by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 14, 2012
You may think my life is all about going to shows, sitting in the dark, absorbing — going back home … writing reviews. It is NOT. My life is about highlighting, showcasing and celebrating the talented people of the independent entertainment world that I am lucky enough to experience. I only know how to do that one way: by knowing their work first, and then – if it works out – by meeting them for interviews, then seeing them socially … then interviewing them again. It helps when I can know the artist from the inside out – Know Them: Know Their Work. In turn: Know Their Work … Understand How To Distill It To An Audience. Voila - suddenly it’s all second nature.
Larry Kunofsky and I started out like any playwright/reviewer. But we soon learned that we had a lot to say to each other. A LOT. Larry is many things: a playwright, a thinker, a brilliant man. He’s as much an interviewer as an interviewee, and that’s what makes for a good give and take. In a few weeks The Management Theater Company will be doing his play Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary. I had a lot to ask him. He had a lot to tell me. As a result I ended up with a two parter – and so did you, lucky reader. So, grab a drink and get ready to find out why New York City on a Saturday Night can be like falling down the rabbit hole, read why every relationship has an imaginary component to it, and, if Feist gets mentioned, play some of her music as you read. That’s what the link is for.
Love the title: Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary.
Larry Kunofsky: Thanks, Karen. I won’t deny it, some of my titles are pretty nifty. I’ll let people like you speak to the merits of the plays themselves, but I hope that you and your readers will indulge me my little self-back-patting when it comes to Title-Pride.
If a play is sex, then a good title is foreplay. And if giving good foreplay is my legacy, I’ll accept my lot in life.
And we’re off!
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 8, 2012
Even casual readers of The Happiest Medium know that when it comes to Company XIV and Austin McCormick I am reduced to a screaming fan-girl. I am older, of course -not a girl, so my screaming is done on the inside (most of the time), but when it comes to this neo-baroque dance ensemble everything about them makes my heart race, my temperature elevate and my eyes tear up. Every time I walk through the doors of the theatre at Bond Street I shiver with antici ————————-pation about what will greet me – for here I have seen the most dazzling pieces of multi-media theatre I have ever experienced. EVER.
This week Company XIV has been holding a workshop where Austin McCormick, Laura Careless and guest instructors have been showing gifted dancers the Company XIV way. I will be moderating a discussion with Austin from 1.15pm-3pm tomorrow, Friday, March 9 at the Company XIV studio at 303 Bond Street, Brooklyn. If you’re free, come on down. If you’re busy – break your plans. Because after you read this, you’ll want to see this man in person.
I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on the workshop Tuesday afternoon and even though I was there for hours the time flew and my mind raced as I was captivated by what I saw unfold before me. This opportunity was like a dream come true – akin to (I can only imagine) being able to go to spring training if you love baseball. It’s watching your idol, your hero, behind the curtain, in the process of creating magic in a way that few ever get to experience.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 5, 2012
Every year the Frigid Festival gives us a hangover – of shows, that is! A Frigid Hangover has nothing to do with alcohol but it has everything to do with shots! As in — these shows get one more shot at entertaining audiences.
HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP
PRESENTS THE
2012 FRIGID HANGOVERS
THE BEST & BRIGHTEST FROM
THIS YEARS FESTIVAL
Horse Trade Theater Group (Erez Ziv, Managing Director, Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director) is proud to present the third annual FRIGID Hangovers, March 5-10 at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery). They’re bringing back the best and the brightest from this years festival, so don’t miss your second chance to catch standout performances of the shows below:
FRIGID Hangovers will run March 5-10 at The Kraine Theater. Tickets ($18-$20) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.
* * *
Stripper Lesbians
Hangover: Mon 3/5 @ 7pm
Evan, a woman’s studies major, is writing a killer senior thesis– by becoming a stripper at her favorite strip club. In between her current girlfriend, a stripper-lesbian, and her ex boyfriend, an unemployed Tisch graduate, Evan dances the line between love and betrayal. A comedy about what it really means to be ‘in love with a stripper’ and what it means to become one.
What we said: Sure, the show is sexy, shows a lot of skin, and has no problem exploring the more intimate moments of the relationship, but Rising Sun’s inherent intelligence as an ensemble ensures that your skin is served up with a side of thoughtful, though-provoking drama which explores the title rather than exploits it.
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by The Happiest Medium on March 5, 2012
The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre.
Are you ready to rock? No, seriously, are you? Because Traveling Musicians, the glam-rock quartet straight out of the barnyard, are ready to help you find your inner animal.
This merry band of misfits is comprised of four multi-instrumentalist critters–a cat, a dog, a donkey and a rooster. Based on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, The Town Musicians of Bremen, the theatrical rock concert is brought to life by the Minneapolis-import theater company, 3 Sticks.
Billed as the reunion show for the aptly named “Rooster Donkey Cat Dog” (later changed to the much edgier moniker, “Cock Ass Pussy Bitch” or “CAPB”), this hour-long show is a silly, satirical romp through the lighter side of rock clichés. CAPB battles drug addiction (Donkey becomes hooked on sugar cubes), relentless groupies (Rooster’s harem of chicks), attempts to branch out as a bigger brand (Cat pursues a career in fashion), or rising above the rest (Dog, a born howler, is offered a solo gig), making for a tumultuous retrospective on their battles with fame and fortune.
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by The Happiest Medium on March 3, 2012
The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre
For those of us tucked up in the Northeast part of the country, Hurricane Katrina is a distant memory, a tragedy of nearly a decade ago. But for those still feeling the effects down South its presence is constant. Siobhan O’Louglin gives a voice to the personal stories in her solo show, The Rope in Your Hands (playing at The Red Room). Through thirteen different first-hand survivor accounts, O’Loughlin deftly moves through the before and after of one of the most devastating disasters in recent memory.
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by The Happiest Medium on March 3, 2012
The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre
John Grady loves the show “Fear Factor.” He has his theories and his predictions about how the insane game show will play out, and is especially drawn to the “Couples Edition,” where young die-hards compete, and, predictably lose, to the old married pair with many anniversaries to their name. Despite his intrigue and obsession with these thrill-seeking duos, Grady has only had one serious relationship in his life: with Abby, his Bernese mountain dog.
In Fear Factor: Canine Edition (running at The Kraine Theater), Grady tells the hilarious and heartbreaking story of his life with Abby, and some of the moments that bonded them forever. Intercut with an account of Abby’s last days before she had to be put down at the age of 13, Grady’s stories are beautiful and impassioned, but told simply, with ease and humor.
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by Stephen Tortora-Lee on March 3, 2012
David Lawson’s solo show, VCR Love, had a limited engagement recently at The Brick Theater. Bold and innovative, this show explored the consequences, both positive and negative, of the increasing availability of porn in American society as seen through his own experiences.
The story begins with Lawson’s first “exposure” to explicit nudity at the impressionable age of 11 (a quick calculation based on context would put the year at 1995) when Lawson saw his first pair of naked female breasts which made an appearance in the seminal classic Animal House. The mental sensations of this discovery along with the struggle to replicate this initial thrill move him through the next few years of his life from stolen Victoria’s Secret catalogs to taping the “good parts” of MTV like Fiona Apple and Mariah Carey in there slinky skimpies. “It meant more because of the time I spent waiting for those precious moments on tv, and it would now be preserved forever”. VCR love, indeed.
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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 Karen Tortora-Lee on March 1, 2012
When you read that the title of a play is as blatant as Stripper Lesbians you might be led to believe that what you are about to see is nothing more than a show which has women in various states of undress (personally or professionally), making out a lot. However, read further to “Rising Sun Performance Company” and your perspective quickly changes. Sure, the show is sexy, shows a lot of skin, and has no problem exploring the more intimate moments of the relationship, but Rising Sun’s inherent intelligence as an ensemble ensures that your skin is served up with a side of thoughtful, though-provoking drama which explores the title rather than exploits it.
So, who are these stripper lesbians of the title?
First there’s Evan (Amanda Berry). She strips, of course, but identifies herself first and foremost as a woman’s studies major. After all, she wouldn’t even be stripping if she wasn’t writing her senior thesis (cleverly titled “Stripper Lesbians”) as an insider’s exposé on what it’s like to be dating a sex worker.
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