October 30th

“FLIGHT 18- The Cosmic Joyride” is just that. A Performance Art space trip through the universe performed by an attractive, lively cast of Flight Attendants (dancers, singers, actors) in the manner of a structured “Happening” from the ‘60’s. In the very large space at 3 Legged Dog Art and Technology Center at 80 Greenwich Street at Rector St. downtown we are given boarding passes and enter the ship, which has huge screens on three sides and a cosmic disc jockey on the fourth. The Pilot (Matt Tennie- who designed and runs the terrific videos and soundscape) takes us off, and in the course of the 85 minute show there are hula hoops, bubble guns, flashing planets going by, we dance, we cavort, we have a hellova time as we zoom through the universe. It’s the wild and free imaginative brainchild of Eric Wallach, who, in his performing persona of Wally Bruce, is the Captain of this joyful flight. We are served water and fruit, we draw, we compose, we interact as sections of the trip unfold. Don’t go unless you want to have an exciting free form journey that will have you smiling and having fun for an hour and a half. Weekends to (at least) November 18th. Tickets: www.flight18.net.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com.

October 29th

It’s nice to see the lovely actress Karen Allen alive and cookin’ on the stage. Too bad it’s in a muddled, pretentious turkey, A SUMMER DAY by Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, whom they claim is an award winner. A man (McCaleb Burnett) left on his boat and didn’t return. His woman (Allen) stands at the window waiting, looking for him. For years. Godot never comes. She’s grown much older as she waits. The situation? He MUST be on the water; she CAN’T be on the water. Over and over and over. Two immovable objects who don’t honor each others needs. From the beginning there are long pauses throughout the play as the situation is so iterated, reiterated and re-reiterated that it make Pinter’s characters seem like speed-speakers. A young couple plays the man and woman when younger. Director Sarah Cameron Sunde has the fine actress Samantha Soule lie on the raked stage, stand on the bench- arbitrary unnecessary positions. Each version of the woman, older and younger has a friend to kvetch to: Pamela Shaw and Maren Busch, who are both quite good. Allen seems a lovely woman with a charming persona and a vulnerability that provokes sympathy, but the ongoing monologues become monotonal. I’m sorry he left her-- the fool was a wastrel. During moments in the play there is the sound of bell tinkles. Each time I heard it I thought someone’s cell phone had gone off-- breaking my empathy with whatever (poignant?) moment was going on. As Allen describes a moment with her friend, I drifted from its dreary Scandinavian negative tone. The simplistic repetitions droned on: the water; the sea; the rain; the darkness. It’s like bad Hemmingway. The best part came near the end with wonderful projections of water and waves, which I assume were created by the designer John McDermott (whose raked set of planks and benches worked) and a fine soundscape by Keah Gelpe. My friend, the artist Nicholas Wolfson, commented “This play is about a tragedy happening in a community of slightly autistic people”.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com.

October 26th

THE OTHER JOSH COHEN is a lively, energetic fun musical romp performed by an amazingly adept sextet of actor/comedian/musicians: Steve Rosen and David Rossmer (who also wrote the book, lyrics and music), Hannah Elless (the bounciest, prettiest, funniest drummer/actress in town), the versatile Kate Wetherhead (who can do contrasting characters like a Carol Burnett) and Vadim Feichtner and Ken Triwush- each in a variety of comedic personifications. Premise: Josh Cohen (played by Rosen AND Rossmer as if one year apart) receives a check for $56,000 from a woman also named Cohen whom he has never heard of. What should he do? He investigates, and this remarkable multi-range ensemble, playing multiple roles, are the people he encounters or speaks to. Ted Sperling has directed with great comic panache, Dustin Cross’s costumes, including wigs, add spice and humor, lighting by Jennifer Schriever is super, and the simple set by Dane Laffrey is flexible and fine. The clever songs, played and sung by the six, are melodic and funny. The result is the most entertaining comedic/musical group in New York. It’s hilarious.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

HERESY by A.R. Gurney at The Flea Theatre gives us community theatre acting in an amateurishly written attempt at a contemporary depiction of Jesus’s parents. Director Jim Simpson has these poor people shouting and indicating rather than being actual people. Mary says, “It’s like a high school reunion,” and she’s right. The formerly bright, insightful Gurney seems to have lost it in this silly, annoying play-- a lame attempt at humor. There is not a moment when an actual human being is on the stage— it’s all representations of people. There is an occasional (rare) joke that works. The St. Peter character talks about abortion in today’s world, and there are political speeches against each of today’s religions. There is a silly Mary Magdalene, and a pompous Pontius. Gurney seems to be off the rails as he rails on about consumerism today. There is no action. Nothing happens as they drone on complaining about today’s world. It’s not a play-- it deteriorates into a simplistic rant. Tedious to numbing. Mary moved herself to tears. The only entertaining moment in the show is a lovely rendition of the hymn “Abide With Me,” which is nicely harmonized.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com.

SOWA’S RED GRAVY by Diane Richards is a wild and wooly show about witchcraft and spells through generations of black life for centuries, on a fascinating symbolic set by John Scheffler with shelves of mystical jars totems, amulets and other witch stuff. Director Woodie King, Jr. has put together a flawless cast of master comic actors of the highest level— seasoned performers who know how to make the absurd real. There are narrations, starting with Lonette McKee, who, in Act Two branches into a couple of knockout personifications including the funniest crone in town and as a faded white star. Kene Holliday’s overblown character of The Devil segues into the hilarious, with great physical moves— in a monologue in Act Two, he gives a masterful rant, and demands that HIS birthday be celebrated- just like Jesus. Strong, physically supple Jonathan Peck commands the stage as philanderer and others. Sexy Kimberly “Q”, built like the proverbial “brick outhouse,” is a master of the comic gesture— every smirk or curl of the lip brought laughs. Sexy Toni Seawright has great power and range— she’ll knock you out of your seat. Gary E. Vincent does a very funny short bit as a stutterer who has fits of sleeping sickness, and later, as a preacher with the body of a slinky- wiry, graceful- he blows a spectacular tour-de-force sermon. Dynamic dancer Iris Wilson leaps, twirls, wriggles, and even acts- all over the stage. And drummer David D. Wright rhythmically lifts it all up. It’s all somewhat of a vaudeville show with African legends, folk tales of the 1800’s and 1920’s thrown in, and a tale of a Jewish baker, Aaron Fried (who, in Act One, also plays a hysterical white man fearful of being downgraded),— all in a mix that is impossibly outrageous, free and hilarious, with a touch here and there of real feeling. Imaginative costumes by Niiamar and perfect lighting by Antoinette Tynes fulfill the show. Woodie King, Jr. gives us a wildly-staged, really funny show in this farce-- filled with magic and with actual (although tangential) human feelings.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com.

October 22nd

The first act of Daisy Foote’s play HIM is rather confusing.  There are three siblings: a mean and very cranky sister (the always vivid Hallie Foote), a gay brother (the often mono-tonal Tim Hopper) and the severely retarded brother (Adam LeFevre     in a nuanced, believable performance).  There is a dying father upstairs.  They play out their lives, part of it restraining LeFever, and then, suddenly, at several spots, each actor assumes the identity of a narrator in a spotlight, including LeFevre who is suddenly not retarded, and then we go back to the characters and the interplay.  No explanation.  LeFevre brings home a retarded girlfriend (a winning Adina Verson), and as Foote, with no reason that I could see, tries to stop their interaction and fun, we move on.  At intermission I saw a number of people starting to leave with their coats and things.   I asked several if they were leaving, and they said they were— the play was too confusing.  It’s too bad they left— they missed the drama in Act 2 as things were somewhat explained.  A box of the father’s journals is revealed, and the narratives were readings from them.  LeFevre gets the girl pregnant.  There is dramatic unfolding.  We find out the father’s environmental concerns for land he owns and the financial insecurity and aims of the daughter (Ms. Foote).  So— a flawed play, rather well acted by a cast who all gave a proper New Hampshire tone to their speech, on Marion Williams’ fine set, nicely lighted by Tyler Minoleau, with appropriate costumes by Teresa Snider Stein, well directed by Evan Yionoulis. 

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

October 18th

THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, based on the more than 50 year old book by Rona Jaffe, adapted and directed by Julie Kramer, and developed with Amy Wilson, who is very effective in a tightly-wound role in the show as the highest woman in the office, is an engaging throwback to an era, 1952, shortly after World War II,

which had very different moral and social views and values from today, and I, as an Artist/Bohemian at the time, was an outsider, but was an observer-- it rings true.  The central theme is women working in an office with the ultimate goal of marrying and having a family.  Our protagonist, played with a lyric grace by the beautiful Sarah Wilson, starts at the bottom, befriends fellow workers Sas Goldberg, Molly Lloyd, Alicia Sable and Hayley Treider, all fine actresses with unique characters, and who, in the course of the action, interact with Tom O’Keefe (in several roles) and Jordan Geiger.  Ms. Kramer’s direction gives us a kind of theatrically delicious look at these women and their time.  Somehow she is able to sprinkle musical numbers into the mix with great flair, which is needed late in the play as the frustrations and disappointments of the women become a tad repetitious.  With Lauren Helpern’s flexible set, Graham Kindred’s fine lighting, on-the-nose period costumes by Daniel Urlie, and the impeccable timing and creativity of director Kramer, this show is a great, entertaining carrying out of Jaffe’s concepts about women in that time, exceptionally well-played by the talented cast. 

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

October 16th

Tennessee Williams’ mind was a bit disheveled towards the end of his life.  How do you turn one of his rambling outpourings into a viable Theatre piece?  You hire an innovative creative director like Maria Torres to direct and choreograph it-- as in his play IN THE BAR OF A TOKYO HOTEL, now at New World Stages.  It starts with a dynamic Apache adagio duet between two strong attractive dancers-- a sensual Alycia M. Perrin and Ryan H. Rankine in a fluid physical expression of passion.  The dancers, not in the original play, give us a look at the passions inside the characters we will see.  Then we see the characters-- in an encounter in a bar between a wandering nymphomaniacal cougar, who seems to be a reflection of Blanche, played with depth and conviction by the very attractive Licia James Zegar, and the stolid Japanese barman- Brandon Lim.  It’s a duel between the appropriate (him) and the inappropriate (her).   Enter a very nervous artist (Shashi Balooja), hands trembling, teeth chattering, raving madly about his immersion in his painting, whom we find out has been married to the woman for eight years despite her nighttime wanderings.  His troubled emotions, splashed all over the stage, become a bit tedious.  Thanks to an amazing sensual dance, including a pole, we can sustain interest.  Act Two starts with a representation of a Japanese dance.  Good.  It was clear to me that the painter should be hospitalized due to the severely disturbed state he is in-- he seems borderline under control.  The performance is constantly overwrought.  Williams seems to have tried to allegorize his own need to be absorbed into his writing with the artist trying to unify himself and his painting.  There is talk of dimness and darkness and a possible circle of light, which seems to reflect Williams’ reaction to his fading life at the time he wrote this late play.  So-- he’s still Tennessee Williams and poetry leaks out despite the painful cry as the woman grieves for her husband and philosophizes.  There is a fine dance duet coda.  The set by Xiaopo Wang has a profound simplicity, and is expanded with his projections.  Costumes by Vanessa Leuck well express the characters, and Zephan H. Ellenbogen’s lighting enhances everything.  I found the evening to be worthwhile as a historical look at Williams, as a psychological exploration, and as a look at what a really good director can accomplish. 

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

Had a nice surprise-- travelled to Cape Cod, Mass., for the weekend, and went to a local Theatre production of the musical MACK AND MABLEL, the Broadway show about Silent Film era icons director Mack Sennett, creator of The Keystone Cops, and his star Mabel Normand and their working and loving relationship as he turns her into a comedy star-- book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by the great songwriter Jerry Herman-- at the Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster. Masterfully directed by Peter Hackett, with lively choreography by Keith Coughlin, this is a beautifully produced, fully realized show with imaginative set by Ryan McGettigan, perfect period costumes by Robin McLaughlin fine lighting by Phil Kong, and a high level cast topped by a strong Richard Sullivan and the delightful Christine Morrell whose lovely voice and comedic sensibility should have her playing “Funny Girl” some time in her future. There are no weak links in this fine cast, which includes a zany Jared Hagan as Fatty Arbuckle, who all sing, dance, and act with talent, verve, and charm. Sprinkled with silent film projections of Chaplin, Keaton, and others, with super musical accompaniment by Scott Storr and his trio, and a very moving juxtaposition of tap dancing played in counterpoint to the emotional downturn at the end, this is a terrific show really well done.

Richmond Shepard—Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com

For someone who loves physical action, dance, gymnastics and high-flying acrobatics (like me), the cheerleader musical BRING IT ON, libretto by Jeff Whitty, music by Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, lyrics by Amanda Green and Lin-Manuel Miranda, based on the movie by Jessica Bendinginder, is a joy and a thrill.  The characters are all stereotypes, and it’s hard to be concerned with their “problems,” but these are the best acrobatic cheerleaders in the world in a well-produced production with a simple, imaginative, complex set by David Korins full of terrific slide projections by Jeff Sugg and brilliant lighting by Jason Lyons. The cast are all amazing- they sing, they dance, they’re comedic, they fly through the air.   Plot: ambitious cheerleader (the beautiful and super-charismatic Elle McLemore, who should get a supporting nomination) arranges for the transfer of her rival (the excellent singer/dancer/actress Taylor Louderman) to another school--  a black one--  Ooooohhhh, and what do you think happens?  They even put in a bit of Hip Hop too.  And a bit of a romance between Louderman and the good-looking fine singer Jason Gotay.  The story is contrived, and sometimes defies logic, but the cheery fun-filled spectacular physical action, directed and innovatively choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler carries this very entertaining show.

Richmond Shepard—

Performing Arts INSIDER and lively-arts.com