One of the most luxurious NYC experiences still undeniably remains a night at the theater. But if a Broadway musical isn’t your thing then an evening at an Off-Broadway production is what you should aim for. Everything can happen there, it’s usually where the next Broadway gems come from and at the very least, when you leave the theater tucked away in one of those side streets of lower Hell’s Kitchen, you’ll have learned something new about the city.
Discovering a future Broadway hit when it’s still Off-Broadway has always been one of my favorite things about New York, that ability to find a hidden talent or future Tony winner holds endless possibilities. And when I watched ‘Sideways The Experience’ this past week, at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, I was in for a real treat. Mark my words, this production will eventually head to The Great White Way.
Everyone is probably familiar with the 2004 film ‘Sideways’ by Alexander Payne, starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, playing two best friends on a trip through California’s wine country. Giamatti’s Miles wants to enjoy the wine tastings while his buddy Jack is looking for a last fling before his wedding at the end of their journey together. Sprinkle in Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh as their romantic interests and needless to say, the film was a indie hit. Yet I never realized what a devoted fan following the story has, originally written as a novel by Rex Pickett who also did the stage adaptation for ‘Sideways The Experience’.
Photo by Jeremy Daniel
I’ll get to the play soon, but before I dive into that, I have to talk about the food and wine. Yes, because ‘Sideways The Experience’ does what no other play can and that is make you and me, the audience, part of their first act. In fact, the “first act” of this play-slash-full-NYC-experience is a tasting menu paired with great wines. The food courtesy of celebrity caterer Mary Giuliani, and the wines curated by Wine Access. If you buy the full package, and arrive at 6.30 for the evening performances, you’ll get to be part of the act too.
There is nothing plain about little treats that include Squid Ink Pasta Donuts with Rock Shrimp and Pancetta, Duck Confit Pot Pies with Fig Sauce and Fontina & Black Truffle Honey Grilled Cheeses — paired with a 2018 Kinfolk, Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, a 2018 Color & Sound, Sonoma County Pinot Noir and an Editorial, Russian River Valley Chardonnay, in that exact order. There were vegetarian Pot Pies with a Rosemary Aioli, Red Wine Pasta Donuts with Slow Roasted Short Rib Ragu and tiny little heavenly Tuna Tartare Black Tacos, with Avocado and Chipotle Crème. The wine selection was yummy and if one needed more, a grazing station with assorted crudités, dips, cut meats and cheeses was ever-present. As were the side bars where one could refill the souvenir plastic glass we were given at the start of the evening.
Giuliani is a magician, her food at once super tasty and incredibly light.
Photo by Jeremy Daniel
Around 7.30, the stage was cleared to make way for the play. As a funny aside, I excused myself to use the restrooms downstairs — the play takes place in a beautiful theater housed inside an Episcopalian church on the West side, midtown — and when I came back, there was a light blue toilet right there on the stage! Well, all part of the play I soon found out, because when the lights come up on the official first act, Miles is sitting on the commode, nursing a hangover.
So now I can finally talk about the play. While the scenes and dialogue differ slightly from the screen version— I sat next to a tried and true movie fan who kept saying “I don’t think that was in the film!” — the story and themes of ‘Sideways The Experience’ are the same. Two guys, who are as different as can be, and deal with life in opposite manner, yet end up finding their balance nonetheless. I think that’s always been the moral of this story, without giving anything away.
While it must be difficult to follow up Giamatti’s and Church’s undeniable onscreen chemistry as these two mismatched friends, Brian Ray Norris, who takes on the role of Miles and Gil Brady playing Jack did just fine! In fact, they bring new shades of brilliance to their respective characters. We buy Norris as a wine nerd writer full of doubts and Brady as the surfer dude unlikely playboy at first sight.
Gil Brady, Jenny Strassburg, Brian Ray Norris and Kimberly Doreen Burns, photo by Jeremy Daniel
Kimberly Doreen Burns as Maya is lovely, pretty and fun to watch, just as her character demands, and Jenny Strassburg as Terra is a spitfire, a burst of sensuality and all-womanness — and she ended up being the character I connected with most. Direction, by OBIE Award-Winner Dan Wackerman is stunningly simple, allowing the audience to concentrate on the characters instead of noticing the cleverness of the director.
Lighting in the production by Jimmy Lawlor is wondrous and the sets by David L. Arsenault are a work of genius, like pieces of a wood puzzle that are assembled and disassembled in front of the audience’s eyes, by the cast members. Also noteworthy is the car scene between Miles and Jack, with its car seats on rollers and detached steering wheel. So clever! Sound effects by Quentin Chiappetta, both performed by the actors offstage and recorded, are also brilliant, adding to the full experience.
The only tiny little thing I regret is not having sat down at the sides — instead having occupied the perfect fourth row center seat. Why, then, you ask? Because at one point during the play, the cast brings up bottles of wine to refill the audience’s glasses. And if you’re not sitting by the aisles, well, you don’t get any. So you may want to learn from my “mistake”…
I don’t have a star rating system, but if I did, ‘Sideways The Experience’ would get five — hundred — stars. Make that five thousand.
For more info and tickets, check out their website.