Phew!

So much to fill y'all in on.


I made it to the final performance of Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, featuring Elaine Stritch. I have to admit that I bought the ticket just to see Stritchie, though the show had been on my "to see" list for a while. Predictably enough, La Stritch was fantastic, but it was Grey's stories that stole my heart and will stay with me for a long, long time. I'm adding Gray's "Swimming to Cambodia" to my netflix list right now, and you should too.

Tried to see Romeo and Juliet, but that dang spinning set broke down and kept us waiting for ages and ages. My date and I passed the time by ogling Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, who were in attendance - he's so hot in person, I had to restrain myself from tackling him to the ground. Damn those Brits, guess I'll have to see Evening after all. Meanwhile, she kept jogging off to the loo - literally, trotting off in a little jog every half hour or so. Hmm. We finally gave up and left at 9:30, and I read on All That Chat that the show did go on, at 10 FREAKIN' PM! Oh well.


Eurydice didn't have me creaming my jeans Isherwood-style, but I enjoyed it. Beautiful direction and design, beautiful language, beautiful storytelling, and I love me some Maria Dizzia. Joseph Parks, who plays converse-clad Orpheus, is a find, and will probably be everywhere after he graduates from Yale next year. The play nimbly treads the line between that weighty emotional melodrama that the Greeks do so well and the more immediate and familiar situations and relationships that tug on our heartstrings so effectively. It gets heavy-handed at times, and the whole thing with the Stones characters seemed to do one thing over and over again, but the poignancy and beauty of the whole production outshone the weaknesses by leaps and bounds. You have until July 21st to check it out, and 2nd Stage has $25 tickets for those who are 25 and under. Plus, it's only 90 minutes long, so no excuses, people!


And tonight is Old Springs Pike night! Yes, that's right, the band with Spring Awakening's John Gallagher Jr. Not only do they boast a Tony-winning guitar/percussion/vocalist, but they also play fantastic songs, cover Wilco, and know how to rock. Full disclosure: OSP are friends of mine, hence my not writing more about my complete love affair with them and their music. Maybe I'll do up a little post about this concert, though. We'll see... in the meantime, why don't you listen to a song or two via their website?

Full cast of Romeo and Juliet announced

The full cast of R+J in the park has been announced, and it's pretty exciting on two counts: one, because it's a lot of really rocking actors, and two, because it looks like they're doing full-on colorblind casting. Here's the full list:

Juliet - Lauren Ambrose
Romeo - Oscar Isaac
Nurse - Camryn Manheim
Lady Capulet - Opal Aladdin
Lord Capulet - Michael Cristofer
Lord Montague/Apothecary/Cousin Capulet - George Bartenieff
Paris - Dan Coleman
Lady Montague - Saidah Arrika Ekulonah
Tybalt - Brian Tyree Henry
Benvolio - Owiso Odera
Friar Laurence - Austin Pendleton
Mercutio - Christopher Evan Welch
Prince Escalus - Timothy D. Stickney
Ensemble - Ari Brand, Anthony Carrigan, Tiffany Danielle, Seth Duerr, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Christian Felix, Susan Hyon, Orville Mendoza, Jeff Omura, Lucas Papaelias, Mary Rasmussen, Michael Rossmy, Cornelius Smith, Jr., Alexander Sovronsky.

Awesome! I always love me some Saidah (anyone who was in The Thugs can do no wrong by me), and it's exciting to see so many really typey, charactery actors in one place. I didn't like Orville Mendoza in Adrift in Macao, but that's hardly his fault - I love Chris Durang, but that play was a S.T.I.N.K.E.R. Lucas Papaelias was my favorite part of Essential Self-Defense (besides the rollerskating dream sequence). Mary Rasmussen is a Juilliard grad from a year ago, and I've never seen her work be as good as it was in the showcase, but I hold firm to my belief that girl's got a hell of a lot of talent and potential. Also keep an eye out for Cornelius Smith, Jr, who is fresh out of the NYU grad acting program, and has been blowing me away in all of their shows this year with his knock-out character performances.

For some reason I'm betting that Mercutio was the last to be cast. I like Christopher Evan Welch okay, and he made a lot of lemonade out of Theresa Rebeck's sour lemons in The Scene, but he's doesn't seem like top-of-the-list Mercutio material to me. Here's hoping he proves me wrong.

Photo of patient line-waiters by Epiphany, via Flickr.

Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte this summer

The ever-delightful Rocco over at What Blows has got a great scoop - The Public announced EPAs for this summer's production of Romeo and Juliet in the park. Now begins the guessing game of who will be cast. Rocco's top picks include John Gallagher Jr. and Alison Pill, and I'm hard pressed to think of anyone who would be better.

As long as it's not that hacktress Emmy Rossum, the Moxie she is very pleased.

CORRECTION: The JG Jr. & Alison Pill idea was, of course, Jamie's. Many kudos to Jamie! Spread the word and start the grassroots campaign: "Theater Bloggers for the Casting of Alison and JG Jr."