In 1999, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble began as Off Center Theatre, a community theatre group. Then in January 2001, the company began to pay artistic and technical staff, making the switch to becoming a non-Equity professional theatre company. In this capacity, Off Center presented 15 productions from 2001 to 2005.
Founding Artistic Director, Margeau Baue Steinau, took over directorship of the company in 2005, shortly after which, in 2006, Steinau and other local artists formed Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble (SATE), under the umbrella of Off Center Theatre.
To mark the year 2020, SATE is looking back on productions from its history. We are re-visiting plays that were popular with audiences at the time and deserve another production. Given the growth of the company over the past 20 years, HINDSIGHT IS 20/20.
The SEASON OF HINDSIGHT will include the following productions:
Aphra Behn Festival, SATE’s annual festival founded in 2017, highlighting woman directors and designers (March 6-8, 2020)
Top Girls by Caryl Churchill, originally produced in 2009, examining the paradoxical lives of women in the workforce and at home, directed by Rachel Tibbetts (Aug. 12-29, 2020)
Classic Mystery Game adapted and directed by Keating, originally produced in 2019, investigating Western society in 2020 through the lens of the 1985 movie, CLUE (Oct. 28-Nov. 21, 2020)
“In this intense one-act duet, Laurie McConnell and John Pierson illustrate why if you are going to put two people in one room, it might as well be them.”
By Lynn Venhaus “The Mystery of Irma Vep” is the play that went wrong — and not in a funny way. Its once-red hot reputation for absurdity and daring has dimmed as the overwhelming digital world of content has surpassed its satiric mix of genres three decades later.
Mashing up B-movie mysteries is no longer novel and spoofing Victorian melodrama is too creaky, even in drag. And despite its look-hard-to-read-between-the-lines allegory for monsters and terminal illness, none of it registers with this 21st century audience. Sadly, the show never catches fire and the material lands with a loud thud.
Playwright Charles Ludlam’s campy farce is a specific scenario that may make clever interactive dinner-theater but somehow seems saggy and dated in 2020, especially as a major production. Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif described it as one of the all-time great comedies, the 1984 original won Drama Desk and Obie Awards, and in 1991, it was the most produced play in America.
Thirty-six years later, no matter how they focused on the ‘monsters in society’ during the AIDS epidemic, its message is lost in translation because this script is not engaging.
Think the goofy merriment of Monty Python, or even Tim
Conway and Harvey Korman on the old “The Carol Burnett Show.” They are timeless
but this show is not. Why doesn’t it work? Are the dark-and-stormy-night manor
gimmicks no longer effective? It’s old Abbott and Costello hijinks set in an
outdated supernatural world.
When the dense pop culture landscape has given us vampires next door, the
walking dead roaming our cities and ghost hunters flourishing in recent years, “Irma
Vep” doesn’t even have quaint going for it.
Esteban Andres Cruz, photo by Jon Gitchoff
Out of touch and out of tune, the show is in sorely need of a trim, as its construct fails to engage in two too-long acts on The Rep’s mainstage. Clearly, a 90-minute running time would have helped, instead of prolonging viewers’ misery, and the pace could have picked up.
Unlike the 2005 parody adaptation of Hitchcock’s 1935 movie
“The 39 Steps,” which turned into a surprising amusing romp, this jumble of
ancient family curse, mummy and howling werewolf is not interesting. When they went
to Egypt, they lost me and it went downhill from there.
A “Penny Dreadful” is a psychological thriller that features dark mystery and suspense, but when this show is intended for laughs, neither the comedy nor the horror ignites. That’s a shame because the odd day-glo weird angles set by scenic designer Michael Locher looks terrific – although some sight line issues and what is with the giant skull? — and the lighting by designer Marie Yokoyama is spooky and effective.
This play was produced years ago in The Studio, and that intimate space seems to be a better fit than the larger auditorium. It could have benefited the two actors who try very hard to keep a momentum that involves playing eight characters and a few dozen costume changes and wigs. Bless those dressers, who get a herculean work out.
Nimble Esteban Andres Cruz and Tommy Everett Russell are obviously accomplished actors and look fabulous in the bold, elaborate costume designs by Sara Ryung Clement. They are trying hard to entertain, especially in the colorful drag outfits, and play off each other well.
But the frolic seems forced. This is a show that sorely needed a fresh interpretation, but director Nelson T. Eusebio III didn’t hit the refresh button to deconstruct what didn’t age well, but went big visually with the souped-up focus on outrageous drag looks and gender politics. That’s unfortunate because the production is an epic letdown.
Is it trying to do too much? To be more things to more people? To have hidden meaning when people aren’t looking for it? To create magic, you need a spark, and why isn’t it there?
And by the number of audience members who left at
intermission, it’s not connecting with core subscribers. I was hoping it would
find it’s “legs,” but there is obviously something that’s preventing people from
getting into the story. The adventure isn’t all that adventurous.
Photo by Jon Gitchoff
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents “The
Mystery of Irma Vep” Feb. 14 – March 8 on the mainstage at the Loretto-Hilton
Center on the Webster University campus. For more information, visit repstl.org.
For the box office, call 314-968-4925.
On this President’s Day, let’s look back at the films
centered around an American President, and what actors were best at portraying
the Commander-in-Chief – be it fact or fiction. Here are some of my favorite
dramas, comedies and even romances that included the most powerful leader of
the free world. We are only listing theatrical films and the HBO film
adaptation of “All the Way.”
If we included television, we’d have a wider pool, and that’s
for another list. What are your favorites that spotlight our U.S. leader?
1.Lincoln (2012) — Daniel Day-Lewis not only delivers the best presidential portrayal ever on screen, but also one of the best male performances of all-time. Day-Lewis won his third Oscar, and it was never in doubt. Just a remarkable portrayal of Abe as a man struggling to hold the country together and lead them to higher ground. Director Steven Spielberg brought a humanity to the story rarely seen in historical portraits.
Kevin Kline in “Dave”
2. Dave (1993) — Kevin Kline is Dave Kovic, who is hired to impersonate the commander-in-chief when President Bill Mitchell suffers a stroke during an illicit affair.
A comedic take on an everyman winning over government wonks with his common sense, solidly directed by Ivan Reitman. Sigourney Weaver is a formidable First Lady.
Bruce Greenwood as “Thirteen Days”
3. Thirteen Days (2000) – President John F. Kennedy saved the day when we were on the brink of nuclear war with Russia, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is a historical look back at this tense political time in 1962, through the perspective of White House assistant Kenneth P. O’Donnell (Kevin Costner), with Bruce Greenwood strong as JFK.
Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd in “The American President”
4. The American President (1995) – This is Aaron Sorkin’s idealism front and center before “The West Wing.”
Michael Douglas shines as a widowed president running for re-election who starts a romance with an environmental lobbyist played by Annette Bening, but the political fallout affects their relationship.
Savvy script, smart casting (especially Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox as chief of staff and press secretary) make this Rob Reiner-helmed comedy-drama a memorable one.
Harrison Ford in “Air Force One”
5. Air Force One (1997) – Harrison Ford as kick-butt President James Marshall. Love it! The fit commander-in-chief is a Vietnam vet in this political action-thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen. A group of terrorists hijack the president’s plane and threaten the U.S. but our hero won’t let that happen on his watch. Glenn Close is the vice president and Gary Oldman the Russian bad guy, but it is Ford, in all his star power, as the take-charge head of state that made this movie one of the most successful of the ‘90s.
Anthony Hopkins as “Nixon”
6. Nixon (1995) – Anthony Hopkins embodied the beleaguered president during his tumultuous White House years, with Joan Allen riveting as his long-suffering wife Pat. Oliver Stone directed, so the agenda is clear.
Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon in “Frost/Nixon”
7. Frost/Nixon (2008) – Frank Langella was Oscar-nominated as the disgraced Nixon seeking redemption in his four-part interviews with Britain’s David Frost in 1977. Ron Howard sharply directed the adaptation of Peter Morgan’s 2006 play, with whip-smart movie script by the playwright.
8. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) – Director John Ford teamed up with actor Henry Fonda for this look at honest Abe during his early years. Fonda embodies the heroic ideals of the lawyer and statesman who would become the 16th president of the United States.
Brian Cranston as LBJ
9. All the Way (2016) — Bryan Cranston won a well-deserved Tony Award for his masterful portrayal of Lyndon Baines Johnson during the early days of the Civil Rights movement in the 2014 play by Robert Schenkkan.
This is the Emmy-nominated HBO adaptation, written by the playwright and directed by Jay Roach. Cranston is again uncanny as political animal LBJ, and the all-star cast includes Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King Jr., Stephen Root as J. Edgar Hoover, Bradley Whitford as Sen. Hubert Humphrey and Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson.
Jeff Bridges as the President and Christian Slater as a reporter in “The Contender”
10. The Contender (2000) — The wonderful Jeff Bridges is a likeable two-term Democratic President, Jackson Evans, who decides to break the glass ceiling and appoint a woman Vice-President after the current one dies.
However, his nominee, Ohio Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen) gets entangled in vicious hearings with a bullseye on her back. This political thriller is written and directed by Rod Lurie, a former newspaper guy. Both Bridges and Allen were nominated for Oscars.
Emma Thompson and John Travolta as thinly veiled Hillary and Bill Clinton in “Primary Colors”
11. Primary Colors (1998) – John Travolta was at the top of his game portraying Jack Stanton, a charismatic Southern governor running for president. Recognize anyone? Based on the 1996 “Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics” by Newsweek’s Joe Klein, this fictionalized account of Clinton’s 1992 campaign had a crackerjack supporting cast (Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oscar nominee Kathy Bates), sharply directed by Mike Nichols and written by his former comedy partner Elaine May.
Tiki Sumpter and Parker Sawyer in “Southside with You”
12. Southside with You (2016) – A ‘what if’ movie that works, quirks and all, with its imagining of what Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama’s first date was like back when they were lawyers in Chicago. Written and directed by Richard Tanner, this little charmer comes alive when the nervous future two-term president shows off his oratory skills at a community meeting. Parker Sawyer is a genuinely believable Obama but Tika Sumpter really shines as the life force who would become First Lady Michelle Obama.
Michael Shannon as Elvis and Kevin Spacey as Nixon in “Elvis and Nixon”
14. Elvis and Nixon (2016) – You may think this is preposterous, but this really did happen. And it’s one goofy movie. On Dec. 21, 1970, rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley went to the White House for a meeting with President Richard Nixon – and that historical photograph is the most requested one at the National Archives. Talk about offbeat casting — Michael Shannon is a different kind of Elvis while Kevin Spacey impersonates Nixon.
16. Independence Day (1996) – Bill Pullman is memorable President Thomas J. Whitmore facing an alien invasion, and his rallyng-all-Americans speech is one of the best-known in films. Here is the transcript of that great speech:
President Whitmore: Good morning. Good morning. In less than an hour aircrafts from here will join others from around the world and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July and you will once again be fighting for our freedom not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution but from annihilation.
We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist, and should we win today the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American President holiday but is the day when the world declared in one voice,
“We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”
This epic sci-fi disaster film made $817.4 million and won the Oscar for Best VIsual Effects.
17. Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” (2013) and 18. “White House Down” (2013) These aren’t films of particularly lasting impact but the casting of the presidents is genius.
In “The Butler,” Forest Whitaker plays a White House employee who serves multiple presidents – and this casting is certainly eyebrow-raising:
Robin Williams as Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Marsden as JFK, Liev Shreiber as LBJ, John Cusack as Nixon, and the most brilliant turn by Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan (with Jane Fonda as Nancy!).
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx is the kick-ass president in the action thriller “White House Down,” which came out at the same time as the inferior “Olympus Has Fallen,” all about a terrorist group creating chaos at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He’s terrific and a good match-up with Channing Tatum as a heroic Secret Serviceman.
Honorable Mentions: Oscar nominee Sam Rockwell is pitch-perfect as George W. Bush in “Vice” (2018), but he’s barely a supporting character. In Natalie Portman’s tour de force “Jackie,” Caspar Phillipson and John Carroll Lynch are effective portraying John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson.
The Fabulous Fox Theatre announced today that seats in the first rows of the orchestra section will be available for $24 for every performance of RENT, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical. The $24 tickets are available for in-person cash only purchases at the Fox Box Office, located at 531 N. Grand Blvd, on the day of each performance only, two hours prior to the show. The $24 tickets are limited to two tickets per person.
The tradition of these tickets began in 1996 in New York when the show moved to Broadway after a sold-out run in a small downtown theatre. The producers of the show are committed to continuing the tradition of offering these orchestra seats in each city the show will play.
RENT performs at the February 21-23. Performance times are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
For general ticket information, visit MetroTix.com or by calling 314-534-1111.
A quiet film whose topic speaks volumes, “The Assistant” is a dramatic recreation of something that goes on in countless offices across the U.S. – systemic oppression of women by male bosses.
Written and directed by Kitty Green, the film captures the nuanced points made by the #metoo movement.
Hired by a film production company in New York, Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, is eager to please in her junior assistant job. However, she begins to see shady behaviors and practices in use, learning how sexual predator behavior is accepted as others look the other way.
Julia Garner, who won an Emmy Award for “Ozark,” has a perfectly expressive face for young Jane as she goes through a very long day. It shows the daily drudgery and routine —making coffee, changing paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, making travel arrangements and getting work shoved on them by colleagues.
The boss is heard but not seen. Jay O. Sanders is the voice actor playing the powerful entertainment mogul on the phone, and he calls her in verbally abusive tirades that chastise her for decisions she has made.
We begin to see how these degradations affect Jane in every aspect of her workday. When she finally decides to take a stand, we discover that the corporate culture is too insidious to do any good for her.
The movie provides an inside look at what is happening, but doesn’t grab the headlines. It’s slow, subtle and chilling.
The languid pacing is an issue because the film makes its points silently, and the office is a rather bland location, so there are those detriments. But if you look at it as an everyday scenario, that’s part of the reason it’s so effective.
And Garner keeps our focus in a mesmerizing less-is-more performance.
Julia Garner as Jane in “The Assistant”
“The Assistant” is a drama written and directed by Kitty Green, starring Julia Garner, Matthew MacFadyen, Kristine Froseth and Jay O. Sanders. It’s rated R for language and is 87 minutes long. Lynn’s Grade: B A version of this review was published in The Times newspapers and discussed on KTRS (The Big 550).
Where do I begin To tell the story of how great a love can be — Carl Sigman and Francis Lai, “(Where Do I Begin?) The theme from ‘Love Story’”
We all wanted to be Ali MacGraw.
She was the ‘It’ girl of the late ‘60s, early ‘70s, a model-turned-actress appearing in TV commercials – among them the Polaroid Swinger instant camera. In 1969, she won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer after the movie “Goodbye, Columbus,” an adaptation of a National Book Award-winning Philip Roth novella.
Ali MacGraw as Jenny
Then she was cast in the role of a lifetime in the movie “Love Story.” As Jenny Cavilleri, the sassy working-class music major who falls head over heels for a rich Harvard hunk, Oliver Barrett IV, she and handsome lead Ryan O’Neal had instant chemistry.
Teenage girls were swept away by this Radcliffe college
girl and her “Preppie.” O’Neal was best known for playing the popular kid
Rodney Harrington on the scandalous nighttime soap opera “Peyton Place” from
1964 to 1969.
The movie, set for a Dec. 16, 1970 premiere, was destined to be a box office smash because a book version had come out first and whetted appetites for the doomed romance.
At Paramount’s suggestion, author Erich Segal had turned his screenplay into a novel, which came out on Valentine’s Day, 1970, and became the top book of the year, spending 41 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. A portion of it had been published in the Ladies’ Home Journal, gaining even more interest.
“What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who
died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach? The
Beatles? And me?”
The book opened with those memorable words, setting the stage for the tragic tearjerker. Wintry New England never looked so good — on Ivy League campuses and New York City, the romance about a couple from two different worlds falling in love just struck a nerve. Director Arthur Hiller gave us good-looking people in cutesy situations. Oh we fell hard.
At a time when you had to stand in line for tickets, the
movie showtimes sold out, girlfriends had event outings, and many tears were
shed. I was a junior in high school. You can bet we were in line at the Stadium
Cinema 1 downtown St. Louis more than once. Locally, we Belleville kids
had to come to St. Louis for the first-run movie because that’s the way cinema
was back then.
Ali MacGraw
This film was a template for future “chick flicks.” It was also at a time there was a wave of fresh young talent — “The Graduate,” “Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” “Summer of ’42.” Baby Boomers were making their presence known.
MacGraw’s timeless fashions created multiple trends, and this classic preppie style is still popular – cashmere coats, chunky knits and those hats! We all had a version of her knit hat those subsequent winters.
For this romantic phenomenon, MacGraw won the Golden Globe the following year and was nominated for an Academy Award as the dying heroine. She also launched thousands of baby namesakes in the 1970s and 1980s – for 14 years, Jennifer was the no. 1 female name.
Music major Jenny Cavilleri
The movie eventually earned $136.4 million at the box office, garnered seven Academy Award nominations – winning for music score, and take its place as the defining romance of its era.
It is #9 on the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions list.
That pea coat!
When it made its network television debut on a Sunday night Oct. 1, 1972, two floors of my all-female dormitory at Illinois State University crammed into a lounge to watch the mounted TV set, and the sniffles echoed through the crowd as Jenny succumbed to leukemia.
It became the most watched film on television, surpassing
Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” with a Nielsen rating of 42.3 and an audience share of
62 percent.
In the ensuing years, it would be mocked and parodied
relentlessly.
Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal
Fifty years later, the movie hasn’t exactly aged well.Today it’s sappy, with such iconic lines as “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” a head-scratcher.
But O’Neal and MacGraw’s chemistry is still there.
If you remember what a cultural touchstone it was, and how they made you feel about doomed but intense and true young love, you can see it on the big screen again.
Fathom Events is hosting two screenings of the film on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. and on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at various local theatres (check listings).
Ali would divorce second husband, producer Robert Evans, with whom she had a son, Josh Evans, and go on to marry macho action superstar Steve McQueen, her co-star in 1972’s “The Getaway,” and take a hiatus from film during her five-year marriage. Her 2003 yoga exercise video is credited with a surge in yoga popularity, Ali MacGraw – Yoga Mind and Body, now available on DVD. She wrote an autobiography, “Moving Pictures.”
O’Neal would have a tempestuous romance and a son, Redmond, with actress Farrah Fawcett, who died in 2009.
His daughter, Tatum O’Neal, still holds the record for
youngest Oscar winner, Best Supporting Actress in “Paper Moon,” which she
starred in with her dad, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who had a hot streak in
the 1970s with movies often starring O’Neal in comedic roles.
Elizabeth Alice MacGraw is now 80, lives in New Mexico, and hasn’t made a movie since 1999. Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal is 78 and had a recurring role on the TV show “Bones” in 2016-2017. Long estranged for over 25 years, he and Tatum attempted to reconcile on a docu-drama on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011, “Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals,” which lasted nine episodes.
Forever linked to their iconic roles, MacGraw and O’Neal reunited on state in 2016 in A.R. Gurney’s play, “Love Letters.”
Neither would surpass this all-American romance.But they earned their place in pop culture history.
For more information on the Fathom event, visit this website:
By Lynn Venhaus
We still have a race for Best Picture and Director, as we try to gauge the
momentum going into Sunday. Will it be “Parasite” or “1917,” or will fading
frontrunner “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood regain its luster? After all,
Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood.
The 92nd Academy Awards take place Feb. 9, with
ABC broadcasting red carpet live coverage at 5:30 p.m. and the ceremony
underway at 7 p.m. CST. This year is the second in a row where there is no
host, and it seemed to speed up the proceedings last year. We shall see.
The acting Oscars were apparently sown up weeks ago, as
awards season began. If there is any movement, it may be in Supporting Actress,
where newcomer Florence Pugh is coming on strong.
The shoo-ins this year? You can safely bet on “Parasite” as Best International
Feature, Brad Pitt as Best Supporting Actor in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,”
his fourth performance nomination (and he’ll likely give the best speech of the
night) and Roger Deakins as cinematographer for “1917.”
Will there be surprises and upsets? Or will it be as the
pundits predict? Only time will tell. Let’s just hope it’s a fun watch and
deserving wins to put the finishing touches on 2019 in film.
And afterwards, we’ll have memes, fashion debates and acceptance
speeches to remember.
Here are my picks for the 24 awards:
Best Picture
1917
1917, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, JoJo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and Parasite
My original frontrunner, “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood” has faded, and the big momentum is with either “1917” or “Parasite.” I think Oscar voters, with the older voting block, will go with the heart-wrenching World War I epic and be content for “Parasite” to win Best International Feature. While there is always the possibility of an upset, I think the massive endeavor “1917” is deserving.
Best Director
Sam Mendes, (Photo by Richard Goldschmidt)
Sam Mendes, “1917”; Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”; Todd Phillips, “Joker”; Quentin Tarantino “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” and Bong Joon-Ho, “Parasite”
I am in the “Sam Mendes is a genius” camp but Bong Joon-Ho’s work in “Parasite” is worthy too. Both are innovative, visual artists. I’d like a tie, like Critics Choice Association. I’m going with Mendes, as he won Directors Guild of America, the big prognosticator.
Joker
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”; Leonardo DiCaprio “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”; Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”; Joaquin Phoenix “Joker”; Jonathan Pryce “The Two Popes.”
Hands down, Joaquin Phoenix. He gave us pathos as he showed
Joker’s pain behind the façade and made his descent into madness frightening.
Nobody is more fearless working in film today. Adam Driver would be a close
second for his acting showcase in “Marriage Story.”
Not a fan of Renee Zellweger’s “Judy” but she has won all
earlier awards, and I see no reason why she wouldn’t. However, my pick would be
the radiant Saoirse Ronan for “Little Women.” If there is an upset, Scarlett
Johansson – finally nominated – would be a worthy winner for her tour de force
in “Marriage Story.”
Best Supporting Actor
Ozark’s own Brad Pitt
Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”; Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”; Al Pacino “The Irishman”; Joe Pesci “The Irishman”; Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.”
Perhaps the only sure thing Oscar night, Brad Pitt is a
lock as stuntman Cliff Booth. He’s not just deserving but overdue. Besides,
he’s certain to give the best speech of the night, given his track record this
awards season.
While I think the acting Oscars have already been nailed
down, this might be the upset category. Laura Dern as the shark lawyer in
“Marriage Story,” obsessed with winning at all costs, is my pick, and she was
also terrific in “Little Women,” but Margot Robbie’s ambitious Fox News staffer
could edge her out or first-time nominee Scarlett Johansson could finally get
Oscar love as the mom in “JoJo Rabbit.”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Greta Gerwig, “Little Women”; Andrew McLaren, “The Two Popes”; Todd Phillips,
“Joker”; Taika Waititi, “JoJo Rabbit”; Steve Zaillian “The Irishman.”
My favorite is Taika Waititi for the sharp social satire
“JoJo Rabbit,” but the revered Steve Zaillian’s adaptation of “The Irishman”
could be the film’s only win for its masterful storytelling.
Parasite
Best Original Screenplay
Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, “1917”; Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story”; Rian Johnson, “Knives Out”; Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”; Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin Wan, “Parasite.”
Best Cinematography
1917, The Irishman, Joker, The Lighthouse, Once Upon a Time…in
Hollywood.
What Roger Deakins did with “1917” is remarkable and propels him to his second win in three years. He had been snubbed for decades for his tremendous work in Coen Brothers’ films, then started working with director Denis Villeneuve a few years back – and finally won in 2018 for “Blade Runner 2049.” What he achieved with making “1917” appear to have been shot in two takes is incredible.
Best Editing
Ford v Ferrari
Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, JoJo Rabbit, Joker, Parasite.
How can “1917” be omitted here? I think a bone should be
thrown to crowd-pleasing “Ford v. Ferrari.” This film was a challenging shot,
and the editors captured both the thrill and danger of endurance racing.
Best Production Design
1917, The Irishman, JoJo Rabbit, Once Upon a Time…in
Hollywood, Parasite.
For its meticulous research and replica of 1969 Hollywood, it must be “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” However, the house in “Parasite” and all the trenches and realistic war landscape in “1917” make the case for those films.
Best Music Score
1917, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Star Wars: The
Rise of Skywalker.
Previously, I thought it was a battle between the Newman generations – Randy for
“Marriage Story” and Thomas for ‘1917.” But now I’m in support of Hildur Gudnadottir
winning for “Joker.’ From Iceland, Gudnadottir won the Emmy and Grammy for HBO’s
“Chernobyl” and the Golden Globe and BAFTA for “Joker.” She’d be the first solo
woman to win this Oscar, and I can get behind that.
Best Song
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away Again,” Toy Story 4; “I’m
Going to Stand with You,” Breakthrough; “Into the Unknown,” Frozen II; “(I’m
Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman; “Stand Up,” Harriet.
After much debate — and enjoying the Panic! At the Disco
version of “Into the Unknown” a lot, I’m now resigned to Elton John winning for
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” his fourth nominated song but his first with
longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin.
Best Costume Design
Little Women
The Irishman, JoJo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Once Upon a
Time…in Hollywood.
“Little Women,” of course.
Bombshell
Best Hair and Makeup
1917, Bombshell, Joker, Judy, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
“Bombshell” for making the actresses look uncannily like the Fox women they portray, and for turning John Lithgow into a convincing Roger Ailes.
Best Sound Mixing
1917, Ad Astra, Ford
v Ferrari, Joker, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.
“1917” is the likely winner but “Ford v Ferrari” would be a justifiable winner.
Best Sound Editing
1917, Ford v Ferrari, Joker, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.
Ditto as to what I said about sound mixing.
Best Visual Effects
The Avengers Endgame
1917, The Avengers; Endgame,” “The Irishman,” “The Lion
King” and “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.”
“The Avengers: Endgame” was so smooth and seamless, and the CGI not overdone, that I can’t imagine another movie winning. But there is that ninth little movie in a galaxy far, far away.
Toy Story 4
Best Animated Feature
The Hidden Link, How to Drain Your Dragon, I Lost My Body,
Klaus, Toy Story 4.
The fitting and grand finale to one of my all-time favorite franchises, Pixar’s
“Toy Story 4” should win, especially since “Frozen II” was snubbed. But Laika’s
“The Missing Link” is adorable and the final chapter of “Dragon” is its most
captivating.
Best International Feature
Corpus Christi, Honeyland, Les Miserables, Pain and Glory, Parasite.
The safest bet is South Korean’s “Parasite.” What a
genre-bending masterpiece – its mix of comedy, drama, thriller and horror is
one that will linger in your head for days.
Best Documentary Feature
American Factory, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy, For
Sama, Honeyland,
Without the magnificent “Apollo 11” even nominated, I’ll
give “American Factory” the edge, although “Honeyland,” about ancient
beekeeping traditions in has a lot of love (which I don’t share). Netflix’s “American Factory” is about a
re-opened plant in Ohio now owned by Chinese businessmen, and the culture clash
that develops. It is produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s company Higher
Ground.
Best Documentary Short
In the Absence, , Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone if
You’re a Girl, Life Overtakes Me, St. Louis Superman, Walk Run Cha Cha.
As much as we’d love to see “St. Louis Superman” get national attention, it does have a questionable ending – and really, “Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone If You’re a Girl” appears to be headed for the win.
Best Live-Action Short
Brotherhood, Nefta Football Club, The Neighbors’ Window, Saria, A Sister.
This is one of those Oscar pool contest busters –usually the wild card. Although I’ve read “Saria” is gaining traction, I’m going with “The Neighbor’s Window” because, while its less of a gut-punch than the others, it seems the most unconventional. Overall, it’s a really depressing bunch. Best Animated Short
Dcera, Hair Love, Kitbull, Memorable, Sister.
Often whatever Pixar short is before Disney’s blockbuster
is the safe choice, but the studio didn’t put anything before “Toy Story IV” or
“Frozen II.” Pixar’s “Kitbull” is hand-drawn and about the friendship of a
kitten and an abused pitbull. Adorable, right? But “Hair Love,” about a dad’s
effort to braid his daughter’s hair, which was shown before “Angry Birds 2,” is
my choice for the gold.
In the beginning was New Jersey, which begat Frankie Valli
and The Four Seasons, which in various incarnations begat pop record sales of
more than 175 million, which begat the jukebox musical Jersey Boys,
which begat four Tony Awards that included Best Musical and a trunk-load of
other accolades, which begat a film directed and produced by none other than “Dirty”
Harry Callahan (okay, Clint Eastwood), which begat a return engagement of the
ensemble musical at The Fabulous Fox Theatre on January 30-Febrary 2.
According to the press kit for Jersey Boys, this
musical is not recommended for children under 12 due in part because it is
peppered with “authentic Jersey language,” But, bada bing bada boom, other than
the youngsters, Jersey Boys could just as well be known as the Authentic
Jersey Musical, not to mention an authentically satisfying experience. And the
show has been to St. Louis so many times that may have earned the nickname “St.
Louis Boys.”
Nothing succeeds like success, and such is the case with Jersey
Boys, which wouldn’t keep pounding the boards at venues like the Fox and
The Muny if it weren’t so darned enjoyable. Jersey Boys is a show that
entices men to come for the swagger and women to stay for the swoon – a winning
combination not shared by many of musicals. Directed by two-time Tony
Award-winner Des McAnuff and written by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman
and Rick Elice, it reliably fills seats.
The behind-the-scenes, bio-pic show, with music by Bob
Gaudio and lyrics by Bob Crewe, hits the high and low notes of the evolution
and more-or-less dissolution of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in the years
before, during and after the so-called British Invasion. This was an impressively
long run of success for core bandmates – Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and
Nick Massi — that earned them a
well-deserved place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The musical version of their story is a straight shot
through the band’s history, with each member given a portion of the story to
tell. Unlike some jukebox musicals that rely on a contrived plot to underpin
the hit songs, Jersey Boys leverages the compelling story of the band’s
history. The story has become as ubiquitous as the sing of hits the band
produced. Jersey Boys is an ensemble effort with Jon Hacker as Valli, Eric
Chambliss as Gaudio, Corey Geenan as DeVito and Michael Milton at Massi. These
actors individually and collectively delivered at solid performance in acting
and singing. Although there were no stand-out performances, Chambliss and
Hacker delivered with the most heart and pathos – thanks in no small part to
the show’s script.
But let’s face it: You come for the music and you stay for
the music. Jersey Boys delivers with plenty of music – 33 songs,
including five number-ones. And even though it doesn’t include 19 of the band’s
other hits, including four other top-10 hits, the show drops the needle on a
well-paced, nostalgically steady steam of the music that is the heart and soul
of this show.
The strength of the show really rested on the vocal
shoulders of Hacker as Franki. Hacker’s performance was, like all other aspects
of the production, solid. Hacker is no Valli hologram and his evocation of the
style, personality and vocal style of Valli did justice to the spirit and
talents of the man himself. Hacker’s voice and acting were up to the material,
especially with the support of the rest of the cast.
Hacker as Frankie delivered one of the musical’s most
poignant lines about the group: “Like that bunny on TV, it just keeps going and
going and going. Chasing the music. Trying to find our way home.”
Jersey Boys certainly has a found a regular place to
call home on St. Louis stages.
The Fabulous Fox Theatre presented “Jersey Boys” January 30-February 2.
