by Antonio Miniño on July 31, 2011
by James Lantz
There is theater outside of NYC, my friends, and I recently discovered Burlington, VT to be a thriving arts community with fresh ideas, innovative expressions and fascinating creators. Karen and The Happiest Medium have always inspired and encouraged us to think outside of the NYC box and bring topics and people located outside of the concrete jungle to our faithful happiest readers.
A New York filmmaker – saved maybe by premonition – packed his bags a decade ago for Burlington, VT and is now ready to present his evocative and important play The Bus at 59E59 Theatres in Manhattan, premiering October 4th and playing through the 30th. James Lantz answered some questions about his work and Vermont life.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on July 24, 2011
All I can ever be to you,
Is a darkness that we knew, And this regret I’ve grown accustom to.
– “Tears Dry On Their Own” / Amy Winehouse
There’s always a little bit of “what if” and “why didn’t someone” and “stop demonizing / vilifying / glorifying them now just because they’re dead” that goes on right after a controversial celebrity dies suddenly (although never quite unexpectedly). And today is no different, as I watch my friends debate Amy Winehouse some saying ”What a tragedy” and others saying “I’m surprised she lasted this long”. Meanwhile, the ones who like to hear themselves talk, are gratuitously pointing out that she died as she lived and had no one to blame but herself. Yes. We’re all aware of who Amy Winehouse was publicly. The talent. The trainwreck. And ultimately, the tragedy.
I’m not really here to ruminate on her death. I’m just here to memorialize someone who broke my heart.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 18, 2011
I’m glad when they arrive and I’m glad when they leave. I’m glad when I hear their heels approaching my door and I’m glad when those heels walk away. I’m glad to fuck. I’m glad to care. And I’m glad when it’s over. And since it’s always either starting or finishing I’m glad most of the time.
– Charles Bukowski
It’s obvious that Austin McCormick’s grasp of creating a theatre experience reaches far beyond what merely happens on stage. The more I attend performances in the Company XIV space at 303 Bond Street in Brooklyn the more I am treated to McCormick’s all-encompassing way of choreographing not only movement but sensation. From the way the space transforms each time into a whole new configuration to the heady red wine that greets you (or bubbly sparking water for those who don’t partake) to the strange set that seems almost unfinished in spots, you know it’s all carefully constructed – nothing haphazard or random ever occurs here – and once the lights go out and the projections appear it all makes sense. More than sense – it all makes magic.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 17, 2011
There are so many ways that the notion of gender can be fucked with (or – to continue a theme “f*cked” with) that the idea of throwing it all up there on the stage and cabareting the hell out of is an appealing one. Mariah MacCarthy’s The All-American Genderf*ck Cabaret (directed by Heidi Handelsman) takes a whole lotta gender and then, indeed, fucks with it like crazy.
All the stereotypes are there in full force: as Ms. MacCarthy put it in her interview with me earlier this month “a Feminine Woman, a Feminine Man, a Masculine Woman, a Masculine Man, a Gay Woman, a Gay Man, a Promiscuous Woman, and a Promiscuous Man. Which translates roughly into Girly Girl, Nice Guy/Metrosexual, Tomboy, Meathead, Feminist Lesbian, Gay Best Friend, Slut, and Player.” However, even though these labels are slapped onto the envelopes of these characters, they are soon peeled away with just as much intention. So, just when you think you know what’s what you’ll find that the tough girl, Devon, (Lauren Hennessy) is actually not a lesbian (what?) - she’s just a tomboy. And that sweet guy, Benji (Jordan Tierney)? No, he is not gay (huh?). He’s actually very straight – and the best lover his (promiscuous girlfriend) Gwen (Catherine LeFrere) has ever had. Meanwhile the mouthy guy, Dick (Jamahl Garrison-Lowe) who talks the talk doesn’t walk the walk at all. He’s a (gasp) virgin and would rather talk to his toddler nephew than seriously pursue a woman. But you’d never know it from the way he throws out statistics of his romantic conquests.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 14, 2011
Meet Simon and Kim – passionate. About their cause (we’ll get to that in a moment), about each other (when we meet them they’re taking a cozy bath together) and about their work which (currently) is a documentary film they’re shooting called The Un-Marrying Project. As it stands, this play IS the film. Or is it the other way around?
So passionate are they about their work, their relationship and their cause that it all blends together for them in one big ball of “Here we are! Simon and Kim!” (Exclaimed in unison, no less. Well … after some practice). They’re so deeply connected that they even have joint panic attacks. (Awwww – cute). But is all this passion enough to get them through their act of civil disobedience – The Un-Marrying Project: documenting the process of several married couples who willingly get un-married (yes, also known as divorced) in the name of protest … living apart until ALL people can be married EVERYWHERE? In other words … they’ve decided that until Gay Marriage is legal, no marriage should be valid and several brave couples are taking up the cause, allowing their journey to be filmed. So here’s the question … can they all stay committed to the cause? To the film? To each other? Is their committment as strong as their passion?
In The Un-Marrying Project writer Larry Kunofsky has taken a controversial matter and then turned it inside out. This is no easy topic and Kunofsky doesn’t gloss over any of it. With the overarching premise being that we’re watching two documentary film makers (Documentarians!) create a record for posterity, we gain access into nooks of participants lives in ways that perhaps they wouldn’t be so quick to divulge.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 8, 2011
Bricken Sparacino sure has been licked a lot in her life … but not exactly the way you’d expect from a show titled I’m Not Sure I Like The Way You Licked Me!. I mean, of course, there is the requisite anecdote about the guy who french kissed her in a way that was more akin to a barbecue pit chef mopping ribs with secret sauce, leaving her face covered in saliva and in need of a good rinsing … but this solo show (directed by Lori Kee) has a few more licks in it – the kind of licks that could also be called bummers, hard knocks, and just plain disappointments.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 4, 2011
If you’ve never directed a show you probably don’t have any idea how many things need to be juggled, handled, addressed, discussed, solved, finessed, smoothed out, put in order … it boggles the mind. I asked my beloved friend Antonio Minino to tell me what a random day is like for him as he directs David Stallings’ The Family Shakespeare for MT Works. I need a nap just reading his answers!
The Family Shakespeare is a magical and dark fictional look into the dangers and consequences of caging innocence. It is inspired by the true story of the Bowdler family and delves into the psyche of a family who thinks it has the right to cross out and modify words with the supposed aim to protect youth and purity.
As the director of this ambitious tale Antonio is busy from (early) morning till night (or … would that be even earlier morning?). Here is a breakdown of how he spent his Saturday …
UP AND AT ‘EM
When did you wake up?
Around 8am today.
The amount of times you hit the snooze button
I actually don’t hit the snooze button, I just check my phone (which is my alarm clock) every 2 minutes to see how many minutes I can get away with – I should probably start embracing the snooze.
The cups of coffee you need to wake up
Two cups will do it! Normally I brew it at home but with rehearsals I’ve been buying it at the closest deli or Starbucks to wherever we are rehearsing that day.
The time you REALLY feel awake
Lately around 11am - I’m normally a good morning person, when I hit the gym I like doing it at 6am – last time that routine happened it was 1985… no just kidding, it was a couple of months ago. The show has changed all my routines and added back the 10 pounds I had successfully lost.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 4, 2011
Gay Plays for Straight People (and also gay people) is comprised of two plays which will play in rep brought to you by the new theatre company Purple Rep founded by playwrights Larry Kunofsky and Mariah MacCarthy. The plays - Kunofsky’s The Un-Marrying Project and MacCarthy’s The All-American Genderf*ck Cabaret – will run from April 8-30 at The Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery).
Larry and Mariah took some time to answer my questions and give me some straight answers (and also some not-just-straight answers) about what they’re passionate about, how they explore the fuckupedness of both genders, what it means, exactly, to be “un-married”, and how they intend to keep blending it all up in an effort to keep it Purple. Read on …
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 4, 2011
Linda Evangelista is the source of the oft-quoted line “I won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” I’ve often paraphrased and said that I won’t get out of bed before six a.m. unless a number like that is mentioned. Yeah, well … how about a number like over 5 million?
Let me explain …
Horse Trade Theater Group (Erez Ziv, Managing Director, Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director) learned today [March 30th] that 94. St. Marks Place, home to UNDER St. Marks Theater has been put up for sale at the market rate of $5,750,000.
Regular readers of The Happiest Medium know that UNDER St. Marks Theater is one of the theatres that I return to time and time again. It’s where I first laid eyes on Killy Dwyer and Kill The Band, it’s where Alex Bond did her staged reading of Late Nights With The Boys, it’s where Penny Pollak holds Penny’s Open Mic and where Gigi LaFemme holds Revealed Burlesque. It’s where I saw Heidi Grumelot make a sock puppet into something much more in Donnie and the Monsters. UNDER St. Marks is home to not only an army of downtown theatre artists but also to countless people who sit in the audience and shower them with love. People like … me.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 2, 2011
On the last day of March Women’s History Month came to a close but today we have one final curtain call – with two amazing women from the world of opera: Brooke Bryant and Minou Arjomand.
Yes, March is officially over. But, like I said in the title, it’s over when *I* say it’s over … and I say it’s over when the Phat Ladies sing. (Yeah, yeah. I know. No one really uses “Phat” any more. But in this case it was really funny).
I’m fortunate that, in my business (the business of show) I don’t just interact, experience and enjoy a variety of talented people from a range of genres, but my virtual cup runneth over within each of those categories. Take opera for instance. I’ve mentioned often enough that I’ve been a dedicated devotee since my early childhood but I’m thrilled that now, in my role as editor and founder of The Happiest Medium I have been able to truly know so many talent people.
Earlier in this series I showcased Brett Umlauf who is one third of the amazing trio Charites. Today, soprano Brooke Bryant tells us more about this all female group; specifically what their challenges are and who inspires them.
Earlier Brett also mentioned a recent production of Morningside Opera’s Handel pastiche ATRA: Ossia, L’amore Ricordato which was cast “as a lesbian love triangle, the powerful castrato role being sung by a woman and *played* as a woman, i.e., not dressed in pants and a painted on moustache. The director, Minou Arjomand, will be telling you more about that process hopefully very soon.” Well, we’re grateful that “very soon” is now … Minou will be speaking with us from a director’s perspective about how she is reinventing the stereotypical “bland” women’s roles.
And now, for our grand finale – take it away, ladies! Continue Reading…
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