ICON Magazine THEATER MAY 2018

Catch-22. Curio Theatre Company presents the stage adaptation of Joseph Heller’s satirical WWII novel. Published in 1961, Heller’s (somewhat) overrated novel caused The New Yorker to remark: “[The novel] doesn’t even seem to be written, instead, it gives the impression of having been shouted onto paper.” Heller, who worked in military intelligence, never saw battle unlike Kurt Vonnegut, whose book Slaughterhouse Five remains the quintessential WWII classic. We can still look forward to seeing how Director  Claire Moyer spins Haller’s tale. 4740 Baltimore Ave. (215-921-8243) Until May 19, 2018.

Fun Home. The Arden showcases playwright Lisa Kron’s musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir about the not- so- funny story of Bechdel’s closeted gay father who committed suicide in 1980 a few months before Alison came out as a lesbian. Fun Home was awarded a 2015 Tony for Best Musical; a supreme tribute to Bechdel’s writing which has always been noted for its wry humor and erudition. Bechdel’s comics used to be relegated to the back pages of gay newspapers but now she’s right up there with Ellen.  Until June 24, 2018

Tell Me On A Sunday. A beautiful young woman (Julia Udine) moves to Manhattan from the UK in search of romance and fame. She finds love in the city that never sleeps but the love she finds never lasts for long. Although she learns to sing the blues away (the music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber) that doesn’t keep more bad love experiences from heading her way. After multiple romantic shipwrecks her heart hardens and cynicism causes her to pick up a whip and become a Manhattan Dominatrix, but even this fails to satisfy her. Udine is captivating as The Girl and a good cabaret singer as well—it’s easy to envision Tell Me as the perfect cabaret dinner experience—although a few of Udine’s notes seemed overly strident and brassy (but that’s Broadway for you).  At the post show reception Julia told me that she’s enjoying staying with her parents in South Jersey during the run of the show at The Walnut. “They cook me a lot of spaghetti and meatballs,” she said. After Tell Me, she’s due to take the lead in a big Leonard Bernstein tribute in Saratoga, New York.  Producing Artistic Director Bernard Havard told me that the Walnut is planning an exciting expansion and to stay tuned. Till June 10, 2018.
  

Magdalene. Colleen Hughes of Tribe of Fools delivered a stellar performance as Mary Magdalene in a monologue that spans the centuries. This clever script created by Rachel Gluck, Brenna Geffers and Colleen Hughes was a review of the (often secondary) role of women from the time of Christ to the countercultural 1960s. Hughes, trained in New York’s Stella Adler Studio of Acting, is a natural born story teller. Her empathetic delivery was enough to make this reviewer forget the work’s theological sinkholes. It was fun to hear Magdalene talk about her time with the apostles while the group chugged wine and danced together in Jerusalem. This fast moving, compelling and intense performance at the Adrienne Theater was unfortunately not very well attended but Hughes, undaunted, performed as if she was on stage before hundreds at the Kimmel.          

Fly Eagles Fly This comedy about frenzied football fans will be a 2018 Fringe offering. Wise psychologists write that sports fans should not see their teams as extensions of themselves. As a writer for the Miami Times once wrote,” [Football] Players are only in the city because they got a job there, based on how well they can do a thing, and the zeros in a franchise's bank account.” At the Louis Bluver Theater at the Drake.  September 7-22, 2018

The Maids. February’s dismal weather caused me to miss Jean Genet’s classic tale of two sisters staged by the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at the University of the Arts. The two night engagement came and went too quickly.  A larger city theater should think about staging a Genet play in 2019.

  ICON MAGAZINE: There are many ICONS on the vast cultural iconostasis, but this ICON is no more. 

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