Greg Kotis, who wrote the book for the brilliant musical, “Urinetown,” has reunited himself with that shows producer and composer. The three of them all appear in a political satire called “Eat the Taste.” They play themselves. The play takes place a couple years from now. Bush has been re-elected, and John Ashcroft has lost his mind. His personal armed guards take Kotis hostage and force him to write a one-man Broadway show for Mr. Ashcroft. The plot is so absurd that you would think the style of the show is going to be pure farce. Which it is. However, its overwhelming political agenda quickly eclipses the fun, farce part of the show, and it all falls apart.

Furthermore, the performances were weak. Granted, the characters were one dimensional with very little to work with. The only actress (Eva van Dok) was far to skinny, feminine and pretty to be believable hard-ass special agent. She was sorely miscast. The other actors in the show were trying to be real people, but their characters were so poorly written that I wish they had given up and given in to their insticts to just be silly. The best performance in the show was by Kotis. I think he gave all the best dialogue to himself. Marc Hollman (who plays and sings an original song, which was kind of fun) and Gibson Frazier were non-actors, and it was apparent.

This play looks to me like Kotis got high one night, and thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if……” Then he enlisted the help of his friends by casting them, and they put the show together in a week. It was an elongated SNL sketch. Which might be very funny, actually, in a five-minute-skit-format.

My friend Adam Bloom is a funny and creative and talented person and I am proud of him. This was closing night of his one-man show. Cap’n Clearbeard, a clean-shaven pirate, hosted a variety show in which Adam played a slew of characters, including a cow-rapper, a crazy mad scientist, a british college student/musician, a parrot (actually, a Macaw), and others. At one point he came out as a character named Adam Bloom, and did a very honest piece about himself, singing Barry Manilow’s “Can’t smile wihout you” and listing the reasons, thus making a grand proclamation, about why he is not cool. It was beautifully honest. He used comedy, improv, audience participation, music, dance, and monologue, among other things. Oh, and there were two dancin’ girls, Pirate Booty. At one point there was a power point presentation to show us facts about the moon, such as “round” and “grey” and “rumors of cheeze are unfounded.”

I think Adam’s best attribute is his facility for rhyme in his songwriting. Each line was laugh out loud funny. His comic timing is pretty well-honed too. He could have a long career of stand-up-comedy-music.

I was largely entertained thoughout the hour-long production. Laughed a lot. Which I guess was the point. Well done Adam.

Passion is the beautiful Sondheim musical that won all the Tony’s, and was a monumental flop. Critics loved it but the masses of theatre-goers hated its unorthodox, “unhummable” score, and loathed its unhappy ending. There is no good vs. evil, no traditional love story, no dance numbers. It is simply an exploration of very realistic, flawed characters, and a portrayal of a kind of sick, obsessive love that is not usually romanticized in art. I believe it is one of the most beautiful stories ever told, and although the score is not upbeat and happy, it is one of the most moving, and one of my favorites of all time. But I can see why even supposed music theatre lovers might find this show to be off-putting.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the show’s opening (and closing) on Broadway. Most of the original cast got back together at the Ambassador Theatre for a one-night benefit. My good buddy Sunil scored some comps, which is great because the tickets were in the $150-$500 range. Donna Murphy and Marin Mazzie reprised their roles as Fosca and Clara, respectively. I have heard the recording countless times and seen the production on DVD, but seeing and hearing them perform it live, ten years later, was so exciting. They were just as good as they had been ten years ago, which I find to be a true testament of talent. Michael Cerveris stepped in to play Giorgio (the original guy no longer performs) and was incredible, as always. And it was neat to see Passion taking place on the set normally used for “Chicago.”

It is a beautiful show and I don’t care what the masses say. The masses are dumb.

Throne is a CT-based, modern-rock sounding band of three glam rock-looking guys. Chris’s brother Aaron has been volunteering for them and working as their roadie, traveling around the country in a big van, living the rock and roll lifestyle. They came to NY to play a show and we had to go check it out. The band was really good for their specific style of music. Its not my favorite genre, but it certainly has its very lucrative place in the music industry. The small but appreciative audience was predominantly teenage girls, and this demographic has money to buy cds. So I can definitely see these guys having a successful career, with some luck and a little more hair gel.

What angered me about the night is the fact that we had been told we would get comped in by Aaron, but then there was no guest list and we had to pay the seven bucks each for cover. I was mad until Aaron explained that if enough people don’t pay a cover, the band doesn’t get paid. Nothing. They would be playing for free. I don’t know if that is normal to do to a group, but I think it is horrible and insulting and it makes me never want to go back to Arlene’s grocery again. To make me hate the venue even more, the drinks were ridiculously overpriced to boot. Don’t go to this venue. The end.