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

Next to Normal

Photo: Joan Marcus

Some five months into its Broadway run, Next to Normal remains vibrant, polished, impressive, and heartbreaking. The actors, led by the indomitable Alice Ripley, were excellent to start with and have gotten even better, and I'm finally ready to forgive J. Robert Spencer for not being Brian d'Arcy James. I saw Next to Normal twice Off-Broadway, once in D.C., and once before on Broadway, and watching the show develop--the rewrites, the cuts, the new songs, the changes in emphasis, the maturing of the performances--has been an education in the development of a first-class musical. (My original review can be found here.)

Altar Boyz

I know I am quite a late arrival to the Altar Boyz party, but count me in. I thoroughly enjoyed its humor, warmth, and delightful silliness. A tip of my hat and thank you to book writer Kevin Del Aguila and music and lyric writers Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker. It takes a lot of talent, work, and smarts to make a piece of fluff this good!

MilkMilkLemonade

Photo: John Alexander

The Management has become known as an edgy downtown group with notable depth. Their new production explores being gay in America, but specifically Middle America, and more precisely a chicken farm not far from the implied national nightmare succinctly summed up in the name "Mall Town, USA." Joshua Conkel's script feelingly and very humorously explores the relationship between two schoolboys, one effeminate and (mostly) liking himself that way, the other so desperately fighting his homosexual urges that he lashes out in a number of ways: "setting stuff on fire," getting into fights at home and at school, and punching and kicking the air like Cuchulain battling the waves. There's a talking chicken and a seething spider and – oh, it's all just too, too much. How it all ends isn't terribly important; getting there is where the fun is, and there's an awful lot of it – a number of moments had the audience in such stitches the cast had to wait patiently for the laughter to fade. Meredith Steinberg's energetic and funny choreography deserves mention, and the choices of music are spot-on – how can you not love a show that features "I've Never Been to Me"? Read the full review.

The Royal Family

photo: Boneau/Bryan-Brown

The scenic aspect of Manhattan Theatre Club's revival of The Royal Family is stunning--John Lee Beatty's set received rousing applause the moment the curtain was raised--but there's not much else happening on the stage of the Friedman to recommend devoting nearly three hours to this poorly-performed bagatelle. The play itself is quite funny and biting, but you'd never know that from watching Doug Hughes' largely miscast cast struggle through three acts of flubs, dropped lines, and seemingly iron-clad jokes landing with a resounding thud. The biggest disappointment is Jan Maxwell, who seemed perfectly cast as devoted actress Julie Cavendish, a woman who has given everything up to follow her devotion to the stage. Maxwell cuts a striking figure in Catherine Zuber's lush costumes, but delivers her lines as much enthusiasm as ordering a sandwich at the deli. Even Julie's magnificent second-act monologue couldn't rouse any emotion for her. Sadly, Rosemary Harris fared no better--she appeared lost and confused, when she was audible. Of the principles, only John Glover's Herbert Dean--a vainglorious old-timer who cannot accept that he's past his prime--hit all the right notes and reminded me how sharp and satisfying well-drawn satire can be. Still, he's not enough to recommend investing any time in this brightly colored but ultimately empty pastiche.

The River Crosses Rivers: Series A

The River Crosses Rivers: Series A is another strong evening of one acts by women of color at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (my review of Series B is below). The standout of the evening--of the whole festival--is Lynn Nottage's heartbreaking Banana Beer Bath, a monologue, brilliantly performed by Elain Graham, about hiding from the Ugandan rebels who are attacking her parents. It was breath-taking in the literal sense of the word.

During both evenings, I was struck by the variety of topics depicted: angels, history, punk rock, the pressure to get married, ungrateful children, parenting, loss, romance, dishonesty and truth, how a second can change an entire life, and more. And the characters were varied too: men and women, young and old, straight and gay, black, white, and subcontinental Asian.

I started going to theatre in the 1970s. When people of color, lesbians, gay men, and/or women had the rare opportunity to be heard, they/we generally grabbed the opportunity to talk about being people of color, lesbians, gay men, and/or women. There was so much education to do; in many cases, merely getting across the simple message, "I am a human being," was the primary--and difficult!--goal. And when they/we wrote about anything else, who would put that work on?

I look forward (with more hope than optimism, to be truthful) to a world where everyone's voices are heard. Many thanks to Going to the River 2009 and the Ensemble Studio Theatre for getting us a little closer to that world.