The Assembled Parties
Richard Greenberg
Jessica Hecht, Judith Light, Jeremy Shamos, Mark Blum
Dir. Lynne Meadow
2 Hr 30 Min (Including one 15 minute intermission)
Manhattan Theatre Club at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre  (Thru June 16th)

The Assembled Parties in short is about the Bascovs, an affluent Upper West Side Jewish family celebrating christmas, in 1980 (Act One) and 2000 (Act Two).

Its not a GREAT play, its good but in light of things like Sons Of The Prophet & Other Desert Cities its not mind blowing in terms of family dramedys. Judith Light is astounding as aunt Faye and well worth the price of the ticket, Jeremy Shamos is great as family friend Jeff and the rest of the cast does their job well (including Mark Blum as Faye’s husband Mort, and Jake Silberman pulling double duty as two of the Bascov sons) and while Jessica Hecht has her moments including a fantastic monologue in the second act, ultimately her odd character choices slightly throws off the performance.

Mr Greenberg, author of plays such as Take Me Out and Three Days Of Rain was commissioned by MTC to write this piece, and it has their subscriber base right in their sights so I can’t fault the whole thing. I also rather enjoyed some of the directing choices made by Lynne Meadow in addition to Santo Loquasto’s innovative apartment set.

(3/5)

www.theassembledpartiesbroadway.com 

The Last Five Years
Jason Robert Brown (Also Directed)
Betsy Wolfe, Adam Kantor
90 min (no intermission)
Second Stage Theater (thru May 18th)

2nd Stage Theater’s revival of The Last Five Years is simply superb.The show is a almost totally sung through piece which covers the five year relationship of wannabe actress Kathy and aspiring writer Jamie, the catch being we see Cathys story from breakup backwards through first date, and we see Jamies story forward from falling in love to calling it off, with the two only singing together in the middle during the song “The Next Ten Minutes”.  
The 90 minutes blows by thanks to Jason Robert Browns apt hand at directing,additionally Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor are singing the heck out that score and are both turning in fantastic performances.
On the technical side of thing’s, there is some good use of video and automated set pieces roll on and off  and the six piece orchestra (seated on a really scary scaffolding looking set piece) sounded beautiful.
However the only drawback to a delightful evening of theater is, I am really not a fan of nonlinear story telling in theater (Betrayal, Merrily We Roll Along, Grace) and this didn’t exactly change my mind about it. I kept thinking, would this overall be as good if it was a traditional musical? Regardless I felt heartbroken by the end as we see a optimistic Cathy and a absolutely devastated Jamie say goodbye to each other.
It is a real shame that 2ST hasn’t been more forceful of getting Rock Of Ages out of the Helen Hayes, because this production should have honestly been an easy choice to transfer and really should have been their 1st show at the Hayes. (5/5)

The Last Five Years

The Trip To Bountiful
By Horton Foote 
Cicely Tyson, Vanessa Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr, Condola Rashad, Tom Wopat
Dir. Michael Wilson
2hr 20min (One 15 Minute Intermission)
Stephen Sondheim Theatre (thru June 30th)

I have very few negatives to say about this production. The only thing that should really matter to any ticket buyer is that Cicely Tyson is giving a MASTERCLASS! as Carrie Watts, a elderly woman who’s only wish is to return to her childhood home of Bountiful, TX before she dies. In short the 79 year old (some articles have her as 88) is giving an unbelievable performance in a great revival, she sings, she dances, she’s onstage for the entire thing. Vanessa Williams is a great “villain” as Jessie Mae the daughter in law of Ms Watts. Condola Rashad does wonders as a bus passenger that Tysons character meets along the way on her trip, Ms Rashad is a master of the facial expression and brought a smile to my face, Tom Wopat as a local sheriff who goes toe to toe with Tysons’ Carrie is a strong and forceful presences who ultimately shares a heartfelt moment with Ms Watts , and Arthur French rounds out the top notch cast as Roy the man in charge of the run down bus station that Carrie ends up at, at the top of act 2 . My only criticism and really the only major misfire of the whole thing is Cuba Gooding Jr as Watts son Ludie, while I can see why he was cast, Mr Gooding has no sense of delivery, and his movement comes off as even more awkward, but even this can’t bring down the overall enjoyability of the show.Also a major shout out has to go to Jeff Cowies awesome sets, I highly enjoyed the bus and the set for the town of Bountiful which felt almost animated and surreal.This is a show that deserves a lot more buzz then its been receiving, but come award time, it will receive the recognition it deserves.

(4/5)

http://thetriptobountifulbroadway.com/ 

Desperately Seeking the Exit
Peter Michael Marino
Dir. John Clancy
70 min (no intermission) 

(Disclaimer, the performance we attended was a warm-up scaled down production meant as a test run before Mr Marino does a run of the show in London starting April 24 at the Leicester Square Theatre)

        Peter Michael Marino has a hit on his hand’s, and all because of a tremendous flop. Desperately Seeking the Exit is a one man show about the difficulties of one man’s pot induced dreams of creating a musical based on the 1985 Rosanna Arquette/Madonna film, Desperately Seeking Susan. In 2007, Desperately Seeking Susan a six million dollar musical featuring the music of Blondie and a book by Marino opened in the West End, got critically savaged (the shows title comes from one of those reviews) and then closed a month later, in short it was a disaster of a flop. 
         It is very rare that we get to hear the true story of these flops, mostly because of either embarrassment, or threat of lawsuits, but Peter has created a blatantly honest and hilarious tale of musical theater lost in translation that takes us from the show conception right through to the aftermath and covers everything in-between.
         As extreme theater nerds, it was somewhat hard to listen to his story, just because it was so painful. His journey was filled with a director who had no clue, a choreographer who just didn’t get it, and clueless producers, in addition to numerous cultural issues, but it’s a story where you just hang onto every word. The seventy minutes goes by quick and is consistently hilarious. Our only complaint is that we wont be able to see the full version in London which includes a 5 minute video piece and other technical elements but hopefully we will see the show get a full run in NYC soon. We desperately advise you to seek out this show if you get the chance.

       For more information about DSTE London engagement and future performances visit http://www.seekingtheexit.com

After taking the night off from the fest (we unfortunately had a prior engagement) we were back in the swing of things for night 3 of the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival where we saw Justin Williams: Comfortably Middle Class & The Greatest Movie Ever Roller (reviews for both will be coming next week). And then it was off to the Friars Club for yet another excellent party.

In the meantime its time for PHOTOS! which can be viewed HERE.

Our Picks For Night Four 

You honestly can’t go wrong with any of the five films playing tonight, so we recommend all of them.

Tickets 

Last night the 2013 Friars Club Film Festival kicked off with the opening night film He’s Way More Famous Than You, and a party at the world famous Friars Club. We will have a full review of the film early next week, but lets just say its hilarious and well worth your time when it hits theaters May 10th.

In the meantime click RIGHT HERE for a gallery of photos from the red carpet, the Q&A after the film (which feature Halley Feiffer & Michael Urie) and the opening night party.

In the meantime the festival continues through Saturday so here are our picks for night two of the festival:

Bloody Lip 6:45pm @ Anthology Film Archives (screens with short BANG.COM) 
Imagine This Is Spinal Tap, but set in the world of professional boxing.
Tickets

Discoverdale 9:00pm @ Anthology Film Archives
A rock n roll comedy following the adventures of the comedy rock band “Dead Cat Bounce” as they attempt to reunite their lead singer with whom they believe to be his father David Coverdale of Whitesnake Fame
Tickets 

More Info About The Festival

We’re Back!
And coming to you live for the first time from the New York City Podcast Festival!
Our guests is Nick Turner (Best Week Ever) and music from Skulk, The Hulking
So Don’t Mind The Buzz! Jump On Into A New Episode!

On iTunes

On Twitter:
@ThisMyShow 
@NicksTurners
@SkulkTheHulking
@NycPodFest 

Math The Band
Get Real
38:30

If Andrew W.K and a Super NES hooked up and had a baby, thats the best way for me to describe Math The Band. The two some from Providence, Rhode Island have come back strong with their first new album in three years “Get Real”. Having released one of my favorite album’s with their previous effort Don’t Worry (It was so awesome it caused me to get my one and only speeding ticket), this album had a lot to live up to. And while its not better then Don’t Worry, this album is just as good for different reasons, it is simply pure high energy from start to finish. Kevin Steinhauser’s guitar rips, Justine Mainville pounds the drum and together the whole thing sounds like a custom Super Mario level soundtrack. At a tight 39 minutes all 16 tracks blaze hard and fast and never let you go. If there is a through theme to the album it seems to be growing up, partying, dying and horses (a theme found on their last album in the song Tour De Friends). This is just the kind of album you want to pump up before heading out to a party or to get you pumped on the treadmill, or heck its the perfect soundtrack for a treadmill party! It is certainly not a bad way to spend eight dollars. The thing that keeps me from giving this a higher score is the fact that before hearing these songs in there album form I had heard a majority of them live several times. I have always thought that Math The Band translates so much better live, surrounded by a bunch of screaming and moshing fans with the music really loud. I can only hope that they considering doing a live album at some point in the future as they are hands down one of the best live acts in the nation.

4/5

Recommended Tracks: Brand New Physics, Four To Six, I Hope You Die, Bad Jokes, Mission Statement.

iTunes Link

Here is another review of a film we saw at this years Friars Club Comedy Film Festival, keep an eye open for more reviews and a photo gallery in the coming days.

Red Flag
USA, 2012
Director & Writer: Alex Karpovsky 
Alex Karpovsky, Jennifer Prediger, Onur Tukel, Caroline White  
83 minutes 

Pretentious, predictable and unfunny. Red Flag might be one of the worst films of the year.

Red Flag is about Alex (Alex Karpovsky playing a loose version of himself) a director who ends a five year relationship with his girlfriend Rachel (Caroline White), just before embarking on a road trip for his new film, a nature mockumentary Woodpecker. On his journey he picks up a groupie named River (Jennifer Prediger) and is joined by his illustrator friend Henry (Onur Tukel). Along the way Alex tries to figure out if he can salvage his relationship or if he is doomed to be alone.

What you end up with is a headache of a film that for a comedy is really not funny, every twist is cliche and seen miles ahead. In addition it was shot “guerrilla style” with the results being that it looks very cheap and some times embarrassing (a scene set in Louisiana is clearly JFK airport). Karpovsky tries to be a voice of his generation with this film trying to say some big things about life and love, but ultimately just comes off as pretentious, especially with a really unnecessary plot point involving a suicide attempt. 

The only thing that keeps us from giving this film a 0 is the performance of Onur Tukel. As Henry, a quiet not all there friend of Alex, he is the only shinning spot of the film and is the only one whose performance is consistently humorous, but its sadly not enough to save this time drain of a film. 

This is the type of movie that hipsters and film snobs will love, but as for the rest of us, let this review serve as a Red Flag to stay far far away. 

0.5/5

The next edition of the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival takes place in NYC in April 2013, click HERE for more info

Here is the first of numerous reviews of films we saw at this years Friars Club Comedy Film Festival, keep an eye open for more reviews and a photo gallery in the coming days.

Mon Ami
Canada, 2012 
Director & Writer: Rob Grant
Mike Kovac, Scott Wallis, Bradley Duffy, Chelsey Reist, John Fitzgerald, Teagan Vincze
95 Minutes

        Two lifelong friends decide to kidnap their boss’s daughter. That is the very deceptive premise of the buddy-comedy Mon Ami. What you really end up with is a terrifically entertaining thriller wrapped up in a kidnapping comedy.

Teddy (Mike Kovac) and Callum (Scott Wallis) are lifelong friends who both work at Hal’s Hardware. When their boss (played with intensity by Len Harvey) decides to retire and passes them over for a promotion in favor of his lunkhead sons (John Fitzgerald & Justin Sproule), they plan to get revenge by kidnapping his daughter Crystal (Chelsey Reist) to complete a get rich quick scheme, and then absolutely everything goes wrong and the results are an extremely high body count.

The movie has a difficult balancing act to accomplish, it’s both a very hilarious comedy and a terribly unsettling thriller that takes a very dark turn about 20 minutes in and never looks back. One moment the guys are fighting about Teddy’s spouse, the next they are hacking apart a body with a soundtrack of classical music with blood and body parts flying. It has some of the most unsettling imagery of any recent film while overall having the feel of a looney tunes short.

Kovac and Wallis have great chemistry as the lifelong friends way over there heads. Teagan Vincze gives a great performance late in the film as Teddys much discussed and frequently interrupting spouse Liz and is the payoff to a joke built up over almost an hour.

Where the movie really scores though is the fact that it was made for only 14,000 dollars. Considering the amount of blood shed (and a good head shot or two) this movie is a triumph of Indie film making and director Rob Grant should be commended for his work.  

However the only issue we have that keep’s us from giving it a perfect score is some over kinetic editing issues in the first 15 minutes (which could easily be fixed with a re-edit), and the slight over use of slow motion shots. Over looking these small flaws this film is hands down one of the best movies we have seen this year. A small distribution company like Magnet or Drafthouse would be really smart to snatch it up as this is a no-brainer hit in the making.

4.5/5 

To see when Mon Ami will be playing in your area click here

The next edition of the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival takes place in NYC in April 2013, click here for more info.