On
Broadway,
Breakfast
at
Tiffany's,
stage
adaptation
by
Richard
Greenberg,
is a
play
based on
Truman
Capote's
novella
about a
young
woman
from a
small
town
living
recklessly
in New
York.
Emilia
Clarke
is the
appealing
young
lady,
but
suffers
in
comparison
with
Audrey
Hepburn,
who
starred
in the
film
adaptation.
The
opening
night
party
was held
at the
Edison
Ballroom
with
guests
Ian
McKellen,
Debbie
Harry,
Ben
Vereen
and many
more.
Hands
on a
Hard
Body,
book by
Doug
Wright,
lyrics
by
Amanda
Green,
music by
Trey
Anastasio
and
Amanda
Green,
is a
musical
based on
a film
of the
same
title.
The cast
is first
rate,
the
music is
pleasant,
and the
story
about
working
class
Americans
competing
in an
endurance
contest,
keeping
one hand
on a
truck is
unusual
for a
Broadway
musical.
The
opening
night
party
took
place at
Roseland,
with
guests
like
Martha
Plimpton,
B.D.Wong
and
Jennifer
Cody.
Silk
Stockings,
music
and
lyrics
by
Cole
Porter,
was part
of the
Musicals
in Mufti
series
at the
York
Theatre.
Ben
Davis
and
Erin
Davie
starred
in this
entertaining
revival.
Michael
Tucker,
Jill
Eikenberry
and
Anne
Kaufman
Schneider
were
guests
at the
opening
night
party in
the
music
room at
the
theatre.
Debby
Boone
made her
debut at
Cafe
Carlyle
in
Swing
This,
featuring
songs of
the 60's
from her
upcoming
album,
and she
tells
anecdotes
about
the
celebrities
and the
entertainment
in Las
Vegas at
that
time,
when her
father
Pat
Boone
appeared
in the
clubs
there.
Marilyn
Maye,
Mary
Beth
Peil,
Tovah
Feldshuh
and
Debby's
husband
Gabriel
Ferrer,
her
daughter
Dustin
Romano,
her
brother-in-law
Rafael
Ferrer
and
son-in-law
Andrew
Romano
were
among
the
guests
on
opening
night.
The
Vineyard
Theatre's
30th
Aniversary
Annual
Gala
attracted
many
guests,
including
Billy
Crudup,
Judy
Kuhn,
John
Cullum
and many
more. It
is
always a
delightful
occasion.
The
Drama
Desk
held a
panel
discussion
at
Sardi's,
with
David
Hyde
Pierce,
Jayne
Houdyshell,
Kristine
Nielsen
and
Bertie
Carvel,
and
moderator
Ronald
Rand.
Film
Society
of
Lincoln
Center
presented
press
screenings
for the
20th
New York
African
Film
Festival
April
3-9.
Guelwaar,
by
Ousmene
Sembene,
Senegal,
1992, is
about
the
disappearance
o a body
of an
important
Christian
activist,
that
turns up
in a
Moslem
cemetery.
How it
is found
and
retrieved
is the
subject
of this
interesting
film,
which
shows
the
tension
between
the two
religions
in this
African
nation.
It is a
well
made
film.
TGV,
by
Moussa
Toure,
France/Senegal/Germany,
1997, is
an
adventure
film
about a
dangerous
bus trip
taken by
some
passengers
between
Senegal
and
Guinea.
There is
a tribal
uprising
on the
border;
therefore,
it is an
extremely
risky
and
exciting
trip. It
is a
very
enjoyable
film.
Death
for
Sale,
by
Faouzi
Bensaidi,
Belgium/France/Morocco,
2011, is
a story
about
three
aimless
youths,
engaging
in petty
thefts
in a
city in
Morocco.
One of
them
becomes
enamored
with a
prostitute
and
trouble
ensues.
It is a
well
acted,
disturbing
film,
which
reveals
the
corrupt
crime by
police
as well
as
criminals.
Nairobi
Half
Life,
by
David
Tosh
Gitonga,
Kenya,
2012, is
a
powerful
film
about a
young
man, who
comes to
the
capital
to be an
actor.
In order
to
survive,
he
becomes
a member
of a
gang of
petty
crooks,
which
has
tragic
consequences
for all
involved.
Some of
the
scenes,
especially,
in the
jail,
are
quite
shocking.
It
also reveals
the
corruption
by
police
as well
as the
criminals.
It is a
tough,
realistic
look at
the
seamy
side of
life in
the
African
nation.
MoMA is
presenting
Canadian
Front
2013
March
13-18. Before
My Heart
Fails,
by
Sebastien
Rose,
2012, is
the
story of
a
sixteen-year
old
girl,
one of
three
petty
criminals,
who
suffers
remorse
when one
of her
victims
dies.
She
tries to
establish
a
relationship
with his
widow,
with
unforeseen
consequences.
It is a
a very
well
acted,
absorbing
film.
Laurence
Anyways,
by
Xavier
Dolan,
2012, is
a
powerful
look at
the
relationship
over
many
years
between
a
couple,
whose
lives
are
upset,
when the
male (an
excellent
Melvil
Poupard)
realizes
he is a
female
trapped
in a
male
body. It
is an
unusually
frank
film
dealing
with the
problem
of
gender.
The
realism
of the
confrontations
between
the two
principal
actors
(the
female
is
Suzanne
Clement)
is
acting
at its
finest.
I
heartily
recommend
this
adult
film.
I
Killed
My
Mother,
by
Xavier
Dolan,
2009, is
a film
about
the
tense
relationship
between
a
16-year-old
son
(Xavier
Dolan)
and his
divorced
mother
(Anne
Dorval).
Their
verbal
fights
are
powerful
and
Dolan
reveals
himself
as a
multitalented
filmmaker.
It is an
impressive
film.
Blackbird,
by
Jason
Buxton,
2012, is
a
devastating
film
about a
disaffected
16-year-old
high
school
student,
who, in
anger,
sends a
threat
via the
internet
to kill
his
classmates
at his
school.
The
police
take it
seriously
and, in
a raid
of his
house,
find his
father's
collection
of
unlicensed
rifles.
The
young
man is
arrested,
and we
follow
his
horrifying
experiences
in the
courtroom
and in
jail. As
a major
problem
today
with
student
violence,
this
film
hits the
mark.
Again,
it is a
powerful
and
disturbing
film,
well
made and
well
acted.
Opera
in
Cinema
from
Emerging
Pictures
presented
Cavalleria
Rusticana,
by
Mascagni,
&
Pagliacci,
by
Leoncavallo,
from
Teatro
alla
Scala
from
a
performance
on
January
20,
1011.
The
singing
and
acting
of
both
operas
were
on a
high
level.
The
productions,
however,
suffered
from
very
serious
manhandling
of
the
two
operas
by
the
director,
Mario
Martone.
For
some
unknown
reason,
he
has
the
Cavalleria's
opening
scene
take
place
in a
brothel
and
Pagliacci's
opening
scene
take
place
with
prostitutes
walking
the
street
and
one
being
picked
up
in a
car.
If
this
is
supposed
to
titillate
the
audience,
it
fails.
Both
scenes
have
no
place
in
these
fine
one
act
operas.
Salvatore
Licitra
(Turiddu)
and
Luciana
D'Intino
(Santuzza)
in
Cavalleria
and
Jose
Cura
(Canio)
and
Oksana
Dyka
(Nedda)
in
Pagliacci
sang
and
acted
very
well,
and
certainly
D'Intino
was
the
highlight
with
her
strong
singing
and
fine
acting.
Daniel
Harding
conducted
the
two
operas
competently