Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2024

WICKED Film - Part 1

Thank goodness for this brilliant film adaptation.  There is so much that could have gone wrong with this film, in fact I avoided seeing it for quite a while because I was so worried it would hurt my heart. Like so many, "Wicked" has meant a great deal to me since it opened over twenty years ago. Indeed, with the exception of "Hamilton", one could easily argue that it is the most culturally impactful musical of the past two decades. And the piece is more relevant now than ever  - from the political under (and over) tones the musical does not shy away from (though it softens them from the book), and the idea of an ostracized but powerful young woman fighting against an all but worshipped leader who is destroying an entire population in the name of needing a "scapegoat" (pun intended by me and the show) to the fact that the Man Behind The Curtain never knew what he was doing in the first place, has gone from applicable to terrifyingly resonant. The film uses...

THE ROOMMATE on Broadway

  Photos by Matthew Murphy Just give them all the awards. Thank God something truly good has opened on Broadway!  "The Roommate" is a brilliant example of the magic that can happen when a director gets out of the way and lets brilliant actors do their thing. This is not a jab at director Jack O'Brien, but a high compliment. Clearly O'Brien is a strong, intelligent captain of the ship... and the best captains know that their job is to help everyone else to THEIR job to the best of their ability... not let their ego get in the way and try to make it all about them. The best direction is the direction that doesn't advertise itself. The actual script of "The Roommate" (written by Jen Silverman) is...fine. And I don't mean that as a criticism either. If I picked it up in Drama Bookshop would I be captivated? No. But it does its job, which is far more than I can say for the majority of new plays I've seen recently.  The reason for this play's exist...