Jekyll and Hyde at the Empress Theatre

The musical Jekyll and Hyde is one of the first shows I saw on Broadway (the OBC with Linda Eder as Lucy) so it will always be a favorite of mine. I was, therefore, absolutely thrilled when the Empress Theatre very graciously provided me with a ticket to their production last night. I loved everything about it! Dr. Henry Jekyll (Danny Keetch) is a passionate man of science who wants to cure his father, who is suffering from madness, with a chemical formula he developed to separate good from evil. When his request to test his formula is denied by the hypocritical Board of Governors at St. Jude's hospital, he takes matters into his own hands. His alter-ego Mr. Edward Hyde, a terrifying madman, is created when Jekyll experiments on himself and all of his inner demons are unleashed. The two women who love him, his fiancee Emma Carew (Angela Warnock) and a prostitute named Lucy Harris (Joy Babcock Austin), and his friend John Utterson (Tyler Rasmussen) are unaware of his secret as Jekyll tries to control the monster within. However, he is unsuccessful and Hyde eventually kills all of the members of the Board of Governors and becomes a danger to the rest of the citizens of London, to Lucy and Emma, and to himself. Warnock and Austin are outstanding and I especially loved their touching renditions of "Once Upon a Dream" and "Someone Like You," respectively. Their performance of "In His Eyes" is one of the many highlights of the show because their voices blend together so beautifully and they both also have tremendous chemistry with Keetch, particularly a romantic version of "Take Me As I Am" featuring Warnock and an incredibly passionate performance of "Dangerous Game" featuring Austin. Speaking of Keetch, I loved his voice (it is very well suited to the pop-rock score) and he absolutely blew me away with his powerful performance of "This is the Moment," my favorite song in the show, but then he took it to another level in "Alive!" I was also impressed by the distinct changes in his physicality and his voice for the two characters (his first transition to Hyde is spectacular) and the entire audience was riveted when he transitioned back and forth between Jekyll and Hyde in "Confrontation" (it gave me goosebumps). The ensemble is one of the strongest I've seen at this theatre and, while the singing and dancing throughout the entire show is phenomenal, they do an exceptional job embodying the class divide found in Victorian London. This is especially true in the song "Facade" as the aristocracy and the members of the dance hall underworld circle each other.  I enjoyed the patterns created in the choreography for the engagement party (I liked seeing Stride, played by Coulter Thomsen, chase Emma through the rows of dancing couples) and the boisterous cabaret number "Bring on the Men" is another highlight. The staging for "Murder, Murder!" is incredibly dynamic (this number sometimes drags for me) because the pacing, energy, use of newspapers as props, and use of the different areas of the stage make it very engaging. The stage and surrounding areas of the theatre mimic the cobblestone streets of nineteenth century London and the set, which is minimal but very effective, features a small six-sided platform for Jekyll's laboratory, St. Jude's Hospital, the Red Rat, and other locations with the addition of a few pieces. The color red in the lighting design is very dramatic and is used to great effect during "Confrontation" to denote the two characters. Finally, the period costumes are gorgeous and may be my favorite at this theatre. I had a really fun night watching a show I love performed brilliantly by one of my favorite community theatres and I cannot recommend it enough! There are performances every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through October 17 with a newly added performance on Monday, October 5. Go here for tickets.

Digger

I have to admit that, while I felt compelled to see Digger, I wasn't really looking forward to it because I was put off by the desaturated color grading and the bombastic performances featured in the trailer.  I decided to see it last night with my nephew and I can definitely see why it has polarized critics and audiences but I think it is a masterpiece!  Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is a wealthy, arrogant, and eccentric Texas oil tycoon whose company, Rockwell United, ignored reports of methane beneath an oil rig in Greenland and is now responsible for an explosion that dislodged an immense ice shelf  moving towards Europe.  Digger's head of environmental safety, Dr. Nirav Ganesh (Riz Ahmed), predicts thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, and trillions of dollars worth of damage but he seems to be more concerned with the imminent death of his cat and, after consulting with U.S. President Compson (John Goodman), he decides to create an information firewall rather than take action.  When the inevitable happens, Digger deflects blame in a speech to the European Parliament by saying that the world is dependent on the oil he provides (in a monologue that will surely get Cruise a Best Actor nomination).  However, another even larger ice shelf breaks free and heads to Alaska and this requires a dramatic military response that leads to the downfall of both Digger and the president.  The first act has a strange artificiality with over the top satire and stylized cinematography, performances, and production design but a wild twist in the second act completely reframes everything that has come before and another twist at the end completely reframes everything once again.  People will either love or hate this choice but I loved it because, without giving away any spoilers, it emphasizes the power of art (satire in particular) as catharsis.  There are a lot of other themes to unpack, such as corporate greed, political corruption, manipulation of the media, and societal hypocrisy, but Iñárritu seems to be saying that, since nothing will stop the consequences of these actions, we might as well laugh at the destruction.  Everything that put me off in the trailer ended up working for me after seeing the context and I found it to be really funny at times (but I was often the only one in the theater laughing) as well as incredibly thought-provoking (I'm still thinking about it).  Cruise gives his best performance since Magnolia (the dude can act when he's not jumping on and out of airplanes) and Ahmed is equally brilliant.  I also really enjoyed a monologue by Jesse Plemens (as a character I won't spoil) because I think it sums up the thesis of the movie briliantly.  This will definitely not be for everyone but I really dug it (pun intended).

Verity

I went through a Colleen Hoover phase a few years ago (it was a strange time) and, out of all the books I read, Verity was my favorite (relatively speaking) so I was excited to see the movie adaptation at an early access screening last night with my nephew.  Despite several flaws, I enjoyed it for what it is and I had a lot of fun watching it with a large crowd.  Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a best-selling author known for writing a series of novels from the villain's perspective.  After she has a car accident which leaves her in a catatonic state, her husband Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) hires struggling author Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to ghostwrite the remaining books in the series.  Lowen moves into their secluded house on a lake in Vermont in order to read through Verity's outlines and notes and finds a manuscript that appears to be her autobiography.  As she reads Verity's disturbing account, she begins a relationship with Jeremy and suspects that Verity might be faking her condition.  This reminded me a lot of The Housemaid because, like that adaptation, it is an atmospheric psychological thriller with a sleek and stylish production design (I loved the house because it has a very Gothic vibe) and lots of twists and turns.  Also, like that adaptation, it features two strong performances (Hathaway and Hartnett) that highlight the blandness of the third one (Johnson).  This is especially true whenever Johnson reads the manuscript aloud (which, unfortunately, is a large part of the runtime) because her delivery is monotone and her expression is very disengaged (there is even a line in which Lowen says that it's hard to tell if she is having fun because she has "resting bored face" and it got the biggest laugh of the night).  I do think Johnson is a good actress when she has good material to elevate her performance but this is based on a book you can buy at the airport (iykyk).  Still, this is a pretty faithful adaptation (except for a bizarre change to the ending that makes absolutely no sense) so fans of the book are sure to love it.

Note:  The scenes where Verity appears on Hot Ones and Call Her Daddy are hilarious.

Primetime

Last night my nephew and I saw Primetime at the Broadway and, the more I think about it, the more I like it.  Broadcast journalist Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) hosts a reality show called To Catch a Predator, which grew from segments filmed for Dateline NBC, using hidden cameras to capture undercover sting operations conducted by the watchdog group Perverted Justice in which adult men are lured to a house to have sex with minors played by decoys before being confronted by Hansen.  He has grandiose ideas about serving the public good, even if the program is a bit sordid, and often treats his subordinates badly, especially his producer Andie Bender (Merritt Wever) and a decoy named Del Harvey (Phoebe Bridgers).  The show becomes wildly popular so the NBC Head of Programming Jeff Zucker (Himself) moves it to a prime time slot against ABC's Lost.  Hansen soon becomes preoccupied with improving ratings and hires an aspiring actor named Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo) to portray a decoy but an indiscretion with a woman makes the stakes even higher for him.  He breaks with the usual protocol to actively pursue a high profile predator, assistant district attorney Bill Conradt (Alex Winter), with tragic consequences.  The focus of this movie is the intersection between justice and entertainment and it was very intriguing to see how each character abandons the pursuit of the greater good in favor of self-promotion, especially when Dan continues to participate despite his misgivings because he wants to earn a SAG card.  The visuals are incredibly stylized with distorted angles, extreme close-ups, high-contrast lighting, and lurid color grading (I found it very uncomfortable to watch at times) and it replicates the look of the original show with 16mm film.  Pattinson, who imitates Hansen's voice and mannerisms so accurately that it is uncanny, gives a fascinating and unsettling performance as a man so consumed by his own success that it becomes his downfall and I was particularly struck by the many scenes in which he practices his lines while looking in a mirror because you can see him unraveling right before your eyes. Wever and Gisondo are also outstanding and I loved some of the cameos for the child predators (I was shocked, in more ways than one, to see Jonathan Lipnicki).  This is definitely a movie that will generate interesting conversations and I highly recommend it.

Heart of the Beast

The second movie in my double feature last night was Heart of the Beast and I, along with almost everyone else in the theater, was reduced to tears by this touching story about the bond between a man and his dog.  James Belmont (Brad Pitt) is a retired special forces commander who is camping in the Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog Odin.  They both have injuries and PTSD from their past deployments (the scene in which Odin has a nightmare and then is comforted by Belmont is one of the most affecting in the movie) which are often shown in flashbacks.  Severe weather forces them to leave their campsite early by plane but Belmont suffers a heart attack mid-flight.  Odin is ejected out of the plane before Belmont crash lands in a lake.  They both survive and eventually find each other but they are injured and must travel on foot over 50 miles to find the nearest road.  Their journey is incredibly treacherous with many threats (my favorite scene is the one in which Odin stares down a grizzly) and they must rely on each other in order to survive.  This takes some time to get going but I liked seeing the relationship between Belmont and Odin established through their interactions and I also liked the brief scenes involving Watkins (J.K. Simmons), a fellow camper, because that provides opportunities for exposition without having to resort to voice over narration.  Pitt gives a great performance (one of his best) that is both physical and very poignant (bring some tissues if you are a dog lover) but he has a great scene partner in Uber (the German Shepherd who plays Odin along with three of his offspring, Seeka, Ryker, and Hondo, who act as stunt doubles) because he has the most expressive eyes and often steals the show.  The scenery is absolutely gorgeous (New Zealand, one of my favorite places, stands in for Alaska) and the action sequences are fraught with tension.  This is an entertaining survival story but the relationship between Belmont and Odin is what makes it so compelling.  It is a must-see for dog lovers!