On Broadway, Chaplin the Musical, music
and lyrics by Christopher Curtis, covers the life of Charlie
Chaplin and his success in Hollywood. Although Rob McClure
gives a fine performance in the title role, the musical is rather
dull and uninvolving.
Off-Broadway, The Train Driver, by
Athol Fugard, is a two character play, about a white train
driver who comes to a graveyard to find the unmarked grave of a
black woman and child, who walked on the tracks and was killed by
his train. For ninety minutes, he reveals how the incident has
tortured his soul in a conversation with the black gravedigger. It
is a depressing play.
Mary Broome, by Allan Monkhouse,
is about a worthless son in an upper middle class household in
Manchester, England, at the turn of the twentieth century, who
impregnates the maid of the house. Their marriage and their
subsequent problems are the theme of this excellent play. It is well
worth a visit.
The 20th Broadway on Broadway 2012
featured selections from the current and upcoming shows, hosted by
Kathie Lee Gifford and honored Charles Strouse,
Chita Rivera and Tommy Tune.
A photo op. took place for the Broadway
revival of The Heiress. The cast, headed by Jessica
Chastain, Dan Stevens and David Strathairn, is first rate
and I look forward to seeing the production.
A press preview was held for the upcoming Broadway musical Kinky Boots, music by Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein, starring Stark Sands and Billy Porter. We saw some scenes before the photo op.and it looks like a lot of fun, and the cast is great.
The
Cutting Room has returned in a new location, 44 East 32nd St. It
is wonderful new bar and restaurant, with a performance room for
250 patrons. We were offered a viewing of the space at the book
party for Bigger is Better, by Big Ang, a funny
book by the reality TV star.
.
.
|
A wonderful exhibition Regarding Warhol Sixty Artists, Fifty Years is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol's 1962 32 Campbell's Soup Cans, it is a celebration of Pop art by a large selection of artists. It is colorful and enlightening. It will be on display from September 18-December 31. Don't miss it. At the press preview, Campbell Soup provided a tomato soup luncheon. It was delicious.
A wonderful exhibition Regarding Warhol Sixty Artists, Fifty Years is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol's 1962 32 Campbell's Soup Cans, it is a celebration of Pop art by a large selection of artists. It is colorful and enlightening. It will be on display from September 18-December 31. Don't miss it. At the press preview, Campbell Soup provided a tomato soup luncheon. It was delicious.
Caesar Must Die, by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy 2011, is a remarkable film, that was actually made in Rome's Rebibbia penitentiary. High security dangerous prisoners were auditioned to perform an abbreviated version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for an invited audience. We are introduced to the actors, and learn why they are incarcerated. We watch the rehearsals, and see portions of the final performance. It is fascinating, unusual film that I recommend highly, and it will appear at the 50th New York Film Festival September 28-October 14.
They Call It Myanmar, by Robert H. Lieberman, USA, 2012, is film, a lot filmed secretly, about the isolated and poverty stricken nation of Burma. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from two decades of house arrest and is interviewed. The many scenes of the poor conditions of the population, their religion, the brutality of the military regime make this film fascinating viewing. One can only hope for better times in the future for this unfortunate country.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center is offering press screenings for the 50th New York Film Festival September 28-October 14. I attended four screenings. Ingrid Caven: Music and Voice, by Bertrand Bonello, France, 2012, is concert performed by the singer with songs in French, German and English. Fans of Caven will enjoy this opportunity to see her performance. Becoming Traviata, by Philippe Beziat, France, 2012, is the opportunity to watch a rehearsal of the opera La traviata being prepared at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2011 with the international opera star Natalie Dessay in the tile role. Opera fans will enjoy this film. A magnificent short film 101, by Luis Minaro, Spain, 2012, is an interview with the 101-year old Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira when he was making The Strange Case of Angelica. He is wonderfully alert, wise and a pleasure to listen to. It is probably one of the best, shortest interviews I have seen on film. The War of the Volanoes, by Francesco Patierno, Italy 2012, follows the scandal when Ingrid Bergman left her husband to begin a love affair with Italian director Roberto Rosselini while filming Stromboli. The jealous Italian actress Anna Magnani, Rosselini's former lover, began her similar film too compete with Bergman's. The film is a wonderful reminder of the past, when film scandals were truly of international interest.
MoMA is presenting films by Robert Aldrich, and I saw the 1954 Western Vera Cruz about American gunslingers in Mexico after the American Civil War during the Maximilian Empire supported by France. It is a silly, convoluted story, but the cast is headed by two superb film stars, Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, who are a pleasure to watch. The added attraction is the beautiful Spanish actress Sarita Montiel as a spy for Juarez.
09-09-12
(L-R)
Robert
Wankel.
Charlotte
St.
Martin.
Nick
Scandalios
at
the
20th
Broadway
on
Broadway
2012
in
Times
Square.
Sunday
Morning.
09-09-12 |