Lenny Bruce News

Although Mike Daisey's exploration of national defense, past and present, If You See Something Say Something, arrives at Joe's Pub just in time to serve as a companion piece to the Metropolitan Opera's production of Dr. Atomic, there is nothing minimalist about this monologist. He may spend the entire 100 minute presentation sitting behind a desk with nothing but a glass of water and his notes but, as directed by Jean-Michele Gregory, Daisey himself is a fully orchestrated production. A large man who embellishes his frank observations ('The founding fathers could have been considered by the British to be terrorists.') and grim warnings ('If you raise an army and leave it standing, it will find something to do.') with artfully placed profanity, large, sweeping gestures and a face of fully animated Silly Putty, his voice is that of a genial, but angered everyman, bouncing with varied tempos, tones, full out comic crescendos and meaningful sotto voces. If Lenny Bruce was embodied by Zero Mostel and played by Louis Armstrong, the result would closely resemble Mike Daisey.

Eloquence without the elegance is how I'd describe Michael Stuhlbarg's scruffy, hyperactive and somewhat nerdy take on the title role in director Oskar Eustis' amusing hodgepodge of a production of Hamlet. Though perfectly placid for the first several minutes of his performance, silently contemplating his father's death and his uncle's marriage to his newly widowed mother at a downstage eternal flame that perpetually flickers its symbolism throughout the evening, he's soon wildly wringing his hands with nervous excitement, flailing his arms about in range and stomping his feet to the floor like the kind of actor he'll later be warning his players not to be. In fact, it's not until the prince starts feigning madness that he begins resembling a grown-up. It's not an interpretation that will tug at your soul, but it'll damn well get your attention without taxing your brain.

Tom O'Horgan, the director who received a Tony Award Nomination for HAIR, has died at age 84. Published reports state that he was battling with Alzheimer's Disease. O'Horgan made his Broadway directorial debut in 1968 with the ground-breaking musical Hair, garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. Additional Broadway credits include Lenny, with Cliff Gorman as controversial comedian-satirist Lenny Bruce, Jesus Christ Superstar, Dude, Inner City, The Leaf People, and I Won't Dance.

Ulterior Motives will showcase seven short plays about less-than-straightforward characters, written and produced by members of the Village Playwrights, New York's Lesbian and Gay playwrights collective. In Kevin Berry's 'TWENTY-FIVE' Joe and Jenny invite themselves to a surprise birthday party for their younger brother-only to find they are the ones who are surprised.

THE ZIPPER FACTORY THEATER (336 West 37th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) will present the following entertainment events in January 2009. For advance tickets to all Zipper events call OvationTix at 212-352-3101 or buy online at www.thezipperfactory.com (For IN-PERSON purchases, The Zipper Box Office opens one hour prior to curtain for all events).

McCarter Theater Center has added new events for 2009. Ben Folds has been scheduled for February 11, 2009 at 8pm. Over the last 15 years, Ben Folds' first-class melodic gifts, irony-laced lyrics, and punk-rock tendency to play piano as if it were a contact sport have earned the North Carolina native a legion of devoted fans of all ages. Kris Kristofferson has been booked for February 27, 2009 at 8pm.

THE ZIPPER FACTORY THEATER (336 West 37th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) will present the following entertainment events in January 2009. For advance tickets to all Zipper events call OvationTix at 212-352-3101 or buy online at www.thezipperfactory.com (For IN-PERSON purchases, The Zipper Box Office opens one hour prior to curtain for all events).

In conjunction with the U.S. Premiere of Schmucks - a tale of a fictitious meeting between two comic icons, Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce - The Wilma Theater will present a night of comedy films with screenings of Duck Soup and The Best of Lenny Bruce. A spoof on politics and war, Duck Soup (1933) showcases the Marx Brothers in one of their most hilarious films. The Best of Lenny Bruce includes excerpts from comedian Lenny Bruce's roller-coaster career in comedy.

TV Land has green lit the new non-scripted original series, 'How'd You Get So Rich?,' produced by Mark Burnett and featuring Joan Rivers.

JOAN RIVERS brings her stand up act back to New York on Election Day November 4 at The Cutting Room. She will perform there through December 17.

The Wilma Theater continues its 30th Anniversary Season with the U.S. Premiere of Schmucks, directed by the Wilma's co-Artistic Director Jiri Zizka. A comic fantasy by Roy Smiles -who returns to the Wilma for a second consecutive season - Schmucks is a tale of a fictitious meeting between two comic icons, Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce.

What's On Stage is reporting that actor and comedian Eddie Izzard will be returning to the West End next month to perform his latest stand-up show for twenty-three days at the Lyric Theatre.

JOAN RIVERS brings her stand up act back to New York on Election Day November 4 at The Cutting Room. She will perform there through December 17.

Variety reports that Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Garry Shandling, Lily Tomlin, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, Lewis Black, Richard Belzer, Margaret Cho and more will appear on November 10, 2008 at the Kennedy Center as they pay tribute to George Carlin.

The Wilma Theater proudly celebrates its 30th Anniversary with the upcoming 2008-2009 Season

Performance Space 122 is proud to announce the fall 2008 schedule.

NCTC is proud to present Tom Orr in I Feel a Thong Coming On!

The Wilma Theater proudly celebrates its 30th Anniversary with the upcoming 2008-2009 Season. 'We have chosen plays that will be among the most inventive and thrilling ever to grace our stage,' say co-Artistic Directors Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka, who staged their first Wilma production in 1979 - an original adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

After a four month hiatus, legendary comedian JOAN RIVERS returns to The Cutting Room in Chelsea with her live stand-up act.

Broadway producer George W. George passed away Wednesday, November 7. He was 87.