Me at the show!

It was like a party.

On Wednesday June 9, 2010 I went to Harlem, NY with my mom to see Amateur Night at the legendary Apollo Theater.  I had an great time at this show.  The performances were exciting.  The show was hosted by great comedian, Capone.  I also enjoyed was the DJ, named DJ Jess.  He was playing really cool songs and everyone was dancing in their seats.

And that was just the pre-show.

When the show really got started, they had even more entertainment with the house band Ray Chew and the Crew and an emcee.  They pulled four people out of the audience to participate in a “soul train” line dance competition.  Whoever got the most applause got an Apollo T-shirt and the runner up got a Coco-Cola T-shirt, as they are the sponsors of Amateur Night.

Next up was the kids competition and three amazingly talented girls came out and sang different songs.  The host informed us not to boo them because they are children and they were here to showcase their talent and the audience voted for the best girl (check her video out below).  Then the main competition began.  We voted for the best act with cheers.  Only this time we were allowed to “boo” the acts that we didn’t like.  And if there were enough boos, then they pulled off of the stage in an embarrassing manner.  The host provided witty commentary and was hilarious throughout the show.  There was also a video dedication to Michael Jackson, who performed at the Apollo Theatre with the Jackson 5.

Overall, the Apollo was amazing and I would love to go back any day, especially on Amateur night.  It’s every Wednesday at 7:30, but be sure to get there by 7:00 to enjoy the pre-show.

***

Highlights from the winner Vanessa Alvarez’s performance.   (The Apollo posts videos of Amateur Night every week on their website.)

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TRaC is back.

As if you didn’t know — the summer Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC) program is NOW recruiting for our July/August!

Think about it.  FREE access to NYC art, music, theater and dance, eleven new friends from all backgrounds and boroughs, lively debate, writing, flip-flops, subway adventures, August sunshine, pizza, mini frisbees….

Need we say more??

Sign up now for one or more of 5 special two-day workshops on a first-come, first-served basis.  Anyone in high school is eligible.  Participants will attend a Thursday night performance, write a review, and meet up the following Tuesday for a writing workshop from 4:30pm – 7:30pm in the ArtsConnection/High 5 building in Manhattan (8th Ave and 36th Street).

Just as in our Fall and Spring TRaC programs, Summer TRaC workshops will include debate and discussion about the show, writing activities, an opportunity to publish your work and whatever else participants bring to it!   (If you’ve ever wondered what the 8-week TRaC programs in the fall and spring were like, this is a great way to get a snapshot of the experience.)  Each session will be taught by one of the veteran TRaC Instructors, all of whom are working artists and critics.

For more information, dates and instructions on how to sign up follow the link…..

There are five 2-day options to choose from:

Session 1 – July 29th and August 3rd
taught by Music TRaC Instructor Andrey Henkin

Session 2 – August 5th and 10th
taught by TRaC Director Eric Ost

Session 3A – August 12th and 17th
taught by Multi TRaC Instructor Eisa Davis

Session 3B – August 12th and 17th
taught by Dance TRaC Instructor Brian McCormick

Session 4 – August 19th and 24th
taught by Dance TRaC Instructor Brian McCormick

TO SIGN UP, email the following information to Eric Ost, TRaC Program Director, at TRaC@high5tix.org:

•    session preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, 4th choice)
•    your name
•    age
•    school
•    grade in Fall ’10
•    contact phone number
•    and 3-sentence statement of interest (why are you interested in doing this??)

There is LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE so email your preferences in soon!  Participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis, and notified by phone.  Session 1 participants will be contacted in the evening on Monday, July 26. Please remember to order your session preference in your email (for example: 1st choice-Session 1, 2nd choice-Session 3B, etc).  Depending on space, you may be able to attend more than one workshop so please include as many choices as you like.  We like to encourage everyone to bring an open mind to all things art so the shows we see will be a surprise!

For more information about the Teen Reviewers and Critics program please visit the TRaC homepage at www.high5tix.org/TRaC.  Any questions?   Call Eric Ost at 212.453.9485 or email at TRaC@high5tix.org.

Hope you are up for to joining us for this summer ride!

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Just a few steps away from the buzz and excitement of Times Square is Theatre Row’s Kirk Theatre, a newly renovated Off-Broadway stage, situated on 42nd street between 9th and 10th avenue.  Presently it has given home to John Gregor‘s musical comedy With Glee.  I attended the first preview of this delightful Prospect Theater Company success on July 10th and I was truly amazed to see such energy and excitement exhuming from the stage.  Nowadays it is not rare to find talent amongst Off-Broadway shows.  However, it is substantially rare when you see that talent put to its full potential.  I found that extremely the case in With Glee’s fun cast of seven.

Surely freshman year in high school is no picnic, especially when you’re a teenage boy being sent to a boarding school in a another state.  This is the challenge Scott, Nathaniel, Sam, Clay, and Kip must face when they end up at the Westbrook Boarding School for Boys in none other than Maine.  Their ridiculous stories intertwine perfectly in the opening number “Bad Kid School.”  Yet their stress with trying to fit in while also adjusting to nutty teachers in “Gaul Was Divided Into Three Parts” gets the ball rolling for the rest of the show.  I especially loved Greg Horton and Erin Jerozal’s portrayals of all of the boys’ parents and professors.  Their change in character literally came one after another and I certainly appreciated their abilities to do so.  I couldn’t help but marvel at the quick set changes and in the grand scheme of things I can without a doubt see this show being picked up by one of the bigger stages.  However, as I said before, this brilliant masterpiece of a show could not have gotten as much attention as it did without the help of its remarkable performers and their sparkling talent.  Chiefly, I would like to commend Zach Blander (Scott) and Max Spitulnik (Sam) for their hysterical portrayals of the typical rich boy and the streetwise punk respectively.

Musicals about coming of age stories usually stay closer to my heart more often than not.  Then again, how could they not?  We can all honestly say that we went through that awkward teenage phase and seeing it reenacted onstage in song and dance is always the cherry on the cake.  So in conclusion I would recommend With Glee to all theatergoers of all ages, especially if you’re ready for about two hours of non-stop laughing.

****

Check out the show’s promo video:

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Among the likes of Danielle Steel novels and big boxes of Godiva truffles, Love, Loss, and What I Wore is an all-out guilty yet memorable pleasure.  The nearly one-and-a-half-hour show consists entirely of engaging anecdotes showcasing the intricate connections women and their clothing.  The monologue-style anecdotes cover the whimsical (a woman’s struggle to move on after her lucky shirt disappears), serious (a homosexual bride-to-be’s struggle to find the perfect wedding outfit), and hilariously realistic (a woman’s misadventures in a lingerie shop) ends of the spectrum, leaving viewers chuckling in amusement, leaning forward in intrigue, and nodding their heads in acknowledgement.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore is delicately balanced in such a way that no single component outshines the other.  This understated, elegant performance does not make its mark right away; instead, it leaves a wonderfully light, lingering impact for days after.

Info about the New York run available here.

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If you were going to try and start a religion for under 5 dollars, I would suggest you buy a flashlight.

Keep your iGizmos and your 3-D IMAXIMUM picture shows; at the end of the day, nothing is more primal, or more compelling, than a little bit of good old-fashioned radiance.  Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer, a new one-man show imported from Australia, uses this principal to tremendous effect as it chronicles a lonely widower’s quest to save a drowned planet from utter extinction.  Or at least in theory.  Alvin really dons his one-size-fits-all planet-saving suit to follow the light, which is the embodiment of his wife’s departed soul, or companionship, or meaning, or hope.

The last of these things is in very short supply.  The disastrous global flood destroyed billions of lives and millennia of technological progress, leaving seemingly nothing behind but a plaintive ukulele, a Monty Python-esque sergeant recruiting heroes, and the sea-dwelling behemoths that were here long before humans ever set to their puny work melting the polar ice caps.

Incidentally, if you were going to try and survive in a barren post-apocalyptic aquascape, I would suggest you call Tim Watts.

Tim Watts, the writer/deviser/director/performer/puppeteer/animator from Perth, Western Australia has engineered an astonishing multi-media world out of the odds and ends with a McGuyver’s ingenuity; sea monsters are made out of little more than crumpled plastic bags, and every single sound and light effect is cued by Mr. Watts himself from a master remote rigged up on his Nintendo Wii.  Alvin’s body is a white glove, and his head is, appropriately, a slightly weathered buoy.  The overall effect is a child’s world, sad and sweet as a message in a bottle.  The odds are slim to none that anybody will ever set eyes on the sunken skyscraper or the drowned disco ball, but they’re still there, sitting in the impenetrable darkness, waiting for Alvin to flash his light on them for one moment before they fade back into obscurity.  This is an apocalypse of nostalgia, far more potent than fire or ice.

It’s not all depressing; Tim Watts is a deft enough artist to pull moments of fabulous bathos out of the gloom.  There are cheeky pop songs to offer commentary on the action, and Alvin’s funky disco dance is made all the funkier when you realize that it is in fact Watts’ white-gloved right hand doing the moonwalk (Michael Jackson would have been proud).

Mr. Watts accompanies himself on the ukulele, runs the projector, performs sound effects, operates the puppets, and does live animation, all right before your eyes. It would be a gross understatement to say that he is a talent to watch.

Though the show flies by at under an hour, the climax is almost painfully satisfying, as unlikely hero Alvin makes the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of humankind’s future.  Everything comes together in a beautiful rush of sound, and water, and, yes, light.

So if you were going to spend an evening at the theater, hoping for a show that was funny and poignant and moving and wholly original, I would suggest you see Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer.

****

Here’s an interview with Tim from the New York Times.

Here’s a YouTube montage of the show:

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Lily Rabe, Byron Jennings, and Al Pacino in The Public Theater's production of The Merchant of Venice. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Usually Shakespeare in the Park performs two plays at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park each summer:  one at the beginning and one at the end, with completely different casts.  Well, not this year.  The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice are played in repertory, meaning they both have virtually the same cast, and the company rotates which play performs each day.  I saw the two different plays one day apart from each other, and the result from seeing them so close to each other is complete awe of these actors who enchant the stage each night.

The Winter’s Tale, directed by Michael Greif, at first might be described as a magical and charming love story, but quickly turns dark after Leontes, the King of Sicilia, believes his wife to have cheated on him with his best friend.  The result:  some death, and great destruction of happiness.  But this is just the first act, people.  The second act takes place 16 years later and focuses on other characters that are loosely related to the first act’s characters.  The result:  laughs, love, and putting the puzzle pieces together for those who have become separated over the years as the story resolves itself.  The costumes are elaborate, there is fun use of shadow puppets and mechanical sheep, and the cast of 24 performs the lines well, but there is still something a little strange about the play.  Winter is not one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, and this can be understood because the tones of the two acts are so jarringly different from one another that it makes the whole play not as enjoyable as Merchant, but still worth seeing.

The Merchant of Venice, with a larger cast of 28 and directed by Daniel Sullivan, is better known than Winter, made obvious by the recognized phases that come from it (for example: “all that glitters is not gold” and “love is blind”).  Merchant, led by the fantastic Al Pacino, is more shocking than Winter.  This is because (perhaps since it was written in the late 1500’s) there are some very anti-Semitic themes and lines.  The story surrounds the transaction of a man asking for money for his friend (so this friend can woo a wealthy woman) from a Jewish moneylender named Shylock (Pacino), and the dangerous deal they make – a “pound of flesh” if the man is unable to repay the Shylock on time.  The stage is outside (one of the wonderful aspects of Shakespeare in the Park), and the set consists of rings of threatening looking gates that can be slid in circles to form the various locations in the play.  The entire cast is strong, and the story is an intelligent and unique one, making Merchant a fantastic and flawless show.

While both considered were comedies at the time they were written, nowadays they would be called “problem plays,” because they are not all light and there are social problems at the core of both stories.

Linda Emond, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Jesse L. Martin in The Winter's Tale. Photo by Joan Marcus.

For example, Winter’s whole first act is only about a husband’s anger and jealousy, and Merchant’s ending is mixed, because not everyone ends up happy.

As is required of theater in repertory, the actors are the same in both plays, except for a few of the main roles.  But, everyone has differently sized roles in each to be fair and to display each actor’s talents.  It is highly entertaining to see the cast portray more than one person, and you become amazed at the fact that these talented people have learned two entire plays full of lines, and have to switch roles each night.  Some actors play very similar characters in both plays, like Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who is funny is both and has perfect comedic timing.  On the other hand, Hamish Linklater, who is a serious romantic lead in Merchant, plays a funny, foolish thief in Winter.

Although tickets may be hard to get (because everyone wants to see it, leading to lines that form overnight) they are FREE, which makes Shakespeare in the Park a wonderful New York summer tradition.  And this tradition has been enriched with The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice playing in repertory this summer from June 9 to August 1.

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Well, hello, President Jackson.

There is an upside-down stuffed crocodile body hanging to the right, a faux red fox on the piano on the stage, and what looks like a veiled werewolf head to the left.  Blood-red velvet curtains are draped around the walls, and chandeliers hang from various positions on the ceiling.  The stage has a strong western look, but ironically, fancy portraits of men in old-fashioned clothing line the walls.  Then a man wearing black skinny jeans walks out after a song from the ensemble, addresses the audience, curses, and starts singing a rock song.

This man is Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States.

The off-Broadway rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Public Theater blends fact and fiction to explore the childhood, family, campaigns, and life of our controversial 7^th president.   Jackson, who on one hand created the Democratic Party and expanded the size of our nation, on the other, encouraged slavery and supported Indian removal.  His legacy is an intensely mixed one, which makes this musical so interesting.

One surprising element of Bloody was that it was very funny.  I did not expect it to be so comedic, but the audience was laughing the entire time (Jeff Hiller and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe are especially a riot). It is also very different from anything I have ever seen, because it pokes fun at history and politics to the beat of rock and roll.

This show further proves that the future of Broadway has a rock score.  A lot of shows already have modern/rock scores, and Bloody adds to that.  The band consists solely of piano, drums, and guitar.  The three musicians stand on stage during the entire show, and become part of the action often, further connecting how important the music is to the story.

Benjamin Walker, who plays Andrew Jackson (and is cast in PETER Jackson’s upcoming prequel of “X-Men”), leads this cast of 13 with passion, and his portrayal of Jackson is easily relatable to current politics, even though Jackson was president during the 1800’s.  The role of media in the election process, and the president being more of a celebrity than a politician are big themes that easily translate into our politics today.

You will leave Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson having had a good time, and with a new interest in our controversial “rock & roll president” Andrew Jackson.

Video interviews with Alex Timbers (writer/director), Michael Friedman (music composer/lyrisist), and Benjamin Walker (lead actor):

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Based on a true story.

I really enjoyed the play De Novo (a production of Houses on the Moon Theater Company), which I saw over Mother’s Day weekend last month.  The show ran from April 28 through May 16 at 59 E. 59th Street Theatre, a very small space with no assigned seating.

De Novo is about an illegal teenage immigrant seeking asylum in the United States, and the court process that unfolds.  It’s a true story, based on transcripts from real court documents of Edgar Chocoy-Guzman, and about his quest to seek asylum from deportation.

The author, just after the show.

Even though Edgar and his attorney fought for months so that Edgar could stay in America, in the end, his asylum wasn’t granted.  He grew disillusioned, suicidal and was tired of being locked up.  He did not appeal the decision.

I liked the sound, lighting effects and photographs, and the way the characters transformed.  I also thought that the actors played their parts with a lot of emotion, and they played several different characters onstage.

There was a discussion with the actors afterwards, which I found helpful because I did not realize that there were complex asylum laws regarding children, with little protection.  Some of them go through this process alone.

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Keigwin + Company at the Joyce Theater this spring. (Photo: Andrea Mohin)

For their 2010 season at The Joyce Theater, Keigwin + Company provides provocative commentary on city life while still presenting accessible entertainment—their dances are quirky and full of wit.  Each piece has a one-word title and works off a simple, straightforward concept.  But the company’s style and innovation come from being able to revitalize old ideas, not necessarily create abstract or complex ones.

“Caffeinated” (2007) sets up a precedent for the rest of the program.  The dancers enter in a single file, jerking coffee cups, toward their face.  There is no clear narrative, per say, but the dancers’ repetition of over-energized, stiff, almost robotic movements makes for an unnerving, yet comical, social statement on the urban lifestyle.  While the dancers sport variations of gym gear, creating a sense of individuality, by following the same progression of movements, they all need caffeine to get through the day.

Keigwin’s ability to give new energy to simple, often overworked concepts shines in “Mattress Suite,” six different dances strung together into a tale covering several romantic relationships.  In “Dress” (2003), Nicole Wolcott anxiously waits for her bridegroom—a similar state of mind Keigwin expresses in “Tuxedo” (2003).  But the clichéd premise is enlivened when, against the backdrop of Giuseppe Giordani’s emotional and operatic “Caro Mio Ben,” he begins to interject some slow-motion hip thrusts.  The two knock down premarital walls, symbolized by a mattress at the center of the stage, in the intimate “Straight Duet” (2003).  But soon enough, Keigwin leaves the relationship to couple with two other men clad in white briefs (Aaron Carr and Matthew Baker) for “Three Ways” (2004).  Keigwin has the astute theatrical sense.

As its title suggests, “Runaway” (2008) skillfully reconstructs a runway show.  Against an urban brick backdrop, the women, clad in highlighter-color sleeveless dresses, and the men, in thin ties and suits, walk barefoot along a grid pattern.  All the dancers eventually leave and, by the time they return to the stage, have taken off articles of clothing and the mannequin-like women are carried off in the arms of men.

Keigwin + Company don’t take themselves seriously enough to demand that the audience have profound insight into their work in order to enjoy it.  Understanding the underlying social commentary is an extra plus because ultimately, the company’s dances are fun and entertaining.  Deviating from this trend is “Bird Watching,” making its world premiere, its subsections all titled with F-words: Flocking, Flapping, Fluttering, and Flying.  Set in a sort of ballroom with a chandelier hanging above, the dance centers on upper-crust birds dressed in glittering black tutus.  But “Bird Watching,” in trying to draw a comparison between humans and birds, lacks the distinct theatrical quality present in the other pieces.

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"Landscape #1 (Dutchess County, NY)" by James Casebere

Imagine Jasper Johns’ “Map,” that spillage of rectangles arranged haphazardly into the USA, red state leaking to blue state, bound only by the lines of stenciled yellow letters.  That, roughly, remains the state of American Art (in capitals) – undefined, multicolored and searching for some form of definition.

At this year’s Whitney Biennial (which closed on May 30), the museum world celebrated – or mourned – the creative works of fifty-five American artists for the 75^th time.  Throughout the large, gray chambers of Breuer’s architecture, a variety of mediums appeared:  ink, paint, gouache, pencils, and aluminum, but also beer, dirt and blood. The whole gamut of political, social and racial issues were destroyed, reconstructed and interpreted in a few feet of wall space:  feminism, futurism, furniture and film all on display.  Indeed, at times it seemed like the exhibition had too much diversity – a mild case of identity crisis, where no thread of subject or concept could be woven between the art work.

The only common theme was detectable in quite a few pieces examining the suburban sprawl of Americana.  James Casbere constructed and photographed microscopic models of Dutchess County, NY -  small, dark, empty houses that screamed about the horror of foreclosure.  In another room, Julia Fish amplified interiors to the point of textiles, the “thresholds” where bathroom tile met living room floor.  In the same room, Maureen Gallace painted New England houses in wide, solid oil strokes:  residential boxes sitting in unchanging landscapes, desolate and bright.  Many of the pieces on display at the Biennial struggle to find a distinctly American style and vision.  Ultimately, the most honest,  specific way to achieve nationalist artistic identity, it seemed, was to depict America as a home.

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