The Irondale Ensemble is the new off-Broadway theater in Brooklyn. Boy, is it off Broadway, it’s in Fort Greene to be exact. Apparently they just closed an incredible production of Peter Pan, which I am sorry that I missed. Joe McCarthy, the development director of Irondale had this to say:
Hope you made it to Peter Pan. It was terrific. We’re a little sad the run was so short. The production was magical and audiences were starting to build. Here’s a link to a great review: http://offoffonline.com/archives.php?id=1487.
Now he tells me about the next production, which is called London Cries, directed by Di Trevis, starring Jenny Galloway, both Brits. After this world premiere, it is scheduled for Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic next year. Di Trevis and Frank McGuinness adapted the play with music from Henry Mayhew’s classic book, London Labour and the London Poor. Music is by Dominic Muldowney and includes thirty original songs from the London Music Hall.
This blurb makes it sound really, really cool if you like your London very Dickensian. And I do:
"Drawn from first-hand accounts of the traders and prostitutes, the sewer- men and flower-girls, the criminals and con-men who hacked a precarious living from the streets of the metropolis, the ghosts of yesteryear step forward from the crumbling walls and recesses of an old London theatre to share with us their lives, their loves and the lilting melodies of a bygone Victorian era."
Folks, this is Irondale Ensemble Project’s second show in their new Off-Broadway theatre, which is in the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. I know and love that church.
The Where and When
November 21-December 20
The Irondale Center (at the historic Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church)
85 South Oxford St, Bklyn, NY bet. Lafayette and Fulton Street.
The show runs Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2 PM.
Tickets are $40/ $15 seniors and students and can be purchased by going to www.ovationtix.com or by calling 212.352.3101.
I strongly disagree with whoever wrote the last comment. I think the production was a very strong and poignant interpretation of Barrie’s work. The company not only captured the whimsical and magical aspect of the story, but also surrounded the audience with the dark undertones of cruelty that are present throughout childhood. As for the matter of costuming, what better way to highlight a world of make-believe and fantasy than to challenge the audience to utilize their own imaginations while watching. Barrie’s role of semi-interactive narrator, I feel, added a layer of depth to the plot not usually found in theatrical productions of Peter Pan, and allowed more of the author’s voice to shape the story. My child accompanied me as well to the show and he loved it. For some strange reason, he had no problem with separating the characters either. I’m so sorry for you that the company took more from the novelization of Peter Pan than the Disney version. I guess you should read a little more. No argument about the seating, but when I talked to the box office person at the end, they said they were getting new ones the beginning of next year.
No sorry, the performance was incredibly only in its obtuseness.
Starting with two vaguely familiar songs from the 70’s (imsr) which had nothing whatsoever to do with the play, it was a forgettable experience. Lack of even minimal costume change made the every-few-minutes change of character (pirates, boys, “Red Indians” (!!)) hard to keep up with. And the constant presence and unending narration of the author (Barrie) was both unnecessary and intrusive. Shut up already, I felt like saying, we can follow the story without you…
Guess I’m not post-modern enough; from the review mentioned above: “[Barrie] at once controls the world around him, placing props in characters hands and instructing the audience as to their motivations, while at the same time conveying a curious sense of powerlessness.”
Added to which, the hard bleacher seats sans cushion or backrest drove my son D. and me out the door at intermission.