On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
December 21, 2013
12-16-13 Cast member Carol Lawrence at the opening night of "Handle
With Care" at the Bea restaurant. 403 West 43rdSt. Sunday night
12-15-13
Off-Broadway, Handle
With Care, by Jason
Odell Williams, is a sitcom type comedy about a
grandmother (Carol
Lawrence), bringing her granddaughter from
Israel to America to find a husband for her. It was
a pleasure to see Carol Lawrence on stage again. The
opening night party took place at Bea restaurant
with guests Joe
DiPietro, Elizabeth
A. Davis and Joseph
Sirola.
A Meet & Greet was held
for The
Bridges of Madison County at
New 42nd Street Studios, where we saw three
selections performed by members of the cast. Jason Robert
Brown wrote
the music and lyrics, Marsha
Norman the
book, Bartlett
Sher directed,
and Kelli
O'Hara, Steven Pasquale and Hunter
Foster sang. I am eagerly awaiting opening
night.
Susan L. Shulman held
her Annual Holiday Party, with her famous chopped
liver, in her office. It was a fun and a delicious
event.
The Crowne Plaza Times
Square Hotel was where the Goa's Department of
Tourism presented a delightful program of dances,
and short speeches about the beauty of the former
Portuguese colony on the Western coast of India,
with glorious beaches, a perfect climate, historic
buildings and delicious food, which was tasted at a
buffet following the presentation. The slides and
videos showed the why tourists are enjoying
wonderful vacations there.
Film Society of Lincoln
Center and the Jewish Museum are presenting press
screenings for the 23rd
Annual New York Film Festival January 8-23, 2014. Friends
from France, by Anne
Weil and Philippe
Kotlarski, France/Germany/Canada/Russia, 2013,
takes place in Odessa in 1979. A French couple on a
guided tour are on a mission to meet and help "refuseniks",
Jews who are being persecuted by the Soviet regime
and want to emigrate to Israel. It is a fascinating
look at the horrors that Russian Jews suffered at
that time. There is a coda to the film ten years
later in Israel, with a twist to the story. The
acting is excellent in this sad film.
Ana Arabia, by Amos
Gitai, Israel/France, 2013, has a journalist
interview a group of Jews and Arabs living in a
small community, who have isolated themselves form
normal life in Jaffa. Unfortunately, they seem to be
narrow minded, with numerous prejudices, based on
their ignorance and lack of education. Listening to
their cliches about life is excruciating. For
example, one man claims America is full of
earthquakes where millions die each year. Enough
said.
The Congress, by Ari
Folman, Israel/Germany/Poland/Luxemberg/France/Belgium,
2013, is a live and animated film about an aging
actress Robin
Wright, who is persuaded by her agent (Harvey
Keitel) to appear in animated films, in which
she reluctantly has to give up her choice as to what
films she will appearing in. It is an interesting
concept.
Ida, by Pawel
Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013, is about a young
novitiate nun, who is told that she must visit her
aunt, her only living relative, before taking her
vows. What she discovers about her family background
unsettles her. It is a beautiful film, absorbing and
intelligent, with splendid acting by the entire
cast. It is one of the highlights of the press
screenings, and I heartily recommend it.
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The Jewish Cardinal, by Ilan
Duran Cohen, France, 2012, is based on the true story of Jean-Marie
Lustiger (portrayed by a
wonderful Laurent
Lucas), son of Polish-Jewish parents, who rose to become the Archbishop
of Paris in 1981, and friend of the Polish Pope
John Paul II (Aurelien
Recoing). It is fascinating story, well acted and beautifully
photographed. It is also one of the highlights of the press screenings, and
I urge every film lover to see it.
Before the Revolution, by Dan
Shadur and Barak
Heymann, is a documentary about Israelis living in Iran during the Shah
regime and enjoying the good life when economic and political relations between
Israel and Iran were beneficial for both countries. It is an interesting film,
which is all more saddening because of the current volatile relationship today
between the two important, powerful Middle East nations.
When Jews Were Funny, by Alan
Zweig, Canada, 2013, is a documentary about interviews with Jewish
comedians by the director, who appears to have serious problems about
his own Jewish identity, and who, at
the age of 60, is married to a Christian woman and father of a two-year
old daughter. He is a poor interviewer, and, unfortunately, most of the
comedians interviewed are not particularly articulate (nor funny). The
archival footage of old-time comedians doing their routines from
television in the 60s, like Alan
King, Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield and Jackie
Mason, is the only reason for watching the film.
Film
Society is presenting The
Discreet Charm of George Cukor December 13-January 7. Rich
and Famous, USA, 1981, is
basically a soap opera about two female college students (Jacqueline
Bisset and Candice
Bergen), whose life we follow from 1959 until 1981. Both have
success writing fiction, but their private lives are a disaster, except
for their friendship. There are some very daring scenes between Bisset
and a couple of her lovers. It was Cukor's last film.
The Marrying Kind, USA, 1952, is a tale of the trials and
tribulations of a working class marriage. Judy
Holliday and Aldo
Ray are the young couple,
who relate their problems to a sympathetic divorce judge. It is always a
pleasure to watch Holliday on screen, but the story itself has many
unbelievable moments.
MoMA
presents an ongoing An
Auteurist History of Film. Gertrud,
by Carl
Theodor Dreyer, Denmark, 1964, requires a lot of patience from the
viewer. There is virtually no action, mainly intelligent conversation
between a frustrated woman and her husband and three lovers. She was a
former opera singer, who informs her husband she is leaving him to
search for a perfect love. To ask a man to give up his quest for power
and money in order to devote himself full time to loving her is
unrealistic, and, unfortunately, it results in a very lonely life.
Ballet in Cinema from Emerging Pictures
presented The Sleeping
Beauty, music by Pyotr
Illyich Tchaikovsky, choreography by Marius
Petipa, revised by Yuri
Grigorovich, from a live performance from the Bolshoi Theatre on
November 20, 2011. It is a beautiful, sumptuous scenic production by Ezio
Frigerio, with gorgeous costumes by Franca
Squarciapino. It is a delight for the eyes. The cast was
magnificent, led by the brilliant Svetlana
Zakharova as Princess
Aurora. She is, without doubt, one of the finest interpreters of the
role. David
Hallberg was her ardent,
handsome Prince Desire, and partnered her wonderfully. Maria
Allash was a superb Lilac
Fairy, and the Corps de Ballet were without equal. What a splendid
company is the Bolshoi!
Vassily Sinaisky conducted
the enchanting score, and the orchestra never sounded better.
12-17-13 (L-R) Director Bartlett Sher.
cast members Kelli O'Hara. Steven Pasquale. book Marsha Norman. music and
lyrics Jason Robert Brown at the Meet & Greet for "The Bridges of Madison
County" at the NEW 42nd Street Studios".
227 West 42nd St. restaurant. Monday morning
12-16-13
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