2017 By the Numbers

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope you're having fun and staying safe, wherever you are.  Was 2017 as wackadoodle for you as it was for me?  I hope not!  It's just been crazy crazy, what with work getting out of control and practically the entire world being even MORE out of control!  I tell you, my therapist has really earned her fees this year.  If only I could get my stupid HSA to reimburse me for them.  Anyway.  For some reason, my yearly stats make me happy, so let's be happy together.  Before the numbers, let's raise a glass together (remember that joyous number from Grand Hotel?  I do, that's why the photo is above) to 2017 - goodbye to what's past and hello to what's coming in 2018.  May there be more theater, ballet, great food, spectacular cocktails, foreign travels, adventurous fun and happier days ahead!!  And maybe one date.  That would be nice, too.  If you’re still reading, here’s how my 2017 stacked up:

• Theater visits: 67
• Shows written by women:  34 (Yes!  Let's keep it going!)
• Shows/concerts/events by my darling Fellows:  20 (Almost a third of my shows, wow!  Let's keep it going!)
• Ballet visits: 13
• Readings/workshops: 13 (this is WAY up from last year - yay!)
• Concerts/cabarets: 8
• Award presentations:  2
• New museums: 3 (must.do.better.)
• New restaurants:  12 (this is way down - boo!)
• Film festivals:  1
• Movies (part of and not part of film festival):  10
• Protest marches:  1 (unfortunately, I'll need to do more of this in 2018, I'm sure)
• New charities:  10 (this year, all of my donations to liberal causes, instead of too many theater tickets, kept me broke more than usual, but it was worth it)
• Tweets:  374 (that's down a bit, I need to work on that)
• Trips for work:  4

Here are my 2017 Favorite Theater Pieces.  These are in chronological-ish order, with a couple of my especial favorites in photos at the end...

• Jitney
• Dolphins and Sharks
• The View Upstairs
• Sunday in the Park with George
• A Doll's House, Part 2
• Red Scare on Sunset
• Somebody's Daughter
• Cost of Living
• Bella: An American Tall Tale
• Assassins
• The King of the Yees
• The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
• Pipeline
• The Red Letter Plays
• The Band's Visit
• M Butterfly
• Terms of My Surrender
• Describe the Night
• Once On This Island
• Honorable mentions to My Favorite Year at 54 Below, The Red Shoes and returns to Dear Evan Hansen, Street Theater, Sweat and Indecent
• Extra honorable mention to seeing the film Finding Babel and attending the post-screening panel discussion between Rajiv Joseph, director David Novack, and Val Vinokur, who has just published a new translation of some of Babel's short stories.  I loved learning more about Isaac Babel (a pivotal character in Rajiv's Describe the Night) and hearing those three passionate, brilliant gentlemen talk about their art was inspiring.  I felt so much smarter after their wonderful words and I maybe cried on the way home about how lucky I am to live in NYC with access to such amazing events.

And, again, thankfully, I had so much good food and drink, I had to do my Top 2017 Food and Beverage Experiences!  These are randomly ordered, with the beverages at the end (oh, man, looking at these photos is making me hungry and thirsty!):

• avocado toast and shrimp tempura at Blue Dog Kitchen
• bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at Eggslut (Los Angeles)
• artisinal bacon tasting platter at Bar Bacon
• ceviche at Thalia
• duck wontons at Tree
• pan con tomate at Jaleo (Washington DC)
• lamb sausage dumplings at MP Taverna
• margherita pizza at Sottocasa
• mini lobster rolls at Joe's Pub
• pickled rockfish with green papaya at Convivial (Washington DC)
• roasted chicken at Jams
• sacher torte at Cafe Sabarsky
• short rib agnolotti at Charlie Palmer Steak
• steak tacos at Public School 310 (Culver City)
• sweet corn arancini at Irvington
• tagliatelle with summer squash and burrata at Lupa
• tocinello de cielo at Amada
• ribeye steak, with carmelized balsamic onions and havarti, sandwich at Capital Grille
• honey wagon at Bar Bacon
• killer bee at The Stinger
• marshmallow latte at Caroline's (Austin)
• matador at Amada
• Mexican mule at Iron Cactus (Austin)
• the cobbler at Blue Dog Kitchen

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!  To quote one of my favorite holiday stories, god bless us, every one.  See you again soon...

Holiday Auto-Post: Plays I Wish I Could See Again

Hi, everyone!  I've hopefully made it home for the holidays, safe and sound.  I hope you are all safe and sound as well.  I know I haven't been posting as much lately; I hope to fix that in 2018.  I quite literally ran out of funds - plans are afoot to stop that from happening again.  I was fortunate to attend a couple of free events recently, but I think my brain is also cash-poor, so I didn't post anything.  Though one of the events was one of my favorite outings of last year.  Maybe I should focus on that.  Moving on.

For now, I've got a couple of auto-posts coming up.  I've been thinking about Horton Foote and his plays lately, who knows why?  But I don't think I've ever posted my reviews of his three-part Orphans' Home Cycle, which played in 2010.  I'm sorry the transfer gossip I refer to never came to pass.  Randomly, I had a dream the other night about one of the scenes, so I decided to share this review.  I hope you enjoy and think back fondly on his work, too...

2/26/10:  I finally saw Parts One and Two of Horton Foote’s The Orphans’ Home Cycle.  I was fortunate enough to randomly get a free ticket to Part Three last month, so I already knew how it ‘ended’, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the first parts in the least.  In fact, I’m kinda thinking of going back to see Part Three again.

This cycle of plays is being given a lovely, centered production that emphasizes the strengths and rather overlooks the flaws of each piece.  I think the cycle has been beautifully directed by Michael Wilson and the cast is truly remarkable.  They all play more than one character, and each character is sharply detailed and lovingly drawn.  Even the less-than-desirable characters are warmly and sympathetically played.

Each part begins with sliding panels and a backdrop of a beautiful expansive vista.  Then our characters move in and around the panels, especially our main character Horace Robedaux.  We see him as a twelve-year-old, then as a fourteen-year-old, then as an adult.  The sliding panels reveal and conceal all three Horaces quite beautifully.  Projections tell us which play we’re seeing and in what year it’s taking place.  I think they’ve done an excellent job of keeping a lot of unwieldy details under control.  

Part One is called The Story of a Childhood and includes the three short plays “Roots in a Parched Ground,” “Convicts” and “Lily Dale.”  We first meet young Horace, running back and forth between his maternal and paternal grandparents’ houses, trying to keep the piece with both families.  When his father dies, his world changes forever, and the rest of the cycle deals with how Horace navigates his life and tries to finally find a home.  

There’s a very rich, everyday feel to the proceedings, but everything is also tinged with sadness and regret.  I can’t really describe how moved I was by the whole thing.  I was just so taken by this boy who is forgotten and neglected by everyone, yet still finds it within himself to achieve happiness.  It was so real and conversational, yet very profound.

Part Two is called The Story of a Marriage and includes the three short plays “The Widow Claire,” “Courtship” and “Valentine’s Day.”  Here, we see Horace trying to make something of himself and beginning to try to find the partner and helpmate that will complete him.  His continuing struggle to find himself and his declarations of love and commitment are incredibly moving.  Part Three is called The Story of a Family and consists of “1918,” “Cousins” and “The Death of Papa,” and here we see how Horace finally realizes that he’s a part of something bigger than himself.  

Each of the actors playing Horace (Dylan Riley Snyder, Henry Hodges and Bill Heck) are amazing, especially Heck.  He plays Horace from 20 years old to nearly 40, and he is spot on with each age.  Considering I saw him play the oldest version of Horace first, I was really taken with how specific he was as the younger Horace.  But all three gents have obviously worked together a lot, because they share the same cadences, a lot of the same personal quirks and physical movements—they’re really a wonderfully integrated trio.

photo credit: T. Charles Erickson (from the Hartford production)

All of the actors are wonderful, but I was rather partial to James DeMarse as the eventual father-in-law to Horace, and Lucas Caleb Rooney, who plays several incarnations of dissolute cousins to Horace.  I think Bryce Pinkham as Horace’s wastrel brother-in-law is quite good, too.  I will say that poor Devon Abner is saddled with two of the worst wigs I’ve ever seen in my life, but he does play several characters wonderfully.  Oh, and Hallie Foote is sublime in all of her roles, as usual.  She is always as singularly wonderful an actor as her father was a writer.

Dramaturgically, there are maybe a few problems.  Each of the one-act plays has been pared down to about an hour, so sometimes things fly by and you feel like your head is spinning because so many events take place in a short amount of time.  It especially happens during Part Three, where a LOT of things have to happen before the end.  Though so much of Part Three is so moving, you kind of forgive the problems.  At least I did.


I think you all know that I’m partial to Horton Foote—I just love his view of the world and his telling of these personal stories that still resonate with a universality I find breathtaking.  So, you won’t be surprised to hear that I give these plays a HUGE thumbs up!  I hear rumors of a transfer, but I’m not sure they would work in a bigger space.  I think the intimacy of the Signature space is perfect.  Oh, I know these ‘slice of life’ kind of plays aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I definitely feel they’re worth a look.  I think this production is a fitting tribute to a wonderful writer—I hope they’re the first in a long line of revivals of Horton Foote’s work, so I can continue to enjoy these people for many years to come…

Return visit to Describe the Night and other thoughts

I know, I know, I'm a broken record.  I enjoy plays by particular authors.  Sue me.  Sometimes, I just find it hard to believe that I know such amazing writers.  That these incredible creations come out of brains of people I know.  It makes me want to cry sometimes.  Moving on.  Because the Atlantic Theater Company is doing plays by two of my favorite authors this season, I bought a mini-subscription.  I saw the third preview of Describe the Night by Rajiv Joseph via TDF because I just couldn't wait until my subscription ticket night.  Which was a few nights ago.  I think he's still working, so I'll only offer a few more thoughts than I did before.

I've often said I love big, bold, messy epic plays and Describe the Night rather fits that bill.  It's three acts just crammed full of history and fascinating people.  Rajiv takes huge big ideas and leaps of faith, and turns them into personal, yet still universal, stories.  He tells stories using real people from history as a starting off point, but then weaves and molds and moves them into such unexpected places.  There is so much beauty and pain and anguish in Describe the Night, along with gorgeous writing and moments of joy.  As I said before, there is one scene that I truly wish could've lasted forever - the magic of the writing, the story and the acting was perfectly complete to me.  Not all scenes achieved that for me, though, but I think that's on me.

from the Atlantic's website

I've also mentioned ad infinitum that there are particular stories or plot points that I just don't respond to, or stories that just hit too close to home.  In the interweaving of the co-mingling stories in Describe the Night, there was one piece that my brain and heart just kept at arms' length, so it wouldn't hurt too much.  And I think that's what kept me from having as emotional an experience as I generally would at one of Rajiv's plays.  I can intellectualize that from a distance, I frequently have to.  But the parts of the play I DID respond to - truth vs lies; the responsibilities of storytellers; how we're all connected to each other in this world throughout time - were incredibly fulfilling.  I know I haven't really shared all that much about story, but the way the play unfolds is part of its pleasures.  I think you should experience it for yourself. 

Yes, Describe the Night features terrifically expansive and heady stuff, but there is also a lot of heart and humor in the piece.  At this second viewing, I think I noticed some changes in the opening scene, which made it even better than the first time I saw the show, and there was another scene late in the play that seemed to me even sharper and more pointed than before.  I love seeing the evolution of work, and I've convinced myself I could see where some adjustments happened.  I'm probably not that clever, but I like to pretend to myself that I am.  The acting, for the most part, is quite good (there is one performer I just couldn't connect to) and the physical design is first-rate.  I'm so glad I went back to see the play again and I encourage all of you to see it.  And I'm already excited about what Rajiv might bring us next.

I also saw another new play recently, but I don't really have anything nice to say about it, so I guess I'll leave the negativity off this page.  I do wonder, however, that if I knew and liked the playwright, would I have liked the play more?  Can I be truly objective for plays written by people I know?  I've already admitted that thinking about the talent of writers whom I call friends can make me cry, so...I wonder.  I guess it's certainly something to ponder.  Maybe as long as I continue to present my prejudices up front, that's enough.

Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone is having a terrific day, filled with friends and family and yummy food.  I'm a little bummed I can't be with my family this year, but it was too hella expensive to get there - I'm thankful I'll be going home for two whole weeks at Christmas, though!  And I’m a little bummed it’s not LAST Thanksgiving, when I was with so many dear ones - we had a tour of a winery and a cooking lesson in Tuscany!  But being thankful for that trip reminds me to get in gear for another trip in 2018.  My frequent flyer miles are slowly but surely getting back up to where they need to be (thank you, work trips!), so I’m hoping to get out of town some day soon.  You'll see photos of the towns I'm seriously considering for next year at the bottom of the post.

Thanks to my new therapist (who will make an appearance below), I remember that I do have some things I’m thankful for this year, even amongst all the things that bring me down.  Thinking about thankfulness is always a good way to raise the spirits.  Oh, and hey, that reminds me - I’m thankful for YOU!  I would never have imagined so many people would read my silly thoughts!  Please always remember how much I appreciate you…

So, in no particular order, I present the stuff I’m supremely thankful for in 2017 (hey, it's  a pretty long list this year, woo hoo!):

• my wonderful family, most especially my superspecial nephew;
• my aunt Brenda's improving health;
• my other/chosen family – darling GNO + 2 and the Coterie;
• my co-workers, who put up with all my nonsense;
• watching my Roger win the Australian Open and Wimbledon;
• Paula Vogel and Indecent;
• margaritas;
• tennis week;
• the Seamless app;
• Street Theater;
• dark chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cups;
• Facebook birthdays;
• Charles Busch;
• egg and cheese sandwiches;
• producing events that honor people/writers I love;
• my friendly neighborhood drop-off/pick-up laundromat;
• getting back to teaching (and the students who make it worthwhile);
• TDF;
• my Nook;
• my beautiful goddaughters;
• AIDS Walk NY;
• the NY Times crossword app;
• Restaurant Week;
• Big Gay Ice Cream;
• watching dear ones win awards;
• Febreze plug-ins;
• old boyfriends who have remained friends and can still make me feel special;
• expressing my political views on Twitter;
• my new work office;
• Murray's Cheese stand in Grand Central;
• Facebook photos of all the adorable new babies in my extended family;
• avocado toast;
• Summer Fridays;
• my therapist;
• hugging so many of my dear Fellows at their shows/readings/concerts;
• Snoopy memes;
• my Roku;
• generous Tony voter friends;
• ginger beer;
• the My Favorite Year original Off-Broadway cast album;
• getting to go on so many fun work trips;
• finding La Spinetta wines at my neighborhood wine stores;
• Starbucks chocolate-covered madeleines;
• my superspecial nephew (he deserves two mentions because I love him so much)

last Thanksgiving!

he's a pip!

Thoughts on Junk, Describe the Night and Once on This Island

I'm in a theater-going frenzy at the moment - I don't know why I do this to myself, but I'm again seeing too many shows in a short frame of time.  I saw three shows last weekend , one last night and I have two more coming up; I'll offer a few thoughts on just a few...

I'm very grateful to a Tony-voter friend for taking me to see Ayad Akhtar's Junk at Lincoln Center.  I enjoyed Akhtar's play Disgraced (you can remind yourself of my review HERE), though my overall favorable impression got me into some hot water with another Tony-voter friend.  Ah well.  I had a vague idea of the plot of Junk, but I had purposefully stayed away from reviews, figuring I'd get to see the play eventually.

Junk takes place in the 1980s, in the world of high-states finance and junk bonds.  It's pretty heady, with talk of investments, takeovers, debt ratios, and insider trading.  Among other financial things.  I will admit that I know next to nothing about anything relating to finance, so when details of the illegal money transactions were being described, it was as if the characters were speaking Greek.  I mean, it was very clearly laid out, but it was still utterly foreign to me.  Such greed and venality is of little to no interest because it is so utterly distasteful to me, so although I was relatively engaged by the high production values, committed acting and smart dialogue, I was ultimately left with a 'why'.  Why this topic, why now?

photo credit: T. Charles Erickson

Why are seeing a play about so many rich white men?  And why was it a play and not a movie?  I'm just unsure as to what current human experience is illuminated by this play.  It may be there and I'm just not seeing it.  But I will say the production is attractively presented, very neat and tidy in its execution.  Well, I found one thing untidy: similar to the theory 'if you see a gun onstage, somebody better use it,' there was one plot point that kept coming up, a question that was continually asked of one of the characters.  AND IT WAS NEVER ANSWERED.  That was annoying, especially since I wasn't completely keen on the play anyway.  But the guys in the row in front of us LOVED IT.  In fact, after the show was over, and they stood up for a standing ovation (my friend and I did not indulge), one turned around and said, "Did you like that?"  I smiled politely and said "Yes, thank you," with little enthusiasm, which seemed to dampen his spirits.  Perhaps he was considering asking my friend and me to join him for celebratory drinks or something.  I don't know.  It was pretty funny.

Other in-theater occurrences:  there was a set or sound cue malfunction right at the top of the show.  I was unsure if it was part of the play or not, but I guess it wasn't.  And in the second act, there was a dreaded cell phone.  I heard a noise and thought, "That's an odd place for a sound cue," but the noise just kept happening, pretty much through the entire second act.  The audience around the perpetrator kept rumbling and making noise, so it was a constant, low-level disruption that was an annoyance, but not a total disturbance.  I do wonder how the actors can maintain their focus when a third of the audience is focused on a cell phone, but that's why they're the pros, I guess.

Sunday, I had to go into the office most of the day to finish up a project that I just never seem to have time to finish during the week, so I decided to treat myself after work and went to see an early preview of Rajiv Joseph's Describe the Night at the Atlantic Theatre.  I believe you all already know how much I admire Rajiv's work (you can remind yourself of a few of my reviews HERE and HERE).  He's such a favorite playwright of mine that I actually have a ticket for a performance later this month, but I guess I just couldn't wait to see what was going on.  I saw the third preview, though, so I'll only offer a few thoughts.

Here's the official description of the play, from the Atlantic's website:  "In 1920, the Russian writer Isaac Babel wanders the countryside with the Red Cavalry. Seventy years later, a mysterious KGB agent spies on a woman in Dresden and falls in love. In 2010, an aircraft carrying most of the Polish government crashes in the Russian city of Smolensk. Set in Russia over the course of 90 years, this thrilling and epic new play traces the stories of seven men and women connected by history, myth and conspiracy theories."

borrowed from the Atlantic's Facebook page

Exciting, yes?  Big, big stuff.  The description even uses the word 'epic.'  So my first thought is that the ushers shouldn't be telling all of the patrons, sometimes more than once, as they walk into the theater, that the show is three hours long.  I heard every person around me, as they were sitting down, say "Ugh, three hours," in a negative-sounding way.  I'm not exaggerating, every person who sat down after me said it.  That bothered me - these people already had a negative feeling, almost like defeat, about the play, even before it started.  I totally get the impulse for the ushers to tell people they should use the bathroom early and often, but I could just feel people's deflation as they sat down to watch the play.  It was frustrating for me.  I read the synopsis, so I figured this wasn't a short piece, and when I hear "it's three hours," I'm usually excited, because I love a three-act play!  I just do, whether it's in perfect shape or not.  I love the time used to build the structure, I love the way I can get to know the characters, and live in the world more freely, without being rushed.

Not that Describe the Night is in perfect shape yet, I don't think it is.  It's smart, it's interesting, it's bold and has a lot of humor.  Most of the acting is terrific.  But I'll be honest and say I didn't have the powerful emotional response I usually have after one of Rajiv's plays (though my pulse did quicken as the third act hurtled to a conclusion).  But, then again, there were some scenes where I honestly thought I could listen to those characters talk forever.  And there's one mental image that is still in the front of my brain, two days later.  So I think it's on its way to something pretty special, it just needs some time to get there.  I love a big play with big ideas and stories I don't hear anywhere else.  I'm looking forward to seeing Describe the Night again, to see how it's grown and changed, so I'm glad I went to see it early.  I'll report on my feelings more in-depth after I see it again.  But you should probably go ahead and get tickets anyway, since based on track record, you won't regret it...

Finally, I've already told you the story, multiple times, about the first time I saw Once on This Island, blah blah blah.  Well, the handsome friend with whom I saw the original Broadway production is in town this week, and last night he very generously took me to see the revival of this perfect little jewel of a musical.  Again, we saw an early preview, so I won't say a lot, because there may be changes and because I don't want to spoil anything for you.

I LOVED IT OH MY GOD I LOVED IT PLEASE GO PLEASE GO PLEASE GO.  Ok, there are most of my thoughts.  When I say I started crying sometime during the opening number, and just kind of kept sobbing (happily) throughout, I'm not exaggerating.  Oh, and I was making ugly cry noises by the end.  I was nervous that nothing could ever live up to my memories of that original production, but oh, my expectations were met and more.  This revival of Once on This Island is simply glorious, filled with love and joy and hope.  It was exactly what I needed to see and I can see myself returning many times.  The cast is spectacular, the concept is terrific, and honestly, just everything is beautiful.  There were so many wonderful things, I can't even single any one thing out.  The cast is working beautifully together and it was just a joy and delight to see this show with my dear old friend.  After our standing ovation, I probably embarrassed him by throwing my arms around him for a big hug - I just had to share all the happiness I was feeling.  Please, everyone, go see this.  It must run forever.

Happy Throwback Thursday, Italy-style!

Hello, all!  I have quite a few shows coming up, thanks to some generous friends, so keep checking for those updates.  But today I just wanted to pop by and do a fun photo post.  It's almost a year since I went to Italy with my dear dear ones, so as a Throwback Thursday sort of deal, I present the photos from my Google Photos album called 'Tutti.'  You've seen some of these group photos already, but some of them are new to you.  I'm just feeling my Thanksgiving thankfulness a little early - I'm thankful I could go to Italy and have such an amazing experience, and I'm thankful to have such special wonderful friends to have shared it with.  We don't get to hang out nearly often enough and I miss their faces.  They're also wonderful photographers, so of course I've stolen their pics for my post (the pics are in location order, I think, if not necessarily exact chronological order).  It's been fun to look at them today and smile...