Photo from nytimes.com

I went to see the musical Spring Awakening last night. My only knowledge of the show had consisted of some snippets on television commercials and a musical number played at the bar Splash on a Musical Monday. I had the impression that it either took place a while ago or among modern day Mennonites and that it involved a coming of age story. The show surprised me with rousing musical numbers, a touching story, and interesting characters played by very talented, very young actors.

The story centers around two young people discovering love in a strict and conservative society. The main characters stand out with their unique ability to see another kind of life.  Some of the show’s vibrant numbers include “The Bitch of Living” and “Totally Fucked”. This modern voice gave a sense that youthful optimism and angst have always existed.  From school girl crushes to wet dreams and masturbation, this production freshly portrays young people discovering their sexuality and illustrates some of the negative consequences of abstinence-only education. The plot follows the romances and tragedies of these young characters.

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Photo from telegraph.co.uk

Having been a big fan of the 1981 mini series, I was excited to hear that Brideshead Revisited was coming to the big screen. Not able to persuade my husband to accompany me, I went to Chelsea Clearview Cinema with a friend (fittingly from England).

Visually stunning, the film travels from historic Oxford to the title country estate to Venice. Reminiscent of Atonement, the story similarly takes place among the English aristocracy around the onset of WWII and the clothes are fabulous. The plot revolves around a young painter’s involvement with a wealthy, Catholic family and the love triangle that develops as a result.

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Last night marked the end of Bryant Park’s 16th annual movie series with Superman closing season. My first Bryant Park movie experience, I had expected a crowd - but I hadn’t realized how big that crowd would be.

I arrived a little after 5 and already the park was packed. Luckily, a friend had gotten there earlier and reserved a not terrible spot. We munched on a modest picnic of fruit and cookies as our respective significant others joined us. Some female picnickers next to us required my husband’s help opening a wine bottle and rewarded us with free, much appreciated glasses of wine.

After watching some folks in Superman costumes and listening to a couple business sponsors, the show began. The crowd sang along to the 80’s HBO song which opened the movie (I have to admit it did make me a little nostalgic). I had never actually seen the whole film, but I enjoyed the ridiculous dialogue and the terrible effects. I understood why the film had acquired the cult following that it must have, judging by the enthusiastic audience. The sound died at a climactic part of the movie, right as Lois’s car was filling with dirt. The audience chimed in with their own sound effects and a rousing version of the Superman theme music. After some further technical problems, the film came back up to show Superman reversing time and saving the night.

Local filmmakers Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo of Zeitgeist Films sat down with Premiere Senior Editor and NYC Metblogs pal Jenni Miller to talk about their experiences in the film industry and the 20th anniversary of their company. I tagged along to photograph the two for the article and was interested to hear what they had to say about women in the film business and bringing great films that mix the political with the artistic to the public. From the article:

Zeitgeist Films, an independent film company known for delivering intelligent arthouse cinema to US audiences, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a retrospective of its award-winning films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The company’s co-Presidents, Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo, sat down with Premiere in their Soho office to discuss entrepreneurship, creating a girl’s club within a male-dominated industry, and acquiring the documentary, Trouble the Water.

It’s an interesting article and outlook from two women who followed their passion for making great films (and kept the company local - their offices are in SoHo). You can also see the retrospective Zeitgeist: The Films of Our Time at the Museum of Modern Art, but hurry - the retrospective ends next Wednesday, July 23.

Feathers flew ferociously in Bryant Park a couple of weeks back. Now I see them on Law & Order SVU’s trailer featuring Robin Williams.

Another curiosity about this page is that only a few months ago, I saw B.D. Wong being held up by JFK security line delays as he fought to board his JetBlue flight to San Francisco. At that time I was wondering how B.D. was doing financially since all I could recall was that I knew his face from 80s movies. And now he’s on SVU. Lord bless Law & Order and all the food it puts on so many hundreds of actors’ tables.

Photo from dangerousonbroadway.com

When I heard that Laura Linney was starring in Les Liasons Dangereuses and the reviews were good, I decided to check it out. I’ve been enjoying Linney’s performance as Abigail Adams so much that I jumped at the chance see her live, particularly in a play I’ve always enjoyed.

The set consisted of curtains and a few posh pieces of furniture that changed position to indicate the different locations. But the coolest part of the set was the glass backdrop of many panes, which added an interesting and eerie mirror effect to many of the scenes. Often one character from a previous scene would remain behind the glass during the next, as a ghost-like echo.

The play, set in aristocratic France’s height (the 1780’s), reflects the cruel manipulations and seductions of two grossly wealthy individuals. A stark contrast to her kind and calm Mrs. Adams, Linney plays a powerfully calculating and complex La Marquise de Merteuil. Her co-star Ben Daniels portrays a very playful Le Vicomte de Valmont, far less creepy than John Malkovich’s portrayal in the 1988 movie. Interestingly, another cast member of John Adams, Mamie Gummer, played the role of Cecile.

During the set changes, performed in character, sounds of laughter and suggestive breathing combined to create a provocative and slightly spooky atmosphere. The set, the acting, and these effects all added up to a sexy and intense production.

Photo from NJ.com

After having heard rave reviews, I got tickets to see Sunday in the Park with George with my family for my mother’s birthday. We started the night off with a delicious dinner at Carmine’s (a choice fitting for my mother’s picky and unadventurous eating habits). Then we walked over to Studio 54 for the show.

The curtain raised to show a blank, white room. Then paintstrokes were magically projected on to the room as the stage transformed to the setting of George Seurat’s famous painting. Throughout the play, these projected effects drew the audience into the experience and beauty of the painting.

The plot focuses on the creation of Seurat’s most famous work, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, along with the love story of him and his young model, relevantly named Dot. Daniel Evans artfully portrays this painter as a kind man with a scientific mind, obsessed with perfecting his work. Co-star Jenna Russell plays his lover with a genuineness and grace that easily wins the sympathy of the audience (despite my mother whispering to me that she wished we could see Bernadette Peters in the role).

The second act takes place in modern times and lacks a bit of the beauty and whimsy of the first act (reminding me a little of another Songheim play, Into the Woods). But the play finishes beautifully, making this production itself a piece of art.

Photo from about.com

When I first heard The Other Boleyn Girl was coming out as a movie, I quickly bought the book so that I could read it first. It’s long, but a fast read. After plowing through it, I launched on a whole Philippa Gregory kick, reading all the books in her Tudor series.

(Warning: spoilers follow) Despite beautiful costumes and some decent performances, the movie proved a huge let down. Instead of keeping to the story, it begins with a long segment of King Henry coming to visit the Boleyns’ country estate and meeting Anne. This event does not happen in the book at all, which starts right at court when Henry meets Anne for the first time (making the book actually more fast-paced than the movie!). It is Anne that Henry refers to when he uses the phrase “the other Boleyn girl” in the book. Mary has been at court (and married) when Anne joins them from French court. If Wikipedia is correct, this version is historically accurate.

Meanwhile, the movie cut out a lot of the story. It focused on Anne, not Mary (which kind of defeats the point). In the book, it is Mary that Henry notices first, stays with through the birth of 2 children, and whose life is the focus of the book. In the movie, her passionate affair with handsome Stafford is downplayed to a convenient marriage with a (rather goofy-looking) childhood servant. Not to mention, the movie completely excludes what happens to her first husband. Obviously, she couldn’t marry Stafford if she was already married!

With this inaccurate time-line and plot holes, I found the movie highly disappointing. However, I’m halfway through The Virgin’s Lover and planning to continue my Philippa Gregory obsession!

Photo from Ticketmaster.com

I went to the Union Square Theatre last night to see one of my favorite comics, Eddie Izzard. Some British friends had introduced me to his hilariousness a while ago and I’ve adored him since.

I had never been to a big name comedy shows and didn’t know what to expect. I was a bit surprised with the line wrapping around the block just to pick up tickets, but it moved quickly and we got in with time to spare. The stage was set up for Jump, a martial arts show with an Asian-styled set and a stage floor made of a bouncy material. Looked pretty intriguing.

When Eddie Izzard entered the stage, he received thunderous cheering. He was not in drag, which surprised me a bit. After taking advantage of the stage’s bouncy floor, he launched into a hysterical routine on subjects such as politics, the Stone Age, Wikipedia, and God. I had not seen him do any of this material before, but it was delivered in his characteristic style of non-sequiters and British wit. I found myself laughing almost non-stop for the whole show.

This coming Friday and Saturday night, Warner Bros. is doing midnight screenings of a new action/sci-fi anime film called Appleseed: Ex Machina at the IFC Center in Manhattan. M80 is providing tickets to the screenings for the first five readers who leave a comment. Here’s a description of the film, which sounds all cool and futuristic and full of dramatic plot twists, zombies (always a crowd-pleaser), and cyborgs:

In the year 2133, a war killed off half the population of Earth, plunging the world into chaos and despair. In OLYMPUS, a utopian city-state and the last true bastion of culture and civilization, the ESWAT police force holds the peace. The two star members of this Special Ops team are Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos. Their relationship is threatened when the government reveals a prototype combat clone, named Tereus, who is a clone of Briareos. However, a strange electronic virus begins turning citizens into violent zombies and the trio must team up to track down the terrorists behind this brutal attack before it tears the peaceful utopia apart.

If you’re interested in the screening tickets, leave a comment on this entry, specifying which night you’d like to attend. First five commenters get a pair of tickets. As mentioned previously, commenting requires registration, which is quick and easy. You just need to provide a valid e-mail address so you can get your password and so we can contact you with the ticket information. (You will have to provide your name to IFC to get the tickets, but you don’t have to do that during our comment registration - we can handle that separately.)

More trailers and info about the movie here.