Jude Law and Order - Repo Men - Movie Review

Repo Men = C+
Written by Eric Garcia & Garrett Lerner, Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
Opens Mar. 19th 2010

I blame last years Taken. It was a terrible movie. But it was a terribly cathartic movie about revenge and it was wonderfully cast and in the end, I guiltily enjoyed it against my best moral judgment. Did Hollywood take notice? Cause this year, I've quite enjoyed Daybreakers, Remember Me and now Repo Men. Terrible terrible movies that I quite enjoyed against every critical thought in my head.

All those movies above started with a great concept, quite clever ones actually, some intriguing twists, and a pretty good set of actors. And then most of them were given to new directors and given the MTV video treatment, without any further refinement of the scripts, so they're left in a rough state of early development.

This time in Repo Men, an interesting premise goes off the rails as the writers try to keep twisting away with the suspense, while the director relies on beefing up the action sequences just in case the darker metaphors start to bore us.

Jude Law and Forest Whitaker are repo men for The Union, a company that sells body parts in a futuristic Toronto (well, they don't actually say what future city they're in but they don't really attempt to hide Toronto and figure most of America will have no idea what my city looks like anyways (if it doesn't have the CN Tower in the shot). The repo men seem to take the law in their own hands (literally slicing away unpaid body parts) for the sake of their job. That is until Jude Law ends up being a client (due to an injury caused at work) and begins missing payments (if anything, this is a cautionary tale to be pro-Worker's Comp). Then Jude Law grows a conscience and the revenge on the big evil corporation begins. It's all very cathartic if it weren't so damn bloody, and as the film goes on, and twists are piled upon twists until utter ridiculousness ensues and had me out. A final twist excuses the ridiculousness and the over-the-top action sequences and all the blood... sort of, or, like the twist in Remember Me,

At least it's all an excuse for Jude Law (recently amazing audiences with his thespian skills as a terrific Hamlet on the stage) to show us his buff self and be all badass (though Community's Yvette Nicole Brown gets a nice tiny role where she outbadasses Jude Law)! But while Jude seems to enjoy doing the futuristic sci-fi movies (A.I.), this is no Gattaca.

It's almost a shame to see good actors like Forest Whitaker and Liev Schreiber (currently acting up a storm in A View From the Bridge on Broadway) reading lines like the ones they are given here, but at least their clout adds to the weight of the premise, since the director never seems to fully trust it himself.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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Starry Starry Night - A Little Night Music - Musical Review

A Little Night Music - Walter Kerr Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - **** (out of 5 stars)
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler, Directed by Trevor Nunn, Choreographed by Lynne Page

As I noted earlier in my review of the current Broadway revival of A View From The Bridge, Broadway has been relying more and more on major stars to fill the seats, often to the demise of talented but obscure Broadway actors toiling away on the stage.

So here comes Catherine Zeta-Jones from Hollywood swooping into one of the most prized musical roles, the one that gets to sing Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" to join national treasure Angela Lansbury (who, while a major star, at least has starred on many Broadway shows and is partly famous from them in the first place), and while the theatre elite were ready to pounce, CZJ's star aura dazed everyone into a warm loving glow and won everyone over.

And indeed, CZJ is superb as Desiree Armfeldt, the aging star actress (so it's not a total stretch) and her singing is quite lovely and her natural star presence easily fills the stage without overdoing it. By the time she warbles out "Send in the Clowns" in the 2nd act, it's a heartfelt, almost hurtful yearning that gives the song the deep resonating melancholy needed without resorting to theatrical tricks. It's simply a splendid performance and reminds us that CZJ is in fact born from the stage (as she started off in theatre in England before she became famous for her film roles).

It's an honour to see Angela Lansbury again (last time as a kooky fortune teller in Blithe Spirit) on stage, now as the wheelchair bound Madame Armfeldt.

Now, this was my first time actually seeing this classic/elitist musical, and I came with a bit of trepidation after hearing how perfect this little chamber musical was. Which meant I was going to be bound to be bored silly or hate it, but luckily, I thought it was such a delightful show with some amazing songs from Sondheim (I know, I want to hate him but I really can't). Many purists have still complained that this new production via London's West End that debuted at the tiny Menier Chocolate Factory is too pared down, too simplistic and minimalist, especially when it comes to the score and the downsized orchestra. Luckily, as a A Little Night Music virgin, I couldn't tell, and I didn't mind the minimalist production at all, and I quite enjoyed the simplistic set.

My only major complaint was, that while the big stars filled the above-title roles quite nicely, it was actually the second tiered set of actors that I wasn't as sure about. Broadway stars Aaron Lazar's Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (above right) and Erin Davie's Countess Charlotte Malcolm seemed almost comically caricature compared to the soft humanist approach by CZJ. Newcomers Hunter Ryan Herdlicka and Ramona Mallory played the silly younguns Henrik and Anne Eggerman almost a bit too one note, though Herdlicka's performance grew on me, while Mallory's became a little grating.

Instead, it was the third tier of actors who impressed me the most. The ensemble that filled out the butler and maid characters had the most impressive voices and some great facial expressions in reaction to the more central characters. Bradley Dean, Kevin David Thomas, Jayne Patterson, Marrisa McGowan and Betsy Morgan (who dazzled me in the lead role of a new musical version of Giant) all had exquisite voices and luckily filled out many of the songs with a lusciousness.

Leigh Ann Larkin (Gypsy, Ragtime) made a great comic and heartfelt turn as Petra, though a role and song that seems to come from nowhere.

And Alexander Hanson (the only remaining original cast member from it's UK debut) is formidable job as the leading man Frederik Egerman, and nicely holds his own against CZJ's star power.

I adored the music and the production and totally had stars in my eyes at Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury's performances, and I was completely taken by the ensemble casts' voices. The show may have been a starry one, but it made for a lovely lovely night.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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The Great Black Way - Fela! - Musical Review

Fela! - Eugene O'Neill Theatre - Broadway, New York, NY - ***1/2 (out of 5 stars)
Music and Lyrics based on the songs by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Book and Additional Lyrics by Jim Lewis, Directed and Choreographed by Bill T. Jones

Once again the Eugene O'Neill Theatre has been decked out and transformed for a new show. Last time I was there, it was 1890's Germany via geometrical shaped fluorescents and hanging blue lights, and now it's The Shrine, a nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria circa 1978, where singer-songwriter Fela Kuti played nightly with lyrics that criticized the corruption and the military dictatorship within the Nigerian government. But don't worry about all that heavy stuff, most of it doesn't bog the hyper-energy show until the second act.

Conceived by Jim Lewis, Bill T. Jones (Tony winning choreographer for Spring Awakening, Chapel/Chapter), and Steve Hendel, the show is less a full storied musical than it is a riotous Afrobeat concert by and about Fela Kutiand the first act is an absolute blast of energy and excitement as the cast of dancers and musicians shake and sway and jump and dance non-stop in an introduction to Afrobeat via Kuti himself (played in rotation by Sahr Ngaujah (shown in the photos here) and Kevin Mambo. I saw it with Mambo playing Fela).

Saycon Sengbloh (Hair, Wicked) plays Fela's main wife (or something like that, sometimes the heavy accents were hard to decipher) and while she gets a lead role and is lovely here, I felt she had more of a presence in her little character bits in Hair.

And man, it's really NON-STOP that i started sweating for the dancers moving to Bill T. Jones choreography with even a portion that turns into a dance lesson for the audience (yes, you're gonna get up and shake your booty)! There's a slight introduction to Fela's many wives (the dancers), and his dead mother (usually Lilias White but she was out for my show) seen in a ghostly vision, but the 1st act is really about the energy and Mambo was the excellent leader and host to the non-stop action.

While Fela! has been heralded as something completely new like nothing seen on Broadway, I guess I still found it to be a bit like it's former tenant, but the "Black" version of Spring Awakening, at least in spirit. It also reminded me of two other "Black musicals", the Jamaican based The Harder They Come (yes I know Jamaica and Africa are two very different things but the beats are all kinda the same to me after a while) and the South African based musical review Umoja, and especially like the later one, Fela! has a thread of a storyline, lots of amazing dancing and African beats, but Fela has a similar feel (or maybe it's just all "Black" to me?), but seems to hold the energy together better than the others.

At least until Act 2, when the show tries to get serious and drains all the energy that makes the show so special in the first place. I know Fela Kuti's life is tragic with the loss of his mother and his constant fight with the corruption around his land, but the drastic tonal changes and attempt to deepen the story don't really work in the shows overall favour.

The final grade reflects the 5 stars I would have given Act 1, and the 2 stars I would give Act 2. Usually I would prefer the darker tones in a show and I would love the serious notions within all the excitement, but I just wasn't feeling it and I felt it all didn't gel together as one whole show, which is really too bad since Fela! gets to a terrific start.

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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The Non-Ugly Duckling - Swan Lake - Ballet Review

Swan Lake - The National Ballet of Canada - Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts - Toronto, ON - **** (Average Out of 5 Stars)
Choreography by James Kudelka, Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Runs until Mar. 21st 2010

Well, I think I've figured out that I generally prefer the modern, weird, abstract stuff over the frou frou classical ballets, but if I'm gonna have to watch a classical ballet, I hope James Kudelka is choreographing it. My previous faves were An Italian Straw Hat and Cinderella, both that inserted a lot of humour and didn't feel stuffy in its choreography. Both which I've now realized were directed by James Kudelka.

The National Ballet of Canada is currently remounting James Kudelka's 1999 version of Swan Lake, a "new radical" interpretation especially by ballet standards. It's still the classical ballet to Tchaikovsky's famous score, but Kudelka's choreography is both traditional (think tutu's and all) but can feel a bit more modern and fresh in its movements. At times, if you took away the fancy costumes and sets and removed the music, and replaced it with black tights and mood lighting, Kudelka's Swan Lake could be more like those modern shorts I love so much.

I love the moments especially when the company of dancers move in what looks like random chaos, yet still seems to have a pattern to it all, thus giving a sense of comforting asymmetry. There's a sense of balance despite Kudelka's avoidance of having the dancers stay in perfect unison, and it keeps the show interesting.

Because to be honest, having never seen Swan Lake, much like many other famous works that I've only finally recently actually seen, the story is strangely disappointing. Much like musicals South Pacific, Oklahoma or the all famous ballet The Nutcracker, I came out of Swan Lake scratching my head at the story and going... "that's it?". Again, I know it's a classic, but really, it's basically about bestiality? Lol. Who knew? I thought it was about swans in love, I didn't realize it was about a Prince who gets tricked into falling in love with a Swan, then accidentally chooses the wrong swan to marry, only to accused of betrayal at the end. WEIRD!

But you know, Swan Lake is a classic! And for that, we have Tchaikovsky's glorious music to thank, and the fact that the tutu actually resembles a swan so the fluttering of the ballerina's arms as they walk across onstage on point gives a peaceful and beautiful image and THAT'S why it's a classic, and The National Ballet of Canada's Swan Lake delivers on giving us all the beautiful imagery we expect from Swan Lake.

Of course, it helped that last nights opening night had the company's own Hollywoodish star couple Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté (both above) play the lead Swan Odette/Odile and her Prince Siegfried (roles are rotated amongst the dancers). Seriously, no one could have scripted a better story than having the companies two young and beautiful Principal dancers fall in love, so it's kind of magical to watch them dance the leads here.

I forgot to mention it in my interview with the crushworthy Rebekah Rimsay that while she excels in fully embodying the characters she's given, it's not just a facial acting thing. Her whole BODY becomes the character and you know exactly who she's playing and what her purpose is even if you're sitting at the back of the theatre. Here, she plays The Wench who along with the Fool (the always reliable Keiichi Hirachi), try to entertain the bored Prince in Act 1 and Rimsay as usual, is absolutely delightful and brings a humour to the role as she's thrown around by all the men!

It's always nice to see Noah Long get another major role (as Rothbart, the mysterious interloper that sets things in action) as he seems to be growing into a terrific lead. Brett van Sickle (as Benno, Siegfried's friend) dances handsomely as usual.

And again, while the ensemble of male dancers had usual strong guys, I noticed a couple of this seasons newcomers, most especially again McGee Maddox, who seems to have a lumbering football body, yet is so smooth and graceful that when he lands so softly onto the ground after every jump, it seems like he's defying gravity a bit. Ryan Booth and Nan Wang seemed excellent too (there were more but I still haven't exactly figured out names to faces quite yet).

Amongst the women, especially in Act 2, where the white swans emerge (and the image of what Swan Lake is probably for most people), I kept noticing Andreea Olteanu again. Possibly because of her darker olive-toned skin, but she has a very fierce and sharp aura in her dancing, and moves in a very regal way, as if she was some sort of Countess and it's quite lovely.

All the princesses (that Siegfried must choose from to marry, in a scene that seems like a ballet standard, doesn't it?) were terrific, with Tanya Howard's Spanish Princess especially amusing in her subtle comedic moments.

But there are so many beautiful ballerina's in their frilly tutus that I couldn't quite figure out who was who but since it's all about the image of the swans as a whole, and the tragic story of Siegfried, Swan Lake, while not technically my thing, still managed to present a classic ballet in a fascinating and beautiful fashion.


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 ****
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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I'll Stare Intensely At You - Remember Me - Movie Review

Remember Me = C+
Written by Will Fetter, Directed by Allen Coulter
Opens Mar. 12th 2010

Alright folks. Either you've swooned for Robert Pattinson in Twilight or you've rolled your eyes at the thought (if you didn't gouged them already). I actually sit in the middle of it all. Since he's Cedric from Harry Potter, I have a soft spot, and I didn't mind all the swooning and intense glaring in Twilight, but seriously, the boy could have washed his hair once in a while.

SPOILERS BELOW. Yes, considering the movie looks like it's solely a romantic drama between Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin (herself a cult figure as Claire in Lost), who knew there would be spoilers?

Yes, most of the movie moves from one contrived shocking moment to another contrived shocking revelation so that we understand the intensity RPatz's Tyler Hawkins must feel as a poor-little-rich-boy who falls for Emilie de Ravin's Ally after an initial bet by his plot propeller/roommate Aiden (yes, it's one of those stories, topped only by the fact that Ally is the daughter of the cop (Oscar winner Chris Cooper slumming it here) who arrested Tyler after he tried to be a good samaritan, oh yes, he's that too). The script is generous in its earnestness, and while there are some moments, sometimes first time screenwriter Will Fetters tries way too hard to get to those moments and some more finessing of the script would have helped.

RPatz gets to brood and mope and look intensely with his sanpaku eyes (like in Twilight but without fangs but still just as pale) and the camera essentially makes love to him as he makes love to Emilie de Ravin, and it's all swoonworthy and good if that weren't just it. RPatz and Emilie make do with what their given, which is already more than what Kate Burton (Grey's Anatomy), Gregory Jbara (Billy Elliot the Musical), or Lena Olin (Alias) have to work with as the adults that care for RPatz's Tyler, but the two lovebirds attempt to hold the movie in all it's young love glory as best they can as it slowly moves from one swaying moment to the next.

Ruby Jerins (above, Nurse Jackie) is adorable as Tyler's younger sister, a device to perfectly show Tyler's loving side, and a plot point that hinges on their father's coldness, played with a jarring accent by Pierce Brosnan.

And then as the love story comes to it's minor dramatic conflict and minor dramatic conclusion, just as we get to the happily ever after portion...

SPOILER ALERT



in what had been hinted throughout the film (and if you had been doing your calculations right), the film turns into World Trade Centre September 11th movie as tragedy hits our beloved Tyler.

At this point you either run out screaming while rolling your eyes as you try to gouge them, or you're wiping them with Kleenex. Strangely enough, considering the schmaltzy manipulative creaky script that preceded up until this point, I completely bought into it all and sort of resounded myself to RPatz and Emilie de Ravin's forever love. Director Allen Coulter has by this point smoothed the entire movie into one big glossy memorial to the "real" New York (with big kudos for getting the look and feel of life as young 20's in 2001 correct as a bygone era) that the entire lovey dovey swoony set up was a prelude to the REAL moment of the film.

It's a flawed script made into a sometimes tedious film (all the swooning gets a little slow and tiresome by the 2nd hour) that has a lot of likable qualities, including strong leads (despite wavering accents), strong if sometimes underused secondary cast, but its earnestness is so matter-of-fact that you can't even make fun of it. THEN the 9/11 twist comes in and you realize you either really can't make fun of this film, or you find it's the biggest sham around.

I liked what Time Out New York's Keith Uhlich said "I can’t say any more beyond telling you that I came out of the screening with an ear-to-ear grin I don’t usually get from even great movies. Bless you, R.Patz & Co., because this gloriously steaming pile is officially in the bad-movies-we-love pantheon".

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

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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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