More Summer Movies . . .

The summer of 2015 has been disappointing for movies thus far.  Not only have the pickings been slim, the box office has generally reflected the so-so quality of summer releases.  We have three more movies to add to a growing list -- one hit and two misses.

'Grandma':

Written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz, this film stars Lily Tomlin as Ellie Reid -- Elle -- an irascible lesbian/feminist poet, who guides her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) through one long day's journey to an abortion.

Poster for 'Grandma'.

In the first scene Elle breaks up with Olivia (Judy Greer) after a 4-month affair and then breaks down in tears amid memories of her 38 years with her partner Vi -- which ended with Vi's death sometime prior to the start of the film.  

The next scene begins with Sage's arrival at Elle's front door looking for the $630 that she needs by 5:45pm for an abortion.  

And so begins the odyssey that takes Elle and Sage to a French-drip-coffee shop; a tattoo parlor where Deathy (Laverne Cox) doesn't have the $400 that Elle loaned her; to Sage's boyfriend Cam (Nat Wolff); to the owner (Elizabeth Pena) of a feminist bookstore/coffee house where Olivia is a waitress; to visit an old flame of Elle's (Sam Elliott); and finally, with great trepidation to the 'ogre' Jane (Marcia Gay Harden), Elle's daughter and Sage's mother.  

Jane takes them to an ATM and with cash in hand Elle and Sage are off to the abortion clinic.  After the procedure, Jane takes Sage home.  Elle takes a taxi to Olivia's apartment, meets Olivia's parents, and then walks home alone.

Ms. Tomlin is indelible as Elle -- touching, touchie, bold, sarcastic, funny, tragic, flirty, furious, infuriating.  The rest of the cast are all excellent -- returning Tomlin's volleys and enriching this story of sorrow, redemption and summing-up.  Seeing this movie in our summer of Planned Parenthood de-funding and increasing state restrictions on legal abortion makes me damn mad at our cynical political system -- but it's a wonderful movie.    

'The Diary of a Teenage Girl':

Based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' is written and directed by Marielle Heller and stars Bel Powley with Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgard and Chris Meloni.

Poster for 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl'.

Powley plays Minnie, the 15-year-old diarist of the title, a budding cartoonist obsessed with sex.  She's growing up in 70's San Francisco.  Her divorced mother, Charlotte (Wiig), is self-centered and insecure. Charlotte has a younger boyfriend, Monroe (Skarsgard).

Minnie flirts with Monroe and they start an affair.  Minnie also has a couple of sexual encounters with a boy at her school and she and her friend, Kimmie, pose as prostitutes at a bar.  Minnie records all of these sexual adventures on a tape recorded diary.  Eventually Charlotte discovers the recordings and throws Monroe out, which leads Minnie to run away from home.

The central problem with this movie is that Powley is way too old to play Minnie convincingly.  Wiig gives a wonderfully self-absorbed performance as Charlotte and Skarsgard is remarkably likeable as the easy, sleazy Monroe.  The quality of the film stock is very thin and washed-out which gives the movie a period quality, but also dilutes the effectiveness of Minnie's Peter-Max-style cartoons which should be brightly psychedelic.

'Mistress America':


This comedy was directed by Noah Baumbach from a script by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig who also stars as Brooke, a 30-something New Yorker.  The plot is set in motion when Tracy (Lola Kirke), who has just started her freshman year at Barnard receives a call from her mother telling her that her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke, also lives in New York City and suggests that Tracy and Brooke should be in touch.  Tracy, who wants to be a writer, is having a hard time adjusting to college life -- rejected by boys and the literary club, and uninspired by her classes.  She finally connects with a student and fellow writer, Tony (Matthew Shear), but then learns that he has a possessive girlfriend, Nicolette (Jasmine Cephas Jones).  So in desperation she calls Brooke (Gerwig).

Poster for 'Mistress America' with Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke.

Brooke becomes Tracy's idol -- a glamorous free spirit who seems to know what she wants and how to get it.  Brooke is trying to open a restaurant/beauty salon/art gallery in partnership with a boyfriend (who's never seen).  When the boyfriend breaks up with her, Brooke and Tracy persuade Tony and Nicolette to drive them to Connecticut on a quest to raise money from a former boyfriend, Dylan (Michael Chernus), who's made it big at Goldman Sachs.  Brooke tells Tracy that her best friend, Mamie-Claire (Heather Lind) stole both Dylan and her cats.

The madcap scenes in Dylan and Mamie-Claire's Connecticut house are overflowing with eccentric characters, including two of the most unlikeable female characters in recent cinema -- Nicolette and Mamie-Claire.

Ms. Gerwig as Brooke is a remarkable screen presence filled with vitality and screwball intensity.  Ms. Kirke makes a lovely foil -- a sponge soaking up all of Gerwig's crazy energy.  Unfortunately, the movie jumps around with maddening shifts in mood and a huge lack of continuity (no wonder there's a one- sentence plot summary on wikipedia.com).  Ms. Gerwig and Mr. Baumbach need to find a disciplined editor to bring some coherence to their work. 

That's Show Business . . .

We recently had visitors from Belgium -- George's cousin, Freddy, and his partner, Jan -- in town.  Although they hadn't been in New York City since 2010, they have been frequent visitors to the city since 1970 and know their way around.  While they were here they saw four Broadway musicals -- 'Kinky Boots', 'An American in Paris', 'Aladdin', and 'The King and I'.  We joined them for 'American in Paris' and 'King and I'.

'An American in Paris':

This show is loosely based on the classic 1951 Vincente Minnelli movie starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.  'An American in Paris' has music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, a book by Craig Lucas, direction and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, and stars Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope.

Poster for 'An American in Paris: A New Musical'

Wheeldon has, of course, been attracted to Gershwin's 'An American in Paris' ballet score before.  In 2005, he created a 21-minute ballet based the movie's story for New York City Ballet -- with Damian Woetzel, Jenifer Ringer, and Karla Corbes in the leading roles.  The 2005 ballet has since been mounted for several other ballet companies around the world.  Wheeldon is also well aware of George Balanchine's 'Who Cares?' which utilizes many of the same Gershwin tunes as his new musical.  Wheeldon danced one of the demi-soloist roles in the 1990's when he was a soloist with New York City Ballet and Robert Fairchild has had notable success in its leading male role. As a result, Wheeldon's staging and choreography for this show has a deja-vu-all-over-again quality.

Robert Fairchild -- a New York City Ballet principal dancer -- is sensational as Jerry -- even when much of his dancing consists of dodging constantly moving pieces of the set which often crowd the stage space.  Robbie is a surprisingly good singer and a gifted actor.

Leanne Cope -- a Royal Ballet first artist -- seems to have been chosen primarily for her resemblance to the movie's Leslie Caron.  As Lise, the love interest of Jerry and two other characters, she lacks Caron's gamin charm and the charisma needed as the focal point of the love quadrangle at the center of the story.  Her dancing is merely adequate and her acting and singing are pallid. 

Wheeldon's expressionistic staging of the opening scene showing the devastation of Paris at the end of World War II is wonderfully evocative of the disorientation and deprivation the Germans left behind.  Between that terrific beginning and the climactic 'American in Paris' ballet there are long stretches of barely watchable exposition; great Gershwin songs wedged into the flimsy, poorly defined plot; and inane dance sequences -- like 'Fidgety Feet'.  Unfortunately, the supposedly 'cinematic' use of roving pieces of the set distracts from the convoluted plot and shrinks the space needed for dancing.

Fortunately, the stage is cleared for the 'American in Paris' ballet which gives Wheeldon the opportunity to showcase Fairchild's expansive, bravura dancing and gives Ms. Cope a shot at redeeming her otherwise small-scaled performance.  It's Robbie's show from start to finish, but his stellar performance is repeatedly undermined by Wheeldon's busy staging, by Lucas' incoherent plot, and by the vacuum where the leading lady should be.

'The King and I':

Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I' at the Vivian Beaumont Theater is sumptuous and heart-rending.

Poster for the Lincoln Center Theater revival of 'The King and I' at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

 
The show is anchored by a luminous performance from Kelli O'Hara as Anna Leonowens -- the Welsh army widow hired to teach the many children of the King of Siam.  With her elegant diction and immaculate phrasing Ms. O'Hara breathes fresh life and meaning into classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs -- including 'Whistle a Happy Tune', 'Getting to Know You', 'Hello, Young Lovers', and 'Shall We Dance' --adding great emotional depth to the show.
   

Kelli O'Hara and Jose Llana as Anna and the King in Lincoln Center Theater's 'The King and I'

Jose Llana, who replaced Ken Watanabe in mid-July, plays the conflicted King -- coping with threats from Asian enemies and European empire builders while maintaining his authority over Siam -- with both nuance and swagger.  As with any major role replacement, the entire cast was especially attentive to Mr. Llana's performance as the King -- giving the whole show an extra jolt of electricity.
   

Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang with Kelli O'Hara as Anna in 'The King and I'

Ruthie Ann Miles plays Lady Thiang -- the King's head wife (his Queen has died four years before the show begins) -- with dignity and compelling empathy.  Her singing of 'Something Wonderful' and its many reprises are among the emotional highlights of the show.

The sets by Michael Yeargan make use of the entire Beaumont stage with its enormous depth, width and height.  Golden pillars glide about modifying the playing space from grand to intimate to fit the scale of each scene.  The costumes by Catherine Zuber are sumptuous and exotic. 

The Rodgers & Hammerstein score -- richly rewarding for its insightful lyrics as well as its soaring, haunting melodies -- was played with great style by a large pit orchestra.  The famous ballet by Jerome Robbins, 'The Little House of Uncle Thomas', was respectfully refreshed for this production by Christopher Gattelli, whose understated choreography elsewhere blended nicely into the production.

I felt that there were casting missteps with Tuptim and Lun Tha -- the 'young lovers' forced to 'kiss in the shadows' -- and the Crown Prince -- who has the last important speech of the show.  But Bartlett Sher has pulled together a remarkable, coherent and insightful production centered on the three extraordinary lead performances.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

We agreed with our Belgian visitors that 'The King and I' was the best show we saw during their visit -- and like us, they felt that 'An American in Paris' was the most disappointing.  They liked 'Kinky Boots' -- and loved Disney's 'Aladdin'.  

Still More Ballet Quibbles & Bits. . .

NYCB's Program for Children with Disabilities:

This spring New York City Ballet launched a program specially designed for families with disabled children.  It's extremely moving to watch principal dancers Maria Kowroski and Adrian Danchig-Waring work with 19 youngsters with cerebral palsy and their families as they experience the joy of dancing in this short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp6LeOIkUuQ&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FY16SummerCerebralPalsyAppeal&utm_content=version_A

"I didn't want to treat them differently from a normal child.  I didn't want to make them feel disabled, " Maria says in the video.  "I was worried that I was going to get emotional watching them because it's difficult to see someone struggle."

Maria Kowroski and Adrian Danchig Waring in Ulysses Dove's 'Red Angels'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

City Ballet partnered with a cerebral palsy specialist, Joseph Dutkowsky, M.D., who helped Maria and Adrian design and lead the workshop -- a total of four sessions ending with a 'performance' where their young students donned purple tutus and red super-hero capes to perform the movements they had worked on in earlier sessions for an audience of parents and family members.

The final 'performance' of NYC Ballet's workshops for disabled children.
Photo is a still from the video filmed by Upworthy.

Of the 'performance' Adrian says " it was a really emotional day.  Maria and I had not been prepared for how connected we would feel immediately with the group of kids that we had.  In fact, we had underprepared for how energetic, enthusiastic, and physically capable these kids turned out to be."  Watch the video -- it will make you proud of New York City Ballet and Maria and Adrian for undertaking this project, which became a labor of love.


SAB's Summer Choreography Showing:

On Thursday, July 30th, we attended School of American Ballet's Summer Choreography Showing.  Toward the end of every Summer Session the School offers two choreographers the chance to create a work for the most advanced summer students.  This summer, Alec Knight and Jock Soto were the choreographers (Jock stepped in when Sasonah Huttenbach, who was originally selected, dropped out for health reasons).

Alec Knight has choreographed works for the past two Student Choreography Workshops.  For this Summer Choreography Showing, Alec created a work for 16 advanced students to a piece of music called 'Ēvolūtiō' by Break of Reality -- a cello rock band that consists of three cellists and a percussionist.  

Break with Reality, the American cello rock band

Break of Reality was formed in 2003 by four freshman at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  Two of the original founders, Patrick Laird and Ivan Trevino, are still with the band.  The other two current members are Laura Metcalf and Adrian Daurov.

'Ēvolūtiō' consists of four movements:  'Intactus' (untouched, pure, to one's self); 'Exordium' (the start, an introduction, or to have curiosity about another being); 'Amare & Luctus' (love and heartbreak); and 'Recomminiscor' (to reinvent, rebuild).  It is an adventurous choice of music for a budding choreographer and Alec Knight used the four sections to portray the transition from often lonely adolescence to adulthood.  Using 16 advanced students dressed in black leotards (the women) and black T-shirts and tights (the men) Alec portrayed in often quirky, abstracted movements and interactions between dancers the evolution he had described in his introductory remarks.

'Ēvolūtiō' begins with a single woman alone in the center of the studio and then moves groups of dancers on and off the performing space.  Interactions are fragmentary and the sense of isolation -- both of the individual and of smaller groups -- permeates the first movement.  In the second movement, interaction becomes more frequent as individuals break through their isolation.  In the third movement an infatuation between two of the dancers emerges, but ends in disappointment.  And in the final movement, the dancers have become a community from which individuals and couples emerge and retreat.

In SAB's Studio One the audience is spread along one long wall adjacent to the performing space which can make watching a performance (or even a class) seem like watching tennis from a front row seat.  Many neophyte choreographers struggle to help observers focus on the important elements of their dance design.  Alec was largely successful with groupings that attract the eye and canonical movements that lead the audience from one 'important' element to the next.

Jock Soto chose 'Valse' from  Alexander Glazunov's 'Raymonda' (beautifully played by Ala Reznik) for his piece, 'The Waltz', for 26 advanced students.  The music was familiar to New York City Ballet followers since it is used by Balanchine in 'Raymonda Variations'.  Jock decided to present the rest of the summer course advanced students (and to round out his design -- two of the women from Alec's work) so all got the opportunity to dance in the showing.

Jock used a female soloist, three male demi-soloists (the Cuban triplets) and an ensemble of eleven couples.  His answer to the 'tennis match' problem of Studio One was to employ symmetrical patterns for the ensemble and also for the triplets -- though I thought they were spaced too far apart.  

The overall look of 'The Waltz' was traditional (the women in white leotards and tutus and the men in white T-shirts and black tights) and the choreography was lyrical.  The triplets were given several bravura passages and the female soloist had a long passage of intricate pointe work.  The 11 couples in the ensemble showcased the impressive results of Mr. Soto's (with Darci Kistler or Yvonne Borree) Adagio classes during the summer session.

The showcase was a wonderful evening of ballet potential -- with student dancers, a budding choreographer and another one too seldom seen exploring new horizons together.


New York City Ballet's 2015-16 Season Artwork:

I'm not wild about the cartoony artwork the Company is using for it's 2015-16 Season brochures, posters and other advertising/PR materials.  

Art by Jamie Lee Reardin from NYC Ballet's 2015-16 Season Subscription Brochure.

It's by Jamie Lee Reardin, who has worked primarily in fashion illustration.  Anyhow, here's a short video which provides a translation from the Company's outstanding repertory and superb dancers to Ms. Readin's caricatured interpretations:

https://video-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xta1/v/t43.1792-2/11774942_10155916651600529_1243611289_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MDAsInJsYSI6MTAyNH0%3D&rl=1500&vabr=626&oh=2d42d309de7e6f4b810639ae590d3a61&oe=55C2BD1E

I really can't imagine Reardin's art blown up to gigantic proportions on the Columbus Avenue side of the Koch Theater!

Jamie Lee Reardin's interpretation of 'Swan Lake' for New York City Ballet.