Trish Vignola - Page 4

After the overwhelming success of last summer's presentation, the Gotham Arts Exchange returned to The Joyce Theater with the Gotham Dance Festival. Running through June 12, the Gotham Dance Festival presented six programs featuring ten choreographers - a who's who of North American modern dance, per say. The festival included the works of Brian Brooks, Monica Bill Barnes and Patrick Corbin to name a few. I had the honor of checking out the "Summer Sampler Matinee" on June 11. This particular program focused specifically on emerging choreographers. On the 11th, I saw the works of Ashleigh Leite, Julian Barnett and Sydney Skybetter.

Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! continues its run at the Stage Left Studio. Written and performed by Jay Alvarez and directed by Theresa Gambacorta, Be Careful! recounts Alvarez' family and their harrowing escape from early 1960s Cuba. Alvarez takes the audience on a trip from revolution to the Coast Guard meeting him at the US Border. Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You! is thoughtful, deeply comedic and at moments intensely gripping.

According to the program, a conscious choice was made to cast African-Americans solely as Jews to emphasize 'racial otherness' and to make the 'emotional isolation that Moise Ferapontov experiences more palpable.' Although the each member of the cast turned in a superb job, this decision did not make the emotional isolation more palpable. It layered in a bunch of 20th and 21st century American issues and completely obscured the Russian-Jewish experience. Isn't highlighting the Jewish experience the entire point of Yiddish Theatre? I completely support and promote color-blind casting, but in the case of this particular show, it should have been across the board.

Gotham Burlesque however breaks through the malaise of this neo-burlesque to give the audience a thoroughly fun ninety minutes. These talented performers did a great job not only performing the art of the striptease but also finding the humor in the art. Gypsy Rose Lee would be proud.

My favorite actress of the cast would have to be Aurielle Kaminski. She played Vita's nemesis - Helen McGuire. Miss Kaminski has comedic timing far beyond her years. While most kids her age play big on the stage, she found a way to play her role with mature subtlety. Not only did she hit every joke, she found the jokes between the jokes. I completely see Miss Kaminski giving SNL's Kristen Wiig a run for her money, once she's old enough to drive of course.

Svoboda's questionable blocking of the set and actors was frenetic, halting the momentum of the story as well as dissipating energy. There was so much movement that it was extremely hard to focus on the actors. I just wished they were allowed to explore and play within this extremely interesting world. Although Svoboda's directing may not be as strong as his writing, Odysseus DOA is an incredibly beautiful play on its own. Like Odysseus himself, I look forward to seeing the next step in this play's journey but perhaps with a new captain at the helm.

I have to say that I was pretty excited to see this piece, especially as the Vatican currently reviews its long-held stances on several issues (including the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS). I also wasn't surprised to see religious figures taking on the social and emotional issues of the secular world. If you ever had a Jesuit education, this would be called a "Tuesday." Seriously though, I deeply appreciated seeing religious figures portrayed as thoughtful philosophers examining the world around them for once, as opposed to the crazed zealot stereotype we've become far too familiar with in television and movies today.

Summation Dance Company closed a brief run of Keep Your Feather Dry at the Baryshnikov Arts Center on Saturday, February 5th. This World Premiere was choreographed by Sumi Clements and produced by Taryn Vander Hoop, the company's founders. Keep Your Feathers Dry chronicles Ms. Clements very personal story of her boyfriend's reactivation into the Marine Corps and his subsequent deployment to Afghanistan. The piece consisted of three smaller thematic works, "Fortitudine", "Whac-a-Mole" and "No Man's Landing".

With the popularity of shows like Spiderman - Turn off the Dark and performance groups like Cirque du Soleil, let's face it. America is climbing the walls… literally. The popularity of Aerial work is growing...fast. Capitalizing on this momentum, the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center presented the first (of what they hope is many) Aerial Showcases yesterday. Featuring artists of different age and career levels, MMAC showcased the local 'Who's Who' of the Aerial arts.

While you were watching Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance or any of the innocuous Dance shows on television today, you missed the real thing in your own backyard. Gotham Arts Exchange presented their Emerging Artists Showcase at the Dance Theater Workshop January 5th through the 6th. The evening consisted of a shared showcase of developing choreographers presenting their new compositions. Featuring the works of New York's own Adam Barruch as well as John Mark Owen and Jessica Gaynor, the Emerging Artists Showcase ranged from modern dance accompanied by synth beats to classic ballet performed to sacred motets.

As sure as you count on a female lead killing herself, you can be sure that Ibsen will take on a social problem in his work. In Rosmersholm, Ibsen takes on the conflict of developing new social ideals against the conservative underpinnings of a community. Sounds familiar, huh? (I still don't have health insurance.) In a typical Ibsen play, humanity serves to highlight the social problem. However, the social problem takes a total back seat to a melodramatic romance in Rosmersholm.

Waiting for the Dream is a hilarious production that I only wish ran longer. This production deserves as large of an audience as possible. When Hovnatan Avedikian bursts on to the stage as Puck, he promptly crashes into a brick wall. Finally, we have a Ninja-kicking Puck for the 21st Century. Brook also actually directs this production with an opinion. By downplaying the romanticism, she actually chooses to direct her energies toward the idea of 'dreams' and how dreams play into the piece.

The World Premiere of Dorothy Fortenberry's The Good Egg runs now through November 7, 2010 at the LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y. Directed by Kel Haney and produced by The Red Fern Theatre Company, The Good Egg is a story about the limits of unconditional love. I know that statement seems a bit weird. How can love have limits if it's unconditional?

Ritter, Dene, Voss is a delicious Beckett-meets-Brechtian farce. Thomas Bernhard explores the themes of sexual repression and familial rivalry (a fun combo) with great resolve and humor. Ritter, Dene, Voss introduces us to two sisters, who are part-time actresses and full-time heiresses. They are charged with the societal reintegration of their tormented genius brother Ludwig, a part-time philosopher and full-time grandstander, who has returned from a mental health institute. The result? They swallow each other alive.

The Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company opens its 2010-2011 Off-Broadway season with the World Premiere of Michael Lew's play, Microcrisis. Running now through October 23rd and directed by Ma-Yi Artistic Director, Ralph Pena, Microcrisis is a comedic look at the financial crisis running rampant over our retirement dreams. (Yes, they found comedy in this. What do you expect from the generation raised on "Schoolhouse Rock"?) Microcrisis is hip, thought-provoking and funny as hell.

Ritter, Dene, Voss is a delicious Beckett-meets-Brechtian farce. Thomas Bernhard explores the themes of sexual repression and familial rivalry (a fun combo) with great resolve and humor. Ritter, Dene, Voss introduces us to two sisters, who are part-time actresses and full-time heiresses. They are charged with the societal reintegration of their tormented genius brother Ludwig, a part-time philosopher and full-time grandstander, who has returned from a mental health institute. The result? They swallow each other alive.

Why would someone even want to revive this show? It's insufferably long. It clocks in at three hours, not counting an intermission. If I'm dedicating three hours of my life to your play, I hope you're Eugene O'Neill. Secondly, Wilson's characters are damaged beyond empathy. (Think Tracy Letts without the charm.) They also completely lack dimension. Openly-gay Wilson actually made the character of Larry, a homosexual, a complete and utter punch line. You can argue that Burn This could be an exercise in 'phoning it in.'

The script wasn't perfect, but its potential far outweighed its faults. Although the characters weren't written to the top of their intelligence, they were each allowed to have moments of incredible personal discovery. That's a rarity, even for the glossiest of productions a couple of blocks south.

Four Choreographers Share a Week at the Joyce Theater runs now through August 14th. If you are a dance fan, it's a great opportunity to check out four American choreographers. If you have a little dancer at home, it's a great opportunity to expose them to the creativity and limitless bounds of contemporary dance. Nonetheless, when you go, I hope at least the sound team on Bright Land gets themselves in order or else you will lose most of what you came to see. Tickets start at $10 and are available at 212-242-0800 or www.joyce.org.