http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield RSS Feed for Inq Col Wendy Rosenfield en-us Mon, 21 May 2012 19:25:13 GMT 2012-05-21T19:25:13Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120521_Review___lsquo_Asymmetric_rsquo__goes_fast__not_deep.html Playwright Mac Rogers wants you to let him entertain you, and New City Stage Company’s world premiere of his spy thriller Asymmetric offers the kind of entertainment that’s usually enjoyed while lounging on the sofa, holding a remote. A quick-hit 80 minutes, this drama takes us from a back-room interrogation at the CIA to a techno-driven chase through Reykjavik, Iceland, sending us into the night to play Rashomon and figure out who knew what, when. Want romance with that adventure? Rogers provides a pair of ex-spouses, Josh (Kevin Bergen), and Sunny (Kim Carson). He’s a disgraced ex-agent called in to get answers from her, both ex-wife and former protégé, accused of selling state secrets. Want violence? Meet Ford (Eric Rolland), a sadistic government inquisitor who specializes in finger-removal via hedge clipper. Comedy? Here’s Zack (Ross Beschler), a bumbling agent with the heart, comb-over and mustache of a born middle manager. Mon, 21 May 2012 19:25:13 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120521_Review___lsquo_Asymmetric_rsquo__goes_fast__not_deep.html 2012-05-21T19:25:13Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120520__ldquo_Art_rdquo__as_light_comedy_at_Hedgerow_Theatre.html Here’s the funny thing about Art, Yasmina Reza’s much-produced comic drama about three men and a painting: It’s truly a matter of perspective. A director can go serious with it, or sharp, as Act II Playhouse’s Bud Martin did earlier this season, or, as is the case with Hedgerow Theatre’s Penelope Reed, she can blunt its edges and treat it as a light comedy. And it will still suit the room. Mon, 21 May 2012 03:22:53 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120520__ldquo_Art_rdquo__as_light_comedy_at_Hedgerow_Theatre.html 2012-05-21T03:22:53Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120511_Review_Theater__wr1rent_____.html Bristol Riverside Theatre’s current production of Rent marks the fifth I’ve reviewed, more than any other show, including Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Since the second Clinton presidency, Philly has hosted the original national tour, many local productions, and a 2009 reboot featuring its original Broadway leading men, Adam Rapp and Anthony Pascal, and “Seasons of Love” soloist Gwen Stewart. Bristol’s entry isn’t the best Rent I’ve seen, but it might be the best production I’ve seen there, and that’s not meant as a backhanded compliment. Sat, 12 May 2012 03:08:42 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120511_Review_Theater__wr1rent_____.html 2012-05-12T03:08:42Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120507_Review__Stephen_Temperley_rsquo_s__lsquo_Souvenir_rsquo__is_sweet_and_slick_at_Adrienne.html Souvenir, Stephen Temperley’s memory play about the 12-year relationship between 1940s society warbler Florence Foster Jenkins (more on that warbling in a moment) and her stalwart piano accompanist Cosme McMoon, gets evergreener every year. Its Broadway run was brief — though not quite as brief as Jenkins’ real-life, one-night-only Carnegie Hall sellout — but Souvenir still thrives in the regions. Center City Theatre Works’ current effort marks the show’s third recent local production, and with good reason. As scripted “reality” television and YouTube’s viral oddities grow increasingly tiresome — and their creators, in turn, grow more desperate for our attention — the naiveté, chutzpah, and tone-deaf squawking of 70-ish Jenkins (April Woodall) seems ever more endearing. Jenkins’ performances and reputation grew from small recitals for friends at the Ritz to several recordings, and that final concert, just a month before her death. If the title “outsider artist” existed at the time, she would have qualified; instead, one wag dubbed her “Queen of the Sliding Scale,” and she seemed to be the only one who wasn’t in on the joke. Tue, 08 May 2012 01:55:45 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120507_Review__Stephen_Temperley_rsquo_s__lsquo_Souvenir_rsquo__is_sweet_and_slick_at_Adrienne.html 2012-05-08T01:55:45Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120504_Review__Walnut_show_lives_up_to_its_billing.html It’s a Grand Night for Singing at the Walnut Street Theatre’s Independence Studio, and it no doubt will remain so for the run of this cozy Rodgers and Hammerstein revue. Winding through nearly 40 of the legendary team’s tunes, this production is fueled by amorous intentions, driven by a quartet featuring three of Philly’s favorite performers — Jennie Eisenhower, Fran Prisco, and Michael Philip O’Brien (he’s also artistic director of the all-musical 11th Hour Theatre Company) — and Rebecca Robbins, a fine, flame-haired New York import and Walnut regular. Originally presented cabaret-style by Walter Bobbie in the early 1990s at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow and Stars before its move to Broadway, the show spans the duo’s career, from hits to hidden gems. For every “Some Enchanted Evening,” that best-beloved showstopper from South Pacific, there’s a lesser-known but no less-charming heartbreaker, such as Allegro’s “The Gentleman Is a Dope,” sung here by Eisenhower with just the right blend of sass and sadness. The Sound of Music,Carousel, State Fair, The King and I, Cinderella, Oklahoma — they’re all represented, plus more, and if nothing else, the evening offers a reminder of the breadth of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s declarations of love. Mon, 14 May 2012 23:31:18 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120504_Review__Walnut_show_lives_up_to_its_billing.html 2012-05-14T23:31:18Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120423_Sultry__lsquo_Night_of_the_Iguana_rsquo__at_South_Camden_Theatre_Company.html South Camden Theatre Company concludes its season — dedicated entirely to Tennessee Williams’ centenary — with his 1961 play The Night of the Iguana. It’s a fine capper; what’s a better send-off than a sultry south-of-the-border evening filled with sex, liquor, and a nervous breakdown or two? When John Huston filmed the drama in 1964, the offscreen shenanigans of its stars — Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr among them — earned Puerto Vallarta a reputation as el centro de amor long before the Love Boat ever docked there. The story at its core is equally lusty, if more tragic, but Williams doles out pathos and humor as liberally as widowed hotelier Maxine (Nicole DeRosa Kukaitis) dispenses complimentary rum-cocos to favored guests. Consider this bit of stage direction regarding one of Maxine’s native boy toys: “Pancho … reappears, sucking a juicy peeled mango — its juice running down his chin onto his throat.” Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:00:15 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120423_Sultry__lsquo_Night_of_the_Iguana_rsquo__at_South_Camden_Theatre_Company.html 2012-04-24T03:00:15Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120423_A_sleepy__lsquo_Spring_Awakening_rsquo__at_Media_Theatre.html There’s no better time than spring for a production of Spring Awakening. Media Theatre, no doubt, hopes its regional entry will produce a major bloom among the area’s “Guilty Ones,” as the show’s ardent followers call themselves. And the discovery of new, youthful passions — their suppression and release, dangers and pleasures — are what this musical is all about. Adapted from German playwright Frank Wedekind’s 1891 drama by lyricist Steven Sater and singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening, at its best, powers through its rock score, an intoxicating adrenaline-and-hormone cocktail destroying children’s bodies and innocence along the way. Wedekind’s original, which follows a group of boys and girls through the last half of their school year, stared down suicide, incest, hypocrisy, sadism, masochism, nihilism, homosexuality, abortion, and rape, and under the stewardship of director Michael Mayer and choreographer Bill T. Jones, only the story’s central rape didn’t make it to Broadway. Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:00:14 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120423_A_sleepy__lsquo_Spring_Awakening_rsquo__at_Media_Theatre.html 2012-04-24T03:00:14Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120420_These_girls_are_not_a_lot_of_fun.html The last time a Louise Roche musical visited the Kimmel Center's Innovation Studio, it was the sequel to Girls Night: The Musical, titled Girl Talk: The Musical, and it was awful. This time, we get the original, and there are several ways in which it is better. There are also several ways in which it is just as bad. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120420_These_girls_are_not_a_lot_of_fun.html 2012-04-20T07:01:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120416_Review__Rabe_retells_Chekhov_well_in_The_Black_Monk.html David Rabe did theater a favor by adapting Anton Chekhov’s short story “The Black Monk” for the stage. And Simpatico Theatre Project’s production pays it forward. The 1894 tale examines the nature of happiness — and of madness. Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:35:44 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120416_Review__Rabe_retells_Chekhov_well_in_The_Black_Monk.html 2012-04-17T01:35:44Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120416__lsquo_Crowns_rsquo__by_Regina_Taylor_onstage_at_Delaware_Theatre_Company.html Re­gi­na Taylor’s mu­si­cal Crowns professes to be a cel­e­bra­tion of Af­ri­can American “hattitude,” but it believes it’s about so much more. So, I guess, do Dela­ware The­atre Company and di­rec­tor Kevin Ramsey, both of whom go on at length in the show’s pro­gram notes to ex­plain just how im­por­tant it is that audiences see this work. Ramsey makes excuses for Taylor, explaining that the show’s disorienting man­ner of zigzagging its locations and situations with­out ex­pla­na­tion occurs be­cause its setting is “the fab­ric of our times.” If that’s true, Taylor’s fab­ric needs an iron, be­cause it’s a mess. Pho­tog­ra­pher Mi­chael Cunningham and jour­nal­ist Craig Marberry produced the book Crowns, which inspired the mu­si­cal, and women stare from its pages un­der toppers sleek and sophisticated, friv­o­lous and feath­ery. Be­side every por­trait, a sim­ple quo­ta­tion sums up each wom­an’s per­spec­tive on hats. These are touch­ing and re­veal­ing, and they pro­vide his­tor­i­cal res­o­nance. Some of this his­to­ry made it into the staged ver­sion, and af­ter all Taylor’s forced padding, those facts root­ed in time still res­o­nate. Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:35:42 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20120416__lsquo_Crowns_rsquo__by_Regina_Taylor_onstage_at_Delaware_Theatre_Company.html 2012-04-17T01:35:42Z