Sunday, 8 January 2012 04:07 pm
(no subject)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deckardcanineAfter ushering some not-so-fun Arena Stage fare, my folks and I have attended two other theaters in a row. The week after Christmas, we spent a few days in NYC, the highlight (aside from meeting old friends again) being Relatively Speaking, a trio of short plays about Jewish families.
I'm rather glad they put "Talking Cure" by Joel Coen first. You know how the Coen Bros. make expert movies but always do something strange and unsatisfying as if to mock the viewers? In this case, the play was fine until it ended all of a sudden, feeling about half done at 30 minutes.
Next was "George Is Dead" by Elaine May, far more packed and a little more painful in its style of comedy-drama. I'm not very familiar with May's work, but I'm sure this was more worthwhile than the last film she directed, Ishtar.
After the intermission came the biggest and best, "Honeymoon Motel" by Woody Allen. It starts with what seem like a hackneyed pair of newlyweds getting ready, but gradually eight more people come in (justifiably), including a tipsy rabbi, for an essential farce with no slapstick. The cast included Steve Guttenberg and Julie Kavner, the latter of whom we all recognized by voice. Knowledge of the playwright can make the final love lesson uncomfortable, but what a ride!
On Friday we saw Jersey Boys, the fast-paced story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, with about 30 songs by them and a few connected singers. My mom knew almost the entire first act's lyrics; I recognized about five songs all told, only one of which I could've identified by group, but I generally appreciated the rest. Joseph Leo Bwarie has an amazing voice for Valli, and the others complement him nicely. The Angels impersonators didn't cover "My Boyfriend's Back" very well, but that's it.
The plot? Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that musician bios run together after a while. Still, I learned a few interesting tidbits:
-Frankie Castelluccio thought of going by "Vally" but got talked into a more Italian variant.
-The band went by many names before taking inspiration from the Four Seasons Lodge.
-Joe Pesci was associated with the forerunners of the Four Seasons before any of them were famous. Either that or they just threw the factoid in because Pesci co-produced the play.
-Bob Gaudio wrote a hit song at 15, the rather immature "(Who Wears) Short Shorts." His next hit came a few years later, letting him be a born-again "one-hit" wonder.
-People who'd never seen them thought they were a Black group. I never heard them that way, but White guys just weren't expected to sing so back then. (Same with Rick Astley.)
-No studio wanted to record "Can't Take My Eyes off of You," because it was too weird for the time.
The production had screens high up on the stage periodically showing what looked like paintings of comic book panels. I'm not sure why they made this decision, but it looked good. The screens also announced "Spring," "Summer," "Fall," and "Winter" for different stages of the band. Only on the way home did it hit me like a dope slap that this was appropriate to the Four Seasons -- and I figured it out before my parents did. What makes this even funnier to me is that the night before, having forgotten what Jersey Boys would be about, I watched Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring, a unique South Korean drama similarly divided.
I'm rather glad they put "Talking Cure" by Joel Coen first. You know how the Coen Bros. make expert movies but always do something strange and unsatisfying as if to mock the viewers? In this case, the play was fine until it ended all of a sudden, feeling about half done at 30 minutes.
Next was "George Is Dead" by Elaine May, far more packed and a little more painful in its style of comedy-drama. I'm not very familiar with May's work, but I'm sure this was more worthwhile than the last film she directed, Ishtar.
After the intermission came the biggest and best, "Honeymoon Motel" by Woody Allen. It starts with what seem like a hackneyed pair of newlyweds getting ready, but gradually eight more people come in (justifiably), including a tipsy rabbi, for an essential farce with no slapstick. The cast included Steve Guttenberg and Julie Kavner, the latter of whom we all recognized by voice. Knowledge of the playwright can make the final love lesson uncomfortable, but what a ride!
On Friday we saw Jersey Boys, the fast-paced story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, with about 30 songs by them and a few connected singers. My mom knew almost the entire first act's lyrics; I recognized about five songs all told, only one of which I could've identified by group, but I generally appreciated the rest. Joseph Leo Bwarie has an amazing voice for Valli, and the others complement him nicely. The Angels impersonators didn't cover "My Boyfriend's Back" very well, but that's it.
The plot? Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that musician bios run together after a while. Still, I learned a few interesting tidbits:
-Frankie Castelluccio thought of going by "Vally" but got talked into a more Italian variant.
-The band went by many names before taking inspiration from the Four Seasons Lodge.
-Joe Pesci was associated with the forerunners of the Four Seasons before any of them were famous. Either that or they just threw the factoid in because Pesci co-produced the play.
-Bob Gaudio wrote a hit song at 15, the rather immature "(Who Wears) Short Shorts." His next hit came a few years later, letting him be a born-again "one-hit" wonder.
-People who'd never seen them thought they were a Black group. I never heard them that way, but White guys just weren't expected to sing so back then. (Same with Rick Astley.)
-No studio wanted to record "Can't Take My Eyes off of You," because it was too weird for the time.
The production had screens high up on the stage periodically showing what looked like paintings of comic book panels. I'm not sure why they made this decision, but it looked good. The screens also announced "Spring," "Summer," "Fall," and "Winter" for different stages of the band. Only on the way home did it hit me like a dope slap that this was appropriate to the Four Seasons -- and I figured it out before my parents did. What makes this even funnier to me is that the night before, having forgotten what Jersey Boys would be about, I watched Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring, a unique South Korean drama similarly divided.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
This is a very apt description of the one movie of theirs I've seen.
no subject
no subject
It was "Burn After Reading". However much skill it too, I still think it would have demonstrated a lot *more* storytelling skill if they *had* tied all those threads together in some satisfying way. I hoped they would (and marveled at what a task that would be) for a while, and was disappointed with it even after figuring they wouldn't.