Are you in the mood for an old-fashioned parlor game of “who’s conning whom?” None of the three female characters in Victor L. Cahn’s Villainous Company are to be trusted, you see, and unless they are not what they claim to be, a lot of their dialogue rings false. Or perhaps it is playwright Cahn who is doing the conning and we in the audience are the conned. … [Read more...]
MNM’s ‘Man of La Mancha’ true to the mad knight’s idealism
Although based on a novel written in 1605, a musical drama about a fervent idealist facing a stubbornly vindictive government can seem surprisingly timely today. The musical in question is Man of La Mancha, based on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which opened on Broadway in 1965, an era of Vietnam War protests. But such are the show’s sweeping themes of compassion, good … [Read more...]
‘I Love You, You’re Perfect …,’ no better in update, but MNM performers make it work
A lot has changed in the past 22 years, and much has remained the same. Take, for instance, a modest musical revue about relationships, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, which opened off-Broadway in 1996 and ran 5,003 performances. Along the way, the show became an international hit too, translated into at least 17 languages and entertaining audiences in dozens … [Read more...]