Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Get Your Idiot Now Tickets for the Broadway run of American Idiot are now on sale for American Express cardholders so of course yours truly has her ticket for the first preview on March 24. (Tickets for opening night, April 20, aren’t on sale yet – but I’m checking every day!) Tickets will go on sale to the general public on February 14 and they are booking through September. Right now, there are no discounts available and the physical box office at the St James isn’t open yet, but I’ll let you know when those things happen so you can rock out with me! It’s Official: Johnny Gallagher is an Idiot Goodness – I almost couldn’t write that because I adore Johnny so much, but it’s true: The full cast of the Broadway run of American Idiot has been announced and John Gallagher, Jr., will reprise the role of Johnny, which he originated in Berkeley. Joining him from the Berkeley production will be Michael Esper, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Tony Vincent and Mary Faber, among others. (Some of those ot...

The 16th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were presented on Saturday night. The list of nominees, winners and my commentary are below but first, the fashion. Lea Michele looked great in a beautiful jewel toned green gown, with the column skirt of the dress making the petite star look seven feet tall. (Fun side note: She was escorted by Theo Stockman, who was in Hair , took a break to be in the world premiere of American Idiot out in Berkeley, went back to Hair and will likely be in the Broadway cast of American Idiot ). Tina Fey, the worst dressed at the Globes, was one of the best dressed here. She looked lovely in a rich, saturated purple satin cocktail dress that had a tasteful V-neck and faux wrapped around the waist for a wonderfully figure flattering look. Matthew Morrison once again looked dashing in a his tux and while on the red carpet, admitted to his man crush on Justin Timberlake. JTims, for his part, was on hand to present an award. He’s looked better. He’s grown ...

Meryl Streep Eyes Broadway Return After winning her Golden Globe for Julie & Julia on Sunday night, Ms. Streep told reporters she is thinking about returning to the boards, now that her children are all off to college or otherwise out of the house. She said that she doesn’t have anything lined up but is interested in finding a project. On behalf of the Broadway community, I’d like to say that Meryl Streep is welcome on the great white way anytime! Glee Scoop Fresh off their Golden Globe win, Glee creators let slip that Neil Patrick Harris may be guesting on an episode set to air in May. In addition to the multitalented Harris, Glee masterminds are also hoping to land J-Lo and The Boss. Now, I don’t know if their intention is to land the rights to their music or the people in the flesh, but either way, that’s pretty boss. [Update: Creator Ryan Murphy says he’s hoping Lopez will play the lunch lady. Very Jenny from the block.] Bringing Glee to a Town Near You As has been previous...

Kristen Chenoweth hosted the 15th Annual Critic’s Choice Movie Awards last week and I just watched the broadcast. She was hilariously adorable. Kristen kicked off the night with a parody of Inglorious Basterds and then proceeded to charm the audience with a song entitled, “I Should Have Been in That Movie”. She’s funny and cute and has a magnificent voice so this got the ceremony off to a fun start. She continued with movie parodies and (what I thought were) funny one-liners throughout the night. About a third of the way through, John Krasinski and Amy Poehler came out to pay homage to John Hughes. It was actually very funny, but something just wasn’t landing in the room. I wonder if the “audience” had trouble hearing or seeing them, which led to them missing the funny. Despite the lackluster reaction, I thought the bit and the montage was very nice. Jason Reitman did, too, because when he accepted his award for best adapted screenplay, he began by mentioning how moving he thought the...

Just watched a sweet love-story movie called Adam . The story concerns a young man named Adam, who has Asperger’s syndrome and his new neighbor, Beth. (Adam is played by Hugh Dancy, a Brit, and Beth by Rose Byrne, an Aussie. Both are good in Adam and put on near perfect American accents.) As she gets to know Adam, Beth is taken with his sweetness and openness. Because of his Asperger’s, Adam really can’t help but be honest and forthcoming; he can’t lie and he doesn’t quite understand nuance or euphemisms. By spending time with Adam, Beth learns to be more direct and to choose her words carefully – she learns the power that different words have and rather than play games with a potential beau, she is forced to be straightforward and express exactly what she wants and is thinking. It’s a very sweet film with a slightly tidy but ultimately satisfying ending. What I liked most is that is made me think about how we interact with each other and the kinds of dances we’ve created to get a...

Donald Margulies is one of my favorite modern playwrights and after seeing his latest play I was reminded of why. Time Stands Still is currently playing a limited run at the Biltmore (actually now called the Samuel J. Friedman theatre, but it was the Biltmore when the original Broadway production of Hair premiered there in 1968 so I like to call it the Biltmore! Also, Hair is the Biltmore‘s longest running show, having lasted 1,750 performances) and with a great script to start with mixed with expert direction, a thoughtful lighting design and fantastic performances, this could easily run even longer at a smaller house. Time Stands Still is really a beautiful character study so the plot is thin but the themes are rich. The story concerns a couple, James and Sarah, who travel the world as a journalist and photographer, respectively, covering atrocities and “important” news stories. At rise, James is bringing Sarah home to their Brooklyn apartment from a hospital in Germany, where ...

Phew! We have one award show under our belts and a few more to go until the big O. (Critic’s Choice Awards were handed out last week; I’m taping the re-broadcast and will be sure to have a few updates afterwards.) The SAG Awards are on this Saturday night and then February 2 Oscars nominations are announced. In the meantime, let’s wrap up the Golden Globes. First, the fashion. Apparently it was raining all across America because as I traversed through NYC in the rain on Golden Globes day, the luminaries walking the red carpet in LA were treated to a shower, as well. There were tons of umbrellas on the red carpet, including Neil Patrick Harris’s black Gap umbrella, which happens to be the exact same one I have and was using just hours earlier. (Excellent taste, Neil!) As for the actual clothes, there was nothing that was too horrendous which is not to say I liked everything. One trend I disliked was hot pink. I noticed a few ladies wearing it and it just looked wrong. A full...

Saturday night’s City Ballet program was Short Stories - three unrelated narrative pieces on one bill. I had seen all three of the pieces on separate occasions and really liked only one and my reaction wasn’t too different this time, although after seeing all three pieces in one night, the difference between the one I liked, Fancy Free , and the ones that didn’t thrill me, Prodigal Son and Firebird , was clear: Fancy Free told the story through dance; the other two told the story through movement. The actual dancing in Prodigal Son and Firebird seems secondary to the pageantry used to tell the two stories. I suppose this is okay - certainly the crowd agreed, giving the principal dancers in the latter two rowdy rounds of applause - but it’s not my taste. Fancy Free was one of the first ballets Jerome Robbins choreographed; in fact he choreographed this ballet while we was still a student at City Ballet, shortly before becoming George Balanchine’s co-choreographer. Fancy Free also ...