11
Oct
2009
NYC: 2 Weeks of Family, Friends, and Home
Once again, New York has revitalized me. Two weeks of amazing times with outstanding people in the best city in the world. Pics now, shoutouts after, then a theatre review. Get it.
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- Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the East River
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- Foxwoods Casino, CT Up at 1/2 NL
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- 59th and 2nd
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- View from 43rd and 10th, 44th Floor
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- Miguel and Mia
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- Citi Field: Mets vs. Astros
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- Midtown Tunnel
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- A program. For a reading. Of a play. Review below.
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- Tribeca Bridge into 2nd Fl Stuy entrance
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- West Side Hwy from Tribeca Bridge
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- Stuyvesant High School front entrance
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- Stuy main lobby
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- Stuy chorus room
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- Stuy 5th Fl cafeteria overlooking Hudson
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- “Pro Scientia Atque Sapientia” – For Knowledge and Wisdom
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- Jersey from Battery Park
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- Empire State baby
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- Midtown West and a bit of Jersey
Okay, shout to first and foremost the fam, for feeding and housing me. Shout to my boy Shan, and my boy Frank, welcome back! Shout to Miguel, Annie, and Mia, the sweetest baby alive! Shout to Matt, Katie, and Ben, you did good Matt, don’t fuck it up. Shout to Nicole and Beth, amazing reconnect. Shout to Natalie, and Julian at NYU doin it crazy. Shout to Jessica, handle that shit girl…and Edmond, holla at me in LA homey! Shout to Eilis. Shout to Pearly. Shout to Adria, happy bday! Shout to Reggie, until a better day man. Shout to Sally Taylor, haha! Shout to my manager, James, and Roger at Suskin Management. Shout to Jay and Danielle at TalentWorks NY. Shout to Meg Simon! Shout to Ms. Hall and the Stuyvesant High School Concert Chorus and Chamber Choir, you guys rock! Shout to MacKenzie.
And now…
Another J. Wu on Broadway entry:
Okay, it’s not really a Broadway show, it was a reading at TACT (The Actors Company Theatre). Couldn’t get excited about too much actually on a Broadway stage this visit. And the TACT Studio has a Broadway address, so here we go.
“The Devil Passes” by Benn Levy at TACT – October 3, 2009
Recent NYU MFA grad, and my good friend, MacKenzie Meehan, invited me to see her perform in this reading. I show up not knowing anything about the play, the playwright, or the producing company. I ride up a small, shaky, industrial elevator at 900 Broadway to the 9th floor, excited to see my first bit of theatre while back in the city.
From the director’s intro to curtain call, I was reminded yet again that New York City sets a bar for stage work that much of the country struggles to achieve (ahem…Los Angeles…). While huge names quite often headline productions on Broadway to varying results, “The Devil Passes” represented for me the very best of the intimate, small end of theatre.
The play selection committee at TACT deserves a hefty percentage of the kudos. Benn Levy, the playwright, born in 1900 England, writes a play immaculately balanced with wit, humor, all that is language, and questions of social restraints vs. personal ambitions.
The actors had four days of rehearsal to put this up. Coming off of four months in LA, I have a deeper hatred for shitty actors, and consequently an even sharper ability to recognize great ones. Between the prowess, the sense of play, and the impeccable ability to engage, the whole cast gave us a range of colors that held the standard very high indeed, and I applaud them.
Finally, props to the director Scott Alan Evans for finding such a great balance between simplicity and poignancy with this project. Nothing was overdone, which made his specific choices even more dynamic. Everything flowed effortlessly. Bravo.
Bril. NYC, I love you. Now back to LA, back to work. Until the holiday season in a couple of months, New York!
“New York!!!!!!!!…concrete jungle where dreams are made of…there’s nothing you can’t do…..” – Alicia Keys in Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”
Keep bumpin it NY. Anthems don’t get old.
Not up on Blueprint 3? You’re behind.