The Happiest Medium » Karen Tortora-Lee

NYCIP Presents “New York, The Super-City”

Karen Tortora-Lee — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:31:18 +0000

Press Release from New York Center for Independent Publishing:

New York served as the model for Gotham City, inspired Will Eisner as he created the noirish adventures of The Spirit, and became a recurring character during the 1960s resurgence of Marvel in comics such as Spider-Man and Iron Man. Comics expert Peter Gutiérrez will moderate a high-energy round-table on the relationship between superheroes and their favorite hometown, followed by a wine and cheese reception provided by GraphicNovelReporter.com!

Join us and learn how comics culture has promoted potent and memorable images of New York to readers worldwide.

When: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 6:30-8:30 pm
Where: 20 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

Tickets $15 for general admission, $10 for CIP Members, and $5 for students – and they’re tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Please email contact@nycip.org or call 212-764-7021 to reserve!

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Post tags: Billy Tucci, Danny Fingeroth, Frank Tieri, Gene Kannenberg, gotham city, graphic novel reporter, graphic novels, Jr., NYCIP, Peter Gutiérrez

No Traveler – It’s A Wonderful Not-Quite-AfterLife (Frigid Festival 2010)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:45:09 +0000

No Traveler - Contemplating What Lies Beyond (Penny Pollak / photo by Rebecca Chiappone)

The opening scene of Penny Pollak’s No Traveler (directed and co-created by Samantha Jones) immediately reminded me of The Triplets of Belleville (not the movie, but the weirdly enjoyable music video by M). Ms. Pollak, or rather her character Abigail, is having a great time dancing around her room to an equally bouncy French tune; she spends much of the song drinking wine, primping, getting frisky with a door, and setting the stage for some grand finale. Of course, when she pulls out the straight edged razor and steps into the bucket it becomes obvious that this was all nothing but a frivolous preamble to the real task at hand … ending her life.

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Post tags: Frigid Festival, No Traveler, Penny Pollack

“Kill The Band” Knocks ‘Em Dead (Frigid Festival 2010)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:35:57 +0000

Killy Dwyer, Joe Yoga, Mike Milazzo and Bamboo Silva

I thought it was a very good sign that my latest obsession, Lady Gaga’s pulsating, driving song Teeth, was blaring as I entered Under St. Marks to get ready to see Killer Killy Dwyer’s latest offering “Kill The Band” which is not just the name of her band, but which is also the name of the show that’s part of Frigid Festival 2010. I saw it as a good omen not just because I haven’t been able to get the song out of my head these last few weeks, but more because the song is the type of song that gets down into you and makes you bop in your seat and I figured a gal who was serving up Gaga as the appetizer must have the all-you-can-eat-buffet to back it up. Musically speaking, of course.

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Post tags: Frigid Festival, Kill The Band, killer killy dwyer, killy dwyer, Under St. Marks

22nd Annual Indie And Small Press Book Fair

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:56:04 +0000

Admission is free!

March 6th & 7th from 10:00 – 5:00

General Society Library
20 West 44th Street
(btw. 5th & 6th Aves.)

10:00 am – 5:00 pm both days

Saturday, March 6th:

11:30 – 12:00 PM
Maria Filice of Food & Fate Publishing will presents Breaking Bread in L’Aquila
Reviewed in Library Journal as a “wonderful book…will appeal to foodies and cooks looking for effortless Italian cooking.”

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Post tags: Book Fair

And The Winner Is . . .

Karen Tortora-Lee — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:14:38 +0000

Congratulations to the winner of our Soup Show Giveaway — Nancy Cohen!

Nancy was randomly chosen from those who correctly answered our trivia question. (Q: Who is the director for The Soup Show? A: Lauren Sharpe)

Nancy won a pair of tickets to The Soup Show playing at HERE Arts Center. (For more information check out the official site.)

Thanks to everyone who participated and check back each month as we give away more tickets to more great shows!

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Post tags: The Happiest Medium Giveaways

Fishbowl – Swimming Through The Universe (Frigid Festival 2010)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:41:35 +0000

Mark Shyzer as Esther (Photo credit: Tanja-Tiziana, Double Crossed Photography)

Fishbowl starts off deceptively; writer / performer Mark Shyzer introduces his cast of characters with such blasts of humor, and his transformations are so successful, that you might be fooled into thinking Fishbowl was written to be little more than a vanity piece in order to showcase Mr. Shyzer’s talent of reeling off bitingly funny one-liners while embodying 5 seemingly unrelated but unforgettable characters.

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Post tags: Dark Matter, Fishbowl, Frigid Festival, Mark Shyzer, The Grand Unified Theory of Everything, The Uncertainty Principle

“The Power Of Birds” – A Family Learning To Fly In Formation

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:59:50 +0000

The Power of Birds (written by Robin Rice Lichtig and directed by Elizabeth Bunnell) begins with migration; but that of a family, not a flock. For a moment if you just sit still enough, you can see the allegory of it take shape in front of you: Father Philip Fogarty (Jay Potter) has left the family (apparently for good) and without even an emotional downshift Mom Loretta (Annie McGovern) moves into lead position – steering the flock toward new territory and new horizons that she feels will benefit all of them. Loretta Fogarty takes a job in a new state and brings her two children and her mother-in-law along. It’s as if nature has taken the place of nurture and the migration must happen according to some unspoken but unmistakable design. And despite grumblings from 12 year old daughter Zoe (Emma Galvin) who had a strong connection to her father, the family moves because they are compelled to by some inner compass. Loretta, a gym teacher with very little regard for the world of ornithology which was so important to her husband , uses sports metaphors and cheers to rally her family and take them into the next phase of the game (“Go Team Fogarty!”). Like a parrot, son Charlie (Noah Galvin) repeats everything his mother says, and even if he’s saying it for the first time you get a sense that it was filtered through his mother’s voice at some point first (In response to where their father might be, Charlie and his mother have this exchange: CHARLIE: Not working in an office like a man, right Mom? LORETTA: Not taking care of his 12-year-old children. CHARLIE: Not taking us on family trips, right Mom?) He is like the other half of his mother, like a twin.

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Post tags: Milagro Theater, Robin Rice Lichtig, The Power Of Birds, Three Graces Theate

Last Life Just Won’t Die – And That’s A Good Thing

Karen Tortora-Lee — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:20:54 +0000

Last Life is the fightsical from Timothy Haskell (creator of Road House: The Stage Play) and Eric Sanders (The Wendigo), and stars Taimak (of the legendary fight film The Last Dragon). The title is proving to be about as accurate a title as “Cher’s Final Farewell Tour” because this show has been revived more times than Britany Spear’s reputation – and I couldn’t be happier for the whole creative team.

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Post tags: Eric Sanders, Fight Fest, Last Life, Ohio Theatre, Rod Kinter, Taimak, Timothy Haskell

“The Cradle Will Rock”

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:44:23 +0000

Unionize! (photo credit David Fuller)

“Why don’t you write a piece about all kinds of prostitution – the press, the church, the courts, the arts, the whole system?” asked Bertolt Brecht of Marc Blitzstein in 1937 after hearing Blitzstein’s song “The Nickel Under the Foot” (Oh you can dream and scheme and happily put // And take, take and put // But first be sure // That nickel’s under your foot // Go stand on someone’s neck while you take him // Cut into somebody’s throat as you put // For every dream and scheme, depending on whether // All through the storm // You’ve kept it warm // That nickel under your foot ), and so began Blitzstein’s creative journey to create “The Cradle Will Rock” which is a musical portrayal of exactly that. The greedy Mr. Mister, his vapid, silly, hedonistic family, his easily-controlled preacher, his wife’s pet artists, and some of the good people who needlessly get crushed under his wheels as they try to unionize in “Steeltown, USA” under the direction of their leader, Larry Foreman.

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Post tags: David Fuller, marc blitzstein, the cradle will rock, theater 10 10

Brrrrrr! Temperatures Are Dipping! Must Be Time For FRIGID 2010!

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:38:30 +0000

Okay, okay, so these last few days have been relatively mild, I admit. Even that giant pile of grey gunk that the plow flung upon my curb which – at it’s all time high – reached up to my shoulders has now evaporated enough to reveal the mounds of garbage that were piled there so eagerly just before the snowstorm hit a few weeks ago. So, in all fairness, it’s not really “brrrr” worthy out there. Still, don’t let that stop you from getting in the Frigid spirit!

This morning while you were nestled all snug in your bed, the Frigid Fairy came down the chimney and … hell … I don’t even know where I was going with this.

BUT, what I do know is that today is the start of the Frigid Festival, which is something we take very seriously here at The Happiest Medium! For more information please visit the official Frigid site and check out the blurbs for some of the shows that are on deck. And also check this spot often, because we’re going to be covering some really good 1 hour shows. Here’s what we’ll be reviewing in the next few days:

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Post tags: Fishbowl, Frigid Festival, It or Her, Kill The Band, Legs and All, No Traveler, The Red Room, Under St. Marks, Vodka Shoes