Fame or Famine

May 21st, 2008

Good news all over: Stew, Katie Holmes, and Mamma Mia!

It’s a banner day on Broadway, especially for some of the stories I’ve been tracking on this blog.
Stew Gets an Obie for Passing Strange
I wrote recently how musician and auteur Stew had garnered no fewer than seven Tony nominations - but there’s more out there than Tony. The Village Voice also gives out its own […]

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May 19th, 2008

I hope my kids are as nice as Faye Wright

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m…” Always loved that Beatles song. And I confess, with four daughters, I’m pretty confident at least one of them will care for me when I’m 64. Or 80, for that matter, which is how old Faye Wright’s mother is now.
And the star of […]

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May 17th, 2008

Terrence Howard, Phylicia Rashad Taking “Cat” to the Big Screen

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams, launched a revival on March 2nd of this year. There was one major change - the entire cast was African-American. Terrence Howard (recently on screen in Iron Man) and Phylicia Rashad joined James Earl Jones and Anika Noni Rose in the critically-acclaimed production. It runs until […]

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May 15th, 2008

Lebanese High School Musical: “Thrilling”

“I just saw the production; it premiered tonight after being postponed due to the recent hostilities in the county. My sister plays Sharpay Evans and it was thrilling to be able to watch it in the midst of such an ugly national crisis - very emotional.” That’s the comment that Milia Ayache, from Lebanon, left […]

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May 14th, 2008

A Correction, and the Jealousy of a Friend

Correction: While having lunch with Douglas Rosenberg today, he corrected one fact that was not clear in my recent post about John Henry. While it is true that John Henry never actually served in Vietnam, he was in the army, and served honorably; the interesting thing is that the metaphor of the war and combat […]

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May 12th, 2008

Dancing about War pt. 2: Singing Myself a Lullabye

John Henry was a self-described “performing artist/educator” who realized he was dying of AIDS and decided to turn his preparation for death into a performance piece. With the collaborative help of Douglas Rosenberg and Ellen Bromberg, a dance/technology piece was born.
A large part of that piece dealt with John Henry’s experiences as a combat soldier […]

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May 12th, 2008

David Mamet, Nathan Lane & Presidential Satire? Vote YES!

In the tradition of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, the new David Mamet play, November, is set just a few days before a presidential election. While having the site be a pseudo-official campaign site, complete with “Vote Now!” buttons, it’s also very entertaining. You also don’t have to watch too much to be […]

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May 11th, 2008

The Evolution of Dance: Goth Morris Dancing

I often talk about the way that dances evolve, the way that they influence each other. Last night, in fact, I watched an excellent performer named Arielle do a hip-hop/bellydance fusion piece (she was also a competitor in a local So You Think You Can Dance competition, featuring Hok, interview forthcoming). Some dances are meant […]

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May 10th, 2008

Dancing About War

“It makes me grouchy to show up to “dance” after “dance” to find such a paucity of invention.” That’s the sentiment of Apollinaire Scherr in her recent column about several dances created about the Iraq war. She mentions

“Not About Iraq Dance” at Danspace
“zero degrees” at City Center
“Far…” by Rachid Ouramdane

And she discusses the “Inertia” movement, […]

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May 9th, 2008

Chilling News About Disney’s ‘High School Musical’

OK, relax. It’s a headline trick to catch your attention - there’s nothing actually wrong with the High School Musical craze.
Yes, that’s right, I said craze. While it may be considered this generation’s Grease, and while Zac Efron may be the new John Travolta, it’s kind of like the story about Katie Holmes on Broadway […]

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