and when it re-opened in November 2007 at 37 Arts Theatre. It was voted one of the top ten plays of the year by New York Daily News and was bought by Castle Rock to be made into a major motion picture. Moss has directed Michael Raynor's Who Is Floyd Stearn?; Richard Kalinoski’s Beast On The Moon; Jack Holmes’s RFK (Drama League Award); April Daisy White‘s Sugar; Richard Vetere’s How To Go Out On A Date In Queens; Richard Hellersen’s Dos Corazones both as a play and film; and the World Premiere of Jam, a new musical starring Clint Holmes at The Judy Bayley Theater. He did a workshop of John Osborne’s Epitaph For George Dillon in New York for the first time in fifty years in June 2008. He directed Josh Jonas’s Capture Now off-Broadway, Michael Stewart’s I Love My Wife starring Jason Alexander at Reprise in Los Angeles, John Patrick Shanley’s Beggars In The House Of Plenty in Los Angeles and recently directed Remembering Bobby Short starring Clint Holmes at the Carlyle in New York. He will be directing Relative Insanity and Chiseled, two new films that will shoot 2012 and 2013.
Moss coached Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets (Academy Award); Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby (Academy Awards); Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile (Academy Award Nomination); Hank Azaria in Tuesdays With Morrie (Emmy Award); Jim Carrey in The Majestic; Tobey Maguire in Seabiscuit; and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (Golden Globe Award and Academy Award Nomination), The Departed (Golden Globe Nomination), Blood Diamond (Golden Globe and Academy Award Nomination), Shutter Island, Inception, and J. Edgar (SAG and Golden Globe Award Nomination).
Moss’s teaching career includes US, Canada, Europe and Australia. He was one of the master teachers on Triple Sensation, on CBC in Canada. His book on acting, The Intent To Live, was released by Bantam Dell in 2004. Larry is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
A Slow Air at 59E59
Scotland Week celebrations kick off at 59E59 Theaters with the US premiere of David Harrower’s A SLOW AIR
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to launch the Scotland Week celebrations with the US premiere of A SLOW AIR, written and directed by David Harrower (Blackbird), arriving in NY from Glasgow’s Tron Theatre. A SLOW AIR begins performances on Wednesday, April 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 29. Press opening is Thursday, April 12 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM and 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Please note: the Saturday, April 7 evening performance is at 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
A SLOW AIR, written and directed by acclaimed playwright David Harrower (Blackbird at MTC), examines the impact of the 2007 Glasgow Airport attacks through the eyes of a family who live in the village where the attacks were planned. Called “sheer perfection” by the Scotsman, A SLOW AIR premiered at Tron Theatre in Glasgow, subsequently selling out the Traverse Theatre at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Morna works as a cleaner for well-off families in Edinburgh. She spends her time drinking mostly, attempting affairs and trying to work out the mind of her 20 year old son with whom she shares her Dalry flat.
Morna’s older brother Athol lives near Glasgow airport with his wife Evelyn. The owner of a floor tiling company, with two grown up children, he’s proud of his hard-won achievements since moving west years before.
Like any brother and sister they have fond and not-so fond memories of their upbringing, differing views on their parents and definite opinions about each other. Especially Morna and Athol. They haven’t spoken to each other in fourteen years…. When Morna’s son Joshua travels west to make contact with Athol he sets off, for all of them, a remarkable and life-changing series of events.
Susan Vidler (Mike Leigh’s Naked, Trainspotting) and Lewis Howden star as Morna and Athol in this “elegant, deceptively complex piece of writing” (The Times).
The production designer is Jessica Brettle. The lighting designer is Dave Shea. Original music is composed by Daniel Padden.
David Harrower (writer/director) is an internationally acclaimed playwright. Previous theatre work includes: Knives in Hens (Traverse Theatre & The Bush), Dark Earth, Kill the Old Torture Their Young (Traverse Theatre), The Chrysalids (NT Connections), Presence (Royal Court), Blackbird (Edinburgh International Festival, West End, Manhattan Theatre Club, Sydney Theatre Company), 365 (National Theatre of Scotland). Adaptations include Büchner’s Woyzeck (Edinburgh Lyceum), Ödön von Horváth’s Tales from the Vienna Woods, Chekhov’s Ivanov (National Theatre), Schiller’s Mary Stuart (National Theatre of Scotland), Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, Schnitzler’s Liebelei as Sweet Nothings, and Brecht’s The Good Soul of Szechuan (Young Vic). His new version of Gogol’s The Government Inspector opens in London in June.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Federer Vs Murray at 59E59
FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY vaults into 59E59 for the Scotland Week celebrations
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Glasgow-based Communicado Theatre Company to the Scotland Week celebrations with the US premiere of FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, written and directed by Gerda Stevenson. FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY begins performances on Wednesday, April 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 22. Press opening is Tuesday, April 10 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Please note: the performances on Saturday, April 7 are at 4 PM and 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Comedy and tragedy collide in FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY, a “taut and punchy” (The Independent) new play about bereavement and war on three levels: man versus wife, nation against nation, and Scotland's golden boy versus the Swiss master at Wimbledon. From a claustrophobic flat in Scotland to the Swiss Alps via Afghanistan we follow Flo and Jimmy on a painful, and at times farcical journey, complete with war-paint and saxophones.
FEDERER VERSUS MURRAY was short listed for the London Fringe Theatre Writing Award in 2010 when it premiered at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. It subsequently went on to the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it played the Assembly Hall.
The cast features Gerda Stevenson as Flo and Dave Anderson as Jimmy. Young Scottish jazz sensation Ben Bryden (Le Poisson Rouge, The Iridium) plays saxophone live onstage.
Gerda Stevenson (writer/director/actor) trained at RADA and has worked for over 30 years on stage, television, radio and film throughout Britain and abroad. Federer Versus Murray was first produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow, and was short listed for the London Festival Fringe Theatre Writing Award, 2010. Gerda writes regularly for radio – most recently The Apple Tree (BBC Radio 4), starring Juliet Stevenson. She has dramatized many major Scottish novels for BBC Radio 4’s Classic Serial, including Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song and Sir Walter Scott’s epic The Heart of Midlothian (in which she played the heroine Jeanie Deans). Gerda can be heard regularly on the ‘wireless’ in BBC Radio 4’s hugely popular Paul Temple Series, playing the role of Steve – the hero’s feisty wife. She has been nominated twice for the Critic’s Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for her performances as Nancy in Frozen and The Lasses, O. Film and TV appearances include Blue Black Permanent (BAFTA Best Film Actress Award), Braveheart, The Boyhood of John Muir (PBS, USA), Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat, Taggart and The Bill. Gerda has directed for opera, film, radio and theatre, including plays by Rona Munro, Peter Arnott, and Jackie Kay. Her poetry and prose have been published widely in literary magazines and anthologies.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Teresa's Ecstasy at the Cherry Lane
Will Pomerantz helms stellar cast in the Off Broadway premiere of TERESA’S ECSTASY at the Cherry Lane Theatre
Avila Productions, LLC, by special arrangement with Cherry Lane Theatre in association with Jack Sharkey, is thrilled to announce the world premiere of TERESA’S ECSTASY, written by Begonya Plaza and directed by Will Pomerantz. Featuring original music by celebrated Catalan composer Albert Carbonell, performances begin on Sunday, March 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 1 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, just west of 7th Avenue, in Greenwich Village). The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 8 PM; Sunday at 7 PM. For tickets, which are $60, call OvationTix at 212-352-3101 or online at www.cherrylanetheatre.org.
Please note the following schedule adjustments: There is an added performance on Monday, March 12 at 8 PM. There is no performance on Thursday, March 15. The Sunday, March 25 and Sunday, April 1 performances are at 2 PM.
Carlotta’s return to Barcelona has two purposes. It's a stopover on the way to Avila, where she is researching an article on St. Teresa, a 16th Century nun. It's also to serve her husband Andres with divorce papers. Over a sumptuous lunch of wine and gazpacho, Andres fights to rekindle their relationship. But Carlotta is on a quest for the divine, and in the process of discovering the mystical Teresa's Ecstasy, she discovers herself. TERESA’S ECSTASY is a sexually charged look at politics, religion and ultimately love.
The stellar cast features Shawn Elliott (Broadway’s City of Angels, Marie Christine, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris) as Andres; Linda Larkin as Carlotta’s publisher Becky (Jasmine in Walt Disney’s Aladdin); and Begonya Plaza as Carlotta (LAByrinth Theatre Company’s In Arabia We’d All Be Kings).
The design team includes set design by Adrian W. Jones (Looped on Broadway); lighting design by Scott Clyve (The Gathering on Broadway); costume design by Suzanne Chesney (White People at Ensemble Studio Theater); and sound design by Jane Shaw (Lortel nominee for The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd at the Mint Theater). Celebrated Catalan composer Albert Carbonell provides an original score. The Production Stage Manager is Michael Alifanz.
Will Pomerantz (director) has directed and developed new plays and musicals with such theatres as The Guthrie Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, 2nd Stage, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre, Hartford Stage, New York Theater Workshop, The Signature Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theater, Soho Rep, Culture Project, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Studio Theatre, Epic Theatre Ensemble and The Mark Taper Forum. He has directed world and New York premieres by such playwrights as John Guare, David Auburn, Neil LaBute, Craig Lucas, Kia Corthron, David Lindsay-Abaire, Stephen Belber, Noah Haidle, Linda Cho, Julia Jordan, Kira Obolensky, Russell Davis and Carey Perloff In addition to his work on new plays, Will has also directed texts by Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg, Shakespeare, Shaw and Sophocles.
His production of THE BLUE FLOWER, swept all the major awards in the Boston Area, winning both the Elliot Norton and the Independent Reviewers of New England (I.R.N.E.) Awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Design, Best Musical of the Year, as well as multiple Best Performance Awards. The New York production, produced by 2nd Stage was listed as one of the 10 Best Productions of the Year by Bloomberg, who called it, “the best musical since Spring Awakening.”
His production of The Shape of Things was voted Outstanding Production of the year in Washington, DC and received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Performance, as well as being cited as among the year’s 10 best by The Washington Post and The Washington Times.
His production of Dai received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Solo Performance and was won a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Will was Director-In-Residence for Culture Project for 6 seasons. Past productions for the company include Tatjana in Color by Julia Jordan, Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, Prater Violet (based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood), The 5:48 (based on the short story by John Cheever), A Tale of Two Cities (based on the novel by Charles Dickens), and Social Note: An Evening with Dorothy Parker (staged in The Algonquin Hotel). Will was Associate Director for Culture Project’s U.S. premiere production of Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom.
He is currently Associate Director of Artistic Development for Epic Theatre Ensemble for whom he directed the New York premiere of A Hard Heart by Howard Barker (starring Kathleen Chalfant) and the world premiere of Mahida’s Extra Key to Heaven by Russell Davis. Upcoming projects include the New York premiere of the Cole Porter musical, NYMPH ERRANT.
Begonya Plaza (playwright) studied writing at NYU, AFI and UCLA extension courses while working professionally as an actress. She wrote THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, a screenplay about one year in the life of Salvador Dalí and his muse, Gala seen from the eyes of a young lover. Glenn Close is attached to portray Gala and ACA Films is producing. She wrote, directed and edited, SOUVENIR VIEWS, a 24-minute documentary shot in New York and Barcelona with English/Spanish subtitles, about a young man’s rite-of-passage journey through New York’s 9/11 tragedy. The film premiered at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival, went on to the Festival International del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, and aired nationally on the Independent Film Channel. Begonya wrote, directed and acted in, AMERICAN HERO, a 15-minute short film contemplating on the ravages of war as an Iraqi Veteran returns home and tries to survive with the help of his sister. For the stage, Begonya wrote TALK SHOW, a play where the historical characters Evita Perón, Simón Bolivar, Dolores Ibarruri, Antonio Machín are interviewed in a live talk-show setting by God. GERNIKA LIVES is a personal documentary where Begonya explores her Basque heritage and the tragic events her father experienced as a young boy during the bombing of Gernika and the Spanish Civil War, narrated by John Randolph.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
LEO -- Created by Circle of Eleven
LEO
Venue: Emmett Robinson Theatre at College of Charleston
Duration: Approximately 1 hour, 10 minutes
Overview from the Spoleto USA website:
Circle of Eleven Directed by Daniel Brière Original Idea / Performed by Tobias Wegner
What would happen if the laws of gravity were to suddenly change? Leo, the award-winning new show from the acclaimed German company Circle of Eleven, attempts to answer this question as the hero (played brilliantly by Tobias Wegner) explores a world where gravity has woozily shifted and undertakes a logic-defying adventure that not only reveals his dreams and desires but his lust for life. Through a clever juxtaposition of live performance with projected film, two Leos move through identical spaces governed by opposing physical laws. Wegner exploits every potential for invention and comedy as Leo tests the limits of his strange environment, moving from humble tricks with hats to breakdancing up walls. Leo is a funny, surreal, and surprisingly touching work that challenges the senses and tests perceptions of reality.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Parker Scott and Wells Hanley at Don't Tell Mama -- January 28 and February 17
When I interviewed Parker Scott in 2001, he shared that "The artist's job is to go to the moment, to the feeling [of the song], to go to the abyss and jump off, experience what's there and come back." When I reviewed his “Company of Strangers” in March of 2010 he proved he could accomplish that job with stylish grace. Now with his new CD “Selecting Souvenirs Parker Scott and Wells Hanley” and in his recent performance at Don’t Tell Mama, Parker proves that he is even more capable of accompanying those who trust him into to a myriad of the abysses of the human condition. He and Wells, moreover, never leave their fellow travelers in the abyss, but enable them to experience the moments and feelings of every song sung and return with them to their lives with renewed resolve and perspective and hope.
Renewed resolve is not the only gift bestowed on the audience by Scott and Hanley. Listening to the opening of "Selecting Souvenirs" during the second performance (February 17, 2012), it was apparent that scholar, poet, and singer Parker Scott was inviting, even demanding, his audience members to find their own voices so that they could "fly right" and let their discovered voices truly "sing." Seduced by self-discovery, the audience revisits its own trove of souvenirs needed to embellish its own life performance.
A souvenir in its purest form is a memory and every song in Saturday’s performance counterpoints with some memory or some memory-driven reverie. Souvenirs ultimately remind us of those things and people we want to celebrate and share. Parker and Wells, in their profoundly intimate collaboration “Selecting Souvenirs,” allow the listener to transcend time and space and experience a rich variety of memories.
There are sixteen songs in this recent performance and six of them are from the CD of the same name. The set begins with “Let It Sing” (Brian Crawley/Jeanine Tesori), a song which was featured on his earlier CD. Affirming that he is “free to sing [his] song,” Parker performs the night’s remaining fifteen selections with such sophisticated ease that the listener is unaware that sixty precious moments have passed into their own souvenir trove. Nat King Cole and Irving Mills’ “Straighten Up and Fly Right” invites the audience (the “buzzert and the monkey”) to establish a relationship of trust (not sure that would be perceived consciously) and join him and Wells in a journey of selected souvenirs (memories). “Misty” (Johnny Burke/Erroll Garner) tumbles into “She Might Be Beautiful” (Janis Ian/Kye Flemimg) and eventually sails into “Moon River” (Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini) when the “two drifters” Parker Scott and Wells Hanley perform a vocal duet that draws the audience (their “huckleberry friends") into the remaining eight songs. Hanley's "Moon River" accompaniment is brilliant and his embellishments remarkable.
In Act I of Handel’s “Rodelinda,” Bertarido cries out to Rodelinda, the beloved wife he thinks he has lost forever, “Dove sei, amato bene?” “Where are you, well loved? Parker’s authentic and soulful rendition of Bertarido’s plaintive aria is one of the highlights of Saturday’s performance and, if one was not paying close attention, one might miss the antiphonic answer to Bertarido’s plea in the song that follows the aria: “You Are Here” (Gerry Geddess/Anthony Gaglione).
Whether what we have lost has been taken from us or has left us as a result of our trying to forget it, it never goes away. It never is “not here.” And if the “it” is a love lost or a love we try again and again to lose, that love never disappears, never fails, never fades. It might be, as the song suggests, a song, a laugh, a dance, a walk, a sunset, a sunrise, or even smiling eyes that remind the bereft that whatever or whoever is assumed to be lost is really here, present, available for moving from memory to resuscitative reality.
When I reviewed Parker last, I said that his voice was like a good Merlot, a rich palette with many subtle undertones: a voice that falls on the ear with layer after layer of wonderful surprises. That assessment remains except now that voice has blended with the stylings of Wells Hanley to create Claret of unsurpassed quality. Parker’s understanding of the lyric is uncommon and highly developed. His phrasing skills are spot on. Parker urges his listeners to “come to [him] and bend to [him]” (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe) as the marriage of song and styling marry right before their eyes. Thank you, Parker Scott and Wells Hanley.
Art is about collaboration whether the artist recognizes or understands that on some conscious level. Parker and Wells have chosen to collaborate in creating a performance that needs to be experienced. Reviewing true art is also collaborative. My partner Joseph and I have determined to re-enter the realm of criticism as a team. His unique contribution ( his “jolt”) will always be to share why the particular performance is appealing. Our readers have discovered my opinions of “Selecting Souvenirs.” Here is Joseph’s “Jolt” on the performance: “Go see Parker Scott and Wells Hanley. Watch them as they sing and style. Their songs are a gift. Unwrap them, savor their beauty. Smile, cry a little, take the songs home and they will remain souvenirs in your heart for a very long time.”
“Selecting Souvenirs” Parker Scott and Wells Hanley. Directed by Gerry Geddes. At Don’t Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street in Manhattan. There is a $15.00 cover charge (cash only) and a two drink minimum. Approximate running time: 60 minutes. Two performances of “Selecting Souvenirs” remain: Thursday, 15 March 2012 at 9:00 p.m. and Sunday, 15 April at 7:00 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Parker Scott at Don't Tell Mama -- January 28
Critical Praise for the November 2011 CD Release Celebration
"Parker Scott's beautiful tenor and his heartfelt, romantic and eloquent readings, in combination with Wells Hanley's equally sensitive accompaniment, made the evening feel like a warm embrace...just like his CD." Roy Sander, critic for www.bistroawards.com
"Welcome back, Parker. Great love songs. His voice is dreamy. ...a really lovely sound... beautiful...very connected. Parker Scott is an easy to listen to performer. Wells Hanley is one of the most gifted pianists in the business." Sue Matsuki, Cabaret Hotline Online
MAC Award Nominee PARKER SCOTT in Selecting Souvenirs with WELLS HANLEY
The romantic vocals of Parker Scott and the intimate stylings of Wells Hanley become one in a program of beautiful classics from the Great American Songbook.
Internationally known actor-singer PARKER SCOTT brings his new show – Selecting Souvenirs to Don’t Tell Mama on Saturday 28 January at 5pm and Friday 17 February at 7pm. Dates in March, April and May to be announced soon.
Selecting Souvenirs shares its title and some of its songs with Parker’s recently released CD and also includes other favorites from the worlds of theater, movies and pop. With a voice critics have hailed, as “seductive”, “velvety”, “sexy”, “glorious” and “hauntingly beautiful”, Parker Scott, along with pianist Wells Hanley, will explore the Great American Songbook. The show is directed by Bistro Award-winning and MAC-nominated director, Gerry Geddes.
Critics Barbara and Scott Siegel said of a previous cabaret, “astonishing…gorgeous arrangements…virtually flawless. Scott performs with confidence, style and exuberance…a unique combination of emotional control and vocal excess that leaves you breathless.” Jan Wallman proclaimed “Something wonderful, indeed. The man has an incredibly beautiful voice.” John Hoglund wrote in Back Stage “…his rich tenor is infused with tender nuances and colorful passages that bring the songs to life. His honesty with a lyric is refreshing.”
Parker’s nightclub appearances include engagements at Danny’s, Don’t Tell Mama, The Duplex, Eighty-Eights, and guest appearances at Judy’s and The Metropolitan Room. He was the lead male vocalist aboard The Silver Whisper and sailed to 38 countries, along the way also giving performances in Camogli, Italy and St. Petersburg, Russia. Parker appeared as John Denver in Bring Me John Denver at the Granbury Opera House in Texas, where he delighted audiences and critics in a concert of John Denver songs. He has performed cabarets in DC, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.
Come to Selecting Souvenirs and wander through this wonderland of beautiful music with Parker Scott and Wells Hanley.
Don’t Tell Mama is located at 343 West 46th Street – Restaurant Row
There is a $15.00 cover charge and the ubiquitous two-drink minimum. Copies of Parker’s CD will be for sale at the performance. Reservations are strongly suggested. Please call: 212.757.0788 or visit: www.donttellmamanyc.com
“Like a good Merlot, Parker Scott’s voice has a rich palette with many subtle undertones. It’s a voice that falls on the ear with layer after layer of wonderful surprises.” David Roberts, Theatrereviews.com
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, January 22, 2012
"War Horse" at Lincoln Center
Just saw the National Theatre of Great Britain production of "War Horse" at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Whether the audience member experiences the unfolding of a literal recollection of a World War I English war horse (Joey) who was successfully returned to England and his owner/soldier (Albert Narracott) or experiences one of the most skillfully developed tropes in contemporary theatre, he or she will witness an unparalleled piece of flawless stagecraft. Whatever the audience member brings to this experience concerning the efficacy and rectitude of war will be reimagined and reconstructed in alarming and prophetic ways. Please do whatever you can wherever you live to see this performance gem. This critic has vowed not to see the film version of this magnificent work until long after Joey's neigh's, snorts, and whinnies have faded from Lincoln Center.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, January 1, 2012
"Priscilla" on Broadway
Just saw "Priscilla" on Broadway. "Priscilla" is exactly what Broadway needs to be in the twenty-first century. Wil Swenson, Tony Sheldon, Nick Adams, C. David Johnson and the amazing cast of actors-singers-dancers dazzle on the Palace Theatre stage. The lighting and costumes sparkle beyond belief and the book, score, and lyrics are among the best in recent history. The orchestra rocks the firm foundations of the venerable Palace Theatre. Make sure you see this magical musical with a real beginning-middle-end story. Thank you, Bette Midler, for giving us this gift.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, December 29, 2011
"The Book of Mormon" on Broadway
Just saw Parker-Lopez-Stone's much touted "The Book of Mormon." Clearly NOT the best musical of the century but a clever (but all-too-typical) South Parkesque satirical spin on (you guessed it) someone else's something sacred. Worth a peek if you can snag a standing-room-only ticket for $27.00 or win the lottery.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, December 28, 2011
"Seminar" on Broadway
Just saw Theresa Rebeck's brilliant tragi-comic "Seminar" on Broadway. Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, Jerry O'Connell, and Hettienne Park transform what might be a mixed bag of moral ambiguity into a searing steel-trap of truth. After the gift-giving subsides, gift yourself and those for whom you care and see this classicly dramatic drama. Let the catharthis begin! Those who marketed (and, sadly, reviewed) this transformative drama as a "comedy" did so to promote "Seminar." But those of us who perceive between the laughs the lengths and depths of the human condition will be the winners. Just see it. Thank me sometime later.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Friday, December 23, 2011
"Bonnie & Clyde" on Broadway
Just saw "Bonnie & Clyde" on Broadway. Ivan Menchell, Don Black, Frank Wildhorn, and Director Jeff Calhoun have created a brilliant musical re-telling of the Bonnie and Clyde legend. My review will be posted on Monday. See this outstanding musical before it closes on December 30. Please go to the show's official website and write to the producers to urge them NOT to close this must-see musical. http://bonnieandclydebroadway.com/index.php
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, December 17, 2011
"Ghost Dancer"
“Ghost Dancer” A New Political Drama from Robert L. Hecker At Theatre Three at the Mint Theatre Space
Reviewed by David Roberts
“Ghost Dancer” is a potentially powerful new play which opened November 19 at Theatre Three at Manhattan’s Mint Space. The only impediment to this success would be if the production as a whole does not more completely embody the spirit of the dance after which it is named.
The provenance of the Native American ‘Ghost Dance’ is complicated and not at all universally agreed upon. However, for the purpose of this review (and the production itself), the elements of the dance are somewhat clear. The ‘circle dance,’ the traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times. It is widely believed that the practice of the Ghost Dance added to the resistance offered by the Lakota at Wounded Knee in 1890. The Paiute spiritual leader Jack Wilson (formerly known as Wovoka) created the Ghost Dance after a vision during a solar eclipse in 1889.
Visions play a major role in Hecker’s new drama, including Lakota Romero’s vision of a Caribbean free from Anglo expansion and oppression. Lakota (Lilia Vassileva) marries Tony Romero (Arturo Castro) hoping his warrior background will merge with her anarchistic agenda to create a new Caribbean free from outside expansion. After spending a year in prison, Tony is not keen on Lakota’s revolutionary vision, especially after the birth of their first child. This inter-personal conflict, and the concomitant intra-personal conflicts it generates, drives the plot of this remarkable and relevant drama.
The relevance centers around the deep questions: how is change best achieved; does significant and enduring change require violence and death; how thin is the line between what is and what is not justified in the revolutionary process?
“Ghost Dancer’s” characters ask the relevant questions pertinent to the above universal queries. Tony asks whether Latinos in the Caribbean need to learn to live “with what they got” or take up arms to get what they deserve and further wonders if there is some “middle line” between these seemingly diametrically opposed positions. Tony’s Uncle Luis (Jorge Acosta) queries whether trusting in God is a viable approach to achieving equality. Tony also realizes after his son’s death that “the meek will inherit the earth only after the strong are all dead.”
Throughout this dialectic, Lakota pressures Tony to join her in the revolution. When he resists, she is inspired to murder their son to convince Tony to re-join the revolution his father began. His renewed zeal results in mayhem and murder which even his compatriots cannot tolerate and they plot his assassination.
“Ghost Dancer” is in its essence a strong extended metaphor for martyrdom. The sacrifice revolutionary martyrs accept has Christological and messianic overtones and three of the characters have their “moments” wondering whether “God” is speaking to them or not. These three soliloquies are perhaps the weakest parts of the play and need to be re-imagined in order to have them successfully contribute to the overall effect of the play.
Hecker’s script is strong and is supported by a strong ensemble cast. Luis Salgado’s Francisco and Rosie Lani Fiedelman’s Rosario brilliantly counterpoint Tony’s and Lakota’s struggle with conscience. Leajato Amara Robinson’s Hector is the conscience of the collective cast and Robnison effectively draws the audience into making its own commitment to revolutionary practice. Just when the audience believes it has “chosen a side,” Reza Salazar’s Lazaro drags in a box of rifles or announces that the “Movement” has turned its radical back on the very man (Tony) it exhaustively courted.
To move forward, “Ghost Dancer” must be willing to step out to the edge of the stage and throw itself into the abyss of the audience and dance the dance it purports to embody. The metaphor of the dance needs to be intensified and extended in order to properly honor its essence. In its present incarnation, “Ghost Dancer” is a drama which needs to be seen. Its connection to Occupy Wall Street and the worldwide struggles for justice is spot on. This reviewer has faith that the creative team will do all that it needs to do to ensure that this important work has a promising future. This is a busy season; however, do yourself a favor and be sure to see this engaging work in progress.
GHOST DANCER
By Robert L. Hecker; Directed by Joshua A. Kashinsky; choreography by Amy Klewitz; sets by Duane Pagano; costumes by Candice Knox; lighting by Peter Hoerburger; sound by Ien DeNio; properties by Charlotte Volage; fight choreographer, David Dean Hastings; graphics by Alyssa Renzi; production stage manager, Heather Hogan; production manager, Evan Storey. Presented by The Show Goes On Productiuons. At Theatre Three at the Mint Theatre Space, 311 West 43rd Street, 3rd Floor; (212) 352-3101; www.showgoesonproductions.com. Through Dec. 10. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes with one ten-minute intermission.
Run Time: 2 Hours & 30 Minutes, one 15-minute Intermission
(New York – September 6, 2011) – Odyssey Theatrical, LLC presents Odyssey – The Epic Musical, a thrilling musical adventure that follows Odysseus’ epic journey home after the Trojan War, written by Matt Britten and Dimitri Landrain. Matt Britten directs a cast of twenty-five to be announced. Performances will be held at the American Theatre of Actors, 314 West 54th Street from Friday, October 21st through Sunday, October 30th. *Member, Actors’ Equity Association. AEA Showcase.
Odysseus dreams of the dawn of a new era, in which mortals have control over their own destinies. But when the evil lord Poseidon turns Odysseus’ dream into a nightmare, it will take every last ounce of a hero’s strength, courage, and wisdom to restore order to Ithaca. Based on the classic poem by Homer, Odyssey is a thrilling musical adventure that follows Odysseus’ epic journey home after the Trojan War. Join Odysseus as he encounters the lotus-eaters, outwits the Cyclops, resists the Sirens and battles the gods in a quest to return home to his wife and son. With an exciting original score and dazzling visual design, including an array of aerialists, this breakthrough production presents “the best story ever written” as it has never been told before.
Matt Britten (Book, Lyrics and Direction) is an entertainer and entrepreneur. He was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, and was raised on a steady diet of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. Matt graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Syracuse University. He recently produced and directed BJ: A Musical Romp, which won Best Musical in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in NYC. Matt has worked in Los Angeles and London, and he currently resides in New York City. His birthday is January 3.
Dimitri Landrain (Music) is from Paris, France. After studying musicology at the Sorbonne University, he moved to the U.S. to study jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music. Dimitri then performed as a sideman and leader in jazz, pop and salsa bands and worked for five years as Music Director for various cruise lines. Mr. Landrain has been a songwriter for French pop singer Liane Foly (France Top 50). In 2008, he received his Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the College Conservatory of Music (CCM/University of Cincinnati) and last May, a Master of Fine Arts from NYU in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.
The run time is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Karen Finley: "Make Love"
Karen Finley: “Make Love” Laurie Beechman Theatre at the Westbank Cafe
Reviewed by David Roberts (See Joseph's "Jolt" below.)
Things have not gone all that well for New York City since September 11, 2001. Life after that mind-twisting event has been, at best, challenging and, for many, impossible to navigate. Karen Finley has returned to the scene of the tragedy with her 2003 “Make Love” at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. In this ninety-minute (the running time might vary from performance to performance), Karen Finley shakes the audience’s collective unconscious into reflective responsibility for the future.
As always, Finley is the consummate performance artist using every tool in her arsenal of mind-stretching antics to not only get the attention of the audience but to recruit the audience into some meaningful response. This artist knows her work is not for everyone. At one point in Saturday’s performance she suggested that if what she was doing was not clear to some, they might tune out until the songs.
Not everything is always completely accessible in performance art but what is clear in Finley’s work is that she is a wordsmith. When she takes to her script to either read from it or use it to remind her of something, she is at her best. It is then raw emotion floods the stage and the performance space. One often finds oneself at those moments leaning back a bit or grabbing something for balance and safety. The other bits are fun, too, and often deliciously disturbing, including the faux sex acts.
Being in the presence of creativity is not always the safest place to be because one might not come out on the other end the same person who sat down and ordered drinks just a short time earlier. I suppose no one “needs” to do anything. Who am I to tell you that you need to see something I liked? But you do need to experience “Make Love” at the Laurie Beechman. Who knows if or when she might return? Who knows the next time Karen Finley might kiss you on the cheek. I wish Karen would not only kiss me on the cheek, but whisper in my ear and tell me what the hell to do to make the pain of September 11 to go away. But, as she shared on Saturday, all she really can do is be with us. She cannot take us back to the garden; she cannot shield us from what she calls the “national torture S&M chamber.”
The following stream-of-consciousness review is dedicated to Karen Finley in gratitude for her performance.
Maybe this time we will get it right. Maybe this time our fragile island will rise up from the ashes (one more time) and not have to die again. Maybe. Karen Finley loves this small island, even Forty-second Street (though the old one might have been better). She and her iconic symbols of Manhattan gathered at the West Bank on that iconic street and challenged us to not just remember September 11th ten years past but to make love to that sleepless city. Liza was there in multiples (who was that Liza Number 2?) and the twin towers showed up dressed up as a bag-person nonetheless. Then there were others once down but now up looking to writhe up from that post-apocalyptic nightmare, searching for metaphors and other figurative stuff to try to understand what happened then, what’s happening now. We the others: we the people after all. Not Bush or his cohorts or successors. We, us, those gathered at the Beechman, Laurie’s place. We do not need to be other’s anxiety; those from outside our city who pity and ask ridiculous questions (“So, where were you when it happened?”). We do not need to hear platitudes from those who “care” about what happened. We just need to be here now with all the Liza’s, with Karen Finley, with all the symbols of graceful re-birth from tragedy. Today is always a good day for a tragedy but one was enough.
"Joseph's Jolt" by Joseph Verlezza
"Performance Art" or The Art of Performance as Karen Finley paints a vivid picture of 9/11 with words that transcend any image that might be lingering in your memory of that American Tragedy. Go to the Laurie Beechman Theatre, sit down, relax, and prepare yourself for a bumpy emotional ride. Do not veer, stay there with her, in the moment, as she creates and re-creates fear, pain, loss and anger then frames it with a kiss of understanding.
Karen Finley: “Make Love” at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 West 42nd Street at 9th Avenue. Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. (September 10 and 17). Tickets are $22.00 plus a $15.00 food/drink minimum at 212.352.3101.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, September 4, 2011
"Hush The Musical" FringeNYC 2011
"Hush The Musical" FringeNYC 2011 Show Libretto by Emelise Aleandri Co-Conceived, Composed, and Directed by Charles Mandracchia
Mini-Review by David Roberts
My first exposure to Charles Mandracchia's craft was when I listened to and reviewed his "Valentino the Musical" CD. The skill in composing and arranging I experienced then was amply evident in this current work "Hush The Musical." Emelise Aleandri's libretto based on "Shhhh!, a play by Etta Cascici, places five stranded passengers in an airport lounge whose lives begin to intertwine in interesting and sometimes implausibe ways. However, the music is grand and will be remembered fondly by those who share the drama in the airport lounge.
Mr. Mandracchia's compositions here are wonderfully varied in style and appropriately challenge the competent cast to bring them to life.
Be sure to visit the airport lounge in "Hush" and listen in to the stories and experience the relationships that delevop and change before your eyes and ears.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, August 25, 2011
"The Three Times She Knocked" FringeNYC 2011
"The Three Times She Knocked" FringeNYC 2011 Written by A. D. Penedo Directed by Christopher Windom With Bob D'Haene (Eric) and Isabel Richardson (Tara)
Mini-Review by David Roberts
"Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me ..."
After Tara's first knock on her uber-paranoid colleague's office door, Eric should have known something was up. The audience knows and playwright A. D. Penedo knows that the audience knows; however, neither the audience nor Eric quite knows what only Tara knows and why she is persistent on visiting Eric.
Too many 'knows' in one sentence the reader might ask? Normally, yes; however this is a who-done-it play that is all about knowledge. Actors Bob D'Haene (Eric) and Isabel Richardson (Tara) work this script and each other to perfection. Although the audience might not realize what it is Tara knows, it will be completely entertaied by these two talented actors until the surprising climax and resolution of the play's core conflict.
As Tara teases Eric with her visits and feigns genuine curiosity about the Stephanie in Eric's past, Eric cannot help but repeat his past behavior with Stephanie and, one might assume, with others like her. As Tara digs deeper into Eric's past, Eric digs himself deeper into an uncompromising and dangerous position.
Do not miss this performance directed deliciously by Christopher Windom.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, August 25, 2011
"The Fundamentalist" FringeNYC 2011
Reviewed on August 15, 2011 "The Fundamentalist" FringeNYC 2011 Written by Juha Jokela (Translated by Eva Buchwald) Directed by Sebastian Nyman Agdur With Adam Smith, Jr. (Markus) and Anette Norgaard (Heidi)
Reviewed by David Roberts
The Scandinavian American Theater Company's first FringeNYC submission is a successful exploration of the ongoing debate between religious fundamentalists and religious moderates-liberals. This chronic (and often vitriolic) debate continued to have a profound effect on social progress in nation-states throughout the world. SATC's "The Fundamentalist" focuses this debate in a dramatic clash between Markus a priest who has abandoned his position as a parish priest and Heidi one of his former youth group members who has come to visit him fifteen years after he last saw her.
Why does Markus tell the story of this relationship to a group of former parishioners and supporters? Heidi's current church, The Church of the Living Word (pastored by Heidi's husband) has labeled Markus an instrument of the devil. This label is not bestowed upon him simply because of his liberal (satanic) theology which he expresses in his book; he "deserves" the appellation because of something that happened between him and Heidi those many years ago.
Adam Smith, Jr. is a convincing and complex Father Markus. He skillfully unfolds Markus's story of memory, emotion, guilt, confession, forgiveness, and redemption. Anette Norgaard's adolescent-to-adult Heidi engages the audience in her convoluted and clearly conflicted history with her former priest. The tension between their characters as the play rehearses their past and their present centers around the core of meaning of both liberalism and fundamentalism. However, beneath playwright Juha Jokela's carefully structured theological argument between Markus and Heidi simmers a history of emotional and psycho-sexual tension. Director Sebastian Nyman Agdur brings out the very best of script and actors in this must-see performance at the IATI Theatre.
What really happened or might have happened between Markus and Heidi will astound you and the ending of the play will linger with you for a very long time.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
" ... unwanted" FringeNYC 2011
8/15/2011 " ... unwanted" FringeNYC 2011 Artistic Direction and Choreography by Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez Performers: Zoe Blake; Lori Byargeon; Lauren Garson; Jennifer Jones; Kathryn Rhodes; and Eun Hwa (Nary) Shin
Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez creates difficult choreography, challenging choreography. It is significant that he sees his work as "an offering to the audience, to the performers, to all the people involved in [the] experience."
Why make experience difficult and yet consider the difficulty to be an offering? Simply because part of the vicissitudes of the human experience, the real and the surreal of life -- like the contemporary dance piece " ... unwanted" -- is a "tangle of stories exploring the emotions that cause on to abandon, leave, or discard something both physically and metaphorically."
Mr. Velazquez creates movement that offers the sense of isolation created by feeling unwanted or causing others to become unwanted.
Dali explored similar themes in all of his surreal work and much of what I saw in " ... unwanted" was Dali-esque. Every articulation of movement, every nuanced isolation of the movement of the six dancers at the 4th Street Theatre created for themselves and for the audience all that it means to feel unwanted and to create unwanted spaces for others. These masters of the dance did not simply execute steps and rehearsed movements; they were being moved by Giovanni Escalera's original music of Sweet Electra, by complex systems of memory and equally abstract constructs of meaning.
It is not confortable to be pushed and shoved into the status of the unwanted. Nor is it ultimately comfortable to be the one who "unwants" the other. So it is not comfortable to be in the arms of the genius of Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez.
But Velazquez and his dancers do not just push you and your psyche around. They also cradle you in their arms of unconditional and non-judgemental love: want it or not.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, August 20, 2011
"Update of Review Posting Schedule"
8/17 Update of Reviews
I will be posting Reviews for the following shows within the week:
“The Fundamentalist” “ … unwanted” “Submitted by C. Randall McCloskey “The Legend of Julie Taymor” “The Three Times She Knocked” “HUSH The Musical”
We enjoyed all of these shows and recommend you see all of them. More, of course, in the reviews.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, August 17, 2011
"Sammy Gets Mugged" FringeNYC 2011
9/15 – “Sammy Gets Mugged” (FringeNYC Show) Written by Dan Heching Directed by Noah Himmelstein With: Dan Heching (Sammy); Patrick Byas (The Mugger); and Stephanie Pope Caffey (Rue Felicite)
Remembering is a funny business. Literally, it means to put things back together (connect one member to another) so they can be re-lived. It is an odd business. If the concept of remembering is challenging, more challenging is the concept of memory itself. Is memory a neuro-physical entity or is it a psychological construct? Behaviorists believe that memory is no more than operant conditioning, a set of stimulus-and-response transactions based primarily on need. Actually, Skinner and his cronies might just have it right. At least that’s the spin Rue Felicite proffers when she witnesses Sammy getting mugged at the ATM.
“Sammy Gets Mugged” at The Living Theatre (FringeNYC Venue #6) is all about storytelling and memory and the significant level of subjectivity in our memories. Writer Dan Heching believes that “as we rehash [our memories} and relive defining moments in our lives, the reality of those moments begins to change and shift.” So what really happened the day Sammy gets mugged entering his apartment building in a less-than-desirable neighborhood in New York City?
In this brilliant new play, three characters remember (remember the above definition) the mugging from three different perspectives. Which perspective reflects what “really happened?” Could all three disparate memories be accurate? Reality, whether present or remembered, is subjective. Humans never really know whether what they are experiencing or remembering has the same emotional vectors as those sharing or who have shared the same experience. For example, perhaps Sammy wanted to be accosted so he could achieve some intimacy with his attacker. Perhaps the mugger really did not want to commit a crime, but needed money for some legitimate reason and scoped out Sammy because he knew he would be an easy target whom he did not have to harm. And perhaps Rue the witness simply wanted to report what she thought might happen or maybe she thought Sammy and the mugger were lovers, or maybe she was not sure what she even saw at that ATM machine.
The action of the play, though complicated, is clear. It would not be helpful to describe the many scenes simply because it would give away too much information. For example, each character has his or her own opportunity to share what he or she remembers. Sammy returns to his old neighborhood six months after the mugging to “process” what happened. Sammy “summons” his mugger in his memory to confront him and … well, you will see what happens.
The production is flawless. There is not one thing that could be improved. The brilliant casting assembles actors whose craft is so honed audience members will remember them for a long time to come. Dan Heching is a very fortunate young man that he studies Bikram Yoga in East Harlem with Stephanie Pope Caffey. I hope to see Patrick Byas on stage more and more in the future. And Dan Heching's Sammy could not be more spot on throughout this memory play. David L. Arsenault’s scenic and lighting design compliment the script with perfection and Mark Richard Caswell’s costumes draw us into the action and into each character with beauty and grace. Giovanni Villari’s sound design is so competent we experience through the action and not as an intrusive overlay.
Sammy, his mugger, and Rue his witness all have different needs, different recollections, different histories which, when they collide in one space-time serendipitous event, create unparalled magic.
Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.org by phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8thStreet at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #18 Studio at Cheery Lane Theatre and Venue #6 The Living Theatre.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Craving" and "Dancing in the Garden" FringeNYC 2011
9/14 – “Craving” (FringeNYC Show Written and Performed by Delphine Brooker. Directed by Doug Curtis and Heather Moore. 9/14 – “Dancing in the Garden” (FringeNYC Show) Written by Michael Walker. Directed by Bruce Ward.
The remaining two performances in the Sunday August 14 Round-Up are plays about life journeys: one from illness to health; the other a journey for acceptance by a church which considers her a sinner.
Delphine Brooker’s solo performance deals with her journey from anorexia and bulimia to a place where healing might begin. “Craving,” directed by Doug Curtis and Heather Moore, is a one hour rehearsal of all that Ms. Brooker has experienced in her variety of battles with an illness often created out of a craving for personal control. Although the subject of the performance piece is not original, Brooker tackles it mostly with a freshness and intensity which pushes the audience to confront their own struggles with their own sicknesses unto death. I would like to have seen fewer encounters with degenerate males and more scenes where she unmasks her struggles to be in control, authentic control, with her parents, her friends, and her acquaintances. When she is not in control of the normal vicissitudes of life, the only control she has is what goes into her mouth and what comes out of her stomach.
Brooker’s performance is genuine and transparent: she allows her audience into her struggle. Be sure to see this important show. Bring a friend. Bring your struggle and get ready to change.
Michael Walker’s “Dancing in the Garden” showcases another journey: the journey of a young Massachusetts lesbian to understanding her relationship with her beloved Roman Catholic parish and its priest Father Mike. Although the script is overwritten (this should be a one-act play), the performance given by Sarah Corey is worth the visit and the price of the ticket. She works with the script with authenticity and skill. Her scenes with Joe Gioco as her father are truly wonderful, including the scene where father and daughter predict how Father Mike will react when he deals with Maria’s sexual status.
The difficulty with the script is its insistence that Maria continue to long to be part of the Roman Catholic Church. This is just not believable. Her local priest feigns unconditional love; however, the harsh fact is that Maria and all lesbian and gay parishioners are persona non grata. When one is baptized into the church universal, one is eligible for all the orders the church offers. Despite Father Mike’s gratuitous invitations to Mass, the church will never truly accept Maria into its fold. Why would a strong character like Maria (who leaves her lover to care for her father) accept second-class citizenship in a homophobic and oppressive institution?
Despite this, there are wonderful performances, wonderful word plays (sign, signage) and wonderful lines. When Maria discovers that “God knew who she was before she was born,” she truly claims victory, not when Father Mike condescends to accept her into his precious fold.
Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.org by phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8th Street at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #18 Studio at Cheery Lane Theatre and Venue #6 The Living Theatre.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Monday, August 15, 2011
"The Day the Sky Turned Black;" "Two Alone Too Together" FringeNYC 2011
9/14 – “Two Alone/Too Together” (Fringe NYC Show) Written by Peter Welch. Directed by Vincent Scott 9/14 – “The Day the Sky Turned Black” (FringeNYC Show) Written and Performed by Ali Kennedy-Scott. Directred by Adrian Barnes.
Reviewed by David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza (“Joseph’s Jolts”)
Sunday’s Round-Up of reviews finds one of the above plays far-and-away the most successful and one needing never to be seen. Here goes.
From David –
Ali Kennedy-Scott’s “The Day the Sky Turned Black” is a FringeNYC must-see show. She convincingly creates five characters whose stories pre, during, and post Australia’s 2009 “Black Saturday” share how a variety of people cope with and understand disaster in their lives and in their communities.
Kennedy-Scott's characters are believable and portrayed with distinct personalities, body language, voices, and costume bits. The solo performance is narrated by Heidi, the journalist who covered the disaster. She relates her interviews and interactions with thirty-eight year-old Gillian Harris who survived the fire storms and now is left to deal with her arsonist son’s involvement in setting one of the blazes. Her conflict centers on her anger at the government for not stepping into helping known arsonists and her memories of this self-same son who comforted her after receiving abusive treatment from her husband. The third character is a six year-old boy Aiden who deals with the loss of his best friend and his home and his BMX bike. Kennedy-Scott chooses to have Aiden respond to loss with the same exuberance and bravado he exhibits when he’s smashing Caramello Koalas. It would have been interesting to see a difference in Aiden after the loss. The fourth character, Kerry, looks disaster straight in the face and moves her life on. She taught Aiden’s friend who died in the bush fires, and one year after the disaster, she is teaching second grade. The final survivor is Mabel whose husband of many years dies after sending her before him to a safe place away from their home. This is the most challenging character for Kennedy-Scott because she has to age before the audience which she does brilliantly with a bent back, a jaw-dropped gravelly voice, and that slight hand tremor which foreshadows more age deterioration to come. Mabel’s loss and her subsequent desire to move-on are movingly transparent in Kennedy-Scott’s body, face, eyes, even in her scarf.
Skillfully directed by Adrian Barnes with appropriate original music by Pat Wilson, “The Day the Sky Turned Black” by Ali Kennedy-Scott allows the audience to counterpoint their experience with disaster with the experiences of the characters they see in the performance. This elevates the play to a universal level and permits audience members to not only empathize with five survivors but also to re-examine the disaster and loss in their own lives and communities: September 11, Tsunami, Katrina, Earthquakes in India (and far too many more). But Mabel’s loss is the loss of many who lose lovers and spouses, and partners not just to disaster but to Alzheimer’s, cardiac disease, the insanities of war. Gillian’s struggle is the struggle of many parents who do not know how to deal with their children’s irrational and erratic behavior. Aiden’s loss is the loss many children feel when a parent dies or a parent leaves, or a close friend dies of Leukemia. Finally, Kerry’s belief that she is “prepared for the bush fires” counterpoints with everyone’s belief that they are ready for whatever comes their way until the tinder dry ground around them begins to sweep fire through all of their bravado and denial.
See this show before it goes away.
Let us know what you think of the review. Click on “Comment” and share your own thoughts about this must-see performance.
We have dealt with the best, now for the worst of the day. Whatever Peter Welch was thinking when he wrote “Two Alone Too Together,” he was not thinking successful theatre. This dreadful piece of theatre drove six audience members to exit and left the rest of us stranded Sunday souls to suffer through to the end. If Stephen Dym is not locked into a contract, he might consider something else to do the rest of the run of this often offensive work. Enough said.
Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.org by phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8thStreet at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #10 IATI Theater and Venue #16 Players Theatre.
“Joseph’s Jolts” and more reviews to come.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Monday, August 15, 2011
"The Bad Arm: Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer;" "Bobby and Matt: Passing Notes Through Life;" "Wilhelmstrasse"
9/13 – ”The Bad Arm: Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer” (FringeNYC Show) Written and Performed by Maire Clerkin 9/13 – “Bobby and Matt: Passing Notes Through Life” (FringeNYC LGBT Show) Written by Kevin Cochran 9/13 – “Wilhelmstrasse (FringeNYC Show) Written and Directed by Stuart Caldwell
Reviewed by David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza (“Joseph’s Jolts”)
Monday’s Round-Up of reviews finds one of the above plays far-and-away the most successful; one almost successful and one in need of revision. Here goes.
From David –
Maire Clerkin’s “The Bad Arm” is a must-see for FringeNYC viewers this season. Although the piece has been around since 2008, garnering recognition and awards at a variety of Fringes and Festivals, it remains a fresh work with much to recommend it. Successfully employing a variety of extended metaphors, Ms. Clerkin challenges her audience members (as she initially challenged herself) to proceed through life toward their various goals without allowing external or internal “impediments” to stand in the way. The dance extended metaphor draws on Clerkin’s experiences as an Irish Dancer (closeted and out) and challenges labels that might prevent one from being successful in life. She teaches us to dance from where we have been (often stuck somewhere on our stages) to where we know we need to be. And although our past never quite leaves the quality of our turnout or our statuesque height, the future toward which we twirl never quite significantly alters the heart of our routine. Now we need to visit that “bad arm.” What a wonderful metaphor for all those stumbling blocks that have tripped us upon the way from there to here! For Maire and for us there has more than enough neglect, indifference, self-doubt, repression, even abuse. Maire “Pat” Clerkin serves as our teacher and adjudicator leading us forward and forward and forward again, turning, turning, til it turns out right.
Now Joseph’s Jolt –
Visit Maire and her family and friends. Learn, understand, and connect as her life touches your heart. Most of all, be entertained by her explosive energy, presence, dancing, and the realization that we all have “bad arms.” Just hope you still have time to get a ticket. A Must-See.
* * * * * * * * *
From David –
Also about a personal life journey intended to counterpoint with our own journeys, Kevin Cochran’s “Bobby and Matt: Passing Notes Through Life” does not fare as well as it should. Two skilled actors sit motionless at two music stands with the script of the play before them. They read all of the “correspondence” between Bobby and Matt from grade school days to their eventual marriage in 2004. The content of the script is important and covers the many roadblocks society has continued to place in the lives of GLBT individuals. However, there is (sadly) nothing new either in the script or in the stories shared by Bobby and Matt. As one whose personal journey counterpoints that of these two wonderful characters in profound ways, I left wanting so much more than I experienced.
Joseph’s Jolt –
When theatre revisits old material, situations, and subject matter, one can only hope the effort will take on a new spin and different outlook to address the invented problem. The question here is not who wins the argument but why there is an argument in the first place. Nothing new here except a slow-paced, re-hashed, sometimes contradictory production.
* * * * * * * * * *
Joseph’s Jolt serves as the review for “Wilhelmstrasse.”
The concept of Stuart Caldwell’s “Wilhelmstrasse:” done before. The actors Giordona Aviv and Nick Masson: believable and talented at their craft. The script: a history lesson from the 1960’s to the present in ninety minutes. The result: flat, old information. Theatre-goers want and expect more. Sorry, no jolt here.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.orgby phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8thStreet at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venues 8, 13, and 16.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Sunday, August 14, 2011
"I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography" FringeNYC 2011
9/12 – I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography (LGBT FringeNYC Show) Writer: Mark Sam Rosenthal Reviewed by: David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza
From David Roberts –
“There, out in the darkness, a fugitive running: fallen from god, fallen from grace. God be my witness, I never shall yield till we come face to face. Till we come face to face.” -- Javert in “Les Miserables”
Proverbs 16 advises its readers that “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” One would think that a southern United Methodist (with a Jewish father) might heed such a warning, but not Sam Mark Rosenthal whose “I Light Up My Life” bitch slaps lowliness in spirit and most of the oppressed to the proverbial (pun intended) curb.
Whether sitting next to a small table downstage left or standing at a microphone upstage right, Mark Sam relentlessly rehearses his celebrity status with an appropriate “haughty spirit” and “pride.” Mark Sam’s prideful account of his life does result in a fall, but here it is a gentle fall into grace. His unabashed and sometimes shocking life story gives each audience member the opportunity to remember and rehearse her or his own life story. We spend our lives being told not to be too proud, to be careful of bragging, not to put ourselves before others. Mark Sam’s journey from a closeted gay boy and young man to an adult aware of his status and truly proud of his status is a journey we all need to take, whatever our “closets” might be.
Perhaps the comedic nature of the performance sometimes interferes with the audience’s ability to recognize that they are indeed watching the unfolding of their story, but this reviewer is willing to accept that as a possible intent of writer, actor, and director.
Mark Sam concludes his “interview” singing Javert’s “Stars” from “Les Miserables.” Mindful that Javert recited these words before he chose to commit suicide, we can perhaps see these somewhat maudlin lyrics as the last best testimony to Javert’s life of chasing down all that he found unacceptable and dangerous and threatening. Mark Sam’s elusive opponent is not a wrongly convicted thief: Mark’s opponent, our opponent is all we must confront to be truly free and truly well.
Here, in “I Light Up My Life,” the song is more a victory song, a song of triumph over all that might keep us from being who we are. Sometimes we who are oppressed become oppressors instead of leading others into places of freedom, peace, and grace. John Wesley would be terribly proud of Mark Sam Rosenthal (Mark will get this allusion). This critic certainly is.
The “Joseph Jolt” by Joseph Verlezza –
As a new member of the Mark Sam Celebrity Fan Club, my only wish would be to be able to feel closer to Mark Sam and become part of his life story. He is an excellent storyteller but at times, rather than hearing about the memory, I wanted him to take time and visit that place and take me with him. Regardless, his energy, his wit, and his sentimentality make this performance a great celebrity tour.
From the creators of “Blanche Survives Katrina in a FEMA Trailer Named Desire,” this is a Comedy Solo Show written and performed by Mark Sam Rosenthal. Directed by Todd Parmley. Presented by Jim Bredeson Venue #5 Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey Streets) in Manhattan as part of the 15thAnnual New York City Fringe Festival. Performance schedule: Friday August 12 at 5:00 p.m.; Saturday August 13 at Noon; Wednesday August 17 at 9:15 p.m.; Wednesday August 24 at 4:00 p.m.; and Friday August 26 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.orgby phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8thStreet at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #5 Dixon Place.
WITH: Mark Sam Rosenthal.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, August 13, 2011
"I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe" at FringeNYC 2011
9/12 – I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe (FringeNYC Show) Writer: Dawson Nichols Reviewed by: David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza
From David Roberts –
When is the last time when you so teetered between madness and sanity that you said to your bifurcated self, “I might be Edgar Allan Poe?” It is difficult enough to get most of us to admit the fragility of our ego strength. It would be even more difficult to convince us to confess that we had ever envisioned ourselves, in that disintegrating state, the creator of “The Tell Tale Heart.” We – you and I – can rest comfortably that we will never have to make either affirmation because Craig Mathews has definitively done that for us in his brilliantly exhaustive and exhausting portrayal of Oak Brook sanatorium “inmate” Joseph in Dawson Nichols’s “I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe” currently running at the Manhattan Theatre Source as part of FringeNYC 2011.
Some precipitating event has landed Joseph in Oak Brook Sanatorium for mental “rehabilitation.” Joseph’s team of psychiatrists, headed by a just-out-of-school prodigy, bombards him with daily therapy sessions which attempt to get to the root of his alleged problem which, in their collective expertise, results from his obsession with death. Joseph rails against this diagnosis but, as he does, he recognizes his possible affinity to all things morbid and courts the idea that he might just be Edgar Allan Poe. His “listeners” (the audience) serve as judge and jury for his case for and against himself. How can anyone know the theme of a person’s life except the person? With similar questions and arguments, Joseph appeals for his case for normalcy.
There are perhaps a handful of actors who could successfully portray Joseph. Craig Mathers is one of them. Mathers writhes, cries, sits, stands, stares as he gets to the very core of his character. He does what the playwright intended: Mathers demands that the audience members examine deeply their own grasp of reality, their own understanding of meaning and language. This brilliant actor/teacher grabs the script by the throat and teases every nuance, every subtlety, and every ounce of energy from its pages. As he portrays Joseph’s struggle with identity and ego strength, Mathers recites Poe’s “The Raven,” “A Dream Within A Dream,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and Poe’s letter to Annie.
Of all of these works of Poe, it is “A Dream Within a Dream” that challenges the audience the most. Who are we sitting in the audience? Are we even “there?” To whom is Joseph speaking? Is he delusional? Is he psychotic? Do not grab for your list of DSM Codes to help you out. The answer will not be found there. What we do know is that Craig Mather’s Joseph counterpoints the life of Edgar Allan Poe and at one of the many moments in this performance, we realize with a chill of terror that all that we are seeing and hearing counterpoints our own lives. As Joseph speaks to us (if indeed in his mind we are really there), we appreciate the strength of our egos but recognize that “in the blink of an eye” we could be in one of many Oak Brooks fighting for our lives, our sanity, our right to own our reality. What could put Joseph “there?” What could put any of us there in that place of psychological meltdown? A fire? A job loss? An economy on the edge of disaster? Perhaps an eye filmed over staring at us with all-to-knowing wisdom? A raven above our door? A lost love perhaps? Craig Mathers brings these questions to life in one of the best performances you are ever likely to experience.
The “Joseph Jolt” by Joseph Verlezza – After being held captive by the brilliant craft executed by Craig Mathers who is Joseph being held captive in a mental institution, the question might arise, “Is Joseph Edgar Allan Poe or is Edgar Allan Poe Craig Mathers?” It really does not matter. The only crazy person is the one who does not run to visit either one of them. Hurry! This could be the sleeper of FringeNYC 2011.
Written by Dawson Nichols. Performed by Craig Mathers. Directed by Tim Vasen. Presented by CPM Productions at Venue #17 Manhattan Theatre Source, 177 MacDougal Street (8thAvenue & Waverly Place) in Manhattan as part of the 15thAnnual New York City Fringe Festival. Performance schedule: Friday August 12 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday August 14 at 1:45 p.m.; Wednesday August 17 at 2:00 p.m.; Wednesday August 17 at 8:15 p.m.; Wednesday August 24 at 5:30 p.m.; and Friday August 26 at 2:45 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.fringenyc.orgby phone at 866-468-7619 up to 24 hours before the performance, in person at FringeCENTRAL (1 East 8thStreet at Fifth Avenue). Tickets are $18.00 at the door and can be purchased 15 minutes before each performance (cash only) at Venue #17 Manhattan Theatre Source.
WITH: Craig Mathers.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, August 13, 2011
Wednesday August 10, 2011 “Tryst” at The Irish Repertory Company Author: Karoline Leach Reviewer: David Roberts for Theatre Reviews Limited
"Tryst,” currently in performances at The Irish Repertory Theatre, first opened off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre in Manhattan on April 6, 2006. At The Irish Repertory Theate, “Tryst’s” current home until August 21st, play-writing wins the upper hand in this timeless tight-knit cat-and-mouse psychological thriller; however, stagecraft (including acting) is a formidable opponent!
Andrea Maulella and Mark Shanahan portray two disturbing and disturbed characters that collide in a relationship that leaves them and the audience grabbing for moral and mental stability. Those characters Adelaide Pinchin (Maulelle) and George Love (Shanahan) are both beleaguered by self-loathing stemming from horrific psychological and physical abuse. Both are oppressors and both are victimized, a disquieting observation typically not proposed in reviews of this stunning script and, in this case, in its equally stunning production.
Ms. Maulella’s Adelaide pinches every ounce of sympathy from the audience as Mr. Shanahan’s George loves to taunt her and ensnare her into his grifter’s game of greed.
Both actors live their characters and the games the characters play with one another, subtle as they seem, are identified by one another and that recognition ramps up each character’s game to a dizzying climax.
Almost everything about the production is on target. Michael Schweikardt’s simple rotating set serves the script well. Alejo Vietti’s costumes are spot on. Lighting design by Martin Vreeland and sound design by Johnna Doty weave wonderful shades of visual and aural magic to complement the script. Thanks to Stephen Gabis for keeping the actors honest about their dialects. Joe Brancato’s direction is on target throughout except for the odd moments during the opening of the play. Actually the exposition provided in this opening is not necessary so one understands that it is difficult to direct abstract thoughts fired from charaters’ pasts. There was just too much running about on stage for this critic: there would have been much more power in performance had the actors been able to stand still, even stand close to one another though distant in place and time.
But that is a small matter indeed. “Tryst’s” clock is ticking, so see it before it closes. Who know when we will have the opportunity to see this gem again?
For production information, including dates, times, and running time, please visit the company’s website at http://www.irishrep.org/tryst.html
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, August 11, 2011
Check out the FringeNYC website for a schedule of performances. We will be reviewing several of the performances and invite you to check back on August 13th to see our thoughts on the performances we visited. Enjoy! Any performances you would like us to see and review, please let us know.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Review of Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown
Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown
Written and Performed by Joe Hutcheson
Reviewed by Chief Critic David Roberts for Theatre Reviews Limited
The (otherwise) well-crafted press release for Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown oddly describes Mr. Hutcheson's brilliant monologue as "a modern comic fantasy celebrating the beauty and magic of Provincetown." Unless this reviewer was snoozing on the beach with Master Joseph, this must-see monologue is actually a modern allegory celebrating the beauty, magic and romance of solitude and "being alone." But this same reviewer digresses.
Master Joseph is the thirty-three year old gay (and single) birthday boy on his way to celebrate the milestone in (yes, possums) Provincetown. If the reader gets the Dame Edna 'possums' reference, you will enjoy the rest of the review. If not, hopefully you will still enjoy the balance of the review with some unavoidable gaps in understanding. On the train from the Master's (hold that thought, please) abode in Manhattan to his Provincetown playground, the audience is introduced to the Civil War debutante Miss Magnolia Beatrice Devaraux Beaumont. After meeting her demise in the 1861 Heimlich-Maneuver-less choking on the relentless meat of a pork rib, Magnolia finds herself suddenly inhabitating Master Joseph's birthday body on Joesph's way to P-town.
The audience is privy to both the voice of Joseph and his resident ghost and alter ego Miss Magnolia as they take the almost-round-trip from Manhattan to Provincetown. 'Almost' because Miss Magnolia does not quite make it back to Manhattan. Why she does not make it all the way back to Manhattan is, possums and other readers, a secret. What is not a secret is that all readers must make reservations to see this remarkable and well-crafted performance by Joe Hutcheson.
Suffice it to say that just as Miss Magnolia died after choking on a piece of pork rib, Joseph is slowly but surely choking to death on a frightening inner voice of fear of his fear of spending the rest of his life alone (and other fear-inducing phantoms). Although Magnolia slowly integrates more fully with Joseph's persona, this is not to be a Doppleganger discourse. Magnolia realizes she has a mission to complete before she finds heaven (although, for a time, heaven seems to be on earth). The marvelous monologue (really a dialogue) reveals how she achieves her celestial goal and how she facilitates her Master's redemption and release from his fear of fear. And all of this theatre magic involves a kite!
Have my readers, gay and straight and bi and transexual, had their Fringe appetites sufficiently whetted? Hopefully! See this performance before it closes or, if you are a producer, have the sense to book it in the near future.
Have my possums been paying attention? Have you held the thought about Master Joseph? Miss Magnolia dies a debutante in the Civil War South. She (unfortunately) knows the distinction between master and slave. Why does she call Joseph 'Master" (besides civilized convention)? How might her funky phantasma serve her host's future? Inquiring minds will find out at the Cherry Lane.
As we left the theatre, my partner Joseph and I reflected that we were happy that Miss Magnolia had found her hoped-for heaven. However, we also admitted by the time we reached the sidewalk that we already missed her.
Written and performed by Joe Hutcheson. Directed by Cheryl King. Original staging by DB Levin. Lighting and sound by Ellen Rosenberg. Presented by Cheryl King Productions as part of the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival at The Studio at Cherry Lane Theatre (Venue #15), 38 Commerce Street (7th Avenue and Hudson Street) in Manhattan. Remaining performances: Tuesday, August 17 at 9:00 p.m.; Friday, August 20 at 9:15 p.m.; Tuesday, August 24 at 5:45 p.m.; and Thursday, August 26 at 2:45 p.m. Running time is approximately 75 minutes. Production contains brief non-frontal nudity. Tickets: $15.00 (This production is not available for $9.00 on tdf.org). For tickets visit fringenyc.org or call 866-468-7619. Information: www.MissMagnoliaBeaumont.com. />
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, August 14, 2010
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, November 14, 2009
Welcome!
I'm excited about CEOExpressions and the many possibilites this new tool has. I'll be posting several theatre related blogs in the near future. Please feel free to respond to them with your own comments.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Monday, January 21, 2008
CEOExpress
