The opportunity to see great actors
perform on a Broadway stage is the
reason to see Cicely
Tyson and James
Earl Jones in The
Gin Game, by D.L.Coburn,
at the Golden Theatre. The two
actors in their 80s and 90s could be
at home entertaining their
grandchildren, but instead they are
delighting their audiences in a
modest two character play, directed
expertly by Leonard
Foglia. They play two elderly
patients in a home for the aged. The
cantankerous man decides to teach
the lady how to play gin rummy, and
begins to become more and more
frustrated as she wins every game.
He begins to curse and grow violent.
Although he apologizes at times, and
there is a sweet moment in the
second act, where they even dance
together, it is obvious they were
not meant for each other. The two
actors are simply wonderful, and
well worth the price of admission.
Off-Broadway, Would
You Still Love Me If..., by John
S. Anastasi, at New World
Stages, is about two lesbians in
love, but one is dissatisfied
living as a woman, and wishes to
have a sex change operation to
become a man. This causes a
strong change in their idyllic
relationship. The four member
cast, headed by Kathleen Turner as
the mother of the frustrated
daughter and director of the
play, give excellent, realistic
performances.
Clever Little Lies, by Joe
DiPietro, at the Westside
Theatre, is an amusing play,
with four splendid actors,
directed by David
Saint. A married son (George Merrick)
tells his father (a wonderful Greg
Mullavey) that he has found
true love with a young 23-year
old physical trainer at his gym.
His mother (Marlo Thomas)
decides to intervene to save her
son's marriage. The opening
night party was full of
celebrities at BEA, 403 West
43rd St, with guests like Diane
Sawyer, Diane von Furstenberg,
Barry Diller, Mark Linn Baker,
Daryl Roth and
Marlo's husband Phil
Donahue. We were served
delicious hors d'oeuvres and
fine wines at a delightful
party.
The New York City Ballet
presented a program of two
ballets. Harlequinade,
music of Richard
Drigo, choreography by George
Balanchine, is a charming
two act ballet, which will
delight all the family. The
first act is a Commedia
dell'arte, full of fun, in which
a father wants his daughter,
Colombine (Tiler
Peck), to marry a rich old
man, while she loves Harlequin (Joaquin
de Luz). It ends happily in
the second act with the
divertissements, featuring,
among others, the adorable
children of the School of
American Ballet. The scenery and
costumes by Rouben
Ter-Arutunian are
bright and colorful, and the
dancing is superb. Peck and de
Luz are spectacular in the
second act with their solos and
duets, and Daniel
Ulbricht, Erica Pereira and Lauren
King are
excellent. The program concluded
with N.
Y. Export: Opus Jazz, music
by Robert
Prince, choreography by Jerome
Robbins, a typical modern
dance piece to jazz music.
I attended a 360degree music
video of You're
in the Band from School
of Rock - The Musical,
introduced by Andrew
Lloyd Webber, at the Winter
Garden Theatre. Book writer Julian
Fellowes and lyricist Glenn
Slater were
also present and posed for
photographs. I eagerly await the
opening night on November 9.
I attended Meet the cast of Fiddler
on the Roof, starring Danny
Burstein, where they
performed four selections from
the musical, at New 42nd Street
Studios. I eagerly await opening
night on Sunday December 20.
when Cate
Blanchett is
nominated for a Golden Globe and
an Oscar Award for Blue
Jasmine. Nicholas
Kristoff wrote
about it in his column in The
New York Times and printed a
letter from Dylan.
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The 53rd New York Film Festival had
its final press screening. Miles
Ahead, by Don
Cheadle, USA, 2015, is about Miles Davis
(Don Cheadle), famous as a jazz musician,
who became a recluse as he grew older,
sinking into cocaine addiction, alcoholism
and violence. He was not a likable man. His
cruel treatment of one of his wives (a
lovely Emayatzy
Corinealdi) reveals his craziness. A
phony reporter (Ewan
McGregor) gains access to his home, and
becomes, more or less, his companion. With a
series of flashbacks, we see Davis as a
talented, successful musician, and are
horrified to watch his degeneration. The
film is powerful, brutal, and riveting. Jazz
fans will enjoy the musical selections.
A commercial film Love, by Gaspar
Noe, France, 2015, in 3D, is about a
filmmaker, Murphy (Karl
Glusman) who receives a phone call from
the worried mother of the former love of his
life, Electra (Aomi
Muyock), who has disappeared. He begins
to remember the scenes of their life
together years ago. The film is overlong,
and even a voyeur would become bored from
many of the erotic scenes. We see penis
ejaculation, a threesome with another woman,
a visit to a sex club for an orgy, a scene
with a transvestite, a tryst in the bathroom
with another girl at a party. They talk
constantly of their undying love in walks in
a park where they met, in a cemetery, down
dark streets, and even in a long drawn out
verbal battle in a taxi ending with a
passionate kiss. It takes place in Paris.
The actors are physically attractive, and
hardworking. A shorter film, perhaps of 90
minutes, instead of 134 minutes, would have
been more enjoyable.
Giselle, music by Adolph
Adam, is
one of the finest ballets ever produced. The
production by the Bolshoi Ballet is
marvelous. An HD screening at an AMC Cinema
was held on Sunday afternoon, October 11,
and it was superb. Svetlana
Zhakarova is
one of the leading ballerinas of the
company, and her performance, as the tragic
heroine, was magnificent. She is, without
doubt, one of the most splendid dancers in
the world of ballet. Sergei
Polunin as
Albrecht supported her excellently. The
entire company was in top form. It was a
delight to see this performance.
I received an advanced uncorrected proof of
a biography, Woody,
by David
Evanier, from St. Martin's Press. It is
a love letter to Woody
Allen by
an enthusiastic admirer. For fans of Allen's
films, they will enjoy the first biography
of the filmmaker in 20 years. Evanier
interviews his childhood friends, as he grew
up in Brooklyn. He devotes an entire chapter
to an interview with Dick
Cavett, who has been Woody's friend
since 1961. He quotes extensively from film
critics like John
Simon and Pauline
Kael. In a three page epilogue, he
visits Woody in his office in 2015, where he
reflects on his happy married life of 18
years with his third wife, Soon-Yi,
and their two adopted children. He devotes
many pages to describing Allen's successful
films, and lists them in an index at the end
of the book. The book will be published in
November on Allen's 80th birthday. An
intriguing paragraph on page 207 mentions a
two year secret relationship with a
17-year-old Stacey
Nelkin, when he was 40. She refused to
be interviewed on the advice of her lawyer.
There is also a birthday message from his
first wife, Harlene Rosen,
at the end of the book. Finally, he devotes
many pages to the alleged sexual abuse of
Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan
Farrow, in 1992. The incident comes up
again in 2014, when Cate
Blanchett is
nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar Award for Blue
Jasmine. Nicholas
Kristoff wrote
about it in his column in The New York Times
and printed a letter from Dylan.
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