I'm not just "grateful" for theatre...I'm "gratefull" ~ full to the very tippy top of my little elfin hat with amazing theatrical experiences for which I am thankful.

I could never ever list all the moments from the past year or so that merit a mention but here are a few that come to mind:

• Walking into the Circle in the Square Theatre for my first time at the revival of "Godspell" in Oct '11 and seeing water dripping from the ceiling.  I somehow knew at that moment that I was about to meet a dear friend of a show.  It was a deeply moving experience in my life, this gem of a show, and it brought me new friends that I do indeed hold dear.  It certainly built a "Beautiful City."

• That moment when Hugh Jackman appeared at my box seat at the start of Act II of his one-man show and proceeded to serenade me and sit in my lap.  I still can't believe it happened.

• The richly satisfying production of "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz.  The family we met through Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach, Rachel Griffiths, Judith Light and Thomas Sadoski, was complex and fascinating.

• When I walked through the doors of the New York Theatre Workshop to the strains of the festive music already being played on stage by the talented cast of "Once."  I fell in love instantly, and that love only increased after the show's move to Broadway...it lost none of its lovely charm and intimacy.

• Seeing the fantastic New York City Center Encores! presentation of "Merrily We Roll Along" with two of my oldest, dearest friends and linking pinkies that night as we recited "Who's like us?  Damn few."
  

• Making a last minute decision to see a new play, "Really, Really" at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA and being blown away by its depth and power.  It is coming to New York.  See it.

• Being emotionally pummeled in all the right ways by the performance of deaf actor Russell Harvard in the amazing play, "Tribes," and sharing memories of Gallaudet University with him after the show.

• The first time I learned what "starstuff" is, thanks to Celia Keenan Bolger, Adam Chandler-Berat, Christian Borle and the rest of the cast of the enchanting "Peter and the Starcatcher."

• David Selby's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in "Necessary Sacrifices" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

• Being completely starstruck in the combined acting presence of James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury and Candice Bergen at "The Best Man."  

• John Lithgow's unbelievably moving performance as Joseph Alsop in "The Columnist."  
  

• Alan Cumming's tour de force "Macbeth" from the National Theatre of Scotland and performed during the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival.

• The unforgettable Second Stage Theatre production of "Dogfight," which brought together an incredible array of talent, especially the composing team of Pasek and Paul, and the wonderful Lindsay Mendez.

• Sitting in the twilight at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park with the sounds of the Shakespeare in the Park production of "Into the Woods" filling the air with magic.
  

• The multiple workshops and readings I attended, especially "The Break" (Signature, Arlington); "The Crow" (Kennedy Center, Page to Stage); "Last Dance" (York Theatre).

• "Stick Fly" and its amazing cast...this show somehow managed to be wildly funny and completely serious and profound all at once.
  

• The Public Theater's "Fun Home."  This one will stay with me forever.  It was a perfect storm of story, acting, music and staging.  I am really so very grateful for this one.

And there are many, many more.  So thank you writers, composers, actors, dancers, stage managers, directors, lighting, set, sound and costume designers, theatre staff and fellow audience members for reminding me of why I feel so full today...ok, it's partly the pumpkin pie, but it's mostly the theatre! 

 

I saw a quirky, slapstick, hilarious show this past weekend about "adult film" stars, and those that love them :).   It's called "The Performers," stars Cheyenne Jackson, Henry Winkler, Alicia Silverstone, Ari Graynor, Daniel Breaker and Jenni Barber, and had its opening night last night.  But you probably won't get a chance to see it, because today, the day after it opened, it announced it will close on Sunday, four days later. 

Here's how the show's website describes the story:  "It is the night of the Adult Film Awards, and Lee (Breaker), a tabloid journalist, has come to Las Vegas to interview his high school friend Mandrew (Jackson), a hot new star. Lee, who’s accompanied by his fiancée Sara (Silverstone), first sees Mandrew as an exotic creature; but soon enough begins to question his own, more conservative lifestyle. Meanwhile, Sara is having doubts too, and she enlists Mandrew’s wife Peeps (Graynor) – also a performer – to compare notes on intimacy and the fear of commitment. Awards, sequins, and Barry Manilow converge as everyone tries to navigate the ins, outs, ups and downs of relationships. Thank goodness Chuck Wood (Winkler), the hardest-working man in the business, is on hand to remind everyone that size matters… but love matters more."

It's hard to imagine a group of actors throwing themselves into their roles with more abandon.  The "physical" comedy :), whether a pratfall or just exaggerated body language was goofy and fun; and the cast's freedom and ease with the material allowed the audience to just relax and have a blast.  The dialogue was risqué and profane...and completely organic to the story :).  It did take a few minutes for me to get comfortable with it, but I found the characters to be so endearing, that the graphic language stopped shocking me pretty early on in the show.

The real treats in "The Performers"  are Cheyenne Jackson and Ari Graynor, as the husband and wife, Mandrew and Peeps, whose entire relationship has existed in the adult entertainment realm, and for whom kissing on the lips is the measure of monogamy.  The comedic timing and nuance for which Jackson and Graynor have mad skills, made the show work for me on so many levels.  They made me laugh, yes; but more importantly, they made me care about what happened to these otherwise pretty cartoonish characters.  Their reactions to finding out they're pregnant are priceless.  

Henry Winkler was a delight to watch on stage as well.  His despondent but still-fighting admission that he knows his time as a king among porn stars is done was poignant.  And believe me, it surprises me that I would even be using that word to describe a show that spends a fair amount of dialogue on the fine (and funny) points of making pornographic sex entertaining.

So I was happy for the happy ending.  I was happy the porn stars found their own way to be in love and committed.  I was happy that their friends , the hitherto fore inexperienced fiancés (played by a charming Alicia Silverstone and Daniel Breaker), found love and lust without porn, but with a new perspective on sex and love and each other.  And I was happy that Mandrew called his mom when he lost the award that night.  It was sweet.

Admittedly, there were well-worn devices used to get laughs, but there's a reason they're used frequently...they're funny if done well.  And these were done well.  So the misunderstandings, romantic miscues, characters hiding in the bathroom...I knew there'd be a twist because, well, we're talking porn stars, which is pretty funny already.  The context of porn stars looking at the world from a completely different perspective than the rest of us was unpredictably funny enough on its own; I didn't mind a few chestnuts of comic devices.

I would never say that the subject matter of the show is for everyone.  In fact, my concern when I saw it was whether those to whom it would appeal made up a large enough potential audience to provide a long life.  I thought to myself "I'm loving this, but who should I recommend the show to?"  This concern was shared by a friend who had seen the show the night before. But we'd gone to see it and thoroughly enjoyed it (as clearly did the audience at my performance, based on the constant belly-laughing that went on throughout), so I had hoped others would have the chance to discover it as we did.  

In the end, Hurricane Sandy arguably hurt the momentum of the show as it was in previews and just starting to find its audience with positive word of mouth (yeah, yeah...double entendres are unavoidable with this show :)!).  Would it have had a long run?  I'd guess probably not honestly; but seven performances is too short.  I'm truly disappointed that so many people have missed seeing some great comedic performances; and that a talented cast and crew is out of work too soon.  I count myself very lucky...and even more committed to seeing shows that appeal to me during previews (see my earlier post "Can I Please Unread That?" :)).   

I love this photo of Henry Winkler.  It was fun to see the crowd show just how beloved he is. 

One day of theatre~24 hours, two shows, one brunch.  That was to be my October 28, 2012.  I was going to NYC for a day of theatre, planned months in advance.  Two new shows~one new play and one new musical.  Both Off Broadway; each at a theatre I love.  That's why I went...for the theatre.  

Fate had other plans for that 24 hours; plans that set my life awry.  In this case, fate had a name, "Sandy;"  a particularly apt name for an event that destroyed the beautiful sand of the Jersey Shore, Long Island and many other vulnerable places on the East coast.  It's also apt because it represents the enormous amount of grit it threw into so many people's lives; getting into the gears and bringing it all to a standstill.  

I knew Sandy was forecasted.  I watched all the timelines; checked frequently as that Sunday drew closer.  I changed my return train to DC for Monday to several hours early, before the storm was due to strike.  Amtrak was running; nothing had been postponed or canceled.  My Connecticut friends were still coming to meet me for brunch.  So I packed an extra change of clothes just in case, and at 6:30am, I was heading north on the Amtrak Northeast Regional.  The skies looked grey, but not particularly threatening.  It spit a little bit of rain.  And by the time we arrived at Penn Station, the temperature had dropped some.  But it was otherwise just an expected fall day.

A wonderful brunch at Max Brenner with great friends, great food and great conversation convinced me I had made the right choice to make the trip. 

So, with a full stomach and high anticipation, I headed for the matinee of "Checkers" at The Vineyard Theatre; to be followed later by the evening performance of "Giant" at The Public Theater.  My only concern when we emerged from the restaurant to the smell of approaching rain, was that I'd left my umbrella at the hotel (ah, blissful ignorance!). 

 Apprehension heightened when I saw the digital signs at the Union Square subway stations announcing that the entire system was shutting down at 7pm; and that brought a new worry: I could get to the theatre for the evening show, but if the weather turned ugly while I was at the theatre, how would I get back to the hotel?  I was smart enough to figure out that if it might be bad enough to shut the subway down, it was likely not going to be safe walking conditions.  I'm clever that way. 

My answer came by email just after I arrived at The Vineyard.  The performances at The Public that evening were canceled.  Good news for my staying dry; bad news for missing a show I really wanted to see, and knew I'd have real problems rescheduling.  But at least I could relax and enjoy "Checkers," which was excellent (read my thoughts here).   

I walked back to the hotel at a steady clip.  Now the skies looked threatening.  Businesses were shutting down.  I didn't think I had time to stop at the few open delis for food (being sans umbrella).  That turned out to be a mistake.  Within a few hours, the whole city had shut down and I was without options for dinner and forward, apart from the way-too-expensive room service.  Soon I received the email that my train in the morning had been canceled.  I called and rescheduled for Tuesday; already I was looking at hundreds of dollars in added expenses.  And the television coverage went to all-Sandy-all-the-time.  

The next morning as I awoke, I listened for the sounds of driving rain and wind.  Nothing.  I cracked the drapes.  Nothing.  Just a grey day with no activity on the streets below.  Had Amtrak not canceled my train that morning, I would have easily gotten back to DC before the storm hit either place.  Instead, I was to be stuck for the next 3 days.  

Monday was a day of watching nonstop coverage of the impending doom, breaking down and ordering room service, and exploring all my options for getting home the next day.  The subway was shut down.  Businesses were shuttered.  Broadway was dark.  When the storm did hit late in the evening, it made its presence known by banging open the closed and latched windows in the hotel room.  Yes, latched...clearly not tightly enough.  The most terrifying part of the experience was the very loud and constant creaking and swaying of the building.  I lived through the Northridge earthquake in'94 close to the epicenter, and the terrifying sensations came flooding back.  

By the next morning I was in shock, but warm, dry and with power (no internet).  But so many others were not.  All the things they hoped wouldn't happen had happened: the subway had flooded, downtown was under water and the vulnerable waterfront areas were hit even harder~there was no power, no transportation...it was stunning.  I couldn't tear myself away from the television.   Oh, and all the Broadway and effectively all of the Off Broadway shows were canceled again that night, so cheering myself up that way was not going to happen.

By the way, you might reasonably think that the people shown above were waiting for the Starbucks to open.  You'd be wrong.  Starbucks was shut down, but their wifi hotspot was alive and kicking!  So everyone was huddling together against the storefront madly typing on tiny keyboards, or precariously juggling full-size laptops with phone and food and bag and umbrella.  In this techno age, a roof over one's head has been replaced by an open wifi network to which one can connect.  Gimme shelter, indeed. :)

And then a NYC friend, herself stranded at home in Astoria, sent a treat in the form of a note letting me know that some Broadway performers were gathering in Times Square that afternoon to sing some songs as a way of brightening spirits and raising some money for the Red Cross.  I almost didn't go; it was cold and damp and an 18 block walk.  But if they could sing, I could walk.  And then I ran into some theatre acquaintances~an added bonus of chat & lots of much-needed laughter.  The singing was lovely, and did indeed raise spirits and money, both.  From "New York, New York" to "Tomorrow" to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the beautiful voices, familiar tunes and generous performers reminded me why I love theatre; why I love NYC and why sometimes the "sun" comes in the form of song or theatre or a smile.  In fact, that's little Lilla Crawford, "Annie" herself from the current revival at the Palace Theatre, pictured in the center photo below.

We left Times Square and headed for the best cookie bakery on the planet, and a huge supporter of the theatre community, Schmackary's at W45th & 9th Ave.  They had tweeted that they were open, and there is no way you can feel powerless when you are eating a Schmackary's cookie...so I made sure to get some to go :).  You should too.

Got back to the hotel and discovered that, once again, my train was canceled.  Only this time they weren't even rescheduling; clearly this was not good.  But I was still warm and dry and with power...the important stuff.

Wednesday dawned on my mounting despair as to when I'd get home, how I'd pay the bill, where I'd find food that day.  

And then it happened again...theatre stepped up to lend a hand.  On Facebook, an Off Broadway theatre, Second Stage, announced it was offering comp tickets to "Modern Terrorism," a play I'd heard of and would have planned to see but for just not having the time.  I didn't see the announcement with much time to spare, and before I knew it, I was sitting in the theatre and enjoying a well-acted, hilarious and unique tale of somewhat hapless, would-be terrorists.  It probably doesn't really compute when you read that, but it really was all of those things.

That bit of good theatre-fortune had a snowball effect.  On the walk home I found a great food emporium brimming with inexpensive deliciousness (Cafe R on W31st St.).  Amtrak was still not booking tickets for DC, but Bolt Bus was, so I booked the bus for the next afternoon.  And then I took a bubble bath.  Because I was not homeless or without power.  It looked as if this unplanned limbo was coming to an end.

My 24 hours of theatre had turned into nearly five days.  But three of those five days gave me gifts of great theatre.  And several of these were lovely surprises, just when I most needed a lovely surprise of theatre.

The takeaway?  As the title of this post says, "theatre got me into this, and theatre got me through it."  Were it not for those stories, I wouldn't have this story.  And as I write this, I'm back in NYC enjoying a six-course feast of shows.  But it won't stop there~I'll keep coming back.  Because, for the love of theatre, it's worth it.*

*and, by the way, special thanks to the Eventi Hotel and my friends at The Muse Hotel (both wonderful Kimpton properties), the kind people staffing the Amtrak customer service line, and my jovial, burly guardian angel at the Bolt Bus who made sure I got on the first possible bus back to DC.