Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – ROBOTS, SEX VARIANTS, and a FAVORITE SONG: Ethan Lipton, The Civilians, and Francesca D’Uva play with the musical theater form

• By drediman
• November 26, 2024
• No Comments

This weekend, I encountered a trio of one act Off-Broadway musicals that experiment with the musical theater form, pushing the boundaries of the popular genre in disarming ways. As per usual, read on for my thoughts.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG
Playwrights Horizons
Through December 8

Perhaps the most impactful of the bunch is comedian Francesca D’Uva’s new solo musical This is My Favorite Song (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which you can currently catch at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons. Much like Sam Kissajukian’s can’t miss show 300 Paintings at the Vineyard Theatre, the unique piece is an autobiographical account of a difficult time in D’Uva life, namely the passing of her father during the pandemic due to Covid and her subsequent disillusionment with comedy. Fundamentally, the show exists as a way for D’Uva to process her grief, while allowing her to test the waters as she re-emerges as a practicing comedian. The show is comprised of a series of self-depracating vignettes in which she recounts bittersweet memories of her father, in addition to various other formative experiences (e.g., a school Christmas pageant, nanny duties, a high school swim team awards ceremony, etc.). In the performance, there’s a tug-of-war tension between wryness and honesty that can be misconstrued as tentativeness or an ongoing effort to more effectively incorporate caustic humor into life’s story. Don’t be fooled, however — the shifts in tone are incisive and often unpredictable, giving way to slicing observational humor that’s all the more disorienting given Sam Max’s subtle, stealthy direction and D’Uva’s unassuming appearance and easygoing demeanor. Also not so easy to pin down are her musical interludes, which initially have an air of nonchalant parody. Performed with frank exactitude and deadpan expression, the meandering songs invariably develop into fever dreams that implode with the same bruising penetration as Michael R. Jackson’s songs in A Strange Loop.

SEX VARIANTS OF 1941
The Civilians at NYU Skirball
Closed

The Civilians have long been merging musical theater with more avant-garde modes of theatrical storytelling — of this ilk, the two shows that quickly come to mind are Pretty Filthy (about the adult entertainment industry) and Artificial Flavors (a meditation on artificial intelligence vis-à-vis theater-making) — to come up with their distinct brand of “documentary theater”. I’m happy to report that their latest creation Sex Variants of 1941 (RECOMMENDED), which recently concluded its limited run at NYU Skirball, continues this trend and is a welcome addition to the company’s string of fascinating musical excavations. Co-conceived by The Civilians’ Steve Cosson, James La Bella, and multimedia artist Jessica Mitrani, the work turns its attention to a 1941 “medical” study on queer sexuality, investigating not only its subjects, but also the dubious circumstances surrounding its publication. The end result is a robust if somewhat muddled vaudevillian celebration of queer life in American during the early twentieth century, as well as a scathing critique of the medical establishment of the time. Each member of the accomplished six-strong cast gets a chance to seize the spotlight, most notably when putting over pungent art songs by the likes of Stephen Trask, Aaron Whitby, Martha Redbone, and the late Michael Friedman — which they did with aplomb (although some of the musical numbers were marred by muddy sound design). Among these, perhaps the highlight for me was Greenspan’s stunning turn — “Artist, Philosopher, Queer” written by Trask and the much missed Friedman — an unabashedly racy yet clear-eyed depiction of one gay man’s carnal desires and sexual escapades.

WE ARE YOUR ROBOTS
Theatre for a New Audience
Through December 8

Robots seem to be the the subject du jour this fall amongst musical theater makers. Earlier this month, we saw the opening of the unexpectedly delightful and beguiling Maybe Happy Ending starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen. Now comes Ethan Lipton’s We Are your Robots (RECOMMENDED) courtesy of Theatre for a New Audience (in association with Rattlestick Theater) at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn. Aesthetically, the evening comes across less like your typical musical comedy and more like a stylized cabaret act, albeit performed by robots. Over the course of just 80 breezy minutes, they pose a simple question to us humans in the audience — what can they do better to make our lives more pleasant? Although the show is performed by robots, the piece is ultimately (and ironically) a philosophical dissection of human nature and what motivates and drives us (e.g., a fear of and/or coming to grips with our mortality, etc.). Led by Lipton on lead vocals and banter duties, the cast also includes co-composers Vito Dieterle on saxophone, Eben Levy on guitar, and Ian Riggs on bass. Each keeps a cool demeanor throughout, responding to Lipton’s gentle inquiries in between loungy, boppy songs — minimalist riffs on jazz and folk music. Even if the performances are more cute and mildly satiric than they are realistic depictions of robots (I also wish there were more true interactive elements scattered throughout), I was nonetheless charmed by much of the slight production. As directed by downtown theater guru Leigh Silverman — who is currently represented on Broadway with Suffs — We Are Your Robots is an amiable and laidback affair, even if it does still seem to be calibrating itself for maximum effect.