Sunday, August 23, 2009

NY Fringe Festival Review: Jesus Ride


Promising Idea Ends Up on Cutting Room Floor

Jesus Ride
Presented by: Deux Ex Productions
Writer: Mike Schlitt
Director: Nancy Keystone

Summary:
100 years of Hollywood and 33 films starring Jesus as seen by Michael Schlitt, a former post-production manager at Sony.

What starts as a promising idea about looking at how Jesus is portrayed by the film industry morphs into a personal platform for a sermon about the hypocrisy of believers. triggered, apparently, by a personal negative experience Schlitt had while working on “The Revolutionary,” a virtual-experience film about Jesus produced by Trinity Broadcasting Network.

He shows some very brief clips from the films (there's a humorous clip of John Wayne as a Roman soldier) and talks about them a little, but is more interested in taking some jabs at TBN and believers in general (he might be shocked to find that all Christians don't behave hypocritically and don't all even watch TBN, which surprisingly, Schlitt tells us he watches a lot).

"People actually believe this stuff is real," he says as clips of a charismatic healing service are shown

A non-practicing Jew, who assures us many times during the program that he does not believe in God, Schlitt opines about how people “push back the darkness,” and portrays Christians as people who believe all Jews will go to hell and teach that Jews are bad because they killed Jesus. “No one knows what eternity looks like, but we all have to make it through the day,” he says.

What does all this have to do with Jesus and Hollywood? Some, to be sure, but not enough to justify an hour-and-20-minute diatribe. We’re left feeling like we didn’t see the show advertised. I had looked forward to Schlitt’s insights about the Jesus movies based on his expertise in the film industry, as well as his playwrighting and acting credits. Those were obscured by another agenda, however.

Highlights:
• There are some interesting facts about the film industry and a few amusing anecdotes.

Lowlights:
• Already expressed in the summary.

Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• A clip from a pornographic film about Jesus is shown

Fringe Tassels Awarded: 1

VENUE #18: HERE Arts Center - Dorothy B. Williams Theater
See it again Tue 25 @ 7:45 Sat 29 @ 3:15
--Lauren Yarger

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2022 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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