No walk on the beach: "Summer's Different"

Tamar Rogoff's new work, Summer's Different--which I was invited to see at one point in its late development and talked about in a previous post--has formally opened at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre, competently shaped by focused performances all around and well-served by Joe Levasseur's lighting. The story of a family suddenly challenged by the revelation of a father's enjoyment of women's clothing, it still spends too much time establishing the beach-iness of its setting and not enough time delving into the lightning-struck core relationship at the crossroads--husband (Brandin Steffensen) and wife (the superb Emily Pope-Blackman). What's there in the interaction between these two sensitive, intelligent and gutsy performers, though, remains a compelling nugget of a story. Forgive me if, even within the finished piece, the extended family context--kids, grandparents--continues to interest me far less. I'm a shark drawn to the meat and heat of real drama.

For more information on Summer's Different, click here. For information on Rogoff's La MaMa season and to purchase tickets, click here.

La MaMa (Ellen Stewart Theatre)
66 East 4th Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Good, funny, beautiful: Taylor Mac at La MaMa

For a play that ends by starkly reminding viewers of our responsibility to right the world's wrongs--and thus write the happy ending its lead character clearly deserves--Good Person of Szechwan can be a rollicking good time. At least, that's the way this Brecht classic is delivered at La MaMa in The Foundry Theatre's charming production, directed by Lear deBessonet with Taylor Mac as sweet-hearted hooker Shen Tei.

Suddenly given a chance for financial stability--a reward for showing hospitality to a trio of visiting deities--the empathetic, well-intentioned Shen Tei seems only to attract all the greed and mendacity this sorry world holds. Among other inevitabilities, she falls hard for a questionable guy and lands in quite a messy pot of trouble.

Taylor Mac--first seen spewing azalea-colored petals from his lips as his bald head emerges from a hole in the ground--can render Shen Tei's physical delicateness just so in every moment. Catch this one: "Please be patient [giving the skirt of his tomato-red gown a lyrical swish] just a little." Yet when disguised as "cousin" Shui Ta in a pin-striped suit, bowler and curly mustache, the romantic and put-upon Shen Tei turns quite kickass. In the end, adversity and necessity lead her to understand the imperfection in people and glimpse the fierce range of possibility within herself.

Mac's juicy central performance, the terrific physical work of David Turner (as the Waterseller) in the first act and Lisa Kron's comic touches throughout are unforgettable.

Matt Saunder's re-imagining of the Ellen Stewart Theatre--lit by Tyler Micoleau and energized by the hipster folk music of César Alvarez, performed live by The Lisps--transforms it into an even more intimate space while utilizing quite a bit of airspace above the usual stage. It resembles a pop-up book. With influences as diverse as vaudeville, doo wop and drag theater, the Foundry gives Brecht's political soap opera irresistible glow and buoyancy.

Now through February 24. For schedule and ticketing information, click here.

La MaMa (Ellen Stewart Theatre)
66 East 4th Street (2nd Floor), Manhattan

La MaMa moves forward with Mia Yoo

Mia Yoo Steps Into Ellen Stewart’s Shoes at La MaMa
by Jason Zinoman, The New York Times, October 12, 2011

La MaMa loves Japan

On Monday, April 25 (7:30pm), La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club will present A Prayer For Japan, to benefit relief efforts in Japan.

Click here for complete program details.

Free admission.
Reservations not required.

In the La MaMa tradition, the hat will be passed to help support Japan’s relief efforts. All donations from the evening will go to Make The Heaven, a Japanese NGO in Japan working with the Japan Me group, a non-profit organization that is providing ongoing relief for victims in the area of Ishinomaki. Japan Me transports supplies to the disaster area and delivers these needed supplies directly to victims. In addition, the group places victims with volunteers across the country; and transports aid workers to the affected areas for rescue missions.

La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street, 2nd Floor (between Bowery and Second Avenue), Manhattan
(directions)

Rogoff's "Diagnosis": Get it online now!

Well, as it turns out, my Dance Magazine review of Tamar Rogoff's "Diagnosis of a Faun"--starring Gregg Mozgala--is already online here.