Category: Theater

Tidy Tidbits: Stage & Page

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LIVE THEATER—FARCE VS. FUN

This week we attended the last two performances of our Asolo subscription series.   Noises Off at the Wednesday matinee and The Cake the next evening.  I am not a particular fan of farce, but went to Noises Off with an open mind.  I thought it started out slowly, but then picked up and became funnier.  As usual, the set, the technical direction, and the timing were all impeccable.  This is a play that can only be pulled off successfully by accomplished actors and these actors were.  Nonetheless, it was not my cup of tea.

Bekah Brunstetter (breaking character.com)

Much more enjoyable was the performance of The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter. Set in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it brings together Della, the owner of a cake shop, with Jen, the daughter of her late best friend, and with Macy, Jen’s fiancée.  Della is religiously conservative and married to the owner of a small plumbing business while Jen and Macy live in Brooklyn.  Macy is an ultra liberal black woman, and Jen is a conflicted transplant whose head and heart are divided between her new life in New York and her rooted upbringing in the South. How a request for a wedding cake, preparing to be a contestant on the Great American Baking Show, and a marriage that has gone stale, all collide is the stuff of humor and poignance.  Cindy Gold as Della (shown in the header photo) is fabulous, and Brunstetter’s characters are sympathetic even if you don’t agree with their views.  Provocative and definitely worth seeing!  The Cake runs through April 28.

RECENT READING

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

A Canadian novelist whose parents were immigrants from Ghana, Esi Edugyan has written an exceptional novel about slavery and freedom.   The title character and narrator, Washington Black, known as just “Wash,” is a slave and field hand on a plantation in Barbados when the story opens.  He has no known relatives, and treatment there is harsh as fellow slaves are routinely tortured and put to death.  

Esi Edugyan (ideasfestival.co.uk)

In a stroke of luck, Wash is taken under the wing of the plantation owner’s brother, Christopher Wilde, to assist in his creation of a hot air balloon. Christopher, called ”Titch,” is more humane than his brother and treats Wash kindly.  He believes in human rights and freedom, but has chosen the child Wash solely for his small size and his potential usefulness on the balloon.  Little does he know, initially, that Wash is not only smart with numbers, but has a rare talent for sketching.  When Wash is the only one present at a notable death and a price is put on his head, Titch takes it upon himself to whisk Wash away in the dead of night.  Wash is now both free and a fugitive.  

The novel traces the journey these men, one still a young lad, the other a committed naturalist, take to America and then to the Arctic. When Titch abandons Wash there, Wash travels to Nova Scotia where he works part-time. He takes up drawing again, meets a young woman and her famous marine scientist father, and becomes involved in the founding of an aquarium in London.  Through all these amazing adventures, he notes that to others he is a always first a black man and a disfigured one at that. And he wrestles with how free he really is and puzzles over Titch’s disappearance.

Wash and Titch are vivid characters set against the backdrop of the mid 19thcentury. I found this highly praised novel both thoughtful and gripping. For more about what prompted Edugyan to write this novel, I recommend this interview on Fresh Air.   (~JWFarrington)

BOOK CLUB NOTES

In March, our book club read and discussed Transcription.  Opinions were mixed and a number of members found it slight or didn’t like it much. I personally found it clever and thought the characterization of Juliet, all of eighteen, an apt mix of smarts and naivete.

This month, Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated, was the chosen title, and we had one of the liveliest and best discussions ever.  While a few people didn’t care for it:  too painful to read, was it really all true, why did she stay with her family as long as she did, others found it very powerful.  There was some agreement that, like an abused spouse who stays with her abuser, these were still her parents and she was dependent upon them emotionally and had been made to feel she was worthless.  It wasn’t until her older brother who had left and gone to college, strongly suggested she could do likewise, that she made that a goal.  We also wondered what career path Westover will follow now that she has a PhD.

Tidy Tidbits: Books & Culture

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WHAT I’M READING NOW

I have two books going currently.  One is a book of essays by Janet Malcolm, a staff writer for The New Yorker, called Nobody’s Looking at You.  The other is Kate Atkinson’s latest novel, Transcription.  Several years ago I read her Life After Life which was excellent. 

Our island book group will be discussing Atkinson’s new novel shortly, and I’m really enjoying it.  Juliet, the main character who has been recruited to work for MI5 in 1940s London, is a delightful mix of innocence and wry humor.  Her job is to transcribe conversations being held by a group of fifth columnists.  We see her again in 1950 when she has a somewhat tedious job working on children’s programming for the BBC, but gets the sense that her past is re-visiting her.  I guess I’ll find out if it is or if she is imagining it.

Malcolm’s essays, often based on interviews, are easy and flowing and come across as simply put together. She is an excellent crafter of casual transitions which make the reader feel as if no work was involved.  Based on reading “Three Sisters,” I must visit the Argosy Bookshop, and “The Storyteller,” an extended piece about Rachel Maddow, helped me appreciate her reputation, even though I’ve never watched her TV show.  I have several more essays yet to read and when done will feel that I’ve spent time with this great storyteller. (~JWFarrington)

CULTURAL SCENE

I have always admired Caroline Kennedy.  She has escaped some of the foibles and missteps of others of the Kennedy family and has kept her life as private as possible for someone with her name.  Kennedy was the featured guest this week at the Town Hall lecture series, and I enjoyed her presentation. 

 She is not a particularly polished public speaker, but she came across with warmth and genuineness.  Her stories of being a child in the White House and her father’s reaching out to the Japanese captain responsible for the damage and death on the PT-109 were heartfelt.  As the U.S. ambassador to Japan, she was warmly welcomed there both because of her father and for being the daughter of a Pacific War veteran.  Most of us didn’t realize how delicate and fraught with tension President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima was.  

Aside from her family recollections, Kennedy’s message was about reconciliation and history and reaching across generational divides. She claimed that her grandmother, Rose Kennedy, was hands down the best politician in the family.  Overall, her talk was a soothing balm counteracting today’s rough political waters.  

Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible,during the McCarthy era.  But, as numerous critics have stated, it seems relevant in whatever time period it is staged.  The Asolo Theater has done its usual superb job presenting this dark and tortuous piece of theater.  The set is dimly lit and stark with austere wooden tables and benches.  How young girls dancing in the woods get labeled as witches and how this spreads to accusations against other upstanding wives and mothers is both chilling and a strong reminder how “fake news” can too quickly become viewed as truth. Definitely a play for our time too.

Peggy Roeder as Rebecca Nurse (Asolo Rep)

Note: Atkinson photo from the Irish Times; Malcolm photo from the New York Times.

Tidy Tidbits: Culture Notes

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MORE BESTS

As I indicated last week, the newspaper world is full of bests.  Even our local paper, Herald Tribune, offered up a selection of the best books of the year.  And the New York Times  seems to have gone overboard with each of its distinctive sections having its own, “The Best of 2018” edition.  On Sunday, “Arts & Leisure” had numerous articles including best classical music, best pop music, best television programs, best streamed television, best movies, best art exhibits and so on.  This week the Wednesday “Food” section had its own best of the year features:  best restaurants, “The Top Cheap Eats, Dish by Dish,” a listing of twelve remarkable wines, and the recipes that were the favorites of readers.  I liked the Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies and the Beef and Broccoli stir fry.  Something here for every taste and palate! 

FABULOUS THEATER!

Asolo Repertory Theater always delivers and they did it again this week with energy and style. Their production of The Music Man was a tap dance lovers’ bonanza with frenetic footwork, lively music, and some lovely singing, particularly by Britney Coleman as Marian the Librarian.  Noah Racey who plays Professor Harold Hill is a choreographer as well as actor and it showed; his professor was perhaps less brash than Robert Preston’s in the original movie, but still winning.  And Marion came across as a more rounded character, less innocent sweet maiden and more complex woman with dreams and determination.  

I would have said that The Music Man was lower down on my list of favorite musicals, but I enjoyed every minute of this production.  There are still more performances between now and Dec. 29.

SMALL SCREEN

Silk (Amazon Prime)

Thanks to my friend Patricia for this recommendation.  Martha Costello is one of a group of lawyers in a British firm plugging away defending clients in court cases and vying to become “Silk” or QC, that is Queen’s Counsel. Single and singleminded, she is hard driving, while her colleague Clive Reader, from a posh background, appears less dedicated and always with an eye for the female solicitors.  Lording it over all of the office is Billy Lamb, the senior clerk, who makes case assignments and minds the books, or perhaps cooks them. I’m now into Season 2 of this BBC production and enjoying it immensely as it keeps me going on the treadmill! 

Homecoming (Amazon Prime)

This original series from Amazon has gotten a lot of praise from the press and at least one award nomination for its star, Julia Roberts.  The setting is a facility that runs a residential program for returning vets who have been diagnosed with PTSD or other issues.   Roberts plays Heidi Bergman, a counselor there.  Each episode is only thirty minutes long, and I can see why.  Much of each episode focuses on her sessions with one or more of the residents, with occasional leaps forward to the present day when we see Heidi working as a waitress at a cheap joint.  

What happened to make her leave the Geist program and why did one of her clients leave at the same time?   We have now watched five episodes and while it’s well done, it’s also somewhat weird.  

MOVIE TIME

Puzzle

We missed Puzzle when it was in theaters and so decided to pay the nominal rental fee of $4.99 to watch it here at home.  Starring Kelly Macdonald, it’s a measured, deliberate film about Agnes, a married mother of two grown sons, who has little self esteem and no satisfying function in life other than serving at the beck and call of husband Louie and those sons.  They show little appreciation for her efforts on their behalf and can’t understand why she might want more in her life.  Until she receives a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle for her birthday and discovers she’s good at it!  

Thus begins Agnes’, aka Martha’s, tentative steps toward independence, as she gains a male puzzle partner (Irrfan Khan) and ventures regularly beyond the confines of her own home and town.  I liked this film a lot, although some might find the pacing slow.

Manhattan Diversions: Movies, Art, etc.

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RECENT FILMS
Free Solo
This is a breathtaking and stunning National Geographic documentary about free soloing on Yosemite’s El Capitan. That is, climbing its 3,000 foot rock wall without any ropes. The first person to ever do that was Alex Hannold in June 2017, and this is the story and the backstory of that historic climb. What makes this such a fascinating film is that you learn a lot about Alex as a person and what drives him and why, as much as he can articulate it, he feels compelled to undertake such a risky climb.

The film crew, several other professional climbers, and his girlfriend Sanni, are also prominently featured. I found the fears of the film crew on his behalf and Sanni’s candor about their relationship and her concerns about how Alex communicates emotion added a richness and intimacy to the film. Highly recommend it!

A Star is Born
This is the fourth version or re-make of this film, this time starring Bradley Cooper who also directs it, and Lady Gaga. I’ve heard Lady Gaga sing a few times, but it was a new and amazing experience to see her develop in this part. The movie has lots of loud music and is as much a concert at times as it is a drama. Cooper stars as Jackson Maine, a popular singer on his way down, and Lady Gaga as Ally, the ingenue he discovers whose career quickly outstrips his.

I thought the film was a bit long and slow in parts, but appreciated that although Jackson lets her down repeatedly, Ally is never mean or nasty, but basically loving, not a side of celebrities that movies always depict. Go and you may leave humming the tune to “Shallow.”

EXHIBIT NOTES
Dorothea Lange’s America at Reynolda House Museum of American art
In North Carolina, this small gallery photography exhibit consists of a number of Lange’s portraits and scenes depicting poverty and hardship during the 1920’s and 30’s. Also included are photos by Walker Evans and others from the same period. What made the exhibit more meaningful for me were the longer explanations of context and setting on some of the labels. If you to to Winston-Salem, you can also tour the Reynolds home (he, the tobacco baron) and the attractive gardens on the property.

Delacroix at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The 18th century French painter, Eugene Delacroix, was a master draftsman. This small exhibit focuses on a variety of sketches and drawings he did in preparation for larger paintings. Several small watercolors are also included.

Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich:  The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922 at the Jewish Museum

This featured exhibit covers a short period in Russian art after the overthrow of the czar when Chagall and others founded an art school.  The dominant art movement was Suprematism, founded by Malevich, which used basic geometric shapes and a limited color palette in both painting and architecture.  Chagall soon drifted away from strict adherence to it.

FABULOUS PLAY!


Most everyone has seen one version or another of My Fair Lady and probably one of the film versions which has a happy ending, not part of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.  This new production at Lincoln Center is truly a My Fair Lady for our time. Lauren Ambrose is luminescent as Eliza Doolittle, who starts out as a lonely flower seller, but comes into her own as a woman by taking up Professor Higgins’ offer to pass her off as a lady.
The stage sets are amazing with a pointed contrast between Higgins’ elaborately designed house and the often bare stage on which Eliza sings or cavorts. Choreography is exuberant, occasionally to the point of boisterousness, as in Alfred Doolittle’s rousing rendition of “Get Me to the Church on Time,” complete with dancers in drag. Silver and lilac costumes in the Ascot scene are sumptuous and cooly elegant. All the songs and the singing are wonderful—both Eliza’s and the professor’s.

What might surprise you is how this production ends, but I won’t tell, except that it’s the right ending for today. Our performance featured a number of understudies including Tony Roach as Higgins and Joe Hart as Alfred Doolittle, and they were so good, I probably wouldn’t have known they weren’t the usual leads. If you have the chance, see it!

Note:  Header photo is of Delacroix’s A Moroccan Couple on Their Terrace, 1832.  Photos by JWFarrington.