Steve

Steve

The New Group

The Pershing Square Signature Center

November 7, 2015

Photo courtesy of The New Group

The New Group’s production of  Steve, the new play by Mark Gerrard, is now running at The Pershing Square Signature Center.  The play is a witty and honest look at the transformation of values of a group of friends as they move past middle age and into the next phase of their lives with a renewed sense of themselves.

Steven, Carrie, and Matt have been best friends since they were singing waiters and aspiring Broadway performer in their youth.  At Steven’s forty-seventh birthday dinner, he discovers that Stephen, his partner of fifteen years, has been sexting Brian, Matt’s boyfriend.  Facing the truth of his betrayal is difficult since Stephen and Steven have an eight year old son to think about, and are grappling with Carrie’s battle with cancer.  All the characters are forced to face the reality of growing older while they hold onto their idealistic and carefree musical theatre piano bar youth. 

The cast of Steve
Photo courtesy of The New Group

Under the direction of Cynthia Nixon, the cast is a strong ensemble.  She has given the actors the creative space to develop true and honest relationships. Matt McGrath, as Steven, unearths the fears that come when you realize life is not turning out as planned.  Malcolm Gets, as his partner Stephen, realistically portrays how certainty can turns into insecurity in a mere moment.  Ashlie Atkinson, as Carries, is biting, funny, cold and heartwarming… all at the same time.  Mario Cantone, as Matt, and Jerry Dixon, as Brian, have high energy and great chemistry which keep the action building.  The bond of friendships between the five characters is viscerally understood through their timing.  It is impeccable, warm, and comfortable.

Playwright Mark Gerrard and Director Cynthia Nixon
Photo courtesy of The New Group

Playwright Mark Gerrard has created five real characters that are facing their present challenges and fears and asking questions about their futures.  His musical theatre quotes and snarky pokes not only serve as comic relief, but more importantly, are reminiscent, tender, and caring moments between good friends.  The play is structured with musical theatre songs that emotionally and physically transition scenes as well as effectively frame the action.  These are the details that illustrate Mr. Gerrard’s extreme skill and unique style.  It is great writing!

If you spent your younger days in a piano bar dreaming of being a chorus boy on Broadway and hoping to meet the love of your life, go see this show.  If you are facing the reality of turning fifty, which may include some level of disappointment in your achievements, go see this show.  No matter who you are, go see this show!  It will remind you to keep your sense of humor while moving through the uncertainties of life.

  

Domenick Danza

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

Hubris Theatre Company

Roy Arias Stage 7 Sage Theater

October 31, 2015

Photo courtesy of Hubris Theatre Compnay

The Hubris Theatre’s production of A Clockwork Orange is now playing at the Roy Arias Stage 7 Sage Theater (7^th Ave. and 48^th St.).  It is a gripping play, written by Anthony Burgess, who also wrote the novel.  Although about twenty minutes too long and full of disturbing violence, this is a well done work that is worth seeing.  The production is visually enthralling and makes relevant the well-known dystopian novel. 

Alex Tissiere in A Clockwork Orange
Photo courtesy of Hubris Theatre Company

The cast is a strong ensemble, playing numerous roles with crisp and clear characterization.  Alex Tissiere does a brilliant job with the lead role.  He skillfully delivers numerous Shakespearean-like monologues with that narrate his story.  He carries the action forward with depth and intention. 

The set design, by Scott Tedmon-Jones, is stark, cold, and conceptually serves multiple purposes.  The program notes by director John Bateman tells why he chose to produce this play.  The social relevance is evident in his stylistic choices and clearly depicted in the video selections used before and during the performance.  Unfortunately, the screens were placed on the stage right and left prosceniums, at time forcing you to switch focus from the action of important scenes.

The Hubris Theatre Company is a focused and skillful troupe worth following.  The space at Roy Aria Sage Theater is not the most comfortable or accessible, but it is open, clean, and easy to get to.  If you are a fan of the book or movie of A Clockwork Orange, this production will intrigue you.

Domenick Danza

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

Westside Theatre / Downstairs

July 14, 2015

Photo courtesy of
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

The reason I got a ticket to see The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey was because the blurb on TDF says, “with original music by Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik.”  When I got to the box office to pick up my tickets, I read the poster in the lobby.  It is not a new musical, but a one man show written and performed by James Lecesne.  It is touching, poignant, important, entertaining, and much more.  It is a skillfully crafted and warm-hearted piece of not-to-be-missed theatre.

The piece is based on a true story.  It tells of the disappearance of Leonard Pelkey, a flamboyant adolescent who stood out in his small New Jersey town.  James Lecesne creates numerous characters, all changed not only by their contact with Leonard, but by his unexplained disappearance.  Every monologue

James Lecesne in one of his many characters.
Photo courtesy of
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey

is written with detail, nuance, and heartfelt humor that makes them distinct and memorable.  Mr. Lecesne instantaneously transforms as he embodies each well-defined character.

The show is running for a twelve week limited engagement.  It is sure to be popular and pick up an audience through positive word of mouth (like this – spread the word).  If you want to feel hopeful and believe in positive outcomes of human connection, go see it.  Oh yeah, Duncan Sheik’s music, although in the background, is as good as expected.

Domenick Danza

The Way We Get By

The Way We Get By

Second Stage Theatre

Tony Kiser Theatre

June 13, 2015

Photo courtesy of Playbill &
Second Stage Theatre

I was very excited to be seated in the second row center to see Amanda Seyfried in The Way We Get By.  I opened my program and there it was.  The dreaded insert.  “At this performance the role of Beth will be played by Clea Alsip.”  The curse of the matinee performance.  I was disconcerted, hostile, furious.  Should I march to the box office and scream, “Refund!” and demand my TDF discount ticket price back?  “Wait,” I thought, “This is a NeilLaBute play at Second Stage Theatre.  I know it is going to be good.”  And it was!

The play was a roller coaster ride of emotion as Doug (Thomas Sadoski) wakes up in the middle of the night in the apartment of Beth, a girl he hooked up with (Clea Aslip… who delivered an excellent performance).  He is agitated and paces uncomfortably in his boxer shorts, and downs a bottle of smartwater.  The awkwardness accelerates when Beth enters from the bedroom wearing his vintage autographed Star Wars tee shirt, wondering why he left her alone in bed.  The one night stand banter plays back and forth until Doug hits an emotional wall.  Playwright Neil LaBute skillfully approaches and retreats from this wall throughout the play as Doug and Beth’s history is excruciatingly revealed.  Director Leigh Silverman intrigues the audience by building and releasing the tension between the two characters right up to the very end of the play.

Thomas Sadoski & Amanda Seyfried
in The Way We Get By
Photo courtesy of Second Stage Theatre

Scenic designer, Neil Patel clearly shopped at IKEA for every piece of furniture and knick knack on the set.  This might sound like a critical put down, but it is not.  He created the “perfect” setting for Doug and Beth’s coming together and facing their deepest fear.  The neat and orderly Manhattan condo with everything geometrically matching and in its place is an ideal backdrop for a rebellion against the norm.

Toward the end of the play, Doug says that the way people get by is to run and hide from what they want when they fear they cannot have it.  Neil LaBute takes us on a journey into the freedom that comes when you make a decision that is right for you regardless of what people will say, tweet, or politicize.

Clea Alsip
Photo courtesy of broadwayworld.com

I am still disappointed that I did not see Amanda Seyfried, especially from the second row.  I did, however, leave the theatre feeling elated from the cathartic experience of an extremely well written, directed, and performed work of theatre.

Domenick Danza

Guards at the Taj

Guards at the Taj

Atlantic Theater Company

Linda Gross Theater

May 24, 2015

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Theater Company

Can there be only one most beautiful thing in the world?  Can the creation of beauty become extinct?  What is beauty?  These are some of the thematic questions addressed by playwright Rajiv Joseph in Guards at the Taj now playing at Atlantic Theater Company.  This play will make you laugh, and cringe… and ponder beauty.

Humayun and Babur, two of the Emperor’s guards at the Taj Mahal in 1648, are among the first to see the newly completed mausoleum at first light.  They behold this MOST beautiful creation, a monument never to be exceeded in beauty.  They then journey to a blood drenched dungeon, where they face their darkest nightmare and come out with different appreciations of the truth.  Omar Metwally (Humayun) and Arian Moayed (Babur) each develops a unique and realistic character.  Together they create a relatable bond of friendship and adventure.

Arian Moayed, Rajiv Joseph, & Omar Metwally
at the Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Theater Company

The script by Rajiv Joseph, well known for his BengalTiger at the Baghdad Zoo (a 2010 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), spans a broad range of topic as it focuses in on its main theme (the essence and creation of beauty) through the heartfelt comradery of the two characters.  It is profoundly, yet simply, directed by Amy Morton. 

The set is a brutal structure that weighs heavily on the space.  Ingeniously designed by Timothy R. Mackabee, it is realistic, powerful, and alive.  The moments of beauty the script refers to are illuminated by David Weiner’s amazing lighting.  The brightness contrasts the heaviness of the set to create spectacular moments that stand out in the characters’ perspectives.

Guards at the Taj runs through June 28 at Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater.  Put your thinking cap on and ponder the beauty of this piece of theatre.

Domenick Danza