Philosophy for Gangsters
Posted: March 5, 2014 Filed under: Comedy, Off-Broadway, Play | Tags: callie, courtneyromano, courtneyromanohanson, philosophyforgangsters, review, theatrerow Leave a comment
This isn’t going to be so much a review as it is a chance for me to brag about my friend, Courtney Romano, who made her Off-Broadway debut last month in a play called Philosophy for Gangsters at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row. I went to go see the show a second time last week. Courtney starred as Callie, a mafia princess and college graduate who leads a philosophical revolution with the help of her mob family and a kidnapped philosophy teacher from New Jersey University.
Now, the play leaves much to be desired. While a funny concept with some genuinely entertaining moments, it is very much a film script trying to be a stage play. There are so many quick “cut-to’s,” and sometimes it feels like we spend more time in scene transitions than scenes (which keeps the momentum from building). Just when a couple of characters are really starting to get to the meat and potatoes, there’s a blackout. Some scenes only last a few sentences, and then there’s a transition to jump a few minutes in time. The creators need to take advantage of the fact that we’re in the theatre. They can use stage tricks and/or set up theatrical conventions for the time jumps or even work around them entirely.
But whenever the play started to dip or wander, Courtney was there, solid, with her feet on the ground, serving as the North Star for the production. She set the example for keeping the pace and sticking to the objective at hand. If the plot started to wane, I knew I could look to Courtney who would be on track.
And on top of all that? She was still playing. She was still having fun and diving deeper into the role. I had attended opening night on February 4th, and it was great to see how much she’d developed the character over a few short weeks.
So even though the show closed on Saturday and I can’t tell you go to see it, I can tell you to keep your eyes peeled for my pal in the future.
Philosophy for Gangsters
Written and Directed by Liz and Barry Peak
Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row, closed March 1st
Photo Credit: Carl Wiemann
Pictured: Courtney Romano, Tally Sessions, David Demato, and Tom White
Outside Mullingar
Posted: March 3, 2014 Filed under: Broadway, Comedy, Drama, Play | Tags: debramessing, doubt, doughughes, johnpatrickshanley, manhattantheatreclub, mtc, outsidemullingar, review Leave a comment
Outside Mullingar is John Patrick Shanley’s newest play, and what a delight it is.
You likely know Shanley best from his 2005 Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning play Doubt, or perhaps his lesser-known work – but still a favorite of mine – the film Joe Versus the Volcano (check it out, it’s so weird). That Shanley can write such a range has always been noteworthy to me, and he’s done it yet again with this delightfully endearing piece. As Jenn, my companion for the day, joked afterward, “I think this guy’s got a real future.”
This production stars Debra Messing (of Will & Grace fame) and Brían F. O’Byrne (the always fantastic stage actor) as lifelong neighbors in the town of Mullingar, Ireland. It’s clear from their first scene that they’re meant to end up together, and we should simply sit back and enjoy the ride. So yes, it’s been rightly advertised as primarily a romantic comedy, but it also goes beyond the romance and covers larger themes (family struggles, death, madness). Watch some clips here.
There actually isn’t much I want to say about this play other than how much I liked it. You’ll see that the show speaks for itself. It’s so incredibly charming. Very, very funny. Great acting on all fronts. Excellent direction by Doug Hughes. An amazing, smart set design by John Lee Beatty. Plus the Production Stage Manager is my friend Winnie Lok!
It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you cry. It’ll surprise you. It’ll close on March 16th. See it if you can.
Outside Mullingar
Written by John Patrick Shanley, Directed by Doug Hughes
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre through March 16th
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus
Pictured: Brían F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing
Dinner with Friends
Posted: February 28, 2014 Filed under: Drama, Off-Broadway, Play, Revival | Tags: dinnerwithfriends, donaldmargulies, jeremyshamos, margulies, review, roundabout 2 Comments
I love the playwright Donald Margulies. I love his dialogue, his style of writing, his sense of humor, and what he has to say about relationships, marriage, and friendship. His plays consistently hit me in the gut and make me think (Dinner with Friends, Time Stands Still, Collected Stories). But this production of Dinner with Friends made the material feel stagnant. I was very excited to see it and took my dad for his birthday, but it simply didn’t sit right with either of us.
The play follows two married couples and the changes that occur within their friendship when one of the couples announces they’re getting a divorce. I think it was primarily the direction that I didn’t see eye to eye with, but occasionally it may have been the acting as well. I typically very much enjoy Pam McKinnon’s directing (Clybourne Park, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), but this fell flat for me. Not all of it by any means! I don’t want to give the impression that the production is bad. Certain parts I was very much involved in and couldn’t tear my eyes away, but then on a dime, I’d fall out of it. And as my dad pointed out, the humor wasn’t landing as much as it typically does in a Margulies play. Yes, it may be a tragic story, but there is, more often than not, comedy found within the tragedy.
Margulies is all about the scene work. It’s about the conversation, the witty, often biting, back-and-forth between characters. It’s day after day of conversation after conversation, and I eat it up. There is a major sense of realism with his writing, meaning when something feels out of place or false I’m taken out of it. If there is random blocking or awkward staging, if we stray from the “reality” for even a moment, I’m gone and have to work my way back. Sometimes it’s an odd delivery of a line or facing out instead of directing one’s words TO the other character. The second scene, for example, was problematic (as Charles Isherwood also states in the Times). The couple getting a divorce is having a very tense conversation that snowballs quickly into an intense argument. They are standing on opposite ends of the stage, cheating out, and talking at each other. Instead of feeling their pain, I was just thinking about how obviously they were cheating out. Quite often the blocking (or lack thereof) didn’t serve the actors. Even in the top of Act II when we open on a flashback 12 years earlier, the new set doesn’t do anything to help the scene. The actors are practically stuck in a line with limited space to move and play.
Jeremy Shamos, though. Man, is he good. This isn’t news (Clybourne Park, The Assembled Parties), but honestly, I could watch him do the whole play by himself. In the last scene, although it doesn’t quite redeem some of the weaker parts of the show, he instantly draws you in – right along with what his character is going through. His work is always so natural and effortless. The moments we get to spend with him bring the sad humor, depth, and punch in the gut I’m looking for when I’m in the mood for some Margulies.
Dinner with Friends
Written by Donald Margulies, Directed by Pam McKinnon
The Laura Pels Theatre through April 13th
Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel
Pictured: Marin Hinkle and Jeremy Shamos
Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man
Posted: February 25, 2014 Filed under: Comedy, Off-Broadway, Play | Tags: jasonmichaelsnow, lindsaynicolechambers, review, sextipsforstraightwomenfromagayman, sextipsplay, submissionsonly Leave a comment
If you haven’t heard, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man is not getting much respect from critics, but I don’t understand why. Some are calling it unsophisticated or not actually helpful or packed with sex jokes, etc., but isn’t that EXACTLY why audiences are going? I’m pretty sure people know what they’re getting into with a title like that. They’re expecting phallic jokes and a strip tease, especially audience members who are already fans of the book on which it’s loosely based. So I think these critics need to let their hair down a little bit, lighten up, and trust that the folks attending Sex Tips are just there to drink a few drinks and have a good time. They’re not looking for intellectual stimulation. Perhaps other kinds in fact…
Sure, there are cheap jokes. Sure, the characters aren’t fully developed, but it’s an 80-minute play about sex. Let’s be honest; people are there to laugh about penises. Despite the weak sections of the show, it’s jam-packed with laughs and led by a talented cast. You’ve got the very funny Jason Michael Snow, recently out of The Book of Mormon, who has an excellent knack for ad-libbing, a trait incredibly crucial in this type of environment. He stars as Dan Anderson, the co-author of Sex Tips the book, and is this month’s guest at a community college “Meet the Authors” event. Said event is being moderated by the straight-laced Robyn, played by Lindsay Nicole Chambers, of whom I am a big, big fan from the excellent web series, Submissions Only, created by Kate Weatherhead and Andrew Keenan-Bolger. Watch it, you won’t be sorry, especially you theatre people out there. And then there’s the third character, Stefan (played by Andrew Brewer), who’s a kind of stage assistant slash European scientist slash male model slash stripper. Basically, he’s so pretty it hurts to look at him. We watch as Dan gives Robyn advice about her love life and perhaps helps her nab the hunky Stefan. And don’t forget about the audience participation. People who sit down front in the “Wet Zone” beware – you may very well be up on stage at some point during the show.
I also want to give a shout-out to my pal Matt Franzetti, the fantastic company manager. He’s famous, guys.
So if you’re looking to laugh at dirty jokes, host a bachelorette party, have a night out with friends, or embarrass your significant other on an unusual date, then why not I say? Audiences are having a blast, and you too may be fully at attention.
Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man
Written by Matt Murphy, Directed by Tim Drucker
777 Theatre, Open-ended
Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel
Pictured: Lindsay Nicole Chambers and Jason Michael Snow
Pig Iron’s Twelfth Night
Posted: February 14, 2014 Filed under: Comedy, Play, Shakespeare | Tags: abronsartcenter, markrylance, pigiron, review, shakespeare, twelfthnight 2 Comments
Yes! I have gone to see yet another production of Twelfth Night. And each one is more inventive than the last. It’s such a pleasure to still be continuously surprised by a piece I know so well and that another version can still be filled with new jokes, new deliveries, and new character interpretations. This was the first time I got to see a show by Philadelphia-based Pig Iron Theatre Company, and if you’re able to get downtown to the Abrons Art Center before it closes on February 23rd, I do recommend it for a jolly good time.
It’s super inventive, the actors are charming, and it is particularly fun to see it done in such a non-traditional way after viewing the Broadway production a few months ago. One of the highlights is definitely the set which is a character in itself. A half of a half-pipe (a quarter-pipe?) dominates stage right (of which the actors take full comic advantage) with a balcony above and a cellar beneath where the band hangs out drinking with Sir Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek. The Balkan brass band, by the way, is great, and they are well integrated into the story, not just hiding in the cellar but often becoming the focus of the action, bringing their own brand of humor to further enhance scenes.
It was a joy to see new interpretations of well-loved characters. From the opening moments, the deliciously melodramatic and lovesick Duke Orisno (Dito van Reigersberg) had me rolling with laughter. The same goes for the lanky Sir Toby (James Sugg) whose physical comedy knows no bounds, and it’s so much fun to watch Olivia (Birgit Huppuch) lose control as she quickly falls head over heels for Cesario, who is actually Viola disguised as a man (Kristen Sieh). Something that really struck me was Viola’s reaction to seeing Olivia for the first time once her veil is lifted. It shed new light on that moment and that scene for me, this idea of Viola seeing her competition for the Duke’s love for the first time and having to listen to Olivia shun him over and over. This was played out much more emotionally than I’ve ever seen it portrayed, and I appreciated the depth found in the scene.
Now I’ll be honest, the show didn’t completely blow my mind across the board. Several parts are slow, and the ending didn’t thrill me. It lacked the weight I think is needed for the end of Twelfth Night. I feel like the audience missed the tragedy of Malvolio’s story. He continued to be made a mockery through his final moments. And there is a heaviness that lies in the last scene with the abrupt ending to Toby and Andrew’s friendship that I felt was missing. I also prefer productions that push the subtext a little more of the Duke being drawn to Cesario over the course of the play. This was something I particularly loved about Mark Rylance’s production. But true, it is up to director interpretation how to best handle the sudden shift the Duke has when he proposes to Viola in the end. I personally prefer hints throughout in order to build to that ridiculous moment.
But all that aside, if you want to see an incredibly creative, fun production of this Shakespeare romp (and can’t afford Broadway), definitely get down to Grand Street for a grand ol’ time.
Twelfth Night, Or What You Will
Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Dan Rothenberg
Abrons Arts Center through February 23rd
Photo Credit: Josh Koenig
Pictured: James Sugg and members of the Balkan brass band
Becca on Broadway 