I'm Not on Strike

But it seems like everyone else is.

Last weekend, I went to New York City to see some theater. I was all jazzed about two plays in particular--The Seafarer and August:Osage County. Before I got on the Fung Wah bus at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, I checked Talkinbroadway.com and discovered that the Broadway stagehands had gone on strike. What that meant, in my consumerist mind, was that I wouldn't be able to see either show. Thankfully, a few other things were playing on Broadway, as was everything off-Broadway. So despite the setback, the weekend ended up being a lot of fun. I saw four shows--Xanadu, The Brothers Size, Mauritius and Make Me a Song.

Xanadu
A new musical based on the movie, featuring ELO's feckin sweet songs

I'd seen the movie, which is hilarious in a is-this-for-fucking-real sort of way. The musical is hilarious in a thank-god-this-is-fucking-real way. The music is awesome, Kerry Butler (playing the Olivia Newton-Jizzon role) is awesome, and Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa are awesome. Not to mention Cheyenne Jackson, who is so hot that I'd give both of my balls just to bounce quarters off of his deltoids.

The Brothers Size
A new play by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Three guys telling an interesting story in a less-than-interesting way. I'm not a fan of the spoken stage directions thing. Some of the movement stuff, which was based on West African rituals, was fun to look at. And 2/3 of the cast was mui caliente. The Public is a great theater. The last show I saw there (which was, for that matter, the first show I ever saw there) was called Passing Strange. Passing Strange is transferring to Broadway, and it's awesome--life changing, really. The Brothers Size most definitely will not transfer, but I'm grateful for having seen it.

Mauritius
A new play by Theresa Rebeck, her first to play Broadway

Bobby Canavale suffers from a serious case of MSPD (manic stage personality disorder). But the rest of the cast, especially F. Murray Abraham (who's looking more like F. Murray Abe-Vigoda these days), gave the play a level of humanity that didn't necessarily exist in Theresa Rebeck's script. It's downright silly at times, but I still had fun watching it. And it's always good to support female playwrights on Broadway. The pinnacle of American theater is unfortunately hostile to the ladies (can someone please explain to me why only one of Suzan-Lori Parks' plays has played Broadway??????). At least off-Broadway is more welcoming.

Make Me a Song
A revue of William Finn's work

Save seeing a community theater production of Falsettos and the original cast of Putnam County Spelling Bee, I'm woefully ignorant of William Finn's work. Make Me a Song is fun, and at times, super touching. The two ladies in the cast melted my face on several occasions. The fellas were pretty spectacular, too. High points: Sandy Binion singing "Only One," about a teacher's success in the classroom and failures in life; D.B. Bonds singing "Hitchhiking Across America," about exactly what the title says; and the company singing "You're Even Better Than You Think You Are," which can fuel any artists' necessary delusions of grandeur. I can't wait for the cast album to hit iTunes.

Overall, it was a great weekend. New York City motivates me to create in a way that no other place does. It's a magical place. It makes Disney World look like a sweat shop in South Korea.