My Top 10 Off Broadway Shows this Season Part 2

Alright, you've seen 10-6 of my off Broadway favorites, now it's time for the final countdown...

5.  Detroit '67

I was lucky enough to be invited to an invited dress rehearsal of this compelling Dominique Morisseau play. I missed the original run at The Public Theater, but it was moved up to a theater in Harlem. Set during the riots in Detroit, spoiler alert, 1967. Chelle and Lank are adult siblings who have recently inherited their childhood home and have converted their basement into club for the locals in their all black neighborhood. They're also waiting for inheritance money to come in. Chelle wants to save it and use a portion to continue putting her son through college. Lank wants to take the whole amount to buy a bar with his best friend Sly, played by the brilliant Brandon J. Dirden. (pretty similar to The Piano Lesson huh?) Chelle and Lank are at odds most of the show, even about the new 8-track player Lank brings in for their club. Chelle doesn't think anything could sound as smooth as their (broken) record player. Sly is busy trying to smooth-talk his way into Chelle's heart. Meanwhile, Lank and Sly have brought home this beaten up, unconscious white woman who begged for their help before passing out. Lank convinces Chelle to reluctantly let her stay for a while, but truths, socially unacceptable feelings and racial tension build to an unfortunate climax. Needless to say, I was crying by curtain call. Filled with the greats of the Motown era and issues that I really connected with, I loved this play! It was beyond brilliant. Click Here for a behind the scenes look at the cast!

4.  The Other Josh Cohen

This show surprised me! It was one of the first official off Broadway shows I ever saw, at Soho Playhouse. I didn't know what to expect or think. I didn't know it was a musical either, so that was a bonus. Written by and starring David Rossmer (Peter and the Starcatcher) and Steve Rosen, The Other Josh Cohen is about the very unlucky Josh Cohen, narrated by present day Josh Cohen (Rossmer) and reenacted by younger, bummier Josh Cohen (Rosen). A small band of actors play many different roles and instruments throughout the show, with the two Josh's leading with the guitar and vocals. Poor Josh has just been robbed of everything in his apartment except the Neil Diamond 3 CD just before Valentine's day. Josh is broke, single, and SOL until a letter arrives with a check for some serious cash, only he doesn't recognize the sender. Due to Jewish guilt, instead of using the money to solve all his problems he endeavors to find out who the check is really meant for. Nice guys definitely finish last! He goes on a hilarious search to find the truth before he can feel in the clear. The music was hilarious, the characters were hilarious, it was pretty much the funniest thing I'd seen in quite some time. I searched for bootlegs of the songs all over the internet because I loved them so much! Click Here to see this funny video promoting the show!


3.  The Last 5 Years
See last week's blog for the summary/criticism on the show. Just know that I've been listening to "The Schmuel Song" almost every day since I saw it. I love the music, and I am so glad that I managed to catch it before it closed. Here are highlights from the show!


2.  Cock

This four person play by Mike Bartlett set in the round at The Duke on 42nd Street is about John (played by the extremely talented Corey Michael Smith), an English, very confused, young, gay man who decides to leave his slightly older boyfriend to be with a woman. He goes back and forth between the two and ends up at an awkward, confrontational dinner gathering with his two lovers and his boyfriend's father where he is forced to choose who to be with. The space is entirely bare, and the actors even use the audience seating space at times. The play is divided into scenes set apart by the ding of a tone indicating a jump in time. John is the only character who's name is ever given. There is this incredible scene where John and his girlfriend make love for the first time with out ever really touching. The actors circle around each other getting closer and closer as they make the sounds, faces, and speak the dialogue of what is really going on. It was brilliant. It was more intimate and awkward (for the characters' first time) than if we had watched the actors physically fumble through a simulated love scene. The dialogue kept me hanging on to every word each character uttered. I laughed, I got frustrated, and I really empathized with the characters. John's indecisiveness about what he wants and his sexuality take the rest of the characters for a turn. The ending is rather ambiguous, although unhappy for one if not both of the lovers depending on your interpretation, and I think it's better that way. I was so glad I got to see it, so much so that I went to see it again! You know it's good when you're willing to see it multiple times! I went with a few friends the second time around. After the show, when Jason Butler Harner (who played the boyfriend) came out to the lobby, he said to us, "I love it when the black girls come because they're not afraid to laugh." Well, I can certainly say I laughed and gasped at certain moments, but I never said anything like, "Oh no he didn't!" Ha! Glad to know our presence is appreciated and welcomed! Click Here to see a video interview with the actors and the playwright.

I saved the best for last! The number 1 is a tie because both shows are too close to my heart for me to choose a favorite.

1 (a).  The Wild Bride

This is my latest obsession. I am in love with it. From the Cornwall based theater company, Kneehigh, comes this beautiful re-imagining of the dark fairy tale The Girl Without Hands. Narrated by the devil himself (played by Andrew Durrand), a young girl and her poor father live happily together (apart from the whole being poor bit). The devil visits the father and makes a deal with him promising him riches, new clothes, and more if the devil can have whatever is in his backyard. Foolishly, the father thinks there is nothing but an old apple tree there and accepts the deal. To his great misfortune, his daughter is playing in the backyard. So when the devil comes to claim what's rightfully his, the father resists, but you can't deny the devil. Unfortunately, The Wild Bride (portrayed by 3 different women during the 3 different stages of her life) is too pure for the devil. He dirties her up, but she weeps on her hands. So, the father is forced to chop off her hands (ouch!). Still, The Wild Bride is too clean, so the devil decides to wait till she's lived a little and been ruined by the world. The Wild Bride won't stay with her father and wanders into the wild, handless, and struggles to survive. When she is older, she encounters a prince who falls madly in love with her on sight and takes her for his future queen. He even gives her dust bowl inspired metal tools as hands (very Edward Scissorhands). The devil decides to intervene, and the Prince-now King must go off to war. Meanwhile, the Wild Bride gives birth to a child, and the devil interferes with the messages sent back and forth between the King's mother and the king in battle. The Wild Bride ends up back in the wild with a newborn, right where the devil wants her. The Wild Bride's soul remains pure, and she resists the devil's temptation for relief. Ultimately, the ending is a happy one, with good prevailing over evil. The music is folksy/bluesy and very addicting. The production itself was a visual feast for the eyes. The women playing The Wild Bride sang, played instruments, and danced in lieu of speaking (until the very end). The devil spoke in rhymes and Durrand made an enticing ruler of the underworld with a voice and physicality that I could listen to and watch forever. Click Here to watch the promo video!

1 (b). The Old Man and the Old Moon


PigPen Theater Co. is a group of 7 actors from Carnegie Mellon who have been creating shows together since they met in college. They all sing and play instruments and play many parts. This folksy, original fairy tale is told through the use of puppetry, music, and the boys playing innumerable characters. They created this incredible world bursting with endearing characters. The Old Man and his wife have been living together in the same house for so long that they don't even remember their names. There's a leak in the moon and the old man is responsible for collecting the leaky fluid in his bucket and refilling it when it's drained (hence the lunar cycle). His wife is tired of their banal lives (serving fish for dinner everyday). She wants to see the world, but the Old Man doesn't want to abandon the moon. She hears a tune on the wind that sounds familiar and calls her to the sea. One day she goes off without him in their small boat. The Old Man doesn't want to be without her, so he decides to abandon the moon and goes on a grand adventure trying to get her back. He encounters a team of sailors and steals a war hero's identity to get on their ship (a war has broken out and the men are on their way to battle). Along the way he makes some dear friends and even gets swallowed by a rogue prison fish. Inside the fish, the old man encounters the ghosts of run away soldiers that were never brought back to shore. All the while the moon is draining and the world is thrown into an influx as a result. The Old Man must escape the fish and find his wife before he can return home and set the world right. On his journey he rediscovers who he and his wife are and where they come from. It is an incredible journey to go on. Throughout the tale, the boys sing and play music that reaches the soul. They are brilliant and extremely creative. Life changed. I saw them in concert recently at the Mercury Theater. They are headed to Chicago this fall to bring The Old Man and the Old Moon to a wider audience. Definitely don't miss it! Click Here to see the promo video!  Also Watch This music video to see a music video from the show!

My Top 10 Off Broadway Shows this Season Part 1

Since Augsut 2012, I have seen a plethora of shows. Many of which were off-and off-off Broadway. I actually have a drawer in my room that is overflowing with so many playbills, I don't think I have the time to count them all. Recently, I've been reflecting back on the shows that stuck out the most to me on the off-/off-off world. Here are some of my favorites:

10. Emotional Creature

This Eve Ensler piece  was playing at The Signature Theater last fall when I was lucky enough to see it. In a style very similar to Ms. Ensler's internationally acclaimed The Vagina Monologues, Emotional Creautre focuses on the trials and tribulations of being a teenage girl in the modern world using monologues and songs performed by 6 very talented young women. The show opened with one of the girls taking photos of herself with her smartphone (each photo was instantly projected on the large screen that functioned as the backdrop) as we witnessed her overly critical opinion of herself in each photo. She is joined by a group of her friends and they slip in and out of monologues of different characters as they interact with one another. They deal with boys, pressure and alienation from friends, pregnancy, suicide, coming out, weight, female circumcision in Africa, being misunderstood by parents, abuse, and there's even a monologue about a Chinese girl working at the factory where Barbie heads are made. One monologue was recycled from The Vagina Monologues about the young girl in Africa who was kidnapped and used up by a war lord. I cried, I laughed, and I totally believed every bit of it (especially "My Short Skirt"). The show was full of energy and life, and the set was very fun. I loved the mixed media element of the show with the screen in the back and the songs that were performed (even though it is not a musical). There was just one monologue I didn't quite get involving an angry teenager taking pill in front of her parents that basically caused her to explode in a bloody mess in the living room. I think this is a great show for teenagers to see. It brings awareness to a lot of issues that young girls go through, and it inspires them to be happy with who they are. I loved it! I just wish that the songs were recorded/actually a part of Eve Ensler's published script. Click Here to see the promo for the show.

9.  Giant


I was lucky enough to catch the final show at The Public Theater despite being sick as a dog on a rainy day. Based on the 1952 Edna Farber novel, Giant is an epic, sweeping musical with a book by Sybille Pearson and music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa. This musical takes place in Texas on an immense cattle farm. Jordan "Bick" Benedict runs the show with the help of the older sister who raised him. He brings home a wife from the union who has spent most of her life reading books and attending functions with her important father, against the wishes of his sister who planned on him marrying the daughter of another major cattle farmer (hey, that's love for ya). Conflict ensues. The forward thinking wife, Leslie, wants to improve the living conditions of the Mexicans living and working on their land, much to Bick's reluctance. The kids go on unexpected, and to Bick, undesirable paths (Jordy Jr. falls in love with and marries a Mexican girl right in the midst of racial tension). Bick and Leslie also face the rise of oil companies making deals with all of the farms around theirs.  The villainous Jett Rink (played by James Dean in the film) tries to woe Leslie from under Bick seeks revenge for the past. The music was great, the cast was great - especially Brian D'Arcy James and Kate Baldwin- and the set was wonderful. My favorites were Miguel Cervantes, who should have had more than one song before his character kicked the bucket, and Mary Bacon who played the jilted would-be wife of Bick. Her songs were amazing. The show felt like Gone With the Wind with a huge cast and an "immense landscape" as the backdrop. There were a few plot holes that could use some work, but that might be the fault of the source material. I wasn't quite sure who the main character was - Leslie or Bick or maybe it was Texas! Despite that, I really enjoyed the show! There was some speculation on whether or not it would come to Broadway, but I think they'd need to shave some time off of that 3 hour show to make it plausible. Click Here to see clips of the show!


8.  The Piano Lesson


How can you ever go wrong with August Wilson! Signature Theater's production of The Piano Lesson was very moving and emotional. Many times throughout the show I wanted to get up and kick one of the characters for being so horrible! Guess that actor did a good job! The play is essentialy about a black family in Pittsburgh during The Great Depression fighting over a piano. The piano is an important family heirloom with an ornate carving on it. Boy Willie and his friend Lymon show up with a truck full of watermelons to sell and the intention of selling the piano to buy land in the south. Berniece, the mature sister and woman of the house, is both reverent and terrified of the piano and refuses to let it go. The piano dates back to when their grand parents were slaves, and their is a lot of "blood" on the piano. Brandon J. Dirden as Boy Willie was remarkable. The set included the two floors of the house where Berniece, her daughter, and her uncle live. There was a surprising supernatural element to the show that played a significant role in act two. I was weeping by the show's end, but I was very satisfied with the resolution. Click Here to see pictures and videos about the show!

7.  Meis Julie

My first time at St. Anne's Warehouse was also my first time in Brooklyn, and it was quite memorable. This South African adaptation of the August Strindberg play Miss Julie was eye opening to me. I remember reading Miss Julie in college and hating it! I mean with an ending like that? I'm all for tragic endings, love them, but this one was just....Anyway Meis Julie was a whole different experience for me, and I loved every bit of it. It is Freedom Day in  Eastern Cape on a grande estate. The setting is the kitchen of a farm laborer and his mother. Julie, the white farm owner's daughter comes to provoke her father's favorite farmhand, John. The have a very aggressive, sexual and sometimes violent exchange that culminates in a passionate sexual encounter and ends with one of them dead. John's mother filters in and out warning John to stick to his place and his religion (also to complain about the big tree growing in their kitchen floor), but John has bigger goals. Everything is out on the table in this show, literally. There is eating on the table, sex on the table, and blood on the table. Basically that table sees a lot of action, and so does the audience. It was like watching an independent, international film live. Nothing is held back. "So this is Brooklyn," I thought at the end of the play. It was beautiful, terrifying, and very real. And it was art. Click Here to see more!

6.  If There is I Haven't Found It Yet

Roundabout Theatre Company gave Jake Gyllenhaal his off Broadway debut at the Laura Pels Theatre this past fall in If There is I Haven't Found it Yet by Nick Payne. The play is set in England. 15 year-old Anna (Annie Funke) is being brutally bullied in school for being overweight. Her parents are blind to the real problems. The mother (played by Enid Graham) is a teacher at Anna's school, and the father (played by Brian F. Bryne) spends most of his time working on his book about the carbon foot print. In comes the estranged, drifter uncle played by Gyllenhaal to shake things up. He proves to be just what Anna needs, in spite of his impulsive, immature nature. That is until Anna's familial feelings evolve into something less appropriate, inspiring the wayward uncle to peace out just when Anna was starting to improve. Ugly truths come out, a suicide attempt in a bathtub occurs, but ultimately the parents wake up and try to fix things before it's too late. The set was a hodgepodge of house furniture and appliances which were thrown into a watery "moat" at the front of the stage after use. By the climax, the entire stage was engulfed in water and the majority of the furniture was in the moat (including the fridge). The actors were outstanding, and the show was very moving. There was a lot of humor to be found in what was expected to be a very tragic piece. Jake Gyllenhaal affected a nearly unintelligible lower class English accent (how did he and his brother end up sounding so different in dialect if they were brought up together?), but it sounded pretty authentic to me. Annie Funke had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance right after the show due to something having to do with her heart. In any case, she was COMMITTED to that role. Excellent show. Click Here for photos and videos!

Guess Who's going to the Tony Awards?

That's right! The good news was received yesterday evening. I am going to be a seat filler for the 2013 Tony Awards! This means I have to go shopping for a fancy dress and new shoes! I am extremely excited (if you couldn't tell)! I haven't even been in NYC a year and I'm already going to a major award ceremony! Not half bad. Glad I saw the majority of this season's shows (approximately 26 at this point, but I still have time to see a few more!). For those of you who don't know what a seat filler is, that is someone who sits in the seats of the celebs when they go up to make speeches/read the nominees so that the theater doesn't look empty when they do audience shots for the telecast. When I found out, I cheered out with joy at this random woman on Spring Street and 6th Ave. She probably thought I was crazy. I wish Hugh Jackman was hosting this year instead of NPH. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Neil Patrick Harris as much as the average human being, but I've already seen him at EPCOT for the candlelight processional. Plus I'm just a major Hugh Jackman fan so... It'll still be awesome though! The pinnacle of my year so far.

Last week I finally saw the BOOK OF MORMON which is worth all the hype and then some. Definitely the funniest show I have ever seen in my entire life. Plus I love most of the songs, and they are still stuck in my head (good sign).Matt Doyle is INCREDIBLE as Elder Price. I love his voice and wish it was on the soundtrack. The original is great too, but I prefer Matt of course. I used to see him occasionally in passing/hear him singing last fall at an undisclosed location (I stand by my vows of silence and secrecy). BOM is also the most offensive show I have ever seen. I can't even begin to imagine how a devout Mormon would react. And some of the ushers told me that people have brought kids to see the show! This is anything but a kid friendly show. They use every vulgar word under the sun and then some. There is a repeated lyric "I have maggots in my scrotum!" I doubt kids are learning about that on Nickelodeon. I mean this came from the writers of South Park.I pretty much died laughing at the Ugandan performance of the creation of Mormonism. So good! If you haven't seen it yet, see it. It's jaw-droppingly good. Your abs will get a work out from laughing so hard.

Following my spectacular night at the theater, I volunteered at the Drama League Awards held at the New York Marriott Marquis on Friday afternoon. I worked at the check in table (Letters L-P). I saw a large armada of Broadway, film, and television VIPs, and even had to tell Sigourney Weaver where to go (she is awesome). It was very exciting to see Joel Grey, Jerry Mitchell, and Bernadette Peters give epic speeches. Jerry Mitchell is hilarious and the stories he shared were amazing. Each Broadway performer nominee, and there were about 40 or so that showed up of the 50 nominees, gave a mini speech which caused the event to extend over an hour. The most memorable for me were Billy Porter, Stark Sands, Cecily Tyson, Tom Hanks (revenge on the audience- he took a photo on his cellphone of the audience. The Best!), Tracy Letts, Patina Miller, Valisia LeKae, and Paul Rudd. To my total surprise, Nathan Lane was the big winner of the day. I haven't seen THE NANCE, but I am told that a lot of the voters for the award are older so I guess it goes with the territory. I wonder what it was like for Lilla Crawford of ANNIE to be the kid on the dais with all those major actors and actresses. Was she even aware of how big a deal it was to be considered on par with the likes of Tom Hanks and Vanessa Williams?

This weekend I had to say goodbye to my dear, treasured Kiwi. My friend Katie is heading back to New Zealand this week after living a year in the states. She's the one who got me the opportunity to volunteer for the Drama League Awards. She also got me addicted to Marie's Crisis (a musical theater piano bar in the West Village) and The Almighty Johnson's (New Zealand dramedy about Norse Gods living in NZ). A group of us went to Lucy's Cantina near Herald's Square where she got the biggest margarita goblet I have ever seen with a bottle of Corona tipped in like a test tube shot. On Sunday, the two of us went to this fancy schmancy place on the UWS called Sugar and Plumm. It's tres expensive (if you get anything with classy meat in it) and full of families who don't know how to maintain their sugar charged children.  Katie looked like she was going to snap on the huge party next to us. It was pretty funny. The food was good, but Sugar and Plumm is known for it's desserts. We each got a macaroon and a scoop of ice cream (sorbet for me). My macaroon was purple with silver shimmer dust on it - Violet Cassis. We had a lovely meal in spite of the untrained children running around and the dreary rain. Now I have a place to stay and a person to visit in New Zealand! Apart from Peter Jackson of course! Ha!


Things Happening this week!

• Tigers Be Still at the Drilling Company May 22-25 Wed-Sat @ 8 Sun @ 3 (I'm the House Manager! Come see the show!)
• Memorial Day Weekend!! 4 days free! 

Getting Back on the Horse...Or Trying To

So it's been nearly a year since I've written or even looked at this blog. I'm sure so many readers in the world have been feeling total abandonment and loathing since August (you can't see it now, but I have a sarcastic smirk on my face). All I can say is this, I moved to New York City, and faster than I ever expected (to my great please, I must add), I was swept up into the world of The Great White Way! I started working on Broadway and that was it! Goodbye free time (who needs ya!), goodbye sleep, and  goodbye faithful readers, or maybe reader (Thanks Dad!) By the grace of the gods (all hale Zeus and Odin-just kidding!), I am still here working my way to the top. I've met a host of brilliant people and had some unbeatable experiences all within less than a year of my arrival. I can only hope for more to come! I would have loved to have done a frequent update via the blog, but everyone tells me sleep is a necessity that I shouldn't skip out on. Anyway, enough with the excuses! I'm making time!

Now since August, I have seen dozens of shows on and off Broadway. I have even worked on a few. I've met quite a few celebs and many important people in the industry, gone to openings and opening parties, worked at gala events etc. Perhaps one day when I feel the motivation, I will give more of a detailed blow by blow. I can tell you now that I have seen 27 different Broadway shows in the last 11 months, some multiple times (i.e. JEKYLL & HYDE 4 times, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD and KINKY BOOTS 3 times, as well others twice each). But for now, I'm going to start with yesterday.

Last night I did student rush for THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Second Stage and was lucky enough to make the cut! Beautiful show, beautiful performances, amazing set. I have to say though, I wish someone would warn me beforehand when I am going see a show that consists entirely of singing sans dialogue. It isn't always my cup of tea. Sometimes you just need a break you know? And the actors do, too, I think. I mean if I wanted the opera style, I'd go to the opera, right? But thankfully this performance is only 90 minutes long, so the consistent stream of song was bearable, plus the actors were wonderful! I am constantly in awe of Betsy Wolfe's performances. I saw her in EDWIN DROOD twice last winter at 54 Below and was blown away by her voice. She's also pretty hilarious when she wants to be, effortlessly of course. Adam Kantor was just perfect in this role. That's all there is to say, perfect....The minute he started singing I thought, "He has the perfect voice for Mark in RENT," and guess what? He was Mark in the closing cast on Broadway. Perhaps casting is my calling. Back to L5Y, both actors really embodied their characters, and I believed them the entire time. I didn't cry like everyone else claimed to do, I guess because A) You know from the beginning that the couple is going to break up, and B) People under the age of 45 these days have a hard time sticking to "til death do us part" through thick and thin anyways, so I wasn't surprised or heartbroken. I was just like, "huh, that was real." No tears here! The beautiful voices and music  nearly elicited tears from my eyes, but that's it.  Anyway, I really enjoyed it. It's closing this weekend, so if you're in the city catch it before it's gone!

Check out this awesome video of Adam Kantor singing a number from the show for the NY Times Click Here!


Things Happening this week!

• Tigers Be Still at the Drilling Company May 17-25 Wed-Sat @ 8 Sun @ 3 (I'm the House Manager! Come see the show!)
• The Drama League Awards May 17 @  The Marriott Marquis (I'll be working registration, so come say "hey" if you're there!)
• My lil sis is graduating from high school this weekend! Woohoo!