Review - Paris

Would that I had taken a trip to the real Paris (France), but no, I went with a handsome gentleman pal to see the new play with that delightful name at the Atlantic's smaller theater space.  We were intrigued by the description on the theater's website:  "Emmie is one of the only black people living in Paris, Vermont, and she desperately needs a job. When she is hired at Berry’s, a store off the interstate selling everything from baby carrots to lawnmowers, she begins to understand a new kind of isolation. A play about invisibility, being underpaid, and how it feels to work on your feet for ten hours a day."

Paris is indeed about all that, and more, and yet, somehow less.  I was frequently distracted during the play by my exceedingly uncomfortable seat (I began to worry about blood clots and DVTs/strokes), and maybe I wouldn't have been so distracted if the play had been more successful for me.  But moments, lines, characterizations are still sitting with me, so maybe there was more there than I saw at first glance...

photo credit: Ahron R. Foster

In the first scene, Paris introduces us to Berry's, a big box store (probably sort of like WalMart or Sam's Club), by showing us a training video that reminded me of the old Dharma Initiative videos on Lost.  It showed Berry's as a friendly, family-type company, that has no room for unions.  Unions=bad.  So you get an idea of the type of company we'll be seeing throughout the evening.  A young African-American woman, Emmie, is filling out paperwork and watching the video, then a young African-American man, Gar, comes in to finish the job interview.  Emmie gets the job, which pays $5/hour (the play is set in 1995, but still, yikes!), and she is thrilled.  But something seems unsettling somehow - she has a bandage on her cheek, from an accident at her other job, she says, but we wonder.  She has a wounded, shrinking demeanor, as if all she wants is to be invisible.  An understandable character trait, but at times I felt it was taken a little too far, because it felt difficult for me to engage with her or her situation.

We meet other Berry's workers throughout the play - an older woman, Wendy, who wants to be the peacemaker, but is also a day drinker; her husband, Dev, who is retired but now works as a traffic cop and is also pushing a get-rich-quick-pyramid-book-scheme-thing; Logan, a young would-be rapper; and Maxine, a frustrated and potty-mouthed mother of four.  All of these characters are white, as is a mysterious gentleman named Carlisle, who comes in for an unsettling scene about half way through the play.  I'll have a quirky story about his creepy scene later in my seat neighbor report.

photo credit: Caitlin Ochs

I could feel tension and menace throughout the play - when a character was told they should always carry a box cutter, I worried constantly (like when I worry about a gun on stage).  Clearly, there aren't many African-Americans in Paris, Vermont; every time Emmie mentions that she grew up there, the other characters said they had never seen her before.  There are other comments that are casually, yet insidiously, racist throughout.  These are also people who are in severe economic crisis and who count every penny; when their paychecks turn up short, they support each other in trying to get everything they deserve, but they also hold each other at arms length, because they're always looking out for themselves.  So I waited for the inevitable blowup, which I think might've happened off stage, oddly. The play has been directed at a steady, though sometimes slow, pace and frequently I felt as if the pace was slowed down for more menace, when all it really did was make the play slow.  I think there is a smart, incisive play in here somewhere about racism and poverty and the destruction of the working class in America, but I'm not sure I could find it in there.  Though the fear of DVT/stroke could've been clouding my judgement.

Seat neighbor-wise, the woman in front of me kept putting her hands out and motioning for things to hurry along, which was odd.  There were two women who decided to leave, and as they got ready to walk out the door, the creepy scene with Carlisle started by his coming in through that exit.  He sort of stared at the two women for a moment, then wandered into the play, and the two women were frozen at the door.  The audience tittered at them for probably too long; they stood there for probably too long as well, afraid that someone else would come in that door.  They finally left, thank heavens, but it was very strange.  I did wonder in that scene why Emmie stayed in the room with Carlisle.  I mean, if some weirdo walked into my office space and was completely weirdo, wouldn't I leave the room?  I don't know, that bothered me a bit, though if masochism or a victim mentality is part of Emmie's character makeup, that could've been played up a little more.

I thought the acting in Paris was very good and I look forward to seeing what this young playwright brings us next - hopefully, it will be in a theater with more comfortable seats and I can see the show she intended me to see.  But even with my quibbles during my viewing, I'm still thinking about and intrigued by the people and situations in Paris.  That's maybe good enough for now.

Return of The Confession of Lily Dare (and a little more)

It's Restaurant Week, y'all!  I've made reservations for a couple of lunches and after my first delicious lunch, I trekked downtown to see a preview of Charles Busch's The Confession of Lily Dare.  I'm quite sure you remember I loved this production when I saw its limited run last year (remind yourself of that rapture HERE) and I'm sure you will be shocked, SHOCKED to discover I loved it even more at the Cherry Lane.  I'll explain more after I tell you about my delicious lunch...



When the reminder about Restaurant Week arrived in my email, I went to the website and narrowed my choices down to about eight places I'd like to try.  With schedules and menus on hand, I finally chose two, the first was Park Avenue Winter.  Apparently, they change their decor and menus by the seasons (and their restaurant name, apparently; on my phone, the GPS listed it as Park Avenue Spring).  I thought the space was gorgeous, very light and airy, with lots of room and a good level of noise.  Try as I might, I couldn't eavesdrop very well on my seat neighbors...

I got out my Nook and enjoyed my two-course Restaurant Week lunch and then succumbed to dessert, even though I had to pay extra.  I mean, when you hear what it was and when you see a photo, you'll agree I really had no choice.  Anyway, I selected Park Avenue Winter mainly because I thought they were serving pumpkin ravioli with pickled cranberries as a main course and they had quite a few appetizers that interested me (when I checked out the Restaurant Week website).  When I arrived, the pumpkin ravioli was on the appetizer list and the main courses were a little less interesting.  Ah, well.  Everything was actually delicious.

I did order the pumpkin ravioli for my appetizer and it was lovely.  The pasta was tender, the pumpkin filling was rich and perfectly spiced, and the pickled cranberries were out of this world.  I now need to have them on every dish.  There was also a hazelnut gremolata, which was tasty, but maybe there could've been fewer hazelnuts and more cranberries, but that's probably just me.  It was a delicious starter.  Oh, and the focaccia that was served before my meal arrived was also tasty, served with a pepperoncini-olive-oil dip that was a little spicy and a lot yummy.

I opted for the salmon main course, chiefly because it was served with an orange buerre blanc, which is French for DELICIOUS.  The salmon was served on top of a sort of creamed cabbage and then the delicious orange-y sauce was poured on top.  The salmon was perfectly prepared, with a nice crust on one side and a soft middle.  This was light and refreshing, yet substantial.  I loved it.  Parenthetically, I got a look at a couple of the other dishes on the menu by peeking at my seat neighbors' tables and my plate was definitely more beautiful and more appetizing.  So there.

I shouldn't have succumbed, but when they brought me the dessert menu, even though dessert isn't included anymore in a Restaurant Week lunch, I absolutely had to order the coffee cardamom creme brulee.  I mean, COME ON.  Doesn't that sound amazing?  AND IT WAS.  That may be one of the best desserts I have ever had.  It was creamy, crunchy from the bruleed sugar, and delightfully warmly spicy from the cardamom and coffee.  And the accompanying almond biscotti was also delicious.  All in all, my lunch was perfectly delightful; I got to eat delicious food and peacefully read my Nook in attractive surroundings.  Nothing better.

photo credit: Carol Rosegg

I have to admit, I was having financial anxiety about buying a ticket to The Confession of Lily Dare - the Off-Broadway production is a bit pricier than I had anticipated.  Thankfully, a beautiful gal pal had access to comps and she invited me to join her.  I am ever so grateful for a generous beautiful gal pal.  When I got to the theater, I was at first a little worried that the smaller stage space at the Cherry Lane would inhibit the expansive joyfulness of Charles Busch's work, but of course I needn't have worried.  The intimacy made the show play even more forcefully - some of the supporting characters have grown in size, to terrific effect, but Charles has honed his performance to an incredible shine.  He's so funny, yet also so honest and moving.  I had a smile on my face and/or a tear in my eye most of the evening.  And I laughed heartily with joy at others.  Of course, I loved again the torch song number towards the end, the comedy and pathos are divine, but I was especially moved by a scene near the end of the first act, when Charles-as-Lily has to give up a dream.  Even the way he walked captured the character magnificently.  I really think this is a deeply felt performance, in a little bit of a different way than his other performances.  They're all honest and true, but this one seemed to go that extra mile, at least as far as I'm concerned.  If you want to know about plot, click my link above to read more about the story, which is an homage to 30's pre-code Hollywood films.  But if you want to know about feelings, just know that the huge heart that is always in a Busch play is even more huge than usual.  That love (along with the belly laughs) is what keeps me coming back for more.  Please go see The Confession of Lily Dare - you'll laugh a lot, you'll cry a lot, and you'll be telling one of the kindest men in show business that what he does is appreciated.

Sigh - a roundup already...

I need to take a class in time management, apparently.  Or use one of those time-turners we discovered in a Harry Potter book.  I just cannot find the time to share anything on the blog; since I have shows coming up, I'm going to cram a few thoughts on a few things together, so I can start again on a clean slate.  I mean, it's only January, so how can I be behind already?!?!

As I've already mentioned, I went to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker recently.  You may remember that I enjoyed the first two installments of this current trilogy - The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.  I enjoyed the new film, though maybe not as much as the other two; this one seemed a little forced and seemed to be trying a little too hard to please everyone, and in all that trying, the sense of joy and freedom was lost.  But I did have a good time and laughed out loud with delight several times, much to the chagrin of the extreme fan gents who were sitting next to me.  No spoilers here, but there's a plot point about a spy in the bad guys' organization (I can never remember the names), and when that spy was identified, I laughed so loudly at the utterly right absurdity, I was afraid the fan gents would beat me up later.  Thankfully, they didn't.

It was so bittersweet to see beautiful Carrie Fisher 'act' in this film; I thought they did a terrific job of editing her into the movie, though there were maybe a couple of shots that looked a little 'green screen-y'.  But it was worth it to see her.  Oscar Isaac is all that and a bag of chips and my boyfriend Adam Driver was again mesmerizing.  I did wonder, however, how his costume change happened, but I digress.  Daisy Ridley is a strong beautiful role model for all of us and it again struck me, HARD, that the diverse, inclusive, kind folks were the ones having to fight for their literal existence against the group of beautifully groomed white men.  I overgeneralize, of course, but still.  I was satisfied with this last chapter, if not blown away, and I will look forward to what they dream up next.  

Last week, I picked up a discount ticket to see New York City Ballet; they were performing an evening billed as Stravinsky & Balanchine.  The program had three ballets that were entirely new to me, and one that I've seen before.  Side story:  I stopped at Starbucks on my way to the theater and I saw a NY celebrity chef standing in line for the bathroom.  All I could think was 'can't you afford to find a swankier bathroom, Mr. Celebrity Chef?'  I guess they had to go, but still.  Anyway.  When I got to the theater, the box office couldn't find my ticket.  Much to my chagrin, I saw that I actually had reserved my tickets for two nights earlier, which was weird, because I had a work event that night and couldn't have gone.  The box office gent was quite nice about it and said it happens all the time.  "Not to ME!," I said.  He very kindly found me another seat, though it took quite a while.  I was worried that the evening was sold out, but...no.  My row in the third ring turned out to be empty, other than me, so I had a nice quiet evening by myself, watching beautiful dancing.  Oh, and I was thrilled to see the orchestra was gorgeously conducted by Clotilde Otranto.  In fact, I was also quite impressed with the diversity of body types on stage as well.  Well done, NYCB, well done.  Moving on.

photo credit: Paul Kolnik

First up was "Danses Concertantes," a piece that was first choreographed in 1944, but Balanchine rechoreographed it in 1972 for the Stravinsky Festival.  It's quite a sweet and lively piece, that begins and ends with a parade, in front of a handpainted drop with Stravinsky's, Balanchine's, and Eugene Berman's (the costume and set designer) names on it.  There are four trios of dancers, all in different brightly colored costumes, doing very intricate choreography, not really interacting with each other per se, but definitely all had a lighthearted quality.  I enjoyed watching this a lot.

photo credit: Paul Kolnik

Next up were two brief ballets now always paired together: "Momumentum pro Gesualdo" and "Movements for Piano and Orchestra," both new to me.  The first piece was composed in 1960 by Stravinsky to honor Italian composer Don Carlo Gesualdo, the ballet was made soon after. I thought this piece was gorgeous - danced in rehearsal clothes, it was elegant, inventive and pretty hypnotic.  The stage pictures were simply amazing - there was one section where each couple did the same movement, but maybe two seconds apart, and I felt like I could feel the air move.  Balanchine's quote (here butchered by me, I think) that you should be able to see music and hear dance really came true for me during this piece.  And the end move is simply exquisite.  I would love to see it again.  After a brief pause, we saw mostly the same group dance "Movements for Piano and Orchestra," which was even more spare and exacting, but maybe a little less memorable.   I really enjoyed both ballets and look forward to seeing them again.

photo credit: Paul Kolnik

Last up was "Stravinsky Violin Concerto," which I have seen before (remind yourself of my thoughts on that performance HERE) and enjoyed again.  The violin soloist, Kurt Nikkanen, was fantastic, and I was very taken with new NYCB principal Joseph Gordon.  I felt much the same way about this piece as I did the last time I saw it, so I don't have a lot that's new to describe, but I will say that I noticed throughout the entire evening that there is a lot of the same flavor to the choreography of each Stravinsky composition.  There is a lot of arms stretching out with the wrist flexed, and feet moving from pointed to flex, as if the music stirred an off-kilter impression in Balanchine.  Or...I'm just full of it.  One or the other.  In any case, I had a lovely time, in my row all by myself, enjoying a beautifully conducted (by a woman!) orchestra with gloriously talented dancers.  A night to be savored.

2020 - so far, movies movies movies. Today, Frozen 2

Well, hello there!  Happy New Year!  I'm already getting the year off to a slow blogging start, it seems.  I haven't seen a show yet, which is late for me, I know.  There is so much I want to see that I'm feeling jittery about which productions to pick.  Geez, it's awfully early to be jittery.  I saw a reading of a new play last week and enjoyed it very much, and I have two more readings next week.  I think my first productions are the week after and then I will be off and running.  Actually, I'm also feeling conflicted about the costs of shows I want to see - I pulled up a ticketing site to buy tickets to a couple of long-awaited Off-Broadway shows and I balked at the prices.  We'll see how that financial balking develops over the year...

I have, however, watched four movies since we last chatted, so I thought I would talk about them.  I may also blog about a trip I made during my holiday break, but I'm still ruminating on how to focus that one.  I'll keep you posted.

When I'm home for Christmas, my mom and I always see a movie together.  At first, I told her that we would be seeing the new version of Little Women, but since I hadn't seen Frozen 2 yet, I made my mom go with me to that.  I'll get to Little Women eventually.  As you may or may not remember, it took me much too long to get to the original Frozen movie (you can remind yourself of my review HERE).  Because I loved it so much, I was keen to see the sequel (though I guess it did take me a while to get there - I just rarely get inspired to go to a movie theater; it is what it is) and I'm ever so glad I did.  I loved Frozen 2, but maybe in a different way than the way I loved the original.  In the interest of full disclosure, my mom didn't enjoy it as much.

In Frozen 2, it's three years later and everyone seems pretty happy and settled after all the angst of the first film.  But, wait, are they?  Elsa longs to understand herself, and her power; she is hearing a voice, calling her from beyond the palace.  We see a flashback scene at the beginning of the film, where Elsa and Anna's parents tell them a story about the enchanted forest outside the walls of their kingdom.  Elsa hears the voice her mother mentioned in that earlier song, sets certain events into motion, and our characters head off and try to save the kingdom.

photo credit: Disney

There's less humor, but more gravity, I think, in Frozen 2.  The songs (written by my wonderful friends) are less stand-alone character songs (though they exist) and more a cohesive score telling a larger story.  The big "Let It Go"-type solo for Elsa is "Into the Unknown."  It's a smart and powerful song, but I found myself more drawn to "Show Yourself," where Elsa truly confronts who she is and how she can exist in the world with her special power.  Instead of just accepting it as a part of herself, she leans into it and grows exponentially as a woman and as a creature of the earth.  It's quite beautiful.  And there's a powerfully sad song for Anna, "The Next Right Thing," as she realizes that she is in charge of her own life and not just in service to Elsa.  These sisters have a powerful bond, but they have power on their own, as well.  It's great to see them discover it.

photo credit: Disney

This is an animated film, ostensibly for kids, but it deals with such mature stuff: climate change, cultural appropriation, co-dependency, loss, female empowerment.  I love the movie for that.  Teaching kids that growing up is hard, there are choices, and you just have to trust your inner voice, are beautiful lessons for this time in our world.  In this movie, women make things happen and the men support them, gladly.  Hello, what wonderful ideas for young girls (and boys) to take with them after the movie ends.  Women can question, can be unsure, and yet lead and make the right choices.  Brilliant.  Oh, and the film is also glorious to look at, a real treat for the eyes.  

There is still lots of comedy, Olaf is adorable and has some really funny one-liners, and there's a running joke throughout the movie about Kristoff's inability to propose to Anna (and his power ballad, with winks to the video of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a total scream), and there's still fun to be had, but Frozen 2 has more on its mind.  I so respect the filmmakers, again mainly women, for making serious statements and important points inside of a mainstream entertainment.  They seriously could've made anything and it would've made a bazillion dollars; instead they made something to truly speak to a new generation of kids, the generation who will have to fix the mistakes we have made over the years.  Watching Elsa and Anna deal with the mistakes THEIR ancestors made will only empower the kids of tomorrow.  Truly.

Gosh, I've already blathered and it's only the first post of the year.  If I talk about the other three movies I saw, this will be an astoundingly long post.  Perhaps I should stop here and leave the other big movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, for another day.  Not to mention the two fabulous documentaries I made my family watch on cable with me.  Stay tuned, please.  And happy 2020...

Holiday Auto-Post: A Show I'm Looking Forward to in 2020

Hey there!  Here's your last auto-post for the holiday season - I swear, I will try to blog more regularly in 2020.  I'm just sharing this review since another revival is coming up soon - I'm looking forward to it, because I feel as if Katrina Lenk can do no wrong, and well, it has a different director than the one mentioned below (you may laugh at some of my critiques, because I've made them many times since), but here are thoughts from the first time I saw Company...

1/10/2007:  Saw Company last night.  It’s actually my second trip to this production; I saw it with a co-worker before the holidays.  It’s my first full production of Company (I've seen the documentary on the recording of the original cast album many times), and I have to say I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

The first time I saw it, I was so caught up in the excitement of seeing the show for the first time and seeing my boyfriend front and center, I don’t think I was really seeing the show.  I was disappointed with the book scenes and I didn’t really connect at all.  I chalked it up to all the outside factors and figured I would like the show better the second time.  After all, the first time I saw Assassins, Sweeney Todd, and Pacific Overtures, I was disappointed.  On subsequent viewings, I could finally relax and just watch the show in front of me.  You know how it is when you build something up for so many years...

I did enjoy the show more last night.  I connected a couple of times and saw lots of stuff I missed the first time (it did help that our seats last night were way better than the seats I had before).  But I still didn’t love the production.  I don’t think all of the actors are up to the standard Raul sets (I realize that not many are), and some of the staging was just darned distracting.  Intellectually, I understand the reason for the parading around the stage of all those crazy married friends, but at times, I wanted everyone to STAND STILL AND SING!  This show has some of the most delicious lyrics ever, and watching the to-and-fro distracted me from the lyrics some of the time.  

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

The singing was all first-rate and the choral stuff was outstanding.  I think, like with the most recent production of Sweeney Todd, the arranger is the star.  Some of the flourishes of the different instruments during certain lyrics were genius.  And the distinction between Bobby, his married friends, and his outside girlfriends, was great.  Of course, Raul is beyond fabulous.  I couldn’t breathe during his final moments of ‘Being Alive.’   His ‘Marry Me a Little’ is pretty darned terrific, too.  I felt his conflict, way more than I felt anything else, even the loneliness and separateness I think we’re supposed to feel.  But other actors just seemed lacking to me.  

I wish I had loved it as much as many of my friends did.  Maybe I need to see it again?  God knows I wouldn’t mind hearing the singing again.  Were my expectations too high?  I just don’t know.  But, for me, even though I think I completely understand what was trying to be said with the actor/musician concept, it just didn’t work for me as well as it did in Sweeney Todd.  And I know it didn’t work for many people in Sweeney!  This is why I love theater!  It’s not math!  There can be different answers/opinions!  Two things can be true at the same time!  And, come to think of it, who exemplifies that best?  Mr. Stephen Sondheim, that's who!  Whee!  (forgive all the exclamation points, please.)