Archive for July, 2011

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Theater review: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL & MEASURE FOR MEASURE in Central Park

July 4, 2011

Annie Parisse and Tonya Pinkins in "All's Well That Ends Well" (photo by Joan Marcus)

My review of the two Shakespeare in the Park productions playing in rep at the Delacorte Theater has just been posted on CultureVulture.net. Check it out and let me know what you think. It starts off:

“It has been a steamy summer in New York City. The newspapers have bristled with lurid, titillating details of high-placed politicians and their sexual peccadilloes: the New York state congressman and the Tweeted crotch shots; the French pol, the Guinean housekeeper, and the Sofitel room’s semen-splashed wall. Those don’t hold a candle, however, to the filthy doings at Shakespeare in the Park…”

You can read the entire review online here.

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Playlist: iPod shuffle, 7/2/11

July 2, 2011

“Sandman’s Coming,” Linda Ronstadt
“Goodbye Sweet Dreams,” Roky Erickson & Okkervil River
“7 Keys,” Aqualung

“Dust,” Gang Gang Dance
“My Oklahoma Home,” Tea Leaf Green
“I Thought I Was a Child,” Bonnie Raitt
“Albatross,” Rufus Wainwright
“I’m Gone,” Alison Kraus
“Everyday America,” Sugarland
“Rock That Body,” Black Eyed Peas
“Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box,” Radiohead
“Summerboy,” Lady Gaga
“George Square,” David Berkeley
“Code Monkey (Kirsten Shirts mix),” Jonathan Coulton
“Frankenstein,” Aimee Mann
“Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” She & Him
“Goodnite,” Melody Gardot
“Feelin’ Better,” the Gaddabouts
“Hung Up,” Madonna
“Comes Love,” Helen Merrill
“Hazel,” Cocteau Twins
“I’m Old Fashioned,” Chet Baker
“Keep This Party Going,” the B-52’s
“I’ll Remember April,” the Four Freshmen
“Refuge of the Roads,” Joni Mitchell
“Suffer for Fashion,” Of Montreal
“Get It On My Mind (Marvin Gaye v. the Pixies),” DJ Zebra
“Change of Time,” Josh Ritter
“Pray for Rain,” Massive Attack
“Zombie,” Fela Kuti
“World of Trouble,” Norah Jones
“The Leaden Echo,” Stephen Emmer
“Out of Reach,” Cities of Foam

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Theater review: THE NORMAL HEART

July 1, 2011

My (belated) review of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on Broadway has just been posted on CultureVulture.net. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey in "The Normal Heart" (photo by Joan Marcus)

As I say in the review, “It’s a tribute to the power of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart as both a play and as a historical document that I didn’t think I could bring myself to see the new production currently finishing its limited run on Broadway. Having seen the 1985 original and the 2004 revival (both at the Public Theater), having read and written about the play several times in the interim, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to subject myself to the inevitable agony of reliving my own experiences of the early 1980s when the grim reaper of AIDS slashed its way through New York City gay life. But the word of mouth was so strong, and the vote of confidence from the Tony Awards so compelling (best play revival, best supporting actor and actress), that I needed to satisfy my curiosity about both how the play looks at this distance in time and the performances under the direction of George C. Wolfe.”

You can see the entire review online here.

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