News
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August 24th,
2009
COMPLETE by Andrea Kuchlewska seems to be a commercial both for and against
The Training, The Program, The Forum.
Mostly about verbal communication, semantics, linguistics. Some of the
fancy wordplay early on is interesting to an intellectual, but by the
time twenty or thirty minutes go by it gets tedious as the man and woman
argue. The leader, Jack, both in casting and in performance, is like a
TV preacher: strong, handsome, sleek, a good speaker-- but he looks like
an overweight, out of control eater/drinker- a snakeoil salesman who has
not created a healthy life. There is Socratic dialogue with
the strong character (the woman) attacking the weaker mans positive
view of The Program. The play is so full of redundancies,
that the director (Birgitta Victorson) tried to dazzle us with footwork
by having them fight physically during a boring argument. The leader speaking
is like a Born Again Christian proselytizing performance, but boring because
there are no hymns. There is lots of ongoing gibberish with a private
cultish secret vocabulary/language. This terrible play becomes so pretentious
in its smart alec discussions of word usage, that I had to fight my urge
to walk out of the theatre. I found this annoying, intrusion into my life
an insult to me and my artistic sensibility. They kept harping on the
word create. I wanted to create a different present
for myself. If its goal was to turn me off of The Forum, it
succeeded-- I wouldnt want to have anything to do with the people
on either side of the argument. It was endless-- I had to fight not to
escape. As a theatrical experience, it was worse than
root-canal.
OKAY-- as
I sometimes do, Id like to give you the comments of my compadre
who attended COMLETE with me:
Nicholas
Wolfson wrtes:
COMPLETE was a well-rehearsed, well-staged, well-directed (by Birgitta
Victorson) production. The pace was animated, the actors made good use
of the stage, and the lighting was well thought out and never missed a
cue. The little girl (Evie, marvelously played by Sophia Rodyakin) absolutely
conned us with her cute, mocking, insincere, sly ways, AND we liked her
anyway because she dazzled us. And the feat of memorization accomplished
by the lead actor, Lucy Owen playing the part of Eve was
absolutely herculean. From lights-up to final blackout hundreds upon hundreds
of lines of complicated recitation - often technical and, to this reviewer,
quite obscure - flowed rapidly from her lips without falter, uncertainty,
or noticeable mistake. She was less effective when she moved beyond acting
and tried to connect in real time with the audience, rather like a talk-show
host or a comedy club performer, which seemed to stretch her almost beyond
her capacity. Less compelling than Ms. Owen was the trainer
character, played loudly by Dylan Price, who was insufferably clumsy,
bullying, and bombastic, a crude parody of someone on a mission to help
people. However, because the play itself was an essentially weak vehicle,
the overall impression - despite some reasonably good acting talent on
stage, and despite a few good moments was hammy and phony, full
of what a fellow theatergoer called a long diatribe of grammatical masturbation,
sorely lacking in such basics as a beginning, middle and end. As written,
the characters were soul-less, only-partially-human spokespersons for
various sides of an obscure (and occasionally amusing) argument about
the science of linguistics and an equally mysterious training
that seemed to be loosely modeled on Werner Erhards est. Familiarity
with the enlightenment business was probably a prerequisite for anyone
even beginning to understand the playwrights thinking. And even
then the point, tirelessly and vehemently argued by the lead character,
seemed to be that personal work is a sorry, self-indulgent affair best
kept at a distance. There was a kind of cynical, nihilistic, even bitter
undertone to the play. I was left not wanting to go to any of the places
these people have been to.
Richmond
Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
ALL OF THE ELEMENTS, written by and co-starring Tawny Sorensen, directed
by Malinda Sorci, is about a couple functioning and misfunctioning sexually,
and the basic conflict over having a baby or not. Its a terrific
vehicle for Sorensen, and she is totally believable in a wide range of
emotions, digging deep into her psyche and truthfully expressing the feelings
of the character. And in her semi-undressed state in the early part of
the play she is gorgeous, reminding me of a young Julia Roberts. The conflicts
over conceiving, a major deception, arguments about the state of the world,
and a dramatic revelation near the end, allow this excellent actress to
show her wide range and capability. The performance of her co-star, Mike
Keller, is breathy, huffing, puffing, even early on, and in the later
scenes he really chews the scenery as the play becomes stark
melodrama. Its a real conflict of styles: doing vs being. As a writer,
this is a good beginning for Sorensen: the dialogue is believable, the
building of the conflict works. Keep writing. (And above all-- keep acting!)
Richmond
Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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August 17th,
2009
Linda Olthofs SPEK, a half hour physical action performance piece
influenced by the painter Francis Bacon, gives us the concept Without
an Accident We Cannon Play. It starts with what looks like the result
of an accident: a car crash or an explosion, with the bent and broken
bodies of dancers flung about and plastered on the walls and floor of
the open set. The company consists of two women who dance rather nicely,
one actor who moves a bit and breathily groans much anguish, and one Dancer,
Evelien Riemens. There are amusing sections such as the four of them in
an upright imaginary bed forming combinations, very imaginative physical
postures as mannequins/robots, and an exciting section as Riemens explores
wall, ceiling and the rungs of the ladder she dances and stretches on
rightside up and upside down. Her fluid flexibility as she bounces, flies,
and relates to the ladder is enchanting. Olthofs idea of her group
working together intensely to create new physical-oriented Theatre each
year has given us an engaging work, and I look forward to next years
endeavor.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
Director
David Cromer has put together a mostly exciting rendition of Thornton
Wilders OUR TOWN, now playing at the Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich
Village. With the action taking place in and around the audience, we become
part of the life in the town of Grovers Corners in the early 1900s
in this ultimate Americana play. Its the life of the ordinary, with
no surprises. My friend who saw it with me, a lifelong New Yorker, said
it was like an anthropological study. There is no sophistication in this
play-- some simple humor, some tendrils of real communication drift into
the simplistic realities of the lives of these very average small town
people with their very limited communication skills. The simple sentimentality
of the simple lives of simple rural people gives us an ordinariness that
is ultimately quite touching. And there are laughs. Basically people laugh
at two things: recognition and incongruity. All of the laughs in OUR TOWN
come from recognition the foibles of everyday life. The large cast
is mostly excellent, and best of all is Cromer himself as The Stage Manager:
a clear, penetrating communication with the audience. Lighting by Heather
Gilbert enhances everything, and the real set by Michele Spadaro, when
finally revealed, is terrific. Costumes by Alison Siple are loaded with
anachronisms: women did NOT wear pant suits to weddings back then. Booooo.
Act three where the dead, in the graveyard, speak, doesnt do it
for me. The maudlin ramblings about life and death, the moralizing about
our need to be aware of and appreciate every moment we are alive were
a dose of saccharine I could have done without. But thats Wilders
fault, not Cromers the totality of his production adds up
to the best OUR TOWN Ive seen.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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August 11th,
2009
Energy! Enthusiasm! Half-naked young dancers with superb bodies jiggling,
juggling, jouncing-- they dazzle us with footwork in the dance show BURN
THE FLOOR now on Broadway. There is one underlying theme: sexual innuendo
and blatant flirtation. Its like a live TV show for people with
short attention spans. Directed and choreographed by Jason Gilikson, most
of the show is total Zip-- with great zippy steps, moves and dips, many
of which are repeated often, staying within Giliksons vocabulary.
There is a lovely classic waltz, a nice Spanish selection and a charming
adagio, but mostly its fast and furious. The men are all agile,
the women all beautiful, theyre all great, prize-winning dancers,
but the story is redundant. Costumes by Janet Hine are terrific, and excellent
lighting by Rick Belzer sets the proper moods and shadows. In a way, as
a show, its as good as I hoped, but as a totality, as bad as I feared.
People are going to
love them as they travel the world showing their physical feats and gorgeousness
to audiences who have seen them on TV.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 28th,
2009
THATS SHOWBIZ! is a mildly amusing Showbusiness satire by Colin
Chaston and Tony Clout with a rather good cast, directed by Marc Eardley.
Theres a rude, smarmy reality show host (the very strong Patrick
Ryan Sullivan), battling singing Divas (Abigail Hardin and the outstanding
Karen Culp), a bevy of good lookin dancing chorus girls (including
the dazzling, beautiful Natalie Loftin Bell) who move well to Bells
(and Andy J. Fryes) choreography, a floor manager with a fine voice
(Jeremy Zoma), good costumes by Izzy Fields, and an excellent musical
ensemble. Part One is slowly paced, with plateaus, and even though everyone
tries hard, whats lacking is brilliance, real wit, subtle spice
rather than crudity, and more memorable songs. Attempts at sophistication
are rather shallow. Part two, mostly singing and good dancing, moves along
quite well, and the totality is a pleasant experience with a quick Shakespearean
revelation to end it.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 27th,
2009
So- once again my compadre Nick Wolfson and I have differing views on
a play, so well publish them both:
Nick: Sweet
Storm by Scott Hudson features two rather simple country people, one of
them disabled and unable to walk, in a tree house outside of Lithia Springs,
Florida on their wedding night. It is not a sophisticated, intellectual
play. Neither Ruthie, played brilliantly by Jamie Dunn, nor Bo, well-acted
by Eric T. Miller, have anything particularly complicated to say to each
other. However, the skilful acting and competent direction (by Padraic
Lillis) of this production allow the two actors, despite their characters
simple country ways, to take us up to surprising heights of happiness
and elation and down to painful depths of hurt and despair, with a good
deal of humor in between. The acoustics of the little theatre on west
42nd Street are excellent, which permits the actors, who communicated
with uncommon clarity, a range of subtle emotion and softly modulated
expression. The lighting, by Sarah Sidman, failed to seize the wonderful
romantic possibilities posed by two attractive lovers in a tree house
at night, lit by kerosene lanterns.
--Nick Wolfson
Richmond:
SWEET STORM by Scott Hudson-- Interesting: A young preacher carries his
bride up into a treehouse he has built for their honeymoon. Shes
crippled (perhaps from polio) and might have a touch of asthma. Not interesting:
their basically boring, inane verbal ramblings. These are primitive, uneducated
people: hes a moron with religious underpinnings, and shes
a hysteric. It is performed well, especially by Jamie Dunn whose emotions
are just beneath the surface, and she is adept at dipping into a wide
range of them convincingly. Eric T. Miller does quite well as the as the
fool who would subject the woman to this idiocy. Its all well directed
by Padraic Lillis on Lea Umbergers set which seems just a bit too
much like an ordinary bedroom-- I could have used a bit more tree intruding
besides the very fine huge trunk. Lighting by Sarah Sidman illuminates
the area, but does not create the mood and shadows that would enhance
the
supposed location. If the writer wanted to propose a philosophic concept
in the play, perhaps dealing with adversity by pursuing the romantic idea
despite its discomforts, I think it escapes me.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 20th,
2009
JACKIE THE JOKE MAN (Jackie Martling) performs every Wednesday at 9: PM
at Iridium at Broadway and 51st St. He opens with a funny dirty song,
playing guitar with a really good trio, and that sets the tone for the
evening-- there are a succession of very old, mostly bad, jokes, a great
impression of Rodney Dangerfield, and some funny stories. Jackie IS the
joke man. The strength of the evening is the music, which really cooks--
we were jumpin in our seats. Then the show becomes free form with
jokes from the audience, and it segues into a surreal crazy night. Youll
laugh; youll be offended; youll laugh. Its all lots
of fun, and its rare to be entertained by a solid old time comedian
who knows how to punch his punchlines, and how to capture and thoroughly
entertain an audience. Im going back. Maybe I'll tell a joke. See
you there?
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 14th,
2009
SEAL SONGS, two well-written one acts involving seals by Jennifer Fell
Hayes, directed by Kathy Gail MacGowan, gives us some interesting contrasts
in style. The first, Seal Songs, is a sweet, charming, realistic,
almost romantic piece about two middle-aged singles in England, both of
whom have suffered losses: a spinster who loves to watch seals and a handyman,
who tiptoe around full communication. Its played in contrasting
modes: Richard Kent Green inhabits the character of the shy workman who
loves music he IS the man. Katie Atcheson SHOWS the character and
her emotions. I found the contrast a bit jarring at first, but accepted
it and enjoyed the play. The second play, Overboard, has a
totally different tone: its a fun trip into a fantasy about a man
who pulls a Selkie, a seal who transforms into a woman, out of the sea.
Here, Atcheson, in the unreality of the character, becomes real, and seems
to live the part of the woman experimenting with having legs and with
kissing a man for the first time. Green is totally convincing in his characterization,
and he and Atcheson work well together in this enjoyable comedy. SEAL
SONGS is part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, and you can
find its playing schedule at www.midtownfestival.com.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 13th,
2009
PERFECT WEDDING by Robin Hawdon is a perfect play for community theatre:
it is an attempt at a Feydeau farce about hanky-panky and lovers
mish-mash as a wedding is about to take place. With simplistic writing,
lots of doors opening and closing, and forced overacting by most of the
cast, a lot of the idiocy that takes place is fun, and it gets funnier
in Act 2 as it reaches a Shakespearean ending. Alls well, isnt
it? Dayna Grayber shines in the cast as a housekeeper she is totally
believable in the midst of the chaos ensuing. Director Teresa K. Pond
keeps things physically jumping, costumes by Cherie Cunningham and lighting
by Perchik Kreiman-Miller are just fine. Good luck to the enthusiastic
Vital Theatre Company.
Richmond
Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
In MAGIC & ZONEThe Comedy Magic of Rich Marotta and Twila Zone,
Marotta is an accomplished magician with a friendly underplayed presentation
style and first class tricks. Zone, his orange-haired assistant is quite
cute (as she should be). On the bill with them is the very funny Master
Juggler Will Shaw lots of balls, a hat, surprises. This is a world
class performer whose mastery and innovation is rare. The show is clean,
family oriented, and is playing right in Times Square at The Snapple Center,
50th & Broadway, Saturdays at 5: PM. Fun for all.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
DONT LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN is a comedy and song review about
Old People and Aging, performed by four old pros: Steve Rossi, Barbara
Minkus, Marcia Rodd and James Dybas. There are loads of geriatric jokes
and songs, and most of the audience, being antique, can easily identify
with the material. Written and well-directed by old timer Saul Ilson,
the jokes are funny, the performers super in both comedy and song, but
its all on one theme: age. With performers of this caliber, Id
like to have had a divergence into some real old-time comedy on other
subjects-- the kind of stuff they did when they were young, and perhaps
sketches like they used to do. For some, that would be the real message:
that even when old, there can be life, comedy, and new inspiration. As
it is, its a good, entertaining show, and all of us alta kakas thoroughly
enjoyed it.
phone: 212/239-6200
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 10th,
2009
In THE AMISH PROJECT, written and performed by Jessica Dickey, this amazing
actress shows extraordinary ability to capture, with total immersion,
a display of characters of all ages and both sexes with a wide range of
accents, attitudes and postures. Perfectly directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde,
with Nicole Pearces fine lighting and Amish costume and simple set
by Lauren Helpern, the subject matter is painful and full of anguish-
the shooting of schoolgirls in an Amish school. With some insights into
Amish history and beliefs, it is still hard for most of us to believe
that they would be forgiving towards the killer. The play is unrelenting-
a tough journey- but Dickey gives a great performance as she snaps
from character to character, age to age. Shes so good its
almost scary. They dont make many actresses as good as the marvelous
Jessica Dickey.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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July 07th,
2009
The opening scene of THE LION KING at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas is
so breathtaking that it brought tears to my eyes. Director Julie Taymors
amazing visual images of animals and vistas, the stylized masks and costumes
she brilliantly designed, played on Richard Hudsons scenic design,
with Garth Fagans exciting choreography, augmented by thrilling
rhythmical music and songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, all performed by
an exceptionally strong cast, gives us a Theatrical Masterpiece. Based
on Disneys animated film with a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi,
this is one of the great musicals of all time, and when youre in
LV, dont miss LK.
Richmond Shepard-- Performing Arts INSIDER and
lively-arts.com.
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