Sunday, August 30, 2009
Taking Woodstock
Taking Woodstock is Ang Lee's loving portrait of the 1969 music festival in Bethel, NY. Based on Elliot Tiber's memoir of the same name, the film follows Elliot over the summer preceding the "3 days of peace and music."
I can only describe Taking Woodstock as a docudrama on ecstasy. There is such love and affection for the subject. Lee loves the music (though there should be more of it); he loves the sex and the lack of inhibition (and there's a good amount of it. He even loves the drugs (except for the brown acid, of course). The result is a film that is completely seductive, as long as you go along for the trip and let yourself be seduced.
The film is populated with dozens of people, as you might expect, and it's amazing to see such a strong impact from actors in the tiniest of roles (many uncredited). Demitri Martin is excellent as Tiber. Ultimately, it's his journey we're following, and his transformation over the summer of 1969 is beautiful and oh so subtle. Martin gives a nuanced performance that is both quirky and deep.
Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman are breathtaking as Elliot's parents, Jake and Sonia. While nothing about these characters would scream "subtle," the performances are incredibly nuances. These three get the bulk of the screen time, but it's not that the myriad of other characters simply provide a context. The large cast is critical to the feelings that wash over you throughout the film. They are all Elliot's spirit guides.
Jonathan Groff is so seductive as promoter Michael Lane, his sensuality alone seems to bring the concert off (and kept my heart beating faster for the entire film). Nothing rattles. Emile Hirsch plays Viet Nam veteran Billy. Half crazed and half transformed, when Billy yells, "I love this hill!" tears welled up in my eyes. And it's the tiniest of moments, easy to miss. Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano and Kelli Garner all make indelible impressions in brief moments.
The film is a powerful and emotional journey, but not a perfect one. The massive undertaking means that characters disappear. Groff disappears for far too long. His sensuality is needed in the final acts. Conversely, Mamie Gummer takes far too long to register, though her final scene is wonderful. And the journey is a personal one. The film won't resonate strongly with everyone.
The biggest problem with the film is that it contains no concert material. The music from the concert is always heard in the distance, and Elliot never quite makes it. This is a problem because it's so obviously missing.
Certain events can change the trajectory of our lives. The lasting interest in Woodstock 40 years out is that it changed the trajectory of so many lives. It's quite intimate and beautiful to see Elliot become comfortable in his own skin, to come to peace with who he is during this summer of love.
It's also relevant today. There's something going on in our culture now that makes Hair the most successful revival of the Broadway season and Taking Woodstock so powerful. Maybe the age of peace and love is returning in some trippy form. At Woodstock, half a million people came to share, care for and love one another. The myth may have overpowered the fact even before the concert ever took place, but it showed us that we're all connected and that's a lesson really worth remembering.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Next to Normal
Oh yes, Alice Ripley deserved the Tony Award for Best Actress. She expresses a vulnerability and range of emotion rarely required in a performance. Next to Normal is the journey of Diana, a woman with severe and longstanding mental health issues. It's a study of the effect on her family.
The brilliance of Next to Normal is absolutely in the acting. Besides Ripley's riveting performance, Jennifer Damiano and J. Robert Spencer are exceptional as daughter and husband respectively, coping with Diana's delusions, suspecting they're the cause and, particularly in Natalie's (Damiano) case, afraid she's next. Kyle Dean Massey is also very strong as Diana's son Gabe, as is Louis Hobson as her therapist.
But in many ways, it's the work of Adam Chandler-Berat that stands out. As Natalie's boyfriend Henry, he's the outsider. He's us. Chandler-Berat doesn't get to play the wide range of emotion everyone else does. He captures the boyishness and innocence that any high school nerd/stoner might have for his first girl crush. But Henry is much more than that. As the person who must handle Natalie's own panic about becoming her mother, he is loyal and committed to supporting her. He is also recreating the father, a subtlety Chandler-Berat brings to his nuanced performance.
A new musical with a contemporary score is always welcome when it's done well, and Next to Normal certainly is. It breaks some new ground, though there are certainly moments in the score that evoke the similarly themed Falsettoland. In Falsettoland it was AIDS, here it's mental health. The point of both is that even amidst great tragedy, life goes on. We go on. Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt capture this beautifully and painfully.
With all this greatness, why didn't I love Next to Normal? Well, because I was constantly distracted by the very weak staging of Michael Greif. Greif uses a three level set that is so deep, most seats have an obstructed view. Sit too close and you miss most of what's on the third level and much of what's on the second (that was me). Sit too far and you can't see the third level. A week later and my neck still hurts. (I remember a time when productions disclosed that you were purchasing seats with an obstructed view.) Greif has directed his actors well, but he's put them on a set that does things because it's Broadway and not because the play demands it. But mostly, he puts them on a set that leaves you saying over and over again, "dammit, i wonder what's happening."
Next to Normal was never the immersive experience it needed to be. I tried to justify the distractions by crediting Greif with some intentionality (it certainly is "alienation" well deployed), but in the end it stripped the play of it's most powerful emotion. Very good, yes. Great, not really.
The brilliance of Next to Normal is absolutely in the acting. Besides Ripley's riveting performance, Jennifer Damiano and J. Robert Spencer are exceptional as daughter and husband respectively, coping with Diana's delusions, suspecting they're the cause and, particularly in Natalie's (Damiano) case, afraid she's next. Kyle Dean Massey is also very strong as Diana's son Gabe, as is Louis Hobson as her therapist.
But in many ways, it's the work of Adam Chandler-Berat that stands out. As Natalie's boyfriend Henry, he's the outsider. He's us. Chandler-Berat doesn't get to play the wide range of emotion everyone else does. He captures the boyishness and innocence that any high school nerd/stoner might have for his first girl crush. But Henry is much more than that. As the person who must handle Natalie's own panic about becoming her mother, he is loyal and committed to supporting her. He is also recreating the father, a subtlety Chandler-Berat brings to his nuanced performance.
A new musical with a contemporary score is always welcome when it's done well, and Next to Normal certainly is. It breaks some new ground, though there are certainly moments in the score that evoke the similarly themed Falsettoland. In Falsettoland it was AIDS, here it's mental health. The point of both is that even amidst great tragedy, life goes on. We go on. Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt capture this beautifully and painfully.
With all this greatness, why didn't I love Next to Normal? Well, because I was constantly distracted by the very weak staging of Michael Greif. Greif uses a three level set that is so deep, most seats have an obstructed view. Sit too close and you miss most of what's on the third level and much of what's on the second (that was me). Sit too far and you can't see the third level. A week later and my neck still hurts. (I remember a time when productions disclosed that you were purchasing seats with an obstructed view.) Greif has directed his actors well, but he's put them on a set that does things because it's Broadway and not because the play demands it. But mostly, he puts them on a set that leaves you saying over and over again, "dammit, i wonder what's happening."
Next to Normal was never the immersive experience it needed to be. I tried to justify the distractions by crediting Greif with some intentionality (it certainly is "alienation" well deployed), but in the end it stripped the play of it's most powerful emotion. Very good, yes. Great, not really.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Hair Redux
One of the most anxiety producing moments at a Broadway theater is opening your Playbill and having one of the "At this performance the role of..." slips fall out. It's worse when a whole slew of them flutter out. Friday's performance of Hair was a first among the hundreds of Broadway shows I've seen. Six, including Claude, Berger, Hud and Crissy. Compounding this, I was taking a friend to his first Broadway show, and we had picked this performance specifically because it was before Gavin Creel's scheduled vacation (which was announced as starting today). An inauspicious start. (I've seen some great performances by understudies, and the Toronto Wicked but the Broadway In the Heights left me feeling kind of ripped off.)
And, indeed, the show was different. Both Jay Armstrong Johnson (Claude) and Steel Burkhardt (Berger) gave strong performances. The show was missing some of it's crispness (a missed cue here, a mic problem there), but if any show can accommodate these glitches, it's Hair. The emotional core of the show was perfectly intact. The vibe among Claude, Berger and Sheila (Cassie Levy) had a tenderness not apparent in my last visit to the show. Perhaps it's Will Swenson's harsher take on Berger, or perhaps it was Cassie Levy having pity on the understudies. Whatever. It worked, and it worked well.
In my earlier review of Hair, I noted that at the end of a successful production you should be feeling three things simultaneously: sadness that the production is coming to an end, grief at the death of a major character, and elation for having just experienced Hair. In this regard, the Friday night cast did not disappoint.
The run has been good to others, too. John Moauro was terrific. While his role is smaller than many, he struck the right note in every scene. His face showed the joy, the grief, the agony and the stoned giddiness of each moment.
Saycon Sengbloh also had a great night, with a profound "Abie Baby" and great smaller moments throughout the night.
The afterparty was great. The night was wonderful. The audience was intense. And my friend? Well, he'll be going to more Broadway shows, and now he crushes on both Gavin and Jay. Peace!
And, indeed, the show was different. Both Jay Armstrong Johnson (Claude) and Steel Burkhardt (Berger) gave strong performances. The show was missing some of it's crispness (a missed cue here, a mic problem there), but if any show can accommodate these glitches, it's Hair. The emotional core of the show was perfectly intact. The vibe among Claude, Berger and Sheila (Cassie Levy) had a tenderness not apparent in my last visit to the show. Perhaps it's Will Swenson's harsher take on Berger, or perhaps it was Cassie Levy having pity on the understudies. Whatever. It worked, and it worked well.
In my earlier review of Hair, I noted that at the end of a successful production you should be feeling three things simultaneously: sadness that the production is coming to an end, grief at the death of a major character, and elation for having just experienced Hair. In this regard, the Friday night cast did not disappoint.
The run has been good to others, too. John Moauro was terrific. While his role is smaller than many, he struck the right note in every scene. His face showed the joy, the grief, the agony and the stoned giddiness of each moment.
Saycon Sengbloh also had a great night, with a profound "Abie Baby" and great smaller moments throughout the night.
The afterparty was great. The night was wonderful. The audience was intense. And my friend? Well, he'll be going to more Broadway shows, and now he crushes on both Gavin and Jay. Peace!
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