June 27

Paul Osborn's lovely play MORNINGS AT SEVEN has just been extended for another month on Broadway. Run-do not walk! The play is a peek into a rural past, in 1938, with ordinary Americans and their family interactions. It's almost like an anthropological study of customs, beliefs, taboos of a time long gone as four elderly sisters deal with the consequences of their marriages, lives, and affairs. The entire acting ensemble is super, and Piper Laurie, Julie Hagerty and Elizabeth Franz really knocked me out with the breadth of their performances. John Lee Beatty's fine set, Brian MacDevitt's lighting and Jane Greenwood's costumes perfect the atmosphere of the
backyards setting, and there's nothing like a good, human play performed by the best of top-level pros. That's what this is.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

One of the most entertaining Performance Art double bills you'll ever see is at The Red Room, 85 E. 4th St. July 1st and 2nd. The first half, NHARCOLEPSY, created and performed by Richard Harrington (a dead-pan) and Chris Kauffman (an elf) takes the two intrepid explorers to the North Pole. It's a zany trip they take us on, engaging from start to finish.

The second half, SEX, VIOLENCE & THE MEANING OF LIFE, an epic adventure created and performed by Jonno Katz is full of surprises, characters, innovations. Katz has a vividly expressive face, a grin that light up the room, and unflagging energy. It is truly a star comic turn.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

THUNDER KNOCKING ON THE DOOR at the Minetta Lane Theatre is mostly a light and lively show, sprinkled with magic, basically about the holiness of music, performed by five singers with real voices, and led by
the incomparable Leslie Uggams and Chuck Cooper, both of whom I could listen to all night. The blues/gospel songs by Keb' Mo' and Anderson Edwards really cook with familiar rhythms and original thoughts. The
book, by Keith Glover, who also contributed to the songs, is a bit overwritten, and could stand some trimming so we could stick to the heart of the show - the songs. Director Oskar Eustis keeps things jumpin', Toni-Leslie James's costumes are mostly just right, Natasha Katz's lighting is fine, but the set by Eugene Lee, trying to be symbolic about the correspondence between the Nile Delta and the Mississippi Delta, with the old eye on the pyramid (as on the dollar bill) didn't' quite do it for me. All
in all, a toe tappin' fun evening of terrific singing.

*** 1/4 Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

June 24

FURTHER CABARET REPORT: I caught the next two Sundays at The Duplex. Rita Hayworth Lives! Only her name is Quinn Lemley, and beautiful red-headed Quinn sings better and is just about as sexy. And she's alive!
And here! She's charming, her ballads are moving, and her real strength is sexy comedy, including a Marilyn vision in "Da Da Daddy" that really works. She's a true Diva in a sequined gown, a first class cabaret performer in a well-constructed show that wowed the audience.

John Wallowich gives us musical commentaries on life as he shares his insights and thoughts, many profound, many humorous, all with great wit. He is a fine pianist, counterpointing tricky fingers and tricky lyrics with great comic timing, and at times, deep sentiment. The triple joy is in how bright he is, how light-fingered his piano-playing is and the feelings he dips into and inspires. Although the basic sensibility is gay, it's a thoroughly enjoyable performance for anyone with sensitivity, a brain and taste.

Martha Clarke's VIENNA: LUSTHAUS, with music by Richard Peaslee, test by Charles L. Mee, costume and scene design by Robert Israel and lighting by Paul Gallo, is an odd, intriguing show. It's an Art piece, all played behind a scrim, combining verbal reflections of Vienna in the 19th Century with erotic images by dancers, sometimes dressed, sometimes nude, with passages of verbal interplay recited rather than acted. The smoky atmosphere of scenes filtered thru the scrim can be difficult for so long, but whenever it started to lose me, a new physical, sometimes magical, image appeared. There are waltzing couples, soldiers and women in 1800's costumes, lovers, dressed and nude, hetero and homo, and this does keep one's attention. Sexual preoccupation pervades the work, and there's nothing like naked ladies on a stage moving slowly and sensuously to keep the interest of a red-blooded American boy. Some sections are not as
fascinating, and tend towards the gloomy, drifting, at the end, into the morbid. But the overall experience is a work of high artistic merit, a rare erotic vision by Clarke fulfilled by creative artists in almost all departments.

*** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

Paul Osborn's lovely play MORNINGS AT SEVEN has just been extended for another month on Broadway. Run-do not walk! The play is a peek into a rural past, in 1938, with ordinary Americans and their family interactions. It's almost like an anthropological study of customs, beliefs, taboos of a time long gone as four elderly sisters deal with the consequences of their marriages, lives, and affairs. The entire acting ensemble, well directed by Daniel Sullivan, is super, and Piper Laurie, Julie Hagerty and Elizabeth
Franz really knocked me out with the breadth of their performances. John Lee Beatty's fine set, Brian MacDevitt's lighting and Jane Greenwood's costumes perfect the atmosphere of the backyards setting, and there's nothing like a good, human play performed by the best of top-level pros. That's what this is.

**** Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER

June 10

CABARET REPORT: The Duplex in Sheridan Square has a remarkable Monday night program (7:00 PM) bringing "uptown performers to a downtown crowd." Last night's headliner, Barbara Brussell, a fine singer, filled the
room with her rich tones, sparkling eyes and good song choices ranging from heartfelt emotion to light humor. She is engaging, charming, has strong presence, a terrific voice, and gives a thoroughly entertaining performance. Her opening act, David Zasloff, who isone of the great performers of our time, mixes an unusual blend of music and comedy as he plays instruments from a ram's horn to a Japanese flute, to an autoharp, punctuated by wry satirical comments. His great soul can be recognized by anyone with an inner that is sensitive to a universal humanity as he makes music that touches your deepest level----- Whoooooosh!!! Tonite he's at Danny's Skylight Room on
West 46th St., with Barbara as his opening act. What a combo! Next up at The Duplex: June 16th- singer Quinn Lemley, June 23rd- satirist song-writer John Wallowitch. See you there?

Richmond Shepard Performing Arts INSIDER