Arts and Entertainment: play

Showing posts with label play. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2021

Reading in 2020 Vision

Last year I was actually able to meet all 24 of Book Riot's 2019 Read Harder challenges, so I figured why not try for it again in 2020? And unlike for 2019, most of the 2020 challenges actually sounded interesting and potentially like actual challenges.

Due to the global pandemic, I read a lot more e-books than usual, which made some of the challenges based on page numbers a little more tricky as "pages" in e-books can be more or fewer than the same book in print. So I tried to base my titles for those challenges on what the print book length was in my library's catalog record.

Once again, my book tastes include children's, teen, graphic, and audio book titles. Every one of those is a valid reading choice, and I have no interest in those who want to argue otherwise. In fact, in some cases, those were requirements of the challenge!

As always, I link to my LibraryThing reviews of each book; click on the titles for more on my thoughts and feelings for each title. Just because I include a title here does not mean I enjoyed it and/or recommend it.

Some titles would fit into multiple categories but I tried as much as possible to contain them to one "best fit" category. However, I did put multiple titles under some challenges if they fit the category and were not used elsewhere.

In the end, I was able to meet 23 of the 24 categories, a respectable achievement even if not a perfect one. For most of the categories, I actually read several titles that fit that challenge. For the one challenge I didn't meet and for the titles that were more of a stretch, I'm not overly concerned because most of these challenges were ones I had done already in the past and will likely do again in the future; it just wasn't in the cards for this year.

While overall I enjoyed doing this challenge again this year, I'm not sure that I will do it again next year. There are already so many reading commitments on my plate between book clubs and awards committee work, and this sometimes feels like another assignment, leaving me with no time to read books entirely for personal enjoyment and no other reason/deadline.

Without any further ado, here are the 24 challenges and the titles I read to meet them in 2020.

1. Read a YA nonfiction book

Chasing King's Killer by James L. Swanson
Super You by Emily V. Gordon

Super You is one of those stretch books; the author's introduction says it is for teens to women in their 40s, which is a pretty big range.

2. Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color

On Beauty by Zadie Smith*
More to the Story by Hena Khan^
Pippa Park Raises Her Grade by Erin Yun
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

On Beauty is a loose retelling of E.M. Forster's Howards End for the new millennium, with a cast consisting largely of Black characters. More to the Story is a middle-grade novel that is a modern retelling of Little Women with a group of Pakistani-American sisters. Pippa Park Raises Her Grade is another middle-grade book; this one loosely uses the framework of Great Expectations to structure its narrative of a Korean-American girl trying to fit in. A Song Below Water features two Black teenaged protagonist who live in an America where mythical creatures such as sirens exist, but those mythos are often different from the traditional ones; for instance, being an eloko makes one beloved rather than feared.

3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman

Blue Monday by Nicci French
Murder at an Irish Wedding by Carlene O'Connor
Murder in an Irish Churchyard by Carlene O'Connor

Blue Monday by Nicci French is perhaps a bit of a stretch book as well; the description said it was about a missing male child, but the prologue opens up on a missing female child.

4. Read a graphic memoir

Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir by Roz Chast

5. Read a book about a natural disaster

I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens by Lauren Tarshis
I Survived Hurricane Katrina by Lauren Tarshis
I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis

6. Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

7. Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII

Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

Set in the 1st century AD, the 1960s, the 1950s, and the 1980s, respectively. I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept the 1980s as "historical fiction," but if the shoe fits...

8. Read an audiobook of poetry

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

9. Read the LAST book in a series

Hush Hush by Laura Lippman
Murder at an Irish Christmas by Carlene O'Connor
Unusual Uses for Olive Oil by Alexander McCall Smith

Hush Hush is the twelfth book in a series and there appear to be no other books in that series since this title's publication in 2015. So it seems to fit the bill here, although this is one of those 'letter of the law, not spirit of the law' situations because I believe the idea behind this prompt to finally finish a series you had started rather than accidentally picking up the last book in a series, as happened here. Murder at an Irish Christmas is the most recent (October 2020) book of the Murder in an Irish... series but it won't actually be the last forever, as there is Murder in an Irish Bookshop scheduled for release in February 2021.

10. Read a book that takes place in a rural setting

Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr
The Cat Who Ruled the Town by May Nakamura
Christmas Cocoa Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Alex Erickson
Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor
Otherwood by Pete Hautman
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
Squirm by Carl Hiaasen
Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman
Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf

It seems like Book Riot is considering things set in small towns as "rural" as well, so this challenge was not as difficult as I thought it might be. These are set in small towns in these places, respectively:

Norway (a remote mountain village is the tableau for this tale)
Alaska (a town with a small population is the reason for this true tale)
Ireland/Indiana/Ohio (being in a small town plays a big role in these mysteries)
Ireland (same as above)
Minnesota (the woods and preserving them are a central part of this book)
Vermont (a dairy farm is the setting for the majority of this book)
Florida/Montana (nature, particularly wild and endangered animals, are critical to this story)
New Mexico (NM being a U.S. territory at the time plays a significant role in the plot)
Vermont? (a hobby farm is featured in this story; I don't think a specific location is ever given but the author lives in Vermont so I assume it was set there)
Sweden (assorted farms, forests, and other rural places are the backdrop for this magic story)

11. Read a debut novel by a queer author

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

12. Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own

Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs by Rachel Jeffs
C.S. Lewis on Joy, compiled by Lesley Walmsley
C.S. Lewis on Love, complied by Lesley Walmsley
Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein^

The C.S. Lewis books are actually quotations-style books, not strictly memoirs. But many of the quotations are direct from his more autobiographical books. Those are some real streeeetch ones. Pure is part memoir, part interviews, and part statistics -- all compelling.

13. Read a food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love, edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond

This is maybe one of those stretch books, as the BookRiot recommendations for this challenge all seem to be nonfiction rather than a YA anthology of magical realism. But food was a big part of this book and it embraced several cuisines that I wasn't well-versed in previously.

14. Read a romance starring a single parent

Room to Breathe by Liz Talley

15. Read a book about climate change

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
The Last Man by Mary Shelley
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler^
Wilder Girls by Rory Power

After reading Wilder Girls, which was on Book Riot's suggested list for this challenge, I realized that "about climate change" was also being very loosely defined and therefore included The Last Man, which I had read earlier in 2020 but not specifically for this challenge.

16. Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman

Tony Wife's by Adriana Trigiani

The hardcover edition is 496 pages while the paperback edition is 512 pages. So maybe cutting it close there, but I think it still counts. I ran out of time to read the book I initially intended to read here. It awaits me in the future...

17. Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages)

The Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran Wilde

18. Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community

The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse
First Rain by Charlotte Herman
Francesco Tirelli's Ice Cream Shop by Tamar Meir*
The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown by Mac Barnett
The Remembering Stone by Barbara Timberlake Russell
Superheroes Are Everywhere by Kamala Harris
Strange Fruit by Gary Golio

The communities are Jewish (times three), LGBT, Central American immigrants, Black/Asian immigrant families, and Black respectively.

19. Read a book by or about a refugee

Jimena Pérez Can Fly by Jorge Argueta
Manuelito by Elisa Amado
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney

I was actually in the middle of reading The Night Diary already when I noticed it was on Book Riot's suggestions for this challenge ... lucky coincidence for me. The others I read later in the year also by coincidence. (Well, I intentionally read them all, but had another reason for reading them beyond this challenge.)

20. Read a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the U.S. or the UK

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai

Listen, Slowly is set in Vietnam.

21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw
Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having Disability by Shane Burcaw
Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse by Shane Burcaw
Penguin Days by Sara Leach

The three Shane Burcaw books are nonfiction about the author's life with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Penguin Days is a fictional book that features a protagonist on the autism spectrum (because this challenge appears to be including neurodiversity and mental illness under the umbrella of "disability").

22. Read a horror book published by an indie press

The Place of Broken Things by Linda D. Addison & Alessandro Manzetti

23. Read an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical)

Done in the past and likely to do in the future but was not done in 2020

24. Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard*

*Begun in 2019 but finished in 2020.

^Begun in 2020 but finished in 2021.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Drum-roll Please, Here They Are ... The Best Books of the Year!

Well, it's that time of year again! Everyone is making their "best of" year-end review lists, and I am no exception. As I've done for the past few years, I'm rounding up here the best books of 2014.

The list is once again broken up into two categories - children's books and books for adults. Although it seems like ages ago already, I was working in a day care for the first half of this year so the list is rather heavy on board books and picture books this year. These are all great reads to share with your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc.

On this list, graphic novels are indicated by this symbol ^ after the title, and nonfiction titles are noted with a ** after the name. Any books that were re-reads for me have a (2) after the title. As these books are all great, I did not further rank them; the list order is not be taken as such a representation. Rather, it is organized alphabetically for ease of use. All the books are linked to my LibraryThing reviews of them so you can find out more information about that book and why I've chosen to place it on this list.

Please note, as always, this list does not necessarily represent books published in 2014 but rather books that I read throughout the year. These are the books I enjoyed the most and/or lingered in my mind the longest after finishing them. Hopefully this list will prompt you to pick up some books gathering dust on your shelf or give you some new recommendations for great reads - for you or for the children in your life!

Miss JJ's Best Books of 2014

Adult

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl/Dr. Manhattan^ by J. Michael Straczynski
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Biting Solution: The Expert's No-Biting Guide for Parents, Caregivers, and Early Childhood Educators** by Lisa Poelle
The Bridge by Iain Banks
Dr. Seuss from Then to Now** by the San Diego Museum of Art
The Guy Not Taken: Stories by Jennifer Weiner
Let's Pretend This Never Happened** by Jenny Lawson
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith
The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits** by Les Standiford
The Oscar Wilde Collection by Oscar Wilde
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie** by Christopher Andersen
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Twelve Years a Slave** by Solomon Northup
Unbroken** by Lauren Hillenbrand
Watchmen as Literature** by Sara J. Van Ness
The Wordy Shipmates** by Sarah Vowell
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Children's

10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss
Are You My Mother? (2) by P.D. Eastman
Big Dog, Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
The Birthday Box/Mi Caja de Cumpleanos by Leslie Patricelli
Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin
Bugs Galore by Peter Stein
The Cat in the Hat (2) by Dr. Seuss
Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly L. Bingham
Colors versus Shapes by Mike Boldt
Dear Zoo (2) by Rod Campbell
D Is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine
Do You Know Pippi Longstocking? (2) by Astrid Lindgren
A Drop of Rain by Wong Herbert Lee
The Dark by Lemony Snicket
Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly by Jane O'Connor
Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day Brunch by Jane O'Connor
A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer
Five Green and Speckled Frogs by Priscilla Burris
Five Little Ducks by Raffi
Frog and Toad Are Friends (2) by Arnold Lobel
Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather by Bruce Koscielniak
Gerald McBoing Boing by Dr. Seuss
Go to Sleep, Groundhog by Judy Cox
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George! by H.A. Rey
Help! We Need a Title! by Herve Tullet
Honk! Honk! by Mick Manning
Honk, Honk, Goose! by April Pulley Sayre
Huggy Kissy by Leslie Patricelli
I Can Lick Thirty Tigers Today! by Dr. Seuss
I Love My Daddy Because ... (2) by Laurel Porter-Gaylord
I Took the Moon for a Walk (2) by Carolyn Curtis
I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo by Helen Palmer
The Journey by Sarah Stewart
Just Say Boo! by Susan Hood
Katie and the Spanish Princess by James Mayhew
Katie and the Starry Night (2) by James Mayhew
Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew
Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew
Katy Duck Is a Caterpillar by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear by David Bruins
The Library by Sarah Stewart
L'il Rabbit's Kwanzaa by Donna L. Washington
Look, Listen, Taste, Touch, and Smell: Learning about Your Five Senses** by Pamela Hill Nettleton
Mix It Up! by Herve Tullet
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? (2) by Dr. Seuss
My Many Colored Days (2) by Dr. Seuss
No Biting! by Karen Katz
No More Biting for Billy Goat! by Bernadette Ford
No More Hitting for Little Hamster! by Bernadette Ford
No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli
The Number 2 (Numbers in My World) by Ella Hawley
The Number 3 (Numbers in My World) by Ella Hawley
The Number 4 (Numbers in My World) by Ella Hawley
Oh, The Places He Went: A Story about Dr. Seuss** by Maryann N. Weidt
One Moose, Twenty Mice by Clare Beaton
One Smart Goose by Caroline Jayne Church
Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me by Eric Carle
Press Here (2) by Herve Tullet
Purple Sock, Pink Sock by Jonathan Allen
Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli
Scratch and Sniff Shopping by DK Publishing
A Stick Is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer
Teeth Are Not for Biting by Elizabeth Verdick
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
Ten Grouchy Groundhogs by Kathryn Heling
Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair by Julie Appel
Touch the Art: Feed Matisse's Fish by Julie Appel
Touch the Art: Make Van Gogh's Bed by Julie Appel
Up the Steps, Down the Slide by Jonathan Allen
Visit to the Dentist by Eve Marleau
Whatever After: Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli
Zero the Hero by Joan Holub
Z Is for Moose by Kelly L. Bingham

Happy reading my friends and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!

Key:
^ = Graphic novel
** = Nonfiction title
(2) = A book I re-read

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Crimes of the Heart Redux

Some time ago I wrote about going to see a production of the play Crimes of the Heart, which I ended by saying that I enjoyed it so much I was considering watching the movie version. Well, more recently, I did that and was severely disappointed.

The movie version of Crimes of the Heart has the same basic plot as the play, focusing on the lives of the three Magrath sisters who are all home at their grandfather's Mississippi house while facing different crises - Lenny has just turned 30 and doesn't feel like she's done anything with her life (I can relate), Meg is trying to make it big as a singer (I cannot relate), and Babe has just calmly shot her husband (I definitely can't relate!). Despite having the same broad plot as the play and largely similar dialogue, the movie just fell flat in my opinion.

For starters, somehow the movie managed to lack the dark humor of the play and felt far more melodramatic instead. I don't know how, given that some of the lines were exactly the same as those in the theater production, but they no longer came across as funny. It might have been the delivery or it could have been that I was watching this alone rather than in a crowded theater with a laughing audience. I'm inclined to think it was the former, as I didn't really care for any of the acting in this version, especially Diane Keaton who overacts (I almost want to say as per usual) in her role as Lenny. Indeed, nearly all of the actors seemed to be merely reading lines with a Southern accent more than truly embodying the characters. And, this is a bit more of a superficial complaint, but the main roles all appeared to be played by women older than the characters were meant to be.

Another reason I think there was less humor in the movie was that the role of Zackery Botrelle was greatly reduced as compared to the play. Mr. Botrelle, who is Babe's lawyer, had a huge vendetta against Babe's husband in the play but not at all in the movie. In the theater production, there was also a growing chemistry between Zackery Botrelle and Babe, which added tons of comedy to the play, but again this was hardly seen in the movie version.

As with most plays, there wasn't a ton of movement of the stage when I saw it, although the vivid characterizations and zany scenarios more than made up for that. In the movie, the director seemed to be trying to overcompensate for the relatively flat staging with fancy filming angles, showing flashbacks, and so forth. But this really did little in the end but be distracting and didn't help the fact that the characters were just not compelling enough in this production.

Unfortunately, while I loved the play, I just didn't like the movie; I can't even come up with any redeeming qualities to the film version. Uninspired acting and filming can leave even the best source material feeling dull and lifeless. However, the movie apparently received good buzz when it came out back in 1986 and was even nominated for several awards. So maybe the saying "everyone's a critic" isn't true after all. Maybe I'm the only critical one.

What are your thoughts? Have you seen the movie version of Crimes of the Heart and did you think it was phenomenal or horrendous?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Down the Rabbit Hole: Phoebe in Wonderland

Some of you may know that I have a slight obsession with all things Alice in Wonderland, so when my cousin proposed that we watch the movie Phoebe in Wonderland, I was happy to comply. (I had been meaning to get around to it anyway, so this was as good a time as any.)

Phoebe in Wonderland is about a 9-year-old girl (the titular Phoebe) who is an outcast at her rigid, rule-bound school but feels things might change with the addition of Miss Dodger, a quirky new drama teacher who encourages everyone to sign up for the school play, Alice in Wonderland. After much debate, Phoebe signs up for auditions and wins the role of Alice. While all seems to be going well on the theater front, all is clearly not well with Phoebe at school and at home. She suffers from a severely debilitating case of OCD (her hands are raw from obsessive hand-washing and her knees are scrapped up from jumping up and down the stairs in a specific pattern instead of merely descending), she confesses she cannot help but say or do certain things, and she is having hallucinations (all of which are wrapped up in the Alice storyline in some way). Despite all this evidence, however, her mother Hillary is insistent that Phoebe is just a regular child and does not have any kind of disorder.

This film was very different from what I expected from the brief blurbs given about it. My thoughts were that the movie would be a quirky surrealistic film about a young girl's imagination. Instead, it was a dramatic look at a neurodevelopmental disorder and its effects not just on the sufferer but her family as well. Indeed, the movie belonged more to Hillary than Phoebe, even if Phoebe is the one on screen more. The movie's story arc is more about Hillary's coming to terms with the idea that her daughter is not just a typical child and finding the help she needs to cope with her disorder and still be herself. Some of the most poignant scenes in the film belong to her, such as when the psychiatrist Hillary hires first tells his diagnosis and she refuses to believe it outwardly, ranting about how doctors just want to prescribe medication instead of letting kids be kids while the tears on her distorted face indicate that on a deeper level, she knows he is right. Another powerful scene comes when her husband tries to apologize for an earlier insensitive remark and Hillary responds with a whole list of things that frustrate her, including her inability to understand what is wrong with her daughter or how to help her. Still another emotional scene occurs when Hillary goes to comfort a scared Phoebe waking up from a nightmare; Hillary notices Phoebe's battered knees and both mother and daughter cry for different reasons. There are plenty of other such scenes of Hillary's struggle with mothering a special needs child as well as her other daughter who sometimes wishes that she had another sibling that she didn't have to take care of and explain away her actions to others, despite being the younger one.

In addition to these deep scenes and themes, there are a number of other messages underlying in this movie. There's the power of art as a redemptive force, as seen in the play's ability to largely subsume Phoebe's symptoms. Likewise, theater - and especially Miss Dodger - encourages the school's children to be who they are and learn how to direct their own paths. Fitting in or rather, not fitting in, is a recurring element in the movie. It is not just Phoebe and her lack of friendships with most of her peers. There's her one and only true friend at school, Jamie, a young boy who happily plays with dolls and hopes for the role of the Queen of Hearts in the upcoming school musical. And, it's also her younger sister, who is wise beyond her years and dresses up as Karl Marx for Halloween, goes on a hunger strike when she learns their dinner was not made with cage-free poultry, and worries that at 7 years old she has not produced as much as the 6-year-old Mozart did.

There's some brilliant acting throughout the film, especially by young Elle Fanning as Phoebe and Felicity Huffman as Hillary. Miss Dodger, as played by Patricia Clarkson, was an interesting character as well, with some suspecting that she can relate so well to Phoebe because she, too, has a disorder - quite possibly she has Asperger's syndrome. In addition, the filmography is mostly well done, although there was an occasional scene that was too abrupt or seemed misplaced. Throughout, I found the dialogue to be very quiet while the music soared incredibly loudly, although this is not a problem unique to this movie alone. (It is a continual pet peeve of mine to have be continually changing the volume because filmmakers seem to think that the spoken word should be barely audible but the soundtrack should blast your eardrums off.)

All and all, this is a very interesting movie, but certainly a more serious one that I was expecting. Don't go into this one looking for some light-hearted, quirky fun -- but do go in to it to explore how difficult life could be for a child - and a family - going through the process of suffering from something unknown and finally learning - and making peace with - what this unknown factor is.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Fly Me to the Moon: Boeing-Boeing

My sister and I have both been watching ABC’s drama Pan Am with some interest. So when the Paper Mill Playhouse sent out a brochure of their upcoming season including a comedy set in the 1960s and involving stewardesses, we thought this might be something worth checking out. Of course, Boeing-Boeing shares basically no features with Pan Am beyond the time period and the occupation of some of the characters, but it was a highly entertaining production that I would recommend.

As you may have guessed already, I knew basically nothing about Boeing-Boeing before seeing the play, although my wise cousin did mention that the play had been around since the 1960s. Indeed, she was right, as the playbill informs me that it was written by French playwright Marc Camoletti and premiered in Paris in 1960. It was soon after adapted into English by British playwright Beverley Cross and appeared on London (1962) and New York (1965) stages. In 1965, it was made into a movie starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. According to the playbill and Wikipedia, in 1991 the play was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most performed French play in the world with 19 years on the French stage and seven years on the London one, amongst others. (The success of the play even resulted in Camoletti writing a sequel called Don’t Dress for Dinner, which was also produced at Paper Mill Playhouse back in the 1990s.) In 2007, Boeing-Boeing was revived in London and by 2008, it had returned to New York. And for four weeks in 2012, Boeing-Boeing is on stage at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Paper Mill’s production of Boeing-Boeing was top notch.* The atmosphere of the theater was exactly right from the beginning, with Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” playing from the speakers before the curtain rose to the playhouse’s typical pre-show “fine print” (no photography, no smoking, there will be an intermission, etc.) being announced as though it were a flight attendant’s welcoming message (‘Thank you for flying with the Paper Mill Playhouse’). The costumes, makeup, and hair styles are all perfect for transporting the viewer back in to the 1960s. The set design was magnificent, with a detailed (but not too detailed) look at Bernard’s Parisian apartment – an apartment so elegant that my sister was jonesing after Bernard’s crown molding and split-level dining/living room.

But speaking of Bernard and his Parisian apartment reminds me that I have yet to give a basic run-down of the play. So here goes:

It’s 1960 and playboy Bernard has perfected his relationship status – he is engaged. To three women. This way, he reasons to his visiting friend Robert, he will never have to endure monotony. All three women are flight attendants – American Gloria with TWA, Italian Gabriella with Alitalia, and German Gretchen with Lufthansa – so they are never in town at the same time and thus never need to know about each other. Bernard invites Robert to sit back and kick up his heels while Gloria heads out after breakfast, Gabriella flies in for lunch and out again before dinner, and Gretchen wraps up the evening. But Bernard’s perfectly timed out plans quickly go awry when the time tables are changed on him, and he needs Robert’s help – along with the help of his own long-suffering French maid Berthe – to juggle all three women and keep them out of sight of one another.

Obviously, this play is meant to be a comedy (specifically a farce***). And it is certainly is. I can’t recall the last time I was in a theater where the whole audience was uncontrollably laughing for the vast majority of the play. In fact, if I had one complaint about the play, it would be that all that laughing was bad for me, as I was recovering from an illness and every time I laughed, I ended up coughing again. C’est la vie.

Beyond the situational comedy that arose from such an absurd plot, the play also has its fair share of physical comedy, which the actors all pulled off with perfect grace. At first I was a little put off by the exaggerated, over-the-top accents of the women (including Berthe), but then I realized that this was an intentional thing to add to the comedy and I went with it. Paper Mill has been marketing the play with the tagline “Hijinks are in the air!” and that is certainly a fitting summation.

For a feel of the play, Paper Mill has released a video montage of scenes from the play. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with this montage on first view. I’m not sure if it’s the scenes chosen or if it’s the absence of audience laughter for the great one-liners, but seeing this video certainly was not as appealing as seeing the play. I’ve included here for some context, but I’m more inclined to say: Go out and see the play for yourself! And hurry, because the production is only ongoing for two more days (and that’s including today!).

----------

*This should be no surprise. Whether it was The Secret Garden with our aunt when we were kids, Cinderella as a birthday treat for my sister, or Steel Magnolias to satisfy our Gilmore Girls fangirl** yearnings by seeing Kelly Bishop live, my sister and I have never been disappointed with a Paper Mill Playhouse production.

**Did you know that no less an authority than Merriam-Webster Dictionary considers “fanboy” a word but not “fangirl”? I could go into a feminist diatribe here but I’ll just leave it at that. Make of it what you will…

***An audience guide provided by Paper Mill Playhouse describes farces in detail, including some history of the form. Some tidbits include, “Farce differs from standard classical comedy in one major way: it is an exaggerated, broad form of comedy based on unlikely situations and highlighted by contrived and improbable plot twists. … The driving force behind a farce is fast action, brisk dialogue, visual effects, mistaken identities and convoluted and complicated plots. … It is a comedy that exists purely for the sake of generating laughter in the audience. … Like all good farces, the play invokes laughter by the violation of social taboos, but the characters and values under attacked are eventually restored to their conventional positions.” So, all’s well that ends well, although all is well throughout in a manner of speaking because it’s all meant for a laugh.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Looking Back ... The Play's The Thing

As I’ve mentioned before, I really dislike winter. If I were the type to believe in past lives, I would be convinced that in a past life I was a grizzly bear or some other creature that hibernates all winter long. December is mostly bearable because it has all the holiday rush to make me forget somewhat that winter is coming/here. (This year had the added bonus of actually not being cold most days so it certainly could have been worse than it’s been.) But January, February, and March are the real terrible months with nothing to look forward to but miserably cold, dark, and snowy days. So instead of looking ahead to those dismal days, I’m choosing to look back with this post and talk about some plays that I saw in 2011 prior to when I started this blog. As my co-worker points out that today is one of the most depressing days of the year, hopefully this will bring some cheer to you also!

Crimes of the Heart

The McCarter Theatre in Princeton put on a production of this Beth Henley play, which has also been made into a movie apparently. This darkly humorous play introduces us to three sisters who are all home at their grandfather’s Mississippi house and facing different crises – Lenny has just turned 30 and doesn’t feel like she’s done anything with her life, Meg is trying to make it big as a singer, and Babe has just shot her husband under the weirdest of circumstances. While this sounds like a serious set-up (and indeed there are dramatic moments, such as when the women contemplate their mother’s suicide years earlier), it is mostly a madcap comedy with the unlikeliest of scenarios continuing to play out.

The first thing I noticed about this production was the great scenery, including props that were authentic. As we sat waiting for the play to start, I recognized a few 1960s items that I have at home after being passed down from my grandmother. The second thing I noticed was that, yes, there is such a thing as being too close to the stage, as we learned. Having ordered the tickets the day before the show, we were in the first row, which was very, very close to the stage. It was an interesting experience though to get to see that the actors, who appear to be looking right at you when you in the center of the audience, are actually looking over the audiences’ heads. It could also make for an awkward viewing experience being uncomfortably close to the actors, particularly when they did things like undress and change costumes right on the stage. Speaking of actors, everyone involved in this production was top-notch. Overall, this was a great play and, barring the ability to see it again any time soon, I might rent the movie to re-visit these wonderful characters and hilarious plot.

Sleeping Beauty Wakes

This was another production at the McCarter Theatre that was also funny in a dark humor kind of way, although it certainly had very serious moments as well. In this Rachel Sheinkin play, a heartbroken father brings his seemingly comatose daughter to a sleep disorder clinic, claiming that she’s been sleeping for centuries. In this setting, an orderly suffering from narcolepsy starts to fall for the mysterious beauty, while the four other patients reflect on their own sleeping and dreaming patterns since the young woman arrived. When “Sleeping Beauty” wakes up about half-way through the play, things become even more unpredictable.

In my opinion, the first half of this play was the more interesting part with a little bit in the second half starting drag, but overall, it was a good play. (I should also note that I ended up waking up incredibly sick the day I went to this play so perhaps any thing that felt like dragging could have been in part because I was resisting the urge to sleep off whatever sickness I had.) As a musical, this play had phenomenal music – both lyrically and instrumentally – and spectacular choreography to match it. The actors were all great at every aspect of their jobs – singing and dancing as well as believably portraying their individual roles. The use of fairy tale imagery in a contemporary setting and story was an interesting twist and one I think that speaks to modern sensibilities (and our building on previous generations, especially when it comes to common knowledge amongst people of different backgrounds).

Compared to Crimes of the Heart, this production had a set that looked underwhelming at first glance – just a line of austere beds for the patients and an office desk for the doctor – but these were in constant motion depending on the scene. There was also an artistic use of lighting depending on the context, making for a visual treat. Furthermore, the production made use of film images on the screens behind the beds, with these images containing things such as what the patients were supposed to be dreaming of at the time. As you might have gleaned by this point, this was a very different sort of play than the standard character-driven or even plot-driven one. For a sample of what it was like, you should check out the trailer available here. While I generally prefer things that are more character driven (such as Crimes of the Heart), I appreciated the different-ness of this musical as a change of pace and a truly artful experience.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Appropriately, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey put on this production during the summer. (Okay, for you loyal readers who might point this out, I did actually see this play after I started this blog, but with family visiting from out of state, I didn’t have the leisure to write about it at the time.) I don’t think I need to provide a synopsis of this well-known Shakespeare play, but I will note that this is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and my absolute favorite out of his comedies. (My other favorite is the drama Hamlet, from which I pulled the quote for this post’s title.)

Like with Crimes of the Heart, the first thing I that struck me with this production was the beautiful set. This play was performed at the outdoor amphitheater, and even though it was unbearably hot out of doors in July (ah, remember being too hot? it seems a luxury unheard of now), it was a really cool (no pun intended) experience to be at an outdoor play. Also, it gave the theater the opportunity of handing us all paper fans imprinted with the play’s design. The set itself was really beautiful (see the picture below for some idea of what a portion of the set looked like, although alas my photography skills aren’t very good and it was much better to see in person). The production also made good use of the set’s space, including having the Athenians sit down amongst the audience when watching the players put on the play within the play, Pyramus and Thisbe. Another great example was when Puck came out into the crowd to look for a man wearing “weeds of Athens” (per Oberon’s advice) by checking the tags on everyone’s clothes and saying to himself things like “The Gap, no, Old Navy, no, Tommy Hilfiger, no” until finally going up to the actor portraying the sleeping Lysander and looking at his clothing tag and saying “oh here, weeds of Athens.”

One thing I never quite understand is when Shakespeare’s plays are set in the modern day but the language is the original old English; here it was a bit unclear just when it was meant to be taking place. The fantasy world of the fairies helps in that it is timeless, but the original play also takes place in ancient Athens, which calls for an established time and place. In this production, the actors were clearly not clad in costumes authentic to either ancient Greece or Elizabethan England. However, they weren’t exactly toting the most modern of apparel either, but rather wearing clothes that were funky outfits you wouldn’t see on any ol’ person walking down the street. (I wish I had a better description but I’m lacking a good way to explain just how it looked.) Some scenes also employed the use of water guns, which a quick Google search tells me is not unique to this particular production. Go figure.

The cast was exceptional with a host of good actors, some in multiple roles. The only notable exception was the actor portraying Hippolyta and Titania, who always wore a look of confusion on her face even when she was supposed to be angry or defeated or in love. A special shout-out goes to those in the roles of the players (Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snout, and Snug) as they were incredibly funny, really evoking the clownishness of these characters. They probably received the most laughs from the crowd watching this incredibly humorous and absurd comedy.

Now that I’m stuck indoors and won’t be seeing any other live, outdoors plays (although perhaps some live, indoor plays), I’m thinking about pulling out some printed copies of plays and reading them (or in some cases, re-reading them). Also, as winter progresses, you might see some other themed posts looking back....

Saturday, December 31, 2011

End of the Year List: Two for the Price of One

Best Books of 2011, Bonus 2010

As the end of the year draws closer and closer (when did that happen?), everyone starts making lists of the best songs, movies, and moments of the year. I’ve decided to contribute with my personal list of the best books of 2011. These aren’t necessarily all books published from 2011 (indeed, many are not), but books that I read or re-read in 2011. And, because I wanted to do something similar in 2010 and didn’t get to in a timely fashion as is typical of me, you my fair reader will also get that list as well.

Because my reading tastes are greatly varied, these lists include short story collections, graphic novels, and plays, to name a few. Besides being broken down into the years when I read them, the lists are sub-categorized as children’s, young adult, and adult reading (although there may be some cross-over between groups). Rather than try to rank these books in any fashion, they are listed alphabetically. I’ve also provided links to my reviews of all these books, in case you are interested in finding out more about any of them. Without any further ado, here are my personal favorite reads over the past two years.

2011

Children’s books

All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel** by Dan Yaccarino

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Pop-Up Book) by Roald Dahl

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, LATE Night by Jane O’Connor

Fancy Nancy and the Sensational Babysitter by Jane O’Connor

Green Start: Little Helpers** by Ikids

If America Were a Village** by David J. Smith

If the World Were a Village** by David J. Smith

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

Just Being Audrey** by Margaret Cardillo