Address Unknown

"Address Unknown" at the George Street Playhouse last night. Thank goodness it was only 70 minutes and no intermission. Boring play, silly set, and horrible acting. I read the two men's bios before the show. They both have decent credits so it must be in the direction. It was painful watching them "act". Nothing natural, nothing exciting, nothing sad or riveting. Even when trying to change the emotional levels, it just came out as bad screaming and bad fake crying. So far there has only been one play worth seeing at the George Street Playhouse this season (out of 5). The rest have been very amateur. No season tickets for us next year.
And "David Saint" the artistic director. 3 columns of bio? No one cares, just makes him look pompous. No humility. Embarrassing.

In my CD player 3/17

Nanci Griffith - Brilliant. One of the great songwriter/singers of our generation.
Joni Mitchell - A compilation with commentaries I picked up at Starbucks. Nothing new, just a great mix of old and new. Bill still doesn't get it, but I keep working on him. She changed how I listen to music. She is one of my heroes.
James Taylor - October Road - Great sing-a-long in the car material. He still sounds so young. Each CD is better than the next.
Patti Griffin - Impossible Dream - The finest songwriter out there. Why does no one know her.
Counting Crows - The live "Storytellers" CD. Mr Duritz touches my heart. This version "Have you seen me lately" makes me cry.
Lyle Lovett - 18 years since "If I Had A Boat" registered on my radar. This man's catalogue is so profound, and deep and funny and smart.

Shockheaded Peter

Had dinner with my old friend Allen Hidalgo. He's been busy these past 20 years. Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Chicago, and now Desi Arnez in the new show Mambo Kings. It will be fun to watch the process from now until opening night.
Shockheaded Peter, I was so excited. Everything about it looked great. Maybe I missed something, but I looked at my watch about 10 times throughout the show. No intermission. It dragged and dragged and dragged and dragged. Everyone around me seemed to love it. Bill said "it has moments", John loved it. People were standing. I was having trouble staying awake. Who knows. I'm not tough to please, not a rough critic, but I was lost.

Spamalot

Last night, previews of Spamalot. It's always fun to see a show just days before it opens. Very good musical. Fun. Second Act was uneven. The stand-out performance, Sara Ramirez was wonderful. Stole the show. She should win a Tony. Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria are all terrific, but the parts can be played by any number of actors. I've heard that Hank Azaria is already scheduled to leave soon.
All the critics were there, John Simon, Ben Brantley, etc. Should be fun to read the reviews on Friday. Steve Buscemi was in the audience. That's about it for the celebs.
Grabbing a bite with an old friend Allen Hidalgo tonight. We were dancers together a million years ago. He is about to head out of town for the out of town try outs of Mambo Kings, a new Broadway musical where he is playing Ricky Ricardo.
Seeing a new show, Shockheaded Peter tonight. Will Blog that one tomorrow.

Ghetto Superstar

Last night 3/10/05, went to see Billy Porter in "Ghetto Superstar".
Great big talent, beautiful and powerful voice.
Lovely tunesmith. Fiery show. And a gentleman. Billy, thanks for the time after the show.
You are magic on stage.
Met Sue Simmons of 4 news. Even more beautiful in person.
Rosie O'Donnell and Kelli O'. We keep bumping into them. First at Feinstein's at Christine Ebersol's show (right before their SF wedding), then at Kristin Chenoweth's concert at Carnegie hall, then at Don't Tell mamma's, then the Pippin concert, and again tonight. Love that they love and support theater as much as us. Kelli is beautiful and elegant, and Rosie is caring, opinionated, fascinating and real. Hope this keeps happening.
Melba Moore was there, and I think it was Terrance McNally in the front row.
Got to chat with Darius DeHaas.
Great night at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater.