Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Two more solo shows continue to demonstrate the astonishing versatility of the form: Transport Group’s STRANGE INTERLUDE and John Leguizamo’s LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS

• By drediman
• November 19, 2017
• No Comments

This past week, I visited two solo shows, continuing to demonstrate the astonishing versatility of the form …

David Greenspan in Transport Group’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude” at the Irondale Center.

David Greenspan is giving perhaps the performance of the season, on- or off-Broadway, in Transport Group’s one-man version of Eugene O’Neill’s unwieldy and problematic Strange Interlude (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn. In terms of sheer herculean guts alone (O’Neill’s epic saga clocks in around six hours), Mr. Greenspan’s performance is certain to become the stuff of theater lore. But it’s the panache and respect with which Mr. Greenspan treats the material that’s truly staggering. By playing all the parts, Mr. Greenspan and his director Jack Cummings III have solved many of the problems that have plagued this play (length, melodramatic histrionics). Mr. Greenspan speeds through the play furiously (yet with great care), in effect giving the piece more of a storytelling rather than a dramatic quality. Mr. Cummings staging also smartly breaks up the play, having it performed in several custom-made spaces. The result is an immersive fever dream of a production that I won’t soon forget, and the most successful and strangely reverent production of Strange Interlude I’ve seen (I’ve seen it three times!). Sadly, the production closed this weekend.

John Leguizamo in “Latin History for Morons” at Studio 54.

This past week also marked the opening of the Broadway transfer of John Leguizamo’s entertaining Latin History for Morons (RECOMMENDED). As a performer, Mr. Leguizamo is irresistible; he’s one of the most charismatic and loved performers I’ve seen take the stage (Latin History is the third solo piece of his I’ve seen, after Freak and Sexaholix). When I caught this irreverent take on Latin history vis-a-vis Mr. Leguizamo’s familial and cultural legacy at the Public Theater last season, I thought it was heartfelt and and entertaining, if about twenty minutes too long. For the most part, I still feel the same way. In a larger theater, the energy level is more palpable than in the intimate Anspacher space at the Public. Thankfully, this means that some of the more excessive segments of the show now play more naturally. This allows the warmth of the script to shine through, particularly the “scenes” involving his family members, which seemed a tad manipulative Off-Broadway. If you haven’t seen Mr. Leguizamo perform live, you owe it to yourself to get to Studio 54 to experience one of the singular and essential voices in American theater.

STRANGE INTERLUDE
Off-Broadway, Play
Transport Group at the Irondale Center
Approximately 6 hours (with three intermissions)
Closed

LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS
Broadway, Play
Studio 54
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 25