by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 27, 2011
There’s hardly a person out there who hasn’t been touched by a self-actualization movement of one type or another – be it a seminar, a book, a class or a friend whose life has changed and wants to share the experience (or worse yet, has a quota to fill). We’ve all seen it from The Forum to The Secret to est and everything in between. Of course, the thing that makes it so seductive to millions of people is that there’s a glimmer of Truth to it all, shaken (not stirred) with a full jigger of Hope.
Which is why, if you wandered into The
Laurie
Beechman
Theater not knowing what to expect you might assume you’ve stepped into any one of the hundreds of motivational seminars going on around the city – so earnestly is Geoffrey Decas touting the benefits of following the path of The Momentum. So convincing is he, in fact, that through your laughter you’ll have moments of “hey, that’s actually true” and “well, he’s got a point there” and “wow, I’ve felt that way”. Thing is, we’ve all felt isolated, lonely, depressed, no good, shoved aside, glossed over, ruled out, unnecessary, worthless, voiceless (um, stop me at any time here). And we’re all searching for that one thing that will give us purpose, put a spring in our step, a gleam in our eye, light the way, seal the breach, patch the hull, start the motor, pay for the check, and tuck us into bed. So, if something – anything – makes that promise . . . what harm can it do to give it a whirl? So it’s four easy payments of more than we can afford . . . so what? If it works, the benefits are priceless.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 25, 2011
A commercial, if it’s a good one, will do a few things: 1) Grab your interest 2) Make the product look good – or surround the product with other things that look good 3) Include an addictive catch phase 4) Tell a complete story that wouldn’t exist without the product 5) Finish up in under sixty seconds.
Avenue of the Americas, a play all about how advertising can affect society – specifically one very impressionable young woman – is a lot like a commercial. It’s interesting, looks good, is full of recognizable catch phrases, and finishes up in under sixty minutes. And, like a commercial, the initial message simply acts as window dressing for the real message hidden beneath.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 21, 2011
Age Out featuring Seated L-R, Nicholas John Mazza, Peter Welch, Bob Homeyer, Oliver Thrun Standing L-R, Michael Wetherbee, Patrick Pizzolorusso (Photo by Peter Welch)
There are a million stories in this city. But really, when you come right down to it – there are just about five stories that we have to tell each other at the end of a long day. There are the stories about fighting with our significant other, the stories about getting stabbed in the back by our best friend, the stories about how we must suffer through one form of bureaucracy or another, and every now and then the stories about something amazingly good that happened to us. But most of all we tell stories about our job. How we’re unemployed and looking for one, how we’re scared we’re about to lose one, how we hate the one we have or how we can’t wait to get a new one. Come to Age Out, written by Tom Diriwachter and directed by Jonathan Weber, and be prepared to hear a job tirade that will probably keep you from talking about your own job issues for a while.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 20, 2011
Liz Duffy Adams (photo by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey)
It’s no secret that as far as Theatre Ensembles go, Flux is one of my very favorites. Consistently turning out quality work that never fails to leave audiences utterly captivated and amazed, they set the off-off Broadway bar very high – only to sail over it with each successive production. I’m always expectant when I know a new Flux show is coming around because for me it means - as a reviewer as well as an audience member – a guaranteed great night of theatre.
Well, I won’t have to wait much longer to get my Flux Fix – because Liz Duffy Adams’ post-apocalyptic dark comedy, Dog Act, will be coming to the Flamboyan Theater (at the Clemente Solo Velez Cultural & Educational Center) on February 4th. Dog Act “follows Zetta Stone, a traveling performer, and her companion Dog (a young man undergoing a voluntary species demotion) as they walk through the wilderness of the former U.S.A. with their vaudeville troupe. They are heading toward a gig in China, if they can find it…and if they can survive to get there.” Sounds like nothing I’ve ever seen before – and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Flux!
In an interview with Liz Duffy Adams I was able to find out how this extraordinary play found this extraordinary ensemble; how she was able to make vaudeville and post apocalyptic themes mesh, and what undergoing a “voluntary species demotion” actually means . . .
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 14, 2011
Cindy Murphy is her name - Doppelganger Diptychs are her game
Back in the ’90s when Ricki Lake had her talk show and was pretty much at the height of her career (if she only knew it then!) it was kinda unavoidable for me to be compared to her – especially since she was still riding the coattails of her Hairspray fame (You should see me do the Madison). Yup, during the mid-90s, working in mid-town Manhattan, hardly a day went by without someone randomly calling out “Hey, Ricki!” to me as I went about my day. Sure, the pleasingly plump curves had a little something to do with it, but there was more to it – I was friendly, bubbly – and just like Ricki I also looked good holding a microphone and nodding in a concerned fashion when asking questions such as “Now, what exactly is ‘the down-low’?”. Of course, it’s not like anyone actually thought I was Ricki Lake – they were just acknowledging the similarity. If there’s one thing people enjoy doing, it’s pointing out similarities.
Here’s where Cindy Murphy comes in. Cindy not only enjoys finding similarities between two people, but she’s got a great eye for it, and lately has been doing more and more of what she’s coined Doppelganger Diptychs. What started as something Cindy did to relax or switch gears during a stressful day became a bit of a phenomenon among her friends as more and more of them started asking her to find their very own doppelganger.
With such talent it’s only fair that Cindy get an even wider audience to enjoy her work, so The Happiest Medium will now be featuring Doppelganger Diptychs on a regular basis. Today, we sit down with Cindy to find out how it all started, where the name came from, and what she looks for to make that perfect match.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 12, 2011
Connect Five photo by Suzi Sadler
We all want to feel deeply connected to someone else in a new way that surprises us. How that connection comes about - emotionally, physically, mentally or sexually – is actually secondary. When that unexpected connection locks in there’s a heightened state of awareness that can overpower our conventional systems and methods, an allure that can captivate our essential nature on a level that we can’t always put into words – quite possibly because some times there are no words. Some times there just is what we do, how it makes us feel, and that chance we’re willing to take to feel it again.
The four plays of Connect Five all deal with a connection that’s either surprising, suspicious, inescapable or indescribable, and the gratification (as well as the guilt), that can come about because of it.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by The Happiest Medium on January 9, 2011
The Happiest Medium Review by guest contributors Anjali Koppal and Saurabh Paranjape
Nightsong For The Boatman, a new play by the late Jovanka Bach and brought to life as a loving tribute by her husband John Stark, is an odd creature. Ostensibly a modern take on the ancient Greek play ‘Alcestis’, Nightsong is a strangely excruciating experience, a rambling mess dripping with unfulfilled potential.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Lina Zeldovich on January 9, 2011
Mark Twain’s short story A Fable gets a dazzling rebirth in A Wonderfully Flat Thing, when Manju Shandler (the artistic director who had previously designed masks and puppetry for The Lion King on Broadway) brings her creative talent to this small but charming production which appeals to everyone from age three and up. The script has been adapted for the stage by Valerie Work, Manju Shandler, & Basmat Hazan.
In this reinterpretation, Mark Twain (Jake Goodman) is working on a new story that has to do with a big mirror in his room. When he falls asleep, his Cat (Emily Hartford) discovers a beautiful cat in “the wonderfully flat thing” and runs into the forest to tell her friends about it. Skeptical at first, the menagerie decides to investigate and convinces Donkey (Jake Goodman) to go into the house. Donkey, of course, sees a donkey in “the wonderfully flat thing,” contradicting Cat’s story. The controversy is brought up to King Elephant (Shawn Shafner), who sends out Snake (Sarah Painter) followed by Ostrich (Sarae Garcia) to settle the matter. Snake reports witnessing a snake. Ostrich comes back in tears, telling a sad story of a big clumsy bird who wanted to soar with the seagulls, but couldn’t fly. Finally, King Elephant embarks on the adventure himself, discovering his own reflection in “the wonderfully flat thing.”
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 6, 2011
Four writers plus one audience equals Connect Five – The Common Tongue’s evening of one-act plays which will be going on from January 5 – 16 at The Ars Nova Building. The night brings together two emerging playwrights – Danny Mitarotondo (recipient of the Edward F. Albee Writing Fellowship) and Bronwen Prosser (Vital Theatre’s The Picasso Project) – with two established playwrights – Wendy MacLeod (Schoolgirl Figure; The House of Yes) and Lucy Thurber (Scarcity; Bottom of the World).
All four writers were kind enough to take a moment out of their busy schedules to do a short Q&A with me before I go to review the show.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
by Karen Tortora-Lee on December 27, 2010
When I was a little girl there was nothing I wanted to see more than Mummenschanz at the Bijou Theatre. To me it appeared to be a magical, strange show that made no sense yet appealed to me in ways I couldn’t put into words. Which was possibly the point, as Mummenschanz was a completely wordless production of a string of vingettes using a form of theatre that eclipsed mime but obviously paved the way for Blue Man Group.
Continue Reading…
Related Posts:
