BWW: TONYS 2008 Q&A: Raúl Esparza

TONYS 2008 Q&A: Raúl Esparza

by Eddie Varley

The brilliant ensemble work of Daniel Sullivan's production of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming was one of the true rewards of this theater season. The cast brought Pinter’s razor sharp classic to revelatory life, along with instilling it with a delicious dose of black humor that proved both accessible and heart breaking. The company of actors included Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Eve Best, this year’s Tony nominee for Best Actress in a Play, James Frain, Gareth Saxe and Raúl Esparza, himself an honoree this year for Best Featured Actor.

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The Last Five Years [Toronto]

Happy Memorial Day weekend to those observing the Monday.

Happy Sunday to those not observing the holiday Monday.

And I'm not sure why I'm already up and much too energetic for a 7AM Sunday. :( Suffice it to say, I'll probably go and try to catch another hour of sleep if'n I can.

So, yesterday absinthelisa and I went to see a small and intimate production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years and as it's become my habit, I had more electronics on me than would be safe for a multitude of reasons.

I'll have more thoughts written up when I gain some coherence. :)

In the mean time, a song. :)

01 Still Hurting
mp3 | 7.26MB
hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/2sewcm

INFORMATION:

The Last Five Years
Written and Comped by Jason Robert Brown

CAST: Karita Mullins (Cathy), Scott Pietrangelo (Jamie)

Recorded: May 24, 2008 evening

Playbill: Celia Ends Run at New World Stages May 25; It's Miami-Bound

Celia Ends Run at New World Stages May 25; It's Miami-Bound

By Andrew Gans
May 25, 2008

Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz plays its final performance at New World Stages May 25.

Celia began previews Aug. 28, 2007, and officially opened Sept. 26. When it closes, the production will have played a total of 25 previews and 269 regular performances.

In a recent statement Celia producer Henry Cardenas said, "It's never easy to end a show, especially one this special. My hat's off to the cast, the crew and the audiences, who night after night helped bring Celia back to life in such a magical way.

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The Last Five Years [Toronto] part II

Beyond knowing that Julia Murney sang Cathy in 2006 (at Freud's Playhouse in UCLA), I'd never really paid much attention to JRB's The Last Five Years. I understood the general premise (two storylines meeting in the middle, intersect and then separate - a bit like Merrily We Roll Along with the whole 'reverse' storyline) but I'd never actively sought out L5Y audios, even though I'm sure that I would have liked to hear renditions by Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott respectively.

The Bread and Circus is a very small and intimate venue - seating 48 and there's no more than say... six feet from the furthest audience member to the stage front.

Thoughts on JRB's writings - Jamie's songs are so much stronger than Cathy, and regardless of how much it was based upon his own life experiences, I find that this becomes an in-balance within the musical - Jamie gets the funnier/audience-attention-grabbing songs and in general, the character of Cathy is left very much an empty canvas to be filled.

So, this audio's been tracked out to 192kbps. My deepest thanks to absinthelisa for suggesting the show :) A return trip to Kensington market should yield more 'hole in the wall' places for empanadas :)

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The Last Five Years [UCLA Freud Playhouse] 2006.01.30

So, I mustn't talk about TL5Y with Julia Murney without posting the audio.

This is irnbruise's master... ETA: Please excuse my incorrect ramblings.

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