Patti Issues

Though a gay man dishing about Patti LuPone at The Duplex is not an uncommon occurrence, Ben Rimalower's very funny and moving one man play, Patti Issues, elevates Patti worship to a whole new level. Speaking very candidly, a chatty Rimalower opens up about the strained relationship with his gay father and his subsequent escape into all things Patti. As he analyzes and dissects different Patti recordings he makes analogies between his home-life and the lyrics Patti sings. The play gets very fun and insider when Rimalower speaks about the time when he had the dream job of assisting LuPone, herself. Rimalower, with a photographic memory, relishes in describing her every expression and turn of phrase. It must have been thrilling and nerve-wracking for Rimalower as LuPone actually attended a performance a couple of weeks ago. "He is a very talented man and I am so proud of him," she stated. I agree.

Our friend, Patrick Lee

Patrick and David getting their Tony Awards on.

Show Showdown has lost a cofounder and a dear friend. Patrick Lee, officially the most theater-obsessed person I have ever met, passed away earlier this week. His love of all things theater was infectious and his supportive voice via Show Showdown, Just Shows to Go You, and TheaterMania was a valuable contribution to the New York theater community.

I met Patrick while waiting tables at West Bank Cafe. I spotted his Playbill and struck up a conversation. I bragged that I'd seen over a hundred theatrical productions in the previous year. He bragged that he'd seen over two hundred. What?? Game on. We began Show Showdown-ing in 2006 and I quickly discovered what a formidable opponent he would turn out to be. Within weeks he'd seen twice as many productions as had I, and his succinct, haiku-esqe capsule reviews could capture a production's essence in just a few carefully worded sentences.

At the time, Patrick was considering a second career in documentary film and was taking courses at NYU (his first: television production). However, shortly into our race, Patrick confided in me that he had found his true calling in theater criticism and promotion. Over the next few years, he successfully created for himself a truly fabulous life in the theater community that he so adored.

Patrick Lee was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. He had a gourmet sensibility in terms of theater, film and any other mode of art you could throw at him. He was a generous listener and a captivating conversationalist. His favorite play of all time was Uncle Vanya. His favorite musical was My Fair Lady. His favorite showtune was "Ol' Man River."

I will miss my show buddy a great deal.

XODavidBell

Sunday In The Park With George

**** (out of 5 stars)
Arden Theatre Co.
Philadelphia, PA

I think we can all agree that there's nothing like a well-executed Sondheim score. Having felt a little gypped after being offered a six-person orchestra in the current Broadway revival of A Little Night Music, and a measly five-person orchestra in the recent Broadway revival of Sunday In The Park..., the promise of a fifteen-person strong orchestra was sufficient enough to lure me down to Arden Theatre company's Sunday... in Philly. Good call, because there's something kinda gorgeous going on down there. This well-executed, lovely-sounding, beautiful-to-look-at regional production in many ways, trumps the Studio 54 revival. The sound of the show is near perfect with its meaty orchestra and cast of Broadway caliber singers. The projections, created especially for this production, are far more subtle and not the least bit heavy-handed like in the Broadway revival (though in the Act 2 "Chromolume #7" sequence, Arden's stage was a thrilling explosion of colorful animation). Stand-out performances included Jeffrey Coon's thoughtful, pensive George, and Maureen Torsney Weir's elegant and emotional delivery of "Beautiful" as the Old Lady. And when orchestra and cast join together in Act 1 and 2 "Sunday" finales? Forget about it. Thumbs way up.

The Pied Pipers Of The Lower East Side

****1/2 (out of five stars)
The Amoralists

Too many smart people have been urging me to catch playwright/director Derek Ahonen's giant three act play of which the postcard warns of "explicit sexual content and Utopian ideals". They were right to urge. Loaded with beautifully designed characters, crackling dialogue and non-stop action, this play of ideas sucked me in had me fully invested in the lives of this quartet of polyamorous modern-day hippies. Zooming between hysterically funny and tragically sad, the action never slows down as our tribe attempts to justify their lifestyle to a visiting relative and also to themselves. This production has recently (and deservedly) made the leap from off-off to Off, and my friends, it should be seen.

Make sure you check out the preview on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILwQVH6z3-M

The Hole

* (out of five stars)

The Theater At St. Clements

Circa 2002 the police were more apt to turn a blind eye to seedy East Village joints like The Hole, The Cock and Fat Cock with their hidden sex rooms, porn screens, and naked coke-head strippers. Cherished memories. Sadly, THE HOLE, a messy, poorly conceived musical, currently playing in the basement of a church (a church!), fails to capture the vibe or energy of this long lost hardcore scene. Granted, intermittently there is a low, sexy thumping beat piped in over the dialogue, however, when it is time to sing, we get a full score of corny, poppy showtunes that are less sexy/edgy and more silly/ridiculous. In its attempts to be as naughty and filthy as they can get, the whole evening becomes a numbing hodge-podge of cliche' one liners, and confusing romantic entanglements. And when you have a fully grown man cast as a baby in diapers and rolled around in a wagon, you know that the desperation for the laugh is unmistakable.

Next To Normal

**** (out of 5 stars)

Broadway

This show fucking rocks. This ultra-modern pop/rock musical about a family dealing with mental illness is funny, moving, engaging, happy, sad,.... i could go on... edgy, cool, heartbreaking, uplifting. Tom Kitt's score is so fresh and straight-up listenable. It's dead on when having to musicalize an emotional breakdown or an argument or a memory. The cast is uniformly ideal. Beyond the obligatory kick-ass voices, they're all acting the hell out of the material. Alice Ripley just may snag her first Best Actress Tony (registered trademark!) for her beautiful work as sick mommy. I kept thinking about Falsettos as I was watching this production. Though their respective core issues are somewhat specific (homosexuality and AIDS/mental illness) both productions, through the depth of the characters and relationships, and the bright, succinct personality of their scores, transcend into that layer of universality where any audience member can find a great deal to relate to. If you haven't noticed, I've got lots of good things to say about Next To Normal. GO.

The Truth About Santa

***1/2 (out of five stars)

Kraine

Christmas annoy the fuck out of you? Yeah, me too. Which is why I so wholly connected with this slappy, mean-spirited, Santa-bashing stocking-stuffer of a musical downtown at the Kraine. This Greg Kotis joint features him and his real wife and two lovely real children (the von Kotis family singers!.........the family von Kotis!...). The story is simple and dumb and fun. The wife and kids run off to the North Pole with Santa who is basically a big, old, fat slut. Ms. Claus wants to destroy the world and the elves well.... they're not right. Revenge. Booze. Sex. It's what Christmas ought to be (and often is). Production-wise this is a pretty tight package. The pace is speedy, the sets/costumes are thrown together and fabulously crappy and the cast is hilarious. Note to Luisa Struss (aka Ms. Claus): With your gravely voice you sound exactly like Eileen Heckart. You should play her sometime.

CD: Patti LuPone At Les Mouches

***** (out of five stars)

Ghostlight Records

I completely agree with our Patrick when he calls this upcoming release of Patti LuPone's early eighties late night cabaret act a "one-of-a-kind-gem". As opposed to current day where we are gifted with the elegant belter who delivers showstoppers from her throne in the pantheon of musical theater legends, this CD re-introduces us to the fearless, sassy, raw (yet still refined) fresh face who has something to prove.

Patti's energetic Les Mouches gig reminds me of Bette Midler's 1970 break-out "Divine Miss M" act at the Continental Baths (not that I was there but we've all seen the scratchy footage on VH1). Happily, Patti's performance was more carefully preserved and has been digitally restored for a November 11th realease.

The eclectic song-list ranging from standards ("Come Rain Or Come Shine") to jazz ("Street Of Dreams") to, of course, musical theater (yes, she sings "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"- the second time that night having performed it a few hours earlier on the Broadway stage), is peppered with playful, saucy banter that kinda makes you feel like you've travelled back in time and are there in the room with her.

My favorites include the melodious and belty "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife, a smooth and jazzy version of Petula Clark's "Downtown" and Springsteen/Smyth's "Because The Night" that sounds near perfect in this expressive and dramatic rendition.

I've always had a gay crush on Patti LuPone. It started with Evita and has only been stoked over the years by her many Broadway, TV and concert performances. Seeing her as Momma Rose in Gypsy earlier this year pushed me over the top though and I've been drooling for new Patti stuff ever since. Well this is it. You guys gotta get this CD!

Ghostlight Records

Nemesis

**** (...out of five stars)

Shetler Studios

Upon moving to New York, for approximately ten minutes, I fancied myself an actor. Many of the reasons why I wised up and happily settled into a rewarding career as a bartender are addressed in this very funny and vehement tale chronicling the epic relationship of two actor buddies whose careers take two distinctly separate paths. Insecure actors standing around measuring each other's cocks (metaphorically, you dirty birds) is nothing new but Michael Buckley's script, which deconstructs the all too common diseases of unconfidence and overwhelming jealousy rife in the acting community, is loaded with crisp, edgy dialogue and two vivid characters you could easily find chanting through their sides at Actor's Equity headquarters. Mr. Buckley, who also plays the poor serious actor who can't get a break, is surprisingly charming even as he complains about his waiter-job or neurotically lists out all the reasons why he should be far more successful than the world will allow him to be. And Will Poston (HGA!), as the statuesque Hottie McHotHot who rockets to stardom, proves that it takes a really good actor to play a less than great one. The chemistry between these two bros is dead-on perfect and natural and they are selling it old school here. Check out their Youtube page. (I love it when theatrical productions have previews. That's like enterprising and post-millennium and stuff.) Thumbs up! http://www.youtube.com/user/stepstonemedia

a message from all three of us

It's been a long time since we here at Show Showdown posted anything besides reviews of the shows we've seen. But all three of us:

1) love [title of show]
2) hate the closing notice, posted for October 12th.
3) want you to sign this petition to get the [tos] folks some attention over at Ellen, where a spot on that show could do lots of good.

Sign here

FIVE FRINGE SHOW WEEKEND

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The Fabulous Kane Sisters in Box Office Poison

*** (...out of five stars)

Fringe Festival

Silly silly silly! This madcap old school murder mystery had all the hallmarks of a Charles Busch joint: drag queens dropping one-liners all over the place, scantily clad hot stupid guys, and one million stinky puns, crass innuendos and slutty double entendres. Never mind that most of the 15 characters had no journeys to speak of, or that the plot generally falls apart in the 11th hour, this camp-salad was all about the aforementioned one-liners, hot stupid guys, innuendos, etc.. The packed house was eating this shit up and I couldn't wipe the dumb smile off my face either. The "identical twin" Kane Sisters (made up of the show's two authors Bill Roulet and Mark Geller) were about 40 years apart in age. I have no idea how they were able to pull it off but this dumb joke NEVER got old. Total stupid fun. Favorite line: "I lost my virginity years ago but I still have the box it came in.". Oh! and HGA! HGA! HGA!

[title of show]

***** (...out of five stars)

Lyceum

Manifest destiny: realized! From the New York Musical Theater Festival to off-Broadway at the Vineyard to a brilliant and sassy Youtube campaign, this musical about making a musical finally makes its triumphant debut on Broadway. Exclamation point! For those of us out there who fell in love with this show in its earlier incarnation, the [title of show] family remains happily intact as do all of the songs. Add to that some new, stronger choices in terms of plot development, new scenes marking their journey from off-Broadway to Broadway and a blissfully full house of [title of show] fans ("tossers") hooting and hollering every time the cast makes a reference about hoping they make it to Broadway, and we have ourselves one happy night at the theater. For those of you out there who have not seen [title of show] yet, GO, for this unique musical is one of a kind. The actual composer and the book writer are playing themselves 8 times a week in their own show. Would Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse ever do something like that? (The mind boggles). Also playing themselves are Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, friends of Hunter and Jeff's, who round out the show with hysterical observations, kick ass vocals and a warm feminine soul. It's damn near impossible to not fall in love with these kids who collectively throw it all out there in their bid to become "part of it all". This is the most charming Broadway production I have ever seen. And I say that having seen Mamma Mia twice.

HAIR

***** (...out of 5 stars)

The Public at the Delacorte

This production kicks ass! After only ever seeing a couple of well-intentioned/poorly-realized regional community concoctions of this late sixties rock musical, sitting outside in Central Park at the Delacorte and watching this faithful, energetic, thrilling revival, I finally GOT why Hair was such a ground-breaking musical. And that makes me very happy. The sexy cast, led by Jonathan Groff and Will Swenson gyrates and wails and makes the audience feel like they're guests at a real live be-in. Staging this musical in Central Park under the moon at the Delacorte, with intermittent gusts of wind blowing through the fringe and the miles of wavy curls, is a perfect choice. I felt genuinely transported and was literally overcome with emotion by the end of it all. This is one of the best theatrical productions I have seen this year.

Perfect Harmony

***1/2 (...out of 5 stars)

The Essentials

Two earnest, high strung High school acapella groups duke it out for the National championship in this darling quirkfest of a musical play currently running at The Clurman on Theater Row. Never mind that perhaps some of the cornball choices undercut the sincerity of the piece (a haz-mat suit as a performance costume?, estrogen injections?) or that a few of the sub-plots are extraneous and/or weakly resolved, there is a gallon of charm in this engaging look at angst-ridden teens throwing their hearts and souls into their extra-curricular activities. Each character has their own pet foible (Tourettes, TMJ, agoraphobia, etc.) and our cast here revels in these foibles giving us rich, hysterical characters that you want to slap and hug. And yes, there is plenty of singing and it's a whole hell of a lot of fun (my fave: an acapella rendition of George Michael's "Freedom 90"). I was all wrapped up in the acapella scene when I was in high school (baritone/tenor 2) and this play nailed the earth shattering impact that this scene can have on a awkward teen looking for something to believe in. Thumbs up. Oh! And HGA!

The Occupant

**** (...out of 5 stars)

Signature

Though I found the conceit ("Inside The Actor's Studio"- style-man-interviews-celebrity) to be a little too safe and not terribly interesting, I still loved the ideas, insight and rich character featured in Edward Albee's new biographical play about famed sculptor, Louise Nevelson (if you don't know who she is, you're forgiven early on). The focal point of this 2-act conversation is the story of the birth to death/up down up down etc. journey of a powerful, unique, damaged, fascinating artist. Along the way we learn a great deal about the pitfalls and black-eyes that can tazer a human flat on their back . We also get a Signature-Theater-eye's view of how, in spite of (/because of) all the jolts and setbacks, no matter how many years it takes, some persistent artists can find themselves and create their greatest works. This point really pops and it was truly inspiring in that respect. Mercedes Ruehl is pretty fucking splendid. As usual. In other news, I am googling the hell out of Louise Nevelson.

reasons to be pretty

*** (...out of five stars)

MCC

Ah the world of Labute... where all the women are hysterical bitches and all the men are douche-bags. For those of you who like some yelling in your plays, there's quite a bit of it in this 4 character play about a dude who doesn't think his girlfriend isn't particularly pretty. Though not destined to be a classic, I did find the play to be consistently engaging and I got a little schadenfreude thrill from all of the backstabbing. Actors heads up- there are quite a few two character scenes and monologues that would probably work well in scene study. I've got major theater crushes on Allison Pill and Pablo Schreiber and they're both doing some great work here. Can't wait to see what they do next.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

*** (...out of five stars)

Roundabout

Though I've seen the film maybe ten times, this was my first visit to the play the film was based upon. It's really a damn fine play. High drama...sizzling dialogue...all that good stuff we like in our dramas. In this production we have gorgeous scenery and costumes but with Roundabout at the helm that's (generally) a given. This production belongs to that sexy Brit, Ben Daniels, cast here as Valmont, the heartless lover who accidentally falls in love. He slinks about the stage hitting on everyone who comes within pinching-range and delivers his lines with a masculine purr. I will support the general notion that lovely Laura Linney is miscast. Though she's a stellar actress, her warm aura betrays the iciness of the character's nature.

Saved

**** (...out of five stars)

Playwrights Horizons

I agree with Patrick that this new musical is perhaps a little too precious for its own good. A sharper satirical edge would give our colorful teenage characters another layer to play within and also would not make New Yorkers think that they're attending church. Still though, I was charmed by this perky, needy little musical that follows the exploits of a crowd of haywire teens at a Christian high school. The songs were bright, the sensibility was modern (everyone texts and facebooks) and the show zipped along at a chipper clip. The cast is pretty perfect with Celia Keenan-Bolger leading the pack as the worrisome devout Christian determined to fix her boyfriend. I kinda wanna see the movie now.

Miss Richfield 1981 Flies Over The Coo Coo's Nest

** (...out of five stars)
The Zipper Theater


With this, her second limited engagement in New York, Miss Richfield 1981 tries out her drag schtick that has made her a local celebrity in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Through musical numbers and mock therapy sessions, this colorful, sassy, loud mouthed, middle aged man in a dress attempts to solve the problems of people yanked onstage from the audience. Though intermittently funny, her improvisations are hit and miss partly due to the fact that they're kinda not improvs at all. She doesn't engage the poor bastards who get pulled up onstage more than she just labels them with fictional "problems" ("You're afraid of clowns!"..."You're afraid of germs!") and then proceeds on to her scripted monologues. This grows tedious after a while and without any sort of dramatic structure or arc, this seems like something that belongs in a bar rather than a theater. Still she does an impressive headstand and she looks very funny in her tacky/slutty dresses and 3 pound cha cha heels. I'd happily toast her at Stonewall.