Meet the Parents - Parenthood & Sons of Tucson - Pilot Reviews

Parenthood - Pilot, Man Vs. Possum - Eps. 101-102 (Tuesdays at 10pm on NBC)
Sons of Tucson - Pilot - Ep. 101 (Premieres Sunday Mar. 14th on FOX at 9:30pm)

Two new shows this spring take a very different approach to parenting.

NBC's Parenthood is basically a classier, more bland version of Brothers & Sisters. Even the family dinner table scenes look similar. But where Brothers & Sisters have a strong matriarch in Sally Field's Nora Walker, Parenthood's Bonnie Bedelia isn't given much to do yet, mainly because her husband Craig T. Nelson is so intense.

But what makes Brothers & Sisters so much fun is that it's a trashy soap acted by an A-list cast.

On Parenthood, it's a terrific cast doing mildly interesting stories in this intergenerational family drama that is light on the laughs and delves into potentially dramatic, but tedious storylines. I love Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) but do we really need to see him and Monica Potter (who already can be so easily aggravating) deal with their son's Asperger's syndrome? (Is Asperger's the new Autism for TV?) It's sets up some great dramatic and dark moments, but the reality is, it's going to be a tedious storyline in the long run and as truthful or realistic as that situation it might be, it's already becoming grating.

At this point, I'm willing to buy into Erika Christensen's overambitious Julia and her hot husband Sam Jaegar (Eli Stone). I'm a little fearful of Dax Shepard and his newfound discovery of an existing son, and Craig T. Nelson's intense patriarch comes off a bit strong.

However, while Lauren Graham wasn't originally part of the show, and I worried that her Lorelai Gilmore persona would seep through, Graham's Sarah and her disheveled family gives the heart and passion the show needs to uplift it from it's middlebrow middle class blandness. Graham's scenes with guest Mike O'Malley during a blind date sister Julia has set up is funny and heartbreaking. Graham's job interview that her father secretly sets up was heartbreaking and funny. Add in an amazing Mae Whitman (Arrested Development) as her troubled daughter Amber, and a wonderfully woeful Miles Heizer as son Drew, and this trio amongst the huge ensemble creates an intimate portrait of a struggling family transitioning into their grandparents household and is easily the most moving piece of the show.

The show could throw in a bit more fun, as it will never intensify the drama enough to reach the points of the better executed family drama Friday Night Lights (by the same production team).


Over on FOX, the half-hour sitcom Sons of Tucson debuts this weekend and it's a light and amusing show that seems unnecessary, but comforting.

When 3 brothers lose their father to prison, they scheme to hire a sad sap of a loser to act as their father. It's ripe for old traditional sitcom shenanigans, while filmed in a one-camera format. With Reaper's Tyler Labine (perfecting his schtick that hasn't changed since Breaker High) as lovable loser Ron, he makes a deal to become a pretend parent to the Gundersen kids, and the boys take Ron for quite the ride. To be honest, I was amused by the all the antics. Obvious? Yes, but still funny and likable. Labine is... well Labine and the three kids, Frank Dolce, Matthew Levy and Benjamin Stockman are kinda precious and precocious without being too irritating.

It's not a show I will need to watch all the time, but it makes for nice diversion entertainment and would have been a perfect summer show. My fear is that like it's predecessor Malcolm in the Middle (whose producing team is now working on this with Justin Berfield, one of the sons from Malcolm), the concept will tire easily and fast, and remain solely on the shoulders of its great cast.


At this point Parenthood gets *** (out of 5) from me and most of that goes to Lauren Graham and Peter Krause, while Sons of Tucson gets **1/2 (out of 5) for now. Both are generally entertaining but lack that extra punch for required viewing, although Parenthood has that built in potential with the cast and set up.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Crushworthy - A Girl You Don't Say? It's Rebekah Rimsay

Yes, National Ballet of Canada's Rebekah Rimsay gets the honour of being only the 2nd female to get a Crushworthy column!

If you've read any of my ballet reviews, you'll know she's my absolute favorite ballerina, not only because she's an amazing dancer, but because she always brings on full characterizations to her portrayals, often with a sly sense of humour. I first noticed her in her hilarious portrayals in An Italian Straw Hat and Cinderella, both of which choreographer James Kudelka had created the role specifically with Rebekah in mind, and now she will perform another tailored made role as the Black Swan in the upcoming Swan Lake (opening this Thursday, Mar. 11th in Toronto and running until Mar. 21st)

Here's my interview with Rebekah, slightly edited (and basically because my transcribing skills are slightly lacking but you'll get the general idea and I apologize if I slightly misquote Rebekah):

Tapeworthy: You made such an impression on me with great characters in Cinderella and An Italian Straw Hat. How does it feel to have a role specifically tailored for you, as James Kudelka did for you in those shows, and in the upcoming Swan Lake?

Rebekah: Especially getting a good role is always something you want as an artist, because it's a chance to grow and experience and find new facets to the character, and I love dancing different characters. I like the diversity in dance, the different qualities, moods that sometimes contemporary pieces can really embody, it can embody atmosphere. We dancers are greedy that way.

James' work has all that in his choreographic repertoire and his creative mind and he has incredible characters and I love that I can be an outlet for that. I hope it's mutual. James works in his own head, he knows what he wants. There was a bit more freedom in Cinderella with myself, him, Jennifer Fourner and Vicky Betram. He knew exactly what he wanted with the steps, but there was a back and forth play. "Okay that works" "More Straight" "More Obvious". He would tweak it and let us take it. Normally he works so much in his own head, he knows the characters, what the relationships with other characters. He's a man of details with his own creative process. Which makes it more exciting when you find something new in his work. He's so picky about what he wants that if you find a freedom, that is a real honour, that you found something right.

Tapeworthy: Obviously dancing is such a technical discipline that you’ve studied hard at, but did the characterizations of your roles come naturally as a personal acting skill? Or are acting classes a part of the ballets training?

Rebekah: No, we don't take acting classes. Some have, but it's not typically part of our training. We had theatre arts class, not technically an acting class, but our teacher Beverly Miller (who recently passed away) taught us acting but that ended in grade 8 or 7. It planted the seed in what to look for in dancing and characters. In one class, she gathered us around and asked "why did this character work" and we would come up with ideas and culivate our eyes and appreciation.

Some dancers gravitate to contemporary work where it's more internal and the body is expressing something and projecting.

We learn from the older dancers in the company. Vicky Betram, Lorna Geddes, Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant. It's about what you gravitate towards and I've been a fan of Vicky. There's a video of Karen in La Ronde as The Actress and it's just divine and I have a tendency to appreciate that and I have all these wonderful examples that come before me.

They were trained by people like Celia Franca who was a master of theatre. Her milieu was dance but she understood theatricality. Understanding what the audience sees and what they will interpret from those movements and Celia was wise and in the company taught Veronica Tenant and Karen Kain.

Tapeworthy: Do you prefer the more classical ballets with the full costumes and stories or the more modern projects?

Rebekah: I like the variety!
We just finished performing 24 Preludes and I learned so much from doing it. One section is improvised but with rules, but the steps are essentially made up.

It was so difficult for me to think that way because it was so new the first time we performed it (2 years ago) but this time it sat and percolated and it was so exciting to come back to it. And audiences respond and it's thrilling. It's abstract and quirky and then in The Four Seasons, I'm not a really a character but I'm a mood, a time in someone's life. There's more projecting... I always loved it, and it was such an honour to get that role. Something sentimental for me (playing "Fall"). Especially where I am in my career now.


Tapeworthy: How does it feel to be a mother while also dancing? (Rebekah recently became a new mother and has since returned back to the company to perform)

Rebekah: Busy! Very very busy! We used to be able to have a show until 11(pm) and come home and start the next day at 1.

Now she (the baby) gets up at 7:30 (am) and I don't have a choice but to get up at 7:30! It's busy and tiring but it's something I wasn't willing to compromise in my life. But it's enriching artistically too.

It's been difficult physically, because I came back to an injury as well, and we stopped for 9 months and my ankle injury got weaker and I re-injured it. It's just part of what we do as well, and in terms of getting back into shape, it's hard for some and easier for others. But because of the injury (that never fully recovered), the timing made it more difficult.


Tapeworthy: How do you see the future of ballet? And your place in it?

Rebekah:I would like to continue to be on stage. I was off a little while from dancing full time and Karen (Kain) asked "Why don't you try this character role".

Vicky (Betram) had been the only one to do it for years. These are roles that could keep me longer. It all depends on other facets in life though, but (dance), it's in the blood.

I love the abstract but I hope there is a continuation of people choreographing dances about people with characterization. At one point, it stopped but there has been a bit of a revival now. Next year, we will perform a new Alice in Wonderland and it has lots of characters and fantasy. I'd like to see that trend continue.

I'd hate to see it all become just dark leotards and dark lighting. There was a point in the 90's where that trend happened.

Keep it diverse!


Tapeworthy: What do you think of shows like So You Think You Can Dance becoming apart of the dance world?

Rebekah: I think it's great!

Even in our repertoires, it might be trite. People have different opinions of what it should be. But dance is everything. It's primal. Sometimes it requires years and years of training, sometimes it doesn't. Those Hip Hoppers? Wow. So You Think You Can Dance is an ambassador for dance. It's fun and there's definitely room for it in the world. If you watch it for entertainment or if you want to go more, see more, explore more and see more people express themselves (after watching SYTYCD).

And those dances are excellent dances! We watch it too! We are ballet dancers and we dance with rules, but for us, it's completely amazing in how they move!


Tapeworthy: You have this wonderful rapport with Piotr Stanczyk (above with Rimsay in An Italian Straw Hat). Do you get to pick your dance partners or is that chosen for you by the choreographers?

Rebekah: They choose for us. Piotr has a great sense of humour. And now that he's (Piotr) a principal, I'm sad that we probably won't get to dance much together.

There was a show, Cool World, a little play but abstratct, also by James Kudelka, and one of the hardest. We had to dance side by side, and it was one of the first things we did together. No comedy. A serious piece.

But the dance company is deep with talent, but yes, they choose our partners.


Tapeworthy: And last question, any roles you still specifically want to do?

Rebekah: Ugh, SO MANY! You know, even if I did all those roles, there would be others I would want.
Cranko, Tatiana, Mistress in Manon. Also La Ronde. The Actress. I have danced The Chambermaid and it was so much fun. If you don't know La Ronde, it's quite abstract as well. It's one person sleeping with another, with another, in a giant circle until it returns back to the original prostitute. It's expressive and you know who youre looking at. I loved it (The Chambermaid) but I love the role of The Actress and it's absolutely divine.


Here are previous ballet reviews:
24 Preludes by Chopin & A Suite of Dances & The Four Seasons **** - 24 Preludes by Chopin ****1/2, A Suite of Dances ***1/2, The Four Seasons ****
Sleeping Beauty ***
The Four Temperaments & Watch Her & Glass Pieces **** - The Four Temperaments ***, Watch Her ****1/2, Glass Pieces *****
Carmen & Skin Divers ***1/2 - Carmen ***, Skin Divers ***1/2
Romeo & Juliet ***
Innovation ***1/2 - IN COLOUR ***, Emergence *****, DEXTRIS ***1/2
In The Upper Room & Symphony in C & Polyphonia ***1/2
The Fiddle and The Drum & Etudes & the second detail & Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan ****
Cinderella ****
Rooster & Soldiers' Mass & 24 Preludes by Chopin ****
An Italian Straw Hat ****1/2
West Side Story Suite & Glass Pieces & In The Night ****1/2
The Merry Widow ****

Here are some other Crushworthy's:

Caitlin Crosby's Mantourage Includes Robert Hoffman
Words of Wisdom from the Buff Guy Scott Herman
I Don't Know How To Love Him, Sam Taylor
McAvoy Movie Marathon
My Boy Jon McLaughlin is Beating My Heart
Mamma Mia It's Dominic Cooper!
Aaron Tveit
Best Musical Hotness - deAdre Aziza, Seth Stewart, Curtis Holbrook and Spencer Liff
James McAvoy is SO Wanted
Cheyenne Jackson, Damn, Xanadu Me!
Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westin in Burn Notice
Fernando Meirelles and Slings & Arrows

Not officially Crushworthy posts but has some nice gratuitous pictures nonetheless:

It's Hot All of A Sudden
Broadway Showings (Cry Baby Boys Bare)
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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One Not To Be Forgotten - A View From The Bridge - Play Review

A View From The Bridge - Cort Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
Written by Arthur Miller, Directed by Gregory Mosher
Runs until Apr. 4th

There's been legitimate complaints about the reliance of stunt casting on Broadway, with a recent surge of actual legit movie stars popping onto the Great White Way (and not just reality stars or has-beens trying to revive their careers in Chicago). Sometimes the movie star is great, but the project is a dud (Hugh Jackman on Broadway), or more often than not, the star is a dud that ruins a great project (who do I start with?).

Yet as much as we can complain that only shows with stars are seemingly surviving on Broadway (with early deaths to great starless shows like Finian's Rainbow and Ragtime), here comes a new revival that throws in a young film starlet in a dark tragedy and comes out with stunningly beautiful results.

Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber headline Mosher's new revival of Arthur Miller's classic Greek tragedy, and while Liev has done well with films, he's an acclaimed theatre veteran as well so his superb performance is no surprise, but the petite Scarlett Johansson makes her Broadway stage debut with fine finesse.

Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge may be a classic but my entire group knew nothing about the actual play (we're a bunch of philistines) but it's a beautifully accessible and sadly relevant and modern play about an Italian-American family living in Red Hook under the Brooklyn Bridge during the 1950's. Orphaned teenager Catherine (Johansson) lives with her aunt Beatrice (a superb Jessica Hecht) and uncle Eddie (Schreiber), a longshorman who understands the rules of the neighbourhood and union runs deep. Beatrice's cousins Marco (Corey Stoll) and Rodolpho (Morgan Spector) arrive illegally from Italy in search for better pay, but things start to unravel under Eddie's eyes when Catherine and Rodolpho begin showing an interested in each other.

Gregory Mosher's simple and unadorned direction places his superb cast (including a wonderful Morgan Spector, permanently filling in at the last moment when original cast member Santino Fontana had to step out due to injury) in a beautifully rendered tragic story that slowly unravels under the looming set by John Lee Beatty.

Liev Schreiber is simply thunderous and magnificent as Eddie, whose own personal conflicts begins to betray everything around him. There is a twinge of Schreiber's true intellect sneaking through blue-collar Eddie that is incongruent to the story, but Schreiber hulks his way around the set, a portrait of stubbornness and quiet selfishness.

Jessica Hecht (Sideways, Friends) plays Beatrice as the long suffering wife and while there have been complaints it seems one note, I found her performance moving in her quiet desperation to put some sense into her husband. There's a sense of fear and understanding all while a resolved acceptance in Eddie's overall personality that exhausts Beatrice.

Scarlett Johansson, even in my early preview, seemed mostly comfortable on stage, and any nervousness, seemed well channeled into her characters naiveness and blooming innocence and helped elevate her quick growth in maturity and understanding as Eddie begins to slowly prod his way into her life. Scarlett has a natural luminescence that easily translates into the desires for Rudolpho, and especially considering Morgan Spector had just stepped into the role, Spector and Johansson's had a great chemistry together that understandably fuels Eddie's anger.

Michael Christofer honourably plays the narrator/attorney as a one-man Greek Chorus that Miller constructs the play within. It's a strange device at first, especially in this type of staging, but it's extremely effective through the play, and just shows how inspired and calculated Miller's writing was. With clean direction from Mosher, and a strong cast, Miller's powerful cautionary play delivers a memorable image for the stage.

In a bit of pre-curser Tony talk, you can definitely look for Liev Schreiber at the Tony's this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Scarlett gets one too. It wasn't a perfect performance yet but one that had the bones to really grow into a stunning performance.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Oscarworthy

I've already posted my list for the Best Movies of 2009 so you can pretty much figure my guesses for my Oscar picks, but here's my picks and predictions.

Since this year the voters rank all 10 Best Picture nominees in order, here's what I would have put down. (The short of it is, the most popular movie in general may win over a movie that gets more #1 picks but I guess we will see how it turns out.)

Best Motion Picture of the Year
1. Up
2. District 9
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. The Hurt Locker - WILL WIN
5. A Serious Man
6. Up in the Air
7. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
8. Avatar
9. The Blind Side
10. An Education

Since it's really down between the big movie Avatar and the little movie The Hurt Locker, I'm hoping The Hurt Locker prevails.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart - WILL WIN
George Clooney for Up in the Air
Colin Firth for A Single Man - SHOULD WIN
Morgan Freeman for Invictus
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side - WILL WIN
Helen Mirren for The Last Station
Carey Mulligan for An Education
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire- SHOULD WIN
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon for Invictus
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN

Best Achievement in Directing
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
James Cameron for Avatar
Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
The Hurt Locker: Mark Boal - WILL WIN
Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger: Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
A Serious Man: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up: Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy - SHOULD WIN

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
District 9: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education: Nick Hornby
In the Loop: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche - SHOULD WIN
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - WILL WIN

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Avatar: Mauro Fiore - WILL WIN
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte: Christian Berger
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker: Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds: Robert Richardson - SHOULD WIN

Best Achievement in Editing
Avatar: Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
District 9: Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker: Bob Murawski, Chris Innis - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
Inglourious Basterds: Sally Menke
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire: Joe Klotz

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Avatar: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair - WILL WIN
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: David Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith - SHOULD WIN
Nine: John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes: Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria: Patrice Vermette, Maggie Gray

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Bright Star: Janet Patterson
Coco avant Chanel: Catherine Leterrier
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: Monique Prudhomme - SHOULD WIN
Nine: Colleen Atwood
The Young Victoria: Sandy Powell - WILL WIN

Best Achievement in Makeup
Il divo: Aldo Signoretti, Vittorio Sodano
Star Trek: Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
The Young Victoria: John Henry Gordon, Jenny Shircore

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Avatar: James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox: Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes: Hans Zimmer
Up: Michael Giacchino - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Crazy Heart: T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham ("The Weary Kind") - WILL WIN
Faubourg 36: Reinhardt Wagner, Frank Thomas ("Loin de Paname")
Nine: Maury Yeston ("Take It All")
The Princess and the Frog: Randy Newman ("Almost There") - SHOULD WIN
The Princess and the Frog: Randy Newman ("Down in New Orleans")

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Avatar: Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson - WILL WIN
The Hurt Locker: Paul N.J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett - SHOULD WIN
Inglourious Basterds: Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Mark Ulano
Star Trek: Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson, Peter J. Devlin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Geoffrey Patterson

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Avatar: Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle - WILL WIN
The Hurt Locker: Paul N.J. Ottosson - SHOULD WIN
Inglourious Basterds: Wylie Stateman
Star Trek: Mark P. Stoeckinger, Alan Rankin
Up: Michael Silvers, Tom Myers

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Avatar: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN
District 9: Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken
Star Trek: Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Coraline: Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox: Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog: John Musker, Ron Clements
The Secret of Kells: Tomm Moore
Up: Pete Docter - WILL WIN/SHOULD WIN

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Ajami (Israel)
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (Germany)
El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina)
Un prophète (France)
La teta asustada (Peru)

Best Documentary, Features
Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land: Anders Østergaard, Lise Lense-Møller
The Cove: Louie Psihoyos, Fisher Stevens - WILL WIN
Food, Inc.: Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers: Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home: Rebecca Cammisa

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province: Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner: Daniel Junge, Henry Ansbacher
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
Królik po berlinsku: Bartosz Konopka, Anna Wydra
Music by Prudence: Roger Ross Williams, Elinor Burkett

Best Short Film, Animated
French Roast: Fabrice Joubert
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty: Nicky Phelan, Darragh O'Connell
La dama y la muerte: Javier Recio Gracia
Logorama: Nicolas Schmerkin
Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death': Nick Park - WILL WIN

Best Short Film, Live Action
The Door: Juanita Wilson, James Flynn
Istället för abrakadabra: Patrik Eklund, Mathias Fjällström
Kavi: Gregg Helvey
Miracle Fish: Luke Doolan, Drew Bailey
The New Tenants: Joachim Back, Tivi Magnusson

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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The Bare Necessities of Life - 24 Preludes by Chopin - Ballet Review

24 Preludes by Chopin & A Suite of Dances & The Four Seasons - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - **** (Average Out of 5 Stars)
24 Preludes by Chopin - ****1/2
Choreographed by Marie Chouinard, Staged by Martha Carter, Music by Frédéric Chopin
A Suite of Dances - ***1/2
Choreographed by Jerome Robbins, Staged, by Jean-Pierre Frohlich, Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Four Seasons - ****
Choreography by James Kudelka, Music by Antonio Vivaldi
Runs until Mar. 7th 2010

While I don't believe I fall under USA's FTC regulations that requires bloggers to disclose freebies, I figure I'll be upfront and mention that thanks to the National Ballet of Canada, I got to see this show free as media (YAY!), and while I've become a HUGE new fan of ballet and want to champion them, I won't let that stop me from giving them a bad review.

That said, luckily, I won't have to this time.

Now, again, if you don't know my drill, I'm not a dance expert, I'm not a journalist, I'm just a big entertainment fan that loves watching LOTS of TV, Movies and Theatre and up until a few years ago, the most I knew about dance came from musicals or So You Think You Can Dance. But since I've given ballet a try, I've discovered that I actually love it and figure, many of you might too.

Artistic Director Karen Kain must be listening to the audience responses too since she's programmed the return of several popular ballet shorts that all happen to be my favorites I named in the Best Theatre of the Decade, with Emergence, Glass Shorts, West Side Story Suites and 24 Preludes by Chopin all returning this season or next.

Seeing 24 Preludes by Chopin again was fascinating, and not just because we got to see the beautiful artistry and athleticism displayed by the company, but because the modern and weird piece took on a whole different meaning to me this time, which is the beauty of Marie Chouinard's exquisite choreography. I still have no idea what it's really about, but the last time I saw it, it seemed cryptically sexy, especially with those costumes that seem straight out of a Brooklyn Hipsters bondage party, and by pairing it previously to the Rock and Roll ballet Rooster (set to Rolling Stones music), the punk rock sexual tensions within 24 Preludes by Chopin were enhanced and highlighted.

This time around I saw the piece in a completely non-sexual way, despite the skin-loving outfits, and instead, the dancers seemed more like people stripping away the adult layers we hide under and discovering the world through the simpler unclouded views, almost in childlike ways. The quirky movements and awkward choreography seemed to mirror those moments when children react to new situations, whether it's when the group of dancers play around with a ball, or run around in a chaotic playground, or nervously try to speak out against the mass conformity of the group. There's a raw tenderness revealed along with all the skin and while the dance and movements are still very strange, it strangely becomes a very moving dance. By pairing 24 Preludes this time with The Four Seasons and A Suite of Dances, it shifts the dance over to the broader night's theme of man discovering itself through the growth of life (via famous classical music).

It's a magical and haunting piece no matter how you interpret Chouinard's intricate choreography and Vandal and Jacques-Lee Pelletier's Costume and Make-up Design. The company does an excellent job and of special note, guest dancer (and normally choreographer) Matjash Mrozewski had some beautiful moments (and it's too bad he doesn't dance more often, despite his successful choreography career).


In A Suite of Dances, a man (Zdenek Konvalina on my night playing the role in rotation with Guillaume Côté) does a solo dance to Bach. A beautifully simple piece by the legendary Jerome Robbins that is sort of one man's discovery of his own movements and abilities. Except I'm really not into long solos. But for a solo, this has a playfulness that is wonderfully performed in the right spirit here by Konvalina, and almost moves beyond a solo by pairing him with an on-stage Cellist (Winona Zelenka) who sort of becomes the dancers partner in crime.


The Four Seasons continues on this path of human discovery as it follows another man (Aleksandar Antonijevic on my night, shown here with Greta Hodgkinson) as he dances with the different seasons of his life from a youthful spring to a cold death in winter, all to Vivaldi's famous The Four Seasons. James Kudelka's choreography always has a very traditional feel to it without being heavy and "old", and his The Four Seasons feels light, fresh and modern, despite the traditional ballet moves and techniques.

The story is epic but the presentation strips it down to the core essentials, with a changing projected backdrop as the Man meets the elements of life during the changing seasons of Spring (Jillian Vanstone), Summer (Sonia Rodriguez), Fall (Rebekah Rimsay) and Winter (Principal Character Artist Victoria Bertram). Aleksandar Antonijevic has a particular sensual chemistry with Sonia Rodriguez in the red hot Summer season, and despite a minor slipup, Rodriguez simmers throughout the sequence. Rimsay, so natural at breathing full characters into all her roles, is perfectly cast to give a deeper heaviness to Fall. It was great to see the more seasoned Principal Character Artists dance during the Winter sequence. Noah Long is a particular standout from the terrific ensemble and it's nice to see him really grow into a wonderful leading dancer.


The entire evening of the three ballet shorts becomes much more contemplative than some recent mixed program evenings. While it was less visceral and gimmicky, the night really searches deeper into our human existence.


Above: Tonya Howard as Summer

Don't forget DanceBreak members (free to sign up) aged 16 to 29 can purchase $25 tickets on the day of the performance (starting at midnight online)(depending on availability)! Visit DanceBreak.ca.

Sleeping Beauty ***
The Four Temperaments & Watch Her & Glass Pieces **** - The Four Temperaments ***, Watch Her ****1/2, Glass Pieces *****
Carmen & Skin Divers ***1/2 - Carmen ***, Skin Divers ***1/2
Romeo & Juliet ***
Innovation ***1/2 - IN COLOUR ***, Emergence *****, DEXTRIS ***1/2
In The Upper Room & Symphony in C & Polyphonia ***1/2
The Fiddle and The Drum & Etudes & the second detail & Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan ****
Cinderella ****
Rooster & Soldiers' Mass & 24 Preludes by Chopin ****
An Italian Straw Hat ****1/2
West Side Story Suite & Glass Pieces & In The Night ****1/2
The Merry Widow ****
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Going Down Under - Spring Awakening - Musical Review

Spring Awakening - Sydney Theatre Company - Sydney, Australia - *** (out of 5 stars)
Music by Duncan Sheik, Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater, Based on the original play by Frank Wedekind, Directed by Geordie Brookman, Choreographed by Kate Champion
Runs until March 7th 2010

You know while I was in Sydney that I just HAD to see the latest incarnation of my favorite musical Spring Awakening, making its Australian debut in a newly conceived production by young hotstar director Geordie Brookman. I wish I didn't.

Regular readers know that I love the show. (Original Review, 2nd Review, 3rd Review, 4th Review, 5th Review, 6th Review, and 7th Review w/ new cast including Hunter Parrish, National Touring cast Review with Parry Sherman and Matt Doyle, National Touring Cast w/ Kyle Riabko Review) So you can assume that I love the book, music and lyrics.

I know there's the backlash against it now, and that the book leaves thin characters dangling, but I always saw it as a musical of vignettes that are less about the characters themselves, than the emotions they represent, and to some that's a weakness, but it's exactly why I find the show can be so powerful. However, the original Broadway staging by Michael Mayer brilliant adds layers to Sater and Sheik's musical and strengthens the modern day connections to the historical tale, while bringing out the nuances and hypocrisies within the story. Kevin Adams eclectic mood lighting, Christine Jones simple set and Bill T. Jones hyper-kinetic choreography only helped Mayer's stripped down approach to the modern emo-folk-rock opera.

So I'm not even going to try to ignore the original staging because having this brand new Sydney production so soon after the original will automatically invoke comparisons, and while I tried to go in with an open mind, Brookman's staging made it hard to see it as its own entity.

While Brookman and Champion attempt to mark their own stamp onto Sater and Sheik's Spring Awakening (where the book, lyrics and music remain the same), they borrow too much from the original to mark any vast differences, yet changes too much that it loses much of the original directorial intent. The new vision is thus different for the sake of being different, yet it's not different enough to truly become its own production, and I sat there wondering why they couldn't just import the original version in?

The new orchestrations by Robert Gavin shifts the original emo-rock band and gives the score a jazzier tone that completely deflates the harsh contrasts of Sheiks music with the 1890's setting.

While Australians seeing the show for the first time will think that Anna Tregloan's set is a minimalist approach, by comparison to the original, it sketches out an old farmhouse far more literally. With a hinging set, different settings are formed to create far more literal scenes, yet loses Christine Jones' uber minimalist symmetry and can-be-anywhere approach.

Brookman loses the microphones at first, but then brings them in for certain scenes. At times they are replaced by industrial lamps, but it's never clear why. Dangling lights, much like the blue ones that Kevin Adams descends into "The Mirror-Blue Night", is strung throughout the show, and much of the staging is similar, without any central symmetry that off-balances the show. There are some clever ideas used here but much of it seems superfluous and thrown in because it's neat and clever in the first place.

There's a far better clarity with Tess Schofield's costume design, especially in changing up the adult characters, still played here by a single Adult Woman and a single Adult Man, though to do so, we lose a brilliant subtle moment when we see the actors change characters within a single scene just by shifting their bodies and changing their voices.

Ilse is now portrayed as Avril Lavigne in her punk rock outfit, though luckily Angela Scundi gives one of the strongest performances turning Ilse into a believable tragic figure whose strength is a pure facade.

Akos Armont (above centre) delivers a wonderfully bruised performance as Moritz, and much like Scundi's Ilse, are the two performances that differ the greatest from the Broadway cast (originally portrayed by John Galagher Jr. (who won the Tony for his performance) and Lauren Pritchard, respectively) yet become the most believable and emotionally arresting performances from the Sydney company.

I can see that Brookman tried to tone down Mayer's broader directions to make it more tragic and realistic, but instead Brookman ends up dampening the spirit and energy of the piece, while losing any sense of humour that Sater's book has. The show is very funny on Broadway, but there is little humour existing at the Sydney Theatre. It becomes one dark and damp tragic piece with little to offset and exaggerate the difference in tones, which lets most of the peripheral characters muddle into a indistinguishable group. It's too bad since there's hints of great performances from Nicholas Kong as Otto and Scott Morris as Ernst but the staging offers little to individualize their small parts.

Kate Champion's choreography is erratic and pulsing... much like Bill T. Jones' choreography, and Champions ends up feeling like a watered down version of the original.

I didn't get to see Andrew Hazzard as Melchior, who is supposed to be terrific, and instead an unsure understudy Alex Woodward led the way as the lead male that could have used a bit more charisma and confidence. Wendla is played by Clare Bowen who resembles a cross between Kristen Dunst and Jayne Wisener (London Donmar's Parade and the film Sweeney Todd) and while her voice isn't as strong or clear as Lea Michelle's (who originated the role before joining Glee) (though who is?), I grew to like Bowen in the role, as she balanced the fragility and naiveness nicely.

Still, the musical should take you on an enthralling emotional journey that excites and hurts, and instead, the Brookman version feels limp and bland, and excises the most thrilling parts of the show and mutes it for the sake of realism (despite throwing in an odd industrial lamp here and there for some cool imagery and effect). Usually I leave Spring Awakening feeling invigorated and shaken, but I left the Sydney Theatre unaffected and neutral, possible the worst reaction one can have for what should be a great musical experience.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Romantic Comedies with Kristen Schaal and Other TV Stars - Valentine's Day & When in Rome

Yes, Kristen Schaal has a bit part in each of these 2010 Winter Rom Coms. Yay Kristen Schaal!

Valentine's Day = B
Written by Katherine Fugate, Directed by Garry Marshall

I'm a sucker for these huge ensemble casts. Whether it be the more developed ones by Woody Allen or Robert Altman or these commercial ones that cobble together any star that will sign on. With papa Garry Marshall at the helm, seems like every former TV star-now movie star has signed on (Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper from Alias, Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace from That 70's Show, Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy, Jessica Alba from Dark Angel, Queen Latifah from Living Single, Jamie Foxx from The Jamie Foxx Show, George Lopez from The George Lopez Show, Emma Roberts from Unfabulous, Hector Elizondo from Chicago Hope, Jessica Biel from 7th Heaven, Anne Hathaway from Get Real). With some gratuitous young love thrown in (The Taylor's Swift and Lautner) and his go-to girl, ultimate movie star Julia Roberts (who nicely acknowledges her Pretty Woman hooker days on Rodeo drive in a funny throwaway scene), Garry manages a less than brilliant but still somewhat satisfying Hollywood rom-com that solidly delivers what a movie based on a Hallmark holiday should.

And yes, I loved watching the different stars interact with each other. Seeing Julia Roberts back with her Three Days of Rain co-star Bradley Cooper (who has since become a huge movie star himself) was delightful. Watching Sydney Bristow (er, Jennifer Garner) fall for McDreamy (er Patrick Dempsey) was like watching the fan-fiction fantasy of having the ABC lineup converge together finally come true. A terrific Anne Hathaway hides her phone-sex job from both Topher Grace and Queen Latifah and just makes me love Anne even more!

Of course, how you enjoy each character and plotline depends on how you like the actor themselves. Never been a fan of Alba, so that's used to an advantage here, while Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Garner uses their innate likability to their advantage. Eric Dane uses his chest and abs to his advantage.

Sadly Taylor Lautner does not, in a story with Taylor Swift that has no reason and thyme other than to have their pretty faces on screen as a teenage couple in young love (though was it me or did Lautner seem not so into Swift and more into his best friend Alex?). Alex (Carter Jenkens) has the better teenage story with Emma Roberts, plus Jenkens gets to show off what Lautner doesn't (hehe).

Never been a fan of Biel or Foxx but both (with some help from the always awesome Kathy Bates) fare pretty well with Biel winning me over.

Shirley MacLaine gets to have a split second reunion with Steel Magnolias co-star Julia Roberts, and as always, Marshall assembles Julia, Hector Elizondo and Larry Miller back into the same movie as it should be!

The script isn't genius, and the different storylines don't hold as well as Love Actually, but Valentine's Day is far superior to last years large-ensemble-rom-com effort He's Just Not That Into You.


When in Rome = D+
Written by David Diamond & David Weissman, Directed by Mark Steven Johnson

While the ads for When In Rome only show Kristen Bell (who they (including me) really want to turn into a movie star based on her awesomeness in Veronica Mars) and Josh Duhamel (who I admit, is really really pretty), the film is actually has a bigger starry ensemble than they've advertised. Strangely a first and quite some restraint from the marketing department!


Sadly, even with Danny Devito, Anjelica Huston, Will Arnet, Jon Heder, Peggy Lipton or Don Johnson (WHA?!) could save this tedious excuse for a romantic comedy, a genre that already gets a bad rapt just because Hollywood keeps throwing out duds like this one (instead of intelligent ones like (500) Days of Summer).

The script, written by two men, almost seem like a frat boy joke on bender night who dared themselves to write a romantic comedy, then tried to Hangover the script so that they themselves could enjoy it. Instead, the film comes off with a scattered story (even though the initial concept could have been quite fun) and some painfully awkward "comedic" bits.

Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel really are lovely but an awkward script and beautiful scenes in both Rome and New York (oh, is THAT why they all signed on to the movie?) can't save this. Bell and Duhamel deserve far better (as does Devito, Huston and Arnet).

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Idiots

I am SO THERE!

That first girl in the Grammy's clip is Rebecca Naomi Jones from Passing Strange. She's fricken awesome!



"AMERICAN IDIOT is scheduled to begin previews on March 24th at the St James Theatre (NYC) and officially open on April 20, 2010. The Broadway cast (which differs slightly from the original Berkley Rep cast) includes: John Gallagher Jr. (Johnny), Michael Esper (Will), Stark Sands (Tunny), Tony Vincent (St. Jimmy), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Whatsername), Mary Faber (Heather), Christina Sajous (the Extraordinary Girl) with Declan Bennett, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Brian Charles Johnson, Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock, Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, & Libby Winters in addition to Joshua Kobak, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, and Aspen Vincent as swings"

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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