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by Antonio Miniño on March 10, 2010
Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante | Photo credit: Misha Kutuzov
Enter a magical world where language is unnecessary and human relationships are fresh and effective – full of whimsy and enchantment – with a simple encounter between a man, a woman and a box. With precise physical comedy and crisp clownmanship, Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante deliver a most mesmerizing performance in Legs and All, at the Frigid New York Festival.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 6, 2010
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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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 5, 2010
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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by 4centsreviews on March 5, 2010
4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.
LATE NIGHTS WITH THE BOYS: confessions of a leather bar chanteuse Pictured: Alex Bond in 1977
Today Diánna Martin and Karen Tortora-Lee give their 4 Cents about Late Nights With The Boys: Confessions Of A Leather Bar Chantuse which is part of this year’s Frigid Festival.
Late Nights With The Boys: Confessions Of A Leather Bar Chantuse was presented as selections read by Alex Bond and David Carson from Ms. Bond’s novel, but aside from that we both didn’t know what to expect. The Frigid blurb promised that the reading would transport you to Dallas 1977, a magical time before HIV/AIDS, but not before ignorance and prejudice so we were eager to watch this story unfold.
Karen: I really didn’t know what to expect from Late Nights With The Boys, and almost immediately I was charmed. Didn’t you sense their warmth right away?
Diánna: Absolutely – there was something very natural and calm about Alex Bond and David Carson that affected the audience. I think the fact that they didn’t dim the house lights was interesting toward that end …
Karen: Definitely. I mean, I felt they were having a conversation with us (the audience) as much as with each other, and that sense of immediacy happened automatically.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 4, 2010
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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by Diánna Martin on March 3, 2010
Brian McManamon as Andrew
Frigid Festival has really stepped up their game this year, is what I was thinking as I descended down the stairs from the Red Room, still reeling from the one-man show It or Her by Alena Smith. The medium of madness is one that has so many artistic possibilities, and when performed well it can be a goldmine for the audience. Nuances and colors of the human condition can be given a larger leash with which to run. Nothing is as delightful, for me, as a luscious character study set into a well-told tale. This production is all that and more.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 24, 2010
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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by Antonio Miniño on January 28, 2010
The final bow for The 2010 National NewBorn Festival was Sunday, and it was anything but uneventful. After reservations soared, the last two days of the festival were hosted in a different venue, giving the staff including myself extra work to schlep everything from one place to the other. The recipient of The Audience Favorite Award that received a second reading on Sunday was Carol Carpenter’s Good Lonely People. For those of you that don’t know about “NewBorn” it is the flagship program of the Off-Off Broadway theatre company MTWorks, showcasing new plays taking place and/or inspired by other regions of the US. I was honored to perform and be under the direction of The Happiest Medium collaborator Diánna Martin in A Home Across the Ocean, by Louisiana playwright Cody Daigle.
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by Antonio Miniño on January 27, 2010
That’s right it is festival season. And today I bring you the news of a short festival… short plays that is, The 35th Annual Samuel French Inc. Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Submissions are now being accepted! Playwrights should visit www.samuelfrench.com/oobfestival for application and submission details. Applications must be postmarked on or before March 12, 2010 to be considered for this year’s festival.
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by Antonio Miniño on January 13, 2010
Developed 3 years ago, The National NewBorn Festival is the flagship program of a non-profit theater company very dear to me, Maieutic Theatre Works; or as we like to call it MTWorks – that way we don’t have to get into the whole “Maieutic is pronounced /meɪˈjuːtɪks/”.
New plays that have yet to receive a New York production are read in a festival setting and free to the general public from Thursday, January 21st through Sunday, January 24th. This year we are showcasing new plays by Barrie Kreinik, Jacqueline Goldfinger, Carol Carpenter, Gwydion Suilebhan and Cody Daigle.
The audience also gets to pick and vote for the recipient of the Audience Favorite Award. The winner receives a second reading on Sunday night after the resident reading of A Song for St. Michael’s by one of the NewBorn creators and Artistic Director of MTWorks, David Stallings.
What I appreciate about festivals is the networking opportunities it creates for dramatists, actors, directors and companies. This week I asked all 6 dramatists some questions about their work and inspirations.
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