ronndezvous

A Few Disappointments with Oscar Nominations

2012-01-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Oscar nominations finally did come out yesterday with not many surprises. I had a few disappointments:
1) that Martin Sheen did not get nominated for The Way; instead, Demian Bichir got nominated for A Better Life. Who?
2) that Win Win did not receive a best picture nomination. It just seems like a picture can not come out early in the year and expect any nominations. Tree of Life? Extremely Loud...? Please.
3) It would have been nice for Margin Call to get a best picture nomination, but one for original screenplay seemed acceptable.
4) that Bill Cunningham New York was not one of the five finalists for best documentary.
5) that A Separation did not receive a best picture nomination. It also got stuck in the Original Screenplay category.
I'm glad The Artist and Midnight in Paris got all those nominations. And I hope Michelle Williams wins best actress. Demian Bichir?

A Separation Is Well-Deserving of Its Loud Oscar Buzz

2012-01-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

A Separation opens brilliantly. A couple faces us arguing about a divorce before an arbitrator. She wants to leave the country for a better life. He wants to stay to take care of his father who has Alzheimers. The judge asks if he hits her or has cheated. No, he's a good and decent man, she says. Most movies leave you when you exit the theater; this one stays with you. Who was bad? Who was good? We see how their marriage has broken apart and get a glimpse into the lives of another couple of lower economic scale. Asghar Farhadi has made a beautiful film which really never ends. The credits roll as we're waiting for a verdict and a gulf continues between the two leads. Last night I spoke with Reza Bahar, the producer of the new German film Bastard, that played at Film Neu. He moved to Germany from Iran when he was 8 and says there now might be about 200,000 Iranians in Germany. He said that he loved the film - A Separation - but hopes that the director speaks out a bit more as he continues to win awards. (It's on the short list of 10 for an Oscar and is expected to win.) It must be hard for Farhadi who wants his films to be seen by people in his country so he must tread carefully. Of course, he has things to say about circumstances there, but his film says a lot of it. We see prisoners sitting awaiting their fate. We see wives who still must defer to their husbands. The justice we see actually isn't too bad. They are genuinely concerned about the lead chracter's guilt. There are scenes where all the adults complain and scream like the opening scene. One time, the two children exchange glances like get me out of here. The wife was smart enough to know that, but it will probably not happen. Make sure you see A Separation.

Film Neu Strikes Just the Right Chords - with younger folks at least

2012-01-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

So to the guy last night who was upset that following the film, the credits were stopped for the interview with the lead actor, I have the perfect solution. Go see A Separation. Besides being a great movie - it will probably win the foreign film Oscar - its credits roll over the end of the story. No leading actor would dare stop it. In fact, it was a strange Q&A last night following Westwind, a lovely, coming-of-age, just before-the-Wall-falls-down story that opened the 20th Film Neu German Film Festival. The older people were upset that love triumphed and nobody died; that wasn't what it was like, they said. Emcee and renowned film buff Eddie Cockrell apologized later for his poor choice of words, though I think he was fine. Those people just wanted dark. It's one of my favorite festivals because you can really get up close and semi-personal with the actors and directors. We met lead actor Franz Dinda yesterday at the reception and he was a delight. He said he cherished this role because it was such a good script. Opportunities do not come every day in the German cinema world, so you take what you can get. When it's good, that's a privilege.
Our group - the ArtHouse - will be going again on Tuesday night to see a film titled Black Brown White that has garnered excellent reviews on the festival circuit. Join us if you can or go Wednesday to see a Swiss horror film or Thursday's closing for the German version of Sex in the City party 2 from the male point of view. It's a German box office smash! Back tomorrow for a discussion of A Separation.

The Obamas Finally Join Me at One of my Events

2012-01-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

President Obama and the First Lady finally caught on to one of my great events last night. I sort of had an idea that they would be attending the Kennedy Center's 10th Annual Let Freedom Ring Celebration when I got there around 2 pm (tickets were given out at 4) and police and security dogs surrounded the place. At Cupa Cupa across the street, they filled the tables. (Must have been break time.) Sure enough, at 5:55 pm, an announcement in the Concert Hall said to please welcome the President of the United States and in they walked. The free performance featuring the truly incomparable Bobby McFerrin and the Let Freedom Ring Celebration Choir with Reverend Nolan Williams, Jr., musical director was amazing--from their opening original spiritual, "Buses Are A-comin'" to the finale, "Down by the Riverside." McFerrin I knew about. (If you ever get a chance to see him, go!) But the choir and Rev. Williams were revelations. They are supported by Georgetown University, which also gave out their Legacy of a Dream award to Clarence B. Jones, who served with Dr. King and has gone on to a legendary career of helping those who need help. Soloist Nova Nelson of St. Martin's Catholic Church nearly ran off with the show with her version of "My Country Tis of Thee." But McFerrin and his audience-involving medeys showed that he is still one of a kind. Prior to Down by the Riverside, Rev. WIlliams said that they had rehearsed it, but given McFerrin's participation, who knows what will happen. Everyone including the President and the First Lady eventually stood and sang. An announcement said to stay seated and let the President leave; once Rev. WIlliams led the choir in another encore, it was easy to stay. Down by the Riverside indeed! And we'll study war no more!

Theater J's Time Stands Still and Studio's The Religion Thing Put Couples at the Forefront

2012-01-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

Couples are on display this month in two of Washington's premier stages - what brings them together and what keeps them together. (Kind of funny that my ArtHouse group just saw the film version of Waiting for Godot Sunday - another couple trying to stay together.) The standout of these two is Time Stands Still by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies at Studio Theater, starring the excellent (and ubiquitous) Holly Twyford. Also thought-provoking, The Religion Thing at Theater J features top-notch local actors (Will Gartshore and Kimberly Gilbert) but is not as polished. It probably raises more questions, however, which is part of its problem. In Time Stands Still, a journalist couple returns from covering the war after she barely survived a road-side bombing. (As an usher, I was able to see Holly practicing her walk with crutches before the play.) It's the professional thrills that have defined their relationship, but now James (Greg McFadden) wants to give up the dangerous stuff and get officially married. (He didn't have any rights when Twyford's character was in the hospital.) But despite her injuries, she's not ready to give it up. In walks their middle-aged editor Dan Illian with his new girlfriend, the "hot" young Laura C. Harris and we see more of what makes a good couple tick. She's simpler and naive but is that a bad thing? Why can't Sarah go on without the live-and-die pyrotechnics? Why can't these two highly intelligent and passionate people who seem to be in love figure it out? It's a stirring performance that I will try to see again.

I took a group to see The Religion Thing and then we stayed for the discussion after. People enjoyed the play; local playwright Renee Calarco has an ear for dialogue that rings true. But where Margulies has focused his themes, Calarco's are all over the place. Her two couples have numerous issues going on - what brought them together, did they settle the kids question, can they play with others, is Gartshore's character straight, can you be gay and then decide to change, does sex depend on this, and, as the title indicates (and her strongest theme), what role does religion play in all this. It's just too challenging a task that she's set out for herself. She then complicates it by giving us a sugarcoated first scene comedy sketch rather than trusting the play. (An equally dizzy "dream" scene occurs in the second act as well.) I was fascinated by the Mo and Brian couple (played sympathetically and well by Liz Mamana and Chris Stezin) and the simple issue of do they belong together. She seems to want kids more than he does, but he later indicates how important Judaism is to him and perhaps her being Catholic has held him back. So communication certainly sits at the forefront here. It's all swirling and the gay issue probably gets the most focus; I would have preferred otherwise. But it is still worth seeing.

DC is again fortunate to have two such intelligent productions.

Ronndezvous's Top Ten Films of 2011

2012-01-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Top Ten lists are out for 2011 so I would like to add my three cents to the conversation. Here in a pretty close order from bestest to best are my selections. (Please comment and add some of yours.)
1. Margin Call - The rhythm of the conversation and the incredible actors delivering it made this perhaps the most riveting film of the year for me. Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto and Demi Moore wait for The Boss to come and fix the problem, so he better be good. Jeremy Irons is. The scene of him eating quietly from a view perched in the clouds while Spacey approaches is memorable.
2. The Way - Under-seen and in my opinion under-appreciated, this beautifully photographed film made its protagonist feel alive again and me as well. It reminded us that the thrills of travelling lie just as much in the people we meet as the places we go. Emilio Estevez deserves much credit for this and father Martin Sheen deserves an Oscar nomination.
3. Win Win - We tend to forget films from earlier in the year but this feel-good one gave us a believable story with no easy answers. Paul Giamatti was terrific as the father and wrestling coach, and it showed that the young star was a wrestler turned actor rather than the other way around. Rent it if you haven't seen it.
4. Le Havre - What's wrong with a fable now and then? We're so attuned to something going wrong, people being bad that it's hard to expect a nice film sometimes. But this one will stay with you - especially the relationship between the old man and the young boy.
5. The Descendants - I liked that they made the young people the level-headed ones in this film. Clooney's character is all over the place and yes, what was his wife doing with that nincompoop, but director Alexander Payne gets the setting right and the mood. Good cameo from Beau Bridges and nominations to come for father and daughter?
6. The Artist - What an incredibly inventive film! A silent take on the silent-into-talkies era with modern themes. Wonderful chemistry between the two French leads make us root for them (okay the dog helps), and fun performances from John Goodman and James Cromwell. Penelope Ann Miller where have you been?
7. Midnight in Paris - Thoroughly entertaining, it's Woody's best film in years. The portrayals of Hemingway and Fitzgerald hit just the right marks, and the evocative mood of Paris made me want to jump on the next jumbo jet. Marion Cotillard is exquisite - just saw A Good Year again with Russell Crowe and didn't even realize it was her.
8. Nostalgia for the Light - Hard to mix dramatic films and documentaries but I will include two of the latter. This film from Chile began with gorgeous shots of the Atacama Desert and the amazing astronomy taking place there. Then it drifts to interviews with some of the astronomers, one of whom lost her parents to the Pinochet regime - she was raised by her grandparents. The juxtaposition works perfectly and it becomes an incredibly moving film.
9. Bill Cunningham New York - Watching this 80 year-old or so photographer bike recklessly around Manhattan is a site to behold. And then watching him through the years just adds to the delight. Look at his editing, when they make him switch apartments, when he covers a gala. It's all about the work. Is he gay? You'll have to watch for the best answer to that question that I've ever seen. It's a touching film.
10. (Tie) The Guard - Why not? Brendan Gleason has never been better and Don Cheadle plays it down enough to make it feel right. It's very very funny and works on many levels. Has a satisfying ending and makes me ready for a sequel where he gets to romance the beautiful foreign woman.
10. Hedgehog - It's such a beautiful and unseen film that I couldn't leave it off the list. Try to rent it if you can.
Other films I liked: Beginners, Kid With a Bike, My Week With Marilyn, Hugo, Moneyball, Of Gods and Men (why it couldn't it have been a half hour shorter?) and a French comedy I can't think the name of (older guy, younger woman). And I still need to see The Illusionist and A Separation.

Make an appointment to see Hairspray at Signature!

2011-12-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

I have really come to treasure seeing plays in smaller theaters. Even when I go to New York, I try to see off-Broadway shows for that more intimate experience. Of course, Washington has its share of smaller venues and once in a while, the experience can be amazing - like Ruined at Arena last year, Woolly's Bright New Boise or Constellation's Three Sisters. I can safely and enthusiastically add Hairspray, currently at Signature Theater, to that list. This is a show that slowly buiilds with a wonderful score by Marc Shaiman and a serviceable book by the great Thomas Meehan. By the time it hits its stride in the second act, your realize you're about 5 rows away from an amazingly talented and diverse cast singing hummable songs. The plot - about integration in Baltimore in the early '60s by way of a kids music show - feels important. And then Nova Y. Payton blows us away with her big number. And then Can't Stop the Music finishes things up in an all-out party. Please go see this show if you can. Signature puts on many new works that hit and miss - they should be commended - but this is what they, namely director Eric Schaeffer, do best. Oh, and Robert Aubry Davis should be commended for playing the mother (why doesn't AroundTown have a place to play every week?).

My Week With Marilyn Showcases The Best of Britain

2011-12-18T06:10:00.000-08:00

Interestingly, My Week With Marilyn starts in the same way that the starting-to-be-acclaimed movie The Artist does: with a film within the film. The device works in both pictures as a way to admire the stars whose story we will see unfold - yet also give us that distance that stars demand. In Marilyn, we see young Colin watching a Marilyn Monroe film - and then get stylish shots of Michelle Williams actually singing the number in the film. I enjoyed the movie. I would call it style over substance. There are so many great English actors in the film: Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Simon Russell Beale, Kenneth Branagh, Julia Ormond. And Williams is able to carry it with a sexy, intuitive performance. No, she does not have the curves of the real Marilyn, but she's able to show a few sides of her. It's a difficult role - she has to be Marilyn, be Marily acting, be Marilyn cooing, be Marilyn crazy. And sing. So while it's not a great film - there's just not enough plot really despite a nice supporting job by Emma Watson as a woman Colin's age - director Simon Curtis (he's married to Elizabeth McGovern) does a pretty good job of holding it all together. It's just a fun movie to watch. Branagh gives Olivier a kind turn, as does Ormond with Vivian Leigh. Eddie Redmayne, who I liked with Kristen Stewart in The Yellow Hadkerchief, also holds his own among the many luminaries. I regret not seeing him on Broadway last year in Red. I would guess a couple Oscar nominations come out of this film, perhaps for Williams and Branagh.

US Botanic Garden Features Concerts During Holiday Nights

2011-12-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

I had not been back to the the U.S. Botanic Garden since July 3, when they graciously opened the doors during an incredible storm that canceled the Capitol Fourth Rehearsal concert. I enjoyed our personal tour then and I loved it last night as well. I cannot imagine a more beautiful setting for the holidays. The klezmer group Lox and Vodka performed and offered a little bit of everything. They will be having four more evening concerts on the next two Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-8 pm: Dec. 20, Project Natale, jazz; Dec. 22, Samovar, Russian folk music; Dec. 27, Hot Club of DC, gypsy jazz and swing; and Dec. 29, 40 Thieves, Irish rock music. The concerts take place in the beautiful gardens, decoreated with poinsettias, a lighted tree and many ornaments. In the next room an incredible series of toy trains choo choos around another holiday-themed room. You can also just walk through the maze of plants and trees and get a little of that tropical high right in the middle of DC. This place - with no annoying security gates either - is a gem. Take advantage of these wonderful concerts. Oh, they're free.

The Artist Gives Us a Gilmpse of the Grand Way It Was

2011-12-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to see the wonderful new film The Artist at a packed house at New York's famed Paris movie theater. About halfway through this mostly silent film - both a tribute to the films of the past and a history - I took a look at the heads below the screen and the black and white images on them and thought that this is what it was like: a huge screen in a big cinema with a balcony (and $13 prices!). French writer and director Michael Hazanavicius has crafted an age-old story of boy-meets-girl and aging star loses luster and added so many clever wrinkles that the result is incredibly smooth and heart-tugging. Kudos to the casting director for using Jean Dujardin (of the OSS 117 spy spoof films) and finding Berenice Bejo to team with him. They are both athletic and graceful, and look good together. John Goodman shows how to bluster without any sound, James Cromwell admirably plays the good chauffeur - I still shiver when I think of him in LA Confiudential - and Penelope Ann Miller (wow where has she been?) plays the unloved wife. It is amazing to see how a story can be told so well without sound - although there is a beautiful original score by Ludovic Bource which is crucial to the film. So I don't know if you can find an old theater to see this in. Let's hope either the Avalon or the Uptown shows it. If they do, please see it there. It's such an original film, which is so odd to say considering it's a silent. There must be a lesson there.

The Descendants Ascends to Oscar-Worthy Status Thanks to Big Performances in Small Roles

2011-11-30T03:39:00.000-08:00

The Descendants works so well probably because of its small moments. They ring true. Like when George Clooney wakes up in the middle of the night and has a short talk with Sid the good-hearted but slightly dim friend of his daughter. We don’t get sudden wisdom from Nick, but we do learn a little more about him - and Clooney's character. When Clooney bids goodbye to Judy Greer—who after a check on IMDB seems to have appeared on every tv show in existence in the last five years—in a key late-movie scene, he has a special way of parting that makes you smile (sweet revenge). And when you think early on that this might be another troubled teen story who hates her father, it’s quite the opposite. She’s the most normal one in the story and wants to love her father. Alexander Payne has produced by far his best film here, worthy of a best picture nomination—in addition to nominations for Clooney and Shailene Woodley (who my colleague tells me is on a teenage soap opera). The casting agent deserve kudos here for a range of excellent characters from the grandfather (the estimable Robert Forster) to Nick (Nick Krause) to cousins who include where-have-they-been actors Beau Bridges (with long hair like his brother Jeff now) and Michael Ontkean. I think I met him once 25 years ago - more on that in another post - after the debut of a movie he did with Harry Hamlin. The final scene works incredibly well to take us past the death of the wife who has been in a coma the whole movie. As opposed to the ending in Martha May Marcy Marlene where we have no idea what's happening, we're comfortably settled in with the King family at the end of The Descendants.

Martha Marcy Is Well-Done Filmmaking, but for the best film about cults...

2011-11-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Before going to Martha Marcy May Marlene, I thought I would be seeing a film similar the powerful early '80s sleeper called Ticket to Heaven. (Rent it if you haven't seen it.) And in a couple ways - the power of the cult leader, trying to bring the person out of the spell - it was similar. But in many ways it wasn't. Where Ticket to Heaven shows the whole gut-wrenching process of the person being consumed by the cult, Marcy May starts with her (the phenomenal Elizabeth Olsen) already well in. The film then goes back and forth between those scenes and the scenes after her sister picks up her up, with the sister and her husband (the suddenly ubiquitous Hugh Dancy) in a fancy lake house. The film is very well-done and feels pretty true, except for perhaps the one violent scene. There's tension just oozing out of all pores of this film, including of the sexual variety. I can't say it's a great film; it chooses an ending similar to Cache, Michael Haneke's film with Juliette Binoche. But I can recommend it as interesting and worthwhile. Don't forget Ticket to Heaven. That's the one that will stay with you.

Warhol Screen Tests and Dean and Britta Make Beautiful Music Together

2011-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

The National Gallery is just an amazing place. We were joking last night that you could do a lot worse than just hanging out there every weekend. Yesterday we saw an amazing concert/film - Dean and Britta formerly of the group Luna were commissioned by the Warhol Museum in Pitttsburgh to write 13 songs for 13 of the 400-plus "screen tests" that Warhol filmed back in the '60s. They went through most of them and chose 13 of the "personalities" who most hung out at the Factory, Dean told us yesterday. The CD is out and I'm getting it. We saw Lou Reed as the world's coolest Coke drinker to the tune, "Not a Young Man Anymore." The gorgeous Jane Holzer brushing her teeth to "Knives from Bavaria." The tragic Edie Sedgwick primping to "It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills." And Dennis Hopperf finally breaking down and smiling to "Herringbone Tweed." Though none of us recognize the young Hopper until Dean told us it was him after the song. The perfomance was brilliant and if Dean and Britta come around again, I will let you know. The Warhol Exhibit also elicits many emotions and some of the screen tests can be seen there. But what was great about the music was that it allowed you to watch the whole screen tests which really do reveal characteristics about the Factory regulars (and yes, all beautiful people). On Sunday, Dec. 4, there will be a film about Warhol at the National Gallery. Check the whole schedule here. They do a wonderful job and yes, it's all free!

European Union Filmfest Shines Spotlight on Finland and the U.K.

2011-11-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

The European Union Film Showcase at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring runs through Nov. 22 and continues to be one of the best film festivals that this area has to offer. I saw my first film of the festival last night - Kid With a Bike by the Dardennes Brothers. It was very well-done and should get a release to theaters that show foreign films. The brothers deal in realism so this tale of an 11 year-old boy abandoned by his father is not always pretty, but it always feels right. Thomas Doret gives a fresh performance as Cyril and Cecile de France as his foster guardian proves likeable and believable. Two Finnish films have gotten some buzz here - The Good Son, which plays today at 5 pm and Le Havre, the latest film by indie-fav Aki Kaurismaki. The latter film has finished here but hopefully will get a release. I have bought a ticket for the closing night film on Monday, Nov. 22, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a new adaptation starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and John Hurt. The director, Tomas Alfredson, and Oldman are scheduled to appear at the closing night. The film has garnered wonderful reviews in London. Two other much anticipated films from the U.K. playing here are an adaptation of Terrence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea (Rattigan is also represented on Broadway right now) with Rachel Weisz and Tom Huddleston (Nov. 17); and David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method with Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightly (Nov. 18). See the full schedule here.

That's Entertainment! Gatsby Returns to Ken Cen in All Its Splendor and Glory

2011-11-03T03:16:00.000-07:00

There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his own illusion. It had gone beyond her; beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion.

--F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Sometimes, I guess, you can go home again. The Washington Ballet has brought back its successful rendition of The Great Gatsby, choreographed by Septime Webre, its artistic director. He has constructed thia ballet/show/spectacle with such originality, enormous talent and passion that you can't look away. Smartly, Webre has brought back the top-notch live jazz band and the incomparable talents of Will Gartshore - now that's a narrator! - and E. Faye Butler - her "I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" again brings down the Eisenhower Theater house. Female tap dancer Quynn Johnson even gets a spectacular solo in the second act. What makes the evening so grand is that Webre puts all this talent within one of the greatest frameworks of the English language. The story works with scenes colorfully and lavishly played out, from Gatsby's Charlestonish parties to teas and lunches in Manhattan to the frightful scenes on the highway and at Gatsby's pool. The music also succeeds, in a conglomeration of new tunes by Billy Novick and old ones from Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin - we were all humming What'll I Do on the way out - and Duke Ellington among others. It seemed even better than its premier a year and a half ago.
Tickets are still available - it runs through Sunday and is highly recommended. I'm no expert on the dancing, but I am pretty good on pace, creativity, theatricality and a good story. And Gatsby has it all. One wishes it could stay with us longer. I need to go read the book again! (for the 10th time?)

Are there any better last lines in fiction than...
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further...And one fine morning - So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Amen.

Oranges and Sunshine and Margin Call both put this Cinephile in Movie-Watching Bliss

2011-10-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

Two movie recommendations are always a good thing. Oranges and Sunshine navigates its way through a difficult subject in an engaging, never over-the-top way, probably because the name Loach is involved - not Ken but his son Jim. It's the true story of a social worker in England who stumbled upon the history of the deporting of children to Australia. These were children who were taken away from their parents, often illegally; some were sent to awful places in Australia where they were mistreated. Now adults, they want to know who they are. A great cast tiptoes its way through this horrific episode, without abuses ever being seen. The acting is top-notch - led by Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving (who was wonderful in Uncle Vanya at Kennedy Center this summer) and especially David Wenham (a new face for me, he handles his difficult role with a revengeful glee). I was moved by the film.

Margin Call reminded me a little bit of Glengarry Glen Ross, but without all the steroids, and last year's highly underrated Company Men without the tinge of blue collar. The scene shifts from real estate to financial trading, but all the drama of men in an office (and getting fired) remains. Kevin Spacey plays a role that Tommie Lee Jones excelled at in Company Men: the older boss who has seen it all but isn't calling the shots anymore. Stanley Tucci departs from his happy husband to strong women role to beautifully underplay his fired analyst part here. Demi Moore is also ably on hand to show her legs and let her hair down a bit. And like Hickey in The Iceman Cometh, we are heralded to the "Man" making an entrance, and that man is Jeremy Irons. Irons and Kevin Spacey in a well-written scene puts a cinephile such as myself in film heaven. It's a very good film.

Delightful Wilkerson Appears at Phillips to Talk About 'The Warmth of Other Suns'

2011-10-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, I went over to the Phillips Collection to see a lecture by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson. Her award-winning book, The Warmth of Other Suns, is now out in paperback. It is the "Epic Story of America's Great Migration" - the migration of African Americans from the South to the North during the period from after WWI to the 1970s. She said that she spent 15 years of her life on this book, and I can't wait to read it. She is a brilliant speaker, able to sound a bit intellectual but also personable. She frames her story by saying that everyone here has relatives who risked everything they had - some at a very young age - to pursue a better life somewhere else. That could also be from Poland or Ireland or Italy or Latvia or Russia and Romania (the last two is my lineage). Maybe they came by foot or by train or by ship (my grandparents), maybe their parents pushed them off. She named many famous African American figures and nimbly traced their families to the South: Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, Theolonius Monk, Toni Morrison, Miles Davis, August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, etc. I spent a summer as Wilkerson's friend and colleague many years ago when we were interns at The Washington Post - she in Style and me in Sports. She was fresh out of Howard University, soft-spoken but confident and supremely talented. (David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, was also in that intern class. It's very easy to get an inferiority complex looking back now.) It is wonderful to see Wilkerson's success. She teaches at Boston University now and travels promoting the book - she's already been to most states and even a couple countries in Europe. "Immigration is a universal story, she says. She laughed when she said that Alaska is next on the itinerary - in January. "I know, not the best planning," she said. Eventhough I have not read it yet, I will heartily recommend The Warmth of Other Suns; I trust Isabel. The title, by the way, comes from a quote by Richard Wright that goes like this:

“I was leaving the South
to fling myself into the unknown . . .
I was taking a part of the South
to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns
and, perhaps, to bloom”
― Richard Wright

Nice.

Photography Show in the Embassy of Finland Is a Can't Miss Exhibit!

2011-10-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

I saw the most spectacular exhibit yesterday enhanced by a private tour from the artist. Fortunately, she will be back on Nov. 11-12 to talk more about it. The Loveliest Girl in the World at the Embassy of Finland is the name of the exhibit and should not be missed! It will be showing Friday - Sunday from 11 am to 4pm through Nov. 13. About 10 years ago, the photographer, Miina Savolainen, took notice of a home for abandoned children. She decided to begin a project with all 10 young girls in one of the units of the home, to try to make them feel special. She started getting to know the girls and then taking them - one by one - on field trips into the incredibly beautiful Finnish countryside. Once there, they would put on some beautifully elaborate dresses and gowns that the girls and Miina worked on getting ready. The idea was for the girls to dictate how they wanted to look. (This is actually part of a course that Miina teaches in Finland for businessmen, doctors, health professionals, etc., that she calls empowering photography.) Then she would shoot the pictures. This went on for years so she could photograph them in various stages of childhood. So what we get now are sublime photos of these girls often looking like models and movie stars, with landscapes that Hollywood would pay millions to re-create (craters, icicles, snow-covered plains, endless bounding brooks, mountaintops, etc.). And they look so confident and comfortable. What's amazing about Miina's work is that in a group photo of the girls where they're smiling and normally dressed, they look just like any other group of teenage girls. Then in these photos, their specialness shines through. "Everyone can be special if you're looked at in a lovely way," Miina told me. The exhibit has won awards throughout Finland. She said she would send me some photos that I could post - I've posted a couple. But you need to see these in person, if possible. There are over 120 of them in the exhibit, and in the great Embassy of Finland space - surrounded by the woods - it is a privilege to be there. I will check if Miina will be doing anything specific - like a lecture - when she returns in November.

With A Bright New Boise, Woolly Brings Another Intelligent Play to Our Midst

2011-10-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

Woolly Mammoth can be pretty hit and miss in my opinion. But with their youthful crowds and enthusiasm that brings - especially during their generous PWYC nights - solid acting company and beautiful home just off 7th Street, when a play is good, it's a total pleasure. Such is the case with their current offering, A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter. The play centers on a father, having left a cult-like church in norther Idaho after a tragedy, confronting the son he never met at a Hobby Lobby box store in Boise. Just writing that scenario here feels bizarre. But Hunter does make sense of this in a startlingly good first act, which almost sets up the play as a a comedy. As the father, Michael Russotto proves to be a willing straight man to top performances from Kimberly Gilbert as a spooked out fellow employee, Emily Townley as an epithet-spewing (in a fun way) boss and Joshua Morgan as his surprised son. The problems arise in the second act when Hunter has to take these characters somewhere. He told us after the play that he is still rewriting this act, so I'm curious to see it again in a few weeks. He loses the tone he set in the first act as he struggles to give meaning. Should the father be persecuted for his part in the tragedy? Will the son come around to him. As he wrestles with these questions, the wonderful scenario that he set up in the cafeteria - with a brilliant company video playing in the background - gets dropped a bit. Hunter himself said that he set up a plot where the ending he's searching for does not give the play much action. He wrote the play in just 3 months on a commission from a theater in New York, so he is clearly incredibly talented. His comfort with dialogue reminds me a little of Neil LaBute before his plays spring their surprises. Hunter needs to find his style with the second act as LaBute found his. Woolly should be congratulated for bringing this fine play and playwright to Washington.

Sheen and Estevez Show "The Way" in This Wonderful New Film

2011-10-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

There's a moment towards the end of The Way - the new film by Emilio Estevez starring his father, Martin Sheen - where no words are said but it's brilliant. Each of the four main characters looks at each other, having walked together for many kilometers, with this knowing glance and then a smile. It encapsulates so much, about traveling, about friendship, about taking chances and about living. Sheen does give an Oscar-caliber performance in the role of a father who must go to Spain to retrieve the ashes of his only child (his son played briefly by Estevez). It's a tough role because he must reflect the sadness that he feels, but we must also see a glint start to form in his eye - an alarm to the life that his son strived for. He decides to walk the El Camino de Santiago from France to Spain, finishing at Santiago de Compastela - all in honor of his son who had set off on the walk and was killed in an accident on the first day. The three foreigners that Sheen hooks up with on the way are all played with gusto and charm. Yorick van Wageningen as Joost does a fine job balancing zealousness with sympathy. Deborah Kara Unger plays the Maria Bello part - the beautiful 40-something woman - with mischief and a gradual awakening. And James Nesbitt proves a perfect choice for the Irish writer. This isn't quite Dorothy and company in Oz, but it does feel like a yellow brick road that they're traveling and they're all in search of something. I guess that's an age-old story. Who knew that Estevez had this kind of story in him. The beautiful Spanish scenery doesn't hurt either. And like the film Another Earth earlier this year, the very brief last scene here has all kinds of implications. Nicely done!

Two Film Rental Recommendations With the Likeable Zoe Kazan

2011-10-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a roundabout way to give two film rental recommendation. I was up in New York last weekend and met Zoe Kazan, the granddaughter of famous movie director Elia Kazan and an actress/playwright in her own right. She was outside the Manhattan Theater Club where I attended the first preview of her new play, We Live Here starring Amy Irving and Mark Blum. It's a family drama that started out with a promising first act but then faded. (Much better was a production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer I saw at Hudson Theater Guild.) Anyway, I highly recommend two films that Kazan has appeared in: I thought Me and Orson Welles was a hugely underrated film; and Happythankyoumoreplease has an awful title and no one saw it, but is a decent film. Kazan was very nice greeting all her friends and looked cute and very thin in person; hopefully, the play can improve before it officially opens. New York critics can be rough. Looks like she has a new film coming out next year called He Loves Me that she wrote the screenplay for. It co-stars Antonio Banderas - can't wait to see him in the new Almodovar film! - Annette Bening and Paul Dano. And it's directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton who directed Little Miss Sunshine.

Ives Is a Saint When It Comes to Writing Entertaining Plays

2011-09-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Experience and Shakespereans. That's just one of the clever rhymes in David Ives' rollicking Heir Apparent at the Shakespeare Theatre. I've been an Ives fan ever since I saw All in the Timing many years ago; that's the evening of one-acts which includes the now-classic, first-date vignette where the bell rings any time someone says something off-putting to the other. Studio had a huge hit earlier this year with Ives' Venus in Fur, an intense play about an actress auditioning for a part. The play is now headed for Broadway. Meanwhile, Ives, Michael Kahn and Shakespeare Theatre have found a new cottage industry in obscure French comedies that Ives restores with rhyming dialogue. Last year was The Liar and Heir Apparent is equally funny and clever. The other revelation here is Carson Elrod as the servant Crispin. Where has he been? His energy and ability to play off of the always-great Floyd King give Heir Apparent its enormous energy. Along with Habit of Art, we are truly lucky to have two very entertaining plays in DC right now.

Moneyball May Actually Appeal More to Non-Baseball Types

2011-09-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

When screenwriters like Aaron Sorkin (Social Network) and Steve Zaillian (Schindlers List) - credited with the screenplay of Moneyball - have a good story to tell, watch out. We're in for something special, because they can certainly write exceptional dialogue. Just rerun that first scene of Social Network over and over where Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is talking to his girlfriend (Rooney Mara). (Zaillian apparently wrote the script for the upcoming - is it really much-anticipated? - Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which stars Mara.) After seeing Moneyball yesterday, I just don't know if this was a great story to tell. It certainly is a quality film. We get lots of zippy, slyly poignant dialogue, impressive acting (Brad Pitt is incredibly likeable here, Jonah Hill has become the king of that "Who me?" kind of acting and Philip Seymour Hoffman Has the deadpanning down) and very competent directing from Bennett Miller (Capote). And there's a scene with a 12-year-old girl singing that just kills. But the film drags a bit towards the end, and as a baseball movie that's not really about baseball, it just doesn't get enough right for me.
I believe many of the good reviews have come from critics who don't know baseball. If you do, there's just so much that doesn't figure well. And I don't mean little details like a Washington DC movie where the Metro comes up in Georgetown. The team at the center of this story, the Oakland Athletics, really didn't achieve anything and haven't since Billy Beane has been in charge. So the film tries to key on a record winning streak, but those don't matter that much in sports unless they lead to a title. For the sake of the story, the film focuses on 2 or 3 moves that Beane made and ignores so much else. It's just hard to buy into this knowing that the foundation is flimsy. I'm not saying that it's not true; it's more that probably the analyses and theories that worked for the book just don't carry the gravitas to make a great film. Robin Wright is totally wasted as his ex-wife. (Didn't even realize that was her. Will she or Maria Bello ever show age?)
So I'll probably watch Bull Durham for the 10th time the next time it's on. For Moneyball, even though I admire the dialogue and performances, once was fine.

The Habit of Art Gives Us Another Pleasurable Encounter With the Great Alan Bennett

2011-09-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Anyone who saw The History Boys or The Madness of King George (both successful plays turned into movies) knows the singular sensation that is playwright Alan Bennett. We are lucky that the Studio Theater, which put on a wonderful History Boys with Floyd King a couple years ago, has become the theater that brings Bennett to us. They have borrowed from The Shakespeare Theatre again in the person of wonderful veteran actor Ted van Griethuysen - as well as the great Paxton Whitehead from Broadway and Hollywood - to put on a very intricate and engaging production of Bennett's latest, The Habit of Art. Bennett has taken a little from Michael Frayn's classic Noises Off to give us a play-within-the-play scenario to tell the story of the friendship between poet W. H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten. Where Noises Off gave us different looks at the rehearsal process, Habit of Art gives us one run-through of it with quirky actors and a mothering stage manager. Bennett has a lot to say here about actors and artists. Do we care who they really are? Or should we just pay attention to the art? There's one line at the end where Auden falls asleep and the question is raised if this is Auden, the actor playing Auden, or in our minds van Griethuysen himself. The others decide that it's appropriate for any of them really. Actors break out of role to ask questions about their characters or just talk about themselves. Cameron Folmar will be nominated for a supporting actor award for his portrayal of the BBC interviewer who imagines the make-believe re-encounter of Auden and Britten. (They were friends early in their lives before a falling out.) The much anticipated "music" he opens the second act with is worth the price of admission. It's nice to see the Studio Theater rebound after a so-so season with a first-rate production.

Widow of Photographer Leonard Freed Lends Photos for an Incredible Show at German Historical Institute. Lecture to follow at DCJCC on Oct. 6.

2011-09-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to visit the German Historical Institute on New Hampshire and 16th St., NW, for a lecture (and reception, of course), but never found the time. I'm very glad I did find the time last night. Brigitte Freed was the guest and the photos taken by her late husband Leonard Freed were the stars - Berlin when the Wall went up; Berlin when the Wall came down ("I told Leonard that he had to be there for that," Brigitte said); and various other photos from postwar Germany. Freed was an American Jew, born in Brooklyn, who ventured to Europe in 1952, settling in Amsterdam until moving back to New York in 1970. As the literature handed out at the exhibit explains: "Postwar Europe was a puzzle for Freed: a land of great artistic civilization, familial aura, Jewish trauma, postwar destruction and potential redemption. In his mind, Germany was the central and most jagged piece." His photo of the Wall coming down, in black and white, spotlights the faces of the people against the backdrop of a classical building. It's brilliant. The exhibit is called An American in Deutschland (on exhibit until Nov. 15), and two other institutions are showing Freed's prints: the DC Jewish Community Center where there will be a talk on Thursday, Oct. 6 about Freed by co-curator Paul Farber (Farber's friend, Septime Webre, head of the Washington Ballet, was on hand last night); and the Goethe Institut. Farber encourages people to visit the GHI to see the photos (as do I) and said he would even give a tour if a group could be arranged. He's a very interesting young guy, who was on his way to New York to speak about a book he worked on about the television show, The Wire. Brigitte Freed lives in the Hudson River Valley with her daughter. She surprised the large crowd by pointing to one of the photos and saying, "I took that."

Fela and Bill T. Jones Both Make Quite an Impression

2011-09-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

So there I was last night at intermission of the first preview performance of the stand-up-and-shout Fela - the Tony Award-winning musical conceived, directed and choreographed by 2010 Kennedy Center honoree Bill T. Jones - when who should walk in front of me but Mr. Jones himself. He is incredibly friendly, taking congratulatory handshakes from some and advising others the best way to get in touch with him. I guess he is ironing out the kinks as the musical takes over the Harman Theater for the next month or so. But as long as long as Tony and Olivier Award nominee Sahr Ngaujah is center stage as Fela Kuti, the kinks are pretty negligible. Ngaujah has us at hello, or at least at "Say Yeah Yeah." When the first uninspired response comes back, he starts to go to work. The man can sing, dance, make us laugh, play the saxophone and trumpet, AND make the ladies swoon when he takes off his shirt. There are incredible dancers, musicians, singers and actors surrounding him, all adding to a night of utter enjoyment. It's a clever piece as well. (Jim Lewis wrote the book with Mr. Jones.) To bridge to a story about going to jail, Ngaujah asks the audience who has been to jail. It's a very funny episode that can swerve many even funnier ways depending on the response. (One pretty woman in the audience just waved her hands furiously to each question. Jail? Holding cell? Handcuffs? He had a good time with her.) That bridge adds much more than if they had just gone right into that story. A friend named Mark asked me at intermission if I had ever seen Fela himself at the 9:30 Club. Apparently, he performed there a couple times. He died in 1997, I believe. Unfortunately, I did not see him but after seeing this show - which centers on a place in Lagos, Nigeria called The Shrine - I sure wish I did. I highly recommend Fela. After the reviews come out, tickets will be scarce. So be quick. Rarely does Washington get to see a performer like Mr. Ngaujah - who took both London and New York by gale force. Don't miss out.

Victoria Vox Trumpets, Strums and Sings a New Success

2011-08-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, who has heard a mouth trumpet before? My friend Jay and I heard a great one last night in the person of singer Victoria Vox at Iota in Arlington. If that was her only game, she'd still be good, but she is an amazing talent really starting to get known now. She performed at Strathmore's record-breaking Ukelele Festival last week where more than 900 people took out their ukes and strummed. With a couple thousand people there, I had to pause when this wonderful voice rose above the Tiny Tim-like din. So we checked her out last night and she's for real. Vox sang only with her ukelele playing, beautiful singing, mouth trumpet and Kate's amazing cello. (Her new CD is ukelele and cello.) She sang some great songs including one called "Chasing Love" that I just found on YouTube. (I also found a performance she did of the great Leonard Cohen Hallelujah on YouTube that's really pretty and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.) I will continue to follow her and perhaps do a meetup the next time she plays around. Check her out.

The French Still Make Exceptional Films

2011-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

A very hot and humid Washington day drove me to two movies last week and both shared some traits. The Names of Love and Sarah's Key are both French and both see their lead female character visiting The Shoah Memorial in Paris. Engraved on the walls there are the names of 76,000 Jews, including 11,000 children all deported from France as part of the Nazi plan to annihilate the Jews. Although The Names of Love is a comedy - and an exceptional one at that - the moment is not taken lightly. And in Sarah's Key, the writer and director do a great job of moving back and forth between past and present. This scenario of watching characters from the present trying to discern what happened in the past - and then seeing for ourselves what really happened - has become a more common tool of late, but that does not mean it is easy to pull off. Tom Stoppard, of course, pulled it off the most successfully with Arcadia, and I wonder if he ever considered turning that into a film. (I should have asked him when I ran into him on a smoke break he was having at Penn Station in New York a couple years ago. As it was, I was tongue-tied. Anyway, The Names of Love chronicles a relationship between a young liberal activist - she sleeps with conservatives to convert them - and a middle-aged scientist who deals with dead animals. It has some very clever conceits that can be credited to the husband and wife screenwriters. In fact, she shares the same first name as the lead character - Baya. You cannot go wrong seeing either of these films, just depends on the mood you're in. A woman behind me at Sarah's Key said the book was better so you may want to read it first.

Blanchett philosophizes a bit at Uncle Vanya interview

2011-08-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

“Begin as you mean to continue,” the lumnious, Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett told a young questioner seeking career advice a couple weeks ago at an interview I attended at the Kennedy Center - during her just-completed run of Uncle Vanya. Even trying to make herself look plain, she couldn't. “Make yourself a five-year plan; that will help you maintain patience. And you can’t make too many compromises.” Blanchett was, of course, talking about a career in the arts, but there are some parallels to be drawn with any profession that one seeks to pursue. Her response also made me marvel at the English language. The question has been asked so many times before yet Blanchett can still find an original phrasing: (Must be the 10 years she recently spent living in England.) In fact, I believe it’s good advice not just for young people but for anyone embarking on something new, be it a new business, project or even a hobby.

Blanchett of course, needs no training to be comfortable in the spotlight. She was asked if it’s hard to find the time to do theater with such a demanding film career. She looked a bit puzzled actually and answered, “No, not really. I’m old enough to make my own decisions now. This is an extraordinary privilege.” I particularly liked what she said next when asked if it was a tough decision for her and her husband Andrew Upton to take over the Sydney Theatre Company. “It would have been cowardice to turn it down,” she said. That kind of takes us full circle in the direction of the famous Goethe quote: “Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”

"We all value theater," she said, speaking for the accomplished cast that was sitting around her. Jacki Weaver was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year for Animal Kingdom and Hugo Weaving appeared in The Matrix Trilogy among many other films. "And we choose to return to it." Speaking of Australia and the bond it gives her company, she said, "You're talking about a company of 22 million, 17 million of whom are actors."
The interview ended with a question about great artists; one of the actors began very intellectually talking about Picasso. "Picasso was such a..." "Philanderer!" Blanchett shouted. They all laughed and went on to Uncle Vanya.

Sholom Aleichem Director Does His Job Well; And Almost Nothing Lets 'The Guard' Down

2011-08-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

"I loved the film but had one criticism," an audience member at the West End Cinema told director Joseph Dorman following a screening of his new film, Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness, "I wish you would have put more of his stories in." Dorman smiled. "You know, that's the perpetual decision: what should go in. I wanted to put him in a context and a world. But if my film sends grandparents and grandchildren back to read more of his stories, then I've done my job." The film documents the life of one of the greatest Jewish writers ever, and whose stories the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" was based. (So we get some wonderful clips of songs from the Fiddler movie.) Sholom Aleichem wrote a great deal about the little towns - the shtetls - of Eastern Europe. So we get photos of working-class people in these towns and - although it may not have been enough for that one audience member - snippets of his stories. "It took 10 years to make this," said Dorman, a winner of television's prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. "A professor of Yiddish suggested the idea to me." While the West End crowd was a tad on the older side - "Is anyone here under 40?" Dorman asked - he is trying to get the film to younger people, including school children, by developing lesson plans.

"The Guard" sort of snuck up on us this summer. It's a refreshingly original film from Ireland starring the incredibly versatile Brendan Gleeson and the busy Don Cheadle as mismatched investigators looking into a drug ring in western Ireland. The writer/director is John Michael McDonough, brother of the playwright Martin. Talk about talent in one family. The film is not afraid to show the many faults in Gleeson's character but then also shows the traits that really attract us - the way he treats his dying mother, refusing to take the payoff money that everyone else thinks is standard and drinking many Guinnesses. This is a film where the ruthless criminals ride in the car talking about Dylan Thomas and the beauty of Wales. The killer contemplates if he is a psychopath or a sociopath finally deciding that there's not much difference. The policeman who gets killed turns out to be gay, which makes no difference except that his pretty Croatian wife can perhaps hook up with Gleeson's character in the sequel. Given the way the last Bourne film ended, I think McDonough didn't feel a need to have his character emerge from the water. I won't say any more.

Clybourne Park Is Still a Neighborhood You Definitely Want to Spend a Couple Hours in

2011-08-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Woolly Mammoth has brought back the revelatory and elegant Clybourne Park and it is even better than it was last year - this due to the comfort of the actors in their roles. The stage is again set up with people sitting everywhere - in the balcony, on the sides, behind the stage (my friend thought there was a mirror) and most importantly in the upstairs room of the house on stage. One young man sits there thinking, moving a bit. We'll soon learn he's an important part of the play, not given any lines, but the "cause" in a cause-and-effect play that examines not just race relations but the way people talk to each other.

Winner of last year's Pulitzer Prize for theater, Clybourne Park takes a brilliant conceit and runs with it. Where Tom Stoppard's Arcadia went back forth across 200 years to solve a mystery, Clybourne Park shows two acts 50 years apart to perpetuate a mystery: Why can't we still talk to each other without our preconceptions? The play takes the Chicago neighborhood where the Youngers of "A Raisin in the Sun" were hoping to get to and, in 1959, shows how the white neighbors react to a black family moving in. That family is not present but might as well be because the white family's maid and her husband are. Even one of the characters, Karl Lindner, who fights the move in Raisin, shows up here. Then in the second act, we move to 2009 when a white family wants to move into what is now a mostly black neighborhood. The black family now represents the neighborhood, and with a couple real estate people present, the situation quickly deteriorates into racial jokes and defensive mechanisms. Writing in The New Yorker last year about a concurrent Off-Broadway production, the wonderful writer John Lahr calls the second act "a dance of civility" turned into "a fracas of fulmination." Acting-wise, for me, Mitchell Hebert as Russ and Dawn Ursula as Francine continue to stand out, but there doesn't seem to be a wrong note. Go see it.

'Another Earth' Happily Brings Marling and Good Story to the Screen

2011-07-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

A resplendent Brit Marling appeared as the lights went up - along with director MIke Cahill - following the premier DC screening of her new film, Another Earth. The two are graduates of Georgetown University and told the packed neighborhood audience that it was a pleasure to be back home with such a great project. The film, which opens Friday in Washington, is about the discovery a parallel Earth with all the same people, and a tragic accident between Marling's character and the family of an architect. Cahill and Marling wrote the script and ask questions like, "Can you undo your mistakes?" Is true love contrived if the path to is disguised? "We started with the idea of what it would be like to meet yourself," Starling said. "And then tried to work backwards."
I've heard several writers talk about a similar process, foremost John Irving who told a mesmerized crowd a few years ago, also at Georgetown, about working backwards for his novels "A Son of the Circus" and "A Prayer for Owen Meany." Cahill complimented Marling for her work, saying how much of the film is just shots of her face. Cahill tells a good story in the film. The sci-fi aspects are low-budget but convey the ideas they are looking for. The ending feels right and not contrived - no doubt evidence that they had this ending first. I recommend the film and Marling, who got written up yesterday in the Washington Post and just may be the new It Girl. As a writer, she may stay around for a while.

Set Your Scope on Venus in Fur at Arena

2011-06-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

I'd like to declare that there's a new hit play in Washington. David Ives is certainly one of the leading playwrights around today. We are lucky in Washington to have seen his adaptation of The Liar - now in New York - that featured an amazing rhyming scheme. His collection of short one acts, All in the Timing, has also played recently. I love the Groundhog Day-ish episode of the two people having a first dinner date and then the buzzer sounding any time someone says something that the other person doesn't like. It's incredibly funny. Venus in Fur played in New York a couple years ago but I don't remember any huge buzz. However, when I went back and looked at a couple reviews, they very good. Well, the play just fits Studio Theatre perfectly and the two actors are also perfect. In fact, I think Erica Sullivan will be competing against Jenny Jules (now in the amazing Ruined at Arena Stage) for the next Helen Hayes award. She's amazing as an actress trying out for a role in a racy play in front of the guy who adapted it. Christian Conn doesn't have to quite show the range that Sullivan does, but he does have some hurdles to conquer. He has to be a bit likeable although his play and his morals may not be. But the play succeeds because of wonderful writing, and that's Ives. Two people talking for 90 minutes is not easy, but the dialogue flows so easily as Sullivan keeps us guessing with her many guises, and we don't know quite know what to make of Conn. Please don't miss this play! The audience stood up immediately after the play ended when I went, and you don't see that very often. Incredible work.

Fire and Ice in Reston Is Worth a Visit

2011-05-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

I don't think that I have previously told you to head to the Greater Reston Arts Center - or GRACE as it is known - in this space, but I am now. The Reston Art Show is this coming weekend - May 21 and 22 - so that's a perfect time to see what might be the best thing there. An art installation by Heidi Neff that is really spectacular in its scope, vision and beauty. She calls it Fire and Ice, inspired by the Robert Frost poem that goes like this:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

The piece is about 8 feet high, 17 feet long and six feet wide. It contains 8 huge panels that divide into 98 separate drawings of conservatives (in ice) and liberals (in fire) and ceilings that remind one of the great ceilings of Italy. Why not 100 panels, someone asked Neff. Who's counting, she said. This seemed right and indeed it does. It will show until June 10.

Bang Bang Club Gives Good Take on War Photographers

2011-05-02T03:10:00.000-07:00

In another lesson of, "don't listen to reviews," our Art House Meetup group went to see The Bang Bang Club on Saturday night at the West End Cinema where it continues this week. It's an extraordinary film, mostly because it's based on the true story of a group of photographers in South Africa in the last years before Mandela was elected president. These four guys do everything with style, flair, crazy courage and talent. Two of them win Pulitzer Prizes, and inevitably bad things happen from the risks they take. I think some of the criticism of the film has come from the parts where they go out drinking and show another side, but it seemed pretty reasonable considering the violence they preactically run into on a daily basis. Also I read that the timing was bad considering the death of photographer/director Tim Hetherington in Libya last week. I think that timing makes it a bit body-tingling; the stuff these photographers do in war scenes is real - and crazy.
It's beautifully filmed with some too-real-to-believe riot scenes. As some fact-based films have done lately, it shows us real photos at the end of the people and some events, and it sure looks like a lot did happen close to the way it's shown. Ryan Philippe does well in the lead role, able to portray enough vulnerability and humanity to go along with the craziness. Josh told us that the co-author of the book, Greg Marinovich, was in Washingtopn last week to visit the other co-author, Joao Silva, who was seriously injured in Afghanistan and is now at Walter Reed Hospital. Without notice, Marinovich visited the West End Cinema. It's a shame he couldn't have done a talk. Also a shame that the DC Film Festival could not have landed this film for opening night - with writer/director Steven Silver, Phillippe and Marinovich - instead of the awful Potiche - with nobody. That would have been amazing and I'm sure the Canadian Embassy would have gotten involved. (Many Canadian groups are thanked in the credits.)
Try to see this film if you can.

Ruined Continues Arena's Banner Season

2011-04-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend the other day about the woeful DC Film Festival which has quietly come and gone once again - Potiche on opening night? Please! - and he commented: they didn't even have any films from Africa; there are so many great stories there. Luckily, theater in town has picked up where film (or one festival) has dropped off. Ruined, which just began a couple-month run at Arena Stage, takes you into places - geographically and of the heart - that you don't go very often. Playwright Lynn Nottage won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for this emotionally intense, lyrical and entertaining play about a brothel in the Congo during Civil War strife. She conducted numerous interviews with women there to see the toll war took on them. That she's able to dramatize this in such a realistic yet pleasing way is incredible.
The audience stood and cheered follow Sunday night's performance. Particularly brilliant in the cast are lead Jenny Jules, Rachael Holmes (who was also superb this season at Studio in "Marcus"), Jamairais Malone (from Rutgers, my alma mater!) and all the incredible musicians who add vibrancy to this amazing mix. Yes, there are scenes of pure music and joy that fit well into the evening That this play works so beautifully should be no surprise given the talent of director Charles Randolph-Wright. His Sophisticated Ladies soared at the Lincoln for Arena last year, as did his Guys and Dolls a few years before that.
(Side note: We are also very fortunate to have the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner, Clybourne Park, returning to the area this summer (Woolly Mammoth). Washington theater has certainly taken an upturn of late.)
Make your way to see Ruined.

AU Katzen Reception and a Couple Interesting Films to Catch Before They Disappear

2011-04-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

American University's Katzen Center may be the perfect place for a partly rainy day tomorrow evening as they hold their MFA Thesis Reception for Graduate Art Students. Join the American University Museum, Department of Art, and MFA Thesis Students in celebrating the opening of their Spring Thesis Exhibitions. This sounds like a good vibe to me. And with free underground parking, what's not to love?

As for films this weekend, the Cinema West End has brought back Certified Copy, a very interesting film from the great Iranian director Abbas Kiarastomi. Juliette Binoche gives one of her finest performances. Three excellent movies are playing at E Street: Win Win, Bill Cunningham New York (more on that one tomorrow) and Nostalgia for the Light. My meetup group saw Nostalgia a few weeks ago at the National Gallery and was blown away by the scenery in the Atacama Desert in Chile and the powerful stories of the Chilean people. The director is able to combine the astronomy taking place there with the horrific memories of the Pinochet era.

Easing the Old Quarter Life Crisis

2011-04-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

I don't usually go out at 9:30 pm on a school night. I may stay out past that time but usually once I'm home past 8 or so I'm home for good. Last Thursday night was an exception. I headed to the 10 pm showing of the film Happythankyoumoreplease at E Street because it was apparently the last time that this area will get to see this well-done film with a great soundtrack in a theater setting. Because now it seems to be gone - one can only hope that the Avalon's small upstairs theatre or Josh at West End might resurrect it. As I went to buy a ticket, the marquee said HTYMP or something like that, so that's what I asked the 20-something attendant for a ticket for. She looked at me funny and said it sounded like a porn thing or something. She laughed.
"Is it good?" I asked.
"Oh yes, very good. It portrays the quarter-life crisis in excellent detail."
"The what?" I asked.
"The quarter life crisis."
"There is such a thing?"
"I've been looking for a [full-time] job for six months now. Yes, there is one."
So the biggest problem with this movie might be the title. Who came up with that? I would guess the writer/director/star Josh Radnor, but someone should have got him to change it. Anyway, it's an intelligent movie about a group of quarter-life friends with one contrivance that it takes a little getting past. (He does a good deed by stepping in to help a 10-year-old boy who is lost and abandoned on the subway. But then he kind of keeps him as a Little Brother.)
Otherwise, the relationships that this movie draws up are very believable and sometimes even poignant as is the case with his friend Annie. His love interest is named Kate Mara, and she is everything that Gwyneth Paltrow used to be before she became what she is now. Mara sings the last song of a really cool soundtrack - it's a departure from the indie folk stuff that we've heard up until then. It's Sing Happy by Kander and Ebb of Cabaret fame and it knocked my cotton socks off.
I will let you know when this film is available to see either in a theater or on rental. And when the nice quarter-life woman at the boxc office gets a real job. As much as I like the film, I hope she comes first.

Look Outside Your Window: Phil Ochs Documentary Is a Must-See Film

2011-04-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

"Anybody could be Dylan. Ochs' songs were for those who cared." That's one of the quotes describing Phil Ochs (pronounced Oaks) in Kenneth Bowser's terrific documentary, "Phil Ochs: There But for the Fortune" - currently playing at the Avalon after a nice run at the West End. (My apologies to Josh there for my not taking a group to see this.) Like the great documentary film "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" which I also saw at the Avalon's upstairs theater, this film chronicles the '60s in all its war and tragic pieces. What a different world it was! I knew of Phil Ochs because of an older brother who played his music, especially the wonderfully evocative "Outside a Small Circle of Friends." Hear it in this clip.

But he was best known for his protest songs, beautifully written from stories in the newspapers. It's worth it to see this film just for the history lesson we get of the '60s. To go from the excitement of John Kennedy to his assassination and then to the start of the Vietnam War followed by the amazing passion and bravery of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy to their deaths. Oh my gosh! Even to see them fall today is heartbreaking; they were so young! And then ending the decade with Richard Nixon! Young people stood up for what they believed in - and foremost among these was Ochs.
We get interviews with the people who knew him, from family to Joan Baez, Christopher Hitchens, Pete Seegera and Tom Hayden, and finally to an admirer Sean Penn. With his music always playing in the background, we hear I Ain't Marching Anymore, The War Is Over, The Ringing of Revolution, What Are You Waiting For? They wouldn't give permits for protest concerts at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago but Ochs came anyway and just set up makeshift concerts on the street.
One poignant interview toward the end of the film with his daughter said that he would be pleased that his music is still relevant but not pleased that we're still fighting so many of the same battles (unnecessary wars). Unfortunately, Ochs started drinking, became very unstable and committed suicide at age 35. This film is riveting and should be seen by adults and teenagers alike.

Photograph 51 at Theater J

2011-03-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

A Rare 'Photo' at Theater J
Theater J's engaging and well-acted new play, Photograph 51, opened Monday night. It's a fine production about a relatively unknown subject. Rosalind Franklin was a famous scientist who lived too short and never got the attention she deserved. In 1953, she arranged a transfer to JD Bernal's crystallography laboratory at Birkbeck College in London. She focused on the structure of plant viruses, working with (and providing the key photograph for) a group of men, one of whom, Maurice Wilkins, went on to win a Nobel Prize. The play's 90 minutes move briskly as all performers stay on the stage and leave it to the lighting to give them the spotlight. Theater J is on quite a roll these days. I attended their production of The Chosen at Arena Stage on Sunday night and all 680 seats were sold! Head man Ari Roth is now a professor so students show up at many of his performances, and he's always a friendly presence - even the night I saw the play, when he had to speaking knowing that a close friend, playwright Lanford Wilson, had died earlier that day.

Edward Albee's Talk at Georgetown University Last Night Delivers as He Recalls a Breakfast at Tiffany's Musical and the Fourth Great American Playwright

2011-03-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

"Anything that isn't filled with ambiguity is missing something."
- Edward Albee, March 24, 2011

Seeing and hearing the great playwright Edward Albee speak at Georgetown University's glorious Gaston Hall yesterday evening was a rare pleasure. The occasion was the opening of this weekend's long-time-in-the-planning Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival. Albee and NPR's Susan Stamberg spoke for a little more than an hour, about Albee's classic creation "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (currently enjoying a fine production at Arena Stage - 1/2-price tickets at Goldstar), other Albee plays and the works of Williams, whom Albee said he met a couple times at a cocktail party here and there (probably around Central Park in New York, he said). He said he especially recalled meeting Williams' sister Rose whom he recalled as quite nice. Blanche in Streetcar is supposed to be based partly on Rose, though Albee did speak about how every plawright must become the character he or she is writing. That's part of the process - so when he was young he would imagine old, "and now I try to remember being young." Asked by Stamberg if any actor has surprised him in one of his plays, he paused and looked at the audience as if, "Yes, I have something important to say on this." He then specifically complimented Amy Morton (though he needed the audience to prompt his name), who is playing Martha in Virginia Woolf at Arena. He said she read the character of Tobias in the Pulitzer-winning "A Delicate Balance" during Arena's current Festival where every one of his plays is being read. He then begged her to play Tobias in a production somewhere, quite a compliment to a part that has featured actors such as Hume Cronyn and George Grizzard (whom I saw on Broadway). Interestingly, Albee was asked how many of these readings he has seen in person and he mentioned just one other play, "The Man Who Had Three Arms," which opened and closed quickly on Broadway but he has a special place for. (I was at Arena that night seeing Virginia Woolf and was told Albee was in the house.)

Stamberg asked about Elizabeth Taylor who died this week and famously played Martha in Mike Nichols' film version of Virginia Woolf (with Richard Burton). Albee said she was a "hoot" and did a good job in the film, trying to look and act "middle-aged" as she was only 32 at the time and the part was written for a 52-year-old woman. George is supposed to be younger than Martha and was played by Burton, who was 52 at the time. Albee recalled his initial conversation with producer Jack Warner in Hollywood, when he was told that James Mason and Bette Davis would be playing the lead characters. Albee was more than fine with this casting - which would have been age appropriate - riffing that he would have especially wanted to see Davis playing Martha imitating Bette Davis early in the first act, with the well-known line, "What a dump." He also commented on seeing Kathleen Turner read Martha at a recent benefit. She played the character in a Broadway and Kennedy Center run about five years ago with the great Bill Irwin. (Did anyone see his "Fool Moon"? What a delight!) Albee could not help but say that Turner makes a slight mistake in her Martha. "Funny, she did the same thing on Broadway," he recalled.

This kind of spontanaeity is what makes the just-turned 83-year-old such a delight. He also told a story about being called by the legendary producer David Merrick in the mid '60s to come to Boston and try to fix the pre-Broadway musical version of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" called "Holly Go-Lightly." For real. "I liked Truman's [Capote] novel," Albee said, "and had no idea what I was doing so I decided to give it a shot." He said that, fortunately, it never opened on Broadway so he could not be taken apart by the critics - although "if I had two more weeks, I think I could have saved it." Reading a TBD piece this week by Maura Judkis, I see that Mary Tyler Moore was the star of that production - Albee did not mention that yesterday. (To quote Judkis's piece: “He transformed our lighthearted musical into a dark and rather gloomy semiopera,” actor Richard Chamberlain, who starred opposite Moore as the writer Jeff, wrote of Albee...“I had never known professional failure before and I was stunned and heartbroken... The audience yelled back at the stage during performances, before walking out.” He continued: “In theater, there is something called magic. Sometimes it arrives, sometimes it doesn’t. It definitely didn’t arrive at Tiffany’s.” Wow, she even links to Chamberlain's website where he has actual video of the production!)

Lastly, Albee had some great words when asked if he ever worked with the famous director Elia Kazan (who testified to Congress against artists during the Communist era), who was known for adding his own words to plays: Albee said no and yelled what he would have said if he had, "Write your own f***in' play, Elia!" Albee said that his copyrights say that nothing can be changed in his texts and he is adamant on this. Asked if he ever goes back to change anything, he said no. "I was a different person when I wrote that [a play from 20 years ago]. And as I said, no one should change the works." Unprompted, he also said that when the inevitable lists of the great dead American playwrights come up - O'Neill, Williams and Miller - there is a glaring omission: Thornton Wilder. He called "Our Town" and "Skin or Our Teeth" masterpieces and mentioned last year's memorable Off Broadway production of Our Town and bringing the play back to its deserved place. (This is one reason that I cringe when I hear of Washingtonians going up to New York and only seeing the much-publicized Broadway productions. Much of the great stuff happening is Off Broadway - Part of this problem is that the Post's Peter Marks loves to go to Broadway - today again is a review of a new Broadway musical when there is SO MUCH here in Washington. I will try to give notices of Off Broadway stuff in the future. That Our Town production did indeed make you feel that you were watching a great theatrical event, down to the smell of bacon wafting up in the last act.) "I don't think they [O'Neill, Miller and Williams] would mind us talking about them," Albee said with a wink that I could see even from the balcony. Oh, I didn't event mention that three short performances were interspersed with Albee's interview. The incredible Albee actress Kathleen Chalfant read from Williams' Camino Real, students did a more than credible job with a scene from Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, and my favorite Washington actor, Rick Foucheux, teamed with Susan Lynskey in a beautiful and haunting scene between Mitch and Blanche in Streetcar. What poetry! I do not recall magic in that scene in last season's Cate Blanchett Streetcar at KenCen.

Try to get to Virginia Woolf at Arena and certainly one of the productions at Georgetown this weekend - many of which are free (including an interview with Christopher Durang Sunday). We are very privileged to be at the center of all this amazing theater!

We're back! Daisey Dukes It Out With Jobs - and Other Upcoming Events in the Week!

2011-03-23T03:40:00.000-07:00

There seems no better time to get back to this blog than another Mike Daisey show at Woolly Mammoth. Got back last night from the second preview performance of The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, a near-two-hour monologue created and performed by Daisey. Go see it. I'm not a techie but I could easily identify with his takes on our digitalized, world-in-our-pockets, Steve-Jobs-ruled world. Just his take on PowerPoint alone - I don't want to spoil it - made me laugh enough to make an awful day seem better. (Or perhaps getting hacked in the morning made me appreciate this more.)
What makes Daisey so good at this is good writing and good acting. The character onstage may come out of himself, but it is still a character: he talks a bit like Kramer (the shouting), looks a bit like Newman (absolutely part of the persona), and has the wit of Seinfeld himself, the cynicism of George and the willingness to push back hard like Elaine. And he weaves quite a story, three parts a trip to China and three parts the rise, fall and rise of guess who. Reviews will soon come out and then the engagement through April 17 will quickly sell out. (They do sell nicely priced standing room when they sell out a show.) Enjoy.

COMING ATTRACTIONS
I will always give try to coming attractions in this space, and anyone who is part of The Art House meetup knows that we post some good events. But I can't post everything there.
- The wondrous Environmental Film Festival has a few days to go. Some highlights - tonight, my bike club friend and excellent writer/director Laura Seltzer's The Last Boat Out; Into the Cold has a free reception after (no reservations needed); and I saw Olmstead and America's Urban Park on PBS recently and it is very interesting and well done. On Thursday see the U.S. premiere of Planeat, preceded by Truck Farm. On Friday check out Sun Come Up, a 2011 Academy Award nominee in documentary short film, it follows the relocation of some of earth's first climate refugees, the Cartaret Islanders of the South Pacific, whose home is threatened by rising seas, with filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn.
- The Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival starts in full force at Georgetown University on Thursday with an onstage conversation with one of the world's great playwrights, Edward Albee. It's free but you need to reserve tickets. The catch is this events begins at 5. I will be there. (I believe a free reception follows.) Check out the whole Festival here; about half the events are free. I recommend Sunday's free talk with the very funny playwright Christopher Durang and Saturday afternoon's theater piece (it's part of their Glass Menagerie Project).
- On Monday, the Synagogue at 6th and I is hosting an Irish/Israeli music group called Evergreen. Also free (but requires reservations) and it sounds exciting. See you there!

Hair Does Let the Sun Shine; Social Network Excellent, Tamara Drewe Pretty Good

2010-11-05T03:13:00.000-07:00

Recommendations:
From the opening note of Aquarius, "Hair" (above, when everyone is invited on stage for a celebration) at the Kennedy Center is a joy. The actors try to make the Kennedy Center Opera House into an intimate theater and for the most part succeed. Runs through the aisles by actors add to the fun, but the biggest delight is the music. "Manchester, England," "Good Morning Starshine," "Easy to Be Hard," "Hair," and the classic "Let the Sun Shine" (the way that song leads into its chorus is amazing!) keep you humming in your seats. It was a hit in New York and it's a hit here. Go if you can.

I was recently on a biking trip to Provence, France, where one couple was on their honeymoon. He works for Facebook so guess who was at his weddding? Yep, Mark Zuckerberg, the star character of the very entertaining "The Social Network." Aaron Sorkin has written very witty dialogue to support a nerd-hits-it-rich story. I will have to ask my travel friend if Sorkin went a little overboard with the villainous portrait, but it certainly suited his story. It's one of those movies where you never even think of looking at your watch.

The film "Tamara Drewe" is quirky and, at times, a little manipulating, but it creates an atmosphere that's fun to watch. It's about a woman returning to her small English village a little more grown up and with some improved looks. It's based a bit on Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, and I particularly like Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper. Stephen Frears is a wonderful director, though this is probably not his best. Still, I'd recommend for a rental.

Menzel and Hamlisch Defy Gravity

2010-10-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

I've regaled the talents and accessibility of Marvin Hamlisch on these pages before. So when I saw that he was leading the NSO with guest artist Idina Menzel I jumped on it. And he would be speaking to us after. It lived up to its billing on Thursday night. Menzel gives you two shows - one as an incredible singer of ballads from Rent, Wicked (the show-stopping "Defying Gravity"), Annie and ones that she wrote herself ("Gorgeous" is gorgeous); and one as a standup comedian (what a funny and lovely person!). If you ever get a chance to see her, please take it. Hamlisch has to be the nicest big talent around. So he saunters out on the stage after the show to talk to about 100 of us. "Can you play The Way We Were?" came quickly. "Can you sing happy birthday to my friend?" "Can you make up a song like you usually do?" His answers: "Ok, at the end." After he answered about 20 questions, not one of them involving The Sting music he wrote or soundtrack from Informant (movie is worth it just for that), he went to the piano. And there came a beautiful Way We Were, followed by a song he just invented called "Oh Boy" (suggested by Idina Menzel's young son who was offstage), and then, sure enough he asked if the woman had her recorder on and then led everyone in "Happy Birthday" to Veronica. Oh, he also apologized for being late on stage afterward. Joe Torre came backstage and Hamlisch is a huge Yankees fan.

Off the Marks

2010-10-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

So Peter Marks blasted Signature's Fox on the Fairway. I'm not surprised. But I don't think I agree. Just who is he writing for? He writes a rave review for Studio Theater's Songs of the Dragon, a play that's hardly even watchable - and you can't escape from because it's 90 minutes and no intermission. Half the plays he reviews are on Broadway. I have a place to stay in New York and I hardly get to see that much there! Does the average person in DC? And when I do go, I usually end up at something off-Broadway where the fare is more interesting. So now he takes Ken Ludwig, Holly Twyford and everyone else to task for Ludwig's golf farce. It's not a great play, it may not even be a very good one. But it's enjoyable and deserved better.

Odd Couple Shines at Theater J

2010-10-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

Just back from opening night of The Odd Couple at Theater J. They've made the very wise decision of drafting Rick Foucheux as a company member this year, and it immediately paid dividends with Something You Did and even moreso with The Odd Couple. This is one funny play, and Foucheux gets the ornery/lovable Oscar Madison pretty much right. (My Mom recalls seeing the original Odd Couple on Broadway with Art Carney and Walter Matthau, and says she never laughed so hard as in the opening poker scene.) The scene here lives up to expectations as the six actors in this production do a terrific job - just watching Delaney Williams shuffle the deck is fun. Is it still a great play? It's a very good play. The TV show has become so entrenched in at least my mind, that it is hard to tell where one stops and the other starts. Tony Randall (TV's Felix) was an incredible actor - as nauseating as Felix was, you still felt for him. It's harder to say that here, escpecially with J. Fred Shiffman. I'm not sure he makes the part his own. But is that the script? I'm not sure. So I don't know if we care as much as we should later on. An early scene showing the other four poker players coming back in to check on Felix tells me that a little more warmth might be in the script. But this is a small criticism. Nothing wrong with a thoroughly entertaining show these days from a terrific company. Kudos to director Jerry Whiddon. Go see it - there are plenty of half-price deals out there.

Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson Are 'Fair Game' at AFI

2010-10-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

After the Washington premier showing of Fair Game ended at AFI Tuesday night - after the audience was obviously elated by this real-life Mata Hari-plus tale - Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson glided down the aisle to assume center stage (with Bourne director Doug Liman and NPR's Neil Conan). Joe started by saying, "I'm not an asshole, maybe just a tough mean son of a bitch." Valerie, glamorous in a shouldery yellow blouse, said to the audience, "I loved how you laughed - you get the inside jokes here!" And so it went for the next half hour or so. Liman said that because Plame Wilson could not divulge everything about her CIA past, he had to piece together some of the big picture. "It was actually the opposite of what this sort of film usually does," said Liman. "Where you have the big parts of the story but have to kind of make up what was said in the smaller moments. Here, they gave me those moments but I couldn't have the facts."
Liman said he was fortunate in the casting of Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. The screenwriter, Jez Butterworth, knew Watts and brought her the script - "days after she gave birth. Just read 10 pages," Liman pleaded. Her was right. Watts knew Penn from two movies they did together and Liman asked her to approach him with the same 10-pages deal. That was enough for him as well.
Plame Wilson explained that prior to her husband sending the famous op-ed to the Times that put everything in motion - writing that Niger did not sell uranium to Iraq - he tried his darnedest to get people to listen to him. The op-ed was not a rash decision, she said. We need to stand up and hold our governement accountable." She welcomed an accusation by a questioner that she was no longer covert well prior to being outed by the White House. "{I was a covert spy when this was perpetrated."
Liman urged people to tell their friends to see this film. "Word of mouth means the world to us."
Plame WIlson said she was able to speak to students from her alma mater, Penn State, the previous night. "I encouraged them to do public service, get a Eurail pass and just go."
Joe WIlson said what he did was not partisan. "Brent Scowcroft has been a good friend of mine for many years and he said that I would have done the same thing to a Democratic president."
It was a special evening to see two larger than life people. Go see Fair Game.

In Person Tuesday Night, the Wilsons and Director Doug Liman!

2010-10-16T04:37:00.000-07:00

Let's talk movies. Very quietly, AFI in Silver Spring has added quite a roster of celebrities to its showing of the new film Fair Game Tuesday night. That's the story of glamorous real-life CIA agent Valerie Plame-Wilson and her husband Joseph Wilson, directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Go, Swingers). They will all be there Tuesday.

The Avalon Theater is showing Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today for one more week. This film has incredible footage from the first famous Nuremberg Trial after World War II. We see all the Nazi criminals and the prosecutors putting their case against them. There are atrocities from the war, be warned.

Landmark E Street Cinema is still showing Heartbreaker; it's an entertaining movie about a guy who is sent in to break up relationships. Hard to describe, but it's carried out in a fun way and has great shots of Monte Carlo.

Ludwig Lends His Signature Form to Signature Theater

2010-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was fortunate enough to sit behind Tony Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig (Crazy for You, Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo) at a dress rehearsal for his new farce, "A Fox on the Fairway" at the Signature Theatre. The play stars the always wonderful Holly Twyford, following up her incredible turn at Signature last year in The Little Dog Laughed. First of all, I have to say that I miss the huge chessboard and pieces outside Signature. That seemed to be a great crowd gatherer and would still be even without Chess playing on stage. (I'm still humming music from that.) Anway, Ludwig has to be one of the nicest "major talents" that I have ever met. I was just helping out there and he introduced himself to me so kindly. He still lives in Washington, despite his many travels to New York and London. It's not fair to review the play at this point in the process. But Ludwig proves again that he is a master of farce, throwing everything in there--numerous doors, mistaken identity, crazy timing, physical pratfalls, unknown relatives, neatly tied together ending--to create an entertaining evening. He told some audience members that he was playing golf with his friend Harry Teeter when the friend suggested that golf could be a pretty funny subject for the play. There was a great "in joke" towards the end when a character started naming members of their golf club. Teeter was one of them, Eric Shaffer, head of Signature another. We're fortunate that Ludwig and Twyford contribute like this to the Washington stage scene. This may not be his best play, but it's original, new, fun and wonderfully acted.

It's a Nice Day for This White Wedding

2010-10-12T03:53:00.000-07:00

Movie recommendations: Saw a premier of White Wedding last night with the South African meetup group, thanks to Peter Herman. The director was supposed to be there but couldn't make it. The South African ambassador took her place. The film is a funny and extremely well-done road movie of two friends trying to get to a wedding, which happens to be for one of them. It really plays with our stereotypes in a fun way. At times it reaches the far points of farce but never exceeds it. It stays within the boundaries of believability. It opens Friday and I hope everyhone supports it.

Very sad about the death of Carla Cohen, co-founder of Politics and Prose. She was a person who really made a difference in our quality of life. There is a lot to be said for that.

Did you see that Campbell Scott was in the audience for a recent performance of Circle Mirror Transformation at Studio Theater? His wife Kathleen McElfresh is one of the five stars of the excellent play. Rent Roger Dodger if you've never seen it to see Scott at his best.

Free Tickets for Arena Stage Opening Up for Grabs on Friday

2010-10-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

Went to Arena Stage's usher orientation/tour last night - wow, it's quite a place! They will have a big grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 23, with music and tours. Tickets are free but must be obtained this Friday, Oct. 8. Go here NOW and register your account so that Friday you can get tickets quickly. They told us last night that E Faye Butler will play Aunt Eller in Oklahoma as just one part of the multi-racial casting. (We were told that additional research done by Arena revealed a pocket of ethnicity in Oklahoma at the time.) Butler is one of the most electrifying singers in the area and has appeared in numerous productions.

The Vibrator Play Once Again Shows Ruhl Is Among Our Best

2010-10-01T04:01:00.000-07:00

It only has this weekend to go, but In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play would be worth the visit. Woolly Mammoth has $15 tickets that they sell two hours before curtain. Sarah Ruhl is one of the country's most important playwrights right now. I don't know if this is a great play, but some of her mechanisms and what she is trying to get at makes her pretty unique these days. Some of the play borders on farce with two doors in constant action - and the climaxes taking place in one room, while the other stays pretty sedate. The wall is an invisible one that disappears in the last act, similar a little bit to Stoppard's final scene in Arcadia, when the wall of time disappears so the characters can connect. We do care about Ruhl's characters. And the play is incredibly entertaining - witness the pleasure of the audience I was a part of. (Woolly is getting an amazingly young crowd these days - all the kudos go to them. Other theaters are very jealous.) Maybe the play just takes its time too much to get there, to the important conversations - and how many orgasms can we listen to. Interesting that after the Post criticized the Mexican ballet yesterday for frontal nudity on the women and not men - saying it's old hat -Ruhl goes the other way in the last scene. That's why she is so important right now. She is breaking rules and going her own way. We have a lot to look forward to from this playwright - and Woolly; their production looks and feels right on, with a terrific performance from newcomer Kate deBuys. Aaron Posner is THE man in town now, directing-wise, having moved here this year. We are fortunate for that too.

'Third World' Shows Off Chilean Film-making

2010-09-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just by luck, I hit it really good tonight at the AFI Latin American Film Festival in Silver Spring. I went over to use a member's pass to get a ticket to Norberto's Deadline, a Uruguayan movie that I'll be leading a meetup to on October 9. (It looks really funny!) And the Chilean film Third World was playing just when I got there. What a beautiful film! It tells three stories - in Chile, Bolivia and Costa Rica - but doesn't worry about weaving them all together. (What a new concept!) What does hold the stories together is a belief in the extra-terrestrials, UFOs and the idea of other life. An eclipse is coming to South America and there just might be something a little magical in the air. And why not. Wonderful acting, and an original script and sensitive directing by Cesar Caro Cruz make for a really top-notch film. Unfortunately, it will not be shown again in this festival, but I will look for it and let you know when it comes around again.

Studio Finds Its Muse; Longview Hosts a Documentary

2010-09-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

Studio Theater had a bit of an off year last season. But with David Muse now at the helm - as both the new artistic director and the director of the thought-provoking and entertaining Circle Mirror Transformation - they are off no more. Who thought five everyday people in an acting class could provide so many "moments"? But Annie Baker's well-written play, fresh from a New York Theater Row production last year, gives some five actors a chance to shine and shine they do. My friend thought McKenzie Meehan as the teen Lauren stole the show with her deadpanned reactions to four complicated adults (though part of the point is aren't we all to some extent). I liked Jeff Talbott as unlikely lothario Schultz and Kathleen McElfresh as an emotionally up and down Theresa. But judging from the applause, I think others liked the ubiquitous Jennifer Mendenhall and portly Harry A. Winter as a seen-better-days couple. The play runs 1 hour, 45 minutes without intermission, and although I enjoyed the characters it feels just about right. Short scenes keep the acting-turned-psychotherapy classes that we see at a nice rhythm, and when a scene takes a little longer, we know to pay attention - all the way to the very clever ending.
Studio runs a lot of deals for tickets - Goldstar, TicketPlace, DC Film Society - so please keep your eyes out and try to catch this. It looks like Studio is back!

Today's Tip: There's a free documentary tomorrow (Tuesday) night at Longview Gallery called Predictions of Fire - something about the Slovenian Art Movement (won many accolades). Check out http://www.longviewgallery.com/. If it's Longview, it's going to be a fun evening.

Poetry and English Patient Coming to Georgetown U; Arena Stage on Campus Monday

2010-09-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Cinthia and I happened on a very cool lecture series poster tonight at Georgetown University. They will be hosting famous writers with a seminar at 5:30 and a reading and reception at 8pm and they're free! Here are the first three:
9/29 - Fanny Howe, award-winning Irish-American poet/novelist.
10/5 - Tomaz Salamun, Slovenia's greatest living poet
10/26 - Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient and other great novels

We ended up in The Car Barn to see a play that was performed at this summer's Fringe Festival: Drunk With Hope in Chicago starring Tara Handron. It was a powerful performance in an intimate setting. Congrats to Handron for putting in the time and energy to make a captivating night for her audience.

We also went by the Gonda Theater on campus where this Monday Arena Stage will be teaming with Georgetown to present a reading of Two Men of Florence by Richard Goodwin (followed by a reception). The evening is free. There is a lot of cultural exploring to be done on our local college campuses. Remember to catch Jonathan Franzen tomorrow evening at Lisner.

Lebanon a Little Too Real; Buster Keaton on the Big Screen

2010-09-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

I think I just went to one too many "realistic" films. The Israeli film Lebanon won the biggest award at the Venice Film Festival last year. Saw it at that great place for movies - the second floor of the Avalon Theater. (It's not a great theater but they show all these interesting movies.) I should have believed what the critics were saying: that you'll feel what war is like. I did feel it, but it's just not my thing. The gore reminded me of District 9. Sorry, I should have gone to the French film The Hideaway that was playing in the big Avalon Theater.

I have taken over the reins of the Washington Arthouse Film Meetup from my friend Cinthia. We have scheduled a fantastic meetup for Wednesday, October 20. We'll be going to see The Cameraman starring Buster Keaton in the glorious courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery. I can't recall them having an event like this for the general public. Check out the site and I hope you can join us.

Last Train Home Visually Stunning; Franzen Appears on Friday

2010-09-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last Train Home first played in the Washington area during SilverDocs. I missed it there but caught it tonight at its one-cinema (possibly one-week) run at E Street. Made in China by a Canadian company, the documentary tells the story of a family separated by the parents having to leave their beautiful rural home to find work. They are part of the huge migrating class of Chinese, most of whom are allowed to go home just once all year, during the Chinese New Year. The conflict comes with the two kids and the pressure they face to do well in school and escape the hard lives of their parents. The cinematography in this film is spectacular; what a gorgeous and complicated country this is! Last Train Home is not exactly a feel-good movie; but it shows that things are not predictable anymore even in rural China. (A clever scene earlier in the film shows the parents bringing their daughter a cell phone. The world is a much smaller place these days.) Given the scenery, if you can catch this film in the theater, I recommend you do so. Otherwise, put it on your Netflix queue.

Today's Tip: Star author Jonathan Franzen will be giving a reading at Lisner Auditorium this Friday at 7 pm and it is free. Politics and Prose, of course, is the sponsor. Franzen's new book, Freedom, has been the talk of the literary world of late. For anyone who read his amazing first book, The Corrections, this is a big event.

Free Concerts at LOC and Latin American Film Festival

2010-09-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Library of Congress concert schedule is out. There are a number of free concerts, and tickets are now available. Go to http://www.ticketmaster.com/ and put Library of Congress in the search window. Concerts include the Arcanto Quartet, Talich Quartet, Helsinki Baroque and Thomas Hampson and Craig Rutenberg.

The AFI's Latin American Film Festival starts tomorrow with a film from Mexico called Revolucion. It features 10 short films from 10 prominent directors including Mariana Chenillo - whose Nora's Will starts at the Avalon on Friday - Rodrigo Garcia and Gael Garcia Bernal. Check out the full schedule! I saw the Peruvian film The Milk of Sorrow that was nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign film last year. It was very pretty and dreamy but just didn't feel that compelling.

Shelby Lyman Eat Your Bishop Out: Chess Is a Hit

2010-09-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today starts new daily posts for ronndezvous! Hope you stay with us. It will include a new wine column and the usual culture recommendations and receptions.
Let's start with a recommendation. If the definition of a good musical is that you walk out humming its tunes, then Chess at Signature Theater wins going away. I came in singing One Night in Bangkok (do you know the lyrics actually do talk about chess?) and left singing everything else - especially Nobody's Side which Jill Paice delivers in show-stopping fashion. Paice, who was in 39 Steps and Curtains (with David Hyde Pierce) on Broadway combines with Broadway vets Euan Morton and Jeremy Kushnier to make a good musical exceptional. I guess those Abba guys can really write music. Funny, I saw Paice afterward in Harris Teeter and she looked so...ordinary. Onstage, she's anything but. Outside the theater is a giant chessboard and all the pieces set up. I hope they keep it up after the production. I saw two people playing and about 15 people quickly gathered to watch. It's a great idea - I guess you just have to pray nobody steals any pieces. I'll look for some deals for Chess and report back.

TODAY's TIP: This Thursday at 7:30 pm at Little Miss Whiskey's Golden Dollar on H Street, NE, they will be showing the Best of DC Shorts. The screening is free and well worth the time!

Something You Did Is Something You Should See

2010-09-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

I would probably pay to watch Rick Foucheux read my camera operating manual - the one that I have not fully read for the last two years. (Hmmm, not bad idea for an audio.) Anyway, whether in Death of a Salesman at Arena, Dead Man's Cellphone at Woolly or the one-night Odd Couple that Theater J did last year and will happily reprise this year, Foucheux always brings surprises to his roles. In the current Something You Did at Theater J, he plays the heavy, which is to say it's a tough role because there's not too much gray in Willy Holtzman's script, based on characters and events from radical underground groups of the 1960s. But Foucheux mixes it up in wonderful scenes with Norman Aronovic as the loveable old lawyer and past love Deborah Hazlett as a woman jailed for 35 years for a bombing that killed a policeman. We know where he's coming from and going but what a pleasure to watch him get there. Same with the rest of the cast. While not a very good show, this IS very good theater. Ninety tight minutes of five excellent actors in a cozy, comfortable theater. Theater J is an excellent company that has had just a few hiccups over the last few years and some great highlights. To be within 20 feet of some riveting scenes makes this a highlight despite the black-and-white characters (and I'm not talking about racial makeup, although it's always a bonus to see multiracial casts. Lolita-Marie does a great job as the prison guard.) Go see Something You Did. They are running a bunch of deals to get people in the door, so check their website.

Noises Off Makes All the Right Moves and Sounds

2010-08-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

Michael Frayn's Noises Off is one of theater's best modern farces. It's got all the prerequisite doors, mistaken identity, misunderstandings and - as I mentioned in the film Get Me to the Greek - a need by the characters to accomplish what they set out to do. In this case, it's to put on a play called Nothing On. (We know this because Frayn gives us a hilarious send-up of a program for Nothing On on the back of the real program.)
Keegan Theater does a smashing job with the show in its current production at the intimate Church Street Theater in Dupont Circle - extended to Aug. 29 and half-price tickets available from Goldstar. In the first act we see a rehearsal of Nothing On and start to get a sense of the relationships of the cast and the challenges they face in their roles. In the amazing second act, we see the behind-the-scenes happenings as the show is going on. It takes incredible timing to pull off this act, as objects are tossed, characters intersect and the dialogue goes on both in front and in back of the stage.
Kudos to this theater for this very welcomed summer dollop of fun! Try to see it.

Catch a Couple Films Before They Leave

2010-08-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

Good news - Please Give has been brought back by the Avalon. I believe this is a better film than the more heralded The Kids Are All Right. The dialogue just rings truer. Daily showtines are 1:15 and 6:15. I've seen some of the best films upstairs at the Avalon including Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 and the recent Let It Rain. Reminds me of the old Janus in Dupont but without that huge column in the middle.

I remember reading that the key to farce - on stage or in a film - is that the characters really need whatever it is they're after. Thus Noises Off, which is currently at the Church Street Theater in Dupont, works because a play has to be put on and the characters and director need it to work (or need to carry out their own desires). In the same way, Get Me to the Greek, still playing at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse, works incredibly well because of the desperate nature of the two lead characters. Jonah Hill has to grow up, succeed in getting his musical hero, Alduous Snow (the incredible Russell Brand), to the Greek Theatre for his comeback concert, and make his relationship work - because he has a girlfriend that he should appreciate. Thus whatever happens on the way from London to Los Angeles is believable. It has been said that the greatest achievement of this Judd Apatow team of people - Nichloas Stoller and Jason Segel co-wrote this one - is that they have made romantic leads out of Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen. Hard to argue with that. Oh, Sean Combs almost steals this film. Hopefully, we'll see him in more films.

On stage, Woolly Mammoth Theater will be premiering Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play - fresh from Broadway - with PWYC performances Aug. 23 and 24. This got great reviews in New York but it's just so hard for a straight play to make it on Broadway.

Entertaining 'Kids Are All Right' Could Have Been More

2010-07-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

Adam, the high school social studies teacher sitting next to me last night at a screening of the funny but a bit cautious film The Kids Are All Right (3.5 RED DOTS), starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo film - made a great point. He said a line by the high school student at the end of the film was dead on. The problem is that I'm not sure the rest of the film was.
It's certainly enjoyable. Bening reminds us how teriffic an actress she is, especially during a dinner scene where she gets to sing a Joni Mitchell song. Moore is just delectable - funny and pretty without trying. And Ruffalo has loads of fun with the role as a too-good-to-be-true motorcycling stud surro-Dad and sensitive eco-restaurant owner.
What happened here, however, is that the writers set up an unconventional situation - a lesbian couple, each with a teenage child by the same sperm donor - and then went all conventional and predictable on us. So we get the usual extra-marital affair, an interracial relationship that's all about sex, a little drugs, some prettified lebian sex and one amazing college dorm room. It's all very entertaining but it doesn't take us anywhere. I'd much rather have a conventional situation and then be taken somewhere I wasn't expecting.
Funny, at the end of Letters to Juliet, I got a bit sentimental. Here nothing. But it was still a very fun ride.

Content With 'Winter,' A 'Letters' to Open and a Tattoo That's Worth Wearing; Plus a Credible New Jerusalem

2010-07-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about movies. Winter's Bone (4 1/2 RED DOTS) begins by showing the everyday, ordinary lives of a family in the back backwoods of Arkansas. Right away, we can tell who must take care of everything - the two young kids, a withdrawn and silent mother, a house. Jennifer Lawrence carries the movie with a combination of strength, beauty, vulnerability, likeability and determination that very few young actresses could pull off. You get sucked into this world where relatives play like the mafia and look like they want to kill you one second and help you the next. It's very powerful, watchable and satisfying.
I'd also like to recommend a couple movies that have been around for a while: Letters to Juliet (3 1/2 RED DOTS) and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (4 RED DOTS). Letters to Juliet is a feel-good movie and there is a definitely a place for that in my world. The scenery of cities like Verona and Siena and the rolling hills of Tuscany make you want to head straight for a winery. It probably could have been a little better with a main character with a little more pizazz than Amanda Seyfried (Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Kruger), but she's not bad. Christopher Egan shows a slight flash of a young Roger Moore, so let's see if he develops. But I came out of there with a smile on my face.
I really enjoyed Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - despite a couple tough scenes to watch. The methodical style reminded me of the original Insomnia. I am very much looking forward to the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, which I think opens this Friday. The crime-fighting duo in Tatto have genuine chemistry, from the first time she opens the door to their interesting sex scene - where she comes in unexpectedly and leaves as soon as it's over, with him wanting to cuddle - to the the final climax (as in conclusion).

The New Jerusalem is getting a lot of good reviews over at Theater J in the DC Jewish Community Center. They are a very polished company and pretty consistent. But for me, this is David Ives (the playwright behind the inventive and entertaining The Liar and the hilarious All in the Timing) Heavy. You can see that he was strongly attracted to this story of the philosopher Spinoza and does wonders to dramatize it to the extent he does. The staging is clever, Michael Tolyado delivers another wonderful performance and Alexander Strain is likeable as always. I would recommend it because Theater J deserves it. But let's hope someone brings back All in the Timing so we can see Ives in all his glory.

Theater J PWYC, A Capitol Night, Longview and Oldtown

2010-06-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Let me mark my return with some previews:
This Monday and Tuesday there will be Pay What You Can performances for New Jerusalem by David Ives at Theater J at the DCJCC, 16th and Q. (I'll be going Tuesday.) Ives is one of America's leading playwrights at this time. His recent adaptation of The Liar at Shapespeare Theater was a linguistic marvel. Mark Twain's Is He Dead did well on Broadway and All in the Timing has some sketches that are now classics. (A first date where a bell rings each time a person says something they wish they could have back.)

Saturday, July 3, there's the rehearsal show for A Capitol Fourth. Performers include Reba McEntire, Lang Lang (!), Gladys Knight, Darius Rucker, David Archuleta and Jimmy Smits. A group called 5 to 5 will be going if you want to tag along. They're a very nice group.

On Thursday, July 8, at 6:30pm, head to the Longview Gallery for one of their excellent openings, "Informed Design." We ran into one of the artists at an opening at Embassy of Argentina on Thursday. (They've just reopened after a makeover - wow, the place is beautiful!) Wanda Wainsten has a thoughtful, cubist style of tango dancers and more abstract pieces. She said that she had to pick just two pieces (from the many at the Embassy) to show at Longview. The last Longview opening featured catered food and an outdoor space to talk.

Saturday, July 10, is one of my favorite events of the year - Alexandria's birthday celebration. It takes place in the evening at the big park on the river, just north of King Street. The Alexandria Symphony plays - and they are always very impressive! - and the fireworks show always seems spectacular as it's right in front of you on the river. Parking is easy and shuttles run from the King Street Metro. (And there's free birthday cake if you don't mind fighting off the kids like I always do.) :-) Wine also flows.

July 12, I will be leading a group to Screen on the Green for the real Bond - as in Goldfinger. More details to come soon.

Get 'Sophisticated' as Soon as Possible

2010-05-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

Sophisticated Ladies has been extended through June 27 which is great news for the Washington theater community. It's really a Broaday-quality production with the added benefit of taking place in a theater, the Lincoln, that has a history with the subject of the play, Duke Ellington. Normally, a play like this in Washington might be lacking the necessary star power. But with Maurice Hines at the helm - and the young and amazingly gifted Manzari brothers tapping up a storm in the seond act - this show has that "power." The songs - like It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, Satin Doll and Don't Get Around Much Anymore (which I'm still humming) - give evidence to the grandness of the Duke. Go through Goldstar or Ticketplace for reduced price tickets.

Movie-wise, things have been pretty slow of late. Please Give is a very good movie, a nice comeback of sorts for Nicole Holofcener after the so-so Friends With Money. The bluntness in dialogue in her scenes for the older actresses are right on and very funny. And it's always good to see Rebecca Hall in something. (One good movie for your video rental list should be Starter for Ten.) Academy Award winner The Secret in Their Eyes is still playing around. The Argentine film deserved its best foreign film award. City Island has gotten a lot of good word of mouth and continues to flourish. It's a well-done movie about families that most everyone can relate to.

Shuffle Off to 'Buffalo'? Maybe After You've Seen "Pretty'

2010-05-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

I found my old Playbill from around 1982 for American Buffalo at the Circle in The Square Downtown in New York. It starred Al Pacino as Teach. Almost 30 years later the Studio Theater has revived the tale of three small-time hoods as Joy Zinoman's departing directorial effort ad Studio chief. Playwright David Mamet has gone on to fame with plays such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow, and films like Spanish Prisoner and State and Main (rent if you haven't seen). The play remains effective - the Waiting-for-Godot, Abbott-and-Costello rhythmic dialogue entertains in the first act - but the production doesn't really soar until the second. And even then it's tense but not stirring. I'm not sure if it's the production or the play; I would guess that the play needs star power and Pacino brought it. Edward Gero makes a very effective Donny, but Peter Allas's Teach is hard to warm up to. It's a tough role - as the heavy but a sort-of likeable one. Having seen Glengarry Glen Ross a few years ago on Broadway with Liev Shreiber and Alan Alda, I would say that play sizzles a bit more. But the Mamet-ian dialogue, rapid, circular and beautifully paced, can be a treat to listen to.
If you haven't caught Reasons to Be Pretty at Studio, I would head there first. Fortunately it has been extended at least another couple weeks. An assistant at Studio told us that someone tried to figure out which play had more curse words. It was pretty close. 'Pretty's' first scene might win by itself. Its second act is still the best thing in Washington right now.

Some Very Buono Italian Films and the EuroAsiaShorts Is Back!

2010-05-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing Italian movies lately - maybe looking to a summer trip this year - and fortunately, one is still around. Mid-August Lunch has a beautiful setup: Gianni has to take care of his Mom in an apartment where rent is due and other debts loom. So when a couple of his friends/collectors need a place to store their Moms and aunt, Gianni can't refuse. Then it's a wonderful 75-minute ride as Gianni cooks, the ladies cajole, talk, stew and laugh, and a terrific ending just happens quickly. You'll smile and come out hungry for macaroni casserole. It's now playing at the Avalon - try to catch it!

Speaking of short films and Italy, the information is up for EAS2010, the EuroAsiaShorts Festival. Last year, this proved to be an amazing week of films, embassies and receptions. Like last year, the closing night is at the Italian Embassy with a reception. My only problem is that it is the same night as an AMAZING concert at the Kennedy Center with Raul Midon and Henry Butler. Everything is free, the shorts and the concert. What a cool city!

Caught Amarcord, a Fellini classic at AFI. Probably not my favorite of his, but you can see so many techniques that other directors borrowed from. The Fellini Festival winds down with Ginger and Fred, Intervista and Casanova this week. Intervista sounds very interesting with interviews with Fellini himself, and two his greatest stars.

Nanni Moretti has been one of my favorite actors, writers and directors since Caro Diario back in 1993, when he rode around Rome on a mini-bike running into all kinds of interesting people including Jennifer Beals, who was still big from Flashdance. In the film Aprile, he drove his pregnant wife crazy trying to come up with a name for their baby. Then amazingly, he switched to drama and won all kinds of awards for The Son's Room, about coping with the loss of a son.
The film Quiet Chaos has a little of both comedy and drama. His wife dies in an accident at the beach and he is left to care for his 10-year-old daughter. Moretti's character cannot let go of his daughter and after dropping her at school tells her he will wait for her there all day - taking off from his job in an advertising firm. In an American movie with this setup, the police would come to take him away or the daughter would run away. But here, it takes on a little of the personality of another wonderful film, Cedric Klapisch's When the Cat's Away - in that he discovers a new world while waiting outside her school: a pretty woman with a dog, the cafe staff nearby, other parents. And knowing that he is accessible every day, colleagues come to talk with him about work and personal life and family vists like his slightly off sister-in-law - Valerie Golino from Rain Man! Finally, before we can say that it's getting a little too weird, his daughter saves the day. See if you can rent this film and others by Moretti (depending what you're in the mood for).

Folger's Hamlet Shows That To Be Great, Less Is Sometimes More

2010-05-01T04:36:00.000-07:00

I never quite noticed just how amazing the language of Hamlet is before seeing the new Folger production. The reason is that director Joseph Haj has gone with an all-white stage, modern but not futuristic in any way. Just as in graphic design where the white background makes the "type" pop, this white background lets us focus on language. We are here to listen to this Hamlet. Characters take their time and it still clocks in at under three hours - probably due to some artful cutting. The speeches are beautifully delivered, foremost by Graham Michael Hamilton as a Hamlet who is pretty sure of himself and the mayhem he wants to create.

What's interesting to me is that Beckett, Pinter, Stoppard - with whom the Folger had its biggest triumph last year with Arcadia - and Mamet - his classic American Buffalo will be on stage any minute at Studio - are the playwrights known for language. Where meaning sometimes takes a backseat to sound and rhythm. But here, at times, we also just listen for the rhythm, the poetry and the sheer sounds without thinking about meaning. Although what this language-first version also acccomplishes is better comprehension. We can decipher the words a bit better when they're not rushed. It's like when I once saw Ian McKellen break down Shakespeare in his brilliant one-man show: "Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow," he began with the start of Macbeth's great speech. "Is everyone with me so far?"

Probably the only shortfall of this type of production, where we are mesmerized by the actors and the words, is that the tension might be reduced a bit. When we do get to the last scene and the inevitable bloodshed, it feels a bit like an anticlimax - like how can anything top the amazing speeches that we've been treated to all night. But that's all right. The swordplay is carried out very dashingly, the characters die in pretty quick order and we look forward to Fortinbras coming on stage and sending us home reasonably happy. I think this is the perfect approach for a theater like the Folger and their amazing space. The audience is so close to the action, that it's a rare time when you can really concentrate. The Folger has had a brilliant year, with a diverse and spirited Much Ado About Nothing, a playful and inventive Orestes, and now a smartly "plain" Hamlet with a terrific cast. (Lindsey Wochley will be heard from soon again in this area after her stirring Ophelia, and Stephen Patrick Martin lets Polonius deliver a solemn "To thine ownself be true" speech before letting everyone catch on to his bluster.) Get thee to the Folger.

A British Author, Swedish Jazz Group and an Argentinian Film - What a Great Place to Live!

2010-04-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

Some recommendations:
1) I saw Ian McEwan read from his new novel, Solar, last week at a packed Folger. Haven't read it yet but the chapter he read - very convincingly! - sounded fascinating. The last question of the Q&A was, Can you tell us how you came up with the structure of Atonementand especially the ending? Wow. This reminded me of years back when someone asked John Irving a similar question about one of his novels. He answered he saw an Indian man crossing the street in Toronto and wondered how he got there. So he created this incredible back story. McEwan said that he envisioned a young woman - he didn't know the time or place - who jumped into a fountain to retrieve something. Then she had a little sister (Briony) who was putting on a play. And then the time and place came into his mind. He then addressed the ending, where the reader is told that the last part of the book - the apparent happy ending - was made up by Briony who is now a very famous old novelist (played by Vanessa Redgrave). McEwan said there is no doubt or duplicity in this ending. This was the only way that Briony could make up for what she did, for the lives that she ruined. There was no happy ending. Signing books later, McEwan was very personable and friendly with customers - nice to see.

2) Two music groups to check out - one is Saffron Caravan, an eclectic mix of Jewish and Middle Eastern musicians. See their recent performance at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
The second is a Swedish folk/jazz group called Jaerv. You can go onto their Website and hear some of their music - both instrumental and vocals. Definitely has an Irish feel to it. Put June 17 on your calendar - that will be the evening for the House of Sweden rooftop jazz festival this year. More deatils to come.
Also put June 12 on your schedule with 10 stars. The Kennedy Center will be celebrating the 13th anniversary of their Millennium Stage AND the always-amazing 2010 International VSA Festival Closing Ceremony. I would travel miles to see either Henry Butler or Raul Midon play and sing. They will BOTH be playing this evening and it's free! We'll put together a big Meetup so stay tuned.

3) The foreign film Oscar winner has just been released - The Secret of Their Eyes - and I can highly recommend it. Part thriller, part romance and very well told, it was the most impressive of last year's five nominated films - although A Prophet is also quite a film.

Recommendations on Stage, Film and in an Art Gallery

2010-04-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

If you're in the 7th Street area, head to 625 E Street for the art show, I Dream Awake. It is the first in a new series of shows called "pop-ups," developed by Amy Morton, a former art seller in Alexandria. The show takes up the floor in the old Numark Gallery, one of the best gallery spaces in the city. Michael O'Sullivan had a very nice write-up in Friday's Post.

Reasons to Be Pretty at The Studio Theatre. The film Greenberg has received some buzz, but when you compare it to a new Neil Labute play, there is no comparison. The question in both, as art forms, is can you be mean-spirited and still have an audience warm to you. Of course, the answer is yes, but we have to be made to care at some point. In this play - which gets intense performances from all four actors (Ryan Artzberger, Margot White, Thom Miller and Teresa Stephenson) - Labute starts off with a TIRADE. Steph is leaving boyfriend Greg after she has been told by a friend that he described her looks as something ordinary. No time for comfort here. Then we meet that friend, Carly. She and her husband Kent work with Ryan and have problems of their own. Like Greenberg, we don't like these characters at first. But Labute knows this and wants us to care. He just wants to take us out of our comfort zone befrore bringing us back to a situation we are familiar with. It's brilliant really. The second act has two amazing scenes: when Greg and Steph see each other at a restaurant a few months later, and when Carly confronts Greg about her husband's funny ways. We do like these people now because we see ourselves in them - or at least in their situations. The tenor is lower but the stakes are higher. In Greenberg, there is never a reason to care. The best thing in the film is Greta Gerwig, who plays the 25-year-old love interest. It seems inconceivable that she would stay around this 40-year-old inconsiderate person - a Ben Stiller who's not even funny. Try to see Reasons to Be Pretty - you won't be disappointed.

A Prophet is still playing around at the Landmark theaters. It creates a world in prison and then stays true to that world. Again, as stated above, we start to CARE about the lead character and what happens to him, and thus we care about the film. It's long but I think worth it.
They took in Yellow Handkerchief already, but put it on your list of rentals. It's a feel-good film with a great performance by William Hurt, and good work by Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne (whom I read was in DC with Alfred Molina to go to the Phillips; they're starring a play about Rothko on Broadway). And having Maria Bello in a film never hurts - although even that didn't save The Cooler.

Four Broadway Stars Talk - and Laugh About - Theater; Catch the Video!

2010-03-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

It's nice when I can recommend something incredible that happened and lead you to a video. Four great Broadway actors - Zoe Caldwell, Audra McDonald, Richard Thomas and John Glover - spoke about their craft Monday night at the Kennedy Center. The program took place to shine light on the Terence McNally "opera" plays that the Ken Cen is putting on the next month: Lisbon Traviata, Master Class (with Tyne Daly) and Golden Age. Caldwell and McDonald won Tonys for Master Class on Broadway a few years ago. McNally, who was in the audience, said that he wrote the play for Caldwell. At 76, the English actress remains elegant, beautifully spoken and FUNNY. She recalled having to meet McNally in Big Fork, Montana, to go over the play. "I stayed at a dreadful motel," she said matter-of-factly. "Indoor/outdoor carpeting for the fishermen who stayed there." Peter Marks, The Washington Post theater critic, moderated the discussion, discovering that McNally often calls actors himself to offer them the roles. Can you turn them down? "He doesn't really give you that option," McDonald said. Thomas, who told the embarassed Marks that it was okay to mention his John-Boy past, said he appreciated the full theater experience that McNally writes, compared to say, the 90-minute David Mamet play, Race, that he currently co-stars in on Broadway.Thomas, McDonald (Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's Private Practice) and Glover (Lex Luther's father on Smallville) all defended their TV lives a bit - with a wink - with Thomas saying, "Our lives are not subsidized." (He looks wonderful, by the way, still with silky brown hair.) Though there was a shared laugh when Marks asked Glover with a straight face: "Did you feel that Smallville was well-written?"
McDonald, who I have seen in numerous productions like Carousel, Ragtime and 110 in the Shade - and signs one of my favorite all-time songs - Stars and the Moon - said that Caldwell taught her so much and was (with another wink) "the best leading man I ever had." Her daughter is named Zoe and the name, she happily displayed, is tattooed on her shoulder. At the end, McNally stood up and turned the compliments back to the stage: "They were all just words till you four said them." One other funny moment had Glover talking about Lisbon Traviata and then saying to Marks, "You're going to review it, aren't you?" Everyone laughed and Marks didn't know what to say except yes. Later, in the lobby, he acknowledged that he tries his best to stay unbiased.
These programs are among the best - and economical ($15) - that the Kennedy Center does. On Thursday April 22, the spotlight goes to gospel with the great Mavis Staples and Dr. Billy Taylor as two of the guests. On Monday, May 3, Frank Loesser will be the subject and shows like Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business will provide the music.

Speaking of Dr. Taylor, I saw the jazz legend up close on Saturday night at the Kennedy Center at a Jazz Club show of pianist Shelly Berg. He was sublime and varied - finishing with a Fats Waller tune - and I will let you know when he is around again. These are also amazing forums - $25 (and no minimums) to sit a few feet away from some musical geniuses. Only one more remains this year - this Saturday March 27, as Toshiko Akiyoshi, one of the great female jazz pianists ever, plays.

Clybourne Park Is Definitely a Neighborhood You Want to Spend a Couple Hours in

2010-03-18T04:04:00.000-07:00

As we take our seats at Woolly Mammoth for the revelatory and elegant Clybourne Park, we see people sitting everywhere - in the balcony, on the sides, behind the stage (my friend thought there was a mirror) and most importantly in the upstairs room of the house on stage. One young man sits there thinking, moving a bit. We'll soon learn he's an important part of the play, not given any lines, but the "cause" in a cause-and-effect play that examines not just race relations but the way people talk to each other.

Simply put, if you like theater, go see Clybourne Park. It's not long and Woolly has all kinds of deals, so you have no excuse. In a brilliant conceit, it takes the Chicago neighborhood where the Youngers of A Raisin in the Sun were hoping to get to and, in 1959, shows how the white neighbors react to a black family moving in. That family is not present but might as well be because the white family's maid and her husband are. Even one of the characters, Karl Lindner, who fights the move in Raisin, shows up here. Then in the second act, we move to 2009 when a white family wants to move into what is now a mostly black neighborhood. The black family now represents the neighborhood, and with a couple real estate people present, the situation quickly deteriorates into racial jokes and defensive mechanisms. Writing in The New Yorker about a concurrent Off-Broadway production, the wonderful writer John Lahr calls the second act "a dance of civility" turned into "a fracas of fulmination."

It would be interesting to see the New York production to look for the differences. It's an unusual - and very fortunate for us - situation that we get to see a new play the same time as New Yorkers do. I was able to go to one of Woolly's PWYC performances, whereas tickets for a well-received Off-Broadway play start at $50-plus. I'd like to try to get a hold of Bruce Norris and see how this happened; it appears that Woolly has a relationship with him, having produced his Unmentionables a couple years ago. Acting-wise, for me, Mitchell Hebert as Russ and Dawn Ursula as Francine stand out, but there doesn't seem to be a wrong note. In a season when Studio has been bad, Arena so-so and Woolly its uneven self, this play shines. Go see it.

Bethesda Artists and the Incomparable Environmental Film Festival

2010-03-13T03:28:00.000-08:00

We had close to 40 people for our Single Volunteers Bethesda Art Walk last night. The highlights: the pottery of John Snyder at Waverly Street Gallery. He was nice enough to explain his whole process to us. His kiln is large enough to accommodate close to 200 items at a time! Who knew? He explained how one glaze can account for several different looks depending on location and time. The pots were large and multi-colored, and really stood out in the good Waverly space.
A second highlight were the photographs from Friends of the National Zoo members at Washington School of Photography. And a third highlight and the biggest surprise was a new gallery: Gallery 360, full of photographs of Italian hill towns, C&O Canal, rusted cars (beautiful!) and back-lighted scenic vistas. Good luck to this worthy new gallery on the scene.
Next week: The Georgetown Gallery Gaze!

It's all about the Environmental Film Festival for the next two weeks - starting Tuesday. This, in my opinion, is the city's best festival. Most events are free and many are at embassies - and it is hard to miss on a good film. We went to the Festival Launch Party Wednesday night and heard Nora Pouillon talk. Like everything else they do, it was first class - a guacamole station from Rosa Mexicano! Here are my early recommendations for the Festival:
Tuesday 3/16 - Canadian Embassy film is probably filled, so head to the Gala Hispanic Theatre for Utopia, a United States premier from Spain
Wednesday 3/17 - I always like the offerings from the Swiss Embassy in this festival. At 6:30, check out Un Petit Coin de Paradis, about the eco-transformation of a Swiss ghost town. rsvp was.events@eda.admin.ch.
Thursday 3/18 - Let's stay with the free stuff: artist John Gerrard will deliver an illustrated lecture at the Hirshhorn Museum at 7 pm.
Friday 3/19 - The Inter American Development Bank hosts To the Sea, about a father's attempt to connect his son to his Mexico before his wife takes him back to Italy.

More to come!

We're Back With the Good, The Bad and The Pretty

2010-03-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

First, the good. The National Archives continues to show the Oscar-nominated documentaries tonight through Sunday. The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers plays Thursday (there's a Meetup group going if you want to join), Friday is The Cove which I reviewed here a few months ago:
"It is a powerful documentary about the slaughtering of dolphins in an incredibly beautiful area of Japan (talk about a juxtaposition). The star of the film is Ric O'Barry, the guy from the old television series Flipper. Apparently, have dolphins to save and O'Barry will be there, even at whatever age he must be now (70+?). The movie unfolds like an undercover spy operation as a team of do-gooders must infiltrate this well-guarded cove to get the footage they need to expose the bad guys. I was engaged but not enthralled; it just didn't have the payoff that say the Enron movie did a couple years ago. But at some point (hopefully between meals), you should see it."
Saturday comes Burma VJ and Sunday Which Way Home, two docs I know less about.

Kudos to Theater J for putting on a hilarious reading of The Odd Couple last week with Floyd King and Rick Foucheux (and others including Arena's Delaney Williams). What would we give to have a full-out version of the still-funny play with those two wonderful actors? I'll ask Theater J head Ari Roth next time I see him.

NEXT, THE BAD. There seems to be a growing trend for what you think would be community-building events to lower the lights and raise the techno-music. One big example was the ill-fated Pecha Kucha at the Austrian Embassy a couple weeks ago. They took $20 from you, showed self-serving presentations of Haiti, and then lowered the lights and raised the volume so that you could not see or talk to anyone! It's my understanding that part of Pecha Kucha's mission is to highlight emerging artists, designers and architects (who give short presentations) and then encourage the crowd to talk with and about them after. When I raised the issue with the beautiful sister organizers Rouzita and Bita Vahhabaghai, one of them laughed at me. I guess I'm not pretty enough.
This week I attended a premiere for the new South Korean movie Mother at the new W Hotel, site of the old Hotel Washington. I am glad to report that the rooftop remains one of Washington's nicest spots, especially once the weather warms up. Also, the young staff at the hotel was incredibly nice, courteous and respectful (including very sweet elevator operators). The problem was that the event organizers lowered the lights so that you couldn't see anyone. We left for the film - and settled in for a dark, depressing film by an obviously talented director. But coming after seeing Oscar Best Foreign Language Film nominees Ajami, Milk of Sorrow and White Ribbon, myself and my friends Cinthia and Abe walked out in a daze, hardly saying a word. We agreed that we definitely need to see an uplifting film.

I love the Studio Theater and the people who work there but their season this year has been abysmal. We saw That Face on Sunday and just didn't buy the premise. The acting was fine enough, but the plot of a Mom and a son in the same bed, a torturer daughter and her friend, a torturing vixen, didn't resonate. I'm not sure what made this a hit in London, but it's a long way off from last year's tremedous Blackbird at Studio. Let's hope the last two plays - Mamet's classic American Buffalo and Neil LaBute's latest, Reasons to Be Pretty - help salvage this atypical season for Studio.

Webre's 'The Great Gatsby' Is as Good as This Life Gets!

2010-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

--F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Washington has a treasure in Septime Webre, artistic director of The Washington Ballet, and it's time we unbury and salute him. He has constructed a new ballet/show/spectacle - The Great Gatsby - that has such "colossal vitality," originality, talent and "creative passion" on display, that you can't look away. Brilliantly, Webre has recruited a top-notch live jazz band and the incomparable talents of Will Gartshore, E. Faye Butler - her "I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" brings down the Eisenhower Theater house - and the Savion-like tap dancer Ryan Johnson. What makes the evening so wonderful is that Webre puts all this talent within one of the greatest frameworks of the English language. The story works with scenes colorfully and lavishly played out, from Gatsby's Charlestonish parties to teas and lunches in Manhattan to the frightful scenes on the highway and at Gatsby's pool. The music also succeeds wonderfully, as a conglomeration of new tunes by Billy Novick and old ones from Scott Joplin, Irving Berlin and Duke Ellington among others. When in recent memory has such creativity and originality been on display like this in Washington?
Tickets are still available - it runs through Sunday - but they're very expensive unfortunately. If you can afford it, however, it will be worth it. I'm no expert on the dancing, but I am pretty good on pace, creativity, theatricality and a good story. And Gatsby has it all. One wishes it could stay with us longer. I need to go read the book again!
What other ending could rival this one:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further...And one fine morning - So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
Amen.

Environmental Film Festival and All's Welles That Ends Well for this film and Sala Thai Gig

2010-02-19T06:06:00.000-08:00

The Environmental Film Festival is out with their schedule. This is what I believe to be the best film festival in Washington. Most showings are excellent and free; some take place at beautiful embassies, and some have receptions. They've added a Festival Launch Party this year; it's $20 but I think worth it. One catch is that you need to rsvp for some of the showings, especially ones at embassies and with receptions. Take special note of Dutch Embassy on March 18, Swiss on March 17, French on March 21 and Dumbarton Oaks on March 25. Those are wonderful venues!

Quick Takes:
Check out my friend Stephanie's new blog called The Good Taste Review. She's funny so I bet the blog will be too....My friend Brian, an amazing blues guitar player, will be playing his final 4th Saturday Sala Thai Bethesda gig on February 27 after a 5-year run! Should be an exciting evening!....Me and Orson Welles is still hanging in at the Avalon Theater. I enjoyed this film as much as any last year. Please try to get to it if you haven't seen it. It's an old-fashioned feel-good, intelligent film.

2 Degrees of Separation Between Bourdain and Me

2010-02-12T05:26:00.000-08:00

Watched a very cool episode of No Reservations this week, featuring host Anthony Bourdain driving around the Hudson River Valley with one Michael Ruhlman, food author (Ratio), Iron Chef judge and yes, that's him above on the left during my recent trip to food blogging camp in Ixtapa, Mexico! (We went on a field trip to taste the local mole sauce and tamale.) Check out Bourdain's guest blog on Ruhlman's Website.That led me to Ruhlman's own blog post about taking part in the episode - very, very interesting insights about Bourdain. Ruhlman wrote a book about the Culinary Institute of America, located in that area. Most interesting in the show was Bourdain and Ruhlman's trip to the unbelievable Mohonk Mountain House, built in the late 1800s, and Bourdain's dinner with Bill Murray, who lives in the area. Catch this episode next on Travel Channel on Feb. 15 at 4 pm.

Free Terra Cotta Tickets and Having Hart, Holly and Posner Makes Orestes Soar

2010-02-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that National Geographic is still giving out 200 free tickets every Wednesday to the Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit. The tickets are for 6 pm entrance. We got there around 5 pm - it looked like the last people got in line around 5:30. My friend Cinthia and I posed with oen of the faux warriors at the end of the show. But there are plenty of real ones inside; the exhibit is worth seeing, though not really running out for. It is staggering to realize that the warriors were not excavated until 1974! Some even later.

Definitely worth running out for is Orestes at the Folger Theater. The Folger has been putting on some of the best theater in town for years now. Aaron Posner, who directs Orestes, has been responsible for much of it including the Helen Hayes-winning Measure for Measure in 2007 and last year's Arcadia (which may well win the award this year.). As in Arcadia, he has the amazing and versatile Holly Twyford, starring. This is Greek Tragedy Lite, playful in the way Woody Allen was with Mighty Aphrodite. Playwright Anne Washburn invented her own language for the very funny Internationalist, which played at Studio a couple years ago (also with Holly!). Here she has written a 100-minute, sort-of faithful story that highlights a splendid five-woman chorus and Holly at her best in an opening prologue. Speaking with cast members afterward, I found that it was no coincidence that Rebecca Hart sounded so great in the chorus. Based in New York, she also has a band called Rebecca Hart and the Sexy Children that has played some cool places including Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre. I didn't get a chance to ask her if she'll do any outside singing during her stay in Washington. Let's hope so.

Red and Brown Water Tantalizes But Stick Fly Delivers

2010-02-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

I went to two quality plays this week with wonderful African American casts. But the feel and reaction to both plays was different. At Studio Theatre, Tarell Alvin McCraney's In the Red and Brown Water continues the lyrical and gritty qualities that he started a couple years ago with the better The Brothers Size, as he follows a young woman through her maturation and growth. (In the Red and Brown Water actually comes before Brothers Size; one of the characters is starting his career in this play.) The language remains fluid and haunting, and the actors sizzle with vibrancy, but the story floats out there more - it's harder to get a handle on it. The mostly white crowd was kind in its applause but certainly not overwhelming.

At Arena Stage, Stick Fly tells about a well-to-do family in Martha's Vineyard and the interesting women that the two sons have brought home to meet their parents. One of the women is the amazing Nikkole Salter who co-authored and starred in In the Continuum at Woolly Mammoth a few years ago. She is worth the price of admission. Lydia R. Diamond's play is not a great one, but the feelings seem right and story feels accessible - and how often can we say that any more about a play. August: Osage County felt that way as well, but more over the top and haunting. The esteemed director Kenny Leon - who the program says will direct Denzel Washington in Fences on Broadway later this year - brings humor and warmth to the proceedings. The audience was at least half African American, of all ages, which is great to see. When it ended, the audience rose to its feet to applaud, I think because good old-fashioned, intelligent theater is hard to come by these days - in any color.

It's too bad that Sticky Fly has to end Sunday; it hasn't gotten the word of mouth that it deserves.

American Century's Play as Solid as 'Rock'

2010-01-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

I met Leigh Anna Fry at a community theater forum at Clark Street Playhouse a couple months ago - I think she saw that I didn't know anyone there (and that doesn't happen often!). And she was incredibly nice. Then I got to enjoy her work on TV in a Patty Hearst docudrama and now in a new production by the American Century Theater called Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter. Unfortunately, the picture above isn't her but Kari Ginsburg, who stars in the play. I took a picture of Leigh Anna and Kari after the play and I guess their prettyness made me jumpy because the photo's not in focus.

Anyway, the play is a delight. It's old-fashioned. George Axelrod (who?) wrote this in 1955. He had also written The Seven Year Itch, which became a movie starring Marilyn Monroe, and he went on to adapt the three great plays into three great movies: Bus Stop, Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Manchurian Candidate. Rock Hunter made a star out of Jayne Mansfield, and Ginsburg does well in the role, with a healthy mixture of sexuality and ambition. Fry also does nicely with her secretary role, as does newcomer Donald Osborne as the ordinary guy and Steven Lebens as the devil in the guise of Irving LaSalle. It's very worth seeing! And I promise a good photo of Leigh Anna very soon.

An Ode to My Food Blogging Camp in Mexico (with Links to 24 Great Blogs!)

2010-01-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

Greetings Food Bloggers across the culinary plains,
I’ve come to say thanks for your secrets of the grains
To celebrate and graduate our wonderful class
And compliment you all on your exuberance and sass.
So let’s raise one last toast of tequila and grappa
For an ixceptional week in ixciting Ixtapa
And hope you all harvest your sites and sow your seeds
And don’t get too blogged down in RSS feeds.
I’m truly humbled in your blogospheric presence
Of raptured baklava and deeply-smoked pheasants.

So dice a mango and glaze a banana
For the storytelling wit of lovely Steve-Anna.
So much group talent can be a little unnerving
Better give me A Plate Full of whatever Claire’s serving.
I’m off to join Foodspiration for some eatin’ and explorin’
With the ever-so-adorable Justin and Lauren.
We’ll examine every basil leaf and edible palm frond,
Then go for a guac dip in the refreshing Sonndapond.
Yikes! The Smithsonian has run out of museum wax!
So much for snapping my fiberglass-built snacks.
Take ice cream, toothpicks, shoe polish and stay calm
And you get a new definition of an ‘Adam Bombe’;
And you know Matt Bites will make it look amazing,
Flashing pictures after the construction and glazing.
As for me, just clam sauce please and a bowl of spaghetti
And let me sit next to Stephanie Stiavetti.
(A guy can dream, can’t he, of his culinary heaven.)
I promise, Ms. Wasabimon, no glutens, yeast or leaven.
Alas, reality beckons, in its finest spanakopitan chorus
Telling me to head to my favorite Dianasaurus.
Did anyone ever see her the slightest bit dour?
Or not wearing a spectac sundress and matching flower.
Actually, with whom among us wouldn’t I love to cook?
I’d gleefully stream with any of our Brook(e)s
Be it the Food Woolf and her dicey posts,
Or Self Preservation and her orange toasts.
THAT would be the coolest of cool, man,
Except if I could go hang out with the Ruhlmans,
Wonderful words and pictures all night and all day,
We’ll snap, Ratio and rock all the way.
Then I’ll rest and sit down with Spoon and Chair,
But only if Diane is kind enough to share.
Hey, I’ll Write for Food if Owen and Dianne are by my side,
Anyone recommended by Bourdain travels in my ride.
Speaking of travel, it’s off to Japan for a quick gaze
To read Nancy’s “anime”ted musings on Indigo Days.
And, of course, we’ll stop in Norway for an Oslo meal,
So fly me to Lekkermunn and the adventurous Cecilie.
Then I’ll parlez vous my way to the City of Light
To visit our Parisian Panissian, the bonbon of good bytes.
From the first day, David couldn’t be nicer (a dream!)
So I’m Living the Sweet Life now, caramels and ice cream.
There’s nothing vanilla about Vanilla Garlic’s sound track,
Garrett makes the Capital seem anything but a Sad Sac,
And Stephanie is so humble about her Copykat beginnings,
Not mentioning the thousands reading her spinnings.
A Beach Home Companion could not be any more enticing;
Sarah’s amazing photos are like the cake AND the icing.
And I’m already a Frantastic Food Franatic!
I mean, she does live TV with no delay or static!
Tonight I’m eating chimichangas, courtesy of Recipe Girl
Knowing Lori is behind it, I’ll give it a whirl.
Next. I’ll. Try. Casey. In. All. Her. Jersey. Glories.
Does. It. Get. Any. Better. Than. Good. Food. Stories?
Well, sitting with Richard, Gary and Jane, shooting the breeze,
Is pretty great company (and getting no check please)
Wait, running off in the distance, is that a silver balloon?
No sillies, it’s just pretty Perre and The Runaway Spoon!
I’d catch it but it’s taking off so fast,
Which reminds me to always save the best for last.

Elise simply reminded us of all we need to know,
Simply Recipes, darling, is my new favorite place to go.
And Todd and Diane, they frame, shoot and splice, (so supple!)
Just try tearing me away from White on Rice Couple.
Alas, I thank Jaden for making this amazing trip take flight;
What a bouillabaisse of campers, a parfait of delight.
She’s incredible, with her care, her hard work and her texts,
Steamy Kitchen may be the new Oprah by the time we meet next.
Wow, I guess I’m done! Hooray! It’s time for a beer!
I hope we can Ronndezvous again, same time, next year!

Food Films to Recommend

2010-01-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

In honor of my week at Food Bloggers Camp, rent these food movies if you're in the culinary mood (and let me know any of your suggestions):
Julie and Julia: It takes two separate stories--Julia Child's culinary march to fame in Paris--and then, 50 years later, Queens (the place not the band) government worker Julie Powell's attempt to bake, brown and bone her way through Child's cookbook. You can't have two more excellent, likeable actresses than Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. The film moves so humorously and intelligently from story to story that I was disappointed each time it went to the other.
Secret of the Grain
No Impact Man
Babbette's Feast
Like Water for Chocolate
Food Inc.
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
Mostly Martha

Thumbs 'Ups,' French Connections & 'Ties' That Bind: The Top Films of 2009

2010-01-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

Here are my top films of 2009. I would love to see some of yours. These are films that moved me in some way, shape or form (in no particular order). I have also added some runners-up and one special film that I almost forgot.

Up, Up in the Air, Me and Orson Welles, Still Walking, In the Loop, Julie and Julia, An Education, Secret of the Grain, The Damned United, The Hurt Locker, Crazy Heart, Summer Hours, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (most overlooked)

Up in the Air
I can't say it made me feel the best; losing a job and being out of a relationship are feelings that run deep for anyone. But Jason Reitman knows how to make good movies. Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga proved to be great foils for George Clooney; their scene in the airport talking about relationships was priceless.

Me and Orson Welles
I'm a huge Richard Linklater fan and I think that this is his best film yet. (Sorry Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke.) I love the show-within-a-show formula, with everything pointing to the Welles production of Julius Caesar in the end. Christian McKay is dead-on as Welles and Zac Efron (who knew?) can really act. Also has a great supporting cast led by Zoe Kazan, Ben Chaplin and James Tupper.

Up
The moment towards the end of the movie when the Ed Asner character looks into his book of memories and sees it from a different light is one of the best film moments of 2009. It's a wonderful movie for people of any age, giving hope to people of any age. (Speaking of which, I need to see it again!)

Still Walking
This Japanese film also dealt with moving on in the face of tragedy - and gives hope at the end. A family comes together years after the oldest son son died saving the life of a young boy in the ocean. The scenes with the now-young man returning for his annual visit to the family are hard to watch but beautiful at the same time. PS - There was another Japanese film this year called Nobody to Watch Over Me that I saw in Santa Barbara but has not been released. Rent it if possible!

In the Loop
This is the film I laughed hardest at this year. Wow, rapid-fire dialogue, great characters and funny situations create a non-stop The Office meets Fawlty Towers meets American Buffalo (given the seriousness of the situation and foul language).

Julie and Julia
This underrated gem made making a sweet, rhythmic and time-switching movie look easy, but it's not. I enjoyed the back-and-forthness of the story, always wanting more when they switched away. Needless to say, acting was great including Stanley Tucci as Mr. Child and the beautiful (and currently pregnant) Amy Adams.

An Education
When the four leads - Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper and Rosalind Pike - were out on a "date," all was right with the film world. How about the scene at that great jazz club? Throw in bits of Emma Thompson, Olivia Williams and Alfred Molina, and an excellent script and direction, and you have an extremely enjoyable movie to watch.

Secret of the Grain
This wonderful, overlooked - thanks in Washington to a silly Washington Post review - French film about a Tunisian community in a coastal town had perhaps the best dinner scene in films since Babette's Feast. The director likes to stay with scenes for a long time, sometimes leading to sheer joy, as in the dinner and belly-dancing scene, and sometimes to sheer agony, as in a scene of a wife complaining about her philandering husband. Either way, it's a brilliant film.

The Damned United
This film, featuring great performances from Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall, has all the makings of a terrific movie to watch: a troubled good guy and his faithful sidekick, a bad guy, an exciting story, and a couple personal epiphanies - and it accomplishes everything in a tidy time period. It's based on a true story; I liked the way they showed real photos of that time in the credits.

The Hurt Locker
From the beginning scene with the amazing Guy Pearce, you could not take your eyes off this film. I know the armrests had extra wear after I finished with them. It has an engaging life-and-death story to go along with valuable scenes that show the humanity of the characters.

Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges gives his best performance since The Fabulous Baker Boys as, ironically, another singer in this Virginia-born-and-bred film about surviving and going for it all in the great West. Beautiful scenery, strong performances from Maggie Gylenhaal and Colin Farrell, and a Robert Duvall sighting (sans politics) makes this an old-fashioned well-done movie.

Summer Hours
I don't remember everything from this gorgeous French film that brought back memories of My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle - those lovely French scenery films that made us all long for those childhoods. But I do recall the ruminative scenes at their summer house that transported me to some of my best times. Then, the family in-fighting, that we all can identify with, gave the film a serious reality that lifted it above those older movies.

One Special Film. I went to see author/doctor/rock-star equivalent Atul Gawunde last night at Politics & Prose and saw the dvd for a movie that I almost forgot. Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. I saw it last year at the Avalon's tiny upstairs screen and thought it was incredible. The director intersperses between this grainy late '60s game film and interviews with the same players today - with no narration! And it works incredibly well as both an exciting game and a wonderful comment on those times versus now. Three women sitting in front of me knew nothing about football and loved it as well. Some famous names from the film: Tommie Lee Jones (a player on Harvard), Meryl Streep (the girlfriend of a Yale player), Brian Dowling (Yale quarterback who is the BD in Doonesbury), and Calvin Hill (the Yale halfback who went on to star in the NFL).

My next 10:
Adventureland (almost made top 12 - very nicely done) , Sugar (should have got more exposure), Bad Lieutenant (fun to watch Cage!), 35 Shots of Rum (nice to see some different characters focused on), The Messenger (awesome performances), Beaches of Agnes (my favorite documentary), Goodbye Solo (rent all his films), The Informant (I love Marvin Hamlisch's score), Star Trek (please let JJ Abrams make the next James Bond movie - with Clive Owen) and 500 Days of Summer (good fun, rent Brick).

And yes, Avatar was very exciting to watch!

Let me know some of your favorites!

End of the Year Poem - DC Style (with apologies to The New Yorker)

2009-12-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

Peace de Resistance

Ho-ho, dear readers, allay your winter fret,
Gather here with me away from the Internet.
It’s the Santa of Sonnets, the Nick of Time,
Here to give young and old mariners a rime.
So join us on this DC seasonal skate,
(Hey look who’s coming – it’s Alex the Great!)
As we wrap up 2009 in one glittery roll,
With a greeting to some who stirred our soul.

A toast to the Holiday (isn’t Johnny great?),
And the long-awaited prospect of a 51st state.
To that late great paper, hark the Herald,
And our hunk prosecutor of yore, Patrick Fitzgerald.
Can you serve hot cider with your subpoenas?
For Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas,
Holly Twyford and Tom Shales,
Lisa Moscatiello and our own Wale.
Light the yule log for Bob Mondello,
And Avery Brooks (our favorite Othello),
Joy Zinoman, Michael Kahn,
And our biggest celeb, Tai Shan.
Let’s go caroling with Fennelly and Schwartz,
Diane Rehm and puzzle-guy Will Shortz,
We’ll bring along the tenors Carreras and Domingo,
And a Beatle, of course (we’ll settle for Ringo).
Load the reindeer and sleigh with presents to the top,
For Mayor Fenty (he'll run alongside) and Linda Cropp,
Jhumpa Lahiri, Billy Taylor,
Jessica Cutler, Bunny Wailer.
Send out some merry seasonal wishes,
To Debi Smith and Sarunas Jasikevicius,
Ryan Zimmerman and Vincent Gray,
Delores Williams and Doris Day.
Spike some eggnog for her channeler, Nellie McKay,
The Last Train Home and Buddy Guy,
Hey, it’s Nora Pouillon and Frederick Yonnet,
With Septime Webre and the Washington Ballet!
May live music land under your Christmas tree,
(Maybe if you strike a deal with Michelle Rhee.)
All hail Coach Joe Gibbs (but don’t embarrass),
Just give him a holiday CD by Emmylou Harris.
We’re good now Joe, Bruce Allen’s here,
Or better yet, check in again in another year.
Put on the lederhosen, ring the chimes
For Kojo Namdi and Geoffrey Himes,
Lady Gaga and Sen. Ben Cardin,
Roberto Donna and Marcia Gay Harden.
Darrell Green, Carolyn Hax,
Lark McCarthy, Emanuel Ax.
Police Chief Lanier, Stephen Breyer
Norman Parish and the National Cathedral Choir!
Raise a glass to the Alleys, Kirstie and Blues.
(Maybe they know what happened to La Sooz?)
Ylan Q. Mui, Sammy Sosa,
Philippa Hughes and Omarosa.
Sonia Sotomayor, Coach Joe Bugel,
Carl Bernstein (he’ll bring the kugel!).
Serve the punch for O’Malley the gov,
And get him a treat from our own CakeLove,
Cheers for Santana Moss, our favorite wideout,
Politics & Prose and Bonnie Rideout,
Edward P. Jones, Doc and Ed Walker,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and that new Ooma Talker.
Ermanno Tonizzo and Erin McKeown,
And our king of go-go, the Chuck Brown.
For Abe Pollin and George Michael we mourn,
For those about to be fired, we Zorn.
How 'bout we take him to Bens for a winning chili bowl,
Where we can all sing a verse of Joyeux Noel.
We’ll invite Kal Penn, Adam Dunn and Joey Cheek
And our friends the Salahis, Michaele and Tareq!
Forget about all this fuss and to-do,
And let me introduce you to Freddy Adu.
He had some problems but now it’s all in the past,
Just go to Mallorca (and you should move fast!).
It’s been a tough year, we look tired,
Traffic and the economy, we’re all so mired,
Can’t we all just get away and fly to Ibiza,
With Taraji P. Henson and Condoleeza!

Dear friends, our goose is nearly cooked,
The tables are set and fully booked.
Apologies to those we couldn’t rhyme,
(Like Vincent Orange), we’ll try next time.
From Maryland to Virginia and thru the District line,
Blessings to all for a safe 2009.
It’s time for the flag of peace to be neatly unfurled,
With a sincere and happy Joy to the World.

A Great Performance IS Worth a 5-Mile Walk; I Get Exposed in Georgetown

2009-12-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

I always wanted to be part of a special gathering, a once-in-a-lifetime thing that can't be recreated. I finally may have been on Saturday. The kind of event I'm thinking of is like when I was at Rutgers, friends would head down to Asbury Park in hopes of catching an unannounced Springsteen appearance. He never showed when I went. At Iota a few years ago, Glenn Tillbrook of Squeeze fame led the audience into the parking lot to sing Pulling Mussels From a Shell. A few months ago, I couldn't believe it to read that Tillbrook did it again, this time at a concert I went to at the State Theater. After it ended, he went next door - unannounced - to Clare and Don's to play a set. I had gone home.

But on Saturday, with a blizzard taking place outside, I was one of the 60 or 70 people in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater audience for the next-to-last performance of August: Osage County. It was a performance I'll never forget. They told us to move close to the stage - quite a deal for my $25 balcony seats. I was completely engrossed from the first minute on of this Pulitzer-prize and Tony-winning play that Peter Marks really did not take kindly to in The Washington Post. (He wrote that he can't figure out why audiences like it so much. Hello! Thank God for Bob Mondello in The City Paper!) The cast had to know that we fought the elements to get there and perhaps even that I would have to walk 5 miles to get home because they put on an amazing performance. The play has a little bit of everything: incest, pedophilia, suicide, divorce, choking and romance. But the cast is so talented and apparently they play it a little more for the humor now, which makes the moving parts that much more moving. When it ended, and we gave a standing ovation to the amazing and gut-wrenching 82-year-old star Estelle Parsons and the rest of the cast, they applauded right back. I'm convinced that sitting close for plays really adds to your enjoyment. I liked Streetcar Named Desire last month, but I was not moved like I was on Saturday. The Kennedy Center was probably wrong for going on with the shows Saturday afternoon. But I am so glad they did. I've now got my "Been There" moment.
Aside: Check out Emily Kinney's entertaining blog. She is a young Nebraska actress who was wonderful in Osage County and apparently has a small part in the new film It's Complicated.

My friend Cinthia and I decided to explore Georgetown last Friday as part of their Georgetown Gallery Gaze the third Friday of every month. We started at the beautiful Sea Catch Restaurant where they have a fireplace and a nice Happy Hour with half-price wines and drinks. I wanted to show her the incredible micro-sculptures at Parish Gallery; they're charging $5 now to get in, but it's worth it. You still have until Jan. 23 to see them. We walked next door to a new gallery owned by a Russian couple - she's a professor at the Corcoran. The current exhibit is comprised of nude drawings done by her students. When I wanted to see who drew a particular sketch, I bent down closely to look at the name. Apparently, Cinthia thought I was looking for a close-up of the penis that was directly in front of me. Now I will never hear the end of it. Lastly we went into the gallery that's known for their nudity - MOCA. I don't want to talk about it anymore. The next Georgetown Gallery Gaze takes place Jan. 15.

Holiday Fun Across the City

2009-12-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

QUICK HITS

I heartily recommend The Washington Ballet's Nutcracker at the Warner Theater - for all ages. It's a colorful and acrobatic romp through Washington's cherry blossoms and a snowy landscape. Only drawback is no live music, but budget cuts have a tendency of doing things like that.

The Georgetown Gallery Gaze takes place this Friday from 5-8pm. This should be a very nice evening, given the holiday festivities taking place all over. They're running a promotion that if you get 7 "signatures" fom galleries than you get 20% off of dinner at Mie N’ Yu restaurant.

Washington Printmakers Holiday Party takes place this Sunday, December 20th, from 3:00-5:00 pm. It's free. A Sampling of Items up for Raffle/Auction: $25 Gift Certificate to Utrecht Art Supplies and $25 Gift Certificate to Maddy's, a nice new restaurant a few doors down Connecticut Ave! Raffle tickets are just $5!

Neo-Futurists Return, Pirate Radio Steals Some Good Laughs

2009-12-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Neo-Futurists have returned to Woolly Mammoth with the second coming of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. They "perform" 30 "plays" in 60 minutes with titles ranging from A Neo-Gay-PSA to the very clever A Theater Major's Revenge. The best way to describe it is probably that the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Taken alone, the plays can be silly and inconsequential. But after a while, they start to build momentum and you get on a first-name basis with the performers. When's Chloe going to come out again? Where's Jay? It's fun - nothing more really. But with our busy lives intersecting with bad economic times, fun can be a good thing.

The film Pirate Radio (4 RED DOTS) has gotten overlooked a little. Any movie that has Bill Nighy and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Rhys Ifans making merriment, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson doing wonderful sendups, and Mad Men's January Jones as a love object can't be all that bad. Pirate Radio starts out over the top and never strays from there. Yet it keeps to the storyline, which is that back in 1960s England, radio stations weren't allowed to play the great rock music of the day. So a bunch of legendary deejays commandeer a ship and live and broadcast from the North Sea. It's by Richard Curtis who wrote one of my all-time favorite films, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Love Actually.

I saw a very good film at the Jewish Film Festival last night called Brothers, not to be confused with the Tobey Maguire-Jake Gylenhaal movie out now. It was about two Jewish brothers who got separated while growing up in Argentina and are reunited in Israel years later. It has beautiful footage of Jerusalem and the Israeli countryside. Catch it if you can at the Avalon Theater Thursday, Dec. 10 at 6pm.

'Up in the Air' Soars! Micro-Sculptures at Parish and Free Tickets to Terra Cotta Warriors

2009-12-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

Up in the Air (4.5 RED DOTS) is an incredibly well-done, thoughtful movie that tries pretty successfully to tie today's modern woes into a sort-of romantic comedy formula. It stars George Clooney as a corporate downsizer with no relationships in his life. He meets a woman (Vera Farmiga) who stirs his emotions, works with a young woman (Anna Kendrick) who jolts his precious ideals, and reconnects with his family and hometown. Director Ivan Reitman moves up into the rarefied air of our best directors. He takes detours in the typical rom-com world and most of them pay off. It's a very enjoyable film to watch, though if you're single and/or have lost a job in the last couple years, there will be a few twinges. The job-lost confessions from the "actors" - done in that Woody Allen interviewing style - are all too real for someone who has gone through that, and indeed, Reitman did tape real people who had lost their jobs. Just leaves a bit of a sour aftertaste - usually not my normal feeling after seeing what I consider a very good movie - but to steer into a cliche, I ceryainly feel the pain here. Kudos to Reitman for also allowing Kendrick to tell her boyfriend that Clooney is way old for her and mean it. It allows the film to stay in reality and deliver its punches.

So the Post finally wrote up the micro-sculptures of Willard Wigan at the wonderful Parish Gallery in Georgetown. In the above photo you can see the microscope on the left where the sculpture is contained. (The "painting" is a huge blowup of the art.) It's something you should see. I was there opening night and Mr. Parish said that he will have another reception for the works. I'm not sure yet if that will be the regular Third Friday (Dec. 18) that the galleries at 1054 31st Street usually claim. I will let you know and maybe we'll even put a meetup together. Wigan said that he works on his minute pieces - often displayed on needles - crafted from diamond chips "between his heartbeats." He was demonstrating to visitors how steady his hand can be compared to ours. He's showing sculptures of the Titanic, the Obamas, King Henry VIII, Hulk and Charlie Chaplin among others. I marveled at a "regular" one of a couple having dinner at a restaurant. The details - her earrings, the glass of wine - are spectacular.

I spoke with a friend yesterday who said that getting free tickets to the Terra Cotta exhibit at the National Geographic was not that difficult. Here's the deal: every Wednesday they give out about 200 free tickets for 6pm viewing. They tell you to come as early as 3pm, but he said he got there at 5pm. The rain probably helped, he said. The exhibit goes to March 31, 2010, so if you're patient, this free option might pay off.

Vox Gives a Leno Preview, All's 'Welles' for Richard Linklater, and Much Ado About a Bad Review

2009-11-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Watch Jay Leno on Wednesday night if you can. One of the guests will be Victoria Vox who I caught yesterday evening at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Even though the woman behind me must have gotten some nasty Tiny Tim flashbacks causing her to say, "The ukelele! This is going to be awful," Vox was very entertaining. She strums the uke beautifully and won over the audience as an excellent songwriter and singer. "But wait," she said, "I will not be on Leno for my uke playing. It's for my mouth trumpet." Indeed, Vox plays a mean mouth trumpet. The first time she did it I was looking for the instrument. She's now THE WOMAN in my musical world.

And Richard Linklater is THE MAN in my cinematic book. When Before Sunrise came out in 1995, I felt like someone was finally talking to me. (Okay, it wasn't Julie Delpy, but I did get to interview her last year.) How can you make a movie about two people talking in Vienna all night? With Ethan Hawke and Delpy at their tantalizing best, easy. Now that I've been to Vienna and LOVED it, I need to watch it again. The film ended with an agreement that they would meet up again in six months or so. NINE years later, Linklater filmed the sequel, Before Sunset, in Paris, and he and Delpy garnered an Oscar nomination for their screenplay. So who didn't show? Late Saturday I couldn't sleep and guess what was on? Wrong! The School of Rock, Linklater's rockin' good-time story of a substitute teacher's fantasy class.

Now we get Me and Orson Welles (FIVE RED DOTS) and it's sensational. I saw it at the famous Angelika Theater in New York's Lower East Side on Friday - where that evening Keanu Reaves was doing a Q&A for Rebecca Miller's new film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. British actor Christian Mckay plays a dead-on Orson Welles on the eve of his famous Julies Caesar in 1937 at the Mercury Theater. Zac Efron from High School Musical fame shows that not only can he act but he can ACT. He happens upon Welles in front of the theater, wins the part and then learns about life, on-stage and off. The film falls into a category I enjoy when done right: the show within a show, where it all leads to THE ACTUAL performance at the end. The Canadian TV show Slings and Arrows, that you should rent if you haven't seen it, played out each of its three seasons like that: five episodes of mayhem and culture, and then one last episode where they nailed the performance: Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. Noises Off showed the personalities in the first act, the backstage chaos in the second, and then what the audience actually saw in the third. Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock, also about Orson Welles, succeeded at this as well but this film is better.

James Tupper (Mr. Anne Heche) is also excellent as Joseph Cotten, Eddie Marsden as John Houseman and Zoe Kazan as Gretta, whose "romance" with Efron bookends the film. And Claire Danes gives her finest screen performance as the female lead. Kazan is the granddaughter of On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire director Elia Kazan. (Kazan also came under hostile criticism for naming names in the Blacklist Era.) Zoe Kazan also appears in Pippa Lee and played in an underrated film from last year, In the Valley of Elah with Tommy Lee Jones.

I saw Much Ado About Nothing at Folger last week and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it's over but I was distressed that it received a bad review from Post theater critic Peter Marks. The point is that you should make up your own mind on most stuff. I will help guide you into areas or topics that may appeal to you. Folger's conceit transported Much Ado to Jamaica and I'm not sure that worked. But it did give a chance for some incredible African American actors to show off their Shakespearean flair. That was worth my price of admission (even though I ushered and did not pay - you get the idea).

Gershwins and Hope Prevail at Library of Congress, Hamlisch and Cage Shine

2009-11-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

The Library Congress has a couple amazing exhibits to whet and overwhelm your cultural senses. Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin takes up a small room on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building at First and Independence, across from the Coolidge Auditorium. (By the way, the Coolidge offers free concerts all year but you have to go online for tickets and get them a couple months in advance.) A large piano centers the room, playing classics like "I Got Rhythm," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Fascinating Rhythm," and "Embraceable You." There are amazing letters including one from George to his mother about a month before he died of a brain tumor in 1937 at age 38. He complains of dizzyness but writes that the doctors don't think it's serious. A video presentation gives us performances from Porgy and Bess ("Summertime"), Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly ("An American in Paris") and others. I spent about an hour here and could have stayed longer. I walked 20 feet down the hall to a larger exhibit centering on Bob Hope. In this large collection, we get audio and video clips of Bob Hope and other greats of the time. I watched a can-you-top-this musical interlude of Hope and James Cagney. Judy Garland sang on another clip and the Nichloas Brothers danced on another. This exhibit can be enjoyed for hours. They told me that both of these exhibits are permanent for the time being. Don't forget to walk upstairs! It's an amazing building. There's a large temporary exhibit of Herblock cartoons as well.

Speaking of composers, I saw the Marvin Hamlisch tribute at the Kennedy Center and it lived up to expectations. This is one of the best formats of anything the KenCen does. Interviewed in a one-on-one setting, Hamlisch spoke of how he got his start playing with Broadway composer Jule Styne - recommended by childhood friend Liza Minnelli! That led to his playing for Barbra Streisand's regearsal band which led to his writing The Way We Were. (He explained that process as well.) He also wrote the music to two Woody Allen movies, Take the Money and Run and Bananas; the latter was watched a couple years ago by Steven Soderbergh in his down time filming Che. Soderbergh loved the music and aksed who wrote that because he was making The Informant next and wanted that same playful verve. Don't be surprised if that soundtrack gets nominated for an Oscar this year. Three Broadway performers took turns singing Hamlisch songs, Karen Ziemba (who starred in Contact), the amazing Liz Callaway and up-and-coming Kevin Early. They performed songs from A Chorus Line, They're Playing Our Song and other shows. Next in the series will be a tribute to Guys and Dolls composer and lyricist Frank Loesser in the spring. I'll let you know when tickets go on sale. Oh, and Hamlisch will be conducting the National Symphony Orchestra Pops as they perform the Music of the Music Man Friday and Saturday at the Kennedy Center. Featured vocalists are Mrs. Partridge herself Shirley Jones and Rebecca Luker who I saw as a terrific Marian the Librarian in a Broadway Music Man a few years ago.

I saw Perestroika, the final part of Angels in America, last night at that great Round House space in Silver Spring. It only runs another week so I won't go on much. But it was an incredible effort by the small Forum Theater, especiallyh Jim Jorgensen as Roy Cohn, Alexander Strain as Louis, Karl Miller as Prior Walter and Casie Platt as Harper. It was funny to hear Prior Walter tell his new-friend Hannah Pitt, the mother of his ex-lover's ex-lover: "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." Kushner grew up in Lake Charles, La., and you can hear the influence of Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire in this era-defining work. Let' see if Forum can keep this amazing momentum going next year.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (**** out of 5 red dots) takes Harvey Keitel's 1992 starring role and moves it to the Big Easy, helmed by the illustrious Werner Herzog. Herzog takes you on a fun ride, with a wired Nicholas Cage in the front seat in easily his best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. What I liked about the film is that goes up to the edge but not over and keeps its sense of humor. (Having beautiful Eva Mendes in the film doesn't hurt.) Herzog is a great director and give him a good script and you have the equation for an excellent film.

'Angels' and 'Streetcar' Put Great Words on Display; Binoche Stars in Disengagement

2009-11-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

I remembered that Angels in America was poignant and startling, but I didn't remember how funny it was and how it pays tribute to other artists. If you have not seen this yet, and really enjoy theater, you should try to go. It plays through the end of the month at Forum Theatre's new home in the Round House Theater in Silver Spring, next to AFI. I saw Part 1 - Millennium on Sunday and can't wait to see Part 2 - Perestroika next weekend. Louis has a speech at the beginning of Act 3 that is just amazing. It's a one-way conversation with his black friend about everything he is not and all his thoughts and phobias. Brilliant writing. The other scene that I was dazzled by spotlighted two conversations on stage going on across each other. At first, they alternate, so you can hear everything. Tom Stoppard did this to amazing effect in the last scene of Arcadia. But then Kushner amazingly takes it further, so the conversations are going on at the same time. You kind of have to pick one to listen to, but the greater point seems to be the sound of the language, It becomes melodic.

Seeing A Streetcar Named Desire the night before, I am in awe of these two playwrights: Tennessee Willliams and Tony Kushner. The play is the thing in this production of Streetcar. The sets are simple, no one is doing anything that is not in the text. And yet it is a mind-blowing experience. Cate Blanchett can be so strong-minded one moment and so delicate the next. She appears to be so confident in her demeanor and appearance that she doesn't have to overplay her hand. She can instead concentrate on forming one of the great characters in modern theater, from the first moment we see her dressed in her best to the last moments being taken away by doctors. "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers." Wow! It's such a shame more people can't see this.

The very successful monthly French Film Club at the Avalon Theater returns this Wednesday with Disengagement, a new film by the Israeli director Amos Gitai, starring Juliet Binoche. Variety wrote: "Amos Gitai's English-language "Disengagement," about the eviction of Israeli settlers from Gaza, looks to be the helmer's strongest entry since "Kippur." Featuring a virtuoso, disquietingly fey performance by Juliette Binoche and a compelling straight-arrow turn by Israeli heartthrob (and Gitai regular) Liron Levo, magisterial pic shifts foreground and background as it focuses on both mass displacement and its impact on a family." I've seen Gitai's films at the Jewish Film Festival and they're always interesting. Come join a group from Bike and Brunch at Wednesday's showing. We'll meet at 7pm in the coffehouse there.

'Untitled' Soars and Jewish Film Festival Explores

2009-11-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

I became a fan of Adam Goldberg a couple years ago when I interviewed Julie Delpy here in DC. She was in town promoting Two Days in Paris, the movie she wrote, directed, starred and cast her parents and cat in. She spoke highly of Goldberg as a person and performer. I had seen him before - in Deja Vu and The Hebrew Hammer - and he reminded me of Adam Arkin in Northern Exposure with a brooding but likeable presence. Arkin, by the way, does a great job as the lawyer in A Serious Man.
Goldberg finally gets his starring role in Untitled and I recommend it highly. It's still playing twice a day at Landmark E Street, which probably means it will be gone in another week. It's the perfect melding of film and art galleries, so it should probably become the new symbol of my blog. Goldberg plays a brooding musician and composer of serious "melodies" involving buckets, reids of a clarinet, chanting and other crazy sounds. A talented piano player, he refuses to compromise from his vision. The movie refuses to compromise as well; there's a nice, cliffhanging moment towards the end. In a breakout performance, intelligent and sexy Marley Shelton plays the gallery owner and love interest of Goldberg and his commercially successful artist brother. Vinnie Jones of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame plays the featured artist. Why do these good movies play for so short a time?

Coming Attractions
The 20th Jewish Film Festival schedule came out yesterday and it looks wonderful! The opening film, A Matter of Size, will take place at the French Embassy with a dessert reception to follow. Other films will take place at the Embassy of Switzerland, AFI Silver Theatre, Avalon Theatre, Embassy of Ethiopia, and the Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre in Tenley. Subjects range from a documentary about the worst company in the world to the Orthodox Jewish social scene to a short starring the great Derek Jacobi to a young Argentine heroine with Down Syndrome.
This festival does everything that the DC Film Festival in April does not. It encourages conversations and community and spreads out through the city. There are panel discussions, different types of receptions and very reasonable prices. Tickets will go on sale in about a week. Their track record on showing excellent movies is very good. Kudos to the festival's leader Susan Barocas.

Marvelous Marvin and Free Spy Museum Nights

2009-11-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

I cannot recommend strongly enough this Monday's one-time show at the Kennedy Center: Broadway Up Close and Personal: Marvin Hamlisch. This is a wonderful format - so far I've seen Jerry Herman (Mame, Hello Dolly, La Cage Aux Folles) and Sheldon Harnick (librettist for Fiddler on the Roof) in this setting. Hamlisch will be interviewed about his career (A Chorus Line, The Sting, They're Playing Our Song, the music in The Informant which really complements the fun mood of the film, etc.) and then the songs will be performed by a trio of Broadway singers: Liz Callaway, Kevin Early and Karen Ziemba (whom I saw in an incredible performance in Contact on Broadway - the Italian restaurant scene). Tickets are $18 but I've now seen it on Goldstar for $9. That is a steal. Oh, the other thing is that Hamlisch has always come off as the nicest, most interesting guy. I think I wrote in this space before about a reading he did at a bookstore at least 10 years ago for his autobiography. He ended up playing a short piano concert for the 20 of us who were there. It was like hearing The Sting in my living room! Fortunately, the KenCen's Terrac Theater is also very intimate.

QUICKTAKES: The Adding Machine has been extended at the Studio Theater for at least another week. Try to get there if you can. It's very interesting theater - try Caryl Churchill combined with some parts Sondheim and a little bit of Moe, Larry and Curly for good measure. The group Footlights has been sending out emails offering free tickets.
Take a nice walk over to the House of Sweden to see their new exhibit, What Lies Beneath. Many of the countries in Europe have contributed a photo to the exhibit, showing something on the ground or from the air or hidden somewhere.
Do you know about FREE Community Nights at the International Spy Museum. I haven't been yet but signed up for the Dec. 2 one. When is The Newseum going to do something about their $20 admission fee?

Terrific 'Music Lesson' One Night Only This Friday at National Geographic!

2009-11-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

A BIG heads up for this Friday, Nov. 6 and the film The Music Lesson at National Geogarphic. I saw this at the Santa Barbara Film Festival last February and it is a beautiful movie. Students from the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra are chosen to travel to Laikipia, Kenya, to meet students whose musical traditions have been passed down from tribal elders. The interaction between the students, the lessons they impart and their admiration for each other’s music form the basis of the film.
"It’s amazing how changed the kids were," director Ginny Galloway said at that time. "They really let their guards down–let go of their fears and got back to rhythm and the pulse of music."
She spoke of visiting the family of one of the young Kenyan musicians, and "even though it was a straw house with dirt floors, they took the same pride we do when someone visits. The only difference was they were moving the chickens and trying to dust the dirt floors."
Producer, Orlando Jones, who played the heroic bandleader Dr. Lee in Drumline, said the musical theme drew him to the project, as well as Galloway’s desire to form an exchange program such as this for a regular part of many school systems. Galloway says that many of the Boston kids still have Kenyan friends on Facebook, a true 2009 testament to friendship.
You can buy $5 tickets on Ticketplace! It's well worth it.

A fun birthday card for Tac

2009-11-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.scribd.com/doc/22026867

Playing WIth Time in Movies, Photography Show in Georgetown

2009-11-02T04:24:00.000-08:00

AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHY On Saturday night, I attended the opening reception of Select Contemporary Photography from the Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo Collection in the Walsh Building on the campus of Georgetown University. Coming on the heels of FotoWeekDC, this is a great appetizer with standouts Nikki S. Lee, Carrie Mae, Weems and Doug Hall. It goes to Dec. 11 if you can get over there.

Film Talk

That Damn United (4 out of 5 Red Dots)
An Education (4½ Red Dots)
American Casino (4 Red Dots)
Money-Driven Machine (3.5 Red Dots)
The Invention of Lying (3 Red Dots)

Can it really be almost 10 years since Memento? Or is someone playing with time? (Guy Pearce has made interesting choices since then – The Hurt Locker, The Proposition, The Factory Girl with Sienna Miller who just received okay reviews for After Miss Julie on Broadway. Though when you start with LA Confidential and Memento, tough to keep that up.) Twenty years before that, Nobel-prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter succeeded with Betrayal (Roy Scheider, Raul Julia, Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother) which started with the last scene chronologically and then went backwards in time ending with the scene where the three protagonists first met. And 20 years before that, Pinter, who died last year, also played with time in writing the screenplay for the film Accident—where we see the accident at the beginning and then go back in time from there—which kicked off the Joseph Losey retrospective at the National Gallery yesterday. Film critic Jay Carr gave a wonderful talk at the before the film. That place is a treasure! Highly recommended: two more Losey/Pinter collaborations – The Servant, Nov. 7 at 4pm; The Go-Between with the beautiful Julie Christie, Nov. 8 at 4:30pm.

I bring the “time” element up for a couple reasons. I saw the famous director Peter Bogdanovich a couple weeks ago (Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, Daisy Miller). He spoke following the film , Anatomy of a Murder, at Fordham Law School in Manhattan. He was a friend of the film's director Otto Preminger, so he told some stories including how much the star James Stewart liked to rehearse, but no one on this film would rehearse with him. It is a superb film, and interestingly, the judge, Joseph Welch, was a famous real-life attorney who represented the army in the McCarthy hearings. Bogdonavich doesn't like the playing with time, but the film he criticized, the very average Duplicity, was not a fair example. The latest to play with time is That Damned United, written by Peter Morgan and starring Michael Sheen (they also worked together on The Queen and Frost/Nixon), focusing on the '70s British soccer manager Brian Clough who took small teams to championships but failed miserably in a 44-day stint with the big team, Leeds United. Timothy Spall, the great character actor, plays his assistant in another standout performance. I heartily recommend this film; it has received little publicity but it is different from the usual sports movie.

An Education is an even better film. It’s written by Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy and who just made the Washington rounds plugging a new, well-received novel, Juliet Naked. I remember standing in line to hear him speak at Olssons Books at Metro Center around 15 years ago after High Fidelity. He has such a good ear for dialogue. The film should be nominated for an Oscar – though with 10 such films this year, is that still an honor? – because Carey Mulligan, Peter Saarsgard and Alfred Molina put out some exceptional performances. The Invention of Lying certainly has a good setup and a lot of hearty laughs early on - all the things that we're thinking but never say get said in this truth-serumed society. But then, as others have written, it loses steam. Probably a shame - if Gervais had not been as worried about the happy rom-com ending, he might have really had something special. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Edward Norton have funny cameos.

We joke sometimes that Washington has a cultural festival of some kind almost every week. Actually, I think it’s true. Last week it was the 2009 Impact Film Festival in the two auditoriums of the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center. (Have you seen this place? Wow, quite a venue! You enter from the East Capitol side.) Next week, of course, it’s FotoweekDC. After that, The Jewish Film Festival, in January the new German Film Festival. This week, I’m sure there’s something and I’m chagrined not to know about it. I saw a film called Money-Driven Medicine (http://www.moneydrivenmedicine.org/) about our health care situation, specifically the lack of coordination between doctors at hospitals, something partly attributed to the growing scarcity of general practitioners. (It’s very expensive to follow this path, apparently.) I spoke to director Andrew Fredericks afterwards at a cool restaurant called The Reserve. He was originally contacted by producer Alex Gibney who was also there (he directed the great Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and the Academy-Award winning Taxi to the Dark Side)— which was quite flattering to Fredericks. The film is based on a book of the same name by reporter Maggie Mahar. The Impact Festival also included The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (which I did not get to see but has been very well-reviewed) and The Messenger with Woody Harrelson who was in town last week promoting it. This is a great new festival for the DC cultural radar.

It’s unbelievable what we have here in DC. My friend saw Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) in person last Monday before a showing of his new film, Pirate Radio. Gibney the next night, Harrelson two nights later, the same night Ian McKellen gave a performance at Shakespeare Theater. (I still have a signed poster after a one-man show he did at Olney 20 years ago. I’ll never forget it.) Cate Blanchett just got a rave review for Streetcar today, so on and so on.

Simon Says Quality, Stars Shine in NY and Many New Events!

2009-10-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Caught a preview last week of Theater J's Lost in Yonkers at the DC Jewish Community Center. Theater J continued its strong run of the last few years with the Zero Mostel bioplay earlier this year. And Lost in Yonkers keeps a good thing going. You can do much worse than a solid Neil Simon play with wonderful actors (Tana Hinken, Holly Twyford and Max Talisman especially shine here. Hinken and Twyford played to acclaim last year at Studion Theater.) Jerry Whiddon directs with assuredness and solid timing. It is by no means a great play, as say The Odd Couple is. But it has a lot of funny lines and an endearing quality to it. Theater J has many good deals to see it, some with discussions afterward. Please check it out.

If you get to New York, definitely go see The God of Carnage. Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini (who was a couple years behind me at Rutgers), Hope Davis (of Next Stop Wonderland fame) and Marcia Gay Harden form an impeccable and riotous ensemble, but they're only on for a few more weeks. The theater sells standing room for just $25 2 hours before the show, and the show is just 80 minutes, so it's a great deal!

Monday, Oct. 26, Jewish Literary Festival, DCJCC, Louis D. Brandeis: A Life. 7:30. Free, a reception to follow.

Tuesday, Oct. 27 - Falls Church Arts and Creative Cauldron October mixer, 5:30 - 7 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Ave.
Thursday, Oct. 29, 4pm - William R. Smyser discusses his book Kennedy and the Berlin Wall: "A Hell of a Lot Better than a War" - Room LJ-119, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. Free.
Thursday and Friday, Oct. 29 and 30 – Pay What You Can for Forum Theater’s ANGELS in AMERICA Part II: PERESTROIKA at Round House Silver Spring, 8pm
Friday, Oct. 30 – Kennedy Center Jazz, Jon Irabagon – alto saxophonist, only $15. Wonderful setting of small tables, intimate atmosphere. Usually double the price
Saturday, Oct. 31 - Select Contemporary Photography from the Collection of Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo. 5:30 – 7pm, Walsh Building, Georgetown University
Saturday, Oct. 31 – Ofrenda – Art for the Dead, an all-day/night celebration at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. Art reception from 3-7pm, parade at 7, masked ball at night (no cover! cash bar)
Wednesday, Nov. 4 - Iconoclash! Political Imagery from the Berlin Wall to German Unification. Opening discussion and reception for this exhibition of political and cultural artifacts and their changed meaning. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. RSVP to rsvp@washington.goethe.org
Friday, Nov. 7 – The FotoWeek 2009 Launch Party promises to be great fun. $15 for appetizers, drinks, photography and friends.

Pecha Kucha and Other Great Events in Next Few Days

2009-10-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Events time!
Tonight, Oct. 21, PWYC at the DC Jewish Community Center, Lost In Yonkers. Meet Bike and Brunch group between 6 and 6:30 in Upstairs Lobby.
Thursday, Oct. 22 - Capitol Pecha Kucha Night, Vol. 10, Boffi Studio, 3320 M Street, NW
$10 at the door. doors open 5:30pm, presentations start at 6:30. If you haven't been to a Pecha Kucha, you're missing out! Short, hip presentations at a cool architectural place, followed by a reception and music.
Friday, Oct. 23 - Birthday Celebration at Vapianos, 18th and M
Saturday, Oct. 24 - DC Food For All Presents: The Great Harvest. 5-9pm, Big Bear Cafe, 1st and R Streets, NW. Delicious food, music, drinks, $15 donation asked for.
Saturday, Oct. 24 - Design Day at Cadys Alley. Lectures and Talks all day. 11:30am - 6pm. For anyone who recalls the elegant First Thursdays here a few years ago, there's a soft place in the heart for any events they hold. See you there.
Monday, Oct. 26 - Louis D Brandeis: A Life. Lecture and Reception at the DCJCC, part of the Jewish Literary Festival. Free with reception after.
Tuesday, Oct. 27 - PWYC for Woolly Mammoth new play, Full Circle. (Also on Monday, but I will go on Tuesday). Try to come early, by 6pm.

Amazing Dance, a Fun Informant and Cyclists to Get Lost in Yonkers

2009-10-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Attended the opening preview of Washington Ballet's Don Quixote at Kennedy Center Wednesday night and what a revelation! When company director Septime Webre told us before the show that he was VERY excited to have Viengsay Valdes of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba dancing the part of Kitri/Dulcinea, he wasn't kidding. She soared and twirled through the show alongside Jonathan Jordan's Basilio, to ovation after ovation. (Personally, I'm a Sancho Panza fan, but here he was just a supporting player.) How she spun on one leg so long and gorgeously I'll never know. I'm not a dance critic so I can't wait to see the review in tomorrow's Washington Post. But this was an exciting event to be at. It continues through the weekend with two performances Saturday and Sunday. But Valdes will only be dancing Saturday night.

I'm a little behind on movies but did enjoy The Informant (3.5 RED DOTS), Matt Damon's break from the exciting Bourne movies. (I think a fourth one is in the works.) It reminded me some of Shattered Glass, but a little lighter. Marvin Hamlisch's music is sensational as always. Has anyone ever seen him in person? He'll be doing one of these cool (and inexpensive) retrospectives at the Kennedy Center Nov. 16 and I will definitely go. I saw him once at an Olssons Books about 10 years ago with an autobiography he wrote. There were about 20 people, the interviewer, Hamlisch and a piano. OMG! He's so nice and modest. He started playing his songs for us, the theme from The Sting, The Way We Were, A Chorus Line, and stuff from further back. I'll never forget it. I should see if I still have the book. Anyway, Soderbergh gets back to some of his cute ways and further away from the Che Guevara stuff in the Informant. It's clever and surprising, not great but good entertainment.

Come meet us (a group from Bike and Brunch) at Theater J in the DC Jewish Community Center on 16th and Q next Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a PWYC preview of Lost in Yonkers. Holly Twyford and Tana Hinken reunite after last year's amazing Road to Mecca at Studio. Jerry Whiddon directs. We also last saw him at Studio last year in Blackbird, that exciting two-person play about the reuniting of a man and woman after he had molested her years before. So this should be first-class stuff at Theater J.

On Thursday, my friend Rob and I usher for opening night of Folger's Much Ado About Nothing. I really enjoy their theater offerings, so I'm looking forward to it and will let you know!

My friend Cinthia of The Culture Club is starting to get very excited over Fotoweek, Nov. 7-14. And who can blame her. We will have numerous postings for that in the next few weeks. She's got some fun meetups coming up including a free screening of the Chilean film The Maid on Nov. 5 at E Street. It got a very good review in today's New York Times.

Okay, let's post this and then I'll do a calendar to follow.