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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

#mormoninchief’s Boring Campaign (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:28:29 +0000

Politics, an election, religion, Twitter—with so many current trending topics, how could #mormoninchief not be interesting? In fear of burying the lead, I will tell you now that regrettably, it was not. Given the smoothness of the script, I don’t think the author of the book, Matthew Greene, wrote a bad play, nor was the execution faulty. In fact, the three-man show featuring Karis Danish, Nicole Rodenburg, and leading with Jesse Liebman, ran efficiently, and the actors professionally played out their characters.

But in the end, I wondered why I was watching #mormoninchief. The premise of the story proved intriguing: An everyday Mormon named Connor Jorgensen, played by Liebman, started a Twitter feed and wrote a line exulting something his brother in the church said. That brother happened to also be running for president, and, given the quickness of the Internet, Jorgensen’s tweet spread like a wild fire and angered the candidate. He had no idea this happened until a crackerjack reporter named Lydia Strout, played by Rodenburg, burst into his life with questions not only about the tweet, but about Jorgensen’s place in life.

Not bad, eh? Unfortunately, this plot never really panned out, and instead, the viewers watched as they circled around these subjects and beat them into blind boredom. Halfway through the play I wanted it to be done, and, as my savvy companion pointed out, “Right now 140 characters doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.” Maybe if the show cut their hour-and-a-half time down to 45 minutes or an hour, it would have flowed better. They could have easily nicked the character of Kate Walker, played by Danish, Jorgensen’s friend and the wife of his business partner. She came in screeching about her husband ignoring her and then they talked about some dull personal stuff. Then they did it again, and again. At this point, you may ask, what about the Twitter feed? Well, in the end that idea petered out as not only did Jorgensen not tweet again, but also the actual impact of his one tweet was never fully explained. In the end, this left the show flat and fleeting, instead of something to be tweeting.

~~~

#MormonInChief
Michael Holt Productions
Writer: Matthew Greene
Director: Austin Regan
Connor, an unassuming Mormon, becomes the center of media frenzy when he tweets inflammatory statements inspired by a Mormon presidential candidate. When ambitious blogger Lydia confronts him, Connor is forced to choose between living by faith or living by fact.
1h 30m   Local   Manhattan, New York
Drama   Comedy
Staycation: Ripped from the Headlines   In Someone Else’s Shoes
www.mormoninchiefplay.com
VENUE #07: The Kraine Theater
Sat 11 @ 6  Tue 14 @ 4:45  Sat 18 @ 12  Sun 19 @ 7  Wed 22 @ 2:30

Super Sidekick The Musical … Pawn (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:02:12 +0000

The team behind Super Sidekick the Musical have perfected the art of live-action cartoon, mixed with a healthy dose of Glee. In this production, directed by Steve Knight, there are ninja koalas, damsels in un-distress, a thoughtful villain, and pudgy, dorky sidekick. The later is Inky, which Jonathan Nadolny plays to precision, giving the short and shorted sidekick an endearing, albeit slightly nasal, quality. He acts counter to the sleek and pompous Blackjack the Bold (dun-duna-da!), played smoothly by Evan Maltby, who channeled the frat-boy-like aura of the superhero.

As these two caped-crusaders ran up and down the aisle, bits of song broke out in perfect harmony, thanks to the musical director and piano player Stephen Bent. Such songs include If I Were a Hero Too, Inky and the Princess, and possibly the most memorable tune, Slurm’s Soliloquy, where Slurm, the slimy super villain played by Tom Slot (who just wrapped up the devious play about serial killers called Killing Time—do we sense a theme, Slot?), waxed poetically about the troubles being evil.

The premise of the story goes: Inky is a sidekick who wants to be a superhero. Blackjack is a jerk. The princess, played by the Princess Toadstool look-a-like Mollie Fischer, loves Inky; she gets stolen. Blackjack discounts Inky and hence, the superhero gets taken also. Inky overcomes his fear of the dark—cue The Caves of Doom—and voila! Evil is…well I can’t tell you everything. There are also two, unbelievably humorous ninja kolas, played by Lauren Quirk and Daniel Tepper, that had me wondering why we don’t see more live-action, kung-fu animals in plays. Seriously, it was too funny. On that note, with the fast pace, audience participation, and fun characters, if you have children this play is right up their alley. But, even as a grown woman I found it humorous, saucy, and a lot of fun. Yes, it’s cheesy, but they do it so well.

~~~

Super Sidekick: The Musical
ArtEffects Theatre Company in Association with Theatre Unleashed
Writer: Gregory Crafts, music and lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro
Director: Steve Knight, Music Director: Stephen Bent
Adventure! Romance! Ninja koalas! Sorcerer Slurm has captured the greatest hero in the kingdom! Can lowly sidekick Inky save the day? “…perfect for small children, with audience participation, a perfect hour run-time and catchy musical numbers” -L.A. Theatre Review
1h 0m   Local   New York , New York
FringeJR   Musical
Staycation: Sci-Fi Tech SuperHero Camp
www.supersidekick-musical.com
VENUE #16: SoHo Playhouse
Fri 10 @ 5  Sat 18 @ 4:15  Tue 21 @ 7  Fri 24 @ 5:15  Sun 26 @ 1

The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin: The Play You Need To See

4 Cents Reviews — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:24:48 +0000

4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.

Today, The Happiest Medium offers a 4 cents review of The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin. Read on as Karen Tortora-Lee and Michelle Augello-Page each give their two cents on this exciting production by Purple Repertory Theater!

Michelle: The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin is a contemporary retelling of the story of Adam and Eve. Written by Larry Kunofsky and directed by Jose Zayas, the play offers a unique, symbolic, and provocative look at this biblical story of original sin, and how man and woman were cast from the garden of Eden and into the world.

The garden of Eden in this play is set in no specific place, but appears to be a rural work-farm. The stage set is the inside of the worker’s living quarters, and each scene takes place in some form of darkness. Low burning lanterns on either side of the stage are subtle and cleverly utilized to illuminate the stage and indicate the passage of time. Sound is also employed to provide context and setting as each scene breaks into the next.

Karen: While the setting itself is ambiguous, almost immediately – from the very first spoken word (“Light”) - The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin tethers itself to a very specific rhythm with a very specific language. How To Begin is peppered with language that could be found in any number of Edward G. Robinson films, or The Bowery Boys shorts. When sitting down to write – or re-write – one of the best known creation myths it would be easy to fall into a mode which mirrors the original landscape and simply tweaks it; here is where Kunofsky’s brilliance as a writer is in abundance. How To Begin flips the script and puts creation in a place where we wouldn’t necessarily envision it; and that’s what keeps it utterly refreshing.

The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin

Michelle: One of the most unusual aspects to this play is the dialogue, reminiscent of 1930s idiomatic speech. Although there is no stated time period for the play, the 1930s are mirrored in several other ways, found in the stage set and clothing of the characters. At first, my ear had to adjust to the 1930s language. However, I soon realized that this use of dialogue provided a subcontext to the play which was a stroke of genius.

Karen: By using language that has its own voltage built in, an immediate heat is created between the characters; scenes crackle with a sensuality and raw sexual energy. Further, by using poetic and lyrical phrases which have either gone by the wayside or have changed in meaning Kunofsky parallels the original text of the creation myth which, itself, has constantly been re-interpreted over the years, ultimately giving the text deeper (if not sometimes conflicting) value.

Michelle: The dialogue moved the play forward lightly and quickly, and also kept the audience laughing, even in the most serious and heart-wrenching scenes. Using the idioms and affects of the 1930s was a brilliant touch, as the sub-context of the world became clearer. The 1930s remind me always of the great depression, a time in American history of devastating poverty, when many people had lost faith in the government and were simply struggling to survive.

A certain lawlessness permeates 1930s culture as people were cast from illusion of the American dream and thrown into the great depression under a government that could not shelter them, becoming a place where bootleggers, gangsters, and the godless flourished. It is no small wonder that The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin finds some roots here.

The play features the four characters of the biblical tale in a similar 1930s pulp fashion, and we find God as “The Boss” (Hugh Sinclair), Adam as “The Kid” (Luke Forbes), the Snake as “The Old Broad” (Annie Henk), and Eve as “The Tomater” (Anna Lamadrid). These actors deliver stellar performances, and the multi-ethnic cast works together to deliver a story that succeeds in obviating race to represent humanity. The gender differences inherent in the Adam and Eve story are present; however, the balances struck between men and women are the places the characters find both shelter and power.

Karen: What is so elegant about the way the story unfolds through these four characters is how, while it completely sticks to the source material, the words spoken are somehow seen as earnest hyperbole. Serveral times there is a moment where the duality is perfect, such as this moment when The Kid is telling The Old Broad:

… The only world is this here place. Maybe a body can hear some goings on away from here. A lotta rigamaroll and mucketymuck. A lotta things too busy fer their own concern. But here is everything. All’s there is, is right here. And on the day I came here, that was the day the world began.

"The Boss" (Hugh Sinclair), "The Kid" (Luke Forbes), "The Old Broad" (Annie Henk), and "The Tomater" (Anna Lamadrid) photo by Kacey Stamats

Michelle: “The Boss” is the owner of the land. In exchange for work, he offers room and board; however, he demands obedience and an adherence to his rules. “The Boss” is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful. Hugh Sinclair plays this character with a tough, almost menacing, omnipotence, shaken to vulnerability after the Fall.

“The Kid”, played by Luke Forbes with great sensitivity and strength, represents Adam. He is grateful to work for The Boss, but he is lonely, restless, growing, and learning who he is. His unhappiness at being alone on the work-farm is alleviated by the appearance of “The Tomater”, who becomes his lover, temptress, and savior. Throughout the play, we witness The Kid grow into a greater awareness as he finds himself becoming a man.

“The Old Broad” is the female representation of the snake. Annie Henk’s character is sexy and smart; she slithers seductively across the stage as a woman who has seen it all, done it all. Henk shines as the most worldly character in the play, whose role is to both tempt and awaken the other characters.

“The Tomater”, played with moxie by Anna Lamadrid, is the woman brought to the work-farm to be a companion for The Kid. This Eve balances naivete and fragility with nerve and an iron will. The scene where she first arrives is one of the best in the play. The dialogue sparkles with wit and tenderness as the Adam and Eve characters meet each other for the first time, touch each other, learn and create a language for the body, and each other.

The eroticism in The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin is tempered with suggestion, revealing a natural sexuality that is neither exploitive nor explicit. Moments of sexual reveal are accompanied with a certain degree of joy, as the pleasure to be found in the body is accepted without fear.

The apple in this story is ”Apple Jack”, the Boss’s hidden stash of illegal liquor, which brings us back to 1930s prohibition and governmental control. Tasting the prohibited brew gives them “big ideas” and makes them question and challenge the rules laid out by “The Boss”. Their sin lies in this uncovering, this ultimate reveal. They are fired by The Boss and cast out, but in a twist from the original tale, they grasp the opportunity and embrace the chance to recreate the world anew.

Karen: Director Jose Zayas is obviously accomplished and does extraordinary work to bring Kunofsky’s world to life. The production team has created not only a play but a feeling — an atmosphere — an experience. You are not only watching this world but connecting to it as it creates itself. Plays like The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin are rare: filled with beauty, truth, erotic power, and healing humor. Beyond a simple retelling of a creation myth, this play redefines what it means to go back to the beginning.

~~~
PURPLE REPRETORY THEATER COMPANY

The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin
Written by Larry Kunofsky

Directed by Jose Zayas

December 2 – 18, 2011

Thursday – Sunday at 8pm

The Monkey

37 West 26th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues)

Tickets are $18, available

To purchase call 800-838-3006 or Click Here

No I’m First! The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein Extended

Antonio Miniño — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:56:09 +0000

Lets start with a tangent shall we. I always hate when reviews only focus on their headlining actor.

Exhibit A. Roundabout Theatre’s current revival of After Miss Julie: all the reviews have focused on Sienna Miller and her amazing-to-some (or stale-to-others) performance, only a handful remembered to mention the likes of Johnny Miller and Marin Ireland without really going into detail on their stage craft. As you get to know me, you will learn I am Marin Ireland’s number one fan! I cursed the day I missed Beebo Brinker Chronicles, but kissed the ground of the day our love affair began during reasons to be pretty and our second date at After Miss Julie … now to The Diary of Anne Frankenstein.

Mimi Imfurst is Anne Frankenstein

I plead guilty to committing one of my biggest pet peeves, only mentioning the star! I plead guilty to bursting in delight over none other than Mimi Imfurst … drag superstar of the NYC Nightlife, the decadent Underworld, the dive queer karaokes, and she’s a 3 time Glammy and HX Drag Queen of the Year nominee to boot. Yes, I voted for her in the search of the next contestant for Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (no idea what came out of it) but here’s hoping she ends up being a finalist.

Mimi is playing none other than Anne Frankenstein in the “adaptation”, or as the press notes state, in the absurdist re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic (The Diary of Anne Frank) by Ilya Sapiroe.

This world premiere production opened October 1st at 13th Street Rep and was scheduled to run until November 8th. This was on my list of shows to go to, but due to an overwhelming Season I was about to miss it. Well the glittery gods have answered our prayers, as the show has now been extended through November 29th.

The Diary of Anne Frankenstein follows Anne, a lowly hermaphroditic Franken-girl (and her companion diary), as she comes of age in the attic of an abandoned genetics laboratory in Bavaria in 1945. After years of peaceful anonymity, Anne’s privacy comes to an end when her cruel and twisted creator, Dr. Gustav Frankenstein, returns to the defunct compound with an eye toward his most fiendish experiment yet – the resurrection of Adolf Hitler!

By the time I bring you a review you will have probably read of the show elsewhere … good thing each opinion is like a snowflake, or should I say in this case — a glitterflake? And I solemnly swear to mention the “Johnny Millers”and “Marin Irelands” of this production.

Tickets to the show are $22.50 at Theatermania, and you can visit the show site for more information.

The show’s schedule is: Oct 1-Nov 8, Thursdays and Saturdays at 9pm, Sundays at 7pm; Sundays Nov. 15, 17 & 29 at 7pm; and Saturday Nov. 28 at 9pm.

13th Street Rep is located at 50 West 13th Street between 5th & 6th Aves (accessible from the F, L, 1 & 9 train)

The Happiest Medium » Theater

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

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#mormoninchief’s Boring Campaign (Fringe Festival 2012)

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The Myths We Need -Or- How To Begin: The Play You Need To See

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No I’m First! The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein Extended

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