So, we aren't really in NY yet [sitting at the airport waiting for departure]. But, I promised some reviews of recent media experiences, so here is the catchup.
Misanthrope at Boulevard Theatre (Bayview):
Mark Bucher adapted the classic Moliere play in at least two ways: 1) moving it to a modern Art Gallery and 2) changing the genders of some of the characters, making most of the love dynamics same-sex. On thing I kind of wish he had changed is the distraction in the dialogue rhyming couplets. I got used to it, but it was distracting at the beginning. David Flores, in the lead, was fabulous. He was bombastic and opinionated and self-righteous and witty. Perfect. The tension of his high-mindedness in the arena of intellect and art contrasted well with his oft-noted inconsistency in terms of emotions and love. Nice tension. Around Flores, the other members of the cast paled a bit, though, again, the wit and kitsch of some of the segments were hilarious [see the over-the-top poetry reading, which only proceeded after an emotional stripping down to red satin dancing trunks]. Enjoyable and a bit edgy. The same sex tension seemed a bit forced in places, but, overall, the play was, hopefully, a portent of things to come from Boulevard.
KT Tunstall concert (Pabst Theatre):
Firecracker. That's all I need to say. KT is a firecracker on stage. Constant motion. Also, I am a sucker for any accent from the British Isles (she's Scottish). There were a couple of new songs, but the bulk of the concert came from her 2 albums "Eye to the Telescope" and "Drastic Fantastic." I have listened to both albums enough to hope that she might have experimented a bit with the arrangements of the songs or maybe stretched herself a bit. [Like Tori Amos covering 'Smells Like Teen Spirit"]. KT clearly has the musical talent to do some of those 'outside the box' kinds of things, but, perhaps, she is still building a fan base. Martha Wainwright, the opening act, took a couple of songs to get warmed up, but got steadily better. Personally, I liked her monologues to the crowd between the songs better than the songs themselves. Martha is hilarious and tells funny stories.
Irish Fest (Maier Festival Grounds):
No Guinness. The music was good and the people looked like they were having a good time, but NO Guinness? I will probably not go again. Sorry, but there are some requirements. Whatever the reasons or explanations, it would be like not allowing black t-shirts at a Harley-Davidson festival. Whatever.
Lars and the Real Girl (film):
Why isn't Ryan Gosling a star yet? Maybe he is. Well, he should be. This film will be avoided by a lot of people because of the one-sentence summary: "Delusional loner comes out of his shell after purchasing a life-sized doll and treating her as if she were alive." I am sure that someone could come up with a better one-sentence summary, but that is the basic. However, the basic does not suffice for this film.
Rather, Lars and the Real Girl is a film about community and family and the healing of damaged people (and aren't we all damaged in some way?). Lars has some deep issues with social interaction, his mother's death, his dead father's sadness, and his sister-in-law's pregnancy. Until Bianca (the Real Girl) appears, Lars will work and go to church, but will not cross the driveway from his garage to have dinner with his brother and her wife. Bianca changes all that, and initiates some hilarious and strange moments along the way (Bianca comes to dinner, Bianca goes to church, Bianca reads to children at the hospital, Bianca gets elected to the School Board). Through all this, Lars's doctor, played by the superb Patricia Clarkson, counsels tolerance and sensitivity, since Lars seems to need Bianca to work through some issues, and ostracism will not help him progress.
That's the message of the movie. That's the deep current that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. What if you or I were 'having an issue' and needed to rely on the unconditional support of our community to get through it? Would we be brave enough to ask? Would our community (assuming that we even have one anymore) be brave enough to offer us the tolerance and sensitivity we might need? What would a world look like if the Larses in our lives could count on us? Am I ready to get past my own needs and selflessly, bravely help someone who really needs help? How can I learn that discipline? How do we encourage that kind of service in the current "ME" environment?
That will get us started. We have tickets to Monday - Wednesday US Open. We hope to see some interesting matches in the round of 16 and the quarter finals. More on that as it happens.
Misanthrope at Boulevard Theatre (Bayview):
Mark Bucher adapted the classic Moliere play in at least two ways: 1) moving it to a modern Art Gallery and 2) changing the genders of some of the characters, making most of the love dynamics same-sex. On thing I kind of wish he had changed is the distraction in the dialogue rhyming couplets. I got used to it, but it was distracting at the beginning. David Flores, in the lead, was fabulous. He was bombastic and opinionated and self-righteous and witty. Perfect. The tension of his high-mindedness in the arena of intellect and art contrasted well with his oft-noted inconsistency in terms of emotions and love. Nice tension. Around Flores, the other members of the cast paled a bit, though, again, the wit and kitsch of some of the segments were hilarious [see the over-the-top poetry reading, which only proceeded after an emotional stripping down to red satin dancing trunks]. Enjoyable and a bit edgy. The same sex tension seemed a bit forced in places, but, overall, the play was, hopefully, a portent of things to come from Boulevard.
KT Tunstall concert (Pabst Theatre):
Firecracker. That's all I need to say. KT is a firecracker on stage. Constant motion. Also, I am a sucker for any accent from the British Isles (she's Scottish). There were a couple of new songs, but the bulk of the concert came from her 2 albums "Eye to the Telescope" and "Drastic Fantastic." I have listened to both albums enough to hope that she might have experimented a bit with the arrangements of the songs or maybe stretched herself a bit. [Like Tori Amos covering 'Smells Like Teen Spirit"]. KT clearly has the musical talent to do some of those 'outside the box' kinds of things, but, perhaps, she is still building a fan base. Martha Wainwright, the opening act, took a couple of songs to get warmed up, but got steadily better. Personally, I liked her monologues to the crowd between the songs better than the songs themselves. Martha is hilarious and tells funny stories.
Irish Fest (Maier Festival Grounds):
No Guinness. The music was good and the people looked like they were having a good time, but NO Guinness? I will probably not go again. Sorry, but there are some requirements. Whatever the reasons or explanations, it would be like not allowing black t-shirts at a Harley-Davidson festival. Whatever.
Lars and the Real Girl (film):
Why isn't Ryan Gosling a star yet? Maybe he is. Well, he should be. This film will be avoided by a lot of people because of the one-sentence summary: "Delusional loner comes out of his shell after purchasing a life-sized doll and treating her as if she were alive." I am sure that someone could come up with a better one-sentence summary, but that is the basic. However, the basic does not suffice for this film.
Rather, Lars and the Real Girl is a film about community and family and the healing of damaged people (and aren't we all damaged in some way?). Lars has some deep issues with social interaction, his mother's death, his dead father's sadness, and his sister-in-law's pregnancy. Until Bianca (the Real Girl) appears, Lars will work and go to church, but will not cross the driveway from his garage to have dinner with his brother and her wife. Bianca changes all that, and initiates some hilarious and strange moments along the way (Bianca comes to dinner, Bianca goes to church, Bianca reads to children at the hospital, Bianca gets elected to the School Board). Through all this, Lars's doctor, played by the superb Patricia Clarkson, counsels tolerance and sensitivity, since Lars seems to need Bianca to work through some issues, and ostracism will not help him progress.
That's the message of the movie. That's the deep current that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. What if you or I were 'having an issue' and needed to rely on the unconditional support of our community to get through it? Would we be brave enough to ask? Would our community (assuming that we even have one anymore) be brave enough to offer us the tolerance and sensitivity we might need? What would a world look like if the Larses in our lives could count on us? Am I ready to get past my own needs and selflessly, bravely help someone who really needs help? How can I learn that discipline? How do we encourage that kind of service in the current "ME" environment?
That will get us started. We have tickets to Monday - Wednesday US Open. We hope to see some interesting matches in the round of 16 and the quarter finals. More on that as it happens.
1 comment:
srsly, no Guinness??
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