Theater Roundup: Four Off-Broadway Shows

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 22 November 2011 20:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

All-American
Written by Julia Brownell; directed by Evan Cabnet

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays
Written by Mo Gaffney, Jordan Harrison, Jeffrey Hatcher, Moisés Kaufman, Neil LaBute, Wendy MacLeod, José Rivera, Paul Rudnick and Doug Wright; directed by Stuart Ross

The Atmosphere of Memory
Written by David Bar Katz; directed by Pam MacKinnon

Burmese Days
Written and directed by Ryan Kiggell; adapted from George Orwell’s novel

In All-American, Julia Brownell takes an implausible situation--wispy Katie is the starting quarterback on a powerhouse high school football team, her sights on a college and pro career--and uses it as a study of a family in crisis: father Mike, a retired pro QB, now lives vicariously through Katie’s talent; mother Beth, now selling expensive homes, feels her real-estate job finally provides the self-confidence and self-respect lacking as a mere football wife; and twin brother Aaron, as lanky as Katie but brainy, not athletic.

Brownell conjures many dramatic situations, like Mike’s insistence that Katie will break the NFL’s glass ceiling; Beth shutting her husband and children out of her current situation; Aaron’s social awkwardness until he meets another high school outcast, Natasha; or Katie wanting to stop playing football.

That’s too much for a 90-minute play to chew on, and Brownell nods toward complexity without ever achieving it. She writes for HBO’s clever but glib Hung, and All-American resembles a slick TV sitcom with every character improbably clever, always barking out snappy dialogue. Cramming so much into so slender a frame causes more than a few fumbles.

Under Evan Cabnet’s well-paced direction, an exemplary cast creates a plausible family dynamic, led by Meredith Forlenza’s appealing Katie and Harry Zittel’s Aaron, who raises teenage awkwardness to an art form.
       
Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, an amiable collection of mostly comic one-acts celebrating gay relationships, looks to recreate the off-Broadway success of Love, Loss and What I Wore with revolving celebrity casts giving essentially staged readings under Stuart Ross’s steady direction.

The difference, say Ceremony’s producers, is that the stories will revolve along with the casts. For now, the nine one-acts include two typically wacky Paul Rudnick farces, one typical Neil LaBute shocker (appropriately titled Strange Fruit) and an affecting Moises Kaufman monologue.

These and five other sketches are endearingly enacted by Harriet Harris, Beth Leavel, Polly Draper, Mark Consuelos, Craig Bierko and Richard Thomas; Thomas handles Kaufman’s London Mosquitoes with a touching effortlessness that earns commiseration and tears and makes the show’s frivolous wedding finale anti-climactic.
   
In The Atmosphere of Memory, David Bar Katz’s self-reflexive portrait of a playwright whose messy memories give him difficulties with his new work and with his own family, has good ideas so inadequately executed that the result is flippant wrongheadedness.

Katz presents large chunks of his protagonist Jon’s play-within-the-play as deliberately crude, vulgar and heavy-handed: unfortunately, much of Katz’s real play is equally absurd (one assumes not deliberately). The choppy, episodic structure swallows the characters whole, making them mere puppets moved around by both playwrights to suit their whims, precludes any revealing behavior or a shred of psychological insight.

Instead, Katz borrows emotional catharsis from another artist: John Lennon, whose powerfully personal song “Mother” is co-opted for his finale, ringing false in this context. It’s also unfortunate that Katz’s dialogue is riddled with mistakes like “hone in” for “home in,” “lay” for “lie” and misusing “comprise.”

Pam MacKinnon’s direction can’t coalesce disjunctive parts into anything resembling a whole, even as her cast tries rising above Katz’s stick figures. Ellen Burstyn retains her dignity as Claire, Jon’s actress mother, while the invaluable John Glover’s deadbeat dad Murray dominates whenever he’s onstage. This actor’s naturally gregarious personality makes the play(s) lopsided in ways that Katz and his protagonist surely never meant.
       
George Orwell’s novel, the picturesque Burmese Days, is a poor choice for a stage adaptation, especially in the bare-bones production that the Aya Theatre Company imported from England for an opening salvo in this year’s Brits Off Broadway Festival.

The talented cast of four men and two women swaps accents to enact over a dozen Brits and Burmese in Orwell’s absorbing story of imperialism and casual racism. The performers also double on visual and sound effects (impersonating a water buffalo or a leopard, making bird noises), but no one creates any compelling characters while busying themselves with the cleverness of Ryan Kiggell’s adaptation (Kiggell’s one of the actors).

Orwell’s racy writing survives in some narrated passages, but his story--playing out on gorgeous locations with colorful characters both human and animal--begs for widescreen epic film treatment a la David Lean, rather than this stripped-down staging.

All-American
Previews began October 24, 2011; opened November 7; closes November 19
The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, New York, NY
http://lct.org

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays
Previews began November 7, 2011; opened November 13
Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, New York, NY
http://standingonceremony.net

The Atmosphere of Memory
Previews began October 15, 2011; opened October 30; closes November 20
Bank Street Theatre, 155 Bank Street, New York, NY

http://labtheater.org/

Burmese Days
Previews began November 9, 2011; opened November 16; closes December 4
Brits Off-Broadway at 59 E 59
59 East 59th Street, New York NY
http://59e59.org

November '11 Digital Week III

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Tuesday, 22 November 2011 15:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week
Being Human: Complete 1st Season (e one)
There once were three roommates: a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf. (The show’s title is “ironic.”) Despite a trio of attractive leads--led by Meaghan Rath as the female specter-- this Canadian drama strains to replicate the fantastic success of the Twilight saga on a weekly basis.

Although the show does occasionally create an invitingly odd atmosphere, it doesn’t sustain the dramatics through this baker’s dozen worth of episodes. The Blu-ray image is excellent; bonus features include featurettes and interviews.

Bellflower (Oscilloscope)
A clumsy and confused attempt at exploring the misogynistic attitudes among young men today, writer-director-star Evan Glodell’s egomaniacal ride has intriguing performances (notably by actresses Jessie Wiseman and Rebekah Brandes) and Glodell’s own inventions like homemade flamethrowers and an impressive muscle car, but his self-indulgent film never develops anything remotely like an arresting or original point of view.

The low-budget visuals look excessively grainy in hi-def; extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes.

Farscape: The Complete Series (A&E)
In its four seasons, Farscape distinguished itself as intelligent sci-fi with a visual imaginativeness from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The innovative, indelible alien and outer space visuals are courtesy of an unbeatable combination of CGI effects, puppets and prosthetics--along with an excellent cast.

All 88 series episodes sparkle in HD, and the 20 discs feature hours of extras: a new retrospective documentary, Memories of Moya: An Epic Journey Explored; a behind-the-scenes special, Farscape Undressed; other featurettes and documentaries; audio commentaries, deleted and alternate scenes.

Flypaper (IFC)
This incredibly stale comic caper tries to keep viewers on their toes by switching villains and allegiances every few minutes, but only ends up wasting appealing performances by Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd. This bank-robbery flick also allows actors like Tim Blake Nelson, Taylor Pruitt Vince, Jeffrey Tambor and Mekhi Phifer to ham mercilessly, making it more difficult to trudge through as it continues.

Cleverness doesn’t automatically equal wit, as Flypaper mind-numbingly demonstrates. The hi-def image is decent enough; extras include cast interviews.

Main Street (Magnolia)
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this meandering character-driven drama is a pale imitation of playwright Horton Foote’s piercing human stories. Instead, it is a Foote screenplay, and it’s been lacklusterly directed by John Doyle, wasting a solid cast led by Amber Tamblyn, Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson and Colin Firth.

Well-done individual moments aside, Main Street never coheres into involving drama. At least its small-town atmosphere is nicely etched. The movie looks terrific on hi-def; extras are deleted scenes and an on-set featurette.

Pound of Flesh (Odyssey)
Poor Malcolm McDowell is caught in this laughless black comedy about a beloved professor who pimps out his female students to fellow teachers.

Aside from a bevy of gorgeous women and McDowell’s dry persona, Tamar Simon Hoffs’ movie is as forgettable and paper-thin as the previous film of hers I’ve seen: The All-Nighter (1987), which at least featured her then-famous daughter Susanna Hoffs in a bikini. The Blu-ray image looks muted; extras are a McDowell interview, on-set featurette and outtakes.

The Rules of the Game (Criterion)
Jean Renoir’s best film, this scathing satire of French aristocracy on the eve of World War II flopped in 1939; now it’s rightly considered one of the greatest films ever made, its humor and humanity undimmed.

The Criterion Collection’s brilliant Blu-ray release presents the movie in its gorgeous black and white splendor and keeps the extraordinary bonus features that made the original DVD release one of its most comprehensive: Renoir’s intro; audio commentary; interviews; excerpts from a French TV program and part of a BBC documentary; video essay on the film’s tumultuous history; and a comparison of its two endings.

Three Colors Trilogy (Criterion)
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s trilogy, based on the colors of the French flag, varies wildly in quality--the austere Blue, clunky White, weirdly colorless Red--with each starring a young French/Swiss actress (Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, Irene Jacob).

I prefer Kieslowski’s Polish films, culminating in the awesome Decalogue; contrarily, his fancy, elliptical French films are overrated misfires. The Criterion Collection, of course, gives the trilogy the deluxe treatment, from the splendidly grainy visuals to the plethora of extras (video essays/featurettes/interviews on each film and earlier Kieslowski shorts on each disc).

West Side Story (MGM)
The 1961 Oscar-winning Best Picture was this airborne adaptation of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s classic Broadway musical, which updates Romeo and Juliet to Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan. Director Robert Wise smartly lets Bernstein’s buoyant score, Sondheim’s clever lyrics and Jerome Robbins’ scintillating choreography fill the screen unadorned.

This hi-def edition scores with bright colors and film-like quality; extras, spread over two Blu-ray discs (a bonus DVD of the film is included), include Sondheim’s song commentary and several featurettes.

WWII in HD: Collector’s Edition (A&E)
This is an updated release of last year’s revelatory History Channel series that introduced stunning color footage rarely seen anywhere. The immersiveness of this intimate and brutal footage shot during the wars in Europe and Asia is as memorable as the classic World at War series.

In addition to 10 outstanding hours encompassing the entire war, this Blu-ray set also features two new programs: The Battle for Iwo Jima and The Air War.

DVDs of the Week
Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero (PBS)
This hard-hitting Frontline episode from 2002 takes the measure of fallout from September 11’s horrors by examining belief in God. The absorbing two-hour program shows how the events of that day pulled people in different directions, from losing faith in a God who would let such things happen to reinforcing belief that good ultimately triumphs over evil.

An epilogue presents discussion of the indelible image of a man and woman, holding hands, leaping from one of the towers, crystallizing beliefs either way.

It Takes a Thief: The Complete Series (e one)
Robert Wagner played the dashing thief who becomes an American intelligence agent in this classic spy series that ran from 1968-70. This ubiquitous 12-disc boxed set presents the complete series in 66 episodes, beginning with the engaging pilot, A Thief Is a Thief Is a Thief, starring Wagner and a beauteous bevy of international actresses: Senta Berger, Willi Koopman and Anita Eubank.

Other noteworthy episodes include Susan Saint James, Bill Bixby, Joseph Cotton, Peter Sellers and Bette Davis as guest stars. Included are extras like a Robert Wagner interview, numbered frame of 35 mm film, set of coasters and collectible booklet.

Rio Sex Comedy (Film Buff)
Jonathan Nossiter’s revealing documentary Mondovino was about the wonderful world of winemaking; his latest feature, set in Brazil’s most spectacular city, amusingly chronicles the wonderful world of sexual exploits of people in Rio who get involved with one another and with locals.

With a good international cast--Charlotte Rampling, Bill Pullman and a frequently nude Irene Jacob--Nossiter’s movie works as both sexy comedy and picturesque travelogue. Extras include 20-odd minutes of deleted scenes.

The Tree (Zeitgeist)
If overt symbolism is your thing, then Julie Bertuccelli’s diffuse account of a young widow whose life is literally uprooted by the huge fig tree that surrounds her and her children’s house is a movie for you.

The Tree does make extensive use of  splendid Australian outback landscapes, and the actors (especially Morgana Davies as a wise-beyond-her-years young daughter) are exceptional, but trowel-laden visual metaphors wear out their welcome, however superbly shot. Lone extra: 30-minute making-of featurette.

CDs of the Week
Helene Grimaud: Mozart (Deutsche Grammophon)
Many musicians return to the simple eloquence of Mozart after years of performing works by other composers, and French pianist Helene Grimaud (an incredibly youthful-looking 43) does just that on this wonderful disc of two of his greatest concertos: the sprightly No. 19 and more serious No. 23.

Grimaud’s idiosyncratic technique works wonders with Mozart’s straightforward elegance, and she’s equally good with his tasty concert aria “Non temer, scordi di te?”, in an exquisite partnership with the lovely-sounding German soprano Mojca Erdmann.

Joyce Yang: Collage (Avie)
There’s something special about a pianist whose artistry is so formidably wide-ranging that she can make any kind of music her own.

That’s what Joyce Yang does in her brilliant traversal of four centuries’ worth of keyboard masterpieces by Scarlatti (18th century), Schumann (19th century), Debussy (20th century) and contemporary composers Lowell Liebermann (late 20th century) and Sebastian Currier (21st century). Yang brings a superb balance of form and an improvisatory quality to all of these works.

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