Big Times
Tuesday - Saturday @ 8:00 p.m.
Walkerspace
The Run is Over
Reviewed by Yolanda Shoshana
WET's (Women's
Expressive Theater) new show Big Times
is a homage to
vaudeville and what a homage it is. Big
Times is seventy-five minutes of entertaining
and clever theater, directed by Leigh Silverman
and starring Mia Barron, Maggie Lacey, and Danielle
Skraastad.
From the minute
you walk into Walkerspace, you feel like you
are in an old
vaudeville theater; there are old posters in
the lobby area and a smell of popcorn in the
air. The theater even has red curtains, a staple
in old vaudeville theaters.
Big Times
boasts three main characters: Sadie, Nellie,
and Lucy. Three girls with nothing to lose,
they show up in the Big City with a ukulele
and a dream of making it in the Big Time. As
they look for their place in the spotlight,
they stumble into each other, join forces and
realize there is nothing they cannot do.
Maggie Lacey
as Sadie is simply delightful. Sadie is full
of sweetness and naiveté, but certainly
not the smartest one in the bunch. Mia Barron
is a hoot as Nellie, the wisecracking orphan
who has dreams of making it big. Danielle Skraastad
is fabulous as Lucy, the sexy, hardened ex burlesque
dancer. Lucy has the air of classic movie divas
like Katherine Hepburn. She shines every time
she hits the stage.
While Lacey,
Barron, and Skraastad hit their mark with their
individual performances, their ensemble work
should be commended, as well. The timing between
the actresses is impeccable. Their choreography,
provided by Lisa Pilato, is consistently in
sync. One of the things that is so clever about
this show is that you feel like you are watching
a show within a show as the characters stories
intertwine with vaudeville acts. Kudos to the
director, Leigh Silverman, for utilizing the
talent of the cast in the best possible way.
The set is sparse
with a table, a few chairs and some suitcases.
The minimal setting suggests the locale and
work to focus the audience on the performers.
Live music provided by the Moonlighters is integrated
into the play. The music fits the scenes and
enhances the storytelling. The song "So
Many Years Ago" begins the show and gives
the audience a little background on the three
ladies. When the band plays "Box Car with
a View," the scene reminds you of the Hollywood
Golden Era.
Big Times
is another triumph for WET. Part of WET's mission
is to challenge stereotypes of women's roles.
And with the comeback of vaudeville being mainly
male-dominated, this show helps highlight what
the women of vaudeville can do.
If you want to
have fun, see a great show and see some talented
(not to mention hot) women, run, don't walk,
to Big Times.
Tix $19. www.wetweb.org
Walkerspace 46 Walker Street
Ken and Mitzie Welch's
The Blonde in the Thunderbird
Saturdays @ 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.
Closes July 23, 2005
Brooks Atkinson Theater
The Blonde
is Back… Again
Reviewed
by Adam Ritter
It was 1973 when
Suzanne Somers leapt, or rather drove, into
the public consciousness with her feature film
debut in George Lucas's American Graffiti.
As we will come to learn, she spent the entire
evening before the shoot rehearsing her single
line, "I love you," only to discover
that her part, that of the "blonde in the
thunderbird," was actually a silent role.
Times have changed.
Flash forward
to 2005 and you'll find the multifaceted actress
singing, dancing and ruminating her way through
an autobiographical one woman show, now playing
a limited run at the Brooks Atkinson Theater.
Over Blonde's
ninety-five minutes which span her fifty-eight
years (Applause!), the tapestry of a career
spent in and out (and back in) the crosshairs
of fame are stretched and torn only to be woven
together and made whole again. You'll have many
"oh yeah" moments remembering all
of the ways Ms. Somers publicly conquered personal
demons and professional setbacks and still managed
to emerge optimistic and energized at the end
of every tunnel, whether there was a guiding
light or not.
If you thought
three was really more of a crowd, then the soundtrack
of these confessions may not be music to your
ears. Coy isn't the name of the game here -
think mallet not scalpel.
Ms. Somers has
undeniably contended with a stew of volatile
ingredients… parental alcoholism, emotional
abuse, infidelity, breast cancer... Not exactly
the diva tribulations you anticipate rolling
your eyes at, but rather the type of adversity
that often devours people.
Just to add contrast,
though, there's some compulsive shopping, check
bouncing and contract disputes thrown in, as
well. And who among us hasn't felt the sting
of being kicked off television's top-rated show?
Despite the obstacles,
or perhaps because of them, Ms. Somers has acquiesced
to a reconstructed inner-self that breathes
in the tumult of calamity and summons from it
only serenity and inspiration. Where else but
from a realm far beyond mortal contemplation
could the Scarecrow's lament "If I Only
Had a Brain" be commandeered to illustrate
the depravity of self-doubt? Yes, there's a
story worth telling here and you sense that
at the end of this road Ms. Somers might just
wonder if the style was as worthy as the substance.
But tonight,
just beyond the fourth wall, looking on with
admiration and remembering the ditzy, snorting
roommate or those pounds that were shed with
a contraption that resembles an oversized paperclip,
or that young blonde in the '56 Thunderbird,
there was no doubting the gracious affection
this audience has for their star, and disappoint
them she does not.
Tickets: 212-307-4100 or 800-755-4000 - Price
$20.00-$90.00 www.ticketmaster.com.
Brooks Atkinson Theatre|
256 West 47th Street
Paul Boocock's
Boocock's House of Baseball
Thursday - Saturday @ 9:00 p.m.
June 30th - July 23rd
The Flea
Reviewed on June 30,
2005 by Caroline Smith
I think it’d
be foul play on my part to withhold my initial
feelings on this play. A Boston girl at heart,
I watched my boys break the curse in October
of 2004. And more true to Beantown form, I’m
gloating about the win eight months later. (okay,
Boston will be bragging life.) Nevertheless,
I have chosen to live in this pin-striped, grid-locked
city, so it’s only fair that I try out
the Yankee bleachers. Or in this case, the seats
in the Flea Theatre.
If Bush and Cheney
were to be elected again there would only be
one thing worth staying for, according to performer,
Paul Boocock. Baseball. In his all-star one-man-show,
he uses the sport as a vehicle for viewing contemporary
politics.
“Baseball
can represent the best things about our democracy.
The rules apply equally to all participants.”
– Boocock
From my knowledge,
this is true. When baseball is played well,
fans become emotionally invested with a team.
They trust what happens on the field more often
than they trust the news coverage. Why is that?
Boocock says it’s because sports happen
in real time, with real players. In life and
in the theater, there is always the search for
truth. And baseball gives us truth at the swing
of a bat.
The stage was
bare with the exception of a single water cooler,
giving Boocock ample room to catch imaginary
balls and hit homeruns (also imaginary) into
the audience. He had a "Babe Ruth confidence"
about him. I saw him sitting Indian- style in
front of a TV set as a kid smacking a glove.
The performance, straying from sentimental,
would not have been stitched together right
if it were performed by someone who didn’t
live and breathe baseball. Paul Boocock... grew
up... with baseball.
He took both
a hitter’s and a politician’s stance
on the steroid issue. Performance enhancers
have rocked our sports nation and seriously
altered the morale of the game. Boocock had
a way of highlighting a player’s personal
fouls with his gains. His physicality was a
“show all, tell none” display. We
knew the Darryl Strawberry and the Jason Giambi
cut-outs immediately. Through these impersonations
he raised the question of accountability. Should
we bench George Bush for his past offenses or
should we bench our power hitters? Where is
the umpire when you need him most?
Overall, the
parallel he makes is a good one. Sports and
politics run side-by-side so often that they
began to resemble the red and white stripes
of the flag backdrop behind him. In a country
that puts so much precedence on who wins, it’s
easy to understand our fascination with sport.
It’s going,
it’s going, it’s gone! Be sure to
catch this limited engagement!
Tickets: $15.
Call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.theatermania.com
Running time: 70 minutes
Trains: A, C, E, 6, N, R, Q, W to Canal or 1,
9 to Franklin
THE FLEA
THEATER |41 White Street (Broadway & Church
Street)
Elephant Larry
presents…
BOOM
Saturdays, July 9th, 16th, 23rd @ 8:00 p.m.
August 6th, 13th, 27th @ 8:00 p.m.
The PIT
Reviewed on April 23, 2005 at 9:00 p.m. by Caroline
Smith
What’s
more refreshing than snorting out loud because
you’re laughing so hard? I guarantee that
that distinctive noise hardly escapes your trunk
at other amateur stand-up nights around the
city. This doesn’t even happen while you’re
watching SNL on a good night. But on April 23rd,
I joined the circus with award-winning sketch
comedy group, Elephant Larry, and laughed like
a hyena. New Yorkers in general need to laugh
like this.
These guys were
electrifying. The funny tune that opened the
show only had a snowball effect for the remainder
of the hour. The audience loved the immediate
energy that this group brought and their outbursts
of chuckles echoed every wild and outrageous
sketch. Clever jokes aside, I had the impression
that these were five little boys having fun.
That comes with knowing, collaborating, and
surrounding oneself all the time with each other’s
talent. And I was right. All five elephants
were once members of Cornell University’s
sketch comedy group, Skits-O-Phrenics. After
graduation, their laughter moved to NYC and
BOOM! history was made. Check out their
success.
July-August 2004:
Elephant Larry presents two shows as part of
the New York International Fringe Festival.
June 2004: Elephant
Larry wins the Audience & Jury Awards at
the Bass Red Triangle Comedy Tour.
June 2004: Elephant
Larry named Backstage Comedy Best Best of 2004.
February 2004:
Elephant Larry begins their three month sold-out
run of All Aboard the U.S.S. Boatship.
October 2003:
Winner of Sketch Fights at Caroline’s
Comedy Club, awarded the title of “New
York’s Best Comedy Writers.”
May 2003: Finalist
for “Best Sketch Comedy Group” at
the ECNY’s (Emerging Comics of New York
Awards).
In all honesty,
this review has already been written. There
is no bragging necessary for this talented group.
But what I can say is that I admired the group’s
collaboration and originality. Not only were
you listening to jokes, but also you were having
a multi-media and smile-inducing experience.
Colorful, random video skits enhanced the live
skits on stage.
It’s true
that there’s a quirky and absurd quality
to the makeup of this group, but this helps
define and stretch the term, “sketch comedy.”
The city is hungry for this kind of energy.
They’re quick, smart, and keep the ball
moving. Sketches influenced by puns and “What
Year Is It?”, to name a couple, grabbed
you. But ending with the “Earth Rap”
made our hearts and laughter BOOM from our chests.
Elephants never forget and neither should you,
so get to The PIT and start your roaring. These
guys rock.
The Elephants:
Geoff Haggerty, Stefan Lawrence, Chris Principe,
Jeff Solomon, and Alexander Zalben
Tickets $8.
Call 212.563.7488 For Reservations or Contact:
917.309.5965
info@elephantlarry.com/
www.elephantlarry.com
The
People’s Improv Theater (The PIT)|154
W 29th Street (Between 6th and 7th Avenues)
Alana McNair and Kate
Wilkinson's
Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy
Tuesdays – Saturdays @ 8:00 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays @ 10:30 p.m.
Sundays @ 6:00 p.m.
Through Saturday, August 27th
The East 13th Street Theatre
Starring: Corey Feldman as Michael Douglas
(Dan Gallagher); Alana McNair as Glenn Close
(Alex Forrest); Kate Wilkenson as Ann Archer
(Beth Gallagher); and Aaron Haskell as Ellen
Hamilton Latzen (Beth Gallagher). And as the
Greek Chorus: Kellie Arens; Nick Arens; Ebony
Cross; and Sergio Lobito.
Reviewed
by Wendy R. Williams
Tim Haskell and Gorilla Productions are playing
dirty this summer and having lots of fun with
pot roasts, knives, dead bunnies, white bathtubs
and dry-hump sex. Yup, it’s Fatal
Attraction time you 80's freaks - blowing
across two decades to titillate you with fog
machines, strobe lights and blood-squirting
gizmos.
I loved Fatal Attraction, the movie,
with its themes of good and evil, flirtation
and nasty sex. And I especially loved Ann Archer’s
apartment and country home and Glen Close’s
ultra-sexy loft. These prime pieces of real
estate represented two opposing dreams of Manhattan
in the 80’s – the traditional Upper-East-Side-to-Westchester
story and an ultra-chic fashionista story of
urban adventure. And make no mistake about it,
the conflict in the movie (and the play) is
between those two women - Ann Archer and Glenn
Close. Michael Douglas was just their personal
West Bank, the man-toy grand prize that both
women desired to either keep (Ann Archer) or
obtain (Glenn Close).
And Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy
is just plain fun. In the play, the characters
in the movie are called by their movie star
names – the way we remember them, anyway.
Glenn Close’s sexy white (business woman)
outfit is back, initially masking her pathology
just the way it did in the movie. There is a
Greek chorus roaming the stage, acting in some
of the scenes, narrating the story and performing
some interesting and fun dance numbers. And
everything is deconstructed. Glenn Close’s
obsession with Madame Butterfly is
now a love for the soundtrack from Miss
Saigon. Alana McNair and Kate Wilkinson
obviously loved the movie and had a blast writing
their script.
All the actors do a fine job and are obviously
having a good time on stage. Corey Feldman is
especially funny with his spoiled rich guy puss
and deadpan delivery. He perfectly depicts Michael
Douglas’s (Dan Gallagher's) totally entrenched
belief that he is entitled to have it all (it
was the 80’s, after all). So it is a lot
of fun to watch Glenn Close (Alana McNair) tell
him, "I will not be ignored, Michael Douglas."
Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy is
directed by Timothy Haskell. The rest of the
artistic team includes: Rebecca Ramirez (Dance
Choreography), Rod Kinter (Fight Choreography),
Wendy Yang (Costumes), Tyler Micoleau (Lights),
Paul Smithyman (Sets), Faye Armon (Props), Vincent
Olivieri (Sound).
Tickets will
be $49.50 for all seats except $45 for Fridays
and Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
by calling Ticket Central at 212.279.4200, or
by oing to www.ticketcentral.com For more information,
please visit: www.fatalattractiontheplay.com
The East 13th Street
Theatre |136 East 13th Street
(between 3rd and 4th Avenues, just southeast
of Union Square)
Sabooge
Theatre’s
Fathom
Devised and created by the company
12th Annual Ice Factory
July 2005
Soho Ohio Theatre
The Run is over
Reviewed by Christina M.
Hinke
The Ice Factory. The name
alone sounded like a refreshing place to cool
off away from the ninety-degree heat of summer.
So, needing a chill, I went to see the first
“Ice Play" (in a lineup of six
plays) - the stimulating show, Fathom.
As the performance began, I heard the swish
of rushing water and the sound of birds singing
above my head. It was so realistic, I was
waiting for water to pour down upon me. Adeptly
tuned to the acoustics of the space, the sound
effects were played live through horns, string
instruments, flutes and more. The sounds truly
added to the visual treat of the entire experience.
The stage setting of colonial Tasmania was
simple yet profound. A ship’s sail was
the backdrop, and it was used to show ethereal
images in split-screen style. As I watched
a scene in the foreground, I saw a simultaneous
presentation behind the swatch of fabric –
e.g., a man swimming underwater or a woman
searching for her boy. Each muscle and body
feature was lit up like firelight lights a
face at a campfire, creating an eerie, mesmerizing
glow.
Fathom is an inventive play centered
on the idea that if you take a creature out
of its environment, it will not survive. A
seventeen-year-old boy, who is wheezing for
air, has a secret. He breathes underwater.
A naturalist and shell collector has come
to a faraway place to do his work. He befriends
the boy and soon discovers his talent.
The story involves Fabian, the sickly boy
(Patrick Costello); his mother Sarah (Adrienne
Kapstein); her two employers, Dr. Watson (Andrew
Shaver), a scientist who studies human skulls
to predict a person’s behavior; his
wife, Lady Jane Franklin (Kayla Fell), a woman’s
activist; and the London naturalist, Alastair
(Attila Clemann).
Richard Crawford directed
the show’s inventive storyline with
precision. Not a minute was wasted in the
scripted dialogue, and all the cast and musicians
gave compelling performances.
Watch for Fathom to hit other festivals
in the future (I can’t "fathom"
why it wouldn’t travel onward!). Fathom
recently won the award for Best Show at the
2004 ESB Dublin Fringe Festival, and the award
for Best Text at the 2004 Montreal Critics'
Circle Awards.
David
Mamet's
Glengarry Glen Ross
May 1st - August 28th 2005
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly Royale)
Starring: Alan Alda as
Shelly Levene, Liev Schreiber as Richard Roma,
Frederick Weller as John Williamson, Tom Wopat
as James Lingk, Gordon Clapp as Dave Moss,
Jeffrey Tambor as George Aaronow and Jordan
Lage as Baylen
Reviewed by Christina
M. Hinke
Joe Mantello’s
revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry
Glen Ross is a taut, funny look at a
group of smarmy real estate salesmen who will
do anything to make a sale. Winner of the
2005 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play,
this all-male cast kicks up the testosterone
and puts on one hell of a show.
The top seller, Richard
Roma is played with power and pizzazz by Liev
Schreiber (Tony for Best Featured Actor).
He has the Italian machismo down. With his
impeccably tailored suits and a black onyx
pinky ring on his right hand, he emphatically
gets his message across as he talks in his
bada-bing voice and throws his hands around
to accentuate a point.
Among his colleagues are
the old-timer Shelly “the machine”
Levene (Alan Alda), the unsuccessful-with-no-balls
George Aaronow (Jeffrey Tambor), and the strong-headed
loudmouth, Dave Moss (Gordon Clapp). All of
them are led by office boss, John Williamson
(Frederick Weller). Weller seems to take his
lead from the company man, Lumbergh, of the
film Office Space, complete with
large-framed glasses and back-stabbing persona.
Even his smile is sadistically fake.
In the opening scene, Shelly, desperate to
close a deal, meets with Williamson at a gaudy
Chinese restaurant complete with an aquarium
large enough to hold a shark. Using the F
word like a machine-gun-in-open-fire (the
lady-who-lunches-next-to-me gasped), he frantically
tries to get some hot leads from Weller. Alda,
looking old (jowls and all), seems custom-made
to play a man stuck in his memories of being
a-top-seller-who-had-all-the-tricks-of-the-trade,
but now refuses to admit he doesn’t
have it anymore. His suit is too big to hold
his withering frame and his posture is slumped
over, making him look like a man begging for
dinner.
As the second act
opens, we see a lowly real estate office with
nine fluorescent overhead lamps (one burned
out). The set is so honest with its fake wood
paneling, cheap furniture, revolving doors
and a chalkboard covered with statistics about
the “top sales.” The setting is
perfect in its sheer dankness.
Tom Wopat’s quiet portrayal of James
Lingk, a man being all walked over by the
sales shark Roma, is dead-on. Head lowered
and twiddling his thumbs, he attempts to get
his money back from a signed deal, just because
his wife said so. Dressed in rumpled khakis
and a tired wind-breaker, he is no match for
the sweet-talking Roma. This scene epitomizes
the tale.
Glengarry is an ideal play. The 1992
movie was remarkable, but after seeing Glengarry
on Broadway, it is clear to me why it
was originally written for the energy of the
stage. And who better for the lead than the
mesmerizing Schreiber.
Bernard B.
Jacobs Theatre (formerly Royale) 242 W. 45th
St.
Scott Capurro's
Loaded
July 20-23, 2005
Ars Nova Theater
Loaded
and Reloaded
Reviewed by
Adam Ritter
Haven't you ever wanted
to put a couple of bullets into your parents'
heads? Are you still a vegetarian if you drink
urine? Why are psychopaths often hotties?
So go the musings of Scott Capurro, playwright,
author, borderline-creepy comedian and star
of Loaded, now playing at the ARS
Nova Theater.
There's an arguably thin
line between familial dysfunction and double
homicide. We may never have known this had
Erik Menendez been more of a homely-looking
murderer. Instead his cinematic good looks
prompted Mr. Capurro to overlook that solitary
youthful indiscretion (the shot-gunning of
his parents, that is) and initiate a short-lived
pen pal relationship with Mr. Menendez, who
(along with his brother Lyle) was at the time
on trial for parenticide in California.
In a self-described "cock-sucking
seizure", Mr. Capurro anchors his comedy
about family and relationships on the bizarre
association that he was compelled to develop
with Mr. Menendez. It's no surprise that there
was somewhat of a strained relationship between
Mr. Capurro and his own father, whom we discover
was not only distant, but who - according
to his mother's stoic observation –
was also well-hung and "came" by
the bucket load. Admittedly their internecine
hostility was never on par with the fallout
the Menendez family seemed to experience.
Several parallels are drawn, nonetheless.
Why Erik Menendez, you might
ask? Well, Erik still had all of his own hair,
unlike Lyle. And Dahmer only sent back form
letters.
Mr. Capurro is joined onstage
by actor/playwright Mark Farrell who portrays
both Mr. Menendez and Simon, an adrenal-gland-deficient
and therefore enthusiasm-deprived former co-worker
whom Mr. Capurro recalls with inexplicable
fondness. The subplot builds up steam but
ultimately fizzles.
Very much in his element
in this intimate setting, Mr. Capurro reminisces
and philosophizes with the audience, who must
check their rectitude at the door or risk
utter revulsion. The daring will be glad they
did as neurotic ruminations rain down to the
cadence of a cleverly-arranged slide-show
that serves to illustrate the nuances of Mr.
Capurro's narrative.
If the subject matter
doesn't keep you at bay, then you will not
be able to resist laughing at the feverishly
paced, eyebrow-raising quips, contemplations
and self-effacing one-liners that infuse Mr.
Capurro's performance.
www.arsnovanyc.com
