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Can you hear me now? Trying to communicate in
The Motherfucker with the Hat. Photos by Craig Bailey.A kind of identity crisis has been creeping up on SpeakEasy Stage for some time now. For years their brand as Boston's stylish, de-politicized gay theatre worked for them like a charm; indeed, SpeakEasy's smooth mix of "urban" New York hits and the occasional gay-ish musical gradually made them perhaps our most popular mid-size company. SpeakEasy's goal was clearly to be the theatre you could take a date to (gay or straight) - and they met that goal reliably; you knew you'd never be embarrassed by a SpeakEasy show.Now that's no small feat, and maybe it's identity enough; but slowly local politics caught up with the company's okay-we're-gay-we-go-to-Starbucks-too stance, and then seemed to pass it by - SpeakEasy looks conservative now, so the slight "edge" the theatre once had has crumbled. Sure, the print critics kept swooning (for them, when it comes to edge, less is more), but the smarter theatre folks in town began to talk of SpeakEasy as not just smooth but slick; and a strange sense of datedness seemed to cling to their AIDS dramas and tongue-in-cheek revues.But then I get the impression the company's brain trust must have begun to think the very same thing; for this season they have clearly attempted to swap the slick for the raw - or at least the Hollywood idea of "raw." The first experiment in this new positioning is Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Motherfucker with the Hat, which didn't quite succeed on Broadway last year, but is now making the regional rounds as if it had. Okay, it hardly failed - it squeezed out a little over 100 performances, and the girls at the Times were indulgent; but most other critics decided that "it signifies not fucking much" (as the Village Voice bluntly put it), and the weakness of Chris Rock's central performance was widely seen as somewhat compromising the box office his stunt casting had been calculated to bring in.Still, judging from its current incarnation at the Roberts Studio, Motherfucker was carefully, and successfully, constructed to please a crowd - at least the crowd that still reads the Phoenix (if that still exists, that is), so you could argue that with it SpeakEasy will successfully extend their brand a bit. And even if the script is obviously thin, there are some scathingly funny monologues, and several flashes of hot naked flesh, so what's not to like?
Don't look now, dude, but some motherfucker left his hat!And to be fair, I did kind of like it - kind of; or rather I found it - I don't know, intermittently diverting, I suppose? Still, as the Voice put it, it doesn't amount to much, and its Tinseltown "rawness" grows cloying (not for nothing was it backed by gay Hollywood honcho Scott Rudin - who no doubt recognized it as un-filmed Ty Burr bait). The script does have one truly great idea - the plot briefly coalesces around an intriguing twist in the addiction/recovery racket. If only Stephen Adly Guirgis had realized what he had in this and developed it! But he didn't, so he drops the meme (and the dramatic ball), and the script grinds on in a more predictable, episodic groove (watching it is a bit like watching a full DVD of some "gritty" cable series). Not that the script wasn't heavily developed - it was, and how; as I mentioned in an earlier post, Guirgis has said that he worked on this text with a team of actors for some three years. Thus it's almost a case study in what development can do, and what it can't. And what development can do is produce a top-notch actors' showcase - most everybody in Motherfucker gets a big, show-boating rant, and a deep, soul-searching moment, too (sometimes you almost feel there should be a spotlight moving from actor to actor as they launch their respective numbers).But what development can't do is, well, develop anything; so it's no surprise that in Motherfucker we watch helplessly as the playwright's best ideas drift off into a welter of sitcommish structures and laugh-track rhythms. But then the bottom line is that the whole play hangs on a relationship we simply don't buy - we're supposed to believe that the doomed romance between the addicted Veronica (Evelyn Howe) and the recovering Jackie (Jaime Carrillo) is not only hot, but viable - and it patently isn't. In fact Guirgis doesn't even bother to give it any individual color or texture; he knows it's a generic set-up, a "love" that exists only to be destroyed by Jackie's jealousy once he notices the eponymous hat left in Veronica's flat by that unknown motherfucker.From then on, we're supposed to pity them as we would star-crossed lovers in a pop song, I suppose, even as we marvel at the harsh, amoral world they inhabit (nobody has a moral compass, you see!) - that is when we're not howling at their effing outrageousness! (I know, it's corny as hell, but hey, that's showbiz.) As I said, Guirgis does unveil one fresh insight amid all this recycled guff - it turns out his slumming addicts are on a higher moral plane than the twelve-step gurus who guilt or guide them into sobriety; those going cold turkey, Guirgis points out, often turn to mind games and worse for their jollies - like Jackie's life coach "Ralph D." (Maurice Emmanuel Parent), whose idea of the straight and narrow proves twisted, and shockingly two-faced. And of course, Guirgis reminds us, even if you've beaten your addictions, you can still be a loser. This clear-eyed cynicism is briefly bracing - and we begin to hope the playwright will tease it into a conflict between Jaime and Veronica (which by rights should be the core of the play). But Guirgis seems unable to hang onto his own originality; indeed, he can't even really keep a bead on any sense of rising action, and so by the finale things aren't so much raw as maudlin.
Another go-for-broke face-off in
Motherfucker, just like the marketing guy wanted.Still, there is some fine acting to be found in this showcase. Certainly Maurice Parent and Melinda Lopez (as Ralph D.'s long-suffering wife) turn in galvanizing performances that are sure to be remembered come awards-time. Meanwhile Evelyn Howe's Veronica, though generic, is still heartfelt, and Alejandro Simoes almost puts over the artificially-constructed gay-bi-straight sidekick schtick of "Cousin Julio." But alas, at the center of the production there's something of a void - word has it that on Broadway, Bobby Cannavale brought a deepening despair to the lead role that pulled Guirgis's disconnected scenes into some sense of downward spiral; but the likable Jaime Carrillo finds no such plunging arc; he's simply over his head, both as character and actor.Part of this, however, may be the fault of director David R. Gammons. You can count on two things in a Gammons production - the visuals will be striking, and the lead performance will be misdirected. The Motherfucker with the Hat carries on this storied tradition: Eric Levenson's scenic design is intriguingly conceptual (we seem to be in some sort of rehearsal space, with "MOTHERFUCKER" scrawled across it - an apt enough comment on the play's genesis!), but once again Gammons' star, like the stars of his Medea, Red, and Blackbird, has clearly been misdirected - or just not directed. Oh, well! The formula seems to work for Mr. Gammons - he gets no end of work, so I'm sure we can look for another iteration of his production model shortly. In the meantime, my hat is off to Lopez and especially Parent for the memorable mojo they bring to this mofo. The Hub Review, the guide to everything that matters in Boston and elsewhere.
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Bob Jolly cuts up as the Lord High Executioner in The Mikado. Photos: Mark S. Howard.I've no doubt The Mikado will be a joy forever; and right now at the Lyric Stage, where Spiro Veloudos has once more shoehorned an epic into his intimate space, the Gilbert and Sullivan classic is indeed a joy - well, off and on. Much of this production is wonderful - either beautifully sung, or hilarious; but unfortunately there are frustrating gaps on both the musical and comic counts that ultimately compromise its success. I left glad that I'd visited this evergreen garden of silliness once more; but at the same time, I can't pretend it's in full bloom.G&S purists, however, should have no fear - strange as that may sound, given that the Lyric cast is defiantly non-traditional, the score is oft streamlined, and Veloudos has updated almost all the jokes to the current election cycle (on the poster, Yum-Yum even sports an "Occupy Titipu!" button). Still, somehow his production feels comfortably traditional, and roughly true to the spirit of D'Oyly Carte, despite all the jabs at Romney, Republicans, and other blue-state bête noires; somehow there's a deep consonance between Veloudos' sense of humor and the Victorians' humorous nonsense (and their faith in masculine prerogatives) that makes everything hang together.And despite the paucity of Asians onstage, Japan seems no further removed from The Mikado in the Lyric version than it does generally (so the program's apology for the operetta's supposed insensitivities seems - well, a little beside the point by now). I mean of course I bow, bow, not only to the Daughter-in-Law Elect but also to the Politically Correct - still The Mikado might as well be set in Oz, or Lilliput, rather than Titipu; its "Japan" is simply a fancified gloss on certain familiar districts along the Thames.Or the Charles, I guess (the backdrop features a bald eagle flapping over Mt. Fuji, and we can just make out a Citgo sign down in Titipu). At any rate, the point is that Democrats and independents need not fear this production; those partisans of Sullivan's music, however, may have a more divided opinion. Alas, the score is presented in a highly reduced keyboards-woodwinds-and-percussion version, which is even further compromised for being piped in (somehow this kind of thing always works better when you can actually see the musicians, and at least hear their original acoustic). Sigh. 
Erica Spyres as Yum-Yum, with her famous little maids from school.Meanwhile the vocals are all over the place - even if most of them are admittedly terrific. The reliable Erica Spyres sings like a lark as Yum-Yum, and soars brilliantly through "The sun, whose rays are all ablaze" (probably the greatest theme Sullivan ever penned), while opera star David Kravitz likewise takes home vocal (and comic) laurels as the hilariously versatile Pooh-Bah. Other local lights come through musically but for some reason are a bit at sea theatrically: the wonderful Leigh Barrett, for instance, misses the drollery of Katisha (she gets no help from her Asian-horror fright wig, perhaps the only visual misstep in the show), and Timothy John Smith deploys his booming baritone aptly as the Mikado, but seems to be going for some gonzo (perhaps ground-breaking?) interpretation that I just couldn't figure out.Both the men's and women's choruses sounded great, too (and newcomer Teresa Winner Blume caught my eye as Pitti-Sing). Davron S. Monroe, however, made a generally appealing and sweet Nanki-Poo, but was a bit strained vocally the night I attended, while as Ko-Ko, Titipu's harmless Lord High Executioner, Bob Jolly wobbled all over the place. Now Ko-Ko's are often chosen for their comic timing rather than their musical chops - and Jolly usually has the right comic stuff up his sleeve in spades; but sometimes on this occasion he even seemed unable to hit his marks comically. Maybe he was just having a bad night, but the performance kept moving frustratingly in and out of focus.But can The Mikado survive a few bumps in performance? Yes, it generally can, and the Lyric version does deliver many pleasures, not least among them Janie Howland's elegant set and Rafael Jaen's gorgeous costumes. G&S fans who are voting a straight Democratic ticket have until October 13th to see it.
Leigh Barrett pines away as Katisha.The Hub Review, the guide to everything that matters in Boston and elsewhere.
You need to boot your computer using Ubuntu Live CD or Live USB to repair the grub. Choose "Try Ubuntu." Once you are finished booting open a terminal, then run the following commands one by one to install a program called "Boot Repair." To add boot-repair to the repository, enter: $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair To Update your repository, enter: $ sudo apt-get update To install boot-repair, enter: $ sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair When the installation is complete run "Boot Repair" on terminal by typing the following command: $ boot-repair NOTE: You don't have to update Boot Repair. It will scan the System for few seconds and will show you the option "Recommended Repair" Click on "Recommended Repair" to start repairing the grub. Once it's done you click on "OK" to restart you system and you should have a Grub as pictured above.
A little over 30 years ago Microsoft landed the role of being the operating system provider for International Business Machines (IBM), thus planting in the minds of the business community that Microsoft was the software company of choice if you do business. In the early to mid-80s there were other companies out there that had operating systems with greater capabilities than IBM PCs. Both the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga had impressive Graphic User Interfaces that Microsoft was just beginning to develop. But at the time the Macintosh was looked at as an educational computer and the Amiga was looked at as a graphics platform and game box. Both were not taken seriously by the business community. In 1985 IBM sealed its fate when it asked Microsoft to write OS2. The problem was that at the same time Microsoft was writing OS2 for IBM, they were selling a Disk Operating System (DOS) for other manufacturers, and Microsoft quickly overshadowed IBM. From that time forward Microsoft controlled the operating system that the vast majority of business computers in the world used to do business, and Microsoft's DOS became the Operating System norm. Microsoft was in a great position, and if you wanted to be a player in the computer hardware or software game you had to play ball with Microsoft. Microsoft used its knowledge of its own operating system to make Microsoft Office outperform competitors like Novel's WordPerfect to dominate the office suite space. If Microsoft thought you were getting too big for your britches then it would put you in your place. For example, when the Internet started making its way out of universities and into the living rooms of the general population, Netscape was your entry point to the World Wide Web. Microsoft saw Netscape as a threat and made it a priority to squash them. Microsoft created its own web browser, Internet Explorer that was derived from Spyglass Mosaic, and simply made it part of every version of Windows 95. When people purchased a PC, Internet Explorer was right there ready to guide them to the new World Wide Web, thus pushing Netscape out of the way. Using their OS muscle has been Microsoft's way of doing business for years, forcing everyone to partner up and play ball. But things have changed, and Microsoft was caught off guard. The internet has grown over the years and the speeds to connect to it have gotten so fast that in some places you will be able to connect to the internet as fast as 1 Gigabit per second with Google Fiber. This is 100x faster than the existing 10mps that most of us are using. This makes cloud computing super-fast, and makes your native OS less relevant. If a software provider creates a program that can run on their server through a browser then the browser becomes the OS and it doesn't matter if you are running on Windows, MAC OSX, Google Chrome, Linux, or Android. Gadgets other that the typical PC hook into the internet, and popular operating systems for those devices like Apple's IOS that runs on iPhones and iPads, and Google's Linux based Androids rule those markets. There is a fundamental shift going on right now, and Microsoft can't stand it. So how is Microsoft handling this shift in the world of operating systems and connections? They are betting everything on Windows 8 and the Metro interface. Microsoft is betting that their tablet/laptops, phones, and new Metro interfaced OS can dominate everything and let them once again flex their OS muscle to drive how people use technology. But how will the Metro Interface save Microsoft? Windows phone 7 with the Metro Interface and its little squares and rectangles was a huge flop. It appears now that Microsoft is throwing their baby (Windows) out the window, and replacing it with the little squares and rectangles that the public has by and large rejected. If you look at Microsoft's history, they have dominated not because their OS was the best, but because it was the norm. Microsoft led by Steve Ballmer, who has been with Microsoft since the beginning, is betting that they can force the Metro Interface down the world's throat and make it the new norm replacing Android and IOS. Microsoft's reasoning is that you'll get used to it, business will get used to it, and they will be on top once again. Getting us used to the Metro Interface is the only reason they are offering cheap upgrades for $15 if you buy a PC with Windows 7 right now, or sell Win8 to you for $40 if you upgrade from any other version of Windows after it comes out. I'm not a fortune teller, but I don't think this is going to work for Microsoft. I think it will help to keep them relevant, but not as a dominator; they will be just another choice. I think this move is going to be enough to light a fire under developers to get busy. The public will be unhappy with Windows 8, and some hardware manufacturers are already unhappy with Microsoft building their own devices. I think you will see more alternative OS laptops like the Chrome Book, and laptops sporting Linux springing up. The tablet market will be more varied with Microsoft's entries, but they are not going to push iPads, Galaxy Tabs, Nooks, and Kindle Fires off of the map. Whatever happens this will end up being an interesting year for technology, and I look forward to seeing how it all turns out. Personally I'd like to see Microsoft fall flat on its face, simply because I don't like seeing bullies win, but I don't think that will happen. Hopefully the events of this year will have a humbling effect on Microsoft who hasn't always played well with others over the years, but I doubt it. 
