Entertainment
What To Watch April 18th To Take Away The Blues
Dave Malloy, the Tony-nominated creator of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, posted a full-length recording of the 2015 mounting of his musical Ghost Quartet on YouTube. Now he’s sharing another one from his archives, the original 2011 Shotgun Players production of Beardo.
Beardo from Shotgun Players on Vimeo.
Like so many of us in the theatre world, Paula Vogel has had to put big things on hold while stages are dark. Her breakout play, How I Learned to Drive, was finally making its Broadway debut over 20 years after its premiere, and her masterfulIndecent, which wowed Ahmanson audiences last season, was opening in London. But Vogel remains as convinced as ever that “theatre is an essential service”—and we’re so grateful that she joins Art Goes On by bringing us the essential opening monologue from How I Learned to Drive. (Do you remember Molly Ringwald’s incredible Taper performance in this role?)
https://www.centertheatregroup.org/art-goes-on/artists-create/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=artgoesonnews20200417&utm_content=version_ALondon’s Hampstead Theatre continues its #HampsteadTheatreAtHome series with a recording of its 2013 production of Drawing the Line, Harold Brenton’s historical epic about the behind-the-scenes drama leading to the world-changing Partition of India in 1947. Watch it for free anytime on the company’s website through Sunday.
Manuel Cinema is streaming two of its eye-popping, genre-defying hour-long shows online: Ada/Ava, which was a hit Off Broadway back in 2015, and The Magic City. Watch them for free on the company’s website through Sunday.
On Saturday at 2 p.m. EST, Stars in the House presents a live reading of Bakersfield Mist, a comedy about an unemployed bartender living in a trailer park who thinks she’s found a painting by Jackson Pollock. Inspired by a true story, Stephen Sachs’ two-hander stars Brooke Adams and her real-life husband, Tony winner Tony Shalhoub as a snooty art appraiser. Watch it for free on The Actors Fund’s YouTube channel.
2pm: Global Citizen hosts the massive, star-studded concert One World: Together At Home in honor of front-line workers. A slew of famous rockers and actors are scheduled to appear and perform, including Broadway stars Ben Platt, Jennifer Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Lupita Nyong’o, Matt Bomer and Sarah Jessica Parker. Watch the eight-hour event on Facebook, or tune in at 8 p.m. to NBC for the final two celebrity-filled hours.
2pm: On Seth Rudetsky fabulous series Stars in the House the show that has two performances everyday. At 2pm: Plays In The House: Bakersfield Mist: By Stephen Sachs. Starring Brooke Adams and Tony Shaloub. 8pm: No show this evening. Please tune in to the Global Citizen event – One World: Together At Home.
8pm: Steppin’ Out With Ben Vereen an unforgettable evening of song and story – featuring the showstoppers you love with new music that will leave you inspired!
Star of the Amazon hit series Sneaky Pete, and Tony and Drama Desk Award winner for his renowned performance in Bob Fosse’s Pippin, Mr. Vereen’s Broadway credits include: Wicked, I’m Not Rappaport, Chicago, Hair, Fosse, Jelly’s Last Jam, Jesus Christ Superstar, and A Christmas Carol. In 2010, Ben completed a successful run in the world premiere of Fetch Clay, Make Man, directed by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys) at the McCarter Theatre. Film: Idlewild, All That Jazz, Sweet Charity, Funny Lady (Golden Globe nomination), Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Once Upon a Forest. Television: The legendary television miniseries Roots, How I Met Your Mother (recurring), Grey’s Anatomy (Prism Award), Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Hallmark’s An Accidental Friendship (NAACP nomination), Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, Louis Armstrong – Chicago Style, Ellis Island (Golden Globe Nomination), Anne Rice’s Feast of All Saints, Zoobilee Zoo and Star Trek – The Next Generation. Ben recently appeared in the feature films Top Five and Time Out Of Mind, and as Doctor Scott in Fox’s TV version of Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Featuring: Lee England Jr. (Jimmy Kimmel Live, Making the Band), Jesse Lenat (“Sneaky Pete), and Nita Whitaker (“Star Search” Winner, Ragtime, Ten Commandments).
7:30pm: The Metropolitan Opera: Adriana Lecouvreur Grand opera at its most delectably soupy, Cilea’s diva showcase concerns an 18th-century Parisian stage actress who falls headlong for the impecunious Count of Saxony and is consequently poisoned by a bouquet of faded violets sent by her romantic rival, the scheming Princess of Bouillon. The melodrama unfolds against the composer’s most beguiling and passionate score, which fits into the early 20th century’s tradition of verismo—a kind of heightened, emotionally turbocharged operatic naturalism.
8pm: Saturday and Sunday, Chicago’s lauded Goodman Theatre shares a recording of its production of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Jocelyn Bioh’s shrewd comedy about the pecking order at an elite boarding school in Ghana. The play was a hit in New York, with two Off-Broadway runs. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre.
8pm: Saturday and Sunday, one of the most acclaimed regional theatres in the country, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, shares a recording of Where the Mountain Meets the Sea by lauded playwright Jeff Augustin (Little Children Dream of God at Roundabout Theatre Company, The New Englanders at Manhattan Theatre Club) with songs by The Bengsons (Hundred Days). An exploration of the complicated relationship between a Haitian immigrant and his American-born son, the show was commissioned by the theatre for its Humana Festival of New American Plays. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre.
8pm: LIVESTREAM The Producers Perspective Live with Marilu Henner.
Skate underneath the historic Brooklyn Bridge while taking in the iconic views of the Manhattan skyline. Glide at Brooklyn Bridge Park is a premier winter experience in a setting that will take your breath away.
Glide at Brooklyn Bridge Park is located at Emily Warren Roebling Plaza, found at the base of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Our location is accessible via foot, subway, and NYC Ferry. Glide is a stone’s throw from familiar points within the park, Jane’s Carousel and Empire Fulton Ferry, and near popular dining destinations such as the River Café, Luke’s Lobster, and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
Emily Warren Roebling Plaza
at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn, NY 11201
For tickets please visit HERE.
Right now at the Actors Temple Theatre, 339 West 47th Street is the New York premier of Sandra Tsing Loh’s Madwomen of the West. The show in a way reminded me of the 1996 play Love, Loss, and What I Wore, where celebrities joined on stage. Here you have Caroline Aaron, Brooke Adams, Marilu Henner, and Melanie Mayron, all actors who have performed on film, TV and stage. They are like long lost friends, they are so familiar.
Caroline Aaron, Marilu Henner, Melanie Mayron, and Brooke Adams Photo by Carol Rosegg
The four have gathered together for Claudia’s (Mayron) birthday. It is being thrown at the Brentwood home of Jules (Adams) and Marilyn (Aaron) has decorated. Enter the long lost Zoey (Henner) and what you think you know about these friends, isn’t what it seems. As a matter of fact, this birthday brunch is about to turn into the brunch from hell. These Baby Boomers, are also feminists admiring Hilary Clinton and Gloria Steinem, though not always on the same side. They break the 4th wall, as they banter back and forth to themselves and to us, the audience. They confront, encourage, justify and talk about transgender, health, the horror of Trump and those “pussy hats”, sex and so much more. Think “girl-talk” to the max.
They sit on couches, as a backdrop of palm trees, and a lone piñata take center stage, thanks to set designer Christian Fleming. The play has no money, so the production is bare bones…. so they say. Everything about this show is tongue and check and is well directed by Thomas Caruso.
Each actor here shines and in an out of the way aside, each has pieces of their real selves written into the roles they play. Not having seen Aaron on stage before, I was impressed by her vocal quality and humor. Adams brings sophistication and Mayron adds that knowing, we are all in the same messed up boat. Henner will make you want that body and her sex appeal.
These women knocked down doors for the women to come, but I was surprised that the one issue they missed out on was that women are still not equal in this country. It takes 1, count it 1 state to approve this and yet plays about feminism leave this vital information out.
The show ends with “The Bitch is Back.” they sing in glee. I guess it is ok when we call ourselves that.
Madwomen of the West: The Actors Temple Theatre, 339 West 47th Street through December 31.
It’s July 1976, in a recording studio in Sausalito, CA and we are being invited into a space that only a select few get to visit, let alone witness. This is art in the making, pure and simple, with ego and love, getting mixed and faded in through the process most musically. In Playwrights Horizons‘s magnificent new play, Stereophonic, written most delicately by David Adjmi (The Blind King Parts I and II), a band on the cusp of greatness has assembled, and they are tasked, casually and with great intent, to something magnificent and meaningful, a lasting piece of musical art, to follow up their last album that has become, over the timeframe, a breakout hit.
Andrew R. Butler, Sarah Pidgeon, Chris Stack, and Juliana Canfield in Playwrights Horizons’s Stereophonic. Photo by Chelice Parry.
The play is exceptionally well framed and constructed; both musical and meandering, in the best of all possible ways, yet somewhere inside Adjmi’s engaging Stereophonicand its three-hour running time, a deeper level of contextual art formulation is unpacked quite beautifully. It saunters forward, with a complicated level of exhaustion, angst, and inspiration, unearthing something that almost defies expectations and compartmentalization. It’s a 1970s rock saga, clearly modeled on the legendary Fleetwood Mac and their dynamic backstage friction, that leans into and plays with the problematic relationships within this unnamed band as they try to create magic behind a glass wall, while also trying to fulfill their emotional needs in the confines of the studio and real life.
It’s all emotional breakups and reconciliations, with a layer of bored and sleep-deprived banter; around a broken coffee machine and the annoying reverberations of (not only) the drum. It’s electric and conflictual, playing havoc on every one of these characters’ insecure hearts, while offering up no grand solutions or final product. Stereophonic is all about the tiny details and the little frustrations that grow and become emotional cannonballs bent on destruction, leveled and defused out of an undercurrent of love and need for creation. It is incandescent in its artful construction, displaying and writing about a realm few of us can understand. It’s the agony and ecstasy that lives and sings inside the magnificent creative process of musicians, arts, singers, and writers, who hear aspects that most of us can’t understand, let alone hear or comprehend. And we have been invited in, to bear witness to its creation, in all its meticulously dull and exhausting detail. Giving light to the darkness of the process, and how art can both create and destroy those involved in its coming to life.
Eli Gelb and Andrew R. Butler in Playwrights Horizons’s Stereophonic. Photo by Chelice Parry.
The unnamed Stereophonic band before us seemingly has a hit album that is climbing the charts as they start recording, and their record label is becoming more and more generous as they become more and more famous. All the actors find their fantastically unique space within that iconic construct, with the two couples taking center stage, along with nods to those around them. It’s a compelling narrative, with their body language giving off the boredom and exhaustion that comes with all the late-night partying and endless recording and re-recording. Dominated by an American guitarist and singer, the aggressive Peter, played strongly by Tom Pecinka (TFANA’s He Brought Her Heart Back..), and his insecure songwriting girlfriend, Diana, beautifully portrayed by Sarah Pidgeon (Hulu’s “Tiny Beautiful Things“), they act out a dynamic that is as raw and rocky as one would imagine when two artists collide, both with faltering egos and needs. The cling to one another in desperate need, while also mistreating and hurting one another endlessly. It’s electric and disturbing, while being entirely believable and dynamic.
Tom Pecinka and Sarah Pidgeon in Playwrights Horizons’s Stereophonic. Photo by Chelice Parry.
Staying firmly on the control side of the glass, we are also given a peek inside those who live in the background; the young sound engineer Grover, meticulously unpacked by Eli Gelb (RTC’s Skintight), and his hilariously well-constructed assistant, Charlie, wonderfully played by Andrew R. Butler (Ars Nova’s Rags Parkland Sings…). Their drive and infatuation with the band and their creative power play strong and true, especially at the beginning, but as the mystique of the band’s unity begins to unravel and explode into chaos and compulsion, their determined connection to the musicians shifts from worship to irritation as the weeks turn into months and years. Or does it, in the end?
The creative energy and compounded exhaustion that live inside every brilliantly performed song cause Stereophonic to sing, most magnetically and is clearly as real and authentic as one could hope for, drenched in authentic swagger, courtesy of the costuming by Enver Chakartash (Broadway’s A Doll’s House). Even as the clock ticks forward, for them and for us, the pitfalls of collaboration and the art of creation mingle and mix like only musicians can, hurting one another while also elevating their craft in order to create that piece of art that makes all of us sit back in wonderment. They riff and talk rough to one another, accessing imagery of the hotness of Donald Sutherland and the bonding of artists, regardless of gender. The music in the background soars, thanks to the beautiful songwriting work done by Arcade Fire’s Butler, but it’s more in the magical interpersonal dynamics that elevate this experience into something special, powerful, and utterly unique. Aggressiveness and control hit hard against love, creation, and connection, playing with loyalties and solo careers in a way that unlocks chaotic relationship complications that echo far beyond the room. Sudden fame does wonders to the energy within, and in Stereophonic, we are gifted with the fly-on-the-wall syndrome, watching magic develop out of thin air and focused minds, even when clouded by love, pain, and that big bag of white powder.
Will Brill and Chris Stack in Playwrights Horizons’s Stereophonic. Photo by Chelice Parry.
For more go to frontmezzjunkies.com
2o days to go! Every year people panic to find the perfect gift. We at T2C have been collecting idea’s all year long to bring you the perfect gift guide at all price levels. When you’re at the end of your rope trying to find the perfect Christmas present this year, come to this guide for some great suggestions.
Chita & Patrick Pacheco at Drama Book Shop event May 15, 2023 Photo by Merle Frimark
There are a lot of books out there this year but we highly recommend Chita: A Memoir , the critically-acclaimed book is written by the legendary Broadway icon Chita Rivera with arts journalist Patrick Pacheco. Chita takes fans behind-the-scenes of all her shows and cabaret acts, she shares candid stories of her many colleagues, friends, and lovers. She speaks with empathy and hindsight of her deep associations with complicated geniuses like Fosse and Robbins, as well as with the mega-talent Liza Minnelli, with whom she co-starred in The Rink. She openly discusses her affair with Sammy Davis, Jr. as well as her marriage to Tony Mordente and her subsequent off-the-radar relationships. Chita revisits the terrible car accident that threatened to end her career as a dancer forever. Center stage to Chita’s story are John Kander and Fred Ebb, the songwriters and dear friends indelibly tied to her career through some of her most enduring work: Chicago, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Visit.
Chita’s love of performing began as a child in Washington, D.C., when her mother enrolled her in a local ballet school to channel her boundless energy. Still a teenager, she moved to New York to attend the School of American Ballet after an audition for George Balanchine himself and winning a scholarship. But Broadway beckoned, and by twenty she was appearing in the choruses of Golden Age shows like Guys and Dolls and Can-Can. In the latter, she received special encouragement from its star Gwen Verdon, forging a personal and professional friendship that would help shape her career. The groundbreaking West Side Story brought her into the orbit of Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Hal Prince, and Stephen Sondheim. After Bye Bye Birdie further burnished her rising star, she reunited with Verdon and her then-husband Bob Fosse to work on the film version of Sweet Charity and the celebrated original Broadway production of Chicago.
Chita: A Memoir was published in English and Spanish and the English audio version of the Memoir was recorded by Chita. A Spanish audio version is also available.
“Chita Rivera blazed a trail where none existed so the rest of us could see a path forward. She has been part of some of the greatest musicals in the history of the form, from Anita in the trailblazing West Side Story through Claire Zachanassian in the underrated masterpiece The Visit, over 60 years later. She is a Puerto Rican Broadway icon and the original ‘triple threat.’ We’re so lucky to be alive in the same timeline as Chita Rivera.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“A frank and fascinating memoir from one of the truly great artists of the American Theater. Lots of stories … Lots of insight … and quite a few caustic statements from Chita’s alter ego, Dolores. An illuminating history and a guaranteed pleasure!” — John Kander
Broadway legend and national treasure Chita Rivera, multi-Tony Award winner, Kennedy Center honoree, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom – has taken no prisoners on stage or screen for seven decades. From her trailblazing performance as the original Anita in West Side Story—for which she tapped her own Puerto Rican roots—to her haunting 2015 star turn in The Visit. Chita has proven to be much more than just a captivating dancer, singer, and actress beloved by audiences and casts alike. In her equally captivating and one-of-a-kind memoir, Written with Patrick Pacheco, the woman born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero shares an incomparable life, both on stage and behind the curtain.
By the way this Memoir has won a Gold Medal for “Best Autobiography – English” at the 2023 International Latino Book Awards. https://www.latinobookawards.org/
Click here to buy your copy.
The atmosphere in The Boca Black Box was akin to The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas last night as movie/TV star Robert Davi (140 films and counting) swaggered onto the stage to sing and swing the songs of Frank Sinatra. His show, titled “My Kind Of Town” had all the elements of a Sinatra event thanks to Davi’s personality which radiates the same mystique and musical excitement that ‘Ol Blue Eyes” possessed. Robert Davi’s performance was not a great actor acting a role… this was Robert Davi, a great actor who started his career as a trained singer thrilling an audience singing songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, but with Davi’s own magnetism and vocal prowess. I don’t know if Sinatra ever played Boca Raton but Robert Davi turned Boca into ‘his kind of town last night” as he brought the musical substance and charisma of “the chairman of the board” to South Florida.
Davi’s had a long and distinguished career in show business and this Boca Black Box audience got to see a lot of the musical part of it last night. The tough guy movie actor sang the music of Frank swinging it “his way”
About Robert Davi:
Robert Davi, an American actor, singer, writer, and producer has played the roles of main villain and drug lord Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film License to Kill. He was FBI Special Agent Bailey Malone in the NBC television series Proflier. He played a Vietnam veteran and FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in Die Hard. Davi played the opera-singing heavy Jake Fratelli in The goonies, Hans Zarba in Son of the Pink Panther and Al Torres in Showgirls. His album, Davi Sings Sinatra—On The Road to Romance, hit #6 on the Billboard jazz charts. Praised for his voice, Davi debuted as a headliner at The Venetian, in Las Vegas.
ROBERT DAVI
ROBERT DAVI
ROBERT DAVI
ROBERT DAVI
BOCA BLACK BOX
SUNNY SESSA & ROBERT DAVI
SUNNY SESSA, EDA SOROKOFF, VALARIE CHRISTOPHER
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