Old Times: Not the Best of Times
Posted: December 9, 2015 Filed under: Becca Doodle - Sad, Broadway, Drama, Play, Revival | Tags: beccaschneids, cliveowen, douglashodge, evebest, haroldpinter, instareview, kellyreilly, move, moving, newapartment, nomansland, oldtimes, pause, pinter, pinteresque, roundabout, roundabouttheatrecompany Leave a comment
Clive Owen, Eve Best, and Kelly Reilly (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Sorry for my absence, y’all. I’ve been here:
The beauty of packing
Moving day!
This is what 13 hours of shopping looks like.
Thank goodness for large elevators.
Don’t worry; I haven’t gone far! Only about 10 blocks west of my last place, but a new apartment nonetheless. Which means for the past two weeks all I’ve been doing is packing and cleaning and tossing and taping and unpacking and IKEAing and building and burning cash, on repeat it seems. Soon, friends. Soon our home will be livable.
Anyway, because of the move delay, I didn’t get to write about Old Times before it closed last week, but here’s a quick note about the production. You may have already seen my #InstaReview on Instagram (p.s. follow me). Harold Pinter was back on the Broadway in this revival, and I was left feeling the same way I did last time at No Man’s Land: unfulfilled. And to be blunt with you: bored. The same thing happened when I saw The Birthday Party many moons ago during my semester abroad in London.
A two-sentence synopsis: Married couple Deeley and Kate are hosting Anna, an intriguing friend of Kate’s from years before. Together they reminisce and discover unexpected connections among them, all the while trying to maintain the upper hand in the conversation. I didn’t care for the characters in present day, much less their past. There was no forward momentum. Old Times is power play after power play, but I felt like we were in a stalemate the whole time. Each pause was so weighted, and every line meant so much. It’s exhausting having that much subtext, and I love subtext! It’s delicious when a character says one thing and means another; that’s real life. However, here it was tiring, despite the very talented cast. Too much subtext and not enough substance. The design was attractive, but what did it mean? It gave me the impression that we were floating in limbo. The play gave that impression, too. It’s a cat and mouse game, but I didn’t know who was chasing whom. They certainly weren’t chasing my attention.
I’ll be completely honest with you: I don’t know the ultimate reason that Old Times didn’t appeal to me. The common denominator here could be Pinter, end of story. Another part of me wonders if there is still a chance for Pinter and me; if I need exactly the right combination of director, cast, and story. Regardless, Pinter is in the canon for a reason, and I know I enjoyed reading his plays back in school. That love should be able to translate to the stage. But it seems Old Times was not the right time for me.
***
Old Times
Written by Harold Pinter, Directed by Douglas Hodge
American Airlines Theatre, Closed November 29, 2015
Running time: 65 minutes, no intermission
Cast: Clive Owen, Kelly Reilly, and Eve Best
Credits: Set Design: Christine Jones; Costume Design: Constance Hoffman; Lighting Design: Japhy Weideman; Sound Design: Clive Goodwin; Music: Thom Yorke: Hair Design: Amanda Miller; Production Stage Manager: Nevin Hedley
Late to the Party; Or, Dear God, Why Haven’t I Seen Hamilton Yet?
Posted: November 20, 2015 Filed under: Broadway, Miscellaneous, Musical, On the Horizon | Tags: 60minutes, alexanderhamilton, broadwaymusical, corbinbleu, flotus, freestyle, freestyling, ham4ham, hamilton, hiphopmusical, imnotthrowingawaymyshot, intheheights, linmanuelmiranda, linmiranda, marqueemerchandise, obama, phillapasoo, potus, publictheater, richardrodgers, thepublic, tommykail, tonightshow, whitehouse Leave a comment
Phillipa Soo and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Photo: Joan Marcus)
I really messed up on this one, friends. That’s right, I STILL haven’t seen Hamilton. I’ve never been so behind the times.
For the people out there who, as they say, might be living under a rock (or maybe they’re just not on social media), Hamilton is the new Broadway musical that’s currently taking over the world. Lin-Manuel Miranda, a Tony winner for In the Heights in 2008, has teamed up again with Director Tommy Kail and a million other crazy talented people to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton through hip hop and rap music. Perhaps you saw the scoop on “60 Minutes.” Or Miranda freestyling on the Tonight Show two weeks ago. Or heard about the education initiative in which 20,000 high school students will get to see the show for $10 each. Or seen some of the amazing mini-performances at the #Ham4Ham lottery. Or know that POTUS and FLOTUS have both seen the show (twice).
Listen, let me explain myself. I had planned on seeing it when it was Off-Broadway at The Public earlier this year, but the prices were so steep (the irony, I know) that I decided to wait until a discount became available. Then the reviews hit, and the show blew up. I knew it was going to be big – I didn’t know it was going to be a cultural phenomenon. Anyway, I felt that a post explaining myself was necessary since anyone and everyone is talking Hamilton, and it has yet to be mentioned on this blog.
This thing has been on my radar since Miranda’s first performance of a song at the White House in 2009. I was always excited because I was a super Heights fan. Back when I worked at Marquee Merchandise, the spring of 2008, we jammed out to the cast recording every day, learning all the rhymes as we charged credit cards, packaged, labeled, and mailed stacks upon stacks of pre-ordered CDs. Ah, memories. Whenever I had a spare evening that year or found myself wandering around Times Square around 9pm, I would swing by the Richard Rodgers theatre to check on the merch sellers, but really it was so I could go stand in the back of the orchestra and watch select scenes. I loved having a Broadway show on-call like that. I could go whenever I wanted. Need a little “96,000” in my life? Or “Champagne?” Want to see how Corbin Bleu is doing? I felt like the Richard Rodgers was mine. I also was watching this video on repeat at the time.
So when Hamilton hit the scene, I was ready – just not ready enough apparently. I waited on that ticket and then missed the boat. All this to say, I dropped a chunk of change (way more than it would have been at the Public, whoops) and bought my ticket a few months ago. I probably could have gotten a seat in the back and seen it by now, but for that kind of money, I wanted a SEAT, you know? December 17th it is. I will wait impatiently until that day and continue to avoid the cast recording that I so desperately want to hear.
Thus, let the one-month countdown begin. Then we can discuss.
The First Ten Years
Posted: November 16, 2015 Filed under: Miscellaneous | Tags: acting, actor, advice, author, careeradvice, courtneyhanson, courtneyromano, courtneyromanohanson, creative, creativelongevity, creatives, creativity, firstbook, matchzimmerman, meganbungeroth, muhlenberg, muhlenbergcollege, selfhelp, selfhelpbook, theartistsway, theatre, thefirst10, thefirst10years, thefirsttenyears Leave a comment
You guys, my friend wrote a book. Remember Courtney Romano? She wrote a freakin’ book, and its official release is tomorrow, so indulge me for a moment if you would.
MY FRIEND WROTE A BOOK.
I’m so proud (and not just because it’s the first time I’ve been included in the Acknowledgements). I’m proud because Courtney birthed this from her very soul. She’s put her blood, sweat, and tears into this, and her story is so personal and relatable it’s as if she’s speaking directly to each individual reader.
The First Ten Years: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Creative Longevity is just that. It’s accessible, non-condescending, meets-you-on-your-own-terms advice. Actually, scratch that. It’s not even advice. It’s meeting you in the middle to hash out the challenging, rewarding, spontaneous, impossible, beautiful parts of being an artist. Here’s part of the back cover description:
“You have something more to give” is the guiding mantra grounding Romano as she writes a timeless manifesto for creatives. The First Ten Years isn’t selling a six-point plan for success to the reader. It’s selling the reader to the reader. The isolated inner life of creatives (and all who feel the call to give something more) reflects through Romano’s theatrical ups and downs as she uses her missteps and achievements to curate an answer to the age-old question, “Will I make it?” “The Day Job Complex,” “Following Your Sadness” and “Why No One Likes a Perfectionist” are just a few sections that address the nuanced and delicate inner battles that creatives (from actors to entrepreneurs) fight when facing a blank canvas. Pulling those silent soap operas into the open exposes creative turmoil for what it is: an unnecessary block to our greatest work. Whether you’re heading out into the professional world for the first time, at a mid-career crossroads or wondering if it’s too late to start your masterpiece, The First Ten Years is the creative call to arms for anyone with that internal voice whispering, “You have something more to give.”
Somehow, Courtney has the astounding ability to find the exact right words to describe the life of a creative. Any creative. That includes accountants, lawyers, doctors. Everyone has creativity within him or her; it doesn’t need to be manifested through traditional “art.” We are all going on this journey together and individually.
I was fortunate enough to read an advance copy this past week. As I found myself bookmarking pages and highlighting quotes that struck me or were so on point that I thought the book was actually written about my life, I would remember, hey wait, Courtney wrote this. This isn’t an out-of-reach, someone-I’ll-never-meet author. These smart, inspiring words came from my friend. As it were, I’m going through a big transition in my life right now, and I feel lucky that I have this book to turn to, not to mention the author behind the words.
If you find yourself in New York City, there is a Launch Party tonight at 7pm at The Late Late in the Lower East Side (159 East Houston Street). There will be drinking and talking and awesomeness and a reading from the book by the woman of the hour. You can order the e-book now, or pre-order the paperback. I can’t wait to get that baby in my actual hands.
Follow Courtney at @courtneyromano, or keep tabs on the hashtag #thefirst10. And you can watch the book trailer here (or below). I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book:
I can’t tell you where you should go or who you should be or what mark you will make on this world. But I can definitively tell you this:
You have something more to give.
The world is waiting for that one thing that can only come from you.
You know how to give it.
**
The First Ten Years: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Creative Longevity
Written by Courtney Romano, Illustrated by Match Zimmerman, Edited by Megan Bungeroth, Book Trailer Directed and Edited by Kennedy Kanagawa
Video Friday: Barf Bag Breakup
Posted: November 13, 2015 Filed under: Videos | Tags: atlantictheatercompany, barfbagbreakup, barrettwilbertweed, davyrothbart, elibolin, found, foundmagazine, hunterbell, leeovertree, nickblaemire, offbroadway, review, titleofshow, videofriday 2 Comments
I’ve been thinking about Found recently and how much I liked it. This was that new musical at Atlantic Theater Company last fall that had lyrics completely made up by found items (lists, love letters, notes, etc.). The story was based on how Found magazine was…founded.
My roomie and I became obsessed with this one song in particular. Why that song? Because it’s the only one available to us on the interwebs, sadly. So this thing played on repeat for a solid month last year. I like revisiting it from time to time and have been known to sing it to myself on the streets of New York.
The ballad is called “Barf Bag Breakup,” but don’t let the title scare you away. It’s a touching breakup letter that was found written on an airplane barf bag. Barrett Wilbert Weed, who played Denise in the show, sang it (with Mike Pettry on guitar) for “In Performance” with the New York Times.
Watch it here.
TJ & DAVE: Improv Extraordinaires
Posted: November 11, 2015 Filed under: Comedy | Tags: amysedaris, barrowstreet, chicago, comedy, comedycentral, comedyduo, davepasquesi, improv, improvcomedy, improvisers, longform, longformimprov, magnettheater, secondcity, sketchcomedy, sonic, stephencolbert, strangerswithcandy, themagnet, tj&dave, tjanddave, tjjagodowski, townhall Leave a comment
Last month, I went to The Town Hall theatre to check out TJ & Dave for the first time. You comedy fans out there may have heard of these guys. I hadn’t until my improv class instructor told us about them. TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi are a comedy duo, performing together since the early 2000s. Master improvisers, their shows entail the two of them making up a one-hour play on the spot. Yup, a whole play. Just TJ, Dave, and three chairs. Their tagline is, “trust us, this is all made up.”
After doing a little research, I realized I knew these two individually but not as a team. TJ you might recognize from the Sonic commercials. And Dave was Stew on the forever-fabulous “Strangers with Candy” which aired on Comedy Central back in 1999. If you know me personally, you’ve likely heard me quote this gem of a show starring Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, and Stephen Colbert (maybe you’ve heard of him?). Dave played the butcher who Jerri Blank’s mother is having an affair with. The show is crazy, weird, and offensive. I highly recommend it.
But I digress. Back to TJ & Dave’s show! They were great. It feels silly to tell you about the story since it will never exist again. What surprised me was that it wasn’t just funny but also ended up being quite an insightful portrayal of human behavior. You can immediately identify with these characters (or you’ve at least met someone like them). It’s realistic, relatable, and sometimes has moments so perfect that it’s hard to believe it was made up that second. Their pacing, introduction of new characters (there were eight in this show), and the right usage of callbacks (references/shout-outs to earlier jokes) were super cool to witness. Plus I appreciated that they weren’t afraid to sit in silence at times. It got me all the more excited to take Level 2 at Magnet Theater, in which we start to study long form improv.
TJ & Dave are in the city occasionally, but their home base is Chicago, so if you find yourselves out there, look ‘em up! I think Colbert says it best, “”One of these guys is the best improviser in the world. And the other one is better.”
Becca on Broadway 