This week, I’d like to feature one of my favorite singers and actresses of the past 20 years- Vanessa Paradis. If you are only familair with Ms. Paradis as the wife of Johnny Depp, you are sadly missing out. In France, this woman is a star-and has indeed earned it.
Full disclosure – I went to Heathcliff Entertainment’s production of The House of Yes (written by Wendy MacLeod and directed by Brandt Reiter) full of anticipation. The movie of the same name (based on MacLeod’s play) had long been my litmus test; if someone loved the film as much as I did, then I knew we’d be friends. If someone didn’t get it . . . well, let’s just say we didn’t exchange holiday cards after that.
So seeing one of my favorite movies in its original form on stage was, I knew, going to be great fun for me. And this production, starring Jonathan Blakeley as Marty, Tommy Heleringer as Anthony, Marcia Everitt as Mrs. Pascal, Zoë Swenson as Jackie-O, and Hilary Bettis as Lesly lived up to my expectations and more. Still, this is a story with a lot of bite so before you go I suggest you arrive prepared. (Don’t worry, no spoilers ahead).
viBe Theater Experience (viBe) is a non-profit performing arts/ education organization that empowers teenage girls through the creation and production of original performances.
viBeSolos is an advanced program for independent, courageous young women interested in writing and performing a solo show.
Four to six girls, individually, create their own “one-girl-show” workshopped and guided in collaboration with a professional dramaturg/director and the other participants. viBeSolos express each girl’s unique vision of her world. Since 2004, viBe has produced the extraordinary solo performances of over 30 young women.
And it’s going on right now! 4 original one-girl-shows written & performed by amazing teenage girls.
Don’t miss:
Elaina’s “reflections through a stained glass window”
Natasha’s “cirque de natasha”
Sabrina’s “alter-ego”
Tiffany’s “how to spell”
Monday April 19 at 7pm
Tuesday April 20 at 7pm
at HERE Arts Center – 145 6th ave (btw Spring & Broome; enter on Dominick)
ADMISSION IS FREE!
I haven’t seen a really good on-stage comedy in a while, so when I heard about No Tea Production’s latest show called Poppycock (written and directed by Jeremy Mather) playing at Under Saint Marks I can definitely say I was excited to see what the evening had in store.
I think it’s happened to all of us; there’s that one great memory – a perfectly time phrase at just the right moment, or a they’ll-never-believe-this experience you shared with someone, or a you-had-to-be-there anecdote that left the two of you shaking with laughter. Years later you bring up the treasure to your partner in crime with a face-splitting grin: “Hey, remember the time we . . .” only to be greeted with a blank stare. They shake their head, look confused, eyes are vacant . . . no, no . . . they can’t remember. Are you SURE it was them? You start retelling the whole thing in earnest, hoping something will spark their memory but suddenly even though it’s just like yesterday for you, for your friend the moment is gone and might as well have never happened. It leaves you with almost the opposite of deja vu, not a “this happened before” moment, but a “did it really happen?” moment. Now imagine a world where everyone is losing their language; words they said to you just moments ago suddenly become meaningless to them. And if the word becomes meaningless so does the concept. And therefore, so does the conversation. And soon, possibly the whole delicate framework of your relationship begins to lose its meaning. And you can’t do a thing to make them remember . . . so you might as well have experienced it all alone. For all intents and purposes, the whole history of your existence is lost.
Click Here To Read My Interview With Playwright Sarah Myers
Stepping foot into The Realm (written by Sarah Myers and directed by Jessica Fisch) is a little like that experience, and a little like no experience you’ve ever had.
Jody Christopherson appearing in TRYING
If you don’t believe read-heads have more fun, just ask Jody Christopherson about her experience working on Erin Browne’s new play TRYING, premiering at The Bushwick Starr, on April 15th.
Ok, I admit the “red-head” line is not the most original way to start an interview, but I’m not fishing for a bloggie award and Jody is not fishing for a Tony… yet. She is a New York based actress and also a writer for New York Theatre Review (an annually published collection of plays and essays launched in 2005, that recently launched their own theatre blog), in her interview she talks about lesbian pulp novels, shark tattoos and why producing your own work is a good thing.
Mark Twain
There’s a lot of promise in a show entitled “The Mark Twain You Don’t Know” – the expectation of an evening of eye opening hidden gems, new facets to an old chestnut like Twain, and deeper burrowing into the stories that have been given such broad brushstrokes over the years that we think we know them because we read the cliff notes. There’s also a lot of realization in the title – it make you stop and think for a moment . . . sure, I can picture Twain in my head. (Or is that Einstein? Or Colonel Sanders?) But aside from Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, what else do I really know about him? I had the feeling that what I didn’t know about Twain could fill a book. Or, as luck would have it, a 2 hour one-man-show written, edited and performed by American-born Melbourne actor Chris Wallace now going on at the Richmond Shepard Theatre.
It was great to see the crowd for this film at my local cinema last night. Yes, the reviews for this look like they are all over the map. But let it be said that without this fantastic casting (Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried-a powerful erotic, sexual trio), the glorious cinematography and the wildly gorgeous sound track, it might be all of what these uninspired critics are writing. The film stays true to the original plot: a doctor thinks her husband is cheating so she hires a young beautiful prostitute named Chloe (a surprisingly excellent Amanda Seyfried) to seduce him, with an outcome that will make your mind spin, in pure Hitchcock form.
It’s creeping up, you can tell by the rainy days and not-so-freezing weather. There’s also that mixed fashion I so love in Spring and the month of April; half the population is braving the still somewhat crisp temperatures and taking off the layers and boots, while the other is still hiding behind the winter parkas that will soon be packed in storage boxes or donated to Goodwill.
These are a couple of suggestions of things that make me go Yes! plus places and events you shouldn’t miss out on during the month of April.
The most important element that should grace the wardrobe of both men and women in April is a new pair of shades, and by new I mean old. Retro is the fresh look for Spring 2010, from round glasses (Gaga goes googoo over them), retro Ray-Bans (color me 80s), and always in fashion – not leaving us anytime soon – aviator or pilot glasses.
Jeremy Scott Mickey Mouse Glasses
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