On Friday night, I went with David Bussard and his new boyfriend Cory Conley, who seems very nice, to see Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw, the first show of Roundabout's 2006-2007 theatre season. I didn't really go in expecting much, and I have to say it wasn't one of my favorite things to see lately. The first act was pretty dreadfully dull, but it picked up some in the second act. Overall, the style of acting (one-note Victorian acting choices) and writing (droll, dry humor) didn't really affect me, but I was able to appreciate it more after the second act picked up. The highlights of the cast for me were Swoosie Kurtz and Lily Rabe as Hesione Hushabye and Ellie Dunn respectively. They were the most plausible characters of the play and had a bit more nuance than some of the other flatter characters. Overall, I had very mixed feelings, but it was an interesting experience, and I'm glad to have experienced something by Shaw, whom I've been curious about lately.
Swoosie Kurtz, Lily Rabe, and Byron Jennings in Roundabout's Heartbreak House at the American Airlines Theatre.
On Saturday, Austin, Christina, Emma, Richard, his friend Jacob, and I went to Yaffa for dinner. We had originally been intending to use coupons for free jars of peanut butter at Peanut Butter & Co., but they were mysteriously out of bread(!!). We had a lot of fun hanging out, and, when Christina and Richard came back to our room, I introduced them all to In-Yer-Face Theatre (with mixed results).
Today was a beautiful day. I met up with Emma at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on Christopher Street to see yet another free show, Nixon's Nixon by Russell Lees, which was put on by MCC Theater. It had been done with the same actors and directors ten years ago, and they reunited to revive the production. I didn't know what to expect going in, but it was a really interesting, funny play. The premise of the play is an imagining of the converstaion between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (played by Steve Mellor) and Richard Nixon (Gerry Bamman) on the night before his resignation. They recall triumphs and defeats and plot in vain to save his presidency, and the play manages to be both funny and poignant. It took me a while to warm to the actors, but I eventually did as the play went along and I became less interested in seeing a Nixon impersonation than seeing a captivating story. The production was much enhanced by interesting lighting and sets by Brian Aldous and Kyle Chepulis respectively, who effectively used wall lighting and projections to shift the action seamlessly between times of day and countries. The show was overall worth checking out; intimate productions like this are what I've been thriving on as a theatregoer lately.
Nixon's letter of resignation.
After the play, I went to Choux Factory on W. 8th Street and got a wonderful green tea frost, which I sat with in Washington Square Park for a while, listening to this really neat little band that was playing old-time jazz/Dixie-sounding songs by the Holley statue. They had three members, playing muted trumpet/hi-hat, banjo, and clarinet, and it was very relaxing to just sit and listen to them in the beautiful weather; I felt like I was in a Woody Allen film with no action. It was wonderful to observe the characters and colors of the park, which was very busy (another blues/funk band was playing, and the harlequin-style acting troupe I pointed out in my last post were back for another show).
And tomorrow begins the busy week.
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