A big shout out to new CB Patron of the Arts, Danny Fleckman, in Houston, Texas who scored tickets for the CB's to see the new Broadway production of Gypsy (which got a rave review in the Times last week) when we go to the city in June. We saw a "cabaret" version of this production, which stars Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines, last year (along with an audience of incredibly handsome, albeit gay, men). Even that smaller staging blew us away, so we can't imagine how much better this production will be. Boyd Gaines is a CB favorite--we have also seen him in an incredibly moving production of Journey's End (probably our favorite drama of all we've seen), and in the recent production of Pygmalion with Claire Danes and Jefferson Mayes.
Thanks, Danny!!!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
CB's Update
So, not too much going on here in NH. Last week was our Sunday movie club. We saw a screening of a documentary called Young @ Heart. It follows the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northhampton, MA--average age is about 80. Their music goes against stereotype--they perform songs by James Brown, the Rolling Stones, Sonic Youth, etc. The director, who started the group over twenty years ago, is incredibly endearing and really great with all these surrogate grandparents, many of whom must overcome major health issues to participate. The seniors act like a group of teenagers (sounds like the CB's
behavior . . .) and
just enjoy the hell out of singing and being with the group. The documentary focuses on preparing new songs, not an easy endeavor, for a concert in their home town. Heart-breaking and heart-warming moments are balanced with the fun of hearing the group sing. One favorite scene is when they sing at a prison for a group of men (the oldest of whom looks to be about 35), and the prisoners are so touched by the performance. Definitely worth seeing.
Afterwards (since one movie is never enough) we saw Miss Pettigrew Saves the Day, and it was pretty frothy and silly. We are seeing Francis McDormand, who plays Miss Pettigrew (along with Morgan Freeman and Peter Gallagher) in Mike Nichols' Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' The Country Girl in June and are really excited about that. Haven't seen too many other movies worth talking about. My husband and I (yes, the Culture Buddies do go out with their husbands, too!) saw The Bank Job last week which was a well-done "caper" movie with lots of interesting twists and a great performance by the lead actor. The CB's saw The Other Boleyn Girl a couple weeks ago--it was actually better than we thought it would be, but still a pretty standard bodice ripper historical extravaganza. The CB's also caught the movie 21 with one of our 'boys to watch' Jim Sturgess from Across the Universe fame (which if you haven't seen, you should!) and the wonderful Kevin Spacey (who the CB's respect for bringing O'Neill back to Broadway). It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. Nothing exceptional, but it's always fun to see cardplayers on screen.
That's about it for now--we're really looking forward to our trip to NYC in May--there was a great article in the New York Times this week about the young guys who wrote one of the plays we'll be seeing, The Glory Days , a new musical getting a last minute run on Broadway from the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Can't wait!!
behavior . . .) andjust enjoy the hell out of singing and being with the group. The documentary focuses on preparing new songs, not an easy endeavor, for a concert in their home town. Heart-breaking and heart-warming moments are balanced with the fun of hearing the group sing. One favorite scene is when they sing at a prison for a group of men (the oldest of whom looks to be about 35), and the prisoners are so touched by the performance. Definitely worth seeing.
Afterwards (since one movie is never enough) we saw Miss Pettigrew Saves the Day, and it was pretty frothy and silly. We are seeing Francis McDormand, who plays Miss Pettigrew (along with Morgan Freeman and Peter Gallagher) in Mike Nichols' Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' The Country Girl in June and are really excited about that. Haven't seen too many other movies worth talking about. My husband and I (yes, the Culture Buddies do go out with their husbands, too!) saw The Bank Job last week which was a well-done "caper" movie with lots of interesting twists and a great performance by the lead actor. The CB's saw The Other Boleyn Girl a couple weeks ago--it was actually better than we thought it would be, but still a pretty standard bodice ripper historical extravaganza. The CB's also caught the movie 21 with one of our 'boys to watch' Jim Sturgess from Across the Universe fame (which if you haven't seen, you should!) and the wonderful Kevin Spacey (who the CB's respect for bringing O'Neill back to Broadway). It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. Nothing exceptional, but it's always fun to see cardplayers on screen.
That's about it for now--we're really looking forward to our trip to NYC in May--there was a great article in the New York Times this week about the young guys who wrote one of the plays we'll be seeing, The Glory Days , a new musical getting a last minute run on Broadway from the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Can't wait!!
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