Oscar E Moore

I still think Aja Nisenson is an exceptionally talented young woman despite her misguided foray entitled “Daja Vu” which is being produced as part of the NY Int’l Fringe Festival.  It is her newest one woman show.

Last June I saw her “Piccola Cosi” at the Triad and instantly became a fan of this most original performer who defies being categorized.   She can sing.  And be loony.  She’s innocently sexy, with a beauty that reminds one of Vivien Leigh.  “Piccola Cosi” dealt with her travels and travails in Italy as a young jazz singer and the men she met.

This newest cabaret act centers around her alter-ego “Daja Vu” (which sounds like a name that a drag queen might adopt) who is supposedly a world renowned chanteuse who has come to the Bowery Poetry Club (where three bucks will buy you a small bottle of eau ordinaire) to bring a little bit of France to us while flirting unabashedly with the audience as some ditzy star dressed in black and bling, crooning Piaf, Cole Porter, Bonnie Raitt, Gershwin and what must be her favorite tune Besame Mucho.

There is no jazz trio this time around but a lone pianist, David Gaines, who very nicely accompanies Aja through her hit and miss act.  A sixty plus minute act that has Aja mingling with the audience, calling on mother for advice, pulling various object from her bra, chewing wads of gum and singing a ditty draped on the bar opposite the stage that has the audience uncomfortably straining to see her, having to twist their bodies in the process

Aja Nisenson’s reincarnation is not fully developed yet and emits mixed signals as her disarming openness works against her newly created character.  Is she being serious or is this a satire or something in between?  Is she Aja or Daja Vu?  Fearless though she is, she hasn’t gone far enough.

She transcends the material (which she has penned) most of the time.  While Aja can sing with the best of them and has an extraordinary range she is also trying too hard to be outrageously funny when it really comes so naturally to her.  Her mime rendition of “If You Go Away” helped save the day.

Suggestion:  rethink “Daja Vu”.  Dust off your beret and restructure.  Your talent is worth being seen in the proper setting.  Don’t sell yourself short.  Be yourself and perhaps put “Daja Vu” up for adoption.  Bonne chance!

www.AjaNisenson.com

NOTE:  Kris Paltanavicius, the venue host, should start working on his own show.  He was a natural and hysterical as he introduced Aja explaining what to do if an emergency should occur.  Not once but twice as director Michael Aman has him repeat this mini stand up routine during the show.  The sped up version was even funnier.  He’s an undiscovered talent to watch.

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The teaser quote “Love and Murder at First Sight” is a promo from the film “Double Indemnity” but it can aptly apply to a new play by Stan Werse, NOIR, which is being presented as part of the NY Int’l Fringe Fest at the Connelly Theater.  Although of the same genre it is not in the same league.

Director Marc Geller has done a skillful job evoking the dark, cynical, melodramatic and sometimes humorous atmosphere aided by a wonderful sound-scape by Jack Kennedy and lighting design by Daniel Dungan with some spot on costumes by Ashley Rose Horton.

NOIR starts off brilliantly.  Gunshots.  A wailing sax.  Spotlight on McQue (a seriously blunt and wry Michael McCoy who captures just the right balance between cynicism and ironic camp) as he begins his staccato narration in this homage to the detective thrillers of the late forties and early fifties.  A combination of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Dragnet’s Joe Friday and characters found in the period black and white films such as  “Double Indemnity” .

Marc Geller knows the style and his gift for dead pan comedy pays off in spades here despite the failings of the convoluted script which rambles on a bit too much and too long, the playwright not deciding whether NOIR should be serious or serious fun.

Honest to a fault rookie cop Clay Holden (Darrell Glasgow) is the darling protégé of Norbert Grimes (Andrew Dawson) who is there to teach him the ropes for his first big case and tell endless stories that wander far from the plot at hand.

Clay meets up with Helen Lydecker (Abby Royle) a rich widow who sometimes sings and seduces him into rescuing her from a blackmailer who has some racy, incriminating photos.  He falls for her and her story.  Hard.  Smoldering embraces ensue.

According to Helen “You do what you have to do to survive.”  You’ll just have to see it to believe it.

www.noir-nyc.com www.fringenyc.org

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I wouldn’t presume to know or explain to you what Matthew George, a recent graduate of Yale, who has written “Cow Play”, wants his audience to take home with them except for us to see life’s larger picture and to be nicer to bovines.

He has written an intelligent play with three very interesting characters.  Julie (Willa Fitzgerald) a would be young actress from a wealthy family living in Connecticut falls in love with loquacious Mark (Alex Kramer) a grad student who has a passion for medieval history and the Bayeux Tapestry and is writing his thesis which he insists on sharing its many historical and meaningful details. 

While visiting the farm with Julie that his controlling brother Jed (Will Turner) now runs she is overcome by the smell of cow poop and the harsh treatment the cows receive under the rifle wielding man of few words.  And falls for him and one of his cows.

It is forty minutes into this two hour show and after a few false starts (Julie’s auditions as Lady Macbeth to cite just one which are fun) that we meet Antigone – cow #277 that Jed hands over to Julie to receive better care.  The play begins to take shape and make sense only to go off on some other tangents that equally confuse – namely the death of the brothers’ sister.

Antigone, the cardboard cow is completely lovable.  Her scenes with Julie are sweet.  Jed begins to open up and soften while Mark is off to France (paid for by Julie’s parents) to examine his beloved tapestry.  When Antigone comes down with a terminal illness and has to be shot it is Julie who does the shooting.  Even so, they correspond by writing beautiful and amusing letters to one another.

There are so many ideas being floated around with lots of unclear symbolism that it takes away from the relationships of the characters and the cow.  As if all these folk from Yale need to show us their worth – in excess – all at once. 

Charlie Polinger (Director) is also attending Yale.  He has superimposed an almost surrealistic style over the sometimes obtuse script making it all the more murky.  The production has the look and feel of a collegiate theatrical experience trying too hard.

There is a terrific scene is which Mark plays King and serf which is totally out of sync with the rest of the style of the play but which is a  great feat of acting and comedy.

“Cow Play” has a lot going for it.  Maybe too much so.  There are great projections by Adam Payne that enhance the show but clarity should come first.

 www.lessthanrent.org/cowplayfringe.html      www.fringenyc.org

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It’s a hit!  That hits you where it counts most.  In the funny bone.  The Legend of Julie-Taymor or The Musical That Killed Everybody! Book and Lyrics by Travis Ferguson – Music and Lyrics by Dave Ogrin is a fast and furious ninety minute romp with a delightful score that takes a bull’s eye aim and hits it dead center at the real life saga of Taymor’s “vision” for the Bono scored Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark – from contract signing to preview to still running and making millions hit fiasco – and turns it into a Forbidden Broadway type musical feast.

If its creators have fashioned this razor sharp satirical musical in only six weeks as noted they should be hard at work on another as The Legend of Julie-Taymor is sure to have an extended life Off B’way in the near future.

Wearing a black fright wig the immensely talented Jennifer Barnhart portrays Julie Paymore in all her egomaniacal, power hungry, domineering glory.  Fresh from exile and with a Broadway hit under her belt – “The Lion Cub” her “vision” for a musical version of “Spider-Dude” will be unlike any other musical ever produced and cost a fortune.  To write the music the lead producer gets Bruno (a terrific, heavily accented Clint Carter) a rock concert star who insists that “she who must not be named” be the director.  The show is chock full of these delicious details.

Hot on their heels is reporter Lionel Weasel (Christopher Davis Carlisle) working at The Daily Rialto, secretly interviewing his mole in the show – Billy the stunt stand in for Spider-Dude (Barry Shafrin) to get the behind the scenes, back stabbing story.  The delays.  The injuries.  The debt.  The Geek chorus?

The props are all cardboard cutouts.  Perfect for the cartoon like production wonderfully directed and choreographed by Joe Barros. 

No one could make this story up.  It would be too unbelievable.  But the true saga of Spider-Man created a must see event for tourists worldwide.  Waiting to see who might be next to fall from the sky sold lots of tickets. 

The creative team has taken all this juicy material and run with it.  Making up some back stories to fill in the missing motives of all those involved and a terrific finale with a score that is tuneful, fun and inspired.  “Tweet,Tweet,Tweet” is a knockout number as is “The Greatest” that has Paymore manipulating an injured Billy as a marionette – brilliant! And “Julie’s Turn” that makes fresh an idea that has already been used to death.

Appearing in multiple roles Johnnie Moore, Michael Titone, Kiley L. McDonald, Lynn Craig and Shaun Rice all add to the hysterical mayhem.

But it is the tour-de-force performance of Jennifer Barnhart, a combination of Kathleen Turner, Janis Joplin and “she who must not be named” – a performer who has impeccable comic timing and a powerhouse voice that drives this show into the stratosphere, creating her own legend in the process.

It shouldn’t be missed.

www.LegendOfJulie.com        www.FringeNYC.org

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Can it really be that Charles Busch has written this one dimensional play?  Or has it been written by the ghost in the mirror, a man named Howard?  Or has April Fools Day come around again to taunt us?  

This is not your typical laugh fest created by Mr. Busch.  No drag queens.  No glamour-puss-actress.  No sense as to what is going on at Primary Stages at 59 E 59 Street until September 3^rd and insipidly directed by Mark Brokaw.   

It’s as if Mr. Busch had all these ideas and characters stored away in a box, put in his hand, pulled some out and created the preposterous plot of Olive and the Bitter Herbs, which I have renamed Olive of the Bitter Tongue – after its central character Olive (Marcia Jean Kurtz). 

Olive is an actress in her sixties (I’m being kind) who is opinionated, combative, totally unlikable and Jewish.  A woman whose main claim to fame is being the “sausage lady” (kosher?) in a popular TV commercial and is “the last surviving renter” in her co-op building in Kips Bay.

Olive is a woman who hates her gay neighbors Trey, just as bitchy as Olive (Dan Butler) and Robert (David Garrison) heart attack survivor – working in Kiddie Lit – not because they are gay but because of the horrible smell of gourmet cheese seeping through their walls from their apartment that they have recently moved into where Olive discovered the past owner dead in her bed that they bought from her estate.  Just an example. 

Olive is a reprehensible woman who is looked after by non-relative Wendy (Julie Halston) who is connected to some theatrical enterprise but is up for a job in LA and has invited Trey and Robert over for drinks. 

Then there is the peacemaker Sylvan (Richard Masur) a widower three times over who is the father of the President of the Co-Op Board who is visiting from Buenos Aires.  And finally Howard the mysterious man in the mirror that everyone is drawn to.  Everyone on stage, that is.

We care little for any of them.  Except when they get to say some of the sometimes funny one-liners inserted to keep this show running through to the second act.  The highlight of Act I (I’m being kind) is an abridged Seder.  I have always wanted to go to a Seder but this play has cured me of that wish.   During intermission I wondered if Chanukah awaited celebration in Act II.

No.  It’s the viewing of a TV movie that Olive (a Holocaust survivor) has starred in with disastrous results that lead to the unbelievable ending where we discover the importance of being Howard.

Perhaps if Mr. Busch played Olive…No, that wouldn’t work either.

www.primarystages.org  Photo:  Jamaes Leynse

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Mary-Beth Manning is a remarkable actor.  Her Irish-Catholic mother was a remarkable woman.  And character.  The two meet head on in Ms. Manning’s one woman show “Mother – she’s with you wherever you go” being presented at IATI Theater as part of the NY Int’l Fringe Festival.

It’s a show filled with quirky family and famous people stories (Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Mayor Koch, Alicia Alonzo) that linger long after you leave as the depth of her affection and deep love for her opinionated mom, despite their ups and downs, has a surprisingly emotional, personal effect on you.

Extremely well written, created and performed by Ms. Manning and directed by Roma Maffia, “Mother” is a sometimes hysterical, sometimes lyrical and altogether wonderful retelling of their relationship from age five till death did them part.  Between the tears and heart wrenching humor Ms. Manning, alone on a bare stage except for one solitary chair, brings to vivid life her life with Joanie her mom, a mom with a tough veneer and a heart of gold and Ray her dad who would blow her a kiss every morning to be used later on and a host of other characters which include a wry therapist and a pseudo psychic.  Even after death mom is close at hand.

Ms. Manning is bright and charming and quite attractive bringing to mind a young Blythe Danner whose daughter is Gwyneth Paltrow – another mother/daughter duo.

She commands the stage and you are riveted to her for 85 minutes of incredible story telling.  With Bostonian accent for mom intact, she becomes Joanie – gesturing, posturing and advising.  And Mary-Beth a child afraid to be herself, fearing she would never fit in.

It is her mom’s sage advice that Mary-Beth seeks throughout her bi-coastal quest for stardom and a man who isn’t an alcoholic.  Her mom has two sides: the nice and the mean and we see them both on display as Ms. Manning connects 100 percent with her audience.  Her body language is a prime asset as she portrays the shy Mary-Beth and the outgoing, feisty woman who when stricken with cancer plows ahead not willing to give in as she becomes a fragile shadow of herself with her quick comebacks still coming on loud and strong, remaining indestructible until the end.

I defy anyone not to be moved by this incredibly poignant relationship and the original, refreshing way in which it is told.  “Mother – she’s with you wherever you go” will remain with you wherever you go.

www.marybethmanning.com www.fringenyc.org

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There’s a monkey in John’s bed.  No, not a monkey but a female chimpanzee brought back from Tanzania by his wife, Mary since their marriage has become stale.  John is a professor of anthropology who firmly believes that there is no missing link in the evolution of man. 

But wait, Lola-Lola, the chimp begins to connect with him to the extent that he falls in love with her as he teaches her to stand erect, dance a fox-trot, fornicate and wear fashionable high heels. 

In this bizarre two act play which starts out as a great idea and then grows tedious as it unfolds much too slowly we get the arguments both pro Darwin and anti.   And that animals have feelings too. 

It is written by Peter Michalos as a series of disjointed short scenes that director Rebecca Hengstenberg fails to pull together fast enough to keep our attention from wandering.

Lola-Lola is sometimes very funny and surprisingly touching.  It appears that Mr. Michalos has been inspired by A. R. Gurney’s Sylvia (a dog) and Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia?  But he is not in their league yet.  Lola-Lola needs more work and lots of editing.

Melissa Sussman makes a terrific Lola-Lola.  She has the mannerisms of the simian down pat and connects with her human family with gestures while we hear her speaking her thoughts.  Nice.  Later on when she is given a Bionic Voice Box by mad Doctor/Scientist Godfrey (Dennis Z. Gagomiros – who plays three other characters – all exceptionally well) unfortunately nary a simian trait remains.

Christopher Sutton makes an excellent John.  Torn between his work, his reputation, his wife (Leanne Barrineau) who is having an affair with his best friend Ted (Colin McFadden), his blossoming love for Lola-Lola, his religious faith and his sanity he is believable throughout and dead pan funny.

Will they live happily ever after as husband and chimpanzee?  Will they be more famous than Lady Gaga?  Will Mary’s documentation of this affair “The Lola Chronicles” become a best seller? 

Answers will be found at Venue 6 – The Living Theatre, 21 Clinton St.

www.PeterMichalos.com     www.fringenyc.org

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Death Takes a Holiday, the new Maury Yeston, Thomas Meehan, Peter Stone musical ensconced at the underground grotto theatre named Laura Pels simply dulls the spirits.  I couldn’t ever imagine that meeting “Death” face to face could be so listless as it is in this  Roundabout production.

Not Maury Yeston’s finest hour.  Actually, two and a half hours of sung dialogue interspersed with some MGM-ish, Andrew Lloyd Webber-ish flourishes and some old fashioned operetta-ish arias that fail to soar but which hold their last notes long after you have tired of hearing them, polite applause ensuing.

I have admired Mr. Yeston’s Nine and Titantic but this time out I started counting the roses, the thousands of roses, that adorn the trellises on the lovely but not very practical unit set of an Italian villa right after the end of WWI designed by Derek McLane.  And when you start counting roses there obviously is a problem.

The score notwithstanding, Death Takes a Holiday has also lost its leading man Julian Ovenden to a severe case of laryngitis.  What we get is Death warmed over as understudy Kevin Earley valiantly tries to make sense of a role that has him inviting himself as the Russian Prince Nikolai Sirki into the lives of the many guests of Duke and Duchess Lamberti (an exaggerated Michael Siberry and the down to earth Rebecca Luker) for a weekend in the country so that he can learn why everyone fears “Death”.

A weekend, following the near fatal car accident that he has caused, resulting in the Lamberti’s daughter Grazia (a Disney type heroine – Jill Paice) being thrown from the car and into a tizzy while returning from Venice with her fiancé Corrado (Max Von Essen).

The beauty and the beast meet and fall hopelessly in love.  Will love conquer all?  Will the power of love be stronger than that of death?  Will he learn to like fried eggs?

This silly story has been based on a dramatic play by Alberto Casella and rewritten for the American stage by Walter Ferris and worked on for many a year by its creators both living and dead.  Why?

The program wisely notes who the characters are and their relationships to one another which helps sort out the many people populating the stage.   Not that it matters all that much.

Simon Jones keeps his head above water with his elegant and humorous portrayal of Doctor Albione.  On the other hand we get an over the top Majordomo (Don Stephenson) who seems to have wandered in from a Feydeau farce.

I especially enjoyed the performance of Alexandra Socha as Daisy who after learning that the engagement between Grazia and Corrado is off is off and running after Corrado.

Matt Cavenaugh as an American aviator almost gets applause and the biggest laugh of the evening with his break-away costume.  Speaking of which, Catherine Zuber has created some extremely beautiful, breathtaking period frocks for the women and formal wear for the men that at least gives us something to look at when the monotony of counting roses has ceased and the static staging by Doug Hughes has failed to bring Death to Life.

www.roundabouttheatre.org Through Sept. 4^th.

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The Gateway Theatre’s production of SUNSET BOULEVARD is exceptional for many reasons.  First and foremost is their casting veteran Broadway star (Evita, Cats, No No Nanette) Loni Ackerman as Norma Desmond – silent screen star.  Ms. Ackerman is a perfect fit.  She has the look.  The attitude.  The vulnerability.  The strength.  The desperation.  The loneliness.  And the voice.

Loni Ackerman has waited twenty five years to make her long delayed, well deserved and most very welcomed comeback.  Taking time off to raise two sons with her husband Steve Kennedy.

“Not a comeback,” as Norma Desmond declares – “but a return.”   She began six years ago doing small parts.  Anything that would get her back on stage.  And now she is back center stage.  In the spotlight.

Singing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “With One Look” Ms. Ackerman sends chills down your spine as she relishes every moment of her triumphant return singing “This time I’m staying, staying for good.  Back where I was born to be.”  With this stellar performance we will surely see more of Loni Ackerman.  Yes, Loni Ackerman you’ve come home at last.  Your rendition of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” is worthy of the shouts of acclaim from the audience sitting out there in the dark.  Now this is where Loni would say, “Oscar, enough of me.  What about the show, everyone else?”

Based on the iconic movie by Billy Wilder, SUNSET BOULEVARD is not an easy show to produce.  Especially in ten days.  But director/choreographer Larry Raben and his creative staff have done a wonderful job evoking the period with terrific black and white vintage moving pictures and projections. 

The costumes are quite elaborate for Norma and fine for all the other characters telling the story of Joe Gillis, a fantastic Robert J. Townsend who must be as strong and as interesting as Norma for this show to work.  He is a star on the rise.  A leading man who is virile, sexy and can sing and act circles around other less commanding men on Broadway right now.  I expect a shining future for Mr. Townsend.  They have terrific chemistry on stage together.  She the cougar with her boy toy.  Their “New Year Tango” and “The Perfect Year” are nicely staged and the set sizzles with sexual tension.

As Joe, an out of work screenwriter who is escaping some goons after being late in car payments, he stumbles onto the estate of Norma Desmond who mistakes him for the undertaker for her pet chimpanzee and persuades him to stay and help her with her script for SALOME that she will submit to C.B. DeMille (Philip Hoffman) and star in for her return to Paramount – the Studio that she made famous.  But he falls for Betty Schaefer, an outstanding Gail Bennett who really makes something of this thankless part.  She reminded me of a young Emily Skinner whom I adore.  Her boyfriend Artie – another discovery – Andrew Pandaleon – has a great stage presence and a wonderful voice.  Noticing him as a standout early on I was disappointed that his part was so underwritten.

Joel Robertson as Max Von Mayerling, Norma’s butler and protector has a most difficult song “The Greatest Star of All” and does it beautifully, rendering all his love for Norma.

A love that you will all share when you see SUNSET BOULEVARD.  Be quick it only runs through August 20^th.

www.gatewayplayhouse.com  Box Office 631 286 1133

NOTE:  Loni and I appeared together in DAMES AT SEA in 1969.  We have remained great friends over the years and I am so very proud of her determination and accomplishments.

Making a wrong turn can sometimes be a good thing.  I asked directions from someone at “PORTERS”.  My instinct for finding a nice place to eat was alerted and after finding the theatre we went back and had a most delicious lunch on the porch.  It was another wonderful discovery that day.  Please go and enjoy the food and the service.   www.portersonthelane.com

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Good grief!  When is it too soon to revive a legendary cash cow musical?  A musical whose composer and lyricist died suddenly at the age of 35 the night before it was to open in 1996.  A musical that won the Pulitzer Prize.   A musical that won the Tony for Best Musical  and various Drama Desk Awards that very same year and ran for twelve more before vacating in September of 2008. 

The musical I am referring to is, of course, RENT by Jonathan Larson loosely inspired by La Boheme by Puccini which closed its doors just three years ago and has reopened them at the New World Stages last night.

Can I be the only person in the universe that believes RENT to be an over hyped phenomenon?  I had seen RENT when it first appeared at the New York Theatre Workshop.  I wondered then what all the excitement was about.  I wonder still.

I remember an almost bare stage with some scaffolding.  Some tables.  A drag queen in a Santa outfit.  Some glorious harmonies.  Some exciting performances.  And a long boring “performance piece” segment by Maureen about a cow.  There was a lot going on.  The story line was unclear.  The music with the exception of a few songs was loud, lackluster and unmemorable.   

“Seasons of Love” became a hit.  That coupled with Mr. Larson’s untimely death created the RENT mythology and the rest is history.

This new production of RENT directed by Michael Greif with some choreography by Lawrence Keigwin has a much more sophisticated look.  Grungy worked better.  The two tier monkey bar set enables the actors to climb and perform hanging from the rafters.  It houses the band.  It reveals many more hi tech video screens.  It turns.  The extraordinary lighting design is spectacular (Kevin Admas).  The sound – especially for the many incoming Voice Mail segments is scratchy (Brian Ronan).

It’s a long haul.  Running about two and a half hours.  Sitting there I was sometimes elated, sometimes bored but mostly wondering how RENT has fooled so many people.  Mostly young people buy the look of the audience.  An audience that can pre-order intermission drinks.  Tiny drinks with a hefty price tag attached.  I didn’t notice anyone checking IDs.

The plot loosely follows that of La Boheme.  Artists from the lower East side wondering how to pay the rent while living among the homeless and drug addicts, many of whom are HIV positive and following their dreams to be free and to love one another.

The young, energetic cast is really exceptional.  Highest honors go to Adam Chanler-Berat.  This is a young man coming into his own as a fine actor and singer.  He is relaxed and natural and one can really care for him as Mark Cohen – our video taping chronicler.  Roommate Roger (Matt Shingledecker) also delivers.  Mimi the sexy dancer infected with Aids is a gyrating dynamo called Arianda Fernandez.  When not sizzling she has some beautiful quiet moments with Roger.  However her faux death scene is ridiculous as written. 

Angel (an excellent MJ Rodriquez) winningly portrays the RuPaul-like drag queen who falls in love with Tom Collins (the majestic Nicholas Christopher).  His eulogy scene is breathtaking. 

As the two lesbian lovers Joanne (Corbin Reid) and Maureen (Annaleigh Ashford) have a wonderful time with “Take Me or Leave Me”.  And I have to admit that I was totally impressed with Ms. Ashford’s “performance piece” – “Over the Moon”.  Outstanding.  She has the looks the voice and the humor.

I wasn’t a huge fan of RENT to begin with and I am afraid that this production hasn’t changed my opinion of the legendary and extremely popular MTV rock musical.

NOTE:  The escalators were not working.  They should be.

www.siteforrent.com       www.newworldstages.com  Photo:  Joan Marcus

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