tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70722491281512271642024-03-18T10:14:58.023-04:00A work unfinishinglook closely. think twice. cut once.Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.comBlogger484125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-46196096230775286832024-03-18T09:00:00.021-04:002024-03-18T09:00:00.145-04:00Weekly Margin 2024, W11: Sweeney Todd, My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion<b><u>3/14/24: <i><a href="https://sweeneytoddbroadway.com/" target="_blank">Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street</a></i></u></b><div>A repeat visit to see the new cast. Joe Locke as Toby puts the accent work of the rest of the cast to embarrassing shame. Sutton Foster brings a similar energy to the role as Annaleigh Ashford, though she's still putting her Sutton spin on it. Aaron Tveit is better than expected (he's certainly doing better with the acting beats and matching the music than Groban did; his dancing background surfacing), but the role still feels like a bad fit for him: not just character tone but also vocal range. He can hit the notes but that's all he's doing--so that when he hits the high notes and you get a sudden <i>zing</i> all up your spine, you remember that oh, yes, he's a tenor and he really can sound that good all the time, if only he was singing a tenor role. (the <i>zing</i> was super <i>zingy</i> on "Nor a HUNDRED CAN ASSAUGE ME")</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><u style="font-weight: bold;">3/16/24:</u> I was supposed to see <i>Sleep No More</i>, but they've been cancelling performances for the past few days without an official explanation (rumors abound online).</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater-Related Content I Watched</u></b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Wilma Theater's <i><b><a href="https://wilmatheater.org/event/my-mama-and-the-full-scale-invasion/" target="_blank">My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion</a>.</b></i></li></ul></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-8349981989163587882024-03-11T09:00:00.046-04:002024-03-11T09:24:55.694-04:00Weekly Margin 2024, W10: Flight Risk, The Hunt<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>3/07/24: <i><a href="https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/dakota-silvey/659573f02ded540e45f07f23" target="_blank">Flight Risk</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What: </b>Dakota Silvey's new play about three people stranded in the forests of Alaska after their prop plane crashes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> full review <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2024/03/margin-notes-flight-risk.html">here</a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnrzNY87Vksdj-slYbGxtZvaOXFY41oiI2s8OIK8IzSVJzk_ygMgThDyIzKmMzht5osZGc1oVV4NDbsLXi7uPxUTUVMsiJ6-YawEvZeSlj3Dm1naM6Q_yg0M9mtHNjmtt4ydmj183sAC3OaHasCQfGmBRQ-E0XpZItbmbClgOqI3FygIIvLpPuVefAkQ/w400-h266/Copy%20of%20251A4162.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grace Sallee and Conor Andrew Hall as Andi and Clark. Photo sourced from<br />Press Kit.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnrzNY87Vksdj-slYbGxtZvaOXFY41oiI2s8OIK8IzSVJzk_ygMgThDyIzKmMzht5osZGc1oVV4NDbsLXi7uPxUTUVMsiJ6-YawEvZeSlj3Dm1naM6Q_yg0M9mtHNjmtt4ydmj183sAC3OaHasCQfGmBRQ-E0XpZItbmbClgOqI3FygIIvLpPuVefAkQ/s8192/Copy%20of%20251A4162.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>3/09/24: <i><a href="https://stannswarehouse.org/show/the-hunt/" target="_blank">The Hunt</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What: </b>St. Ann's Warehouse hosts The Almeida Theatre's play adaptation of the 2012 Danish film about a schoolteacher falsely accused of molesting a young student.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> Theatrically speaking, I think it's a terrific piece of work, and Tobias Menzies in the lead role manages to deftly balance a man who vigilantly guards his emotions and yet feels and thinks so much. The staging and choral work is powerful and disturbing. I think I just feel conflicted about the subject matter itself. While it is true that children will make up horrible stories without realizing the damage they can do, I worry when the majority of fictionalized stories I see about someone being accused of assault are a false accusation. It contributes to the sense that the majority of these are false and can bring a good man down, and makes it easier to discredit and discount the stories of actual victims and survivors of abuse and assault. I think when society gets to a place where the instinct is not to accuse a woman of being vidictive and fame-hungry, trying to ruin a man's life--as opposed to acknowledging that her life has been ruined and he needs to face consequences--then maybe this story should be told, as a cautionary. But not when the norm is still to believe the man, always the man, before the woman.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I dunno. It's messy. It's good theater but it's a messy thing to wade into.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifuTtbU3_PEiD5hDKeqFU4byGBaiwtCBrPydsWBoHxfAMKBCmt74g38LPdnXoxS2c0xhNQmpvU7H2og3sc-2c18zpM-ZfPOg8T8J4an2yX0lX-4LsVjNAYZt_PXj0LcRsAiirvnFKsElZYABwg7RldIsml8vWWN3-l2CryUDVcSKWmfhxl04MWNBbko08" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifuTtbU3_PEiD5hDKeqFU4byGBaiwtCBrPydsWBoHxfAMKBCmt74g38LPdnXoxS2c0xhNQmpvU7H2og3sc-2c18zpM-ZfPOg8T8J4an2yX0lX-4LsVjNAYZt_PXj0LcRsAiirvnFKsElZYABwg7RldIsml8vWWN3-l2CryUDVcSKWmfhxl04MWNBbko08=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cast of <i>The Hunt</i>. Photo by Teddy Wolff.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-62092385444516867972024-03-10T12:21:00.001-04:002024-03-10T12:21:24.385-04:00Margin Notes: Flight Risk<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/dakota-silvey/659573f02ded540e45f07f23" target="_blank">Flight Risk</a></i></b></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomcx4EmDi6E12nEFJ-lRj9g-Jkb2K1BpTKF_uvaKv8XY845fqcDLSchyphenhyphenMpoNUMGQlrBInqyjU9Vu-j2lxrDI1fPkwxf60KUrmt_J6kp7JWuw1Ta-1-LSnrf2-Scsl1jBj4NXlF1DKG9Imh0-FoNHwkgjAULtHcznVwBdsXBbHY6L2UrlDYkBpfv89nPg/s5874/251A4130-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3918" data-original-width="5874" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomcx4EmDi6E12nEFJ-lRj9g-Jkb2K1BpTKF_uvaKv8XY845fqcDLSchyphenhyphenMpoNUMGQlrBInqyjU9Vu-j2lxrDI1fPkwxf60KUrmt_J6kp7JWuw1Ta-1-LSnrf2-Scsl1jBj4NXlF1DKG9Imh0-FoNHwkgjAULtHcznVwBdsXBbHY6L2UrlDYkBpfv89nPg/w320-h213/251A4130-5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grace Sallee as Andi. Photo source: press kit.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><b>Seen on:</b> Thursday, 3/07/24.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Plot and Background</b></div>A Collective presents a brief run of Dakota Silvey's debut play, <i>Flight Risk</i>, expanded into a full-length play after it won the Gene Frankel Theatre Fifteen Minutes of Fame One-Act Festival. <i>Flight Risk</i> follows midwife Andi, pilot Cooper, and a stranger named Clark in the forests of Alaska after their prop plane crashes.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Thoughts:</b></div><b><br />Play: </b>This has the makings of a good play: high stakes, three characters at cross purposes with each other, and a series of secrets and revelations to be uncovered. However it also builds itself a few roadblocks that prevent it from fully landing. Perhaps the biggest one for me is the playwright's belief that a psychopath is dramatically interesting by dint of his unpredictability and unknowable nature. Unfortunately, once it's been made clear Clark is a psychopath who lies as easily as he breathes, it gets boring for me, and it just becomes a waiting game to see if he will kill the others or be killed by them. Likewise, the characters of Cooper and Andi are so desperate for the other to not learn their respective secrets--yet share them readily with Clark--and then when all is revealed, not that much seems to have changed. I don't know that the stakes, though high on paper, are ever fully actuated in the performance in a way that convinces me that this matters, or that anyone surviving this crash will be profoundly changed by what they experience in this endless twilight purgatory.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><b>Cast:</b> I mentioned it above, but a general sense of low stakes runs under the performances of the three leads, a lack of urgency in their physical performance of what it is to be stranded in Alaska with insufficient warmth and a seeping wound. Perhaps with more time with the script, this could be strengthened and deepened, so that I feel not only the intensity of the connection among these three characters, but the depth of their fear, anger, and whatever feral nature is brought out by being forced into these circumstances.<br /><b><br /></b><b>Design: </b> Shawn Lewis's scenic design--copses of trees and rocks--is full of shadowed danger as lit by Gilbert "Lucky" Pearto's lighting and further illuminated by Rachel Shatzkin's projections. Lucky's lighting is especially potent in the prologue scene on the plane itself, shaping not only the confined space but illuminating the world darting past through the windows, as Cooper tries to steer through the eye of a massive storm. Mark Reynolds's costume design has a good eye for detail: Clark's hunting gear looks the part, until you notice how unscuffed his boots are, how crisp his camo pants are. Contrast those with the well-worn boots, trousers, and jacket of Cooper, and one sees clearly who is at home in this landscape and who is merely playacting. Cooper's clothes, like Cooper, are built to last hardship; Clark's are another costume to try on while he makes his escape. I do wish Reynolds had paid a bit more attention to how to account for Cooper's injuries (blood on only one side of his shirt, and no makeup on his exposed torso for the bullet wound), but the other elements are well-thought-out.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></div><b><br /></b><b>Running:</b> Now playing at the Gene Frankel Theatre (A Collective) - Opening: March 6, 2024. Closing: March 10, 2024.<br /><b>Category: </b>play<br /><b>Length: </b>2 hours, 10 minutes, including intermission.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Creative Team</b></div><br /><b>Playwright: </b>Dakota Silvey<br /><b>Director:</b> Dougie Robbins<br /><b>Designers:</b> Andrea Miller (Production Stage Manager), Grace Nguyen (Assistant Stage Manager), Shawn Lewis (Scenic/Props), Mark Reynolds (Costume), Gilbert "Lucky" Pearto (Lighting), Luis Antonio Guzm<span style="font-family: inherit;">á</span>n Galdos (Sound), Rachel Shatzkin (Projections), Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR (Publicity).<br /><b>Cast:</b> Erik Van Conover, Conor Andrew Hall, Grace Sallee.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnrzNY87Vksdj-slYbGxtZvaOXFY41oiI2s8OIK8IzSVJzk_ygMgThDyIzKmMzht5osZGc1oVV4NDbsLXi7uPxUTUVMsiJ6-YawEvZeSlj3Dm1naM6Q_yg0M9mtHNjmtt4ydmj183sAC3OaHasCQfGmBRQ-E0XpZItbmbClgOqI3FygIIvLpPuVefAkQ/s8192/Copy%20of%20251A4162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5464" data-original-width="8192" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnrzNY87Vksdj-slYbGxtZvaOXFY41oiI2s8OIK8IzSVJzk_ygMgThDyIzKmMzht5osZGc1oVV4NDbsLXi7uPxUTUVMsiJ6-YawEvZeSlj3Dm1naM6Q_yg0M9mtHNjmtt4ydmj183sAC3OaHasCQfGmBRQ-E0XpZItbmbClgOqI3FygIIvLpPuVefAkQ/w400-h266/Copy%20of%20251A4162.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grace Sallee and Conor Andrew Hall as Andi and Clark. Photo source: press kit.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-74558999217378431802024-03-04T09:00:00.001-05:002024-03-04T09:00:00.141-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W9: Merrily We Roll Along<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>3/1/24: <i><a href="https://merrilyonbroadway.com/" target="_blank">Merrily We Roll Along</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">a repeat visit</div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-22726042586789258092024-02-26T09:00:00.036-05:002024-02-26T09:00:00.453-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W8: The Moonshot Tape & A Poster of the Cosmos, Jelly's Last Jam<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>2/23/24: <i><a href="https://www.deepflightproductions.com/" target="_blank">The Moonshot Tape & A Poster of the Cosmos</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> For one week only, Deep Flight Products presents two monologue one acts by Lanford Wilson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> full review <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2024/02/margin-notes-moonshot-tape-poster-of.html">here</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDgXZaO1mv3phctoIugoRZJZdDPKdJJEYGhuOxEA4mq-K_qa43sieU7iVymt5lzakWynDinTppjVTxFWCsp_aMzP4ZsWWX9N893Q-thKYgWFtXltGqrReyq7nESGQAGh9k8-ZHKEZPV646TphVoRmnLUtg_uiO3yyp4NXUE3fMYMJD6u0Qr4_fvfckhos" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDgXZaO1mv3phctoIugoRZJZdDPKdJJEYGhuOxEA4mq-K_qa43sieU7iVymt5lzakWynDinTppjVTxFWCsp_aMzP4ZsWWX9N893Q-thKYgWFtXltGqrReyq7nESGQAGh9k8-ZHKEZPV646TphVoRmnLUtg_uiO3yyp4NXUE3fMYMJD6u0Qr4_fvfckhos=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>2/24/24: <i><a href="https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2023-2024/jellys-last-jam/" target="_blank">Jelly's Last Jam</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> NY City Center Encores! series presents George C. Wolfe and Susan Birkenhead's biomusical about Jelly Roll Morton (a man who claims to have invented Jazz but is at least responsible for helping to annotate it).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> I like its unusual framing, so it doesn't feel like a cookie cutter story: a retrospective look back at his life now that he's passed on, as hosted by the Chimney Man, where Jelly himself is revealed to be an unreliable narrator. The musical numbers are fun, especially the dance sequences, and it's such a remarkable coup to have the three women who originated the Greek chorus of the Hunnies--Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams--return to reprise their roles. While I don't think the show will stick to my ribs, I'm still glad I saw it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulFqybrpsoRJ52e9BqM6GMCVQmVBI32507P2Ml_hUiFIOjabpNF0_854dTZSianJ0uUJshkl9xAt0WvNOxrxI2e5TgtcOIvaZ98HA9I1pme67sRDt-Yn8_b9cmXzKJh_oteHffemb08q-Lax1ons_33ePnVqqU4_p3lUMuMH9cMy3RmWm68McUrSLBjk/s1536/Jellys0004-1536x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulFqybrpsoRJ52e9BqM6GMCVQmVBI32507P2Ml_hUiFIOjabpNF0_854dTZSianJ0uUJshkl9xAt0WvNOxrxI2e5TgtcOIvaZ98HA9I1pme67sRDt-Yn8_b9cmXzKJh_oteHffemb08q-Lax1ons_33ePnVqqU4_p3lUMuMH9cMy3RmWm68McUrSLBjk/w400-h266/Jellys0004-1536x1024.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Allison M. Williams, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Mamie Duncan-Gibbs<br />as the Hunnies. Photo by Joan Marcus.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-39598605239740365332024-02-24T13:48:00.001-05:002024-02-24T13:48:03.741-05:00Margin Notes: The Moonshot Tape & A Poster of The Cosmos<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.deepflightproductions.com/" target="_blank">The Moonshot Tape</a></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.deepflightproductions.com/" target="_blank">&</a></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.deepflightproductions.com/" target="_blank">A Poster of The Cosmos</a></i></b></span></div><b><br /></b><b>Seen on:</b> Friday, 2/23/24.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIHbcClGC_ONOTh6scSy6Al_pASCv2d2q9BIdkohwjr3Qz0c3RQiQkRBY2SJx1eaFMjK5V8DZ9OHNaWzjEE8d40Z42sTtDTYjUZEJA0CoOG9aTWGJp4wwcLrxocAgzZqrdboByy2zUqy3vgwvAOxH84TteCBCfJJBGu63ZZFCEjE112OVhPvep1Ygt0vE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIHbcClGC_ONOTh6scSy6Al_pASCv2d2q9BIdkohwjr3Qz0c3RQiQkRBY2SJx1eaFMjK5V8DZ9OHNaWzjEE8d40Z42sTtDTYjUZEJA0CoOG9aTWGJp4wwcLrxocAgzZqrdboByy2zUqy3vgwvAOxH84TteCBCfJJBGu63ZZFCEjE112OVhPvep1Ygt0vE=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Plot and Background</b></div>Deep Flight Productions present a pair of monologue one acts by Lanford Wilson for one week only at The Flea. Both plays concern a character answering questions from an unseen person. In <i>A Poster of The Cosmos</i>, Tom curls over a takeout coffee in a precinct interrogation room after the death of his lover; in <i>The Moonshot Tape</i>, Diane grants an interview to a student in her hometown while staying in a rundown motel near her mother's nursing home.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What I Knew Beforehand</b></div>I had read both plays, years ago, in the collection of 21 one acts by Lanford Wilson, but I didn't remember most of the content. But I know and love the work and voice of Lanford Wilson, and I was very excited to get to see some of his work performed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Thoughts:</b></div><b><br /></b>At the end of <i>Cosmos</i>, Tom asks if the police are happy now that he's finished telling the terrible story of his lover's death from AIDS, and his attempt to cope with that moment. At the end of <i>Moonshot</i>, Diane offers her interviewer a drink, to help digest her story of sexual abuse and revenge. But the question they're really asking is "Do you regret asking me to tell you the truth?" Because the thing about knowing the truth is, you can never unknow it. This horrible thing that has been living inside Tom, inside Diane, has spread to live inside their interrogators, has spread to live inside us.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><a name='more'></a>Tom, costumed in his baker's whites, twitches under the police officers' questions, bitterly repeating their comment that he "don't look like the kinna guy'd do somethin' like dat." Though we don't yet know what it is he's done, we can see the smears of red blood on the shoulder of his undershirt. As it becomes clear that it is 1987 and his lover has just died from the plague decimating the gay community, those smears of red become increasingly potent, especially with Zack Gage's unobtrusive but effective lighting design dimming around Tom, isolated him in the pool of light created by the hanging bulb above him. The interrogation room, as designed by Bethanie Wampol Watson, is a narrow sliver of space, with nowhere to hide and nowhere to go: dingy yellow plaster walls alternating with cement brick walls, a table, a coffee cup, a one-way dark window.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Diane, pacing the confines of her similarly dingy motel room (another excellent and potent design choice by Wampol Watson, cleverly constructed to change easily from one space to the other for the evening; and credit is due to the excellent stage crew who effect that change quickly), exhibits both a matching restlessness and a disdain for the questions she's being asked. She focuses instead on the contents of her drink glass, and the insidious unpacking of the history of her abusive stepfather.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There's a sense, in both scripts, of the characters losing control of their own narrative: neither should be admitting to the things they are, especially not with a tape recorder running. That loss of control, however, doesn't quite manifest in the performances the way it should, in part because they're both a bit pause-y. As playwright Wilson notably advised both his students and those performing his work, you need to "take the air out" (credit to Reesa Graham for this note). These plays work if one feels that somewhere along the way someone cut the brake line, and that Tom and Diane couldn't stop themselves even if they wanted to. Like vomiting to rid your body of food poisoning, these characters need to get their stories out. But I think neither performance has yet fully grappled with the gravity of what their characters are admitting: the desperation, the despair, the viciousness. Some of it's there. The grief is there. But that lack of horizon line, particularly in Tom's story--it's 1987, and things are only getting worse, not better--is missing when it should be front and center.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Still, I will always be grateful for the opportunity to see Lanford Wilson's plays performed onstage, to hear his words, to witness his stories continue to be told.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></div><b><br /></b><b>Running:</b> Now playing at The Siggy at the Flea (Deep Flight Productions) - Opening: February 21, 2024. Closing: February 25, 2024.<br /><b>Category: </b>two one act plays<br /><b>Length: </b>1 hour, 30 minutes, no intermission.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Creative Team</b></div><br /><b>Playwright: </b>Lanford Wilson<br /><b>Director:</b> Mark Cirnigliaro<br /><b>Designers:</b> Bethanie Wampol Watson (Set), Noa Smidt (Costume), Zack Gage (Lighting), Jeff Watson (Sound and Projection), Tye Palmer (Scenic Carpenter), Jennifer Bonilla (Scenic Painter), Shawn Walsh (Scenic Painter), Cat Gillespie (Stage Manager), Amanda Quaid (Dialect Coach to Margaret Curry), Patricia Fletcher (Dialect Coach to Geoff Stoner), Katie Rosin, KampFIRE Films PR (Publicity and Marketing Consultant), Alan Buttar (Graphic Design).<br /><b>Cast:</b> Margaret Curry, Geoff Stoner.</div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-24647282900226898632024-02-19T09:00:00.070-05:002024-02-19T16:37:49.052-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W7: Public Obscenities, The Seven Year Disappear, Prayer for the French Republic<b><u>2/13/24: <i><a href="https://www.tfana.org/current-season/public-obscenities/overview" target="_blank">Public Obscenities</a></i></u></b><div><b>What:</b> TFANA hosts Soho Rep and NAATCO National Partnership Project's production of Shayok Misha Chowdhury's play about Choton, a queer studies PhD student who, with his boyfriend, travels to his family home in Kolkata, India to research the queer Bengal community in the wake of the repeal of anti-sodomy and anti-homosexual laws.</div><div><b>And?</b> I loved it. This is the rare play that lets itself breathe (yes, it's a little over three hours but it's worth it), that lets its characters exist in both the quiet and noisy ends of the spectrums of memory, introspection, loneliness, and the urge for connection. A major motif in the play is the power and permanence of photographs: not only the large and gloomy photograph of Choton's grandfather, who stands guard over the house, but the recently-discovered and revealing photographs taken just days before his death. Once a person dies, there will never be any more new photos taken of them; this is all we get. But there's power in the discovery of photos unknown, showing a side long hidden. And these photographs, these films, these voice memos, these attempts by Choton and Raheem to document the ephemeral, they give us something, but they also never quite capture all we remember of the moment--including, perhaps especially, the one documenting them: the one behind the camera. This play is such a gift; I'm glad I didn't miss it.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMrAPej0pdvDcXLZNg1sjJVFojxBSOMZMx9vvov2NlihMpoc_I2HKa4LAfFJeTTLh0yOzFuXFvPSvTjR4SXFOJBILOQ0Jx1HZTokQIbaRzAHsLF4X14BdYeSHlMV5hKOb-99xmrrPQTPZ8gYr4cF-BkDasaZXz-FGWYQ5zsttYnsjK9J0RsJeso7G7pBM" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMrAPej0pdvDcXLZNg1sjJVFojxBSOMZMx9vvov2NlihMpoc_I2HKa4LAfFJeTTLh0yOzFuXFvPSvTjR4SXFOJBILOQ0Jx1HZTokQIbaRzAHsLF4X14BdYeSHlMV5hKOb-99xmrrPQTPZ8gYr4cF-BkDasaZXz-FGWYQ5zsttYnsjK9J0RsJeso7G7pBM=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Abra Haque, Debashis Roy Chowdhury, and Jakeem Dante Powell as Choton,<br />Pishe, and Raheem. Photo by Hollis King.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div><b><u>2/15/24: <i><a href="https://thenewgroup.org/production/the-seven-year-disappear/" target="_blank">The Seven Year Disappear</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> The New Group presents a new play by Jordan Seavey: a two-hander metatheatrical nonlinear look at a complicated mother-son relationship and the damage caused when the experimental artist mother disappears for seven years on the brink of her MoMA commission.</div><div><b>And?</b> A really interesting line of tension in the voyeuristic excavation of Naphtali's trauma after his abandonment at the hands of his mother and business partner. I think, even at the end, I don't forgive her; I don't think we're meant to. It's too little too late, and in having Cynthia Nixon's character play everyone else her son meets, even if she thinks she's atoning, it's still all about her. But yeah, it's very good multimedia theater.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyLdWi5wMizvxIxJrKFos6Y0rNRExb4r5U_vyoiLsC91OSGagM4LomMIjNbtuhuJgZEnnm8_rM0UvSHPaBBgmxenrzjN8bTAF0U44gmpUzl186QsHhh0qzQjlK_rZI8cXgg2ftMYyX5J2ndieV1Anhb-v-5WMGI15AQLiqzZ5Yf3BEKID4sPy4XEMJ5fg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="2248" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyLdWi5wMizvxIxJrKFos6Y0rNRExb4r5U_vyoiLsC91OSGagM4LomMIjNbtuhuJgZEnnm8_rM0UvSHPaBBgmxenrzjN8bTAF0U44gmpUzl186QsHhh0qzQjlK_rZI8cXgg2ftMYyX5J2ndieV1Anhb-v-5WMGI15AQLiqzZ5Yf3BEKID4sPy4XEMJ5fg=w400-h153" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><u>2/17/24: <i><a href="https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2023-24-season/prayer-for-the-french-republic/" target="_blank">Prayer for the French Republic</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> The Broadway transfer of Joshua Harmon's powerful play about the crisis of being Jewish in France, both during the Holocaust and on the cusp of the 2016 elections.</div><div><b>And?</b> Still extraordinary, powerful and emotional. I really wish more of my gentile friends would go see this production before it closes in a few weeks, just to get some understanding of what we're going through, have been going through. I said some pretty eloquent stuff the first time I saw it, so hyperlinking to that <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2022/03/weekly-margin-2022-w13-notes-from-now.html">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHrQIPwaaWKpYv-_2s5mr9jQqtSwDgJCiG44IFK60iExBoGeVB2cNdPNuEs9KetM9inOQuqaVy2y93Co66UZpBMGfkCNoq6hsXBXjAm2I8aVXxhmrc6pZKE1QL-_cfd-Sp1pbnBPMqbTzchMW5hDgDI1XTa_bqqj3gSA1wkO9nKRLTm9_UXk44pUkT_w/s675/MTC_PFR_3334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHrQIPwaaWKpYv-_2s5mr9jQqtSwDgJCiG44IFK60iExBoGeVB2cNdPNuEs9KetM9inOQuqaVy2y93Co66UZpBMGfkCNoq6hsXBXjAm2I8aVXxhmrc6pZKE1QL-_cfd-Sp1pbnBPMqbTzchMW5hDgDI1XTa_bqqj3gSA1wkO9nKRLTm9_UXk44pUkT_w/w400-h266/MTC_PFR_3334.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Molly Ranson, Nael Nacer, and Aria Shahghasemi as Molly, Charles, and<br />Daniel. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-68891665079199807432024-02-05T07:00:00.007-05:002024-02-05T07:00:00.165-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W5: Hamlet<b><u>2/04/24: <i><a href="https://www.eddieizzardhamlet.com/" target="_blank">Hamlet</a></i></u></b><div><b>What:</b> Eddie Izzard performs a one person <i>Hamlet</i>, as adapted by Mark Izzard.</div><div><b>And? </b>She's always an engaging performer, as we all know, and there are some very powerful moments of discovery, when she lets herself breathe into a moment. I think overall this would be a confusing production to follow for anyone not already familiar with the characters and story (the sword fight at the end is, well, a lot of jumping around), but it's worth seeing for fans of Suzy Izzard.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUB_IFf_14x7Fh66Fq_cDATWiUxrg5-TBY1CFeoRucXueyssCcswRQEpSf16Om2XTkaG0z-tse6Ar08TzkSqF4-NXog_kJpJBXhDwL5bpv-S4nIQhZhFlG4dYLVDcuE47e3GJ53Uz4zDwI-_qUXNvdhGM9QHyFRzJqNZPSsnMOjfDdxu7Sj05zgVdkZm8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUB_IFf_14x7Fh66Fq_cDATWiUxrg5-TBY1CFeoRucXueyssCcswRQEpSf16Om2XTkaG0z-tse6Ar08TzkSqF4-NXog_kJpJBXhDwL5bpv-S4nIQhZhFlG4dYLVDcuE47e3GJ53Uz4zDwI-_qUXNvdhGM9QHyFRzJqNZPSsnMOjfDdxu7Sj05zgVdkZm8=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></b></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-76964667198464005262024-01-29T09:00:00.171-05:002024-01-31T14:52:14.434-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W4: Pride House, Harmony, Our Class, Once Upon a Mattress, Dear England<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/24/24: <i><a href="https://www.tososnyc.org/pride-house" target="_blank">Pride House</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> TOSOS presents Chris Weikels' new play, about Beatrice Farrar's collection of friends at Fire Island during the summer of 1938, right before a hurricane hits.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> full review <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2024/01/margin-notes-pride-house.html">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTFlmO_EVaCPYO0mlfJozfqtcGSqPNMAihOy6gqhjwbOALr7QXAXPpQvIrsPv7eiGcUH17WAzAbnNdqbQOtBCHlNDnITVJaSrF2_JsdpyDQ9UQhZWcSG-oRU97y5HbwStcFj77Du-p0Rbe7cl_h3lB5-Oaqa3Xr3cBOojcPAlDVa8ArYmu5-sDLMdnyM/s4985/14%20-%20Jake%20Mendes,%20Patrick%20Porter,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Alex%20Herrera,%20Aaron%20Kaplan,%20Tom%20Souhrada%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3256" data-original-width="4985" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTFlmO_EVaCPYO0mlfJozfqtcGSqPNMAihOy6gqhjwbOALr7QXAXPpQvIrsPv7eiGcUH17WAzAbnNdqbQOtBCHlNDnITVJaSrF2_JsdpyDQ9UQhZWcSG-oRU97y5HbwStcFj77Du-p0Rbe7cl_h3lB5-Oaqa3Xr3cBOojcPAlDVa8ArYmu5-sDLMdnyM/w400-h261/14%20-%20Jake%20Mendes,%20Patrick%20Porter,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Alex%20Herrera,%20Aaron%20Kaplan,%20Tom%20Souhrada%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jake Mendes, Patrick Porter, Jamie Heinlein, Alex Herrera, Aaron Kaplan,<br />and Tom Souhrada as Stephen, Thomas Farrar, Beatrice Farrar, Brad, John<br />Mosher, and Arthur Brill. Photo by Richard Rivera.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/25/24: <i><a href="https://harmonyanewmusical.com/" target="_blank">Harmony</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> The Broadway transfer of Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's musical about real life music group The Comedian Harmonists, performing amid the rise of fascism in 1930s Berlin.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> It's better than it was downtown. They trimmed a lot of the excess (though I'm astonished Chip Zien let them cut his Marlene drag number). It's still not a great show, but it's a better show than it was. And like <i>Pride House</i>, it's attempting to bring new attention to a piece of culture that larger society tried to erase from memory. I do wish Zien had more colors in his paint box. Every time he wants to emphasize something or intensify the emotion, he yells/belts. Quiet intensity is also potent, when used. It is nice to see the six young men who originated the roles of the singing troupe downtown return with the show to make their Broadway debuts (except Zal Owen, who has one prior Bway credit), and Sierra Boggess and Julie Benko are great in somewhat thankless parts. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, well. I wish some of the subject matter didn't feel so bitterly current as it does, but here we are.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghiX8mKWtII9qpcGSM2DIVCiJ_ihXrrXZWXv4yG0_E2USM2oAaLwotDJXik3HvhBXFy4lOYgbPv3KVqtt1WXj9xjR1u-YtCsKtrk2dqopuVAABWZs3RMxkFCf5XLaQpy3I0ejntg4tCxuZP3vMUWsIO6O7I3XqfCyImMzfUQO2PNz5ESIkrXjCyT5mvcA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghiX8mKWtII9qpcGSM2DIVCiJ_ihXrrXZWXv4yG0_E2USM2oAaLwotDJXik3HvhBXFy4lOYgbPv3KVqtt1WXj9xjR1u-YtCsKtrk2dqopuVAABWZs3RMxkFCf5XLaQpy3I0ejntg4tCxuZP3vMUWsIO6O7I3XqfCyImMzfUQO2PNz5ESIkrXjCyT5mvcA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blake Roman, Steven Telsey, Zal Owen, Danny Kornfeld, Eric Peters, and<br />Sean Bell as Chopin, Lesh, Harry, Young Rabbi, Erich, and Bobby. <br />Photo by Julieta Cervantes/Adam Riemer.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/26/24: <i><a href="https://www.bam.org/our-class" target="_blank">Our Class</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> BAM presents Norman Allen's adaptation of Tadeusz S<span style="font-family: inherit;">łobodzianek's play, based on a true story, about a class of ten people, some Jewish, some Catholic, leading up to a 1941 pogrom in a small village in Poland. The play spans eighty years, tracking the characters from their youth to the early 21st century deaths of those who survived.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> Recently a group of my friends was talking about some kind of heist story, either a game or a movie, I forget. Someone asked what is being heisted and the reply was "Nazi gold." Everyone was okay with <i>that</i>, because fuck the Nazis, steal their stuff. I wanted to say--but I bit my tongue--there's no such thing as Nazi gold. The Nazis weren't magically dripping in wealth. They froze Jewish bank accounts. They seized Jewish property, art, businesses, jewelry. They ripped gold teeth out of corpses. There is no Nazi gold. You call it Nazi gold so you can take it from the people who stole it and not have to think about who they stole it from. So you don't have to give it back. (citation: surviving Jews spending <i>decades</i> trying to reclaim literally any of their property, including valuable works of art, in the aftermath)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Watching <i>Our Class</i> recalled this conversation to me, as--in the wake of a pogrom in which all Jewish citizens of a village are locked in a barn and burned to death, save one woman who was hidden in a barn then hurriedly converted and married to a Catholic man--a pile of wedding gifts is deposited around the newlyweds, menorahs and silver trays and linens. Every last piece of it stolen from the homes of dead Jews. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What makes it all uglier, of course, is the Nazis have nothing to do with it. This pogrom is conducted by the Poles themselves, blaming the Jews for their misfortunes: raping them, burning them alive, and then moving into their homes without a wince of guilt. In a class of ten friends who grew up together, that classmate loyalty, that ride-or-die mentality, applies only if it's between fellow non-Jews. Three of the Catholics from that class beat Jakub to death, rape Dora, and then set the barn on fire.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is a hard play to watch. When Abram, safely in New York, hears of the pogrom years later, he begins to list all his relatives who are now suddenly dead. It's a devastatingly long list. And he's the only one left who can name them. It's hard, and it's horrifying. We talk about the Holocaust because it was the largest network of organized slaughter and inhuman torture, and the biggest devastation to the Jewish global population. We talk about the Holocaust because its end goal was the total extermination of the Jews. But what we don't talk about enough is, it was merely the biggest version of a hatred and an extermination and expulsion that has been perpetrated on Jews repeatedly and viciously, throughout our entire existence. The villagers in Poland did this--killed all their Jewish neighbors--without the help of the Nazis. They erased all traces that there ever was a Jew there, and then they blamed it on the Nazis so that they could be absolved of consequences. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is what it is to be Jewish. We are all the descendants of survivors of pogroms. We are all descendants of the ones who didn't survive. Even convert Jews pick up this mantle of descendancy. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm writing this part of the blog on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I'm writing this in the wake of a modern-day pogrom this past October. This is what it is to be Jewish.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9FIsgrN-v5R0dbvgmWvl2ZV1_4IfW73xYVtK8MznfJxsI7ohHCRPdEmyWlF2F8DjIYEjRDrdZ7NgQfai0vSv6UqijbYVu0N6E6FULBLAPkqwNNuyKItZKaLzVRyD5HIXAjQwXcZT9uaENvyeU4ONgchQPWL20uOWPfLRdWXbKSskK-FBRew8VlMUaEsU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1344" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9FIsgrN-v5R0dbvgmWvl2ZV1_4IfW73xYVtK8MznfJxsI7ohHCRPdEmyWlF2F8DjIYEjRDrdZ7NgQfai0vSv6UqijbYVu0N6E6FULBLAPkqwNNuyKItZKaLzVRyD5HIXAjQwXcZT9uaENvyeU4ONgchQPWL20uOWPfLRdWXbKSskK-FBRew8VlMUaEsU=w400-h304" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cast of <i>Our Class</i>. Photo by Pavel Antonov.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></b><b><u>1/27/24: <i><a href="https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2023-2024/once-upon-a-mattress/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Mattress</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> NY City Center Encores! presents Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller's musical adaptation of "The Princess and the Pea," with a new script by Amy Sherman-Palladino.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> It's always a bit disconcerting to watch a musical you've performed in. It's perhaps more so, when they've cut the character you played and assigned their scenes and songs to someone else. That being said, this was a delightful escape to silliness and humor, performed with the irrepressible and brilliant clowning of Sutton Foster, Michael Urie, and Harriet Harris (and Cheyenne Jackson as a loveable dope). The rewrites weren't corrupting the show's integrity like a lot of what I've been complaining about lately; they were just more silliness. Good silly fun.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcixlCAHHDORSQliXXqeExP63EaAWC4dZiC90mCkD3FdwdIoovLSNY2KlZpgXyxp2R0eTjNpnhrQM7c3XVYaKex3n3iJQXJztUrWshrl9yr7iMjkbGm4uCH9pcJgTZlMaLMnLzACmZcayNwqIDvclel97bIrauPdNxJqx8FbiPH8CBfBwEeQjfEt7LVU0/s699/Mattress0040.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="699" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcixlCAHHDORSQliXXqeExP63EaAWC4dZiC90mCkD3FdwdIoovLSNY2KlZpgXyxp2R0eTjNpnhrQM7c3XVYaKex3n3iJQXJztUrWshrl9yr7iMjkbGm4uCH9pcJgTZlMaLMnLzACmZcayNwqIDvclel97bIrauPdNxJqx8FbiPH8CBfBwEeQjfEt7LVU0/w400-h258/Mattress0040.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sutton Foster and Michael Urie as Fred and Dauntless, with the cast of <i>Once<br />Upon a Mattress</i>. Photo by Joan Marcus.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The theatrical screening of National Theatre Live's <i><b><a href="https://dearengland.ntlive.com/" target="_blank">Dear England</a></b></i>.</li></ul></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-68457914812312870382024-01-25T15:30:00.002-05:002024-01-25T15:48:28.166-05:00Margin Notes: Pride House<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.tososnyc.org/pride-house" target="_blank">Pride House</a></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><b>Seen on:</b> Wednesday, 1/24/24.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjartHdFwbx4yq1tTiCqfCJ3aoO0EMc_LxHNw5x-gX9awsMHLu3ws5sR9FuMjeyOh9SmXMqL8zRRDvp1U778RwCfplWvEQrv7CZ4wq6YSuKR4WYCT5y9gtaMKEHi-86TFr1VVxNpV8FBBPGl7sSjdo-ZtUZyB27fbaGBO1VLSPvwLv4wJSMfzvxrDDmXdE/s3935/1%20-%20Gail%20Dennison,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Calvin%20Knegten,%20Raquel%20Sciacca%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2612" data-original-width="3935" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjartHdFwbx4yq1tTiCqfCJ3aoO0EMc_LxHNw5x-gX9awsMHLu3ws5sR9FuMjeyOh9SmXMqL8zRRDvp1U778RwCfplWvEQrv7CZ4wq6YSuKR4WYCT5y9gtaMKEHi-86TFr1VVxNpV8FBBPGl7sSjdo-ZtUZyB27fbaGBO1VLSPvwLv4wJSMfzvxrDDmXdE/w320-h212/1%20-%20Gail%20Dennison,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Calvin%20Knegten,%20Raquel%20Sciacca%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gail Dennison, Jamie Heinlein, Calvin Knegten, and Raquel<br />Sciacca as Irene Gerard, Beatrice Farrar, Hugo Franc, and<br />Maxine Franc. Photo by Richard Rivera.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Plot and Background</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Other Side of Silence presents a world premiere of Chris Weikel's new play about Beatrice Farrar and her friends in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, right before the 1938 hurricane that devastated the vacation homes there and led to a fundamental shift in the demographic of vacationers on the island. Beatrice Farrar, her cottage Pride House, and her friends are among the barely-remembered but worth-retrieving pockets of Queer history, and nearly all the characters in this play are real people who were there in her house during the storm.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What I Knew Beforehand</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Very nearly nothing, except that it took place on Fire Island before a hurricane.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Thoughts:</b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div>The walls of Pride House--so named for Beatrice Farrar's love of Jane Austen, but also granting the audience a knowing nod toward the future of Cherry Grove's population--are painted as a mural: a beautiful endless horizon of a gentle wave cresting toward a sandy shore, with benign puffs of white cloud overhead. They match the back wall of Evan Frank's evocative and poetic scenic design, the "actual" outdoors, as if there is no barrier between the island paradise outside and the haven inside. The glassless windows perched on slender frames--no actual protection from the outside--reinforce this impression. When the first act closes amid the rising storm, the sounds of a tree falling and window glass shattering pierce the air. But the glass was never there. The protection was never there, and we have been always outside and exposed, waiting for a storm to rip everything away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a name='more'></a><div><br /></div><div>At first I worried this metaphor would stand for the collapse of Beatrice's peculiar little paradise: a menagerie of queer writers, theater folk, and actual royalty. But it seems what's actually coming to an end is the idyll treasured by Beatrice's neighbors--wealthy families from Long Island who summer in the nearby cottages but worry about this new influx of flamboyance and color. Beatrice's intent is to try to build a bridge between her treasured friends and her can't-get-rid-of-them neighbors, luring the nosy Mrs. Gerard in with the young prince and princess staying with her, and with her friends in show business. "I used to be one of us," she explains, "but the longer I stay here, the more I feel compelled to be one of them." When that entente fails, she turns instead to how she can use her money and influence to broaden the scope of making Cherry Grove a welcoming place for her large chosen family.</div><div><br /></div><div>The peculiarity of the timing is telling, for those of us who think to notice. It's mentioned offhand that the visiting children are Jewish. The war in Europe is still a year away, but the harsh restrictions on Jewish existence in Europe had already been going strong for some years (and yes, people everywhere knew about it). Seeing these cheerful children prattling in French and partying with the grown ups, one cannot help but think that had they stayed in France they would soon be slaughtered. This is just history, this is just the order in which things happened. In 1938 a hurricane devastated Cherry Grove, damaging most cottages but somehow leaving Pride House more or less intact. This haven for Beatrice and her queer (and Jewish) community weathered the storm, but we all know there are worse storms coming soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though the performance I saw was, by all reports, a "very Wednesday" show (there was more air than there should have been between lines and delaying cues), the cast still has some standouts, including a sly scene-stealing turn by Jake Mendes as Stephen, stopping the show with his delivery of the line "ha ha ha ha ha." Jessica DiSalvo brings charisma and a delicate tact to the Broadway starlet Natalia Danesi Murray, Tom Souhrada is delightfully camp as the exuberant Arthur Brill, and leading them all with warm practicality is Jamie Heinlein as Beatrice. I admit to feeling conflicted about Ben Philipp's costume design: while the wardrobe silhouettes are beautiful and the footwear a bevy of perfection in terms of style, I am thrown by how pristine every item is: no sign of wear or weathering. I want the clothes to feel as lived in as the relationships between the characters are.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's very little online information available about Beatrice Farrar and her friends, but it's clear from the events of the play that she was a key player in developing Fire Island into the summer mecca for queer people that it's become. A lot of pre-Stonewall queer history, especially involving people of color, has been forgotten or intentionally erased. It's good to tell these stories, to remind ourselves of, as Matthew Lopez calls it in his play of the same title, our inheritance of queer culture stemming back and looking forward.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></div><b><br /></b><b>Running:</b> Now playing at The Siggy @ The Flea Theater (TOSOS) - Opening: January 18, 2024. Closing: February 10, 2024.<br /><b>Category: </b>play<br /><b>Length: </b>2 hours, 30 minutes, including intermission.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Creative Team</b></div><br /><b>Playwright: </b>Chris Weikel<br /><b>Director:</b> Igor Goldin<br /><b>Designers:</b> Jordan Schildcrout (Dramaturg), Evan Frank (Set), Ben Philipp (Costume), David Casteneda (Lighting), Morry Campbell (Sound), Jesica Terry (Production Stage Manager), Cat Gillespie (Asst. Stage Manager), Robin Kaufman (House Manager).<br /><b>Cast:</b> London Carlisle, Gail Dennison, Dontonio DeMarco, Jessica DiSalvo, Desmond Dutcher, Jamie Heinlein, Alex Herrera, Aaron Kaplan, Calvin Knegten, Jake Mendes, Patrick Porter, Raquel Sciacca, Tom Souhrada.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GK0o4HTOFPfsUkufMgSfVZkAxZ1ZHVk3ni7x8C56-DXx0eYhO0P8JA9A_tlKdICG4IlpS3vckafMbHIvLqNHwaRrVYbD58GTPZt9f2wjduub4c-KzIFS8RToN2jAn0vwDoQICOfex5qO4K8qM20JwpfxGR9kILG3SEyuDEazdpGVQebJR0ynvV4oFeU/s4985/14%20-%20Jake%20Mendes,%20Patrick%20Porter,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Alex%20Herrera,%20Aaron%20Kaplan,%20Tom%20Souhrada%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3256" data-original-width="4985" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GK0o4HTOFPfsUkufMgSfVZkAxZ1ZHVk3ni7x8C56-DXx0eYhO0P8JA9A_tlKdICG4IlpS3vckafMbHIvLqNHwaRrVYbD58GTPZt9f2wjduub4c-KzIFS8RToN2jAn0vwDoQICOfex5qO4K8qM20JwpfxGR9kILG3SEyuDEazdpGVQebJR0ynvV4oFeU/w400-h261/14%20-%20Jake%20Mendes,%20Patrick%20Porter,%20Jamie%20Heinlein,%20Alex%20Herrera,%20Aaron%20Kaplan,%20Tom%20Souhrada%20-%20pc%20Richard%20Rivera.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jake Mendes, Patrick Porter, Jamie Heinlein, Alex Herrera, Aaron Kaplan,<br />and Tom Souhrada as Stephen, Thomas Farrar, Beatrice Farrar, Brad, John<br />Mosher, and Arthur Brill. Photo by Richard Rivera.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br />Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-65814163838515025192024-01-22T09:00:00.045-05:002024-01-25T12:48:26.500-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W3: The Connector<b><u>1/16/23: <i><a href="https://mcctheater.org/tix/the-connector/" target="_blank">The Connector</a></i></u></b><div><b>What:</b> MCC presents a new Jason Robert Brown musical with book by Jonathan Marc Sherman, about a monthly news journal with a fifty year legacy of accurate and compelling stories. When a young journalist who idolizes the magazine joins and quickly advances to stardom, questions of truth, integrity, and long-held biases come under focus.</div><div><b>And?</b> It's still in previews, so I want to grain-of-salt this, but at the performance I saw the first third of the musical felt like the cast was encountering Sherman's script for the first time: stiff, stilted pauses and a complete lack of momentum to every book scene (the script itself failed to sparkle here as well). The end third is much stronger: tightly done, with tension and stakes. So hopefully the first third can catch up to this. Right now Sherman's script under Daisy Prince's direction feels unfocused. It's unclear who our main character is, and it's ultimately unclear why Dobson does what he does.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, there are things worth our time here. Jason Robert Brown has a particular knack for piercing emotional storytelling over the course of a song, and he gives some beautiful gifts to the cast in that way. The song where Dobson works his way through to find the perfect structure of an opening sentence is a beautiful study of what it is to be a writer. And the editor's admonishment, "Truth isn't just what you say it is," feels particularly relevant in this era of misinformation. And the show hits on the question of which is the more damaging block to marginalized voices being heard: the casually dismissive cruelty, or the genial myopia and latent misogyny and racism? (answer: both. it's both.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, and this is for my sister: there's an entire song about Scrabble.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyXlSwlb7iWW6TkRCAw3QQlw5Tlrs1i53rUhvw4i2-CQBSzmi5iWx2jVQT5rz8loQEXoQuR2JHA4anGKHgVtH_jbJM4TQ-sW13A9NAoHupYAsb1u2zCcqtr9oxjNZrwWta0jmqXXXv0Iln1FoQkf8bmSkFMIfQOeLfFq1XTXAk1ShUbMEMrRJG5QG7A8E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyXlSwlb7iWW6TkRCAw3QQlw5Tlrs1i53rUhvw4i2-CQBSzmi5iWx2jVQT5rz8loQEXoQuR2JHA4anGKHgVtH_jbJM4TQ-sW13A9NAoHupYAsb1u2zCcqtr9oxjNZrwWta0jmqXXXv0Iln1FoQkf8bmSkFMIfQOeLfFq1XTXAk1ShUbMEMrRJG5QG7A8E=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-74863322774820769102024-01-15T09:00:00.062-05:002024-01-15T09:00:00.360-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W2: Back To The Future: The Musical, Appropriate<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/10/23: <i><a href="https://www.backtothefuturemusical.com/new-york/" target="_blank">Back To the Future: The Musical</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What: </b>Exactly what it says on the tin.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> It's like an AI tried to write a musical and then gave up. Most of the songs are incoherent (not only from an "I can't understand the lyrics because they're drowned out by the orchestra" perspective but also from an "Is this a song? Is this the same song? Did the last song end or do they not end until we hit a choreographic button? What is this? Why does Marty keep repeating the last sentence spoken to him in an angsty belt? Does someone think that's a song hook? Why are we here?" perspective). I don't think there are any actual characters up on stage. There are so many moments that have the shape of jokes without actually being jokes (or being, you know, funny). The jokes that are there are mostly from the original screenplay, and the production somehow manages to either misunderstand them or overplay them. Some of the car stuff is cool. The dancing is good. The act one finale song, "Something About That Boy," is the only good new song in the whole score: it's competent pastiche, it actually functions like a song, and more importantly it functions like a <i>musical theater song</i>: story moves forward, we've got ironic juxtaposition, humor. It didn't feel like an act one finale, but I guess we can't have everything. But major MAJOR snaps to Biff understudy Marc Heitzman, who stepped into the role in the middle of act one, with no chance for a fight call, and dove into the complicated dance and fight choreo of the act one finale. <i>That's</i> some good Broadway.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYxnFTY6LretLs9LoIxpQ8MOm3Y5RIKTgNkhXR4D5MkxDG-3wtPb1Jcc4SNYLH_oAYZfUyI1bsMyFhFO9Jevi1GluigCEfgINO4rz941iu9XBplrraCkGB6l4SFyI7vqsEJeqznBLigQXIM8ajQWRJpA4iGeE73O_yDnUwZENoPSyMfv9kovu9tarXfPI" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1500" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYxnFTY6LretLs9LoIxpQ8MOm3Y5RIKTgNkhXR4D5MkxDG-3wtPb1Jcc4SNYLH_oAYZfUyI1bsMyFhFO9Jevi1GluigCEfgINO4rz941iu9XBplrraCkGB6l4SFyI7vqsEJeqznBLigQXIM8ajQWRJpA4iGeE73O_yDnUwZENoPSyMfv9kovu9tarXfPI=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roger Bart, Casey Likes, and the Delorean as Doc Brown, Marty McFly,<br />and the Delorean. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/11/23: <i><a href="https://2st.com/shows/appropriate" target="_blank">Appropriate</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> 2nd Stage presents playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's much-anticipated Broadway debut. <i>Appropriate</i> had its first New York run in 2014 at Signature with a different cast and production team. Three adult siblings and their families gather at their recently deceased father's decrepit Arkansas plantation to manage the estate sale and unearth some alarming relics, as well as old grudges.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> A consummate production. The structure and unfolding ugly truths are perfectly built, the dialog is sharp and bitter, the cast is expertly directed by Lila Neugebauer, and the sound design by Bray Poor and Will Pickens is especially powerful and foreboding. And the audience is led on a delicate tightrope of empathizing with a character before getting knocked to the nets below, on the reminder that everyone here is one kind of monster or another.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxduqcO1DdHJzCZ_LKKtYePlTlZELxWb9i5RUDLm8Nb1v9zJPOlmSQyPjkdo6xH4nMVrdEtURsImXL-Pch2XTP7898gf5Wx8Iu-2EspueH_9Oe5jm8hnMlfFYpBCPftPvaixFkCQLodNIurbCVnxeQxgb_qbGLjb7N6Xbhxr96mezF9irE_h1-b0lN3Cw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxduqcO1DdHJzCZ_LKKtYePlTlZELxWb9i5RUDLm8Nb1v9zJPOlmSQyPjkdo6xH4nMVrdEtURsImXL-Pch2XTP7898gf5Wx8Iu-2EspueH_9Oe5jm8hnMlfFYpBCPftPvaixFkCQLodNIurbCVnxeQxgb_qbGLjb7N6Xbhxr96mezF9irE_h1-b0lN3Cw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Michael Esper, Elle Fanning, Natalie Gold, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Corey<br />Stoll, and Sarah Paulson as Franz, River, Rachael, Cassidy, Bo, and Toni.<br />Photo by Joan Marcus.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-78674838059580566942024-01-08T09:00:00.005-05:002024-01-08T09:00:00.158-05:00Weekly Margin 2024, W1: Mind Mangler, Fat Ham<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>1/05/23: <i><a href="https://mindmanglernyc.com/" target="_blank">Mind Mangler</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> From the folk behind <i>The Play That Goes Wrong</i> (Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields), a two-hander (starring Lewis and Sayer), about a mentalist's show going wrong.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> Delightful. A nice start to the new year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-txkMTRpNjxNpoOto8moXFxIAYBmszZD-CyrRIqzibzS_tEiunB9dhpS0-BCF_DsfKW8r8p4yhr9-EAXX0z-RCzRyHiINB0VBbbnXR3pEdNfqjSmURdAsa7g9R-G2DVCcRRmSuC6LakuT6xA3b9b-mVC-1X9cUUTEnDIlasBYzSKKAmtq9cFaIZcToY8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="180" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-txkMTRpNjxNpoOto8moXFxIAYBmszZD-CyrRIqzibzS_tEiunB9dhpS0-BCF_DsfKW8r8p4yhr9-EAXX0z-RCzRyHiINB0VBbbnXR3pEdNfqjSmURdAsa7g9R-G2DVCcRRmSuC6LakuT6xA3b9b-mVC-1X9cUUTEnDIlasBYzSKKAmtq9cFaIZcToY8=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Wilma Theater's stream of their stage production of <i><a href="https://wilmatheater.org/event/fat-ham-2/" target="_blank"><b>Fat Ham</b></a></i>.</li></ul></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-90312563630650871402023-12-18T09:00:00.044-05:002023-12-18T09:00:00.145-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W51: The Country Wife, Christmas Spectacular, Lookingglass Alice<div style="text-align: left;"> <b><u>12/11/23: <i><a href="https://www.redbulltheater.com/the-country-wife" target="_blank">The Country Wife</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Red Bull presents a benefit concert staging of Maltby and Shire's adaptation of William Wycherley's play about sexual escapades, with a revisionist slant.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> What's funny is, right before seeing this performance, I was talking with a friend about the problem of revisals (problems include: changing things without the (dead) author's consent but pretending it's still the same work; "fixing" the wrong things and utterly demolishing the stakes in the process; and maybe if the show is enough of a problem we just shouldn't do it? maybe we just write a new show? how about that? the songs from <i>Carousel</i> aren't going anywhere but I don't need to see that show ever again. anyway). And this is an interesting solution: a play-within-a-play adaptation of a problematic play where one of the characters articulates her issues with the play as written and then proceeds to rewrite it. It's not a perfect solve: a lot of the grosser elements are still there, but now the show is calling them out. But the audience is still expected to applaud the songs about the grosser elements so ... it's a bit of trying to have their cake and eating it too. We had a number of covers going on last minute for the concert staging, including the story's hero, with Nicholas Edwards ably and charismatically stepping in for Jelani Remy. And as a special treat, this is now the second time I've seen Richard Maltby, Jr. step in to cover a role in a show he wrote, so that was pretty charming too.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8k9vk2uW_TlwHDitI7ilIunak7UmBxA2QL201G3O1gyVgItlzG7Up3F-d4hAqK9TzlWxgrR3fd7XRY2GxxLyrGdJrV19Wo3C2-x5A66atczRdozWYsiLOgEqynl8gBj12xgOWfJ55m27Iu0zPD02CrDUAzAk5DXEnEjuXwf5f40AVlNODXD7f4YCGRng/s897/country%20wife.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="604" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8k9vk2uW_TlwHDitI7ilIunak7UmBxA2QL201G3O1gyVgItlzG7Up3F-d4hAqK9TzlWxgrR3fd7XRY2GxxLyrGdJrV19Wo3C2-x5A66atczRdozWYsiLOgEqynl8gBj12xgOWfJ55m27Iu0zPD02CrDUAzAk5DXEnEjuXwf5f40AVlNODXD7f4YCGRng/w269-h400/country%20wife.PNG" width="269" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>12/12/23: <i><a href="https://www.rockettes.com/christmas/" target="_blank">Christmas Spectacular</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> The annual Christmas show from the Radio City Rockettes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> Funnily enough, this marks my first time actually seeing a Rockettes show! It's definitely worth experiencing if you've never gone, but I don't know that I'll make an effort to catch it every year going forward. The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers dance is really something else. I think that was my favorite.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YGkWJvQTP-B5Ic70pJK2PVSG6wTC_LQ5xw2zhDW3DwNefV2V-4L-JXuPvkInaN3PDjbpFN48gd6dDUc4QO1d-M5_U0F0nlh_jzaYfglVC8-Tpb5l_vPoiK-xLsI5NUitWAh7dsCpxsNcjXD4_G4KwFv1aHcVH7i4ObJPIqiK7INDDE4S0zh0wuAhh1Q/s1920/Rockettes-NYC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1920" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YGkWJvQTP-B5Ic70pJK2PVSG6wTC_LQ5xw2zhDW3DwNefV2V-4L-JXuPvkInaN3PDjbpFN48gd6dDUc4QO1d-M5_U0F0nlh_jzaYfglVC8-Tpb5l_vPoiK-xLsI5NUitWAh7dsCpxsNcjXD4_G4KwFv1aHcVH7i4ObJPIqiK7INDDE4S0zh0wuAhh1Q/w400-h175/Rockettes-NYC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched</u></b></div></b><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Lookingglass Theatre's stream of <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/lookingglass-alice/" target="_blank">Lookingglass Alice</a></i> on PBS.</li></ul><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-90929105332670917322023-12-13T09:00:00.002-05:002023-12-13T14:42:08.374-05:00Best Theater of 2023: Well, we survived, I guess<div style="text-align: left;">Usually I use this space to talk about how the year of theater has felt, maybe some of the highlights, compare the trends with previous seasons and my engagement with them, and thoughts about the future. I don't know that I have the energy to do that this year. This year has found too many ways to break my heart, and I don't have much left to give. I'm scared and sad and tired.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So this is what I can give: this year I saw 107 pieces of theater, with 6 of them being repeats within the year, so: 101 unique pieces of theater. Of those 101, 62 were plays, 28 were musicals, and 11 were streaming.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are the top eleven, in chronological order of when I saw them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/02/weekly-margin-2023-w9-crumbs-from-table.html"><b><i>The Coast Starlight</i></b></a> (LCT/Newhouse, Off-B; watched February)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJzhY8T6KBa6jq0XtyI02oAM3t5hSsuWObQJpkP_8z6ZTXHG4DRBYFLjqAvW9x1XaR5KqPO6VpJHMf8Sl6JewiXSJRuoqvBiE7N0dCo5gWrFCKpPXmrJDtsaz4zToKiar0FLyKuXVaP08eqZpOpvrfJMLMJH6Ko3i69WZ5yHTrD21yCYaNK4FX1JQH3c/s675/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJzhY8T6KBa6jq0XtyI02oAM3t5hSsuWObQJpkP_8z6ZTXHG4DRBYFLjqAvW9x1XaR5KqPO6VpJHMf8Sl6JewiXSJRuoqvBiE7N0dCo5gWrFCKpPXmrJDtsaz4zToKiar0FLyKuXVaP08eqZpOpvrfJMLMJH6Ko3i69WZ5yHTrD21yCYaNK4FX1JQH3c/w400-h266/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The company of <i>The Coast Starlight</i>. Photo by T. Charles Erikson.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/03/weekly-margin-2023-w11-leopoldstadt.html">The Jungle</a></i></b> (A Good Chance/National Theatre/Young Vic/St. Ann's Warehouse, Off-B; watched March)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKltXYyTuYPS5tAn8ggdaPLyGazjBDk5IZ3htsld1dyWlQ-JnOEB9hYiH-cmeql36fovHSBvEmDsDSwXbYfUb2o6HBcx91b-tH2msnlO1urYeaB-51tyWHnreiRxEnxduvfjGTBny9ZCxp-EbFdcxnp_iS5pHBq6uaetNhBh7LqwLMLL4-aVMkP226Q0/s2460/Ben-Turner-Salar-and-Jonathan-Nyati-Mohammed-in-The-Jungle-West-End.-Credit-Marc-Brenner-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1640" data-original-width="2460" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKltXYyTuYPS5tAn8ggdaPLyGazjBDk5IZ3htsld1dyWlQ-JnOEB9hYiH-cmeql36fovHSBvEmDsDSwXbYfUb2o6HBcx91b-tH2msnlO1urYeaB-51tyWHnreiRxEnxduvfjGTBny9ZCxp-EbFdcxnp_iS5pHBq6uaetNhBh7LqwLMLL4-aVMkP226Q0/w400-h266/Ben-Turner-Salar-and-Jonathan-Nyati-Mohammed-in-The-Jungle-West-End.-Credit-Marc-Brenner-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ben Turner and Jonathan Nyati as Salar and Mohammed in <i>The Jungle</i>.<br />Photo by Marc Brenner.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/03/weekly-margin-2023-w12-bob-fosses.html">Life of Pi</a></i></b> (National Theatre/Schoenfeld, B; watched March)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVemwHCEuyyMEqB_q5CeEgL6IJC7Ry_TMFI3r3pIMDXpuGeZAw9vJsFpCe7aICEjUXaDQnB8CpfKsEkhDMft8VrTnbsHOPr1JfyTP1F0JAtdvRp14ts5E0IYeyeBfhNLbsUdXhP1V3cM8vws-FDUwmBbbLDvzcBjQcaWCV2z4vyVRK178f_hbj0JpzPtw/s681/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVemwHCEuyyMEqB_q5CeEgL6IJC7Ry_TMFI3r3pIMDXpuGeZAw9vJsFpCe7aICEjUXaDQnB8CpfKsEkhDMft8VrTnbsHOPr1JfyTP1F0JAtdvRp14ts5E0IYeyeBfhNLbsUdXhP1V3cM8vws-FDUwmBbbLDvzcBjQcaWCV2z4vyVRK178f_hbj0JpzPtw/w400-h225/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hiran Abeysekera and puppeteers as Pi and Richard Parker in <i>Life of Pi</i><br />(London run). Photo by Johan Persson.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/03/weekly-margin-2023-w13-describe-night.html"><b><i>Describe the Night </i></b></a>(Steppenwolf, Regional; watched March)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaL6sDvlSVMIR7iCD7sGAQdsaxgISqSHv6RiZOtI5HzajEHldNH8BtfWyracutqeLpJVAr4PfOz1n_PYlsuZwIi8S1ulrugxEFD9joJ4caAhcHVEJgnZMzncb4TCPcvLcS3NtxEAUybFM6TZ2HigYKtWXgqPLGj6Hb8HGg1y4zGf49XJfwJIHcgw2Fcg/s582/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="582" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaL6sDvlSVMIR7iCD7sGAQdsaxgISqSHv6RiZOtI5HzajEHldNH8BtfWyracutqeLpJVAr4PfOz1n_PYlsuZwIi8S1ulrugxEFD9joJ4caAhcHVEJgnZMzncb4TCPcvLcS3NtxEAUybFM6TZ2HigYKtWXgqPLGj6Hb8HGg1y4zGf49XJfwJIHcgw2Fcg/w400-h264/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yasen Peyankov and James Vincent Meredith as Nikolai and Isaac in<br /><i>Describe the Night</i>. Photo by Michael Brosilow.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/03/weekly-margin-2023-w13-describe-night.html"><i>Villette </i></a></b>(Lookingglass Theatre, Regional; watched March)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTZCJlMM4zenyQdYoysM_H0xQ0YKPEbXkLrhqhnMlnD-85L1yR9nWR70ckwfRQMr6POO_J2q5-OQefwqdhCXdFIWU9RawQO3n23x09ZltQo6ZMTCqTk6Jwq0lYMDa9eoxq6bwl_izYN0neSpGGKqpRFXtoCWG_9XzIaUSL6U2H5-b9hkpnQat992IEsw/s1860/VILLETTE.-Debo-Balogun-and-Mi-Kang.-Photo-by-Liz-Lauren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1244" data-original-width="1860" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTZCJlMM4zenyQdYoysM_H0xQ0YKPEbXkLrhqhnMlnD-85L1yR9nWR70ckwfRQMr6POO_J2q5-OQefwqdhCXdFIWU9RawQO3n23x09ZltQo6ZMTCqTk6Jwq0lYMDa9eoxq6bwl_izYN0neSpGGKqpRFXtoCWG_9XzIaUSL6U2H5-b9hkpnQat992IEsw/w400-h268/VILLETTE.-Debo-Balogun-and-Mi-Kang.-Photo-by-Liz-Lauren.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Debo Balogun and Mi Kang as Paul Emmanuel and Lucy Snowe in <i>Villette</i>.<br />Photo by Liz Lauren.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><b><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/04/weekly-margin-2023-w15-rough-trade.html">Rough Trade</a></b></i> (The Tank, Off-Off-B; watched April)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIwtHYTOnn9VjJ7r__Dm4pxPvL2T5Y-bn4e95w720AShrJcmP7dFi4Ep2OSYuw9GukQBF6ghLhCOszlPnB762OqXTxl3utvqUNQKHqKHXohErZ6GFiCcdLMtRE73QJYbXpC10sRrwPmAuiPbOXT5lqvlvN487ylg-tIvZhhIadssqyzYJCrkw2-1JdPg/s1200/Derek-Christopher-Murphy-and-Max-Kantor-in-The-Tanks-2023-production-of-ROUGH-TRADE-Photo-by-Hunter-Canning-2-1200x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIwtHYTOnn9VjJ7r__Dm4pxPvL2T5Y-bn4e95w720AShrJcmP7dFi4Ep2OSYuw9GukQBF6ghLhCOszlPnB762OqXTxl3utvqUNQKHqKHXohErZ6GFiCcdLMtRE73QJYbXpC10sRrwPmAuiPbOXT5lqvlvN487ylg-tIvZhhIadssqyzYJCrkw2-1JdPg/w400-h266/Derek-Christopher-Murphy-and-Max-Kantor-in-The-Tanks-2023-production-of-ROUGH-TRADE-Photo-by-Hunter-Canning-2-1200x800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Derek Christopher Murphy and Max Kantor as Finch and Hawk in <i>Rough<br />Trade</i>. Photo by Hunter Canning.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/05/weekly-margin-2023-w20-grey-house.html">& Juliet</a></i></b> (Sondheim, B; watched May)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCDkcZAyq6GrVk3a3waTA3VRulUBTH_P5a6Y0ifwKjlXYkRZ5AbBwosalk6bIDn5raFLUfYk66zzjfjJhTq3rjtXkyCMENTAWFamIhCOwMfaIgE2oMiIINs0B4pHp3yfJ1k1LrUSR05WwfsxG_D-MtLT_6PWEujlafnkQT2s8OX5ELXPhTVNzLotVtMzc/s1200/&%20Juliet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCDkcZAyq6GrVk3a3waTA3VRulUBTH_P5a6Y0ifwKjlXYkRZ5AbBwosalk6bIDn5raFLUfYk66zzjfjJhTq3rjtXkyCMENTAWFamIhCOwMfaIgE2oMiIINs0B4pHp3yfJ1k1LrUSR05WwfsxG_D-MtLT_6PWEujlafnkQT2s8OX5ELXPhTVNzLotVtMzc/w400-h400/&%20Juliet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lorna Courtney, Betsy Wolfe, Justin David Sullivan, and Melanie La Barrie<br />as Juliet, April, May, and Angelique in <i>& Juliet</i>. Photo by Matthew Murphy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/09/weekly-margin-2023-w38-jajas-african.html">Jaja's African Hair Braiding</a></i></b> (MTC/Friedman, B; watched September)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfKWE045kPsUAf4LSXsFWahzEA46vFyNKl6C0LbrNVRzTRixhOHlq91X1Nox4xJVXw-SRBbseiFlgVYqTNnwUpCdzUmMz-bkuxxQaDdPbYpJYjf9S-3PiZZ76rj8kZO6wtJrrTxpqdjX3Ss4elC89FUgwTPsaUIuYSr5aU3sA9chhZHIHbLOhrN54zEc/s675/JAJA_BROADWAY_S_0259r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfKWE045kPsUAf4LSXsFWahzEA46vFyNKl6C0LbrNVRzTRixhOHlq91X1Nox4xJVXw-SRBbseiFlgVYqTNnwUpCdzUmMz-bkuxxQaDdPbYpJYjf9S-3PiZZ76rj8kZO6wtJrrTxpqdjX3Ss4elC89FUgwTPsaUIuYSr5aU3sA9chhZHIHbLOhrN54zEc/w400-h266/JAJA_BROADWAY_S_0259r.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nana Mensah, Lakisha May, Maechi Aharaanwa, and Kalyne Coleman as <br />Aminata, client, Ndidi, and client (I'm so sorry, both Lakisha May and <br />Kalyne Coleman played multiple roles brilliantly, but now I can't remember<br />which was which), in <i>Jaja's African Hair Braiding</i>. Photo by Matthew Murphy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/09/weekly-margin-2023-w39-swing-state.html">Swing State</a></i></b> (Audible/Minetta Lane, Off-B; watched September)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9-w7gQu2pkKusbQm24ZU-nwc3O1K6gOVJjsaMCqFKeBPsjODcB5JI4yd-cC4r7N-idcHvk8TX5T7-c2HTWXG4Qy_1vS8NMHv9cIxxr92VLoPl084Vq1ECOgFbZONTTygT3V96UjRM6GOvjqKXZIALRLL-KbQfoKVECx7rFsITWFMTG0MFXKmRfrLAKk/s1350/swing-state-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1350" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9-w7gQu2pkKusbQm24ZU-nwc3O1K6gOVJjsaMCqFKeBPsjODcB5JI4yd-cC4r7N-idcHvk8TX5T7-c2HTWXG4Qy_1vS8NMHv9cIxxr92VLoPl084Vq1ECOgFbZONTTygT3V96UjRM6GOvjqKXZIALRLL-KbQfoKVECx7rFsITWFMTG0MFXKmRfrLAKk/w400-h266/swing-state-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler as Peg and Ryan in <i>Swing State</i>.<br />Photo by Liz Lauren.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/10/weekly-margin-2023-w44-sabbaths-theater.html">Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror</a></i></b> (TIQ/Skirball, Streaming; watched October)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X0b8cS6NM_mbSCcr_s473Kyao1w06ATwJZVZkOdJzUsHGHhaueIm6MUMBq2Vq80rUFJpvBY2_DcTLygoIe_n2QHKiRPJTL3ZTG-V3NPSCFaQ-X35PibVri8koI1dtwtStWDGkARjveP70RFtxyVXzE61JVvHUJKSeHxxy3-C6enp0H9YHVy-CB9tLY8/s1280/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="1280" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X0b8cS6NM_mbSCcr_s473Kyao1w06ATwJZVZkOdJzUsHGHhaueIm6MUMBq2Vq80rUFJpvBY2_DcTLygoIe_n2QHKiRPJTL3ZTG-V3NPSCFaQ-X35PibVri8koI1dtwtStWDGkARjveP70RFtxyVXzE61JVvHUJKSeHxxy3-C6enp0H9YHVy-CB9tLY8/w400-h181/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cover art for <i>Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror</i>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/11/weekly-margin-2023-w48-hadestown-purlie.html">Purlie Victorious</a></i></b> (Music Box, B; watched November)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVZmTdVOj5W1nIeRiIPJfxTQ3fRcpEjh_ZfWDx842imxpVO1vd2uZLfznijaUTWBdLOOD5CgK6yxDX6KPAiR1GwBdg3Oa2TI10eygxomsAVcnDSmOfE6B4j4vCyepRb2SOJ_d5cbvPXr0dVODe_bgLYDQiMmP05b4MneZJmmDx_rmSDGQrXbeDuhkuHA/s675/image.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVZmTdVOj5W1nIeRiIPJfxTQ3fRcpEjh_ZfWDx842imxpVO1vd2uZLfznijaUTWBdLOOD5CgK6yxDX6KPAiR1GwBdg3Oa2TI10eygxomsAVcnDSmOfE6B4j4vCyepRb2SOJ_d5cbvPXr0dVODe_bgLYDQiMmP05b4MneZJmmDx_rmSDGQrXbeDuhkuHA/w400-h266/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jay O. Sanders, Billy Eugene Jones, Kara Young, and Leslie Odom, Jr. as<br />Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee, Gitlow Judson, Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, and <br />Purlie Victorious in <i>Purlie Victorious</i>. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-8956131295976064392023-12-11T09:00:00.005-05:002023-12-11T09:00:00.145-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W50: The Time Machine<div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Original Theatre's <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://originaltheatre.com/productions/the-time-machine" target="_blank">The Time Machine</a></i>.</li></ul></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-33142063861360417102023-12-04T09:00:00.128-05:002023-12-04T09:00:00.140-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W49: Gutenberg! The Musical!, The Gardens of Anuncia, Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, Life & Times of Michael K<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>11/28/23: <i><a href="https://gutenbergbway.com/" target="_blank">Gutenberg! The Musical!</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Scott Brown and Anthony King's musical about two buddies who decided to write an unresearched, wildly fictionalized musical about the invention of the printing press. This production reunites the original stars of <i>The Book of Mormon</i>: Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> It's fine. It's dumb. Sometimes it's a fun dumb. It was clearly written by two straight guys, and I could do without the jokes about the fat character eating a lot of food ha ha ha isn't it funny to laugh at fat people eating gosh they have no self control, also have you noticed that fat people are unlovable. The jokes about German people being antisemitic (though I've been told were revised in the wake of the pogrom on October 7) are also not ... terribly funny to me right now. I wonder if I would have liked it better Off-Broadway.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKUTWRVbbqal8LVVsjHJ9WT051lbmjTGYxZztg9pTAZNApyrVIR7FqzEpepUnChR4pB_Gz503RQCmRfi3CPTuCUNTaoUwQWM7hWs17Obdvr7bqPaSkSm697E9EkDVkg1pDOtg6IZhWq_Mk1zgqZIt6EhkTpJT0-MSNTslIs1SY1DmSoE_pgVewc1h_B8/s675/GUTENBERG_0441_PJZEDIT_v001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKUTWRVbbqal8LVVsjHJ9WT051lbmjTGYxZztg9pTAZNApyrVIR7FqzEpepUnChR4pB_Gz503RQCmRfi3CPTuCUNTaoUwQWM7hWs17Obdvr7bqPaSkSm697E9EkDVkg1pDOtg6IZhWq_Mk1zgqZIt6EhkTpJT0-MSNTslIs1SY1DmSoE_pgVewc1h_B8/w400-h266/GUTENBERG_0441_PJZEDIT_v001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad. Photo by Matthew Murphy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>12/01/23: <i><a href="https://www.lct.org/shows/gardens-anuncia/" target="_blank">The Gardens of Anuncia</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Lincoln Center presents a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa, a memoir for Graciela Daniele, who also directs and co-choreographs the show. It is a tribute to the three women who raised her in Argentina under Peron's oppressive government: her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> It's fantastic to hear a new LaChiusa score, especially one performed by such a talented set of performers as Priscilla Lopez, Eden Espinosa, Andr<span style="font-family: inherit;">é</span>a Burns, Mary Testa, and Kalyn West (oh god, especially the stunning harmonies of Espinosa, Burns, and Testa). I think this show isn't quite finished yet, but its strengths are worth the rest of it. The magical realism, the family relationships, the scenic and lighting design, these are all effective. What is less effective is the attempt to bring in the pieces of Daniele's (or I should say Anuncia's) life after Argentina. It's thinner, it's without much grounding, and I'm impatient to return to the more visceral story in Argentina. I want to be shown, not told, and everything post-Argentina is just something told (well, not everything--the deer stuff is great). I think with a bit more tightening of the writing, this could be great.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUWDyt-TzMwWUd7L06ZQutJYVASKPItqAWyD2vwRJnMwoBfVfpfoElZTOo_IvalujHDJ0nUjxF-IMUwfgjwXJ-ut70cS9wpkKHYUJ-q3PszLJ_v2ZfLOwNndFz4OpHidAeXcHN9wSh5AfbGsscVE8TgiL_jaQMWzH_bze8colYubLDmaFfp_GPPFr9m0/s675/LCTANUNCIA-97-Priscilla-Lopez-and-Kalyn-West-as-Older-and-Younger-Anuncia.-Credit-to-Julieta-Cervantes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUWDyt-TzMwWUd7L06ZQutJYVASKPItqAWyD2vwRJnMwoBfVfpfoElZTOo_IvalujHDJ0nUjxF-IMUwfgjwXJ-ut70cS9wpkKHYUJ-q3PszLJ_v2ZfLOwNndFz4OpHidAeXcHN9wSh5AfbGsscVE8TgiL_jaQMWzH_bze8colYubLDmaFfp_GPPFr9m0/w400-h266/LCTANUNCIA-97-Priscilla-Lopez-and-Kalyn-West-as-Older-and-Younger-Anuncia.-Credit-to-Julieta-Cervantes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Priscilla Lopez and Kalyn West as Older Anuncia and Younger Anuncia.<br />Photo by Julieta Cervantes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>12/02/23: <i><a href="https://draculacomedy.com/" target="_blank">Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> A new campy adaptation of the Dracula story, by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And? </b>Sometimes fun, sometimes incredibly dumb. It has a lot tonally in common with <i>The 39 Steps</i> play adaptation (which also featured Arnie Burton, who continues to have a good time here), without being quite as good as <i>39 Steps</i> was.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj01iJN95bwrcKjJ-mbwdcW0vLdyBlZYYI3llM9ewY4xSvD80k_BxkSEf-GCalhUjFv-IcylgeNMh1nInkv7UVPgoBu2D-YqZbgUlAaH5_eMYRNSmmhVgHlYc9R8kf-EKeYmFPol9VVGLLSswOBceKgyUEEin376jIhFpVVv5Yo1mlC82EWQhu9kdF8Gk0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj01iJN95bwrcKjJ-mbwdcW0vLdyBlZYYI3llM9ewY4xSvD80k_BxkSEf-GCalhUjFv-IcylgeNMh1nInkv7UVPgoBu2D-YqZbgUlAaH5_eMYRNSmmhVgHlYc9R8kf-EKeYmFPol9VVGLLSswOBceKgyUEEin376jIhFpVVv5Yo1mlC82EWQhu9kdF8Gk0=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Jordan Boatman, James Daly, Ellen Harvey, and<br />Arnie Burton as Harker, Lucy, Count Dracula, Dr. Westfeldt, and Van Helsing.<br />Photo by Matthew Murphy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>12/02/23: <i><a href="https://stannswarehouse.org/show/life-times-of-michael-k/" target="_blank">Life & Times of Michael K</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> St. Ann's Warehouse hosts Baxter Theatre Centre and D<span style="background: white; color: #202122; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ü</span></span>sseldorfer Schauspielhaus Production's adaptation of J. M. Coetzee's 1983 award-winning novel about an ostracized young man trying to find a safe place to call home under apartheid rule in South Africa, as adapted and directed by Lara Foot in collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company (who designed <i>War Horse</i> and <i>Little Amal</i>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> A distressing story, but stunningly told. Handspring are remarkably adept at designing puppets who seem to be alive: living, breathing, reacting, and with their own agency. And in conjunction with Yoav Dagan and Kirsti Cumming's projection design, director Foot presents an evocative and moving narrative, performed powerfully by the ensemble.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJC7SDEiZ54Kq6i2RoP0lSSPNtMTNrinMyvUBVUSy0MYhzHBmMZPIYoD0ac9PttzCj6rz9PecToQV_ZxTDPdlVEG20xMMMfmrATp7vsTICtD7iOTxDHvOWRETBBeMv-QQb8IC-RsITdu7VJQnVM5gSBo_2sqYbMMwQQuEfpWpmPFqf4_taclNGjJeIoSE" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="970" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJC7SDEiZ54Kq6i2RoP0lSSPNtMTNrinMyvUBVUSy0MYhzHBmMZPIYoD0ac9PttzCj6rz9PecToQV_ZxTDPdlVEG20xMMMfmrATp7vsTICtD7iOTxDHvOWRETBBeMv-QQb8IC-RsITdu7VJQnVM5gSBo_2sqYbMMwQQuEfpWpmPFqf4_taclNGjJeIoSE=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, Craig Leo, Carlo Daniels, Roshina Ratnam, and <br />Andrew Buckland. Photo by Fiona McPherson.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-89186240086243252222023-11-27T09:00:00.227-05:002023-11-27T09:14:48.716-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W48: Hadestown, Purlie Victorious, Arcadia, Here We Are, Kimberly Akimbo, Scene Partners, All the Devils are Here, I Can Get it For You Wholesale<b><u>11/20/23: <i><a href="https://www.hadestown.com" target="_blank">Hadestown</a></i></u></b><div>a repeat visit, but with an entirely new cast. I'm delighted to report that I loved the replacement cast as much as the original (including Jordan Fisher, making his debut performance in the role, and absolutely breaking hearts with his open, honest face). Philip Boykin's bass voice is so perfectly suited for Hades, and the strength of his lower register alone is worth the price of admission. Solea Pfeiffer brings a more honest edge to Eurydice than I'd seen before, and I love it. And Lilias White and Betty Who both have charisma and presence to spare. Several years into its run, <i>Hadestown</i> hasn't lost any of its vitality.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQfJbjhLpPhpNRm_QnwWQaHGQtXgm3nVrCqp-9cdi0YkiDId_BR3A4RFMCEttkfPfEJmyZ0Tj1PaSUyz9nj0HThehKloMolFMDLVXgB0hRnwzAoMx0IEmLjujr_nFJ-ZiW1i1c82PvenaPA4ZwLv1eHuGINSTt0mNDyHNUedE1VHYLcrRJtd1TCaf1ZRA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQfJbjhLpPhpNRm_QnwWQaHGQtXgm3nVrCqp-9cdi0YkiDId_BR3A4RFMCEttkfPfEJmyZ0Tj1PaSUyz9nj0HThehKloMolFMDLVXgB0hRnwzAoMx0IEmLjujr_nFJ-ZiW1i1c82PvenaPA4ZwLv1eHuGINSTt0mNDyHNUedE1VHYLcrRJtd1TCaf1ZRA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Betty Who and Phillip Boykin as Persephone and Hades. <br />Photo by Matthew Murphy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><u>11/21/23: <i><a href="https://purlievictorious.com" target="_blank">Purlie Victorious</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> The Broadway revival of Ossie Davis's play (perhaps slightly better known for its musical adaptation, <i>Purlie</i>), about the Jim Crow south, and Purlie Victorious's efforts to liberate his sharecropping family, claim a withheld inheritance, and rebuild his church.</div><div><b>And?</b> I knew very little about this play going in, but I loved every moment of it. It's outrageously funny, but somehow always in a well-grounded way: none of these people are cartoons, even if the situations they get into seem outlandish. I did keep thinking how, in lesser hands than director Kenny Leon and this top-notch cast, that Ossie Davis's clever and well-crafted script could have veered easily into caricature, but it never does. Leslie Odom, Jr., is all charisma and smooth fast-talking plans, Kara Young is adorably awkward, and Billy Eugene Jones's vocal and facial agility make him completely captivating to watch every moment he's onstage. Jay O. Sanders, who's always excellent, even manages to make a human out of the monster Ol' Cap'n (one we can't wait to see the destruction of). Derek McLane's scenic design is smoothly agile and achieves a fantastic final transformation that I don't want to spoil here.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo0LgdcQeS7Iz6mBasSzrY-yqdRoFNB0hE96zmLwSLUe0WjuhET0sSwwUYr7fHodsC50v1Yrt8s7RdvtCUgYIt5QTfx1K9iKzOf0kkqVeW7nGRbQAEZq9E8bEdzalBPt-OuVZFbe_5QXQl1kzsY2bUo7a6uHFCCzhP2uThs47UzVVJc68ECsFQPVAp6ms" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo0LgdcQeS7Iz6mBasSzrY-yqdRoFNB0hE96zmLwSLUe0WjuhET0sSwwUYr7fHodsC50v1Yrt8s7RdvtCUgYIt5QTfx1K9iKzOf0kkqVeW7nGRbQAEZq9E8bEdzalBPt-OuVZFbe_5QXQl1kzsY2bUo7a6uHFCCzhP2uThs47UzVVJc68ECsFQPVAp6ms=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jay O. Sanders, Billy Eugene Jones, Kara Young, and Leslie Odom, Jr. as<br />Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee, Gitlow Judson, Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, and<br />Purlie Victorious Judson. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><b><br /></b></div><div><b><u>11/22/23: <i><a href="https://bedlam.org/arcadia/" target="_blank">Arcadia</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> Bedlam presents one of my favorite Stoppard plays, a temporal-shifting exploration of hearts, numbers, and the unknowable knowns of life.</div><div><b>And?</b> The good news is, <i>Arcadia</i> is still a tremendous play. I've seen some online reactions saying this isn't <i>Arcadia</i> and while I won't go that far, I don't think director Eric Tucker is demonstrating a real understanding of either the play's themes or its carefully crafted structure. Stoppard has long been a master of matching form to content and in this play he stirs the jam into the rice pudding (per Thomasina's analysis that leads to her preliminary understanding of the heat death of the universe), <i>with very specific timing</i>. When Tucker disrupts that timing fairly early on, it seems a deliberate misunderstanding of how the scenes are structured. And then of course there's the physical structure: a frozen room with a long work table, with a landscape just beyond view whose changing appearance is the focus of characters in both timelines. Not so much several small desks being shuffled around and a full audience and cast reshuffle during the intermission (if this was a demonstration of the jam stirring into the pudding, I might allow it, but they're still dividing actors from audience). Meanwhile, while a number of the cast members demonstrate a good understanding of their characters in a vacuum, there's also a profound misunderstanding of a number of relationships (that I want to blame Tucker for more than anyone else). Hannah is too smart to be ever taken in by Bernard, and to have her entertain the idea of a fling with him weakens her.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, at the end of the day, they're not obstructing the text of the play more than this, and judging by the reactions of the audience members directly next to me who didn't know the play, it's still good enough to tell the story with enough clarity.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQTzamoTW5UaAOrnLNbwle5TnpVhFaDNA0TEhVJt7MrAqJ0P2Zwt1zFRVMQ7Az-pWjOP4sP_n5S0657NbMwDquYc5jsJuURd7ZhsaPIrAaoA0NX4wJZ9EWk3gHcMgOl08RkZbryFvADUamnvCq4E51vu45YjdnKA6rQ4srlvV4zlzt7XuEVI3LFuwoB8Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQTzamoTW5UaAOrnLNbwle5TnpVhFaDNA0TEhVJt7MrAqJ0P2Zwt1zFRVMQ7Az-pWjOP4sP_n5S0657NbMwDquYc5jsJuURd7ZhsaPIrAaoA0NX4wJZ9EWk3gHcMgOl08RkZbryFvADUamnvCq4E51vu45YjdnKA6rQ4srlvV4zlzt7XuEVI3LFuwoB8Q=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cast of <i>Arcadia</i>. Photo by Ashley Garrett.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></b><b><u>11/24/23: <i><a href="https://www.theshed.org/program/301-here-we-are" target="_blank">Here We Are</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> The Shed presents Stephen Sondheim's final musical, in collaboration with David Ives: an adaptation of two Bu<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ñ</span></span>uel films, <i>The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie</i> and <i>The Exterminating Angel</i>.</div><div><b>And?</b> What they've said is true: you can hear when he ran out of time and music. Act two starts with some music sequences that gradually fade out, and all that's left is dialog. I could even wager what moments <i>would</i> have been musicalized if he'd been a young man with unlimited time. The odd thing, though, about the music that <i>is</i> there--through all of act one and part of act two--is how much it feels like a long mirror looking back at his whole career. Or, to put it a meaner way: if you fed his scores to an AI and asked it to write a Sondheim score, it might sound a little something like this. This progressive chord is <i>Into the Woods</i>; that pattered warning about the end of the world is the Mizner brothers in <i>Road Show</i>. This interval is from <i>Passion</i>, that melody riff is for sure from "The Blob" in <i>Merrily</i>. I'd always thought that what was impressive about Sondheim scores is that the music fit the story and the moment; that the shows didn't sound like each other. <i>Here We Are</i> is contemporary, it's absurdist, it's definitely about New York, and maybe all of that together leads to that melting pot America likes to brag about so much: as it is so many cultures blending (or not) and bouncing off each other, maybe it is also all of Sondheim's various moves and musical tricks that come together here.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I don't necessarily know what I think about that yet. The show itself is a strange story and not fully my cup of tea, but at the same time I appreciate how different it is in story and style from Sondheim's other collaborations. The ensemble cast is terrific, top to bottom, especially Micaela Diamond and Rachel Bay Jones as sisters Fritz and Marianne. And there was no way I wasn't going to see Sondheim's final musical.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSXRqNfr4ylEZVNykkU9JtyrRbdaVhhfpviFOWcTqty8Tv8w65r7SiMWTJ9ctYkiuH_73qECNQLm05BubmRLLI3NybtBcSt-Coc5xD2BLj-71ltxs34vx00x2w21nck3hysqZsahVj3jc3Qe61-ryYiF6KHJzPECyibT8qIV6ldbJuA20bM3y_T4Yw9s/s669/Here-We-Are_Emilio-Madrid_4167.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="669" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSXRqNfr4ylEZVNykkU9JtyrRbdaVhhfpviFOWcTqty8Tv8w65r7SiMWTJ9ctYkiuH_73qECNQLm05BubmRLLI3NybtBcSt-Coc5xD2BLj-71ltxs34vx00x2w21nck3hysqZsahVj3jc3Qe61-ryYiF6KHJzPECyibT8qIV6ldbJuA20bM3y_T4Yw9s/w400-h269/Here-We-Are_Emilio-Madrid_4167.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Steven Pasquale, Bobby Cannavale, Rachel<br />Bay Jones, and Jeremy Shamos as Fritz, Claudia, Raffael, Leo, Marianne,<br />and Paul. Photo by Emilio Madrid.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></div><div><b><u>11/24/23: <i><a href="https://www.kimberlyakimbothemusical.com" target="_blank">Kimberly Akimbo</a></i></u></b></div><div>a repeat visit. still fantastic</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>11/25/23: <i><a href="https://vineyardtheatre.org/shows/scene-partners/" target="_blank">Scene Partners</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> Vineyard Theatre presents a new play by John J. Caswell, Jr., about a woman in her 70s, newly widowed, who travels to Hollywood to become a movie star.</div><div><b>And?</b> This was super weird and I'm not really sure what to say about it.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmaOf8VCYr5jQV-agD7WEr2kqRZbbgEEXEcyDqv7M3qONDX1Co6MbzYlu-Ri8TRkIP4p2fpVxnDKIDDWb9z_Hp2MkKCdhHJFccD8vT8y9dBrkSyOvm7ykkFRv1kYrWd7swQsiojUuLyT-tNwu_bGLz3_s2NHuW5C0mSexgikXuFYRsLdlfMmyqYolc7k/s970/195-Dianne-Wiest-and-Josh-Hamilton-in-Scene-Partners-at-Vineyard-Theatre-cCarol-Rosegg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="970" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmaOf8VCYr5jQV-agD7WEr2kqRZbbgEEXEcyDqv7M3qONDX1Co6MbzYlu-Ri8TRkIP4p2fpVxnDKIDDWb9z_Hp2MkKCdhHJFccD8vT8y9dBrkSyOvm7ykkFRv1kYrWd7swQsiojUuLyT-tNwu_bGLz3_s2NHuW5C0mSexgikXuFYRsLdlfMmyqYolc7k/w400-h225/195-Dianne-Wiest-and-Josh-Hamilton-in-Scene-Partners-at-Vineyard-Theatre-cCarol-Rosegg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dianne Wiest and Josh Hamilton. Photo by Carol Rosegg.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b><u>11/25/23: <i><a href="https://allthedevilsplay.com/" target="_blank">All the Devils are Here</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> The New York transfer of Patrick Page's one-person tribute to Shakespeare's villains.</div><div><b>And?</b> Sort of a repeat visit, as I watched this online when he did it in 2021 with Shakespeare Theatre Company. The writing of it isn't always the most interesting (though the way he interprets and interacts with Shakespeare, as evident in the talkback after our performance, is highly engaging), but his performance is strong.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBvV3fihtAIiPGSrKZFyzIVu7AGylsyIfBiLLgqA4z9Y_Fk1UNW3xoUSZ0FBZ3ITBt1xxAP1xpVAznCciKK4MR2LLuYLsyGSG5Q-ED3l3GjAsYTcj94wkvSueyA9cfBTwnWOBcAbiqIbJ-7eXNt-hldIfeS0gbpM8Z-gQ3P20rsVizr6YyQFAVwMIY3AE" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBvV3fihtAIiPGSrKZFyzIVu7AGylsyIfBiLLgqA4z9Y_Fk1UNW3xoUSZ0FBZ3ITBt1xxAP1xpVAznCciKK4MR2LLuYLsyGSG5Q-ED3l3GjAsYTcj94wkvSueyA9cfBTwnWOBcAbiqIbJ-7eXNt-hldIfeS0gbpM8Z-gQ3P20rsVizr6YyQFAVwMIY3AE=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Patrick Page. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><u>11/26/23: <i><a href="https://www.classicstage.org/i-can-get-it-for-you-wholesale/" target="_blank">I Can Get it For You Wholesale</a></i></u></b></div><div><b>What:</b> CSC presents a revisal of the Jerome Weidman-Harold Rome musical (revisions by Weidman's son John), about an unscrupulous young man trying to climb the ranks in the garment district in 1937 New York.</div><div><b>And?</b> Usually when the main character is such a completely remorseless sociopath, there's at least something engaging about the writing to carry us through it (Iago, Richard III, J. Pierpont Finch). Here, the writing wasn't enough to elevate it to something I enjoyed watching, even if it was nice to see the Jewish representation. Good performers, great staging by Trip Cullman, and I'm curious how much this script differs from the original. Edit with update: a friend of mine sent me a detailed list of revisions, which actually tells a fairly different story, but I still get the sense this show isn't for me.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6x1e8ZtgeXXNLvI7pimZgfG4l-G8kXKqJ1Gg9vlPoc4U0i1x1WsdtDL84ZxSRjGiHnjFNSpCUQkUyESdJNJPAT7xSQdD0lADJfXA2O66Bx9x-N0rTPvs_wdg-198awL0G1XzsLEe0gj1AzoIsrLu7ilSedKwsJsmCOszSskamylewRKIaRTA699XyEU/s675/Rebecca-Naomi-Jones-center-and-the-cast-of-the-CSC-production-of-I-CAN-GET-IT-FOR-YOU-WHOLESALE-photo-by-Julieta-Cervantes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="675" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6x1e8ZtgeXXNLvI7pimZgfG4l-G8kXKqJ1Gg9vlPoc4U0i1x1WsdtDL84ZxSRjGiHnjFNSpCUQkUyESdJNJPAT7xSQdD0lADJfXA2O66Bx9x-N0rTPvs_wdg-198awL0G1XzsLEe0gj1AzoIsrLu7ilSedKwsJsmCOszSskamylewRKIaRTA699XyEU/w400-h266/Rebecca-Naomi-Jones-center-and-the-cast-of-the-CSC-production-of-I-CAN-GET-IT-FOR-YOU-WHOLESALE-photo-by-Julieta-Cervantes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rebecca Naomi Jones, center, with Sarah Steele, Greg Hildreth, Santino<br />Fontana, Judy Kuhn, and Adam Chanler-Berat as Ruthie Rivkin, Blanche<br />Bushkin, Teddy Asch, Harry Bogen, Mrs. Bogen, and Meyer Bushkin.<br />Photo by Julieta Cervantes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-76646287990177768592023-11-20T09:00:00.078-05:002023-11-20T09:00:00.259-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W47: How To Dance In Ohio<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>11/17/23: <i><a href="https://howtodanceinohiomusical.com/" target="_blank">How To Dance In Ohio</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> A new musical adaptation of Alexandra Shiva's 2015 documentary, about a group of autistic young adults who, in the course of their class about social skills, plan to have a spring formal dance.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> I haven't seen the film it's based on, though I've heard from some of my autistic friends that it has a rather infantilizing approach to its subjects, which is, well, not great, Bob. I think there was hope there would be less of that with the stage adaptation, as the conversation about ableism continues to move forward, and as the production endeavors for authenticity in casting: both in casting nonbinary actors for nonbinary roles, and in casting autistic actors for autistic roles. The theater has even provided Cool-Down Spaces in case audience members become overstimulated and need a break. There have been a lot of steps taken to actualize these characters, to give them narrative autonomy, and I do want to applaud all that as a step forward. But. There's still this insidious scent of condescension resting in the audience and maybe even inescapably in the show itself, a sort of "Good for you, you autistic people! You're on a real Broadway stage! We're so proud of you," complete with a pat on the head. I don't think it's intentional. I think a lot of people were there, like me, eager to celebrate representation and diverse stories being told. But I still felt the littlest squirm about it all. Maybe that's what comes with being the first Broadway musical to knowingly do this. I should point out, before I leave this topic, that the show does a masterful job shutting down ableist language and thinking in its most overt form, and that's something that needs to be reiterated for, well, the people in the back.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The show itself is fine. It's not stellar, but it's not terrible. I want the writing to sparkle more than it does, to reach the level that a few of its songs do reach, moments that pierce the audience, like the Act I finale, "Waves and Wires." The cast is pretty great, particularly Madison Kopec as Marideth and Amelia Fei as Caroline. Darlesia Cearcy, who plays Caroline's mother, is also notable for both her powerhouse voice and her ability to convey so much without even speaking, when she figures as Caroline's inner monologue. I'd also like to highlight Sarafina Bush's costume design, which has some truly genius moments.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XG6q-lozK8osheyq47MipSj-HbAnUKRgtEYK_OBZtteEbdYhKIhJQ2jBjtR_RBoV_RxBAi3hnUVEadDTn6pS0qE5_DRNrqgWI_1hcX8d_5RNDnsHXffvK_pwMpPin3TKNZM2T5D7yBzx_i3k4YD0R_UuVRgPM1ZF51k_kJEJwk6bl-MxQebKDEBz884/s970/0051-Conor-Tague-Amelia-Fei-Imani-Russell-Liam-Pearce-Madison-Kopec-Desmond-Edwards-Ashley-Wool.-Photo-credit-Curtis-Brown.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="970" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XG6q-lozK8osheyq47MipSj-HbAnUKRgtEYK_OBZtteEbdYhKIhJQ2jBjtR_RBoV_RxBAi3hnUVEadDTn6pS0qE5_DRNrqgWI_1hcX8d_5RNDnsHXffvK_pwMpPin3TKNZM2T5D7yBzx_i3k4YD0R_UuVRgPM1ZF51k_kJEJwk6bl-MxQebKDEBz884/w400-h225/0051-Conor-Tague-Amelia-Fei-Imani-Russell-Liam-Pearce-Madison-Kopec-Desmond-Edwards-Ashley-Wool.-Photo-credit-Curtis-Brown.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo from the Syracuse Stage run (slightly different costume design than <br />Broadway). Conor Tague, Amelia Fei, Imani Russell, Liam Pearce, Madison<br />Kopec, Desmond Luis Edwards, and Ashley Wool as Tommy, Caroline, Mel,<br />Drew, Marideth, Remy, and Jessica. Photo by Curtis Brown.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-22665130101941113422023-11-13T09:30:00.009-05:002023-11-13T10:32:02.289-05:00Weekly Margin 2023, W46: Romeo and Juliet<b><u>11/12/23: <i><a href="https://www.epicplayersnyc.org/" target="_blank">Romeo and Juliet</a></i></u></b><div><b>What:</b> EPIC Theater's neurodiverse production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy about star-crossed lovers.</div><div><b>And?</b> full review <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/11/margin-notes-romeo-and-juliet.html">here</a></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsYVrXkg8mKFhXKTM_ptjApuWHl4XOB34CtE5ng0dFslGk7hn_xCZm-l23iD8OXmnwYNQyMqNSvLrTnqa8-ux0CGQKp7YYJLYPOjZAQo-ZPA2Me9cw12t61lPYdw29JhOHbHv3dLBYdfuiTaYjvU08wmuHlT_xAG0r7QSGn2Kq4hr5Nm1LF4zmrtW-Vk/s6869/Friar%20Marries%20Romeo%20and%20Juliet_R&J-EPIC-222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4988" data-original-width="6869" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsYVrXkg8mKFhXKTM_ptjApuWHl4XOB34CtE5ng0dFslGk7hn_xCZm-l23iD8OXmnwYNQyMqNSvLrTnqa8-ux0CGQKp7YYJLYPOjZAQo-ZPA2Me9cw12t61lPYdw29JhOHbHv3dLBYdfuiTaYjvU08wmuHlT_xAG0r7QSGn2Kq4hr5Nm1LF4zmrtW-Vk/w400-h290/Friar%20Marries%20Romeo%20and%20Juliet_R&J-EPIC-222.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicholas Amodio, Sandy Gladstone-Karpe, and Christine Newberry as<br />Romeo, Friar Lawrence, and Juliet. Photo by Zui Gomez.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-6614914944064786962023-11-13T09:00:00.015-05:002023-11-13T09:00:00.140-05:00Margin Notes: Romeo and Juliet<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><a href="https://www.epicplayersnyc.org/" target="_blank"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTMg3fv0sEjF38Jh2uHLHae94RJ0pJFBRtZHXrPgiYrWGbi5-Jz9AoqhwZ0yvVVC1Aetvn_UAmosHGC3uRWw1_8frXoEGUiqjJLtmG9hN95wCeMZWnCxwhkwp8yOStnVRqxBWC4ktOYyKKCt7sSox0H1-sw3aG_L4VbV5H-eE0RaSAvgQ8dD8mmUgyBQ/s6869/Friar%20Marries%20Romeo%20and%20Juliet_R&J-EPIC-222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4988" data-original-width="6869" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTMg3fv0sEjF38Jh2uHLHae94RJ0pJFBRtZHXrPgiYrWGbi5-Jz9AoqhwZ0yvVVC1Aetvn_UAmosHGC3uRWw1_8frXoEGUiqjJLtmG9hN95wCeMZWnCxwhkwp8yOStnVRqxBWC4ktOYyKKCt7sSox0H1-sw3aG_L4VbV5H-eE0RaSAvgQ8dD8mmUgyBQ/w320-h232/Friar%20Marries%20Romeo%20and%20Juliet_R&J-EPIC-222.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicholas Amodio, Sandy Gladstone-Karpe, and Christine<br />Newberry as Romeo, Friar Lawrence, and Juliet. Photo by<br />Zui Gomez.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Romeo and Juliet</a></i></b></span></div><b><br /></b><b>Seen on:</b> Sunday, 11/12/23.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Plot and Background</b></div>EPIC Players presents a contemporary lens on Shakespeare's classic tragedy about the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, whose passion is not enough to survive their feuding families. EPIC Players is NYC's premiere neurodivergent theater company.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What I Knew Beforehand</b></div>I knew <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, of course, and that EPIC Players is a neurodivergent theater company.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Thoughts:</b></div><b><br /></b>Concept-wise, I think directors Max Baudisch and Meggan Dodd's vision is strong and cohesive: this is a world mirroring our world today, where the geopolitical conflicts are presented in soothing-voiced podcasts, and debated online in pithy 280-character hot takes and inflammatory videos posted out of context. This is a world where the Nurse (a brassy and delightful Sandy Gladstone-Karpe) can scroll through a Hot Men of Verona dating app, where Mercutio can post a dis video, and where the answering retort is a selfie of a Capulet biting his thumb. And in a world like this, it makes all too much sense for the duel between Mercutio (a seedily charismatic Miles Butler) and Tybalt (a full-voiced, 'roided up Dante Jayce) to be fought with extended selfie sticks--until Tybalt breaks out a weapon dealing more lasting damage than a tweet or a reel. There is even thought put into how, in a world of instant information via smartphone, both Romeo and Juliet miss some crucial status updates as the story veers toward its tragic end.<div><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div>And in a world this focused on the frame of the shot or the filter of the take, even the melodramatic nature of the Capulet-Montague feud feels rightly performative in its OTT nature. Of <i>course</i> Tybalt will put on a show fighting the Montagues--his fans expect it. And while Friar Lawrence (a marvelously earthy Kylie Hogrefe, mining every moment of comedy and humanity out of what is sometimes a throwaway role) cares about protecting the privacy of the two young lovers marrying in secret, that won't stop him from using his ring light to get a proper iPhone film of the whole ceremony. The obvious youth of Romeo and Juliet (a perfectly emo Nicholas Amodio and an alternately sullen and giddy Christine Newberry) flavors this equally well. Every emotion is extreme at that age, and the social media performance of it all only exacerbates this.</div><div><br /></div><div>If the concept for the production demonstrates a clear vision, the design doesn't always reflect it consistently. Samuel Biondolillo's projection design perfectly illustrates the social media lens of the production, showing various tweets, posts, and videos; however, the scenic design by Matt Imhoff, though minimal, is trying to do enough that it starts to undermine the elegant simplicity of the projection design, and might be better served by going fully minimal, and letting the actors carry the rest (especially as regarding the transitions, which should either be activated more fully or dropped completely). Nicole Zausmer's costume design, which I suspect is sourced from the actors' own wardrobes, perhaps doesn't have a central vision but also perhaps doesn't need one: if this is a contemporary setting, the actors can wear contemporary clothing (and, since they're their own clothes, they all look fantastic in them). But I will say, when Zausmer's design <i>is</i> making strong choices, they're always good ones: from Tybalt's graphic hoodie with cutoff sleeves (our fitness influencer), to Mercutio's flamboyant blue blazer over his naked chest, these are two characters who know exactly who they are; or rather, exactly who they want the internet to think they are.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***</b></div><b><br /></b><b>Running:</b> Now playing at ART/NY Gural Theater (EPIC Players) - Opening: November 10, 2023. Closing: November 19, 2023.<br /><b>Category: </b>play<br /><b>Length: </b>2 hours, 15 minutes, including intermission.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Creative Team</b></div><br /><b>Playwright: </b>William Shakespeare<br /><b>Co-Directors:</b> Max Baudisch & Meggan Dodd<br /><b>Designers:</b> Aubrie Therrien (Producing Director), Dante Jayce (Fight Choreography), Matt Imhoff (Set), Nicole Zausmer (Costume), Monee Stamp (Lighting), Madisen Frazier (Props), Sean Ramos (Sound & Composer), Samuel Biondolillo (Projections), Cassidy Kaye (Stage Manager), Travis Burbee (Associate Art Director), Carol Hoverman (Assistant Stage Manager), Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR (Publicity). <br /><b>Cast:</b> Nick Amodio, Christine Newberry, Eric Fegan, Miles Butler, Dante Jayce, Gideon Pianko, Lai Williams, Sandy Gladstone Karpe, Kylie Hogrefe, Travis John Martin, Whitney Blythe, Gianluca Cirafici, Gerard Riley, Jesus Chevez, Andrew Kader, Bre Baron, Harrison Gottfired.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrc2QO3Wl57rvO8f2qUXNZHhn_i_rzzhpzv9w7En2L0RkdS7VmccIjokDmo8ozEo2I9Q1Dhh6iI-TNcNjEjoDGJaqswIFHrMpkcoreci7y3vO4khioEURoC1KnjqK6zt-lqfk8rkcyom0Bd-qFoyBwu1FPsEAvsCPrQHnpVNPzh6LvKq0cGDI_-vjkjRg/s7613/(The%20Montague%20and%20Capulet%20Boys)R&J-EPIC-237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5157" data-original-width="7613" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrc2QO3Wl57rvO8f2qUXNZHhn_i_rzzhpzv9w7En2L0RkdS7VmccIjokDmo8ozEo2I9Q1Dhh6iI-TNcNjEjoDGJaqswIFHrMpkcoreci7y3vO4khioEURoC1KnjqK6zt-lqfk8rkcyom0Bd-qFoyBwu1FPsEAvsCPrQHnpVNPzh6LvKq0cGDI_-vjkjRg/w400-h271/(The%20Montague%20and%20Capulet%20Boys)R&J-EPIC-237.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jesus Chavez, Eric Fegan, Miles Butler, Bre Baron, Andrew Kader, and Dante<br />Jayce as Abram, Benvolio, Mercutio, Gregory, Sampson, and Tybalt. Photo<br />by Zui Gomez.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-71727156462830888432023-10-30T09:00:00.037-04:002023-10-30T09:00:00.155-04:00Weekly Margin 2023, W44: Sabbath's Theater, Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror<div style="text-align: left;"> <b><u>10/24/23: <i><a href="https://thenewgroup.org/production/sabbaths-theater/" target="_blank">Sabbath's Theater</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> The New Group presents Ariel Levy and John Turturro's adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, about a sex-crazed puppeteer with arthritis who is sent into a suicide ideating tailspin after the deaths of his longtime lover and an old friend.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> While the three actors were very effective, and the exploration of loss and what it is to be left behind, repeatedly, by those who love you, was interesting, I think this show and this story are ultimately not for me. Which is fine.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhJU5oO3zGpAwapTKk_YY8bGMC0J21VnNPwdBYR2J4Vfiew51GCsMeVQHMM0Raw73VPCov2VpiCUMzPp2FJhOl7Gzy6SXZ8a6qlGFPHIeg5fgD72WdEdYFGf9VQgud_U3asE9JNJNxG26LxwPKCqBqnwtHx6E3_lI8Bc5xe_ecNQ5z4IQrjNS8KmftPzU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhJU5oO3zGpAwapTKk_YY8bGMC0J21VnNPwdBYR2J4Vfiew51GCsMeVQHMM0Raw73VPCov2VpiCUMzPp2FJhOl7Gzy6SXZ8a6qlGFPHIeg5fgD72WdEdYFGf9VQgud_U3asE9JNJNxG26LxwPKCqBqnwtHx6E3_lI8Bc5xe_ecNQ5z4IQrjNS8KmftPzU=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>10/28/23: <i><a href="https://nyuskirball.org/events/nosferatu3d/" target="_blank">Nosferatu, a 3D Symphony of Horror</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Theater in Quarantine, in conjunction with Skirball, presents a virtual theatrical reimagining of the 1922 film, complete with 3D glasses mailed to all ticket holders.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> Joshua William Gelb really feels like a once in a generation theatrical mind. This 35-minute performance, still all contained within TiQ's white closet, is evocative, clever, spooky, and somehow truly magical. And with the use of a sound design specifically for people wearing headphones--reminiscent of the work of Complicit<span style="font-family: inherit;">é--it's transportive.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidgN1LAWmV4z0qVR4jDSzClULG9SjNx5VnqAyBv_o5Hd6jVHsWwBuOBO5g4Ic--rPVSYI7mfjZY5E2CC6tSXIZcNDTt9b3vW3Yz8UbRUOQEnk1gl1GQxRtHSKF07FtewLVUQv6pOc1XoT3G6fNi9F5gvao6clnIfaqgHmHgZMsB8uEc9bh2tUHF8lY_HQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="1280" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidgN1LAWmV4z0qVR4jDSzClULG9SjNx5VnqAyBv_o5Hd6jVHsWwBuOBO5g4Ic--rPVSYI7mfjZY5E2CC6tSXIZcNDTt9b3vW3Yz8UbRUOQEnk1gl1GQxRtHSKF07FtewLVUQv6pOc1XoT3G6fNi9F5gvao6clnIfaqgHmHgZMsB8uEc9bh2tUHF8lY_HQ=w400-h181" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></b></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-40468038192017207552023-10-23T09:00:00.066-04:002023-10-23T09:00:00.141-04:00Weekly Margin 2023, W43: The Laramie Project, Poor Yella Rednecks, Othello<div style="text-align: left;"> <b><u>10/16/23: <i><a href="https://www.symphonyspace.org/events/vp-the-laramie-project-a-benefit-staged-reading" target="_blank">The Laramie Project</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Symphony Space hosts a benefit reading of Tectonic Theater Project's seminal docuplay about the town of Laramie, Wyoming in the wake of the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> No piece of art exists in a vacuum. There is always context. The context of when the art was made, the context of now, this living moment when the art is being experienced, the context of the audience engaging with the art. So it is that we hear the words of the people of Laramie twenty-five years ago, and can think about the progress made for legal protections for queer people, as well as the terrifying regressions in more recent years, as queer and trans youth in particular are targeted by the government. And to see this play a week after the massacre in Israel, I cannot help but pair the description of the inhumane brutality inflicted on Matthew Shepard with what is happening there. The bewilderment that people can do these terrible things to someone else because of a deep-seated but hauntingly impersonal hatred. Zubaida Ula reminds us all, "We need to own this crime. I feel. Everyone needs to own it. We are like this. We ARE like this. WE are LIKE this."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLj0bt7aY4UZrR45trpUbiTQ0nguxSHg5ys07_4dCtRa1-1lrFlFrnGCOsKbKiRzrDHgvl2qRSm94Li-Fq3p7DaMVH-AGTZXkJcdIRcVRabsZCQXmQPcsia8CqytFTf5rijGaO0BgQ2BLQkCQaS8wYR2ZkOi9xnm8ey3FPdsGypGCWmSCXTm-ZzMEffDg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="930" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLj0bt7aY4UZrR45trpUbiTQ0nguxSHg5ys07_4dCtRa1-1lrFlFrnGCOsKbKiRzrDHgvl2qRSm94Li-Fq3p7DaMVH-AGTZXkJcdIRcVRabsZCQXmQPcsia8CqytFTf5rijGaO0BgQ2BLQkCQaS8wYR2ZkOi9xnm8ey3FPdsGypGCWmSCXTm-ZzMEffDg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>10/17/23: <i><a href="https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/poor-yella-rednecks/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjwvrOpBhBdEiwAR58-3I0gHhlKZMu6M9gWooH7XyNFGV1KLt9FH_RpAeyOGQe-zPZL8IsLsRoCkvMQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Poor Yella Rednecks</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Manhattan Theatre Club presents a new play by Qui Nguyen, a sequel to his celebrated <i>Vietgone</i>. <i>Poor Yella Rednecks</i> has the playwright looking back on his childhood in El Dorado, Arkansas, and the sacrifices and struggles his mother endured in order to succeed in a land where she barely speaks the language.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And? </b>I hadn't realized this was a sequel, and it really made me regret having missed <i>Vietgone</i>. However, this play definitely stands on its own. It's an impressive mix of satire, hip hop, puppetry, and a moving tribute to the playwright's mother and grandmother. The cast is all largely excellent (though not always up to the challenge of the hip hop sections), but I want to pay special note to the women: Maureen Sebastian as Qui's mother Tong, whose steady presence and emotional range carry and center the play; and Samantha Quan, who plays a variety of roles, each with distinct voices and physicalities, such that you forget it's all one actor. Her performance as Qui's grandmother Huong is especially powerful (and hilarious). Tim Mackabee's scenic design is a bit cumbersome (and, at least at the preview I attended, they aren't locking the rolling pieces, so we can see them move slightly when the cast interacts with them), but it doesn't ultimately get in the way of what is a good play well-performed. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixzvjgWINwGxslvss0wRzE8LZ-4b75QOfcqUu9iOJf1v6d9wIK9zfIfB8uJbKJ221_K1UipuXd8_X26wRI1fbl7sqZjO_cjKubLbRHSaQr5eVISySlHEM_MUXvgh2qTgcaaEXzgqA7YpHvkVXV2U4cgFMLVlCZ68P9XWGuHRKPgUe0MrLdeJgeShZuKAA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixzvjgWINwGxslvss0wRzE8LZ-4b75QOfcqUu9iOJf1v6d9wIK9zfIfB8uJbKJ221_K1UipuXd8_X26wRI1fbl7sqZjO_cjKubLbRHSaQr5eVISySlHEM_MUXvgh2qTgcaaEXzgqA7YpHvkVXV2U4cgFMLVlCZ68P9XWGuHRKPgUe0MrLdeJgeShZuKAA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ben Levin and Jon Norman Schneider as Bully and Little Man. Photo by<br />Jeremy Daniel.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Streaming Theater Related Content I Watched</u></b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>National Theatre Live's <i><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkKYT-WwyMQ" target="_blank">Othello</a></b></i>.</li></ul><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-41890495802630855222023-10-09T09:00:00.017-04:002023-10-09T09:00:00.145-04:00Weekly Margin 2023, W41: Bloodshot<div style="text-align: left;"> <b><u>10/03/23: <i><a href="https://bloodshot.nyc/" target="_blank">Bloodshot</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> She NYC Arts presents a new play by Elinor T. Vanderburg, imaging a city where an epidemic has eradicated sleep. As citizens cope with unending days and nights, a new alarming pattern emerges when people begin to spontaneously combust.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> This was truly special. A noir story, with a jazz quartet providing shrieking underscore throughout. The combination of Vanderburg's poetic yet understated script and and director Nigel Semaj's athletic and dramatic staging provides a truly memorable and haunting show, an exploration of the idea that the only rational response to the increasingly irrational world is self-implosion. The cast isn't always up to the level of Vanderburg's dialogue (excepting Ben Holbrook, the sonorous narrator, whose delivery is as poetic as the world of the play), but they all move exceptionally well, creating vivid stage pictures against Nor Marlow Smith's simple but versatile scenic design. The sound design currently needs a slightly better sound balance of body mics to the band (and accounting for when actors are yelling), but otherwise an exceptional piece of theater and commentary.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXO-spwzzpFlxP0zy2LFqU6VFeJ70r845IA_LRUI7uidCwM46Qyj8gZK2XR7eHaMhVNVJa237Lfqp_XJYTjZyShZzOgNY9JGBsztCa2jWRfrmGBM3XCEdxlCPb1nEAGIYDhCwGq9aJtaSxo1DyfFN7rJKfWGt9kIkOIUaMyiK-C4GF3u2ZF-ilAVgMknQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXO-spwzzpFlxP0zy2LFqU6VFeJ70r845IA_LRUI7uidCwM46Qyj8gZK2XR7eHaMhVNVJa237Lfqp_XJYTjZyShZzOgNY9JGBsztCa2jWRfrmGBM3XCEdxlCPb1nEAGIYDhCwGq9aJtaSxo1DyfFN7rJKfWGt9kIkOIUaMyiK-C4GF3u2ZF-ilAVgMknQ=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072249128151227164.post-28192546161081500272023-10-02T09:00:00.051-04:002023-10-02T09:25:52.811-04:00Weekly Margin 2023, W40: Death, Let Me Do My Show, Big Trip: Three Love Stories Near the Railroad<div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>9/25/23: <i><a href="https://www.rachelbloomshow.com/" target="_blank">Death, Let Me Do My Show</a></i></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What:</b> Rachel Bloom's new solo show where she contends with her greatest nemesis.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> I don't really want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but it was a good and interesting time, and <i>very</i> Rachel Bloom about it all. Like her tv series, <i>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend</i>, it has the ethos that recovery is not a straight-line process, and everyone's journey is going to be its own unique mess.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPJ_8zYBVe4egfv0lpZB2aJBik78Wv5zcRcvRnqZRMOpTaoCq_XxhFPRrGUbNBSK2N_yz63rN5F8MKbeeVSYJJtH6M53n55dDqaEu19o7CMXtuJ_gJNqVFGTQDKkN53vrZWiCgtzj98tC4olJxGbSQc1k6dRPzSxBo148R50--gww0co4SoP3Fo__BIBc" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPJ_8zYBVe4egfv0lpZB2aJBik78Wv5zcRcvRnqZRMOpTaoCq_XxhFPRrGUbNBSK2N_yz63rN5F8MKbeeVSYJJtH6M53n55dDqaEu19o7CMXtuJ_gJNqVFGTQDKkN53vrZWiCgtzj98tC4olJxGbSQc1k6dRPzSxBo148R50--gww0co4SoP3Fo__BIBc=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rachel Bloom. Photo by Emilio Madrid.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><u>9/26/23: <a href="https://donyc.com/events/2023/9/24/big-trip-tickets" target="_blank">Big Trip 2: <i>Three Love Stories Near the Railroad</i></a></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What: </b>La MaMa presents KRYMOV LAB NYC's dual exploration in <i>Big Trip</i>, which combines an adaptation of Pushkin's <i>Eugene Onegin</i> and <i>Three Love Stories Near the Railroad</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>And?</b> full review <a href="https://aworkunfinishing.blogspot.com/2023/09/margin-notes-big-trip-three-love.html">here</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bBCugoqm9s0TVYHvrF7crXhZiZcDQdc9Z1h0fuWi7lSruf4dgkQNt1Y08wXkzz9h2tC5SouQq9nDshzC_S90s0dCU1V8g-i8SRxL5GfUmBqO0rNGhArrTwOAlTBzV-aq2he9HWsliDUajSq7riQIPoEsNIm1y149WMIDQfovpNBnMcxnA9np8y11a90/s5000/FAVE%202%20Kwesiu%20Erich%20Tim%20Annie%20Jeremy%20Shelby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3333" data-original-width="5000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3bBCugoqm9s0TVYHvrF7crXhZiZcDQdc9Z1h0fuWi7lSruf4dgkQNt1Y08wXkzz9h2tC5SouQq9nDshzC_S90s0dCU1V8g-i8SRxL5GfUmBqO0rNGhArrTwOAlTBzV-aq2he9HWsliDUajSq7riQIPoEsNIm1y149WMIDQfovpNBnMcxnA9np8y11a90/w400-h266/FAVE%202%20Kwesiu%20Erich%20Tim%20Annie%20Jeremy%20Shelby.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Foreground: Tim Eliot, Annie Hägg, Jeremy Radin, and Shelby Flannery.<br />Background: Kwesiu Jones and Erich Rausch. Photo by Steven Pisano.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zelda Knapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654314419681927384noreply@blogger.com0