This My Show

Jeremy Wein interviews the most insane comedians and celebs as they discuss the world of pop culture.

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Episode 45 - Jordan Black or Pronounce Kankakee

Click HERE to listen online! Click HERE to listen on iTunes!  ThisMyShow returns with another new episode featuring the hilarious Jordan Black. You might know Jordan from his role on Community as Dean Spreck or as a writer for SNL or his time on the Comedy Central series Halfway Home. In addition, Jordan has been in dozens of other film and tv projects over the years.

We discuss all this PLUS his experience working with Christopher Guest, diversity in the improv community and his involvement with the new off-broadway show So Long Boulder City, which he co-wrote and directed. All this and more, on this episode of ThisMyShow  PLUS! Grab Tickets for So Long Boulder City https://www.solongbouldercity.com through THIS SUNDAY, December 17th  BONUS: Check out one of the Christopher Guest Census Ads that Jordan was in HERE

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Episode 44 - Steven Boyer or Those Puppets Just Dissolve

Click HERE to listen online! Click HERE to listen on iTunes! Back from the dead yet again, ThisMyShow returns with a brand new episode featuring very special guest and Tony nominee, Steven Boyer. You may know Steve from the NBC series Trial and Error where he plays the lovable Dwayne Reed or his award-winning turn in the Broadway play Hand To God. Steven sits down with host Jeremy Wein to discuss all this plus his time at Juilliard, working with the legendary Judd Hirsch and that time he was a road comic! 

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Episode 43- Paul Scheer or Hold The Mic

Click HERE to listen online! Click HERE to listen on iTunes! The podcast returns with the one and only Paul Scheer. You know Paul from the sketch group Human Giant, FX’s “The League”, ABC’s “Fresh Off The Boat”, [adult swim]’s “NTSF:SD:SUV” his podcast “How Did This Get Made?”.

We discuss the new season of The Hotwives (which Paul executive produces, and is NOW streaming on Hulu), and Paul's new special with Rob Huebel, Crash Test. In addition we talk podcasting, Human Giant, the fate of his 30 Rock character Donny, Disney World, Marve,l the resurgence of the 90s and MORE!  

If you enjoyed this episode you may enjoy: Aziz Ansari Jon Glaser  Kristen Schaal John Lutz

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Rapid Theatre Review: iOW@

iOW@ Written by Jenny Schwartz, Music by Todd Almond, Lyrics by Schwartz & Almond w/ Lee Sellers, Karyn Quackenbush, Jill Shackner, Cindy Cheung, April Matthis, Annie McNamara, Jill Shackner, Carolina Sanchez, Kolette Tetlow 95 minutes (no intermission) Peter Jay Sharp Theater (at Playwrights Horizons) Through May 10th http://www.playwrightshorizons.org

Iowa is a mess of a show, and thats the point. This new play with music, by Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond is a fast paced scattered 95 minute rapid fire observation of how technology is taking over our lives in a cyber-america paralleled with, what is it to be a woman in 2015.The piece follows 14 year old Becca (Jill Shackner) and her mother Sandy (Karyn Quackenbush) who's desperately trying to be hip, "40s the new 10!" she cries out at one moment, has met a man on Facebook, becomes engaged to said man over Facebook and declares they are moving to Iowa to begin anew. What follows is an ensemble of six bringing their A game playing cheerleaders, Nancy Drews, a Pony, a math teacher, sister wives and more as Becca explores who she truly is, rebels against her mother, and ultimately gives in and joins her mother on a strange journey to Ohio….um I mean IOWA.

Ms Schwartz play is absurdist, surreal, polarizing and incredibly funny but it may wear you out. The dialogue is like listening to a text message conversation in real life, lots of ”BTW” and “WTF” and hashtags, lots of wordplay, entendre, and awkward silences fill the script. And Mr Almonds songs while fun don't necessarily drive the plot so much as they add weird layers to Ms Schwartz universe. A song sung by a character known as Pony (played by a humorous Lee Sellers with a tail and hooves)  is essentially a jaunty tune about how “Ponies don’t like to have girlfriends so please stop asking.", another song is about the eroding coastline, and another’s lyrics essentially reads as a list of a hypochondriacs google search history.The strongest song though is easily the show capper “I Am A Hawk” a song about escaping sung by an adorable and impressive Kolette Tetlow who plays younger Becca.

Director Ken Rus Schmoll keeps the chaos as balanced as possible on Dane Laffrey’s set that combines a classroom with a rehearsal studio and the three piece onstage band (piano, bass and viola) while basic sounds fantastic. Ultimately though the piece will be divisive, IOWA is the very definition of a cult theater classic, one that folks will still be talking about decades from now as “I was there”.Playwrights Horizons should be commended for taking risks and presenting challenging work. IOWA is absolutely absurd, but that is what makes it an absolutely enjoyable, strange, somewhat uncomfortable journey into a state filled with cornfields and caucuses.

(4/5) A pun filled, fun filled journey into the absurd, that might not be for everyone but will be remembered years from now.

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Rapid Theatre Review: Hand To God

Hand To God by Robert Askins Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel Steven Boyer, Geneva Carr, Marc Kudisch, Michael Oberholtzer, Sarah Stiles 1 Hr, 55 min (1 Intermission) The Booth Theatre Open Run http://handtogodbroadway.com

One hell of a new American play has made its way to Broadway. Hand To God, a new dark comedy by Robert Askins, is quite simply the best play of the year and one of the best of the decade. Full disclosure, I knew this back when I saw it at MCC last season.

Set in a church in Cypress, Texas, Hand To God concerns Jason (a terrific performance by Steven Boyer), and his mother Margery (played by an endearingly insane Geneva Carr) who runs the local puppet ministry at the church. Jason's father has recently eaten himself to death and this has caused damage to both of them. Jason’s puppet is Tyrone, a grayish fellow with big eyes and a little tuft of hair....oh and did I mention a big mouth?! When Tyrone takes on a mind, and a mouth of his own, chaos ensues.

The play touches on a laundry list of topics: grief, religion, responsibility, sexuality, guilt, death, love, support, misconduct, pain and sorrow. These multiple themes of Mr. Askin's play are handled superbly through discussions between his fleshed out characters, however cartoonish the world they inhabit might start to get. Apart from Jason, there are two other teenage inhabitants of Margery’s group: the dimwitted, above-it-all Timmy (Michael Oberholtzer makes his Broadway debut), who to disastrous and destructive effects, makes his romantic feelings towards Margery known, and Jessica, (played by the always good Sarah Stiles) who's in it for the puppetry as she states at one point, “I’m really more into Balinese shadow puppetry, but I’ll take what I can get”. Overseeing all of this is Pastor Greg (Marc Kudisch), who has feelings for Margery as well and shows them in his own passive-aggressive ways.

Jason’s feelings for Jessica initially bring out Tyrone's might, and from there it is only a matter of time before everyone's feelings and secrets are out in the open and the debate is had: “Is this Jason lashing out, or has Tyrone become possessed by something more sinister”.

The cast gives phenomenal performances all around, this should be expected as they all have transferred with the piece after its extended, critically-acclaimed run at MCC last year. As a matter of fact, this is the fourth time Carr and Boyer have done this show, so they have lived with these characters for years. However the standout performance has to be Steven Boyer’s, who gives not one, but two completely different-yet-great performances as Jason and Tyrone. Your eyes will be locked on Tyrone, as Boyer's puppeteering skills astound and vocal distinctions unleash a fury of four letter words. A scene in Jason’s bedroom displays the ferociousness of Tyrone to frightening effects, and a climactic scene in act two shows just why Mr. Boyer should be considered this year's lead contender for a Best Actor in a play Tony.

On the technical side of things, director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel (making his broadway directing debut), leads the cast to a home run with good staging that never gets boring. He has created one of the most hilarious scenes I’ve ever witnessed at the end of Act One, even after seeing it off Broadway last year, it still made me crack up when revisiting it on Broadway. Beowulf Boritt has created a great folding set on turntables depicting the inside and outside of the church (and there is an actual functioning swing set at one point). Lastly, with Hand To God, Robert Askins has crafted a hilarious, bloody, darkly disturbing-yet-truthful comedy that deserves recognition come awards season. This should most definitely solidify his place as a new American playwright to watch for years to come.

(5/5) This show is a blast that absolutely deserves to have a nice long life on Broadway, it's rare to hear a theater full of people scream in sheer horror for all the right reasons, this is visceral theater at its best.

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Episode 42 - Lucky Yates or Don't Buy The Ferris Wheel!

On this brand spanking new episode of the podcast I am joined by performer and voiceover actor Lucky Yates who does the voice of Dr Krieger of the hit FX series Archer. We talk Archer, old school cartoons, Atlanta's ferris wheel problem and more.

Click HERE to listen. 

http://podfund.com/campaigns/thismyshow-equipment-fund/

And check us out on iTunes and feel free to leave us a comment, but keep it constructive please! 

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Episode 41- Sharr White or Why Not To Do An Interview At The Marriott Marquee 8th Floor Bar

On this episode of the podcast I'm joined by Playwright Sharr White whose play's The Other Place and The Snow Geese have been produced on Broadway and whose new play Annapurna is currently playing off-broadway with Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally. Click HERE to listen.

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Rapid Theater Review: The Velocity of Autumn

The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Coble Directed by Molly Smith Estelle Parsons, Stephen Spinella  90 min (No Intermission) The Booth Theater In previews, Opens April 21st, Tickets on Sale until August 17th http://velocityofautumnbroadway.com

Synopsis: THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN swirls around Alexandra, a 79-year-old artist in a showdown with her family over where she’ll spend her remaining years. In Alexandra’s corner are her wit, her volcanic passion and the fact that she’s barricaded herself in her Brooklyn brownstone with enough Molotov cocktails to take out the block. But her children have their own secret weapon: estranged son Chris who returns after 20 years crawls through Alexandra’s second floor window, and becomes the family’s unlikely mediator. No sooner are the words “Hi, Mom” uttered than the emotional bombs start detonating.  (The performance I attended was a preview and what I saw is subject to change) Thoughts: I'll get right to the point apart from some bright spots from Estelle Parsons, this play sucked and sucked the life out of most of the audience. This play should have stuck in the regional theater circuit where it had 5 productions prior to a broadway run (including a prior run at Arena Stages with this current cast). After all that time you'd have thought the creatives would have figured this wasn't a very well written play. Monologues go on forever, characters that arent seen screw up the momentum and make for ridiculous one sided cell phone conversations, Steven Spinella is almost a gay caricature, the ending is so so weak and a lot of directing choices make little sense. It comes down to this, if your going to lock the audience in a room with two characters for 90 minutes you better have something really important/brilliant to say. And as a closing note, before people bring up age (the play deals with an elderly woman whose kids want to put her in a home), the three people next to me who were several decades older then me hated this as much as i did.  The Velocity of Autumn should have been more accurately titled The Boredom of Spring (.5/5) and only because Parsons managed to make me laugh a few times

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Rapid Theater Review: Casa Valentina

Casa Valentina

by Harvey Fierstein Directed by Joe Mantello Patrick Page, John Cullum, Larry Pine, Gabriel Ebert, Reed Birney 2 hr 20 min (with a 15 minute intermission) Manhattan Theater Club at The Samuel J Friedman Theater In previews, Opens April 23rd, Through June 15th http://casavalentinabroadway.com Synopsis: Back in 1962, most men went to the Catskill Mountains to escape the summer heat, but others took the two-hour drive to escape something else entirely: being men. Nestled in the land of dirty dancing and borscht belt comedy sat an inconspicuous bungalow colony that catered to a very special clientele: heterosexual men whose favorite pastime was dressing and acting as women. It was paradise for these men—white-collar professionals with families—to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when they got the opportunity to share their secret lives with the world, these “self-made women” had to decide whether the freedom they would gain by emerging from hiding was worth the risk of personal ruin. Thoughts: (I attended a preview performance of Casa and what I saw is subject to change before opening) What can I say, Harvey Fierstein has written easily the most interesting new play of the season, funny, emotional, daring. The cast is superb from top to bottom, Patrick Page is phenomenal as the complex George/Val, Reed Birney nearly steals the show as the ultimately villainous Charlotte, Mare Winningham holds her own against so many strong "woman", Gabriel Ebert is great as Jonathan/Miranda was a nice change of pace for him after his Tony winning turn in Matilda, and theater vets John Cullum and Larry Pine show strong supporting work and Tom McGowan gets all the best lines. Scott Pask scenic design is marvelous. But Fierstein's actual play is the star here, what easily could have ended up being a campy adventure about cross dressers ends up being about freedom and choice and just what normal means anyways , and has some very interesting turns.  I highly recommend this, absolutely one of the best shows of the season and after MTC's rocky season its nice to see them finish strong on the mainstage. 5/5

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Episode 40 - The Return of Aisha Tyler

Recorded during the 2013 New York Comic Con,Aisha Tyler returns to the show to discuss her book Self Inflected Wounds, Archer Season 5, Spike Lee's Oldboy,Korean Cinema, Whose Line Is It Anyway and more.

Facebook.com/ThisMyShow  @ThisMyShow 

Online Itunes 

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Our 2013 Tony Picks.

So we saw everything this season from Harvey through to Pippin, and tonight at 8pm on CBS is Broadways biggest night, THE TONYS! But before that happens were throwing our hat into the ring and trying to be the Nate Silver of Broadway by predicting whose going to walk away with a statue tonight!.

Best Play

The Assembled Parties

Lucky Guy

The Testament of Mary

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Who Will Win: Vanya & Sonia and Masha & Spike Who Should Win: See Above

Baring a sympathetic steal from Lucky Guy, Durang will walk away with his first win after decades of excellent plays with one of the most hysterical plays in recent memory.

Best Musical 

Bring It On: The Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Kinky Boots

Matilda the Musical

Who Will Win: Kinky Boots Who Should Win: Matilda

We will see a reverse of last years Once vs Newsies battle and Kinky will walk away with the big musical prize of the night.While not a bad show, Matilda is the more cerebral of the two and should have had this in the bag.

Best Revival of a Play

Golden Boy

Orphans

The Trip to Bountiful

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who Will Win: Bountiful Who Should Win: Virginia Woolf

Were thinking this could go either way, but the edge goes to Bountiful. Woolf has been closed for ages and their recent flap with the TONY nominating committee hasnt helped matters, which is a shame because it was an astounding production, however we wont be shattered if George and Martha Get The TONY.

Best Revival of a Musical

Annie

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Pippin

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Who Will Win: Pippin Who Should Win: Pippin

The biggest lock of the night, and will give Diane Paulus her third revival tony.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Tom Hanks – Lucky Guy as Mike McAlary

Nathan Lane – The Nance as Chauncey

Tracy Letts – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as George

David Hyde Pierce – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Vanya

Tom Sturridge – Orphans as Phillip Who Will Win: Tom Hanks Who Should Win: Tracy Letts

Hanks is giving a great performance and has been charming voters at events, edge to him. And again time is against Woolf and unfortunately Letts will get the shaft on a performance most considered to be ground breaking for a theatrical character that has exsisted for half a century. 

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Laurie Metcalf – The Other Place as Juliana Smithton

Amy Morton – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Martha

Kristine Nielsen – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Sonia

Holland Taylor – Ann as Ann Richards

Cicely Tyson – The Trip to Bountiful as Miss Carrie Watts Who Will Win: Cicely Tyson Who Should Win: Cicely Tyson Who Gets Screwed By Being In The Wrong Category: Kristen Nielsen

When your 88 and give a fantastic performance 8 times a week, your a lock. And unfortunately due to an error on the nominating committees part, Nielsen will lose out on a supporting actress in a play category which should have rightfully been hers.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Bertie Carvel – Matilda the Musical as Miss Trunchbull

Santino Fontana – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella as Prince Topher

Rob McClure – Chaplin as Charlie Chaplin

Billy Porter – Kinky Boots as Lola

Stark Sands – Kinky Boots as Charlie Price

Who Will Win: Billy Porter Who Should Win: Billy Porter Who Gets Screwed By Being In The Wrong Category: Bertie Carvel

Carvel is in the same boat as Nielsen and really should be rewarded for a chameleon turn as the  villainous Ms Trunchbull, but Porter is bringing down the Hirschfeld as the transvestite with a heart of gold (and a pair of red boots) Lola.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block – The Mystery of Edwin Drood as Edwin Drood / Miss Alice Nutting

Carolee Carmello – Scandalous as Aimee Semple McPherson

Valisia LeKae – Motown: The Musical as Diana Ross

Patina Miller – Pippin as The Leading Player

Laura Osnes – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella as Ella

Who Will Win: Patina Miller Who Should Win: Patina Miller

Patina will take the prize for a wicked performance in a part that has been associated with one performer for 4 decades, but beware the girl with the glass slippers (Laura Osnes) could snag it. 

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Danny Burstein – Golden Boy as Tokio

Richard Kind – The Big Knife as Marcus Hoff

Billy Magnussen – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Spike

Tony Shalhoub – Golden Boy as Mr. Bonaparte

Courtney B. Vance – Lucky Guy as Hap Hairston

   Who Will Win:Courtney B. Vance    Who Should Win: Billy Magnussen

We weren’t quiet sure where to put our money on this so these predictions are kind of a shot in the dark.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Carrie Coon – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Honey

Shalita Grant – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Cassandra

Judith Ivey – The Heiress as Lavinia Penniman

Judith Light – The Assembled Parties as Faye

Condola Rashād – The Trip to Bountiful as Thelma

    Who Will Win: Judith Light     Who Should Win: Judith Light

This is a lock and Light will walk away with her second TONY

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Charl Brown – Motown: The Musical as Smokey Robinson

Keith Carradine – Hands on a Hardbody as JD Drew

Will Chase – The Mystery of Edwin Drood as John Jasper / Mr. Clive Paget

Gabriel Ebert – Matilda the Musical as Mr. Wormwood

Terrence Mann – Pippin as King Charles

Who Will Win: Terrence Mann Who Should Win: Keith Carradine

Carvel being taken out of the category kind of left it wide open, while we really enjoyed Carradine in Hardbody, we think Mann will squeeze out a win.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford – Kinky Boots as Lauren

Victoria Clark – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella as Marie - Fairy Godmother

Andrea Martin – Pippin as Berthe

Keala Settle – Hands on a Hardbody as Norma Valverde

Lauren Ward – Matilda the Musical as Miss Jennifer “Jenny” Honey

   Who Will Win: Andrea Martin Who Should Win: Andrea Martin

As much as we love Keala, she will have her day but it wont be this year, because when you cause mid-show standing ovations for your performance your a lock and we couldn’t be happier for Ms Martin.

Best Book of a Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical – Joseph Robinette

Kinky Boots – Harvey Fierstein

Matilda the Musical – Dennis Kelly

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Douglas Carter Beane

Who Will Win: Dennis Kelly Who Should Win: Dennis Kelly

With Kinky winning best musical we feel the trade off will be Dennis winning for his really smart book. 

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Story, The Musical – Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (music and lyrics)

Hands on a Hardbody – Trey Anastasio (music) and Amanda Green(music and lyrics)

Kinky Boots – Cyndi Lauper (music and lyrics)

Matilda the Musical – Tim Minchin (music and lyrics)

Who Will Win: Cyndi Lauper Who Should Win: Tim Minchin

Will be honest, we think Minchin is going to really get screwed on this one, and Lauper will make tony history in the process as the first woman to win score on her own, for a score that while it has its moments isn’t spectacular.

Best Scenic Design of a Play

John Lee Beatty – The Nance

Santo Loquasto – The Assembled Parties

David Rockwell – Lucky Guy

Michael Yeargan – Golden Boy

Who Will Win: John Lee Beatty Who Should Win: John Lee Beatty

John cube of a set featuring an apartment a stage and a backstage was really neat and stands out against the other three sets.

 Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Rob Howell – Matilda the Musical

Anna Louizos – The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Scott Pask – Pippin

David Rockwell – Kinky Boots

Who Will Win: Scott Pask Who Should Win: Scott Pask

We cant go into much without ruining the end of Pippin but for those who have seen the show, you understand why were giving this award to Pippin.

Best Costume Design of a Play

Soutra Gilmour – Cyrano de Bergerac

Ann Roth – The Nance

Albert Wolsky – The Heiress

Catherine Zuber – Golden Boy

Who Will Win: Ann Roth Who Should Win: Albert Wolsky

Ann Roths burlesque costumes are stunning and fresh in the mind of voters, however don’t be surprised is Wolsky picks this one up as this one has tended to go to period plays.

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes – Kinky Boots

Rob Howell – Matilda the Musical

Dominique Lemieux – Pippin

William Ivey Long – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Who Will Win: Gregg Barnes Who Should Win: Dominique Lemieux

As much as we love Lemieux’s old school circus costumes, this one will go to the flashy costumes of Kinky Boots. 

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer – Lucky Guy

Donald Holder – Golden Boy

Jennifer Tipton – The Testament of Mary

Japhy Weideman – The Nance

Who Will Win: Japhy Welderman Who Should Win: Japhy Welderman

Welderman essentially designed two lighting designs for this piece, the one in the Lyceum and the lighting design for the burlesque theater within the show.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kenneth Posner – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Kenneth Posner – Kinky Boots

Kenneth Posner – Pippin

Hugh Vanstone – Matilda the Musical

Who Will Win: Hugh Vanstone Who Should Win: Kenneth Posner

Were choosing to be ballsy and think Posner will split the votes three ways causing Vanstone to slip in for a win. 

Best Sound Design of a Play

John Gromada – The Trip to Bountiful

Mel Mercier – The Testament of Mary

Leon Rothenberg – The Nance

Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg – Golden Boy

Who Will Win: Mel Mercier Who Should Win: Mel Mercier

While it may be shuttered we think Mary will pick up this award for Merciers extremely creepy sound design.

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm – Pippin

Peter Hylenski – Motown: The Musical

John Shivers – Kinky Boots

Nevin Steinberg – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Who Will Win: Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm Who Should Win: Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm

This show sounded great and Pippin should pick up yet another statue here.

Best Direction of a Play

Pam MacKinnon – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Nicholas Martin – Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Bartlett Sher – Golden Boy

George C. Wolfe – Lucky Guy

Who Will Win: George C. Wolfe Who Should Win: Pam MacKinnon

MacKinnon shot a huge burst of light into Woolf, but Wolfe brought a piece to the stage without the right hand assistance of the playwright and taking on such a herculean task even if the play wasnt amazing should lead him to a win. 

Best Direction of a Musical

Scott Ellis – The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Jerry Mitchell – Kinky Boots

Diane Paulus – Pippin

Matthew Warchus – Matilda the Musical

Who Will/Should Win: Diane Paulus: Paulus has lead two previous revivals to wins but has walked away without a tony of her own, this year is all hers and is pretty much a lock.

Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler – Bring It On: The Musical

Peter Darling – Matilda the Musical

Jerry Mitchell – Kinky Boots

Chet Walker – Pippin

Who Will Win: Chet Walker Who Should Win: Chet Walker

Chet Walker created an homage to Fosse but made it his own, but could that also possibly bite him in the back? 

Best Orchestrations

Christopher Nightingale –Matilda the Musical

Stephen Oremus–Kinky Boots

Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook –Motown: The Musical

Danny Troob–Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Who Will Win: Christopher Nightingale Who Should Win: Christopher Nightingale

Were taking a shot in the dark on this one, but Matilda seems like a good bet here. 

The Nights Big Winners:

Pippin: 8 Kinky Boots:4 Lucky Guy: 3 Matilda:3 The Nance:3 Bountiful: 2 The Testament of Mary:1 The Assembled Parties:1 Vanya & Sonya & Masha & Spike:1 

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Review: The Assembled Parties

The Assembled Parties Richard Greenberg Jessica Hecht, Judith Light, Jeremy Shamos, Mark Blum Dir. Lynne Meadow 2 Hr 30 Min (Including one 15 minute intermission) Manhattan Theatre Club at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre  (Thru June 16th)

The Assembled Parties in short is about the Bascovs, an affluent Upper West Side Jewish family celebrating christmas, in 1980 (Act One) and 2000 (Act Two).

Its not a GREAT play, its good but in light of things like Sons Of The Prophet & Other Desert Cities its not mind blowing in terms of family dramedys. Judith Light is astounding as aunt Faye and well worth the price of the ticket, Jeremy Shamos is great as family friend Jeff and the rest of the cast does their job well (including Mark Blum as Faye's husband Mort, and Jake Silberman pulling double duty as two of the Bascov sons) and while Jessica Hecht has her moments including a fantastic monologue in the second act, ultimately her odd character choices slightly throws off the performance. Mr Greenberg, author of plays such as Take Me Out and Three Days Of Rain was commissioned by MTC to write this piece, and it has their subscriber base right in their sights so I can't fault the whole thing. I also rather enjoyed some of the directing choices made by Lynne Meadow in addition to Santo Loquasto's innovative apartment set. (3/5) www.theassembledpartiesbroadway.com 

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Review: The Last Five Years

The Last Five Years Jason Robert Brown (Also Directed) Betsy Wolfe, Adam Kantor 90 min (no intermission) Second Stage Theater (thru May 18th)

2nd Stage Theater's revival of The Last Five Years is simply superb.The show is a almost totally sung through piece which covers the five year relationship of wannabe actress Kathy and aspiring writer Jamie, the catch being we see Cathys story from breakup backwards through first date, and we see Jamies story forward from falling in love to calling it off, with the two only singing together in the middle during the song "The Next Ten Minutes".   The 90 minutes blows by thanks to Jason Robert Browns apt hand at directing,additionally Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor are singing the heck out that score and are both turning in fantastic performances. On the technical side of thing's, there is some good use of video and automated set pieces roll on and off  and the six piece orchestra (seated on a really scary scaffolding looking set piece) sounded beautiful. However the only drawback to a delightful evening of theater is, I am really not a fan of nonlinear story telling in theater (Betrayal, Merrily We Roll Along, Grace) and this didn't exactly change my mind about it. I kept thinking, would this overall be as good if it was a traditional musical? Regardless I felt heartbroken by the end as we see a optimistic Cathy and a absolutely devastated Jamie say goodbye to each other. It is a real shame that 2ST hasn't been more forceful of getting Rock Of Ages out of the Helen Hayes, because this production should have honestly been an easy choice to transfer and really should have been their 1st show at the Hayes. (5/5) The Last Five Years

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Review: The Trip To Bountiful

The Trip To Bountiful By Horton Foote  Cicely Tyson, Vanessa Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr, Condola Rashad, Tom Wopat Dir. Michael Wilson 2hr 20min (One 15 Minute Intermission) Stephen Sondheim Theatre (thru June 30th)

I have very few negatives to say about this production. The only thing that should really matter to any ticket buyer is that Cicely Tyson is giving a MASTERCLASS! as Carrie Watts, a elderly woman who's only wish is to return to her childhood home of Bountiful, TX before she dies. In short the 79 year old (some articles have her as 88) is giving an unbelievable performance in a great revival, she sings, she dances, she's onstage for the entire thing. Vanessa Williams is a great "villain" as Jessie Mae the daughter in law of Ms Watts. Condola Rashad does wonders as a bus passenger that Tysons character meets along the way on her trip, Ms Rashad is a master of the facial expression and brought a smile to my face, Tom Wopat as a local sheriff who goes toe to toe with Tysons' Carrie is a strong and forceful presences who ultimately shares a heartfelt moment with Ms Watts , and Arthur French rounds out the top notch cast as Roy the man in charge of the run down bus station that Carrie ends up at, at the top of act 2 . My only criticism and really the only major misfire of the whole thing is Cuba Gooding Jr as Watts son Ludie, while I can see why he was cast, Mr Gooding has no sense of delivery, and his movement comes off as even more awkward, but even this can't bring down the overall enjoyability of the show.Also a major shout out has to go to Jeff Cowies awesome sets, I highly enjoyed the bus and the set for the town of Bountiful which felt almost animated and surreal.This is a show that deserves a lot more buzz then its been receiving, but come award time, it will receive the recognition it deserves. (4/5) http://thetriptobountifulbroadway.com/ 

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Review: Desperately Seeking the Exit

Desperately Seeking the Exit Peter Michael Marino Dir. John Clancy 70 min (no intermission) 

(Disclaimer, the performance we attended was a warm-up scaled down production meant as a test run before Mr Marino does a run of the show in London starting April 24 at the Leicester Square Theatre)

          Peter Michael Marino has a hit on his hand’s, and all because of a tremendous flop. Desperately Seeking the Exit is a one man show about the difficulties of one man’s pot induced dreams of creating a musical based on the 1985 Rosanna Arquette/Madonna film, Desperately Seeking Susan. In 2007, Desperately Seeking Susan a six million dollar musical featuring the music of Blondie and a book by Marino opened in the West End, got critically savaged (the shows title comes from one of those reviews) and then closed a month later, in short it was a disaster of a flop.           It is very rare that we get to hear the true story of these flops, mostly because of either embarrassment, or threat of lawsuits, but Peter has created a blatantly honest and hilarious tale of musical theater lost in translation that takes us from the show conception right through to the aftermath and covers everything in-between.          As extreme theater nerds, it was somewhat hard to listen to his story, just because it was so painful. His journey was filled with a director who had no clue, a choreographer who just didn’t get it, and clueless producers, in addition to numerous cultural issues, but it’s a story where you just hang onto every word. The seventy minutes goes by quick and is consistently hilarious. Our only complaint is that we wont be able to see the full version in London which includes a 5 minute video piece and other technical elements but hopefully we will see the show get a full run in NYC soon. We desperately advise you to seek out this show if you get the chance.

       For more information about DSTE London engagement and future performances visit http://www.seekingtheexit.com

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Friars Club Comedy Film Festival 2013 In Photos (Night 3)

After taking the night off from the fest (we unfortunately had a prior engagement) we were back in the swing of things for night 3 of the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival where we saw Justin Williams: Comfortably Middle Class & The Greatest Movie Ever Roller (reviews for both will be coming next week). And then it was off to the Friars Club for yet another excellent party.

In the meantime its time for PHOTOS! which can be viewed HERE.

Our Picks For Night Four 

You honestly can't go wrong with any of the five films playing tonight, so we recommend all of them.

Tickets 

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Friars Club Comedy Film Festival 2013 In Photos (Night 1)

Last night the 2013 Friars Club Film Festival kicked off with the opening night film He's Way More Famous Than You, and a party at the world famous Friars Club. We will have a full review of the film early next week, but lets just say its hilarious and well worth your time when it hits theaters May 10th.

In the meantime click RIGHT HERE for a gallery of photos from the red carpet, the Q&A after the film (which feature Halley Feiffer & Michael Urie) and the opening night party.

In the meantime the festival continues through Saturday so here are our picks for night two of the festival:

Bloody Lip 6:45pm @ Anthology Film Archives (screens with short BANG.COM)  Imagine This Is Spinal Tap, but set in the world of professional boxing. Tickets

Discoverdale 9:00pm @ Anthology Film Archives A rock n roll comedy following the adventures of the comedy rock band "Dead Cat Bounce" as they attempt to reunite their lead singer with whom they believe to be his father David Coverdale of Whitesnake Fame Tickets 

More Info About The Festival