Master collagist Charles Mee celebrates love, sex and the joie de vivre in Fetes de la Nuit, this time presented by WeildWorks at The Ohio Theater. Mee is no stranger to plays about relationships and how culture molds the different ways we approach love, loving, and being loved. For example, in his play Big Love, fifty brides flee their grooms and seek refuge in an Italian villa, mixing pop culture with tradition and texts from different classics. In Fetes de la Nuithe reinvents and updates a style that used to serve as entertainment for Louis VIX at Versailles, into a modern day somewhat stereotypical look into Paris, romance and a lot of sex.
Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw is one of my favorite works committed to paper, being a wonderful macabre pastime that my Grandmother and I used to share together, acting out the roles as we read along. I feel it is truly one of the most important staples of Gothic Literature. With every read or artistic version (such as the film The Innocents) a new strata of possibility can be found in the characters, who are as fascinating now as ever. Two Turns Theatre Company’s amazing adaptation of this piece has put their finger on the pulse of these characters, and found an innovative way to share a classic tale.
While sitting in the audience of Tanya O’Debra’s Radio Star (Directed by Peter Cook) you may be tempted to close your eyes and pretend you’re sitting around the 1941 Philco radio with Dad smoking his pipe nearby while little Sally sits on the floor doing her arithmetic and Billy works on his model air plane. Breathe in deeply enough and you can smell that meatloaf mom is cooking! Yes, you may be tempted, but I’d suggest keeping your eyes open to enjoy every delicious hand-in-a-tap-shoe bit of foley art you can drink in. For while it would be just as much fun to stage direct the story in your mind’s eye, the real joy of Radio Star is watching Ms. O’Debra seamlessly transform herself from saucy dame Fanny LaRue to hard-boiled private dick, Nick McKittrick, to dopey company schlep Wally, to hearty Irish Cop with little more than a change of facial expression. Welcome to Radio Star, where the year is 1941, the story is decidedly campy, and the anachronisms are made of easter eggs.
Name: Erica Marshall Occupation: Student Age: 20 Zodiac: Scorpio Favorite Restaurant: Shake Shack Upper West Side. Longs for: new android phone. Fears: her roommates boyfriend’s boxers on the bathroom floor. Beliefs: John Mayer should be left alone, he’s a truly nice guy. Where is she going: 7:55pm showing of “Dear John” at AMC Loews Lincoln Square.
The Wo(Man) In The Window is a fictional non-factional profile.
Any resemblance to real people is completely coincidental.
In the event of a coincidence then you are fabulous.
We should meet for cocktails.
“Bad shit in life makes for good art. Things that challenge us emotionally, politically and socially propel us to create. Having this terrible thing in my life has motivated me in a way. I have sort of resolved to not only not let it get me down but use it as a way to improve myself. And don’t get me wrong, I have very dark days. I have days where I sit around and mope ‘why me’ and wish I could travel back in time and change things. But ya know, that only gets you so far. So yeah, the old adage ‘what doesn’t kill you…’“
This is how being HIV positive has changed Dan Horrigan’s life as an artist, and has propelled him to debut as a solo performer with his show MY AiDS now playing at Urban Stages. “What started out as an exercise in trying to put together a sort of comedy act really evolved,” says Horrigan.”I decided that I would accept the encouragement of those around me who think I’m funny and try to create a sort of comedy act but I thought it would be a greater challenge to wrap all of my humor around something that is really difficult for me… which is being HIV positive.”
Kristen Vaughan as Zelda and Montgomery Sutton as Edouard
When Clothes for a Summer Hotel premiered in New York City in 1980, the world wasn’t quite able to wrap their mind around the play. It closed after 15 performances and was Tennessee Williams’ last Broadway production. With a myriad of plays that changed the face of modern theatre across the world, winning everything from a Pulitzer Prize (twice) to a Tony Award, one would think the man would have been given a little artistic license. Alas, no. People were not ready for this “Ghost Play”; and the fact that it’s been re-mounted in New York City only one other time since its original opening is a testament to the stigma surrounding it. It’s a play that is very tricky to pull off properly, and I’m still not sure if White Horse Theatre Company was able to do that.
Dzul Dance is an ensemble troupe that has amalgamated dance with aerial arts in their new show Danzonat Baruch Performing Arts Center. InDanzonwe are submerged in Mayan rituals, offerings, the supernatural world, and a love triangle between a man and two women, while showcasing the music of different Latin American artists the likes of Control Machete and Chavela Vargas. Sounds like a lot of elements, yet Dzul Dance has incorporated all of them successfully for most of the program.
Dan Via has all the ingredients for an excellent comedy about two best friends entering middle-age and facing life altering changes. Instead DADDY tries to be a dark drama of Greek proportions. How much can you bend a plot without it breaking? That depends on the eye of the beholder.
Name: Jessica Heart Occupation: Accountant Age: 24 Zodiac: Capricorn Favorite Restaurant: Ayza Wine & Chocolate Bar, Midtown Manhattan, NYC. Longs for: finding love in the right places. Fears: roaches, freaks out every time she sees one. Beliefs: “There’s no place like a happy hour.” Where is she going: ladies night with her college friends that are also New Yorkers… It’s still cool to try and pretend you belong in Sex and the City right?
The Wo(Man) In The Window is a fictional non-factional profile.
Any resemblance to real people is completely coincidental.
In the event of a coincidence then you are fabulous.
We should meet for cocktails.
I cannot believe it’s been a year since the last time I brought news of Off-Broadway’s great 20@20 discount. But hey, that’s how it is with seasonal things.
Anywhoo … here we are again, at TWENTY @ TWENTY season which is possibly the best time of year to go see a great Off-Broadway show. As far as truth in advertising goes, there’s no deal that’s better, for this one is exactly what it says it is. For the next week or so head on down to any one of these great theatres (click on the links for theatre information) and twenty minutes before the show starts say “twenty at twenty” at the box office and get a ticket for twenty bucks. Happy Now? You Betcha! MyDear Edwina, it’s not only The Perfect Crime, it’s Fantastick(s). You’ll feel like Cinderella sipping aMazelTov Cocktail at her Awesome 80s Prom. And just wait till the Naked Boys (start) Singing! Don’t wait till it’s Zero Hour … get yourself to one of these great shows (or one of the ones I wasn’t able to slyly work into the conversation – I’m talking to YOU Circumcise Me) NOW. Keep reading for more information:
