Spotlight On...Elizabeth Lee

Name: Elizabeth Lee

Hometown: Clifton Park, New York

Education: The Catholic University of America, B.A. in Drama (2009) and New York University M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing (2013)

Favorite Credits: (un)real, of course ☺

Why theater?: Theater offers us a point of connection. No two people will have the same experience of one show. One person may love it, relate to it and need to see it again while another person may have no use for it or be offended by it. But regardless of opinions, the experience of seeing a play inevitably sparks a dialogue. That conversation is invaluable in society; it gives us a chance to cope.

Tell us about (un)real?: (un)real is about resilience made manifest in a young woman named Catherine; it’s her story. She pushes herself to get through some tough stuff by being highly imaginative.

What inspired you to create (un)real?: I had flashes of ideas of twin siblings and a woman in a break with reality…as time went on I started to solidify what the play was trying to say (read: what I was trying to get off my chest) and I let myself have fun with it. It’s not an autobiography per-se, but it’s all heart. The story dramatizes my feelings about my childhood, my parents and my very real fears about transitioning to adulthood.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Anyone who’s out there doing his or her thing inspires me. Especially people who self-produce because it’s like, why wait for the world to say yes? Create your own opportunities. I love that.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I’m fairly new to this, so there’s no one I wouldn’t want to work with!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Anything off, or off-off Broadway. There’s incredible work being made that doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars a seat.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Emily Blunt, because I think she’s awesome. And the title...I think it would be: “Bitty”. Bitty is a nickname some friends gave me in college (it has since taken over as my real name). They thought it suited me because I’m “small” and I can be very quiet. I think the movie would be about being “bitty” but with mighty ambition. Maybe it would be called "Bitty Fights Back"-- yeah I like that!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Re-watching JUST the love scenes from period pieces like Sense and Sensibility or Jane Eyre. So basically, if it’s an old-timey British novel that has been made into a film, I’ve seen it, and I can recite it, I am a permanent SAP. Also, chocolate chip cookies from the bakery at Fairway.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I think about this a lot. I want to say I’d go into fashion, but even then I think I’d still end up doing some sort of writing. Maybe writing for a fashion blog or magazine, that would be exciting!

What’s up next?: More writing, more theatre!

Review: Summer of Secrets

All families have their fair share of secrets. But it’s when they come out that defines how thick the blood is. Family Furniture by A.R. Gurney is a delicate family drama that touches on the value of parent and child relationships when all is revealed one fateful summer. When siblings Nick and Peggy discover that their mother may be cheating on their father, they struggle between sparing their father or maintaining the status quo.
Set in the early 1950’s, Gurney and director Thomas Kail tread finely between drama and soap opera, as many secrets get unearthed simultaneously. The focal point of the play is about the affair, but along the way, tiny subplots pop up attempting to distract the monotony of repeating the same conversation. While the play could be trimmed to avoid inevitable repetition, what Gurney does offer is strong. The ensemble of five does a fine job getting the 50s in their body and voice. Carolyn McCormick is divine as Claire, the classic desperate housewife. The final scene between her and Nick, played honestly by Andrew Kennan-Bolger, is the best moment of the show. McCormick pours her heart and soul into the scene, ending with the defining line of the play, “People can know and not know, Nicky. And still get along famously” with a triumphant beam on her face. Peter Scolari as Russell plays the optimistic pessimist father sublimely. Scolari survives through the truth he keeps suppressed quite possibly making him the strongest character on stage. Ismenia Mendes is sweet and genuine as Peggy, the girl with the dashed dreams.

Claudia Brown’s costume design evokes the period of the play. She does a wonderful job making McCormick look stunning from scene to scene. Bart Fasbender’s music during scene changes is fitting. For the most part, the play is set at the family’s summer home, with various corresponding locations. With the confines of space, set designer Rachel Hauck created a simple world where various size wood benches serve as all of the family furniture. Hauck and Kail rely heavily on the audience to use their imagination to see the upper-class household. While the esthetic is clever, it does seem to be a cop out. Additionally, the large column in the downstage left corner is more obtrusive than a defining location divide.
For those who enjoy Gurney and plays of this style, Family Furniture is a beautiful piece. What Family Furniture offers is a throwback to another time. What it lacks is poignancy. What was a scandal in the 50s is unfortunately common practice today.

Spotlight On...Max Reinhardsen

Name: Max Reinhardsen
               
Hometown: Nyack, NY

Education: Savannah College of Art and Design

Select Credits: 24 Hour Plays: The Nationals 2013; Romance, Dead Fish, Two Slatterns and a King (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Love's Labours Lost (Taffety Punk), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coriolanus, Wallenstein (Shakespeare Theatre Company)

Why theater?: Participating in live theatre is unlike any other feeling. Having an immediate, visceral response to your work is a terrifyingly beautiful thing. And my parents both used to be actors, so it's their damn fault.

Tell us about Obedient Steel: The show is an examination of the nuclear area in America, following a group of young, brilliant minds as they create and testing an immensely powerful weapon, until something goes wrong and they are each sent into a consequential next chapter sans lab coats.

What is it like being a part of Obedient Steel?: Incredibly fun and inspiring. The group of artists are so talented and lovely, and I could not have been happier being a part of the process. It's my first show in NYC, and it's also a character type I have not had the pleasure of playing yet, which is very exciting.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I really respond to new work, which is all over this city, and it's super invigorating. I am also a very big fan of Mr. Shakespeare. Groups like this one inspire me: young, smart, focused, passionate people coming together to make art.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Lear's Fool and Hamlet. Others that I can't think of right now. All the parts!

What’s your favorite showtune?: "The Proposal" from Titanic: the Musical.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: There are far too many to pick, there are so many talented folks working in all areas of entertainment that I would die to work with. Working with one of my comedy idols like Steve Martin or Bill Murray would be pretty sweet.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I haven't seen many shows recently in New York, but I saw a play in DC called An Iliad, which was incredible. Also pretty much anything at the Flea in NYC.

What’s up next?: I don't have any shows coming up YET, but once we close I'm going to focus on getting my stand up comedy material on its feet.

Review: The Olsen Twins Don't Know Best

Being a 20something in this day and age can be hard. Especially through the eyes of us 20somethings. Love, work, relationships, money. It’s hard to achieve success. Oh who are we kidding. This generation tends to exaggerate the woes of life. And to help emphasize this are the Olsen Twins, the former child stars who no longer want to be famous. In The Flea’s production of Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love, we watch Grace and Tyler, a young married couple experiencing the monotony of life. And the Olsen Twins and a “Call of Duty” Soldier are present to aid them in realizing life sucks and the only way out of it is to do something about it.
Mallery Avidon’s script has some nice, genuine moments but overall seems to be too confused itself to be a knockout. It is very clear why the play was presented as it has poignant themes, but why this play may not have such a clear answer. Of all celebrities in the world, why the Olsen twins? Why do these two dominant this poor woman’s mind? What do they mean to her? The lack of clarity to this central point leaves a lot of questions unanswered to the true character of Grace. The other big script question is the Amazing Girls. To no fault of their own, the Amazing Girls make no sense in the world of the play, except perhaps at the very end when you've already written them off, and serve as filler or need to add more to the cast. Clarity to their presence was much needed as well.

There is a bright light in the production and that comes in the form of Mary-Kate and Ashley. Kana Hatakeyama and Christine Lee as Ashley and Mary-Kate respectively are quite lovely, serving as the focal point of comedy. They nail their non-sequesters with ease bringing the humor to life. They are the standouts of the production. Unfortunately, there are a few miscues within the rest of the ensemble. Katherine Folk-Sullivan, like her character Grace, seems lost. Her monotonous manner and delivery lacks leading lady power. Sure, it may fit the character in some version, but Mary-Kate and Ashley’s monotone is much more interesting, outshining Folk-Sullivan’s. Grace wants to be stronger and we should be able to see that change from start to finish. Alex Grubb’s deadbeat Tyler is clear but the initiation to change is quite contrived. “I like “Call of Duty” therefore I should join the Army” may work for humor but it lacks the impact that it wants. We know Tyler may have no other choice than to join the Army, but we don’t hear him acknowledge this. Alex Mandell as the Solider is a bit inconsistent, changing midway through his appearances. He starts off as a larger than life character with an accent and suddenly drops it sentences later probably due to messiness of the script.
The world of the play is very present, from reality to insanity. Kristan Seemel establishes a maze for Grace to navigate. Her overall direction leaves much to be desired. There are some rich ideas that seem to be lost in translation. Scott Tedmon-Jones’s set has some cool surprises, but the pink chain-link that is the main focal point of the design is a lot to look at. The transformation the set takes when the girls go to Tahiti is quite lovely. John Eckert does a nice job with his lighting design, bringing color and life to the black space.
Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love is a messy miss. Maybe with better execution it would serve as a strong satire, but currently it’s a scattered assortment of ideas that don’t seem to serve as a call out on love in the 20something generation.

Spotlight On...Robert Homeyer

Name: Robert Homeyer

Hometown: Rumson, NJ

Education: B.A. and M.A. from Rutgers

Favorite Credits: Christopher Marlowe and Cassius in Christopher Marlowe's Julius Caesar, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol

Why theater?: It's a portal to magic

Tell us about Three of a Kind, With Two Wild Cards: Four linked one acts about the nature of identity...mistaken identity, false identity, double identity, role reversals, etc.  The significance of the title is revealed near the end, so come and find out what it means!

What inspired you to write Three of a Kind, With Two Wild Cards?: I had specific actors I wanted to work with again and I wanted them to have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their skills and talent.  In writing some of these pieces, a theme began to emerge which allowed me to unify them.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Classic drama. William Shakespeare

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Tom Stoppard and David Mamet

What show have you been recommending to your friends?: My own!  And Two Alone, Too Together which opens on Dec. 5th at Theater for the New City.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I would play myself, and it would be called "Beyond Off Broadway (BOB)".  It would be a documentary.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: The new "Dallas".

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be  _____?: A carnival barker.  Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, step right up!

Review: Honey, I'm Radioactive!

Four physicists work on a bomb. No this isn’t the start of a corny joke. It’s the premise of a smart and clever production inspired by historical events. In the age of cheery housewives and new innovations that will change the world, Chloe Brown’s Obedient Steel examines what happens when smart people have an accident and forced into a life unknown. Obedient Steel follows a group of physicists who are on the verge of a great atomic triumph when a misread changes their lives forever.
Obedient Steel started as an idea by a group of artists. As a result, Brown, director Rebecca Wear, and the rest of the Tugboat Collective team created, what their characters were hoping to produce, a sensation. The script is really broken down into two acts. The first follows team leader Bill, newfound lovers Dennis and Marnie, and spitefully hilarious Jack as they use big words and scientific lingo to create the next big thing. When they test their work and the meter was read wrong, they’re forced to leave the bunker and live a civilian life, thus leads us to act 2. While the first part is full of energy and fun, the second contrasts, sometimes falling into melodrama. The first part of the play is much more interesting and engaging than the second. While the situation has changed completely for the characters as we watch the effects on their physical being, finding the balance of humor and fun could help the energy not lag. This energy lag may also be due to the lack of Jack.

The ensemble of six is stellar, lead by a brilliant performance by Max Reinhardsen as Jack and Anastasia Olowin as Helen. Olowin embodies the bright, sunny disposition of the stereotypical 50s housewife. Reinhardsen is fantastic as the hilarious catalyst of chaos. He has brilliant timing as a comedian and is dynamic in his deeper moments. Even when he’s not the main focus on stage, your eye veers to him to see his reactions. While he’s forced to profile-standing monologues in the second part of the play, he still shines. Kate Thulin and Nathaniel Bash-Gould have a nice chemistry as the intelligent couple.
Director Rebecca Wear does a masterful job discovering the moments of light and humor and balancing it out with the dark reality of civilian life. She incorporates and welcomes the audience as they enter the theater, viewing a little party filled with dancing and lights, something that helps us know despite the science we may not understand, the characters are just like you. Wear has a skill at maintaining the story and characters and keeping them as the focal point. The only storytelling point that could be elevated much more is mad Jack at the blackboard. It’s his actions that sets the world on fire, but unless you’re watching him while Dennis and Marnie are talking, chances are you missed this key bit of plot. Eben Hoffer’s sound design, both recorded and live foley adds brilliant personality to the world of the play. The lighting by Isabella F. Byrd is quite spectacular. One of the finer moments is when Jack, Marnie, and Dennis are writing on the blackboards created by string and a blue lights illuminates the string casting a dynamic glow against the wall.
The moral of this story should be when you have an idea, you should act upon it. Even if it turns out to be a disaster like it does for the characters in Obedient Steel, it was acted upon. Fortunately for Tugboat Collective, their idea turned out to be a success.

Review: A Patchwork Taped Together

The inspiration? The Golden Age. A time when classics like Golden Boy and Death of a Salesmen and A Streetcar Named Desire were created. A period where the psychological aspect of acting were explored. The result, a modern take on the ideals of the time. Salesmen: A Meditation on Masculinity and the American Real is an experimental series of snippets and vignettes taped together to honor the past. A past that doesn’t quite mesh with this experimental style.
Conceived and directed by John Kurzynowski and created by the company, Salesmen is high in concept yet simple in structure. With very little dialogue, though inconsequential when spoken, the piece is a showcase for the masculinity and inner struggles of each of the eight actors. With only one actor receiving an acknowledged identity, the ensemble works as a chaotic unit, exploring the space with an abundance of calculated physicalities. Each ensemble member does get an opportunity to take the spotlight, including strong moments by Michael Barringer, Nick Smerkanich, and Hugh Trimble.

The ninth ensemble member was the strong sound design by ensemble member Eben Hoffer and director John Kurzynowski. The music and soundscape aided tremendously to the repetitious movements. Director Kurzynowski does a fine job curating the world he wants to explore. The program note, which is smartly incorporated into the piece, does it’s best to explain what the audience is about to see, but just like the piece itself, it’s a lot to take in. Kurzynowski’s staging is precise. At times, it’s like watching an acting class of brilliant actors. At other times, it’s like you’re at a tennis match, you’re head is going back and forth trying to take it all in. This happens when all of the actors are doing their own thing simultaneously. You focus on one or two actors and lose the rest of the less interesting action. The two "courts" made up of taped boxes serve as the stages for the company, confining the majority of the action.
Salesmen: A Mediation on Masculinity and the American Real is definitely for theater people looking to watch an experiment take shape. Don’t expect to leave changed. Go ready to watch eight actors undergo a theatrical workout.