You’ll forgive us for getting a little theatrical, but today’s edition of Red Bank oRBit takes it a bit far afield from our normal borders beaming it in via satellite from across the pond, from the way-off Broadway precincts of the Andromeda galaxy, and even that strange and wonderful place kno
wn as Asbury Park.
We’ll take you to the South Banks of London by way of Monmouth University, where on Thursday the school’s Pollak Theatre will be among 270 venues worldwide to screen a live simulcast of Phédre, the Royal National Theatre production of the Greek tragedy starring a fiendishly fine Dame Helen Mirren (pictured) appearing in all her golden hotness through the magic of High Definition.
From there, it’s a quick stumble over to Rons West End Pub, where local musical makers Brian Breen and Michael Chartier host a special sneak preview of (and cagey fundraiser for) their work-in-progress Far Out, a “sci-fi musical comedy” that’s set to play NYC’s Fringe Festival later this summer. We’ll tell you why the next off-Broadway sensation might just be able to say it came from outer space.
Then it’s over to the fab flying saucer of Tim McLoones Supper Club, where award-winning cabaret entertainer Tommy Femia returns with his show Judy Garland: Live in Concert. This week marks the 40th anniversary of La Garland’s passing as well as the 40th birthday of Femia, an eerie coincidence that the tribute artist, in a detailed interview with Dorothy Creamer, is hesitant to call outright Reincarnation.
But hey, stranger things have happened and they do, every day, right here in oRBit.
