Sleep No More, Video Games, and the Potential of Interactive Storytelling.

 This will not be a review of Sleep No More, although it will be discussed. I'll warn you of spoilers.On Thursday the 12th of August, I attended a performance of Sleep No More. Billed as 'indoor promenade performance', it entails being immersed in the world of the McKitterick Hotel (an impressively redecorated warehouse or three on west 27th, across the street from the back entrance of Scores) and treated to an adaptation, of a kind, of Shakespeare's...

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May 21st - Judgement Day: An Original Play Premiering this September

Recently, I was able to score an interview with the young, but already well-experienced local playwright and director, Josh Young. His play May 21st - Judgement Day opens for a three-show run September 1st at the Kraine Theater in the East Village. As Young describes, the play is story of a girl named Valentine who lives in an underground bunker. Valentine has been trapped in the bunker for 13 years by the sexual abusive James, who keeps her hidden...

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D23 - Disneyland Kinect Adventures Slightly Improves, But Is It Enough?

After being extremely disappointed in Kinect Disneyland Adventures at E3 in Jue, I decided to give it a go here at D23, with a couple more months of work under its belt, to see if anything had been improved upon. There were absolutely new features, game mechanics and levels, but is anything actually better? What I learned and my impressions below.Facts-Over 35 characters to meet and greet, each with his own personality, culled from chats with actual Imagineers -Original voice actors recorded voices for every character-If you don't wish to follow...

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The Highs and Lows of D23

As you may have been able to tell by my incessant tweets and articles, this weekend marked my first D23 and boy was it an experience. What began innocently enough with a drum playing Mickey and a look at the new attractions being developed all over the world, ended with a panel that upset me to my very core, and of course, a nice batch of food poisoning from the Convention food. What happened in between had some good, some bad, and a lot of Deadpools...

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D23 - Disney Chomps Off Marvel's Balls And Marvel Likes It

Today at D23, in a Herculean display of awfulness, Disney forced Joe Quesada to explain to a half full audience what Marvel was and what it has in common with Disney. He explained to us how in lieu of talking about actual Marvel properties or making any sort of announcement, Disney specifically requested that he give the audience a history lesson. So, the one Arena panel I thought *wouldn't* be one big Disney dick sucking session turned out to be just that, yet again. Even down to the Mickey Mouse shirt and professment of love for old school Disney...

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D23 - In Depth Look At The Character Design Of Pixar's Monster's University

Monster's University Production Designer Ricky Nierva and Director Dan Scanlan were on hand at D23 today to provide attendees with an in depth look at the character design of young Mike and Sully in the new Pixar movie set for release in 2013. Below is a live account of what took place.*****"Story is King" slide appears on screenThey remind themselves of this often at Pixar.Can't do character design without story, until they know who characters are...

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D23 - A Look at Walt Disney Studios' Upcoming Animation Slate

 Saturday marked the massive Walt Disney Studios panel, which brought lots of footage. In fact, pretty much only footage, along with a couple of announcements and staged bits. Some Q&A would have been nice, but apparently, Disney can't handle wild cards like "people" so there was very little room for spontaneity. Still, we saw some interesting stuff, so to jump start our Saturday coverage, here are my impressions of what Walt Disney Studios...

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D23 Live Blog: Walt Disney Parks & Resorts

Coming to you straight from day one of D23, where I will be reporting from all weekend long, is the first recap of many large events taking place this year - the look at what's new with Disney Parks and Resorts. My favorite part of Disney, aside from the animated films, are the parks, so I've been looking forward to this one. My live-blog, with updates on the Fantasyland Expansion in Florida, the new Hawaiian spa & resort, the Shanghai park, and the massive California Adventure add-ons await below!*****The parks & resorts panel starts a...

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The Fabulous Adventures of Alan Swift!

Dear LA Fangirls (and boys): New York is not the only place to see good theater at recession prices! The hilariously imaginative folks at cARTel currently have a new production up, at the Hayworth Theatre, entitled The Fabulous Adventures of Alan Swift (...Or Journey to the Center of Queer). The play travels through time, space, and queerness...and that should be more than enough of a description to sell you on it! The show only has one weekend left...

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Bon Iver Rocks Prospect Park

Those of us fortunate enough to see Bon Iver in concert, at Prospect Park Bandshell, understand that we experienced pure musical magic. The concert was a part of the Celebrate Brooklyn! series and it was my first official show there (because watching Andrew Bird for one song, from outside the gates, hardly seems to count). And it was my favorite show I've experienced since I moved to New York a year ago. Both Bon Iver albums are subtly beautiful....

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Fringe Festival Fun

New Yorkers! It's that time of year again--where you go watch cheap, independent theater (aka when your Facebook event page blows up with invites from your actor/director/writer friends' shows). It's time for The New York International Fringe Festival . There are so many shows happening in the course of the festival's two-week span and I'm here to help you sift through them with my recommendations. Based on plays that include talented artists (whom I've had the pleasure of watching in previous shows) and plays that just sound awesome, I've compiled...

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