NYC arts coverage by the HIGH 5 REVIEW Freelancer Corps and the Teen Reviewers and Critics Program
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Giant, directed by Michael Grief and based of the 1952 novel written by Edna Ferber, is the story of a man trying to protect his home of Texas while creating a family. Jordan Benedict, known as Bick (Brian D’Arcy James) basically runs his town in Texas and plans on keeping it the way it was run by his ancestors. He falls in love with Leslie (Kate Baldwin) and marries her despite the disapproval of his sister Luz (Michele Pawk).
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If you are a fan of excess in a play then Giant is surely for you. That title might ring a bell, if you’ve read the book, by Edna Ferber, or perhaps seen the movie, directed by George Stevens. The play is set Texas, spanning a number of years, but starting in the 1920s. Jorden “Bick” Brendon falls in love with Leslie, who comes from a sheltered life in Virginia. Leslie, has to learn to adjust to life at a cattle ranch and to deal with the Texas matriarchy. Problems arise, such as Bick’s sister’s disapproval of Leslie, racism, and the change of farmland to oil wells. While it’s fun to watch people in western outfits run around and proclaim their love for the land, the highlight of the play was the orchestra. The music and lyrics by Michael John Lachiusa are very impressive. The orchestra is set up so it floats above the stage in plain view of the audience. The play uses many screens and different types of lighting to make the musicians sometimes disappear and become the endless Texas sky. [click to continue….]
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"...the tone, vocals and lyrics were so soulful it had to be sinful." Photo by Joseph Moran
“Ya know it’s funny how things seem one way, then you find out things ain’t the way they looked to you” (Bad da Boom)
This was just one of the many tunes I had gleefully stuck in my head a week after seeing The Total Bent. The production was directed by the well known Joanna Settle at The Public Theater, a venue that is known for actors who deliver performances to remember.
The Total Bent is a musical about the struggle between a father and son duo. The scenes transpired in a recording studio where the protagonist, Marty Roy, fights what he believes to be the injustice that was imposed upon him. Marty wants to sing Rock and Roll and wear tight leather pants. Instead his father, Joe Roy who learned from the mistakes he made with his wife, insists on forcing Marty to sing southern Christian songs; the kind that speaks to the hearts of the “white people.” The actors take you through the struggles that Marty faces when he challenges his father’s authority while also keeping you wandering about the mystery behind his mothers death. Hints such as the mentioning of a tragedy involving his mother, were slyly thrown our way in order to leave us pondering as to why Marty truly hates his father. One of the direct struggles we went through with Marty was the loss of his electricity due to unpaid bills. The use of lighting completely engulfed us into his experience. The play entertains and is purposely filled with contradictions where Joe would yell something obscene at Marty; like orders to sing his “church song, bitch!”
It all kept my eyes glued to the stage. [click to continue….]
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David Cale, William Jackson Harper and Vondie Curtis-Hall performed in THE TOTAL BENT. Photo Credit: Joseph Moran
The Total Bent is a very interesting name for a new off-Broadway play that recently opened at The Public Theater (455 Lafayette Street in Manhattan). Written and composed by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the creators of Tony-Award-Winning Passing Strange, this neo-soul-gospel production puts many in the audience totally bent in a variety of directions—mentally bent that is. From the get-go as you look around the cozy, closed in venue with grandiose rusting pillars, we can tell that this theater gives a home to very entertaining and raw environments. It is all a very informal set-up, but the musical instruments and other assorted props on the stage remind us that we do have a show to watch. And with great attention did the audience watch, trying to consume as much information as they could—although the play certainly left a lot of questions roving about unanswered as to just what message Stew was trying to convey to us. This wasn’t so much of a phase of confusion as it was a long moment of enchantment.
This “enchantment” I speak of, comes entirely from the styles of music that was featured throughout the show. The opening number was a loud and strange ruckus of sounds that didn’t do very well in giving us a clue as to what we were about to encounter. Piercing sounds of laughter and soulful singing could be heard in a jumbled fashion, alongside random clangs and space sounds and sporadic beats. [click to continue….]
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It goes without saying that the soul of any musical is music. The Total Bent, however, is not a traditional song-and-dance musical, where characters directly express themselves through lyrics. The Total Bent is more like This Is Spinal Tap; about the creation and production of music, that also includes loads of original music. The Total Bent is a play whose definition is a bit ambiguous. [click to continue….]
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Top: Tim Cook and Steve Jobs; photo credit to James Martin/CNET. Bottom: Mike Daisey at the Public Theater; photo credit to Mike Daisey.
[Editors' Note: This letter to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is one of several written by participants in the Fall 2011 Theater Teen Reviewers and Critics program after attending a performance of THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS at the Public Theater. At the end of Mike's Daisey's solo performance, fliers are distributed with information about the labor practices he discusses in the show, along with Tim Cook's email address and a call to action. Mr. Daisey suggested emailing Mr. Cook with concerns. He politely asks that you do not send SPAM. We obliged, and decided to publish them as open letters as well.]
Dear Mr. Cook,
Every time I use my newly bought iPhone 4, I see blood on the immaculate touch screen. I am seventeen years old. And if I were born in the special economic zone of the Chinese city Shenzhen, it’s very likely that I would be working in an assembly factory, say Foxconn, putting together one of the most popular technological devices for first world countries. Mike Daisey’s THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS opened my eyes to this all too horrific possibility. [click to continue….]
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Top: Tim Cook and Steve Jobs; photo credit to James Martin/CNET. Bottom: Mike Daisey at the Public Theater; photo credit to Mike Daisey.
[Editors' Note: This letter to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is one of several written by participants in the Fall 2011 Theater Teen Reviewers and Critics program after attending a performance of THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS at the Public Theater. At the end of Mike's Daisey's solo performance, fliers are distributed with information about the labor practices he discusses in the show, along with Tim Cook's email address and a call to action. Mr. Daisey suggested emailing Mr. Cook with concerns. He politely asks that you do not send SPAM. We obliged, and decided to publish them as open letters as well.]
Dear Mr. Tim Cook,
I am not a Mac. Nor am I a PC. I am what most would call “old-fashioned” – so my bias stems from there. But that is also where my objectivity rests. [click to continue….]
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And we’re on Twitter
Open Letters to Mr. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
by Cecilia Kim on February 8, 2012
in Editorials and Commentary,Feature Articles,Theater,TRaC
Mike Daisey in THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS. Photo Credit: Kevin Berne.
These open letters to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, were written by participants in the Fall 2011 Theater Teen Reviewers and Critics program after attending a performance of THE AGONY AND ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS at The Public Theater, one of our cultural partners. At the end of Mike Daisey’s performance, fliers are distributed with information about Apple’s labor practices, which he discusses in the show, along with Tim Cook’s email address and a call to action. Mr. Daisey suggested emailing Mr. Cook with concerns and comments, in light of the situation at Apple. He politely asked that we do not send SPAM. We obliged, and decided to publish them as open letters here as well.
Below are excerpts from the letters, with links to the full text:
Read CARINA’s full letter.
Read CECILIA’s full letter.
Read LOGAN’s full letter.
Read SEAN’s full letter.
Read LUCIAN’s full letter.
The New York Times has also run a series of recent articles detailing Apple’s labor situation in China: check them out here and here. Also, Mike Daisey’s website has a wealth of information and ongoing dialogues with people responding to his show, the Times articles, and the THIS AMERICAN LIFE episode he was recently featured in. Check it all out.
Tagged as: Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Mike Daisey, Open Letter, The Public Theater, Tim Cook
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