Entries Tagged 'Theatre' ↓

Good, interesting, live theatre always captures my attention and right now there’s enough going on to even get me to blog again!

First, if you haven’t already, run to the Manhattan Theatre Club and see the brilliant production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined, by Lynn Nottage. I admit to being late to the dance on this one, having attended a performance only a few weeks ago, but it is about as gripping and moving a story as you are ever likely to see. Set in a small mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this haunting work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman. Is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? Drawn from real-life accounts that Nottage researched on a visit there, acts of brutality which lay a foundation for this tale continue to this day, leaving no one unscarred.

Writer/performer Daniel Beaty (Emergence-See) gave select audiences here in New York a sneak peak last week at a new one-man play he is developing, Through The Night. Beaty masterfully performed six characters ranging in age from a small boy to a 65 year old man, weaving together an interesting story about the many challenges facing African-American males today and the ways in which we seek solutions. He presented it this week in North Carolina at the National Black Theatre Festival and hopefully soon, a more formal staging will take place. It is one not to miss.

Three theater companies which serve as an able training ground for new and emerging playwrights, will unveil new productions soon.

Freedom Train Productions stages new political theatre that challenges audiences to see character and human struggle from new perspectives — black queer protagonists. This week they open Fire! New Play Festival 2009 which runs throughout the month.

Lark Play Development Center has announced the list of plays and playwrights for Playwright’s Week 2009 and it looks to be an interesting mix. Keep a check on their website for the festival schedule and ticket information.

Diverse City Theater Company announced its 2009 Mainstage production of “Race Music” by Warren Bodow. Performances will run September 3rd thru September 19th at The Beckett Theatre. Set in a metropolitan Midwestern city in 1999, the play takes a hard and nuanced look at prejudice, race relations, and social politics. It examines how racial stereotyping informs our opinions, stirs our emotions, and conflicts with our instinct to appear unbiased.

Finally, the 2008 all-Black Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will be staged in London. Tony Award Winners Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones reprise their roles and are joined by Olivier Award Winner Adrian Lester (Girlfriends, As You Like It, Primary Colors) and Sanaa Lathan (Nip/Tuck, Out of Time, Love & Basketball). Debbie Allen once again directs. Performances begin November 17, 2009. Cat will run in limited engagement December 2009 until April 2010 at the Novello Theatre in the West End.

New York’s Signature Theatre Company continues its season-long tribute to the Negro Ensemble Company with another revival from the latter theater’s repertoire of excellent works. Samm-Art Williams’ Home, a Tony Award nominee for Best Play when it debuted on Broadway in 1980, is getting a new Off Broadway staging that is every bit as enjoyable as the original.

With a three-person cast that features Tracey Bonner, Kevin T. Carroll and January LaVoy collectively portraying more than 25 characters, this play is storytelling at its entertaining best.Home follows the life of Cephus Miles (Carroll) an amiable North Carolina farm boy who struggles to stay true to himself amidst a rapidly changing and turbulent America. The play spans a period from his adolescence in the 1950’s to his senior adulthood in the present, weaving in his experiences during the Vietnam War and Civil Rights era as he leaves behind his family’s farm to seek refuge and prosperity up North.

Williams uses a series of highly amusing and colorful vignettes to string together stories within the story. It is often like sitting at your granddaddy’s knee while he recounts some of the life lessons he picked up along the way. Hearing Cephus tell how he learned to “speak Indian” for example, is simply a brilliant piece of writing.

Director Ron OJ Parson maintains a lively pace throughout and makes skillful use of his cast. Bonner and LaVoy in particular carry not only the load of transforming themselves into multiple characters but provide music and sound effects as well at times.

Cephus’s journey takes him from found love to lost love, jail for draft evasion, a downward spiral into drugs and depression and final redemption. Right before our eyes, Carroll evolves from an innocent youth to a jilted lover, from confused victim of the system to a beaten down survivor.

Home parallels the northern migration experiences of countless African Americans who throughout the early part of the last century left the South in search of something better, only to be disappointed. But it should also have broader appeal to anyone wondering where they truly belong and what it takes to find happiness.

The play opens officially Dec. 7 and is scheduled to run through Jan. 4, 2009.

Father, mother, children. The image of the perfect nuclear family. But images can be misleading.

Sometimes they are just an illusion, a complete fabrication designed to simulate the real thing. That is the primary purpose of the drag ball community, where young gay men, from different “houses”, walk the runway in competition with one another, in a range of various feminine and masculine guises through categories of simulated “realness.”

It is also the central premise behind Wig Out!, an engaging new Off Broadway play now showing at The Vineyard Theatre in New York.

Wig Out! tells the story of two rival houses on the eve of a ball and the interwoven lives of the people who inhabit them. These are houses less in the physical sense but more spaces where a house mother, father and “the children” gather to plan their ball performances, while doling out love, discipline, mutual support and more than a little “shade” and manipulation.

The House of Light is led by Lucian (Erik King, of tv’s Dexter), a powerful, masculine, Svengali-like figure, with a profound sense of entitlement. House mother is Rey-Rey (Nathan Lee Graham), a legend in the ball community who can somberly recall the days when the house was nearly lost to AIDS. Their children are Ms. Nina (Clifton Oliver), Venus (Joshua Cruz) and Deity (Glenn Davis), the house DJ, whose own masculinity seems to pose a threat to Lucian.

Their rivals from The House of Di’Abolique have challenged House of Light to a Cinderella Ball, in which they are expected to prepare and perform that same day. Serena (Daniel T. Booth), a larger-than-life, over-the-top drag queen, is the mother there, while Loki (Sean Patrick Doyle) is her ex-House of Light little toady.

Rounding out the cast are The Fates 3—a scene stealing Greek chorus of real female members of the House of Light—made up of Fay (Rebecca Naomi Jones), Fate (Angela Grovey) and Faith (McKenzie Frye). Andre Holland plays Eric, a young man not entirely comfortable with his own sexuality, who ends up sharing feelings with Ms. Nina.

This mix of drama-filled situations and personalities is the brainchild of Tarell Alvin McCraney, one of the bright new lights in the theatre community, who gave us last season’s The Brothers Size at The Public Theater.

Ironically, the play is billed as a comedy yet it touches on serious subject matter.

People join houses and create a family structure often because they’ve been disowned by their biological ones. That fact is alluded to by several characters who offer soliloquies that begin with the phrase, “My grandmother wore a wig…” They then proceed to tell stories of childhood masquerading in women’s attire, indicative of the fact that they knew early on they were different from other kids. We can only assume this fact wasn’t well received at home.

Rey-Rey paints the tragic figure of the aging drag queen. When your sense of self is defined by the image you’ve created and that image fades, what do you have left? Her performance at the lavishly produced ball in the second act, provides the answer.

Lucian’s definition of a loving father figure pushes the very boundaries of what love means. Love, and the need to connect to someone—anyone–is expressed by the relationship Ms. Nina and Eric try to forge and the one Venus and Deity try to piece back together.

If there is any shortcoming to this play at all it is that McCraney fails to explore these themes with any depth. What could have been poignant moments were touched upon only sketchily. But then it is billed as a comedy.

Wig Out! provides a fun glimpse inside a world most people will never otherwise see. Theatre audiences, being mostly White, middle class, middle-aged to senior citizens, may not get this play (a couple sitting next to me, left during intermission). Producers suspected as much and provided a glossary of house ball terminology in the program. Even so McCraney references such people as E. Lynn Harris, Enrique Cruz and other things that only insiders to gay or ball culture will understand.

Nevertheless, director Tina Landau maintains a brisk and lively pace throughout and has the actors making good use of James Schuette’s set design. A runway for walking the ball scenes, extends into the audience from center stage, with some audience members seated left and right. Actors often enter and exit through the house, and the opening of the second act will bring you back from intermission. Scenes are also performed from two mezzanine-level boxes stage left and right, but audience members in the aforementioned stage level seats miss some of that action, which is unfortunate.

Toni-Leslie James’s costumes and Wendy Parson’s hair, wig and make-up design are all ball-worthy.

Good reviews and word of mouth have extended the run of this play twice. Originally set to close October 19, it was first extended to November 2 and now to November 16. Obviously a hot ticket, Wig Out! is worth the trip.

New York City is always a cultural oasis and the summer time seems to be when arts and entertainment events, or the announcement of future happenings, are in abundance. With gas prices being what they are, and “staycations” the new, less expensive way to enjoy time off, venturing around town seems the best bet.

Here’s a peak at some upcoming entertainment options:

The Tony Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones will direct and choreograph a new musical about Fela Kuti, slated to open in September.

“Fela!” was written by Jim Lewis along with Jones, who won a Tony last year for his choreography of “Spring Awakening” and who is also artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The play is based on the life of the legendary Human Rights activist and Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who died in 1997 of AIDS-related illness. Fela spent years as a political prisoner after founding the political party Movement of the People, and is known for bringing huge bands to the stage, including many singers, dancers, percussionists, brass musicians, and guitarists. His music, which blends jazz with African beats and lyrics that demanded change and equality in his country, will be performed in the show by the Brooklyn group Antibalas.

The show will run at the 37 Arts theater in Manhattan from September 4 to September 21.

Joe’s Pub, the intimate nightclub performance space at The Public Theater, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with an unprecedented 300 shows from September through December. During that time, Joe’s Pub will welcome back many of the artists who have had their US debuts at Joe’s Pub, recorded live albums there, or got their break in the music industry through showcases at Joe’s Pub.

Among the returning stars is one of our favorites, Billy Porter, who will do two shows there, December 7 and 8. Porter calls his show The Contemporary American Standard, and will do songs made famous by Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Donnie Hathaway, Oleta Adams, John Legend, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, India.Arie and others.

10th Anniversary tickets go on sale Thursday, July 17, 2008.

Ntozake Shange’s powerful mid-’70s “choreo-poem,” for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, is getting a Broadway revival at the Circle in the Square Theatre. Previews start August 19, with a scheduled opening on September 8. India.Arie is set to star and three time Tony Award winner Hinton Battle will choreograph this play which dramatizes the struggles and journey toward self respect experienced by black women in America.

Another 1970’s black theater revival, The First Breeze of Summer, by playwright Leslie Lee, is being staged by the Signature Theatre Company, August 5 to September 28.

Signature Theatre is celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company, which originally staged this play in 1975 on Broadway. The show takes place over the course of one sweltering weekend in June, as the struggles of three generations of the Edwards family collide. Gremmar, the Edwards family matriarch, recalls her past and considers its legacy for her children and grandchildren as they confront the choices that will define their futures. Leslie Lee’s Obie-Award winning play is a timeless portrait of family bonds and coming of age. Ruben Santiago-Hudson will direct.

Although a long way off, another revival of another classic theatre piece was announced this week, to some considerable interest. A new Broadway production of the landmark musical West Side Story, directed by librettist Arthur Laurents, will begin previews Feb. 23, 2009. This production will introduce the unprecedented element of selectively weaving Spanish throughout both the book and songs.

Laurents, who earned solid reviews (and a 2008 Tony nomination) for staging the current Broadway run of Gypsy, stated, “This show will be radically different from any other production of West Side Story ever done. The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now they actually will be. Only Tony and Maria try to live in a different world…”

West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Laurents. The staging will retain the original choreography of late director Jerome Robbins, who conceived the project by transposing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the turbulent streets of the Upper West Side in 1950’s New York City.

Casting information and on sale date for tickets will be announced later.

If eating out is more your style, New York City Restaurant Week—which is actually two weeks–runs July 21 through August 1. Over 200 restaurants will offer three-course prix-fixe dinners for $35.00 and lunch at $24.07.

Finally, jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has released a new CD, November on the MAXJAZZ label. Possibly the most cost effective staycation you can have. Just stay at home and listen to music.

Anyone who has had a blog for any length of time will identify with Emily Gould’s essay Exposed, in this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Gould is a blogger, former Gawker.com staffer and writer, who shares some of the pitfalls of a life lived publicly on the internet. While it is her story, it is far from unique.

We live in really interesting times. The internet has shortened the time it takes for news and information to circulate. I typically learn about things first via email or someone’s blog and sometimes hours later via mainstream media. We’ve got at our disposal email, listservs, websites, blogs, social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, viewer produced content sites like YouTube and even XTube, to communicate with others, form networks of friends and associates or create our online persona.

The downside, as Gould’s story illustrates, is that many of us put too much personal information online and everything we put online is permanent. People you don’t even know are now privy to your innermost thoughts or your home movies. Almost all of us can be Googled. A year ago, when I was actively job hunting, I checked my blog stat tracker and noticed a visitor from one of the places where I had applied. We just never know who’s out there reading

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My favorite television series, The Wire, may have concluded its five season run here in the U.S., but season five hasn’t aired yet across the pond in the U.K. (British visitors to this site are advised not to read my old posts on the subject or you’ll find out how it ends.)

English fans of the series are just now getting introduced to some of the actors. The Guardian newspaper has a print and audio interview with actors Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and Jamie Hector, the characters “Snoop Pearson” and “Marlo Stanfield.” It must be strange to still do interviews about characters they stopped playing months ago but also disheartening to know they may never see roles that juicey again.

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Last Wednesday I attended a staged reading for a new play still in development, by an exciting young playwright I first told you about months ago. Katori Hall, who wrote Hoodoo Love, is working on a project now titled, The Mountaintop. The story is set on April 3, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee and involves a conversation between Dr. Martin Luther King and a motel housekeeper with special insight into the future.

Hall has an excellent gift for the English language and an engaging and insightful way with her storytelling. This particular story is unusually daring, for her use of real people in fictionalized events and her connection of King’s dream to present-day reality. The staged reading was done through the Lark Theatre Playwright’s Workshop. No word on when or if a full production will be staged.