May still felt like a failure to launch in terms of the weather. I will start with the weather because that means that we have started at the very bottom of a conversation : How is the weather today? It is not my favorite topic to discuss. If we have gotten to the weather in conversation, I might go mute. I seem to write about it a lot. (The joke is on me). But, I have found myself murmuring “Let’s go Knicks!” with New York abuzz after Win 1 this week. How might we recreate the consistent state of mere anticipation for a Knicks win for all of eternity? It is unlocking behavior I have never witnessed of men. Random men on the subway are talking to each other side by side about the game. They are all coach - player inside. I don’t think they have ever talked this much about anything. They all sound like the character in Napoleon Dynamite - if their knees would have held up, their back wasn’t strong enough, not tall enough, all the excuses of why they aren’t in the NBA is astounding. I want them sharing and talking like this forever. Men smile and laugh again! I have never found them more attractive. A Boy can dream, can’t we? If only, I want a Knicks win for Spike Lee. The best thing about New York City is randomly running into someone you know. In city of 8 million people, random movements and moments in the day. I recently ran into my friend Brandon on the street. He is a film editor from The Bronx. He was my barista at Jolly Goat while I lived in Hell’s Kitchen. We locked eyes and were so surprised to see each other in the best of ways. His demeanor calms me down. His voice is smooth like when salt water taffy is stretching on the machine, consistent, calm with a little bit of vibrance. I walked him to the train station while we were talking about his disappointment with the most recent Michael Jackson biopic. He asked me what person I would want a biopic film of and I couldn’t think of any one, but I did say that Malcom X (Directed by Spike Lee) transformed me. I watched with my friend Beth after being in El Salvador for few weeks in 2007 and recently coming out (among other things). The film showed a human’s capacity for love, the importance of faith, to fight injustice with peace, and facing violent pressures directly. It was a film that I will never forget. Here is to random moments of city streets, anywhere.

COMEDYI went up in front of audiences at Westside Comedy club and Laughing Buddha this month. Thank to those who have come to support, showing up means I get stage time. And this is the grind. So, I appreciate the questions, the feedback, the wondering, and the showing up. I am getting more comfortable and understanding my jokes more. And always writing. Jerry Seinfeld says write more, and making three people laugh a day. It is a great mantra, a great goal, every day.

Here is my set at Laughing Buddha on May 20. And remember I started an Instagram, so follow along @gregorymeander(And Dominican men love playing baseball and they only use aluminum bats. So, the sound of the bats is very common in Inwood, my neighborhood).

I am working on a few things simultaneously. I see my show at the nexus of stand up, clowning, and playwriting. There are a few shows that come to mind including Can I Be Frank? By Morgan Bassichis (Which I will see for the second time this month) and Sugar Daddy by Sam Morrison.

Chasing a clown this weekend in Saint Louis :: Chad Damiani at Circus Flora recently Featured in NY Magazine I will go the circus with my mom, it is their 40th anniversary and I remember going as a kid. It is a mix of nostalgia with a new found purpose. I will get to Audit Chad’s clown class Disruptor: Intro to the Modern Clown on Monday night! Monologue as Play, a weekend workshop, at The Pandemonium :: Working on my seven monologues and incorporating aspects of clowning and play into the show. Upcoming Dates to Gregory LIVE

FRIDAY 6/19 NYC Clown Slam at 8 PM [ Tickets at the Door ] I was accepted for THE NYC CLOWN SLAM on Friday, June 19 at 8:00 PM at ARTXNYC 409 West 14th St, NY, NY. I’ll have a 3-minute set. 🎪🤡🎪🤡🎪🤡🎪SATURDAY 7/25 at Westside Comedy Club at 6 PM [Tickets soon!]

THEATER

The Tony Awards This Sunday

It is Tony season where a very small group of humans reflect on the business of Broadway. For new musicals, it was a weak season. Supposedly, re-packaging TV or movies are the only avenues for new musicals to get to the stage. I lament the lack of new music, new story. Seems like our audiences won’t pay for it. They are in the business of show after all. For new plays, it was a strong effort with Giant and Liberation. I was especially pleased to see Little Bear Ridge Road remembered for a nomination. Samuel D Hunter is one of my favorite writers and this was his first Broadway play. I don’t think it will win, but I can hope. Revival races feel particularly competitive this year, with Ragtime and Cats: The Jellical Ball emerging as the major contenders. One is politically relevant, the other is historical visibility for a marginalized community. Toss up to see who will take home the spinner.

It Is Officially a Vampire SummerThe Lost Boys: A New Musical ⭐️⭐️⭐️Hot Take: Staging so spectacular, it is a must see.Take Away: Theater magic remains the secret ingredient in any adaptation. The production embraced what only live performance can do rather than trying to recreate a film onstage. Though this show is heavily reliant on this wondrous staging, the cast is completely in the world of vampires and brings you along in a surprisingly heartfelt story.

The Baulsters ⭐️⭐️⭐️Hot Take: A great POV on HOA.Take Away: This is a new play by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is funny, dramatic, and a great ensemble of characters. I have never been part of a HOA/ or community board, but I have heard stories. This was a great lens into the language of our time, sensitivities, and soft power. I enjoyed the twist and turns. Big turn off was the sound, it was too loud and did not meet the moment. It was the first time sound design distracted me and took me away from the action that was unfolding on stage.

Rocky Horror Picture Show ⭐️⭐️⭐️½Hot Take: Nostalgia works, sometimes.Take Away: I loved it because I love the show/movie already. I don’t think it was a particularly new take on an old classic, which some come to expect in a revival. The cast is wonderful! Great performances from Stephanie Hsu, Rachel Dratch, and the very sexy Luke Evans. I don’t think it will win for revival, but the performances might swing for a win on Sunday.Jerome ⭐️⭐️Hot Take: A fascinating context that gradually disappeared into itself into a cave.Take Away: I spent a week in Jerome, Arizona in my thirties with my two best friends. We had a week retreat over new years in the ghost town full of artists that had fled the big city. Like many small towns in Arizona, I felt the energy of the geological formations and the ghosts of the past. It is a real feeling. And I think this is what the play attempted in capturing. It is a high task. Complexity is not the same thing as depth. I was connected to the main two characters, but the addition of a third character that was trying to be mysterious and emotionally stunted was hard to buy into. The idea of a thruple in Jerome, Arizona in the 90s was hard to believe. It was almost as if they weren’t convinced either. It was an interesting context, at the height of AIDS and in the shadow of San Francisco, that fear was real. The fear and withholding characters seemed to be the focus of the play. I don’t think that was the intention, but it is what came through. I had hoped for more in this new play at Playwright’s Horizon, but it lacked the nuance I was seeking.

El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego ⭐️⭐️⭐️Hot Take: Visually striking. Musically ambitious.Take Away: I left admiring the craft more than feeling the story. I was not convinced Frida would want to come back from the dead at all, let alone for her art or for Diego. That struggle was the crux of the story. Style can attract attention, but story is what lingers in one’s mind. It is something I have learned with all the performance I have seen, the story has to be locked in before you start to dress it up. Though visually elegant and making Frida and Diego’s come to life, which is a feat in itself, this opera lacked teeth. I think the stand out was Katrina, which is a witch in the underworld. Her voice was absolutely stunning and haunting. The character stemmed from La Catrina is a female calaca (skeleton) or calavera (skull), that is usually dressed up in fancy attire for Day of the Dead.

VISUAL ART Costume Art at The Met ⭐️⭐️

Hot Take: Underwhelming overall with some standouts featuring the anatomy of the body.

Take Away:The exhibit was much better than reviewed and or showcased at The Gala. Not sure what the brands were thinking, but they certainly went on the boring side. It seems to me that it was a missed opportunity for the houses to showcase more structural, weird, and thematic approaches to the body and art.

The new galleries are quite beautiful in its simplicity, mixing the old and new, exposing the structure- the idea that the museum is living like the fashion and form on the body. I am most excited for new exhibits to embody these galleries.

Lee Ufan at Dia Beacon ⭐️⭐️⭐️½Hot Take: This was my first time seeing multiple pieces by Ufan in one place and was it worth it!

Take Away: I immediately made a connection to David Ireland’s work and this was quite satisfying. His ability to let go and let the brush work the color is unparalleled. And seeing the canvases in the expanse of Dia Beacon was deeply pleasurable. Helen Frankenthaler at Gagosian ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The Moment and the DistanceHot Take: Stunning!

Meg Webster at Paula Cooper ⭐️⭐️⭐️½Thicket Hot Take: Opulence

In the news: Big Merger Announcement between the Neue Galerie and The Met

Art keeps you Young

Upcoming in JuneSchmigadoon ⭐️⭐️⭐️The Tony’s on Sunday! Fat Ham at the St Louis Black Rep Circus Flora in St. LouisGiacometti at The MetCan I be Frank? (For the second time)Old Masters and New Amsterdam at NY Historical ***** And thanks to the support from friends and family, at the end of the month, I head to Valencia, Barcelona, and Berlin! ******

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