Lucky

I get multiple malware warnings each time I visit.

I had strongly urged a couple of friends to see this show before it closed, and they did. It made me happy to hear them say how much they liked it.

Anyone up for one more pic of Billy Magnussen?

Yes, it got off to a Lucky start, but Oliver added so much with his pool event that has become such a big hit. It was just the right thing for the Weekend. Jason Carter has been an invaluable assistant these last few years since he first was my date, and then Oliver had the good sense to bring him back again, and again! Oliver gets the credit for the growth of the Weekend. He's a fine host. I wish everyone a good time, and hope that guys from this website will also feel welcome. We dropped the name Hooville Weekend some time ago to make it clear that it was a weekend for all of us to enjoy, no matter which website you favor. Totally Oz was able to make it a couple of years ago and was warmly welcomed.

It's no longer just for the fetishists! Poop from healthy people can be used as a medicine- and it actually works better than antibiotics! No shit! You gotta get to the bottom of this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/health/disgusting-maybe-but-treatment-works-study-finds.html?hp Health food!

I'm with NC Bored on this one. What does that post have to do with Lucky's Amazing Theater Reviews anyway?

The ass looks a bit flat to me.

Wonderful Barcelona.

Yes, sure, but how will you get back from Rio? You sure won't be able to sit on a plane after that huge cock plucks your butt for a few hours! Then you will be wishing I had gone to New York instead, So why not save your butt and just root for me?

Here is the NY Times review. They hated it: http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/theater/reviews/bare-rock-musical-at-new-world-stages.html?_r=0

Yes, indeed. Soon I will be collecting donations for my next trip to New York so that the site can have updated reviews. All for a good cause, you know.

I don't remember any nudity.

hitoallusa continues to remind me that the values we cherish as our American freedoms are easily disposed of when those who don't value those freedoms take power.

Last week I was in New York. I was told, and subsequently saw for myself, that several nice things were said about me on the other site. I want all of those people to know that I appreciate their kind remarks, because I really do. Some mention that they miss my theater reviews, but if you know any of those folks, please let them know that my theater reviews are now here. Send them the link! http://www.boytoy.com/forums/index.php?/forum/253-theater-art-and-literature/ Some think that all I have to do is make a generic sort of apology to the owner of the site, and all will be well again. Cooper posted that I was done with the site and was moving on. He was right. So, here is the word straight from the horse's mouth: I do not want to be a member of the message board at Daddy's Reviews. I don't like Daddy, and I disdain deej. I don't care to apologize to a man who posted using my user name. It seems to me that he is the one who owes an apology. I was given no warning or right to know the reason why I was banned. It just happened when I complained about the name Lucky being on a post that I didn't write. The idea that I was banned because I didn't apologize for some unspecified crime came along well after I was banned. Rest assured, I have banned myself from posting at Daddy's reviews. My complaint about the misuse of my user name said that I could post there no longer without an apology, and I think that's where the idea came about that I should apologize rather than this person. It's a red herring meant to distract you from what really happened. The End.

No.

A columnist for the SF Chronicle says that the prosecutor's crime was worse than the one alleged to have been committed by Aaron Swarz: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/Prosecutors-crime-greater-than-Swartz-s-4193962.php

Lots of folks have been recommending The Piano Lesson, the August Wilson play at the Signature Theater that has been extended some three times. Prices started out at $25, but are now $75. Success has a price! I will get right to the point. Those folks recommending the show are right on. It's excellent. It's also different. It's a slice of black life in 1936 Pittsburgh, and involves a family and friends who come together at a time when one of he characters very much needs to sell his piano. Problem is, he only owns half of it. His sister owns the other half, and boy does she not want to sell. The piano has been in the family for some time, and has quite a history, which I will not go into. The story is interesting, for sure, but the attraction of The Piano Lesson is the fierce acting. We are watching black people recently moved to the North from the South. They have little education, and their accents and manner of speech take some getting used to, even for those of us with plenty of black friends. People just don't talk exactly like this today. But the language is part of the charm. (The set and costumes are too.) The fight over the piano is only part of what we see. The rest is the interaction of friends, a ghost, a minister, and a silk suit. Oh, there's also a truckload of watermelons. It's this interaction that gives each character his or her chance to shine, to show off their acting chops, and to move the plot forward. It moves at a leisurely pace, and at some point toward the end I found myself hoping it would move just a little bit faster, but that damn ghost had to have his show too. The ending is fun and makes the time worth it. I don't expect any further extensions, so if you can, see it soon- very soon. I think it closes Sunday. (There was a tiny sideshow to my night. The ticket taker was a doll, and several times I found myself checking him out. He apparently took some notice of this, and when the show ended, he was ready for me. When I tried for my last look at him, he gave me a smile. Now what to do? I was in a hurry to leave as I had to pack and get up at 5 am. If that smile meant something. I would have to wait for him to finish work. But, I could ask him to meet me "for a drink" when he finished. Instead I just looked back at his smile and gave him one of my own. I was then on my way. Sigh.) And that finishes Lucky's theater reviews for this trip.

My Saturday matinee schedule was open, and I had to decide if I wanted to see Scarlett Johansonn in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, or Laurie Metcalf in The Other Place, which is only 70 minutes long. I decided to go for funny. Forbidden Broadway has been around for years. The show spoofs Broadway shows and is changed periodically to update itself. It has been on hiatus for some time, but the review by Ben Brantley in the NY Times said that the new version was a winner, so I decided to see it, even if only 90 minutes long! The show plays in a really tacky theater that seems to have some connection to Puerto Ricans, or did. But one forgets that fairly quickly when the 4 performers come out. There is nothing special in the way they look, but that seems to give them the ability to become chameleons and take on the characteristics of the Broadway performers they spoof. The spoofs come quickly, some longer than others, and virtually every Broadway show gets its due. Probably in order to change on the spur of a moment, the program does not list the shows being mocked,. But let me tell you, they do get mocked, and Forbidden Broadway is very funny. Mathew Broderick seems to get the worst of it, but all of your favorites will be on stage at some point. The satire can have a deep bite, and the laughs were free and easy. I recommend it. You don't need to be familiar with all of the shows to enjoy it.

Bare is a musical that has been around in various stages of development. It is now playing at the New World Stages, where I saw it last week. The story is about a gay high school boy who begins an affair with a closeted jock. What could go wrong with that? Of course the jock does not say anything when his boyfriend is bullied, and he even calls someone a faggot in front of his jock friends. Both boys end up in the school play, Romeo and Juliet. Jock plays Romeo, but no, the gay boy does not play Juliet. Jock has a drug dealing sister. When a slutty new girl comes in, he dates her in an effort to show his heterosexuality. Does she get pregnant? Is he the father? Does the pressure from his gay relationship cause him more stress? Read no further if you might see the show. But yes, she does, and yes, he is, and yes, it does. So he turns to his sister for some G to help him relax. Then, while on stage as Romeo, he is in a scene where his gay boyfriend is also appearing. Suddenly the jock collapses, dead from an overdose of the G his sister gave him. Having the gay character die is something I thought went out in the Sixties. But the cheesiness of this show needs an ending like that. The performers are all earnest, and they sing their little hearts out. But their voices are not little, and they sing VERY LOUDLY. This is accompanied by VERY LOUD MUSIC. Today's youth seem to need everything at high volume. The young audience at the performance I attended seemed to like the show very much. Some critics say it is an episode of Glee on steroids, or something like that. The two male leads- the lovers- are not particularly handsome. I thought that fact might be relevant to some reading this!

So I did disable the plug-in on Firefox. I don't use the other browsers,but they are on my computer. Do I need to disable on all of them?

This show plays in one of the most uncomfortable theaters in New York. They forgot to give audience members space for their legs and feet. And if you are 6'1, that's a problem. But once Asher Lev takes the stage, one forgets how uncomfortable he is and gets drawn into a fine performance. In a nutshell, Asher is a member of an Hasidic Jewish family, and he is also a talented artist. Sorry, Asher, but your religion does not approve of that. End of story, no? Well, of course not. Asher pursues his dreams. The show, based on a novel by Chaim Potok, is heartfelt if it is anything. Asher gets a tutor, interestingly played by the same actor who plays his father. He even paints nudes, a shock to his mother, who destroys them. But the play itself is about family, religion, and art. All are central to Asher's life. The young man who plays him, Ari Brand, is excellent, with much dialogue to remember. The supporting actors are fine too. The friends I saw the show with were very impressed. I was not unimpressed, but I tended to agree with the reviewer for the NY Times, who said: "For all its sturdy theatricality, though, “Asher Lev” remains stagebound. You may respect it, argue with it and enjoy it, without ever being transported by it."

Golden Boy is a revival of a 1937 play by Clifford Odets. It's about a young man torn between playing the classical violin and his desire to punch people out in the boxing ring. Yet fighting will ruin his hands, and his violin days will be over. Seth Numrich is the Golden Boy, and his sexual attractiveness is discussed in another thread. Since he plays his character in the 1937 time frame, he doesn't have some of the sexy attributes which men show nowadays. He is an awkward suitor of his boss's girlfriend, and seems to thrive only when he is in the ring. In my opinion, he didn't show much passion for playing that instrument. In the one scene where he does play a fancy and expensive violin given to him by his father, he seeks privacy to do so. Which means he goes off stage to play the instrument, making the audience wonder whether the actor can play it at all. The boxing career soars until fateful moments happen. These moments give the play its heft. Often appearing dated, the sets and costumes are wonderful reproductions of the time. The acting is fine too. The main thing missing for me is that I didn't buy his conflict over the two choices, and I didn't see what made his boss's girl so hot that he wanted to steal her. But there were no other women in his life, so why not go for the one at hand? The review from theatermania.com will give you a deeper look at the show: http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/12-2012/golden-boy_63897.html

But he didn't.

Other than Picnic, I saw six shows in New York. My favorite was the first one, Vanya, and Sonia and Masha and Spike. It's a very funny comedy by Christopher Durang about contemporary issues. He uses character names from various plays by Anton Chekhov, and no doubt I missed a few insider jokes. TheaterMania provides this summary of the show: Vanya (Pierce) and adopted sister Sonia (Nielsen) are – in true Chekhovian fashion -- bored, lonely, and aimless sitting around their lovely Bucks County home (gloriously rendered by David Korins). Now in their 50s, they lament about having given up their lives (and apparently any chance of reasonable employment) to tend to their now-dead parents, while glamorous older sister Masha (Weaver) travels the world as a world-famous actress. Life gets temporarily upended when Masha unexpectedly shows up one day – with decades-younger boy-toy Spike in tow (the extraordinarily fit and often semi-dressed Billy Magnussen). She has returned ostensibly to attend a neighbor's costume ball, but also to deliver the shocking news that she has decided to sell the family homestead in order to cut down on her own expenses. Before that bombshell is even dropped, the siblings find enough to bicker about, including Sonia's unrequited romantic longing for Vanya (who is gay) and her lifelong resentment of the spectacularly self-obsessed Masha. Increasing the tension tenfold, as well, is the sudden appearance of winsome visitor Nina (a perfectly cast Genevieve Angelson), whose youth and innocence unsurprisingly threaten Masha's already precarious well-being. And providing even more fodder for arguments, are the constant (and seemingly nonsensical) presentiments of the trio's aptly-named housekeeper, Cassandra (a hilarious Shalita Grant). *** Last year I attended the comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, which was supposed to be an exceptionally funny British slapstick comedy. I laughed once. For the show at the Lincoln Center, i was constantly laughing. i guess I prefer more cerebral humor. I know I prefer dry humor. Each actor gets his or her moment. Sigourney Weaver is excellent in hers, but David Hyde Pierce is magnificent in his. He does a rant on how we communicate less with all the new-fangled devices such as smartphones. As he speaks, he gets more worked up, and the audience is just howling by the end. Billy Magnussen, sexy as can be, is also very charming on stage. He tells about his audition for a part in Entourage 2, and shows the sexy moves he performed. Since he is often in his underwear or practicing stripper routines, he gets lots of lustful applause. The show closes Sunday, and tickets are very hard to get. I got the last one available last week, and was very LUCKY to have done so. This is a great show. It may move to Broadway, but it won't be the same as in the smaller house where the actors are much closer to you. Next up: Golden Boy