Theatre

I must apologize for my lack of content this semester so far.  It is surprising how something that comes so naturally can turn out to be so difficult once a break is taken.  I do best when I go to an event and come right back home to blog about it.  When I lack time and resources to do so, I end up procrastinating – my least favorite thing to do in the whole entire world!  This is what has happened to me recently.  As my avid readers know, my last post was about a convention I attended in Philadelphia.  Having stayed up late every single night, I had no time to write daily about my experiences as I had wanted to.  For this reason, it isn’t until now that I have come to write about the Mask and Wig Club’s Beautopia: A Face Odyssey. Continue reading →

My first and only exposure to the literature of Chaim Potok was at the end of ninth grade in my English class.  Many people say to me now that it is peculiar that a public school would teach Potok, for his work is very Jewish.  Though I agree with this statement – Asher Lev is filled with Jewish themes – it is clear that at least in this one book of his, there are stronger and more prevalent themes than Judaism.  There is a line in the play (and possibly in the book, but as it’s been four years, I cannot claim to remember any lines from the book) that likens Asher’s artwork to Chagall’s – “he’s a little Chagall!”  It’s funny, because when I read the book all those years back, I saw a slight Chagall-esque style to his artwork – bold colors with strong outlines.  Having had all of these years to learn more about Chagall (obvious example being my visit to the Chagall exhibit at the NCMA), I find it interesting that Chagall used the imagery of the crucifixion as did Asher, while both of them were Jewish. Continue reading →

How lucky am I to have a friend in the theatre world now (shout-out to Alyssa Blumenthal again)!  Without her, I might not have seen this quaint, Pulitzer Prize-winning show by William Inge!  I must say, it was quite a picnic.  The story is a simple one, yet not too simple to have you drooling by the end.  I’ve left you hanging long enough, here’s the show in a nutshell: Continue reading →

…and not a good cry or a proud cry for the woman who was such a beloved figure in Argentina in the 1940’s and ’50s (and arguably still remembered to this day), but a sorry cry.  I must say that Elena Roger, the Argentinian actress cast as Evita, did a poor job at portraying Eva Perón.  By the end of the show, I felt no fondness for the fallen heroine.  But let me not jump the gun here – who was Evita? Continue reading →

Thanks to my lovely friend Alyssa Blumenthal who applied for an internship through TDF (Theatre Development Fund) to Second Stage Theatre, I was able to see the Quiara Alegria Hudes (In The Heights) Pulitzer Prize winning play Water by the Spoonful for absolutely no cost at all – except for the $7.61 we split at Schnippers pre-show. Continue reading →

First of all, Queens College’s Kupferberg Center for the Arts needs to get their ticket information straight.  Are tickets $12/$14, or are they $14.50/$16.50?  Don’t publicize one and charge the other, thank you very much.  Second, what is a dance faculty concert when it seems to me that only students were performing – $14.50 for a mediocre student performance?  I thought I’d be seeing professional dancers!  Not worth the money. Continue reading →

Renowned actor Will Chase (front and center) as John Jasper, and actress Chita Rivera (far right) as The Princess Puffer.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is almost like a game of Clue – each performance has a different culprit and a different detective.  The musical by Rupert Holmes is a fun-loving treat, but the light, airy, and joke-filled way he goes about telling the story of the mysterious disappearance of young Ned leads to a sort of plot let down.  The only exposure I’ve had to the dark tale is through the Masterpiece Classic version starring Matthew Rhys as Jasper.  Of course, because the audience members couldn’t vote in a film production, the writer, Gwyneth Hughes, created her own contrived ending to the mystery.  The film took on a darker tone and feeling than did the musical. Continue reading →

A Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds was a theatre production sponsored by the Queens College Department of Drama, Theatre, and Dance, and the college’s Center for Jewish Studies. The play ran nearly three hours, with a fifteen-minute intermission, and there was a panel discussion afterwards in which the playwright was discussed, as well as the Jewish cultural tradition in Eastern Europe of the early 20^th century. Continue reading →

Normally, I would not recommend wasting five hours of your day watching videos on YouTube.  It’s not a healthy habit.  But, I was bored, had nothing to do, so I thought, “hey, why not?”  I remembered hearing about some Harry Potter musical with Darren Criss from Glee in it, so I decided to look that up and see what all the hype was about.

The hype was definitely warranted.  I’m telling you, I had such a blast watching A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, that I think I would easily pay money to go and see it performed Off-Broadway or in some regional theatre.  I mean, I went to see Potted Potter, a parody featuring Dan and Jeff from England, but I must say, I think the students from the University of Michigan blew those two Brits out of the water!

Here I go with my brief summary (I don’t want to give too much away)! Continue reading →

I must say that it was an extremely wicked experience going to see Wicked the musical.  Not only did I get to see the show, but also I got to see the show for free, and meet an actor (Michael DeVries) and ask him questions.  It was also a pretty wicked time getting stuck in the freezing cold with wet feet, but that is a story for later.

The reason that my Arts in NYC class got such perks for this show was because we had originally planned to go see the musical about a month earlier, but the box office had lost our tickets.  To repay us for the inconvenience, we got to have a Q&A with one of the seasoned actors in the show – Michael DeVries who has been in the ensemble for seven years, playing various characters including Elphaba’s father.  Also at the Q&A session was a playwright Michael Feinstein.  Continue reading →