Jetting Off to Broadway

Oh-so-trendy Smith Street in Brooklyn isn't where I'd expect to find a stores cross-promoting a Broadway show. So imagine my surprise when I came upon this interesting bit of marketing for Boeing-Boeing, complete with T-shirts and mugs, in the window of pricey travel store Flight 001.

Targeting a Broadway show about a philandering airline pilot with three girlfriends to people who do a lot of traveling? Perhaps my soon-to-be-former congressional representative Vito Fossella will be interested.

Eyes Sore

One of the more interesting aspects about Rogelio Martinez's All Eyes and Ears, set in 1961 Cuba, is the way the Castro government seemingly empowered women as equals while at the same time dumping the lion's share of the family workload on them. I wished I'd enjoyed this INTAR production more.

Castle of Redemption

Although I had a mixed reaction to The Castle , it's still one of the best things I've seen at New World Stages in some time. The creators of the tedious My First Time, which shares a theater with The Castle could learn a thing or two about effective documentary theater from director David Rothenberg.

"Charles Isherwood Has Ruined Theater for Everyone"

No, I don't really believe that, but it's one of my favorite lines from Mike Daisey's latest cutting monologue, How Theater Failed America, a show that's chock full of memorable quips. I doubt Daisey actually believes it either; that line comes at the beginning of the show as he imagines what audience members are expecting him to say (i.e., "I hope he talks about Disney" "Maybe he'll mention the New York Times").

Two nights later I saw Isherwood at The New Century and wondered if he knew that he was a part of Daisey's show. Earning such ire from the New York theater community as the second-string Times critic is no easy feat, but someone has to be the whipping boy, so I hope he enjoys the notoriety. My review of Daisey's latest.

Politics and Plays, New and Old

So glad to see that my home state of Pennsylvania gave Hillary Clinton such a resounding victory in the primary yesterday. It was odd to see all the Clinton/Obama supporters out in force when I was in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Even if the primary process feels like one of those time loops that the Enterprise would often get caught up in various Star Trek episodes, I'm glad to see that Hillary's tenacity — perhaps stubbornness is a better word — is paying off. They're not only qualities I admire, they're qualities I embody far too often.

Although I didn't check out Rabbit Hole at the Pittsburgh Public Theater or Dakin Matthews as King Lear during my trip, I have been spending many an evening at theaters in New York. I was surprised at how dated much of Paul Rudnick's The New Century felt. "Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach," which nearly caused me to bust a gut laughing when I first saw it at the EST Marathon about 10 years ago, hasn't aged well in our post-Will & Grace world. I wish Rudnick had written a whole new piece for the fabulous Peter Bartlett instead of attempting to freshen up the old one with a John McCain. The only one of the four segments that I thought was genuinely funny and moving was the one featuring Jayne Houdyshell as a midwestern mother who'd turned to crafting after the death of her son from AIDS.

Manhattan Theater Club's small Stage II was packed for Tuesday night's performance of The Four of Us, a really smart, only occasionally self-indulgent play about how the friendship between two young writers falls apart in the wake of success and jealousy. Sure, ince the play's supposed to be based on author Itamar Moses' friendship with Jonathan Safran Foer, I was a little more interested than I might ordinarily be, but I was impressed and moved at how well and how subtly Moses depicted the power struggles and shifts that occur in friendships over time and the pain that occurs when one person needs more than the other is able to give.

Can We Talk?

More than a decade ago a boyfriend first introduced me to the work of 29th Street Rep, a company that had the perspicacity to produce Tracy Letts' first play in New York long before he became a Pultizer Prize-winning sensation. I'm happy to see the company back after a two-year layoff with some longtime members and new faces as they celebrate their 20th anniversary. Here's my review of The Conversation.

Enchanted Afternoon

It's been more than a week since I caught Lincoln Center's South Pacific revival, but the wonderful songs from that nearly pitch-perfect production are still resounding in my head. When I started crying during the overture, as the stage rolled back to reveal the 30(!)-piece orchestra, I knew it was going to be an emotional afternoon.

I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to go a musical and be so thoroughly moved and enchanted by the music. Usually if there are a couple of songs worth remembering I consider it an evening well spent. To hear a score in which nearly every number is emotionally vigorous is almost too much to hope for these days.

Another reason I was so moved is that it's my mothers favorite musical, and I'd never before seen a full production of it, just bits and pieces on TV from various movies and broadcasts. My mother and I don't have as much in common as I would like, so I appreciate these little patches of common ground when I find them.

The first time I remember hearing one of the songs was a Sunday morning in the late '70s or early '80s. It was "Happy Talk," and it was because my mother was watching the film on TV. I, of course, could only think about my needs and wanted her to turn it off so that we could go to the mall or a movie or something. This was pre-VCR, so it's not as if she could just pop in a tape and watch the rest.

Needless to say, I regret not sitting down to watch the rest of the movie with her. Does an apology count if it's nearly 30 years too late. Just in case: I'm sorry, Mom!