Gotham Gal

The Other Place, Manhattan Theater Club

We are definitely not seeing as much theater as we used to see.  We have basically wound down to having a subscription with the Manhattan Theater Club and that is it.  I might ramp up again in a few years or just pick them individually.  My friend is going with the latter and I think she might be on to something.  The only thing is that you have to pay attention, be organized and hope you pick the winners.  Not that easy but then again theater never is.

We went to a matinee of The Other Place starrring Laurie Metcalf who plays a brilliant neurologist who is slowly losing her mind.  The story unfolds over this one act play.  Metcalf is tremendous.  She must be absolutely exhausted at the end of each performance. 

One thing to note (that I really liked )is that of the four actors, one of them happens to be Metcalfs real life daughter.  That must be pretty cool to be able to perform together on the Broadway stage.

 

An Enemy of the People

We went to see An Enemy of the People at the Manhattan Theater Club this past week.  This particular play was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1882.  He wrote this play in response to the public outcry from another play he wrote that had indecent references to syphilis. 

Knowing that the play was written in 1882 made it even more interesting.  This play could have taken place today.  It is essentially about the corrupt political system and the irrational reactions of the masses.  The play focuses on one man who stuggles to do the right thing and speak out against the leaders of the town who want to turn a blind eye.  The leaders of the town would rather not spend the money to fix the issues because it will destroy their livelihood.  We have all seen this movie before and know how it ends.  Those issues eventually come back to haunt you but the play does not end on that note.

The play is the pull between the Republicans, the Democrats and the masses who vote for them.  That is how I saw it.  The Republicans ran this town.  They wanted to keep the money for themselves and were not so concerned that the effects were going to make people seriously ill because they didn't have to pay for it, they kept their pockets full and they could spin it if things went bad later on.  The Democrats wanted to do good by fixing the problems even though it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars but it was the right thing to do.  The masses just reacted to their taxes. 

The play was a little long.  The acting was good and some actors were fantastic.  The most interesting thing is that nothing changes because if a play written in 1882 about how people react to issues is no different than how the masses react in 2012, it says something about humankind. 

Best quote of the play  "...the strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone."

The Columnist

The Columnist, is playing at Manhattan Theater Club, starring John Lithgow at Joseph Alsop. First off, Lithgow is such an incredible actor that watching him is one of the joys of live performances.  What I liked about the play is not only his performance but the story.

Joseph Alsop was not only one of the most influential journalists of an era that does not exist anymore, he was a closeted gay man in a time when it made more sense to get married for appearnces.  Joseph did just that.  What he also did was write a column everyday that appeared in over 300 newspapers.  He had the ear of President Kennedy and Johnson as well as many others in high powered positions.  His home had an ever ending rotating dinner party of the all the prominent people in Washington and across the country.

What is interesting about the play is not just learning more about Alsop and his brother, Stewart who was also a journalist and wrote for the Herald Tribune and the Saturday Evening Post but you watch a period of history that completely changed how things were done and that they are no longer. Even the hemlines change over the course of the play. 

In the 50's journalists were just as tightly glued to the politicans as the lobbiest are today.  Journalists were the voice of knowledge.  They relied on the top elite people they knew to provide them with the data they needed.  Then the world changed, Kennedy was killed and Vietnam took over the American psyche.  Alsops demise was that he did not believe in what the journalists in the ground were seeing, he ignored the college students anger, he did not see change coming. At the heart of the matter, he was a staunch Republican set in his conservative ways and the combination of that and being a gay man made for a very angry person as he got older. 

There are stilll highbrow parties taking place in Georgetown, there are still journalists that are friendly with Senators and even Presidents but the media takes place in newspapers, on blogs and all over the Internet for everyone to read.  It is diverse, it is opinionated and there is no guardian at the gate. 

I am sorry Josh did not come with us to see the play.  As he is studying American history, I think he would have really liked the story about Alsop, as he was a pivotal part of our history that is most definitely in the past. 

Assistance at Playwrights Horizons

Assistance is the first play I have ever seen at Playwrights Horizon and I guarantee you it won't be my last.  I love the space and intimacy of this theater.  I am also a huge fan of Judy Rubin who is the board chair of Playwrights.  We were introduced by her son and she reached out to me about getting involved with Playwrights.  I wish I was more passionate about theater because getting involved with her would be fantastic but alas that is not an area where my passions lie and there are only so many hours in the day. I can at least support by becoming a patron and seeing the plays that they put on. 

Assistance is one of the seven plays being written by Lesley Headland that represent one of the deadly sins.  Assistance is about greed.  The play centers around young assistants working for a hard driving CEO who  traumatizes everyone in his office at any hour of the day.  Why do they stay? The desire to start off somewhere in their career that they believe will take them someplace.  Greed.

We never see the boss and we never really know exactly what type of company he runs.  He is just someone who the audience forms an opnion about while never seeing him.   An amazing cast of young actors who show their emotional chops with this play.  The insanity of working in that office is under constant stress.

For me, it reminded me of my early days at Macys where I worked right after graduating college.  There were some really crazy terrible screaming lunatics that worked there and you really had to put on an armor of steel to survive.  There was one guy who made the people who work for him cry.  Not pretty.  Not sure why some people feel that it is necessary to create that kind of working environment but honestly life is just too short. 

Russian Transport

The Russian Transport is the current production playing at the New Group right now. 

An interesting play.  Set in the Russian community of Brooklyn (Sheepshead Bay).  A family who came here when their kids were seriously young since they can barely speak Russian anymore.  The idea was to make a better life for their children.  The family is struggling to get by on a taxi service they run from their home.  Both of their kids help out.  Their kids are American teenagers, the parents are Russian immigrants.  That is what happens.  Their Moms brother comes for an extended stay dropping in on the family who has not seen him in 15 some odd years and everything changes.  He isn't a criminal but he is a more like a gangster.  He pulls in the whole family and everything shifts.

Doesn't exactly show a good side of the Russian immigrant life.  One parent is trying to create a new life for the next generation while the other parent is ok with remaining a criminal in a new land just to feed the family. 

The acting is fantastic.  I have always been a fan of Janeane Garafalo but Sarah Steele who plays the daughter is amazing.  She just graduated from Columbia University with a serious resume already in tv, film and theater.  Watch out for this actress.  She made her mark on me. 

As much as I was intriguqed by the writing and this slice of life in Brooklyn, the ending just really left me hanging in a way that I prefer not to be left at the end of a play.  Kind like a Tolstoy novel.

Wit

We went to see WIT at the Manhattan Theater Club this past week.  I didn't love the play but there is certainly something about the content that is thought provoking. 

The play is about a college professor who is an expert in the poetry of John Dunn.  Dunn being a metaphysical poet who mastered the english language.  Cynthia Nixon plays the professor who has stage 4 ovarian cancer.  Not a warm and welcoming woman with few friends or any and takes absolute pride in her intellect. 

Over the course of the play she is given eight intense doses of radiation.  The doctors know that the chances of success are abysmal but in essence use her for research to understand cancer.  She knows it and is willing to go along with it until the end. 

When my Mom got sick, I saw the same thing in regards to research.  There is a fine line between being a doctor and saving lives and also gathering as much data to understand diseases so that cures can eventually be found.  My Mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and within one week of that diagnosis she had surgery.  Two weeks later when she was going to go into chemo they took another MRI to pin point the right spots for treatment.  The tumor had already grown back, bigger. 

I found myself with a new surgeon at another hospital who basically told me that he could do surgery again and could prolong her life.  Really?  Why do you think that you can do any better than the last doctor when her cancer is obviously aggressive.  I do...research. 

The other thing is that the pain that the professor was in at the end was terrible.  Is that necessary that people who know that the end is near have to go through that? 

Did I like the play?  No.  Did I appreciate how the playwright was trying to educate the audience?  Yes.  I have lived it and they really did hit the experience spot on. 

Seminar

Last night we went to see the play Seminar at the Golden Theater.  This is the second play we have seen recently where I am not so sure I loved the play as much as I loved the acting. 

The majority of the play takes place in a sprawling upper west side apartment that has been in the family for years, aka massive rent control.  Four friends put up money for a ten week course with a supposedly brilliant editor/writer to help each of them in their writing careers as novelists.  Alan Rickman plays the famous teacher and he is absolutely fantastic.

The students are played by Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater, Jerry O'Connell and Hettienne Park.  All excellent.  As the play unfolds we learn more about each of their writing ability as they have to share their stories with the teacher who in turn rips them to shreds. Each of these characters represent a stereotype.  Rabe is the wealthy white girl, Linklater is the brilliant dark writer who comes from nothing, O'Connell is wealthy and comes from a literary family that he can easily use as a stepping stone to success, Park is gorgeous and uses her body to shimmy up the ladder. 

There are many laugh out loud moments.  A small window into the literary world of NYC where the competition is rough and where the publishing industry has changed with the advent of the Ebook. 

Good theater, an enjoyable night.  90 minutes, no intermission and keep in mind that the seats in this theater as tiny!

Once

A few years ago the movie Once made its way in to the theaters.  A total indie flick about a local Irish man and a refugee from Czechoslovakia who come together to create music and learn about love.  The movie got rave reviews. 

I saw the movie with my good friend who turned to me during the first music performance and said "are they really going to play the entire song"?  She didn't love the movie but it obviously stuck because when it was announced that they were bringing the movie to the theater she bought us tickets. 

We both went to see the play Once at the New York Theatre Workshop this week.  She really loved the play.  As a rule I am not a fan of musicials but the performances are really good.  Set on one stage with a variety of performers who also play instruments on the sidelines.  Well choreographed with quite an impressive cast.  It is really amazing the wealth of talent walking the streets of NYC.

Steve Kazee who plays the main male character is fantastic.  A gorgeous voice and a gorgeous face to boot.  If you like the soundtrack or the movie it is absolutely worth buying tickets.  Just something of note is that this is the same theater that Rent was performed in before it went to Broadway.  You never know. 

Venus in Fur

We went to see Venus in Fur Saturday afternoon.  Thinking we will do more afternoon theater this year. I like it.  

The show is being put on by the Manhattan Theater Club.  The play is dark, funny and sexual all wrapped into one.  An budding actress shows up hours late to an audition to find herself alone with the playwright.  Eventually they act out the play over the course of the production as their interaction swings back and forth from the play to the present.  Both almost become the same. 

There was a recent article in the New Yorker about the young woman, Nina Arianda, who plays the main female character.  The article was about how what a gem Nina is and the talent that literally oozes out of her body.  I can confirm that article.  I felt like I was watching a star being born.  She not only has a killer body she is confident, funny, sexy and honestly just brilliant as an actor.  Hugh Dancy who plays the male lead is no slouch himself.

I didn't love the play as much as I was just wowed by the performances.  I am sure that years from now I will say that we saw Nina when she first came on Broadway.  This woman is going to be a star. 

We Live Here, Zoe Kazan

This is the first play of the season we have seen.  It is also the first MTC production this year.   I was particularly interested in this play as the playwright is Zoe Kazan.  This is the second play she wrote and she has also acted in films and theater.  Zoe Kazan comes from a family of screenwriters including her grandfather Elia Kazan who is legendary.  After seeing her perform over the last few years and watching We Live Here, I guarantee that you will be seeing more from Zoe Kazan.

The play focuses on a family who has swept the loss of one of their children under the carpet.  Nothing can stay under the carpet for long.  On the eve of wedding of the surviving twin sister, the family comes home to get ready.  The younger sister arrives with a new boyfriend who has history with the family creating an even stranger atmosphere. 

As the play unfolds Kazan does a great job of cluing us slowly into each character and their connections.  There is always that elephant in the room of the sister they lost.  The mother is overwhelmingly passive aggressive and the father is dismissive to everything around him.  At one point the father begins to explain a book he is writing to the boyfriend and fiancee which is about a Greek tragic hero. That is the pivot in the play where everything begins to fall into place for the audience and the family begins to crumble. 

The play is far from upbeat yet I can't get it out of my mind.  All families have something in their closet from a selfish parent to a crazy relative to someone with depression.  For some people those stories can be swept under the carpet as they move through their lives while for others their sadness or anger seeps to the surface in every aspect of their life.  I am not sure who Kazan is writing about but We Live Here is an impressive play about family.