THE LAUGHTER GOES RIGHT IN THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

I am so glad that it wasn’t just me that was screaming with laughter last week at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre.  I was sure that I would end up with a huge headache and no air left in my lungs.   The secret was in not holding anything back.  The Play That Goes Wrong has got to be the most hilarious play that I have ever experienced. 

Originally from London The Play That Goes Wrong is ingeniously written by three of its cast members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields.  It is both brilliantly and painstakingly directed by Mark Bell.  First, let me explain the whole setup. 

This is a play within a play where the members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are seriously attempting to perform, The Murder at Haversham Manor, by Susie H.K. Brideswell.   The action takes place the evening of Charles and Florence’s engagement party in the year 1922.  As far as the murder mystery it is opening night when every possible thing will go wrong.

Aside from the main stage, there is a Tech Box where Trevor sits. Situated in an actual box seat area, this is in view of the audience. Littered with empty drink cans and other garbage, it is complete with computer and faders for lighting and sound. 

There are two floors to the manor of which has an elevator.  A pillar extending down to the ground is used as a support beam.  

What you have is a theatre group bent on doing the play no matter what happens or how they have to adlib the faults and still stick to the script. We are talking errors such as incorrect props, this live dog that they cannot find (and will substitute a chain) and parts of the sets falling down throughout their play.  With all plays, those that are not part of the cast or on stage at the moment are trying their utmost to not make it obvious that they are present. 

One running gag is about a bottle of scotch that gets switched for a full plastic bottle labeled White Spirit with a large Flammable symbol on it.   This gets poured many times, drunk, reacted to and spit out…even when the characters already know that it will happen, they continue to follow the script. In fact one person does this following with the line, “That’s the best whiskey I’ve ever tasted.” 

I think I’ve given you enough of an idea on how this play goes wrong.  I certainly don’t want to write about all of the errors that will have you bursting in laughing, chuckling, cackling, giggling and certainly roaring.  The entire cast needs to be applauded not just for their acting but for the physical endurance they go through.  As for me, seeing The Play That Goes Wrong has kept me awake some nights.  I think about the play and burst into laughter.  A few times more, I have to get up to pee. 

INTERVIEW WITH BROADWAY COMPOSER STEPHEN SCHWARTZ

With deadlines and assignments each day, composer Stephen Schwartz barely has time to perform at Queensboro Performing Arts Center, let alone giving an interview. 

Q. What was the first song that you wrote?

A. I was around 6 when I wrote a song called “Little Lullaby” for a puppet show that my sister and I were doing for our parents about a dog that had run away from home. The very first Broadway show that I wrote a song for was “Butterflies Are Free”, which turned into a movie that starred Keir Dullea.  At that time I received a Princely sum of $25 a week.  The first full Broadway show was Godspell, which was originally produced Off-Broadway.  Pippin was the first show that opened on Broadway.  I was 24 at the time.

Q. When you’re writing for a show, do you write from the script or book?

A. “Book” has two meanings.  For instance an adaptation of the novel by Winnie Holzman from which Wicked was written vs. the scripted dialogue. I and my collaborator outline the show and figure how we’re going to tell the story through song while analyzing the characters as to the tone in which they speak. 

In Wicked, the decision was that the leading character, Elphaba, would have a first song in which she dreamed about some day meeting the Wizard entitled “The Wizard and I”.

Q. I notice that there are songs that you compose either the lyrics or music?

A. I work closely with Alan Menken, known for shows like Beauty and the Beast.  For the show Enchanted, for instance, I wrote the lyrics while Alan wrote the music. 

Q. Do you have an expectation of what will become the “hit numbers” in your Broadway show?

A. I’m always almost wrong about that. For instance with Godspell there is this song called All Good Gifts that I clearly thought would be the hit.  As it turned out it was Day By Day which was recorded by Robin Lamont for the original cast version.  When you’re writing for a musical in contemporary times because it’s so story oriented and character driven you really can’t worry about writing something that might have a life outside of the show. Cabaret performers will choose a song that people like hearing and show off their talents.

Q. Is there a favorite show?

 
A. I’m partial to a show that people may not know called Children of Eden.  It is personal and I believe it has my best score.  The Spark of Creation has had much recording as well as Stranger to the Rain, Whatever Time We Have, and The Hardest Part of Love.  There are shows that I write without an expectation of their coming to New York such as Baker’s Wife.

Q. I understand that you worked for Disney?

A. Working with Alan I have done three animated films: Pocahantas, of which the best known song is called Colors of the Wind; Hunchback of Notre Dame; and Enchanted. Hunchback of Notre Dame was recently adapted into a stage musical, which we are about to record the cast album in a couple of weeks. 

Son of Pinocchio, originally called Geppetto, was a television special.  Children’s theatre groups were interested and so we did a stage adaptation. Sonya Isaacs did a “pop” recording of the movie title song, If I Gave My Heart Away. She is a wonderful singer with an evocative voice.

Q. Do you ever sing any of your own songs?

A. I can sing, but I’m not a singer.  People do like to hear a songwriter sing his own songs. I will be singing at the QPAC event. However, I have three singers that will be performing songs from my shows.

Q. Are there any shows in the making?

A. I’m working on an upcoming adaptation of the animated movie, The Prince of Egypt, for which I have written songs. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston popularized “When You Believe”.  Although the production may not go to Broadway it will be licensed for theatres around the country to perform it.  

THE 2014 LEFT OUT FESTIVAL

The 2014 Left Out Festival
Stage Left Studio
Offers Something From EVERY letter in LGBTQ

Produced by Cheryl King

This annual festival features the work of LGBTQ artists and benefits Bailey House, which provides housing and support to people living with HIV and AIDS.

This year’s festival features award-winning playwrights and performers, with a special focus on transgender issues.

Ms. King, artistic director, says, “I’m delighted that this year we have plays from all five of the letters in LGBTQ.

We have performances featuring gay experience, lesbians trying to get green cards, queer identity in teens, T-gurls in NYC, gay questions and bigotry in Shakespeare, gay identity in classic literature, marriage equality, and both male-to-female and female-to-male transgender issues.

It’s a rich soup and a stellar group of talented playwrights and performers.”

In the 7 years since the Left Out Festival began, Stage Left has donated nearly $10,000 to Bailey House and produced over 200 plays and solo shows by LGBTQ artists.

Friday, April 18th @ 7:30 and Wednesday, April 23rd @ 7:30 pm


Selected Short Subjects – three short plays
The evening’s performance opens with Yesterday was Dramatic, written by Alex Beck, the director of William LoCasto’s brilliant NY/XY in the 2009 Left Out Festival. Cassandra Sandberg directs this premiere of the play, performed by Mr. Beck, who plays Charlie, a casually neurotic New Yorker. We are allowed entry into the mind of Charlie, who speaks his stream of consciousness aloud on three subway rides to and from dates with the same boy. Moments of clarity punctuate the serio-comic storytelling, and Charlie finds himself stronger by processing the events of yesterday’s drama. Today is going to be OK!

Old Man In Sorrow, the second show on the bill, is written by William LoCasto, a perennial favorite playwright in the Left Out Festival. Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s painting of the same name, it is performed by Desmond Dutcher and KC Weakley. In this beautifully distilled study of a relationship, Gregory and Jeff, a gay couple, are about to embark on a journey to visit Gregory's dying father, during which Gregory’s long-standing resentments towards his father rise to the surface.

Rounding out the evening is Sherilyn Fenn at the Hamburger Hamlet, a 25-minute play written and performed by award-winning playwright and actor Joe Hutcheson, and directed by Cheryl King. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue his career goal to work at a better restaurant, Joe finds himself face to face with the Hollywood starlet of his dreams.  In this one-man show, his fourth to appear in the Left Out Festival, Hutcheson explores themes of hope and disillusionment while trying not to forget the mustard.
Running time – 60 minutes

Wednesday, April 16th at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 19th at 7:30 p.m.

NSA

In Manuel Igrejas’ new play, NSA, Monty and Luis have had a happy romantic partnership for ten years. Their only issue seems to be whether or not to get married. A chance encounter with Stefan, a sexy, mysterious waiter, disrupts their cozy lives: both Monty and Luis have a secret connection to him. Monty comes from a happy Italian family; Luis was raised over a bar by his shady Grandma.  Stefan has trouble pinning down exactly where he came from, though parts of his past are on display all over the internet. The three men’s lives intertwine in a number of surprising, romantic and potentially devastating ways.  The cast features Casey Burden as Monty, Afrim Gjonbalaj as Luis and Kevin Perez as Stefan.

Running time – 90 minutes

Saturday, April 19 at 2:00 pm

Death in Venice in First Person is written and performed by Rory Lance, and directed by Robert Ellman. This theatrical presentation of the classic tale by Thomas Mann won Best Period Piece at the 2012 United Solo Theatre Festival. Join Aschenbach on his summer holiday and watch as his brief vacation quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery and an exploration of the very depths of loneliness and obsession. Of the 2012 performance, Troupe Theatre Blog writes, “The play’s success hinges on the duality of the incredibly detailed inner monologue spoken aloud and the moments of silence in which Lance’s physicality drives the narrative.  The ease in which Lance slinks back and forth between protagonist and supporting characters is both charming and endearing.”

Running time – 80 minutes

Saturday, April 26 at 1:30 pm and Sunday, April 27 at 7:30 pm

A Kiss in the Dream House, written by Ashley Lauren Rogers, an outspoken transwoman, is the world premiere of this five-act play. It’s the story of a Vietnamese engagement ceremony in crisis because of one partner's transition. This poignant and funny story intimately explores young romance and the transitions we all make falling in love. Two actual real-life sisters, Keeko and Aki Nakadai, play sisters in this drama, which also features Niki Buchanan, Peche Di and Noah Parks.

Running time – 120 minutes


Tuesday, April 15 and Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 pm


No River Between Us is a staged reading of a new play written by Michelle Ramoni, and directed by Kate Holland, featuring Jeffrey Coyne, Cheryl King, Maria Payramaure, Shawn McLaughlin, Jessica Solce and Renee Erikson-Wong. It’s a story about true love, and the restrictions on freedom imposed by restrictive immigration law and the state’s refusal to sanction same-sex marriage. Ariana is an illegal immigrant, Shannon is her lover, and Steve is their gay best friend. In a scenario all too common in the US, Steve and Ariana marry, so that she can get a green card and stay with Shannon. After a dicey INS interview, Steve’s redoubtable mother pays them a visit, and the sparks fly. Will true love find a way? Or will the forces of repression allow the “river between them” to grow into an ocean?

Running time – 60 minutes

Tuesday, April 22 and Friday, April 25 at 7:30 pm

The Pink Unicorn, written and performed by Elise Forier Edie

Based on real events, "The Pink Unicorn" is an award-winning solo theatre piece. It tells the story of a Trisha Lee, a Christian widow, living in a small, conservative Texas town, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her teen-aged daughter announces she is "gender queer" and starting a chapter of the Gay and Straight Alliance at the local high school. When violence erupts in her community, Trisha must reluctantly embark on a journey from ignorance to advocacy, trying to make sense of what is right and what is safe for her daughter, with persecution and prejudice closing in on all sides. www.eliseforieredie.com <http://www.eliseforieredie.com>

REVIEW: http://www.robinmayberry.com/why-you-cant-wait-to-see-the-play-pink-unicorn/ <http://www.robinmayberry.com/why-you-cant-wait-to-see-the-play-pink-unicorn/>

Running time – 90 minutes

Monday, April 21 at 7:30 pm

T-Party

Cheryl King presents the results of her ongoing workshops with Bailey House transgender clients. It’s a riotous combination of audio and video clips, with live commentary by Ms. King, an in-depth conversation with the “T” part of the Left Out Festival’s featured demographic – LGBTQ citizens of our fine city. Topics include make-up and moms, fantasies and fetishes, and the hopes and dreams of T-gurls in NYC in 2014.

Running time – 60 minutes, plus reception.


Thursday, April 17 and Monday, April 28 at 7:30 pm


Antonio and Shylock: Monsters

A work in progress based on Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice by Dikran Tulaine, this exploration of hatred of the “other” explores anti-Jewish and anti-gay bigotry. Was Antonio gay? Scholars differ on this important issue, but it’s clear that his love for Bassanio was so profound that he was willing to sign a bond to Shylock for a “pound of flesh”. Two live video feeds add a touch of contemporary “media feeding frenzy” to the making of the deal and the trial. Directed by Dikran Tulaine, this one-hour adaptation features Mr. Tulaine as Shylock, KC Weakley as Antonio, plus Liam Bobersky, TC Corwin, Cheryl King, and Karen Sklaire as other dramatis personae. Karin Kearns and Cheryl King are the videographers. A brief audience conversation with the cast is planned after the performance.

Running time – 60 minutes.

All performances are at Stage Left Studio
214 West 30th Street, 6th floor, NYC.
www.stageleftstudio.net

Tickets $22 (includes $2 ticketing surcharge) and $25 at the door.
Discount codes STUDENT and SENIOR get $5 off (ID required at box office)

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LOUIS, LOUIS, OH BABY YOU GOTTA GO

It’s not “Louis Armstrong the Musical”.  In fact the one-man, three character show is called Satchmo at the Waldorf and the actor never plays the horn.  John Douglas Thompson portrays jazz great Louis Armstrong as it takes place in March of 1971 in his dressing room of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel just after a performance. 

He enters the dressing room in an obvious state of exhaustion and heads straight to his oxygen tank.  We know that his health is not good.   The truth of it is that Armstrong died a few months later in July in his home located in Corona, Queens.   

The entire production has him talking to the audience about his career and the two people who helped form it: Fletcher Henderson and Joe Glaser the two others that he portrays.

Armstrong’s dressing room is equipped with a tape recorder as at times, he records some of his experiences.  That’s when you will hear bits of his music as well. 

Before you get shocked, it’s important to know that Armstrong is using quite amount of the “f” word as well as the infamous “n” word.   It does add for the effect of his emotions.  

Thompson is totally outstanding with the acting especially when he goes back and forth from Armstrong to another character.   Do expect humor in this production based on Terry Teachout’s book entitled, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, who wrote this play as well.

If you are not a history buff on Louis’ life, the Broadway Playbill cites a Louis Armstrong Timeline as well as “This is a work of fiction, freely based on fact”.  

Satchmo at the Waldorf is being performed at the Westside Theatre/Upstairs.   The theatre itself is wheelchair accessible.  However, there is no elevator to the second floor.  

A BRIDGE WORTH CROSSING

The Bridges of Madison County is a novel, movie and now Broadway Musical.   Not reading the book, seeing the movie nor having any knowledge of the plot, I saw this new Broadway Musical.   

For those of you who are on my page, I will give you the plot…one that seems to have no surprises.

Francesca (Kelli O’Hara), an Italian war bride, is married to a boring Bud (Hunter Foster) and living in Winterset, Iowa  (It is the year 1965) with their noisy teenage children Carolyn (Caitlin Kinnunen) and Michael (Derek Klena).  We also have the neighbors Marge (Cass Morgan) and Charlie (Michael X. Martin).   For those of you who have watched the tv show Bewitched, there is a commonality between those neighbors and these.  At times you could not be sure as to whether Marge is being nosey or understanding. 

Going to the State Fair, fishing and local entertainment is fine for Francesca’s family but she dreams of the romance of Italy and one day returning.

Along comes Robert (Steven Pasquale) a photographer who seems to be on the assignment of taking photos of….the bridges of Madison County.  Scruffy long hair and jeans emphasizes the “hunk”.    He actually enters via the right aisle and stops just in front of the stage (I was seated at the end of the third row at that aisle).   The scene is in front of Francesca’s home as he asks directions from her.  

With hubby and children away the “surprise” romance begins.  Will the neighbors figure it out?  Will she tell her husband?  I’ll leave alone to those who don’t want the “spoiler”.  

Let’s get to the rest of the cast.  The townspeople.  Some of them sit along the sides of the stage…just sit there.   When the sets get changed, the townspeople do the work without lights dimming.   They are also the ensemble.   There are times when it calls for one or more of the ensemble to play an instrument and actually do that.  I asked someone in the orchestra pit if they were simply looking as if they were playing but covered up by an orchestra member.  

Now, the cast beginning with O’Hara.  Not knowing about the Italy thing, I thought that her accent was more Irish and could not figure out why she was talking about Italy.  It cleared up as the show continued.  Both she and Pasquale captured the emotions and excellent vocal abilities of the songs.

Solos were given to Foster and Morgan to show off their voices.   As for the songs, I wouldn’t say that it is a “hit score”.  There were a few tunes that will hang in your head. 

 

All in all, I wouldn’t term Bridges of Madison County as a “must see” but if you want a Broadway Musical that’s light on the brain and totally pleasant, this is worth a ticket.