René Grayre
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Sqeamish - Beckett Theatre

11/11/2017

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Amazing performance, Edgy, Challenging, Intelligent, Absorbing


See it if You want to see a seamless & engaging tour de force by Fraser, fully on, committed & inventive, to the smallest gesture, & in total control.

​Don't see it if
 You have no patience, don't like monologues, solo plays or the dark — literal or figurative.


Also Alison Fraser delivers a quiet, subtle and thoroughly engaging tour de force here, a virtual master class on risk, going all in, fully inhabiting a role and commanding attention for the duration of this difficult script. 

Seated in the dark for its 90 minute length, Fraser's every small gesture, curl of toe, shift of weight has meaning and propels the narrative action, and she manages to totally inhabit several characters, each distinctly etched by gesture and small adjustments of voice. Even the voice of her main character is layered with depth and hint of a varied past. It's a remarkable performance that carries, makes plausible and almost pulls off the end, the weakest part of the evening, and the script.

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The Exterminating Angel

11/3/2017

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One will either love it or hate it. It's an interesting idea, well done visually with great costumes; it looks terrific and certainly aspires; however — the abstract score was pretty awful, especially when sung in English, both not the most lyrical of vehicles for an opera. A Spanish libretto might have helped, at least a little; in English it simply bordered on a Loony Tunes parody of opera. The score would make a great stand alone concert piece, though. Still, there aren't two memorable notes or melodies in the entire thing, an odd sort of accomplishment. I kept wishing it to be an operetta instead, and all that kept running in mind at intermission was Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life.

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A Piece of My Heart (The Onomatopoeia Theatre Company)

10/25/2017

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Well intentioned, Lifeless, Flat, Cramped, Slow



​See it if
 You're a fan of Shirley Lauro's work & care to hear what sounds like an uncut reading of her script in an evening that's more tell than show
Don't see it if You don't know the story; much is belabored & much won't be clear. Also, if you're familiar with any other versions, this will fall short.
Also Director Gordon has managed to make the worst of an awkward and difficult space, for the most part trapping the cast onto a cramped, noisy three-step platform along the house-left wall. Huddled together at times in often severe lighting, the young actors often seem left to their own devices. 

As directed, they stomp around the set, repeatedly acting out unnecessary physical details (carrying benches as gurneys, pantomiming bandages, etc.) and endlessly sorting out obvious, needless small costume changes, they never cohere into an ensemble of any sort, or even seem to come to terms with the audience—is there a fourth wall or not? 

Also, for a company whose notes claim a heavy focus on sound, there's a distinct lack of music, the unifying language of the 60's and the main reason for the Maryjo character.

Unusual for two productions of a play to run in a season, this version pales next to the earlier thought-through Little Spoon Big Spoon one; it's an educational, unfortunate contrast.


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A Little Night Music - St. Bart's Players

10/25/2017

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Well done, Entertaining, Intelligent, Clever, Very ambitious

See it if You've never seen a production. This high-end community theatre version does the material justice, with an original visual twist; worth it.


Don't see it if
 You're more of a Sondheim stickler than Sondheim is; except for the weird director's choice to pantomime props, all is mostly well here.


​Also
 Local sightings of Sondheim's Night Music are pretty rare & so it's a treat to find one not only financially accessible, but that stays true to the material. It’s a difficult, demanding & opulent score, and St Bart’s—in its 90th year the oldest community theatre in New York—manages to pull it off, even throwing in a visual Fosse-like twist with the Chorus that mostly works.

The company, for the most part comprised of amateurs in the purest sense, is a talented if mixed group, but handle the vocals. Taylor Vickers has a remarkably clear & strong soprano; Michael DeShields as Frederick is strong until the second act, where he hangs back; Heather Burgess is a wonderful, convincing presence onstage; Sarah Catherine Hook brings a lot of vocal punch & character to her Mrs. Nordstrom; Claire Hayner is striking in look & voice, stealing every scene she’s in with her layered Charlotte; & Merrill Vaughn’s Desirée is terrific, worldly & wise. It's a small & intimate Night, but go, support it.

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Wicked - revisited

10/24/2017

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Fun
Commercial
Ambitious
Clever
Entertaining




See it if

You want a clever, ambitious and modern take on a story so integrated into American culture that it's become part of the national DNA.

Don’t see it if
You want memorable songs or lyrics; unlike the terrific visual and conceptual spectacle, most of the score is instantly forgettable.

Revisiting the show several times over the years, it's striking not only how well-maintained this production is — apparently there are daily notes and frequent rehearsals to keep it fresh — but also how well-constructed and intelligent a vehicle it is. Visual and verbal puns, quick theatre in-jokes (the most subtle: Glinda’s second act Evita pose) and layers of physical detail all still work. It's a fine-tuned machine not unlike that referred to in the set design, the mechanical gears and pulleys that underlie the mysteries of Oz.

Though much of the music may still seem a fairly bland wash of similar melodies, the lyrics and book have aged well, revealing unnoticed complexities, but it’s the show’s contribution to the culture and its positive effects — especially to young girls — that is undeniable. A celebration of uniqueness and talent, it shows that it may not be easy being green, but it’s more than ok to be different.

For that, and the amount of employment it provides the theatrical community and district — no stars here, which in a way is as it should be — we wish it a healthy life and an even longer run.

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Miss Saigon

10/21/2017

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Great technical sound design, Bombastic, Flat score & lyrics, Overrated, Banal

  

See it if
 
You've never seen it; a bombastic melodrama with unmemorable songs save two, but veteran understudy Billy Bustamante is worth catching. You


Don't see it if
 You disliked the similar Phantom & Le Miz big anthem-like musicals; this show means well politically but falls short musically & lyrically.


Also
 
In better hands, say Kander & Ebb's perhaps, Miss Saigon might have had the edge & bite—as well as the musicality & muscle—that the material aspires to but never achieves. 

It’s not for want of material: the Viet Nam war & the doomed American presence there, the plight of war brides & the interracial children left behind, the rough PSTD re-entry of vets stateside, the vision & face of the US from abroad, etc.—all this should make a fresh and relevant Madam Butterfly update. 

God knows it tries, as does the game, all-in cast dutifully doing their jobs, but it’s pretty uphill with a score remarkably bereft of memorable tunes with its Hallmark card lyrics. The end result is highly programmatic if professional, & so audiences respond right on cue to surface emotions, sets and orchestral swells.

The high point—besides Billy Bustamante’s terrific, over-the-top, on point Engineer at the performance caught—was the sound design which amazingly balanced orchestra & voices—impressive and unusual clarity where every lyric could be heard without sounding over amplified or loud. 


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Shit, I'm in Love With You Again - Fringe Encore Series

9/21/2017

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Funny
Edgy
Refreshing
Sweetly raunchy
Totally honest


See it if
You've ever sex, drugged and rock & rolled—and lived to laugh about it. Elie is fearless, totally honest, disarming and very, very funny.


Don’t see it if
You offend easily.



Rachelle Elie could easily have been the love child of Carol Burnett and Lenny Bruce — gorgeous, earthy, fearlessly honest, with a wry, sharp, raunchy wit and the gutsy strength to share her well-observed life.

With Luke Jackson on guitar, Elie punctuates her autobiographical narrative with snippets of retro songs as well as originals whose punchy lyrics are unexpectedly direct, very funny and made of the stuff that women usually never talk about or admit out loud, except perhaps to each other.

​Shit, I'm in Love With You Again is a surprise, and about as down to earth, direct and honest as you can get — a terrific use of experience of a life so far well lived and well-learned. By all means catch her if and when you can.

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A Piece of My Heart - Little Spoon, Big Spoon Productions

9/13/2017

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Absorbing & Intense, Extremely relevant,
Thought-provoking, Unusually terrific acting
Must see


See it if
You're up for a riveting, touching & intense evening of bravura performances from an amazing female ensemble (plus 1 male) superbly directed.

Don’t see it if
Sharp, real & raw honesty onstage is too disturbing, or if opinions of 'Nam and/or women—in life, in war—are set in stone. By all means, go.


True stories of women signing up to serve in Viet Nam in the 60’s may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but Little Spoon, Big Spoon’s production of A Piece of My Heart at the IATI on 4th Street is more than worth the trip downtown. Even though the script, written by Shirley Lauro in the 90’s, runs from archetype to stereotype pretty quickly, the sharp focus here is on the performances, which give so much life and momentum to the evening, little else is noticed.

It’s rare to see a group of actors so uniformly good, gifted and evenly cast, and even more rare to witness the amount of honesty coming off that stage. This is the seldom seen example of an entire company attacking a script and through conviction, passion and talent, fulfilling not only its promise, but its intent.

A true ensemble, it’s impossible to single out any single performer. Chelsea Smith, Samantha Aneson, Randa Karambelas, Marlowe Holden, Sue Kim, and Reese Antoinette bounce off each other constantly, creating layered performances that evolve over the course of the evening, each having her moment, and Danny Grumich contributes a solid presence as the Every Man.

In an emotional evening that’s at times funny, searing, intense and even uncomfortable, each character runs the gamut from wide-eyed innocence to disillusionment, depression, PSTD, drug use and finally through to self-awareness and empowerment — and each actress dives in fearlessly and convincingly, showing amazing range. When Chelsea Smith’s Martha at last says "a piece of my heart dies with each of them," it tears to the core.

As would the ending, but for the drawn-out, needless repetition of acting out action read and described only moments before; the very long version of America ably sung by Ms. Aneson; the placing of objects on the Wall. It’s the only false note in an evening otherwise smoothly directed by Reesa Graham, but it’s a note — feeling almost forcibly attached — that seems determined to show us the final tableau even if it undercuts, rather than underlines the otherwise emotional momentum of everything that’s come before.

Nevertheless, this is fine work by an amazing cast of women that should be widely seen, a labor of love and necessity that brings to life a story way overdue in the telling. Over a quarter of a million women served in Viet Nam, gave of themselves, suffered and died, just as their male compatriots; the only difference was that they volunteered to be there. That this is news to most of us is unconscionable, as is the fact that the issues of sexism and racism against women that occurred there and then 50 years ago are sadly more relevant and with us today than ever.

​Little Spoon, Big Spoon Productions, founded by Chelsea J. Smith and Randa Karambelas, is a socially conscious company that posits art is a way to change the world; it’s a sure thing that bit by bit, with productions such as this, it can and will.

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Angry Young Man

3/24/2017

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Funny, Extremely relevant, Inventive & clever, Great ensemble, Great direction & staging, Sharply funny, Fast paced Edgy

See it if

You can open up to just listening to a story rather than the idea of being presented with a "play." Terrific cast, perfect timing, very fun


Don't see it if

You absolutely need a proscenium, clearly delineated  plot, characters and costumes — or If you've forgotten what running once felt like, or that a broomstick at one time might have been a sword, or spear or a means of flight.



We're told at the top that "the actors will now tell you a story;" this they do, with gusto, abandon, wit, seamless ensemble work & timing. An example of the purest joyful & theatrical invention which is the stuff of imagination most of us leave in childhood.

A totally fresh &remarkable choice in presenting a tale of the modern Immigrant Experience, two identically dressed pairs of men&women present & act out a young surgeon's arrival & initial misadventures in contemporary London. As the story unfolds, each actor rapidly assumes & switches from narrator to supporting characters, even objects & pets


There's a lot of play here, rather than "a play;" this is the stuff of Picasso's leaps of association where handlebars become bovine horns and cardboard cutouts guitars—all in service of moving the story towards a universal truth.


Go, by all means—& listen for the geese who, like immigrants in the cultures they find themselves in, fight, squawk yet in the end integrate well into the whole.

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C.S. Lewis On Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert

3/23/2017

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Well acted, Well written, Uninvolving, Flat



See it if
You're a Lewis fan, or are up for a good looking, well written & acted if ultimately uninspiring evening of religious inquiry & philosophy.

Don't see it if
You'd rather experience an actual play or drama rather than a lecture, however intelligent, well-reasoned and smoothly performed.

 
Max McLean clearly knows his CS Lewis, and delivers a solid and convincing — if highly theatrical — iteration of the late author, relating in detail the logic and reasoning of his religious conversion to Christianity. 

Erudite and intelligent as this Lewis is, however, he lacks any convincing passion or spark that might inspire or persuade us of this life changing event — the leap from atheism to faith and through to devout belief. Much is said, but little is shown: a weakness in the script, the dramaturgy and thus his argument. What should be a climactic moment is simply one more reminiscence by an interesting, if not particularly pleasant or engaging character out of P.G. Wodehouse.

The attractive set of Lewis's study is underused and never quite convincing. In spite of the detail and thought put into it, it never quite looks like much more than a set or a model room at Ikea.

In the end, McClean's retelling of this road to Damascus could learn focus and brevity from Saint Paul's

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