Reviewing in the Key of "CurtainUp"

In an effort to expand my horizons I submitted myself to CurtainUp.com as a freelance (and pro bono) reviewer. Which meant when I went to see Extinction (which I don't recommend), I had to review it in the style of CurtainUp. I like to think of it as writer's karaoke--and it's can be just as unpleasant!

For consideration: Joseph Samuel Wright's 2 cents on a show that's worth about as much.

"The things we do for money, huh?" In that line the author's voice speaks through the stock character Victoria—a small town girl trapped in a big city vice by financial desperation—and he sums up the message of his play without much subtly.

The Red Dog Squadron produced Extinction currently running at Cherry Lane Theatre is an exercise in the unsubtle. The play is SubUrbia twenty years later and in a hotel room with a bag of coke, prostitutes, and two tv stars playing best friends whom time has pulled apart. Flin and Max have spent twenty years partying and chasing women together, but now things are changing and both men's lives are catapulting them into adulthood and a realization of their own mortality.

Ironically, this script about struggling with maturity reads as juvenile. Extinction is filled by agons of philosophy, a forced escalation of tension, variable rates of time passage, an unsophisticated motif of financial need and obligation, and every tired stakes-heightening device available to keep the action moving forward.

Similarly the lighting was distractingly over-designed. It would rise and fall in level throughout scenes in what could be construed only as either an attempt to mirror the dynamic of the action or as a faulty dimmer. Halfway through the performance two side lights came up and reflected for the rest of their time on the wall of the set like a pair of headlights, although one is hesitant to assign such misplaced symbolism and rather attribute this flaw to a lack of communication between set and lighting designers.

Sets, however, were the redeeming element. The set was cool and sleek, well situated in the space, and featuring a great scrim mechanism that allowed the director to make beautiful pictures with dual scenes in two different rooms.

It's not that Extinction is bad or that one would regret seeing it (although it’s language and drug and sex content may be offensive to some audiences). The problem with Extinction is that it isn't particularly good. It's an assortment of pieces of other anxt-driven plays that is trying too hard to be meaningful. The time and effort producers invested in the script and the money you will shell out for a ticket can be better spent.

Extinction was written by Gabe McKinley and directed by Wayne Kasserman with lights by Mike Durst, set by Steven C. Kemp, and costumes by Gali Noy. The show features James Roday as Fin, Michael Weston as Max, Amanda Detmer as Misty, and Stefanie E. Frame as Victoria. Extinction is playing at the Cherry Lane Theatre at 38 Commerce Street through March 21st. It started performances on February 13 and opened on February 17, 2010. It was seen for review on Thursday, March 4, 2010. The show is approximately 100 minutes without an intermission and is performed Tuesdays at 7 and Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 with a 3 PM matinee on Sundays. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased through Telecharge: 212-239-6200. For more information on the show or the company visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.

Jack Daniels – What Maple Charcoal Can Do for You

Once Upon a time, I thought it would be a lot of fun to contribute to an online publication about alcohol. They apparently did not like what I sent them. Will you?

Jack Daniels – What Maple Charcoal Can Do for You

By Joseph Samuel Wright

At the family Christmas this year my grandma looked at my bottle of Jack Daniel’s and yelped, “Why’d ya bring THAT? That’s not bourbon!”

“Thanks, Grandma, I know. It’s Tennessee Whiskey!”

She’s from Kentucky; I’m from Tennessee. It’s an unconquerable alcoholic divide.

While Bourbon is associated with the state of Kentucky (approximately 95% of the world’s bourbons are still made there), it can actually be brewed anywhere so long as it meets style specifications. These dubious standards are not true of Tennessee Whiskey. In fact, Tennessee Whiskey is so special that at present there are only the labels Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel.

So what’s the difference ‘twixt the two drinks? Tennessee Whiskey undergoes the Lincoln County Process where the whiskey is filtered through maple charcoal giving it its distinctive (and delicious) flavor. Jack Daniels calls this “charcoal mellowing,” and if you ask me, that’s what makes it the best whiskey on the market.

I spent a solid month tasting various whiskeys trying to find my perfect one, and I was about ready to give up. Bourbons came up too dry. Irish Whiskey was too sweet. I was fixin' to call off the search when I gave in and got a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. Then I found heaven.

I had been resisting the Jack because it seemed too gimmicky for a Tennessean to drink the home brew, but I have found that Jack Daniel’s is the perfect sipping whiskey. The flavor is rich, with just the right hint of sweetness and a touch of smoke. Pour that libation over rocks and relax; you’re home.

I’m aware of the mixing options: Jack and Coke, which is a bastardization of something beautiful, or Jack and Ginger which is less awful but still unnecessary. To my mind and tongue, though, this is a whiskey that is already mixed to perfection. It needs no additives or complements. It is complete unto itself.

Jack Daniel’s reveals that their whiskey is slow-dripped by the drop through “ten feet of packed charcoal (made from hard sugar maple) before going into new charred oak barrels for aging.” It’s that tradition of dedication that makes Jack one of the best-selling beverages in liquor stores today. And even though it’s no sissy drink, Jack Daniels has no carbs, fats, or cholesterol, so it tastes great, looks cool, and won’t give you a beer gut. Is there anything this delicious down-home drink can’t do?

So forget about Woodford Reserve. Jack Daniel’s is the good stuff!

Pricing the Process

As an off off broadway theatre artists and producer, I never cease to be amazed by the price tags other producers put on their shows. This ongoing abhorrence came to a head when a friend of mine asked me to help him research an obscure independent production of a wonderful contemporary play. To protect the delusional, we'll just call the script in question "Car-teen Anxt."

From the beginning it was hard to find any information about this production of Car-teen Anxt. My friend had seen it billed on the side of the theatre that had been rented for the play, but we didn't know the production company behind it. So I started hitting the typical ticketing sites and finally found the show listed on SmartTix FOR TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. That's right, twenty-five bucks for a show playing to a 57-seat house. This alone sent me on a ten-minute tirade, but we had just started.

From SmartTix we were able to find the producer's name (there was no company). We also figured out that this vanity project--I mean workshop presentation--of Car-teen Anxt starred the producer. There is no website for Ima BigDiva presents Car-teen Anxt. But there is a facebook page. And that facebook page has production photos--lots of production photos. Which is interesting because there isn't any "production" to speak of. The set consists of a folding table and a piano that both clearly came with the space. There is no other furniture. A house party scene has been staged with everyone on the floor. It's the kind of shit-show I would love to see if it didn't cost an arm and a leg.

But seriously, of these things are well and good and fine. By all means, if you really want to work on a script, you should. And if you can't afford a set, do it workshop style. And a facebook page is a great way to convey information in lue of a website. What is not okay about all of this is charging $25 a seat for your acting-exercise, vanity-project, workshop production. So you had to pay for a theatre space and probably rehearsal space and the rights to the show? That does not mean your audience is obligated to reimburse you. An audience should never be asked to pay for more than what a production is worth with the exception of benefit performances, and even then it's best to price admission appropriately and rely on donated time and materials to maximize the proceeds.

I mean, $25? For six more I can get a TDF ticket to a Broadway show. And it will have a set--what a spectacle!

Furthermore, I think every off-off broadway producer needs to get the memo that $18 is the showcase code MAXIMUM. It does not set the bar for all "showcase-level" productions. It is not the standard by which you should price your non-eq presentation of you and your eight friends from college in twelfth night.

Remember, just because your theatre group is not-for-profit doesn't mean it's charity. It functions as a business--you are selling someone the product entertainment. (Or the product of art, but let's not kid ourselves, America.) You have to price your product accordingly and competitively--supply and demand.

For $6 I can catch a a movie at AMC before noon. For $12 I can go to that same movie at night. For $15 I can rush Off Broadway. For $20 I can HipTix a Roundabout show on Broadway. For $26.50 I can rush on Broadway or do a lottery. For $30 I can see a show at Playwrights or MTC. For $32.50 I can get a TDF ticket to a Broadway show. Look at all the ways I can spend my money that satisfy the same need as your show. Now, when I go to scale my off off broadway play--even assuming it has great production value--where do I fit it in to that stratification of pricing? There's a reason Banana Republic costs more than Old Navy.

I don't charge $25 for my shows. I don't charge $18. A ticket price is not set by how much a producer NEEDS patrons to pay; it's set by how much an audience member needs to pay.

You want to put up your show in New York and fulfill you're dream? You should! But you also need to accept the realities of that choice including the possibility that you will lose money. That's why non-profits court donors and apply for grants--because a bottom line is still a bottom line.