Mamet’s Race
Just came back from viewing "Race" by arguably one of America's greatest modern playwrights David Mamet. I've never been really big on Mamet, but a lot of the profs at my uni were, so we spoke and read his work often. (Chekhov was another biggy, and one of my great collegiate accomplishments was getting through college NEVER EVER EVER reading, performing, directing or SMing Anton ChekhovW (although I think Piia and Katia once took us to see a modern Chekhov version with Reuben who was tripping on acid (it may have been an Henrik IbsenW play... who I've never liked since high school, oy), and I remember John doing a modern retelling for his theatre company as well (with Browne, iirc)).
Anyway, Mamet. Mamet, for those not familiar with his work, is an angry Jew who loves to curse more than a two bit Dutch hooker on a bender, which means that his potty mouth is 10x worse than mine, possibly more. This, as any American theatre student can tell you, is not an exaggeration. The man knows one thousand was to say fuck, cocksucker, asshole, bitch, cunt, shit, shithead, and then some. One would think that Mamet would be a hero of mine, but I just never got into him. He also always struck me as a bit misogynistic, but some would argue against that, I think.
On top of his cursing, he's also known for his dialogue, which I won't touch upon here. He likes to tackle topics that others won't. In this case, it's rape and race.
Richard ThomasW (yes, the John Boy) plays Charles Strickland, a married billionaire who has been accused of raping a black women, who claims that her red sequined dress was torn from her body. He goes to the law offices of Jack Lawson (Eddie Izzard) and Henry Brown (Dennis HaysbertW) after firing his first attorney. Due to the machinations of their assistant Susan (played by almost newcomer Afton C. Williamson), they wind up taking the case even though they wanted to not have anything to do with it.
They play takes place completely in one room of the law office. The design was simple but extremely elegant, and at first glance I thought it might be a little uneven (I was sitting center, so had a good vantage point), but realized that it was extremely well-balanced. Yes, I look at these things when I (rarely) go to the stage. I can't help it, I was trained for it. I even looked at how the lights were focused. I wasn't keen on some of the blocking; I felt that it took away from the focus/energy of the moment a few times. In my work, I was all about focusing energy, and with Mamet, the communication between two or more actors is extremely important and needs to have that energy focused for the words to come alive. Because of this, there were times where I felt the beats were uneven. I also thought Thomas was a little off. I didn't realize at first that he was meant to be the rich man being accused of a heinous crime by his mistress, nor did I really believe the remorse he expressed when he wanted to make a statement to the press for cheating on his wife, or when he realized that as a kid his joking upset his black roommate and friend
Oy, I'm talking all theatre geek talk. I can totally picture Stevie reading this and fist pumping 
Anyway, I found the play very poignant, but not for these times. Race relations between black and white were an extremely important theme of the play, and, to a lesser extent gender relations (not necessarily talking sexual here). But in thinking about it, I don't think Race will ever not be poignant, and at the same time ever right for any time. It's a brilliant play, I have to admit, but I don't think that it will ever have the same effect as, say, Angels in AmericaW had for AIDS and the gay community. Race might be something they teach in college in a 100 years to show what it used to be like, but I don't think you'll be seeing it on the boards during America's next race blowup.
======
After the show I waited by the stage door for autographs. My real reason for seeing the show was to meet Eddie Izzard, and I DID! I'm lazy, so this is what I wrote on Facebook:
i felt like i would cry while i was waiting for him, but i also got to meet Richard Thomas first, who thought i was in my 20s, and then i did the math and told him i was only 12 years younger than he (he's been on the boards for almost 52 years, that's why age came up)
eddie answered really honestly some questions this wannabe actress had about getting into the business. honey, your hook was totally obvious, but he was kind enough to spend some time talking to her.
I told him I saw his show at MSG, and asked him what it was like going from doing standup in huge arenas to doing a drama in a much smaller house, and he admitted that it was a very difficult challenge for him. I wanted to ask him if he was as critical of his stage performances in theatre as he is with his standup, but i didn't want to be greedy.
I also met Afton, and told her her final line, which is what the play ended on, was the show. It's a shame she is a replacement for the original actress (as are all the others save Thomas, who's been with the show since the beginning, which may explain his performance tonight), because I think she deserved a Tony nod. This is her second Broadway show, her first being August Wilson's "Joe Turner" (Wilson is (not arguably) one of America's great playwrights). She was the original understudy for Susan who won the role when the cast changed. I was really impressed with her performance, and told her she had a bright future ahead of her. I also told her that I hate Mamet, but she made him come alive, and she could tell him that she met some weird girl who hates his worked but loved her performance.
I spoke at length with Haysbert, because I've had some fairly interesting (to me) questions in regards to the difference between stage acting and film/tv acting. In theatre, you get 5 or 6 weeks to rehearse, block, tech, etc. Being that this was his first time on the boards, he was the perfect person to ask about the difference in rehearsing. He said, basically, you just do a lot of takes. I asked about character history and development and he said a lot of that is mostly just research rather than building your character through performance. Being that I've not done theatre in almost 15 years and that question has bugged me forever, I have to say meeting Eddie in real life and my conversation with Haysbert were pretty much very important highlights for me.
Race is closing soon. It's actually recouped (Wikipedia says it's the first play of the 2009-10 season to have done so). The house wasn't that full, maybe 60-75%. I was last row upper mez, and moved to seats that cost twice as much what I had before the second act started. I assume orchestra was full.
Would I recommend the play? Well, Broadway, and the reason why I don't like it, is known for its showy bullshit like Wicked and Lion King and fucking Cats and Les Miz and shit like that, which is why I never like The Great Shitty Way in the first place. Comedy does okay, drama is always iffy unless it's done big. I'd recommend it, actually, and remember: I don't like Mamet 
and here’s another moron
There's a lonely woman out there. A lonely, single, giant of a woman with nieces and or nephews who wants to find a steamy hot sex partner who is not afraid of tall aunts. This woman is doomed to be lonely. Why? Because the dumbass used my freaking email address.
AmateurMatch doesn't top Firm Hand Spanking, however. That's still tops on my wtf email list.
Interesting Drug
Interesting Drug, which has been my neglected-for-a-year reblogging site, will now be updated on Tumblr. The old URL will, of course, still work, however, if you want to see more current stuff: http://theinterestingdrug.tumblr.com/
I started Interesting Drug back in Dec 2004. I primarily used a myriad of Mac-only toys to work that magic. For olde tyme sake, you can find the old site here.
i’ll tumbl 4 u
I have a tumblr account. I blame you, Ned. Yes, you!
It features things I find about the first and second Cold Wars, nuclear warfare, the a bomb, the h bomb, civil defense, atomic culture and things of that doomsday nature. You can find it here.
Bombs and Dog Tags, Oh My!
I recently finished reading The Day After the Day After: My Atomic Angst by Steven Church. For those of you who weren't around back in the stone ages, what you see in the image to the right is a television set as furniture. You see that circle thing in the upper right corner? That's a knob. We used those to change channels. Rich people had remotes (although my father's old 30 lbs. RCA top-loading VHS had a remote... tethered to the the monstrosity with a 3' long cable).
Anyway, Steve Church, the author of this book, is around my age, mid to late 30s. When the so-called greatest president who ever lived, Ronald Reagan, was elected president of the United States, anti-USSR pro-nuclear bomb rhetoric was all the rage. With Reagan came a resurgence in cold war fears not seen in the United States since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Impressionable young kids like Steve and I were greatly affected by this resurgence, and him, and I grew up with a rather fucked up way of thinking. For example, neither of us thought we would ever make it to adulthood. Heck, I didn't plan my life after 19!
Church frames his story around the filming and broadcast of The Day After, arguably one of the most controversial films ever on broadcast television. I actually never saw the film. When it was broadcast, my stepmother at the time conveniently grounded me so she could watch it without dealing with kids around bugging her. To be honest, I was grateful not to view it at all. The idea of life after nuclear war terrified me to no end, and this film was not on my must see list.
As it just so happens, my stepmom was also deaf in one ear, so she had to blast the television so she could hear. While I didn't watch the film, I heard every.single.thing. When you're a kid with an overactive imagination with a tremendous fear of living through a nuclear war... it was a long night. A very long night.
After the broadcast, talking heads talked about the film, and then one of the local New York stations broadcast On the Beach, which my stepmother also watched. I actually was able to fall asleep over that noise... eventually... totally freaked out of my gourd.
I was also the only kid in my class who didn't see the film, and everyone,both teachers and students, couldn't and wouldn't stop talking about it. It was the only water cooler story worth a damn. I didn't tell my peers I was grounded; I told them I had zero interest in such trite. But man, was I so high strung, and for quite a while after that.
Church was raised in Lawrence, Kansas, and was there when they filmed exterior scenes. He was affected by his own bomb fears before the movie was even a concept. He said he used to design his own nuke-proof bunkers as a kid, even lived in the basement of his house, despite its constant flooding and his fears of being trapped in a fire down there (his dad built him an escape hatch in the closet in his parents room).
While cold war culture is not necessarily a big topic amongst popular and recent historians, the cold war did have serious ramifications, not just on my parents generation, but on mine as well. Church's book is a good one. It reminded me that I wasn't alone when I was feeling this way... just as isolated as Lawrence, KS was when John Lithgow's character asked on short wave, "is there anybody there? Anyone at all?"
=====
One of the things that I noted from the book was that he spoke with someone who grew up in New York City (my home town) and they said that not only did they do air raid/bomb drills (ducking and covering), but was issued a dog tag in case he was to be found post bomb, dead or alive. While browsing through CONELRAD, an excellent classic cold war culture Web site, I found this article which details what one woman experienced as a child in NYC schools here in Queens (where I was raised and still live):
The Board of Education considered the world beyond the immediate neighborhood and determined that it was necessary to issue dog tags to identify students in case of a devastating bomb attack
[...]
Throughout my elementary school life, I experienced shelter drills and air raid drills. I don't think I understood the ramifications, but I obediently followed the teachers’ instructions over the years. We had to practice duck and cover defenses as well as lining up in the halls away from glass that could shatter on us. These activities were just part of the school day.
I only went through one bomb drill, around 1981. Our school's principal was a veteran and survivor of Pearl Harbor and he said that the enemy's weakest offense was our defense and our survival. Scared the living shit out of me. Neither of my parents, however, were issued dog tags that I know of. I should probably ask that, however.
Why I Support Universal Healthcare
I consider myself a hardworking, tax paying American. Middle class, I live in a privately owned home (I'm the trustee) with my four cats in the suburban section of New York City (eastern Queens). I usually work more than 40 hours a week because I love my job. I'm aware of the world around me, but don't watch television because the pundits tend to exaggerate things to the point of ridiculousness.
My early years were spent in poverty, and my family was on welfare. We had food stamps, and Medicaid. My father is a Vietnam veteran, disabled both mentally and physically from the two tours he did in that conflict. He gets his healthcare from the VA due to the sacrifices he's made for this country.
I believe strongly that a government of the people should be for the people. Color me a liberal, or a socialist, or a communist even, but I believe in universal heathcare. I believe that we have the right to not suffer, and support our government's continued efforts in helping Americans achieve that. I believe that Medicare and Medicaid are important institutions that have helped countless of people who would not otherwise be able to get the care that they deserve, from the elderly to small children and their parents.
Until May of last year, I was uninsured. I was hospitalized in January, 2009 for ten days because of pancreatitis and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. My primary care physician did not provide me with the care that I needed for the UC because I did not have the insurance to pay for his care. Millions of people are in similar situations, and it's not unusual for someone to wind up with a huge medical debt when they become ill and do not have insurance.
My hospital bill was almost $51,000. That is not a typo, nor is it an exaggeration. You can see for yourself here. The bill doesn't include the $507 ambulance bill. It does not include the $1200 bill from the anesthesiologist. It does not include the $1200 bill from the gastrointerologist. It doesn't include the roughly $1000 bill from two additional specialists I was seen by. It doesn't include the thousand in lab fees that I had done when I got out of the hospital. It doesn't include the roughly $2000 in prescription costs. Heck, just one of my pills costs around $800 per month!
It also doesn't include the money I may have to pay back to my insurance company (I got insurance in May 2009) for treatment of what they consider a pre-existing condition (the UC). That bill, should they decide in their favor, and there is no appeal, will run into the thousands, I estimate $6000 or so.
My father is lucky. The government pays for his healthcare. He gets his medication, health supplies, doctor's visits, etc. paid for by the United States Government. This is a good thing, because he was recently diagnosed with liver cancer, an extremely fatal form of cancer that is extremely expensive to treat. His mother was a medicare recipient. Because the government helped, she was able to spend her final days cared for in both a nursing home and the hospital where she died.
Our government has a long history of caring for its citizens. I don't understand why people cannot see that our people is important, and it is important that we make this kind of investment. So, color me a liberal, or a socialist, or a communist, but I'm damn proud we're making the right steps towards helping those who need help the most. It may be too late for me, but my hope is that others won't be in my position in the future. And that makes me happy.
Point Omega
Dear Don Delillo,
I really like the way you write. Your post modern dialogue? I can totally relate to it. I've read a few of your books and really like what you do. You got style. You got class. But most of all... you got [a lot] of technique.
I heard you wrote a new novel called Point Omega. I ordered it sight unseen from Amazon because that's how much I've enjoyed your work so far. And it arrived via UPS and I just got the package, and I opened it up and.
Dude. What the fuck. One hundred and sixteen pages? Writing that took longer than it will take me to read your damn book, bro. This better be like the magnum opus of short stories in hardcover. Else I'm going to have to do something with your post modern ass.
Just kidding. I'm sure it will be great.
Toodles.
Dear Anonymous Person Who Does the Pricing at Scribner,
Dude. What the fuck! Twenty-five bucks for a 116 page pamphlet? You got to have some fucking balls of steel, because when I find you, I may just kick you there. Hard. And often.
Bite me.
and now it’s just sad
JeffM from South Africa apparently is looking for work, and would like a cover letter written by someone to help him get the job:
here is the new passport no BN[redacted] work permit no SOW[redacted] expires
05/03/2013 and can u also make a cover letter
Poor guy, doesn't know how to spell "you" and whatever email address he was trying to reach. No wonder he needs someone else to write his cover letter for him!
Eddie Izzard: Stripped Too – The Big Intimacy Tour
Last night I saw a bit of history. Not only was it my first time seeing the brilliant Eddie Izzard on stage, but it turns out he's the first English comedian to ever play Madison Square Garden. And it was a-ma-zing. Fucking brilliant! Why I waited this long to see him live I will not ever understand.
While we were waiting for the show to begin, and during intermission, two large screens from the set were scrolling tweets directed to @eddieizzard on Twitter. It took about 15 minutes for my tweet to appear on the screen, so some stranger named @missed was read by the thousands of people who were sitting in their seats early. Two people proposed to their dates on the screen as well. The tweets also scrolled during the one intermission. There was a promo movie showcasing "Believe," the upcoming Izzard documentary, and at the end of the show a short about his famous run.
Eddie hit the stage and said he was going to discuss everything, with large bits missing here and there. He did and it was fucking brilliant. He covered everything from God and his sons Asus, Besus, Cesus, Desus, Esus, Fsus, Jesus, to Noah's Ark (slaughter by the lions and tigers with a squid who hid in the cupboard and a squirrel, who's wife fled with the owl and a pussycat on a boat, being the only survivors. The squirrel, by the way, was interviewed by BBC World News heh), dinosaurs, including a raptor who downloaded porn, oh yes... I forgot, he learned this all via Wikipedia, the Wikipedia bit was great... ancient Egyptians being visited by aliens, the ancient Greeks and Sparta with hard core sheep who would sneak up to wolf predators, sheer themselves and say "c'mon motherfucker, bring it on," the Romans and an entire bit in Latin to demonstrate how "silly, silly, silly" Latin is, to creationism versus evolution (Charles Darwin's great book "Monkey, Monkey, Monkey, Monkey, You"). And on. Regulars included bees, badgers, jam and spoons, of course.
Tears flowed down my face, he was so brilliant. I will definitely see him live whenever I can from now on!
Oh, and for those wondering, no, he wasn't in drag. He was in action transvestite mode.
It’s really big!
The Really Big New Wave Compilation has been updated again, and is now at 711 songs. I'm sure I'm missing a great many brilliant tracks, so I'm still taking suggestions. I've created a page for this project, which you can find here.
Calendar
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jul | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
Recent Posts
Tags
Categories
- gaming (1)
- music (1)
- personal (8)
- stupid people using my email address (4)
- technology (2)
- the bomb (2)
- theatre (1)
- twobitgames (1)
- uncategorized (1250)
Flickr photostream
Archives
Pages
- …I Gotta Wear Shades
- A Majestic Flop
- About
- Articles
- Beatitudes
- Gargamel’s Revenge
- How to Fire Your Therapist: A Treatise for Those Who Cannot
- Hurray for Hollywood
- I Thought I Played to Bake Bread?!
- Legacy Online Review
- Motor City Online Review
- My Name Is Gladiator
- Never Reject a Chick from Brooklyn
- Pika, The First Post
- Rock Over London #24
- Security 101 or “How to Protect Your Computer on the Internet”
- The Future’s So Bright…
- The Power of Words
- The Really Big New Wave Compilation
- The Story of Duh
- Ultima Online: The Second Age
- When Kings Fall, Part I
- When Kings Fall, Part II
- Why Can’t We All Just Play Together?