#Broken Box Mime Theater

[fearsmagazine]

A BKBX FRANKENSTEIN - Review

Dates: November 17th to 20th, 2022 Company: Broken Box Mime Theater (BKBX) | www.brokenboxmime.com Theater: 14th St Y, 344 E 14th St New York, 10003 | www.14streety.org Actors: Julia Cavagna, Duane Cooper, Blake Habermann, David Jenkins, Marissa Molnar, Kristin McCarthy Parker, Regan Sims, Leah Wagner, & Josh Wynter . Crew: Artistic Director - Becky Baumwoll; Associate Artistic Director - Tasha Milkman; Stage Manager - Celina Revollar; Lighting Design - Annie Liu; Composer, Music Director, Sound Design - Jack McGuire; & Resident Stage Manager - Esti Bernstein

SYNOPSIS: The production takes many themes of Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and incorporates them into seven contemporary tales:

“The Opening” - A scientist works on her creature and faces her entity, its reception, and the consequences of the clashes.

“The Answers” - In what feels like a tale taken from the headlines, an individual joins others participating in a self-improvement group that transforms into a cult-like experience where the group becomes the body of the creation.

“Automatic” - An interesting examination of society’s compulsion with military indoctrination, weapons, and the fear that can rise out of it.

“M-Pop” - An engaging look at the exploitation of boy bands, the extremes that it can go to, and in the final act presents a dark extreme that feels like an eventual finale.

“Starship Excelsior” - A sci-fi take on the “Frankenstein” story as the production’s take moves from an Arctic setting to outer space. The tale takes several interesting twists and turns as it pauses before the final confrontation.

“Our Corporate Promise” - What opens with lighter notes transforms into a dark comment on corporate America and our individual responsibility as contributors to climate change.

“Survival Mode” - A compelling blend of themes that looks at the modern family and how it is impacted by monsters, technology, and alternate realities that can offer an escape.

“Starship Excelsior” - in the conclusion the company brings the performance to an end as they address the issues of what it means to be responsible for what we create, the concept of what it means to be alive, and our place among the stars.

L to R - Back Row: David Jenkins, Marissa Molnar; Front Row Becky Baumwoll, Blake Habermann, Dinah Berkeley | Courtesy Bjorn Bolinder

REVIEW: I was intrigued that the concepts in Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” were adapted into contemporary themes and presented using the art of mime. Sure I was familiar with mimes and remember seeing the most famous mime Marcel Marceau on television in my youth. Still, I went into the performance with an open mind and limited expectations.

14th St Y Black Box Theater is an impressive space. I��ve been to many off-off Broadway productions over the years in spaces that were converted into makeshift theater spaces. The Y’s space feels like a smaller version of St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. Not something I would expect to find in a Y, known mostly for its physical fitness space and pool. The venue has an excellent sound and lighting system, and an impressive floor to ceiling screen, and the production adeptly took full advantage of the space.

The production did an excellent job of weaving in lighting and original musical pieces to marvelously enhance the tales. Jack McGuire composed the majority of the music for the production and there are some other compositions provided by additional contributors. It’s interesting how the pieces fit together so well as there is a homogeneous sound design to the music. It’s not quite new age music, but there is a tone and feel that nicely complements the pieces. The music and the lighting are the only elements to augment the performances as the art of mime employees no other props or set design. Those elements brilliantly add to the magical spell the performers weave over the audience.

L to R - Blake Habermann, Joel Perez | Courtesy Bjorn Bolinder

The performers are dressed all in black and it delightfully works with the science fiction themes of the stories. Unlike traditional mimes, their arms are exposed, they are not wearing gloves, and their whiteface is minimally accentuated with black lines. The makeup is not a thick, heavy, pancake makeup. Mime is known for exaggerated facial expressions, but this makeup, combined with the lighting, allows many of the subtle facial expressions to come through and convey a wider array of emotions. Also, the short sleeves and lack of gloves adds to their performances as you see the emotional state is reflected in their musculature. It elevates their performances from mime to a physical modern dance.

The cast is mesmerizing. Again, their performances transcend the mime art form and are as fluid and poetic as modern dance. I couldn’t help but think of the Pilobolus dance company. There are movements and positions that require a dancer’s strength and agility, as well as grace and fluidity. Their movement clearly channels the themes of each piece, feels like physical poetry, and is equally hypnotic. They seamlessly move between pieces creating unique characters. They create lighter moments where and allow the pieces dark moments to organically rise up. There are numerous haunting moments that resonate after the show.

I loved the concept of each piece and how that applied to the “Frankenstein” themes. It was interesting how there was a cohesiveness to all the performances and pieces, even though the opening and Starship Excelsior part one and two are more directly linked. There are no spoken words but you feel the story arcs and understand the narrative. The work transcends spoken language and is an exceptional storytelling experience. It affects the head, the heart, and the stomach presenting a complex emotional palette.

L to R - Blake Habermann, Regan Sims, Joel Perez | Courtesy Bjorn Bolinder

A BKBX FRANKENSTEIN is an extraordinary theater experience that, without question, has the attributes of a Broadway production. A talented cast is put through the paces of award worthy choreography that is intensified by effective musical pieces and magical lighting. I was blown away and left the theater feeling both invigorated and introspective. The production enthralled me right from the opening and held me to the end. Unquestionably an unparalleled production company, I eagerly await what they deliver next. A BKBX FRANKENSTEIN was a remarkable theatrical experience.

Review By: Joseph B Mauceri

[jimrmoore]

Broken Box Mime Theater - 'SKIN'

Broken Box Mime Theater – ‘SKIN’

  The Award-Winning Broken Box Mime Theater

Returns Off-Broadway With

SKIN

An All-New Collection of Original Shorts

With Heart and Humor

Previews Begin January 18th

Opening January 24th

At The Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre

at the A.R.T./New York Theatres

The Innovative Theatre Award-winning Broken Box Mime Theater will premiere Skin, a new collection of short plays set to music, beginning…

[larryland]

From August 24-27 Broken Box Mime Theater  (BKBX) will be in residence at the Bennington Center for the Arts, 44 Gypsy Lane in Bennington, VT.

Winners of the 2016 New York Innovative Theatre Awards for Outstanding Ensemble, Performance Art, and Choreography/Movement, BKBX is back in the studio to create new work that activates the imagination of their audiences, contemporizes the art of mime, and reminds us all of the power of simple storytelling.  Set to lights and music, pieces range from realistic to metaphorical, heart-wrenching to hilarious, cinematic to intimate and everything in between, held together by the belief that great theater requires little ornamentation, only great vision.

Join us on Sunday, August 27th at 2pm to learn about contemporary mime, collaborative process, and how simple storytelling can be a vehicle for impactful theater. This engaging, informal presentation with the company is open to all! 

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 Admission is “pay what you can” and all ages are encouraged to attend.   Funds received will go directly to the artists.

A generous donor will provide a dollar for dollar match for the admissions collected from this event and that match will be applied to the Bennington Center for the Arts performance fund.  This is an excellent opportunity for you to support to both your local venue and the artists whom we serve.

The covered bridge museum and galleries will be open from 10am until 5pm this day as well.  Should you choose to further explore our exhibits, admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and children 12 and under are free.  The Bennington Center for the Arts will be offering a 10% discount on any new memberships or renewals made on this day which, among other benefits, will allow you free access to our galleries and exhibits year round!

Photo credits to Bjorn Bolinder

Broken Box Mime Theater Performs at the Bennington Center for the Arts From August 24-27 Broken Box Mime Theater  (BKBX) will be in residence at the Bennington Center for the Arts,

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine one-shot - “Contraband” (Rated PG)

Kurt is supposed to be working, but instead he's spying on a handsome guy sitting in his section - a guy that he knows from school, who he's been dying to ask out for coffee ... and who happens to be exhibiting some rather odd behavior. (2024 words)

Notes: This is a re-write. Alternate first meeting.

Read on AO3.

“Hey, Hummel! You polish those glasses much more, you’ll wear holes through them!”

“Laugh all you want, Bret, but I’m pretty sure the people sitting in my section appreciate it when their cups are actually clean.”

“That, or you need something to do with your hands!” Bret fires back, subtly making a lewd gesture before heading off to a booth with three bundles of silverware.

“Ha-ha,” Kurt mumbles, but Bret has a point. He has been standing behind the diner counter for the past hour, wiping down glasses and silverware in an elaborate ruse to spy on a man in a blue hoodie seated at a booth in his section. It’s not because Kurt has no other work to do. The diner has been hopping since the start of his shift. There have already been two birthday parties and three random sing-a-longs. They’re expecting a group of twelve in a little less than half-an-hour, but Kurt is scheduled to leave in about ten minutes, so he should really be focusing on getting his section cleared of the loiterers, nursing watered-down sodas, who have yet to pay their checks.

But this handsome man, with his sunny smile that extends to his eyes, so rare in their weekday afternoon diners; his funky, retro manner of dress; and his charming haphazard curls; has Kurt absolutely captivated. To top it off, Kurt knows him. His name is Blaine. He goes to NYADA, same as him. It has been quoted by most of their professors and a huge portion of the student body that he’s one of the most uniquely talented and charismatic students NYADA has ever known.

And Kurt knows for a fact that the man is gay.

From the first day Kurt walked into school and saw him strumming his guitar, performing one of his original songs in the student commons, Kurt has been trying to work up the courage to ask him out. This might be the perfect time. He can stroll over to his booth, ask him if he needs a refill on his Coke, strike up a conversation, slide him a complimentary slice of cheesecake, and stealthily write his phone number on the customer copy of the receipt. In his head, it sounds like a rom-com in the making.

However, Kurt has hit a snag. This man, who for all intents and purposes Kurt could describe as perfect (or, at the very least, perfect for him), has started feeding bits of his tuna fish sandwich to the pocket of his hoodie.

Kurt sighs. Only in New York.

Why? Why is it always the handsome ones that turn out to be so bizarre?

Kurt figures he should consider cutting his losses, hand the man his check, and let him go on his way. They’ve only had a handful of conversations at school as it is. Blaine probably doesn’t even know Kurt exists apart from the fact that Blaine was the T.A. in the Intro to Mime workshop Kurt attended over Spring Break. Kurt tripped outside of his invisible box and bumped Blaine with his hip. They shared an awkward smile before Blaine went off to help another student tug on an invisible rope.

Not really the basis for a long-standing relationship.

But there’s something about the way Blaine looks down at the pocket he’s feeding, the soft smile on his lips, the crinkle at the corner of his eyes. Plus, he appears to be talking to it, or more to the point, cooing. Kurt is too curious, and before he makes the decision to stop pursuing his daydream of inviting this man out for coffee, he needs to know what’s so interesting about that pocket.

Blaine is a Musical Theater Major. That might explain a thing or two. They do tend to be an odd breed.

Kurt walks around the counter and heads for Blaine’s booth, hoping to catch him off guard. As he approaches, he cranes his neck to look over the seat, but his view of the pocket remains blocked by Blaine’s elbow.

“Hey there!” Kurt says, coming up behind him with still no luck for a decent view.

Blaine jumps. “Hey!” he says, clamping his hand carefully over his pocket, shielding it from Kurt’s view.

“So, are you just about done here?” Kurt gestures at the picked-apart food on the man’s plate and his empty soda glass.

“Uh … yeah. Yeah, I’d say so,” Blaine replies after a cursory glance at his table.

“Were you thinking about ordering any dessert today?” Kurt asks, stalling for the time he needs to come up with a way to unravel the mystery. “We have ten milkshake flavors, our Boston Cream pie is pretty popular, and we have an excellent New York-style cheesecake. Though, technically, I guess it would just be cheesecake since we’re in New York.” Kurt raises his eyebrows, hoping something he named sounds appetizing enough to make Blaine stick around a bit longer.

“No, not today, I think … uh …” Blaine gets distracted by his pocket when, to Kurt’s surprise, it squirms. “If I can just get the check … please?”

“Certainly,” Kurt says, politely ignoring the fact that Blaine’s pocket mewled. He takes a step away from the booth, but he can’t leave. He has to find out what’s in that pocket; he just has to. Of course, prying could kill his chances with Blaine, if he ever had any, but he can’t help himself. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but Kurt has to know.

“Hey,” he says, standing closer to the booth than usual, blocking other waiters’ view of Blaine and his pocket, “before I go, can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm?” Blaine says, a little tight, a little anxious

Kurt bends slightly to keep their conversation hush-hush. “What’s in your pocket?”

Blaine stares back at Kurt with an expression of severe discomfort. “Uh … in my … in my pocket? There’s nothing …”

“I promise, I won’t tell anyone,” Kurt whispers. He looks at Blaine with pleading eyes and an honest smile. “Please?”

Blaine sighs, a bit defeated, but he smiles back.

“Alright,” he says. “But I’m trusting you. Not a word?”

Kurt puts two fingers to his lips and makes a locking motion. “Mum’s the word. I swear.”

“Okay. It’s this little guy.” Blaine pulls down the lip of his pocket, and a puff of orange fur with bright green eyes peeks out. The kitten looks at Blaine, then straight up at Kurt, and lets out a soft but poignant, “Meow.”

“Oh my God!” Kurt gasps. “That is the cutest kitten I’ve ever seen!”

“Yes, he is,” Blaine agrees, baby talking to the tiny creature and giving it a scratch underneath its chin, which it lifts to accommodate him. “I found him a few days ago, cold and hungry, limping on the sidewalk outside my building. So I took him in and fed him. I was going to take him to a shelter, but I … I couldn’t do it.” Blaine gives Kurt a sheepish shrug. “I just picked him up from the vet this afternoon. He has a broken paw, so I couldn’t leave him at home to fend for himself.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” Kurt says, shaking his head emphatically.

“Unfortunately, I can’t keep him, either.”

Kurt’s head snaps from the precious ball of floof to Blaine’s gloomy face.

“Wha---why not?”

“My roommate,” Blaine explains. “She’s extremely allergic to cats.”

“Oh.” Kurt watches the kitten close its heavy eyelids, its head drooping as it drifts off to sleep, surrounded by the warmth and comfort of Blaine’s hoodie. “That’s … that’s too bad.”

“Yeah, it is,” Blaine says. “I don’t have anywhere else to take him. Most of my friends live in dorms, and they don’t allow animals. It looks like I might actually have to take him to a shelter after all.”

“No!” Kurt thinks fast when he imagines this poor kitten, stuck in a cage, shivering in the cold, alone with no one in the world to love and care for it. Kurt hasn’t been to a shelter before, so that’s actually probably the furthest thing from the truth, but it’s the first image that pops into his mind, and it sticks. “No, don’t do that! You know, my roommate and I have been discussing getting a cat ...”

“Really?” Blaine asks, his eyes lighting up.

“Sure.” Kurt bites his lower lip – something he does when he fibs, he’d recently discovered. But it’s not entirely a lie. He and Rachel had discussed it. She wanted to get a cat for the loft, name it Macavity, and make it their mascot. On holidays, she envisioned the three of them wearing coordinating outfits and performing festive musical numbers from the fire escape for their neighbors, whom she was certain would appreciate the whimsy. Kurt, on the other hand, said that any animal that pooped in an open box of sand had no business being in their home. But he’s not completely repulsed by the thought of a feline companion, to curl up beside him on the sofa during rainy days, or on his bedspread while he watched his late night Judy Garland marathons. This adorable munchkin, with his freckled nose and his melodious meow, might be just the cat to change his mind.

Besides, it came with the added bonus of a smitten former owner, who might be persuaded to stop by every once in a while.

“Plus, if you let me take this little guy home with me, then, you know, you could come by and visit him whenever you want.”

Blaine looks blankly at Kurt, and Kurt wonders if Blaine thought that last comment was too forward. Or maybe he has no clue who Kurt is, the way Kurt originally suspected.  

“You might not remember me,” Kurt says, swallowing his pride. It takes a rather large gulp to get it all down. “I go to NYADA, too. My name’s …”

“Kurt,” Blaine fills in.

“You---you know my name?” Kurt chuckles, shocked at hearing this man call him, unprompted, by name. Suddenly, Kurt remembers he’s in uniform. He puts a hand over the name sewn on his shirt.

“Oh,” he says. “I almost forgot. It’s on my …”

“Your name is Kurt Hummel,” Blaine interrupts. “You got into NYADA with an audition Carmen Tibideaux sprang on you during the Winter Showcase, probably because she knew you would blow everyone away. But that was your second audition, if I’m not mistaken.” Kurt feels himself blush at Blaine spouting off this information, as if he’s been composing the history of Kurt’s time at NYADA. “You also recently won Midnight Madness against your roommate, Rachel Berry - not that she stood half a chance, if I do say so myself. Yes, Kurt, I know exactly who you are.”

“Well, I …” Kurt stutters, then settles for dumbstruck silence. And to think he wasn’t sure that Blaine even knew he existed. “Alrighty then. So … what do you think?”

“I’ll need to take a look at your home environment before I make my decision. You know, to make sure it’s feline friendly,” Blaine replies, a teasing smile on his face. He takes his wallet out of his pocket one-handed and slips his credit card from the top slot. Kurt can’t stop staring, blown away by the enviable dexterity of his fingers. Blaine hands the card over to Kurt and winks.

He’s a guitarist, Kurt reminds himself. And a pianist … and a violinist.

There may be no limits to what those talented fingers can do ...

“Of---of course.” Kurt takes the card, forgetting that he hasn’t even given Blaine his check yet. “I get off in a few minutes. We can ride the subway together.”

“Sounds great! Thank you so much for offering to take the little guy in. It’s a tremendous relief.”

“You’re welcome,” Kurt says, heading for the register.

“And Kurt?” Blaine’s voice stops Kurt mid-step. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Funny you should say that, Kurt thinks to himself, fiddling with the card in his hand, because you may just be a life ruiner.

[powersrg]

MIME! 

[newyorktheater]

André Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater: $1 million Todd Haimes, Roundabout: $922,000. Oskar Eustis the Public Theater: $659,000 Lynne Meadows, MTC: $565,000 Carole Rothman, Second Stage $191,000 James Nicola, New York Theatre Workshop: $178,000

These are the latest known annual compensation for the artistic heads of NYC non-profit theaters, compiled by Philip Boroff in Broadway Journal, who judiciously explains the artistic and financial accomplishments of each, and points out their sacrifices: Rothman’s salary represents a 50 percent paycut from her previous annual compensation while fundraising for the Hayes.

“Not-for-profit leaders forego the potential windfall that commercial producers earn from a blockbuster, in favor of a job with steady income. Yet some company trustees and foundation leaders privately call the biggest nonprofit packages excessive, the appearance of which can deter donors.”

  November Theater Openings

Alia Shawkat in “The Second Woman”

October Quiz

  The Week in New York Theater Reviews

Aran Murphyas Hamnet, in person and projected onto the screen, along with Bush Moukarzel as his father Shakespeare

Hamnet and the absent (projected) Shakespeare, his father

Hamnet

William Shakespeare’s only son, named Hamnet, died when he was 11 years old; a few years later, the playwright wrote “Hamlet.”  The Irish theater troupe Dead Centre conjures up the Bard’s boy in the hour-long “Hamnet,” a whimsical, tender, technically innovative avant-garde play that features an extraordinary performance by a 12-year-old named Aran Murphy.

He Did What?

a ten-minute animated opera that was projected for free onto the wall of BAM’s Peter Jay Sharp building nightly from 7 to 10 p.m

Raul Esparza as a temperamental chef in “Seared”

W. Tre Davis

Raul Esparza and Krysta Rodriguez

Seared

Theresa Rebeck’s slight but savory comedy  about  running a restaurant stars Raúl Esparza as Harry, a hilariously mercurial chef-owner of a hole-in-the-wall eatery  that’s become the latest foodie destination. A blurb in New York Magazine has praised Harry’s ginger lemongrass scallops dish, so now the customers are flocking to the place and clamoring for the dish.

But Harry refuses to make it anymore.

“I’m not feeling the scallops,” he says.

Freestyle Love Supreme

Freestyle Love Supreme, the hip-hop improv group,is not so much Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway follow-up to “Hamilton” as it is a subsidiary of Lin-Manuel Inc. …It is designed to feel good-natured and informal, like friends sitting around a dorm room at Wesleyan, even though there are 766 of us and we’re at the Booth Theater…That goodwill goes a long way.

Fear

Two adults are standing over a teenager named Jamie who is tied to a chair. Phil, a plumber, has kidnapped Jamie, and dragged him into this abandoned tool shed in the woods outside Princeton, New Jersey. Ethan, a professor, is trying to rescue Jamie…An eight-year-old girl from the neighborhood is missing, and Phil (Enrico Colantoni, who plays the genial father in Veronica Mars), has reason to suspect that Jamie (Alexander Garfin) has something to do with it.  Or does he?…A play that requires a vigorous suspension of disbelief. Yet, if you can get over that hurdle, it offers three good actors constantly playing with our perspective – not only about who did what but such issues as moral relativism, class tensions, and…fear

  The Sound Inside

“The Sound Inside” is a dark drama by Adam Rapp that keeps us in the dark, literally and figuratively, which works better while watching it on stage than thinking about it afterwards. Mary-Louise Parker portrays a middle-aged Yale professor named Bella Lee Baird, who prefers literature to life, and expects to die soon; she tells us she’s been diagnosed with cancer. Bella slowly develops a friendship with 18-year-old Christopher Dunn (Will Hochman), one of the students in her course…They turn out to share a taste in books, especially dark tales like Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” which is one of so many book titles name-dropped during the course of the play that the script could serve as a reading list (which I include in the review.)

Monsoon Season

Lizzie Vieh’s black comedy about a divorced couple permanently underwater in Phoenix Arizona, is clever and merciless, but it is also oddly compassionate….Danny and his ex-wife Julia may be losers who constantly make laughably wrong choices, but they are trying to do right, to be better.

The Week in New York Theater News

“The Minutes,” Tracy Letts’ most political play to date, will have its first preview on February 25, as this cryptic e-mail revealed. No theater or cast have been announced. The play, which premiered at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago in 2017, is about a City Council meeting in the fictional town called Big Cherry that turns ominous. Letts began work on it before the 2016 election,

“The play is not about Trump or Trumpism — I don’t find him a particularly complicated figure — but it is about this contentious moment we’re having in American politics in the last few years,”

Andrew Garfield will star in the Netflix adaptation of Rent playwright Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical tick…tick…BOOM, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

    Lear deBessonet will lead Encores!  starting officially in the 2021 season, succeeding Jack Viertel

Samira Wiley and Dominic Fumusa will star In Molière in the Park‘s “The School for Wives” in Prospect Park, November 13 and 14 FREE.

  Thomas Finkelpearl is leaving his job as cultural affairs commissioner after five years. “The timing of it is suspect,” councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, chair of the city council’s cultural affairs committee, told NY1. Some speculate he’s unfairly taking the fall for the various controversies and glitches over the city’s plan to build more statues honoring women and people of color. Finkelpearl helped spearhead the city’s efforts to tie its funding to the diversity of arts institutions’ employees and board members under the cultural plan, unveiled in 2017.

Billy Porter, performer, now playwright

Idina Menzel, Lea Michele and Billy Porter will be among those performing at the 93rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Remember when Billy Porter performed at the parade in 2013, as Lola in Kinky Boots?  and conservatives were outraged? Have times changed?

  Times Square is presenting its first annual Show Globes, displaying giant snow globe-like sculptures of   Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Lion King. On Broadway Plaza in Times Square between 44th and 45th streets through December 26.

2020 Seasons

  2020 Under the Radar Festival celebrates its 16th season with a line-up of groundbreaking artists across the U.S. and around the world, including Australia, Chile, China, Japan, Mexico, Palestine, Taiwan, and the UK.

92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists

Yip Harburg Jan 25-27 Jerry Herman Feb 22-24 George Gershwin March 21-23 Stephen Schwartz and Broadway’s Next Generation (featuring Schwartz and Ns Marcy Heisler & Zina Goldrich, John Bucchino, Khiyon Hursey) April 18-20 George Abbott and the Making of the American Musical May 30-June 1

  Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series

  Andre De Shields January 29 Joe Iconis Feb 1 Ali Stroker Feb 28

   Theatre Row, a six-theatre complex located on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, has announced the Off-Off-Broadway companies that will be making work at its spaces, as part of the complex’s new Kitchen Sink Residency. The two-year program will give the companies space to develop new work, culminating in a three-week production run. The companies are the Assembly, Broken Box Mime Theater, LubDub Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, and Superhero Clubhouse.

The Critic Unmellowed

From Wall Street Journal interview  with John Simon, 94:

“His penchant for criticizing actors’ and actresses’ physical traits —he once wrote unkindly about Liza Minnelli’s face, and another time about Barbra Streisand’s nose— has also helped to make him repugnant to the city’s cultural elite. He contended at the time, and again to me, that such criticism is entirely legitimate if a performer fails to transcend his or her defects of appearance by force of talent.” (How does one “transcend” one’s appearance?)

On how theater has not declined:

“Things were never very good,” he says.“I don’t really see a decline. Looking back into the past always makes the past look better than it actually was,and the present worse, perhaps, than it actually is. . . Out of, I don’t know how many plays open in a season —a lot of them anyway—there may be two or three even worth bothering with. It has always been so.”

  Rest in Peace

Bernard Slade, 89, creator of the TV series “The Flying Nun” and “The Partridge Family,” but we know him as the Broadway playwright of “Same Time, Next Year,” a long-running and widely-produced stage comedy.

Andile Gumbi , 36, former Simba of Broadway’s The Lion King. He died of cardiac arrest while in Israel , Gumbi was portraying the lead role of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel The Musical at the Jerusalem Theater.

A memorial for Eric LaJuan Summers will be held on Nov 4th, 2019 at 9:30pm at The Green Room 42 on W42nd Street & 10th Ave. Members of the Broadway community will be performing.

    Non-Profit Pays! Letts’ Turn to Politics. #Stageworthy News of the Week André Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater: $1 million Todd Haimes, Roundabout: $922,000. Oskar Eustis the Public Theater: $659,000…

[timothyabernard]

Review: In ‘Skin,’ More Than Words and Sometimes Less

The members of Broken Box Mime Theater skip walking against the wind and trapped in a box in favor of pop culture capers and #MeToo inspired riffs. Article source here:New York Times Arts Section

[theneighborhoodplayhouse]

Check out NP Physical Theatre Faculty Member Blake Habermann and NP graduate Duane Cooper in this show running through Sunday at A.R.T./New York!