I Got The Music In Me

So, didn't make it back to a computer yesterday to do the regular Friday things . . . it was longer getting out of The Brick than planned, as the company teching made a little error with the curtains at the rear of the stage (they're paging them up to the grid for their show and throwing dustcovers over all the backstage items, which looks very cool) and accidentally disconnected them, which meant an hour of me supervising them in rehanging them properly -- it actually takes at least that long to hang the curtains correctly so they hang evenly mask what they're supposed to. So I didn't leave the theatre until 3 pm, 2 hours later than scheduled.

But whatever, it got done, and I think the new curtain hang is better on two out of the three points I judge it on, so better all around. Then last night I went off as mentioned and saw Edward Einhorn's Doctors Jane & Alexander at Theater Three.

Originally here I wrote several paragraphs worth of critique of my friend Edward's show (and by critique I mean critique), but I've decided to wait on publishing them until after the play closes tomorrow.

Suffice to say, I have been involved in one way or another with this play that Edward wrote (and assembled from found text) about his mother and grandfather since 2005, I'm a member of the artistic board of his company, I've been through many drafts and readings of this text, have very strong feelings about the piece, and my opinions, while not suspect, may be very personal in ways that wouldn't matter a jot to non-involved audience members (they certainly weren't to Martin Denton in the review linked above), so I should keep my trap shut until it's over.

I will note that the cast is excellent. Jason Liebman is a perfect stage-version of Edward -- it's been my pleasure to direct Jason, and whenever I watch him in anything I always wonder why he isn't a star yet. I mean, I work with and know many MANY brilliant actors, but when I watch Jason he just has that quality that makes you wonder, "Why doesn't he have a sitcom or a movie or something like that yet?" You just LIKE him and like watching him. He's a sweet, comfortable actor to watch and listen to.

And, of course, Alyssa Simon, who I first cast in the part in the short version in 2006, IS Jane, and brilliant at it. Alyssa came up to me after the show last night and asked me if I had still seen some of the work we first did on Jane together, as it was certainly there, and I was touched, as I could still see some of my work there, but she and Edward took that work much farther and deeper than she and I had been able to do in the short version (I think her voice and cadences still owe something to me, her eyes, posture and general physicality are hers and Edward's fully).

It still plays today at 6 pm and tomorrow at 1 pm. As for now . . . further, deponent sayeth not.

Not a lot of available links for this week's songs . . . too many too obscure (and one of the bigger ones not there probably due to copyright claims). But here's a Random Ten that just came up from the 25,596 currently in the iPod . . .

1. "Dog" - Sly & The Family Stone - A Whole New Thing
2. "King Of The Mountain" - Proclamation - Oceanic Odyssey Volume 12
3. "Sweeney Todd, The Barber" - Stanley Holloway - Cannibals-A-Go-Go!
4. "I Shall Be Free No.10" - Bob Dylan - Another Side Of Bob Dylan
5. "Walk It Down" - Talking Heads - Little Creatures
6. "Who Cares?" - C.I.A. - God, Guts, Guns EP
7. "Every Wednesday Night At Eight" - The Innocents - One Way Love 7"
8. "Crazy Little Thing (live 1974)" - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - 04/22/74 Cowtown Ballroom - Kansas City
9. "Come On Mary" - The Abandoned - Back From The Grave 3
10. "The Imposter" - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Get Happy!!

Okay, time to pull it together, get the day's chores done so I can go off and enjoy the annual McKleinfeld/Cino bash for those of us with June birthdays. And about time.