Tag: theatre

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Culture Entertainment

Hilarious Romp in Pageant the Musical

pageantedited

The cast of Pageant the Musical.

Beauty pageants have been characterized by many terms; some might call them the ultimate display of extravagance and elegance, and others might call them spectacles designed to reinforce the value of physical appearance and conventional beauty. No matter how you view the world of beauty contests, they have become a cultural institution, and their polarizing place in pop culture leaves these competitions subject to ridicule and parody.

Pageant the Musical flaunts every beauty contest cliché in the book. Satire on one hand and a celebration on the other, the vaudevillian show embraces every pageant rule in the book–with the exception of one major component: instead of young women competing to win the tiara, the musical features a cast of men in drag. The outrageous competition is undoubtedly the funniest beauty contest ever staged.

Alex Ringler plays Miss Texas in the production, and he said one of his biggest challenges in the role is not laughing at his hilarious fellow contestants while on stage.

“We’re all just having fun on stage and enjoying being up there on stage every night,” said Ringler. “It’s such a funny show to be in, and such a joy to be on that stage with those people.”

Six contestants compete for the title of Miss Glamouresse in a contest sponsored by the fictional Glamourous beauty product line. Pageant staples like talent, swimsuit and evening gown categories are showcased, all of which are performed with supreme dedication by the “women” competing. The contestants exude every pageant stereotype to hilarious fashion, from overacting with a plastered-on smiles, to shooting dirty looks at their fellow contestants.

Ringler said this role is not a normal drag-queen role, but rather, he and his fellow contestants are portraying actual women with their hearts set on winning.

“In the past when I’ve played drag roles it’s been a drag queen, and Miss Texas is supposed to be an actual woman who has been in pageants since she was a little girl,” Ringler said. “So in keeping that mentality of playing an actual female character who’s been in pageants her whole life, there’s a little bit of polishing tiara’s I have to keep in mind.”

Pageant the Musical makes audience participation an integral part of the production. Despite being a staged musical, this pageant relies on the decision of judges, five audience members selected by emcee Frankie Cavalier (John Bolton). So for every performance, a different winner may be selected depending on to whom the audience is drawn. Ringler said this keeps the performers on their toes for the unpredictable final moments of the show.

“We love it when the audience responds because it just livens us up even more,” Ringler said. “We always give our best performance but when we have an audience there and ready to laugh, and understands the wink and the nod of the show it’s really, really fun.”

Pageant the Musical is unlike any beauty contest you’ve ever seen. There’s not much of a story to be told, other than the normal pageant story we’ve all seen in Miss America and elsewhere, scored by the tongue-in-cheek idea all of the contestants are men. Every conventional pageant tradition is embraced, and at the same time gets turned on its head. The results are a funny burlesque-like show poking fun at the traditional beauty pageant, while putting on a compelling contest all on its own.

Production information:

Davenport Theatre
354 W. 45th Street
New York, NY 10019
Closing: September 1, 2014
Buy your tickets today by clicking here.
Visit Pageant the Musical‘s official website.

– Alex Falls

Categories
Culture Entertainment

Violet Instills Inspiration in Self-Image

violet

Violet (Sutton Foster) embraces the spotlight.

The scars we bear can sometimes go deeper than the skin that shows them. What you see in the mirror can resonate down to your innermost feelings; sometimes, those markings become what defines you. Cosmetic and plastic surgery industries base their businesses on hiding or healing the blemishes that, in the eyes of the beholder, take up their entire reflection. However, there are times when no amount of external influence can remedy a person’s tarnished perception of themselves.

Violet tackles this subject with unrelenting veracity. The Broadway revival tells the story of the titular heroine, who as a young girl endured a horrific accident on her father’s farm which left her face permanently disfigured. As a young adult, Violet (Sutton Foster) discovers an evangelical preacher on TV who claims to have the ability to heal through the power of God. She ventures across the country to seek his help and alleviate her deformity.

The production’s director, Leigh Silverman, received her first Tony nomination for her work on Violet. Silverman said she was excited to work with such daring and adventurous material, and that the message of the musical was right up her alley.

“I think Violet is about finding your own past,” Silverman said. “It’s about learning to overcome the different scars you have, real or metaphoric, and learning to love yourself. It’s about finding out what is special about yourself and letting that be the thing you show the world, as opposed to feeling shut down because of what you imagine, and to be your scar that you carry around.”

Violet boards a bus to take her on a journey to the Oklahoma preacher, but in route to her destination she finds much more than she ever bargained for. She befriends two soldiers, Flick (Joshua Henry) and Monty (Alexander Gemignani), who both gradually liberate the person Violet has locked away behind the veil of her scarred face.

Foster doesn’t don any makeup to simulate Violet’s deformity; instead, it’s up to the audience to imagine what Violet sees, and Foster makes this task easy through her powerfully painful portrayal of the character. She displays evident agony, while simultaneously lighting up the stage with a wide smile and virtuoso vocal performance. As good as Foster’s singing is, she is only one character in a sensational cast; Henry delivers impeccable melodies that inspire awe from the entire audience, and the preacher’s congregation offers all the thrill of an over-the-top procession.

Silverman said Violet has taken on a sense of urgency and real importance, and it leaves members of the audience open to a personal journey unlike any other show open right now.

“Violet is such a beautiful story because it can be a metaphor for a time in our life where we were damaged, and the ways in which we want to–and should–fight to overcome, and find out how to feel ourselves,” Silverman said. “We can’t look to other people to do that, instead we have to find it in ourselves.”

The power of Violet comes from its relatable subject matter. Who hasn’t wished they could live in the skin of someone famous, someone more glamourous, or someone more beautiful? Even if we have something we’d like to change about ourselves, that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there ready to embrace who we are, flaws and all. Violet is an incredible journey to the center of what makes us human, and to what drives our desires.

Production information:

American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Closing: August 10, 2014
Buy your tickets today buy clicking here.
Visit Violet‘s official website.

– Alex Falls

Categories
Culture Entertainment

Rocky the Musical Fights to Keep Attention

rocky

Rocky (Andy Karl) takes on the champ.

Adapting a story from one medium to another can be a precarious undertaking. Movies based on books are commonplace in the film industry, and many times fans of the source are underwhelmed by the results. In a novel, a single moment can be described for pages and pages; but in a movie a moment is a moment, no matter how it’s depicted. However, the adaption of a movie to a Broadway show hypothetically should be an easier translation, because screen and stage are more similar than film and page.

Rocky the Musical is one of the latest Broadway productions optioned from a Hollywood classic. However, unlike The Producers or The Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky has a hard time going the distance and doesn’t improve, or even live up to, the legacy of the film that serves as its basis. The musical, like the film, tells the familiar underdog story of a Philadelphia boxer down on his luck who gets a shot at the heavyweight title, underscored by his efforts to win the heart of the girl of his dreams.

Rocky Balboa (Andy Karl) can’t even scrape together enough money to keep his locker at his training gym, and he’s become wrapped up in the gang life by making collections for the local mob boss. This is a far cry from Adrian (Margo Seibert), the shy pet store employee who is initially apprehensive to accept Rocky into her life. Around the same time they find their way together, Rocky gets the chance to face champion Apollo Creed (Terence Archie) and forever change his life, win or lose.

Karl does his best to not merely deliver a Sly Stallone impression, but going from dialogue to singing appears to be difficult for the actor as his vocal performance holds very little similarity to the famous slurred Rocky inflections. The accent fades in and out of his spoken lines as well. The same can’t be said of Seibert’s portrayal of Adrian; she is at times a spitting image of Talia Shire’s Oscar-nominated performance, but their chemistry lacks any organic emotion.

Rocky the Musical features an incredibly intricate set design. The production opens to a bare room with a boxing ring, representing the gym Rocky trains in, but each scene brings in a new piece onto the stage. The basics are covered, from Rocky’s apartment to Adrian’s pet store, but the iconic scenes of the titular hero training in the meat locker, and his triumphant run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art enliven the stage to awe-inspiring levels. The climactic battle between Rocky and Apollo Creed literally brings the fight to the audience, as the ring is brought into the audience over the first six rows to be surrounded by the crowd like a real boxing match.

Rocky the Musical is a unique Broadway experience, but fans of the film might leave disappointed by the less than faithful adaption. Going the distance with this production is difficult, but there are enough diamonds that shine to keep your attention. However, the powerful final 30 minutes are not enough to make up for the drudging two hours prior. Filled with sappy love songs and cheesy character developments, Rocky the Musical doesn’t leave you punch-drunk, it’s more like punch-hungover.

Production information:

Winter Garden Theatre
1634 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Buy your tickets today by clicking here.
Visit Rocky the Musical‘s official website.

– Alex Falls

Categories
Culture Entertainment

Kinky Boots Dazzles with Radiance

boots

Lola (Billy Porter) lights up the stage.

If the economic crisis of the late 2000’s taught us anything, it’s the fragility of the family-run business in the age of advancing technology. An aging patriarch may hold on to the ideals that made his business a success, but his old ways can potentially act as an albatross on the son who inherits the old-fashioned outfit, which has likely become obsolete in today’s contemporary business environment.

Kinky Boots makes a run for the finish line, in heels no less, to deliver a story of one business’s struggles to keep up with the times and find a new voice in this modern world. Following the death of his father, Charlie Price (Andy Kelso) inherits the shoe factory that’s been in his family for multiple generations, and he finds himself thrust into a world he never desired being a part of. To make things worse, the business is one of many facing closure, with seemingly no way to turn things around.

In the face of foreclosure, Charlie gets a saving grace in the form of Lola (Billy Porter), a charismatic stage performer and drag queen. Lola can stand tall, and dance flawlessly, in the tallest of stiletto heels. However, these heels are made for women, not men with a proclivity for femininity. So Charlie and Lola join together and hatch a plan to use Charlie’s ailing shoe factory to appeal to the untapped market of drag queen footwear.

Porter’s performance is truly magnetic as Lola beams off the stage with the kind of radiance even the most accomplished divas can’t duplicate. The moment he takes the stage in his sequent red dress, the audience responds with thunderous applause before he can even sing a word. Porter won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical at last year’s ceremony, and over 500 performances later he is still commanding the role of Lola with absolute precision.

Aside from Porter’s versatile performance, other highlights of the show include the elaborate dance routines by famed director and choreographer, Jerry Mitchell. Wherever Lola goes, usually her back-up line is not far behind. The quintet of “Angels” brings Lola’s stage presence to a level of extravagance that captivates the audience through infectious music — written by pop icon Cyndi Lauper — and impeccable dance moves.

Kinky Boots is like a dream for any Broadway lover. Defined by extravagance and perpetuated by emotion, this production has something for everyone regardless of their sense of style. Drag queens and conservative business owners alike can come together and become swept up in the sensory experience Kinky Boots solicits. Lola’s introduction on stage grabs the attention of “ladies, gentleman, and those who haven’t decided,” and the enchanting production incites pure enjoyment and adulation.

Production Information:

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre
302 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Buy your tickets today by clicking here.
Visit the Kinky Boots official website.

– Alex Falls

Categories
Culture

Normal is Relative in the Impeccable ‘Casa Valentina’

Casa
The cast of Casa Valentina entertains themselves and the audience

Of all the challenges in life, sometimes the most daunting one can be routine. It’s human nature to avoid the mundane and move into the exceptional. Sometimes the only way to fully embrace an anomalous life is by experimenting with the allure of an entirely different way of living, like adopting a second personality on the weekends to completely contrast the person we project at work and at home.

Casa Valentina is about that very desire to live a life which goes against the grain of the white-collar working man. This play takes place in 1962 at a resort in the Catskill Mountains where men with families and respectable jobs escape to let out their desires of temporarily abandoning their normal routines, and live as women. Advertised as a “heaven in a haven,” the clientele all identify as heterosexual men with a desire to embrace a feminine personality within themselves.

Each man ardently holds on to their sexuality in a time when strong bias against gay men still characterizes society; some of the men in dresses go as far as calling the actions of gay men “disgusting” and “immoral.” So when the opportunity arises for the resort to be recognized as an official organization, all of the men must ask themselves if they’re willing to make their second life a public one and risk becoming ostracized and discriminated against in the same fashion as gay men.

When each man adorns his chosen garments, every mannerism becomes entirely female, leaving cast members to face a unique acting challenge of personifying two characters in one play. George (Patrick Page) owns the resort, and in his everyday life would never be mistaken for anything other than masculine. But once he puts on his dress, he becomes the womanly Valentina. One of his/her guests, the judge (Larry Pine), shaves his face in the mirror as a man before gently applying lipstick to make the judge disappear and bring Amy to the forefront.

Albert/Bessie (Tom McGowan) insists the men of this resort are not drag queens, but people “cursed with a Y-chromosome” and the societal implications that it brings. Bessie provides most of the play’s uproarious laughs, as well as insight of the split personalities of these “self-made women.” George/Valentina’s wife Rita (Mare Winningham) runs the resort with him/her, and Rita is the anchor in George’s life that brings a shred of normalcy to this otherwise extraordinary group of men/women.

Casa Valentina’s peculiar subject matter can be objectionable to audience members; some attendees walked out before intermission without returning to their seats. However, this off-putting quality is exactly what this production is acting in the face of with flawless approach; any discomfort experienced in the eye of the beholder is precisely the point. Whether we agree with this particular lifestyle or not, we can all understand the desire to express what’s deep down inside us and the fear of what others may think that keeps that desire bottled up. Casa Valentina is a masterful challenge of the norm forcing the audience to question the whole meaning of “normal.”

Production information:

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
New York, NY 10036
Closing: June 29, 2014
Buy your tickets today by clicking here.
Visit Casa Valentina‘s official website.

– Alex Falls

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Culture Entertainment Events

River to River Festival 2014

river to river

Lower Manhattan is a cultural epicenter with streets peppered with art, music, and history. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) is keenly aware of this fact, and works to showcase this rich downtown culture. Once a year the council holds the River to River Festival, an eleven-day exhibition of downtown’s hottest artists, musicians, performers, and cultural activities. From June 19 to June 29, thirty five projects featuring over ninety artists will be open to the public at a handful of Lower Manhattan venues and parks. The LMCC hopes the festival will educate, inspire, and bring together people living downtown as well as expose other city dwellers to the treasures of this thriving neighborhood.

Gathered here is the full list of events that will take place over the next eleven days. For more information, visit the festival’s website.

River To River 2014:

R2R Bash
North End Way
June 19 at 5:00pm

The Signs of Paradise
Battery Park
June 20-29 at 8:00am-8:00pm

Two Women
LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island
June 20 at 2:00-3:00pm
June 22 at 2:00-3:00pm

What Was Wasn’t Here
Governors Island: Nolan Park, Building 10A
June 20 at 3:00pm
June 21 at 1:00pm and 3:00pm

Ex-Situ Series: Terry Riley & Friends
Federal Hall
June 20 at 7:30pm
June 21 at 7:30pm-8:40pm

New York Walkscape
Throughout Lower Manhattan
June 21 all day

And Death Shall Have No Dominion
Starting locations vary, ending in Rockefeller Park
June 21 at 11:00am

Digital Sanctuaries, NYC
India House
June 21 at 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 5:00pm

R2R Living Room: Everyday I’m Hustlin’
South Street Seaport: Nelson Blue, 233 Front Street
June 21 at 9:00pm

Bang on a Can Marathon
Brookfield Place, Winter Garden
June 22 at 2:00pm

In Conversation: Susan Rosenberg on Trisha Brown
Governors Island: LMCC’s Art Center
June 22 at 4:30pm

Where Are We Right Now
Pier 15
June 22 at 7:00pm, 8:00pm
June 24 at 7:30pm

River To River
Elevated Acre
June 23-25 at 1:00pm

Collaboration Town In Development: Staged Reading of New York
One Liberty Plaza, Twelfth Floor
June 23 at 2:00pm
June 24 at 5:00pm
June 26 at 2:00pm

Ludic Proxy
One Liberty Plaza
June 23 at 5:00pm
June 25 at 2:00pm
June 27 at 4:00pm

Ex-Situ Series: Kimmo Pohjonen & Jeffrey Zeigler
Pier 15
June 23 at 7:00pm

Of History (Virgule De L’Histore)
John Street United Methodist Church Courtyard
June 24 at 3pm
June 25 at 1pm and 5pm

Night At The Museums
Various Locations
June 24 at 4:00pm

…And Other Stories, Ethel With Special Guest Kaki King
Brookfield Place, Winter Garden
June 24 at 7:30pm

…Moses(es)
St. Cornelius Chapel, Governors Island
June 25 at 2:45pm
June 26 at 1:45pm and 3:45pm

I’m Going To Toss My Arms – If You Catch Them They’re Yours
Pier 15
June 25 (Public Dress Rehearsal) at 7:00pm
June 26 (Performance) at 7:00pm

R2R Living Room: Mike Iveson/DJ Hotel Scampi
South Street Seaport: Barbalu, 227 Front Street
June 25 at 9:00pm

The Set Up: I Nyoman Catra
120 Wall Street
June 26 at 5:00pm
June 27 – 28 at 1:00pm

The 22nd Annual Poets House Showcase Opening
Poets House
June 26 at 5:30-8:30pm, Reading begins at 7pm

Premiere
Bowling Green
June 27 at 3:00pm
June 28 at 3:00 and 5:00pm

Fronteras: New and Old Sound From Latin America And The Caribbean
The Uplands, South Street Seaport
June 27 at 4:00pm
June 28 at 5:30pm
June 29 at 1:30pm

In Conversation: Maria Hassabi, Paolo Javier, And Kaneza Schaal
Poets House
June 27 at 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Open Studio with Process Space Artists-In-Residence
LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island
June 28—29 12:00–5:00pm

Ubiquitous Dividend: A Day-Long Celebration of Robert Kocik’s Supple Science
Poets House
June 28
Workshop:  2:00–5:00pm
Performance: 6:00–8:00pm

Bronx Gothic: The Oval
LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island
June 28–29 at 3:00pm

On Video: New York Close Up
LMCC’s Arts Center at Governors Island
June 29 at 4:30pm

Seaport Block Party: Turntables On The Hudson Reunion: Dj Nickodemus, Mariano, Nappy G, And Manhattan Samba
South Street Seaport: Front Street
June 29 at 6:00pm

R2R Living Room: DJ Maria + Nappy G
South Street Seaport: Nelson Blue, 233 Front Street
June 29 at 8:30pm

 

-Linda Tell