Off-Broadway, Of
Good
Stock,
by Melissa
Ross,
at the
Manhattan
Theatre
Club, is
a play
about
three
sisters
in a
reunion
in a
family
home in
Cape
Cod. Each
has a
man in
her
life. They
all have
problems,
and it
is a
typical
play
about a
dysfunctional
family.
In the
second
act,
there is
a scene
where
the
sister
scream,
cuss and
get
drunk.
It is
very
unpleasant
and hard
on the
ears.
The six
actors
perform
well,
directed
by Lynne
Meadow.
Threesome,
by Yussef
El
Guindi,
at the
59E59
Theatre,
begins
as an
amusing
sex
comedy,
but
develops
into a
serious
drama
about
the
treatment
of women
in
Moslem,
i.e.
Egyptian,
and
American
society.
The
three
member
cast, Alia
Attallah,
Quinn
Franzenand Karan
Oberoi,
are excellent, under
the
expert
direction
of Chris
Coleman.
The
Absolute
Brightness
of
Leonard
Pelkey,
written
and
performed
by James
Lecesne,
at the
Westside
Theatre,
opens on
Monday,
July 27.
My
comments
will be
in my
next
column.
There
was a
Meet &
Greet
for the
cast and
creative
team of
MCC
Theater's The
Legend
of
Georgia
McBride,
by Matthew
Lopez.
The five
member
cast is
directed
by Mike
Donahue, and
will
open on
September
9. I
eagerly
await
the
opening.
By the
way, the
press
was
offered
two
alcoholic
drinks.
I raise
my glass
to toast
their
thoughtfulness.
I only
drink on
two
occasions,
when I
am alone
or with
someone.
MoMA is
presenting Glorious
Technicolor:
From
George
Eastman
House
and
Beyond
June
5-August
5. The
Garden
of Allah,
by Richard
Boleslawski,
USA,
1936,
features
an
exotic Marlene
Dietrich,
who goes
to the
Sahara
desert
to find
herself,
and
instead
finds Charles Boyer,
a former
Trappist
monk,
who
broke
his vows
and fled
the
monastery.
They
marry,
but he
leaves
her to
return
to the
monastery.
It is a
silly
film,
but
entertaining,
with
lots of
sand,
camels,
Arabs
and Tilly
Losch as
a sexy
dancer
in a
night
club.
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Tonight and Every Night, by Victor
Saville, USA, 1945, is about the
legendary theatre in London that never
closed during the blitz in World War II. Rita
Hayworth is
the star of the show and falls in love with
an RAF pilot, Lee
Bowman. There are lots of songs and
dancing, but two selections stand out. A
dancer from Manchester, Marc
Platt auditions
with a brilliant routine to classical music
plus to a speech by Hitler, and is hired to
dance with Hayworth and Janet
Blair, and Professor
Lamberti as
the Fred, the Great Waldo does a hilarious
routine with his xylophone.
Saskatchewan/O'Rourke of the Royal
Mounted, by Raoul
Walsh, USA, 1954, is a picturesque
technicolor film filmed on location in
Canada. The scenery is spectacular and
worth the price of admission. The story
is a typical action packed cowboy versus
indians picture; only in this case, the
cowboys are replaced by Canadian Mounted
Police. Alan
Ladd stars
and Shelley
Winters is
the love interest. It is entertaining,
but that scenery is breathtaking.
MoMA is presenting Mexico
at Midnight: Film Noir from Mexican
Cinema's Golden Age July 23-29. La
Diosa Arrodillada (The
Kneeling Goddess), by Roberto
Gavaldon, Mexico, 1947, is an
overlong melodrama starring two of the
most famous Mexican film stars at that
time. Arturo
de Cordova is
a married man having an affair with a
femme fatale Maria
Felix. When his wife dies, he is
suspected of murder. It is a convoluted
story, that makes little sense. However,
there is a scene in a nightclub in
Panama, where Felix performs in cabaret.
She reveals limited talent singing and
dancing. She is no Rita
Hayworth! But, she is beautiful.
A superb exhibition Sinatra:
An American Icon is on display at
the New York Public Library for the
Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. With
it, films are being shown in the Bruno
Walter Auditorium. We saw a second film The
Manchurian Candidate, by John
Frankenheimer, USA, 1962, introduced
by the composer of the music of the
film, David
Amram, a lively 85-year-old. The
film is an exciting thriller about brain
washing during the Korean War in 1952. A
soldier Lawrence
Harvey is
captured with his majorFrank Sinatra,
and is brain washed to be an assassin,
when he is returned to the United
States. Angela
Lansbury plays
his devious mother. The three actors are
superb in this excellent film.
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