A Confederacy of Theatre Nerds vs. The Tony Awards

Once a year, my religion forces me to trek to the Holyland for three hours of intense prayer and worship. It’s grueling, it’s ear-splitting (at times) and it’s thrilling (at times) – My religion is Broadway, and Mecca is The Tony Awards.

Quotes/Observations from the 2008 Tony Awards.
[Overheard at Bobs condo.]

Whoopi’s hosting. Huh.

“If they thank Jesus, take a drink!” – Rules were established early.

Cry Baby Performs: They have license plates on their feet.

“Hi, I’m Laura Linney, and I’m superior to you.” – Bob.

Raul Esparza breaks my heart. I always vote for him, and I always lose.

Adam Duritz is stoned. And why is he at the Tonys?

Passing Strange performs – and we’re all confused. Though we clap loudly for the techie who fixes Stew’s fallen microphone. “Uh.. I like it better than Cry-baby?” – Beth.

“First to see Patti gets a drink.” – Bob. Game on.

Bartlett Sher wins for Directing South Pacific, and we begin the Tonys 2008 mission: To make sure we all know that South Pacific is the MOST. IMPORTANT. MUSICAL. EVER.

Gypsy perfoms – and we all fall silent. Patti gets a standing ovation. God, she’s good. (“She’s jus so mean!”- Amanda)

Why is Whoopi hosting?

In the Heights dude rapped his speech. I wait for Carol Channing to show up.

South Pacific – THE MOST. IMPORTANT. MUSICAL. EVER. – performs. Kelli O’Hara shows up. (“That’s Patti’s competition. We boo and hiss at her.” – Bob. “What a whore!” – Amanda. This is all made sadder by the fact that, were she not always up against Patti, we’d probably love O’Hara.)

We love Laura Bell Bundy.

Laura Benanti wins for Gypsy – and it’s adorable. We cheer.

Grease performs. “Who lets Kathleen Marshall choreograph?” – Bob.

Brooks Sheilds may be wearing a pantsuit made of a trashbag. This reminds me of Brooklyn.

Boyd Gaines wins for Gypsy – We begin to fear that Patti will be shut out, and can see the exact same terror in Boyds eyes.

And now, a medley of the leading ladies of far inferior shows. 1) Sierra Boggess/Little Mermaid, 2) Faith Prince/A Catered Affair (after which, Beth remarks – “That was an impressionless song. It’s like a toilet flushing.” 3) Megan Mullally/Young Frankenstein. Mullally isn’t nominated, which seems like a whole bucket of awkward.

“Why so many ruffles tonight, Whoopi?” – Amanda.

A montage of Best Play nominees. Because Plays don’t count on the Tonys. Don’t lie.

Hooray for The 39 steps. It made me want to see the show.

Gabriel Byrne put me to sleep.

“Whoopi’s making me hate theatre a little bit.” – Bob.

Carolee Carmello sighting!

Alec Baldwin gets applause when he comes on to present an award. We didn’t clap for anyone else. 30 rock nerds.

When in doubt, Vote August: Osage County.

In the Heights performs. It’s the liveliest performance of the night – and I’m always thrilled to see Karen Olivo get stage time. The lead dude is cute. I like him.

Sondheim gets the lifetime achievement award. And doesn’t show up. Bad-ass Motherf%$#@#r.
Mandy Patinkin accepts it, with a beard that befuddles us all.

Sunday in the Park performs. We can’t rip on Jenna Russell.

“Remember the year there was no host, and no musical nominees ..” – Bob
“And Nathan Lane and Gregory Hines just made shit up?” – Jamie

Glenn Close was in South Pacific’s bad made for TV movie. Though it was the most. important. TV. Movie. ever. made. She presents South Pacific with the Most. Important. Revival. Ever. Award.

Xanadu performs. We marvel at Cheyenne Jackson’s thighs.

Patti sighting! She’s sitting behind the Baldwin brothers.

The 40 year old original cast of Rent performs – Adam Pascal is still hot. Jesse L. Martin didn’t bother to show up. Taye Diggs is wearing a bow tie. Idina Menzel gets screams. Will Chase is performing with the current cast… le sigh…. oh, and they cut to Patti clapping.

Liza’s wearing a bra and a super-short dress! The crowd looks STUNNED.

9:51 – Finally….Patti LuPone wins a Tony award, 30 years later! She’s diva-tastic and yells at the conductor, and it’s awesomesauce. Seriously. We all breathe a sigh of relief.

Best Musical goes to… In the Heights. Snore. I’m sad it’s not Xanadu (No it can’t.)

…All in all, it takes a lot to make the Tonys entertaining. Whoopi was a bad choice for a host. What? Was Hugh Jackman busy? Nathan Lane’s got nothing else to do? Dude. Let Jesse L. Martin host. He might even show up.

The Underworld has called me back….

…as as such, I’m vanishing yet again for a weekend of performances of The Skriker with the GreyZelda Theatre Group. If you like your theatre challenging, dark, modern, and with wings, this is the show for you. Check it out at greyzelda.com.

The Skriker

by Caryl Churchill

April 17th through May 10th

Thur, Fri, and Sat at 8pm – Sundays at 3pm

Angel Island Theatre (Broadway and Sheridan)

(Above photo is titled “Lily and the Hag.”

After our forthcoming CW sitcom.

I’m joking.

Or am I?)

The Beastly Bombing at Trap Door Theatre

“Revolution is for the light of heart –
Light Opera will lead the way.” – The Beastly Bombing.

Saw this crazy/clever/campy/silly/smart musical about terrorism and politics last night at the Trap Door Theatre, and enjoyed it immensely. Essentially, it’s as if Gilbert and Sullivan were alive today, writing operettas about bombing, skinheads, Jews, drugs, political corruption and stupidity, and American values. Also known as.. hilarious. And with a hard-working, hard-dancing, hard-singing cast that could charm anyone. It was great.

TRAP DOOR THEATRE
presents
The Secret Order of Revolutionary Operettists
presents
THE BEASTLY BOMBING
Libretto by Julien Nitzberg
Music by Roger Neill
Directed and Choreographed by Kevin Remington
Musical Direction by Michelle Hackman

http://www.trapdoortheatre.com

Just see it.

You’ll fall in love with terrorism all over again.
Seriously, it’s the tagline.

The Skriker: Reviews

Whee! Opening weekend of The Skriker is over, and the reviews are coming in ->

++++++++++++++++++

TIMEOUT CHICAGO: (3 stars)

“… Churchill charts the tale of the Skriker (Wilson), a malevolent Celtic-style spirit menacing a couple of young women, perhaps in revenge for society’s vague environmental diss. There’s a genuinely creepy changeling motif on hand and some significant notes concerning the horror of fertility … GreyZelda’s production is excellent … Wilson is … a small marvel in her embodiment of the shape-shifting villainess, delivering the goods in numerous incarnations.”

CENTERSTAGE CHICAGO: (Reccomended)

“It’s a satisfying meal for those who like their dark fantasy served extra dark.”

CHICAGOCRITIC.COM: (Reccomended)

“Kudos to Director Rebecca Zellar for the amazing stagecraft exhibited by her cast of fairies. Their costumes, movements and disciplined characterizations gave this show a lively and unpredictable element that was engaging. We never know what will happen next. The dozen fairies’ performances alone make this show worth seeing.”

+++++++++++++++++

For more recent updates regarding “The Skriker,” visit: GreyZelda.Blogspot.com

Under the Bedrock

OPENING TONIGHT!

The GreyZelda Theatre Group presents

The Skriker

by Caryl Churchill

Directed by Rebecca Zellar

April 17th through May 10th

Angel Island Theatre (Sheridan & Broadway, Chicago)

Thurs, Fri, and Sat at 8pm – Sundays at 3pm

www.greyzelda.com for more information

Come on down to Angel Island over the next 4 weeks and see GreyZelda’s production of Churchill’s brilliant, terrifying, and challenging play.

In trying to figure out how to describe the show, I keep coming back to a line I read in a CurtainUp review of a California production – “Leaving the theatre, you wonder how Caryl Churchill would have personified mad cow disease and the hole in the ozone layer. “

(Photo by Rebecca Zellar. Pictured: L to R – Rebecca Mauldin, Annie Passanisi, Dani Bryant, Karen Gollrad, Lisa Wilson, Jamie DesRocher, Jill Thiel, Kate Froelih, and Taylor Mauch)

Actor Speak (or, how I learned to stop sucking and love Betty Buckley..)

It doesn’t make me happy to struggle in rehearsals, no matter what show I’m doing – But it sure makes me happy to realize I’m breaking through the struggle and figuring things out. Which is my current situation at The Skriker.

I play The Hag, who is a character I love, love, love, but have been having a hard time with. Caryl Churchill is not an easy writer, and I’ve been having a hard time with the singing but not singing/screaming without screaming aspect of the big Hag scene.

So I delved deeper – and tried to find music that I thought fit the character. A lot of us are doing this with our characters. However, everyone else is using cool music and movie references.

Me? I choose a bleepin’ musical.

And it’s Cats. Le sigh.

BUT “Memory” is the perfect song for this character – and as such, I think I’m breaking through to the other side of this wall I’ve been slamming my theatrical face into for a few weeks now.

To that effect, Bob shared with me a story about Tony award winner Betty Buckley struggling in rehearsals for the original cast of Cats, where she played Grizabella (an eerily similar character to Skriker’s Hag…) –>

“Betty said her only job assignment was to “stop the show.” Does the word “pressure” mean anything to you? “Your only job is to achieve world peace. And ‘places’.” Of course, she couldn’t do it at first. She’d sing “Memory” and literally get tepid applause. Ouch. One day she said she saw a homeless woman walk by her apartment on 79th Street, who was dressed crazily with streaked lipstick, but walked with a fashion-plate attitude. She realized that was the key! She had been playing Grizabella as pathetic and self-pitying, but she instead decided to play it like she had something beautiful to share. This was near the end of previews, and she doesn’t feel she finally got the hang of the role until a while after opening night, but thankfully she got it in time to win the Tony Award. ” – Seth Rudetsky

Clearly, there are just times a girl has to channel Buckley.

Even if she is bat shit crazy.

And if she is, it might be even better.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone @ Steppenwolf

(Mailroom, so I’ll keep this brief.)

You simply must see “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” by Sarah Ruhl, in it’s current production at Steppenwolf. It’s the sweetest, weirdest, most charming play I’ve ever seen – and the moment I can find a published copy I plan to buy it and quote it endlessly. Polly Noonan is magnificent in the central role of Jean, who – while relaxing in a nondescript cafe – answers a cell phone that keeps ringing, which turns out to belong to the dead man sitting at the table, and finds herself caught up in his family’s grieving, shady business practices, and falling in love. There are also questions of technology, heaven, and relationships that are incredibly thought-provoking and smart. Ruhl is one of the best playwrights I’ve ever read, and this is one of my favorite new plays.

And, for those who care, our audience was rolling with laughter and applauding often.

See it. You absolutely will not regret it.

Jamie Update: 3/3/08

My life, at present, is rather “Later, Rinse, Repeat.” Only it’s.. “Work, rehearsal in Oprahland, Home, Sleep, Repeat.” We’re approaching the home stretch of The Skriker, and I think my current residence could best be described as “Yacono’s Car.” But it’s a great process, full of discoveries and stumbling blocks (in my case, anyway. I’ll figure it out, though.) I’m excited for people to see this show and see what they get out of it. There are some genuinely amazing actors doing some genuinely awesome and terrifying things on that stage.

However, I have a mountain of laundry in my apartment and no more clean clothes. And, at this rate, I won’t get to do laundry until Saturday afternoon. Which means I may be dirty at the Chaos cast gathering tomorrow night at Howl at the Moon.

I got my tax returns back, though. Thats always a huge plus.

My birthday is next Friday. I have a “semi-tentative” rehearsal, so – scrappy girl I am – I have a “semi-tentative birthday party” plan. Which involves bowling and 15 of my nearest and dearest. ..

My trainer wants me to cut back to 1250 calories a day now that I’ve lost 25 pounds. I moaned at this – because 1300 calories a day was hard enough, though I have to confess I’ve fallen off teh wagon lately. And by that, I mean I’ve been eating around 1450 calories a day – still low, FYI. Lord. But the event this is all about is 8 weeks away. SO, 8 more weeks of eating healthy, walking at lunch now that the weather is nice, going to the gym whenever I possibly can, and the added cardio of running screaming through the underworld 4 times a week should add up to one hot girl on May 25th.

Whee!

I promise not to die. (Mom.)

Ready or Not, here we come …

Do you like Tim Burton movies, Creepy crawly things, great writing, fearless actors, scary masks and make-up, and theatres conveniently located above liquor stores?

If SO, then come see The Skriker. I play a Hag. Annie plays a Dark Fairy AND a black dog. It’s been one of the most bizarre and interesting rehersal processes ever – and I think the show is going to be dynamite. Rebecca, our director, has created a truly unsettling and yet somehow beautiful underworld for us to play in, and I think it’ll be amazing.

Come play with us. What are you afraid of?

Recapping Good Times

I had 4 days off work.

In which I opened a theatre festival, babysat, took multiple naps, had Diner food, walked a lot, spent too much time thinking of dress and shoe combinations, watched movies

… and it was lovely.

Here’s the recap.

FRIDAY NIGHT – Brent’s 27th Bday at The Spot. Good times. Good friends. Hot shoes. Done and Done.

SATURDAY NIGHT – Babysat for Reagan & Camden so Danielle and Chris could enjoy a little bit of their visit to Chicago as grown-ups. Vin Diesel movies. Hannah Montana. Again, good times. EASTER SUNDAY – Multiple naps and Diner Food with Brent.

MONDAY – Walked 5 miles. Opened POC’s CHAOS festival. Good crowds. Great actors. Good Times.

TUESDAY – Another day of relaxation, movies, and theatre festivals. Movies watched: Becoming Jane (Loved it.) and How to Deal. (I officially LOVE Mandy Moore.) Nice weather. Better crowds at CHAOS.

Good. Times.