Present Laughter
Starring Kevin Kline
Written by Noel Coward
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
St. James Theatre
June 21, 2017 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
Kevin Kline is just so good in this – – but there is just so much of this! After seeing 1984 last night I was so eager to see a play that behaved itself and delivered some acting and some story. Present Laughter, I thought – – there’s the remedy.
It was such a beautiful play. A gorgeous set full of theatrical decadence with doors a plenty and plenty of furniture to poise, pontificate, and pursue a dalliance. The language of Noel Coward is so rich and so wonderfully sarcastic. It is so nice to hear a play that has vocabulary that reaches beyond two syllables. Continue reading Present Laughter→
Napoli, Brooklyn
Written by Meghan Kennedy
Directed by Gordon Edelstein
Roundabout Theatre Company
June 17, 2017 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
This play was trying to do to much. It was trying to tell the story of a true life plane crash in the early 1960’s that destroyed a good section of Brooklyn. It also seeks to tell the story of a family with an abusive father who is trying to break out and break free. It is also a coming out story about a young girl embracing herself as a lesbian. It is also about the end of the 1950’s and the embrace of the radically unsettled world of the 1960’s. THAT is a lot. I had wished the play covered less ground and covered it more fully. Continue reading Napoli, Brooklyn→
The Boy Who Danced on Air
Book and LyRosser
Choreography by Nejla Yatkin
Music Direction by David Gardos
Directed by Tony Speciale
Abingdon Theatre Company
June 9, 2017 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
And now a song and dance musical essentially about pedophilia. How’s that for a crowd pleaser? I am starting my theatre extravaganza a day before my group with a musical probably best done without my gang of students. The Boy Who Danced in the Air is a musical (imagine that) based on the practice of bacha bazi — “boy play” in the Dari language of Afghanistan — is an “ancient tradition where wealthy men buy boys from poorer families” and “train them to dance.” “So the sexual abuse, which the show does not ignore, is seen in the context of historical precedent and local culture, much as those who defend it ask us to see genital cutting.” Imagine that musical . . . This one I’m seeing by myself. Continue reading The Boy Who Danced On Air→
Daniel’s Husband
Written by Michael McKeever
Directed by Joe Brancato
Primary Stages
April 15, 2017 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
I have figured out that the problem with gay plays is not a problem with the plays but is more a problem with me. There was a time in my twenties that I would have gone to see ANY production with ANYONE as long as it included a gay character. I was so fascinated to be with “my people” and see the stories that we could tell. I loved to watch men in these stories hold hands, snuggle, and dream together – – much less kiss. Being a gay play was more than enough to win my patronage! Continue reading Daniel’s Husband→
Gently Down the Stream
Written by Martin Sherman
Directed by Sean Mathias
Public Theatre
April 15, 2017 Production website
💉💉 out of 5.
I wanted to like this play. I really wanted to like thus play, It had everything going for it: the writer, Martin Sherman and the wonderful Harvey Fierstein. But I did not like this play. It just never took off and then it became way too predictable and way to driven by monologues that just didn’t matter to me. Continue reading Gently Down the Stream→
Present Laughter
