If there’s one thing that almost everyone has in common, it’s that most people have had their heart broken at least once in their life. When you’re suffering a heartbreak, it can be comforting to know that you’re not the only one who’s ever felt this way, but that also doesn’t make it hurt any …
Continue reading "Woohoo Waikiki 2: Episode 11"
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(l to r) Jodie Langel and Jerold Solomon in ‘Atlantis.’ (Photo: Aaron Sutten)
It’s your last chance to catch Atlantis at Virginia Repertory Theatre. With music and lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson (Theatreworks USA’s The Magic School Bus, UTAS Stephen Schwartz Songwriting Award), and book by Ken Cerniglia (Dramaturg, Hadestown), Matthew Lee Robinson and Scott Anderson Morris, Atlantis whisks audiences away to an isolated, mysterious island days before it disappears forever. A young refugee washes ashore on the eve of a sacred solstice, igniting political chaos and giving birth to an unexpected new leader.
If you’re in Richmond, VA, this weekend, be sure to check it out and support regional theater!
Atlantis
November Theatre
114 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA
The company of ‘Atlantis.’ (Photo: Aaron Sutten)
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The cast of ‘Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie.’ (Photo: Ben Arons)
The Mad Ones, New York City’s hyper-realistic, devised-work theater ensemble, returns with their latest creation, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie, which invites audiences inside a focus group for a 1970s children’s television show. But the real drama unfolds ever so subtly among a diverse collection of parents and its facilitator Dale (Brad Heberlee).
For 90 minutes, we get glimpses into parenting skills and cultural identities, all revealed through a methodical series of research questions. The six participants represent a timely cross-section of America: June, a wife of a successful doctor (Carmen M. Herlihy); Wayne, who works in the manufacturing industry (Michael Dalto); bookstore owner Ernest (Phillip James Brannon); single mom Gloria (Stephanie Wright Thompson); sophisticated and well-spoken Celeste — who prefers to go by Cici (January LaVoy); and salesman Roger (Joe Curnutte). Jim (Marc Bovino), a research and data associate, rounds out the ensemble, tucked in the back furiously taking notes and jotting down brainstorming sessions on a chalkboard. Mundane? Not in the least.
For those not familiar with The Mad Ones’ work, their meticulous attention to detail is nothing short of mesmerizing. No, you won’t see bigger-than-life performances such as the Tony Award-nominated Nathan Lane in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus or Glenda Jackson’s bellowing patriarch in King Lear. But if you watch (and listen) closely in the intimate Greenwich House theatre, you’ll witness a 21st-century reimagining of Stanislavski’s groundbreaking shift toward naturalism.
January LaVoy in ‘Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie.’ (Photo: Ben Arons)
Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie doesn’t have quite the same dramatic arc as the company’s previous work, Miles for Mary, which charted a disparate group of educators planning an annual fundraising event. Conceptually similar, that work delivered bigger swings and hits, while Menagerie’s pace and tone are more restrained.
Even so, you’ll witness temperaments simmer as the participants disagree about fictional disciplinary action as they review pilots for potential spin-offs: Candace’s Cabinet and Teddy’s Treehouse. While there is no singular way to rear a child, each parent eventually taps into his or her ideologies. “I’d like her to know that it’s not just magic that something gets fixed and gets brought back to you, and then you get cake,” Cici says of the fictional Candace after she’s broken a cello. “But that everything has a process.”
The Mad Ones’ process — a minutely detailed creative approach to character development — delivers fascinating results. One can only wonder what kind of menagerie they’ll create next.
Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie
Ars Nova at Greenwich House
27 Barrow Street
Through May 11
Matthew Wexler is The Broadway Blog’s editor. Read more of his work at wexlerwrites.com.
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Our political candidate Jung-gook’s enemy and protector go head to head as they finally meet as rivals. Neither is willing to back down, so their nascent rivalry is sure to cause Jung-gook some major stress. Meanwhile, Jung-gook goes rogue with his campaign and causes some major headaches. He didn’t think much about the consequences of …
Continue reading "My Fellow Citizens: Episodes 17-18"
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If my life were a cake, dramas and food would make up two big honking slices. (My life cake flavor would be pumpkin FYI.) Drama and food both bring me much joy and I’ve found my eating habits being subtly shaped by my drama-watching habits. Whenever I’m watching dramas, I find myself gravitating more toward …
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Nathan Lane and Kristine Nielsen in ‘Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.’
(Photo: Julieta Cervantes)
By Ryan Leeds
Gary is on Broadway, but it isn’t Marian the librarian’s hometown — that one arrives next year. Right now, we must deal with the carnage.
Downtown performance artist Taylor Mac (whose preferred pronoun is “Judy”) has christened Broadway’s Booth Theatre with a unique brand of quirk and activism, the likes of which have never been seen in such a commercial space. Bravo, Taylor Mac, Bravo! And kudos to the show’s producers for financing the irreverent and fracturing the status quo.
Audiences and critics have been (and will continue to be) deeply divided over Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, its style, and what it all means. At least we’ll get some full-blown belly laughs out of this one, thanks to Nathan Lane, Kristine Nielsen, and Julie White. Besides, even Lane isn’t one hundred percent sure of the significance. “It’s like Bert Lahr said when he read Waiting for Godot,” Lane recalled in a Playbill interview, “‘I don’t know if I understand it all, but I have the nagging suspicion this might be important.'”
Whether this will have the longevity and importance of the classic Beckett play remains to be seen. Yet while it’s still here, let’s rejoice in this bawdy bloodbath.
Julie White in ‘Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.’ (Photo: Julieta Cervantes)
Carol (Julie White), a daffy midwife, opens the show, announcing some bad news in rhymed verse and spurting blood after a near decapitation. Moments later, the curtain rises on a stockpile of slaughtered bodies: The Roman Empire has been defeated. Gary (Lane) and Janice (Kristine Nielsen) are charged with cleaning up the corpses. Gary (who hails from a family of clowns) is an unsuccessful jester and, much to Janice’s disapproval entertains himself by posing with the stiffs and turning them into his own toys. A tough-as-nails Janice is fed up with his antics and just want to get the job done, which entails embalming the bodies and providing a proper burial. At the same time, she decries the wealth and status this dead bunch once had. Both rail against the system that has long oppressed them, but are resigned to their current lot in life.
It’s unclear entirely what Mac is trying to tell us through these whacky characters. Is this a commentary on our country’s current cultural landscape? Have we commoners been hijacked by brazen elitists who have gutted the soul of our nation and now, we’re left to clean up the wreckage? Or, does this trio serve as a prescient warning for the future? Oh, to be a fly on the wall in production meetings with Mac and director George C. Wolfe. Perhaps there is no making sense of it. Maybe we are just relegated to the tasks at hand — stuck in the mundane — allowing life to happen to us rather than proactively changing it. Such existential questions will linger long after the curtain falls.
That’s what makes Gary such a rare, hilarious, and thoughtful work. Though, in the hands of less talented actors, I’m not so sure it would work as well. Time and time again, the Tony Award-winning Lane has proven himself to be one of our country’s finest stage actors. This is no exception. For as outlandish as this piece is, there are moments of poignancy and subtlety that he embraces, creating an empathetic view of the Everyman simply doing his best.
Nathan Lane in ‘Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.’ (Photo: Julieta Cervantes)
Nielsen is also terrific as she bosses around her underling and teaches him how to siphon body fluids.
Tony-winner White deserves the most praise here. Although she is onstage less than her counterparts, the backstage drama of how she landed the part is impressive. Initially, Nielsen was playing White’s role (Carol) and Andrea Martin was cast as Janice. At the beginning of March, Martin broke her ribs and had to bow out. Consequently, Nielsen stepped into the role of Janice and White had less than a week to prepare as Carol. It would be a difficult task under any circumstance, but given the comedy’s absurdist nature, it’s nothing short of miraculous.
There are several references to Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, but one need not have familiarity or knowledge to enjoy Gary. What you will need is an open mind and an iron stomach.
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
Through August 4
Ryan Leeds is a freelance theater journalist who lives in Manhattan. He is the Chief Theater Critic for Manhattan Digest and a frequent contributor to Dramatics Magazine. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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Kill It has come to a close, and while my emotions went in pretty much every direction while watching, one thing I didn’t expect was to have my heart torn out by the ending. After all, action thriller doesn’t exactly shout “You will cry your way through the final credits” — but maybe that’s what …
Continue reading "Kill It: Series Review, Episodes 7-12 (Final)"
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