Backstage Name Checks Play Russia

From Mark Peikert, who wrote up "Conversations on Russian Literature Plus Three More Plays" for NY Press.

Yes Yes Yes this Thurs at the - um - Peter Jay Sharp!

"Yes Yes Yes," which was previously seen in Blue Coyote's "Happy Endings," will perform at the Samuel French Festival on Thurs July 16. This version features Sean Kenin, Joe Curnutte and Joseph Yeargain, once again directed by Gary Shrader. It's at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (which is Playwrights Horizons, we're just not allowed to say that - but it's that building, OK?) 7:30 Thurs night. Tickets can be snagged here.

More info on the Festival can be found here, their very cool blog for the event.

Pictured above: Joe Curnutte, Jimmy Ireland and Carter Jackson in the original production of "Yes Yes Yes" at the Access Theatre, 2008.

Quote of the Day

"When the young behave badly, as we are told so many of them do now, it is because society has clearly behaved worse. We have the teenagers, like the politicians and the wars, that we deserve." J.B. Priestley, "Margin Released"

Thoughts on "Drag Me to Hell"

In the field that it’s set for itself, it works flawlessly. Sam Raimi digs deep into his bag of horror movie tricks and he doesn’t give a damn about character, psychology, depth, or any panty-waist notion of 'logic.' He wants to scare the crap out of you. It’s a movie that is absolutely single-minded in pursuit of that goal. There’s not a detail that doesn’t support the director’s intent of making sure you have a ball. Raimi works in the conventions of the horror movie, and pushes them as far as they can go. (In short - that means 'bodily fluids.')

It’s a film that has been engineered as methodically as any ride at Universal Studios - a piece of mass entertainment, so lovingly crafted and technically brilliant that it touches art.

See it in a movie theatre if you can. There is a communal aspect to screaming your lungs out at something scary which DVD just can't touch.

Funereal

My review of "The Funeral Director's Wife" up at NYTheatre.com

Quote of the Day

"It's more valuable to have absorbed while there. You let it roll around, undergo a chemical change, and then seep out onto paper in the form that will suit the musicians who are going to play it. But it really takes quite a bit of doing to decide what to do and what not to do, particularly when you have that big, wonderful, and beautiful world over there as a subject. You don't want to underestimate or understate it." - Duke Ellington, "Orientations," March 1964, describing the writing of "Far East Suite," with Billy Strayhorn. (Thanks to Dave for getting me the CD of FES.)

Last Call for NYC PAS Survey

Hey folks. If you are a performing artist or work in the performing arts in NYC - or if you run a facility used for rehearsals or performances in NYC - follow this link to our blog and take a survey. It closes Friday June 12 and we'd love to get more responses. It'll take about five minutes.