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Philadelphia Orchestra "Climb" at Carnegie Hall

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Tuesday, 28 December 2021 16:11
Written by Jack Angstreich

Yannick Nézet-Séguin & The Philadelphia Orchestra, photo by Pete Checchia


At Carnegie Hall on the evening of Tuesday, December 7th, I attended the memorable, penultimate concert in the complete cycle of the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven performed by the excellent Philadelphia Orchestra under the remarkable direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

 
The program began promisingly with a rewarding account of the less commonly played Second Symphony in which a grave introduction preceded a spirited Allegro con brio. The lovely Mozartian Larghetto was followed by a frolicsome Scherzo, concluding with an eccentric but gripping finale. 
 
The symphonies were separated by a short, recent commission by the ensemble, Climb by Jessica Hunt, which was written in dialogue with Beethoven, but which didn’t leave a very strong impression on a first hearing. The composer was in the audience, however, to receive the audience’s acclaim. Especially impressive, though, was a superb reading of the magnificent ‘Eroica’ Symphony which opened with a dramatic Allegro con brio. The extraordinarily powerful funeral march movement that ensued proved to be the highlight of the entire evening but the excitement continued with a rousingScherzoand an enthralling finale. 
 
The last concert in the series—on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022— features the Haydnesque First Symphony as well as the titanic Ninth.

Broadway Musical Review—“Mrs. Doubtfire”

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Friday, 24 December 2021 14:18
Written by Kevin Filipski
Mrs. Doubtfire
Music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick & Karey Fitzpatrick
Book by Karey Fitzpatrick & John O’Farrell
Directed by Jerry Zaks; choreography by Lorin Latarro
Opened December 5, 2021
Stephen Sondheim Theatre, 123 West 43rd Street, NY
mrsdoubtfirebroadway.com
 
Rob McClure in Mrs. Doubtfire (photo: Joan Marcus)


A big, blustery mainstream musical, Mrs. Doubtfire is as audience-pleasing as the 1992 Robin Williams movie it’s based on. Even more so than the blockbuster film, the stage musical is a drag show in all but name: unlike in the movie—where most of the time, Williams isn’t shown becoming the middle-aged Scottish nanny—Rob McClure, the physically adroit actor who engagingly plays the title role, is often onstage doing his quick-change act right in front of us, thanks to much clever sleight of hand in Jerry Zaks’ frenetic, sometimes even frantic production.
 
To be sure, there’s the question of whether the source material, a sentimental comedy about newly divorced actor Daniel’s ruse to stay close to his three children by becoming their nanny after his ex-wife Miranda decides she has to have one, needs musicalizing. And there are several moments throughout the show where the story stops dead so that someone can sing a song that doesn’t really propel things forward. (The creaky, formulaic tunes are written by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, and the by-the-numbers book is by John O’Farrell and Karey.)
 
Of course, some of the best moments in any musical are simple showstoppers, and Mrs. Doubtfire has one. “Make Me a Woman,” in which Daniel’s brother Frank and his partner Andre—by a happy coincidence, they are makeup and costume artists—begin Daniel’s transformation. The song gleefully showcases the redoubtable Brad Oscar and J. Harrison Ghee in all their campy glory, then turns problematic as the men discuss whom Daniel will look like: the attractive Lady Di or Cher or Donna Summer or the supposedly “unwomanly” Janet Reno, Julia Child and Eleanor Roosevelt. 
 
We get a parade of all of these women, set to a throbbing disco beat, and the joke is that there’s no doubt whom he resembles as the unfeminine Euphegenia Doubtfire (hint: not Di, Cher or Donna). Unsurprisingly, thanks to Zaks’ snappy directing and Lorin Latarro’s energetic choreography, “Make Me a Woman” gets the biggest ovation of the entire show.
 
Happily, there’s more to Mrs. Doubtfire than such audience pandering. There’s a polished and professional ensemble supporting the comically impeccable performance of McClure, who may be the only actor on Broadway who comes within shouting distance of Robin Williams’ verbal and physical facility (McClure's superb portrayal of Charlie Chaplin several years back clinches it). Jenn Gambatese—who, in the Sally Field role of Daniel’s ex Miranda, has the most thankless straight-woman task—has an agreeable charm, while Analise Scarpaci, as Lydia, the eldest of the three children, deserves the spotlight she gets in her solo songs, which she effortlessly blasts out of the park.

A Unique All-Faith Holiday Show Presented by the Indie Collaborative Filled The Bruno Walter Auditorium Stage This Month

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Wednesday, 22 December 2021 20:14
Written by Brad Balfour

Syreeta Thompson


All Faiths Holiday Show
New York City
December 8, 2021
Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center
111 Amsterdam Avenue (between 64th-65th St.)
New York, New York 10023
Produced by Eileen Sherman and Grant Maloy Smith

Emcee: Grant Maloy Smith

When the Indie Collaborative held its all-faiths holiday show at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, I fulfilled my desire to attend a seasonal live show before the year’s end. On Dec. 8, 2021, from 7-8:30 pm, the show featured more than 20 award-winning Indie Collaborative artists presenting their music. Meant for all ages and faiths, it celebrated the diversity of our seasonal celebrations. Produced by co-founders Eileen Sherman and Grant Maloy Smith — with Smith emceeing — the eclectic cast included jazz trumpeters, former Stomp performers, stars of stage and a lively ukulele aficionado.

Founded in 2015, The Indie Collaborative has become a vehicle for independent musicians and industry professionals (actors, poets, writers, dancers, make-up artists, producers, photographers) to connect with others in the creative arts. It puts on several kinds of events, from showcases to curated shows produced with members. There are chapter meetings and social events for its membership which includes over 2,000 collaborators from around the globe. Membership is free. There are only two requirements — be an industry professional and be dedicated to excellence in the arts.

The jazz community had a significant presence at this all-ages interfaith musical salute to Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and the New Year. Jazz musicians Alex Otey, Nicole Zuraitis, Syreeta Thompson, Lucy Kalantari, Charu Suri, and The Levels were all part of a great cast of performers on the Bruno Walter stage.

Women musicians were a large part of the show as well. Jazz bandleader, recording artist Zuraitis is the premiere vocalist of the world-famous Birdland Big Band and for Dan Pugach Nonet, who were Grammy-nominated for their arrangement of Dolly Parton's “Jolene." She assembled an all-star female ensemble to record her project “Generations of Her: Women Songwriters and Lyricists of the Last 100 Years” while working on her sixth album as a leader.

Trumpet Lady Thompson is a Billboard Number 1 Album Topper with an upcoming documentary, “Blow Yo Horn”. She kicked off the event by displaying a vigorous demonstration of her instrumental mastery. Uke master Kalantari is a two-time Grammy Award Winner in Children’s music category with a new album, “What Kind of World” coming out with her group The Jazz Cats. Her rousing performance was full of energy and engaged the audience with an energetic sing-along.

In addition, multi-award-winning classical pianist and world music artist, Charu Sur performed a challenging composition combining jazz with ragas from her native India.

Also on stage were popular New York cabaret and soap opera actress Grace Garland as well as award-winning classical flutist and symphonic performer Joanne Lazzaro, Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize winner. Then add featured Broadway violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Drama Desk Winner and one of “Broadway’s Best” Rachel York and IDEA Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award winning performer and producer Yocontalie and you have an amazing set.

Internationally acclaimed hip-hop, R&B, jazz, Latin, and Afrobeat group Levels combine two cast members of Stomp, an American Idol finalist, and two Italian music virtuosos to yield one energetic and stimulating performance. Then there was Billboard Top 10 American Roots recording artist Smith who brought in an emotional and touching rendition of two songs including “On This Day” and ““Christmas Eve in Times Square USA”.

The show’s grand finale brought everyone together as the entire cast on-stage performed a Smith classic “We’ll Stay Together” with lyrics in the program for audience sing-along. All told, the concert displayed an amazing array of talents and good work from Indie Collaborative members. What a way to close out a complicated year.

December '21 Digital Week IV

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Tuesday, 21 December 2021 22:59
Written by Kevin Filipski
In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week 
The Velvet Queen 
(Oscilloscope) 
A film that begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, directors Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier’s exploration of the Tibetan steppes—a bleak, imposing area teeming with dozens of photogenic creatures, including (if you is able to see one) the elusive snow leopard—is crammed with breathtaking images as well as existential insights by Munier and his partner, travel writer Sylvain Tesson, about stillness in a world of constant movement.
 
 
The stunning photography—particularly of the moments in a heavy snowfall where one can make out, gradually and just barely, the outlines of a few reclining animals—makes this a singular, memorable journey into one of earth’s remotest regions.
 
 
 
 
 
Joy Womack—The White Swan 
(Film Movement)
In this impassioned study of a young American ballet dancer, the first non-Russian to graduate from the Bolshoi’s training program, directors Dina Burlis and Sergey Gavrilov get up close and personal with an artist following her own path despite the skepticism of some of those in charge that she’ll be able to dance “like a Russian.”
 
 
Womack’s story doesn’t unfold she hopes and expects—her marriage to a Russian dancer, partly one of convenience, ends, as does her association with the Bolshoi—but Burlis and Gavrilov’s intimate documentary still shows Womack in the midst of a burgeoning career.
 
 
 
 
 
Blu-ray Releases of the Week 
Ivanhoe 
(Warner Archive)
Nearly everything is in place in this 1952 adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s classic—the lustrous photography, the colorful sets and costumes, the rousing Miklós Rózsa score, and stars Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Fontaine—except for the script, which drags down the epic proceedings with insipid dialogue and meandering plotting.
 
 
Still, director Richard Thorpe and cinematographer Freddie Young make it all look ravishing—particularly in Warner Archive’s sparkling hi-def transfer—and the Taylors and Fontaine make it all credible and entertaining. The lone extra is an archival Tom and Jerry cartoon, The Two Mousketeers.
 
 
 
 
 
Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection 
(Film Detective)
This boxed set comprises a quartet of Sherlock Holmes mysteries from the 1930s—Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour (1931), A Study in Scarlet (1933), The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) and Silver Blaze (1937)—none of which are particularly enticing but for fans of the famed detective should be diverting enough.
 
 
Although the four B&W films are newly restored, they are all showing their age; the extras are a nice mix: commentaries on all the films, restored Sherlock Holmes shorts, vintage cartoons and small cards of the original movie posters.

More Articles...

  1. December '21 Digital Week III
  2. Broadway Play Review—“Clyde’s” by Lynn Nottage
  3. December '21 Digital Week II

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