EXTRA CRITICUM

Mad Men: "Why would you tell me that?"

SPOILERS for Mad Men's second-season finale ahead...

A couple of weeks ago on this blog, I asked critic Matthew Gilbert about the scarcity of TV characters who evolve in believable ways over the course of a series. Is Mad Men one of the rare exceptions to the rule, perhaps best illustrated by The Sopranos, that TV characters don't change?

Bring Back the Talk-back, Please.

Most theatre companies in New York City that wish to be taken seriously these days offer some form of a reading series of new plays. By doing this, they assert that they are relevant and playing some role in the development of the American Theatre. We could debate and debate and debate as to whether readings in and of themselves (as opposed to actual productions) constitute real support of new work, but that's perhaps a subject for another post.

These days virtually 90% of such readings are not followed by any group or public conversation about the play that has just been heard. In olden days, the "talk-back" as it is called, was a fixture at such events. Not so today. In fact, in New York City, the "talk-back" has come to be viewed with mild derision, and a general consensus seems to have taken hold among Artistic Directors, Dramaturgs and Playwrights alike that the "talk-back" does more harm than good.

I'm an Episode, Ma!

Leonard Jacobs introduces and talks with his good friend Gary Garrison. Gary is Executive Director of Creative Affairs of The Dramatists Guild.  Leonard begins with asking Gary for a short sketch of his background and then a description of the newly minted (since ‘07) post he occupies at the Guild.

Gary enlightens the audience with a succinct description of the Guild and what it is, what it does, and why it is valuable for any playwright to be a member.  The listener gets a very clear idea of the many reasons playwrights should at least be aware of the merits of joining the Guild, or at the least, being aware of the many programs the Guild offers.

Leonard changes direction a bit to talk about a project begun by Gary years ago (it’s not part of the Guild), a playwrights’ newsletter — it’s called The Loop and it has become a fascinating interactive group.  Take a listen.

Episode #253 - Leonard Jacobs Interviews Gary Garrison of the Dramatists Guild

Drive, I Said — Part 2: “I’d like a hamburger and an Alka Seltzer.”

Two-Lane Blacktop was released the same year as Vanishing Point (1971), and though it does star a souped up, stripped down 55 Chevy built to blow the doors off every challenger, this isn’t much of a car film. If you’re looking for chase scenes, spectacular crashes, and cars going up in flames, you’d best look elsewhere. If you’re looking for an American art film with a car in it that is heavily influenced by the French New Wave, this is your film.

 

2001: Please Help Me

I just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on TCM. A friend of mine who lives in the same small Connecticut town as the film’s star, Keir Dullea, told me what may be an urban legend: a friend of his, or a friend of a friend, once ran into Dullea at the local Starbucks and asked him about the film's trippy ending. Dullea gracefully avoided the question and politely excused himself. I can’t blame him, really. I suspect he doesn’t know what it’s about. I’ve seen it several times now and I’m still baffled, and this is probably the  point. But I’d be interested to know what you (yeah, YOU!) think about it. Leave a comment, all are welcome, from the inane to the insane.

Well, what of it?

The Joy of Collaboration

Yesterday I had Katherine Burger over for a 3-hour working lunch. We've been collaborating on a new musical together and it was time for me to play her a good chunk of the music I'd been composing to her hysterically funny and totally irreverent lyrics.

New Opening Date for Edward Zwick's Defiance

Newsflash: Paramount Vantage has just announced that Defiance will open in New York and Los Angeles on December 31st, just two weeks shy of its wide release in January.

To view the trailer, see my previous post.

Oh come on, Astoria's not EUROPE!

...though I like to think of it as the Right Bank of the East River; it's been my home for more than a decade and I am happy that I finally have a reading going up in a venue that's walking distance from my house (and that's really the important thing).

Off-off is alive and well across the Queensborough Bridge, and I've enjoyed performances at the various venues of the Astoria Performing Arts Center (which have been nominated for, and won a few IT Awards). Fellow Astorian (and awesome director) Tom Wojtunik was recently appointed Artistic Director, and has put together a lineup of staged readings of new plays, including one of mine.

Außer mir vor Angst = Scared to Death

[originally published in German under the title "Außer mir vor Angst" in the November 2008 issue of FRONT Magazine]

The text on the signpost in the graphic reads, from left to right and top to bottom: "Hope - Enthusiasm - Fears - Skepticism - Anticipation - Victory"

These days, as a gay African-American living in Los Angeles, I am constantly asked by friends at home and abroad how I feel about Barack Obama’s run for the presidency and the May decision by the California Supreme Court legalizing marriage between same-sex couples. “Aren’t you excited?” they wonder. “Aren’t you just thrilled to death?”

The Waiting Game: Our Cross to Bear?

Isn't it interesting... Those of us who actually produce the product that fuels the business known as "show" spend an awful lot of our time waiting... waiting for our financiers, our distributors, our agents, our lawyers, our managers, our publicists... for all the people whose entire livelihood depends on our productivity. We end up waiting for them.

Waiting for them to make a decision. Waiting for them to return a phone call. Waiting for them to send us a check. You name it, we wait for it. It seems funny to me that the folks who actually create the product that the entire business depends upon are inevitably last in line for viturally everything.

Why do you suppose this is?

May I please go off-topic?

I have an essay in the November issue of FRONT, "Deutschlands Premium-Magazin für metrosexuelle und schwule Männer" (Germany's premium magazine for metrosexual and gay men). Unfortunately for most readers of Extra Criticum, I wrote it in German, so you won't really be able to read it unless the Powers That Be (hint, hint) allow me to translate it into English and post it. The catch: It's about the election, not the performing arts...

But it looks awful purty: click here then scroll down to p.9

Better late (and long) than…: a Berlin wrap-up

The best laid plans: I was all set to write a couple of posts about the new theater season in Berlin, which began the week before I returned home after my seven-week visit, but oops! Life got in the way and all of a sudden I’ve already been back stateside for a month. Since it now feels forced to crank out that report, I’ve compiled the following list of the “cultural” highlights of my summer trip to Germany instead:

Please Don't Call Me An Anti-Dentite

Having come from the dentist for the third time in as many weeks, it dawned on me why people hate going to the dentist so much.

As much as I hate going to the doctor, when I leave his office I'm not usually writhing in pain. When I leave the mechanic, it's usually only my wallet that hurts. When I leave a boyfriend, at worst, usually my CD collection suffers.

But leaving the dentist, a whole other story. The pain, the gauze, the bleeding...the bills!

Critic on the Spot: Matthew Gilbert v.7

As our 3rd Critic on the Spot, we welcome Matthew Gilbert, television critic for the Boston Globe. Among the shrines at which he has worshipped during his tenure: The Sopranos, Freaks and Geeks, Six Feet Under, Scrubs, Lost and The Office. He has written celebrity and author interviews for the Globe, served as literary and managing editor at Boston Review, clerked at a number of local bookstores, and gotten his MA in Literature. He has had other jobs and assignments, too, but he can no longer remember them because TV has destroyed his brain.

This brings to an end our conversation with Matthew Gilbert. Thank you, Matthew, for educating us and making us laugh all at the same time! We look forward to more of your insights either here or on the Globe website... or hopefully both! Our final two questions are somewhat related—both raise questions on the changing media landscape—and they come from Alan Carter and Rolando Teco and appear below in that order.

Meta Theatre Comes to Burlington!

We opened Well on Wednesday night—to an audience of approximately 130. The average age was 58 I'd say. I see every person and that's what I gathered. They laughed and seemed engaged. When the play was over I heard the Artistic Director ask some patrons what they thought of the play and they scratched their heads, literally, and said, it was fine but confusing.