Steve Mentz

THE BOOKFISH

THALASSOLOGY, SHAKESPEARE, AND SWIMMING

  • Home
  • Steve Mentz
  • Humanities Commons
  • Public Writing
  • The sea! the sea!
  • The Bookfish
  • St. Johns

Ethan Lipton’s “No Place to Go”

April 4, 2012 by Steve Mentz 1 Comment

This tender love story between man and corporation won’t break your heart — we all know what happens when the company relocates to Mars, where office space is cheap — but the show gets down inside you and does its work.  It’s as sharp and funny a take on today as you’re likely to find.  If you’re in New York this weekend, get to Joe’s Pub to see it.  The Times likes it too.

Bandleader / playwright Ethan Lipton sings the small joys of the workplace — “I’ve got a place to go in the morning” — and unfurls the half-noticed pleasures of that temporary community, with its private languages — “information refining” — and particular characters, including a special vocal appearance by “the last sandwich in the conference room.”  He loves the place, but doesn’t want to leave Our Town.

(Side note #1: I’m blogging from Mars right now, on a sunny spring morning.  I commute from here to the outskirts of Our Town in pre-dawn dimness, but I’ve come to like Mars.  It’s not as dry as you might think.)

He tells us that his master plan is a life in which there’s “time to make up stories while also eating,” and this brilliant, funny show performs in the wide gulf between economic reality and artistic imagination.  The fantasies keep on coming.  “When we move in with my aging middle-class parents” leads to “I’m gonna incorporate,” a nostalgic lefty hymn, “Did you hear what they did at the WPA?” — even artists, this song tells us, have to eat — and then the title song, “No Place to Go.”

My favorite parts evoke the NYC office culture I’ve not worked in since I left Random House back in ’92.  The dark guttural of the last sandwich in the conference room growls, “Somebody wants me!”  The center fullback of the soccer team keeps everyone organized.  “Do they still make men in Brooklyn?” asks a strong sentimental ballad.

(Side note #2: The competitive spirit in the soccer song made me think back to the last time I saw Ethan Lipton in person, playing ultimate frisbee at UCLA with the Buffalo Nights gang.  I remember he was pissed at me for not throwing the disk his way.)

The closer was “Nothing but a comeback in my wallet,” with supporting vocals from the brilliant three-piece “orchestra,” the highlight of which, from where I was sitting anyway, was Vito Dieterle’s gorgeous saxophone.

We might not be able to believe that saxophones and songs can break corporate power.  But somewhere above Oklahoma, Woody Guthrie smiles down on this one.

Again, if you’re in New York this weekend, get thee to Joe’s Pub. 

 

Filed Under: New York Theater

Trackbacks

  1. Tumacho in Viral Times says:
    March 26, 2020 at 3:19 pm

    […] was part of a theater troupe in Los Angeles with my brother in law. More recently in New York, his No Place to Go and The Outer Space have been among my favorite things to see at Joe’s Pub. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Steve

Steve Mentz
Professor of English
St. John’s University
Read Bio

Twitter Feed

Steve MentzFollow

Steve Mentz
Retweet on TwitterSteve Mentz Retweeted
aewaiwhyLei Mai Kahiki Hua 🦉@aewaiwhy·
14h

@stevermentz 🙏🏾 I ❤️ the work these scholars are doing. Hope these threads encourage folx to seek out their work & the videos when @acmrs_org puts them up in the #RaceB4Race archive. 🙌🏽

Reply on Twitter 1353402278254841856Retweet on Twitter 13534022782548418563Like on Twitter 13534022782548418566Twitter 1353402278254841856
Retweet on TwitterSteve Mentz Retweeted
TheatreforaNewATheatre for a New Audience@TheatreforaNewA·
22 Jan

Join us next week for An Exploration of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE with actor John Douglas Thompson in the role of Shylock and director Arin Arbus, joined by a diverse cast, as they explore one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays and its flawed central character.

Reply on Twitter 1352728169497976833Retweet on Twitter 13527281694979768332Like on Twitter 135272816949797683310Twitter 1352728169497976833
Load More...

Pages

  • OCEAN Publicity
  • #SAA 2020: Watery Thinking
  • Creating Nature: May 2019 at the Folger
  • Audio and Video Recordings
  • Oceanic New York
  • Public Writing
  • Published Work
  • #pluralizetheanthropocene

Recent Posts

  • Blue Humanities
  • Bookfish in 2020
  • Writing in 2020
  • Reads of 2020
  • Vineland Reread by Peter Coviello

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in