ARTS

Latest news and listings

There is something about a person who is in command and lives the charmed life. Seeing them makes you want to be with them and absorb their essence in hopes of the charm rubbing off onto you.

And apparently that could even account for a brief change in sexual orientation. That tidbit was the only thing that's difficult to believe in Douglas Carter Beane's play, "As Bees in Honey Drown" which opened last week and continues through Sunday at Wagner College's Stage One theater.

That point withstanding, the six-member cast (including four actors playing multiple roles) turned in a solid performance, finding and using Beane's sass, wit and humor to move action seamlessly forward in the two-hour piece.

Continue reading "REVIEW: 'As Bees in Honey Drown'" »

Annie Oakley was a superstar at the turn of the 20th century.

The legendary markswoman toured the country (Staten Island included) and Europe in the late 1800s with sharp-shooting acts like Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Donned in ornate frocks she sewed herself, Oakley could split playing cards in mid-air and knock off clay targets by the bunches. She even fought for women's rights in the early 1900s.

Her father died when she was only a child, forcing Oakley to hunt and sell the game to support her mother and siblings and pay off the mortgage on the family home.

Continue reading "ARTS: Sharpshooter" »

The BK celebrates its new contempo acquisitions

Big museums don't blow their horns much over acquisitions, except when they make extremely big-ticket purchases like the Duccio Madonna that set the Metropolitan Museum back $50 million a few years ago.

That's why it's good to see the Brooklyn Museum showcasing a whole gallery full of new possessions. Some are famous, like Andy Warhol's 1964 "Fragile Dress," and some are the work of young provocateurs, like 31-year-old Canadian-Chinese artist Terrence Koh.

Koh's relatively mild-mannered sculpture "Untitled (Vitrines)" is one of the works featured in "21: Selections of Contemporary Art."

Continue reading "ARTS: '21' salute" »

Nikki Lauren wanted to send a special thank you to the men and women of the FDNY and NYPD.

And what better way for the actress, former Theater director and now Community Outreach Coordinator for the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden's Performing Arts Department than to invite them to a show.
Not just an invitation, but a 10-percent discount on tickets to Frank McCourt's "The Irish and How They Got That Way" which opens Friday and runs two weekends through Oct.12.
"Come and celebrate Irish culture, music and storytelling with this funny and enlightening musical about "all things Irish," Lauren wrote in a letter to the respective departments.
Special codes are available through websites of the fire and police departments.
Tickets that are $25 for general admission are now $22.50 for the bravest and finest.
Frank McCourt, former creative writing teacher on the Island and Pultizer Prize winner for his work "Angela's Ashes" writes about what he knows best - his heritage. Born in Brooklyn, his parents returned to Ireland when jobs dried up in America.
"This boisterous and touching musical celebration features some of the best Irish music and stories ever to be heard on this side of the Atlantic," Lauren continued.
If you make your living serving and protecting and saving lives in the police and firec departments, call the box office at 718 815-SNUG (7684) to recieve your discount and head to the Veterans Memorial Hall Playhouse, 1000 Richmond Terr.
Remember to get your discount codes first.

The buzz through the day on Thursday was that a special guest might be in the audience for Wagner College's Stage One production of "As Bees in Honey Drown."

And not just any guest, but someone who knows the show better than anyone. Douglas Carter Beane, playwright, was indeed in the house at show time and stayed afterward to chat with students and answer questions as part of the talk-back series.
Beane, whose first sceenplay was "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" has enjoyed lots of success, including writing the book to the Broadway musical "Xanadu" based on the 1980 movie, now set to close on Sunday.
After Thursday night's performance, Beane was warm and honest with student who tossed question after question about his inspirations, writing schedule and future projects.
He started his theater career as an actor, Beane told the group of roughly 50 students. After studying at American Music and Dramatic Academy, he looked for acting jobs. When there were none, he started writing three-page shorts so that he and friends could perform them on weekends.
"I discovered I really like writing," he said.
Meanwhile he was a nanny and then a doorman and worked at Drama Bookshop in Manhattan while waiting for the writing to take off.
"Write what you see around you," he told students who asked what advice he'd give to aspiring writers.
His works tend to be inspired by people he knew or saw at cocktail parties or met through friends, Beane told students. His play "The Little Dog Laughed" was nominated for a Tony Award.
"As Bees in Honey Drown" was an Off-Broadway hit in 1997.
Now he continues to write 2-3 hours a day while balancing the other aspects of casting, negotiating movie deals, working on a new musical and mounting another production in Manhattan.
"Now writing is a joyous experience," Beane said. "In all art there comes a time when you fall in love with the process."

There will be no more balloons for Katie Micha.
Well, that is unless she really wants them.

But when Micha was cast last year in the Broadway musical, "Gypsy" with Patti Lupone, she came onstage as the cute Balloon Girl wearing a dress of red, silver and gold balloons. She was also slated to win Uncle Jocko's talent competition until Mama Rose came on the scene to pop her balloon -- literally.
This month, Micha, a former Islander, frequent community theater performer and granddaughter of Karen O'Donnell and Mickey Tennenbaum, got a stage promotion.
She signed a contract to play Baby Louise -- the more innocent and younger version of Gypsy Rose Lee before the clothing removal circuit. Katie also will go on as Baby June, if needed.
This marks the first Broadway principal role for the 13-year-old.
"We are very excited for her," said O'Donnell who shares car service and supervision duties with Micha's mom, Denise Johnson, grandpa Louie Guinta, his wife, Cindy during her eight performances a week.
So now if you go to the St. James Theatre you will see Micha as one of the newsboys to Baby June's "May we Entertain You." This role allows her not only more stage time, but some singing and dancing to boot.
She's becoming a regular on Broadway, having survived two stints of "The Grinch" on Broadway.
There may be something about the St. James Theatre for Micha. Last year, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" played there before it was interrupted by the strike.
Now it's onto "Gypsy," sharing the stage with Patti Lupone, who plays her stage mother. The show is accompanied by the greatest orchestra I've heard in a long while, full with violins, violas, cellos and bass, woodwinds, brass, a harp, keyboard, drums and percussion.

William Shakespeare is a witty, witty man.

Sometimes you forget that and become consumed in the philosophy and complex nature of prose and meter.

But Sea View Playwright's Theatre's production of "Twelfth Night" offers a fun evening of mischief and affairs of the heart, wherein you can truly appreciate the Bard and his wit. The show, which is packed quips and repartee, continues through Sunday.

Continue reading "ARTS: 'Twelfth Night's' a charm" »

Tony Lo Bianco revisits NYC's beloved three-term Depression-era mayor

Emmy winner Tony Lo Bianco may be known as a streetwise character-actor, but he also enjoys it when he gets to play someone from the pages of history.

"I like to play people who existed," said Lo Bianco, a Brooklyn native who decided as a teen that he wanted to be an actor. "It becomes more authentic. I get to represent the essence of that person, their own life, and rhythms and habits."

Continue reading "ARTS: Fiorello, old friend" »

Mention Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and what comes to mind?

Sunflowers craning in the light. Irises bathed in sun. The pained face of a red-headed man, illuminated in pitiless light.

Daytime dominated van Gogh's short worklife, but he was intrigued with the challenges of after-hours subjects. He reported to the same fields that dazzled him during the day to see if he could capture them slick with night light.

Continue reading "ARTS: Night vision" »