We really don't care about theatre do we?

FYI, EZ, we're going to see Jon tonight after all.

Oh, good. I'll probably be there for the post-show talk with G. Saunders.

That's lovely jed!

thanks, julio.

can i recommend something for you?

http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Alain-Platels-pitie

sam and i may come and see it too so maybe we'll meet again! i'll keep you posted. Les Ballets C. de la B. are amazing.

That looks excellent. I'll put it on the calendar but yeah keep me posted!

ok so...my mom's visiting nyc in february and since she likes theater i usually take her to something as a belated christmas present. usually off-broadway, she's not really interested in the musicals and whatnot. looking around this year, i'm thinking about buying tix for upcoming "uncle vanya" w/denis o'hare, maggie gyllenhaal and peter sarsgaard. what are the odds that it will be worth a look? (and/or does anyone have any other suggestions?)

Get a ticket early for Our Town at the 199-seat Barrow Street Theatre. I know, Our Town, but it's going to be the big show of early '09, based on how it ran in Chicago and the all the justifiable NYC hype that director David Cromer has been getting. (NY Times critic picked the Chicago version as one of the top 10 shows of '08.)

hmm. does sound good. maybe i'll wait a week and see if they announce dates.

tipsy i'm gonna see hedda gabler soon maybe that is another good option?

also if anyone is interested in this on saturday:

Founded in 1984 under the artistic direction of Maggi Sietsma, Expressions Dance Company is known across the globe for its highly athletic and theatrical brand of dance. This Australian company performs the New York City premiere of Score!, a new multimedia dance-theater piece inspired by Michel Fokine's ballet Petrushka and set in the insanely competitive world of reality TV. Packed with strikingly physicality, Score! incorporates live footage, video projections, and spoken word into this gripping tale of two contestants battling for the ultimate prize.

free if you don't mind making the trek to flatbush with me.

seeing this tomorrow night @ Here:

Removable Parts:
A theatrical series of love songs about voluntary amputation in which the unrequited lover – whose heart is broken – begins to question the usefulness of his other body parts.

kinda psyched

Gypsy tom'w night for me.

Robert Ashley operas at La Mama starting on the 15th; i'm probably going to all three, if anyone wants to do drinks or dinner before or after one night shoot me an e-mail.

Removable parts was awesome. Really touching but just when it started to get heart-wrenching it switched gears to keep you from being a sad sack. I really liked it!

Ian, I'm totally down.

I might have time for one of those.

Not a big fan of LuPone's (current) voice, but Gypsy was worth the discount ticket. Now I gotta get a gimmick.

*shaking head*

what're yer gripes?

the staging was horrendous, the acting was horrible. i thought benanti was lame and uninteresting and not tony caliber at all and lupone was screechy and over the top (but not in a good way, even for mama rose). i enjoy old musicals, so it's not that i just don't like the show, i just felt like it was some of the worst 3 hours of my life in that theater.

wtf @ that sheep!

You're just not gonna see that on stage anywhere else, and American culture is poorer for it.

wait american culture is poorer for not seeing bad acting and a shitty production?

oh, c'mon. I'd hate to think where you'd place the 3 hours I spent seeing The Wild Party!

We live in a world where revivals of Grease run for years every decade.

that doesn't mean that anything not hairspray or grease revival is automatically better!

even if the show might be better on the surface, you still need a good production/cast. if you can't make me feel anything, i don't care how famous you are. even the bette midler tv movie was more moving imo.

xp: It does if it has a song called "Have an Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone."

I'm not sure the audience even got that the June/Louise acts were sposed to be bad until the characters said so.

Sorry tza, I did get a mild case of goosebumps at "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

I never saw any other version, but I recall Peter Riegert was Herbie opposite the Dreaded Bette. dnw Midler tho.

plus, you felt disgust lol

my audience "got it"

fwiw hairspray and this gypsy were both mounted by the same producers so i don't think you can really make any argument that one is inherently more artful in its intent, regardless of the date it was written.

i was not goosebumped by ecur.

All sorts of variable persons and things are mounted by Broadway producers.

It's harder to screw up Gypsy than a John Waters film whose chief asset is the period music THAT'S REMOVED for a new score!

(i decided against the gyllenhaal vanya mentioned above; going to cripple of inishmaan instead.)

good Irish miserabilism!

When I re-read your post saying "denis o'hare and maggie g in vanya", I started thinking of Denis Leary in Vanya. I'd like to direct that.

It's harder to screw up Gypsy than a John Waters film whose chief asset is the period music THAT'S REMOVED for a new score!

obviously this is going to get me nowhere, but retooling a score to make a commercially viable adaptation (sorry, things don't go to bw unless they have some commercial goals in mind, even w/ the bw not-for-profits, and waters sold rights for it so he had to realize it was going to happen) is one thing that while artistically "questionable" is somewhat justifiable, but putting up a half-assed production (that did not receive good reviews the 1st time it ran at city center) and charging $125 for it is not acceptable to me.

Haven't read the Times review yet, but the summary for Hedda Gabler is

That the director Ian Rickson is responsible for one of the worst revivals I have ever, ever seen has me flummoxed.

i have been trying to figure out how i feel about that production for the past week and i am just not sure. the pacing was REALLY weird. pj harvey's music was neat but i hate trying to put sound design like that in a straight play. it just seems so out of place. i feel like at times it was hard to forget her weeds character because her range was at times very similar to nancy botwin's more sarcastic/frustrated moments. i was really disappointed by peter stormare. i usually love him and expected a lot, but he was pretty awkward, not in a good way.

maybe i should be glad i've seen weeds all of twice. that probably helped. otm re sound design.

i liked it though, had no expectations coming in and was just happy to go for free

you know, i do feel that MLP's range can be very limited.

yeah i have certainly seen a lot worse theater in the past year. i didn't hate it. i don't usually agree w/ brantley anyway. i just haven't been able to say i loved it or hated it... i almost don't have much of an opinion at all.

i'm currently deciding whether or not to spend 3 hours of my life at The Cherry Orchard

can you do so for free? i'd say give it a shot if so.

MLP did plenty of theatre before becoming a cable star, i dunno about her range tho

We care about (musical, mostly) theatre.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45411000/jpg/_45411582__44409308_hair_body_pa-1.jpg

^^what people think of when they think of theater

er, that's
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45411000/jpg/_45411582__44409308_hair_body_pa-1.jpg

RIP Anna Manahan; really strong in The Beauty Queen of Leenane:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/arts/10manahan.html

Trying to figure if I want to gamble on Nathan Lane & Bill Irwin in Godot -- I have a $20 tix email.

i'm currently deciding whether or not to spend 3 hours of my life at The Cherry Orchard

― Surmounter, Monday, January 26, 2009 12:38 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

can you do so for free? i'd say give it a shot if so.

― tehresa, Monday, January 26, 2009 12:41 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i didn't end up doing this. but i have no shame. just not my cup o tea

Morbius just GODOIT

The only WfG prod i've seen was Mike Nichols' 20 years ago w/ Steve Martin & Robin Williams (and Bill Irwin as Lucky)...