MY 2 CENT REVIEW: Company (The Movie)

If you know anything about me personally, you know I'm a true "Broadway baby".  I grew up with fondness for Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals (The King and I, etc.), moving onto a crush for Kander & Ebb (Cabaret, etc.), in my teens until I found my true love, Stephen Sondheim in my twenties. It happened one afternoon while sitting in my 1st bedroom in my parents house which housed a TV.  I was mindlessly watching TV when I stumbled up on "Sunday in the Park with George" featuring Mandy Pitinkin and Bernadette Peters on A & E.  I was curious at first and soon became captivated.  I never heard a musical like that.  Complex vocal and orchestral arrangements, unique and sometimes biting lyrics, incredible stage direction and innovative set design and effects.  From that moment on...I wanted to know more.  To hear more...to experience more of Sondheim's art.

I have since seen 3 different productions of "Sunday in the Park with George" and each moved me to tears. I've been blessed to see a production of "A Little Night Music", which convinced me that the song, "Send in the Clowns", (when in context), is not a horrible song.  I even converted, in some small ways, my husband who's not into musical theatre.  Last year, we went to see the incredible production of "Sondheim on Sondheim" which explored his telling of his songwriting and his career combined with stellar performances of his music from such greats as Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and the always surprising Tom Wopat (yes, Luke Duke).  I own DVDs of "Into the Woods", "Putting it Together", "Sweeney Todd" (the original cast), "Sunday in the Park with George" and the last Broadway production of the film I'm discussing now...as well as the documentary of the original cast recording.  Am I obsessed?  Yes.

Today, I was blessed to receive a surprising text message from fellow "Musical"-lover Keri asking me if I was interested in attending a Fathom Event at a movie theatre in Oak Ridge with sweet man, James.  It was latest production of the musical COMPANY, which got a great preview on this year's Tony Awards.  COMPANY is my 2nd favorite of all the Sondheim musicals.  It details the relationships of the main character "Bobby", and his interactions with 5 couples of married friends.  It's an honest, not sugar coated, sometimes cynical but in the end...endearing portrait of marriage and the views of a single man who is a voyeur into the lives of his friends.  It also details 3 dating experiences of this man who's just not sure what side of the coupled fence he'd prefer to be on at this time in his life.  I quickly threw on some clothes and out the door I went.

I am SO glad I got it together in time to see this showing.  This production of COMPANY pairs the genius of the New York Philarmonic with insanely good performances by Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Martha Plimpton (who the hell knew she could sing - and well), Christina Hendricks, Craig Bierko, Jon Cryer, the sublime Broadway grande dame of our age, Patti LuPone and that's only to name a small few of the performers who round out the cast.  The timing was incredible.  The cast so true to the material which has really stood the test of time (as the play originally was produced first in the 70s).  The themes are still both true and relevant.  The music, still moving.  The joys and struggles of marriage so beautifully set to music.  Trying to act cool, I couldn't help but clear a tear away as Neil Patrick Harris belts "Marry Me a Little" and the original add-on song "Being Alive".  Even songs from the male perspective hit notes of resonance with many married women including "Sorry, Grateful".  Add to that, Patti LuPone's almost TOO perfect belting of "Ladies Who Lunch"...it was musical gold.

I HOPE that this is a production that see's a release on DVD at some point, but in the meantime if you want to see musical theatre at some of its finest...get thee to to a theatre near you (I've seen it listed as playing this week at CARMIKE Wynnsong on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM), and give the old musical a try.  It might surprise you how relevant some of the old stuff can be.

In order to wet your appetite, I give you the first song back after the intermission (which is somewhat different than a lot of the songs in the musical).  ENJOY and buy your ticket NOW!

A Big Man Moves On...In Honor of Clarence Clemmons

I was introduced in full to Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band via my first husband, and I thank him so much for really schooling me on the Asbury Park, anthemic, rock-n-roll group that was so much better than the songs that made pop-culture charts during my years of notice (i.e. Dancing in the Dark, Born in the USA).  If you watch old footage of the whole group, what strikes me beyond the great musicianship of all the players is their sense of camaraderie.  They look like they are having fun...and most notable in the FUN department was the "Big Man", Clarence Clemmons.

The sax is not one of my favorite instruments; in fact, I feel nauseated whenever I hear Kenny G; but I always found that Clarence's sax portions seriously added to the sound and sometimes sultry flair of the E-Street Band and his smile always make me do the same.  So in honor of a great musician I wanted to highlight a few of the songs where his artistry really stick out for me.

SPIRITS IN THE NIGHT....you can't deny the sax makes this song.

BORN TO RUN...the sax phone part into the crescendo really just hits me like a ton of bricks.

R.I.P. Clarence Clemmons...6/18/11.

MY 2 CENT REVIEW: Super 8

I would tell you I'm not into sci-fi, but that's not true.  I guess I'm just tired of overused dramatic themes meant to add "heart" to a situation.  I find what I call "the dead mother" theme a bit trite.  I understand that it's a huge life changer (from experience, yes I know), but wouldn't it be just as interesting to follow the dramatic turn of a group of kids who are dealing with their town turned upside down by a strange monster thingy without the addition of the "dead mother" plot line? I feel it's a ploy a lot of storyteller's use to tug at our heartstrings without really reaching for something unique and just as heart-tug-worthy.

While a lot of people have indicated much love for SUPER 8, I didn't hate it but I didn't LOVE it either. A lot of people said it was a return to fine form for Steven Spielberg and it reminded them of his older movies.  Yeah...that was part of the problem for me.  A touch of ET, a smattering of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with the big bang boom of J. J. Abrams.  The cast was well chosen and the kids endearing (especially because they're part of the nerdy future-film makers variety).  All in all, it was a nice way to spend a few hours - but much like I felt about the TITANIC...I won't see it again anytime real soon.

Enjoy: The Nice Guy is Winning the Race!

The Jim and returned from our date night out to see our favorite comedian from Chelsea Lately, John Caparulo.  We've loved his delivery from the first time we've seen him and have enjoyed seeing some of his older work from the Wild West Comedy Tour and his solo shows on Comedy Central.  He's kinda like the "every man" that you'd just wanna hang out with.  He's the guy you hung out with when you were a kid and you still think is cool now that you've grown up.  I was pretty excited to get to see him in a full dose of comedy and was really not disappointed.

Initially, the Jim was not thrilled that I got what I called the "proctology exam" seats - front and center; but blessedly John does not really do a lot of crowd-interaction comedy.  In fact, there were only a rare amount of times he made eye contact with the audience, but don't let that fool you...he's engaging and will draw you in as he weaves his stories of airline travel (which the Jim and I appreciated since that describes our whole first year of dating), his dog/s, his life now in LA and his roots in Ohio.  I think that's why I appreciate him.  Coming from Pennsylvania, there's a similarity between the Ohio and non-metro PA experience I think.  He's funny, occasionally self-deprecating but not to an annoying degree, and just overall entertaining.

I must admit, when he did make eye contact with myself or another audience member it was based on that mutual moment of recognition that you "get" what he's talking about.  Those moments sealed the deal.  Add to that, he was very open to meeting his fans after the show and snapping some photos.  I must admit, for someone who far more appreciates the hard worker without all the flashy accoutrements, spending time with John Caparulo makes you feel good.  It's nice to see a nice guy who's working hard at his craft and having both fun and success at the same time.  I know that Knoxville isn't the coolest place to be, but you'd think he treated you to an LA show.  I love seeing the good guys finish first.  Bravo John!