Equipped with only an iPhone 4, AndrewAndrew shoots, edits and posts their Insta-Review of “Trust” currently playing at Second Stage Theatre

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Equipped with only an iPhone 4, AndrewAndrew shoots, edits and posts their Insta-Review of “Abe Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party” currently playing at Theatre Row – Acorn Theatre.

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Equipped with only an iPhone 4, AndrewAndrew shoots, edits and posts their Insta-Review of “Keep Your Baggage With You At All Times” currently playing at Theater For The New City, part of the Dream Up Festival.

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From Time Out New York:
If you’ve been to a downtown party lately, chances are you’ve seen the duo known as AndrewAndrew. They’re really pretty hard to miss. These identically dressed neo-dandies wear many crazy hats: DJs, designers, bloggers, all-around scenesters and, it turns out, part-time theater critics. So we are delighted to announce that the Andrews will be joining the TONY team in covering this year’s Fringe Festival—in their own inimitable style. Having rather masochistically determined to see as many Fringe shows this year as possible, the boys will document their expectations and reactions more or less live, via a constant stream of videophone reviews posted right here on Upstaged throughout the festival. Think of them as our first-response team. Their coverage will begin here on Saturday; meanwhile, they kick off their project in the brief video above.

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Equipped with only an iPhone 4, AndrewAndrew shoots, edits and posts their “Insta-Review” of Secrets of the Trade currently playing at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., New York, NY 10022.

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AndrewAndrew gives their first impression of See Rock City & Other Destinations currently playing at The Duke on 42nd Street Theater, 229 W. 42nd Street, Manhattan. For AndrewAndrew’s in depth review, click here.

According to the Macrobiotic diet, you should eat particular types of foods during certain times of the year. In the cold winter months you eat foods with a stronger, hardy, more concentrated quality; while in the hot summer months, you need lighter fair, foods that will not drag you down during the sweltering 90 degree days. If we were to apply this rule to theater, The Transport Group’s See Rock City & Other Destinations, currently showing at The Duke on 42nd Street in Manhattan, is the perfect show for these hot summer nights. It will delight and satisfy your summer need for quality theatre without wearing you down. We think George Ohsawa would agree.

The show is a series of six musical courses all focused on travel (both physical and spiritual) to iconic American landmarks wherein characters are faced with overcoming a particular fear. It might sound like a heavy and laborious night of existentialist theater, but Mathias’ book and Brad Alexander’s music, keep the tone charming, delightful and most decidedly light; the ideal vegetarian tasting menu. All seven actors work perfectly as part of a larger ensemble; each playing different roles throughout the performance and getting highlighted in their own vignette as a featured actor / singer.

Consider each stand-alone vignette as a small tapas plate, an appetizer for the next episode. Even if you never get too full, each scene has enough variety and flavor to satisfy your pallet until the next course arrives. Every scene becomes a savory narrative that ends with the perfect piece of punctuation. Some with a giggle, some with a sigh, while others with a question mark. Granted, some scenes left us more fulfilled and satisfied than others, and others left us with a bitter after taste. However, like a true smorgasbord, each theatergoer will gravitate towards his or her preferred dish; remembering their own personal favorites while forgetting the others.

The result is a scrumptious Summer Picnic that is spread out with numerous standout dishes. A few of our favorite courses included: Stanley Bahorek and Bryce Ryness as Rick & Cutter ditching high school to visit Coney Island while singing the clever, and quite revealing, “You Are My …”; and the laugh-out loud funny tune “Three Fair Queens” sang on the deck of an ocean liner off the coast of Alaska by sisters Lily, Claire & Judy played by Lynne Champlin, Mamie Parris, and Sally Wilfertand. Both these dishes are served in the second half of the meal, so if you find yourself hungry after the first few courses nibble on some bread.

Technically the show is bare bones, borrowing some of the tricks used by established avant guarde theater groups, such as The Wooster Group, to get the most bang for the proverbial buck, not unlike eschewing a main course for a reasonably sized salad. The cast does the maximum amount of stagecraft with the minimum amount of props and set pieces. There is no audience seating, just lawn chairs placed in full view of the audience minutes before the show starts. Like the vast emptiness of the American plains, the set is a large empty space that at times feels a bit cold and vapid. but R. Lee Kennedy’s creative lighting helps fill the void. The lack of props and set never distract from the play, thanks to Jack Cummings III direction this minimalism compliments the emotional journeys on display. A rich dish served simply is all the more bold.

See Rock City & Other Destinations has so much going for it, not least of which is it’s impeccable timing. If this simple and beautiful show had an opening date during the regular Fall / Winter season, it easily might have been overlooked for beefier shows. In these dog days of summer, it’s the perfect sit down meal for a theater audience hungry for a fresh and rewarding summer show.

AndrewAndrew gives their first impression of Viagara Falls currently playing at Little Shubert Theatre, 422 West 42nd Street, Manhattan. For AndrewAndrew’s in depth review, click here.

Warning: Viagara Falls is Not Your Grandkids’ Theater.

Lou Cutell and Joao Machado’s, new comedy, Viagara Falls, is just what the doctor ordered for the 50+ theater goer who needs a little “pick me up”. However, if you are under 40, it might leave you a “little soft”. The thin plot involves two elderly men who have been best buddies since the Korean War; staying together through thick and thin, sharing the experience of becoming widowers, and watching out for each other. They are a couple of real Bosom Buddies. One of them is celebrating their 77th birthday and proposes a night of Viagra and Prostitutes. Things go awry and belly laugh comedy ensues…. but only if you are collecting a retirement check.

Besides offering jokes that fall limp to the younger crowd (they milk every last conceivable gag about sexual incompetence, senility, and hemorrhoids) the script also shows it’s age by being mildly racists and misogynist. Middle Easterners quickly become Jihadist terrorists, “Indian Givers” are mentioned, and there are uncomfortable references to Confucius (pronounced with a bucktoothed accent). This is not the in-your-face conformational humor that vivisects culture and makes the likes of Don Rickles and Joan Rivers legends; rather it’s the vaudevillian brand of zingers and one-liners that lack awareness of the current climate of political progressiveness. Towards the end of the show, the plot breaks down into a Benny Hill type slapstick comedy routine involving the lone female hooker, played by Teresa Ganzel, whose performance made us quite uncomfortable, not because of it’s racy and saucy content, but because it felt like watching a rerun of Laugh-In or a Carry On Films, neither aged well.

Lou Cutell, one of the writers who also plays the main role, is an acting veteran with a remarkable sense of comic timing. He is a smooth and sly comedian who can effortfully put a smile on your face. Bernie Kopell, the actor who plays his best friend, is best known for his portrayal of Doc on long-running television show “The Love Boat”, is suitable as the anal retentive sidekick, but during the 90 minute performance we kept imagining Christopher Walken in the role. That just might be our sick minds at work.

The set (Sydney Litwack), lighting (Joshua Scherr), and sound design (Peter Fitzgerald) served their roles sufficiently. We admired the subtle way the numerous photos of Frank Sinatra populating the set where framed in colors matching the open shirt worn by the Sinatra-obsessed “Charley”. Throughout the production he is constantly mimicking and identifying with the crooner, thus visibly linked to old blue eyes for the duration of the show. The rest of the costumes, designed by veteran designer Bob Mackie look like an afterthought. The designer, best known for his outrageous and over the top outfits for Cher, failed to give any panache or flash (not even a single sequin!) to the prostitute; instead giving all of his the allocated glitz to the two males in the form of foolish looking clown jackets. This inversion of expectations may have looked good on paper but falls flat in execution.

The show is, at times, truly humorous and the rest of the crowd, mostly grey haired, laughed out loud and genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves. The show does have an audience. However, unless you have a grandparent inquiring what show they should see on their next trip to New York, we can not prescribe Viagara Falls; there are so many more potent theatrical pills to be swallowed.

*Thanks Jeff!

Viagara Falls
Little Shubert Theatre
422 West 42nd Street

Ticket Information: Telecharge: (212) 947-8844