What I Saw/What I'm Seeing

 Hello there!  As I continue to feel my way through my blogging hiatus, I thought I'd share with you the list of shows I saw last year (if they're still open, go see them!) and the shows I have tickets for this year (go see them!), along with other exciting titles announced so far that I hope to be able to see (you should go, too!).  I've added links to some of the titles, if you're interested in more information. Happy 2023!

2022

Addressless - Jonathan Payne

Becky Nurse of Salem - Sarah Ruhl

Birthday Candles - Noah Haidle

Bruise and Thorn - C. Julian Jimenez

A Case for the Existence of God - Samuel D Hunter

The Chinese Lady - Lloyd Suh

The Collaboration - Anthony McCarten

Confederates - Dominique Morisseau

Corsicana - Will Arbery

Cost of Living - Martyna Majok

Criminal Queerness Festival

Eva Luna - Caridad Svich

The Far Country - Lloyd Suh

Fat Ham - James Ijames

House of Chavis - Robert Macke

Into the Woods - Stephen Sondheim, James Lapine

K-POP - Jason Kim, Helen Park, Max Vernon

Kimberly Akimbo - David Lindsay-Abaire, Jeanine Tesori

Leopoldstadt - Tom Stoppard

Little Shop of Horrors - Howard Ashman, Alan Menken

The Lucky Star - Karen Hartman

The Magnificent Seven - Gordon Leary, Julia Meinwald

A Man of No Importance - Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, Terrence McNally

My Broken Language - Quiara Alegria Hudes

A Nagging Feeling Best Not Ignored - Roland Tec

New Golden Age - Karen Hartman

Ohio State Murders - Adrienne Kennedy

Once Upon a (Korean) Time - Daniel K Isaac

Parade - Jason Robert Brown, Alfred Uhry

Peerless - Jiehae Park

Prayer for the French Republic - Joshua Harmon

Queen - Madhuri Shekar

Skeleton Crew - Dominique Morisseau

Sandblasted - Charly Evon Simpson

soft - Donja R Love

A Strange Loop - Michael R Jackson

The Tattooed Lady - Max Vernon

Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks

The (Un)Admiring - Matthew Paul Olmos

The Vagrant Trilogy - Mona Mansour

Where the Mountain Meets the Sea - Jeff Augustin

Where We Belong - Madeline Sayet

Which Way to the Stage - Ana Noguerira

Wolf Play - Hansol Jung

2023 (already scheduled)

Colorado New Play Summit

Days of Wine and Roses - Adam Guettel, Craig Lucas

Elyria - Deepa Purohit

Forever After - Doric Wilson

King James - Rajiv Joseph

Parade - Jason Robert Brown, Alfred Uhry

Rock the Line - Kathleen Warnock

The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window - Lorraine Hasberry

Summer, 1976 - David Auburn

White Girl in Danger - Michael R Jackson

Wolf Play - Hansol Jung

Fingers Crossed for 2023 (I could sure use a lottery win right about now)

The Best We Could - Emily Friedman

black odyssey - Marcus Gardley

A Bright New Boise - Samuel D Hunter

The Coast Starlight - Keith Bunin

Dark Disabled Stories - Ryan J Haddad

A Doll's House - Amy Herzog

Endgame - Samuel Beckett

The Good John Proctor - Talene Monahon

The Harder They Come - Suzan-Lori Parks

Here Lies Love - David Byrne, Fatboy Slim

Lucy - Erica Schmidt

Plays for the Plague Year - Suzan-Lori Parks

Primary Trust - Eboni Booth

Public Obscenities - Sayok Misha Chowdhury

Sweeney Todd - Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler

The Thanksgiving Play - Larissa FastHorse

The Wanderers - Anna Ziegler

The Wife of Willesden - Zadie Smith

Happy Thanksgiving 2022!

 Hello, dear cyber-friends, have you missed me?!  I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I posted on this blog.  Once, this was the most important place for me to be.  If I wasn’t posting something silly, I was thinking about posting something silly.  Now, I’m still working through whether or not to continue what I started.  Eleven years IS a long time.  Maybe stopping is just the natural course of things.  But maybe something new will evolve - who knows?  So I'm still keeping my options open.  In the interest of feeling some forward motion, I decided to do a quick Thanksgiving post and share what I’m thankful for this year.  And maybe I’ll mention some shows I hope you go see over the holidays… 😍

However, this year, I’m starting with a negative.  I’m NOT thankful for my apartment building’s management team.  In September, we sadly had another loss in my family, which sent me home for just short of a month, and when I came back, a mouse had moved into my apartment.  I cannot get anyone - my super/assistant super/landlord/management company - to take me seriously to take care of this mouse.  I want it gone.  I want the hole where it entered gone.  In a past post about some of my irrational fears, I mentioned mice.  I meant it.  But I feel as if, yet again, I’m screaming, and no one is listening.  I’m not appreciating the condescending ‘oh, that’s just NY for you’ or ‘ha, girls are so silly!’ attitudes I’m getting.  I’m considering legal action at this point.  You’re supposed to feel warm and cozy in your own home; I just sit there in dread and fear, grinding my teeth and ready to cry.  I don’t sleep.  There’s no enjoyment there.  And I am also PISSED.  So it’s been a struggle to think of things I AM thankful for, but of course I could find some.  Of course I could.  How sad it would be to not be thankful for anything.

I’m monumentally thankful for:

• my wonderful parents;
• my fabulous sister; 
• my glorious nephew, I love him so much;
• my beautiful GNO gal pals AND our wonderful guy pals;
• my terrific extended family;
• all of my dear, darling friends who lift me up when I really need them to;
• my fun co-workers who consistently support me AND make me laugh;
• my beautiful goddaughters;
• my darling Fellows (AND their amazing work);
• Murray’s Cheese;
• Randy Rainbow;
• online shopping;
• the Calm app (it has REALLY come in handy during the unwanted-intruder-nonsense);
• Starbucks pink drink;
• Acorn TV;
• expanded access to free theater tickets;
• Shangela;
• Applegate charcuterie plates;
• Ted Lasso;
• the Nasty Suff cocktail at The Library in the Public Theater;
• Leah and Talk NYC;
• 54 Below;
• the Q101 bus;
• Parade original Broadway cast album;
• Plum Deluxe tea;
• the NY Times crossword puzzle app (I have finally succumbed to the siren song of Wordle);
• Milk Street;
• The Amazing Race;
• Jeopardy Amy;
• Copper Cow peppermint lattes;
• TDF;
• Apple music;
• Basil Brick Oven Pizza;
• subway OMNY payment;
• my ever-expanding liquor cabinet;
• Murder, She Wrote re-runs;
• theater companies who are continuing with mask mandates.

And as promised, a theater public service announcement:  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go see A Strange Loop (by Michael R Jackson), Kimberly Akimbo (by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire), Ohio State Murders (by Adrienne Kennedy), Topdog/Underdog (by Suzan-Lori Parks), Eva Luna (by Caridad Svich), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Jeff Augustin), and K-POP (by Helen Park, Jason Kim, Max Vernon).  These are amazing works; some brutal, some joyful; some magical and literate, some down-to-earth and real; all well worth your time and money.  Please buy tickets, show the powers-that-be that we want original, no-holds-barred, diverse, complex, and exciting work.  And wear your masks, please.  Stay safe and warm, my friends, and have a wonderful holiday season.

 

2021 By the Numbers

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope you're wearing a mask and staying safe, wherever you are.  I know I said I wouldn’t be posting for a long while (I’m working on some personal stuff right now), but I did want to share my stats for the year.  You know me and the stats.  I guess sharing the numbers will make me feel better about 2021 and also give me a push to do even better.  I’m grateful to live in a place that requires vaccination and masks inside theater venues (I wish they had that mandate in Ohio) and hopefully the world will right itself in 2022.  Of course, with nearly half the country becoming selfish jerks who care nothing for their neighbors, I often don’t have much hope.  But one can dream…

• Theatrical events: 29
• Shows written by women:  17
• Shows written by writers of color:  19
• Shows/concerts/events by my darling Fellows:  11
• Shows/concerts/ballets/events that were streaming:  22
• Ballet (in-person) visits: 1
• Ballet (streaming) visits: 2
• New e-books:  18 
• New book books:  8 
• Readings/workshops: 3
• Concerts/cabarets: 1
• Award presentations: 2
• Fundraisers:  3
• Memorial services:  3 (sadly)
• New charities:  8
• Tweets:  226 (that's down a bit, I need to work on that)

Food and cocktail-wise, I haven’t been out all that much, but I do want to shout out the Orchard Margarita at Boqueria, which is divine.  I also adored the cocktail I had at L'Express during a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, but I can't remember the name of it.  Shame on me.  More cocktails in 2022, please!  Take good care and hopefully we’ll all right our ships in 2022!  Happy New Year!

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2021

Hello, cyber-friends!  I can’t believe another year has gone by – time seriously has no meaning anymore.  But I offer my wishes to you all for a happy happy Thanksgiving.  This may be my last post for a long while; more on that later…  

I hope everyone is safe and warm and healthy and ready to enjoy a long weekend.  I know I am ready; my weekend is actually going to be extra-long, due to comp days after so much work for work.  Frankly, I’m exhausted.  I'm glad to be celebrating this year by staying with a lovely goddaughter, then sharing a fabulous meal with my dear friends. I hope that your day is filled with as much laughter and love and fun as I know mine will be.

As always, I have plenty of things to be thankful for this year, such as:

• my amazing parents;
• my wonderful sister; 
• my glorious pip of a nephew, I love him so much;
• my sweet Scooter, best doggie nephew ever;
• my beautiful GNO gal pals AND our wonderful guy pals/plus-two;
• my wonderful extended family, with the coolest aunts, uncles, and cousins around (more on them later);
• all of my dear, darling friends who lift me up daily;
• co-workers who make me laugh and lift me up daily;
• my beautiful goddaughters;
• Justin's dark chocolate mini peanut butter cups;
• Caroline, or Change original Broadway cast album;
• Great British Baking Show (hello, Chigs);
• Whole Foods same-day delivery;
• Leah and Talk NYC;
• Young Sheldon;
• my Twitter feed;
• Bob Evans' individual macaroni and cheese;
• the Q101 bus;
• Copper Cow coffee;
• Snoopy holiday pajamas;
• Stet! Dryer's English board game;
• Boqueria’s orchard margarita;
• the NY Times crossword puzzle app;
• In the Heights film;
• the Excelsior Pass Plus;
• Gin Gins;
• Scentbird;
• Off the Hook Raw Bar;
• the Bryant Park holiday market;
• the Milk Street community;
• my wonderful liquor cabinet;
• reveling in my dear Fellows' successes;
• the Seamless app;
• Apple TV (and Ted Lasso);
• Murder, She Wrote re-runs;
• theater companies who are continuing with virtual theater;
• fierce women playwrights;
• theater is BACK!

cousins in the old days

I'm sure there's more, but let's stop there.  I'm feeling much thankfulness today, that's a good thing.  Though I’m also feeling so many other things – depression, sadness, fatigue.  I think I mentioned in a recent blog post that I’ve recently lost someone very dear to me.  Back story:  I grew up in an extremely close family; my mom had four sisters and each sister had two kids.  My cousins and I hung out together all the time when we were growing up.  After I went off to college and they started growing up, getting married, and having families of their own, we got together less often.  Christmas Eve became pretty much the only time we would all see each other.  I’ve missed them.  In September, I got a call from my sister that my aunt, who had struggled with several health issues over the years, had been diagnosed with COPD and probably only had a few days to live.  I got a fight home the next morning and went straight to the hospital.  Thankfully, my aunt was a bit better and recognized me when I got there.  We talked a few times over the next couple of days, and said “I love you” many times, which I’m so grateful for.  At any given time, there were at least dozen people in the waiting room, all wanting to visit my aunt.  I was again spending time with my beloved cousins, sort of catching up on lost time, while we sat in waiting rooms.  It was nice to be all together again, even for such a terrible reason.  After a few days, the doctors told us that keeping my aunt on machines wouldn’t cure her, just prolong the inevitable.  Her sons made the difficult decision to take her off the machines, transfer her to hospice care, and she passed away two days later.  Everyone in the family was devastated.  We still are.

my beautiful aunt

I’ve been unable to sleep since I got back, which has triggered some depression, I think.  Vague dizziness has returned, which doesn't help.  I’m having a hard time concentrating at work and feel…empty.  My mother is having a hard time with the loss of her sister and I’m sad I can’t help her more.  I need to get my pep back.  I need to get my life back.  The reason I’m sharing all this is because even though I’m happy when I’m inside a theater, afterwards I feel anxiety and dread about trying to blog about it.  Which is stupid, but true.  Writing is now a chore and it used to be a pleasure.  So I think I’m going to step back, work on a few things for myself, and see if I can find the excitement in sharing my thoughts about great work with you.  

Though (because I'm me) let me say something about the most recent theater I’ve seen:  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go see Trouble in Mind (by Alice Childress, produced by Roundabout Theatre), Cullud Wattah (by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, produced by the Public Theater), Selling Kabul (by Sylvia Khoury, produced by Playwrights Horizons) and Clyde's (by Lynn Nottage, produced by Second Stage).  These are vital, important works, centering women of color in stories that need to be told right now.  They are beautifully written, acted, and produced shows.  Buy tickets, tell your friends, show the powers-that-be that these are the stories we want.  Uplift these writers.  I tried to write thorough reviews, but just couldn’t get the words on virtual paper; I didn’t want to let this last post go by without offering my strongest recommendation for these plays.

Sorry to bring down a thankful post – I AM enormous grateful for what I have and know that people love me and that peace is within reach again.  Enjoy your holiday, everyone, and thanks to YOU for joining me here!  It’s been a pleasure to report on things to you and to imagine people actually read my scribblings into the ether – may there be a new kind of Tour in the days to come.

Amazing Women Writing Amazing Women

I've been very fortunate to be able to see wonderful work lately.  I made a sort-of commitment to myself to center my ticket-buying on stories about, or written by, writers of color.  Especially women of color, because these new (to me) stories are the ones I'm hungering for.  Actually, most of the tickets I've purchased lately are by women I know, so...

Last week, I was really taken with Jocelyn Bioh's new play Nollywood Dreams, playing at MCC Theater.  This is one of the shows I had tickets for before the pandemic.  It was a long eighteen months to wait.  I loved Bioh's last play, School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play, and I have been looking forward to this new piece ever since.  Like in that play, Bioh gives us gorgeous, specific, and riotously funny dialogue and beautifully crafted characters.  She has a way of showing us lightness and darkness, all at the same time.  I truly believe Bioh is one of the most talented writers working right now.

In Nollywood Dreams, it is the mid-1990s in Legos, Nigeria.  A young Nigerian director, after spending some time in America, has come back to Legos to direct his latest film and is holding an open casting call (or so everyone thinks) for the lead character.  We meet the delightful Ayamma, who thinks this audition is her chance to leave her parents' travel agency where she works with her sister Dede (who is a saucy, hilarious, acerbic wonder).  Other characters in the play include the director, Nigeria's hottest male sex symbol (who will be starring in the film), a female film star who also has her eye on that lead role, and a talk show host who pulls all of the stories together.

photo credit: Russ Rowland

This play is so funny and so true.  We feel for Ayamma and Dede, who yearn for bigger lives, dream of celebrity, and puzzle at the realities of show business.  Plus, their sisterly camaraderie is so authentic.  I laughed a lot, even while the characters reminded me of the disparity of what life in Legos actually is and how life in Legos is generally depicted in the American film industry.  Nollywood Dreams is smart and hilarious and an enormous treat.  The audience was just eating it up - there was a set malfunction early in the play and the actors played it up to the hilt.  We were all just putty in the actors' hands; the entire cast was truly amazing.  Please go see this fantastic play.

Last weekend, I went with a beautiful chum to see Caroline, or Change.  Have I ever told you the story of the first time I saw the show?  I went with a friend right before the Tony Awards; Tonya Pinkins (who was playing Caroline) was out.  The incredible Adriane Lenox played Caroline and while she was sublime, I just had to see Tonya Pinkins.  So I went back again before the show closed to see Tonya.  WELL.  Needless to say, the show itself blew.me.away and Tonya Pinkins' performance is one I will never forget.  What a force of nature!  I have been so looking forward to this revival and I'm so glad I got to experience it with my beautiful chum who hadn't seen the show before.

Caroline, or Change is a masterpiece.  Jeanine Tesori is a genius.  Tony Kushner is a genius.  Sharon D. Clarke is another force of nature.  I loved every minute of seeing this production, even from the less-than-ideal location of the mezzanine (though, if I'm honest, if you have to sit in the mezzanine at Studio 54, the last row of the front mezz isn't so bad).  I teared up many times throughout the afternoon, not only because of the story and situations, but because the show is so fricking amazing, the construction of it caused me to weep.  

photo credit: Joan Marcus

There's so much to say, I'm kind of tongue-tied.  The voices are incredible, the acting is fantastic.  Sharon D. Clarke has layer upon layer upon layer.  The devastation that comes after her confrontation with Noah is a gut-punch.  For some reason, I felt it even more than before.  Caissie Levy found a lovely, maybe softer way in to Rose; I really liked her.  How John Cariani finds so many shades and nuances, I don't know.  And his clarinet playing?  AMAZING.  The cast is so incredible, top to bottom, that Chip Zien, who I've seen dozens of times on Broadway, is playing the relatively small role of Rose's father and he is, as always, sublime.  But, really, everyone is.  Emmie?  The washing machine?  The radio trio?  The dryer?  The bus?  OMG, THE BUS.  Perfection.  The first time around, maybe this musical was too esoteric?  Too idiosyncratic?  I don't understand why it only ran for a few months, but it seems as if its genius is being recognized now.  The house was packed and the audience thrilled.  As they should've been.

It was such a delight seeing productions with such fantastic female leading characters played by incredible women who should be superstars.  The way Jocelyn Bioh captures character so utterly perfectly is awesome.  The way Jeanine Tesori writes music that says so much in so many different musical forms that perfectly embody each character is awesome.  (Yeah, Tony Kushner is all that, too, but I'm focusing on the women, thank you.)  I was moved, thrilled, and delighted by both of the productions I was fortunate enough to experience last week.  If theater continues to be this ground-shaking, I'm the luckiest girl in the world...

Saying Goodbye

When you've been working somewhere for nearly 25 years, inevitably you're going to lose people whom you hold dear.  Over the course of the pandemic, two such people, two bright lights of humanity, have left us.  I was privileged to be in the rooms when their amazing lives were celebrated.

Most recently, dear sweet Micki Grant left us.  Hers was a career that was truly groundbreaking - I'm embarrassed to admit that when I first started at my job, I didn't really know the breadth of her accomplishments, I just knew her contributions to one of my favorite musicals, Working (the link is my post on the most recent Off-Broadway revival of the show).  But even though she was a trailblazer, she was also down-to-earth, kind, supportive, and loving.  And a real mentor to anyone who needed her.  I once produced an evening that was a conversation between Micki and another glorious writer and Micki was terrified that she wouldn't have anything interesting to say; she begged me to sit in the front row and throw her suggestions when she ran out of ideas.  I don't think I need to tell you that I was completely unnecessary and the two of them had a thrilling conversation about what it means to be a woman, specifically a woman of color, in the theater.  It was my privilege to be there.  It was my privilege to know her.

I was also fortunate enough to have a seat at her recent memorial/celebration service.  It was done safely, COVID-wise, by having a minimal number of people in each row of the stunning Riverside Church, so I felt comfortable sitting (at a social distance) with a couple of friends who also adored Micki and hearing remembrances from many who knew and loved her.  There were songs, dances, hymns, and readings.  All of them were performed with the generosity of sprit that Micki exemplified.  Plus, hearing from her family members was a true gift.  I knew Micki as a writer, mentor, friend, and colleague, but to hear about her as a cousin and aunt and childhood friend was a blessing.  I can only hope my life touches as many people as Micki's did.  Of course, I haven't written musicals that will be done now and until the end of time.  I guess I should get on that.  Let's put out into the ether that Micki's work needs to be revived SOON and OFTEN.  In a Broadway season that is finally finally giving Alice Childress and Adrienne Kennedy their Broadway debuts, having Micki's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope back on Broadway would make the perfect trifecta.

At the beginning of the pandemic last year, only a couple of weeks after Broadway shut down, the horrible tragic news came that we had lost one of American theater's great writers, Terrence McNally.  Not only was he a gifted and remarkable dramatist, but he was also a kind and caring man.  I treasure the last email I received from him, about six months before he died.  It was such a beautiful note about how much MY work meant to HIM.  I'm crying just typing about it.  Of course, it was his work that meant so much to me.  I went back to look at old posts and found a review of The Visit and Mothers and Sons.  I don't know why I couldn't find others; I wish I could find what I wrote about the transcendent experience I had seeing Richard Thomas in The Stendhal Syndrome.  That is on the short list of favorite/most exciting performances I've ever seen.  Oh well.  OH, and everyone needs to see the beautiful documentary about his life, Every Act of Life!  It's incredible!  Even Terrence's writing about other writers was beautiful - he wrote a lovely forward in the Playbill for the recent revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This.  Gorgeousness.

Terrence's memorial was open to the public; I think only the speakers were given reserved status, everyone else had to wait in line.  I felt pretty lucky I got there early when I saw a big time Broadway producer and a big time Broadway actress walk past me to get in line behind me.  The line was long and they were checking people's vaccination card and IDs before letting them in.  There was a big reserved section for the speakers and their guests, but my co-worker and I got a good seat on extreme house left of the Schoenfeld Theatre.  We were maybe ten rows back and had fine views of everyone, even though we were off to the side.  The memorial was jam-packed with amazing talent who were all genuinely heartbroken at the loss of Terrence.  I was surprised at how choked up Nathan Lane was throughout his tribute.  But, really, everyone was fighting tears the entire time.  Especially me.  All of the words were so lovely and so true; I could identify with all of them.  Seeing Terrence's brother walk out for a tribute was surreal, he looks so much like Terrence and their laugh is exactly the same.  We all laughed heartily at the image his brother painted of the childhood bedroom they shared - apparently, the photos on Terrence's part of the wall were Maria Callas, James Dean, and Shakespeare.  Perfect.

photo credit: Douglas Gorenstein

Hearing small sections of his plays only made me want to see all of them again (or for the first time - I've never seen Corpus Christi!) - someone somewhere must want to produce a festival of his work.  His work would be a balm right now, his characters are all so humane and his dialogue is so witty, funny, and true.  Let's put THAT idea into the universe, too!   We need his work, that way he will continue to live for us all.  And we will miss him, but remember him, and rejoice in his gifts.  He also touched, and changed, so many lives.  I found this beautiful photo of Terrence and Micki from one of the work events I produced.  I think you can see the goodness they radiated - we'll not see their equals anytime soon, we can just all try to be worthy.

Too much, too soon?

I don't know what I was thinking, maybe that I am ready for things to be back to normal NOW, but I booked entirely too many events over the last week.  I am exhausted, a bit dizzy, and not entirely sure I experienced everything as fully as I could have.  I guess I know better now...

I'll just briefly report on my comings and goings, since my brain is pretty much out-of-service at this point.  First, I want to mention that I went to a music recital last weekend that I greatly enjoyed, but the main reasons I'm mentioning it is that a) I got to spend quality time with friends I don't see nearly enough, and b) I had a delicious cocktail I'm still thinking of a week later.  It was called an A & W Old Fashioned - ok, I grew up going to the A & W root beer stands in my hometown and I love A & W root beer.  It's delicious and nostalgic, all at the same time.  So OF COURSE I had to order that drink and it was incredible!  If I do a 'best cocktails of 2021' post, it will surely be on top!  The fish tacos were also really good.  That evening was one of my favorites of my entire year.  I also had dinner with other old friends at Patsy's, a longstanding NYC Italian eatery, and it was another grand evening.  The wine we had, a vernaccia di San Gimignano, was tastier than my pumpkin tortelloni, but that's ok.  It's the fun company that counts and I had a blast catching up with my delightful chums.

Wednesday night, I made my first appearance in nearly two years at one of my favorite NY spots, the Signature Theatre.  I bought a membership there this year, since I always enjoy their presentations.  My show that night was Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't seen this piece before, it was on Broadway during my brief years away from NYC in the 90s and I haven't seen the filmed version, either.  This production, instead of Anna Deavere Smith performing, uses an ensemble of five incredible actors portraying dozens of characters.  The text is taken from Smith's interviews of over 350 people after the 1992 Los Angeles riots that came out of the Rodney King beating and verdicts.

I am also embarrassed - no, the right word would be MORTIFIED - to admit that I remember very little about the riots or about the events that led to them.  I was living in Ohio at the time and all I can say is being in Ohio means being out of touch.  But that's still no excuse.  I was shocked, saddened, and appalled by the happenings in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, and it is heartbreaking to think that Smith had to do updates and that this piece is even more timely than ever in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder.  There is video that is horrifying, audio that is haunting, and just hearing the actual words of people who were there was most often chilling.  There were some comic pieces, sort of, to break up the heaviness of the topic, but mainly this was an evening that was a call to action and a railing against the continued prevalent racism of police around America.  And of Americans towards other Americans.  

photo credit: Joan Marcus

The cast was simply incredible; there aren't enough words to describe how fully and completely they inhabited each of their characters.  They each played characters of different genders, ethnicities, ages, abilities, everything and they were spellbinding.  I'm sure they listened to the interview tapes repeatedly, but the dialect coach should also be congratulated because the dialect work was fantastic.  It was specific and engaging, rather than stereotypical.  The direction was amazing and the set was terrific, though there were technical difficulties at the beginning that kept us from seeing all of the projections at the beginning of the play and I wasn't sure who was speaking, but that got fixed before the end of the first act.

Seeing Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was a sobering and powerful theatrical experience and I'm ever so glad I saw it.  I cried, looked away, and frequently gasped with disbelief.  I've been Googling ever since to fill in my gaps; I can only hope that having someone like Anna Deavere Smith and her documentary-style of theater will be produced everywhere to continue to open people's eyes to the world around them.  Though I guess not enough people's eyes are opened since this piece is sadly more timely than ever...

Thursday, I accepted an invitation from a young writer I know to attend a reading of their latest work.  I'm sad to report that I'm not ready for readings.  It was so hot in the reading room, I felt dizzy and sick, and the seat was so uncomfortable, I began to fear blood clots.  I couldn't stay for the whole reading, which is awful.  I hate leaving things early, but I just couldn't do it.  I can only hope this talented young writer continues to work on the piece, which could be an important one.  Then, Thursday night, I was fortunate to receive a free ticket to Douglas Carter Beane's new play, Fairycakes.  I have to admit I was still feeling a little unwell after the hot reading room experience, but I made it there and had a pretty good time at the show.

photo credit: Matthew Murphy

Fairycakes is a silly piece that's a mishmash of A Midsummer Night's Dream and other well-known fairy tales.  The cast is amazing, the costumes are gorgeous, the songs are cute, and there are lots of laughs.  There are also some groans from jokes that don't land, but the production is done in such high spirits and good humor, it seems mean to quibble.  The audience was pretty on board from the start; in maybe the third scene, there was a set malfunction and two of the performers entertained us off-script until it was fixed, which endeared them into the hearts of the rest of the audience.  So I mainly had fun, though by the time I got home, I was DONE.  My commutes during the week were a little cumbersome, so all of that combined made for a long week.  I had to take a few hours off work Friday morning to get my bearings back.  I now know that I am NOT ready for two-show-days or even two-show-in-a-row weeks.  I need to look at my calendar a little more closely as I buy tickets for the rest of the year - admittedly, I probably baby myself a little too much when it comes to commuting, but if I don't, who will?