Billy & Ray Sheds Light and Laughs on Double Indemnity, but Preserves the Mystique

Larry Pine as Raymond Chandler and Vincent Kartheiser as Billy Wilder

Billy & Ray, now at the Vineyard Theater, tells of the unlikely paring of famous director, Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler.  Together these two produced one of the first and best of the film noir vehicles, Double Indemnity.

.

The play opens with Austrian transplant, Director Billy Wilder, played with amazing energy by Vincent Kartheiser, breaking up with his writing partner.  He is determined to bring Double Indemnity to the screen.  The story, from the novel by James Cain, is considered unfilmable due to the surfeit of content that raises flags with the production code.  Billy convinces the studio producer to bring in hard-boiled detective writer Raymond Chandler to help with the script, this was Chandler’s first film work.

 .

But it turns out that Raymond Chandler, in the flesh, is nothing like his characters.  Chandler is a broke, retired schoolteacher, churning out short stories for rent.  Chandler is brought to boring, straight-laced life by Larry Pine.  Chandler has no use for Cain’s over sexed novel, Billy’s vulgarities or the studio high life.  But he does need the money and he writes amazing dialog. Billy and Ray shows how this odd couple never become friends, but forge a working relationship to get Double Indemnity pass the censors by making an intelligent, adult film.

.

Double Indemnity is one of the great American films, and this story would be fascinating even without back and forth between this two brilliant and difficult men.  But their interaction drives the story humorously and ingeniously to life.  Mr. Kartheiser, as Billy Wilder, the play forward with his frenetic energy and restless nature.   His energy and verve make up for a horrible accent in the first few scenes, where he seems to be channeling Austrian German accent via Dublin.  Once he gets into the rhythm of the piece, his voice migrates across the channel to Vienna and settles down.  Perhaps as the show progresses this minor complaint will prove obsolete.

.

Vincent Kartheiser, Sophie von Haselberg and Larry Pine

Sophie Von Haselberg plays Billy’s secretary, Helen.  The daughter of Bette Midler and Martin Von Hasleberg, she is perfect, channeling the sass of Eve Arden with the mildly maternal instinct of every great secretary.  Her resemblance to her mother is uncanny. Drew Gehling plays the producer Joe Sistrom, balancing his desire to bring this story to life against the day-to-day B pictures the studio shoves at him (“The Hitler Gang”).

.

Billy and Ray looks beautiful, the offices at Paramount brought to life by Charlie Corcoan.  Watching Vincent Kartheiser lean out of his window to heckle Bing Crosby is one of the small moments that make this piece so perfect.  Legend Garry Marshall directs the piece with a familiarity of the Hollywood system, albeit with a little too much sit-com familiarity.

.

Billy and Ray is a love letter to Hollywood in general and Double Indemnity in particular.  If you have never seen the movie, you will want to after seeing Billy and Ray, and that is high praise indeed.

.

Billy and Ray

Playwright: Mike Bencivenga

Director: Garry Marshall

Cast: Drew Gehling, Vincent Kartheiser, Larry Pine, Sophie von Haselberg

Website

The Truing: Hearing Voices in the Silence

The Truing, now premiering at the NYC Fringe festival, is one of those plays which the Fringe is justifiably renowned for finding.  It is a well written and well-constructed play, beautifully acted.  This is the type of show the Fringe can introduce slowly and build an audience for.  And The Truing deserves to be seen.  The audience I watched it with was swept up in the show, which is a thoughtful comedy.

.

The Truing takes place during an AIDS bicycle fund raising ride, although the experience is universal throughout participatory fundraising events.  It could have just as easily been set during a 10K Run for Cancer or the # Day Walk for Breast Cancer.  It tells the interwoven tale of six people who are part of the ride, but were somehow stranded at the first campsite as event has moved on.   

.

Stephen Hope plays Gil, who crews because he is not healthy enough to ride on this trip.  Gil opens the piece in a monolog addressing the audience.  Only later do you realize the monolog is sort of a nervous twitch while he waits for his crew partner, Skip to return.  Kathryn Gerhardt plays the Gil’s best friend and roommate Skip.  She is Gil’s confidant and partner in every way, except sexually.  Skip struggles with Gil’s recent health problems more than he does.  Ms. Gerhardt and Mr. Hope hit every mark in the the chemistry of longtime friends, a friendship that has morphed into family.

The Cast: Kathryn Gerhardt, Joel Mark Mijares, Stephen Hope, Billy Hipkins (back), Andrew Dawson & Esther Chen

.

Joel Mark Mijares and Esther Chen play Doc and Marion.  Doc is a member of the traveling bicycle repair crew, and Marion is a very embarrassed rider who wakes up in Doc’s tent.  Their tentative outreach towards one another is hampered by the awkwardness of the “morning after” a night of drunken revelry.  It doesn’t help that they are stranded together waiting for transportation and Marion doesn’t quite remember everything from the night before.  Ms. Chen is quite good portraying the many emotions that come with a walk of shame, where you never arrive home.  And Mr. Mijares projects a laconic ease and sensuality that makes Ms. Chen’s reactions organic and understandable.  His ease with her is offset by an irritation with being left behind.

.

The last two members of the cast are Howard and Chickie, both of whose stories play out over time, in bits and pieces. Andrew Dawson plays Howard, a long time fundraising rider who seems a bit too insistent on getting his bicycle out of bike repair.  Chickie, loosely based on a collection of actual characters, is brought to life by Billy Hipkins.  Chickie takes part in the ride every year, in a chicken suit.  Famous on the ride for this bit of theater, Chickie plays up the eccentricity.  Howard and Chickie are introduced as caricatures - the   enthusiastic participants that are too invested in the event.  Their unique stories are shared slowly, with a deft touch by director Douglas Hall and writer Joe Norton.

Kathryn Gerhardt & Stephen Hope share a laugh

.

The Truing follows these six one afternoon, as they are pressed out of their comfort zones.  They will have to work together to resolve a couple of problems.  In that sense, The Truing shows people struggling to find the inclusiveness of the ride before it became a marketing vehicle.  As these events – the AIDS ride, the Walk for Breast Cancer, the 10K for Heart Health or Aerobics for Multiple Sclerosis - become bigger, they lose a sense of community they once had.  This play explores the reason people take part in these events and the friendships that can grow unexpectedly.  The reasons can often get lost in the quest for donations and the antics of the crowd.  The desire to be part of something and the need for human understanding, drive the emotion delivered in The Truing.  

.

That said, this is the Fringe and there are pieces of the show that could be improved with time and more work.  Marion is a little more frantic than she needs to be, and Chickie is a bit too fluffy.  But these are minor points, the show will leave you laughing and feeling better about life.

.

The Truing continues Thursday Aug 14^th, Thursday Aug 21^st and Saturday Aug 23^rd.  See TheTruingPlay.com for more information.

 .

The Truing

Playwright: Joe Norton

Director: Douglas Hall

Cast: Stephen Hope, Kathryn Gerhardt, Joel Mark Mijares, Andrew Dawson, Esther Chen, Billy Hipkins

Fringe Website

Play Website

The Laramie Project; Simple, Honest, Hopeful and Touching

As a reviewer, you try to be fairly objective when approaching a piece of theater.  As a human, you know that you bring your own prejudices and pre-conceptions with you, but you try to avoid it as much as possible.  But, when you can’t avoid them, you at least try to acknowledge them and set them aside.  I did not think I could do that with The Laramie Project, and so last night was the first time I have ever seen the show presented.

.

I am glad I did not wait any longer.  The company at The Seeing Place Theater handles the intimate, stripped down piece beautifully.  I was surprised by the immediacy of The Laramie Project in a manner I didn’t expect.   

.

The story of the show is basic.  Moises Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theater Project travelled to Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of the Matthew Sheppard murder.  They visited the town, spoke with the residents, friends of Matthew, friends of the attackers, clergy, police and anyone else who would talk to them.  They visited 6 times over the course of the year and ultimately nearly the entire town ended up sharing their stories.  Upon their return they created The Laramie Project.  It is the story of Matthew Shepard’s death, the media circus that descended on Laramie and a town struggling.  That single act of viciousness defined the town in the minds of the country with an undeserved legacy.  Laramie residents struggled with what happened and what it said about them, just as the world passed judgment on the small city where everyone knows each other.

.
The show doesn’t offer any change in the basic narrative of Matthew Shepard’s death.  He was a slight, well liked and well known young man in Laramie.  After a normal night out at a local bar, he left with two local guys about his age.  They took him out to a seldom-traveled road, robbed him, tied him to a fence post and beat him to the edge of death.

The Ensemble of The Laramie Project

During a slow news cycle, the 24 hour media machine descended and passed judgment on the crime, the city and the people of Laramie Wyoming.  The residents were characterized as stereotypical hateful hicks, bitter and un-educated.  The authors of the Laramie project sought to understand what happened.  They don’t.  There is no a way to “understand” what happened that night.  The perpetrators robbed and then viciously beat an innocent young man, Matthew Shepard died and the media rolled out of town.  But the theater company stayed and listened to the people of Laramie.  And they tell the story of a town rejecting collective guilt, but determined to change because of it.

.

The Seeing Place actors’ job here then is two fold.  Not just to recreate the townspeople of Laramie, but the actor / authors that created the project.  And they do it perfectly, both in the words that come so easily from actors and in the raw, honest words spoken by the people of Laramie.  It is an ensemble piece and this group of eight actors is stellar.  Calling out any single actor seems unfair since each portrayal is both heartfelt and convincing.

.

Jonathan Miles, Elle Emerson and Kathryn Neville Brown

Towards the end of the show, one of the women of Laramie, a western mother who has seen plenty in life, admonishes the departing authors to treat Laramie right, to tell the story honestly.  The Seeing Place Theater cast takes this request to heart and delivers.  They have presented a careful, honest telling of a place and time.  The murder of Matthew Sheppard was, in 1998, seared into our collective memory and we thought it would burn forever.  It did not.  Pushed out by 9/11, the success of gay marriage, the failure of our political system and various news stories great and small, the story of Matthew Sheppard fades into history.  But the effect of that young man, the response from the “normal folks of Laramie” has been added to the story of our country and ourselves.  I am very pleased, and a little honored, to see it presented so well.

.

Ably directed by Erin Cronican and Brandon Walker (who also appear in the piece), The Laramie Project moves quickly, giving plenty of time for the audience to travel the emotional road, but still held together tightly enough that time doesn’t drag.  The Laramie Project is excellent and if you have put it off thinking it would be too depressing, I urge you to see it.

.

The Laramie Project

Playwright: Moises Kaufman and the Members of the Tectonic Theater Project

Cast: Brian Stuart Boyd, Kathryn Neville Brown, Erin Cronican, John D’Arcangelo, Elle Emerson, Jonathan Miles, Christina M Pastor, Brandon Walker

Director: Erin Cronican and Brandon Walker

Website

Macbeth Scores as Spectacle and Passion

Kenneth Branagh’s New York Theater debut has been a long time coming.  Anticipation and expectations can often drown a good performance.  But instead of downplaying expectations, Macbeth, now at the Park Avenue Armory, ramps them up wildly.

.

There is an entire pre-presentation experience designed to overwhelm the viewer, to set your emotional clock to back to the age of chivalry and make you ready to inhabit the world of Macbeth.  (For a spoiler full description, read at the end of the revue.) And the story opens with a wild battle, played out with steel on steel, shouts, blood and combat on this narrow field, now drenched in rain.

.

And then the show starts.  It’s a lot of live up to.

.

For the most part, Macbeth lives up to it well.  Branagh’s Macbeth, however, will not be to everyone’s taste.  This Thane is valiant in battle and excels in scheming, but is less brave hearted when it comes to follow through.  Macbeth second guesses himself, questions his own plans and stalls nearly too long to carry them out.  In this he is lucky, and the rest of Scotland unlucky, that he has a partner in Lady Macbeth, a fantastic Alex Kingston.  The lady supports his plans, executes upon them and quite often supplies the backbone Macbeth lacks.

.

This is the trouble with the play; the hero must be cajoled into action, until the death of Banquo (played robustly by Jimmy Yuill).  This is a turning point for Macbeth.  He is haunted by the death of his old friend, which he had arraigned.  After nearly succumbing to visions of Banquo’s ghost at a dinner, Macbeth recovers.  And, in that recovery where his conscious is defeated, he transforms into a fearsome and fearless ruler.

Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

The company is made up of experience performers, many of who have had extensive Shakespearian backgrounds.  They perform flawlessly, never falling out of the period or the speech and delivering both the saddest of lines and the bawdiest of jokes effortlessly.  A particular stand-out is Richard Coyle who commands attention as Macduff.

.

Kenneth Branagh’s performance is excellent.  He is well matched by Alex Kingston and together they embody the trajectory of greed and corruption.  Their spell is so great, that you often root for these anti-heros.

.

The technical team, lead by Set and Costume Designer Christopher Oram, has made the experience magical and immersive without overpowering the piece.  Music is by Patrick Doyle, who’s first musical score was the haunting Henry V.  He works wonders here as well.

.

Branagh and co-director Rob Ashford have delivered Macbeth as a Spectacle and a piece with real emotion.  It moves quickly, cut to two hours, without an intermission.

------------

Macbeth

Playwright: William Shakespeare

Directors: Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Alex Kingston, Jimmy Yuill, Richard Coyle, Scarlett Strallen, Tom Godwin

Website

.

Spoiler of Pre-Show, Click More to view.

Hyperrealism and Humor drive The Realistic Joneses

The Realistic Joneses premiered in 2012 at the Yale Repertory Theater and has now moved to Broadway to take up residency at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre.  It is not a perfect fit.  The show, which is hilariously off center, seems a more natural fit for Playwright’s Horizon, or 2^nd Stage or any other fantastic, quirky, just Off-Broadway venue.  Will Eno, the playwright and author of pieces Gnit, Middletown and Thom Pain (based on nothing), has a reputation for creating pieces that you love or hate.  I loved The Realistic Joneses, but many in the audience were less than amused.

.

Tracy Letts, Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall & Marisa Tomei shine in The Realistic Joneses

A dream cast takes the story of two couples, both surnamed Jones, and inhabits them with a surfeit of emotion and awkward tenderness in all its incoherent manifestations.  Jennifer and Bob Jones (Toni Collette and Tracy Letts) are an older couple who’s stable lives have been interrupted, first by a disease and then by the new neighbor couple of Pony and John Jones surprising drop-bye (Marisa Tomei and Michael C. Hall).  The new neighbors show up uninvited – albeit arriving with wine.

.

 The tone is set early, when Bob goes in the house to get wine glasses and Jennifer quietly explains that Bob is undergoing treatment for a complicated disease.

.

Pony quickly says, “Say no more.”

.

So Jennifer naturally asks, “Have you had experience with something like this?’

.

And Pony answers, “No.  I just don’t want you to say anymore about it”

.

It is this deadpan, flatly delivered honesty breaks down the walls between the two Jones couples and the audience.  The two couples have more in common that you first expect, although there is no big reveal, no massive surprise that twists the play in a unexpected direction.  Instead, there is just an amazing cast telling a funny and oddly touching story.

.

It is a tale of acceptance of the inevitable, no matter how difficult.  And the tale of how we all react to circumstances beyond our control.

.

Directed with a spare honesty by Sam Gold, The Realistic Joneses doesn’t strive for great insights and so delivers the day-to-day insights with more clarity and realism than you expect.  It is a great show.

---------------------

The Realistic Joneses

Playwright: Will Eno

Director: Sam Gold

Cast: Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Marisa Tomei

Website