Company (2011)

Misery Loves Company

by Preston Sinclair

"But alone is alone, not alive."   Robert

  

Photo courtesy Broadway.com

      Everyone assumes that Stephen Sondheim's Company is about relationships, but that's not necessarily so. It could be about loneliness, better yet the fear of being alone. Why are every single one of the couples together? Precisely because none of them wants to be alone.

     I saw the 2011 filmed concert of Company at the Clayton Opera House during a TIPAF (Thousand Islands Performing Arts Fund) Big Screen Event. The Clayton Opera House is a beautifully renovated performance art venue located in the beautiful Thousand Islands in New York State. I watched it with friends as we sat at a round table covered in a white linen tablecloth and snacked on popcorn and sodas.
    Originally filmed before a live audience at Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center with The New York Philharmonic, the movie was captivating to see in HD on a big screen which covered the entire area of the original theater stage.  It was an amazing viewing experience using the Digital Theater Network of Specticast. I felt like I was watching live theater at a movie theater. Sometimes, it appeared a little too up close and personal as I could see every detail including a microphone sticking out of an actor's hair, which took me out of the moment.

  

   Neil Patrick Harris' Robert reacts to his friends opinion of him as if to say, 'Wait, what?' He's sincerely befuddled by their attitude, as any naturally single guy would be. His friends are jealous of him, and he's jealous of his friends. Yet, it's not that simple. I think Greta Garbo once explained it best when she said, 'I never said I vant to be alone, I said I vant to be left alone. There is a world of difference.' It is a fine line to tippy-toe and Neil plays the balancing act to perfection.
     Patti LuPone's Joanne was, well, Patti Lupone being Joanne. She played Joanne with a certain class and elegance that implied that she was one of the 'ladies who lunch'. Patti's Joanne was on the inside looking out.
     I must digress when I say that I saw Elaine Stritch's one woman show 'At Liberty' at the Adirondack Theater Festival in Glens Falls NY in 2004.  Elaine Stritch's Joanne showed a certain disdain for 'the ladies who lunch'. Elaine's Joanne was on the outside looking in.  Watching her reign in her anger sends a chill up my spine.  Both ladies needed the vodka stingers to ease the pain, but for different reasons. Neither of which were wrong.

 

            One of the funniest performances was Katie Finneran's Amy as she sang Not Getting Married Today. She had us all rolling on the floor laughing in stitches. Talk about an anxiety attack, she nailed it. Stephen Colbert (Harry), Martha Plimpton (Sarah), and Jon Cryer (David) were fun to watch, as always. 

     The three girlfriends were great. Anika Noni Rose (Marta), Christina Hendricks (April), and Chryssie Whitehead (Kathy)formed the composite of Robert's ideal woman, vivacious, sexy, smart. The sad irony is that each of these women were all three of these things, and Robert was unable to see that until it was too late.
     The biggest star of the show was Stephen Sondheim's music. I remember growing up during the seventies as a teenager seeing and hearing songs like 'Side by Side by Side' and 'Another Hundred People' being performed on variety shows like The Carol Burnett Show. I didn't really understand that they were from a Broadway musical called Company. It was more like they were part of the background music in my life at the time. It's nice to be able to put them in the proper perspective now that I'm older and can say 'aha! I get that song now'.
     The ending of Company begs many questions. Would Robert's friends still be there for his fortieth birthday? Would Robert survive to see his fiftieth birthday? If so, did he do it alone, or did he finally find a partner? Company is like a time capsule from 1970. In some ways, the social mores of the time still exist, in other ways they have been changed forever.

 Resource links:

Just Jared -A nice picture gallery.

Broadway.com

IMDB.com

PostStar.com Elaine Stritch article

The Glass Menagerie on Broadway 2013

Drama Ensues In Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie

By Preston Sinclair

Photo by Michael J Lutch

"I am disappointed,
but I am not discouraged."
                 Tom

      The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is that perfect storm of sense and memory that rarely occurs in anyone's life. I almost can't believe that I was there to see it. The circumstances that brought me to the Booth Theater on October 26th, 2013 at 2PM most certainly won't happen again in my lifetime. To have shared it with nine friends, some of them old and some of them new, was a sublime experience.
     Zachary Quinto (Tom), Celia Keenan-Bolger(Laura), Cherry Jones(Amanda), and Brian J. Smith(Jim) came together to produce a single effect, and that effect was extraordinary. Sometimes the word ensemble can imply mediocrity or sameness, however that is not the case here. I prefer to think of them as a team, each bringing his or her own strengths to the stage, as they perform their dance around family dysfunction and social graces.

    

Photo by Michael J Lutch

Zachary Quinto's Tom moves around the stage with a feline grace punctuated by sudden tics which signal his growing inner conflict. His outbursts are accompanied by violent Tourette's like jerks of his arm.  He gradually loses his ability to stay in control of even his own memory as his family methodically drives him to drink.
     There was a lively discussion over drinks at Sardi's after the show about the dialect Zachary used. Was it country, or Southern, or mid-Atlantic? It took me a couple of days to place it. I remember a friend of mine who grew up in New Orleans explained to me one time that all the great port cities on the east coast have unique accents due the amalgamation of British, French, Spanish languages. Therefore, Tom's accent could be explained by his having spent time in the merchant marines, since he was narrating the story after the fact.  
     Then it hit me where I'd heard that voice before. It was the voice of Tennessee Williams. I had in the past watched various clips on You-tube from Tennessee Williams interviews, documentaries, and biographies.  I realized that Zachary had nailed Williams' wry humorous tone of voice. 
    

Photo by Michael J Lutch

     Celia Keenan-Bolger's Laura is the terrified tiny dancer, the last unicorn who has her horn broken by her encounter with the gentleman caller. While some see her as weak and damaged, I believe she was stubborn and full of will. After the play, the cast was accepting donations for Broadway Cares, the HIV/Aids charity, at the exits to the auditorium. I remember seeing Celia, still in character. She really is petite. Someone asked her if she was okay. She bravely nodded in the affirmative that she was as she gave the next donor an electric smile. (I had already given at The Gentleman Caller's little red bucket.)
      One of the quintessential moments in the play is the kiss between Laura and the Gentleman Caller. One must remember that this is a memory play. In reality, the kiss probably amounted to a peck on the cheek, however Laura and Jim held their intimate kiss on the mouth for what seemed like an eternity. There was nothing passionate, nor even sexy about it, yet this image will be emblazoned on my mind for eternity.
    

Photo by Sarah Krulwich

   Cherry Jones' Amanda  reminds me of my great-aunt Ruth, God rest her soul. She was a christian martyr as well. She was the last of her generation who was able to pass withering judgement with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her lips, a lost art indeed. 
     One of my favorite scenes is when Amanda 'interrogates' Tom about the gentleman caller (Jim). She prances across the stage as she plays "twenty questions" like a school girl. It was a deliberate and endearing moment at the same time. 
    

Photo by Michael J Lutch

Brian J. Smith's Jim, The Gentleman Caller, was just a big flirt. He flirted with Laura. He flirted with Amanda. Hell, he even flirted with Tom in his own bro-mantic sort of way. The point is that he couldn't help himself. Jim struggled with his own demons, his own version of low self esteem if you will. His recklessness and eagerness to please is what turned this story on it's path toward tragedy, and the truth.
     When Brian's Gentleman Caller first entered I noticed that he spoke with a slight sibilant 's'. Some may consider this a minor speech impediment. Later, Jim announced that he was taking a class in public speaking for self improvement. Perhaps this was the weakness that he alluded to when he told Laura that he wasn't perfect, or perhaps it was something else.

     As is always the case with Tennessee Williams, drama ensues.




Resource Links:

Craig's To Do List:  Arts and Entertainment editor for a CBS affiliate.

The New Yorker Review

USA Today review

Program for the 2013 revival on Broadway

A New Directions paper book on sale in the lobby for $12.

The Donald as Nero in Star Trek (2009)

    
 The Donald and I watched Star Trek (2009) the other night. Donald seemed especially interested in the scenes featuring Nero (Eric Bana). Now I realize that I've seen this look before. It all makes sense now, I'm living with an alien!  Not just any alien, but a Romulan at that. It explains alot: the hiding under the bed, the strange eating habits, the inability to be held.  Please compare the photo above with photo below.  I find the resemblance striking.  They even have the same tattoo on their forehead.  I fear for the whole planet Earth. I have to make sure Donald doesn't get his hands on any Red Matter.

The Donald as Smeagol

Okay, Mister Gollum. Settle down now. You'll get your precious catnip. I'm not about to argue with those claws which reminds me that I need to trim them before our next visit to the vet.  For some reason, this picture reminds me of this scene from Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.  They both have that same crazed expression in their eyes.
    I gave Donald some catnip while I wrote this...Donald! Take that lampshade off your head.  I'm sorry, I have to go. Please enjoy the video.

The Barefoot Contessa: The Movie

 I started thinking about Ava Gardner after I saw her in Night Of The Iguana, which I have previously reviewed. I remembered that she was in The Barefoot Contessa, and for some reason I thought this was also based on a work by Tennessee Williams. I think I got it confused with The Roman Spring Of Mrs Stone. Perhaps because he had a character called the Contessa in it.

Associated Press

 

     On a recent visit to one of my favorite used book stores in Syracuse NY now called Books And Melodies I found a copy of The Barefoot Contessa on DVD. I became so excited because I'd forgotten it was a Humphrey Bogart film as well. It's one of those films I've seen snippets of from documentaries on Turner Classic Movies, but had never watched the whole film from beginning to end.

     Here's the trailer which is included on the DVD.

  

 I found this movie to be much darker and more disturbing than I thought it would be. I was prepared for a light-hearted rags to riches story about a seniorita. Yet I got drawn into the story of a princess deceived by a dark, demented prince. The film begins at a funeral, however I honestly had no idea how The Barefoot Contessa had met her tragic end. I had assumed it would be a senseless car accident, a-la Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco. 
    I find it very ironic that The Barefoot Contessa was kind of a slut. She slept around with various gypsies that one could assume were well endowed, or else why would she sleep with them.  Yet, she marries a man who is at best left impotent after a war injury. At worst, he has no penis at all. This is left to the audience's imagination. 
    It was brought to my attention by a fellow movie critic that Edmond O'Brien won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. That's okay if you like guys playing obtuse idiots.  Probably one of the most chilling performances in the film was Warren Stevenson's portrayal of Kirk Edwards, the Hollywood mogul. Talk about a control freak. I love the scene, Goliath vs Goliath where his fists are clenched and he throws a hissy fit.  Please note the mid-century architecture at the top of the screen. If there were an Oscar nomination for best background actor, the woman on the far right should have won it. She's like, 'One step closer and I'll bitch slap you, honey.'

United Artists

    Anyway, I highly recommend this movie to any rainy day drama queens out there.

The Donald

Question: Where does a thirteen pound three legged ginger tabby sleep?

Answer: Anywhere he wants to.

Lana Del Rey: Summertime Sadness

     I love nothing, if I don't love irony drenched in melancholia. When I first heard Summertime Sadness I was at work in a retail/warehouse, where the acoustics are amazing by the way. When I got home from work I had to immediately search for it on Youtube. This is when I discovered Lana Del Rey.
   Of course the version I heard on the radio was the Cedric Gervais remix. However, if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have discovered the original that was released last year (2012). The original video looks like it was shot in grainy 8mm format which lends it a retro look.  
   I'm not a hipster and I don't pretend to be one. I'm not saying that, Hey she's cool now because I like her music. What I'm saying is that, I'm in love.  I want to know who the blonde in the video is. Is it her lover, her sister, her best friend? This song makes me think and that's what I love about it.
    I thought to myself, my God, it's summertime and I'm sad.  Actually it was more of a late summer sense of regret.  No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to get everything done that I wanted to do. Yes, I went to the beach, but only once. Not every weekend like I had intended.
   Try not to take anything for granted. Don't blow off that Memorial Day family reunion, or Fourth Of July picnic, or Labor Day get together. You may get a phone call in the fall that a loved one or friend who was there has passed, and that was your last chance to see them. That you will have to live with for the rest of your life. Is it really so difficult to make time to eat a hamburger, or hot dog with your friends and go to work a little bit later? 
   Carpe diem.
  

My Summer Haiku

Summer

By Preston Sinclair

Summer sun reflects

On Lake Ontario shore

Reading and writing

Great blue herons fly

Orange evening shadows spread

Over green canvas

Silver waters edge

I’m holding my partner’s hand

Lines drawn between us

With words unspoken

Music plays in the background

Jazz and Classical

Chris Craft wooden boat

Sport coup racing over waves

Full of excitement

Gleaming lacquered wood

Feel the cool, wet sparkling spray

Blue skies overhead

The ice cream cone drips,

River gulls scream over head,

They light, then silence.

With sepia tone

Photographs in our mind’s eye

We say bienvenue

(c) Preston Sinclair 2013

The Wedding Date

     OMG...I am so confused. All this time I've been listening to Michael Buble's Save The Last Dance For Me from his CD 'It's Time' and I thought it was from the dance scene in the movie The Wedding Date. The song is actually Sway, another Michael Buble song. I love Debra Messing in this film, she was kind of hot before she got a little puffy in Smash. But that's another blog.  Dermot Mulrony is easy on the eyes as well, however I'm a little concerned because his expression, or lack thereof,  was always a little too serious. Male Botox may have been the culprit.
      I happened to catch the last half of The Wedding Date on TBS after I came home from work the other day.  I came in on the scene where everyone is gathering at the family estate before the wedding, and everyone figures out what is going on and drama ensues. I was able to pretty quickly decide who the players were and piece together what I had missed. Debra Messing is always a joy to watch. She always has that Lucille Ball thing going on. 
     This film is what made me a Michael Buble fan.

     Here's the dance scene from the film.

      Here's the Michael Buble's official Youtube video. It's kind of cute as well.


Wait! What?! Save The Last Dance For Me really was in the movie The Wedding Date. I just had forgotten which scene it was. Whew, Nevermind.

     Perhaps I'm not the only one who's confused. Here's a nice compilation video from Youtube for Save The Last Dance.

     I'd rather go to a wedding lonely and bored than pay a gigolo to accompany me, but that's just me.

Re: Pet Shop Boys: Vocal

     This video makes me want to get up and dance. It's vintage Pet Shop Boys. Not everyone will get it today, but twenty years from now someone will remember dancing to this song on the dance floor somewhere in New York, Berlin, or Rio. And that's all that really matters.  The Pet Shop Boys are masters at creating the sense memory, the misty foggy pounding beat, the light and smell of the club.  As time goes on, this memory become nostalgia, and the music elicits a feeling, an emotion. This is the first song from The Boys in a long time that takes me back to Introspective, one of my favorite albums of the eighties.  I remember dancing to Left To My Own Devices in my bedroom at night, home alone.
     I've really missed Neil Tennant's choir boy tenor. He sounds as hopeful and at times joyous as ever. I remember when they first started using the words alternative music back in the eighties on the radio in reference to bands like Depeche Mode, and New Order, Bronski Beat. Other than a few songs that crossed over into pop such as West End Girls, I've always considered The Pets to be the alternative. I prefer the alternative.
     The video for Vocal is a declaration. It says, 'Hey everybody, this is the kind of music I like!'. In today's world of social media where everyone is sharing and uploading, that's a very good message to send.   I'm proud of The Pet Shop Boys, and I'm glad to have survived to hear a new Pet Shop Boys song.

Resource Links:
Pet Shop Boys Official Web Site

Wikipedia: Pet Shop Boys info.

A blurb about Your Heart Belongs to Me

Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dean Koontz always moves quickly up my 'to read' list in the summertime. I went to the beach, sat in my folding chair, ate trail mix, sipped bottled water and read YHBTM as sea gulls flew over head. It fit right in with the surfing motif of the story. The rapid pace and movement of the story kept me reading, even when at times I didn't like what was happening. Ryan Perry is a damaged protagonist, both physically and psychologically. Really, I thought he was an a**hole most of the time. I never understood why he didn't go the authorities at some point. Even if the police thought he was delusional, it would have added an element of common sense to his behavior to which the reader could relate. Perhaps the fact that Koontz didn't get bogged down in so many details is what made it such a quick, easy read. 
     I remember when YHBTM came out. I was working part time at Borders, before it went bankrupt. Somehow, I always felt personally responsible for that, as if I weren't selling enough books. I thought the cover of the hardcover edition was eye catching, almost lurid. I forgot about it until recently I was browsing my local used book store and found the paperback edition and remembered that I hadn't read it yet so I picked it up.
     I'm a fan of the Odd Thomas series and Odd Apocalypse is also on my summer reading list , although I think I will read something else before I dive into another Koontz novel.

View all my reviews

Cloud Atlas: A blurb about the movie

Courtesy WB

        Having finished reading the book a couple of weeks ago, I can safely say that I think I liked the movie better.  I had some real problems with the book which I outlined in my previous blurb. I really had no idea what to expect, and I'd seen a trailer for the movie at the theater before I'd read the book.
        That said, the movie wasn't great. I mean, I was relieved that it wasn't bad. The Wachowskis took a lot of liberties with the stories and edited them in such a way that they made more sense than the book did. For example, they hammered on the Sonmi-451 connection in the Zachry and Meronym story. In the book the idea that Sonmi-451 became a Goddess was much more subtle and understood. To hear Meronym explain to Zachry that Sonmi-451 was a real person was somehow jarring, but necessary.
        By the same token, the editing was sometimes brutal. At one point in the Luisa Ray story she appears to be walking down an urban Californian street for no apparent reason, somehow in contact with her protector when 1970's cars start smashing into each other like in the movie Bullet. 
         Coincidentally, my favorite story in the movie is the same as my favorite story in the book, 'The Ghastly Ordeal Of Timothy Cavendish'. Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Cavendish was spot on. Cavendish wasn't the sharpest publisher in the clearing house, if you get my drift. He was an opportunist and silly, but he didn't deserve to be treated by his brother as he was. He was the ultimate underdog and we were rooting for him all the way. As an aside, Mr. Meeks(Robert Fyfe) said, 'I know, I know,' exactly the way I heard it in my head when I read the book, and this scene itself is worth the price of the rental. 
     In true Wachowski fashion (aka The Matrix) some of the best scenes were in the An Orison Of Sonmi-451 story. Deep down inside, I think this is the story they really wanted to tell but they couldn't buy the rights separate from the rest. 
     The trailer I saw at the theater made this much more of a Tom Hanks vehicle and that was a mistake. The moguls seem to have realized this and tried to fix that in the trailer below. If anything, Halle Barry played much more of a pivotal role in the stories of Half Lives: The First Luisa Ray Mystery, and  Sloosha's crossin And Evrythin After. In my opinion, Halle carried this movie. She gave us the link to An Orison Of Sonmi-451, and Letters From Zedelghem.



    

          One brilliant idea was to use the same actor in different roles in the movie.  This may seem like a spoiler, but at no point in the book is it even implied that any of these people moved on in some karmic fashion to another life. The only true thing in the movie is that the comet birthmark moves from person to person, and this is what requires the leap of faith.
    
     If you haven't read the book, I still recommend the movie. The editing at the end is very brisk, however if you pay attention you'll still get it.


Resource Links:
Lost Archives Cafe: Cloud Atlas, A blurb about the book

IMDB:Cloud Atlas 

Cloud Atlas: A blurb about the book

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell


     As I a writer, I understand what it is like to have several short stories filed away at the back of the closet. There is sometimes the urge to tie those short stories together with a few hooks, and a piece of thread and form a novel. This urge should be avoided at all costs, even by a writer as talented as David Mitchell.
     Let me just say that Cloud Atlas is a collection of wonderful short stories. Each one has a unique voice. They are from different genres, and written in different styles which makes each one distinct and memorable, so that when the stories are broken up and interspersed one among the other, the reader is still able to travel from one time to another without becoming too confused. I say 'too' confused, because it is a little confusing trying to figure out exactly what it is that connects one story to another. Is it the birthmark? Is it the music, or the orison? Is it the clouds themselves? It would be better if the connection was intrinsic to the plot of each story, instead it seems like a mash up of coincidences and gimmicks.
     One of my favorite things about Mitchell's stories is that they move forward in time, via a car chase, or by boat, or even on foot. At some point in time they vicariously intersect. One character knew another, or one heard the other one's music, or one saw the other one's hologram, or one read the diary of another. Whenever we get bogged down in allegorical wish wash we somehow manage to plow forward.
     My least favorite story was An Orison Of Sonmi-451. The prose was regurgitated, like a voice over that would not shut up. It strikes me as a treatment for a screenplay. To be honest, they could have made a cool sci-fi movie out of this story alone, but no they had to get greedy. My favorite story was The Ghastly Ordeal Of Timothy Cavendish. It was written in a pithy, dishy voice that made me want to hear more. I can't even remember what connection it had to the other stories and I don't care. Maybe this is why I liked it.
     I love reading short stories. I think they are an art form unto themselves. Unfortunately, my gut tells me that somewhere a publisher told Mitchell that they couldn't publish it this way, and could he possibly turn it into a novel? People used to read short stories in magazines and now magazines are all side bars. I wish David Mitchell could have found a proper home for each of these excellent stories.
     The most annoying thing about the movie tie-in version is that the last few pages are an essay by Mitchell called Based On The Novel By. Just When I think I have a few more pages of the story to read, boom, it abruptly ends and I'm subjected to this giggly name dropping story about how the novel was turned into a movie. It's the most pretentious thing I've read in a long, long time
     I haven't seen the movie, and don't know how I'd be able to sit through it now that I've read the book because all I will be thinking is , how did they make a movie out of this beautiful mess?


View all my reviews

Pia Zadora: Heartbeat of Love?!

Mug shot courtesy Las Vegas Metropolitan Police

     Pia, Pia, Pia. What kind of a mess has she gone and gotten herself into this time?  The only reason I ask myself this question is because this whole sordid story reminds me of the first, and the last time I heard the name Pia Zadora...until now.  At first I thought to myself, where have I seen that face, where have I heard that name? I had to do some Googling, and Youtubing but I finally figured it out.
     It was 1989. The not so best of times, the not so worst of times. I was living in Washington DC and frequented a video bar called JR's for Sunday afternoon happy hour with friends. They used to serve one dollar vodka well drinks and I was partial to Cape Cods at the time. 
     I remember when Pia's video for Heartbeat Of Love came on the overhead video screen.  We were merciless. We were livid with moral indignation that she had ripped off Madonna's Express Yourself video. I mean, c'mon, one can only stand so many renditions of Metropolis.  One of my friends whispered in my ear, "She posed in Penthouse, you know." Somehow, this didn't surprise me.
     Today people are piqued because Lady Gaga's Born This Way sounds like Madonna's Express Yourself. Pffft. You people have no idea the lengths that we would go to in 1989 to have Madonna's back. Now the music wonks on the internet debate about which video was released first, and who produced it, and how much each one cost and blah, blah, blah, but let me tell you that perception is everything.
     All I really remember about Heartbeat Of Love now is that she walked around with a vague expression on her face with wet frazzled hair.  I couldn't remember the name of the song, or even what it sounded like. Believe me, I had to sit through some painful Pia Zadora videos, like the one with Jermaine Jackson, to finally figure out which one it was that I'd seen before.
     Here is the video to Heartbeat Of Love.

     And here is Madonna's Express Yourself video.

     Heartbeat of Love clunks and grinds along like some of those cogs in the machine need oiling. My favorite part of the song is the rap bridge that comes in about two thirds of the way through it. I had forgotten all about it. We hear this all the time on the radio today, kind of like Jennifer Lopez feat. Pit Bull. Back in the day it sounded strange, and juxtaposed.  They didn't know how to make rap flow with the fizzy electronic sound of eighties music.  Still, Pia should have given the rapper credit. And to whom is the creepy, goofy looking guy really giving the finger, Madonna perhaps?
   Express Yourself is like Art Deco in motion. The song empowers the Betty Boops of the world  to reach for more in life. Directed by David Fincher, it has a patina and glow about it that reminds one of actual cinema. (No, wait, maybe the patina and glow was me after too many Cape Cods at JR's.)
    Sadly, it was poor judgement in her professional, and personal life that brought Pia Zadora to this place. I'm not going to rehash the whole domestic dispute story here. All I can do is say that I feel the same way now about the situation as I did in 1989. Shame on you, Pia Zadora. Shame on you.

Resource links:
CNN 

Wikipedia: Express Yourself