ON STAGE IN LA: But before talking about theatre, we have a new arrival on the LA scene. That is our successor to Esa-Pekka Salonen, famed composer and music director of the LA Philharmonic. 28-year-old talented and charismatic Gustavo Dudamel takes over the chair as Music Director of the Phil. Venezuelan, dimpled, curly haired and deeply involved in assisting young musicians, Dudamel is a huge asset to our city. Bienvenido Gustavo!
We have such wonderful smaller theatres in town. The Rustin Group Theatre at the Santa Monica Airport has some very clever and innovative productions going always. Currently playing is ITALIAN AMERICAN RECONCILIATION by John Patrick Shanley (DOUBT) with a fine cast in a light, fun comedy. Perfect for this season. Their last play was MUNITY AT PORT CHICAGO, a true story about an explosion in 1944 in the Bay area. Fifty navy men were imprisoned, charged with mutiny. Excellent play.
Ron Sossi’s Odyssey Theatre always has fine productions. MERCY WARREN’S TEA is currently playing. It deals with America’s first woman playwright and historian welcoming the daughters of the American Revolution, Abigail Adams and Peggy Arnold to a politically charged tea party. Megan Mullaly stars in a dark comedy, THE RECEPTIONIST. She is wonderful and the play has been extended by popular demand. NO MAN’S LAND, Pinter’s brilliant drawing-room comedy runs until the 19th.
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM (Sha-Boom), by the writer of THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES, continues on Hollywood’s Hudson Mainstage.
The Santa Monica Playhouse has LOVE IN BLOOM, and T. Rattigan’s THE BROWNING VERSION continues at the Pacific Resident. Edward Albee’s THREE TALL WOMEN is at Hollywood’s El Centro. Burbank’s Victory Theatre always presents good theatre. MOLLY has a love quadrangle gone awry. Their previous show, TEN CENT NIGHT, was outstanding. NOISES OFF, Frayne’s frenetic farce within a farce, is at A Noise Within in Glendale.
The charming Pico Playhouse has just finished a fascinating play, THE VALUE OF NAMES, dealing with the old Hollywood Blacklist. Beautifully directed by Howard Teichman and starring Peter Mark Richman, Malachi Throne and Stasha Surdyke. The play and the set were excellent and the new theatre is lovely.
Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang is doing some interesting community/ecology work before the Holidays at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. Wish he would bring back THE WOMEN OF LOCKERBIE about the Pan Am crash in Scotland. Subject is so current again.
On larger stages, The Colony in the valley has ventriloquist Jay Johnson: THE TWO AND ONLY, back by popular demand. Their previous hit, BETTER ANGELS, on Abraham Lincoln’s First Innaugural address was great.
The second season at the beautiful new Broad Stage (at Santa Monica College’s Performing Arts Center) had an exciting production of Shakespeare’s LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST by London’s famous Old Globe Theatre personnel. A marvelous production.
EQUIVOCATION featuring Harry Groener and Joe Spano is at the Geffen.
BABY IT’S YOU!, a fantastic musical of the ‘60s.is at the Pasadena Playhouse. The Dr.Seuss musical, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! starring the wonderful John Larroquette is at the Pantages in Hollywood. PALESTINE, NEW MEXICO, from the Culture Clash at the Mark Taper.
A Holiday Happening: IT’S YOUR TURN is the 50th Annual LA County Holiday celebration at the Pavilion of the Music Center downtown, Thursday, December 24, starting at 2:30pm. Music and dance from all nations. Free admission and parking. For the entire family to enjoy.
Guess what’s in store for us next year? THE COLOR PURPLE, THAT’S WHAT. Oprah Winfrey’s hit movie and the Broadway play with it’s star Fantasia will be coming to our Pantages Theatre in Hollywood in February for only three weeks. Let’s get our tickets as soon as they go on sale.
Happy Holidays to all with good wishes for a great New Year with peace and good health.
XOXO, Harriette
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
IN THE WINGS - December 2009 - FILMS
OMG!! It’s Winter and getting colder, darker earlier and the Summer Sillies are gone. Now it’s time for some grown-up movies at last. There are some really good ones already out and coming up.
If course we loved JULIE & JULIA. Meryl Streep as Julia Child can do no wrong-ever. She not only sounded like Julia Child but even looked like her and that’s a stretch. Another award-winning actress playing a well known figure is Hilary Swank as the first female aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. She was wonderful but, unfortunately, her material wasn’t. Another amazing actress is Carrie Mulligan in the British film AN EDUCATION, where a young girl is smitten with a fast-living older man in ‘60s London. Two more lovely British films featuring women in the leads which, unfortunately didn’t last long, are Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR with beautiful Abbie Cornish as the young girl who falls in love with her neighbor. Poet John Keats, in this beautiful period piece; and Audrey Tautau in COCO BEFORE CHANEL.
PRECIOUS is an Oprah Winfrey/Tyler Perry-produced film about a severely obese pregnant Harlem teenager who tries to overcome impossible odds to find a chance to live a new life. Good heartwrenching, uplifting story with a cast of stars playing unbelievably unrecognizable roles. Sandra Bullock stars in and produces THE BLIND SIDE, about befriending a poor, young African American kid and helping him with school and becoming a football star; it’s from a true story. So much for women’s films.
More adult films: BROKEN EMBRACES, a Pedro Almodovar film starring Penelope Cruz is a beauty and a must-see. Just to say that this is in flashback doesn’t do this beautifully sensitive film justice. It deals with jealousy and revenge and is excellent. Cruz is gorgeous, and watch for Jose Luis Gomez, her leading man. Fine actor, good looking Spaniard we should see more of. A SINGLE MAN with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore during the Cuban missile crisis. In BROTHERS, another film for adults, a missing Marine in Afghanistan is believed dead, and his brother cares for his wife and children. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire. INVICTUS is a true story of how Nelson Mandela gets involved in South Africa’s rugby team. Morgan Freeman stars in this Clint Eastwood-directed movie.
Now for the extremely popular scary ones- even the animated kid films, the Christmas ones, are scary. The Disney classic, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG; PLANET 51, about alien invasions (for kiddies?); FANTASTIC MR. FOX, with George Clooney and Meryl Streep; A CHRISTMAS CAROL, in which Jim Carrey plays multiple roles. It’s in 3-D animation. Then we have ALVIN AND THE CHIPMONKS, THE SEQUEL, more animation. Hold on to your seats, kiddies or your Mom’s arm.
Ready for more? Blood-sucker, spine curdling, alien vampire films are: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON is already a box-office blockbuster with hunky Taylor Lautner giving Robert Pattinson some competition; PLANET 51 with little green people; James Cameron’s AVATAR has humanoids in this sci-fi epic; THE FOURTH KIND has more aliens; 2012 is another disaster picture starring John Cusack, where the world ends! THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is Heath Ledger’s last film about a deal with the devil. Also stars Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Christopher Plummer. Had enough? The original DRACULA was the best of ‘em all.
Now, I’m waiting for two films to come out before the year ends and the hubbub for Academy Awards hoopla starts. They are SHERLOCK HOLMES with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and the Broadway hit musical NINE (which starred Antonio Banderas on stage) and now stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a world-famous film director as he tries to balance the numerous women in his life. They are a bevy of stars; Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. It’s inspired by Fellini’s 8 ½.
Wow! Enough movies? Are you ready for legit stage?
See my next post. Have a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy New Year.
XOXO Harriette
If course we loved JULIE & JULIA. Meryl Streep as Julia Child can do no wrong-ever. She not only sounded like Julia Child but even looked like her and that’s a stretch. Another award-winning actress playing a well known figure is Hilary Swank as the first female aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. She was wonderful but, unfortunately, her material wasn’t. Another amazing actress is Carrie Mulligan in the British film AN EDUCATION, where a young girl is smitten with a fast-living older man in ‘60s London. Two more lovely British films featuring women in the leads which, unfortunately didn’t last long, are Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR with beautiful Abbie Cornish as the young girl who falls in love with her neighbor. Poet John Keats, in this beautiful period piece; and Audrey Tautau in COCO BEFORE CHANEL.
PRECIOUS is an Oprah Winfrey/Tyler Perry-produced film about a severely obese pregnant Harlem teenager who tries to overcome impossible odds to find a chance to live a new life. Good heartwrenching, uplifting story with a cast of stars playing unbelievably unrecognizable roles. Sandra Bullock stars in and produces THE BLIND SIDE, about befriending a poor, young African American kid and helping him with school and becoming a football star; it’s from a true story. So much for women’s films.
More adult films: BROKEN EMBRACES, a Pedro Almodovar film starring Penelope Cruz is a beauty and a must-see. Just to say that this is in flashback doesn’t do this beautifully sensitive film justice. It deals with jealousy and revenge and is excellent. Cruz is gorgeous, and watch for Jose Luis Gomez, her leading man. Fine actor, good looking Spaniard we should see more of. A SINGLE MAN with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore during the Cuban missile crisis. In BROTHERS, another film for adults, a missing Marine in Afghanistan is believed dead, and his brother cares for his wife and children. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire. INVICTUS is a true story of how Nelson Mandela gets involved in South Africa’s rugby team. Morgan Freeman stars in this Clint Eastwood-directed movie.
Now for the extremely popular scary ones- even the animated kid films, the Christmas ones, are scary. The Disney classic, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG; PLANET 51, about alien invasions (for kiddies?); FANTASTIC MR. FOX, with George Clooney and Meryl Streep; A CHRISTMAS CAROL, in which Jim Carrey plays multiple roles. It’s in 3-D animation. Then we have ALVIN AND THE CHIPMONKS, THE SEQUEL, more animation. Hold on to your seats, kiddies or your Mom’s arm.
Ready for more? Blood-sucker, spine curdling, alien vampire films are: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON is already a box-office blockbuster with hunky Taylor Lautner giving Robert Pattinson some competition; PLANET 51 with little green people; James Cameron’s AVATAR has humanoids in this sci-fi epic; THE FOURTH KIND has more aliens; 2012 is another disaster picture starring John Cusack, where the world ends! THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is Heath Ledger’s last film about a deal with the devil. Also stars Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Christopher Plummer. Had enough? The original DRACULA was the best of ‘em all.
Now, I’m waiting for two films to come out before the year ends and the hubbub for Academy Awards hoopla starts. They are SHERLOCK HOLMES with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and the Broadway hit musical NINE (which starred Antonio Banderas on stage) and now stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a world-famous film director as he tries to balance the numerous women in his life. They are a bevy of stars; Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. It’s inspired by Fellini’s 8 ½.
Wow! Enough movies? Are you ready for legit stage?
See my next post. Have a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy New Year.
XOXO Harriette
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