EXTRA CRITICUM

Everyone's a Critic

At the multiplex in Roanoke.

Waiting for the feature presentation to begin, an action-packed trailer pops up for a movie called KIDNAP. We see Halle Berry as a mother-warrior fighting what looks to be an army of humanity (criminals, bystanders, doubters, cops, liars, thieves, truckers, lovers...) getting in the way of this mother's fevered pursuit of her adorable innocent bespectacled little boy who has suddenly inexplicably been stolen from her at an amusement park.

As the title KIDNAP splashes its intention across the screen, I hear this from a guy in the row behind me:

Oh dear. That is so NOT the right role for her to come back in.

Now, if this were Chelsea and he were a gay man, I wouldn't be surprised. But I'm in Roanoke and he appears to be on a date with a woman.

When did the entire country turn into Rex Reed?

Discuss.

Concert Window: A new cyber-intimacy between performer and audience

The other night my friend Ann Klein, a fabulously talented singer-songwriter with amazing guitar chops gave a concert in her livingroom. The audience, however, were all in our own homes. I was on my sofa. This new form of performer-audience interaction is made possible by a website called Concert Window.

And I must admit, despite some deeply held Luddite tendencies, I was charmed.

Playwrights at the Helm (DG Academy)

I had an absolute blast moderating this panel for the Dramatists Guild on Tuesday. Really smart and generous panelists include: August Schulenburg (Flux Theatre Ensemble), James Comtois (Nosedive Productions), Susan Bernfield (New Georges), and J. Holtham (New Black Fest, EST, and Fell Swoop).

Good news for those who weren't able to join us. Here's the video:

Watch live streaming video from newplay at livestream.com

 

Breath Mint

For those of you who have given up any hope for civility when choosing to see a movie in a public space, there’s good news – the Chelsea Clearview seems to be making a stab at bringing it back. Ro and I went the other night and I was reminded of the cool new service that the theatre is providing at the start of each show.

Welcome to the movie and enjoy the show.

So the clever folks at Clearview Cinemas are trying something new again. I assume in an effort to trade on something a smaller chain has that the bigger ones don't (neighborhood local homeyness) they're having one of their staff walk down to the front of each screening room to introduce the movie.

"Choose Patti's Encore Song" - an interesting example of tying ownership binds between audiences and live entertainment

So Patti Lupone is opening a new cabaret space in New York called 54 Below. (It's below the former Studio 54, now home to Roundabout Theatre Co.) I was struck by this promo that hit my INBox today inviting me to purchase tickets and email the date of the performance I'll be attending with my personal request for Ms. Lupone's encore number. Presumably, these emailed requests will then be pulled from a hat and one lucky audience member will glow as the opening chords of that little obscure ballad they've dreamed of hearing interpreted by Lupone fill the room.

But what about the other hundred folks whose song was not selected? Do they endure the encore thinking how much they wish their suggestion had been picked and how much better it would have been had it been?

Photo Essay: Mr. Brainwash Art Show 2011

A few months ago, word got out that street artist (and sort of accidental Shepard Fairey protégé) Mr. Brainwash (of questionable credibility) was taking over an abandoned warehouse on LaBrea in LA.

Given my interest in urban exploration and abandoned buildings, I was intrigued.

What would be a reasonable star to seating capacity ratio for theatre?

Saw The Cherry Orchard at Classic Stage Co. the other night. The production is a lot of fun. Most of the performances are stellar. Especially outstanding (no big surprise) is Alvin Epstein in his third turn as Firs, the loyal elder servant who ends the play by falling asleep in the abandoned house he has called home for most of his life. There aren't too many seats in this Off-Broadway house. It's a great venue. The three-quarter thrust makes for intimate theatre. I was seated in the back row of the center section which is Row F. That should tell you all you need to know about just how intimate this space is. Sam Waterston was seated directly in front of me -- his daughters are in the cast. The cast features a lot of star power and it got me thinking.

If producers pack casts with famous names to sell tickets, perhaps there ought to be an agreed-upon star to seating capacity ratio. For example, if, say, Dianne Wiest can by herself fill a 500-seat house to capacity, maybe the rest of the cast should be peopled with the un-famous. Otherwise what we have is a waste of a valuable asset: star box office power. Let's do the math.

Down for the Count

I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. A friend forwarded an email to me at the end of last week, announcing the closing of an Off-Off Broadway theatre space, the Manhattan Theatre Source. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Source because I’ve worked there in a variety of capacities (producer, writer, director, educator), consulted with the board, had a couple of small pieces produced there, know a lot of the people involved in its formation and growth and have watched it struggle year after year to stay afloat. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Board finally had to say, in essence, we just can’t make it happy any longer. We’re beat. We’re done. We’ve fought the good fight for twelve years.

I was curious why this is happening now; why, after its twelfth year? So I called someone I know on the Board and asked. The answer was simple, he said: rent.

History repeating itself? The Met is back... with a vengeance!

At a recent board meeting (during which, incidentally, questions of programming do not generally come up, aside from in a reportage sort of a way... that is, after all, supposed to be my dept.) one of our longest standing board members blurted out a suggestion. Essentially, it boiled down to this.

Last month, the Met live telecast featured a production of Turandot. And, hey, why haven't we done Turandot? That's one heck of a great opera!

I had to take a deep breath and count to ten. (One, two, three, four, five--oh to hell with it!) See the fact of the matter is, there's a new kid on the block. And he's bigger and stronger and better funded than all the rest of us put together. Oh, and he's playing for keeps, too. His name is Peter Gelb. And his mission? Simple. Restore the Metropolitan Opera's international footprint to its former glory. Trouble is, his plan doesn't exactly take into account the needs of us little guys.

E.S.T. Auctioning off entire contents of its upstate retreat

As a sad symptom of the financial health of our overall economy, not to mention the state of the arts in this country, Ensemble Studio Theatre is selling its upstate property, as well as all its contents. The property had long served as an upstate summer retreat for artists affiliated with the theatre. But times are tough. And I suppose holding on to the property has become more of a fiscal burden than a benefit. Here's the info, if anyone's planning a trip up north during foliage season.

A GREAT theater-going experience...

(I was going to write this LAST week, but, Osama seemed to be everywhere...)

I had a GREAT theater going experience last week.  Absolutely fantastic.  And it had NOTHING to do with the play.  Which was a real eye opener for me...

My wife and I went down to San Diego, just for the day, and I thought, hey, let's go to the Old Globe, let's see a show.  It had awhile since we saw a show, so why not?

Be Careful What You Wish For: Everyone's backstage now. And, it's a bit crowded. Not to mention, uncomfortable.

Theatres everywhere are opening the doors to their rehearsal and production process in hopes of expanding ticket sales. Here are just a few examples of the myriad videos available online in which cast, crew, directors, writers talk to the camera about what they intend to do and how they intend to do it.

Three Pianos video promo

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism, Socialism (with a key to the scriptures)

Mark Taper Forum backstage tour

Bonnie & Clyde

There's just one problem. No one has any evidence that any of this meta-content actually increases ticket sales. Or, if there is real hard evidence of this, I haven't seen it.

If you want to bump it...go to Philly! (For the Peek-A-Boo Revue)

 Ah, Paris…home of the Moulin Rouge, the Folies Bergere, the Crazy Horse Saloon, where Josephine Baker shook her bananas, and where artists and poets chased the green fairy in the Belle Epoque and beyond…providing much art and merriment in a time that inspired this year’s Philadelphia International Arts Festival. 
 
Ah, Philadelphia, home of the world-famous Trocadero, a Victorian-era theater, once a vaudeville and burlesque house, where the likes of Gypsy Rose Lee and Tempest Storm strutted their stuff, now a performing arts center. Sister cities, indeed!

New plays a-cookin in Philly (it's a bake-off!)

Plays & Players' homestage, on Delancey St. in Center City (left)

 What’s better than a 72-hour play? Well, a 24-hour play, but then I’m hardcore.

In fact, the “bake-off” (a term used for a writing exercise popularized by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel), in which dramatists are given several “ingredients” they must incorporate into a play that has to be written in 72 hours or less, has become a popular genre-within-the-genre of live theater.