Amen

Saw Young Jean Lee's Church last night at PS 122 and I highly recommend going to see it. As an agnostic artist who was baptized Episcopalian and confirmed Presbyterian, this play cut right to the bone. It's as uplifting as it is underhanded. It challenged both sides of my history. The trick with theatre is to make the audience believe the actors are speaking directly to them. Well, from the first line of the play, I knew this was a story for me. The design and direction were perfectly simple, and yet it was more 'theatrical' than many of the things I've seen lately. Nothing about it was artificial, even when they broke into song or dance. The brilliant testimonials, performed by Greg Hildreth, Karinne Keithley, Weena Pauly and Katie Workum, were fantastic. And without ruining the end, it's better than any Broadway finale you'll see this season. The show runs until May 13. Be sure to catch a service.

"If We Only Had One More Week"

Get it up, get it in and get it out. No I'm not talking about my last girlfriend; I'm referring to the contemporary state of rehearsal and production. Controlled mostly by available funding and resources, the majority of companies rehearse for three/four weeks and run for two/three weeks. In this condensed timeframe, a tremendous amount of work has to be accomplished, and there is little room for error. You make quick choices and hope they work. The pressure to create a product overtakes the need to explore the process.

I saw two shows this week (one preview and one opening) that had the right ingredients but needed more time to marinate. From my own recent experience back on stage, I knew that we needed more time to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Even though we weren't entirely ready, we had to open. The joke amidst the cast was, "We'll be fantastic by closing."

The insane part of all of this is that, if you're lucky enough to get them to attend in the first place, critics predominantly come during previews. Understandably, companies want press out about their production as soon as possible, and just pray to the theatre gods that the reviews are positive. Of course, the show that the critics are seeing is often not the show the majority of the audience will see once it opens, since that's when the real momentum kicks in. Broadway can afford to do this because they usually have at least two or three weeks of previews, opposed to two or three days.

I know everyone wants an extra week. No matter what place a show is at when performances begin, you always want more time to explore. This is both logical and natural. So here's what I propose. Schedule in an extra week. Hell, schedule in an extra month. Follow the Russian example: take a year to do a play. That would certainly cut down on all the 'Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma’am' productions out there. People would spend more time thinking about what work they really wanted/needed to do. Like paintings in a museum, there are some you brush by and there are others you want to spend the whole day with. Some plays can be mounted in a heart beat. Those are usually the bad ones. The good ones take time and attention.

Random Musings

1. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. I think Julie Taymor is great. I think Bono and the Edge are great. I think Spiderman is great. So why am I skeptical of the superhero musical? I guess I should just be thankful that Tim Burton didn't develop the Batman one.

2. The Post-Imus Era. This whole Mike Daisey 'Walk Out/Water Damage' incident has gotten way out of hand. In addition to the online chatter, at least six people have sent me an email linking to the YouTube video. All this makes me think is, 'what a clever marketing strategy'. Mike acted the role of free speech defender and labeled the 'flock of birds' as a crazy Christian group. In the end, it turns out to be a bunch of high school kids whose chaperones were offended by his vulgarity. To be honest, I'd love to be in a theatre when a massive group stands up and walks out. There are certainly a number of Broadway musicals I wish I could have led the rebellion on. There are things much more vulgar than words. I mean, has anyone seen The Pirate Queen?

3. The Slash. I was at a post-show reception last night and the inevitable question arose: "So what do you do?" The friend I was with easily said, "I'm a director." My stock answer to this question is, "Whatever pays the bills." I guess it's because I don't know how to appropriately label myself without slashes. I'm a director/actor/writer/producer. Later on, I was chatting it up with a Brit and he asked, "So are you a theatre practitioner?" I was proudly and boldly able to answer, "Yes!". I wonder if it's easier just being one thing or if wearing multiple hats helps in this ever evolving business we call 'entertainment'?

Cutting it on the Cutting Edge

I know this may shock some, but there is an interesting piece in the Los Angeles Times about theatre. This may surprise those who thought LA didn't have theatre. Not to fear though, it's just another 'critic's notebook' regarding the Pulitzer selection.

Here's just a snippet by Charles McNulty.

"...the award is yet another sign that this isn't the most welcoming of times for envelope-pushing drama. Broadway is rife with revivals and British imports. And the big regional theaters, established as an alternative to the commercial system, have had a tough time staying true to their mandate. Risk-averse programming that favors the familiar, preferably with a star lead, slick showmanship and a clobbering marketing campaign, isn't limited to the Great White Way.

To be an up-and-coming playwright today is to be unavoidably part of a grass-roots effort. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Though in a decadently corporate era — when "branding" is the highest creed not just for soda and cereal manufacturers but for the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers in politics, the arts and even foreign policy — it's hard for the not-yet-famous to stay on the radar, let alone pay the rent, secure health insurance and scrounge a few hours a week for creative fulfillment.

It has never been easy, but the current generation of writers finds itself in a double bind. Broadway hasn't been in its sights for ages. But the larger nonprofits, which should be a reasonable goal, haven't been too keen to gamble subscribers' goodwill on a bunch of unknowns who still need a few more years to bake. Trouble is, these artists are having the darnedest time finding a well-stocked kitchen. Without institutional support — and without a robust alternative that can draw crowds and critics and, yes, possibly even Pulitzers — it's no wonder TV and movies have been siphoning so much talent from the stage."

Thanks to Jason Grote for the link: http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-ca-playwrights22apr22,0,7755147.story

[By the by, does anyone know about the companies he mentions: Circle X Theatre, the Furious Theatre Company, the Echo Theater Company and the Blank Theatre Company?]

How to Become a Successful Producer

Step 1: Attend an Ivy League school
Step 2: Win National Player of the Year
Step 3: Be awarded a Rhodes scholarship
Step 4: Join the NY Knicks
Step 5: Help them win their first championship
Step 6: Be voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame
Step 7: Become a 3-term US Senator from NJ
Step 8: Publicly declare American politics "broken"
Step 9: Run for the highest office in the land
Step 10: Lose nomination to the sitting vice-president
Step 11: Become a corporate consultant and investment banker
Step 12: Attend a board meeting in Austin, TX
Step 13: Go see a one-man show
Step 14: Call an old friend who is a Broadway producer
Step 15: Set up backer's audition for your other rich friends
Step 16: Mount show at an Off-Broadway theatre in New York
Step 17: Have NY Times write an article about it

Tejas Verdes Preview- June 1st

Miscast of the Week

You're producing a show. It's called Stories Left To Tell. It was written by your late husband who committed suicide by jumping off the Staten Island Ferry. You are given the choice of who to cast in this touching memorial. You are presented with two actors. The first is Bruce Vilanch, former Hairspray actor and celebrated 'Hollywood Square'. The second is Kathleen Chalfant, renowned stage and screen actress. Who do you pick? Answer: Both of them, of course.

It was just announced that Mr. Vilanch will take over the 'guest star' role in the Spalding Gray piece. He replaces former SNL cast member, Rachel Dratch. Previous guests have included Josh Lucas, Richard Kind, Fisher Stevens and Estelle Parsons. Now it could just be me, but isn't this a bit like the song "One of these things is not like the other one, one of these things does not belong." I certainly won't presume to know what Mr. Gray would think about this, but my guess is Bruce Vilanch would not have been at the top of Spalding's list of potential re-presenters of his work. Who is next: Dom DeLuise?

So It Goes

Since we now live in a world where our media’s attention is exclusively focused on Anna Nicole Smith’s baby or Don Imus’ ‘nappy-headed’ comments, I wanted to take a brief moment to remember one of America’s greatest and funniest writers. I was introduced to Kurt Vonnegut’s writing my senior year of college. I was taking a contemporary literature class and the professor assigned us Cat’s Cradle to read. At the same time, I was performing as Malvolio in a production of Twelfth Night. As amazing as the experience was to play that fantastic Shakespearian character, what I remember most distinctly was exiting the stage after a scene, going to my dressing room and reading three or four chapters before my next entrance (Luckily each chapter was only a page or two long). Though entirely unrelated, I don’t think I will ever be able to separate the Box-Tree scene from Bokonon.

A few years later I had the chance to hear Kurt speak at Theatre for the New City. Though I don’t think the quote originated with Vonnegut, I’ll always remember him saying, “Live in New York when you’re young and get out before it makes you hard. And live in Northern California once in your life and get out before it makes you soft.” During his 'last speech for money' at Ohio State in 2006, he gave this bit of advice to the students. "If you really want to disappoint your parents, and don't have the nerve to be gay, go into the arts.”

Though Vonnegut was a religious skeptic, he wrote in his final essay collection, “If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: ‘The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music.’” I’ll certainly be singing his praises for years to come. So in memory of such a prolific and radical writer, I include the ‘Caylpsos’ from the 58th chapter of Cat’s Cradle.

I wanted all things
To seem to make some sense,
So we all could be happy, yes,
Instead of tense.
And I made up lies
So that they all fit nice,
And I made this sad world,
A par-a-dise.

'Dirty Secrets'

So Time Out has decided to do a cover story this week on Secrets about the NY theater. Part of the byline says "What we found will shock you". I don't know about you, but nothing on the list was a surprise, or really even close to a secret. It's like that Alanis Morrisette song, "Ironic". Nothing in the song is actually ironic, but it's catchy none the less.

1. Actors are obsessed with gossip. That's as obvious as saying actors are obsessed with themselves.
2. Star vehicles crash. Duh!
3. Beware the blogotainmercial. Sounds like the professional critics are getting a bit nervous. God forbid someone have an opinion other than their own.
4. They (don't) write the songs alone. This is news? Maybe my grandmother doesn't know that, but I think most people are aware.
5. Commercial Off Broadway is dead. Was it ever alive?
6. Off-Off Broadway is also dead (Geographically speaking). Essentially, if we are to believe the title, the reason it is dead is because it's moved to Brooklyn. I happen to be a resident of Brooklyn and proud to be. It may even shock some to believe I actually prefer living here to Manhattan. Be that as it may, I think it displays a certain bias.
7. Broadway is - surprise - not dead. Surprise - critics suck up to the man. Broadway may not be dead, but it's sure been a zombie for awhile.
8. Troupes are happily homeless. OK, I'll give them this one. This was a bit of good news.
9. Orchestras sometimes fake it. Wasn't this a big to-do back in 2003?
10. Chorus girls are gorgeous - from afar. I'd just like to point out that this list was 'reported' by four men. Sounds like some home-boys got shot down.
11. It takes a village (to produce). No, it's takes old, rich, white people (or Oprah).
12. See the stars before reviews. But then how will people know it's any good if you don't tell them?
13. Premium seats are for suckers. No, like I said, they're for old, rich, white people (Oprah gets in for free).
14. Subscribers monopolize seats. What? Now we're bashing subscribers? This coming from a group of guys who get in for free.
15. The Brits are really better. There's nothing critics do better than sucking up to the British. "Can we all have a circle jerk after our all day marathon of The Coasts of Utopia?"
16. Tony means nothing. Says the people who will never win one. I consider both Boyd Gaines and Hinton Battles accomplished, hard-working craftsmen. They have been fortunate enough to have consistent work. That's all any actor ever dreams of.
17. Actors can't make a living wage Off Broadway. No shit, Sherlock. This is just dawning on you?
18. Playbill restaurant recs are fixed. Stop the press!!! How could this be true? And what's that you say about Santa and the Easter Bunny?
19. The Shuberts nickel-and-dime you. Enter The Villain. Everyone needs a good one and the Shuberts do a pretty good job. But anyone who has ever used Ticketmaster knows they get screwed.
20. Never see a show after its first year. If only... This is sound advice, but again, a secret?

Comings and Goings

Saw the New York premiere of Athol Fugard's Exits and Entrances. Other than reading "Master Harold"...and the boys in college, I only knew him as the white South African playwright. This is the first production I've ever seen of any of his plays. It had its world premiere at The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, and it retains the original director and two actors. It has also toured to Santa Barbara, Florida and New Jersey. From the information I gathered from the program, it has only been played in the United States, which I find ironic since it’s an autobiographical play about a very specific time in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. I can't count on one hand how many foreign playwrights have their work premiered in America. The larger question is: Can anyone name me another African playwright? I can only think of Wole Soyinka.

Basically, this was the replacement show that got plugged in after Primary Stages got screwed over the Deuce deal. I give Andrew Leynse a lot of credit for withstanding the fallout from that. I certainly hope they don't lose any subscribers over it. Though tonight, one woman exclaimed behind me, after waiting for fifteen minutes to get her ticket, "Well, if you think I'm going to subscribe again after having wasted my precious time in line, you’ve got another thing coming." What are ya gonna do? That's what you have to deal with when the majority of your audience catches the early bird special and collects Social Security.

I don't normally read the program before a show for two reasons. First, if I need to read an insert or a long director's note explaining to me what the play is about, then they haven't done their job. When I'm abroad and see theatre in other languages, I never purchase the accompanying text or read the synopsis. What's interesting to me is what's on the stage. If the actors can't convey to an audience without words what the story is about, then they aren't doing their job either. And if I have the good luck of understanding what they're saying, I damn well better know what the play is about. The second reason is that I need something to read on the subway ride home.

That said, Fugard had a playwright's note that says his purpose in writing the play 'was the say "Thank You".' If that was his aim, I think he achieved it. Granted, that doesn't leave much room for dramatic tension, but if you're in for a delightful, little memory play about Fugard as a young playwright and his mentor, Andre Huguenet, then by all mean go. As a theatre artist, I think it has more resonance for me than for the average audience member, but it's definitely the kind of thing old folks like. It's not challenging, vulgar or hard to follow. It's like Matlock with funny dialects. Just hope no one is too pissed it ain't Murder She Wrote.