In the parks and public spaces... especially for you

"Burrow" by The Bardos Ballet Theater takes to the indoors to avoid rain falling.

Time does not diminish his popularity, nor our curiosity about William Shakespeare, who turns 450 on April 23, 2014. His talent is timeless, and oft feted.

From Wikipedia

In celebration of the “Bard of Avon” on his upcoming birthday, Ross Williams’ New York Shakespeare Exchange initiated a year-long Sonnet Project, in which all 154 sonnets will be filmed at various locations around New York City.  The invitation only launch party for the Sonnet Project at the Museum of the Moving Image on May 20^th, will feature Tony-winner Cady Huffman. She will read a sonnet and joins actors Lynn Cohen, Austin Pendleton, Michael Urie, and Joanna Gleason, among others, all of whom also appear in an upcoming sonnet film.

The goal is for the films to reach an audience of 1,000,000, with each short film released on the website www.SonnetProjectNYC.com. Sites for the films include courthouses, and parks, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Queens Unisphere, Chelsea Piers, and the Bronx. There is now an app for Android mobile devices available at Google Play and a mobile app available for iPhone and iPad at the Apple App Store, so you can catch these short films anytime.



Here's a "Burrow" thank you from the Bardos Ballet's outdoor [and sometimes forced-by-weather indoor] performances in late May:

Also happening in public spaces and the parks are the Bardos Ballet Theater’s free dance performances. Billed as “Burrow,” the dances by choreographer Cynthia Anne Stanley and architect Maria Sieira will pop up as “sneak attacks” in sites around town. In “Burrow,” twelve women construct and deconstruct dwellings, as they keep the homefires buring during WWII.

“Burrow” will be at Foley Square Fountain on May 19^th at 7pm, on the 24^th at Fort Greene Park Steps. Two hush-hush appearances on June 2^nd will be in Manhattan at 11am and then somewhere in Brooklyn in the early evening. Picnics are welcome, but only friends of the Bardos Ballet will get exact directions to participate in these stealth events. 

The Bardos Ballet has made contingency plans for rain outs. So if they can't perform at Fort Greene Park, for instance:

They'll head indoors to the Martha Graham Studios. Stay in touch with The Bardos Ballet Theater so you can be there.

A Trip To "Neverland" In Long Pants

Bradford Cover as Sir Harry and Rachel Botchan as Kate in "The Twelve Pound Look" from  The Pearl's This Side Of Neverland. Photo by Al Foote III.

If it weren't for Walt Disney, the flying, Tinker Bell and Captain Hook, "Peter Pan" would be widely recognized as the adult fairytale it truly is. Children for the most part aren't that interested in not growing up.

Sean McNall as Charles and Rachel Botchan as Mrs. Page  in  "Rosalind" from  This Side of Neverland. Photo by Al Foote III.

In J.M. Barrie's two one-act plays, capping the 29th season of the Pearl Theatre Company as "This Side Of Neverland," and playing through May 19th, the tales are definitely for grown-ups.

J.M. Barrie (Sean McNall), narrating with a deep Scots brogue and a very merry twinkle, is the glue that binds "Rosalind" with "The Twelve Pound Look" in "This Side of Neverland." The Pianist (Carol Schultz) leads a mostly failed (through no fault of hers) audience sing-along to aid in the transition between the acts.

Extended to May 26th

Rachel Botchan as Kate and Vaishnavi Sharma as Lady Sims in "The Twelve Pound Look " from This Side Of Neverland at the Pearl Theatre. Photo by Al Foote III.

The production under J.R. Sullivan's direction strikes the charming note of Edwardian celebration. J.M. Barrie makes mischief in the neatly-drawn, sweetly satirical two parts of "This Side Of Neverland;"although the little plays feature adult-language and adult-situations, "This Side Of Neverland"gets its PG rating. Of course, youngsters will not appreciate its mature wit nor its intelligent wisdom..

Sean McNall as Charles in "Rosalind," the opening act of This Side Of Neverland. Photo by Al Foote III.

In the excellent small ensemble, Rachel Botchan is as delightful as Kate, the escaped wife in "The Twelve Pound Look," as she is as the aging-ageless ingenue in "Rosalind." Sean McNall is equally excellent in all the roles he undertakes, here as Barrie, and then as the boyish Charles, and the reserved slightly supercilious butler Tombes.

For more about The Pearl Theatre Company, and "This Side Of Neverland," please go to www.pearltheatre.org. 

Girls Will Be Boys

Naturally impersonation is about creating an illusion.

Jessica Walker in "The Girl I Left Behind Me" at 59E59. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

In "The Girl I Left Behind Me," playing at 59E59 Theaters through May 19th, co-author and performer Jessica Walker salutes the women who wore the pants in Victorian and Edwardian era music halls and on America's vaudeville stages.

These ladies in trousers, like Miss Hetty King, Ella Shields, or the 6-foot Gladys Bentley from Harlem, dressed the part but sang in their natural register. Hiding in plain sight, in men's clothing, achieved great success and had a large following. Walker and her co-writer, Neil Bartlett suggest that their admirers were complicit co-conspirators in women-worship.

Jessica Walker in "The Girl I Left Behind Me" at 59E59. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

It's a fact that some of these professional cross-dressers may have been lesbians. One, Annie Hindle, in fact managed a marriage by signing the certificate with a man's name. Nice tidbit, and there are some others in "The Girl I Left Behind Me" that will amuse and edify. But, unfortunately, the historical thesis of the show is neither shocking nor all that interesting.

Joe Atkins at the piano with Jessica Walker in "The Girl I Left Behind  Me." Photo by Carol Rosegg.

In full gentlemanly attire, with tails and tophat-- one of several she doffs for her performance,--Walker shows off a finevoice and a nice way around a variety of musical styles, even the operatic.

"The Girl I Left Behind Me" is presented by Jess Walker Musical Theatre and is part of the Brits Off Broadway. Learn more about "The Girl I Left Behind Me"at www.59e59.org.

Work is a special kind of hell in "Bull"

Sam Troughton and Eleanor Matsuura in Mike Bartlett's "Bull," part of Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters.
Photo by Carol Rosegg

If the only intriguing thing about Mike Bartlett's "Bull" were that he had a recent success off-Broadway with a play called "C**k," it might be enough for some of us. But "Bull" is far from a mere companion set-piece, offering the cutely indulgent possibility of being labelled "C**k" and "Bull." 

Eleanor Matsuura and Adam James in Mike Bartlett's "Bull," part of Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters.
Photo by Carol Rosegg

"Bull," in a Sheffield Theatres production at 59E59 Theater's Brits Off-Broadway festivities, through June 2nd, is in fact, a rather brilliantly brutal study of humiliation and dominance.

Sam Troughton and Adam James in Mike Bartlett's "Bull," part of Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters.
Photo by Carol Rosegg

Thomas (Sam Troughton) is alternately bewildered and out-manned by his co-workers, Isobel (Eleanor Matsuura) and Tony (Adam James) as he struggles to survive at work. The team is about to be pared down by their boss, Carter (Neil Stuke) whose visit the three are anticipating in an office made to look like a fight ring, designed by Soutra Gilmour.

Sam Troughton, Neil Stuke, Adam James, and Eleanor Matsuura in Mike Bartlett's "Bull," part of Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Photo by Carol Rosegg

"Bull" is a cage match, with Carter as reluctant referee. Thomas' being cut is a foregone conclusion. Carter, unctious and self-assured, describes his mission to downsize as "a cull to save the species, by which I mean the rest of us, from extinction."

Eleanor Matsuura, Sam Troughton, and Adam James in Mike Bartlett's "Bull,", part of Brits Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Photo by Carol Rosegg. Choreography by Allistair David and Fight Direction by Christian Thomas.

The actors move about aggressively-- or in Thomas's case defensively-- with choreography by Allistair David and Fight Direction by Chrisitan Thomas, in a Darwinian dance of death. The ensemble, under Clare Lizzimore's direction, is superb.

"Bull" creates the very definition of a hostile work environment.

For more information about "Bull," visit www.59e59.org.

This "Trip" Is More Than Worth The Fare!

Cicely Tyson is Mrs. Carrie Watts in  Horton Foote's"The Trip To Bountiful." Photo by Joan Marcus 

Home can have a powerful pull on a body.

Horton Foote's "The Trip To Bountful," at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre through July 7, is a tale of yearning to return.

Cicely Tyson as Mrs. Carrie Watts with Condola Rashid as Thelma in the revival of "The Trip To Bountiful."
Photo by Joan Marcus.

Mrs. Carrie Watts (Cicely Tyson) wants to go back, away from the bickering old woman she's become. Her frivolous daughter-in-law Jessie Mae (Vanessa Williams) provokes her to be her worst self. Ludie (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), her son, is sweet and ineffectual. Mrs. Watts' life with them in a two-room apartment in  has her longing for her childhood home in Bountiful. The farm town may as well have been named in irony; there is nothing left of it since it's soil blighted by overuse. To Mrs. Watts, it is a wonderful memory she longs to revisit before she dies.

Vanessa Williams and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Photo by Joan Marcus.

"I think Ludie knows how I feel about getting back to Bountiful. Once when I was talking about something we did back there in the old days, he burst out crying. He was so overcome he had to leave the room," she tells Thelma (Condola Rashid), a stranger who befriends her during her "escape" from Houston.

Cicely Tyson and Cuba Goofing, Jr. in "The Trip To Bountiful" in a photo by Joan Marcus.

In the interest of full disclosure, "The Trip To Bountiful" is a personal favorite among Horton Foote's extensive repertoire. Foote's first producd play dates back to 1941 with the off-Broadway production of  "Texas Town." (A theme revisited in Primary Stages production of "Harrison, TX.") Foote, who died in 2009, had a long and much-feted career, with many a Broadway hit; Foote was the recipient of numerous awards -- including the one bestowed by the Academny of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Tom Wopat is charming in a small role as Sheriff . Photo by Joan Marcus.

This superb cast, anchored by the outstanding Cicely Tyson, with strong performances by Vanessa Williams and Cuba Gooding, Jr. bring Foote's lovely tale to its fullest flower.

Tyson's many awards over her illustrious career, including Emmys and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her Broadway appearances began in the late 1950s, as an understudy in "Jolly's Progress," and included the 1983 production of "The Corn is Green," and a few performances (once as a host) at Tony celebrations over the years. There already is a lot of chatter suggesting she might win this year's Tony!

You would not know it while watching Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s nuanced performance as Ludie that this is the Academy Award winner's stage debut. On the other hand, Vanessa Williams, a multi-Grammy award winner, has plenty of experience acting in theater; in 2002, she got a Tony nod for her portrayal of the Witch in the revival of the Sondheim "Into The Woods." Up-and-comer Condola Rashid,  Tony-nominated for her role in "Stick Fly" in 2012, doles out a pitch-perfect performance.

When we come to Bountiful, the scenic design by Jeff Cowie is bucolically pictorial, giving a pastoral beauty to the town of Mrs. Watts' memories. For lovers of the technical, there is a suspended cross-section
of a travelling bus, under the supervision of Hudson Theatrical Associates.  In Houston, Cowie's set describes the oppression of a cramped apartment, giving the stars a small space in which to work. The Watts' ground floor is overladen with the darkened windows of neighbors above them. Note the nod to the color of the casting, and the times of the play, set in Texas in 1953, in the sign pointing to the White Waiting Room at the bus depot.

Under Michael Wilson's direction, there isn't a misstep in the journey of "The Trip To Bountiful." Go and spend an evening travelling in the world Horton Foote has created.

For more information on "The Trip To Bountiful," please go to The Trip To Bountiful on Broadway.

Waiting for "The Call"

Kelly AuCoin, as Peter, Kerry Butler as Annie with Eisa Davis as Rebecca and Crystal A. Dickinson as Drea in  Tanya Barfield's "The Call" at Playwrights Horizons. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

Couples desperate to be parents often use hope and sometimes each other in their efforts to conceive.

In Tanya Barfield's new drama, "The Call," in a joint Playwrights Horizons and Primary Stages production at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater extended to May 26th, the struggle to adopt just prolongs the agonies of a young married pair.

Annie (Kerry Butler) and Peter (Kelly AuCoin) suffer mightily for the want of a child. One can see the yearning in Peter's eyes as they assemble a crib in their spare room.

Kerry Butler as Annie, Kelly AuCoin as Peter, Russell G. Jones as Alemu, Crystal A. Dickinson as Drea and Eisa Davis as Rebecca in Tanya Barfield's "The Call." Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

Over dinner with a couple, Drea (Crystal A. Dickinson) and Rebecca (Eisa Davis) who have just returned from Africa where they got married, share their expectations of a private adoption. When the birth mother backs out, Peter and Annie are unmoored. Peter presses Annie into seeking help from an agency. The fact that the child they hope to parent will come from Africa stirs up concerns from them and their friends and a neighbor.

Kelly AuCoin as Peter with Eisa Davis as Rebecca, Crystal A. Dickinson (standing) as Drea and Kerry Butler as Annie in "The Call."  Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

"The Call," directed by Leigh Silverman moves a bit slowly through the first act, but is grippingly transcendent in the second. The actors acquit themselves splendidly, with Russell G. Jones, as Alemu, an odd African neighbor of Peter and Annie's, adding a poignant humor to the story. Crystal A. Dickinson stands out in the fine ensemble as Drea, the truth-talking girlfriend of Peter and Annie's old friend Rebecca.

At its heart, "The Call" is a parlor drama, exploring relationships, race and responsibility in a well-written, intelligent play that is also thought-provoking and  likeable.

For more information on the joint production of "The Call," visit www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org and www.PrimaryStages.org.

What To Do?

So much to do, so little time. If this familiar refrain has you wondering how to plan your weekend, here are some suggestions from T&B On The Aisle:

Check out "ONE NIGHT STAND," opening April 26 and playing through May 2nd at the Quad Cinema, a backstage documentary, chronicling the production of The 24 Hour Musicals in which teams of top-notch musical theater talent have 24 hours to create, cast, rehearse and put on a live benefit show. See Cheyenne Jackson, Richard Kind, Rachel Dratch (among other performers) and directors like Sam Gold, along with writers and composers like Jonathan Marc Sherman and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

A scene from "ONE NIGHT STAND"

The pressure cooker environment behind the scenes as 4 short musicals come to life was echoed by the crews behind the  camera as they plunged into  a sleepless shoot. Produced by Elisabeth Sperling and Trish Dalton with the assistance of 10 shooters, four production assistants, and three editors, "ONE NIGHT STAND" is a wonder of improvisation and inspiration.

Rachel Dratch and Richard Kind in  a scene from "ONE  NIGHT STAND."

Visit www.onenightstandthemovie.com to learn more about "ONE NIGHT STAND."

The Wild Project, a production and venue for emerging artists and new theater, film and visual arts, has on-going programming to entertain and enlighten. Catch Kara Manning's "SLEEPING ROUGH," through April 27th, for instance in which an American woman spews graffitti of discontent all over London. Next, "ALONDRA WAS HERE" by Chisa Huthcinson, takes the stage, from May 4th to the 18th, with a tale of politics and brutality.

For more information about these and other productions at The Wild Project, visit www.thewildproject.com.

You think you can dance goes on parade with the Shakedown Dance Collective, a gang of 55 people of all shapes and sizes, ages and aspirations, under the tutelage of professional dancers Jamie Benson and Deborah Lohse. 

Deborah Lohse. Photo by Peter Sperling

 The Shakedown consists of weekly 2 hour dance rehearsals that prepare would be dancers for performances throughout New York City.Lohse and Benson have declared Sunday, April 28th "International Dance Day" with a Gala at Dixon Place. On May 18th, join Shakedown for "DANCE PARADE NEW YORK," from 1pm to 7pm from Broadway to Tompkins Square Park.

This is what a Shakedown class looks like! Photo by Bonny Kahane.

For more infomration about Shakedown Dance Collective, please visit www.danceparade.org and go to 
http://7thannualinternationaldanceday.eventbrite.com/# for tickets for the International Dance Day Gala.

"I AM AN OPERA" in a photo by Tim Hailand.

"I AM AN OPERA," at Dixon Place through April 27th, takes us from a large crowd to a one man show, in which Joseph Keckler, writer/performer, sings arias of lament and exultation. "I AM AN OPERA" details Keckler's life as a portrait of the artist taunted by demons, tripping on hallucigens, and  suffering through day jobs.

Joseph Keckler in performance. Photo by Gerry Visco.

 To learn more about "I AM AN OPERA," please visit dixonplace.org.

"Dancing In The Streets" at Motown The Musical: It's Not Just Berry Gordy's Memories

There was a time when Detroit rolled out great big cars, and an even bigger sound. The music of the Motor City was humming in everyone's ears, and playing "with a brand new beat" on and off the Billboard charts.

Berry Gordy's memoirs turned into "Motown The Musical," now at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre,  based on Gordy's book To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown, are condensed to bring us up to the 25th Motown Reunion in 1983.  His Hitsville USA studios brought an exciting new formula to
pop music. Motown records was modeled after the assembly lines of Detroit automobile factories where Gordy had worked.

Berry Gordy, Jr.'s (Brandon Victor Dixon) glam vision added lavish costumes and complicated dance moves to the "short stories," as he put, in the songs his writers created. Gordy gave each of his groups their own persona-- "The Temptations," "The Vandellas," with Martha Reeves (Saycon Sengbloh) at the helm "The Supremes," with Diana Ross (Valisia LeKae) and Smokey Robinson's (Charl Brown) "Miracles."

Brandon Victor Dixon, center, as Berry Gordy Jr., with cast. Photo by Joan Marcus

"Motown The Musical" is a cover of many of the great hits Gordy's studio produced over the years. With success came disappointments. The Supremes' songwriting team of Holland, (Daniel J. Watts as Eddie), Dozier (Julius Thomas III as Lamont), Holland, (Eric LaJuan Summers as Brian) were among the first of many defections from the Motown labels. As soon as the acts Gordy cultivated gained popularity, a big studio swept in to gobble them up.

Sydney Morton as Florence Ballard, Valisia LeKae as Diana Ross and Ariana DeBose as Mary Wilson -- aka The Supremes with Brandon Victor Dixon as Berry Gordy, Jr. Photo by Joan Marcus

Berry Gordy's friend, Smokey Robinson, remained loyal, writing and recording many of the famous tunes from Motown. His early chart-topping songs was "My Guy," which gave Mary Wells early success, soon followed  by the iconic "My Girl."

"Motown The Musical" is part revue, part Awards Tribute show, and part an evening at the Palladium. With the grandiloquent flair Gordy demonstrated as an impresario, "Motown The Musical" is visually splendid. The choreographic numbers, by Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams, from the celebratory dance after Joe Louis's victory bout in 1938 to the smart-stepping moves of the Temptations, put a lively time-stamp on each scene. David Korins, sets, and Esosa, costumes, add their eye-catching verisimilitude to the timeline.

Was Motown an integral part of the civil rights movement? Or did the Motown moment coincide with great and necessary changes in the social fabric of America? Gordy did not intend to be a force for equality; he just wanted to make music that would move everyone. His talent for making money and spending it was legendary. Gordy's skill in business meant he could cover the costs of his extravagances. Gordy fell in love with one of his players, and sacrificed a great deal to make Diana Ross a big star. With this part of the tale, "Motown The Musical" could be seen as a kind of "A Star is Born-Lite."
Its story line is a little weak, but its production values are high and very stylish.

(There's more review at http://www.vevlynspen.com/2013/05/gordy-tell-his-story-his-way-in-motown.html.)
For more information on "Motown The Musical," visit http://www.motownthemusical.com/.

"Good With People"

Andrew Scott-Ramsay and Blythe Duff star in David Harrower's "Good With People," launching the 2013 Brits Off Broadway festival at 59E59 Theaters. Photos by Carol Rosegg

Having a nuclear test site in your town might put a damper on tourism. Helensburgh, Scotland has been made relatively desolate. 

People come, but just for day trips, as Helen Hughes (Blythe Duff) laments in "Good With People," David Harrower's play enjoying a NY premiere at 59E59 Theaters, through April 21st.

Helen works at the Seaview Hotel where Evan Bold (Andrew Scott-Ramsay) is one of the few guests. Evan, who's been in Qatar and Peshawar as a charge nurse for many years, has returned for his parents' remarriage.

Blythe Duff  and Andrew Scott-Ramsay star in David Harrower's "Good With People," launching the 2013 Brits Off Broadway festival at 59E59 Theaters. Photos by Carol Rosegg

Evan and Helen share an unpleasant history since Evan, out of loyalty to his dad's job at the naval facility, was one of the boys from the base who bullied her son Jack after he protested nuclear testing.

The actors are both very good story tellers, holding the attention, despite a minimal story to tell.

Puns and misapprehensions provide some modicum of amusement in "Good With People,"

but Harrower's very short script seems a bit self-indulgent. Long pauses seem like superfluous dramatic tics in a play that is just an hour long.

"Good With People" is the Scots part of 59E59's annual Brits Off Broadway festival. It is produced by Traverse Theatre Company and Datum PPaines Plough.

For more information about "Good With People," and Brits Off Broadway, please visit 59e59.org..

Waltzing With The Prince: "R+H's Cinderella" On Bway!

Little girls dream of dressing in gowns and looking like a princess, and, as they get a little older, of charming princes who can whisk them off to a castle.

The fantasy in "Rodger's + Hammerstein's Cinderella," in an open run at the Broadway Theatre, is about transformation and aspiration.

Poor Cinderella (Laura Osnes) leads a terrible life, toiling at thankless tasks for her thankless stepmother, Madame (Harriet Harris) and ne'er-do-well stepsister Charlotte (Ann Harada) and the nicer Gabrielle (Marla Mindelle.) She dreams of escape, "In My Own Little Corner," and goes back to work mending and cleaning.

Laura Osnes as Cinderella and female ensemble. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Douglas Carter Beane sees in  Cinderella both the hopes for betterment and the determination to make a better world in his script adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein original TV production. His take is perhaps just a little too up-to-the-minute. Or maybe, it contributes to making "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" so much more than a made for TV version of a timeless fairytale, even if that 1957 live broadcast featured Julie Andrews in the heyday of television. There is a shiny sort of do-good, feel-good quality to Beane's rescripting, and to the lyrics he and David Chase have added to Rodgers and Hammerstein's original.

Santino Fontana as Prince Topher and Laura Osnes as Cinderella at the ball.  Photo by Carol  Rosegg.

Laura Osnes, whose ascent to Broadway was as the winner in a TV contest for her role in  "Grease," has proven to be the quintessential stage actor. She is also more than a made for TV star. Since being "discovered," she's done yeomen's work in the much-maligned "Bonnie and Clyde," subbed seamlessly for Kelli O'Hare as Nellie Forbush in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific," played Hope Harcourt in "Anything Goes."  She's performed at Carnegie Hall and in concerts at 54 Below. In short, Laura Osnes is a genuine Broadway actor.

Cinderella's desires and dreams resonate as they always have. She's just a little pluckier and gutsier than you might remember her. Her Prince Topher (Santino Fontana) is a little more evolved and sensitive, too.

Santino Fontana is delicious as Prince Topher. Ann Harada gets to sing one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most wonderful anthems, "The Stepsister's Lament" with a touch of irony and innocence. Marla Mindelle as the stepsister who falls in love with a rabble-rousing poor boy, Jean-Michel (Greg Hildreth) is endearing, as is Greg Hildreth, in an endearing subplot. Victoria Clark makes a sweet Fairy Godmother, Marie although she looks a bit uncomfortable during her stint in the air.

What would Cinderella's trip to the ball be without exquisite costumes? We don't have to imagine anything so dire, since William Ivey Long gives us glamourous gowns worthy of a fairytale and happy endings. Anna Louizos's sets are also gorgeous and imaginatively rendered. Paul Huntley's headdresses are extravagant enough to make hair and wigs a character. Mark Brokaw 's direction keeps "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" moving at a lively pace.

"Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" will make your wish for a captivating evening come true.
Sweet dreams. (Visit VP for more on "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella.")

For more information about "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella," please visit http://www.cinderellaonbroadway.com/

It's a "Happy Birthday" when Addie comes out of her shell

Being drunk and lovesick may not be an ideal combination.

In Anita Loos's "Happy Birthday," at Theatre Row;s Beckett Theatre in a TACT production through April 13th, the combination proves magical.

Mary Bacon as Addie Bemis and Todd Gearhart as Paul Bishop in "Happy Birthday." Photo by Hunter Canning.

The mousy librarian, Miss Addie Bemis (Mary Bacon) is lovestruck. She shows up at Gail Hosmer's (Karen Ziemba) Jersey Mecca Cocktail Lounge to warn Paul Bishop (Todd Gearhart) that her father Homer (Anderson Matthews) intends him harm. Paul is the object of Miss Bemis's affections.

Don't know how many of us thrive through liberal doses of alcoholic beverages, but Addie Bemis comes into her own the more she drinks. Her priggishness melts and her confidence builds. As the evening goes on, she is sure she can get Mr. Bishop away from Miss Maude Carson (Victoria Mack.)

Addie's barroom full of new friends, and the audience, are all pulling for her. The bartender, Herman (Ron McClary) gives her godfatherly advice. She sings, she dances, but can she prevail over Miss Carson's obvious charms?

The large cast to a man and woman are as delightful as the lighthearted, but savvy, romance in "Happy Birthday." Mary Bacon is especially poweful, as she carries Addie seamlessly from stiff to giddy.

The TACT's "Happy Birthday" is a gift.

For more information on "Happy Birthday," please visit http://tactnyc.org/
 

Digging for Gold and Good Times

There is a mystique that romanticizes the gold-digger.  Holly Golightly is an icon of that ambitious young woman. She is a naif, an innocent, a survivor.

Emilia Clarke as Holly Golightly with Vito Vincent in a photo by Nathan Johnson.

Fred, a writer whose success is not guaranteed, and whose charm is plentiful, comes on the scene in a torrential rain, reciting lines so poetic he sounds like Tennessee Williams reincarnate. In fact,there are many positively lyrical passages in Richard Greenberg's adaptation of Truman Capote's "Breakfast At Tiffany's,"  currently enjoying an open run at the Cort Theatre, with the young British star from "Game Of Thornes,"  Emilia Clarke, as Holly Golightly.

George Wendt as Joe Bell in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Photo by Nathan Johnson

Holly is an object of desire for men of all persuasions, even Joe Bell (George Wendt) the bartender with whom Fred (Cory Michael Smith) and I.Y. Yunioshi (James Yaegashi), both now prosperous, reminisce about the long lost Holly.

As a conceit, having breakfast at Tiffany's doesn't conjure the intended image of luxury. As a play, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a little like a tonic one takes in aid of sleep. Perhaps to enjoy that early meal amid gold and diamonds.

The staging, with scenic design by Derek McLane and projections designed by Wendall K. Harrington, and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, is remarkably alive and vivid. The storyline and production is a bit dull, even though all the acting is excellent. Cory Michael Smith's lovestruck Fred is particularly outstanding.  Emilia Clarke is aflutter with the conflicting emotions and intelligence of her character.

Emilia Clarke as Holly with Cory Michael Smith as Fred. Photo by Nathan Johnson.

In the interest of complete honesty, not entirely in keepig with Holly's vaunted style, this reviewer is neither a fan of Truman Capote nor smitten by the film his novella inspired.

Don't expect to be humming "Moon River" on your way out of the theater.

To find out more about "Breakfast at Tiffany's," visit http://www.breakfastattiffanysonbroadway.com/

Dancing In The Spring: Rites of the Season

This is the premiere season of "To Make Crops Grow," a deadly funny character study of modern folk 

embroiled in ancient rites.

It is always an honor and a privilege to witness a Taylor dance performance. The Paul Taylor Dance Company is holding its second spring at the David H. Koch Theatre on the Lincoln Center campus through March 24th.

So many of the pieces Paul Taylor has created elevate our understanding of even simple things to delightful new heights. Among those exciting  and sometimes revelatory experiences, there are the flowing movements of "Cascade,"  a dance he choreographed in 1999 or "Eventide." The latter is a companion piece to Taylor's beautiful new work, "Perpetual Dawn." (See the review of the world premiere here.) Or is it the other way around, since the intimate "Eventide" was created in 1997?

The moody backdrop of a lone tree -with set and costume design by Santo Loquasto-- and Jennifer Tipton's lighting are characters in "Eventide." The dance is set in seven parts to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The exceptionally lovely interlude in "Eventide," Musette was danced by Parisa Khobdeh and Michael Trusnovec at our performance with a wonderful lyricism.  Heather McGinley and Francisco Graciano also made a particularly nice pairing in Moto Perpetuo.

Photo by Tom Caravaglia from Paul Taylor's new "Perpetual Dawn"

The souls writhing in gayly silk robes (the women) or workmen-like overalls (the men), sets and costumes by Alex Katz, present a Hieronymous Bosch-like vision of end times in "Last Look." Donald York composed the music for the Taylor dance, which was first performed in 1985. Mirrors and darkness create a haunting texture for "Last Look."

Story-telling is one of the delights of a Taylor work, and in "To Make Crops Grow," he takes his time to the reveal, riffing along the way on human nature and foibles. "To Make Crops Grow," enjoying its premiere season this year, making it dance number 137 in the Taylor compendium, with music by Ferde Grofe, is tantalizing in its pace.

"Le Sacre Du Printemps (The Rehearsal)" is celebrating the anniversary of the Nijinsky-Stravinsky collaboration that ended in near riot in Paris in 1913. Taylor's take blends humor with brutality, making fun of  Nijinsky's maligned ballet, but not completely abandoning its theme of sacrifice. Amy Young's on-going tantrum of loss is poignantly amusing. The mix of joyful and barbaric, is also seen in "Company B," a personal favorite, where the hope and bounce of the dancing and the songs by the Andrews Sisters contrast with the ugly realities of war.

Draught, Storms, Collaboration, and More

Randy Sharp’s “Last Man Club” is being remounted by Axis Theatre Company through 30 Mar, having been cancelled in the aftermath of Sandy. It is a fitting irony that a storm blew away the original launch date for this performance. Wild weather is the backstory for "Last Man Club," too.

“Last Man Club” is set in the Dust Bowl of 1936. As ten years of drought have decimated farms in a 200-mile wide surge of storms, one family has decided to risk staying.

Photo by Dixie Sheridan

To learn more about “Last Man Club,” please visit www.axiscompany.org

Working together is the very definition of collaboration, of course, so the 2nd Annual Collaborative Concert features a large group of musicians working with the youngsters from the Noel Pointer Foundation's Youth Orchestra. 

Members of the NPF Youth Orchestra are getting a big break this week when The Noel Pointer Foundation and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music co-host this concert. Twenty-three of them will perform with musicians from Julliard, N.Y.U. and Manhattan School of Music at this grand event at St Ann & The Holy Trinity, 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn on March 22nd at 7pm. The program ends on a high note, with Gershwin's beautiful and emblematic "Rhapsody in Blue," featuring World Piano Competition Winner, Tatiana Tessman.

To learn more, visit NPF on the web.

Heeding the admonition to "write what you know," A.R. Gurney chronicles the WASP experience with its expectations and disappointments. The expert interpreters at the Keen Company are reviving a slightly updated version of Gurney's 1991 "The Old Boy," through March 30th at the Clurman on Theatre Row. Jonathan Silverstein directs the production which features Peter Rini, Cary Donaldson, Tom Riis Farrell, Laura Esterman, Chris Dwan and Marsha Dietlein Bennett. 

For more information and tickets for "The Old Boy," visit Keen Company on-line. 

Luck and Other Choices: The Winds of Change

There is an adage that luck is what you make it. Having advantages is not the same as being advantaged.

In "The Luck of the Irish," Kristen Greenidge's excellent new play at LCT3's new Claire Tow Theater that just closed March 10th, the well-educated middle class Taylors would seem to be ideal neighbors in a decent suburb of Boston, except for the redlining that keeps black families from buying in to the American dream. The Donovans, poor and uneducated have to ghost buy the property for them.

Patty Ann Donovan's (Amanda Quaid as the younger and Jenny O'Hara in 2012) mantra "There is an order to things..." is the whine of the overlooked. Dr. Taylor (Victor Williams) and his wife Lucy (the phenomenal Eisa Davis) are sophisticated people. Mrs. Taylor and Patty Ann's husband, Joe (Dashiell Eaves) are kindred spirits,dreamers lost in a love of words.

The winds of change that Joe foresees in the late 1950s do not serve the Taylor's granddaughters, Nessa Charles (Carra Patterson) and Hannah Davis (Marsha Stephanie Blake) and her husband Rich (Frank Harts), as they try to negotiate among their neighbors in 2012.

Change takes on a very different form in Annie Baker's "The Flick," at Playwrights Horizons through March 31st, when a movie theater in the Worcester environs changes hands.

Rose (Louisa Krause) with Sam (Matthew Maher) and Avery (Aaron Clifton Moten) in "The Flick" by Annie Baker. Photo by Joan Marcus

The new owner will take it from celluloid to digital-- the wave of the future, but one that has Avery (Aaron Clifton Moten) distressed.  The feel and look of film, as he points out, is meant to be on celluloid. His fellow employees are movie buffs also, but they are just working minimum wage jobs. Neither Sam (Matthew Maher) nor Rose (Louisa Krause) share his passion or intensity.

David Zinn's set for "The Flick" is very impressive.

There is nothing wrong wth "The Flick" that some prudent editing couldn't fix. Many of the pregnant pauses, slow takes and musical transitions, really belong on the cutting room floor.Sam Gold might have done more with his discretion in pacing the play better, Annie Baker could have been more concise.

Avery (Aaron Clifton Moten) is ever introspective in "The Flick" at Playwrights Horizons. Photo by Joan Marcus.

In "The Madrid,"  Liz Flahive's concise and tightly written new play at Manhattan Theatre Club's NY City Center Stage I through May 5th, on the other hand, the pacing and structure are really quite perfect. Change is something for which the main character in "The Madrid" yearns, and her family dread.

Edie Falco, as Martha, the mom gone missing, and Phoebe Strole as her daugher Satah. Photo by Joan Marcus

"The Madrid" offers an odd point of view, but one that calls for thinking and questioning. Martha (Edie Falco) is a kindergarten teacher who chooses to disappear. She moves to a somewhat derelict apartment near the lovely home she shared with her husband, John (John Ellison Conlee) and their daughter Sarah (Phoebe Strole). Her disappearance is no surprise to her mother, Rose (Frances Sternhagen) who undertakes some desperate measures to bring her back, nor to John. Sarah on the other hand is completely unmoored. She raises to the occasion, moving back to live with her dad, driving her grandmother around, and dealing with the ostreperous neighbors, Danny (Darrne Goldstein) and Becca (Heidi Schreck), who feels the loss of her friend keenly.

Martha, it seems, simply wants a timeout, from the responsibilities of her life. She likes the noise and quiet of her new life, but she misses Sarah.

John Ellison Conlee as the steady John, Phoebe Strole as Sarah, Frances Sternhagen as Rose. Photo by Joan Marcus.

For more information about LCT3, which will have another new production in April, visit lct.org
To get tickets and find out more about "The Flick,"  please visit playwrights horizons.org 
For more information about "The Madrid," go to http://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/