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I just want to open this post by saying: The wait was TOTALLY worth it!

As some of you may know, I’ve actually been looking forward to seeing Wayne Krantz at 55 Bar for several weeks, and was even forced to postpone it once. I could have simply gone to see a different musician at 55 Bar that may have been playing at a more convenient time for me, but after having heard Wayne Krantz’s music on his website, I opted to wait until his next performance. Finally, on Thursday I got to see the man play, and it was everything I’d hoped for! So lets break it down:

The Scene

Having been checking out cultural events and local attractions in New York for a little over a month now, I’ve begun to realize that most things worth doing in this city are going to have a line at the door, but I didn’t think that this particular bar would give me any trouble. Suffice it to say, I was wrong. Very wrong! Even arriving forty minutes before the show (scheduled to start at 10:00pm), I was a good twenty people back from the entrance to the bar, where a bouncer was holding people up.

I learned from the people in line that while Wayne Krantz is, in fact, a particular crowd pleaser at 55 Bar, lines and packed performances are more or less the norm when live music is scheduled there. Once I got inside I could immediately see why that was. The place is pretty small for even a very moderate bar crowd, let alone the numbers brought in by any kind of live performance. As I mentioned, I was about twenty people back from the front and I was one of the last lucky few that got a seat. I’m sure the place was filled to capacity, as a lot of people where standing for the show, and I’m equally sure that a good portion of the people lined up behind me didn’t even make it inside, so the moral of this story is, get there early!

Once you are inside though, 55 Bar is actually a pretty cool place. It’s a little loud, but the background music before the show fit just right with the atmosphere, the people around me were friendly, and there was a very attentive waitress who came around taking orders, which was good because i doubt anyone would have gotten up for drinks for fear of losing their seats. By the time Wayne started his set, I’d been sitting in the bar for about twenty minutes, drinking and chatting with some of the others at my table who were apparently big fans, and this wasn’t a bad thing.

The Music

Simply put, Wayne Krantz rocks! I’d specifically selected his show over many other possibilities, based solely on what I had heard on his website, and even considering the long wait in line and the crowded bar, I wasn’t disappointed with my decision. The recorded music on the website was good, but what I heard him play live blew that out of the water.

Wayne played with a lot of intensity and you could definitely tell that the crowd in the bar was digging it, even the ones who weren’t specifically Wayne Krantz fans, such as myself. As I watched, I found myself thinking that he actually seemed excited to be playing for us, the maybe fifty or sixty people who were lucky enough to make it inside to see him. Knowing that he does this every Thursday night, I would have thought that it might seem a little more run-of-the-mill to him, but he rocked out like it was his last show on earth (so it seemed to me) and I was totally absorbed in the music.

I’m not exactly a music guru, so I won’t try and actually classify or describe his sound. you’ll just have to visit his website and check it out yourself, which I highly recommend if you think you may want to see one of his fantastic live performances. My one regret was that I didn’t take more time to familiarize myself with the music before going to see him play, but the show was great nonetheless.

The Bottom Line

This show cost me $15 at the door, but considering that the ticket covers the cost of some great musical entertainment and doubles as two free drink vouchers, I’d even go so far as to say it was a bargain at that price! The only downside to the experience was the crowd, and incidentally the necessity of arriving early to get in and get a seat.

All told, this event took about two and a half hours, including the wait at the door, and cost me a little over $20 bucks for the ticket, an additional drink and a tip for the waitress. There was going to be a second show, but I think the bar staff would have ushered most of us out so that the next long line of people could get in to see it, had I not decided to leave at that point. In any case, the show was great and well worth the cost. I would definitely do this again, though maybe on a night when the place isn’t so crowded.

Coming Up

My next event is going to be First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum next weekend, so keep an eye out for updates and I’ll let you know if it’s worth the hype!

Hi all! As you know, I had planned on going to hear some live music tomorrow night at 55 Bar, but due to a number of unforseen circumstance, I don’t think I’ll be able to make that event as planned. Fortunately, according to 55 Bar’s online schedule, Wayne Krantz plays just about every thursday like clockwork, so I’m simply going to postpone this live music segment of my cultural explorations until next week.

In the meantime, don’t think I’ll be slacking this weekend! I’m not sure what I’ll do in lieu of live jazz, but I’ll think of something, and as soon as I know, you’ll know. Any suggestions are especially welcome!

THE THEATRE

Despite having to wade through ankle deep drifts of snow, ice and slush, I managed to just make the 8:00 pm show at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre that I had been planning on seeing Friday night. As you may recall, I reserved a ticket, but it didn’t seem to make a difference, as I wouldn’t have been able to make it up to the ticket counter in time to claim it anyway. Fortunately, for the 8:00 pm show, there wasn’t much of a crowd and I was able to wait inside, which was pretty crucial considering the weather.

Inside, the theatre was comfortably appointed with plush theatre seats set around three sides of the floor-level stage. A blackout curtain surrounded the theatre area, and beverages were being served out of what looked like an impromptu bar by the entrance. Throw in an effects booth in the far left corner and a small film crew taping all the action, and you’ve got the UCB Theatre.

THE IMPROV

The show I’d come to see was broken into two different acts: Pain Cake by Alana Harrison and The Al Pacino School of Acting by Cesar Gracia. We kicked off the evening with Pain Cake, an interesting mix of improv and video commentary with the goal of illuminating the meaning of life through a comedic study of pain. Alana Harrison approached the audience in the guise of a scientist from Science Mountain, sciencing her way to greater understanding by observing people’s reactions to pain. The improv that ensued included a study of a frat guy at funeral, Bjork assisting the bomb squad and George Bush being scolded by his wife for sulking under the bed. As with most improv shows, there were a lot of funny moments, but also a few jokes that didn’t quite hit the mark. Still, it was an entertaining diversion after a particularly long day at work.

The second act however was an unqualified success! Cesar Gracia didn’t seem like the perfect match for an Al Pacino impersonator at first, but as the act picked up momentum and he started pulling people out of the audience to perform with him, the portrayal of Al Pacino’s special brand of showmanship became altogether believable and hillarious.

The first and most important lesson that Al Pacino had to teach us was the proper use of that most delightful of all curses, the word “F*ck.” Apparently f*ck is the fulcrum upon which all true dramatic talent rests, and so we excercised its use frequently and with great gusto while reenacting scenes alternately from fairy tales and old Al Pacino movies. One pair of audience members was brought down to the stage to play Romeo and Juliet, as portrayed by Al Pacino and… well, Al Pacino! Another group did scenes from The Devil’s Advocate and Humpty Dumpty. I was called down to play one of the three little pigs, as Al Pacino tried to blow our house down. Needless to say, we told him to f*ck off. By the time the show was over, the stage was littered with the bodies of audience members, replica automatic weapons, and one very exultantly dead Al Pacino. I laughed my f*cking ass off!

THE BOTTOM LINE

The show cost me $8 for about an hour and a half of entertainment, minus about fifteen minutes worth of setup. The line for the 8:00 pm show wasn’t bad at all, but when I was leaving the theatre, the line for the 9:30 show stretched down the block and around the corner despite the nasty mix of snow, slush and hail steadily pummeling the patient theatregoers. I’d recommend going to an earlier show, or at least getting there early if you’re going to see one of the later shows, as the theatre isn’t that big, and would surely fill up under more favorable conditions.

The improv shows obviously can be hit or miss, such is the nature of improv, but the overall experience was a lot of fun, and well worth the time and money. Because of the long line and bad weather, I opted not to try for the second show even though i had planned to see it, but don’t let that discourage you: it was a great night!

EVENT SCHEDULED FOR 3/22/07

It’s been a while since I’ve heard live jazz, or any live music at all for that matter, so I’ve decided to rectify the situation by devoting myself to a night of sweet tunes for week #5. After checking around for a little while, I found an artist whose music really stood out to me, Wayne Krantz, who is currently playing Thursday nights at 55 Bar in Greenwich Village. I intend to head over to 55 Bar for Mr. Krantz’s 10pm show on the 22nd to see him in action, but I’d also like to encourage all my readers to check out his site and take a listen. If you like what you hear, get your butt over to 55 Bar! I’ll see you there!

OVERVIEW

If Keanu can do, so can you, at Point Break Live! Those of you familiar with the early nineties Keanu classic, Point Break, are bound to enjoy this raucous, bizarre, totally irreverent stage adaptation created by Jamie Hook (director) and New Rock Theater Productions. Together, they’ve managed to put together a wild show complete with killer special effects, suntan oil, action, drama, homoerotic surfers and the ever-popular “Keanu Kam.” There was just one problem: what kind of stage actor could possibly deliver a performance as dramatic and moving as the one Keanu Reeves brought to the movie? The answer, it turns out, was pretty obvious. Instead of casting a professional actor to play Keanu’s groundbreaking role as the washed out college football star turned FBI agent, Johnny Utah, they chose you!

Yes, the lead role in this production is, in fact, a volunteer from the audience. The selection process takes a good ten minutes or so as volunteers are asked to do Keanu impressions and calisthenics until the audience can choose the one who they think can best channel the “Universal Spirit of Keanu.” While the volunteer is in back getting changed, the director will give you an introduction and remind you to don one of the ponchos that can be found on every seat in the theater. Warning: you WILL get wet!

KEANU’S BIG ADVENTURE

The show begins with our hero, Keanu/Johnny Utah/Random Audience Member, going into his first day as a rookie FBI agent in the bank robbery division. But you must be wondering, if he’s just some guy from the audience…how does he know what to say? Not to worry. Our intrepid audience member won’t be alone up there. Throughout the show, he’ll be “assisted” by a cue card lady in kneepads who follows him around prompting him with his lines, and filling in the blanks with a healthy dose of Keanu’s internal monologue. For the most part, you can think of her as Keanu’s brain, only a lot prettier.

Meanwhile, over the course of his adventure, the audience volunteer will infiltrate the aforementioned group of homoerotic surfers, have a comically incoherent relationship with the surfer chick Tyler, played by a an aspiring child actress, and get tackled a whole lot by his cue card lady as he learns to surf, live and love Keanu-style.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Tickets cost $23 with service charge from Theatermania.com or you can get tickets at the door for $20. For this you get about twenty minutes of introduction and Keanu selection, ninety minutes of show and a ten minute intermission but I recommend that you also spend some time before and after the show in the lounge adjacent to the theater getting to know your fellow theatergoers. After all, who wouldn’t want to meet the kinds of colorful characters that get excited to see a show like this? If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to talk to one or two of the actors as well, and to sweeten the deal even more, beer and wine are available in the lounge and you are encouraged to drink and eat meatball sandwiches (available in the second act) during the performance.

All in all, this was a great early evening activity that will keep you entertained for hours and should fit seamlessly into any other plans you may have for your Friday night. I personally saw this show on its extended run, but have no fear! I’m told that due to the shows apparent popularity, they’ve decided to extend the performance dates yet again, so you can (in theory) still get tickets through theatermania.com, or just hop on over to the Milagro Theater on the Lower East Side Friday or Saturday nights to catch all the action!

Looks like week 4 is gonna be a double wammie! I’ve decided on comedy for this round of NYC culture, and the Upright Citizens Brigade has answered the call, so next friday, March 16th, I’ll be heading up to UCBT for a night of improv. Though I’m assured that you can pay at the door, I’ve gone ahead and reserved tickets for the 8pm and 9:30pm shows, $8 each because it’s the weekend (for weekdays most shows are only $5).

On top of that, it’s going to be St. Patrick’s Day, and even though i’ll be in Tampa, I’ll still be reporting in on whatever it is that Floridians do to celebrate this jolly occasion. For a full list of future and past events, see my upcoming events page!

EVENT ON MARCH 9, 2007

That’s right, another week, another taste of New York culture. Next thing on the list is Point Break Live! a live performance based on the wonderfully ridiculous movie of the same name. The movie featured such Hollywood hotshots as Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, and Patrick Swayze, but this time the star of the show is a volunteer from the audience! How great is that?

As Friday night and my first NYC literature reading approached, I have to confess that I got a little nervous. While I typically try to include others in my plans, I had purposely set this event apart as something that I would attend alone, so as not to be distracted or deterred from my cultural quest. Unfortunately it made me antsy, realizing that I would have no fallback if the reading turned out to be something dreadful or dull, but at this point I was committed, so after work I got on the train and made my way to KGB Bar.

Despite trying to leave a little early, I ended up arriving about fifteen minutes into the first reading, which was a shame, because the first reader turned out to be absolutely hillarious. I quickly found myself laughing along with everyone else in the room as he calmly walked us through his diary-esque depiction of one unfortunate man’s attempts to cure a stubborn sinus infection with a series of increasingly bizarre herbal remedies. The deadpan delivery, along with the comical absurdity of his character’s mounting plight were enough to make this an instant hit with me, as well as with the rest of the assembled listeners, who showed their appreciation with chuckles, giggles and outright peels of laughter. As far as I could tell, that poor sick man never did get cured, but at least we all could take something positive from his experience.

After being primed by this first author, we were introduced to the second reader, whose work was considerably more serious. To me, this requires a different approach to listening if you want to get anything out of what is being said. In my experience, reading a good piece of literature is a very personal, even introspective act, so finding ways to appreciate the same work in a public setting can be daunting, but by no means impossible. I think that the key is not to get too caught up in your surroundings. I try to clear my mind as best I can, focusing solely on the voice of the reader. I find that if you ignore everyone around you, and allow your mind to add a few layers of image and sound to the scene, you might just find yourself transported. At this point I should note that KGB Bar proved to be an excellent venue for this sort of focus. Thanks to a curteous audience and a competent reading, I was actually able to get a lot out of this particular performance.

Finally, following the serious second reader, the third and final reader, Melissa Kirsch, stepped up to the podium. As she began to speak, I got a sense that this woman would be, in some way, the headliner of the evening, and I wasn’t disappointed. While she declined to read from her major work, The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything, she chose instead to read some of her poetry and discuss, as she put it, “misery.” This may sound like the beginning of a long and painful episode, but it was actually quite the opposite. I’m not typically a connoisseur of poetry, but i found her readings to be fantastic, witty and in some cases very funny. Even her discussion of what she described as misery was in fact an entertaining and inspirational tale of how she came to be a writer, a journey that many in the audience could commiserate with.

After the readings were finished, I was able to mingle with the other patrons and even speak briefly with Ms. Kirsch. While I hadn’t necessarily anticipated bumping into any of the readers or taking time to chat with the rest of the audience after the event was over, the post-reading atmosphere that pervaded the bar was very relaxed and sociable. The relative smallness of the space worked to great advantage here, and I found this part of the evening every bit as enjoyable as the readings themselves. All told, my first cultural expedition was everything I had hoped it could be, and it had cost me nothing more than than about three hours of my life. Dare I say, “Mission Accomplished?”

Unfortuntely I’m playing catch-up this week as I’ve been somewhat absorbed in setting up and learning about this blog that I’m writing, but now I’m finally ready to provide an account of my premier adventure in the city. Since the post ran kind of long, I’ve broken it into two parts, of which this is the first:

After having made the decision to seriously pursue this project late last week, I had to come up with something great to start the ball rolling. I immediately decided that due to lack of proper time to plan, this wouldn’t be a fancy outing. That meant nothing requiring an advanced ticket purchase, or other special preperations of any kind. Thus, with these restrictions in mind, I set to work brainstorming some ideas. After initially casting about for inspiration, I finally decided on something that I had thought of several times since arriving here but never acted on: a reading of poetry or literature.

Now naturally not all readings are what you might consider accessible to the average person, but fortunately this is New York, and as I quickly learned, there are a variety of readings being performed literally every single night. One merely has to choose.

I personally went the Google route and found MurphGuide.com which provided a few solid leads. From there, I checked out some of the venues and their events, and ultimately opted for a reading at KGB Bar simply called “Paragraph.” I did not know what this meant, or even really what the bar would be like, but then the whole point of this is to try new things, so I decided to take the plunge. After a quick lookup on HopStop, I was all set to get out and experience my first taste of New York culture.