The following precedes each entry,
"In Lieu of Reviews"
Around 40 years ago, I
began a major project that eventuated in the publication of my multivolume
series, The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, each volume
covering a decade. For some reason now lost to the sands of time, I chose to
start with the 1970s. After writing all the entries through 1975 and producing
a typed manuscript of 1,038 pages my publisher (Greenwood) and I decided it
would be best to commence with the 1920s. So the 1970-1975 material was put
aside as I produced volumes for 1920-1930, 1930-1940, and 1940-1950. With those
concluded, Greenwood decided it was all too expensive and not sufficiently
profitable, so the remaining volumes were cancelled, leaving my 1970s entries
in limbo.
To compensate, I used the
research I’d done on the 1970s to write a book for Greenwood called Ten
Seasons: New York Theatre in the Seventies, which described all aspects of
that era’s theatre, onstage and off. Many years later, in 2012, I began a
postretirement “career” as a theatre reviewer, which led to my creating this
blog as an outlet for my reviews. Over the past eight years or so I’ve posted
nearly 1,600 reviews, a substantial number having first appeared on other
websites: Theater Pizzazz, The Broadway Blog, and Theater Life.
Now, however, with the New
York theatre in suspension, and my reviewing completely halted, is probably the
perfect time to post as many as possible of the entries I prepared for the
never-published 1970-1975 book. The entries that follow are in alphabetical
order. Each entry has a heading listing the subject categories of the work
described: the author (A), the director (D), additional staging (ADD ST), when
credited; the producer (P), the set designer (S), the costume designer (C), the
lighting designer (L), the source (SC), the theatre (T), the dates of the run,
and, in parentheses, the length of the run. The original entries also contained
the names of all the actors but I’ve omitted those here.
I will try to post at
least one entry daily. When time allows, I’ll provide more. The manuscript
exists on fading, fragile paper and, because no digital files exist, must be
retyped. Hopefully, the tragic health situation we’re all enduring will abate
before I get too far into posting these entries but, for the time being,
devoted theatre lovers may find reading these materials informative.
 |
| Tom Costello, Angela Pietropinto. |
One of the
most controversial products of the Off-Off Broadway avant garde movement of the
late 60s and early 70s, Alice in
Wonderland grew out of two years of intensive development by a small
company of New York University department graduates working with experimental
director Andre Gregory. It had played elsewhere, even developing a cult of
followers, before its formal New York opening (an unofficial New York
presentation and already won the company and OBIE). Working collaboratively, the
group evolved a highly idiosyncratic approach to Carroll’s Alice books, bringing forth in the process a work redolent of
psychological and political implications.
Alice was staged in the mode of
environmental theatre, with the space designed to resemble a rabbit hole into
which the audience as presumed to tumble. Each actor, except for Alice (Angela
Pietropinto), played many roles. Using theatricalist techniques reminiscent of
the work of Poland’s Jerzy Grotowski, France’s Antonin Artaud, and New York’s
the Open Theatre, the company portrayed the tale in disconnected, nonlinear,
fragmentary style, using unusual sound and voice effects, mime and acrobatics,
and attention to Carroll’s original words.
 |
| Saskia Noordhock Hegt, Tom Costello, Angela Pietropinto, Gerry Bamman, Larry Pine (kneeling), Jerry Mayer. |
The result
was an almost hallucinatory effect that evoked various “states of being,” one
scene in particular providing “one of the closest approximations to going
insane that has ever been rendered on a public stage,” wrote T.E. Kalem.
Another exciting sequence came during Alice’s interview with the hookah-smoking
caterpillar. Four actors formed a mushroom shape by bending over, one of them
raising a hand and finger to be smoked by a fifth who sat atop them.
There were
ecstatic appraisals from critics such as Kalem, John Lahr, and Clive Barnes.
Typical was Lahr’s comment: “Nothing on our conventional stage can approach the
density and brilliance of this kind of performance.” However, some, like Jack
Kroll, felt that there was not enough genius present to transmute the literary
classic into good theatre; instead, the effect was largely shapeless, without
focus, and incoherent. Several complained that only someone familiar with the
source could follow the production.
Alice returned to New York on March 1,
1972, following a world tour. It played at Off-Off’s Performing Garage for
another 50 performances. Some cast changes had been made, as well as revisions
in the script. “The entire show is now one of the most polished I have ever
seen,” noted Barnes.
Alice in Wonderland snared Drama Desk Awards for Gregory
as director, and scene design for Lee and Norman. Of the cast members, Larry Pine and Gerry Bamman remained very active in the New York theatre.
The following precedes each entry,
"In Lieu of Reviews"
Around 40 years ago, I
began a major project that eventuated in the publication of my multivolume
series, The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, each volume
covering a decade. For some reason now lost to the sands of time, I chose to
start with the 1970s. After writing all the entries through 1975 and producing
a typed manuscript of 1,038 pages my publisher (Greenwood) and I decided it
would be best to commence with the 1920s. So the 1970-1975 material was put
aside as I produced volumes for 1920-1930, 1930-1940, and 1940-1950. With those
concluded, Greenwood decided it was all too expensive and not sufficiently
profitable, so the remaining volumes were cancelled, leaving my 1970s entries
in limbo.
To compensate, I used the
research I’d done on the 1970s to write a book for Greenwood called Ten
Seasons: New York Theatre in the Seventies, which described all aspects of
that era’s theatre, onstage and off. Many years later, in 2012, I began a
postretirement “career” as a theatre reviewer, which led to my creating this
blog as an outlet for my reviews. Over the past eight years or so I’ve posted
nearly 1,600 reviews, a substantial number having first appeared on other
websites: Theater Pizzazz, The Broadway Blog, and Theater Life.
Now, however, with the New
York theatre in suspension, and my reviewing completely halted, is probably the
perfect time to post as many as possible of the entries I prepared for the
never-published 1970-1975 book. The entries that follow are in alphabetical
order. Each entry has a heading listing the subject categories of the work
described: the author (A), the director (D), additional staging (ADD ST), when
credited; the producer (P), the set designer (S), the costume designer (C), the
lighting designer (L), the source (SC), the theatre (T), the dates of the run,
and, in parentheses, the length of the run. The original entries also contained
the names of all the actors but I’ve omitted those here.
I will try to post at
least one entry daily. When time allows, I’ll provide more. The manuscript
exists on fading, fragile paper and, because no digital files exist, must be
retyped. Hopefully, the tragic health situation we’re all enduring will abate
before I get too far into posting these entries but, for the time being,
devoted theatre lovers may find reading these materials informative.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND [Comedy-Drama/Childhood/Fantasy]
AD: The Manhattan Project; SC: Lewis Carroll’s novels, Alice in Wonderland and Alice
Through the Looking Glass; D:Andre Gregory; DS: Eugene Lee and Franne
Newman; P: Lyn Austin and Oliver Smith in the Manhattan Theatre Project
Production; T: The Extension (OB): 10/8/70-5/2/71 (122; weekends only)
One of the
most controversial products of the Off-Off Broadway avant garde movement of the
late 60s and early 70s, Alice in
Wonderland grew out of two years of intensive development by a small
company of New York University department graduates working with experimental
director Andre Gregory. It had played elsewhere, even developing a cult of
followers, before its formal New York opening (an unofficial New York
presentation and already won the company and OBIE). Working collaboratively,
the group evolved a highly idiosyncratic approach to Carroll’s Alice books, bringing forth in the
process a work redolent of psychological and political implications.
Alice was staged in the mode of
environmental theatre, with the space designed to resemble a rabbit hole into
which the audience as presumed to tumble. Each actor, except for Alice (Angela
Pietropinto), played many roles. Using theatricalist techniques reminiscent of
the work of Poland’s Jerzy Grotowski, France’s Antonin Artaud, and New York’s
the Open Theatre, the company portrayed the tale in disconnected, nonlinear,
fragmentary style, using unusual sound and voice effects, mime and acrobatics,
and attention to Carroll’s original words.
The result
was an almost hallucinatory effect that evoked various “states of being,” one
scene in particular providing “one of the closest approximations to going
insane that has ever been rendered on a public stage,” wrote T.E. Kalem.
Another exciting sequence came during Alice’s interview with the hookah-smoking
caterpillar. Four actors formed a mushroom shape by bending over, one of them
raising a hand and finger to be smoked by a fifth who sat atop them.
There were
ecstatic appraisals from critics such as Kalem, John Lahr, and Clive Barnes.
Typical was Lahr’s comment: “Nothing on our conventional stage can approach the
density and brilliance of this kind of performance.” However, some, like Jack
Kroll, felt that there was not enough genius present to transmute the literary
classic into good theatre; instead, the effect was largely shapeless, without
focus, and incoherent. Several complained that only someone familiar with the
source could follow the production.
Alice returned to New York on March 1,
1972, following a world tour. It played at Off-Off’s Performing Garage for
another 50 performances. Some cast changes had been made, as well as revisions
in the script. “The entire show is now one of the most polished I have ever
seen,” noted Barnes.
Alice in Wonderland snared Drama Desk Awards for
Gregory as director, and scene design for Lee and Norman.
Previous entries:
Abelard
and Heloise
Absurd
Person Singular
AC/DC
“Acrobats” and “Line”
The
Advertisement
Aesop’s
Fables
Ain’t
Supposed to Die a Natural Death
