On Broadway, Dead
Accounts, by Theresa Rebeck, is about a son (Norbert
Leo Butz) who returns home to Cincinnati suddenly. Four
other characters, including a miscast Katie Holmes,
populate this unfunny comedy, which spouts cliches about New
York and the midwest town.
Off Broadway, a revival
of The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, is a well
acted play about a family fight over an antique piano, which a
young man wants to sell in order to buy property in the South.
It is the fourth of ten plays that the playwright wrote for each
decade of the twentieth century, and one of the best.
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A revival of Ivanov, by Anton Chekhov, was the playwright's first professionally produced play and points the way to his major successes. It takes place in the 1880s in a provincial part of Russia on a neglected estate, full of idle characters, suffering from boredom, or in the case of the title character, from depression. The cast is fine, and as a preview of the works to come, it shows a dramatist with a keen sensibility.
My Name is Asher Lev, by Aaron Posner, adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok, is a sensitive, well acted play about a Jewish boy wanting to be a painter. The conflict between the ultra religious father (Mark Nelson) and the rebellious son (Ari Brand) is the main focus of the play, but it covers many other themes like one's place in the community, the significance of art and a life well spent. It is an impressive, absorbing play. The opening night party took place at Vice Versa with guests Richard Thomas, Rob Ashford and Joe DiPietro.
Zelda at the Oasis, by P.H. Lin, pens on Tuesday and I will write about it in my next column.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presented two press screenings of Spanish Cinema Now December 7-16. Blancanieves, by Pablo Berger, 2012, is a black and white silent film inspired by the Tale of of Snow White from the Brothers Grimm. In this film, Snow White is the daughter of a bullfighter, who becomes a star in the bullring herself when she teams up with a troupe of bullfighting dwarves. Her evil stepmother pursues her for the inevitable tragedy. It is beautifully filmed, recreating a gorgeous Spain of the 1930s. Chrysalis (De tu ventana a la mia), by Pauia Ortiz, 2011, alternates stories of three women in different parts of Spain in three different time periods, doomed to misery. One is a sickly student, another is a peasant and the third is a middle aged spinster hoping to have a love affair like in the movies. All three suffer in their love life. It is a grim, depressing look at their wasted lives.
Ballet in Cinema from Emerging Pictures presented An Evening With Kylian/Inger/Walerski, by the Netherlands Dans Theater at The Hague filmed live on November 15. It consisted of four ballets. Chamber, choreography by Medhi Walerski, music by Joby Talbot, opened the program, and a terrific Swan Song, by Sol Leon and Paul Lighfoot to music of Philip Glass closed the evening. Sweet Dreams and Sarabande by Jiri Kylian, were also presented. All four pieces are a modern dance lover's delight, but the final piece with the hypnotic music of Glass and the erotic, sensuous dancing, especially by three couples, is riveting. It was another enjoyable presentation of dance on film.
11-29-12
Cast
member
Jenny
Bacon
at
the
opening
night
party
for
"My
Name
is
Asher
Lev"
at
Vice
Versa.
325
West
51
St.
Wednesday
night
11-28-12 |