Theatre in July Part 2: Mom comes to town

As promised, here is Theatre in July Part 2. When my mom came into town, I took advantage of her love of theatre and larger wallet to go see Hair and Ruined, which I'd been dying to see, as well as Niegel Smith's show because he is a director who's work I've been wanting to see for over a year now, and In The Heights, because my mom wanted to see it (it was my second time- and I think I enjoyed it even more!)

We Declare You a Terrorist
by Tim J. Lord, directed by Niegel Smith, presented as part of the SPF Festival at The Public Theater (in the Martinson)
I was certainly not disappointed in my high expectations of Niegel Smith's work. It was apparent before the show started- the audience entered across the stage, witnessing two of the characters in their separate worlds and taking their seats as members of the audience in the show. We then got to watch as the other 300 audience members entered, one by one, two by two. By the time the show started, we'd already seen a show.
The play itself was a fascinating examination of the Moscow theatre hostage crisis, and the fictional playwright who wrote the play for that evening's performance. Beautiful writing and theatricality supported by strong action and direction.
The weirdest thing about seeing that show when I did was seeing this article the following day (it happened three days before I saw the show).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/europe/27chechnya.html
It was just such a strange coincidence. 800 people in a theatre. Of course, the circumstances are much different, but it gave a very harsh reality to the conflict.

Ruined
by Lynn Nottage, presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center
This is my recap of Ruined, as stated in an essay I wrote shortly thereafter.

I tend to categorize shows I see into work that I could possibly be a part of as a director and work that I could not. This idea of “work that I could not be a part of” was epitomized when I went to see Ruined at Manhattan Theatre Club, because Kate Whoriskey’s vision was so stunning that even when it is produced on a large scale elsewhere, the new energy of the play lives in her production and cannot be repeated. In order to direct Ruined, I would have to entirely re-envision it for a different space and a different audience, and even so I would be influenced by Kate Whoriskey’s decisions because she was the directorial voice behind the play.

This play was amazing. I wish so badly that I could have been a part of this production somehow. The costumes, designed by my best friend's cousin Paul Tazewell, were amazing and should have won a Tony- if only MTC hadn't stupidly cut off the show's potential to go to Broadway. It seems silly to point out the individual parts of this show that were good, because it was all so good. Just thinking about it brings up a lump in my throat- I want to direct! I want to make amazing theatre happen! Thank you, Lynn Nottage and Kate Whoriskey, for providing me with such inspiration.

Hair
on Broadway at the Al Hirschfield Theatre
It's everything you want it to be. Everything. Added pluses were seeing Will Swenson playing Berger (I saw him two summers ago in 110 in the Shade in which he was phenomenal) and obviously Gavin Creel, who still stuns me because I saw him seven years ago in Thoroughly Modern Millie and he doesn't look a day older. In fact he looks younger. ALSO the guy who plays Woof- Bryce Ryness- looked and acted awesomely similar to Daniel Steinbock, who played Woof in Hair at Stanford and was in my production of Jazzing this Spring. So basically every time I saw Woof it made me really happy. :-)
Got to sit next to the high school theatre kid who'd seen the show three times (and he's from Massachusetts) all dressed up who knew the fastest way down to the stage from our seats- so I was one of the first 20 people onstage at the end- and without thinking about it I was wearing my ridiculously colorful long skirt so I felt quite appropriately dressed. Being on a Broadway stage... is just one of those things you can't pass up. It's amazing. Love. And Hair. And Manchester England.

In the Heights
on Broadway at the Richard Rogers Theatre
I saw the show back in April, but since I didn't write about it then I'll write about it now. It was a Sunday performance, so unsurprisingly several of the understudies were onstage. And they were all excellent. Fortunately, Robin De Jesús was still performing, because he steals the show hands down. Both the Nina and the Abuela Claudia, both understudies, were wonderful, better than the actors I saw in April. I absolutely loved Nina LaFarga because is down to earth and thoughtful and therefore actually seems like she could be a Stanford student- instead of an actress playing a Stanford student. Her voice is also beautiful.
For whatever reason, the dancing seemed a lot cleaner in this performance, and therefore I was much more excited about it. And this time I actually got to watch the final quarter of the show because there were no squirming, talking, M&M eating children in front of me! That made my experience 100x better- because I actually got to go with the show where it goes emotionally, instead of being annoyed by the fact that the slow songs meant more squirming children. Also, more wonderful costumes by Paul Tazewell.

And that's it for theatre in July! Phew! I can't believe I saw quite as much good theatre as I did. Can't remember the last time I saw a bad show. Isn't that amazing?