Broadway & Movies

[edjames]

Tis the season that the tourists descend on New York City and they all manage to wind up seated around me t the theater.

 

While attending the lasted production of Le Miz last week I had a bunch of them that I sincerely wanted to strangle. Flash photography, cell phones and talking were all part of there repertoire of bad manners! Of course, the show sucked, so I guess I wasn't in a very good mood to begin with. Seriously, I love Le Miz. I've seen it in both London and New York and this show is so miscast it’s not funny. Norm Lewis plays Javert and does not bring the appropriate sense of revenge and drama to his role as I've seen other actors do. Daphne Rubin Vega must have had a bad cold the night I saw her. She barely croaked out her songs and missed several high notes when her voice cracked loudly in the midst of "I Dreamed A Dream." Sorry, but I can't recommend this terribly miscast production.

 

I had a better time at “A Chorus Line” the other evening. The tourists all behaved well and this production is worthy of the original. A great cast and a moving score. And just to note...another Broadway show without an intermission! First Drowsy Chaperone, then Martin Short, what's going on?

 

I loved the new James Bond film, “Casino Royale.” I didn’t think I would like Daniel Craig as James Bond. His brooding and sexual interpretation of Perry, the killer, in the recent Truman Capote flick “Infamous,” left me wondering how he would be as Bond. Surprisingly this was a great action packed film and I enjoyed it very much. Craig has quite a nice buff body, makes a great Bond, and Dame Judy is terrific as M.

 

Also of note is the movie version of the stage hit “The History Boys.” I thought the play translated very well to film and enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed seeing it on stage. The cast is intact and I am still moved to tears when actor, Samuel Barnett sings “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” I noticed a number of other sniffles in the audience, so I wasn’t the only one appropriately moved. Beware, like the stage version, the movie version has its share of British words, phrases and references that may go right over our heads, but it’s a great story and a good film.

[+ Lucky]

Ed, I enjoy your theater and movie reviews and hope that you will keep them coming. I also saw The History Boys while in LA over the weekend. For me, the play told the story much better. I found parts of the movie to be horribly slow and boring. The crispy repartee between the characters on stage got lost in the larger span of the movie. And, sadly, Dominic Cooper just doesn't look as good in close-ups as he did on the stage!

 

The ending of the movie, however, worked quite well. The audience actually applauded. For those who saw the play, you will want to see the movie if for no other reason than to see what they did with the story. If you didn't see the play, suffer through some of the duller scenes and you will still be richly rewarded.

[foxy]

I saw "Grey Gardens" the other night and really enjoyed it. I've seen the movie several times and if the first act of the play is fairly accurate, it explained a lot about the relationship between the mother and daughter and how they went over the edge.

 

As a sidenote, the dual roles of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. and Jerry are played by Matt Cavenaugh who starred in the awful production "Urban Cowboy". I had the happy experience of standing next to the shirtless Mr. Cavenaugh for about 20 minutes when he appeared in Broadway Bares a few years ago. He had just come off stage from doing his number and was off to the side, very sweaty, watching the show. I was watching him instead of the show from about 18 inches away and it was well worth the price of admission. He's also talented besides having fantastic pecs.