The Planet
March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Theater | 2 Comments
One of my favorite artifacts from Boston in the 80s was a small, literary gem called The Duplex Planet. The Duplex Planet was a true independent – hand copied, stapled and delivered – and could be found at Newbury Comics or any hip record shop and book store. It was/is created, owned and operated by the talented David Greenberger. See, he had this job as cruise director at a home for elderly gentlemen and one of his first gambits was an in-house newspaper. He would “interview” the residents, asking questions like – What was your favorite party? Who was Frankenstein? What do you like better–taxes or Texas? – and he would listen, put what he heard into the paper and hand it out. But while the residents didn’t mind talking, they had no interest in reading it. However – the rest of us did. The things he heard from these gentlemen could truly astonish. Hell – no one had really talked to them for years! The Duplex Planet still lives and I have a link over yonder to check it out.
The Planet is my first full length play and is based on roughly the first 40 issues of the magazine. I felt like I knew these men. I cared about them. So I decided to put them onstage. With the play, you spend some time – the week before Christmas 1980 - with eight men in their late 60s, 70 and 80s, including one extraordinary octogenarian poet (whose works would spawn at least four compilation CDs by alternative artists). I met these men through the pages of the magazine, so The Planet follows the flow of your average issue. Some conversations, some poetry, record reviews and soliloquies. These are their words, with some of mine thrown in to glue it together.
I don’t care what anyone says – it plays the way I want it to. Posted under Written Works.
August:Osage County
January 3, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Theater | No Comments
Last Broadway show… for a while.
And this caps a fantastic year for me and Broadway that started last Christmas with Julianne Moore and The Vertical Hour. I would like to thank my Drama League membership for signing me up for all the discounts and allowing me the opportunity to go see theater. (‘Cause I can’t afford $100 per ticket and I don’t have time to stand in line at TKTS.)
August arrives in NYC via the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago. It is a new play by Tracy Letts. I haven’t seen his other plays (Killer Joe and Bug) but I heard great things about them. August is about “Family”. In particular, this one family 60 miles outside of Tulsa after the death of the patriarch. The house is on the Plains. As one character says, “Sort of a state of mind. Like the Blues. I’ve got the Plains.” And there is all the usual family baggage – secrets, lies and the awful truth. But there isn’t a stereotype in the bunch. And the show is hilarious! The lines are true and honest. They snap and spin out of the mouths of this wonderful cast with great timing and execution. I originally noticed the play because the young girl from “Californication” (Madeleine Martin) is in it – as the cute, pot smoking 14 year old granddaughter. Also, the actor who plays Grey’s father in Grey’s Anatomy is in it (Jeff Perry).
But the play belongs to the mother (Deanna Dunagan) and the eldest daughter (Amy Morton). Wow. Whether they are riffing off each other or cutting each other to pieces with words, those two filled the stage and kept this three hour play (yes – three hours) skipping along. As I said – the whole thing was laugh out loud funny. But this is NOT Steel Magnolias. Blood is shed and it is not cleaned up.
Catch it if you can. The Tony’s are going to be all over this.
Hot August Night
July 10, 2007 | Filed Under Theater, Writing | No Comments
Another short play under Written Works.
We were given a theme for a recent set of readings. A group of us were to write something based on the Kitty Genovese murder.
I like to think of this piece as being about two monsters…
Just A Neighbor
June 12, 2007 | Filed Under Theater, Writing | No Comments
Another short play. More of a monologue.
Under Written Works.
Journey’s End
June 9, 2007 | Filed Under Theater | No Comments
On Wednesday, I went to Broadway to see Journey’s End – a play about the British in World War I. It is nominated tomorrow for a Tony.
And it will win the Tony.
And then it will close.
In fact I believe it is closing tomorrow, which is why I went last week. There have been very small audiences from what I read – sometimes only 25% capacity. Seems no one likes to see plays about war when there’s a war on.
And that is a crime because it was a very important production. Journeys End is an old warhorse of a play – going back to 1929. But it is rendered so soberly and straightforward that the anachronisms disappear. You are left with a stirring portrait of young men under the gun, fighting for their country in an impossible mission. These men are on the front line waiting for an imminent attack from the Germans. Then they learn the attack will come in two days. One of the sergeants asks the young commanding officer what the plans are. “We are to stick here”, he is told. “Yes but what if we can’t hold them or they overrun our flanks and surround us?” “We stick here. That is the only plan they gave us.” Rings a bell, doesn’t it? It’s a fool’s errand and they all know it, but they press on because that is the job.
The play was running at the Belasco Theater, which I have never been to before. [A moment of praise for all of NYC’s classic, old theaters! What a beautiful and intimate house. Supposedly haunted, too!] There was one set and the stage seems as cramped and claustrophobic as the play suggests. Like you are with them in the trenches. It was also very dark. I found myself squinting at times to see faces. Some scene changes happened in the light of a candle (real!) that sat on the table in most scenes. And the sound! The sound brought the terror of the war moving closer and closer into the play. At the end, the audience sat in darkness as the war came to us and it sounded as if the theater itself was under fire. The acting was also pitch perfect. All of the men were “types” but no one was a caricature. Each actor brought honesty and human emotions to their roles.
So – good luck to Journey’s End tomorrow – as well as Jennifer Ehle and Billy Crudup from Coast of Utopia.
long week…
May 27, 2007 | Filed Under Main, Theater | No Comments
I think most people don’t take a full vacation because of how long it takes to catch up when you come back. After five days in Vegas, that is where I found myself last week. And I had my leg iron (my Treo) with me so I could respond to ALL of my email. Since I had nearly 30 emails a day, imagine if I didn’t have that leg up on the situation. The mind boggles…
(As for Vegas – see it once. Otherwise, I can think of better things to do on vacation. Thank god I WASN’T on vacation…)
Then ever night was filled so I was only home once – Monday – and that was to do a bit of re-financing (and watch the Heroes finale – which rocked!) Tuesday was off to my second job. Wednesday I had an audition for this amazing play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh called The Pillowman (which I didn’t get). Thursday was my boss’s 70th Birthday party with the principals and associates. And Friday was the A.H. PBA Ball – what my wife calls our local prom. Everyone dresses up, drinks a bit, dances to a wedding band and just hangs out together for a while. Then we all get involved in a fun “Chinese auction” (and, of course, the obligatory 50-50). It’s actually a lot of fun and the money goes to a different cause each year. And we get to dress up and get drunk together as a town. Why not?
So now we are at the holiday weekend and now – Sunday – I am free to sit on my ass and watch whatever DVD I want for a few hours. Late last night, I finally got to my NetFlix movie, Stranger Than Fiction – which has sat undisturbed on the table for about three weeks. Pretty good. Not a world beater but charming and I appreciated Will Ferrell’s very understated work in the picture. Plus the music is by Spoon! Plus Maggie Gyllenhaal – who is always just adorable.
On to horror movies!
Love
May 18, 2007 | Filed Under Main, Music, Theater | No Comments
Okay - I finally won some money. About $100 on one of those video poker machines. In the Irish casino no less. (Coincidence?) I am now ahead. Still think that kind of gambling is dumb.
Last night, I saw the only show I signed up for - Love by Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage. All I really knew about Cirque was that they did acrobatics and went from a strange circus act to a McDonalds franchise all over the world. Then I heard they had “remixed” a bunch of Beatles tunes for the show. None of this really sounded hopeful. But someone gave me the CD of the music (remixed by George Martin and son) for my birthday and I loved it! It all works. What is more interesting is that the music maintains a reverence while making everything sound fresh. in essence, it rescued some of these old Beatles songs from history and made them sound alive again. So I thought - let’s give it a shot.
wow
I was totally blown away. The show is Theater and dance and aerial work and rock and spectacle. Don’t bother waiting for the DVD to come out. It won’t work and you won’t get it. The show moves all around you and over you. The sets, lighting and special effects were the best. There were characters and storlines and recurring themes throughout. It was about the Beatles and about the times (though some numbers were just about the song - “Octopuses Garden” for one). There were also a couple of revolving storylines that just pertained to the show itself.
And - of course - the music. It is a Beatles’ fan wet-dream. But even if you only vaguely know the music, the entertainment value of the show is immense. I know I was in tears a couple of times and it really was all about how the stage picture and the music melded. Hard to describe really. But an amazing experience.
What with seeing Coast of Utopia and Love, I have been blessed with seeing - in six months - the best theater I think I have seen in decades. Not bad….
Lightning In A Bottle
May 10, 2007 | Filed Under Theater, Writing | No Comments
This was my first play. It’s an extended one act about the life of the American actress Jean Seberg, paralleled with the rise and fall of Joan of Arc. A “two hander” as they are called - two actresses only.
If anyone’s in the city, I am having a staged reading of the play at the Dramatists Guild tomorrow (friday the 11th) at 7PM. The Guild is at 1501 Broadway, 7th floor. Come if you can.
Clover
April 17, 2007 | Filed Under Theater, Writing | No Comments
Another of my short plays. This one is funny - honest!
Under Written Works.
Inherit The Wind #2
April 7, 2007 | Filed Under Theater | No Comments
We weren’t allowed to have the program while we were sitting onstage, so they gave it to us after the show and I shoved it in my bag.
I was sitting on a SANTO LOQUASTO SET!!! He is only a legend on Broadway. I’m very excited now.
Inherit The Wind
April 7, 2007 | Filed Under Main, Theater | No Comments
“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind
And the fool shall be the servant to the wise of heart.”
So, I was on Broadway last light - capping my biggest NY theater week in quite a few years. And when i say I was “on” Broadway, I mean I was onstage! I went to see the new production of Inherit The Wind at the Lyceum Theater in the city. The great conceit was that seats for the show are available onstage - as part of the audience in the courtroom. My wife’s cousin Bobby met me nearby at Virgil’s Bar-B-Que (a favorite) to fortify ourselves for the experience. When we arrived, we were lead onto the stage. Our coats and bags were placed in lockers at the back of the stage and then we were escorted to our flat, wooden bleacher seats that basically became the backdrop for the entire production. The Lyceum is actually one of the smaller theaters and fairly intimate so there were maybe only 50 of these seats. It was very cool. No curtains opened or closed. The play happened in fornt of us and around us. Christopher Plummer played Drummond (the Clarence Darrow character) and Brian Dennehy played Brady (the William Jennings Bryan character). As this is based on the Scopes trial (you all know that one,right?), the arguments certainly reverberated (for me at least). And in the hands for those two amazing actors, how could you go wrong?
Lots of fun and I highly recommend the experience.
Instant Messages
April 6, 2007 | Filed Under Theater, Writing | No Comments
This is one of my short plays. You can find it under Written Works.
Coast Of Utopia
April 1, 2007 | Filed Under Theater | No Comments
And I survived the marathon!
The plays started at 11am and ended at 11pm (with an hour and a half for both lunch and dinner). As we came out, they gave everyone a button that said “I Ran A Marathon” (which I thought was very sweet). So how was it? Overall it was tremendous! The play was about these Russian characters from a period after the war with Napoleon to just prior to Communism toppling the last Tsar. We go from Russia to Paris too Italy to London and end in Geneva. The characters were for the most part real people who had lived during this period. So we are talking about a HUGE amount of information… most of which you or I never learned in school. Which is not bad – but with Stoppard (and I have read more than a few of his plays) you can start to feel swamped. Or stupid. There are times where you either want him to slow down so you can catch your breath or rewind him so you can brace yourself and hear his argument again. (That is why you buy the scripts – like I did)
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Intermission
March 31, 2007 | Filed Under Main, Theater | No Comments
Well, kind of… I am at Lincoln Center all day with a marathon of Tom =
Stoppard’s trilogy “The Coast of Utopia”. The first play has just ended =
and I have an hour to get lunch. I am actually posting from my Treo =
(ain’t technology grand?)
So far it is fantastic and very entertaining! A beautiful production to =
look at as well. We shall see what the next 6 hours bring…
Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)