Ensemble Watch: ‘Rock of Ages,’ Part 1
Andre Ward and Jeremy Woodard—the guy rockers in the ensemble of Rock of Ages—talk about backstage life at the Brooks Atkinson, knee-bleeding audition tales, and bonding through cable TV in the latest edition of Ensemble Watch.
Have you caught Andre and Jeremy in Rock of Ages, Rushers? Or seen Jeremy go on as Stacee Jaxx? Were you surprised that neither of these guys thought they were cut out for the 80s rock show? And what’s up with them having to pay for cable in their dressing room? Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments, and don’t forget to check back early next week for part 2 of Ensemble Watch: Rock of Ages!
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Stage Rush TV: Episode 28
Talking points:
- Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson offers $20 tickets for first preview
- A week of strange plays: Pope: The Musical, Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, and Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical
- Broadway grosses
Did you snap up a discount ticket to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’s fist preview, Rushers? Were you surprised and elated (like me) when the Public staff gave out free merchandise? How many Fringe shows have you caught? Did you see Pope or Jurassic Parq? Leave your questions and thoughts in the comments!
FringeNYC review: Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical
Jurassic Parq: The Broadway Musical takes the creative license allotted by the New York Fringe Festival and rolls around in it like a pig in the mud on ecstasy. What begins as a lovingly bizarre homage to the blockbuster novel and film quickly morphs into an incoherent barrage of random humor.
Told from the perspective of Jurassic Park’s genetically engineered dinosaurs (kind of like a Wicked for prehistoric creatures), the formerly extinct grapple with their new sexual organs and urges (kind of like a Spring Awakening for gigantic reptiles) as they transition from female to male. Using notable lines from the movie (“Shooooot haaarrr!”), the production is charming and nostalgic, if not healthily quirky. But soon, writers Emma Barash, Bryce Norbitz, Marshall Pailet, and Stephen Wargo employ a Family Guy mentality that random humor can solely sustain a show. Jurassic Parq feels random for the sake of being random.
The “q” in “Parq” apparently stands for “truth.” The narrator (Lee Seymour) is Morgan Freeman, who can’t decide if he is in fact Freeman or Samuel L. Jackson. Expletives are shouted from out of nowhere (a desperate reach for laughs). And the three major songs of the piece are anything but subtle, such as “Dick Fix.” A smart and successful moment for the music, however, is the final number, “We Are Dinosaurs,” which is set to the film’s famous John Williams score.
With a loose story that is basically a bunch of individual scenes that follow another and characters constantly doing over-the-top things (screaming, raping, roaring), Jurassic Parq becomes so bizarre that it did have its sold-out theater laughing most of the time. Yet the laughter seemed born out of confusion and surprise, rather than genuine delight. Read more
Review: Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party
Surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party is a drama. Some might be compelled to call it a dramedy, but works that fall under that category display an equal balance in light and heavy tone. Dance Party is anything but balanced.
During a school Christmas pageant in Menard County, Illinois (a former residence of President Lincoln), the children, playing former presidents, shock the audience with lines that insinuate Honest Abe was homosexual. The teacher responsible for the controversy, Harmony Green, is swiftly fired and brought up on criminal charges for distributing harmful materials to minors. When two Illinois republicans competing for gubernatorial status fill the roles of defense and prosecution, the case becomes “the trial of the century.”
After these events unfold, the cast breaks the fourth wall and informs the audience that we are in control of the evening’s proceedings. We are to witness the story three times from the perspectives of the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the New York Times reporter who comes to town. However, the audience gets to choose in which order we see them. The gimmick is interesting in the sense that when certain events happen in one act, the causes are further explained in other acts due to a difference in perspective and the play becomes a bit of an entertaining puzzle. Overall, it feels like a tool to complicate an uncomplicated story.
Further convoluting Dance Party is that it’s a bipolar play, much of which stems from its title. Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party infers a flashy, flamboyant, comical romp through the designated narrative. Yes, there are definitely moments like that in Dance Party. But instead of holding steady to that tone, there are also scenes where characters throw themselves at each other, screaming and gritting their teeth in vengeful agony about lost friends during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. These two tones do not match up and make for a confusing theater experience. Read more
FringeNYC review: Pope: The Musical
The Vatican has never seemed cooler (or more suburban) than it does in Pope: The Musical, currently playing as part of the FringeNYC festival. In typical nudge-nudge off-off-Broadway musical fashion, this silly show features a nerdy American eighth grader who dreams of one day leading all of Catholicism, instead of a rock band. Of course in this show, the two occupations sort of look the same.
On the precipice of entering high school, Pope (yes, that’s his name) bashfully avoids the affection of his adoring female friend while his classmates swoon over summer and the opposite sex. Pope has his eye on his heavenly prize, and about five minutes into the show, he gets it. Yet his cheerful reign, in which he gives sermons comparing humanity to delicious treats like blueberry muffins, is interrupted when an evil archbishop (Scott Hart) plants a false story in the news that the squeaky-clean Pope has had a tawdry affair. His congregation excommunicates Pope, and he sets out on a guilt-ridden journey that gains him loyalists dedicated to helping him reclaim his holy throne.
In Pope, the international institution that is the Vatican is shrunk to the size of a suburban American town. The corrupt journalist who corroborates with the plotting archbishop is Pope’s schoolyard bully. The nun that helps him reclaim the papacy is his childhood sweetheart. This factor is what makes Pope quaint and cute. And also thin.
Tackling an institution like the Vatican in a tongue-in-cheek off-off-Broadway musical leaves room for an interwoven message through humor. I was expecting some commentary on any number of the issues that the Vatican has faced in recent years through the show’s absurd humor, much the way Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (soon opening in a Broadway transfer) did with American politics. Alas, Pope has nothing to say. Read more
Stage Rush TV: Episode 27
Talking points:
- Fela! announces surprise January 2 closing date
- Fringe Festival: In Loco Parentis
- Live At Lincoln Center: South Pacific—more Broadway on TV, please
- Broadway grosses
Were you as shocked as I was by Fela!’s closing notice, Rushers? Do you think the show deserves a longer run? What Fringe Festival shows have you seen so far? Did you tune in for the live broadcast of South Pacific? What kind of compromise would you suggest to get more Broadway on TV? Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
Stage Rush TV: Episode 26
Talking points:
- Duncan Sheik plays second show at City Winery
- It’s official: Jennifer Damiano will play Mary Jane in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
- Broadway in Bryant Park ends with American Idiot and La Cage aux Folles
- Broadway grosses
What do you think, Rushers? Are you prac-ti-ca-lly per-fect? Did you catch Duncan Sheik’s concert at City Winery? Do you think he should continue with the covers or return fully to performing his solo work? Are you on board for Jennifer Damiano joining Spider-Man? Did you see the finale of Broadway in Bryant Park? Which week was your favorite this summer? Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
Broadway in Bryant Park recap: ‘American Idiot’ and ‘La Cage aux Folles’
The weather didn’t get the memo that Broadway in Bryant Park still had one more week left in the season. It drizzled on the massive crowd that gathered for the free lunchtime concert’s final show of the summer. But judging from the crowd’s reactions to the buzzy shows that performed, they didn’t seem to mind the rain.
The Cagelles of La Cage aux Folles, this year’s Tony winner for Best Revival of a Musical, took the stage first. I wasn’t surprised that Kelsey Grammer didn’t participate in the event, but Douglass Hodge, the Tony winner for Best Actor, could have showed up to belt out “I Am What I Am.” Instead, their merry mass of transvestites entertained the crowd to exuberant applause. Not donning any feminine garb for “We Are What We Are” did come off a bit strange (“Look under our frocks,” what frocks?!), but their energy was through the roof, especially as they spiked extra large beach balls into the audience. The song began strangely though, as the announcer introduced the song as “What Are We Here For,” and then interrupted the already-in-progress number to give it the correct title. Dale Hensely and Chris Hoch went on as Albin and Georges, respectively, for “With You On My Arm,” which came off dull. The duo then joined the Cagelles for their closing act, “The Best of Times,” in which they paled in comparison to the effusive ensemble.
Video: “We Are What We Are”
Read more
Concert recap: Duncan Sheik at City Winery, week 2
Duncan Sheik returned to New York’s City Winery Tuesday night to complete his two-show commitment, after canceling his June 10 concert due to illness. The Tony-winning composer was back in regular form for an evening of 80s alt-rock covers and solo work.
Sheik kicked off the 80s covers segment with Depeche Mode’s “Stripped,” which he performed back in March at his concert at New Jersey’s South Orange Performing Arts Center. He moved through a set of new covers, which Sheik introduced as their “world premiere; which is code for we haven’t rehearsed them much.” The list included songs from The Cure, Howard Jones, and The Smiths—all with mellow arrangements. One of the few times in his set did Sheik get upbeat was when he played Tears For Fears’ “Shout,” which was a surprisingly mainstream choice for Sheik. As he’s done many times before, he introduced “Shout” with slight embarrassment as “a pop song,” which is something he did repeatedly during the show.
When he played his first concert at City Winery in June, Sheik’s set began with a Nick Drake album in its entirety before moving on to his solo work. Toward the end of Tuesday’s set of covers, a chiding audience member called out “Play Duncan Sheik!” The bashful Sheik responded, “I’m getting there; I just have to get this out of my system.” He began the segment of his own work with “For You” and then jumped to a Whisper House song, which he classically brushed off with, “My last album was called Whisper House. It was a theater thing.” From that musical, he played “The Tale of Solomon Snell,” which I thought was a poor choice, being that there are stronger numbers from the piece, and it has been a part of his past few set lists. Strangely missing lately has been “Earthbound Starlight,” which was the debut single off the Whisper House album. Read more
Stage Rush TV: Episode 25
Talking points:
- Seeing the concert reading of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
- Fela! and Avenue Q make for the strongest Broadway in Bryant Park of the season
- Broadway grosses
Did you catch On A Clear Day You Can See Forever at Vassar Powerhouse, Rushers? Did you have tickets to one of the performances that Anika Noni Rose was absent for? What was your take on Broadway in Bryant Park this week? Any Rushers ever eaten a Wicked brownie? Leave all your thoughts and ideas for Broadway desserts in the comments!