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| Front of Mural on Lexington Ave at 105th St. |
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| Wrapped around on 105th St. at Lexington Ave |
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Playbill for Newsical the Musical
My bff of thirteen years, Stacey, was visiting from Texas over the weekend. We met in college, where we did theatre together. Though I was kind of a loner and she was Miss Popularity on campus, we became instant friends. She went on to be a pharmacist, wife, and mother of two ridiculously beautiful children. And I went on to be a vagabond. We lead very different lives. And seemingly we are very different people to those around us, but we know how similar we actually are, and we've always shared something very special. I don't believe in soulmates or heroes, but if I did, she would be mine. I don't have the time to express all the ways in which she is amazing, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Anyway, we are total theatre nerds, and when together, which unfortunately is not often, you will most likely find us breaking out into various musical numbers at the top of our lungs, tunes from Hair and Rent perhaps being our favorite. We showed up at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Saturday evening to participate in the lottery for The Book of Mormon. That was a fun experience in and of itself, but unfortunately, luck was not on our side.
So we ventured to the TKTS booth to find ourselves a bargain. Avenue Q was in our price range, and though we've heard rave reviews from everyone who has seen it, and though we know it has won the Tony for Best Musical, we just weren't feeling the puppets. One of the promoters started hard-selling Newsical the Musical. It's his favorite show out right now, he says. It just won an off-Broadway Alliance Award, he says. He compares it to SNL and gushes over its hilarity. It's in our price range, we are indecisive, and its snowing, so we take his recommendation so we can be on our way. After the show, Stacey and I discussed returning to the TKTS booth and demanding reimbursement from that guy.
There were four cast members- two men, and two women- all of which were lacking energy and enthusiasm; they appeared positively bored. I can hardly blame them given the material with which they had to work. Apparently you cannot escape the Kardashians, even at the theatre. Some of the other skits involving not-yet overdone current events characters, i.e. Mitt Romney, Paula Deen, and a certain disgraced Italian ship Captain, were simply lackluster. These are people who deserve skewering, and should be easy targets if you are in the business of skewering. But the jokes were cliché, the songs were mediocre. No cutting edge or remotely intelligent comedy was being showcased. None of the actors exhibited much if any stage presence or charisma to speak of. The two male actors were so bland that they aren't even worth discussing. Christine Pedi delivered some laughs with spot-on impersonations of Joan Rivers, Liza 'with a Z' Minnelli, Nancy Grace, and Fran Drescher. I don't know if the blasé attitude she exudes is part of her schtick but if so, it came across as a combination of sleepiness and annoyance. She seems soooo over it. Christina Bianco, the token vocalist of the group, was the most dynamic of the bunch. The 'Christina Aguilera singing the national anthem' was her strongest and funniest bit, but it could have benefited from extensive and exaggerated vocal runs, as Aguilera is known to do, as well as a drunken and ungraceful exit. The show was forgettable, overall. I don't enjoy saying it, as it always makes me uncomfortable negatively criticizing the artistic endeavors of others, but it is all I can say. As the topical show follows headlines, the parodies and songs are ever-changing, which is a massively respectable feat by composer-lyricist Rick Crom. Perhaps it is thus possible that attending the production at an alternate date could render a positive review.
Speaking of SNL and hilarious musical impersonations, alumnus Jimmy Fallon does some dead on performances as Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, etc... I'm not necessarily a Fallon fan generally speaking, but I cannot deny his awesomeness when he picks up a guitar. Here he is as Neil Young, accompanied by The Boss dressed as a younger version of himself, singing LMFAO's infectious hit I'm Sexy and I Know It....so funny:
"When you think that Andy Rooney's sort of witty/ You're in denial" -- Cast of Newsical the Musical, Denial
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| Sunshine Cinema on Houston St. in the Lower East Side |
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| My prize for correctly picking The Artist for Best Picture. |
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| Our Oscar stamped hands
I've watched the Academy Awards every year since I can remember. I've never taken them in any way seriously, of course, as it is rarely about art, and often about politics and popularity, with top prizes many times going to the ruthless studio heads who employ cutthroat campaign tactics. But, in spite of the astounding superficiality, I still very much enjoy the spectacle, if for nothing else, than to mock it.
As evidenced by this blog, I love films. Celebrity adoration is something very different, and it can be hard to escape when it is so entangled in our daily 'news' outlets. I don't believe in holding celebrities in high esteem. Unless it's Jack White. He's the only celebrity I come close to worshiping. I don't want to get too serious, but I do believe that 'Hollywood' and the music industry is comprised of a lot of racists, misogynists, pedophiles, and sociopaths. I would never trust the public image of or media spin about any of these people. I can't even begin to imagine the shadiness that occurs in that dirty world. There's little wonder as to why Hollywood and Washington D.C. are inextricably linked. Anyway, I don't want my love of cinema to be misconstrued as a love of celebrity culture, because it certainly isn't, and my admiration for artists mentioned extend only to their work. Unless it's Jack White, whose entire being I admire, obviously.
As I do not own a television, I began researching viewing options in NYC weeks in advance. There were many parties being thrown for the occasion, though most came with a $25+ ticket price. As fun as some of those sounded, I was not willing to pay so much for such an event. Just as my longing for The Alamo Drafthouse (the best movie theater ever!) set in, Sunshine Cinema's post announcing that they would screen the Oscars- for free- popped up on my Facebook feed! My friend Stacey and I had a great time. They let us in at 7pm, so we got to watch a good hour and a half of red carpet coverage before the actual ceremony began. This is where many of the evening's laughs derive from, after all. The oddities of Nick Nolte alone had the whole theater howling. The seats were comfortable and it was awesome watching the show on the big screen. Major props to the staff who put together ballots and handed out prizes (posters, DVDs, movie passes) at every commercial break. It was a really fun and chillaxed night. I hope they make it an annual tradition.
As I'm a big film buff, I've usually seen all of the nominated films come awards season. However, this past year was an anomaly. It was a rough one for me, and films weren't at the top of my priority list. Of the films that were nominated, I only saw: Midnight in Paris (♥♥♥♥), Tree of Life (♥♥♥♥), My Week With Marylin (♥♥♥♥♥ for Michelle Williams, ♥♥♥ for the film), The Descendants (♥♥♥♥), Bridesmaids (♥♥♥♥♥ for Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig; ♥♥♥ for the film). Why Melancholia didn't get any love is beyond me. But isn't that why these awards are so silly? There are so many other films and performances that are equally deserving of the same praise. Comparing such diverse works of artistic expression and subjectively choosing 'the best' has no validity. Especially when you consider that the reported statistics of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that I believe I've already mentioned: 94% white, 77% male, 54% over 60 years old; 2% under age 40. Yikes! Can anyone blame Spike Lee for still being pissed off that Driving Miss Daisy took home the gold in 1989 when Do the Right Thing was snubbed for a nomination? It doesn't appear much has changed since then unfortunately. Because my knowledge was limited, I didn't have strong opinions about who should take home the golden statuettes.
Best Picture Nominations Montage
My frivolous thoughts on the show this year, which given the subject matter, cannot be anything other than completely shallow, and should be taken with several grains of salt:
The Works of Terrence Malick 1973-2011
Talking Funny, 2011
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, 2011
Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, 1997
"I'm giving you a night call to tell you how I feel/ I want to drive you through the night, down the hills/ I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear/ I'm gonna show you where it's dark, but have no fear/ There's something inside you/ It's hard to explain/ They're talking about you boy/ But you're still the same" --Kavinsky, Nightcall (song from Drive)
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| FDNY Engine 91 in Spanish Harlem |
