Thursday, April 25, 2024With Nutcrackers, Rockettes and Viennese waltzers, Thanksgiving to New Year's is the solitary time of the year when the general public shows an interest in dance. Before the holiday rush there were two dance celebrations - one marking an anniversary and the other a look into the beginnings of extraordinary career - with varying success. Balanchine: The City Center Years Starting on Halloween and ending on November 4, 2018, New York City Center jointly commemorated their 75th Anniversary and the prolific 15 years (1948-1963) George Balanchine and New York City Ballet were there. In 1943, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created the New
Month: December 2018
Big Chuckles Productions and The Strange Foundation Bring The Pain with “Da High M.O.M Show”
I'm someone who no longer says "no" to anything. It's yes all the way. I've cultured myself to a grand scale by saying "yes" all the time. Because of this I get the opportunity to find myself in a slew of footings one might not usually find themselves in. This past Saturday evening was no exception. After I was bumped from a show at a local Comedy Club because of an excessive amount of comedians, I decided my time would be better served elsewhere. After some careful introspection I found myself heading
ZviDance at New York Live Arts
ZviDance, under the direction of founder/Artistic Director Zvi Gotheiner, appeared December 19-22, 2018 at New York Live Arts. Their program included two provocative world premieres reflecting how effectively dance communicates the interior and exterior. The timing for presenting Bears Ears couldn't have been more ironic. The 1.35-million-acre Utah national park - sacred land to several Native American peoples - is threatened by the Trump administration twofold. As a slap to President Obama for officially declaring Bears Ears a national monument, the administration wants to reduce its size and drill it for oil. Then there's the partial government shutdown commencing during ZviDance's run
Guilty Pleasures Cabaret: Christmas Show at The Duplex
Photo Credit Mike Skigen Merry Christmas to me!!!! This past Friday December 14th at 9 pm at the Duplex, 91 Christopher Street @ 7th Ave, I had the occasion to participate in some of the most lively entertainment I've ever gotten to be part of during the holiday season. Looking back it seems almost providence that timing was fortuitous enough to allow me to be invited to peer at Guilty Pleasures Cabaret. Created and Produced by the incredibly talented Bridget Bose and stunning Andrea Palesh who both also perform in the production, along
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City Center
In the Becoming Ailey video opening every performance this 60th Anniversary Season, Alvin Ailey is heard describing how he "always danced" during his childhood in Texas and young adulthood in Los Angeles. His passion led to the founding of an inclusive African-American modern dance company that is a cherished and integral part of American culture. Mr. Ailey died in 1989, but his legacy lives on due to the previous leadership of legendary dancer/Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison and current Artistic Director Robert Battle. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre comprises the main company, their home on West 55th Street that
TJ Dawe: A Canadian Bartender at Butlin’s at the Soho Playhouse
The Soho Playhouse has gifted us with encore performances of some of the finer productions from this year's New York International Fringe Festival. TJ Dawe is performing a one-man, autobiographical show discussing his life in general and in particular his time in England as a bartender at a Butlin's holiday camp in Bognor Regis. Dawe is a charming raconteur and his adventures in the UK offer a great opportunity for fish-out-of-water stories. Butlin's, for those unfamiliar with the chain, was an English institution, up there with mushy peas, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and losing in the
‘The Making of King Kong’ at The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater
Lisa Clair’s The Making of King Kong, now playing at The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater thru December 15, is not a documentary about the 1933 horror/sfx classic or slick offsite pop-up for King Kong The Musical. For one thing, the only glimpses of the Brooklyn version of the "Eighth Wonder of the World!" who tore up Manhattan are of his giant (and very busy) paw and on video screens. The other is that none of the previous versions have a song remotely like "King Kong Plays Ping Pong With His Ding Dong". That alone is reason to revisit Skull Island
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: at the Fringe Encore Series, Soho Playhouse
This is my favorite kind of theater –physical, inventive, ingenious and funny. Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg’s comedic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is theatrical catnip – you just can’t get enough of it. This multi-talented duo has written a sophisticated comic-tragedy, produced it and performed it – excelling in every area. It’s the kind of work I would also prescribe for all drama students to see as it is a prime example of performance skill, innovative design and clarity of directorial intention all rolled into one exceptional “fringe” performance. In a
Comic Genius: In the Frick of the Night, at Stone Creek
Comic Genius is "Fricken" funny. It's High Fidelity (Nick Horby) meets The Sopranos. Dan Frick has written a memoir style series that has a strong structure and ballsy, instantly lovable characters. The stage reading/T.V. pilot peepshow introduces the audience to the family "Frick". These are NOT descendants of Henry Clay Frick (perhaps a twisted side branch of that family tree) but are instead a band of fraudsters, con men, charmers and snakes. In this part memoir, part fantasy, Dan Frick exposes his own nuclear family's stubborn, explosive, hilarious streak. (D.B. says its 85% fact). This situational comedy is destined for digital
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE: a la Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE -sound familiar? But this time round it is a two-hander comedic reimagining of the old classic. Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg are the couple that have written and perform in this NY Premiere. This entertaining production by Blanket Fort Entertainment has already garnered positive responses from the press: “DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE was praised by Stage Raw as “a highly innovative work, impressive for its delightfully morbid sense of humor and the versatility of the acting.” Broadway World said, “Both actors display a great deal of charm, courage and panache. Stromberg is nothing short of