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by Karen Tortora-Lee on October 9, 2011
Doric Wilson passed away May 7th of this year. Some may know him as an American playwright, director, producer, critic and gay rights activist. Others may know him as the founder of TOSOS (The Other Side Of Silence) which was the first professional gay theatre company. But to many he was much, much more … and so to honor this man A Celebration of the Life of Doric Wilson will be held on Monday, October 10th at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St., New York City, from 6-8pm. The event is free and open to the public; reservations are not required.
Alex Bond was one of the many people who was able to experience Doric Wilson in a personal way. Today she shares a tribute she’d written not long after his death which highlights how the energy of this man shone over her and how privileged she felt for the few months she was able to share with him.
Dear Friends of Doric,
The first time I saw Doric Wilson was when he made his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the Fresh Fruit of Distinction Awards in July 2010. He was so charming, intelligent, witty and irreverent (four of my favorite qualities in a human being) that I gathered up my courage (I am extremely shy) and emailed him. I hoped some day to meet him.
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by Antonio Miniño on March 6, 2011
The Body Politic at 59E59
We asked the producers of The Body Politic at 59E59 to entice us in 59 words to check out their last performance today.
The Off-Broadway debut of At Hand Theatre Company has received some great mentions and satisfied audience members. They think The Happiest Medium readers would like it because:
The number one reason you should see The Body Politic is because it is a fun, clever, romantic comedy. The second big reason is because it closes on Sunday, March 6th! The third reason you should check it out is to see the amazing cast of Matt Boston, Eve Danzeisen, Brian Dykstra, Daren Kelly, Michael Puzzo and Leslie Hendrix!
Final performance Sunday, March 6th at 3:15pm
59 East 59th Theaters are located at 59 East 59th Street, New York, NY
Tickets $35.00 (59E59 Members $24.50)
BUY TICKETS
IN PERSON: 59E59 Theaters Box Office
59 East 59th Street (betw. Park & Madison)
BY PHONE: 212-279-4200
ONLINE: www.59E59.org
59E59 Member E:Line 212-753-5959 ext. 104
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by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson on February 17, 2011
Justin Bond
They are you know! Almost six inch high heels. In about a size 11. Men’s. (“Are those the Louboutins?”) And Justin Bond, in a streamlined, sequined black leggings ensemble is emerging through that awkward little back flap stage entrance-way at Joe’s Pub for another evening of his winter show run, simply entitled “Justin Vivian Bond”. It’s a softer-looking, even smoother-looking Justin, not the simmering, barely-contained Kiki DuRane persona he is so celebrated for creating, squinting eyes and war paint lipstick. Justin tonight has a touch of pale blue sparkling eye shadow and even a far away look. The lips are almost demurely pink. And the hair is a red swoop, like a protective veil for the pale, angular face. If you look closely (I have a table which is virtually on the stage) you can discern the light covering of powder masking a hint of a blue 5 o’clock shadow.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on November 9, 2010
It may not make sense to celebrate the past five years of your relationship with a performance of The Last Five Years – the musical. After all, for 50 percent of the show your job as an audience member is to painfully watch this fledgling relationship between Cathy and Jamie disintegrate while trying not to openly cry. (That’s right, tough guy. I saw you.)
However, just as Cathy belts out to Jamie - “I have been waiting for you . . .” similarly I have been waiting to see a production of The Last Five Years for a REALLY long time now. Strangely, while this amazing musical has been performed ’round the world in countries as varied as Mexico, Greece and Hungary (even being translated into German and Dutch) and even though it made its off-Broadway debut at the Minetta Lane Theatre (Right there! Minetta Lane!) it still has remained strangely elusive to me. So, in our little corner of the world, it actually made perfect sense for my husband and me to mark the 5th anniversary of our 1st date – our Last Five Years – with a viewing of Stage Left Productions The Last Five Years. But wait - it meant we had to travel all the way to Southern New Jersey. ONE HUNDRED miles and TWO hours away from the off-off Broadway community that I know so well.
So . . . was it worth it? Continue Reading…
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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 Sarah V. Schweig on May 17, 2010
photo by Enrico Luttmann
Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal;
bad poets deface what they take, and good poets
make it into something better, or at least something different.
T.S. Eliot
The very idea of Three Sisters Come and Go was risky to begin with. A collaborative effort between the actors — Liza Cassidy, Claire Helene and Jackie Lowe –, the director, Orietta Crispino, and dramaturg, Marco Casazza, the play would open with Samuel Beckett’s “dramaticule,” Come and Go, and then the following scenes would be drawn from the texts of Anton Chekhov’s four major plays: Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Sea Gull, and The Three Sisters (which, to add to the complexity of the intertextuality, is a play based loosely on the three Bronte sisters), and the entirety of the play was to be governed by Structuralist philosopher and critic Julia Kristeva’s ideas about … something or other.
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by Diánna Martin on March 20, 2010
I was just having a conversation with a fellow actor who is also the Literary Manager for one of my favorite theatre companies, and we were discussing how incredibly difficult it is to stage a successful production of Titus Andronicus. Considered by most to be Shakespeare’s most bloody and violent play; one based on the many faces of revenge while still maintaining the despair of an almost Lear-like character whose mistakes compound upon one another to bring about the demise of his family and himself, ultimately. Despite the gore, the mutilation, the madness – American Globe Theatre’s production of Titus is remarkable in its simplicity and ability to tell one of my favorite tales in a manner that is palatable and WORKS.
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by Diánna Martin on March 17, 2010
Leslie Goshko
Storytellers. Monologists. One-Woman Shows. The lines blur in the art forms because they are often one in the same. Sometimes the difference is subtle, and I find that sometimes it has to do with how much is taken from personal life stories. An actor (hopefully) personalizes the choices he or she makes on stage; but when you are actually sharing personal tales of your life, then you are no longer acting; you are re-living those events, and hopefully, enlightening the audience with how truly bizarre/beautiful/hilarious/tragic those events are. I found Vodka Shoes (written and performed by Leslie Goshko) to be a really beautiful piece that went beyond the story of an alcoholic father and somewhat dysfunctional family; it was about how that family survived through its love – and all the little things that kept the our narrator, Leslie Goshko, sane along the way.
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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 Diánna Martin on February 26, 2010
Lauren Roth as Clair and Tyler Hollinger as Chris
What do you get when you pair a narcissistic, yet emotionally fragile sex addict with her wanna-be-normal husband, whose penchant for punishing women is taken out on his wife’s lover’s girlfriend? The result is something even more bizarre and difficult to follow than that opening sentence. Kaleidoscope Theatre’s “Sex and Violence” did its best to shock the audience into submission, but unfortunately it really just backfired because all of the sex and violence in the world won’t fill in the enormous gaps in the plot, script, acting and character development.
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