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| carrobin |
 Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:56 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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The show was really pushing the musical numbers and play scenes and the stars; I guess that's good for the ratings, but it seemed wrong to push so many winners into the margins. When someone wins a special lifetime award, shouldn't they get a spotlight on the TV show rather than a little mention on the side? Which show was it that won best costumes? I guess they figure we can look all those things up on our iPhones.
I loved Frances McDormand's outfit--a red gown with a denim jacket. She gave a neat little speech, too. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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They used to do a separate show on PBS, which included all of the other winners. But I guess you're right. It just failed in the ratings, which btw, the Tony's do every year. But perhaps, since this year was such a good year for the theater, it might do better. I just don't know.
And I agree with you about some of the speeches. Much better than other award shows. To me, at least, Ellen Barkin and Frances McDormand seemed particularly heartfelt. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:08 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Oh, I almost forgot. Chris Rock's intro was hysterical. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:49 am |
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I couldn't watch the Tonys last night because the Dallas Mavs were playing the Miami Heat in the sixth championship game of the NBA. The Mavs won going away and won the championship 4-2 over the highly favoured Heat and the overrated, narcissist bigmouth, Lebraun James. I couldn't be happier about the result.
Oh yeah, they won in Miami. Even better. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:53 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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One guy who won thanked his parents and added "You better not be watching the Mavericks game!" Good laugh on that. I hope they TiVO'd it too.
When "The Book of Mormon" opened, I saw the ads on Comedy Central and they weren't very appealing--basically, they emphasized the "South Park" relationship and "obscenity and profanity." I enjoyed "South Park" for a season or so but haven't seen it in years, and the obscenity & profanity boast indicated (to me at least) that it was a comedy for adolescent boys. Then it got rave reviews and now it seems to be hotter than "The Producers" in its heyday. Who knew? So now I want to see it, of course. (The song on the Tonys didn't knock me out, but I guess most of the show's musical numbers and dialogue would have to be censored on TV.) |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:01 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Enjoyable Tony show. Why can't the Oscar night be equally entertaining?
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:53 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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I find the Mormon missionaries so annoying that I'm not sure I could sit through a musical about them, even if it is pure mockery.
Loved the Warhorse sets and puppets, and the other segments that I saw. Would certainly pay to see film/tv actors like Frances McDormand or Jim Parsons or Ellen Barkin on the stage. Not that a play/musical has to have film/tv derived casting, but I can see how that helps...and maybe sort of thrill to see someone used to getting 14 takes, playing without a net. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:29 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Besides "Book of Mormon," I want to see "How to Succeed in Business"--mostly for Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette, since I saw the show back when Matthew Broderick played Finch. There was some disappointment in the media that Radcliffe wasn't nominated, so it was nice to see Larroquette win and mention him in his speech. (I still love Larroquette best as the sociopathic killer on "The Practice"--in three brilliant episodes where he dodged justice every time.) |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:03 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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| Went to see the local Flatwater Shakespeare Co. production of AMN'sD with both kids, each who now have very attractive BF/GF and are as strangely entranced by their partners as are the young lovers in the play. It was a weird experience, as art seemed to reflect life with an intense immediacy, heightened by the staging -- basically a small area tucked in the middle of folding chairs in a little downtown nook of a park. We had front row seats, which meant being feet or inches from the actors and occasionally having them fall in our laps and direct lines our way. A wonderful moment in the craftsmen's play when Bottom is hammily dragging out his death and several rescue vehicles chose to converge somewhere nearby downtown at that moment, sirens wailing away. The actor, a local theater veteran, completely went with it, and everyone had hysterics. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:30 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Well, I saw "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" last night, and it was terrific--a full-blown, colorful, exuberant Broadway musical comedy like I haven't seen since "The Producers." Daniel Radcliffe was adorable as the sweetly manipulative Finch, and John Larroquette was hilarious as the awkward executive who falls for every manipulation. It's all in 1960ish pastels and brights, artfully staged with stairs and platforms and skyscraper "views." Now I want to see the original movie again. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:16 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| I've only seen the movie and it was never one of my favorites. But I never really liked the score, so you can't go by me. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| There were several songs I didn't remember at all--and I saw the Matthew Broderick production a few decades ago, so I must have heard them then. But the standouts were "The Brotherhood of Man" (even better than the Today Show and Letterman versions) and the "he's thinking/she's thinking" number, and the one I liked best was the "Go, Old Ivy" number--Radcliffe following Larroquette's esoteric college cheer, getting into it with enthusiasm, the two of them prancing to "rip, rip, rip the Chipmunks"--that one really brought down the house. Radcliffe is so short and Larroquette is so tall that they were funny just to watch, and when dancing together--well, ROTF comes to mind. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:41 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I went to see the live broadcast from the Met of Philip Glass's "Satyagraha," libretto by Glass and Constance DeJong. This is a four-hour opera on Gandhi (including intermissions) with libretto in Sanskrit consisting of quotations from the Bhagavad Gita. Some of these are projected during the opera, sometimes on the back wall, sometimes on newspapers held by the chorus, but much of the libretto is left untranslated and used sort of like tone poems; the intent is for the visuals to communicate the story. Sometimes we have news footage in the background.
The opera covers Gandhi's years in South Africa when he was forming the techniques that he later used to such effect in India. The three acts each have a cultural figure in the background; Tolstoy writing in the first act, Tagore in the second, and Martin Luther King giving a speech (actually gesturing) with his back to the audience in the third. Tolstoy is the past, Tagore Gandhi's present, and King his future; they also in a sense represent mentor, fellow and disciple.
The Met's staging was strange. The floor of the stage looked like newspaper printed on wood rather than paper, and newspaper plays a major role in the staging. In one memorable moment, a rain of flyers fell on the stage. In the first scene, when Gandhi is taking inspiration from the
Bhagavad Gita, Krishna (shining blue) and Arjuna appear on stage, and we see a battle in the background fought by giant papier mache puppets of a god and his rival. In the second act, Gandhi returns from India to be greeted by hostility and is surrounded by more papier mache puppets made of newsprint; I think these represent the hostility of the news media, but it might just mean the stage director is very weird. This same scene has a lot of Englishmen seated and singing at the beginning while Indians come out and shine their shoes; for some reason the Englishmen have wildly colored moustaches (and sometimes beards and sideburns), including scarlet, green and powder blue.
The music is nice but low-key and repetitious. I started to doze off a couple of times in act II, but woke up when people burnt their registration cards. I think the most effective moment was in Act III, which involves the New Castle March, which is a model for a lot of the later protests of the 20th century. As I said Martin Luther King has been giving a (silent) speech in the background, and is essentially framed in a window. Finally the stage opens and you see he is addressing an audience of storm clouds. The clouds gradually clear while Gandhi is singing his (very nice) final number, and an image of King's audience is projected on the sky. Gandhi sees this and King finally turns to look at him.
I can't say I loved the opera or hated it, but it certainly was a very odd experience. |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:54 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:31 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The local theatre shows these opera broadcasts regularly, both the original broadcast and a rerun. There does seem to be an audience for them. There were several dozen people there and nobody left. There are seven more in the series, including Verdi I intend to avoid (we don't connect at all), and a couple that actually look tempting.
If they did Rossini or Mozart, I'd be there in an instant. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:40 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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Last night I went to see "Seminar," mostly because of Alan Rickman (whom I admired way before Professor Snape), but also because I thought it might have something in common with my favorite play/film, "Butley." And it does, though it's a completely different thing.
Rickman is Lawrence, a "star" writer/editor who charges $5,000 per person for his hard-to-get-into seminars, and in this case, there are four aspiring writers struggling to cope with his cold-eyed criticism. Lily Rabe is Kate, in whose large apartment (some funny comments about rent control could be missed by out-of-towners) the seminars are taking place. We learn a good bit about each student and their relationships with each other, and at a high point of the drama we learn a lot about the writer/editor, too. The play has plenty to say about writing, publishing, ambition, becoming a "whore" vs. being an unappreciated artist, and other aspects of life both fictional and nonfictional; I want to buy the play and read it because there are so many eloquent and/or witty lines that fly past too quickly to sink in. I highly recommend it, especially for anyone who reads the New Yorker or has taken a writing course.
By the way, the theater was full--not sold out, but there were quite a lot of people for a frigid Tuesday night. I was surprised. |
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