The Fab Marquee

The Fab Marquee review by Peyton Wise.

Marko the Prince tells a compelling story from the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars.  That is more difficult than it sounds.  Our minds, at least the empathetic parts, tend to shut down in the face of devastation.  It’s a difficult trick to convey mass violence, while allowing us to care for the survivors when people are dying all around them.  Playwright Jovanka Bach does this admirably, spinning a suspenseful mystery set amidst the onslaught of civil war.  As the plot climaxes, so does the resonance between its story and the war against which it is set.

Herman Petras as The Guslar &  Trezana Beverley as Mala

The playwright and production frame the tale as a heroic folk story, which allows us to stay emotionally invested in the characters and the state of their world.   A Slavic minstrel, the Guslar (Herman Petras), performs folk ballads that comment on the story and narrates the story in verse.  While there are times where a little context would help the tales resonate with an American audience, the Guslar functions like the Chorus of Henry V, deftly weaving images that help us process what we’ve seen and prepare for what’s to come.  Art Rotch’s set neatly captures this heroic spirit by abstracting old Eastern European architecture and enshrining a grainy print of a village square in the central arch.

The play is set in Sabor, a town on the border between Serbia and Bosnia, where the population is at war over which ethnic group owns the single cemetery.  A prominent Muslim man and a prominent Serbian man have been murdered and their sons, childhood friends, grieve and search for the killers.  Their efforts are manipulated by the corrupt police chief and his assistant.

Marko the Prince is part of a trilogy about the Yugoslav Wars.  While it’s meant to be performed independently, the play begins mid-action, with the fight over the cemetery having begun in the previous play.  There is also little explanation of each character’s nationality and how they relate to burgeoning national conflict.  It requires attentive listening through much of the play to place the character’s actions within the backstory of the previous play and the larger context of the war.

Engagement, however, has its rewards.  Hristo Hristov and Tony Naumovski are charismatic and intriguing as Vuk and Cerni, the villainous police.  Even when you don’t know their reasons, it is clear they believe they have justice on their side and this makes them fascinating even when they are loathsome.  Jelena Stupljanin and Josh Clayton are charming as two people from different worlds finding commonality in confusion.  While the play’s final scenes contain several powerful portraits of grief, Ms. Stupljanin does something extraordinary.  She manages to fall apart without hysteria, showing us a mind trying to retain control while the body is raving.

The Serbian son, Chicha (Aaron Lohr), drives the play in his efforts to find his father’s killer and protect his fiancee, Boyana, (Lanna Joffrey) and his widowed mother, Mila (Trezana Beverley).   His journey, unfortunately, is where the production falters.  The writing, especially the narration, seems to be calling for a charismatic leader, and for much of the play Chicha is abrasive and dismissive of family and friends.  The narrator describes Chicha and Boyana as an eternal love, but even their halcyon scene they spend talking past each other.  Mr. Lohr deals well with difficult twists of language and builds his climactic speech into a soaring revelation.  One can only imagine what a different interpretation of Chicha could have yielded.

While this is not a flawless experience, it is an impressive effort.  It depicts the cycle of retribution without falling into propaganda or complacency.  And it does so with a story that keeps your mind intrigued even as your heart is moved.
——————
Immigrant’s Theatre Project &
John Stark Productions present
Jovanka Bach’s
Marko the Prince
June 20-July 13 (Wed-Sun @ 7:30pm; Sun matinee @ 2:30pm)
The Barrow Group Theatre

Tickets are $20 available at www.theatermania.com or by calling 212-352-3101. For more information visit www.immigrantstheat.org

The Barrow Group Theatre | 312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Aves. | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee review by Amanda Stokes.

The New York premiere production of Cinephilia, presented by the PossEble Theater Company at The Studio Theatre at Theater Row, is an energetic and entertaining evening of theater. And although you may leave feeling the show hasn’t quite lived up to its potential, it is still a worthwhile ride.

The play centers around two young twenty-somethings, Arden (Katie Cappiello) and Johnny (Brandon Scott), who have been lovers for years – Arden wants a relationship, Johnny does not. These two deal with each other, and life, so it seems, through the world of movies – discussing, debating and non-stop quoting. This is a clever device by playwright Leslye Headland, which can be quite amusing for the audience. The characters spout out snippets from dozens of films – from Say Anything to Breathless, from Reds to Reality Bites – slipping in and out, blurring the line between movies and ‘real’ life. Of course, this is also their way of hiding, escaping; incapable of speaking their own thoughts, these are lost, lonely people who don’t seem to know who they are or what they want from life.

A similar statement might also be made about the play. We are presented with issues of inaction, obsession, denial – but it is unclear what exactly is being said. No one in this play seems to want to be honest about the way things really are, or to care about anyone but themselves, which can make it difficult at times for the audience to care about any of them. Luckily, there is well-written dialogue, plenty of comedy and above-average acting to keep us happily distracted, so we don’t bother to wonder where the play is going.

Brandon Scott gives a wonderfully subtle, true performance as the introverted Johnny. Katie Cappiello as Arden bounces deftly from hysterical freak-out to tearful stillness and back again. Rounding out the cast are Christian Durso as Johnny’s roommate, Plato, and Nila K Leigh as Natalie, Johnny’s new girlfriend, both of whom give capable and charming performances. The cast and director Michael Silverstone deserve praise for their proficient handling of the many comedic moments.

Silverstone has the actors using just about every inch of the set (designed by Daniel Zimmerman). The chaotic nature of the characters is reflected in the staging – dialogue, people, and even the occasional can of beer fly around Johnny’s apartment; but this sometimes feels forced and overdone – that rather than supporting the scene, the audience is being bombarded with this frenetic energy purely for the sake of energy. Perhaps this might not have been an issue if the script was tightened up a bit, cutting out some of the redundancies.

Cinephilia as a whole may ultimately fall short of the possibilities glimpsed in certain moments, but it leaves me looking forward to seeing more work from these artists in the future.

——————–
PossEble Theater Company presents
Leslye Headland’s
Cinephilia
May 29-June 15, 2008 (Show is now closed)
The Studio Theater -Theatre Row

The Fab Marquee review by David Stallings.

A Perfect Couple, by Brooke Berman, is having its world premier at the beautiful DR2 Theater on Union Square. WET (Women’s Expressive Theater) continues their tradition of tight, well-worked productions presented by female writers and directors with this crisp evening. Berman’s anthropological look at what happens when you finally have everything you ever wanted in a relationship and are still unhappy is the event that brings a fantastic team of artists together.

James Waterson as Issac & Annie McNamara as Emma

Amy (Dana Eskelson) and Isaac (James Waterson) have everything at forty that Amy ever wanted. After fifteen years of dating, Amy has finally convinced Isaac that he wants it too. They are a happy couple that lives in the country—in a home inherited from Isaac’s eccentric stepmother—and gladly gives advice on how the people around them need to fix their lives to be as perfect as they are. Perfection does come at a cost, the fresh-faced forty year olds have learned to compromise on many things in order to get on Amy’s “baby track”, but on the surface they seem like any functional couple at that stage. Perhaps that is what is so frightening. A weekend in their country home with the New York single friend, Emma (Annie McNamara), and the twenty-three year old stoner next door, Josh (Elan Moss-Barach), leaves Amy wondering if these lost souls might have more going for them in the long run. Having everything together soon proves that Amy is left with nothing for herself. Amy’s world seems to be shattered when she finds the diary of Isaac’s deceased stepmother, which claims that Isaac always truly loved Emma (although he never knew it). This revelation—unsubstantiated by any evidence—destroys the relationship Amy has with both Isaac and Emma. The revelation of course is that Amy was always looking for an out. She had grown tired of always looking for the right track, taking care of friendships she may have outgrown, and living up to standards that ultimately are unfulfilling.

Dana Eskelson as Amy & Annie McNamara as Emma

WET’s production of A Perfect Couple is excellent. The cast is formidable, headed by the lovely Dana Ekelson as Amy. Her voice is perfectly matched with the role, finding easily the humor and pathos of her character. James Waterson is lovely as the handsome Isaac, who appears to have everything a woman would want in a partner, yet somehow falls short. A real standout is the whimsical Annie McNamara as Emma. Ms. McNamara is captivating on the stage, with many quirks and witty remarks, yet always maintaining a grounded sensibility. She is easy to watch with a wonderful presence. Elan Moss-Barach is an audience favorite as the comic relief of the evening in the role of Josh. Although his presentation of the stoner garnered many laughs, it came a little too easy and at the loss of some more subtle nuances that I think lurked in the text.

The immaculate set by Neil Patel is stunning. The blue image of a perfect home serves as the backdrop that works perfectly for the many short scenes taking place both inside and out. Matched marvelously by Matthew Richards’ lights, the technical aspects of the show are beautifully effective. Maria Mileaf’s direction is solid and clean. There is not a misstep in her staging and in the many transitions.

Annie McNamara as Emma & Dana Eskelson as Amy

A clean and crisp evening for a sophisticated mind interested in the study of a woman forced to breaking by a seemingly meaningless event, a Perfect Couple is sure to please any avid theatergoer.
——————
WET presents
Brooke Berman’s
A Perfect Couple
June 9th-July 12, 2008 (Opening Night June 19th); Mon-Sat @8pm
DR2 Theatre

Tickets range from $25 - $35, available at 212-239-6200 or www.wetweb.org.

DR2 Theatre | 103 East 15th Street | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee review by A.K. Gobble.

If I told you that a famous Hollywood film star and a sought after composer were responsible for the development of unique technology that ultimately gave us cell phones, would you believe me? Actually, why take my word for it? Go see for yourself…

Joseph Urla as George & Erica Newhouse as Heddy
photo credit: Dixie Sheridan

Frequency Hopping is the unbelievable true story of Heddy Lamarr, an Austrian born actress who became famous in the 1940’s and George Antheil, an Avant-Garde composer also known as the “bad boy of music”. After meeting randomly at a party, they developed an unlikely friendship that gave birth to one of the greatest inventions of our time. Between personal conversations and subtle flirtations they schemed to develop a special communication system. A system that would benefit the military forces and be able to control armed torpedoes over long distances without the enemy’s ability to detect or block them. Their invention made history!

This two character, Multi Media play, was presented at the 3D Technical Art Center. As soon as you walked in the room you could feel that something special was going to happen. The stage was set in between two transparent screens that were used for video installations and special effects. Both the left side and the right side of the stage were graced with a beautiful orchestra made out of several gorgeous Yamaha pianos and percussion instruments that were hanging from the ceiling. What’s so special you say? Well, here’s the kicker- they were all programmed to play on their own. A robotic orchestra! What an amazing concept. The visuals were absolutely exhilarating! And when it all came together you really felt like you were transported into another world.

Erica Newhouse as Heddy & Joseph Urla as George
photo credit: Dixie Sheridan

This wonderful play was both written and directed by Elise Singer who obviously did some research. In her development of the relationship between the two stars she made funny leaps between childish games and serious foreplay, all while keeping us on our toes and expecting some big dramatic climax. Unfortunately the climax failed to come and the play felt somewhat repetitive. The lack of dramatic arc gave the feeling of being stuck in one place. At a certain point the sexual flirtations between the two characters developed into a passionate kiss that once was over, was never brought up again leaving me a bit confused. On another note I was slightly overwhelmed by the many technical details that were discussed and though I personally happen to know a thing or two about the subject, I found myself needing to focus hard in order to take it all in. Still I enjoyed myself and even learned something new.

Joseph Urla as George & Erica Newhouse as Heddy
photo credit: Dixie Sheridan

Erica Newhouse who played Lamarr was just as beautiful as the real girl, bringing out her sexy and feminine side. She was needy, lonely and manipulative all at the same time. George Antheil who was played by Joseph Urla was sweet, honest, sad and playful, making him very relatable.

I would definitely recommend checking it out, if not for the interesting history then at least for the fantastic technology.
——————-
Hourgalss Group presents
Elise Singer’s
Frequency Hopping
directed by Elise Singer; Original Score by Joshua Fried
May 29th-June 29th; Wed.-Sat. at 8pm & Sun. at 3pm
3LD Art & Technology Center

Tickets are $20. To buy tickets, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.frequencyhopping.net.

3LD Art & Technology Center | 80 Greenwich Street | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee review by David Stallings.

The one act is a very difficult medium of theater, much different from a full-length play.  A one act is generally half an hour to forty-five minutes.  The writer has to get in and out fast and must enter the piece knowing exactly what needs to be accomplished.  There is no room to fill with subplots—similar to a short story, the piece must be single minded.

This week, I attended Serenitas Media and Extrabold Productions presentation of two one acts: Crother Spyglass by Timothy Dowd and The Resistible Rise of Fatlinda Paloka by Marcy Wallabout.  In general, I prefer to go in order when describing productions and lead the reader on my journey from beginning to end.  In this case, I would prefer to talk about the second half of the evening first.

Erin Leigh Schmoyer as Fatlinda
photo credit: Juan Cardenas

Marcy Wallabout has something very special on her hands with The Resistible Rise of Fatlinda Paloka.  The piece is about seventy minutes and resembles a full-length one act more than a short one act.  Ms. Wallabout would greatly benefit from developing this play further.  The piece follows an Albanian woman—Fatlinda Paloka (Erin Leigh Schmoyer) as she encounters prejudice in her move to Georgia.  What at first seems to be an angry Greek chorus of stuck up Georgians is developed into a more realistic couple in the characters of Jolene Earp (Siobhan Doherty) and Jimmy Earp (Nick Palladino).  The twist is that Fatlinda has opened a pizza parlor in the small Georgian town and has addicted the citizens to her food.  She slowly brings in cousins from her homeland and only when she has established herself firmly, does she decide to leave for another US town to infiltrate their community with her pizza.  Of course she will leave the cousins behind with the pizza joint to forever plague the red neck town.  She can only hope that her cousins are not affected by the laziness of the American culture as has already begun.  The piece is told with fun and imagination in a Dr. Seuss style with rhyming couplets and fantastic imagery.

The first twenty-five minutes soar—pummeling the audience with high comedy that definitely garners a lot of laughter.  The struggle of Fatlinda with the Earp couple is fantastic.  The pizza DT’s, the county fair, the Hallmark scene, and the Jack Daniels porch scene between the Earps are all brilliant.  But after a while, Ms. Wallabout leaves the story and goes on a tangent that only focuses on Jimmy Earp in an Irish bar.  While Fatlinda’s endearing cousin Benny (Timothy McDonough) is present, the sidetrack into a possible Chinese prostitution rink at a laundromat and the effects of drought on Jack Daniels seem to be irrelevant to the marvelous bricks laid earlier.  In the end, Fatlinda mentions the effects of Georgian culture on her family, and the audience wishes that the heart of the play had been more focused on the struggle she alludes to rather than the strange tangent that robbed the audience of a much anticipated climax.  Truly, if Ms. Wallabout continues to work on the piece’s structure, presenting the story telling in a clearer “event-consequence” manner, she will have a gem on her hands.

Nick Palladino as Jimmy & Siobhan Doherty as Jolene
photo credit: Juan Cardenas

The acting is marvelous across the board in this play.  In the role of Fatlinda, Erin Leigh Schmoyer shines with flawless comic timing and a hysterical accent that definitely mark her as a talent.  But the true marvel is the connection between Siobhan Doherty and Nick Palladino as the Earps.  They somehow manage to create real emotions and forge the definitions of a true couple while speaking in Seussian rhyme.  They glowed together and seemed to truly bounce off each other in their scenes.  Timothy McDonough is charming as sweet cousin Benny.  And a head nod must be given to Nedra Gellegos as the cousin who is addicted to scratch off tickets.  It would have been more interesting to see her become addicted rather than start with it already in progress.  The same note goes for the town’s pizza addiction.  But the acting of the circumstance was pitch perfect.

The first play of the evening, Crother Spyglass by Timothy Dowd follows an Ad man as he manipulates young people with dreams of artistry into doing reception work at an Ad firm.  The man is Ray Crother (Brendan Wahlers), a Gulf War veteran who has been stuck in the same rat race for over ten years.  His first victim is Adam (Timothy McDonough) a sweet kid with dreams of being a photographer who is not completely willing to play the game.  Ray’s second victim is Christine (Erin Leigh Schmoyer), a brassy mailroom girl not willing to use her feminine charms as weapons.

Brendan Wahlers as Ray & Timothy McDonough as Adam
photo credit: Juan Cardenas

Dowd’s play, while somewhat reminiscent of Glengarry Glen Ross, does not seem fully developed.  There is no true arch although the male characters are well defined.  In the role of Ray Crother, Brendan Wahlers seems typecast.  He fits the role so well with natural characterization, yet seems not to have the stagecraft to carry a leading role.  Timothy McDonough is a breath of fresh air as the young Adam.  He is easy to watch and actively makes choices.  Erin Leigh Schmoyer who is so dazzling as Fatlinda seemed less comfortable in the role of Christine.  The female in the piece did seem more of a stock character and assuredly is difficult to make unique.

Director Leah Bonvissuto used crisp lines and imaginative lighting to tell both stories.  She is well aware of tone, comic timing, and other directing tricks to manipulate a moment or text.  Her directing seemed like that of someone used to working on already established plays and lending her own voice to them.  With new text however, she fell short in focusing her playwrights and making sure the stories were consistent and fluid.  In her defense, a dramaturge on both pieces would have helped greatly.

Cat Fishers costumes were lovely—especially her conceptualization of the Albanian tribe.  Elisa Giordano’s set must be given kudos for the photographed park from Crother Spyglass, which perfectly captured both the park and the passion for photography from the characters.

All in all, the evening was enjoyable as it was exciting to witness work with much possibility in its early stages.

——————
Serenitas Media & Extrabold Production’s
Crother Spyglass & The Resistible Rise of Fatlinda Paloka
June 11-15, 2008
Theater for the New City

Tickets are $18 and are now available online at www.smarttix.com or by calling (212) 868-4444

Theater for the New City | 155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Streets) | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee Review by Peyton Wise.

For its final show of the 2008 Season, T. Schreiber Studio is presenting a double bill of famous one-acts. Christopher Durang’s The Actor’s Nightmare portrays an understudy/actor/accountant pulled on-stage to perform a part he never rehearsed in a performance that shifts between famous plays. Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound portrays two critics whose personal problems are drawn into the play they’re reviewing. The plays suit each other well. Both are surreal farces about the blurred lines between stage and reality. They have fundamental philosophical questions underpinning the premise and the humor. They are both structured to build laughter, even as they twist the knife.

The plays are given equal treatment. Both are lavishly designed, with a rich palette and an incredible set that builds an ornate proscenium with boxes into a black box theatre. Both plays are well-cast and meticulously staged. And both are so restrained they fail to reach the mania the lines suggest. It’s like hearing individual solos in place of the Hallelujah chorus. The moments may be lovely, but they don’t add to their intended sum.

That said, there are truly funny moments in both shows. Anyone with a smattering of theatrical history will enjoy Durang’s upending of beloved plays. Sara Goff’s incisive send-up of Beckett is a must-see. (In fact, she has several wicked caricatures throughout the nightmare.) Michael Black, as the unwitting performer, is charmingly bumbling as he tries to keep his head. The critics of Inspector Hound (Julian Elfer and Rick Forstmann) have a patter that is as hilarious as it is painful to anyone who’s ever been at the mercy of men like them.

With so many of the elements in place, one can’t help but wonder what the evening would be if the plays reached their suggested pitch. Both are given a lovely structure, but the shadow of what they could have been steals the scenes.

——————
T. Schreiber Studios presents
The Actor’s Nightmare &
The Real Inspector Hound
May 8-June 15th, 2008 (Thu-Sat @8pm, Sun @3pm)
Gloria Maddox Theatre

A suggested donation of $20.00 (Senior $15; General Student $17) is requested, and advance tickets can be purchased online at www.tschreiber.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Gloria Maddox Theatre | 151 West 26th Street, 7th Floor | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee Review by A.K. Gobble.

Evidence of Things Unseen- a new play by Katie Forgette, tells the story of life and death. The curve-balls that we are sometimes served and the things we lose along the way. This is the story of one family being torn apart by loss. Both their collectives lose as a family as well as their own personal losses as individuals.

Eliza Ventura (Abigail Caldwell), Arthur Bartow (Jack Caldwell)
& Susan Cameron (Jane).

Abigail, a strong-minded rebellious writer, and Jane, her born again sister have a difficult and uneasy relationship. They struggle to stay unified and support their aging father while in the midst of a family crisis. Each character is extremely honest and raw, creating hilarious moments of interaction with one another, which is very much appreciated by the audience in light of the sad chain of events. The writer keeps things interesting by throwing in some curve-balls of her own. Her characters are all very smart intelligent people who like to quote famous individuals and give out moral lessons throughout the play. A thing that at times bothered me and made me think the writer doesn’t trust the audience to “get it” on their own.

In general the play was explained to us constantly by the characters and left not much room to discover our own sympathy. The actors were extremely professional and did their job wonderfully. It is a huge advantage to have such a skillful cast! I was moved mostly in their credit.

This piece is written in such a personal way that makes you want to love every character and root for them all no matter what the conflict is, but this raw honesty was sometimes a bit problematic and made it seem like a pity party, with each of the characters constantly describing how miserable they are while not afraid to repeat it numerous times throughout the play.

The Director, Frank Ventura made smart choices with the small space, staging the production in a “Theater in the round” style, which helps the audience exist in the situation. He was very creative with his set and even choreographed his stage hands and the set moves into the scenes, letting the shifts bleed into the play, and as a result giving it an eerie sensation of “ghosts of the past”. I liked that very much and thought it to be very unique.

All and all I enjoyed myself and think it is worth seeing especially for the talented cast of four.
——————-
Cap 21 presents
Katie Forgette’s
Evidence of Things Unseen
May 20-June 1st, 2008
Cap21- The Shop

Tickets: 18.00 and are available online at www.cap21.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Cap21-The Shop | 18 West 18th Street, 6th Fl | Chelsea.

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

When deprived of someone we have built a life with, people tend to react in different ways: some self-destruct, others become stronger; then there are the few that just don’t open up to grief. When a community is robbed of several loved ones, this is personified on a larger scale. Sometimes there is an air of community and solidarity, but often there is hatred and contempt. Playwright Sally Nemeth aims to gather all these scenarios in Mill Fire, but seems to miss the bull’s-eye.

Mill Fire is set in the late 1970’s, in a small steel town that has lost a few of their hard working men to a disastrous fire in the Mill. Marlene (Lauren Kelston) is a young wife in her mid 20’s who loses her beloved husband Champ (Mike Mihm), and is reminded of his tragic demise by his brother Bo (Mark Armstrong) who survived the fire. Bo has his own set of problems, including his drunk wife Sunny (Kristen Vaughan) and the huge guilt of probably being held accountable for the accident—drinking painkillers on the job never leads to anything good.

Lauren Kelston as Maureen & Mike Mihm as Champ.

Marlene is the black sheep that just won’t do things the proper way. She won’t grieve in a proper fashion, and she won’t take blood money from the Mill Company like the rest of the bereaving housewives. Nemeth recounts the events with flashbacks to help us further understand that day of destruction. Three widows (Heather E. Cunningham, Elise Rovinsky, and Amiende Negbenebor) are added in a tone of Greek Chorus that only clutters an already crutched text.

That gray day, Marlene’s efforts to try and get Champ to stay home and not go to work, with sexual innuendos and lovely caresses, fall short from getting us to care for the couple. The same applies to Bo and Sunny in the presentation of a formulaic troubled household. What Nemeth creates in Mill Fire are beautiful moments of emotional discharge and earnest answers to a heavy situation without connecting the instances fluidly.

Mike Mihm as Champ & Mark Armstrong as Bo.

Director Angela Astle tries to tackle Nemeth’s creation with beautiful tableaus that seem to not correlate with the play. Astle has a keen eye for casting, as all the actors were refreshingly powerful and astute in their portrayals.

Lauren Kelston as Marlene attacks the play with strength and zest; Mark Armstrong delivered a still virtue to his character and graced all situations with momentum and honesty. High praises to Kristen Vaughan, who handled Sunny’s alcoholism with compassion, and showed us the many layers of loneliness while alongside others.

Jack and Rebecca Cunningham did an exquisite job at turning the Spoon Theatre into an appropriate 70’s setting. The costumes by Kathryn Squitieri also gave this world the finished effect of a “retro production.”

Mill Fire might have its problems, but the talented cast compensates.

—————–
Retro Productions presents
Sally Nemeth’s
Mill Fire
directed by Angela Astle
May 7th-May 24th, 2008
The Spoon Theatre

Schedule: Monday, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.
Tickets: $25.00, $18.00 for students and seniors; 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111 or www.retroproductions.org.

The Spoon Theatre | 38 West 38th Street , 5th Floor | Manhattan.

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

“Coming Out” plays are beginning to seem a thing of the past. Even though the red states are still far behind the rest of the world, many countries have begun not only accepting gay life as a part of mainstream culture, but allowing gay marriage. Now that even Cuba –under the leadership of Raul Castro- announces that they are working against homophobia, we can see that things have changed since the early eighties when AIDS was known as the gay cancer. As a culture changes, so must its theater. Sadly the brave plays of the eighties and early nineties seem outdated. Even Angels in America must concede that the millennia no longer approaches. I was pleased to discover when I saw Running by Sharon E Cooper, that her piece–about a man forced into coming out to his mother–had listened to the changes in the air and attempted to write a contemporary take on the “coming out” play.

The play centers around what happens when Gregg’s boyfriend, Junior, shows up at his fathers funeral—only to find out that Gregg has still not come out to his mother at the age of thirty-two. The first thing Ms. Cooper did was to examine what is at the heart of her piece. Rather than simply being about a man tortured by the demons of homosexuality, Ms. Cooper wrote a protagonist who was simply afraid to do anything organically. Cooper also created a fun twist in writing a mother who is fine with homosexuality. The core problem in their relationship is that they do not know each other. Running became more about a mother and son struggling to trust each other than anything else. So, high praise must go to the writer for that.

Lance R. Marshall as Junior & Ryan Clardy as Gregg.

As Gregg, Ryan Clardy proved an adept actor. The role of a troubled young man is always difficult. The likeability of someone so tortured is always difficult to find, and Clardy was charming in the seat. Katherine Alt Keener was endearing as the Kentucky bred Maryann. Her sweet naiveté proved genuine. A marvelous standout was Willie Mullins as Sandy—Junior’s best friend who tags along for the drama. Mullins soared in the comic scenes where he teaches Maryanne how to be a cheerleader. He proved equally deep when he had to revel that even he has secrets.

The problem of the play comes in the form of the boyfriend, Junior. By no fault of actor Lance R. Marshall, the character seems so narcissistic and self-involved that any empathy one might have for the relationship is often replaced with contempt. Junior is constantly talking about himself and seems completely unaware when loved ones confess true feelings to him. I feel that Cooper was attempting to make each character flawed in the realities of life. And she succeeded in three of the four. The other characters had redeeming qualities while I could not find any in the fourth. It is hard to like a man when he discusses ending a relationship the day after his lover buries his father. The characters’ main reason is that he is ready to have children and is not sure Gregg will ever be able to be on the same page. The love scenes seemed also forced—but perhaps because one of the characters was so disingenuous.

Overall, the play was a delightful breath of fresh air. Pat Diamond’s direction seemed organic and the staging was fluid. The set, by Anne Bartek was light and peaceful—obviously reflecting the home Maryanne thinks she lives in. One can always see change in a country when you look at the growth in its art.

——————
The Milk Can Theatre Company presents
Sharon E. Coopers’
Running
May 2-17, 2008 (show has now closed)
For more information on the company, visit www.milkcantheatre.org

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

I remember how I fought my way out of reading Cervantes’ Don Quixote back in the school days, a long long time ago. But then curiosity and the love for adventure and books made me creep into the pages of Don Quixote, and I soon found myself wanting to fight a windmill and be dubbed Don Antonio.

Robert Anthony Jones as Sancho & Jan-Peter Pedros as Don Quixote
photo credit: Jennifer Maufrais

The Gallery Players, an institution that has been pumping out work since 1967, earning their reputation as “New York’s best Kept Secret” brings us their production of Man of La Mancha, a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman’s non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote. It tells the story of the knight, Don Quixote, as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. The original 1965 Broadway production was a total hit! It ran for 2,329 performances and won five Tony Awards.

Gallery Players production of Man of La Mancha is one of the most spot on Off-Off Broadway revivals I have encountered. I’m sure to be contradicted by musical theatre fans that indulge on crisp voices, but I’ll exchange vocals for good acting any day. A magnificent ensemble of 22 performers grace the Spanish prison, as Cervantes (Jan Peter Pedross) performs his play that serves as his defense before a mock trial that the prisoners have started in order for him to keep his possessions. Once Cervantes takes out his make up kit and armor and transforms himself as Alonso Quijana, he is soon in need of the prisoners to join him as actors in the piece. Quijana seems to be under the impression that he is Don Quixote and fears that longtime enemy The Enchanter wants a piece of him, and his Manservant, or should I say “squire” Sancho Panza (Robert Anthony Jones). He fights a windmill thinking it’s a giant monster, and thinks he was defeated because he’s not an actual Knight. So he walks into an Inn that in his illustrious fantastical mind resembles a Castle, and needs the Innkeeper (Justin Herfel) to dub him as a Knight. Every Knight needs a lady, right? His eyes grow weary as he meets Aldonza (Jennifer McCabe), who for him is Dulcinea the Lady of his heart, when Aldonza is in fact the bedfellow of many. As the story unfolds, prisoners are being taken away, and the rest are in thirst of hearing how the story of Don Quixote concludes.

All is a bitter operatic end, as the fantasy of Don Quixote is killed and Quijana slowly wimples away, but Aldonza soon reminds him of “The Impossible Dream” and how he has transformed her into his Dulcinea.

Jan-Peter Pedross portrays a tender and dreamy-eyed Cervantes, his conviction and boldness towards the role embarks the audience on a powerful journey. The humorous Robert Anthony Jones enraptures the audience with great wit as Sancho Panza.

Jennifer McCabe as Aldonza & Cast
photo credit: Jennifer Maufrais

We are used to being swept away when Don Quixote sings “The Impossible Dream”, the song has been recorded over and over and over again. Well, in Gallery Players’ Man of La Mancha, when McCabe sings “Aldonza” the audience shivers, cries, kicks and screams with her all through the journey of the song. I’d like to say I saw some audience members teary eyed, but it might have just been me. The beautiful Jennifer McCabe enraptures the audience with her no nonsense take on Aldonza, she embodied the complexity of the character with subtlety and sad anger.

There is not a weak link in this cast; the entire ensemble brings a fresh take to the show. Director Tom Wotjunick keeps almost the entire ensemble on stage at all times. I appreciated how everyone knew how to listen, and created tasks for themselves without drawing attention away from what was going on.

Wotjunick clearly knows how to highlight the emotional arc of the characters, and the parallels that exist between them. He didn’t create a world of fantasy with big costumes and set changes, but trusted the actors and the audiences hunger to use their imagination, using things from Cervantes trunk, or around the prison. The staging was clean and balanced at all times. Kudos go to fight choreographer Ryan Kasprzak who deals with the fights in a beautiful way, without making them seem like modern dance or safety poses.

The set design by Martin Andrew utilizes the space in a smart way, creating levels and entryways, easily transformed into Quixote’s different landscapes with the use of furnishings and first rate lighting design by Tony Galaska, and sound design by Kristyn R. Smith. Costume Designer David Withrow never seizes to amaze me; the detailing that characterizes his work was of course present in all the garments.

You have one week left to “run where the brave dare not go”, and that is a great Off-Off Broadway production of Man of La Mancha, presented by Gallery Players.
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Gallery Players presents
Man of La Mancha
April 26-May 18, 2008 (Thu-Fri @8pm; Sat @2pm & 8pm; Sun @3pm)
Gallery Players

Tickets: $18.00 for adults, $14 for Senior Citizens and children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at www.galleryplayers.com or by calling Theatermania at (212) 352-3101.

Gallery Players | 199 14th St (btwn 4th and 5th Aves) | Brooklyn.