On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
April 12, 2014
04-09-14 The cast members (L-R) Veanne Cox. Jennifer Lim at the
opening night party for "The Most Deserving" at Brasserie Cognac.
1740 Broadway. Tuesday night. 04-08-14
On Broadway, Will
Eno is
a young playwright, whose
plays have provoked
controversy. Some people
like his work. Others
don't. The
Realistic Joneses will
continue that discussion. A
middle aged couple are
sitting in their yard, when
a young couple, who have
just moved in a house next
door, invade their privacy.
In a series of short scenes
in the intermissionless
play, we learn about their
lives and frustrations. Four
excellent actors, Tracy
Letts, Toni Collette,
Michael C. Hall and Marisa
Tomei, are expertly
directed by Sam
Gold. The dialogue is
surreal at times, but quite
funny. Many people may enjoy
the play. Others may not.
But, definitely, decide for
yourself. The opening night
party at the Redeye Grill
attracted Joan
Rivers, Laura Osnes and Jerry
Dixon among
others.
Bullets Over Broadway,
written by Woody
Allen, based on his film
with the same title, at the
St. James Theatre, is a
disappointing musical. With
an excellent cast and a
superb creative team, it
turned out to be a
dispiriting production, full
of tired jokes, most not
even funny. It is a one
silly idea about an
unproduced playwright (Zach
Braff), having his play
on Broadway, thanks to the
money invested by a gangster
(Vincent
Pastore). A member of
his gang (Nick
Cordero) rewrites the
play, which becomes a
hit. Allen insisted on using
old 20s songs instead of an
original score. Some work.
Some don't; especially, the
final selection Yes!
We Have No Bananas. Susan
Stroman is
responsible for the
direction and choreography,
which is pleasant, but not
very imaginative. Among the
actors, Marin
Mazzie is
amusing as an alcoholic
diva, Braff performs well as
the playwright and Cordero
steals the show as a mobster
with literary instincts.
Of Mice and Men, by John
Steinbeck, at the
Longacre Theatre, opens on
April 16. My comments will
be the next column.
Off-Broadway, a revival of The
Threepenny Opera, book
and lyrics by Bertolt
Brecht, music by Kurt
Weill, is another dull
production of what was one
of the most exciting shows
ever seen Off-Broadway in
1954 starring Weill's wife, Lotte
Lenya. With an all star
cast, mostly miscast, it is
one of the most lethargic
productions ever offered, in
which a bulldog, for no good
reason, outperforms the
human members on stage. This
misguided production was
directed and choreographed
by Martha
Clarke.
.
.
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The Most Deserving, by Catherine
Trieschmann, is a wacky, funny play about a
five member arts council in Kansas, who have to
award a $20,00 grant to a deserving artist, who
needs the help. The cast is superb, well
directed by Shelley
Butler, but it is Veanne
Cox as
the frustrated head of the council, who steals
every scene. To watch her perform is worth the
price of admission. We celebrated the opening
night at Brasserie Cognac.
The
Heir Apparent, by David
Ives, is an exhausting production of a minor seventeenth century French
play. An impoverished nephew wants his dying uncle's money, in order to
marry his sweetheart. He employs two servants to help him. They disguise
themselves as an American relative and three women with faces of pigs. To no
avail. Never has a cast worked so hard for so little, while speaking in
rhyming couplets with modern day references and slang which serve very
little purpose in this unfunny play.
Film
Forum is presenting from April 23-May 6 Bicycling
With Moliere, by Phillippe
Le Guay, France, 2013, a wonderful, intelligent, literate film about two
actors, one (Fabrice Luchini) retired
on an island off the French coast and the other (Lambert
Wilson) a successful television soap opera star. The latter wants to
return to the stage as the star of Moliere's play The
Misanthrope, and hopes to persuade the retiree to join him. What follows
is a delightful power play between the two, as they rehearse scenes and get
involved with an Italian divorcee. The acting by the entire cast is
splendid, and the photography of the island is charming.
MoMA
presented The Aesthetics of
Shadow, Part 2: Europe and America April 1-17. Shanghai
Express, by Josef
von Sternberg, USA, 1932, is a an adventure story about a train trip,
with a group of foreigners, being held up by Chinese rebels. Marlene
Dietrich stars as Shanghai
Lily, a prostitute, and the film reveals her devastating beauty and charm.
She is a joy to behold, and one can understand her success in Hollywood.
Over 80 years later, the film and the star are still a delight to watch.
Ongoing An Auteurist History of Film presented Bonnie
and Cyde, by Arthur
Penn, USA, 1967, is a fascinating film about two actual bank robbers (Warren
Beatty and Faye
Dunaway) in the 1930s, who end up killing many innocent people in their
crime spree. The film is quite frank about their life, including their
sexual problems. The rest of the cast is excellent, and includes Oscar
winner Estelle
Parsons. Almost 50 years later, it still packs a wallop.
04-07-14 Cast member Toni Collette at the
opening night party for "The Realistic Joneses" at the Redeye Grill. 90
Seventh Ave, Sunday night. 04-06-14
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