COMING SOON TO THE MERRIAM
Margaret Cho
October 3, 2008
Reviews of "Beautiful"
"Tonight's "Beautiful" tour returned audiences to a more primal state, double-fisting drinks, hollering, and screaming alongside Cho as she performed her routine of confronting "hush-hush" issues with trademark acid wit."
-Venus Zine
"Almost 40 now, Ms. Cho was less strident, less out to shock for the sake of it, and more outwardly happy than in the past....She was most at home when engaging the body, especially from the angle of identity politics...Ms. Cho seemed more comfortable in her skin than ever."
-Dallas Morning News
"Some of the biggest laughs were unprintably raunchy (but none the less hysterical)."
-Star-Telegram
"Cho laid her dirty comedy on thick at the Orpheum Saturday night, and the near-capacity crowd ate it up. Cho was larger than life on the video screen above her - all the better to see her masterful facial expressions. She can contort her eyes, her mouth, even her nose into the funniest positions, whether she's imitating her mother imitating Julia Child or reenacting her horrified self..."
-The Boston Globe
"...her latest tour, Beautiful, which on April 4 saw Cho return to the more honest and personal material that marked her earlier years....Cho seems to have re-embraced the best of what made her big in the first place."
-Eye Weekly
"The sex-capade, and a subsequent tangent on pop culture divas...went over well with the packed audience, who was hooting and hollering its collective approval. Her political jabs, peppered throughout the show, were among her best and the show one of her consistently funniest."
-Bay Windows
"Of course, it wasn't her beauty or lessons of being beautiful that captured the audience's attention of a nearly sold-out theater. It was her comical anecdotes on political issues such as Iraq, sex scandals, prostitution and immigration that induced the entire laugh-filled evening."
-The Rebel Yell
"In a way, Beautiful is a return to I'm the One That I Want, the hit 1999 tour that marked her comeback from the failure of her sitcom, All-American Girl.....She made me uncomfortable, but she also got my attention. That's why Margaret Cho is so necessary. The sharpest comedy shows you the boundaries of your own tolerance, and pushes them.
-After Ellen
BUY TICKETS: ticketmaster.com or call (215) 336-1234.
OFFICIAL SITE: margaretcho.com
The Clean Up Woman
Tuesday, October 14 - Sunday, October 19, 2008
Get ready to see why they call JD Lawrence the King of Dramedy. Telly Award winner JD Lawrence returns with his new stage play "The Clean Up Woman". Momma always said, "Never let another woman sit on your bed and never ever let her clean your house." Journalist Terri Adams pushes aside her newlywed domestic apron for a six figure Anchor Job with WNY5. But when Terri starts neglecting home for her new position, her supportive husband comes to his wits end and demands she clean up her act, starting with the house. To keep the peace, her man and her job, Terri hires a local cleaning service recommended by a co-worker. But if not careful, she just might find "The Clean Up Woman" picking up more than she's supposed to. JD Lawrence brings out all the bells and whistles in this witty fast paced Dramedy that will have you rolling in the aisle.
BUY TICKETS: ticketmaster.com or call (215) 336-1234.
OFFICIAL SITE: jdlawrencepresents.com
Magnetic Fields
October 25, 2008
The Magnetic Fields are the music of songwriter- producer-instrumentalist Stephin Merritt, who lives and records in New York City. Adept at computer music programming and production, Merritt records his own albums and plays almost everything on them with help from cellist Sam Davol, banjo player/second guitarist John Woo, and percussionist/pianist Claudia Gonson.
Merritt's first two CD's, "The Wayward Bus" and "Distant Plastic Trees", came out in 1991 and 1992 with singer Susan Anway, formerly of the early 80's Boston punk band "V." The album included the early-90's college radio single,"100,000 Fireflies," which first appeared as a single on Harriet Records.
When Susan Anway decided to relocate to Arizona, Stephin Merritt took up the vocal duties and remains the singer of The Magnetic Fields. In the early 90's the band released several vinyl seven-inch singles, including "Long Vermont Roads" (Harriet Recs) and "The House Of Tomorrow-EP" (Merge), which is now available on CD.
The Magnetic Fields have released six full-length CD's between 1993-1999, all on Merge Records. "The Charm of the Highway Strip" (1994) is an electro-country meditation on life on the open road. "Holiday (1994) has a more euro-pop sound, with songs about escape and nightlife. "Get Lost" (1995) has a mixture of styles and moods, including the intimate cabaret sound of "With Whom to Dance?"
In 1999, the Magnetic Fields released their 3-disc set, "69 Love Songs." The album has sold 130,000 copies worldwide, and has brought Merritt's music to the mainstream eye. In addition to Merritt's singing, "69 Love Songs" also features vocals by pianist Claudia Gonson, as well as three additional singers, LD Beghtol, Dudley Klute, and Shirley Simms. The album also included instrumental contributions of Future Bible Hero Chris Ewen, and novelist Daniel Handler on accordion.
In 2002, The Magnetic Fields signed a worldwide record deal with Nonesuch (Warner Brothers). Their first album for the label, "i," was released in May, 2004.
BUY TICKETS: ticketmaster.com (on sale starting 8/8/08) or call (215) 336-1234.
OFFICIAL SITE: houseoftomorrow.com