A Quick Note of Disgust.

Variety reviewed Danny Hoch’s Taking Over in LA recently.  I disagree with a big chunk of the review (as you can imagine if you’ve read about my love for the play already), but was particularly digusted by this:

In the most affecting sequence, ex-con Kiko ambles over to chat up a film crew. Hoch and helmer Tony Taccone evoke the excruciating pain as an (unseen) P.A. pulls away from the man’s attempt to connect, even with an offer of free labor. Kiko explodes — “You understand what I’m sayin’ to you? You look. At me.” — but his abject apology and hunched-over frame clearly indicate he’ll be back in the joint real soon.

The Kiko section is indeed very powerful — lots of folks have told me that it was their favorite part of the show.  It’s complicated and deep and speaks to that basic human emotion that we all feel when we want something so simple and innocent but are forbidden from having it for the stupidest and most intractable of reasons.  all that’s true.  But let me repeat that last line:

Kiko explodes — “You understand what I’m sayin’ to you? You look. At me.” — but his abject apology and hunched-over frame clearly indicate he’ll be back in the joint real soon.

Really?  That’s what you take from that moment?  The guy apologizes, holds in everything that’s bubbling to the surface in the face of someone coming into his neighborhood, taking from his neighborhood, not giving back to his neighborhood — this guy catches himself after an outburst of anger at the fact that someone, some lowly member of a film crew at that, someone that this guy is showing respect, someone who has the chance to make an impact on his life by bending the simplest of rules to allow the guy to save some face in front of his mother after getting out of jail and attempting to show that he’s getting his life on track — he does all this, and the moment breaks your heart — and you think that all shows that he’s destined to go back to jail?

I swear, there’s a massive cultural gap at play here, and it’s something that demands attention.  Keep in mind who is reviewing the plays when you read those reviews, folks.  Some people just don’t get what they’re seeing.

TAKING OVER extends.

You’ve got another chance to see it.

If you’ve recently moved to the city (within the last ten years, let’s say), then I think you MUST go see this.

If you’ve been here forever, then I think you MUST go see this.

Seriously.

Go see the damn show.

Go See TAKING OVER.

Danny Hoch is one of the reasons I do theater the way I do it.  I saw his Jails, Hospitals, and Hip-Hop back in 1997 (wow…way back when), and was struck by how he was able to use what he saw around him to create important, exciting, fun theater that mattered.  Years later, I got to meet him through my own playwriting, and got probably the biggest validation of my young career when, after the first real reading of Welcome to Arroyo’s, a producer asked Danny what kind of work his Hip-Hop Theater Festival produced, and Danny pointed back to our stage and said “that.”  (I hope that sentence makes sense.)  Years after that, I found myself at Danny’s house, stirring the intricate squash-based meal he decided to whip up for a small group of friends who had come back to his place after a reading of Till the Break of Dawn.  I say all this to point out that I have undying respect for and gratitude towards Danny as an artist, a producer, and a human being.

So maybe I’m a little biased, but I think that his new play Taking Over is one of the best pieces of theater I have ever seen.  It does exactly what great hip-hop theater should be doing in this day and age: combining worlds, making disparate ideas and styles and cultures meet to form something new and powerful.  It’s personal and it’s political.  It’s hilarious and completely serious.  It’s a relatively even-handed study of gentrification that still manages to take a strong point of view and stick to it wholeheartedly.  I love this play.   You need to go see it.

Broadway: Best of Times, Worst of Times.

Michael Riedel wrote an article today about the grim state of the Broadway stage.  His argument is tied, not surprisingly, to the recently announced closings of Hairspray, Spamalot, and Spring Awakening.  Each of those shows was expected to run a lot longer than it did.  I’ve seen the first two shows, and think they’re great Broadway works, and it’s a shame to lose them prematurely.  (I’ve still got a Hairspray post sitting around someplace — I’ll post it before they close, I promise.)  I haven’t seen Spring Awakening, but I’ll find a way to sneak into it before it’s gone too.  Even so, each of these shows have had respectable runs, if shorter than hoped (although even there, I’d say each of these shows did a bit better than might have been originally expected).

Riedel also cites three shows (13, Boeing Boeing, and A Tale of Two Cities – see what I did with that title?) as being “in the quicksand,” finding themselves in danger of closing soon.  As a point of fact, I’ll just mention that none of those three could have been considered sure things at any point in their runs or development by any stretch of the imagination.  Boeing Boeing might even have overperformed, thanks to its Tony win; it has recouped its investment and is sending out a tour.  The other two shows were each trying to capitalize on existing monster hits (High School Musical and Les Miserables, respectively), at least in terms of perception, and I wouldn’t consider it a shock or an aberration for either to close quickly.

The situation is bad, yes.  Money is tight all around.  Broadway costs are high (I mean the costs of putting a show together, not tickets — although that’s applicable too).  Broadway audiences tend to come from out of town — so what happens when the US economy tanks?  There are lots of concerns, for sure, and we haven’t seen the worst of the crisis.

But.

Riedel says: “New shows will be arriving in the spring – “Hair” will go to the Shubert – but there’s very little on the horizon that looks like a “Wicked”-size smash.”  I’m not so sure.  Take a look at what’s opening this season:

9 to 5 — Certainly not a guaranteed hit, but a Dolly Parton score, a good cast including Allison Janney, and a woman-centric storyline.

American Buffalo — Mamet with stars.  Stars that appeal to different ethnic groups — Leguizamo and Cedric will drive tickets for sure.   Open-ended run, meaning that new stars can slide in and out to keep tickets moving.

Billy Elliot — Juggernaut in London (although I hated it).  Maybe it won’t translate to the US.  Maybe it will.  If it does, it could be a monster.

Shrek — If this isn’t a potential juggernaut, I don’t know what is.  (I resisted the urge to call it a monster hit, but you know.)  Big title, great creative team, big-time Broadway cast.

Vanities — Okay, now this one looks like it could close fast.  No big title, no huge stars, pretty small and low-concept.  Then again…it’s a three character musical (which means it’s a cheap musical), it’s intermissionless (which makes it a fun, quick night at the theater, which should help word of mouth), it’s about women and friendship and nostalgia, and it’s been a hit (in play form) everywhere it’s been before.  If this was an NFL fantasy draft, this would be your sleeper RB pick.

Waiting for Godot: Limited time JUG GER NAUT.  Nathan Lane in Beckett?  This could be the not-for-profit event of the year.  And as I mentioned before, Bill Irwin is the really exciting part of this whole project.  This will be a huge hit for the few months it’s up.

West Side Story — MONSTER.  There’s no guarantee, of course; the last Broadway revival was in 1980 and ran for only 333 performances.  But it’s West Side Story, for god’s sake.  I just hope that it and In The Heights can coexist.

You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush — Will Ferrell on Broadway.  Playing W.  Limited run.  Spamalot will have already closed.  This is THE boy musical of Broadway for those two months.  Anyone who gets me tickets to this wins at life.

And that’s not mentioned Spider-Man, which, truth be told, could be the biggest financial disaster in Broadway history, or could make $300 million and change the way things are done at that scale.  Nor does it take into consideration Godspell, for colored girls…, Brigadoon, or Nice Work If You Can Get It, all of which have technically “postponed” their runs and could pop back onto the radar with open theaters (and an aggressive investor or two).

Nor does it mention any of the Off-Broadway shows that could end up as transfers based on buzz; I’ve heard buzz for Taking Over, Danny Hoch’s genius one-man show (read: Danny Hoch’s genius “cheap” show), and Beau Willimon’s Farragut North (which was originally rumored to open on Broadway with Jake Gyllenhaal.   Who knows what else could pop up?  Last time Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright did a show together at The Public, it moved to Broadway.  They’re working together again on a John Guare play.  Think that’s not a contender?

Nor does it mention the new TKTS booth in Times Square, or the new one in Brooklyn, both of which should help a steady stream of discounters find their ways to the struggling shows.

Yes, I understand that not all of these will hit.  Not all of them will recoup.  Some will flame out spectacularly.  And yes, there’s a lot of star casting involved, and movie remakes, and all the stuff that folks hate about Broadway (although no jukeboxes, interestingly).  And yes, there will be huge financial hits to come, and Broadway will suffer as the rest of the country suffers.  Who knows what will happen to investors?  To audiences?  To the city itself?

But a disaster?  Maybe I’m I’m being a little too Tracy Turnblad enthusiastic/naive, but I don’t see it as a disaster just yet.

(Oh yeah…I forgot Dirty Dancing too.)

Shameless Self-Promotion Week Begins.

I’m going to do a bunch of posting over the next 14 days.  A good chunk of that will be cleaning up some theater stuff (getting back to that list of shows I mentioned a few days ago, and adding a few new ones, including Danny Hoch’s Taking Over which is pure unadulterated genius and hip-hop theater at its best), some political stuff–the usual.  The other chunk will be a bit more focused on telling you all a little more about me.

Now, I know that a lot of you who read regularly already know a lot about me.  Some of you might know a lot about my work.  But there are enough of you who don’t know me at all, and I’m going to work to change that.  Towards that end, I’ll be taking you on a tour of my CV (which I’ll also be updating); this tour will be without humility.  I’m going to tell you why I’m awesome.  I’m also going to make sure you know about the books I’ve written and published (a book of poetry and a one-act play), the books that I’m going to be publishing or published in (an anthology or two and maybe another surprise), the projects I’m working on (including my big trip this weekend) and other stuff that straight up celebrates me as an artist.  I don’t often brag.  I will this week.  It might be obnoxious.  It’s necessary.

Later this week, I’ll be posting permanent links to let you buy the books.  Please consider doing so: they’re cheap, they’re good, and they might just be going up in value before you know it.

Danny Hoch is Back.

(Danny Hoch is a great artist and one of the reasons that I do what I do. He’s also a friend. I support his work wholeheartedly. I’ll be seeing this show in Brooklyn–you should see it whenever it rolls through your borough.  Also note–I’m keeping this post on top for a few days to spread the word, but I’ll have all kinds of content throughout the week.  Read past the first post.  And now, a note from D. Hoch himself. )

What up NYC Family! It’s been a while since I last performed here at home in NYC and I got a new solo show that opens at the Public Theater in November. But THIS WEEK I start a little tour of the boroughs with the show and ALL PERFORMANCES ARE FREE. I’m gonna hit the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn in three neighborhoods that are being hit hard with changes, namely the South Bronx, LIC and Williamsburg.

It would be an honor to have you there and support. Of course if you wanna wait until the Public Theater so you can support my pocket, then I won’t be offended if you wait until November. But the boro joints promise to be hot, and there are also a few post-show discussions.

Warning: The language is strong, and there is absolutely NO LATE SEATING. They will NOT let you in, even if you get there 5 min late. No exceptions.

Please nobody ask me for free for free tix because the TIX ARE FREE TO EVERYONE. But you MUST reserve them. NOT here on Facebook, but you can reserve tix at hhtf.org or at this link:
https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/107/1222869600000;jsessionid=7A7E4BBB3E70AD4CA3B3EC59A94CAEF3.app4

For group tix, contact Mike Primo
michael@hhtf.org

The performance schedule is:

Oct 1-4, Bronx FREE
Oct 6,7,9,10 Queens FREE
Oct 11 Brooklyn FREE
Nov 7 – Dec 14 Manhattan (Public Theater – Not Free

Hope to see you all at one of the shows this fall.

Danny
(representin’ P.S. 220, J.H.S. 157, LaGuardia H.S.)

The Public Theater’s 08-09 Season

The Public just announced their 08-09 season.

For me, the big news is (unsurprisingly) that Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is going to have its New York premiere, finally. For those who don’t know, Danny is one of the fathers of hip-hop theater, and his solo work is one of my major inspirations as an artist. And he’s a good man, and a heck of a cook. I absolutely cannot wait to see this show.

There are some huge names in this season: Guare, Sondheim, Wolfe, Sher, Glass, Akalaitas, Durang. Am I disappointed to see no new names, no Latinos, no Asians, two African-Americans, and only two women represented? Of course. Do I think it’s a defendable season? Probably–these names are likely to sell tickets, and The Public needs to be responsible on that front. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that smaller projects (Under the Radar, the LAB, the various readings) as well as the creative casting that the Public does so well will flesh some color back into the place.

Still, it’s very, very interesting to see a season like this, especially when NYTW is condensing their output. Who is going to be doing new playwrights and new playwrights of color especially?

If not The Public, then who?