theaterboy®

Mark Twain goes Barefoot

In case you've forgotten: Today Neil Simon gets the Mark Twain Prize, created to recognize "uniquely American" humor.

(And to provide an occasion for yet another high-ticket fundraising gala at the Kennedy Center, of course.)

The ceremony starts at 8, with Matthew Broderick, Lucie Arnaz, Jason Alexander, etc., and gets a PBS broadcast on Nov. 20. The author of Plaza Suite and Barefoot in the Park, as Peter Marks points out over here, is the first full-time playwright to win the Twain prize. 

Tboy thinks it's nice that Simon's back in D.C., even if it's just for the weekend. There was a time--not long after Lloyd Rose (of blessed memory) opined that Lost In Yonkers was proof Simon didn't know how to write a play--that he avoided the city like a rash.

Fire at the Folger

Damn, said Tboy when Tim Swoape's e-mail popped into his mailbox just two minutes ago:

"As a friend and supporter of the Folger Shakespeare Library and Folger Theatre, we wanted you to be among the first to know that a small fire broke out in the theater on Saturday morning. It was quickly discovered and safely contained and extinguished by Folger staff and the DC Fire Department.

"After clean-up, there will be no lasting damage to our landmark building. The Folger’s collection of rare books and materials—including the world’s largest Shakespeare collection—was not affected.

"Folger Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now in rehearsal, will postpone its first performances by about a week. Ticketholders for shows October 19 through October 23 will be contacted by Folger staff in the coming days to reschedule their tickets. Press and Opening Nights will also be affected ....

“ 'We feel very fortunate that the fire at the Folger this morning was confined and that everyone and everything under our care are safe,' noted Director Gail Kern Paster. 'We will reopen on Monday and look forward to seeing all of you at the Folger in the coming weeks.' ”

Tboy trusts, though the e-mail doesn't quite say, that no one was hurt in the fire. No word as yet on what caused it.

On general principles ...

...Tboy has always held that for blondes and redheads, cornrows are an unfortunate tonsorial choice.

It is not entirely at random that this occurs to him again today.

In fact, it occurs precisely because the general tranquility at his usual coffee shop has just now been thrown into some disarray by the apparition at right.

In case the color registration is off, that is indeed a redhead.

In fact, now that the apparition has finished paying for his coffee and turned around, it turns out it's a redhead you all know. 

Specifically, it's Joe Baker, 2004 Mary Goldwater Award winner and habitué of theaters Keegan, SCENA, American Century, Studio, and so on. (No, really; photo at left.)

This is not, Baker assures Tboy, a new personal look. It's a character choice--for the Robert Brustein play that opens shortly at Theater J, as it happens.

Tboy was already intrigued.  Now he officially can't wait.

Amen, sister(s)

Andrew Sullivan says the ruling clique suffers from cognitive dissonance--all because Condi and the librarian were recently spotting making nice with a couple of homos, never mind that "[their] party officially regards gay unions as, in James Dobson's words, a prelude to the 'destruction of the earth.' "

Cognitive dissonance? To say the least.

But let's not say the least.  It's not anything as polite as cognitive dissonance, which implies a certain coolness, and perhaps an unconscious internal conflict.

What's going on here is a brutally cynical willingness to employ (gee, sounds a lot like "exploit") the gifts of gay people when it comes to getting things done, then cheerfully demonize us when it comes to getting elected.

But he supposes that comes with the territory when you've mortgaged your party's soul to a fundamentalist religion.

Best wishes for Jerry Whiddon

This was news to Tboy, though apparently it may not be to all of you. From Helen Hayes boss Linda Levy Grossman, by way of the Stage Guild's Ann Norton and Wee Jane:

"Please know that our dear friend and colleague Jerry Whiddon [former artistic director at Round House Theatre] has experienced a small stroke, most likely triggered by a heart condition that he did not know he had until about 10 days ago.  He was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital  but went home late this afternoon.

"The damage has affected the back part of his brain that controls coordination. Cognitively he is fine - but his balance - with regard to walking and standing - has been affected.

"Jerry and his wife Jean are assured he will regain his balance over time with the help of physical and occupational therapy.  There's good reason to hope that he should be ready to hit the boards again by Spring."

Grossman encourages everyone to "join us in sending love and good wishes to Jerry, Jean, and their family." 

It's a sentiment Tboy heartily endorses. Jerry’s email address is j-whiddon AT comcast DOT net, and the postal address, if'n y'all wanna send something tangible (or even edible), is 1620 Chester Hill Road, Silver Spring, MD, 20906.

Second impressions

If you've ever wondered how Tboy makes sense of a play to himself, you might want to compare this quick take on Arturo Ui to the full-length review.

I don't always work in that direction. Usually, I just write the full review, which is why I haven't posted as many First Impressions as I told myself I would when I first floated the idea.

But sometimes, especially if I'm having trouble getting a review started, I'll write the blurb first. (Blurb = the 100- or 200-word capsule review that will appear in CP's listings during a play's whole run.)

Or I'll bullet out my ideas about what I liked and what I didn't, and try to tell myself in 25 words or so what the play's about and what I thought of it. That helps kick-start the process. Certainly it did this week; there's a lot to talk about with a play like Arturo Ui, and sometimes I  just don't quite know where to start.

Of course if all else fails, I fall back on the Mondello Maneuver: Pick a moment, any moment, that was striking, and describe the sh*t out of it for 100 words or so. Even if you didn't like the rest of the production, you love that moment, at least long enough to do it justice.

Learned that from Himself back in 1996 or so, and it never fails.

Speaking of new things

Did you notice the new bit of content over there in the right-hand column?  Tboy has learned how to hook the RSS-feed version of his Netflix queue up to the sidebar. So now, never mind how mortifying it is to Tboy, you'll always know what's on his home-viewing horizon. At the moment it appears to involve Untold Scandal, which if Tboy remembers correctly is a Korean retelling of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

It also, sad to say, involves Scooby-Doo.

Of course, Tboy will never admit to culpability for all of these choices.  Dr. H has access to the Netflix, too, y'know...

Tboy toured the Atlas today...

Swank office cubbies. Finished surfaces. Nice big theater. Gorgeous lobby.

And buzzing like a hive: Skidmore and Nelson and Fulginiti-Shakar and Covey and more, all wandering the halls. You couldn't turn a corner without running into some theatrical type. And everybody sounding energized and professional and full of creative energy.

And then the tour broke up, and Tboy exited, and the crazy drunk man escorted Tboy (and CP's brand-new Show & Tell columnist, who looked a little nervous about the crazy drunk man, who clearly thought we were a couple) back to the T-mobile.

Ah, the transitional neighborhood. Such fun. Makes you long for the early days of the Zinoplex, no?

Emily Fenichel's memorial

If you were planning on attending tomorrow's memorial service for Emily Fenichel --the Helen Hayes judge and theater booster who was killed by a Metrobus back in June-- you'll want to know that the time's been moved up to one o'clock. 

Date and location remain the same: Studio Theatre, 14th and P, on Friday the 13th.

And if you haven't visited the memorial page her husband, Robert, has set up, it's over here.

Tboy would describe this as laughable ...

... but really, it's just too sad.  From Rob Kendt, late of Broadway.com:

Meet My Replacement(s)
Broadway.com unveils its new panel of critics. Can't wait to hear what Clark says about Coast of Utopia.

Tboy hopes you will, please oh please, click through that link.  The diversity on display--to say nothing of the discernment!--is just waaaay too much to hope for. Really, a Tboy can't be expected to make fun of that. It's just too fat a target.

Does this mean Ken Mandelbaum is out of work, too? There's probably no more authoritative voice on the history of the American musical. Sheesh. David Barbour? Is John Simon still contributing there?

Tboy asks these questions because it looks like they all stopped posting back in March. But he confesses he's never spent much time at Broadway.com, so he looks to you all for answers. Anybody know?

(Kendt, who's written and/or edited for everyone from Back Stage West to the LA Times to the NYT and so on, blogs over here at The Wicked Stage, in case you haven't visited before.)