The Happiest Medium » Fringe Festival

Dancing Into India – Being Becoming (Fringe Festival 2012)

Lina Zeldovich — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:45:12 +0000

If you feel like taking a trip to New Delhi or Mumbai this summer, skip the flight and hop on the 6 train to Astor Place. There, at the White Box Theater at 440 Studios, Malini Srinivasan accompanied by Kadhambari Sridhar and Umesh Venkatesan will transport you not only to the Indian subcontinent, but also back in time to the second century, B.C. with their mesmerizing Bharathanatyam performance, Being Becoming.

At first, she’ll hide from you behind the translucent magenta curtain, where she will skillfully put on her make-up so her already beautiful eyes will dazzle even brighter. Then she will wrap the jiggling bracelets around her ankles. Next, she will weave flowers in her hair – and the curtain will rise – lifted by the other two dancers as if to invite the audience into a world none of us really know. For the next hour or so, the lithe and nimble trio clad in gold, blue and red iridescent costumes will tell us stories about a spiritual seeker, a woman in love and even about the Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati – all without a single word. The artists don’t need any sounds but the music and the changing staccato of its beat. The mastery of Bharathanatyam is being able to tell the story without speaking.

One of the oldest Indian classical dance forms, Bharathanatyam has a name as complex as the techniques it employs. In Tamil, a language spoken in South India, Bha- stands for Bhavam (expression), Ra- for Ragam (music) and Ta- for Talam (beat or rhythm) while Natyam means dance. So if Bharathanatyam looks unpronounceable, try Bharatha Natyam.

Having evolved from ancient Indian dancing, Bharatha Natyam is characterized by nrtta – the movement technique of complex rhythmic patterns and sharp and clear geometric shapes made by the dancers’ bodies. Another unique characteristic of this classic art form is abhinaya, the mastery of expression, and the dancers’ use of hand gestures and symbols to relate the story and their emotions to the audience.

There is a reason why the performance in called Being Becoming. It’s not just a beguiling title, made to catch your eye in the nearly 200 Fringe shows this year. The name takes its origin in the essential ideas of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, presenting the concept that a person can become one with the object of his or her desire or devotion. This idea, also popular in Indian poetry and painting, weaves through the performance pieces of the show: the spiritual seeker wishes to unite with Lord Shiva and the lovesick maiden wants to be one with Lord Vishnu.

Granted or not, their desires and explorations are a way to disappear in your dreams, and a form of meditation, perhaps. And so the dance goes on with its sharp and precise hand movements, the seductive head rolls and the gentle flutter of eyelashes followed by fervent looks up above for an ultimate solution for all the mortal and immortal ills – leading us through the wonders of Indian mythology and thousands of years of history.

~~~

Being Becoming
Malini Srinivasan and Dancers
Choreographer: Malini Srinivasan
She puts on her make-up and becomes a classical Bharatanatyam dancer. With each dazzling gesture she transforms into a playful child, forlorn lover, or Ardhanariswara: half-man, half-woman. Join us on a journey where gestures create and each of us transforms.
1h 15m   Local   Queens, New York
Dance   Drama
Staycation: Overseas Adventure   Ride the Rollercoaster of Love
www.malinisrinivasan.com
VENUE #06: The White Box at 440 Studios
Sat 11 @ 2:30  Fri 17 @ 6:15  Sun 19 @ 9:15  Tue 21 @ 2  Thu 23 @ 9:15  Fri 24 @ 7

Snow White Zombie: Apocalypse – The End Is Nigh In Fairy Tale Land (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:27:38 +0000

The spread of fairy tale themed and zombie-filled story lines have saturated the market over the last few years. We have The Walking Dead, Snow White and the Huntsman, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and now, Snow White Zombie: Apocalypse, premiering at the 2012 New York Fringe Festival.

If you haven’t seen it, go, and hurry as if the end is truly coming. Every moment of Brenton Lengel’s play proves worth it. Produced by State of Play Productions, this 90-minute show starts out with Little Red Riding Hood, who soon gets taken by the Big Bad Wolf, who turns her into a zombie. Cue Prince Charming, played by Adam La Faci, and his lady fair, Rapunzel, played by Parker Leventer. Both are there to kick some living dead ass. They do this well, though much credit goes fight choreographer Lisa Kopitsky and her assistant Adam Alexander. Without these two the action scenes – and the characters in them – would have fallen flat.

Eventually, the team of fairy tale crusaders comes across a woman in the woods. “She’s dead, look at her skin, it’s as white as snow,” says a disgusted Rapunzel, after Charming kisses the corpse. But wait! Spoiler: it’s not a dead body; it’s Snow White, played by Lucia Brizzi, who now claims Charming as her own. The two women couldn’t be more different. Rapunzel is strong, bitter, and brave; and Snow White is weak, fluttery, and optimistic. The latter could have been annoying; instead, with great comedic timing the personalities balance perfectly.

Another plot line I enjoyed was Prince Charming; apparently, he actually is the same prince that gets all the fairy tale princesses. This isn’t his fault, he finds, when faced with Prince Dashing, played by David Marshall. Since Dashing is also a ladies’ man, Charming learns that wooing women is both their special power. Dashing uses his gift to steal Rapunzel and Snow White, Charming uses his to seduce a man-eating female bear, played by Simon Feil, who also did a stellar job as the Woodsman.

Each character touches on aspects of their actual fairy tale counterparts. Rapunzel talks about how she lost her hair and twins, Hansel and Gretel make an appearance, iron really does kill fairies, and Snow White is petrified of apples. They make references to just about every fair tale, even ones that aren’t in Grimm like The Princess Bride. No matter what their part, everyone in the cast had me completely entertained for over an hour. I also had no idea how it would end. Let’s just say it surprised me, but I won’t tell. So, go see it already, just make sure to wear your zombie-proof coat.

~~~

Snow White Zombie: Apocalypse
State of Play
Writer: Brenton Lengel
Director: Jessica Creane
Snow White awakens to true love’s kiss 28 days after the zombie apocalypse. Now she must end the plague with Prince Charming — and his axe-wielding lover Rapunzel. Blood, sex, kung fu, gender politics…fairy tales as usual.
1h 40m   Local   Manhattan, New York
Drama   Comedy
Staycation: Fantasy Island Excursion   Sci-Fi Tech SuperHero Camp
www.stateofplaytheatre.com/shows/current-show-snow-white-zombie/
VENUE #01: The Living Theatre
Sat 11 @ 10  Wed 15 @ 2  Sun 19 @ 3:45  Fri 24 @ 5:30  Sat 25 @ 9

Pulp Shakespeare – The Bard Would Be Proud (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:54:41 +0000

Occasionally an idea comes around that makes you think, how was this never done before? With Pulp Shakespeare, directed by Jordan Monsell, I had such a moment, and yes, it’s exactly what you are thinking; the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction done in the manner of William Shakespeare.

Now, this could have gone wrong, but I am pleased to report that between the smooth directing skills, the flawless cast, and a darn good script, Pulp Shakespeare was hilariously engaging, and made me want to revisit the movie. It started just as I remembered it, with the couple in the diner. But instead of modern day profanity, they spewed words that I barely knew the meaning of, but were perfect for the Elizabethan era.

After the first scene, we come to the main characters, who you may remember, are Julius Winfield and Vincent de la Vega, respectively played by Dan White and Aaron Lyons. Both channeled their movie counterparts beautifully (Samuel Jackson and John Travolta), and if we were actually in England in the late 1500s, they would have been terrifying. As it was, the whole play turned into a comedy, as iconic scenes from the movie unfolded with campy fodder for the actors, all of whom played their roles well. Aside from White and Lyons, another performer who really stood out was Christian Levatino, who played the Butcher. At times, you could actually see Bruce Willis in his performance as he madly stalked around the stage. And yes, he totally quoted, “Zed is dead,” and the audience erupted in cheers, laughter, and applause.

Pulp Shakespeare ran for about an hour and a half, meaning they cut some of the scenes from the movie. However, nothing was missed. We still had the part where Vincent dances with Mia Wallace, played by Hannah Beck, in the club, and the pair mix their modern dance moves with some classic Elizabethan ones. There is plenty of violence too, but instead of guns, they have broad swords and daggers. Even without props, props to the fantastic cast and crew for producing a one-of-a-kind performance.

~~~

Pulp Shakespeare
Her Majesty’s Secret Players
Writer: Ben Tallen, Aaron Greer, Brian Watson-Jones, and Jordan Monsell
Director: Jordan Monsell
What if William Shakespeare had written Pulp Fiction? This wildly entertaining parody pays homage to the films witty dialogue and colorful characters, while staying firmly grounded in the language and rhetoric of Shakespeare’s time.
1h 30m   National   Los Angeles, California
Comedy   Drama
Staycation: Literary Lane   Fantasy Island Excursion
www.pulpshakespeare.com
VENUE #12: Cherry Lane Theatre
Sun 12 @ 4  Tue 14 @ 8:30  Sun 19 @ 5:30  Thu 23 @ 9:15  Fri 24 @ 2

Disney Rejects Perform MisSpelled (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:14:17 +0000

Have you ever seen something so comically bad you are almost happy you saw it? In two hours, D’Jamin Bartlett’s MisSpelled channels the missteps and bloopers of an Ed Wood movie, mixed with a Disney vibe and theater camp feel. Sounds like a lot? With nine cast members, about twice that many characters, and 15 original songs by composer Mark Bornfield—it is.

First, the songs. Given that most of the tunes focus on love and sound like a Whitney Huston cover band from the early 1990s, it’s not surprising to find Bornfield has accompanied the famous singer on the stage before. Despite this, the synthesized-heavy songs felt more cheesy than tender, and lacked the finesse of any diva, especially when the cast broke out in song with, Don’t Choke That Chicken, which they complemented with a rubber version of the bird.

One line in that song went something like this, “don’t choke that chicken, even if you put him in a pot.” This confused me given that one of the best characters, Sadie, the Jewish mother, played wonderfully by Rosalind Harris, made a batch of Jewish medicine, aka, chicken soup. Sadie also had the best song of the bunch, Sadie’s Seder, which incorporated everything you love about a stereotype, complete with song, and dance. Unfortunately, this didn’t follow through and we never got to see her dinner, which I am convinced would have been a riot.

This plot line falls in with Sadie’s son David, played by Brance Cornelius, who had fallen in love with a young and pretty witch named Celeste, played by the stunning Lauren Hoffmeier. They couple met after Celeste’s mother, the queen of the witches, played by Bartlett, accidently placed a love spell on her daughter. After that, the plot line ultimately revolves around Celeste’s kingly father trying to break the young couple up, and the two families coming to terms with marriage between a Jewish mortal family, and a rich witch family. There was an unconvincing bad warlock in the mix played by Paul Craffey, who kept forgetting his lines and was as menacing as Tim Gunn.

Perhaps this show would be best cut in half, or at least tightened up so the story line flowed better. Of course, it would help if the actors had more practice too, that way the audience wouldn’t be forced to watch unsynchronized dance numbers and players who don’t know what they are doing. Maybe in her heyday, Bartlett could have pulled this off, but now, in 2012, the whole thing reads more like a grade school assignment for adults.

~~~

MisSpelled
Borkenstein Productions
Writer: D’Jamin Bartlett and Mark BornfieldTBA
Choreographer: Shirley Johnston
A Gothic tale of power in the wrong hands at the wrong time. Warlocks and witches scheme to further the cause of true love. A Light-hearted view of what happens when a warlock’s daughter falls for a mortal piano player.
2h 20m   National   Hollywood, Florida
Musical   Comedy
Staycation: Ride the Rollercoaster of Love   In Someone Else’s Shoes
www.markbornfieldmusic.com
VENUE #12: Cherry Lane Theatre
Sat 11 @ 3:15  Sat 18 @ 8  Tue 21 @ 5:15  Sat 25 @ 2:15  Sun 26 @ 3:15

It’s A Sunshine Day For Stephen Garvey, Writer Of “The Bardy Bunch”

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:30:10 +0000

Earlier this week FringeNYC announced the 2011 Overall Excellence Award Winners and we at THM couldn’t have been happier to celebrate with the winners and congratulate them on their success. One standout for me was The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady which was definitely one of my favorites this year. I was lucky enough to get a moment with Stephen Garvey – writer of this fantastic show which takes one part Brady, one part Partidge, one part Shakespeare, and all parts groovy and mixes it together in a crazy plot worthy of Sherwood Schwartz on his best day. Read on to find out if Garvey is Team Brady or Team Partridge … see how creativity can spring in the most unlikeliest of places, and learn what the secret to a great mash-up really is …

Stephen Garvey!!! First of all, congratulations on winning the Ensemble Award! You’re in great company. It was clear from the first five minutes that your show was destined to win recognition, but did you see this award coming?

SG: Didn’t see it coming but so happy it came. We really lucked out with this cast. Director Jay Stern and I had to hold our auditions very late in the game, and we were nervous. Not only did we need to fill 18 roles, we needed actors who could sing, dance, be funny and manage to capture the spirit of the iconic characters they were playing. How we went 18 for 18 is nothing short of miraculous!

Mash ups are all the rage right now. There is a right way and a wrong way to do them — you obviously know the right way. What would you say your formula for success was when it came to putting together The Bardy Bunch?

I think it begins with knowing your material, and I did, thanks to NYU (Shakespeare) and a wasted childhood (The Brady Bunch and Partridge Family). With mash-ups, it’s easy to get laughs just by folding contrasting genres together, but I think the richer laughs come when you go deeper and find the surprising amount of similarities these opposing forms of storytelling share.

Okay – be honest. Of the two families, who had the kids you’d most want to hang out with and why? Brady or Partridge? And did that play a part in how you put this show’s script together?

I’ll admit it. I grew up Team Brady, but as far as hanging out with a family, I would lean Team Partridge. I loved Laurie and always wanted to ride on that awesome bus. The coolest thing about our show is that it actually felt like I was hanging out with both families while writing the script, which was a childhood fantasy come true…and yes, I realize how pitiful that sounds.

One of the great things about The Bardy Bunch is how perfectly it utilizes so many of the Shakespearean themes we all know so well. Was that an easy thing to do? Do you think that essentially all drama at this point is a bit derivative of The Bard?

It wasn’t that hard to write, because I was having so much fun with it, and as you said, the Bard offers so many plotlines to choose from. Honestly, the whole thing was a thought exercise at first. I was doing laundry one day and thinking about what a great couple Keith Partridge and Marcia Brady would make (as one does when doing laundry). It felt very Romeo and Juliet to me, and that began a game in my head of assigning different Shakespearean characters to different Bradys and Partridges. I sometimes wonder if there was something in the fabric softener I was using that day.

Speaking of Shakespeare … were there any other great plays you’d have wanted to work into the story line but found you couldn’t make fit?

The original draft of this script was about 2½ hours long and had a lot of King Lear and Twelfth Night elements. I needed to keep this thing lean and mean though. I’m saving the other great plays for my Love Boat/Fantasy Island mash-up.

Love Boat / Fantasy Island! Two more childhood obsessions! I’ll say it now: if you can bring that one to life with even a fraction of the creativity you brought to The Bardy Bunch I think you’ll have another runaway hit on your hands.

Now that you’ve won the Excellence Award, what’s next for Bardy Bunch?

We feel we have a great piece that we’re eager to share with audiences who grew up loving the Bradys, the Partridges and the Bard. We’re ready to “Keep On’ Movin’,” and are talking to venues right now!

That’s fantastic news! I would love to know that New Yorkers are getting another chance to see this show — Fringe goes by in a flash … Bardy should get a chance to stick around for a loooong time!

Bonus question – no holds barred. Feel free to tell me anything at all … More about The Bardy Bunch, tell me a joke, give me the lyrics of your favorite song, explain what your most passionate about, plug a project (or a friend’s project!) The Mic is yours!

I wish I had something really juicy for you. “No holds barred” almost mandates it. I just want to proclaim my love for the whole Fringe experience. The friendships that came out of this are legion. People bust on The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family for being corny and unrealistic, but our cast and crew embodied a very loving, nurturing spirit throughout, and none of us want to let go of it!

Steve, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us. Again, congratulations on your well deserved award – to you and the entire talented cast and production team. We’re waiting anxiously to see what happens next! Check back in with us again – we’d love to do a follow up!

I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:58:03 +0000

Oh, you’ll love walking into the theatre at Dixon Place to watch I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography – Mark Sam Rosenthal’s (Celebrity!) solo show. The music is cranking with such anthems as The Pussycat Dolls “When I Grow Up”, Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and the walls are glowing with projections of Mark in his candid, semi (one assumes) nude “oops, you caught me being cute!” poses. You’ll just love walking in, almost as much as Mark Sam Rosenthal himself does.

When he does arrive it’s to some German pop that threatens to overtake the room – until Mark gets nice and comfy in his seat to start reading his “preemptive celebrity autobiography”. Then, once he’s settled in, NOTHING can overtake the room the way he can. With his charming delivery, his mastery at knowing how to deliver a story, and his lilting Louisiana accent, this guy has you at “No pictures please!” as he vogues on the projected red carpet.

Mark Sam Rosenthal (photo by Evan Schwartz)

Rosenthal’s story begins in an almost idyllic fashion as he recounts how he began his life as a sweet southern boy, being reared in a world which included the pageantry of the Mardi Gras royal court (a court over which his mother actually presided one year – proudly).

He then progresses through his school years, where he fell in love with the theatre for the first time … right around the time he fell in love with a boy for the first time as well.

Not every chosen path was stellar, nor was it untarnished; a brief stint in porn (!) is recounted quite candidly and all without losing that Baton Rouge charm and graciousness. When he talks about greeting his fellow orgy cast members in the warehouse he might as well be talking about the time he served tea sandwiches to a group of schoolgirls, so genteel and cordial is the manner in which he tells the details of the story. The result is pure comic brilliance.

Rosenthal’s stories run the gamut from his love of karaoke (Yes, I was “that guy”) to his hugely successful career in commercials (FIVE! So far!) some of which have even gone beyond regional. And let’s not forget the appearance on Cash Cab!

But so what if he’s had his hard knocks on the climb to fame? It makes the view from the top all the sweeter.

As far as the requisite celebrity secret-spilling, Rosenthal opens his family’s closet and touches upon the difficulty coming to grips with a father who had a hidden lifestyle and died of a disease which still carries a stigma … especially when it befalls a seemingly straight man with a wife and children.

Solo shows often come off as self-serving (even when they’re supposed to) and can often badly miss the target. There is no threat of that here. Rosenthal is engaging, enjoyable and winning to watch, and under Todd Parmley’s quick-paced and tight direction this show zings like crazy. Parmley’s multi-media design which accompanies the piece is like the crown on top of the already gorgeous pageant winner – a glittering adornment which offsets and counterbalances the main presentation and brings it to new heights of perfection.

Towards the end of I Light Up My Life, Rosenthal (needlessly) ponders “What if I’m ordinary?” Mark Sam – you may be a lot of things, but “ordinary” is not one of them.

~~~

I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography
Star: Mark Sam Rosenthal
Writer: Mark Sam Rosenthal
Director: Todd Parmley
1h 20m
www.ILightUpMyLife.com
VENUE #5: Dixon Place
Wed 17 @ 9:15 Wed 24 @ 4 Fri 26 @ 7

Happy Birthday Mom – Her Daughter Would Not Have Approved (Fringe Festival 2010)

Lina Zeldovich — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:52:51 +0000

Pictured: Kristen Rozanski, Michelle Glavan, Zack Gold, JR Davidson, Jacob Crumbine, Janice Lynde (Photographer: Carly Kennelly)

Dressed in leather, excited and nearly flying around her house, Elizabeth (Janice Lynde) is setting up her living room with candles and flowers in preparations for her fifty-fifth birthday date, when her college-age daughter Olivia (Michelle Glavan) unexpectedly shows up. She has flown in to celebrate Mom’s special day, only Mom’s not excited one single bit! On the contrary, she’s shocked, constantly checking the time, and suggests her daughter spends the evening at her friend’s place.

“It’s good that you’re having a date,” Olivia says with no intention of leaving – and starts prying Mom for information, unaware that she’s about to crack open the worst Pandora’s box. After using up her arsenal of elusive answers, Elizabeth reluctantly concedes: “I met him on Craigslist… This morning… He’s twenty six.”

Upset and disgusted, Olivia lashes out at Mom with a lecture on moral values and self-image, driving her to tears (and into the bathroom) just as her date shows up. Elizabeth refuses to come out leaving Olivia to deal with Thorn (John Roderick Davidson), who is polite, courteous, black and with a sense of humor. “I’m not being paid for this,” Thorn tries to placate the raging Olivia, “I just like to have sex with different women.”

The idea of a birthday surprise occurred to Olivia’s brother Tim (Jacob Crumbine) as well, who has flown in with his girlfriend Sarah (Kristen Rozanski). Mistaking Thorn for Olivia’s boyfriend, Tim demands to know what Olivia “has done this time” to get her mother to seek refuge on the toilet. The entire family history unwraps in front of your eyes, including Elizabeth bitter divorce, the runaway father, Tim’s echelon of girlfriends and Olivia’s talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But just as we think we can be shocked no further, there comes another birthday surprise in a shape of male stripper (Zack Gold) who Sarah hired for Elizabeth’s entertainment. Apparently everyone has their own idea how to celebrate Mom’s birthday,while her own wishes are pushed to the very bottom of the list.

The semi-dysfunctional family where everyone seems to know what’s best for others, has a long way to go to settle their arguments, but there is one thing they can surely do today: grant Mom her birthday wish. Are they smart, considered and open-minded enough to do so? See for yourself.

Engaging, emotional and challenging societal norms, this modern drama will certainly get a few blushes out of you and probably more than a strip show. Plus, this was the best acting I saw at Fringe this year. “That was excellent!” a woman with a slight German accent breathed out behind me as the troupe bid farewell and left the stage. I couldn’t agree with her more.

~~~

Happy Birthday, Mom
Writer: Meghan Gambling
Director: Meghan Gambling

0h 55m
www.happybdaymom.biz

VENUE #14: The Cherry Pit

Click on the dates to purchase tickets:
Tue 17 @ 8:45 Wed 18 @ 2 Thu 19 @ 9:45

Driving The Saudis – How It Nearly Drove Her Crazy (Fringe Festival 2010)

Lina Zeldovich — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:13:55 +0000

Jayne Amelia Larson (Photographer: Eric Swarz)

“The worst job I ever had,” is how writer and actress Jayne Amelia Larsen describes her staggering experience of being a driver for a Saudi family on their Beverly Hills vacation. The family (along with their entourage) took up several floors in a luxury hotel, keeping one room as a tea room, and embarked on their escapade of shopping and plastic surgeries.

Jayne wears many hats, or rather veils, abayas and hijabs during her one-woman show as she portrays a spoiled teenager, an old nanny and a sad young bride who has to marry her father’s colleague and “make her family very proud.” Switching from the narrative monologue to portraying the actual characters, she relates the customs, the psyche and the lifestyle as foreign to us as Martians’.

“I have three cars back at home,” Jayne imitates a teenage princess chirping from the back the back seat of her car. “My brother has twenty five.” It may sound like a five-year-old’s power talk, but it wasn’t. That princess cleaned out Rodeo Drive boutiques day after day, never worrying about prices. A different princess asks to be driven to the beach – only to look at it from the back seat of the car. She’s not allowed to leave the limo, let alone appear on the beach in a bathing suit.

“We are temptresses,” Jayne mimics one of the Saudi women’s explanation of their dress code. “It’s our nature. We never know when a curve of a cheek, a glimpse of a wrist or twist of an ankle may tempt a man. Therefore we must cover.”

The nanny has her own vision of a hijab. “A salad is good with just olive oil, but there’s one thing that makes it special. Lemon. It’s the final touch. It makes the salad complete. That’s what a hijab is. It makes me complete.”

Jayne humorously recalls speed-shopping for sixty bras of size D, ransacking Pathmark to get twenty seven bottles of hair remover and having to transfer a sedated princess from a wheel chair into a car after she had a butt job. Yet, the work was far from fun. She drove eighteen hours a day, dealt with moody royals, their insolent staff and rude security guards. The servants, she says, were nice, to the point that she formed a bond with some of them.

“Don’t buy that!” she recalls grabbing a can of Spam out of a servant girl’s hands. “You don’t want to eat that. Why? It’s pork, you know – pig. Oh, you don’t know what’s pig? Oink-oink!”

The royal’s entourage came to like Jayne especially after learning she had no husband. They promised to pray for her to find one, and, when they were leaving, asked her to visit. “Me, visit Saudi Arabia?” laughs Jayne. “Are you kidding me? I’d be beheaded.”

She puts on a short film interview with the Saudi’s executioner, telling us how be-headings are done with a sword. Unbelievably, the man does not look like a sociopath and he even has a spark in his eyes. He says he felt very proud when he was offered the job; it’s an important post after all.

If nothing else, after an hour and half of the multi-media Saudi briefing, you will have a very different perspective on how your gas money makes someone’s fortune. The word Saudi, by the way, means fortunate. Yet, even the Arabian sheiks can be cheap. For the seven weeks of the royal nightmare, Jayne expected a good tip – which typically ranged from five to ten thousand dollars. Hers, however, came to a thousand only. She was a woman, after all.

The princess’s nanny had taught Jayne an Arabic proverb, “Do not use all of your upset at once. Save some for later.” That’s how I felt when I left the theater. The Saudis ain’t going nowhere, and we will continue making them fortunate… until the oil runs out.

~~~

DRIVING THE SAUDIS
Writer: Jayne Amelia Larson
Director: Charlie Stratton

1h 30m
www.drivingthesaudis.info

VENUE #16: The SoHo Playhouse

Click on the date for ticket information:
Thu 19 @ 3 Sat 21 @ NOON Sun 22 @ 9:15 Fri 27 @ 3:45

SHINE: A Burlesque Musical With A Story To Tell (Fringe Festival 2010)

Lina Zeldovich — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:07:20 +0000

Shine Mionne (Cass King) runs her operation on a corset string, but she stands by her ideals: a true edgy burlesque show with no glitzy Broadway feel. The roof leaks, lights break, the performers don’t get paid sometimes, but everyone is family and a star, including the real big girl Lucy Von Doozy (Andra Boo Green), a little wildcat Feral (Roxie Moxie), who hisses and bites along with the janitor (John Woods) who never says a word.

Shine is busy changing stocking, gluing on pasties and avoiding calls from Chad-The-Douche-Bag, a financial officer from a Nuntucket bank, who is chasing her to collect late loan payments, when two newcomers show up at her door: an aspiring actor Frankie (Scott W. Abernethy) who claims being hired at a party last night and an NYU student Grace (Gemma Isaac), who is writing her senior thesis on “the challenging dominant gender convention of the 20th century alternative performance modalities” and wants to be an intern. “You don’t have to pay an intern,” she tells Shine, and gets hired on the spot. No sooner does Frankie find himself sweeping floors that horrified Grace pops out of the changing room in a costume made of pink balloons that, once popped, reveal silvery pasties the burlesque girls glued on her to start her burlesque internship. Of course, the two fall in lust with each other – and with Lucy Von Doozy, who teaches Grace how to be a strip star: “Everyone is sexy, everyone is a star. What makes us powerful is who we are.”

But even the fresh young juices can’t rejuvenate Shine’s troubled operation – the shows don’t sell and it’s clear that she can’t run her troupe the old-fashioned way. So when Richard Suit makes his second appearance (Shine threw him out the first time), she is inclined to listen to his proposition. The two strike a deal: she directs, he produces, she handles the talent, he takes care of advertisement – and they split the profit. That may sound good, but soon Richard starts coming up with his own ideas: Lucy’s too fat, the soundman is incompetent, and the show needs a midtown facelift. “This is burlesque, not a Broadway production,” Shine declares as she ditches Richard’s new numbers done in the best traditions of Britney Spears. “But your Wall Street types will run away the moment Lucy takes off her first glove!” Richard insists. Shine’s phone bursts out with Chad (the douche bag) custom phone ring – and she finds herself cornered. Will Shine and Richard manage their irreconcilable differences or will the last burlesque standing crumble to be consumed by urban gentrification?

Written by Cass King, John Woods and Sam Dulmage, The Shine Burlesque truly shined once it got over a few minor technical difficulties with uneven sound, a few wrong cues and sometimes uncooperative props (which, given the fact that Fringe only gives the performers 15 min to set up, is totally understandable). The saga is compelling, the costumes hilariously ostentatious, the lyrics funny even if sometimes silly, and the pasties tantalizing. If you enjoy striptease with a story to tell, definitely see it after a coupla drinks – and your burlesque experience will be completely authentic.

~~~

SHINE: A Burlesque Musical
Writer: Cass King, John Woods (The Wet Spots) and Sam Dulmage
Director: Roger Benington
2h
www.shinemusical.com
VENUE #7: The Ellen Stewart Theatre @ LA MAMA

Click on a date for ticket information:
Fri 13 @ 8:15 Sat 14 @ NOON Mon 23 @ 9:45 Thu 26 @ 2 Sat 28 @ 2

Eli and Cheryl Jump … Look After You (Fringe Festival 2009)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:28:04 +0000

You can tell it’s Fringe Season when theatres ’round the city are suddenly bustling with life at odd hours of the day and escorting people in and out quickly so they can strike a set and get ready for the next show which is happening in, oh, about a minute. Yes, it’s all about endings and beginnings at Fringe which is why it’s rather fitting that I started my rounds this year with two very different plays that both dealt with the same fine line between living and dying, and what you do with that quick snap of a moment in between the two blackouts. Eli and Cheryl Jump takes you off on the wind of fanciful, magical, dreaminess while Look After You shows the realistic portrait of a life interrupted by a flash of illness that comes quickly and takes certainty with it. Both plays speak to the frailty of what we take for granted every day, both highlight what it means to be a survivor.
On Friday I saw Eli and Cheryl Jump written by Daniel McCoy, directed by Nicole A. Watson and featuring Charles Linshaw (Eli) and Cassandra Vincent (Cheryl et al). I’d had the pleasure of chatting with Dan and interviewing him for this column so I was a little more prepared than my fellow audience members about what to expect at the top of the show. Still, as promised, Martha Goode’s amazing sound design does much to start this play off with a wail … the pump of adrenaline that went coursing through my system within the first few moments did an amazing job of making me (and I suspect everyone else in the audience) part of the play, not just passive spectators. It was a very good(e) way of getting 100% audience buy-in right from the get-go.

Eli and Cheryl Jump tells the sometimes magical, sometimes unbelievable story of Eli and his amazing gift of survival. From a young age Eli could avoid harm, but always had a tricky way of inadvertently sacrificing someone (or something) else in his place, a type of karmic debt handed off to another soul. Of course, by the time Eli realizes that this is happening it’s already too late … there’s been one too many lives lost and one too many parts of his heart that he can’t seem to function without. His once joyful dream now becomes an escape plan; he runs off to New York in the hopes of doing less harm in this huge anonymous pool of humanity. Unfortunately, it’s here that he does perhaps the greatest harm of all.

Cassandra Vincent and Charles Linshaw

There are only two actors in this play, but several characters. As Eli moves through his life he encounters several pivitol women, each of whom is played by Cassandra Vincent. While Charles Linshaw has the arc of the story on his shoulders, it is Cassandra Vincent who holds the nuance of the story; with out her and her talent of transforming into the various women in Eli’s life with the simple use of a shawl, or a drawl this would just be the story of a lone, sad man who exiles himself in order to not hurt anyone. It is also Cassandra’s New York landlady which provides some of the lighter notes to this play, a nice moment of comic relief before the play gets back to business.

The last scene of the play, which brings us back around to the first scene, is so well done that it’s almost too painful to watch. I was so emotionally transfixed by not only the actual scene being played out, but by the rush of memories (you’ll just have to see it to know what I’m referencing), that I’m not sure I was even remembering to breath until the show was over. I’d read the script before seeing the show and I’d said to myself then (after wiping away tears) … if this is half as good in person as it is on the page I will be a wreck afterwards.

I was.

That’s a good thing … theatre should move people to tears. Or chills. Or shaking. Or all three.

Eli and Cheryl Jump
Ignited States in Association with Crosstown Playwrights
Writer, Daniel McCoy
Director, Nicole A. Watson
www.ignitedstates.com
VENUE #9: The Players Loft
Remaining Shows: Thursday August 20 @ 7:15; Monday August 24 @ 3:15; Friday August 28 @ 11; Saturday August 29 @ 12:45

Look After You

Look After You – by Louise Flory, directed by David Stallings

Hannah (Louise Flory) is a photographer which makes sense; this play is not just a snapshot of a life but (to stretch a metaphor) this play shows us Hannah’s world clearly framed through her lens after an aneurysm has taken away a lot of the way she used to look at life. Her life before is fuzzy and half forgotten, everything which came after is captured in flashes of stark realization. While a picture may be worth a thousand words, what do you do when some of your pictures are gone?

We come upon Hannah on the cusp of a brain aneurysm; her boyfriend Jake (Jason Altman) is devoted to her, which is obvious, but is also slowly growing angry/fearful/uncomfortable [insert not so smiley emotion here] with her condition. And how couldn’t he be? Apparently without the engagement ring on her finger (taken off before surgery) Hannah has forgotten that Jake has asked her to marry him; and in her present condition he’s not so sure he should ask her again. Flory (wearing her play writing hat) does an excellent job of showing how this is not as black and white as it would appear; this is not simply about a man afraid of committing to a woman who now is living in a limbo state, sometimes remembering things they did, sometimes not, and always living in the shadow of the possibility that she could “re-bleed” any time and die. (“The statistics are not pretty” we’re reminded over and over again in one form or another of casual conversation between each pairing of characters). Nor has he stopped loving her now that she is “damaged”. Rather, he’s contemplative … and sometimes being too thoughtful is a dangerous thing.

Jason is a writer, currently penning a book about Sherpas who scale Everest over and over again without harm despite the threat of avalanches, falling rocks, severe exhaustion, sickness, infections and of course accidental death. By giving Jake an obsession with Sherpas who climb and always come back, Flory simultaneously makes Jake heartbreaking yet hopeful. Here is a man who is consumed with trying to understand how to beat the odds, he needs an answer on what makes a survivor survive. What is the key, the magic wand, the secret incantation that keeps these Sherpas alive year after year, trip up the mountain after trip up the mountain? By studying them, will he find it? And even if he does, will knowing their secret be enough to then save Hannah?

Adi Kurtchik (Lucy) and Louise Flory (Hannah)

In a supporting role is Lucy (Adi Kurtchik), Hannah’s Get-Right-Down-To-Business Sister who arrives like a whirlwind and over turns every stone in the hopes that her sister’s condition is really just the fault of everyone else’s ineptitude (she doesn’t want to hear that anyone else has done research, that any of the mental exercises are strenuous enough, or that Hannah is being realist [read fatalistic] enough). Kurtchik is an absolute gem, and surprisingly layered; while she plays the one note invasive sister very well, when it’s necessary for her to blow up, or show her softer side she is alternately volcanic and vulnerable and even when she’s annoying Hannah you tend to, if not be on her side, then at least see where she’s coming from.

Similarly, what could have been merely expositional scenery … the role of Jake’s friend Paul … is brought charmingly to life by Lowell Byers. He’s a bartender by trade and carries the easy grace of someone who’s used to being taken into someone’s confidence. When Jake reveals that Hannah no longer remembers that she and Jake are engaged, Paul argues convincingly and from the heart as to why Jake needs to tell Hannah the truth. He’s a good best friend to Jake, but over all he’s just a really good friend to Hannah when he needs to be, even though she has no memory of knowing him at all.

Some of the best plays conclude not so much with an ending, but with a beginning, as if what you’ve just watched was the prelude to a life you can now settle back and continue to imagine. Look After You is definitely one of those plays. At the end we’re left with just as many unanswered questions about these characters, their lives, their motives, what will happen next, and how it will all bear out, but at least we now know them all a little better, and we had the opportunity to walk in their shoes for a little while.

Look After You
Maieutic Theatre Works-MTWorks
Writer, Louise Flory
Director, David Stallings
www.LookAfterYouThePlay.com
VENUE #16: The SoHo Playhouse
Remaining Shows: Friday August 28 @ 9:30 Saurdtay August 29 @ 1:30

I plan on seeing as many of the Fringe shows as I can; look for more of my reviews here and on The Fab Marquee.
For more information about Fringe click here …

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