2016-06-06 Amsterdam
This is our last day in Amsterdam before we take our 12 day Baltic cruise.
Our trip started with an overnight flight to London on May 29. We stayed in London at the White House Hotel. It had been a couple of years since we stayed there. It is conveniently located between 3 different tube stops. While in London we saw four shows in three days - Threepenny Opera with Rory Kinnear at the National Theatre, Titanic at the Charing Cross Theatre, Funny Girl at the Savoy, and Mrs. Henderson Presents at the Noel Coward Theatre. We enjoyed all of them but especially Titanic.
The weather in London was wet and cold. Expecting almost summer like temperatures, we didn't pack warmer clothes. Since we saw shows, there wasn't much time for sightseeing, but we did see the Curtains Up! Exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum. We had a couple of good meals at the Garrick and surprisingly Pizza Express. I was able to do some cd and DVD shopping while there.
We were hoping that Amsterdam's weather would be an improvement. The first day not so much, but since then very nice. Our first tourist spot was to the Rijksmuseum. It was a lovely museum with many paintings by the Dutch a Masters. We did sightseeing the second day and visited the rather small botanical garden and also the Amsterdam zoo which we enjoyed.
The following day we took a train to visit the town of Haarlem. Like Amsterdam it has many canals and is very picturesque. The Frans Hal museum was a real find. Returning to Amsterdam we found an enchanting restaurant decorated in the art nouveau tradition called de belhamel located on one of the many camels here.
Today we did a walking tour of the three oldest canals. Many of the beautiful buildings date back to the 1600's. A highlight was the Anne Franck house. It was a lovely day for the leisurely stroll along the canals. Amsterdam is a beautiful city with an amazing sense of history, lovely surroundings, great food, and picturesque vistas.
We look forward to the cruise and the many adventures to come.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Sunday, November 24, 2013
2013-11-24 Snow Geese at Manhattan Theatre Club
We saw the new play "Snow Geese" Friday night at MTC on 47th Street. It is starring Mary-Louise Parker (from TV's Weeds), Danny Burstein, and Victoria Clark. I thoroughly enjoyed this play, which takes place in 1917 in Syracuse, NY. It is about the Gaesling family, nuevo riche who spend their summers in Syracuse at their summer home called the Lodge. We learn that the father has recently passed away and one of the sons, Duncan is about to leave to go to the war in Europe. The story deals with the two brothers, Arnold being the younger son, and their relationship to their mother and father. As is usually the case, the eldest son and first born is doted upon by the parents, sent to college, and is basically put on a pedestal, while the younger brother, who is still at home, has to deal with all the trials and tribulations of being at home. The family has taken in their friends, a German couple who more or less have been ostracized from their hometown and are staying at the summer house in Syracuse as a refuge from the intolerance of others. We learn that the father has basically gone into debt and has not let the rest of the family in on the situation. The play shows how the remaining members of the family react to this.
It was a pleasure to see Mary-Louise on stage again, and the two brothers, played by Evan Jonigkeit (Duncan) and Brian Cross (Arnold) were quite good in their roles. Danny Burstein affects a German accent and once again shows that he is an incredible actor as well as a musical comedy star. Victoria Clark, also a musical comedy star, brings out the humanity in her character nicely.
I thought the premise of this play was quite interesting showing how the rich in this country lived for many years, and how with the onslaught of World War I everything changed. Yes, we still had many of the ultra wealthy have their second homes, their servants, and their way of life unchanged, but we see how the upper middle class lives was beginning to change at this time in our history. It is interesting how we still have the separation of the rich and poor in this country and around the world. I felt as I was watching it, that this could be the American version of a Chekhov play.
As usual, the set for the show was amazing. John Lee Beatty designed it and once again shows that he is the pre-eminent set designer on Broadway. I keep looking forward to a coffee table book devoted to his set designs. I always refer to the Lincoln Center production of "Dinner at Eight" where he had a complete table setting with chairs, floral arrangements, chandeliers and complete dining service floating against a black background as you entered the theatre. It was most impressive.
I would highly recommend this play.
Gary Mathias
We saw the new play "Snow Geese" Friday night at MTC on 47th Street. It is starring Mary-Louise Parker (from TV's Weeds), Danny Burstein, and Victoria Clark. I thoroughly enjoyed this play, which takes place in 1917 in Syracuse, NY. It is about the Gaesling family, nuevo riche who spend their summers in Syracuse at their summer home called the Lodge. We learn that the father has recently passed away and one of the sons, Duncan is about to leave to go to the war in Europe. The story deals with the two brothers, Arnold being the younger son, and their relationship to their mother and father. As is usually the case, the eldest son and first born is doted upon by the parents, sent to college, and is basically put on a pedestal, while the younger brother, who is still at home, has to deal with all the trials and tribulations of being at home. The family has taken in their friends, a German couple who more or less have been ostracized from their hometown and are staying at the summer house in Syracuse as a refuge from the intolerance of others. We learn that the father has basically gone into debt and has not let the rest of the family in on the situation. The play shows how the remaining members of the family react to this.
It was a pleasure to see Mary-Louise on stage again, and the two brothers, played by Evan Jonigkeit (Duncan) and Brian Cross (Arnold) were quite good in their roles. Danny Burstein affects a German accent and once again shows that he is an incredible actor as well as a musical comedy star. Victoria Clark, also a musical comedy star, brings out the humanity in her character nicely.
I thought the premise of this play was quite interesting showing how the rich in this country lived for many years, and how with the onslaught of World War I everything changed. Yes, we still had many of the ultra wealthy have their second homes, their servants, and their way of life unchanged, but we see how the upper middle class lives was beginning to change at this time in our history. It is interesting how we still have the separation of the rich and poor in this country and around the world. I felt as I was watching it, that this could be the American version of a Chekhov play.
As usual, the set for the show was amazing. John Lee Beatty designed it and once again shows that he is the pre-eminent set designer on Broadway. I keep looking forward to a coffee table book devoted to his set designs. I always refer to the Lincoln Center production of "Dinner at Eight" where he had a complete table setting with chairs, floral arrangements, chandeliers and complete dining service floating against a black background as you entered the theatre. It was most impressive.
I would highly recommend this play.
Gary Mathias
Sunday, November 10, 2013
2013-11-10 London Trip & Retirement
Tuesday, October 29 was my last official day to work at Crate and Barrel. My partner Bill and I had decided that I would retire at this point. So to celebrate, we decided to take a five day trip to London, since Bill had to travel on to Kenya for work. It had been 2 years since I was last there, and I was really itching for a London fix. We flew on Delta and arrived on Weds. morning. We were staying at a boutique hotel called Park Place on the river opposite the lower end of the Parliament buildings in London. It was a little difficult in traveling back and forth from the hotel because of its location near the Vauxhall station, but we managed to get back and forth to Leiscester Square without too much trouble. This was an interesting area because one of the elevated rail lines were right behind us. They had taken the curved sections underneath the railroad bridges and made restaurants and shops out of them. There were also some afterhours clubs also. It was somewhat disconcerting to walk past these clubs at 10 am in the morning and still see a line of young folks waiting to get into the clubs.
While in London, we saw 2 plays, 1 musical, and 1 movie. The two plays were excellent, "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui" which starred Henry Goodman at the Duchess Theatre. It was a wonderful production of the Bertoldt Brecht play. It's had to believe that this was the same Henry Goodman who was fired as the replacement to Nathan Lane in the American musical "The Producers" on Broadway. He was exceptional in the lead role. The second play we saw had moved to the West End from the National Theatre and it was called "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time." All in all a brilliantly acted play with a great set design. I'm sure that an American theatre will bring this to New York. The musical we saw was "The Bodyguard" from the Whitney Houston movie. I enjoyed the show very much, but would have loved to seen Heather Headley who played the role when it opened last year. We were at a matinee so we saw the understudy in the lead role and not Beverley Knight who is advertised in the lead. It'll be interesting to see if this comes to New York in the near future.
The movie we saw had not opened in New York yet, but did open last weekend and captured the box office crown. It was "Ender's Game," a sci fi flick with Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, and Viola Davis. I enjoyed the film a lot, but it was not until I got back to New York that I heard the controversy involving the author of the book and his tirades against gay marriage. It was interesting that the cast distanced themselves from his viewpoint, and it obviously didn't affect the people attending the movie.
We found London to be quite expensive at this point in time. We did venture to Soho and have fish and chips at our little hole in the wall restaurant that we had discovered many years ago and is still there. We also went back to Balan's in Soho for dinner one night. The weather was sort of hit and miss in London, with off and on rain pretty much the whole time we were there.
On Saturday, we went to the Portobello Road flea market where Bill has found an array of antique clocks from the 20's and 30's for the past few years. We caught up with our friend Roger who Bill has bought most of them from. He was surprised to see us since it had been a long time. Bill did purchase another clock from him to add to the collection. During the week I also went shopping on my own to HMV. Yes, they still have a real record, CD and DVD store in London. I spent a couple of hours there shopping and picked up a couple of goodies while there.
It was nice to get back to London, but we hated the crowds and the Piccadilly/Leicester Square area was crawling with people. When will we return, I don't know, but at least I got my fix of London for a while.
So, it's back to New York and planning our next getaway in early 2013.
While in London, we saw 2 plays, 1 musical, and 1 movie. The two plays were excellent, "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui" which starred Henry Goodman at the Duchess Theatre. It was a wonderful production of the Bertoldt Brecht play. It's had to believe that this was the same Henry Goodman who was fired as the replacement to Nathan Lane in the American musical "The Producers" on Broadway. He was exceptional in the lead role. The second play we saw had moved to the West End from the National Theatre and it was called "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time." All in all a brilliantly acted play with a great set design. I'm sure that an American theatre will bring this to New York. The musical we saw was "The Bodyguard" from the Whitney Houston movie. I enjoyed the show very much, but would have loved to seen Heather Headley who played the role when it opened last year. We were at a matinee so we saw the understudy in the lead role and not Beverley Knight who is advertised in the lead. It'll be interesting to see if this comes to New York in the near future.
The movie we saw had not opened in New York yet, but did open last weekend and captured the box office crown. It was "Ender's Game," a sci fi flick with Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, and Viola Davis. I enjoyed the film a lot, but it was not until I got back to New York that I heard the controversy involving the author of the book and his tirades against gay marriage. It was interesting that the cast distanced themselves from his viewpoint, and it obviously didn't affect the people attending the movie.
We found London to be quite expensive at this point in time. We did venture to Soho and have fish and chips at our little hole in the wall restaurant that we had discovered many years ago and is still there. We also went back to Balan's in Soho for dinner one night. The weather was sort of hit and miss in London, with off and on rain pretty much the whole time we were there.
On Saturday, we went to the Portobello Road flea market where Bill has found an array of antique clocks from the 20's and 30's for the past few years. We caught up with our friend Roger who Bill has bought most of them from. He was surprised to see us since it had been a long time. Bill did purchase another clock from him to add to the collection. During the week I also went shopping on my own to HMV. Yes, they still have a real record, CD and DVD store in London. I spent a couple of hours there shopping and picked up a couple of goodies while there.
It was nice to get back to London, but we hated the crowds and the Piccadilly/Leicester Square area was crawling with people. When will we return, I don't know, but at least I got my fix of London for a while.
So, it's back to New York and planning our next getaway in early 2013.
2013-11-10 South Africa
From Feb. 2 to Feb. 20, 2012, Bill and I plus our friends Fatima and Jeff, and Bernd and his son Mark, spent a wonderful 2 weeks in South Africa. We had planned this trip for almost two years and it finally happened.
Bill and I first flew to Amsterdam and spent a day there. Since I had never been to Amsterdam, I looked forward to seeing the city for one day. And what did we find, a snowstorm and extremely cold temperatures. But I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the day trip! It makes me want to go back to the city in good weather and see the rest of the city.
We then flew to Johannesburg, South Africa to meet our other friends there. The first day both groups took separate tours of the city and into the outlying areas including Soweto. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and took us to many areas of the city to experience the local culture. Bill has been in Johannesburg a couple of times, so he was familiar with the city. This was my first trip. I was incredibly impressed with Constitution Hill and the amazing sense of history of South Africa as presented in the wonderful museum dedicated to the transformation of Africa and the end of Apartheid.
From there, we traveled to Soweto and saw the homes of Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu and Winnie Mandela. And then to the Monument to where the new constitution of South Africa was signed. From there we went to the Apartheid Museum. All of this was incredibly moving to me. It mirrored the story of America and how the black race was treated in our own country.
We met up with our friends for dinner that night and had a wonderful first meal in South Africa.
The next day we all met in Pretoria to take the Blue Train (a 24 hour trip to Cape Town by railroad.) This was an amazing experience. Each of the three groups of us had our own club car. The train was an amazing experience, which we had not done before. It was a day of leisure and enjoying the amenities that the train had to offer. Dinner that night was pretty special. It was our second night of experiencing some wonderful South African wines which we would imbibe in for the rest of the trip. We did stop in Kimberley to see the Big Hole, which is where many of the original diamond mines in South Africa were located. We arrived in Capetown around noon the next day, where we were escorted to our respective hotels.
We spent 4 days in Capetown, experiencing many of the sights. We toured Table Mountain, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, spent a wonderful day in Stellenbosch touring Simonsig Winery, and enjoying the wonderful restaurants including the Roundhouse, Bahia, and Nelson's Eye. We caught up with our friends Keith and Angus while we were there, and got to spend some wonderful times with them.
After Capetown, the six of us then drove in two cars to the Cape of Good Hope, and then along the bottom edge of South Africa to Hermanus where we spent a night. Hermanus is where the whales frolic in season, not when we were there unfortunately. The two groups spend the night in Bed and Breakfastes about a block apart on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Both places were really nice. Again we walked into the downtown area of Hermanus and had dinner together.
The next day we had quite a long drive to Knysna. We stopped at South Point which is the area where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean with a wonderful lighthouse. From there we drove on to Knysna through many wheat fields and some really wonderful scenery. In Knysna, we stayed 2 nights, in separate accomodations, which were both pretty special. We ate locally both nights, once on the Pier and the second night at the Olive Tree in the downtown area. Fatima, Jeff, Bill and I took a boat to the Featherbed Nature Preserve for a tour down the side of the mountain, while Bernd and Mark went to one of the local beaches.
Knysna was a beautiful inlet from the ocean and we all enjoyed it very much.
We then journeyed back to the Stellenbosch region via route 62 through the mountains to Franschhoek. We stopped at a weird little cafe called Smits Winkel, where we took some nice pictures of ostriches. This was a very scenic drive and we stopped for lunch in Montagu at a lovely restaurant called the Mimosa Lodge. We were due for another wine tasting but the trip took longer than we thought and the others ended up with 2 flat tires, which we had to take care of. We continued our way to Franschhoek, where Bill and I stayed in a winery and Fatima, Jeff, Bernd, and Mark stayed down the road in a very nice hotel. We had dinner in Franschhoek where once again we had some wonderful South African wines.
The next day Mark left us and returned to Berlin. The rest of us flew to Kruger Park and Singita for a 3 day safari. It was a magical 3 days exploring the nature preserve. We saw all of the Big 5 animals (lion, elephant, water buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. In addition many varieties of birds, hippos, zebras, gazelles, giraffes, and monkeys. Our guide and tracker were really good so we had five different trips into the African wilderness. I was able to take a large amount of photographs.
The Singita resort called Boulders was pretty amazing. Each group of us had our individual lodge with our own small pool on the deck. One evening after our safari trip all of the people staying at the resort were taken into the bush for a wilderness cookout.. The food was exceptional and it was a great evening.
We then returned to Johannesburg to fly back to New York for me. Bill was to continue on for work in Africa. My plane was cancelled so I had to spend an extra night. Luckily, Bill was staying at the hotel near the airport so I was able to join him. It turned out to be a very special evening because we had dinner with some South African friends, Mark and Anell plus Fatima, Jeff, and Bernd. I was able to take off the next morning on a flight to Atlanta and then back to Brooklyn. We unfortunately had to stop over in Miami because of a sick passenger, but were not delayed to long getting back to New York.
All in all this was one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken. It has also taken me a long time to finish this excerpt of my blog, but my memory of the trip is still with me. I would love to go back to South Africa again because it was such a great experience especially meeting such wonderful people there and getting a real sense of the incredible history of the country.
Bill and I first flew to Amsterdam and spent a day there. Since I had never been to Amsterdam, I looked forward to seeing the city for one day. And what did we find, a snowstorm and extremely cold temperatures. But I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the day trip! It makes me want to go back to the city in good weather and see the rest of the city.
We then flew to Johannesburg, South Africa to meet our other friends there. The first day both groups took separate tours of the city and into the outlying areas including Soweto. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and took us to many areas of the city to experience the local culture. Bill has been in Johannesburg a couple of times, so he was familiar with the city. This was my first trip. I was incredibly impressed with Constitution Hill and the amazing sense of history of South Africa as presented in the wonderful museum dedicated to the transformation of Africa and the end of Apartheid.
From there, we traveled to Soweto and saw the homes of Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu and Winnie Mandela. And then to the Monument to where the new constitution of South Africa was signed. From there we went to the Apartheid Museum. All of this was incredibly moving to me. It mirrored the story of America and how the black race was treated in our own country.
We met up with our friends for dinner that night and had a wonderful first meal in South Africa.
The next day we all met in Pretoria to take the Blue Train (a 24 hour trip to Cape Town by railroad.) This was an amazing experience. Each of the three groups of us had our own club car. The train was an amazing experience, which we had not done before. It was a day of leisure and enjoying the amenities that the train had to offer. Dinner that night was pretty special. It was our second night of experiencing some wonderful South African wines which we would imbibe in for the rest of the trip. We did stop in Kimberley to see the Big Hole, which is where many of the original diamond mines in South Africa were located. We arrived in Capetown around noon the next day, where we were escorted to our respective hotels.
We spent 4 days in Capetown, experiencing many of the sights. We toured Table Mountain, the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, spent a wonderful day in Stellenbosch touring Simonsig Winery, and enjoying the wonderful restaurants including the Roundhouse, Bahia, and Nelson's Eye. We caught up with our friends Keith and Angus while we were there, and got to spend some wonderful times with them.
After Capetown, the six of us then drove in two cars to the Cape of Good Hope, and then along the bottom edge of South Africa to Hermanus where we spent a night. Hermanus is where the whales frolic in season, not when we were there unfortunately. The two groups spend the night in Bed and Breakfastes about a block apart on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Both places were really nice. Again we walked into the downtown area of Hermanus and had dinner together.
The next day we had quite a long drive to Knysna. We stopped at South Point which is the area where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean with a wonderful lighthouse. From there we drove on to Knysna through many wheat fields and some really wonderful scenery. In Knysna, we stayed 2 nights, in separate accomodations, which were both pretty special. We ate locally both nights, once on the Pier and the second night at the Olive Tree in the downtown area. Fatima, Jeff, Bill and I took a boat to the Featherbed Nature Preserve for a tour down the side of the mountain, while Bernd and Mark went to one of the local beaches.
Knysna was a beautiful inlet from the ocean and we all enjoyed it very much.
We then journeyed back to the Stellenbosch region via route 62 through the mountains to Franschhoek. We stopped at a weird little cafe called Smits Winkel, where we took some nice pictures of ostriches. This was a very scenic drive and we stopped for lunch in Montagu at a lovely restaurant called the Mimosa Lodge. We were due for another wine tasting but the trip took longer than we thought and the others ended up with 2 flat tires, which we had to take care of. We continued our way to Franschhoek, where Bill and I stayed in a winery and Fatima, Jeff, Bernd, and Mark stayed down the road in a very nice hotel. We had dinner in Franschhoek where once again we had some wonderful South African wines.
The next day Mark left us and returned to Berlin. The rest of us flew to Kruger Park and Singita for a 3 day safari. It was a magical 3 days exploring the nature preserve. We saw all of the Big 5 animals (lion, elephant, water buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. In addition many varieties of birds, hippos, zebras, gazelles, giraffes, and monkeys. Our guide and tracker were really good so we had five different trips into the African wilderness. I was able to take a large amount of photographs.
The Singita resort called Boulders was pretty amazing. Each group of us had our individual lodge with our own small pool on the deck. One evening after our safari trip all of the people staying at the resort were taken into the bush for a wilderness cookout.. The food was exceptional and it was a great evening.
We then returned to Johannesburg to fly back to New York for me. Bill was to continue on for work in Africa. My plane was cancelled so I had to spend an extra night. Luckily, Bill was staying at the hotel near the airport so I was able to join him. It turned out to be a very special evening because we had dinner with some South African friends, Mark and Anell plus Fatima, Jeff, and Bernd. I was able to take off the next morning on a flight to Atlanta and then back to Brooklyn. We unfortunately had to stop over in Miami because of a sick passenger, but were not delayed to long getting back to New York.
All in all this was one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken. It has also taken me a long time to finish this excerpt of my blog, but my memory of the trip is still with me. I would love to go back to South Africa again because it was such a great experience especially meeting such wonderful people there and getting a real sense of the incredible history of the country.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
2013-06-04 Last week in Theatre
All I can say is wow! The week started out with the Broadway revival of Cinderella. Why this is considered a revival is beyond me since it was only done on tv? But what a production it is. Beautifully cast, beautifully designed, and beautifully sung. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are perfect in their roles. And the supporting cast with Ann Harada, Peter Bartlett, Victoria Clark and Harriet Harris were wonderful. Those amazing songs from Rogers and Hammerstein were lovely to hear with a full orchestra. And with a book rewritten by Douglas Carter Beane, that was funny but not mean spirited, the show worked. It should have a long run on Broadway.
That was Weds. night. Thursday night was a completely different story. We traveled to Lincoln Center to see Nikolai and the Others, a play about George Balanchine and his Russian cohorts in America that gave him great support. With a cast led by Michael Cerveris, John Glover, and Blair Brown, I expected this play by renowned playwright Richard Nelson to be really interesting. I found it to be totally boring. I won't say anything more, because the performers gave it their best, but I was not impressed with the result. It's a shame, because Lincoln Center has had so many wonderful shows in the past couple of years, I found this one to be a real clunker!
On to Friday night and MOTOWN the Musical. I was really looking forward to this one because living in northeast Ohio, I grew up on the Motown sound listening to CKLW, the sound of Detroit. I really liked this show a lot for the music. I didn't think the book was all that good, but the performances of the cast playing all the roles of those Motown groups was impressive. My one problem was the fact that the Diva playing Diana Ross, Valisia LeKae, was missing from the show that night. Disgusting for someone nominated for a Tony missing a performance that close to the Tony Awards. I was not a happy camper. But the music carried me through plus a couple of other performers who I thought were pretty special. I think this show will be around for a long time, like Jersey Boys. It captures a time and place that is very special to the American experience.
Saturday morning, we went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas to see a high definition broadcast of a play "recorded live" at the National Theatre of London. The play was "This House" and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that this was an excellent drama about the trials and tribulations of the House of Parliament during the 70's before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. As usual, the cast of English actors was amazing, great performances and a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours in a movie theatre watching a live telecast of the play.
And to top off the weekend, we went to Town Hall to see Tommy Tune perform his one man show (with two counterparts) and sing and dance and talk about his life in the theatre. He didn't disappoint. His stories were lovely, his dancing impeccable (especially with his two partners), and what a treat to see someone in his seventies still have that charisma and charm that made him a star. He talked about his extraordinary life in the theatre as a performer and a director. It was a masterclass if ever I saw one. And he brought back fond memories that I have of many of his shows from Will Rogers Follies to My One and Only to Grand Hotel to
Nine to A Day in Hollywood, a Night in the Ukraine. He didn't mention the production I saw in Akron, Ohio produced by John Kenley of Kenley Players of Walking Happy that he starred in opposite Joel Grey, moving the musical to the Southwest so Tommy could do one of his famous cowboy boot dances. I loved the show and am glad I had a chance to see it. But the evening was great, and so was Tommy Tune.
As a sidenote, I saw the Broadway production of Matilda the week before. It was an interesting production, but I really took issue with the sound system. The kids were difficult to understand and the music didn't do much for me. I did appreciate the performance of Bertie Carvel as the headmistress of the school. I think he will probably win the Tony Award this year for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical. He was funny, frightening, and just plain brilliant in the role.
All I can say is wow! The week started out with the Broadway revival of Cinderella. Why this is considered a revival is beyond me since it was only done on tv? But what a production it is. Beautifully cast, beautifully designed, and beautifully sung. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are perfect in their roles. And the supporting cast with Ann Harada, Peter Bartlett, Victoria Clark and Harriet Harris were wonderful. Those amazing songs from Rogers and Hammerstein were lovely to hear with a full orchestra. And with a book rewritten by Douglas Carter Beane, that was funny but not mean spirited, the show worked. It should have a long run on Broadway.
That was Weds. night. Thursday night was a completely different story. We traveled to Lincoln Center to see Nikolai and the Others, a play about George Balanchine and his Russian cohorts in America that gave him great support. With a cast led by Michael Cerveris, John Glover, and Blair Brown, I expected this play by renowned playwright Richard Nelson to be really interesting. I found it to be totally boring. I won't say anything more, because the performers gave it their best, but I was not impressed with the result. It's a shame, because Lincoln Center has had so many wonderful shows in the past couple of years, I found this one to be a real clunker!
On to Friday night and MOTOWN the Musical. I was really looking forward to this one because living in northeast Ohio, I grew up on the Motown sound listening to CKLW, the sound of Detroit. I really liked this show a lot for the music. I didn't think the book was all that good, but the performances of the cast playing all the roles of those Motown groups was impressive. My one problem was the fact that the Diva playing Diana Ross, Valisia LeKae, was missing from the show that night. Disgusting for someone nominated for a Tony missing a performance that close to the Tony Awards. I was not a happy camper. But the music carried me through plus a couple of other performers who I thought were pretty special. I think this show will be around for a long time, like Jersey Boys. It captures a time and place that is very special to the American experience.
Saturday morning, we went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas to see a high definition broadcast of a play "recorded live" at the National Theatre of London. The play was "This House" and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that this was an excellent drama about the trials and tribulations of the House of Parliament during the 70's before Margaret Thatcher became prime minister. As usual, the cast of English actors was amazing, great performances and a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours in a movie theatre watching a live telecast of the play.
And to top off the weekend, we went to Town Hall to see Tommy Tune perform his one man show (with two counterparts) and sing and dance and talk about his life in the theatre. He didn't disappoint. His stories were lovely, his dancing impeccable (especially with his two partners), and what a treat to see someone in his seventies still have that charisma and charm that made him a star. He talked about his extraordinary life in the theatre as a performer and a director. It was a masterclass if ever I saw one. And he brought back fond memories that I have of many of his shows from Will Rogers Follies to My One and Only to Grand Hotel to
Nine to A Day in Hollywood, a Night in the Ukraine. He didn't mention the production I saw in Akron, Ohio produced by John Kenley of Kenley Players of Walking Happy that he starred in opposite Joel Grey, moving the musical to the Southwest so Tommy could do one of his famous cowboy boot dances. I loved the show and am glad I had a chance to see it. But the evening was great, and so was Tommy Tune.
As a sidenote, I saw the Broadway production of Matilda the week before. It was an interesting production, but I really took issue with the sound system. The kids were difficult to understand and the music didn't do much for me. I did appreciate the performance of Bertie Carvel as the headmistress of the school. I think he will probably win the Tony Award this year for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical. He was funny, frightening, and just plain brilliant in the role.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
2013-02-16 American Songbook
Last night Bill and I attended the American Songbook series at the Time Warner Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Allen Room. The featured guest artist was Kristin Chenowith. Kristin has been a staple on Broadway for many years now and has made the transition to tv with the West Wing and Pushing Daisies. She won the Tony Award for her porrtayal of Sally in the revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which she displayed in her performance last night. Kristin is an amazing talent. Her show was about Broadway divas, but not always the ones that have the lead roles. She was in excellent voice, delivered her show with such a professional touch that you wonder why she isn't on Broadway right now in a starring role. She delivered an amazing array of songs from Kander and Ebb's "Quiet Thing" to Carrie Pepperidge's "When I Marry Mister Snow" from Carousel. She is a consummate actress and comedienne. This production was filmed for PBS Live at Lincoln Center and should not be missed. What a treat to see her perform again, and one hopes that she get's that starring role that she justly deserves.
Last night Bill and I attended the American Songbook series at the Time Warner Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Allen Room. The featured guest artist was Kristin Chenowith. Kristin has been a staple on Broadway for many years now and has made the transition to tv with the West Wing and Pushing Daisies. She won the Tony Award for her porrtayal of Sally in the revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which she displayed in her performance last night. Kristin is an amazing talent. Her show was about Broadway divas, but not always the ones that have the lead roles. She was in excellent voice, delivered her show with such a professional touch that you wonder why she isn't on Broadway right now in a starring role. She delivered an amazing array of songs from Kander and Ebb's "Quiet Thing" to Carrie Pepperidge's "When I Marry Mister Snow" from Carousel. She is a consummate actress and comedienne. This production was filmed for PBS Live at Lincoln Center and should not be missed. What a treat to see her perform again, and one hopes that she get's that starring role that she justly deserves.
2013-02-16 Eagle's documentary on Showtime
I came upon a documentary on the Eagles rock band tonight on Showtime. As I watched it, I was transported back to the seventies when I actually saw them perform in the Cleveland area. I saw their Hotel California tour. That album remains one of my favorite albums of all time. It was one of the best concerts that I have ever attended. I went to college in Akron, Ohio and Kent State was very close to Akron. One night we decided to go to Kent for the bars and the music. I was very much into pop music at that time in my life. There was a bar there called the Fifth Quarter (I think that's right.) It had a band called the Measles playing there, and the lead guitar player was an unknown named Joe Walsh. I remember having a good time there and enjoying the music. Joe Walsh then formed his own group the James Gang. The next time I saw him perform was as the opening act of the Who in Cleveland at Public Hall, the day after the movie version of Woodstock opened. It was an amazing night because after the James Gang performed, a little know perfomer who had recently released his first album came on stage, in barefeet and performed a few of his songs. The performer was James Taylor. He was practically booed off the stage because everyone was waiting for the Who to perform. The Who actually did a complete version of Tommy that night, which is one of the concerts that I will never forget. Getting back to the Eagles, they remain one of my favorite bands of all time, and this special just cemented in my mind how much I love their music and am glad that they reunited after all those years. The documentary is extremely well done and doesn't gloss over the friction between certain band members and the issues that they faced. All I can say is that I am glad that they got back together a few years ago and have continued to make amazing music, not to mention the impact that they personally have made on the environment (helping save Walden Woods) and our lives in general. Thank you Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy Schmidt.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
2012-11-17 Dreamgirls at Signature
2012-11-17 and 18 Washington, D.C.
I joined Bill in Washington, D.C. for the weekend to see some theatre, visit a friend, and to sees sights. I arrived late Friday night so we could have Sat. and Sunday for our adventure. Our only scheduled times were for seeing My Fair Lady on Sat. night at the Arena Stage and Sunday matinee of Dreamgirls at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va.
On Sat. we decided to have lunch at Legal Seafoods in the Chinatown area of Washington. This restaurant has become one of our favorites in DC. And once again we were not disappointed. From there we went to Regal Theats to see Cloud Atlas, the newish movie starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. This movie be the Wachowski Bros. who did The Matrix movies has a very convoluted plot and uses the same actors in many roles. It was somewhat confusing at first, but started to make sense about midway thru. I enjoyed it very much and feel it will probably receive many accolades in the near futureyy. I look forward to seeing it again either on blu-ray or on a premium channel.
I forgot to mention that we had about an hour and a half after lunch and before the movie. W e went to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibit of paintings and photograhs dealing with the Civil War. It was a very moving exhibit reflecting a great deal of insight from the viewpoint of many of the famous artists of that time period and photograhs depicting the horror of war, the blodshed, ane rhe destruction of many of the southern cities. I was very moved by the overall exhibit.
That evening we took the Metro to the soutern waterfront area of Washington where the Aren Stage is located. We had tried to make a reservation at 4 , a restaurant near the theatre. They seated us with no problem. Our waitress Kristen had waited on us on a previous trip. We had a delightful meal and sat next tothe actor who was playing Col. Pickering at Arena which we were about to see.
We have been to the revamped Arena a couple of times before. We saw The Music Man a coupleof months ago and Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights. The main theatre is in the round and they have added two more new theatres and surrounded them with a beautiful glass facade. The entire complex is quite striking. My issue with the mainstage is that everything produced there is in the round. I'm old fashioned and I love to see sets which you don't get a lot of here. So I was disappointed with My Fair Lady. The leads were good, the singing good, but I feel there were too many liberties taken with the script of the musical including adding a scene from the movie version and moving the first act ending later in the show. I was glad I got to see it.
Sunday morning we got up packed and headed to another favorite restaurant called Ris near Foggy Bottom to meet up with our friend David Tannous. David is an avid theatre, opera, and art lover. He gets us all of our tickets for shows in Washington. Last year he was named the Theatregoer of the Year in the Washington area. Once again, we had another wonderful brunch at Ris.
It was then on to the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia to see their latest production, Dreamgirls. I loved this version of the show. It was well acted, sung, designed and executed. I would not be surprised if some New York producers go down to Arlington to see the show and want to move it to New York.
After the show, we returned to our hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the Union Station to take the train back to New York. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend in our nation's capital.
I joined Bill in Washington, D.C. for the weekend to see some theatre, visit a friend, and to sees sights. I arrived late Friday night so we could have Sat. and Sunday for our adventure. Our only scheduled times were for seeing My Fair Lady on Sat. night at the Arena Stage and Sunday matinee of Dreamgirls at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va.
On Sat. we decided to have lunch at Legal Seafoods in the Chinatown area of Washington. This restaurant has become one of our favorites in DC. And once again we were not disappointed. From there we went to Regal Theats to see Cloud Atlas, the newish movie starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. This movie be the Wachowski Bros. who did The Matrix movies has a very convoluted plot and uses the same actors in many roles. It was somewhat confusing at first, but started to make sense about midway thru. I enjoyed it very much and feel it will probably receive many accolades in the near futureyy. I look forward to seeing it again either on blu-ray or on a premium channel.
I forgot to mention that we had about an hour and a half after lunch and before the movie. W e went to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibit of paintings and photograhs dealing with the Civil War. It was a very moving exhibit reflecting a great deal of insight from the viewpoint of many of the famous artists of that time period and photograhs depicting the horror of war, the blodshed, ane rhe destruction of many of the southern cities. I was very moved by the overall exhibit.
That evening we took the Metro to the soutern waterfront area of Washington where the Aren Stage is located. We had tried to make a reservation at 4 , a restaurant near the theatre. They seated us with no problem. Our waitress Kristen had waited on us on a previous trip. We had a delightful meal and sat next tothe actor who was playing Col. Pickering at Arena which we were about to see.
We have been to the revamped Arena a couple of times before. We saw The Music Man a coupleof months ago and Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights. The main theatre is in the round and they have added two more new theatres and surrounded them with a beautiful glass facade. The entire complex is quite striking. My issue with the mainstage is that everything produced there is in the round. I'm old fashioned and I love to see sets which you don't get a lot of here. So I was disappointed with My Fair Lady. The leads were good, the singing good, but I feel there were too many liberties taken with the script of the musical including adding a scene from the movie version and moving the first act ending later in the show. I was glad I got to see it.
Sunday morning we got up packed and headed to another favorite restaurant called Ris near Foggy Bottom to meet up with our friend David Tannous. David is an avid theatre, opera, and art lover. He gets us all of our tickets for shows in Washington. Last year he was named the Theatregoer of the Year in the Washington area. Once again, we had another wonderful brunch at Ris.
It was then on to the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia to see their latest production, Dreamgirls. I loved this version of the show. It was well acted, sung, designed and executed. I would not be surprised if some New York producers go down to Arlington to see the show and want to move it to New York.
After the show, we returned to our hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the Union Station to take the train back to New York. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend in our nation's capital.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
2012-10-12 Linda Eder "A New Life"
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| Poster for Concert |
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| Robert Cuccioli |
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| Christianne Noll |
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| Linda Eder |
Linda Eder at Town Hall with Robert Cuccoli and Christianne Noll, Oct. 13, 2012
It's been a while since I added to my blog. Last night I saw one of the most amazing concerts that I have seen in a long time. Linda Eder, who is my favorite singer on the planet appeared at the Cabaret Convention at Town Hall which Scott Siegel does every year. The title of the concert was "A New Life," one of the songs from Jekyll and Hyde which had a wonderful run on Broadway. Her invited guests were Robert Cuccioli and Christianne Noll who appeared in the show with her. I have a long history with Jekyll and Hyde dating back from the initial concept album in 1991 with Linda and Colm Wilkinson. It then leads to seeing the show in 1995 in Houston, which will probably be the only time that anyone could see the total show before many cuts were made. I then saw it on tour a few times, at the Schubert in New Haven and in Baltimore at the Mechanic right before it began its Broadway run. I have been a Linda Eder devotee from the very beginning when I saw her appear on Star Search and won that year. Since I worked for Sam Goody when the concept CD of Jekyll came out in 1995 with Anthony Warlow and Linda, I promoted the Cd in the stores, and was fortunate enough to take that trip to Houston to see the world premiere of the show. (By the way, it had been produced in Houston at the Alley Theatre five years before with Chuck Wagner in the lead roll.) So much for the history of the show. I saw it at least five times on Broadway and followed Linda's recording career ever since, travelling to Carnegie Hall, New Jersey perfoming arts theatre, a production of Camille Claudell at Goodspeed Opera house, a concert in Queens, yet another Town Hall performance a couple of years ago, and at a small theatre on 14th street where she premiered her country album. Needless to say, I am a devoted fan of Linda's.
On to the concert last night at Town Hall in NYC. Linda was in superb vocal performance throughout the evening. She did many of her memorable songs, but it was the songs from Jekyll and Hyde that made the evening so memorable. She graciously shared the stage with Robert and Christianne to perform a good deal of the most exciting songs from this show. The highlight for me was Linda and Christianne singing the duet "In His Eyes" from Jekyll and Hyde. It was spectacular. The other highlight for me was Robert's anthem of "This is the Moment." His remarks about this song becoming the singular song that people will remember him by was especially moving. And Linda also performed the song cut on Broadway, "Bring on the Men" and said that she should have put her diva foot down and insist that it not be cut. The audience roared their approval. It was an immense pleasure to see these incredible performers back on stage together, and to experience the amazing camaraderie of them working together again.
This was Linda's concert and she did not disappoint. She performed an amazing version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Other highlights included Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and an astonishing "Over the Rainbow" as her encore. She also performed the song "Anthem" from Chess which the audience loved. I feel that Linda is one of the most overlooked performers around.
I waited about an hour after the concert to say hello and was not disappointed. I got the chance to say hello to Robert, Christianne, and Linda before I left for home. This was an incredible night, and one that I will not soon forget.
Friday, November 11, 2011
2011-11-11 Follies in Chicago
We have seen Brent Barrett a few times. He has done Phantom on Broadway and in Vegas, Kiss Me Kate on Broadway and London, Chicago the Musical, and Annie Get Your Gun with Reba McIntyre. Years ago we saw Caroline O'connor in Mack and Mabel. She is from Australia and our friend Peter Eyres is a friend of hers. Robert Petkoff played Tateh in the revival of Ragtime on Broadway. And Susan Moniz is a Chicago actress who was very impressive as Sally. All of the performances were top notch. Caroline's version of Lucy and Jesse was danced the best I have ever seen it.
One of my main objections with the current Broadway revival is in the staging. The cast comes to the middle of the stage, sing their song, and then go off into the wings. This is supposed to be a party and in the Chicago production, they are directed to pretty much be a part of the action at most times. Gary Griffin uses waiters and some props to play up this fact, and it works extremely well. I do miss the glamour of the Broadway version in the costuming, however. And there are not as many ghosts of the Follies girls wandering around. All in all it was a very satisfying evening.
Bill and I waited after the show in the lobby and we were able to meet up with Caroline and Brent and chat with them briefly. I purchased a CD of Caroline's that she recorded in Australia. She had done the premier of the play "End of the Rainbow," a play that went to London and is due in New York next year. The album is based on the Judy Garland songs used in the show. She was kind enough to autograph the CD for me.
We spent three days total in Chicago. A highlight was touring the Art Institute of Chicago, to see the new modern wing, and catch up on the rest of the impressive collection. Across from the Institute is Millennium Park, which we had not seen since it had been completed. This park is beautifully landscaped and has the Millennium Stage as its focal point. The foliage was at its peak in Chicago, and it was such a beautiful clear day there, so I was able to take a lot of pictures of the wonderful skyline and Chicago's amazing architecture. I am looking forward to returning to Chicago soon.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
2011-08-31 Recent Theatre
Bill and I decided to return to see Catch Me If You Can once more before it closed. Boy, am I glad we did. I think this show got short shrift from both the critics and the public. It was so much fun, and had such a great cast. Norbert Leo Butz was amazing as Carl Hanratty, and Aaron Tveit was sublime as Frank Abagnale, Jr. The entire cast was really into the show and it had jelled amazing well over the months since we had seen it. I loved this show and am sorry it is closing. Norbert was amazing once again in his signature number, "The Man Inside the Clues." A bravo performance from someone who claims they never had dance classes, and a real Tony award winner.
Next on the list is Death Takes a Holiday, a Maury Yeston musical. I have been a fan of Maury Yeston since I first heard Grand Hotel, Nine, and then Titanic. He also composed a wonderful song cycle called December Songs which Andrea Marcovicci recorded. I enjoyed Death Takes a Holiday. Not a great show, but extremely enjoyable. And what a cast: Rebecca Luker, Linda Balgord, Matt Cavenaught, Mara Davi, Jill Paice, Max Von Essen, Don Stephenson, and Kevin Earley. This is one of those shows where the original lead was replaced because of vocal issues. The original lead was Julian Ovenden, an actor from London. He was replaced by Kevin Earley, who I found to be completely captivating. Bill had seen Julian in a musical in London called Marguerite, which I did not see but have the cast CD of. I understand that he was amazing in the role of Death/Count Sirki, but I did love Kevin's interpretation of the role. Rebecca Luker had an amazing song called Losing Roberto. It was for me the highlight of the show. I really enjoyed this show and hope that it has a life after the Roundabout Theatre.
We finally saw Anything Goes with Sutton Foster at the Stephen Sondheim theatre. I loved this show. I have been fortunate for designing the set for two productions of Anything Goes in my career. I have seen the Patti Lupone version of the show at Lincoln Center, and I have listened to the many recordings for many years. So why did I love this production? One name! Sutton Foster! She was amazing. She performed the Kathleen Marshall dance routines without breaking a sweat. She has a great sense of humor, and is the consumate performer of our time in musical theatre as far as I'm concerned. But the entire cast was excellent, from Joel Grey to Laura Osnes (discovered on the tv casting of Grease), to Adam Godley, and finally Colin Donnell.
And what a treat to see John McMartin ( original cast of Follies 1971) and Kelly Bishop (from the original Chorus Line). Once again Kathleen Marshall shows that she is a consummate choreographer/director justly winning the Tony for choreographer. And the same can be said of Sutton Foster. She won the Tony Award for best actress in a musical. This is a wonderful production and should be seen.
Next on the list is Death Takes a Holiday, a Maury Yeston musical. I have been a fan of Maury Yeston since I first heard Grand Hotel, Nine, and then Titanic. He also composed a wonderful song cycle called December Songs which Andrea Marcovicci recorded. I enjoyed Death Takes a Holiday. Not a great show, but extremely enjoyable. And what a cast: Rebecca Luker, Linda Balgord, Matt Cavenaught, Mara Davi, Jill Paice, Max Von Essen, Don Stephenson, and Kevin Earley. This is one of those shows where the original lead was replaced because of vocal issues. The original lead was Julian Ovenden, an actor from London. He was replaced by Kevin Earley, who I found to be completely captivating. Bill had seen Julian in a musical in London called Marguerite, which I did not see but have the cast CD of. I understand that he was amazing in the role of Death/Count Sirki, but I did love Kevin's interpretation of the role. Rebecca Luker had an amazing song called Losing Roberto. It was for me the highlight of the show. I really enjoyed this show and hope that it has a life after the Roundabout Theatre.
We finally saw Anything Goes with Sutton Foster at the Stephen Sondheim theatre. I loved this show. I have been fortunate for designing the set for two productions of Anything Goes in my career. I have seen the Patti Lupone version of the show at Lincoln Center, and I have listened to the many recordings for many years. So why did I love this production? One name! Sutton Foster! She was amazing. She performed the Kathleen Marshall dance routines without breaking a sweat. She has a great sense of humor, and is the consumate performer of our time in musical theatre as far as I'm concerned. But the entire cast was excellent, from Joel Grey to Laura Osnes (discovered on the tv casting of Grease), to Adam Godley, and finally Colin Donnell.
And what a treat to see John McMartin ( original cast of Follies 1971) and Kelly Bishop (from the original Chorus Line). Once again Kathleen Marshall shows that she is a consummate choreographer/director justly winning the Tony for choreographer. And the same can be said of Sutton Foster. She won the Tony Award for best actress in a musical. This is a wonderful production and should be seen.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
2011-8-04 Zarkana
I have been a fan of Cirque du Soleil for many years. At last count, I think I have seen 12 of their shows over the years. By far, the best were "O" in Vegas and The Beatles Love in Vegas. Totally different but unique in their own way. Cirque shows have an amazing ability to get the audience totally involved and captivated. Even in the mediocre shows such as Zumanity, there are things to love. I remember after seeing Zumanity in Vegas, we were in the elevator of the time share apts. at the MGM Grand and the audience participant from that night was in the elevator with us. He had pictures of him with the cast, and told us that the entire company was so nice to him. What a treat that would have been to have met the cast. He was a good sport and went along with everything they did to him that night. And to me, that's what Cirque shows are all about. The have a resonance about them that other circus shows lack. Their production values are amazing. You are totally entertained throughout the experience.
And such was the cast with Zarkana at Radio City. The plotline was ludicrous. They used a very good Canadian performer to represent Zarkana, but the story line made very little sense. The music was okay, but not overwhelming (where is Celine Dion when you need her!) But the circus acts were unbelievable. I have seen men flying through the air on ropes before, but not with a woman dangling below him! All the acts were excellent. The sets, lighting and techical brilliance sets this Cirque show apart from many others. It was truly a spectacle.
And the audience loved every minute of it. They even flew one of the clowns way out over the audience. I turned to Bill and said, sure they can fly the clown, but they can't fly the wicked witch of the west in "Wicked." Truly amazing.
If you haven't seen Zarkana, go see it. You will love it. I look forward to my next Cirque experience. And so should you!
And such was the cast with Zarkana at Radio City. The plotline was ludicrous. They used a very good Canadian performer to represent Zarkana, but the story line made very little sense. The music was okay, but not overwhelming (where is Celine Dion when you need her!) But the circus acts were unbelievable. I have seen men flying through the air on ropes before, but not with a woman dangling below him! All the acts were excellent. The sets, lighting and techical brilliance sets this Cirque show apart from many others. It was truly a spectacle.
And the audience loved every minute of it. They even flew one of the clowns way out over the audience. I turned to Bill and said, sure they can fly the clown, but they can't fly the wicked witch of the west in "Wicked." Truly amazing.
If you haven't seen Zarkana, go see it. You will love it. I look forward to my next Cirque experience. And so should you!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
2011-07-30 Pancake Hollow Primer by Laurence Carr
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Happy Birthday, Jerry Herman!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
7/9/2011 The Adams Family
Saturday, July 2, 2011
7/2/2011 The Cherry Orchard in HD
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| Zoe Wannamaker |
If you have not seen one of the high definition broadcasts presented by the National Theatre Live, it is a wonderful experience. They film the productions immaculately, provide the best of England's actors and actresses, and give us a chance to see shows that may not come here.
The next production is in Sept. and it is called The Two Guvnors. It looks to be very funny. This is a modern day take-off of the Italian writer Goldoni's play called The Servant of Two Masters. We did a production of the play when I was at Akron University, and had great fun with it. Look for the National Theatre Live showings, I don't think you will be disappointed.
Monday, June 27, 2011
6/27/2011 Getting My Act Together
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| Gretchen Cryer (top) Nancy Ford (bottom) |
While waiting for Still Getting to take our seats, I spotted Karen Ziemba. I attended Akron University in the theatre department when Karen was dancing with the Ohio Ballet. I have seen most of Karen's shows here in New York and have been a fan of hers. I went over to her and told her that I was at Akron U at the same time that she was there, and she may have seen the set and lighting I did for Dames at Sea. She was extremely gracious and mentioned that she had just completed a workshop for a musical written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (two of my favorite lyricists and composers) and Susan Stroman the choreographer. The plotline was about Degas and the ballerinas he painted. She said it was a wonderful experience. I then congratulated her on all her success. In the theatre, she was sitting across from me, and when a joke was made about moving back to Ohio, she glanced over at me and smiled. We both knew that we would never do that in a million years!
So it turned out to be an interesting evening, finally getting to say hello to Karen after all these years, and seeing Gretchen Cryer perform again on stage.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
6/15/2011 Follies to Broadway
(The photo collage is a compilation of photos from the Kennedy Center production from their website.)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
6/15/2011 Javier Colon
I just saw the most amazing performance I have seen in a long time. Javier Colon on The Voice just stole the whole show with his rendition of Angel. If he doesn't win the whole thing I will be very surprised. All I can say is WOW!
And the winner is ... Javier Colon. (posted after the results of the shows finale!) Yet another prediction that was right on!
And the winner is ... Javier Colon. (posted after the results of the shows finale!) Yet another prediction that was right on!
6/15/2011 Tony Awards Recap
I predicted that The Book of Morman would win for best musical. I'm not sure that it should have won for best music however. There were so many good musicals on Broadway this year. I loved Sister Act, Catch Me If You Can, and The Scottboro Boys. I really loved Patina Miller's performance in Sister Act, but haven't seen Sutton Foster's performance in Anything Goes yet. Sutton's performance on the Tony's was really good, as was Patina's. I also thought that Tony Sheldon was fabulous in Priscilla, but also liked Norbert Leo Butz's performance in Catch Me If You Can. It's a little difficult to choose because Tony is a friend of our friend Peter Eyres from Sydney. We had a chance to meet Tony after the show in the bowels of the Palace Theatre. Talk about an experience. Tony was extremely nice and it was such a pleasure meeting him. I thought the Tony Award show was really a lot of fun. Neil Patrick Harris was a wonderful host and has an amazing ability to ad lib, or at least to rap without much practice. His last number was priceless. As was the opening number about how Broadway is no longer just for gay men! And then there is War Horse. I loved it more in New York than I did in London. This is a wonderful, heartwrenching play, and must be seen. I am glad it received the awards it got. They were deserved. It's a shame the Scottsboro Boys did not get more recognition. It is a exciting, passionate show with many amazing performances. They're supposed to do a tour, and if they do and it comes to your town, down miss it. I have to say, this was a wonderful year for Broadway. Even the musical shows that didn't make it had some great music, sets, and performers. And the variety of plays are some of the best we've seen in years. I think the awards were pretty just, and pretty close to what I would have voted on.
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