The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence

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The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence, at Playwrights Horizons, November 16, 2013

Madeleine George's gimmicky new play, a riff on sidekicks named Watson and their roles in history (real and fictionalized), is Playwrights Horizons' latest commission to reach their mainstage.

The concept has merit, four Watsons all played by the same actor (John Ellison Conlee) flanked by three Mr. and Mrs. Merricks (David Costabile and Amanda Quaid), covering Sherlock Holmes' doctor friend, Alexander Graham Bell's assistant Thomas Watson, a computer repairman dweeb Josh Watson, and a fictional computer successor to IBM's 2011 Watson (a contestant on television's Jeopardy!). 

Playwrights Horizons discount offer - The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence

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"The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence" at Playwrights Horizons

DISCOUNT TICKETS TO THE (CURIOUS CASE OF THE) WATSON INTELLIGENCE for YOUR READERS:

Regular run:  Nov 15-Dec 29
Tues-Wed at 7, Thu-Fri at 8, Sat at 2:30 & 8, Sun at 2:30 & 7:30

Order by Dec. 2 with the code WATBLOG and tickets are $45 (reg. $70) for all performances Nov 15-Dec 29

Online  www.ticketcentral.com/playwrightshorizons/online/

Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 Noon to 8PM daily
In Person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues

PH Mainstage Theater, 416 West 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues

All That Fall

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"All That Fall" at 59E59 Theatre, November 10, 2013

(Photo by Carol Rosegg)

All was gray - the afternoon, the audience, and for the most part, the somewhat starry cast, featuring Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon, arrives from London (mostly) in this minimally staged radio play by Samuel Beckett, directed by Trevor Nunn. 

The story, being Beckett, is a bit nihilist, about an older woman of questionable health making her way to meet her blind husband at the train station.  We shuffle along with Mrs. Rooney (Ms. Atkins) as she encounters a menu of rural British characters, the dung peddler Christy (Ruairi Conaghan) on his cart, the retired Mr. Tyler (Frank Grimes) on his bike, the Clerk of the Racecourse Mr. Slocum (Trevor Cooper) in his car, each in advancing means of transportation, but none speeding the dreary tale along.  The aptly named Miss Fitt (Catherine Cusack), a protestant zealot gives Mrs Rooney the final bit of assistance upon arrival at the station.

The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters

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"The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters" at Playwrights Horizons, October 26, 2013

PH continues to develop new work for the stage, with this new play running in their Peter Jay Sharp Theater by Marlane Meyer.  Develop is an accurate description in this case because, in addition to being a preview performance during which new changes were being performed for the first time, the play still needs a lot of work.

The premise is interesting: how people are perceived and how relationships can bring change to those involved either because of, or in spite of those perceptions.  (That's my take, at any rate, since it took well into Act 2 for that theme to emerge.)

The Snow Geese

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"The Snow Geese" presented by Manhattan Theatre Club, October 20, 2013

An approaching winter of discontent is stirring as the lights come up on The Snow Geese, Sharr White's new play at Manhattan Theatre Club.  It's November, 1917, and the Gaeslings have gathered at their country lodge outside Syracuse, NY to celebrate the opening of goose hunting season.  The gloom of Theodore Gaesling's recent death looms over the proceedings as his widow Elizabeth (Mary Louise Parker) struggles to keep her chin up as her first-born Duncan (Evan Jonigkeit) prepares to ship out to fight in WWI France.  Elizabeth's pious sister Clarissa (Victoria Clark) and husband Max (Danny Burstein) have taken up residence with Elizabeth after local anti-German sentiment has forced them out of their own home and Max's medical practice. The house staff has reduced to a new Ukrainian immigrant maid, Viktorya, whose beauty has enraptured younger son Arnold (Brian Cross).

Arnold has also been tasked with sorting out the books following his father's death, which turns out to me more of an autopsy of the family finances.  It seems Theodore was no savvy businessman.  Previous staff and accountants had drained the family's wealth.

What to do?

The Old Friends

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"The Old Friends" at The Pershing Square Signature Center, October 17, 2013

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Horton Foote was a prolific playwright.  The Old Friends is actually a sequel to his second full-length play, Only the Heart first produced in 1942.  It took nearly 20 years to get the first exploratory production of TOF, and another 20 before Signature Theatre produced a reading.  This 2002 event inspired Mr. Foote to write the version currently on stage at the Signature.

A Time to Kill

"A Time to Kill"  at John Golden Theatre,October 10, 2103

Posted by Mondschein

(photo: Carol Rosegg)

The prodigious author John Grisham has entered a third medium to recycle his work with Rupert Holmes' adaptation of his first novel "A Time to Kill" now running on the Great White Way.  I've been a Grisham fan for many years, getting hooked first with "The Firm," which led me to "A Time..." and I've read almost everything he's written since then, good, bad or indifferent.  I like that his work is an easy read, sometimes a little pulpy, but generally perfect for an afternoon on the beach or a couple of hours on an airplane.

Wisely, Mr. Grisham has turned over the adaptation of his work to someone who has strong experience in writing for the theatre.  He gets off scott-free if the effort tanks, or gets all the glory for creating the source if the play becomes a hit.  Don't forget, he's a lawyer at heart and understands how to balance the risk/reward equation.
 
For him, that's a good thing. 

Playwrights Horizons discount - "The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters"

"The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters" at Playwrights Horizons

Discount tickets to The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters for my readers (both of you):

Regular run:  Oct 18-Dec 1
Tues 7, Wed-Fri at 8, Sat at 2:30 & 8, Sun at 2:30 & 7:30

Order by Nov. 5 and use the code SAINTBLOG
$40 (reg. $60) for all performances Oct. 18-Dec. 1

Online  https://www.ticketcentral.com/playwrightshorizons/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=D0D7E210-A98C-4C65-A44B-2355AAD20268

Call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 Noon to 8PM daily
In Person: Ticket Central Box Office, 416 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues

Blowoff At The Gramercy

"Bob Mould and Rich Morel are back for another BLOWOFF at their new spot, The Gramercy Theatre at 23rd & between Park & Lexinton Avenues on September 13. Great new, gritty, rock 'n' roll theater space with a cool lounge and bar downstairs. The last BLOWOFF was a sold-out event and man, what a great, sexy crowd. Tix at www.blowoff.us."

Consider The Lobster, Art Garfunkel.

Last night Art Garfunkel had what he calls “a rehearsal” in an intimate (300 sold-out seats) performance space in West Hartford, Connecticut.  The first few moments after he walked onstage and sat down next to his guitarist/accompaniment were tense. The hush betrayed our expectation of the worst, considering his terrifying loss of voice and recent struggle to regain it.  He launched into an almost whispered delivery of “April Come She Will” and suddenly the entire room was in his hands and remained there throughout the evening, as he delivered some classic Simon and Garfunkel songs, read us some of his soon to be published poetry, talked about the good fortune of his musical life, the joys of his married life and parenthood, and graciously took questions from the audience.

GMHC Presents the 23rd Annual Latex Ball!

QNY Recommends Seth Tucker's "Our Kiki, A Gay Farce"

Last night, we went downtown to see Seth Tucker’s “Our Kiki, A Gay Farce.” This is Tucker’s first full-length play and his first go at directing a full production. I am happy to report that he has delivered a delightful mid-summer romp, perfectly illustrating the value of the New York International Fringe Festival (Aug 9-25, 2013, www.fringenyc.org) as a foot in the door for promising writers who, with continued luck, will deliver more and better.

“Our Kiki, A Gay Farce” (https://www.facebook.com/Ourkikitheplay) is full of laughs and fine performances. I didn’t at all mind that the premise—a gay couple’s need to involve a female friend in a sham wedding in order to secure a green card— is outdated given the recent fall of DOMA. Funny is funny, and I hope Mr. Tucker understands the value of this compliment when I say that he may, with repeated ups at bat, learn to knock his laughs out of the park just like the venerable Charles Busch in whose lineage he may find himself.

We are sometimes tempted to be dismissive of farce, thinking that it’s what writers deliver when they drink rather than think, but structuring a farce correctly ain’t easy. Tucker has the comic instincts needed to dole out the situations and the complications with smooth control. He hooks us happily into the craziness that results when a snow storm prolongs an immigration official’s visit to the apartment shared by the gay couple hoping to remain intact (via the green card) and their friends, a complicit straight couple.  Tucker’s farce follows the classic formula so well that I fully expected the final moments to be delivered in rhyming couplets.

Cirque du Soleil - "Quidam"

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"Quidam" presented by Cirque du Soleil at Barclay's Center, July 25, 2013

In a tentless production, Cirque returns to NY with the long-running Quidam for a short stint at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.

Quidam, which means "anonymous passerby" originally opened in 1996, converting to its current format for arena staging in 2010 (thanks, Wikipedia!).

When I first discovered Cirque years ago, I was a huge fan, anxiously waiting to find out when the next tour would be performing nearby.  After the third or fourth production, however, my enthusiasm waned.  Perhaps the novelty had worn off compared to the ticket price.

NYC Pride March 2013 - Some Memorable Signs And People

Here are a dozen of my favorites: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyadamsphotos/sets/72157634416380329/

Celebrating the end of DOMA today at Stonewall.

My video of Atty Roberta Kaplan and Edith Windsor who won their suit against the USA.

The Comedy of Errors

Posted by Mondschein

"The Comedy of Error" presented by The Public Theater at Delacorte Theater, June 2, 2013


(photo by Joan Marcus)


The first of the Public Theater's presentations of Shakespeare in the Park is Shakespeare's take on Plautus' Menaechmi, complicated with an extra set of twins separated as small children.  There's no adaptation credit given in the playbill, but one might presume that dramaturg Robert Blacker was pivotal in the streamlining of the book down to a 90 minute one-act.  The result is a farce set in a 1940s Ephesus, complete with a jitterbugging, lindy hopping chorus gathered around the jukebox - - Shakespeare meets Guy and Dolls. 

Director Daniel Sullivan focuses his energies around Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as they take on the dual roles of Antipholus and Dromio, respectively.  Mr. Linklater achieves the greater success in creating two distinct characters around the long-lost brothers.  Mr. Ferguson comes in a close second.  Heidi Schreck also manages to find her way as Luciana.  Skip Suddeth brings us a Tony Soprano-style Duke.  The rest of the cast is serviceable if unremarkable, except for Emily Bergl's gasp-worthy pratfall as Adriana.

The pace is good.  The costumes colorful and sets work nicely.  There are plenty of laughs. It's a good night in Central Park.

Tickets are free, distributed the day of each show at the Delacorte box office.  The Comedy of Errors runs through June 30.

"BEFORE YOU KNOW IT" NY PREMIERE 6/23 WITH FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER.

I just watched the review screener. This movie will break your heart. Beautifully made film about three beautiful men. I highly recommend it.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, the first feature film to raise the curtain on a profoundly neglected segment of the LGBT community, its senior population, will have its New York Premiere at Lincoln Center.

BEFORE YOU KNOW IT,an observational documentary directed by PJ Raval, addresses issues that aren't often discussed in the LGBT community. The statistics are startling (e.g., LGBT seniors are five times less likely to access social services than their heterosexual counterparts and twice as likely to live alone). BEFORE YOU KNOW IT acquaints audiences with three fascinating individuals.


Get your tickets here: http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/before-you-know-it1  More after the break:

The Procedure by Marcus Yi

You have one more chance to see The Procedure: Thursday June 20, 5PM, Gene Frankel Theater, 24 Bond Street, New York City. I suggest you take it. (This play is part of the Planet Connections Theater Festivity.) 

My husband, The Baad Lamb, was actually tearing up at the ending, and I myself got quite caught up in the story which is something that hasn’t happened to me of late in a theater seat.

In The Procedure, an interracial gay couple is faced with a government-mandated microchip implant in order to remain together. Adrian, in his mid-thirties, is a lawyer happily married to Jacob. He is about to become an American citizen in order to remain in the country when he learns that the path to citizenship requires a microchip implant in his eye. He gets pushed and pulled by husband, family, friends and conscience until he finally makes his decision.

The Procedure could have been a tiresome tin-foil hat rant in the wrong hands, but as written by Marcus Yi and directed by Yi and Sonia Nam, it is a fine telling of how every man—gay or straight—has to define what “home” is and how important it is get one’s personal priorities in order and then to act accordingly. Adrian’s dilemma will make you wonder just what you could or could not live without. If you had to choose between a husband you loved, a job you loved, a principle you believed in or a place you loved, how would you attempt to “have it all?” And if you couldn’t have it all, what would you relinquish?

The fact that the central couple is gay is incidental, and isn’t it nice that we are finally living in a time and place where the gay aspects of a play are not distractions?

Stephen Thornton is entirely convincing as Adrian. Fenny Novyane is a delight as Valerie and she delivers the strongest performance. There were only a couple of weak moments: some trite humor in the commercial interludes and a painfully unfunny scene with Adrian and a doctor that stood out like a sore thumb.

The Procedure is a production of Living Room Theater which was created to produce works made in the living room of Marcus Yi. I hope he will continue to write plays.

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by going to https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/921718 or www.planetconnections.org/the-procedure

The Silver Cord

Posted by Mondschein

"The Silver Cord" presented by  Peccadillo Theater Company at the Theatre at St. Clement's, June 8, 2013

(Photo by Carol Rosegg)

A tradition of restorative productions is a sometimes unwieldy proposition.  Peccadillo Theater Company continues its residence at the Theatre at St. Clement's with a revival of the 1927 The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard (who won a posthumous Oscar for the screenplay of "Gone With The Wind).  The Silver Cord was something of a hit in its original run, telling the story of how a sociopathic moher interferes in the relationships of her two sons. 
There are obvious factors to support its revival: small cast, minimal costume and set changes.  Before staging this full production, Peccadillo conducted a reading of the play with Charles Busch as the mother.

If only they had been able to sign him for this run.

Under Mormon Pressure, Utah Pride Disinvites JoeMyGod As Grand Marshal

By Tony Adams

A gay travel website announced that Utah Pride would have two grand marshals for its 2013 Pride celebration: out gay soccer player, David Testo and gay activist/megablogger Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod.com. While researching an article for the 2013 annual Pride magazine, I noticed that Utah Pride made no mention of Jervis in its announcement of Testo as grand marshal. I contacted Valerie Larabee, Executive Director of Utah Pride Center, for an explanation. She did not mince words in her expression of disappointment about the deliberate disinvitation of Jervis.

Larabee began her explanation by grounding the disinvitation within the context of a community in which the Mormons hold much power. When I asked her how that power could possibly influence decisions made by a gay pride organization, she explained that there are two groups of Utah gays who come from the Mormon tradition: those who broke away from it wholeheartedly and those who are trying to somehow remain reconciled with their Mormon heritage even though it denigrates the essential elements of their lives and works energetically to deny them equality. (I assured her that Mormon gays are not alone in those descriptions. The same division may be applied to gays in other religions.) Larabee explained that one young gay man who is on the board of directors of her organization fought against having Jervis as grand marshal. He put forth, as motivation for his demand that the invitation be revoked, his contention that JoeMyGod.com is an insult to Mormons and that he was concerned about his Mormon friends.

Macbeth

The National Theater of Scotland's production of "Macbeth" at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, May 20, 2013

Posted by Mondschein

Alan Cumming returns to the Great White Way, reprising his one-man production of the Scottish Play following last summer's visit during the Lincoln Center Festival.

Under the direction of Once director John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg, it's another riff on Marat/Sade with inmates putting on the play.  Mr. Cumming appears to have arrived after an undisclosed traumatic event, bloodied and confused.  His caretakers (Jenny Sterlin and Brendan Titley) tend his wounds, collect his clothes and tissue from a cheek swab and under his fingernails.  It's something of a next step compared to the 2008 Broadway revival with Patrick Stewart perhaps, but I'm equally unconvinced of this concept as well.

A Rally In NYC Tonight Calls For An End To Violence Against Gays

Sotto 13 For Italian Tapas And Pizza In The West Village

Rushing about town, we had one of those New York days packed with parades and food festivals and community gardens in Spring bloom. The zigzagging finally and mercifully ended with dinner at just the right restaurant for two weary flâneurs.

Sotto 13 opened last Thanksgiving and has acquired a huge following for its weekend brunches featuring NYC's first ever do-it-yourself prosecco bar, but I was curious to see what their chef (previously with Cipriani) delivers in the evening.

The dinner menu is well focused: pizza, salad and an array of small tapas-style plates that are made savory with good use of sea salt and pungent cheeses. We selected six tapas plates and didn't regret any of them. I was particularly delighted with the Burrata and Roasted Peppers in Basil Oil. Burrata—served fresh—is a white Italian cheese confection with an exterior of mozzarella containing a cream center. Like a maiden calling out to suitors, burrata seeks flavor and color. The red and yellow peppers and the generous shredded basil supplied both. The Fig Jam, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Crostini delivered the anticipated argument of sweet and salty. I let my husband scoop up the last one on the plate only because the Grilled Octopus with Fingerling Potato, Pesto, Scallions and Capers had arrived. Using pesto on octopus is something I would not have thought of. I can't wait to try this at home. The capers and scallions sharpened the composition perfectly.

We shared two desserts and they were heavenly: the chocolate ganache and the pear strudel.

The chairs were comfortable, the decibels humane, the table arrangement gracious, the decor refined and understated, the atmosphere casually elegant and the service attentive but never intrusive—allegro ma non troppo—which is not easy to achieve when you are delivering plates of tapas. For us, the six dishes and dessert were plenty, but all around us, others were receiving intriguing pizzas that will be tried when next we visit.

Sotto13 is at 140 W13th Street. Make reservations. 212 647 1001

Free Summer Movies in NYC

Here is the list with dates and locations.

Central Park Lilacs

Remember The Pavilion Chandelier? Tell Your Story.

Send your memory to pavilion@pinesfi.com

Review: The Nance

The Nance, Douglas Carter Beane’s new play, is a lively portrayal of the social, sexual and political turmoil of 1930s New York City. Burlesque is in its heyday, verging on family entertainment (albeit with a PG-13 rating). In presenting a burlesque troupe facing immorality charges, Beane shows a time of relative permissiveness and tumult that flowered in the years before World War II.

Chauncey Miles (Nathan Lane) is a popular comedian who we meet cruising at a local automat. His interest is piqued when Ned, a handsome, starving young newcomer pours catsup into a cup of hot water. Ned becomes our proxy as Chauncey teaches him important shibboleths of his worlds. He explains the rules of camp and cruising, how to stay under the radar of the law, the distinction between pansies and trade, and after an unsuccessful attempt to end their one-night-stand, introduces Ned to his burlesque family.

To start the week off right

Puglia Villa Gay Bike Trip

This is Francesco. He helps out at the Villa Cappelli where you'll be spending a luxurious week when you book this trip. Just a couple of open spots left. I'm the tour guide for this trip. For details.

Fire Island Pines Pavilion

Bethesda Terrace in Central Park

The Baad Lamb took this pic of the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park on Saturday night. No Photoshop. He knows his camera's manual settings.

F#%king Up Everything - A Review

By David Pasteelnick

Have you ever been to Times Scare?  No, that isn't a typo, Times Scare is an entertainment complex on 8th Avenue between West 42 and 43rd Streets and home to the Elektra Theatre, where F#%king Up Everything, a charming new musical that opened on March 24th, following a successful debut at last year's NYMF, is currently playing.

F#%king Up Everything is a rock musical and the first new production to debut at the Elektra.  Music and Lyrics are by David Eric Davis, who also collaborated on the book with Sam Forman.  Jen Wineman directs and choreographs the show, and musical direction is by Eli Zoller.

Tonight: It's About Time: Billie Ray Martin to Play Roseland Ballroom March 22, Black Party® Weekend

And hava a listen to DJ Honey Dijon's remix of Billie's "Glittering Gutter."

Going Out On A Limb With My Picks For Pope

Just published are my predictions about the conclave about to begin. The article includes info about which cardinals are gay and which  among my five "papabili" would by good for women or gay Catholics. Does NYC's Dolan have a shot at the papacy? I have an opinion.

Blow Off NYC This Friday!

If I wasn't in Fort Lauderdale...

A World AIDS Museum?

Broward has the highest new infection rate in the country. I wonder how that number is skewed by snowbirds from NYC, Boston, Chicago etc. This museum is a great idea for many reasons.

QNY Fave: Christopher Brosius - Perfume God

Check out my profile of Christopher Brosius (and then visit his Williamsburg shop!) Page 8 of the new issue of The Mirror. This magazine is distributed nationally or you can read it online.

Gay Press Gay Power — My Review

My SFGN review of Tracy Baim's delicious book Gay Press Gay Power.

QNY's Perry Brass is featured in this book!

2013—The Year To Be Perfectly Queer.

They asked for my ten predictions. (and I am particularly pleased with my "From Abercrombie & Fitch to Maclarens for hitched" line.)