the craptacular

Strap on in, dear readers. The Tony noms have been announced. From here on out it’s a grip-and-grin, luncheon attending, sobbing-interview-filled race to June 9th. But first. Heres our take on what made us happy, what made us frown, and what came out of nowhere. First, The Good…

Tom Sturridge for Orphans
After his jackassery with Pat Healey in that Times interview, we were primed to hate Tom Sturridge. Until he started acting. And by the end of the show, Sturridge and his intelligent, nuanced, fully-realized performance had totally usurped Tracy Letts as our favorite performance of the season. Which is a thing we never thought we’d say. Still, in a category stacked with Hollywood stars and big performances, it was easy to see how Sturridge’s performance could be overlooked yesterday morning. To say we were stoked to see the Nominators remembered Tom’s performance, too, is an understatement. Like. We maybe shouted some obscenities when we heard his name. All in joy, of course.

Pasek and Paul’s Best Score
It’s been a tough year for new musicals on Broadway. The best evidence of that fact? Our favorite new musicals of the 2012-13 season were basically all off-Broadway. One of them was young composing duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s gem Dogfight. Consequently, seeing Pasek and Paul nominated for a Tony for their work on another, higher profile production–A Christmas Story: The Musical–was pretty damn exciting. Their work gives us hope for the future of musical theater, and this nomination feels like the universe is feeling that hope, too. We dig it.

Pippin for 10 Things
This fall, between the badness of shows like Chaplin and Scandalous, and the mounds of insufferable children in Annie, we almost gave up on musical theater entirely. We felt listless and unmoored in a vast sea of existential dread. And then, in January, we went to Boston and saw Pippin at the ART and just like that, we believed in musical theater again. Needless to say, we were happy to see Pippin score 10 much-deserved noms this morning. Sure. We wish Rachel Bay Jones had snagged an 11th nomination. But to see Terrence Mann’s gleeful turn as Charlemagne, Patina Miller’s razor-sharp Leading Player and Andrea Martin’s show-stopping, performing-the-best-number-on-Broadway Berthe honored–not to mention all the work of the creative team–that’s more than a fair start.

Keith Carradine & Keala Settle Carry the Hardbody Banner
Hands on a Hardbody was a strange, well-intentioned, not-entirely-craptastic experiment in how far you can take one small idea. Its failure was noble, and almost admirable in a universe where most Broadway shows are created specifically for the enjoyment of hyperactive nine year olds. So we were happy to see Keith Carradine, that’s Mr. Will Rogers to you, and the lovely — LOVELY — Keala Settle, get nods for their good work. Settle in particular owned Hardbody, and was the source of much of its heart. Andrea Martin will be tough to beat, but we’ll be happy to see first-time nominee Keala on the carpet come Tony night.

Will Chase
It was the perfect role for the perfect actor in the perfect moment. After years of playing second-fiddle in replacement casts and starring in outright bombs (Oh yeah, we remember High Fidelity…), Will Chase, at the age of 42, has done what everyone expected him to do a decade ago. He has finally fucking arrived. Worth the wait? Oh hell yes, to see him play the most utterly delightful, literally mustache-twirling John Jasper in Drood. Who knew that Broadway’s consummate straight-laced leading man just needed one chance to play… well… a total ham? With Terrence Mann gunning for his first win after four nominations, Will has some competition. But in our hearts, this is his to lose.

Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike & All Those Other People
Christopher Durang’s stylized riff on Chekov gives its actors plenty of room to stretch out and get comfortable. (And in the case of Billy Magnussen, we mean that literally.) Its roomy monologues and crackly interplay basically guarantee its talented cast a swath of awards season nominations, and well… here they are. With four of the show’s six actors up for Tonys — including the awesome Shalita Grant, who plays the family’s housemaid and resident oracle, and the forever blissfully shirtless Magnussen — we’re figuring at least one of them will win.

Matthew Warchus v Diane Paulus for Director of a Musical
Other awards nominations may not be a great guide for what to expect from the Tony noms, but we were still shocked to see Warchus get the snub for his work on Matlida in places like the Outer Critics Circle. The man won himself an Olivier, after all. So we were happy to see him appear on the list of Tony Nominees. But now, he’s up against Diane Paulus, twice nominated female director of our hearts, who also happens to be directing our favorite Broadway musical of the season. While we think this is an awesome Battle Royale for the Best Director Prize, we’re also kind of like… we hope you lose, Warchus. No matter how much we want to shag you. Because Diane Paulus never steers us wrong. She’s our girl. And she’s been nominated 3 times in the last 5 years. We want 2013 to be her year.

 

 

Deep breath, everyone. The day has arrived. Follow the link below to catch the action live. And make sure you’re sitting down because there are always surprises…

Launch the 2013 Tony Awards Live Video Console!

You guys, there’s only 45 days until the 2013 Tony Awards. 45 days! And only five days until the nominees are announced! And while the rulings are all in for eligibility, and we’ve starting picking our leading contenders for nominations, the folks behind the Tony Awards have yet to announce a host for Broadway’s biggest night. So attention the American Theater Wing, the Broadway League, CBS executives, or whomever the fuck picks the host: these are the hosts we dream of seeing on June 9:

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Probably the best-bet and safest all-around choice here. Jesse Tyler Ferguson has all the makings of a perfect Tony-host. Broadway vet? Check! Starring in a popular sitcom (albeit another network)? Check! In-town for a few weeks with something to promote? Check! And contrary to what those Annie posters might say, he’s America’s favorite redhead. Plus, after his participation in last-year’s excellent Tony opener, he’s proven he can handle the whole big performance number thing. With his ties to the community, think of the bits he could pull with some of theater’s best (we’re looking at you, Benanti and Miranda). We’re also pretty sure he’s seen everything in the past few weeks (thanks Twitter!). He’d be a pretty great pick. Think of the bowties, people!

Melissa McCarthy

We know CBS might want to push one of their own network stars on us. And sure, if it was next year and they were thinking Bad Teacher’s Ari Graynor, then we’d be totally okay with that. But CBS doesn’t really have any good contenders right now. Sure, Jim Parsons would probably be the most logical choice. He’s eligible for a nomination this year for Harvey, after all. But we’re guessing he won’t be nominated, and therefore won’t want to host. So who’s left?  Kaley Cuoco’s hosted 100 People’s Choice Awards in the past? LL Cool J hosted The Grammys last year? That girl from 2 Broke Girls wasn’t awful in that Marvin Hamlisch tribute this year? But shit, none of them would actually be good.

Unless CBS did something bold, and threw the hosting to Mike and Molly star Melissa McCarthy. Sure, she may have nothing to do with Broadway. But she’s funny as hell, and judging by her perfect SNL hosting gigs and that ah-mazing 2011 Emmy bit, she can handle live TV. Think of how great it would be to have someone from outside look in on our community and find the fun in it? She could bring a whole new audience to the show and actually give these shows the national attention they deserve! Plus, she’s got a movie coming out at the end of June and it could be good practice for her hosting the Emmys one day, so there’s something in it for her, too!

Alec Baldwin and Shia LeBeouf

Things might not have worked out so well for Alec Baldwin and Shia LeBeouf at Orphans rehearsals. But despite tweeting out a handful of their personal emails, and ranting about it to Letterman, LeBeouf has said that the two are cool. He even went to the first preview! So, if the two could put aside their “tensions as men,” they could probably make it through the Tonys hosting gig. Let’s be honest, they both could use the positive press. And judging by his 2010 Oscar co-host gig with Steve Martin, Alec is very comfortable sharing the stage with someone else. Can’t you picture them doing a cute little soft shoe hat and cane number? Maybe to Godspell’s “All for the Best?” And then at the end of the number, they put up a picture of Ben Foster and sing “YES IT’S ALLL FOOOR THE BEEEST.” The show writes itself, people!  

Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan

Keeping with the co-host theme, how ‘bout Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan? She’s coming off of the hit Pitch Perfect. He’s coming off the not-so-hit SMASH, season 2. Together, they’re about to start production on The Last Five Years film. Let’s put them up in front of a Tony audience and see how the sparks fly, huh? Plus, it’ll give Jordan a chance to sing “Broadway Here I Come” live. And Anna can do her “Ladies Who Lunch” from Camp. HOW WOULD YOU NOT WATCH THIS!??

Elaine Stritch

Speaking of “Ladies Who Lunch,” how ‘bout Elaine Stritch? She’s got that documentary coming out. It could be the last stop on her “Farewell NYC Tour of 2013!”

Tom Hanks

Okay. Sometimes when you dream, you have to dream big. For years, Tom’s name has been thrown around as a dream Oscars host. Wouldn’t it be a coup if the Tonys got him instead? They could do it too, if they spun it the right way.  “Listen Tom, it’d be a no pressure gig for you. They’re expecting a big song-and-dance opening number from you, so we’ll give that away to someone else, like a reunited Bette Midler and Barry Manilow. All we need from you is a few Broadway jokes about having a cold and doing 8 shows a week and you’ll be golden. We’ll even throw in the Best Actor in a Play Tony for Lucky Guy. What do you say?”

Neil Patrick Harris

Let’s just be honest here – no one’s been a better Tony host than Neil Patrick Harris. Except for maybe Hugh Jackman. But he’s filming the new X-Men movie. Come back, NPH!

 

The truth is, I judge Frank Wildhorn on a completely different scale than just about anything else. Well, besides maybe a Michael Bay flick, I suppose. Because, let’s be real here, Sondheimian quality is just not the reason anyone has ever loved Frank Wildhorn. When you love Wildhorn–and it is possible to do so and still have taste–you love his bravado and bluster in all its cheesy glory. You love the epic sweep and actual craptacularity–our favorite combination of awfulness and dialed-up-to-11 bombast–of his shows for all their giggle-inducing glee.

In other words, when you love Frank Wildhorn, it’s because his work has transcended its own inherent badness to become good. To become fun. And when you hate Frank Wildhorn, it’s because his work has not transcended its own inherent badness and it does not make you giggle. It’s just boring.

The latter of which is, unfortunately, the category that the current revival of Jekyll & Hyde–now open at the Marquis Theater–falls into more often than not. Which is a damn shame. Because Jekyll & Hyde, properly directed, can ascend to such dizzying heights of horribleness as to become completely glorious. I mean. There’s a whole song called “This is the Moment.” Because duh, this is the moment. This is also the moment. And so is this.

At times, this production is truly craptacular. This particularly true in the first act, but also in the famous 11 o’clock number “Confrontation,” where everything is on fire, but there’s no actual fire, just images of explosive fire on video screens while two Constantine Maroulises duke it out for superiority inside one body (you guys!). But I digress. And I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I laughed out loud in craptacularity-induced joy several times throughout the show. Like when Jekyll sings about seeing things “sparkle and shine” as the stage is flooded with fog. Or in any of the 600 moments when Hyde rips the scrunchie out of his Jekyll ponytail and chucks it across the stage while tossing his hair harder than a drunk, horny sorority girl on the dance floor at Sigma Nu. There were even moments where the Frank Wildhorn Ballads of Power were absolutely thrilling, though mostly that was because Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox can sing their damn faces off–and melt yours, too–and sometimes director Jeff Calhoun was smart enough to leave them alone, center-stage, arms thrown open in a spotlight, belting as if their lives depended on it.

But then… there was the second act. Wherein I spent much of my time staring at the ceiling, trying to decide what that mirror up there was for and wishing I were having a root canal. The pace slows to a crawl while we do things like listen to Jekyll’s dull fiancée Emma–played by Teal Wicks–sing some boring love songs, occasionally in duet with Lucy the hooker (Deborah Cox) who is, by the by, being physically and sexually abused by Hyde. We’re even forced to sit through a song (“Dangerous Game”) wherein Lucy effectively sings about how she likes being abused and raped by Hyde, which is pretty awesome to hear in 2013, and I’m so glad Jeff Calhoun couldn’t find some way to cut it, or at least beg for new writing to reframe it.

Jekyll & Hyde is the kind of material that works best when it runs full speed ahead with its intrinsic insanity. When everything is over-acted, over-sung, and over-styled, belting you right in the face. Treated too seriously, the flaws in the material become evident, and unfortunately, Jeff Calhoun seems to have taken too much of the show far too seriously. Which sucks. Because Jekyll & Hyde could have been so much more fun.

 

Photo: Chris Bennion

Oh, Charlie Rosen. You know him. Late of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and One Man, Two Guvnors, Charlie has perfected the art of being a member of an onstage Broadway band. In his latest venture, though, the band in question is all Charlie’s. If you haven’t yet seen Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band, we invite you to take a gander. Especially because this band is kind of blowing up right now. After a couple of inaugural gigs at the Beechman and at 54 Below, the band now has a scheduled residence at the latter venue, beginning on May 24. And the first shows were doozies. Featuring folks like Santino Fontana, Laura Osnes, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Nick Blaemire, and Alyssha Umphress all singing along with Charlie’s massive, 47-piece (or something…) band, the sound was pretty large and in charge. And basically you couldn’t fit anything or anyone else on the stage — not even a very, very small child playing a kazoo. Here’s a little photo journal of how that first show, held on March 30 at 54 Below, turned out…

Act I: Sound Check

This is Pianist Steven Feifke, who is both exceptionally friendly and cute. He hit the stage first, while chairs were being set up for everyone else.

***

***

Here’s Alyssha Umphress singing like a rockstar — or in this case, a superstar vintage-y lady crooner. She checked her text messages during the band’s solos. Like a boss.

***

***

Just like the cue card says, this charming gal is Monet Julia Sabel, who also happens to be the Big Band’s resident lead vocalist. She’s also Charlie’s girlfriend, which is pretty cute. Our favorite moment of the sound check? When Monet subbed for Jay A. Johnson, who couldn’t make it because he had a matinee performance of Hands on a Hardbody. She sang Jay’s song, Sondheim’s “Another Hundred People,” in a decidedly manly key. If she ever wants to play Pippin or Marius on tour, we think she has a decent shot…

***

See the guitarist back there? You know, the smoldery one… um… holding the guitar? Our favorite thing about him, besides the fact that we have secret crushes on him and that we just wrote about it the internet? His name! It’s Italo Cuhna. Bellissimo!

***

If you think Hannah Elless looks good in her sound check gear, wait until you see the dress this girl has in store for the show. In fact, you won’t even have to wait that long. Keep scrolling…

***

Alyssha, Monet, and Hannah rehearse the show’s pièce de résistance — Charlie’s big-band arrangement of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” It must be heard to be believed. And heard. And heard. Because it’s that good.

***

Charlie’s proud mama was in from out of town to see the show. She spent the afternoon playing photographer, just like us. Only. You know, with a flashier camera.

 

Act II: Backstage

 

***

As soon as we got backstage, we heard the show’s producer shout, “Guys, get in here, Charlie is playing bass barefoot!” We went running….

And he indeed was.

***

Here, producer Max Freidman demonstrates his most important pre-show responsibility — delivering an espresso and a whiskey to Charlie Rosen. Simultaneously.

***

Monet has been waiting all day to show us her new kicks. We can understand why.

***

Et voila — the lovely Hannah Ellis in her liquid lightning bolt of a dress. No shoes just yet…

***

***

Nick Blaemire is surrounded and we doubt he minds.

***

***

Gifts for the boys. Also, Monet’s insanely beautiful clutch. Fun fact: It was designed by the costumers behind Boardwalk Empire.

***

Roses for the ladies, obviously. This is a classy affair.

***

Immediately before we snapped this shot, Nick was pacing circles in the main lounge area, going over his lyrics and singing under his breath.  It was kind of amazing.

***

 ***

In this photo at this very moment, Hannah Ellis is following us on Twitter.

***

Alyssha Umprhess looking fab, as per usual.

***

The girls asked us to take a shoe shot. Clearly, being the girls we are, we obliged. L-R, Hannah Ellis, Alyssha Umprhess, Monet Julia Sabel.

***

Jay A. Johnson and Alyssha Umphress have a moment.

***

Alyssha Umprhess, Monet Julia Sabel and Jay A. Johnson commiserate about how awesome they all are. Oh wait, sorry, that was what we were talking about. They were just probably talking about singing.  Or Alysha’s Louboutin’s.

***

Monet and Cinderella‘s Greg Hildreth pose. And smile.

***

Greg and Santino Fontana discuss what must clearly be serious matters, as evidenced by Greg’s deathgrip on that pillow.

***

This is why he’s playing Prince Charming, folks. Santino Fontana, ladies and gents. Santino Fontana…

***

Lovely Laura Osnes backstage, straight from the Broadway Theater where she’d just gotten offstage after playing Cinderella. How’d she get to 54 Below so fast? Not sure, but our bets are on a flying pumpkin with Victoria Clark in the jumpseat.

***

I sort of suspect that Greg Hildreth didn’t know that this photo was going to go on the internet.

***

 Act III: The Show

Check out more of our photos from Charlie’s gig on Playbill. These were shot by our trusty staff photog, Clay Mallory. He takes pictures on a camera that is not also a phone.

So, on the off chance that you didn’t already know, this Drew Gasparini guy has a new album coming out on April 23rd. “I Could Use a Drink” is chock full of musical theater tunes, and some of Drew’s show-less pop ditties as well.

Since we love the shit out of you guys we wanted to give you a sneak peek at a few of the songs that are about to be all up in your life. So we had Drew gather a bunch of his friends to film a concert for us. In his actual living room.

A few Sundays ago we piled into Drew’s apartment with his sister Kasie, Wicked’s F Michael Haynie, Spring Awakening’s Blake Daniel, Tim Ehrlich and his beautiful puppy Mila. Add the two of us, a cameraman, and his assistant, and you have a heck of a crowd. You also have this–The Craptacular Live… From Drew Gasparini’s Living Room.

And hey. Maybe if you guys are exceptionally well-behaved, we’ll make this a series.

Video: Clay Mallory

 

Fuck it all, Hands on a Hardbody, we hardly knew ‘ye. And tomorrow, 28 previews and 28 performances into your life on Broadway, you’re closing up shop.

We’re sorry to see you go. Because despite mixed reviews, and even our personal mixed feelings about the quality of your content, we admired you.

There was something honorable about the way you rolled into NYC and parked on the Great White Way, challenging the blockbuster-musical status-quo with your tightly focused story about average, every day Americans facing everyday problems. Besides, the fact that anyone was brave enough to attempt to musicalize this story–wherein people stand still with their hands on a truck for literal days on end–makes us want to walk through Times Square smooching strangers.

Because why should the whole world be subjected to musical after musical that panders to some outdated idea of what ‘Broadway’ should be? With tap-dancers and storytelling targeted to your grandmother and a musical language that is either horribly outdated, or horribly untethered to any kind of time or place in reality. Why do theaters continue to fill up with fare that takes no risks, is easy to take on tour, and sneaks into the Tony Awards on the merits of safety and comfort alone? Seriously. Nothing makes us angrier than artistic endeavors that venture nothing. (We’re looking at you Nice Work If You Can Get It, Memphis, and even, at times, Bonnie & Clyde.)

But Hardbody –no, you’re not one of those shows. You took a tricky concept–seriously, how do you make a show compelling when no one is moving?–and tried to reach a new audience in an authentic, modern musical language. Sure, you had some shortcomings. But for the gumption of your creative team and producers alone, we couldn’t stay mad at you for long and we’re sorry to see your run cut so short.

 

Photo: VanityFair.com

When you see a show at the Williamstown Theater Festival, the first thought that runs through your brain usually isn’t, “In three years, I’m going to be sitting down with the writer of this show talking about how it’s going to be staged at The Old Globe in California.”

Or maybe it is, I don’t know. But we did see The Last Goodbye in 2010 in Williamstown out of shear love for a couple of key things — Jeff Buckley and Shakespeare. The Last Goodbye, you see, is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set to Buckley’s songs — a kind of hybrid-y jukebox musical wherein the elements of music and story seem like an inevitable fit for each other. (Like they’ve been on a collision course across the generations! Huzzah!) Also, when we saw it, Nick Blaemire closed the show with “Hallelujah,” which never hurts anything.

This new production in California will be directed by Alex Timbers. That also never hurts anything, although the minor fact of him being a director and not an actor means that we only see him in Vanity Fair and at fancy parties where he immediately runs away from us. But that’s a whole other article, and we digress.

Michael Kimmel, because we don’t have an awesome picture of him on hand, which really is a shame, is bespectacled and wears ties and has a tattoo about his little daughter on his arm. He looks like a writer. And we did this interview with him on a couch at Smash studios in Midtown Manhattan immediately following the band rehearsal for a Joe’s Pub show that Kimmel directed for singer-songwriter/musical theater up-and-comer Zoe Sarnak. (Which was awesome, incidentally.) We were surrounded by drums. There was a mural on the wall. And a chandelier.

The Last Goodbye it turns out, has had three workshops in the last year. Kimmel is mum about casting for any of them — and for The Old Globe production — but we did manage to pry out of him that Wallace Smith played the Prince in at least one of them. He did say, however, that the show would undergo significant changes from its last major public production in Williamstown. For one thing, it may go back in time. The Williamstown production had Romeo and Juliet wandering around a reality that looked a lot like the grafitied Lower East Side in the early nineties — the time when Jeff Buckley was playing small club gigs there on his way to superstardom.

The Old Globe production will have a more traditional bent. “We were so trapped by a couple of things that a modern setting does when you’re doing Shakespeare,” said Kimmel. “When you’re going back to period, you’re bringing swords back into it, for example. Modern makes the world smaller.”

One of way of making the world bigger was to hire Kate Waters — nicnkame: Kombat Kate, which is appropriately badass — a fight director from the UK working on this side of the pond for the first time. The results, said Kimmel, made a huge difference. “More than anything, I hate bad stage choreography. And this was like, visceral and scary. To the point of like, ‘Please don’t come that close to me. Someone’s going to get cut.’ But that opening fight gave us an entirely new framework for the piece.”

The music, however, will keep at least part of the show’s sensibility anchored in modern times. Kimmel mentioned that Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert, a fierce protector of her late son’s legacy, has been closely involved with The Last Goodbye almost since its inception. The first version of the show that Guibert saw included Kimmel performing the spoken parts himself while a friend played Buckley’s songs on an iPod. She not only greenlighted the project; she still says its her favorite version. Guibert even followed the show to Williamstown, where she attended rehearsals and gave notes. One of her early suggestions was to change the placement of the song “Lilac Wine,” which was sung by Juliet right before she took the poison. Guibert suggested that he use “What Will You Say” instead — a song that she said made her think about identifying her son’s body. Her involvement will continue with this new production.

But as much as the sweep and passion of Buckley’s music seemed like a natural fit for Shakespeare, Kimmel shrugs off the notion that Buckley’s life seems Shakespearean unto itself, despite his incredible rise to fame, and his tragic drowning death at the age of 31. Kimmel spoke of meeting many of Buckley’s friends and acquaintances. “That’s not the impression that I ever get from them. I think there’s something in the media that wants to make a tragic story more tragic. They’re looking for a narrative. There’s this perception of him as this tragic person, but the first thing that everyone says about Jeff is that he was hysterically funny. And really, I think of Romeo and Juliet as a hysterically funny play. That’s why you care about them. To me, the balcony scene is about two people who have no idea what they’re doing, and they’re failing spectacularly.”

Enter Alex Timbers, who does the whole comedy thing, and the whole period-but-in-a-modern-idiom thing pretty well. (And also, jokes that go on for too long but are still awesome. Plus, he has nice hair.) After Williamstown, Kimmel took a step back from the piece and decided that the best way to approach the show would be with a collaborator. “So much of the early part of The Last Goodbye was just me by myself in a room with a laptop and an iPod, and that’s how the whole show started. But collaboration is king. Alex became a fresh pair of eyes.”

As for the most important thing — Kimmel’s favorite Jeff Buckley song — he’s torn. “It changes. ‘Lover You Should Have Come Over’ — It’s amazing. But ‘Forget Her’ is the song I sing in the shower. When Jeff is riffing at the end? That’s me.”

We all spend the vast majority of our lives being taught about history by old people. Or at least, people older than us. Sometimes, theater can feel the same way. Like everything is being written, directed, and mounted by people older than we are, and targeted at people older than us, too.

The coolest thing about Hit the Wall, a new play about the Stonewall Riots, now open at the Barrow Street Theater? You get the sense that you’re learning about this seminal moment in history–why it’s important, why it’s still relevant–from people your age. Young ones, just like the people who were there that very night in 1969. The language feels modern and  fresh, even while remaining true to the period. The characters are young and sharp and brightly drawn. You know these people. They are like you.

In Hit the Wall, history comes alive in an instantly relatable way, which may or may not be due to the fact that the playwright, Ike Holter is actually 27 years old. And director Eric Hoff doesn’t look much older than that. We learned this at an after-show talkback–the first in a series–where we had the chance to hear the cast interact with a man who was actually at the riots himself. The dialogue was amazing.

Which of course, leads us to the other cool thing about Hit the Wall. You know, besides the fact that it speaks directly to a new generation of theater goers and activists and feeling human beings. It’s awesome. And you should absolutely go see it.

Photo: Matt Murphy