by Karen Tortora-Lee on December 10, 2010
(Stephen Mosher Photos courtesy of Adam Magazine)
Faye Lane’s Beauty Shop Stories (directed by Jay Rogers, and featuring music written by Keith Thompson, Larry Rosen and Carol Hall – who wrote music and lyrics for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) is a powerful message disguised as a sweet lil tale about a gal who started out life sittin’ on the porch in her Pretty Plus Jeans wearin’ a Burger King crown that she re-did with sparkles and glitter . . . who somehow ended up in New York City tellin’ stories. But don’t let Faye Lane’s Southern charm, flashing eyes and brilliant smile fool you – her story is as resounding and victorious as any by Horatio Alger – with twice the pluck and half the testosterone.
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by Stephen Tortora-Lee on August 27, 2010
One year after Hurricane Katrina struck, the mayor of New Orleans wanted to put on The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Hour. Public outrage stopped it from ever airing, but here is another attempt.
Rob Florence’s The Hurricane Katrina Comedy Festival directed by Dann Fink gives us a positive story of 5 people who experienced Katrina and made a difference. This difference is either to themselves, to their family, to their neighbors (in the normal sense of people who lived next door as well as the classic Biblical sense of whoever needs help), and to the city itself. Their “comedy” is not making light of what happened, but rather about not being beat by a situation which so many of the people in this play recalled as “post-apocalyptic”.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 20, 2010
Carl Andress
One of the first interviews I ever did as an “official” theatre reviewer was with Carl Andress who was not only charming and lovely but also heaps of fun to chat with. Back then he was directing Charles Busch and Kathleen Turner in The Third Story which was a show that highlighted the talent of everyone involved. I have nothing but enormous respect for Carl as a director.
Well, I’m happy that I have another reason to interview this wonderful gentleman because Carl Andress is at it again, teaming up with Charles Busch to do The Divine Sister. We recently sat down to talk about the fun of doing an homage to some of Hollywood’s best nuns, and the great actresses who played them.
Along the way, Carl also explains what it’s like to do theatre for the pure joy of it, he give some advice to the Fringe crowd on the smartest way to get a show produced these days, and he enlightens me about a simple little device that has changed his life . . .
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