2019 By the Numbers

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope you're having fun and staying safe, wherever you are.  This year, I think I want to celebrate instead of worry.  I don't want to think about all of the horrible people who want to enrich themselves and make everyone else suffer.  I want to imagine all of them in prison, with no toothpaste or toilet paper.  And...oh, wait.  I said I didn't want to worry.  And thinking mean things make me worry.  About myself.  I'll start to think happy thoughts (though imagining certain people in prison IS a happy thought) for the coming year.  And yes, maybe I'm still waiting for that date.  Just one.  What could it hurt??  And a nice trip abroad, that would be nice, too.  With a date.  Oops, I shouldn't be greedy.  Anyway.  If you’re still reading, here’s how my 2019 stacked up:

• Theater visits: 78 (oh dear, that's way down from last year; I need to eat my Wheaties or something)
• Shows written by women:  35 (not complete parity, I can do better)
• Shows written by writers of color:  37 (ditto)
• Shows/concerts/events by my darling Fellows:  16 (this is also down, I need to try harder. or find a sugar daddy.)
• Ballet visits: 10
• New e-books:  21 (six are still in my reading queue)
• New book books:  7 (mostly courtesy of amazing bookstores in work trip locations)
• Readings/workshops: 6 (yikes, this is WAY down)
• Concerts/cabarets: 7
• Tennis events:  0 (oh dear, that's sad; please don't tell my darling Roger Federer)
• Award presentations:  3
• Conferences: 2
• Panel discussions: 7
• Continuing education classes:  4
• New museums: 2
• New castles: 1 (thanks, Edinburgh!)
• New cathedrals: 1 (thanks, Edinburgh!) 
• New restaurants:  11 (thank you, work trips!)
• Movies:  4 (that's skimpy, even for me)
• Protest marches:  0 (bad feet; I have much guilt)
• New charities:  17 (hey, at least something went up!)
• Tweets:  359
• Trips for work:  4 (woo hoo!)

Here are my 2019 Favorite Theater experiences.  These are in no particular order, with a few of my especial favorites in photos (which are also in no particular order) after...

• Secret Identity
• Surely Goodness and Mercy
• Wolf Play
• Passage
• Burn This
• Promenade
• A Strange Loop
• Toni Stone
• Bar Dykes
• the way she spoke
• Power Strip
• Soft Power
• Fun Home (in Evanston)
• The Half Life of Marie Curie
• Fefu and Her Friends

photo credit: Joan Marcus

photo credit: Craig Schwartz

photo credit: Henry Grossman

photo credit: Julieta Cervantes

photo credit: David Kinder

photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

photo credit: Joan Marcus

photo credit: Joan Marcus

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

photo credit: mikiodo

photo credit: mikiodo

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

**Special mentions to my return visit to What the Constitution Means to Me, which was just as devastating and wonderful the second time around; 'Bugs Bunny in Concert', because, hello, Bugs Bunny; Street Theater, which I saw twice in production again this year and I loved loved loved it each time, which you already knew; I also saw Dael Orlandersmith's Until the Flood twice in productions outside NY, it was just as amazing every time; the Actors Fund performance of The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and Charles' 54 Below concert Native New Yorker, because I'm such a Charles Busch fan, and it felt SO GOOD to laugh; Crisis Actor, a fascinating, hard-to-describe play I saw at the Laurie Beechman Theatre; The Rest I Make Up, the documentary about Maria Irene Fornes; and Shaina Taub's and the Lazour brothers' cabarets at Joe's Pub.  Delightful evenings, all.**

And, again, thankfully, I had so much good food and drink, I had to do my Top 2019 Food and Beverage experiences!  Oooo, for the first time, cocktails outnumber the meals - oops!  I guess I really am making up for lost drinking time!  These are randomly-ish ordered, with the beverages at the end.  I'll just share one favorite photo, since it's a  favorite and it's also very festive.  I wish for more yummy food, more strong cocktails, MUCH more theater and fun in the year to come - happy happy 2020, everyone! 

• entire meal, but especially the Gulab Nut, at Bombay Bread Bar
• cassoulet at Bobo
• crab beignets at Burke and Wills
• lobster agnolotti at a Cena (Portland, OR)
• creamed farro at Clyde Common (Portland, OR)
• pork tonkatsu at Danya food truck (Portland, OR)
• brown sugar sour cream ice cream with rhubarb jam at Ruby Jewel (Portland, OR)
• lobster roll at Off the Hook
• watermelon feta salad at Pangea
• Eton mess at Sheep Heid Inn (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• jajic at Pomegranate (Edinburgh)
• pulled pork sandwich at Oink (Edinburgh)
• the dalliance cocktail at The Stinger
• tamarind margarita at Bombay Bread Bar
• rosada sangria at Boqueria
• ten percent weird cocktail at Burke and Wills
• long goodbye cocktail at Clyde Common (Portland)
• margarita noble at Ty Bar (Four Seasons Hotel)
• champagne punch at Bar Boulud
• spanish conquest at Blue Dog Cafe
• dark forest at Off the Hook
• peach bellini at Cipriani Wall Street
• Edinburgh mist at Saint Giles Cafe and Bar (Edinburgh)
• cactus pear margarita at etc.etc.
• floodfall cocktail at Juniper

Merry Christmas!

May your days be merry and bright, my online friends!

Holiday Auto-Post: A Promised Review

Happy holidays, everyone!  To fill the holiday lull, I promised I would share this old review I wrote for some chums in the pre-blog days.  I admit it - I want to see new works by women and writers of color, but I would also love to see a new production of this play.  The transfer I mentioned DID happen!  The play sadly only ran a few months on Broadway, but it did get nominated for a Best Play Tony and Hallie Foote got a nom, too.  I would truly love to experience it again.

10/24/07:  I saw the new Horton Foote play at Primary Stages last night.  LOVED IT.  I’ll just say that I always love me a Horton Foote play.  I do realize, however, that some people equate watching Horton Foote plays to watching paint dry.  I find those people ridiculous.  I am not of that persuasion. 

Gerry Schoenfeld and Roger Berlind were there last night, so I wonder if a transfer is in the works.  I can certainly see it doing pretty well in a small-ish house.  The audience was just eating it up last night and there was a huge standby line outside the theater when I got there.

It’s just a wonderfully made play about delightfully eccentric people.  Well, that describes most of Horton’s plays, doesn’t it?!  But, as always, these are people you immediately recognize and take to your hearts, warts and all.  I once told Horton how much my mom and I loved his plays and how he seems to be writing about our family and he just smiled.  Everyone thinks he’s writing about their family!  Because these people are so universal without being stereotypical.  It’s just such lyrical, gentle, accomplished writing.

The play is about, funnily enough, dividing an estate, and the action all takes place in the family homestead in Texas.  But it’s also about family and learning to love people as they are.  The dialogue is just so true, from the arguments about which cousin married the drunkard, to which hymns should be played at which funerals.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

All of the actors were grand, from Elizabeth Ashley on down (I firmly believe Ms. Ashley met my great-grandmother and based the portrayal on her), but the person that registered the strongest to me was, surprisingly, Gerald McRaney.  He just broke my heart as the n’er-do-well son.  I was so moved by his performance and it surprised me because I don’t normally like him that much on screen.  I don’t dislike him, but he doesn’t really resonate for me, I guess.  But he sure did last night.  Maybe he touched me because I had a great-uncle like him, charming, handsome, and...an alcoholic n'er-do-well.  We don't even know what happened to Uncle James, he just disappeared one day and was never heard from again, which seems rather like a Horton Foote character development to me.

Everyone is good, though, although some of the younger actors perhaps were a little less lived-in with their roles, but it didn’t bother me.  I was a tiny bit thrown off, though, by one of the actor’s appearance—he looked way too old to be Elizabeth Ashley’s grandson (and Penny Fuller’s son), but oh well.

The whole show really had me at hello—the pre-show music started off with some hymns and immediately I’m taken back to my childhood and singing with my grandparents.  The warm fuzzy feeling lasted all night and I’m so happy I got to see this play.  I hope it finds another place to run so that more people can have the experience.

Review - A Christmas Carol on Broadway

Whoops, I know I said The Inheritance was my last theatrical experience of the year, but I totally forgot that my other Tony voter boss was taking me to a show Friday night!  What can I say, my brain is swiss cheese.  Anyway, my last theatrical experience of 2019 was actually a trip to A Christmas Carol, which is currently running on Broadway, starring Campbell Scott.

You all know I love the story of Christmas Carol and you probably remember that I have a particular fondness for my friend Kevin Jones' production at Merchant House Museum (I'm sad I couldn't find the time to see it this year - remind yourself of how much I love it HERE and HERE).  Since that production is so faithful to Dickens' text, I had a few issues with all of the additions and reconceptions by this production's adapter, but it all came together for me by the end.

This production was extremely well-received in England for the past couple of years - it uses live musicians, story-telling ensemble members, and some audience participation.  When we arrived, we were greeted by Tim (not to be confused with Tiny Tim, he told us), who offered us clementines and pre-show cheer.  As the pre-show continued, other cast members were throwing bags of Tates cookies into the audience.  I told Tim I was having a flashback to the production of Nicholas Nickleby that I was a part of, where youngsters threw fruit AT the stage, instead of from it.  He couldn't promise it wouldn't happen during this show, either.  His charm was a little forced, but it did start the evening off on a light note.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

The stage featured scads of lights and lanterns around, both above the stage and on it.  I thought the lighting effects were superb throughout.  The set was mainly door frames that lifted up and down from the stage, and boxes that came up out of the stage floor to represent desks, tables, and other set pieces.  I thought the spare set was used very well, but the lighting was used best of all.  The acting company was all very good, especially Andrea Martin as the Ghost of Christmas Past and LaChanze as the Ghost of Christmas Present.  In fact, I wish we could've seen more of them - most of the scenes were Campbell Scott both looking back at scenes and commenting on them, but also participating in them.  I did think it was effective seeing Campbell Scott as both the awful Scrooge and the person he was before, but I missed the Ghosts' participation as well.

Campbell Scott was terrific, though, a more-vigorous Scrooge than you sometimes see, but one you see has been defeated by life and has become a terrible person through that defeat.  I gather that the adapter of this version is interested in exploring father-son relationships and how the sins of the past can affect the present.  So, in this production, the cold, abusive father is the catalyst for Scrooge's descent into miserhood.  It's all a bit on-the-nose, and takes a few liberties with the original story, yet I was completely on board by the end.  I found this production's use of the Ghost of Christmas Future very moving and everything was tied together very beautifully.  Campbell Scott's turn was then touchingly authentic.

I was also incredibly moved by the performance of Jai Ram Srinivasan as Tiny Tim - a young actor with cerebral palsy, Srinivasan found all of the pathos and joy of Tiny Tim without descending into schmaltz or stereotype.  The final scene between Tiny Tim and Scrooge was truly beautiful.  And then the coda, with the magic of stage snow and carols played by hand bells, sent us out into the night with the warmth and charm of the holidays, having witnessed a person who thinks of money and only of himself, finally understand that they are of the world and in the world, and is responsible for more.  It was a beautiful message for this time of year and for this time in our history, I think.  I'm glad this was my capper to 2019.  God bless us, every one.

Review - The Inheritance

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to see The Inheritance - it came from London with such hype that discounts weren't immediately available.  Plus, as a two-part play, logistics become that much more difficult.  Strangely though, ticket demand isn't as high here as it was in London and discount offers abound, though I still hadn't hurried to get a ticket, mainly due to negative word-of-mouth amongst people whose opinion I generally trust (other trustworthy friends raved, though, for full disclosure).  My generous Tony-voter boss invited me to join her, since we were both reluctant to go and reluctant to NOT go; we figured we were each other's perfect seat neighbors.  Wednesday was the day and I watched both parts of The Inheritance in one day.  Nearly seven hours of theater.  And I lived to tell the tale.

To get down to brass tacks, I'm glad I saw The Inheritance - I laughed a lot and I cried.  A LOT.  I actually wish I had been more prepared for the final scene of the first part; I was quite nearly completely undone.  Even Ralph Fiennes seemed to look on me with pity (more on him later).  The nearly seven hours flew by and I enjoyed the experience of seeing both plays very much.  Maybe my back didn't, it really started to ache by the end.  But I probably could've done more to stretch it out during the intermissions.  I will also say that I thought part one was significantly better than part two, but maybe that's just me.

Clearly, a play that's 'inspired' by EM Forster's Howards End is going to be in my wheelhouse.  A play that's about New York and New Yorkers, and about the LGBTQ experience is going to be in my wheelhouse.  A big messy play, with big ideas, is going to be in my wheelhouse.  So all signs pointed towards my finding The Inheritance a satisfying theatrical experience.  And it was, for the most part, especially during the throes of seeing it.  Maybe thinking about it after has been less satisfying.

For me, the storytelling parts of the play were most successful - I thought the parallels and deviations from Howards End were quite innovative, delightful, and very often moving.  The characters were involving and the acting was fantastic.  The 'I'm telling an important story' parts of the play were less successful.  Whether it was actually there or not, I felt the author telling me that his play was important and I felt the actors telling me that the play was important.  You know what I mean - a certain tone or performance behavior spills into the proceedings and it's not about the story anymore.  Anyway, I felt that sporadically during the presentations and I found those moments unsatisfying, though they didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the piece. 

photo credit: Matthew Murphy

Watching how the story unfolds and how certain characters and situations mirror situations from Howards End is part of the delight of The Inheritance, so I'm reluctant to share much plot.  I guess I'll say that the play begins with a bunch of young men, trying to write, and the 'spirit' of EM Forster arrives and helps them begin and edit the story they're all trying to tell.  What follows is a mishmash of direct address, scenework, and commentary on what's happening.  Who begins the story and who ends it was a surprise to me, though I was unsure if a particular character earned their status by the end (oh, do you hate me for being vague?!?!).  I was absorbed throughout by the (mostly) sparkling dialogue and engaging performances (most especially Kyle Soller as Eric and John Benjamin Hickey [an absolute treasure of the American theater] as Henry Wilcox).  And speaking of absolute treasures of the American theater, Lois Smith is DIVINE.  I had actually forgotten she was in the play and she arrived as a beautiful miracle.  But, really, the whole ensemble is first-rate.

Seeing a story, in this day and age, about the gay community and what they owe to each other, and how America as a whole is not living up to what it's supposed to be, was obviously quite moving to me.  I was reminded of dear friends who are no longer with us and I found myself identifying with different characters throughout.  The reminder of election night 2016 was seriously depressing, but the redemption and acceptance by the end of The Inheritance was glorious.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Because I'm me, of course I have to quibble: I will also say that although the cast is diverse, the main story being told is about a certain set of white men of privilege, and even though that privilege is called out, it doesn't change the fact that it's the focus of the story.  So that nagged at me afterwards.  The issues of class are frequently clumsily handled, in my opinion.  And, for me, the second part got repetitive and less emotionally engaging, but that could be because I was completely wrung out by the end of the first part.  Oh, and I had some difficulty with the severely graphic language, which seemed to be gratuitous, in my opinion.  Even the men in love can't describe the sex act less violently?  Even when they're lying?  But I digress.  I've already mentioned my quibbles with the 'look at me, I'm important' parts of the play, but I should balance my quibbles with gushing over the authentic humor sprinkled throughout, which made the devastations later on that much more profound.

Seat-neighbor-wise, most of the house was filled with people ready to see both parts, so we all settled in and got cozy with one another, knowing we'd be spending a lot of time together.  The delightful gents next to me found my dropped ear muffs and then patted my arm when I was so upset.  There are two intermissions in each part of The Inheritance and it wasn't until the second intermission of the first part when I looked to my right and saw Ralph Fiennes in the row in front of me.  I turned to my generous Tony voter boss and said (a little too loudly), "Oh my god, it's Ralph Fiennes!"  We then had a little conversation about getting way too excited over star sightings.  When we all returned for the evening performance of the second part, I don't think I'm imagining that Ralph and I made eye contact and I think he looked concerned about my well-being.  That's how I choose to interpret things and I'm sticking to it.   

There were quite a few people in the audience who clearly had no knowledge of Howards End or EM Forster, because when a few direct plot points happened, you could hear "NO!" or "WHY?!" or "Oh my god!"  Oh, and there was a line about Actors Equity that made someone laugh REALLY LOUDLY, so then the rest of the audience laughed, too. OH, and another thing, during the first intermission, when people checked their cell phones, you could hear a lot of emergency tones going off, telling us about the weather.  Unfortunately, not many people turned their phones back off, because that stupid alert was heard really throughout the second act of part one.  It was really annoying, but other than that, it was a really engaged audience who jumped to their feet at the end of part two.

I would definitely recommend The Inheritance to anyone, since it's directed and acted so magnificently (interestingly, there's a plot point [SPOILER ALERT] about a playwright whose play is presented on Broadway and the direction and acting get raves, but the script itself doesn't...hmmmm...).  There's a lot of intelligence, heart, humor, and sadness in this play (in a good theatrical way, of course).  If pressed, I would probably share my quibbles, but I would also rave about the astoundingly moving end of the first part, which can only come from a communal experience at a play in a theater.  So not a bad end to my theatergoing for 2019...

Better Late Than Never - A Post About Amazing Women Playwrights

I guess that 2019 has been the year of lazy blogging from me.  Here's hoping that 2020 will wake my brain back up.  I've recently seen two plays that kick some serious butt and they're both written by women.  So let's celebrate!

The day after Thanksgiving, I went with a beautiful gal pal to see Lauren Gunderson's The Half-Life of Marie Curie.  It's playing at the Minetta Lane Theatre as part of their Audible Theater series - plays are being presented on stage and also being turned into audiobooks.  I've already seen two in this series: Chisa Hutchinson's Proof of Love and Isaac Gomez's the way she spoke, and I greatly enjoyed them both.  I was thrilled to see another one of Lauren's plays - she's one of the most produced playwrights in America, but for some reason her plays don't always make it to NYC.  I enjoyed earlier productions of her plays I And You and Bauer, so I was really looking forward to this play.  I should also mention that I worked with Gunderson briefly many years ago and find her to be a delight.  So all signs pointed towards my enjoying the evening.

You bet I enjoyed it - it did not disappoint in the least!  I found The Half-Life of Marie Curie to be completely engrossing, with humor and pathos and science and passion.  It was just grand.  I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know much about Marie Curie's private life and I didn't know about Hertha Ayrton at all, but you can bet I started to learn more about them after seeing this play!

photo credit: Joan Marcus

A play about intelligent women scientists who won't allow the world to define them by men is just in my wheelhouse at the moment.  Having these women be smart, funny, romantic, and supportive was just icing on the cake.  Plus, Kate Mulgrew, as Hertha, and Francesca Faridany, as Marie, were both incredible, with beautiful chemistry (ha!) and incredible timing with this beautiful dialogue.  There was one stretch of dialogue that was just surpassingly beautiful about the joy of science and of 'proof.'  Gorgeous.  The play excellently educated and entertained throughout the evening - as soon as it was over, my beautiful gal pal and I said "We have to come back!"  There was so much to hear and enjoy - I'm glad the play has been made into an audiobook and can be listened to at any time, but watching the interaction between these two wonderful characters (and actresses) make it a must-see as well.  Get to the Minetta Lane Theatre, everyone.

One of the most celebrated, and neglected, woman playwrights in history is the late, great Maria Irene Fornes.  I talked about seeing the recent documentary about her, The Rest I Make Up and how I've read most of her plays but rarely see one.  Fefu and her Friends is considered one of her masterpieces and it is finally having a NY revival at Theatre for a New Audience.  Fefu really defies description - it is a play about women in a really singular way.  It's surreal, deconstructed, and used an early form of "environmental" staging.  In its original production, directed by Fornes herself, the production was performed in a Soho loft and after the first scene, it split the audience into four groups, who watched four separate scenes, in different rooms, up close and personally.  Theatre for a New Audience has replicated that experience - the audience sits in the standard theater format for the first scene where we're introduced to the characters and their situations, then we were split into four groups (I was in the green group) to watch four scenes in other locations in the theater.  After those four scenes, we came back together in the standard theater seats for the last scene.

photo credit: Gerry Goodstein

Like I said, this play rather defies description.  I feel as if trying to tell you 'about' the play will ruin your experience there.  There's a story, of course (the women have come together to discuss a fundraiser for arts education), but there's sort of no real plot.  We're learning about these women and how they exist in the world and with each other.  It's about these women, but also about how all women are forced to fend for themselves throughout their lives.  There are fantastical elements, domestic scenes, love thwarted and love rekindled. Some dialogue is achingly profound, and some is startlingly mundane.  Just like life.  The actresses have a great rapport and interact beautifully with each other.  The sets and costumes are divine and the care with which the show was directed is sublime.  From a purely technical standpoint, it must have been so difficult to get the timing of the four simultaneous scenes right - characters wander in and out of each other's stories at precisely the right moments.  I loved being able to hear all of the scenes at the same time - the repetition just heightened my enjoyment of each scene.  Well, for one incredible scene, we wore headsets so we could hear a character whose room was below the stage.  It was incredibly surreal and moving at the same time.

I guess I have a couple of quibbles: I will say that I found a couple of the actresses wanting, I might've been vaguely uneasy with the way disability was handled, and I was unfortunately extremely physically uncomfortable through much of the environmental staging.  I thought I had bought a 'seated' ticket, which would've allowed me to sit through all four scenes, but I guess I didn't.  I sat on a cushion on the ground for my first scene, which was a little uncomfortable, so I decided to stand for the second scene.  By the third scene, my back was in spasms, and I actually cheated and took a seat for the fourth scene (sorry to whoever was supposed to be sitting there - it stayed empty long enough for me to fall into it).  I would love to go back and try to experience the play again, but only if I could sit throughout.  I regret that my bad feet won't allow me to enjoy the play the way Fornes wanted me to, but I long to luxuriate again in that strange and wonderful world she created - I can only hope that other producers/theater companies are smart enough to take a chance and share more of her work with the world.  I beg you all to seek out these old and new plays, by and about women, to remind the powers-that-be that we all need to hear all of the voices in this great big beautiful theater world of ours.