Search

Open Search
Category

by Kate

5 Lessons I Learned from “Liz & Dick”

I was beyond excited for the premiere of Lifetime’s Liz & Dick. I was only expecting to see a campy made-for-television movie that would have all the best (and worst) parts of films like Mommie Dearest and The Room. Lucky for me, I even got to learn something from this hot mess.

1) Cheek fillers are awful.

Yes, we know: plastic surgery is terrible for actors because they can’t emote. But somehow, I’ve grown used to the frozen Botox expressions and face lift aliens that have graced my TV screen. Seeing Lindsay Lohan’s overstuffed cheeks battle with the rest of her face for world domination was a horrifying experience. It was almost as bad as her acting.

Speaking of which…

2) I am bored. I am so bored.

Lindsay–I mean, Elizabeth says this line with 100% commitment and believability while lounging at her estate. I couldn’t help but feel the same way while watching the movie. There are only so many times I could watch Liz and Dick fight, sex, and drink themselves until a poorly timed trailer for Playing for Keeps.

Please go away.

3) Our ADD isn’t that bad.

In a world where cell phones, data plans, and social networking have completely ruined our focus, it’s easy to believe we can’t pay attention to anything longer than a minute. Liz & Dick proved that not to be totally true. Every scene was shorter than two minutes, and I got cinematic whiplash in my attempt to understand it all.

4)  Story-telling is important.

All of the above (even the cheesy Lifetime soundtrack!) could have been forgiven if there was some narrative to latch onto. There was a hint of it when Richard Burton announces to Eddie Fisher that he and Elizabeth are having an affair. But that soon dissipates into poor writing, acting, and film editing.

5) The myth of Lindsay Lohan is dead.

Despite the arrests, lawsuits, and fame-hungry parents, the media has continued to latch onto Lohan’s story because there was a feeling that potential was being wasted. That if she got her act together, Lindsay Lohan could be a decent actress again. But Liz & Dick took that notion, ripped it to shreds, and presented it to every American home with a basic cable plan. It’s over–for now.

1

Our Winter Wishlist

With Thanksgiving over, the last barricade of autumn has fallen–and now Christmas preparations can be made in earnest. Here at LMezz, we’ve already made up our Winter Wishlist of theatre and film:

Water by the Spoonful @ Second Stage Theatre

Not only has Quiara Alegría Hudes written the book to Tony award-winning musical In The Heights, but she also wrote the 2012 Pulitzer-winning Water by the Spoonful, which makes its New York premiere this December at Second Stage Theatre. 

Reviewed here.


Django Unchained

A Spaghetti western helmed by Quentin Tarantino? Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz tearing it up on horseback? Leonardo DiCaprio finally looking like he’s having fun in a motion picture? Check, check, and  check.

Les Misérables

Usually I don’t get my hopes up for musical-to-movie adaptations. But with direction by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and potentially awesome acting (and maybe even singing!) from heavy-weights like Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter to newcomers like Aaron Tveit and Samantha Banks,  it may be a happy Christmas opening after all.

Reviews here and here.

 
0

6 Reasons Why I Love Stephen Adly Guirgis

Over the hurricane break, I caught up on my reading. And as the oncoming storm threatened to take over the city, I officially finished the entirety of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ published plays.

He is beyond awesome. Here’s why:

1) He is a master of the English language. His prose is exciting, raw, and poetic. His dialogue is a perfect blend of the beautiful and obscene. Want to see it in action? Read Boochie’s monologue in Den of Thieves.

2) The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

3) Oh, you wanted me to elaborate? Okay, this play is one of my favorites. Ever. Last Days imagines that Judas’ case of betrayal is finally put to trial, with Sigmund Freud, Mother Teresa, and many other witnesses–biblical and otherwise–testifying and appearing in flashbacks. Last Days is the ultimate dramatization of justice. Judas’ final scene with a certain savior is so poignant it hurts. Andrew Lloyd Webber, read ’em and weep.

4) Guirgis reinvigorates life into the contemporary American play. You won’t find too many overwrought scenes taking place in living rooms in his plays. Guirgis places his characters in motels, funeral homes, basements, bars, correctional facilities, hospitals, and the afterlife (and there are a few living rooms, too). He creates fully realized worlds and isn’t afraid to populate his plays with larger casts of characters. Guirgis’ delicate balance of tragicomedy makes him able to tell a story with brilliant humor and heartbreaking depth. When you’re in a Guirgis play, there is never a dull moment.

5) His New York is for the natives, a refreshing take from all the white twenty-something newcomer to the city narratives. From the displaced-by-Disney Times Square denizens of In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings to the grieving, fractured Harlem community in Our Lady of 121st Street to the Bronx hospital workers in The Little Flower of East Orange, Guirgis’ diverse cast of characters occupy a very real, very special part of New York City.

6) Speaking of diverse, Guirgis is not afraid of protecting the integrity of his plays–even when it’s controversial. When a certain theatre not far from New York City cast young white twenty-somethings to play Puerto Rican thirty-somethings in a seemingly case of cronyism in one of Guirgis’ plays, Guirgis responded on his Facebook page with “headshaking anger.” In an author’s note to the Dramatists Play Service edition of The Motherf@*ker With The Hat, Guirgis wrote,

“This play and all my plays have the best chance to come to life fully when they are cast as MULTI-ETHNICALLY as possible… please strive to cast the play overall in a manner that reflects the beautiful melting pot that is New York City and the setting of this play. And all that being said, the play is now yours, and these characters authentically belong to whoever has the heart and emotional generosity to claim them.”

Guirgis not only sheds light on a very troubling aspect of contemporary theatre, but offers hope for the future. And it’s f@*king amazing.

3

“Frida Liberada” at Urban Stages

Talented, fearless, and a visionary, Frida Kahlo was an art pioneer. Her life was filled with tragedy: a debilitating accident, infidelity, and illness, events well-documented in her self portraits. Frida’s life is also portrayed in the one-woman show Frida Liberada, currently playing at Urban Stages’ Outreach Octoberfest.

The play, written by Brigitte Viellieu-Davis, begins not with Frida’s life, but with her death. Frida, played by Diomargy Nuñez, enters from the back of the house, singing in Spanish about dying and finding peace with God. This Frida is dead and knows it, eager to share the story of her life with the audience. And share she does, speaking about her childhood and her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera–while playing all the characters.

But the most interesting character is Frida herself. Nuñez is an active, exuberant version of the aritst, singing, laughing, and moving about the stage through Lydia Fort’s clean direction. Three upstage panels show Frida’s paintings as she knew them. This Frida is alive and well–on the stage, and in our imaginations.

Frida Liberada plays until November 2nd at Urban Stages. 

0

Is the Royal Shakespeare Company Racist?

The internet has blown up in recent hours about my favorite British theatre company, the esteemed Royal Shakespeare Company. They decided to produce a centuries old classic Chinese play The Orphan of Zhao, which takes place in historical China–the Yuan period, to be exact. The company did so with a very diverse cast–so diverse that the leads were white, and the 3 Asian actors that were cast (out of 17 total actors) play dogs and a maid.

The Fairy Princess points out oh so brilliantly, the RSC whitewashed this classic Chinese play set in historical China, then proceeded to market on their website (to potential Chinese audience members in Chinese) with the following poster:

So we already have some well worn racist tropes here: white washing, yellowface, etc. — in spite of the fact that the artistic director, Gregory Doran, really wanted an authentic production, even going to modern-day China to be as authentic as possible, for an authentic production in every way–except to cast Asian actors in leading roles.After the backlash occurred, the RSC put a statement on their Facebook page to explain the “Twitter debate.” Since they were casting a repertory season with rotating actors, it was necessary to have a group of actors who would fit right with all the shows that season. First off, the assumption that a large number of Caucasian actors could play historically-accurate Chinese (and Caucasian of course), is there.  And naturally, the talent wins out: the actors they chose were the best possible. We’ve seen that argument again and again (just put Jennifer Lawrence in a wig to play a darker skinned girl–she was an Oscar-nominated actress!). The RSC rehashes that sentiment, saying, “We cast the best people available for the range of roles required.”That may be true, as there are a huge amount of talented actors out there who could play any role with dignity and grace.  But while this philosophy goes unchecked for white artists, artists of color don’t get the same distinction. In a hypothetical Western revival of Amadeus, you wouldn’t immediately think of an actor of Indian descent to play the Austrian Mozart. And as a community of artists, writers, theatergoers, and critics, we have to understand that this construct exists, that it is an artificial one rooted in racism and privilege, and we must constantly work to address it.

Such an address is not “moaning,” as one Facebook commenter wrote on the RSC page, but an honest appraisal of how we make art be as meaningful as it can be. This of course, is by no means easy. It’s hard to chuck one’s privilege out the door, and recognize one’s mistakes, no matter how well-intentioned. It’s especially upsetting since the RSC has a long history of “non-traditional” casting, with actors of Asian and African descent playing leading roles in productions of  The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and many other Shakespearean plays.

They even cast a two-hearted extra-terrestrial in a West End production of Hamlet to play the eponymous tragic hero.

Gallifrey finally getting represented in Western drama.
Even more importantly, we need to be aware of this disparity as people. The RSC said in their statement that the  “multi-cultural make-up of our winter season company reflects British society.” This is how the art-reflecting-life continuum comes into play. If we have these conflicting views about race in our theatre, then it is even more crucial an issue in our lives beyond the stage.
0

Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday

Image

Ryan Holiday is a liar. As a media strategist for American Apparel and other clients, Holiday specializes in media manipulation. His work went beyond the standard press release, though: Holiday would “leak” unauthorized photos, falsify inter-office memos, and create controversies out of thin air to get press for his clients. Holiday would do anything to make a story for the blogs—and as it turns out, so do the blogs themselves, which puts readers at a dangerous disadvantage.

After watching the brave new world of online media beat him at his own game, Holiday writes Trust Me, I’m Lying to detail his strategies to manipulate blogs, analyze the economics and workings of new media, and criticize the insincerity and inaccuracy of online reporting. Holiday writes with a clear and easy-to-follow manner, first describing the tactics blogs and marketers use to hook readers (and advertising revenue) from titillating thumbnails to exaggerated headlines. The second part of the book analyzes what happens when blogs go wrong, such as Shirley Sherrod’s firing because of a misleading, well-edited YouTube video by a political blogger. While Holiday offers no real answers for the future of our new media, Trust Me is a wake up call to consumers and creators of online media—if you think he’s telling the truth, that is.

0

Marilyn is Dead: Burlesque Noir

Marilyn is Dead! puts a new spin on burlesque. Its premise is all in the title: Marilyn Monroe, the star of Hollywood sex and glamour, is dead. While many view Monroe’s death as tragedy, Marilyn is Dead! revels in it. Described by its producers as “Dark Hollywood Glamour at it’s Finest,” Marilyn is Dead! delivers. Hosted by the delightful Amanda Lepore, the show features burlesque, singing, and tarot readings, and more. The burlesque acts are all entertaining, and one in particular shows great promise: the performer, decked out in 1960s detective drag, undresses a woman sitting on a chair. The woman is a lifeless Monroe, and as the performer dons Marilyn’s dress while discarding her own clothes, it is clear that Marilyn’s legacy is in good hands.

Marilyn is Dead! performs tonight at 10:30pm at Duane Park. Presented by Anna Evans and Delysia LaChatte. Hosted by Amanda Lepore. 

0

Alan Cumming’s Scottish General (And Company)

A retraction from my previous post about Alan Cumming’s “one-man Macbeth” — it actually has a cast of three. Cumming’s backline support consists of two other actors, Myra McFadyen and Ali Craig. They play the hospital attendants to Cumming’s crazed patient, who is doomed to repeat Shakespeare’s dark verse anew.

Cumming’s interpretation of the text is fascinating to behold. His switch from character to character occasionally feels like an exercise in madness, as he assumes the pose of a character he has just finished speaking to moments before. More often though, Cumming is an engaging figure, with his dimwitted King Duncan and sensual Lady Macbeth providing vivid layers to well-known characters. His Macbeth though was far less interesting, and I could not understand his motivations for the crown and his ultimate resignation to his fate.

The production, helmed by directors John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg, is just as inventive as Cumming’s performance. Video monitors above the stage help to personify the Weird Sisters, and the set, designed by Merle Hensel, provides all sorts of surprises, including a bird trapped in a vent that Cumming later uses for a disturbing blood ritual.

What I found most interesting about the production was the relationship between Cumming’s madman and the the attendants. They watch his ravings from an upper window, dress and carry him to bed, and even provide lines upon occasion. It’s almost a take on theatre itself–we can do a show alone in a cell, but why should we?

Macbeth played as part of the Lincoln Center Festival at the Rose Theater, July 5-14.

1

Our Arts Picks for the Summer

Kate’s picks:

Alan Cumming’s One-Man Macbeth

It was only a matter of time before this Scottish actor had to tackle this piece. And with his guests stints in Sleep No More, he’s had plenty of practice. Running July 5-14 as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Into the Woods at the Delacorte

The Public Theater is pulling no punches with its 50th Anniversary season at the Delacorte Theater. This Woods features film stars and theatre greats including Amy Adams, Donna Murphy, and Dennis O’Hare. But I’m most looking forward to Ivan Hernandez’s turn as Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf. Yum. Previews begin July 23.

Sweet Charity in Harlem

A classic musical gets a new twist, as the New Haarlem Arts Theatre reinvisons Cy Coleman’s Sweet Charity as a Latina narrative. Previews begin July 26.

Sara’s Picks:

This year’s TONY Award winning plays almost make up for an unexciting year in musical theatre, and also showed that comedy can be just as revolutionary an experience as drama. There’s the giddily energetic Peter and the Starcatcher which will leave you feeling like a kid again. Though the show’s hilarious scene-stealer, Christian Borle, is leaving the show June 30, it will be interesting to see how his replacement, Matthew Saldivar, dons the ‘stache. Another show to keep on your radar is One Man, Two Guvnors, which will be the funniest thing you’ve seen in ages, I promise. And lastly, this year’s winner for Best New Play, Clybourne Park, is a bit slow getting started, but once matters switching from living room drama to racially charged discourse, it’s edge-of-your-seat explosive and riotously funny. Cheap morning rush tickets are available for all three shows.

The statement that Too Much Light Makes the Baby Blind is not new to Off Broadway this year is only half-correct, because, in fact, it’s new every week! TMLMBB tries to perform all 30 plays (written by the cast) in 60 minutes in a race against the clock with audience members choosing the order in which they are performed. The plays range from humorous to poignant and the downright absurd. Then, after every performance a die is rolled and the sum equals the numbers of plays that will be changed for the following week. Make it an ongoing favorite!

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: