by Sandy | Aug 28, 2008 | Actors, Blogroll, Directors, Movies
Film remakes – why? If it ain’t broke, why “fix” it? The classic movie in question is “The Women” – from the 1936 play written by Clare Boothe Luce, and then the 1939 screenplay by Anita Loos.
The original, directed by George Cukor, is great fun, with Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, and a whole slew of other terrific actresses. Any attempt to update, revamp, revisit, recreate the magic of this clever, witty film – about a husband who strays and how his wife handles the betrayal – is fraught with danger. The audience (me) may come away with a feeling of disappointment.
Yes, the scenario is still a familiar one, unfortunately, and the situations may seem dated, but the story is also about friendship among “women”, not girls, women. (The concept did not originate with “Sex & the City”.) Some of the aid/advice given is successful, some disastrous, but, that is what makes the movie entertaining.
The current remake of “The Women”, directed by Diane English, comes to theaters in September, 2008. The stellar cast includes, Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith. I’m hoping whatever was done to bring this story into the 21st century, that it still remains a great story for adults and it still makes me laugh.
BTW – In 1956, the movie was made into a musical called, “The Opposite Sex” with June Allyson playing the wronged wife.
by Sandy | May 22, 2008 | Actors, Art, Artist, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
“Los
Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections
from the Cheech Marin Collection”
6/15/08 to 11/2/08
Do you remember those “Cheech & Chong” movies from the 70’s? (The 2 main characters would spend most of their time in a comic fog due to some mind altering plants they ingested.) Well, Cheech Marin, along with his movies and TV career – he played a cop on the “Nash Bridges” show – bought artwork from the Mexican, Mexican –American artists that he met in his travels.
His collection includes paintings from artists such as, Carlos Almaraz, Chaz Bojorquez, Diane Gamboa and others. On display are examples of the type of art that just exploded in Los Angeles, CA during the 80’s /90’s.
LACMA/ Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA – 323-857-6000
(Image – “Chino Latino”, acrylic on canvas Chaz Bojorquez , 2000)
http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibMarin.aspx“
by Bob Martin | May 18, 2008 | Actors, Dance, Events
A performance by the Arizona Magic of Music & Dance
This is a great event which is transformational for both the young actors and their audience.
Title: The Jungle Book
Description: Young people with any physical or mental disability are invited to explore in a barrier-free environment the world of creative movement, self-expression, musical creation and spontaneous listening.
Start Time: 12:00:00
Date: 2008-06-13
End Time: 02:00:00
More information click here
by Sandy | May 18, 2008 | Actors, Blogroll, Books, Directors, Film, Movies
“Those that stop their questioning at 75, 60, even 30, cut short their explorations and end up with permanently unfinished lives.” (From “Life Beyond Measure: Letter to My Great-Granddaughter”)
Wise octogenarian Sydney Poitier has been a national treasure for quite awhile. He’s won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy. He has had success as an actor, director, author and perhaps more importantly, as a man. He has condensed life lessons learned into books not just about his journey, but also about how he has learned to conduct himself in a sometimes difficult world.Born in 1927 in the Bahamas, Mr. Poitier went to New York as a teen, taught himself to read, catapulted himself into an acting career and created a wonderful life for himself and his family. Not an easy road, but he did it with humor, grace, determination and a never wavering belief in him self. Great stuff!
“The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography ”, 2000
“Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter ”, 2005
by Sandy | Apr 23, 2008 | Actors, Art, Artist, Directors, Live Performance, Museums
So, I’m still living on the fumes of my April in New York City adventure.
Went to MOMA on 53rd St and saw the usual suspects – Cezanne, Picasso, Gauguin, Rothko, etc. But, then I went into a little room with the Van Gogh’s. I’ve always liked his work, but I had never seen them in person. They are all beautiful in an intense way.
Of course I’ve seen “Starry Night” in books, magazines, but, when looking close up, I noticed the coiled energy. The whirling stars look as it they are flying thru the air and about to explode. Just amazing.
“Starry Night”, Vincent Van Gogh, 1899
Museum of Modern Art, http://www.moma.org/
* I enjoyed seeing “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. Unfortunately, James Earl Jones was absent from his role as “Big Daddy” (made famous by Burl Ives in the 50’s movie of the same name), but the rest of the cast, directed by the talented Debbie Allen – Terrence Howard, Phylicia Rashad and Giancarlo Esposito – do a great job with this Tennessee Williams play about a southern family with lots of secrets and lots of lies.
Tony award winner Anika Noni Rose, the “cat” on the heated roof, is terrific as she fights with and for her man – from the opening curtain to the final scene, she radiates and sparkles. She is a star!
Big Daddy: “What’s that smell in this room? Didn’t you notice it, Brick? Didn’t you notice the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room?”
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Broadhurst Theater, NYC
*And, I saw the marvelous Laurence Fishburne in “Thurgood”. Only 90 minutes, the play takes the audience thru personal and historic events of the life of the first African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall.
Written by George Stevens and directed by Leonard Foglia, “Thurgood” highlights how the man called “Mister Civil Rights” in the 1950’s, used the law to effect change.
The play follows him from childhood, thru his dangerous and stubborn excursions into the South to register black voters, to his successes with anti segregation legislation and then thru his 20 years on the court.
Fishburne delivers, not just an historic figure but, an accomplished, complex man. Great stories, great events some human and funny, others just make you proud.
“Thurgood”, Booth Theatre, NYC
by Sandy | Apr 21, 2008 | Actors
I had a great time on my recent city visit. I set up a series of “play dates”: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, “Passing Strange”, “Macbeth” and “Thurgood”. I enjoyed them all!
Macbeth
My niece, Cybel, and I loved “Macbeth” with Patrick Stewart, (a consummate theater actor, but, perhaps best know from “Star Trek: Next Generation”). This Shakespearian tale of greedy ambition was moved out of Scotland and into an unnamed totalitarian country of 30’s/40’s Europe. It is a rousing, rambunctious, and riveting tale of misdeeds, murder and mayhem. (Yes, I’m showing off- I love alliteration.) Awesome.
The acting was wonderful. Mr. Stewart was appropriately blood thirsty, Kate Fleetwood, as Lady Macbeth, was both ferocious and fragile and the 3 witches, dressed in nurse uniforms, were as creepy as they should be.
Most of the original text remained, even with the modern presentation, but it all worked anyway. (Towards the end of the play when Macbeth, ready to fight to the death, calls out, “Bring me my armor” – instead of a helmet and metal breast plate, he is fitted with an army issue “flak” jacket and machine gun. By this time, the audience is so wrapped up in it all, it didn’t matter.) A definite standing “O” for all. Great fun.
“Macbeth”, William Shakespeare, Directed by Rupert Goold, Lyceum Theater, NYC
Passing Strange
“Passing Strange” is clever and funny, with great music. The terrific band, whose members along with the few actors, tell the story of a young man, “Stew”, trying to look for the “real” by moving from middle class L.A., where he feels he doesn’t fit in and everything is a fraud, to Amsterdam and Germany.
In Europe, he is more “American”, than he was in California. To gain friends and acceptance in the avant garde scene- his new girl friend is only impressed with the oppressed- he “passes” as the stereotype of a ghetto youth and writes songs about the “struggle”. After a few years, he wonders what if the only thing real is your “art” and “reality” is phoney?
He eventually returns to America to pursue his art and just be himself. He is amazed that the direction of his life was decided by the decisions he made as a teenager.
Serious questions, but told with humor and music. Hard to describe – a different type musical, but, very entertaining.
To be continued…
