Good afternoon everyone. Wow!! In checking my daily log I find that I have already scheduled entertainment events for 12 out of the 13 upcoming days. Wow!! And, what an interesting array of events, so ... without further delay, this is Billi Pod’s upcoming schedule, starting with tonight:
Thursday - March 12 - 8:00 - “Rumspringa” - Off Broadway. “On a cold December night, 57 year old married software executive, Steve meets 28 year old surfer, Brandon on Southwest flight 1049 from LAX to Chicago. Brandon is on his way to visit a love interest, Cecily, an expatriate riverboat casino blackjack dealer living in Joliet, Illinois. Meanwhile, an ominous rave party is percolating in a nearby Indiana cornfield - organized by a large group of rebellious Amish teenagers. These events set the stage for "Rumspringa", a dark comedy that explores the temptation in all of us to see what it's like on the outside of our own lives - and what can be gained or lost through such an exploration.” (complimentary ticket).
Friday - 8:00 - “The Unseen” - Off Broadway. “The Unseen is a psychological potboiler about two prisoners trying to crack the code of their cryptic imprisonment by a brutal, totalitarian regime. Only familiar to each other by their voices, the two men keep each other mentally and emotionally going through the cell walls as they share stories of their interrogations and torture, putting the pieces together about who their captors are and what it would take to get out. The puzzle is further complicated with the introduction of a new prisoner placed near them who only poses more questions than answers.” (complimentary ticket).
Saturday - 8:00 - “Christine Jorgensen Reveals” - Off Broadway. “Christine Jorgensen was born George Jorgensen, Jr. on May 30th, 1926 to unsuspecting middle-class Danish-American parents in the Bronx. She was drafted into an unsuspecting United States Army where she served out her time at a desk at Fort Dix in New Jersey from 1948 to 1950. She then flew to Copenhagen, Denmark where she was re-born as Christine Jorgensen, the first American transsexual. In 1958 Christine Jorgensen walked into a recording studio in New York and allowed herself to be interviewed - for 51 minutes. Arguably the most revealing, truthful and riveting 51 minutes ever set down on vinyl. Christine Jorgensen Reveals is a one-man-tour-de-force-painstakingly-accurate-reincarnation of those searing and revolutionary 51 minutes.” (complimentary ticket).
Sunday - 3:00 - “Reasons to be Pretty” - Broadway. “Neil LaBute's bristling new comic drama transfers to Broadway. Americas obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this challenging new play. A tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when Greg's offhanded remarks about a female coworkers pretty face (and his girlfriend's lack thereof) get back to said girlfriend. He and his friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?” (discounted TDF ticket).
I saw this show during its Off Broadway run and liked it a lot. It will be interesting to see how it transfers to Broadway.
Monday - 8:00 - “Distinguished Concert Series” @ Alice Tully Hall. This Lincoln Center venue has undergone a multi-year renovation and has just re-opened. It is now breathtakingly beautiful and this will be my first visit since it reopened a couple of weeks ago. The concert will feature The Kansas City Chorale and The Phoenix Chorale. (complimentary ticket).
Tuesday - 8:00 - “Hedda Gablor” - Broadway. This is the press blurb: “Mary-Louise Parker heads the cast this new Broadway production of Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece. A woman of dangerous independence restrained by a conventional marriage, the newly married Hedda mourns the freedom and excitement of her former life by indulging in a cruel game, amusing herself with the misfortune she inflicts on those around her.” (Roundabout Theatre subscription series).
The show has gotten generally favorable reviews.
Wednesday - this is an important day for me because it is the anniversary of my 19th year of sobriety. Will write much more about this later.
7:30 - New York Philharmonic @ Avery Fisher Hall. This is the program: “Israeli percussion duo PercalDu is featured in the U.S. premiere of ‘Spices, Perfumes, Toxins!,’ a flamboyant concerto by Avner Dorman, conducted by Zubin Mehta. Assuring that no one on stage feels left out of the action, the program is completed with Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.” (subscription series)
Thursday - 8:00 - “The Toxic Avenger” - Off Broadway. “He's New Jersey's first Superhero and he takes to the stage in this rock 'n roll monster of a comedy. Thrown into a vat of toxic goo by two bullies, a mild-mannered science student named Melvin Ferd the Third is reborn as a one-of-a-kind environmental crusader, The Toxic Avenger! Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, he's out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest, blindest librarian in town.” (discounted TDF ticket).
This sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
Friday - 8:00 - I have been invited to the final performance of “Enter Laughing” at the York Theater and it includes an invitation to the closing night party with the cast and crew. This will be the 7th time I have seen the show since it first appeared at the York Theater 2 1/2 years ago as a staged reading. I am going to miss it. I had previously scheduled a Chorale Concert at Avery Fisher Hall so I will give the ticket to the nice lady who lives on my floor (not in 1-B).
Saturday - 8:00 - “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” - Broadway. This is the second play of August Wilson’s Century Cycle - “Set in 1911, Joe Turner's Come and Gone tells the story of Herald Loomis who, after serving seven years hard labor, journeys North with his young daughter and arrives at a Pittsburgh boarding house filled with memorable characters who aid him in his search for his inner freedom.” (discounted TDF ticket).
I think this is the 3rd preview performance.
Sunday - March 22 - open at the moment (How can this be, you ask? Just give me time - it will be filled. I promise.)
Monday - 8:00 - “Rock of Ages” - Broadway. This show had a very successful run Off Broadway and I saw it with Sandy Mullon of Anna Maria, FL, during her brief visit in the City last summer. It has now transferred to Broadway and is in very early previews. The press blurb is: “In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker and in LA's most famous rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the 80s. It's Rock of Ages , an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more. Don't miss this awesomely good time about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on.” (discounted TDF ticket).
Tuesday - 8:00 - “Why Torture is Wrong, and the People who Love Them” - Off Broadway. “Back at The Public for another world premiere of a new play, Christopher Durang turns political humor upside down with this raucous and provocative satire about Americas growing homeland "insecurity. The play tells the story of a young woman suddenly in crisis: Is her new husband, whom she married when drunk, a terrorist? Or just crazy? Or both? Is her father's hobby of butterfly collecting really a cover for his involvement in a shadow government? Why does her mother enjoy going to the theater so much? Does she seek mental escape, or is she insane? Honing in on our private terrors both at home and abroad, Durang oddly relieves our fears in this black comedy for an era of yellow, orange, and red alerts.” (discounted TDF ticket).
I know, I know - I have many times observed that when works are described as either a “dark” comedy or a “black” comedy, the result is 99.9% of the time much much more dark/black than comedic. I have a gut feeling that this show will fall in the “love-it or hate-it” category. We will see.
So, in closing, my loyal and faithful readers, you are now up-to-date on Billi Pod’s entertainment schedule for the next 13 days.
I have also almost completed a posting about the past week’s entertainment frenzy, which I will post tomorrow, hopefully.
Go Gators and Go Yankees!!
Billi Pod
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