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[quicktheatre]

Ariel Leigh (Director) Bill Moore (Assistant Director) Andrew Rothkin (Producer) Maya Graffagna (Costumes) Michael Hagins (Fight Choreography) Scott Williams (Postcard Illustration)

Jeff Gilbank (Wilhelm Grimm) Daniel Pascale (Jacob Grimm) Michael Whitten (Shoemaker/Fisherman) Nathan Edwin Keep (Hansel/Angelfish/Prince Asad) Samantha Levitt (Stepmother/Sofia/Red's Mama) Patrick Steadman Taylor (Father/Miller/Woodsman) Sarah Grace Sanders (Witch/Lily) Vanessa Schanen (Shoemaker’s Wife/Granny) Melanie Sutrathada (Gretel/Rumpelina/Red) Erin Patrick Miller (King Lukas/Wolf)

The title of White Rabbit Tales: Fairy Tales for Adults immediately suggests a raunchy and naughty kind of humor, but this show manages to surprise on that front from the very beginning right on down to the very last scene. Currently running at the RISE OF THE PHOENIX: The 2017 Spotlight-On Festival, White Rabbit Tales is a collection of five fairy tales told by those original masters of the genre, and the narrators of the show, the brothers Grimm. With modern additions inspired by both the current political climate and today’s pop culture landscape, this is a show that is surprisingly mature for its subject, with enough twists and turns added into the original fairy tales to keep anyone fully engaged for the duration of the show.

I appreciate a show that creates very much with very little, and that’s exactly what happens here. Typical festival rules include the usage of only a few small set pieces and an even smaller number of props, but this team creates an intriguing fairy tale world despite, or perhaps because of, these restrictions. This, along with some pointed projections of cottages and castles and fairy tale forests along the back wall of the stage, help set the location of each sketch without relying on large set pieces. I’m not often a fan of projections as a set piece in general, a preference that ranges from large scale productions on Broadway to small one person shows in the smallest off-off-Broadway theatre, but the choices of images projected here only added to the scenes, never detracted.

The actors double up on characters among the five different plays. Each separate appearance on stage brings a character unique and unrecognizable from the last one they appeared as, which highlights the talents of both the actors and the director. While every character on stage was necessary to their place, there were several times that it felt our two narrators were standing there miming unrecognizably during otherwise seamless transitions between pieces, which was distracting in small quantities, but overall the ensemble cast works VERY well in all combinations.

All in all, if you’re looking for a smart, fun, and overall surprising show, definitely check out their last performance tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm.

White Rabbit Tales: Fairy Tales for Adults runs until April 29th at The Wild Project. You can find more information here.

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Sunday, September 11th, 2016, The PIT NYC

Anthony Franqui (Allen) Eric Lockley (GREG) Tristan Griffin (CHARLES) Ryan Johnson (PETE) Temesgen Tocruray (WISE JANITOR / CASTING DIRECTOR 1) Richard "Big Rich" Armstead (TOOTH BLOODREX / CASTING DIRECTOR 2) Tom Powers (DIRECTOR / CASTING ASSISTANT) Alejandro Kolleeny (WHITE ACTOR / DETECTIVE)

Marina & Nicco (Creators)

Room 4 begins with a scene many auditioning actors would recognize. Four young men gather in a waiting room, waiting for their names to be called by the casting assistant. These young men all know each other. They know the same people; their friends are all on stage in The Lion King. All four men are auditioning for the same role: Friend of Drug Dealer.

It quickly becomes something else, a hilarious and charmingly pointed tale of relevant self-realization and as these four young men fight back against the system that got them stuck in a time loop of the same audition, over and over and over.

The structure of Room 4 is fascinating, a creative brilliantly chosen trope to illustrate a problem that continues to run rampant throughout casting rooms across the world. Room 4 trusts the audience to keep up with the story. It doesn't stop to catch anyone up or explain, and the minor side character that show up throughout the twists and turns serve to highlight the tropes that this pointed play skewers. It’s very funny; the audience would not stop laughing, but every so often, a muttered "Yes!" or "I know that!" broke through sounds of enjoyment. I could see the nods of understanding among the members of the audience.

By the end of the show, the audience assumes that the time loop is broken, but was it? With the popularity of cable TV through the 2000’s, and more recently the addition of streaming services such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix, fully realized and diverse characters seem to be flooding the mainstream, but despite the gloss of diversity, the problem still exists, more deeply rooted and not something that can be solved by a few new tv series featuring non-white actors.

Room 4 through October 7th at The Pit. You can find more information here.

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Thursday, August 25th, 2016. 7:00pm. Cherry Lane Theatre.

Lindsay Gitter (Rian) Andy Dispensa (Marcus Pressi) Caleb Schaaf (Anthony) Rylee Doiron (Jade) Lynnsey Lewis (Beth) Robert DiDomenico (Caulan) Chandler James (Briar) Alexis Ebers (Ensemble) Ivy Idzakovich (Ensemble) Marisa Roper (Ensemble) Rachel Ferretti (Dancer) Cara Treacy (Dancer) Kaitlyn Moise (Dancer) 

Celeste Makoff (Book, Music, Lyrics, Director) Kaitlyn Moise (Co-Producer, Choreographer) Trevor Bumgarner (Musical Arrangements, Orchestrations, Co-story Development) Shirlee Idzakovich (Costume Design) Kaitlyn Miller (Stage Manager) Elizabeth Earhart (Production Assistant) Maria Puglisi (Assistant Choreographer) Aaron Duffy (Film Direction and Production Design) Sean Kiely (Co-Sound Design/Film Sound Design) Ian O'Loughlin (Co-Sound Design) Matthew Fischer (Sound Board Operator Adam Crinson (Scenic Design) Robert Weismann (Lighting Design) Paul Nunez (Graphic Design)

Crashlight wants to be so much more. A brilliant idea with a lot of heart, it begins with a propaganda film clip of the villain of the piece, Marcus Pressi. The rest of the musical is dotted with these amateurishly-projected but atmospheric video clips that provide background and history to this dystopian YA novel which has been thrown up on an off-Broadway stage and given music and lyrics. A melancholy and hopeful but sloppy tale, it feels like someone didn’t think through the nuts and bolts of the idea before putting the show together.

The world created within Crashlight intrigues, but the audience never receives enough background information to fully invest themselves in this dual society. With so little focus on the stakes that our protagonist Rian faces, we never actually get to care about this society and these characters. Between a unmemorable score that all starts to bleed together and sound alike after the first few songs, a script that confuses or glosses over as much as it explains, and a few recurring modern dance interludes that serve no point within the narrative as a whole, overall the audience is left unfulfilled.

A lukewarm cast tries their best to breathe life into one-dimensional characters, but most of the script falls flat. The standout performance lies in Andy Dipensa’s Marcus Pressi, whose brilliantly warm and likeable dictator makes you wonder why this guy was so awful… until a brutal torture scene halfway through the second act makes you realize just a little why this charismatic leader is such a bad person.

The contrast in lighting and set establishes the atmosphere and themes of the musical quite nicely. The stage evokes Crashlight’s two worlds well; split down the middle, one half bedecked in the golden almost-too-bright lights and colors of the highlands, the other half stripped bare to show the dark, dreary, sickening darkness of the lowlands.

As the final ultimately hopeful and inspiring scenes played out on stage, I found myself wanting more, but not in a good way. Crashlight takes a welcome non-cliche turn towards the end, but by that point it’s too late for the audience to care much about what happens to these characters.

Crashlight runs until Sunday, September 11th, 2016. For more information, visit their website here.

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Saturday, May 2nd, 2016

Talya Chalef’s Port Cities NYC holds a mirror up to the history of New York City, highlighting the economic and social systems of oppression that still haunt public consciousness. It is a lot to unpack.

The experience begins aboard a ferry at Pier 11 on the southern tip of Manhattan. An audio file, downloaded in advance, is the soundtrack for your voyage across the East River. New Yorkers that frequent nontraditional theater may be familiar with these conceits— This is Not a Theatre Company brought their own headphone-guided Ferry Play to the Fringe Festival in Summer 2015, and iPod Artist Zachary Grady’s immersive multi-track performances have been presented by Ars Nova, Broadway Bares, and the Spring Street Social Society.

Port Cities’ audio experience is more filler than feature— a short narrative interlude, followed by 20 minutes of haunting melodies and rolling waves by sound designer Cameron Orr. It was a beautiful palate cleanser, but perhaps a missed opportunity to bring the show’s themes into focus.

Touching down in Red Hook, we were asked wait for a second ferry with stragglers, then escorted to the Waterfront Museum & Showboat Barge for a more proscenium-style performance. The space is perfect for theater, and Port Cities’ design team excelled at activating it with lights, projection, and milk crates (a scenic motif).

Swaddled in Port Cities’ freewheeling narrative were precious few salient moments— introducing Colonial New Amsterdam as a cutthroat game of Settlers of Catan; a slam-poetry diatribe against institutional racism then and now, delivered masterfully by Nathaniel Ryan; and a wistful call to worship story shared with one’s lover. Leah Barker, Marcus Crawford Guy, and Elizabeth Gray joined Ryan as cast, each offering nuanced interpretations of Chalef’s text and choreography.

Though each element of Port Cities was executed with care, it never became more than the sum of its parts. After more than an hour waiting for the show proper to begin (at the pier, on the ferry, on the dock) the 45 minutes of dense socio-political banter never found a satisfying end.

Port Cities NYC is the first of five installations linking cities along 17th Century Dutch trade routes. Perhaps the structure of this piece will make more sense in that context.

Pro Tips: Bring your own headphones. Make sure the F and G are running back to Manhattan, or you may be stranded.

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Saturday, April 23rd, 2016. 7:00pm. The Flea Theater.

Leta Renée-Alan (Aniko) Cleo Gray (Julia) Kristin Friedlander (Kata) Lydian Blossom (Szuszanna) Isabelle Pierre (Aisha) Tamara Del Rosso (Ilona) Brittany K. Allen (Female Utility) Tom Costello (Ben) Ash McNair (Zoltan) Brendan Dalton (Mihaly) Xavier Reminick (Male Utility) Sonia Mena (Mária, u/s Kata, Ilona, Suszanna) Ben Lorenz (Lacko, u/s Mihaly) Phil Feldman (Kristián, u/s Ben, Male Utility) Rachel Ingram (Szilvia, u/s Aisha) Tessa Hope Slovis (Csilla, u/s Anika, Julia)

Sarah Gancher (Playwright) Danya Taymor (Director) The Bengsons (Arrangements/Music Consultants) Arnulfo Maldonado & Feli Lamenca (Scenic Design) Masha Tsimring (Lighting Design) Claudia Brown (Costume Design) Marte Johanne Ekhougen (Puppet Design) Zach Serafin (Props Master) Alex J. Gould (Fight Choreography) Jocelyn Clarke (Dramaturg) Charise Green (Voice/Dialect Coach) Becky Heisler (Assistant Lighting Design) Tzipora Reman (Stage Manager) Kaila Hill (Assistant Stage Manager)

The Place We Built feels like an epic, life-changing indie documentary, right down to the introverted American expat character Aisha who interviews each of the main characters, getting them to tell their side of the story. It catches every little nuance about a modern grassroots political movement, the nitty gritty bits and pieces, the idealism, the reality of the situation, the bureaucracy, the poetry in getting drawn into something that is so small on a day to day basis but also so very big. Everything. It puts real faces on a movement that is real and current. I had no idea that the story portrayed on stage in The Place We Built is something that actually happened and is still happening now, and now I want to learn more.

Some of the actors are present on stage before the show begins, so that as you enter the space, you enter the world of these revolutionaries. You as an audience member are joining these characters in their fight. With each story you hear and each flashback you see into the creation of this place that this group of young people built, you become more informed and in the end, you are forced to make the choice to stay or to go right alongside everyone else.

The countdown from 38 hours to make that important decision to stay and fight or to leave the Seagull provides an unexpected easy tension that holds the whole play together. You realize that these characters are counting down to the ending, to this big decision they have to make, but it’s buried amidst everything else, a subtle reminder that everything in this mad wild world must come eventually come to an end.

We learn bits and pieces about each denizen of the Seagull. These are different people, with different lives and different viewpoints. We learn about some more than others, but even those characters that we learn very little about have a purpose for being there, a backstory for what brought them to this point in their life, a reason for making the decisions they make leading up to this day.

The scenes set at a wild night Seagull’s bar were some of the most well-directed scenes I have seen all year, and reminded me perfectly of a wild raucous night out amidst a group of friends. It’s easy to get caught up, just as these young revolutionaries find themselves, and then the realities of their situation sink in and it all comes crashing down as the countdown reaches zero.

The Place We Built runs at the Flea until Monday, May 23rd. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit their website here. 

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No Thank You (With Mindy Raf) Pit Loft, Thursday, May 28

Mindy Raf's No Thank You was advertised as a variety hour with "a little bit of stand-up, a little bit of solo show, and a whole lot of vagina."  In an interview with Theater in the Now, Mindy expressed that her goal was to include her stand-up material "within the context of a narrative story." The show feels like a cohesive stand-up routine that crescendos into an emotional panic attack--the tension of which is de-escalated by saccharine confessions and a manic tap number.

The Pit Loft is an intimate performance venue. There were times in which Mindy was able to use the space to her advantage, asking members of the front row to hold on to the baby and vagina mug that she had mimed into existence. Other times, her lines intended to distance the audience from herself fell flat. 

Reviewing this show is definitely stepping out of my comfort zone--with no designed technical elements on which to focus, I found myself looking for them. As Mindy started her Tap with Rap routine (yep, you read that right) I found myself anxiously anticipating a wardrobe malfunction. Couldn't she feel her belt-less jeans slipping with every stomp? Why hadn't the house lights dimmed when the show started? The energy in the room was a real boon to Mindy's energy. Her audience was responsive and appeared to be mostly female. The lines in which she relied on vocal fry got hearty chuckles, but her thruple pantomime and weed-infused lube story had the room guffawing. Despite the lack of technical bells and whistles, No Thank You ranks up there with live stand-up shows I have seen in the past and I found myself roaring in laughter.

Stay tuned to Mindy Raf's show page to follow No Thank You.

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Saturday, April 23rd, 2016 at the Striker Theater at the PIT.

Jacob Grover (Thad/Narrator/Registrar) Ryan Andrews (Dr. Meyers) Anderson Cook (Kleiner) Connor Wright (Hand) Andrew Ricci (Chad) Ben Lapidus (Brad) Ayo Edebiri (Wad) Francesca Ferrari (Charlotte) Aby James (Vivian)

Anderson Cook (Book/Lyrics/Director/Choreographer/Producer) Amanda D’Archangelis (Music/Lyrics) Rachel Brown (Stage Manager/Producer) Barret Law (Lighting Design) Asher Farkas (Production Design) Genevieve O’Connell (Costume & Poster Design)

The Disembodied Hand That Fisted Everyone To Death is, as you can probably tell by the title, not a musical to be taken seriously at all. Or, rather, it’s a musical you should seriously expect to not be serious at all. It’s completely horrible but ridiculously charming. Campy, downright insulting in some parts, but also a very good and memorable ride if you’re a fan of bad sci-fi B-Movies, campy revenge plots, or some good old fashioned comedic but deadly onstage fisting. The entire cast has an absolute ball on stage as they ham it up, and the audience will too. While you may not walk out of the theatre humming any of the songs, the music has a kind of throwback feel that may actually warm your heart a little if you don’t walk out of the theatre halfway through, that is.

The Disembodied Hand That Fisted Everyone To Death has just been extended for two more performances at the PIT. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if this hilariously over the top and provocative show sounds like it will strike your fancy, buy your ticket for one of the next two shows here.

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Is "don't open doors" like not removing your mask, something you just accept to follow?

Yes.

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Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 at the TBG Theatre

Kim Krane (NAOMI) Jenna D'Angelo (KARA) Madison Comerzon (JANE) Leslie Marseglia (MARGO)

Francesca Pazniokas (Playwright) Stephanie C. Cunningham (Director) Alfred Schatz (Set Design) Cate DiGirolamo (Lighting Design) J. Alexander Diaz (Sound Design) Laurel Livezey (Costume Design) Maya Eliam (Graphic Design) Benjamin Andrew Vigil (Production Stage Manager)

“There’s nothing cool or romantic about mental illnesses”

“This cartoon shows how is it like to have anxiety”

“12 things you should never tell to a girl with depression”

These, among others, are some of the articles, lists, or images that I often find in my social media newsfeed, each time more frequently. There is an urge for our society to create an awareness about the reality of mental conditions that for years, were kept in silence, misconceived or even neglected. Keep, by Francesca Pazniokas speaks about these problems with the genuineness and frankness of an insider’s point of view.

The audience take their first dive into Naomi’s world as soon as they enter the house. The pleasantly messy set, along with the music and the main character’s presence from the very first moment, sets the perfect mood to prepare the audience for this journey of exactly 80 minutes, into the universe of a girl who for years has lived isolated from her family to live surrounded by material stuff that might, or not, be useful.

Today, Naomi’s sisters have decided to pay her a visit, in which they are hoping to be able to help her to get rid of some of her un-useful treasures and help her overcome her problem. Easy task, right? As the play evolves and our acquaintance with the characters is upgraded to “friends”, we get to know the worlds, hopes, fears and different perspectives of these three sisters who have grown up playing different roles in a dysfunctional family which has always been neglected by the mother, and for the past years, haunted by the enigmatic memory of a fourth sister whose mysterious disappearance was a major breakpoint in the dynamic of the family.

Besides having a flawless script, Keep also offers a high-quality performance by all four of the actors in the cast. Kim Krane’s performance as Naomi, whose pureness and sincerity in her acting drags the audience into her world from her first moments on stage; and Jenna D’Angelo who has a naturally likable vibe and a subtle but genius comedic timing.

Keep is indeed a must-see for all those who enjoy a touching drama with a strong message. After seeing Keep if we can’t understand hoarding, at least we can try.

Keep is currently running at TBG Theatre until April 30th. For more information, take a look at Wide Eyed Productions’ website here.

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Friday, April 8th, 2016, Studio Theater at Theatre Row

Jack Utrata (Billy, Petie, Eddie) Andrew Sellon (Lockett, Socialist, Sidney) Sarah Sirota (Pauline, Charlotte, Bessie) Rachel Mewbron (Louisa) Michael Zlabinger (Sully) Annalisa Loefler (Dorothy, Suffragist, Mrs. Wisteria, Smith’s Mother) Richard Vernon (McRee, Man of Peace)

Jerry Polner (Writer) Shana Solomon (Director) Joe Napolitano (Set Design) Chris D’Angelo (Lighting Design) Joseph Blaha (Costume Design) Harrison Adams (Sound Design) Danielle Marivette Hernandez (Stage Manager) Cristina Ayon-Viesca (Assistant Stage Manager) Sean Leehan (Board Operator) Larry Napolitano (Production Assistant) Lisa Calandriello (House Manager)

When seeing a new work, I try to enter the theater with as little pre-knowledge about the show and the production as possible. This way, I get to form my own opinion of the piece without letting myself be affected by any preconceived notions I may hold. Even studying the description lets my brain work hard enough to come up with ideas and opinions that I may later find to be wrong as I’m sitting and watching the work itself.

What I found at the Studio Theater at Theatre Row surprised me right from the get go. Like Money in the Bank is reminiscent of the early soundless era of film from the beginning of the 20th century, a callback straight to the time period the play is set. Transitions between scenes are marked by intertitles carried between scenes. Characters find themselves in dramatic and somewhat outlandish dramatic situations, and react with big emotions and gestures that would be at home on the big screen but made no less sense in this small off-off-Broadway theater.

This historical play, with a dash of romance and a whole lot of heart, is charming and earnest to the core. Polner’s cleverly constructed script draws the audience in to a story some might call dry and boring. The history of money and banks in the United States might carry the stigma of being boring and dry; it can be hard to keep up with the banking jargon, historical plot points, and the explanation of just WHY these changes should be made (government should control the money, central bank should be created, etc) but surrounding this story of the founding of the federal reserve with an understated love story, more quips than can be found on episodes of Gillmore Girls or Brooklyn 99, and the inclusion of the beginnings of the progressive movement in politics jazzes up the explanatory narrative up enough to keep you intrigued. Each time I found myself lost in historical names, places, and events, writer Polner, director Solomon, and the cast brings the audience back into the scene with a funny line, a well-delivered quip, or an amusing facial expression and I was drawn back to the stage once again.

The cast is made up of bold, brassy actors, perfectly suited to a period piece. There was no weak link amongst the lot, but Andrew Sellon’s three character’s particularly stood out to me. His understated facial expressions reminded me of David Hyde Pierce’s own worriedly comedic expressions and movements quite a lot.

Like Money in the Bank runs until April 22nd, 2016 at Theatre Row’s Studio Theatre. For more information, visit Theatre Row’s website here. 

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Fred Backus (Cotter, etc) Broderick Ballantyne (Flynn) Rebecca Gray Davis (Tooth Fairy, etc) Lex Friedman (New Girlfriend, etc) Bob Laine (IT Guy, etc) Michael McKim (Dad, etc) Matthew Napoli (The Oracle, etc) Timothy McCown Reynolds (Doorman, etc) Alyssa Simon (Mom, etc) Anna Stefanic (Young Flynn, etc)

Ian W. Hill (Director, Designer) Brian Parks (Writer) Berit Johnson (Assistant) Kaitlyn Day (Costumes) Anna Stefanic (Music)

What wacky and wonderful weirdness! The Golfer is a perfect example of the experimental theatre coming out of Williamsburg at this time. Filled with a new intriguing vibe, The Golfer also feels confined by the traditional theatre stage it was staged on. It might have been better suited to a different style of stage. It’s easy to imagine in a more non-traditional theatre space, or even in a kind of theatre-in-the-round style.

The “BLANK meets BLANK” type of descriptions for media usually feels lazy to me by now due to overuse, but at three separate points of The Golfer I found myself thinking “Wow, this is quite a lot like BLANK.” The first comparison that came to mind was Alice In Wonderland, as main character Flynn takes a kind of journey to meet many bizarre characters whose words twist and turn and provoke and never quite seem to make sense. Secondly, the humor was a bit absurdist and ridiculous, along the lines of Alice in Wonderland but also a touch like the staid British nonsensical humor of Monty Python. Third, as the final scenes played out in front of me, I was distinctly reminded of the television series Life On Mars, both the UK and US versions, which I will leave unspoiled here amidst my review for those who haven’t seen it, but will simply say that it is a good ending to incorporate into any piece of work.

And yet The Golfer has that special something of its own that makes it unique from these three other stories. Director Ian W. Hill created a certain kind of magic that flows from scene to scene within the narrative despite the quick changes in tone between scenes. (Hill also deserves special kudos for filling in for a cast member who had taken ill that week.) The actors have created multitudes of characters that grab your interest, tickle your funny bone, and leave you curious to travel within Flynn’s worlds; yourself.

The Golfer plays at the Brick until April 9th, 2016. For more information, check out their website here. 

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Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

Jack Ellis (The Man) Kate Thulin (Tana) Maki Borden (Debo) William Apps ( Dothan) Xanthe Paige (Monty) Karen Elibacher (Aikin) Mike Swift (Pin) Alexandra Curran, Jack Horton Gilbert, John Paul Harkins, Artem Kreimer, Derek Christopher Murphy, Casey Wortmann (Lost Choir)

Adam Rapp (Writer, Director) Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design) Masha Tsimring (Lighting Design) Michael Hili & Hallie Elizabeth Newton (Costume Design) Brendan Connelly & Lee Kinney (Sound Design) Zach Serafin (Props Master) J. David Brimmer (Fight Choreography) Sarah East Johnson (Aerial Consultant) Anshuman Bhatia (Assistant Scenic Design) Becky Heisler (Assistant Lighting Design) Anne Cecelia Haney (Assistant Director) Morgan Leigh Beach (Stage Manager) Annie Jenkins (Assistant Stage Manager) Bradley Mead/Wiide (Graphic Designer)

We had many different conversations surrounding art in Freshman Seminar my first year in college. One of those that has stayed close to my heart and gave me many lenses to work with, is the concept of "high art" vs "low art". Ultimately, the conclusion I walked away with is that art and entertainment are so subjective that one could make a case for either, but it has groomed me to look at a piece from many perspectives. This is a lesson I've applied to Adam Rapp's "Wolf In the River".  

I spent a few days digesting and thinking about Rapp's Wolf In The River and I've found I'm still not done. Overall, it seems the piece was having a bit of an identity crisis, which slowly reveals itself. We're lead into an intimate theater in the round as the Lost Choir surrounds us, seemingly caught in loops of their own madness. There's a dirt mound in the center of the dimly lit room which feels like an abandoned cabin. The heft of what was about to unfold on stage was literally palpable as the scent of sweat and dirt filled the air. I was handed a dirt clump by a member of the Lost Choir, which I kindly accepted and held onto and then the piece itself began. 

The Wolf (Jack Ellis) emerges from the audience, removes his jacket, shoes and shirt, introducing himself and the narrative. He explains that we the audience are the River, "an angry, undulatin', rip-roaring' river", exposing us and our power over those in the world. The intrigue builds as Tana enters, naked, fearing for her life. As the story continues to unfold, we're introduced to Debo, Tana's love interest, her opportunity for a new life. He's her escape from poverty and ultimately, from this latch-key cult, run by Monty (played deliciously devilish by Xanthe Paige).  

We also meet other members of Monty's cult: Aikin, the flower eating addict; Pin, the dimwitted soldier who would do anything for Tana, including undermining the dangerous Monty; and Dothan, Tana's brother, Monty's lover and Afghanistan War veteran. At this point, the show still feels very cohesive, we have the army of characters, in dire straights, narrated by a third party, the Wolf. It should be noted that Ellis' "Wolf" is out of this world, charismatic and enticing. He has the most verbose text in the piece, one could easily get bored, however, his delivery and power draw you in, hanging on every word. Eventually, as events unfurl, there are things that stick out like a sore thumb, it's difficult to place them. The show itself is structurally sound, but the inclusion of these outstanding points made elements of the story unravel instead of elevate. Pin's sexual conquest of a blowup doll with Miley Cyrus' head for one and Monty's pop-star interlude for another. While Pin's conquest was more a follow-through of Monty's orders, it felt even odder to me when she seemed to become a version of Cyrus herself, something she supposedly hates. Monty gives way to lip syncing "When I look At You", assisted by the Lost Choir. At first I thought it was one of Aikin's flower-eating hallucinations, but it concludes with Monty approaching Dothan, as if she's been trying to serenade and woo him the whole time. We're then given a physiology lesson by the Wolf, regarding our bones, their placement and function, eventually leading to a flashback to when Tana and Debo meet.

The return of Tana from this random fever dream of events is like a salve for the soul. It's a reminder of what brought us here in the first place, but then the fever seems to spike again, as now we're given insights into Dothan and his experiences in Kabul, Afghanistan. The balance of Dothan and Tana's simultaneous flashbacks is flawless, but then gives way to a menacing, disturbing and unsettling monologue by Dothan. It's the first time Dothan speaks, it's the first time we're exposed to the madness in his own mind as he struggles to normalize through PTSD and reliving his horrendous war-time exploits. It's at this point in the play that there's a real energy shift, from the everyday madness that one may be able to escape to the inner turmoil that one could never escape. Dothan's monologue is powerfully delivered by Apps and feels as if he may have experienced it himself. One can only imagine how exhausting that role must be and it most definitely will leave you breathless, questioning the spoils of war and it's true cost. 

Dothan's narrative is explosive and overshadows the rest of the piece from that point on. While we do return to the narrative of Tana and the Cult of Monty, we're now emotionally invested in Dothan, and one could argue, more intrigued by his journey and personage. The Wolves that seemingly rip Dothan apart beyond repair then come for Tana-- until fate intervenes. 

It is at this time that as an audience, we're given the chance to save Tana or leave her to the wolves. In my particular performance, a gentleman from the audience stepped up and saved her, which promptly lead to a dance party where the cast then handed out snacks, kicked around balloons and celebrated. While I do think the noble choice of that man and Tana's impending happiness were most certainly worth celebrating-- it felt very disjointed. It was emotionally disconnected from all the intensity of before. Structurally the "choose your own adventure" type ending didn't make much sense since we, as an audience, weren't able to intervene or interfere at any other time during the performance. While this was an attempt at "immersive" theater, I felt it was half-hearted at best. Referencing the audience and breaking the fourth wall is different from a full immersion and participation from the audience. The use of the celebration at the end felt like abortive method to get out of a sketch there was no proper ending for. Had there been more audience participation throughout, beyond just the Wolf's recognition of our presence, it would have felt more natural. It felt as if there was a choice to be made by the creators and they didn't want to decide as they had decided on everything else. 

At the end of it all, I'm still uncertain how to place "Wolf In the River". A case could be made that it was very "high art" and above what I was able to garner from it. Just as the case of it being "low art", disjointed and base. What I do know is, it left me feeling uncomfortable, confused, unsettled and The BATS do a stellar job with a complex and at times, emotionally intense piece that doesn't know quite what it is. Regardless of how one lands regarding this piece, its undeniably art, for art affects and moves us all, even in ways we may not like or understand.

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Thursday, March 10th, 2016

Ariel Estrada (Don Bernardo) Tom Giordano (Camillo) Adam Huff (Henriquez) Nolan Kennedy (The Duke / Master of the Flock) Montana Lampert Hoover (Leonora) Zach Libresco (Julio) Poppy Liu (Violante) Scarlet Maresa Rivera (Citizen / Gerald) Welland H. Scripps (Roderick)

William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, and Lewis Theobald (Writer) Andrew Borthwick-Leslie (Director) Steven Brenman (Scenic and Prop Designer) Claire Townsend (Costume Designer) Laura Catignani (Asst. Costume Designer/Stitcher) Joe Doran (Lighting Designer) Nolan Kennedy (Music Director) Michael C. Toomey (Fight Director) Corinna May (Vocal Coach) Lynde Rosario (Dramaturg) Jared Deery (Installation Artist) Libby Jensen (Production Stage Manager) Karen Ng (Company Manager) Andrea Wales (Stage Manager) Lily Deerwater (Asst. Stage Manager)

Double Falsehood, a purportedly Shakespearean expansion of a subplot in Don Quixote, is given a feminist focus in this production by Letters of Marque Productions which places special focus on rape culture, and the effect of class on rape culture. LOM Productions does a fantastic job of sticking to their mission statement by producing “new, re-imagined theater that challenges the status quo by braving the seas of social change.” Double Falsehood “follows two brave female protagonists, Violante and Leonora, and two contrasting leading men, Julio of honorable and modest birth, and Henriquez an aristocratic villain. The story starts with Henriquez, heir to the Duke Angelo of Spain, as he exploits his social privilege to scheme his way around beautiful women, greedy fathers and honorable brotherhoods, resulting in a disturbing yet enlightening tale of self-repentance and discovery within family, honor, madness, lust and relationships.”

Quick note: I’m not planning on going into the history of this play, but it’s a unique and mysterious piece of theatre history that definitely worth a peek from anyone. Take a look at Wikipedia’s article on this intriguing piece of theatrical history for more information here. 

The cast does their best, but there were a few places that the story got lost in the florid, verbose, and oftentimes dense script. Pay close attention or else you will get lost. Don’t worry, however: Two action packed horseback riding sequences provide levity and a taste of theatrical magic, two sword fights provide splashes of action movie excitement in an intricate and compact play, and a few musical numbers provide more excitement and a multimedia approach to storytelling that helps keep the audience engaged and interested in the world presented on stage.

Double Falsehood has perhaps the best use of location I have ever seen. The Irondale Center, located in an old Sunday School, gives this historical piece a gravitas that just can’t be offered in a regular proscenium theatre space. Open, airy, shadowed, and with an art installation settled throughout the front of house space that sets the mood as you walk into the space. Fantastic design work; the sets and art installation combine with the location to make this a masterpiece in creation. Add in a mix of modern and historical costuming, especially noted in the two main male leads wearing ‘bro’-y outfits of baseball caps, hoodies, skinny jeans, perhaps hinting towards frat boys, which ties into the overall focus on rape culture.

Overall, a relevant piece of theatre that is guaranteed to continue the discussion of rape culture in our world today.

Double Falsehood currently runs until Saturday, April 9th, 2016 at the Irondale Center (although it is not an Irondale production). For more information about the play and the development process, visit Letters of Marque’s website here.

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Thursday, March 4th, 2016

Toussaint Jeanlouis (beau willie brown) Kineta Kunutu (crystal) Brandon Rubin (drummond) Crystal Arnette (geneviève) Matt Stango (marshall) Akeem Baisden Folkes (Marvin)

UNDERSTUDIES Justin Phillips (beau willie brown/marvin) Terralon Walker (crystal) Niegel Smith (drummond) Clea DeCrane (geneviève) Jack Horton Gilbert (marshall)

Kristiana Rae Colón (Playwright) David Monteagudo (Director) Starlet Jacobs (Scenic Design) Elaine Wong (Lighting Design) Ari Fulton (Costume Design) D.R. Baker (Sound Design) Gerry Rodriguez (Fight Choreographer) Michelle Cole (Movement Choreographer) Hye Young Chyun (Props Master) Michal V. Mendelson (Production Manager) Kaila Hill (Stage Manager) Joseph Barnes (Technical Director)

but i cd only whisper is one of those stories that reaffirms your belief in new theatre pieces, which is a trait I have come to expect from the Off-Off Broadway theatre company at the Flea. Inspired by and including extracts from for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange, but i cd only whisper breaks your heart with its raw and brutal and well crafted story. It is pointedly relevant to the world in which we live in today despite being set in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, a running theme with many of the works I’ve had the honor to view at The Flea.

Lighting, sound, and direction all come together to seamlessly portray the visual, aural, and emotional effects of trauma on a human soul, from the PTSD gained during a time of war exacerbating a previous lifetime spent growing up in poverty and under the racial divide and disparity of the 50’s and 60’s.

Toussaint Jeanlouis gives a phenomenal performance as young war vet Beau Willie Brown, fighting to return to normality and to the life he had lead before leaving to fight in the Vietnam War. The slow realization of Beau’s crimes is an almost murder-mystery-like reveal, as the rest of the cast, consisting of the family, friends, and lovers closest to Beau, reveal their stories and their truths through their own eyes. Only as we reach the final heartbreaking moments of the play do we get the full story of Beau’s torment straight from his own point of view.

but I cd only whisper was recently extended to March 20th. Take advantage of this extension, this is not a performance you will want to miss. For more information and to purchase tickets for this phenomenal piece of theater, please visit the Flea’s website here.

Members of the Flea have an extra bonus, when, on March 13th, a special evening to honor the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf will take place in conjunction with that night’s performance of but i cd only whisper. The evening will start with a reading of excerpts from for colored girls… directed by the acclaimed Seret Scott, who appeared in for colored girls… during its original Broadway run, followed by a special performance of Kristiana Rae Colón’s but i cd only whisper. The evening will end in a conversation with Ms. Shange and a panel including a number of original Broadway cast members about the intersection between the two pieces. Tickets for this special evening are $35 and are only available for members of the Flea.

[quicktheatre]

Thursday, February 4th, 2016 Samantha Vella

Alana Barrett-Adkins (Mercedes) Brett Benowitz (Dantes/Albert) Amanda Berry (Haydee) Ian Eaton (Bertuccio) Tom Frank (Monte Cristo) Bethany Geraghty (Luigi Vampa) Kate Kenney (Young Mercedes) Liliane Klein (Madame Danglars) Roger Lipson (Faria) Jamie Parton (Benedetto) Margherita Peluso (Madame de Villefort/La Carconte) Vinnie Penna (Danglars) Michael Russinik (Caderousse) Paul Sheehan (Villefort) C. Walker Jr. (Mondego)

Jared Reinmuth (Adaptation) Cailin Heffernan (Director) Henry Aronson (Original Music) Sarah Lambert (Scenic Design) Michael O'Connor (Lighting Design) Cheryl McCarron (Costume Design) Andy Evan Cohen (Sound Design) Dedalus 7 (Film Design) Dan Renkin (Fight Design) Theresa McElwee (Dialect Coaching) Courtney Knysch (Casting) Douglas Mills (Technical Direction) Roger Lipson (Musical Direction) Erikka Anderson (Production Stage Manager) Kelsey Ryan (Assistant Stage Manager) Danielle Demisay (Associate Producer)

MONTE CRISTO is a presentation by New Light Theater Project and is an adaptation of the classic epic by Alexandre Dumas. It is written by Jared Reinmuth and directed by Cailin Heffernan with an original score by Henry Aronson.

Its a bold choice for anyone to take on a classic of any kind, and not a choice to be taken lightly. NLTP and Heffernan most definitely took many considerations when it came to tackling this mammoth work. The cast of  15 never leaves the stage and are ingratiated either scenically or sonically, an we're treated with live effects, projections and a song or two. I particularly enjoyed the use of musique concrete and live sound to enhance the experience.

When one thinks of the story of Monte Cristo, the term "revenge" immediately comes to mind. The focus in this particular adaptation is instead to be on "memory" and "madness".  The moments of madness open the play in a subtle way with Tom Frank's ticks and manic expressions. It felt like we should of settled in for a bumpy ride, one where we'd piece together fragments of a madman's mind. We were ready for the challenge, primed with song and projection to go back into the recesses of this man's world. We were to learn of Edmund Dantes and what became of him as he transformed into the Count of Monte Cristo.

Early on however, we lose the sense of memory as the events unfolded chronologically. It walks us through his wrongful imprisonment, lost love and promising future. The setup gives plenty of cause for a dissent into madness and we're guided by the madman himself, who promptly disappears. He reappears again, as if his function is to merely introduce the upcoming sequence of events, a device that would have had more impact if the play wasn't presented in chronological order. My companion put it succinctly, "it forgot it was a memory play".

While the inclusion of live soundscapes and an ever-present cast created a feeling of a prison on stage, it took away from the emotional palpability of it all. There was no where for Monte Cristo or his foes to hide. No opportunity to disappear and reappear as the memory sees fit. The scenic imprisonment may have been a physical demonstration that we are captive by our past and that it ultimately affects our future. With that said, I still felt the motif of revenge above all else.

More liberties could have been taken in the structure to liberate the stream of consciousness that is memory. Playing with that tenant further could have by extension elevated his madness. Ultimately, I left wondering where the madness went.

It was a courageous undertaking by the cast to be on stage and present, almost nonstop for nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes. There was sensory overload at points, with projections, sound and the cast crying attention to the passage of time. No doubt this was a representation of the Count’s descent into madness, but it felt confounding and oppressive. These moments felt disjointed from the overall story of the piece. There was a very rocky flow to the presentation and at times hard to follow. The use of accents ate away at the text and some of the staging felt clunky.

All of that being said, credit where credit is due, bold choices were made and executed. There was innovation there and I'm intrigued to see what else this crew can cook up.

[quicktheatre]

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

I had the extreme pleasure to attend Broadway Up Close’ Act I walking tour this past December and I absolutely adored it. Broadway Up Close provides a wonderful overview of the history of Broadway for everyone, from theatre buffs who think they know it all, to new fans of the de-facto capital of the theatre industry, and even to those who have never seen a musical on stage, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

What it is: a walking tour which starts with the early history of Broadway and moves forward in time to a Broadway that becomes more recognizable to today’s audiences. The Act I tour, created over five years ago by founder Tim Dolan, lets audiences hear about the titans and legends who helped found the New York City theatre scene, who helped moved the Broadway theatre district from its early beginnings in Herald Square in the 19thcentury to its current location north of 42nd Street. The tour starts at the southern end of the Broadway theatre district in front of the Nederlander Theater on 41st street, crisscrosses uptown through lower Times Square, and end in front of the Belasco on 45th. Highlights of the tour include the rise of 42nd Street and the old theaters still located on that famous street but which are not necessarily in use as Broadway stage theaters any more, Roof Top Gardens as a precursor to Roof Top Bars, one of the few actual ghost stories in a Broadway theater, in addition to the personal stories told by your guide.

What you get: A wildly entertaining, personal, funny, meaningful tour of the beginnings of what has become the peak of the theatre industry in the United States. I went on a chill and gray weird autumnal day in the middle of December. Two ladies from Boston and three from Long Island joined me on the day I attended, a pleasantly small but friendly crew. We wandered our way up and across town with tour guide and founder Tim, on a tour that felt more like a pleasant midday stroll with friends rather than an educational walking tour. Each guide is knowledgeable and personable and gives just the right amount of personal history. Guides are also required to be working members of the theatre industry in NYC, so not only do you receive information about theatre history, but you receive stories about the theatre world of today and are treated to a guide that can answer any question you can put to them. Along with their own knowledge of the theatre biz, each guide also brings along with them an iPad fully stocked with hundreds of historical pictures of the places you see, helping you to visualize just how these places looked 100 years ago or more. To cap it all off, you take a group picture as a memento to after travels through the hustle and bustle of Times Square to remember your tour by, a perfect finale to a perfect time spent.

What to keep your ears and eyes out for: the theater that is not quite a theater on 42nd street, Olive Thomas and her ghost, and David Belasco’s casting pew.

For more information about this and to take a look at the other wonderfully informative things that Broadway Up Close has to offer, visit their website here.

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I took these pictures back in December and figured now is the best time to post them!

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