Arts America

The Art of Cooking

Ashley Shelton — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:37:00 +0000

There is nothing more satisfying than when art bleeds with culinary brilliance. It is an indulgence for the senses that shouldn’t be skipped. In Gustave Blanche III’s exhibit showcasing long standing chef Leah Chase a slice of Louisiana food history is preserved. Wearing her signature pink hat and seen slicing and dicing various colorful vegetables, the onlooker can’t help but be swept up in the long standing history of the Dooky Chase’s. A long standing Louisiana famous food spot, Dooky Chase has more than 50 years of history mostly with Chef Chase in the kitchen. It was only natural that talented Louisiana painter Blanche decided to honor her culinary brilliance and form this exhibit. Colorful and intricate lines of kitchen, food, and chefs you almost feel that you are looking at photographs instead of artwork. Her cooking is a work of art in its own right. Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blanche III is on display now through September.

Bad Work If You Can Stand It

Michael Portantiere — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:50:33 +0000

Kelli O'Hara and Matthew Broderick in NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (Photo: Joan Marcus)

In my last ArtsAmerica blog entry, I wrote about what I consider to be an unfortunate omission from the list of this year’s Tony Award nominees for Best Play: David Auburn’s The Columnist. Now I’d like to call attention to an unfortunate inclusion among the nominees for Best Musical: Nice Work If You Can Get It, which has been accurately described by an esteemed colleague of mine as one of the worst Broadway shows in years.

The latest monstrosity to be foisted upon the public with the blessing of those apparently tasteless individuals who are now in charge of the estates of George and Ira Gershwin, and who earlier this season gave us the abomination that goes by the ridiculous title The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (excuse me while I retch), Nice Work is a whole lot of nonsense about a group of Prohibition-era bootleggers attempting to hide booze in a millionaire’s empty mansion. (Got that?)

This ersatz Gershwin musical has a bargain-basement book by Joe DiPietro, incorporating some plot elements from Oh, Kay! Great songs from that show and several of the brothers’ others have been shoved into the idiotic script like so many delicious plums in a rancid pudding, almost always in ways that do no honor to the songs. (See below.)

At the center of this mess stands Matthew Broderick, looking bloated, botoxed, and highly uncomfortable throughout the proceedings — especially when he’s required to dance. As he has done in just about every show and film I’ve seen him in over the past 10 years or more, Broderick comes across here as the ultimate nebbish and speaks and sings in a robotic, nasal voice that soon begins to grate. That shtick is well suited to some of the parts he has played, most notably, Leo Bloom in The Producers, but is wildly inappropriate for his role in Nice Work: Jimmy Winter, a fabulously rich playboy who has been married several times and has herds of women swooning over him.

Jimmy’s love/hate interest is one Billie Bendix, a rough-edged Prohibition-era bootlegger involved with some really shady characters. Billie is played by Kelli O’Hara, whose luminous, aristocratic beauty and gorgeous legit soprano make her about as believable in this role as Broderick is in his — i.e., not at all.

As noted above, DiPietro’s book is claptrap, and it does a disservice to nearly all of the Gershwin songs by setting them up so poorly. To cite only two examples, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” here comes off as an annoyingly insipid intrusion; the sweet ballad “Looking for a Boy” is played for laughs (!) in its new context as a “comedy” number for Judy Kaye in the role of a rabid pro-Prohibitionist; and although O’Hara does a beautiful job of singing the lovely, winsome standard “Someone to Watch Over Me,” the effect of the song is ruined because she has been directed to perform it with a gun in her hand. (In the original production, Gertude Lawrence sang the song while cradling a rag doll. Why can’t it be like it was?)

The mistress of this artistic debacle is director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall, whose Broadway career thus far has ranged from the depths of the 2007 production of Grease to the heights of the 2011 production of Anything Goes (still running at the Stephen Sondheim Theater). Nice Work is, to put it kindly, much closer kin to the former than the latter.

There are a few people whose do nice work here, including set designer Derek McLane, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz, lighting designer Peter Kaczorowki, and especially music supervisor/arranger David Chase. Also, Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath (as one of the bootleggers) somehow manage to give skillful comic performances despite the awful book and poor or non-existent direction. Other than these elements, Nice Work If You Can Get It is an abomination that does no credit to its architects or to the Gershwins, both of whom must be rolling over in their graves at this latest blot on their good name.

Onstage Atlanta Sows ‘Doubt: A Parable’

Kevin Moreau — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:28:33 +0000

There’s no doubt about it: Onstage Atlanta, the area’s premier semi-professional theater company, chose an opportune moment to stage John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable. President Barack Obama’s recent statement in support of the concept of gay marriage (following the passage of an amendment in North Carolina defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman) has again raised the thorny issue of how we regard the gay men and women in our ranks.

Shanley’s simmering play doesn’t address gay marriage, but its conflict between stern, unsmiling Sister Aloysius, principal at St. Nicholas Church School, and charismatic Father Flynn reaches its apex with a confrontation regarding Flynn’s sexual proclivities. Certainly, the tensions between the two are informed as much by differences in generation and temperament as by Aloysius’ suspicions concerning the nature of Flynn’s close relationship with a young African-American student.

The beauty of Shanley’s play, of course, is that we never know whether Aloysius’ implications are justified, just as we’re not sure whether she believes them herself. In either case, the old-school nun’s willingness to hint at an unsavory tint to Flynn’s relationship with the boy can be seen as an illustration of just how easily any sign of “difference” can be extrapolated into something far darker, and how ready some people are exploit fear of those differences for personal gain. Although it’s set in 1964, Doubt: A Parable remains all too timely.

Doubt: A Parable runs through June 2 at Onstage Atlanta. 404-897-1802. www.onstageatlanta.com.

Bessie Smith Lives at St. Luke’s

Brooke Pierce — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:22:48 +0000

The great blues singer Bessie Smith is getting a revival at St. Luke’s Theatre, an intimate Off-Broadway venue on West 46th Street, thanks to a powerhouse performance by Miche Braden in The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith. With no more than a pointed look and a swish of the hips, the Drama Desk Award-nominated Braden commands the room the minute she enters. And it doesn’t hurt that the lady’s got pipes.

If, like me, you’re not so well-versed in 1920s and ’30s blues, The Devil’s Music is an entertaining education in delectable music that’s full of sass and soul (and even I knew a few of the tunes, like “I Ain’t Got Nobody” and “St. Louis Blues”). The show is staged as though it’s Bessie Smith’s final performance, delivered in what was known as a “buffet flat,” a private establishment where African-Americans were allowed to gather and socialize in the segregated South.

The songs are the main event, but Smith also shares anecdotes from her tumultuous life, which included an impoverished youth, a troubled marriage, and a serious drinking problem. Playwright Angelo Parra does a nice job of working in enough of the famed blues singer’s personal drama to give The Devil’s Music some emotional heft, but it’s not so much a play as a concert (a fabulous jazz combo provides onstage accompaniment). I’m not really in a position to judge how accurately Miche Braden is evoking Bessie Smith, but the lady should be a star in her own right. She’s a captivating singer and actress, and in her seemingly effortless performance she does a marvelous job of showing the playful side of the blues.

The Devil’s Music plays on Mondays at 7pm. You can get tickets here.

Mandy Greer and Environmental Art at Seattle Center

Elisa Mader — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:09:21 +0000

Photo of Mater Matrix Mother and Medium multimedia performance by Rodrigo Valenzuela.

An intricate 250-foot fiber web of brilliant blue and white flows around the Alki Courtyard at Seattle Center, just north of Key Arena—Mater Matrix Mother and Medium, an ever-evolving art installation by Seattle-based multi-disciplinary artist Mandy Greer. The crocheted river twists and winds its way around columns and trees, rising up to 15 feet overhead.

This masterpiece also formed the backdrop of “Saltus Chori Aevum,” a multimedia performance presented by the artist on May 5-6, one of many events organized by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair at Seattle Center. As you might guess from the name, The Next Fifty, these festivities look towards Seattle’s future. Greer’s work celebrates “Sustainable Futures Month” with a powerful meditation on one of our most valued and fragile environmental resources: water.

In “Saltus Chori Aevum,” Mandy Greer assembled the talents of choreographer Jessica Jobaris, performance artist Saskia Delores, dancer Andrea Ives and harpist/composer Monica Schley, in a presentation of sound, imagery and sinuous movement around—and often in—the DuPen Fountain. Wearing Greer’s own crocheted headdresses and elaborate beaded mantles, the performers floated an ice block in the pool and sent sprays of water flying, evoking the nature of the element itself. Though often playful, this tribute to our local streams and waterways firmly highlights the need for environmental stewardship.

A film project by Rodrigo Valenzuela based on the Mater Matrix Mother and Medium performance will premiere in June, and the piece itself remains on display in the Alki Courtyard through May 31. Originally commissioned in 2009 with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Funds, the “fiber river” was crocheted by many hands in community gatherings, then installed at West Seattle’s Camp Long. It has since traveled as far as St. John the Divine in New York City. The artist invites the public to add to the ongoing crochet installation during the Northwest Folklife festival on Memorial Day weekend.

Other events in May sponsored by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs include Stokley Towles’ Stormwater: Life in the Gutter, a one-man show tracing the path of urban rainfall from sky to gutter, on May 18, 19, 25 and 26; and a screening of Water Calling, five short films by local filmmakers SJ Chiro, Britta Johnson, Susan Robb, Luke Sieczek and Rick Stevenson, at SIFF Cinema on Sunday, May 27. For more information, visit www.seattle.gov/arts. To learn more about The Next Fifty, visit www.seattlecenter.com.

Photo by Rodrigo Valenzuela.

Community theater provides low-cost but high-impact performances

Karen Dybis — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:29:57 +0000

Although Detroit is known for drawing some high-end shows – especially some of the best of Broadway – there also are some amazing community theaters in the area.

One such group is the Grosse Pointe Theatre. Over the past 60 years, the small tribe of thespians who make up this local studio have put on a variety of productions from “Arsenic and Old Lace” to “Kismet” to “Little Shop of Horrors.” So the most recent production, “Hairspray,” seemed like the perfect fit, and it felt like the right time to enjoy a little Girls Night Out as well.

That’s because the group of volunteer players had not only put together the well-staged play, but they also had a large array of retailers as well as a light meals put together for the event. So you enjoyed dinner, some shopping and a female-friendly show afterward. It was an impressive event for around $45, held in the always lovely Grosse Pointe War Memorial (located off of Lakeshore Drive right on Lake St. Clair).

I went with a group of women I know locally who are mostly stay-at-home mothers. So a chance to get out for all of the above – shopping, a dinner made by someone else and a performance – was the ideal chance to enjoy themselves. We had amazing seats in the third row, which was convenience because the first two rows were completely empty, perhaps to give room to the live mini-orchestra that performed all of the play’s music.

We had a ball at the play. The performers ranged from tweens to older men in drag (gotta love Mama!) as well as semi-professional actors. Perhaps the best pairing was the lead characters – a lovely young 20-something woman playing Tracy and a 17-year-old local high-school boy playing Link, her love interest. Although their ages were pretty fair fetched, the casting felt natural and the two actors clearly enjoyed the comedy aspects of their partnership.

All in all, this was the third performance I’ve seen at the Grosse Pointe Theatre. And I walked away impressed once again. Not only because these actors have “real jobs” and other day-time responsibilities. But also for the level of professionalism and talent they show. And also for the rare opportunity to see a great play up close and to meet the actors afterward…That was a treat to tell them how much we enjoyed every moment of the play.

Community theater is a risk in some ways – you never know what kind of quality you’ll ultimately find there. But it is something that ultimately pays off because you get a night out at a reasonable price and some great memories.

ArtWalk Simsbury! on May 19, 2012

Rebecca Bliss — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:27:19 +0000

This weekend the Simsbury ArtWalk will take place from 11am-5pm in the center of the town on Hopmeadow Street (Route 10). This will be the first ever ArtWalk, and will not only display the talent of local artists but also will benefit the Simsbury ABC House, a nonprofit that provides education and aid to young men in disadvantaged school districts. Not only can you experience the wonderful work of local artists, dancers, musicians, and performers, but also support Simsbury ABC House as 10% of all artists’ proceeds will be donated to the organization.

The event will be very diverse, and I expect it will have something for every visitor to enjoy. For those who prefer more traditional and classic work, Peaberry’s Cafe will be hosting classical piano and clarinet from 12-2pm and the Simsbury Free Library will have paintings by Ruth Jacobson and Claudia Ludovici on display. Anyone with a more contemporary taste or who would like to see an artist in action will enjoy Painting en Plein Air by Catherine Elliott (mentioned in a previous post here) at Eno Hall Auditorium and the Martocchio Jazz Ensemble at the Mall Wall Courtyard. Interactive kid’s activities will be available throughout the day as well, such as Ring Making at Bill Selig Jewelers and a book reading by Pam Albertsen at 2pm in Peaberry’s Cafe. Other exciting events throughout the day include a demonstration on flower arranging, a women’s barbershop quartet, and walking tours.

The town has made continuous effort to get people downtown, and Simsbury’s center is thriving with activity because of it. Simsbury is slowly becoming a destination town as more events are held in the center and new businesses are opening. The ArtWalk will be the first of many exciting events this summer.

To see a complete list of events for Saturday, visit the ArtWalk website here.

Resources:

ArtWalk Website

The Hartford Courant

Old Globe Theatre set to launch ninth annual Summer Shakespeare Festival

Martin Jones Westlin — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:22:21 +0000

“I stuck my neck out,” late Old Globe Theatre founding artistic director R. Craig Noel said in 2003, “and I’ve been terribly stubborn about it.” He was referring to the return of Shakespeare repertory at the Globe, which suspended in 1984 after 35 years—too many actors had been lured away by the considerable monetary prospects in television and film.

Since the Globe’s 2004 reopening of its Summer Shakespeare Festival, Noel’s gamble has paid off handsomely; the showcase is an integral part of the annual line-ups that make the Globe the nation’s eighth largest theater enterprise. The venue’s gearing up for its ninth such installment, which opens June 3 with Richard III, centering on Richard’s Machiavellian rise to power and his short reign. Also on the agenda are As You Like It, Shakespeare’s take on the fickle nature of love, and Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s Inherit the Wind, loosely based on the Tennessee statue that made it illegal to teach evolution in state-funded schools. The festival runs until Sept. 30.

The festival is not without its pedigree and creature comforts—Adrian Noble, former head of London’s Royal Shakespeare Company, is the artistic director, and the plays are staged in the 660-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

Meanwhile, the Globe is San Diego’s flagship live venue, begun in 1935 on a shoestring as part of an international exhibition. It now mounts 15 productions a year in three theaters and is host to several youth theater programs and theater-related community events. Noel, who died in 2010 at age 94, was there for all of it—and in a few days, the Globe will recycle the Shakespearean part of his legacy. For more, see oldglobe.org, or call 619-23-GLOBE.

The late R. Craig Noel, who founded The Old Globe Theatre, took a risk by breathing life into the venue's Summer Shakespeare Festival. (Courtesy The Old Globe)

‘The Blessing of a Broken Heart’ to play at SD Jewish festival

Martin Jones Westlin — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:08:43 +0000

Every May 8, Sherri Mandell and her family visit a desert cave in Tekoa, Israel, where they spend the night. In this case, “family” is only as real as a mother’s memories and as imaginary as the departure of a human soul—for on May 8, 2001, Mandell’s 13-year-old son Koby was murdered in that grotto in an act attributed to Palestinian terrorists. Life’s somewhat more manageable now, with Mandell a reasonable distance from her descent into “a labyrinth so dark you can’t even see your hand.”

That hand is one of two that cranked out The Blessing of a Broken Heart, the book from which that quote was taken. Todd Salovey, San Diego Repertory Theatre artistic director, saw fit to adapt Mandell’s work for the local stage in 2007 as a workshop production and took it on several tours—and on Tuesday, June 5, the show will play as part of the 19th annual Lipinsky Family Jewish Festival of the Arts, which features theater, art, music and dance from several cultures.

Mandell’s book and its stage adaptation are remarkably devoid of Middle East politics—the story is a simple recounting of Koby’s life and the spearhead for The Koby Mandell Foundation, designed to help others cope with the loss of a loved one. The theater had an extraordinary role in the creation of this public service—and on June 5, it will reaffirm its place as the living library of our sometimes unbearably tragic life stories. For more information, please see sdrep.org and click on the link for festival details, or call 619-544-1000.

Sherri Mandell channeled her grief into a service for the common good. (Google image)

‘Time Stands Still’ at GableStage

John Lariviere — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:29:01 +0000

Deborah L. Sherman and Steve Garland ( Pic by George Schiavone)

The GableStage presents the Southeastern Premiere of the play Time Stands Still from May 5th – June 3rd at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies, the 2010 Broadway production was nominated for two Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Laura Linney.

The compelling story revolves around a photojournalist named Sarah, and a foreign correspondent named James, who have been together for nine years; and share a passion for documenting the realities of war. Sarah returns home to Brooklyn from covering the Iraq war, after being injured in a roadside bomb. James is swamped by guilt over leaving Sarah alone in Iraq. As they readjust to their lives back in the states, they find their future together threatened by the prospect of a more conventional life. The subject matter of Time Stands Still seems especially poignant as Americans face the return of increasing numbers of men and women returning from the Middle East, each with their own journey to assessing and reclaiming their lives here in the US.

The GableStage is located in the eastern section of the Biltmore Hotel at 1200 Anastasia Avenue, in Coral Gables, FL. Valet parking is available. Free parking is available in the Biltmore parking area west of the hotel. Performances are Thursday, Friday, Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 2pm & 7pm. Tickets are $37.50 – $50.00, and may be purchased by phone at 305-445-1119 or online at www.gablestage.org.