On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
February 8, 2014
02-04-14
Honoree Neil Patrick Harris (L) and David Burtka at the Drama
League's 30th Annual "Musical Celebration of Broadway" at the Pierre
Hotel. 2 East 61st St. Monday night 02-03-14
On Broadway, I saw Beautiful:
The Carole King Musical again.
It confirmed my belief that is one of the most
entertaining and intelligent musicals this
season, and the music is simply wonderful. Jessie
Mueller as Carole
King deserves
a Tony nomination.
Bronx Bombers,
by Eric
Simonson, at the Circle in the Square, is a
play for fans of baseball. It begins with a
dramatic scene between Reggie
Jackson and
manager Billy Martin,
who nearly came to blows the day before during a
game. Yogi
Berra is
the peacemaker. The second act is mainly a
fantasy dinner at Yogi's house with guests like Babe
Ruth, Joe
DiMaggio and
other famous players. People who follow baseball
may enjoy the play. People who have little
interest in the sport may not.
Off-Broadway, Riding
the Midnight Express With Billy Hayes,
written and performed by Billy
Hayes, is a one man show, in which he tells
about his escape, after serving five years in a
Turkish jail. He was sentenced after being
caught smuggling hashish in 1970. It's a
harrowing tale, which was made into a successful
film. The opening night party took place at
Sardi's.
The New York City
Ballet presented a program of two wonderful
ballets. Dances
at a Gathering, music by Frederic
Chopin, choreography by Jerome
Robbins, features five couples who dance
solos, duets, trios and more to the music played
by Susan
Walters at
the piano. It is a lovely, charming ballet, and
the dancers are superb. Union
Jack, music byHershy
Kay, choreography by Balanchine,
is a tribute to Great Britain with traditional
British music. The three sections are marvelous,
beginning with a gorgeous 70 member ensemble of
seven Scottish and Canadian Guard Regiments. A
Costermonger Pas de Deux follows,
and the ballet concludes with a salute to the
Royal Navy. The ballet is simply spectacular,
and is one of Balanchine's most glorious
masterpieces. It was a great night at the
ballet.
Drama League's 30th
Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway honored Neil
Patrick Harris at
their gala at the Pierre Hotel. Michael
Mayer directed
the gala production, which included performers
like James
Barbour, Eddie Korbich, Cady Huffman and
many others. Among the guests were David
Burtka, Judith Light and Bonnie
Comley. It was a festive event.
MoMA presented Roadshow:
The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s February
1-7. Finian's
Rainbow, by Francis
Ford Coppola, USA, 1968, was a successful
Broadway musical with lovely songs. In the film,
the songs remain lovely, especially when sung by Petula
Clark, starring in
her first American film role, playing the
daughter of Fred
Astaire, in his last major musical film. The
story is so silly, that it is not worth
describing, but the music is a joy. Camelot,
by Joshua
Logan, USA, 1967, was another successful
Broadway musical with lovely songs by Lerner and Loewe.
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The film, however, is an overlong bore.
The casting of Richard
Harris, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco
Nero in the leads was a
mistake. None of them are major singers. But, again the music is a joy to
listen to. Funny
Girl, by William
Wyler, USA, 1968, featured Barbra
Streisand as Fanny
Brice, the Ziegfeld Follies star, and tells the story of her unhappy
life with her first husband. Streisand won a well deserved Oscar for her
performance and the songs are very good, but the drama is not. Cabaret, by Bob
Fosse, USA, 1972, also won well deserved Oscars for Liza Minnelli and Joel
Grey. What a pleasure to see them on film! The film is quite different
from the Broadway musical, but is very entertaining, and, again, the songs
are wonderful.
At MoMA
an ongoing Auteurist History
of Film presented two films
by Ousmane
Sembene from Senegal. Borom
Sarret, 1963, is a short film
revealing the poverty in Dakar, while following a worker with a horse and
cart trying to earn a meager living. La
Noire de... (Black Girl),
1965, is a disturbing film, showing a young girl from Senegal, working as a
cook and cleaning lady and as a nanny for three children of a French couple
living on the French Riviera. Her life ends tragically.
MoMA
also is presenting: Lino
Brocka's Manila in the
Claws of Light, The Philippines, 1975, February 6-12, which is
considered its country's masterpiece. An innocent young man from the
provinces arrives in the capital to search for his girlfriend, who,
supposedly, came to work in a factory and continue her education. It shows
the extreme poverty of the working class, with rampant prostitution, drug
addiction, violence and a tragic ending. It is a powerful film.
Film Society of Lincoln Center presented Dance
on Camera January 31-February 4. La
Passion Noureev, by Fabrice
Herrault, USA, 2013, contains
rare archival footage of the magnificent dancer in the 60s and 70s. We see
him working with Roland
Petit and Maurice
Bejart, among other
choreographers, and there are clips with Margot
Fonteyn andMerle
Park, among other dancers. A Q & A with the director and ballerina Isabelle
Guerin followed the
screening.
Giselle, by Toa
Fraser, New Zealand, 2013, is a beautiful film of the magnificent
ballet, with an exquisite Gillian
Murphy in the title role.
There is an unnecessary background story added to the film, but the Royal
New Zealand Ballet reveals it is a first class, well trained ballet company,
of which New Zealand can be proud.
I saw another Oscar nominated Best
Picture Dallas Buyers Club,
by Jean-Marc
Vallee, USA, 2013. It is based on a true story about one of the first
AIDS victims, Ron
Woodruff (Matthew
McConaughey), who smuggles illegal drugs into Texas, after being
diagnosed with the disease and told that he has a short time to live. His
performance and that of Jarod
Leto, playing a fictitious transvestite, also suffering from AIDS, who
becomes his business partner, are superb, in this very powerful film.
02-06-14 Cast member Billy Hayes (L) and
director John Gould Rubin at the opening night party for "Riding the
Midnight Express With Billy Hayes" at Sardi's. 234 West 44th St. Wednesday
night
02-05-14
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