Author: NeilGarvey

MARAT/SADE by Peter Weiss, directed for SUBVERSIVE THEATRE by Kurt Schneiderman:MARAT/SADE is an epic theatre piece. A play within a play, it is based on historical events. The Marquis de Sade (yes, that Marquis de Sade) was a patient at the Insane Asylum of Charenten in 1808, and had been an inmate there for many years. At Charenten, the Marquis produced many plays enacted by the inmates, all allowed in the name of progressive therapy and performed under the watchful eye of the hospital director, Monsieur Etienne Coulmier.de Sade did actually write a piece which dealt with the last days…

Read More

Directed by Scott Behrend for Road Less Traveled Productions. INTERNAL CONTINUITY is the product of local playwright Shaun McLaughlin’s fertile wit and was developed through RLT’s Emanuel Fried New Play Workshop. It represents the 20th world premiere for RTL, an amazing milestone for a relatively young theatre company. The play revolves around three single men who have been friends since high school. They are fast approaching middle age but are stuck in their insular fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars action figures and comic book collections. Their obsession has stunted all “normal” human development: social, personal, sexual, and career relationships…

Read More

ELEGIES a Song Cycle By William Finn | Directed for O’Connell and Company by Dale Zurbrick:The tenth anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center was sure to create a media hurricane of 9/11 programming. That is understandable, given the defining impact the event had on the new century. But even I was surprised by the non-stop electronic orgy of TV coverage. The satirical on-line publication, The Onion, had joked that the major cable news outlets promised to “cover the event responsibly and with the kind of delicate restraint it deserves” and “that while they would be devoting some…

Read More

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play, by Sarah Ruhl opened at the New Pheonix Theatre, and it is a wonderful confection of a play. Ms. Ruhl is understandably the recipient of a MacArtuhr “Genius Award”. Nicely directed by Robert Waterhouse this exploration of sex and the sexes in the 1880’s America is an eye opening tour of the confinements and inhibitions suffered by Victorian women, and the curious (and electrifying) medical treatments which arose in the postbellum era to alleviate the maladies which such social restrictions caused. The play revolves around the home and office (terrific set by Dyan…

Read More

PROCESSION, written and directed by Dan Shanahan for Torn Space Theatre, is billed as an exploration of ritual, spirituality and the transcendental nature of street culture. This extravaganza of light and sound opened in the Theosophical Society’s building on Military Road in Black Rock. Formerly a German Evangelical Church, the gothic structure is all but stripped of its Christian relics, save the stained glass windows, which are beautiful (and beautifully lit for this production). Even the windows are bereft of any religious connotation, the tight patterns of colored glass contain no papist images of the Blessed Virgin, proof that the German…

Read More

As if twelve hours of live music at Music is Art isn’t enough today, one of Buffalo’s all-time greatest Celtic rock groups is playing RiverFest Park from 6pm-10pm this evening. It’s a rarity when this band gets together these days, but today is a special occasion because it marks the halfway point to Saint Patrick’s Day… and in the old First Ward that’s a pretty big deal. So why not celebrate with a band that has a huge following of fans who dig fast paced and pierced Celtic rockers – especially in a setting along the Buffalo River on this…

Read More

How many times have we heard, “We should be trying to get bigger and better music talent to play Buffalo.” or “It’s too bad that there are not different size music venues to attract the acts that we would like to have play here.” If you’re still asking those questions, then chances are that you’ve not paying attention to the music talent that is making routine appearances here. Take Shenandoah Davis for example. The young indie pop, classical, ragtime and American roots pianist is playing at The Vault on October 1, and will be accompanied by cellist and drummer. Not only…

Read More

As much as I tried to get a Finn McCool post up before the event, it just never happened. What’s Finn McCool you say? Well, I had heard bits and pieces about it being the ultimate run, with obstacle course, mud, ropes, slides, hikes, hops, hoops – all the while alongside hoards of other fun-loving folks at Caz Park. You know, sometimes these events sound too good to be true, and when you get to the course it’s a letdown. Not with Finn McCool. Not only did the 4-mile odyssey look like a blast, it was followed up by the…

Read More

Buffalo has scored 60.43 out of 100 points to land a #9 spot on a list of 20 Can-Do Cities. Taking into consideration sustainability, livability, transportation and infrastructure, and business development, Newsweek ranked the performance of the nation’s 200 largest cities and Buffalo placed near the top. Criteria included unemployment figures, Moody’s cost of doing business, air pollutants, green buildings, health care and small business growth rate (see criteria, scoring and intro to top city rankings here).I’m liking the image that the photographer chose to represent Buffalo, because it tells the story of one direction that Buffalo has been taking that…

Read More

While some are looking forward to Oktoberfest at the Central Terminal, others with kids in tow can look forward to Harvest Fest, which takes place at the Historical Society. Honestly, I hope that this is one festival that continues to grow. Harvest festivals are big draws and offer families fun activities, while leaving the commercial antics behind. It’s a celebration of the earth and man’s relationship to it. The festival will feature, blacksmithing, pumpkin painting, music from the Canal Street Band, spinners and weavers from Weavers Guild of Buffalo, making corn husk dolls, canvas painting (with quilt design), Blaze’s Pony Express,…

Read More