Surely Goodness and Mercy, by Chisa Hutchinson
(photo below with Jonathan Silverstein) at Theater
Row, is a production of Keen Company. It is a warm
hearted play about a young student ( Jay Mazyck)
in a high school in Newark, New Jersey, who befriends
the elderly lady ( Brenda Pressley) who serves
lunch in the school cafeteria. The five member cast are
natural and very good, directed expertly by Jessi D.
Hill. We congratulated the cast and the Artistic
Director Jonathan Silverstein at the the opening
night party in the lounge.
I attended a Meet & Greet at Theater Row Studios for Smart
Blonde ,
by Willy
Holtzman .
We saw three selections from the play starring Andrea
Burns (photo
below) as Judy Holiday. The four member cast is
directed by Peter
Flynn ,
We photographed the cast and the creative team. It opens
March 26 at 59E59 Theatres.
The Times Square Edition, 701 7th Avenue, is a
magnificent boutique hotel, created by Ian
Shrager. The
General Manager gave us an afternoon tour. I predict it
will be the most popular hotel in Manhattan. There are
four terraces, two restaurants and a fabulous cabaret
room. I returned at night to enjoy cocktails on the
seventh floor, hors d-oeuvres before a delicious dinner
on the eighth floor in an enormous, elegant dining room
that was filled to capacity, and a superb cabaret room
with a Rock 'n Roll group that delighted the standing
room audience.
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At midnight, I bid farewell to a wonderful evening
of glorious food and fine wine, and, most of all,
delightful company of beautiful ladies, many of them
models, and charming men. I sat between a reporter
from the London Times, who flew in for the occasion,
and a filmmaker, who made the documentary on Studio
54. It was an evening to remember
MoMA is presenting Modern
Matinees: B is for Bacall, Mar 1-Apr 26.
I returned to see Key Largo, by John
Huston, USA, 1948, the fourth and last film
starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren
Bacall together. It is about a former major,
who visits the invalid father (Lionel
Barrymore) and wife of a soldier who was
killed in Italy during World War II. They own a
hotel in Key Largo. A group of gangsters, headed
by a ruthless Edward G. Robinson, take
over the hotel during a hurricane. Claire
Trevor won the Academy Award as supporting
actress as Robinson's alcoholic girlfriend. The
entire cast perform excellently.
MoMA is presenting Modern
Matinees: B is for Bacall, Mar 1-Apr 26.
I returned again to see Young Man With a Horn,
by Michael Curtiz, USA, 1950, starring Kirk
Douglas, Lauren Bacall and Doris Day.
It is a music delight for lovers of swing, jazz
and songs of the period. Douglas is a lonely
trumpeter, who winds up married to neurotic,
wealthy lady (Bacall). Harry James is the
musical advisor of the film and plays the
trumpet, while Douglas imitates playing the
trumpet on screen. That, plus the lovely singing
by Doris Day, makes the film shine
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