Monday, December 15, 2008
The Legendary Sid Bernstein who brought the Beatles to America
Sid Bernstein who brought the Beatles to America presented Larry Russell's Beatlestock this past Sunday at Triad. Fantastic show and amazing recreations of the Beatles song catalog. It was a pleasure to see Sid having a great time at the show.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
NYC TAXI CABS running story on CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY
If you take a NYC taxi this week you may see a story about Celebrity Autobiography as they are
running the news story that Channel 4 NBC ran a few weeks ago. Also Paul Rudd did a great job hosting Saturday Night Live last week. He was also great in Celebrity Autobiography when he performed in it at Triad a month ago.
Friday, November 14, 2008
TIME Magazine calls Celebrity Autobiography the funniest docu-theater stunt of the year.
TIME MAGAZINE - THEATER - NOVEMBER 14th
Celebrity Autobiography Joan Lunden's wake-up routine. Neil Sedaka's food diary. The Burt Reynolds--Loni Anderson divorce--from both sides. These and other excerpts from star memoirs are read off-Broadway with deadpan glee by a rotating cast in the funniest docu-theater stunt of the year.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Matthew Broderick, Will Forte, Scott Adsit join the cast of Celebrity Autobiography this Monday at Triad
Another great cast will interpret the words of the famous in the "Hilarious" Celebrity Autobiography this Monday at Triad
(7:30pm). All shows have sold out so we recommend getting tickets in advance at www.smarttix.com
AFTERBIRTH featuring Andrew McCarthy, Carolyn Aaron (Grey's Anatomy), Comedy Central comics Tom Shillue and Marta Ravin
"Afterbirth...stories you won't read in Parents magazine" heads back to NYC from LA with more original funny stories about the trials and tribulations of being a parent. Featuring a cast of highly acclaimed actors/comics/writers including Andrew McCarthy of "LIpstick Jungle," Comedy Central comics Tom Shillue and Marta Ravin, bestselling novelist Deborah Copaken Kogan, actress Carolyn Aaron of "Grey's Anatomy," James Braly from the Off-Broadway hit, "Life in a Marital Institution," Dan Bucatinsky, executive producer of "Lipstick Jungle" and more. "Afterbirth...stories you won't read in Parents magazine" will be published as an anthology for St. Martin's Press in May, 2009. The show has been running to sold out audiences in Los Angeles for over 5 years. Shows are November 6 & 7 exclusively at The Triad. Doors open at 7, show starts at 7:30 $20 plus two drinks Cash Only Please
Celebrity Autobiography on National Public Radio All Things Considered
All Things Considered is a great show on NPR and tonight (November 6th, 2008) they featured a great story on Celebrity Autobiography at Triad. Will Forte (Saturday Night Live) and Rachel Dratch as well as the writer / creator Eugene Pack were all interviewed. A link to the broadcast is below:
Monday, November 03, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Page 6 New York Post Story about Mountain Jews at Triad
A 'MOUNTAIN' OF TROUBLE
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October 14, 2008 --
THE Jewish Theater of New York, which gets in trouble all the time with its incendiary shows, has another hot potato on the way. Tuvia Tenenbom's "Mountain Jews," debuting Nov. 9, is about a Brooklyn Orthodox Jew named Isaac, who schleps his "beautiful, Kosher American" bride to a sacred Israeli mountain to consummate their marriage, only to be foiled when she insists on eating rugelach all night. Then, a prophet named Muhammad shows up to declare that unless he gets the bride for himself, "my followers will blow themselves up in Gaza, Mali, Detroit, Denmark, Pakistan, Chicago and al-Quds to protect my lost honor." In 2005, Tenenbom caused a stir when he had Howard Stern's statuesque daughter, Emily, appear nude in "Kabalah," incurring the shock jock's wrath. And last year, his play "Last Jew in Europe" had Polish officials blasting its depiction of endemic anti-Semitism in today's Poland.
Monday, October 13, 2008
NY Times Arts Briefly - October 12th
Matthew Broderick,Richard Kind and Carson Kressley are among the guests who will appear in “Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words” in the coming weeks. The show, on Monday nights at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72 Street, offers a rotating cast reading so-bad-they’re-funny excerpts from the writings of famous, almost famous and once-famous stars.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
New Yorker Magazine Writes About Celebrity Autobiography
SEPTEMBER 8, 2008
STAR TURNS
“Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words,” the series that pairs actors with the writings of such esteemed authors as Burt Reynolds, Star Jones, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Britney Spears, is returning to the Triad tonight for an open-ended run. This evening’s performers include Rachel Dratch, Cheyenne Jackson, and Kristen Johnston. Our colleague Michael Schulman has culled some excerpts from the memoirs they’ll be sampling:
I think of my job as that of a cheerleader. Of course, as you know, my main job is turning the letters. Merv says that he hired me because I turn the letters better than any of the two hundred other women who auditioned. And what’s my secret? As I told 60 Minutes, “It must be in the wrist!”—Vanna White, from “Vanna Speaks.”Have you ever talked to your muscles? As you work out, and bring up the two dumbbells to your body, say “Grow!” It’s what I call body dialogue, where I actually converse with certain parts of my body.—Sylvester Stallone, from “Sly Moves.”
You can actually feel pressure when Elizabeth Taylor tells the world that you’re depriving her of a lover. I guess you can even feel Elizabeth should always have a lover, even if it’s yours.—Debbie Reynolds, from “Debbie: My Life.”
“Celebrity Autobiography” plays at the Triad, at 158 W. 72nd St., every Monday night at 7:30.
Sherri Shepherd from the View talks about Triad and Celebrity Autobiography on the View
Sherri who is hysterical in Celebrity Autobiography (Every Monday at Triad) talked about the show on the View this past Monday. Sherri was also on Gawker Stalker sighting at Triad on Tuesday.
Bill Boggs and Triad are in Page 6 of todays NY POST
OUT OF THE WAY
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October 8, 2008 --
BILL Boggs got a big laugh at the re cent opening of his "Talk Show Confi dential" at the Triad when he re ferred to the theater's strange, hard- to-find premises on West 72nd Street above a Turkish restaurant. He cracked, "This place is like a combi nation theater and undisclosed loca tion. Osama bin Laden could be up here performing 'Mark Twain Tonight,' and the CIA still couldn't find him."
Monday, September 22, 2008
NEW YORK TIMES - RAVE Review for CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The Lives, Loves and Ducks of Luminary Literature
Have you ever wondered just how it is that Heather Locklear and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe became a couple? What tore apart the great love between Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds? Why Ivana Trump believes ducks make great pets? What Neil Sedaka likes to order at an Italian restaurant?
I sincerely hope — and really expect — that you have answered all the above questions in the negative. But even so, you will probably get a kick out of “Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words,” a merry compendium of the witlessness and wisdom of the rich and famous performed on Monday nights at the Triad Theater.
The mock-sober title, which almost sounds like the name of a television crime show, is to the point. This no-frills, big-yuks entertainment consists simply of comics and actors reading verbatim selections from the memoirs — and the odd poetry collection, emphasis on “odd” — of minor- and major-league stars. Originally created in Los Angeles by the writer-performer Eugene Pack, the evening’s host, the show features a rotating cast of performers serving up a savory assortment of excerpts from tell-all tomes, including “Vanna Speaks,” “Elizabeth Taylor” by Elizabeth Taylor and “Mr. T: The Man With the Gold.”
The show is a bracing tonic for anyone weary of our fame-addled culture. It gives you a chance to indulge in a little celebrity schadenfreude without having to endure the shame of grabbing that issue of In Touch Weekly off the rack at the grocery store. (You never know who might be behind you in line. Your boss? Your therapist? Jennifer Aniston herself?)
And, oh, how many fascinating revelations our cultural luminaries have put between hardbound covers over the years. At the performance I attended I learned all about Ivana’s duck friendliness, courtesy of the actress Claudia Shear. Like most of the performers, Ms. Shear understands that the morsels being served don’t need much in the way of comic garnish. Simple sobriety is usually the proper seasoning.
In Ms. Trump’s fate-temptingly titled “The Best Is Yet to Come,” the former wife of the Donald also gives her advice on child raising, with an emphasis on choosing the right sports. Field hockey, no. Karate, yes. Most memorably she recalls her tough-love on the slopes with her offspring: “At the age of 2, I took each of them to the top of a hill and told them, ‘Ski down!’ They would wail, ‘I don’t like it!’ ‘Tough honey,’ I’d tell them. ‘Get to the bottom of the mountain.’ ” (The grammar in celebrity autobiographies, not surprisingly, leaves much to be desired. Clearly Ms. Trump was not herself aged 2 when these character-forming incidents took place.)
Casting against type adds to the fun. Will Forte, the neat-looking fellow from “Saturday Night Live,” read from Mr. Lee’s contribution to a collective Mötley Crüe memoir. Bruce Vilanch did a delicious vocal double take when reciting his selection from Star Jones’s memoir, airily describing the high life of a diva, the nights at the Ritz in Paris, the vacations on the “Swiss Riviera.” Crinkling his Muppety face in fake fascination, he slowly repeated the words, appending a question mark. Kristen Johnston made an oddly convincing Mr. T. (My favorite howler, from his description of preparing to audition for a “Rocky” movie: “I received a seven-page script to study in three days.” Think of it — seven pages in a mere three days.)
Generally speaking the selections fall into a few categories. There are the unfascinating details offered up as if they are precious insights (the minutiae of Joan Lunden’s pre-“Good Morning America” routine, Mr. Sedaka’s dietary restrictions); the preening descriptions of luxe lifestyles (Ms. Jones, Ms. Trump); and of course the true tales of romance among the red-carpet crowd.
Love stories provided the double-feature climax on the night I attended. First came the history of Burt and Loni, hilariously told in counterpoint through selections from both of their books. Tony Roberts was burly Burt, Ms. Johnston played Loni, and Rachel Dratch provided diversionary comment taken from “Burt and Me: My Days and Nights With Burt Reynolds,” by Elaine Blake Hall. “I was on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” Ms. Dratch drably reads in a flat accent. “As time went on, I came to realize that somewhere down the road I lost ‘Elaine.’ ” There followed a similar he-said, she-said, she-said dramatization of the immortal love triangle of Elizabeth Taylor (Sherri Shepherd of “The View”), Debbie Reynolds (Dayle Reyfel) and Eddie Fisher (Mr. Pack), with Mr. Roberts in a cameo as Richard Burton.
Drinks are served at the Triad, and I would argue that a cocktail makes a perfect accompaniment to “Celebrity Autobiography.” But sip with care, please. Beware, in particular, should Andrea Martin take the stage. Ms. Martin may be reading from the love poetry of Suzanne Somers. Unless you want to spritz gin all over the fellow sitting in front of you, put the martini glass down.
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY
In Their Own Words
Created by Eugene Pack; produced by Angelo Fraboni, Peter Martin, Mr. Pack and Dayle Reyfel. Mondays at 7:30 at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72nd Street, Manhattan; (212) 868-4444. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
VARIETY Gives Great Review to Celebrity Autobiography
Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words
(The Triad; 136 seats; $45 top) An Angelo Fraboni, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Peter Martin presentation of a cabaret show in one act created by Pack. The performance reviewed was written by Joan Lunden, Mr. T, Tommy Lee, Marilu Henner, Star Jones, Suzanne Sommers, Ivana Trump, Neil Sedaka, Loni Anderson, Burt Reynolds, Elaine Blake Hall, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher. Opened Sept. 8, 2008. Reviewed Sept. 15. Running time: 1 HOUR, 25 MIN.
With: Rachel Dratch, Will Forte, Kristen Johnston, Andrea Martin, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Tony Roberts, Claudia Shear, Sherry Shepherd, Bruce Vilanch.
Just because it's easy to shoot fish in a barrel doesn't mean it's not fun. With "Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words," creator (and participant) Eugene Pack, Rachel Dratch and a full complement of New York's funniest read excerpts from celebrity autobiographies aiming at barn door-sized targets from Burt Reynolds to Ivana Trump. Some bits are more clever than others -- a dramatic reading from Mr. T's memoirs is handicapped by the suspicion that the man himself probably gets the joke -- but overall, the performers seem to have had no trouble finding personal reflections both awesome and hilarious in their self-indulgence.
"I will be reading from the early poems of Suzanne Somers," beams Andrea Martin, mysteriously omitting the "if you don't do what I say" that usually follows this declaration. Sure enough, the verses are everything you could have hoped or feared: "If anyone has any extra love/Even a heartbeat/Or a touch or two/I wish they wouldn't waste it on dogs."
Eat it, Elizabeth Bishop.
Somers is probably the worst stylistic offender, but she's hardly the looniest. There's Neil Sedaka, for instance, who lists everything he ever ate in one memorable section (amusingly dragged out by Pack himself), and there's noted woman of letters Star Jones, who confuses even reader Bruce Vilanch with her geographically uncertain tales of "downtown Hollywood."
As one might suspect, given the Vilanch/Jones pairing, a lot of this show works because none of the hapless writers' self-portraits look much like the actors giving them life. Will Forte milks the disparity for all it's worth as Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, earnestly explaining that Heather Locklear "wasn't the kind of chick I could take back to the van like Bullwinkle, or have group sex with like Honey." Locklear wanted a bad boy, explains the clean-shaven, happy-looking Forte, who reads the f-word like he's afraid his mother will hear.
In fact, "Celebrity Autobiography" works best when the jokes are on the performers as well as the writers. Martin really appears to be enjoying Somers' awful poetry, Forte really looks uncomfortable describing Tommy Lee's sex life, and when Dayle Reyfel frankly claims Marilu Henner's lust for Danny DeVito as her own, audience members start to hyperventilate.
The show climaxes with a couple of dueling banjos-style movie-star breakups, as the actors read from competing accounts published in different vanity projects, including Burt Reynolds' "My Life," Reynolds' former flame Loni Anderson's "My Life in High Heels," and Reynolds' P.A. Elaine Blake Hall's "Burt and Me: My Days and Nights With Burt Reynolds." Is there anyone who hasn't published an autobiography?
"Celebrity Autobiography" lives or dies on the strength of its performances, none of which can come from anyone toowell known. So Pack and his producers have kept the cast stacked with a not-too-starry, not-too-plain balance of comics, keeping a pointed emphasis on jokers who are both funny and funny-looking (sorry, Bruce).
As long as the Mondays-only show keep
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