Reviews
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Groupies
Frank Scheck, New York Post: SHARON Lintz's "Groupies," now playing the Fringe Festival, is better than you might think it
would be. Composed of four short monologues by characters explaining their obsessions, it initially seems yet another rehash
of our celebrity-centric culture.
But the playwright has more interesting ideas in mind. Here she uses her name-checked celebs as springboards for alternately
disturbing and comical explorations of her characters' psyches, with each offering a surprising twist.
Not all of the four pieces are effective. The less- compelling ones are "Pearls," in which an obese woman (Tricia Beyer)
describes her idolatry of Elizabeth Taylor -- particularly in "Butterfield 8" -- while dressing for a night on the town, and "Eminem,"
about a young black man (Damion Lee) who takes heat from his friends because his favorite rapper is white.
But the other monologues provide real pleasures. In "Shanghai Express" an elderly man (a superbly creepy Ralph Pochoda)
gradually reveals his sexual perversion while rhapsodizing about Marlene Dietrich and the elegant, chain-smoking women of
her generation.
And in "Heart-Shaped Box," a man (Jeff Berg) regales us with his discovery of the image of Kurt Cobain's face in a most unlikely
place.
Under Jonathan Warman's excellent direction, the four performers do a superb job of bringing these troubled, poignant
figures to life.
Andru's Head
"Mama Higgenbottom (Brooke Elliott) is crushed when two repo men invade her home and attempt to take away her TV set. Pity
them. The TV set is the only stick of furniture that "Mama" and her two boys Lawrence (Timothy James O'Brien) and Gregory
(Kako Kitano) have left since "Mama" lost her job to "outsourcing." Their only pleasure is watching "Andru's Head" on a local
cable access channel. Yes, Andru (Paul Jason Green) has no body, but he's got a smiling face and a wholesome attitude
toward life expressed through song in his daily show and with ever growing popularity and success ("Life is easy. Don't let it get
in your way"). The plot and the score thicken amusingly in the new rock musical conceived by Stephen Wilson, with music and
lyrics by Stephen Wilson and book by Mark Dendy and Stephen Donavan...An engaging eclectic, if un-sophisticated soft-rock
score; lively and inventive direction/choreography by Dendy and Jonathan Warman give slick support to a very talented
company. While this is a basically one-joke musical, it provides plenty of laughs, including a football game played with Andru's
head, Big "Mama" taking on Phineas' thugs in a knock-down drag-out fight, and the expected double entendres. What most
impresses are the polish and the panache that has been afforded this modest (but creatively designed by Donovan) yet ethically
and eccentrically propelled production." - Simon Saltzman, curtainup.com
American Fabulous
"A full-bodied cheer of survival, hope and humor...a hilariously scrappy whine from the underbelly of U.S. citizenship. As directed
with spit and verve by Jonathan Warman, performer Troy Carson boldly recounts the real-life stories of a wickedly fey drifter
named Jeffrey Strouth...Carson's interpretation of Strouth emerges as a defiantly queer Jack Kerouac." - David Drake, Playbill
Recoil
"Karen Schiff’s sweet play, Recoil, follows. A lonely widow, Miriam (Blanche Cholet), wants to purchase a new mattress.
Perhaps. Though he tries his best, Rich (Ron Bopst), the mattress salesman, doesn’t have much luck. That is, until he figures
out that the problem isn’t her current mattress; it’s the fact that her husband is no longer in it. The acting is superb. Cholet
shows all of Miriam’s vulnerability without allowing her to become one note. Though she is grieving, Miriam is a remarkably
strong person. Bopst is genuinely charming as the nervous and flustered Rich. The two actors share a marvelous chemistry
which, aided by director Jonathan Warman’s light touch, makes this play a delight." - Byrne Harrison, oobr.com
Break
"Break by J Stephen Brantley is terrific. A play somewhat evoking the Mc Kellern/O Donnell movie of an unexpected meeting
between a young down and out and an older Englishman this time in the latter’s bedroom. There are so many layers and much
subtext in this short that it is a fine example of the scope and richness of this art form. Brantley writes very well and his cast really
do deliver under Jonathan Warman’s strong direction. The programme is frustratingly deficient once again on actor credits.
The stunningly fit young man (Hunter Gilmore) is superb, a brilliant portrayal of a guy trying to cocoon himself for some self
inflicted DTs and Nigel the Englishman (Jason Allen Griffin) is a wonderfully successful study of repressed expression and
sexuality. The under playing is real and the sexual teasing is hot. A short play of exceptional merit." - Gordon Farrell, gaytheatre.
ie
"Break by J Stephen Brantley, directed by Jonathan Warman
An interesting piece about Nigel (Jason Alan Griffin), a British man living in America, who has come home to discover Scott
(Hunter Gilmore), a smack addict who's been breaking into Nigel's house the times that he was away. The two confront their
own inadequacies together- both are gay, but from wildly diverse cultures and backgrounds, as they discover. The two actors
give nicely nuanced performances, well directed by Mr. Warman. I'd seen Mr. Griffin recently in Questa, and Mr. Gilmore in
previous EATfests, and they both get a chance to stretch here." - Duncan Pflaster, broadwayworld.com
One of the Great Ones
"One of the Great Ones is...hilariously farcial...about an amazing Librarian (Jane Altman). When Lee (Vinnie Costa) comes in
with a question for a scavenger hunt, just as the library is closing, Enid Stump, the Librarian, jumps into action, assisted by
library ensign Jimmy (Ashley Green). Hank the Janitor (Marc Castle) doesn't believe she can find the answer before the library
closes. All the actors are comic perfection, and the direction never flags." -Duncan Pflaster, broadwayworld.com
"Finally, anyone who has called the New York Public Library for help in fact-finding will find One of the Great Ones, by playwright
Chris Widney, delightful. Even if you haven't, you will. Jonathan Warman includes enough quirky details in his direction to make
each character sparkle. Jane Altman, as the dedicated and obsessive librarian, lets nothing stand between her and her facts—
not even her desk. Goading her on is Hank, the maintenance man, played with perfect drawl by Marc Castle. Ashley Green gives
us an intimidated yet earnest librarian-in-the-making, while Vinnie Costa rounds out the cast as the unassuming employee
seeking the final answer to a company scavenger hunt." - Jo Ann Rosen, nytheatre.com
Frank Scheck, New York Post: SHARON Lintz's "Groupies," now playing the Fringe Festival, is better than you might think it
would be. Composed of four short monologues by characters explaining their obsessions, it initially seems yet another rehash
of our celebrity-centric culture.
But the playwright has more interesting ideas in mind. Here she uses her name-checked celebs as springboards for alternately
disturbing and comical explorations of her characters' psyches, with each offering a surprising twist.
Not all of the four pieces are effective. The less- compelling ones are "Pearls," in which an obese woman (Tricia Beyer)
describes her idolatry of Elizabeth Taylor -- particularly in "Butterfield 8" -- while dressing for a night on the town, and "Eminem,"
about a young black man (Damion Lee) who takes heat from his friends because his favorite rapper is white.
But the other monologues provide real pleasures. In "Shanghai Express" an elderly man (a superbly creepy Ralph Pochoda)
gradually reveals his sexual perversion while rhapsodizing about Marlene Dietrich and the elegant, chain-smoking women of
her generation.
And in "Heart-Shaped Box," a man (Jeff Berg) regales us with his discovery of the image of Kurt Cobain's face in a most unlikely
place.
Under Jonathan Warman's excellent direction, the four performers do a superb job of bringing these troubled, poignant
figures to life.
Andru's Head
"Mama Higgenbottom (Brooke Elliott) is crushed when two repo men invade her home and attempt to take away her TV set. Pity
them. The TV set is the only stick of furniture that "Mama" and her two boys Lawrence (Timothy James O'Brien) and Gregory
(Kako Kitano) have left since "Mama" lost her job to "outsourcing." Their only pleasure is watching "Andru's Head" on a local
cable access channel. Yes, Andru (Paul Jason Green) has no body, but he's got a smiling face and a wholesome attitude
toward life expressed through song in his daily show and with ever growing popularity and success ("Life is easy. Don't let it get
in your way"). The plot and the score thicken amusingly in the new rock musical conceived by Stephen Wilson, with music and
lyrics by Stephen Wilson and book by Mark Dendy and Stephen Donavan...An engaging eclectic, if un-sophisticated soft-rock
score; lively and inventive direction/choreography by Dendy and Jonathan Warman give slick support to a very talented
company. While this is a basically one-joke musical, it provides plenty of laughs, including a football game played with Andru's
head, Big "Mama" taking on Phineas' thugs in a knock-down drag-out fight, and the expected double entendres. What most
impresses are the polish and the panache that has been afforded this modest (but creatively designed by Donovan) yet ethically
and eccentrically propelled production." - Simon Saltzman, curtainup.com
American Fabulous
"A full-bodied cheer of survival, hope and humor...a hilariously scrappy whine from the underbelly of U.S. citizenship. As directed
with spit and verve by Jonathan Warman, performer Troy Carson boldly recounts the real-life stories of a wickedly fey drifter
named Jeffrey Strouth...Carson's interpretation of Strouth emerges as a defiantly queer Jack Kerouac." - David Drake, Playbill
Recoil
"Karen Schiff’s sweet play, Recoil, follows. A lonely widow, Miriam (Blanche Cholet), wants to purchase a new mattress.
Perhaps. Though he tries his best, Rich (Ron Bopst), the mattress salesman, doesn’t have much luck. That is, until he figures
out that the problem isn’t her current mattress; it’s the fact that her husband is no longer in it. The acting is superb. Cholet
shows all of Miriam’s vulnerability without allowing her to become one note. Though she is grieving, Miriam is a remarkably
strong person. Bopst is genuinely charming as the nervous and flustered Rich. The two actors share a marvelous chemistry
which, aided by director Jonathan Warman’s light touch, makes this play a delight." - Byrne Harrison, oobr.com
Break
"Break by J Stephen Brantley is terrific. A play somewhat evoking the Mc Kellern/O Donnell movie of an unexpected meeting
between a young down and out and an older Englishman this time in the latter’s bedroom. There are so many layers and much
subtext in this short that it is a fine example of the scope and richness of this art form. Brantley writes very well and his cast really
do deliver under Jonathan Warman’s strong direction. The programme is frustratingly deficient once again on actor credits.
The stunningly fit young man (Hunter Gilmore) is superb, a brilliant portrayal of a guy trying to cocoon himself for some self
inflicted DTs and Nigel the Englishman (Jason Allen Griffin) is a wonderfully successful study of repressed expression and
sexuality. The under playing is real and the sexual teasing is hot. A short play of exceptional merit." - Gordon Farrell, gaytheatre.
ie
"Break by J Stephen Brantley, directed by Jonathan Warman
An interesting piece about Nigel (Jason Alan Griffin), a British man living in America, who has come home to discover Scott
(Hunter Gilmore), a smack addict who's been breaking into Nigel's house the times that he was away. The two confront their
own inadequacies together- both are gay, but from wildly diverse cultures and backgrounds, as they discover. The two actors
give nicely nuanced performances, well directed by Mr. Warman. I'd seen Mr. Griffin recently in Questa, and Mr. Gilmore in
previous EATfests, and they both get a chance to stretch here." - Duncan Pflaster, broadwayworld.com
One of the Great Ones
"One of the Great Ones is...hilariously farcial...about an amazing Librarian (Jane Altman). When Lee (Vinnie Costa) comes in
with a question for a scavenger hunt, just as the library is closing, Enid Stump, the Librarian, jumps into action, assisted by
library ensign Jimmy (Ashley Green). Hank the Janitor (Marc Castle) doesn't believe she can find the answer before the library
closes. All the actors are comic perfection, and the direction never flags." -Duncan Pflaster, broadwayworld.com
"Finally, anyone who has called the New York Public Library for help in fact-finding will find One of the Great Ones, by playwright
Chris Widney, delightful. Even if you haven't, you will. Jonathan Warman includes enough quirky details in his direction to make
each character sparkle. Jane Altman, as the dedicated and obsessive librarian, lets nothing stand between her and her facts—
not even her desk. Goading her on is Hank, the maintenance man, played with perfect drawl by Marc Castle. Ashley Green gives
us an intimidated yet earnest librarian-in-the-making, while Vinnie Costa rounds out the cast as the unassuming employee
seeking the final answer to a company scavenger hunt." - Jo Ann Rosen, nytheatre.com