Off-Broadway drama cast with characters to savor
Summary and thoughts:
Dramatic plays have been my favorite stage craft. In this era they are drowned out by musicals, but some digging may uncover a gem.
The shiny object drawing me to Party Face is Hayley Mills, who acquired fame in movies as a child. A handful of partners glow equally under these lights, each a unique character. Six actresses give a solid effort.
Continue reading Party Face -Drama
Those grounded without choice meet those grounded with character.
Summary and thoughts:
This is a musical to be seen and a story to be known. The non-stop performers wonderfully portray the actions of plain and plane folk under extraordinary stress.
The term “Come From Away” refers to the unexpected influx of 38 aircraft with nearly 7,000 international passengers to Gander, Newfoundland, diverted there September 11, 2001. The Canadian town’s population is only slightly greater than the guest list, but it has one out-sized asset and discovers another.
Continue reading Come From Away -Musical
> > > humor on < < <
Paris: The City of Light
-Les Mis tour: Not enough light.
Les Misérables aficionados talk about it “24 / 7”
-Les Misérables fanatics rave about it “2,4 / 6,0,1”
> > > humor(?) off < < <
“Les Misérables” returned to the DPAC stage in early February, more familiar and more reliable than any groundhog (American cultural reference for February). This show is partly spectacle, reminding me that it was the first on Broadway to stun me with its staging. It is mostly classic musical theater, reminding me that I’m not a pure fan of that genre (see below). This night there was much to like.
Continue reading Les Misérables -Musical
Rise up! And fall back in your favorite chair while “Risen” brings back an era of making movies you thought had passed. This film uses dialog, setting, story and scenery like those of the 1950s or early 1960s. Kirk Douglas could have fittingly walked across the landscapes leveraged very effectively in this 2016 film.
Don’t be surprised when you’re not surprised, for you know Yeshua’s story of rising after three days in a tomb. Don’t be picky about the depictions of your favorite apostle. Don’t berate the Biblical scenes you’ve always imagined to be somewhat different.
Do, perhaps, wonder why this film is in color. Do appreciate the orderly story telling by writer/director Kevin Reynolds, who made the intensely scenic but far more chaotic Waterworld twenty-one years earlier. Do, certainly, enjoy a relaxing evening with “Risen.”
*(star) rating in the title is mine; e.g. 7*=Seven Stars (maximum 10)
It was supposed to be a slam ‘dunk’ but I’m more ‘irk’ed!
History has one spectacular story. Writer/Director Christopher Nolan gums it up by knitting three together like a loosely woven afghan throw with holes everywhere. Give me Occam’s Razor and CUT! That is, if there are many ways to explain something, the simplest one is usually better. “Dunkirk” is not that.
Yes, I see the inspiration of Winston Churchill’s policy speech,
“… It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air …” Continue reading 4*; Dunkirk
Why see it:
–The best touring talent I can imagine
-Upbeat entertainment for fans and families
-Broadway on tour, not an imitation
-Not necessary to know their music
Summary and thoughts:
The “Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical” roared into the Durham (NC) Performing Arts Center like the winter storm that booked the same week here. But this stage spectacle won’t leave you cold.
Continue reading On Your Feet! -Musical
The last day of the year was spent like January 1, 2017: in a movie theater. This time the topic was Winston Churchill’s early days as Prime Minister of Great Britain, a most worthy subject.
Mr. Churchill is quite a character who overcame much and showed leadership at a critical time despite lapses of cooperation and strong opposition (not just from Hitler). Those aspects are captured without moving outside its knitting into typical Hollywood fare (unnecessary explosions, chases, etc.). I appreciated that. Continue reading The Darkest Hour (2017) -Oldman, L. James
“The Quartet” by Joseph Ellis
“four men made history happen in a series of political decisions and actions that … have no equal in American history.”
“When in the course of human events” it becomes you to rediscover roots formed in the 1700s that, of necessity, must hold firmly to be the foundation of these United States, this book is to be examined.
Historian and writer Joseph Ellis finds a comfortable place employing more drama than a typical professor and factual stickiness when a playwright or screenwriter might come unglued. He leverages his own prior work as well as “standing on the shoulders of giants” that have traipsed this historical period. His story builds strength, then gushes with maximum content and consequence as chapter five covers the drama of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and particularly the orchestration around that event by James Madison. Continue reading Book Report: “The Quartet”
Maggie’s Dream – by Leslie Tall Manning
Author Manning quickly and crisply sets the stage, establishing the view from inside the title character’s head. Scene setting is terrific, with the writer clearly and consistently establishing who, what, when, and where. Her prose hearkens the time period using images of life in 1940s Baltimore and oft-forgotten brand names.
The confused Maggie of Chapter 3 faces uncertainty, saying, “It’s hard to know what I want when I haven’t had it yet.” The path to finding that core desire captivates the reader until she declares for “A life filled with magic and wonder.” Maggie lives before any Disneyworld dream, but Manning magically marshals vibrant visions in the heroine’s head. Continue reading Book Review: “Maggie’s Dream”
Look Homeward, Angel– by Thomas Wolfe
Look Homeward, Angel is considered a great work of American literature. Yet, paraphrasing the author to describe this novel and the days I spent in it:
I usually enjoy descriptive prose and creative turn of phrase, but a novel ought to have a sufficient story to which those elements are attached. I did not find that story in this introspective on the author’s youth.
Continue reading Book Review: “Look Homeward, Angel”
"Across My Spectrum" 