Blue Before Morning

Lights up on a chintzy-looking car and a wall made out of black suitcases: consider this re-enforcement of the positives and negatives of Kate McGovern's new play, Blue Before Morning. Over the next ninety minutes, a lot of things are squeezed into that car and rather showily discussed, but very little actually opens up, and that wall of baggage never comes down. In truth, the play is a little well-planned for a spontaneous road trip, one caused when the young Ava (Kether Donohue) hails a cab driven by the amiable Jerry (Chris McKenney), and manages to guilt him into driving her from New York City to South Carolina. Along the way, he picks up a third-trimester hitcher, Ella (Jenny Maguire), as he can't stand to see her get soaked. While Gia Forakis's neatly choreographed segues work (accelerated video shows the passage of time), McGovern's short scenes ("Doughnuts," "Obstacles," "Birthdays,") come across as overplanned. Credit the writing that it remains enjoyable up until the end: it's a shame the luggage is missing.

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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

Chekhov Lizardbrain

It'll shame me until the next time Pig Iron Theatre performs, but I attended Chekhov Lizardbrain while in a bit of a sickly fugue, and so I only caught bits and pieces of what seemed to be a complex and beautiful amalgamation of Chekhov's Three Sisters (reimagined as three brothers) and a humanizing study of autism. I can say with certainty that James Sugg gives an absolutely captivating deadpan, and that Dan Rothenberg's direction comes across as vaudeville by way of Michel Gondry--that's a huge compliment to the powers of this production's scenic creativity. It's a convoluted production, too, with each character doubling (much as Dmitri's personality is split) between characters in the Chekhovian world, and ones in the modern day, not to mention their own redirection of the play itself as they seize control--a symbolic example of an autistic fit. I wish I'd focused better on the moments, packed as they were with imagry and fine acting, but I can only really remark on how energetic the whole production was, like a world locked in on itself.

All My Sons

Reviewed for Theater News Online.

The Pumpkin Pie Show

The Pumpkin Pie Show is storytelling at its most basic and finest: no set, no costumes, just high energy bedroom stories for the adult crowd. Clay McLeod Chapman's stories may twist and turn, but they are ultimately about the deeply wounded, and even more deeply human, characters at the heart of them, and this voice--unabashedly released by Chapman and Hanna Cheek--is not just what stories need to be about, but what theater should be, too.

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Irena's Vow

photo: Carol Rosegg

At one point in this 90-minute one-act, the always captivating Tovah Feldshuh breaks the fourth wall (while in character as heroic Irena Gut Opdike) to remind us that we will soon have no chance for face to face contact with Holocaust survivors and to drive home the importance of carrying their stories with us. While that's inarguably true, I dare ask: must this story be presented with such a heavy hand and written so that nearly every single dramatic moment is over explained? Just because this is theatre that is good for humanity doesn't mean it's good theatre by default: despite Feldshuh's superb performance as a Polish Catholic housekeeper who courageously sheltered a dozen Jews right under the nose of the Nazi Kommandant who employed her, the play is maddeningly simplistic and keeps faltering with narration that tells us what we already know. That said, I haven't heard so much weeping during the final scenes of a sold-out play since the Brian Dennehy Death of a Salesman.