Walked past "Perfect Crime" theater tonight and saw this quote from my 2005 piece outside: "As the illusions reveal themselves, a confusion and sense of terror slowly build." Left out is next sentence: "Or at least that's what should happen if the production wasn't so lethargic."
Also funny --> My "But if you stick with the story -- and considering the turgid performances, that's asking a lot --it does make sense" got edited into "If you stick with the story, it does make sense."
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This Nathan Lane interview on WTF is catnip for theater fans. I badly want to do a Rap Genius annotation to explain and unpack all the things said and unsaid. One piece of news: He’s doing Death of a Salesman in 2021. wtfpod.com
Love how Lane bristled at the idea that it’s interesting to dedicate his life to theater. “Theater is not a stepping stone” was a nice brush-off pitch.
Also, when Maron talks about how The Producers was a game-changer for musicals, the fact Lane mentions “ticket prices” right away. God bless him. I LOVE The Producers, but that is perhaps the most game-changing thing about it. And performers don’t usually say that stuff out loud.
Loved Russian Doll, superb story/style, funny performances, go watch it. Since it’s a puzzle piece drama with magical realistic touches, it invites crazy grand unified theories – and I have one! Spoilers and a loooooong thread ahead. Feel free to mute. 1/
I see this show is an against the grain meditation on the cultural guilt about the Tompkins Square Park Riots. Sounds crazy? Pretentious? Nonsense? You’re right. But hear me out. Or don’t. 2/
First some history: Tompkins has long been a NY counter-culture magnet (see Rent) filled with artists, punks, chess. It was the last NY park without a curfew. When the city adopted one in 1988 to kick out squatters, protests, clashes w/cops, "die yuppie scum" slogans ensued.3/