"Time seems to slow as this play moves at a pace akin to dripping molasses." Kevin Corrigan, left, and Dominic Fumusa in Brett C. Leonard’s “Ninth and Joanie.”
The suppressed tension between the characters in Ninth and Joanie, presented by the Labrynth Theater Company, is enough to choke and suffocate you as you watch this two hour and fifteen minute play. Furthermore, time seems to slow as this play moves at a pace akin to dripping molasses. The first fifteen minutes consists of Charlie (Bob Glaudini), the domineering and verbally abusive father of Rocco (Kevin Corrigan) and Michael (Dominic Fumusa) stripping down to his underwear, and then neatly folding the articles of clothing one at a time. It is not until twenty minutes later that it is revealed to us that Charlie and Rocco had just come home from the funeral of their wife and mother, respectively. The audience is then offered a small break from this increasingly oppressive atmosphere in the form of a dancing and booze drinking Michael, who sneaks into the house while his brother and father are otherwise engaged. But this reprieve is short lived [click to continue….]
When my mom told me I got a pair of tickets to see one of my favorite bands, The Pretty Reckless, I freaked out. I was very excited to see them live and hear the music that I love performed right in front of me. I thought I was going to see a great show and great opening bands. I was so excited to see a rock band not only fronted by a female, but by someone just two years older than myself. As excited as I was, I unfortunately found myself very disappointed.
I arrived at the venue at 4:00 trying to avoid what I thought would be a long line of concert goers and expecting doors to open at 6pm. I knew that every concert runs a little late, but when I arrived there were about 10 people on line and doors opened at around 7:15. There were rude fans blowing smoke in my face and things just seemed to be out of order. When the first opening band, “The Parlor Mob,” went on, my dislike of the night had started getting deeper. This band was so unfitting and corny that they sounded like they should be on “One Tree Hill.” There was almost no crowd interaction and I sat down is a crowd where 100% of the audience should be standing.
They next band, “The Blackboard Nails,” were just as dull and uninteresting to me. While I was impressed that the band was made up of triplets who were my age and touring the country, I was also disappointed that they too had no crowd interaction. I sat down during this performance. The last opening band, “The Hollywood Kills,” was amazing. [click to continue….]
"The way she walked, talked, stood to dance, and stopped the breathe, is evident as Move poignantly exhibits the very essence of Graham"
Martha Graham, the mother of modern dance, has been brought back to life. Richard Move delivers an endearing performance of Martha@…the 1963 Interviewby MoveOpolis! as they take on the challenge of using an archival audio tape to create their own verbatim rendition of the historical life of Martha Graham in an interview with dance critic Walter Terry.
The meticulous research on her life, her presence, her impact, and scrupulous attention to every detail of the way she walked, talked, stood to dance, and stopped the breathe, is evident as Move poignantly exhibits the very essence of Graham. With each aspect of Graham as a collage piece, Move effortlessly combines them into a precise contemporary performance. Graham enters in spirit as Move arduously prepares and cocoons himself, wrapped and caged, ready to birth; to become the very embodiment of Graham. Move’s performance as Graham blends two elements that are in the least way obscure to the viewer’s eyes: historic contribution and innovative parody.
While maintaining respect for the historic dance figure, subtle changes were made to the original interview to reveal wit. Throughout the interview, we hear Graham responding to questions posed by Terry. Then there are moments when we hear Graham’s mind trailing off as her words diverge on a tangent, leading to a beautiful, unexplored, and undiscovered place inside her mind. [click to continue….]
Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui star in La Haine
On a cloudy Thursday, April 26 2012, Multi-Arts TRaC piled into the Sony Wonder Lab to view the 1995 French film “La Haine,” directed by Matthieu Kassovitz. The title of this movie translates to “The Hate,” and this movie clearly displayed this message. This story is centered on three friends, Vince, Said, and Hubert, who live the street gang life with trouble always attracting them. The group travels around France collecting money, chasing down the police and running away from them, getting beat, arguing over little things, and just not giving a care in the world about anything they did or didn’t do. As the movie goes on, you grow attached to these characters and although they live in such similar settings, you can see that each of them is different. Vince likes to act tough all the time, Said is very immature, and Hubert wants to be the responsible one and escape the ghetto setting. You grow attached to the characters and follow their tragic lives, which they have little hope in escaping. Through about a 36 hour time lapse, they escape the police and defy the rules to make a point within the community. One of the points they want to make is mistreatment by the police.
However, after beginning to accept the characters, the ending arrives and then BOOM. Silence. The ending of the movie just leaves you speechless [click to continue….]
Visitors to the Whitney Biennial examine Sam Lewitt's "Fluid Employment." Photo by Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall Street Journal
There is a haunting melody that runs through the multiple works of sculpture, painting, installations and photography in the galleries of the Whitney Museum of American Art which marks it as distinctive.
Following with a special tour of “2012 Whitney Biennial” from members of the Whitney Teen Program, Youth Insights, we check out almost every work of the exhibit. There is an architectural piece in the first floor. Like an unfinished floor construction, it leaves empty space between rooms for the visitors shuttling back and forth. After experiencing and interacting with the artwork, we went upstairs to watch a clip of video projected on a gigantic screen about the communication between two smoking people. The overexposed and expanding image in the film created a sense or an experience of second hand smocking, and was dazzling to us. Then we walked to Nicole Eisenman’s installation, hanging various frames over a wall. It is called “Breakup” which possessed of remarkable clarity of vision and a striking spiritual, physical and sexual emotion.
Painted Betty easily fills New York's niche for Spanish funk-jazz music
Have you noticed the absence of French-speaking cowboy salsa bars around New York? Me too, and fortunately the brave eclecticism of the musical group Painted Betty is worthy of filling this niche with all of the Spanish funk-jazz groovin’ you could ask for.
The Dixon Place’s tiny, audience-level stage displays a clutter of instruments scattered across the table like a bunch of almost-fitting puzzle pieces. Behind three microphone stands, an acoustic guitar and upright bass convey Painted Betty’s country roots, while the pair of drum brushes and tenor saxophone hint toward a jazzier, or even a more klezmer side as well. The crate of miscellaneous percussion instruments is a little more subtle in its manifestation of the group’s Latin influences, which eventually come through in the form of singer Sonia Ryzy-Ryski’s sexy salsa moves during the opening number.
Both female singers ,Madsen and Ryzy-Ryski, bring their own brand of sex-appeal to the stage. [click to continue….]
Kate Turnbull, left, and Kathleen Chalfant, as daughter and mother, in “Painting Churches.” Photo by Carol Rosegg
Keen Company recently brought back Tina Howe’s beloved 1983 Painting Churches, a play about the dysfunctional, but lovable, Church family. Directed by Carl Forsman, this revival at the Clurman Theater tells the tale of the Churches, Fanny (Kathleen Chalfant), Gardner (John Cunningham), and their daughter, Mags (Kate Turnbull). When the curtain opens, Fanny sits alone admiring her new hat as Gardner types away in the background. They wait anxiously for Mags to return from New York. She is coming to paint a portrait of her parents. Sadly, Mags rarely visits her childhood home, and the bond between parents and child disintegrates just like Gardner’s sanity.
Chalfant brilliantly portrays an aged wife and mother, bound to her senile husband. Cunningham’s touching performance induces tears. This husband and wife paint the picture of unconventionality, whereas their daughter attempts to latch onto any ounce of normalcy in the Church household. Turnbull’s character unveils the truth about her parents – that normal is no longer a part of their vocabulary. [click to continue….]
The Three Stooges (2012), a cinematic rendition of the 20th-century comedy trio, written by Mike Cerrone and the Farrelly brothers and directed by the latter, attempts to navigate the waters between the well-loved slapstick classic and 21st-century effects and pop culture. The film includes not only the memorable traits of the dynamic trio and physical comedy reminiscent of the traditional act, but modern media references, such as those to MTV’s Jersey Shore. The use of modern special effects in the creation of physical comedy, though, triggers a very different response from audiences than did the original [click to continue….]
