Pen and Ink

Three Penny.

We caught a production of Three Penny Opera at New World School of the Arts last night.  It's a strange musical, but as with all things NWSA, the production was fantastic.

Tom Anello did a great job as MacHeath.  My friend Susan said, "Couldn't you see him playing the MC in Cabaret?"  Absolutely.

I especially like watching Ann Marie Olson, who was playing Mrs. Peachum.  She has a great stage presence and look.

While I'm on the subject of musical theater, A and I are doing a quicky visit to NYC next month and picked up tickets to In The Heights.  It will be my second time, but his first.  It's an amazing musical.  And if I can pull off what I think I can pull off, we'll be going back stage to meet one of the leads!

Are you a tool?

After yesterday's blog equivalent of jumping into the deep end of the pool, I thought some lighter fare might be in order for today's post.

The current issue of Details magazine has a piece called "63 Signs You May Be A Pretentious Tool."

Basically it's a quiz of 63 statements with yes or no responses. The more "no's" you have, the less of a tool you are.  

It's clearly written for a straight audience (despite Details clearly acknowledging that it has a gay readership too).  Because many a gay man would answer in the affirmative to some of these questions, having the effect of raising one's "fabulous" quotient.

So I took the quiz online.  Of the 63, here are the statements to which I answered yes.

• You think about the lighting at restaurants (But of course. Life is all about lighting.)
• You own eye cream, and you use it. (Well, yeah.)
• You host brunch. (Doesn't everyone?)
• You take off work the day before you host brunch. (Sure, if it's a large enough crowd.)
• You can name an architect who isn't one of the Franks. (Find me a straight guy who's met Zaha.)
• You tell your trainer you want to strengthen your core. (I don't have a trainer but I used to take Pilates, which is all about strengthening your core. So if I had a trainer...)
• You've referred to an event as a gala. (I am a fundraiser, after all.)
• You've recommended your tailor to a friend (Cary goes to her now.)
• You know this great little tapas place. (Ask me about great croquetas in Miami.)
• You use periods instead of dashes in phone numbers. (They look much better.)
• You have a thing for typefaces. (For years and years.)
• You double-kiss. (I spend most of my time in Miami. It's mandatory.)
• Your business venture has a social-networking component. (Any business today that doesn't is out of business very soon.)
• You'd go to Miami only for Basel. (Sure, if I didn't live here I would travel for Basel. Do straight guys even know what Basel is?)
• You photograph your food. (Not all the time, but I've taken pictures of my amazing dark chocolate chip cupcakes and posted them on Facebook.)
• You think you're down with lesbian chefs. (Ever had dessert at Michael's Genuine in the Miami Design District. If so, you know what I mean.)
• You've crossed state lines for a flea market. (Not yet, but I would if it was really, really good.)

Of the 63, I responded to 17 in the affirmative. That makes me, on the pretentious a-hole spectrum (according to Details), a "pseudo-tool."  Here's how the website describes it:

You might not lose sleep (on your 600-threat-count sheets) thinking about your upcoming shopping trip to Japan, but having a favorite artisanal butcher or fixating on the fit of your polo shirts is not normal. Just try not to judge people by the book they're reading or the beer they're drinking, okay?

Only 600-thread-count??

A new season.

My DVR is getting quite a work out this new television season.  So much so that I've had to go in and delete dozens of episodes of Star Trek: Voyager that I've accumulated.

On the "scheduled recording list" are my returning favorites Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.  I'm still high on those, although B&S is getting a little too soapish, and I'm not sure how much longer GA should really go on. But I'm still really into Private Practice, if for no other reason than I am mesmerized by Kate Walsh.

This season, unlike last, there are a bunch of new shows on the list.  Modern Family is a smart show, to be sure. I caught the premier of Three Rivers, the new medical drama that focuses on a leading transplant hospital with high tech toys that I can't imagine any hospital in this country actually has.

For anyone who knows me, it should come as no surprise that I love Glee, a total mind confection that deliciously brushes up against the absurd. But who cares?  There's singing, dancing, and great Broadway cameos.

But the one new show that has me riveted is The Good Wife, with Juliana Margulies as Alicia Florrick. For those not in the know, Alicia is a lawyer who returns to practice after 13 years of staying home to take care of her now teenage children and her US attorney husband, played by SATC's Chris Noth.

This is no mere legal drama. In the pilot, we see Noth admitting that he hired prostitutes and resigning his position, before being hauled off to jail.

The Good Wife is about how Alicia pulls her life together personally and professionally, balancing home and work, and at the same time, her emotional health. The second episode added to the richness of the drama, with Alicia's kids starting to delve into what has happened to their father and their stable home life. 

If that wasn't enough to make a great drama, add Christine Baranski to the mix, as the firm's top litigator. Baranski is always good, but it's not often we get to see her in a strictly dramatic role. It fits her well. I think this is going to be a wonderfully nuanced show.  

So lots to watch. But what to do about all those Voyager reruns?

You make me wanna shout.

Here's another one of those everyone-in-the-train-station-dances video clips.

Remember.

When I heard that a new version of Fame was coming to theaters, I was happy. The original was great and the topic still relevant (witness High School Musical, Glee, the films Camp and Center Stage).

So we went to see it last weekend.  It was entertaining, but not brilliant.  If you never saw the original, I'm sure the average person would like it.  So too if you didn't compare it to the original.  I approached it with an open mind.

There are lots of positive things to say.  Naturi Naughton's take on "Out Here On My Own" was stunning. I even enjoyed the new take on the classic title track, which accompanied the closing credits.

The casting was well done, particularly the students.  Charles Dutton was terrific as the drama teacher; I liked the warmth that Megan Mullally brought to her role, and Bibi Neuwirth is great in whatever she does. I would have liked more screen time for Debbie Allen, but so be it.

In anticipation of seeing this film, I watched the original a couple of weeks ago, the first time in many years. I had forgotten how potent it was. My teenage "stepdaughter" and I viewed it together and we both squirmed at various points.

This new version loses a lot of depth given to the original characters.  We didn't see the struggles of Doris trying to become the person she aspires to, not what her mother envisions for her...Coco being pushed to the limits of her premature worldliness...Ralph's struggle to balance education and family responsibilities...Montgomery's forced adulthood as a gay man finding himself, without the benefit of involved parents.  We see some of this in the 2009 version, but we're not allowed to be nearly as intimate with the new characters.

Using the same structure of the original was smart, but there were a couple of scenes recreated from the original. These, I could have done without.  Particularly the "girl trying to find her identity meets sullen boy on the stairs outside the noisy lunchroom" scene.  We knew exactly what was going to happen when Denise walked into the actor's trailer.  But the scene was limp when compared to Coco's "screen test" with the nefarious Francois.  

One other gripe and I will leave this alone. The original Fame wasn't afraid to deal with gay issues in the form of Montgomery. Remember, this was 1980, a time when gay characters weren't that plentiful. This new incarnation stays away from it completely.  I'm sorry, but this is 2009. You know that PA is loaded with gay boys prancing down the halls. One of the lead characters should have been gay.

In closing, I will say again...it was entertaining. I didn't hate it.  I just wish this had been more of a "reimagining" of Fame, rather than a remake.  And I wish that the original creative team had done this film. It would have been really interesting to see their take on the material, nearly 30 years later.

Gym? What gym?

Now I have some justification for rarely making it to the gym.

It seems, according to the New York Times, that round is the new thin. 

Apparently, "this summer the unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool has been a pair of shorts cut at knickers length, a V-neck Hanes T-shirt, a pair of generic slip-on sneakers and a straw fedora. Add a leather cuff bracelet if the coolster is gay.

In truth this get-up was pretty much the unvarying male uniform last summer also, but this year an unexpected element has been added to the look, and that is a burgeoning potbelly one might term the Ralph Kramden."

You can read the full article here.  I would write more about it, but a lovely bag of Oreos is calling.

In memory.

Somehow I missed the passing last week of author E. Lynn Harris.

The Atlanta-based Harris died of heart disease in Los Angeles while on tour for his latest book.  I'll miss his work. 

He was considered a pioneer of gay black fiction, enjoying unprecedented success in the genre. He wrote 11 novels, and ten of them became New York Times best-sellers.  I discovered his work a few years ago and I've read just about all of his books.  I think there is one unread on my shelf, plus his latest.

Through his works, I came to appreciate some of the nuances of gay life that are particular to the black community.  It was enlightening.  But beyond that, he was a great storyteller, developing rich characters, many of whom appeared in numerous volumes. 

He was 54 when he died, much too you. It's sad when artists die so young -- we're deprived of what other great works they would have produced.

Rest in peace.

More ecstasy.

Here's some more from Perpetuum Jazzile.  I'm hooked. This video is fantastic.

Vocal ecstasy.

A colleague at work sent this to me. It's just brilliant.

The group is called Perpetuum Jazz and they are from Slovenia.  I love choir music like this, so it's a treat. In fact, I just ordered a CD of their music.

Check this out.

96Gs.

Back at Christmas time, I took the advice of some respected theater friends in Miami and went to see In The Heights. 

Known as the "Latin musical," I had seen the a snippet from the show performed on the 2008 Tony Awards telecast. The show took Best Musical last year, but I couldn't understand why.

But I took the advice of said theater friends and bought myself a ticket.

By the time the first number was done I thought, "now I get it." 

What an amazing show. I can't wait to see it again, which I will do either in New York at Christmas and/or when the national tour hits Fort Lauderdale next season.

This show has really gotten underneath my skin, and I am still listening to the cast album. Great Performances on PBS did a great piece on the show (I would imagine you can find it online) last month.

I found this YouTube clip of the recording of "96,000" for the cast album and decided to post it here.  Take a listen.  The energy of this song is consistent throughout the entire show.