Slow Week (blogging-wise)

Hi, all!  This week has been about work work work!  Ew!  Nobody wants to read about that. So how about a couple more pictures of Italy, since the trip is getting closer?  I am really looking forward to posting pictures I have actually taken, instead of pictures I've taken off the internet (and will remove if so asked)...

Thoughts on Sweat

No, this is not a continuation of my workout post.  :)  I am a really big fan of Lynn Nottage's writing - her plays are so beautifully detailed and honest, I just love them.  When I heard all of the cheers for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of her new play, Sweat, I hoped hoped hoped that the show would find its way to New York.  Imagine my happiness when I heard that the Public Theater would be producing it this season.  One of the perk's of my new idNYC card is a membership to the Public.  On the day member tickets went on sale, I logged onto the Public's website, saw a screen that said I was #968 in line, and I would be able to buy a ticket in a few hours.  Yikes!  Thankfully, it only took about an hour for the countdown clock to reach zero and I snagged a ticket to last Thursday's preview performance.  Although the play has had two previous productions, this is a new cast, and I saw the third preview, so I will only offer some general thoughts, since I would guess some changes could still happen before opening.

My first general thought is:  GO SEE THIS PLAY.  GO.  Get online and buy your ticket right now.  You will thank me later, I promise.  OK, back to regularly scheduled blogging... 

Taking place over a few months in the summer of 2000, alternating with scenes from a brief time in 2008, Sweat "tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the line of a factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in the hard fight to stay afloat" (that's from the Public's marketing material).  There is humor and pain and shame and dishonor - so much happens that is recognizable and understandable, yet I still had to look away at times.  My heart skipped beats several times throughout the evening and I was a total mess at the end.  That last scene may be one of the most bleak, horrifying yet poignant endings of a play I've seen in quite some time.

I believe I've made it clear that I'm from a middle class family in the midwest.  Our family, going back generations, has worked in tire/rubber industry and other factory-type jobs. We've been union and non-union.  There are have been strikes, plant closings and career changes.  All of this is to say that I knew the middle class characters in Sweat, all factory workers in Reading, PA.  These people were real and honest; they spoke with authenticity and complexity.  There were beautiful monologues of such gorgeous imagery, yet still written in the absolutely-specific language of each character.  It's not often I see the people I grew up with represented on stage, let alone middle-aged women of the middle class.  I was really transfixed throughout.  I do admit to nearly losing it when one sad lady said that all she wanted for her birthday was a kiss.  Shiver.

photo credit: Jenny Graham (from a previous production)

Even though the play took place in 2000 and 2008, it could so easily be happening right now. The race and class wars are even more horrifying than ever, thanks to certain political factions, so I can unfortunately imagine the bad things that happen in this play happening any day, anywhere in this country.  Which made the play even more striking to me.  I think Lynn has really caught something here and is forcing us to look at the people who are so disenfranchised, they can actually consider voting for a ticket that would destroy this country.  I mean, there was a woman sitting behind me who was railing against illegal immigrants.  At the Public Theater in New York City!  Chills my blood.

So, I know that's all rather vague, but I don't want to give too much away.  The play is wonderful, the cast is wonderful, actually everything is terrific - the set, the original music, everything.  I highly recommend Sweat.  Its run has been extended, so I really think you should go.  I think, like Lynn's Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined, this is going to become one of those plays that people talk about for years.  Both plays (well, all of her writing, really) tells a specific story about specific people in a specific time, but they're completely universal about everyone in our time and of all time.  Genius.

Seat-neighbor-wise, last night was a doozy.  The elevators were out of service and Sweat is playing in the theater on the third floor of the Public, so imagine, if you will, subscribers of a certain age, having to hike up those stairs.  I was huffing and puffing, so I can't even imagine how bad it was for some of the older patrons.  We started late, I think due to people taking so long to get to their seats.  Finding restrooms, finding the assisted listening devices - it all became more and more complicated because of the elevator situation.  One gal of a certain age in front of me decided to call her friend who was seated THREE ROWS IN FRONT OF HER, because once she sat down, that was it.  The gal sitting next to me suddenly came down with whooping cough, but only after the show started, and for some reason, she needed to put her handbag on my lap as she looked for cough drops and kleenex.    She also kept getting quite confused about the plot and had to ask her other seat neighbor for help.  Good thing the play was so compellingly good that I didn't have to shush anyone or push anyone's handbag off my lap.

They have a standing room/standby rush type thing at the Public, so I may have to try to see the show again later in the run.  Now that I know what happens, I can really settle in and focus on the how and why.  I love that.  I really think you will, too.

GUEST BLOGGER ALERT - Pumpkinalooza

I'm happy to have an extra-special guest blogger today: my sister!  She's magical, too! You all know how much I love her - I can't believe it's already been two years since her medical nightmare emergency when she was here visiting me (you can read about that HERE, HERE, and HERE). Happily, she's able to focus on other things now, though we're always vigilant with her health.  I've been giggling at her obsession lately with pumpkin spice and all of its various products this year; it seems like there are thousands of new pumpkin-y things out there and she's made an effort to try them all.  I would like to add that I had some pumpkin ravioli the other day, so I'm totally on board with her experiment.  I would also like to add that I would want to try all those breakfast cereals, but they all seem to be whole-grain, which I'm allergic to.  Darn.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share her test results with you.  So, without further ado, I present your guest blogger for the day.  This is a pretty thorough post, so you might want to grab a pumpkin spice latte and put up your feet... 


All Things Pumpkin Spice

Ok, I will admit it…I’m a pumpkin spice fanatic.  I so look forward to the fall season each year and not just because I love the cooler weather, wearing scarves, warmer clothes and the changing of the leaves.  Ohio is a beautiful place to live in the fall and also a state with lots of grocery stores and TONS of products that are pumpkin spice flavored. WOOHOO for me!!!  (I’m doing a happy dance and clapping my hands)

This year it felt like the stores started with the pumpkin stuff quite early but that is ok with me because then I have plenty of time to try all of the pumpkin things that I can get my hands on.  It is a tad bit early though if you ask me for all of the Halloween and some Christmas stuff to be out but oh well!  Someone else might love Halloween just as much as I love pumpkin spice.  I should probably mention that I’m a huge snacker (not too good for me but I admittedly have no willpower) so eating as many pumpkin flavored things I can get my hands on is sort of a challenge.  Then my sister asked me to write this guest blog for her about all the things pumpkin that I’ve tried so now it has been a mission to try (almost) everything pumpkin spice that I can find.  Yes, I’m officially out of control and my husband never wants to see anything pumpkin again…but I’m in heaven.

I started with a pumpkin spice latte from Dunkin' Donuts.  Now like I mentioned, it was a bit early so since it was almost 90 degrees the day I tried it, I got it as an iced coffee.  I would have to say it wasn’t as good iced as it is hot.  So not my favorite.  I had to make up for it with a pumpkin spice latte (hot) from Starbucks with whipped cream on it (OF COURSE!). Soooo much better. 

Since there were so many things that I tried (and still trying) that were pumpkin, I think I will rank them by my favorite to least favorite because if I talk about all of them, this is going to be one mighty long post.  I will say that I think all of the cereals were excellent and I would buy those the most over and over again and then maybe just a few other things added in along the way next time.  But since I love to bake as well, I would most likely just bake something pumpkin from here on out.  That way at least there will be actual pumpkin in what I’m eating!  Some of the following didn’t have pumpkin anywhere in the ingredients but I still thought they were good enough to eat.  Then again, there aren’t too many foods that I would actually spit out and throw away (hence the reason why I need to lose weight) because anything can taste better with a cup of coffee chaser.

My list of favorite to least favorite:

1. Pumpkin Spice Cheerios – these were so good that I could eat several bowls right after the other.  They tasted just like the honey nut ones but with the spice and it was oh so yummy.
2. Quaker Oatmeal (pumpkin spice) – I love oatmeal so this was right up my alley and it didn’t disappoint.  Very similar to maple and brown sugar which is my fave.
3. Special K Pumpkin Spice Crunch – again, this was a cereal that I could eat over and over and there were yummy nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cinnamon clusters.  Mmmmm…..
4. Hostess cupcakes (pumpkin spice) – these were moist and not too pumpkiny and really tasty, especially with that cup of coffee I mentioned earlier.
5. Frosted Mini Wheats (pumpkin spice) – so hard to not put this one further up on the list because they were excellent also but the others just won out by a pumpkin seed (didn’t want to say hair).
6. Pumpkin Pie Toaster Strudel – these are delicious...so glad I found them in the store the other day.  These will definitely be a go to snack at night. They don’t really taste like a pie with traditional crust but with phyllo crust instead. Either way…TAS TEE! 
7. Dairy Queen pumpkin pie blizzard – I’ve had this one before but I would get it anytime they have it because it is totally yummy with pieces of crust in it and whipped cream on top.  Oh gosh…I might need one of those again tonight after dinner.
8. Giant Eagle pumpkin doughnut/pumpkin bread/McDonald’s pumpkin spice muffin – I’m going to put these three together even though they were two separate products but they were similar.  Hello…doughnut or bread in any flavor is awesome in my book but especially when it is pumpkin.
9. Hood ice cream sandwich (pumpkin ice cream with graham cracker sandwich) – I wasn’t sure I would like this but it was REALLY tasty.  My husband even liked these!
10. Pumpkin Spice Oreos – pretty much what you would think they would taste like and totally awesome dunked in hot tea and coffee.  My son and my dad really liked these too.
11. Pumpkin Spice Hostess Twinkies – there was something a little artificial tasting in these but they were still good just the same and it didn’t make me not eat them.
12. Market District Pumpkin butter – this was so yummy and I probably would have placed it higher in my list if I had tried it more than once but since I had so many other things to try, I had a few things that I liked just a tad bit more.
13. Pumpkin & Spice Triscuit – I didn’t think I would like these but I was totally wrong!  They are really good and have that little bit of sweet and salty going on.  I think they would be even better with a little brie and cranberry sauce on top (I’m going to have to buy some of that and finish this box off this weekend).
14. Pumpkin Spice Life – this cereal was good but still my least favorite of the cereals.  I think I just like Cinnamon Life the best and couldn’t get past that.
15. Nutri-grain bars (pumpkin spice) – good but I probably wouldn’t have to run out to get these again.
16. Nabisco Fudge Striped cookies (pumpkin spice) – same as #13…good but I don’t think I need them again because they also had that tiny bit of artificial taste and they weren’t made any better by dunking them in hot tea.
17. Lindt Pumpkin Spice Truffles – these were interesting…nice to have chocolate around the house but the flavor just threw me off a bit.  Probably need to have with that coffee chaser the next time…
18. Nonni’s Dark chocolate Pumpkin Biscotti – these were tasty but I found myself not wanting to dunk them in my coffee.  I think I’ll try them in hot tea next time.
19. Pumpkin Spice Thomas’ English Muffins – they smelled so great in the package but they didn’t have much pumpkin taste.  They were still good though and I put the pumpkin butter on top and were even better.  But again, I’d probably stick with my favorite flavors of these from now on.
20. Little Debbie Pumpkin Spice Rolls – even though these are last on my list, they weren’t horrible but they just weren’t the best.  I’d much rather have a real pumpkin roll (which of course I did also get from Giant Eagle because I was too tired to bake one and it was EXCELLENT).

I decided to list the drinks separately because I couldn’t really figure out if I liked a drink better than a food item:

1. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino (in the bottle) – I could drink one of these every day…so cool, so creamy, so yummy….
2. McDonald’s Pumpkin Spice Latte – really good and not too much spice.
3. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (hot) - these are just a tad bit too strong for me so I usually tell them just one squirt of the flavoring instead of several and I always get the whipped cream on it.  Still wouldn’t turn one away though….
4. Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice Latte (cold) – as I said above…not bad but not great either.





OK, now here are the items that I also bought but have yet to try:

1. Oikos Greek Yogurt (pumpkin spice) – I’m not totally sure on this one so I keep dragging my feet.  I really like yogurt but I’m just scared.  Maybe if it were in a whipped kind then I’m pretty sure I would like it.
2. Reko Pizzelle (pumpkin caramel) – I haven’t tried these yet but my husband did and he said they had a little bit too much spice in them so I’ve been taking his word for it and eating other stuff first.


These are the other items that I wanted to find to try but didn’t (maybe next year):

Sara Lee pumpkin cheesecake
Auntie Anne’s pumpkin spice pretzel nuggets
Metropolis popcorn – pumpkin spice
Pumpkin beer (Blue Moon pumpkin ale?)
Jack-O Traveler pumpkin shandy
Philadelphia cream cheese – pumpkin spice
Pepperidge Farm swirl bread – pumpkin spice
Pumpkin spice Kahlua
Larabars (Pumpkin spice, snickerdoodle, gingerbread)
Pumpkin spice almonds
Bailey’s pumpkin spice Irish cream

Oh, and I should include the stuff that even I wouldn't try:

Extra pumpkin spice gum…yuck 
Pumpkin spice Pringles….double yuck 
Pumpkin spice Peeps…totally not sure on this one  
Pumpkin spice hummus…up in the air on this one too but didn’t see it in the store anyway…. (editor/sister note:  I made pumpkin hummus for Thanksgiving once.  It was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself)

Last but by no means least, these are pumpkin spice items that I have tried in the past but didn’t feel like I needed to have again:

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (pumpkin spice) – not bad but like regular ones better.
Gevalia pumpkin spice latte k-cups (also other k-cups) – thumbs up
Pop-tarts (pumpkin pie) – I love pop-tarts but would stick with my favorites again.
Pepperidge Farm pumpkin spice Milano cookies – not bad
Pumpkin spice eggnog – TOTALLY yummy…I would get this again but I haven’t seen it yet in the stores.
Eggo Waffles (pumpkin spice) – not bad 
Giant Eagle pumpkin pasta sauce – DISGUSTING!!!  I’m not exaggerating…I took one bite and threw this out. I’m having flashbacks and almost want to gag.
Pumpkin spice pancakes – I bought the Hungry Jack mix and it was good but I love the IHOP ones so I’d rather go there.

My final thoughts on my Pumpkinalooza for this year are this...I REALLY like pumpkin and want to try everything I can with it but my family does not so I had better be prepared to eat the whole thing of whatever I get.  I’m still ready to eat more pumpkin stuff but I think I will keep it to all of the recipes that I have pinned in Pinterest.  I also won’t be stopping having my pumpkin spice goodies but I’m getting ready to set my taste buds for peppermint mocha, gingerbread and eggnog…all flavors that remind me of winter and Christmas!!!  

But for now…Happy Fall Y’all!

Review - The Roads to Home

I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I enjoy experiencing a Horton Foote play.  A former co-worker once described Foote's work as "watching paint dry."  That's a sad description of work that is so rich and full of universal truth, yet specific details that can sparkle across an evening.  I felt sorry for my former co-worker, not only because he completely missed the essence and power of a Horton Foote play, but also because that meant I wouldn't be able to be as happy and animated when talking about the play with him. Oh well. Thankfully, I now have you to talk about my happiness with!  :)

Last week, I went to the Cherry Lane Theater to see the Primary Stages production of The Roads to Home, a revival of a piece that was originally done in 1982.  Three short playlets based around the same characters, The Roads to Home is another gentle, truthful, funny, touching piece about family, memories, regret and home. I enjoyed the evening a great deal, as did most of the audience (at least it seemed that way to me).  Of course, my seat neighbor had to be the exception.  More on her later...

Once again, in these three plays, we see lives lived and consequences of decisions made long ago.  Again, not much 'happens,' but we learn so much about these characters, about life, about ourselves, that it seems as if everything happens in the two hours we spend in Houston. There are character revelations that just land on you like pixie dust, and other lines that make you gently gasp. Unlike other Foote plays, the action takes place in Houston and then in Austin, but the fictional town of Harrison looms large over everything. Just because we're not there doesn't mean it's not a main character in the story. Two of the main characters are from Harrison and long to remember it, and one character has heard so much about it over the years, she's yearning to see it. Once she does, she then also has regret.

But also unlike other Foote plays, this one also dabbles in a little screwball comedy, at least in one scene, and in the last scene, instead of the stark realism I'm accustomed to, we're never really sure what is happening.  There's a off-balance quality about the last scene that made even me feel even more rueful than usual.  I liked the uncertainty.

photo credit: James Leynse

Hallie Foote is masterful as Mabel, the gentle soul with steel in her bones.  She's totally in the moment, yet she lives with one foot in the past. She both accepts her present and rails against it at the same time, in a familiar, whimsical, eccentric, Horton Foote-character kind of way. I just loved her - watching the way she moved about her kitchen, you got a sense of the life she leads and the unique quality inherent inside a women who might normally be overlooked. And her indignation at her friends being treated badly was real and adorable. Harriet Harris was also her usual terrifically funny self, with an extra layer of pathos that was quite touching.  Rebecca Brooksher had the most difficult role, of a young woman losing touch with reality, but I thought she found the right level of otherworldliness and down-home charm. She knows something is happening to her and feels badly about it, but she just can't help herself. The gentlemen were less defined, but still well-performed.  I do love how Horton Foote wrote such amazingly realistic women, who are idiosyncratic and three-dimensional, and oh-so-relatable.

So, obviously, as is my wont, I really loved The Roads to Home. I loved the world depicted, I loved living with these characters and feeling their joy and pain. Some of my seat neighbors did not.  The gal next to me just bended forward and put her head in her lap. At one point, she got out her phone to look at.  I hoped she wouldn't return for the second act, but she did.  After a few minutes, she just folded into her lap again.  Sigh. The gal in front of me, who had an argument with her date about Flannery O'Connor before the show started, was a huge authority on Horton Foote and his plays.  She found this one wanting. I found her annoying, as was her date, who proclaimed that his water bottle of Pellegrino wasn't actually Pellegrino. The theater seemed to be rationing programs, which didn't sit well with much of the crowd.  But it was good to see a full house (mostly) enjoy a delightful evening, basking in the warmth and intimacy of Foote's world.  Thank you, Primary Stages, and please keep the revivals coming...

NYCB Fall Season 2016 - Masters at Work

This fall, I've been teaching a class on Tuesday nights, but since last night was a holiday for most of my students, we canceled class and I took advantage of my night off to attend the ballet. Although I'm a 'member' of New York City Ballet through my idNYC card, and I've attended several rehearsals, I haven't actually been to a performance this year.  I was happy to attend last night, via a nicely discounted ticket through TDF.  At first, I wasn't thrilled to be in the last row of the orchestra because it seemed as if my view would be obstructed, but it wasn't and I enjoyed my location very much.

They are calling last night's program "Masters at Work" and, well, they're right.  The two pieces I saw were Dances at a Gathering, choreographed by Jerome Robbins and Firebird, choreographed by George Balanchine.  As I've seen a new version of Firebird a couple of times at ABT, I was especially keen to take a look at Balanchine's.  I remember reading a bit about it in Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography, plus, I mean hello, Balanchine.

Actually, I was fortunate enough to catch a rehearsal of Firebird last week.  It was fascinating, first watching the glorious Marc Chagall-designed curtain come in and hearing the lighting designer tell the technician how it should be lit.  I am so bummed we weren't allowed to take photos because I would've loved to have a photo of that curtain. Stunning. Then we watched dancers rehearse bits of the pas de deux between the prince and the Firebird, which was fascinating.  The gent playing the prince was new to the role, so he was working out a few things and the gal playing the Firebird was just delightful to watch. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be seeing the two of them in the performance, but it was actually very interesting to see how other dancers executed the steps worked on by others.  I found the rehearsal Firebird softer than the woman who danced it last night, but that's not a criticism, it's just a note of different interpretation.

photo credit: Andrea Mohin

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first piece of the evening was Dances at a Gathering, with stunning music by Chopin.  I do love Chopin.  This piece premiered in 1969 and was choreographed by Jerome Robbins for the NYCB (there's a good article about the piece in yesterday's New York Times, if you're interested).  Robbins used eighteen Chopin piano pieces, played by an onstage pianist, to create dances on ten dancers. They danced solos, duets, quartets and more. Each piece was so beautiful, it was like watching silk come alive. They were easy and beautiful, even the etudes with speedy footwork and turns.  The piece lasted about an hour but I really could've watched them all day.  There was a charm and ease about the whole thing, while still almost being about ballet itself, although there's no plot to speak of.  The steps perfectly reflected the music and vice versa.

Before the piece started, a voice announced two substitutions in the dancers.  They fit in so well, I forgot after about a minute that I wasn't seeing everyone listed in the program. I will say, though, that one of the five men in the piece seemed unsure of his spacing, and one gent may have been under the weather because he was DRENCHED by the end of the ballet.  Drenched.  Maybe the material of the costume was the culprit, but it didn't look like anyone else had the same problem.  It didn't affect that guy's dancing, though. Everyone was spectacular - every time I thought, oh, they're my favorite, someone else would do something to make me change my mind.  So they were all my favorites.  They danced beautifully as themselves and as a group.  I really loved Dances at a Gathering and hope to see it again soon.

photo credit: Paul Kolnik

After a lengthy intermission, then came Firebird.  As I mentioned before, from the back row, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see those glorious Chagall curtains, but I had no problem seeing them.  All that color and movement perfectly reflected the color and movement of the ballet.  This ballet is simply sumptuous to look at.  The Balanchine Firebird premiered with NYCB in 1949, but it looked fresh as a daisy to me.  Instead of using the entire orchestral piece, he just used the Firebird suite, which rather condensed things beautifully.  

photo credit: Paul Kolnik

The prince meets the Firebird, they have a wonderful pas de deux, which as I mentioned above, was fascinating to see with different dancers after having watched a rehearsal last week.  We see the princess and her maidens dance, then the villains appear with the very famous music that you probably all think of when you hear the word "firebird."  I will say there was one green villain person who seemed to be dancing to "YMCA" instead of Firebird, but it was sort of adorable. The Firebird saves everything, has a glorious solo, and we're done.  All with extraordinary color and light, thanks to Chagall's designs and Karinska's costumes. It was stunning and I'm so glad I got to see it.  I only wish I could run right back and see tomorrow's cast, who happens to be the pair I saw rehearse.  But I can't be in two places at once, unfortunately.  Not that I mind where I'll be tomorrow night - you'll just have to wait to find out.  After the performance, I ran out to the gift shop, hoping there were some Chagall prints or something, but unfortunately there weren't.  Oh well.  When I think of souvenirs, I should remember all the holiday gifts I'll need to buy when I'm in Italy.  All in all, it was yet another wonderful night at the ballet, seeing two classic pieces that were new to me. I'm becoming addicted again to NYCB, so when it comes time to buy my ballet tickets for next year, I may need to parse everything out differently. Or not.  We'll just have to see...

Review - Inner Voices (2016)

A few years ago, I went to see Inner Voices, where a musical theater team writes a 30-minute musical for one performer.  I went to the 2012 version because I was so interested in seeing Polly Pen's Arlington, which I loved.  I missed the 2014 version, darn it, but when this year's slate was announced and I saw that the writing team of Southern Comfort had a piece included, I knew I wanted to get a ticket.  I know that writing team and enjoy their work already, but I did want to check out this new short piece.

Inner Voices started eight years ago and is a very interesting endeavor.  I go more into the genesis and thoughts behind the project in my review from 2012 (which you can find HERE.)  I'll just focus on last night.  I'll admit up front that I only saw two of the three short musicals - I did leave at intermission.  I was so tired and felt a little unwell and since I had ADORED one of the two I saw in the first act, I figured my night couldn't get any better, theatrically speaking.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

The first piece was called Just One "Q" and it was a slight, but sweet, piece about an attendant at a nursing home and how he had to play peacekeeper between two squabbling residents.  The actor, T. Oliver Reid, was wonderful and he differentiated between the various character voices beautifully.  The music was pleasant and the lyrics were quite smart.  If I thought that the piece was a little stretched by being 30 minutes, ok.  I was reasonably engaged throughout, though, mainly because Reid was so terrific.

The second piece was called The Pen and it was written by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis, who wrote Southern Comfort, which you may remember I enjoyed a lot.  You may also remember that I know Dan and Julianne a bit, so I may be predisposed to enjoy their work, but I was really gobsmacked by The Pen.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Nancy Anderson, a longtime favorite of mine, plays Laura, a woman getting ready for work.  She's adorably put together in a very cute and quirky business-style outfit and is happily singing to begin her day.  I had a giggle at her habits before leaving the house - checking the stove, checking the tv, vaguely OCD things like I do (I check to make sure my door is closed several times before I leave the house in the morning), but suddenly the whole thing turns when Laura finds a pen in her purse.  A pen that doesn't belong to her. And her world falls apart.  

She starts singing about how she doesn't know where the pen has been, and maybe it has germs, and maybe she's already infected, and, and, and. Laura goes into a full-blown panic attack due to extreme OCD and she now can't leave her apartment.  You can hear in the music, and hear in the lyrics, and understand in the performance how heartbreaking this whole thing is.  The entire piece is incredibly moving.  And surprising.  It kept going in places I didn't expect - Laura's memories of her father from the beginning start to turn when you put them together with her illness, and the positive attitude she showed at the start turns in to tragic resignation, yet hopeful self-encouragement.  There are a lot of ups and downs, and twists and turns, and a completely ambiguous ending, amazingly performed by Nancy Anderson.

In Southern Comfort, Dan and Julianne's score was tinged with folk and country sounds, but The Pen is something different.  It's not exactly pop-y, and it's not exactly musical theater-y, but it's its own sound, completely appropriate for this particular character.  You can actually hear in the music the dissonance in Laura's mind and the melding of the music and the characterization is really terrific.  It's sort of amazing to me that such a full and rich piece can play out in only 30 minutes.

got this shot as I got on the train

I've seen a lot of shows (obviously) and it's not often I'm taken completely by surprise by something. The Pen took me completely by surprise.  And I loved it.  I feel guilty about missing the third piece, but besides being tired and not in the mood to stay, I also just wanted to get on the subway and live with The Pen for a little longer.  You should definitely go see it. I think I may need to go back, to see how the clues are laid out for me at the top, and to thrill in the wonderful fusion of music, story and performance again...

Review - The Humans

I cannot believe it took me so long to get to The Humans!  I'm a big fan of Stephen Karam's, though I hadn't actually seen any of his plays performed before.  I have read them all and quite like his slant on things.  I waited too long to get tickets to the Off-Broadway production, then, after the play won the Tony, it was hard to find discount tickets to the Broadway production. Anyway, blah blah blah.  I finally got a TDF ticket and saw the show last night.

I was a bit afraid that having waited so long to see the show, after constantly hearing all the acclaim, I would find the evening a let down.  I'm thankful to say that didn't happen. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at The Humans and, in fact, want to go back for several reasons, which I'll describe below...

To start, as a gal from a middle class family in the midwest, I found so much to relate to in The Humans.  A loving, supportive family; parents who have no savings, but who want to make their children's lives better when they can (but maybe some of the kids resent when they can't); a sort-of reverse snobbery about the rich; a feeling that life is at a dead-end and it couldn't possibly move anywhere; a vague, unsettling feeling of dread when thinking about money and the future; and all other sorts of things.  I've read various reviews of the play that say 'but nothing happens!' and I rarely understand that kind of comment.  If you engage with the characters and their struggle, EVERYTHING happens.  So much happens that you can't even parse it out.  At least that's what I think, and definitely what I thought about this play.  I guess you could say there are spoiler-y things in what I say next.

photo credit: Brigitte Lacombe

Set at a family Thanksgiving dinner in an apartment in Chinatown, The Humans takes no time at all to introduce these realistic characters - parents, two daughters, a grandmother, and a boyfriend for one of the daughters - and it takes no time at all for us to know and root for them.  It's amazing to me how quickly I understood these people and was totally engaged in their highs and lows, their tiny sufferings and their mini-victories. The writing is that good and the acting is even better.  This is an amazing ensemble of real theater actors, first among equals are Tony-winners Jayne Howdyshell and Reed Birney.  They have created such intricate, layered, interesting, completely recognizable people out of seemingly-ordinary characteristics.  They're specific, yet they're universal. But really, everyone in the cast is terrific.  I ended up seeing the understudy for the boyfriend, which bummed me out a little, because Arian Moayed is one of my especial favorites.  He's one reason I would want to go back.

As the play goes on, and everyone starts to drink a little more and show their pain a little more boldly, there is a sort of existential dread that starts to permeate the evening. At the top of the show, there is noise above and it's explained away as a noisy neighbor.  But as the room gets darker (it's a basement apartment) and the noise gets louder, suddenly an oppression starts to set in.  It's as if the fear and pain are physically manifesting themselves in the apartment.  Not in a cliched, horror film type of way, but in an even scarier everyday kind of way.  I can't really describe it.  A big part of the script deals with dreams, especially the nightmares of the father, and the play starts to put him inside the nightmare (at least it seemed that way to me), although, and here's another reason I need to go back, I couldn't see a lot of what was happening.  Upstage center, back behind the main playing area, there was a door that represented a back door.  I was all the way to the far left in the mezzanine, so whenever people started walking out that door, I lost sight of them before they got there.  At one point during the chilling end of the play, I thought I saw something happening in that area, but I couldn't really tell because my view was blocked.  It wasn't until this morning when I chatted with a friend who has read the script that I got the full answer to what was going on.  I only wish I could've seen it - I think my already-excellent experience would've been even more heightened.

I just loved how the play felt as if we were actually watching a family in crisis instead of a play - a father fearing losing everyone he loves, a mother who is used to being treated as a second-class citizen in her own family but still plows forth with love, daughters who are close yet still rivals, a boyfriend who plays the peacemaker because he just wants to fit in, and a grandmother in the final stages of severe dementia - she has enough movement and lucidity to make her breakdown towards the end of the show so heartbreaking.  I sobbed so loudly, I made my seat neighbor laugh (more on that below).  Everyone's plight is taken seriously, no one is condescended to, Karam is remarkably sympathetic and even-handed with all of his characters, even when they behave badly.  I admired that greatly.  I admired The Humans greatly - it's a smart, well-crafted, surprising play that is grounded in things that make it timely and things that make it of all times.  Oh, and although I'm speaking a lot about fear and dread and disappointment, this play is remarkably funny as well, because it's so true to life.  You laugh because you recognize things, you laugh because you're simpatico with the characters, and then you cry.  Great great writing.  I highly recommend it.

Seat neighbor/theater experience-wise: I find having my bag checked before picking up my ticket at the box office and then again before entering the theater annoying.  I just do.  I also find the excruciatingly long lines to get into the theater annoying, though I admit that it was cool to see such a long line to get into a play, a NEW American play, that doesn't feature any movie/tv/reality stars; for some unknown reason, the entire row in front of me was empty (I would've moved except for the gent with the extreme unwashed fragrance in the front row, I didn't want to get any closer to that); the gal on my right was bored out of her mind, fidgeting constantly, and she laughed out loud when I started sobbing, and the gal on my left started easing her way out before the show even ended.  I don't know.  People are strange.

The Humans will be closing some time in January, I think - Reed Birney is going into the Tracy Letts play at Second Stage (which now becomes even more of a must-see event for me), and there's another production circling the Schoenfeld Theater, so, if you haven't seen this play yet, you must go now.  Discounts are available and I really think anyone who loves theater should give this new American play by a new(ish) American voice a try. Maybe it will seem to you that nothing happens, or maybe you'll be like me and feel like everything happens again and again...