Thursday, April 19, 2012

Our 2012 Tony Host Is...



I realize this choice of host is not the most exciting or unexpected, but I still love it. NPH is a natural-born Master of Ceremonies; he is charming, humble, engaging & articulate. He has hosted the Tony Awards twice (2009 & 2011); other hosting credits include the Emmy Awards (2009) & SPIKE’s Video Game Awards (2010). He also made a surprise appearance at the 2010 Academy Awards when he presented the opening musical number. Most recently (and most unrelated), he served as the co-host on Live! With Kelly from Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 2011. I watch Live! With Kelly religiously while getting ready for work in the morning (no judgment); she has had a variety of hosts since Regis left & NPH has hands-down been the best so far [with Nick Lache as a distant runner-up. Weird, I know]. NPH has only played the best of roles on Broadway, my favorite being his 2003 portrayal of The Emcee in Broadway’s revival of Cabaret (opposite Deborah Gibson & Tom Bosley). His critically-acclaimed performance earned him the title of Top-Drawing Headiner by GuestStarCasting.com [beating out John Stamos & Alan Cumming]. This honor just reaffirms his capability to captivate a crowd & truly master a ceremony.

Other noted stage credits...
*Tobias Ragg in concert performances of Sweeney Todd (2001)
*Hal in Proof opposite Anne Heche (2002)
*Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald in Assassins (2004)
*Mark in a touring production of Rent [which he parodied on SNL in 2009]
*Bobby in Company with Patti LuPone & New York Philharmonic (2011)
He also directed a production of Rent that ran at Hollywood Bowl in August 2010. It featured Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi, with whom NPH worked with on the film Beastly.

...as well as notable roles on television:
Since fall 2005, NPH has played Barney Stinson on the awesome CBS ensemble comedy How I Met Your Mother (earning Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). And the obvious, awesome, & universal appeal of Sir Neil Patrick Harris. Before ER, Meredith Grey, & Dr. House, there was Doogie Howser, M.D, the trailblazer of the medical TV trend.  

Thursday, April 12, 2012

FELA! @ The Oriental Theatre

was Nigerian composer & master of many instruments;
he was a pioneer of Afrobeat music;
he simultaneously served as a political maverick & human rights activist.

Fela! The Musical seemed more like a tribute concert than a musical that relays the story of Fela’s life through his music. The music was great. I was not all that familiar with Fela’s music before seeing the musical, but I have been listening to it since…the portrayal was very authentic his amazing, original sound. I just wish the story had been more clearly articulated; while the music couldn’t be better, the storyline couldn’t be more muddy & muddled. This was especially disappointing because Fela’s story is so interesting & peppered with personal, political, & historic plot points. This musical had the music but lacked the book. My favorite moment was Zombies, which was the most politically-charged & relevant moment of the show.
P.S. Fela! was produced by Jay-Z and Will & Jada Smith. I like it.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Happy Birthday, Joel Grey & Bill Irwin!

JOEL GREY  
Joel Grey is most beloved
for originating the role of the
Master of Ceremonies
in Cabaret
both in the film & Broadway,
for which he won the Tony, Golden Globe, &
 Academy Awards.

Other noted Broadway credits include the original Wizard in Wicked (2003) & Moonface Martin in the 2011 revival of Anything Goes. 



BILL IRWIN
Bill Irwin is best known for his innovative clown work [Sesame Street's Mr. Noodle!],
but deserves more acknowlegment for his accomplishments as an actor on film & stage.
He has appeared in over 20 films (mostly in supporting roles):
His impressive theatre docket:
  • 2010: New Victory Theatre presented Irwin with first-ever New Victory Arts award for “bringing the arts to kids and the kids to the arts.”
  • 2005: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Kathleen Turner, for which he won the Tony for Best Actor.
  • 2002: Replacement cast of Bway's The Goat with Sally Field
  • 1999: Special Tony (with David Shiner for Live Theatrical Presentation for their show Fool Moon (which has already won Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience” & an Outer Critic’s Circle “Special Achievement” Award
  • 1992: Obie-Award for performance in Texts for Nothing
  • 1988: Waiting for Godot with Steve Martin & Robin Williams 

I first met Bill Irwin on March 10, 2008. I was working as a Marketing Intern at Philadelphia Theatre Company, who had commissioned him to write a completely original, soap-box production. I was able to sit in on the first reading, which had been highly anticipated because no one knew what to expect. What he brought to the table was The Happiness Lectures, a smart & innovative production that provided a kaleidoscope of puppets, off-the-wall physicality, trampolines, mirrors, clowns with top hats, songs…It could have ended up a strange jumble of a production, but he executed such a tight & specific vision that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I love Bill Irwin; he brings such a different style to the theatre & has almost coined & created the idea of marrying theatre with the circus (besides Cirque du Soleil, but that’s it’s own thing).

Monday, April 9, 2012

2012 Pulitzer Prizes

The Prizewinners & Nominated Finalists
will be announced on April 16.
"Last year at this time, as Playbill was polling theatre pundits about possible recipients of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, many assumed that Jon Robin Baitz’s widely praised family drama Other Desert Cities was the obvious front-runner. But Lincoln Center Theatre shook its head at the suggestion. The production did not officially open at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre until January 2011 (previews began in December 2010), and was thus not eligible for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Pulitzer rules clearly stated, "Productions opening in the United States between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010 are eligible." A year has passed — the 2012 Pulitzers and finalists in a number of literary and journalistic divisions get announced April 16 — and now it looks like it may now be Robbie's turn. (Baitz is known to his intimates by that diminutive.)
And, as luck would have it, the play is still running. Other Desert Cities transferred to Broadway on Nov. 3, 2011, where it still plays. So if the Pulitzer jurors (who make the recommendations) and the Pulitzer judges (who choose the winner) want to refresh their memory as to the quality of the script, they have ready access to the living, breathing premiere production. Remember what a last-minute visit by the judges to the un-recommended Next to Normal did to the 2010 race?

Should Baitz win, the honor will be long in coming for the one-time golden boy of the American theatre. The dramatist's talent has been critically praised since The Film Society bowed in 1987. But, a quarter century and a dozen plays later, his career has been more roller-coaster that steady incline. The closest he came to the Pulitzer was in 1996, when A Fair Country, one of Baitz's best-regarded plays, was a finalist for the prize. Other Desert Cities is, in fact, the first Broadway play for Baitz, who is now 50.Nearly every one of the dozen critics, press agents and pundits who were polled for this article assumed Other Desert Cities was running well ahead of the pack. And those who didn't assume that thought the play had been eligible in 2011. As one observer commented,
'The more interesting guessing game [this year] is who will the finalists be.'"
-Robert Simonson, PLAYBILL.





THE PULITZER & MUSICALS
I love that the category is categorized as DRAMA (as opposed to differentiating between plays & musicals). Plays largely dominate the winner’s circle, but 8 musicals have had their own deserving moments in the sun (on average 1-per-decade between the 1930s and 2000s). The musical nominations seem somewhat random. RAGTIME warranted one. I am reluctant to admit (and have never actually seen it), but THE LION KING seemed as revolutionary as RENT [but less heart-breaking].

OUR MUSICAL REPRESENTATIVES:
1996: RENT
1960: Fiorello!
* = did not win the Tony. However, the Tony Awards didn’t exist when Of Thee I sing premiered, so…
P.S. How did Sunday in the Park win a Pulitzer & not a Tony? It's a DISGRACE.
P.P.S. How did How to Succeed win a Pulitzer? Maybe the subject matter was  revolutionary at the time, but the quality of work doesn't seem all that exceptional. Hmmm...sounds similar to the Pulitzer decision in 1996.



 MY PERSONAL PULITZER UPSETS  
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches [1993] by Tony Kushner. It is brilliant & really did change the world, but was also in contention against Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror. I understand this was a year of stiff competition & know Angels is America was well deserving of the award, but Fires in the Mirror is my very favorite script ever.
I will always feel that Ms. Smith was robbed.

Anna in the Tropics [2003] by Nilo Cruz. To be honest, I am not all-that familiar with this script & it probably ruled; however, I am in love with the two scripts that it beat out [The Goat or Who Is Sylvia by Edward Albee & Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg]. The Goat is so innovative & eternally contemporary; Edward Albee is a prince among playwrights & this is one of my favorite scripts (Remy Bumppo did a perfect production last year that reinforced my love). Take Me Out is a smart script & with the cleverest pun of a title. The play was originally produced at the Donmar Warehouse in London (an tiny, impeccable theatre that has excellent taste in script selection; I saw it performed at Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2010 (an awesome regional theatre that has excellent taste in interns). I have a weird appreciation for the marriage/infusion of sports & theatre…it is such a strange but complimentary opposition of ideas that I have never seen fail.

Friday, April 6, 2012

SMASH 9: Hell on Earth



Ivy's Downfall

I loved Ivy’s immediate crumbling upon her return to the chorus; she played the perfect foggy, feathery dilated starlet with a lost sense of footing. I lost a little bit of my interest in Ivy when Karen showed up because I like their feud (and lately Karen has rarely added to her scenes). The female-power moment in Times Square scene felt like a little too much like music video & halted the progression of the storyline. I am curious as to if this is rock bottom for Ivy. I can’t imagine they will allow her to return to Heaven on Earth, so losing her chorus girl role (when it’s all she has left at this point) might be the catalyst for Ivy to make some changes.

THE MAN FIGHT: Husband V. Lover
I was surprised to see Will Chase’s face again. This was a great scene (and would have been an excellent moment to break into song). I was happy for insight into Frank (Julia’s husband) played by Broadway all-star Brian D’Arcy James. It was clever to have him use her notes/words to piece together the puzzle of the affair & I’m glad he got to sing for a minute. I like Julia (and I LOVE her glasses), but I’m glad she got caught & the affair haunts her.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later @ Redtwist



I loved The Laramie Project's original script & its’ execution; this new epilogue of that script provided the same social commentary & insight into the insane while simultaneously offering contemporary insights, an update on the facts, & the answering of some lingering questions. Only the greatest of scripts & stories warrant an epilogue, but I didn’t realize the necessity for this non-fiction epilogue until I saw the play itself. The murder of Matthew Shepard was a horrific crime that gained national-attention & the aftershock of that crime on a community could never expire in anything less than a decade. I respect & admire the dedication of Moises Kaufman & the members of the Tectonic Theatre Company for their commitment to this project & insight to realize the necessity of this second script.

This script addressed the following effects on the community:
  • The resistance & hesitation of locals to acknowledge the event of Shepard‘s murder. It seems similar to how talking about the Holocaust is taboo in Germany, the people of Laramie see this crime as the defining & humiliating factor that tarnished their hometown.
  • The residual rumors permeating the community relating to the catalyst of Shepard’s murder. Certain people think it was a simple drug deal or robbery gone bad & completely unrelated to a hate crime. There is a very blurry line between memory & history that this script faces with a clean, clear, insightful perspective.
  • The identity of the killers. There were 2; one was vile & the perfect picture in one’s mind of a creature capable of committing this crime; one slightly became a victim himself during that terrible night (due to his own weaknesses). It is dirty & upsetting, but the curious mind wants to find the facts behind what seems like fiction. The staged interviews of the killers actual words provided the answers to those questions.


The use of a Dialect Coach was evident & very much appreciated; I liken the plight of the Dialect Coach to that that plagues The Dramaturge. Dialect coaches are an asset that should be more heavily utilized in theatre because their presence causes such a richer sense of authenticity. I first interacted with a Dialect Coach when I played the title role in Jane Eyre; not only did she substantially improve my performance, but she allowed me further insight into my character & made me more confident in my performance.

The Costume Design was simple but stellar & incorporated smart, slight changes to differentiate between characters. The costume designer had a sense of humor & conscious perspective in design scheme that could have been flat-lined; the costumes were largely neutral in tone and used vests, glasses, & cardigans for snippy, quippy changes. This production was textually-based & the smart subtlety of the costumes communicates the artistic insight of the production staff & production as a whole.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Amy Adams in Into The Woods!


Amy Adams will be playing  The Baker's Wife 
in New York City's Central Park
INTO THE WOODS!

I love Amy Adams & love this casting choice. It is an especially awesome casting choice because Amy Adams is more synonymous with the Cinderella character (the girl who sings to birds in Enchanted & the trusting innocent Doubt). I am ashamed to say I haven’t seen her performance in The Muppets yet, but my favorite of her roles was as the blogger in Julie/Julia. She will be a great Baker’s Wife; I am so glad they didn’t just try to go find another Joanna Gleason, because that does tend to be the trend in the casting of this role.

She is joined by Jack Broderick (Narrator), Gideon Glick (Jack), Cooper Grodin (Rapunzel's Prince), Ivan Hernandez (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), Tina Johnson (Granny), Laura Shoop (Cinderella’s Mother), Tess Soltau (Rapunzel), Jessie Meuller (Cinderella), & Josh Lamon (Steward).

Sunday, April 1, 2012

April WishList





Freud's Last Session centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites the rising academic star C. S. Lewis to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life– only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own. Not just a powerful debate, this is a profound and deeply touching play about two men who boldly addressed the greatest questions of all time. Mark St. Germain’s celebrated new play was suggested by the bestselling book The Question of God by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., professor of psychology at Harvard University.


C.S. LEWIS RULES. During my senior year of high school I took a class at Church of the Saviour in Wayne, PA taught by Rich Craven. Rich Craven is a pastor, college professor, genius, & awesome guy. The class concluded with a trip to Oxford, London, & The Kilns to see first-hand what we had been reading & studying for months. It was amazing, enriching, & so integral in the structure of my growth as a writer, reader, & conversationalist. [Sidenote: this trip also marked my very first taste of alcohol: peach schnapps @ The Eagle & Child. I still have the bottle, obviously]. C.S Lewis is the best writer & I wish his writing had more influence on the theatre community. I have seen two pieces of his work put onstage: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe (musical) @ Arden Theatre Company & The Screwtape Letters (play) @ Lantern Theater Company. The LW&W musical was lacking (only because the writer was too green to conquer such a subject matter), but the idea was GENIUS. I hate to say it, but Disney could/should produce a mean version of The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe & it would be a huge hit. The Screwtape Letters was a straight play that was well-written & decently performed. The notion behind the script was clearly awesome: 2-person play that does not lack for conflict & still provides the widest avenue for artistic, post-modern interpretation (and one of the characters is a DEMON, how‘s that for awesome theatrics?).
C.S. Lewis + Theatre = a trend that I would like to see expand.
THIS WORLD NEEDS SOME LEWIS.
P.S. The Weight of Glory is the most perfect compilation of words ever put together in the English language. Just sayin.
RUNS UNTIL JUNE 3





The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is the epilogue to the original. Ten years after Shepard's murder, members of the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie to conduct follow-up interviews with residents featured in the original play. Those interviews were turned into this companion piece. The play debuted as a simultaneous reading at nearly 150 theatres across the US and internationally on October 12, 2009 - the 11th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death. Most of the theaters were linked by webcam to New York City where Judy Shepard and the play's producers and writers gave an opening speech to begin this unique memorial and evening of theater.


I LOVE INTERVIEW THEATRE.
I define interview theatre as the act of interviewing participants surrounding an event & using their direct words to concoct a script. I first fell in love with this script-writing method after reading Fires in The Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith.

In August 1991, there had been an accident in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (a racially-divided community comprised of African-Americans & Hasidic Jews). The accident involved a 7 year-old, Caribbean-American boy who was killed while learning to ride his bike when a Jewish man drove a car  veered onto the sidewalk. There were issues with the response of the medical staff which instigated protests; during one of these protests, a Jewish student visiting from Australia was stabbed. This caused days of riots, which resulted in 129 arrests, 190 injuries, & an estimated $1 million in property damage.

This community conflict caught the attention of the nation & Ms. Smith, so she decided to go the scene of the crime(s) & interviewed the widest range of community members. She comprised those interviews into 29 monologues delivered by 26 different characters; it is a stunning script & one of my favorites. In the play’s introduction, she wrote: "My sense is that American character lives not in one place or the other, but in the gaps between the places, and in our struggle to be together in our differences." Fires in The Mirror made its’ debut at New York Shakespeare Festival on May 1, 1992 with an official press opening on May 12, 1992. There was also a film adaptation of the play with Ms. Smith performing all the roles [also directed by George C. Wolfe, produced by Cherie Fortis, & filmed by American Playhouse]; it is one of the best & richest pieces of American archived theatre ever.
RUNS UNTIL APRIL 7
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