Bukowsical at
the Fringe Festival is Wowsical!
…as proven on stage at The
Bleecker Street Theatre where Bukowsical! played to a Standing Room Only
hyper excited audience. Written by Spencer Green (who should have his mind
washed out with soap and then congratulated for his obscenely dark sense of
humor) and Gary Stockdale whose music is manically tuneful and extremely
serviceable to the story… The octet of very talented actor/singer/dancers –
dancing to the beat of imaginative choreographer Leanne Fonteyn and dressed
simply and bizarrely by Gelareh Khalioun basking under the really great
lighting of Jason Mullen under the non stop direction of Joe Peracchio...
Bukowsical! has
staked its claim on the New York theatrical scene.
-Talk Entertainment.com
…a very
polished, high-energy, amusement-park ride of a show…
he work that's gone into
(Bukowsical!) is abundantly clear from the first note. The acting, dancing,
and singing are tight; the whole cast is very strong…
…and the songs are the kind of
clever that's sorely lacking in comedy these days. They're smart, but not
self-conscious; they're written with the kind of humor that doesn't pander
to the audience, but instead respects the intellect…
…By adhering so closely to the
tropes of the American musical, and treating its sordid subject with such
earnest glee, Bukowsical! manages to be both a satire and a real
musical…
…truly
outrageous—and outrageously funny…
-NY Theatre.com
…(Bukowsical’s)
songs are uncommonly terrific…
perfect ornaments for a musical about this Hemingway of the disaffected… a
surprisingly effective theatrical representation of a man spiraling into
drunken, musical-comedy oblivion…
…Fleur
Phillips, who boasts a gold-plated brass belt voice, a seductive
physicality, and a shrewd sense of comedy that roots her at the center in
every scene she's in. She's wonderful throughout...
-Talkin’
Broadway.com
"
BUKOWSICAL!,
the clever, hilarious musical by Gary Stockdale and Spencer Green about the
degenerate, alcoholic poet Charles Bukowski, is the vulgarest funny show (or
the funniest vulgar show) in town. With a talented Broadway-level cast of
singer/dancers, choreographed with great comic flair and originality by
Leanne Fonteyn, directed with style and panache by
Joe Peracchio, with on-the-ball lighting by Jason Mullen, zany originality
in the costumes by Gelareh Khalioun, the songs reflect major Broadway
musicals, and include the live essence of whiskey sexily seducing Bukowski.
The clever, VERY contemporary song “You’re the Chaser of My Heart” is the
rudest,
crudest, vulgarest song ever written. Halfway through there is an
enjoyable tangential section of Los Angeles vs New York that ads to the
festivities.
- BUKOWSICAL! is a mixture of the outrageous crossed with
subtlety, and will tickle you in your basest humor sensibility. Fun and
terrific performances.
- Richmond Shepard
Lively-arts.com
Although Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale's witty late-night goof certainly
riffs on the scabrous poet, what they…really skewer are fringe festival musicals
and, by default, the Broadway conventions that various outstanding entries in
the field have fruitfully satirized… an uproarious romp.
-- David C. Nichols_©2006
Los Angeles Times
Green and Stockdale's lyrics are saturated with bawdy sexuality, disgusting
imagery and gutter language, all the things that Chuck was admired for…riotously
funny.
-- Lovell Estell III_©2006
L.A. Weekly
How rare the kept promise in this city of shattered hopes, but when the
program to this little gem promises "delusion, heartbreak, necrophilia,
drunkenness, cirrhosis of the liver, and some catchy tunes," it is as good as
its word and then some. Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale, who are responsible
for the book and lyrics, Stockdale flying solo on the tunes, have crafted a
wicked little trifle that is as much about the conventions of musical theatre as
it is about a dissipated writer… The performers achieve the style so many
late-night shows strive for but generally miss. It's imperfect to exactly the
right degree… It's terrific fun, and so wrong in all the right ways.
-- Wenzel Jones_©2006
BackStage
West
Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale's tuner deflates Bukowski's legend and
hipster image with a sober vengeance…
--Terry Morgan_©2006
Variety
The revised and expanded version of a play within a play hits the boards at
The Sacred Fools, with songs that make your feet bounce, dialog that keeps you
in stitches and song lyrics so foul your ears turn red even as you lean forward
hoping for more.
-- Jose Ruiz_©2006
ReviewPlays.com
Green and Stockdale who composed the book and lyrics, and Stockdale adding
the score, create a very funny and very original show that pays tribute to a
creative type that few outsiders has ever heard of--until now! There has never
been a musical like BUKOWSICAL! performed before, and perhaps there won't be
another. It most likely won't be as good as this one!
-- Rich Borowy_©2006
Accessibly Live Off-Line
Charles Bukowski and musical theater. Can there be two any more disparate
literary ideas? I'm guessing not, which makes “Bukowsical!” such a wonderfully
absurd night of theater. The program bills it as “Delusion, heartbreak,
drunkenness, cirrhosis of the liver and some catchy tunes” and it doesn't
disappoint.
-- Megan Kamerick_©2007
New West
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