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Another Rave for A CultureBuddy Favorite

(Ann) This article by Ben Brantley in today's New York Times just thrilled us. His admiration of John Douglas Thompson and his talent is wonderful and so well deserved. We look forward to seeing him in Antony and Cleopatra in Hartford this fall.

John Douglas Thompson

(Ann) John Douglas Thompson ,one of our favorite actors, is starring in Richard III in Lenox MA's Shakespeare & Company this summer. Leslie and I will definitely see this play later in the summer but in the meantime I wanted to share this wonderful interview with our readers.

He is getting rave reviews for his performance as Richard, and last week it was announced that he will be playing MacBeth in NYC in the spring.

The New York Times called him one of the greatest actors of his generation and we agree!

CultureBuddies In Training at In The Heights

(Ann) The CultureBuddies love it when our kids see Broadway shows so we started a CB Scholarship Fund to help buy tickets. The latest kids to take advantage of the fund were Sarah (Ann's daughter) and Josh who saw and loved In the Heights last night. See their Broadway caricature below.
Corbin Bleu - one the heartthrobs in the High School Musical movies - plays the role of Usnavi originated by the show's author Lin Manual Miranda. This is such a fun show with great music and dancing that it would be hard to imagine anyone not liking this show. It's on tour throughout the U.S. right now and Lin is playing the lead in the Los Angeles production.

Winter's Bone

(Ann) One thing I love about being in the city on a Friday morning is sitting over breakfast with the New York Times and checking out the movies that are opening that day. If a movie gets a rave review, often Leslie and I will go see an early showing. That is just what we did last Friday when we saw the rave review of the film Winter's Bone. We caught the very first showing at our favorite theater at Lincoln Center at 11:00.
This film tells the story of a seventeen year old girl who lives in the meth-dealing mountains of Missouri. Her father has put up the family home as bail and is now missing. They will lose their home unless he can be found, so Ree Dolly- played by the amazing Jennifer Lawrence- sets out to find her lost and possible dead father. She is forced to confront relatives who are meth dealers and producers and don't want anyone to know their secrets. This movie is a stark, moving coming of age tale of a girl who must confront her families' criminal subculture and the meaning of family in her life. The performance of this young actress is moving and amazing. I am predicting she will receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. This is a must see movie and one of the best the CultureBuddies have seen this year.

Memphis and Red

(Ann) Saturday we saw the matinee of Memphis which, after lukewarm reviews, has turned out to be a huge Broadway hit. It's an energetic musical about the birth of rock and roll full of rocking musical numbers and some very cool choreography. The leads are Chad Kimball and Montego Glover. Chad plays the Memphis DJ who falls in love with the Black singer Felicia played by Montego Glover. Both are very talented but Chad's southern drawl and slinking around the stage were a little weird and grated on me. He's got a great voice but the real star is the beautiful Montego who can really belt out a tune and has a stunning stage presence. It's an expensive Broadway show which is bringing in the audience in huge numbers but there is nothing really new or different about this show. The CBs enjoyed the choreography more than anything else about this so-so show.

Saturday evening's drama was the absolute standout of the trip. Red is playing at the Golden Theatre and is a fabulous play with amazing performances by the stars Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne. This drama,written by John Logan and coming to Broadway from a sold out run at the Donmar Warehouse in London, tells the story of two years in the life of painter Mark Rothko and Ken, a young man hired to be his assistant. Rothko, an abstract impressionist painter, has just landed the biggest commission in art history, to paint a series of murals for The Four Seasons Restaurant in NYC. The play takes place in Rothko's studio and shows him working on the huge canvases while discussing art and its place in society with his young, star-struck assistant, Ken. As the play progresses Ken becomes more vocal and there is a riveting scene when Ken confronts Rothko about the paintings which seem more like his undoing than his finest achievement. This is a not to be missed play which unfortunately cannot be extended on Broadway because of commitments that the actors have. This was one of the finest plays the CBs have seen in their five years of Broadway-mania!!

Everyday Rapture and Race

(Ann) Leslie and I met up in NYC to see the Tony nominated shows and performances that we missed on our other Broadway trips this season.

Everyday Rapture was a hit off-Broadway last year and came to Broadway at the 11th hour as a result of the cancellation of Lips Together, Teeth Apart. The show stars and is co written by the incredibly talented Sherie Rene Scott and tell the musical story of her career - she starred in Little Mermaid and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - and her early life as a Mennonite in Kansas. Scott grew up in a fiercely religious community with two loves--Judy Garland and Jesus. The conflict of being a performer in a community where all performers- including Mr. Rodgers- are viewed as sinners is the focus of the show. Sherie is a huge talent and sings with so little effort that it is amazing. She breaks out into a song in the middle of a sentence and makes it seem like the easiest thing in the world. Her story is amusing and well-told but the large American Airlines Theater seems like the wrong venue for this show.

Friday night we saw David Mamet's latest play - Race. The show has an all-star cast including James Spader, David Alan Grier, Kerry Washington and Richard Thomas. The reviews of the show were not the greatest but the theater has been selling out every night so we thought we should see it. Plus David Alan Grier was nominated for a Tony. We both found it to be an interesting, thought provoking look at the controversial issue of race. Spader and Grier are partners in a law firm and a wealthy white man accused of raping a Black woman is seeking their representation. Washington is an associate at the firm and is very sceptical of this client and does several things to undermine the case. The discussion of race and the trial tactics the attorneys plan to use to prove his innocence are very interesting. The plot has some gaping holes and Race is not Mamet at his best but it's a worthwhile 90 minutes.

We ended the day with a couple of Cosmos at Pigalle's where we talked about the play late into the night.

The end of a great week . . .

(Leslie) Our busy Sunday ended with American Idiot, a new rock musical based on the Green Day album starring Jon Gallagher, Jr.--a talented young actor/singer we've been following since he was in Spring Awakening four years ago. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day caused quite a buzz in the audience as did Paula Abdul (man is she tiny, and prettier than I thought . . .). The production was 90 minutes of non-stop music, interesting choreography, and incredible multi-media effects. We loved it! Jon Gallagher, Jr. was terrific, as were the other leads, especially Rebecca Naomi Jones in a star-making performance.

Monday we laid low and caught a performance of The Screwtape Letters, a provocative and funny adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view. The play follows the scheming a high level demon uses to entice a human toward damnation. Set in an office in hell, Screwtape (a wonderful performance by Max McLean) dictates letters to his reptilian servant, Toadpipe, that are sent to a young tempter-in-training. Together, they plot to capture the soul of an unwitting human through daily temptations. It was a really interesting night of theatre that capped off a great week in New York City.

A Busy Sunday in the City!

(Leslie) We left our hotel room yesterday at 9:30am and didn't get back until almost midnight . . a long day, but a fun one! We had brunch at Casey and Ben's new apartment in Long Island City, and we were both consumed with jealousy (and happiness for our boys) at the great spot they have landed in. It's a beautiful one-bedroom corner apartment on the 22nd floor with views of midtown Manhattan on one side and the river on the other. It's an amazing spot, and we enjoyed the yummy food and the terrific company.

We headed to Brooklyn to hang out and to see the afternoon performance of August Strindberg's The Creditors at the BAM--it was actually the last performance of a really well reviewed run. It was one of the best shows I've seen in our four years of immersing ourselves in NY theater. The three actors were nothing short of perfect and the play itself is incredible--it kept us on the edge of our seats from the start to the finish 90 minutes later.

The play slowly reveals the emotional and psychological relationships between a sickly young husband who adores his new wife, his much older wife, and a mysterious stranger who is not really a stranger at all. The climax of the play is so intense that when the stage lights went down, Ann and I realized we had both been holding our breath for quite awhile! We were so happy that we got a chance to see this production--there's talk that it might transfer to Broadway where I'm sure it will be a big hit. More coming from Ann on the rest of our day . . .

NYC - Day 4 - Saturday

(Ann) Saturday was a busy day with two shows--one on Broadway and one in Union Square--and lots of walking and people-watching to do. The city is very crowded on Saturday and after only 4 days in the city, we feel like natives and wonder why all these tourists are crowding the streets of 'our' city!

We saw the matinee of Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenowith. This show, based on the Jack Lemmon movie The Apartment, takes place during the carefree, sexist, cigarette-filled days of the 60's. The show is campy and fun and makes the most of its talented cast. Burt Bacharach's music is great, and Sean Hayes is adorable and funny as the lowly office worker who shares his apartment key with higher ups in the hopes of getting a promotion. He sings and dances with great skill and brings some fun physical comedy to the role. Kristen Chenowith plays his love interest (the Shirley MacLaine role in the movie), and she can sing like no one else. Saying that she has a great set of pipes is an understatement. The show's choreography is very creative, and the ensembles does a great job. The highlight of the show is a hilarious scene of Sean Hayes' character drunkenly picking up an equally drunk woman in a seedy bar. Katie Finneran is a blast in this role, and she definitely deserves her Tony nomination for Best Supporting Actress! Leslie and I had a great time at this good old-fashioned musical with some wonderful songs, awesome choreography, and many laughs. We recommend it!

After the show we took the subway to Union Square for some people-watching and relaxing before our evening show. We are great fans of John Douglas Thompson who we saw last season in Emperor Jones and whose career we follow closely. He and Diane Wiest are starring in the play The Forest at the Classic Stage Company on 13th Street. The play, written by

Alexander Ostrovsky in the mid-1800's, is an interesting Russian satire of a money-grubbing Russian aristocrat, played by Weiss, and a wandering tragedian actor (who also happens to be her nephew), played by Thompson, who exposes her hypocrisy. It had some good laughs and Thompson and Weiss got a chance to really show off their acting chops in such a small space. We waited to see John after the show and were greeted by this charming man as old friends. We walked to the subway with him and wished him luck during the upcoming awards season. He has already won the Obie (Off-Broadway's equivalent of a Tony) and is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor by the Drama Desk (which will be held next week). He is in some awesome company including Jude Law, Liev Shreiber, and Christopher Walken. We wish this fabulous actor the best of luck, and we look forward to seeing him this summer when he plays Richard III in the Berkshires.

NYC-Day Three . . .

(Leslie) On Friday, I initiated a new Culture Buddies event--the after breakfast nap . . . why didn't I think of that before? I was roused from bed by a surprise call from my ex-brother-in-law, Danny (from Houston), who was in the city on business. After I introduced Ann to Danny, she headed up towards Lincoln Center, and Danny and I had a nice time catching up over lunch. It was more than great to see him.

I met Ann at our favorite movie theatre in the city near Lincoln Center and we saw a great movie that was opening that day called Looking for Eric. The story centers on Eric Bishop, a middle-aged British postal worker whose life is a mess. After he reaches the breaking point, his former teammate, Eric Cantona, the real-life former star of the Manchester United soccer team, begins to appear to him at random times. This Eric becomes his confidant, his advisor, and, in a sense, his savior. We loved this movie, especially the scenes between Eric and his real-life "mates". We recommend that you catch this movie when it comes your way.

Our play on Friday night was the new revival of August Wilson's Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (Doubt). We recently saw this play at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, and this production shares the same director (and what looked to be the same set . . .). Ann had just finished a close reading of the play, so she especially looked forward to seeing this production. It was a thrill to see Denzel Washington on stage, and his portrayal of the lead character, Troy, brings out aspects of the character we had not considered before. It was Viola Davis, however, who stole the show . . . she is simply amazing in the role of Rose, Troy's long-suffering wife. Overall, though, we didn't feel the emotional punch this play should produce--perhaps largely due to a number of times where many in the audience responded with laughter and hoots and hollers to situations and lines of dialogue that can also be interpreted as pretty tragic. It was interesting, though, to try to see parts of this play in such a different way.

NYC--Day Two!

(Leslie) On Thursday, Ann decided to take it easy for the day and I went up to the Metropolitan Museum. So many great special exhibits to check out . . . "Picasso at the Met", "American Women"--a retrospective of women's fashion from 1890-1940 with some amazingly beautiful dresses, and "Big Bambu"--an ongoing installation of a huge bamboo structure on the roof that will eventually be 100 feet long and 50 feet high. I wasn't able to walk the structure because I didn't have the right shoes on, but will do so another time before it leaves in October when it will be closer to completion. What I loved the most, however, was an exhibit featuring "The Mourners"--40 or so alabaster figures that were carved between 1442-1446 for the tomb of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife. Each of the statuettes is about sixteen inches high and completely distinct and lifelike. Together they form a funeral procession in two rows that is simply stunning. I spent a lot of time studying each individual figure and was quite blown away by the beauty and intricacy of each.

Thursday night we went to see Ricky Gervais at Madison Square Garden. It was a blast--75 minutes of stand up from a very funny, very talented comedian. We had great seats, and it was really something to be in a theatre with 6,000 laughing people! Ann's son, Adam, met us for dinner afterwards and we finally called it a night around midnight. Another great day in the city!

The Culture Buddies Hit NYC!!

(Ann) We left Nashua bright and early and got to NYC with less than 15 minutes to spare before the start of our Wednesday matinee. We raced to the theater and made it right before the curtain went up on an amazing revival of The Glass Menagerie starring Judith Ivey as the controlling, once-grand Southern Belle Amanda Wingfield. She plays the role to perfection with all of her Southern charm masking a woman terrified about the future of her and her daughter. Her son Tom is played by Patch Darragh with more sensitivity and subtle allusions to his likely homosexuality than other productions we have seen. The play is done in a fresh and honest way, and it is a four star revival of this American classic. Judith Ivy certainly deserved her Tony nomination, as did the play for best Dramatic Revival.

After the play, we checked into our hotel and ate dinner next door at Pigalli's before heading off to see the revival of La Cage aux Folles around the corner. This revival stars Kelsey Grammer as the club owner, Georges, and the classically trained British actor Douglas Hodge as his transvestite boyfriend, Albin. This production is a must see. The music and dancing are great, but the biggest thrill are the performances by Grammer and Hodge. You can feel the love between these characters, and that transforms this show from a campy show into a love story. The performance by Hodge as Albin is amazing in its complexity. He goes from thowing a hissy-fit as a transvestite diva to being a caring mother to Georges' son without missing a beat. We loved this show, and so did rest of the audience who cheered on and on after the final curtain call.

May in the City

We have a busy trip to NYC planned for next week. Here is our itinerary and our reviews will follow:

Wednesday: Glass Menagerie and La Cage aux Folles
Thursday: Ricky Gervais at Madison Square Garden
Friday: Fences with Denzel!!
Saturday: Promises, Promises and The Forest (off Broadway)
Sunday: Creditors at BAM and American Idiot
Monday: The Screwtape Letters
Tuesday: Greyhound bus back to reality!

Congratulations Next To Normal

The CultureBuddies send their congratulations to Next To Normal for winning the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The CBs saw this show early in its run and loved it from the start. It is so smart and the music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey are brilliant. This show is now in the same league as the other Pulitzer Prize winning musical Rent- where it belongs!

Our Last Day :(

Sunday morning we had a yummy breakfast with our pals Casey and Ben at Pigalli's before checking out of our hotel and heading out to see Martin McDonagh's new play A Behanding in Spokane. It is an incredibly wierd and bizarre play full of black, irreverant humor. McDonagh is certainly a very unusual Irish playright with a wonderfully warped and creative mind!

The premise of the play is that Carmichael (Christopher Walken) has been searching for his missing left hand for almost half a century. The curtain opens to Walken sitting on the bed in a seedy hotel room, wearing a long black coat and holding a gun. Before long, he has shot at someone in the closet (Anthony Mackie from Hurt Locker), a very odd desk clerk (Sam Rockwell) who has heard the gun shot shows up, and a young girl (Zoe Kazan) barges in, throwing a severed hand on the bed. At this point, we each decided to just embrace the wierdness and sit back and enjoy the ride as it got more and more bizarre. Although Rockwell was great as the desk clerk with a strange sort of death-wish, Kazan and Mackie became a little annoying after awhile in the roles of a young (rather stupid) couple trying to pull a scam and ending up in the middle of craziness. When Walken was on the stage, however, everything fell oddly into place. It was definitely an experience to see him perform!

Saturday in the City

Saturday afternoon I went to see Sondheim on Sondheim (which Leslie had already seen on Monday), and Leslie headed over to The City Center to see a production of Hard Times, based on the book by Charles Dickens.

I really enjoyed the Sondheim show. Barbara Cook is such an icon of musical theater that it was wonderful to see and hear her in person. Vanessa Williams makes singing Sondheim's lyrics seem like the easiest thing in the world. She is a wonderful performer. I was surprised with the voice of Tom Wopat of Dukes of Hazzard fame, Since we have seen several of Sondheim shows in the last couple of year, it made the show even more enjoyable. On my way out of the theatre, I walked for several blocks with a musician from the show who told me that the show will be undergoing lots of changes in the upcoming week of previews with several songs cut and new ones added. He said the show is getting tweaked constantly at this point. I asked him if Vanessa was really as beautiful in person as she looked from the mezzanine and he said she looks even better! Sondheim is a national treasure and it is really wonderful to see him honored with a show during his lifetime. It was also very enlightening to learn more about this amazing man during the show which included wonderful photos and interview clips.

Leslie really enjoyed Hard Times at the 100-seat Pearl Theatre at the City Center and was impressed by the six member cast who played all of the twenty plus roles in under three hours . This show closes on Sunday, so she was glad to have a chance to see it--we're both looking forward to (re)reading the book . . Our Saturday night play was Next Fall, new to Broadway after a successful Off-Broadway run. We both felt that this play was rather weak. The plot revolves around a 20-something gay man who has yet to come out to his ultra-Christian parents. At the start of the play, he has lapsed into a coma in a New York City hospital due to a car accident. In flashbacks, we see his relationship with a somewhat older man, who happens to be an atheist, develop into a four year relationship. Although there were some moments that were moving and funny, the play was flat and rather predictable. We wouldn't recommend this one . . .

Friday in the City

Kind of a gray day in the city, so after a yummy breakfast at our favorite restaurant (where we are greated like old friends), we headed up to the Lincoln Center Cinema to see a restored version of Fellini's classic film, 8 1/2 . It was cool to see it on the big screen and it seemed like a very New York thing to do on a Friday afternoon.

Our play last night was a new production of Lend Me a Tenor at the Music Box Theatre. Stanley Tucci is directing, and he has cast his buddies Tony Shalhob and Anthony LaPaglia as well as Justin Bartha (Hangover) in his Broadway debut. The play is a silly farce complete with two identically costumed, black-faced Othellos, lots of physical humor, and funny sight gags. Bartha is simply terrific as the young assistant who ends up impersonating the great Italian opera star the Cleveland Opera House has hired for a huge gala event. It was a fun night, and great to see Shalob (as the producer having a slow break down) and LaPaglia (as the Italian tenor) on stage.

NYC Cont.

The theme that seems to be emerging for this trip is enjoying well-written,powerful dramas. On Tuesday night, I went to a small theatre in Greenwich Village to see The Pride, starring British actors Hugh Dancy and Ben Whishaw. Dancy and Whishaw play two different sets of lovers, one in 1958 and the other at present time. In the earlier story (1958), Oliver is a repressed homosexual trying to pass as a happily married man. He falls in love with his wife's colleague, Phillip, but does not have the courage to be open about his homosexuality. In the present, Philip has just left Oliver because he can't deal with the latter's addiction to anonymous sex. The play is pitch-perfect, the dialogue is funny and heartbreaking at the same time, and Andrea Risenborough is excellent as Sylvia, Oliver's wife in the 1958 story line and Phillip's best friend in the modern story line. I came away emotionally exhausted and with a great deal of respect for Dancy and Whishaw for having the courage to dive into their demanding roles and giving incredibly honest and raw performances.

Last night, Ann (yea! she finally made it to NYC!) saw Time Stands Still starring Laura Linney, Brian d'Arcy James, Alicia Silverstone, and Eric Bogosian. Again, it was an intelligently written play and perfectly cast. Linney and d'Arcy James play a couple who have lived together for six years; Linney is a photographer and d'Arcy James is a writer. Both are drawn to war zones and documenting horrific events in violent hot spots all over the world. Linney's character has been seriously injured by a road-side bomb and has come home to heal, D'Arcy's character is also recovering--from a nervous breakdown caused by seeing a young family blown up right in front of him. He's ready to call it quits; she is not. Bogosian plays Linney's editor, and Silverstone is his young, rather naive lover who becomes his wife by the end of the play. All are excellent, especially Linney who captures her character's toughness, her underlying vulnerability, and her addiction to the adrenaline rush she gets from her work. Her character put us in mind of the character in Hurt Locker who finds it tougher to be at home than diffusing bombs in Iraq. It was a great night of theatre.

On a rather different note, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came into the city to see a matinee of Twyla Tharpe's new show, Come Fly With Me, a celebration of the music of Frank Sinatra. Of course, the music was great--how can you go wrong with Sinatra?--but it was made even better by a kick-ass big band and an amazing ensemble of talented dancers. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and a nice treat to see some of my favorite family members!

NYC Trip--March

I've been in New York since Sunday with my husband and have already seen lots of great plays!Ann is joining me on Thursday, and we'll stay until Sunday. On Sunday night we saw Claybourne Park at the Playwrights Horizon . . . it builds off of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play, Raisin in the Sun, and focuses on the middle-aged couple preparing to move out of the house in the all white neighborhood that the Younger family from RITS has just bought. When Mr. Linder (the only character to carry over from RITS) arrives and lets them know that, unbeknowst to them, they have sold their house to a black family, all hell breaks loose. The second act takes place in the same house, but it is now 2009 and a young yuppie white couple has moved in. The neighborhood has become a black neighborhood, and the second act centers around a meeting between a black couple and their lawyer from the Claybourne Park community group that is fighting an extensive renovation the couple plans . . . The writing is terrific, and the cast was, across the board, great.

On Monday, I scored a ticket to a 80th birthday gala performance of Sondheim on Sondheim, a retrospective review of Sondheim's amazing career in theatre. I discretly parked myself next to the photographers set up in the entrance and saw all the celebs coming in--Alex Baldwin, Lauren Bacall, Barbara Walters, Jane Krakowski, Angela Lansberry, and a score of Broadway stars. The show starring Barbara Cook, Vaness Williams, and Tom Wopat, was really well done--ofcourse you can't go wrong with Sondheim music . . . At the end, Sondheim came up on stageandthe audience sang Happy Brithday to him. The Roundabout Theatre producer announced that the newly renovated Henry Miller Theatre was being renamed the Stephen Sondheim theatre, and he was visably moved and surprised. It was a very cool evening for this Culture Buddy!!! Check out the pictures.

Stick Fly by Lydia Diamond

Leslie is out of town so Ann went to a play- all by her lonesome- in Boston this weekend. It seems so wrong for one CultureBuddy to be without the other!

Stick Fly by Lydia Diamond is a wonderful play about a wealthy Black family with a vacation home in Martha's Vineyard. Two adult sons bring women home to meet the parents and all kinds of issues ensue including sibling rivalry, father/son problems, etc...The play is very well written and both touching and very humorous. The Boston Globe says the play is "a verbal slam-dance 0f class, gender, and family politics."

The cast was absolutely magnificent in this play which is directed by Kenny Leon who also directed Fences at The Huntington and who will next direct Denzel Washington in the same play on Broadway.

Boston audiences are blessed to have this wonderful play in their backyard for another month.

NY Trip--The Best of the Best

We didn't bring a computer to NYC last week, so I'm going to try to get caught up while Ann is in Florida for yet another vacation!

Best of the Best: A Little Night Music and A View From the Bridge

Ann and I LOVED the new production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. From the opening scene of a beautifully choreographed waltz, it was clear this was going to be one of those amazing nights in the theater. Zeta-Jones is absolutely beautiful in her gorgeous Edwardian gowns, and she captures the earthy sensuality and humor of her character, aging actress Desiree Arnfeldt, at a time when the glamor of her life on the road is beginning to wear thin. She is very natural on stage and also has a lovely voice. When she sang "Send in the Clowns" you could hear a pin drop in the theater, and I have to admit I had to reach for a Kleenex. . . Angela Lansbury is perfect in the role of Desiree's mother, and the whole ensemble is very strong, especially Alexander Hanson in the role of Desiree's former lover, Frederick. The only weak point, to me at least, was the performance of the two young leads--Ramona Mallory as Frederick's eighteen year old bride, and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka as Frederick's son--but overall, this was a wonderful production!

The other outstanding play we saw was a production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge which opens later this month. Liev Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman who has made a good life for himself and his wife and niece in 1950's Brooklyn. As a former immigrant himself, Eddie is happy to house and protect his wife's Italian cousins who arrive illegally in pursuit of the 'American Dream'. When his niece, played by Scarlett Johansson, falls in love with one of these immigrants, however, Eddie’s jealousy begins to consume him. We knew Schreiber (who we saw in his Tony-nominated role in Talk Radio) would be terrific, and he was. The surprise was how good Johansson is in her Broadway debut--she is a real natural and her performance in this rather difficult role is pitch perfect. We are keeping our fingers crossed for excellent reviews from the NY critics.

NY Trip--The Best of the Rest

Finian's Rainbow:
We go off the bus at the Port Authority and made our way to the St. James Theater for the matinee of Finian's Rainbow and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The book of this musical sounds nutty--the story is set in a mythical southern state called Missitucky and includes a charming Irish dreamer, his headstrong daughter, a bigoted southern Senator who suddenly becomes black, a leprechaun who is slowly turning human, and a pot of gold. Somehow it all comes together with beautiful music, a charming love story (or two), humor, and surprisingly relevant messages about racial harmony, justice, social equality and living beyond one’s means . . . More than anything else, this is a good old-fashioned musical--Jim Norton was perfect as the adorable Irish father, Kate Baldwin (who we enjoyed so much in the Boston Huntington Theater's production of She Loves Me that we went back to see it twice) was born to play the role of Sharron, and Cheyenne Jackson is always fun to watch on stage.

Brief Encounter: On Saturday afternoon we went to St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn to see Brief Encounter,an adaptation of the 1946 film and of Still Life, a Noël Coward one-act play. The experimental theater group, Kneehigh, has created a unique experience that combines live theater and remade film footage to take the audience back to the 1940's. The whole 90 minutes is just so damn clever--characters jump in and out of film screens, a couple floats in mid-air, silly music-hall antics make you laugh, and live music punctuates every scene. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were in awe of the talented cast of seven who play multiple roles at the drop of a hat.

Circle, Mirror, Transformation: Sunday afternoon we saw this small Off-Broadway play after a yummy brunch with Casey and Ben (a.k.a. The Boyz) and before getting on the bus to

go home. We had read great reviews--including an endorsement from Dustin Hoffman--and we were really happy that we gave it a try. The play centers on four rather lost souls who enroll in a community center drama class where they are lead through one acting exercise"after another by their new-age teacher, Marty. As the class progresses from Week One to Week Six, each of the characters is slowly revealed, relationships are formed and broken, and lives are changed. The five actors are really strong, and the play works as both a humorous jab at such acting workshops and as a moving exploration of the raw emotions and revelations that can come out in such situations. It was fun to see this in a small theater with lots of acting students in the audience who could clearly relate!

And The Not So Great . . .

On Thursday night, we saw Fela!--a new musical that uses Afrobeat music (a mixture of jazz, funk, and African rhythm and harmonies) to tell the story of Fela Kuti's controversial life as a Nigerian artist, political activist, and revolutionary musician. It was certainly an experience for all the senses. The Eugene O'Neill Theater has been transformed by colorful banners, African artwork, and multi-media screens. The on-stage band provides driving music for the exceptionally talented cast of brightly-clad dancers who never seem to stop moving. The actor playing Fela tells his story with energy and emotion. Somehow, it just didn't add up for me, though. The attempts to engage the audience fell flat in such a large, crowded theater--how can you be expected to move and dance when the seats are squished into such a small space? After the first hour, I started to get bored with the repetitive choreography and the preachy, loud music, and all the multi-media effects were starting to wear thin. In fact, for only the second time ever, I actually left at intermission. Ann opted to stay, and she felt that it picked up a little in the second act, but not that much. This play has gotten great reviews and there is a lot of buzz surrounding it (Jay Z. and Will Smith are producers), but the CB's didn't enjoy it very much.

NYC Here We Come!

We're so excited to be going to NYC tomorrow for four nights--seven plays! In addition to seeing Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson in A View From the Bridge on Friday night, we have tickets to an 90 minute interview of Liev the next morning as part of the New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend events at the TimesCenter auditorium! We were psyched that the experimental Kneehigh company's mixed-media adaptation of the classic movie, Brief Encounter, at the St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn was extended and will see that on Saturday afternoon. For one of the first times, we are each going back to see a favorite play on this trip--Ann is going to see Next to Normal, and I am going to check out the new cast of God of Carnage (including Jimmy Smits!). We'll be reporting in!