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- Paul Kolnik
- COMPANY Elizabeth Stanley, Kelly Jeanne Grant, Angel Desai and Raul Esparza.
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Another favorite moment occurred toward the end of intermission, when a theater attendant tossed out panchos to patrons seated in the Splatter Zone. Like feeding time at the zoo.
Room Service (***1/4) -- Who knew? Before the 1938 flick parleying the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller, the screwball comedy by John Murray and Allen Boretz was a Broadway hit, reaching 500 performances. You can see why in this full-length three-act remount at the SoHo Playhouse. David Edwards is rather solid as producer Gordon Miller (the Groucho role) in a play that celebrates theater folk as scheming, dreaming ne'er-do-wells forever dogged by poverty while destined for greatness.
The opening scene, when Miller and cohorts attempt to vacate the hotel where they owe a huge tab, is a physical comedy gem. And Sterling Coyne, able to go red-faced at will as the seething hotelier, is a rotund miracle of furious, hilarious combustion. Closes March 25.
An Oak Tree (**3/4) -- Every night, a different performer joins playwright/performer Tim Crouch onstage at Barrow Street Theatre -- never having seen the show or read Crouch's script before. Crouch portrays an unraveling hypnotist who is haunted by memories of killing a young girl in a car accident. The girl's father, portrayed by the guest actor (or actress!), has tracked the hypnotist down and volunteers to be his subject at a public performance that we attend.
It's fascinating to watch Crouch acting out his role while instructing the guest on how to perform his/hers. Despite multiple layers of artifice Crouch wishes to demonstrate, we still have the ability to believe in the reality of events that are patently false and contrived. Or, to be blunt, impossible: The final layer of pretense asks us to believe these events are happening a year from now.
I confess to being somewhat mesmerized and moved. But the three ladies who accompanied me -- my mom, daughter and missus -- had reactions ranging from confusion to boredom. Might have made a difference if I'd snagged tickets on the night David Hyde Pierce guested.
The Big Voice: God or Merman? (**1/2) -- Personally, I liked both members of this gay couple and their story. There's additional tang in seeing Jim Brochu, a Brooklyn Catholic, and Steve Schalchlin, an Arkansas Baptist, performing their love story amid the Jewish bric-a-brac of a synagogue -- the Actors Temple Theatre.
But whereas Brochu is a gifted, even charismatic performer, Schalchlin is not. And if you're telling us about the vicissitudes of a somewhat incompatible couple, the element of suspense is DOA when both people are standing right there.
Still it's good to know that gays, godless or not, divide into two parties: You either love Merman or you worship Judy.
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NEW WINDOW GALLERY-Pat Rhea-ACRYLIC PAINTINGS-April 05-30 2024 VALDESE, NC 28690 @ New Window Gallery/Play It Again Records
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Derek Hough - Symphony Of Dance @ Ovens Auditorium
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"Blood Residue Analysis of Paleoamerican Stone Tools in the Carolinas" @ Native American Studies Center
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ARTS RENAISSANCE, a GALA supporting the ARTS in South Carolina @ the Columbia Museum of ART
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The Piano Guys @ Ovens Auditorium- Fri., April 26, 8 p.m.
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