Tomorrow is the solstice, marking the official beginning of summer, which means lots of open-air productions of Shakespeare!
I've already seen The Public Theater's all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew, which honestly, I found rather disappointing. After building up Katherina as a really interesting character capable of change and adaptation, the production cops out, going for gags at the end instead of finding some sort of emotional core.
Still, I remain hopeful for the Public's second production in Central Park, Troilus and Cressida, which opens July 19th. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, the company's go-to director for classy productions of classics, it promises less gimmick and more substance. Sullivan directed the Public's joyous production of Cymbeline last year as well as their superb King Lear two years ago.
The Public isn't the only game in town, and Hudson Warehouse is currently performing Much Ado About Nothing at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park. I haven't seen this production yet, but hope to get to it sometime this week. Hudson Warehouse will also be doing Othello starting July 28th, also at the Soldier's and Sailors' Monument.
Unfortunately, this looks like the last year for free Shakespeare in Inwood Park, as outdoor grilling seems to take precedence over outdoor theatre. A farewell production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona (complete with canine performers) closes June 25th.
Should you want to cross the Hudson into New Jersey (no passport needed), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is doing a production of Coriolanus starring my old classmate Greg Derelian in the title role. This one, however, is indoors.
New York Classical Theatre is currently performing A Midsummer Night's Dream at the north end of Central Park, but I'm more interested in their production of The Winter's Tale opening in Battery Park on July 18th.
Why? Because I already have a ticket to see Midsummer at Shakespeare's Globe in London in August! Before I go, though, I'll have to see Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's new steampunk production of As You Like It.
Hip to Hip will be doing a rival production of As You Like It, as well as a production of Julius Caesar. I loved their version of The Merchant of Venice last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again.
So if you're looking for Shakespeare this summer, you're in luck! Just remember to bring the bug spray.
Showing posts with label steampunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steampunk. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Saturday, March 5, 2016
The Woodsman
Last night, I saw James Oritz's play The Woodsman at New World Stages. The show is a great example of how mime, puppetry, and music can tell a story with the actors scarcely having to say a word.
Anyone who has read L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz surely remembers the heartbreaking story of the Tin Woodsman. This woodsman, who was once human, lived with his father and mother in the forest until they both died. Expanding on the tale, The Woodsman shows us the courtship of the title character's parents, and the birth and childhood of their son. In the book, Baum has the Tin Man relate:
There was one of the Munchkin girls who was so beautiful that I soon grew to love her with all my heart. She, on her part, promised to marry me as soon as I could earn enough money to build a better house for her; so I set to work harder than ever. But the girl lived with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone, for she was so lazy she wished the girl to remain with her and do the cooking and the housework. So the old woman went to the Wicked Witch of the East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the marriage.
Simplifying the story, The Woodsman has the old woman be the Wicked Witch herself. We see her flying around the stage (and even over the audience) in the form of a simple but effective puppet. Later, she emerges as a larger, more complicated puppet operated by two actors. The Witch, we are told, was so terrifying, that everyone was afraid of her. She used crows (in the form of eerie two-piece puppets) to spy on the people to such an extent that the inhabitants of the land stopped talking to avoid being overheard by the Witch's spies.
This leads to the wonderful conceit of the play, where characters act out their thoughts and desires and make emotional grunts rather than using words. For instance, when the Woodsman (played by Oritz himself) wants to show his Munchkin love the house he will build, he presents her with a model of the house rather than speaking. Aside from the spoken prologue, there are very few words in the play, making it a great offering for international audiences.
The play is far from silent, though. Composer Edward W. Hardy provides enchanting music, played with remarkable stamina by violinist Naomi Florin. The cast also sings a few songs (with lyrics by Jen Loring) and provides numerous sound effects, including the chopping of wood, the calls of crows, and sounds of even more ominous creatures in the forest.
As readers of Baum will remember, the Witch enchanted the Woodsman's axe so that it attacked him, chopping off one body part at a time, but a tinsmith made new mechanical parts after each one was lost. (The Woodsman actually features a whole team of steampunk tinsmiths.) The audience watches in fascination and horror as the Woodsman is slowly replaced, piece by piece, but puppet parts, which are ultimately bound together.
Oritz designed the puppets as well, along with the show's magnificent set, which features mason jars placed over old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. The bulbs light up periodically, creating the effect of flashing fireflies or the distant call of the Emerald City. The stage magic retains a turn-of-the-century aesthetic, which is fitting for the play's subject matter.
Broadway audiences can see another version of Oz before Dorothy on stage at the mammoth Gershwin Theatre, but this play is the anti-Wicked. Instead of the huge special effects of a Broadway extravaganza, it features smaller, low-key theatrical devices, yet it can be just as magical.
If you're interested in seeing the show, check out their website:
The Woodsman
Anyone who has read L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz surely remembers the heartbreaking story of the Tin Woodsman. This woodsman, who was once human, lived with his father and mother in the forest until they both died. Expanding on the tale, The Woodsman shows us the courtship of the title character's parents, and the birth and childhood of their son. In the book, Baum has the Tin Man relate:
There was one of the Munchkin girls who was so beautiful that I soon grew to love her with all my heart. She, on her part, promised to marry me as soon as I could earn enough money to build a better house for her; so I set to work harder than ever. But the girl lived with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone, for she was so lazy she wished the girl to remain with her and do the cooking and the housework. So the old woman went to the Wicked Witch of the East, and promised her two sheep and a cow if she would prevent the marriage.
Simplifying the story, The Woodsman has the old woman be the Wicked Witch herself. We see her flying around the stage (and even over the audience) in the form of a simple but effective puppet. Later, she emerges as a larger, more complicated puppet operated by two actors. The Witch, we are told, was so terrifying, that everyone was afraid of her. She used crows (in the form of eerie two-piece puppets) to spy on the people to such an extent that the inhabitants of the land stopped talking to avoid being overheard by the Witch's spies.
This leads to the wonderful conceit of the play, where characters act out their thoughts and desires and make emotional grunts rather than using words. For instance, when the Woodsman (played by Oritz himself) wants to show his Munchkin love the house he will build, he presents her with a model of the house rather than speaking. Aside from the spoken prologue, there are very few words in the play, making it a great offering for international audiences.
The play is far from silent, though. Composer Edward W. Hardy provides enchanting music, played with remarkable stamina by violinist Naomi Florin. The cast also sings a few songs (with lyrics by Jen Loring) and provides numerous sound effects, including the chopping of wood, the calls of crows, and sounds of even more ominous creatures in the forest.
As readers of Baum will remember, the Witch enchanted the Woodsman's axe so that it attacked him, chopping off one body part at a time, but a tinsmith made new mechanical parts after each one was lost. (The Woodsman actually features a whole team of steampunk tinsmiths.) The audience watches in fascination and horror as the Woodsman is slowly replaced, piece by piece, but puppet parts, which are ultimately bound together.
Oritz designed the puppets as well, along with the show's magnificent set, which features mason jars placed over old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. The bulbs light up periodically, creating the effect of flashing fireflies or the distant call of the Emerald City. The stage magic retains a turn-of-the-century aesthetic, which is fitting for the play's subject matter.
Broadway audiences can see another version of Oz before Dorothy on stage at the mammoth Gershwin Theatre, but this play is the anti-Wicked. Instead of the huge special effects of a Broadway extravaganza, it features smaller, low-key theatrical devices, yet it can be just as magical.
If you're interested in seeing the show, check out their website:
The Woodsman
Friday, July 12, 2013
Around the World in 80 Days
Last night, I saw the wonderful steampunk version of Around the World in 80 Days currently running off-Broadway at The New Theater at 45th Street. First of all... wow.
This is the quick-change adaptation penned by Mark Brown, in which five actors portray approximately three zillion characters. I saw it when Irish Rep did the play five or six years ago. I enjoyed that production, but was surprised that it was being revived so soon afterward. I wasn't sure I wanted to see a play (even a good one) that I had just seen a few years ago. On the other hand... steampunk.
The costumes are wonderful, and the set magnificent. Plus, the production deftly uses projections, showing clocks, maps, and various stylized images to help tell the story. Ten years ago, you had to go to Broadway to see projections of this level of quality, or at least a major off-Broadway house. It's wonderful that the technology has come down to more intimate venues as well.
And what is that venue? Well, The New Theater at 45th Street is the latest name for the building across from my old apartment on 45th Street near 9th Avenue. It's where I saw my first play reading in New York (a piece by N. Richard Nash). It's also where there was a staged reading of my play The Metric System and workshop productions of Maggie the Pirate, a musical I wrote with Joshua H. Cohen, and The True Author... Revealed, a one-woman show I wrote starring Katherine Harte-DeCoux.
Of course, when I worked in that building, it was a dump. Producer Cedric Yau should get a medal from the block association for transforming it into one of the classier places you can go now to see intimate theater. Not only is the lobby cleaned up and inviting, but the theater itself is decorated with a steampunk mural that blends into the set, bringing the audience right into the action. Yau also shelled out money to provide much-needed new seats and carpeting (which actually match the set and mural!) for the venerable old venue.
In order for the piece to work, however, you have to have good actors, and this production delivers. Not only is the cast hysterical, but they keep up the energy throughout the show, conveying a sense of urgency as Fogg and his retinue strive to make each leg of the journey on time and circle the world in the titular 80 days. I found myself cheering for them with increasing intensity throughout the second act, and I was on the edge of my seat, in spite of knowing all of the plot twists beforehand.
Below is a publicity photo I grabbed from the show's website. If you get a chance, check it out!
This is the quick-change adaptation penned by Mark Brown, in which five actors portray approximately three zillion characters. I saw it when Irish Rep did the play five or six years ago. I enjoyed that production, but was surprised that it was being revived so soon afterward. I wasn't sure I wanted to see a play (even a good one) that I had just seen a few years ago. On the other hand... steampunk.
The costumes are wonderful, and the set magnificent. Plus, the production deftly uses projections, showing clocks, maps, and various stylized images to help tell the story. Ten years ago, you had to go to Broadway to see projections of this level of quality, or at least a major off-Broadway house. It's wonderful that the technology has come down to more intimate venues as well.
And what is that venue? Well, The New Theater at 45th Street is the latest name for the building across from my old apartment on 45th Street near 9th Avenue. It's where I saw my first play reading in New York (a piece by N. Richard Nash). It's also where there was a staged reading of my play The Metric System and workshop productions of Maggie the Pirate, a musical I wrote with Joshua H. Cohen, and The True Author... Revealed, a one-woman show I wrote starring Katherine Harte-DeCoux.
Of course, when I worked in that building, it was a dump. Producer Cedric Yau should get a medal from the block association for transforming it into one of the classier places you can go now to see intimate theater. Not only is the lobby cleaned up and inviting, but the theater itself is decorated with a steampunk mural that blends into the set, bringing the audience right into the action. Yau also shelled out money to provide much-needed new seats and carpeting (which actually match the set and mural!) for the venerable old venue.
In order for the piece to work, however, you have to have good actors, and this production delivers. Not only is the cast hysterical, but they keep up the energy throughout the show, conveying a sense of urgency as Fogg and his retinue strive to make each leg of the journey on time and circle the world in the titular 80 days. I found myself cheering for them with increasing intensity throughout the second act, and I was on the edge of my seat, in spite of knowing all of the plot twists beforehand.
Below is a publicity photo I grabbed from the show's website. If you get a chance, check it out!
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