by Diánna Martin on March 1, 2012
Part historical odyssey, part musical, Musical Pawns centers on the career work of Russian composer David Nowakowsky, a brilliant contemporary of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, whose works have been lost for nearly 100 years. Guarding his unpublished manuscripts for decades were his Grandson and then Great-Grandson, and the play also follows their life as Jews in war-torn Nazi Germany. When their lives were suddenly always on the line, it was difficult to protect themselves, much less protect these 2,500 + works of a musical master.
The production as a play itself is difficult to follow. Much of this is due to the fact that the narration and scenes switch back and forth between past and present – and variations in time on the past. Combine this jumpy timeline with the case of actors playing several different roles and the result is unnecessarily complicated. The choppy time-line is further marred by a schtick – beginning with very verklempt generalized depictions of Jewish yentas, lawyers, and even the great-grandson of Nowakowsky (played albeit with feeling by Emanuelle Zeesman). I was confused by much of it, and I usually can figure these things out pretty quickly.
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by Diánna Martin on March 1, 2012
Performance art pieces, in general, can be thrilling to behold, whether they break new ground, or simply retrace the steps made by others in new and innovative (or deeply personal and fascinating) ways. The idea of combining dance, theatre, and clown with music to portray emotional journeys and the struggle of gender roles sounds so exciting! And it could be…if Aerial Allusions was a different show.
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by Diánna Martin on March 9, 2011
When you were growing up, did you ever have characters from TV or film that you looked up to and felt that if you could be like them, you could do anything? Cyndi Freeman sure did, and she didn’t pick any run-of-the-mill hero…she picked THE woman…you know…the awesome chick in the invisible jet who could tie up any creep with her golden lasso and bounce bullets off of her groovy bracelets…all while wearing practically nothing in red, white, & blue. Wonder Woman: A How To Guide for Little Jewish Girls is part feminist hero worship and trivia; part life story of growing up more geek than hero with family dysfunction; and part tale of using the strength within to battle some of the scariest nemeses of all: life’s curve-balls.
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by Diánna Martin on March 9, 2011
A energetic and fascinating ensemble piece, Yippie! blends fact and fiction to create a behind-the-scenes look at the rise of Jerry Rubin’s Youth International Party of the 1960s. In a “what if?” take on the Chicago 1968 riots, writers/directors Randy Anderson and Harrison Williams look at the darker side of what happens when even flower children can take a life in the name of revolution, albeit perhaps unintentionally.
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by Diánna Martin on March 9, 2011
There Is No Good News featuring David Mogolov (Photo by Daniel Van Ackere)
From the moment you hear David Mogolov utter the words: “When I was seven years old my parents bought me a bullwhip,” the ice is broken, the walls immediately come down, and you are brought into a world of a hilarious, yet serious, one-man show that is There Is No Good News. I found myself laughing – no, guffawing, loudly – many, many times as we were presented with a glorious diatribe on everything from maniacal boys gone wild to Katrina victims; meth addicts with a purpose to job interviewers that have odd ways of selecting their candidates. But it’s not just a comedic piece; it’s razor sharp in its wit and cynicism in a manner reminiscent of David Sedaris, Dennis Miller, Brian Unger, and Bill Mahr.
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by Diánna Martin on March 4, 2011
My Pal Izzy - The Early Life and Music of Irving Berlin featuring Melanie Gall
Imaginative and educational, Melanie Gall’s My Pal Izzy – The Early Life And Music Of Irving Berlin combines a healthy dose of fact and fiction as we are given a panoramic view of the life of brilliant composer Irving Berlin during his early formative years through his ill-fated albeit loving marriage to Dorothy Goetz. Our narrator, Rebecca, shares small stories behind several of his songs (many of which, in this fictionalized narrative, are based on their friendship) while the character also weaves in a considerable amount of history about the famed Berlin, who was born Israel Baline, and his childhood dreams that he hustled and worked so hard for to make a reality. As she describes the songs, she also shares them – with her opera-trained voice and pianist (John Murphy). Continue Reading…
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by Diánna Martin on March 3, 2011
Year of the Slut featuring Jen Lieberman (Photo by Lindsay Goldman)
Jennifer Lieberman’s one-woman show, Year of the Slut, is an odyssey through the life of a young Canadian getting her feet wet in the bright lights and big city of New York. The main things on her mind besides getting her acting career in high gear is to successfully 1) lose her virginity 2) survive the land mines of available yet dysfunctional bachelors who she finds herself involved with and 3) meet Mr. Right while opening up her horizons to channeling her sexuality through her creativity.
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by Diánna Martin on January 28, 2011
The National Newborn Festival has become, over the last four years, one of the premiere playwriting festivals in the country for emerging playwrights. A flagship program created and produced by MTWorks, an ever-growing, non-profit theatre company, Newborn allows playwrights to have a work never produced in New York be read in a festival setting.
Free and open to the public, this year’s festival is being sponsored by The City College of New York’s Psychology Club & Department and begins Thursday, February 3rd, and runs through Sunday, February 6th. This year we are showcasing the works of Duncan Pflaster, Rich Rubin, Marilynn Barner Anselmi, Riti Sachdeva, and Jacqueline Goldfinger.
David Stallings
The festival will kick off the first night with the reading of The ReEducation of Arizona by MTWorks’ Artistic Director and resident playwright David Stallings, and end the final evening with the Audience Favorite Award ceremony and a raffle, as well as an extra reading of the winning play. For 2011, in addition to the Audience Favorite Award which is selected by those who attend the readings, the MTWorks Board of Directors is presenting the first annual Excellence in Playwriting Award, to be announced prior to the festival.
I have directed a reading in the last two Newborn Festivals, and will be acting in this year’s, so I’m very excited about this brainchild that MTWorks has created…one that encourages playwrights, directors, and actors to come together and celebrate the artistic process. I asked the playwrights to talk a little bit about their work and their thoughts on said process.
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by Diánna Martin on October 19, 2010
Daniel McCoy, Cara Francis, Richard Gamboa, & Jill Beckman
Those who are even remotely familiar with the Off and Off-Off-Theatre scene in New York have, by this point, either heard of or seen work by the New York Neo-Futurists. The company, whose work has awarded them the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation‘s Caffe Cino Fellowship and the respect of critics and audiences alike, is known for pushing the envelope, to say the least. Thinking outside the box while creating said box is really what they do, and their latest piece (which is one of their longest, at a full hour compared to the dynamic two minute plays they are most known for) performed at The Living Theatre and incredibly well-directed by Rob Neill, is a tour of fear in a manner that most of us would never think of; but one can only be glad that they did and chose to share it with us.
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by Diánna Martin on June 25, 2010
Austin Pendleton (photo by George Hartpence)
In the fourth and final installment of our Oberon Theatre Ensemble Rep Interview Series, we’ve got a treat – actor, director, and teacher Austin Pendleton. With a body of work on stage and screen that has spanned several decades, Austin is a vocal and active member of the Off-Off-Broadway community, who has championed the need to recognize the importance of theatre at all levels. Austin is the director of Order, now extended until July 3rd at Theatre Row.
Austin took some time out of his insanely busy schedule to answer some questions about his work both with Oberon and his long career.
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