Showing posts with label performance piece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance piece. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Coming soon to a theater near....

Not so soon, in fact 2014-15 season at the Public:

"Hamilton," written by the Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, will have its world premiere next January as part of The Public’s 2014-15 season at Astor Place. Directed by his In The Heights collaborator Thomas Kail, this new musical features Miranda playing Alexander Hamilton, one of our country’s Founding Fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury.

The brilliant musical "previewed" at an American Songbooks presentation in 2012. Performances begin at the Public on January 20, 2015.

“Lin-Manuel Miranda is a marvel, but nothing could have prepared us for the astonishing achievement of Hamilton,” said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. “Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies, the only Founding Father who was an immigrant, and Lin’s genius is to tell the story of the birth of the United States as an immigrant’s story. The energy, the passion, joy, tragedy, and raw intelligence of this show are stunning.”

More information at http://www.publictheater.org/

February 25-March 30

Do we exist only as constructs in each other's minds? Explore this concept and Sartre's famous bon mots, "Hell is other people," at the Pearl Theatre's production of "No Exit." For tickets and informaiton, please go to http://www.pearltheatre.org/1314/noexit/
Jolly Abraham as Inez and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris as Estelle in a scene from "No Exit."
Photo by Al Foote III

March 11-April 12

Paula Vogel's "And Baby Makes Seven" is an uproarious and timely comedy that has not been seen professionally in New York in 20 years. Marc Stuart Weitz directs an ensemble including Ken Barnett,  Susan Bott and Constance Zaytoun. Vogel’s "And Baby Makes Seven" tells the story of Anna and Ruth, a lesbian couple, who enlist their gay friend Peter to help them create a family. But are any of them ready for parenthood?
For tickets and to find out more, visit newohiotheatre.org

March 14-April 5

The Chocolate Factory Theater is presenting the world premiere Target Margin Theater's "Uriel Acosta: I Want That Man!" from March 14-April 5. This new adaptation of one of the central plays of Yiddish history is taken from a variety of literary and historical sources and created and directed by TMT’s Artistic Director, David Herskovits. Original songs are by Rebecca Hart, with toy theater created by Kathleen Kennedy Tobin for this production.
Tickets and information are available at chocolatefactorytheater.org

April 1-12

Singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel, Christine Brinkley's and Billy Joel's talented daughter, makes her premiere at Cafe Carlyle.
Visit www.thecarlyle.com to find out more.

April 5

Patricia Kenny Dance Collection presents "Spring Collection" which includes their world premiere of "Unrest" choreographed by Patricia Kenny Reilly. Excerpts of "Unrest" were released on film in an open rehearsal series web forum, and this evening PKDC will share the culmination of the work-in-progress. The evening of dance is at the Queens Theatre for one night only.
For tickets, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/9883433. To learn more about PKDC, go to www.patriciakennydancecollection.com.

April 17-30

Ripe Time, the Brooklyn-based company led by Rachel Dickstein, will premiere "The World is Round,"
which adapts the Gertrude Stein book, at BAM Fisher. Conceived, written and directed by Dickstein, the work is a fable (for grownups and mature children) full of original live music by Heather Christian and aerial movement choreographed by Nicki Miller. "The World is Round" is Ripe Time’s first new show since 2011 when it launched its celebrated Mrs. Dalloway adaptation Septimus and Clarissa.
Go to www.bam.org/theworldisround for tickets and informaiton.

April 17-May 11

"The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Volume 2" in sequel to the award-winning "... Volume 1" is adapted and directed by Christopher Loar, ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists.

Now he's a legendary playwright and a Broadway mainstay, but Eugene O'Neill was once considered an experimental, downtown playwright. His plays defied the melodramatic conventions of the day and much of his work premiered with the Provincetown Players on MacDougall Street. The New York Neo-Futurists return O'Neill to his experimental roots, and "...Volume 2"  spans the years 1913 - 1915, and includes his plays Recklessness, Warnings, Fog, Abortion, and The Sniper.
Tickets and informatiokn at www.nynf.org

April 23- May 18

Part of the Brits off Broadway at 59E59, Harry Melling's debut play, "Peddling" makes its US premiere.
A peddler wakes up in a field, with no memory of how he got there or what happened the night before. In his attempt to find out what happened, everything comes into question.
Learn more at www.59e59.org

50 Shades of Gray, the musical and Beauty and the Beast are among the shows still playing in these listings:
http://tbontheaisleatheaterdiary.blogspot.com/2014/02/around-town.html

"Fast Company" plays through April 6th and "The Pig, or Vaclav Havel's Hunt for the Pig" only through March 29th.. At the latter, dinner is served at the 3 Legged Dog production, provided by the Slovakian restuarant Korzo.



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What's In A Name?: "Here I Go" and "Lonely, I'm Not"

A title can inspire, amuse, mystify, engage.

"Lonely, I'm Not," at 2econd Stage Theatre through June 3rd, truly deserves a more imaginative moniker. Playwright Paul Weitz does his fine romantic comedy a great disservice by not finding a worthier title to represent it. In fact "Lonely, I'm Not," is arguably the best of the four Weitz plays 2econd Stage has produced.

On the other hand, the title of the performance piece at 59E59 Theaters, also playing through June 3rd, "Here I Go,", conjures up a favorite Dolly Parton tune. "Here I Go" lives up to the promise, if not the spirit, that the tune inspires.



Heather (Olivia Thirlby) on a date with Porter (Topher Grace) in Paul Weitz’s “Lonely, I’m Not.” Photo © Joan Marcus.

The hooks in Dolly Parton's songs are so catchy and bouncy that it's hard to imagine them as a soundtrack for heartbreak, but in "Here I Go," Lynette, widowed at 60 (Natalie Leonard), not only has lost her husband but also had lost touch with her family.


Gates Loren Leonard, Michael Howell, Natalie Leonard in “Here I Go.” Photo © Corey Torpie.

"Here I Go" is a very engaging silent show, with a musical soundtrack, some of it live (Lynette at 16, Mariah Iliardi-Lowy, sings as does Michael Howell, billed as The Man) and a voice over narration (voiced by Julie Nelson.) Written by David Todd, "Here I Go" is a stylized performance conceived by Luke Leonard, who also directs, and set to Western sounds (designed by Michael Howell.)

In "Here I Go," Lynette revisits the highlights and low points of her life as a cowgirl, bringing to life her younger selves (along with her at 16 years old; at 8, Gates Loren Leonard; at 26, Jessica Pohlman).


Jessica Pohlman and Michael Howell in “Here I Go.” Photo © Corey Torpie.

"All I ever wanted was a few moments to myself, just to think...." Lynette says. "And then I'd put on my music and it would sound so sweet, because I had you and I had them.... But when you take it all away... the music just doesn't do it anymore."

In "Lonely, I'm Not," Porter (Topher Grace), still reeling from his divorce three years ago, has also fallen on hard times. Once he was a high-powered, hard-driving success. His father, Rick (Mark Blum), a con artist, still thinks of him as a soft touch, although he is running low on funds.


Little Dog (Christopher Jackson) with Porter (Topher Grace) in Paul Weitz’s “Lonely, I’m Not.” Photo © Joan Marcus.

Heather (Olivia Thirlby), driven by ambition and overcoming the handicap of her blindness, is enjoying a thriving career when a mutual friend in finance who goes by the name of Little Dog (Christopher Jackson) fixes her up with Porter. Their attraction is based in part on overcoming outsiderness, and the plot carries the rom-com formula through. Nonetheless, "Lonely, I'm Not" is a charming play.

Maureen Sebastian adroitly plays Porter's ex-wife, Carlotta and Heather's over-protective roommate, and her assistant. The wonderfully versatile Lisa Emery portrays Heather's concerned mother, Porter's Polish cleaning lady, Yana, and a school administrator who interviews Porter for a teaching job.

Olivia Thirlby gives a nuanced performance. Topher Grace, the Jack Lemmon of his generation, deserves a much bigger career than he has so far enjoyed. He did well in "That 70s Show," of course, and has had some movie outings, but he should be a big star, a household name, even.


Maureen Sebastian as Olivia Thirlby’s assistant with Thirlby in Paul Weitz’s “Lonely, I’m Not.” Photo © Joan Marcus.

Hurry to see these plays; they both close on June 3rd. For a schedule and avaiable tickets for Paul Weitz’s “Lonely, I’m Not,” visit www.2st.com. Go to 59e59.org.