EXTRA CRITICUM

Boheme, Rigoletto and Rakes Progress Costumes off to Goodwill

This past weekend was kind of emotional for me and our staff. After years of accumulating some of the most gorgeous costumes -- all designed and built by our fabulous team -- we had to make room in storage for a future. The simple fact is, our offices, rehearsal and shop spaces are all just crowded to maximum capacity.

Sex!

"Extra Criticum is a forum for commentary and dialogue about what's on the minds of artists working in the performing arts." So, what's on my mind? Sex! But I'm supposed to write about film here, so what's a blogger to do? Eureka! Write about sex in films.

"Herb and Dorothy": Adopt Me!

It is easy to sit back and enjoy Herb and Dorothy, the documentary about the Vogels, as a portrait of a couple of New York City characters, the kind Joseph Mitchell wrote about. They're elderly, they dress funny, they have New York accents, they live in a cluttered one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment with cats and turtles, and they have a secret life the sharpest What's My Line? panel would never discover. You wouldn't know it from the look of them, but this cute man (who never finished high school) and woman (a librarian) are obsessed with collecting art, mostly the work of post Pop New York artists. They used his modest post office salary to buy art and her city government salary to pay the bills, and thanks to an intuitive and profound understanding of what is good and what will be considered good in the future, the Vogels amassed what is probably the most important private art collection from that era in the country.

The Winning Mr. Softee Lyric is Announced!

After days of arduous nail-biting debate, we have an official winner to the "Put Words in Mister Softee's Cone" Lyric Contest. Congratulations to E.C. regular contributor, Robert David Sullivan, whose lyric appears below. Mr. Sullivan wins an all-expenses paid trip to the original Ben & Jerry's store in Vermont so that he can thoroughly cleanse his palette of the taste of pseudo-ice cream. Congratulations, Robert!

Jury Duty v.4

Below is the document that proves that I helped deliever Justice...well...at least that's what they said I did...

Jury Duty: v.3

Caught and released!  Right after lunch...they dismissed me!  I guess it pays to be thoughtful and and judgmental in your answers during jury selection.

I'm back in the pool. 

Jury Duty: v.2

Shit.

I might be on a case.  ARGH.

Jury Duty: v.1

The civic duty of everyone...I suppose.  But, now that I'm sitting here, having to get up early, trudge to a not particularly pretty part of Queens, after listening to a court officer at the end of his rope, and a Judge, who recounted his resume from 1948 on, who talked about each court in Queens, and the movies that are based on real court cases from Queens--riveting--and now we get to watch Mrs. Doubtfire as we await our name being called...I really question whether or not civilization is worth it.

Parabasis Launches a Way Cool Series on Lighting Design

Check out Isaac Butler's cool new series on his fabulous blog, Parabasis.

A Designer Prepares -- In The Studio
Lighting Designer Lucas Krech has graciously agreed to let readers in on his process in a three part series he's titled "A Designer Prepares".  Here's the first part:

Thank You SHOWTIME for NURSE JACKIE

So who's been watching the new greatest show on cable?  NURSE JACKIE starring Edie Falco is the next best thing to dark chocolate truffles for this lady writer.

As I struggle working on my own original tv series (and other female predominant 'vehicles' since I am a female) I am grateful that SHOWTIME (the new HBO) has put together someone of her stature and talent, a wonderful show starring a wonderful actress, and a woman in the lead role.

Design for Readings

I have been designing sound for a lot of readings, lately.  I think that is due to an equal mix of the economy and how simple it is to bring sound to spaces big and small.

 It seems to me that these days people are more willing to put a little money into a reading before jumping headlong into a full production.  There have always been festivals where plays get either an almost-full-production, or a music-stand-and-chairs-production.  I have been contemplating how much these help or hinder a show.  I have no doubt that hearing a play on its feet, being read by people who have spent some time with the script is extremely helpful to all involved, the playwright, the actors, the director, the producers, as well as the audience.  Plays are meant to be heard, readings are the perfect venue for hearing them.

It's All About the Ensemble: Which Law & Order Cast Worked Best?

One major key to the success of the original Law & Order series is the intangible known as "ensemble."

Which of the following combinations of core actors do you think resulted in the best chemistry? Register your vote (with explanations, please) in the COMMENTS section below.

Remembering Gerald Schoenfeld: With love, from Lisa Greenberger…

(pictured at right: Schoenfeld and another actress friend of his)

It’s been seven months now - a bit late for an elegy or eulogy - and a bit late for me to come out of my shell to bid Gerald Schoenfeld adieu. But he was my Auntie Mame so here goes…

We met after a first rehearsal when I was doing a backers audition for “Awake & Sing” in 2003. He had generously championed a reading by my company from Los Angeles, offering the Shubert conference room as rehearsal space. He had such a presence - a very serious, intimidating gaze.  Ed Asner was playing “Jacob” and was rushing off to lambaste Bush on Fox News and the two of them got into how messed up the world was since the 2000 election and how it can never happen again. That's when he found out I was a Lefty.

Where Memory, Community, and Art Meet: Part II

In Part I we were introduced to Marianne Petit, artist, animator, and teacher, and her project Recollecting Adams. Here, we're going to get specific.

Was it difficult finding the three minute nuggets in their recollections?

Well, I easily have an hour or more collected per person and there are easily a bunch of incredible stories told by each person. I'm glad they sound like three-minute nuggets! There's a bit of audio editing at work--some episodes are quite edited, and others less so. It depends upon the person. I don't really edit the content of the stories or the spirit in which they're being said, so the truth is I don't think anyone has ever really noticed that I edited their interview!

Blast From My Past: ALL THE RAGE original theatrical trailer (1999) is now on YouTube

Funny to see this online after all these years. October, 2009 will mark the 10th Anniversary of the original theatrical release of the film. Thank you, Strand Releasing!