The Four of Us

Itamar Moses (Bach in Leipzig) might just be the "it" boy of up-and-coming young playwrights. He's got a depth and emotional connection to the characters he pens that is not often seen today. The Four of Us is ironically about half of that number - just two. Being successful and less than 30 himself, Moses just might have the inside track as to how money and fame affects friendships and the creative process of young artists.

Gideon Banner (Benjamin) and Mickael Esper (David) are both young artists who meet at a music camp when they are a mere 17 years old. They form a bond that endures, at times awkwardly, throughout their college and early professional careers. Ben rockets to fame just after college with his first novel. David struggles with finding his voice. Moses takes us on cleverly-conceived forward and backward tour of the evolution of their evolving friendship. Their awkward relationship endures over the years via phone calls, trips, and long awkward talks. It's about 3/4 through the play that we are slapped with a scene that turns your perspective inside out about the two characters. A clever theatrical device that leaves you questioning the entire relationship and both of the young men entirely. What was reality? What was the play?
The Four of Us is a poignant new play about friendship and memory, the gap between our stories and our lives, and what happens when your dreams come true -- for your best friend.
So take your best friend over to Stage II at the Manhattan Theater Club and see these two talented young actors battle it out over life, love, success, and friendship.

Crimes of the Heart

Beth Henley, the Pulitzer prize winning playwright brought us Crimes of the Heart in 1979. Roundabout Theater Company brought it to us briefly in 1980 in a limited run. It enjoyed a substantial Broadway run at the John Golden Theater in 1981. Most of us don't remember any of that, but do recall the 1986 film adaptation staring Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek.

Well, none of them were here this time around. Kathleen Turner makes her directorial debut toiling over relative stage newcomers Jennifer Dundas (Arcadia), Lily Rabe (Heartbreak House, Steal Magnolias) and Sarah Paulson (Glass Menagerie, The Sisters Rosensweig).

The story comes across a bit dated (circa 1974, Hazelhurst, Mississippi). The southern were accents a bit over-done, and the overall premise, aside from the black comedy aspects, a tad bit dumb. Many may remember the movie having more off-beat characters. Not found here. One bright spot in the play was the above average performance by Jennifer Dundas. Unlike her two other sisters, she delivered a believable and empathetic performance.
Stick with the movie and let's wait for Kathleen Turner to sink her chops into some better material next time!

ArtFuckers

Five self absorbed, mis-treated, overly egotistical, young, soul searching, shallow, moderately talented Gen Y'ers grace the stage at DR2 in ArtFuckers. The play, by Michael Domitrovich, gives us a glance into the Paris Hilton-like lifestyle. Daddy or Mommy was rich and famous, had money, and raised (or more likely failed to raise) a gaggle of directionless brats.

Ok, so that's the story - -let's not confuse the story with the actors because they certainly did a pretty decent job of playing the part. I mean how hard could it be to play someone maybe even a little like who you are - or maybe who you would like to be?!

Fueled by an overdose of every single lettered name street drug (and then some)- The ever-paranoid Owen (Will Janowitz) engages in various flashbacks and therapy scenes with his so-called friends - Bella, his fashion model girlfriend (Nicole LaLiberte), Max, his uber-gay fashion designer friend (Tuomas Hiltunen), Maggie, his uber-dominant phony publicist friend (Jessica Kaye), and Trevor, his wildly sexy and (unfortunately) straight DJ friend (Asher Grodman).

The actors get a B-Plus on execution. The story, more like a C-Minus. Too long. Plenty of room to reign this baby in under 2 hours. Seemed a bit over-told and over-dramatized. Don't get me wrong - I'd have taken any number of additional scenes where Asher Grodman (*sigh*)had his shirt and pants off, which frankly would have been right in line with the intended overall story - about irresponsible youth, brash, cocky, and bold kids in the (art) world today.

Passing Strange

The latest resident at the Belasco Theater is unabashedly an un-broadway un-musical; Passing Strange: A New Musical. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, at first glance. Part rock concert, part rock opera, part comedy, part drama, part performance art, Passing Strange, however, uniquely crafts all those elements into one thoroughly entertaining theatrical experience.

It's the semi-autobiographical experience of the star and creator of the show, Stew. He's the narrator, the rock-band leader, and the storyline itself. In just under 2 1/2 hours, we follow one man's journey growing up black in LA, his escape to Europe, searching and struggling for who he is and what skin he is comfortable living in. It's about the parent child relationship - and the lessons we often learn too late in life. It's about searching for the elusive "real". It's about art and life and where the two diverge... and where they collide.
The cast is a bubbling cauldron of young, hot talent (and by hot, i mean smokin' hot!) - Daniel Breaker (the young Stew), De'Adre Aziza, Eisa Davis (Mother), Colman Domingo, Rebecca Naomi Jones and last but certainly not least, Chad Goodridge (when i say smokin' hot - I mean Chad please step to the front of the class!).

Stew narrates the show from center stage all the while playing his guitar, leading the surrounding band strategically placed on stage with him which includes musical co-creator Heidi Rodenwald.

There are no elaborate sets or scenery - unless you count the visually stunning Tony Award deserving wall of lights - which is unveiled as the young man lands in Europe where he begins his journey stumbling into love, sex, drugs, art, family, and plenty of music along the way.

Stew takes us on a journey unlike any other yet seen on Broadway. Hair may have been the original ground breaking musical, Rent and Spring Awakening did indeed take their place in the evolution of the American musical, and now Passing Strange is here now and is ready to sweep us up on a magical journey.

Don't miss the bus!

Beebo Brinker Chronicles

Combine the mystique of a film noir, a repressed lesbian love affair from the 1950's, a jilted young husband, a young, swaggering, confident, brash, and boyish looking gal named Beebo Brinker, a 40 something gay man from Greenwich Village, and a trashy romance novel author - and you have this fantastic production running at 37 Arts right now.

At times, I felt harkened back to Julianne Moore's story in The Hours - her longing for the unspeakable, her trying to confide in a neighbor (Toni Collette), both of them paralyzed by their time and their culture.

The ensemble cast is fantastic. Jenn Colella (High Fidelity, Urban Cowboy) headlines as Beebo Brinker, but the stage was mostly dominated by Beth and Marcie (Autumn Dornfeld and Carolyn Baeumler), the equally jilted and repressed lovers. David Greenspan plays the mysteriously fabulous older gay man superbly - and to many a laugh.

These gals bring new life to the trashy romance novel - and do so with a lesbian twist. Fans of today's The L Word - beware. You've got some new completion on stage from a bygone era.

Grace

Simply stated: Outstanding. The writing (Mick Gordon and AC Grayling)... the performance... basically the entire kit and kabodle. Top Notch. Grace gets my vote for most thought provoking play of the year.

Lynn Redgrave and the entire cast - Philip Goodwin, Oscar Isaac, and K.K. Moggie put on a stellar performance literally 10 seconds before the lights to up (Lynn has a line in the dark!) to the moment they came out for a bow. Simply stated: Suburb!

Without being overly preachy (despite the fact that we were being literally lectured to) this play presents compelling arguments for and against religion. Go see it and you can decide for yourself how you feel.

Just don't let the pope tell you what to think beforehand.

Parlour Song

The delicious Jonathan Cake was, to me, the star of the show. The restless and mysterious neighbor Dale, the villain, the foil, a victim of sorts. OK, who are we kidding - he stood downstage right - front and center - in his sexy H&M box cut undies showing off his uber-gorgeous bod. OK, moving on...

The acting was top notch all around. You should expect nothing less from the Atlantic. Chris Bauer and Emily Mortimer (Ned and Joy) round out the cast of 3 in this dramatic work. The story is a multi-level piece. It takes place in the here and now - the present - the literal, but the undertones of the abstract, of pent-up frustration, of insanity and regret clearly being communicated at the same time.

Instead of my telling you about it - why don't you watch the playwright, Jez Butterworth and the director, Neil Pepe along with the cast tell you in their own words. Check out the video from the Atlantic Theater Company:

On The Rocks

The delicious Danny Leary and his cabaret show -aptly titled On the Rocks with Danny Leary. He's bringing back '80 style fun and frolicking on stage - attracting a potpouri of musical and comic talent! Danny, not only are you delicions, you ROCK!

One of my favorite acts at this week's show, Stone and Stone. But here's a video of my very adorable and funny friend, the reason i went in the first place, H. Alan Scott.

Hunting and Gathering

The funny and quirky show at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters about 4 interconnected New Yorkers - A college professor recently divorced, his brother, a perennial couch surfer, a neurotic apartment hopper searching for the elusive "it" place, and a slightly dizzy college student not afraid to try it all out - all tied together with the common bond of dive bars and dating, apartment hunting and Craig'sList, the search for peace of mind, and a place to call home.

Are you a Hunter? Aggressive, on-the-prowl, know what you want, go out and get it?

Are you a Gatherer? Caregiver, cleaner-upper, emotion sharer, the move-in type?

The Jazz Age

The intimate setting of Theater C at 59E59 Theatres was perfect for a play about the relationship between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. A small jazz band elevated above the stage provides hushed melodies throughout the show as if those sounds permeated the air these "lost generation" artists breathed.

Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Sayre wove themselves into the life of Hemingway in Paris. A story of the self doubt of an artist, how rocky the road to success can be, and how fickle and fleeting it really is. What defines friendship between fellow artists? What keeps those friendships going and what defines their boundaries?

The show runs a little longer than may be necessary- perhaps trimming about 15 minutes from each act might tighten it up. Dana Watkins' portrayal of Fitzgerald as tentative, delicate, and insecure, yet as horny as a teenager, is magnificent. PJ Sosko played Hemingway as the opposite - a hard, powerful, cold, cocky, son-of-a-bitch. I must admit - I don't really know how either of them really should be portrayed. But the contrast was certainly theatrically effective. Amy Rutberg beamed as both the young and carefree flapper as well as the older, insane, and unstable Zelda.

Overall a pleasant evening of theater. I just hope it was mostly all true! I think a trip to wikipedia is in order for me now.

Next to Normal

Let me be perfectly clear. Run. Don't Walk to Second Stage Theater on 43rd and 8th Avenue. Next to Normal is a musical tour de force. More relevant than Spring Awakening; As daring, moving and poignant as Rent; more hopeful than August: Osage County.

Brian D'Arcy James usually headlines a show. Well in this ensemble cast, each actor is of equally amazing vocal prowess and raw story telling talent. Alice Ripley, Asa Somers, Jennifer Damiano, Aaron Tveit, and Adam Chanler-Berat bring you to tears one moment and to your feet in raucous applause the next.

This rock musical written by Tom Kitt (Music) of High Fidelity fame and Brian Yorkey (Librettist/Lyricist) will knock your socks off. Director Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent) brilliantly consumes every inch of the 3 story set to keep the story alive (and the actors running).

Vocally, this show opens up full-out and doesn't look back for one minute. One of my favorites (if there could be just one) is Aaron Tveit (the gorgeous blonde boy the the kickin' bod) who all but brings down the house right from the start. Then about 20 minutes into the show, a left hook is delivered right to the head. And the blows keep coming non-stop, scene after scene. This is a show about real life, real life problems, and real families enduring, and sucumbing to those problems and possibly inevitably passing some of them on to the next generation.

I'm not going to give away one ounce of the emotional pounding you will take during this show.

Get a ticket. Go. Now.

Dead Man's Cell Phone

Sarah Ruhl (Erurydice, The Clean House) has penned an entertaining and quirky tale about an off-beat young gal who happens to cross paths with a man who dies in front of her at a cafe. His cell phone rings. She answers. She becomes attached to his cell phone and indirectly to his life and what it all really means. Things evolve from there.

Mary Louise Parker is a delight and at home in the role. Kathleen Chalfont embraces the equally off-beat mother of the dad man in stark contrast playing her with bold humor and power.

The tale, while entertaining, seems to skirt the border of unbelievable and absurd somewhere in act two when we ascend to heaven. Fortunately it doesn't go too far off the map, but also never quite makes it back on track either. Overall, very entertaining. Well worth the off-broadway price for a chance to see these two stars up close and personal.

Add1ng Mach1nє

Add1ng Mach1nє 1s a dark play that takєs placє 1n thє 1920's. A man who has addєd numbєrs up manually at "thє off1cє" k1lls h1s boss whєn hє f1nds out hє's bє1ng rєplacєd by an add1ng mach1nє. Hє was nєvєr much of a happy man. Not much 1n lovє w1th h1s w1fє who hє "had to marry". Has a "th1ng" for a gal 1n thє off1cє and w1shєs hє chosє hєr 1nstєad.

Thє mus1c, qu1tє a var1єty - mostly awful. A marra1gє of Sondhє1m, Bєrnstє1n, and a ch1mpanzєє bang1ng on thє p1ano. Y1kєs! V1sually, 1t was dark. Swєєnєy Todd dark.

Thє cacaphony of sounds (rєad mus1c) cont1nuєs 1nto Act 11, whєrє thє man 1s 1n ja1l and has an 1ntєrєst1ng єxchangє w1th h1s cєll-nє1ghbor who murdєrєd h1s mothєr. Aftєr thєy arє both єxєcutєd (thankfully not 1n front of us!) thєy both go to "anothєr placє" and thєy f1nd out 1t's happy and thєy can't undєrstand thєy arє thєrє. Turns out h1s formєr off1cє lovє k1lls hєrsєlf (shє was 1n lovє w1th h1m too) and єnds up thєrє too.

1n thє єnd, wє "f1gurє out" l1fє and dєath 1s just a cyclє and our soul 1s rєcyclєd ovєr and ovєr w1th thє hopє wє gєt bєttєr and bєttєr. Turns out th1s guy doєsn't. Sucks for h1m.

Wa1t a m1nutє - 1t suckєd for US. Wє had to s1t thru thє wholє damn th1ng!

Applause

A classic film, All About Eve, staring Bette Davis, begot this Comden & Green musical in 1970 at the Palace Theater staring Lauren Bacall (and later in 1973 on TV starring Bacall and Larry Hagman). In it's endeavors to bring the less-known musicals back to the stage, Encores! ended up with something less than brilliant, bombastic, super and fantastic.

Don't get me wrong - even recovering from the Asian bird flu (or something like that), Christine Ebersole was above average in the leading role. It certainly was a disappointment to see her at less than "full speed". However, the problem was casting, not performance. As a good friend of mine said, "Could Christine Ebersole have been more mis-cast in the role of the aging Margo Channing?" I think not.

Certainly a brief but memorable performance from Mario Cantone and Kate Burton, but nothing in all of this would suggest it's anywhere close to a Broadway revival ala Gypsy with Lupone - (the last success story from Encores!) My favorite scenes were perhaps the full cast numbers -the show's title number "Applause" and "But Alive". Ebersole seemed to be having as much fun mixing it up with the gays as Bacall in this 1973.

It seemed appropriate for an "all star" semi-staged reading, but I'm going to guess that we won't be seeing Applause on Broadway again any time soon.

August: Osage County

I've been wrong before. This time, it's no different. "No, I don't want to go sit thru a 3 hours and 30 minute dirge!" Well, after reading the review and hearing the buzz, I changed my mind. Boy-oh-boy, was that a great decision.

A few notes - it's not a dirge, it doesn't seem like 3 hours (two 10 minute intermissions make up the rest) and it was worth every penny i spent on the ticket ($99 bucks, left orchestra).

Go see this ensemble. They are tops. A testament to the quality of the show - just about every seat in the Imperial Theater (that's 1400+ seats, folks) was occupied! For a play, no less. Amazing. The full company, direct from Chicago, and the Steppenwolf Theater Company has taken Broadway by storm. While there is no billed "star", clearly Deanna Dunnigan rules the roost as family matriarch Violet Weston.

The drama on stage kept you engaged the entire time, in no small part due to the biting writing of Tracy Letts and the brilliant direction of Anna D. Shapiro. The set, a dollhouse replica of a house on the plains in Oklahoma, was brilliantly envisioned and masterfully executed.

I won't give away a stitch of the plot, the twists and turns or the outcome. That, my friends is for you to experience yourselves. Pop a pill or two and fasten your seat belt. The next 3.5 hours are going to be a bumpy ride!

Runt of the Litter

Way the hell over on the west side - 37th and 11th Ave - - who knew there was even a theater there? Well there is - 37 Arts - a great big space - theaters, rehearsal space, offices and performance rooms, you name it! A find, all in itself! Toss in a rockin' hot ex-jock putting on a one man show and I'm pumped up for it!

This play, Runt of the Litter, was originally performed (to great accolades) in 2002 at MCC Theater and is being brought back around for another go-round this year. It's the semi-autobiographical (i guess that means that most of it is true, but some of it is made up) story of 1980's Houston Oiler's safety Bo Eason and the life-long rivalry he had with his older brother (also a professional football player). Says in the playbill he left football to pursue an acting dream. And so he did. As the title suggests - Bo was always the "runt" and his brother always the "golden child" or so the story goes. Along with this comes all the "I was always out to beat him" and "Always out to prove myself better than him" stuff.
Fictional character Jack Henry tells us the story from the locker room just before he and his brother would oppose each other (for the first time) on the gridiron at the Superbowl. Throw in tales of the father who fueled the whole battle and the mother who gave up alcohol only to watch her sons play football and live their dreams. I think you know where this is going.
Not being much of a sports fan, it figures that I'd be the one to get thrown the football during the show's opening. "Hold on to this for me, would ya?", he says as he tosses me the ball. I was sitting in the 2nd row. "Oh brother, a one man, interactive show", i think to myself. Thankfully, that was the first and last of the interactive part. Just a tease. But let me tell you - this guys was ON. The show was fast paced, loud, energetic, and powerful. I won't say I walked away learning any plays - but I gotta say that Bo Eason is worth the trek over to 11th Ave. Even if only to see the aging blue eyed sports god and his totally rockin' bod. You'll leave pleasantly surprised.

The Homecoming

The Homecoming, by Harold Pinter. A Pinter Play. I've always wanted to experience one on Broadway. And now I have. I've seen it. I've read the professionals' reviews. I've even done some research on Harold Pinter. I still don't think I understand what on earth happened on the stage at the Cort Theater!

I do understand, after reading blog after blog, that what the actors were saying was supposed to be different from what we were comprehending. I understand the "layers below" are what you were supposed to come away with. The conflict. Family. Rivalry. Sexual Undertones. Leader of the Pack. Success. Failure. I get that. I do. I really do. However, there is such a sharp contrast between spoken word and message that it is difficult to keep such vastly different concepts separate in your head while the work is being performed. "What did this mean?" "Why did he say that?" A friend of mine used the word absurd to describe it. It seems to fit.

Given that I somehow understand that i don't understand it, I understand now that the actors did an outstanding job at what they did. The pregnant pauses, the stillness, the thoughts left unfinished. Brilliant acting. Brilliant delivery. Kudos to Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, Eve Best, Michael McKean, Gareth Saxe, and James Frain. It seems to me that the show can only be a success when they are all 100% "on" each evening.

Even after hours of rumination on the play and playwright - i get that I'm not supposed to get it - but i just don't get it. Well, i say, Forget it!

A Marriage of Convenience

The given title is one thing. The actual experience is more like an evening of torture. I had high hopes for a play with the subject matter concerning a sophisticated good looking gay man looking to run for political office but having to compromise and marry a woman (who also happens to be a lesbian) to be "accepted" win the post. I'm not saying I had to run away laughing much as I did after another politically charged play this winter, November. However, my hopes of an entertaining evening were indeed dashed quite early on.

Turns out Normal Beim wrote and directed a train wreck on 43rd Street. The actors that he (or someone else) cast all had those mildly affected tones in their voices - - you know the ones who all seemed to learn English in a finishing school in the south of France and forgot how to speak normally? The lead character, Senator Gary Vincent, played by Todd Reichart seemed to be the worst offender (the others were right behind him). Every sentence seemed to be overly dramatic, overly emotional, accusatory, defensive, or simply outright pompous.

The show proceeded to go beyond the concept of the "marriage of convenience" in act one into the world of political maneuvering and took a turn into the toilet with the lead character Senator Vincent by the end of act two. Again, disappointing. Perhaps that was Mr. Beim's intention, and I cannot fault him for writing it - but I think Mr. Beim had many options in front of him when crafting his ideas and simply made the wrong choices in the characters' development along the way. He pays the price with the results he achieved. Thumbs down.

Straight Up with a Twist

Paul Stroili is the writer and performer of a one man show at The Players Theater in Greenwich Village. I'm torn on this one. It's not so much the actor as it was the subject matter. First of all - one person show has THERAPY written all over it. Nothing different here. It's self admitted somewhere along the way too.

Second of all - What's a straight man doing in a one man show? What traumatic experience does he have to share with all of us? Is he a gay Mormon kicked out of his family, on drugs, and a hooker in NYC (ala Steven Fales, Confessions of a Mormon Boy)? A gay Mormon mourning his dead boyfriend? (ala Jay Perry, Facing East)? A gay man channeling Ethel Merman (The Big Voice)? I know he's not an 80+ year old recovering alcoholic actress (Elaine Stritch, at Liberty) nor a Blond bombshell struggling to show she's got talent (Susanne Sommers, Blond in the Thunderbird)... i could go on and on...

So what is he? He's a straight man who knows the difference between Merlot and Cabernet; who knows the difference between mauve and taupe and who knows how to fold a fitted sheet (doesn't everyone?!). It's the story of what he calls the "Renaissance Geeks". I for one am not buying it. He also doesn't like the term "metrosexual". Well that's good because he certainly doesn't dress well and doesn't look very "pretty". (as in, he ain't gettin' a part in Dawson's Creek).

What did i like... strike that... LOVE? His impersonations for sure. Rich Little - eat your heart out. He tells the story thru dialogues with his mother (cigarettes and brooklyn accent - merits of course). His father (Italian accent), his older brother (goomba johnny), his jewish grandmother (pick up if you're there!) and his psychiatrist (as a patient he's the Mercedes). I'd much rather have just sat and listened to him tell a story thru these characters - but instead I had to endure his complaints that children and later adults all thought he was gay - how tragic! How sad for him! To be branded gay. Gosh.

Let's not waste two hours over complaining about being called gay. The therapy and catharsis might be cheap and it might play well in the red states of Jesusland, but aside from a few B&T's who got cheap tickets on a Saturday night, it's not bound to play well to a mostly gay audience in New York City (in the west village, no less!).

The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock's classic film turned into a comedy on stage. Who would have thought?! The Roundabout Theater's winter play is a side splitting comedy.

Straight off the West End in London, this production features 4 actors playing about 150 parts! Charles Edwards aptly plays the handsome and debonair Richard Hannay - the main character in the show. He gets caught up with 3 women - all played aptly by Jennifer Frrin (Annabella Schmidt, Pamela and Margaret). The other 148 characters he encounters are all played by the multi-talented, funny-as-hell duo of Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton.

Aside from the bookends of the play, which feature Richard Hanney telling us a story from his leather chair in his living room, the entire script is straight from the movie. With bare bones sets and low tech effects they manage to take you on a chase across England by train, car, boat and even plane. The parody adapted by Patrick Barlow, fits in references both visual and spoken to many (if not all) of Hitchcock's other works - including North by Northwest and The Birds.

Dare I say, that Hitchcock himself was most likely slipped in as one of the dark shadowy figures too. Now that's something only a Hitchcock aficionado would understand, but this show holds plenty for both the "in the know" Hitchcock fans as well as those not so familiar. Not being one myself, I relied on hearing things for the first time and still laughing plenty.

So if you're bored at home, tired of the news du jour - wars, elections (that's from the show, folks) - sneak over to the American Airlines Theater and catch a classic Hitchcock reincarnated on stage. Well worth the journey (gun shots not included).

Come Back, Little Sheba

William Inge's 1950's expose on alcoholism and the family is playing at the Manhattan Theater Company this winter. I must say, a bit stale and dated, for sure. I'm not a William Inge expert, but recalling Bus Stop I seem to remember quite a bit of the same feel - lots of dialogue, slow moving story, but a good one nonetheless.

One thing makes this one worthwhile - S. Epetha Merkerson. She plays Lola - the main character of the story who never leaves the stage. The drama is played out in her living room and kitchen for 2 hours. The good, the bad, and the ugly (yes, there's some of each) are laid out in front of us as the story is told... and unfolds.

A great supporting cast all around - including special mention of my neighbor (Chad Hoeppner) who plays Bruce - the fiance. Kudos, Chad!

There are a few other up and coming young folks adding a little eye candy - Brian Smith (Turk) is as gorgeous and talented with his shirt on as with it off (*sigh*). Matthew Williamson plays the milkman - who visits twice - A strapping young man he is.... And let's not forget the postman - he drops in for Act I and we see him just at the end of Act II delivering the letter he promised.

Perhaps Lola will read that letter someday and we'll get to find out what he has to say. Well, for now, wander on over to the Biltmore Theater to catch a gem.

She Likes Girls

This review is slightly out of the ordinary - as I don't think it's fair to review a workshop - - but just a few comments on this one that I saw recently at the Lark Play Development Center.

The play was written by by Chisa Hutchinson. It was inspired by the 2003 murder of a teenage lesbian at a bus stop in Newark, NJ. Performed in two acts, this final workshop was a poignant, touching and focused work. The actors were magnificant and their portrayal of the key characters was empathetic. I did not even feel that I was viewing a workshop. Kudos!

By way of background - a play goes thru readings and then workshops before it gets to a theater for "commerical" production. In these workshops, the author gets the opportunity to see how his or her words get transformed into dialogue by actors on a stage.

Spamalot

OK, if you're a Monty Python Fan - that goes a long way to enjoying Spamalot. However, as I've seen before, once a play gets "old", you are on the 16th cast change, the director is long gone, the producers are no where to be found and the stage manager is running the show - this is what you get. Garbage-a-lot!

My friend commented during the show - "This won the Tony? I guess it was not up against much competition in 2005!". (for the record it was up against Spelling Bee, Light in the Piazza, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). I see the attempt at humor - it's clever in concept, yes. Act II much more so than Act I, for sure. Plenty of marginally funny and stale one-liners abound. The plot is thin, to say the least. Even the "Python-esque" fun and frolicking seems muted and lethargic.

Well - let's look back at the point of this show - - Put on a low budget looking (they spent $11m, by the way) show that perpetuates and extends the cultural phenomenon of Monty Python: The Holy Grail. Entice a new theater audience, perhaps? Have these people gone on to be inspired by the performance and see other deeper shows? (there couldn't be any less deeper shows). I think not.

Lest not we mention the current day annoying, dumb, and culture-less tourists that packed the theater. The requisite gay jokes got many-a-laugh. Of course they would. The mostly white, homophobic, middle American, suburban seat-fillers who paid upwards of $200 for a mezzanine ticket (see, i told you they were stupid) seemed more than willing to accept what they saw as "good theater". Again, I think not.

Let's just say that there are some good "theater" jokes in the book - (of course there would be, it's a Broadway musical!) - but not a one of the idiots that packed the theater laughed at the Wicked parody, the West Side Story music, or the Company spoof. At least the parents (not the kids) got the Fiddler joke - i mean it was a whole scene - how could they miss it?! And then there were all the references to popular culture. They had a big long reference to Senator Craig and the bathroom stall scandal. I think it took a full 5 minutes for the morons (or is that Mormons?) in the audience to get it!! And at that, they didn't like it much. ("He's not gay, you know").

I'm not a Monty Python fan - but let's just say I was less than pleased with what i found both on stage and in the audience at the Shubert Theater. I was right to not see this in 2005 and wrong to see it now.

November

I wasn't sure from the hype exactly what kind of play this would be. His last play, Butley, was a serious drama - so what's a boy to think?! Well, after about the first 3 minutes - it's clear - David Mamet has penned a stinging romp - an indictment of current public policy and politics in general. Only a little "potty mouth" this time, however. (Mamet is known for his extreme language). Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) and Dylan Baker (Mauritius, et al) have a grand ol' time on stage - you can tell. Just don't try to take this one too seriously - at all. Enjoy it for what it is.

Nathan Lane, the unpopular, dumb, and scheming president (remind you of anyone these days?) needs money for his presidential library - or to get re-elected (anything is possible with money and media). Dylan Baker is his trusted advisor (the only one apparently) and straight man to Lane. Laurie Metcalf plays his brilliant lesbian speech writer. They all get tangled up in issues (and laughs) around gay marriage, Indian reservations, gambling, special interests (the turkeys), and political issues and gaffs galore!

As you would expect, Lane aptly harpoons each topic with his natural comic genius. Act II was clearly funnier than Act I - plenty more of the requisite "gay jokes". There's so much farce here, it really precludes any long term teeth the show might have. It's topical and relevant to this current time. I guess we'll see in 20 years if the show can be revived and if it will need any updating or the same issues will persist!

Right time - the presidential electoral cycle in full swing; Right people - comic trio reminds you of presidents, advisers, and cabinet members current and past; Right niche - go for broke with the farce. Anything less would have required a whole lot more pomp and circumstance to execute. Go for a big belly laugh.