The Lyons and why you might want to leave at intermission

Typically, one leaves a play at intermission if it's terrible. The last show I left at intermission was Baby It's You, because reading my book on the F train was highly preferable to Act Two. However, I would argue that you might want to buy a ticket for Vineyard Theatre's The Lyons and then leave at intermission.

I saw The Lyons on a Saturday night, with a surprisingly old audience. Act One takes place in a hospital room. Ben Lyons is dying of cancer and his wife waits with him, reading magazines. Ben, played by Dick Latessa, has comes to terms with dying and is using the opportunity to share his opinions of his wife, their children and everything else. I've never seen such an elderly audience laughing so hard at cursing. Ben swears up a storm; he is dying and if he sees a motherfucker, he's calling him a motherfucker (to all of our delight).

Linda Lavin as his wife, Rita, is worth the price of admission. Her character has great lines and entirely great monologues. She is funny and caustic, and so very New York. Lavin gives stellar, entertaining performance.

And then there's our boy Michael Esper. I knew only the basic plot, so I was shocked when his character was announced as gay before he even entered the scene. And then he entered, like a freaking chameleon, with facial hair and an old man cardigan. I was expecting Eli from iHo, but what a difference a costume can make at depicting a sad, lonely, unstable man. His character, Curtis, is incredibly unappealing. It was surely a draining, emotional role to play (he cried big, fat tears three or four times, got all red and blotchy). His posture, affect and voice were so unlike anything else I had seen him do. But I guess that's why they call it acting.

Act One remained in the hospital room as the family argued and yelled at each other. It was hysterical, a real pleasure. Nice flow, good chemistry, everything perfect. I was thinking about all of the people I was going to recommend this show to, and who I should bring with me to see it a second time.

Then post intermission there were three shorter scenes. The first is the daughter, Lisa, delivering a monologue at an AA meeting. The second is this bizarre, uncomfortable scene with Curtis and a real estate agent, that made me want to cover my ears and close my eyes. The final scene was back in the hospital room for a surprising twist. The whole second act was choppy and unpleasant. I went from really enjoying myself, to disliking the characters and wanting to go home.

The Lyons would do well as a one-act. Just give Rita a few more superb monologues, another family argument and a conclusion. Voila - 90 minute one act comedy! And happier people leaving the theater, who might recommend it to a friend.

Oh, RENT, there's something different about you, but so much the same.

I was going to say that I've seen RENT more than I've seen any other show, but I think that's a lie. I think I obsessively inhaled Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson for a total of nine months and probably saw it more times than I have seen Rent over the years.

This new RENT at New World Stages kind of bugged me out. Okay, New World Stages alone kind of bugs me out. But RENT, a show which I know backwards and forwards, whether I saw it in San Francisco or Washington DC or New York was consistently the same. This version felt like visiting an old friend to learn and seeing that of course she's changed over the years, but struggling to put my finger on exactly what feels differnt. I know this is supposed to be a re-conceived, new off-Broadway version, so I can't complain about it being different. But it wasn't different enough for me.

The set was different. It had a boxy scaffold feel. Hmm, there was scaffold in the original, right? Maybe there are just more ladders now. And there are big windows in Roger and Mark's apartment, reminiscent of those in the RENT movie.

The costumes were interestingly different. Costume designer Angela Wendt created costumes for the original RENT and the new off-Broadway version. A New York Times article points out subtle changes that evoke the original costumes (like Mark's new flannel shirt which resembles Mark's plaid jacket in the original). But then Collins was wearing a Papi shirt, just like he always has. The biggest costume change was in Angel's Christmas outfit. The same New York Times article quotes director Michael Greif saying, "I wanted our new Angel to be a bit more of a club kid and to be dressed more male, so it would be very clear to audiences that Angel and his lover, Tom Collins, are two men in a relationship" I get it, but we were never confused about Angel and Collins being two men in a relationship. And during the funeral scene Angel is referred to using female pronouns and as a drag queen, so the real novelty of their relationship is not that it's two men, but rather that it's a gay man and a drag queen/cross dresser/transperson. You can play any of those angles, but the Angel I know and love wouldn't want to be portrayed as your average gay man. She's anything but average.

And jeez, Roger is a hard role to cast. You can find these stories about how they had a hard time casting the original Roger and were so happy to find Adam Pascal, even if he needed some breaking in. Oy, I almost always leave a rendition of Rent dissatisfied with the Roger. But I'll tell you one thing about Adam Chanler-Berat; unlike most Mark's I've seen, he is not doing an Anthony Rapp impersonation. Three cheers for that.

I imagine there were things over the years that drove Michael Greif crazy and he is happy to have an opportunity to improve them. Examples:
*When Collins and Angel meet - "My body provides a comfortable home, for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." "As does mine." "(SQUEAL) We'll get along fine." Well the squeal really got out of control in the later years of Rent and on the final tour (I think I'm looking at you, Justin Johnson) and now the squeal is no longer. Well done.
*During "Light My Candle" Roger's struggle was more evident than I've ever seen. He was so tempted by Mimi, but so imprisoned within himself. That scene had very good directing and acting.
*Angel's death scene felt a little less weird and sexual (though same thing with the white sheet and all) and the funeral was a lot more powerful than I remember.
*Maureen's "Over the Moon" is always my least favorite part of the show, but Annaleigh Ashford's take on the scene was my favorite version thus far.

But then some things seemed entirely unchanged -  the staging and choreography of "La Vie Boheme" and "Take Me Out Tonight" for example. I'll be back to see RENT, my old friend, again. There's just something weird about seeing something so familiar with minor changes. I wish the cast and crew the best of luck.

July Theater Wrap-Up

All school year when I dream of summer vacation, I plan to attend heaps of theater and all of those Sunday/Monday evening events that I can't get to while working. I haven't seen much this summer. Maybe it's because summer is slow - there are no new Broadway shows and off-Broadway seems to be on vacation.

I spent the first week of July in San Francisco, which of course impacted my NYC theater schedule, but I caught three local shows in SF. You can read about them here.

As soon as I got back from San Francisco I headed to the Berkshire Theater Festival to see The Who's Tommy. Tommy is one of the first musicals I remember seeing as a child and really enjoying (along with Blood Brothers). I once proclaimed on this very blog my deep appreciation of all things James Barry. Well, he was playing Captain Walker to Randy Harrison's Tommy, so I was there, twice. I was going to love this production, no matter what. Both nights had audio problems (and this was not a preview), and the choreography was way overdone, but I loved every second of it. Can we please get these Brooklyn boys back on the New York stage?

The other major shows I saw were special visits with old favorites - Rent and Hair. Last time I saw Hair was in  March on tour in Boston with my whole family. This time I went alone. Let me tell you, the best Broadway seats I've ever had have been at the St James. The last time I saw American Idiot and this trip to Hair, I was sitting center orchestra in row F or G. I'm shocked they're not premium seats. And this amazing seat to Hair cost me only $55. Why? Because the Public Theater rocks. Usually when you receive a discount code for a Broadway show the orchestra seats available to you are in the side orchestra or rear orchestra. Not for Hair - front and center. Anyways, the show is still great. The cast created a great energy with the audience on a sparse Tuesday night.

And then there was Rent. I think I would need to see it again with a notepad to tell you all of my thoughts. It felt bizarre. It was the same old, familiar Rent, but something was different. Mostly the set. I'll give you more thoughts later in the week post-opening.

Lastly, I saw a great movie called One Night Stand, part of New Fest, NYC's LGBT film festival. It is about the making of the 24 Hour Musicals. I went because I thought I would be interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised by how great it was. It was a documentary showing all of the actors, writers and composers coming together to write and produce a fifteen minute musical in 24 hours. The book writers and composer had from midnight until 6:00 am to write the musical. They became totally hysterical in the wee hours of the morning and still managed to come up with good stories and songs. Then the actors had the day to learn their lines, songs and choreography. Apparently it takes more than a day to learn to sing a song well, so it was also hysterical watching the music directors and the actors work through kinks. And it was deeply satisfying to watch it all come together, musicals on stage for an audience that same night. I've never been to the 24 Hour Musicals, but now I'm really looking for to the event next spring.

A Week in San Francisco Theater

I spent this week in San Francisco, because my tenants moved out and I needed to rent out our San Francisco apartment. I stayed in the mostly empty apartment by myself. I could entertain myself by day with coffee trips, hilly runs and delicious food, but I knew the nights would be lonely, so I booked some theater tickets. Obviously I had to see Tales of the City, but it took some searching to find some regional plays to fill the other nights. I found the website Bay Area Theater, which saved me from sucombing to the various one man/woman shows in  my Mission neighborhood.

Tales of the City
I had read the Tales of the City books by Armistead Maupin well before moving to San Francisco. I have continued to read them as he has published more years later. The stories speak for themselves, a love of the city, but also striking out on your own, building family around you and overcoming life's obstacles. I was so excited when I heard that a Tales of the City musical was in the works, but I wasn't sure if I would get to see it. Suddenly our tenants gave notice, the show's run was extended and kismet worked in my favor.

The songs written by Jake Shears and John Gordon were the highlight of the musical (as they should be, right?). There were big self-affirming ballads, that I can just imagine the kids on Glee covering, campy disco numbers and a really sweet, slow number when Michael sings the infamous coming out letter. Those Scissor Sisters guys transitioned to musical theater nicely.

Maupin's Tales of the City is a quick read, but it's 400 pages and introduces you to a dozen complicated characters with their own overlapping storylines. It's a lot to get done on stage and it took exactly three hours. Maupin's stories always have a mystery subplot (which I always thought he could do without), and it was well into the second act when it occurred to me that the mystery had be left out of the musical. But then it showed up, with 45 minutes to go. Mary Ann dates a creepy Barbary Lane neighbor who tries to blackmail Edgar Halcyon and Mrs. Madrigal. He's also into child porn. With a book that was a little too long and complicated, they could have cut this part of the story. When your show is too long, it's always safe to cut the child pornography subplot.

Judy Kaye as Anna was excellent. She had some big belty songs and really delivered them. Wesley Taylor as Michael was sweet and lovable. I wasn't convinced of his singing, but I was convinced of his Michael. Betsy Wolfe as Mary Ann has a great voice, but failed to deliver the necessary naivete of the character. Mary Ann will always be Laura Linney in my heart, but if this show comes to New York I hope to see someone more innocent in the role. Her affect could be aided by less tight costumes and not such a bleach blond wig. However, Wolfe has been with the show through readings and workshops, so she might stick with it for a New York production. I'll just send the producers my hair and costume notes.

The Book of Liz
As a fan of David Sedaris's books, I have wanted to see the play he wrote with his sister Amy Sedaris, The Book of Liz. I think it was produced in Brooklyn last summer, somewhere small, but I missed the run. Lucky for me it was playing this month in San Francisco at the Custom Made Theatre Company. Marie O'Donnell played the sweaty, cheese ball making main character, Liz, and a team of three actors covered the remainder of the roles. It was a cute 90 minute story about when a woman leaves her cloistered community (the Squeamish) and encounters modern culture. This set up makes for lots of mix ups, along the lines on Amelia Bedelia. It was a silly story, but had some good jokes thrown in, as you would expect for the Sedaris duo.

The Pride
New Conservatory Theatre Center's The Pride is about three characters in 1958 and 2008. In both years the three characters are named Oliver, Philip and Sylvia, played by the same three actors, but they are not the same people or scenarios. In 1958 Philip and Sylvia are married, and Philip has an affair with Oliver. Phillip ends up rejected Oliver and turning to aversion therapy. The psychiatrist's description of the aversion therapy was by far the most haunting scene - Philip was to be locked in a windowless room over night. He would be encouraged to masturbate to gay pornography in the room. Each hour a nurse would come in a give him a shot that would make him vomit. He wouldn't have a toilet or bucket to vomit in, just the floor. So he would remain with the vomit and return to the porn until the nurse came back an hour later with another shot. And repeat until morning. Aversion created. Man cured. Bleh.

In 2008 Oliver and Philip are a couple just breaking up and Sylvia is their close friend. The most memorable scene from 2008 is Oliver's boss talking about how he wants more articles written about gay people and he goes on to talk about his uncle who died of AIDS when he was younger. He didn't meet his uncle's partner until the hospital and that never made sense to him.

The main point was to make an obvious contrast of gay people's lives fifty years apart in London. The point was made with memorable characters and stories. The year switched back and forth and it was sometimes hard to know which year it was, as the characters had the same names and looked the same. Sometimes the only change was the presence or absence of laptop. More dramatic period costumes would have helped - surely London fashion hasn't changed only slightly in fifty years.

June Theater Wrap-Up

The highlights of my June theater schedule were Measure for Measure in Central Park and Unnatural Acts at Classic Stage Company. I attended opening night of Measure for Measure and was excited to spot the likes of Alec Baldwin, Heath Calvert and Tony Kushner (all three are major celebrities in my mind). I found the performance to be more engaging than most productions on Shakespeare. Of course a town outlawing sex outside of marriage (reminded me a lot of Footloose) and a classic bedtrick make for a good story. Carson Elrod stole the show for me. He was my favorite lost boy in Peter and the Starcatcher and he was excellent in a totally different role in Measure for Measure. The park raccoon made an appearance, as did a dildo, so all in all it was a great night at Shakespeare in the Park.

Unnatural Acts is about the secret court at Harvard that expelled a number of students and one faculty member who were thought to be gay. The story is true and is a blemish on Harvard's liberal history. It's a very compelling story. Each man in the play had their own explanation for their association with the "gay" dorm room on campus. The explanations were not so much the cause of being closeted, but trying to save their hides, and their diplomas. The acting was great - the actors did their own 1920's version of camp with success. At the end of the play we heard of what happened in life to each of the character's and many were sad, but predictable.

In  June I also made a return trip to see The Normal Heart before it ended its Broadway run. We are all so lucky that this play was produced this spring (thank you Darryl Roth) and that Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey signed on for it. A new generation of theater goers got to be affected by Larry Kramer's rage. Let us remember it.

The lowlights of June - The Shaggs at Playwright's Horizon, The House of Blue Leaves on Broadway and The Illusion at Signature Theatre.

May Theater Wrap-Up

What did I see in May? How about The Book of Mormon? Finally. And let me tell you, we bought full priced tickets ($137.50) that were partial view seats. How is that even legal? Remember the stink earlier this winter about previews not being advertised as previews and not being appropriately discounted? Well, I think the same should be said about full priced partial view tickets. I get it, though. The Book of Mormon is hot and I should be thanking them for letting me in the door. Honestly. But I also bought tickets to House of Blue Leaves this week, and out of curiosity I asked how much the partial view seats are. Full priced! Now House of Blue Leaves is not hot enough to get away with that! They have full priced, full view seats available; why would you opt for partial view? Anyhoo, we sat in row C of the front mezzanine of the far left and could see just fine. You've read enough about the show. I adored the missionaries. I am surprised that there is not more uproar about the portrayal of the Ugandans; it felt a little xenophobic to me. But the songs/acting/singing/direction were excellent. It was, of course, really funny. You can probably get tickets for September now. Or ask for them for a Christmas gift. Just do it soon.

The Normal Heart had extra meaning to me after reading Free For All: Joe Papp, The Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told. First of all, the book is fabulous and if you haven't read it you should. Readers learn that Gail Merrifield Papp was the head of the Public Theater's literary department, working with playwrights before their plays were produced. She worked for about a year with Larry Kramer on The Normal Heart. The Public Theater was always producing relevant, timely, edgy material and The Normal Heart fell into that criteria. The Public helped give birth to this huge play and now it is being revived on Broadway. Joe Mantello is beautiful as Ned Weeks, anger just oozing from his pores. I loved seeing Luke MacFarlane on stage, even though he just had a bit part. The play is serious and sad and hugely important. Ned Weeks argues that if gay marriage were legal there would be fewer cases of AIDS, and I can't believe that was in the early 80's and we still don't have marriage equality! And there is still not a cure for HIV/AIDS! This play is just as relevant, timely and edgy as when it premiered at the Public.

I took my younger brother to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, about two months after everyone else saw it. The best part of the experience was in taking my brother, but there is something to be said for an old school Broadway revival with a big cast and cheesy numbers. I particularlly enjoyed the songs "Coffee Break" and "Grand Old Ivey", both of which bordered on campy. And I am not above enjoying seeing Daniel Radcliffe perform live.

I attended opening night of Knickerbocker at The Public Theater. I brought my school's drama teacher with me, which just seemed so poetic. She had never been to the Public! Ga! An expectant father sits at the Knickerbocker diner over the months while his wife gestates sharing meals with various important people from his life - his father, his two best friends, his wife, his exgirlfriend. The conversations were predictable - cirucmsision, baby names, how this will change his life, reflecting on his relationship with his parents etc. But many lines drew good belly laughs from the audience.

A similar lab experience was had at Dream of the Burning Boy at Roundabout Underground. It's closed now so I won't make you too jealous, but it was a sweet play about a high school in the weeks following a death of one of its students. The main characters were the dead student's sister, best friend, girlfriend and teacher. I hadn't missed such stories, but it made me realize that we don't see many plays about teenagers, especially contemporary teenagers. High school provides so much material! I am really looking forward to seeing more Roundabout Underground productions next year.

I really enjoyed Cradle And All. What an excellent season Manhattan Theatre Club has given us! I am still traumatized by The Whipping Man. Not to mention the success of The Pitmen Painters and Good People on Broadway. Their 2011-12 season looks just as promising.

I honestly went to see WTC View at 59E59 after Michael Urie tweeted about it (he was in the original Fringe Festival production of the play, and then starred in a movie version of it). The plot is about a man who had posted an ad for a new roommate on September 10, 2001. Then September 11th happens and he still needs someone to help pay the rent, so he continues searching for a roommate. All of the candidates come and share their experience of where they were when the towers were attacked. Playwright Brian Sloan pulls off a good surprise in the middle of the play, that I didn't anticipate at all - I love when that happens. I have read a few very good novels about those early days in September (The Good Life by Jay McInerney comes to mind), but I haven't seen any plays on the subject. WTC View is running through June 5 and is definitely worth a trip up town.

And I went back to iHo for a third, and final, time. My main observation is that when Michael Esper is not wearing only his underwear, he is wearing some tight, tight jeans, that just may have been left in the costume room for the off-Broadway run of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

What's June look like for you? I am most excited about a couple of dates I have at Joe's Pub. June 10 to see The Civilians and June 29 for Our Hit Parade. You know the Pub will be on hiatus this summer while they renovate, so get in the shows while you can.

MTC's Cradle And All Is Really Good Ya'll

With Cradle And All Manhattan Theatre Club continues with an excellent season. This play tells the stories of two couples in adjacent Brooklyn apartments. One couple is dealing with an infant who won't sleep. The other is at a turning point in their relationship, and their future may or may not involve babies.

The catch going in, is that both of the couples are played by the same pair of actors: Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller. How well the actors and director pull this off can make or break such a show. I imagined that the script would go back and forth between the couples, with a minor costume change and accent switch. This was not the case. The entire first act told the story of  Claire and Luke who are deciding about their relationship. Then the second act was Annie and Nate with their sleepless baby.

Of course, actors are always acting on stage, but to see them play entirely different characters (and play them well) with only a fifteen minute intermission is impressive. Dizzia and Keller were outstanding. I thought they were good after the first act, but I was really convinced of their talent after the dramatic character changes for act two. Their entire affect, speech pattern and posture were different. There was nothing lazy about the transition. Nothing lazy about them at all, in fact - just the two of them in heavy dialogue for over two hours. Cheers to director Sam Buntrock. Credit must also be given to the costumes, hair, makeup and set designers all of whom helped make the two acts seem entirely different.

Daniel Goldfarb's script was fast moving and funny, especially the second act when you need it to be faster and funnier. The elderly man using a listening device and sitting next to me said loudly to his wife, "This play is really funny." And it is. Excellent writing, acting, directing. Another winner from Manhattan Theatre Club.

On taking my little brother to the theater

Last weekend my 23 year-old brother, Michael, was visiting me in Brooklyn. He's this super straight, beer drinking, baseball playing guy with a penchant for musicals. He says things like, "Do you think we can hit a matinee before the Yankees/Sox game?"

He is also a big Harry Potter fan, so when I had to come up with a big, flashy musical matinee for Saturday, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying won my money. It was also apropos, because Michael graduated from a business college last May and has had three entry level business positions in the past year. He would very much like to climb the corporate ladder quickly like J. Pierrepont Finch.

Michael eats up a theatrical outing like someone who loves the theater, but doesn't get to go often. He is consistently blown away by the theater's ceiling, the enthusiasm of the crowd and the quality of acting/singing. He is always impressed with our seats - we could be in the last row of the balcony and he would say, "It's awesome being so high up."

His favorite musical is In the Heights, but often when we see a new show he will declare it to be his second favorite. I first remember that happening when we saw A Chorus Line on tour in San Francisco. Then when we saw HAIR in Boston this spring, that became his second favorite. But I think it will be awhile before another show holds a candle to How to Succeed. We were both impressed by Daniel Radcliffe's comedic acting, his singing and his American accent. We agreed that he seemed to be obviously concentrating on the choreography. At intermission we had to google his height (5 feet, 5 inches), because he appeared to be the smallest person in the cast.

Michael had a ton of fun at the Yankees/Red Sox game, but surely his retelling of the weekend also included the experience of his sister taking him to see a highly satisfactory musical with a big movie star. It's such a pleasure to bring a guest to the theater who is so enthusiastic and easy to please. Michael is coming back to New York in August and I'm already planning what we should see.

Rave: The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures

Ah, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures - where to begin? With a joke about how I consider myself to be an intelligent homosexual? With pictures of Michael Esper in only underwear? Or straight to the gushing?

Straight to the gushing it is - Tony Kushner's Intelligent Homosexual is now playing at the Public Theater. This play is theater at its best, and you should go buy tickets now, before they sell out.

Gus, the family patriarch, played by Michael Cristofer, calls his three children, Empty, Pill and V (Linda Emond, Stephen Spinella and Steven Pasquale) to his home in Brooklyn for a family meeting. We all know family meetings usually bring bad news, and this meeting goes on for three days, nicely portrayed in three acts. They talk, debate and argue with rich, engaging dialogue that educates the audience as much as it entertains.

Gus has very different, complicated relationships with each of his three children, who in turn have even more complicated relationships in their personal lives. As the immediate family debates communism, labor unions and assisted suicide, the romantic lives of the three children spin out of control on the fringes of the story.

The main set is a beautiful, realistic Brownstone dining room, complete with a front door and second story bedroom. Gus was born in that house and lived there his whole life, which is reflected in the set, full of a lifetime's worth of memories. During an argument, V smashes a hole in one of the walls (which is surely replaced daily for the next performance); this move makes the house seem real, not a temporary piece of scenery.  Similar to the recent production of Angels in America at Signature Theatre, Intelligent Homosexual gives the audience a feeling of voyeurism. You can completely forget that you are at the theater, and feel like you're peeking in your neighbor's window during one hell of a weekend. This effect results from a combination of Kushner's writing, Michael Greif's brilliant direction and a skilled group of actors who are very comfortable in their roles.

Seeing Intelligent Homosexual will leave you feeling haunted and questioning. It warrants a second visit to take time to notice the nuanced performances and dynamic Kushner story telling. So really, book your tickets now and early enough in the run so you can go back again before the show closes on June 12.

April Theater Wrap-Up

April was a busy theater going month for me. I had a week and a half vacation, for which I remained in NYC. There were shows I wanted to see one last time before they closed, some hard to resist offers for free tickets, a new Broadway show and some irresistible downtown theater.

On the first day of April I went to see My Last Play. In December my friend bought us tickets to see Ed Schmidt's one man show. I didn't want to go. I wouldn't have bought tickets, but said friend assumed I would want to go, so April 1 went down in my planner. It was weird. It was in Schmidt's basement apartment in Carrol Gardens. He told us funny stories, but at the end told us that most of it was lies, which left a funny taste in my mouth. It was like when you read a great memoir and then the author has to retract half of it. But we did get to raid his library of plays. I got a copy of BENT and Dara took The Normal Heart for me, too.

Twice this month I ventured to The Public Theater to see The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, more commonly referred to as iHo, or "the new Kushner play." I have tried to write more about iHo, but I keep stalling. I love this play, and I don't know why. I am absolutely struck by the young, intellectual hustler (Eli), played by the talented Michael Esper. I love that many of the actors (Stephen Spinella, Linda Emond) have a history with Tony Kushner. I love the ambiguous ending. I love the totally different, complicated relationships that each of Gus's children have with him. I love that there is so much union history in the play, at a time in our country when the future of unions is voted on by State Senates. This play is beautiful, timely and haunting. I would expect nothing less from Mr. Kushner.

I got free tickets to Tomorrow Morning from StageGrade. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone. I am not motivated to see more heterosexual marriage/divorce plays. It was my first time visting York Theatre Company (I didn't see Yank! I'm a bad gay) and we had a hard time finding it. It was in the basement of a church. "Are you taking me to a church play?" asked Dara. I actually liked the story. It was about a couple the night before their wedding, told in parallel with the story of the night before their divorce. The production felt more like a workshop. The singing and acting weren't great, but it was a free night at the theater.

We saw Part II of Angels in America with the original cast. Then we saw Part I with the new cast. I wanted to go back one last time before it closed, so we went to Part II with the new cast during the last week of the run. Keira Keeley and Michael Urie were just outstanding as sick, delusional souls. I could watch that play over and over again. The whole production was so beautiful. Kudos to Michael Greif and Signature Theatre.

This winter I saw Pearl Theatre Company's production of The Misanthrope and I didn't love it. Classical theater is not my thing, especially seventeenth century French theater. When I heard that Classic Stage Company was doing an adaptation of The Misanthope, I thought I would see it for another take, now that I was familar with the plot. I thought that if they were doing an adaptation there would be differences, like maybe it wouldn't rhyme, or maybe it would take place in a different period, but these factors were not changed. It was still the archaic rhyming prose, but with different, more modern words. The School for Lies did improve on the ending, but otherwise I found it to be just as inaccessible as the original. I had not seen Mamie Gummer on stage before and I was disapointed by her performance. Hamish Linklater was insanely good and was the saving grace in this production.

I really like the Public Theater's Lab productions, but Urge for Going wasn't on my calendar until we went to see iHo and Dara read the Playbill enclosed postcard advertising the show. She asked if we could see it (I usually feel like I'm dragging her to plays). Totally effective marketing, my dear Public Theater! The show was about a Palestinian family living in a Lebanese refugee camp, written by Mona Mansour, one of the many female playwrights whose work was produced by the Public this year. The story was about the teenage daughter trying to take an exam to go to college and get out of the camp. My favorite part was her brother who had a traumatic brain injury, played with great compassion by Omid Abtahi. The play contained a good amount of history about Palestine, served in small doses.

I went to see Baby It's You on Broadway, but I left at intermission, so I feel I can't really pan it. But at intermission I decided I would rather be on the subway reading my book that sitting through another hour of dribble, so I left.

We made one last visit to La Cage aux Folles and loved every minute of it. In fact, I got tickets for my mother and her friends to see it when they come to NYC before it closes.

Just yesterday I finally made it to see Being Harold Pinter, after being shut out from the sold out run during the Under the Radar Festival. I'm sure you've heard of the Belarus Free Theatre and how just performing their work is considered a crime in Belarus. This is, of course, when political theater is at its most important - when used to speak out against oppression, to give a voice to the silenced. I expected to be absolutely devastated by Being Harold Pinter, but it wasn't quite as emotionally draining as I had anticipated (in a good way). I was also nervous about having to read subtitles, actually supertitles, but that too was manageable. Scenes from Harold Pinter's plays are combined with his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Both are used to shed light on modern day torture, political imprisonment and intimidation without alienating the audience.

Wonderful shows closed in the past week (Peter and the Starcatcher, Angels in America, La Cage aux Folles, American Idiot), but I know there is more great theater to come in May. I already have The Normal Heart and Book of Mormon on my calendar!

One last visit to La Cage aux Folles

I saw the 2004-5 revival of La Cage aux Folles and I saw the current revival last spring. I had been itching to see the production with the replacement leads of Christopher Sieber and Harvey Fierstein, so when producers recently posted a closing notice for May 1 I knew I had to get to the theater.

Dara and I attended a Wednesday matinee over school vacation. The blue haired ladies were replaced by families with middle school and high school aged children. I love to see teens in Broadway theaters, especially when they're not there for a Disney show or Daniel Radcliffe.

As usual, the Cagelles were absolute show stoppers. It's amazing to me that anyone can be that flexible, but especially men and especially muscular men. At intermission there was audience buzz about how one of the Cagelles was a woman. The teens and their moms were flipping through their Playbills scoping out ambiguous names like Terry and Logan, trying to figure out who was the woman. "Wow, these Cagelles are passing as women. They have the suburbanites tricked," I thought. As I opened by Playbill to verify, a little slip of paper fell out, "At this performance the role of Bitelle will be played by Caitlin Mundth." One of the swings, Mundth, was in as a Cagelle. A woman playing a man, impersonating a woman. Total genderfuck - wrap your heads around that on the way back to your hotel.

As amazing as Douglas Hodge was as Albin, there was something very sweet about having Harvey Fierstein and Christopher Sieber, two gay men, play the leads in La Cage. In addition to being heterosexual, Kelsey Grammar is also a Republican, who dodges gay marriage questions by saying it should be up to churches. At the very end of the play, Georges and Albin share a single kiss. With Hodge and Grammer is was a polite peck, but with Sieber and Fierstein is was a grab-the-back-of-the head-and-hold-on kiss. Sieber is also a stronger singer than Grammer and much more charming.

I would be dismissing my inner fangirl if I didn't confess that I was also delighted to see Wilson Jermaine Herdedia back on a Broadway stage as Jacob. He looked exactly like his Tony award winning Angel in RENT, despite being forty. He was lithe and flexible, with a baby face (and a six pack). I hope we get to keep him in New York and see more of him on stage. He would probably like a role that didn't involve wearing heels and a skirt, but he sports both so well.

You have ten days left to see La Cage aux Folles. It is definitely worth revisiting. Harvey Fierstein wrote the book! How often do you get to see the writer act in a play when he didn't write the part for himself? And Chris Sieber is a dream. Go!

The Motherfucker with the Hat: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

Broadway has a little secret. I couldn't tell you why it's a secret, but they've been keeping it under wraps for weeks. The Motherfucker With the Hat is really fucking good. The writing is the best part. Playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, one of the artistic directors of LAByrinth Theater Company, makes his Broadway debut with a play about addicts, recovery and infidelity. The cast consists of two couples and a quirky cousin. It takes place in present day New York City. Addiction is, of course, depressing, but  Guirgis threw in many gut busting lines, that the actors deliver deadpan, while the audience is full of laughter.

LAByrinth has a history of writing and producing plays about struggling New Yorkers, and The Motherfucker With the Hat falls into that genre. The show opens with an argument between Jackie (Bobby Cannavale) and his girlfriend, Veronica (Elizabeth Rodriguez) about suspected cheating. Jackie is sober and Veronica is still using. It's one of those really great stage arguments, where they're leaping around the space, on the bed, sweating and swearing in tough NYC accents. It's evident that both characters are trying to overcome their own demons, a task made more challenging with their fiery tempers.

Cannavale is the stand out star of this production. He had the audience eating out of his hand, totally on his side the whole time. When Jackie was angry, we were angry. When he talked like prison time is no big deal, we believed him. Rodriguez held her own, and matched him beat for beat. Yul Vazquez, as Cousin Julio, provided much of the comic relief with brilliant delivery. Annabella Sciorra and Chris Rock round out the cast as the second, only slightly more stable, couple.

I attended a matinee and the older patrons sitting near me were laughing at the vulgarities and insults being strewn on stage. I think having "motherfucker" in the title weeded out the potential audience members who grumble (or leave) from excessive cursing. This audience gave an immediate, enthusiastic standing ovation.

I'm tired of plays that make me feel terrible, even if they're good; I could find cheaper ways to ruin my day. The Motherfucker With the Hat is a serious play, but the humor makes the sadness easier to take. The combination of good writing and acting makes for excellent story telling.

March Theater Wrap-Up

Gaaaa! March went by so quickly and I already have a chart, list and calendar out trying to schedule the dozen or so shows I want to see in April. Topping the list is The Normal Heart followed by return trips to La Cage aux Folles and Angels in America.


The month started with a very pleasant surprise - Anything Goes. I am not a musical revival person - I like a good rock musical, a play with a solid gay subplot or something new and risky. I attended a preview performance half-heartedly and was blown away. The cast had something like 26 people and the show included a tap number featuring the whole cast. This was old school musical theater and it was really excellent. The set was beautiful and detailed, as were the costumes. Acting and direction were great. Anything Goes is what people expect from Broadway and is well worth the ticket price.

I confess that I went to see Good People because it got excellent reviews and lots of Tony buzz. Between Manhattan Theatre Club's 30 under 30 discount program and those new, plush seats at the Friedman my afternoon was well spent. I grew up in a suburb of Boston, and the women in Good People were like characters out of my childhood. As a special education teacher, I also appreciated the burden placed on a single mother raising a child with a disability. When plays are somber and serious, they need to have some very funny lines, which Good People certainly did. The second act went on a bit too long and made me uncomfortable, and I found their Boston accents to be grating (they should have hired my Nana to teach them how to talk), but all in all it was a good play.

I finally got to see HAIR (on tour in Boston), but you can read all about that trip with the family here.

Let Me Ascertain You: Pretty Filthy by The Civilians - I believe a New Yorker needs to have a method to narrow down all of the theater selections, or just all of the entertainment options, so I have some strict rules. If it says "The Civilians" or "Michael Friedman" then I go. The Civilians are an investigative theater company. One of their current projects is about the porn industry. Their work is usually pretty outrageous and the craziest part is that it isn't fiction. They do a lot of research and interviews, and use that material to create scripts and songs. They performed a concert at Joe's Pub of their porn industry songs, and it was fantastic. I brought a friend who was a Joe's Pub virgin. She didn't know what she was getting into, and really, I couldn't have brought most people because the material was graphic, but it was very, very funny.

SWAN!!! This reading of a version of Black Swan written by Jack Ferver was hysterical, and I haven't seen the movie. Above I mentioned my policy of narrowing down theater opportunities - I also see anything that Randy Harrison is in (though as I type this, I am missing his performance at Our Hit Parade, and I am very bitter about it). So Harrison played a few characters; Ferver wrote the script and he played Lily. The standout star was Jenn Harris, who was just hysterical as Nina. The guys in the reading were clearly having a great time trying to make each other laugh. Lots of gender bending, crude humor and a woman who can hold her own with four men made for a very entertaining evening. It was my first time at PS 122, but not my first time at a performance of a reading written by Jack Ferver. I can't wait until he does another one.

Last, but not least, I made a return visit to see Peter and the Starcatcher at New York Theatre Workshop. I really believe it's one of the best shows running in New York right now, and due to a scheduling snafu, Dara couldn't come with me the first time around. Knowing the plot this time, I was able to just enjoy the excellent directing and simple effects. I missed Christian Borle as Black Stache, but the leading men in my heart continued to be Arnie Burton and Greg Hildreth. They make a handsome couple. 

Priscilla Is My Spider-Man

Overheard leaving Priscilla Queen of the Desert:  "It made me feel dirty."  "I need to go read a dictionary now." "That was worse than Elling."

Oh wait, that was just my partner, and favorite theater date, Dara. I try to protect her by only taking her to shows she will like, so she has been spoiled by a lot of great theater,  but sometimes I fail, like with Priscilla (and Elling).

I have been excited for the spring Broadway season to open. The two shows I was most looking forward to were The Book of Mormon and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. What a disappointment this Priscilla was. I knew it would be a jukebox musical; I knew it would be something my mother would like. My expectations were within reason, though - drag queens on a road trip, campy and fun. But fun at the expense of quality turns out to not be fun.

I blame the book. Normally you can sum up a play or musical in one line. "It's about families." "It's about war." "It's about politics." Priscilla doesn't have a coherent plot. It is not about friendship between three men. It is not about a gay man reconnecting with his wife and son. It is not about homophobia encountered in rural areas. It's not about the many challenges faced by transsexuals. These storylines are all touched on, but never fleshed out. What is this musical supposed to be about?

We New Yorkers are tired of jukebox musicals, but the tourists love them. At least in Mamma Mia! the ABBA songs correspond with the story, but in Priscilla songs just come up after six lines of pointless dialogue. Too much time has passed with Nick Adams in shorts and a tank top. Let's dress him up and make him sing again. The concept of songs advancing the plot is irrelevant when there is no plot.

The one thing that I loved was when the drag queens' bus was vandalized. The phrase, "Fuck off Faggots" had been spray painted in huge letters across the bus. The audience had been eating this musical up, and they collectively gasped when the bus was revealed and remained quiet. The shock was effective and felt by everyone in the theater. Getting the audience to care about these characters and witness them become targets of hate was significant. It was an important reminder that life as a gay man isn't all "It's Raining Men." The vandalized bus remained on the stage for many minutes as the show continued. It was the only poignant moment of the entire two and a half hours.

Nick Adams and Will Swenson are pretty, but that's not enough to carry this show, because all they do is get dressed up and look pretty (sometimes with an Australian accent, sometimes without). We know Swenson can act and Adams can dance - why not let them do that for a bit, see where it takes the show? Tony Sheldon, however, was exceptional and completely passed as a woman. The media likes to give more attention to heterosexual men who pull off such feats, so I doubt Sheldon will get the credit he deserves. He plays Bernadette with grace and fluidity. If only more of the book had dealt with Bernadette's past and future romances . . .

The costumes were fabulous, as were the many quick changes. There wasn't a set. Literally. The inside of the bus was moderately interesting, but the rest of the stage was pretty bare. Something is wrong with the world when shows such as Scottsboro Boys and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson close, while fluff like Priscilla opens. I don't even think my mother would like it that much.

In short, Priscilla is my Spider-Man. You know what I mean.

February Theater Wrap Up

After the first weekend in January we all lamented the multiple Broadway closing. "Boo, hoo, where will I do all of my discretionary entertainment spending?" All we could talk/tweet/blog about was Spiderman, because there wasn't much else going on. But with February, off-Broadway is alive and well, and Broadway previews for the spring season have begun.

The first show I saw in February was The Importance of Being Earnest. It actually opened in January, the first Broadway show to open in 2011. I had a  $22 HIPTX from Roundabout, which I wrote about earlier. Brian Bedford was excellent, as all reviewers have noted. I am far more interested in new theater than revivals and I don't love period pieces, but Earnest was laugh-out-loud funny. The plot of confused identities and people trying to cover their lies could have been a modern romantic comedy. As an overtired teacher, I am a fan of the 100 minutes no intermission performances (and I do love a 7pm curtain), so I was daunted by the three acts listed in the Playbill. I'm sure Wilde wrote it as a three act, but it was also necessary, because there were elaborate set changes that we don't see often anymore. Overall, I liked the show more than I expected to. I always struggle with what to take my mother/grandmother to when they're in town (the conflict of what do I want to make them pay for me to see vs what would they actually enjoy) and I think this would be a great show to bring older out of town guests to.

In my very biased opinion Peter and the Starcatcher had a lot going for it before I walked in the door: Alex Timbers as a co-director and two of my NYC stage favorites - Greg Hildreth and Arnie Burton (forget about the better known cast members, these are my guys). I went on the first Sunday night of school vacation, $20 ticket Sunday, and was blown away by all of the children in the audience. I don't know the last time I sat behind and next to a little boy at the theater. It brought me back to the children's theater of my youth (shout out to the Harwich Junior Theater). I had trouble following the story at the beginning, but all of the kids were up to speed because they had read the book that the play is based on. I caught on, though, and really enjoyed it. Christian Borle provided continuous comic relief. My guys (Hildreth and Burton) turned out to play a bit of a couple, which proved funny and deeply satisfying for me. And of course the whole back story to Peter Pan, boys that don't grow up, kids who can fly, etc is timeless and delightful, regardless of your age. The best parts were the staging and the low budget, low tech affects. In addition to having co-directors, there was also a movement director, Steven Hoggett. The actors' bodies were used to great affect, to show the movement of the ship or to become a wall with doors. Their bodies were very well directed and disciplined to  the audience's pleasure. In addition, the use of a floppy yellow glove as a bird, or a simple green light as Tinkerbell were effective and enchanting. The show was wonderful, my only complaint was about the hand that Black Stache loses - it's his right hand that gets cut off, but the prop hand they used was a left hand. I wouldn't have noticed, except that Christian Borle holds the prop hand in his left hand, so the thumbs line up perfectly. It was very distracting. I saw a preview, so maybe they will change this before opening. It's a great play and I recommend seeing it.

Compulsion at the Public Theater - I didn't love it. First of all, it was staged in the Martinson Theater, where they did Gatz, and I find it to be the most uncomfortable, poorly organized seating. Mandy Patinkin, however, gave a marvelous portrayal of an obsessive man, and the use of puppets was excellently executed. I was skeptical of the marionettes, but they were great. The puppeteers were clearly very skilled and the Anne Frank puppet had very human, nuanced movement. The story was very protracted and slow, though.

Angels in America Part I: Earlier in the winter we snagged $20 tickets to the otherwise sold out Angels In Amercan Part II, due to a cancellation, I assume. I thought Part I would never happen, but when the show's run was extended (and Michael Urie added to the cast) we decided to go for the full price tickets. Signature Theatre's production blew me away again. I had forgotten about the amazing video projections and multiple, detailed, moving sets. I keep coming back to the word "vivid" to describe it, which is impressive for a show full of hallucinations. When we saw Part II, my only complaint was about Zoe Kazan; she was not vivid, she was over-acting and projecting her voice. Much of the cast has been changed since we first went, and moving Keira Keeley into the role of Harper Pitt was a huge improvement. She plays crazy well. I was also glad to see Zachary Quinto go; I have beef with him for being a closet case and refusing to come out to The New York Times  while playing Louis Ironson and making an "It Gets Better" video. Adam Driver, as the Louis replacement, was an improvement in my eyes. I have loved Michael Urie since The Temperamentals. He gave a great line in their talk back series, "I have all kinds of gay guys in here" and he proved it with his Prior. Angry, sick, scared, lonely - he nailed it. All in all, the production is still among the best in New York and the cast changes didn't hurt it all.

I saw American Idiot over the summer, after watching their performance at the Tony Awards (I love a good rock musical). I was very disappointed. I didn't follow the plot and I thought it was way too loud. In short, I didn't like it because it made me feel old and I like to think of myself as young and hip. As the producers employ stunt casting to keep the show open, theater-goers are making return trips to see Billie Joe play St. Jimmy. As I am not especially a Green Day fan, this wasn't going to draw me back in. Casting Melissa Etheridge, however, would do the trick, because I am a good lesbian who loves musical theater. I couldn't sit this one out. I had an amazing row G center orchestra seat, was more familiar with the plot and further from the speakers, so I enjoyed the show a lot more. However, Etheridge made me cringe. In 1985, when I was four years old, my mother went to a Halloween party dressed tragically as a "punk rocker." Etheridge was wearing hair to match my mother's that night. Tragic. In American Idiot the cast runs up and down stairs to the ceiling of the St. James; when Etheridge came down the stairs she walked and held the railing. She just seemed so much older that the cast, not at all Johnny's alter ego. I didn't feel quite as old after leaving that performance.

Last weekend my 22 year-old brother came to visit. He is a straight boy with a penchant for musicals. Last summer he actually said to me, "You know what I'd like to see on stage? Annie." Seriously. He and I share an appreciation for dumb/funny guy movies, and I would have loved to take him to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson or The Book of Mormon, but neither of them were options in mid-February so I was at a loss. Last minute, I booked us tickets to see The Divine Sister at the Soho Playhouse. It was just barely ninety minutes, full of cheap laughs and a perfectly reasonable way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We were the youngest people there, but it was fun to see a show in Soho. It just felt very commercial to me. Great for tourists, or a date with my brother, but nothing to stick with you for the train ride home.

Lastly, I was invited to attend a reading of a new musical Harmony Kansas by Anna K. Jacobs and Bill Nelson (Jacobs also wrote the music/lyrics for the musical Pop!, which I saw at Yale Rep and am dying to see get a run in NYC). It is the story of a gay men's chorus in Kansas, and oh, was it good. There was definitely a Brokeback Mountain aspect, men having sex in barns, but they need to sing, and they sing about needing to sing. And they're bitchy and argue about who can bring snacks, which leads to a number called I bring the snacks. It was delicious, as men in jeans and plaid shirts singing about their forbidden love tend to be. They battle with the fear of actually performing with their closeted private chorus. And one of the characters, who we never actually see, is very, very sick with . . . cancer. Men losing men to cancer, finally. Love and loss and singing and closets and farms. I hope this show has a future. I could see it running at Theatre Row, and I would be running to see, nagging all of you to buy tickets too.

I'm thinking March will bring me some Broadway shows. How about you?

Roundabout keeps theater affordable

There are things I don't do, like bowl. I don't bowl, not drunk in Williamsburg, not with children, I don't do it. I also don't travel by bus; city buses are fine, Greyhounds are not. Another thing I don't do is pay full price for Broadway tickets. Clearly some people do, and they keep the shows running. That's great for them, but I'll take a quick 40% savings from Theatermania or Playbill.com. There's always chatter about how Broadway is not affordable. It's a luxury good, they say. Bull, I say, and I would like to give a shoutout to Roundabout Theatre Company for keeping their productions affordable for the average public school teacher (like me).

Last weekend I attended Roundabout Theatre Company's production of The Importance of Being Earnest. I paid $22 for my ticket through Roundabout's HIPTIX program for people under the age of 35. Really, 35 is generous, but I'll take it. And I have five years left of qualifying!

I was certain this was the cheapest Broadway ticket I would ever have that wasn't comped, but that changed this Monday. I was on the train from work to Times Square (armed with a discount code) to buy tickets to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert when I saw a tweet from @NewYorkTheater, "Get tix for $10 to first 4 performances of @AnythingGoesRTC today at Stephen Sondheim Theater box office (124 W 43)." I remembered when I first heard that there would be $10 tickets for Anything Goes when the box office opened at noon, but I knew I would be at work, so I disregarded this as a missed opportunity. But yesterday, as I was already headed to Times Square, I thought I would swing by The Sondheim and check the status. There were two or three people in line in front of me, armed with their discount codes. I assumed I missed the 600 $10 tickets. The woman in front of me handed over her credit card for a $356 purchase, so when I was called to the adjacent window I whispered, "Do you have any $10 tickets left?" and they did! I walked out of the box office with a pair of $10 tickets to a Broadway musical. It doesn't get more affordable than that!

Paul Wontorek of Broadway.com made a case for more full priced tickets in a recent interview by Stage Rush. He argues that people will pay top dollar to see top shows. If there's a market for only full priced tickets (Wicked, Merchant of Venice, Lion King, Spiderman) fine, but if you want paying customers in all of your seats, you might have to lower the price for some of them. I could pay full price and go to the occasional Broadway show, or I can by discount tickets and be a repeat customer. Thinking of my beloved Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which I saw more than ten times but less than twenty and never paid full price, I could have bought $120 tickets a few times, but instead I poured $600-800 into the show and went often, bringing friends and family. Less expensive tickets get us in the door, talking to people at word about the shows, writing blogs about them. Offering cheap tickets is good karma, too, especially if they're targeted at teachers, actors, students, retired folks or young people. Kudos to Roundabout Theatre Company for making some of their seats affordable for us, the people. More about the Roundabout Access program can be found on their website.

January Theater Wrap Up

January was off to a bleak start with the closing of my favorite Broadway show, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Actually lots of Broadway shows closed and only one opened this month. It seemed like Broadway would wait until the end of February or even March to begin previews for the next season, and much of off-Broadway followed suit.

After a week of moping I found myself attending the first preview of The New York Idea put on my Atlantic Theater Company. This story takes place in 1906, a young divorced woman finds her self engaged again to a man of NYC high society. What stuck me most about the play was how feminist it was for its time. In addition to being divorced, the protagonist bet on horse races and made all of her own decisions. Another woman in the play lived alone and was very comfortable with her sexuality. There were definitely some laughs to be had and the acting was good, but the story wasn't terribly compelling.

The Whipping Man at Manhattan Theatre Club tells the story of a Confederate soldier who returns home at the end of the Civil War to found his home abandoned except for two of the family's slaves (who are now free men). What initially attracted me to the play was that the slaves were Jewish, because they had grown up in this Jewish home. This turned out to be especially poignant as the three men celebrated Passover. The story of the Jews becoming free paralleled the story of the slaves becoming free. Let me be clear, this is not a fun show. I left the theater feeling awful. But great theater makes us feel, and The Whipping Man is great theater. At one point, I had to close my eyes and cover my ears. It was disturbing, but the American history of slavery is disturbing and we should all have to face that. This is an important, powerful play and I highly recommend it.

Shakespeare's Cymbeline, produced by Fiasco Theater, closed its limited run on January 30. I hope that I don't lose my theater credibility when I admit that I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan. Nothing against the guy, but I like new plays and musicals. The production of Cymbeline was very bare bones, but easy to follow. The cast played multiple characters, and only used minor costume modifications (a crown for the king, glasses for the doctor) to indicate their change in character, but it worked. Cast members played music between scenes and there were a few songs sung. A particular bluegrass number stood out as exceptional and unexpected. The plot involved a number of lies or misunderstandings among characters, all which became clear at the end. It made for a very funny, satisfying ending. All in all, it was a very sweet production. I look forward to seeing Fiasco Theater's next project.


Roundabout's production of Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, starring Olympia Dukakis, tells the story of a dying old woman and the man who appears at the end of many dying rich women's lives. Dukakis was awe inspiring, as expected. Her character was in the last days of her life, alternating between being in pain and being drugged on pain killers. She would switch from being a total bitch, to being a seductress as her mood (or meds) changed. The supporting characters were not as thoroughly sketched, however. When I leave a show that deals with somber material I want to feel totally devastated (like I did after The Whipping Man or Next Fall), but The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore was just sad. Life is too short and trying to write memoirs can't begin to make up for losing it. Still, seeing Dukakis on stage felt like a once in a lifetime experience (she will always be Mrs. Madrigal to me).


I am a teacher, and just like the children do, I often go to sleep praying for a snow day. We have had a few close calls this winter on Tuesday nights. Ahh, a Wednesday matinee with a snow discount would be so nice, I think to myself falling asleep. Last week it was actually a Wednesday night when we were expecting snow. For the first time, I wore my pajamas inside out, which one of colleagues swears will get us a snowday, and it worked. I was thrilled to have Thursday off from school, but, alas, it's not a matinee day. Or so I thought. I am a TDF member and I checked to see what shows were available to see that afternoon. Much to my surprise, Pearl Theater Company's The Misanthrope was playing at 2:30. I quickly checked StageGrade and saw that The Misanthrope received good reviews and I booked my ticket. This play was written by Moliere in the seventeenth century and has since been translated to English. I found the rhyming prose to be tedious, but there were cute jokes made at the expense of some of the characters and they were funnier in rhyme. The costumes were lovely, especially the women's. The set and lighting were overly simple. I don't find European courtships in 1600's to be especially interesting. The acting was quite good, but the story a bit cheeky.


Finally, I saw Camp Wanatachi  at La Mama Experimental Theater Club. Everyone loves a good camp play in the summer, but they're even better in the depths of winter. Camp Wanatachi Camp Wanatachi so memorable. The songs were great rock songs with full orchestration and young actresses who could really sing (Broadway and national tour credits). The lighting was also impressive and reminiscent of a rock show at times. Camp Wanatachi runs through February 6. 


January gave me hope for the rest of 2011. I haven't seen a Broadway show in four weeks, but my calendar (and mind) have been full of great theater. Cymbeline is closed, but I suggest getting your tickets to see
The Whipping Man and Camp Wanatachi. There couldn't be two more different shows, but they are both wonderful.

Must See: Camp Wanatachi

Last April the Off Broadway Alliance held a seminar entitled, "New Directions for Gay Theatre." Actors and creative team members from The Temperamentals, Yank!, and The Kid were on the panel. There were probably five women in the full Snapple Theater. During the Q&A portion one of the women asked, "Where are the lesbian plays?" And of course, the men answered something about the lack of material from playwrights. I'm sure I wasn't the only woman dissatisfied with that answer.

This weekend I saw Camp Wanatachi at La Mama Experimental Theater Club in the East Village. The story is about girls at a Christian summer camp. One of the girls is struggling with having a crush on one of the other girls. The characters are only fourteen years old and played (I think) by actual teenagers.

We wanted lesbian storylines in theatre, but it is the fact that these girls are so young that makes this show feel revolutionary. Even on television we are seeing more high school gay boy characters (Kurt on Glee, Justin on Ugly Betty), but we see lesbians as more college aged, surely for the straight male tv audiences.

The quality of this production was exceptional. The lead actresses, Marissa O'Donnell and Krystina Alabado, had huge, beautiful voices, fit for a Broadway stage. I marveled at how rarely in small downtown theaters we see hear excellent voices in musicals, but both of these young women have extensive resumes (O'Donnell appeared on Broadway in Shrek and Alabado was in the national tour of Spring Awakening). The composer and lyricist, Natalie Elizabeth Weiss, provided rocking songs and this production has full orchestration. For a small production, the show was very well rounded.

Camp Wanatachi had its funny jokes about Christian extremists, but it was really a coming of age story. Anyone who has had a summer romance will appreciate it, but lesbians who have memories of being at all girls summer camps will find it especially nostalgic. To show young lesbians represented in this musical gives a stage presence to a whole demographic that has been neglected. I can only hope that we see a further incarnation of Camp Wanatachi in the future, hopefully in a bigger venue with a longer run. In the meantime, get to La Mama by Sunday, February 6.

The Whipping Man at MTC

Broadway is effectively closed and the off-Broadway season is just beginning to heat up with previews. I've been sampling around to try and find what will be hot this Spring, and one show has stood out.


The Whipping Man at Manhattan Theatre Club tells the story of a Confederate soldier who returns home at the end of the Civil War to found his home abandoned except for two of the family's slaves (who are now free men). What initially attracted me to the play was that the slaves were Jewish, because they were owned by Jews. I had never heard of Jewish slaves, but in this context it made sense, and I wondered if it was common. Their religious beliefs turned out to be especially poignant as the three men celebrated Passover together. The story of the Jews becoming free paralleled the story of the slaves becoming free. As the play progressed, family secrets were revealed and painful memories were brought back. The men had to reevaluate their relationships and assess just how free they really were.

Let me be clear, this is not a fun show. I left the theater feeling awful. But great theater makes us feel, and The Whipping Man is great theater. At one point, I had to close my eyes and cover my ears. It was disturbing, but the American history of slavery is disturbing and we should all have to face that. This is an important, powerful play and I highly recommend it.