Sunday, May 31, 2015

Thoughts on The Qualms and the Return of Summer Fridays

I very much enjoyed Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park and saw it several times.  I'm sorry I missed his last show at Lincoln Center, so when TDF tickets came up for his newest play at Playwrights Horizons, I pounced.  Previously produced by Steppenwolf, The Qualms is still in early previews, so I'll only offer a few thoughts.

The Qualms is a dark comedy about a "swinger" community, with several couples who enjoy each other's company, both as friends and in the Biblical sense.  When a new couple arrives, everyone's ideas about sex and politics are challenged.  Like in previous plays, Norris takes the point of view of priviliged white Americans, who may not like talking about sex, but they definitely want to intentionally provoke and assert their rightness in all subjects, including sex.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus
One half of the new couple, Chris (terrifically played by Jeremy Shamos) at first seems to be  entirely reasonable in his doubts and discomfort, but he turns out to be (of course) the most small-minded and ugly of the group.  But each character has their good and bad points, and we hear about them all during the 90-minute intermissionless play.

The Qualms is often hysterically funny and often very thought-provoking.  The cast is first-rate, all eight of them.  One actor reminded me so much of an old boyfriend, I was giggling and having deja vu frequently during the afternoon.  One character is someone I should be playing, should I ever exit my semi-retirement from acting.  I enjoyed myself a great deal at the play, and have been thinking about several aspects of it since yesterday, though I'm not sure The Qualms is as strong a play as Clybourne Park, as a whole.  For a play that talked a lot about sex, I imagined there would BE more sex (though that might have been Norris' point, people talk about it and don't do it), and there were a LOT of topics brought up to think about - maybe too many?  I'm not sure.  I also thought it seemed as if Norris had a hard time deciding how to end the play, so the penultimate scene felt diffuse (though there is one writer/director collaboration that is rather brilliant), but I did feel satisfied by the very end.  I liked seeing The Qualms and may try to go back later in the run, just to see if my initial impressions were correct.  If you like a rather dark sex comedy, you'll enjoy it, too, I think.  Just a couple of audience neighbor observations:  golly, the subscribers (at least I assume they were subscribers) in the lobby before the show should perhaps step outside when they talk on their cell phones, or start to practice using their indoor voice.  Hearing about a guy's prostate during one call and a gal's distate for a current Broadway show wasn't really the way I wanted to start my afternoon.  :)

Going back two days, last Friday I had a fun afternoon with some work chums when we took advantage of Summer Friday and walked over to Gotham West Market to have some lunch and, more importantly, ICE CREAM.  One work chum had proclaimed the ice cream from Ample Hills Creamery as the best in NY (apparently Zagat's does, too).  Of course, I considered that a challenge and had to try it.  Before the ice cream, though, we sat at the tapas bar at El Comado.  I wanted to try nearly everything on their menu, but had to watch my budget.  I settled on the pan con tomate, my chum choose the patatas bravas, and we shared a finger sandwich with Serrano ham, manchego cheese and membrillo.  Everything was DELICIOUS.  I especially loved the pan con tomate and even dreamed about it last night.  I supposed I could make some for myself, but it never tastes as good.

Ample Hills had so many yummy-sounding flavors Friday - I tasted the salted crack caramel flavor, which was terrific, but I didn't think I could eat a whole dish of it.  I wanted to try the snap, mallow & pop flavor, but they were out.  I settled on the raw deal, which is vanilla ice cream with chocolate flakes and brown sugar cookie dough.  YUM. Serious YUM.  I may have to sample a few other ice creams before declaring it 'the best,' but that's a challenge I look forward to, lol.  My nephew will be visiting in a few weeks, maybe he'll want to take on that challenge with me...












Friday, May 29, 2015

Thoughts on Guards at the Taj

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I enjoy playwright Rajiv Joseph's work.  I was an enormous fan of his Pulitzer-finalist play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (see my review HERE) and I also enjoyed his play The North Pool at the Vineyard a couple of years ago (see that review HERE).  I do know Rajiv a bit and enjoy him as a person as well, so I may be predisposed to like his plays, but I think it's really that I enjoy the way he tells a story.  No one writes the way he does.  When a discounted preview ticket for his newest play Guards at the Taj, playing at the Atlantic Theater, came my way, I couldn't say no.  I bought the ticket way before I went to Dublin, thinking I probably wouldn't have any disposable income when I returned (oh how right I was), and last night was the night.  But it was a very early preview, and I saw Rajiv there last night, so they're clearly still working.  I'll just offer a few thoughts...

OH.MY.GOD.  You must GO see this show!  Those are my few thoughts.  I was completely blown away.  Gobsmacked, even.  Like Bengal Tiger, this play takes on enormous themes, yet boils them down to an essential personal level.  Things such as loyalty and honor, friendship and duty, beauty and despair.  All wrapped up in a very funny, very scary, very sad, very disturbing 80 minutes.

The acting is fantastic, the set and direction are fantastic, and the writing is one-of-a-kind.  The language is elevated and poetic, yet modern and realistic.  I really can't describe it.  Both actors reached for the heights of the play and truly excelled.  I laughed a lot and held my breath a lot.  But I really don't want to say much more, not only because the show is still in previews, but also because it is so unexpected, I don't want to spoil anyone's experience.  There are so many moments and pictures in my mind and I haven't stopped thinking about the play since last night.  I truly cannot wait to go back - which actually will be interesting; will the play be as effective without the element of the unexpected?  I'm sure it will, I'll be able to really concentrate on the gorgeous dialogue and the truly amazing performances by Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed, both of whom are so perfect, it's kind of scary.

In the interest of full disclosure, the gals seated on my left LOATHED the play.  Not merely disliked it.  LOATHED.  They practically knocked me over to get out of the theater and then I heard them talking on the subway platform.  Their loss.  I do think Guards at the Taj will be rather polarizing, but I'm telling you, get a ticket right now.  You will not see a play like this again.  You do not want to miss it.  I promise.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Review - Skylight

Last Friday, I was vey fortunate to have a handsome friend take me out for my birthday.  We had discussed several shows that we'd like to see, but once discounts finally became available for David Hare's Skylight, we knew what choice to make.

We had both seen the original NY production starring the monumental Michael Gambon, but neither of us had such strong memories of the show that we couldn't enjoy the new production with an open mind.  After having a tasty cocktail at Pigalle before the show, we struggled up to our balcony seats (that should be a post for a later day, the sardine quality of balcony seats in Broadway theaters.  If we hadn't been on an aisle, my handsome friend may have required amputation after the show was over) and settled in to enjoy the show.

Enjoy it, we did.  Skylight is beautifully executed - expertly directed, designed and especially acted,   This story of lost love and class wars was just as timely last Friday as it was in 1997.  Though, I will say that the first act was more successful textually for me because it stayed focused on the couple and their outside situations were subtext, whereas the second act is more pointed in its hammering home the socio-economic point, but the actors were so fantastic, it rather didn't matter to me.

Carey Mulligan is terrific as Kyra, a schoolteacher who lives in a rather squalid flat, who is surprised one evening by two visitors - the son of her former lover and then her lover.  You can see by her behavior that she's used to being alone, she has her routines and quirks of solitary life (I smiled in recognition at a couple of them), but when she has company, you can also see guarded warmth and a big heart.  Mulligan finds so many layers in Kyra that as the evening goes on, I was kind of astounded at how emotionally naked she became by the end.

Matthew Beard is delightful as Edward, the son of Kyra's former lover.  He arrives to set the story in motion - he informs Kyra that his mother has passed away and that his father is not recovering from the loss.  You can see from the ease, yet distance, in which they deal with each other that there was real affection and real pain when Kyra walked out of their lives.  After Edward leaves, his father, Tom, played with massive charm and wit by Bill Nighy, arrives.

The way Nighy prowls around the stage, trying to remark his territory, is terrific.  He's so witty and urbane, yet so damaged, that you see what Kyra responds to in him.  She's such a nuturer, but clearly with daddy issues, that this older man is a perfect fit for her.  The fact that Kyra is a perfect fit for Tom as well is the tragedy of the piece.

Tom and Kyra carried on an affair for six years even while Kyra was friends with Tom's wife.  Once the wife found out about the affair, Kyra walked out and has had no contact since. There's much pain as the two of them relive and rehash old arguments, but also start new squabbles to avoid getting to the heart of the matter.  As the play goes on and we see and hear these former lovers tiptoe around each other, trying to find each other again after so much pain, and then seeing that the gulf is just too wide for them to be together, we're so connected to the couple that we have the pain, too.  And in the last scene, where the son comes back and shows that he really listened to and respected what Kyra said to him earlier, it was even more painful to see the manifestation of her frustration with Tom.

Photo credit:  Sara Krulwich
I was really involved and connected throughout the show - I'll admit to feeling a kinship with Kyra and the dilemma she finds herself in.  The problems of love and human connection (and the loss of human connection) is so universal.  I will also admit to be driven a little insane by one directorial (I think) choice.  All the characters talk about how cold it is in the apartment - it's part of the issue of class and income arguments that Kyra and Tom have throughout - yet everyone walks around the apartment in bare feet.  No shoes, no socks.  I'm sorry, but if it's so cold in there (which is what we're supposed to believe), no one would have bare feet for that long.  It seems a goofy thing to fixate on; maybe it's because my feet are always cold that I noticed it so much.  :)  Other than that, I thought the show was terrifically paced and directed.  I thought the original score was used judiciously and well throughout and once I got used to the convention utilized with regards to the set, I was on board with that, too.

I had a grand time at Skylight and am so grateful my handsome friend took me, I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise.  We also had a tasty dessert at Marseille afterwards, so it was a lovely night all around.  If you're at all interested in great acting and intelligent dialogue, I'd head over to the Golden Theatre too, if I were you...

Friday, May 22, 2015

Flashing back to...last week and beyond!

Last weekend was the AIDS Walk.  I took last year off, but I got back to work this year.  It was a sunny and warm day and I had a good time walking with a dear handsome friend.  I made pretty good time up until the end - we made it to the last turn into Central Park when I noticed my hands were starting to swell and I was getting rather overheated.  So we turned off the route and didn't quite make it to the finish line and went to brunch instead.  I needed some a/c and ice water to get the swelling down.  I really think I need to make a goal for myself to get in better shape before next year's walk.  In the past, I prided myself on being able to walk straight through, no stops, to the very end.  Now I usually need a little break or two throughout, especially towards the end.  And I'm a bit of a broken-down mess the day after.  But it's a worthy cause and I will keep walking until my legs fall off.  GMHC and NYC have made it a goal to eradicate AIDS by 2020 - I pray that goal is met.

I'm grateful to all my friends who gave their hard-earned money to support me - this year, I raised over $1800!  Since 2002, when I first became a "Star Walker," I've raised over $33,700!  I'm very proud of that!  And appreciative of the generous people who helped make it happen.  I was a little bit sad this year when I realized two of my biggest supporters passed away since I last walked.  They were two of my biggest cheerleaders and I thought of them often as I walked last Sunday. 

I decided, in the interest of flashing back, to post pictures from past AIDS Walks.  It's pretty clear when my good-physical-conditioning left me, it's when I stopped wearing shorts in public.  :)   If you're interested in sponsoring me next year, let me know!  I'll be happy to send the info your way in 2016!

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

And these are some photos from this year's Walk.  Over 30,000 people came together to raise over $4.8 million to stop this disease!  It's a beautiful thing.







the post-Walk French Toast was divine...

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Review - Airline Highway

It's that Tony time of year, the time when I hope my wonderful Tony voter friends have an extra ticket in hand to see shows I've missed throughout the season.  For yesterday's matinee, my Tony voter boss took me to see Airline Highway, the new play by Lisa D'Amour at Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway house.

I saw a previous play by D'Amour, Detroit, when it played at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010, and I found it intriguing, but hard to wrap my brain around.  Airline Highway was easier to grasp, but that's because the playwright made it too easy, in my opinion.

In the vein of Lanford Wilson's Hot L Baltimore and Balm in Gilead, Airline Highway is a slice-of-life piece that deals with the lives of 'lovable losers' who live together in a ramshackle motel called the Hummingbird.  On the outskirts of New Orleans, the characters in the play are all examples of the class divide that exists in this country - they're all street smart, empathetic and relatively happy people who live in poverty on the fringe of society.  So we see the hooker with a heart of gold, the sassy transsexual, the naïve stripper and other various denizens of the hotel.  People who have no family or connections have made a family of their own at the Hummingbird Motel.

The action of the play starts when the characters are planning a funeral for their den mother, Miss Ruby, who is actually still alive (barely), but she wants to come to her own funeral so she can hear the kind things people say about her.  One of the participants turns out to be a former fellow motel denizen, Greg, who has escaped New Orleans as the boy toy of a 'cougar' who lives in Atlanta.  Greg shows up at Miss Ruby's funeral with his girlfriend's teenage daughter, who wants to write a paper on this 'subculture.'  Imagine how a privileged white girl using the word 'subculture' goes over with these people.  Greg's presence disturbs the lives of the rest of the Hummingbird clan who stayed behind.

I enjoyed Airline Highway, more so in the first act than in the second, for its very lived-in quality.  I felt like I was eavesdropping on many conversations and I enjoyed getting to know these people.  Though most of the characters were stereotypes and theatrical devices, they were also well-acted and interesting enough that I stayed engaged throughout.  The fantabulous Julie White was first among equals in the acting department and I found her middle-aged hooker to be the most poignant and fully realized character in the play.  One of her sadnesses I found particularly touching.
 
photo credit: Sara Krulwich
I wish that the script had had more poetry in it, like Wilson's work, to really elevate all of the dialogue.  I also wish that the playwright hadn't felt compelled to insert a coda so that we'd know what the play is about.  I really prefer figuring that out for myself.  In a rambling piece such as this, where you can pick and choose which character to listen to and follow during a lot of the overlapping dialogue, I think I'd rather find the meaning of everything in a more ambiguous way, by finding which character's truth I most believed.  And I kinda wish we hadn't seen Miss Ruby at the end of the play; although her monologue was well-written and well-performed, it again struck me as a 'this is what I want you to get from my play' and I chafed against that.  Of course, my changes make it my play instead of the playwright's, so I guess I could just shut up.

I loved Julie White, as I already said, but I also enjoyed K. Todd Freeman and, most especially, Scott Jaeck as Wayne, the manager of the motel.  I found him to be very touching and his monologue at the end of the first act was simply stunning.  I wish the second act had lived up to the wonderful ending of the first.  Ah well.  I am glad I saw Airline Highway (and from such excellent seats!  thanks, Tony voter boss!), and I do want to see what Lisa D'Amour brings us next.  She writes about people you don't normally see on stage - I just wish she'd let me do a little of the work myself next time...

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

ABT 2015 - Othello

My favorite ballerina, Julie Kent, is retiring this season, so my subscription is mainly about getting to see her as much as possible.  I was sorry not to see her last Saturday aftenoon, but last night, I was fortunate to see her dance in Lar Lubovitch's Othello, alongside the divine Marcelo Gomes.  I've seen this ballet only once before, in 2007, and here is some of what I had to say about it:


photo credit: Gene Schiavone
First up:  Othello, choreography by Lar Lubovitch, music by Elliot Goldenthal.  I have to say, the parts I loved, I LOVED, but the parts I didn’t love, EW.  So there you have it.  A really educated opinion.  Anyway, I think some of the score is terribly overwritten, especially the stuff in the group numbers.  Way too much percussion and, dare I say it, too many notes.  And then the choreography is way too much, too.  So, which came first, I wonder:  too many notes or too much arm gesturing?  The world may never know.  But the solos, pas de deux, pas de trois and even the pas de quatre were incredible.  Just amazing.  Marcelo Gomes was Othello and he was terrific.  Bold and sensual, but didn’t overplay the hand-wringing jealousy stuff.  He was beyond great. 

photo credit: Gene Schiavone
Much of what I said then applies again now.  I remembered very little of that first viewing, but as before, there were parts I loved, which brought tears to my eyes, and that I thought illuminated the timeless story of jealousy and revenge beautifully.  And there were some parts that I certainly did NOT love, most especially the parts done by the corps de ballet.  They had most of the oddest choreography, set to the oddest music.  So I wasn't really a fan of those parts of the ballet.

But oh, those pas de deux, trois and quatre!  Wonderful stuff.  The partnering choreography was exquisite, and the drama kept building throughout the evening.  As a piece of storytelling, Othello succeeded magnificently.  Am I quite sure it's a good ballet?  No, I'm not quite sure.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone
Marcelo Gomes, as always, was perfection.  He was regal and assured, yet vulnerable and easily manipulated.  He wore his emotions on his sleeve, but was never reckless about moving from feeling to feeling.  Everything was meticulously put together, and then danced with freedom and beauty.  He was fantastic.  And Julie Kent, as Desdemona, was his equal.  Her solo choreography may not be terribly demanding, but the drama certainly is, as were all the beautiful shapes and extensions she had to achieve during the lifts and turns she did in various partners' arms.  She had a beautifully clear throughline - she was so gentle and in love at the beginning and so sad and afraid by the end.  I was watching through my binoculars and the  death scene was just exquisite.

James Whiteside was a devious and insinuating Iago.  Even his hair was on board with his characterization!  But he was rigid and cold, with beautiful lines and gorgeous lift.  I loved his pas de deux with Stella Abrera as his wife, Emilia.  One moment, she's begging him to stop his evil planning and he's pushing her aside, and the next moment you can see how turned on they are by each other and their dance becomes a sexual coming together.  Really interesting.  And the pas de deux Iago has with Othello are equally compelling - not a sexual energy, but still a spark of something was there.  Joseph Gorak was again terrific as Cassio, who has a lot of the more 'classical' choreography.  He was regal and sweet; you could see he wanted to be a devoted friend to both Othello and Desdemona, and his naivete made him the perfect patsy for Iago.  I wasn't quite as taken with Misty Copeland as Bianca, who danced with bouncy verve but not much clarity.

There was a moment in the ballet, during Gomes and Kent's first pas de deux, where I got a little teary, both at the beautiful dancing I was seeing and at the realization I wouldn't be seeing the two of them dance so thrillingly together again.  It made me happy and sad, all at the same time.  Their curtain call was touching, they really seem to respect each other and to love dancing together.  I know I love watching them dance together and I'm trying not to think about how sad I'll be next season when I won't get to see them together again.  I'll just try to enjoy what I can before Julie goes.  I wish I could afford to get a ticket to her Giselle next week, but I guess I'll have to be satisfied with my memories of her past performances in that...