The Grubrag’s Ballad
July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
With a charming smile, Marc Spiegel captivates his audience with rhyming couplets and animated voices. The Grubrag’s Ballad is an epic poem, but it doesn’t read anything like Beowulf. Instead, Spiegel enchants his audience with tales of mythical creatures, carrying a musical-like rhythm throughout the piece. [Read more...]
The Grand Manner
July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Not many who are around today ever saw the legendary Katharine Cornell on stage, for she retired in 1961. At that time, her husband Guthrie McClintock passed away, and she would not work without him, as he’d directed everything she’d done on the New York stage. I, however, did catch her act on several occasions, in a revival of Candide which featured Marlon Brando, and in something called That Lady, in which she wore an intriguing eye patch. I saw her, too, in an all-star revival of The Three Sisters, and in Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemna. I have vivid memories of that work, and I can still hear that mellifluous voice in my inner ear. Cornell did not move so much as float across a stage. [Read more...]
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur
July 22, 2010 By 2 Comments
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur is a tough play to produce, and for that reason most theaters leave it alone. Williams wrote it in 1979, four years before his death, and like many of his later pieces, it studies character across a limited event horizon. Notwithstanding the work’s challenges, Quotidian Theatre Company delivers an excellent production notable for the sparkling quality of the performances. [Read more...]
The Perfect Chocolate Milkshake
July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Playwrights frequently knock down the fourth wall between the stage and the audience, but in The Perfect Chocolate Milkshake, playwright Lee August Praley knocks down the first wall – the one between the playwright and the stage. Some guys can do this successfully – Pirandello, certainly, and probably Stoppard – but Praley, at least at this stage of his development, does not. [Read more...]
Favorite 2010 Fringe Musical Performances – Part Two
July 22, 2010 By 7 Comments
The second week of the Capital Fringe Festival brought ten musical performances that I enjoyed immensely. Many were by local artists who I have never seen or heard before. I am hoping that many of our directors and casting directors will audition these incredible actors/singers. I look forward to seeing them in future performances. [Read more...]
Running:AMOK
July 22, 2010 By 4 Comments
I’ve been trying to decide what to name it. Help me out, sweetie, what do you think? I’m considering something classic, like “Portrait of the Artist as a Bewildered Mother-To-Be.” Or, “How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Embryo.” As it stands, the name “Running:AMOK” implies a sort of chaos and intensity that doesn’t ever surface in this calm, confident musical performance piece. [Read more...]
A Thing for Redheads
July 21, 2010 By 2 Comments
John Morogiello has a thing for redheads, and his play, while not filled with gut-busting laughs, is witty, quirky, entertaining, and somehow, someway, manages to add in a splash of drama. [Read more...]
Another Picnic at the Asylum
July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Angela Neff grew up in a large family with a larger than life father. Unfortunately, his exploits which stemmed from a bi-polar disorder became increasingly destructive and eventually led to hospitalizations, divorce, and suicide. [Note: that’s not a spoiler, it’s in the program.] Writer-performer Neff gives a descriptive solo presentation of scenes from her life, but leaves out too much of her own feelings and insights for the story to be as affecting as it could be. [Read more...]
Get on the bus with Busboys and Poets
July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Busboys and Poets is sponsoring a day trip to the Contemporary American Theater Festival this Saturday, July 24th. A few tickets still remain for the package which includes a ticket to each of the two most provocative plays in the festival - LIDLESS by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig and WHITE PEOPLE by J. T. Rogers (this performance has been sold out for weeks) – plus round trip transportation from Busboys and Poets (14th & V Streets NW) to the festival in Shepherdstown, WV.
The bus leaves at noon for the 90 minute trip, arriving in plenty of time for the 2:30 performance of LIDLESS. Tickets are $87, all inclusive. To purchase, call 202-332-6432 or click here. [Read more...]
The Rave Scenes
July 21, 2010 By 1 Comment
Imagine a group of friends (and some hangers-on) sitting around one night talking about the club scene they used to frequent. No matter the particular scene, if you were a crazy clubkid, you’ve had the post-scene breakdown, the nostalgia and the arguments about what it really meant. AWoL Productions’ The Rave Scenes is exactly like one of those nights, except the friends have an audience they are trying to educate about the scene long gone. [Read more...]
