So my friend Erin invited me to come see some Broadway chorus boys strip for charity. This is all I knew, going into the event. Since attending, I have learned that this is a huge event that has been going on for the past 14 years. Over 200 performers and countless other technicians all got together and volunteered their time to raise money for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights Aids. The tickets were very expensive (I was comped) and every cent went to the organization. At the end of the show, Mac Cosmetics handed over a check for 75 thousand dollars, bringing the total up to almost 500 thousand for the entirety of the event. Pretty amazing.

The show itself, unfortunately due to my short stature and the fact that it occured at the Roseland Ballroom, I missed most of. But what I did see was amazing! Costumes, lights, makeup artistry, multimedia visuals, the works. Some of the best dancing and acrobatics i’ve seen since Cirgue du Soleil. A combination of stripping, burlesque, comedy, and dance.

The audience was about 90% gay men, and 10% musical theatre women/friends/relatives of performers. I felt right at home.

The celebrites that came out at the end to show their support were Swoozie Kurts, and Patrick and Shirley Cassidy; Patrick did a strip show with his mom right there on stage, it was kinda weird. But hey, theatre types. Oh, and Jai, the useless cute boy from Queer Eye sang “Fame” as the finale.

The highlight for me was when John Tartaglia from Avenue Q did a comedy bit spoofing the Scream movies (the theme was movies; there were homages to James Bond, Flashdance, Fame, Rocky, Singin’ in the Rain, etc) using his puppet of Rod from the show. Then when the light went on him, he was practically naked, rubbed with glitter, and wearing a speedo with a rubber ducky on the crotch. Then at the end, he go-go danced the night away while people stuffed money into his panties. I was startstruck and shocked. A good experience overall!

Kathy and Mo, the beloved, award-winning comedy duo of Kathy Najimy (known for her work in Sister act and Hocus Pocus, among other things) and Mo Gaffney (known as a film actress as well as her work on Absolutely Fabulous) got back together to reprise their sketch comedy at Second Stage. First off, Second Stage is an amazing theatre, I was impressed with every aspect of the venue. Secondly, the show was a riot. They chose their funniest sketches from the past and compiled them into a show, with two new pieces. Their ability to jump into ridiculous character after ridiculous character is pretty amazing. The most amazing part of the show, however, is the chemistry these women have with each other. They look like they have been working on stage together forever, however, this was their first time back to it in almost a decade. The chemistry remains, despite the apart-time.

My personal favorite sketch were the two lesbian performance artists. The characters were an extreme prototype of the feminist inclinations of themselves. I love when a performer can mock themselves effectively.

I also liked the new piece about all the Disney moms that are killed off in the first ten minutes of movies, or never there at all. They hop from chair to chair playing the cartoon moms of Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Jumbo, Nemo, Cinderella, Bambi, etc. Funny with a feminist flair, of course.
The feminist/pro-gay agenday was clear, but not overstated or forced. Good for them for using their voices, and forcing us to laugh with them about some pretty ugly things.

Other highlights were the two Italian teenagers watching West Side Story together, and the Southern bar trash scene in which Kathy plays a drunken old man, hitting on Mo. Funny and poignant. Definitely worth time and money to see these funny ladies.

The Rattlestick theatre is devoted to bringing new playwrights works into production. “Boise,” by David Folwell, is once such new work. While not breaking any new ground in form or concept, the play is truly excellent in excecution. The action centers around Stewart, who hates his job and is ambivilent toward his cold, waspish wife. We watch his life fall apart as he makes one bad decision after another.

As stated, plot wise, this is not new territory. It reminded me strongly of David Mamet’s “Edmund,” and has a very similar climax. What makes this show actually superior to Edmund is two things. 1) The dark, but hilarious comedy/ one liners, and the realism that Folwell has brought to the characters. In Edmund, most of the characters are caricatures; in Boise, they are real people to be sympathized with.

The acting was fantastic in most regards. Christopher Burns as Stewart played the part wonderfully; we feel sorry for him from the very beginning.

One-person shows are tricky. Often, they come across as self important, egotistical ramblings (case in point, Yearldly Smith’s “More”). Ms. Marlowe, a seasoned English stage actress (formerly unknown to me) avoided this common problem. She created a wonderful balance between talking about herself, and playing with characters. The transitions between those two worlds were seamless. Furthermore, the transitions between her discussion (ad-libbed) with the audience into her script, was also seamless. Clearly a talented woman. The production was well crafted. The characters she chose to play with were engaging and real, and she brought a great deal of life to them. They displayed her many talents (including her trapeze show at the end). What I couldn’t help thinking, however, is how I would rather see this woman take her talent and put it into a character. One woman shows are engaging, but she would be far more engaging as Gertrude, or Tamora, or Titania.

Assassins was a huge flop when it appeared on Broadway for the first time in 1981. The revival was slated to open up on Sept. 13, 2001. Due to a minor problem the city was experiencing at that time, the revival did not go up as planned. It finally reopened this year, and I can’t stress the “finally” quite enough. Perhaps the show wouldn’t have been quite so effective, or had time to perfect itself, had it opened two years ago. It’s difficult to say. But what can be said is that this production of the frighteningly dark Sondheim musical is New York Theatre at its finest. My heart was full at the end of this show. All the elements of good theatre were present and working their asses off.

The casting was perfect. Each assassin was brought to life, with sympathy, charm, and spookiness, by their actor. Because they all made an impression on me, I will just list the cast and they all get a major bravo/a. Becky Ann Baker (Sara Jane Moore), James Barbour (Leon Czolgosz), Mario Cantone (Samuel Byck), Michael Cerveris (John Wilkes Booth), Mary Catherine Garrison (Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme), Alexander Gemignani (John Hinkley), Neil Patrick Harris (Lee Harvey Oswald), Marc Kudisch (Proprietor), Jeffrey Kuhn (Guiseppe Zangara), and Denis O’Hare (Charles Guiteau). The actors brought to life these Presidential assassins; some of whom I knew, others, I didn’t. All were brought to life as sympathetic characters! They rationalize and explain why they did what they did. And not once do you hate them.

Musically, Sondheim plays around with a lot of sounds and styles that one would’t necessarily associate with him. There are strong elements of ragtime, country, and hokey carnival-style music. But then other moments (i.e.”Something Just Broke”) he goes back to his signature compostion style.

Set Design by Robert Brill was flawless. A simple, giant, chaotic mess of scaffolding. Almost Sweeney Todd-esque. Each assassin gets their own little scaffolding area/house where they leer creepily after they tell their story, and watch the others. This creepy factor was highlighted by the excellent lighting design of Jules Fishner and Peggy Eisenhauer. They had creepy Halloween-style ghost lighting at times that was amazing. Made more amazing by the fact that one character would be basking in it, while another wouldn’t, making them appear as if they exist in different dimensions (which they do).

My only concern with the show was diction and sound problems. In the first scene, I understood very little of what the Proprietor was saying. It got a lot better, but I feel like I missed a whole bunch of words. Which only makes me want to see the show again and again.