2.23.2009

Hell was Heaven until it wasn't.

So last night I went to the Woolly Mammoth Theater down in DC to see Hell Meets Henry Halfway. It was originally conceived & created by Pig Iron Theatre Company of Philadelphia, with text by Adriano Shaplin, based on Possessed by Witold Gombrowicz.

It's haunting, it's beautiful and there's a jump rope.

There's big, bold character choices that are expressed to the fullest extent of the actor's greatest tools, their voice & their body.

Steve Cuiffo makes brilliant choices that can be no more than a lift of an eyebrow but echo throughout the space.

James Dunn comes off as a little "playing at" when he first appears, but he slowly relaxed into it. I don't know if it was an off night, just the rhythm of his character or if it has to do with the fact he was replacing the Co-Artistic Director of Pig Iron for the last two weeks of the run. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed his performance, I just had questions about it.

Bel Garcia was just awesome as the Prince. Strong character choice, amazing physical commitment and a great voice to support those choices. There wasn't a need for heavy old age make-up, just enough to suggest age (some bags under the eyes), her choices filled in all the details, i.e. the way it should be.

Sarah Sanford was all that she needed to be. She gave to her partners what they needed and played off of them well. She didn't steal focus, which was weird considering the nature of her character, she's a great partner to share a scene with.

James Sugg puzzled me at first. He was Jon the Ballboy, a very supportive sort of role. When he first started speaking he reminded me of the Stuart Larkin character from MADtv. Similar pitch a breathiness, but he fell into the role enough and made choices that quickly distanced myself from those thoughts.

Dito Van Reigersberg played the title character Henry. Probably the stiffest of them all, but the stiffness came out of choice, not actor. Through some scenes he seemed a little disconnected at moments, but he still made me care in the end.

All in it was an awesome show that actually made me giggle in delight, not an easy thing to accomplish. I felt excited and exhilarated by their work and will be planning to make the trip up to Philly to see their show this Fall.

PLUS! Woolly had $5 scripts available to buy. Not of Hell Meets Henry Halfway, but of other plays, and let's be honest, I'm a script hoarder. Seriously. So I ended up being good and only walking away with 4. Can't wait to dig in! Wonder if I could order them online and not have to make the trip to DC.

During all of this happiness there was one thing that really made doubt whether or not I would go back to Woolly for a show. As intermission was ending (and just after I bought my snacks, I was outside while Greg was smoking during the first part), they had a recording saying don't bring any food or drink in. Cool I get it, new theatre. Let me try to finish the last few bites and I wander towards the door. Then all of a sudden a patron was like "You can't take that in there", I responded with a nice "I know." Course what I really wanted to say was "I'm not fucking deaf, thanks." So I realized I was starting to go in the main door and not the door closest to my seat, so Greg and I walked over to the other door and I tried to finish my last few bites of sugary goodness, when all of a sudden from ACROSS THE ENTIRE LOBBY the House Manager* yells "Ma'am, You can't take that in there!" And yes I mean yell. Well being the brassy broad I can be and having just bit my tongue to a fellow patron, I was getting ready to say "No shit!" when I realized that response might incur me not seeing the rest of the show and always wanting to be respectful of the theatre I told her that I was trying to finish it and was putting it in my purse.

Okay, so I understand it's her job to be on top of what happens, and it's not her fault that another patron had said something quite similar not more than 60 seconds prior. What I DO have issue with is a paid employee of the theater yelling across the lobby at a patron. That is completely unacceptable. I would never in a million years do that to a patron, otherwise they might not come back. In fact after the first act I was thinking about how much a season ticket might cost so that way I could experience this amazing space again and again. Thanks to the bitch with the attitude, that's not happening. I can find contemporary theater in any town, I don't have to make the hour drive to DC and spend a lot more money on a ticket to Woolly to boot. I've always had an affinity for Woolly since I went there when I was in high school for one of their "yard sales". While I probably will go to Woolly again in the future, I'm not really looking to make the season ticket commitment as a result.

So other than that one staff person, my experience was amazing. So yeah for Pig Iron and big boo to the Woolly House Manager*.


*I'm assuming she's the house manager, don't know her official title, but she was in charge of the ushers that night.

2.16.2009

Is he faking?



So do you think he's faking?

I'm not sure. You hear reports about how he's being followed around by cameras and that his friends are making a mockumentry, but I think something has really snapped.

I've been a fan of Joaquin since I first saw him in Clay Pigeons. He's one of those actors that I really enjoy seeing on film. He's intense and a bit tortured, but that's one of the reasons I like him so much.

Something seems off though. I think the fact that he never takes off his glasses is really bothering me. A lot can be told through the eyes and he shuts us all out from that.

He's either faking, or doing mass amounts of drugs. I really hope it's the former...

2.11.2009

The Arts are getting the shaft from the government... again!

Saw this in my local Theatre Association's newsletter. Please help! Without the arts, there is no culture, there is no life.


Senate Cuts Arts from Economic Stimulus Bill

From Americans for the Arts

Breaking News
This afternoon the U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an egregious amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated ``None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.`` Unfortunately, the amendment passed by a wide vote margin of 73-24, and surprisingly included support from many high profile Senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and several other Democratic and Republican Senators.

If the Coburn amendment language is included in the final conference version of this legislation, many arts groups will be prevented from receiving economic recovery funds from any portion of this specific stimulus bill. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in the Senate and in the media about the role that nonprofit arts organizations and artists play in the nation`s economy and workforce.

Plan of Action

1. Arts advocates need to quickly contact Senators who voted for the Coburn Amendment and express your extreme disappointment with their vote. We need these Senators to know that their vote would detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations and the jobs they support in their state. We have crafted a customized message for you to send to your Senators based on their vote on the Coburn Amendment. The correct letter, customized to each of your Senators will appear when you enter your zip code. If your Senator voted for this funding prohibition, you can send them a message expressing your disappointment and ask them to work to delete this language in the final conference bill with the House. If your Senator voted against the Coburn Amendment, you can thank them for their support of the arts.

2. We need as many news articles as possible this coming week to publish stories about the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry and how the recession is negatively affecting arts groups across the country. Please click here to customize an opinion editorial to your local media. We have provided you with easy-to-use talking points.

3. Next week, Americans for the Arts will be sending you another action alert that targets the White House and the soon-to-be-named Senators and Representatives who will serve as conferees to the final economic recovery bill. Please be prepared to take action on this alert as well.

4. Americans for the Arts itself is submitting op-eds to several national newspapers and online blogs. We are enlisting high profile leaders to co-sign these letters as well.

5. Americans for the Arts is purchasing full-page ads titled ``The Arts = Jobs`` in Washington`s top political newspapers in Roll Call, Politico and The Hill on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We encourage you to post the ad on your social network sites.

Please help us continue this important work by becoming an official member of the Arts Action Fund. Play your part by joining the Arts Action Fund today -- it's free and simple.

2.04.2009

I still think he's an amazing actor.

Okay so I'm probably one of the few people that will defend Christian Bale in his tirade on the DP of the Terminator movie.

So here's why I'm defending him...

Though now I focus more on my directing, I used to act. I understand how fragile your mind is when you are in the middle of a scene. As actors, we are charged with living truthfully in imaginary circumstances, we must trick our brain into believing what we are saying, doing, who we are is real. For even those most experienced actor this can be a very difficult task.

Christian Bale is a serious actor, I was going to use the term professional, but his outburst kind of struck that word from the vocabulary to describe him. He is intense, he cares about the work he does, sometimes probably more than he should. (I mean did you see the Machinist?) He puts his entire self into a role and while he's in that moment, things like a DP walking through in his line of sight, adjusting lights can be a pretty distracting. It takes you out of the moment, which then can be extremely hard to get fully back in. And the DP didn't do it just once, it happened twice! Let's say you're trying to do something extremely difficult, and someone messes you up twice, wouldn't that frustrate you?

So though I do think it was kind of crappy that it happened (I mean everyone on that set should be professionals, especially considering how much they are getting paid), I understand the frustration that incited that explosion of anger.

We aren't all perfect. And even though he's a celebrity, he's still a human being. My other question is, this incident happened in July, why now was the audio released? That part doesn't sit right with me.

2.03.2009

Bermuda @ The Strand

So Sunday I hopped on over to one of my favorite theaters in town, The Strand. It's a small theater in an old Victorian row home which resides in the Station North Arts District. Just up the street from the Everyman and the Charles Theater, it's a great little place to catch a show.

The show I saw was Bermuda by Noah Galuten (famous for his http://manbitesworld.com/ blog). It's a quick little piece, only about an hour long, but a lot happens in a short amount of time. It's about a new married man and wife who have the husband's brother over for dinner. As we all know, nothing ever good happens over the dinner table in theatre. So chaos ensues. The play kind of reminds me of a mix between "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and Dharma & Greg, but without the kookiness.

It's worth a look for sure. Well written and with a strong director. I think sometimes there was a slight disconnect with what the actors were saying, but I also over analyze any piece of theatre I see.

It runs until February 15th, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. More info at http://www.strandtheatercompany.org/.

2.01.2009

Other's passion can be inspiring.

It's really nice to be around a group of people that cares as much about theatre as I do.

Let me rewind a little bit for you...

Today was the BTA strategic planning meeting at Towson U and I was invited to attend because I worked up a proposal for how BTA can leverage social media to help bring exposure to the local theatre in Baltimore.

It was a little strange at first. I think people wondered who the hell I was, but once I started contributing and actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about all was good.

These people are not just passionate, but they are passionate about this city and doing theatre in THIS city. They care about the community as a whole and are working to make sure that we ALL survive. No one goes down. In times like these, where arts organizations are folding left and right, that mentality that we are all in this together is extremely refreshing. Finding ways to provide value to the community, an all hands on deck approach, is really awesome. So thanks to all who were in the meeting today, you really made me feel good about my future in this town.

It's always been my goal to own a theatre company in NYC, and don't get me wrong, it's still what I want, but I think I'm doing alright here in Bmore for now.

And not to be all solicitor-like, but if you're looking to get involved and contribute to the community, let BTA know. All hands on deck, right?