Review- ‘Old Comedy from Aristphane’s Frogs’ (Target Margin)

The Fab Marquee Review by Preston Wise.

Something extraordinary is happening on 13th Street; Target Margin’s Old Comedy transcends what we think a play can do. Inspired by Aristophanes’ satire The Frogs, this adaptation doesn’t feel like the play is from old times, but a young art form. It has the unrefined rage of a brilliant teenager. This production takes so many risks, breaks so many taboos, challenges and inspires the audience so often that it seems absurd to compare it to a typical theater experience.

Pedro Pascal as Dionysus & Derek Lucci as Xanthias.
Photo Credit: Joe Dore

The play loosely follows the structure of The Frogs. Dionysus (Pedro Pascal), the god of Wine and Drama, and his slave Xanthias (Derek Lucci) travel to the underworld in search of a poet and preside over a verbal duel between Euripides (Purva Bedi) and Aeschylus (Anthony Mark Stockard). Xanthias begins with a razor-beautiful speech comparing the decline of ancient Athens and the end of the ‘American century.’ The play teems with images from throughout human history. A forest out of The Inferno is haunted by a Wendy bird. Heracles thinks he’s special because they changed his name and made him a cartoon. Charon makes a brutal prophesy that no checks and balances can save a government whose people have become corrupt.

As you may guess, the play is smart as it is fearless. As it is funny. While each actor has a standout moment, the comedy team of Pascal and Lucci ignite the show. Sometimes with a flamethrower. As they drop in and out of character, commenting on the action they drive, many of the laughs are of “I can’t believe they just said that” humor. Followed quickly by humor of recognition. The ensemble, working seamlessly as one, finds and discards caricatures by the second.

Somewhere between political commentary too angry to be called satire and a paean to writers who shaped the human soul, the play starts to be something more than play. It’s entertaining and thought-provoking and then it becomes something else. Maybe it’s a reminder that theatre can be a life-changing, not just a night out. Maybe it’s just an experience.

Early in the play, it’s pointed out that Xanthias is a literary first: the clever slave. He will be followed by any number of servants, slaves, and fools who are wiser than their masters and say to them what no one else would. That’s a good analogy for the play. Its production values, while clever, are not ornate. The musical numbers, whether through acoustics or conscious choice, often seem dampened. Sometimes one can see the outline of what a moment could be with stronger musical support. It doesn’t have the smooth polish of Broadway or the Off-Broadway subscription season.

(Front L-R) Purva Bedi, Davina Cohen,
(Rear L –R) Charles Hudson III, Michael Levinton & Anthony Mark Stockard
photo credit: Joe Dore

Like Xanthias, the production uses its humility to say what we don’t like to think, much less hear out loud. There are riveting indictments of our leaders, our art, and the populace that follows them. Rather than anger or defensiveness, they make us laugh or ruefully shake our heads. After the play, something has changed.

And that is a stunning achievement.

——————
Target Margin presents
David Greenspan’s
Old Comedy from Aristophane’s Frogs
directed by David Herskovit
Closing May 31st @ 8pm

The performance schedule for Old Comedy from Aristophanes’ Frogs is Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Single tickets are $45 for weekday performances and $50 for weekend performances and may be purchased online at www.classicstage.org, by calling 866-811-4111, or in person at Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13 Street, between 3rd & 4th Avenue, Monday – Friday 12-6pm, or by visiting www.targetmargin.org.

Classic Stage Company | 136 East 13 Street, between 3rd & 4th Avenue | Manhattan.

Review- Evidence of Things Unseen (Cap 21)

The Fab Marquee Review by A.K. Gobble.

Evidence of Things Unseen- a new play by Katie Forgette, tells the story of life and death. The curve-balls that we are sometimes served and the things we lose along the way. This is the story of one family being torn apart by loss. Both their collectives lose as a family as well as their own personal losses as individuals.

Eliza Ventura (Abigail Caldwell), Arthur Bartow (Jack Caldwell)
& Susan Cameron (Jane).

Abigail, a strong-minded rebellious writer, and Jane, her born again sister have a difficult and uneasy relationship. They struggle to stay unified and support their aging father while in the midst of a family crisis. Each character is extremely honest and raw, creating hilarious moments of interaction with one another, which is very much appreciated by the audience in light of the sad chain of events. The writer keeps things interesting by throwing in some curve-balls of her own. Her characters are all very smart intelligent people who like to quote famous individuals and give out moral lessons throughout the play. A thing that at times bothered me and made me think the writer doesn’t trust the audience to “get it” on their own.

In general the play was explained to us constantly by the characters and left not much room to discover our own sympathy. The actors were extremely professional and did their job wonderfully. It is a huge advantage to have such a skillful cast! I was moved mostly in their credit.

This piece is written in such a personal way that makes you want to love every character and root for them all no matter what the conflict is, but this raw honesty was sometimes a bit problematic and made it seem like a pity party, with each of the characters constantly describing how miserable they are while not afraid to repeat it numerous times throughout the play.

The Director, Frank Ventura made smart choices with the small space, staging the production in a “Theater in the round” style, which helps the audience exist in the situation. He was very creative with his set and even choreographed his stage hands and the set moves into the scenes, letting the shifts bleed into the play, and as a result giving it an eerie sensation of “ghosts of the past”. I liked that very much and thought it to be very unique.

All and all I enjoyed myself and think it is worth seeing especially for the talented cast of four.
——————-
Cap 21 presents
Katie Forgette’s
Evidence of Things Unseen
May 20-June 1st, 2008
Cap21- The Shop

Tickets: 18.00 and are available online at www.cap21.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Cap21-The Shop | 18 West 18th Street, 6th Fl | Chelsea.

The Fab Clip- Official Footage of MARGUERITE, the new musical from the creators of Les Miserables (London)

A good cause with ‘Extraordinary Circumstances’.

by Antonio Miniño.

The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock suicide prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves lives through its free and confidential helpline, its website and its educational services. The Trevor Helpline has taken over 100,000 phone calls since its inception and provides various other services to youth.

All great organizations require funds, and performing artists depend on kind contributions to exist. That is why it is commendable that all proceeds from Julia Brownell’s Extraordinary Circumstances directed by Meg Sturiano, will benefit The Trevor Project.

Extraordinary Circumstances will play a 4-performance limited engagement at Studio 54 (Shetler Studio, 244 W 54th St, 12th Floor). Performances begin Wednesday, June 18th and continue through Saturday, June 21st at 8pm.

Garden gnomes, attempted murder, and two guys falling in love make this great new comedy starring Michael Baldwin, Steve Borowka, Joe Varca, Cal Shook & Misti Tindiglia.

Tickets are $15.00 (all proceeds go to The Trevor Project), for reservations email notonthemoonyet@gmail.com .

——————-
For more information on The Trevor Project, visit www.thetrevorproject.org

Quote of the Day.-

‘Actually, I think the average voice is like 70 percent tone and 30 percent noise. My voice is 95 percent noise. ‘

-Harvey Fierstein.

——————
You can catch Harvey Fierstein at the Walter Kerr Theatre ( 219 West 48th Street) in A Catered Affair | (212) 239-6200.

Review- Mill Fire (Retro Productions)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

When deprived of someone we have built a life with, people tend to react in different ways: some self-destruct, others become stronger; then there are the few that just don’t open up to grief. When a community is robbed of several loved ones, this is personified on a larger scale. Sometimes there is an air of community and solidarity, but often there is hatred and contempt. Playwright Sally Nemeth aims to gather all these scenarios in Mill Fire, but seems to miss the bull’s-eye.

Mill Fire is set in the late 1970’s, in a small steel town that has lost a few of their hard working men to a disastrous fire in the Mill. Marlene (Lauren Kelston) is a young wife in her mid 20’s who loses her beloved husband Champ (Mike Mihm), and is reminded of his tragic demise by his brother Bo (Mark Armstrong) who survived the fire. Bo has his own set of problems, including his drunk wife Sunny (Kristen Vaughan) and the huge guilt of probably being held accountable for the accident—drinking painkillers on the job never leads to anything good.

Lauren Kelston as Maureen & Mike Mihm as Champ.

Marlene is the black sheep that just won’t do things the proper way. She won’t grieve in a proper fashion, and she won’t take blood money from the Mill Company like the rest of the bereaving housewives. Nemeth recounts the events with flashbacks to help us further understand that day of destruction. Three widows (Heather E. Cunningham, Elise Rovinsky, and Amiende Negbenebor) are added in a tone of Greek Chorus that only clutters an already crutched text.

That gray day, Marlene’s efforts to try and get Champ to stay home and not go to work, with sexual innuendos and lovely caresses, fall short from getting us to care for the couple. The same applies to Bo and Sunny in the presentation of a formulaic troubled household. What Nemeth creates in Mill Fire are beautiful moments of emotional discharge and earnest answers to a heavy situation without connecting the instances fluidly.

Mike Mihm as Champ & Mark Armstrong as Bo.

Director Angela Astle tries to tackle Nemeth’s creation with beautiful tableaus that seem to not correlate with the play. Astle has a keen eye for casting, as all the actors were refreshingly powerful and astute in their portrayals.

Lauren Kelston as Marlene attacks the play with strength and zest; Mark Armstrong delivered a still virtue to his character and graced all situations with momentum and honesty. High praises to Kristen Vaughan, who handled Sunny’s alcoholism with compassion, and showed us the many layers of loneliness while alongside others.

Jack and Rebecca Cunningham did an exquisite job at turning the Spoon Theatre into an appropriate 70’s setting. The costumes by Kathryn Squitieri also gave this world the finished effect of a “retro production.”

Mill Fire might have its problems, but the talented cast compensates.

—————–
Retro Productions presents
Sally Nemeth’s
Mill Fire
directed by Angela Astle
May 7th-May 24th, 2008
The Spoon Theatre

Schedule: Monday, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.
Tickets: $25.00, $18.00 for students and seniors; 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111 or www.retroproductions.org.

The Spoon Theatre | 38 West 38th Street , 5th Floor | Manhattan.

Review- Running (The Milk Can Theatre Co.)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

“Coming Out” plays are beginning to seem a thing of the past. Even though the red states are still far behind the rest of the world, many countries have begun not only accepting gay life as a part of mainstream culture, but allowing gay marriage. Now that even Cuba –under the leadership of Raul Castro- announces that they are working against homophobia, we can see that things have changed since the early eighties when AIDS was known as the gay cancer. As a culture changes, so must its theater. Sadly the brave plays of the eighties and early nineties seem outdated. Even Angels in America must concede that the millennia no longer approaches. I was pleased to discover when I saw Running by Sharon E Cooper, that her piece–about a man forced into coming out to his mother–had listened to the changes in the air and attempted to write a contemporary take on the “coming out” play.

The play centers around what happens when Gregg’s boyfriend, Junior, shows up at his fathers funeral—only to find out that Gregg has still not come out to his mother at the age of thirty-two. The first thing Ms. Cooper did was to examine what is at the heart of her piece. Rather than simply being about a man tortured by the demons of homosexuality, Ms. Cooper wrote a protagonist who was simply afraid to do anything organically. Cooper also created a fun twist in writing a mother who is fine with homosexuality. The core problem in their relationship is that they do not know each other. Running became more about a mother and son struggling to trust each other than anything else. So, high praise must go to the writer for that.

Lance R. Marshall as Junior & Ryan Clardy as Gregg.

As Gregg, Ryan Clardy proved an adept actor. The role of a troubled young man is always difficult. The likeability of someone so tortured is always difficult to find, and Clardy was charming in the seat. Katherine Alt Keener was endearing as the Kentucky bred Maryann. Her sweet naiveté proved genuine. A marvelous standout was Willie Mullins as Sandy—Junior’s best friend who tags along for the drama. Mullins soared in the comic scenes where he teaches Maryanne how to be a cheerleader. He proved equally deep when he had to revel that even he has secrets.

The problem of the play comes in the form of the boyfriend, Junior. By no fault of actor Lance R. Marshall, the character seems so narcissistic and self-involved that any empathy one might have for the relationship is often replaced with contempt. Junior is constantly talking about himself and seems completely unaware when loved ones confess true feelings to him. I feel that Cooper was attempting to make each character flawed in the realities of life. And she succeeded in three of the four. The other characters had redeeming qualities while I could not find any in the fourth. It is hard to like a man when he discusses ending a relationship the day after his lover buries his father. The characters’ main reason is that he is ready to have children and is not sure Gregg will ever be able to be on the same page. The love scenes seemed also forced—but perhaps because one of the characters was so disingenuous.

Overall, the play was a delightful breath of fresh air. Pat Diamond’s direction seemed organic and the staging was fluid. The set, by Anne Bartek was light and peaceful—obviously reflecting the home Maryanne thinks she lives in. One can always see change in a country when you look at the growth in its art.

——————
The Milk Can Theatre Company presents
Sharon E. Coopers’
Running
May 2-17, 2008 (show has now closed)
For more information on the company, visit www.milkcantheatre.org

The 2008 Drama Desk Award Winners are:

Outstanding Musical

Passing Strange

Outstanding Play

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

Outstanding Revival of a Musical

South Pacific

Outstanding Revival of a Play

Boeing-Boeing

Outstanding Actress in a Musical

Patti LuPone, Gypsy

Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Paulo Szot, South Pacific

Outstanding Actress in a Play

Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County

Outstanding Actor in a Play

Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Linda Lavin, The New Century

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

Conleth Hill, The Seafarer

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical

Laura Benanti, Gypsy

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Outstanding Solo Performance

Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood

Outstanding Revue

Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening

Outstanding Theatrical Experience

The 39 Steps

The 2008 Tony Award Nominees are:

BEST MUSICAL

Cry-Baby
In the Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu

BEST PLAY

August: Osage County
Rock ‘n’ Roll
The Seafarer
The 39 Steps

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Grease
Gypsy
South Pacific
Sunday in the Park With George

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Boeing-Boeing
The Homecoming
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Macbeth

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL

Cry-Baby, Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In the Heights, Quiara Alegría Hudes
Passing Strange, Stew
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATER

Cry-Baby, Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger
In the Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Little Mermaid, Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Passing Strange, Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald; Lyrics: Stew

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY

Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park With George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O’Hara, South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park With George

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Bobby Canavale, Mauritius
Raul Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Sinead Cusack, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, South Pacific
Robin De Jesus, In the Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

de’Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In the Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, South Pacific

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY

Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seaferer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park With George
Thomas Kail, In the Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, South Pacific

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In the Heights
Christopher Gattelli, South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS

Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park With George
Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY

Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park With Geroge
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
Robin Wagner, Young Frankenstein
Micheal Yeargan, South Pacific

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY

Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

David Farley, Sunday in the Park With George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In the Heights
Catherine Zuber, South Pacific

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY

Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park With George
Howell Binkley, In the Heights
Donald Holder, South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY

Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park With George
Scott Lehrer, South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATER

Stephen Sondheim

REGIONAL THEATER TONY AWARD

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

SPECIAL TONY AWARD

Robert Russell Bennett

——————-
Fore more information visit www.tonyawards.com

Who will pick up the 2008 Drama Desk Award tomorrow night?

Review- Boxed In (Project Oriented Productions)

The Fab Marquee review by Peyton Wise.

The marketing for Boxed In, a presentation of two one acts by Project Oriented Productions, describes it as ‘fighting against a stagnant country of 88 hour work weeks and $8 cups of coffee.’ That may have been the writers’ impetus, but the plays inspire questions more than they impose answers. In both plays, someone is crazy, but I honestly don’t know who, myself included.

The first piece, Cornered, portrays a manic first-day orientation of an artist-turning-checkout-girl at Cornerworld, a superstore for Styrofoam packaging corners. (The description of how Cornerworld replaced dusty old mom and pop corner stores is one of the many surprise laughs scattered through the piece). The orientation is driven by Roberta (playwright Kellie Arens), an obsessive employee-handbook thumper who argues with stuffed animals as she charges through a litany that includes requiring the applicant to change her hair color and lose her pregnancy. We begin to wonder, however, at the sanity of Fawn (Melissa Derfler), the Goth artist for sticking around. When Roberta breaks her to the point of forcing her to scream “art is useless,” the audience, clearly comprised of artists, can’t help shifting in their seats.Cornered has many surprises, both in the staging and the writing. Both set the groundwork early for punches that come around at the end of the play. If the intention is to build to a frenzy, however, it is sabotaged by the middle section. After the situation and tone are established, both continue without escalation. During this time, one can’t help but wonder why Fawn stays, despite having her hand on the doorknob while being insulted and why the lights keep changing so abruptly. Despite these limitations, the play has some interesting thoughts and Arens and Derfler find some fun comedic moments. At the performance I saw, Arens created from a prop problem one of the funniest moments in the play.

The second piece, Transit, is quite simply a remarkable piece of theatre. Everything is so tightly honed it was like watching the Marx brothers via Meyerhold. The simple tools offered by lights, two actors, and some boxes onstage were used to create fractal worlds. The actors were so in tune and the mime so sharp- at one point an actor picked up a discarded ‘prop’ from the exact place the other had thrown it- that I began to believe I must be crazy to not see props and scenery that were so clearly there.

The play begins with two men in coveralls, waiting for a train to come. They play games waiting for it to come and as they do, we begin to realize this may not be the limbo of a train platform, but of some form of incarceration. Sam (playwright Jonathan Albert) is a Gump-like younger brother, deeply affected by the moods of the moodier and more sinister Pat (Anthony Crep). As the games merge with murkier aspects of their pasts, the actors play hide and seek on a dizzying path of tonal switchbacks. Albert and Crep execute the turns in perfect unison, playing off each other and in a Beckettian pas-de-deux. Either performance is impressive; together they are stunning.

Director Cristina Alicea keeps a sharp control of the reins, shaping pace and focus by eliminating any extraneous movement or element. The set of white boxes is used to shape movement without marking place. The lights change subtly to bring us into each world without defining what we’re about to experience. At one point, the exit light is put to the best use I’ve ever seen. (The performance of No Exit with a clearly marked upstage fire exit must now take second place.) The entrance of sound is so unobtrusive that it’s only noticed when it changes for a powerful final reveal.

Absurdism, like many 20th century isms, has often been remembered only for its repudiation of conventional structure. Transit is so successful because the playwright and director create their own structure, rather than justify whimsy with ‘carte absurde’. Audiences may not know the play’s rules, but can feel that they and the actors are supported by it. The actors are not trying to justify outlandish choices with mania and the audience can trust that the end will not betray what’s gone before. In fact, this hidden structure is a theatrical metaphor for the bastard existentialism that prompted Absurdism. Pat and Sam follow a track laid out according to rules they don’t know, vacillating from rage to joy to fear, with a predetermined ending, while we struggle to connect any clues to a universal picture that includes us.

—————–
Project Oriented Productions presents
Boxed In
May 1-18, 2008 (Thu-Sat @8pm; Sun@3pm & 7pm).
The Royal Theatre (The Producers Club).

Tickets: $18 available online at www.smarttix.com.

The Royal Theatre (The Producers Club) | 358 West 44th St. | Manhattan.

Quote of the Day.-

photo credit: Leslie Hassler

‘At school I was always trying to con my teachers into letting me act out book reports instead of writing them.’

Laura Linney.

* You can catch Laura Linney in Roundabout Theatre Company’s new production of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses at The American Airlines Theatre, for more information visit www.dangerousonbroadway.com

Review- Man of La Mancha (Gallery Players)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

I remember how I fought my way out of reading Cervantes’ Don Quixote back in the school days, a long long time ago. But then curiosity and the love for adventure and books made me creep into the pages of Don Quixote, and I soon found myself wanting to fight a windmill and be dubbed Don Antonio.

Robert Anthony Jones as Sancho & Jan-Peter Pedros as Don Quixote
photo credit: Jennifer Maufrais

The Gallery Players, an institution that has been pumping out work since 1967, earning their reputation as “New York’s best Kept Secret” brings us their production of Man of La Mancha, a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman’s non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote. It tells the story of the knight, Don Quixote, as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. The original 1965 Broadway production was a total hit! It ran for 2,329 performances and won five Tony Awards.

Gallery Players production of Man of La Mancha is one of the most spot on Off-Off Broadway revivals I have encountered. I’m sure to be contradicted by musical theatre fans that indulge on crisp voices, but I’ll exchange vocals for good acting any day. A magnificent ensemble of 22 performers grace the Spanish prison, as Cervantes (Jan Peter Pedross) performs his play that serves as his defense before a mock trial that the prisoners have started in order for him to keep his possessions. Once Cervantes takes out his make up kit and armor and transforms himself as Alonso Quijana, he is soon in need of the prisoners to join him as actors in the piece. Quijana seems to be under the impression that he is Don Quixote and fears that longtime enemy The Enchanter wants a piece of him, and his Manservant, or should I say “squire” Sancho Panza (Robert Anthony Jones). He fights a windmill thinking it’s a giant monster, and thinks he was defeated because he’s not an actual Knight. So he walks into an Inn that in his illustrious fantastical mind resembles a Castle, and needs the Innkeeper (Justin Herfel) to dub him as a Knight. Every Knight needs a lady, right? His eyes grow weary as he meets Aldonza (Jennifer McCabe), who for him is Dulcinea the Lady of his heart, when Aldonza is in fact the bedfellow of many. As the story unfolds, prisoners are being taken away, and the rest are in thirst of hearing how the story of Don Quixote concludes.

All is a bitter operatic end, as the fantasy of Don Quixote is killed and Quijana slowly wimples away, but Aldonza soon reminds him of “The Impossible Dream” and how he has transformed her into his Dulcinea.

Jan-Peter Pedross portrays a tender and dreamy-eyed Cervantes, his conviction and boldness towards the role embarks the audience on a powerful journey. The humorous Robert Anthony Jones enraptures the audience with great wit as Sancho Panza.

Jennifer McCabe as Aldonza & Cast
photo credit: Jennifer Maufrais

We are used to being swept away when Don Quixote sings “The Impossible Dream”, the song has been recorded over and over and over again. Well, in Gallery Players’ Man of La Mancha, when McCabe sings “Aldonza” the audience shivers, cries, kicks and screams with her all through the journey of the song. I’d like to say I saw some audience members teary eyed, but it might have just been me. The beautiful Jennifer McCabe enraptures the audience with her no nonsense take on Aldonza, she embodied the complexity of the character with subtlety and sad anger.

There is not a weak link in this cast; the entire ensemble brings a fresh take to the show. Director Tom Wotjunick keeps almost the entire ensemble on stage at all times. I appreciated how everyone knew how to listen, and created tasks for themselves without drawing attention away from what was going on.

Wotjunick clearly knows how to highlight the emotional arc of the characters, and the parallels that exist between them. He didn’t create a world of fantasy with big costumes and set changes, but trusted the actors and the audiences hunger to use their imagination, using things from Cervantes trunk, or around the prison. The staging was clean and balanced at all times. Kudos go to fight choreographer Ryan Kasprzak who deals with the fights in a beautiful way, without making them seem like modern dance or safety poses.

The set design by Martin Andrew utilizes the space in a smart way, creating levels and entryways, easily transformed into Quixote’s different landscapes with the use of furnishings and first rate lighting design by Tony Galaska, and sound design by Kristyn R. Smith. Costume Designer David Withrow never seizes to amaze me; the detailing that characterizes his work was of course present in all the garments.

You have one week left to “run where the brave dare not go”, and that is a great Off-Off Broadway production of Man of La Mancha, presented by Gallery Players.
——————–
Gallery Players presents
Man of La Mancha
April 26-May 18, 2008 (Thu-Fri @8pm; Sat @2pm & 8pm; Sun @3pm)
Gallery Players

Tickets: $18.00 for adults, $14 for Senior Citizens and children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at www.galleryplayers.com or by calling Theatermania at (212) 352-3101.

Gallery Players | 199 14th St (btwn 4th and 5th Aves) | Brooklyn.

Interview- Paul Adams (Artistic Director, Emerging Artists Theatre)

The Fab Marquee interview by Antonio Miniño.

Paul Adams founded Emerging Artists in 1993 and has been Artistic Director for the life of the company these past 15 years. He previously was the Treasurer at the WPA for several years, along with Assistant Treasurer at the Orpheum Theatre. As Artistic Director, he reads all submissions, is responsible for overseeing all creative aspects of all productions and is also responsible for budgeting and day-to-day accounting of the company. He is also a playwright, director, and actor.

We caught Paul between shows at EAT’s SpringFest ’08 taking place right now at The Roy Arias Theatre Center through May 4, 2008.

How does it feel for EAT to be celebrating their “Quinceañera” (sweet 15) ?

• I am amazed that 15 years have gone by in such a short time. I am so happy that Emerging Artists has moved to an Off Broadway Contract and that we now have 125 company members. Our next big goal is to find a permanent home with a theatre, office and rehearsal space. Hopefully that will materialize in the next 3 years.

Pretty amazing that we always talk about “emerging artists”, yet you were smart enough to snatch the name for your theatre co.

• I felt that this company was always going to be dedicated to those “emerging artists”. I think that all artists keep emerging as they go through life and it is great to be able to provide an opportunity for the first time artists to see their work on a New York stage. But even more important is to be there as a home for artists who may have been working in their craft for years, but have never been given a chance to see their work developed and produced. I say every artist keeps emerging or I would hope they do as their life goes on.

Hunter Gilmore* & Jason Alan Griffin* in Break.
Photo credit: Erica Parise

You have a pretty action packed season, Spring EATfest going on right now at the Roy Arias Theatre Center, and the Developmental Series around the corner, what differentiates these?

• The Eatfest is a new one act festival. The Fall is for pieces up to 20 minutes and the Spring for pieces up to 50 minutes. The Developmental Series is a unique opportunity for a diverse array of artists in all different mediums. It is a chance for them to workshop their work before an audience and then sit with the audience afterwards and ask them questions and get feedback on what the audience just experienced. There are 5 components that each last a week - one woman shows, one man shows(new this year), clown work and puppetry, cabaret performers, and new ensemble musicals. The artists can bring and present their work in whatever stage they are at in their process. EAT provides the performance space, prints the flyers and programs and gives them rehearsal space. There is no cost to the artists involved and the admission fee for audience is a simple $10. EAT is unique in that no other theatre company offers this kind of platform in such a varied scheme of work for artists to present their creativity to the public.

So your going to Ireland with Tom Cruise, and who else…

• Well our Tom Cruise is a speaking dog that belongs to his gay owner. Yes EAT was very lucky and is headed to Ireland on May 10th to be part of the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival It will be the first international appearance for Emerging Artists. EAT will be performing 3 one act plays from last years Eatfests: Emily Breathes by Matt Casarino, Some Are People by Kathleen Warnock, and Tom Cruise Get Off the Couch by Kevin Brofsky. It will be a great experience to be one of 2 companies that will represent New York in the festival.

Your company members seem to be a very involved core with EAT, how do you keep the family lovingly together? A family of actors no less.

• Actually it is a family of playwrights, directors, actors, designers, and technicians. When Istarted this company, I had 2 main rules - that it had to be enjoyable to work on developing/producing new work because no one is paid what they are worth and so it better be fun even if you’re working on a drama and second was that no one would ever raise their voice to another individual - respect for each other as artists and a true shared belief in new work. I really feel that you can see when work is presented where the artists involved really care for the material and each other. EAT is a collaborative creative family where artists are encouraged to explore different sides of themselves and feel supported in those attempts. It is a family and as with all families there are unique dynamics to keeping the family happy. But EAT also has an open door policy for company members because life is always here and can take hold of you at times. So a member can be active or go inactive and come back when their life permits them to. But I must say that I am incredibly lucky to have each and every member bring their own unique creativity to the Emerging Artists family.

For more information on EAT’s Season, visit www.eatheatre.org