Frankenstorm

Happy Halloween Everyone!
First off, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers, concerns, and phone calls (even if they didn't get through) over the last two days.  Hurricane Sandy hit NYC very hard but I am happy to say that I am safe and well, back in my apartment.  There is no damage to my building, and I'm even lucky enough to have electric and hot water.  So, it is a very happy Halloween indeed for me.  I am so grateful to be writing this blog from my own kitchen table rather than from a hotel or shelter, like so many East-Coasters today.

I know many of you are curious about how my last couple of days went, so here is the low-down.  I had originally intended on staying in my apartment during the storm, because I had heard that it wasn't supposed to be as bad as originally predicted, and I was not in an evacuation zone.  But as the reports grew more and more worrisome on Sunday, I began to get scared and think that maybe I should leave Manhattan for the storm.  My fears were confirmed when it was announced that the subway would be closing at 7 pm.  If the subways were closed, I knew it would be serious.  My apartment was located right outside the c-zone for evacuation, so I knew that there was no way my building was going to get flooded, but I was worried about the fact that I don't have a ton of food in my apartment, and most of it needs to be microwaved, so I'd be in a difficult spot if I lost power.  I could have gone to the grocery store, but lines were literally out the door and around the corner.  It was a very disconcerting sight to see.  Also, my apartment is very small with no TV and my roommate, luckily for her, happened to be out of town this weekend.  So if I got stuck in here it would be a very long and lonely couple days.  Fortunately, Joe happened to be in Manhattan that morning doing community service for his job so I contacted him and he said I could come home with him to his parents' house on Staten Island.

I know, I know what you're thinking: Is Staten Island really a safe place to be in a hurricane? Well, parts of it certainly were not, and in retrospect getting suck on the rock was probably not the best thing for us, but his family's house is in the middle of the island, much father away from the evacuation zones than my apartment.    Also, they had plenty of food and actual news.  Plus, it was much better not being alone during the storm.  Joe's family was incredibly welcoming and I am so, so grateful for their hospitality over the three days that I was there.  Also, I have to admit, we really had a lot of fun during the hurricane.  We were stuck inside, so we did what any Italian family would do under the circumstances: cook, bake, and eat.

To get in the Halloween Spirit,  Me, Joe, and his sister made red velvet cupcakes and carved two giant pumpkins on Monday.  We did them from stencils and one has a witch and the other a ND leprechaun.  I'm very proud of them, if I do say so myself.  We lost electricity at Joe's house around 9:45 pm on Monday.  We played some board games and told some ghost stories and then went to bed.  At that point, we had only heard on the news about one death and were beginning to think the storm was going to pass without mass tragedy.

  It wasn't until we woke up the next day that we learned about the 17 deaths total on the East Coast and the 80 homes burned down in Breezy Point, Queens.  So it was a much more somber Tuesday as the whole family gathered and Joe's grandma's.  Luckily, there was electric there so we were all able to shower.  We cooked a little and watched a movie.  We still weren't really able to go outside, but the storm had let up.  It wasn't until about 2 that a bridge opened and it was possible to leave Staten Island.  The police were still asking people not to drive unless they had to though, so we decided not to return me to Manhattan just yet.  I was able to stay for a big "Aftermath Party" and Joe's Aunt Diane's house.  Thank you Aunt Diane for all the Sangria, we really needed it.

Finally, around 9 pm last night Joe drove me back into Manhattan. Strangest sight of the storm: driving past the New York skyline completely dark.  It was a very eerie scene.  I had seen online that my building had electric, but I was worried about my neighborhood.  Imagine my happiness when we pulled onto my street and saw that my corner bar was open and hopping.  Gotta love the resilience of New Yorkers. 

I am still off school until Monday because of the power outages and the lack of subway, but I am getting back to work on my plays for class.

I realize that in the chaos of the storm I slacked on the actual purpose of this blog, and I still have yet to review the most recent play I have seen, Glengary Glenn Ross on Broadway (Starring Al Pacino!)  But this particular entry does not seem the correct time to do so, therefore I will post a review in the next few days.  Stay tuned...

Everyone please pray for all the people whose lives and property were lost in Hurricane Sandy.

Stop Raining on my Theater!

So today I am happy to announce the completion of my first live project as an MFA student: our site specific plays.  These plays are very short (5 minutes or less) and where inspired by various locations around the neighborhood of our school.  The plays were then supposed to be performed on-location in the place where they were written.  My play was called "The City Nymph" and took place in a park along the Hudson River. It was sort of my way to wrestle with the fact that faith is absurd, but we have it anyway, but in a light and non-preachy way.  The play centers on a young man who is trying to convince his lover that a magical city nymph lives in the park.  The girl, on the other hand, has to choose between the magic she wants to believe in and the necessities of life.  The nymph shows up minutes after she leaves, challenging the young man's understanding of why she exists.  Unfortunately, as is the case with live theater, especially site-specific theater, things do not always go as originally planned.

In other words, it rained.

Which means the plays had to be taken out of the spots they were written for, and rehearsed in, and which has grown to be part of them, and placed inside.  We had 15 minutes to re-block the whole thing before performance.  So I was really bummed, but, because my director and actors are brilliant, we were able to overcome this obstacle.  The show went really well and it was really well received.  In fact, all five site-specific plays were really strong.  I loved getting the chance to see all of them.   Its really incredible what a strong ensemble can do thematically with just less then five minutes.

I am really proud of the performance, and I feel like it was a good first impression for the rest of my MFA cohort of my writing style.  I feel confident moving forward.  Of course, there wasn't much time to back in the fun of it all.  I went straight home and started working on my next play for Colab (short for collaboration, the class in which we produce original work.)  I'm not really able to go into details about the next project, other than it is must more intensive.  20 minute surrealistic one-acts.  Beyond that, I'm not really ready to speak.  Our first draft is due Friday.

I have received some requests that I write about the social life in New York.  This is a bit difficult for me, because up to now I thought writing about theater WAS writing about the social life haha.  I guess it all depends.  I haven't really been to any of those famous West Village clubs yet, mostly because of expense and, alas, I've been having a not very easy time finding a job that is flexible enough to accommodate my work and school schedule.  There is one place, though, that Joe and I have sort of become regulars at.  It's called Brandy's Piano Bar and it's AWESOME.  It's a little hole-in-the-wall sort of place a couple blocks from my apartment, but its great because, well, its a piano bar.  The entire staff sings, bartenders, waiters, whatever, not just the piano player, who is also very good.  They are all amazingly talented and sing everything from Lady Gaga to show tunes.  It's a very good time.  There's also no cover, which is great, but there's a two drink minimum and the drinks are a bit pricey.  That being said, its a great show and a ton of fun.

Also, of course, its Notre Dame football season, and we are actually doing well! Which is nuts.  The ND alumni club game watch is at a bar called The Public House right by Grand Central, so we went there for the Stanford game, and it was great to be able to watch it surrounded by cheering Notre Dame fans.  (The week before we went to a regular sports bar and had to sit next to a table of Miami fans and it almost got ugly.) Also, at the alumni game watch Joe entered a raffle and actually won four Jets tickets, so last weekend I went to the Jets game, which also happened to be my first pro football game.  It was all right, but I really do prefer college football. The game day atmosphere was just... kinda blah.  And the cheerleaders were really lame.  I'm sure those ex strippers couldn't even do a handspring.

Other than that, we've really been trying to go to a different part of Manhattan every weekend.  We've done Bleeker street and the Village, anywhere where there are drink specials haha.  We have yet to go dancing yet, but I'm putting the pressure on Joe and I'll let you know when we do.

Finally, as for shows, this week I saw Dispatches from (A)mended America, at the Epic Theater Ensemble.  It was a piece of journalistic theater where two actors toured the Southern United States interviewing various people about what the election of the first Black president means to them.  They interviewed Evangelical ministers, political activists, civil rights leaders, ect. and got some pretty interesting information.  Basically, the underlying question was whether we not live in a post-racial America.  The conclusion, not at all surprising to me, is that we do not.  Racism is still alive and well and the election of a Black president doesn't really change a whole lot as far as the day-to-day lived experience of the Black community.  Fine.  That in and of itself would have been pretty interesting, or at the very least a valid study to do.  Politics aside, it is significant that we have a Black president and I'm not going to argue with that.  What I disliked about the piece, and pretty much everyone I saw the show with agreed (and these are theater people mind you) was that I felt that it was overly simplistic and really took for granted that Obama was some kind of civil rights leader.  The reality is that he's a highly controversial president, and not because of his race.  He's not MLK, he's Obama and he's not a saint.  The whole thing, frankly, came across as a campaign commercial for Obama.  Even though it was about the last election, the fact that it is being produced now inevitably ties it to this election, and that bothered me.  The acting was... okay.  I found it kind of cheesy and affected.  As someone who writes journalistic theater, I thought the fact that they didn't even bother to find a story-line was a cop-out.  And I'm just not going to be moved to tears over Obama's election.  Then again, if it was a woman president I might feel differently about it.  Actually I'm sure I would.  It drives me crazy that 50% of the population has been represented in the oval office 0% of the time.  But its not a matter of whether or not Obama is a good president, the election is historical in and of itself.  The attempt to deify him bothered me.  Presenting him as more complex would have made the production more nuanced and would have allowed it to appeal to people who weren't necessarily supporters of his policies.  This is about as fair an assessment of the production as I can get without getting political.  And this is not a political blog.

Sleep No More

I have a lot of things to say about Sleep No More, but if you're pressed for time, I'd sum it all up by saying: Go.  

Sleep No More was absolutely incredible.  This eerie combination of fun house, ballet, and theater was an all-sensory immersion into the world of Macbeth, provided Macbeth was a film-noir murder-mystery.  I know in my last post I mistakenly said it was an interactive Hamlet, but I was, obviously, somewhat confused.  So much the better.  The Scottish Play translated well into this style, having so many iconic scenes that it was quite possible to figure out what was going on, which character you had discovered, even without the use of dialog.  Plus, its so delightfully creepy.  Perfect, in fact, for this spooky time of year. :-)

Here's how it works:  You make a "reservation" at the McKittrick Hotel and show up some time around then.  As soon as you walk in the door, you are completely disoriented in a dark, foreboding maze. (I expected someone to jump out at me, but this is not a haunted hike.)  Once you escape the maze you are transported back in time to a roarin' twenties jazz bar.  Beautiful women in long dresses and men in tuxes serve you cocktails until your group is called to enter the "experience."

When you are called, you are given an ugly skull mask (don't take it off.  Ever.) and told that speaking is forbidden.   You are sent up in the elevator (they recommend traveling alone, but its not a requirement.  I went with my boyfriend.) and set you free.  The hotel is incredible.  Four and a half entire floors are filled with detailed sets to explore.  Open up the drawers in the desks and you will find desperate letters from Lady Mac to Macbeth about their planned murders.  Every room (and there are countless) is filled with props and books and photographs to open up and pour through. There is a hospital, a graveyard, an entire town complete with shops you can enter, and even more that I will not give away.  And then there are the actors.  You stumble upon them accidentally in your wanderings. (They are the ones not wearing masks) and follow them (if you can keep up) to witness some of the most iconic scenes from Shakespeare's Macbeth played out almost without words.  But don't worry if you don't totally know the story: the mystery is just as intriguing if you can't pick out "oh this is such and such scene."  I'd compare the style of acting more to a ballet or acrobatic show.  Everything is highly physical, and set to film-noir music.  Some of the surprises will take your breath away.  Now, I won't describe any of the individual scenes to you, because that would really ruin it, and its something you simply MUST SEE FOR YOURSELF.  If you become disinterested with a particular character, just leave them and find someone else that interests you.  Note: There is no effort on the part of the production to "tell the story" of Macbeth.  Not every scene is presented, only the really well-known ones.  There is no plot-line to follow, so if you are expecting to discover some sort of linear chronology to it, don't. Everything is done at your own pace and according to your own curiosities.  Although it helped that I did know the story.  (I never thought I'd say this, but peruse a spark-notes before you go.)  I'm sure I didn't see all of it, and Joe and I stayed in the hotel for two and a half hours!  When you feel like you're ready to leave, you simply make your way back to the bar, where you are welcome to hang out and enjoy the live music (and actually talk) for as long as you wish.  This is a great way to wind down and discuss what you saw with your friends, and get rid of that creepy feeling before you go.  Keep your mask handy though, because you are always welcome to go back in. (You didn't see that room? Oh I have to show you...)

I had read reviews that said there is some nudity during the performance, but I didn't see any.  If there is, it is brief.  Still, I personally wouldn't bring a very young kid because.. hello... its Macbeth.  It's murder.  It's scary.  I did see kids in there though, and they seemed, for the most part, okay.  There are also ushers in black masks in each room happy to escort you directly out if you get too uncomfortable.    But as I said before, this isn't a Halloween haunted hike.  The intention isn't to scare you so much as really make you experience the drama and suspense of The Scottish Play.  It's really unreal.

Sleep No More was conceived by the British experimental theater troupe Punchdrunk and is playing only in New York City.  If you ever get the chance to come to the Big Apple in the near future, I highly recommend making your hotel reservation at the McKittrick.  (No, unfortunately, you can't really stay there.)  Reservations are expensive (about $100 a pop) but completely worth it. (Personally, I cannot imagine the enormous cost of mounting a production like this one.)  Joe and I have already vowed to return in a few months.  Anyone wishing to join us, let me  know.

Here is the link to the show's website:

Sleep No More

Until next time... 

Remember the Bard's great words, "All the world's a stage."

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello!

As per several requests, I have decided to start a blog to keep you all updated on life in the Big Apple.  So far, I've been in graduate school at the New School for Drama for about a month and a half, in their playwriting MFA program.  It's already proven to be a very challenging and unique experience.  I'm taking two contrasting playwriting classes with two award-winning playwrights, Chris Shinn and Laura Maria Censabella.  I'm also taking play analysis, acting for playwrights and directors, and theater history.

Laura's playwriting class is by far the most challenging.  The focus of the class so far has been mining our personal experiences for intense emotional feelings from which to write.  Basically, it is about getting ourselves back in the mindsets we had when extremely good or extremely bad things happened to us in the past, so that we can write powerful plays.  I am learning that these are the moments in life that it is valuable to make theater about, that's what audiences want to see.  As tough as it is remembering difficult times in the past all day long, if I look at the great plays of our cannon it is true.  Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman based on his troubled relationship with his father. The Crucible he wrote about being accused of communism by McCarthy.  Tennessee Williams wrote many, many, plays about his family, especially his sister.  It's a weird profession this one, for sure.  Sanford Meisener said "Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances." The same is true for playwriting: You take real experiences and then fantasize on top of them.

A nice perk of being at theater school is I am required to see lots of shows, on and off and off-off Broadway.  Here are a couple of the most interesting shows I've seen so far, and my personal reviews.

Through the Yellow Hour, by Adam Rapp at the Rattlestick Theater.  Adam Rapp is an incredibly successful, pulitzer nominee playwright.  I know he's written excellent plays, but this wasn't one of them.  It was a sort of futuristic 1984 style plot.  Some combination of al-quida in conjunction with "corporate entities"  has taken over the world.  One women tries to survive through the chaos.  Lets put it this way: I don't mind violence or nudity onstage, but it has to be justified.  This play was over-the-top and sort of like Rapp just wrote an outrageous play because hes famous and he knows it will be put on. To paraphrase the New York Times review, at the end of the play, when the lead actress asked, "should I take me clothes off?" the audience almost wants to respond, "Well... duh!"  That being said, I loved the set-up walking in to the theater where they all treated the audience like captives and made us stamp our necks, ect.  Also, the acting was excellent, in my opinion, under the circumstances.  I really believed the desperation of the character's situations, and their emotional states.  This play is not for the faint of heart.

Luz by Catherine Filloux at La Mama Experimental Theater.  This play way more my style, being a journalistic piece.  It focused on a lawyer who worked on amnesty cases for women who had suffered sexual violence at the hands of various governments.  I liked that the journalistic elements were merged with fantastical effects, such as the use of a giant vulture puppet.  I also liked how some scenes were done entirely in Spanish, with subtitles actually projected across the back of the stage.  This allowed scenes to be done in the actual language of the speakers.  The biggest downfall of this show, unfortunately, was the lead actress.  She could have been the lead in a high school play...I could tell she was acting the entire time.  I didn't relate to her as a real person at all.

Grace, by Craig Wright, on Broadway.  This is by far the best play I've seen so far in NYC.  It is a dark tragi-comedy about an evangelical couple that is trying to open a chain of gospel-themed hotels in Florida, but their European sponsor backs out, and they are left in a financial, and spiritual lurch.  It is both sharply funny and deeply disturbing.  The play deals with how people change when their expectations of what should happen are dashed, especially if they base this expectations on religious ideas.  "God sent me a sign and it didn't come true... now what?" is a way of phrasing the question.  Another thing I loved: The set.  The entire set was on a turntable that imperceptibly moved throughout the entire show.  So you couldn't see it moving, but you'd notice after a few minutes that the table wasn't where it was before... very disorienting.  Also I love the playwright Craig Wright.  (You might know him for the TV show Dirty, Sexy Money.) 

This Friday I am going to see Sleep No More, which I'm really excited about.  Apparently its a re-imagined, totally interactive version of Hamlet.  I've been reading about it in theater classes since junior year, and now I finally get to check out what it's like myself.  So I'll be sure to let you all know what its like!

Until Next Time!