| TOWN & VILLAGE |
Two things about Jacqueline Hankins: she is lacking for neither talent nor energy. In the
theater piece that she is presenting, "Cooking The Books: A Recipe For Murder", she has
written, composed, directed and acts in it. She also handles the film editing and the
publicity. If that isn't enough, if members of the audience arrive early enough, she will greet
them, show them to their seats and go about arranging the technical details of the
production. As an added responsibility: Ms. Hankins gives employment as performers to at
least three of her relatives in "Cooking The Books".
All of this is in a forty-five minute, mixed media, musical spoof of a mystery play, "Cooking
the Books", one of a planned series of what Ms. Hankins calls Hip-Hop Musical Mysteries.
Upstairs in The Playwright Tavern & Restaurant, 732 Eighth Avenue, Between 45th and
46th Sts. is the venue where "Cooking The Books" is being performed on weekends. And
the setting is part of the fun. The audience sits at tablecloth-covered tables and can order
food and drinks to be consumed before and during the performance. Evidently, while Ms.
Hankins no doubt takes her work seriously, she doesn't believe that the audience can't be
relaxed while watching her work.
There are ten characters in "Cooking The Books". Five appear live; the others, dead or
alive, are projected on a screen. The plot is filled with improbable, exaggerated goings-on.
Corrupt businessmen, shady lawyers, sexy girlfriends, conniving wives, hit men and victims
all have a turn. The scene shifts from prisons to conference rooms to penthouse to
cemetery to Park to law office - and all in forty-five minutes of Ms. Hankins' hip-hop verse.
The cast has fine expressive voices. Anna Hill who plays the lawyer and Angel Martinez
who plays the shady entrepreneur who is a sucker for a conniving woman are particularly
fine singers.
In the composition of the music that forms the bridges between the scenes, Ms. Hankins,
released from the confines of hip-hop, shows what a fine composer she actually is.
theater piece that she is presenting, "Cooking The Books: A Recipe For Murder", she has
written, composed, directed and acts in it. She also handles the film editing and the
publicity. If that isn't enough, if members of the audience arrive early enough, she will greet
them, show them to their seats and go about arranging the technical details of the
production. As an added responsibility: Ms. Hankins gives employment as performers to at
least three of her relatives in "Cooking The Books".
All of this is in a forty-five minute, mixed media, musical spoof of a mystery play, "Cooking
the Books", one of a planned series of what Ms. Hankins calls Hip-Hop Musical Mysteries.
Upstairs in The Playwright Tavern & Restaurant, 732 Eighth Avenue, Between 45th and
46th Sts. is the venue where "Cooking The Books" is being performed on weekends. And
the setting is part of the fun. The audience sits at tablecloth-covered tables and can order
food and drinks to be consumed before and during the performance. Evidently, while Ms.
Hankins no doubt takes her work seriously, she doesn't believe that the audience can't be
relaxed while watching her work.
There are ten characters in "Cooking The Books". Five appear live; the others, dead or
alive, are projected on a screen. The plot is filled with improbable, exaggerated goings-on.
Corrupt businessmen, shady lawyers, sexy girlfriends, conniving wives, hit men and victims
all have a turn. The scene shifts from prisons to conference rooms to penthouse to
cemetery to Park to law office - and all in forty-five minutes of Ms. Hankins' hip-hop verse.
The cast has fine expressive voices. Anna Hill who plays the lawyer and Angel Martinez
who plays the shady entrepreneur who is a sucker for a conniving woman are particularly
fine singers.
In the composition of the music that forms the bridges between the scenes, Ms. Hankins,
released from the confines of hip-hop, shows what a fine composer she actually is.
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| "There's nothing like homecooking with a recipe for murder" by Gene Kilik |
