The Book of Grace

Today, I tackled Suzan-Lori Parks' new play, The Book of Grace. Oh it's a slug. Even the presence of Elizabeth Marvel and John Doman (Commissioner Rawls on The Wire!) can't save it.

French Idol and philosophy

André Manoukian, the longest-serving judge on Nouvelle Star (ie French Idol) has a new book out. It's titled Deleuze, Sheila et moi. The first is the philosopher, the second the yé-yé star. Just this morning, I was listening to Manoukian being interviewed on French public radio and he was talking about what appeals to him in Deleuze's theory of deterritorialization. Note to Simon Cowell: Step up your game and write a book about your relationship with Zizek and Karen Carpenter.

He also said was that the candidates are now displaying a more varied musical knowledge than when he started the show, adding that while the Internet has been devastating for the music industry, it's also helped the French catch up with the Americans and the Brits when it comes to pop savvy.

As for Nouvelle Star, I've written about it here several times in the past (too many posts, so do a search if interested) and the new season has just started. I expect to go over the finalists once we're past the audition stage.

Looped

Today's review is Looped, in which Valerie Harper stars as Tallulah Bankhead. It's a tall order and she does fine, actually, but oh that play is bad!

Next Fall

Geoffrey Nauffts' Next Fall reopens after a successful run last year. You may have read that the spring of 2010 was particularly packed with shows about gay men, and this one is exhibit A -- I mean, Elton John and his husband even helped it transfer from Playwrights Horizons to Broadway.

The Scottsboro Boys

My review of Kander & Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys is up. It's their latest show, and likely the last one since Ebb died in 2004, leaving the piece to be finished by his old accomplice. I'm usually loathe to use the word, but the production is very close to a masterpiece. I say the production instead of just the show, too because Susan Stroman's staging is an integral piece here. Just go.

When the Rain Stops Falling

We rarely see Australian plays in New York, so it was especially gratifying to catch Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling (review here) at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Gaynor…er, Mitzi Newhouse Theater. And in case you were wondering: Yes, David Cromer is one of the very finest American directors in activity.

The one, the only Jeanne Balibar

I've written about Jeanne Balibar's idiosyncratic ways before (go here for some background) but she just topped herself — and that wasn't easy. At the recent Césars awards ceremony in Paris, she came in to announce the winner for best music. She started by saying "I'm really honored to announce the next César. I'll let you guess what it's for thanks to this short interlude."

And then she proceeded to sing a Baudelaire poem, augmented with pig noises. Make sure you watch the whole thing, as it gets crazier and crazier as it goes along. Hosts Valérie Lemercier and comedian Gad Elmaleh look startled, which of course adds to the scene's surreal tone. (The shots of the audience are choice as well.)

A Behanding in Spokane

Christopher Walken is back on Broadway! Clearly that is the takeaway from Martin McDonagh's new play, A Behanding in Spokane (my review's here). Apart from that…meh.

The Miracle Worker

Move over, Mary Poppins, there's a new governess in town. Actually, Alison Pill's one-note Annie Sullivan won't be any threat to Mary, and the revival of The Miracle Worker that just opened on Broadway last night is middling, despite some nice grace notes. I'm sorry, but if you can't bring in the hair-pulling and the fisticuffs, stay away from that play. As Helen Keller, Abigail Breslin is growing up nicely from Little Miss Sunshine though.

The Tempest

I'm late on posting the link to my review of The Tempest (at BAM, in rep with As You Like It until March 13) but I was both really busy + out of town for the past few days. Best thing on the SAS flight back from Stockholm today is that they had cameras in the front of the plane and under it, and you could watch the feed on your individual screen. The landing was particularly exciting.

As for the trip itself, a lot happened and I'll get into details when the time comes — a large chunk was work-related so hush for now. I'll just say that watching the fourth and last heat of Melodifestivalen (the Swedish selection process for Eurovision) live in the Land of Pop, with a plate of traditional boiled cod and potatoes prepared by the Dilettante's Special Stockholm Correspondent, will always be a cherished memory.

Mr. & Mrs. Fitch

The harder they fall. I had enjoyed Douglas Carter Beane's shows such as The Little Dog Laughed and As Bees in Honey Drown in the past but the new one is stultifying. I suspect Mr. & Mrs. Fitch might have been better -- well, not as bad -- had the leads been two gay men instead of a straight couple. If it quacks like a duck...

Clybourne Park

I've been on a lucky roll lately: The Pride, The Boys in the Band and now Clybourne Park. The latter is the new offering by Bruce Norris (The Pain and the Itch) and is at Playwrights Horizons. Forget about David Mamet's Race: This is the play to see if you're interested in such matters. Or just in very good theater. Plus unlike Mamet's turgid show, Clybourne Park is riotously funny.

The Boys in the Band

The Transport Group's revival of Mart Crowley's play The Boys in the Band has just opened, and it's riotous fun. I highly recommend getting tix ASAP if you want to see it because due to the site-specific set-up, there's only 99 people per show.

A Lie of the Mind

Ethan Hawke's thespian-packed revival of the Sam Shepard play A Lie of the Mind (1985) opened last night. If anything, it confirms the status of Marin Ireland — in a tricky part — as one of the top stage performers in town. My review here.

The Pride

There was talk of a possible Broadway transfer of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride even before it opened. For once I wholeheartedly agree: It'd be great if a large, diverse audience saw this show. My enthusiastic review is here. Alas, the Times' lukewarm take may torpedo the whole thing.

Measured Measure for Measure

Theater for a New Audience's production of Measure for Measure opened last night at the Duke on 42nd St, and my review is here. I foresee MTC in director Arin Arbus' future.

Swedish Glee

The Dilettante's Special Stockholm Correspondent (soon! soon!) has alerted me to the existence of a Swedish TV show called Körslaget, which is about competing choirs. Sounds familiar? You bet!

The concept was developed by a Swedish singer named Caroline af Ugglas (whose own 2009 Melodifestivalen entry was a bizarrely intense ballad titled "Snälla Snälla") and it was adapted by NBC under the title Clash of the Choirs for a short-lived run. The Swedish version was a lot more successful, with popular singers leading choirs culled from their home towns.

Aside from the age of the contestants — and having Abba songs instead of show tunes — it's hard not to see a certain resemblance in musical approach between Körslaget and a little series called Glee. Check out Abba's "Does Your Mother Know" by Team Magnus (that would be Magnus Carlsson from Alcazar), Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" by Team Lotte (dansband singer Lotte Engberg) and a car-crash cover of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" by Team Pontare (Roger Pontare, who represented Sweden at Eurovision twice).

And then people wonder why Sweden is my spiritual home…

Happy Now?

Not a rhetorical question, but the title of Lucinda Coxon's new play, which just opened at Primary Stages (review in today's paper). Maybe it was better a couple of years ago at the National Theatre in London; here, I always felt the strain of the American actors focusing on their British accents.

James Ellroy's one cranky dude

Upon the recent publication of the last part of his Underworld USA trilogy, Blood's a Rover, in France, James Ellroy has been on a big publicity blitz over there. I just got around to reading a very entertaining interview with him in the weekly mag Les Inrockuptibles. Here's my (somewhat hasty) translation of a few choice exchanges between Ellroy and journalist Serge Kaganski. (Confusingly, the French title of the book is Underworld USA.)

SK: One of the things that stick out in the book is the racism of some of the characters, starting with Hughes and Hoover, and the frequent use of racist language in your dialogue.
JE: [interrupting] I see where you're going, let me explain.
SK: Wait, I'm not insinuating that you or your book are racist, but are you fascinated by racist language just the way you're fascinated by slang or ghetto speak?
JE: Hey! You're interrupting me here! Don't interrupt me! Okay… [goes on to talk about his characters]
SK: But what's your relationship toward that racist language? Is it simply realism? Are you fascinated by it?
JE: It doesn't bother me at all. I like the various forms of the American language. I like racist insults. I like using Yiddish words. I like slang. I like hipster talk. I like jazz speak…
SK: So for you, racist expressions are a purely literary device?
JE: Ask me questions! You're just interpreting my answers!

A bit later…

SK: You like writing only about the past. It's both great and a pity. America is very interesting right now with Obama in the White House.
JE: I don't care at all! I've already said it but you don't seem to listen. I don't care about the modern world. I don't go to the movies, I have no Internet, no cell phone, no TV, I don't read newspapers. I have an assistant who takes care of my bills. I live like a hermit. I don't want to know what's going on in France, I don't give a shit! I just want to live only in the world I create.
SK: But you live now!
JE: No, wrong answer! Okay, I live now, I go to the supermarket, I see what's around me… But history, politics, the news don't interest me at all, and I'll never write about these times. So give me a break with Obama!
SK: You enjoy confirming your reputation as a conservative?
JE: Yes, absolutely, I'm a conservative. Beyond that, I don't comment on my political opinions. I don't like computers, I don't like digital technology, I don't like crowds in the streets. I like looking back and focus on something that's controlled, organized and programmed in my head. That's the kind of place where I like to live, that's where I'm comfortable, safe. But though the world of today doesn't interest me at all, I'm still very happy to be alive.
SK: You're held as one of the greatest American writers—
JE: It's true!
SK: —are you also a reader? Which novelists do you value?
JE: I don't read at all. I know nothing about current culture. I'd still mention one writer, Don DeLillo, whose Libra inspired American Tabloid.

Ellroy goes on to talk about how except for L.A. Confidential, he doesn't care about the screen adaptations of his books, he's only in it for the money they bring him, etc. The conversation switches to his stay in Paris. Typically, Ellroy sticks to his hotel and goes out only to do his promo rounds.

SK: But how can you not be interested in travel, in the pleasures of change and discovery?
JE: Sir, how to put it? I don't give a shit about all this! I love women, being alone, my fictional world, classical music, and dogs. That's a lot, and it's enough to fill up my life. Today I have a regular girlfriend, an American, so I don't ogle women anymore. But before, yeah, I looked. In that respect, there's a bit of myself in some of my characters.

Oh Fanny Fanny Fanny...

My review of the Encores! revival of Harold Rome's Fanny is in today's paper. Ooooh I had such a lovely time. Highly recommended if you like semi-obscure 1950s musicals.

Fanny somehow packs the entire Marcel Pagnol film trilogy in one show, so it really zips along. I was amused to see that the show featured the famous card-playing scene, which has become cult in French cinema. Here it is.