Off-Broadway

New York City is host to two concurrently running productions of Shakespeare’s Macbeth this Spring: Aquila Theatre‘s presentation at the Gym at Judson (April 18th – May 6th), and Epic Theatre Ensemble‘s interpretation at the 47th Street Theatre (April 20 – May 26th). A stable of many a theatrical company’s portfolio, apart from its matchless, [...]

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Actress and Comedian Livia Scott hosts this monthly variety show, where dead celebrities are brought back to life and stellar guest performances contribute to the experience of Livia’s Castle of Enchantment at the UCB Theater East. I attended Livia’s Castle of Enchantment on Tuesday, April 24, and was pleasantly taken on a whirlwind as Livia [...]

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John Sowle in Horripilation!
 / Photo by Steven Patterson The writer and performer of Horripilation!, John Sowle, is unquestionably a shining light in the fields of research and preservation of obscure global theatrical traditions, as well as being an imposing performative figure in the relating and embodiment of these same traditions. In 1973, with a [...]

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Review – Superman 2050 By Theater Un-Speak-Able (Times Square International Theater Festival 2012)

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson January 23, 2012 Festivals

Deploying a short and narrow raised, wooden platform, with a total area surface of 21 square feet, seven actors in blue spandex outfits (that’s 3 square feet each they have to work with; you do the math!), no scenery or lighting effects, and just 35 minutes, Theater Un-Speak-Able set out to tell that well-worn saga [...]

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3 Ghosts By Pipe Dream Theatre Productions

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson December 13, 2011 Music

Younger minds may find entertainment and diversion at 3 Ghosts, this stage musical adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ story, A Christmas Carol by Pipe Dream Theatre Productions. Everything about it resonates with an enthusiastic note of, well, glee. The attractive and animated cast strut and stand about stage looking very pleased with themselves, and the energy [...]

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Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays – Before And After “I Do”

by Karen Tortora-Lee November 14, 2011 Manhattan

  Heading into the new play written by an “A-list lineup of writers with 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 4 Obies, 1 Emmy® and 3 Tony® nominations” I expected that the evening would make me laugh … but not till my sides hurt. I expected to be moved … but not to tears.  Standing On Ceremony: The [...]

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“Kithless In Paradise” – The Rich Are Different

by Karen Tortora-Lee September 24, 2011 Manhattan

  Ever wonder what it might be like to hang out for a weekend with the casually wealthy?  Ever yearn to be part of a clique of old friends who sit around and poke fun at each other for small transgressions such as packing five pairs of shoes for a four day trip or dropping, [...]

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The Woman Standing On The Moon

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson September 23, 2011 Manhattan

  Attempting to grapple with the national ideological landscape of the present, James Haigney‘s new drama, The Woman Standing on the Moon, playing at United Stages on 30th Street, is undeniably ambitious. This is a serious minded engagement with the extremism of the times – religious and atheist. Set around Fayetteville, NC in 2006, the [...]

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BogBoy, By Deirdre Kinahan, At The Irish Arts Center

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson September 13, 2011 Manhattan

Immediately arresting in this production of Deirdre Kinahan‘s new play, BogBoy, at the Irish Arts Center, is Ciaran Bagnall‘s simple stage set of several scrim panels reflecting projected landscape imagery. The mood is heavy and still – darkening flat vistas of bogland stretching off to meet a cloud-crowded sky broken only in places to admit [...]

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The Pretty Trap – If “Glass” Had Never Broken

by Karen Tortora-Lee August 8, 2011 Manhattan

Imagine if you could re-visit a tragedy and restore the hope; take away the shadows of doubt, the shudders of despair. Imagine if you could re-visit shabby rooms, where stale air does little but circulate the layers of dust and melancholy, and breath in fresh life imbued with optimism and energy. Imagine if you could [...]

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The Team Behind “Gay Plays For Straight People (And Also Gay People)” Gives Me Some Straight Answers (And Also Some Gay Answers)

by Karen Tortora-Lee April 4, 2011 Karen's Interviews

Gay Plays for Straight People (and also gay people) is comprised of two plays which will play in rep brought to you by the new theatre company Purple Rep founded by playwrights Larry Kunofsky and Mariah MacCarthy.  The plays - Kunofsky’s The Un-Marrying Project and MacCarthy’s The All-American Genderf*ck Cabaret – will run from April 8-30 at The Paradise Factory (64 [...]

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Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Jenn Boehm

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 30, 2011 Karen's Interviews

  These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work. Today we continue our series with Jenn Boehm. The first time I saw Jenn she was standing on the [...]

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Mimic – Mockery Is The Default Mode

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson March 23, 2011 Manhattan

There are several occasions during Mimic when performer Raymond Scannell’s kohl-lined eyes look directly out into the audience and rake through the crowd with a malevolent glitter. The moments induce goose bumps, and a magnetic tug that would have you surrender all resistance and follow him willingly towards the heart of darkness he is hinting [...]

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59 Reasons To Catch The Body Politic At 59E59

by Antonio Miniño March 6, 2011 Off-Broadway

We asked the producers of The Body Politic at 59E59 to entice us in 59 words to check out their last performance today. The Off-Broadway debut of At Hand Theatre Company has received some great mentions and satisfied audience members. They think The Happiest Medium readers would like it because: The number one reason you [...]

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Entrevista: ESPA’s Tessa LaNeve

by Antonio Miniño February 1, 2011 Entrevista

Tessa LaNeve is the Literary Manager and Director of The Primary Stages and Anne Einhorn School of Performing Arts. She was kind enough to answer some questions in the middle of auditions for their next semester and planning DETENTION, a new performance series she will speak more of. What is ESPA? When was it formed [...]

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Mummenschanz – Everything Old Is New Again

by Karen Tortora-Lee December 27, 2010 Manhattan

When I was a little girl there was nothing I wanted to see more than Mummenschanz at the Bijou Theatre.  To me it appeared to be a magical, strange show that made no sense yet appealed to me in ways I couldn’t put into words.  Which was possibly the point, as Mummenschanz was a completely [...]

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Tony Chiroldes – The Sound Of One Man Soaring: Before Icarus Fell

by Karen Tortora-Lee November 1, 2010 Interviews

It’s not every day that The Henson Foundation takes an interest in your work – but then again, it’s not every day that man takes flight either. The first time man conquered the air was when Alberto Santos-Dumont flew the first controlled airship.  Despite the fact that – at the time – Santos-Dumont was one [...]

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