I felt Shakespeare was still
alive and writing his
wonderful plays, when I saw King
Charles III, by Mike
Bartlett, at the Music
Box Theatre. What a
brilliant imagination this
playwright has! He imagines
that Prince Charles (a
remarkable performance by Tim
Pigott-Smith) has become
King of England after the
death of his mother Queen
Elizabeth II. He is a most
indecisive character, but he
is forced to make a decision
when parliament passes a
bill to restrict the press.
This produces a crisis,
which results in causing
riots throughout the
country. His own family is
affected. The cast is
wonderful, under the expert
direction of Rupert
Goold. Among the
magnificent actors on the
stage, one must mention Lydia
Wilson as
Kate as a manipulative
daughter-in-law, Oliver
Chis as
Prince William, Richard
Goulding as
Prince Harry and Anthony
Calf as
the Prime Minister. The
entire cast deserves a
standing ovation for
bringing to Broadway an
intelligent, impressive
play. The opening night
party was held at Bryant
Park Grill with guestsEdward
Hibbert, Suzanne Bertish,
Lea Salonga and George
Takei. It was a
delightful event.
The story of Emilio and Gloria
Estefan and Miami
Sound Machine is
presented as a musical, On
Your Feet!, book by Alexander
Dinelaris, at the
Marquis Theatre. Fans of
their music will have a
great time, listening to
their successful hit songs.
Directed byJerry
Mitchell, and
choreographed by Sergio
Trujillo, the entire
cast, mainly latino, sing,
dance and act energetically
to bring the story alive. Ana
Villafane is
terrific as Gloria Estefan,
with a magnificent voice,
and captures the life of the
Cuban American superstar
beautifully. She is well
supported by Josh
Segarra as
Emilio, and a superb Andrea
Burns as
her mother. An adorable
young little actor, Eduardo
Hernandez, in three
roles, steals every scene in
which he appears, when he
dances. The production is
entertaining, and the
audience loves it. Some even
get to dance a conga up the
aisles with the cast before
the intermission. The
opening night party at the
Marriott Marquis Hotel was
full of celebrities,
including Gloria and Emilio,
plus Rita
Moreno.
Off-Broadway, Romance
Language, by Joe
Godfrey, at Theater 511
at Ars Nova, is about a
divorced, middle aged,
lonely widow (Audrey
Heffernan Meyer), who is
seduced by a young Italian
private tutor (Jared
Zirilli), who is
teaching her the language.
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Her daughter (Mairin
Lee) is suspicious of his
intentions, and investigates his
background with startling
results. Directed by Carl Andress,
the three member cast is superb.
The dialogue is sharp and
realistic. It was one of the
most enjoyable nights in the
theater this season.
Bernadette Peters was
honored at The
Drama League's Centennial Gala at
the Plaza Hotel. Gloria Estefan
joined her for photos, along
with Annaleigh
Ashford, Leanne Cope, Joel Grey,
Norm Lewis and
the cast of Dames
at Sea, John
Bolton, Danny Gardner, Eloise
Kropp, Lesli Margherita, Cary
Tedder and Mara
Davi, who all performed.
Bernadette looked gorgeous. She
never changes. She has the
secret to the Fountain of Youth.
Margo Manhattan, 1202 Madison
Avenue, is a lovely jewelry
boutique, and I was invited there
for a streaming of a television
program about Margo on EVlineNetwork,
while we were served champagne and
hors d'oeuvres. Margo is on the
cover of Travel magazine on a
motorcycle, and looks like a Rock
star.
WebMD held
a 2015
Health Hero Awards Gala at
The Times Center. Among the honorees
was Glenn
Close, and among the presenters
were Fran
Drescher, Seth Rogen and Harry
Carson. It was a lovely event
A commercial film Mustang,
by Deniz
Gamze Erguven, Turkey, 2015, is
a profound view of Turkish society
in a provincial village in
Northeastern Turkey on the Black
Sea, where women are treated like
second class citizens by domineering
men. Five free spirited sisters live
with their grandmother, since their
parents are deceased. A neighbor
informs her of suspected misbehavior
by the schoolgirls with teenage
boys. The grandmother asks their
uncle to discipline the young girls.
He turns their home into a virtual
prison with locked doors, forcing
them to learn to cook and do
housework to prepare them for
arranged marriages. The title refers
to the wild, untamed horse with a
flowing mane, which the five sisters
represent in human form. They try to
rebel. The acting of the five young
actresses is superb, with Gunes
Sensoy outstanding
as the youngest rebel. Every scene
is perfect, and the photography is
beautiful. This film will leave a
deep impression on the viewer. It is
one of the finest films I have
reviewed this year.
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