Author Archive

Jacey Power’s new play. “Picking Up” begins where a lot of stories end: at the break up. Micheal and Elle are a poorly matched couple who have spent four years together. Elle is a free-wheeling, creative, independent spirit and Micheal is a traditionalist who wants to get married and has trouble accepting Elle’s lifestyle. In the first scene we witness their intense break up, climmaxing in his proposal and her refusal.

This is the last time we see Elle and Micheal together in real time. For the rest of the play, Elle navigates her new life as Micheal follows her around in it as a ghost and a memory. She relives pieces of their relationship and listens to the phantom Micheal’s comments on her new life. This is done most effectively in a scene where Elle is having sex with a new date and Micheal stands over her. The two of them get into a fight with each other while the date humps away, oblivious. These moments are Powers’ way of dissecting the afermath of a break up. Getting over someone is a long process, and Micheal’s constant presense in Elle’s life after their break up in an excellent sign of this.

Powers’ play is funny, charming, and accurate. She takes on a familiar topic and captures the pain and struggle with magnificent accuracy. Mos outstanding is her realistic, crisp dialogue. The characters always sound natural, and the humor resonates in every scene. It is a pleasure to listen this smooth dialogue, and it pushes the play along gracefully. Powers’ more or less makes her memory convention works. Where she struggles is in her choice of which scenes to portray. Although the scenes are snappy and funny and often meaningful and neccessary, Powers chooses to skip over some of the more climactic moments. Instead of showing us the drama in scene, she simply explains it in the aftermath. Not long after the break up Micheal meets someone else… Elle’s good friend. The audience never gets to see the scene where Elle finds out this information. Instead we simply hear about it on an answering machine message when no one is on stage, and then later see the aftermath. Several moments like this are missed, and it is an odd choice, as if Powers is afraid to tackle the real drama and takes the easy way out.

The cast is solid and comically gifted. Elle, played by Jacey Powers herself, is bouncy and likeable. She carries the play with simple choices and a fun spirit. Micheal, played by Steven Todd Smith, makes the audience sympathize the would-be “villain” in the play. Smith’s version of Micheal is complex and smart, and Smith’s choices are strong and purposeful. His presence is calm and powerful, and he stands out as a unique leading man. The other stand out actor is Christopher Norwood, who does an excellent job with some of the funniest material in the show. Norwood is confidant and unbelievably funny as he tackles an unsavory new prospective man for Elle. He seems to steal every scene he is in.

Director emma poltrak has done a fine job with this piece. Her staging is lovely and the piece is strong and complete. The only downside was the pace, which could have moved along more rapidly at some moments.

“Picking Up” is a wonderful new effort, and Powers, as well as her cast and crew, shows a lot of promise. The play is moving and thr audience was behind it one hundred percent. There is a lot to love in this show that finds its own unique voice in a crowded subject matter. Buy your tickets today!

http://uncoolkids.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/rent_stair.jpg

For anyone who looks for cool bookstores the way “normal” people might look for say, the hot new club or the best French bistro look no further! Housing Works Used Book Cafe in Soho is everything you have ever wanted and never new you needed. The bookstore is a two level haven of cheap used books, rare collectibles and new must haves. The space is cozy and calming, chairs and tables are scattered over both floors inviting you to spend the afternoon. In the back is a full on cafe with great coffee, soups in the winter, pastries and more chairs and tables at which to sip coffee and enjoy whatever great book you’ve found to settle down with.
As if a killer book selection, a calm, comfy atmosphere and a prime Soho location weren’t enough, Housing Works is also host to many events– concerts, readings and the like. This Sunday they hosted the 8th annual Lit Mag Fair. For any literary snob or book-happy nerd (both qualities I consider compliments rather than insults), this is a euphoric experience. The store is filled with tables and tables or Literary Journals… all for only two dollars. Any for those of us who read (and submit writing to) these journals, we know these mags usually run us a ridiculous twenty dollars. I went Lit Mag crazy and bought seven journals full of the best new writers.
The only downside of the event is that it is billed as a networking opportunity but was not necessarily set up to accommodate that goal. Though magazine editors wandered the bookstore with name tags on it was not easy to approach them. It would have been better to have the editors stationed at booths, to facilitate interaction rather than making it awkward for writers and editors to find each other.
Nonetheless, it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and Housing Works is a place I will return to often.

There are few playwrights I love as much as I adore Neil LaBute (Best known for his movie “In The Company of Men”) His plays are insightful, modern, simple, honest and funny. He takes ordinary people with ordinary flaws and ordinary lives and finds a story. His characters are perfectly three dimensional, and they do what we do, say what we say, and fail miserably as we fail miserably.

LaBute’s newest play, “In A Dark Dark House” is a story of two brothers. One of the brothers (Drew, played by Ron Livingston of “Office Space” fame!) is in a mental hospital dealing with substance abuse and possibly an earlier childhood trauma. His brother (Terry, played by Fredrick Weller) visits him in the hospital, and then visits the man who supposedly sexually abused Drew. Instead of meeting the abuser, he meets his young daughter Jennifer (Louise Krause) and enters into an inappropriate flirtation with her. Drew and Terry have to confront their pasts and their current mistakes, and find a way to accept their shared history and present relationship.

Although they play is entertaining, and balances expertly between comedy and drama, it is not LaBute’s best. While the story is interesting, and the characters complicated and believable, I wanted more to happen in the ninety minutes on stage. More problematic by far, however, was the questionable casting. Krause, playing sixteen year old Jennifer reads as a jaded twenty-something, not a naive, trouble teen. Until she pronounces her age I assumed she was a college grad. This alone drastically effects the stakes and energy in her scene with Terry. Terry (Weller) also seems out of place next to Livingston. Livingston is subtle and easy to watch, he seems to mesh well with LaBute’s casual dialogue. Next to him, Weller’s acting is too large and they seem to be in two separate shows.

In spite of the inexplicable casting and inconsistent acting, “In A Dark Dark House” is still proof of LaBute’s talent. It is not his best work, but it is a solid piece that is relateable and thoughtful. Director Carolyn Cantor does a fine job directing, the actors seem comfortable and at home on stage, their relationships are clear and the staging is expert, never awkward. Most impressive is the beautiful set design, by Beowulf Britt. the play is set outdoors in all three long scenes, and Britt’s set is sunny and dramatic, mutable and truly gorgeous. If nothing else, Britt’s set makes “In a Dark Dark House” exciting to watch, somehow managing to create a world that is both larger than life and decidedly natural. An impressive accomplishment and a good, if not fantastic, play.

In A Dark, Dark House plays at the MCC Theatre on Tues & Wed @ 7pm, Thur - Sat @ 8pm, Saturday @ 2pm, Sunday @ 3pm. It closes July 7.
Tickets available online.

Every so often the Zipper Theatre, arguably one of the coolest theatre spaces in the city, hosts an event called “Above the Belt” which is a showcase of NYC based aerial performers– an oppurtunity for trapeze artists and the like to show off their skills. Somehow the folks at the Zipper have transformed their comfortable, unique space into a underground circuis scene. There is a hint of the European, and for two magnificent hours you completely forget you are in Manhattan. “Above the Belt” truly brings the audience to a different time, a different location, a different world.

This is the single greatest physical performance I have ever seen. Forget Stomp or Blue Man Group, or event the great shows PS 122 has to offer. “Above the Belt” is stunning, terrifying, magical and sensual experience. The performers use aparatuses I have never even seen– silk ropes hanging from the ceiling, twsited around the body expertly so that the performers hang and twist and twirl in the sky with unbelievable grace and fearlessness. There is a huge silver hoop used as a kind of trapeze, and a set of two looped ropes that a male-female duet hang and dangle with.

“Above the Belt” is difficult to talk about. It is so unusual, so beautiful that I say for two hours with my mouth, quite literally, wide open, hand over mouth, eyes wide. There is no safety net in the Zipper Theatre, and the sense of urgency and danger is pervasive. The performers do not stumble for a moment, however, and they execute seemingly impossible movements with strength and agility. They are dancers in the sky… some of the best dancers I have ever seen.

This event is trying to become a monthly performance, and we should only be so lucky to have this kind of experience available every month. “Above the Belt” is modern and old fashioned, in the same moment, unfamiliarity in the middle of Times Square. It is a gift to the city.

Stand out performers include Jordann Baker, Michelle Dortignac, Joshua Dean and Kristin Olness.

Information available at the Zipper Theatre’s website. 

Reverie Productions new play, “RearViewMirror”, now playing at 59E59 Theatres, is without a doubt one of the best new plays of the year. Three young actors sit on stools on an empty stage. They tell their intertwining stories, mainly in monologue form, rarely interacting directly with each other. Penn (the understated, perfectly cast Mark Alhadeff), is a guy who loves Orthodox Jewish women, His girlfriend, Agatha (played by astonishing actress Audrey Lynn Weston), is struggling with her own faith, and finding her identity in unikely places. Thrown into the mix is Inez (played by the very solid Sarah Nina Hayon), an Orthodox Jewish woman who has just left her husband and is also working to find herself.

The play is inspried by the classic Greek tragedy, “The Bacchae”, and explores similar themes by using its own, modern, distinct voice. Obsession, sexuality, faith, and self-awareness are all explored, abandoned, and revisited by these three compelling characters, and although there is no action on stage, the 80 minute play is not for a moment anything but thrilling.

Playright Eric Winick has captured something extraordinary here. His characters are complicated, sympathetic and intriguing, and the story they tell is beautiful, tragic and funny. The choppy ending sticks out in the midst of his clear, crisp story, but the three talented actors pull it off with real passion. Weston sticks out as a truly diverse and exceptional actress, finding humor in all the right places, and comitting to the dramatic moments, and the troubled character. Hayon and Alhadeff shine as well, and together thet are most certainly one of the best young casts around.

Director Carl Forsman has accomplished something phenomenal: three characters sitting in stools as one of the best productions in town today. His direction is seamless and committed, and his love of the script and the characters is elegantly apparent.

“RearViewMirror” is not only a good play, but most likely the must-see production of the Spring. Don’t miss it.

Tickets and Information available online.

“Breaking In” is a new sitcom that will be playing on the internet this Spring and Summer. Last night, at the beautiful Off-Broadway Theatre, New World Stages, there was a screening of the pilot episode of this hilarious new show.

“Breaking In” is a theatre geek/ struggling artist’s dream sitcom. The show parodies all that is demeaning, depressing and silly about the off-off-off-off Broadway theatre scene, from the actors’ and producers’ perspectives. A “Waiting fo Guffman” set with twenty somethings in Manhattan, the pilot was about the opening night of a brand new Native American-themed muscial. A lead actor’s nose gets broken when he is making out backstage with one of the producers, the audience yawns and text messages during the show, a young actress gets hit on by her sleazy co-star moments before her entrance.

The writer, Joe Drymala, has a dry, hip, distinctly Manhattan sense of humor. His characters are quirky and the relationships are dead-on. The show is simply fun to watch– all the actors have excellent comedic timing and fanatastic character work. Director Ryan Davis has captured something special in thie brief, 20 minute pilot, and I, for one, will be tuning in for episode 2.

Episodes airing online, so keep checking in to see the newest “Breaking In”.

“Blindness” at 59E59 Theatre is a stage adaptation of Jose Saramago’s award winning novel by the same name. My hopes were extremely high for this production, as the novel is a fantastic and brilliant look at human nature– “Lord of the Flies” with a terrifying, much darker edge. One man is struck by a sudden blindness, and little by little the blindness spreads through the entire city. Those infected by the blindness are locked into a former mental institute and the government officials abandon them, harass them, shoot them and above all abuse their power in ways that are both apalling and realistic.

The play’s technical aspects were truly inspired. The show was staged impeccably behind two sheets of white scrim, the lighting was beautiful and the movement in the narrow space was choreographed with professional precision. These aspects lent themselves well to the eerie atmosphere of the play, and reall echoed Saramago’s writing and ideas.

Where the production fell short, unfortunately, was with the sub-par acting. Despite the beautiful vision, the story was told by actors forcing emotions instead of letting them occur naturally. The material is intense, and the actors were awkwardly melodramatic, where they should have been understated and terrorized. The story is already painful and dark, therefore it was unnecessary to have constant screaming and tantrums on stage. Some of these unfortuante mistakes could have easily been in the directing, and perhaps the director and I simply have different ideas about Saramago’s original story and the emotions behind it.

The adaptation itself was ery true to Saramago’s text which was an interesting choice given the unusual writing style. It was refreshing to see a novel being used with gentle accuracy rather than absurd “interpretations”, and I applaud director/adaptor Joe Tantalo for honoring the beautiful novel and making strong choices with the text.

Perhaps it is simply hard to compete with such a gorgeous novel, and those who haven’t read the book may find themselves enthralled by the full world that Tantalo and his cast have created. It is a fully realized project with bold choices and a unique point of view, so even with its faults, it is a work that deserves recogition.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 8:30 PM and Sunday at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Closes April 8. Single tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 members) and are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online

Sketch Block Sunday is a weekly show featuring a few different sketch comedy groups each week. I went by tonight to check out Chocolate Cake City in particular– a sketch group that was established in Boston and has recently moved to New York City.

The night as a whole was inconsistent. All the components for a great evening were in place: cheap beer and wine sold outside the theatre, a really unique, fun space for the performance, and a full, rowdy audience. However, the night began on a sour note, with the lackluster performance of “The Comediettes”, whose sketches were stale and dumbed-down. The MC tried hard to get the crowd laughing, but ended up telling meandering stories with little or no pay-off. It seemed certain it would be a long, uncomfortable night.
Things picked up with the second group, “Better Than the Machine”. Their sketches were smarter and more confident, though still teetering on the edge of the overused cliche.

The stand out act of the evening was “The Greatest Show On Earth”, a two man sketch group whose sketches were witty, concise and fresh. They strayed from the conventional sketch comedy structure and pulled it off beautifully. Watching “The Greatest Show on Earth” was not only funny but startling in its originality. It served as a reminder that you don’t have to follow a recipe to make great comedy. Hopefully other sketch groups will learn from these guys, and begin to take advantage of the artistic freedom that this medium provides.

Chocolate Cake City closed the night, returning to more traditional sketch comedy. Their show benefitted greatly from a clear theme (”The Sevent Deadly Sins”), something not seen in the previous sketches. Also on their side was the talented group of actors, who worked together well and seemed 100% behind the material. Their show was tight and easy to watch.

Sketch Block Sundays does not offer the most original sketch comedy, but it is a solid night with some true comedic gems. That, combined with a few bottles of beer, make it a worthwhile way to end your weekend.

There is no single artist I admire more than Mr. John Patrick Shanley, the prolific playwright who has won the Tony award two years ago for his play, “Doubt”. I have read much of Mr. Shanley’s cannon of exception work, and have always felt particuarly inspired by the way he speaks about art and his life. Therefore, when I saw that Symphony Space had asked him to be a guest host of their ongoing “Selected Shorts” project, I jumped at the chance too see him speak in person.

“Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story” is a literary goldmine. Symphony Space invited different actors to read eclectic selections of short stories aloud to an excited audience. Sometimes, a guest host comes in and picks their own favorite short stories to have performed by actors. In this case, Mr. Shanley picked three short stories, two of them by Hemmingway, that all explored his basic thoughts on the meaning of life, which boil down to “Life is a boat and life is a dream”.

Mr. Shanley gave speeches in between the readings of these three stories. His speeches were beyond inspiring. His thick New York accent brings an “everyman” quality to this gifted artist, and as Mr. Shanley speaks on the meaning of life he is wise and witty. He throws each page of his speeches onto the stage after he has read them, his eyes twinkle with irony and knowledge. The stories were succinct and beautiful, read expertly by Ron Cephas Jones, Dana Ivey, and John Tuturro. Hearing these haunting stories read was a gift in and of itself. Mr. Shanley’s presence, guiding the audience’s understanding of these great works was almost too wonderful to handle.

“Selected Shorts” is a necessary event for anyone with a passionate love of literature. And John Patrick Shanley’s work is a must read for anyone at all.