Film & Arts - Film Festival Traveler

the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.

Connect with us:

You are here: Home

Film & Arts

Film and the Arts

January '22 Digital Week I

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Thursday, 06 January 2022 04:34; Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

The Many Saints of Newark

(Warner Bros)

Lambasted by reviewers and ignored by theater audiences—although it was by all accounts a streaming success on HBO Max—Alan Taylor’s Sopranos prequel chronicles the origins of Tony Soprano in a convoluted plot that tries too hard to be social commentary (it’s set partly during the 1967 riots in Newark) as well as a straightforward story of how Tony Soprano became Tony Soprano.

It’s certainly arresting to look at—and excessively violent, of course—and well-acted by Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga and Michela De Rossi, although Michael Gandolfini, who plays young Tony, is a bit stiff in the role his father made famous. There’s a first-rate hi-def transfer; extras comprise two featurettes and deleted scenes.

The Vampire Lovers

(Shout/Scream Factory)

Based on the oft-adapted novel Camilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, this 1971 flick is in many ways the quintessential Hammer Horror film, with no less than Peter Cushing starring alongside Ingrid Pitt, who plays a lesbian vampire who seduces willing young women (played by Madeline Smith, Kate O’Mara and Pippa Steel).

Director Roy Ward Baker conjures an eerie atmosphere in this fine, even distinguished “undead” entry. The film looks great on Blu-ray, while extras include three audio commentaries; audio essay on Carmilla read by Smith; Smith introduction and interview; interviews with film historians Kim Newman and Jonathan Rigby; featurette Feminine Fantastique–Resurrecting ‘The Vampire Lovers’; Pitt reads Carmilla; deleted opening segment; and featurette “New Blood: Hammer Enters The ’70s.”

Zaza

Rusalka

(Unitel)

These early 20th century operas were big hits after their premieres, but only one has remained in the repertory in the 100-plus years since. Italian Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Zaza has pretty much disappeared, but as this beautifully sung 2020 Vienna production shows, it has enough romance, drama and memorable melodies to score; Svetlana Askenova is wonderful in the title role.

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s greatest stage work, Rusalka, is adored for its lustrous music, especially “Song of the Moon,” sung luminously by soprano Asmik Grigorian, who, along with a superb supporting cast and orchestra, nearly makes one forget the silly staging by director Christof Loy. Both operas have superior hi-def video and audio.

DVD Release of the Week

Dvořák’s Prophecy—A New Narrative for American Classical Music

(Naxos)

This fascinating series of films by music scholar Joseph Horowitz uses Czech composer Antonin Dvořák (see above review of his opera Rusalka) as a jumping-off point for an exploration of several avenues of American music, beginning with Dvořák’s own wondrous Ninth Symphony, which was built on themes from various American musical strains.

The other films delve into music as varied as iconoclast Charles Ives, film composer Bernard Herrmann, and mainstream master Aaron Copland. Alternating his own analysis with commentary from other eminent music figures like writer Alex Ross and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conductor JoAnn Falletta, Horowitz’ series is often illuminating and always entertaining.

CD Release of the Week

Lord Berners—A Wedding Bouquet

(Naxos)

British composer Lord Berners (1883-1950), who wrote music that was the last word in stylishness and wit, created several dazzling ballet scores—like The Triumph of Neptune, a sophisticated work that was released on Naxos last summer—but A Wedding Bouquet may be his most audacious, especially as heard in this thrilling 1996 recording by the RTE Sinfonietta and Chamber Choir under conductor Kenneth Alwyn.

Set to a typically dense text by Gertrude Stein and originally choreographed by Frederick Ashton in 1936, Bouquet is Berners at his considerable best. As a bonus, another fresh, tuneful Berners ballet, Luna Park, makes this an enticing, must-have disc, whether or not you’re already on the composer’s charming wavelength.

New York Pops Put on Christmas Spectacular

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Tuesday, 04 January 2022 15:22; Written by Jack Angstreich

Kelli O'Hara sings with the New York Pops. Photo by Richard Termine

At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Friday, December 17th, I had the extraordinary privilege to attend a fabulous Christmas concert entitled “Back Home for the Holidays,” splendidly performed by the terrific New York Pops orchestra under the accomplished direction of Steven Reineke and featuring the glorious Broadway soprano, Kelli O’Hara, here replacing the originally scheduled Laura Benanti. This was the ensemble’s first appearance on this stage in twenty-two months.

The program opened pleasurably with a Holiday Overtue, a medley of Christmas songs including “Deck the Halls” and “Good King Wenceslas.” O’Hara then took the stage—looking gorgeous in a sumptuous red gown (sent to her by Benanti) with a plunging neckline—to exquisitely perform the classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” into which, enchantingly, was interpolated a verse from the sublime “The Christmas Waltz” by Jules Styne with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. She amusingly commented about replacing Benanti that “It’s a such a big sacrifice for me to sing at Carnegie Hall” before singing a memorable version of the magnificent “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane written for the beloved film Meet Me in St. Louis by Vincent Minnelli, where it was performed by Judy Garland. O’Hara sang the arrangement used by the legendary Barbara Cook with whom she had shared the stage in her (O’Hara’s) first Carnegie Hall appearance and in her previous concert at this venue which was Cook’s last public performance. She followed this with the superb “I Wonder as I Wander” by Appalachian composer John Jacob Niles.

The ensemble then played the delightful “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and the famous, traditional English Christmas carol, “I Saw Three Ships,” in a beautiful arrangement by Matthew Jackfert, who was in attendance. A wonderful version of the familiar “Carol of the Bells” preceded the return of O’Hara to the stage in a lovely dark green gown in which she sang “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” She then performed “A Place Called Home” by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens and the charming “Man with the Bag” in a jazzy arrangement, closing the first half of the program.

The second part of the concert opened with the ensemble playing “Jingle Bell Rock,” made famous by Bobby Helms in 1957, the traditional Hanukah song ”Behold the Lights” in an arrangement featuring extensive passages highlighting the English horn, and a jazzy version of Irving Berlin’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” O’Hara reappeared in an attractive sparkly and silvery Oscar de la Renta gown to sing “Winter Wonderland” in a way reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald’s classic studio recording followed by Mel Tormé’s “A Christmas Song” in another arrangement used by Cook. Broadway singer Brandon Michael Name, in his Carnegie Hall debut, then joined O’Hara for a duet of Berlin’s “Count Your Blessings” from White Christmas. He then sang alone Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” which was followed by a brief instrumental medley including “Jingle Bells” and a short interlude featuring Santa Claus! O’Hara returned to the stage, wearing a whitish or maybe peach gown, to conclude the evening—in a vocal tour de force—with “O Holy Night” by Adolphe Adam, a composer most famous for the score for the ballet Giselle. O’Hara and Nase sang “Auld Lang Syne” by Robert Burns as a moving encore.

Philadelphia Orchestra "Climb" at Carnegie Hall

Details: 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”

Details: 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.

Subcategories

Page 90 of 543

Newsletter Sign Up

Upcoming Events

No Calendar Events Found or Calendar not set to Public.

Tweets!

Tweets by @FilmFestTravel