Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary – A Epic Quest Through Another Hundred People

by Karen Tortora-Lee April 18, 2012 Manhattan

  While there’s nothing to indicate that Sondheim influenced Larry Kunfosky’s Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary in any way (in fact, extensive interviews with Larry Kunofsky beforehand never once included references to The Man or the the musical I’m about to cite) we all have our own personal archives.   To me, there was an [...]

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HA! – A Trio Of Rich Orloff Comedies

by Karen Tortora-Lee April 13, 2012 Manhattan

HA! is a trio of Rich Orloff’s most popular and acclaimed one-act comedies:  Oedi, a parody of Oedipus Rex, The News From St. Petersburg, a Chekhovian spoof set in 1905 Russia, and The Whole Shebang which portrays the entire universe as just a college student’s masters thesis on another dimension.  What they all have in common [...]

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Larry Kunofsky Take 2 … Still Imaginative – Nowhere Near Imaginary

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 26, 2012 Interviews

You’ve read part one.  You clamored for another round!  What could be more fun that sitting in on a conversation between me and brilliant playwright Larry Kunofsky as we discuss the road that led to his upcoming production of Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary? Last time Larry explained how everyone has an imaginary component (in [...]

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The Real Thing – Where Art Meets Life

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 21, 2012 Off-Off-Broadway

Art imitates life.  Life imitates art.  Often times -for the life of a playwright- the lines are so blurred that it’s almost impossible to distinguish realism from hyper-realism or acting from genuine feeling and emotion.  When fact and fiction can no longer be untangled it isn’t always easy to recognize if the words you’re hearing [...]

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Book Review: Best Erotic Romance

by Michelle Augello-Page March 21, 2012 Books

Best Erotic Romance (Cleis Press, 2012) offers a sampling of work from some of the best authors writing in the erotic romance genre today. Editor Kristina Wright introduces Best Erotic Romance by saying, “These are the stories that touched my heart and ignited my libido, that made me think about the nature of desire and [...]

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The Thing About Dan … Is Also The Thing About You

by Stephen Tortora-Lee March 21, 2012 Manhattan

The Thing About Dan, which ran last month, was the first play mounted by Slightly Altered States Theater Company,  written and directed by Sari Caine Glickstein, created in collaboration with actor Michael Hurst (Paul) and improviser Louis Kornfeld ( Zip). The production was very warmly received and many of the nights the cast was playing to sold-out [...]

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Larry Kunofsky – Unimaginably Imaginative. But NOT Imaginary – Take 1

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 14, 2012 Interviews

  You may think my life is all about going to shows, sitting in the dark, absorbing — going back home … writing reviews.  It is NOT.  My life is about highlighting, showcasing and celebrating the talented people of the independent entertainment world that I am lucky enough to experience.   I only know how [...]

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Let’s Keep Dancing … At The Company XIV Workshop

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 8, 2012 Brooklyn

  Even casual readers of The Happiest Medium know that when it comes to Company XIV and Austin McCormick I am reduced to a screaming fan-girl.  I am older, of course -not a girl, so my screaming is done on the inside (most of the time), but when it comes to this neo-baroque dance ensemble [...]

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Starting Tonight! Frigid Hangovers Begin At The Kraine Theater

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 5, 2012 Festivals

Every year the Frigid Festival gives us a hangover – of shows, that is!  A Frigid Hangover has nothing to do with alcohol but it has everything to do with shots!  As in — these shows get one more shot at entertaining audiences.   HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP PRESENTS THE 2012 FRIGID HANGOVERS THE BEST & BRIGHTEST [...]

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Traveling Musicians – E-I, E-I … OH!!!! (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by The Happiest Medium March 5, 2012 Festivals

The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre.   Are you ready to rock? No, seriously, are you? Because  Traveling Musicians, the glam-rock quartet straight out of the barnyard, are ready to help you find your inner animal. This merry band of misfits is comprised of four multi-instrumentalist critters–a cat, a dog, a donkey [...]

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The Rope In Your Hands: Katrina, In Their Own Words (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by The Happiest Medium March 3, 2012 FRIGID 2012

The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre For those of us tucked up in the Northeast part of the country, Hurricane Katrina is a distant memory, a tragedy of nearly a decade ago. But for those still feeling the effects down South its presence is constant. Siobhan O’Louglin gives a voice to the [...]

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Fear Factor: Canine Edition – Puppy Love (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by The Happiest Medium March 3, 2012 Festivals

The Happiest Medium review by guest contributor Katelyn Manfre   John Grady loves the show “Fear Factor.” He has his theories and his predictions about how the insane game show will play out, and is especially drawn to the “Couples Edition,” where young die-hards compete, and, predictably lose, to the old married pair with many anniversaries to their [...]

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VCR Love – Where Do You Go When You’re Alone?

by Stephen Tortora-Lee March 3, 2012 Brooklyn

  David Lawson’s solo show, VCR Love, had a limited engagement recently at The Brick Theater.  Bold and innovative, this show explored the consequences, both positive and negative, of the increasing availability of porn in American society as seen through his own experiences. The story begins with Lawson’s first “exposure” to explicit nudity at the impressionable [...]

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Musical Pawns: Lost Music And Direction, Found Voices (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by Diánna Martin March 1, 2012 Festivals

Part historical odyssey, part musical, Musical Pawns centers on the career work of Russian composer David Nowakowsky, a brilliant contemporary of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, whose works have been lost for nearly 100 years. Guarding his unpublished manuscripts for decades were his Grandson and then Great-Grandson, and the play also follows their life as Jews in [...]

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Aerial Allusions: A Ladder To Nowhere (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by Diánna Martin March 1, 2012 Dance

  Performance art pieces, in general, can be thrilling to behold, whether they break new ground, or simply retrace the steps made by others in new and innovative (or deeply personal and fascinating) ways. The idea of combining dance, theatre, and clown with music to portray emotional journeys and the struggle of gender roles sounds [...]

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Stripper Lesbians: When Baring It All Is Academic (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by Karen Tortora-Lee March 1, 2012 Festivals

  When you read that the title of a play is as blatant as Stripper Lesbians you might be led to believe that what you are about to see is nothing more than a show which has women in various states of undress (personally or professionally), making out a lot.  However, read further to “Rising [...]

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Little Lady: Finding Her Way In The World (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)

by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson February 29, 2012 Festivals

  I can’t remember, before this show, the last time I saw an adult person unhesitatingly put their whole big toe in their mouth and suck on it with a sense of blissful satisfaction. You can marvel at the flexibility of such a feat even as you cavil at the notion of exactly how clean, [...]

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