Four original cast members of Avenue
Q came
to New World Stages for the 15th Anniversary
Celebration of the show. They were Rick
Lyon, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jennifer Barnhart and John
Tartaglia (photo below).
They participated in a talk-back after the
performance. It was delightful to see and
photograph the talented artists.
A revival of Fiddler
on the Roof, book by Joseph
Stein, music by Jerry
Bock, lyrics by Sheldon
Harnick, is acted and sung in
Yiddish, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage,
where the National Yiddish Theatre
Folksbiene is located. Supertitles are
projected in English. The large cast and
musicians perform excellently, under the
direction of Joel
Grey. Steven
Skybell as Tevye is outstanding and
gives a memorable performance. The Broadway
musical was one of the finest seen on stage,
and this production is no exception.
MoMA is presenting A
View from the Vaults: Recent Film
Acquisitions July 18-August 8. La
regle du jeu (The Rules of the Game),
by Jean
Renoir, France, 1939, is a wonderful
film about high society enjoying
a weekend, when a wealthy French aristocrat
and his Viennese wife invite their guest to
a hunt and a party at their chateau.
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It is clear that all of the guests and
servants break all the civilized rules of
the game. It is also a nod to Mozart and
his Marriage
of Figaro. I enjoyed every minute of one
of the classics of prewar French cinema.
The cast (photo below), creative team
and the director David Staller posed
for a photo op at ART/NY Studios, 520 8th
Ave, for George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak
House. It has a wonderful cast, with two
of my favorite actresses, Alison Fraser and Karen Ziemba.
It opens at Theatre Row on September 9 and I
will attend the opening.
Columbus Library, 742 10th Avenue,
presented Up the Down Staircase, by Robert
Mulligan, USA, 1967, starring Sandy
Dennis as an idealistic teacher in a
high school in New York City. The interior
shots were filmed at Haaran High School on
10th Avenue and 59th Street. For me it was
nostalgia. For four years from 1971-1975, I
was an Assistant Principal at that school,
and it brought back many memories. The film
itself was a little far-fetched, but Sandy
Dennis, who I knew, admired and became a
good friend, and I photographed her many
times, gave a splendid performance. I miss
her. She left this earth much too soon.
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