Review- Circuits (FringeNYC)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Minino.

Have you ever walked passed the beautiful Alvin Ailey building on 55th Street and seen the dancers through the clear windows pirouetting in front of your very eyes? If you've ever wanted to sit in a dance class of that caliber, and see how the teachers guide their students, you need to change your brunch plans and head down to the Robert Moss Theatre for Circuits.

Nicholas Bruder, Christina Noel Reaves, Matthew Oaks
©JP Sevillano

Uniquely choreographed by Patricia Norowol, 7 dancers (Chelsea Bonosky, Nicholas Bruder, Patricia Norowol, Matthew Oaks, Christina Noel Reaves, Elliot Reiland, Mika Yanagihara) share their torments, struggles, hopes and dreams as artists (through dance of course). Circuits reminds me of a reality show, in that you don't know what is staged and scripted and what is improvised and in the moment. So much so, that when we walked in the space and waited for the show to start, we weren't sure if it had in fact commenced. Patricia thanked her dancers, and her donors, and the fringe festival and proceeded to warm-up. She then... thanked her dancers, and her donors, and the fringe festival and proceeded to warm-up, she then... about three times. Accompanied by a dancer putting on make-up, and another walking upstage from one side to the next. Bizarre? a little - intriguing, very.

We are used to seeing dancers express themselves through their bodies and movements. In Circuits, they incorporate their thoughts and voices. Norowol has a microphone connected to a long cord, and walks by the dancers, guiding them, coaching them, and handing the microphone to them, as they share their vulnerabilities as artists. The "artist struggle" has been captured and done over and over again. For some reason it is still intriguing to us, we are still interested and invested, and this is made possible by the individuality of the artist. Because experiences may be the same, but the way we react to them and how they affect us will always be different, and Circuits does it beautifully and with bountiful energy.

We are used to nudity at the Fringe, some shows use it as a formula to success in ticket sales, and others as an element of pure artistry (Leaves of Grass which is not part of the Fringe for example, incorporates it excellently), and this is the case with Circuits, bringing us the most compelling moment of the show when two of the female dancers take their tops off and Norowol compares their body parts and how one is better than the other, exposing the ridiculous pressure dancers need to withstand to be part of "a bigger -not better- company".

A beautiful and intriguing ensemble piece, if you are a structure freak, improvisation and repetition might drive you up the wall, but just a little, the dancers will bring your feet back to the ground and your attention back to them.

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The New York International Fringe Festival
Patricia Norowol Dance Company, present
Circuits
The Robert Moss Theatre

Remaining Performance: Sun, Aug 30 @1:45pm. For more information visit www.PNorowolDance.com.

The Robert Moss Theatre | 440 Lafayette, 3rd Floor | Manhattan.

Review- And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon In 26.2 Years) (FringeNYC)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Minino.

First thing you notice while taking in the set of David Hansen's autobiographical one-man show, is the three pairs of shoes you should never run a marathon with--already clues that we are in for some great anecdotes regarding his training for this quest of olympian proportions.

In an open hearted and earnest performance, Hansen recounts his unsatisfied earlier years, the grave loss of his newborn boy, and his personal decline after that. Until he decides to run the NY Marathon, and things just fall into place. With good-if sometimes distracting-use of Multimedia and flashbacks, Hansen transports us from 2006 to 1980, back again and decades in between. 

In And Then You Die we meet a lot of people that have crossed or influenced Hansen's life, but you will have a hard time understanding why they are important, as these characters are not developed or referenced more than once or twice. And the characters that have obviously molded his need to run, we wanted and needed more of. His father who used to run when he was just a child, his first inspiration, was he around to see him run the Marathon? and his wife, with whom he had two more children, a girl and a boy, we needed more of these pivotal influences. The play works best when it is recounting the NY Marathon and how he trained in Cleveland by running from his home to his parents miles away. 

With room to indulge and sentimentalize certain scenes, director Alison Garrigan does a good job at letting the actor's vulnerability come naturally and not forced by having him emulate what is already in the words.  

Though there are structural problems, David Hansen's story will have you dusting off your sneakers and running to make a change in your life. With only a show left tomorrow, I suggest you drop whatever plans you have and allow him to influence you and share his story.

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Cleveland Public Theatre

New York International Theatre Festival present

David Hansen's

And Then You Die (How I Ran A Marathon In 26.2 Years)

The Robert Moss Theater

Final Performance Saturday, August 22nd at 2PM. For Tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org

The Robert Moss Theater | 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor | Manhattan.

David Of All Trades-Staff Writer Directs at FringeNYC

The Fab Marquee Interview by Antonio Minino.

In the entertainment world, specially and specifically in Off-Off Broadway theatre, you will find that artists work in all aspects of the craft. Whether it is a desire to experiment with their creativity in different ways, or more of a "step up to the plate" situation, this practice is not uncommon. When all the hats are worn by one person in the same production (Producer-Writer-Performer-Director) it can sometimes lead to disastrous results, seldom are the success stories of this all-in-one venture. In this case we have a hat collector, without the faux pas of wearing more than one at a time: David Stallings, a playwright, staff writer (The Fab Marquee), and Arististic Director (MTWorks), directing one of the opening shows of The New York International Fringe Festival. Not new to the festival, as one of his most applauded plays, Anaïs Nin Goes To Hell, premiered at FringeNYC last summer, I asked him a couple of questions about Look After You written by Louise Flory.

David Stallings | ©stallingwrites.com

 A.  Tell us a little about the show you are directing at this year's New York International Fringe Festival, Look After You.  

D. Look After You is an intimate piece that follows Hannah, a young woman recovering from a brain aneurysm. More immediate and urgent than her physical recovery--she is primarily suffering from memory loss--is her struggle with the relationships in her life.

A. You also worked as a dramaturg on the piece. Has your vision of the play in the workshop writing process with playwright Louise Flory changed as a director?  

D. Actually, my vision has maintained the same focus throughout. It's all about telling a story and the approach to the story. We decided early on what the primary plot and theme elements were and cut out the rest.  As a director my goal was to tell the story with hope and positivity.  That was also my advice to Louise as her dramaturg.

Jason Altman (Jake) and Louise Flory (Hannah) in Look After You

©LookAfterYouThePlay.com

A. Mainly known as a playwright, how does directing diverge from playwriting and how is it the same.

D. Well, both are storytellers.  But playwriting gives birth to characters and circumstances that are always yours--no matter what actor or director comes along. And as others add to it, that part of you grows and is strengthened. Directing however is coming to a foreign work and giving your life's blood to it to bring it to life.  Finding your own truths and rhythms in a preexisting story if you will. 

A. Being a reviewer for The Fab Marquee yourself, how do you feel about others reviewing your work, and what advice do you give young playwrights and directors on how to handle reviews (favorable or not), including ones written by you. 

D. In reading a review, you learn more about the reviewer than anything else. Figure out their taste and see if it fits your own.  Do not accept a good review if the reviewer missed major themes or ideas. Figure out if their distaste is a style question or a storytelling question.  Most importantly, see shows these reviewers have seen and come up with your own opinion. That is how best to evaluate their worth when judging you. Remember, reviewers are not gods--they have bad days--days they do not want to work, and often enter a play with preconceived ideas. Find what you can take from their review that is useful and then walk away.

Look After You will play at The SoHo Playhouse from August 14th through the 29th as part of The New York International Fringe Festival. 5 Performances Only. For more information on the show and to purchase tickets, visit www.LookAfterYouThePlay.com .

To learn more about David Stallings, visit www.StallingsWrites.com.

This year, the New York International Fringe Festival will offer performances by 201 of the world's best emerging theatre troupes and dance companies hosted by 18 of New York City's most prominent downtown performance venues. Invited performers represent 7 countries (including Spain, Italy, China, Japan, and Australia) and 20 U.S. states (including Iowa, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Nevada and Missouri). The festival presents works covering a wide range of disciplines including drama, comedy, dance, performance art, children's theater (FringeJr), outdoor theater (FringeAlFrecso), spoken word, puppetry, improv, and multimedia. In November 2007, Michael Bloomberg presented FringeNYC with the prestigious Mayor's Award for Arts and Culture. For more information on the festival, visit www.FringeNYC.org .

Interview- Playwright Nastaran Ahmadi (Strangers)

The Fab Marquee interview by Antonio Minino.

Film noir, green card marriages, movie musical fantasies, and the romance of escapism. This is how the Shalimar theatre company describes Nastaran Ahmadi's new play Strangers, created in collaboration with Shalimar, incorporating interviews to green card marriages, expatriots and immigration lawyers. We wanted to ask Nastaran a couple of questions before her play opens May 28th at The Ontological Theatre.

• Talk to us about Strangers:

Strangers is a play about a small group of friends and foreigners who gather at a party to celebrate a marriage. On the day leading up to the party, doubts arise on the part of the wedded couple about their future, and spread like a virus through the invite list. But the invite list is small, and the way the virus spreads seems convenient--kinda like in "the movies." Strangers is a uniquely American tale, punctuated with song, a little dance and some film; it's about the obsessive American pursuit of the way life could be, how it ought to be - as opposed to what it is.

• Have you been involved with The Shalimar Theatre Company before?

The Shalimar has previously commissioned two short plays from me, both of which were produced in ther annual short play festival. For Art, inspired by Susan Sontag's On Photography, was seen in 'Seven Short plays On Photography' in 2006, and Splinter, which was a Finalist for the Actors Theatre of Lousiville 2008 Heideman Award, was seen in their festival 'You People' in 2007.

• Playwriting has always been your calling.

I am a storyteller, and I knew at a fairly early age that theatre would be my chosen medium. But truth be told, I thought I wanted to be an actor for a long time. In fact, I met most of the members of The Shalimar in September 2000, when we were all members of the Acting Apprentice Company at The Actors Theatre of Louisville. During that season, I submitted a ten-minute play to the In-House Playwriting Competition and won first prize, which resulted in my first production as a playwright. I was hooked after that, and a year later found myself applying to graduate schools for Playwriting rather than Acting.

• The show description says this play is based on real people and interviews. How did you go about finding green card marriages- it's not necessarily a situation that is flaunted.

I can't take the credit for finding the interviewees. Part of the reason the company wanted to commission a work based on this topic is because they have close relationships with people who have dealt with this issue. I brought my own research to the table, but the company members did all the interviews. Some of these interviews are incredible; you'd be surprised at how willing people are to open up about their experiences once asked. Sometimes, just the presence of an eager audience in the form of an interviewer is enough for a person to reveal a part of her life story that she rarely has the opportunity to tell. It's incredible.

• Film Noir & multi-media, unconventional ways to share realistic stories. How did you come about mixing this concoction of elements?

At some point during the workshop process, we came across an interview in which someone juxtaposed his impression of America, which was created through the lens of films he'd seen, with his actual experience of the place once he got here. So, in the interviews that had yet to be conducted, we decided to end with some form of the question "What do you think is an iconic American film?" And as we moved forward with the workshop process, we found that in fact, we were curious about our own relationship to film - and how the movies dictate our own impression of contemporary culture. And I specifically became really curious about how much (if at all) we allow movies to dictate what we want an how we live. And, in the end, this element of desire vs. reality has become the crux of the play--Film Noir and multi-media are really used in this piece to underscore, highlight and intensify that core conflict.

• What is the most important thing you hope the audience takes away from Strangers?

Laughter, tears and a tune in their heads to hum to as they leave the theatre - what else is there?

Show runs through June 6th

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The Shalimar presents
Nastaran Ahmadi's
Strangers
May 28-June 6, 2009
The Ontological Theatre

Tickets: $17 adults/$12 students; To purchase click here or by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101


The Ontological Theater | St. Mark’s Church, 131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave.) | Manhattan.

The Fab Interview- Desiree Burch of 52 Man Pickup (FringeNYC)

The Fab Marquee Interview by Antonio Miniño.

In the sea of shows that is The New York International Fringe Festival, there is a woman that is bearing it all; Writer, Performer Desiree Burch exposes her wonderfully juicy list of sexcapades and experiences mastered over her very “active” years. She uses stand-up, sex toys and cleavage in 52 Man Pick-Up. Desiree answered some questions for The Fab Marquee, “nc-17” style.

Lets start by the name of your show 52 Man Pickup. Where did the title come from?
When I started this show, it was just a piece that I did at a reading/performance series I used to host at Galapagos called SMUT. Lots of the city’s best writers, performers, comedians, musicians, etc. would bring their odd, uncategorized, raw, nc-17 material out to the stage to perform, and I would host with jokes, poems, etc.

I had been concurrently collecting notes from a slut phase I’d been going through… because I was running through men like tissue at one point in my life, I wanted to take notes. I felt it was important to remember the people I’d been with, so I’d started making a list of their names, and what I could remember about the experiences…trying to keep tabs on what I was doing really. Trying to account for what I’d done if you will…count the numbers…etc. Women love to make lists of shit, and also have an idea of their “number” as well. And I counted everything. Kept everything accurate and accountable.

At some point I’d amassed enough people that I just thought, why not share these stories at SMUT. Some of them were quite funny and engaging…all of them were interesting to me. So I put each on an index card and pulled them out of a hat. That was my hat trick.

From the index cards and the hat and all of the sexual puns that could come of that…really lent itself to a good gimmick that would bring out the randomness and countless possibilities. Also, in the performance of pulling these cards out of the hat, I was kind of spitting them… like spitting a poem as is done in slam (and a lot of the cards have a poetic nature to the writing… I try to find the lyricism with each), and spitting the cards as is done in the card game “spit.” So putting the show on a deck of playing cards really came from utilizing the feeling of that game to just get rid of all of the cards I’d been dealt as quickly as possible, and also finding a way to epitomize the randomness, the chance, the playing of “the game.” etc.

So of course, I had to name the show after a card game or something to indicate that. I used 52 pickup cause it’s not really a game–it’s more of a trick, a gag; and it’s really a big fucking mess in about 3 seconds, and that was kind of reminiscent of my feelings on sex, and in particular my sexual experience in NYC. Plus, at that point, my number was in the 30s, and I figured it would give me a chance to really enumerate everyone using the whole deck and talk about “the number” again, etc.

What has been the most thrilling and hardest part about putting your personal life and escapades on-stage?

The most thrilling is really connecting openly with the audience. It’s getting to fuck the audience nightly. Some people are not feeling the show, and you can see it on their face. Other people are nodding and totally into it. Others are laughing, others are scared, others are crying. And it’s amazing to be a part of theater that is really getting intimate with people in a way that is somewhat uncharted (speaking somewhat of the format of the show, and mainly of the content).

The hardest part is rehearsal, when I am tired and lonely and trying to fix my own fucking life, and I have to look at a “3″ with some loser on it that I let inside me, and think…I don’t want to talk about this fucking loser anymore. I don’t even really remember fucking him. That experience, that person feels so distant to me (both him and myself), and I’m just not there anymore and I don’t want to go back. And that was really kind of the point in me turning this into a show. I needed to do my own work out loud, for people (because it’s the only way that I really do my best, most confrontational work with myself and the world) in order to come to terms with what I was doing in my life, to confess it if you will. To start figuring out my own patterns, demons, insights about others and myself sexually. I needed empathy from the universe. I needed to feel like this physical, sexual part of me was connected to a web of bodies in the universe, all trying to figure out the same shit, all on our own. It’s a shame to me that that is what we do to sexuality… because we really could evolve if we started being open about the fact that, beyond the procreative and the provocative, there is something about sex that connects lower and higher parts of ourselves.

The hardest part of the show is trying to stay true all of the time. Trying to keep the show up to my current perspectives on life… allowing it to be a growing, alive being, while I am working on the same for myself. Allowing it to be in the awkward phases, as I would allow myself, and showing the audience that, even if I feel like I might not be ready. My director, Isaac Byrne and I are constantly making adjustments that allow the audience into the show–allow them into my experience to draw out their own… and we have to find just the right nudge/trick that is going to do that, and be interesting for those watching and participating, and, above all, be honest. Because that’s the only reason anyone gives a damn about this dirty little show I do. It’s not just doing it for the sake of being sexy and selling shit like everything else on the planet these days. It’s because the show is true that it matters.

Has your fringe experience been exactly what you thought it would be?
Only had one show so far, and I don’t know what I thought it would be. But different people who I don’t know and didn’t invite personally have come out, and press is interested, and that is all good, because I just want to share this show a bit more with the world, and use it to connect with and help other people… and as always, myself too, cause that’s the point of making art. I want to do that before I outgrow the show and need to move on to a different part of myself.

What comes next?
Hopefully this show will get a longer run at some point in the not-too-distant future. I am also working on a women’s comedy festival for October called “The Hysterical Festival” which is going to feature a lot of amazing local and touring comedians, and it’s going to be a blast. More info at www.thehystericalfestival.com

—————–
Working Man’s Clothes Productions &
FringeNYC present
Desiree Burch’s
52 Man Pickup
Venue #6: The Jazz Gallery
4 performances left: Mon 18 @ 9:15pm; Wed 20 @ 5:30pm; Thur 21 @10pm and Sat 23 @ 3pm
Tickets are $15.00, available at www.fringenyc.org.
Venue #6: The Jazz Gallery | 290 Hudson Street | Manhattan.

Review- No More Waiting (Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

Thirteenth Street Repertory Company has been around since 1972. Established by Edith O’Hara, they are home to one of the longest running Off-Off Broadway plays, Line, by Israel Horovitz, now in its 34th year.

Thirteenth Street Repertory Company brings us the new musical comedy No More Waiting, with book & lyrics by Chris Widney, music by David Christian Azarow and direction by Samantha Salzman.

No More Waiting is as refreshing as a mint mocha frapuccino on a hot summer day. No More Waiting follows five waiters-actors that work at a Cabaret. When the night is over, and the boss is not around they put on their own shows. The sketches serve as a glimpse of who these actors really are. Although the book seems properly outlined, the dialogue itself falls short. Right when the stories are going somewhere fantastical, they linger on that found note and lose momentum. Chris Widney has a better grasp on his lyrics than he does on the book. The shows strongest suit is the music by David Christian Azarow.

Director Samantha Saltzman made sure she camped it up, in the best sense of the word. There’s even a roller skating sequence in great Xanadu style.

Jenny Paul is darling as Samantha; her scenes with Benjamin Mirman who plays Elliot are golden. The rest of the ensemble is a riot as well, exceptional vocals by Dustin J. Harder (Steve), and great comedic timing by Brian C. Curl (Robert).

Choreographer Lynn Spector kept it simple and to the point. The technical aspects of the show were also minimal.

No More Waiting is right on 13th Street and closes tomorrow. If you are celebrating Gay Pride, and are in the area for the Parade, I suggest taking a break from the sun and the crowds, and cooling down in this refreshing show.

If the show is not incentive enough, the Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre is in a legal battle to save its space from real estate developers who want to tear it down. Supporting their shows is a great way to make a difference and take with you a great experience.
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Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre presents
No More Waiting
May 23-June 29th, 2008 (Fri & Sat @7pm; Sun @3:30pm).

Tickets are $18.00 available at www.theatermania.com or by calling 212-352-3101

13th Street Repertory Theatre | 50 West 13th St |Manhattan.

The Fab Bachelor- ERIC C. BAILEY

photo credit: www.eric-bailey.com

Eric C. Bailey has been acting in NYC almost 10 years now. He moved to New York the day before Princess Diana died, although he doesn’t think the two were related. His first acting job was doing Children’s Theatre a few weeks later at the Grove Street Playhouse-which no longer exists. He also doesn’t think those two events are related. Eric is starring in Duncan Pflaster’s Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants at The Midtown International Theatre Festival this July.

Do you consider yourself a native New Yorker?

I don’t consider myself a native. I wasn’t born here, I was born in Central, PA. Though I don’t consider myself a native of Central, PA. either. NY is home to me now, but I still haven’t acquired the swagger nor the accent of a native New Yorker.

Most memorable performance-show experience?

My most memorable theatrical experience is still my first national tour. It was a year long contract touring 3 shows with a cast of 4 and no set travel plans. As long as we made it to the next venue on time the company wasn’t concerned how we got there. So I saw a lot of the Midwest, including the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. So basically I took a year long vacation across the country while doing some random dinner theatre along the way.

photo credit: www.eric-bailey.com

You are an available bachelor. Do you think being a working actor has anything to do with your being single at the moment?

I am an available bachelor. I think being a working actor can make it difficult to date because my schedule can be kind of wonky- but on the whole I think being an actor actually makes me more fun to hang out with… and on.

Eric C. Bailey as King Kartofflepuffen &
Daniel Luke Strandquist as Grumbelino.
photo credit: Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants

You are involved right know in Duncan Pflaster’s Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants-what a title!

Prince Trevor is a satire of Contemporary Politics, as reflected in the magic mirror of Fairy Tales, injected with 42ccs of Shakespearean Poetry, and dissected through the Ridiculous style of Charles Ludlam. At least that’s what the post card says.

Is this your first time collaboration with Duncan?

This is the first time I’ve collaborated with Duncan as director and actor. I did a production of Twelfth Night last year and had the pleasure of playing Sir Toby opposite Duncan’s Andrew Aguecheek.

I hear something about Nudity amongst the Elephants. What will you be wearing?

There is nudity galore in Prince Trevor and though I am never nude on stage, I am often near the nudity- if not the cause of it. So once you’re done looking at a stranger’s genitals please look up and to the left and I’ll probably be there, I’m the not naked one with the beard. I have no idea what my costume is at the moment, perhaps it’s a burka, in which case you should look for the guy with the beard in the burka.

When can I catch Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants, and where can I get tickets?

Prince Trevor performs: July 16th @ 9pm; July 19th @6:15pm; July 22 @6:30pm; July 25th @9:30pm; July 28th @8:30pm and August 2nd @9:30pm.

All performances are at the June Havoc Theatre (321 West 36th St 1st Floor). Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200

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 .

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

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.

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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.

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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

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.
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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

Review- Fire Island (3-Legged Dog)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

First thing you think when you walk into the 3LD Art & Technology Center is, you are in for a hi-tech show, and then you notice you are in for a party. A party in a multimedia fire island, with two boardwalks, 4 ginormous screens, “all you can eat” hamburgers, hot dogs, and booze galore! You are surrounded by tempting buckets full of beer all over the “beach” floor, and there’s wine and soda if beer’s not your thing. Oh yeah, and a fantastic live cover band lead by Albert Kuvezi. You take a cushion, or a beach chair and pick a spot between the boardwalks and the screens, two hours later “the show begins” (doors open at 6pm so you can enjoy the bash).

Catherine Yeager, Gautham Prasad,
Allison Keating & David Tirosh

Charles Mee is best known for his plays of history and love, and I have to mention Big Love because you will be revisiting this masterpiece in Fire Island, just be sure to have a relaxed neck, you will be twisting left to right to figure out where the action is coming from. The actors are gliding through the crowd, they are part of the live band, they are… well, they are Fire Island. At first you are fully aware of what is going on, you are intrigued, engaged on the actions that happen on the screens, that are reenacted or completed by the actors around you. But the lack of narrative, of that ‘magic glue’ that puts all the pieces together in a play, was not there.

A cry to social love and understanding, a cry to things that must be left behind, or of moving on, but it might as well have been a night of monologues or scenes. I had a hard time trying to figure out if this was a play or not. Fire Island was missing Mee’s high stakes, battles of wit and bloody situations. Fire Island fell a little behind, but that didn’t stop it from being a memorable evening. This is a must for theatergoers that are more into the casual and free approach to the art form.

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3-Legged Dog Productions presents
Charles Mee’s
Fire Island
April 10 - May 3, 2008
3LD Art & Technology Center
Tickets are $30.00 and $15.00 for Students, visit www.3ldnyc.org.

3LD Art & Technology Center | 80 Greenwich Street | Manhattan.

Interview- David “D.W.” Withrow, Costume Designer.

The Fab Marquee interview by Antonio Miniño.

“When you’re in trouble, you call D.W.” This is what companies such as Emerging Artists, The Gallery Players, The Looking Glass Theatre and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids have done when it comes to trusting someone with their costume designs. Winner of the 2007 Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Costume Design in The Looking Glass Theatre’s production of Bug Boy Blues, and working non-stop since the age of 8. David “D.W.” Withrow answers a couple of questions for The Fab Marquee.

David “D.W.” Withrow

• Should I start by calling you DW or David Withrow?

I go by DW professionally because when I first moved to the city I assisted several designers named David and three of my professors shared my name, so I started going by my initials… I first got it as a nickname in middle school after Dark Wing Duck the Disney cartoon… “When you’re in trouble, you call D. W.” It fits.

• How did you get started in this business?

I grew up with theatre. My grandparents started and were part of theatre companies their whole lives. I started working in the costume shop at age 8 as a junior intern at Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina. I used to say that I wanted to be an actor and a fashion designer, it wasn’t until I was like 13 that I realized what that really was and I haven’t stopped since.

Urinetown
The Gallery Players

• What has been your greatest achievement as a costume designer?

I won the New York Innovative Theatre Award for outstanding costume design last year… that was cool… but my favorite job to date was as Isaac Mizrahi’s assistant on Three Penny Opera… It was the most amazing cast and was so much fun for me. I got to hand paint almost all of the clothes and felt really trusted and supported… He is such a riot.

• What has been your most intricate project?

I worked on this awful project that had the most bazaar script and all of these effects… I got to make an actress’ costume burst into flames, make a wig that moved like it was underwater, and make three dresses that magically tore off and disappeared into the floor of the set… I love magnets and fire, so I had a blast, but it was totally the most challenging thing I have ever done.

• Is it easier for a fashion designer to leap into the world of costume design, or do you think it’s the total opposite?

I think seeing how award-winning designers dress when they accept answers that question… I feel like what we do is more psychology of character and research of the period where fashion is all trend forecasting and bowing to the corporations that pay your bills… I find both to be art and hard to do and completely valid. For me the world of fashion is limiting and mainstream and the world of Theatre Opera and Dance provides endless opportunity to create and forces me to think outside the box and constantly adapt to the space and the actor.

Broadway Bares ‘07
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids

• What’s next for DW?

I am spending the summer designing regional theatre and doing Broadway Bares like every summer… I am shooting a movie in the middle of all of that which is always fun.

• On what stage can I see your work right now?

This month I have up: The Story of Herr Rath at Manhattan Theatre Source, Hoist the Colors at Manhattan Rep, Bordertown with (re:)Directions Theatre Co. at 14th Street Theater and Man of La Mancha at The Gallery Players in Brooklyn, which I am thrilled about and elbow deep in right now. I am building most of the costumes from scratch and painting the whole thing down and dirty. I get to do puppets and mask work and all of the things I love. The director, Tom Wojtunik, is really great with me and we have this trust and rapport that just makes doing a show this size on a budget this big a lot less daunting.

Review- Office Hours (Phare Play Production)

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

Phare Play Production proves to be an artistic busy bee. With their current production of Ghosts, they also present to us Office Hours by Norm Foster (not to mention they have a production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia lined up in May). Office Hours is a group of six vignettes that take place in a different office on a Friday afternoon. Mr. Foster takes us on a comic ride with 13 characters that we can’t help but see ourselves reflected in, and the journey is pure hackling fun.

Katie McConaghy as Ellie Young &
Nicholas Masson as Mark Young.

At first you might think a desperate producer, an overweight jockey and a figure skater, just to mention a few of the characters, have nothing in common. But the success of Norm Foster’s piece lies in the interconnection of the stories. What sometimes seems as a repetitive tool to tie these stories together (a shiny new leather bound week-at-a-glance, a romance novel and a race horse), turns out being a well thought out amusing element to the blossoming reveal. Even though we have it figured out from scene one (as the production expresses on the show’s description), it’s still a mirthful journey.

The highlights of the evening for this humble theatergoer were the crisp and humorous performances by most of the cast, wonderfully orchestrated by director Christine Vinh. Beth Adler’s comic timing was precise as clockwork. Miss Adler plays Rhonda Penny, an oppressive mother and wife, who deals with her sarcastic husband (well played by Edward Monterosso), and her two sons; a gay entertainment lawyer and a suicidal straight figure skater (both played by the zestful Christopher James Cramer).

Michael Weems as Stan Thurber &
Blake Bradford as Artie Barnes.

Blake Bradford proves to be a master in the art of comedy and improv. His portrayal as the desperate producer Gordon Blanes and the overweight jockey Artie Barnes left me gasping for air between cackles and tears. I’ll make sure to attend future productions graced by Mr. Bradford.

Nora Vetter, Katie McConaghy, Michael Weems and Nicholas Masson form the rest of the hard working ensemble.

The minor hitches of this production have to do with first performance nuances. Some of the momentum was lost in a couple of the skits, and the cast seemed to lose focus with the responsive and engaged audience. Not to worry, Mr. Foster’s material, and this energetic cast, can only get tighter and finer. If you want to experience what smart comedies are made of, you should definitely see this show.

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Phare Play Productions presents
Norm Foster’s
Office Hours
directed by Christine Vinh
March 30-April 6, 2008
American Theatre of Actors
Schedule: Sun, March 30 – Tue, April 1 @ 8pm; Sat, April 5 @ 3pm; Sun, April 6 @ 8pm
Tickets: $20.00; Reservations: (646)241-0823, online purchase www.theatremania.com

American Theatre of Actors | Beckmann Theatre | 314 West 54th St | Manhattan.