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I attended a delightful photo op to
watch five selections performed by the Berkshire
Theatre Group of Fiorello! music
by Jerry
Bock and
lyrics by Sheldon
Harnick, who
was in attendance, and also on opening night.
It opened at the Classic Stage Company (CSC)'s East
13th Theatre, 136 East 13th St, on September 9. The
talented cast gave a fine performance. The cast was
enthusiastic and energetic, directed by Bob
Moss. It is a lovely musical, with glorious
songs and melodious music, and Chelsea
Cree Groen as
Dora stole the show. It was a very entreating
evening.
I attended a Meet and Greet to
welcome the new El Gallo, Peter
Reckell (Days
of Our Lives) to the cast of The Fantasticks at
the Jerry Orbach Theater, 1627 Broadway. He will
appear from September 5-25. Wine and snacks were
served. It was a happy photo op. I look forward to
attending one of Peter's performances.
I attended the launch party for Origin's
1st 1016 Annual Festival of Irish Theater, September
1-October 2, at Mutual of America, 320 Park
Avenue. It was a delightful affair attended by all
the sponsors, and many of their speakers spoke about
the many works to be presented. A scrumptious buffet
and fine drinks, including two Irish whiskeys and an
Irish beer, were served. Origin Theatre Company's
Artistic Director George
C. Heslin is
to be congratulated for this exciting program
bringing the best of new Irish Theater to New York.
I attended a press event at the
Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway, to announce the
debut of the Brussels'
Artist-Led Accessible Art Fair New York,
presented by MvVO
ART and their media partner artnet, which
will take place at the National Arts Club during the
month of November. Six speakers spoke about the
Fair, including Maria
van Vlodrop, the Founder and President of MvVO
ART, and Stephanie
Manasseh, who started the Fair in Brussels in
2007. It is a platform for both talented emerging
and established artists to sell their work to the
art buying public. Two artists also spoke about
their experiences at the Fair. Other speaks were the
director of North American Brussels Airlines, which
is one of the sponsors, and two curators of the
Fair. The reception took place in the headquarters
of artnet. An Elit Stolichnaya vodka and two
fine wines were served, with small bites of
crudités, cheeses and fruits, plus Neuhaus Premier
Chocolates from Belgium. It was a lovely event.
Wine and cheesecake was served at a
Meet & Greet for That Golden Girl Show!-A Puppet
Parody, created by Jonathan Rockefeller, at
the DR2 Theatre, 103 West 15th St. I photographed
the cast. It opens on Monday,, October 3, and I
eagerly await the opening night.
Spamilton opened
at the Triad Theatre,
158 West 72nd St. |
The opening night party was held at Arte Cafe, 106
West 73rd St, with the cast and guests including Dee
Hoty, Bryan Batt and Christine
Ebersole.
A buffet with wine was served on this happy
occasion.
The Morgan Library & Museum,
225 Madison Avenue, is one of the jewels of New
York. Everyone should visit the exquisite building. Charlotte
Bronte: An Independent Will, September 9,
2016-January 2, 2017, is
the current exhibition, and it is superb. The author
of the classic Jane
Eyre is
celebrated on the 200th anniversary of her birth.
There are are manuscripts, letters, her drawings,
portraits and even one of her dresses. By the time
you leave the exhibition, you will know her life
intimately, and recognize her wonderful
achievements. Do not miss this it!
Cameraperson, by Kirsten
Johnson, USA, 2016, is a documentary, directed,
and produced by the cinematographer Kirsten Johnson.
If your eyes can tolerate jerky camera movements and
blurred scenes, this may be a film for you to see.
It is a self indulgent film with many repetitious
scenes. You will meet her mother many times, who is
suffering from Alzheimer's disease. You will see her
twins, not the father, again many times. You will
see clips of many of the places that she has
traveled to for various documentaries. For that
reason, there are scenes in Nigeria, where
a nurse/midwife deliver twins, one healthy, one not.
You listen to a district attorney repeat the ghastly
tale of a man dragged to his death in Texas. You see
an interview with a young boy, blind in one eye,
telling us how his brother had his head shot to
pieces by a rocket in Afghanistan. There is also a
scene, where a woman trashes her mother's belongings
after she committed suicide. She is fascinated with
a family in Foca, Bosnia, which she visits five
times. She mainly focuses on a very old lady in the
town, who likes to smoke. I could describe many more
scenes, that are mostly unpleasant. As a
celebrity photographer with the New York Post for
over 30 years, I was eagerly anticipating seeing
this film. I was thoroughly disappointed.
Neruda,
by Pablo
Larrain, 2016, is a film about the Chilean poet Pablo
Neruda (Luis Gnecco),
a communist, who went into hiding when the
government arrested communists in 1948. A
dull detective (Gael
Garcia Bernal) was ordered to capture him. While
this is partially factual, it is also fanciful,
which makes much of the story suspect.
Unfortunately, the film is slow moving for a cat and
mouse tale, and the dialogue is pseudo-intellectual.
All the characters are unattractive, and Neruda,
apparently, was sex obsessed. We see him having an
orgy with four naked women, and the same scene is
repeated three times throughout the film. A long
scene takes place in a repulsive brothel, where a
drag queen asks him to repeat a poem which is
also repeated three times throughout the film, and
then kisses him on the lips. Afterwards the
transvestite is interrogated by the detective, and
confesses how wonderful it was to meet a fellow
artist, a great poet. Neruda appears
to be a self-centered egomaniac, whose treatment of
his two wives is appalling. Only, lovers of Neruda'
poetry will enjoy this film.
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