Archives for: February 2009, 11

'Third Story' a big letdown
It had the fixings for fireworks: Charles Busch, the drag auteur, and Kathleen Turner, the growly film and Broadway diva, acting together. Unfortunately, those sparks never fly.

Edge New York

Review: The Third Story
It’s Dame Versus Dame when ultra-vamp Kathleen Turner meets ultra-camp Charles Busch.

Bergen Record

Off-Broadway review: "The Third Story"
Instead of a Playbill, they should hand you a scorecard when you arrive at "The Third Story."

Back Stage

The Third Story reviewed by David Sheward
There's a lot going on in Charles Busch's The Third Story, a crazy mishmash of movie moments, fairy-tale fantasy, and pseudo-psychological drama

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - The Third Story - B-Movie Mayhem

New York Times

For Some Mothers, Letting Go Is So Hard to Do
“The Third Story” is an often entertaining and just as often overwhelming new play by Charles Busch.

Newsday

Mother, son go over the top in "The Third Story"

New York Post

'Story' no page turner
The thought of Kathleen Turner and Charles Busch onstage together incites delicious anticipation of camp heaven. Who wouldn't want to see these two dueling divas - perhaps channeling their...

Hartford Courant

New York Stage Review: "The Third Story"
The actor-playwright Charles Busch has created an ingenious, laugh-packed jumble in "The Third Story," in which he doubles as "the undisputed first lady of crime" and a kindly old witch.

Associated Press

Excess of Plot Sinks a Convoluted 'Third Story'
Get out the pruning shears. There's a lot of plot in ''The Third Story,'' maybe one tale too many in Charles Busch's overstuffed mixture of mother-son soap opera, '40s film noir, science fiction and Russian folk legend

Variety

Review: The Third Story
...In Busch's structurally ambitious but muddled "The Third Story," however, the two stars barely collide or even seem to be in the same play, despite the carefully mirrored themes of its elaborate triple plot. It's always a treat to watch Busch in one of his wisecracking glamourpuss turns, but this overreaching effort is a watery cocktail trying to pass for a more potent dirty martini.

TheaterMania

Review: The Third Story
Charles Busch's often riotous and touching new work is an intricate crazy-quilt of three interconnected stories.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: The Third Story
Charles Busch might want to pay more attention to the writing advice he dispenses in his new theatrical slim-noir The Third Story, which MCC is presenting at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

CurtainUp

Review: The Third Story
With four of the play's six actors playing more than one role, makes the latest written and starring Charles Busch vehicle something of of a four-de-force

ATW Digest - Ferrell opens 'You're Welcome America' on Broadway - read the reviews [updated 2/11/09]

By Andy Propst on Feb 11, 2009 | In ATW Digest

February 11, 2009 additions:

Village Voice

Busched and Ambushed in The Third Story and You're Welcome America by Michael Feingold

New York Post

Will Ferrell's Bush League Show
He'll do anything for a laugh -- even insult dead troops

The Guardian

The Guardian

Ferrell's George Bush makes an impression on Broadway
Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush has captured the paying public's imagination but is as outdated as its subject, says Alexis Soloski

New York Magazine

Bush and Busch
Comic man-child Will Ferrell takes his perfect role to Broadway. Plus: The battling queens of The Third Story.

February 7, 2009 additions:

Time Out New York

Review: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush
Will Ferrell gives ex-President Bush a final turn in the spotlight.

Bergen Record

Ferrell show uses sound strategery

ny1

NY1 Theater Review: "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush"

The Gawker: Theater

You're Welcome America: It's Saturday Night Live, Live! On Stage!

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush - Ferrell's Bush, Not Unexpectedly, Amuses

New York Times

The Comedy of Ineptitude, Political Division
Will Ferrell, in his Broadway debut, provides a critic-proof demonstration of the art of acting stupid, shrewdly, for fun and profit.

New York Daily News

Ferrell is stupid good as Bush
Who would have guessed that old Mr. Unpopularity, George Bush, would be packing them in on Broadway? Then again, it's got next to nada to do with Dubya and everything to do with the actor playing him, Will Ferrell.

amNY New York City Theater

Theater Review of You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush
"I'm the commander — see, I don't need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." That is a real George W. Bush quote.

Newsday

Review: Will Ferrell on Broadway
A solo comedy about the new ex-president. ... Surely, it's too late. Or else it's too soon. Isn't it too easy? On the other hand, aren't the last eight years too serious to be spoofed yet again as light entertainment? ... The happy answer is no. Ferrell is terrific - sly and subtle, even brave.

New York Post

By George, it's a Ferrell of laughs
At this point, the prospect of spending an evening in the company of George W. Bush hardly sounds appealing, whatever your political...

Washington Post

Peter Marks Theater Review: 'You're Welcome America'
Ferrell's Frat-Boy 'Bush' Freshens Broadway Show

Associated Press

Will Ferrell Relives 8 Years of George W. Bush
Already feeling masochistically nostalgic for the misadventures of the previous presidential administration?.

Bloomberg.com

Will Ferrell's Broadway Bush Lap-Dances With Condi Rice: Jeremy Gerard
In the pantheon of presidential impersonators, Will Ferrell as George W. Bush is first among equals. Chevy Chase’s Gerald Ford, Rich Little’s Nixon, Jim Morris’s Reagan all have their fans.

USA Today

To Ferrell and 'You're Welcome America': Thanks for nothing
It's tough to say who should be more offended by You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush (* 1/2 out of four): the 43rd...

Hollywood Reporter

Theater Review: You're Welcome, America
He has left the White House, but George W. Bush remains fuel for satire, especially in the adroit hands of comedian and film star Will Ferrell.

Variety

Review: You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush
If bleak reality has distracted much of the nation from the massive sigh of relief it might otherwise have heaved when president No. 43 exited the White House, Will Ferrell provides a cathartic, almost cleansing farewell in "You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush."

Back Stage

You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush reviewed by David Sheward [critic's pick]
It's appropriate that the humor level is sophomoric in You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush, Will Ferrell's combination standup act and extended comedy skit.

TheaterMania

Review: You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
Will Ferrell's 80-minute show about the 43rd President of the United States will strike some audiences as hilarious and others as unnecessarily vulgar.

Talkin' Broadway

Review: You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
He’s baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

ATW Digest - Minsky's opens in L.A. - read the reviews [updated 2/11/09]

By Andy Propst on Feb 11, 2009 | In ATW Digest

February 11, 2009 additions:

Edge Los Angeles

Minsky’s
"Minsky’s" harkens back to the fun musicals of the past... but is it as much fun as they can be?

L.A. Weekly

Stage Raw: Candida
[Also includes 'Minsky's' review....scroll down...., AP]

New York Times

What’s the Cure for Those Depression Blues? Hoofing in Your Scanties
“Minsky’s,” which is having its world premiere in Los Angeles, is a musical comedy that too often seems to be looking back to familiar formulas.

Los Angeles Times Culture Monster Blog

Review: 'Minsky's' at the Ahmanson Theatre

Orange County Register The Arts Blog

‘Minsky’s’ finally exposes itself
“Minsky’s” finally made its world premiere last night at the Ahmanson Theatre after a gestation period that lasted more than a decade. It’s an imperfect but enjoyable homage to the Golden Age of burlesque. My review.

Bloomberg.com

`Minsky's' Brings Back Burlesque as Mirror for Today's Troubles: Review
If “Minsky’s,” the new musical by composer Charles Strouse (“Bye Bye Birdie,” “Applause,” “Annie”) that opened Friday night in a world premiere at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, aspires to anything, it’s to be a show for these desperate times.

Hollywood Reporter

Theater Review: Minsky's
Bottom Line: A feel-good new musical just when we need one most.

Variety

Review: Minsky's
The potential of a tuner titled "Minsky's," with its promise of gorgeous gals, baggy-pants comics, hot dance and nostalgia, is partly realized in its Ahmanson Theater premiere thanks to a strong Charles Strouse/Susan Birkenhead score and state-of-the-art musical staging by helmer-choreographer Casey Nicholaw.

Toronto Star

Minsky's: stripped of any substance

Talkin' Broadway

Review: Minsky's in California

TheaterMania

Review: Minksy's
This long-aborning musical about the world of burlesque is a brassy, tuneful treat.

CurtainUp

Review: Minsky's
Billy Minsky's credo that the country in the midst of the 1930 depression wanted escapist undemanding fun strikes a familiar chord in today's audience

Bitter Lemons

“Minksy’s”: 57% Bitter
BITTER This advice should come in handy to the creators of “Minsky’s,” who could use Billy to work one of his miracle cures on their show, which, though far from terrible, isn’t quite the electric crowd-pleaser they’re intending. Intermittently delightful, the musical is just as intermittently bumbling, coming alive mostly in the colorful burlesque sequences and...

ATW Digest - Leah's Train opens - read the reviews

By Andy Propst on Feb 11, 2009 | In ATW Digest

AmericanTheaterWeb

Review - Leah's Train - At the Intersection of Past and Present

New York Times

Track Changes: Making Connections on the Railroad
Karen Hartman’s play is a worthwhile, mostly well-written and well-performed drama about family and the importance of cherishing life and connections.

Back Stage

Leah's Train reviewed by Ronni Reich
Questions of cultural and familial identity are given an intriguing twist when taken on by a cast of Asian-American actors, the drama becoming more universal.

TheaterMania

Review: Ruined
Lynn Nottage's emotionally devastating and spellbinding new play succeeds spectacularly both as potent political statement and as riveting drama.

nytheatre.com

Review: Leah's Train
A woman, her mother, and her grandmother encounter one another from different ends of the 20th century on the magical train ride that is Leah's Train.

CurtainUp

Review: Leah's Train
After nearly twenty years of presenting revivals of western stage classics with all Asian-American actors, this is the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) first venture to include works from other cultures

ATW Review - Leah's Train - At the Intersection of Past and Present

By Andy Propst on Feb 11, 2009 | In ATW Reviews

The world premiere of Karen Hartman's Leah's Train, which opened last night at the Barrow Group Theatre, marks an important step for NAATCO (National Asian American Theater Company). Though the company has presented revivals of classics by writers from other cultures using Asian casts, "Train" is the first time NAATCO has presented a new work in this manner. The production is significant for the company as it greatly expands the body of work that the theater can produce and theater in general as it underscores how easily the principle of color-blind casting can be applied to new American works. Unfortunately, even as theatergoers savor the noteworthiness of this staging, and some of the vibrant performances in it, it's hard not to wish that "Train" were a more satisfying experience overall.

Hartman's drama focuses on a second generation American Ruth (Jennifer Ikeda), a young physician with a specialty in geriatric medicine in San Francisco. On many levels, Ruth has chosen her profession to follow in the footsteps of her legendary grandmother Leah, who after arriving in this country from Russia became a nurse. Even as Leah's legacy has inspired Ruth, it's haunted both her and Hannah (Mia Katigbak), her mother from whom she's both geographically and emotionally estranged: as the play opens, Ruth refuses to take calls from Hannah who's on the East Coast and just returned from Leah's funeral.

Ruth's callous attitude toward Hannah bewilders boyfriend Ben (Louis Ozawa Changchien), who can't understand how Ruth can be so kind to others, his own recently deceased mother included, but so cold to her own family, and he abruptly breaks off the relationship. His decision is also inspired by a certain frustration he's feeling with his college fiction-writing class, so he hops a train, and goes off in search of the country, sort of like a contemporary Jack Kerouac.

Through various reasons and after several convenient twists, Ruth and Hannah both end up on trains, and soon their journeys are crisscrossing with Ben's. These three characters' train rides also converge with the past and the trio find themselves encountering 12-year-old Leah (Kristine Haruna Lee) on her almost mythic trek across Russia in early years of World War I as she searches for her brother and cousin.

Hartman spins an intriguing, almost "Twilight Zone"-like, story in "Train," but her dense plotting and her heavy layering of themes overwhelm the human drama that's at the core of the play. Additionally, certain specifics of the story confuse, particularly the reasons for Ruth and Hannah's own train adventures. Theatergoers' disorientation and their resulting frustration with is only enhanced by Jean Randich's sturdy, but lackluster staging, which rarely helps to illuminate murkier aspects of Hartman's script.

Nevertheless, and to Randich's credit, Ikeda, Changchien and Katigbak turn in performances enjoyable and well-crafted performances. In particular, Ikeda and Katigbak shine as mother and daughter, and prove that certain parental dynamics know no ethnic or religious bounds. Though Lee's performance is beautifully ethereal, Leah's story never take on the urgency that audiences may hope for, but any lack of emotional impact has more to do with the otherworldly aspects to the storytelling in Lee's work. At Lee's side is Raphael Aranas, who plays one of the young relatives for whom Leah is searching. Although his work as this child of the past is slightly wooden, he's truly a delight as a street-smart contemporary child who encounters Ruth and others on the railways of the U.S.

There's much that intrigues here, and certainly much to be commended, but unfortunately, this "Train" never pulls into a truly theatrically satisfying station.

---- Andy Propst

Leah's Train continues through February 28 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Performances are Monday through Friday at 8pm; and Saturday at 3 and 8pm. Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-868-4444 or by visiting www.www.SmartTix.com. Further information is available online at www.naatco.org

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