Significant Other
by Joshua Harmon
directed by Trip Cullman
Roundabout Theatre
July 17, 2015
Production website.

💉 out of 5.
I am really not so sure what makes this significant.  Significant Others is a play that sets out to explore how hard it is for a twenty-something gay man to find the “one.”  For all of his consternating with his grandmother, employing of all social media options and championing of his best girl buddies he simply can’t “get any.”  I guess we are supposed to care.
The play does have its funny moments as wedding parties always create a drunken free-for-all.  And protagonist Jordan Berkan certainly does fly across the stage in a caffeinated craze – – but I simply didn’t care for him.  He seemed so whiny and shallow as he pursued the elusive Abacrombie-like model that did little but stand on a raised platform for admiration.

He did talk to his grandmother, played by the talented Barbara Barrie.  She either ask him “how’s your love life? (which she does more then a dozen times) or she is oddly and comfortably planning her suicide.  What??
The set was massive – – a series of rooms and levels but none of them got used.  Most was played on the apron in front.  Why build such a big set and never inhabit it.
Significant Other would undoubtable make good TV.  But to get all dressed up, catch 3 trains, pay over $75 and not to have your dog on your lap – – it simply wasn’t worth the trip.  It might have even different for the twenty-sowing in the audience but for this fifty-something no.

Disenchanted
book, music and lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino
directed by Fiely A. Matias
produced by Westside Theatre
June 14, 2015

💉💉💉 out of 5.

Six women play dozen’s of Disney Princesses in this adult comedy and send-up of all that is Disney and much of what is female in countless bedtime stories.

The result is super sweet, a bit naughty and truly captivating. My imagination was kept for the entire short 90 minutes of the play – grateful of course that they didn’t overwork the bit for another hour.

As the musical asks, I found myself wondering why almost every happily-ever-after – – involves finding that certain someone, Can’t a hard won happily-ever-after be just as sweet and rewarding on your own. I am NOT a Disney person and certainly not a Princess fan – but now I understand their appeal and danger to a young audience.

The Way We Get By

by Neil LaBute

Produced by Second Stage Theatre

June 13, 2015     The Way We Get By

Not to sound too jaded, I have grown a bit tired of Neil Labute. His plays seem to relentlessly focus on broken people making poor choices and stepping on a lot of feelings in the process. But this play was different for me. This play was sexy. You have that delicious human drama of waking up the morning after the night you can’t really remember doing the thing that you are oh, so unsure of. Who hasn’t been there? Continue reading The Way We Get By →