Ideal - ly taken with a grain of salt

The passage of years and the cult like growth of Ann Rand’s reputation unintentionally morphs her 1934 stage play Ideal from a meandering philosophical drama to a wonderful piece of satire and homage to the movies of the 1930s. I am sure Miss Rand would not approve, but as staged at 59E59 theater, Ideal is a hilarious black comedy and a rollicking good time if you choose to go with it.
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If taken seriously - at face value, the play Ideal is heavy handed screed about the narcissistic worldview of self-important artists in an age when the average person is struggling to survive the depression. It is serious and a little dull. However, when Ideal is viewed as Ann Rand’s melodramatic and disdainful take on the Motion Picture Industry of the 1930s, it is a raucously funny black comedy. Particularly when you understand she herself was a failed screenwriter and supported herself for a while as an extra in Cecile B. DeMille extravaganzas.
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Before becoming pin-up girl for raging capitalists and tea-party conservatives the world over, Ann Rand was a frustrated screen writer, and her frustration rages throughout Ideal. The play concerns a famous European actress, Kay Gonda, who yearns to be more than a movie star (it is rather obvious nod towards Greta Garbo or early Marlene Dietrich type, but also can be seen as a reference to Ann Rand herself, a European refugee of Soviet Russia). The play opens in the office frantic studio boss, a maniac surrounded by bad PR flacks and bitter associates. The audience learns that his most famous star, Kay Gonda is on the lamb, running from a murder investigation. Miss Gonda’s secretary shows up to inform the audience that the actress came by the house sometime last night to take 6 fan letters from her desk.
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Why six, why so she can visit six people and participate in six vignettes, as any black and white picture fan would know. In these six vignettes, she shows up in the middle of a stereotypical Hollywood problems of the 1930s, disillusioned husband, tortured artist, and down on his luck playboy among them. Echoes of Barbara Stanwyck, Norma Shearer, William Warren and Marie Dressler scream out from the stage. But the author twists the familiar set ups into arbitrary bleakness and distain, “proving” that she is above the mediocrity of the current playwright.
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Ann Rand’s inflated opinion of herself, her dismissal of the petty bourgeoisie of Hollywood (after they ignored her), and her attempt to poison the artificial plots, all of these unintentional motives layer upon each other too thick to ignore. Ideal ultimately ends up being an homage to the very medium she is trying to disparage. It is hilarious, sometimes purposefully and often accidentally.
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As Kay Gonda, Jessie Barr stand outs in the cast. She captures the self-importance and bitterness of the role wonderfully. The author really doesn’t like this character, and Miss Barr has no problem dishing up a vapid, self-delusional character, while still imbibing her with charisma. The fact that the audience identifies with Kay Gonda is a tribute to Miss Barr.
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The other members of the cast play multiple roles. Unfortunately, as a rule, the cast members are too young to play these roles effectively. They do a fine job generally, but their youth often works against them. Three of the ensemble, (Kim Rosen, Andrew Young and Dan Pfau) succeed in overcoming this wonderfully, by ignoring the age issues and plunging headlong into the characters. Dan Pfau is especially effective in wearing his emotions like a worn out raincoat (sorry, the film noir references come hot and heavy after this show).
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Director Jenny Beth Synder does a good job of moving the show along and allowing the right attitude to each of the vignettes, but the real star here is Ann Rand at her self-important and world-weary best. If this sound like something you might like, hurry to 59E59, Ideal is a hoot.
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It is always a little disconcerting when one person seems to be enjoying a play more than everyone else in the audience. It is particularly disconcerting when that one person is yourself. And so, I felt like a bit fish out of water while thoroughly enjoying myself at Ideal, the New York première of Ann Rand’s 1934 play. But then again, I had the same reaction at the first Austin Powers, a box office dud, that only bloomed on home video release. Ideal won't get a home video release - so go see it now.
(tickets)
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IDEAL
The 59e59 Theatre, June 17 – July 3, 2010
Cast list: Liz Aldefer, Jessie Barr, Ted Caine, Bill Griffin, Sean Ireland, Lee Kasper, Emily Marrow, Cara Massey, Dan Pfau, Kim Rosen, Ariana Seigel, Carly Walsh and Andrew Young
Director: Jenny Beth Synder
*
Rating: Well Worth The Money
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What works: The echos of 1930s movies and movie stars
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What doesn't work: Some actors are too young for the roles
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What you get to brag about to your friends: It's a newly produced play by Ann Rand - author of Atlas Shrugged - how often do you see that!

Reflections of a Heart: A Painful Journey

Reflections of a Heart is a Serious play with capital S. It tells the story of Isaac Woodard Jr., a well decorated black WWII veteran, who returns to post-war South to the worst kind of discrimination. It is the true story of a hero beaten until he was physical ruined, blinded and emotionally crippled.

Avery Pearson as Erman (pictured, left) and Christopher G. Roberts as Isaac Woodard, Jr. (right) in SteppingStone Theatre Company's "Reflections of a Heart," at Theatre Row, June 11-27.

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In 1946, Issac Woodard Jr was a cause célèbre, attracting attention from the fledgling NAACP (in the form of Thurogood Marshall), President Truman and a host of entertainers from Lena Horn to Orson Wells. It was one of the first civil rights cases, but it ended badly and has been forgotten by history. By 1951, Issac Woodard Jr. was forgotten, a blind black man trying to make a living for his family by playing the guitar. In Reflections, he is rousted on trumped up charges in New York. The play shifts between the 1951 interrogation and the terrible events of 1946, casting a light back on an event forgotten by most.

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While Reflections of a Heart is an important piece of theater, it is not a terribly satisfying play. Quite possibly true but none the less distracting, every white character in Reflections is evil, very evil, sadistically evil or, at best, incompetent. On the other side of the scale, every black character is deferential, kindly, or angelic – and treated with contempt by the white society. There is very little dramatic tension, just a slow expansion of pain and undeserved woe. The playwright, Christopher G. Roberts, attempts to mitigate this by the use of the ghost of one character. The ghost tries to guide the audience with a call to action, but it is only marginally successful in giving Reflections a hopeful message.

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Reflections has some beautiful acting, particularly by Chanel Carrol, who plays the wife of Woodard, Rosie. She brings forth a three dimensional character, alternately hopeful, wary and despondent. She accomplishes this even though her character shows up rarely and out of expect timeline sequence, but when Rosie arrives you believe are witnessing an understandable response.

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Christopher G. Roberts, wrote and directed this play. He also plays Isaac Woodard Jr. and he does an excellent job of anchoring the play within his character. As Woodard, the anger, frustration and strength shine through the performance.

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Avery Pearson as a shell shocked mental patient brings a surprising warmth to the role of Erman. As an outsider who clearly doesn’t understand why this is happening, he (along with Rosie) is one of the few characters the audience can relate to. – but both show up too infrequently.

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Assuming the 1951 story is true, Reflections of a Heart is so heartbreaking it is a little painful to watch. The audience follows the story of Isaac Woodard, Jr. through his hellish experience, but there is no other side, no hopeful redemption. By all means see this Reflections of a Heart, there is a lot to be admired – but few traces of joy.

(tickets)

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REFLECTIONS OF A HEART

The Clurman Theatre at Theater Row, June 10 – June 27, 2010

Cast list: Mary Ruth Baggot, Reginald L. Barnes, Gail Merzer Behrens, Chanel Carroll, Mark Ellmore, Gillian Glasco, Kevin Green, Jim Heaphy, Heather Massie, Jonathan Miles, Avery Pearson, Christopher G. Roberts, Robert Spence, David Wirth, and Jerry Zellers

Director: Christopher G. Roberts

*

Rating: If It Sounds Interesting

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What works: The story is engaging

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What doesn't work: The story is constantly painful

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What you get to brag about to your friends: It is story about a time in our history you didn't know about before.

Goof Ass Fun with Sister Myotis

A forced lock down at a Bible Seminar, even one focused on being a good wife and catered by the ladies auxiliary, sounds a little odd. But when the lock down is enforced by Sister Myotis, a bitter sweet bundle of Southern Christian Redemption swathed in a cocoon of grown up girl scout drag and concocted by Steve Swift, well, then you got a party on your hands.
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Todd Berry as Velma Needlemeyer (pictured, right), Steve Swift as Sister Myotis (center), and Jenny Odle Madden (right) as Ima Lone. in Sister Myotis's Bible Camp. Photo by Kim T. Sharp.

And make no mistake, Sister Myotis’s Bible Camp is a party for believers that will make most everyone want to join in the fun. The premise for this show is simple. Sister Myotis and her two true-believing assistants prepare the audience for what’s in store over the course of a week long female retreat. Sister Myotis’ religious affiliation is kept carefully blurred because the religion is only a ruse that allows Sister Myotis to lecture, warn and hector the audience about sin and sinful actions. Religion itself isn’t mocked; Sister Myotis could be Catholic, Jewish or Amish and the effect would be the same. Sister Myotis’ non-denominational Christianity is merely the mountain she chooses to descend from in order to bring the Truth, as she sees, it to the masses.
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And her truthful missives wander wide, from crafts, to sexual hints, to complaints about the men-folk, to warnings about thongs. Steve Swift as Sister Myotis aims broadly at easy targets both clichéd and new. With its folksy charm and gentle PG jokes, you would feel comfortable taking your Grandmother to this show (and with some jokes about Gunsmoke and Hee Haw, you are forgiven for thinking your Grandmother is the target audience).
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Steve Swift creates a lovable, bumbling taskmaster in Sister Myotis, already a phenomenon on youtube. Easily offended, but sure of herself, Sister Myotis is a fully rounded character, both emotionally and physically. As her devotees, Todd Berry and Jenny Odle Madden bring Sister Velma and Sister Ima to life. Given bits and pieces of business and song, these two make the most of their time in the limelight, but it is a position Sister Myotis is not comfortable giving up.
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As theater piece, the play goes on a little too long, and trim or two would make the evening tighter. Some of the jokes hit a little flat, but they come so fast, that another is bound to come by soon that will tickle your funny bone. Directed by Jerre Dye, there a nice amount of movement and flow in the proceedings, that keep the show from feeling like a session with a stand up comic. And some credit has to go to the outrageous costumes by Ashely Whitten Kopera and Kim Yeager. Sister Myotis Bible Camp is a high energy good time with everything southern but fried chicken.
(tickets)
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SISTER MYOTIS'S BIBLE CAMP
The Abingdon Theatre, June 11 – July 4, 2010
Cast list: Todd Berry, Jenny Odle Madden, Steve Swift
Director: Jerre Dye
*
Rating: Well Worth the Money
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What works: Sister Myotis - she is a hoot
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What doesn't work: COOCH (you'll see)
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What you get to brag about to your friends: She's on You Tube and she is hilarious.

A Disappointing Voyage: When We Go Upon The Sea

Lee Blessing is a playwright best known for his work, A Walk In the Woods which was a view of the US and USSR arm negotiations and reasons behind the complex diplomatic dance. It was thoughtful and nuanced and set the bar high for his future work. Mr. Blessing’s new work, having its New York Premiere at the 59E59 Theater, is When We Go Upon The Sea and Mr. Blessing once again deals with political power. This play imagines George W Bush on the eve of a war crimes trial in The Hague. Unfortunately, When We Go is less concerned with looking at George Bush’s actions, policies and motivations and more interested in caricaturing both the ex-President and sycophantic Europeans as buffoons and delusional.

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Given the limitations of the piece, Conan McCarty does a great job of portraying George Bush. Mr. McCarty’s George W Bush is bitter and confused, yet never pathetic. When given more to do that act perplexed, Mr. McCarty gives a complex portrayal.

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Peter Schmitz plays Piet the Dutch butler determined to provide the ex-President with any entertainment and relaxation the night before the trail begins. Mr. Schmitz gives a well restrained performance. The entire show takes a mean spirited twist when the ex-President starts drinking, drugging and vacillating between self-pity and anger in his discussions with Piet.

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Kim Carson plays Anna-Louis, a stunning female “relaxation specialist”, which ex-president Bush is offered, no strings attached. The motivations of both Piet and Anna-Louise remain murky throughout, despite attempts at explanation to the audience and the ex-President. Piet seems motivated by fear by the end of the play, while Anna-Louise actions are not in sync with her motivations.

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These three characters become more and more friendly as the evening progresses and the intoxicants flow. In the course of the evening the butler and ex-President Bush discuss European and American place in the wilds of the world. Here the audience expects, and is waiting for, a serious reflection on the actions of George Bush. Instead we get superficial ramblings from a bitter, drunk Nixonian reproduction, and the justifications of a frightened colonial apologist. There is no exchange of ideas or even serious attempt to understand what occurred during the Iraq war, and this undercuts the play. When We Go Upon The Sea veers into mean spirited wish fulfillment by mocking George W Bush instead of investigating why or what he did. It is a cathartic journey, but not particularly pleasant to anyone involved.

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The show is extremely well directed by Paul Meshejian. He uses a nicely stuffed stage (scenic design by Meghan Jones) provides a claustrophobic cage in which the actors cannot escape or fully banish their demons. When We Go Upon The Sea isn’t a bad show, but just out of reach lies a truly great show.

(tickets)

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WHEN WE GO UPON THE SEA

The 59e59 Theatre, June 10 – July 3, 2010

Cast list: Conan McCarty, Peter Schmitz, Kim Carson

Director: Paul Meshejian

*

Rating: If it sounds interesting

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What works: Some of the political discussions of colonization

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What doesn't work: Exploiting the foibles of President Bush

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What you get to brag about to your friends: It Lee Blessing! The guy is amazing.

Little Doc is an intense ride to Brooklyn of the 1970s

Little Doc is the first play by documentary filmmaker Dan Klores. It is an intense one act piece that explores the dynamics between four friends in the mid-1970s in Brooklyn. Ric and Lenny are long time frenemies who share history, drug sales and the affections of Lenny’s wife, Peggy. Young love struck Billy completes the foursome of friends and small time drug dealers. These four share too little space in an apartment under the “el” and over a neighborhood bar.

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Pictured L to R: Adam Driver, Dave Tawil, Steven Marcus, Billy Tangradi, Joanne Tucker, Tobias Segal in a scene from "Little Doc" written by Dan Klores and directed by John Gould Rubin. World Premiere production at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (NYC). June 11- July 18, 2010. © Sandra Coudert

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The bar is manned by Rickey’s father, Weasel and owned by Manny. Mannyis the top dog in this group of small time crooks and con, and it turns out Ric is into Mannyfor $50,000. To get information on what happened to the money and why Ric is acting jumpy, Manny turns to Angelo. Angelo is an old acquaintance of the Ricky and his friends, recently release from jail. It is Angelo’s arrival and his agenda that propels the four friends to face the consequences of their small time criminal lifestyle. From the moment Angelo arrives upstairs at the apartment, the piece is set, inexorably, on violent path to conclusion.
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Joanne Tucker as the Peggy and Tobias Segal as Billy are standouts in a very good cast. Both have been drawn into this group dynamic by an emotional and physical attraction to Ricky, and both have been badly served by that same attraction. Their responses couldn’t be more different. Ms. Tucker plays Peggy as forceful and strong. Mr. Segal’s Billy, by contrast, is pretty much silent and withdrawn falling deeper and deeper into a drug stupor. Steven Marcus is Weasel, and he is excellent as Ric’s father, a small time hoodlum overtaken by the twin demands of family and loyalty.
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But it is Adam Driver as Ric that shines the brightest in this cast, particularly in the last section of the show. He plans to get out of his dead end life, at the expense of his friends and family. When his plan is discovered, his failure as a friend and son is overshadowed by his own fear and the desire to escape the consequences of his actions.
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Director John Gould Rubin does a good job of keeping the action on a long slow boil, building tension and dread throughout the show, without wearing the audience out. He is supported by a set design (by David Rockwell) that keeps the action in the two venues tight and focused, switching seamlessly between the bar and apartment and giving the audience more information that the characters. This technique brings the audience into the piece, with full knowledge of the lies and desperation of the characters.
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Little Doc slowly strips away the veneer of invulnerability from Ric, a charming young man, with the soul of a punk and bully. It forces Ric to confront the consequences from his life choices, something everyone must do at some point.
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(tickets)
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LITTLE DOC
The Rattlestick Theatre, June 11 – July 18, 2010
Cast list: Adam Driver, Salvatore Inzerillo, Steve Marcus, Tobias Segal, Billy Tangradi, Dave Tawil and Joanne Tucker
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Rating: Well Worth The Money
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What works: Intense moments of excellent acting and a slow burn
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What doesn't work: The story might be too remote for some
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What you get to brag about to your friends: The first play by a great film maker.

Go Now and See "Freed" at 59E59

Freed is that rare play that entertains, educates and inspires, all at the same time and does it all elegantly. It is a deceptively simple story, the tale of the first free black man, John Newton Templeton, to attend college in the mid-west. John Newton Templeton was born a slave and set free at a young age, after his master passed away. Robert Wilson, a teacher and Reverend at Ohio University offers John the chance to complete a college education. Hung on this framework are the stories of John’s growth, the story of Rev. Wilson, dreams of Liberia for John and, most surprising, Mrs. Wilson’s relationship with John.
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This play could easily have fallen into a lecture on Liberia or the rights of Free Black men in the slave era or any other didactic message about the 1820s. Instead, Freed uses the hope and aspirations of John to pull the audience into a narrative of the times. The Reverend Wilson befriends the young man and sponsors him at the University. When John is not able to live on campus, he stays with the Reverend and his wife. The wife provides a touchstone to the reality outside of the university walls.
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Christopher McCann as Reverend Wilson does a very good job of bringing the conflicted man to life. His teacher is well meaning, but can be condescending when trying to be supportive. His role eschews the easy generalizations of the time. But it is Sheldon Best as John Newton Templeton and Emma O’Donnell as the wife who steal this show. Miss O’Donnell burns up the stage with barely disguised anger towards the life she has. John is tangential target of her disappointment with the world and her place in it. But her anger doesn’t turn into self-pity and bitterness, it turns into a force of unflinching truth, bringing insights to the to the young man.
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In John Newton Templeton, Sheldon Best has found a character to give new voice of the freed black American. This man is smart and ambitious, albeit limited by his time and circumstances. He finds the antagonism of Mrs. Wilson uncomfortable and confusing.
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Without overly explaining the emotional journey of the show, it moved in unexpected ways and dealt with issues new to the audience. It avoided the banal and obvious arguments and instead forced both the characters and the audience to reevaluate preconceptions. Credit has to go to Charles Smith for bringing new stories out in Freed.
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Joe Brancato directed this show with a wonderfully light hand, trusting his actors and the audience to make the journey together. The very simple and organic set is enhanced by a great lighting design, scenic design done by Joseph J. Egan and lighting designer by Martin E. Vreeland. The lighting focuses the play on the individuals and just as the costumes set the era well, without being too overbearing.
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By all means see this show. Go with any preconceptions you have because this show and cast will blow past them.
(tickets)
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FREED
The 59E59 Theatres, June 11 – July 3, 2010
Cast list: Sheldon Best, Christopher McCann, Emma O’Donnell
*
Rating: SEE IT!
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What works: A surprising stories told by amazing actors.
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What doesn't work: A very short trip to the meodramtic side
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What you get to brag about to your friends: You will be talking about this amazing show that has a very limited run. Your friends will be very jealous if they miss it!

Lee Blessing's A Walk In The Woods Remembrance

Lee Blessing has a new play out that I will review when it opens (June 17th) about George Bush and my expectations were too high. Rather than pull this into the review, I am going to try to explain why now.

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I saw Lee Blessing's A Walk In The Woods in London. It was the first play I ever saw in London and maybe my first grown up play ever. I had seen Agnes of God in New York on a trip, but it was Carrie Fisher's first night and I sat in back of Paul Simon (dating her at the time) and Art Garfunkle and it was a "thang" more than a show.

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No A Walk In The Woods was a half price show I walked into blind, my first time in London and alone. I saw Alec Guiness! Alec freakin' Guiness! And after 20 minutes, he wasn't Obi Wan, I was mesmerised by this play.

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It covers a year of negotiations between the Us and USSR (this was right after during Ronald Reagan) and shit yes the world teetered on the edge.

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And this play showed so much of the "game" of nations..

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I was young and felt that a a curtain had been pulled back showing me the Truth with a capital T.

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Well with that remembrance (and a Pulitzer prise finalist), anything else he does has a high standard of excellence. I expected too much from his new work I fear.