Tag Archives: Christian Gibbs

Get lost in Andi Stover’s new play ‘Noodles Astray’

Posted on March 14, 2015 | Leave a comment
"The Magical History Tour" (© 2012, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

“The Magical History Tour” (© 2012, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

You have only two more chances to see “Noodles Astray,” and I’d reccomend making sure to grab one of them.

“Noodles Astray” is the latest play by Andi Stover, the creative mind who pulled off (in association with LiveFeedNYC) site-specific pieces like “The Magical History Tour” on a clipper ship in New York Harbor and “Julie S. Caesar and The Real Housewives of Trevi” at the Ace Hotel, both in 2012. 

Stover’s latest work is a scrappy cautionary tale of creativity, control, and the modern human condition (think unaffordable rents intersecting with the drive to make it) set in New York City. Its DIY tone is comical, but its subject matter and treatment raise serious questions about family and ambition in a media-obsessed society. 

Pay close attention from the moment the bell rings to signal the start. There’s a delightful spoken-word overture that consisof a litany of lost New York, kicking off with CBGB. 

Check out A brief Q&A with Stover by tapping or clicking here.

The piece, directed as well as written by Stover, features six actors along with puppets created by Daniel Patrick Fay and a theme song written by Christian Gibbs. 

See it for yourself at The Club at LaMaMa, 74A East 4th Street, Manhattan. Remaining performances are Saturday (March 14) at 10 p.m. or Sunday at 6. Tickets are $20 and available by tapping or clicking here, or at the box office. 

Leave a comment

Posted in Off-Broadway, Theater

Tagged , , , , ,

Stew & Heidi Rodewald’s ‘Family Album’ conquers Oregon Shakespeare Festival (video)

Posted on August 5, 2014 | 1 comment

Family_746x420If you find yourself in Oregon before the end of August, be sure to set aside a few hours to check out the world premiere of the latest musical play by Stew and Heidi Rodewald of The Negro Problem at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

For fans, “Family Album” will seem familiar, as they’ve incorporated songs fans have heard TNP play in concert or in other, less-structured, theater pieces over the years. And charismatic guitarist Christian Gibbs, who was a linchpin in Stew and Heidi’s breakthrough show, “Passing Strange,” steps forward to take a larger role in this show.

You’ll see what I mean by the familiarity when you watch the show’s video trailer and read the review in the Los Angeles Times. After you’ve had a look, go here for more information and  to buy tickets.

The show was created with director Joanna Settle, a longtime Stew-and-Heidi collaborator who now heads the theater school at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts.

Tickets have been selling well, but as of today, there are 16 performance dates for which seats are still available. Prices range from $25 to $99. Go here now for more information and tickets. The run ends Aug. 31.

 

1 Comment

Posted in Music, News, Theater, Video

Tagged , , , , , ,

Guilty: Babe the Blue OX makes its best album ever

Posted on March 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

1109981436-1

First release from Brooklyn perennial in 15 years

We didn’t really know Babe the Blue OX in its 1990s heyday, when the band was a regular(-ish) feature on bills around New York City. We heard and appreciated some of its recordings, and were charmed by its Paul Bunyan-esque name and Barbra Streisand-ish album titles.

For whatever reason, we never saw Babe live until a couple of years ago, when the members decided to come out of accidental retirement and start playing on a semi-regular basis again.

(Full disclosure: We met and became friendly with singer-guitarist Tim Thomas through his day job as a fund-raiser for a nonprofit long before we even realized he was in Babe.)

Listen to Guilty and read more after the jump. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Concerts, Contemporary, Contemporary Classical, Music, Pop and Rock, Recordings

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lucinda Black Bear: tonight’s the night

Posted on November 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Lucinda Black Bear at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. (Copyright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Lucinda Black Bear‘s new album, Knives, was officially released on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2. But for the Brooklyn-based band’s New York fans, Friday, Nov. 5, is the day to elect LBB to most-favored-band status.

If you don’t know Lucinda Black Bear, you should. Check out “Percival,” a track from the new album, by following this link. The new disk is full of great tunes. And read more about the band right here on Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?

The melodic, country-inflected folk-rock ensemble is celebrating the new album with a show at 92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street. You can be sure that frontman Christian Gibbs and his stalwart bandmates will rock the house with selections from the great new album (available now on iTunes, eMusic, CD Baby and, of course, at the venue) and old favorites.

8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5. 92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St., Manhattan. Tickets for the show are $12. Call (212) 601-1000 or click here. Cheyenne frontman Beau Jennings performing a solo set at 9. LBB is slated to take the stage at 10.

Leave a comment

Posted in Concerts, Country, Folk, Music, Pop and Rock

Tagged , , ,

Lucinda Black Bear gearing up for new album release

Posted on September 22, 2010 | 3 comments
Lucinda Black Bear (Chad Hammer, Christian Gibbs, Kristin Mueller, Mike Cohen) onstage at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn in February. (Photos copyright 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Read on to download a free track

It’s good to see Lucinda Black Bear gearing up for a new album. And the first track, “Percival,” is out and it’s great. It’s also a song that conveniently references bears — in this case dancing bears, a subject that might get PETA interested!

Lucinda Black Bear is an energetic country-folk-rock band fronted by one of Will You Miss Me’s favorite musicians, Christian Gibbs. We discovered him when he joined the band for Passing Strange on Broadway, and quickly revealed himself as a fantastic guitarist and an all-around charismatic presence.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Concerts, Music, News, Pop and Rock, Recordings

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Travels and travails of a punk princess

Posted on October 15, 2009 | Leave a comment
punk_princess_v4_web_7e9ff376

When Yasmine Lever wanted an original but authentic-sounding punk rock score to fuel her new musical-in-development, Punk Princess, she turned to her friends Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the creators of Broadway’s 2008 critical smash Passing Strange.

Smart move!

The result, revealed to the public for the first time yesterday in two readings at The Theatre at St. Clement’s as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, was a lively show with memorable music, a winning cast and tons of promise.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Music, Punk, Theater

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Up for a Passing Strange road trip?

Posted on April 20, 2009 | Leave a comment
So glad he's not on Broadway: Stew and his adoring fans after the final Broadway performance of <i>Passing Strange</i> on July 20, 2008. (Photo by SPM, all rights reserved.)

He’s so glad he’s not on Broadway: Stew and his adoring fans after the final Broadway performance of Passing Strange on July 20, 2008. (Photo by SPM, all rights reserved.)

Just a month after hitting the Tribeca Film Festival, Spike Lee‘s film of Passing Strange will be screened at the Seattle International Film Festival on Saturday, May 23.

Spike Lee at the final Broadway performance of Passing Strange on July 20, 2008. (Photo by SPM, all rights reserved.)

Spike Lee at the final Broadway performance of Passing Strange. (Photo by SPM, all rights reserved.)

They’re doing an interview and Q&A session, oddly, before the screening, which no doubt will help avoid the really thorny audience queries, like what co-creator and narrator Stew really meant by “What’s inside is just a lie.”

Spike is also slated to get the SIFF’s 2009 Golden Space Needle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing.

Think that means they really, really wanted him to show up?

Leave a comment

Posted in Broadway, Music, Pop and Rock, RIP, Theater

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,