Iken's Perversion

Come see this very exciting new work!

New Center Stages in association with.The Writer's Voice & Turtleshell Productions present a staged reading of

IKEN'S PERVERSION

A new play written and directed by Diana Amsterdam

A famous painter with a strange perversion meets his artistic and emotional match in a tough young poet from the ghetto when she insists on having his affection.

Featuring:

ROBERT CLOHESSY as Iken (OZ, Twelve Angry Men, The Interpreter)

Monday May 23 at 7 p.m.

Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater West Side YMCA 5 West 63rd Street (enter on 64th St) between Central Park West and Broadway

-Wine and refreshments-

-Free admission-

RSVP. 212-252-2154 or email: info@newcenterstages.org

NEW CENTER STAGES is the new theater company associated with the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA. Artistic Directors: Charlie Schulman and Diana Amsterdam. Producing Director: Jason Kaminsky Producer, Turtleshell Productions: John Cooper Special thanks to Sean Pollock and Glenn Raucher, and to our community of artists and students who make this possible.

A Sondheim Study Guide

I’ve been working on the Study Guide for a while.  My assistant, Blake, loves music like PsychicTV and opera.  But he joins the majority of people who just don’t like musicals.  Whenever I talk about Sondheim, he always gets interested in how passionate I get.  He wanted a way to be introduced to Sondheim so that he could appreciate it.  He asked if I would put a program together for him.  The link to the left takes you to some of my musings on the subject.  I’m no expert.  In fact, some experts have blasted my opinions.  But, I come to the work from several points of view.  I hope you’ll take the time to read the pages and let me know what you think.  Later….scp

The theater renovation

I just came from a meeting in which we’ve decided to postpone reading our contractors’ bids.  This $1.8M project has had lots of setbacks.  Fortunately, the setbacks have always been development and not financial.  Updates as they happen…..forthcoming.

Topaz with her wedding bouquet

Tulips

See, they're pretty nice.

The Garden

Living in NYC can be a little overwhelming.  You can find yourself surrounded by concrete and steel so much that you don’t get a feeling of any nature.  We are so fortunate to have the back yard.  What is astonishing though is that very few of our neighbors actually spend any time in their own back yards.  The area has gotten so overgrown in some of the yards that wildlife has checked in.  I’m not talking city rats and pigeons.  I’m talking mini-eco-system.

 

I’ve identified at least a hundred species of birds that regularly visit.  A colony of monk parakeets has created a huge nest about 5 houses east of us.  I think there are 4 or 5 pairs of them.  One chased a Northern Harrier away last Friday.  Amazing! 

 

We’ve been trying to plant the garden successfully too.  I’m extremely patient.  Jack is not.  I like to plant from seeds.  Jack wants to hire someone to plant fully grown plants.  Well in the 3 years that we’ve had the garden, my seeds are doing great.  We now have moth mulleins, rattlesnake master, bee balm, ox-eye sunflowers, astilbe, ironweed, sedums, and many others.  I did give in to some non-native plantings this year.  I planted tulips.  I’ll admit they are nice. 

 

The ferns I started from spores are starting to take off.  We have marginal shield ferns and Christmas ferns.  They are native to New York soils but I collected the spores from Bear Creek Farm.

 

C’est tout!

Always depended upon the kindness of strangers....

I saw the new B'way revival of A Streetcar Named Desire this past evening. I don't recommend it.

Natasha Richardson's Blanche DuBois is devoid of fragility. You never feel for her. John C. Reilly's Stanley is an interesting portrayal. Unfortunately, there are no sparks between the two of them, leaving the play's center unsupported.

The actors playing Stella and Mitch (Amy Ryan and Chris Bauer) are the best in the show...and they are remarkable.

But the one thing I couldn't stand was the "soundtrack". When Blanche was going nuts trying to call Shep, there were weird sounds playing over speakers. Do they think audiences are that stupid? Talk about trying to beat someone over the head with your concept. The "cat" sounds also sounded really fake.

One thing that really pissed me off about this production is how Blanche's intrusion into Stanley and Stella's world didn't spark anything dramatic. In the past, I've always felt that Stanley's brutishness and violent nature must have always existed. But I also believe that he has been trying to suppress it. Stanley has cooked it up in his head that Stella looks down on him for his "common-ness." He aspires to be more than what he should be for that expectation. He is the only one amongst his mates who seems to be advancing in his career.

Now, Stella's sister shows up spouting statements about him as a commoner, giving voice to what he perceived Stella as thinking about him as well. Thus, the violence erupts. He even hits Stella. We have no reason to believe that his emotional rises ever came to blows in the past. Stanley, a much more evolved man than we assume him to be does not like what Blanche brings out in him. And he must remove her to return to the path he had dreamed of for his wife and the baby they are expecting. He buys Blanche a bus ticket. He rapes her. He must destroy the thing that makes him brutish.

In this production, you get the feeling that Stanley always beats Stella. The stakes are not high for him. He becomes blase to Blanche instead of determined to rid his home of her.

The psychological complexity is missing here....and that's too bad. For such an important entry in American Drama, Streetcar deserves better treatment.

Great news for Harlem!

I was just walking on 125^th Street to get groceries at Fairway Uptown.  And what should I pass?  Citarella is finally opening in Harlem!  For those who don’t know Citarella, one of the best markets on the Upper West Side (along with Fairway) has been indicating that they will open a store in Harlem for years.  They’ve been printing on their shopping bags “Harlem” as if it’s already a location for them.  I guess they finally realized that Harlemites will shop at quality stores.

All screwed up!

The new posts are really screwed up on this blog. I'm trying to work out the kinks.

At the watering hole

I thought I'd post a picture of Topaz with me at the watering hole near Bear
Creek Farm

What an upsetting day

I got a very sad call this morning from my brother Justin. Topaz, my parents’ 13-year old golden retriever died in her sleep last evening. I’m so sad about it.
Topaz had a very good life. Despite some allergies, her health was reasonably good. She loved my parents and she also loved my grandmother. What’s especially touching about her relationship with Grandma is that she got to see her yesterday.
When Justin called I had actually expected him to say that Grandma had passed. Her health has declined since last November. Now, after a few strokes, she is in a continuing care facility. Justin and his girlfriend Nina took Topaz to the home to visit Grandma and the other residents. Topaz walked through and got lots of lovin’ from everyone.
Last night, as my Dad put her in her bed, he felt that she wasn’t holding herself right. She must have been releasing herself.
Today, Justin and my Dad will bury her at Bear Creek Farm.