It’s Black Box Theater Wednesday
and we’ve got what can best be described as a cute piece of theater choreography melodic music and ever changing memorable moments as we traveled the world in 80 minutes of dance at the La Mama Theater on 4th St. in the East Village.

Travel Tours and One Night Stands, conceived by Kim Ima and Onni Johnson and directed and choreographed by Kim Ima opened Thursday last, in La Mama’s first floor theater.

Attending the Sunday 2:30 pm matinee show featuring special guest performer Akiko Busch, which enhanced this improvisational work, highlighted the pleasures ,hassles, discomforts and eye opening experiences one can expect when venturing beyond the borders of their personal comfort zones.

Through interpretive dance, the creator of this show captured the essence of the human condition as it maneuvers around the world learning to appreciate differences, making new alliances and bridging cultural gaps.

Since each performance is unique, with a different special guest each evening I can not say with certainty that you will come away with the same experiences I did. But, if your are lucky enough to witness the dance routine where the cast sings and dances while erecting a rather large and complicated tent, all communicating a different language, you have more than gotten your money’s worth.

The program for the performance indicates, an updated schedule of the special guests can be found at the La MaMa website.

The Cool Guy Says
C-IT
C-YA


Here Is what you need to know:

Where:
La MaMa
74A E. 4TH St. NYC NY
Opened
March 23, 2006
Closes
April 9, 2006
Performances
Thu – Sun at 8pm; Sun at 2:30pm
Running Time
1 hour, 15 minutes
Tix $15
Call 212-475-7710

The Cast
Priscilla Smith, Onni Johnson,
Chris Wild, Charlotte Brathwaite,
Kim Ima

It’s Black Box Theater Wednesday and we are recommending an extra slice of The Pumpkin Pie Show: Junta High, now performing at P.S. 122 aka Performance Space 122 on 1st Ave and 9th St. on the lower eastside.

Written by Clay McLeod Chapman with music written and performed by the Hungry March Band, this feisty festive and thankfully fictitious story of a high school blood bathing football team replete with a cheer leading squad willing to give all right down to the last grenade from their crotch less panties is delightfully reckless raunchy and rowdy right from the opening minutes of the show.

This play is moved along in quick step monologue style, accompanied by a crazed geek inspired marching band as each member of the cast gives a high energy fallout funny comedic and at one point emotionally engaging view of high school life on the edge; the bleeding edge.

When winning is all and all is winning, things are fine at Junta High, but the mere thought of a loss on Friday night could bring death and total destruction for the unfortunate players.

Eerily ,the play is also a euphemistic poke at the bloody business of a warlike approach to life as we live it as Americans these days. Junta High’s message shows how this nations high schools are the training ground for the next generation of fighters for our country’s ambitions.

The show deserves kudos for achieving so much with so little. A small stage, and limited funds for a real set left the writer with the huge challenge of drawing the audience’s imagination into the experience which was accomplished as easily as pie; pumpkin pie.

Lee The Cool Guy
C-IT
C-YA

Here Are the Details:
Tickets $20.00 Students $15.00
Location: P.S. 122 150 First Ave. at E. 9th St. NYC 10009 General Information: 212-477-5288
Administrative: 212-477-5829
Email: ps122@ps122.org

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day To All From lLee The Cool Guy And Staff @ RetroVision Theater !

This Weekend, we’ve got a double feature of Sherlock Holmes, The Beast Of Yucca Flats and Attack Of The Giant Leeches.

Click the images to enjoy this weeks shows. Each pic. contains double feature

Lee The Cool Guy

C-YA Monday

Here is the podcast version of our review of
The Territory
as the high winds at our studio in upstate New York took out the power lines and little juice was left to power up the laptop.
Full review will be posted as soon as the juice is back.

The Podcast Review

Lee The Cool Guy

Here Are Some Details:

THE TERRITORY
by Tanya Krohn directed by Cris Buchner Runs March 10 – April 1 Thursday – Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2 Monday March 13 at 7 Saturday April 1 at 2 West End Theatre 263 W. 86th St.
(Bway and West End – 1 train to 86th St.)

If It’s Wednesday, It’s A New York City Black Box Theater Review.

On the grill this week, is the soon to be forgotten Long Time Passing. This fable of the future, set in the ruins of Central Park was defectively written and weakly directed by Barbara Kahn.

Clumsily opening to a near empty performance space at the Theater For The New City, and justly so, this poorly conceived and conflicting tale of two female soldiers meeting in Central Park taking refuge from an ongoing war developing a lesbian relationship while learning to appreciate the lives and well being of innocent creatures from a witless wise women of the forest was simply too much to digest even for those with limitless imaginations. Add a mime, three hand puppets and a princess-like character named Gwynever and this writer was totally lost.

If Ms. Kahn wanted to pen a play about a serious topic like the evils of war, it’s loneliness and the accompanying stress of a compassionless world, she made the task impossible to accomplish by forcing all of the aforementioned elements into the same work. I could not tell if I was veiwing a play written for 2nd graders i.e. the simpleminded hand puppets or watching 90 minutes of lightweight sensitive TV on the lifetime channel i.e. the passionate embraces between Alexandra Gutierrez (Marcy) and Karla Bruning (Selena).

In all honesty, the evening was not a total loss as the talented casts’ efforts shinned through this
literary monstrosity as Karla Bruning displayed suprising vocal capabilities, Marie Hanson was outstanding as creeping Jenny and I was particularly impressed with the mime, (Pierre) played by Evan Bass.

The bottom line here is, if a mime has the best lines in your play something has gone terrible wrong. What a waste of talent.

Lee “The Cool Guy”
Recommends you pass on Long Time Passing

If you still want to see this madness, here are the details:
Location: Theater For The New City 155 First Ave East Village
Performances: Thurs-Sat @ 8:00PM Sun @ 3:00PM
Contact: 212-254-1109 For Reservations

Bouncer’s Bubble Busted,
as Top Cop Kelly puts the bracelets on Littlejohn for the murder of Imette St Guillian, the criminal justice graduate student from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in mid-town.
Making the announcement this Sunday, Kelly said the lab turned up a DNA match of Littlejohn’s blood found on the plastic ties that bound the victim’s hands behind her back.

Littlejohn, no stranger to trouble, reportedly had DNA on file from a previous bank robbery conviction as well as fresh samples gathered from meals and drinks he had consumed prior to his arrest.

The 41 year old career creep, living quietly in a small flat in queens, was described as low-keyed but thug like. Said to be a loner and a police enthusiast masquerading at times in fatigues, swat-like uniforms and carrying items that identified him as a fed, this “Walker; Texas Ranger” wannabe maintained a “look” to fool neighbors and co-workers of his seven felony convictions and five long term stays at New York State’s finer grey bar hotels.

As of today, this menace has not been formally charged with Ms. St. Guillen’s rape and murder but he remains in custody on Rykers.

Go Get-em Ray “Popeye” Kelly, ya got one more creep off the streets; but that don’t mean the public can relax. There are plenty more where he came from and many, like Littlejohn are hiding in plain view in occupations of low end security.

So people, watch your ass, because you never know who else might be watching it!
Lee “The Cool Guy”
C-YA

It’s Friday and we got the hottest flicks we could find for this spring like weekend!

Checkout the Screaming Skull and Wasp Women, both guaranteed to kill ya laughing they are both ready to be streamed. All ya gotta do is click the image. We are I-Casting these and more at RetroVisionMedia.com this Friday Saturday and Sunday.

Also , we wanted to give you a freak alert update regarding the SoHo murder investigation Click here for today’s Podcast


Lee The Cool Guy
C-YA

It’s Black Box Theater Wednesday Again and we are pleased as pancakes and a double order of anything to recommend Fat Boy written and directed by John Clancy and presented by Clancy productions opening at the Ohio Theater in SoHo last week.

From the opening line “you fat bastard” to the last “You wretched whore” Del Pentecost (FAT BOY) and Nancy Walsh (Fudgie) delivered line after line of side splitting knee slapping nudge your date dialog that was so far over the top that it worked at near genius levels of comedy.

Fat Boy is about the super ego that reside in all of us as we go through life with a me first it’s all mine I take what I want when I want it; taken to it’s ultimate extreme. This attitude is personified and brought to life through the character of Fat Boy and unleashed on an unsuspecting world and allowed to wreak havoc.

The story is told through the insatiable appetite of fat boy and the wife that hates him for not sacking the world for all it has and more. The selfish duo on the brink insanity in their efforts to consume for the sake of consumption rents a room of their shabby flat to help with expenses.

Fudgie the hateful conniving sexually charged nymphomaniac quickly takes up with Handsome, the border, setting up a major but cleverly crafted confrontation with fat boy in nothing less than a Monty Python styled kangaroo court.

This was truly the funniest play I have seen in the last six months and I doubt anybody is going to top it anytime soon.

Lee “The Cool Guy”
C-IT
C-YA

Here are the details:
Tickets are $18.00
Theater: Ohio Theater located at 66 Wooster St in Soho
Phone: 212-966-4844 or 212-868-4444
Clancyproductions.com

Black Box Theater Wednesday @ RetroVision Theater takes a sobering look at the world through the eyes, experiences and pain of writer director Bina Sharif’s Republic Of Iqra now playing at the Theater for the New City on the lower east side.

The setting is war torn modern Iraq (Republic of Iqra) as it faces occupation by the United States government (The Land of Make Believe), happily supported by an Iqri born collaborator in pursuit of the fruits of western culture.

The story is presented powerfully and passionately through the ghosts of a mother and her two daughters, senselessly killed by aimless bombs raining down on the innocent non-combatants in the name of freedom.

From the opening lines of the production the three ghosts plead for recognition of their plight and revenge for their lost lives and dreams.
Bina Sharif, portraying the mother mourning the loss of her beautiful daughters, keeps the pace of the play moving by infusing humor to portray the harsh realties of war as greed, insensitivity and tyrannical imperialism imposes it’s will against the defenseless.

Republic Of Iqra is a tale of explanations. It explains how the birth place of civilization collapsed under the weighted need for oil by an energy hungry nation powerful enough to take it by force. It explained how a powerful nation gained assistance from within through the corrupting of the all too corruptible to accomplish it goals.

This play could been seen as just another Bush bashing by those who fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that wars kill and maim but rarely solve anything.

“Iqra” is the first word of the Koran. I am told it means read and recite God’s truth. While I must confess my ignorance, this play was a good start for me.

Lee “The Cool Guy” Says
C-IT before it’s too late!

C-YA

Here Are the Details:
Performances: Now thru March 19th
Show Times: Thursday-Saturday 8:00pm, Sundays @ 3:00pm
Tickets: $10.00 Call 212-254-1109 or purchase online at
theatermania.com
This Production was made possible by Crystal Field Executive Artistic Director Of the Theater For the New City