My New York theater orgy: eleven plays in eight days!

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:28am

Okay, I am not rich or even a student and had a furlough (upaid) week off from my journalism job--please keep reading newspapers!--so even though I don't live in NYC, I did this, thanks to TDF, rush policies, Theatermania Gold Club, craigslist, broadwaybox discounts and even volunteer ushering.

My list:

Motherf**ker with the Hat
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
Kin at Playwright's Horizons
Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo
Arcadia
Sleep No More
Dream of the Burning Boy (Roundabout Underground)
Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage (it was $4!)
The Whipping Man
The Other Place at MCC
Hello, Again (Transport Group)

Tough to say which was the best, easier to break it down into categories, so in case anybody's interested:

Most Original - a tie between Sleep No More and Hello, Again. The former has been covered so widely here there's no need for explanation. Hello, Again was almost as much of a contact experience with actors as they sang and made simulated love all around us! Neither is for everyone but I liked both and kudos for breaking new ground.

Most Frustrating - tie between Sleep No More and Arcadia. For the former, I want a floor plan, program, and a discount, and I want to go back and see the damn orgy scene I missed altogether! For the latter, I love me some Stoppard but damn, do I have to concentrate THAT hard and study math before the show, too?

Happiest Audience - How to Succeed, and even though I'm sure Robert Morse was better than Daniel because everybody tells me so, it's just so much fun.

Biggest Disappointment - Mother f**ker. Even though it was a dress rehearsal, I so wanted this show to be a home run for Rock.

Biggest Surprise - Hey, Miss Abigail is corny but fun!

Best Performances - Laurie Metcalf in The Other Place, Andre Braugher in Whipping Man, Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger.

Most Unusual Theater Injury - Lady Macbeth stepping on my foot with her spiked heel, I guess that's immersive theater for you, but she did mouth a silent apology.

Most Interesting Fellow Theatergoers - half-drunk blue-collar guy who wandered into Motherf**ker invited dress thinking it was standup and loved every minute of his first Broadway play. The older woman in the lobby at Bengal Tiger who was yelling, 'How could Robin Williams do something LIKE THIS????' Hey lady, how could he not?? It's a great part in a play that means something.

Conclusion - Thank God for off-Broadway. Although I enjoyed three of the four B'way shows I caught, Kin, Whipping Man and The Other Place were uniformly terrific and inexpensive, and Burning Boy was pretty good as well. I would love to go back to Sleep No More in a heartbeat, but only with an extremely discounted ticket. (Note: as good as some of them were, none of them made me float on air quite like Book of Mormon a couple of weeks ago...just saying

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:47am

Though I haven't seen it yet, it sounds like you were ultimately wanting SLEEP No MORE to fit into a more controlled, i.e. traditional theatrical experience - but I'm guessing a lot would argue that a program and a floor plan would take a lot away from the organic individualistic experience the creators are wanting their audiences to have.

And never be angry at a show for being expensive and not having a discount code. There is usually a reason for that...

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:57am

I'm quite baffled by the critical hosannas KIN has been getting ("The finest new play of the season"--Isherwood). I didn't hate it, but I did find it wildly uneven, veering from genuinely moving to sitcom-y fake and steeped in a deep broth of talk-therapy. Fine cast and direction, though.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 9:58am

Thanks for all the reviews, April!

A question for you -- I'm filling a couple of holes in my own orgy in two weeks (haha?) and for one slot, it's come down to KIN and THE OTHER PLACE.

Give the choice between the two...?

[wexy]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 10:04am

Nice... glad that you had a good time..agree on Arcadia

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 10:20am

Oooh, Kin or The Other Place is a tough call. You can't go wrong either way.

As far as Sleep No More, I don't fault them for not making their tix cheaper, I could see where they'd spent the $. I know what you're saying as far as making it less of an individualistic adventure but you know, I'm an individual who wears reading glasses, and couldn't get them on over or under my mask very well in dim light to look over all the notes lying around the sets like everyone else, so that was frustrating, too. Luckily I'm nimble enough to sprint up several flights of stairs and follow actors, which I loved. I just can't justify repeated trips to it, and would hope there was some way they could lead theatergoers just a bit to make sure we don't miss the most amazing stuff...just as they managed to lead us all to the final scene. Wondering if there could be a balance here, but liking it all the same.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 10:27am

Grr. That is *why* I can't decide. Thank you for nothing

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 11:23am

How much did you pay for Mormon?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 11:31am

April, sorry you had trouble with the vision thing. Also, the first time I saw SNM I missed what I think is actually called "the witches rave," but which has colloquially been dubbed "the orgy scene." It has intense sound and visuals but I think people "see" more in the flashing lights than are actually there. I did end up seeing it on second viewing, and it was visceral and all, just not really an orgy scene. It could be different here, though.

I think with 100 rooms and three hours, we pretty much have to give up on seeing everything. How could we? Following Macbeth early in the evening, no matter where you pick up his storyline, or any of the witches or Hecate, will eventually get you to the witches rave. Just don't lose them when you start following them!

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/24/11 at 5:14pm

growl, I hope you are kidding!; but if not, I vote for The Other Place, although they're neck and neck. namo, I'm glad someone else missed the orgy. muscle, I scored a $40 front mezz ticket for Mormon on eBay the first week it was on, and immediately went back and got tickets for everybody in my extended family using the discount code because I was afraid it'd be so big that they'd pull the codes entirely.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 8:09am

Of course I was kidding! But not totally kidding. But really like "I wasn't serious" not kidding

Thank you. THE OTHER PLACE is what I'm leaning towards. KIN sounds terrific, so maybe I'll catch it another weeked with the extension. There's just too much good theater going on right now that a 5-day trip isn't going to make a very big dent in all the things worth seeing!

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 2:26pm

Agreed! Precisely the reason for my theater binge...but isn't it great to have so many amazing choices right now? I can't remember another season like this in recent history anyway...

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 3:24pm

Most certainly! My current plan is as follows:

Tuesday N2N (the tour, obvi)
Wednesday INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE...
Wednesday HOUSE OF BLUES LEAVES
Thursday A FUNNY THING HAPPENED...
Thursday JERUSALEM
Friday THE OTHER PLACE
Friday PLAY DEAD
Saturday COMPANY
Saturday MACBETH
Saturday SLEEP NO MORE
Sunday BOOK OF MORMON

And even with that -- which I consider to be quite a lovely roster -- I had to make 5 or 6 painful excisions. Oh, well! I s'pose that just means it'll have to happen again in another month or so