Off-Broadway, The Irish Repertory Theatre presented a charming musical A Christmas Memory, based on a short story by Truman Capote, with book by Duane Poole, music by Larry Grossman, lyrics by Carol Hall, starring Alice Ripley. It is semi autobiographical tale about a young man in 1955, returning to the small town in Alabama, where he grew up in 1933. It is a sweet, sentimental story about the friendship between the child and his elderly distant cousin (Ripley). The music is pleasant, the lyrics are intelligent, and the cast performs wonderfully, under Charlotte Moore's expert direction. We celebrated the opening night at Shades of Green, 125 East 15th St, with guests Judd Hirsch, Tony Walton, David Staller andMalachy McCourt.
The York Theatre Company's 2014 Musicals in Mufti presented a delightful My Favorite Year, book by Joseph Dougherty, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, with a superb cast, headed by Adam Chanler-Berat, Douglas Sills, Richard Kind, and a scene stealing Leslie Kritzer with the song Professional Showbizness Comedy in the second act. The large cast was directed by Dan Knechtges. This performance was one of the highlights of the series. We celebrated the opening night in the Music Room of the York Theatre.
|
There was a reception and viewing of photographs of The New Abolitionists for Sanctuary for Families and NYC Anti-Trafficking Coalition at the Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd St, hosted by Gloria Steinem and Diana Taylor. The photographs were impressive, their cause is important, and a large crowd attended.
Film Society of Lincoln Center presented press screenings for The Last Laugh: An Alternate History of Spanish Comedy December 12-18. Not on Your Life/El Verdugo, by Luis Garcia Berlanga, Spain, 1964, is a cynical view of life of the working class in Spain during the 1960s. An elderly prison executioner manipulates his unwilling son-in-law, who works in a funeral parlor, to replace him when he retires. He has to use the garrote, the Spanish form of execution, a metal ring which is placed around the neck of the condemned prisoner which causes death by strangulation. Believe or not, this morbid tale is quite hilarious and the acting is superb.
Tell Me About Sanchicorrota/Dime quien era Sanchicorrota, by Jorge Tur, Spain, 2013, is a peculiar documentary, in which the filmmaker interviews uneducated shepherds and peasants who live in a barren wasteland in the north of Spain. He asks them about a 16th-century bandit. They give all types of ridiculous answers, as they believe he was a kind of Robin Hood ( or perhaps they saw the Hollywood film starring Errol Flynn), who robbed the rich to give to the poor. If the filmmaker wanted to know about the bandit, he should have consulted a historian. The peasants use vulgar language, and two of them sing folklore songs, which adds nothing to the documentary. However, if you enjoy watching repeated scenes of sheep grazing in the area, this may be just the film for you.
|