Tag Archives: theater

Review: Constellations: Pole Dancing in the Parallel Universe

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  Last Sunday emanated from a parallel Universe. Show tickets, the decision to drive to a specific train which had a stop near the theater. The transit website said, “no delays.” Arriving at the train proved otherwise, in fact it seems always to prove otherwise when the site indicates no problems. The platform was mobbed and a train was going out of service. As the clock ticks toward the curtain going up I have to calm myself down. It is either traffic or trains, in New York City you picks your poison. Finally an E train is rerouted around the … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: All About Dinner: The 90-Year-Long Christmas Meal

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A perfect evening began on the pre-Christmas streets of New York City where each block was punctuated by a parade of shopping bags. Throughout were LED globe-like light arrays in different colors: Everything was dressed in lights. This rarely happens: There was a parking spot in front of the restaurant. Andanada. Who knew that the restaurant near the Alice Tully Hall (show to follow dinner) was so superb and had one Michelin Star? Don’t want to sound like Anthony Bourdain, but I had no reservations; still got a table. Let me share this meal with you.   On the house: … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: From Lost Lake to Vietnam

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Lost Lake,  a play by David Auburn (Proof, The Columnist) is currently playing at Manhattan Theater Club, and a splendid production it is. It is perfectly cast: two lost souls meet unexpectedly, both trying to get by, both struggling, and it is not until the end that the single black mother who has lost her husband to a terrible accident leaving her with two small children, recognizes her own failings in the man who rented his cabin to her. She saw him as a loser, she had failings, herself, but perhaps there was more to him than was initially obvious. … Continue reading →

Scenes From A Marriage, in Triplicate

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In 1974, Roger Ebert called  Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from A Marriage  “one of the truest, most luminous love stories ever made.” It makes us re-examine the nomenclature of love. “His married couple are Swedish upper-middle-class. He is a professor, she is a lawyer specializing in family problems (for which, read divorce). They have two daughters, who remain off screen. They are intelligent, independent. She truly believes their marriage is a happy one (although she doesn’t much enjoy sex). One evening, he comes to their summer cottage and confesses that he has gone and fallen in love with someone else. There is … Continue reading →

The Country House in Manhattan

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To Manhattan to the theater … to see “The Country House” by Donald Margulies.   First, the journey across the 59th Street Bridge, aka, the Queensborough Bridge, aka, The Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge. This will give you folks who are not familiar with New York City a feel for the expanse. Going into Manhattan, the center of the Universe. Can you find the tram?  

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Soup For You and a Good Play

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It’s all about soup: The Soup Man (aka, the Seinfeld “Soup Nazi”) vs. a branch of Hale & Hearty Soups, across the street. (I am in search of the perfect mulligatawny soup.) I had lunch at Hale & Hearty where there is a vast variety including sandwiches and salads and one can sit. I took home a serving from the Soup Man. Will the addition of the included banana, bread, and a Lindt chocolate justify the $8.00 for their mulligatawny soup?       On the the theater: The Commons of Pensacola With Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner   … Continue reading →

465 TheaterThursday: Collected Stories: Donald Margulies

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Linda Lavin is known for her roles on television (remember “Alice”?) and theater. She is a wonderful comedienne but a superb dramatic actress. She is a four-time Tony nominee for her roles in “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and “The Tales of the Allergist’s Wife.” Sarah Paulson has starred in “The Glass Menagerie” (opposite Jessica Lange), “The Sisters Rosenweig.” She has appeared in many off-Broadway plays and television: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Cupid,” “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip,” “Deadwood,” “The D.A. Leap of Faith,” “Path to War,” “Jack & Jill,” “American Gothic.” “Collected Stories” is … Continue reading →

300. New York City Photo Journal: Manhattan doin’s: 9/21/08

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Sunday, September 21, 2008. We celebrated the first day of Fall in Manhattan. We had theater tickets in hand as we luckily found a parking spot–yes, in Manhattan on a Sunday. To make the city all the more interesting, there was a street fair, and you know what that means; food. And plenty to see and smell. We explored the street fair a little but decided to have lunch in a more quiet nearby area where we could sit and be served. New York City is the Sunday Brunch capital of the world; you’ll find the thousands of restaurants full … Continue reading →

Theater: The Whipping Man: at what point does slavery end?

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Theater: The Whipping Man: at what point does slavery end? Recently my cold, snow-filled Winter was melted by the Manhattan Theater Club’s production of The Whipping Man, a new play by a new playwright, Matthew Lopez. Mr. Lopez, a New Yorker is the son of a Puerto Rican father and a Polish-Russian mother. His unusual theme about a Jewish Confederate soldier and the slaves who were raised as Jews is a gripping historic profile of possibilities. He raised the parallel between the Jewish and African slavery experience and shone a light on the Jewish presence in this country during the … Continue reading →

Theater: Good People: David Lindsay-Abaire/Manhattan Theater Club

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 Theater:  Good People: David Lindsay-Abaire/Manhattan Theater Club A fabulous play with a fabulous cast: Becky Ann Baker (stage, screen, TV) Patrick Carroll (stage, screen, TV) Tate Donovan (stage, screen, TV) Renée Elise Goldsberry (stage, screen,TV) Frances McDormand (stage, screen. TV: Academy Award for Fargo; Misssissippi Burning, Almost Famous, North Country) Estelle Parsons: (stage, screen: August, Osage County, Academy Award: Bonnie & Clyde, nominée for Rachel, Rachel. Inducted into the Theater hall of Fame in 2004) >>Link to Cast photos and bios<< >>New York Times article on the playwright, Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lindsay-Abaire<< What makes a person good? Are the … Continue reading →

Theater: Wit by Margaret Edson at Manhattan Theater Club

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Wit by Margaret Edson at Manhattan Theater Club [W;t] by Margaret Edson with Cynthia Nixon Pun Bandu Suzanne Bertish Michael Countryman Jessica Dickey Chické Johnson Greg Keller Carra Paterson Zachary Spicer   Directed by Lynne Meadow Scenic Design: Santo Loquasto Wit is one of the most difficult plays I have ever watched. It had some of the finest acting I have ever witnessed. It is one of the best plays I have ever seen. This was the third play of my five play subscription for the season. I had a vague idea of what it was about, but I wasn’t … Continue reading →

Time Stands Still, a play by Donald Margulies

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Time Stands Still, a play by Donald Margulies January 10, 2010 Manhattan Theater Club/preview The Samuel J. Friedman Theater, (formerly The Biltmore)       Time Stands Still Donald Margulies Cast: Laura Linney-Sarah Goodwin Brian D’Arcy James-James Dodd Eric Borgosian-Richard Erlich Alicia Silverstone-Mandy Bloom photos by the author I have been a member of The Manhattan Theater Club for about 15 years. The subscription gets me into the theater five times a year and new playwrights are featured; many go on to win awards; I joined initially because my cousin Donald Margulies’ work is often featured. He won the Pulitzer … Continue reading →

Theater: Other Desert Cities: Jon Robin Baitz

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 Other Desert Cities “The Best New Play on Broadway!” Brantley, The New York Times <— autographed by Rachel Griffiths   a play by Jon Robert Baitz directed by Joe Mantello with… Stockard Channing Rachel Griffiths Stacy Keach   Judith LightJustin Kirk Signing autographs: photos, Sans Souci Rachel Griffiths Justin Kirk Link to the New York Times> Review Other Desert Cities is a drama currently playing on Broadway with a highly noted cast. Each member slips into his or her role and owns it; the acting was flawless. If you don’t know the cast members by sight you have certainly seen them … Continue reading →