Remember those old “choose your own adventure” books?  It was the series we all loved to take out of the 3rd grade school library collection where you were given the freedom to determine how the story would unfold.  Inspired by Herman Melville’s mid-19th century novel “The Confidence Man” comes a Woodshed Collective production by the same name whose development follows a similar idea as those old favorites.  The story is told in a series of intertwining scenes and scenarios performed throughout manhattan’s own historical lighthouse tender, the Lilac.

The audience was given the freedom to explore the ship while exploring the play vignette to vignette in any fashion one desired.  If you got lost or needed direction there were four or so distinctly dressed play-guides, per say, who would be able to lead you through a story line coherently.  I felt like I was in a whole new world out on the Hudson River, balancing a brooklyn lager in one hand while climbing and running about the ship roaming from one time period to the next and back again.  It was a fascinating display and one that posed a very definite question of where and what you place your confidence in.  Who is to be trusted? How do you decipher  truth from vain?

The production of “The Confidence Man” will be held on the Lilac ship at pier 40 until the end of September.  The tickets are free and are going fast.

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Tags: herman melville, pier 40, play, stage, the confidence man, the lilac, woodshed collective

Society’s obsession with physical beauty and the ways in which it can wound people has been a subject on playwright Neil LaBute’s mind with works such as “Shape of Things” and “Fat Pig” and now his third, “reasons to be pretty“, which opened on Broadway April 2nd.  

The play opens with Steph (Marin Ireland) and Greg (Thomas Sadoski), the protagonist of the story, in a heated word against word argument which ends with Steph calling the relationship over, moving out and moving on.  It follows the ex-couple and their two friends as they struggle with their dead-end, blue collar jobs and ask questions like what does it mean to be a man? and what is the real gain in beauty, anyhow?  LaBute, in a note, said, “it’s the first coming-of-age story [he's] written”. It’s about “making choices that are hard and adult and not easy.”  Shaken by the break-up, Greg is forced to reexamine his life and the type of person he has become.  

Piper Perabo plays Carly, an attractive security guard who is married to Kent, played by the quite astonishingly great actor Steven Pasquale.  The raw and, at times, quite brilliantly awkward acting is so cleverly and simply enhanced by the scenic design of David Gallo.  

Grab tickets. reasons to be pretty will be showing at the Lyceum Theatre until early September.  Maybe post viewing you’ll dance a little harder, sing a little louder, talk a little more freely because life is about being brave and standing up for what we believe in.  

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Tags: broadway, David Gallo, Lyceum Theatre, Marin Ireland, Neil LaBute, Piper Perabo, reasons to be pretty, stage, Steven Pasquale, Theatre, Thomas Sadoski

Two bookcases, a desk, and a few chairs adorn the modest stage.  As the hour nears 8pm, the 99 seats of the Algonquin Theater fill up quickly.  An audience always carries a heightened sense of excitement in more intimate theaters.  No seat goes without a close and in person view of the set and characters coming to life.  

Dr. Peterson is a psychiatrist dealing with individuals from “all slices of life.”  Sunshine is an alcoholic, Mary is abused by her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy fight constantly, Milton is a Bob Dylan impersonator trying to be anything but himself, and Leila is a sassy gal filled with self-doubt. The characters are fairly stereotypical and over exaggerated but there is one who stole the show.  Scott Richard Foster, who plays George Preston, is an absolute talent.  His acting is spot on while his voice creates the chills.  

Albert M. Tapper’s musical Sessions opens at the Algonquin Theater January 14th.  Tickets are $50 or $20 if you are a student or senior, well worth it even if it is only to see Scott Richard Foster work the stage.

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Tags: Albert M. Tapper, Algonquin Theater, Bob Dylan, Musical, off-broadway, Scott Richard Foster, Sessions: a new musical, stage, theater

Moved to tears, I sit with my eyes unable to blink in fear of missing even a second of the brilliance that lay before me.  The stage opens on set of an old theater house where Mama Rose has entered her girls in a talent contest.   From city to city, town to town they travel with dreams of Stardom.  

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXl10a9gJwA]

Running two hours and 30 minutes, the play never once leaves you antsy.  Gypsy’s stellar cast, including Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines, satisfies your eyes and ears.  The dynamism of Patti LuPone in the broadway revival Gypsy beckoned a standing ovation at numerous times throughout the performance.  Her stage presence was devastatingly poignant, well deserving of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.  The St. James Theatre in NYC’s Times Square, home of the first uncut broadway production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the original Oklahoma!,  has been hosting the award winning play since March.

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Tags: Art, Boyd Gaines, Gypsy, Laura Benanti, musicals, Patti LuPone, Plays, Revival Musicals, stage, Tony Award 2008

“Like O, Like H in your gut.”  It felt like I waited a lifetime for this concert to arrive.  I had anticipated seeing them play live ever since the first time I heard “Where does the Good Go.”  

They have a gift.  A gift that not every talented musician has.  They make me want to cry.  There are those who are great at playing their instruments, singing, and putting on a good show and then there are some that have all the aforementioned characteristics plus they write music that tears at your soul. 

Tegan and Sara make me want to lay on the floor and pound my fists into the wall to every word they sing.  When I listen to them it feels like they have been inside my heart these long 24 years and now finally someone is telling my story.  ”when I was 8 I was sure I was growing nerves.”  

On their latest album, The Con, Tegan and Sara take you to a strange place.  Their songs are catchy enough to want to dance to but when you pay attention to the lyrics it stops you in your tracks, but only for a second.  Their lyrics stir up my emotions, every single one off The Con pings me in one way or another.  The music they play takes me to a whole different place.  I could be on the subway and 5 minutes later realize I have just been pounding the ground with my foot to the drums in “Nineteen”. Its so good I dont even mind infringing on my neighbors space.  Not only is their music bananas but their style is too.  

It is well known, if you are a Tegan and Sara fan, that seeing them live is a truly unique, mirthless, perhaps life making, time.  You are provided with comic relief in between songs as the Canadian born twins recall certain stories from their past, and its only fair that they try and make us laugh after they play song after song of tear invoking tunes.  I saw them this past May and it is still the best concert I have ever been to.  Their stage presence is ridiculous. They interact with their crowd and are hilarious while doing it.  It was once said in an interview that they dont play any of their old songs that they don’t feel are relevant to them today, and it shows. Tegan and Sara are back in town today and tomorrow at Terminal 5, go see them if you have the chance.

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Tags: canadian, comedy, concert, dance, drums, fasion, live music, lyrics, Music, musicians, nyc, sara quin, stage, style, subway, tegan and sara, tegan quin, terminal 5, The Con