tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363485733367206752024-03-18T20:14:02.910-07:00100 Shows a YearI'm a self-professed theater geek who usually sees over 100 performances a year. This is where I'll get to share my reactions, work out my thoughts, and catalogue everything I see this year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-40857666305289298162011-12-22T11:00:00.000-08:002011-12-22T11:02:14.641-08:00The Best of 2011!As we rapidly approach the end of the year, I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sticking with this blog and sharing a whole bunch of random opinions with the few dozen of you who have kept checking in. Thanks for that! I had three goals when I started: get 10 loyal readers, get free tickets to at least one show, and actually get through the year. Done, done, and...so close!So while I still Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-65717241721523798982011-12-19T18:51:00.001-08:002011-12-19T18:51:51.369-08:00Krapp's Last TapeOkay, so I'm ending the year with a whimper. Seeing less shows, writing about them less frequently, so on and so forth. BUT GODDAMIT IT, I'M FINISHING THIS YEAR!Ahem.So.I saw John Hurt is Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at BAM. I don't want to say it was blissful. I mean...it's Beckett. It was sad and thoughtful and funny and...lonely. Can a play be lonely? I would (now) argue: yes. One of the thingsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-14250347335980977522011-12-14T09:22:00.000-08:002011-12-14T09:24:28.556-08:00December Catch Up!This is so lame, but as I approach the end of the year and go into holiday hyperdrive, I just haven't had that much time to sit down and write (hence the two weeks silence). So I'm going to smash the last four things I saw into one post because there isn't a TON to say about the majority of them as it's some stuff I've seen before and some stuff I wasn't inspired by. Which is gonna make a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-60668014438690666762011-11-27T19:36:00.001-08:002011-11-27T19:37:23.561-08:00Once, A New MusicalFuck it. I'm going out of order. I'm a few shows behind, but I'm going to jump to today's because I want to talk about it while it's still fresh. Not that I have any expectation that it's going to slip from my mind that soon. It's just that it was so, so good.I didn't see the movie Once in the theater. For some reason I didn't expect to like it very much in spite of all the good buzz. But when I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-84113065724093384052011-11-23T05:09:00.000-08:002011-11-23T05:09:00.394-08:00SeminarAs someone who works in publishing, the fact that there are so many plays lately about writing is not unwelcome to me. Other Desert Cities and Venus in Fur and now Seminar, Theresa Rebeck's somewhat thin but entirely delightful new comedy about a vicious writing instructor teaching a private workshop to four young writers.Alan Rickman is that instructor, Leonard, and if seething with disgust and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-73382833751937355362011-11-22T19:47:00.001-08:002011-11-22T19:47:38.034-08:00Wild Animals You Should KnowI maybe wasn't suuuuuper excited to see a play about Boy Scouts and sexual abuse because, frankly, it's not the freshest topic. Molestation plays have not only been done. They've been done brilliantly: Doubt, anyone? How I Learned to Drive? What sets Wild Animals You Should Know apart, though, is that it's got a little bit more of a Lolita sensibility. The kid is definitely the pursuer. The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-79166935497383321102011-11-20T18:11:00.000-08:002011-11-20T18:12:06.047-08:00Hugh Jackman: Back on BroadwayHugh Jackman's not really a great singer, and he's not really a fantastic dancer, so it's a little confusing that his show Back on Broadway is so stupidly fantastic. There's something about him that just gives him the ability to put material over even when it shouldn't work. A cheesy cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" set to images of the outback and with two didgeridoos should be saccharine Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-63695372831005346812011-11-18T14:22:00.000-08:002011-11-18T14:25:09.953-08:00Lillias White at Aaron Davis HallI first saw Lillias White in The Life, the mid 90's musical about mid-80's Times Square. More specifically, it was about the hookers in Times Square. I went to see it instead of going to my junior prom in high school. How did my mother not know I was gay?! Anyhoo, Lillias played Sonja, a 26-year-old prostitute who had been tricking for ten years and was feeling worn out. Which led to the song "Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-61076818169827933652011-11-11T05:40:00.000-08:002011-11-11T05:40:00.197-08:00Other Desert CitiesHow weird is this? I already get to talk about a (semi-)new production of something I already wrote about this year. Because Other Desert Cities which I didn't like so much Off-Broadway has transferred to the big leagues, and you know what? I liked it a lot more.Off-Broadway, I had two major problems with the show. The first was that the twist at the end felt heavy-handed and false. I didn't but Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-64316383210921873942011-11-10T14:42:00.000-08:002011-11-10T14:42:00.182-08:00Love's Labour's LostWe already covered my 100th show of the year, the deeply disappointing and pretty ridiculous Thomas Bradshaw play Burning. Now it's time for the 100th post! Which means...well, it's another disappointment. Don't worry: I know the next three posts are going to be about stuff I liked!I love that the Public Theater has a "Lab" program where they workshop shows. I love that I got to see Bloody BloodyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-77575841249632654212011-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:002011-11-09T15:41:30.911-08:00Justin Vivian BondI miss Kiki & Herb. For those who don't know, they were played by Justin Bond and Kenny Mehlman and were an old-timey lounge act with a hilarious back story and a penchant for covering increasingly bizarre songs. Who can say they've lived unless they've seen a trans woman in old-lady make-up do a balls out performance of "Wu-Tang Forever?" No one. That's who.I first saw Kiki & Herb in the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-89450475368397207482011-11-03T05:17:00.000-07:002011-11-03T05:17:00.075-07:00BurningI've had my eye on when I'd hit 100 posts because then I'd have seen my 100 shows, but now that I'm at post 98, I realize that I did skip writing about that one concert way back when and also did one post about two shows a few months ago. Which means that my 100th show of the year was The New Group's production of Burning at the Acorn Theater in Theater Row. The same space I saw my first show of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-37704659571692647062011-11-02T19:19:00.001-07:002011-11-02T19:19:46.611-07:00Willie NelsonIt's not a secret that I have a list of performers I want to see before they die. High on that list was one Mr. Willie Nelson. Now, Willie's only 78, but some people just look like they've really LIVED, you know? In any case, I wasn't going to take my chances and let his most recent concert slip me by, so I headed out to Jersey to catch his show. There's something charming to me about a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-33656442229097760522011-10-31T17:28:00.000-07:002011-10-31T17:29:15.066-07:00ChinglishI don't totally understand how Chinglish ended up on Broadway which I don't mean in a bad way. It's just a little small and specific for a large house, and while it certainly has a lot to recommend it, I didn't find it outstanding enough to fully understand who thought it needed to come to New York in a production this big. Gary Wilmes plays Daniel, a white American who heads to China to land a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-14155952587123465762011-10-26T10:31:00.001-07:002011-10-26T10:32:15.930-07:00Taylor MacI don't actually remember the first time I saw Taylor Mac, and this seems like a hideous lapse in my memory since I'm now pretty sure he's a genius. I do know that I found him totally intimidating with his crazy make-up and pseudo-drag. His look read a bit confrontational to me. And maybe it is, but now when I look at him, I see a stellar performer with a ton of heart and a surreal sense of humorUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-71457734336409411862011-10-25T19:41:00.001-07:002011-10-25T19:41:29.409-07:00The Phantom of the OperaPhantom of the Opera has the very special distinction of being the first Broadway show I ever disliked. Drunk on the wonder of live theater, I stepped into the Majestic Theater 15 years ago prepared to be dazzled. I found myself curiously underwhelmed and rather confused. Not just confused as to why the show was an enormous hit (it was already 10 years in though still well off becoming the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-52233713671193909062011-10-19T15:20:00.000-07:002011-10-19T15:21:50.262-07:00The LyonsLinda Lavin was amazing in Other Desert Cities earlier this year off-Broadway. She was fantastic in Follies at the Kennedy Center this summer. She could have transferred to Broadway with either of those shows. Instead, she chose to do a small off-Broadway play at the Vineyard Theater. Things this makes me think:1) She wasn't willing to let her role in The Lyons go to any mere mortal.2) She is Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-31664013794178800872011-10-18T09:36:00.000-07:002011-10-18T09:36:00.987-07:00The Threepenny OperaThe last time The Threepenny Opera played Broadway, Cyndi Lauper was making her Broadway debut in it, and I somehow ended up at the unveiling of a portrait of her in the basement of some midtown restaurant attended by her and all of her castmates. I'm not going to say that night was the reason I haven't had a drink in several years, but if Ms. Lauper happened to remember a somewhat slurrily Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-56439898922542864542011-10-17T15:52:00.001-07:002011-10-17T15:55:57.570-07:00Brandi CarlileI got all proud of myself in the last post about actually sticking with this blog so far. Now suddenly I'm four shows behind and haven't been doing my fair share of typity-typing. Got a couple good ones to talk about too. First up, a break from the theater stuff for a quick discussion of the wonder and glory that is a Brandi Carlile concert.I first heard Carlile a few years ago when browsing Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-23336725993816242572011-10-09T11:28:00.000-07:002011-10-09T11:29:42.620-07:00Sons of the ProphetWhen I started this blog in January, my goal was to keep it up for an entire year. My expectation was that I'd make it to February. Maybe. I'm pretty proud of myself for making it this far and equal parts shocked and thankful that I've gotten as many hits as I have. Not that I'm rivaling Perez Hilton or anything, but how can one compete with photos of Lindsey Lohan with coke spots added under herUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-52177829114354966162011-10-04T16:59:00.001-07:002011-10-04T17:02:24.798-07:00Dreams of Flying, Dreams of FallingFool me once, shame on me. Fool me three times, and I'll never see another one of your stupid awful plays, Adam Rapp.Holy christ, I hated this show. So I was glad to see it eviscerated by the New York Times who conveyed how truly impossible it was to believe in the reality of the show. The trouble is, I sort of thought the reviewer was willfully ignoring that the forced stylization was actually Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-50755621327822311052011-10-04T14:12:00.000-07:002011-10-04T14:13:35.435-07:00CymbelineA few months back, chatting about the Shakespeare in the Park production of Measure for Measure, I posited that the problem with Shakespeare's "problem plays" might be that they're just not very good. Not to leap right into excessive praise, but I'd like to revise to consider that in fact, the problem may simply be that they aren't all being performed by the Fiasco Company whose bare bones visionUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-50683699170329072932011-09-27T18:41:00.001-07:002011-09-27T18:42:03.101-07:00Knock Knock; Who's There?; 9/11; 9/11 Who?; You Said You'd Never Forget!Someone asked me last week what it was like to be in New York on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. And the answer is, well...a shitload better than being here on 9/11/01. I spent most of last weekend not turning on the TV, ignoring newspapers, and definitely not reading the countless "Ten Years Later" magazine cover stories. I didn't especially need an anniversary in order to remember, you know?ThatUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-37427658285611823122011-09-16T14:40:00.000-07:002011-09-16T14:41:21.680-07:00The TenantI got more blog hits out of Sleep No More than almost any other show, War Horse and The Motherfucker with the Hat being the only exceptions. It makes sense too. Going into a performance where you have to wear a mask, no one really tells you what it's about, and you know you're going to more or less be aimlessly wandering a few thousand square feet...it's intimidating. Maybe you want to make sure Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736348573336720675.post-28820995506127870922011-09-15T15:49:00.001-07:002011-09-15T15:49:57.458-07:00Man and BoyI have three really exciting shows to share my feedback on. Before I get there, though, let's talk about the latest Roundabout show! Okay, so here's the deal: I often like the shows the Roundabout does more than just about anybody. I liked Matthew Broderick's widely panned performance in The Philanthropist. I really enjoyed Sienna Miller in the deeply loathed After Miss Julie. And damned if I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0