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On Broadway, Oh,
Hello on Broadway, by Nick
Kroll and John
Mulaney, directed by Alex
Timbers, at the Lyceum Theatre, is a 90-minute
show featuring the two writers. They are comedians,
who have a cult following. Their fans filled the
theater on the afternoon that I attended. They
roared with laughter throughout the performance.
They are an acquired taste, which, unfortunately, I
have not been able to acquire, They appear before
the curtain as 70-year-old New Yorkers, and then the
curtain raises with a set supposedly to represent
various plays. They then perform a play. A person
appears on stage with them for an informal
interview. It was Josh
Groban, who will appear later in a Broadway
show. As you can see, it is a chaotic performance,
and I do not have the slightest idea why it is being
presented on Broadway. I have a sense of humor, but
I did not find anything funny.
Heisenberg,
by Simon
Stephens, at the Samuel F. Friedman Theatre, is
a production of Manhattan Theatre Club, which
appeared Off-Broadway last year. It was then, and
is now, an 80-minute, unbelievable play, with two
characters, and minimal scenery of two tables and
two chairs, with drab costumes. A neurotic middle
aged woman, Georgie Burns (Mary-Louise
Parker) plants a kiss on the neck of a 75-year-old
lonely butcher, Alex Priest (Denis
Arndt) on
a platform of the London underground. She engages
him in conversation, stalks him at his shop, has
dinner with him, sleeps with him, relieves him of a
large sum of money, with which she takes him to New
Jersey to look for her estranged son, they dance the
tango, and then become a romantic couple. The two
actors act well, under the direction of Mark
Brokaw. But
the six short scenes seem more like an acting
exercise than a play.
Off-Broadway, Chris
Gethard: Career Suicide, directed by Kimberley
Senior, at the Lynn Redgrave Theater, is an
80-minute one man show, starring Chris
Gethard, who
seems to have a cult following. He tells them how he
suffered from depression in high school and college,
and had suicidal urges. He saw a psychiatrist at
22-years of age, and took various medications.
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He is now
36-years old, and a comedian, as well as an actor on
television and film. The audience roared with
laughter as he told them about his life. The opening
night party was held in the theater basement, with
his producer Judd
Apatow, Josh Radnor and Colin
Quinn among
the guests. Beer and wine, plus pizzas, mini
cupcakes and cookies were served.
There was a Meet &
Greet for The
Q Brothers Othello Remix, at the Westside
Theatre, presented by John
Leguizamo, and they performed a selection of the
show starring four talented actors and a DJ. It
opens on November 16, and I look forward to opening
nigh
The New York Pops
presented a wonderful program The Musical World
of Lerner and Loewe, at Carnegie Hall.
Selections from five of their great Broadway and
film musicals were sung by three terrific singers, Colin
Donnell, Nathan Gunn and Laura
Osnes with
the Essential
Voices USA choir.
The orchestra, directed by Steven
Reineke, accompanied
them. It was a memorable evening.
Film Forum presented
a press preview of Portrait
of a Garden, by Rosie
Stapel, Netherlands, 2016. It is beautifully
documentary, filmed over one year, of a garden on an
estate founded in 1630, now owned by Daan van
der Have, and tended by an 85-year-old pruning
master, Jan
Freriks. We see them planting a multitude of
vegetables, and watch them grow over the year. It is
a fascinating look at two people and their workers,
who love gardening and producing wonderful food,
that grows naturally. It is a charming film and the
two gentlemen are a joy to watch and listen to.
The Guggenheim Museum is presenting a fascinating
exhibition of modern works, grids and stripes, of Agnes
Martin: Oct 7, 2016-Jan 11. 2017.
Her work is impressive, and leaves a tranquil affect
on the viewer.
I received a copy of Show
and Tell: The New Book of Broadway Anecdotes, by Ken
Bloom. by Oxford University Press. It contains
many hilarious anecdotes, and some sad ones, about
life in the theatre community. The author reveals
the insecurities, pettiness and jealousy of many
actors on stage, in rehearsal, on tour, and in
auditions. It is a fascinating insight into the
theatre world. The playwrights, producers, directors
and other members of the creative team are also
included in this tale of much bad behavior. Theatre
fans will enjoy this entertaining book, and gossip
lovers will delight in repeating the scurrilous
details of many of the popular celebrities mentioned
in the book. |