Woman and Scarecrow ,
by Marina
Carr, is
a production of the Irish Repertory
Theatre. Four splendid actors are
directed expertly by Ciaran O'Reilly .
The play takes place in the bedroom of a
dying married lady (a remarkable Stephanie
Roth Haberle ), mother
of twelve children and a unfaithful
husband. We see her unhappiness and
frustration in her life.
It is a
serious meditation on life and death. I
photographed Marina and Stephanie (photo
below) at the opening night party in
the Gallery of the theater at an,
always, wonderful party.
The 2nd Annual Chita Rivera Awards were
presented at the NYU Skirball Center for
the Performing Arts. The three special
awards were presented to Carmen de
Lavallade, John Kander and Harold
Prince. Among the winners were Sergio
Trujillo, Summer: The Donna
Summer Musical for Outstanding
Choreography in a Broadway Show, Tony
Yazbeck, Prince of Broadway for Outstanding
Male Dancer
in a Broadway Show and Ariana
DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer
Musical for Outstanding
Female Dancer in a Broadway Show.
Among the guests and presenters were Lee
Roy Reams, Norbert Leo Butzand Ben
Vereen ( photo below). The
awards were originally the Astaire
Awards, and I am happy to write that I
have attended everyone of them. It is a
lovely event.
The 63rd Annual Obie
Awards took place at Terminal 5,
610 West 56th St. It is always an
informal affair, that I have enjoyed
when I worked with Jerry
Tallmer at
the New
York Post .
He founded the event when working at
the Village
Voice .
Among the many winners was one of my
favorite actresses Kathleen
Chalfant who
received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other winners included Billy
Crudup, Robert Sean Leonard, Jessica
Hecht, Amy Herzog ,
the York Theatre Company and
the Pan-Asian Repertory Theatre , and
many more too numerous to mention. We
ate, drank and toasted the wonderful
artists. John
Leguizamo was
the host for this magnificent event.
Of all the museums in New York, none is
finer, and more
charming than the
Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St. Every
press event is a delight. I attended a
press preview of Canova's
George Washington. Unfortunately,
the original statue was destroyed in a
fire in the State Capital in North
Carolina, but a full size modello is
on display alone in the Oval Room, and
in the adjoining room an exhibition of
drawings. pieces of the original statue
and a
painting of George Washington by Gilbert
Stuart , and
one of Canova by Thomas
Lawrence .
Canova (1757-1822) was
considered the finest sculptor of his
era. Do not miss this fascinating
exhibition!
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I attended a fundraiser for the new
documentary Merely Marvelous: The
Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon,
by Dennis Fill, (who was born
in England and admired her talent so
much that he flew to New York to see
her in Damn Yankees four
times), Ken Bloom and Chris
Johnson, at the Palm restaurant,
250 West 50th St. We saw clips from
the documentary, while the
filmmakers and Gwen's
nephew Paul Verdon spoke
about the film. Among the guests at
the reception were Broadway stars
who worked with the immortal Gwen
like Penny Fuller, Helen Gallagher and
Lee Roy Reams. It was a marvelous
party
The New Group presented Peace
for Mary Frances ,
by Lily
Thorne ,
at the Pershing Square Signature
Center, starring my all time
favorite actress Lois
Smith as
a ninety year old dying lady with
three generations of
siblings fighting for their
inheritance. The cast is directed Lila
Neugebauer .
With children like these in the
play, one can understand the need
for birth control ! The
opening night party took place at
Social Drink & Food Rooftop at Yotel.
The 68th Outer Critics Circle
Awards Dinner took place at
Sardi's. Among the winners, who may
also go on to win Tony Awards on
June 10, were Tina Fey, Andrew
Garfield, Glenda Jackson, Lauren
Ambrose, Ethan Slater, Nathan Lane,
Laurie Metcalf, Norbert Leo Butz, Lindsay
Mendez. I have been a proud
member of the Executive/Nominating
Committee of OCC for almost 40
years.
The 18th Annual Broadway.com Audience
Choice Awards took place at 48 Lounge,
1221 Avenue of the Americas. Amon gthe
winners were Tina Fey, Uma Thurman,
Andrew Garfield, Ethan Slater and Taylor
Louderman. It was a very enjoyable
reception.
My wife and I attended a delicious press Summer
Tasting Weekend Brunch at Hooters, 155
West 33rd St. The brunch will debut on June
2 on Saturday and Sunday. Menu entrees range
from $6.99 to $13.99, and for $24.99
"all-you-drink" for two hours. Be sure to
enjoy yourself at Hooters!
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) presented two
ballets with music by Igor
Stravinsky.
The first was a modernized version of Firebird,
choreography by Alexei
Ratmansky,
with a brilliant Devon
Teuscher in
the title role. Alexandre
Hammoudi as
Ivan and Alexei
Agoudine as
Kaschei offered fine support. The orchestra
was conducted by David
LaMarche. The
second was AfteRite, choreography
by Wayne
McGregor.
It is based on The
Rite of Spring,
which debuted in Paris in 1913. This is a
very modern version, perhaps ultra-modern. I
loved the original ballet, which caused a
riot when first produced. This production is
inexplicable and difficult to understand.
The dancing is always on a high level, with
marvelous dancers headed by the magnificent Alessandra
Ferri.
The orchestra was conducted by Ormsby
Wilkins.
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