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On the Shore of the Wide World,
by Simon Stephens,
is a production of the Atlantic Theatre Company. It
is about a family living in Stockport, England. I
was born and raised in Manchester nearby and I have
visited the dreary town. I do not enjoy listening
to uneducated characters, using the F*** word in
most of their sentences with unintelligible
accents while leading dull, frustrated lives. They
watch soccer on television, drink lots
of alcohol, smoke cigarettes constantly, and wonder
what fried food they should eat. Fish and chips are
frequently mentioned. It is boring dialogue, and
painful to hear. The actors are good. The play is
not.
MoMA presented 3-D
Funhouse: Recent Restorations from the 3-D Film
Archive, Sept 1-10. 3-DRarities.
1922-53. USA-Canada. 2015, is
a compilation of film clips covering the period.
Some are quite interesting. One is the trailer for Miss
Sadie Thompson,
starring a sexy Rita
Hayworth.
Others are appropriate for children like Caspar
the Ghost,
an animated feature. For those wanting to learn the
history of 3-D, this collection is a fine
introduction.
MoMA presented Deepak Rauniyar's
White Sun. Sep 6-12. It is a 2016 film from
Nepal. A revolutionary returns to his remote village
for the burial of his father. He has been away
fighting in the civil war for ten years. In the
meantime, his wife gave birth to a daughter from
another man, and now plans to marry his brother.
What happens next, is a profound view of the life
of people in Nepal. Some want to preserve traditions
and others want to change their way of life. The
acting by the entire cast, directed by Deepak Rauniyar,
is excellent, and the two children featured in major
roles are adorable. I enjoyed every minute of this
fascinating film.
I have enjoyed the Astaire Awards since its
inception. Now they are the Chita Rivera Awards,
and the program at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre was
superb.
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Chita Rivera and her daughter Lisa
Mordente (photo
below) were present.Scenes from various Broadway
shows were presented, and it was wonderful to see dance
numbers from Grand Hotel, Pippin, Come From Away,
West Side Story, A Bronx Tale, Sweet Charity, among
others. Among the honorees were Tommy
Tune, Diane Paulus and Antonio
Vendome, and winners like Megan
Sikora and Corbin
Bleu. Presenters like Karen
Ziemba (photo
below), David
Hyde Pierce, Carmen de Lavallade and Lee
Roy Reams introduced the winners.The host was Bebe
Neuwirth and
the co-producers were Nikki
Feirt Atkins,
founder of the American
Dance Machine for the 21st Century,
and Patricia
Watt. We
celebrated the marvelous evening with a great VIP party
at Sardi's restaurant. It was a memorable event.
The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Avenue, held a press
preview for Modigliani
Unmasked, September 15, 2017-February 4, 2018. 130 drawings
were displayed, with a selection of 12 paintings and
7 sculptures. The exhibition is for admirers of Amedeo
Modigliani, an Italian
artist, who moved to Paris in 1906, and died much too
young in 1920. It is an impressive exhibition, and I
recommend it highly for lovers of modern art.
I attended a delightful cocktail
reception at the D & D Building, 979 Third Avenue, at George Smith's
Cocktail Furniture Collection,
Suite 1615. The furniture is impressive, and we were
encouraged to admire the collection with champagne,
white wine (Sancerre) or a Martinini (Grapefruit gin,
Maraschino liqueur and dry vermouth) and little snacks,
and meet Martin
Brudniki. It was a pleasant
afternoon, and we enjoyed the cocktails!
The Metropolitan Museum held a press
preview of Rodin
at The Met, September 16, 2017-January 15, 2018.
It is a magnificent exhibition of sculptures by the
great artist, Auguste Rodin.
You will see The
Thinker, Adam, Eve, Honore de Balzac, and
many inspired by Greek mythology, like Cupid
and Psyche, Orpheus and Eurydice.
It is a marvelous exhibition, and highly recommended. |