The Argument & Dinner Party: 06/28/2007

With The Argument & Dinner Party Target Margin concludes it's “On The Greeks” season with philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle. The Argument is David Greenspan's version of Aristotle's Poetics. This solo performance, starring Greenspan, is the best theater history class you never had. How it manages to be completely academic and so totally entertaining is the genius of David Greenspan. Plato’s Symposium turns up as a contemporary Dinner Party at which friends are celebrating the recent win of Han Nah's OBIE award for her solo performance which quickly digresses into a competition for the perfect description of love. David Herskovits' directorial panache really shines with Dinner Party and his cast is up for the playful challenge – especially the wacky Mary Neufeld.

For Tickets & Info: www.targetmargin.org

Gone Missing: 06/22/2007

Back for a commercial run at the Barrow Street Theatre, Gone Missing is a must see show! Collaboratively created by the wonderfully talented company - The Civilians - the show is a collage of tales of things lost by New Yorkers. And as simple as that premise is, Gone Missing is sweet and funny, surprisingly touching and always entertaining. The ensemble (Emily Ackerman, Damian Baldet, Jennifer R. Morris, Stephen Plunkett, Robbie Sublett, and Colleen Werthmann), playing some thirty odd (some very odd) characters is uniformly excellent. Michael Friedman's music for the show rocks. Overall this may be one of the best shows in New York.

For Tickets and info: www.barrowstreettheatre.com

Signature Theatre: The Next Four Years

The Signature Theater Company has announced the subjects of their next four seasons. It also appears as though the $20 ticket deal, sponsored by Time Warner will continue.

2007-2008
Charles Mee - I'm not the biggest Charles Mee fan, but the main reason I'm not excited by this choice is that there is NO shortage of productions of his plays - especially since Mr. Mee graciously makes his plays available on line.
(plus another production of Edward Albee's The Occupant)

2008-2009
The playwrights of the Negro Ensemble Company - This is an interesting choice, and a slight diversion from the one playwright each season mission - but perhaps the most famous play to come out of the NEC was A Soldier's Play which was just recently revived by Second Stage.

2009-2010
Suzan-Lori Parks - It will be exciting to see a few of Suzan Lori-Parks' pre-Pulitzer plays re-staged. I'd love to see Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom and a non-Richard Foreman version of Venus.

2010-2011
20th Anniversary Season - Tony Kushner - Please, please, please let a production of A Bright Room Called Day be a part of this season.

For More info: www.signaturetheatre.org

2007 Tony Award Wrap-Up

Spring Awakening deservedly walked away with an arm full of Tony Awards last night. Hopefully producers won't just see this as a fluke and realize that the future of musical theater must include “popular” music if it wants to be relevant.

The other observation was that for the second year in a row, the Tony for Leading Actress in a Play went to a show that's already closed.

Here is a list of this year's winners:

Best Musical: Spring Awakening
Best Play: The Coast of Utopia
Best Revival of a Musical: Company
Best Revival of a Play: Journey's End
Best Special Theatrical Event: Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Best Direction of a Play: Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Best Direction of a Musical: Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical: Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical: David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play: Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play: Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed
Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play: Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical: John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play: Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical: Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Best Original Score: Spring Awakening - Music: Duncan Sheik; Lyrics: Steven Sater
Best Orchestrations: Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Best Book of a Musical: Steven Sater, Spring Awakening
Best Choreography Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Best Scenic Design of a Play: Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Best Costume Design of a Musical: William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens
Best Costume Design of a Play: Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, and Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Regional Theatre Tony Award: Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA

2007 Fringe Shows Are Posted

I just noticed that the shows involved in the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival are posted on the FringeNYC website. A quick glance reveals a ton of musicals and more than a few shows involving the apocalypse.

Some interesting titles include:

Angst: The New Teen Musical
Asking For It (Directed byLynne Taylor-Corbett)
BASH'd! - A Gay Rap Opera
Dressing Miss Julie
Elephant in the Room! (based on Eugene Ionesco's 'Rhinoceros')
JOHN GOLDFARB, PLEASE COME HOME! (Book by William Peter Blatty, based on his novel.)
Jazz Hand: Tales of a One Armed Woman
LOST IN HOLLYWOODLAND OR THE SLUGWOMAN FROM URANUS (Described as: "Damn Yankees" meets "Ed Wood" in this retelling of Faust.)
PN 1923.45 LS01 Volume 2 (The Book Play)
The Rise and Fall of Miles and Milo
Williamsburg! The Musical (with songs like "One Stop (To Excitement)" and "Peter Luger Lullaby")

See the full list here: www.fringenyc.org

Coming Soon: I Google Myself

Theatre Askew, the company that previously produced Bald Diva! and I Claudius, Live presents a new play by Jason Schafer (author of the film Trick) - I Google Myself.

For Tickets & Info: www.theatreaskew.com

EST Marathon of One Act Plays: Series A

Series A of the 2007 EST Marathon of One Act Plays includes three excellent plays: Things We Said Today by Neil LaBute, The First Tree in Antarctica by Julia Cho and The Probabilities by Wendy MacLeod. The Neil LaBute play, probably the highest profile play on the program, meets it's high expectations and Victor Slezak and especially Dana Delany are outstanding under Andrew McCarthy's subtle but effective direction. Wendy MacLeod's monologue, The Probabilities – extolling the social and existential importance of the weatherman – is a delight and funny and thoughtful as performed by Bruce MacVittie. My personal favorite of the plays, The First Tree in Antarctica, by Julia Cho, is made all the better by the performance of its lead, Michi Barall. Of the other two plays, The News is fine but not great and The Dog Heart is just a dog, but at $20 a ticket a visit to EST is worth the time and money.

Spotted at the Show: Lois Smith

For Tickets & Info: www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org

In A Dark Dark House: 06/06/2007

The late-in-the-process replacement of Jason Patrick by Fredrick Weller in Neil LaBute's In A Dark Dark House can only be seen as a blessing in disguise – Fredrick Weller is terrific in this dark dark new play. America's national alpha-male playwright in residence has done it again, but to say what he has done would be unfair to all future audience; suffice to say it involves two brothers and a secret from their past. LaBute grabs hold of the audience and doesn't let go and his ninety-minute, morally ambiguous and challenging play is a treat for anyone who enjoys what the theater does best. Ron Livingston, as Weller's brother, is an excellent foil. Despite some possibly overly-indicated points early on, Carolyn Cantor's direction is true and spot-on. Anyone looking for the same-old, spoon-fed politically-correct nonsense should stay away.

Spotted at the Show: Annie Parisse and Paul Sparks

For tickets & info: www.mcctheater.com

Cast Your VOTE For The TONY AWARDS (Part III)

You must vote in each category separately.

Best Play
	The Coast of Utopia
	Frost/Nixon
	The Little Dog Laughed
	Radio Golf
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Best Musical
	Curtains
	Grey Gardens
	Mary Poppins
	Spring Awakening
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Best Revival of a Play
	Inherit the Wind
	Journey's End
	Talk Radio
	Translations
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Best Revival of a Musical
	The Apple Tree
	A Chorus Line
	Company
	110 in the Shade
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Best Special Theatrical Event
	Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
	Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway
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