OFF BROADWAY THEATER FAVORITES"LATE CHRISTOPHER BEANE"

This season provided us with many terrific Off Broadway shows.  The Late Christopher Beane ranked up there amongst my top five, and could be considered the best screwball comedy of the season.  The many twists in the story keeps surprising you.  It was written in 1932 by Sidney Howard who won the Pulitzer Prize, two Academy Awards, wrote the screenplay for "Gone With The Wind" and the original work that preceeded the musical, "The Most Happy Fella".  He died fairly young and his works should be revisited since he writes beautifully.  This play is about greed, certainly topical today.  This comedy was originally adapted from a French play and is about a family discovering that a painter who formally lived with them, left works of art that are now worth a considerable sum.  The family thought the painter had no talent and didn't hold his paintings in high esteem and were not totally sure where they were even located.  The true nature of the family members and other art professionals is revealed with a lot of humor and insight.  Nine cast members are all excellent actors and each one stands out in their own right.  The direction and staging are first rate and this includes the lighting and sound.  I recommend that you try and see this play as it's a limited engagement and it's as good as Moliere.

ENTERTAINMENT & TRAVEL NEWS-ISRAEL

Reuben	Asher	Benjamin	Dan
Gad	Judah	Joseph	Zebulon
Simeon	Levi	Naphtali	Issachar

Chagall Windows- Jerusalem

My favorite destinations in Israel are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Safed and the Galilee area. I haven't been back to Israel in a while, but I fondly remember a trip there with my son. The locales were all beautiful, historic and had very interesting touring opportunities. In Jerusalem, I recall overlooking the old city, visiting the Tower of David, touring the King David Hotel which is the most historic hotel in Israel and seeing the Hadassah Medical Center with its brilliant Chagall Windows. We viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Shrine of the Book, walked through the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden at the Israel Museum, saw Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem. The Western Wall visit was very moving. Tel Aviv has almost fifty hotels, many from the top hotel chains, along with beautiful beaches, cafes and restaurants. We visited the home of David Ben Gurion, the old port city of Jaffa with its Artists Quarter, and the Weizmann Institute. We went to Caesarea to visit the Roman ruins and amphitheater, traveling further to Nazareth to see the town of Jesus's youth and its attractions. We arrived in Haifa and stopped at Mount Carmel, the Bahai Shrine and Persian Gardens. The visit to Safed included the Artists Quarter and the ancient synagogues. We purchased many artworks by one of the most important artists who lived there, Shalom of Safed. A lovely boat ride on the Galilee was a highlight of the trip, after which we visited the Golan Heights and realized how important this strategic location was. Eilat is now compared to Miami Beach with more water sports. Our reason for visiting was the live coral reefs where my son was able to do many dives. The entire country was amazing and I can't wait to visit again.

FINIAN'S RAINBOW-on Broadway

Finian's Rainbow has finally been revived on Broadway, having last been performed there in 1947. Many off-Broadway revivals of the musical took place over the years, most recently the acclaimed performances at the Encores series at New York's City Center. That run, happily gave the producers the impetus to mount it on Broadway. The glorious score by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg is more fabulous than ever. Hit song after hit song is heard and this score ranks up there with the amount of standards in any other important musical. There is excellent vocal delivery in their individual numbers by both Kate Baldwin and Terri White. They are the standout singers. Everyone else is perfectly adequate and on occasion more than adequate. The book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy still holds up and was very pertinent for contemporary times. Warren Carlyle's choreography and direction were perfect in portraying the story. Leprechauns and pots o'gold are integrated with Irish whimsy and Southern social mores of the period. If you're not moved by "How Are Things in Glocca Morra", you're not alive. A must see for all musical theater lovers.

MEMPHIS-on Broadway

Memphis is an original musical and in my opinion, the best new musical of the season. The Book and Lyrics are by Joe DiPietro and the Music and Lyrics are by David Bryan. It was based on a concept by George W. George and it stars the very talented actor-singers Chad Kimball and Montego Glover.  Both have very powerful voices.  The cast is very large with Derrick Baskin, J. Bernard Calloway, James Iglehart, Michael McGrath and Cass Morgan all standing out.  Both the singing and dancing are performed by a cast of accomplished performers.  Sergio Trujillo did an exceptional job choreographing and was aided by the able direction of Christopher Ashley. The story crosses racial lines, taking place before Memphis was integrated. A white man, Huey, played by Chad Kimball visits the black side of town and hears the gifted singer Felicia, played by Montego Glover. Huey becomes a top disc jockey and the story and romance proceeds from there. The music is very infectious, encompassing rock and roll, Motown and Memphis sounds. I heard harmonies of groups like the Temptations and many female groups of the sixties and seventies along with sounds of James Brown and Chuck Berry. The songs written for the show are very powerful and can stand on their own and the story holds your interest throughout.  A most enjoyable evening of musical theater that would work for the entire family, from the older through younger members.

NYC THEATER-ONE PERSON PERFORMANCES

NIGHT WATCHER WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY CHARLAYNE WOODARD

Charlayne Woodard is back in NYC performing for Primary Stages at 59 East 59 Theaters in the newest work that she has written called The Night Watcher. She is not only one of the better writers around but each time I see her perform, I wonder why she's not a bigger star. I've seen her before in one person shows but the play she was in before this current play was titled Stunning and she was the standout actor in that group ensemble. The Night Watcher tells the story about not having children of her own and relationships to the children in her life whether they are relatives or children of friends and acquaintances. Portraying the many characters in the play, Woodard gives a riveting performance. Daniel Sullivan's direction was highly praised by serious theater professional friends of mine. The lovely acting and beautiful writing of The Night Watcher puts Woodard at the top of her game and I look forward to everything she is involved in.

JUDITH IVEY IN THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS

Judith Ivey is portraying Ann Landers, who for many years wrote an advice column, in a play called The Lady With All The Answers at the Cherry Lane Theater. Landers real name was Eppie Lederer and she wrote a syndicated column for almost half a century. In this column, she dispensed wisdom about love, marriage, sex and every possible issue that she was contacted about. Lederer died in 2002 at the age of 83 and the column had been read by 90 million people at the height of her popularity. She had a twin sister who wrote the Dear Abby column and there was quite a rivalry between the two. Ivey, a two time Tony award winner, has been the quintessential actor model for most actors for such a long time and this one person performance is no exception. Drawn from Landers life and from letters, the play is both funny and touching. She has gotten the part down to every last detail, wardrobe, hairstyle, voice, Chicago intonation and manner of speech. It's a fascinating story of someone we al

l knew something about but the details that Ivey describes gives us a much closer view. The writer of the work, David Rambo, did an excellent job as a wordsmith of extreme ability. The dialogue was clever and at the same time had the homey style that Landers used when she spoke and wrote her columns. A very stunning set was created by designer Neil Patel, depicting the residence that Landers/Lederer lived in Chicago. Terrific music of the period was a lovely addition to the performance.

DAME EDNA

Dame Edna is scheduled to return to Broadway once more. Australia is sending us another one of their prime theatrical exports, following in the footsteps of other Australian megastars like Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. We owe a big thanks to the land down under for again sending Dame Edna who is played by Barry Humphries. The act started in Australia in the 1970's and after much success, went on to Great Britain, doing London stage shows such as "Housewife Superstar" and "A Night with Dame Edna". Spanning every conceivable entertainment medium, from theater to television to books, the many incarnations of Dame Edna have received numerous awards, and rightfully so.

During the performances that I've seen in the past, one gets the feeling that Edna might just be that widow that she is portraying. Though loving and comforting in her intentions, Dame Edna is really a crack up, through and through. She integrates references about her children into her monologue of neuroses, specifically about one child, possibly a homosexual, who she calls a "bigshot," with a "monster" for a wife. Edna butts into other people’s business, engaging audience members into participatory counseling sessions in an attempt to reconcile a possibly sparring couple while they are brought on stage. She even engages an elderly person or two to play rappers and, again, the result is unstoppable laughter. The act consists of mostly adlibbing, relying greatly on the complexity of the audience. The prewritten jokes are perfect and the delivery and timing couldn't be better. Clever songs and the four synchronized dancers keep the show running smoothly, and the canned music is surprisingly quite good. Of course the show stopper is Dame Edna’s most elaborate gown, fur, ridiculous eyeglasses, lavender hair and gaudy glitter. Dame Edna obviously wants to be loved by the audience, and her signature gesture of throwing gladioluses to the audience, not to mention her affectionate calling everyone she encounters a "possum", keeps the performance running on humor for all two hours and twenty minutes.

MARIO CANTONE
Mario Cantone now of Sex and the City television fame, did a one man show called "Laugh Whore" where he puts on a performance that is one of the funniest comedic performances I've ever seen. The show opened to rave reviews and rightfully so. Cantone could be called the man of extraordinary talents. He includes flawless impersonations, top-notch singing and dancing, hysterical comedy and excellent repartee. It all makes for a riotously funny performance. The singing ranges from torch songs to really dead-on renditions of acts, such Cantone doing Shirley Bassey singing, "This is my Life." He also does turns on Cher, Tina Turner, Katherine Hepburn and Sammy Davis Jr. In doing Carol Channing, Cantone recalls the recent television awards show where Carol is paired with a famous rap star. Carol famously asks, "rap, like the Christmas department in Bloomingdales?" bringing the audience to their knees in laughter. Refering to the Broadway hit "Cats", Cantone expresses his disdain for the show and asks, "what is a Jellico cat anyway?" Funnier still, he requests that a "straight" man from the audience come on stage and join him. He then proceeds to serenade this volunteer in a campy scene of mock seduction, which is one of his best routines.

Hilarious tales about his very close family relationships are revealed: the audience is brought up to speed on his analysis of his various family conundrums, which we can all relate to, having family members who are similar and with whom we've all experienced like situations. Luckily, his take on them makes it all appear so much funnier. This performance is very polished, despite seeming like a free association routine. The excellent musical numbers are written by Cantone, along with Jerry Dixon and Harold Lubin. The music is performed by a live band and the entire production was masterfully directed by Joe Mantello.

TRAVEL- PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Philadelphia is a city I had wanted to return to for the longest time and I finally found the opportunity to meet up with friends and see the town. We arrived at the Thirtieth Street Station and caught a cab to go to the Philadelphia Museum to see the new Marcel Duchamp Exhibition. It was very small but quite interesting and the museum was able to show works that are rarely on exhibition and worth the viewing.  It was called "Etant Donnes" and was the last work Duchamp did before he died in 1968 and was a bit of a peep show that he left to to the museum upon his death.  We spent a long time going through the Philadelphia Museum's permanent collection, which is on par with the best museums in the world, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. The museum bus then took us a few blocks to the Perelman wing of the Philadelphia Museum. There, we viewed several exhibits including one on early costumes which was quite extensive and very informative. We were told that there was a local tram that turned out to be a free trip, making stops all over town, including the zoo, several parks and the downtown shopping area. The tram then took us to the historical section of Philadelphia where we saw the various buildings and exhibits housed in seven or eight different venues. They included the Liberty Bell, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and all else pertaining to our early history. The talks and tours were well executed and we had a picture perfect day. A restaurant had been recommended in that area called City Tavern which was one of the oldest restaurants in Philadelphia. The food was excellent and service was tops. The ambiance was very interesting since everyone was dressed in period costume and the dishes, silverware and furnishings were all from the same era. The evening was topped off with a walk to Penns Landing to see the waterfront area. They hold outdoor performances there and it's quite scenic. I'm already planning another trip to Philadelphia since we couldn't get to see everything.

METROPOLITAN OPERA-BARBER OF SEVILLE

The fall entertainment season started with the Metropolitan Opera's production of movies of operas. They were shown nightly at the Lincoln Center entrance to the Metropolitan Opera and included the most popular operas. Attendance was overflowing with many standing. There were even picnicers dining on the cement floor as if they were at Tanglewood in the Berkshires. My favorite production of the series was The Barber of Seville. The performances included all the top opera stars and one was better than the other. This was a terrific way to see the various operas up close since the screen that the operas were projected on was huge and every scene had enormous clarity. It appears as if the Metropolitan Opera felt this was an ideal way to encourage subscribers to attend the live operas. I believe this effort was successful since the Metropolitan Opera announced that subscriptions had increased.

ENTERTAINMENT & TRAVEL NEWS-THEATER FESTIVALS

THEATER-SUMMER FESTIVALS IN NEW YORK (FRINGE FESTIVAL and NEW YORK MUSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL)

Some of the newest, daring, most original, experimental theater is seen during the summer months in New York City. Many festivals take place, especially in the summer and fall, with The Fringe Festival being the largest and one of the oldest. It occurs during the latter part of the summer, usually starting in August. It takes place in many venues in the downtown area of New York City, generally below Fourteenth Street. Performances run all day long and into the evening, sometimes even later in the evening than one would normally expect. The Fringe Festival offers the widest variety of every imaginable type of theater, plays, musicals, dance, one person performances, multi-media and puppetry are among the selections. The venues are not very large and the "hot" shows get sold out quickly. The ticket prices are reasonable and the attendance consists of mostly downtown types with a large contingency of press and producers looking for the next hit show. Applications increase in size every year and the quality of the productions have greatly improved. Applicants are instructed to apply early so as not to be shut out. There have been many productions that started at the summer festivals and been picked up by producers. The shows were then produced in other venues and moved up the theaterical ladder. This years offerings are the best I've ever seen at the Fringe Festival.

The New York Musical Theater Festival takes place each fall for three weeks. The dates are usually the latter part of September, into October, after the Fringe Festival concludes its performances. The venues are off broadway and off-off broadway houses. Only musical productions are featured and they range in size from one man to large casts of 30 and more. The organization provides technical support and a marketing setup and much of this support is donated. They also have readings, workshops, seminars, master classes and other support events, some taking place throughout the year. Musicals come in from all over the world and range from hip-hop through country, opera and everything in between. Ticket prices are also reasonable and productions such as Altar Boyz, Title of Show, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Nerds and the Tony Award winning musical, Next to Normal, is their biggest success story. I was fortunate enough to see several of their current offerings. Academy, The Last Smoker in America and R.R.R.E.D. were suggested to me by friends who had seen them and they all showed tremendous promise. I predict that they will each be picked up by producers and continue their runs.