Theater Nights

[+ Lucky]

With the help of an early arrival, I was able to get to the TKTS booth Tuesday night in time to pick a show. Surprisingly, they no longer offer all shows at 50% off. The better shows are 30% or 40% off. But we got good seats at half-off to see The Royal Family, with Rosemary Harris, John Glover, and Tony Roberts. It was quite funny as we went through a series of mishaps in the Cavendish family, a dysfunctional group of theater people. The set was particularly nice and provided easy exit as the players took turns on stage. I recommend it for a fun evening.

 

As the bf hit Chinatown today, I went to see Finian's Rainbow, something that I hadn't planned to see. It stars Cheyenne Jackson,the openly gay actor, as the love interest of Katie Butler. Cheyenne looks great, sings great, and acts well. His vocals are a match for the very talented Butler. It's hard to explain what the show is about, except it involves blacks and whites and a leprechaun. The dancing is very well-choreographed, (includes a darling young man), and the sets were very fun and colorful. Highly recommended.

 

Wednesday night I saw A Steady Rain- the play. (The weather has been great!) Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig pull off quite a feat in memorizing 90 minutes worth of fast-moving lines. They play two cops who have been through some rough patches together. There's is not a lot of action, you go just to see the good acting as much as anything. Telecharge had sent me an email before the show, warning me that the show started promptly at 8 and latecomers would not be seated. What a joke that was. It started at 8:10, the same as any other 8 o'clock show.

 

Each show ended with a plea for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. Jackman and Craig took it up a notch, getting very friendly with the audience as they cashed in on their celebrity to offer signed Playbills at $100, a signed poster at $300, and then a very fun auction ensued. Who would pay the most money to have autographed shirts worn in that night's performance? The bidding started at an astounding $1000. A battle then ensued among folks who were mostly in the good seats. Bidding finally ended at $15000- I kid you not! (Two people bid that- so it was a tie.) For that you got a picture too. My dear friend Cooper was disappointed to have lost out in the bidding, as he stopped when it went over $10000.

 

Yet to come are The Starry Messenger, (this is the one where Mathew Broderick couldn't remember his lines.) After that is Bye Bye Birdie, then The Understudy and finally Superior Donuts. The bf is going to see the Wackiest Gay Christmas Ever (or something like that) on Saturday.

 

Thanks to foxy and Cooper for joining us for dinner. Hopefully we will be seeing several others this week.

[Cooper]

Lucky: setting new record for most plays in 1 week

 

Lucky, Welcome to NYC. It's always a pleasure seeing you and the bf. Hope the weather continues to cooperate so you can take in the many attractions of NYC without the use of a umbrella.

 

In order for a Broadway show to survive with only one or two cast members, it has to have something very special to attract the audiences. When I saw "Wishful Drinking", Carrie Fisher was able to mesmerize the audience with her life story and relaxing presence on stage. You left really liking her... In "A Steady Rain", Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, performed to a full house. Their powerful acting portraying 2 Chicago cops and their intriguing story is what makes this a hit. It was obvious from the reaction of the crowd that many were there just to see the 2 stars.

 

As Lucky mentioned, the charity auction at the end was a lively and very successful hit... Both Craig and Jackman opened up their shirts to reveal their "wife beaters" which they were going to autograph and give to the highest bidder. Their comments were very funny, especially when Craig smelled his shirt and said you get that too!

[edjames]

Welcome back to the Big Apple, Lucky. I hope each and every show you see will be a rewarding and enjoyable experience!

 

I saw "Finian's Rainbow" last night and was dismayed when at least 7 little pieces of paper announcing cast changes and undertsudies flew out of my Playbill when I settled in my seat! Nothing infuriates me more than when a star is not performing in the production. In this case, while most of the cast changes were minor, Cheyenne Jackson was MIA!!!!! I will agree that this is a lovely Broadway musical with a good score. I thought it a cross between "Brigadoon" and "Lil Abner." Fortunately, the saving grace of the evening was actress Kate Baldwin, who is wonderful in the role of Sharon McLonergan. A wonderful voice and beautiful gal.

 

Yes, the boys at "A Steady Rain" are raking in the dough for Broadway Cares this year! They will inevitably break all records for fundraising for a single show. Hugh broke all records and raised more money than any other show when he starred in "A Boy From Oz." Women were writing checks for thousands of dollars to go backstage and have a picture taken with him. I am told that this year's fundraising is a similar experience.

 

Hugh and Daniel were in the audience Monday night when Bernadette Peters performed a special benefit concert for Broadway Care/Broadway Barks and raised over $600K for these worthy organizations. It was a memorable night and Bernadette performed for almost 3 hours. She is amazing!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/134550-DIVA-TALK-Bernadette-Peters-A-Special-Concert-for-Broadway-Barks-Because-Broadway-Cares/pg2

 

Upcoming shows for me include "Fela," "Girl Crazy" at City Center Encores!, "Race", and "Ragtime."

 

I can't help but think the spring theater season holds more promise and interest with musical productions like "The Addams Family," and "Spiderman" on schedule for next year. "A Little Night Music", too.

 

Lucky, I hope we will be able to meet up and say hello this weekend.

 

ED

[Lankypeters]

I saw "Finian's Rainbow" last night and was dismayed when at least 7 little pieces of paper announcing cast changes and undertsudies flew out of my Playbill when I settled in my seat! Nothing infuriates me more than when a star is not performing in the production. In this case, while most of the cast changes were minor, Cheyenne Jackson was MIA!!!!!

 

 

 

A friend of mine attended last night's performance of "Finian's Rainbow" after seeing the show at Encores! and adoring it. My friend was so dismayed by the inadequacy of Jackson's understudy that he walked out after about a half hour.

 

Curiously enough, Jackson and Michael Feinstein appeared on the Today show yesterday morning. They performed selections from their newly released CD.

[+ Lucky]

Ed, sorry that you missed Cheyenne. He was really good in the show. He's a great singer, dancer, and all around took charge of the show.

 

Last night I saw The Starry Messenger. It comes in at just under three hours, and the question on my mind was "Why?" Kenneth Lonergan, once a promising playwright, went to films instead, and this is his first play in ten years. Yet has absolutely nothing new to say. It's the arrogance of a playwright when he holds his audience that long with not a new idea in hand.

Mathew Broderick took criticism in early previews for not knowing his lines, but the reason was because Lonergan kept rewriting the show.

Essentially it is about a modest astronomy teacher who bores his students. He tries to find love with a young single mother as his own marriage is dead. But, he is so bland with her too, one wonders why shes sees him. Kierkin Culkin has a good scene that's enjoyable to watch, but the other actors show no great depths in their roles. There is another sideplot that has nothing to do with the show, but we must endure several scenes in it so that the aggrieved young mother can hear a motivational speech from an old man. Boring.

The audience gave polite applause, but it started dwindling even as the actors were on stage, making sure no encore was to be had. Recommendation: Skip it!

[+ Lucky]

Hooville Dinner in New York

 

Ed, I plan to join the "posse" of Hooville guys having dinner on Sunday night before going to he 20 Club. Any other New Yorkers interested in attending should send Cooper a private message.

 

Since he is unable to attend the Sunday night event, Dallas Escort Romann was kind enough to invite the bf and I for coffee. We had a nice vist. Since he wouldn't dish on his clients, we ended up talking about dogs, both of us hauling out our pix just like proud parents. A nice time.

[+ Lucky]

Food Find

 

We discovered a great place for inexpensive eats on E. 45th between Fifth and Lexington. They have another store on Park Ave. The place is called Dishes and reminds me of the por kilo places in Brazil. You serve yourself, except that they do have stations where food is cooked to order. Everything is made fresh on the premises each day, and it tastes just great. The coffee is superb. They are open all day, and they deliver too.

 

See dishestogo.com

[+ Lucky]

Bye Bye Birdie

 

Last night it was bye bye John Stamos. He was absent and his look-alike understudy did the job okay. In my mind, Jane Houdyshell took the prize for acting. She plays Albert's (Stamos) mom, and as usual in her acting, she hits ll the right spots.

The set was cute and the costumes were colorful. We enjoyed all the songs we remembered from past productions and the movie.

As for Birdie, well, I though he was hot. Nice scene with him in his undies, carefully fixed so as not to show anything. He is very white, but has a nice, fit look. He could sing reasonably well, so a gold star for him.

 

Stamos may have added some sizzle to the show, I can't say, but I did miss seeing his performance.

[Cooper]

As for Birdie, well, I though he was hot. Nice scene with him in his undies, carefully fixed so as not to show anything. He is very white, but has a nice, fit look. He could sing reasonably well, so a gold star for him.

 

Nolan Gerard Funk plays the part of Conrad Birdie, he's making his Broadway debut in this play. If you can believe anything Perez Hilton has to say, he claims that Funk has a "giant uncut cock" and "used to be a male go-go dancer at a gay bar going by the name JT".

 

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2009/02/report-nolan-gerard-funk-was-a-go-go-dancer-at-a-gay-club/

 

http://froggypic.com/image/08/ad2de2018d5d5c712e1c3fb5921fe1fd.jpg

 

http://cdn.buzznet.com/media/jjr/headlines/2009/08/nolan-gerard-funk-conrad-birdie.jpg

[foxy]

I'm reminded of the Smuckers commercials "With a name like Smuckers, you have to be good".

 

With a name like Funk you have to have a big dick.

 

Well, okay, you don't have to... but it helps.

[uwsman2]

The Understudy

 

Got to a matinee of "The Understudy" at Roundabout Theater today. This is a definite must-see, one of those neat plays about the theater itself, exploring the tensions between the cast actor (an action-adventure screen star) and his understudy (a stage actor who's never nibbled at the fame of TV and film). To complicate matters, the stage director has some personal "history" with the understudy that threatens to upend the rehearsal that is the centerpiece of the show. The play they are rehearsing - an epic newly-discovered manuscript by Franz Kafka.... so you know there will be some puzzles.

 

The cast features three "names" - Justin Kirk as the Understudy, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as the cast actor, and Julie White as the stage director. They are all superb. Gosselaar is a real stud, and he revels in his studliness on the stage. Kirk has been a favorite of mine since his stage triumph off-Broadway in "Old Wicked Songs" many years ago, but gay film types will recognize him from "Angels in America" and "Love, Valour, Compassion" where he played the blind boyfriend of the choreographer to such marvelous effect. He is just as hot as ever, and those expressive eyes of his always slay me. Julie White is a marvelous comic actress and has plenty of good material here.

 

I would definitely recommend this one. It would have been even hotter if Justin or Mark-Paul would shed a shirt along the way, but you can't have everything, and skin-exposure is not part of this story. But Mark-Paul's physique is hard to miss with his form-fitting knit shirt....

[Guest zipperzone]

Nolan Gerard Funk plays the part of Conrad Birdie, he's making his Broadway debut in this play. If you can believe anything Perez Hilton has to say, he claims that Funk has a "giant uncut cock" and "used to be a male go-go dancer at a gay bar going by the name JT".

 

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2009/02/report-nolan-gerard-funk-was-a-go-go-dancer-at-a-gay-club/

 

http://froggypic.com/image/08/ad2de2018d5d5c712e1c3fb5921fe1fd.jpg

 

http://cdn.buzznet.com/media/jjr/headlines/2009/08/nolan-gerard-funk-conrad-birdie.jpg

 

Well he is showing a basket in the second picture - so who knows????????

[+ Lucky]

uwsman, it's interesting to see a different take on The Understudy. I saw it this afternoon with my niece and we were underwhelmed. I agree that Gosselaar looked really sexy in that tight t-shirt, and I did like it when he and Kirk went at each other, but it didn't rise to much in the scheme of things. Julie White, who everyone seemed to love in her last show, seemed hampered by the script and couldn't do much with her role.

 

My final show was Superior Donuts, and I did not end on a high note. It is a mess of a show, and that is a surprise since it comes from the same writer that gave us August:Osage County. This one is very predictable and lame, although I did like the young actor Jon Michael Hill. He had the best lines and delivered them well, often getting good laughs from the audience.

 

So a rainy night ends the theater week for me. The bf says that The Wickedest (or wackiest?) Gay Christmas show with Kathy Griffin is a real hoot.

[uwsman2]

reaction to theater

 

Reaction to theater is all about individual fancy and taste. I loved "The Understudy" and Lucky was underwhelmed. C'est la view!

[+ Lucky]

One Last Thing

 

For those theater-lovers who followed this thread, I am curious if one or more of you would check out "Loaded" at the Lion Theater on Theater Row. It was sold out while I was there, but is about "the intimate conversation between two casual overs; a 20-something twink and a 47-year old who survived the AIDS epidemic"

 

I am curious if I missed anything. The Lion is a very small venue.

[operalover21]

With the help of an early arrival, I was able to get to the TKTS booth Tuesday night in time to pick a show. Surprisingly, they no longer offer all shows at 50% off. The better shows are 30% or 40% off. But we got good seats at half-off to see The Royal Family, with Rosemary Harris, John Glover, and Tony Roberts. It was quite funny as we went through a series of mishaps in the Cavendish family, a dysfunctional group of theater people. The set was particularly nice and provided easy exit as the players took turns on stage. I recommend it for a fun evening.

 

As the bf hit Chinatown today, I went to see Finian's Rainbow, something that I hadn't planned to see. It stars Cheyenne Jackson,the openly gay actor, as the love interest of Katie Butler. Cheyenne looks great, sings great, and acts well. His vocals are a match for the very talented Butler. It's hard to explain what the show is about, except it involves blacks and whites and a leprechaun. The dancing is very well-choreographed, (includes a darling young man), and the sets were very fun and colorful. Highly recommended.

 

Wednesday night I saw A Steady Rain- the play. (The weather has been great!) Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig pull off quite a feat in memorizing 90 minutes worth of fast-moving lines. They play two cops who have been through some rough patches together. There's is not a lot of action, you go just to see the good acting as much as anything. Telecharge had sent me an email before the show, warning me that the show started promptly at 8 and latecomers would not be seated. What a joke that was. It started at 8:10, the same as any other 8 o'clock show.

 

Each show ended with a plea for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. Jackman and Craig took it up a notch, getting very friendly with the audience as they cashed in on their celebrity to offer signed Playbills at $100, a signed poster at $300, and then a very fun auction ensued. Who would pay the most money to have autographed shirts worn in that night's performance? The bidding started at an astounding $1000. A battle then ensued among folks who were mostly in the good seats. Bidding finally ended at $15000- I kid you not! (Two people bid that- so it was a tie.) For that you got a picture too. My dear friend Cooper was disappointed to have lost out in the bidding, as he stopped when it went over $10000.

 

Yet to come are The Starry Messenger, (this is the one where Mathew Broderick couldn't remember his lines.) After that is Bye Bye Birdie, then The Understudy and finally Superior Donuts. The bf is going to see the Wackiest Gay Christmas Ever (or something like that) on Saturday.

 

Thanks to foxy and Cooper for joining us for dinner. Hopefully we will be seeing several others this week.

 

 

That's what actors do. Memorize lines. Why should Craig and Jackman get "credit" for that? C'mon. Get real. They are good in a very mediocre play.

 

Loved Royal Family. Rosemary Harris is wonderful.

 

Finian's Rainbow is terrific but has one of the worst books ever. So badly dated. They trimmed 20 minutes of it and it still doesn't work. But the score is terrific and the cast really pulls it off.