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The 2016 Drama Desk Awards were
presented at Town Hall. The winners were in many
ways similar to the Outer Critics Circle Award. Jessica
Lange and Frank
Langella were
the Outstanding Actress and Actor in a Play and Cynthia
Erivo and Danny
Burstein were Outstanding Actress and Actor
in a Musical. The
Humans was
Outstanding Play and Shuffle
Along (which
will be considered next season for an OCC Award) was
Outstanding Musical. Michael
Urie was
the host, and the presenters included Chita
Rivera, Jennifer Simard and Laura
Benati among
many others, It was a splendid event.
Off-Broadway, A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic
Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center of New York City, by Halley
Feiffer, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, is a
four character play, directed by Trip
Cullman. It takes place in a hospital room,
where a son (Erik
Lochtefeld) and a daughter (Beth
Behrs) visit their respective mothers. All
four are ridiculous, unpleasant characters. The
highlight of the 90 minute play is a scene in the
bathroom, where the man gives the girl oral sex,
while she is sitting on the sink. I have never seen
a scene like that before. The party took place at
Sushi Samba, 87 Seventh Avenue South with guests
like Joe
Mantello, Walter Bobbie and Carolyn
McCormick with
her older son, Cooper
Jennings. After that unusual sex scene, I
need a strong sake!
Shining City, by Conor
McPherson, is a revival of a fascinating play
at the Irish Repertory Theatre which is now back
home in its beautiful, newly renovated theater at
132 West 22nd St. The fine four member cast, headed
by Matthew
Broderick, and directed expertly by Ciaran
O'Reilly, are perfect . In her only scene, Lisa
Dwan is
wonderful as the frustrated woman, who is abandoned
by the man (an excellent Billy
Carter) with whom she has been living, and
they are parents of a child. An all star celebrity
audience attended the opening night, and the party
was held on the second floor in the Gallery.
Artistic Director Charlotte
Moore welcomed Sarah
Jessica Parker, Angela
Lansbury, Hal Prince, A.R. Gurney, Nathan Lane,
Kenneth Lonergan, Tony Walton, Joe DiPietro and Lee
Wilkof. It was glorious party.
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American Ballet Theatre (ABT) presented The
Golden Cockerel, choreography by Alexei
Ratmansky, music by Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov. It
was a colorful production, thanks to the scenery and
costumes by Richard
Hudson, inspired by Natalia
Goncharova, who created them in 1913 and 1937. Stella
Abrera was
an exotic Queen of Shemakhan and Cassandra
Trenary an
exquisite Golden Cockerel. Both danced wonderfully.
However, the rest of the ballet is basically mime,
with the ensembles doing pretty steps, like the
Peasant Women and the Persian Women. The story is
silly, with the Tsar Doden (Victor
Barbee) and the Astrologer (James
Whiteside) captivated by the Queen. Ormsby
Wilkins conducted
the orchestra, which played the pleasant music well.
At MoMA,
there is a wonderful series Universal
Pictures: Restorations and Rediscoveries 1928-1937
until June 15. Laura,
by Otto
Preminger, USA, 1944, is a classic, with a
lovely Gene
Tierney in
the title role, accompanied by Clifton
Webb, with his caustic comments, and Dana
Andrews as
a hard boiled detective. Supporting roles by Vincent
Price and Judith
Anderson contribute
to the success of this outstanding example of film
noir. I
enjoyed every minute of this wonderful film.
MoMA presented Dadaglobe
Reconstructed, June 12-September 18. Over
100 works by more than 40 artists are
represented. It is a fascinating exhibition. Tristan
Tzara planned
a book in 1921when he was in Zurich, and
solicited photos of their art work from all of
them, plus a photo of the head of the artist.
The book was never published, but what he
received was a magnificent example of the
imagination of these inventive, superb artists.
We attended a Candlelight Vigil for sports icon
and humanitarian Muhammad
Ali at
Cafe Vero, 1483 Second Avenue. Restaurant owner Sammy
Muscovic provided
the guests with a delicious luncheon with
mimosas. Boxing legend Gerry
Cooney, who was a friend of the
heavyweight champion and traveled with him on
various occasions, was the host of the party in
his memory. It was a fine tribute to a sports
legend.
Alex Brightman School
of Rock-The Musical received
his caricature at Sardi's. His friends and
family arrived to enjoy the celebration. It is
always a fun event.
I received an advanced copy of Some
Enchanted Evenings: The Glittering Life and
Times of Mary Martin, by David
Kaufman. Mary
Martin was
a dear friend, and I miss the charming lady, who
was a wonderful singer and a splendid actress. I
look forward to reading her biography, and will
write my review in a future column.
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