OBIE award winner David Drake Brings 2 Boys in a Bed on a Cold Winter's Night Back to P'town

After a sold out run at the Absolut Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, producer/director David Drake and stars Scott Douglas Cunningham and Spencer Keasey (a/k/a Spencer Quest) are bringing James Edwin Parker’s 2 Boys in a Bed on a Cold Winter’s Night back to Provincetown this June for a nine-performance limited engagement. Returning to the Art House Theatre -- where the show was a runaway hit for two smash months last summer -- 2 Boys in a Bed… will play the first two weekends in June - the 5th, 6th, 7th and 12th, 13th, 14th, with three extra performances on Tuesdays June 9th and 23rd, and Wednesday June 24th. All performances are at 9PM.

Performed without an intermission, the 65-minute play explores the emotions and needs that arise between two gay men after a one-night stand in New York’s Greenwich Village.

2 Boys in a Bed... contains nudity and sexual situations and is for adults only. To see the show's trailer, click here (features some fleeting nudity).

The Art House Theatre is located at 214 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA. All tickets are $28, and can be purchased in-person at the Art House box office, daily after 2PM, or online.

“Intelligent, moving and superbly performed, James Edwin Parker’s play is in the tradition of Terrence McNally, tracing the obstacles to communication, intimacy and love in 1980s Manhattan, sensitively realized by director David Drake.

Sex may sell, but Scott Douglas Cunningham and Spencer Keasey prove that honesty lingers much longer. Anyone who bought a ticket in the hope of a repeat performance of the star of Manplay 18 won’t get what they bargained for, but one thing is for sure: they’ll never look at a gay porn star the same way again.” -The Irish Times, Chief Drama Critic Peter Crawley -- May 8, 2009

Commenting

In an effort to promote some discussion of the plays being reviewed by StageBuzz.com, I have turned on the commenting feature. I will be moderating the comments in order to keep spam to a minimum, but I hope to see some lively discussion.

If you are interested in writing for StageBuzz.com or if you have a show that you would like listed or reviewed, please contact Byrne Harrison using the link to the right.

Announcement - Independent Theater Bloggers Association Award Winners Announced

REASONS TO BE PRETTY, BILLY ELLIOT, AND UNIVERSAL ROBOTS TAKE TOP HONORS IN FIRST EVER THEATER BLOGGER AWARDS

The Independent Theater Bloggers Association is thrilled to announce the winners of the first annual ITBA Awards for Excellence in Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater.

The ITBA (Independent Theater Bloggers Association) was formed in 2009 by a group of the most passionate theater bloggers on the World Wide Web (partial list below). The members of the Association blog about all aspects and all varieties of both commercial and non-profit theater, from big Broadway musicals performed in Times Square, to the most unique forms of entertainment performed off-off Broadway on the Lower East Side, as well as productions all over the country and all over the world. Together they see thousands of productions, and, without being paid or prodded, they write about them.

Ken Davenport, founder of the ITBA, said, “The Association was formed out of a desire to provide structure to the quickly growing theatrical blogosphere, as well as to give the new media voices a chance to recognize excellence in three of the very distinct theatrical markets that make up the New York City theatrical landscape: Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway.”

In true “new media” style, there will be no live awards ceremony for the ITBA Awards. Instead, there will be a virtual awards ceremony, with video acceptance speeches for the winners posted electronically in the coming weeks on ITBA’s website.

This year’s winners of the ITBA Awards are as follows:

BROADWAY

BEST BROADWAY PLAY
Reasons To Be Pretty

Written by: Neil Labute
Directed by: Terry Kinney
Produced by: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Gary Goddard Entertainment, Ted Snowdon, Doug Nevin/Erica Lynn Schwartz, Ronald Frankel/Bat-Barry Productions, Kathleen Seidel, Kelpie Arts, Jam Theatricals, Rachel Helson/Heather Provost and Scott M. Delman


BEST BROADWAY MUSICAL
Billy Elliot

Music by: Elton John
Lyrics by: Lee Hall
Book by: Lee Hall
Directed by: Stephen Daldry
Produced by: Universal Pictures, Working Title, The Old Vic Company, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene


BEST BROADWAY REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Hair

Music by: Galt MacDermot
Lyrics by: James Rado, Gerome Ragni
Book by: James Rado, Gerome Ragni
Directed by: Diane Paulus
Produced by: The Joseph Papp Public Theater / New York Shakespeare Festival, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Gary Goddard Entertainment, Kathleen K. Johnson, Nederlander Productions, Fran Kirmser Productions/Jed Bernstein, Marc Frankel, Broadway Across America, Barbara Manocherian/Wencarlar Productions, JK Productions/Terry Schnuck, Andy Sandberg, Jam Theatricals, The Weinstein Company/Norton Herrick and Jujamcyn Theatres


BEST BROADWAY REVIVAL OF A PLAY
The Norman Conquests

Written by: Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by: Matthew Warchus
Produced by: Sonia Friedman Productions, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Thomas Viertel, Dede Harris, Tulchin/Bartner/Lauren Doll, Jamie deRoy, Eric Falkenstein, Harriet Newman Leve, Probo Productions, Douglas G. Smith, Michael Filerman/Jennifer Manocherian and Richard Winkler


OFF-BROADWAY

BEST OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL
Fela!

Book by: Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones
Directed by: Bill T. Jones
Music and Lyrics by: Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Add'l Music by: Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean
Add'l Lyrics by: Jim Lewis
Produced by: Ruth and Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay


BEST OFF-BROADWAY PLAY
Ruined

Written by: Lynn Nottage
Directed by: Kate Whoriskey
Produced by: Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre


BEST OFF-BROADWAY REVIVAL (PLAY OR MUSICAL)
Our Town

Written by: Thornton Wilder
Directed by: David Cromer
Produced by: Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Ted Snowdon, Eagle Productions, Dena Hammerstein/Pam Pariseau, The Weinstein Company, Burnt Umber Productions


BEST OFF-OFF BROADWAY PLAY
Universal Robots

Written by: Mac Rogers
Directed by: Rosemary Andress
Produced by: Manhattan Theater Source


BEST OFF-OFF BROADWAY UNIQUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE
Suspicious Package

Written by: Gyda Arber & Aaron Baker
Directed by: Gyda Arber
Produced by: The Fifth Wall as part of The Antidepressant Festival


CITATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN OFF-OFF BROADWAY THEATER
Flux Theatre Ensemble



Members of the ITBA include:

Bill Brown
http://www.creatingtheater.com/

Linda Buchwald
Pataphysical Science
http://www.pataphysicalscience.blogspot.com/

Donald Butchko
Me2ism?
http://www.me2ism.blogspot.com/

Chris Caggiano
Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals
http://www.ccaggiano.tyepad.com/

Zack Calhoon
Visible Soul
http://www.zackcalhoon.blogspot.com/

Jodi Schoenbrun Carter
http://www.off-stage-right.com/

Corine Cohen
Corine's Corner
http://www.corinescorner.com/

Kevin Daly
Theatre Aficionado at Large
http://www.theatreaficionado.com/

Ken Davenport
The Producer's Perspective
http://www.theproducersperspective.com/

Ryan J. Davis
Ryan J. Davis Blogs
http://www.ryanjdavis.blogspot.com/

Jeremy Dobrish
Jeremy’s Green Room
http://www.jeremysgreenroom.com/

Donelle Foreman
The DJF
http://www.thedjf.blogspot.com/

Michael Gilboe
Broadway Bullet
http://www.broadwaybullet.com/

Dan Gilloon
One NYC StageHand
http://www.onenycstagehand.blogspot.com/

Diana Glazer
Lezbehonest
http://www.lezbehonest.tumblr.com/

Byrne Harrison
StageBuzz
http://www.stagebuzz.com/

Leonard Jacobs
The Clyde Fitch Report
http://www.cyldefitch.blogspot.com/

Patrick Lee
Just Shows to Go You
http://www.justshowstogoyou.blogspot.com/

James Marino
Broadway Stars
http://www.broadwaystars.com/

Tulis McCall
Usher Nonsense
http://www.ushernonsense.com/

Jesse North
Stage Rush
http://www.stagerush.blogspot.com/

Aaron Riccio
That Sounds Cool
http://www.thatsoundscool.blogspot.com/

Sarah Roberts
Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment
http://www.sarahbsadventure.blogspot.com/

Michael Roderick
One Producer in the City
http://www.oneproducerinthecity.com/

Adam Rothenberg
Adaumbelle’s Quest
http://www.adaumbellesquest.com/

David Spencer
Aisle Say
http://www.aislesay.com/

Ethan Stanislawski
Tynan's Anger
http://www.tynanasanger.com/

Gil Varod
Broadway Abridged
http://www.broadwayabridged.com/

Kim Weild
http://www.kimweild.com/

Review - Finding the Rooster (Thirteenth Street Repertory Company)

Review by Byrne Harrison
Photo by Marc Nykolyszyn

Finding the Rooster, Terence Patrick Hughes' second installment in his ten-play cycle The Trials of Oscar the Great, is a strange little play. Mind you, strange is not a bad thing. Strange can be unique and fascinating or creepy and offputting. Finding the Rooster manages to be all of that and more.

The story, set in mid-1960s New England, follows the disintigration and rebuilding of the Fine family. Richard (Jonathan Harper Schlieman) and Evelyn (Kathryn Neville Browne) are in the middle of a nasty divorce brought on by Evelyn's alcoholism and Richard's emotional distance after the death of their elder son in the war. Their younger son, Oscar (Dave Benger), has taken the death hard as well, becoming fascinated by Holden Caulfield and wearing his dead brother's army jacket. Unable to deal with the boy, Richard decides to have him disassembled, literally, and shipped to a military school. The company handling the job sends the cheerfully crass Stoker (Reggie Oldham) to dismember the boy. Evelyn tries to thwart Richard by bringing in her delusional brother Pinkie (Kevin Hauver), a WWII war hero and self-proclaimed friend to his generation's greatest writers. The only member of the family who seems to even notice Oscar as a person, Pinkie uses his storytelling gifts to comfort the boy even at the risk of holding himself up for ridicule by the overbearing Richard.

As the dismemberment and planned reconstruction of Oscar indicates, this is not a realistic play. There is a hefty vein of absurdism running through this odd mix of drawing room comedy and family drama.

War plays a huge part in this play. Richard has made his fortune as an arms manufacturer. While this has made him rich, it has also cost him his son. Despite this, he is willing to send Oscar to military school because he knows no other way to deal with complicated things. Pinkie's experiences in WWII have left him living in a fantasy world, one that he is eager to share with young Oscar. Evelyn deals with the death and destruction in the only way she knows how, by drowning her sorrow in alcohol and staging an affair with a younger man. Like war, it takes a common enemy to bring the Fines together, in this case, a flock of rampaging divorce lawyers bent on taking Oscar, another wonderfully absurdist touch.

While Hughes' script does have some flaws, it is clever and fascinating overall. His take on war and the havoc it causes makes for an entertaining play. The production's weakness comes not from Hughes the playwright, but from Hughes the director. As a director, Hughes lacks the strength to coax subtlety from the actors' performances, and perhaps the distance needed to smooth over some of the rougher portions of the script. From a purely technical standpoint, his direction features awkward blocking, unmotivated movement on the part of the actors, and listlessness where there should be crackling, electric energy. Of the actors, Kevin Hauver gives the best performance, but Pinkie is the most fleshed out character. Dave Benger gives a solid, though occasionally unpolished performance as the young Oscar. His scenes with Hauver are by far his strongest, and the chemistry between the two actors is excellent. Reggie Oldham is amusing as the vulgar yet charming Stoker. Some of his humor is undercut by awkward timing, though again, some of this falls back on Hughes' direction. Schlieman and Browne as the Richard and Evelyn seem like cartoon versions of bickering adults, skating on the surface of their characters without showing any real depth. This may have been intentional, but if so, it is jarring.

Finding the Rooster is an intriguing play that has been given a mediocre production. It left me interested enough to want to see future installments in The Trials of Oscar the Great, and since you're always supposed to leave your audience wanting more, that's a good thing.


Finding the Rooster
Written and Directed by Terence Patrick Hughes
Executive Producer: Sandra Nordgren
Assitant Director: Miles Lott
2nd Assistant Director: Marc Nykolyszyn
Sound Design: Larry Wilbur
Lighting Technician: Rosanny Suazo
Sound Technician: Dylan Cohen
Set Design: Tom Harlan
Program Cover/Poster Design: Neil Feigeles

Featuring: Jonathan Harper Schlieman (Richar Fine), Kathryn Neville Browne (Evelyn Fine), Reggie Oldham (Stoker), Dave Benger (Oscar Fine), Kevin Hauver (Pinkie).

13th Street Repertory
50 W. 13th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues

Fridays and Saturdays at 7 PM; Sundays at 3:30 PM
Through June 7th

Tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for students and seniors
Tickets can be purchased on Theatermania or at the 13th Street Rep box office.

Review - Revealed (Horse Trade Theater Group presents a GiGi La Femme & Doc Wasabassco Production)

Review by Byrne Harrison

I will admit that I have only two points of reference when it comes to strippers. First, thanks to a life full of theatre, there are the Broadway burlesque girls - primarily the "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" strippers from Gypsy - plenty of art, but not much sex. Then there are the strippers from way too many frat and bachelor parties - lots of sex, not so much art. Each exists in its own reality, and never the twain shall meet.

Fortunately for New Yorkers who are looking for a taste of both, Doc Wasabassco and GiGi La Femme have created a show that not only gets art and sex together onstage, but adds a healthy dose of talent and fun. The result is Revealed, a wild and innovative monthly production featuring some of the lovliest and most talented burlesque performers you're likely to see.

The cast changes from month to month, but one thing remains the same, all the girls know how to put on a show.

April's performance featured a little bit of everything: traditional burlesque strippers, all lace and pasties; raunchy beer-guzzling beauties; comic futuristic geishas; and plenty more to boot. While I intend to discuss the performers, I'd like to say a little something about the audience. Revealed has an amazing mix of people at its performances. Downtown artists, directors, actors, playwrights, guys out for a night on the town, couples (of all sexes) on dates, it is an amazingly eclectic cross-section of the East Village scene. Go for the show, but stay for the crowd; you never know who might show up.

The host of the evening was Jonny Porkpie, the Burlesque Mayor of NYC, filling in for the ailing Bastard Keith and Madame Rosebud. Kicking off the show with an impressive, multi-costumed strip of his own, he set the mood and got the crowd going. The lovely ladies of April were Amber Ray, Peekaboo Pointe, Kobayashi Maru (yes, it's a Star Trek reference), Lil Miss Lixx, Harvest Moon, and GiGi La Femme. Each girl had her own style and specialty, and while each was remarkable and entertaining, the standouts were Amber Ray's sultry opening number, an old-school strip with corsettes, lace and amazing curves, Kobayashi Maru, whose robotic geisha tea ceremony could satisfy any number of odd fetishes, and the incomparable GiGi La Femme, who rang in the Spring in her own special way.

It should be mentioned that Revealed is not a g-string and pasties sort of show. If nudity offends you, this is definitely not for you.

Revealed is extremely popular; if you wish to attend the next performance on Wednesday, May 20th, you'd do well to buy your tickets in advance and get there early. The May performance features Anita Cookie, Peekaboo Pointe, Kobayashi Maru, GiGi La Femme, Sapphire Jones, and Stormy Leather in her Revealed debut.

Revealed Burlesque is on the third Wednesday of every month at 10 PM at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st and Avenue A).

Tickets ($20) are available by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444 or online at http://www.horsetrade.info/.

Want to find out more about the performers? Visit their websites (some sites may be NSFW):

Amber Ray
Peekaboo Pointe
Kobayashi Maru
GiGi La Femme
Lil Miss Lixx
Harvest Moon
Jonny Porkpie
Bastard Keith
Madame Rosebud

R.I.P. - Beatrice Arthur

The NY Times and Variety have nice tributes to Bea Arthur, who passed away yesterday at 86. Despite being remembered by modern audiences for her television work, especially her roles as Maude Findlay on "Maude" and Dorothy Zbornak on "The Golden Girls," Bea had an extensive theatrical career and received a Tony award for her performance as Vera Charles in Mame.

Bea Arthur performing at Sidetrack in Chicago in 2001.
Photo by Jason Smith

Announcement - Signs of Life: A Tale of Terezin (Amas Musical Theatre)

Amas Musical Theatre
DONNA TRINKOFF/Producing Artistic Director
in association with Snap-Two Productions

PRESENTS A Staged Reading of

SIGNS OF LIFE: A TALE OF TEREZIN

The Jewish people inhabiting the Czech ghetto Terezín are among the intellectual and artistic elite of Europe. Hitler's "City for the Jews" is a propaganda scheme created to fool an unsuspecting world. Signs of Life is the touching story of the courageous artists whose bravery, love, and defiance reveal the moral truth that lies in the power of art.

BOOK BY PETER ULLIAN
LYRICS BY LEN SCHIFF
MUSIC BY JOEL DERFNER

STARRING
SARAH DAVIS, LEO ASH EVENS, DAVID HIBBARD, WILLIAM PARRY, NANCY RINGHAM, NOAH RUFF, JASON MICHAEL SNOW, DOUGLAS ULLMAN, JR., CARL N. WALLNAU

STAGE MANAGER BRIAN WESTMORELAND
MUSIC DIRECTOR MATT CASTLE
DIRECTED BY JEREMY DOBRISH

FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY!

Tuesday, April 28 @ 1:30 and 7:30
Wednesday, April 29 @ 7:30
Thursday, April 30 @ 3:00

The Actors Playhouse - 100 Seventh Avenue South

TICKETS $18

For reservations call (212) 563-2565
or visit
www.amasmusical.org

This presentation is made possible by Limonade Productions and Stacey Mindich Productions.

Amas Musical Theatre is a non-profit, multi-ethnic theatrical organization founded in 1968 by Ms. Rosetta LeNoire. The Amas mission is grounded in non-traditional, multi-ethnic production, education and casting. Amas ("you love" in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training of inner-city young people. Recent productions include Wanda's World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don't! and Stormy Weather: The Story of Lena Horne.

Announcement - Get S.O.M.! (Theatre of the Small-Eyed Bear)

THEATRE OF THE SMALL-EYED BEAR PRESENTS

GET S.O.M.!

MAY 10-30 at THE WORKSHOP THEATER

Theatre of the Small-Eyed Bear, a new repertory theatre company formed by the union of Theatre of the Expendable, Small Pond Entertainment, and Cross-Eyed Bear Productions will present GET S.O.M.! at The Workshop Theater in midtown Manhattan, May 10-30. In today’s declining economy it’s getting harder and harder for indie theatre companies to be able to afford to produce their work in New York City. These three companies have banded together to share production costs, performance space, design teams, and resources to present a month long repertory merger of three bold new plays, Squiggy and the Goldfish by Lenny Schwartz, Ore, or Or by Duncan Pflaster, and Mare Cognitum by David McGee (S.O.M.).

The creative team for GET S.O.M.! includes Wilburn Bonnell (Lighting Design), Jesse L. Hathaway (Props Design), Jennifer Raskopf (Costume Design), Elisha Schaefer (Set Design), Jared M. Silver (Sound Design), and Norah Turnham (Production Manager).

All performances will play at the Workshop Theater (312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor). Tickets ($12 for 1, $25 for all 3) are available at www.brownpapertickets.com

Theatre of the Expendable presents
Mare Cognitum
By David McGee
Directed by Jesse Edward Rosbrow

Featuring Devon Caraway, Justin Howard, and Kyle Walter

Previews Saturday, May 9 at 6pm & Tuesday, May 12 at 7pm
Opening Night Friday, May 15 at 7pm
Saturday, May 16 at 4:15pm, Sunday, May 17 at 7pm, Thursday, May 21 at 8pm, Saturday, May 23 at 1pm & 9:15pm, Sunday, May 24 at 4:15pm, Wednesday, May 27 at 8pm, Friday May 29 at 9:45pm, and Saturday, May 30 at 7pm.

A country on the brink of war. A city wracked by ineffectual protests. An extraordinarily odd job interview. Faced with such perils, three young idealists do the only thing they can: fly to the Moon in a homemade rocketship.

Small Pond Entertainment presents
Squiggy and the Goldfish
By Lenny Schwartz
Directed by Michael Roderick

Featuring Dana Aber*, Elyse Ault, Eric C. Bailey*, Joshua Breslow*, Jonathan Miles*, Sarah Novotny, Joe Testa*, and Katrina Ylimaki.
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity. Showcase approval pending.

Previews Sunday, May 10 at 2pm & Wednesday, May 13 at 7pm
Opening Night Friday, May 15 at 9:15pm
Saturday, May 16 at 6:30pm, Sunday, May 17 at 1pm, Tuesday, May 19 at 8pm, Friday, May 22 at 6:30pm, Saturday, May 23 at 3:15pm, Sunday, May 24 at 6:30pm, Thursday, May 28 at 8pm, and Saturday, May 30 at1pm & 9:15pm.

Squiggy has a lot of problems. His home life is rough, his love life sucks, and his goldfish has just started talking to him. But things are about to change. In the play of Squiggy's life, he's about to make some cuts. Will he find the answers he's looking for or will he end up at the bottom of the goldfish bowl?

Cross-Eyed Bear Productions presents
Ore, or Or
By Duncan Pflaster
Directed by Laura Moss

Featuring E. Calvin Ahn*, Elizabeth Erwin*, Clara Barton Green, Rachel Lin, Shawn McLaughlin, and Robert Torigoe*.
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity.

Previews Sunday, May 10 at 6pm & Thursday, May 14 at 7pm,
Opening Night Saturday, May 16 at 1pm & 9:15pm
Sunday, May 17 at 3:45pm, Wednesday, May 20 at 8pm, Friday, May 22 at 9:15pm, Saturday, May 23 at 6pm, Sunday, May 24 at 1pm, Tuesday, May 26 at 8pm, Friday, May 29 at 6:30pm, and Saturday, May 30 at 3:45pm.

A zen exploration of the gap between truth and convenient fictions that employs the known facts about General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his legendary gold to illuminate the tangled love lives of four disaffected New Yorkers trying to ignore their pasts.

www.TheatreoftheExpendable.org
www.SmallPondEntertainment.com
www.DuncanPflaster.com

Announcement - Illuminating Artists - New Works Series (Emerging Artists Theatre)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Announcement - Bedtime Stories: Tales from the Gay Cutting Edge

BEDTIME STORIES: TALES FROM THE GAY CUTTING EDGE

Featuring: David Henry, Nate Steinwachs, Jed Ryan,

Christopher Birk, John Betz, Tom Glenn, Rocky Ciarrocchi

Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.

The Crowne Theater at the Producers' Club Theaters
358 W. 44th Street, NYC

All General Admission Tickets: $35.00
Cash only; no checks or cards accepted

PLEASE NOTE: This production contains full frontal male nudity and graphic/explicit gay sexual content.

Review - To Whom It May Concern (The Entertainment Agora)

Review by Byrne Harrison
Photos by Sanford Kaplan

No one is quite who he appears to be in Aurin Squire's Internet romance, To Whom It May Concern. Lillian, a sexy 17 year old cheerleader, is really just Lorenzo (Israel Gutierrez), a shy, gay 15-year-old living in the middle of Kansas. Maurice Creely (Matt Alford), a Marine lionized in the media for saving an Afghani mother and her small child after an ambush, is just a scared kid who was saved from doing something horrible by being in the right place at the right time. The one thing they share is a crushing loneliness.

When Lorenzo reads about the heroic young Marine, he recognizes, or possibly just hopes he sees, in Maurice a kindred spirit. In the fit of boyish crush, Lorenzo writes a gushing fan letter to Maurice and sends him some homemade cookies. Not quite ready to risk humiliation, he signs the letter L.L. Maurice is touched by the gift and the attention, and assuming that L.L. is a girl, he writes back. This begins a romance between Lillian, Lorenzo's alter-ego, and Maurice. As the letters turn to e-mails, and the e-mails to instant messaging, Maurice begins to fall in love with his mysterious dream girl. He falls so hard that he takes two weeks' leave and travels to Abilene, Kansas to surprise Lillian by sneaking naked into her bed in the middle of the night.

Needless to say, both Lorenzo and Maurice are in for a surprise.

It is at this point, when the two characters come face to face, that the play requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief. Lorenzo pretends to be Lillian's brother in order to keep Maurice in his room, but Maurice puts two and two together and realizes that he's been had. After the obligatory threats of violence and near discovery by Lorenzo's parents, the two begin talking about themselves. Lorenzo tells of abuse at the hands of his homophobic father. Maurice talks about the infamous newspaper story. In fits and starts, a friendship of sorts replaces the fantasy of the online relationship. From the audience's standpoint however, this new relationship is the one that feels artificial. It allows playwright Aurin Squire a chance to tackle some weighty subjects - homophobia, the war, loneliness, being who others want to you be, but it just never rings quite true.

Both Matt Alford and Israel Gutierrez do well in their roles, more so during their online romance. Alford's Maurice is equal parts horndog and romantic, with an extra helping of boyish charm. Gutierrez is good as the shy and bullied Lorenzo, especially as he begins to blossom during the unaccustomed freedom given to him by his alter-ego. During his bedroom scenes with Maurice, however, Lorenzo seems too mature and knowing for a 15-year-old boy. While some of this may be how the character is written and certainly is due to his dialogue, Gutierrez and director David Gaard could have done more to mitigate it.

Gaard does good work during the epistolary sections of the play, allowing a realistic ebb and flow to the scenes. Hemmed in by the necessity of having both characters writing on their computers, he nonetheless allows Gutierrez opportunites to act like a rambunctious teenager. It would have been nice to see more freedom of motion from Maurice. The later face-to-face scenes have a tentativeness to them that is at odds with the script. Anger, whether the anger of being made a fool of or the anger at being handed a life that seems completely unfair, can't be tentative and still be effective.

Although it has its faults, To Whom It May Concern is a thoughtful and thought-provoking play.


To Whom It May Concern
Written by Aurin Squire
Directed by David Gaard
Setting by Bruce Eyster
Lighting by Erich Loetterle
Costumes by Michele Reisch
Military Advisor for Costumes: CWO-2 (Gunner) Michael Clark
Stage Manager: Pamela Gittlitz
Production Stage Manager: Pamela Gittlitz
Assistant Stage Managers: Carmelo Ferro, Nicholas Reilly
Press Relations: Scotti Rhodes
Marketing and Promotion: Hugh Hysell, HHC Communications
Staff Photographer: Sanford Kaplan
Graphics Director: Bruce Eyster
Technical Director: Erich Loetterle
Production Assistants: Danny Birks, Elias Serrano
House Manager: Anthony McMullen

Featuring: Matt Alford (Maurice A. Creely), Israel Gutierrez (Lorenzo Lafarhoff), Carmelo Ferro (u/s Maurice), Nicholas Reilly (u/s Lorenzo)


Arclight Theatre
152 W. 71st Street

For tickets call 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111

Wednesday-Saturday 8 PM, Sunday at 3 PM
March 25 - April 12

Review - Miss Evers' Boys (Red Fern Theatre Company)

Review by Byrne Harrison
Photos by Nathan Johnson

In 1932, the US Government came to Tuskeegee with a promise of free medical attention for nearly four hundred African American sharecroppers who suffered from "bad blood." These men were unknowingly part of the Tuskeegee Study of Untreated Syphillis in the Negro Male, an attempt to understand the progression of the disease. For the forty years that the study was active, and despite the commonplace use of penicillin to treat syphillis in the late 1940s, these men went untreated, until a leak brought the story to national attention in the 1970s.

This shameful chapter of American history is the basis for David Feldshuh's Miss Evers' Boys. The Miss Evers of the title is Eunice Evers (Nedra McClyde), an African American nurse who comes to Tuskeegee with the good news that Uncle Sam is willing to pay for medical care of anyone who is willing to be part of a study on the treatment of "bad blood." Because she is not an outsider and is passionate about her mission to help, men who would normally not trust the government agree to be tested for the study. Among those are a group of song-and-dance men, Caleb Humphries (Garrett Lee Hendricks), Willie Johnson (Jason Donnell Bush), Hodman Bryan (Marty Austin Lamar), and Ben Washington (David Pendleton). Charmed by Miss Evers, whom they come to see as a good luck charm, the group christen themselves Miss Evers' Boys, and win several of their song-and-dance competitions.

Nurse Evers truly believes in what she is doing, and under the seemingly benign auspices of Drs. Douglas (Alex C. Ferrill) and Brodus (Evander Duck), she gives the men the best treatment available at that time, mercury rub and injections of arsenic. And the men do get better, helping to cement Nurse Evers' image as savior. But Douglas and Brodus have other plans. They want to mimic an earlier study, the Oslo Experiments, to see what the effects of the disease would be if left untreated. They order Nurse Evers to begin providing placebos.

Despite her misgivings, Nurse Evers agrees and takes the first step down a very slippery slope that leads to betrayal and death.

The cast of Miss Evers' Boys is outstanding. McClyde is particularly noteworthy as Nurse Evers. Watching as she makes compromise after compromise, until, in an extremely moving scene with Pendleton as the dying Ben Washington, she finally realizes just how far she's gone, is a highlight of the play. Bush, Hendricks, Lamar, and Pendleton do an exceptional job as Miss Evers' Boys. Not only are they remarkable actors, but they are pretty good musicians as well. Bush does a terrific job in the athletically challenging role of Willie Johnson, the dancer of the group. He captures Willie's wonder at the future that is laid out at his feet, and the anger over the crushed dreams that he is evetually left with. Hendricks is particuarly strong as the passionate Caleb Humphries, the one man who is able to save himself. His scenes with McClyde are very moving, as the two have wonderful chemistry. Rounding out the cast are Duck and Ferrill as the doctors running the experiment. No cartoon villians, these are men who truly believe that what they are doing will benefit mankind as a whole. Duck and Ferrill both create well-balanced characters, who have made peace with the ethical gray area they have chosen to inhabit.

Director Melanie Moyer Williams has made the most of Feldshuh's script, her talented cast, and the tiny space at the Shell Theater. Scenic designer Adrienne Kapalko takes a less-is-more approach to the scenery, and the results are very effective. Another nice touch is the live music provided by pianist Laura Anderson.

Miss Evers' Boys is a powerful play about a terrible event. Like the best art, it both teaches and entertains. The Red Fern Theatre Company has done a marvellous job with this production.

Miss Evers' Boys
Written by David Feldshuh
Directed by Melanie Moyer Williams
Choreographer: Michael Blevins
Muscial Director - Stephen Anthony Elkins
Scenic Designer - Adrienne Kapalko
Ryan Metzler – Lighting Design
Costume Design - Ryan J. Moller
Composer - Kristen Lee Rosenfeld
Pianist - Laura Anderson
Stage Manager - Laura Luciano
Assistant Director - Caroline von Kuhn
Image Artist - Ashley Yaraghi

Featuring: Jason Donnell Bush (Willie Johnson), Evander Duck (Dr.Eugene Brodus), Alex C. Ferrill (Dr. John Douglas), Garrett Lee Hendricks (Caleb Humphries), Marty Austin Lamar (Hodman Bryan), Nedra McClyde (Eunice Evers), David Pendleton (Ben Washington)

The Shell Theater
300 W. 43rd Street, 4th Floor

Thursday-Sunday
March 19-April 5

For tickets call 212-352-3101.

Review - Who Am I (Cuchipinoy)

Review by Byrne Harrison
Photo by Rodney E. Reyes

What would happen if you could meet your creator? Would it be God, or a parent you never knew? Or perhaps you'd rather meet your creation. Who or what would that person be?

In Rodney E. Reyes' Who Am I, there are several different pairings, all of which seem to be independent stories. God (Okieriete Onadowan) comes to Earth to meet one of his creations, a flawed drug addict (Patrick Annelli) who has a higher purpose. A young woman (Ginny Moore) meets the mother (Dian Mills) who disappeared when she was just a girl. A cartoonist (Brendan Naranjo) meets the character he created (Rachel Skrod), then was forced to abandon. And a young gay man (Rodney E. Reyes) meets the part of himself he fears most (Anna Payumo). The individual scenes are woven together in a way that generally works, especially in the end when the ties that bind each story to the rest are revealed. However, it is easy to tell that Reyes has an affinity toward particular stories - that of the cartoonist and his creation, and the gay man meeting his feminine self. He focuses much of his time and emotional effort on them. The story of God and the drug addict is used to unify the play and receives particular attention because of that, but the mother/daughter story, while necessary to the resolution of the play, never seems to be as fleshed out as the others.

Reyes and co-director Mario Corrales do an adequate job, though the play drags, and ultimately feels longer than it's relatively short running time. A little tightening would help immensely. Corrales' set, which is divided into four small playing areas, is a little awkward and doesn't give the actors much room to work. Rather than keeping each story in its own small playing area, hemmed in by Jerome Hoppe's lighting, Reyes and Corrales might have had better luck mingling the spaces, allowing his actors more room to work, while hinting at the connectedness yet to be revealed.

The acting is generally good, with particular praise going to Rachel Skrod as the cartoonist's creation and Patrick Annelli as the junkie. Onaodowan's interpretation of God tends toward the inscrutable, which works well. He calm and smiling, but is he truly benign?

Reyes provides an interesting premise and crafts a fascinating play around it. Though somewhat undone by the direction and production values, Who Am I is still worth a look.


Who Am I
Written by Rodney E. Reyes
Directed by Rodney E. Reyes and Mario Corrales
Set Designer: Mario Corrales
Lighting Designer: Jerome Hoppe
Sound Designer: Eric Johnson
Scenic Painter: Vanessa Ramalho
Press: Bunch of People Press & Publicity

Featuring: Brendan Naranjo (Marv), Rachel Skrod (May), Rodney E. Reyes (Guy), Anna Payumo (Girl), Dian Mills (Mother), Ginny Moore (Daughter), Okieriete Onaodowan (God), Patrick Annelli (Human)

Gene Frankel Theatre
24 Bond Street, between Lafayette and Bowery

Wednesday-Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 3 PM and 8 PM, Sunday at 3 PM
Through March 28th

For tickets visit TheaterMania; for more information visit the Who Am I website.

Review - The Philanderer (Theater Ten Ten)

Review by Byrne Harrison
Photos by LAB Photography

Leonard Charteris (Julian Stetkevych) is a young man on the make. A truly modern man by turn of the century standards, he refuses to give in to social conventions like marriage and plans to stay happily unattached forever. Having recently taken up with Grace (Anne Gill), a self-assured 'new' woman, who refuses to be the property of any man but is perfectly willing to form a 'charming friendship' with one, he finds himself drawn to her as a true equal, perhaps even his perfect, enlightened mate. Spending their days at the Ibsen Club, a social club for the enlightened, and their evenings at Grace's, Leonard can imagine them being together, in a complementary and equal way, of course, forever.

If only he can do something about Julia (Tatiana Gomberg), his on-again (her choice), off-again (his choice) girlfriend. Jealous and clingy, she watches his every move like a hawk and is prone to scream, cry, and pout until she gets her way. A petty little girl, she is the exact opposite of Grace.

Thus begins George Bernard Shaw's The Philanderer, a comedy about Leonard's attempts to free himself of Julia and win over Grace. Of course, Shaw uses this story as a frame on which he hangs vibrant discussions about the nature of love, the battle of the sexes, marriage, the generation gap, the medical profession, and any number of other topics. This thought-provoking and entertaining play is given a good home by Theater Ten Ten.

Despite being on a shoe-string budget, the company never scrimps when it come to Shaw's wonderful language. The actors excellently portray the unique cast of characters inhabiting this play. Julian Stetkevych is wonderful as the charming cad, Charteris. Tatiana Gomberg does an superb job as the petty and manipulative Julia. She also gets to show some range in the final scenes as Julia puts aside her petty ways and grows up. Anne Gill is charming as the self-assured, and aptly named, Grace.

Set designer David Fuller does a rather good job creating three different locations on the small stage by rearranging the furniture and changing the artwork and other bric-a-brac. He cleverly makes less look like more. The only major fault is that his design, which does not rely on curtains of any kind, does nothing to mitigate the echo caused by the cavernous auditorium at Theater Ten Ten. Each line is heard twice, first as spoken by the actor, and slightly behind that, as an echo from the far end of the chamber. While the ear does adapt, it ruins his attempt to recreate an intimate room in a Victorian house.

Other production values are strong, especially Mira Veikley's marvelous costumes. Rich and sumptuous, they capture the spirit of the times without breaking the bank.

Director Leah Bonvissuto directs with a gentle touch, allowing the language and the characters to dictate the pace of the play. The result is a play with natural ebbs and flows, moving quickly, but never feeling forced.

Though less known than some of his others, Shaw's The Philanderer is a fascinating and surprisingly relevant play.


The Philanderer
Written by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Leah Bonvissuto
Assistant Director: Shauna Horn
Production Stage Manager: Anna Hemphill
Assistant Stage Manager: Britney McAden
Lighting Designer: Sherrice Kelly
Set Designer: David Fuller
Costume Design: Mira Veikley
Assistant Costume Design: Kate Friedberg

Featuring: Julian Stetkevych (Leonard Charteris), Anne Gill (Grace Tranfield), Tatiana Gomberg (Julia Craven), Duncan Hazard (Mr. Joseph Cuthbertson), Greg Horton (Colonel Daniel Craven), Shauna Horn (The Page), Mickey Ryan (Dr. Paramore), Barrie Kreinik (Sylvia Craven)


Theater Ten Ten
1010 Park Avenue

Closed March 15th

Review - The Shortened Attention Span Musical Festival - Week One

Review by Bryan Clark

This zany festival features four thirty-minute musicals back-to-back. The program changes weekly for a total of three weeks. (I attended Week One.)

Give My Regards to Reading
Written by Jay Cohen and Danny Gardner
Directed by Danny Gardner
Performed by Jay Cohen

Performer Jay Cohen begins the evening emcee-style, greeting the arriving audience and improvising conversations with them. (When I told him I was reviewing the show, he offered me refreshments and swept the floor under my feet.) His persona is fun and appealing, and suggests that a dazzling tour-de-force will follow.

However, Cohen is at his best in the one-on-one preshow mode. He is not so successful in his actual show, which purports to be his self-produced sendoff prior to escaping from the small-town confines of Reading, PA and heading for the Big Apple to make it big. This story is very slow to take off, weighted down with predictable sight gags and repeating itself to no useful effect.

There is also not enough music to call the piece a musical. In fact, there is no live music at all, and the taped music is infrequent and perfunctory. It is impossible to say whether Cohen can sing or dance, since he barely does any of either. The show ends with “New York, New York” playing magically from a supposedly “broken” sound system, and off he goes to achieve his dream – but in the wake of all of the pratfalls and deadpan silliness it is hard to discern the tone of his departure, or of the play as a whole.

Assistant Director: T.J. Clark

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Pocket Change
Book and Lyrics by Anne Berlin
Music by Andy Cohen
Directed by Valentina Fratti

Anne Berlin has devised a mildly amusing conceit of three actors portraying rarely-used coins: the Kennedy half-dollar, the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Sacagawea dollar are in a love-triangle, yet all three fear the worst as they are being phased out in favor of paper money.

Like many late-night television sketches, this set-up doesn’t sustain its own length. The songs are witty and fun, but the dialogue scenes become leaden and long as the coin puns pile up. Jokes about the replacement of change with bills feel outdated, as bills are already being replaced by debit cards.

The notion might have played out more effectively if the actors had actually been dressed as coins. Or, it might work as a claymation YouTube video in support of a MySpace concept album. But perhaps any form of humor about the worthlessness of money is simply unwelcome at this economic juncture.

John F. Kennedy: Tom Schubert
Susan B. Anthony: Jessica Reiner-Harris
Sacagawea: Kim Carpenter

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Stew
Book & Music by Adriel Borshansky and Justin Leider
Directed by Justin Leider

The sluggish evening comes alive here at the half-way point, as a bunch of young actors hit the stage dressed as the ingredients of a stew. The meats and vegetables taunt each other like high school jocks and nerds, and both groups compete for possession of Parsilla the Spice. They eventually realize that they should all cooperate to share her fabulous flavor, since they will all be eaten soon enough.

The presentation of this straightforward metaphor (i.e. we can reconcile our differences by sharing our mutually desired resources) is exactly what the Shortened Attention Span Musical Festival should be – fast, funny, and packed with great songs. It may sound like complete nonsense, but it is actually a no-nonsense approach to taking a great idea and setting it to music onstage.

Parsilla: Allie Steinberg
Lammy: Daniil Krimer
Chicky: Sarah Willis
Rumpy: Justin Robertazzi
Vealy: Rachel Rosen
Carrot: Greg Resnick
Brocolli: Kayla Isabelle
Eggplant: Allie Fetner
Bean: Mark Kendrick
Onion: Kait Walsh

Guitars: Dave Benton, Justin Leider
Bass: Alkis Meimaris

Lighting Designer: Colin Alexander

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A Park, A Policeman and a Pretty Girl
Written by Jack Moore
Directed by Jack Moore and Deanna Weiner
Music composed and performed by Kathie Hathaway

The evening ends with a true show-stopper. The remarkably talented Jack Moore presents a tribute to Charlie Chaplin which is so deftly executed, you would think Moore studied with the master himself. His pantomime is brilliant and true – and quite startling to experience live rather than on the silent-film screen.

Although Moore’s performance as A Tramp is exquisite, he is well-matched with Melanie Rothman as A Pretty Girl and Will Snider as A Policeman. This is that rarest of plays in which there is an ensemble at work, despite a standout lead performance.

Kathie Hathaway’s silent-film music is spot on, and it is especially thrilling to watch her play it on the piano while keeping an eye to the action onstage. Together with the sparingly used title card projections, this is a fully integrated production, and is easily the best musical of the evening although not a word is sung or spoken.

A Tramp: Jack Moore
A Policeman: Will Snider
A Pretty Girl: Melanie Rothman

Stage Manager: Howie Tilkin

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The remaining schedule is:

Week Three (March 19 – March 22):
Reptility by Scott Voloshin
Six O'Clock by Tom Bruett and David Dabbon
Acceptance by Stephen Elkins
The Voices in Your Head by Anjali Abraham

The Shortened Attention Span Musical Festival
Producers: Carlo Rivieccio and Christy Benanti
Festival Lighting Designer: Jason Baumueller
Publicity: Mike Martinez

Players Theater Loft
115 MacDougal Street
212-352-3101
$18