|
Off-Broadway, Dangerous
When Wet: Booze, Sex and my Mother, written and performed by Jamie
Brickhouse, directed by David
Drake, presented by the 2017 Frigid Festival at the
Kraine Theater, is a 60-minute one-man show, in which
the performer relates his life, dominated by his mother,
and his addiction to booze and sex. It is an honest
account, which might have ended tragically. He is now
sober, and has a glorious relationship. It is a funny
and charming performance. We celebrated his opening
night at the Rumpus Room, 249 Eldridge Street, where I
photographed Jamie, and met many of his admirers, while
toasting him at an open bar with delicious hors
d'oeuvres in a private section of the club, owned by Gabriel Levy, who
is also the DJ. It was a grand party.
C.S. Lewis, On Stage The Most
Reluctant Convert, written and
performed by Max
McLean, at the Acorn Theatre, Theatre Row, is a
production of FPA Fellowship for Performing Arts. It is
an 80-minute one-man show about the Oxford University
philosopher in 1950. It takes place in his study in
Magdalen College, where he smokes his pipe, drinks wine
and tells the story of his life up to that point.
Although a Christian, he struggled with his faith and
became an Atheist. He returned to his faith in 1950. The
scenic design by Kelly
James Tighe recreates
the study perfectly, and the projections of Rocco
DiSanti of
Oxford are quite lovely. It is co-directed by Ken
Denison and
McLean.
On the Exhale,
by Martin
Zimmerman, is a 60-minute one woman show starring Marin
Ireland a
fine actress, directed by Leigh
Silverman, on a bare stage, at the Black Box
Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for
Theatre. She is an unidentified mother of a child killed
by gun violence. For an hour we listen to her grief and
her attraction to an assault weapon. There has been a
proliferation of one person shows. I attended four
in ten days. Opening night parties at two of them made
those two tolerable.
The Gravedigger's Lullaby,
by Jeff
Talbott, at the Beckett Theatre, Theater Row, opens
on Sunday March 12. My review will appear in my next
column.
|
TADA! Youth Theater Annual Gala honored
Award-winning composer/lyricist Stephen
Schwartz at
Tribeca 360, 10 Desbrosses Street. Jordan
Peele was
the host and Ben
Vereen was
the surprise guest. They were hilarious. Among the
guests were Telly
Leung and Jason
Robert Brown.
It was a lovely event, with delicious food and an open
bar.
The 39th Annual Susan Smith Blackburn
Prize Ceremony is
a wonderful event. At Playwrights Horizons, it began
with a reception, where we mingled with the finalists,
like the winner Clare
Barron, (photo below) Penelope Skinner, Charley Miles, and other
famous women playwrights like Lynn
Nottage, Annie Baker, actors like Lynn
Cohen, the judges like Maria
Aberg, who is Swedish. We then went to the second
floor theater, where the winner was announced, and many
speakers like Tim
Sanford, Evan Cabnet and
others spoke about the importance of this prize in
furthering the careers of women playwrights. It was a
memorable evening.
I attended the Margo
Manhattan Cocktail Reception previewing
her jewelry collection of rock 'n' roll chic designs
exclusively for HSN. It took place in Residence 7, an
elegant 6.5 million dollar apartment at 199 Mott Street.
We congratulated Margo
Manhattan, who is a celebrity jewelry designer, who
displays her wonderful jewelry on HSN live TV.
We drank vodka and bourbon cocktails, while eating
delicious hors d'oeuvres. It was a grand event.
I attended a cocktail reception for China
Now: New Literati Art, at ART100, 555 West 25th St,
where I met the three directors of the gallery including Michelle
Y. Loh, and two of the seven artists, Li
Jin and Zheng
Chongbin, whose works were on display at the
gallery. Their artwork is impressive. INK
Studio, the Beijing-based art gallery arranged the group
exhibition. The guests I met were charming, and the
gallery is a fine space. I look forward to visiting
it again.
I attended a wonderful party at a private
apartment at 55 Central Park West for a fundraiser for Bo
Dietl as Candidate for Mayor of New York City. Among
the many celebrities I chatted with Savion
Glover and photographed Vincent
Pastore, and reminded Bo that the only time I dined
at Rao's was years ago at his Thursday night's table.
When he is Mayor, I hope he will invite me again.
Meanwhile, we dined on delicious Italian food provided
by Nino Selimaj,
the owner of Nino's Tuscany, 117 West 58th St, and his
charming wife Sylvia gave
me a Tiramisu to take home for my wife. We toasted the
future Mayor with Donegal Irish whiskey, Georgi Vodka
and Prosecco. It was a marvelous party. |