Another high school musical, "13," opens on Broadway
Not all the critics picked on “13: The Musical,” which opened on Broadway on Sunday night. In fact, the critic at amNewYork gave it four out of four stars, and the Post and Star-Ledger found it charming.
But the influencers took a number of shots at the tween-themed musical with a thin, Disney-fied plot with limited appeal to anyone a few years beyond the target audience. “13” is a musical about an Upper West Side kid whose parents divorce, landing him in Indiana where he hopes to fill his Bar Mitzvah with the cool kids in his new school.
“13” has an open-ended run at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, located at 242 W. 45th St., map. Regular tickets are priced from $76.50 to $111.50, while premium seats are $200 and $250. Student rush tickets cost $25, and if a show is sold out, standing-room tickets will go on sale for $21.50.
The selection of the reviews:
New York Times - “Yet as one who remembers being 13 with vividness and enduring horror, I can’t say that these obviously talented kids ever made me shiver, sweat or even smile in honest recollection. Though it features a buoyant score by Jason Robert Brown (‘Parade,’ ‘The Last Five Years’) and a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn that dances friskily on the borders of bad taste, ‘13’ ultimately feels as pre-processed and formulaic as that money-churning Disney franchise ‘High School Musical.’”
Variety - “There’s not much in this sweet all-adolescent tuner to engage anyone past puberty, but the other lesson of the Disney franchise is that a narrowly defined demographic is no barrier to success.”
amNewYork - “Though it shares the pop culture catchiness and peppy energy of “High School Musical,” “13 the Musical” is also extremely passionate, authentic and a joyride from beginning to end. Not once does it condescend or descend into camp. It easily wins our vote for class valedictorian.”
Book excerpt: epic story of legendary warship Intrepid
The legendary USS Intrepid returned to Manhattan this week after a $120 million overhaul that will allow her to return to duty as New York City’s sea air and space museum. And although most people know there’s been a retired aircraft carrier docked in the Hudson River (and then infamously stuck in the mud,) less has been known about what made the ship important.
Gandt and White, who is the president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, fill in the ship’s World War II and Vietnam history though the eyes of the men who served on her during wartime.
Through a special arrangement between NewYorkology and the publisher, you can read the first two chapters of the book after the jump.
OpenHouse NY 2008 no-reservations required picklist
The sixth annual OpenHouse New York event takes place this weekend, opening up 200 or so sites for free access, including many that are not open to the public any other time.
The bad news is that the most exclusive locations — the abandoned High Line railroad line and the Woolworth Building — have already maxed-out on their reservations.
However, many of the spots require no reservation at all. NewYorkology has pulled together a list of some of the sites offering the most interesting access this weekend. Granted, there are a lot of other good locations on the list that are always open to the public (the Chrysler Building’s lobby, for example) but this list emphasizes the seldom-open spots.
Be mindful that the printed guide to OHNY is only partly accurate; there have been cancellations and additions as well as time and location changes. Updates can be found in a number of places, including the OHNY website’s program and site update pages. OHNY has also started tweeting site updates on Twitter; and NewYorkology has been tweeting updates as well. (If you use Twitter, please tag updates with #OHNY if you find sites with unexpectedly long lines, or closed, which unfortunately happens.)
The picklist:
Sites open both Saturday and Sunday Governors Island will open some of the homes in the historic district that have never before been open to the public Ferry’s from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m; note that the ferry schedule changed this week.
Washington Irving High School on Irving Place opens both days from noon to 3 p.m. showcasing its land-marked murals and Gothic-inspired public spaces.
Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island opens some of its oldest, rarely open, unrestored homes and farmhouses both days from 1 to 5 p.m.
Two-hour harbor tours on the 101-year-old tugboat Pegasus departing at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Site-specific BREAKING GROUND – A Dance Charrette staged in Hangar B of the city’s original municipal airport, Floyd Bennett Field at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
Site-specific, family-friendly performance of The Crane Wife on Pier 66 (on the Hudson at W. 26th) at 1 and 3 p.m.
3,000-square foot Broadway Penthouse at Great Jones opens from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m.- UPDATE: SITE CANCELED
Queens Theatre in the Park is offering behind the scenes tours of its recent renovation from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday
Glass blowing demonstrations at Pier Glass Art Studio in a Civil War-era warehouse in Red Hook, with talks by the artists both days at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Saturday-only list
The neo-Renaissance Prince George Ballroom (at 15 E. 27th St at 5th Ave.,) will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Quirky remodel of the Kushner Residence which includes salvaged subway doors, open in Greenwich Village from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
St. Paul’s Church in the Bronx will offer tower tours up its 225-year-old wooden staircase from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The neo-Georgian style Caroline Ladd Pratt House and other Pratt buildings will be open for tours a t 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
At 2 p.m. the Episcopal Actors’ Guild presents “The Devil and Daniel Webster” at the Neo-Gothic Church of the Transfiguration, at 1 E. 29th St. at 5th Ave.
“Angels & Accordions,” a site-specific dance will be performed at Green-Wood cemetery at noon and 3:30 p.m.
TheJohn M. Mossman Lock Collection (normally $10 entrance fee) will open for free as part of the The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen in Midtown from 9 to 5 p.m.
Fantasize about the roof deck you always wanted at the anderson architects West Chelsea studio with views of the Hudson and other rooftops from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Arsenal in Central Park is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tours of the roof decks and WPA-era murals, but the Parks Dept. suggests guests “sign in early, there’s a 30-person maximum per tour.”
Sunday-only list Westbeth, the “largest artists community in the world” at 155 Bank Street in the West Village will open for tours from 2 to 4 p.m.
Park Slope’s Montauk Club, inspired by a Venetian Gothic palace, opens from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
Vikram Chatwal opens Stay Hotel with rooms from $249
The Quality Hotel Times Square has officially reopened as a far more posh Stay Hotel, now under the ownership of Vikram Chatwal Hotels.
Room rates for tonight start at $249.
The hotel’s 210 rooms feature custom artwork, feather beds with 300-plus thread count sheets, terry bathrobes, L’Occitane bath products, in-room wi-fi, and Bose Wave Audio Systems with an iPod cradle.
Still under construction on the ground floor is the Aspen Social Club, an off-shoot of the Aspen Restaurant & Bar, which will feature an American-style, small-plate tastings menu, an antler-crowned fire pit and “a serious sound system.”
The Stay Hotel is located at 157 W. 47th St., map, between 6th and 7th avenues.
Vikram Chatwal Hotels also plans to open The Chatwal in “late 2008” and the Dream Downtown in the Meatpacking District in summer 2009.
Legitimate cheap Broadway tickets from $20 for fall
The New York Times is taking another look at cheap Broadway tickets, and decides the front-row ticket lottery is probably the best game in town. Currently $26.50 and a little luck can land you next to the footlights at “In The Heights,” “Avenue Q,” “Hairspray” and “Wicked.”
The paper also notes the sure-things available at the shows’ own box offices, including “Spamalot” for $36.50, “Phantom of the Opera” for $26.50 and “In The Heights” for $41.50.
There are more the Times doesn’t mention, including the $41 tickets you could snag for tonight’s red-caret opening night of “The Seagull,” the $20 tickets to “13: The Musical” while it’s still in previews, the $40 digital rush tickets for “Spring Awakening” and regular-priced tickets for “Billy Elliott” start at $41.50.
A handful of shows allow on-stage seating, including ‘Spring Awakening” for $40, and Richard Griffiths’ and Daniel Radcliffe’s “Equus,” which isn’t so cheap at $76.50.
Even Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” with Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson has both student rush and standing room tickets for $26.50.
Check your show’s official website before you buy, and if it’s Ticketmaster, look for the “getting tickets” link at the left that will give you detailed price info before you click “find tickets” at the right.
High Line tour lottery deadline at 4 p.m. for Open House
If you’re hoping to get one of the 700 in-demand spots for the free tours of the undeveloped section of the High Line during Open House New York, you must register online before 4 p.m. today.
The tours will take place October 4 and 5 during Open House NY.
Another section of the High Line — an abandoned, elevated freight train track built on the West Side of Manhattan in the 1920s and ’30s — will soon open as a public park.
The OHNY lottery system was put in place following the huge demand for last year’s tours.
“Last year’s tours (for which we had 700 slots) filled up on our online registration program in 5 minutes, and we had an additional 5,000 inquiries about them,” a High Line spokeswoman told NewYorkology earlier this month when the first 2008 OHNY sites were announced.
Many of the best OHNY tours have already filled to capacity, but a lot of the 200 sites and programs will be available for walk-ups as well. However, this year’s list appears to have more reservation requirements than in past years.
Among the sites with openings, is Ellis Island’s shuttered South Side buildings. Of the tours scheduled both Saturday and Sunday at 9:30, 11 a.m., 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m., only two on Sunday are so far full: the 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. ones. To reserve, call (212) 363-3200, extension 580. (Tuesday update: All the Ellis tours are now full, a Save Ellis Island representative told NewYorkology.)
Picture credit: OHNY 2007 High Line tour and OHNY 2006 Ellis Island abandoned hospital surgery room. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology
The Museum of Arts and Design reopens to the public this weekend in a building it’s redesigned at Columbus Circle. Admission is free all weekend (from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days,) so you can go and see if you agree with what the critics have already had to say about the architecture and the expanded collection space.
Some of the reviews are harsh:
“But this is not the bold architectural statement that might have justified the destruction of an important piece of New York history. Poorly detailed and lacking in confidence, the project is a victory only for people who favor the safe and inoffensive and have always been squeamish about the frictions that give this city its vitality.” - New York Times
“Any architecture critic attempting to judge Cloepfil’s efforts (as I do in today’s Calendar section) has a similarly imposing historical object to contend with — namely, Ada Louise Huxtable’s New York Times review of the Stone building, which appeared on Feb. 25, 1964, and remains one of the most infamous and influential essays in all of arts journalism.” - LA Times Culture Monster blog
“Originally home to the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art, a short-lived museum, and later, city offices, the structure is perhaps better known as “the lollipop building” for its signature ground-level columns, which feature slender white marble stems topped by darker disks. Though never fully embraced by New York’s design community, the building nonetheless became a flashpoint for a bitter preservation battle once plans to alter it were announced in 2002, after the museum bought it for $17 million.” - Architectural Record
“However that plays out, Cloepfil has made some of the city’s best display spaces. The exterior’s zigzag bands are revealed inside as a way to diffuse daylight beautifully into four gallery floors. Horizontal slots run just below the ceiling, spraying daylight deep into the rooms through recessed glass” - Bloomberg
“The new facade of glazed terra cotta panels, which take on natural light, subtly change the color and character of the building’s exterior, depending on point of view and the different times of day and year.” - Reuters
“There’s an interesting disconnect between the more traditional permanent collection objects (like Rie’s bowl), wherein materials are harmoniously married to meticulously crafted objects and their functions (if any), and the edgy, recently created pieces in the temporary exhibition (like Rakowitz’s), which were fashioned from industrially created found objects” - Culture Grrl
After opening weekend, admission will cost $15 for adults, except on Thursdays, which is pay-what-you-wish night from 6 to 9 p.m.
The Museum of Arts and Design is located at 2 Columbus Circle, map.
'Naked Harry Potter' gets raves in 'Equus' on Broadway
The revival of the unsettling psycho-drama “Equus” opened on Broadway last night and almost every theater critic from here to London weighed in with a review of play, probably for no other reason than it features a naked Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe.
Mostly, the critics rave about Radcliffe’s performance and that of Tony winner Richard Griffiths, but the play itself, written by Peter Shaffer and first staged on Broadway in 1973, suffers a few knocks.
“Equus” plays the Broadhurst Theatre at 235 W. 44th St., (map, through February 8. Regular tickets are priced from $61.50 to $116.50, with variances for matinees, and Friday and Saturday nights. On-stage (side-view) seating is priced at $76.50 and $116.50. Premium seats are $251.50 and $301.50.
A sample of the reviews:
Associated Press - “Let’s get to the reason you folks bought tickets: Daniel Radcliffe in the nude. And yes, he can act on stage — quite well, it turns out.”
Variety - “But in his impressive debut in a major stage role, as the disturbed adolescent in “Equus,” Daniel Radcliffe significantly helps overcome the fact that Peter Shaffer’s 1975 Tony winner doesn’t entirely hold up. The play is an astute career move for the “Harry Potter” frontman as he confidently navigates the transition from child stardom to adult roles — and Radcliffe’s performance provides “Equus” with a raw emotional nerve center that renders secondary any concerns about its wonky and over-explanatory psychology. “
New York Times - “There’s no question that “Equus” has dated, particularly in its presentation of psychiatric investigations (something Mr. Shaffer humbly admits in a program note). But taking it too seriously may not be the best way to serve it in revival. This version had no crackling artificial fire to match the annoying smoke that kept rising through the stage floor. And as much as I admired the sensitivity and intelligence of Mr. Griffiths’s and Mr. Radcliffe’s performances, this revival might have been better off if everyone had just gone for the Gothic.”
Post - “His acting, beautifully understated and withdrawn, has just the right manner for this horribly mixed-up adolescent, at the prey of a wayward religiosity and a twisted sexuality cemented together with suburban hypocrisy.”
OpenHouse NY official site list, with reservation picks
(This entry will be updated for a few days as NewYorkology can obtain clarifications to the OHNY guide. See the list of best spots that don’t require reservations.)
The full list of the free Open House NY events for October 4 and 5 is now live, and a significant number of the events will require reservations this year.
Among the free events one of the the coolest additions this year may be Governors Island, which for the first time ever will open up the entire island to the public. (Reservations are required for the all-island tram tour: info-gipec@empire.state.ny.us; but “walking tours with special access to several buildings are not reservation based,” an OHNY spokeswoman told NewYorkology via e-mail on Friday morning. But a Governors Island rep e-mails: “The entire historic district is open to the public, including buildings that are normally closed. The only way to access the southern part of the Island is with a tram reservation.” )
There are about 200 sites and programs scattered all over the five boroughs. Novices be warned, many of these sites are open other times during the year. If you’re trying to maximize your weekend, look for the private residences and the unique opendialogue programs, often with the architects who designed or reconstructed the spaces.
Also be warned that many sites will change their offerings and hours if the past years are any indication. Indeed, tonight’s list already has cancellations (McCarren Park Pool,) and several additions.
But most importantly for now is the snagging of the reservations. … (Items in bold may still have openings.)
Reservations required
Woolworth Building tour of the lobby and a 21st floor office - Saturday only; e-mail openhouse@controlgroup.com - FULL The High Line - tours both days awarded by lottery. You can register online for the High Line lottery until September 29 (corrected date.) Details from High Line email: The tours are “30-minute walks on the High Line’s northern section, which still exists its wild, self-seeded state. Please note, tours will not enter any of the areas of the High Line currently under construction.” Great Interiors of the Financial District walking tour including the Collector’s Office at the former U.S. Custom House, the great hall at the former Cunard Building at 25 Broadway, and the huge rotunda of the former Merchant’s Exchange at 55 Wall St. - Sunday at 2 p.m. FinancialDistrictInteriors@gmail.com - FULL Guggenheim Museum dialogue with restoration project manager and museum staff - Saturday at 2 p.m. - FULL Ellis Island’s shuttered South Side buildings - 9:30, 11 a.m., 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m. both days, (212) 363-3200 × 580 - FULL Radio City Music Hall tour with restoration architect Hugh Hardy at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday ohny@h3hc.com - FULL 7 World Trade Center dialogue with the architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill with Silverstein Properties - Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. - FULL Grand Central Terminal dialogue/tour with renovation architects on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ohny@bbbarch.com - FULL BBG-BBGM Design Studios on the 25th floor of the Empire State Building - several tours both Saturday and Sunday Trolley tour of 1939 and 1964 World’s Fair monuments - Saturday at 10, 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. (718) 846-2731 - FULL Porter House condominium tour with SHoP architect Gregg Pasquarelli - Saturday at 6 p.m. - FULL Morgan Library & Museum - Sunday noon and 2 p.m. dialogue with with BBB architect Meghan Lake - FULL New Museum tours with former SANAA architect Florian Idenburg - Sunday at noon and 1 p.m. - FULL NYC’s first airport, Floyd Bennett Field, will offer tours of the control tower and the passenger loading tunnel - Saturday and Sunday from 11a.m. to noon and 1 to 2 p.m., a ranger told NewYorkology on Friday afternoon. Brooklyn Navy Yard by bus - Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. chidalgo@brooklynnavyyard.com - FULL Temple Emanu-El dialogue with restoration architect Tom Lindberg of Beyer Blinder Belle - Sunday at noon and 2 p.m. ohny@bbbarch.com
Private tours of MoMA’s “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” - Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. - FULL The BankNote tour with Nadia Shirazi of Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners of this landmark building, which is being redeveloped as a center for creative industries - Saturday at 2 p.m. ohny@bbbarch.com. Lefferts House attic-to-cellar tour - Saturday and Sunday at noon (normally $10) Times Square: Peeling Back the Neon tour - Saturday at 11a.m., 4 p.m. and 11p.m.; Sunday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. (variation of the weekly free Friday tour, but the 11 p.m. tour will focus on “the sex scene, late night movies, and notable nightlife spots”)
Flux Factory’s Living Room site-specific installations in eight private homes and OHNY sites - Shuttle to all sites leaves at noon on Saturday and Sunday
Lower East Side Forsyth Street Loft tours with architects of an apartment blurs the boundaries between the public and private - Saturday and Sunday at 1:30, 3, 4:30 p.m. left@leftish.net - FULL Transit power station tour with Robert Lobenstein, General Superintendent of New York City Transit - Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. - FULL Japan Society tours of its 1971 Junzo Yoshimura-designed building , the only building in NYC of modern Japanese design.- Saturday and Sunday at 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m. - FULL Williamsburg Bridge Walk with former Chief Engineer/First Deputy Commissioner for NYC Department of Transportation “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz - Sunday at 1 p.m. - FULL Woodlawn Cemetery tours of the mausoleums - both Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (718) 920-1470
There are still more sites that require reservations. See the OHNY list and look for sites marked with a scripted R.
No reservations required
The historic district of Governors Island - Saturday and Sunday Historic Richmond Town’s (pictured, left) restored 1720s farmhouse kitchen and a 1750s house - Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
1930’s-designed Jacob Riis Park, including grounds and renovated bathhouse - open Saturday from 9 to 5 p.m. with a no-reservations required tour 3 to 5 p.m., NPS rangers told NewYorkology late Friday. Also disregard the OHNY guide suggestion to take the Water Taxi; it no longer runs on weekends. Directions here.
Behind the scenes tours of the redesigned Queens Theatre in the Park (next to the Unisphere,) with its transparent, spiraling round pavilion - Saturday and Sunday The Montauk Club - open Sunday from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
