The Credeaux Canvas (The Bridge Theatre)

BOTTTOM LINE: A beautiful play by an exciting new theatre company.

The newly formed The Seeing Place Theatre Company’s mission statement proclaims they "want to produce theatre we all want to believe in,” and they fully succeed with their inaugural production of Keith Bunin’s The Credeaux Canvas. It tells the tale of a group of twentysomethigs who are striving to fulfill their dreams while struggling to pay the rent in a dumpy lower east side apartment. It seems like a classic New York Story: struggling artists, a fledgling singer, and a floundering real estate agent trying to find himself wax over what it means to be happy in this often brutal city. From written tests to get menial food service jobs to surviving on ramen noodles prepared in dishes washed in the bathtub these three are getting by fine until one of them is left out of his extremely wealthy father’s will and hits rock bottom. His plan is to have his extremely talented roommate paint a forged nude portrait of his girlfriend to try to pawn off for millions to a wealthy, seemingly clueless, socialite and the results will test the boundaries of their relationships and drastically alter their lives forever.

This is a great play. Anyone who is paying the bills by doing a job that they might hate a little or knows someone who is in a similar situation will find more than enough to relate to in this production. And let’s face it, that is pretty much anyone in New York City. The discoveries about what it means to be in your late twenties facing a future that might not, in fact, be full of the endless possibilities that we hopes for as children are poignant are handled very well under the direction of Lillian Wright, who also does double duty as scenic designer creating a very efficient and inventive set for the intimate stage at the Bridge Theatre. The performances are terrific as well. Brandon Walker and Anna Marie Sell fearlessly tackle their challenging roles; Joseph Mancuso is heartbreaking in his portrayal of a man desperate to have a family and be successful; but the unexpected star of the production is Jerilyn Wright who steals the one scene she appears in by creating moments of such truth and heartache with perfect ease and grace.

This is what off-off Broadway theatre is about. A great play. A good cast. A small intimate venue. The work is good and the message meaningful. The Seeing Place Theatre succeeded with their mission to produce theatre that this writer wants to believe. They are definitely a company to watch and I’m excited to see what this company has in store for the future. If you are looking for a moving night at the theatre, check out The Credeaux Canvas. I warn you, it is definitely a drama, so don’t go if you are looking for a light-hearted romp. But if you are just looking for a damn good play this is for you. It has love, angst, greed, art, cool music, and a little bit of tasteful nudity. What’s not to love?

(The Credeaux Canvas performs September 11th at 8pm, September 12th 2pm and 8pm, and September 13th at 3pm at The Bridge Theatre, 244 W 54th Street, 12th floor. Tickets are $18, available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com. For more info: http://www.seeingplacetheater.com/.)

Baby Wants Candy (FringeNYC)

By Zak

BOTTOM LINE: Hour long, completely improvised musical that is quite possibly the most fun you’ll have at the Fringe Fest this year.

So I think that pretty much sums up what you will experience at the kick ass new improv show, Baby Wants Candy. A group of actors take a suggestion from the audience and think up an hour long musical right there on the spot. Hilarity ensues.

I had a great, great, time at Baby Wants candy. It’s hard to say a lot about the show because it will be completely different each night, but I'll metion a little about opening night. With the suggestion “A Scotsman in Thailand,” the group of actors came up with a tale of a young Scottish man who leaves his island home to find love in the red light district of Thailand and encounters gay backpacks, fame hungry female pimps, cross gender whores, a sexual compulsive who travels the world, and cute kittens. That’s right. Cute Kittens.

And yet some how it all made sense. I laughed more than I have at any other improv show I’ve seen in the city. The entire cast was incredible, but I was in particular awe of the vocal stylings and biting wit of Eliza Skinner. Thomas Middleditch played a young Thai whore and a gay backpack (at one point in the same scene) with the skill that trumps anything that you will see on Saturday Night Live or The Upright Citizen’s and I wouldn’t be surprised to see popping up all over film and television very soon. He is definitely someone to watch. Much of the success of Baby Wants Candy can also be contributed to the phenomenal band who improvises an entire musical score as well. The styles ranged from hip hop, far east flavor, power ballads, to Scottish folk dance and they never missed a beat.

I really think that Baby Wants Candy is great. After the Fringe Fest run, it will continue performances in the fall at The Barrow Street Theatre. I know that I will definitely be attending that run in the fall, that is, if I don’t go back to see it again this year at the fringe festival. If you are looking for a wonderfully entertaining night, go see Baby Wants Candy. Seriously. Go See It.

(Baby Wants Candy plays at The Players Theatre, 115 Macdougal Street. Performances are Friday 8/21 at 11:00pm, Saturdayd 8/22 at 2:00 pm, Thursday 8/27 at 6:00pm and Saturday 8/29 at 1:00 pm. Tickets are $15. To purchase tickets or for more info visit babywantscandy.com and for more info on FringeNYC visit fringenyc.org.)

VOTE! A New Musical (Fringe NYC)

It's time for a Theasy Point/Counterpoint!!

Zak - POINT

I had a good time at VOTE! A New Musical. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this new musical about a high school election, due in part to its star-packed cast with a slew of Broadway performers (most notably Bailey Hanks, Winner of MTV’s “Legally Blonde the Search for Elle Woods and Broadway star Deidre Goodwin who had appeared in eight Broadway shows including A Chorus Line, Chicago and Nine and also the film version of Chicago.

VOTE! Follows three candidates on their road to the highest elected office in the land at typical American high school. While it might appear to just be a fluff piece about the inner workings of high school politics, VOTE! does briefly try to pose some bigger questions about our country’s political system. It’s lighthearted fun. VOTE! Doesn’t take itself to seriously and the nearly 400 audience members on opening night seemed to enjoy it. The score, written by Steven Jamail, is catchy and well crafted and the cast gives it their all and delivers solid performances across the board. All and all, worth a trip to the polling booth at the Minetta Lane Theatre to catch VOTE!

Dan - COUNTERPOINT

I decided to see VOTE! for one reason: it featured Deidre Goodwin. And to that extent, I got what I came for. Goodwin is terrific, and somehow manages to sell her one song “Hands of a Surgeon,” even though it makes absolutely no sense and has nothing to do with the plot of the musical (I think the song is about mnemonic devices, or about how Goodwin’s character could have been a surgeon but decided her talent was teaching, or maybe just about giving Goodwin a chance to wail). And Goodwin even gets a chance to dance, although it is only at the very end of the show, and for not nearly as long as I would have liked.

I just wish the rest of the musical had been even a quarter as entertaining. Maybe it isn’t fair to expect Fringe musicals to be fully realized, professional productions. But at the very least, I’d hope they would make sense. As best as I could tell, VOTE! is about a high school election for student council president (parallels to the far superior movie Election abound). But Muffin, the main character (gamely played by Bailey Hanks), doesn’t really seem to care much about winning the election. In fact, she doesn’t really participate in the campaign process at all; she seems to prefer looking at and thinking about airplanes. Apparently she wants to be a stewardess? I’m not sure why, or why we should care, but as there were several songs, and even a bit of choreography, that made reference to airplanes, I’m pretty sure Muffin likes them.

VOTE! isn’t awful; the energetic cast is a lot of fun and two cast members I found myself watching a lot were Daniel Robinson and Robbie Fowler. And some of the music is hummable, especially the final song. However, some lyrics could use work, such as “I want to be the villian’s girl, I tried to be good but it made me want to hurl.”

But VOTE! doesn’t work as a musical, unless the point is just to showcase a bunch of random, unconnected songs. For the most part, the book makes absolutely no sense. And when I could figure out what was going on, I didn’t care, because there is little, if any, character development. The production relies on a lot of unnecessary set pieces - why is there a huge blackboard that says “Return Your Textbooks?" And I even found some elements a bit offensive - why can’t the attractive blond cheerleader also be intelligent (spoiler - she cheats). And why does Nikki, the black girl, have to sing a song about how her main goal in life is to be “Just Black Enough?” The song comes out of nowhere, and implies that only black people need be concerned with racial politics.

The whole show just seemed to be thrown together, as if a bunch of high school students developed a musical in a week, each writing a different scene. There is promise here, but the material needs a lot of work. If you’re itching to see Deidre Goodwin perform, VOTE! might be worth checking out. But there are over 200 shows at FringeNYC this year, so if your time is limited, I’d look elsewhere.

(VOTE! A New Musical performs at The Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane between MacDougal and 6th Avenue. Remaining performances are Sunday 8/23 at 3pm and Wednesday 8/26 at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $15. For more show info and tickets visit votethemusical.com and for more FringeNYC info visit fringenyc.org.)

notes on the land of earthquake & fire (FringeNYC)

By Zak

BOTTOM LINE: A solid, well acted witty take on the business of making movies and the price you pay for success.

I love the Fringe Fest because you never know what you are going to see. I wasn’t planning on seeing notes on the land of earthquake & fire, but I am so glad that I did. notes… is described as a vicious new play by Jason Schafer, who penned the screenplay for the motion picture Trick, and it does not disappoint. It tells the story of a struggling Hollywood assistant who will do whatever it takes to break into the business, including looking after his boss’s teenage girl, reading mountains of scripts for no credit, and fielding a mysterious half naked stranger who shows up at his door.

A lot of plays that pop up at FringeNYC are in their first or second incarnation and have a few kinks here and there that are worked out along the way. That is not the case with this very enjoyable piece. It is very clear that this play has already been a finalist for the O’Neil Theatre Conference because it is extremely polished and is propelled along beautiful by the very talented cast. Most notably is Ian Scott McGregor, who practically never leaves the stage, and plays the put-upon everyman who wants to rise above his dead-end job, with such sincerity and humor that every person in the audience identifies and empathizes with this talented actor.

So, needless to say, I enjoyed myself. I had a great time and think that most people will as well. If you are looking for a smart play with great performances about the lengths we go to in order to achieve success, then go see notes on the land of earthquake & fire.

(notes on the land of earthquake & fire plays at The Players Theatre, 115 Macdougal Street.
Performances are Sunday 8/16 at 1:00pm, Wednesday 8/19 at 5:30pm, Monday 8/24 at 10:00pm and Saturday 8/29 at 5:45 pm. Tickets are $15. To purchase tickets or for more info visit earthquakeandfire.com and for more info on FringeNYC visit fringenyc.org.)

This is Your Ridiculous Life!!! (Castillo Theatre)

By Zak

5 POINTS OR LESS
improv • comedic therapy • short but sweet

BOTTOM LINE: an improv show with a therapeutic twist

There are a lot of improv comedy shows in the city. You could witness Tina Fey and her "30 Rock" friends ham it up at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, for example. Or you could check out top notch comedy up-and-comers from "The Office" and "Flight of the Concords" entertaining weekly at The People’s Improv Theatre. But if you are looking for something a little different, check out the folks yukking it up in the long running improv show at The Castillo Theatre.

Most improv shows consist of a team of actors who field suggestions from the audience and create funny scenes on the spot. This is Your Ridiculous Life takes this premise further by employing a real life therapist who conducts an impromptu therapy session with audience volunteers and then the actors act out scenes and scenarios from the “patient’s” life. If audience participation isn’t your thing, don’t worry, they won’t force anyone to come up and there and face the doctor unless you volunteer.

All right, I’m sure that this scenario could not work to it’s full potential all the time since it is entirely reliant on the guest “patients” that are interviewed. However, the night that I attended This is Your Ridiculous Life, my friend was chosen from the audience to have her life acted out on stage. And I have to say, it was hysterical. One of the reasons it was so good is that she gave very specific details about her life that were referenced in the scenes acted out by the actors. It didn’t hurt that her life is extremely entertaining as well. The troupe of actors captured her unique personality and created scenes that were extremely funny, not just for people who knew her, but for the entire audience. So, they really hit it out of the park. The other person that was selected from the audience was not nearly as interesting. For one thing he was really young, and had to be really pushed to give specific detail about his life, which to be completely honest, wasn’t very interesting. So if you are chosen, be specific when you are talking about your life. It’s funnier for all of us. Also, remember that the show is called This is Your Ridiculous Life, so if your life is not at least a little ridiculous, let someone else get up there and have a crack at it.

That being said, I still had a really great time. The show is short, running just over an hour so you don’t have that much time for the novelty of the concept to wear off. If you are looking for a quick laugh and an interesting take on improv, this could be the show for you. If you are in major withdrawals from the long television absence of "Whose Line is It Anyway" or maybe can’t afford your regular therapy sessions in these hard economic times, This is Your Ridiculous Life might be just what the doctor ordered.

And if comedy isn’t your thing, check out the political play reading series every Monday night or the film series every Thursday night in August. Check out www.castillo.org for more information.

(This Is Your Ridiculous life will play next on August 8th at 7:00pm. The Castillo theatre is at

543 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Tickets $15; Seniors and Students $10

www.castillo.org or call 212-941-1234.)

Hamletmachine (Castillo Theatre)

By Zak

5 POINTS OR LESS

edgy • intriguing • unconventional

BOTTOM LINE: Avant-gard theatre that pushes the envelope and challenges the audience.

Something pretty interesting is brewing at The Castillo Theatre with their newest interpretation of Heiner Muller’s Hamletmachine. The Castillo is one of only a handful of theatres in the country who regularly produces the work of Muller (a protégé of Bertold Brecht) who strived to transform the theatre for a new social use. Hamletmachine, written in 1977 in East Germany, is a postmodernist drama which borrows from Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, and Jean-Luc Godard and deals not only with the ideas of communism and feminism, but the idea of being trapped in any time or situation.

With only about ten pages of dialogue, the play has been interpreted in vastly different ways throughout the years defying every convention of theatre. Some could argue that a play set at the end of East German communism is a little out of date, but Austrian director Eva Brenner says, “The only way to get rid of the play is to leave it behind, to work our way out of the despair it articulates….brush off the costumes, turn on the lights, look at each other and ask what do we do together next.” Brenner does just that but abandons the conventional interpretation of the play, creating a unique ensemble piece that keeps the audience entranced for a captivating seventy minutes.

So, I don’t usually give quite that much background about a particular play, but I think it’s important for this one. It truly is a theatrical experience that is unlike anything you have probably ever seen. The actors perform throughout the entire theatre space and even greet audience members in the lobby by creating window art that depict people’s perceptions of Hamlet, communism, and the like. There isn’t a “conventional” plot in this interesting piece. It’s more like watching a hip, living modern art instillation. You might not fully understand everything that you are watching, but you will probably be intrigued.

The play has pretty good street cred with a fancy European director and the uber-captivating actress Yap Sun Sun, direct from Vienna. That’s not to say that the Americans in the cast don’t represent as well. Anneka Fagundes, John Boonin, and Melvin Shamby Jr. are particularly engaging and throw themselves into the text with fierce abandonment. You feel like you are watching European protest theatre as it is meant to been watched. While I didn’t love every choice that was made, I did have a true “experience” at the theatre. I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s hard to say more because everyone will take away something vastly different from this play. Some will think it is bizarre, others will flip for it. It definitely is not for everyone. If Mamma Mia is your idea of high art, you should probably skip Hamletmachine. If you like to be challenged at the theatre and see something different, check out this show.

(Hamletmachine plays at The Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42nd between 10th and 11th Avenues,

through June 28th. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 5:00pm. Tickets are $35 with $10 tickets for students and seniors. To purchase tickets and for more info visit castillo.org.)