A Catered Affair

We finally saw A Catered Affair this afternoon. It’s been on our list of shows to see since it opened in April and it advanced to the top of the list a couple weeks ago when it was announced that it would close at the end of July. The show never quite caught on at the box office, and a lack of major Tony nominations hurt it even further.

The musical is based on the 1956 Bette Davis/Ernest Borgnine film written by Gore Vidal (and based on a teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky). For the stage version, Harvey Fierstein wrote the book and John Bucchino handled the music and lyrics. The cast is stellar with Faith Prince in the Bette Davis role and backed up by Fierstein as her brother and Matt Cavenaugh as the groom-to-be. Tom Wopat plays the Borgnine role. Sadly he was out of the show this afternoon so we did not get to see his Tony nominated performance.

Oddly with all this talent, I can only report that this show was okay. There was something very static in the presentation with few dramatic peaks and valleys. Given that John Doyle directed this, the monotone show was a surprise. Doyle has done amazing work the past two seasons with the revivals of both Sweeney Todd and Company. Maybe he chose this style on purpose because the story focuses on two working class parents trying to give their daughter the perfect wedding (even though she would rather not cause all the fuss). They have a dreary existence at best and at the top of the show have just buried their son who was killed in the Koren War.

This flat pace though, while not making the show boring, certainly leaves it lacking punch to the degree that it felt longer than its 90 minute run time.

That said, there are some wonderful things happening in this show too. Fierstein beefed up the role of the uncle for the show and he plays it great, including getting one of the best songs. In “Immediate Family” he expresses his frustration for not being included in the initial wedding that was to take place in city hall. Faith Prince, also Tony nominated, truly shines as the mother who wants nothing more than to give her daughter a day to remember. Prince gets some heartbreaking songs about the life she hasn’t had and what she dreams for her daughter.

I am glad we got to see the show. It’s nice to see musicals that don’t rely on big spectacle to tell the story. Sure, I love those, but some of the best musicals are also quiet, more subtle and delicate in their story telling. I wish this has been a little tighter, but it was still a mostly satisfying afternoon at the theatre.

You can sample a bit of A Catered Affair with a look at Faith Prince’s performance from this year’s Tony Awards.

Ordinals Loose But Put Up Great Fight, Wizards Sink

The Ordinals have two arch nemesises (yes, I know, that’s not exactly a real word) in our division: the Canucks and the Hornets. They are friendly rivalries, but we try our absolute best every time we play these two teams to get our first wins against them. We’ve come close in our recent meetings with both teams this season (we played the Canucks earlier in June). While we crashed big against the Hornets in May, this week we kept it close, losing 4-5 and very nearly getting the game into overtime. Continue Reading »

Waterfalls & Flipping for Flip

We went over to the South Street Seaport today to grab lunch, hit tkts so we could see A Catered Affair tomorrow afternoon and to check out the new New York City Waterfalls that were installed this week. We saw three of the four waterfalls: Brooklyn Bridge, Pier 35 and the Brooklyn Piers (we couldn’t see the one at Governor’s Island). It was very cool to see these artificial waterfalls in place. I shot a quick video of the Brooklyn Bridge and Pier 35 waterfalls. They’re a bit hard to see in the clip, but I think you’ll get the idea. You can see them much better going to the NYC Waterfalls link above.

The footage was shot with my latest toy, a Flip Video camera. Flip is a 1 x 2 x4 video camera that shoots up to 60 minutes of digital video. It also transfers the video straight to YouTube (like I did with the video above), to an email or to the hard drive. It has some pretty powerful looking video software built in too to let you merge clips together, add music, etc. I’ll be playing with that more in the coming weeks.

The camera looked like the perfect thing to take on our August P-town vacation. Plus I’m just going to carry it in my backpack. Who knows what I might end up shooting. I know I plan to video some of the Broadway in Bryant Park lunchtime concert series when it starts up in a couple weeks. I’m sure you’ll see more of my video endeavors right here in the near future.

Blast From The Past

Brian posted a great piece from the Onion News Network… It took me back in time

I worked for a video store for around three years while I was in college. It loved that job… and it was certainly a simpler time. I didn’t work for a Blockbuster… and was happily already out of the video store business before Blockbuster moved in to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and killed off the mom-and-pop stores.

So You Think You Can Dance: Mark & Chelsea Hip Hop

I haven’t been a fan the hip hop routines on So You Think You Can Dance. It’s usually the choreography rather than the performance that fails for me. This week it all changed. Mark & Chelsea got a hip hop routine (which was later clarified as a lyrical hip hop routine) and it was amazing. Check this out…

Friday Geek Out: Pride

This weekend New York City closes out 2008 Pride Week with the March down 5th Avenue into the Village. The 2008 theme–”Live Love Be”–is quite appropriate in this year where California has taken a huge step forward with same-sex marriage. And, honestly, what more could you ask out of life than to be able to live, love who you want and to simply just be.

It might seem strange to Geek Out about Pride, but it is an affirming time of year and an important state of mind.

Why is it affirming? For LGBT people everywhere, the Pride celebrations show that there are people like you out in the world. You see young and old, outlandish and conservative, athletes, performers, lawyers, policemen, the guy who runs the deli down the street, all races, singles and couples, parents and their kids all standing proud to say “here we are.”

And what about that state of mind? It’s so much easier to live when you don’t have to hide who you are. Some 13 years after coming out, I know that I hid my true self for years. That’s not a choice people should be forced into making. A common idea is that if more people came out, the better it would be for the entire LGBT community. That may well be true. But it’s a hard choice to make, especially if you live in a more conservative environment. But coming out can lead to one of the most important things of all–pride in yourself. It can be a pretty sad existence if you can’t be proud of yourself. And that pride needs to extend to all aspects of yourself, not just your sexuality.

Every year strides are made around the world for LGBT equality. California is just the latest step towards equal rights in this country. The battle continues in November when California voters decide if those married between now and November get to stay married or if they’ll be forced back into second-class status via a constitutional amendment to define marriage as one man/one woman. Will Californians be able to do that? How could anyone revoke the marriage of happy and proud newlyweds?

Of course when we are all equal, we’ll have lots to be prideful about!

Blind Fall by Christoper Rice

Why? Why is this book so uneven?

I’ve been a big fan of Christopher Rice’s since he published A Density of Souls back in 2001. His style is typically a thriller with just a tinge of supernatural.

There’s no supernatural or even a solid thriller in Rice’s latest, Blind Fall. There is a murder mystery. There is a gays-in-the-military theme, although that doesn’t really go anywhere. There’s some family woes thrown in here too. The sad thing is it doesn’t hang together well at all. It’s a bit too forced and a bit too contrived.

The book started out good as we met Marine John Houck on the battlefield in Iraq and his rescue of his friend and captain Mike Bowers. However, as things proceed–finding out why John was distracted that day in Iraq and then, jumping forward a few months, his discovery of Mike’s murder scene–the plot starts to unravel. Rice tries way too hard to make ever single piece of plot stick to another. Often it left me asking: So you’re tying point A to point B like that?

The biggest problem I had is that it was impossible to be emotionally connected to anyone because no one seemed genuine. John has so many demons, he doesn’t know how to behave naturally. Alex, the guy he’s trying to save from being framed from murder, almost won me over… but then he went and did some truly off-the-wall things. At the end, I though I found someone having a genuine moment, only to get burned by one of those moments where Rice Crazy Glued the sub plots together.

I guess not every book can be a winner. Hopefully Rice will do better the next time out.

Next up… going for pure fun this time: Nico Medina’s Fat Hoochie Prom Queen.

Four-Oh

Today I turned 40. You know, it’s one of those big birthdays because it has the 0 on the end. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been around that long, but there you go.

I spent lunch today in Bryant Park. It was a perfect weather day: 80 degrees, very low humidity, nice breeze. For some reason, I started thinking about how long I’ve been doing some things (and writing this blog entry as a result).

I’ve been in the work force just about 1/2 of my life. Thankfully I’ve been mostly happy with the six jobs I’ve had since that eats up so much time. Still, that’s a long time to work… especially when it seems like it’s what I do the most of. And, if you assume that I’ll work to the 65 retirement age, I’ve still got 25 years to go.

I’ve been with Will nearly 1/3 of my life. How lucky am I to be able to say that I’ve been with the love of my life for such a long time! It’s actually more than 1/2 of my adult life. I look forward to spending the rest of time with him. Happily by the time I reach 60, he’ll have crossed the point where he will have been with me for 1/2 my life.

I’ve been in New York City 1/4 of my life. When I was in high school and college it was just a dream to live here and now its been nearly 10 years (that anniversary comes this December). It hasn’t always been the best place to be, but I wouldn’t trade the time here for anything. The only place I’ve lived longer was Alabama, at 15 years.

I have to say that I’m not sure I’ve found my major calling in life yet. As I roll into what is very likely middle age (what’s the male life expectancy these days? 70-something?) that is a bit of a concern. While building websites is a pretty fun career, it’s not exactly making the world a better place. I suspect my chance to do that will present itself at some appropriate time.

All things considered, I have a very, very good life. It’s full of love, family & friends and overall happiness.

Cheryl posted an amazing item yesterday, based on a story she heard at church. It told the story of a man who took stock of his time left by using a box of marbles. Each marble represented the Saturdays he had left, based on his life expectancy. I highly recommend everyone check out “A Story of a Thousand Marbles (an adaptation*).”

It was particularly good timing for me to read that on the eve of this birthday. I’ve got 1800 some Saturdays left if all goes well. Tons of time, right? Well, not really when I think about how fast this first 40 years zipped by. Now I just need to figure out what to do with those Saturdays…

So You Think You Can Dance

Yes, we’ve started watching another dance show. I’m not a fan of the So You Think You Can Dance judges, except for the head judge who doesn’t get on my nerves. We tend to record and fast forward though the program just watching the dances, rehearsal footage and the elimination stuff. We can do the three hours in about 75 minutes.

The dancing is really good on this show and one dance this past week really caught my attention. This Viennese Waltz from Kherington and Twitch was choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux. It is beautiful and, yes, made me cry.

Chelesa Challenge Update: Purple Rain Gets Silver

Purple Rain wrapped up the Chelsea Challenge this morning with a second place win in the tourney after being shut out 5-0 by the Royal Tenenbaums. We gave it our all, but they were simply better. In the end, we were trying to just get a point on the scoreboard because after how well we’d played to that point we didn’t want to get shut out. But, it was still a solid and fun game for us. Continue Reading »

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