Off-B'way Update: A Sale, a Strike and a Scary Balance Sheet

Seaview has bought the
Tony Kiser Theater

Off-Broadway theater companies are in trouble. Following the COVID pandemic, audiences have been slow to return and as a result, companies are presenting fewer shows with smaller casts. Financial woes have contributed to several concerning developments. Second Stage has sold its Off-Broadway theater, the Tony Kiser (formerly a bank on W. 43rd Street) to Seaview, a principal producer of such Off-Broadway shows as Hold On to Me Darling, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and the Barrow Street revival of Sweeney Todd. The 296-seat venue will be rebranded as Studio Seaview to present commercial Off-Broadway productions. The first production will be directed by Sam Gold (currently represented on Broadway by Romeo and Juliet) and will open in Spring 2025. This season Seaview is represented on Broadway by Stereophonic, Romeo and Juliet, All In, Once Upon a Mattress, Good Night and Good Luck, The Last Five Years, and in London by Slave Play and My Master Builder. 

Atlantic Theater Company

Atlantic Theater Company is suffering economic troubles of a different kind. The stage hands' union IATSE, recently went out on strike against the company. Atlantic's two current shows Grief Camp and I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan, have been postponed indefinitely. A strike was called when negotiations between the union and the theater broke down. Negotiations started almost a year ago when Atlantic crew members voted to join the union which represents all Broadway shows and the Off-Broadway shows Titanique and Little Shop of Horrors as well as the Public and Vineyard Theaters. 

Signature's Pershing Center

Signature Theater Company is also experiencing fiscal and other struggles. Oscar winner Brendan Fraser has withdrawn for the company's upcoming production of Samuel D. Hunter's Grangeville (Fraser's Oscar win was for the film adaptation of Hunter's The Whale), "due to unforeseen circumstances." He will be replaced by six-time Drama Desk nominee Paul Sparks (At Home at the Zoo) who will play opposite Brian J. Smith (The Matrix Resurrections). In addition, Philip Boroff of Broadway Journal reports that Signature's auditors, Lutz and Carr, have "substantial doubt about the organization's ability to continue as a going concern." Lutz and Carr reports that Signature's net assets dropped $6.6 million or 17 percent in 2022-23. The company is presenting only three plays this season--Grangeville, Dominique Morriseau's Bad Kreyol (in a co-production with Manhattan Theater Club), and Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice. That's down from eight shows ten years ago.

According to Boroff, Signature will bolster its bottom line by renting out its stages to another company--Second Stage (see the first paragraph) which will present D.A. Mindel's On the Evolutionary Function of Shame at Signature's Irene Diamond Stage beginning Feb. 12 and Donald Marguiles' Lunar Eclipse there in May. The New Group also rents space from Signature. Such collaboration between companies may be the wave of the future for Off-Broadway theaters and their best bet to survive.

Conclave and Emilia Perez Top BAFTA Noms

Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci
in Conclave, the picture with the most
BAFTA noms.
Credit: Focus Features

As the Oscar nominations are pushed back because of LA's wildfires, the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) noms from London were made public on schedule on Jan. 15. Conclave and Emilia Perez were top of the list with 12 and 11 citations respectively. Conclave's noms include both Best Film and Best British film as well as nods to Leading Actor Ralph Fiennes, Supporting Actress Isabella Rossellini, and Director Edward Berger. Emilia Perez is also up for Best Film and also for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Actress Karla Sofia Garscon and Supporting Actresses Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez. The awards will be presented in London on Feb. 15. 

Notable snubs include Pamela Anderson for The Last Showgirl, Nicole Kidman for Babygirl, Fernanda Torres for I'm Still Here, Daniel Craig for Queer, Denzel Washington in Gladiator 2, and Margaret Qualley for The Substance. Marianne Jean-Baptiste who won the Best Actress Awards from NY, LA and National Society film critics groups and was snubbed by the Golden Globes and the SAGs, did make the BAFTA cut for her acclaimed performance in the British film Hard Truths.

A complete list of BAFTA nominees follows:

More Oscar Catching Up

Anora may have peaked too early 
for the Oscar race

The Golden Globes and the SAG nominations have upended awards season with surprises and snubs. In addition, the horrific Los Angeles wildfires have disrupted film production and forced the postponement of the Critics Choice Awards to Jan. 26 and the Oscar noms were pushed back to Jan. 19 and then again to Jan. 23. The catastrophic events have thrown Hollywood into disarray and many are questioning the appropriateness of celebrating during such a time of sorrow. I suspect the Oscars on March 2 will become a rallying cry to rebuild and carry on. Some celebs such as Jean Smart and Rosanna Arquette have called for the Oscars and the Grammys to be turned into telethons to raise money for the victims. In the meantime, I've viewed more potential Oscar contenders including Anora, A Complete Unknown, Babygirl, The Substance and The Last Showgirl. 

Like the transient, motel-dwellers in Sean Baker's Tangerine and The Florida Project, the characters in his Anora live on the edges of conventional society. Anora, a Brooklyn-based exotic dancer who falls for the son of a fabulously wealthy Russian oligarch, unashamedly pedals her body. The oligarch family and their minions operate above the law and other constraints. The difference is Anora and Igor, the hired muscle who tries to support her and is attracted to her, have a sense of honor beyond themselves. Ivan and his parents don't care who they step on as long as they get what they want. Mikey Madison is unvarnished and uncynical as the title character, fiercely believing in herself and the possibility of love in her sordid surroundings. Anora has collected numerous Best Picture awards from critics' groups and the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but may have peaked too early. Front-runner The Brutalist still has not had a wide release. Its three-hour-plus running time, weighty subject and Golden Globe Best Picture win put it at the front of the Oscar pack.

Off-B'way Review: A Guide for the Homesick

Uly Schlesinger and 
McKinley Belcher III in A Guide for
the Homesick.
Credit: Russ Rowland

Ken Urban’s A Guide for the Homesick, now at the intimate Daryl Roth 2 stage following a run at Huntington Theater Company in 2017, has its heart in the right place. The gay-themed two-hander seeks to explore issues of internalized and societal homophobia, survivor guilt, and male intimacy, but the melodramatic script only succeeds in stretching credulity and bursting the eardrums, thanks to the exaggerated acting and frenetic staging by Shira Milikowsky.

The play starts off conventionally enough. Tourist and finance consultant Teddy (McKinley Belcher III) has brought medical aide worker Jeremy (Uly Schlesinger) up to his Amsterdam hotel room (Lawrence Moten III designed the generic set.) The latter is awaiting his flight back to Boston and Teddy’s co-traveller and work colleague Eddie has left for the States early. The two chat to kill time. The air between them is supposedly fraught with sexual tension, until the first one makes an advance. From there, Urban’s plot unravels, revealing that both characters have shaming secrets they want to forget. Teddy’s relationship with Eddie turns out to be more than a casual work connection and Jeremy is fleeing a disastrous encounter in Africa with a gay patient named Nicholas. 

 

With the aid of effective lighting changes by designer Abigail Hoke-Brady, the respective stories are told in flashback with Belcher playing Nicholas and Schlesinger as Eddie. Belcher is impressive in his differentiation between his two personae, capturing Teddy’s sturdy confidence and Nicholas’ flirtatious coyness as well as an authentic Ugandan accent. Schlesinger is less effective in making distinctions between Jeremy and Eddie. Both actors make a game effort at conveying their dual characters’ conflicts, but Urban’s script requires the audience to make too many leaps of faith. Total strangers only divulge their innermost selves after an hour’s acquittance in plays or fiction. 

Uly Schlesinger and 
McKinley Belcher III in A Guide for
the Homesick.
Credit: Russ Rowland

In addition, the chemistry between the two actors is not strong. Their explosive revelations feel forced despite their raised voices. The important issue of violent African homophobia, ginned up by visiting American evangelicals, is raised but not fully developed or addressed. It feels as if the characters are spokespeople for issues rather than real human beings dealing with messy circumstances. Belcher and Schlesinger make a game effort to bring depth to their roles, but A Guide for the Homesick comes across as an undeveloped melodrama.

Dec. 12—Feb. 2. DR2 Theater, 101 E. 15th St., NYC. Running time: 80 mins. with no intermission. telecharge.com

Book Review: Lolita

(Free. Found in a library box in our neighborhood.) Another of the 100 books I'm supposed to read before I die according to the BBC. Vladimir Nabokov's erotic classic is exquisitely written, but I still felt dirty after reading it. I picked it up back in October and got bored in the middle after Humbert and Lolita started their cross-country travels following the death of Lo's mom. I didn't see what else could happen after that. I found all the satiric descriptions of American motels, tourist traps, and lodges repetitive. But then I picked it up back up again in January and really enjoyed the resolution. The characterization of Clair Quilty is very funny. Ultimately, the book is both a comedy and tragedy. Humbert is a buffoonish character, possessed by his own pedophilic obsessions. The tragedy is that he robs Lolita of her childhood for all her sexual precocity. She goes from mistress to drab housewife and is never allowed to be a girl.

Snubs and Shocks with SAG and DGA Noms

This award season is getting more volatile. With the announcement for the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations on Jan. 8, Wicked is gaining ground with the most noms (five) after having won only one award (for Box Office Achievement, meaning making the most money) at Sunday night's Golden Globes. There were also major snubs in several categories with previous front-runners such as Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), Angelina Jolie (Maria), and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) not being mentioned. Golden Globe winners Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here) and Sebastian Stan (A Different Man) also failed to make the cut. Comeback kids Demi Moore (GG winner for The Substance) and Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl) earned noms. 

Demi Moore in The Substance.

The SAG announcement was to have been made live by actors Cooper Koch and Joey King, but the information was disseminated by press release instead due to dangers posed by the Los Angeles wild fires. The Awards will be presented on Netflix on Feb. 23 and Kristin Bell will host for the second year in a row. F/X's Shogun which did well at the GGs with four awards, led the SAG TV pack with five nods. I'm most upset that Jean-Baptiste is not nominated because it's not good news for her Oscar prospects even though she has won the three top critics awards (NY, LA and National Society of Film Critics). She will most probably get a BAFTA nom and even the award itself since she is a Brit, but she could miss making the Oscar list since Hollywood loves a comeback story and Moore and Anderson could knock her off. 

The Directors Guild of America also announced their nominations today, and had their share of snubs. While Wicked triumphed at the SAGs, its auteur John M. Chu was left out of the DGAs as was Denis Villenueve for Dune Part 2. (Winners will be announced on Feb. 8.) The five motion picture nominees for the DGA (all first-time nominees) are 

• Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”
• Sean Baker for “Anora”
• Edward Berger for “Conclave”
• Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist”
• James Mangold for “A Complete Unknown”

A complete list of SAG nominees follows:

Golden Globes Full of Surprises

Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara
were the funniest presenters at
the Golden Globes.
Credit: CBS

It was a night of surprises at the Golden Globes with its precursor-to-the-Oscars status turning the competition for Hollywood's top honor into a real horse race. Netflix's transgendered-druglord musical Emilia Perez took the most awards with four including Best Picture--Comedy or Musical, Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldana), non-English-Language Film and Best Song. Leading actress Sofía Gascón, the first transgender performer to receive a GG nom, made an emotional plea for acceptance: 

"I chose these colors tonight, the Buddhist colors, because I have a message for you: The light always wins over darkness, You can maybe put us in jail. You can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our existence, our identity. And I want to say to you: Raise your voice for freedom. I am who I am, not who you want."

The Brutalist was next with three awards including Best Picture--Drama, Best Actor in a Drama (Adrian Brody), and Best Director. Brutalist and Emilia Perez move to the front of the pack for the Oscar noms which will be announced on Jan. 17.

Surprise winners were Leading Actresses Demi Moore in The Substance and Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here, for comedy/musical and drama respectively. Sebastian Stan won for Best Actor in a Comedy for A Different Man. He was also nominated in the Drama category for playing a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice. These wins for Moore and Torres skew the predictions for the Oscars since Nicole Kidman of Babygirl and Mikey Madison of Anora won most of the critics' awards. Marianne Jean-Bapiste of Hard Truths, winner of the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics Awards, was not even nominated for the GGs.

Nikki Glaser hosted the ceremony telecast on CBS and did much better than last year's lambasted emcee Jo Koy. Presenters Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara were the funniest, satirizing their Canadian roots by saying they had won various Golden Antler Awards for their work north of the border including Logrider and the Mooseknuckles trilogy. O'Hara then remarked she suffered nipple damage while breast-feeding an otter. (Well, I thought it was funny.) Melissa McCarthy and Awkafina were also amusing as they parodied noble causes while announcing the nominees for Best Comedy TV series. An unscripted highlight were provided by Sofía Vergara (Griselda) who jokingly heckled winner Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country) to whom she lost Actress in a Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie, after also losing to her at the Emmys.

Even with cutting the presentations to Viola Davis (the Cecile B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement) and Ted Danson (the Carol Burnett Award for TV Achievement) down to pre-taped clips, the evening still ran over its three-hour allotted network time by 15 minutes.