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

As You Like It

As You Like It

The Drilling Company

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

July 11, 2015

Photo courtesy of
The Drilling Company

There is only one thing better than free outdoor Shakespeare in New York City, and that is free outdoor Shakespeare produced by The Drilling Company and performed in the middle of a New York City parking lot.  As You Like It marked the opening of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s twentieth season and was greeted with an enthusiastic audience reaction.  The Drilling Company consistently and successfully creates an intimate performing venue in an open, public space where everyone can experience and appreciate the poetry of classic theatre.

Artistic Director Hamilton Clancy is an expert in making Shakespeare accessible in this informal setting.  He has gathered together an extremely skilled ensemble of sixteen actors who bring heart and soul to this venture.  Highlights are Jane Bradley’s Rosalind paired with Ahmed A. Kouddous’ Orlando, and matched by Elaine Ivy Harris’ Celia.  Scott Baker delivers a touching Seven Ages of Man Speech, while Bill Green depicts tenderness in the manservant Adam.  Alessandro Colla and Hayley Louise Simmonds are both vibrant as Touchstone and Audrey.  Eric Paterniani will

The cast of As you Like It
Photos courtesy of The Drilling Company

make you laugh as both LeBeau and William.  Brandon Reilly’s idealistic Silvius plays well against Rachel Collins’ vivacious Phoebe.  All in all, the cast is astounding.

For those of you who have experienced Shakespeare in the Parking Lot before, you need to know they have changed locations.  The new parking lot is behind The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center (located at 114 Norfolk Street - east side of Norfolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets).  As You Like It runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 PM through July 25, followed by three weeks of Macbeth.  The Drilling Company is also

Shakespeare in the parking Lot
Photo courtesy of Eric Paterniani

producing Romeo & Juliet at Bryant Park from July 17 through August 2.  All performances are FREE!  Take advantage of these great opportunities to see quality work by a quality company.

Domenick Danza

The Qualms

The Qualms

Playwrights Horizons

July 3, 2015

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

The Qualms by Bruce Norris takes an intense look at human nature, personal freedoms, and the need to compete, dominate, and submit.  It is a political and social encounter that is relevant, funny and, at times, awkward.  It forces you to look at those disconcerting moments and assess your deep-seated beliefs.

When Gary (played by John Procaccino) and Teri (played by Kate Arrington) met Chris (played by Jeremy Shamos) and his wife Kristy (played by Sarah Goldberg) on vacation, they invite them to a partner-swapping party they regularly host with two other couples.  As the party gets heated up, Chris gets uptight.  It gets ugly fast as everyone’s hot button issues are revealed and insecurities are enflamed.  The ensemble cast is sharp and tight.  Their timing is perfect and their characters are realistic and fully grounded.  Each has an individual moment of reveal that is genuine and true, and keeps the audience riveted.

Kate Arrington, Jerremy Shamos, and Sarah Golberg
in The Qualms at Playwrights Horizons
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Bruce Norris won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Clybourne Park.  The Qualms has the same rhythmic dialogue that packs a punch.  In this play he has written eight distinct characters who reflect different points of view.  This creates connection, debate, and engagement on numerous levels.  Director Pam MacKinnon finds each of these levels and magnifies their significance.  She has skillfully orchestrated the rise and fall of the action to create a naturalistic setting with humorous, realistic, and uncomfortable moments.  The open floor plan of the set by Todd Rosenthal allows the movement needed for the characters to take sides when the action builds.

The cast of The Qualms at Playwrights Horizons
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

“Shit is complex,” states Gary blatantly in a philosophic moment of near the end of the play.  That sums it up in a heartbeat.  Bruce Norris truly knows how to encapsulate complex issues into a ninety minute script.

                           Domenick Danza

On the 20th Century

On the 20^th Century

Roundabout Theatre Company

American Airlines Theatre

July 2, 2015

Photo courtesy of
Roundabout Theatre Company

RoundaboutTheatre Company has outdone itself with their production of On the 20^th Century.  The cast, the sets, the costumes, the direction, the choreography – all brilliant!  It makes you remember what Broadway is all about.

The musical comically entwines the desperate need of a failing Broadway producer with a glamourous Hollywood starlet as they travel aboard the Twentieth CenturyLimited, the high speed train of 1937, which sped its passengers from Chicago to New York in just sixteen hours.  The score, by Cy Coleman, drives the play with rhythm and speed of the famous steam engine.  The book and lyrics, by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, provide the hilarity and screwball comedy that keeps the plot alive on the journey.  Director Scott Ellis finds every second of comic timing.  Together with choreographer Warren Carlyle, they create a stylistic work of genius.

Photo courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company

The cast of Kristin Chenoweth, Peter Gallagher, Andy Karl, Mark Lin-Baker, Michael McGrath, and Mary Louise Wilson is strong and funny, vocally tremendous, and engaging on every level.  The entire ensemble moves vigorously and smoothly throughout the show with extraordinary vocal expertise.  The four porters steal every moment they are in, and perform the best tap dancing on Broadway. 

The sets, by David Rockwell, fill the moderately sized stage of the American Airlines Theatre with sharp, mesmerizing art deco designs.  William Ivey long’s costumes capture the time period and exude a richness that sets the characters apart on this luxurious mode of transportation.

Kristin Chenoweth & Peter Gallagher
Photo courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company

On the 20^th Century is scheduled to close on July 19.  Treat yourself to this monumental production while you still can!

Domenick Danza

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

Nederlander Theatre

June 27, 2015

Photo courtesy of Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is the story of the spiritual awakening of John Newton, the man who wrote the well-known hymn of the same title.  This new musical has a flat and relatively melodramatic first act.  The second act contains truthful moments culminating in an emotional finale.  Hopefully the creative team can make some well needed adjustments before the show opens on July 16.

The story begins on a pier in Chatham, England in December, 1744 as John Newton (played by Josh Young) returns from a long sea voyage.  He is met by his beloved, Mary Catlett (played by Erin Mackey).  He sings to her about the journeys he is yearning for in order to find freedom from his father’s control.  The ironic twist at the end of the scene is extremely effective.  It is revealed that he has actually returned from a slave trade expedition.  Not only that, but his father owns the slave trading ship and company, and John Newton makes his fortune by selling slaves. 

Chuck Copper & Josh Young
Photo courtesy of Amazing Grace

Act I continues by setting up the main conflicts of the story: a father’s disappointment, a son’s agony of his mother’s death and his father’s emotional abandonment, a young woman’s need to marry for social status and financial security, and true love that is disregarded due to emotional upheaval and social responsibility.  The villains are identified and the hero’s obstacles are clear, but due to the circumstances, these conflicts and the characters are not emotionally engaging - it is too clean and pristine a rendition of a story that is dirty with slave trading and brutality.

Act II has genuine moments of suffering, pain, and integrity.  Chuck Cooper (as Pakuteh/Thomas), and Laiona Michelle (as Nanna) delve deeply in their portrayal of slaves owned by the two main characters.  Their heartfelt and visceral performances create genuine moments of loyalty and betrayal that heighten the dramatic action of the second act and drive the story forward.

Laiona Michelle & Erin Mackey
Photos courtesy of Amazing Grace

The vocal skills of Josh Young and Erin Mackey are stunning and strong.  The score by Christopher Smith is outshined by the finale of “Amazing Grace.”  It is well orchestrated and superbly performed, yet not as poignant as when PresidentObama sang it last week in North Carolina.  The audience in the theatre did, however, rise to its feet and join in when the song was reprised during curtain call.

The story of the transformation of John Nash enhances the meaning and value of his most known hymn, which was written in 1779.  His story is worth telling and worth knowing.  Is this musical, however, the best venue for an effective telling of this powerful story?  Can director Gabriele Barre eliminate the melodrama and rework scenes and characterizations that will be emotionally engaging, and tighten up this almost three hour musical?  Let’s hope so.  Write a comment if you see it and let me know how the show is developing.

Domenick Danza

A Human Being Died That Night

A Human Being Died That Night

The Fugard Theatre and Eric Abraham

BAM Fisher / Fishman Space

June 20, 2015

A Human Being Died That Night
Photo courtesy of BAM and the Fugard Theatre

“Between good and evil there is a thin paper.”  Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela makes this statement in a scene from A Human Being Died That Night.  The play, a Fugard Theatre and Eric Abraham production, is an emotional and political unraveling into the levels of forgiveness that are needed for a society to move on from deplorable acts of violence.  Currently playing at BAM Fisher / FishmanSpace, this is an important work that needs to be experienced by all.

The play is written by Nicholas Wright, based on the book by the same title written by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist who served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-Apartheid South Africa.  It was created directly from taped interviews she conducted with Eugene de Kock, whom she first came in to contact with at a victim hearing while he was serving two life sentences and 120 years in prison for crimes against humanity.  He was nicknamed “Prime Evil” for his participation in Apartheid violence, torture, and murders.

A Human Being Died That Night
Photo courtesy of BAM and the Fugart Theatre

The play analyzes how we perceive someone who performed horrendous acts of violence as a “monster.”  It then deconstructs this initial perception by introducing facts, information, and points of view that transform the “monster” into a person.  As de Kock tells it, “a cog in a bigger wheel,” does not make him less guilty, just flawed and more human.  Playwright Nicholas Wright and Director Jonathan Munby take us through the many layers of understanding in order to see how forgiveness is essential to healing, both personally and as a society.

Noma Dumezwani
Photo courtesy of BAM
and the Fugard Theatre

Noma Dumezweni as Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Matthew Marsh as Eugene de Kock both deliver intense and provocative performances.  The production comes to BAM from the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa.  It is flawlessly directed by Jonathan Munby.  The sound and lighting design by Christopher Shutt and Tim Mitchell blend together to generate seamless transitions in time, location, and inner monologue.

Matthew Marsh
Photo courtesy of BAM
and the Fugard Theatre

This play needs to be seen and discussed.  I could not help thinking about what I heard earlier that day on the news about the families of victims of the recent Charleston church massacre welcoming and forgiving the shooter.  Also what crossed my mind was an episode of Law & Order that ended with a mother forgiving the convicted murderer of her son and promising to pray for him because he will need God in “that dark place where he is going.”  What also came up for me during the play was how I blubbered like a baby when I heard on the news a few weeks ago that the Boston bomber was sentenced to death.  This play asks the essential question: How do we forgive the unforgivable?  According to Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s research and interviews, victims do not want to hold onto the pain.  They crave the giving of forgiveness, knowing it is an essential step to being able to morn and walk through the healing process.  

The silence that filled the theatre when the show ended was strong proof of how powerful and important this show is, especially at this time.  A Person Died That Night is playing until June 21 at BAM Fisher / Fishman Space.  I heard through my colleague Deirdre DeLoatch that BAM secured the rights to film the performance and show it to students sometime within the next year.  Be sure to experience it. 

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