Becky Shaw

Gina Gionfriddo must have a penchant for psychology and therapy.  It seems just about every one of her characters is a case study in "weird".  Don't get me wrong - i liked the show.  David Wilson Barnes (Lieutenant of Inishmore), Emily Bergl (Some Americans Abroad, A Touch of the Poet), Annie Parisse (Prelude to a Kiss, TV Law and Order), Thomas Sadoski (Reckless) and Kelly Bishop (Original cast, Sheila in A Chorus Line),  pull off a funny, quirky, and entertaining rendition of "everyone has problems and life happens".

  

Suzanna (Bergl) is one of those overly emotional, overly dramatic people who thinks everything is way more dramatic then it really is.  Max (Barnes) is a high profile, money-managing, uber-uptight and emotionally unavailable friend and (sort of) brother to Suzanna.   Her father dies. Perhaps he was gay.  Her Mother has MS (and now a rent-boy too) and is a domineering bitch. Now the family is poor.  Romantic sparks fly.  Fast forward 4 months - Suzanna marries Andrew (Sadoski) - a less than macho man who seemingly loves to "save" people, writes books and works as a barista.   Enter blind date - friend of Andrew - Becky (Parisse) and Max.   Add a dash of overbearing, domineering, funny as all hell mother (Bishop) and you've got complete family dysfunction!

While I did think that the play focused a bit too much on explaining the

  physiological aspects of these people, it did hold my attention.  When the curtain fell (figuratively) on Act I, it left you hanging and waiting to see exactly how this whole family mess would play out in Act II.   Act II however, seemed to drag a bit.  Do Suzanna and Andrew break up?  Do they get past it?  What becomes of Max and Becky?  Fortunately for you, tickets are not that expensive - so to find out the answers to these and other questions - get your ticket today!

Some Americans Abroad

A darkly funny evening at the theatre. Gordon Edelstein directs a cast of pompous, erudite, and self-absorbed college literature professors on an annual trip to England which degrades from barely entertaining to a debacle to top all debacles. Now, that's the plot, not my review. On the contrary - I thought the intelligent humor was well placed, cleverly delivered both directly and indirectly. Take the scenery - which i believe to be representative of our lives. It kept accumulating on stage from each scene. They brought new stuff out which only served to clutter further with each passing scene. Interpreted by this theatergoer to represent the mess we all leave behind in our lives - physically and emotionally.

The humor was biting, honest, and true. It begs us to look at the decisions we make and what it means to stick to them - and the consequences the flow from them. Kudos to leading man, you all know from TV's Ed - Tom Cavanagh and the entire supporting cast. Tom leads the cast down the toilet on this trip with aplomb. You'll want to see more of him when you leave the theater. There's talent there.

Inside Joke - I made sure to split the bill at 5 Napkin Burger evenly with my theater companion afterwards!

A Touch of the Poet

Gabriel Byrne and his cast members gave us an outstanding evening of theater at Studio 54. A classic straight play with a talented supporting cast aptly directed by Doug Hughs brilliantly entertained us for the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. (Kudos cousin Cindy!)

The story is set in colonial Boston - July 1828 - and focuses on the Maloy family, lead with great pride by Gabriel Byrne (MAJOR Cornelious Maloy). It becomes aparant that he used to be a gentleman of great stature living on an estate in Ireland in days gone by. However, since his transplantation to America - we learn that he seems to have slipped a few notches down to the status of inn-keeper. What keeps him going is the memory of his days in the army - fighting in Spain for England. Seemingly unaware that he is not a "real" gentleman any longer - he fights his family and his inner self as they all struggle with what love and honor really means to each of them.

Irish Family and Booze - all classic O'Neill - but not at all one of his trademark durges - The play, however, does close with a familiar note of "in the end, nobody really wins".

Fiction