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.