From NY Times - Ryan Reynolds to appear in Celebrity Autobiography at Triad

November 15, 2009, 6:45 PM

Ryan Reynolds to Read From the Book of Loggins

By PATRICK HEALY

The heartthrob actor Ryan Reynolds (”The Proposal,” “Definitely, Maybe”) will make his debut next week in the New York edition of the theatrical comedy “Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words,” where stars read humorous snippets from memoirs of the entertainment world’s A-list through D-list.

Given Mr. Reynolds’s popularity in movies and on “Sexiest Man Alive” lists, a second show has been added for the Nov. 23 production at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side; performances will be at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.

Mr. Reynolds is scheduled to read from Kenny Loggins’s “The Unimaginable Life: Lessons Learned on the Path of Love.” Other performers that night include Rachel Dratch, Carol Kane, Sherri Shepherd, Michael Urie andKristen Wiig.

Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Mark Karan and Ratdog perform Historic Live Show at Triad

Billed as Mark Karan and friends but really the entire band Ratdog (which is Bob Weir's band after the Grateful Dead) made a historic appearance for a post Beacon Theater show at Triad on Friday October 23rd. The show started at 1am as the band had to load in some large cabinets and equipment from the Beacon Theater. It was an amazing night of music that did not end until 4am. The entire band Ratdog performed with Mark. Bob Weir played on Wang Dang Doodle and Smokestack Lightning. Truly a magical night of music.

From RELIX Magazine:

Late Friday night, the members of RatDog also played a surprise show at New York’s 150-person club Triad after their Beacon gig. The show was originally billed as Mark Karan and Friends and the RatDog guitarist opened the night with a version of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.” Weir, RatDog saxophonist Kenny Brooks, RatDog drummer Jay Lane, RatDog bassist Robin Sylvester, Citizen Cope keyboardist John Ginty, keyboardist Dred Scott and saxophonists Doug Yates and George Garzone all emerged for the song and remained onstage for “ Wang Dang Doodle,” “Smokestack Lightnin‘” and “Spoonful.” Though Weir left the stage, the collaborations continued late into the night. At one point singer Emory Joseph—who also recently released an album of Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter covers—emerged for a take on “What Did I Do Wrong” and the night climaxed with “Sugaree” and “And We Bid You Goodnight.”

New York Times Review of Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter at Triad

By DANIEL M. GOLD

Published: November 4, 2009

Forty-five years after his death, Cole Porter has never truly left town. His songs are a staple of Manhattan’s cabaret scene: one performer finished a tribute at the Algonquin last month, while two others just opened shows that prominently feature his work.

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Haley Jane Samuelson

Stevie Holland in her one-woman musical show, "Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter."

None are as ambitious as Stevie Holland, a jazz singer who has tried to steer into somewhat more daring precincts. Apparently drawing on sources like William McBrien’s fine Porter biography and the 2004 film “De-Lovely,” Ms. Holland and her husband, the composer Gary William Friedman, have written “Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter.”

It’s billed as a one-woman play, directed by Ben West. Really, though, it’s cabaret. Ms. Holland takes the nightclub stage of the Triad Theater as Linda Lee Porter, the dazzling divorced socialite from Kentucky who wed Porter, eight years her junior, in 1919 when both were expatriates in Paris. Despite her husband’s homosexuality — Ms. Holland has Linda saying she “accepted his romantic appetite for men because I had his love” — the couple stayed married for 35 years, until Linda’s death from emphysema in 1954.

With a trio playing smoothly behind her, Ms. Holland runs through truncated versions of some of Porter’s best-known songs — “In the Still of the Night,” “I Love Paris,” “What Is This Thing Called Love?” — as well as a handful of comparative rarities. Instead of conventional patter, she ladles out bits of the Porter chronology in a Southern-tinged lilt.

There’s a lot of ground to cover, even for a more polished actress than Ms. Holland: the couple’s time in Europe; the return to the States and Porter’s first great Broadway successes; the move to Hollywood; the horse-riding accident that disabled him; Linda’s failing health. As a result, the piece, which clocks in at just about an hour, feels rushed. Not only does it make great demands of Ms. Holland, who between her singing and narration barely has time to pause, but it also shortchanges the audience, which for the most part gets only bits and pieces of songs that cry out for full, lustrous renditions.

This is a shame because Ms. Holland, tall and stately, has a graceful, silken voice that glides easily through her material. “Love for Sale,” which she sang after discussing the Porters’ growing estrangement in Hollywood, carried emotional weight, and she gave the closing number, “When a Woman’s in Love,” a real sense of triumph.

“Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter” runs through Nov. 21 at the Triad Theater, 158 West 72nd Street, Manhattan; (212) 352-3101, lovelindathemusical.com.