The Culture Buddies

THE CULTURE BUDDIES HAVE MOVED!

2010-10-19T16:20:00.002-04:00

Check out our new site at www.theculturebuddies.wordpress.com !!

Another Rave for A CultureBuddy Favorite

2010-09-09T08:55:00.005-04:00

(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

2010-07-26T09:07:00.003-04:00

(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

2010-07-12T09:09:00.012-04:00

(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

2010-06-23T09:04:00.012-04:00

(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

2010-06-22T09:09:00.014-04:00

(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

2010-06-18T10:06:00.010-04:00

(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 . . .

2010-05-19T10:52:00.003-04:00

(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!

2010-05-17T16:55:00.019-04:00

(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

2010-05-16T22:38:00.012-04:00

(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 . . .

2010-05-16T07:58:00.012-04:00

(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!

2010-05-15T11:42:00.007-04:00

(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!!

2010-05-14T11:36:00.008-04:00

(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

2010-05-07T09:51:00.004-04:00

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

2010-04-13T11:25:00.005-04:00

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 :(

2010-03-29T16:01:00.005-04:00

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

2010-03-28T19:39:00.018-04:00

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

2010-03-27T19:02:00.011-04:00

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.

2010-03-26T12:14:00.016-04:00

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

2010-03-25T11:30:00.008-04:00

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

2010-02-23T08:23:00.010-05:00

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

2010-01-16T11:50:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-16T10:48:00.044-05:00

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 . . .

2010-01-16T07:38:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-01-05T14:12:00.017-05:00

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!

Congratulations to John Douglas Thompson!

2009-12-21T08:56:00.009-05:00

It was a thrill to see that both Charles Isherwood (" . . . his fine work this year will not soon be forgotten by those privileged to see it. There may be no better classical actor working in the New York theater right now.") and Ben Brantley (" . . .in the title role of an African-American railroad porter turned tin-pot island despot, John Douglas Thompson--previously seen off Broadway as a truly majestic Othello-- staked his claim as one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation.") singled out the incredibly talented John Douglas Thompson in their articles on the best of NY theatre in the New York Times yesterday. I was bowled over by Mr. Thompson's talent this summer in Othello and The Dreamer Examines His Pillow at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. and vowed to see anything that had his name attached. Ann trusted me enough to agree to use one of our coveted slots on our last trip to NYC to see him in The Emperor Jones, and we were lucky enough to run into him in the small Irish Rep Theater when we picked up our tickets. He couldn't have been nicer or more gracious with his time--he even invited us to wait for him after the play so he could hear what we thought . . . It was a priviledge to be able to thank him in person for an absolutely amazing performance. Mr. Thompson will be playing Richard III at Shakespeare & Company this summer--we will certainly be there, front and center!

In the News . . .

2009-11-20T10:10:00.006-05:00

It was great to see John Michael Hill, the young actor we saw recently in the excellent Superior Donuts, featured in the New York Times this week. Check out the article about this young star in the making.

The Times also gave the new production of Ragtime a strong review, which was good to see. The esteemed Ben Brantley singled out Christiane Noll in the role of Mother just as the CBs did in their review!

Last Days in NYC

2009-11-06T11:46:00.020-05:00

On Saturday night, we saw After Miss Julie starring Sienna Miller and Johnny Lee Miller making their Broadway debuts at the Roundabout. Sienna Miller plays Miss Julie, an upper-class lady of the housewho puts the moves on chauffeur John during a rowdy celebration on the 1945 evening the Labor party took over the British government. Sienna Miller certainly has the looks and the star-power to play this difficult role, and she does have moments of greatness, but overall her performance is rather superficial and at times she struts around the stage as if she's posing for a photo shoot. As the chauffeur who eventually gives in to her advances, even though he's engaged to fellow servant Christine (the excellent Marin Ireland, who we saw recently in Reasons to be Pretty), Johnny Lee Miller is more convincing. He hits the right notes as a dedicated servant, quickly pulling on his jacket and jumping up when Miss Julie comes in the kitchen or when her father barks out an order over the house phone. When he is alone with Christine, we see his charming side and come to understand his belief that he could become a self-made man if he was just given the right circumstances.

As John gives in to Miss Julie's advances, of course, everything unravels. The scenes between the two as they struggle for the upper hand before heading off to the bedroom are powerful, and there is definite chemistry between the two. Although the first part of the play dragged a little, the last part got a little too melodramatic and key plot points got lost. When the curtain went down and the play was over, all the people in our first row of the mezannine looked at each other, a bit confused, in effect saying, "What the heck?!"

Sunday afternoon, we caught Bill Pulman and Julia Stiles in an excellent production of David Mamet's play Oleanna. The ninety minute play portrays three encounters between university professor John and student Carol. We are taken along on the ride as we see exactly what happens in each interchange, but then start to question what we saw as John and Carol come to have two wildly divergent opinions on what has actually occured. Is John simply trying to help out a struggling student or is he guilty of sexual harassment? At times, you pull for John--Pullman gives him a earnestness that makes you want to take his side, but he also seems rather cluelessness at times about the seriousness of the situation he finds himself in. Stiles is also great, and she makes us feel her frustration as a student who has made lots of sacrifices to get into an elite university and now finds herself in over her head. Just when we want to write her off as strident and delusional, we're pulled back to her side. The final scene is mesmerizing--you can't take your eyes off Pullman as John visibly fights to contain his fury, and then ultimately gives in to it.

This is one the CB's recommend highly!

Ragtime

2009-10-24T17:57:00.008-04:00

The revival of the musical Ragtime opened in previews yesterday. Usually the CBs wait to see a show until it's been playing for a while but we took a gamble and saw the show at today's matinée. It is really a lovely show with some wonderful performances. The actor who played Coalhouse- Quentin Earl Darrington- was wonderful and so was the actress who played the mother- Christiane Noll. We were happy to see Bobby Steggert again. We loved him in 110 in the Shade and he is equally terrific in the musical. We only wish he sang more because he has a wonderful voice. If you like a big musical, in the style of Les Miz, make sure to catch this revival of Ragtime.

Hamlet

2009-10-24T12:58:00.007-04:00

It's my turn to post (Leslie here) about seeing Hamlet last night. I'm going to keep it short, but sweet. I've studied Hamlet in college and graduate school, I've seen three productions on stage, and I've watched all the movie versions of the play. Watching the play last night was like seeing it for the first time--Jude Law is by far the best Hamlet I can ever hope to see. He inhabits the role and gives it a freshness and life that is completely illuminating. He puts everything he has into this production, and I feel privileged to have experienced it.

A Steady Rain

2009-10-24T11:04:00.008-04:00

Thursday night we saw A Steady Rain with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. The CultureBuddies were full of anticipation about seeing these mega-stars in the flesh but - within minutes of the curtain opening - they became just two Chicago cops with a story to tell. Their story is riveting with many twists and turns. Both of us barely took a breath during this highly intense acting master class.

The play takes place on a stage with two chairs under two interrogation type lights. There are some subtly shifting buildings in the background but all the action takes place in those two chairs.The play consists totally of dialogues and monologues by these amazing actors who convincingly play imperfect cops complete with perfect Chicago accents. They work together as a team incredibly well. Hugh plays a corrupt cop and Daniel is his alcoholic best friend and partner. As the story unfolds we see just how corrupt the one cop is and how the other cop- played by Daniel- has been tormented and belittled throughout his life by his partner. There are many twists and turns in this 90 minute, one act play but the actors deserve all the hype that this play has received. They both get a big 'CB Thank You' for coming to Broadway! It is the hardest ticket to get in town right now but we think this is a must see.

John Douglas Thompson - Remember that Name!!

2009-10-22T17:07:00.013-04:00

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember Leslie's rave reviews of the actor John Douglas Thompson's performances in Othello and A Dreamer Examines His Pillow which she saw in Lenox this summer. When we saw that Thompson would be appearing in The Emperor Jones at the Irish Repertory Theatre in Chelsea, we rushed to get tickets. We were lucky to get seats because the show- and especially Thompson's performance- received a rave review in the New York Times on Monday and many of the performances have already sold out.

When we went to get our tickets at the box office yesterday, we saw Douglas sitting in the theatre lobby eating his lunch. With a little coaxing, Leslie told him we came from NH to see his performance because of how great he was in the shows she saw in Lenox. He couldn't have been more gracious and encouraged us to stay after the show to speak to him again.

We were both totally entranced by this amazing show. The Emperor Jones was written in 1920 by Eugene O'Neill and this short, brutal play has rarely been performed. For years it was considering 'politically incorrect' because of its use of the 'N word" and the fact that Brutus Jones is a black convict who has ruled cruelly and stolen from his subjects on a small Caribbean island. Today this story of corruption and demented leadership is one we have seen over and over again in the news.

Jones breakdown while escaping with no food and only a few vestiges of power- his uniform, his pistol and a silver bullet is amazingly told. When Emperor Jones is racing through the jungle to avoid capture, he is forced to face his inner demons represented by a series of amazing puppets and masks. It is truly terrifying to watch the Emperor face his primal fears and slowly divests all remnants of his power. This is an incredible performance by an actor who we believe is on the precipice of stardom.

After the show, he greeted us as old friends. It was a truly amazing night for two theater lovers.

Bye Bye Birdie

2009-10-22T08:54:00.005-04:00

Saw a matinee of the new production of Bye, Bye Birdie in the newly renovated Henry Miller's Theatre yesterday.

Highlights:

The numbers that feature the young members of the cast: especially "A Lot of Livin' to Do," "Telephone Hour," and the lovely blend of voices in "One Boy"
Nolan Funk in the role as Conrad Birdie
The colorful, over the top 60's pop decor, costumes, and set
John Stamos' charming and light-footed stage presence
Full orchestra playing great classic, musical theatre standards
The incredible physique of Gina Gershon, emphasized by a stunning wardrobe
A very cute curtain-call number

Problems:

Gina Gershon was off-key for the whole show
The casting of the adult roles--No one stands out except Bill Irwin (who the CB's normally love!) and it wasn't in a good way. He had a very strange take on the role of Kim's father that was funny at first, but quickly became annoying.
No chemistry between Stamos and Gershon
Nothing, except the amount of money they put into it, that made lifted it beyond the level of a good community theater production

Superior Donuts

2009-10-21T11:27:00.006-04:00

When I was in New York with Matt, I went to see Tracy Lett's new play, Superior Donuts, with my buddies Ben and Casey. Ann and her son, Adam, went to see it last night. Collectively, we all really enjoyed it . . .

This is certainly a kinder, gentler play than Lett's Pulitzer and Tony winning, August: Osage County, but it is no less powerful. The dialogue is crisp (nobody writes banter better than Letts), the cast (intact from a critically-acclaimed run at Steppenwolf in Chicago) is excellent, and the play somehow combines humor, conflict, hope, and violence. The main focus is the friendship that develops between Arthur (the great Michael McKean), an aging hippie who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, and his new 21-year-old African-American employee, Franco Wicks (star-in-the-making Jon Michael Hill), who blows into Arthur's struggling Donut shop in Southside Chicago one morning and talks his way into a job. Hill is an amazing young performer--his Franco is busting with energy, ideas, quick-witted humor, and a vibrancy that contrasts with Arthur's emotional distance and McKean's understated, but nuanced, performance. McKean and Hill's have an easy presence together on stage and many of their exchanges are laugh out loud funny. As we slowly realize that Franco's bravado is hiding serious problems, however, the tone turns darker and there are several moments in the play that you can't help but gasp.

There are a few drawbacks to this production, including unecessary extended monologues and a badly choreographed on-stage fight scene, but overall the Culture Buddies highly recommend Superior Donuts!

More News From New York

2009-10-05T18:13:00.015-04:00

Thanks to CB pal, Casey, Matt and I had a wonderful evening at the Metropolitan Opera House on Saturday night. Casey is working at the Met, and he was able to get us great orchestra center seats to see Bartlett Sher’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Neither of us had ever been to the Met, and it is a truly spectacular venue in which to see an opera (or anything else for that matter!). The performance was wonderful--what a pleasure to see the best of the best in such an amazing setting. The performers were perfectly cast; not only did they have beautiful voices, but they also had great physicality and comic timing that brought out the light, fun tone of this opera perfectly. It was a great night!

Last night, after the weird events of the afternoon, I took in an Off-Broadway musical that has been getting a lot of buzz called The Toxic Avenger starring Diana DeGarmo of American Idol fame. It was campy, and silly, and a lot of fun . . . quite a contrast from the Met, but that's one of the great things about New York City!

The Royal Family Matinee Cancelled . . .

2009-10-05T09:03:00.007-04:00

I'm in New York with my husband who is here for a business trade show, and we went to see The Royal Family yesterday afternoon. About 15 minutes into the play, Tony Roberts made his entrance looking absolutely fine, but speaking in a garbled voice. It was so perfectly timed that it seemed like an intentional gag . . . The rest of the cast on stage seemed bemused, like he was playing a joke, but Danny Glover suddenly dashed off stage and the curtain came down. There was an announcement that the show would resume in a couple of minutes, but it was clear that something was seriously wrong, and that most likely he had had a stroke.

About five minutes later, the house manager says, "Is there a doctor in the house? Actually, is there a neurologist in the house?" It was a sureal experience. The timing of his entrance and the stroke seems unbelievable. It became clear that the show was going to be cancelled, so we went to the box office to get a refund. As we were waiting, we actually saw the EMT's bringing Mr. Roberts out on a stretcher to the ambulance. He seemed conscious--at least his eyes were open. It was quite awful to see.

We went to get something to eat, and when we were walking back by the theatre I spotted Larry Pine, also from the play. In a truly Culture Buddy kind of way, my husband went up to him and said, "Excuse me, do you have any update on Tony's condition?" He said he didn't and told us it was a terrible moment when they realized what was going on. He hadn't made his entrance yet and was watching from backstage. He seemed pretty shook up--it must have been very difficult for the cast to perform the scheduled 7:00 performance that night with the understudy going on for Mr. Roberts. As of this morning, he is reported to be in stable condition.

This is the kind of theater first that I wish I hadn't experienced. More on my short trip to the city with my husband to come . . .

Sunday Cinema Club

2009-10-02T21:55:00.010-04:00

Our Cinema Club started last week--we go to West Newton, MA on Sunday morning every couple of weeks throughout the fall to see movies that have not been released yet. The films are followed by a brief talk by one of two Boston film professors and open discussion. Last week we saw The Boys are Back, a movie based loosely on British political reporter Simon Carr's memoir recounting his attempts to rebuild his family after the death of his wife and directed by Scott Hick (Shine). Clive Owen's does a great job in the lead role--his performance is understated, but powerful as he stumbles through his first year of solo parenting. He adopts an attitude of "Just say yes" which drives all the women around him crazy, but seems to work for all male household. Owen's scenes with the two boys who play his sons are, I think, the strongest parts of the movie. The actor who plays the youngest son, Artie, is terrific. The CBs recommend give this film 4* (out of five).

Of course, one movie was not enough for the CB's. We grabbed some refreshments and headed into see Jane Campion's new film, Bright* Star, a fictionalized version of the intensely romantic (yet chaste) love affair of Fannie Brawne, a woman of prospects and “good family,” and the poor, struggling poet John Keats. Fannie falls in love with Keats and with the beauty of his poetry, and she becomes determined that they will be together . . . unfortunately Keats has no money and few prospects. The Australian actress Abbie Cornish really shines as Fanny, an independent-minded woman weighed down by the conventions of proper Victorian society. The attention to period detail (especially the costumes) is great, and the setting is beautiful English countryside. The child actor who plays Fanny's young red-headed sister, like the young actor in The Boys are Back, is perfect for the part. The CB's also gave this movie 4.

Summer Theatre in the Berkshires

2009-09-18T08:05:00.019-04:00

With Ann laid up for most of the summer, I took in a theatre fix by heading to Lennox, MA for a long weekend in August. Only a couple of hours from Nashua, the Berkshires is the place to go for an incredible range of wonderful theatre options. Shakespeare & Company is almost like a small college campus with its three theatres, housing for actors, and an outdoor staging area. At any given time over the summer, there are at least six plays in reperatory. Most, but not all are Shakespeare. While I was there I saw two very different, but equally excellent, productions on the main stage (Founder's Theatre)--Twelfth Night and Othello. Twelfth Night was fast-moving, full of physical humor, and really fun to experience. No big stars--just accomplished actors doing what they do best . . .

Othello, starring John Douglas Thompson was a break-out hit last summer in Lennox and was recreated for the New World Theatre in New York last fall. Thompson reprised the role this summer, and I felt so privileged to be able to see him in this role. He is nothing short of amazing--the perfect Othello. Watching as Iago turns this Othello from a strong, eloquent, and comanding soldier and lover to a paranoid man consumed with doubt and jealousy was almost more than I could bear. I had to stop myself from standing up and yelling at him not to listen to that damn Iago!!

I was also lucky enough to see Thompson as part of a three person ensemble in a production of an early John Patrick Shanley (Doubt,

Moonstruck) play entitled A Dreamer Examines His Pillow at the smaller Jacob's Theatre. The play centers on a young couple who have a turbulent on-again, off-again relationship and the woman's father (played by Thompson) who has had his own share of troubles with intimate relationships. This production was 90 minutes of intensity and really showcased the three actors involved. It felt good to get that thrill of turning to the Arts section of the NYT and seeing a big article about Thompson playing the these two roles.

I also saw an unexpectedly good production of Ibsen's Ghosts at the Berkshire Theater Festival. Ghosts is Ibsen's response to all the criticism he received for A Doll's House and Nora's decision to leave her husband and children at the end of the play. In Ghosts, the central character,Helene

chooses to remain in a disastrous marriage on the advice of her priest. This choice condemned her to a life of covering up her husband's many vices and sending away her only son to grow up abroad. The action of the play takes up years later after the death of her husband and upon the return of her son (who, it is implied, has syphilis) and of her morally unbending priest. As you can imagine, all hell breaks loose . . . The play was well acted, the set was quite innovative, and the production was pretty terrific. Interestingly, I saw a production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Barrington Stage Company that same night, and in the production notes, I read that Tennessee Williams decided to become a playwright after seeing a production of Ghosts as a young man. This was the weakest of the plays I saw while in the Berkshires, but it was still quite good.

Although I missed my CultureBuddy, I had a great, theater-filled weekend in the Berkshires, and I look forward to returning next summer (with Ann!).

LESLIE WON!!

2009-06-08T08:42:00.002-04:00

Yeah!! I beat that damn Casey in the Tony's pool last night. I correctly predicted 25 out of 27 categories . . .Casey--22, Ann--19, and Ben--11. I am so proud of my big gold medal and plan to wear it on the bus ride home today. More later on our last day in NYC.

Grand Slam Homerun!!

2009-06-06T23:26:00.012-04:00

We have been waiting for one of the oodles of plays we are seeing this week to blow our socks off. We have seen good plays, really good musicals, interesting revivals but nothing that ranked as a home run until today. We saw all three plays in The Norman Conquests trilogy, and they hit the ball out of the park. These are some of the funniest hours the CBs have ever spent in the theater. Ben Brantley said it best in his New York Times review: "These plays cripple you with laughter and more subversively fracture your soul."

We saw the plays in the order in which they were written. We saw Table Manners at 11:30, Living Together at 3:30 and Round and Round the Garden at 8:00. The plays take place over one weekend and involve the same 6 people - two married couples and one unattached couple. The plays are connected, showing the action from different times and places within and without the house during the weekend. Seven hours of theater in one day sounds exhausting, but this was an exhilarating experience and left us wanting more.

The main character is a hilariously, naughty Lothario named Norman who is played to perfection by Stephan Mangan. He manages to seduce all three women in the play at various times. The six actors are so hilarious that the CBs had stomach aches from laughing and - at times - were actually guffawing, as were the rest of the audience. Being at the theater with the same audience for all three plays and getting to know and understand the characters so well was a wonderfully communal experience.

Alan Ayckbourne wrote this series of plays in the 1973 (it feels like it was written last week, not 36 years ago!) and this revival transferred from the Old Vic in London with the great London cast intact. The director is the amazing Matthew Warchas who is directing God of Carnage a couple of blocks away and directed the hilarious Boeing Boeing last season. No one directs a farce better than he does. Although all six actors were wonderful, we especially enjoyed the performances of Amanda Root as the uptight Sarah, wife of the equally hilarious Reg played to perfection by Paul Ritter.

We urge you to rush to see these plays and recommend that you see all three in the same order that we did. You won't be disappointed. This is a chance to see this classic series of plays with a truly A level group of actors. If you are a theater lover, this is a not to missed experience.
Blythe Danner and Richard Kind saw all three plays with the CBs today!

Waiting for Godot

2009-06-06T18:56:00.007-04:00

We had great tickets to see Waiting for Godot last night. Although the play itself is a little weird at times, we would wager that this is the best production of it you could ever hope to see. Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin (both Tony winners) play Vladimir and Estragon, two seemingly homeless men waiting near a tree on a barren stretch of road for someone—or something—named Godot. To pass the time, they engage in absurd conversations and comical wordplay and nonsense. Irwin and Lane play off each other brilliantly and make an unusually tender pair of wanderers--they sound like an old married couple repeating recycled stories and trying to remind each other what happened yesterday. They are also very funny--Lane goes for the laughs a bit too overtly at times, but their comedic timing definitely makes this an entertaining production. Irwin's performance is Tony worthy in the CB's humble opinion. Amazingly enough, he didn't even receive a nomination.

John Goodman (who is huge!) plays Pozzo, an "upperclass" bully and windbag who is attached by a rope to his subhuman slave, Lucky. John Glover plays Lucky, and his performance is pretty amazing--he brings out Lucky's madness, his stubborn determination to stick with Pozzo at all costs, his bursts of violence, and his vulnerability, all the time looking like a cross between a ghost and a man. These four actors are at the top of their game and bring this classic to life in a completely memorable way. We were glad to have seen it!
Once again Jeff Goldblum was in the audience with the same young lady as last night!

Exit the King

2009-06-05T11:12:00.017-04:00

Last night we saw Eugene Ionesco's absurd comedy, Exit the King. A brilliant Geoffrey Rush plays 400-year-old King Berenger who is ruling over a once-thriving country that has fallen into complete decay. His kingdom has shrunk from a few million peopl e down to a few thousand and from miles to yards; the few citizens and buildings left are falling into a giant hole. To make matters worse, Berenger's first wife, Queen Marguerite (Susan Sarandon) announces that he only has until the last minute of the play to live. Berenger refuses to die--he is determined to outwit death, to live forever. Of course, he's fooling himself.

You wouldn't think that watching someone die over the course of a couple hours would be entertaining, but this production is funny, irreverent, and totally wacky. The actors break the "fourth wall" often, speaking directly to the audience in a way that usually evokes laughter. At one point, Rush actually wanders up and down the aisles pleading for guidance from audience members. Comic relief is also provided by Andrea Martin as the sole overworked maid left in the castle, and Brian Hutchinson as a guard who clanks around in a suit of armour and consistently announces the most random pieces of information to whoever might be left in the kingdom to hear his updates. Their sense of timing and physical humor provide lots of laughs.

There are also plenty of moments of intimacy, of quietness, and of poignancy when we are reminded that the theme here is death and mortality. Somehow Rush manages to age right before our eyes--slowly his over-the-top persona shrinks into an infirm old man. The loving exchanges between Berenger and his new wife (Lauren Ambrose) add a sweetness to the production, and Susan Sarandon's bitchy, sarcastic delivery throughout most of the play sets up an effective contrast to the warm, gentle tone she has as she guides Berenger through the last stages of death.

This is not a crowd-pleasing play for everyone, but it was certainly a great night of theatre for the CultureBuddies. (By the way--Jeff Goldblum was sitting in front of us!)

If It's Good Enough for the Obamas . . .

2009-06-04T17:48:00.011-04:00

We caught the matinee of Joe Turner's Come and Gone yesterday afternoon, the Lincoln Center Theater's revival of the second of August Wilson's cycle of plays tracing the 20th-century experiences of African-Americans. Director Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, Light in the Piazza) has done a remarkable job bringing Wilson's rich play to life and drawing out the best in an ensemble of incredibly talented actors.

Set in 1911, Joe Turner deals with the period immediately following the emancipation of slaves, as African-Americans struggled to find a place to call home. The play centers on a boarding house run by Seth (Ernie Hudson) and his kind-hearted wife, Bertha. Boarders drift in and out, paying by the week, looking for work and a place to sleep for awhile until they move on to the next place, the next job, the next relationship. The one long-time boarder is an older "conjure-man" named Bynum (played brilliantly by Roger Robinson, who is favored to win a Tony award on Sunday). Bynum peddles his services as a "binder" (an agent for bringing people together) and tells anyone who will listen that discovering, and embracing, "one's own song" is the step they must take before they can move on in life. Other boarders include the young and impetuous railroad worker Jeremy; the unlucky in love Matty C, man-eating Molly, and the intense and mysterious Herald Loomis and his young daughter, Zonia. Loomis and his daughter have been searching for his missing wife for four years. Rutherford Selig (Arllis Howard) the only white man in the ensemble, is a peddler who specializes in finding missing persons.

The easy, comfortable delivery of Wilson's dialogue, the sparks of humor, the fully drawn characters, and the sharing of food and stories around a large kitchen table infuse this production with a sense of community that is set against the struggle of these transcient African-Americans as they search for identity, for connection, for freedom, for roots, and for respect. They are no longer slaves, but they are only one step away from slavery and the world around them is still oppressive and racist. We both loved this play, and it's one that has provided lots of conversation between us. It was kind of cool to be there while the staff in the theatre was still buzzing about the Obama's visit last week . . . the CultureBuddies are nothing if not cutting edge!

West Side Story

2009-06-04T00:47:00.008-04:00

We had to pay full price for the tickets to West Side Story (a rarity since we can almost always find a discount code for at least 40% off), but we felt this show would be worth it and we were right. Many things are terrific about this show--the dancers' crisp and precise execution of the original Jerome Robbins choreography, the incredible music accompanied by a huge Broadway orchestra, the colorful costumes of the 37 singers and dancers, and the innovative set design.
The two standouts in the show are the actresses who play Anita and Maria. Karen Olivo (the original Vanessa in In the Heights) is feisty and beautiful as Anita--she is fantastic in this part. Newcomer Josefina Scaglione is lovely as the young, innocent Maria, and she is in complete control of her crystal-clear, perfectly-pitched soprano voice. On top of that she is a natural actor and a wonderful dancer. It's no wonder that she was nominated for a Tony award.

We were both disappointed, however, in the performance of Matt Cavenaugh as Tony. Although he is handsome and has great chemistry with Maria, his voice is just not strong and rich enough for this role. We also found the male ensemble as a whole a little weak--it seems like the casting directors went for dancers, not for actors who could make their characters seem distinct or great singers. Great dancers they are, but something is missing; there is no edge to any of their performances. The show would have been richer if they had chosen dancers who were just as outstanding as actors and singers. The women really carry this show, and the performances of Karen Olivo and newcomer Josefina Scaglione, along with the chance to experience the incredible original choreography and the beautiful score of West Side Story make this a must see revival.

What a Way To Make a Living

2009-06-03T18:25:00.012-04:00

We had one of those 'everything goes right' kind of days on Tuesday. We took an early bus to Boston expecting to have to wait an hour for the next bus to NYC, but a bus was waiting to leave for NYC less than 5 minutes after we got there. So we arrived in NYC early, and, of course, our room at the Hilton Garden Inn was ready hours early. We had a nice long lunch at Pigalles and were welcomed back to our favorite city by the nice host, Greg. We headed off to see 9 to 5 and , naturally, our discount seats were superb--in the center of the orchestra. Alan Alda and his wife sat in the row in front of us, and Morley Safer was across the aisle.

The show was pretty much just what you would expect from Dolly Parton--a silly, campy, over the top musical. But there were many aspects of this show that made it better than the average over the top musical made from a popular movie. Allison Janney was very good as Violet, the Lily Tomlin role. She has a commanding stage presence, and, although she doesn't have much of a voice, she has a couple of very nice dance numbers and does herself proud in her first musical. The other actresses who play the leads-- Megan Hilty as the Dolly character and Stephanie J. Block as the shy divorcee (both recently from Wicked) are capable musical comedy actresses, and Block has an amazing voice. The real standout for us was the great choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler. Every dance number is clever and noteworthy. They make moving desks and the watercooler into a dancing event! He is definitely one of the hottest choreographer on Broadway right now- fresh from doing fabulous work in the CB's favorite In the Heights.

The choreography and Allison Janney's performance make this is a worthwhile show to see, although it is pretty over the top . . .

Desire Under the Elms

2009-06-03T12:47:00.002-04:00

Watching a Eugene O'Neill play is like experiencing a Greek tragedy, and the recent production of Desire Under the Elms on Broadway was no exception. We had to squeeze in an extra NYC trip before the Tony's to see it, as the production closed early and we had tickets for June.

The director had condensed the three-act play into one powerful act that grabbed you by the seat of the pants and didn't let go until you had witnessed the devastating affect of misguided passion and violence wreck havoc on the universal longing for a home of one's own and for unconditional love. Brian Denehy was excellent as Ephraim Cabot, the cold tyrant of a father/husband/and farm owner. Carla Gugino played Abbie, the third (much younger) wife Ephraim brings home to his three grown sons--she was in her role as a hard-as nails seductress and opportunist who loses herself in a passionate affair with Cabot's son, Eben (played by the hunky Pablo Schreiver). This was one worth seeing, and it's a shame that it closed ahead of schedule due to mixed reviews and poor ticket sales. The CBs are glad they made the effort to see it . . .

A Must See (If Unlikely) Musical

2009-06-01T11:24:00.013-04:00

The only reason the CultureBuddies went to see Next To Normal is because it received 11 Tony nominations. A bipolar housewife seemed like such a grim topic for a musical. Well, it wasn’t five minutes into the show before we knew we were 100% wrong. This show is not any ordinary feel good musical, but as The New York Times described this show, it is a “feel everything” musical. Next To Normal is funny, smart and heartbreaking. The music is great, the performances are amazing, and the set is perfect for showcasing the movement of the play's themes. Whoever cast this show should get a special Tony for picking the perfect people for these roles. Alice Ripley is nothing short of fantastic as the mother. She is pitch-perfect in every scene, and she breaks your heart. What a role for this actress! Her husband is played by J. Robert Spencer and her two children are played by Jennifer Damiano and Aaron Tveit. We had seen Aaron Tveit in the musical Saved last year and put him on our ‘people to watch’ list. He is brilliant in the role and he has incredible charisma on stage.

Next to Normal brings the devastation mental illness can wreck on a whole family to life in a respectful, and incredibly powerful, way. Drugs are used and abused, treatments are experimented with and abandoned, children become invisible, and loving relationships are tested every single day. The music tells the story in such a compelling and effective way that you are on the ride with this family from the first minute of the play to the last. Along the way you experience heartbreak, humor, hope, and a great amount of empathy for every character.
This play left us with the kind of wonderful exhaustion we have felt at a few, select shows (Spring Awakening, In the Heights, Come Back Little Sheba, God of Carnage) over the last three years. We were exhausted and wrung out by the end (and Leslie had gone through four Keenex), but we were also exhilirated from such a great night of theatre.

Message to Alice Ripley: Wear your prettiest dress Sunday night because you may very well be accepting the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. If we had a vote, you would get both of them!

A Great Show on PBS--Be Sure to Watch!

2009-05-28T08:27:00.009-04:00

Great Performances on PBS is running a wonderful new documentary called 'In the Heights': Chasing Broadway Dreams. ITH was the winner of the 2008 Tony for Best Musical, and a show close to the hearts of the CBs. This is a well-made, heartwarming documentary of talented people working hard to make a dream come true. Lin Manuel Mirandos is very inspirational, and the glimpses into the lives of a few of the cast members are great. Make sure to see it!!

An Emergency Trip to Broadway

2009-05-27T13:33:00.006-04:00

The CBs were surprised when it was announced that Desire Under the Elms was closing at the end of May- a full six weeks early. Surprised and irritated because our tickets were for early June, we decided that an emergency pre-Tony trip to Broadway was needed.. We started planning for a one night visit which quickly morphed into a three night, four show visit! We want to see as many nominated shows and performances as possible before The Tony’s on June 7th, and this short trip would let us squeeze a few more in before our longer trip in June.

So, last Tuesday night we went to see the historical drama, Mary Stuart. This play, a huge hit in London last year, was written in 1800 by Friederich Schiller. The timeless nature of political power games makes this play as relevant as Frost/Nixon was a couple of seasons ago. Stories of Elizabethan England and Henry VIII never get old! The play takes place after Mary has been imprisoned in England for years for plotting against Queen Elizabeth. The two queens (especially Mary) were raised in the public eye, so their gestures are grand and their speech is dramatic, making it a perfect story for the stage. Both women are well played by the British actresses Harriet Walter (as Elizabeth) and Tony winner Janet McTeer (as Mary). Mary is passionate and loud, while Elizabeth is controlled and crisp. One amazing scene revolves around a face-off between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I. This meeting never actually occurred, but it makes for great theater as these two powerhouses jockey for power during a wonderfully simulated rainstorm. Mary is drenched, but the cooler Elizabeth stays dry under umbrellas held over her by her entourage.

The direction by Phyllida Lloyd (amazingly enough she also directed the movie Mama Mia!) is a bit unusual with the two queens wear period dress, but all the men wear contemporary grey suits. Leslie found this annoying and distracting, but it didn't bother me so much. The men do so much maneuvering and backroom theatrics that it seems like they are the Wall Street power brokers and political spin-meisters of today. The supporting cast is very strong with great performances from John Benjamin Hickey as the Earl of Leicester and Nicholas Woodeson as Lord Burleigh. Overall, a great production worth seeing . .

Tony Award Missteps

2009-05-15T10:40:00.001-04:00

The nominations for the 2009 Tony Awards were announced last week and have left many – including the CultureBuddies - scratching their heads and wondering if they saw the same shows we did last year. While some of the nominees were obvious and made total sense- like the entire cast of God of Carnage getting nominations- some omissions were astounding. Didn’t the people who made these nominations see The Seagull last year? How could they have omitted Kristen Scott Thomas and Carrie Mulligan? What about All My Sons? Even if the nominators didn’t care for the director’s take on the play, surely Dianne Wiest , John Lithgow, and Patrick Wilson merited nominations. The total omission of Desire Under the Elms from every category was surprising especially after the reviews and may be the reason for it’s early closing announced this week. How could they have seriously nominated Constantine Maroulis for his performance in the juke box show Rock of Ages and omitted the male leads in West Side Story? What were those nominators thinking?

Leslie's Last Day in NYC . . .

2009-03-29T09:14:00.016-04:00

Wednesday was a busy day that started with a visit to MOMA with my pal, Ben. We both really enjoyed the exhibit of Martin Kippenberger's work and had a nice morning as museum buddies.

I jumped on a bus to the Lincoln Center to see a matinee of a new musical, Happiness, in the smaller theatre downstairs from where South Pacific is playing. I found it to be an innovative, energetic, and heart-warming production. The setting is a subway car in NYC that turns out to be the "next step" after death for the nine people on board . . . each is given a chance to think of a perfect moment in their lives in order to relive it throughout eternity. I know it sounds kind of corny, but it was actually cool to see each person's moments relived on stage (with very innovative use of a central set and choreography), and to see what might happen to those who hadn't stopped long enough to make such moments in their lives. The music and the voices of each of the actors were perfectly suited to each situation. Hunter Foster was great as the "guide" to what came next, and he had a wonderful number that used every bit of the small stage, including a ladder held by several of the dancers. Sebastian Arcelus (Jersey Boys, Wicked), as a workaholic who rushes onto the subway car but isn't supposed to be there and Ana Maria Andricain (South Pacific, Beauty and the Beast), as a glamorous young woman who isn't what she appears to be, are also terrific--what beautiful voices! The reviews were mixed on this one, but I recommend it highly.

Wednesday night, I went to the full dress rehersal of Finian's Rainbow , an Encores production at the City Center. This 1947 musical has always been one of my favorites, and it is rarely revived, so I was thrilled to have a chance to see it. The plot is a little crazy--Irishman Finian McLonergan ( played by the wonderful Jim Norton, who we loved in The Seafarer), and his daughter travel to a small Southern town in the state of "Missitucky" with plans to bury a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, believing that it will grow and multiply. A leprechaun (the cute and hilarious Jeremy Bobb), shows up determined to recover his treasure. Soon enough, the daughter falls in love with the most handsome local boy (played by Cheyenne Jackson, who's pretty damned handsome and has a gorgeous voice), and the racist local sherif is "wished" into a black man. I was so happy to see that the NYT gave the production a rave review, and it was recently announced that the production is Broadway-bound. My short trip to NYC ended with drinks with Casey, Matt, and Ben and an early bus ride home to get back to work on Thursday. Next up, Ann and I spend a week in June!!

Leslie's NY Trip--Day Two

2009-03-27T12:19:00.014-04:00

On Tuesday, I took in a film at the Lincoln Plaza Theatre. Fados is a tribute to the Portuguese musical genre known as fado. There is no story here--and at first this made me a little impatient--but once I realized what was going on, I sat back and enjoyed what I was watching. I was totally unfamiliar with this genre of music--the driving force seems to be a mix of melancholy, dramatic scenarios, and emotional, poetic lyrics. The use of mirrors, lighting effects, semi-transparent screens, and vibrant colors frame each song and highlight each set of talented singers and dancers. By the end of "Fados" I was torn between enjoying the performances and thinking to myself that I wish it would end. I am glad I saw it, however, and if you're a fan of dance or music, you should check it out. For a taste of the movie, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdOE5ERp-s4

After a much needed nap, I headed out to see a new play by Moises Kaufman, 33 Variations. Jane Fonda plays an American musicologist–a Beethoven specialist named Katherine–who decides to go ahead with a research trip to Bonn, Germany, even though she's just been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. The play doesn't wallow in Katherine's disease, thank goodness. Instead, it focuses on her obsession with unlocking the mystery of why Beethoven spent so many of his last years composing thirty-three variations of what most considered to be a very insignificant waltz by Anton Diabelli. Katherine's obsession and her insistance on staying in Bonn as her condition worsens creates added tension in an already complicated relationship with her daughter. Her daughter has struck up a romance with the nurse who's been caring for her mother (Colin Hanks), and both eventually made their way to Bonn. Scenes featuring Beethoven, his assistant, and Diabelli blend in with Katherine's story as it unfolds. On top of all this, there is also a pianist performing the Variations as they are discussed. A lot to pack into one play, but, for the most part, it works pretty well. Fonda (who looks great at 71!) is stronger in the second act as she begins to succumb to ALS. Grenier certainly looks the part, and he gives a great portrayal of Beethoven as a passionate and volitile genius. The set emphasizes the magnitude of Beethoven's work by filling the stage with sketchbooks, archival boxes, and sheet music. At times the script is touching and also very funny, but, in the end, it attempts to tell too many stories, taking away from the power of the central story of Katherine's transformation.

Leslie's NYC Trip--Day One

2009-03-27T11:38:00.008-04:00

I was lucky enough to have another quick trip to NYC this week when I tagged along with my husband who was on a business trip. Although Ann was consumed with jealousy, I plunged ahead and saw four more plays! Most theatres are dark on Mondays, so I chose an Off-Broadway play that just opened called Rooms: A Rock Romance at New World Theatre. Although the plot of this two character play is pretty predictable, the excellent score (that ranges from cararet songs to punk rock to a crazy, wildly inappropriate bat mitzvah number) and the performances from the two talented actor/singers, Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger, made for an entertaining evening.

The set-up is your basic "boy meets girl" scenario--Monica, who refers to herself as a "Scottish Jewish Princess" and a lyricist in search of a composer, meets a poor Catholic boy, Ian, who lives in his bedroom with his guitar and his booze. Before long, they've won a trip to London which leads to a recording contract as punk duo Lillian Filth and Perry Comatose. You can fill in the blanks after that, but the songs, the performances, and the kick-ass rock band on stage transform what could have felt tired and cliche into an original take on the inevitable love story of two opposites who attract. Leslie Kritzer is perfectly cast--she commands the stage with her great comic timing and her wonderful voice--and Doug Kreeger is just as good. I would recommend it highly ($25 tickets are available on broadwaybox.com!).

We Love Being Cutting Edge!

2009-03-27T09:18:00.002-04:00

The CBs love to open the New York Times in the morning and see the Art section full of articles and reviews about plays we've seen. Last Monday was just such a day. Front page--great review of God of Carnage (the previous day had a long interview with Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini. Next page--a blurb about the upcoming Encores production of Finian's Rainbow at the City Center that Leslie has tickets to when she goes to NYC with her husband. Following page--an article about Ruined. It's great to be a Culture Buddy!

Day Five - Sunday in the City

2009-03-23T09:07:00.006-04:00

Leslie and I went our separate ways Sunday morning; Leslie to visit our favorite waiter, Jose, at Pigalle's and me- Ann- to visit my son, Adam, in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. After a nice visit and a good breakfast, I raced back to Times Square in order to check out of our hotel and see the Sunday matinee of Becky Shaw at The Second Stage Theater on 43rd Street. Becky Shaw is written by Gina Gionfriddo, who writes for Law & Order, and largely focuses on a blind date between two mismatched people. The show is billed as a comedy gone bad, and we are left wondering who is the more toxic person on the date. We saw some familiar faces in this play; Annie Parisse from Law & Order plays Becky, the terrific Kelly Bishop plays the mother (she is also the grandmother on The Gilmore Girls), and the actor David Wilson Barnes who plays Max. Like God of Carnage the ground keeps shifting in this play and alliances keep changing. We both liked this play very much. Thw writing is crisp, and the actors were well cast. We raced to Port Authority and caught a Greyhound back to NH after five great days in our favorite place.

Saturday in the City

2009-03-17T15:00:00.007-04:00

We saw two pretty amazing shows on Saturday. First up was the matinee of Impressionism starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. Irons (one of Leslie's favorite actors!) plays a mysterious photojournalist who meets up with a gallery owner played by Joan Allen. Their stories are told through a series of flashbacks and the audience slowly understands why these people have trouble with intimacy. As their understanding of each other grows, love blossoms. The use of beautiful Impressionist paintings flashed on the curtain in between scenes gave it a lovely surreal feeling, and, of course, the two stars were wonderful. The play is a little clunky, but it was a thrill to see these stars.

Saturday night we saw Ruined in a small theater at the City Center. This new play by Lynn Nottage is getting quite the buzz, and its run has been extended twice. It is certainly a powerful, albeit emotionally exhausting, play. The setting is a brothel in the midst of war-torn Congo. Mama Nadi is the brothel/bar owner (her character is modeled after Mother Courage). As rebels and soldiers come in and out of the brothel, Mama Nadi tries not take sides. The concept that the soldiers and rebels are equally brutal and destructive is emphasized by the choice to have the same male leads playing both factions. The women of the Congo are caught in the crossfire, and, ironically, working at Mama Nadi's whorehouse is safer for them than being in their communities where they are targets for kidnapping and rape. The four actresses (including Phylicia Rashad's daughter in her NY debut) who play leads each give amazing performances. In the end, it becomes a story of human resilience and strength, and even love. Nottage previously won an Obie and, hopefully, will win more awards for this gripping and very moving play. Our friend Casey thinks Ruined may win the Pulitzer Prize this year.

Our favorite Boyz- Casey and Ben- met us for laughs and drinks after the show. Only one day left in the city and then the long bus ride back to our real lives!

Celebrity Sightings

2009-03-14T11:31:00.003-04:00

Not too many sightings this trip--Jeremy Irons walking down the street, Howard Stern getting into a cab, Phoebe Cates at her new store, Blue Tree, on the East Side, Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt signing autographs after Guys and Dolls, Art Moore (Program Director of Live with Regis and Kelly) having lunch . . . hopefully more to come!

Day Three In NYC!

2009-03-14T10:34:00.009-04:00

Nothing makes the CultureBuddies happier than a big Broadway musical with a full orchestra, great songs, a gorgeous set, and lots of dance numbers. Because there is nowhere on earth that you can see a show of this scope and size other than on Broadway, we were in CB heaven Friday night at Guys and Dolls. Has anyone ever written a better score than Fred Loesser did for this show? Just one amazing song after another. The numbers were wonderfully performed by Lauren Graham as Adelaide, Kate Jennings Grant as the Mission worker Sarah, and Sky Masterson adorably played by Craig Berko. Oliver Platt played Nathan Detroit, and he is definately the weakest link, but he held his own with all the singers and dancers. This show is just plain fun! The dance numbers alone make it worth the price of admission:
Luck Be a Lady Tonight was wonderful with every male in the cast involved in this great dance number which was beautifully choreographed. The other standout song and dance number was Titus Burgess' full blown Gospel rendition of Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat. Lauren Graham is just adorable as Adelaide. It was a great night of musical theater.

Earlier in the day we travelled up to the Lincoln Plaza Cinema to see the Swedish film Everlasting Moments. A 2 1/2 hour film about a woman in the early 1900s locked in a marriage with her only outlet a camera. A long, lovely, very moving film which the CBs recommend.

Day Two--NYC!

2009-03-13T11:50:00.011-04:00

Highlight of the Day: Ann and I took in The Jewish Museum's exhibition of artwork created for Russian Jewish theater productions in the 1920s and 1930s. The exhibition captures a period in the early years of the Soviet Union when visual artists, including Marc Chagall, Natan Altman, and Robert Falk, joined forces with avant-garde playwrights, actors, and theatrical producers to create a theater experience for the masses. The exhibit includes paintings, costume and set designs, posters, photographs, and film clips.

In 1920, Marc Chagall was creative director for the company. The exhibit shows his his sketches for stage sets, costumes and make-up; these are amazing enough. More amazing, however, is a whole room devoted to a set of murals Chagall created to be hung in the Moscow State Yiddish Theater. Incredibly, these murals had been rolled up in storage since 1950 in a gallery in Moscow. Chagall himself was not even sure they had survived until, in 1973, he returned to the Soviet Union for the first time since 1922 and signed the murals at the museum. In 1989 they were restored, and The Jewish Museum has them all on display. On one wall, four murals depict Dance, Drama, Literature, Music, The Banquet, and Love on the Stage. Along the top, a long mural captures Chagall's version of a wedding banquet feast. A fifth mural covers the entire opposite wall--this mural is a carnival-like explosion of color, humor, and composition. I could not get enough of sitting in this room and soaking it all in. What a rare privilege it was to be able to see such masterpieces up close.

Another Highlight: Drinks with the boyz (Casey and Ben) after our Thursday night show. Silly fun and laughter as usual. Ann and I are older, but often less mature, than the boyz. We presented them each with their $20 cash prize for tying as winners of our Satellite Oscar pool, and they were thrilled.

Low Point of the Day: The Roundabout Theatre's production of Hedda Gabler. The only good point was that it had a magnet we could add to our collections.

Day One--NYC!

2009-03-13T09:32:00.011-04:00

The CultureBuddies left Nashua at the crack of dawn on Wednesday and made it to the city in time for a matinee of Blithe Spirit, a new revival of the Noel Coward play. We were looking forward to seeing that handsome devil Rupert Everett, and we both wanted to see Angela Lansbury on stage. Unfortunately, the play was a disappointment: it seemed so dated and the chemistry just wasn't there. The jokes were tired and lame and the play just seemed to drag on and on. Rupert was the only bright light (and was a handsome drink of water) coming down a staircase in a tux as the play opened, and even he seemed bored.

After a quick nap, we felt recharged and set off to see a new play, God Of Carnage. In short, it was fantastic! James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels play two couples whose sons have been in a playground fight; the play takes place during an afternoon gathering in one of their homes to talk about the incident in a "civilized" way. By the end of the ninety minute play, their meeting has become a free for all with all the politeness thrown aside. It is hilarious; the laughs come from the increasingly dark truths that emerge about marriage, parenting, moral responsibility, and human relationships as "civilized" behavior deteriorates. The actors are wonderful; it's unusual to see a play with four actors playing equal roles, and this one is perfectly cast. Marcia Gay Harden was a standout as the mother who is trying to mediate the meeting and does "passive aggressive" like no one else!

We crashed early after two very different plays in one day. Although we don't predict good reviews of Blithe Spirit, we agree that God of Carnage is sure to be a huge hit this Broadway season.

New York City, Here We Come!!

2009-03-03T13:42:00.038-05:00

We're getting really excited for our next trip to NYC-- it's been too long! We will be staying four nights and seeing seven productions (yes, we are insane). Our schedule is a star-packed mix of old chestnuts and new plays.

Guys and Dolls--a new revival starring Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt
Hedda Gabbler--a new translation of Ibsen's classic starring Mary-Louise Parker and Tony-award winner, Michael Cervantes
Becky Shaw--a new drama by Gina Gionfriddo playing Off-Broadway
Blithe Spirit--a revival of Noel Coward's play with an all-star cast that includes Angela Lansberry, Christine Ebersole, and Rupert Everett
Ruined--a new play at the NY City Center which had an acclaimed run in Chicago (our pal Casey predicts it will win the Pulitzer this year)
Impressionism--a new play by Michael Jacobs starring Tony winners Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen
God of Carnage--the Broadway premiere of a new "comedy of manners . . . without the manners" starring James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels, and Hope Davis

Shoud be a great trip!

Oscar Party 2009--Burlington, VT

2009-02-24T16:41:00.001-05:00

Oscar Fever

2009-02-17T16:16:00.006-05:00

The CB's are getting excited for their guest appearance at an Oscar extravaganza that CBs-in-Training, Kate and Lluvia, are throwing in Burlington, VT. this Sunday night! We are planning lots of surprises, goodies, and prizes to spread the CB love . . . We are also running two Oscar pools--a Party Pool and a Satellite Pool.

This year the prize is cold, hard cash. We love you, Casey, but you're going down this year!! Enjoy your medals--you're not getting any more . . . .

Milk

2009-02-03T18:53:00.011-05:00

The CBs have been seeing movies with a pre-Academy Awards vengeance, and last night we saw Milk. We both loved the film and were wowed by the great performances and the way Milk's story was told. Director Gus Van Sant has made this movie so much more than your typical 'fallen hero'/bio-pic. It is a study of a man, a time and a movement. It is beautifully told with amazing archival footage which he skillfully integrates into the film. It reminds us of the world before AIDS, and we see again the dark moments of Anita Bryant and Proposition 6.

This isn't a sexually gratuitous gay story, however, this is the story of a man who was looking for acceptance and dignity and became a politician as a way of achieving these basic goals promised to all in the Constitution. This story of Harvey Milk's life begins in the early '70s right before his 40th birthday when he moves to the Castro area of San Francisco and becomes politically active. He is a community organizer out of his camera shop and, on his third try, wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the recognition as the nation's first openly gay office holder.

Sean Penn's performance is letter perfect and heartbreaking. It made me wonder if there is anyone who can transform himself into a character better than Penn can. He is amazing. The supporting characters are equally well cast: James Franco plays his lover with great sensitivity and charm; James Brolin plays Dan White without any hint of caricature (there is not a Twinkie to be seen); and adorable Emile Hirsh plays the smart organizer Cleeve Jones. The Culture Buddies give Milk 5 stars.

The Wrestler

2009-01-30T10:32:00.006-05:00

Ann and I saw The Wrestler last night. Well, actually, Ann saw more of it than I did as I had my eyes closed during the wrestling scenes . . . I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to blood and violence. It's a gritty, intense movie that balances the family atmosphere and comradery among professional wrestlers and the no-holds barred stunts and gimmicks they come up with to rev up the crowd as they fight each other in seedy VFW Halls and low-rent venues. The director also brings out the contrast between Randy "The Ram's" life as a tough, hard-partying womanizer who lights up before a crowd and his endearing, vulnerable qualities as a lonely man with a pretty empty life. Mickey Rourke is amazing in this role as a former star who has pushed his body about as far as it can go, but has nothing else in his life to turn to when he reluctantly decides to "retire."

We saw a little more of Marisa Tomei than we ever wanted to in her role as an aging stripper, but she gives a brave and moving performance. In her role as The Ram's estranged daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, is excellent. The scenes between Wood and Rourke are touching and, untimately, heart-breaking. This is a tough one to watch at times (althoughyou can always just close your eyes like I did!), but worth seeing for the incredible performances and its honest look at the world of professional wrestling.

Frost/Nixon

2009-01-28T12:41:00.010-05:00

The CBs saw Frost/Nixon on Broadway a couple of years ago. There was a lot of buzz about the play, and even though the performances by Frank Langella as Nixon (he won the Tony) and Michael Sheen as Frost were fantastic, the CBs looked at each other at the end of the show and had the exact same reaction : what's the big deal? We wondered if the interviewing of Nixon by Frost was really worthy of a Broadway show and all this hoopla?

Last weekend the CBs saw the movie. The same two actors give performances every bit as wonderful as they did on Broadway. The movie is artfully directed by Ron Howard and well written by Peter Morgan who also wrote the play. But I came away from the film asking the same question: is this moment in history really worth a movie? The performances may make seeing the movie worthwhile but the event which the film centers around doesn't seem to warrant either a Broadway show or a film.

Leslie's two cents: I disagree a bit and enjoyed this movie a little more than Ann did. I found it a pretty engrossing character study and an interesting look at the interplay between media and politics. I thought it unwound like a Greek tragedy where the hero is just too full of himself (and in this case craves media attention and cold, hard cash) and is doomed to fall. The documentary-style approach Howard uses definitely made this more entertaining to watch for me than the play.

Catching Up On Movies

2009-01-25T11:01:00.010-05:00

It's been about a week since Ann and I saw Revolutionary Road, and it's a movie that lingers. It's hard to watch because it is so brutally honest in its depiction of a married couple whose reality doesn't come close to their expectation that they will lead an exciting and special life. As they become mired in the life of suburbia in the 60's, they start to become the type of people that they despise. Although they have a brief, wonderful moment of deluding themselves that they will break out of these roles as they plan a move to Paris, the tension becomes palpable as you wait for it all to fall apart. The performances by Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di'Caprio are brilliant, and Michael Shannon's Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the role of a mentally unstable visitor who speaks the unspeakable truth as he sees it is well-deserved. This is one worth seeing.

My husband and I caught Defiance last week as well starring Liev Schreiber (a CB favorite) and Daniel Craig in the true story of the Jewish Bielshi brothers who escaped the Nazi slaughter of their town and escaped into the Belarussian woods. Their plan was to hide and save themselves, but soon find that they are responsible for the many Jewish refugees who keep joining them. The numbers multiply as more refugees join the group, and the brothers become reluctant leaders as they set up three self-sustaining villages over a three year period in the wilderness. This is a Holocaust story that I was unfamiliar with, and it makes for great cinema. As the brothers increasingly turn to violence as a means of redemption and of protecting the refugee community they have created, the movie also creates a sense of moral ambiguity as you admire the brothers' heroism at the same time you are watching them slaughter Germans. The performances are strong, and the story is compelling. Another one I recommend.

I saw Frost/Nixon yesterday--Ann is going to see it today with her husband, so we'll wait to report on that one . . .It's exhausting being self-proclaimed members of the Academy!

Gran Torino

2009-01-12T14:45:00.007-05:00

The CB's went to see Gran Torino with very low expectations. We were not expecting much, and we were totally surprised by how much we liked this movie. Clint Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, an old geezer who is mad at the world and full of anger at the way his Detroit neighborhood has changed. He calls these newcomers to his city every racial slur imaginable- sometimes under his breath and sometimes right to their face. His character gradually changes after a young Hmong neighbor tries to steal his beloved Gran Torino, and they begin to get to know each other. Eastwood manages to give the audience a couple of 'wink-wink' moments when he channels Dirty Harry, but he has come a long way since those 'shoot 'em up', revenge-filled movie days. This is a thoughtful look at the way America is changing, and Eastwood does a wonderful job of directing and acting in this film. All the other roles are perfectly cast--one standout is the young actor (Christopher Carley) who plays a baby-faced Irish priest struggling to keep a promise he made to Walt's wife on her deathbed that he would convince Walt to take confession. The CB's recommend you see this one.

The Reader

2009-01-03T09:59:00.012-05:00

The CB's caught The Reader yesterday afternoon in their quest to see all the Oscar-buzz movies that have recently been released. Although we give it an average grade, it's worth seeing for Kate Winslet's nuanced performance that begins with her character, Hannah, as a mysterious thirty+ year old with a very healthy libido who initiates a 15 year old boy to the pleasures of sex. At the same time, she witholds any real intimacy and clearly has a past she does not share with her young lover (an excellent performance by newcomer David Kross). It's hard to tell which she enjoys more--making love to Michael or listening to him read to her. The movie shifts back and forth in time between the summer of their initial affair, a period eight years later when Michael is in law school and discovers the secrets Hannah has kept from him, and scenes depicting an adult Michael (Ralph Fiennes) who still struggles with the effects of his past relationship with Hannah. At each point in the arc of her character, Winslet captures both the toughness of her character and her complete vulnerability.

Ultimately, though, the movie leaves too many questions unanswered to be satisfying. Fiennes' role as the adult Michael is underdeveloped and pales in comparison to the richness of the younger Michael's role. When Fiennes assumes the role of Michael, we missed the younger Michael, and we were left wondering why he was still so damaged as an adult because of this relationship. The shifts in time were were sometimes confusing as well, and caused me to misinterpret a whole section of the film (luckily, Ann set me straight!). Although the mystery surrounding Hannah drew us in, the movie left us wanting more insight into what her full story was and who she was before she met Michael. We also felt that the focus on their sexual relationship and the emphasis on the theme of literacy overshadowed any real exploration of the question of personal retribution for actions taken (or not taken) during the autrocities of the Nazi regime. This movie has flaws, but, again, it is worth seeing if only for the performances of Kate Winslet and the young David Kross.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-01T15:12:00.005-05:00

Slumdog Millionaire tells a fairy tale story of an impoverished orphan who, through pluck and determination, fights for a fortune and the woman of his dreams. But this fairy tale is set in the bleak streets of modern India, and the obstacles the young hero, Jamal, must overcome are dark and, quite often, horrific. The movie is an adrenaline rush of color, movement, music, suspense, tension and unforgettable scenes depicting the shocking conditions that Jamal and his brother must negotiate just to stay alive. In a completely unique way, the film's scenes snap from pure romance to sexual abuse, from sibling loyalty to betrayal, from comic situations to shocking violence, from touches of magic realism and fantasy to depictions of the brutal reality of poverty. Ann and I agree that, although it's difficult to watch at times, Slumdog Millionaire is definitely a must see.

Movies, Movies, Movies

2008-12-31T13:52:00.021-05:00

Finally, some movies worth seeing have been released! The CB's are busy getting ready for the Academy Awards season . . .

Doubt--Surprisingly, this is our favorite of the movies we've seen the last couple of weeks. We had seen the play with Cherry Jones, who won a Tony Award for her role, but we both agree that the movie was a much more powerful experience. The four main actors are equally at the top of their game and turn in amazing performances. Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius, principal of the parish school circa 1960's, who faces off against Philip Seymour Hoffman's Father Flynn. Sister Aloysius is an ambitious nun resentful not just of Father Flynn's "modern" ideas, but of his rank and the general sexism within the church. Her suspicions about Father Flynn and his relationship with one of the young male students provide the backbone of the plot. The tension between these two is palpable and is not diminished in any way by the presence of a young, naive nun who is drawn into their conflict (played by the excellent Amy Adams). Viola Davis takes a small role and makes it unforgettable--she captures beautifully the quiet strength and steely determination of a mother trying to do the best by her son in the face of racism, sexism, and an abusive husband. Definitely a must see.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--The CB's disagree a bit on this one. Ann thought it dragged in parts, and that the emphasis on the physical aspects of Benjamin's reverse aging left her wanting more insight into his emotional and psychological condition throughout. She also felt that the chemistry between Benjamin (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) wasn't very strong, and that Pitt underplayed the role. While I agree that the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy didn't always seem as powerful as it should have been, I thought the slow pace of the film appropriately mirrored the leisurely tempo of Southern story-telling. I also found Pitt's performance to be subtle and heart-breaking. He made me fell Benjamin’s sadness as he becomes more familiar with death and the reality of each person’s mortality, as he deals with the pain of trying to keep his condition a secret, and as he regrets missed opportunities. Pitt also captures the thrill and excitement of living, his pure joy at being in love and the eagerness with which he sets out to see the world. We both agreed that the performance by Taraji Henson, who plays Benjamin's adoptive mother, is the stand-out role of the movie. We also agree that it was a touching, bittersweet movie that tells an intriguing story using outstanding special effects.

Australia--Predictable, light entertainment . . . the plot is one that you've seen many times (haughty, tightly-wound woman + sexy, rough-around-the-edges man + adventure that binds them together = true love) and uses every cliche in the book. It's also way too long. What did stand out was the choice to narrate the story through the eyes of the young half-caste boy, Nullah, who becomes a surrogate son to the childless Lady Ashley and the free-spirited Drover. Nullah lives in fear of being taken by the government from his real mother to be "re-educated" (i.e., turned white) in a mission school. This meshing of social outrage and romantic adventure does make the movie more interesting. Also, the film is pretty to look at, and the scenes of the outback are certainly beautiful (although there are only so many expansive shots of scenery you can take in two and a half hours). The best scenery in the movie (we have to admit) is Hugh Jackman . . .

Slumdog Millionaire--More to come on this, as I saw it in Burlington with my daughter and her girlfriend, and Ann has yet to see it . . .

A Hit and a Miss

2008-12-03T11:11:00.007-05:00

A Hit--We took the boyz (Casey and Ben) to see Fo rbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab on a chilly Saturday afternoon in the city. We saw this spoof of Broadway musicals last year and found it a hilarious send up of all the shows we had seen. This year's production is just as funny and clever--we had a great time laughing at all the numbers. When one of the two talented women in the cast did Liza Minelli, we just about died. She was perfectly awful, as only Liza can be. We also especially loved the Gypsy number with another spot-on imitation of Patti Lupone (as we always say, there's nothing subtle about Patti). This will be the last Forbidden Broadway show after 15 years of productions which is very sad . . .

A Miss--My sister, Lisa, and her husband were in town and the four of us went to see Pal Joey at the Roundabout on Saturday night after all of us had a yummy dinner at Pigalli's. We had really been looking forward to seeing the revival of this classic musical with such a beautiful score. I couldn't wait to see Christian Hoff again in the lead role--I couldn't keep my eyes off him when I saw Jersey Boys.

The first disappointment upon sitting down was the dreaded paper falling out of the Playbill announcing that the understudy would be filling in for Christian Hoff. (We learned later that we saw the first full performance that Matthew Risch, the understudy, had done--the Saturday afternoon matinee was actually cancelled so he could do a run-through.) Our disappointment increased as the production got underway. Although the understudy was good, he was no Christian Hoff; although Stockard Channing looked great and did pretty well in the role of the aging "cougar" falling for a younger man, she can't sing (she actually committed the sin of talking her way through the wonderful "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"); Martha Plimpton gave it the old college try in her first musical role, but she was miscast. To top it all off, the set was uninspiring and relied too heavily on a circular staircase--the comings and goings were just annoying after awhile--and the choreography was rather lackluster.

Matthew Risch has permanently replaced Christian Hoff, who injured his foot in rehearsal. The CBs don't predict that this show will be even close to a hit and we wouldn't recommend it. Lisa and Chuck agree . . . By the way, they also saw All My Sons and Billy Elliot and loved both!

Black Watch in NYC

2008-12-03T10:11:00.010-05:00

On our last trip to NYC, we saw the excellent play, Black Watch at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The production was brought to New York last year from Scotland's National Theatre, and it has returned for a second run. The show is based on interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq as part of the legendary Black Watch regement. Viewed through the eyes of a select group of soldiers, the play explores the male comradery and bravado implicit in being part of such a regiment, what it means to be part of the war on terror, and what it means to make the journey home again.

It's hard to describe the uniqueness of this soldier's-eye-view of the Iraq war. Using this large warehouse space, the action moves seamlessly between interview scenes in a pub and real-time scenes in Iraq employing an incredibly creative mix of multimedia effects, choreographed movement, regimental folk songs, military processions, and live bagpipe music. The young men who play the soldiers are exceptional in their physicality and also in portraying the soldiers' emotional vulnerability underneath all their swearing and bragging.

This production is a really compelling theater piece, and we recommend it highly. It is both a testament to all the brave young men who have been at war, and a condemnation of the questionable politics that sends them to war. I only wish that Bush would be forced to sit through several performances . . .

Chilly Four Day Weekend in NYC

2008-11-24T14:38:00.014-05:00

It was very cold and windy in New York City this weekend but the CultureBuddies bundled up and trekked all around exploring new neighborhoods and new theater venues. We even got to explore two more boroughs--Brooklyn and Queens! We spent Thursday and Friday nights with Casey, Ben, Melissa and Kara in the Astoria section of Queens. They were wonderfully gracious to us, and we enjoyed every moment we spent with these great kids. The CB’s send a big, hug-filled SHOUT OUT to our Astoria pals!

Two of the plays we saw are Off-Broadway plays in small theaters. Friday night we saw Farragut North at the Atlantic Theater Company in Chelsea. We were initially interested in this play because it stars John Gallagher Jr. (who won a Tony for his fabulous performance in Spring Awakening) and the TV star Chris Noth. In this new play by 31-year-old playwright, Beau Willimon, Gallagher plays a tough minded, very ambitious press secretary to a presidential candidate during the Iowa Primary. Noth plays the part of the campaign manager for the same candidate. As veterans of many NH Primary campaigns, we found this drama to be compelling and true to life. Gallagher proves himself to be a wonderful actor in this well chosen dramatic role (he is on stage for virtually the entire play). Little did we know that Chris Noth, who is well known for his TV roles, also has a long history in theater and is a graduate of Yale’s School of Drama.

Sunday afternoon we saw another alumnus of Spring Awakening, Jonathan Groff, starring in a new play, Prayer for My Enemy, at the Playwrights Horizon. Written by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss), this play is the story of a family with a depressed, angry alcoholic father who has wrecked havoc on the lives of his son (well played by Jonathan) and his sister (equally well acted by Cassie Beck). The play starts with a chance meeting between two old friends from high school, one of whom is leaving for Iraq. When Groff's character invites his old friend to his family's going away party, his friend becomes entwined in the family permanently. Along with the story of this family, there is a seemingly unconnected story of an angry middle aged woman (played by Tony winner Victoria Clark) caring for her elderly mother. The two stories end up intersecting in a surprising and thought-provoking way. One interesting device the author uses is giving voice to his character’s inner thoughts. It was a little confusing at first, but soon you realize that the characters are speaking what they are thinking inside as well as their dialogue with other characters.

The playwright, the director, and the theater manager held a talk-back after the play, and (of course) the CultureBuddies were active participants (and asked the most intelligent questions). The conversation had some very tense moments when two people began yelling at the director about his view on the war, and he got equally fired up and began shouting back at them that his job is to get people fired up. It was cool to be part of this "members only" event (which didn't stop Ann from charming her way into two tickets!). The CBs found that the play provoked lots of interesting conversation for the bus ride home, and we agreed that we might like to see again if the run is extended.

We are always impressed when a young actors like John Gallagher and Jonathan Groff choose to hone their craft in a less mainstream plays after they have made a big splash on Broadway. We were proud of both our boys! More to follow about the other three shows we saw…

Movie Update

2008-11-04T07:41:00.003-05:00

The CBs decided to check out an independent theatre that opened about a year ago in Concord, NH, Red River Theatre, on Sunday. It's a great small theatre (with a parking garage attached that's free on the weekends) right off of South Main Street. They have two small theatres and a screening room that seats about 50. We started with a viewing of A Man Named Pearl in the screening room. It was a great documentary about Pearl Fryar, a 68-year old former share cropper's son from small town Bishopville, South Carolina who has turned his lawn into an unbelievable topiary extravaganza. He works tirelessly to create and maintain abstract works of art out of previously discarded bushes from the town nursery and the existing trees on his property. Without any formal training in the art of topiary, it's absolutely amazing what he has created. He is also a completely charming man, and you will fall in love with him (and his wife) by the end of the film. It's also a great snapshot of a small town that is trying to revitalize itself in an economy that has mechanized their major industry of growing cotton. Go see it if you can.

We scooted across to one of the other theatres to see The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley. Based on a true story, the movie traces the late-18th-century life of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, one of those gilded-cage aristocrats who appears to have been groomed to be a pampered wife and produce heirs. It's a big costume film with amazing costumes, toweing wigs, big production scenes, and lots of "bodice-ripping" drama. Kierra Knightley is actually very good in the lead role, and she subtly captures her character's growth from a rather shallow, albeit incredibly beautiful, young lady to a tough as nails public figure who sacrifices more than anyone should ever be expected to as a result of her marriage to the Duke of Devonshire. Played by Ralph Fienes, the Duke is a cold, calculating man who is relentless in his quest for a male heir. Quite a contrast from the small documentary, A Man Named Pearl, (the only connection was lavish topiary gardens), but worth seeing.

Octoberfest Ends!

2008-10-24T09:31:00.005-04:00

On Sunday we saw the new production of David Mamet’s Speed the Plow. It is the 20th anniversary of this show which is a tour de force of quick, witty repartee said at such a fast pace that it leaves the audience breathless. The story is about two power brokers in the movie business (played by Jeremy Piven from Entourage and Raul Esparza from the Broadway show Company) who have scored a big star to play in a tacky prison break movie. They are scheming and plotting their strategy for a presentation to the Studio Head when a temporary secretary (played by Elisabeth Moss) comes onto the scene playing a role somewhat similar to her role in Mad Men. To say she upsets the apple cart is an understatement. The show is three quick acts and is over in about 90 minutes. The acting is great and it’s a whirlwind of a show.

Before the show we had a drink at Trattoria Trecolori on 47th Street where we met a most intriguing bartender named Bill . Bill told us a most amazing story about his Mongolian father who was imprisoned in the 1940’s for studying English which was considered a treasonous act. I have no idea how we got on the topic of his father but he is an amazing guy, so if you are in the neighborhood of 47th between Broadway and 8th, stop in and tell Bill that the CultureBuddies sent you!

Day Four - A Day of Contrasts

2008-10-19T11:06:00.013-04:00

Saturday afternoon the CB's saw Chekhov's The Seagull. It was an afternoon of three hours of great play writing, wonderful direction, and breathtaking performances. This is a definite must see for any serious theatre lover. It is a new translation of the famous play and a very riveting production. The play begins with a bleak, sparse stage, and, once again, no curtain--just a few birch trees and some tree stumps which become the stage for the son's production of his first attempt at play writing. In this one scene we see the family dynamics in all their cruelty. Kristen Scott Thomas plays the aging actress, Arkadina, who is the mother from hell--unable to provide the love, support and attention that her son desperately needs--but instead makes herself the constant center of attention. She is just wonderful as this selfish, narcisistic woman. But the standout performance for the CBs was the young actress Carey Mulligan's portrayal of Nina, the son's true love who starts as an innocent, fresh young girl and ends up as a broken women who has been rejected by her lover (who is also Arkadina's love) and banned from her family home. We recognized her from Bleak House and other PBS productions, and she is a wonder to watch on stage.

Later we saw the opposite extreme of the Broadway spectrum- Billy Elliot. What a show! It is as over the top as Elton John's persona is!! The choreography was some of the best we have ever seen. The numbers with the Union workers and the young ballet dancers are magical and so creative. The young boy who played Billy- David Alvarez- is an amazing talent. We left the theatre feeling exhausted from this over the top experience only to find that my beloved Red Sox were ahead 4-2 and going to play Game 7 of the ALCS tonight! Today we are seeing the matinee of David Mamet's Speed the Plow and then taking the bus home. We are tired but happy CB's.

Brushes with Masterpiece Theatre

2008-10-18T17:13:00.010-04:00

A small theme seems to be emerging on this trip, and it centers on Masterpiece Theatre, a show I've watched for as long as I remember. My mom is a big fan, and we spent many hours watching all the series while I was growing up: Upstairs, Downstairs, Poldark, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Poldark, Brideshead Revisited, Jewel in the Crown, The Forsyte Saga, etc. I still faithfully watch the show. Last night at All My Sons, Dereck Jacobi (I, Claudius, Cadfael, Hamlet) was in the audience, and he looks great. As we were chatting with our seat neighbors about him, the man told us that he had a great Masterpiece Theatre story. Long story short--he introduced his wife to Robin Ellis (the hunky guy who played the role of Poldark in the 70's) at a PBS fundraising dinner, and she ended up marrying him after they were divorced! She's still married to him and living in London. Then today at The Seagull (more on this later), who should be in the cast but two Masterpiece Theatre veterans--Art Malik (Jewel in the Crown, Far Pavillions) and Carey Mulligan (Northanger Abbey, Bleak House, The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard). Both were terrific in this perfectly cast Chekhov classic. Who knows, maybe this theme will continue!

Day Three - The Best Yet

2008-10-18T11:45:00.021-04:00

Sometimes you think you have had the best day of your life only to find that the next day is even better. I fell asleep Thursday night astounded by the great day we had and how much fun we had at Tale of Two Cities only to wake up and have another over the top day.

Let me begin by telling you about an encounter I witnessed early Friday between CB Leslie and a couple of people from Florida. In the hotel computer room, we ran into a couple who were interested in seeing a show Friday night and had just been quoted (by the hotel concierge) a price of $169 per ticket to see Avenue Q. Leslie told them that there was no need to pay that price, she gave them a little tutorial on getting cheaper tickets and they ended up paying $65 each for third row center seats to Avenue Q for that night! They practically fell on their knees in worship of the skills of this talented CB. She saved this couple $200 and got them better seats than the concierge had offered them. While I watched Leslie in action I thought- I am witnessing exactly what this CB was meant to do for her life's work!!

We had tickets for All My Sons Friday night and were excited to see the revival of this play with a star-studded cast which includes John Lithgow as the father, Joe, Diane Wiest as the grieving mother, Patrick Wilson as the surviving son, and Katie Holmes as the girl next door. Before the show, I was doing one of my favorite things- chatting up the ushers and theatre employees - and the woman selling the t-shirts and magnets told me all about the previous night when the show officially opened and then she whispered to me that "a big, big female star will be at tonight's show". Hmmmmmmmm.... She wouldn't tell me the name, so I was thinking maybe it would be Meryl or Julia but in fact it was Oprah!! She came in right before the show began with Tom Cruise and an entourage which included a huge, fierce body guard. The theatre was abuzz! Oprah's buddy Gail came in LATE- sorry to tell you, Gail BUT coming in late is in very bad form. Very bad form indeed. The entire entourage came back late from intermission causing an unnecessary hubbub. Another instance of bad theatre manners.

The show was absolutely riveting. Directed by Simon McBurney, there was an amazingly feeling that the story was an epic tale, not just the tale of one family. There is no curtain and the cast is all on stage before the lights go down and John Lithgow actually tells everyone to turn off their cellphones. The acting is superb--we were mesmerized for every second of the show. I loved the images cast on the screen behind the actors and the use of the other cast members as a sort of Greek chorus makes the play even more relevant to our time. Lithgow and Wiest are truly stage royalty, and Patrick Wilson is wonderful as the second son who is forced to deal with the unraveling of his family. Katie Holmes has my eternal admiration for choosing this role for her Broadway debut. Stars who come to Broadway and do eight shows a week when they have huge movie careers display a love for the art and the stage that I admire. Broadway is grueling, and she did just fine as the former girl next door. It's a wonderful production, and the CB's highly recommend it. The director, Simon McBurney, gives us a very innovative take on a American classic and is someone that the CBs will keep their eyes on.

After the show, we met our two favorite boys- Casey and Ben- and had a laugh filled late evening. We adore these two wonderful boys. They are both finishing up their senior years at Marymount/Manhattan and are doing fascinating internships. Ben at Vogue and Casey at an amazing ad agency. Their parents should be very proud of these wonderful boys who the CBs just love to pieces.

Today .... The Seagull, Billy Elliot and the Red Sox game 6.... life is good!

A Great Night!

2008-10-17T08:52:00.014-04:00

The CB's saw a new musical based on A Tale of Two Cities last night and thoroughly enjoyed a great night of theatre, the likes of which you can only see on Broadway--a big cast, great costumes, clever set, terrific talent, full orchestra, and music that soars. The pace of the story line is brisk, and there is a good amount of lightness added to the serious themes of class struggle, revolution, sacrifice, and redemption. The most enjoyable aspect of the production is the talent that has been assembled for this large cast. The voices, down to the most minor character, are crystal clear and lovely to listen to. When the lead, James Barbour, opens his mouth to sing, you know you will be in good hands for the night (it's hard not to swoon, to be truthful).

We had several classic CB moments after the performance. Somehow I sensed that a woman who came down to talk with some people sitting in front of us might be Jill Santoriellio, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics. I touched her on her shoulder and asked her if she happened to be the one responsible for the show. She said she was, and I told her how much we loved it despite the sometimes cranky NY critics who gave the show a bad review. She immeditately gave me a big hug and was very sweet to us. I told her I had listened to her extended interview on Playbill Radio.com and admired her fortitude in getting the play produced. We even gave her a CultureBuddy card! Very cool moment.

We went to the stage door afterwards and hung around for awhile, decided to leave, then at the corner, Ann convinced me to turn around and we went back to wait for the more major stars to come out. Broadway regular, Greg Edelman, who plays Dr. Manette couldn't have been nicer, and the young lady who is making her Broadway debut in the lead female role (Brandi Burkhardt) is really beautiful and very gracious. Of course, we were waiting for James Barbour, and by the time he came out there were three people waiting at the stage door--a cute young girl and the two CBs. What losers! Anyways, we chatted with him, got his autograph on the program (and on his CD that I bought), took the picture here, and Ann and he had the following exchange: Ann: I wish you would sing to me all night. James: I just did for 2 1/2 hours, Honey. Ann: But you made me swoon! At this point, I grabbed her and we made a hasty retreat . . .

We met Ann's son and his girlfriend, Sara, at The House of Brews nearby after all this excitement and were able to see the Red Sox come back to win Game 5 of the ALCS--the biggest post-season comeback in 79 years! The perfect end to a great day . . .

Update--New York City

2008-10-16T14:42:00.006-04:00

The CB's arrived in NYC yesterday afternoon after a pleasant bus ride on Megabus from Boston. Nice new bus line, good prices, and we left and arrived right on schedule. After a slight readjustment period, we had a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Pigalli, and were joined for a drink by our buddy Casey who filled us in on the theatre world from his perspective as an intern for a PR firm that manages many of the big theatre groups in the city.

Then we headed over a few blocks to see Equus, starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Richard Griffiths. We were not bowled over--mostly because the play itself is rather dated, and the "phychiatrist heal thyself" theme feels a bit cliche. Radcliffe was good in his role (we were surprised by how small he is--5' 5") and you certainly live through his emotional turmoil. The scenes between him and his psychiatrist were the strongest part of the play. I also found the set and staging to be powerful, although Ann didn't agree with me. Lots of young girls mobbed the back stage door, and Radcliffe was very generous about signing autographs and people taking pictures.

We called it an early night--we were planning on watching the rerun of the Project Runway finale in our room, but we didn't get the Bravo channel on our TV. Bummer!

Today, we decided to head in different directions. I walked up to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and enjoyed the Van Gogh exhibit and a special installation called Dreamland: Architectural Experiments since the 1970s that was really terrific. From there I went to the Morgan Museum to see an exhibit called Drawing Babar. The Morgan recently acquired the working drafts and printer-ready watercolors for Histoire de Babar (1931), the first book by Jean de Brunhoff, and Babar et ce Coquin d'Arthur (1946), the first book by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff (b. 1925). As a long time Babar fan, I really enjoyed seeing the exhibit and all the first edition Babar books in their collection.

Ann headed up towards Lincoln Center to check out the new Museum of Art and Design. More about that from her later!

Movie Recommendation

2008-10-14T11:34:00.003-04:00

The CB's went to see Rachel Gets Married yesterday, and we both highly recommend it. It's difficult to watch at times as the family dynamics are pretty raw, but it's also incredibly honest, moving, and even humorous at times. Anne Hathaway disappears into her role as Kym, the younger sister who has just been released from a nine-month stint in rehab only to be thrown into the midst of her sister's wedding weekend. Kym finds her family home buzzing with strangers and wedding activities, meets her sister's fiance for the first time, discovers that she is not her sister's maid-of-honor, and feels smothered by her father who just keeps trying to feed her. The film slowly reveals the depth of the emotional dynamics within the family and the tragedy that causes Kym to keep going in and out of rehab. The great thing about the characters is that you sympathize with each of them, even though they are often pitted against each other. There has been a lot of Oscar buzz for Hathaway, and it's easy to see why. All the other roles are perfectly cast as well, and Rosemarie DeWitt is wonderful in the role of Rachel.

CB Update

2008-10-03T07:59:00.007-04:00

Nothing makes the CB's feel more cutting edge than waking up to a front page Art Section review in the NYT about a play we have tickets for! This morning it was The Seagull which Ben Brantley dubbed "the finest and most fully involving production of Chekhov that I have ever known." Not bad! Last week it was a review of Equuis which was a bit mixed, but, in it, Brantley praised "Mr. Radcliffe’s compact, centered presence (which he retains even stark, raving naked). . . . it’s the look of someone who sees and feels more deeply than ordinary folk" (yes, we are going to see Harry Potter naked--as my daughter says, "Shocking!"). We can't wait until October 15th when we finally get back to NYC.

What else have we been doing? We went to a movie theatre in Lowell with another buddy last weekend to catch a showing of Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway, a film of the live show which closed on Broadway last month after 12 years. This film is so much more than just the taping of one performance. Cameras were allowed into the theater to record two special performances (one at the end of August and the final night), and the result is an up-close and personal experience that is quite amazing. When it is eventually (hopefully) released on DVD, this is a must have for any fan of the theatre!

Our first Sunday Key Cinema Club (West Newton, MA) viewing a couple weeks ago was Humbolt County, a so-so movie about a commune-like community of marajuanna growers in CA who are trying to live peacefully outside of the law and grow just enough pot to sustain their lifestyle (and provide for their recreational use). When an uptight medical student is dropped into the mix, you can imagine what transpires . . . The good points were the filming of the beautiful, untouched landscape and some strong performances by the blissed out older hippie couple that the central character ends up staying with, and their seven year old grandaughter (an amazing performance by this young girl). Overall--a good movie to put on your Netflix list when it is released.

Speaking of Netflix, Ann passed her copy of Starting Out in the Evening to me a couple weeks ago, and I finally got around to watching it yesterday. Frank Langella gives an incredibly nuanced performance as Leonard Schiller, a retired teacher and all-but-forgotten novelist. His four completed novels are long out of print, and, in his 70s, he is toiling away at a fifth.
His routine is interrupted by an ambitious young graduate student, played by the amazing Lauren Ambrose, who wants to write a master’s thesis on Leonard and reintroduce him to the reading public. He is both flattered and a little befuddled by the attention — which is more than simply scholarly. Lili Taylor has a great role as Leonard's daughter; I always find her a compelling actor to watch on screen. Overall, definately worth watching.

That's it for now . . .

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

2008-09-07T13:03:00.003-04:00

The CB's went to see Woody Allen's new movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona this week and loved it! It's about the adventures of two young, beautiful American women who spend a summer in Barcelona. One (Rebecca Hall) is very buttoned up and engaged to be married when she returns to the States. The other (Scarlett Johansonn) is a highly sexually-charged free spirit. They both become entangled with a smooth-talking, sexy artist (Javier Bardem) and his over-the-top and slightly insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz), and the movie takes off from there. The movie is well made, the performances are outstanding (especially Bardem and Johansonn's), and the filming of Barcelona is so beautiful, it makes you want to get on a plane and go . . . not a bad idea at all!

Update From Leslie

2008-09-04T08:11:00.019-04:00

It's been a month now since my surgery, and I'm starting to feel human again. I'll be running around NYC in no time! We added tickets to Equus this morning for our October trip. This is the first production of the play on Broadway for 30 years, and it follows a very successful run in London last year. Daniel Radcliffe (the young actor who plays Harry Potter) is the lead, and Richard Griffiths, who won a Tony Award last year for a CB favorite drama, History Boys, plays the second lead. Should be a happening in the theatre world, so of course, the CB's must experience it!

I'm looking forward to getting out and about. While I've been home, I've been watching the first season of Mad Men -- a great series set in 1960's New York that follows the lives of the rather decadent men and women at the start of Madison Avenue advertising. The writing is smart, the characters are flawed, but compelling, and the costumes and production values are outstanding for a television series. It's amazing to think that this was only 40 years ago--everyone smokes everywhere (even a gynocologist who examines one of the characters), sexual harrassment in the workplace is accepted (and expected), and the psychologist who counsels the lead's wife calls the husband after each session to report in about everything she said!

I've managed to read a couple of books (now that I've cleared the Percocet haze). The best one was The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. This novel has been getting lots of press, and seems to be the new word-of-mouth "buzz" book. Although I was not blown away by it, I did enjoy it very much. The basic plot is that, after 15 years away, a Towner Whitney returns to Salem, MA from California after the drowning death of her great aunt Eva. We slowly learn why she has been avoiding this trip--she has had a traumatic upbringing and is considered unstable by the community. As the story unfolds, Barry overlaps supernatural and psychological themes, and she paints an interesting historical picture of Salem as a prosperous shipping town, the site of the infamous witch trials, and a modern-day tourist attraction. In addition, Barry weaves in a surprising plot twist at the end that will throw you for a loop. Worth reading.

That's it for now--more later!

October in the City

2008-09-03T11:04:00.003-04:00

CB Leslie is definitely on the mend and we are planning our next trip to the city. So far we have tickets to Tale of Two Cities, The Seagull, Billy Elliot, All My Sons and Speed the Plow. I am thrilled to say that ever resourceful CB Leslie got us bargain or specially priced tickets to every show. That girl is good!!

CultureBuddy on the DL

2008-08-12T14:35:00.006-04:00

So CB Leslie is sporting a brand new knee. She was operated on Tuesday, August 5th and is working hard on her recovery. Our next trip to Broadway is scheduled for the middle of October so by then she should be racing all around Times Square- like usual. In the meantime, we are watching lots of NetFlix and catching up on our reading. Two shows I recommend on video are The Wire - all 5 seasons are great- and Season One of Damages. Leslie is immersed in Army Wives and a ton of shows she has saved on her TIVO. The CBs are enthusiastic followers of Project Runway and we loved last week's show where the assignment was to design an outfit for the women athletes to wear in the Olympics' Opening Ceremony. Some of the designers were amazingly clueless. One designer actually made a bonnet like Laura Ingalls Wilder wore and another designed a cocktail dress. For the Opening Ceremony. Huh??
It won't be long before CB Leslie is out and about again and we can report on culture beyond the inside of our houses.

CultureBuddies in the News

2008-07-29T05:31:00.008-04:00

Today our hometown newspaper ran a story about the CBs with a huge photo. The photo takes up half the page in the print version and is a little embarrassing. The story is mostly right with the facts but there are a few minor errors, for example, the Life Is Beautiful anecdote happened over 10 years ago and was the start of our traveling to see movies out of the area, not the start of our Broadway obsession. We DO in fact go to regional theater in this area, but the blog is mostly about the shows we travel to NYC to see.

New York City- July 2008

2008-07-28T17:59:00.013-04:00

We only had enough time for a quick two night stay in New York this time, so we left very early Thursday morning. We got to the city at about 1:30 and headed straight to Pigalli's for lunch. While there, we had our first celebrity sighting of the weekend--Laura Bell Bundy (the original Elle in Legally Blonde) was dining a couple of tables away from us. Of course, wonderful Jose- the sweetest waiter in the world- greeted the girls like old friends and we had a delicious lunch. For this trip, we used our Hilton points(35,000 points a night) to stay at the Hampton Inn on 51st and 8th- this is a very nice hotel and a good place to stay for a theater trip because it's so perfectly situated.

Thursday night we saw Damn Yankees at New York's City Center. It was part of their Encore Series where A-List performers do a short run (3 weeks) in a well known play. It is a sort of summer playhouse for the best of Broadway. This production was just so much fun. The story is the Faustian tale of an aging man's dream of being a baseball star. The devil was played by the wonderful Sean Hayes of Will and Grace fame, and he was hilarious. It was his first time being on the stage in New York, and he delighted the crowd. I hope he comes back for a longer run on Broadway soon. The temptress Lola was played by Broadway and TV star Jane Krakowski, and she was great to see on stage. She is beautiful and has a smile that could light up all of 42nd Street. The show used the original choreography which Bob Fosse created for Gwen Verdon - the original Lola. Not all the dance routines worked as well for the shorter Jane. Fosse used a stylized kind of shoulder rolling that is supposed to be sexy, but just didn't seem to work for her. Using the original choreography was a very brave move for the director and was well executed by the cast especially the young ballplayers. The show stopper for the CBs was the wonderful Cheyenne Jackson from Zanadu. He played the young baseball player, and he is so charming and relaxed on stage--on top of that he is incredibly handsome and has a wonderful voice. The CBs really enjoyed this classic show from the 1950's, and it was great to see Sean, Jane and Cheyenne perform together.

After the show we met our friends, Casey and Ben, at a local beer house and finally got to meet their roommates, Kara and Melissa. They are wonderful kids and we had a ton of laughs. Eagle-eye celebrity spotter Leslie saw one of our favorite people- Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening and Hair- in front of the bar with some friends, and I had to be subdued so I didn't run outside and say hi. Casey was egging me on but, like usual, Leslie was the voice of reason and sanity!

Friday morning we headed over to the South Street Seaport to take a look at the NYC Waterfalls Project. We took a one hour boat ride on a Zephyr to see the waterfalls and the other sights in the East River like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a perfect day for a boat ride. This is the most touristy thing the CBs have ever done in all their NYC visits, but we decided that a public arts project of this size was worthy of a visit from the CultureBuddies. We were not disappointed at all. The view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge alone was worth the cost of the trip. The Zephyr was full of new Americans as well as tourists from around the world and there is something quite moving about everyone racing to one side of the boat to take photos of Lady Liberty. It's a wonderful view of our favorite city.

Around 6:00, we headed to Central Park with the fixings for a picnic with Casey and Ben before seeing the Public Theater's latest production of Hair. We had incredible seats (thank you, Casey!) and watched this 41 year old slice of history. Isn't it hard to believe that this show is 41 years old? It was lots of fun with hippie clothing, drugs, free love, and draft card burnings. We got to see our friend Jonathan Groff again in his first role since Spring Awakening. He was wearing a long crazy wig and played Claude- the hippie who is drafted and who sings some of the best songs of the show. All in all, we had a good time and loved being with our pals Casey and Ben in such a beautiful setting. The play did seem a little bit dated, and at times, it seemed like the actor/singers were playing dress-up, but the second act had more bite to it. The closing scene of the character Claude laying dead on the american flag in his Army uniform was quite powerful.

Saturday we had a first class breakfast at Pigalli's and, as I was walking over to MOMA, I ran into Jonathan Groff again coming out of the gym. How weird is that? Three times in three days the CBs see a favorite Broadway star. We chatted for a few minutes and he mentioned seeing us at Hair the night before. We chatted about his Spring Awakening costar Lea Michelle who is playing in Les Miz in the Hollywood Bowl right now. He is just such a nice person, and the CBs will see him again this fall at Playwright's Horizon. He was amazed when I told him that the CBs had made a special trip in to the city to see his final performance in SA. He said he really appreciates our support and asked that we stop by when we see his show this fall.

After hanging around and doing some major people watching Saturday afternoon, we caught the matinee of [title of the show]. It's a very funny and clever little musical with a cast of only four and one musician. The show is a musical about the process of writing the show the audience is actually seeing. It's clever and fun and the cast is very talented.

We took a late bus home and ended one of our shortest trips to the city. Three fun musicals and three sightings of Jonathan Groff. When we opened our Sunday Times, who did we see but Jonathan Groff . . . Very cool!

Mamma Mia

2008-07-27T08:50:00.003-04:00

The CB's took in the new movie, Mamma Mia, the other night with some friends and had a blast. Okay, it's not going to be an Oscar award-winning film, but it's definitely a fun time at the movies. Meryl Streep is actually very good and certainly throws herself into the role. As her sidekicks, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, are great, and the three lead men are adorable. Pierce Brosnan is a pretty bad singer, but he gives it all he's got and it works. The young girl who plays the lead is perfect, and her fiance (who was in the original History Boys on Broadway) is very cute. The scenery is to die for. Be sure to stay all the way through the closing credits to see them all in crazy ABBA spandex costumes!

A Short Trip

2008-07-22T14:23:00.006-04:00

This week we are taking a short trip to the city. A very short trip by CultureBuddy standards - just two nights and three plays. Thursday night we have tickets to Damn Yankees. Friday night we plan on seeing Hair in Central Park and Saturday we will see the matinee of the new musical [title of the show]. We have a big trip planned in the fall because many shows are opening. We have already started getting tickets for our next trip. We have tickets to see Billie Elliot and All My Sons with many more to come. The fall season on Broadway looks to be a great one.

More News from Chautauqua, NY

2008-07-14T12:01:00.002-04:00

(From Leslie) I am starting my second week here in Chautauqua, and trying to switch gears from Week 3's theme,On Writing (with really outstanding talks and readings by Billy Collins, E.L. Doctorow, Amy Tan, Joyce Carol Oates, Garry Trudeau, and Jane Pauley), to Week 4's theme, The Ethical Frontiers of Science. The lineup of speakers this week will take on the ethical debates surrounding advances in biomedical sciences and new discoveries about how the brain works, as well as the issues raised by the development of new drugs and genetic discoveries that enable us to improve our memories, moods, and cognitive abilities. This morning, Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at Univ. of Penn talked made an argument for funding stem cell research that will improve and extend life--he's not talking about imortality, but adding 20-40 quality years to an average life span. It was a pretty fascinating lecture, and he certainly raised lots of good discussion.

One of last week's highlights was the return visit of an amazingly talented young pianist from Russia, Alexander Gavrylyuk. He is only twenty-three and is just unbelievable . . . After his solo performance on Thursday night in the Ampitheatre, the audience didn't stop until he did four encoures! Friday, I went to a Master Class he gave to several young piano students here, and Saturday night he performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and, again, he brought down the house with his interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Second Concerto. Check out more information on him in the Chautauquan Daily and consider buying a CD or a DVD--it would be money well-spent.

Got to run--more culture to soak in!

One CB's Vote for Best Summer Read

2008-07-10T19:26:00.004-04:00

CultureBuddy Ann is on a 12 month academic contract so vacation days are hoarded and used very sparingly. Nearly all of my vacation days are spent on my two favorite pursuits: Broadway and the Boston Red Sox. A trip to Tampa for baseball is planned for September but every other day of vacation time that I have accrued for the rest of the year is already pledged to a Broadway trip. Only two weeks to go and the CB's are back in the city that they love!

In the meantime, I am doing some great reading. I think the best summer read of this year is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and the New York Times agrees with me. The book is over 550 pages long. I am on page 400 and reading these last 150 pages very slowly because I don't want it to end. It is the story of a mute teenager and takes place on a dog farm in Wisconsin. At face value, not much interests me less than a story about dogs or a story that takes place on a farm. But this is not your usual novel and really must be experienced. It is a beautifully written and slowly unfolding tale full of classic themes. There are even undertones of Hamlet. What an amazing first novel. I rarely buy a book in hardcover but this is one that is worth every cent.

CB On Vacation at Chautauqua, NY

2008-07-08T13:06:00.004-04:00

(From Leslie): Believe it or not, sometimes the CB's experience cultural events without each other! I am currently in a perfectly unique place called Chautauqua, NY (near Jamestown and Buffalo). At Chautauqua Institute, you can hear a lecture about just about anything, see a ballet, go to the opera, take in an independent movie, listen to a concert, go to a play, attend a religious service, swim in the lake, go for a sail, or observe a music master class--all without leaving the grounds! This week's theme is Writers on Writing, and the morning lecture series so far (in a huge open air ampitheatre) has included Pulitzer Prize winning essayist, author, playwright and television commentator Roger Rosenblatt talking with his friends, the poet Billy Collins and the author E.L. Doctorow. It's a thrill to see such well-known literary giants, enjoy their humor, hear about their process and their thoughts on the profession of writing, and to listen to them read from their work. Coming up the rest of the week will be Joyce Carol Oates, and Amy Tan, and cartoonist Garry Trudeau. Not bad!

Speaking of writers--as I drove my parent's car from NC to NY, I listened to an unbelievably great book by Lloyd Jones--Mister Pip. It was wonderful to listen to, and I imagine just as wonderful to read. Other recent favorites: The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger (who also wrote the excellent Peace Like a River). I know that my buddy Ann is busy enjoying The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wromblewski.

More from Chautauqua coming soon!

New York City Here We Come

2008-07-06T10:24:00.004-04:00

The Boston Globe compared all of the bus lines that make the run from Boston to New York City and back. The CultureBuddies were frequent Greyhound/Peter Pan travellers but have started to take the Bolt Bus when it's convenient. It's cheaper and the buses are brand new. Check out the Globe article.

Tony's Week--Day Six

2008-06-19T17:25:00.023-04:00

Sunday was our last full day in NYC. We headed over to Radio City Music Hall around 11:00 to watch a little of the comings and goings at the Tony Award rehearsal. We were too hungry to last long, so we went in pursuit of a bagel and some coffee. In true CultureBuddies style, before long we found ourselves sitting on the outside patio of a nice French restaurant, Brasserie Ruhlmann, looking out at Rockefeller Plaza and drinking Cape Codders. While we were waiting for our food, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. Luckily, the patio had a cover that just barely protected us. Other customers that weren't so lucky crowded in to keep dry, and it became quite cozy and fun as we all watched the rain. The food was delicious (albeit a little pricey, but hey, you're dead a long time!) and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. So much for the bagel and coffee! By the time we were ready to leave, the sun was back out so we never even got wet.

Sunday afternoon we saw A Catered Affair, the new Harvey Fierstein musical starring Faith Prince and Tom Wolcott. It's about the conflict within a working class family when the mother decides that her daughter's plan for a simple town-hall wedding is not enough and starts planning "a catered affair." The plot was quite heart-wrenching and a little sad at times, but it was a touching family story. We were thrilled to see the legendary Faith Prince, who is back on stage after a eight year hiatus. The sets were great, and the acting and singing was spot-on, but overall the show was a little too understated. Or maybe we were hitting the wall, as it was our eighth play of the week! It's tough for a show like this to compete with the larger, more up-beat musicals currently playing, and without any significant Tony nominations to boost sales, I imagine it won't be playing too much longer.

Then it was time for the third annual Tony party in our hotel room with the boys, Casey and Ben. (They call us "The Mamas" and think we are totally insane, but they love us!) We have developed a fierce competition to predict the most winners in all the Tony categories, and (annoyingly) Casey always seems to win and loves to gloat about it. This year, Ben had really done his homework and was determined to win. Ann and I were very proud of ourselves that we had seen every play that had any nominations except for Grease and The Little Mermaid (which are a little too mainstream for us) and Thurgood (which we couldn't squeeze into our schedule). Not bad for two ladies from New Hampshire!

We enjoyed munchies, beer, pizza, and yummy cupcakes Ben brought as we watched the show and groaned and/or cheered over our predictions. We were so happy to see In The Heights win so many awards--we've felt invested in this show since we saw it Off Broadway last year and then again when it opened on Broadway. We agreed with most of the winners, although I loved Kelli O'Hara's performance so much that I voted for her even though I knew Patti LuPone would win. I got the boys laughing doing imitations of Patti singing/yelling songs from other musicals, and it was an overall silly, but fun night. It's so nice to be able to watch the show with other theatre fanatics. Unfortunately, that damn Casey won the pool again and gets to wear the huge I'm A Winner medal for another year. Poor Ben missed by two points, and Ann and I tied for third place (sounds better than losers).

Monday was going home day which is always sad, but we were pretty pooped out. Our next short trip is at the end of July to see an Encore production of Damn Yankees with Sean Hayes (Will and Grace), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), and the hunky Broadway star, Cheyenne Jackson. We're also going to see our pal, Jonathan Groff (formerly of Spring Awakening) star in Shakespeare in the Park's production of Hair. I'm sure we'll manage to squeeze in another show before long . .

It was a really wonderful week--one for the record books!

Tony's Week- Day Five

2008-06-17T11:07:00.034-04:00

Saturday was a whirlwind of a day for the CultureBuddies. We saw two very different plays. The matinee was Cry Baby, the new musical based on the John Waters movie starring Johnny Depp. We went with Leslie's adorable niece, Sarah, a student at UVA who is interning at Vogue for the summer. We had great seats, 5th row orchestra, and we all had a good time. The show is in the 'bad boy meets and falls in love with the good girl' genre which has been done so many times--Hairspray, Grease, etc.--but what made this show a cut above the rest was the excellent choreography. The male dance numbers were great, especially one with the 'bad boys' who were unjustly sent to prison dancing with license plates on their shoes. Very clever and well done. The music is very good, as well. It was a fun show, but I don't expect it to have a long run.

When we came out of the theatre, it was absolutely pouring, complete with thunder and lightning. We tried to get a cab for Sarah, but that was just insane. Leslie bought her an umbrella and off she went to the subway a couple blocks away. We waited around awhile, but there were no signs it was going to stop anytime soon. We decided to make a run for it to the hotel which was only three blocks down. When we got to the hotel, we were completely soaked--even our underwear was wet! Laughing, of course, we got in the elevator. A woman looked at us and say, "You guys are all wet . . ." as if she was letting us in on something we didn't know! Of course, this made us laugh even more.

At night, we went to see a show that has gotten great reviews, Boeing Boeing. We were both a little worried that it might turn out to be a lame comedy, but we couldn't have been more wrong. It was hilarious and a nearly perfect farce. The cast was the kind that only can be seen on Broadway- absolutely four star: Brad Whitford (Josh from West Wing) as the ex-pat living in Paris juggling romances with three airline stewardesses, Mark Rylance (a first rat e Shakespearean actor) as an American dropping in on his friend for the first time in 20 years, and the three stewardesses- brilliantly played by Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack and Kathryn Hahn. The cast is rounded out with Christine Baranski playing the French maid. They are all wonderfully funny with the kind of impecable timing that a farce, with all the opening and closing of doors,requires. We basically howled for two and a half hours. Mark Rylance was especially hilarious as the visitor who is in shock by the chaos in the apartment--his deadpan expression is just priceless. He won the Tony for Best Actor Sunday night, and he really deserved it. See it if you get a chance while this great cast is still in the show. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy it.

We ended our busy day being treated to a nice meal by my son, Adam, and his date Val. Seeing Adam is a ritual for the CultureBuddies, and we always enjoy hearing about his life in the city and all of his entrepreneurial ventures. Of course, we stayed up way too late Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's tough falling asleep after seeing a show as hilarious as Boeing Boeing.

Tony's Week- Day Four

2008-06-14T11:33:00.006-04:00

At a certain age, birthdays become just another day. But yesterday was not like that. My birthday was a total, award winning, festival of a day. CB Leslie feted me virtually nonstop. I woke up to presents, balloons, streamers, coffee, and a day long celebration. My brothers and sisters, husband, coworkers, and darling daughter called me pretty much all day, and I really and truly FELT THE LOVE!! Thanks everyone, but especially thanks to CB Leslie who made the day so memorable.

Last night we saw the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center. The reviews have been over the top, but I still wasn't ready for the grandeur and perfection of the production. We had great seats in the mezzanine overlooking the huge stage. There is no more perfect location for a big production than Lincoln Center. Where else can you have a 30 piece orchestra, a multilayered gorgeous set with army trucks, a combat plane, and Bali Hai in the distance? We were mesmerized from the moment the overture began, and I watched the show with a lump in my throat. My heart was really bursting! I've have never loved a show more. The performances were perfect. Kelli O'Hara and Paola Szot are a dream couple, and they are so incredibly talented. They are just divine in these roles--Kelli sings and dances like it is the most natural and effortless thing in the world. She has a wonderful stage presence and was born to play Nellie. When Paola sang "Some Enchanted Evening", it was one of those moments that can only be experienced on Broadway- so perfect that time stands still. Leslie kept saying she was swooning . . . The show is sold out for the rest of the summer but PLEASE, if you possible can, take in this show while Kelli and Paola are playing the leads. It is a revival that will join the Broadway history books, and the chance to see the great Opera star Paola Szot make his Broadway debut is one that any true musical lover shouldn't miss. Check out this video for more proof that he is amazing.

We ended the day with drinks and a lovely dessert at Pigalli's and fell asleep at 3:30 still talking about the show. It was a perfect birthday. Thank you Leslie, thank you Kelli O'Hara, and thank you Paola Szot. Who knew turning 57 could be so much fun??

Tony's Week--Day Three

2008-06-13T10:31:00.009-04:00

Another great day in the city yesterday. Had a lazy morning, and started to head up to Bryant Park to hang out, but it was so hot that we detoured to a movie theatre (six floors, 24 movies, $12 matinee . . . only in NYC!) to see The Visitor. What a great movie . . . Pitch-perfect acting, moving storyline, heart-breaking and heart-warming scenes--if it's playing in your area, go see it! On our way down the escalator, we caught site of a huge indoor arcade, Dave&Busters, and just had to go in. We hit the "Deal or No Deal" video game first, and after some big wins, Ann headed over to play Skee Ball. Apparently, she's a Skee Ball fanatic--who knew? We blew through our $10 card in no time, and then debated how to spend our hard-earned 380 points in the tacky store. We settled on a headband with a light up spinning top on it. I'm sure it will be the hit of our Tony party on Sunday night.

Last night's show was Les Liasons Dangerous at one of the Roundabout Theatres. From the minute the curtain opened to the final bows, almost three hours later, we were mesmerized by the sexual tension and the intense struggle for power between the leads, Laura Linney (we totally understand why she is such a theatre legend) and Ben Daniels (an actor well-know in England who is making his Broadway debut and has been nominated for a Tony Award). Both were in total command of their roles, and the sets and the costumes were the quality you can only see on Broadway. We loved it! Only one minor celebrity sighting--Austin Scarlet, from Project Runway, Season 1 on Bravo sat two seats over from me.

After the play, I took Ann out for a birthday dinner at Maria Pia's, a great Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen (her birthday is today, but we were at the restaurant at midnight). Our yummy dinner was capped off by eight waiters singing Happy Birthday and a piece of Tiaramisu with a candle in it. As I said, another great day in the city.

Tony's Week- Day Two, Part One

2008-06-12T12:44:00.001-04:00

From Ann:
Yesterday started with a yummy FREE breakfast (compliments of our Hilton credit card) at Pigalli's. I love that the staff knows us and Jose - our favorite waiter- treats us royally. We went from there to MOMA for a little shopping before our matinee.

Seeing two shows in one day is the CB norm on a Wednesday. Some people are amazed that we can see so many shows in so little time, but it is ABSOLUTELY not an issue for the girls! We wanted to attend the Wednesday night performance of Hamlet in Central Park, but getting tickets was a whole new experience for us, and, since we were seeing a matinee, standing in the line was a problem. Our pal Casey gave us lots of advise about the best way to get tickets, and we both registered early in the morning on their Public Theater's new virtual line. When we checked after 1:00, I had been awarded two tickets! Getting the tickets online was great because otherwise we would have had to stand in the standby ticket line for a couple of hours before the show hoping people wouldn't show it. Wonderful things seem to happen to us in this city . . .

We saw Gypsy thanks to Danny Fleckman's generosity and HE GETS A HUGE CB THANK YOU!! The seats were absolutely perfect--in the mezzanine and a perfect viewing spot for this great revival of a legendary Broadway show. We had seen the show last July in the Encore series, and the cast has remained intact for the move to Broadway. Patti LuPone plays Mama Rose, and she is something to behold. She is like watching a tornado up close. S he belts out the tunes with every ounce of energy she possesses- there is nothing subtle about Patti! She brings down the house, and I just love watching and listening to her. Boyd Gaines plays Herbie, and the show stopper, in my view, is Laura Beneti who plays Gypsy Rose Lee. She is transformed from the girl, Louise, to the elegant stripper Gypsy in an amazingly convincing way and she is breathtakingly beautiful. Plus she has a phenomenal voice. This is a show for anyone who loves an old time Broadway show with the great tunes and a full orchestra. It's a real treat and a wonderful revival.

After the show we took a 30 minute rest and then headed uptown to Central Park. More from Leslie in Part Two . . .