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 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 Diánna Martin on February 26, 2010
Lauren Roth as Clair and Tyler Hollinger as Chris
What do you get when you pair a narcissistic, yet emotionally fragile sex addict with her wanna-be-normal husband, whose penchant for punishing women is taken out on his wife’s lover’s girlfriend? The result is something even more bizarre and difficult to follow than that opening sentence. Kaleidoscope Theatre’s “Sex and Violence” did its best to shock the audience into submission, but unfortunately it really just backfired because all of the sex and violence in the world won’t fill in the enormous gaps in the plot, script, acting and character development.
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by Diánna Martin on February 18, 2010
Christina LaFortune and Vince Gatton
Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw is one of my favorite works committed to paper, being a wonderful macabre pastime that my Grandmother and I used to share together, acting out the roles as we read along. I feel it is truly one of the most important staples of Gothic Literature. With every read or artistic version (such as the film The Innocents) a new strata of possibility can be found in the characters, who are as fascinating now as ever. Two Turns Theatre Company’s amazing adaptation of this piece has put their finger on the pulse of these characters, and found an innovative way to share a classic tale.
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by Diánna Martin on February 12, 2010
Kristen Vaughan as Zelda and Montgomery Sutton as Edouard
When Clothes for a Summer Hotel premiered in New York City in 1980, the world wasn’t quite able to wrap their mind around the play. It closed after 15 performances and was Tennessee Williams’ last Broadway production. With a myriad of plays that changed the face of modern theatre across the world, winning everything from a Pulitzer Prize (twice) to a Tony Award, one would think the man would have been given a little artistic license. Alas, no. People were not ready for this “Ghost Play”; and the fact that it’s been re-mounted in New York City only one other time since its original opening is a testament to the stigma surrounding it. It’s a play that is very tricky to pull off properly, and I’m still not sure if White Horse Theatre Company was able to do that.
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by Diánna Martin on January 15, 2010
Tea, Anyone? (Photo courtesy of Screenrant.com)
I’m very excited about Tim Burton’s new take on Alice In Wonderland. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who could bring the tale to the screen and give it that surreal (read: trippy) quality that it properly deserves. The cast is amazing and includes Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, Stephen Fry, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Lee, Matt Lucas, Alan Rickman, and Michael Sheen. I’m about as excited to see Rickman as the Caterpillar as I am Depp as The Mad Hatter! (”Whoooo Are Yooooou?” lol)
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by Diánna Martin on November 8, 2009
Peter Sabri
Ah, New York is not as big a place as one would think. At least not when it comes to theatre – sometimes, you can meet interesting actors, directors, and producers by walking across the hall in your building.
My neighbor and dear friend asked me to join him for an evening of theatre sometime last year. “My nephew is in this great play – you should meet him, he’s into theatre like you!” he said happily. Little did I know that my friend (who’s name is also Peter – I wonder how many of them are in the clan) was taking me to a wonderful staged reading of Visiting Mr. Green starring Eli Wallach and Peter Sabri…his nephew. As I watched this young man share the stage with one of the most legendary actors of the 20th century, I was impressed with his work and his craft; he made interesting choices, was a joy to watch and the reading was beautiful, heartfelt and heartbreaking.
Upon hearing he was in Penang, a war drama by James L. Larocca, I was thrilled to see him working again, amused by the “Wow, it’s a small world” thought that went through my head, and eager to talk to Peter about his experiences working on this show that earned him a nomination at the 2008 Midtown International Theatre Festival, one of five that the show received. Now, brought back by Madison Street and Boo-Arts Productions, he has a chance to work again on a piece that is an intense drama whose tagline is: In war the only thing that matters is the guy next to you.
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by Diánna Martin on November 3, 2009
Gowan Campbell, Stewart Walker, & Lisa Blankenship
In a time when one goes to theatre and dramatic sets are used to make up for mediocre acting so that something kind will at least be said in the review, the first thought that I had when taking my seat at Folding Chair Classical Theatre’s production of The Duchess of Malfi was one of confusion. Were they really set up? Where was the set? A bare stage with minimal spotlights?
Boy, was I in for a treat. Let me say up front that this was a great production – but I had to first get into the mindset, because I honestly was not prepared for what I actually consider to be the true test for actors: can you do the show and move the audience just being up there with nothing but yourselves? And I was very happy to find out that with this company, the answer is YES.
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