Anything Goes

Anything Goes takes place in the 30's on an ocean liner traveling from New York to London. It is about romance, mobsters, sexy evangelical sermons accompanied by singing and dancing. The songs were composed by Cole Porter and many of his most popular songs such as "I Get a Kick Out of You", "It's De-Lovely" and "Anything Goes". The best part of it was the big production tap dancing to "Anything Goes".



Max always says he wishes he could tap dance. He just doesn't want to take lessons and practice. Rachel York starred in this production and she is most known for her portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy. She has presence, charisma and can dance. But her singing wasn't that strong. She was good, but not great. We would see it again just for the dancing numbers.

Seminar

I’ve always been a fan of Jeff Goldblum with his works ranging from The Fly to the Jurassic Park movies.  He has not only a sense of drama, but he also has great comedic timing.

In this play, I didn’t know if the Ahmanson is such a good venue compared to Mark Taper.  Max said it is because of the size of the audience they are anticipating. He was right.  It was a packed house.

Jeff plays the character of Leonard, a brilliant author who had a best seller years before, and now holds expensive workshops/seminars for small groups of aspiring authors.  I hear the figure of $5k each, but I’m not sure.  It takes place in New York in one of the student’s apartment. There are about 4 students, each with their issues and quirks struggling to find the voice within. 

Leonard comes across as quirky who has traveled to exotic places, meets people and gets into strange circumstances to expand his horizons.  He pontificates about his own crazy experiences and has a tendency to forget the question in the midst of his rambling.  Those scenes are the best because they are so funny.  He can also be unbelievably cruel as he critiques the student’s work if they are not up to his standards.  After Kate was crushed by his ranting about her work, the other students are fearful of showing their own works. 

At the end we discover he is able to pull the best out of the students.  Great play and great performance by Jeff and the rest of the cast.

Opera - Madam Butterfly

We were not especially looking forward to this Opera. It was not one of our favorites based on two previous performances we had attended.  It may have been the futuristic costumes and stark stage setting, I’m not sure.  Both times, I closed my eyes and almost dozed off.

This time, it was as if I saw the Opera for the first time.  Madam Butterfly is one of Puccini’s most famous operas and was the inspiration for Miss Saigon.  In the movie, My Geisha, Shirley Maclaine disguises herself as a Japanese woman to play the role of Madam Butterfly as she tries to prove she can do more than “common musicals”. 

Before the performance, I read the program and I was surprised to read that the audience booed and heckled Puccini during the premier performance.  Undeterred, he believed in the Opera, made some adjustments until he was satisfied and presented it again to be proclaimed a triumph. 

I also read that the Opera was inspired by a short story based on true characters.  There was actually a geisha named Cho-San, Miss Butterfly and her lover is Ensign William B. Franklin.  Records show that there was an Ensign Franklin in Nagasaki from 1892 – 1893.

Before, I always thought that the Ensign and Madam Butterfly were deeply in love, married and had a child.  But based on the culture of the time, the Ensign regretfully had to marry an American woman and forced to leave Cho-San. 

But in this performance, I understood more fully that he just “married” her for companionship during his tour of duty and that the marriage caused Cho-San’s family to disown her.  Soprano Oksana Dyka was brilliant in her portrayal of Cho-San who had unwavering faith that her Ensign would return to her and their son. 

There was one scene when she kneels in front of her son, crying for the time they would see her husband again.  At the end of the aria she breaks down and her son reaches up to comfort her.  The whole audience breathed a sigh of “awww”. 

As the Opera progressed and Cho-San realizes that her “husband” wants their child and will leave her, I got teary eyed and cursed his cruelty of leaving her penniless and alone.  I could hear others around me sniffling. 

This was a wow performance and I hope I get to see another one as compelling as this one.

November

Performed at the Mark Taper, this farce is about a president who thinks he will lose the election and is trying to make enough money for his Library.  Ed Begley Jr. plays the president, Charles Smith, and Felicity Huffman plays his gay speechwriter, Clarice, that he relies on heavily.

The role of Charles was rather silly as he schemes to blackmail the National Association of Turkey Manufacturers by not pardoning the selected turkey unless they contribute heavily to his Library.  Clarice was rather annoying because she is supposed to be sick and her sniffling, coughing and sneezing got on my nerves. 

I hated it, really.  Max felt the same way and he doesn’t think Ed Bagley is a good actor at all.  He puts Ed in the same league as Bill Pullman who he dislkes.

I should have known better.  The screenplay is by David Mamet who I’ve disliked ever since Sophia (the goat).

Opera-The Two Foscari

Today, we left much earlier than usual because Carmegeddon was in full swing.  A portion of the 405 Freeway was shutdown far beyond where we would be traveling, but the closure could increase traffic flow in other areas of L.A. as people use alternative routes.  We got there with no problems, so that allowed us to relax and have dinner at First and Hope at a more leisurely pace. 

This time we ordered a wedge lettuce salad and short rib sliders. I always like the salad, but the sliders were okay.  Not enough filling and it had bean sprouts in it. Yech.

After dinner we went to hear a portion of the lecture by James Conlon, which I didn’t get much out of since we came in the middle as he played bits and pieces of the upcoming Opera.

As we waited for the performance to begin, we see Pau Gosal towering over everyone else as he and his wife go to 2^nd row center, far better seats than ours.  How did that happen? ;-)

During intermission, we observed Pau head outside the lobby area and he was so gracious. So many people wanted to talk to him or have their picture taken with him and he did accommodated everyone with a smile.

Back to the Opera.  Placido Domingo starred in this production that takes place in Venice.  His son, Jacopo is unjustly accused of a crime against the state.  Placido plays his father, the Doge of Venice.  He tries to help his son, but cannot due to his position.  Jacopo’s wife, Lucrezia pleads for mercy with the court and Foscari.  It is particularly heart wrenching because she brings her children who also kneels in court begging for clemency for their father. 

But the court finds Jacopo guilty and exiles him with no chance of seeing his family again.  When the boat departs Venice, he commits suicide because of his despair of leaving his home and family.  It is ironic that when the boat departs, a messenger arrives with evidence that the charges against Jacopo are false. 

Foscari is deeply saddened and there is increased pressure when the Council demands his resignation. Foscari then dies of a broken heart with the loss of his position and his son, Jocopo.  Placido is wonderful in this role and there are so many wonderful arias in this Opera.  This is a new Opera for us that we will see again.

Opera-Don Giovanni

This is a Mozart opera and to us, there wasn't a single aria that soared and captured our hearts.  The songs were entertaining, but not captivating as in Puccini or Verdi operas.  We prefer the Italian Operas.

Don Giovanni is a nobleman cad, master to Leporello, known as nowadays, his "Wingman".

He crosses the line when he attempts to rape Donna Anna and as he tries to get away, winds up killing her father, the Commendatore.

Lessons in morality figure predominantly in this opera.  When we were going to see this Opera, Ron sent me a message saying, "Ah, the Stone Guest".  Giovanni doesn't regret his actions.  When he is hiding in the grave yard he is laughing and bragging about his exploits.  He then hears the voice of the Commendatore who warns him that his laughter will be silenced by the morning.  Cocky, Don Giovanni invites the statue to dinner.  The "Stone Guest" is the grave yard statue of the Commendatore who drags Don Giovanni into hell when he does not repent his sins.

The opera was fairly long, 3 hours.  Max gave it a B-.  I hope Mozart doesn't haunt us.

Red

Alfred Molina delivers an intense performance playing the character of Mark Rothko, a celebrated artist at the peak of his career who was still tormented by his artistry and commitment to the message of his works.

He is a Russian artist who rises as in his career in the late 1950’s trying to deliver his anti-establishment message in his works.  I find it interesting that this is one of the few great artists in history who is acclaimed during his life.  Usually, artists die tormented and in despair.  They become famous after their death.  Anyway, the first Rothko I remember seeing was in the English Garden museum in Munich.  His works are usually huge canvases with blocks of contrasting colors, usually primary colors.  Red is one of them.

He is an obnoxious artist who treats his assistant with disdain.  The play takes place in his studio as he debates his commission to create a series of paintings, which will be displayed at the new Seagram Building’s restaurant, The Four Seasons.  He has risen to fame as an anti-establishment artist whose work will be displayed ironically, in a luxury environment.  It was reported that he wanted to create a series of paintings “that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room”.

I would see this play again and again because there are so many witty, intellectual lines.  I even bought the screenplay from Amazon.  Very good and we both enjoyed it.  Alfred was perfect in this role.  We hated and admired his portrayal of Rothko.