The Spickner Spin
by Michael Dale - Aug 20, 2004
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When you go to a fringe theatre festival it's expected you'll be choosing your entertainment from an assortment of one-person plays, avant-guarde pieces, multi-media productions and cutting edge social commentaries. In such an atmosphere, perhaps the most experimental type of theatre piece you can do nowadays is a traditionally structured, show-tune laden book musical with a ten piece orchestra (no synthesizers), a full singing/dancing/acting chorus and a plot that lightheartedly spoofs American politics without holding a particular politician or party up to ridicule.
Back in the 1930's, before Saturday Night Live and The Onion, theatregoers would often get their political satire by taking in the latest hit Broadway musical. But shows like I'd Rather Be Right and Leave It to Me, big hits in their day, would be quickly be considered unrevivable because, as satire, the issues they dealt with dated quickly. But one exception was the Pulitzer Prize winning Of Thee I Sing, which eschewed taking it's plot from the latest headlines and instead explored the timeless theme of swaying public sympathy. That silly, gentle-humored spirit is re-created in Seth Bisen-Hersh (music and lyrics) and Daniel Scribner's (book and lyrics) charming gumdrop of a musical, The Spickner Spin.
'Thank you and good night'
by Michael Dale - Jan 22, 2004
With those words and one last musical flourish, the final performance at Henry Miller's Theatre came to an end
Traveling in Pursuit of Theater
by Adrienne Onofri - Jul 14, 2003
Since I live in New York City, I usually don't take a 'theater vacation'-you know, the eight-shows-a-week type of trip to New York or London. Even when I go to London, theater is just one of the activities on my itinerary. But the last three summers, I have found myself in a summer theater destination and have been appreciating more and more the joy of taking my No. 1 pastime on the road.
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