On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
December 7, 2013
12-06-13 Dick Cavett (L) and Burt Bacharach at the opening night
party for "What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined" at Phebe's.
359 Bowery. Thursday night 12-05-13
Off-Broadway, Good
Person of Szechwan, by Bertolt
Brecht, received good reviews, and it is easy to
see why. Usually the ponderous playwright is
insufferable with his dogmatic statements, but here
the production is light hearted and imaginatively
staged. Even though overlong, it is quite enjoyable.
Nothing to Hide, by Derek
Delgaudio, is a two man show for fans of magic. Helder
Guimaraes and
Delgaudio are pleasant company, who will astonish
their audience with their amazing tricks with cards.
What's It All About?
Bacharach Reimagined, is 90-minutes of musical
arrangements by Kyle
Riabko, who
with six other talented performers play and sing the
glorious music of Burt
Bacharach, who surprised the opening night
audience by sitting at the piano at the curtain call
to play Raindrops
Are Falling on My Head. It was a night to
remember. Among the guests at the opening night
party at Phebe's were Clive
Davis, Dick Cavett and Lynn
Whitfield.
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The great stage actress Julie
Harris received a
memorial celebration at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It was a
wonderful tribute to a magnificent star of theatre, film and
television. Among the many speakers recalling her, were Christopher
Plummer, Zoe Caldwell, Rosemary Harris, Cherry Jones and Hal
Holbrook.
Film Society of Lincoln Center is
presenting The
Discreet Charm of George Cukor December 13-January 7. I
attended press screenings of A
Life of Her Own, USA, 1950, which is a typical soap opera
about a young woman (Lana
Turner) from a small town, who becomes a top model in New
York. She has an affair with a married man (RayMilland),
which ends sadly. It is a well acted film, and a glimpse at
modeling life in that period. Actually, New York looked quite
charming in 1950, and people were generally well mannered and
spoke in an educated manner, with no profanity or vulgarity.
What a pleasure! Sylvia
Scarlett, USA, 1935, is a delightful comedy, in which Katharine
Hepburn disguises
herself as a boy to flee France with her father, an embezzler (Edmund
Gwenn). Their meeting with a con man (Cary
Grant) changes their lives in England, and leads to a
pleasant ending. It is a funny, charming film. Zaza,
USA, 1938, stars Claudette
Colbert as a
cabaret singer, who falls in love with a married man (Herbert
Marshall) with sad consequences. Bert
Lahr is her
colleague on stage and does a fine job in a serious role.
However, it is Colbert, who steals the picture. She is
beautiful, intelligent, witty, and is a joy to watch in every
scene. The three films by Cukor are superb.
12-06-13 Christina Ricci at the opening
night for "What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined" at the New York
Theatre Workshop. 79 East 4th St. Thursday night 12-05-13
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