New York Animals
a world premiere by Steven Sater
with songs by Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater
directed by Eric Tucker
presented at the New Ohio Theatre
with Debra Barsha (Piano/Vocals), Blanca Camacho, Ramsey Faragallah, Lena Gabrielle, Jo Lampert (Lead Vocals), Edmund Lewis, Susannah Millonzi, Eric Tucker, David Wearn (Drums/Vocals) and Spiff Wiegand (Bass/Guitar/Vocals).
Ranging from an East Village diner to a Park Avenue penthouse, five actors play twenty-one characters, and dive headlong into the themes of love, sex, money, and impossible relationships. With a live band and gorgeous singing, all played to a new soundtrack by Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater.
Sater, best known for writing the Tony winning book and lyrics to the musical, Spring Awakening, New York Animals was dubbed by Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal “a miracle of frugal ingenuity, the kind of mega-ingenious zero-budget staging that makes you wonder why Broadway even bothers.”
This was our second production looking after the Bedlam Company. The New Ohio theatre was a great space for the show - and allowed for incredibly inventive staging from director, Eric Tucker, It was a theatre I knew well, having worked there in previously with Missed Connections, and years prior with Noah’s Archives.
As is usually the case with Bedlam, the reviews were excellent:
“Eric Tucker, Bedlam’s artistic director and resident wizard, has mounted [New York Animals] with his accustomed flair and resourcefulness…” - The Wall Street Journal
“The sophisticated vibe of the score is amplified by the lead vocalist, Jo Lampert, who has the torchy voice of a blase cafe singer and the doleful visage of a Modigliani painting. Under the savvy musical direction of Debra Barsha, the tight onstage band also gets the urbane message.” - Variety
And Jo Lampert would get raves, including this one from Ben Brantley: “
The cast members do a fine job of defining their assorted roles with distinguishing tics and punctuation marks, riffing a bit like the amiable jazz musicians with whom they share the stage…The most incisive presence by far is that of Jo Lampert, who sings the lead vocals on the numbers that occur between, and sometimes during, the different scenes. Attired in a series of eclectically extravagant costumes, Ms. Lampert has a matching way with a song that appropriates familiar elements of blues and bebop, heartbroken soul and Broadway pizazz, and turns them into something all her own. She has that aggressive, magpie stylishness that makes a person stand out in a big city.” - The New York Times