Double feature
In an effort to clear the backlog of theater posts, I thought I'd double-up.
* * *
I caught performance artist/musician/raconteur Laurie Anderson's latest show, Delusion at the Brooklyn Academy of Music before it closed this past weekend. I like her work and have seen her a few times. If you want to watch something really fun, find a copy of her 1986 film Home of the Brave.
I went with J, who is a big Laurie Anderson fan. We both enjoyed the show but as we were walking out of the theater into a cool, autumnal Brooklyn night, J made a very astute observation. It was entertaining, but it was pretty much the same stuff that Anderson has been doing for years and years. The material was fresh, but the delivery vehicle was the same. It was a lot of voice modulated story-telling and poetry, some multimedia presentations and an amplified electric violin that's run through a processor. Don't get me wrong; it's all great stuff, be we've seen it before.
Actually, I suppose you could say the same thing about the Rolling Stones. Or Jack Nicholson. Or Charles Dickens. Or. Or. Or.
* * *
I'm not a huge George Bernard Shaw fan but I quite liked the revival of Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Roundabout. Women had it rough in 1893. Your choices were boiled down to either marrying someone wealthy, even if they were hideous and you didn't love them or, as Mrs. Warren did, open a string of classy whorehouses in Europe. The show was deemed obscene when it first opened (of course) but since then people have come to see the truth in it.
Mrs. Warren is played by Broadway veteran and 24 alumni Cherry Jones. (She played the President on 24.) It's a perfect tough broad performance that is suited to her temperament. I'd love to see Meryl Streep in it someday. The role of the combative daughter is played by Sally Hawkins, who was so adorable in Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky. I'm not sure if young Miss Hawkins has a lot of stage experience but I, along with a few people I spoke to who saw the show, thought she was able to stand toe-to-toe with Jones which, I can assure you, is no small feat. The reviews came out this week and as hard as the actors worked, they were mixed. That's show biz.
* * *I caught performance artist/musician/raconteur Laurie Anderson's latest show, Delusion at the Brooklyn Academy of Music before it closed this past weekend. I like her work and have seen her a few times. If you want to watch something really fun, find a copy of her 1986 film Home of the Brave.
I went with J, who is a big Laurie Anderson fan. We both enjoyed the show but as we were walking out of the theater into a cool, autumnal Brooklyn night, J made a very astute observation. It was entertaining, but it was pretty much the same stuff that Anderson has been doing for years and years. The material was fresh, but the delivery vehicle was the same. It was a lot of voice modulated story-telling and poetry, some multimedia presentations and an amplified electric violin that's run through a processor. Don't get me wrong; it's all great stuff, be we've seen it before.
Actually, I suppose you could say the same thing about the Rolling Stones. Or Jack Nicholson. Or Charles Dickens. Or. Or. Or.
* * *
I'm not a huge George Bernard Shaw fan but I quite liked the revival of Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Roundabout. Women had it rough in 1893. Your choices were boiled down to either marrying someone wealthy, even if they were hideous and you didn't love them or, as Mrs. Warren did, open a string of classy whorehouses in Europe. The show was deemed obscene when it first opened (of course) but since then people have come to see the truth in it.Mrs. Warren is played by Broadway veteran and 24 alumni Cherry Jones. (She played the President on 24.) It's a perfect tough broad performance that is suited to her temperament. I'd love to see Meryl Streep in it someday. The role of the combative daughter is played by Sally Hawkins, who was so adorable in Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky. I'm not sure if young Miss Hawkins has a lot of stage experience but I, along with a few people I spoke to who saw the show, thought she was able to stand toe-to-toe with Jones which, I can assure you, is no small feat. The reviews came out this week and as hard as the actors worked, they were mixed. That's show biz.
Labels: The Play's the Thing
posted by The Unbearable Banishment at
6:13 AM
4 Comments:
Laurie Anderson. Now there's a name I haven't heard for a while. I only know the hit 'Oh Superman', and that wasn't yesterday! Great to know she's still at it. There's hope for me yet!
'...toe to toe...no small feat..' I love it! :¬)
Happy Go Lucky was a wonderful film! Glad she's getting more work
Map: Somehow, I knew you'd be familiar with her. Did you know she's married to Lou Reed? It's true!
Nurse: She was a completely different person than Poppy, her character in the film, which is indicative of a good actor.
or Robert de Niro or Al Pacino.
Clint Eastwood, on the other hand, he has kept it fresh.
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