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Off-Broadway, These
Paper Bullets!, by Rolin
Jones, songs
by Billie
Joe Armstrong, directed by Jackson
Gay, at the Linda Gross Theater, is a
production of the Atlantic Theater Company. It
attempts to combine the phenomenon of the
success of a famous four person musical group
from London in 1964 with a play by Shakespeare.
Unfortunately, it is a vulgar play, with a
hyperactive cast. If you find a man wearing a
lampshade over his head at a party, or a girl
tossing a used condom over a couch and landing
on the heroine's head funny, this may be your
cup of tea. For me, it was tasteless.
Once Upon a Mattress, music by Mary
Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall
Barer, book by Jay
Thompson, Dean Fuller and
Marshall Barer, at the Abrons Arts Center, is a
production of the Transport Group Theatre
Company. A very funny Jackie
Hoffman as
Princess Winnifred and an equally amusing John
"Lypsinka" Epperson as
the domineering Queen star in this fairy tale
musical, about a Prince, who wants to get
married, but is thwarted by his mother. The
opening night party took place at Hastens
Mattress Store, 876 Broadway, with guests Barbara
Andres, Linda Lavin and Mary
Testa.
MoonStruck!, written
& performed by Staceyann
Chin, directed by Cynthia
Nixon, at the Lynn Redgrave Theater, is a
one woman show, in which the author tells us
about her life trying to have a baby as a single
mother. As she is a lesbian, this causes some
complications. The baby appears with the her at
the curtain call. The baby is adorable, and the
highlight of the show. The opening night party
took place in the basement of the theater. Danny
Aiello and Rosie
O'Donnell attended
on opening night.
A spectacular evening was presented at the Jazz
at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall, by Jaishri & Vikas
Kapoor. Their beautiful 15-year-old twin
daughters, Riya and Sara
Kapoor, performed A
Night of Moves, a traditional Bharatantayam dance
form, accompanied by a Carnatic Orchestra, a
classical South Indian Musical genre. It was
fascinating to watch the excellent performance, and
to listen to the music, which also included jazz
music. Jazz producer George
Wein attended
the concert, and was introduced to the audience.
Cocktails were served before the concert, and an
Indian street market dinner followed, with an
after party in the Parkview Lounge. It was a
memorable evening of delicious food, cocktails
and brilliant entertainment.
Opera conductor Peter
Mark conducted
a Master Class in the private apartment of Tamie
Lawrence, on East 57th St. Six young
singers, five sopranos and one baritone, each
sang one aria. Peter then proceeded to help them
improve their sound and their pronunciation. All
of them have fine, strong voices, but I was
amazed to hear how they improved their rendition
of the arias with Peter's assistance. It was a
Master Class indeed! I hope I will have the
pleasure of hearing them again on a professional
stage.Roberto
Borgatti, the baritone, told me his uncle
was, Giuseppe Valdengo,
the famous Metropolitan opera baritone. I told
him I was a super on stage with his uncle at
Indiana University, on May 16, 1949, for Lucia
de Lammermoor. He played Lord Enrico Ashton,
and I held a spear. We were both very good.
I attended a press conference for Quentin
Tarantino's new film The
Hateful Eight at
the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf Astoria. Seven
cast members were present, including Kurt
Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern,
Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Wayne Goggins and Damien
Bichir. Tarantino announced that they are
doing a 2015 Roadshow release all over the
country, as they used to do in the past, with
major 70mm films. Famed composer Ennio
Morricone has
composed an overture to the film. It will be
interesting to see the result.
A press preview was held for American
Dance Machine for the 21st Century at
the New 42nd Street Studios. We saw three
selections by a talented cast, directed by Wayne
Cilento. It opens on Monday, December 21, at
the Joyce Theater, and I plan to be there to
review these wonderful dancers and this exciting
program.
Former baseball player Lenny
Dykstra was
Santa Claus at Vivid Cabaret, 61 West 37th St.
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He posed for photos with five beautiful,
sexy cabaret girls, and seemed very happy,
as were all the photographers. The elegant
club is one of the finest in New York City.
Son of Saul, by Laszlo
Nemes, Hungary,
2015, is an amazing film. It stars Geza
Rohrig as
a Sonderkommando at a concentration camp in
1944, who has to persuade prisoners to
undress, enter the gas chamber thinking they
are taking a shower, and then he removes the
bodies and cleans the chamber afterwards. He
is obsessed with the idea that his son is
one of the victims, and steals the body to
give the boy a decent burial with a rabbi to
say Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.
It is a powerful film, in which we follow
Rohrig over two days, and are aware of the
horror of his existence. The film leaves a
memorable impression on the viewer, and one
can never think of the Holocaust again
without recalling this astonishing film
Film Society of Lincoln Center held press
screenings for The
25th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival
January 13-26, 2016. Lamb,
by Yared
Zeleke, Ethiopia/France/Germany/Norway,
2015, is beautifully photographed, as it
tells the story of nine-year-old Ephraim (a
remarkable performance by Rediat
Amare) and his only friend, a lamb. When
his mother dies from famine, he is taken by
his father to live in the north with
relatives. He is very homesick, especially
as his strict, brutal uncle wants to
sacrifice his lamb for the local festival.
One gains an intimate knowledge of the hard
life of rural families scratching out a
living in Ethiopia. It is a grim, realistic
view.
Projections of America, by Peter
Miller, Germany/USA/France, 2015, is a
documentary about Hollywood screenwriter Robert
Riskin, who led a team of idealistic
filmmakers during World War II, to create
26 short, propaganda documentaries, showing
the good life in America. The ten minute The
Autobiography of a 'Jeep' made
in 1943 was extremely popular. Many others
presented cowboys, farmers, immigrants and
school children to show the world what a
wonderful life people enjoyed in a
democracy. It is a fascinating film.
Tito's Glasses, by Regina
Schilling, Germany, 2014, is a
documentary about Adriana
Altaras, the daughter of Jewish
Croats, who were partisans who fought
the Nazis with Tito in Yugoslavia during
World War II. When her parents died in
Berlin, where the family had fled after
the war, she discovered memorabilia of
their past. She visits the scenes in
what was once Yugoslavia to tell their
story. It is a rather self indulgent
tale, focusing more on her than her
parents. It is not a very interesting.
Rabin, the Last Day, by Amos
Gitai, Israel/France,
2015, is a combination of recreated
scenes and actual archival news footage
of the assassination of the Israeli
Prime Minister, Yitzhak
Rabin on
November 4, 1995, by a 25-year-old
student Yigal
Amir, a right-wing Israeli radical.
As a tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize
winner on the 20th anniversary of his
death, the filmmaker created the events
of that horrific day. The excellent cast
do an excellent job showing the tragedy
and the investigation by the Shamgar
Commission that
followed. It leaves a profound
impression on the viewer.
For me, Wedding
Doll, by Nitzan
Gilady, Israel, 2015, was the highlight
of the press screenings. It features two
magnificent performances by Asi
Levi as
Sarah, the mother of Moran
Rosenblatt as
Hagit, her daughter, with a mild mental
deficiency, who works in a toilet paper
factory. The young girl has a discreet love
affair with the factory owner's son, hoping
that he will marry her. It is a sad tale,
but the acting by the entire cast is superb.
The photography of a little town in the
desert is wonderful. I cannot imagine any
member of the audience not being emotionally
involved with the heroine.
MoMA presented a career retrospective from
December 3-18 of the Italian film director Antonio
Pietrangeli. I
Know Her Well (lo la conoscevo bene),
Italy, 1965, stars Stefania
Sandsrelli as
a pretty hairdresser, from a small town in
Italy, who comes to Rome hoping to be a
model and actress. A large number of men
take advantage and deceive her with promises
of love and help to achieve her goals. It is
a scathing view of la dolce vita of
the 1960s, which has not changed much today.
Sandrelli is perfect in the comic/tragic
role, and Pietrangeli is a fine director,
who died much too young.
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