Ten Questions. Ten Answers. And one Big Surprise in the audience …

Rotten Apple

A woman raised by pigeons, an author famous only on NPR, and a devil worshipping cable company all know how to make it in the big city. Do you? Once you do, you may be too damaged to make it anywhere else…

Show  Info:

• Wed Feb 17, 2016 | 10:30PM
• Sun Feb 21, 2016 | 6:50PM
• Fri Feb 26, 2016 | 8:50PM
• Wed Mar 2, 2016 | 10:30PM
• Sat Mar 5, 2016 | 2:10PM

UNDER St. Marks New York, NY $8/$12

Answers by Amanda Nicastro
(co-producer, co-writer, co-director)

1. Forget the PR version. When you’re talking to your friends, how do you explain this show to them?
Amanda: It’s like Portlandia, Whitest Kids You Know, and @elbloombito all had a baby together.

2. Here’s a scenario: After the show some audience members go have a drink.  What’s the part of the show you hope they’re discussing?
Amanda: I would like to think they notice that comedy is very reliant on relationships between characters. For instance, in the show we have a scene between Mary, the Pigeon Girl and William, the man she meets in the park while she’s feeding the birds. The scene is funny not just because Pigeon Girl is wearing a fleece covered in pigeon poop, but because we can all relate with her struggle to find love and acceptance in a harsh world. And then maybe fall back on our old habits when we hit a bump in the road. Not everyone personifies pigeons… But you do what helps you cope.

3. What drives your show – character, theme or plot?
Amanda: Theme and character equally I would say. All of the characters interacting with each other are bringing the audience into the shared experience of what’s it like to relocate to a big city and suddenly find yourself faced with a myriad of different problems and situations.

4. In rehearsals, read-thrus, or prior incarnations, what’s the one thing someone said about the show so far that made you (or the team) the most proud?
Amanda: During our first show at The People’s Improv Theater spring 2015 an audience member said they found themselves caring very much about most of the characters. They wanted them to succeed and find whatever it was they were looking for. They said for them, it’s what made our show and our comedic material different from other things they had seen.

5. If money and resources (and even reality) were no object what is the most lavish, luxurious, pointless prop, costume, effect – anything – that you would spend money on for this show?
Amanda: HA! This is hard. We’ve dreamed about having access to the YouTube studio’s subway car. But I wouldn’t actually call that lavish. If I had to guess I would say a realistic set for what Hell would look like. We have a scene involving Satan calling a certain cable company wanting to know why his internet is out, and it would be great to have a realistic lava effect in the background.

6. What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to regarding the FRIGID Festival itself?
Amanda: This one is easy. Meeting other artists. I took my first solo show, I’m Just Kidneying, which is about my decision to be a living kidney donor, to the Orlando Fringe Festival last spring after premiering it in New York during the SoloCom Festival. My husband described the Fringe as “theater camp” for performers. We did our shows, then all grabbed beers afterwards. It was amazing. Best two weeks ever.

7. Is there a scene, a moment, a gesture … anything at all in the show that you anticipate may get a completely different reaction depending on the audience that night?
Amanda: Uh, yes. We have a scene where we put a spotlight on racism and white male privilege. And if people don’t laugh where we think they’re going to laugh we could feel very awkward… But I think you always take a risk when you’re trying to use theater and comedy to raise social awareness. If the risk pays off, great. If it doesn’t, back to the drawing board.

8. What’s your favorite line from the show?
Amanda: “You make me feel the way new babies smell.”

9. What’s the last thing you usually do before the beginning of a show?
Amanda: I always stretch, drink a coffee, and use the bathroom before the show. It’s my ritual. Yeah I know, coffee is not good for you’re vocal chords. But at this point I’m superstitious.

10. You scan the audience and you see a face that stops you dead in your tracks – who is it? And why are you shocked?
Amanda: This one is hard! My family has come before and it’s shocked me just because they live far away. Doesn’t stop me in my tracks though. I have a good relationship with an actor who has seen a lot of success lately. And if he was to come I would be overwhelmed with happiness because I’m in such awe of him.

OOOH!  A secret successful actor!  Well, kudos to you for not being a name-dropper, but I have to say, you’ve got me wondering who you’re one-degree separated from!   And maybe he’s reading this … and he’ll come to the show anyway!  Ha-HAAA.  Wow! That would really make my day.  Knowing my little Q&A question which has always been just for fun actually came to life. Be sure to tell me if it happens, Amanda!

The rest of you – don’t forget to check out Rotten Apple.

 -*-*-

Horse Trade Theater Group will present the 10th Annual FRIGID New York Festival at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4^th Street between 2^nd Avenue and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1^st Avenue and Avenue A) February 16-March 6. All shows run 60 minutes, or less. Tickets are available for purchase in advance at http://www.horsetrade.info/  

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Aaron Wigdor Levy is the writer of Monroe, Illinois: Over Here/Townie premiering this week at the  Flea Theater, produced by On The Square Productions.

Aaron Wigdor Levy

Tell us a bit about your body of work?

My work usually is pretty naturalistic. Some people have said my plays are political, but I don’t think they’re overtly political. I think most of my plays simply deal with people trying to figure out their place in the world. I know that kind of sounds general, but that’s what I’m trying to do so I don’t see why my characters should be any different.

Monroe, Illinois: Over Here/Townie are actually two separate one acts. What will the audience gain from seeing them produced together?

Rachel McPhee, Doug Roland & Cyrilla Baer | photo by Ghenet Pinderhughes

I wrote Townie and Over Here around the same time so they’re connected in that way. They both deal with loss. Over Here deals with a loss that has just taken place while Townie deals with the losses that happen over a person’s life. Over Here actually takes place in real time over fifty minutes while Townie takes place over forty years or so. I think it will be very interesting to see the brief amount of time that’s covered in Over Here compared to the life span that happens in Townie.

What is a recurring theme in your plays?

Theme is always tough. I try not to have an overt theme, but looking over my plays I really think a lot of them deal with where we find ourselves in America today. I’ve always been a bit obsessed about what the American Dream is so I find that creeping into most of my work.

When auditioning for Monroe, Illinois what qualities where you and the director looking for in your actors?

We knew all the actors going into it, so there wasn’t much of an auditioning process. Usually though, I just look for actors that understand what I’m trying to write, understand the material, and can really bring a part of themselves to it.

You are a member of the 2010 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater, how has that experienced been for you? Has it already been opening doors for you as a playwright?

The Emerging Writers Group at the Public is truly an amazing experience. I can’t say enough good things about it. I really can’t. I could go on and on saying how lucky I am to be apart of it, but I fear it would get a bit obnoxious.

What is the one question you really hope experiencing Monroe, Illinois inspires?

I’m not sure what the question I’d like people to come away with after seeing Monroe, Illinois. I just really hope that people empathize with the characters. I’d like them just to observe people they may not observe otherwise.

——–

The Flea Theater | 41 White Street | Manhattan

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I was lucky enough to snag some deeply discounted tickets to the limited engagement of The Cripple of Inishmaan (by Martin McDonaugh and directed by Garry Hynes) last week.  Let’s face it, when someone offers you discount tickets that cost less than a movie ticket, as long as the plot is a shade better than Death Race you’re already ahead of the game.  So excited was I by the chance to see live theatre for ten dollars, that I barely glanced at the synopsis which informed me that The Cripple of Inishmaan was set in 1934, on an island off the west coast of Ireland, and that it involved events surrounding the time filmmaker Robert Flaherty came to the area to film his movie Man of Aran.  I mean, I’m not really one for blurbs.  Anything loses its zing when boiled down to a few sentences.  I’m more of a jump-in-with-both-feet-and-then-decided-if-I-like-it type of gal, ’specially when, as I’ve mentioned before, the tickets are ten bucks.

Of course, after having seen the play, I’d see it at ten times the price, it was THAT GOOD.  And while the blurb didn’t lie … it certainly didn’t tell the whole truth.

First of all, I find anything that comes at me slathered in a thick Irish brogue delightful — all stemming from my very favorite joke that relies heavily on the use of an Irish accent for the punchline to hit its mark.  (Hint: Seamus, can you use the word “contagious” in a sentence? You take it from there  …).   Secondly, the reason that this cast is so spot-on with their brogues is because the ensemble is transplanted directly from Ireland; part of the Druid Theatre company from Galway that is working in conjunction with the Atlantic Theater company to mount this production.  Atlantic and Druid worked together before to produce McDonaugh’s Tony Award winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

So, back to the blurb … Yes, this play is set in 1934, and yes, there’s a movie being filmed just over there on the island across the way, but what this little blurb DOESN’T mention is that everyone who lives their life on this island near, related to, or beside the orphaned “Cripple Billy” (Aaron Monaghan) is just as worthy of having a play named after them.   It could just as easily have been called The Crazy Aunt who Talks to a Stone of Inishmaan, perhaps, or The Brother and Sister Who Have an Unusual Absorption With Eggs and Candy of Inishmaan would also work.  My choice would be The Neighborhood Snoop Who Drops By With Three Pieces of News, Only One of Which is Newsworthy of Inishmaan, but I guess after all that, The Cripple of Inishmaan is probably the pithiest.  Still, while it’s impossible to take your eyes off of Cripple Billy, he’s not necessarily the most compelling character, though he certainly is the most obviously, outwardly injured.

The rest of the characters are crippled as well; it just take a while for those injuries to emerge in a way for the audience to make sense of them.   Take Helen (Kerry Condon), for instance, who can’t get through a conversation without the word fekkin.  She sprinkles it liberally throughout her conversation the way pineapple chucks are sprinkled on a Hawaiian pizza … and yet she’s ready to deck the next guy who doesn’t treat her like a lady.  What she does to her own brother in retaliation for his insults is both messy and hilarious.  Or take Babby Bobby (Andrew Connolly) who is so stripped of emotion after his wife dies of TB that you can’t predict what will come out of him next – a hug or a punch.  Or a long, cold stare.

David Pearse as Johnny Pateen Mike is a scene stealer, but he’s meant to be.  His daily routine is to gather up bits of information, trading them in for eggs, and, when the news is particularly good, hunks of meat and bread.  Half town cryer, half J. Jonah Jameson, he’s a funny little man with funny little ways; he listens at doors when he’s not trying to get his own ailing mother to drink herself to death.  He’s not so much a “character” as he is a CHARACTER … the type every small town has, walking their streets and dispersing their bits of gossip.  At first just a gloss of comic relief (in an already funny play), his life-plot comes to mean a lot more than first implied.  In a way, he’s responsible for the whole fekkin thing.

Billy himself spends his days staring at cows, visiting the doctor, and dreaming of getting out of his little town, as well as out of his designation as Cripple Billy.  “Just Billy!” he implores often enough, as he tries to make his way off the island.  And yes, every now and again someone will call him just Billy … but more often than not, to his face and behind his back, it’s Cripple Billy he is, and Cripple Billy he’ll stay.  It’s not necessarily terrible; his aunties Kate (Marie Mullen) and Eileen (Dearbhla Molloy) love and protect him with fierceness, and the rest of the regulars who patronize his adopted aunties’ store seem to like him well enough.  While no one expects him to rise to greatness, they don’t exactly see him as dispensable either.  When Helen tells Billy he’s not much to look at, it’s with a devilish twinkle in her eye; it may sound harsh to us, but to the two of them it’s just part of their daily interaction.  In Inishmaan, everyone has their role.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is a character driven piece; the plot itself isn’t what’s truly compelling — while it has its ups and downs, and its sudden surprises, (even some ah-ha! moments) the story is simple enough  and won’t leave you pondering the meaning of life; poignant as it is.  What you will be left with, however, is a feeling of affinity for Billy and the townsfolk of Inishmaan.  People who’s biggest dream is to break routine and just have a moment that’s more interesting than the usual one that repeats itself, blandly, over and over.  Whether it’s that one great piece of news, that next great shot of whiskey, that perfect piece of candy, or the chance to be a film star … it’s different … it’s exciting.  And it’s worth it.  So is this play.  Catch it while you can.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is currently playing in previews and opens on December 21, 2008.  The show runs until February 1st, 2009, at the Linda Gross Theater.  Click here to purchase tickets.

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If Christmas in New York could be found on the map I think most people would agree that its address would be Rockefeller Center, filled as it is with the tree and the giant decorations, and the fabled City of Radio … where Rockettes dress up as reindeer and dance their little hearts out, doling out Christmas Miracles to the tourists one high kick at a time.

I’d seen the Radio City Christmas Spectacular a number of times as a child but it was never a family tradition, so therefore it wasn’t something that got scheduled into the season as much as, say, hanging the stocking by the chimney with care or riding in a one-horse open sleigh (oh what fun!).  So it wasn’t till around 25 years later, when some out-of-town visitors were staying in NYC for the first 2 weeks of December (“Nothing like shopping on 5th Avenue for Christmas presents!” they cried, credit cards extended), that my family decided it was about time to get ourselves back to the show.  After all, it can’t all be Coach wallets and Tiffany trinkets … you’ve gotta have a LITTLE good ole fashioned NYC theater in there somewhere.  And, say what you want, WICKED is a fine, fine show, but nothing says Christmas like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.  (It’s in the ACTUAL NAME).  Since that day around 5 years ago, I actually found myself back in that audience a number of times, always finding some reason to be there. It adds a little touch of holiday magic to the otherwise pushy, shove-y, where-the-heck-did-I-drop-my-glove-y midtown area.

First of all, there’s nothing like that first step you take into Radio City Music Hall … it’s so much of a time warp that you had better wear lace-up shoes for fear that the WHOOSH of Christmas Past knocks you out of your Manolos.  (Or Bruno Maglis, for you fellas).  And although I’m a good 2 or 3 feet taller than I was the first time I set foot in that movie theatre, it’s amazing how small that place still makes you feel.  With New York City real estate what it is these days, space that has the luxury of a ceiling THAT HIGH is reserved for places like the Met, or the Met … or the actual outside.

Now, let’s be clear … when people go to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, they may SAY they’re going in order to enjoy the whole 90 minute show, but really, unless the Rockettes are standing across the stage in a line, kick, kick, kicking their way to Christmas, it’s all just a waiting room.  No one cares about the Nutcracker sequence, that Parade of Santas, or the actual ice skaters skating on actual ice … and The 3-D movie (put your special glasses on … NOW!) that starts the whole thing — of Santa swooping through the city making his way to Rock Center like a mile-high cabbie  — is fun, but nothing your local I-Max couldn’t give you. Just like everyone suffers through the first parts of Handel’s Messiah waiting for the Hallelujah Chorus, so everyone waits and waits at Radio City for the famed Wooden Soldiers number (which has been a crowd pleaser since 1933) and claps like mad every time those Rockettes break apart and join back up into another formation.  “Yay!”  and “Wow!”  and other exclamations can be heard all around the Music Hall,  people are dazzled and the audience is electrified.  This builds and builds until the big cannon goes “boom” … and then, there they are, all those Rockettes in their Wooden Soldier outfits, falling down like really really really slow dominoes, while the orchestra ad-libs a downward arpeggio until the last Rockette lands on her well-toned little butt.  Thunderous applause … it could end here, but there’s another whole bunch of show to watch.

Well, now, let’s not be too hasty.  As much as I like to pretend I’m a cynical New Yorker with a hard candy shell, nothing chokes me up like that Living Nativity scene at the end (also one of the few scenes that still exists from the original 1933 production) when all the shepherds, angels, and camels come from miles around (or … you know, backstage) to honor that “one solitary life”.  Even if you’re not a Christian, the message is still a powerful one … that any one, no matter how humble the beginnings, no matter how limited the means, and no matter how difficult the path, has the ability to change the world for the better.  Cue music.

Then, just as you’re about to get all quiet and thoughtful (is THAT any way to celebrate Christmas?) they wrap it all up in Swarovski crystal and silver (get your light sticks out … NOW!) and the whole things ends with a big shiny sparkly glow.  You wander out into the middle of Christmas, happy and sated, and all baked up like a gingerbread cookie.  Okay, enough of that … Now go get those credit cards out, these presents aren’t going to buy themselves!

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is currently running until December 30th; most days have 4 performances with up to 6 performances on the weekends, but check the calendar for available dates and times.

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