Friday February 10, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 06 |
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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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Bits & Bytes |
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| 'Gay' Cannibal at Thumper's extended, Boston Marriage celebrates Lesbian history, PNB offers four major NW choices | |
| by Milton W. Hamlin
- SGN A&E Writer
What a week! What a month! February has just started and the Emerald City's entertainment calendar is overflowing with a wide array of diverse options. Eartha Kitt arrives at Jazz Alley for a Valentine's week stay, Feb. 14-19. The Vagina Monologues returns to Seattle for a Feb. 24-25 staging at Bastyr University. And all of that is at least a week away. This week's entertainment options are so numerous that Bits&Bytes has to revert to the periodic K.I.S.S. format-old journalistic lingo that once meant "Keep It Simple, Stupid," the time-worn advice to the new rookie on the newspaper. Highlights: A rare David Mamet "comedy" about Lesbian relationships in the late-Victorian era, A Good Woman-an Oscar Wilde comedy new to the screen, and Nanny McPhee, a tongue-in-cheek camp riot with a clear Gay sensibility. Arnaldo! plays a "one night only" Valentine's Day night encore at Thumper's, and the single show is already totally sold out. Read on! BATHHOUSE THEATER HOSTS LESBIAN BOSTON MARRIAGE In the late Victorian era, "Boston Marriage" was an euphemism for "Lesbian Pairing." David Mamet, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, is famous for his stark, brutal, confrontational tales of men in modern America. When he decided to explore Victorian-era Lesbian relationships in Boston Marriage, theater insiders were perplexed. The Seattle Public Theatre's local premiere of Boston Marriage had been extended for an extra week before its opening night. The sincere, hard working troupe makes its home in North Seattle at the historic Bathhouse Theatre on the West shore of Green Lake. Like many of its earlier productions, Boston Marriage is a solid, serious staging of a major new play. Seattle's GLBT community, especially the Lesbian and feminist members, turned Boston Marriage into a box office hit before its opening. "We've had more media attention for Marriage than any other play we have ever staged," a Public Theatre spokesman reported. Serious theater fans of all orientations are openly curious about the play, and the extra week's extension was a logical-box office welcome-result. SPT's staging is a sensitive, solid production that deserves a look. The play itself-the main attraction here-is something of a muddle. Mamet approaches the Lesbian triangle with some sensitivity, some tongue-in-cheek (as it were). Some of the dialog is simply curious and left the audience wondering what to make of some lines. One character enters carrying a fur muff to warm her hands in the cold. "While I was admiring your muff, your parts came," another woman notes in a deadpan manner. Satire? Tongue-firmly-in-cheek? Bad delivery? Bad line? The verdict is still out. For the record, the three women on stage are all good-Peggy Gannon, Kate Myre, Heather Persinger. To this reviewer, Persinger's feistytle at Me maid was the most fully developed character. The very sleek, modern set is a perfect contrast to the Victorian setting and helps bridge Mamet's modern phrasing with the period action. Daniel Wilson's direction is solid and supportive. A veteran director with dozens of local and regional credits, Wilson directed two fondly remembered productions at the GLBT-themed Alice B. Theatre-the thought-provoking Breaking The Code and the silly-but-touching Jeffrey with its then-shocking all-male nude scene. Boston Marriage plays through Feb. 26. It's not a perfect play and this is not the perfect production, but it is well worth a look. Reservations and information at 524-1300. (An all-star production of Boston Marriage opens soon in Los Angeles so Emerald City stage fans will have another chance to hear about any Theatre's dance series when) SEATTLE SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES SEASON The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has just announced its 2006-07 season. The SSO calendar is simply overflowing with superstars-instrumental and vocal (think Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, think Rene Fleming, Deborah Voight) visiting orchestras, special programs and other musical goodies. Call the Symphony box office today and ask for a free season brochure and to be added to the master mailing list-215-4747. And-as usual-tell 'em SGN and Bits&Bytes told you to call. A GOOD WOMAN CELEBRATES WILDE Oscar Wilde's wonderfully arch Victorian melodrama/comedy Lady Windermere's Fan returns to the screen with a new 1930's Art Deco take in A Good Woman, which continues an exclusive engagement at the Metro Cinemas in the University District. Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Wilkinson head the cast in this brisk 93-minute outing that is sure to please art house film fans. While the plot and dialog has been updated, the story's Victorian melodramatic base cannot be disguised and limits the appeal of the film. Incredible vistas and villas on Italy's Amalfi coast prove the perfect setting for this 1930's rethinking of Wilde's witty comedy. The film has Art Hot staging holds up beautifully toits opening week fond memories of Tharp's Seattle's loyal art film crowd. The film was released in England nearly a year ago and has been slow to gain a U.S. release.work hereWilde and sophisticated-if flawed-comedy of manners should check it out soon. Johansson is clearly miscast as a young, wide-eyed innocent but most of the British actors have a field day with Wilde's famous-and infamous-epigrams. Full Disclosure: Bits&Bytes earned his master's degree with a structural study of Oscar Wilde's four stage comedies-so he is either the perfect SGN scribe to review the new film adaptation, or he is the worst possible writer to be objective about the film since, in Bits&Bytes' book, the openly Gay playwright can do no wrong. So, go see the film this weekend and let Bits&Bytes know. NEW NANNY McPHEE BRING CAMP COMEDY OUT OF THE CLOSET Emma Thompson is the driving force behind the new Nanny McPhee that is packing family audiences into the multiplexes around town. An Oscar winning actress and scriptwriter, Thompson obviously has a ball on screen (and, one presumes, off) by starring in and adapting England's Nurse Matilda books for the big screen. While the film is clearly for children (yes, "of all ages") the screenplay and direction plays up the camp and obviously Gay aspects of the beloved books. Colin Firth stars as a widower with seven obnoxious children who drive away all possible nannies in town. As a Victorian-era undertaker, he has two campy assistants-Mr. Wheen and Mr. Jowls. Stage and screen veterans Derek Jacobi and Patrick Barlow are so over-the-top as the two men ("screaming queens" might have once been a term that could be used in non-politically correct newspapers) that the GLBT radar meter went over 100 per cent at the press-and-preview screening that welcomed the surprise box office hit to town. Angela Lansbury is terrific as the terrifying Aunt Adelaide, and Thompson clearly has great fun as the mysterious title character. It's a slight movie but one with some hidden closeted humor for GLBT flick fans. PNB'S VALENTINE OFFERS FOUR LOCAL PREMIERES Seattle dance fans are wild (as in wild) about Pacific Northwest Ballet's innovative mixed repertory program for February. Billed as Valentine, the evening features four PNB premieres-and the box office phones have been ringing off the hook. The program opened last week and plays only four more performances through the Sunday 1 p.m. matinee. Peter Boal, PNB's new artistic director, is obviously making a statement in the staging of so many new works in a single program. Most of the works are long overdue for PNB and Seattle dance fans. After several transitional programs (one scribe-correctly-termed them "diplomatic" choices) in the fall, Boal seems to be saying, "This is the future of PNB." Hats off to the new direction. Emerald City audiences got a look at Red Angels in September at PNB's Soiree, The Season Opening Gala. Ulysses Dove's 1994 work-"athletic, sensual"-was a sensation in the September preview. Visually, Red Angels is a knockout-with the four couples in scarlet unitards with white and red hot lighting "bathing the dancers" in color. It undoubtedly is the talk of the town. Twyla Tharp's 1982 Nine Sinatra Songs finally made its PNB debut with this February mixed rep program. The now world-famous ballet-danced, as the title suggests, to nine classic Frank Sinatra recordings-is also the first Tharp work performed by PNB. Under Boal's PNB direction, it certainly won't be the last. Lush and lavish costumes are by Oscar de la Renta, making Nine Sinatra Songs a perfect addition to the Valentine theme. (The work has been staged in Seattle at Meany Theatre's dance series when Tharp's company visited many seasons back. PNB's current staging holds up beautifully to vivid memories of Tharp's work here.) Richard Tanner's 1992 Ancient Airs and Dances is performed to music of the same name by Respighi, the Italian composer best known for his tone poems The Pines Of Rome of Rome and The Fountains Of Rome. Tanner was in town last year to stage Balanchine's Prodigal Son for PNB-he returns to set his own work on the company's dancers. Using stark white and black leotards, the company put the focus on dance and the dancers. The brisk work was the favorite of the four for this reviewer. Susan Marshall's Kiss completes the program. The brief, yet "mesmerizing" 1987 work, finds two dancers suspended in harnesses above the stage. "They move together, separate, and return to one another" in a series of "gentle, sweeping movements" that capture "both the pleasure and torment" of being in love. Opening night's audience clearly loved it. Valentine continues through Feb. 12 at McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center. Evening and matinee performances are scheduled this weekend. Although Valentine ends its run just before Feb. 14 and the "real" Valentine's Day, tickets to the PNB program would be ideal Valentine's Day gifts. Complete ticket details are available at 441-2424. Tickets start at just $20 for the four-part Valentine program-which breaks down to just $5 a ballet. CABARET DE PARIS OPENS GERSHWIN'S PARDON MY MUSH Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Cabaret Series at the downtown Crepe de Paris restaurant opens a musical tribute to George and Ira Gershwin, Please Pardon My Mush. Maggie Laird and her musical trio open the cleverly titled cabaret evening tonight, and the show continues Friday and Saturdays through Feb. 18 and returns for a March 10-25 encore. Crepe de Paris also offers the Gershwin songfest for a special Valentine's Day show on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. At deadline, seating was still available for the special V.D. package. The show's witty title comes from the Gershwin's "I've Got A Crush On You (Sweetie Pie)" and a lyric that rimes "Pardon my mush, but I have got a crush, my baby, on you." Reservations and full details at 623-4111. THUMPER'S HOSTS FOUR NEW CABARETS Thumper's, one of Seattle's favorite Gay-owned and Gay "destination" restaurant and bar, has packed its Cabaret On The Hill schedule with four major events this month. The just-closed S.A.D.-Seasonal Affective Disorder ("A Cabaret To Banish The Blues-Not To Sing Them") packed the Oak Room for its three-Sunday run. A quarterly outing in the Emerging Artists/Showcase Cabaret Series, Ann Evans' student showcase offers an early peek at some very talented, some very new (and some "not quite ready for prime time") singers. Check it out next time. DIRTY LITTLE SHOWTUNES! RETURNS FOR SUNDAY RUN Dirty Little Showtunes!-Unplugged brings Tom Orr's mischievously campy and Very Gay revue back to town. While Orr is not directly involved in the new production, he has contributed some revisions of his parody lyrics and-reportedly-a new song or two. Fans of the long-running and often-revived Seattle revue will remember that Gilbert&Sullivan's patter-song classic "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General" becomes "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Homosexual" in Orr's twisted lyrics. Dirty Little Showtunes! opens next Sunday night, Feb. 19 and continues Sundays into March. Bits&Bytes noted an early opening date in earlier columns, but the producers have postponed the opening-first because of some football game last weekend in Detroit and again for some other reason. ARNALDO! ENCORES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY Arnaldo!-Seattle's favorite "drag chanteuse"-returns to Thumper's for one night only. The Feb. 14 Valentine's Day outing offers a $50 dinner-and-show package, but the event was a total sellout two weeks before opening. Thumper's is building waiting list so procrastinators-and you know who you are-still have a slim chance. (Arnaldo, a lifelong Eartha Kitt fan, has to skip Kitt's V.D. opening at Jazz Alley since he is performing at Thumper's. The talented Seattle singer will catch up with the show business legend later in her week-long run.) CANNIBAL ADDS EXTRA WEEKS FOR TREY PARKER FANS Fans of Trey Parker are packing the Oak Room at Thumper's for a new "Gay Version" of his classic Cannibal-The Musical!. Parker, the creator of South Park, gave Seattle's new Knock Out Productions permission to adapt the "Gripping Tale Of Man Eats Man!" as a new "Gay Cabaret" The results are mixed-the understatement of the year-but the crowds seem to adore the show. The show-and Parker-seem to be an acquired taste, and-sad to say-Bits&Bytes has not acquired a taste for either. But that does not matter-the show is an out-and-out hit and a hoot-and-a-half for most of the capacity crowds. Straight and Gay, young and old-fans of Parker seem to have no problem with the new "Gay" elements of the show. (Parker was in town for the show's opening weekend and other Seattle papers reported that he didn't seem too happy with the results-but that is all scuttlebutt to Bits&Bytes who wouldn't recognize Parker if he danced naked on the Oak Room's mini-stage.) The campy adaptation has just announced a two-week extension. The show now plays Friday and Saturday evenings through Feb. 18. (Rumor has it the show might be extended further or return in April or May for an encore booking-a recent visit to Thumper's found a Cannibal cast member going through his blocking with a new replacement or understudy.) RUBY BISHOP DELIGHTS ON FREE MONDAY NIGHTS Ruby Bishop, a "Seattle legend" for many decades, continues to draw a strong Monday night crowd to Thumper's for her piano and vocal stylings. Bits&Bytes stopped in on a rainy Monday last week to hear-and cheer-the talented legend at work. Bishop, still going strong in her 80's, started the evening "in a melancholy mood" with piano and cabaret classics like "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Body And Soul," "Little Girl Blue," "Don't Take Your Love From Me." Playing audience requests, she segued into favorites like "As Time Goes By," "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" and (when asked to play "something by Cole Porter") "Begin The Beguine." "I just bought a new book of Cole Porter's songs-I'll play more next week," she quipped to the appreciative, intimate audience. "I have all of his songs on sheet music-2,000 music sheets-but I wanted them all in one book," she explained. Bishop sang a few tunes-a wide-eyed, faux-innocent Betty Boop approach to "Ace In The Hole," a saucy Fats Waller tribute with "Your Feets Too Big." The Monday evenings with Ruby Bishop has no cover charge-a rare free event in this money-mad city. Bishop plays from 8 p.m. and, typically, the audience grows larger and larger as the evening progresses. All ages, all orientations mix together in a stylish tribute to entertainment from yesteryear. Bits&Bytes started the evening in a tense, "what a day!" mood and left Bishop completely relaxed. Check it out. On Friday and Saturday nights, Thumper's offers two talented pianists in the dining room. Music starts at 6:30 p.m. when there is a cabaret show later that night or at 7 p.m. on the rare non-show evening. Reservations and full information for all Thumper's Cabaret On The Hill events are available at 328-3800. And, yes, you can tell 'em Bits&Bytes sent ya. |
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