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Theater Review... "I Squeezed Really Hard" and Broadway Tony Winners.

"Squeezing Through Life".

By Robert M Massimi. ( Broadway Bob).Published 3 years ago 3 min read
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Chief Drama Critic Metropolitan Magazine.

It is a shame that "I squeezed Really Hard" at the Wild Project only played for a very limited engagement. Not only is Anthony Misiano's show a real good one, it plays well in this East Village house. In a baron set (one Chair, two if you count the one that holds his water), Misiano moves about the stage like that hyperactive boy he once was. He tells his life story through tongue and cheek, however, his life up until High School wasn't exactly a day at the beach. In his solo performance, the author/actor gives the audience a very detailed description of what it was like to live below the poverty level, to hear gun shots ring out on a regular basis: to be just a little boy and witness a stabbing death. Whether we want to feel for this actor or not, Misiano will have none of it. He continually makes us laugh at just how ridiculous he, or for that matter, any child could live like he did.

The interesting thing about this play is the many sides the actor gives us: he pokes fun at how soft children are today, he goes on about his own father telling him after a belt wiping that his father's punishments paled in comparison to what he just received. How he expresses that he was an unusual child and that he had no friends (either by moving so much or that he was indeed a gifted child). In the ninety minutes we learn so much about his life :the mother who loved him unconditionally, his grandparents, his step father, the uncle and his biological father.

In a thoroughly dysfunctional family we see how Misiano is able to deal with the "flower child", chain smoking mother, the abusive father and her mom's weirdo girlfriend. Life never seems to bother him as he tells his story; he still seems like a happy boy through all the commotion around him. Under deft direction by Jacob Titus and superb sound and lighting we are always kept in this play. One person shows have a tendency to get away from the audience at times, but not here; we are kept entertained at all times during his performance.

In this heartfelt play one cannot help but reflect on their own lives... the good and the bad. To see the actor have genuine tears at times makes the play resonate on a very serious level, one which is poignant as well as fulfilling to the audience. Anthony Misiano makes lite of murder, drugs, stabbings, abuse and double wide trailer home, he is creative enough to be subtle in making us feel his pain.

Some real surprises tonight at The Winter Garden Theater... "The Inheritance" was the Winner for best play. The whiney woke crowd took to Twitter and other social media outlets to claim racism and that it's the "same old Broadway". Really? "Inheritance, "Grand Horizons" were better than "Slave Play"- pure and simple. You either loved "Slave Play" or hated it.

I really thought "Tina" would beat out Moulin Rouge. "Tina" was far superior than "Moulin". The later was so bad in the second act it almost should not have been nominated at all. "A Christmas Carol" wins Best Original Score.

The most deserving of all of the individual winners was Mary- Louise Parker in "The Sound Inside" at Studio 54. I thought that this might of been her best role she ever played. A talented stage actor, she deserved this win. Equally as good was Adrienne Warren in "Tina-- The Tina Turner Musical".

I was happy that those most deserving received awards this evening and that the awards committee did not yield to outside pressure. It will be interesting, however, to see if Hollywood caves with its new rules and its new voting committee.

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About the Creator

Robert M Massimi. ( Broadway Bob).

I have been writing on theater since 1982. A graduate from Manhattan College B.S. A member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, which recognizes excellence in both English and Science. I have produced 14 shows on and off Broadway. I've seen over700 shows

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