New York City Center Encores! presented Call Me
Madam, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin,
book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
It was a success when it opened in 1950 with Ethel
Merman in the leading role, and today it is still an
enjoyable musical. The songs are melodious, and the duet
that was performed by Merman and Russell Nype,
my dear friend, You're Just In Love, is
memorable. You will be singing it when you leave the
theater. Otherwise, the plot is silly, but the
choreography by Denis Jones is fine,
especially The Ocarina. Brad Davis steals
the show with his wonderful baritone voice, and Lauren
Worsham and Jason Gotay are cute as the
young lovers. It is nice to remember that past musicals
were entertaining.
The Day Before Spring ,
book and lyrics by Alan
Jay Lerner ,
music by Frederick
Loewe ,
is a production of the York Theatre Company as a Musical
in Mufti at the Theatre at Saint Peter's Church. It is a
pleasant tale of a married woman ( Madison
Claire Parks) (photo below) ,
who meets a former lover at a college reunion, and is
tempted to run away with him. The music, like all Lerner
and Loewe musicals, is pleasant, but, in this case, not
memorable. The cast is young and energetic, directed by Marc
Acito. We
congratulated the cast at the opening night party in the
Music Room.
I attended a press preview of 1900 ,
by Bernardo
Bertolucci ,
1976, Italy, France, West Germany, at the Film Forum. It
is, without doubt, one of the finest films ever made.
The photography is gorgeous. An all star cast,
including Robert
De Niro, Gerard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster, Sterling
Hayden, Donald Sutherland and
an exquisite Dominique
Sanda ,
give magnificent performances in a five and one half
movie, 317 minutes, shown in two parts, that keeps the
viewer's attention the entire time. One leave the cinema
knowing the way of life in a small village in Italy from
1901 to 1945, and sees the brutality of the fascists and
their fight with the communists during that period. It
is a wonderful, memorable film. It will be screened at
Film Forum from February 22-February 28.
The 9th Annual Clive Barnes Awards took
place at the Walter Reade Theater. Michael
Riedel, as
always, was the witty Master of Ceremonies, telling the
audience wonderful anecdotes of working with Clive at
the New York Post.
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Clive's widow, Valerie
Taylor-Barnes greeted
the audience, and she does a splendid job keeping
Clive's memory and reputation alive as a marvelous, and,
more important, honest theatre and dance critic
I miss him. Edmund
Donovan won
the 2018 Theatre Award presented by Beth
Leavel,
and Zoey
Anderson won
the 2018 Dance Award ($5,000 each) presented by Michael
Novak. Two
last year's winners, Evan
Ruggiero and Gemma Bond spoke
about their activities during the year since winning, A
reception followed in the Gallery, where we were able to
congratulate the four finalists in each category.
I went to Gavin
Brown's enterprise,
439 West 127th St, for an interesting evening, Vissi
D'Amore,
a benefit for children from Harlem, the
South Bronx and East Flatbush. Three opera singers
performed a concert, honoring a musician from the New
York Philharmonic, Anthony
McGill, who
is also a board member of Time
in Advance. A
caviar reception with fine wines, plus a silent auction,
preceded the concert, and a dessert reception followed
the concert. We met many of the supporters of the
program at the reception. They were all quite charming.
It was a lovely event.
I attended The Shadow of a Gunman, by Sean
O'Casey, at the Irish Repertory Theatre, on Patrons'
Night, also according to the program Opening Night. My
best friend is a patron. Kenneth Lonergan and Matthew
Broderick (photo below) were there also. The
party was held in the lobby and the second floor
gallery, where Jameson Irish Whiskey was served and bite
size Shepherd Pies.
I attended a delicious breakfast at The
Morgan Library & Museum,
followed by a Media Preview for the coming year, and a
viewing of two of their current exhibitions. Colin
B. Bailey, Director,
welcomed the press and announced the restoration of J.
Pierpont Morgan's Library and the enhancement of
surrounding grounds. Various curators spoke of their
upcoming exhibitions with slides showing photographs,
drawings, books, portraits and designs for opera and
ballet. It promises to be an exciting year at my
favorite library and museum.
Actor/producer Joe Sirola passed away at
89-years-of-age. Every year he invited me to his Champagne
and Roses party in his apartment. Many celebrities
attended. Gary Springer invited many of his
friends to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral home where
people told humorous anecdotes about his life, songs
were sung and a video of his life was screened. It was a
fitting tribute to a fine actor and a wonderful
gentleman.
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