this is fyf

Linda Simpson has written a new play: 'The Emperor's New Codpiece'

The tag line?

"Forsooth! Drag Queen royalty battle Medieval Go-dancers! Magic fabric to the rescue!"

Though I can't guess the fabric, I'm betting it's fringed and clingy. And with a script involving medieval go-gos and drag queens, there's bound to be lots of dicking around, so...sounds like a hit!

Catch The Emperor's New Codpiece every Friday between tonight (June 10th) and July 15th at 10pm at the Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 West 42nd Street at 9th Avenue (Inside the West Bank Cafe. Or rather under.). Starring Nicholas Gorham, Patrick Johnson, Michelle Ojeda, Buenaventura Rodriguez (that's him in the pic) and Linda Simpson. Tickets are $18 and there's a $15 food/drink minimum.

Speaking of Ladies we Love: Suzanne Vega does Carson McCullers at the Rattlesnake Playwrights Theater

In what sounds like a genius project, Suzanne Vega uses words written by Carson McCullers as lyrics in songs that tell the story of McCullers loves. The songs are co-written with Duncan Sheik who performs them during the show.

Through June 5th.

Via

Thanks to those participating in our Arcadia ticket contest.  The winner has been notified (and he might need a date).

Contest: Win two tickets to Arcadia on Broadway, but first, tell us what you think of using recorded music on Broadway.

“You hear those requests a lot on Broadway these days.  The producers totally respected the stand I took. I just felt we needed a big orchestra for audiences to feel the show in their ears, in their whole bodies. A taped version wouldn’t achieve the same result. I mean, would you rather watch people touching each other online, or be touched yourself?”

The above is producer Mark Shaiman, he of the many Tony Awards, commenting on the use of large live orchestras versus using recorded music in Broadway shows.  The unions have come after Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for its use of recorded music.  Priscilla's producers maintain that the recording allows them to create a certain sound.  The unions claim that it is a cost-cutting move that keeps musicians out of work.

Now, this isn't the most Broadway-knowledgeable site, but we do from time to time get up to Times Square.  And we have a new advertiser, Arcadia.  To dip our toes into the Broadway waters, we'd like to hear your opinion on recorded versus live music.  A comment (either here or on our Facebook page) will be chosen at random to win two free tickets to Arcadia (starring super handsome Billy Crudup and very well-reviewed)!  So give us your opinion, and we'll send you to a show!  Good luck!

 

Upcoming...and FYF friendly.

Are you a theater queen? Be honest. Those above? No, those are JewQueens (more on that below).

But theater queens? Hark! Tomorrow night, Friday the 26th of March, Tomorrow Morning - a new musical presented in limited engagement by York Theatre - hosts a "Boys Night" performance for any of us who are.

Tomorrow Morning tells the story of: "Four ordinary people, two life-changing events." and, "Two couples are separated in time, yet bound together..." (both from the press materials for the show) so I'm guessing there's a nifty, "I see dead people!" surprise moment at the end. Don't know much else. What else it does say is one couple is about to marry, the other, divorce. Sounds a bit straight, but I ain't mad at the two male leads, so...Boys' Night it is? (Tomorrow Morning wiki here. Tomorrow Morning is in previews at St. Peter's Church under the Citigroup Building. March 30th is opening night and the show will close April 23rd.)

If you go will you let us know the surprise? Please?

 

Also, JewQueen - a cheap-n-cheerful retelling of Queen Esther's story and the origins of Purim by women and men in prom dresses - sounds salacious and looks FUN! At Under St. Marks Theater Thursdays to Saturdays at 8pm through April 2nd.(Via)

 

Not a musical or Broadway theater production in any way, Pendu Disco is kind of can't-get-much-more NOW in the nightclubbing/dance music category.

The H.P. Lovecraft Festival starts tonight at The Kraine Theater

H.P. Lovecraft is not a widely known author, even today, but he is considered the father of "weird fiction" and is credited with influencing countless horror writers after him, including many of the most well-known of the genre (Stephen King, et al.). He wrote copious amounts of fiction around the turn of the 20th century, all of which can (apparently?) be read here and some of which have been dramatized for the stage and will be performed over the next three weekends at The Kraine Theater in the East Village.

Lovecraft's legacy seems to be moving ever more into the limelight these days, however: Last year, enthusiasist Guillermo Del Toro ambitiously set out to direct a highly-anticipated movie adaptation of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", but the plans were recently scrapped due to a high cost/high risk (lack of star power primarily, I believe, rather than concerns the story was too weird.) one-two punch to his dream.

The H.P. Lovecraft Festival, on the other hand, is low cost/low risk and - likely - just pure kooky fun. I dunno, I just get that sense...

More info via festival producer Radio Theatre's trippy/Myspace-y website here (Note the special offer: enter HP to get tickets to all six shows for $30).

Original nudge via Flavorpill. Image via

Where are they now?: 530 West 27th Street Edition. Former site of Twilo, Spirit, Home and Guest House.

Emursive Productions presents Punchdrunk's Sleep No More, an "immersive theatrical production" of Shakespeare's Macbeth at the fictional McKittrick Hotel created on the site of last decade's (but really the decade before that) mega-dance club hub. 93 rooms have been created in nearly 100,000 square feet of space spanning three six-story warehouse buildings for the production (Thank you, Wendy Goodman of NYMag!)...so maybe it's not just the old Twilo space they've taken over?

The show runs for six weeks beginning March 7th (the first week's already sold out) and tickets run $75 a piece.

Taken all together...the whole thing is MUCH!

Want to serve as a steward for the production? Sign up here. More on their Facebook profile or NYC page.

Taylor Mac goes full fish.

Usually known for surrealistic or gender-fuck looks, performance artist Taylor Mac went full fish for the cover of Next.  The issue features an interview about Taylor's new show at LaMama (starting this week) and the photos by Mister Karl Giant.

Nudity, Sodomy in a Brazilian play? Please make it to Broadway!

I don't understand Portuguese very well and Google Translate ain't quite cuttin' it with this article, but, looking at the pictures, you get the gist.

As best I can understand, Theatre Workshop is a 52 year old institution in Sao Paolo and - like any true Brazilian - is not at all shy about its naked body...or rather its actors' bodies. The theater completed its season with a production apparently called "The Banquet" that was also quite the feast for the eyes if we are to judge by pictures from the show.

Not only were the actors naked and copulating (I assume this was feigned copulation.) but there was a "cheering section" of men in their 40s (What Google Translate??) who disrobed to watch every show.

What exactly was the show about? I'm really not certain, but here's what Google Translate translates the article to say: "The closure was "The Banquet", so apotheosis during five hours of show. Were there any references that established the workshop on post-modern pop world, from the '90s: the irreverence in adapting classical Greco-Roman costumes, nudity and sex without guilt, the beauty of the lads, the savagery, and popular communication and tropicalia."

Got it?

One additional - and sobering - note: the head (from what I gather) of the Theatre Workshop, and also one of the actors, conducted a memorial (as he does annually) before one of the shows for his brother on the anniversary of the brother's murder by stabbing, apparently because he was gay. The play itself also referenced a recent gay-bashing, reminding us that - male nudity in plays aside - there's much work left to be done for we homosexuals to even exist...much less acknowledge our sexuality openly onstage in a play.

More photos (not censored by using the "burn tool" - probably not a good idea in retrospect?) after the jump and via the link above...

Secrets of the Spider-Man musical revealed. (Is it a spoiler to say it's crap?)

You may have family visiting for the holidays.  They may want to go to a "Broadway musical" as visiting family is wont to do.  (Although they'd be better served seeing something like the Bar d'O Reunion.)  You may realize that you've heard about the Spider-Man musical because there have been many headlines about it.  Because the show has been in previews though, you haven't seen reviews.

There's a long-standing courtesy paid by reviewers to Broadway shows.  They don't run reviews until the show officially opens.  After hearing of the fourth injury and of audiences paying $140 for preview seats Richard Lawson at Gawker decided to break tradition:

This thing is baaaad, guys. Really, really bad. And before you say it, this is not me trashing some ambitious can-do theater folks simply for their ambition. These are people spending tens of millions of dollars — you could do ten good, expensive shows with the money they're spending — to create a commercial product that's so cynical it seems to operate under the assumption that a good story is unnecessary so long as there's neat-o flying. And then they're charging you $140 a seat.

Then, in the comments, another person goes much further than Lawson.  He reveals all of the shows secrets and  breaks it down point by point explaining the flaws in the story, the music, and even the special effects.  His entire review with all of those bits is after the jump, but he effectively rips the show to shreds:

The flying stuff is cool. REALLY COOL. No doubt this show deserves all kinds of technical achievement awards. But cool flying stuff alone does not a good musical make. In fact often it felt less like a musical than it did a circus performance, "Spidey du Soliel" if you will, and sadly U2’s music was not up to the task, loosely holding together scenes between acrobatic set pieces with all the audible consistency of an 80’s mix tape. 

Still, some will make excuses for anything.  The following duo saw the show on the night that the fourth actor was injured.  (Is it me, or can you see the same duo also explaining the virtues of the George W. Bush presidency and saying they would vote for him again?)

"And I Am Telling You", StarSong, 2006

In 2006, My Little Pony became a stage show that travelled the country.  Above, StarSong sings the classic Dreamgirls number, "And I am Telling You".  (Full Video after the jump.)  It's a popular song.

"Whatever Happened to Busty Jane?" opens tonight for a limited engagement

 
Mario Diaz and Jackie Beat as Branch and Busty Jane Hardon

Jackie Beat's got a new play and it's called "Whatever Happened to Busty Jane". Jackie, Mario Diaz (Yay! Mario's back in town!), Nadya Ginsburg, Selene Luna and Sam Pancake star in a story inspired by the Joan Crawford/Bette Davis camp classic, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" ("Oh but ya are, Blanche!), and if these kids know anything...it's CAMP!  Oh and porn! And comedy! And...and...partying, hot boys, hilarious slap-stick antics, how to have a dirty good time...and they're fun! Just plain old fun! They are! Fun. You'll love them! 

Get ready.

"Whatever Happened to Busty Jane?" -- May 19th-22nd at the Laurie Beechman Theater in West Bank Cafe (It's just past 9th on 42nd, kids! It ain't hard!). Get tickets here. 

If you're not familiar with Miss Beat's oeuvre, I highly suggest you familiarize.

More pics of the cast after the jump...

John Cameron Mitchell is returning to the role of Hedwig, but in a different part of town.

"I haven’t acted since I did the movie. The role is so hard and so challenging that it made me give up acting and concentrate on writing and directing. It’s like Hamlet. Except that Hamlet doesn’t have to sing 15 great songs. In a dress."

- John Cameron Mitchell explains that he is returning to the lead role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, this time on Broadway. (And yes, the original quote is from an interview with the New York Post, but seriously, this site won't link to that site as won't link to Murdoch properties.) While Broadway does produce more revenue and a man in a dress should really make some money, it is a little saddening that a proper downtown venue couldn't be found. Can we all just take a moment to mourn the loss of former Hedwig venues Fez and The Jane Street Theatre?

This (finished and produced) thing has the same name as that (unfinished and non-produced) thing.