Oscar E Moore

Well, well, Hello Jerry, It’s so nice to have you back where you belong – on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre where your glittering and besequined musical La Cage Aux Folles has been lovingly revived in an intimate setting with an emphasis on pure entertainment and the pure love shared by two men on the French Riviera.  Nothing has been lost by scaling back – the glitz and the pizzazz are still there.  The tuneful and romantic score leaves us humming on the way home.  And the performances are first rate.

Kelsey Grammer as Georges is debonair and charming and a master of comedic timing.  He sings and dances beautifully (has he had some tips from David Hyde Pierce perhaps?) and there is a strong and honest heartfelt passion felt between him and his flamboyant lover of twenty years, Albin/Zaza, here portrayed by the British star Douglas Hodge who came over with the production originally produced by the Menier Chocolate Factory whose most original take on the part is a marvel.  What a sensational pair they make!

Their butler Jacob, who prefers being a maid wearing pasties with a desire to join the chorus of Cagelles is amusingly portrayed by the zany Robin De Jesus.   Christine Andreas as Jacqueline the over zealous publicity seeker for café – Chez Jacqueline is in fine voice in the rousing “The Best of Times” and looks stunning in the outfits provided by designer Matthew Wright who has created some of the best costumes this season.

Director, Terry Johnson pulls every trick out of his endless bag of musical comedy; English Music Hall inspired devices – from over sized beach balls to roller skates to slapstick comedy to bring La Cage to seedy life.  Seedy is a compliment.  If you have ever seen a drag show in France you know that they put it all together on a small budget with lots of ingenuity and that the “girls” sometimes are a rowdy and not very disciplined lot.

The Cagelles – all six of them have been brilliantly cast.  They perform their numbers from zee cabaret club where Zaza stars in a manner that is both professional and slip shod.  It takes great dancers to appear to be bored while performing while executing the physical, exciting and witty choreography of Lynne Page.

And there is a story, well written by Harvey Fierstein, (based on a play by Jean Poiret) that is strong on jokes and leaning towards the sentimental which compliments Jerry Herman’s romantic and optimistic view of life in general.

Georges and Albin have brought up Jean-Michel (A.J. Shively with a fine and sweet tenor voice) – the son sired by Georges one drunken night with a beautiful but since then absentee biological mother.  Jean-Michel announces that he is in love and wants to marry Anne (a perfect Elena Shaddow) – the daughter of very moral and strict parents (Fred Applegate and Veanne Cox – another delightful pairing!) who are on their way to meet his parents.  Oil and water never did mix and of course this leads to mayhem to say the least.   Jean Michel wants his real mother, not Albin, to be there.

In this day and age when so many gays have burst forth from the proverbial closet and are marrying and adopting and having children of their own La Cage Aux Folles takes on a deeper and more humane meaning than just a frilly song and dance show.  Douglas Hodge brings out all the warmth and heart that Jerry Herman wears so openly and proudly on his sleeve.  His first act finale “I Am What I Am” soars quietly as he reaches his furious climax – part Garland, part Streisand, but all Hodge.

La Cage Aux Folles is simply fantastic.  Go.  Be entertained, be surprised and be young and in love with this sparkling powerhouse of a musical.

www.LaCage.com

Tags:   Douglas Hodge · Harvey Fierstein · Jerry Herman · Kelsey Grammer · Lynne Page · Terry JohnsonNo Comments.

Order champagne!  Pop the cork!  Celebrate the genius and gayness of Mr. Leslie Jordan in his autobiographical solo show “My Trip Down The Pink Carpet” at the newly refurbished cabaret space at the Midtown Theater on West 46 Street.  And if the champagne doesn’t create sparkle enough for you, the stories that Mr. Jordan tells will.  He is a master raconteur. He is adorable.  He is “the gayest man he knows” and that is saying a mouthful.

Entering through a revolving door dressed in a tuxedo, looking very much like a dapper leprechaun he launches into the highs and lows of his very gay existence which started in Chattanooga Tennessee where he went from the womb of his mother right into her high heel shoes.  Now that is the only line I will quote directly as there are hundreds more that will keep you laughing throughout his ninety minutes on stage.  I do believe that he has enough stories to change the show every evening but you’ll be more than content seeing this diminutive bundle of energy cavort, prance, sashay, pose provocatively, mince and play butch as he shares his secrets about his once secret gay life that is no secret anymore.

Famous names abound as he journeys to Hollywood.  The stories of his crushes on the likes of George Clooney and Mark Harmon are delicious.  Lip smacking, hysterical vignettes are revealed side by side with the darker aspects of pills and poppers in a life that has seen much success particularly on “Will and Grace” where he became the master of stealing scenes from Megan Mullally.  The description of his audition is priceless as is his chat with a pervert on the phone.

Deciding early on that he had to meet some queers he got up enough courage to enter a gay bar where he was fascinated and deeply repulsed.  But in a life defining moment he discovered he was not alone and that it was all right to accept the fact that he was what he was – “an overt sissy by nature.”  It takes a real man to be so courageous and honest and open in disclosing such frank information in such a delightful and engaging way.

If you are gay you will connect immediately and understand and if you are not gay you will gain some understanding of what is means being gay.   Having to grapple with who you are, accepting yourself and finally finding happiness.

Crisp direction by David Galligan makes “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” a journey very much worth taking with Leslie Jordan supplying plenty of effervescence and some surprisingly moving, heartfelt human comedy.   A 12-week limited engagement.

www.mytripdownthepinkcarpet.com

Tags:   David Galligan · Leslie JordanNo Comments.

Never underestimate the craftiness of a woman particularly if she has her eyes set on marrying a certain someone, in this case George Bernard Shaw.  In the words of Shaw or is it playwright John Morogiello in his new drawing room battle of Irish wits comedy, Engaging Shaw ” No one plots like a woman.” 

He sure knows Shaw.  Words.   Words.  Words.  Lots of talk, no action.  But this new production by the Abingdon Theatre Company is engaging and charming, well acted with a dose of Shavian humor thrown in and good craftsmanship displayed in its intelligent writing, especially at the end of each scene where Mr. Morogiello tacks on a tasty exclamation point.

Charlotte Payne Townshend (Claire Warden) is an independently wealthy woman who shares some of the same ideals as Shaw (Warren Kelley).  They are both unconventional in their thoughts about marriage and sex.  They seem to share the same intelligence genes if not the same ideas about socialism that his best friend Sidney Webb (Marc Geller) and his wife Beatrice Webb (Jamee Vance) do.  They have founded a school of economics that isn’t very solvent and need a patron to help out.

Charlotte Payne Townshend offers to help Mrs. Webb if she will help in securing the affections of Mr. Shaw.  It’s a matter of tit for tat so to speak.  And so we spend an entire evening seeing these two battle it out to the finish.  The vegetarian, teetotaler, arrogant playwright, essayist and reviewer meets his match with the crafty, charming, intelligent independent woman of means in this mild mannered talkathon.

Despite the fluctuating Irish brogue of Ms. Warden as Charlotte, she has a lovely presence on stage and holds her own against the charismatic Mr. Kelley as Shaw.  The fact that she is at least a head taller than he adds to the fun of seeing these two trying to outwit each other.  Ms. Vance as Beatrice acts solidly trying to hide her affection for Mr. Shaw who is claiming every five minutes or so that every woman adores him.  As her husband Sidney, Mr. Geller turns in an intelligent and constrained performance.

Jackob G. Hoffman has directed with just the right amount of style and pacing.  But it’s a long evening before we get to the I Do’s.                Photo:  Kim T. Sharp

www.abingdontheatre.org 

Tags:   Claire Warden · Jackob G. Hofmann · Jamee Vance · John Morogiello · Marc Geller · Warren KelleyNo Comments.

If the Pulitzer could be awarded to an Off-Broadway musical then certainly “Langston in Harlem” would be a mighty contender.  Having just opened at Urban Stages on West 30^th Street this wonderfully engaging, enlightening and inspiration musical should be on everyone’s must see list.  But with all the openings on Broadway I sincerely hope that this mighty musical does not slip through the cracks and get lost among the bloated Broadway blockbusters.  I forget to mention that it is incredibly entertaining as well.

Based on the life and writings of the black poet, Langston Hughes, Walter Marks and Kent Gash have brought his poetry to vivid musical life infusing his words with the rhythms of Africa, the Blues, Cuban sambas, gospel and jazz.  The score happens to be one of the best of the season.  It is sensational as played by the seven piece off stage band with its sexy sax and muted trumpet solos adding to the poetic words of Langston Hughes that cry out to be set to music.

Josh Tower is a commanding force in his strong but sensitive portrayal of Langston Hughes.  Insecure, conflicted sexually and trying his best to fit in and attain his dream of being a successful poet.  Trying to find his identity while creating memorable characters along the way that are woven into the script of his life.  Specifically the sassy “Madam” (C. Kelly Wright) and “Simple” (Glenn Turner) who gets to perform a mean tap solo.

We travel along with Langston as he fitfully starts out on his career writing about what he lives, gets a patron – a Caucasian lady (here played by Afro-American Francesca Harper) which says a lot about the brave choices made by director Kent Gash, his early success with fellow writers Zora Neale Hurston (a powerful Kenita Miller) and Countee Cullen (Jordon Barbour – who also plays Langston’s short lived love interest “The Sailor”)  Their scene in Havana is breathtaking – with the palm tree projections (Alex Koch) swaying on the walls of the small stage and where “Havana Dreams” and “Troubled Water” are sensually and tastefully presented.

Once learning that her son is gay his mother rejects him.  She is played by the dynamic Gayle Turner who reminds one of Lena Horne.  In their duet “Lullaby” she exudes a depth of character that is spellbinding while his counterpoint “Motherless Child” tears your heart out.

There are spoken passages, poetic passages and passages of unrestrained excitement as choreographer Byron Easley takes over the stage with his company of twelve super talented actors.  The dances are some of the best staged this year that make the almost two hour show without intermission seem short.  The finale will leave you wanting for more.  The other members of this fine cast are:  LaTrisa Harper, Dell Howlett, Krisha Marcano and Okieriete Onaodowan.

Langston is told – “Don’t defer love” and you would do good to follow this advice with a slight adjustment.  Don’t defer going to see this fabulous new musical. 

www.urbanstages.org         Photo:  Melinda Hall

Tags:   Byron Easley · Josh Tower · Kent Gash · Langston Hughes · Walter MarksNo Comments.

Not until the last twenty minutes or so of the new ninety minute musical Million Dollar Quartet, directed by Eric Schaeffer, which is rocking and rolling at the Nederlander Theatre do you get that glorious feeling of elation and excitement that you have been hungry for all evening after slogging through some dreary, historically fabricated book scenes that tell the tale of that fateful day in December, 1956 when Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash had an impromptu jam session at the Sun Records Recording Studio in Memphis. 

The studio owned and run by a fast talking, shrewd and arrogant Southerner named Sam Phillips (Hunter Foster) – the “Father of Rock and Roll” who discovered and nurtured these four rockers, narrates the story – jumping back and forth in time – filling us in on some interesting facts in an uninteresting and not very dramatic manner.  The book by Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux is simply an excuse to showcase all the fabulous songs of the period and give the four actors ample opportunity to strut their stuff.  Which they do.

A new piano player has been hired for the session – Jerry Lee Lewis, a dynamic and wild and explosive Levi Kreis.  At odds with him is Carl Perkins (Robert Britton Lyons) who has a chip on his shoulder and resents this new dynamo.  A chip that is quite understandable as his song “Blue Suede Shoes” has been made famous by Elvis Presley (Eddie Clendening of the curled lip, pompadour and wiggly legs) who arrives with girl friend in tow, Dyanne (a sexy Elizabeth Stanley).  And it doesn’t take much prompting to get her to sing.  Her rendition of “Fever” just about sets the stage afire.  Lance Guest rounds out this friendly if ego clashing foursome as Johnny Cash who has just the right tone and attitude without impersonating the star.

As mentioned, the music is paramount and each number is performed expertly although sometimes only a small section is sung to allow for those annoying book scenes to rear their dull heads and the audience who wants to applaud is cut off from doing so.

That is, until the recording studio disappears and they don the four multi colored sequined jackets that have descended from above and we get the concert we have been waiting for:  “Hound Dog” “Riders in the Sky” “See You Later Alligator” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”.  It really is worth the wait.  They pull out all the stops and whip the audience into a frenzy.  All of the guys are great but I have to single out Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis for his humor, his phenomenal piano playing, his singing and his wild abandonment that is simply infectious.

www.MillionDollarQuartetLive.com   Photo:  Joan Marcus

Tags:   Eddie Clendening · Elizabeth Stanley · Hunter Foster · Lance Guest · Levi Kreis · Robert Britton LyonsNo Comments.

For anyone traveling to Madrid, Spain in the near future – BEWARE!  Be on your best behavior lest you wind up in prison with the likes of the four convicts on death row who are appearing in the Spanish import and run away hit of the Fringe Festival 2009, Yllana’s 666, which has just slipped past all type of censorship and is inflicting its ribald and raunchy humor on New York audiences at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

Maybe this is funny to some in Spain.  It has been running for about ten years.  Or at the Fringe Festival where it became the talk of the town with its finale of four at least two foot long faux fully erect male willies being waved and stroked and erupting with one guy climbing out into the audience to exhibit his devilish dick up close and personal.  There is no Irish curse here.  In fact, after the show you will be greeted in the lobby as the four cast members don robes with their infamous erections intact to shake your hand or whatever it is you wish to shake.

It is all done to appall and to amuse.  And they succeed one hundred percent.  But you have to find mass murder (in slow motion) an electric musical chair, gallows humor, male rape,  hanging, cutting, piss pots, spit, a condom filled with a milky liquid and one poor little stuffed lamb that is abused along with his fellow inmates fun.  If not you’d better steer clear of this sixty five minute show which has no spoken dialogue.

These four clowns (Raul Cano, Fidel Fernandez, Joseph Michael O’Curneen and Juan Ramos Toro), like the Three Stooges and Jerry Lewis depend on physical humor to get their point across.  With pre-recorded music, strobe light effects and something called “onomatopoeia” – special sound effects made by human vocal cord finesse you will see a series of edgy and dirty vaudeville like scenes and laugh despite your disgust.

I really have to applaud these four guys for bravery beyond the call of duty as actors to bare their forty year old plus bodies without a care in the world and to leer and ogle each other with such abandon.  They sure have balls.

If you happen to be an attractive young lady you might not have to travel to Madrid to join this group of lecherous men as they choose someone from the audience to join them in their antics.

Any further description might spoil some of the surprises.  Proceed at your own risk.

www.666comedy.com   Photo: Yllana

Tags: No Comments.

I was really looking forward to seeing Bloodsong of Love, the new Joe Iconis musical which has just opened at Ars Nova (close to the New Jersey border in Manhattan) after last seasons ReWrite which I greatly admired that was also directed by John Simpkins who has repeated his contributions here where the patrons of the first row are offered plastic sheets to protect them from flying food bits and blood.

Hopefully this out of the way, charming little theatre will get an audience for this triple threat (book, music & lyrics) by Mr. Iconis who is known for his dark sense of humor, quirky melodic motifs and up beat songs.  Here he has written a rock and roll take off on “Spaghetti Westerns” a genre of made-on-the-cheap films that made Clint Eastwood famous and were infamous for mixing Italians, Spanish and Americans in Westerns of questionable taste and lots of blood being shed.

The production values are superb.  On this tiny stage surrounded by WANTED posters, the excellent cast of six and band of five offer up the tale of a man on a mission.  He is The Musician (Eric William Morris) who with his guitar by his side plays music that slays and journeys throughout Mexico with his amigo buddy Banana (Lance Rubin) with his mean tambourine to retrieve his wife Santa Violetta (MK Lawson) who has been abducted by the evil and mean Lo Cocodrilo – a man suffering from a Napoleonic complex who plays the kazoo.  That’s the plot.  The overly long plot.  The show is almost two and a half hours with a brief intermission where you can grab a drink at the bar.  You’ll need it.  There is also The Narrator (Jason “Sweet Tooth” Williams) who also portrays a one eyed Bartender who has his own distinct way of serving drinks – Katrina Rose Dideriksen – a footless Whore in Boots, Mrs. Banana and The Crone.  All that is missing is a horse.  We do however get a frog.

The set (Michael Schweikardt) costumes (Michelle Eden Humphrey) and lighting (Chris Dallos) all help set the South of the Border mood for Bloodsong of Love – but it is the orchestrations and musical arrangements by Matt Hinkley that outshine everything else.

John Simpkins does wonders with the small space, having his actors climb ladders and tables and the piano to give added height and life to the proceedings.  In a stroke of brilliance he has a small tread mill that The Musician journeys on facing the audience, striding towards them. The actors are all on the same page and play their parts with honest conviction at times to great comedic effect.

Do you hear a BUT coming?  Yes, you do.  BUT the show is very uneven.  Especially in the book department and could use a trimming, perhaps condensing it into a one act.  We get off to a great start and then it takes a nose dive only to grab our interest and then lose it once again with the Turkey Leg scene which is very aptly named.

Mr. Iconis also surreptitiously gets in some thoughts about staying true to your art, musicians and following the path you believe in.  All good advice.

There are some great songs with some darkly funny lyrics BUT Bloodsong of Love somehow doesn’t come completely together.  It’s a little too al dente.  Especially in the ballad heavy second act.  And that’s a shame.  There are so many talented people involved that with some more work this drink friendly show could be a riot.                www.arsnovanyc.com

Tags:   ars nova · Joe Iconis · John Simpkins · Matt HinkleyNo Comments.

Performing in the wake of a slew of scathing reviews from the majority of critics can’t be easy for the cast of The Addams Family at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.  But they are performing valiantly, refusing to be buried alive, headed by top banana Nathan Lane as Gomez and the lithe, deadpan Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia. 

And if the reaction from the audience on Wednesday evening is any indication of its afterlife, The Addams Family will have a healthy run.  They have a huge advance and it’s nearly impossible to get orchestra tickets until September. 

After all, the bottom line is if the audience, the paying audience, has a good time at the show.  And they did.  I always ask myself as a person who receives press tickets if I would pay full price to see the show I am reviewing.  My answer for The Addams Family is yes I would.  I had a great time.  Is that not enough?

It’s not perfect but extremely entertaining from the imaginative sets and puppets, to the ingenious use of the show curtain, to Nathan Lane’s Tony worthy performance to Kevin Chamberlin’s Uncle Fester’s love affair with the moon, to Jackie Hoffman’s outrageous potion wielding Grandma… and the list of surprising treats goes on and on.

Alright, it’s not The Addams Family one would expect.  The macabre group of people made famous by the cartoons of Charles Addams – a family wallowing in the perverse and reverse of what would make normal people happy.  But writers – clever writers Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice know how to make an audience laugh – bad puns and topical references notwithstanding.  There is a snap, crackle and plenty of pop in the book to make even Lurch (Zachary James) laugh.

They have taken a well worn plot line – inviting a supposedly normal family (Terrence Mann & Carolee Carmello) from Ohio to dine with the abnormal Gomez and Family in their musty and moldy Central Park mansion (with a squid in the basement) so that they can discuss the impending marriage of their normal son Lucas (Wesley Taylor) to a suddenly grown up and rebellious sans pigtails teen Wednesday (Krysta Rodriguez).  Will love triumph?  Of course, complications ensue.  First and foremost put into action by Pugsley (Adam Riegler) her jealous brother who misses being tortured by her.  All set to song (Andrew Lippa) and some dance (Sergio Trujillo) with a chorus of ghostly relatives.

It has been brilliantly designed by Phelim McDermott & Julian Crouch (Another Tony nomination here) who are listed as directors along with Jerry Zaks as Creative Consultant who was brought in when the The Addams Family was sinking in Chicago.  It seems they have all managed to keep the ship afloat despite some sharks in the wings ready for the kill.

The score by Andrew Lippa is a mixed bag to say the least but not as awful as reported.  Although I found myself referencing “It’s Magic”, “My Way” and “I Won’t Send Roses” from Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel.  There are some lively numbers and a couple of duds.  But tuneful overall.  The second act showstopper is given to narrator Uncle Fester and it is magical.  “The Moon and Me” should garner a Tony nomination for Mr. Chamberlin as well.

Whether The Addams Family has legs or not (Bebe Neuwirth certainly does and does her best with what she is given) remains to be seen.  This cast is The Addams Family and friends and in the hands of others, who knows what the results would be.

www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com                 Photo:  Joan Marcus

Tags:   Andrew Lippa · Bebe Neuwirth · Jackie Hoffman · Jerry Zaks · Julian Crouch · Kevin Chamberlin · Krysta Rodriguez · Marshall Brickman · Nathan Lane · Phelim McDermott · Rick Elice · Wesley TaylorNo Comments.

What makes a great artist?  Is it his passion for his art?  His philosophy of life?  His overpowering ego?   In RED, an intelligent literate two character play by John Logan that has been brought to our shores via the Donmar Warehouse and a slew of American producers now at the Golden Theatre we get a glimpse into what made Mark Rothko, abstract expressionist, click.

As the Master Rothko (Alfred Molina) sits with his back to the audience contemplating one of the large red and black canvases that has been commissioned by the Four Seasons Restaurant, Eddie Redmayne (Ken) the apprentice enters the studio where the work is to be finished.  We never do find out how he was hired or why Rothko chose this particular person to work with and I thought momentarily that through the mere power of his mind Rothko has summoned this imaginary person into his life to argue and philosophize about his feelings on art, artists and his future.  After all he was a difficult person and not many would suffer two years worth of working for him.

Molina and Redmayne fiercely attack their roles and powerful pulsating performances are delivered by both, but the play has some shortcomings – particularly in the stretched beyond belief back story of the young gofer Ken. 

Overall the dialogue is sharp and strong and sometimes funny in this bio-drama and keeps the audience’s attention throughout its ninety minutes playing time.  I especially enjoyed Rothko’s description of the clientele, service, noise and natural light (which he hated) at the Four Seasons after dining there where his paintings are supposed to live on in posterity.  Rothko thought he deserved a temple to display his art.  He got a restaurant.  And a lot of money. 

He was worried about the newer non-serious artists arriving on the scene.  And we get barbs about “soup can” and “comic book” artists – Warhol and Lichtenstein.   He pontificates to the point of exhaustion when finally Ken fights back and more than holds his own against the tyrannical Rothko.  It’s a battle of the old verses the new as Ken is also an artist but never has the courage to show the Master his work.

Director, Michael Grandage has staged RED beautifully.  As the two men lower and hoist the huge paintings underscored by original music by Adam Cork and bathed in subtle lighting by Neil Austin we get to see the artist at work, culminating in the frenzied priming of a canvas with maroon paint by the two men with a classical aria fueling their energy and passion which leaves Ken’s splashed tee shirt looking like a Jackson Pollock original – a rival not looked upon favorably by Rothko.

But for all the talk about what lies beneath the creation of Rothko’s abstract expressionistic art and the intellectualness behind its creation and how it must pulsate for the public those paintings leave me cold.  The direct opposite can be said about the play. 

www.redonbroadway.com  Photo:  Johan Persson

Tags:   Alfred Molina · Eddie Redmayne · John Logan · Michael GrandageNo Comments.

What’s going on?  You may very well ask yourself the same question if you happen to visit Inner Voices: Solo Musicals now being performed by two very talented females – Heidi Blickenstaff and Judith Blazer in two very unusual one act solo musicals (and I use the term loosely) at Primary Stages 59 East 59 Street in conjunction with Premieres (a non-profit whose mission is to create new partnerships among exceptional writers and composers).  I repeat:  What’s going on?

Heidi Blickenstaff & Judith Blazer

First off, if I could have heard what Heidi was singing in the opening show – Mosaic by Cheri Steinkellner and Georgia Stitt PERHAPS I would have been better off, perhaps not.  The sound designer Toby Jaguar Algya perhaps does not like Heidi, favoring the grand piano being pounded on by Steve Marzullo with guitarist Simon Kafka by his side.  Why a guitar?  That instrument would have been better off helping out the second more exotic show starring Ms. Blazer – Whida Peru: Resurrection Tangle which has some flamenco and tango motifs floating around the score by Josh Schmidt with a libretto by David Simpatico.  Imagine, Kafka and Simpatico on the same bill!

Anyway the balance is so off that it is nearly impossible to hear anything that Heidi says or sings (even with a head mike that was not working).  As Ruth she sings her self pitying narrative about all the firsts in her life as she sits at her desk working at her laptop while we see photo projections that disappear as the show continues and I squirm in my seat as Heidi is forced to sit in her chair, seemingly glued to it and we see how desperately she wants to get out of it.  But there she sits.  I did understand that she has a baby on the way and cancer.  She is a songwriter looking for inspiration.  And she sings a lullaby which ends her part of the double bill.  Whew!

Next.  Candlelight and balloons.  A cake.  In some sort of gypsy den where Voodoo Goddess Judith Blazer talks with her dead husband whose ashes she transfers from an urn to a clown cookie jar looking, sounding and acting like a combination of Chita Rivera, Patti LuPone and Adam Lambert.  She swoons and vents her anger at the spirits.  Hating and loving and looking for something unintelligible to me. 

In addition to playing the score, pianist Andy Boroson plays ghost – tapping on its frame and stomping his foot in some percussive manner which leads her to do an odd dance if you will as she alternately berates and loves her lost love.  Very primal.  As she says, “It’s like a bad dream.”  I couldn’t agree more.  And I re-repeat:  What’s going on?  Heidi Blickenstaff and Judith Blazer deserve better.  And so do we.

www.premieresnyc.org       www.primarystages.org

Photo: James Leynse

Tags:   Heidi Blickenstaff · Judith BlazerNo Comments.