Atlanta Ballet’s New Choreographic Voices offers an edgy mixed rep program that looks at the bold new directions in contemporary dance. The ballet presents three avant-garde works, including Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin’s “Minus 16,” a humorous number in which the dancers pluck members from the audience to join in the Ballroom-style dancing.
“Minus 16” is set to music ranging from Dean Martin to cha-cha, mambo, techno and traditional Israeli music. “Minus 16” originally premiered in 1999 by Nederlands Dans Theatre II, whose video hovers above this post. Naharin’s pieces have been performed by some of the world’s leading dance companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Naharin has received multiple international awards for his contribution to dance and culture.
NCV will also mark the return of choreographer Gina Patterson, who created her first work for Atlanta Ballet’s first New Choreographic Voices program in 2011. That world premiere of “Quietly Walking” was called a “polished balletic masterpiece” by Dance Informa Magazine.
In her second world premiere for Atlanta Ballet, Patterson explores the idea of self-discovery and the moment when a “yes” or “no” can change a life forever. “I Am,” which contains nudity, is a journey of transformation and a time of reflection.
Christopher Wheeldon’s “Rush” is a wistful, neo-classical homage to the traditional pas de deux. Six couples ebb and flow, rushing forward and soaring back across the stage. Though original and post modern in style, “Rush” maintains the essence of traditional ballet.
The New York Times said, “Critics routinely praise his wit and imagination and point to his keen musicality, mastery of stage space and inventive partnering.
The Atlanta Ballet performs New Choreographic Voices March 22-24 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
Keith Randolph Smith and Jeremy Aggers: photo: Greg Mooney
“The Whipping Man” is like a frightening accident that makes you cringe, yet you can’t turn away from it because it’s one hell of a powerful play.
A wounded Jewish Civil War soldier, Caleb DeLeon (Jeremy Aggers), clambers into his front door in Richmond, Va., just as the war has ended, days before the Jewish holiday Passover. The home is nearly devoid of everything, except two of the family’s slaves, Simon (Keith Randolph Smith) and John (John Stewart).
Although Caleb has turned away from God, the DeLeon slaves were indoctrinated into Judaism, so Simon creates a Seder, the symbolic Passover dinner that commemorates the freedom of the Jewish slaves in biblical times in Egypt.
Like a Shakespearean play within a play, this is a celebration of freedom within a celebration. It’s a glimpse into the hypocrisy of religion and humanity.
Directed by Alexander Greenfield, “The Whipping Man” bleeds with a superb script by Matthew Lopez, and a good cast with a notable performance by Aggers. The Whipping Man” runs on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre through April 7.
There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on at the Fox Theatre this week!
“Million Dollar Quartet” is inspired by the true story of the December evening in 1956 that Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash recorded at Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tenn.
Presley, rising star Cash, and up-and-coming Perkins find themselves assembled at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, where their producer and manager Sam Phillips calls in Jerry Lee Lewis to round out the sound.
The New York Times called the show “a buoyant new musical that whips the crowd into a frenzy,” New York Magazine labeled it “a dazzling raucous spectacle that sounds like a million bucks,” and NY1 called it “90 minutes of platinum grade entertainment.”
In 2010, “Million Dollar Quartet” was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and won for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
Ticket holders will have access to the Spanish Room where authentic memorabilia from the famous quartet will be on display, including Johnny Cash’s handwritten lyrics and suit, a handwritten note and karate costume owned by Elvis Presley and exclusive items from Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.
The Chicago production of “Million Dollar Quartet” opened in 2008 and is still playing to packed houses at the Apollo Theatre, and a Las Vegas production began performances at Harrah’s Showroom in Las Vegas last month. The West End production played at the Noël Coward Theatre in London in 2011.
“Million Dollar Quartet” runs March 12-17 at the Fox Theatre. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m. with matinees Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Jessica DiGiovanni, Brandon Hirsch, Tom White, and Je Nie Fleming; Photo: Greg Mooney
The one thing you know pretty quickly when watching the Kendeda Award-winner for Best Play by a student playwright, this ain’t no amateur playwright. Within the first 20 minutes of the play, I pegged him as the next Neil Simon, replete with wit, comedic genius and originality, a man who could end up writing a slew of outstanding comedic plays.
Turns out, he basically has already done that.
“Bike America,” now running on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre, is pretty close to brilliant. Throughout the play there are scenes, situations and lines that are so smart, original and off-beat, you wonder where the hell the writer ever come up with that story. Forget trite theater and common storylines. This is one hell of a situation that only the brightest of minds could imagine.
Penny (Jessica DiGiovanni) has had it as a graduate student, with her meaningless classes and her needy boyfriend, Todd (Matt Nitchie). In an attempt to discover a new life, she signs up for the Bike America tour for cancer. Who cares that she’s only biked four days at the gym before beginning the cross-country trek with a small group that will be biking six hours a day. She’s determined to manage it.
The situations and characters, although entirely different, are as outlandish as those on the TV show “Seinfeld.” Playwright Michael Lew paints a clear picture of the towns the cyclists visit and and the characters Penny meets along the way. All wacky but totally believable. There’s no caricature here, just pure essence of life. Even the most notable actor, Marilyn Torres–who plays three characters–is believable as Todd’s mother, a mix of George Burns and Edward G. Robinson, and is quite the mixture of Gracie Allen and Rosie Perez as Annabelle, the gay girlfriend to Roxy.
A decade after graduating from Yale, where he studied science, and double majored in English and theater, playwright Michael Lew went to Julliard where he continued to study playwriting. He was a staff writer for PBS Kids and presently writes for The Blue Man Group.
He’s already gotten more offers to write for TV. His credits already are astounding.
The Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition receives submissions from all over the country. BIKE AMERICA playwright Mike Lew. The Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition is a one-of-a-kind competition that transitions student playwrights to the world of professional theatre. The Competition is open to all final year playwriting students at invited MFA programs throughout the country.
“Bike America” runs on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance Theatre through Feb. 24, 2013.
Directed by Mortiz von Stuelpnage, the cast of BIKE AMERICA includes Je Nie Fleming, Brandon Hirsch, Maurice Ralston and Tom White.
About Mike Lew
Mike Lew’s plays include Bike America, microcrisis (Ma-Yi, NYC; InterAct Philadelphia);Stockton (Ensemble Studio Theatre workshop, NYC); People’s Park (Victory Gardens Ignition Festival, Chicago); Yit, Ngay (published in Plays and Playwrights 2006); Neanderthal Love (Sloan commission); Bury the Iron Horse; and Paper Gods. His shorts include Tenure (24 Hour Plays on Broadway); Roanoke (Humana Festival, Louisville); In Paris You Will Find Many Baguettes but Only One True Love (Humana Festival, Louisville; InspiraTO Festival Winner, Toronto); Moustache Guys (Second Generation, NYC); Virtual Congress (Keen Company commission); The Roosevelt Cousins, Thoroughly Sauced Sam French Festival winner); and Magician Ben Vs. The Wizard Merlin (published by Smith & Kraus). Several of his short plays are published by Playscripts.
Mike is a Heideman Award winner and a four-time finalist four years in a row, and winner of the 2007 Battle of the Bards. Along with his wife Rehana Lew Mirza, he is co-director of the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab, the largest collection of Asian-American playwrights ever assembled in the history of recorded time. Other memberships/residencies include Ensemble Studio Theatre, Old Vic New Voices, At Play Productions, Youngblood (alum), and TCG Young Leaders of Color. Training: Juilliard (2012), Yale (2003). View his website at mikelew.com.
Five years have passed since the mercurial Count Dracula last sauntered onto the Atlanta Ballet stage, but the seductive vampire is back just in time for Valentine’s Day, Feb. 8-16, 2013 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
Based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 classic gothic horror story, choreographer Michael Pink’s Dracula mixes romance and passion with horror and pain. The lush cinematic work, complete with sensuous costumes, theatrical sets and a gripping original score (by Philip Feeney), has become one of the biggest hits in Atlanta Ballet’s 83-year history and one of the most popular renditions of Dracula in the world.
“Long live Atlanta Ballet’s Dracula,” said the AJC’s Julia Bookman in a 2002 review. “Gorgeously stylized…this revival promises pulse-racing theatrics smoothly entwined with wondrous choreography.”
Atlanta Ballet performed the North American premiere of Dracula in 1998, and the production has since been seen by more than half a million people worldwide.
Michael Pink’s Dracula runs for two weekends Feb. 8-16 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre- 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta 30339. Tickets start as low as $20. Call the Ticketmaster Arts Line at (404) 817-8700, stop by a Ticketmaster outlet or the Cobb Energy Centre Box Office. To order on-line, visit atlantaballet.com. Groups of ten or more may call Atlanta Ballet Group Sales at (404) 873-5811 ext. 207.
I can’t figure out how “Good People” got nominated for a Tony Award. But I can certainly see why it didn’t win.
Now playing at the Alliance Theatre, “Good People” is slow. Really slow. So slow that in the first act Mom’s head popped up and down so many times she looked like a Jack-in-the-Box. During intermission she swore she hadn’t fallen asleep, said she was just resting her head but heard everything. I asked her why she thought the casting director cast a man who looked to be more than a decade younger than Margie (Kate Buddeke) to play the doctor (Thomas Vincent Kelly as Mike) who supposedly dated her when they were in high school. Mom said, “What doctor? There wasn’t a doctor.”
Granted she’s nearing 80, but this is a woman who can’t even fall sleep on a six-hour plane ride. But I guess when scenes last twice as long as necessary, that’s one way to put the crowd to sleep. Margie has a developmentally disabled daughter. Got it. Margie and her friends grew up in a low-income neighborhood. Got it. Margie got pregnant when she was in high school. Got it.
The first scene starts out good, and it lasts just long enough. We see Margie do all she can to talk her way out of getting fired. We love hearing about all the times she’s been late and laugh when we hear her tell her boss, Stevie (Andrew Benator), about the time his mom tired to steal a turkey from the grocery store. The acting is good, and things flow along nicely, even when we see her get fired. But it’s the next few scenes that move at a turtle’s pace. That is until one of the final scenes in the doctor’s home, which clips along at a nice trot with Margie, Mike, and his wife, Kate (Kristen Ariza) playing nice until the point that Margie reveals that her daughter is Mike’s daughter. Mom’s head was locked straight ahead the entire scene.
If they handed out Tony Awards for best scene, I could see that being nominated. I couldn’t say Good People” is a good play, but the acting sure is.
Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Susan V. Booth, “Good People” runs through Feb. 10 at the Alliance Theatre.
Cast includes Brenda Bynum and Lala Cochran.
L-R: Jeremiah Parker Hobbs, Kyle Brumley (partially visible), Tara Chiusano, Jeremy Wood, Bailey Sessions, Jordan Hale, Galen Crawley, Jason-Jamal Ligon; Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus
Now this is interesting history! Had my teachers and history books been half as lively as “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” now playing at Actor’s Express, you wouldn’t have seen all those C’s in history on my report cards.
Imagine a trodden, rebellious crowd of punks decrying the government in the early 19th century, rallying around the meanest, baddest punk rocker in the nation, and you’ve got Andrew Jackson (Maxim Gukhman) and the angry ensemble that adores him. He butchers Native Americans, brawls with Congress, and fights to bring government out of the hands of the Washington elite and into those of the American frontiers.
The play is loads of fun, hell raising and roiling music, but the cast rarely seems to touch upon the true emotion of their characters. Yes, Jackson and the ensemble stomp their feet, scrunch their faces, and shake their fists, but few ever touch on the angst beneath all that.
However, there is one gem among this cast who shines as bright as the best on SNL. Storyteller (Kerry Seymour) whips onto the stage in an electric wheelchair with the excitement of a smitten teenager, praising Andrew Jackson as if he were the most handsome, heroic man ever. Her jubilation and effervescence are contagious. Storyteller brings to life Lilly Tomlin’s telephone operator, Julia Sweeney’s “Pat,” and Frances McDormand in “Fargo,” all in one believable character.
Jackson’s wife, Rachel (Galen Crawley), steps up her performance when she sings solo. If Gukhman could bring his inner Sid Vicious to the microphone, it would be easier to overlook his off-key singing.
One thing I didn’t understand: why the costume designer didn’t dress Jackson in tight pants when it was stated twice that he was wearing tight pants.
A fun rock musical with lots of humor, a good script and a stellar performance by Seymour, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” runs through Feb. 17 at Actor’s Express. Book by Alex Timbers, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, directed by Freddie Ashley.
Ensemble:
Kyle Brumley, Tara Chiusano, Sam Costantino, Andy Danh, Jordan Hale, Jeremiah Parker Hobbs, Jason-Jamal Ligon, Bailey Sessions, Caitlin Smith, and Jeremy Wood.
Band: Bill Newbury, Bennett Walton, Chip Coursey.
Adrienne Reynolds (City Her) and Bernardine Mitchell (Willy); Photo: Josh Lamkin
Although there’s a slow drawn-out start to Theatrical Outfit’s “The Gifts of the Magi,” a musical based on O. Henry’s Classic short story “The Gift of the Magi,” just wait. It gets good.
The musical lasts less than 90 minutes with no intermission, and if the playwright were to have cut the first 10 minutes, which takes a long, long, long, long, long time to establish this is New York City, it’s the early 1900s and finding work is tough, the beginning of the show would have been better. But alas, although Mark St. St. Germain writes what seems to be pages of a boring monologue for the narrator, Willy (Bernardine Mitchell), this show is worth seeing because there are some dynamite performances.
The story revolves around a young newlywed couple, Della (Caroline Freedlund) and Jim (Nick Arapoglou), who have been crazy in love with each other since they were kids. Although they moved to New York City so Jim could rise in a career, the economic depression has prevented him from finding a job. Near eviction and with less than $2 to their name, they both secretly do whatever they can to buy meaningful Christmas presents for each other. While they scurry about New York, so does a cast of disparate characters.
Soapy (skillfully played by Glenn Rainey) whose character appears to be a total portrait of Otis from “The Andy Griffith Show,” ostensibly adds a bit of comic relief. But in truth, Soapy seems to be a stereotypical shell of a character.
Two of the cast members, City Him (Jeff McKerley) and City Her (Adrienne Reynolds), play numerous characters that will have you cracking up. Reynolds is as quick, funny and truthful an actor as Jonathan Winters, and like him, she can deftly change characters within seconds: a rich Southern Belle, a working-class Londoner, a wanton woman. She alone is worth the price of admission.
But, wait, there’s more! Bernardine Mitchell, one of Atlanta’s best-known and most respected singers, is a standout and soars on the final tune, “Gifts of Christmas.” OK, most of the music—and the choreography—in this show is not what I’d call good, or even fair, but this song, or at least the way she sings it, is excellent. The song just before that, “The Same Girl” is also sung beautifully by Freedlund.
Unfortunately, the real heart, meat and feeling of the story does not show up until the last quarter. Bring a tissue. It’s there at the end: a heart-wrenching, bitter-sweet finale. Oh, yeah, that’s the part O. Henry wrote. Playwriting like this brings to mind the old adage: why mess with a good thing? Although St. Germain can’t improve upon the original story, these actors do a wonderful job of bringing this Christmas show to life.
Directed by Heidi Cline McKerley, music composed by Randy Courts, choreography by Jeff McKerly, and musical direction by S. Renee Clark, “The Gifts of the Magi,” runs through Dec. 23 at Theatrical Outfit.
Stephanie Friedman, Zachary W. Magan, Maia Knispel
“Titus Clown,” a takeoff on Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus,” is not all blood and gore, but it’s not for the queasy. And if you plan on sitting up close to the stage at The New American Shakespeare Tavern for this show, be advised: you may get stained with what appears to be blood oozing from a baby’s wrists once its hands have been excised.
The show plays on the theme of “Titus Andronicus” tinged with The Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges thrown in for good humor. What makes this show is its co-creator and star actor, Maia Knispel. No matter how cartoonish and outlandish her actions, she plays them with so much true-to-life sincerity, she’ll have you rolling with laugher while she is literally lying on the ground rolling with laughter.
But what breaks this show is the overacting of clown Bobbi, who consistently overemotes, appearing like a cartoon character of a cartoon character. The script is cartoonish enough. If you like those old cartoons from the 1960s where the characters consistently maim one another and play mean tricks on one another, you’ll likely find this show quite entertaining. No matter how much these clowns bludgeon one another, they’re like Wile E. Coyoe, who might appear to be lying dead in the road after being tossed from a high cliff falling splat onto concrete. Yet they all manage to pick themselves right back up.
If you’ve forgotten “Titus Andronicus,” you can read the shortened version of it here on Wikipedia. It would be good to review it before seeing the show.
“Titus Clown” runs through Nov. 17 at The New American Shakespeare Tavern where “Titus Andronicus” will be performed through Nov. 25.
Googie Uterhardt and Catherine Porter, Photo: Greg Mooney
Here it is folks, an outstanding production of the Tony Award-winning musical “Next to Normal.” All the actors in this Alliance Theatre cast are excellent, as are the directing, lighting and set design.
Catherine Porter, who plays the lead, Diana, was the understudy on Broadway. And there are other Broadway veterans in this show too. But here’s what’s so strange: I LOVED Googie Uterhardt, a local actor who plays Dr. Fine and Dr. Madden. I can’t say he stole the show, but what a performance of a wild yet sedated psychoanalyst!
See show details and interview with the director here.
Music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, directed by Scott Schwartz, featuring Jordan Craig, Bob Gaynor, Catherine Porter, Lyndsay Ricketson, Cary Tedder and Googie Uterhardt, “Next to Normal” runs through Nov. 11 at the Alliance Theatre.
