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02-03-13
Cast
members
(L-R)
Kate
Baldwin.
Danny
Rutigliano.
Erin
Dilly.
Jenn
Gambatese
at
the
cast
party
of "Fiorello!"
on
the
mezzanine
of
City
Center.
131
West
55th
St.
Sunday
night
02-02-13
Off-Broadway, Clive by Jonathan Marc Sherman, is an updated version of the first play by Bertolt Brecht. Ethan Hawke plays a 90s rock star in this dispiriting tale of his fall from fame to his tragic end. The nine member cast tries valiantly to give life to this enervating play. The opening night party took place at the West Bank Cafe with guests like Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne and Mark Ruffalo.
New York City Center Encores! celebrated its 20th season with Fiorello!, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. This was the first musical which opened this delightful series. A first rate cast and the magnificent orchestra, under the direction of Rob Berman, sang and played the pleasant music and intelligent, witty lyrics. Erin Dilly, Jenn Gambatese and Kate Baldwin were particularly impressive, singing beautifully. It was a fine production. A cast party in the mezzanine followed the final performance and Sheldon Harnick gave a funny little speech.
The New York City Ballet offered a wonderful program of three ballets. It began with Glass Pieces, music of Philip Glass, choreography by Jerome Robbins. It continued with Year of the Rabbit, music by Sufjan Stevens, choreography by Justin Peck, a member of the Corps de Ballet, which showed the young choreographer has great promise. It concluded with a superb Vienna Waltzes, by Balanchine, with gorgeous dancing by the entire company.
Film Society of Lincoln Center Dance on Camera 2013 presented Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake 3D, a magnificent, powerful new version of the ballet classic, featuring terrific male swans. Richard Winsor is superb as the Swan, and brilliant as the Stranger at the Royal Ball. Dominic North is perfect as the confused Prince and Nina Goldman is wonderful as his royal mother. The entire cast is superb in this present day, modern version, made even more enjoyable by 3D. I heartily recommend this film to all ballet lovers.
Film Society of Lincoln Center held press screenings for Film Comment Selects February 18-28. Simon Killer, by Antonio Campos, U.S. 2012 is a disturbing film about a young American college graduate (Brady Corbet) drifting aimlessly in Paris. He is obviously mentally disturbed and, when he becomes involved with a prostitute (Mati Diop), tragedy occurs. It is a dark, powerful film, showing the seedy side of the City of Light, but the viewer is engrossed with how the plot develops. Dormant Beauty, by Marco Bellocchio, Italy, 2012, has an important theme of euthanasia, a true story which caused an uproar in Italy in 2009.
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Three stories of a senator's wife who is dying, a comatose young daughter, whose religious, actress mother (Isabelle Huppert) wants to keep her alive, and a drug addict, who wants to end her life, are all depicted, interrelated with scenes of the national conflict over a real case of a victim, who has been comatose for 17 years. It is well acted, although, at times, melodramatic, but it is a subject that should be discussed. 3, by Pablo Stoll, Uruguay, 2012, is about a dentist, his ex-wife, and their irresponsible teenage daughter. They are three of the most boring protagonists to appear in a film. They eat junk food and watch a lot of television. He plays soccer and waters his plants. The wife is dull and depressing, and the daughter steals money, is absent a lot from school, and engages in meaningless sex. If this is meant to be a picture of middle class life in Montevideo, it is a pathetic view. Motorway, by Soi Cheang, Hong Kong, 2012, is an action packed film, full of cops and robbers car chases. This is for fans of high speed thrills, with plenty of crashes and gratuitous violence. Nights with Theodore, by Sebastien Betbeder, France, 2012, takes place in a lovely park in Paris, Buttes-Chaumont, where a young couple spend the night. They return each night, as they become enchanted by the spot, because it is believed to have magical powers. As the film progresses, the magic turns to disappointment. It is an unusual, interesting film, that contains many archival scenes of the park, which I happen to have visited and enjoyed on my visits to the French capital.
MoMA presented Casque d'or, by Jacques Becker, France, 1952, an old fashioned film about criminals around the turn of the twentieth century in France. It has the virtue of the presence of three fine French film actors, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani and Claude Dauphin, who are a pleasure to watch. Otherwise, it is a sordid tale of love, murder and an unhappy ending.
Ballet in Cinema from Emerging Pictures presented An Evening With Sol Leon & Paul Lightfoot performed live on December 20, 2012 from Nederlands Dans Theater - The Hague. It consisted of three original contemporary ballets by the two choreographers. SH-Boom has recorded music by artists like Vera Lynn, Stan Freberg, the Mills Brothers and others. Shoot the Moon and Same Difference has repetitive, hypnotic music by Philip Glass. All three ballets feature wonderful, sensual dancers, and, imaginatively, suggest various pairs of lovers. The dance is erotic and inventive, and a stimulating experience for the audience
02-08-13
Cast
member
Ethan
Hawke
at
the
opening
night
party
of
"Clive"
on
the
West
Bank
Cafe.
407
West
42nd
St.
Thursday
night
02-07-13 |