This review of The Jackie Mason Musical: Both Sides Of A Famous Love Affair at Manes Studio Theatre was written by Dr. Thomas Robert Stevens and published in Volume X, Issue 8 (2018) of the online edition of Applause! Applause!
The Jackie Mason Musical: Both Sides Of A Famous Love Affair
Starring Sheba Mason
Composer/Playwright/Director: Ginger Reiter
Orchestrator/Arranger: Ike Reeves
Manes Studio Theatre
141 South Wellwood Avenue
Lindenhurst, New York 11757
Reviewed 6/24/18
The Jackie Mason Musical has played in Off-Broadway Theaters and Comedy Clubs in Manhattan and in Florida over the past few years, and now, it has finally come to Long Island. It does not star Jackie Mason but does star Sheba Mason, his daughter. The musical was written by Ginger Reiter, Sheba's mother, who slept with Jackie over many winter seasons whenever he was playing clubs in South Florida. Jackie Mason was a bit of a rascal back then, lining up women to sleep with, and giving them very little in return. Ginger Reiter held out hope that she was special. Perhaps she was one of his favorite "girlfriends" but he made it clear he had no interest in marriage or having children. Ginger used a diaphragm "most of the time," which eventually led to her having Sheba, who plays her mother in this production. Jackie met his daughter a few times but he had to be sued in order to get him to pay child support. They have been estranged ever since.
This is a very interesting musical I am certain you will enjoy. I highly recommend you see it especially if you have not seen any prior incarnations, which were produced under the name, The Jackie Mason Musical: 702 Punchlines & Pregnant. It tells the true story of Jackie and Ginger's "love affair" from Ginger's perspective but it also incorporates Jackie's viewpoint and is fair and balanced, in my opinion. The songs are catchy and fun to listen to. You probably will want to buy the CD. I am still trying to get a copy of the CD myself and Ginger caught me singing one of the numbers ("The Early Bird Special") even after the curtain call. A few new songs have been added in this version of the show and they have been incorporated seamlessly. Tickets cost $27.00 each and can be purchased by visiting www.StudioTheatreLI.com or by calling 631-226-8400. Get your tickets while they last. The show I attended was very close to being sold out. Ginger and Sheba hang out in the lounge after the show to meet the audience, answer questions, and sign autographs.
This production had a few negatives associated with it. The first was that during Act I, there was a problem with the spotlight. The actors were standing off mark and their faces were not fully illuminated. This was not corrected until Act II. Second, there were some inappropriate anachronistic references in the musical that were thrown in for some cheap laughs. They included a reference to cell phones, The Vagina Monologues, and to Nancy Pelosi. I personally feel the play would have been better off without them. Finally, I want to make it clear that if this is the first time you are seeing the musical, you will probably enjoy David R. Gordon's impersonation of Jackie Mason. Your mind will adjust for his insufficiencies in timing and cadence and you will hear Jackie Mason in your head. However, if you have heard many Jackie Mason impersonators over the decades, you will be forced to conclude that Mr. Gordon falls in the bottom 10% of them. Listening to him was pure torture but then, that is only my opinion. You may disagree. Perhaps I am being hard on him because I saw Ian Wehrle play the part in previous productions. Mr. Wehrle falls in the top ten percent of Jackie Mason impersonators and looks the part as well. I strongly urge Sheba Mason to use her influence to bring Ian back as soon as possible. The show needs him and if he does come back before the run ends on July 8, 2018, I will return a second time just to see him perform the part. I should add that all the remaining actors in this musical exhibited extraordinary talent and superior singing ability.
As of last night, Studio Theatre Long Island changed its name to Manes Studio Theatre due to a generous contribution it received from Dr. Harvey Manes, M.D., an orthopedic surgery specialist whose practice is Wellwood Orthopedics located at 256 North Wellwood Avenue in Lindenhurst. Dr. Manes specializes in sports medicine, pain management, arthritis, and arthroscopic surgery. He is a well-known patron of the arts on Long Island.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
Applause! Applause! Review of The Exonerated at The Secret Theatre by Dr. Thomas Robert Stevens
This review of The Exonerated at The Secret Theatre was written by Dr. Thomas Robert Stevens and published in Volume X, Issue 8 (2018) of the online edition of Applause! Applause!
The Exonerated
Written by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
Executive Producer: Richard Mazda
Director: DeMone Seraphin
Assistant Director: Krysta Hibbard
Fight Director/Dramaturg: Meron Langsner
Associate Fight Director/Dramaturg: Cristina Ramos
Stage Manager/Sound Design: Jessica Fornear
Production Manager: Justin Hsu
Lighting Design: Joe Cabrera
Scenic Design: Melissa Anderson
Projections Design: Alexis Achilles
Movement Coordinator: Tamrin Goldberg
The Secret Theatre
44-02 23rd Street
Long Island City, New York 11101
Reviewed 6/2/18
The Exonerated opened Off-Broadway on October 10, 2002 at 45 Bleecker Theatre and ran there through March 7, 2004. It was written by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen based on interviews they conducted with 40 former death row inmates who had been freed by the state after having served as much as 22 years in prison. The original production, which ran for 608 performances, won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. It has also won the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Champion of Justice Award and Court TV's Scales of Justice Award. The work combines first-person narrative and dramatic recreations to tell the stories of six wrongfully convicted inmates and the impact that had on their lives and the people who loved them. Those featured include Delbert Tibbs (James S. Washington), Kerry Max Cook (Tommy Norton), Gary Gauger (Mark A. Keeton), David Keaton (Greg K. Warren), Robert Earl Hayes (Alphonso Walker, Jr.), and Sunny Jacobs (Laura Lockwood). Also in the cast are Chelsea Davis, Ruby Littman, Tyler Waage, and Sean Jarrell.
This is an emotionally riveting play with an extraordinarily talented cast. In turn, we hear the stories of six wrongfully convicted individuals. One gave a coerced confession while another provided a "vision statement" that was used as a confession. There is a woman who was in a car with a man who shot two police officers and a young man, who worked as a bartender in a gay bar, who was railroaded with little evidence and charged with murdering a young woman he once slept with. There is no doubt that a lack of knowledge regarding one's rights combined with aggressive police tactics have led to false confessions. It is also true that circumstantial evidence has led to the wrongful conviction of many innocent people. The tragedy of a wrongly convicted individual is something every person of good faith wishes could be avoided. However, as long as juries continue to convict people based on eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, mistakes will happen. There is a delicate balance between trying to avoid incarcerating innocent people and allowing guilty individuals to walk free. It is also true, as related in this play, that the cost of being wrongfully convicted is extremely high, not only for the inmate but also for those who love the man or woman incarcerated. This play shows how a wrongful conviction can not only destroy the life of the person convicted but also of that person's family and friends.
The play is very dramatic and moving. We are warned that if something like a wrongful conviction can happen to some of the characters in this play, it can happen to you as well. The reality of being in prison is also explicitly shown. For example, three men "pulled a train" on a young man in prison and the rape scene was vividly depicted. That straight man, who was widely thought to be gay, once aspired to be "all that plus a bag of potato chips." He is now horribly humbled and will never be able to reclaim his innocence. The Exonerated has a substantive book that follows the characters from the time of their arrest, through their conviction and time in prison, to their exoneration and adjustment to life after their release. I discovered only two errors in the book. One was when a Judge was ruling on an Objection and on an Application made by defense counsel. Objections are "sustained" or "overruled." Applications are "granted" or "denied." This play has universal appeal, no matter what one's political ideology may be. For that reason, I thought it unnecessary to have a character, who played an attorney say, "I was conservative and also very stupid." Perhaps it would've been better for her to say, "I was naive and also very stupid" because any intelligent conservative would be aware of the injustices that currently exist in our criminal justice system. The problem that remains is how we can reform it to make it more just for all who are caught up in it and the answer can't just be to let criminals walk free or to not arrest them in the first place. That only results in worse consequences down the line.
James S. Washington was brilliant as the poet Delbert Tibbs. He really held this production together and his poetry moved me. An example was the line, "It's not easy to be a poet here, yet I sing." The ever optimistic Sunny Jacobs, refusing to be a victim, stated, "If you rub two sticks together and keep crying on them, you are never going to make a spark." The Exonerated runs through June 9, 2018. Tickets cost $18.00 ($15.00 for students) in advance and can be purchased at www.SecretTheatre.com or by calling 718-392-0722. Tickets are $20.00 each if purchased at the door. I highly recommend you see this play!
The Exonerated
Written by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
Executive Producer: Richard Mazda
Director: DeMone Seraphin
Assistant Director: Krysta Hibbard
Fight Director/Dramaturg: Meron Langsner
Associate Fight Director/Dramaturg: Cristina Ramos
Stage Manager/Sound Design: Jessica Fornear
Production Manager: Justin Hsu
Lighting Design: Joe Cabrera
Scenic Design: Melissa Anderson
Projections Design: Alexis Achilles
Movement Coordinator: Tamrin Goldberg
The Secret Theatre
44-02 23rd Street
Long Island City, New York 11101
Reviewed 6/2/18
The Exonerated opened Off-Broadway on October 10, 2002 at 45 Bleecker Theatre and ran there through March 7, 2004. It was written by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen based on interviews they conducted with 40 former death row inmates who had been freed by the state after having served as much as 22 years in prison. The original production, which ran for 608 performances, won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. It has also won the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Champion of Justice Award and Court TV's Scales of Justice Award. The work combines first-person narrative and dramatic recreations to tell the stories of six wrongfully convicted inmates and the impact that had on their lives and the people who loved them. Those featured include Delbert Tibbs (James S. Washington), Kerry Max Cook (Tommy Norton), Gary Gauger (Mark A. Keeton), David Keaton (Greg K. Warren), Robert Earl Hayes (Alphonso Walker, Jr.), and Sunny Jacobs (Laura Lockwood). Also in the cast are Chelsea Davis, Ruby Littman, Tyler Waage, and Sean Jarrell.
This is an emotionally riveting play with an extraordinarily talented cast. In turn, we hear the stories of six wrongfully convicted individuals. One gave a coerced confession while another provided a "vision statement" that was used as a confession. There is a woman who was in a car with a man who shot two police officers and a young man, who worked as a bartender in a gay bar, who was railroaded with little evidence and charged with murdering a young woman he once slept with. There is no doubt that a lack of knowledge regarding one's rights combined with aggressive police tactics have led to false confessions. It is also true that circumstantial evidence has led to the wrongful conviction of many innocent people. The tragedy of a wrongly convicted individual is something every person of good faith wishes could be avoided. However, as long as juries continue to convict people based on eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, mistakes will happen. There is a delicate balance between trying to avoid incarcerating innocent people and allowing guilty individuals to walk free. It is also true, as related in this play, that the cost of being wrongfully convicted is extremely high, not only for the inmate but also for those who love the man or woman incarcerated. This play shows how a wrongful conviction can not only destroy the life of the person convicted but also of that person's family and friends.
The play is very dramatic and moving. We are warned that if something like a wrongful conviction can happen to some of the characters in this play, it can happen to you as well. The reality of being in prison is also explicitly shown. For example, three men "pulled a train" on a young man in prison and the rape scene was vividly depicted. That straight man, who was widely thought to be gay, once aspired to be "all that plus a bag of potato chips." He is now horribly humbled and will never be able to reclaim his innocence. The Exonerated has a substantive book that follows the characters from the time of their arrest, through their conviction and time in prison, to their exoneration and adjustment to life after their release. I discovered only two errors in the book. One was when a Judge was ruling on an Objection and on an Application made by defense counsel. Objections are "sustained" or "overruled." Applications are "granted" or "denied." This play has universal appeal, no matter what one's political ideology may be. For that reason, I thought it unnecessary to have a character, who played an attorney say, "I was conservative and also very stupid." Perhaps it would've been better for her to say, "I was naive and also very stupid" because any intelligent conservative would be aware of the injustices that currently exist in our criminal justice system. The problem that remains is how we can reform it to make it more just for all who are caught up in it and the answer can't just be to let criminals walk free or to not arrest them in the first place. That only results in worse consequences down the line.
James S. Washington was brilliant as the poet Delbert Tibbs. He really held this production together and his poetry moved me. An example was the line, "It's not easy to be a poet here, yet I sing." The ever optimistic Sunny Jacobs, refusing to be a victim, stated, "If you rub two sticks together and keep crying on them, you are never going to make a spark." The Exonerated runs through June 9, 2018. Tickets cost $18.00 ($15.00 for students) in advance and can be purchased at www.SecretTheatre.com or by calling 718-392-0722. Tickets are $20.00 each if purchased at the door. I highly recommend you see this play!