I am on a role this year. First, I went to Bard. Then I discovered Arden in Philly. Then, I binged on art and theater in the Berkshires. And last weekend, I hopped a jitney to Sag Harbor to see a musical I missed when it played on Broadway - Grey Gardens [Book: Doug Wright; Music: Scott Frankel; Lyrics: Michael Korie]. Now, from what I understand, I missed a pretty damn good production on Broadway in 2006. But for me, it was well worth the trip to Long Island, only a stones throw away from the actual Grey Gardens to see Rachel York and Betty Buckley. .
The 1977 documentary and 2009 HBO film about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter "Little" Edie Beale are absolutely fascinating. The wealth The withdrawal The squalor Where was their family????
Admittedly, I still don't understand how the Beale's fall from grace was allowed to happen. But never mind, let's just experience Betty Buckley's "Jerry Likes My Corn" one more time...
So, a bit more about Dominique Morisseau's Paradise Blue. It is the late 1940s in Detroit's Black Bottom. Meet trumpeter and club owner Blue (Underwood), who has to decide whether to sell his club in some sort of urban renewal effort, which threatens to displace the people and businesses in Black Bottom and use the proceeds to attempt to run away with Pumpkin from his demons and his past. I admired this piece and had a wonderful evening at the world premiere of Paradise Blue -my first WTF production - and look forward to one day seeing the other two plays in the The Detroit Projects 3-play cycle. I definitely see August's Wilson's influence on Ms. Morisseau. I would though have to agree with the NYT review of the production and say that Blue is the weakest link in the play. We all know that no one can outrun a demon. With that said, forget about Blue (Sorry Blair) and let's meet the beautiful, sultry and mysterious Silver (De’Adre Aziza), who rents a room at Blue's place. She steals the show. Theatergoers I am sure could not tear their eyes away from her sway. And all I wanted, was to know more...
I have been yearning to attend the Williamstown Theatre Festival for several years now. I've admired the top notch actors and creative teams involved in the festival and taken note of the Broadway transfers. And when I sat through Donald Margulies' play The Country House set in the Berkshires during the festival,I decided that summer 2015 (rain or shine), I would make my way to Williamstown MA. It took a few attempts, but I eventually reserved a room at The Williams Inn. I then purchased a ticket to Dominique Morisseau's world premiere Paradise Blue. I was happy to see that Ruben Santiago-Hudson was directing, and since Blair Underwood is easy on the eye, I was also looking forward to seeing him in the second play of Ms Morisseau's Detroit 3-play cycle The Detroit Project. After even more attempts than it took to get a room at the inn, I made a dinner reservation at Mezze Bistro. With that, I was ready to head north. My weekend in the Berkshires was an absolute delight. The weather was lovely, and I binged mercilessly on art. At the Norman Rockwell Museum, I looked at each and every one of Rockwell's The Saturday Evening Post covers and was moved as usual by his civil rights pieces. At The Clark, I spent some time with Whistler's Mother, checked out Van Gogh and Nature and toured the museum, enchanted by ebullient intern who led the tour and shared her favorite pieces in the museum. Oh and by the way, I saw my first WTF production (I will write a bit more in another post). In the meantime though, a super big shout out for the the Berkshires and WTF...
Quote from Misty Copeland's memoir - Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina
Not everyone wants to push themselves to that brink of breaking, but it's what you commit to when you're a professional - the very present reality that you may break instead of bend.
At Thursdays New York Pops concert in Forest Hills, music director and conductor Steven Reineke plugged their upcoming Fall concert at Carnegie Hall - The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein with guests Sierra Boggess (ooooh) and Steven Pasquale (aaaah). He noted that the New York Pops orchestra would play music from all thirteen Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein shows. Thirteen shows? I tried to recall all of them but could not. Oklahoma! came to mind since I recently read about the Bard production. Then I thought about a Kelli O'Hara interview I listened to where she mentioned starring in two Rodgers and Hammerstein productions at Lincoln Center - South Pacific and now The King and I. I even recalled Pipe Dreams because I specifically went to see quiet legend Leslie Uggams in the Encores production a couple of years ago. Then of course with all The Wiz press, I recalled the NBC live production of The Sound of Music which then made me think of the first black Cinderella recently on Broadway. Then I pretty much struggled to name another Rodgers and Hammerstein show. So I look them up... Still I cannot name thirteen productions. So, what am I missing?? Of did I hear Mr. Reineke incorrectly?? Rodgers and Hammerstein Shows
The New York Pops have made Forest Hill Stadium their summer home. On Thursday, I got a chance to check out the stadium as well as their first concert of the season. With the exception of being stuck on a very uncomfortable bleacher seat, it was a lovely summer evening to experience the orchestra along with guests Sutton Foster, Colin Donnell and Megan McGinnis. Sutton Foster treated the audience to tributes to her mother who passed away two years ago as well as to her rescue "dorkie" with "Mable This Time." She, along with Colin Donnell, danced for us.But for me, I was just happy to hear her sing "Anything Goes." If you will recall, when I went to the Broadway show a few years ago specifically to see Ms. Foster, she was out. Well, on Thursday, she was live and in person in Forest Hills... What a NYC stage summer for Ms. Foster so far...wonderful at Encores' The Wild Party and wonderful in her first outdoor concert with an orchestra. Check out some highlights videoed by concert goers:
Written Program Overture from Anything Goes I've Got You Under my Skin I'm Beginning to See the Light Anything Goes Begin the Beguine Ashokan Farewell Sunshine on My Shoulders It All Fades Away On the Streets of Dublin Fit as a Fiddle (and Ready for Love) Overture from Thoroughly Modern Millie The History of the TV Overture If I Were a Bell / Singin' in the Rain Down with Love Flight Neverland The Lady is a Tramp Anyone Can Whistle / Being Alive
