Mel on Media

Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark

2010-12-30T20:39:00.001-05:00

I've tweeted quite a bit about the road to Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. How my tickets were cancelled and my seats move to progressively worse locations. How Ticketmaster told me they were excited about the "great seats" they had for me at the December 26 performance, only to discover they were not just bad, but obstructed view. (And a decent usher who moved us to perhaps the best seats in the house.) But I finally got to see Spiderman, and now I get to add my thoughts to the bizzilion others on the web.

The technical difficulties that have made headlines were largely absent. A brief pause during the first act and another during the second act finale actually added a bit of excitement to the proceedings.

Long story short: Pretty much every aspect of Spiderman needs work. The technical effects are exciting, but mostly occur in the first act. The second act, particularly the finale needs a technical marvel to compare to the first act finale. The book and score are passable, but certainly not yet rising to Broadway quality.

Act I is stronger in some key ways. The story is more fully developed and, as noted, has the high-flying technical marvels we've been promised. But overall it feels derivative. This is partly due to the fact that it's an origin story, so anyone who's seen the first film pretty much knows what;s going to happen. The opening seems pulled from Lion King, and a key musical performance repeats the choreography from Across the Universe. Julie Taymor's work is about discovery, but telling an all too familiar story in such a mundane fashion simply doesn't work.

Act II focuses on Arachne, a Taymor creation rooted in Greek mythology, and an original story. While it's ultimately more satisfying and creative, it's also muddled and underdeveloped. It begins with an ill-conceived, ripped-from-Aida fashion show of Spiderman villains. It leads to a finale that lacks energy, comprehension and techno feats. And the big reveals, like Mary Jane finding out that Peter Parker is Spiderman, happen off stage. But at least it feels original throughout.

The flying effects are generally exciting, but the web-spinning effects are mostly absent and uninspiring.

The music by Bono and The Edge is not particularly memorable. The one song that works well, The Boy Falls From the Sky, is a solid second act number. But the music is not really theatrical.

Patrick Page and T.V. Carpio (subbing for the now department Natalie Mendoza) are given the meatiest roles and make for interesting villains. Reeve Carney and Jennifer Damiano are in excellent voice, but in rather thankless roles. The production makes no secret of the fact that multiple actors are playing Spiderman, and the unfortunate effect is that there's no fully developed character.

Julie Taymor is on video discussing the fact that Spiderman is part musical, part cirque, park rock concert. But ultimately it's still a musical that doesn't know what it wants to be. With five weeks of previews left, there are certainly opportunities to make substantial improvements. And Taymor is always up for a challenge.

Wicked Update

2010-04-04T18:57:00.001-04:00

I had a chance to see Wicked again last weekend. It's been a few years since I last saw it, but two friends needed to see it. It's holding up well. The producers have made a few modifications to the Broadway production, so it feels mostly indistinguishable from the two touring companies I've seen.

Mandy Gonzales stepped into the role of Elphaba only last week, and Katie Rose Clarke continues her long run in the bubble. Both are just fine and make the roles their own. Gonzales is a bit less intense than previous Elphies, and Clarke has this Ann Reinking/Zooey Deschanel thing going that works well.

The production is still slick, with very strong supporting performances by Rondi Reed (Morrible) and Alex Brightman (Boq). It also feels fresh, which was great to see.

Wicked still remains a show that is better than it should be. It is far greater than the sum of its parts, which is good because the parts aren't all that great. But the lapses in story, the weak lyrics, and the only tangential connection to the Maguire novel disappear into a wonderful time at the theater.

My iPad is Here!

2010-04-04T13:43:00.001-04:00

Two excellent reviews sum up my thoughts about the iPad. Check out USAToday and MacWorld for well-written, thorough reviews of the iPad. And check out Gizmodo for all-around excellent coverage of the device.

What would I add? Ever since the rumors started flying around almost a year ago about the entry of Apple into the tablet/netbook market, I have been anxiously awaiting this day. I own a netbook (and a laptop and iPhone), but have never found it to be as functional as I'd like. That is due, in very large part, to the inefficiency of XP as netbook system software. Apple is rarely first on the scene, but Steve Jobs is good at transforming the marketplace. The iPod was not the first mp3 music player and the iPhone was not the first smartphone. But both have changed the way we listen to music and communicate. Jobs has always done a better job of making devices that complement my lifestyle, rather than dictate it.

So, I was giddy and cautious when the iPad announcement came in January. It looked beautiful. It seemed to do amazing things. It was also missing key features and was going to run the closed iPhone/app-store model OS. The reviews referenced above discuss this well.

I ordered my iPad at 8:32 on March 12, two minutes after it went on sale. And I tracked it from China on March 30, got very concerned when I saw that it was still in Louisville at 4:22 yesterday morning, a happily greeted the UPS guy at 10:17 when it was delivered.

Do I love it? Oh yeah. And even some of my more skeptical friends who've now played with it are crowing. Is it a game changer. No! But I'm pretty sure it will be. Remember, the first iPod wasn't, and neither was the first iPhone. But the second generations were revolutionary.

Put the iPad into the hands of a 3-year old. She'll be able to use it. Put it into the hands of my mother. She'll be able to use it. The ease of the iPad comes two ways. Set up is beyond simple: download latest itunes, plug in. Within ten minutes of doing this I was off listening to music, watching Up and sending tweets and email.

The iPad is insanely simple to use, too. Why? because you need to know nothing about the operating system. The OS truly operates in the background. Now, I do understand that the downside of this is that everything goes through the iTunes Store and the ability for creativity is within a range and under the control of Apple. But there's so much potential.

The other thing the iPad does is separate consumption for creation. Laptops have largely brought those things together in hugely effective ways. This has, among other things, transformed student learning. But I digress. I'm not too concerned at the moment. Ultimately this will change, and I've been hugely impressed with the day-of-release apps available for the iPad.

For the record, I'm very disappointed in the opening of the iBookstore. I had a list of 6 books that would be my first ebook experience. None of them was available on opening day. My first book? Dorian Gray. Free!

When I travel with my netbook, I often bring my laptop. I can easily see myself traveling sans laptop with just the iPad and my wireless keyboard.

People are still figuring out how they'll use their iPads. Me, too. But, except when I needed to multitask, I have been able to function easily with just my iPad over the last 24 hours.

And it is quite simply a gorgeous piece of equipment.

The Donkey Show

2009-11-08T13:25:00.001-05:00

Got to see The Donkey Show at Oberon in Boston (American Repertory Theater) last night. Thoughts later, but here are some pics so you can get an impression of how joyful and fun the show is.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start

2009-10-19T05:38:00.001-04:00

Where the Wild Things Are is Spike Jonze's near perfect adaptation of Maurice Sendak's dark children's book. Jonze has created a work beautifully inspired by Sendak's book and yet uniquely his own vision. The film is an emotional rollercoaster that is breathtaking in its beauty and yet grounded in the realities of childhood.

From the frenetic opening scenes in which Max (Max Records) is a bundle of energy bounding around the house, Jonze captures the energy and loneliness of Max's life. These brief scenes of a regular dysfunctional every-family become the references for Max's adventure on the island of the Wild Things.

The film transcends the sum of its parts, and what incredible parts Jonze has assembled. In Max, Jonze has found the perfect lead. Records has such a range of emotion and expressiveness, he seduces you within the first moments of the film. It's an expression of such nuance that he barely moves a muscle when his teacher says the sun is going to die, and yet the horror he's feeling is devastatingly shared. Records is supported by great voice work from James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, and, particularly, Paul Dano and Catherine O'Hara. Catherine Keener is also fine as Max's mom.

The creative elements are equally important and equally fine. The cinematography and art directions are simply breathtaking. Max's home is 20009-real, and the island seems to flow perfectly from Max's mind, or the mind of any lonely child relying on his imagination to combat that loneliness.

Karen O and Carter Burwell provide a score that also supports the film. The music is essential to the effectiveness of the film. Jonze always foregrounds the score, giving it a dramatic level of importance.

This is not an uplifting children's tale. Where the Wild Things Are is dark, haunting and glorious. Max is "exercising" his demons. We experience the film through the wide eyes of a child but with the knowing perspective of an adult. That makes for a serious, layered experience in which not a frame, a note or a line is wasted.

Oh, how I loved this film. Let the wild rumpus start!

Taking Woodstock

2009-08-30T07:39:00.001-04:00

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.

Next to Normal

2009-08-15T07:15:00.001-04:00

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.

Hair Redux

2009-08-10T20:39:00.001-04:00

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!

WTF, WTF, WTFy, Fy, F?

2009-05-20T17:05:00.004-04:00

The most surprising thing about Jerry Springer: the Opera is that you actually feel for the guests who are sharing their "Guilty Secrets" in this through-sung cultural study. Like the show on which it's based, the show finds new ways to shock with each succeeding scene, and it's so filled with obscenity-laced speeches I haven't been able to tweet my favorite lines. Set to operatic voices and musical theater themes heightens the absurdity and the hilarity. It also adds a level of cultural criticism that makes for a brilliant work and a particularly brilliant production.

The first act plays out as a somewhat typical episode of Jerry Springer with a number of soliloquies--or arias--that give a more rounded (though still funny and intended to shock) portrait of Jerry's guest. These moments humanize the guests, which is something the TV show is not all that concerned with. At times is does feel a little derivative (Is there much difference between the dancing KKK and dancing Nazi's in The Producers?) The second act, "Jerry Springer in Hell" takes place in, well, hell. Satan is having family dysfunction issues with Jesus and God, and Jerry is the person to help them work it out.

The second act rises and falls on whether you can accept that Jerry might be having a little crisis of conscience of his own. I've always found the second act to be less rich than the first, but Springer in Hell is still a great ride. I'm always left with the sense that the creators, Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee--are a little too satisfied with themselves.

It's the second act, of course, that brings out the protesters. Thomas has always seemed a little disingenuous when he says that they're criticizing something they haven't seen...and if they only would they'd understand. True, they'd understand that the show takes on issues of faith in over-the-top ways. But they'd also see Jesus hanging out in a glorified diaper, God having his own crisis of faith, and the audience chanting "Jesus is gay." etc. This is not a show for the devout and probably not one for the young.

But these are quibbles in an otherwise amazing production. The intimacy of the Roberts Studio Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts is perfect for this production--a large-scale show in an intimate setting. This is a rare treat. A small section of the real audience is seated on stage and mixes with the Springer audience in a way that enhances that intimacy.

The cast is uniformly excellent. Michael Fennimore does a superb job channeling Jerry, and Ariana Valdes and Joelle Lurie are particularly strong in a variety of roles. Even those with the smallest roles have moments in which they stand out.

I have owned the recording of Jerry Spring: The Opera for some years. I've always felt a gap in my arts education because I hadn't seen a production of it. Now, I have, and I can't imagine a more solid production.

Note: It would be nice, SpeakEasy if you'd allow us to embed your video and images in our blogs. This time I'll give you a shout-out and point directly to your site. But let's be more social networking friendly.

The Reply to My Twitter Manifesto

2009-05-09T07:15:00.001-04:00

If you haven't read my original Twitter Manifesto, I'd appreciate it if you read this before you watch this:

Even though I spend way too much time defending Twitter, I still have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

My Day on Twitter

2009-05-08T18:39:00.001-04:00

People don't understand Twitter. More specifically, people don't understand why I like Twitter. So, I thought I would spend a little time making my case for this odd little service with no business plan that forces you to articulate a thought in 140 characters (or fewer).

I follow 23 Twitter feeds. Tonight I have 64 people following my 140-character words of wisdom and inspiration. About half of the feeds I follow arrive via text message on my phone, so I'm always up to date. I have my device setting to off for the other half, and I tend to read them all at once later in the day.

The information I get from Twitter is sometimes immediately useful, sometimes quite insightful, regularly bemusing. All of this is mixed with those posts the haters like most to point to, the mundane. But it's the mundane that creates a full portrait of the people we follow on Twitter. Those 140 characters add up to something rich.

So, here are just some of the things I've learned from Twitter in the last 24 hours:

I started the day off with a tweet from @mwesch thatled me to videos he's linked to for his visions of the future class. Very cool to see what AT&T and Apple were anticipating in the early 1990s:

One of the comments on the "What Would You Do?" Apple ad was "end gay people." That got a couple more tweets going and a link to this (which I also posted on my Twitter feed and Facebook page):

A little later Wesch also gave us a shout-out for the final project of one of his students. And they say the Internet is all fluff:

Students are doing brilliant work, and it's out there for all of us to see, not just for the teacher. This is a fundamental shift to higher education (well, education generally), and a very positive one.

Meanwhile, back at my Twitter feeds...

My colleague @Holden is wrapping up one position before he starts another (and let me just say how thrilled I am about that. This was his first tweet of the day:

holden Going through old emails, looking for anything of use to my successor. And it all looks so much like, well, you get thrown in and you swim.

And the folks @Passing_Strange (one of the best theater experiences in my life) tweet great lines from the show a couple of times a day. Life changing? No, but how awesome it is to be reminded of a life-changing experience a couple of times a day.

And then this little exchange had me smiling forever. It's funny, but it's also kind of quirky brilliant.

KeenanBlogger loves that you can ask questions on twitter and SOMEONE out there will answer. hehe i'm just gonna start asking stuff that is so easy

KeenanBlogger to find out on my own but I'm too lazy to do. What's the weather like outside my apt in Chicago, zipcode 60601?
about 9 hours ago from web

KeenanBlogger HA! Thanks @JarviMac, @soulofayoungman, @stewartyu! hmmm now if only I could figure out what color underwear I should wear...
about 9 hours ago from web

KeenanBlogger Blue it is @sashanks323! OMG Twitter is so the new magic 8 ball
about 9 hours ago from web

KeenanBlogger RT @jilltwiss, Twitter followers once told me how to tell if my arm was broken (using a tuning fork, to boot). And that's a HARD question.
about 9 hours ago from web

Twitter is the new magic 8 ball. Andrew Keenan Bolger, you may recall (but probably not) is my current reigning blogger of the year. He pukes creativity and wit, all with a strong social consciousness.

Then there was Hair. My day got off to a pretty nice start when I received a tweet from Hair on Broadway that the revival cast recording will drop on iTunes on May 26. Let the sun shine in!!

And if that weren't enough, later in the day I got a tweet alerting me to Hair Radio. This is a media player that plays songs from the 60s and from every cast recording of Hair. I've heard "Eyes Look Your Last" from the British Company, "What a Piece of Work is Man" from the film, and lots from the original broadway cast.

I learned a few things about people I'm interested in. And a few bizarre things. Really Bizarre!

So, this is my Twitter manifesto. I like it! People who blog about how useless it is, especially when they haven't studied it or even used it, especially when they're academics, just haven't given it a serious look. Sure, we're still waiting for a business model. Sure, there are moments where I think, "I can't believe that cost me 15 cents." But I have had such a rich experience and appreciate all the tweets my buds have sent over the last months.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-03T14:47:00.001-04:00

Briefly, Wolverine is a decent summer flck. The first of the origins series features Hugh Jackman as an early (pre-Civil War) mutant with claws. Fast forward through all the wars since then and Logan is now a little unstable. Naturally, that means the next step is to pump him full of atomantium and make him indestructible. There are too many moments that defy any sort of logic, but overall Wolverine has some cool special effects and an engaging story.

Mary Stuart

2009-05-02T08:26:00.003-04:00

I have been privileged over the years to see performances that changed my world. To be honored in the company of talent so extraordinary that you're slightly different when you leave the theater. The first time I realized that was possible was when I saw Kate Nelligan in Plenty in 1983. More recently, Janet McTeer's Nora in the 1997 revival of A Doll's House.

Both McTeer and Harriet Walter give life-altering performances in the revival of Schiller's Mary Stuart. I hunger for those moments where the moment is so powerful you forget to breathe. (See last year's review of Passing Strange.) Individually and together, McTeer and Walter give any number of those moments.

In Peter Oswald's adaptation and Phyllida Lloyd's stark production of Schiller's 1800 work, everything seems designed to put the two queens (McTeer is the Stuart and Walter is Elizabeth I) front and center. The queens, in Elizabethan dress, are surrounded by men in modern suits. Set pieces are minimal. Even the structure of the play supports this acting tour de force. Each queen gets a major scene in the first act. In the second, they get a lone scene together and final individual scenes.

There's no scenery chewing here. This is powerful stuff and not for the feint of heart. One must live and one must die.

It's so easy to focus on such stirring performances, that one might overlook the power of the play and the phenomenal production. Even simple theatrical tricks stir (ah, the wonderment of theater). In Act I Elizabeth casts shadows on the back wall that make her seem forty feet tall. Mary casts a human-size shadow if she cast one at all. The second act rain storm (not ruining anything here) is more powerful for how it ends than for how it begins, though it's the latter that gets the round of applause. Simple things with huge effect.

The play, for all its simplicity of structure, is layered and complex. These two women have more in common than they are different. They are surrounded by men and their destinies have been set in motion by men. They have developed the stubborness of men that will lead to their downfalls.

That Elizabeth survives (nothing ruined here, either) does not make her triumphant. History makes this clear, but that knowledge is not necessary to the play. Elizabeth's final, defeated moment after Mary's death is compelling in its own right. Haunting.

There is much to be learned from Mary Stuart. From the actresses and from the play.

Hair

2009-05-02T07:34:00.004-04:00

Before I get into my review of Hair, I would just like to say that it is my conviction that the weekend of April 24 was joyful, meaningful and so very special. A friend said it was "sublime". I saw two extraordinary shows, two fine exhibits at the Modern, and had two wonderful meals with friends and two intimate meals with my, hmmm, husband. Talk about recharging your batteries!

I have seen many productions of Hair over the years. All of them were fun, but only one was transcendental--until last Saturday. A perfect production of Hair (though Hair is not a perfect musical can be determined in a single, tiny moment of feelings. As the the tribe sings the first note of "Let the Sunshine In" your body must be walking in space and firmly planted in the harsh reality of the moment. Your heart must have extraordinary joy, tremendous grief, and this bittersweet recognition that the show is coming to an end. Almost all productions will give you a moment of joy. After all, these are the songs of our lives and the greatest hits of the 60's.

In the amazing production of Hair currently at the Hirschfeld those moments come together so eloquently and poignantly that you can truly have a transcendental experience without mind-altering chemical assistance.

Everything that leads up to this moment is pitch perfect. The music, the choreography, the vision, the love!

The emotional heft of Hair is in the performances. But the cast, with the exception of Berger, Claude and Sheila, is given only brief moments to present a full character. But they do. In Diane Paulis's vision, the members of the tribe are all over the place all the time, and somehow it feels that every character is richly developed. The connection is powerful.

Will Swenson (Berger), Gavin Creel (Claude) and Caissie Levy (Sheila) form the core of the tribe. They bring a complexity to the performance that isn't usually there. When Sheila is wounded by Berger's callousness, she asks "How can people be so heartless?" ("Easy to be Hard") The irony of the song is that she's doing the same to Claude. Hair is filled with these multidimensional moments.

The supporting members of the tribe all make the most of their moments, never a dull moment and rarely a weak one.

The problem with most productions of Hair over the last 30 years since it first left New York is that they de-emphasize the sex and the drugs for a regional, suburban audience. Not here! Free love is back. Berger and Claude connect just as erotically as each does with Sheila. The pairings in the choreography are gender neutral and emotionally powerful.

Hair is raw, joyous and heart-wrenching. The rest is silence. The rest is silence....

(By the way, for a groovy online experience, check out Hair on Broadway.

State of Play

2009-04-19T14:43:00.001-04:00

I'm a big fan of the British television series, State of Play, upon which the film is based. The film largely quotes the plot elements of the series, but a 2.5-hour distillation of a 6-hour miniseries won't allow for much more than that. The result is a slightly better than mediocre film that's a little too muddled and complex to be successful.

The film moves the location from London to Washington, D.C., but the key elements of a congressman (Ben Affleck) caught in a sex scandal while investigating an energy company. Think Gary Hart meets Halliburton, if you're not too old or too young for those references. The catalyst for the plot is the death of Congressman Steve Collins' assistant. The subsequent investigation by reporters from the Washington Globe (Russell Crow and Heather McAdams) drives the plot.

The film has a timely feel. The fading state of newspapers and the public feeling about war profiteers gives State of Play some emotional heft. Making McAdams' character a political gossip blogger feels a little cheap, however.

The acting is ho hum until quite late when Jason Bateman and Jeff Daniels get a bit of screen time. Helen Mirren is largely wasted as the newspaper editor of the Globe.

State of Play has enough plot twists to keep it interesting, but it never rises much beyond that.

Duplicity

2009-03-23T19:15:00.001-04:00

Since the Bourne films, Tony Gilroy has apparently lost interest in telling a linear story. Michael Clayton left people befuddled well into the third act, and his latest, Duplicity is about the same. Events happen that seem to make no sense, but a flashback 15 or 45 minutes later makes things sensical.

The star driven Duplicity works surprisingly well. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen are alternately perplexing, infuriating and fascinating. The question of trust--or lack thereof--hangs like a thick fog over the entire film. This adds intrigue to the mix, and Roberts and Owen are particularly adept the banter that Gilroy has crafted for them.

Make no mistake, this is a star vehicle. But the supporting performances--especially Kathleen Chalfant, Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti--are what elevate the film above typical mid-winter toss offs.

The story is consistently engaging even though it's late into the film before you have a sense of what's going on. It's also clear from the audience reaction that it clicks at different times for different people and even then not always accurately.

Michael Clayton was dark and complex. Duplicity plays more like a variation on a theme: part romcom, part corporate thriller, part J. Roberts star vehicle. But it works well.

Mel on the Reader

2009-03-22T21:04:00.001-04:00

I saw The Reader finally, and it's still tormenting me. I think it's a good film with excellence in it. Of course, Kate Winslet is truly extraordinary and deserving of the Oscar she received. But in my view, David Kross gives an even more exceptional performance as 15- to 21- year old Michael Berg that makes the first two-thirds of the film far stronger than the last third, in which Ralph Fiennes gives a competent performance as the older Michael. The last act is saved more by a wonderful performance by Lena Olin than by a satisfying conclusion.

The Reader has multiple complexities that make it hard to either digest or weigh its point of view. There's the affair between a 15-year-old boy and a 30+-year old Hannah. There's the subsequent discovery that Hannah was a guard at Auschwitz. There's the trial, in which the antagonism and set-up from her co-defendents leads one to sympathize with Hannah. There are no easy questions or answers here.

In the end, though, the film is more perplexing than thoughtful. By the time Michael connects the dots to discover a critical piece of information about Hannah's life, his feelings have been buried so deep the film seems aimless. This creates an almost impossible task for Fiennes.

Dissertations will probably be written on the affair between Hannah and Michael. Is the affair another manifestation of her inhumanity? Is it as simple as a first-love for a boy with a women who has put her past behind her? Is it a tribute to the beauty and power of sex? Certainly, it is beautiful. Both Winslet and Kross are beautiful and generally naked and in bed for a good chunk of the film.

David Hare and Stephen Daldry did fine work with The Hours, but as troubling and complex as The Reader is, it misses.

TV Updates

2009-03-21T12:34:00.001-04:00

My travel schedule and competing demands for Thursday night television (damn you Fox for moving Bones to Thursdays resulted in a DVR full of shows I hadn't been able to attend to. Now that Burn Notice and The Closer have ended their seasons, I had an opportunity to do a few catch-up marathons. Here are some thoughts.

Kyle XY
I'm okay that this series has ended its run. I enjoyed it (a guilty pleasure, to be sure). I saw every episode. But this season seemed to reinforce the idea that the writers had run out of ideas. Instead of intrigue and action, we got teen angst that came across only as irritating and inauthentic.

A word on the last episode. Clearly it was designed to be a season cliffhanger rather than a series ender. But ABC Family might have given us a few more minutes of closure. If the show actually had a following, people would be screaming about the crappiest series finale ever.

Desperate Housewives

Marc Cherry has used some of the most creative ideas to revitalize this series. His trouble seems to be sustaining it over a season. This season remains lots of fun, but it's largely unmemorable. The death of Edie this week might revitalize once again and take us to an exciting season finish. I'm still recording on my DVR.

Grey's Anatomy

It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. I couldn't take it, so it's all gone from the DVR, it's no longer recording, and I just couldn't take most of the cast any longer. The likables are minor and the dislikables rule. Buh Bye!

Law and Order

This has always been a DVR show for me. I like it, but I tend to watch it when nothing else is on. The cast shifts have been good, and the writing remains strong. The formula is a bit tired, but the election for DA has added a bit of sass to the proceedings. I'm still recording on my DVR

Saturday Night Live

The election episodes were amazing, and the January 10 episode with Neil Patrick Harris rates among the best ever. But SNL is definitely a show to record. You need to be able to skip through the endless commercials and the 50 percent of sketches that are unbearable to watch. But the one's that connect are terrific.

Ugly Betty

The best of the lot at the moment, Ugly Betty has simply gotten better and better. I was a quiet fan through the first couple of seasons, but the current season ranks as its best and one of the best on the air this year. I watched eight episodes in a row, and felt it hit a wrong note only once. The characters have evolved in ways completely consistent with their histories. Betty has a boyfriend who clicks (and who I hope stays for awhile). Occasionally, the show has given Justin his own episodes, and it's time to do that again. The guest stars (Bernadette Peters, Christine Baranski) fit perfectly. I'm glad to reconnect right as the show goes on extended hiatus, but I'll be there when it returns in a couple months. Must Watch TV!

And before I go, a word about Better of Ted. It will take me a few episodes to determine whether this is one of the most inspired shows since Wonderfalls or totally stupid. My initial reaction to the pilot, which I'm about to watch for the third time, is the former. Stay tuned.

Cindy's Bus Tour

2009-03-15T08:25:00.001-04:00

Here's a quick video of my bus tour of Savannah last month. It's narrated by Cindy, our driver and a true Georgia woman with an amazing accent.

Watchmental

2009-03-08T21:38:00.001-04:00

After seeing some of the violence and reading some of the reviews, I was hesitant to see Watchmen. I despised 300, so Zack Snyder wasn't a draw. I'm not a fanboy of Alan Moore's graphic novel. But hey, not much is opening until May and it's on the IMAX. If you're going to really appreciate the violence in a movie, it should be on a screen five stories high.

That said, although the film is fundamentally flawed, it has much to recommend. The 3 hours definitely feel like 3 hours, but this is due to a considerable amount of time devoted to the backstory of each of the Watchmen before the plot kicks into full gear. The art direction is stellar in its own right, and it does a fine job of referencing the style of the novel. The story is dark and compelling, a worthy adaptation.

The violence is, in fact, over the top. Like 300, the violence in Watchmen is mostly stylized. It is also gory and intense. And in all honesty, as much as I was dreading it, the violence largely works. Largely. Snyder is not above a little gratuitous violence.

The soundtrack was, for me, the films biggest misfire. Watchmen, for the two of you who don't know, is sent during Richard Nixon's fourth term in the mid-1980's. The cold war is at its peak, and superheroes are hardly tolerated. Watchmen creates an alternate reality, but Dylan and Simon and Garfunkle seem out of place. And the backstory on Dr. Manhattan, the one superhero with super powers, is accompanied by various moments from Philip Glass's score for Koyaanisqatsi.

Watchmen is not getting its just due from the critics, but judging from the sold-out show I attended and the huge lines as I left, people are showing up. Not everyone is liking it--it's hardly likable--but its leading to some great discussions about the nature of heroism, the darkness of our times, and humankind's salvation.

The Presets

2009-02-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

I've been learning about The Presets over the last year. "This Boy's in Love" is a fine song. But even more, The Presets are doing some fine work with video, and "If I Know You" is quite extraordinary.

The Detroit Airport

2009-01-28T08:20:00.001-05:00

People often groan when I tell them that one of the few joys left of traveling is getting to spend time in the Detroit airport. Strange, I know, but I love the vast spaces the vaulted ceilings, the starkness, the awesome monorail. And as busy as it can be, it never seems congested. I was there on Sunday, and I decided to take a few photos to demonstrate what I mean.

Best of the Year: Music

2009-01-07T15:34:00.001-05:00

Boy oh boy, I am definitely going to use up my street cred here, and my homies are gonna be none to happy. My top pick for album of the year in 2008 is:

Yep, that's right. In the old days I would have said that Panic at the Disco's Pretty.Odd. was in my cd changer all year long. Let's just say that in 2008 it had the heaviest rotation on my various music devices. This was the year that I discovered The Ting Tings and Vampire Weekend (more on them in a moment), both with great debut albums. Architecture in Helsinki and Of Montreal were also new discoveries for me, and new albums from Tracy Chapman, David Byrne and Brian Eno, and the ever-fabulous Grace Jones also rocked my world.

But Panic was there all along as new albums came and went during the year. Pretty.Odd. is a mature second album. It's not cutesy like their debut effort. In all honesty, I thought of Panic as a group with music potential that made interesting videos. The new album confirms that. The album incorporates a huge range of musical influences in very creative and meaningful ways. It's engaging from start to finish, with the first two singles actually among the weaker contributions.

"When the Day Met the Night" was easily the most played song on my iPod. "Northern Downpour" is also terrific. I liked it over the summer. Pretty.Odd. was, indeed, the soundtrack to my summer. But by fall, I was loving it.

And so, my friends, think of this as a questionable choice, but appreciate my integrity. And most of all, give Pretty.Odd. an openminded listen. It's a great album.

And now back to Vampire Weekend. Their album was the first one I purchased in 2008, and it was a stunning debut. The group was all over the place in their debut year. A Saturday Night Live appearance was terrific and later efforts "Ottoman" and "Everywhere" (yes, that Everywhere) were also fine.

The album is well-written, well-produced, engaging, intriguing, witty and good good fun. And if that's not enough, I'm guessing this is the first group to ever sing about the Oxford comma. Vampire Weekend is another album well worth your time and worthy of that slot right up there with Panic at the Disco.

Best of the Year: TV

2009-01-02T08:45:00.001-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know this was my pick last year. Both as a cancellation prize and a nod to the fact that Pushing Daisies was even better this year, it's my pick again. DVR be damned, it was the only television program I scheduled around. Bryan Fuller created a vibrant, colorful, quirky world populated with wonderful characters and engaging stories.

The cast of Pushing Daisies brings such warmth and depth to their characters. Lee Pace and Anna Friel continued to do standout work. And Kristen Chenoweth, who tended to annoy me at times last season (though I've always been hopelessly devoted to her), became the most compelling character at the Pie Hole. I will miss this show after its final three episodes air later this month. It shows the heights to which network television can soar.

But wait there's more....

In this year of extraordinary politics, we can forget the terrific work of MSNBC and particularly Rachel Maddow. Maddow was fantastic as a frequent guest and sub for Keith Olberman, but she came into her own as the host of the The Rachel Maddow Show. She is thoughtful, pointed and so, so bright.

But wait there's even more....

The Closer was very strong this year, as was Season 2 of Torchwood. Among the late arrivals, Fringe has been good, but I'm expecting more. Leverage has caught my interest, as well.

Best of the Year: The Web

2008-12-28T09:46:00.004-05:00

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

2008-12-27T10:41:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-26T18:17:00.001-05:00

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

2008-12-20T10:42:00.001-05:00

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

2008-12-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-09T16:56:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-09T16:48:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-09T08:29:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-03T17:30:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-11-02T17:21:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-18T09:44:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-18T08:55:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-21T11:45:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-09-06T16:04:00.001-04:00

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

Devastating

2008-09-01T09:24:00.001-04:00

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

2008-08-20T18:45:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-18T19:54:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-20T09:53:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-20T09:33:00.001-04:00

"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

2008-07-11T22:13:00.001-04:00

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

2008-07-06T18:12:00.001-04:00

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

2008-07-06T11:39:00.001-04:00

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...?

2008-07-06T08:07:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-29T15:21:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-29T14:55:00.001-04:00

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...

2008-06-08T20:19:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-08T19:28:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-07T19:23:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-07T19:10:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-18T08:18:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-27T18:50:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-27T18:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-27T09:17:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-19T19:40:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-11T14:07:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-07T21:15:00.001-04:00

"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)

2008-03-30T08:28:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-23T10:28:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-09T19:32:00.001-04:00

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

2008-03-09T19:15:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-02-27T20:19:00.001-05:00

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

2008-02-24T23:20:00.001-05:00

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

2008-02-24T23:10:00.001-05:00

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

2008-02-17T15:56:00.001-05:00

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

2008-01-20T18:25:00.001-05:00

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

2008-01-19T15:58:00.001-05:00

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

2008-01-13T14:05:00.001-05:00

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.

Best of the Year: Film (Part 1)

2008-01-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

Living out here in the boonies, the choice for best film of the year always poses some perplexing issues. Our film selection is generally limited and the films that do get here take weeks, if not months. Last year, I waited a couple of weeks after the new year to choose my top films. So, I had a chance to see Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth before making my choices. Children of Men was easily my top film last year.

So, this year we have yet to see I'm Not There or There Will Be Blood. Of the top ten films on Modern Fabulousity, for example, five have yet to arrive within an hour of here. No Country for Old Men opened this week, as did Juno. My reviews of those two films will be posted in the next couple of days.

I've decided to wait one more week to post my best film entry. Rumor has it we'll be getting a few new films this week that have made it to a number of 10-best lists. In the meantime, I'll be posting my reviews of the films I have seen over the last week and a half. Stay tuned

Best of the Year: Internet

2007-12-28T12:49:00.001-05:00

Sure, I could divide the Internet into its various components. Recognition for the best commercial site, the best social networking site, the best news site, the best queer site. But that would take a heck of a lot of time and totally misrepresent the fact that there is only one place I go every day without fail: Modern Fabulousity. ModFab has great taste, solid reviews, keen insight. And it's all mixed in with a whole lot of fun and hotness.

We might disagree on a thing or two. He owes me $35 for Fuerzabruta (I was only fifty percent of the way there with him) and I had no doubt that Sweeney Todd (the Tim Burton version) was going to blow me away. And I still can't figure out how he doesn't get Pushing Daisies. But ModFab is a blast to read. It connects me to some of the best music on the web and to some other great writers on the web. And he's a proud, stand-up-and-count-me gay man. That makes him a great role model, too.

Gotta give a special shoutout to Blue Hampshire. Being new to the whole New Hampshire thing, no site has done a better job of keeping me informed about the candidates and my new home state.

Best of the Year: Live and on Stage

2007-12-28T12:11:00.001-05:00

This was a tough and simple category. Should I choose something I saw and admired in 2007 or should I choose something that actually opened in 2007? Going in the latter direction, it occurred to me that I would never get the chance to select Spring Awakening as my pick of the year. So, the live performance I rank as number one this year is, indeed, Spring Awakening. It's a fresh show dealing with difficult themes. It contributes to the development of music theater by introducing new forms.

The cast is exuberant with John Gallagher (who departed last week) and Jonathan Groff (who just extended six months) as standouts. But the creative team gets the biggest nod here. The book, music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater are simply fantastic, and the package is amazingly well crafted by Michael Mayer. Bill T. Jones (choreography) and Kim Grigsby (musical direction) put their own stamps on the evening, as well.

I do my homework before I go to the theater. It's too frikkin expensive not to. The result is that I'm rarely surprised. I don't avoid spoilers, so heading into Spring Awakening, I knew a lot about the surprises in store. And still I was surprised. The show is so rich, so well done, so engaging that the chatter on the web can't reveal everything. That's masterful!

And if I had limited my choices to those that opened in 2007? Coram Boy. Another compelling night at the theater.

This year I saw perhaps the fewest live performances in the last two decades. But there were a few things that deserve honorable mention: Sweeney Todd demonstrated that there was still much to be mined in the John Doyle production. Judy Kaye was as good and as different from LuPone as possible. Iceland Dance completed its first American tour. The dances weren't always successful, but they could only have come out of Iceland. And Annie Lennox provided a thrilling evening at Symphony Hall in Boston.

Best of the Year: DVD

2007-12-26T08:37:00.001-05:00

Knowing my great affection for Sigur Ros, my friends may be wondering why Hvarf-Heim, the last double disk from SR to drop, wasn't on my best of music choices yesterday. Well, it's an amazing album, but we can't have Sigur Ros top every category, can we? The choice for the best DVD of the year is not an easy one. A film like Shortbus, which is a great film that deserves a wider audience, could have easily topped my list this year. One of the many TV Box sets, like Hex or Slings and Arrows, that are difficult to find in the U.S. might have been there, too.

But no DVD release of the year moved me or excited me the way the Sigur Ros documentary/travellog Heima has done. Sigur Ros has always had a very "visual" sound, and their videos are among my favorites ever. Heima makes the argument that Sigur Ros is a product of its geography. We learn a little more about the members of the group, about their politics, and their great affection for their homeland. But mostly we get Sigur Ros performing in the most gorgeous of settings captured by the most gorgeous photography.

The idea is a simple one. After traveling the world in support of Takk, their 2005 album that did top my list (and many others), the band decides to travel across the villages and towns of Iceland. They play churches and town halls and open fields. Many moments are simply breathtaking.

I have to go back 25 years to find a film that moved me in similar ways. In 1982, I was bowled over by the marriage of music and visual images in Koyaanisqatsi, a film that still remains among the most important I have seen. I was humbled by the incredible artistry that unfolded before me on the screen. In 2007, I had that experience again with Heima. Sigur Ros is an amazing group of musicians and Heima brought me that feeling of discovering something new and fresh all over again.

Best of the Year: Television

2007-12-25T08:04:00.001-05:00

No television program has brought more joy into our household than Pushing Daisies. Each week as many as 15 of us get together to watch Ned the Piemaker and his cohort of odd and endearing characters solve murders. But the murder mystery angle of the show is not what keeps us coming back each week. It's the fairy tale. Ned can bring people back to life by touching them, but if he touches them again they die forever. In the "Pie-lette" episode, Ned brings Chuck, the now grownup girl who gave him his first kiss when he was 10, back to life after her murder on a cruise ship. (By the way, if Ned doesn't touch the person he's brought back within 60 seconds someone else will die so the universe can right itself.) And so, Ned and Chuck are hopelessly in love and hopelessly unable to touch. The thought of it makes me weep, even as I type this.

There is much joy to be found in Pushing Daisies. The characters all care deeply about each other. They are a family, even though Chuck's aunts (the totally amazing, reason enough to watch the show Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene) don't know she's alive. Olive Snook (the totally amazing, reason enough to watch the show Kristin Chenoweth) makes that connection, even as she tries to figure out Chuck's story and even as she pines away for the piemaker herself. And just when things are on the verge of sickly sweet, Chi McBride reminds us how surreal this whole thing is.

Pushing Daisies is a package, though. It's success is also due to incredible writing that is unlike anything else on the air. The narration is beautiful and moving, due in large part to the work of Jim Dale as the narrator. The colors are as surreal as the premise, so vibrant they cannot be found in nature. All of this is conducted under the sure baton on maestro Bryan Fuller, who creates a symphony of color and sound that moves the heart.

And what of Ned the Piemaker and Chuck? Lee Pace is perfect and Anna Friel has arrived at perfection over the first several episodes. It's hard to imagine the show working without either of these two, but it is Pace who stands out. Every smirk, every gesture, every line reading gets us closer to the experiencing the bittersweet world of Pushing Daisies.

OH YEAH! With that whole writers' strike going on, what are we to do for our PD fix? Run, don't walk, to get your hands on Wonderfalls, Fuller's 2004 Fox series that begat this year's favorite. It may just be the best show in the history of television.

Honorable mentions this year go to Ugly Betty, which is having a stellar sophomore season, The Closer, which has gotten better each season, and Damages, which was so drawn out it was painful to watch, but which was totally addictive thanks in large part to the work of Glenn Close.

Best of the Year: Music

2007-12-24T14:33:00.001-05:00

So there's still one week left in the year, but no album has come close to The New Pornographer's Challengers as my choice for the best album of the year. Not a single track on the album misses, and the cumulative effect is an album of great wit, great insight and just plain great music. Carl Newman and company have released their best album to date. Nico Case shines as usual.

It's been years since I've given a specific album to people as a holiday gift. This year, quite a few people on my list got Challengers in their stockings. Four months after its release, the album still has a prized spot in my iPod. It should on yours, too.

Honorable mentions for the year go to Annie Lennox's Songs of Mass Destruction, Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion, Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars, and the studio cast recording of Bare.

Charlie Wilson's War

2007-12-23T07:12:00.000-05:00

It was with a small amount of trepidation that I went to see Charlie Wilson's War. I'm no fan of the work of Aaron Sorkin. Never saw an episode of West Wing that I could get into. Same with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. A Few Good Men bored me. Until today, there's nothing of Sorkin's work that I would recommend. Until today.

Perhaps reined in by Mike Nichols or supported by the solid work of Tom Hanks (who also leaves me cold at times), Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson's War turns out to be a very good film. The humor is laugh-out-loud funny, but leaves you with that bad aftertaste that says, "Oh, maybe I shouldn't be laughing." It's humor that forces you to think, and that is an amazing way to comment on the current troubles.

Charlie Wilson is a flawed congressman who, after a moving visit to Afghanistan, pushes the U.S. to dramatically increase it's covert involvement in supporting the Afghans against the Soviet incursion. He's a good old boy politician to whom everyone owes a favor. So, it's within his power to bring the budget from $5 million to ultimately $5oo million, to get the CIA to change its philosophy that staying out will turn this into Russia's Vietnam, and to bring Israel together with Arab countries for mutual gain.

Hanks does a wonderful job of capturing the complexities of Wilson. Even when the script stumbles--and it does here and there, particularly in the last few minutes--Hanks is totally engaging. You can see the internal conflict of a man who laughs off ethics investigations and plays politics with natural ease. This cause means something to him.

Roberts gives a fine turn as the sixth wealthiest woman in Texas. For her this is a religious cause, and she brings her power to bear to get the cause on Wilson's radar. Similarly, Hoffman shines as Wilson's partner in bringing about U.S. involvement.

There's an absurdity to these proceedings that is captured beautifully by Mike Nichols. He's in great form here, and he serves up comedy at its most effective: thought provoking.

The film does falter in the final moments. To be sure, we all know the ending, but it's tough to swallow a preachy ending--we spent billions fighting the war, but can't even spend $1 milllion rebuilding the country--after a film that has shown us atrocity rather than preach about it.

Definitely one of the year's best, though!

Don't Quit While You're Ahead

2007-12-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

The SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is great fun. Drood is one of the few Tony winners I never had a chance to see, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to take in a production of such fun and charm. The music hall setting of the show gives the company great freedom to involve the audience throughout. Members of the company connect with their sections of the audience from the start, and you find yourself rooting for your player throughout. It's a wonderful bonding moment that becomes totally engaging.

Drood, for those who don't remember, is the unfinished, serialized murder mystery by Charles Dickens, subsequently musicalized by Rupert Holmes. The 1985 production won a slew of Tony Awards and firmly entrenched the "let the audience decide the ending" gimmick used commonly on TV and in the theater these days. It obviously worked then and it definitely works now.

The SpeakEasy production is marvelously cast. Though a few off notes are hit here and there, the cast is uniformly charming and engaging. The choreography and direction make great use of the small stage, employing inventive solutions to theatrical problems.

Drood is the perfect musical for the season. Great fun, engaging. It just brought a big smile to my face.

Fun Fact: Halfway through the run of the Broadway production, Joe Papp changed the name of the play from The Mystery of Edwin Drood to, simply, Drood to secure a better position in the Times alphabetical theater listings.

Bare...the album

2007-11-29T17:43:00.000-05:00

I've lived with Bare for a few days now. If you don't know the story behind the album release, Bare is a small show that played way-off broadway (in L.A. and New York) in 2004. It was announced for a commercial run that never materialized. A free highlights disk was released in anticipation of the commercial run. As the regional rights became available the creative team decided to do a full studio cast recording. They expected to sell a few disks, but were deluged with orders that delayed its arrival on my doorstep by almost a month.

I had the opportunity to see the New York production of Bare. While I thought it was tragically flawed, I also developed a great affection for the show. The original CD is one of the few recordings to have permanent space on my iPod. Having the complete recording has only increased my affection for the show. I think it's still flawed, but there are truly extraordinary moments throughout.

Since it's not a well-known show, a word about the plot. Bare is set in a Catholic boarding school, spanning the feast of the epiphany to high school graduation. Peter and Jason have been lovers throughout high school. Peter is ready to bust out of the closet; Jason isn't. The terrified Jason has a one-night stand with Ivy. She gets pregnant; Jason has even more to deal with...and he doesn't deal well.

What's to love? The recording has been beautifully assembled. The cast has not a single weak link. Matt Doyle (standing by over at Spring Awakening) is an amazing Peter. I thought Michael Arden offered the definitive Peter, but Matt does fantastic. James Snyder is fine as Jason. Jenna Leigh Green is also fine as Ivy. I think her performance on stage surpasses her album performance, but this is a quibble. She's also faced with a character I still find poorly drawn. (More on that in a moment.) All 12 actors who make up the student cast are great, and the adults are, too. A particular shout out to Kaitlin Hopkins who also repeats from the New York cast with great emotion.

The music is also great. Moving, memorable. People have said the music is a mashup of Rent and Spring Awakening, but it has great originality and beauty. The style is appropriate to the show. The lyrics, too, support the show well. There are certainly clunkers among the lyrics, but many more moments are inspired.

Bare particularly feels fresh and real--maybe even raw--in its representation of boarding school teens. Over the years, friends have recounted Catholic boarding school experiences, and their stories would fit right in with those in Bare. The cliques, drugs, relationships all ring true.

Most of the changes are for the good. The new lyrics for "Epiphany" give the opening a better vibe and cleaner start. Tweaks throughout add some nice humor (though there was always humor). Sister Chantelle gets a bluesier "911 Emergency," which is the only jarring change from the past recording.

So, why do I still hesitate? The cliche. For so much of the album I have the feeling that it ranks with the best I've heard. Nonetheless, I still struggle to get past Jason and Ivy's relationship. It's to cliche to have everyone consider her a slut, when we know she's a virgin. Really, her chastity serves only one function: to make it clear that Jason is the father when we realize she's pregnant in Act II. And Jason's struggle throughout often seems stuck firmly in the 80's. (SPOILER ALERT) The album allows for the possibility that Jason's death is an accidental overdose rather than a suicide, but his struggle with coming out feels so dated. That's in stark contrast to the rest of the story, which feels fresh and current.

And if that's my only complaint, it keeps Bare from being very great theater. Flaws and all, though, Bare is special. It's special for me personally, but it's also special because of the love and care that has gone into assembling the recording.

In addition to the video above, check out the website.

And check out these scenes from the NY production:

Enchanted?

2007-11-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, I still am. I would count myself among the skeptics who doubted Enchanted was going to be all that. Well, truth be told, it is all that. It's an excellent film that will without a doubt charm the britches off the kids, but will resonate strongly with the rest of us. In fact, those of us weened on Disney films will find the iconic Disney moments thrilling.

The latest Disney heroine, Giselle (Amy Adams), is cast out of Andalasia--cartoon land--by the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) who will lose her crown when Giselle marries her son (James Marsden). Giselle ends up in modern day New York--live action land--where she applies her two dimensional fairytale charms to three dimensional problems. The resulting story takes a journey that is at once charming, sweet and laugh out-loud funny. Enchanted flips the Disney cartoon universe on its head.

The film stumbles here and there. Patrick Dempsey is his typical sexy, charming self, but there's nothing new here. Idina Menzel is stereotyped, though her performance is redeemed at the end. The story drags in places.

But these are quibbles. Enchanted is so good as to almost be subversive. Almost. It is Disney after all.

For a great guide to Disney films that are quoted in Enchanted see our bud at maninchair.

Thumpa Thumpa Theater

2007-11-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

I'm always a little disappointed when my first thought at the end of a show is "I feel like I got my money's worth." I guess that's better than leaving with with the feeling that I didn't get my money's worth, but my experiences at the theater--even bad theater--are generally so much richer and worthy of ongoing thought.

But that is exactly the feeling I had last night at the end of Fuerzabruta, the off-broadway experience at the Daryl Roth Theatre in Union Square. Most people I know seem to think that "from the people who brought you De La Guarda" is sufficient description of the show. The show is a hour-long collection of set pieces accompanied by an awesome, pounding techno beat organized around the idea that it takes brute force to get through life.

Fuerzabruta is fiercely creative. You're never amazed with the thought of how did they do that, but always amazed at the thought of how did they think of that. And you're always part of the show. You have to let yourself be seduced. Otherwise, the annoyance of being stepped on as the audience gets shifted around or the combination of mist and powder forms a glue on your clothes will get to you.

After being relocated the first couple of times, I did get into it. I liked being part of the audience. And in the final moments, when you're forced to commit or stay on the sidelines, it was awesome to commit. I think I even registered a little disapproval at those on the margins who refused to jump in and dance in the rain.

So, how best to experience Fuerzabruta. Think of it as going to a club with a circus going on all around you. Does that mean it's for the clubkids? Well, they were there in force and right in the center of things from start to finish. But it's also for those of us who can enjoy and appreciate creativity with a throbbing techno beat.

For those interested, here's the trailer. There's also lots more on YouTube, since there's no prohibition against photography (only flashes). Fair warning, though: my companions felt the trailer gave away 95 percent of the show.

Beautiful Streamers

2007-11-17T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Huntington Theatre production of Streamers is a solid, functional production of an important American play. But this Streamers lacks the intensity and shock that it had when I saw the film version many years ago. Perhaps times have changed. Perhaps we have changed. The effect, though, is a production that feels more like a historical artifact than one that makes David Rabe's Vietnam drama feel fresh and relevant.

Scott Ellis has assembled a fine cast and his direction certainly supports the text, but once again much of it feels like a stage version of the 1984 Robert Altman film, which itself felt rather, well, stagey.

So, I'm very glad I saw it, but disappointed that it no longer had the relevance it had two decades ago.

Annie Lennox at Symphony Hall

2007-11-12T14:23:00.000-05:00

Annie Lennox closed out her Songs of Mass Destruction tour last night at Boston's Symphony Hall. Latennox was on tour in support of Eurythmic's second album last time I saw her, and in the intervening years she has achieved greatness as a musician and thinker. And there was something about the concert last night that left me feeling honored to have witnessed it.

Lennox has been such a strong force in my life for so many years that I had to be there. And she was amazing. But, she was amazing in spite of...

In spite of the fact that her voice was raw and harsh. Thank goodness for her this was the last stop on the tour. I don't think she could have made it through another stop.

In spite of the fact that the projections detracted so much from the performance. For almost every song that has had a video, images from the video projected on the screen about her head. Only once was a live shot used. That only made those of us farther from the stage want more live shots. But no. When the screen was used effectively--particularly with "Dark Road" and "Sing"--the effect was dramatic. But most of the screen time was wasted with stock images from years past.

But the set list was perfect. She gave stirring renditions of classics and new songs, often in new, interesting arrangements. She, unexpectedly, included a healthy dose of Eurythmic songs, including the classics and, better, the best (e.g., "There Must Be an Angel" and "When Tomorrow Comes.")

The chatter was very limited, but nice. And it was always front and center that the night was special because it was the last night of the tour.

Songs of Mass Destruction is the best of Lennox's four solo albums. She's still out to change the world, and the concert made that all the more clear...and possible.

Oh yeah, Rosie and Kelly were there, too. It was fascinating to see the wave across the audience as people realized she was there. Thanks to Rosie for posting this:

All in all, a pretty phenomenal experience!

Whole New Thing

2007-11-10T08:49:00.000-05:00

To be honest, I purchased Whole New Thing because I needed to top off my DVD order to get free shipping. It looked most interesting among the dvd's I new nothing about. Is it a great movie? No. Am I glad I got it? Most certainly.

Whole New Thing tells the story of Emerson (Aaron Webber), a 13-year-old boy sent to public school after being home schooled for all his life. Emerson deals with adjustment issues, including a wicked crush on his English teacher. Besides the marital difficulties his parents face, there's not much else that happens.

The thing is, Webber and the film do a great job of capturing the social awkwardness of a teen being thrust into his first social situation with kids his own age. His social interactions--at least in film terms--largely involved giving massages to his parents' friends. Emerson is incredibly self-confident, but not easily able to engage with those he meets. He thinks nothing of stripping naked with another 13-year-old boy for a sauna before they do math homework.

Given his history, then, it's not surprising that he connects more readily with his teacher (Daniel MacIvor), a closeted man who gets sexual release from rest-stop sex. This creates another awkward dynamic. Emerson is clearly the aggressor in this relationship. It's a crush, but it's also a crush by someone who doesn't know appropriate boundaries.

Webber is always engaging and is supported by strong players. The ending of the film is not particularly satisfying, but in a slice-of-life story, there's always more to follow. And that's okay.

Iceland Dance

2007-11-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

Last night, I got to see a New England performance by Iceland Dance, now on its first ever U.S. tour. The company opened with Peter Anderson's "Critic's Choice," a multimedia, interactive piece in which the performers--dancing to the music of Otis Redding--are accompanied by an ongoing dialog between a critic from the company and the composer via a webcam. I thought the piece was fascinating. The dancers were fantastic and the concept engaging and distancing at the same time. Go Brecht.

The second act comprised two pieces: the duet, "Elsa," and "Man is Always Alone." Both worked well.

Iceland Dance uses traditional dance forms in very contemporary ways. While the "Critics" really impressed me, the evening itself was very impressive. When I visited Iceland, I felt that I had visited a culture that was founded on the same ideas and concepts of many cultures. But because of its isolation and desolation (it is, afterall, a big hunk of lava rock), the culture flourished in its own direction and on its own terms. That's what I felt about Iceland Dance, too.

Attend the Tale...

2007-11-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

I've seen many productions of Sweeney Todd over the years. Most recently I've seen the Mrs. Lovetts of Christine Baranski, Patti LuPone and, now, Judy Kaye. I've seen recreations of the original production--well the tour at least--small productions by local groups and the Sondheim Festival production. Last year, I saw the John Doyle production with LuPone, and I was blown away. The only negative comment I had at the time was the distraction caused by how overwhelmed I was by the talent onstage. It went something like this: "Oh my god, now he's playing the violin, now he's playing the clarinet, now he's playing the keyboard, and he's singing at the same time. Wait, did Sweeney just kill someone?"

I was thrilled that my first foray into Boston theater was going to be the Sweeney tour, because I wanted to share the experience and relive it. The talent is just as amazing, but the wonder of this production is that it felt fresh and different. Like Chris Caggiano at Everything I Know I learned from Musicals I saw the Todd understudy David Garry. I found the performance to be a compelling one, though undersung. (Someone asked, "Does Sweeney always shout his lines?")

But this is Judy Kaye's Sweeney Todd. She brings a new sensibility to the role, and it has most to do with what I liked about the tour. She gets nice laughs, but different ones than LuPone. Her performance isn't quite as dark, but it makes for a more menacing climax. And when Sweeney is ushering Mrs. Lovett to her death, she's already sensed the inevitability of it in a way that moved me more than other productions.

The other compelling performance in the tour, and almost as responsible for its freshness is Edmund Bagnell in the pivotal role of Tobias. Caggiano is dead on when he notes that Bagnell brings a different but equally compelling performance to that of Manoel Felciano in the Broadway incarnation.

Finally, snaps to John Doyle for direction that remains crisp and illuminating. The sparseness of the orchestrations allow for the lyrics to shine through in wondrous ways. The conceit of having actors and orchestra in one is still fresh and creative.

And at the end of the show I still had to say, "Where do they find such incredible talent?"

Mike Clayton

2007-11-04T14:14:00.001-05:00

I will see any film that has Tilda Swinton in it. My affection for her goes back to her earliest work for Derek Jarman. She elevates any project she's associated with, and if they're not always great films, Swinton elevates them.

Michael Clayton is not a bad film. It's actually intriguing. Hours seem to pass before you have any sense of what's happening. That's not a totally bad thing, although the film does really drag in places. Largely, it works, though. The ambiguity is engaging rather than off-putting.

This is among George Clooney's better roles and better performances. The wink-and-nod characterizations that have driven much of his work is largely absent from his Michael Clayton. Clooney is supported by a great cast, and by that I mean more than Swinton. Swinton, however, stands out in a tortured, harsh performance. Tom Wilkinson provides a moral center to a film that struggles to find it. Sydney Pollack also stands out.

Michael Clayton has stayed with me in interesting ways. Perhaps the moral ambiguity of our time gives it a resonance I didn't quite realize.

Time to Catch Up...Across the Universe

2007-11-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

I'm spending a little time today catching up on a few posts after a crazy few weeks. I'm told that if you go for more than two weeks without blogging, you're a poseur. Well, dammit, I've been busy. However, I did manage to catch a few things here and there (wipe that smirk off your face).

Count me as one of the big fans of Across the Universe. Yes, I'm a Julie Taymor devotee. I'd have to look hard for a more creative mind. While Across the Universe is not her best work, it's a strong, powerful film. Taymor does a masterful job of evoking the period and setting a compelling story within it.

I like the Beatles, but they didn't define my youth. Most Beatles music I own is recorded by someone else. But I do appreciate their importance to those who came of age during my diaper years. The songs provide a great context for the story.

The film is trippy. The visual imagery is incredible.

In May 2006, I saw the CanStage production of Hair. It was so powerful, I drove up to see it again the night before I moved from New York to New Hampshire. I'd seen Hair many times, but every prior production was a nostalgia piece, a greatest hits of the 60s. There was no attempt at relevance beyond that. The CanStage production was the first production to argue for the continued relevance of Hair.

I got the same sense from Across the Universe. Taymor locates the Beatles music in a context that is real, gritty, psychedelic. The performances--mostly--feel like they're located in the period. The leads are good, and the supporting players are better.

The New Fall Season...So Far

2007-10-06T07:17:00.000-04:00

People ask me constantly, "What do you like about the new fall season?" Being a television-obsessed individual, I certainly have an answer. Unfortunately, I've been watching too much tv to give an answer...until today. Let's start with my top five new shows. This amazing feat will be accomplished in order!

Pushing Daisies. People who know me know that this would have to be my favorite show of the season, new or old. Why? The easy answer is that Wonderfalls is my favorite show ever. Daisies borrows heavily from the creative team and has a similar likable oddness to it. But Daisies is a fairy tale, and a compelling one at that. The narration by Jim Dale (in an unfortunately narration heavy season) makes the show utterly charming. The cast is just about my dream cast. Lee Pace (amazing in Wonderfalls) is so charming and crushworthy that I could feel the room swooning. The supporting cast includes Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, Kristen Chenoweth, Chi McBride (all among my favorite actors) and Anna Friel. I don't often comment on the art direction of a television show, but the charm is so enhanced by the colors and stylized sets, that it makes for a wonderfully beautiful image and a great show.

Reaper. Two of my top-five shows are ones I hadn't anticipated watching. Networks take note: Free downloads work! Reaper was one I recorded because I had space on my Tivo. I'm hooked. Bret Harrison is perfect for the slacker who becomes a superhero, Sam. Ray Wise is almost too perfect as the devil who comes to collect Sam's soul after his parents sold it 21 years earlier. The show is laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has something to chew on. As the reluctant demon-slayer, Sam is learning some life lessons. And the devil makes a pretty decent father figure. And there is brilliance in involving Kevin Smith in this project.

Aliens in America. I'm a little nervous about putting this in my top five so soon, but I was totally seduced by Aliens in America. Raja, a Pakistani exchange student, comes to live with the Tolchucks and hijinks ensue. Except that when Justin Tolchuck accepts Raja into his life, so do we. The fish out of water elements only inform a story with great heart. And it is funny. I was skeptical for the first 15 minutes, but when daughter Claire blurts out "Mom, I wanna go on the pill" in the middle of a family crisis, I was hooked. And in the last five minutes I was seduced.

Moonlight. Film noir is difficult to do on television and very difficult to maintain on television, but I have hope for Moonlight. The style, narration, flashbacks all create this great atmosphere. I don't love it yet, but I might. It is a David Greenwalt project, after all.

Chuck. It's the other slacker/superhero show this season. While it's not as crisp and engaging as Reaper, it has great charm, it has Sarah Lancaster, and it has the great fortune of preceding Heroes. All good!

I'm still not sure about Private Practice and Dirty, Sexy Money, both of which I continue to record.

I am sure about Grey's Anatomy, which I am deserting. After last season, I wasn't even sure I'd give it a chance this season. I am dismayed by the poor choices the writers and the actors continue to make. Mostly, though, I cannot abide George with Izzie. It's wrong, it's unappealing, it's free of chemistry. Buh-bye.

Heroes and Ugly Betty continue to impress. And I'm finishing up the seasons of Eureka (a respectable and enjoyable second season), Damages (could you resolve this already) and Weeds (great, improved, fun...with a little danger built in).

And now that I've made it through the opening week of the season, maybe I can get back to the movies.

Suzanne Vega in Brattleboro

2007-10-02T19:28:00.000-04:00

Touring in support of her new release, Crime and Beauty, Suzanne Vega stopped in Brattleboro, Vermont at the Latchis Theater. It was the perfect set. Vega looked almost exactly the same as she did 20 years ago when I saw her at Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City. She's become only slightly more animated in the last two decades, but much more charmingly self-deprecating about it.

Vega's set was a perfect blend of songs from the new album, traditional versions of older songs and updated versions of classic tunes. A bass only version of "Left of Center" and a traditional rendering of "In Liverpool" were amazing. The concluding number, "The Queen and the Soldier," was the song that seduced me more than two decades ago resonates with greater intensity today.

Perfect!

Talk to Me

2007-09-22T10:48:00.000-04:00

I had a chance to see Talk to Me last week. Like the last bio-pic I reviewed, this one was all about the acting. Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, as 1960s Washington radio personalities Petey Green and Dewey Hughes, give phenomenal performances. Every Don Cheadle performance has become something of a revelation. Such variety. The film is good. There are too many sections that drag--the film feels very very long--but there are also moments of extraordinary impact. The section of the film that covers the assassination of Martin Luther King is as moving and important as anything that will be released this year.

Three Albums to Recommend

2007-09-22T10:09:00.000-04:00

I've been rotating almost non-stop among three albums that I want to write about today. Starting off with the album that is, without a doubt, my favorite of the year, so far. The New Pornographers released Challengers last month, and it's great. A.C. Newman, the primary creative force behind The New P's, has assembled a series of tracks that engage the ear and the brain from its opening notes. Neko Case provides great vocal support. I loved Twin Cinema, the last drop from the band, but Challengers is more impressive. The lyrics employ wonderful turns of phrase and the music is intellectual and visceral.

Also, if you haven't checked out The New Pornographers and the Case of Neko, take a look. It's a little dated, but an interesting look at band relations.

Some critics have talked about Challengers as the soundtrack for the summer, and A.C. has talked about Brian Wilson as an influence. I find The New P's music to be a little too fabulous to think of them as my beach music. More Bowie than Brian.

So what was my soundtrack to the summer? Easy! Junior Senior has released the bounciest, can't-get-it-out-of-my-head album I've heard in a long time. I can't can't get the t-t-title out of my head--Hey Hey My My Yo Yo. Every song is rather infectious, but getting Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson to provide vocals on "Take My Time" is so totally cool that any missteps can be totally forgiven. (And by the way, the supplemental disc in the States, Say Hello Wave Goodbye is kind of a misstep.) Add to the guest lineup Le Tigre and The Velvelettes and you've got a roaring good time. This is very bright music. You'll need sunglasses. But, hey, isn't that what the soundtrack to the summer is all about.

And when it's time to mellow out after hours of driving rhythms, check out Goodbye from Ulrich Schnauss. It got into Schnauss after reading a review of A Strangely Isolated Place, and that disc remains one of my desert island discs. Schnauss is like a found-objects artist, only he's working with sounds. Whether it's samples or industrial sounds or vocals, Schnauss pieces together music that is so much more than the sum of its parts. His music is sweeping and evokes very visual imagery with it. Goodbye creates a beautiful landscape, one that's easy to get lost in.

Two that I Missed...Until Now

2007-09-09T09:22:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you'll have to search pretty hard to find someone else who reviews and Snakes on a Plane and Little Children in the same review. I missed them both in their initial theatrical runs, but I had a chance to catch them both this weekend.

Snakes on a Plane is generally not my kind of film. The horror genre is the one that I avoid for many reasons. Mostly, though, they just don't interest me. The last horror film I saw was 28 Days Later (partially) and before that, Blair Witch Project. My need to participate in a cultural phenomenon supersedes my dislike of the genre, so I needed to see Snakes at some point. And now I have. Don't lose all respect for me, but...I didn't hate it.

To be sure, Snakes on a Plane is not a good movie. But it is a decent movie for those of us who don't particularly like horror films. It's totally far fetched, but it's easy to go along for the ride. The humor is more effective than the horror, and you have to give the creative team snaps for finding creative ways to expose naughty bits to the snakes on the plane. And the film wisely stays away from the horror-porn that is typical of the genre right now. Sure, Samuel Jackson and Julianna Margulies are slumming, but they also help elevate the film into something a little more interesting. And there were fleeting moments when I actually felt a little something for the characters.

If Snakes on a Plane is an internet-fueled curiosity, Little Children is the kind of film that pops up below the radar and stays with you a long. long time. Little Children tackles the issue of loneliness that comes from a troubled marriage. This happens in the context of a registered sex offender that moves into the neighborhood, where Patrick Wilson and Kate Winslet are the the primary caregivers of their 3-year-olds. Both have been largely unsuccessful in their own lives and are needier than what their partners are providing. Thus, they end up in a relationship of great intensity and satisfaction. Will they end up together? Can they?

The film is not without its problems, and the elements don't always end up in a clear whole. The acting does elevate the film. Wilson and Winslet give great performances, supported by equally strong performances from Jennifer Connelly and Jackie Earle Haley.

There's a lot to dwell on here. Since it was released theatrically, friends have been asking me whether I've seen it yet. Now I have. It makes sense that people want to talk about it. Part of the reason is that it raises issues that we all deal with and handles them in very compelling ways. Still, though, Little Children is not quite satisfying in that it gives us two lead characters who are largely aimless (he continues to take and fail the bar exam, she never finishes her dissertation) and fall into and maintain their relationship the same way.

La Vie En Rose

2007-09-03T08:05:00.000-04:00

Edith Piaf had moments of striking darkness and light. The bio-pic La Vie en Rose captures the tortured soul of Piaf. It takes risks that don't always pay off, but you always appreciate the risk-taking. Piaf is defiant and strong-willed, even as her frail body is wracked with pain. From the opening scenes, the film is a long march to "Non, je ne regrette rien,"

No one takes greater risks than Marion Cotillard, who gives an Oscar worthy performance as Piaf. She creates a character at once unlikable, lovable and genius. Piaf lived a hard life from her first days to her last. It's a complex portrait made all the more compelling by its physicality (or at times, lack thereof). Piaf was small and frail for most of her life. By the time she died at 47, her body was twisted from arthritis, a car crash and addictions. Cotillard brings all of this together in a performance the is never less than compelling, but is often more. She is at once harsh and vulnerable, steadfast and broken.

The film also takes risks by placing key events in Piaf's life out of chronological order. The film is not a straight biography in that it attempts to make connections among various events in Piaf's life by connecting them in the film. In fact, one major event in her life is not even foreshadowed until her last night and the last moments of the film. Does this work? Largely, yes. Piaf's life story is largely a mystery, so it works to bring things together in mysterious ways.

As film biographies go, Piaf's is one that is compelling and not well known, particularly in the U.S. La Vie En Rose is a worthy entry transported by an extraordinary performance.

Boy Culture

2007-09-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

The DVD release of Boy Culture has got me thinking about Q. Allen Brocka's work. I like it. While most of it is almost-direct-to-video gay niche filmmaking, there's a charm and guerrilla aspect that comes perhaps from (what feels like) 5-day shoots. Boy Culture tries to take that up a notch. It's a more serious film, with stronger production values and a greater focus.

X (Derek Magyar) is a hustler who's only able to have meaningless sex when he's compensated. Sex without money must be accompanied by love, and he struggles to commit. He's clearly in love (romantically) with his roommate Andrew (Darryl Stephens) and (paternally) with his other roommate Joey (Jonathan Trent).

Brocka pulls out a host of cliche's: X can only open up to one of his tricks, an older queen who only wants to talk--at least until X wants him for more than his money. X narrates the film with the patter of a film noir detective. X struggles with a gay culture in which sex is meaningless.

But along the journey, the film develops a point of view that makes the conclusion, not only satisfying, but inevitable and real. You feel for the characters. Their journeys, however cliche they might be, seem real, because they are so familiar.

Does Boy Culture work for a non-gay audience? I'm not so sure it will. It still screams niche, not universality but there are keen insights and the pathos might speak to a broader audience. For the gay crowd, definitely worth a look!

Once

2007-09-01T20:35:00.000-04:00

Once has been getting great reviews and is being held over for a gazillion weeks wherever it plays. I missed it when it came to Keene and had been contemplating a visit to Amherst where it's held over for 20 or so weeks. Now I've seen it and I can say without reservation...huh?

This is a slice of life meditation on the relationship of two people, "guy" and "girl," street musician and pianist immigrant, who meet and and negotiate a relationship as they write songs together. It is a sweet film, but unsuccessful for me on so many levels.

The characters are largely unappealing. Glen Hansard makes guy largely pathetic, a little stalkerish, amd rather unattractive. Markéta Irglová is more successful with girl, though she's shortchanged on the songs.

I've heard a number of people say that Once is how a film musical should be done. I was definitely in the minority here, but I found the music to be bland and uninteresting. Visually, the handheld effect was headache inducing.

Once screams to be taken seriously as art, as an art house film, and as a reinvention of the film musical. It fails on all accounts.

Superbad

2007-08-22T05:44:00.000-04:00

I don't get Judd Apatow films. Intellectually, I can appreciate how people would find his films funny. I can accept the argument that he has elevated comedy to a new level of intelligence. Freaks and Geeks was a favorite of mine during it's brief run on NBC. But his films--from The 40 Year Old Virgin to Anchorman--elicit barely a single laugh from me. The best I can say is that his films have touching resolutions that almost justify the blandness of the previous two hours.

Of course, none of that would stop me from seeing yet another Judd Apatow produced film. Superbad...strong reviews, appealing cast...This might be the one, right? Wrong. It kept me disinterested until the last moments. The thing is, I like a penis joke as much as the next guy. And the dozens of them in Superbad were clearly landing with the audience. But to what end?

The concept behind Superbad is the tried and true we're-going-off-to-college-we're-going-to-miss-each-other-terribly-and-oh-yes-we-need-to-get-laid teen-oriented, heartfelt comedy. Seth and Evan promise the objects of their affection--well, lust--that they will bring the booze to the super-awesome party that evening. Along with the wacky adventures of two teens trying to by alcohol, they get to process all of the feelings of two friends since childhood going to separate colleges. Throw in the equally wacky, though largely gratuitous, adventures of their pseudo-friend McLovin, and you get a typical teen comedy plus.

I must admit, I may have missed some of the dialog as "Guy Love" from Scrubs: the Musical kept playing louder and louder in my head. The "we're not gay, we're close" moments we're thankfully short, and the awkwardness of two straight guys who love each other trying to demonstrate affection for each other was only slightly forced.

What works is more a product of the sensitivity and finess of the three actors. Michael Cera has great subtlety and a sweet range of emotion; Jonah Hill is over the top, but mostly appropriately so--but he never made me laugh; Christopher Mintz-Plasse did. It's only seconds before CM-P is the new Jon Heder.

In the end, though I never quite got it, the last scenes make the film worth it. Though the plot is forced, the emotion feels real, and that makes the film's conclusion satisfying.

Mel on Mile High and Damages

2007-08-20T05:42:00.000-04:00

Can a show that has not a single likable character be good television? That's the question I've been asking myself since I finished the entire British series Mile High (39 episodes) and the first four episodes of the new Glenn Close legal drama, Damages. In both shows every character--from star to dayplayer--remains unlikable. Certainly, I prefer my drama to have characters that are troubled or morally flawed. But there's a difference between those types of characters and those where you say, "I'd never be friends with this lot. Not a one of them."

Mile High is a British series about...wait for it...flight attendants and pilots. The descriptions and many of the reviews would have you believe its Ab Fab in the sky, or something close to that. In actuality, the madcap adventures of the eight or so regular flight attendants and two pilots have dire consequences. Each character is judgmental and morally righteous, except when it comes to himself or herself.

Only four characters make it from the first episode to the last. At the end of Series 1, about half the cast is replaced with no explanation. At the end of Series 2, Part 1 there's another huge turnover, also with no closure. And the "shocking" finale--which is actually quite interesting in design--only gives us a satisfying end for two of the major characters.

The big problem with Mile High is that it takes a certain glee in how pathetic its major characters are. Will is almost every gay cliche thrown into a mix. He's a bitter, self-centered, manipulative, vindictive, sexually compulsive partyboy. Janis is a pathetic loaner who is a total bitch to cover her loneliness. Le Hann destroys every relationship she's involved in, because she is always suspecting and distrusting her partners. The show relies on tons of cliches, but never with irony or camp.

The thing is, the show held my attention for most of 39 episodes, even as I was actively hating it. Maybe it was because I constantly held out hope that someone would do something decent for honorable reasons. Maybe it was for the liberal display of naughty bits that British television does so well.

Damages also populates with a roster of unlikeable characters. Here, though, the promotional materials explain that they're complex characters. Therefore, it's okay that each is basically morally flawed (which, by the way, I generally like in a character), lying, cheating, mean, manipulative and potentially violent. Or at least willing to have others do violence on their behalf.

Damages is well written and the production values are top notch. The casting is superb, and Glennie's performance is complex and riveting. I continue to watch, but at the end of every episode I have to wonder what I see in the show.

In the end, I remain ambivalent about both shows. I'm glad to see them, but troubled and largely disengaged from them.