Every week, the culture critics at Token Theatre Friends bring their fresh perspectives to the performing arts on their podcast and video series. You can find the podcast on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher (look for the all-red logo). The video series is available on YouTube. The TTF theme song is by Sean Mason (with vocals by Angela Ramos). The video animation is by Brad Ogden, with logos by Jason Simon.
In this episode, Ayanna and Alexi get in their feels as they reminisce over the last in-person shows they each saw before the pandemic began 1 year ago (for most of us). They have high expectations for the first season of in-person shows and make one request: NO musicals about pandemics please! That means no theatrical adaptation of Michael Bay’s Covid-19 drama, Songbird.
The Friends review Monuments, a short film directed Sara Aniqah Malik in collaboration with Donmar Warehouse in the U.K. The film features the oral histories of BIPOC youth in London as they recount their experiences with racism. Ayanna gushes over the production of Simply Sondheim at the Signature Theatre and tells us how “Being Alive” takes on new meaning in light of the pandemic
References:
- Monuments directed by Sara Aniqah Malik at Donmar Warehouse.
- Simply Sondheim directed by Matthew Gardiner at Signature Theatre.
- Circle Jerk by Michael Breslin & Patrick Foley.
- Six by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss.
- Company directed by Marianne Elliott at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
- The Minutes by Tracy Letts at Cort Theatre.
- Rent Jonathan Larson at Bernard Sunley Lecture Theatre.
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Aaron Sorkin at Shubert Theatre
- Songbird produced by Michael Bay.