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.