by Michelle Augello-Page on February 25, 2012
Initium / Finis is “a sensual tale of violence and revolution born in a futuristic metropolis. Theatre Reverb combines media, red-light cabaret, live music, Judeo-Christian and Hindu myth, and classical Indian dance-theatre to envelop spectators in a lush sci-fi noir.” This Frigid Festival performance is an excerpt from a larger work, which will be two hours in length and is scheduled to be presented in 2013.
Initium / Finis is an ambitious project, carried by Kristin Arnesen’s performance throughout, as the story expands in many layers, as well as many directions, including an interesting sci-fi premise, sub-plots of intrigue, and cabaret-style entertainment. The play is supported by live music, visual images and written information in montages of video, and the use of screens to paint pictures with light and shadow. Kristin Arnesen pulls all of these elements and more into a riveting performance; she is a delight to watch on stage as she illustrates the story, demonstrating her evident talents as a performer.
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by Diánna Martin on March 3, 2011
Year of the Slut featuring Jen Lieberman (Photo by Lindsay Goldman)
Jennifer Lieberman’s one-woman show, Year of the Slut, is an odyssey through the life of a young Canadian getting her feet wet in the bright lights and big city of New York. The main things on her mind besides getting her acting career in high gear is to successfully 1) lose her virginity 2) survive the land mines of available yet dysfunctional bachelors who she finds herself involved with and 3) meet Mr. Right while opening up her horizons to channeling her sexuality through her creativity.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on June 21, 2010
There’s always a catch when a group of grad-school liberals invites you to their dinner party, or so Dan Rosen’s The Last Supper (currently playing at the Red Room) will have you believing. This play, based on the movie Rosen wrote which was released in 1995, adapts well for the stage and under Akia Squitieri’s direction it doesn’t lose any of the meat that the original film dished up.
The Last Supper (the movie) wasn’t a box office smash, but seeing it on the smaller stage it’s easy to see why – this story was meant to start its life off as a play and perhaps become a movie later on, not the other way around. With thoughtful platforms, weighty discussions and deeply ponderous moments, not to mention strong character evolutions, this story is meant to be played out in front of an audience. It’s also a heck of a lot funnier in person – and it’s the humor which acts as the spoon full of sugar which helps the poison go down.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 18, 2010
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.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 25, 2009
Gosh, it’s cold outside. Like, tried-to-dial-my-cell-phone-so-took-off-my-glove-and-immediately-regretted-it-because-my-fingers-froze-into-a-claw type of cold. But does it have to be frigid inside too?
According to this festival … yes it does! With January ’09 having the sad distinction of being the month that saw the close of such long running hits as Hairspray, Spamalot and Spring Awakening, as well as other fine productions (such as All My Sons, Boeing-Boeing, Dividing The Estate, Grease, Gypsy, and Young Frankenstein), 2009 is already turning into a sorry year for Broadway. But don’t let it get you down! Go catch one or two or five of these great shows at any or all of these cozy theatres: The Kraine Theatre, The Red Room or Under St. Marks. (And yes, I used “cozy” euphemistically the way those people do when they’re trying to get you to rent their “cozy extra bedroom” … come on, folks it’s obviously a closet!).
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