review: magic metrocard
From the pages of the New York Times (Weekend Arts Section - Page E43 - December 3, 2004
Off the Beaten Path
Lily has the same goals as many others when she boards a New York subway: she wants to go home. But to Lily, home is a town many miles away, not her grandmother's urban apartment, to which she has recently moved. When she misunderstands a commercial about the "magic" of an unlimited MetroCard, she hops on the train, hoping to go back.
Lily's underground adventures make up "The Magic Metrocard," by Cathrine Goldstein and Gwen Brownson. Presented by the Paddywack Players, this dance theater piece captures the feel of a crowded subway, especially when the actors panhandle among the audience. But fortunately, this spectacle is much more melodious and visually arresting than the usual M.T.A. ride.
Accompanied by a wise blind man (Dwayne Thomas) and a rhyming conductor (James Miles), Lily (Sara Haley) explores the city from Coney Island to the Bronx. Although the characterization is rather thin - I was curious about Lily's age and why she has become her grandmother's ward - the 80-minute show offers other pleasures. They include Gil Talmi's score, which greets Lily, for instance, with jazz on Fifth Avenue, hip-hop in Harlem, and African-flavored music at the Bronx Zoo, where the actors don spectacular animal masks by Natalie Burgess. And Melissa Riker's choreography takes Lily, an aspiring dancer, and her fellow travelers through moves that are sometimes comically acrobatic, sometimes gracefully classical.
After 13 eye-opening stops, Lily recognizes the wonder of her adopted city. The conclusion is not that there's no place like home, but that there's no place like New York.
"The Magic Metrocard," through December 22 at the Manhattan Theater Source, 177 MacDougal Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 501-4751. Saturdays at 2 PM; also December 19 through 22 at 7 PM. Tickets: $12.