A 90 minute play provides one of most fascinating nights on Broadway. Misery,
by William
Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen
King, starring Bruce
Willis and Laurie
Metcalf, at the Broadhurst Theatre, is a magnificent production. It is a
tale about a famous novelist (Bruce Willis), who is rescued from an almost
fatal car accident by an obsessive fan (Laurie Metcalf). With broken bones,
he is forced to live in her isolated house in a small town in Colorado,
where she nurses him. She decides to keep him under her control, with
frightening consequences. The revolving set, by David
Korins of the rooms of the
house, is splendid. The three member cast (Leon
Addison Brown portrays a
policeman), directed expertly by Will
Frears, is simply superb. Willis
in his Broadway debut gives a competent performance, and his many fans will
be glad to see him on stage. However,
Metcalf dominates the play, with an astonishing performance as a mentally
unstable fan, who is determined to keep her injured guest with her at all
costs. It is one of finest performances by a stage actress this season.
Ugly Lies The Bone, by Lindsey
Ferretino, at the Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg
Center for Theatre, directed by Patricia
McGregor, starring Mamie
Gummer as an injured, disfigured soldier returning home to Florida from
duty in Afghanistan. She gives a remarkable performance in a depressing
play.
Steve, by Mark
Gerrard, at the Pershing
Square Signature Center is a production of The New Group. It is about middle
age anxiety among gay couples, with a brilliant six member cast, directed by Cynthia
Nixon. It has received splendid reviews, and we celebrated opening night
at West Bank Cafe with the cast, plus Susan
Hilferty, Francine Volpe, Marin Ireland and Lisa Kron.
Stage and screen actor Bill
Pullman and lighting designer Donald
Holder were honored at the New
York Stage and Screen 2015 Winter Gala at
the Plaza Hotel. It was a wonderful event with many stars, like Jennifer
Westfeldt, Carol Kane, Marlo Thomas, Paulo Szot, Julian Sands, Mark
Linn-Baker, and many more too numerous to mention.
An interesting press conference was held for Carol at
Essex House Marriott on Central Park South with the five leading actors, Cate
Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson, Jake
Lacy, director Todd
Haynes and screenwriter Phyllis
Nagy. I reviewed the film at the New York Film Festival, and found the
acting superb, but the story quite unbelievable.
I went to Hooters, 155 West 33rd St. for the Battle
of the Badges Weigh-In between fighters from the New York Fire and
Police Departments, and hosted by former heavyweight boxer Gerry
Cooney, scheduled for November 20, at Madison Square Garden. It
was lots of fun.
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Angela Lansbury was
honored at the York
Theatre Company's 24th Oscar
Hammerstein Award Gala at
Guastavino's, 409 East 59th
St. Among the many guests
were Melissa
Errico, Karen Mason,
Mario Cantone and,
of course, her brother Edgar
Lansbury. It was a
lovely event.
The Hall of Fame dinner at The
Palm, 250 West 50th St, after
the induction of the honorees at
the Gershwin Theatre, is always
a wonderful affair. Julie
Taymor, Ken Billington, Robert
Falls, Lynn Ahrens, Stephen
Flaherty, Merle Debuskey, Tony
Kushnerwere honored, and Stacy
Keach, who was absent, and Roger
Rees, who, unfortunately,
passed away earlier this year.
Among the presenters and guests
were Thomas
Schumacher, Susan Stroman, Jim
Dale, Blythe Danner, Alfred Uhry,
Dana Ivey, Lois Smith, Ethan
McSweeny, Robert Wankel, Philip
Smith and Phil
Birsh.
The Film Society of Lincoln
Center and the Romanian Film
Initiative presented four
film screenings for the 10th
edition of Making Waves: New
Romanian Cinema, December 2-7. One
Floor Below/Un etaj mai jos,
by Radu
Muntean,
Romania/France/Germany/Sweden,
2015, is about a neighbor
Sandu (Teodor
Corban), who hears a
heated argument between a
girl and her boyfriend (Iulian
Postelnicu) as he passes
her door on the floor below.
When she is found dead,
murdered, he tries to avoid
getting involved. However,
his life becomes very
complicated. It is an
interesting film, and
reveals the poor quality of
life in present day Romania,
with its stifling
bureaurcracy.
Why Me?/De ce eu?, by Tudor
Giurgiu,
Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary,
2015, is based on a true
story. A young, ambitious
prosecutor (Emilian
Opresa) is assigned to
investigate corruption by a
colleague. Hoping to advance
in his career, he finds
himself in a web of
intrigue. It is a
fascinating story, which
results in tragedy. It
reveals the extensive
corruption in political life
in Romania, and it states at
the end of the film that
many mayors
and politicians in
government have been charged
with corruption over the
last ten years, and few have
been convicted.
Aferim!, by Radu
Jude,
Romania/Bulgaria/Czech
Republic, 2015, is based on
historical documents about
the little discussed gypsy
slavery in Southern Romania
in the first part of the
nineteenth century. A
policeman and his son are
ordered to find a runaway
gypsy slave. They travel
through forests, gypsy
encampments, villages and,
finally, capture him. Upon
his return to the village,
he is subjected to a
horrific, brutal beating.
The film shows the repulsive
treatment of gypsy slaves.
It is a powerful film. The black
and white photography is
beautiful. The story is
not,
Intimate Bed/Patul
conjugal, by Mircea
Daneliuc, Romania, 1993,
is about a movie theater
manager, who lives a boring
life, with a pregnant wife
and two sons. He spends time
in his office making love to
the cashier of the theater
on the desk. When a man
hangs himself in the
theater, his life is
disrupted. The film is
chaotic and the convoluted
plot, contains many
ridiculous scenes. For
example, his wife rents the
bedroom to a filmmaker
making a pornographic film,
which is gratuitous. The
film attacks the terrible
economic conditions in
Romania in the early
nineties. As an indictment
of the political system it
has a certain validity.
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