Pat Kirkwood Is Angry, written and
performed by Jessica
Walker, is a one woman show about the
English actress of the title name, who was a
star on stage during World War II. She also
appeared in film and television, but she
made poor choices in both husbands (she had
four) and in her career. She was involved in
a royal scandal with Prince Philip, which
was a source of humiliation for her for over
fifty years. Accompanied by a pianist, she
presents a selection of songs associated
with her; but it is a bitter tale, and she
has mostly negative comments to make about
the people in her life.
Donogoo, by Jules
Romains, translated and directed by Gus
Kaikkonen, at the Mint Theater, opens on
Monday, June 23. My comments will be in my
next column.
The 4th Annual Off Broadway Alliance
Awards were
presented at a reception at Sardi's.
President Peter
Breger presented
the awards to three Legends of Off Broadway, Wallace
Shawn, Edmund Gaynes andTerrence
McNally. Among the other awards, Fun
Home won
the Best Musical and Hand
of God the
Best Play. As always, it is a lovely event.
I attended a lovely Pre-Gala
Luncheon for Career Transition For Dancers at
Sardi's. The
2014 Annual Gala NEW YORK NEW YORK A Helluva
Town will
take place at City Center on Monday, October
6, honoringAngela
Lansbury with
the 2014 Rolex Dance Award. It is one of my
favorite events for a very worthy cause.
Among the guests at the delicious luncheon
were Tommy
Tune, Karen Ziemba and Lucia
Hwong Gordon.
MoMA presented ongoing An
Auteurist History of Film. The
Last Picture Show, by Peter
Bogdanovich, USA, 1971, is a fascinating
film, about small town life in Texas in
1951. Basically, it is a coming of age story
about two high school seniors in a small
town with little opportunity for a
successful life. It is a realistic film,
which leaves a deep impression on the
viewer. The acting is superb, and everyone
in the cast is wonderful, with two of them
winning well deserved Best Supporting Actors
Oscars, Ben
Johnson and Cloris
Leachman. It is the director's finest
film.
MoMA also is presenting Carte
Blanche:MK2 until
June 23. Sauve
qui peut (la vie) (Every Man for Himself),
by Jean-Luc
Godard, Switzerland/Austria/France/West
Germany, 1980, is an unusual film about
three people. The women are played by two
wonderful actresses, Nathalie
Baye and Isabelle
Huppert, who are wasted in this film. A
television producer (Jacques
Dutronte) breaks up with the former and
sleeps with the latter, who is a prostitute.
The film uses slow motion, an annoying
soundtrack, and is quite irritating at
times. It also focuses on weird sexual
preferences of the prostitute's clients. The
filmmaker has made many fine films. This is
not one of them.