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On Broadway, I am a Nominator for
Outer Critics Circle, and as we could not consider
Shuffle Along for last season, I was invited back to
review it again. The exact title is Shuffle
Along Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921
and All that followed,
at the Music Box, music & lyrics by Noble
Sissle & Eubie
Blake, original book by F.E.
Miller & Aubrey
Lyles, book by George
C. Wolfe, who also directed the production. As
the complete title states, it is not a revival of
the original show, but a history of black theatre,
and, therefore, it was treated as a new production
by the New York Drama Circle (it won the award) and
by the Tony Committee (it lost to Hamilton).
The cast is superb, and I saw Audra
McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell,
Brandon Victor Doxon, Joshua Henry and Arbender
Robinson substituting
for Billy
Porter, who gave outstanding performances, as
did Adrienne
Warren, also, in two supporting roles. The
highlight is I'm
Just Wild About Harry,
danced and sung by the entire cast, which closes the
first act. Savion
Glover choreographed the show and the dancing,
mainly tap, was marvelous. The musical deserves to
be considered for an OCC Award in the coming season.
Off-Broadway, I returned to see Trip
of Love, created,
directed and choreographed by James
Walski, at Stage 42, with Nia
Sioux "Dance
Moms" making her debut in the show. She rose to
the occasion, and sang and danced excellently. The
entire cast are wonderful dancers and singers, and
perform the hit songs from the 60s in a delightful
way. The men are handsome and the ladies are lovely.
The scenic design by Walski and Robin
Wagner and
the costumes by Gregg
Barnes are beautiful.
It is joy to watch them perform songs like These
Boots Are Made for Walkin', You Don't Owe Me,
Downtown and
a spectacular Wipe
Out. I enjoyed every minute of the
marvelous show.
Small Mouth Sounds,
by Bess
Wohl, at the Pershing Square Signature Center,
is about six weird people, who escape the city to
who attend a silent retreat in the woods. The cast
act mainly in mime, and perform well, under the
direction of Rachel Chavkin.
The opening night party took place at The Lindeman,
508 West 42nd St, with the cast, and guests that
included Kathryn
Erbe, Josh Charles and Ruben
Santiago-Hudson.
2 By Tennessee Williams, at
the St. Luke's Theatre, consists of two one act
plays. 27
Wagons Full Of Cotton and Kingdom
of Earth, both directed by Marilyn
Fried. The three actors are fine in both plays. Kathryn
Luce Garfinkel (wife
of Art Garfunkel) stars
in the first playas a fragile wife being seduced by
a rival of her husband. Michael
Keller stars
in the second play as a farmer, as a flood is
devastating his property, when unexpectedly his
dying half-brother shows up with his new young,
attractive wife. An opening night party was held in
the lobby of the theatre with son James
Garfunkel, who came to applaud his mother's
performance.
MoMA is presenting Modern
Matinees: Summer with Judy Holliday July 8-August 31. Adam's
Rib, by George
Cukor, USA, 1949, stars Katharine
Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as
two lawyers, who battle each other in court, and the
outcome almost destroys their marriage. Judy
Holliday is
a betrayed wife, who seeks revenge on her husband (Tom
Ewell) by shooting him in the apartment of his
lover. The court case revolves around equal rights
for women, and the wife is acquitted. The film is a
delight. Garson
Kanin and Ruth
Gordon wrote
the script, that is full of humor. The acting is
marvelous, and it is a most enjoyable film.
Born Yesterday,
by Geoge Cukor, USA,, 1950, is about an uneducated
chorus girl (Judy Holliday), who accompanies
her boyfriend, an uncouth, wealthy mobster (Broderick
Crawford) to Washington D.C. where he wants to
bribe a congressman. He hires a journalist (William
Holden) to educate her, so that she can be
presentable in political society. She proves to be a
very smart pupil. Holliday won a well deserved Oscar
for her performance. She is lovely, funny and
perfect in the role. She is well supported by Holden
and Crawford. It is a wonderful film, and one of the
most enjoyable films ever created in Hollywood.
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The Marrying Kind, by
George Cukor, USA, 1952, begins in a court room,
where Judy Holliday and Aldo
Ray are waiting for their divorce. In
flashbacks, we see their meeting, wedding, becoming
parents and, then squabbling. This leads to wanting
a divorce. However, as in all Cukor's films, we have
a happy ending as they reconcile. As always,
Holliday is perfect and Ray, introduced for the
first time under his new screen name, is fine also.
It is a bleak view of marriage, and not as funny or
as realistic as the first two Holliday films
reviewed above.
A commercial film A
Tale of Love and Darkness, written, directed and
starring Natalie
Portman, Israel, 2015, is based on a memoir by Amos
Oz, about his mother, who died from loneliness,
frustration and depression at the age of 38 in
Israel. To be a writer, also a director, and to star
in the leading role, is quite an accomplishment for
Natalie Portman. I have admired her as a fine
actress on the Broadway stage, and she was wonderful
in the film Black
Swan. However, there are very few talented
people, who can do everything in a film. It is
usually a collaborative effort. On this occasion,
Portman could use some help. The film is slow
moving, overlong, and needs judicious editing. There
are so many repetitious scenes, that add nothing to
our appreciation of the fine scenes, which show
Israel as a British mandate and then as the birth of
the new nation. An old actor portraying the writer
walks the grim, depressing, claustrophobic streets
of Old Jerusalem to recall his mother as a bright,
intelligent, attractive young woman growing up in
Poland, who dreams of a romantic life in the land of
milk and honey in Israel. She marries an
unsuccessful man and produces a son, whom she
pampers throughout their brief life together,
telling him fairy tale stories to help him sleep.
Living a dull, boring married life, leads her to
her ultimate tragedy. There is not a single, happy
moment in the film. The word love should be
eliminated from the title.
Another commercial film
is The
Childhood of a Leader, by Brady
Corbet, UK/Hungary/France, 2015, which takes
place in Paris during World War I and the peace
conference afterwards. An American diplomat, his
wife (Berenice
Bejo) and son (Tom
Sweet) live in a remote area outside the
capital. The wife home schools her son, who is a
disobedient child, who resorts to tantrums to defy
his parents. Occasionally, he locks himself in his
room, refuses to dress or eat, and behaves like a
future beast. In this case, he grows up to be a
fascist leader! The acting is quite good, especially
by the young monster, but like the film by Natalie
Portman (see the review above), it is overlong, with
repetitious scenes, and is a grim, depressing tale,
without any humor whatsoever. The film footage of
the war and peace conference are the highlights of
the film. The ear shattering music (or noise), by Scott
Walker, is irritating, annoying and unpleasant
for one's hearing.
Cameraperson,
by Kirsten
Johnson, USA, 2015, will be released in
September. My review will appear then.
I attended the press preview of Diane
Arbus: In the Beginning July12-November 27, 2016, at
The Met Breur, 945 Madison Avenue. It consisted of
over 100 photographs of her early years as a
photographer 1956-62. Arbus liked most subjects to
look directly in the camera, and was fascinated by
freaks. There are photographs of a Mexican dwarf, a
giant with his parents, a seated topless burlesque
dancer with her enormous breasts exposed, and many
other weird subjects. There are numerous photos of a
drag queen with curlers, bare chested, in his
dressing room. Also, old people swimming in the
ocean or sitting on a park bench. There are photos
of her television screen of Bela
Lugosi as Dracula.
It is an interesting exhibition of the work of a
strange photographer, who committed suicide at a
young age in 1971. She was born in 1923.
The Frick Collection is a New York
City jewel. Located at 1 East 70th St, it is the
perfect venue to enjoy a peaceful visit in an
elegant space. There exhibitions are simply
marvelous. I attended a press preview of their two
latest exhibitions. Watteau's Soldiers:
Scenes of Military Life in Eighteenth-Century
France, July 12-October2, 2016, reveals soldiers
in a leisurely way, resting, relaxing, not engaged
in a bloody battle scene, although he draws them and
paints them during the War of Spanish Succession
(1701-14). The second exhibition is Porcelain,
No Simple Matter: Arlene Shechet and the Arnhold
Collection May 24, 2016-April 2, 2017. It is
exquisite. The plates, teapots, bowls, vases and
animals are a joy to behold. They are beautiful. One
leaves the unique museum uplifted. |