Can music mean anything at all in a time of great tragedy?
The walk-through to Stage 42 is a curious thing. At 422 West 42nd street, the Off-Broadway cast of Trip of Love prepares for their two o’clock matinee performance and an audience of young to-old huddles past enlarged neon-mushrooms on theatre walls that seem to glow deeper and deeper. I hold my breath. Although the visual high is bringing me a sense of peace, another voice speaks to me: Will this musical be comedic, or a spoof? The sixties to me seemed nothing but an era of endless love thrown in all directions…with flower power of course.
Trip of Love is created, directed and choreographed by the brilliant James Walski. Mr. Walksi captures triple threat theatre in its purest form, and his cast does not fail to deliver since their world premiere in Osaka, Japan in 2008. Trip of Love is the official “feel good” musical starring sparkling triple threats Brandon Leffler, Marina Lazzaretto, & Austin Miller, as well as the completely dynamic Bahiyah Hibah. This mega show with its gorgeous three-dimensional set artwork, causes you to reflect on the ups and downs of the flower power era.
Feel free to sing along with the cast that packs a punch in the most dazzling costumes I have ever seen. Some of my favorite sixties tunes, like Where the Boys Are (Connie Francis), These Boots are Made for Walkin, and Somebody to Love were sung in this grand spectacle as well as the unforgettable melody of Moon River.
One will definitely feel rejoiced after taking a trip to Stage 42. I demand (with love of course) everyone take their trip to Trip of Love. The trip will be worth it!
-Alexa Christina Politis
American literary history as told by an all-star cast.
On Monday June 6th, the Broadway community gathered together to kick-off Tony Week with the official Tony Honors Cocktail Party at the Paramount Hotel’s Diamond Horseshoe. The formal event is an opportunity for nominees and other invited guests to celebrate the work of the 2016 Tony Honors recipients. The three individuals honored included Seth Gelblum, a Partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP and chair of their theater department, Joan Lader, a highly regarded Broadway vocal coach who’s worked with a score of award winning performers, and Sally Ann Parsons, a costumer designer behind shows including The Phantom of The Opera, Cats, The Lion King, and most recently Hamilton.
Speaking of Hamilton, the presence of the phenomenon was undeniable throughout the event (coincidentally held across the street from Hamilton’s home at the Richard Rodgers theater). Many of that show’s record breaking 16 nominees were in attendance including creator-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, his fellow lead actor nominee Leslie Odom Jr., and director Tommy Kail. Additionally the star-studded event, which was presented by FIJI Water, welcomed fellow nominated performers Lupita Nyong’o from Eclipsed, Sophie Okonedo from The Crucible, Jeff Daniels from Blackbird, She Loves Me stars Laura Benanti, Jane Krakowski and Zachary Levi, as well as Jessica Lange from Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
While these honorary awards have already been handed out, the competitive awards will be given this Sunday at The Beacon Theater in a ceremony hosted by The Late Late Show’s James Corden.
On June 7, 2016 Tony Award Nominees Pascale Armand, Alex Brightman, Danielle Brooks, Cynthia Erivo, Christopher Fitzgerald, David Furr, Christopher Jackson, Andrea Martin, Saycon Sengbloh, Phillipa Soo, Jennifer Simard, Brandon Victor Dixon, Adrienne Warren, Zachary Levi with Charlotte St. Martin (President of The Broadway League) and Heather Hitchens (President of the American Theatre Wing) participated in the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building in red and silver in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Tony Awards.
The ceremony will be broadcast by CBS at 8pm on the 12th.
-Nathan Braun
“11:55” is directed by Ari Issler and Ben Snyder. We caught the film at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival.
In America, we have pride parades. In China, there are covert fake marriage meetups for gay men to find lesbian women to marry. And this is just one of the abject differences in our cultures outlined in Inside the Chinese Closet, a gripping testimony of two parallel journeys through the veiled lives of LGBT Chinese people.
One, a lesbian named Cherry, tries to avoid dealing with children even as her mother desperately attempts to buy one illegally so she has someone to “take care of her when she’s old”. Her fights with her family become less pointed and increasingly unguarded under the scrutiny of the camera, and she even deigns to discuss her girlfriend. Growing up in a rural village, she is unable to even attempt to explain being a lesbian to people like her father- who she says would beat her to death if he knew.
Andy, a gay man “popular in the bear community”, or a specific type of gay male subculture, is trying to find a child. His father demands a child and he is determined to fulfill the request. When attempting to buy one from Taiwan, he discovers recent laws have made it illegal to take a child there. He turns to the fake marriage plot, meeting with several different lesbians and assuring them he will accept artificial insemination rather than, as one derisively puts it, “the natural way”.
What makes the documentary so chilling is the fact that these closeted LGBT people are not the youths we’ve come to know, struggling with their identity and figuring out how to navigate through the rainbow cities of America. These are middle-aged Chinese citizens, well into their lives and careers, who have known who they are for quite some time. They just can’t tell anyone- save for trusted friends and some, not all, family members. Another gripping film from the Human Rights Watch film festival, this will make anyone comfortable in the changing ways of America remember that Western ideals haven’t reached all corners of the globe.
The potential to be a very meaningful film is not quite met.
Everyday gestures take on new levels of significance.
We were on the scene of the new hit movie “Puerto Ricans in Paris” and got exclusive interviews with the cast.
“Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story” walks us through the bumpy road of the singer’s life and career.