I don’t want to sound like a broken record but the past 3 days have been great, both entertainment, weather, and, finally, Yankee baseball-wise.Let me start first with Saturday, which was devoted to theater and people watching in the East and West Villages. My first show, “Untitled Masterpiece," started at noon and ran for an hour. It was a very funny and well performed comedy about making the transition from college to the workforce. I give it a rating of 4 stars out of 5 (my rating schedule).
When the show was over I had almost 2 hours to kill, so I walked over to the pier at the end of Christopher Street and sat in the shade in the breeze and did some major people watching while listening to the Yankees/KC game.
The second show was “KABOOM!,” a frantic comedy about a con-man playing multiple roles who is trying to save a scam gone wrong. I give it a rating of 3.0 stars. The acting was better than the book.
When the show was over I was shocked to learn that the Yankee game was into extra innings, so I listened to it while walking East along Bleecker Street headed for my 3rd and last show, “The Grecian Formula.” Had time to find a nice park bench in the shade to listen to the rest of the game, which the Yankees finally won in the bottom of the 13th inning. Trust me, they had plenty of opportunities earlier but just couldn’t get the crucial hits with runners in scoring position, something that has plagued them all season. And, dammit, guys, time is running out!!!!
The house was full for “The Grecian Formula,” a truly madcap comedy about the beginning of writing drama for theater in the world of ancient Greece. Lots of barbs at the current theater scene. The cast was excellent and the audience was really into the risqué show, which ended with the presentation of the Golden Phallus Award. It wins 4.5 stars.
I have to admit that I was a bit tired when I got back to the apartment around 10:45 but it had been an excellent Big Apple Day.
And, Sunday was more of the same. My first show was at 2:30 at the same theater on Bleecker Street. I took a bus downtown because I wanted to listen to the Yankee/KC game which began at 1:00 with The Moose pitching. It didn’t start off well. Mussina gave up 3 runs in the top of the lst inning but the Yankee bats woke up and ARod tied the game in the bottom of the lst with a 3-run bomb and then in the next inning Giambi hit a grand slam. The Yankees cruised to a 15-6 win.
The show, “Gargoyle Garden,” was much more of a kids show than I had anticipated and it just didn’t work for me. Thankfully, it was only one hour long. It gets only 1.5 stars.
When the show was over I had to kinda hustle over to the next theater, located on Barrow Street at 7th Avenue. When I got there I spotted the cast of my show sitting together across the street, waiting for their turn. How did I know? Well, the name of the show is “The Redheaded Man” and one of the guys sitting on the sidewalk had flaming red hair. And, I was right.
As an aside, I have to comment on the rigorous scheduling and timetable for each show. At each venue there are 5 shows per day/night, scheduled back-to-back. When one show is over the next show crew and cast has about 30 minutes after the set of the previous show is struck to get their show set up and running. The box office doesn’t open until 15 minutes before show time and that is also when the house opens. It is general admission seating. Every show I have seen thus far has started right on time. There is no late seating permitted. My hat is off to the casts and crews.
Now about “The Redheaded Man.” The redheaded man shows up in the mind of the lead, a 25 year old young architect who is heavily medicated to treat his “manic depression.” It starts out kinda funny then it gets darker and darker and darker until it ain’t funny at all. The cast is excellent, especially the young guy playing the architect. Even though I left the theater feeling a bit creepy, I still have to give this drama 4.0 stars. It may get a higher rating later as I finish processing the whole thing.
When the show was over I had to hustle uptown via the 1 train to the Theater District to meet a representative from one of my ticket services in order to pick up my complimentary ticket to [title of show]. My God, my ticket was in the orchestra, row K, house right. Excellent. Oh, I was able to give my un-used Fringe ticket to a friend of my friend Paddy, who works outside the TKTS booth on 46th Street.
I have already talked about [title of show]. This was my second time seeing the Broadway run. I saw it twice when it was Off-Broadway. It is developing a “cult” following and I guess I have to admit that I am one. We are called “tossers” (I understand in England a tosser is a wanker - no matter). The show is so much fun. It is too bad that the weekly grosses are not enough to keep it running much past September when the tourists leave and the new season begins.
When I got back to the apartment I have to admit that I was tired but very very happy about being a New Yorker. I crashed at the usual 2:00am.
This is being written on Monday night and I saw two more Fringe Festival shows today and booked most of the rest of the week. This is getting to be too long, so I will post it now and write about everything else tomorrow morning, hopefully.
Go Yankees!!
Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com
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