On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
October 11, 2014
10-10-14 (L-R) Sarah Jessica Parker and cast member Matthew
Broderick at the opening night party for "It's Only A Play" at the
Marriott Marquis. 1535 Broadway. Thursday night.10-09-14
Rarely does a Broadway theatregoer experience anything like the one that awaits you at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Simon Stephens, based on the book by Mark Haddon, is an inventive, imaginative play, with a brilliant performance, by a young actor, Alex Sharp, in the leading role, in his Broadway debut, having just been graduated from Juilliard in May. He deserves to be nominated for a Tony award, and could possibly win it. He plays a 15-year old student in a small town in England, suffering from something like autism or Asperger. Although he is a math genius, his social skills are lacking. He has no friends, hates to be touched, and lives in a world of own, unable to relate to the rest of the world. When his neighbor's dog is killed by a pitchfork, he resolves to find the murderer. This leads to all types of incidents, with his unhappy mother (Enid Graham) and father (Ian Barford), with the police, and with his teachers and neighbors. All the cast is exceptional, under the magnificent direction of Marianne Elliott. You will never forget this memorable night on Broadway.
Thirty years ago, this play appeared Off-Broadway, and it was quite funny. Now, Terrence McNally has updated his play, and it is still quite funny. It's Only A Play, at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, stars Nathan Lane, and he is a theatre treasure. He can do no wrong. Every line that leaves his mouth is hilarious. Every gesture he makes is funny. For him alone, it is worth seeing this play. Fortunately, the rest of the cast is equally good, under Jack O'Brien's expert direction, especially Stockard Channing as a drug addicted leading lady. The play takes place on opening night in a producer's townhouse. The producer (Megan Mullally), the playwright (Matthew Broderick), the director (Rupert Grint), a critic (F. Murray Abraham) and a young man hired to take the guests' coats (a very good Micah Stock). along with Channing and Lane, a TV star and best friend of the playwright, await what turns out to be devastating reviews. There is name dropping galore, and some are quite vicious. The audience loves the gossip. The opening night party took place at the Marriott Marquis filled with celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Marilu Hener, Julie Taymor, Norman Lear and John Slattery
New York New York a helluva town, a Career Transition For Dancers 29th Anniversary Jubilee held a preview of two selections at City Center. The Ballet Hispanico presented El Beso (2014), choreography by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, music from zarzuelas, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, presented Mother Popcorn, an excerpt from Return, choreography by Robert Garland, music by popular singers, like James Brown. The dancers were superb, and the two companies were a pleasure to watch. At night after the show, a dinner gala was held at the New York Hilton. As always, it was a festive occasion.
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A wonderful cocktail reception was held at
the Lotos Club to honor Suzan-Lori
Parks and Dan
O'Brien, the recipients of the 2014
Horton Foote Prizes. AndrewLeynse introduced
the two playwrights, and Oskar
Eustis presented
the prize to Parks, whose proud mother Francis
Parks watched
her receive a $15.000 cheque. Among the
guests were Donald
Margulies, Jo Bonney and
members of the Foote family.
It was a lovely event.
The press screenings for the 52nd
New York Film Festival September 26-October
12, 2014 continue. Inherent Vice,
by Paul
Thomas Anderson, USA, 2014, is the first
film adaptation of a Thomas
Pynchon novel. Joaquin
Phoenix is
a drug addicted private detective in
California in the early 70s, searching for
his ex-girlfriend (a beautiful Katherine
Waterston), who has suddenly
disappeared. For an overlong two and one
half hours, we follow him being knocked
unconscious with a baseball bat, being
arrested on a murder charge by a neurotic
police detective, hung from the ceiling in
handcuffs, and a multitude of adventures too
numerous to mention. A large cast appear in
the film with small roles. They include Benicio
Del Toro, Martin Short, and Owen
Wilson. Nothing about the film is
realistic or believable, except for the
constant smoking of marijuana, and the
sniffing of cocaine. It is also supposed to
be amusing, but I found very few occasions
to laugh.
Tales of the Grim Sleeper, by Nick
Broomfield, USA/UK, 2014, is a
fascinating documentary about a serial
killer, who was arrested in 2010 for
murdering at least ten women in a poor
neighborhood in Los Angeles. Young black
women began disappearing in 1988, and
perhaps he murdered one hundred of them.
That it took so long to finally capture this
killer is the focus of this remarkable film.
With the help of a former prostitute who
knows everyone in the neighborhood, the
filmmaker manages to interview many of the
women, who were able to escape what could
have been their devastating fate. Obviously,
for the police in Los Angeles, the
disappearance of young black women, many of
whom were drug addicts and prostitutes, was
not a priority. It is a memorable
documentary. A Q & A with the filmmaker and
the former prostitute followed the
screening.
Clouds of Sils Maria, written and
directed by Olivier
Assayas, Switzerland/Germany/France,
2014, is, like many films in the festival,
an overlong (123 minutes) film, about an
aging actress (Juliette
Binoche), who consents to appear in a
play, that made her famous twenty years ago,
playing an ambitious, young
girl who drives an older woman to commit
suicide. However, this time she is to play
the older woman. She, now, has mixed
emotions, as she runs her lines with her
personal assistant (Kristen
Stewart). We are subjected to listening
to these lines over and over again, as they
walk along mountain trails in the
picturesque Alps. Binoche is an esteemed
actress, but, in this tedious film, she is
dull. Theatergoers know that plays can be
exciting to watch, but rehearsing lines are
uninteresting. The beautiful views of the
Alps would make a nice travelogue.
Listen Up Philip, by Alex
Ross Perry, USA, 2014, features Jason
Schwartzman as
a neurotic young novelist, awaiting the
publication of his second novel. He meets
his idol (the always wonderful Jonathan
Pryce), a famous novelist, who has
withdrawn from society, and is living
isolated in the country. They bond as mentor
and student. A third character is the young
man's unhappy girlfriend (Elizabeth
Moss), a photographer. The film features
numerous close-ups of the three main
characters, which is unpleasant, as they are
not particularly attractive. Also, the hand
held camera is jerky, which is irritating to
the eyes. But, the main problem with the
film is that the leading character is just
not a likable person, and it is annoying to
have spend so much time with him. He is
basically a spoilt, immature baby, and the
viewer could not care less about what
happens to him.
Foxcatcher, by Bennett
Miller, USA, 2014, is based on a true
story, about a wealthy, weird John
E. du Pont (Steve
Carrell), who is obsessed with
wrestling, and attempts to create a USA
national team for the 1988 Olympics. He
persuades two brothers, wrestlers Dave (Mark
Ruffalo) and Mark
Schultz (Channing
Tatum), to join his organization on a
sprawling estate in Pennsylvania. The
project ends tragically. The story is
fascinating, and the acting is very good,
but the film. like many in the festival, is
overlong (133 minutes), and similar scenes
are repeated over and over again. What is
wrong with these new directors?. Are they
not able to edit their films? Are they so
self indulgent, that they feel every scene
is so valuable and must be preserved in the
film?
10-07-14 Suzan-Lori Parks and Dan O'Brien received the 2014 Horton Foote
Prizes at the Lotos Club. 5 East 66th St. Monday night 10-06-14
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