Theater News

Circle the Ninth

Laura Linney and Amy Ryan return to the big screen next month.
Plus: Flopz, Fourtune, and Cabaret Cares at Helen’s.

Laura Linney
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)
Laura Linney
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

September 9 may turn out to be a lucky day for two of this year’s Tony Award nominees, Laura Linney (Sight Unseen) and Amy Ryan (A Streetcar Named Desire), since both have new movies scheduled for release on that date.

Linney’s film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, is not your standard horror fare. Rather, it’s a story — based on true events — of a priest brought to trial for botching an exorcism, resulting in the death of a 19-year-old girl whom the Catholic Church had officially recognized as demonically possessed. Linney plays Erin Bruner, an unhappy lawyer who takes on both church and state in defending the priest, played by the distinguished film and stage actor Tom Wilkinson. The cast also includes Oscar nominee Shoreh Aghdashloo and Colm Feore, who played Cassius in the recent Broadway production of Julius Caesar. It should be a helluva movie.

Meanwhile, Ryan — who will also appear on the big screen at the end of September in Capote, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman — stars with former Royal Shakespeare Company actor Damian Lewis in Keane. This dark drama about a man searching for his abducted daughter is directed by Lodge Kerrigan. Another local theater favorite, Liza Colon-Zayas, is in the film as well. If Tony nominations are helping Ryan score parts like these — she was previously nominated for Uncle Vanya — imagine the parts she’d be getting if she’d won!

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From Flopz to a Flop

Danny Gurwin
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)
Danny Gurwin
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

At Joe’s Pub on Sunday, a sold-out audience attended Flopz — a revue of songs from Broadway shows that were, let us say, financially challenged. They were mostly performed by up-and-coming young musical theater performers, with a few accomplished veterans on hand as well. The songs, though not bad, are generally unknown and are destined to remain so. And, as we well know, an evening of unfamiliar material requires a truly superior cast to make us focus on the music.

Among those who made the strongest positive impression was Tyler Hanes, a tenor with a bright voice and and strong acting ability. Leslie Kritzer, David Burnham, and Natalie Joy Johnson also did themselves proud, while Danny Gurwin and Christine Pedi brought their polish and professionalism to the evening. But Deborah S. Craig (who plays Marcy Park in Spelling Bee) embarrassed herself by being unprepared and blaming everything from the lighting to the song itself for her poor performance. On the other hand, her Bee co-star Celia Keenan-Bolger gave a star performance, closing the show with “I’m Not Alone” from the ultimate flop musical, Carrie. (Flopz will live on; director Jamie McGonnigal and musical director Michael Lavine promise sequels.)

Speaking of flops, there’s a so-called comedy at The Duplex called The Dentist. Going to see it was like actually going to the dentist; the show was painfully long and painfully shrill. We won’t name names because that would be cruel.

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KT Sullivan
KT Sullivan

Monday, Monday

Even in August, Monday nights provide a wealth of entertainment options. You may now add Cabaret Cares to the list of events that benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This new series, which will continue every Monday at 8pm at Helen’s in Chelsea, began last night with KT Sullivan and Karen Kohler. Upcoming performances include cast members from the The Producers on August 15, cast members from Naked Boys Singing on August 22, cast members from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on September 12, and singer Rena Strober on September 19.

Twenty-five years ago, Fourtune — a musical comedy with two gay and two lesbian characters — ran more than seven months Off-Broadway and opened a door to the future. We were lucky to experience the show in concert on Monday night in a benefit for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center. It was introduced by co-author Bill Russell, who wryly wondered aloud if dubbing his show a “gay musical” meant that it slept with other musicals of its own kind. He also noted that when Fourtune was first produced, there was no community center where gay and lesbian people could meet. A packed house enjoyed the bright voices and tight harmonies of Mark Price, Angela Gaylor, David Burnham, and JB Wing. Aside from raising money for the Community Center, the concert provided historical insight into the changing nature of musical theater.

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[To contact the Siegels directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]