Into the Woods at OPPA

The musical Into the Woods is one of my very favorites because the story is incredibly clever, the music is beautiful, and the messages are both thought-provoking and poignant. I always try to see any production that I can find and last night I found one at On Pitch Performing Arts (I have recently become a fan of this theatre company). It was so much fun to see a different take on a familiar favorite! Several fairy tale characters must go into the woods to make their wishes come true: a Witch (Caitlin Olsen) wishes to reverse a curse, a Baker (John Wright) and his Wife (Heather Ann Jackson) wish to have a child, Cinderella (Cassie Hurt-McLarty) wishes to attend the festival and meet a prince, Jack (KJ Weidner) wishes to save his cow Milky White (Madison Tate) from being sold at market, and Red Riding Hood (Harriett Bauer) wishes to visit her Grandmother (Rachel Glad). However, having a wish come true does not always result in a happily ever after and actions can sometimes have unintended consequences. This production is unique in that the setting has been changed to an urban area (depicted with images on a large screen and minimal props) during the 1950s (including fun costumes such as the poodle skirts worn by the Stepsisters and the motorcycle jacket worn by Cinderella's Prince). In the many different productions of this show that I have seen I don't remember a change to the setting like this before but I think it is a really effective way to make the themes of team work, resilience, and acceptance more accessible to the audience through this modern sensibility. I especially liked the characterization of Rapunzel (Lauralye Anderson) as a young woman who is judged by her appearance and feels the need to be perfect (with 1950s era ads shown on the screen during her scenes). The entire cast is really fun to watch and I especially loved Olsen's dramatic facial expressions, Wright's nervous energy, Tate's physicality in manipulating the puppet for Milky White, and Bauer's sass. However, Preston Fullmer, as the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince (characters who are very similar if you think about it), absolutely steals the show with all of his over-the-top preening. I think I laughed at every single thing he did on stage (my favorite bit of business is when he winks at the Baker's Wife before continuing to chase Cinderella) and his version of "Agony" with Gage Andersen as Rapunzel's Prince is a highlight! I have always loved the songs "It Takes Two," because it is such a turning point in the relationship between the Baker and his Wife, and "No One Is Alone," because it is a very emotional moment of understanding between the Baker, Jack, Cinderella, and Red, and the performances by this cast gave me goosebumps. The choreography is very well suited to the small and intimate space and I was particularly impressed with "Into the Woods," "So Happy," "Ever After," and "Children Will Listen" because of the large number of people on stage and the intricate patterns they are able to create. I thoroughly enjoyed this interpretation of Into the Woods and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through July 13.

The Bikeriders

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of The Bikeriders and I liked it but I didn't love it.  Photojournalist Danny Lyon (Mike Faist) rides with the Vandals Motorcycle Club, based in Chicago, from 1965-1973 and interviews Kathy (Jodie Comer), the wife of a volatile member named Benny (Austin Butler), about her experiences.  Kathy tells Danny that she met Benny when her girlfriend invited her to a biker bar and that they immediately connected.  She soon becomes a part of the club, created by Johnny (Tom Hardy) as a place for a group of outsiders to belong, which also includes Brucie (Damon Herriman), Cal (Boyd Holbrook), Corky (Karl Glusman), Wahoo (Beau Knapp), Zipco (Michael Shannon), and Cockroach (Emory Cohen).  Kathy eventually begins to resent the hold that the club and Johnny have on her husband and, when the club morphs into a dangerous criminal organization through expansion to other chapters, the introduction of drugs (by a hilarious Norman Reedus), the inclusion of disaffected Vietnam war vets, and a challenge to Johnny's leadership from a violent young member (Toby Wallace), she issues Benny an ultimatum to choose between her and the club.  The story is simple but very compelling because the audience is slowly immersed into biker culture and the specific time period (the gritty production design is incredibly authentic).  Both Comer and Hardy give outstanding performances (their accents are not quite as grating as I feared they would be) but Butler is absolutely off the charts because he oozes both charisma and danger (I loved his expression in the final shot).  My biggest issue with this is that I felt emotionally disconnected from the characters because I didn't really know who they were or what their motivations were.  I definitely wanted more backstory for Benny (The Kid, a minor character, gets more backstory than any of the other main characters) and I wanted a deeper exploration of his relationships with Johnny and Kathy because, even though this triangle is integral to the story, it is very superficial.  There is a lot to recommend with this movie (and I suspect people will enjoy it more than I did) but I just didn't feel very invested in it.

I Used to Be Funny

The next movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was I Used to be Funny and, as a big fan of Rachel Sennott, it was really interesting to see her in a more serious role.  Sam (Sennott) was once a stand-up comedian known for her provocative jokes about men and her sex life as well as a nanny for a man named Cameron (Jason Jones) and his 12-year-old daughter Brooke (Olga Petsa).  Now Sam is suffering from PTSD as a result of an assault and is no longer able to perform at the comedy club or do much of anything else.  She is further traumatized when Brooke lashes out at her and then goes missing.  The narrative alternates between the present, as Sam tries to work through her trauma while searching for Brooke, and the past, when she formed a close relationship with her, and this is an effective technique because I was very invested in the mystery (which is very slowly revealed) of what happened to derail both of their lives.  There is a very thought-provoking discussion about consent when Sam's material is used against her but I loved that she ultimately finds healing in her humor.  I also liked the exploration of how one person's trauma has a ripple effect on everyone around them, allowing for some poignant scenes between Sam and her roommates Paige (Sabrina Jalees) and Phillip (Caleb Hearon) and her ex-boyfriend Noah (Ennis Esmer).  Sennott gives an amazing performance because she is essentially playing two different versions of the same character (you immediately know which timeline you are in simply by the subtle changes in expression on Sam's face) and she straddles the line between comedy and tragedy very well.  I loved the soundtrack, which features lots of indie sad girl songs (two songs by Phoebe Bridgers), and all of the locations in Toronto and Niagara Falls (where I grew up).  I very much enjoyed this and would recommend it to fans of Sennott.

Tuesday

Last night I went to another double feature at the Broadway starting with Tuesday.  I was really intrigued when I saw the trailer for this but, unfortunately, it was not what I was expecting.  Death, in the form of a size-shifting talking macaw (voiced by Arinze Kene), appears to a terminally ill teen named Tuesday (Lola Petticrew).  Death is accustomed to hearing all of the inner thoughts of everyone who is about to die but, when he meets Tuesday, all of the noise stops and he is so grateful he allows her time to say goodbye to her mother Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) before she dies.  Tuesday comes to view Death as a friend (in some truly bizarre sequences) but Zora, who has distanced herself emotionally from Tuesday because she is unable to cope and is in deep denial about her prognosis, is angry and lashes out at Death.  However, her interactions with Death (in some even more bizarre sequences) help her find understanding then acceptance and, finally, peace.  Louis-Dreyfus gives a powerful and affecting performance in a more dramatic role than we usually see from her and I liked the use of a bird as an allegory for death (even if the CGI is sometimes messy) because it is very imaginative.  I also loved the message that death is just a natural part of life and that we honor those who have died by living life to the fullest in their memory.  My biggest problem is that the tone is very inconsistent with some scenes that are so jarring they took me out of the emotional core of the narrative.  I liked the concept of this movie more than the execution.

Firebrand

I am a huge fan of historical dramas and I have always been strangely fascinated by the Tudors so I was really excited to see Firebrand last night.  It is definitely a revisionist take on Katherine Parr but I enjoyed it.  While King Henry VIII (Jude Law) is away fighting in France, his sixth and final wife Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) is appointed regent and she takes this opportunity to promote her radical Protestant beliefs which are shared by Edward and Thomas Seymour (Eddie Marsan and Sam Riley, respectively). When Henry returns early because of the worsening of a previous leg injury, he is angry, humiliated, and paranoid.  He takes it out on the radicals and burns Katherine's childhood friend Anne Askew (Erin Doherty) at the stake.  She must now suppress her beliefs because courtiers with anti-Protestant sentiments, such as the Bishop of Winchester Stephen Gardiner (Simon Russell Beale), suspect her of conspiring with Anne.  After her relationship with Henry breaks down after a miscarriage, Gardiner begins investigating her and, when conspiracies and betrayals threaten her very survival, she must take matters into her own hands.  What I loved most about this narrative is all of the palace intrigue which is portrayed very well with close-up camera work that shows the claustrophobia of being watched constantly, especially in a dance sequence between Katherine and Thomas, and with a tension-filled score that definitely had me on edge.  Adding to the unease is an outstanding performance from Law who is almost unrecognizable and fully embodies Henry's mercurial moods and debauchery.  Vikander gives a much more subdued performance but it worked for me because, even though Katherine is very progressive for the time period, she is still trapped by the dangerous whims of the king.  The costumes and production design are as stunning as you would expect from a period drama.  However, the pacing gets bogged down with a subplot about Katherine's influence on Henry's children, particularly Princess Elizabeth (Junia Rees) and her future reign, that isn't developed very well.  Also, the screenplay definitely makes use of *ahem* dramatic license with the ending.  This is a very serviceable historical drama with compelling performances and gorgeous visuals but I recommend waiting to see it when it streams.