Seance on a Wet Afternoon

Posted by Mondschein

"Seance on a Wet Afternoon" presented by New York City Opera at the David Koch Theatre, April 28, 2011

I always find it exciting when established artists attempt a new direction with their art.  Case in point, the new ballet that Paul McCartney is composing for New York City Ballet announced this spring.

Similarly, Stephen Schwartz, composer of musical theatre works Godspell, Pippin and Wicked announced his first opera, Seance on a Wet Afternoon sounded like an interesting turn for his career.  Having performed in a (very bad) community production of Godspell, and having seen Wicked several years ago, I am familiar with Mr. Schwartz' style and was looking forward to seeing and hearing how it evolved for the opera stage.

His story choice is full of opportunity for dramatic musical interpretation.  Myra Foster (Lauren Flanigan), a commercially unsuccessful medium and her more than devoted husband Bill (Kim Josephson) are hatching a plan to bring Myra's talents to light and boost her reputation and fame.  The plan is to kidnap the young daughter (Bailey Grey) of a local wealthy family (Todd Wilander and Melody Moore).  Myra would then turn up and offer psychic assistance to locate the child and return her to her family safe and sound.  The ransom money collected would be donated to charity.

Brooklyn Railing

The Normal Heart - A Review

There were several ways I considered approaching writing this review. One idea was to simply to write the word "exceptional" over and over again.  Other words that came to mind were "shattering," "moving" and, sadly, "timely."

However it is probably best to handle this in a traditional format.

Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, which opened last night on Broadway...wait a minute, let's put this in perspective.  The Normal Heart, a play that has become an irreplaceable piece of not just gay theatrical canon but of theatrical canon in general, had its Broadway opening last night a full twenty years after it was first produced off-Broadway.  It has taken that long for this brutally honest yet achingly heartfelt play to finally make its way to the Great White Way.

Brooklyn Demolition

Gay Gallery Seeks Museum Status, Funding

I call your attention to some interesting news delivered by Christopher Murray, a Manhattan psychotherapist, about the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation.

It made me laugh, remembering a particular work of art we had in our Connecticut home that prominently featured an erect penis. It was hung (teehee) discreetly in our bedroom, but once, in the course of a large party attended by a "mixed" group of friends, a straight lady needed to make a private telephone call and sequestered herself in that room to do so. I entered the bedroom not knowing that she was there, and found her mesmerized by the sight of it.

The article includes some commentary by QNY's Perry Brass. The photo "Mitch" by Stanley Stellar, is from an upcoming exhibit at the gallery.

Miss Lola Rose: Mom On New York City

by Ivan Vargas

Lola Rose Abrams is the mother any gay man would kill to have. She has the elegance and the poise of a queen, the voice of a jazz singer, but at the same time she can and will go into language that would make the character of Samantha Jones blush. Just because. That, however, is what has made people gravitate to her for several years now: her unabashed frankness and how she lays it all down the line whether you like it or not. She verbalizes what we think, and by laughter she makes us react.

(video and more after the break)

die walkure at the metropolitan opera

The Season 3 Finale Extravaganza for RuPaul's Drag Race, Part II

By West Village Bill

After Manila, the RuPaul's Drag Race queen I was most excited to meet was Shangela. The constant knock against her was that she was too inexperienced to even deserve to be on the show. And maybe she should have waited to become the winner or at least in the top three of season 4 or 5 instead of being an also-ran in season 3 and the first one eliminated in season 2.

But that's not what she wanted. And every damn week, Shangela worked her ass off and managed to claw her way to a top five finish.* And she was just as hard-working at the press event; she had the longest line of people waiting to talk to her. (That's me with her in the photo, which was taken by my nondrag superstar, Tony P.)

Shangela is determined to make it big. She's already shot a pilot for a show starring Don Johnson that might be picked up by NBC for the coming fall season, though she won't be appearing in drag in it. She's playing a male hairdresser named Snip under her given name, D.J. Pierce.

Shangela told Riot and me that she spent the summer of 2007 in New York and has friends in Brooklyn and the Bronx and her drag sister Sahara Davenport in Harlem, whom she had to unsuccessfully lip-sync for her life** against in the first episode of season 2. She's happy on the West Coast, though. "I love Los Angeles," she said. "I'm a sunshine girl."

Drag Race Season 3 - Meet the Queens

Last night I attended the RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Series Finale with QNY contributors Bill and Darling, along with Miguel and Tony P., our camera crew and retinue.  The press event beforehand, during which we interviewed seven of the Season 3 Queens, was one of the highlights of my year so far.  Bill did a great job of reporting the details, so after the jump I'll have the luxury of giving my impressions and random thoughts about the girls and the event.  (Spoiler warning, I do mention who won.)

I was so nervous going into this event!  Celebrity is one of the few phenomena that can truly make me tongue tied.  I was never one of the popular, pretty people growing up, and sometimes the social anxiety I experience when thrown into a room of beautiful people can be intense.

These days I get through nervous times by letting my freak flag fly high!

(All photos by Miguel Dominguez.)

The Season 3 Finale Extravaganza for RuPaul's Drag Race

By West Village Bill

Last night, Providence in midtown was filled to the rafters with drag queens and the queers who love them: It was a party for the season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Before the winner was crowned on the Logo network on the big-screen TVs and then again on stage, by season 1 winner BeBe Zahara Benet, I was part of a QNY team who got to talk to the three finalists—Manila Luzon, Alexis Mateo, and Raja—and some of the other season 3 contestants. (The winner will be revealed after the jump, so if you recorded the show but haven't watched it yet, sashay away. For now.)

For much of the season, I've been rooting for New York's own Manila Luzon. Originally from Minneapolis, Manila lives in Harlem with her boyfriend of five years, season 2's Sahara Davenport. "I love Harlem," Manila said. "It's out of the way but still in Manhattan, so you can catch a cab." And it's still inexpensive, she said, though it may not last that way, what with the million-dollar condos going up.

Manila said her favorite look from the show was her pineapple dress. "It's so me," she said. Last night, she was showing "Queen Elizabeth II realness."

Moments after I took this photo, Manila complained that the lighting was bad in that part of the room and so was relocated to a spot that had been reserved for Alexis, who hadn't yet arrived at the press meeting area. And that's why we love her! Actually, I loved her because she always put on a fantastic runway show and transformed herself into a beautiful yet often charmingly quirky Filipino princess.

Perry Brass: Lost Gay New York: Lance Loud

Picture of Lance Loud courtesy FindaGrave.com

I was blithely watching “Royal Wedding” the Saturday night before Easter on Channel 13, PBS—one of those vintage movies where the cast (Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, and the ever-tasty Peter Lawford) make the drivelly content worthwhile, when, at the end of it, Neal Shapiro, president of 13 made an amazing announcement: It was going to air the entire run of “An American Family,” all 12 episodes of it, that night. This had not been done in 20 years, and I somehow vaguely remembered that happening: just watching it with my jaw dropping in sheer astonishment. I’m not sure if they did it as a one-gulp marathon back then, but here it was: an entire night of the Pat and Bill Loud Show, with of course their five children in tow, the most unforgettable one being their eldest Lance.

So, although my eyelids were getting very heavy, I watched until the screen went blank, or I did, and had to go to sleep. It was like Proust’s dipping the madeleine into the lime-flower tea, a total recall of a time that is so far back as to seem fictional, and yet so utterly delectable in its youthful perfection (as well as imperfections) that all I could think of was: God, now a whole new generation of kids will want to dive headfirst into an Early Seventies revival: the wonderful, body-fitting clothes, the music, the attitudes, the flowery smell and feeling of it. And at the center of it, glowed Lance and his mother Pat, with a relationship that was so Oedipal, so Hamlet-and-Gertrude, that it shocked the living crap out of mainstream America (and even blasé New York) when it was first aired on PBS in 1973.

Gay Activists In the Easter Parade

Brendan Fay, Louis Flores (and is that Dan Choi?) stood in front of St Patrick's Cathedral yesterday and delivered the real and inconvenient message of Jesus on the day honoring the legend of his resurrection from a tomb. I like this ragtag, humble, unrefined and unamplified brand of activism.

photo Javier Soriano

Born Yesterday - A Review

Posted by David

Certain plays, no matter when they were written, if properly presented can withstand the test of time.  While written of and for a certain time, they contain basic themes that continue to resonate.  Remount these works with a cast and crew of talented and focused individuals and the end result will transcend the period trappings that surround the piece.

How fortunate, then, that the classic comedy Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin, originally produced on Broadway in 1946, has been given such a stellar treatment at the Cort Theatre on West 48th Street.   Directed by Dough Hughes and starring Robert Sean Leonard, Jim Belushi and rising star Nina Arianda, the work shakes off any dust and shines like a family heirloom proudly passed down to the next generation.

Born Yesterday

Posted by Mondschein


"Born Yesterday" at the Cort Theatre, April 7, 2011

Garson Kanin's classic spin on Pygmalion has returned to Broadway in a gorgeous, but uneven production directed by Doug Hughes.  This vehicle, which made Judy Holliday a star, provides a similar opportunity for Nina Arianda, making her Broadway debut as Billie Dawn.  Ms. Arianda certainly has earned the chance with her turn in the title role of Venus in Fur last year at Classic Stage Company.

Love Song

Posted by Mondschein


"Love Song" at 59E59 Theaters, April 19, 2011


(Photo by Jeff Larkin - provided by 59E59)


There are times when I forget that getting nominated for an award isn't necessarily an indication of worth.  Love Song was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2007.

I'm pretty sure it didn't win.

Playwright and director John Kolvenbach presents his play in its New York debut with an energetic, if largely miscast, production.  Beane (Andrew Pastides), apparently has Asperger syndrome or something similar, moping about on the edge of existence, driving his perfectionist sister Joan (Laura Latreille) to her wit's end.  Joan's husband Harry (Ian Barford) stays oddly supportive of both of them, until Beane meets Molly (Zoe Winters), who has broken into Beane's empty apartment, confronts him and steals his minimal belongings.

When Molly turns up at Beane's again, he is suddenly energized, a new man, a man in love.  He talks freely, initiates conversation, shows emotion and from a mainstream conformist perspective, seems normal.  Joan is hysterical and Harry is concerned.


I know - it didn't make any more sense to actually watch it either.

Mr. Pastides works hard to provide some dimension to the flat writing.  Ms. Latreille also has some success in the more emotional moments when she encourages Beane once she realizes the impact Molly has, but otherwise her performance feels false.  Mr. Barford and Ms. Winters both coast through unremarkably.

Mr. Kolvenbach doesn't seem to add much to his predictable script.  Ji-Youn Chang's set achieves the greatest success of the evening, juxtaposing Joan and Harry's warm red apartment against Beane's all-white colorless existence.

Love Song runs through May 7.  Tickets are available here.

the intelligent homosexual's guide to capitalism and socialism with a key to the scriptures by tony kushner at the public theater

The Boys of Bushwick

by baad lamb

To be perfectly honest, what caught my eye and brought me out to Norte Maar Gallery last Sunday were the two "historical works" mentioned in the smaller print of the publicity: Paul Cadmus, and especially, Pavel Tchelichev. To many, the reason for my excitement over these two artists needs no explanation, but if you are not familiar with them, I gotta lotta 'splainin' ta do, so I'm saving that for a different post. Meanwhile, you have one week left to see this intriguing show, focusing on the male form as muse, and I encourage you to speed on over to Bushwick to see it.

Norte Maar is a New York/London collaborative arts project that serves as a catalyst for many creative disciplines, encouraging cross-pollination among the visual, literary and performing arts. Here in NYC, the apartment gallery of the charming Jason Andrew is where you will find this show (for reluctant Manhattanites, it is just steps from the Jefferson Ave. L train stop.) He was on site and enthusiastically greeted and engaged me upon arrival. On my inquiry, Jason explained the multi-layered meanings of the gallery name, referring to an extension of this collaborative arts project in Rouses Point, at the northern tip of Lake Champlain, to the Latin root for sea (mare), and of course, one of Picasso's muses, Dora Maar.

  

Stem in Allium

by baad lamb

I have never put my hope in any other but in you, O onion and garlic.

Spem in alium - Thomas Tallis

The Tales of the City Creative Team

This will be a must-see.



I hope it comes to New York. For more info.

everyone's favourite lumber company

High

Posted by Mondschein

"High" at the Booth Theatre, March 29, 2011


Matthew Lombardo returns to Broadway from last season's so-so Looped with story of sin, redemption and weakness.  Sister Jamison Connelly (Kathleen Turner) is a well-respected counselor at a Catholic-sponsored rehab facility.  Her supervisor, Father Michael (Stephen Kunken), convinces her to take on 19 year old Cody (Evan Jonigkeit) whose addiction profile falls outside of the facility's usual requirements (gay, not Catholic).  High is a better effort than Looped, but still has its own issues.

Community Forum On Homeless LGBT Youth

ALI FORNEY CENTER TO HOLD COMMUNITY FORUM ON HOMELESS LGBT YOUTH: Sleeping in the streets or walking down the aisle? Prioritizing LGBT youth in our struggle for equality


WHAT: The Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, will host a forum on May 3 at New York’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.  The forum follows the recent budget put forth by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature, which would cut funding for homeless youth services by 50 percent, potentially forcing the closure of a number of youth shelter beds, putting vulnerable youth on the street, and disproportionately harming vulnerable LGBT youth.

The forum will examine the struggle to protect the thousands of youths who have been rejected by their families due to homophobia, and their relationship to the broader struggle for LGBT equality.

WHEN/WHERE:

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
Room 101
208 W. 13th St
Tuesday, May 3
7:00 – 9:00 PM

Rainbow Easter Bonnets for Fifth Avenue?

 On April 24, LGBT activists from two different groups—Connecting Rainbows and Queer Rising— will walk within the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade in New York City in memory of Americans, whose lives have been lost as a result of prejudice and hate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.  
In the last year, we have witnessed a spree of hate crimes against LGBT Americans, including, tragically, a very public spike in LGBT teen suicides.  This unnecessary loss of life will continue as long as our culture encourages homophobia and transphobia. 
Activists picked Easter Sunday to increase their visibility in front of the Catholic Church. Last month, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, other Bishops, and other Catholics of New York State traveled to Albany to lobby state leaders on March 8th and 9th to ''oppose efforts to redefine marriage.''  
See :  http://www.nyscatholic.org/pages/policy/show_policy.asp and http://www.nyscatholic.org/uploads/ppf_2978392011%20traditional%20marriage.pdf 

Go Back to Where You Are

Posted by Mondschein

"Go Back to Where You Are" at Playwrights Horizons, April 10, 2011

David Greenspan returns to off-Broadway with a new play at Playwrights Horizons.  It seems to be a combination of The Sound and the Fury, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, and Title of Show. 

Bernard (Brian Hutchison), a high school English teacher and erstwhile playwright, is off to visit his enormously-successful-and-grand-Broadway-actress-sister Claire (Lisa Banes) at her Hamptons manse, not far from the small family cabin in which he weekends.  Along for the weekend are her friend, less-successful-actress Charlotte (Mariann Mayberry), Tom (Stephen Bogardus), Claire's frequent director, his partner Malcolm (Tim Hopper) and Claire's son Wally (Michael Izqueirdo).  An early prologue introduces Passalus (Mr. Greenspan), a Greek chorus boy, trapped between worlds as God's minion longing for an end to the errands and chores of the Almighty.  God wants Passalus to help Carolyn along in her life, escaping the thumb of Claire, her mother.

(Spoiler Alert)

Kin Shop

By West Village Bill

My 'Weetie Tony P. and I had a terrific meal Saturday night at Kin Shop, a fairly new, Thai-inspired restaurant on 6th Avenue between 11th and 12th streets. I tried the place out for lunch almost a month ago, at the recommendation of my foodie friend Joyce, and had a wonderful, three-course prix-fixe meal that was a steal at $20. Dinner was much more spendy, but I was in the mood for splurging a bit and spent about $15 more on a bottle of wine than I typically do.

For our entrée, Tony and I both got the Steamed Red Snapper With Green Curry, Cashews, Bok Choy, and Kabocha Squash. It was a superb dish. My only regret is that I hadn't noticed jasmine rice is provided only if you request it—and at an additional charge of $3—so I had none to soak up the curry with.

For our starters, I got the enjoyable Garam Masala and Tomato Soup With Tofu, Mung Beans, and Holy Basil while the Tonester got the Spicy Duck Laab Salad With Toasted Rice, Ground Chili, and Romaine Hearts. The salad was marked in the menu with four asterisks, and the four-asterisked foodnote read as follows: "These are the spiciest dishes on our menu. They're hot and we mean it." Oh hell yeah! I liked the bite I tried, but I couldn't have handled a whole plate of it. Tony did. He said the lettuce had a cooling effect.

125th street station diptych

Marc Jacobs Belt Bag For Men

This is a fine and good looking idea. I'd like it modified to be worn without a belt and secured to the belt loops on jeans or shorts.

night taxi

Perry Brass: Lost Gay New York: Alvin Baltrop at Third Streaming on Green Street

                                               Alvin Baltrop: Men at the Piers, courtesy Third Streaming Gallery

I remember Alvin Baltrop well; I met him several times at the old Hudson River piers down in the Village that are no more. The piers had been part and property of the great, venerable steamship lines that crossed the Atlantic to Europe and back, back when Cole Porter went with his millionaire wife and an entourage of servants, Louis Vuitton luggage, and clandestine boyfriends. Cole Porter went with the Vanderbilts and their cousins the Whitneys, and all the other rich people who knew each other and had fun together. For about a decade or so, during the 70s and into the 80s, gay men in New York were having fun at the hulking remains of the same piers, after the lower Village part of the West Side Highway that had fed the piers into the city was closed for safety reasons. The piers were immense queer playgrounds and the canvas for many artists and the material for writers like myself. I started going to them in the fall of 1974, after I had spent a summer in Provincetown and one of my NY friends told me that he’d never been to anything like them.

He was right: for a sheer expanse of nakedness in the city, there were nothing like them, nor would there be again.

Book Review: Grail and the Jacob's Ladder Trilogy by Elizabeth Bear

Grail, by Elizabeth Bear, is the concluding book in her trilogy about the Jacob's Ladder, a generation spaceship traveling to colonize a world around a distant star.  I became interested in Bear when I picked up Dust, the first book of the series.  Dust amazed me with its unusual depictions of high technology, genderqueer characters, and epic queer romance set at an action-adventure pace.  Chill suffered only slightly from middle book syndrome, delivering solid plot progress and character development with plenty of suspense and conflict to keep the reader engaged.  With Grail, Bear wraps up the story well, while providing a fascinating outsider's view of the generation ship's crew and characters.

Remembering Sidney Lumet

by Ivan Vargas

As the government threatened to shut down, as most of Northern Africa continued to go crazy, and as Japan got hit with another earthquake, our country experienced the loss of a different kind. On Saturday, April 9, Sidney Lumet, the first New York director, died in his Manhattan home. He was 86.

The Antiwar Rally in Union Square

By West Village Bill

I went to the antiwar rally in Union Square yesterday with my basset hound, Rudy. I was happy to see such a large turnout; WCBS vaguely said the number of people was in the thousands. It looks as though the Gray Lady didn't write a single word about the protest, which is nothing new.

I like taking Rudy to these very serious gatherings because he makes people smile and enables them to forget, for just a moment, the life-and-death issues at stake, because the people at these protests are keenly aware of the life-and-death issues. I just wish the rest of our fellow Americans were willing to get angry and to show their anger to the powers that be. Maybe then the military-industrial-governmental complex and the banksters and their boosters wouldn't run roughshod over all of us like they do.

I was hoping to meet up with fellow QNY-er Justin there—he'd mentioned the rally on Facebook—but I didn't spot him.

Here are a few photos from the early afternoon:

Catch Me If You Can

Posted by Mondschein

"Catch Me If You Can" at the Neil Simon Theatre, March 21, 2011


Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have mined Hollywood to create another excellent stage musical adaptation from the 2002 film of the same name.  This time around, wisely, they've taken a bit more of a conceptual approach to tell the story of con man Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Aaron Tveit), who scams his way around the globe amassing and burning through lots and lots of money that's not his.  Working as a memory play, it starts as Frank gets caught by Carl Hanratty (Norbert Leo Butz), the federal agent who has been chasing him for years.  Frank, eager to finally tell his story, turns it into a television musical special along the line of Jackie Gleason's in the 50's or Dean Martin's series in the '60s, complete with a full cast of chorus girls, the Frank Abagnale, Jr. dancers.  With a tight book by Terrence McNally, Frank starts his tale as a teenager, learning from his father, Frank, Sr. (Tom Wopat), that image is everything.  Honesty, financial responsibility - - not so much.

Spoiler Alert

Tomorrow Morning

Posted by Mondschein

"Tomorrow Morning" presented by The York Theatre Company at Theatre at St. Peter's, April 2, 2011

In a slimmed down one-act version, following its US premiere in Chicago, Tomorrow Morning has arrived in New York, courtesy of The York Theatre Company, an off-Broadway troupe which focuses exclusively on producing musicals, both new and revivals.

The story follows two couples on the eve of large events in their respective lives.  What we get is an interesting concept that puts a spin on The Fourposter, showing the simultaneous progression and degradation of a relationship at its beginning and end.   For the first, living ten years ago, John (Matthew Hydzik) and Kat (Autumn Hurlbert), they are about to be married.  The second, living in the present, Jack (D.B. Bonds) and Catherine (Mary Mossberg) are about to divorce.

Spoiler alert

Benefactors

Posted by Mondschein

"Benefactors" presented by Keen Company at Theatre Row, April 2, 2011

Photo: Richard Termine, Theatremania

Once again, Carl Forsman and Keen Company prove that producing off-Broadway with a limited budget doesn't have to look like community theatre.  Their current revival of Michael Frayn's Benefactors is a well-paced and thoughtful presentation of two couples in semi-urban London, struggling to be helpful to each other without getting too involved in each other's business.

It's the late 60s and David (Daniel Jenkins) has been assigned the impossible urban renewal task of tearing down a shabby and dying neighborhood, and building new housing to increase the population density, while improving life for the residents.  His wife Jane (Vivienne Benesch) supports the effort, surveying the displaced and helping push the change through.  Neighbors Colin (Stephen Barker Turner) and Sheila (Deanne Lorrette) spend as much or more time at  Daniel and Jane's than they do at home.  Sheila can't quite seem to get ahead of the tasks of running her household, preparing meals and seeing to their two children.  Most days Jane feeds everyone tea and dinner.

Spoiler Alert

THE FINISHER

Mister Cee, a popular HOT 97 deejay and record producer, was busted for public lewdness after cops caught him in a car receiving oral sex from another man, authorities said Monday.

Cee, whose given name is Calvin Lebrun, 44, and a male companion, Lawrence Campbell, 20, were arrested at 3:55 a.m last Wednesday, according to court papers.

The pair were in a car parked at Watts and West Sts. and "the defendants' behavior was open to public view,'' the criminal complaint said.

Both men were charged with public lewdness and exposure of a person. They were released after their arraignment and are due back in court in June.

Queer Rising Stops Manhattan Traffic

QUEER RISING ESCALATES DEMAND FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NY STATE WITH SERIES OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCES

5 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR BLOCKING TRAFFIC IN FRONT OF GOVERNOR CUOMO'S OFFICE

BALLOONS & MARRIAGE EQUALITY BANNER STILL FLOATING ON GRAND CENTRAL STATION CEILING

New York, NY – The LGBTQ activist organization Queer Rising escalated its protest against New York’s discriminatory marriage laws late this afternoon, unleashing series of direct action protests across Midtown Manhattan that ended in the arrest of five of its members.


Balloons carrying a large sign calling on New Yorkers put pressure on their government to demand marriage equality are now floating just under the Grand Central Station’s landmark ceiling, and five people have been arrested for blocking rush-hour traffic just outside Governor Cuomo's Manhattan office, at East 41 Street and 3rd Avenue. The Queer Rising members unfurled a 75-foot banner that reads, “Marriage Equality NOW! Call Cuomo: 518-474-8390!!!”

Queer Rising

This ought to be interesting:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2011

QUEER RISING TO ORGANIZE A SERIES OF DIRECT ACTION PROTESTS

TO DEMAND MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NEW YORK STATE

IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN TODAY

Who:  Queer Rising, LGBTQ activist organization which demands full equality for all queer people through direct action

What:  Series of direct action protests to demand marriage equality in New York State

Date:  Today, April 4th, 2011

Time:  Around 5pm

Location:  Midtown Manhattan

The exact details of of Queer Rising's actions are confidential.  To learn more, please contact Jake Goodman using the information provided above.

Formed in the winter of 2009, Queer Rising is dedicated to achieving queer rights through nonviolent direct action.  For more information on Queer Rising visit www.QueerRising.com

Perry Brass: All Human Wisdom: Revisiting Angels

picture courtesy Signature Theatre Company

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.”

Alexandre Dumas Pere, last words in The Count of Monte Cristo.

My partner and I and another friend went to see the revival of Ton Kushner’s Angels in America at the Signature Theatre last night; my partner actually sat through both parts in one day, seeing Part One (“Millennium Approaches”) in the afternoon and then staying with us for Part Two (“Perestroika”) in the evening: an almost Wagnerian day of theater in the sheer exhaustion of concentration it takes.
Altogether, it was seven hours of sitting, so he could have flown to London in that amount of time, with little spurts of getting up to go to the bathroom. We did have dinner in between, so it was kind of like the way Eugene O’Neal’s 4-hour play “Strange Interlude” used to be staged, with a dinner break between the middle acts. But, again, Tony Kushner blows “Strange Interlude” out of the water: Eugene O’Neil must be choking on envy someplace, because, sadly enough, everything that he ever wanted to do, or be, or say but couldn’t is in Angels in America. We had both seen the original production of the first part when the plays were originally done on Broadway. I was blown away by the ending then of Part One, but since we actually saw on its last day of its Broadway run, there was no way to see Part Two. So I was all set to see how Angels ends, and I did. 

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Posted by Mondschein

"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, March 31, 2011

 When the last revival of Guys and Dolls was announced a couple of years ago, my reaction was, "Why?"  I didn't see the revival, but based on its limited run, that seems to have been a general consensus.


Then, the announcement came last year that How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was headed back to Broadway with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead.  Again, I asked, "Why?"