Sharpenicity

After you see  36 Views, you will wonder how many art works  in museums are frauds but you will have no doubt that the Constellation production is the real thing! .Do not be deceived by the lush images and evocative poetry. There is no one without guilt in this story.    Behind the beautiful world of art, there lurks intricate layers of  deceitful dealings by artists, art foragers, dealers, curators and scholars, fueled by cravings for money, love, sex  and recognition. Taking its title from Katsushita Hokusa’s 36  images of Mt. Fuji,  Naiom Iizuka’s play is constructed in 36 intersecting scenes of a complex plot.  Constellation director Allison Arkell Stockman and company explore intersections of commerce and connoisseurship,  with a fine cast  led by Jim Jorgensen, with Sue Jin Song, include Megan Dominy, Ashley Ivey, Tuyet Thi Pham and David Paglin.   Special kudos to Kendra Rai for costume design and Aaron Fisher for...

Winner Take All ( A Rock Opera) is the story of two (possibly teen) lovers -- Catie (Anna Eilinsfeld ) and Ricky (Jared Zirilli), who get entangled in the cosmic musical battle between the bands of heaven and hell. Trent Armand Kendall is the Narrator - someone between God and a Sunday preacher - who keeps the story moving. Jacquelyn Graham is Sally, the archangel who encompasses all the glories of soul and jazz. Her two angels are Ivory (charming Darren Lorenzo) and Chardonnay (sassy Kyle Lamar Mitchell). The Devil is star of course. Brian Charles Rooney can do things with his voice and his charm that are a match for his role. The two Devilettes: Zakiya Young as Scarlett and Kat Nejat as Beaujolais are, of course, irresistible. Winner is in every sense an opera, not a musical. The songs move the story along with only the briefest dialogue between sets. The characters might at first all seem stock from the everlasting character prop shop--but they are cleverly...

THE LEGEND OF JULIE-TAYMOR or THE MUSICAL THAT KILLED EVERYBODY! Anyone who hasn’t been vacationing on Mars for the last year, knows that Spider-man (the Broadway spectacular) turned out to be a bigger spectacle off stage. Rather than complain that 65 million dollars doesn’t buy suc cess like it used to, check out the true story ripped from behind the headlines in The Legend of Julie-Taymor or The Musical That Killed Everybody! People laugh when they hear just the title. Reviewers are saying this is the top must see show in the 2011 NYC International Fringe Festival. Glowing pre-reviews and mentions have appeared in the Post , Daily News and The New Yorker. Yes, even before seeing it, everyone is laughing. The Legend is filled with stars from the big stage, starting with Avenue Q star Jennifer Barnhart, who brilliantly plays a manical Julie Paymore. Timely and faced pace, Travis Fersguson’ s witty script, captures the essence of the complex ch...

THE SANTA FE OPERA 2011 The program could well double as the contents of a popular woman’s magazine. Take a quiz of “What type of woman are you?” or read a self help piece on how to get your man to pay more attention to you. The answers are here at the Santa Fe Opera this year. The five operas span over 200 years, in which opera audiences in Europe and America went through all kinds of revolutions (military, industrial, social, technological, etc.), but there’s a lot about each of the leading women that fits modern molds. Vivaldi’s Griselda Griselda (the shepherdess who “married up” represents the ultra-traditional woman who will stand by her man, no matter what he does to denounce her. While there is no singing role for the devil in this opera, it is clear that her husband the king is possibly possessed by demons from the list of bizarre actions he has taken in his career by the time the opera starts. Griselda be...

Constellation Theatre Company lives up to its name in presenting this heavenly production. The Ramayana received critical acclaim last year but the best sign of its success is that of returning audiences for its re-mount. That of course would be a given in South East Asia where sacred epic in many versions has been retold for millenniums. This live version, directed by Allison Stockman, captures the sacred spirit of the religious nature of this work while providing first class ( serious, sexy and silly) entertainment. Here's the recipe for an epic: Music - here supremely provided by Helen Hayes winner Tom Teasley ( www.tomteasley.com ) . Poetry-- Valmiki’s tens of thousands of verses in ancient Sanskrit turned into a lush soaring script by playwright/poet Peter Oswald Dramatic tensions between good and bad guys-- from the blue god Rama (Andreu Honeycutt), to his dazzling wife Sita (Heather Haney) and a notorious villain, Ravana the Demon K...

THEATER GOERS JULY MIGRATION TO SHEPHERDSTOWN WVA FOR CATF July is the time to stretch your theater wings and join the migration of theater goers to the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. This year CATF celebrated its 21 year. With a past history of over 85 plays by 60 different playwrights, this festival is now a destination of its own for theater goers. With three stages, It’s like going to the circus--- except that the big show is what is the latest in contemporary American theater. Here’s a re-cap of this year’s line-up: In the center ring, the main attraction was undoubtedly the two works by Pulitzer prize winners. David Mamet’s “Race” --the provocative drama of two lawyers defend a wealthy white executive accused of raping a black woman and Sam Shepard’s “Ages of the Moon,” a gritty reunion of two old friends over bourbon on ice to reflect on fifty years of love and friendship--over the barrel of a shotgun--both ...

“Enchanted.” Chick flicks. A girlfriend wanted to know if I shared her love of modern day fairy tale aka girlie movies about kissing princes. Well no...but I had been to the Met Simulcasts this opera season and a majority ...six in all...centered on a woman with a love interest. Does this count? Unlike heroines in chick flicks, the majority of opera heroines seem to be of royal blood to start with. Turnadot and Aida are both princesses, Armida is the Queen of Damascus and Tosca is not only an opera diva to which all Rome flocks to hear sing, but she also has the ear of the queen. Perhaps the one displaying the most teenage girl angst is Ophelia. Unlike the cheerful Centerentola who moves up when she marries the prince, Ophelia starts out by being in love with a the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Then there is Carmen who conquers everyone in her path. All these soprano star roles seem to possess some kind of personal power--most often political--either by birth or by talent....