by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 5, 2010
Congratulations to the winner of our Soup Show Giveaway — Nancy Cohen!
Nancy was randomly chosen from those who correctly answered our trivia question. (Q: Who is the director for The Soup Show? A: Lauren Sharpe)
Nancy won a pair of tickets to The Soup Show playing at HERE Arts Center. (For more information check out the official site.)
Thanks to everyone who participated and check back each month as we give away more tickets to more great shows!
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 4, 2010
Mark Shyzer as Esther (Photo credit: Tanja-Tiziana, Double Crossed Photography)
Fishbowl starts off deceptively; writer / performer Mark Shyzer introduces his cast of characters with such blasts of humor, and his transformations are so successful, that you might be fooled into thinking Fishbowl was written to be little more than a vanity piece in order to showcase Mr. Shyzer’s talent of reeling off bitingly funny one-liners while embodying 5 seemingly unrelated but unforgettable characters.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 3, 2010
The Power of Birds (written by Robin Rice Lichtig and directed by Elizabeth Bunnell) begins with migration; but that of a family, not a flock. For a moment if you just sit still enough, you can see the allegory of it take shape in front of you: Father Philip Fogarty (Jay Potter) has left the family (apparently for good) and without even an emotional downshift Mom Loretta (Annie McGovern) moves into lead position – steering the flock toward new territory and new horizons that she feels will benefit all of them. Loretta Fogarty takes a job in a new state and brings her two children and her mother-in-law along. It’s as if nature has taken the place of nurture and the migration must happen according to some unspoken but unmistakable design. And despite grumblings from 12 year old daughter Zoe (Emma Galvin) who had a strong connection to her father, the family moves because they are compelled to by some inner compass. Loretta, a gym teacher with very little regard for the world of ornithology which was so important to her husband , uses sports metaphors and cheers to rally her family and take them into the next phase of the game (“Go Team Fogarty!”). Like a parrot, son Charlie (Noah Galvin) repeats everything his mother says, and even if he’s saying it for the first time you get a sense that it was filtered through his mother’s voice at some point first (In response to where their father might be, Charlie and his mother have this exchange: CHARLIE: Not working in an office like a man, right Mom? LORETTA: Not taking care of his 12-year-old children. CHARLIE: Not taking us on family trips, right Mom?) He is like the other half of his mother, like a twin.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 1, 2010
Last Life is the fightsical from Timothy Haskell (creator of Road House: The Stage Play) and Eric Sanders (The Wendigo), and stars Taimak (of the legendary fight film The Last Dragon). The title is proving to be about as accurate a title as “Cher’s Final Farewell Tour” because this show has been revived more times than Britany Spear’s reputation – and I couldn’t be happier for the whole creative team.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 27, 2010
Unionize! (photo credit David Fuller)
“Why don’t you write a piece about all kinds of prostitution – the press, the church, the courts, the arts, the whole system?” asked Bertolt Brecht of Marc Blitzstein in 1937 after hearing Blitzstein’s song “The Nickel Under the Foot” (Oh you can dream and scheme and happily put // And take, take and put // But first be sure // That nickel’s under your foot // Go stand on someone’s neck while you take him // Cut into somebody’s throat as you put // For every dream and scheme, depending on whether // All through the storm // You’ve kept it warm // That nickel under your foot ), and so began Blitzstein’s creative journey to create “The Cradle Will Rock” which is a musical portrayal of exactly that. The greedy Mr. Mister, his vapid, silly, hedonistic family, his easily-controlled preacher, his wife’s pet artists, and some of the good people who needlessly get crushed under his wheels as they try to unionize in “Steeltown, USA” under the direction of their leader, Larry Foreman.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 24, 2010
Okay, okay, so these last few days have been relatively mild, I admit. Even that giant pile of grey gunk that the plow flung upon my curb which – at it’s all time high – reached up to my shoulders has now evaporated enough to reveal the mounds of garbage that were piled there so eagerly just before the snowstorm hit a few weeks ago. So, in all fairness, it’s not really “brrrr” worthy out there. Still, don’t let that stop you from getting in the Frigid spirit!
This morning while you were nestled all snug in your bed, the Frigid Fairy came down the chimney and … hell … I don’t even know where I was going with this.
BUT, what I do know is that today is the start of the Frigid Festival, which is something we take very seriously here at The Happiest Medium! For more information please visit the official Frigid site and check out the blurbs for some of the shows that are on deck. And also check this spot often, because we’re going to be covering some really good 1 hour shows. Here’s what we’ll be reviewing in the next few days:
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 22, 2010
Playwright Lucy Gillespie
I recently got a chance to chat with the very charming young playwright, Lucy Gillespie, who has penned the upcoming play Hangman School for Girls which is being produced by Vagabond Theatre Ensemble. As the title of this post implies, this is a story involving the students at an all-girl’s school, although any resemblance to that Tootie-Blairefest of your youth (or, for the Millennials in the crowd, from hulu.com then) is purely coincidental. This ain’t your momma’s Eastland … schoolgirls don’t roll that way anymore. Rather, Hangman School for Girls was presented to me as “Alice in Wonderland meets Lolita with a little Mean Girls thrown in”. Ahhh, three very unlikely pairings, but three very guilty pleasures of mine.
Lucy Gillespie and I spent some time talking about all-girls schools, the challenges of acting in your own work … and what it takes to feel like you’ve “made it” in this big city.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 18, 2010
While sitting in the audience of Tanya O’Debra’s Radio Star (Directed by Peter Cook) you may be tempted to close your eyes and pretend you’re sitting around the 1941 Philco radio with Dad smoking his pipe nearby while little Sally sits on the floor doing her arithmetic and Billy works on his model air plane. Breathe in deeply enough and you can smell that meatloaf mom is cooking! Yes, you may be tempted, but I’d suggest keeping your eyes open to enjoy every delicious hand-in-a-tap-shoe bit of foley art you can drink in. For while it would be just as much fun to stage direct the story in your mind’s eye, the real joy of Radio Star is watching Ms. O’Debra seamlessly transform herself from saucy dame Fanny LaRue to hard-boiled private dick, Nick McKittrick, to dopey company schlep Wally, to hearty Irish Cop with little more than a change of facial expression. Welcome to Radio Star, where the year is 1941, the story is decidedly campy, and the anachronisms are made of easter eggs.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 29, 2010
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| I cannot believe it’s been a year since the last time I brought news of Off-Broadway’s great 20@20 discount. But hey, that’s how it is with seasonal things.
Anywhoo … here we are again, at TWENTY @ TWENTY season which is possibly the best time of year to go see a great Off-Broadway show. As far as truth in advertising goes, there’s no deal that’s better, for this one is exactly what it says it is. For the next week or so head on down to any one of these great theatres (click on the links for theatre information) and twenty minutes before the show starts say “twenty at twenty” at the box office and get a ticket for twenty bucks. Happy Now? You Betcha! My Dear Edwina, it’s not only The Perfect Crime, it’s Fantastick(s). You’ll feel like Cinderella sipping a MazelTov Cocktail at her Awesome 80s Prom. And just wait till the Naked Boys (start) Singing! Don’t wait till it’s Zero Hour … get yourself to one of these great shows (or one of the ones I wasn’t able to slyly work into the conversation – I’m talking to YOU Circumcise Me) NOW. Keep reading for more information:
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 28, 2010
RUMSPRINGA! (OR - Jocelyn Kuritsky and Amy Landon telling "The Secrets of an Amish Ghost"; photo credit: Aaron Epstein)
Up front – full disclosure. For the first few minutes of The Luck of the Ibis I was a little confused by what was going on and therefore not fully checked into the play yet. I was waiting for something to click (something always does) and then the girl in the corner (Amy Landon) said Rumspringa. And boy oh boy, THAT made me perk up. I am an absolute FOOL for anything to do with Rumspringa, and I love any plot that can incorporate it, even vaguely. Even just in passing. Which … (more full disclosure) was about as much as it was mentioned here. (Oh, Rumspringa, we hardly knew ye). But the point is, it got my attention, and from that moment I was invested.
I tell this to you for a reason. Because The Luck of The Ibis (Written by Jonathan A. Goldberg and directed by Tom Ridgely) is filled with a whole lotta crazy and the only way to enjoy it (and you WILL enjoy it … I promise) is to find something to latch on to quickly and then just go with the crazy till it runs out.
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