this week in theater

MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE AND BIG BALLOON BLOW-UP

Hello Kitty will fly into New York City this week, making her Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade debut

77th St. & Central Park West to 34th St. & Seventh Ave.
Thursday, November 22, free, 9:00 am – 12 noon
212-494-4495
www.macys.com

In 1924, a bunch of Macy’s employees joined forces and held the first Macy’s Christmas Parade, as it was then known. This year Macy’s celebrates the eighty-sixth edition of this beloved American event. (For those of you going crazy trying to figure out how 1924 to 2012 makes 86, the parade was canceled from 1942 through 1944 because of World War II.) The 2012 lineup features such new giant balloons as Hello Kitty, Papa Smurf, and Elf on the Shelf and such new floats as Sprout, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Gibson’s Music Is Our Life, and 75 Years of March Madness alongside such returning favorites as Kermit the Frog, Spider-Man, Julius, the Kool-Aid Man, Uncle Sam, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Snoopy’s Dog House, and Big Man Santa, all making their way through a new route that will take the parade down Sixth Ave. from Central Park South to Herald Square. Among the Broadway shows that will present lip-synching floats are Annie, Bring It On, Cinderella, Elf, and Nice Work if You Can Get It in addition to live performances by Carly Rae Jepsen, Flo Rida, the Wanted, Karmin, Neon Trees, Cody Simpson, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots, Jennette McCurdy, Chris Isaak, and Don McLean. Other special guests include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Whoopi Goldberg, Geoffrey Zakarian, Colbie Caillat, Mannheim Steamroller, Trace Adkins, Miss USA Olivia Culpo, and Olympic gold medalists Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber. The parade will feature 11 marching bands, 16 giant balloons, 28 floats, 19 novelty balloonicles, 20 marching bands and cheerleading groups, 30 clown troupes, and more.

To get a start on the parade, head on over to Central Park West and Columbus Ave. between 77th & 81st Sts. the day before, November 21, from approximately 3:00 to 10:00 to check out the Big Balloon Blow-up. Watching the annual inflation-eve blow-up of Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons is a growing tradition, with crowds getting bigger and bigger every year, but it’s still a thrill to see the giant characters raised from the ground, reborn every Thanksgiving to march in a parade viewed by millions and millions of people around the world. (For further information, you can get the official parade app here.)

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAN

Four imprisoned Yiddishists contemplate their fate in gripping new play by Nathan Englander (photo by Joan Marcus)

Anspacher Theater at the Public Theater
425 Lafayette St. below Astor Pl.
Extended through December 16, $75-$85 ($35 if you use the promotion code “friend”)
212-967-7555
www.publictheater.org

Inspired by actual events, Nathan Englander’s The Twenty-Seventh Man is a powerful, Kafka-esque drama about totalitarianism, freedom of speech, and the impending death of Yiddish literature. Expanded from his short story in the 1999 collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, the gripping one-act play is set in 1952 in a dank Soviet cell where Moishe Bretzky (Daniel Oreskes), Yevgeny Zunser (Ron Rifkin), and Vasily Korinsky (Chip Zien) have been imprisoned. Three of the seminal Yiddish writers of their time, Bretzky the poet is a big bear of a man, Zunser the novelist is a quiet, humble thinker, and Korinsky is a brash shill for the state who is certain an error has been made and that Joseph Stalin himself will free him. The three men are soon joined by a mysterious boy named Pinchas Pelovits (Noah Robbins), the twenty-seventh man arrested. Pelovits seems to know a lot about the other writers, but they have no idea who he is or why he is part of this elite, endangered group of Yiddishists. As the four men explore literature, politics, and Jewish identity under Stalin’s brutal regime, Korinsky demands to see the agent in charge (Byron Jennings) despite the guard’s (Happy Anderson) physical threats and own fears. Directed by Public Theater Shakespeare veteran Barry Edelstein, The Twenty-Seventh Man is superbly acted, each man bringing unique qualities to their very different roles. Michael McGarty’s set of hardened steel is claustrophobic despite being open on three sides, as if the possibility of freedom is within the victims’ grasp. Englander’s (The Ministry of Special Cases) skillful, incisive dialogue is a wonder of economy, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats while avoiding becoming pedantic or overly sentimental, proving him to be as adept a playwright as he is a novelist and short story writer.

SCANDALOUS: THE LIFE AND TRIALS OF AIMEE SEMPLE McPHERSON

Carolee Carmello desperately tries to save new musical by Kathie Lee Gifford (photo by Jeremy Daniel)

Neil Simon Theater
250 West 52nd St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tuesday – Sunday through March 31 [new closing date: December 9], $35-$140
www.scandalousonbroadway.com

“Aimee Semple McPherson is a liar and a fake,” declares Asa Keyes (Benjamin Howes) at the beginning of the new Broadway musical Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson. In response, Emma Jo Schaeffer (Roz Ryan) proclaims, “Sister Aimee saved my life.” The two statements set up the unusual dichotomy that was McPherson, an enigmatic Pentecostal evangelist who was a female radio pioneer and the leader of the popular Angelus Temple in Los Angeles but might best be remembered for her mysterious disappearance at the height of her career. It took ten years for Kathie Lee Gifford — who wrote the book and lyrics, along with additional music — to bring Scandalous to Broadway, but now that it’s here, at the Neil Simon Theatre, it’s likely to follow in its subject’s footsteps and disappear, although not nearly as mysteriously. Two-time Tony nominee Carolee Carmello (Parade, Lestat) is very good as McPherson, spreading the word from high atop a blindingly white pulpit, but Gifford and composers David Pomeranz (who worked with Kathie Lee on her first show, Under the Bridge) and Disney veteran David Friedman make the proceedings feel more like an Up with People concert than a Broadway musical. David Armstrong’s direction is tiresome and repetitive, Lorin Latarro’s (American Idiot) choreography is nearly nonexistent (when it’s not head-scratchingly obvious), and two-time Tony winner George Hearn (Sunset Boulevard, La Cage aux Folles) is sadly, drastically underused. And it’s rarely a good sign when the Playbill includes a slipped-in loose sheet of the musical numbers that reveals that several songs in the second act have been axed. Today show cohost Gifford, whose husband, Frank, went to McPherson’s Foursquare Church when he was a child, spends too much time putting McPherson, and faith in general, up on a pedestal, essentially preaching herself, only without the edge that McPherson seemed to have. “Was she a true woman of God? Or just one helluva woman?” Louella Parsons (Elizabeth Ward Land) asks near the end of the show. Don’t expect to find out — or care — in the trivial Scandalous. [ed. note: On December 4, it was announced that the show would close on December 9, after thirty-one previews and twenty-nine regular performances.]

TICKET GIVEAWAY: INNER VOICES

INNER VOICES consists of three poignant musical monologues featuring Hunter Foster, Alexandra Silber, and Arielle Jacobs

INNER VOICES: A MUSIC THEATER TRILOGY IN 90 MINUTES
30th Street Theater
259 West 30th St.
Through December 2, $20-$30
212-868-4444
www.premieresnyc.org
www.urbanstages.org

Billed as “Intimate explorations of courage, loss, and acceptance,” Inner Voices is a three-part musical theater journey featuring three poignant solo musical monologues. In Arlington, Alexandra Silber (Carousel, Master Class) plays a woman waiting for her husband to return home from war; the piece is directed by Jack Cummings III, with book and lyrics by Victor Lodato, music by Polly Pen, and music direction by Kenneth Gartman. In Nilo Cruz (book and lyrics) and Jim Bauer’s (music) Farhad or The Secret of Being, Arielle Jacobs (In the Heights) portrays a girl who was raised as a boy in Afghanistan and is now poised to become a girl again. And in Martin Moran (book and lyrics) and Joseph Thalken’s (music) Borrowed Dust, directed by Jonathan Butterell and with music direction by Paul Masse, Tony nominee Hunter Foster (Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors) goes back to his childhood home following the death of his younger brother.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: Inner Voices is running at the 30th St. Theater through December 2, and twi-ny has four pairs of tickets to give away for free. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time-favorite one-person musical show to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, November 19, at 3:00 to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random.

TWI-NY TALK: ALICIA JO RABINS

Alicia Jo Rabins explores her personal fascination with the Bernie Madoff scandal in enticing one-woman show at Joe’s Pub (photo by Aaron Hartman)

A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF
Joe’s Pub
425 Lafayette St. by Astor Pl.
Thursday, November 15, $15-$20, 7:00 pm
212-539-8778
www.aliciajo.com
www.joespub.com

On November 8 at Joe’s Pub, multidisciplinary artist and Torah scholar Alicia Jo Rabins presented the world premiere of her one-woman show, the vastly entertaining A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff. After reading about Madoff when his Ponzi scheme fell apart and made all the papers in December 2008, Rabins became obsessed with the man and his story, spending the next several years poring over seventeen books about the case and meeting with people directly and indirectly impacted by the scandal. In the show, Rabins, backed by cellist and musical director Colette Alexander, percussionist David Freeman, and guitarist Lily Maase, sings, plays the violin, and shares personal anecdotes in a warm, involving, and funny way. She incorporates Buddhist sutra, an actual apology letter written by Madoff, and a Jewish prayer into the proceedings as she examines the situation from the points of view of an FBI agent, a credit-risk officer, a whistleblower, a happy investor, a therapist, a lawyer, and a monk. As she prepared for the second performance, taking place November 15, Rabins corresponded with twi-ny about mysticism, money, Madoff, her marriage to musical partner Aaron Hartman, and more.

twi-ny: The role of belief in things unseen (and often dimly understood) plays a large part in both finance and religion. Did you find anything in your background in Jewish studies useful as you explored the financial world and this story? What do you think it ultimately was that led to your fascination with Bernie Madoff?

Alicia Jo Rabins: I was fascinated to find that, as you said, there is this overlap between the bewilderment and allure of esoteric mysticism and esoteric finance. They both traffic in ultimate intangibles — the idea of energy and the idea of money. But more simply, I was fascinated by the simplicity of Madoff’s scheme, the fact that it wasn’t a complicated series of equations no one could have seen through but a simple lie that the SEC could have easily stopped at any point if they had checked to see if his hedge fund had ever actually executed any of the trades their records described. So it seemed to me that the whole story was more about the financial world’s desire to believe in Madoff than Madoff’s desire to deceive.

Alicia Jo Rabins will be back at Joe’s Pub on November 15 for an encore performance of A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF (photo by Jason Falchook)

twi-ny: Regarding that desire to deceive, in the show you explore whether Madoff is a villain or just someone who got caught up in a situation that spiraled out of control. What do you think is the truth?

Alicia Jo Rabins: I think the gray area between those two is the interesting part of the story. That, plus the shared responsibility of those who should have known better but didn’t (I’m not talking about ordinary investors but about fund managers, financial advisers, the SEC, and huge banks), and why exactly no one stopped him for decades, is the area this piece explores. I suppose the piece itself, with all its contradictory viewpoints, is my answer to that question!

twi-ny: The opening performance produced a rousing ovation, and you will be performing it again at Joe’s Pub on November 15. How do you think the first show went?

Alicia Jo Rabins: I loved performing that first show — it felt incredible, and somewhat surreal, to be in a room with an audience after two years of working on this piece!

twi-ny: What are the future plans for it? It deserves to be seen by a lot more people!

Alicia Jo Rabins: Well — thanks! I’m already talking to a few producers about bringing the show out west and to Europe, in both museums and theaters — so I feel like the production will have a touring life, which would be wonderful.

twi-ny: Over the last four years, in addition to your Madoff obsession, you’ve gotten married, had a child, and released a pair of Girls in Trouble records. Has it been hard balancing all of these elements?

Alicia Jo Rabins: Oh yes, the balance is a constant struggle, and if it weren’t for my friends, my families, and Aaron’s unflagging support, there’s no way I’d be able to do all this. (And many days I can’t.)

twi-ny: What does Aaron think of your Madoff fixation?

Alicia Jo Rabins: I’ll have to ask him and get back to you. I can say that he did find it quite amusing that at one point our bookshelf had a full shelf of pregnancy and childbirth books, above a full shelf of my Torah teaching books, above a full shelf of books about Bernie Madoff.

THE HEIRESS

Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens make their Broadway debuts as Catherine and Morris in THE HEIRESS (photo by Joan Marcus)

Walter Kerr Theatre
219 West 48th St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Through February 10, $50 – $225
www.theheiressonbroadway.com

A star vehicle onstage and on the silver screen, Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s The Heiress, an adaptation of Henry James’s slim 1880 novel Washington Square, is set in 1850 New York City, where prominent society member Dr. Austin Sloper lives with his daughter, Catherine, a shy, awkward plain Jane he blames for the death of his beloved wife, who died in childbirth. Dr. Sloper asks his wife’s sister, Lavinia, to help Catherine break out of her shell, but he worries when a poor suitor named Morris Townsend comes calling, concerned that he’s really after his daughter’s rather substantial financial future. Over the years, the potent period drama has been performed by several all-star casts, with Wendy Hiller, Jane Alexander, Tony winner Cherry Jones, and Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland as Catherine, Basil Rathbone, Richard Kiley, Philip Bosco, and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper, Peter Cookson, David Selby, Jon Tenney, and Montgomery Clift as Morris, and Patricia Collinge, Jan Miner, Tony winner Frances Sternhagen, and Miriam Hopkins as Aunt Lavinia.

Judith Ivey (right) steals the show in new production of THE HEIRESS starring Jessica Chastain (photo by Joan Marcus)

The latest incarnation, directed by Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project, 33 Variations), ends up being a mixed bag, with another big-time cast led by Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, The Help) making her Broadway debut as Catherine, Oscar nominee David Strathairn (Goodnight, and Good Luck.) as her father, Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) in his Broadway debut as Morris, and multiple Tony winner Judith Ivey stealing the show as Lavinia. Taking place on a lush, elegant set by Derek McLane, the play is overly long at two hours and forty-five minutes with intermission, and Chastain’s portrayal of the mousey Catherine, who prefers to embroider rather than go out on the town, is somewhat dry and flat until it finally picks up steam late in the second act, when she finally decides to take action for herself. Strathairn is excellent as Dr. Sloper, a straightforward man who speaks candidly of his disappointment in Catherine, continually crushing her spirit. Stevens is solid as Morris, who professes his love for Catherine even after walking out on her, although the chemistry between Chastain and him never quite ignites. The play is most alive when Ivey is onstage, chattering away as Lavinia, her every movement and vocal twist a work of art, wearing fabulous black dresses that complement her niece’s more colorful gowns. All these years later, The Heiress is showing its age, but this new version still contains just enough memorable moments to make it worth revisiting.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: 5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE

Fringe winner 5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE is a tasty treat at the SoHo Playhouse (photo by Christina Stradone)

5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE
SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam St.
Saturday – Tuesday through January 6, $40-$50
www.5lesbianseatingaquiche.com
www.sohoplayhouse.com

In the 1983 thriller 10 to Midnight, tough guy Charles Bronson plays a cop who grabs a slice of quiche in a hospital cafeteria. When his daughter asks him about it, he angrily says, “I thought it was pie!” There’s no telling what the Death Wish star would think of the New Colony’s 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, which is currently satisfying audiences at the SoHo Playhouse. One of the winners of Best Overall Production at this summer’s New York International Fringe Festival, the show, written by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, follows the madcap adventures of members of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein in 1956 as they prepare for their annual quiche breakfast but also have to deal with the cold war, as a communist nuclear strike might be on its way. “New York’s theatrical elite hoped this show would never see the light of day, but after the amazing response it received at the Fringe they had no luck trying to stick their finger in the dyke,” SoHo Playhouse artistic director Darren Lee Cole said when announcing the limited engagement. The playful show stars Caitlin Chuckta, Rachel Farmer, Megan Johns, Thea Lux, and Maari Suorsa as the hungry title characters.

TICKET GIVEAWAY: The run of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche has been extended to January 6, and twi-ny has four pairs of tickets to give away for free. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and all-time favorite quiche flavor to contest@twi-ny.com by Monday, November 12, at 3:00 to be eligible. All entrants must be twenty-one years of age or older; four winners will be selected at random. In addition, twenty free tickets are being given away every night to those displaced by Hurricane Sandy; just provide proof of identification that includes your ZIP code and use the code word “Sandy.”