If you don’t yet recognize this face yet live in New York City, you may as well be living under a rock.
This week I am featuring one of my favorite young actors, Jesse Eisenberg, because he is just incredible, and should be mentioned in every hot topic column regarding film actors.
Being the editor and founder of The Happiest Medium has its privileges. I’d like to think that I know how to delegate but I’ll be honest – when an opportunity came up to interview Ms. Alex Bond I took it for myself because I’d been wanting to meet this wonderful lady ever since I’d seen her show Late Nights With The Boys. I was fortunate to also see Ms. Alex Bond in the MTWorks production of David Stallings’ Barrier Island. She is currently playing opposite David in Cody Daigle’s A Home Across The Ocean.
Ms. Bond is one of those rare performers whose light shines out so brightly that you can see her eyes twinkle from the back row. I admit that I was nervous to meet her and sit down with her but, of course, Alex is as warm and dear as she comes across on stage and she not only gave me a great interview but she also shared some deep insight into A Home Across The Ocean.
We sat down for lunch earlier this month while rehearsals for this play were still going on. Now that A Home Across The Ocean is in its last week there’s still time to get your tickets, and I urge you to do so. I’ll let my interview with Alex explain why . . .
There’s something truly wonderful about smartly written children’s stories. When you look at the enduring ones they’re not still around because they’re cute or funny or have clever titles . . . they’re still around because they teach an amazing lesson in a subtle and gentle way. So, while Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana has a title I could say over and over again and still laugh – I don’t think it’s gotten as far as it has on funny alone. In fact, after hearing what creator Croft Vaugh had to say about his play, I think the reason this show has come this far is because its creator is as extraordinary as its topic.
Beginning as solo play performed by Croft Vaughn himself, Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana was first presented as part of Six Figures Theatre Company’s Artists of Tomorrow Festival at the Westside Theatre in December 2006. From there it went to both the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2007) and the Indianapolis Fringe Festival (2008). The new 5-person version of the play was presented in 2008 as part of The Management’s Salon Reading Series. Now, audiences will be able to see the first fully staged production of the ensemble version of Stinky Flowers and the Bad Banana at UNDER St. Marks.
Today Croft Vaugh tells me about the challenges of turning a solo-show into an ensemble piece, he explains how Fairy Tales are filled with parental imagery, and he gives some advice on how to transform yourself into a monkey . . .
Burlesque is about fun and mischief, and Revealed Burlesque is as mischievous and revealing as it gets.
The producer, Doc Wasabassco and co-producer GiGi La Femme, who is also the star of the show, have the moxie and sexy to create a one-of-a-kind neo-burlesque, that combined everything from female allure to the beauty of a human body to a hearty laugh with some deliciously dirty thoughts thrown in. Hosted by the hilarious Bastard Keith along with his stage kitten sidekick, Madame Rosebud, this monthly striptease extravaganza makes your fantasies come true. Perhaps it can even teaches you a thing or two that you always wanted to know but you were embarrassed to ask.
2nd Ave Poetry, vol 3: The Occult
Saturday, September 25
5-7 pm
FREE (or with suggested donation)
The Creek and The Cave
10-93 Jackson Ave, Long Island City
(on the E, G, & 7 train, B61 bus)
featuring readings & multimedia performances by
mitch HIGHFILL * toni SIMON * hector CANONGE * charles BORKHUIS * priscilla STADLER* brenda COULTAS * jill MAGI * kelly SPIVEY * douglas a. MARTIN * mark LAMOUREAUX
downstairs after-party with live set by dj DESPO
volume 3 also includes work by
kevin KILLIAN * leslie SCALAPINO * dodie BELLAMY* jeremy THOMPSON * rit PREMNATH * caitlin PARKER * tsering wangmo DHOMPA * thom DONOVAN * r. zamora LINMARK * thomas FINK * denise DUHAMEL * filip MARINOVICH * ca CONRAD * frank SHERLOCK * lyn GOERINGER * matt JONES * clayton ESHLEMAN * charles BERNSTEIN * stephanie GRAY * gerrit LANSING * vincent KATZ * rusty MORRISON * laynie BROWNE * tim PETERSON * john HARKEY * r.m. ENGELHARDT * emmy CATEDRAL * yago CURA * ernest CONCEPCION * jonny FARROW * alan ramon CLINTON
Remember the days before DVR and instant streaming NetFlix when, if you wanted to watch TV you sorta had to watch whatever was on? Yeah . . . good times.
An afternoon of TV was an eclectic mixed bag of cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms. Now imagine that it’s the future – the end of the world . . .and there IS NO TV. Except there is. Well, kinda. That is . . . there are these two gals, see? And they’re the only gals left alive. And they find you there one day and they figure they’ll entertain you by putting on the TV. But you read the part about them being the only gals left on the planet, right? So TV is an eclectic mixed bag of . . . cooking shows, public access chat fests and random syndicated sitcoms. I’ve seen the future, and it is my past — eerily similar to Saturday, May 21, 1988 . . . the day my first boyfriend broke up with me and I spent the day staring at the TV and chain smoking Virginia Slims. But I digress.
Due to an overwhelming audience response, sold-out performances, and critical acclaim Donnie And The Monsters (written by Robert J. Gibbs and directed by Heidi G.Grumelot) has been extended for two ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES!
Read my review and then go check out the show!!!
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DONNIE AND THE MONSTERS WRITTEN BY ROBERT J. GIBBS DIRECTED BY HEIDI G. GRUMELOT Presented by Horse Trade Theater Group UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place (between 1st Ave and Ave A). . .
Tickets ($18) are available by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444 click here
Why would anyone want a job at The Hobby Lobby? A Parts-R-Us for those who can’t stop themselves from scapbooking, and otherwise decorating what is probably already an over-decorated house . . . The Hobby Lobby is a buzzing little hub of activity filled with the quaintest of characters. But again . . . why would anyone want a job there?
Specifically, why would Will (Andrew Garman) want a job there? He looks like he can do more than just handle a register – and goodness knows he’s certainly past the age where this job holds any challenge for him.
So . . . why?
I left a screening late last night of “I’m Still Here” disturbed, alarmed, and literally unable to sleep afterward. The ‘documentary film’ directed by Casey Affleck centers around the retirement of actor and brother in law Joaquin Phoenix, and his decision to descend into a downward spiral into the world of hip hop. After two years of speculation, the film ultimately was not real, and more along the lines of films like “Don’t Look Back” and “This is Spinal Tap”. However, I am not sure where that leaves us.
Miss Saturn (Photo by Paule Saviano)
Hula Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask? Or, to rephrase a bit . . . Who The Hell Is Miss Saturn? you ask?
That’s me giving you an assist on how to parse the title, since (quite frankly) until Miss Saturn herself shouted it from backstage it wasn’t quite as punny to my ear. That’s okay – I’m sure Miss Saturn (given name: Jennifer McGowan) is fine with me facilitating her in this instance, since a lot of her act relies on the audience’s willingness to actively participate in a good half of the performance. If you’re up for the task, Hula Hell is a helluva good time.
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