Picasso, Einstein, Elvis, Schmendiman @ Balagan Theatre
Photo by Nick Perleros
But stage the thing in some Capitol Hill basement in front of a boozed-up audience (hey, we're all at the Lapin Agile!), and you've got something pretty great.
Balagan Theatre put together a perfect cast for this play, bringing in a bunch of people we don't recognize from previous Balagan productions (although there are a few that we do). Trick Danneker's passionate Picasso is hilarious, Ray Tagavilla's stylish art dealer is hilarious, James Weidman's lofty Einstein is hilarious, Seanjohn Walsh's drunken French everyman is sorta funny. Jason Harber's scrapping huckster Schmendiman dominates his scenes (barring the lackluster wrapping-it-all-up number at the end which, frankly, we could have done without entirely) mainly by repeating his own hilarious name over and over. Schmendiman. Schmendiman? Schmendiman!
So, drunken bullshitting about art, love and science, and self-promotion...that about sums up the Twentieth Century, Mr. Martin. And the Twenty-First, and the Nineteenth, probably. It also happens to be one of our favorite pastimes, and, much like this play, we never really come up with anything important, but at least we have a few laughs.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile plays Thursdays through Sundays until May 30th and it's cheap. You should go.
