I am loving the "Live From Lincoln Center" series more and more. This week they pay tribute to John Kander and Fredd Ebb (better known as 'Kander & Ebb') and their wonderful shows. The show features Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley with special guests Joel Grey and Chita Rivera. The show was presented at the wonderful Allen Room, overlooking Columbus Circle in New York City. The show features one wonderful song after another. Grey starts with a performance of "Wilkommen," an iconic performance of an iconic role he originated. You want to talk about star power? He hasn't lost his touch. Some of my other favorite numbers: Danieley singing "Sara Lee" (originally composed for Kaye Ballard about the dessert brand) and a wonderful "Seeing Things" (from the musical "Happy Time") It was a wonderful switch to have Danieley sing "Maybe This Time," with understated elegance instead of the usual bombastic version the song usually represents. Chita - just Chita - brings the house down with the definitive "All That Jazz." Seriously, no one else comes close. And then you can see Grey do such a character piece like "Mr Cellophane" and marvel at how he makes every character his own. It was also great to hear "Love And Love Alone," from "The Visit," a musical that hasn't quite made it to Broadway just yet (and hopefully at some point will) It's a beautiful romantic song with a sweetly melancholy melody. Mazzie gives enough justice to "Ring Them Bells," but I just associate that song with Liza and Liza only. "I Miss The Music" is a song from "Curtains" and Danieley sings it here. It's about a composer who misses his songwriting partner. Presumably, Kander wrote the lyrics, reminiscing about Ebb, who passed away in 2004. Mazzie then sings probably my favorite song from the Kander & Ebb canon, "A Quiet Thing," and it's maybe a little too frenetic for my taste. All four of them close the show with a medley of more ditties: "Yes," and "Cabaret." I know it's only an hour show, but I thought they left out a lot: nothing from "Kiss Of The Spider Woman," and yes it is ubiquitous, but a smidgen of "New York New York" would have been nice. But of course, I am more than thankful that this show exists.
I despise Nicholas Sparks and his novels, but truthfully, I kind of like some of his movie adaptations. I always say the best actors can mold something from the cheesiest script - if they can make you *believe,* then three cheers. (A lot of people consider 'The Notebook' to be a modern romantic classic, for example) Without Julianne Hough as the star of "safe Haven," the movie is dead on arrival. She is quite possibly the worst young actress I have seen - she's dead behind the eyes, has dialogue delivery of an acting class flunkie, and range for her means crinkling her nose. For a character who is dark and troubled, she seems to be relentlessly cheery, and always reaching for that cutesy angle. (Julianne, start clearing your mantle for your Razzie) Josh Duhamel is fine enough, he works hard to flesh out his cardboard character, but ultimately he's not good enough to save this catastrophe.(He does fill his Diesel Jeans pretty well, though ) The plot is ludicrous, and the direction is by-the numbers. Billed as a romance thriller, you can tell which genre is being mined by listening to the musical score. Once the ominous music starts playing, you know you're getting to the "thrill" part. And you can't say that director, Lasse Halstrom, is a hack. He directed "Chocolat," and last year's very charming "Salmon Fishing in Yemen." (The latter is one of my Top 10 favorite films of 2012) There's this "twist" at the end which is laughable if it wasn't scary (and no, not in a thrilling way) I hope guys didn't take their girlfriends to see this movie on Valentine's Day, because if they did, I am sure they ended up empty-handed by the end of the night. It's only February, but this would be hard to beat as the worst film of 2012.
I was recently touched by death, and I am still in some part of the grieving process. I had gotten Rodney Ross' "The Cool Part Of His Pillow" a while back, but never read it until I randomly started it a week ago. I am glad I did - reading it has helped me deal. Maybe subconsciously I never read it before because it was waiting for a time for me to fully appreciate it. It wasn't the easiest read, for sure. It's dark and depressing (with thankful hits of black humor) and it is written a bit excessively, but it also touching, meaningful, and it is staying with me. It is one of those novels wherein each sentence is layered, and I am sure I have missed some anecdote, or hidden joke somewhere that I should probably re-read it to get another layer. It is a story of loss, and how one man deals with it. The novel spans a year in life, how one lives and overcomes, and deals with change. I always bemoan the loss of internal novels I used to read when I was younger, and this is very similar to those. I just wish it was edited a little better - it feels overly long and could have been a little tighter. But still, it's fantastic on its own.
BC-11
So here goes another Valentine's Day, or in my case another SAD (Single Awareness Day) I was looking for an appropriate scent this morning, and was going to reach for something rose, but thought, wearing a rose scent today would be so boring, so expected, so trite. So I searched and told myself, get something that would give a vibe of romance, but make it unexpected. I found the perfect perfume: Seville A'Laube by L'Artisan. It is based on a love encounter, after all, specifically perfume blogger Denyse Beualieu.
"I am in Seville, standing under a bitter orange tree in full bloom
in the arms of Román, the black-clad Spanish boy who is not yet my
lover. Since sundown, we’ve been watching the religious brotherhoods in
their pointed caps and habits thread their way across the old Moorish
town in the wake of gilded wood floats bearing statues of Christ and the
Virgin Mary. This is the Madrugada, the longest night of Holy Week, and
the whole city has poured into the streets: the processions will go on
until the dawn sky is streaked with hunting swallows. In the tiny
white-washed plaza in front of the church, wafts of lavender cologne
rise from the tightly pressed bodies. As altar boys swing their censers,
throat-stinging clouds of sizzling resins – humanity’s millennia-old
message to the gods – cut through the fatty honeyed smell of the
penitents’ beeswax candles.
And it's centered around orange blossom (which is one of my favorite notes) a note that is normally strong and heady. But the perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour has created an orange blossom that is subtle, poetic, sweet. It's romantic, just like Ms. Beauliieu's copy. At first, the interpretation seems literal - all the other prominent notes are incense, (for the church) violets (Spanish men love violet cologne) and beeswax (candles) But brought together, it creates something smooth and fragrant - the violet doesn't smell barbershop-like, the beeswax gives it a finesse and shine, and the orange blossom is still a blooming one, the citrus fueled by a moon not a sun. It is so good I want to hoard bottles, and I may, because this is a L'Artisan "limited edition" release, and for all I know it may already be gone. So today, on Valentine's Day, I may not have the most romantic experience, but I will smell as romantic as can be.
Is Rom-Com dead? Nowadays, it is used more as a punchline than anything else. Very few people nowadays do the traditional romance, you know, like the ones that sweep you off your feet. Valentine's Day is tomorrow, romance is literally around the corner so I might as well write about "Celeste And Jesse Forever," a movie I saw on Blu-Ray the other night. Celeste and Jesse are getting a divorce, but they are still always together. You see, they are best friends, above all, and they still enjoy each other's company. It irks their friends (Ari Gaynor as Celeste's friend is fantastic - someone give this woman her own movie already!) and they think it's unnatural, which, come to think of it, is right. Essentially, the movie is set up as anti-rom-com. These two people, instead of getting together, are breakign apart. Written by Rashida Jones, it's a complicated yarn of a story. It sometimes takes a lot of time when lovers fully untangle themselves from each other, and more often than not, it's a tricky road. There are residual feelings that get in the way of moving on. This movie highlights those perfectly. Jones and Samberg have perfect chemistry, you believe they should be together. But you also see how they different they are, and as they try to let go of each other, the internal conflict becomes unbearable. You want them to stay together, you want them to stay apart. That is love: a complicated grey area of being, and it has never been shown more vividly. I found these characters stayed with me after, and now that I am writing about them, I find myself still pondering. I particularly was smitten by Samberg, who I thought was very effective in a role that has him being more than a juvenile man-child. What I liked most about the story is that you never really know how it ends. Usually on romantic comedies, you sense the ending ten minutes into the movie, This is readily available on Netflix and Amazon - I can't think of a perfect romantic date on Valentine's Day for those seeking some love.
I'll be the first to admit I am a Broadway snob, and believe it or not, I have never seen a touring production of *anything.* There was never a need to, since Broadway was very accessible to me, and I thought why go for next best when I can get the real deal? So when I got an opportunity to see "Anything Goes" at The Smith Center For Performing Arts, I approached it with a little bit of trepidation. I got it to the show just in time, so I had really nil knowledge of the production, except for the fact that it is by The Roundabout, which I have seen. (My original review is here. ) The first thing I thought of : well, it really does duplicate the Broadway production at The Stephen Sondheim Theater, and the quality isn't skimped. My second thought was: who is this woman playing Reno Sweeney, and she is much better than Sutton Foster! I never really got why she was such a hot potato - she is certainly competent and a great dancer, but her singing tended to be sharp and borderlining off-pitch. Ms. York fixes that, with a creamy voice that improves on Foster's. I have this cast recording on my iPod so I know the tracks well, and even though Foster's vocals have grown on me, it was nice to hear it sung better. And her dancing was also great, just as good as Foster's, and all in all, this production is great throughout. It really does preserve the integrity of the Broadway production, down to the details of the sets and costumes. I have loved it before, and it's much easier to love now.
As if this blog isn't "Smash"ed enough, here am I reviewing all four songs that were released to iTunes from the first two episodes.
"Broadway Here I Come," by Joe Iconis was the 11 o clock number from the first episode. It's sung by Jeremy Jordan, playing the character of Jimmy Collins. Jordan sounds good here, and I think he is a very good recording artist - his voice registers well, and is very unique (when you hear his voice, you instantly recognize it as his) In the context of the show, and because it was truncated, the song didn't register as vividly for me, but the single does. It's a great song, poppified by Jordan's performance, and is instantly my favorite among the four songs.
"Caught In The Storm," by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is sung by the character of Karen Cartwright, which is played by Katherine McPhee. It is the one song I was most looking forward to, and after several playings, still not sticking to me. It might, still. I have not lost hope on it. I am also not loving McPhee's vocal fries on it, and dare I say it, her voice sounds a bit generic.
"Mama Makes Three," By Marc Shaiman is from the fictional show "Beautiful," and is sung by Jennifer Hudson. It's a Broadwaycentric gospel-ish dittie, and it would fit right in on a show like "Leap Of Faith," or "Memphis." It's good, it's character driven and it tells a story. Aided by a spirited by Hudson, it's fun and it has a good recall.
"On Broadway," sung by Jennifer Hudson and Katherine McPhee is the weakest in the lot. It goes nowhere. Hudson sounds strained, and McPhee is barely there. Even in the scene from where it comes from, the song sounded tired. Though it gives a visual of two American Idol "losers" making it big, the good ends there.
I wish they released Megan Hilty's version of "They Just Keep Moving The Line," but that may be coming in the "Bombshell" cast recording.
Saralee Rosenberg may or may not like it, but "Fate And Ms. Fortune" is a [perfect example of the genre Chick-lit. I mean that as a compliment. I know that genre has been insulted and ridiculed, but for me it is still a great description of a wonderful woman-based novel, and it usually is a story of a strong woman who is navigating a road of life and love. Robyn Fortune just got divorced, is coasting as a makeup artist for a difficult news woman, and is trying her hand at being a stand up comedienne. All this as she juggles familial problems, and on top of it, trying to make sense of new relationships in her life. I loved this novel a lot. It was one that I did not want to finish in one sitting, because I loved the company of its main character, as well as the colorful people around her. But what I loved about it most was how spiritual it was, how it tied pieces of magic and religion and energies together, about how welcoming fate and faith in someone's life can accomplish something close to happiness. I liked how Ms. Rosenberg tried to throw us off about her love life, but I still trusted her to give me the ending we wanted her heroine to have. This novel was published seven years ago, and there are fewer novels of its ilk nowadays. This is one of those books I have had for a long time, ad even though it took me a while to finally read it, it was worth the wait.
BC- 10
"The Fallout" is technically the second episode of SMASH for the second season, and was shown as the second half of the two hour premiere last night. It was seamlessly transitioned. We get more of Jimmy Collins (Jeremy Jordan) . Karen has gotten obsessed with Jimmy's music, based on that one song she heard him singing late one night. He seems to be resisting, though. and it's a puzzlement. He is a struggling bartender and this is a chance for his music to be heard, but he doesn't want someone with connections to hear it? Jordan is a good enough actor to pull it off - he mixes some charm with his darkness that you believe. And what of "Bombshell"? Looks like the Fed got involved, but they can continue rehearsing, if they can get a theater. And Harvey Fierstein does a wonderful two scene cameo, with him stopping Tom in the street for theater gossip (yes, that happens all the time with the theater folks, and I am not being sarcastic) and it's such a bitchy, real cameo (including the red backpack he carries around) that it instantly became my favorite scene from last night's episode. There's the bit of subplot about Ton and Julia being "invited" to speak at the Theater Wing event (Harvey calls it "Theater Wing Ding Thing") and it was kind of funny, ending with them "manipulating" to perform a number at the event. Totally unbelievable, but ultimately forgivable, if only we get to see Megan Hilty perform "They Just Keep Moving The Line," knocking it out of the ballpark. People keep on talking about Jen Hudson, but I still think Megan Hilty is better - she is a much better actress than both Hudson and McPhee, for starters. Karen tries to sing a song at Jimmy and Kyle's Brooklyn party, which oddly reminds me of a scene from "Girls." (I half-expected to see Andrew Rannell's Girls character to be a guest) I liked that song, "Caught In The Storm," and I liked how it sounds very different from Marc Shaiman's songs, but still sounding theatrical. Somewhere amidst the episode was a fantasy sequence with Derek imagining girls dressed as Robert Palmer back-up dancers (in hot pink stilettos) singing the Eurythmics song "Would I Lie To You." It was such an unexpected camp moment, and I enjoyed it immensely. It brings just the right punch of humour in last night's pretty soapy premiere. There's hope for the show, and I will be watching every week.
I reviewed L'eau the other day and gave my thoughts on how I was underwhelmed by it. But I must say, though, that his second scent in his L'eau line, L'eau Froide, has become an instant favorite. And I could only credit one thing for that: incense. I have a particular weakness for any scent that incense-centric, like Commes De Garcon's Avignon, or Kyoto, or my particular favorite, L'Artisan's Passage D'Enfer. I even say sometimes that add an incense note to any perfume and I will buy it. Well, Christopher Sheldrake added incense to L'eau, and it made the perfume so much better. L'eau Froide picks up where L'eau leaves off: the crisp minty fresh opening is still there: a myriad of bergamots and citrus with that transparent watery feel. And then, the frankincense takes center stage: it's resinous, but the citrusy background gives it less of a dirty feel, and it matches. L'eau Froide is a sporty fragrance with a lot more character, and yes, it is very commercial. This could be marketed towards the alpha male demographic and could be very well be successful there. And it is infinitely more interesting than any of the department store counterparts. I have been wearing it recently during the cold weather, and the minty incense-y cloud suits the weather, but I think this is more suited to the summertime where the whiff of smoke will make someone smell prayerfully cool.
Susan Miller of Astrologyzone wrote on my Astrological forecast that January would be a good month for me, in terms of romance. Now it can be told: last month wasn't really the best one for me, in any sense. But it made me think, it made me want to run away, and I found that I could kind of accomplish that by reading one of these "Destination Love Stories," which I got from Amazon for free. It's called "the Holiday," written by Kate Perry. I keep on mistaking her for the young pop star, and of course she is a different person. The book is set in London, to boot, which is probably my favorite European city. You can have Paris, I take London. This is an escapist romantic tale, and has no pretenses otherwise. Leilani lives in Maui, and she meets Colin, who lives in London. It wasn't instant love, it was instant lust. Cut to her flying over to London, and he wants more. After a couple of encounters, he proposes. What is she to do? Let's not kid ourselves and pretend that we do not know where the book leads. It was fun getting there, and fun to take a tour of London. I even discovered some places in Londontown I haven't visited. All in all, this book was a nice escape, something I definitely needed right now.
BC-9
As a huge fan of the "Sex And The City" franchise, I knew I had to at least check out the new CW series "The Carrie Diaries." I remember reading the Candace Bushnell prequel book and was kind of disappointed by it, so I truly wasn't expecting much. As a matter of fact, I was dreading hating it that I waited three weeks (the episodes sat on my DVR) before watching the pilot. I shouldn't have waited - the pilot was fantastic, a perfect launcher to this series, which may just be my favorite new show of the season. Set in 1984, Carrie is a High School Junior, with her troika of friends, and has just gotten a part-time internship at a law firm in Manhattan. I can't help but feel a kinship to the character, as I myself came to the NYC area in 1984, and like her, fell in love with the city instantly. I really hate that the setting is now nostalgia, but the series really does do a great job of setting Manhattan in the 80s, an era in the city I was very familiar with. (Oh, how I miss my city in the 80s) And I even had my first job at 120 Broadway, the exact same location where she gets a job. And of course, the building is across the street from Century 21, a story that is featured in the pilot. (Although in the 80s, it's not as big a store as it is now, and as depicted in the story) I wasn't as lucky to get invites to Indochine my first day out, but still, there are times when I feel like the series is narrating my own story. On the second and third episodes, the action stalls, as it sets up story lines for the characters. Make no mistake, though, I am definitely hooked on this. Die hard fans of SATC may find it off-putting, as they already have their own manifestations for the character of Carrie so it may be best to look at this fresh. AnnaSophia Robb isn't really a Sarah Jessica Parker doppelganger, but I think she gets the character's spirit. I am now fascinated to see her journey to being the Carrie that we know.
"Forgotten," by Catherine Mckenzie, is one of those books that instantly grabs you from page one. We instantly meet Emma Tupper, a successful lawyer whose mother has just passed on. She finds out that she is bequeathed an African trip by her mother, since it was her life-long bucket list item. She is reluctant at first - she is immersed in her work, and was scarcely given approval by the partners in her firm. Cut to six months later, and Emma is just leaving Africa. Somehow the tour has left her behind, amidst a devastating earthquake in the fictional country of Tsawanaland, where she has been stranded. She finds that she has to reboot her life - her apartment has been rented to a strange man, and her work at the law firm has been co-opted by Stephanie, her nemesis. I was riveted, and raring to find out what happens to her. The action is fast-paced, and you sympathize and empathize with Emma. Catherine McKenzie navigates this tale efficiently, with enough heartbreak and triumph to keep you glued to the pages. About two-thirds of the way in, I disagreed with some of the plot points in the story, but it never stops interesting. I kind of wish the ending was less predictable, but this is not that kind of book. Still, it's a great page-turner that will keep you up, wanting to know the plight of its main character.
BC-8
Even Zombies fall in love, apparently. Of course, they do, why wouldn't they? I mean, doesn't *everyone* fall in love at least once in their lifetime, or in this case, even in their post-lifetimes. "Warm Bodies" is the first (that I know of) movie in that new genre, the zom-rom-com. Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer play star-crossed lovers - he's a zombie, she's a human. In this age of Walking Dead fanatics, why not? They are even named after that other star-crossed lovers, Hoult plays "R" (he couldn't remember his full name) and Palmer plays Julie. They even meet cute: they lock eyes after he has eaten her boyfriend's brain. The movie even follows the formula of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and ... well, you know the rest. I wanted to like this movie, and even went out of my way to see it, as I am not the biggest fan of the horror/zombie genre. And I think it's cute enough: it's droll and witty, and the director Jonathan levine (he did the wondeerful "50/50") strikes the right balance between cutesy and not taking itself too seriously. The performances, especially by Hoult (he's going to be a huge star, I bet) are charming and appealing. This is the perfect date movie: girls will go gaga over the love story, while their dates will be entetrained by action sequences and the gore. And guess what - it was the number one movie in the country teh day it opened. But for me, it isn't "rom" enough for my taste. I thought it was fine, but forgot about it instantly. Ultimately, I wasn't the target market for it. There's still a bit of action-movie formula in it that, frankly, bored me. Like a dish, it was just warm, when I like my food piping hot.
While packing for a trip recently, I was looking through my samples for scents to travel with me, and I realized I had multiple vials of Serge Lutens L'eau. They must have been really pushing this when it first came out, because I literally had five or six of those pre-packaged samples, and I guess I never used them because I remember getting a bottle instantly when it first came out. I mean, it was such a novel idea, for Serge Lutens anyway, at the time: a "clean" fragrance from the master of spicy orientals! But, while I initially didn't dislike L'eau, I also don't remember it. When I wore it during my trip, it still didn't resonate. I look at the notes: aldehydes, magnolia, white mint, white musk, and do not recall them. I wish there was something that stood out: a floral note, or the mint, but nothing. It's pleasant, but so unmemorable. I know that Serge himself has been quoted in interviews that he was going for a more "steamed iron" accord, but that was done much better in the fantastic (but discontinued) John Galliano signature scent. (I will treasure my bottle of that forever) So in the end, Mr. Clean is really Mr. Bland.
