STANDING ON CEREMONY
I attended Standing on Ceremony, a collection of 15 short plays on marriage equality presented as a benefit for the Human Rights Campaign, Marriage Equality New York and the New York Theatre Workshop at The Angel Orensanz Center on Monday, June 14.
I enjoyed most of the plays, at least the ones I could hear. The venue was a beautiful setting inside what was apparently a converted church but the acoustics were terrible. I was seated in Row L in chairs set up on a level floor so seeing the actors who were not on an actual stage was difficult. I had to keep leaning this way and that to see them. I thought I would at least be able to hear the dialog but none of the actors were miked in the first grouping of plays and I leaned forward the whole time straining to hear. The rows behind me were simple folding chairs and they seemed to be even lower than our chairs so I'm sure they were having an even harder time seeing and hearing. There was a considerable amount of noise overhead and floor squeaking as the actors were using the balcony above me as backstage. Other people were standing and walking around the perimeter of our seats which was also bothersome. Fortunately they must have gotten some complaints during the short break and mikes were used for the second set of plays so they were more enjoyable.
One of the reasons I wanted to attend was to see many familiar actors who were scheduled to be in the plays. I am a big TV series watcher and even many whose name and credits I didn't know were familiar faces to me. I was very happy to see Kathy Najimy, Judd Hirsch, Matthew Broderick, B. D. Wong, Jillian Armenante from Judging Amy, Eve Best from Nurse Jackie, Debra Monk, a veteran of many TV shows, Dan Butler, "Bulldog" on Frasier, Julianne Nicholson from L&O Criminal Intent and of course Randy. Amy Brenneman had been scheduled to appear and I was disappointed that she wasn't there.
Some of the highlights I remember from what I could hear:
One of my favorite plays was On Facebook which was supposedly taken from an actual Facebook discussion on marriage equality and featured Randy, B.D. Wong and Debra Monk among others. It also made fun of Facebook by having the characters say, "4 people like this" or "I've sent you a P.M." or "smiley face". B.D. Wong started it off so I guess it was supposed to be on his FB page. Randy was Shane who was very outspoken along with his husband Oliver played by Jeffrey Mays. He mugged a lot with funny facial expressions. They also enjoyed a big full mouth kiss at one point. Debra Monk was a woman who had gay friends but didn't believe in gay marriage. She tried to get help from some of the other FB posters but Shane and Oliver were too much for her.
Another highlight for me was Judd Hirsch who did a long eulogy to his dead lover Paul of 52 years. Thank goodness he had a mike and I was able to hear all of it. It was very touching. Kathy Najimy did a fun monologue in a play called Outlaw Wedding about her nephew getting married to his lover and talked about various straight weddings like her niece who was married three times and Brittany Spears' one night wedding.
The Gay Agenda was another one woman monologue which was very funny. She belonged to all sorts of groups that proclaimed the sanctity of marriage with one man, one woman and was against gay marriage though she had many gay friends and rattled on and on while hearing voices in her head that contradicted what she was saying. The best part was when she lamented that so many TV shows and movies had gay characters she was determined to take her children to a nice wholesome movie called "Milk". That brought down the house.
Perhaps the biggest laugh of the night came when Matthew Broderick and Jonathan Cake appeared in a play called Strange Fruit and the first words out of Broderick's mouth were "I love cock!" They were two lovers who had just gotten married after 10 years together even though Matthew had been married and had children before he came to this wonderful conclusion. It was a funny bit but turned heartbreaking when Matthew described how Jonathan went out for some things from the store on their wedding night and was attacked and killed by some surfer boys.
I was disappointed that I could not hear the play that took place in the aisle between Eve Best and Jillian Armenante. Their play Let Them Eat Cake was in 3 parts and I only heard pieces, mostly some of Eve Best's dialog.
The evening ended with most of the cast with the exception of Randy attending a wedding. Since my friends and I only paid to attend the plays, we were not included in the after play festivities which were billed as the wedding reception. I would have liked to talk with those actors that I recognized but I heard that several either didn't stay or left quickly. I did get to talk to Julianne Nicholson who was outside and she encouraged us to go back in and no one would question us but we decided not to crash a party we didn't pay for. Then as we were walking away, Joel Grey passed us on the street and said hello to us.
When I got home I sent an e-mail to Norma Scheck, the Director of Individual Giving and Board Relations for the New York Theatre Workshop, telling her about the problems with acoustics and requesting a transcript so I could read what I missed hearing. I received a nice note back apologizing and saying that they had received many complaints and requests for scripts and she would let me know if they could be released. Despite those difficulties, I was very happy that I went to NY to attend these plays and support the Human Rights Campaign and Marriage Equality New York.
I enjoyed most of the plays, at least the ones I could hear. The venue was a beautiful setting inside what was apparently a converted church but the acoustics were terrible. I was seated in Row L in chairs set up on a level floor so seeing the actors who were not on an actual stage was difficult. I had to keep leaning this way and that to see them. I thought I would at least be able to hear the dialog but none of the actors were miked in the first grouping of plays and I leaned forward the whole time straining to hear. The rows behind me were simple folding chairs and they seemed to be even lower than our chairs so I'm sure they were having an even harder time seeing and hearing. There was a considerable amount of noise overhead and floor squeaking as the actors were using the balcony above me as backstage. Other people were standing and walking around the perimeter of our seats which was also bothersome. Fortunately they must have gotten some complaints during the short break and mikes were used for the second set of plays so they were more enjoyable.
One of the reasons I wanted to attend was to see many familiar actors who were scheduled to be in the plays. I am a big TV series watcher and even many whose name and credits I didn't know were familiar faces to me. I was very happy to see Kathy Najimy, Judd Hirsch, Matthew Broderick, B. D. Wong, Jillian Armenante from Judging Amy, Eve Best from Nurse Jackie, Debra Monk, a veteran of many TV shows, Dan Butler, "Bulldog" on Frasier, Julianne Nicholson from L&O Criminal Intent and of course Randy. Amy Brenneman had been scheduled to appear and I was disappointed that she wasn't there.
Some of the highlights I remember from what I could hear:
One of my favorite plays was On Facebook which was supposedly taken from an actual Facebook discussion on marriage equality and featured Randy, B.D. Wong and Debra Monk among others. It also made fun of Facebook by having the characters say, "4 people like this" or "I've sent you a P.M." or "smiley face". B.D. Wong started it off so I guess it was supposed to be on his FB page. Randy was Shane who was very outspoken along with his husband Oliver played by Jeffrey Mays. He mugged a lot with funny facial expressions. They also enjoyed a big full mouth kiss at one point. Debra Monk was a woman who had gay friends but didn't believe in gay marriage. She tried to get help from some of the other FB posters but Shane and Oliver were too much for her.
Another highlight for me was Judd Hirsch who did a long eulogy to his dead lover Paul of 52 years. Thank goodness he had a mike and I was able to hear all of it. It was very touching. Kathy Najimy did a fun monologue in a play called Outlaw Wedding about her nephew getting married to his lover and talked about various straight weddings like her niece who was married three times and Brittany Spears' one night wedding.
The Gay Agenda was another one woman monologue which was very funny. She belonged to all sorts of groups that proclaimed the sanctity of marriage with one man, one woman and was against gay marriage though she had many gay friends and rattled on and on while hearing voices in her head that contradicted what she was saying. The best part was when she lamented that so many TV shows and movies had gay characters she was determined to take her children to a nice wholesome movie called "Milk". That brought down the house.
Perhaps the biggest laugh of the night came when Matthew Broderick and Jonathan Cake appeared in a play called Strange Fruit and the first words out of Broderick's mouth were "I love cock!" They were two lovers who had just gotten married after 10 years together even though Matthew had been married and had children before he came to this wonderful conclusion. It was a funny bit but turned heartbreaking when Matthew described how Jonathan went out for some things from the store on their wedding night and was attacked and killed by some surfer boys.
I was disappointed that I could not hear the play that took place in the aisle between Eve Best and Jillian Armenante. Their play Let Them Eat Cake was in 3 parts and I only heard pieces, mostly some of Eve Best's dialog.
The evening ended with most of the cast with the exception of Randy attending a wedding. Since my friends and I only paid to attend the plays, we were not included in the after play festivities which were billed as the wedding reception. I would have liked to talk with those actors that I recognized but I heard that several either didn't stay or left quickly. I did get to talk to Julianne Nicholson who was outside and she encouraged us to go back in and no one would question us but we decided not to crash a party we didn't pay for. Then as we were walking away, Joel Grey passed us on the street and said hello to us.
When I got home I sent an e-mail to Norma Scheck, the Director of Individual Giving and Board Relations for the New York Theatre Workshop, telling her about the problems with acoustics and requesting a transcript so I could read what I missed hearing. I received a nice note back apologizing and saying that they had received many complaints and requests for scripts and she would let me know if they could be released. Despite those difficulties, I was very happy that I went to NY to attend these plays and support the Human Rights Campaign and Marriage Equality New York.