Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:34:48 -0800 To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org From: Bob Stone <bobstone1-AT-earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Jay Johnson- The 2 & Only x-avg-checked=avg-ok-44EC5838 Alan, I think your review of the review is excellent and makes some very good points. I think you should send it to the editors of the L.A. Times. -Bob Stone serious-comedy.com At 02:04 AM 1/26/2006, you wrote: >I have known Jay for many years, and was a big fan of his work on >the 1970s TV success, SOAP, but I have never had the chance to see >him work live until Wednesday night in West Los Angeles. > >The Los Angeles Times review of the show appeared Wednesday morning. >The damn review starts with an unoriginal variation on the old joke >about the puppeteer's hand up (implied) the puppet's butt. Methinks >Charles McNulty protests too much. I can't help wondering what >physical problem is bothering him. And he needs fresh material to >engage the discerning reader. I might add that it took a puppeteer >to tell that joke with greater skill. I think anyone who ever saw >Wayland Flowers would agree. > >McNulty calls the show "unremarkable" though "genial", as if a >genial show today is somehow not remarkable. I disagree. > >The show is kind of a biography of a ventriloqist, and yes, the >ventriloquist beares the curse, God forbid, of being naturally >genial as well as gifted. > >McNulty, the wannabe shrink conjects the "loneliness that must have >been the driving force" which directed Jay into vent puppetry. Oh >puhleeeese! No wonder Sigmund Freud has fallen into disfavor. > >As a kid I provided other voices at home, when playmates weren't >available. My mom often thought we had guests. Well, chalk it up to >an artistic gift called IMAGINATION which can be shared with >AUDIENCES, which is exactly what Jay is doing at the Brentwood Theatre. > >Which is one reason I recommend that puppeteers in Los Angeles and >New York GO and SEE! > >Our commercial culture is so sated with Hollywood & celebrity >gossip, that we seem unaware of the mess much of the world is in. >And few of us are nudging our senators and representatives to change >course. A bit of talented geniality offers a welcome respite. > >But McNulty wants the lowdown on what went wrong when SOAP ended. He >just may have missed the point---the show is about why Jay IS a >ventriloquist, NOT about backstage bitch-fests. > >All is not lost in the L.A. Times review: he somehow manages to >mention the importance of vaudeville ventriloquist Arthur Sieving, >Jay's mentor and carver of Jay's first professional figure and the >connection which existed between generations--the 17 year-old Jay >and an old guy in his 70's who shared a great love of ventriloquism. >Well, that is what brought tears to my eyes. I can't guess how many >of the non-puppet world will "get" the import of this but having >asked many puppeteers who were their mentors and their inspiration, >I know there will be tears similar to mine among the puppeteers who >see "The Two and Only", and judging from the audience around me, >that resonse will not be limited to puppeteers and vents. > >What is disturbing about many theatre reviews is that the reviewer >missed the point of the evening. So something in the review was >missing, resulting in disappointment in this newspaper reader. > >ALAN COOK > >_______________________________________________ >List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org >Admin interface: >http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit-driftline.org >Archives: http://www.driftline.org > > > >-- >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.14.22/239 - Release Date: 1/24/2006 x-avg-checked=avg-ok-44EC5838 Content-Description: "AVG certification" No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.14.22/239 - Release Date: 1/24/2006 _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org Admin interface: http://lists.driftline.org/listinfo.cgi/puptcrit-driftline.org Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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