Best of the Year: The Web

This was the year I said goodbye to a number of sites that became so advertising laden they took forever to load on my browser. But that's the worst of the web, isn't it?

I'm not sure why the best of everything is coming in twos this year, but today is another twofer. And the award for the best of the year in World Wide Web activity goes to Lifehacker and Andrew's Blog.

I've been a casual visitor to Lifehacker for sometime. But 2008 was the year it topped my rss reader. Perhaps I became afraid that without checking it everyday I'd be overwhelmed by the number of posts. No, that's not it. What I discovered was that there is something useful every single day, and I don't want to miss it!

Lifehacker bills itself as "tips and downloads for getting things done." That's about as dead-on a description as I can provide. While technology is a major factor in what Lifehacker provides--and this is a particularly Mac-friendly site--the information goes well beyond the technical. The site is filled with information on do-it-yourself projects, on how-to's. The information on computers is also amazingly useful.

In this year, I downloaded a free program to protect my passwords and private information, learned what supplies needed to go into a basic cleaning kit, how to repurpose my old iPod, essential and discounted apps for my iPhone and so much more. Lifehacker became the essential site for finding cool things that would help me out and would make me cool because I would share them.

And now for something completely different....

Something is happening in the University of Michigan's Musical Theater program. The MT program has a fine reputation and has produced some of our finest actors working in New York. Lately, some of the more recent grads from the program have taken things to the Web. Besides a few random videos I came across on YouTube, my first in-depth contact was with the fantastic Web series The Battery's Down, the musical story of a struggling actor in New York. You can see all of season one's episodes online, and season two starts March 1, 2009.

One of the Battery's Down regulars is Andrew Keenan-Bolger, a UMich graduate with long career for a 23 year old. He was Jojo in Seussical, along with a bunch of other New York credits prior to his UMich days. He's currently in The Grinch in its Boston engagement. Keenan-Bolger maintains Andrew's Blog, a compelling video blog that provides an intimate look into the life of a young musical theater actor.



Andrew's Blog is part video blog, part performance art, part performance capture, lots of camp and a whole lot of fun. Keenan-Bolger is charismatic and open. His vlog is a little offbeat, which makes it more interesting. I love the fact that you're never sure whether it's Andrew Keenan-Bolger or Andrew Keenan-Bolger playing the role of Andrew Keenan-Bolger. Here's a sample of Andrew's Blog from his visit to Rosie's Cruise last April.



Keenan-Bolger has a well-defined web presence. From the inspired URL of his blog: http://keenanblogger.blogspot.com/ to his creative, if a little busy, MySpace page and the UMichMT YouTube Channel, Keenan-Bolger is fearless in getting his life onto the Web.

For a well-rounded virtual life, Keenan-Bolger provides a varied presence rich in both content and form. And for that, he gets my vote for the best of the year.

Best of the Year: Theater

My opportunities to see theater this year were a bit more limited than in other years. Still, I'm not disappointed. I had the opportunity to see stirring revivals, like Sunday in the Park with George, Equus and Gypsy, and big, new productions, like Billy Elliot and In the Heights. This was the year I finally got to see Blue Man Group, Laurie Anderson (Homeland) and Groovelily, longstanding gaps in my theatergoing education.

But this was mostly the year that I was reminded of the extraordinary power of theater to change your existance--and it happened not once but twice. There are those extraordinarily rare moments sitting in the theater where the audience becomes so engaged, so riveted, that people collectively forget to breathe. If I have two of those moments in a decade, it makes all the bad theater worth it. To have two such moments in a year is nothing short of thrilling, as both of these plays were. So, the best of the year in theater in 2008 is an unbreakable tie: August: Osage County and Passing Strange.

Traci Letts' drama topped most people's 2007 list and won five Tony Awards. My chance to see it came shortly after many in the Steppenwolf cast departed and Estelle Parsons stepped into the lead role of Violet Weston. Parsons gives an incredible performance, and she's a standout among a cast of incredible performances. But the true accomplishment is Letts beautiful words. Nearly four hours and not a single word is wasted. Every moment is raw and honest. And every person who sees the show leaves somehow different.

I hadn't expected to have a best play and a best musical, but that's how it turns out in 2008. Passing Strange was stunning in so many ways. I've rarely had such an intellectual night at a musical, with discussions of identity and race put to a rocking score. Daniel Breaker as Youth and Stew as, well, Stew were flawed, engaging human beings searching for meaning. The music was fantastic.

Passing Strange operates on a variety of levels. On one level it is the simple story of a boy and him mom. But it is also a profound meditation on the middle class African-American experience. It's an exploration of art and life--and which is, in fact, more real.

But what strikes me as most important about Passing Strange and a significant reason to lament its premature demise is the audience it attracted. This was the most age and racially diverse audience I've ever had the honor to sit in.

Passing Strange had the wonderful misfortune to be so complex and so finely integrated that it couldn't be marketed. Nothing I've seen--the commercials, the appearances on The View or The Tony Awards, the cast recording--did justice to the show. Had I not seen the show, none of these things would have attracted me to it.

Spike Lee's documentation of the final weekend of performances plays at Sundance next month. Will it finally do justice to the show that played the Belasco? I can only hope. But short of that, it will certainly provide a triptych to one of the most thrilling theatrical pieces in my lifetime.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is stunning filmmaking. It had me on an emotional edge for much of its rather lengthy 2:48. It ponders significant philosophical questions within a technological marvel of such subtlety it's easy to forget that the film is special effects laden.

Brad Pitt (Benjamin) and Cate Blanchette (Daisy)--through the wonders of digitization--each play their characters from mid-teen to death. Or in Pitt's case from 80-ish to his mid-teens. This adds a poignancy that is critical to the film's success and makes for an even more curious case.

Benjamin ages backwards in a world moving forward. He's born in a crippled, arthritic body and dies in a child's body confused by dimentia. Daisy is Benjamin's enduring love, but they can only consummate that love as their ages converge for a few short years. There's a sadness, then, that runs throughout The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but there's also such beauty in the lives of Benjamin, his family and his love.

The acting is fantastic, with Pitt and Blanchette doing great work. The moment Benjamin first lays eyes on Daisy you see this wide-eyed young man peering out of this septuagenarian body. For Benjamin, what you see is never what is inside his body--except for middle age. Pitt, though sometimes too detached, is exactly right. Blanchette is the fire and emotion in the film. Tilda Swinton also gives a stunning, brief performance. Her reappearance late in the film via television sets the final act of the film in motion stunningly.

It's odd to be writing words like "stunning" or "fire" in a film that succeeds because it is so subtle. But it is a truly fine film--one of the best of the year--and frequently breathtaking.

An Allegory for Our Times

I'm always a little suspicious when your first thought about a movie is that someone set out to create a allegory for our times. I'm all for allegory, but it needs to flow naturally from the story rather than sublimate the story.

That's what happens with The Day the Earth Stood Still, the remake starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. The story lumbers along as we learn whether humankind can be trusted to save the environment. Klaatu (Reeves) says no, so he's prepared to wipe people off the earth. Can Klaatu be convinced that we can be responsible protectors of our planet before he destroys it?

The only interesting question to ponder is whether Klaatu is a good guy or a bad guy. Ultimately, that's not enough to make the film interesting.

The story is never particularly engaging and the special effects never quite thrilling. The acting is leaden. Reeves justifies a deadpan persona as part of his alien in America characterization. Connelly and Kathy Bates, as the secretary of defense, are just plain weak.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a mediocre film. Not a horrible way to spend a snowy afternoon, but nothing memorable after an hour. Story first, message later folks.

An Early Holiday Present...and a Lump of Coal

Those who know me know that Wonderfalls ranks as my favorite television show ever. EVAH! Wonderfalls, you say? Yes! It was a short-lived Fox program in 2004. It aired for four episodes in about four different time slots. All of the season previews ranked it as the best of the year, but Fox didn't know what to do with it.

Last year, the creator of Wonderfalls brought us another charming, quirky, gorgeous show, Pushing Daisies. It's an adult fairy tale that is brilliantly conceived. Alas, the lump of coal is that ABC announced that it would be cancelled after its 13th episode this season. That means we're down to our last three episodes in January.

But earlier in the week, as I was catching up on the episodes I missed during my recent travels, I experienced the kind of creativity and gift to one's fans that made my heart leap. Ned the Piemaker of Pushing Daisies entered a baking contest. To my glorious delight, one of his competitors was Beth Grant, proprietor of Muffin Buffalo. One of the great Wonderfalls episodes centered on Grant's secret muffin recipe, which she parlayed into the bakery, Muffin Buffalo. It was a great opportunity to reference a great, almost lost, show. Thanks, Bryan!

Role Models

I really enjoyed Role Models. I laughed hard, thoroughly enjoyed the story and thought the chemistry among the four leads was wonderful. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott are energy drink peddlers who have a really bad day. That leads to 150 hours of community service in Sturdy Wings (think Big Brothers) with the oldest misfit Angus (Christopher Mints-Plasse) and the youngest, the foulmouthed, breast obsessed Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). The kids help the adults get beyond their self-centeredness.

The film works as a buddy comedy, but the addition of Jane Lynch (I'd nominate her for best supporting actress for this role) is inspired brilliance. She is absolutely incredible and adds this layer of social bite and laugh-out-loud humor to the film.

The film is not a gross-out comedy, to my relief, but it's not for the faint of heart where language is concerned. That said, I don't think there was a wasted swear word (and there are hundreds) in the film.

Writer/Director David Wain has a gift for taking overplayed ideas and turning them into quality comedies. Would that Judd Apatow take a lesson from him. His Hot Wet American Summer is also a fine film, a riff on the teen camp comedy. Role Models riffs on the buddy movie to great effect.

This is one I'll see again.

More Billy

I'm still thinking about Billy Elliot. There are a few subversive moments in the show that are staying with me. The second act opener is a Christmas pageant that is this light, poppy condemnation of Margaret Thatcher. It turns into an audience sing-a-long that has the audience singing along wishing for the death of Maggie Thatcher. I'm not sure most of the audience realizes that's what the song is promoting. That's cool.

Groovelily

My first contact with Groovelily was in 2006 when I read about their new show, Striking 12, which had an off-broadway premiere to excellent reviews. I put them out of my head since I wasn't going to be in NYC during the run of the show.

Last night, I had my first opportunity to experience Groovelily live, and it was a thrilling experience. Groovelily has a wonderfully eclectic style that combines elements of theater, jazz and good, old-fashioned rock 'n roll to powerful effect. The music is really driven by the six-string electric violin played by Valerie Vigoda, the founding member of Groovelily. Vocals are shared by keyboardist Brendan Milburn and drummer Glen Lewin, and all three shine as musicians and vocalists. The playlist constructed to give each a number of chances to shine.

The gig last night was a combination of album cuts, songs from theater performances and some new material that will be premiered in a new show next spring. The set was punctuated with a narrative that contextualized the songs and the history of Groovelily. Sometimes the talking seemed a bit much, but it made for a delightful connection between the musicians and the audience.

Groovelily are unique and an always fascinating group. There is great energy in the room and every reason to just want to hang with the band members. They'll be in heavy rotation on the iPod.

Equus

I have always appreciated Equus as a complex and disturbing meditation on passion. I've seen a few productions of it, including a strong production at the Stratford Festival with Brian Bedford as Martin Dysart. Saturday evening I had the opportunity to see the excellent production currently on Broadway with Dan Radcliffe as Alan Strand and Richard Griffiths as Dysart. Radcliffe and Griffiths anchor a fine cast in a compelling production.

Equus is a stylized play that is generally given a stylized production, including this one. The actors portraying the horses have the stylized horse heads and hoofs of most productions, but they also have uncharacteristically hot bodies. The opening image of Alan embracing the horse Nugget has a homoeroticism that is often left unstated.

The word on Radcliffe is absolutely accurate. He more than holds his own in a role that challenges even the best actors. His Alan is a troubled young man who has committed an unspeakable act, but he engages us.


Griffiths, too, creates an indelible portrait of a man who is changed by and ultimately envious of Alan. Griffiths portrait is interesting in that it takes a natural, understated approach. Sometimes it feels a little out of place among a cast delivering very stylized performances. But in the end, it's extraordinarily effective to have a human Dysart.

The rest of the cast are strong. Kate Mulgrew and Carolyn McCormick have particularly powerful moments. MoCormick has a particularly difficult task on the stage, since much of the blame for Alan's actions falls on her. It to McCormick's credit that we anger, pity and feel for Dora Strang.

The production is not unlike other productions of Equus, but there are a few revelatory moments. The moment in which Radcliffe blinds the horses is a choreographed melange of sound and image that left me breathless.

Some have argued that the play is dated. If taken as a literal commentary of psychiatry and the justice system, perhaps so. But I don't think the play has ever worked on that level. Even as it tries to root out the reasons for Alan's actions, the more interesting study is the effect that Alan has on Dysart. And on that, this production of Equus shines.

And Please, Billy...

I've been waiting years to see Billy Elliot on Broadway. When the show opened in London in 2005, the reviews were great. The score, by Sir Elton, is his best by far. The cast recording is a bittersweet emotional experience. Heading into the show, I had hopes that Billy Elliot would have the same effect on me as Ragtime, another show in a huge production with dark material and serious issues for our time. Did it deliver?

I think the only answer to that question can be "half way." I loved the show, and I left thinking how much better it could be. First, the bad news: In 2008, Billy Elliot feels incredibly derivative. In fact, my least favorite moments seem pulled directly from three current Broadway shows. In Act I, during the otherwise fantastic "Express Yourself" duet between Billy and Michael, giant-sized puppets more than reminiscent of Wizardmania in Wicked totally distract from one of the most beautiful and sweet moments of the show. Act II begins with a "tribute" to Maggie Thatcher in which a giant Thatcher puppet comes over the back of the stage to terrorize the cast (and hopefully--but not, unfortunately) the audience, a la the second act opener of Avenue Q. The least favorite of the least favorite moments in the post-finale finale, that plays like the Mamma Mia megamix that ends that show.

IMamma Mia, it works okay. But Billy Elliot is a bittersweet show with a rather somber ending. To follow that with 15 minutes of the cast dancing to the big songs from the show in tutus is a crass commercial decision that leaves one perplexed, not thoughtful. Ben Brantley, in his review of the London production, warned us to leave before the curtain call starts. Oh that I would have listened.

These problems aren't fatal. That's good, because there is no chance they're going to be fixed. But they do keep Billy Elliot from being great. And what is great about it?

The story is incredibly moving. The story of the young boy who wants to dance set against the backdrop of the miners' strike in Thatcher's England is rich, moving and powerful. The cast is fantastic, particularly our Billy, Trent Kowalik, and Mrs. Wilkinson, Haydn Gwynne, had wonderful chemistry. The ongoing interplay between the miners and the young ballerinas is often poignant and always creative. In fact, the choreography by Peter Darling weaves a thread through the story that supports the narrative and even drives it.

Elton John's score is also wonderful. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, the show has a Les Miz familiarity that makes the miners' plight an epic one. But the true success of the score is the intimates moments, such as "The Letter," in which we see the human connection between the characters.

Kawalik is the most experienced of the current Billys, having played the role in London. He's very strong and eminently likable. His scenes with the flamboyant Michael, David Bologna, were the audience favorites, and deservedly so. The scenes are strong, and Bologna is a natural ham who shines.

Ian MacNeil's set is big and complicated, and it always supports the production without overwhelming it. The visual image on the stage is often arresting. And the production puts its own stamp on the material.

So much care has gone into translating Billy Elliot from film to stage, and this big, beautiful, emotional show has so much going for it. One can almost understand the decision to improve the chances for commercial success by leaving people on their feet with big smiles on their faces. Almost. The decision costs the show much of its integrity in the final moments and that's really a shame.

No Day But Today

It's been a couple of weeks since I got to see Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway at the Cinemagic Theater. As both documentation of the final performances of the stage version of Rent and my first foray into digital cinematic projection, it was a great afternoon at the movies.

The final cast of Rent was a strong one, and it was great to see that the show retained its vibrancy even as things like "AZT breaks" became dated references that locked the show in the past. The staging had a raw feel to it that the movie (which I did like) sacrificed to polish. The filmed live version did a great job of capturing the energy of the show.

Digital projection is also rich. A voice-sync issue at the beginning had the audience squirming a bit, but once it locked in the sound and visual were sharp and compelling. It never felt like watching TV on a big, really big, screen. Two thumbs up.

Creative Politics

When Obama Girl released her tribute to Barack Obama that went viral a year ago, I had some hope that we might see creative approaches to presidential politics. We've seen some strong, very creative work from The Daily Show, which has pointed out some of the absurdities of this election season in hugely entertaining reporting. But it takes a cast of dozens to keep it edgy and entertaining. Certainly, Jon Stewart is doing the best corporate media work these days.

And what about the regular folk? There's no one doing better work these days than Michael Gregory, who is providing some of the most inspired mash-ups on the election. You've got to see them to believe them. They give me great hope for the future of the web and the next generation. I've included his VP Debate below, but go to his YouTube page to see the presidential debates in song and dance.

Sigur Ros, September 19, 2008, Boston

What an incredible night at the Bank of America Pavilion. The night was chilly, but Sigur Ros was anything but. Their new album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust, is upbeat and uptempo, and the concert was as well.

Sigur Ros is straightforward in concert. Jon chatted with the audience on two occasions to get people to sing along. Sing along with Sigur Ros, you might ask? More of a high-pitched whir, but a good bonding moment with the audience. The band performs slightly reconfigured versions of their album cuts, with strong visual images. The lighting is good, but sparse; the movement even more sparse. But a Sigur Ros concert is about the wall of sound the band creates, and they succeeded song after song.

The songs off the new album set the tone for the evening, and the songs from previous albums, while more traditional Sigur Ros, were layered with guitars and feedback that gave them an almost rocking edge. The band did seem to be having some technical difficulties--members of the stage crew were regularly on the stage to tweak things--but this was a fine night of music and filled a gap in my musical education.

The concert got off to a great start with Parachutes, another Icelandic band clearly influenced by Sigur Ros. The ten members of the group played a huge range of instruments with lilting melodies and minimalist orchestrations. Expect more, and give a listen to the four songs on their myspace page.

(Top pics are from Chris Devers over at Flickr, the bottom ones are from my iPhone.)

I'm Not Usually Overtly Political on this Blog...But!

Isn't this the kind of hypocrisy the main stream media might consider exposing?

Devastating

This would be my one-word review for August: Osage County.

Really, there isn't much to add to the chorus of unanimous praise Tracy Letts' play has received. Yes, 3:45 minutes in the theater moves like time is flying by. Yes, you laugh. Hard. Yes, the direction of this show by Anna Shapiro is extraordinary. This is great theater.

Two shows this season left me literally catching my breath: Passing Strange and August: Osage County. The possibility that a play might be so good that I forget to breathe is what keeps me going to the theater. A lot. Whenever I can. And this is after experiencing Welcome to the Club all those years ago. Two have had two such breath-taking experiences in one season is a first, and it gives me great hope.

The August replacement cast, led triumphantly by Estelle Parsons, honor this amazing work. Not a line is wasted, not a moment is misused. Parsons is harsh, unforgiving and not a little crazy. Amy Morton, as daughter Barbara, is beautiful and frightening as she becomes her mother. I also thought that understudy Dee Pelletier gave a truly riveting performance as Ivy. But these performances were simply the rising tide that allowed everyone in the cast to give the most memorable of performances.

August: Osage County is, in the end, a show of dichotomies. We love these characters as much as they disgust us. We laugh hard (honest laughs) as we gasp at the gravity of the pain these characters inflict on each other. We're energized even as we endure.

Now go hug your mother

In the Heights

Here's something about me: I feel the magic of theater most strongly when a production is greater than the sum of its parts. Take Wicked, for example. Decent music, mediocre lyrics, good production. But the result is pure magic and a fantastic night at the theatre, oft repeated. Spring Awakening has incredible parts that amount to far more than just the sum of them. On the other hand, as much as I appreciated Caroline or Change, it was exactly the sum of its parts. It was fine, but it wasn't magical. Something to be appreciated more than loved.

Add to the list of sum=parts In the Heights. The show is creative and has wonderful energy. The score is fine; the acting is good; the story is a cut above mediocre. And the show itself is never more than that. It wasn't a bad afternoon at the theater, but it paled considerably next to the other two shows I saw last weekend, Spring Awakening (see below) and August: Osage County (thoughts forthcoming).

In the Heights is original in many ways. The choreography is fresh and original. The hip-hop, latin influenced songs are mostly excellent. It's great to see diversity and fresh perspectives on Broadway.

In all honesty, though, I didn't find the perspective all that fresh. It felt like a very traditional musical packaged in some very contemporary clothes. The three key plot elements involving a lottery ticket, a death and a departure are easily predicted. And the emotion is communicated, not felt, which ultimately leaves the audience unmoved.

Since seeing the show I've been debating whether understudy Shaun Taylor-Corbett, subbing for Lin-Manuel Miranda, bears much of the responsibility. I've heard from several people that they wept out loud at In the Heights, though there was not a moist eye or sniffle in my audience.

I must admit that my intermission thought was "Passing Strange lost to this?!?!?

The show is always competent and often engaging. Sometimes it's even mesmerizing, as in the opening number or the Act I blackout. But it was too predictable to be magical. As much as I admired it, I was never moved by it.

I got a lot out of In the Heights, but I wanted more. As fine as the elements of the show are, I was never transported. Will I see it again when it passes through Boston? In a second!!

Spring Redux

Eighteen months after I first saw the original cast of Spring Awakening I had the chance to take it in again on Friday night. Given all I haven't seen, Spring wouldn't have been on my list except for one reason: Hunter Parrish stepped into the role of Melchior a week earlier than planned. Verdict? In three days, Parrish has developed a fully realized character that breaths fresh life into Spring Awakening. He's fantastic.

Not that Spring was on life support, nor is Parrish alone in providing fresh new insights into these intriguing characters. The show maintains its energy and relevance in droves, and it's just a great night at the theater.

Alexandra Socha is a fine Wendla, in my view superior to Lea Michelle. Gerard Canonico, memorable as the understudy on stage right in the original cast, has permanently assumed the role of Moritz. He, too, gives a fine performance. The creative team has done something very special and rare on Broadway these days. They have replaced the original cast with very different actors (from body type to vocal style) and given them great freedom to bring their own interpretation to their characters. None of them does this more successfully than Emma Hunton whose Ilse in almost unrecognizable from Lauren Pritchard's. Hunton's Ilse is fragile, touched, not the confident earth nymph so memorably portrayed by Pritchard. It's a true departure and a brilliant performance.

Christine Estabrook and Glenn Fleshler are generally strong in the adult roles, though Estabrook tends to go broad when she might be more restrained.

But in the end, it's Parrish who is the revelation. Melchior must be the glue that holds everything together in Spring Awakening, and he must be the catalyst that sets and keeps everything in motion. Parrish understands Melchior. His voice is perfect for the role. He has such ease on stage and with his character.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on In the Heights and August: Osage County, as well as long overdue reviews of The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!

The Hammer is My Penis

Those who know me know that I never missed an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel during their multi-year runs. I was not originally a fan of Joss Whedon's Firefly, but a friend subsequently introduced me to the DVDs and I got to see the episodes in order. They're terrific. So, I would be totally remiss if I didn't point the way to Whedon's latest, super-fantastic gig (no, not Dollhouse, that's six months away) Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. Available for viewing at DrHorrible.com or for downloading at iTunes, Dr. Horrible is a small web project Whedon and family undertook during the writers strike.

Neil Patrick Harris stars as Dr. Horrible, a wannabe criminal mastermind who also wants to get the girl of his dreams. The doc has to do something really horrible to get into the Evil League of Evil, while fighting his nemesis Captain Hammer (a laugh-out-loud Nathan Fillion) and getting the girl, Felicia Day. Oh yes, and this really is a video blog and a musical.

Whedon writes the score with his brother, and it is stronger even than the Buffy musical "Once More with Feeling." Harris is a fantastic, nuanced Dr. Horrible, and Day and Fillion, particularly Day, provide wonderful support. The story is funny, but more than funny, and the music and lyrics drive the plot in very creative ways.

Dr. Horrible is shown in three acts of about 13 minutes each. All three episodes are now available online. The few friends I've shared it with so far have all responded the same way: "That's the most awesome thing I've seen on the web in a long time." And it is!!

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

"Straight from the mind of, yes, visionary director Guillermo del Toro" is pretty much the only way to describe the strong Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The story is compelling and, like all del Toro films, visually compelling. Red (Ron Perlman) is back to save the world with his bull-in-a-china-shop approach to crime fighting. He's ably supported by the fiery Liz (Selma Blair) and the smoky Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth McFarlane).

I found the second entry in the Hellboy series to be far more compelling than the first. In this installment, the mythical world is rebelling because the human world has largely been ignoring or marginalizing the mythical dimension. The mythical beasts, led by Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) plot world domination. Nuada is set on pulling together the three pieces of the crown that will give its owner full control over the golden army.

This is del Toro's vision and the mythical beings feel like cousins to those in the far darker Pan's Labyrinth. But the psychological exploration that is del Toro's strength is very present here. Hellboy is one of those mythical beings trying to find his place in the world, and even as he strikes at the villains, he understands he is snuffing out a piece of himself. Add to that the natural marital tension that arises between Liz and Red, and the film rises far above the typical summer action fare.

A Littler Night Music

I had a fabulous trip this Tuesday to Tanglewood with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. The evening was beautiful, though it smiled only twice. The occasion? The Boston Pops Concert production of A Little Night Music with Christine Ebersole, Ron Raines and Mary Louise Wilson Bobbie Steinbach. Steinbach stepped in for Wilson, who apparently had scheduling conflicts the day before the Boston performance. (So much for the Grey Gardens gimmick.

The score remains among Sondheim's best and was extraordinarily well performed by the Pops orchestra. The book was nicely edited to capture the sting and humor. So, it felt like Night Music should feel. The staging was largely non-existent. The members of the quintet would bring a chair to center stage when necessary and a chaise was used a couple of times for Desiree. So, the effectiveness of the piece rested largely on the shoulders of the cast, and they were up to the challenge of performing Night Music in the shed at Tanglewood...mostly.

A word on Ebersole in a moment. Ron Raines was a terrific Frederick. He was vocally crisp and his acting was strong. Steinbach was also exceptional, and the circumstances of her appearance endeared her to the audience. Her history with Madame Armfeldt also allowed her to be the only person off book the entire evening. The rest of the company came largely from the Tanglewood company and represented the pops well. Katherine Growden (Charlotte) and Rebecca Jo Loeb (Petra) were particular standouts, but there wasn't a weak link in the bunch.

And what of Ms. Ebersole? If I'm to be totally honest, I can only say mixed. I must admit I had high expectation. I am a huge fan, and I thought the casting was perfect. (My drive was far longer than the performance.) I think her first act was shaky and somewhat unfortunate. Everyone in the cast was off-book for the musical numbers and relied on the scripts for the book scenes to varying degrees. Ebersole needed the script throughout, even for the lyrics. This was hugely problematic for "You Must Meet My Wife," and the overall effect was that she was less prepared than her colleagues on stage. Things improved in the second act, and she ended the show with perhaps the most profound "Send in the Clowns" I've ever heard. It was breathtaking. All could be forgiven/ The audience was riveted, the applause thunderous and well deserved. The last 15 minutes of the show were as perfect as any performance of "A Little Night Music" I have ever seen.

Keith Lockhart conducted the Pops to a thrilling conclusion. He made a great argument for the timelessness of the piece and for bringing musical theater to the canon of pops orchestras.

Hancock

I might be able to forgive Hancock for the three homophobic jokes in the first 10 minutes, but I can't forgive it for being agonizingly dull. The film tries to give a little meat to the comic-action-superhero genre, but it rarely succeeds. Will Smith in angsty, I-don't-know-who-I-am mode is just not that interesting.

Hancock is an amnesiac superhero who drinks, berates those he saves and is, as almost everyone he saves or comes across notes, an asshole. He saves Jason Bateman from an oncoming train, and Bateman, a PR man, then decides to help Hancock reform his image. Turns out, all is not as it seems, and we get about an hour of Hancock going through his identity crisis.

The gay-sex innuendo is really out of place. There might actually have been a funny head-up-your-ass moment if the joke hadn't already been beaten to death.

I'm all for good summer diversion, but Hancock is more annoying than diverting.

Album Quick Takes

I've been listening to a bunch of new music and one new-to-me album:

Sigur Ros: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust does nothing to quell my love and lust for Sigur Ros. The album is more percussive and, dare I say bouncier, than earlier outings, but they're fifth studio album is great. This Med was recorded around the world and includes the first SR song recorded in English. The album is a mix of uptempo and traditional tempo songs. While the uptempo songs feel fresh and give new life to the band, the quieter, slower-paced songs also stir.

Hercules and Love Affair: I'd read a number of reviews that praised the self-titled debut from Hercules and Love Affair. The album has an 80's retro feel that works with Andrew Butler's Boy George smokes-too-much vocal stylings. It's dancefloor pop that feels fun and dark at the same time.

Madonna: Don't hate me because I like "4 minutes," the first single off of Hard Candy, the new Madonna effort. It's a strong entry in the Madonna canon. Though some have called it a throw-back, I find it to be compelling and contemporary.

Kiley Minogue: Kylie's back with X, and she, too, is in fine form. It's taken a little longer to grow on me than the other albums in the list here, but X has fought its way into heavy rotation on my ipod.

Freezepop: I've come a little later to the table for freezepop, and the name is right on. futurefuturefutureperfect is a chilly little pop confection with a few standout tracks that get the body moving and are guaranteed to get you singing along. While it's not a stellar effort, there's enough of interest to keep me following this group.

Would You Believe...?

Get Smart is the best film in years. How about the best film this year? Okay, how about a film worth seeing on a Saturday afternoon when you have nothing else to do.

Well, it's definitely the latter, but I must admit, I think it's even better than that. The creative team certainly misses many opportunities to connect Get Smart to the political moment (the one attempt, James Caan's George Bush reading to kids during imminent attack falls totally flat), but it turns out to be a lot of fun.

Steve Carrel is a different kind of Maxwell Smart. He may be inept, but he is the hero and he does heroic things and not by accident. He's supported by a fine Anne Hathaway and a pretty decent cast that gets the humor and sticks the jokes and the pratfalls.

Get Smart looks like it's doing well enough to warrant a sequel, and I'm okay with that.

My Movie is a Mashup

Wanted is an adrenaline rush that tries to redefine the action genre. It feels fresh more because it's a mash-up of other groundbreaking films rather than because its fresh on its own terms.

Those unfamiliar with the excellent Night Watch will likely find the work of directorTimur Bekmambetov to be thrilling. Bekmambetov uses a graphic, stylistic approach to his films that engages the audience in different ways.

Bekmambetov has woven his unique style into the fabric of predecessors like Fight Club and Matrix. James McAvoy is Wesley Gibson, a disaffected young man, whose boss treats him like dirt, whose best friend is cheating with his girlfriend, whose dead-end life sucks. He is the chosen one, however, and it takes Fox (Angelina Jolie) to bring it out of him.

While Wanted draws heavily from these films, it also charts its own complex, dark story about a fraternity of assassins (known as The Fraternity) who take down one to save a thousand. But the world has changed in the thousand years of The Fraternity's existence, and Wesley has to navigate these new complexities as he follows his destiny as a member of the group. He also embarks on a quest to kill the man who killed his father.

McAvoy and Jolie bring the required amount of bad-ass to their roles. McAvoy makes the transformation from tool to super action figure believable and interesting. Jolie adds a dark edge to her action persona. Morgan Freeman is pretty unidimensional. Think Jon Voight in Mission Impossible, rather than Laurence Fishburn in Matrix.

Ultimately, Wanted is not a great movie, but it is, fortunately, a film that has greatness in it. Even when it falters it intrigues and excites.

Sex and the City

I was a big fan of Sex and the City during all of its HBO years, but I must admit I was okay that it signed off after six years. I felt the tale of these four women had run its course. I was also kind of excited that, four years later, we could catch up with them again...like old acquaintances that you want to catch up with from time to time.

That being said, it was nice catching up with them, but nothing truly special. A colleague told me it was about as perfect as a Sex and the City film could be. I can't say I agree. If the television show is going to morph to film, it needs to be bigger--bigger issues, bigger consequences and bigger fashions. That is there, but the annoyance factor is also amplified.

While Sex and the City is all about the women, the men provided a moderating factor that grounded the show and kept it interesting. The men are largely missing from the film. Even Big--among the least interesting of the characters, though he's more 3-dimensional than in the series. But the film is about Carrie and Miranda and Charlotte and Samantha. Wait, once more... But the film is about Carrie and Samantha and some Charlotte.

The women have grown. The film treats them largely with dignity (Samantha and her nastiness not so much).

So, it was a pleasant afternoon with people I used to hang with, but not an intimate moment with a dear friend I hadn't seen in awhile. It will be nice to see them again in a few years.

Indiana Jones and the...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a great 30-minute film. Unfortunately, it lasts about two hours longer than that. The action sequences largely fall flat, though Karen Allen's appearance gives the film a tremendous burst of energy just as you're likely to considering heading to the lobby or remembering that you need to renew your driver's license.

Harrison Ford is same-ole same-ole as Indy. The George Lucas's and Steven Spielberg's credit, they've aged Indy by the 20 years since the last film. Ford handles the role with the same smirk and hat as episodes one to three. Just in case a whole generation might not know Ford, Shia Lebeouf comes on board as Mutt, the guy who needs Indy's help.

The first action sequences are only moderately entertaining. As Indy and company enter the jungle for the big escape, things heat up and the film achieves the level of entertainment reached in the previous films. Cate Blanchett makes a compelling villain from which to run.

The rest of the film is rather ho-hum. Without ruining the ending, let's just say that Spielberg revisits themes from earlier films, such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Even those don't amount to engaging filmmaking.

Is 30 minutes of great filmmaking enough to warrant a 2.5-hour film. In the summer, probably so, It's never boring, but it's only rarely engaging.

13

Goodspeed is producing a pre-Broadway engagement of Jason Robert Brown's new musical, 13, and I was privileged enough to take it in at its final scheduled performance. The show has some problems, but there is so much to recommend.

13 is an intimate musical about turning 13. Evan Goldman is about to turn 13 when his parents divorce and his mother moves him from Manhattan to Appleton, Indiana. Evan is faced with the dilemmas that always confront the new kid: Which clique will he join? Who will attend his bar mitzvah? Will he be a cool kid? When is tongue appropriate? The show takes place over the six weeks between his arrival and his bar mitzvah, with an ending that could have been a sell-out, but isn't.

I'm a fan of Brown's scores, big (Parade) and small (Last Five Years). 13 uses a 4-piece band of teens, and they do a great job with a score that is terrific. Only the second act opener, "Anything You Want," seems out of place, and most of the score ranks among his best. I do wonder, though, whether broadway can handle two shows with songs about kissing with tongue running simultaneously.

The book also has great humor. It's certainly going to be the most of-the-moment show, with constant references to texting, MySpace, Facebook, iChat and the like. But there's not much gravitas to the story. Will a show in which the dramatic tension hinges on whether the cool kids will come to Evan's bar mitzvah (and the corollary: are the cool kids really that cool) draw an adult audience?

The central conflict will draw and hold the attention of young kids and teens. That was clear at the performance, where a good forty percent of the audience was under 16. But adults without kids are more likely to find it a pleasant experience rather than a stirring, challenging, or engaging one.

The production at the Norma Terris Theatre is solid, but not stirring. The cast is largely inconsistent and several key performances are inconsistent within. Graham Phillips, who shares the role of Evan, had some nice moments, particularly when dueting with Aaron Simon Gross or Allie Trimm. But he never quite nails the character, and he moves awkwardly (and not in a way that necessarily fits with the character). The rest of the cast is largely no better and no worse, though Gross and Trimm have some fine moments, and Eric Nelson has great technique and presence.

There is much to recommend about 13. The score alone warranted the nearly 3-hour drive to Chester, and the book is often laugh-out-loud funny. It was also wonderful to see the show at this sage of its development. But mostly 13 is a divertissement. It's talented kids singing and very talented kids playing a score by a great composer that is quite entertaining but ultimately about as deep as the problems faced by its 13 13 year olds.

Quick Take: Iron Man

I'm finally getting around to reviewing Iron Man as it's leaving the theaters. Of the potential summer blockbusters, Iron Man has been the best so far. Robert Downey is great in the role, supported by a great Gwyneth Paltrow. The battle scene at the end of the film is anti-climactic rather than a climax to the film. But the path to get there is always engaging.

Passing Strange: The Original Cast Recording

How do you sell a Broadway show that is so infinitely greater than the sum of its parts? I watched Passing Strange, one of my top-five theater experiences, on The View and thought it came off horribly. I've seen the commercial. Doesn't make me want to see the show. The web site? Well it's a little better, but nothing that makes the show a must-see. So, I had some hope that the original cast recording would capture at least some of the extraordinariness of Passing Strange.

Passing Strange is now available on iTunes and will be available on CD next month. In all honesty, the show doesn't translate all that well to cast album either. It brings back great memories of the experience of seeing the show live, but hasn't been all that impressive to the uninitiated.

The album is a live recording, a great idea given the way the audience's energy informs the show. On the recording, however, the audience seems distant and appreciative rather than enthusiastic. The recording never approaches the level of energy the show itself reaches.

The songs also seem truncated. The endings often seem abrupt. One- or two-minute songs that work seamlessly at the Belasco come across as excerpts on the cast album. So, ultimately don't think the album will sell anyone on the show.

There are some great things about the show and the recording. The performances are excellent. Stew comes off great, as do most of the supporting cast. Daniel Breaker is very good, though he seems less of a presence than on stage. The music is also excellent and the great songs from the show give me memory chills every time I give it a listen.

Speed Racer

So, I've finally had a chance to see the first three intended blockbusters of the 2008 summer season now that commencement is over. Of course, I'm saying intended, since Speed Racer has yet to break $40 million in its second weekend and Prince Caspian, which was expected to pull $80 million in its first weekend is "falling short," according to the blogs. Certainly, attendance out here in the hinters was sparse at all three films, though word is that Iron Man has legitimately earned the blockbuster label.

Let's take them in order, folks.

Given the brutal reviews Speed Racer was getting, I decided to hedge my bets and travel 90 minutes to the IMAX to see it. I was certainly taking a risk that five stories of Speed would be better than five feet of Speed on the local screen. And the Wachowskis have done interesting things with sound that attracted me to the larger experience, too.

Are the reviews right? Pretty much. Speed Racer is pitched at 10-year-old boys, and unlike the great kids films, it offers very little for the adult chaperone to chew on. The storytelling is muddled; character development is non-existent. Visually, the film is sometimes interesting and often headache inducing.

But the Wachowski brothers do interesting things and, flawed as Speed is, there are interesting things here. The film creates its own universe with its own rules. It doesn't rigidly follow its own rules, like, say, the Buffyverse, but it allows for curious things to happen. The visual style, that slips not so effortlessly back and forth into animation, keeps things moving (if not necessarily interesting).

The actors are reduced to cartoon characters, though generally with less depth. There's little opportunity for Emile Hersch (Speed), John Goodman (Pops) or Matthew Fox (Racer X) to do more than draw a passing familiarity to their animated selves. Any depth of character comes from our familiarity with the original cartoon. They're less wasted than irrelevant.

I could go through the plot, but it, too, is largely irrelevant. So what is relevant to the film. Largely, its the races. The animation is slick. The "Racerverse" has its own rules of gravity and geography that make the races is intriguing.

Mostly, though, there's far too little that is interesting or relevant in Speed Racer. It hardly invoked my fond memories of the cartoon I watched as a kid. It didn't bring out the sense of wonder in the kid that's inside me now. And it didn't even give me the adrenalin rush that even a bad Wachowski film usually does.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

What to do on a Saturday afternoon when you have to see a movie because it's been weeks. Well, April 25 did not bring an grand openings, though the promise of the summer movie season is just a week away. After reading a very positive review by A.O. Scott in the New York Times, I decided to check out Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Truth be told, the film has a little something to chew on.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is not your typical stoner comedy. In fact, our heroes are not stoned or looking for bud for a large chunk of the film. Kumar's love of weed moves him to smuggle dope and a bong onto his flight to, where else, Amsterdam. When he says "bong" people hear "bomb" and hijinx ensue. Harold and Kumar are delivered to Gitmo, but escape two minutes later and spend the rest of the film being chased across the south.

The film has lots of laughs, and not just scatological humor (though such humor figures prominently as expected). Much of the humor and the plot are driven by judgments people make based on the appearance of others. That gives Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay a resonance that most stoner comedies never achieve.

The film is definitely deeply flawed, but a late scene with W alone makes the film worth an afternoon at the movies. The cameo by Neil Patrick Harris as "Neil Patrick Harris" is also worth the price of admission.

Quick Takes: Three New Albums

I've been waiting for months since I heard in October that the B-52's were releasing their first album of new material in 16 years. Funplex is the result of that effort, and it doesn't disappoint. Funplex is reminiscent of the B's of old--pre Cosmic Thing. It's sexy and bouncy and makes you want to get your groove on. The harmonies are still fierce and the lyrics witty and fun. Does the album break new ground? Not especially, though the synth influence might be a little heavier. But the number one party band moniker is still safe.

I'm still taking in the new Moby disk, Last Night. I've played it several times now, and every time it feels like a new discovery. I think that's good. It's a fresh album and contains the great hooks and solid dance beats I love to hear from Moby.

The new album that's getting the most play at the moment: Pretty.Odd. from Panic at the Disco. At first listen Pretty.Odd. seems ready made for the adult contemporary circuit. When Brendan Urie sings on "We're So Starving": You don't have to worry cuz we're still the same band, it really isn't clear that's true. The music feels a little lighter, a little poppier, but the lyrics are still the fascinating tongue twisters we expect from Panic. Take the songs out of the context of the album, and it becomes a little clearer that this is, in fact, the same band. And Pretty.Odd. is a worthy follow-up to a fine debut album.

Cry-Baby

Now that the reviews are out, it's high time I add my thoughts about Cry-Baby, the latest John Waters film-to-stage adaptation that opened at the Marquis on Thursday. The show is based on the film that helped Johnny Depp on his way to stardom.

Cry-Baby is John Waters' version of the sweet naive virginal girl who falls for the bad-boy outcast. You can see it currently in the Grease revival stinking up the boards, or in a gazillion other films, television shows and plays. How does this one measure up? Right square in the middle, I would guess. It's not bad, but it's not particularly engaging either.

The musical captures much of the plot of the film, but the characters are largely bland iterations of their filmic counterparts. James Snyder is sexy, but not special as Cry-Baby. Perhaps he and the equally bland Elizabeth Stanley as Allison are really made for each other. The rest of the cast--Harriet Harris excepted--even pales by comparison.

James Snyder said in an interview that Cry-Baby is Hairspray's dirty sibling. Not really. The show would be helped immensely by more crassness and tastelessness and raunch. But this is a musical for the mainstream, and it never takes the risk to be bad.

And so, it's never particularly good either. At $54 for preview performances, it was a not unpleasant divertissement. But in the company of any of the other shows I saw that week, it was a distant last.

Sunday

It's great to see Sunday in the Park with George on the boards again. I find it to be one of Stephen Sondheim's great scores (greater scores, they're all great)--an intellectual work with great heart and insight. The Act I finale has always moved me to tears, and I've had the luxury of seeing three great productions: Patinkin/Peters (OBC), Esparza/Kuhn (Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival) and now the Roundabout Theatre's import of the Menier Chocolate Factory production.

This production features direction by animator Sam Buntrock and imports the London leads Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. It's a wonderful production, and the fantastic animation never overwhelms the production, it only enhances it. The strength of Sunday in the Park with George has always been the near-prefect first act. This production finds great strength and deeper meaning in the second act.

Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell are fine as George and Dot/Marie. Russell's Dot is quiet and sometimes hard to hear. Her Marie, though, is wonderful and provides great focus for the second act. Truth be told, as wonderful as Evans and Russell are, I don't think think they're an essential component of the Buntrock production. In other words, I could imagine the production without them.

So what's different? The score is played by a group of five musicians. At times it's effective and at times the score sounds thin. The show is softly miked. Even in the balcony we often heard the voices directly from the stage. How uncommon is that?

But really, it's the production design that brings great new life to this Sunday. It's inspired, creative, an just so right for the show.

Passing Strange

Moments into Passing Strange you realize this will be a different theatrical experience. Shortly thereafter you think, "This is going to be great." Then Stew and company arrive in Amsterdam and, well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I was trembling and struggling to catch my breath I was so awed. As the wall of sound from "Keys" washed over me, as the emotional intensity of Youth in Amsterdam punched me in the gut, I was transported.

After that defining moment in my three decades of theatergoing, I was hooked. And things only got better and better. I'd call this a top-5 experience in my life.

Nominally, Passing Strange is the story of Stew, in the show he's the narrator and tour guide, as he travels from L.A. to Amsterdam and Berlin to find himself, his identity--to find what is real. His Black, middle-class existence is a mask he needs to yank from his face. Youth (Daniel Breaker) is the young man looking to find something real.

The journey is less about the physical move from the U.S. to Europe--though this journey is critical to Youth's self-discovery--than it is about the more personal journey that Youth must go through to find his place in the world.

Add to that ongoing ruminations on reality as a social construct, identity, and art, set them to driving rock rhythms, and personify these ideas in the bodies of an extraordinary cast, and you have something so stirring and original my love for the power of theater was ignited again and raised to new heights. Suddenly the brilliant Gypsy felt like a history lesson.

Annie Dorsen's staging is also worth mention. The tiniest moments of interaction between Stew and Youth have tremendous power. The cast is used to brilliant effect on a stage that seems bare and cluttered as needed, sometimes simultaneously.

I was also thrilled to see such a diverse audience. The racial and age diversity gave me great hope for music theater. The 70-year-old women to my right were the first on their feet at the curtain call and engaged in an intellectual comparison of Passing Strange and Spring Awakening. The young men to behind me were high school students.

It's worth taking a look at the website, and the two songs on the site are great, But don't be fooled for one second that you're getting more than the tiniest fraction of the strange beauty that is Passing Strange.

Everything's Coming Up Phlegm

"Ladies and Gentlemen, We regret to inform you that Patti LuPone is not feeling well today. However, in the true spirit of Broadway, the show must go on, and Ms. LuPone will appear at today's performance."

Thus began one of the stranger theatrical experiences I've had. Not only was Ms. LuPone ill, but Laura Benanti was coughing up a storm. Boyd Gaines hacked a bit here and there, and you'd swear that half the cast was struggling with a cold. Mama Rose always carried a hankie.

My first thought was back to the late 70s and early 1980s when I saw Yul Brenner in the touring revival of King and I. At the three different performances I saw over several months, Mr. Brenner was not feeling well. It was a gimmick then. Not yesterday, but just as effective.

I've rarely witnessed the kind of applause that Laura Benanti received at the curtain call, and I've never seen the Kind of Applause LuPone received at the end of "Rose's Turn" or during the curtain call. A rare standing ovation during the performance.

OK, so what about the show. All you've heard about Gypsy is true. This is the role that LuPone was born to play, and she knows it. Her performance was extraordinary, but she's given a huge boost by Benanti. I've appreciated Benanti's work in the past, but I found her Louise to be truly masterful. Gaines is also wonderful as Herbie.

The production lacks the big sets of the recent Bernadette Peters revival, but what it lacks in technical stagecraft it more than makes up for with a huge orchestra that produces a gorgeous sound not heard recently on Broadway. The supporting cast is uniformly stellar.

This is not your mama's Mama Rose. If Peters introduced a new level of sensuality into Mama, LuPone turns up the heat even more. When Herbie and Rose meet for the first time, you can almost see the tent forming in his pants. He's hooked, and we're hooked, even though we know where this is headed.

I have always appreciated Gypsy, but more often than not on an intellectual level. This Gypsy punched me in the gut and carried me along on an emotional level. It's nothing short of great theater.

Only an Expert (Can Solve a Problem)

There's been a gap in my musical/artistic education. Until last night I'd never had the opportunity to see Laurie Anderson live. I've collected her work, the videos (please release Home of the Brave on DVD), the albums, even the video game. But fate intervened until the Boston performance of Homeland, the stark, politically charged "concert-poem" Anderson performed last night at the Opera House.

Homeland is always somber and dark. And static. The only movement during the two hour performance was the swiping of two bows across a cello and Anderson's violin. Her feet remained firmly planted on the floor, and the other musicians moved almost imperceptibly. The songs are often dirge-like and suitable breaks for applause come only every half hour or so.

Anderson uses no multimedia, no projections. Even the lights don't move, though they often shift from stark white to blood red to a cold blue. Whether this was a Boston-only change or a decision for the current leg of the tour isn't clear. As the above vids indicate, Anderson has used projections liberally at other performances of Homeland. The result is cerebral. You tend to sit back, take it in, and think about it, rather than engage on a deeply emotional level. It's a performance to be appreciated.

Interestingly, though, the songs-monologues-poems are all about feelings and emotions we confront as a result of war, economic downturns and cranes crashing down on buildings. The music and they lyrics are almost always stirring, but in a sobering way. And Anderson reveals herself to be the expert she questions (go here) by providing insightful, witty, creative commentary on the human condition.

The Laurie Anderson of the last decades is still there. Homeland feels more like an evolution of Strange Angels than Home of the Brave or Big Science. The current state of the U.S. weighs heavily on Anderson, and the material and the production reflect that.

One last note: The audience really pissed me off. The couple next to me came late, kept their cellphones in action recording the concert and didn't hesitate to leave their seats (for the bathroom, I presume). They weren't alone. More people were heading back and forth to the lobby than I've ever seen. I hope this isn't a trend.

Three Albums I'm Listening To

I have three albums in heavy rotation at the moment. That doesn't mean they're all great, but they are all interesting. What links the three releases is an affection by the artists for a variety of musical genres. These are three adventurous albums. In no particular order:

Vampire Weekend

One of the strongest releases of the year thus far. Preppy pop and Indie College Radio meet World Music. The sound is bright, the lyrics are the most creative and inventive in months, supported by hot afro-influenced rhythms. I really like this album.

Vampire Weekend definitely have a college sensibility. The four lads from Columbia incorporate campus experience across their songs. Instrumentally, they enhance traditional indie guitar riffs and percussion with strings, African percussion and a world sensibility that rocks.

The Shanghai Restoration Project

SRP promotes the marriage of traditional chinese sounds and instrumentation with dance, hip hop and, unfortunately, adult contemporary (producer Dave Liang says it's jazz, but I'm not there). Musically the album is strong, though there are many points where mundane lyrics overpower excellent instrumental. This is definitely an East meets West album and the results are often wonderful. The album, Story of a City, brings together a diverse array of artists. "Preface" is getting a fair amount of airplay, and deserves it! There is much to recommend about the album, but banal lyrics and perhaps too wide a range of musical sounds hold it back from greatness.

MGMT

Oracular Spectacular is the appropriately named first outing from MGMT, the Brooklyn-based duo hitting the charts with "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel." MGMT mixes dance with a rock inflection and a 60's psychedelic groove. Of the three albums discussed here, it's taken the longest to grow on me as a package. The lyrics are trippy and engaging, but the music impressed me a little as just grand enough for weddings. If you get passed the "Where have I heard this before" impact of "Electric Feel," there really is an excellent, diverse and compelling album.

Avenue Q: Boston

It doesn't suck to be them. The national tour of Avenue Q has made a stop in Boston, and it's terrific. This was my third opportunity to see the show and my first without most of the original cast. The show was as fresh and exciting as the first time I saw it. I have to admit, that was totally unexpected.

The members of the company put their own stamps on the roles created so successfully by the still amazing original cast. This Avenue Q stands on its own. The humor--the shock and awe--is all there, but the show was also surprisingly moving. I had forgotten that. Rob McClure gives us a full-bodied Rod that brought more than me to tears. Well, misting. His Princeton was also fantastic. Kelli Sawyer was also remarkable as both Kate Monster and Lucy T. Slut.

The supporting puppeteers were also fine. David Benoit and Minglie Chen bring originality to a host of characters. Chen, particularly, has amazing moments with the Bad Idea Bears that were unmatched in previous visits to the show.

The production preserves just about everything from the original production. The TV monitors are deployed differently (but just as effectively as on Broadway) and a few edits to the text probably make it run more smoothly.

For me, this has been a highlight of the Boston season!

A couple of additional thoughts:

The show is not perfect. Ann Harada did a better job than Angela Ai at making Christmas Eve less of a stereotype, but there's too much laughing at the stereotype and too little laughing with. I've seen Ai twice, and she was far superior having inherited the role rather than understudying it. Still, it's a big miss for me.

I wasn't sure how it would be seeing the show in a theater four times the size of the Golden. I have to admit, I liked it. Two moments--the puppet sex scene and "George Bush...is only for now..."--got huge, huge receptions. The size of the audience generated a lot of great energy.

This production sealed Avenue Q as one of my favorite musicals of the decade.

The Assassination of Jesse James

It's March 2008, so it's a little late to be talking about the best films of 2007. But I just had the opportunity to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This is a film unfairly overlooked by the Academy, one of the best of the year and easily in my top five.

Casey Affleck got great reviews (and a nomination) for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It's a stellar performance and deserving of a win. He's supported by strong work from Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell and in small roles Sam Shepherd, Mary Louise Parker and Zooey Deschanel.

The film is beautifully shot with an incredible score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Like There Will Be Blood, the score works as a character the way it's integral to the story.

At 2:40, the film is longer than it needs to be, but it's never boring, just slow moving. There are moments here and there where The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is in danger of losing its way, but it never happens.

Persepolis

The film of Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoirs, Persepolis, by Satrapi, is superb. Yes, it's animated. Yes, it's in black and white, and, yes, it's in French. But the film is alternatingly charming and raw, just like the books on which it's based.

Satrapi was born and raised in Iran during the last years of the Shah and during the Islamic revolution. The books provide more of a context than the film, but Satrapi does a marvelous job of capturing the strength of the women, herself included, as Marjane's world changes. She head's to Vienna for her adolescent years and then returns to Iran again, only to leave for good. The film rarely feels like an adaptation.

Persepolis works well in French, and the animation is stunning and creative.

Well Hit Me with a Pitch Cleaver! Topsoilers are the New Muggles!

I don't usually review books in this little corner of the Web, because most of the stuff I read is academic in nature. But this little ski trip has given me a chance to catch up on some fun reading. So, I decided to check out the book everyone seems to be hoping will fill the reading void left by the graduation of Harry Potter. Enter Tunnels. It's good. It might even be the next Harry Potter. But it's also flawed (not that Ms. Rowling's works weren't).

Tunnels, like Harry Potter, is designed for the "independent reader." I've recently learned that's ages 9-12. Hard to believe I haven't been an independent reader for 30-plus years. But I digress.

Will Burrows, like his father, digs dirt. The archeological force is strong in these two. When Will's father disappears, Will discovers a new world built in tunnels deep under London. Things turn very dark very quickly. The underground world, The Colony, is interesting and imaginative. Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams have created a fascinating world deep below the surface. And they do a superb job of capturing the wonder of this new world through Will's eyes. The plot takes some great turns. Some you see coming a mile away and others are almost gaspworthy.

But, alas, the character development is shallow. We feel a tenth for Will, Cal, Chester and Rebecca (read the book to understand who they are) than we felt for Neville Longbottom at the end of Sorcerer's Stone. Mr. Burrows gets a small section on one chapter after he disappears, and I think that's mostly to let us know he's still alive, thus justifying the story. It feels unbalanced. Will is separated from his mates at various points, but we still get glimpses of what's going on for them. So, this isn't a story told only from Will's point of view. Yet, we feel little for them.

The Styx, they're the bad guys," are one-dimensional from start to finish. Opportunities to at least give some color (pun intended--they're all pallid because they live underground, get it?) to the evil ones (take a lesson from JK, gentlemen) are squandered.

I think the story also feels unbalanced because it ends so abruptly. There is little resolution, and the set-up for book 2, Deeper, could be so much more compelling. This all happens in the last 20 pages or so.

But I'll be back for book two! The story is creative and engaging, if not magical. It has much to offer, and it's still a page turner.

Note: The publishing timeline impresses me as unfortunate. Deeper will be published in England in May, but it won't reach the U.S. until next January. If Scholastic is trying to build a level of buzz to match the Potter series, then putting eight months between publication there and here makes no sense. And hasn't anyone ever heard of amazon.uk?

Jumper

Maybe it's because I'm on vacation, but I didn't find Jumper to be quite as horrible as everyone has made it out to be. Will it destroy Doug Liman's career? Is Hayden Christensen finally reduced to hack films? Can Jamie Bell do no wrong? The reviews are not without some merit.

Here's my take. The film is kind of dull, surprising given how frenetic it is. The concept is much more interesting than the film turns out to be, largely because there's not much of a plot to drive it. Christensen is bland, but a heck of a lot more interesting than his Annakin Skywalker. The reviews are definitely correct that Jamie Bell is the most compelling person in the film.

Jumper is not hard to follow, as the reviews have suggested. It's just not interesting enough to make you want to follow it. But for a night out after a hard day of skiing, it's not too bad.

Now, back to the hot tub!!

Update: Have things changed in the light of morning? Don't know yet, because it's not morning. But it occurs to me that my capsule review said nothing about the plot, as feeble as it might be. There are jumpers and there are paladin. The jumpers can teleport to any place they can envision. The paladin are a religious cult that believes "only God should have that power." (We hear this line a lot.) They'll go after family and friends to bring down a jumper. David (Christensen) has lived below the radar, but for the fact that 8 years earlier he jumped into a bank vault and robbed it. Now, the oddly white-haired Roland (Samuel Jackson) has David in his sights and will get to him through his sort-of girlfriend Millie (Rachel Bilson). But Griffin (Bell), another jumper, has also been keeping tabs on David. Hi jinx ensue.

A Year of Ta-Dah

I'm a big fan of Scissor Sisters, so I've been more than a little dismayed with their lack of popularity in the U.S. The music is bouncy and great, great fun. Totally shake-your-booty danceable. And there's some meat on those bones, too. Plus the Sisters give great show. As one of the commentators on Hurrah: A Year of Ta-Dah says so fittingly, "They put the boy in flamboyant."

Just released, Hurrah makes a fantastic case for the Sisters as great artists and greater showmen (and one woman). The DVD has two main parts. The concert at Wembley Arena is fantastic. The entire band (minus Paddy Boom) is in great form, and Jake Shears and Ana Matronic have boundless energy. The vocals are sharp and the stage show is big, bright and all sparkly...just like the sisters themselves.

The second feature on the DVD is A Year of Ta-Dah. It's a documentary about the year Scissor Sisters spent touring in support of Ta-Dah. Though not of the highest of production elements, it's compelling. The band is known for some fascinating videos, and the documentary provides behind-the-scenes footage for two of the more interesting videos.

This DVD is great fun. And to make it even better, it comes with a bonus CD of the concert. That's something every concert DVD should come with. The DVD also includes a number of special features, including all the videos from Ta-Dah.

If you don't know Scissor Sisters, this release will make you a fan. If you're already a fan, the DVD will make you more perplexed about their lack of stardom in the United States.

Eliza's Little Dog Laughed

We had a wonderful trip to Boston yesterday to see a spectacular theater double feature: My Fair Lady, the U.S. national tour of the Cameron Macintosh British production, and The Little Dog Laughed, the Speakeasy Stage Company production at the Calderwood Pavilion. Both shows, while not perfect, made for an incredible day of theater (with another shoutout to B&G Oysters for a great meal in between).



My Fair Lady arrives in a strong production with Trevor Nunn's staging and Matthew Bourne's choreography largely in tact. The production was led by a mix of those from the British production (Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins and Lisa O'Hare as Eliza Doolittle) and American additions (Walter Charles as Pickering, Marni Nixon as Mrs. Higgins, Tim Jerome as Alfred P. Doolitle and Justin Bohon as Freddie).

Having read much about this new staging, I expected the production elements to provide the excitement. I was most impressed, however, by the company. Everyone had a great day with very strong performances across the board. That's what kept me engaged for three hours. Cazenove and, particulatly, O'Hare give stellar performances that make this production authentic. It's also a great to see Marni Nixon stepping into the role of Mrs. Higgins. Justin Bohon is a charming Freddy. Certainly, the crowd-pleaser at yesterday's performance was Tim Jerome. Matthew Bourne provides some of his strongest choreography for Doolittle.

Bourne does nice work here. His Ascott Gavotte is elegant and laugh-outloud funny at the same time. The two-classes structure gives him ample opportunity to vary the choreography with great effect.

Nunn tries hard to make the show work in a post-postfeminist world. It doesn't quite. Often it feels like a period piece. A history lesson. Mrs. Higgins cheers on Eliza and pushes the independent woman in her. But she still goes back to Henry in the end. The turn-it-on-its-head staging of the last line, "bring me my slippers," isn't quite enough to get us past the belief that Eliza would be better off not having gone back.

That said, this My Fair Lady still adds up to more than its substantial parts and delivers a fresh production with great talent.

Note: If you didn't have a chance to hear the NPR interview with Sally Ann Howe and Marni Nixon as Nixon was transitioning into Howe's role in the tour, it's a extraordinary opportunity to hear two great and under-appreciated acctresses hold forth.



The Little Dog Laughed closed in New York about three weeks before we were supposed to see it. So, it was with some glee and great appreciation that we headed to Boston for the Speakeasy Stage Company's production with Maureen Keiller, Robert Serrell, Jonathan Orsini and Angie Jepson. The Little Dog Laughed, by Douglas Carter Beane, is the story of a closeted, Oscar-winning superstar who becomes attached to a rentboy and his vicious agent, who is much more interested in his career than his person.

The play is hilarious, and this production captures most of the laughs. Beane always goes for the laugh, though, when more attention to the emotion and the story might better serve the play. All for actors do justice to the material. although all but Orsini (rentboy Alex) were somewhat inconsistent.

As Mitchell Greene's caustic agent Diane, Keiller gets the lion's share of the play, both in monologues and scenes with Mitch and Alex. Although nearly flawless in the second act, she lacked the necessary intensity in the first act. Serrell's Mitch hardly seems the stuff of which superstars are made, though he, too, has shining moments. After a dead-on first act, Jepson is less effective in the second act. In many instances, though, it's hard to tell whether it's the performance (closing night, by the way) or whether Beane has let them down.

Only Jonathan Orsini seems to find his character and stick with him through the highs and lows of the journey. It's also Alex who is most poorly treated by Beane. Alex is truly smitten with Mitch, and not ashamed (nor thrilled) with his day job. His innocence and his rage come through clearly and at perfect pitch.

The thinness of the plot is largely secondary to the caustic, biting commentary that oozes throughout The Little Dog Laughed. This is where Douglas Carter Beane shines. And this is where the audience is driven to bouts of laughter almost guaranteed to give you a stitch in your side.

Another note: Jonathan Orsini heads out today to pick up the role of Alex in the Hartford production of The Little Dog Laughed, after an emergency appendectomy forced that production's Alex, Jeremy Jordon, to the sidelines.

The Savages

Alternatingly depressing and uncomfortably funny, The Savages is a well-written showcase for two of our finest actors. Three, actually. I've thought Laura Linney is one of our finest actresses since Tales of the City and Truman Show. Philip Seymour Hoffman also gets better and better in every role. Their work together in The Savages is nothing short of genius.

Director and Writer Tamara Jenkins has given us a film of great complexity. Wendy and Jon Savage are suddenly forced to care for their father, Lenny (also played with great complexity and sensitivity by Philip Bosco), as he slips into dementia. Two grown children, neglected by their father (and mother, for that matter) for many years suddenly become his primary caregivers. Forced to deal with their strained relationship with their father and their strained relationship with each other,

It's not pretty. This history has left both Wendy and Jon damaged. Wendy has been having a longterm affair with a married man in her building, and Jon can't connect with his Polish girlfriend. Both struggle in their jobs.

But there's a real beauty in the way the relationship unfolds. The writing, the acting, the complexity and the subtlety make for a fine film that leaves you a little sad, a little drained, and grateful for having seen it.

Best of the Year: Film

As we move into the last weeks of January it is time to finally settle on the best film of 2007-plus. I've seen some excellent 2007 films in 2008, though I suspect there are a few more to come this way. And the winner is...

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Two masters come together to make the year's most potent film. Sweeney is the film that should get the critical response people are heaping on Atonement. It's the amazing blend of story, art direction, musical direction all on a grand scale. Just much, much darker. Director Tim Burton takes the already amazing work by Stephen Sondheim and adds his deft touch. And the result is a new Sweeney Todd, different than its other almost perfect incarnations, but also almost perfect nonetheless.

The film is different in large part because Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter bring new, darker interpretations to the roles of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett. The supporting cast, especially Alan Rickman, is strong. I've commented before on how the age-appropriate casting makes the film even more unsettling, something I see as a great strength of the film and a great achievement as well.

And now, on to 2008.

Holiday Films: The Reviews

Time to catch up on the films I checked out over the holiday break. The films were a varied lot, so let's dive right in:

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was my Christmas Day film this year. It's a masterpiece. The perfect mix of all that is great about Tim Burton and the masterwork of the master Stephen Sondheim. The film strips the stage version, which I've seen in multiple forms, of most of its humor. The result is a dark, stirring horror film that often feels hyperreal.

I think part of the the strength and power of the film is that it's cast with age-appropriate actors. The stage version usually has a Tobias of 25, not 12, and Antonys and Johannas of at least that age, not 16. This change struck me as an essential change in the film. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter give performances unlike any Todd or Lovett I've seen, but their interpretations are legitimate with great integrity.

The cinematography and art direction are phenomenal, but one would expect nothing less from a Tim Burton film.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets doesn't totally suck. It sucks a little, but not totally. I saw two films over the last year that I ended up seeing simply out of boredom. Live Free or Die Hard was the first, and it far exceeded my expectations. National Treasure met my expectations, but those expectations were pretty low. It's a decent divertissement. And Helen Mirren will elevate anything.

Juno totally charms. Ellen Page gives one of the finest performances of the year, and Michael Cera one of the most charmingly understated (and a major improvement over Superbad, though he was the best thing about that film). Jason Bateman and, particularly, Jennifer Garner give great performances, as well.

The script by Diablo Cody has gotten most of the attention here, and it's really fine. But it is the deft hand of director Jason Reitman and a phenomenal cast that makes it work. It's also really great to have a strong feminist voice in a major film.

One week later I'm still not sure what to make of No Country for Old Men. It is without a doubt the most intense film I've seen all year. In fact, Sweeney Todd is a pale second. The script is always intriguing and the performances are all incredible. Javier Bardem is still terrifying me.

Joel and Ethan Coen make films that unsettle me. I expect that. But No Country for Old Men confused me as much as it unsettled me. I'm not sure it's ultimately successful in its execution. I say that knowing it has received more critics awards than every other film combined.

I like Atonement more this morning that I did last night right after I saw it. It's certainly beautiful and of great pedigree. The structure disoriented me more than engaged me. It shouts "isn't this the most ingenious film you've ever seen" a little too much for me. Is that a whiff of pretension I smell?

Two performances stand out. James McAvoy is amazing, and really makes this his film. The accent, the body movement, the style is so different from anything he's done to this point and yet seems so natural and organic. Vanessa Redgrave does more in her just under 7 minutes of screen time than anyone else in the cast accomplishes. I think its her performance at the end of the film that is making me appreciate more today.

That's it for the moment. I think it means I'm ready to give me thoughts on the best film of the year. Stay tuned.