On Broadway: "Godspell" Returns

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 10:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Godspell
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Directed by Daniel Goldstein
Starring Hunter Parrish, Wallace Smith, Uzo Aduba, Nick Blaemire, Celisse Henderson, Morgan James, Telly Leung, Lindsay Mendez, George Salazar, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle

The amped-up Broadway revival of Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell spends too much time dumbing itself down, as if the material itself isn’t solid enough to attract new audiences 40 years after its premiere.

What’s strange is that a show originally conceived as a modern, timeless reworking of the story of Christ and his disciples has been reworked to try to remain contemporary. Although Godspell remains a joyful celebration filled with Schwartz’s engaging songs, Daniel Goldstein’s staging makes other errors.

For starters, the cast’s energy is wasted as they bounce around the small Circle in the Square stage as if practicing for a triathlon during the songs (which they may well be), thanks to Christopher Gattelli’s busy but uninspired choreography. When the performers are not running in and out of the stage area, they jump up and down on trampolines appearing from trap doors or bring audience members onstage for some cute interaction.

But where Godspell is most exasperating is during the many scenes that reenact the parables. Jesus told parables to simplify his lessons for the masses: these jokey and farcical reenactments not only further simplify stories already made simple, but dumb them down so much that they pander to audiences. Add to that the many pop-culture and topical references (Steve Jobs, Lindsay Lohan and Occupy Wall Street, for starters) and you have a musical begging for audience approval.

Schwartz’s tuneful rock songs sound harder but hallower performed by the production’s straight-ahead rock band (bass-drums-guitars): Schwartz’s music retains its appealing simplicity, for the most part,  although it’s too bad that the sweetly understated “Day by Day” has been turned into an “American Idol”-style audition.

Hunter Parrish makes a spirited pretty-boy Jesus, Wallace Smith a dashing John the Baptist and Judas, and the rest of the cast has enough spunk to keep up with them. Would that this new Godspell was as dynamic as its performers.

Godspell
Performances began October 13, 2011; opened November 7
Circle in the Square Theatre, 235 West 50th Street, New York NY
http://godspell.com

November '11 Digital Week II

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 14 November 2011 15:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week
Alleged (Image)
This sanitized dramatization of the famous Scopes monkey trial pits William Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow in a courtroom battle for the ages: evolution vs. creationism. The movie sides with the creationists, which is fine, but it presents a “fair and balanced” showcase hidden by a dull fictional romance.

Brian Denney (Darrow), John Thompson (Bryan) and Colm Meaney (H.L. Mencken) tower over weak material. The Blu-ray has an adequate image; no extras.

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 (Fox)
This middling adaptation of Ayn Rand’s massive novel, covering the first third of the book, will continue with two more parts. With a wooden cast playing Rand’s caricatures with little subtlety, warmth or humanity, Atlas certainly lives up to Rand’s attitudinizing.

Director Paul Johansson cannot make endless train scenes, wine-drenched business meetings and wide-open vistas from Colorado to Wisconsin cohere into anything involving. The Blu-ray image is stellar; extras comprise Johansson’s commentary, a making-of featurette and self-indulgent fan feature.

Blue Velvet (MGM)
David Lynch’s bizarre 1986 melodrama, an immediate “classic” upon its release, is little more than a meretricious literalization of the dark impulses that stir beneath red, white and blue American soil.

MGM’s pristine Blu-ray only underscores the shallow psychologizing, and Frederick Elmes’ garishly lit photography and amateur-night acting (especially Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell’s overdone bad guys) don‘t help much. Extras include a 70-minute retrospective documentary, outtakes, 50 minutes of unseen footage and Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert’s TV review (Ebert, bless him, disliked it).

Fanny and Alexander (Criterion)
One of The Criterion Collection’s best releases finally makes it to hi-def: Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 Swedish TV mini-series is five hours and 20 minutes’ worth of brilliance, the ultimate summation of his filmmaking genius.

Included are the original TV version, the universally praised three-hour theatrical version, and on a third disc, Bergman’s own two-hour on-set The Making of Fanny and Alexander, a 40-minute retrospective with interviews and an hour-long 1984 Swedish TV interview with Bergman. The Blu-ray image is luminous, needless to say.

In a Glass Cage (Cult Epics)
Agusti Villaronga’s unsettling 1983 debut tells its shocking story of a pedophiliac former Nazi guard, now in an iron lung, whose past exploits trigger the crazed fantasies of a young male nurse.

Tense scenes of psychological trauma sit alongside risible moments of physical torture, but Villaronga is apparently serious: his movie is a horrific traffic accident you keep watching despite the mayhem. The Blu-ray image is appropriately grainy; extras include Villaronga interviews and three Villaronga short films.

Mutiny on the Bounty (Warners)
Lewis Milestone’s 1962 remake of the classic adventure creeps along for much of its three-hour length: only its shimmering visuals distinguish it.

With a cast led by Trevor Howard as Captain Bligh and Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian, who leads the mutinous crew against Bligh (but not until the third hour!), there’s certainly much scenery chewing, but the movie is too bloated too much to work. The restored imagery looks absolutely first-rate on Blu-ray; extras include an alternate prologue and epilogue and several vintage featurettes.

Page Eight (PBS)
Playwright David Hare’s made-for-British-TV movie compellingly tackles the current post-Sept. 11 political climate with its story of a British agent who, being privy to secret documents that look bad for his country and the U.S., must make a decision based on ethics.

With a terrific cast--Bill Nighy as the hero, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Judy Davis, Saskia Reeves, Marthe Keller, Rachel Weisz and Alice Krige--Hare’s cerebral thriller is gripping throughout. The Blu-ray image is flawless; no extras.

The River Why (Image)
From David James Duncan’s impressionistic novel, this coming of age story, set among monumental Oregon locations, follows a fly-fishing family, seen through the eyes of the oldest son (Zach Gilford).

There‘s not much dramatic weight, although the girlfriend (a delightful Amber Heard) presents a nice distraction for the son and the viewer. The Blu-ray looks splendid; extras comprise cast and crew interviews.

13 (Anchor Bay)
This preposterous drama about men recruited (or forced) to play Russian roulette for bettors who watch  tries to conjure suspense from a “who cares?” scenario. What in The Deer Hunter was a metaphor for war’s randomness is used here as a crutch to prop up senseless violence.

An assortment of haggard actors (Mickey Rourke, Michael Shannon, 50 Cent, Ray Winstone, Jason Statham) lose out to shopworn material. The Blu-ray image is good; no extras.

Water for Elephants (Fox)
Based on Sara Gruen’s popular novel, this alternately gritty and shameless love story set in a traveling circus is distinguished by two performances: Robert Pattinson as the hero and Christoph Waltz as the villain. Too bad they’re hampered by a colorless Reese Witherspoon as the dastardly Waltz’s wife, who runs away with Pattinson.

Two out of three ain’t bad, and an always colorful Jim Norton provides his usual boost as a circus employee. The sparkling Blu-ray image looks superior in every way, especially in its deep blacks; extras include making-of featurettes, interviews and an audio commentary.

DVDs of the Week
Crime of Love (Raro Video)
Luigi Comencini made this propagandistic romantic tragedy in 1974 to illuminate the appalling workers’ conditions in Northern Italian factories. Two workers (the sympathetic Giuliano Gemma and Stefania Sandrelli) fall in love and plan to marry--despite she being Sicilian and he Milanese, apparently as bad as the Capulets and Montagues or Hatfields and McCoys--until she’s stricken by a disease caused by the factory’s conditions.

Comencini juggles his love story and agit-prop subplots with finesse, and when the movie becomes too strident, its two engaging stars are triumphant. Lone extra: film critic Adriano Apra interview.

Putty Hill (Cinema Guild)
Matt Porterfield’s artless portrait of a close-knit neighborhood on the outskirts of Baltimore has a truthful documentary feel. This meandering glimpse at people affected by a young man’s untimely death at least doesn’t condescend to them, although it feels padded even at 85 minutes.

Extras include Porterfield’s commentary, deleted scenes, a 30-minute making-of documentary, and Porterfield’s first feature, 2006’s Hamilton, with deleted scenes included.

Rush: Time Machine (Rounder/Anthem)
On its last tour, during which the Canadian power trio played its entire 1981 classic album Moving Pictures, Rush showed it can perform with verve and energy even after 37 years together. In this 2011 Cleveland show, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart perform 26 songs spanning their career from “Working Man” to the hard-hitting new tune “Caravan.”

The nearly three-hour set features healthy doses of the band’s offbeat humor (like its hilarious skits of its alternate history as “Rash”). Only quibble: too many audience shots; I’d rather watch Peart play than anonymous fans air-drumming. The sound is spectacular, the bonus skit outtakes are also amusing.

The Sleeping Beauty (Strand)
Catherine Breillat’s unsurprisingly feminist take on Perrault’s classic fairy tale is similar to her adaptation of the fable Bluebeard: she takes liberties to have it conform to her own ideas. Like in Bluebeard, there are fascinating cinematic moments that elucidate her point of view.

After Fat Girl, Breillat seemed to lose her way being provocative whether her material calls for it or not: after a few moribund movies, there’s something enervating about her breathing new life into familiar stories, regaining her form in the process.

CDs of the Week
Gabriel Faure, Complete Chamber Music for Strings and Piano (Virgin Classics)
This five-disc set collects all of Faure’s chamber works, composed over a half-century from his First Violin Sonata in 1876 until his final work, the autumnal, haunting String Quartet, composed in 1924 before his death at age 79. Played by veteran French musicians led by violinist Renaud Capucon, the exquisite refinement of Faure’s best works comes through loud and clear.

I have rarely heard a more riveting performance of the Second Piano Quintet, which I know backwards and forwards. If you have other recordings of Faure’s chamber music, this is an essential addition; if you don’t (and why not?), this is as good a place to start as any.

Steve Reich, WTC 911 (Nonesuch)
If Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11 Quartet isn’t the last word on that devastating  terrorist event, it uses a lot of last words in a striking sound collage that plays off the tensile sound of the Kronos Quartet and the electronically manipulated statements of people there on that fateful day (and shortly after).

One of Reich’s most personal and emotional works is all the more powerful for its brevity. Also included are his Mallet Quartet (which works better on the accompanying DVD, since you can watch the four performers) and the slight Dance Patterns.

NYC Theater Roundup: Waterston's Dubious 'Lear'; Cultural Clash in 'Chinglish'

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 09 November 2011 20:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

King Lear
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by James Macdonald
Starring Sam Waterston, Enid Graham, Michael McKean, John Douglas Thompson, Kelli O’Hara, Kristen Connolly, Bill Irwin

Chinglish
Written by David Henry Hwang
Directed by Leigh Silverman
Starring Jennifer Lim, Gary Wilmes, Angela Lin, Christine Lin, Stephen Pucci, Johnny Wu

As William Shakespeare’s supreme achievement, King Lear is also supremely difficult to do right. As we’ve seen in New York in the past 15 years, worthy actors like Christopher Plummer, Kevin Kline, F. Murray Abraham and Derek Jacobi have disappointed in the most weighty title role in all of Shakespeare. So how does Sam Waterston do in his first Lear?

Not that well, unfortunately. Waterston begins badly during a cutesy opening scene where he sneaks up on his assembled subjects, then proceeds through odd, shrill line readings, annoying mannerisms and distracting tics. Although he improves later--his final scene with daughter Cordelia’s lifeless body is emotionally draining--the role’s tragic pathos eludes him, and Shakespeare’s stark, pitiless vision becomes mere bumpy melodrama.

Director James Macdonald also deserves blame for allowing Waterston’s unfocused Lear and Bill Irwin’s train wreck of a Fool to rob Shakespeare’s most psychologically complex scenes of their power. Otherwise, Macdonald deserves praise for his shrewd pacing (including effective use of the old trope of starting a new scene as the current one is ending) and cleverly using the production’s chain-mail curtain--which clanks annoyingly throughout the first half--by dropping to the floor in a heap when no longer needed.

Macdonald also shapes a respectable supporting cast: Enid Graham and especially Kelli O’Hara are forceful as Lear’s double-crossing daughters Goneril and Regan, Kristen Connolly is a sweet-tempered Cordelia, John Douglas Thompson a well-spoken Kent, and Michael McKean an eminently noble Gloucester--I’d like to see Laverne and Shirley’s Lenny, of all people, take his own stab at Lear one day.

Dislocation dominates David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, a lighthearted seriocomic look at American-Chinese relations in the 21st century. Our complex global economy backdrops this witty story of an American businessman, Daniel Cavanaugh, who tries to get the leaders of the “small” (population: four million) Chinese town of Guiyang to agree to his proposal for properly translated signage at the new International Cultural Center.

Daniel finds that conducting business in China goes beyond simply correct translation. His translator/agent, a British teacher named Peter Timms who has been in China for 19 years, helps him navigate the maze of ministers but can’t help when Daniel has an affair with vice minister Xi Yan, who has her own reasons for helping an unknown American.

Hwang, who wrote the Tony-winning Best Play M. Butterfly in 1988, nimbly balances funny asides of breakdowns in communication--including hilarious mistranslations showing the difficulty in keeping partners on the same wavelength in business or the bedroom--with a serious exploration of today’s cutthroat business. Hilarity ensues when the Chinese discover Daniel worked at Enron; instead of ending negotiations, it raises their esteem of him as part of the biggest corporate failure in U.S. history.

Leigh Silverman’s fast-moving staging keeps such miscommunication bubbling, and David Korins’ wonderful set comprises three separate locations that are changed quickly and pointedly to visualize the atmosphere of disconnect. The excellent cast is led by Gary Wilmes, nicely understated as Daniel, the Cleveland native in his first deal abroad, and Jennifer Lim, masterly as the inscrutably inviting Xi Yan.

The lone quibble is the play’s lack of an ending; it simply comes to a halt. But that too is in keeping with Chinglish’s inventive study of a communication breakdown.

King Lear
Previews began October 18, 2011; opened November 8; closes November 20
Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY
http://publictheater.org

Chinglish
Previews began October 11, 2011; opened on October 27
Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th Street, New York, NY
http://chinglishbroadway.com