METEOR SHOWER on Broadway with Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key by Steve Martin

Steve Martin's new play on Broadway METEOR SHOWER is broad comedy about relationships that fires and misses but also strikes with acerbic insights.  Martin who got his early start in the 70s as a comedienne known for clowning around with an arrow running through his head while juggling bowls in the air.  Martin's comedic talents have matured into a Tony award winner for playwrighting & musical score (BRIGHT STAR).   That's not to say he's strayed far from his wild and crazy humor.    METEOR SHOWER is a one act play with 2 major comedic/actor stars Amy Schumer (Corky) and Keegan-Michael Key (Gerald) and 2 leading Tony winning Broadway veterans Jeremy Shamos (Norm) and Laura Benanti (Laura).  Corky & Norm are a married couple living outside LA in the 1990s who take their new age marriage counseling advice so seriously its becomes gut wrenchingly funny.  They appreciate & acknowledge each other's feelings while holding hands & making eye contact.  They're expecting a new couple to drop by for drinks on the brink of a spectacular spectral Perseid meteor shower.  Their yard & the audience have exceptional vantages to these celestial wonders that occur whether we're aware or not.  Gerald and Laura are the new couple who are about to rock Corky & Norm's world.  The farcical spoof on what makes sparks in a relationship is shockingly funny and before the shtick overstays its welcome & collapses, the deceptively clever play takes an unexpected turn.  METEOR SHOWER is a medley of salacious jokes, absurdists humor and slapstick.  Not everything connects in the play.  Schumer & Key brought their comic kryptonite but Shamos & Benanti's acting outshines.  The play felt off-balance & buffoonish at times.  But the play embraces all its moving parts and will fasten you to its velcro orbit.  What makes for a lasting relationship?  Nothing bonds people together stronger than a common enemy.  Perhaps, Martin's dark comedy has gravitas fired at political commentary.  

LADY BIRD - Take Note I Loved It! Stars Saoirse Ronan, Tracy Letts, Laurie Metcalf and Lucas Hedges

LADY BIRD is a coming of age story of a most remarkable high school student, Christine "Lady Bird" (played by Acad Award winner Saoirse Ronan).  "Lady Bird" is the Christine is the name "given to me by me" she tells the Priest (Stephen Henderson FENCES) when auditioning for the senior musical.  What's most remarkable about this unflappable, outspoken free spirit is her relentless spirit to soak up happiness. This flawless film is written & directed by Greta Gerwig (MAGGIE'S PLAN and FRANCES HA).   Gerwig, like her character was born in Sacramento, attended Catholic high school & yearned for more than their provincial lives.  The movie is an exuberant ballad to high school years of self-discovery, friendship, freedoms & the endless possibilities "not that is known of yet!".  Amidst the fun of being young, unencumbered & ready to take on the world, Lady Bird takes on her mother (Laurie Metcalf, TV & Broadway star) with some benevolent help from her father (Pulitzer Prize playwright & actor Tracy Letts).  Lady Bird's audacity, enterprising and boundless energy make her a formidable ally and challenging adversary for her mother.  The mother/daughter dynamics are comically contentious yet their indivisible bonds of love are omnipotent.  The two bicker relentlessly.  Their moments of truce are so abrupt and heartfelt they send you flying.  (The scene shopping together for a dress is hilarious.)  Gerwig captures the broad range of high school angst as well as its glee.  The entire ensemble cast is pitch perfect.  Especially touching are Lady Bird's first boyfriend (Lucas Hedges, MANCEHSTER BY THE SEA) best friend (Beanie Feldstein {Jonah Hill's sister}) and Catholic Headmistress (Lois Smith).   The movie is rich in kindness, acceptance and forgiveness.  It's also entrenched with empathy & epiphanies of other's hardships. "Not everyone is built for happiness".  Above all, LADY BIRD soars with delight.  Ronan & Metcalf should earn Oscar nominations for their outstanding performances which fly on top of a great supporting cast and winning script.   As much as Lady Bird yearns to flee the coupe of her hometown, Headmistress observes from reading her college essay how beautifully she pays tribute.  "Taking notice and loving are not the same" Lady Bird tells her.  Oh, but aren't they asks the wise old dame.  

Brazil's Eliane Elias on Piano and Vocals with Amazing Artists at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Jazz at Lincoln Center featured Eliane Elias (b Brazil 1960) on piano & vocals.  The entire first set was music by Bill Evans (b Amer 1929-1980).  Evans was a leading jazz pianist & composer known for inventive interpretations of traditional jazz repertoire.  Elias a multiple Grammy nominee & winner for Latin Jazz is also know for her S. American flourish to jazz compositions.  Evans was known for working with a jazz trio, playing piano with bass & drums.  Elias' first set was performed with drummer Joe Labarbera and bass virtuoso Marc Johnson.  Johnson was part of Evans last jazz trio while in his early 20's.  He is a master on the bass is also the husband of Elias.  The trio's interpretation of Evan's compositions were performed with Evan's lush atmospheric tones with a Latin flair.  The music possessed a rich full bodied resonance.  Elias' virtuosity at the piano is astonishing.  Elias offered an emotional tribute to Bill Evans with a video of him working on his last unfinished composition.  Elias's trio then performed her completed rendition of the piece felt perfectly in keeping with Evans' intent.  The 2nd set brought out a sexy Brazilian Bossa nova rhythm, a different drummer Rafael Barata, Rubens de la Core on guitar and Elias on both piano & vocals.  Bossa nova is a fusion of samba & jazz which originated in Brazil.  Samba is music whose roots stem from S. Africa & particularly the W. African slave trade.  It's imperative to regard the music's history. Elias' vocals embraced a deep modulated pitch which added a very sensual intonation.  There was a cohesiveness to the program's layering of harmonies & melodies with a passionate percussive beat.  I was transfixed by Barata on drums.  He was fascinating to watch.  His facial expressions reminded me of musician & actor Steve van Zandt on the SOPRANOS.  The combined artistic genius on stage especially Elias on piano & Johnson on bass produced exceptionally beautiful jazz with a visceral luxuriant response.

PoetryFest at IAC Feature Chinese born Poet Sally Wen Mao and Irish Poet Tara Begin

My first exposure to poetry reading (other than slam poetry) was at today's PoetryFest at the Irish Arts Center (IAC).  The first of many more to come.  I was delighted & surprised by both female poets.  I anticipated only Irish poets.  Sally Wen Mao (b China) was raised in Boston & San Francisco.  Her collection MAD HONEY SYMPOSIUM received the 2012 Kinerth Gensler Award.  She read poetry from that & OCULUS to be published in 2018.  She's young and diffident.   Her hesitant & apologetic start was disarming.   Mao said she was glad she was unable to see out into the audience.  Her timid disposition contrasted with her gut punching prose, seditious reflections on her Chinese lineage and the plight of immigrants.   Sally referenced her poems origins prior to reading.  The 1st was saturated with references to blood, slaughter and a barren dystopian land.   She wrote it after the 2016 election using only words never included in a Presidential Inauguration.  RADIATION GIRL expresses her sadness at being rebuffed by her aunt after she visited Japan.  Her aunt warned her not to travel to Japan or touch the Pacific Ocean for fear of radiation contamination.  The ebullience for Japan's natural beauty and immersion in the ocean were pained by her aunt's fear & harsh rebuke.  "Beauty's hazards are real.  I am a mermaid of the ocean".  Mao's timidity aside, she maintained a friendly banter.  "On the internet I saw my face attached to an ad 'Why do people see ghosts'".  This startled her & lead her to consider her aging parents living apart & on their own.  The melancholy poem read "Love has a way of not existing.  Our bloodline ends with my lifeline."  Mae shared a poem from OCULUS titled Anna Mae Wong, a Chinese Amer. actress in the 1920s-30s stereotyped as a maid or murder victim.  It addresses prejudice.  A school girl of Asian heritage eats alone & tormented in class.  A white classmate prods her with needles "Do Asians feel pain as we do?"  This references Shakespeare's Shylock who asks "If you cut us do we not bleed."   Tara Begin read 2nd.  She was born in Ireland.  Begin spoke & recited assuredly with an appealing Irish brogue.  Begin read mainly from her new book THE TRAGIC DEATH of ELEANOR MARX shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize Best Collection 2017.   Begin is fascinated with Marx since both have made translations of Flaubert's MADAME BOVERY.  Eleanor committed suicide by taking arsenic the same as did Madame Bovery.  "Madame Bovery's favorite flower are all flowers & favorite color white.  Eleanor's favorite flavor is the orchid and favorite color night."   Begin's other poems were bold and irreverent.  Her polished reading was pleasant to the ear.  But, I preferred the shared intimacy of Mao's readings.  Needless, I enjoyed the poetry readings and will seek out future Poetry Festivals.

ACTUALLY by Playwright Anna Ziegler Accurately Analyzes Sexual Allegations Equality

Anna Ziegler (b Amer 1979) is a brilliant young playwright (PHOTOGRAPH 51 which starred Nicole Kidman).  PHOTOGRAPH 51 deserved a Pulitzer Prize.  Her new off-Broadway play ACTUALLY will garner multiple Obie nominations.  ACTUALLY at MTC Stage II is a small production.  It's a 1 act 2 character play on a minimal set of 2 chairs but it speaks volumes to social injustices, human sufferings, racial inequalities and the ramifications of rape accusations.  The play is set in the present on the Princeton campus.  Tom (an incredibe Joshua Boone, HOLLER IF YOU HEAR ME) and Amber (an equally powerful Alexandra Socha, SPRING AWAKENINGS) are two Princeton freshmen.  Tom is black & the 1st in his family to matriculate.  Amber's Jewish heritage comprises part of her character.  She is adrift, insecure and loquacious.  Amber accuses Tom of rape to Princeton authorities which leads to a hearing by a Princeton panel who will decide Tom's fate.  The verbose play is extremely engaging & insightful.  The tour de force performances paint clear pictures of Tom & Amber's makeup.  Their past histories are cleverly depicted blurring past/present.  Tom's father squandered his opportunity for college.  Now, Tom is determined not to miss his shot.  His past includes an illicit under-age sexual encounter with a teacher at school which leads to her dismissal and his titilating sexual reputation.  Tom's acceptance to Princeton (racial quotas aside) is attributed to his musical abilities.  His act of kindness to a grade school teacher prompted piano lessons.  "I don't pass up on free offers and I don't miss an opportunity to act kindly."  Amber's Jewish, middle-class upbringing doesn't evoke pity, particularly in comparison to Tom's but as we listen to her confluence of conversation (except during sex) her insecurities prod a sympathetic understanding.  She's encountered two sexual encounters before college portray her as a pathetic and willing participant.  Their didactic postulating is pertinent in constructing both individuals.  They share similar misgivings as outsiders trying to fit into campus life.  The backstories & vulnerabilities of Tom & Amber warm us to their innocent flirtations.  There's not a misstep in the avalanche of dialogue that captures our attention from the onset.  The genius of Ziegler's writing warrants credibility for the scenarios that unfold.  All told, this play is compilation of layered social commentaries that float throughout the play and remonstrate the tilted scales of justice while weighing the gravitas of sexual accusations.  ACTUALLY is a literary, socially prescient & thought provoking powerhouse of a play.  Pay close attention to the beginning of the play as it factors in on which side of the fence your views may lean.  ACTUALLY will unequivocally strike an emotional cord that reverberates.  Ms. Ziegler is a phenomenal playwright deserving of accolades.

Dance Archivists Share Their Secrets from Jacob's Pillow, Martha Graham and David Gordon

The noon talk series as part of the Harkens Dance Festival was a discussion from 4 leading archivists of dance for the Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jacob's Pillow, Martha Graham & David Gordon Companies.  These illustrious speakers' work ensures the legacies & factual accuracies  of prominent dance companies.  The advantage of digitized formatting is a vital tool in capturing & storing the ongoing accumulation of choreography, artifacts, photos, notes, costumes and voluminous other materials pertaining to the dance companies, the choreographers, dancers and historic relevance.  A film was shown that was written, directed & performed by David Gordon that provided a scripted dialogue & dance between two people explaining the story he wanted to tell for posterity.  The curator said that the artists methods strive for a continuous enigmatic obvious presentation of dance's impact.  This conundrum beat onward and while I was fascinated with the footage shown, methods of organizing material and the dance presentation of 2 Martha Graham's solos, I was left puzzled.  There was no time left for Q&A.  This is few things I would like to know anyway: how are the materials evaluated & edited, is there a system to pare down material or does everything just keep piling up and what artistic direction do the archivists receive from experts or professionals.  I have more questions and plenty of awe for the processes & practices of archivists.  The title Show and Tell: Archivists Share their Secrets let me to believe there are immeasurable mysteries and secrets to uncover.

Walter Isaacson in Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson on Leonardo da Vinci at 92ndY

Walter Isaacson (WI) has been busy promoting his new, anticipated biography on Leonardo da Vinci (LDV).  I've seen him in conversation with Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley & was excited to hear him speak with astrophysics rock star Neil deGrasse Tyson (NDT).  Who better to elicit scintillating banter on the very interesting historic artist/scientist subject LDV than NDT (2 intriguing intellects for the price of 1 + the book).  A seemingly brainiac bargain but I had several beefs with last night's program at the 92ndY.  Why?  First, the program got off to a late start & the intros were interminable, besides their bios were listed in the program notes.  Secondly, there's a trope to WI's scope of bullet points he's made repeatedly.  I'll make a cogent summation of the take aways from WI's multiple talks.  The subjects for WI's biographies share a commonality of innovation & genius.  The attributes posed for stimulating creativity & intellect are curiosity & astute observation.  And, yes, these skills can (& should) be nurtured.  WI spoke of the epoch in which LDV lived as being tolerant of eccentricities.  We're informed LDV was illegitimate, a vegetarian, openly gay, left-handed and a flamboyant dresser.  WI spoke of the astounding features of the Mona Lisa and the Salvator Mundi paintings.  The Salvator Mundi painting (which he's seen) is the only privately held, authenticated LDV painting known in existence.  It is estimated to sell at auction for upwards of 150,000,000.  LDV did not make distinctions between science or art but considered them both cross disciplinaries.  Lastly, NDT introduced WI as the featured speaker but he felt intrusive and failed to ignite additional insights from WI that he's expressed previously.  If I hear WI mention LDV's fascination for finding the size of a woodpecker's tongue again, I'll go bonkers.  NDT said he & WI met 6 months previously when they were both appointed to the same Board by the Sec. of Defense for innovative ideas towards maintaining our defense.  Here's where we could really use creative ideas that lead towards peaceful resolutions.  As for WI's book I took home, I think I've garnered the highlights.  I'm no longer curious to read it for myself & will put it on the shelf.  

NYPhilharmonic Rehearsal of Gershwin's RHAPSODY in BLUE - Just What NYC Needed

Today's NY Philharmonic was a jubilant concert highlighting the talents & indomitable spirit of New Yorkers.  The program was Bernstein & Gershwin under beloved maestro Alan Gilbert.  Bernstein's composition PRELUDE, FUGUE, and RIFFS (1949/55) featured phenomenal clarinetist Anthony McGill.  The composition resonated with Gershwin's energetic pulse.  The auditorium was packed.  New Yorkers came out to savor Gershwin's masterpiece RHAPSODY in BLUE (1924).  This classic which only gets better with time, captures the rhythm and energy of our great city.  Pianist Makoto Ozone was sensational.  Conductor Gilbert rehearsed the piece in its entirety.  There was no need to stop, it was perfection.  After the horrific attack on Tuesday, today was a wonderful way to embrace & appreciate great music that embodies the unflappability & resilience we share as a civilized, humane community.  BRAVO!

Ailey's Season Preview for the Lucky Few-I'll Tell You to Look for...

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is about to open their home season at City Center which is always a heralded display of the most amazing dancers, barre none.  I was one of the lucky ones who got a sneak peek at portions of world premiere works and new productions of the company's repertoire.  The three new productions for previous Ailey performances are THE GOLDEN SECTION by Twyla Tharp (2006), SHELTER (1992) and STACK-UP (1982) which makes you want to stand up and dance in the aisle (if not on stage with the dancers).  All three are exceptional dances worth seeing again with a new spin.  The 2 world premiers will be VICTORIA by Spanish choreographer Gustavo Ramirez Sansano's and MEMBERS DON'T GET WEARY choreographed by Ailey's own dancer extraordinare, Jamar Roberts with music by John Coltrane.  Roberts has choreographed for Ailey II.   This is his first work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.  Artistic Director Robert Battle is credited with bringing in many new works from a broad range of national & international choreographers and for mentoring & encouraging company members to expand their artistic abilities.  Jamar Roberts use of legendary jazz composer John Coltrane's music was a miraculous personification of every rich & luxuriant note.  The tempo of the dancers was more languid than most Ailey pieces and this proved an ingenious trajectory utilizing the dancers' versatile  artistic prowess.  I had a visceral response to every elongated movement.  The dance had an elasticity that pulsed, accentuated and contracted to Coltrane's soulful sounds.  The new Ailey season is upon us which is reason to celebrate.  

American Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump Discussion with David Sanger and Ricard Haas

The topical & auspicious talk at the NY Historical Society last night was "American Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump".  The two distinguished foreign affairs experts were Pulitzer Prize winning journalist & Nat'l Security Correspondent for the NYT, David Sanger and Richard Haas, Pres. of the Council on Foreign Relations.  The talk began with an acknowledgement of the terrorist attack on our city that killed 7 people earlier in the day.  Haas asked Sanger if it were possible to stop terrorist attacks.  The answer was a resounding, no.  Tactical terrorists acts, the deliberate crashing of a vehicle into a crowd or stabbings with kitchen utensils cannot be eradicated.  But a massive terrorist since 9/11 has not occurred due to heightened national security measures.  The balance between individual liberties 7 security are continuously being offset.  The indictments of Trump's former campaign mgrs. was the next subject.  Metaphor had been recognized as a person who courts autocrats.  He had dealings in the Ukraine & with Trump on the eve of his accepting his party's nomination.  The approach by Russian intelligence to interfere was said to be their typical modus operandi used since Stalin.  The US becoming an isolationist country under Trump was brought into the banter.  Valid concerns were mentioned with Trump stepping back from France, NAFTA and Iran.  Int'l successions; Brexit and Catalonia are adding to a spreading break away movement.  Both agreed matters of such utmost importance should not be left to nat'l referendums.  They believe if another vote were held today on Brexit, the UK would not pass it. The upcoming Presidential trip to Asia is of utmost concern.  North Korea is a volatile crisis.  The likelihood of a "Fail Safe" scenario with South Korean sacrificed for Los Angeles has frightening credibility.  The possibilities of the US & NK blundering into an atomic war are alarming.  Clinton & GW Bush were faulted for not having made positive inroads with NK during their presidencies.  Trump must navigate US/China strategies carefully which may prove disastrous.  There is a recent insurgence of Maoism in China.  We've seen in Afghanistan that an ungoverned global region will fall to Isis.  Most worrisome at present were said to be Yemen & Syria.  Before Q&A they noted that this was the 1st time that the Middle East was not part of the conversation.  However, Israel & Hezbollah were among the 1st questions which has no short term peaceable resolutions.  They needed the evening by warning that gerrymandering is a real threat.  A takeaway from the evening are the dangers of a centralized technology which can be  hacked & controlled.  The safety measure they ascribe is a paper trail to back-up & verify votes.  The major take away, the world is further & further away from being a safe place today.