Crazy for You at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

When the summer shows at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre were announced, I was most excited for Crazy for You because it is so fun with lots of fantastic singing and dancing. I had a wonderful time watching this delightful production under the stars last night. Bobby Child (Cam Bronson) wants to be a dancer in the Zangler Follies but his fiance Irene Roth (Lauren Billings) is eager to get married after waiting five years and his mother Lottie (Tina Fontana) wants him to work at the family bank. He is sent by the bank to Deadrock, Nevada to foreclose on a theatre owned by Everett Baker (Quin Swallow) but he falls in love with Everett's daughter Polly (Aubrey Jackson) and decides to save the theatre instead. Polly doesn't want anything to do with him so he impersonates Bela Zangler and brings his friends from the Zangler Follies to Deadrock for a show to raise the money to pay the mortgage. Chaos ensues when both Irene and the real Bela Zangler (Evan Meigs) come to town! The plot is a bit thin but it matters not because the best part of this show is all of the classic songs by George and Ira Gershwin, including "Shall We Dance," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," "I Got Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "But Not For Me." The choreography is spectacular and I especially enjoyed watching the dancing from the talented and enthusiastic ensemble in "I Can't Be Bothered Now," "Slap That Bass" (the use of rope as lassos and strings on a bass is so fun), "Stiff Upper Lip," and "Nice Work If You Can Get It." I also loved all of the physical comedy in "What Causes That" (the kids sitting around me laughed out loud through the whole number). Jackson has a lovely voice and her versions of "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," and "But Not For Me" are incredibly poignant and show a vulnerable side to the indomitable Polly. Bronson is very charismatic and has some impressive tap dancing skills (I love to see tap dancing in a show which is why I was so excited to see this). Another standout from the cast is Billings. She only has one big number, "Naughty Baby," but she makes it count by vamping it up in a thrilling performance. This set might be my favorite that I've seen at the SCERA Shell! Very detailed set pieces rotate to become the Zangler Follies Theatre, the buildings on Main Street in Deadrock, and backstage at the Gaiety Theatre in Deadrock and the backdrops, featuring the New York skyline and the red rocks of the desert, are visually stunning. All of the period costumes are great but I really liked the glitzy showgirl costumes and the colorful cowboy shirts. I highly recommend getting a ticket to this entertaining song and dance extravaganza during its run at the SCERA Shell (go here) because it is the perfect way to spend a summer evening (especially if you are an old-school musical theatre fan). Who could ask for anything more?

Green Border

I have very strong opinions about the treatment of refugees around the world so I knew that seeing Green Border at the Broadway last night would be upsetting, and it was, but I am glad that I did because it is a compassionate portrayal of people willing to do whatever they can to help those who have been unlucky enough to be born with the wrong passport.  Refugees from Africa and the Middle East are lured to Belarus by the dictator Alexander Lukashenko with promises of easy passage to the EU.  However, when they arrive, they are dumped by border guards in a treacherous forested area between Belarus and Poland as a political stunt.  Border guards in Poland, who fear that these refugees are terrorists sent by Lukashanko, transport them back to Belarus in the middle of the night only to be returned again.  This never ending cycle is shown from the perspectives of a Syrian family, including Bashir (Jalal Altawil), his father (Mohamad Al Rashi), his wife Amina (Dalia Naous), his son Nur (Taim Ajjan), and his daughter Ghalia (Talia Ajjan), trying to join a relative in Sweden, a Polish border guard named Jan (Tomasz Wlosok) struggling with the implications of what he is being asked to do, a group of activists, including sisters Marta (Monika Frajczyk) and Zuku (Jasmina Polak), trying to do what they can to help but fearful of being arrested, and a woman living near the forest named Julia (Maja Ostaszewska) willing to help the refugees no matter the cost.  The black and white cinematography, the narrative based on actual events and real people, and the authentic performances from the cast (most of whom worked for little or no compensation) make this seem like a documentary with very real and very high stakes.  I was incredibly moved by scenes depicting humanity both at its worst and at its best.  Of the former, I was particularly struck by a group of border guards who demand that a refugee pay 50 euros for a bottle of water and then pour it out in front of her because, even though there are more harrowing scenes, it is so cruel and petty.  Of the latter, I was moved to tears by a scene showing a group of boys interacting with the teens from the family who rescued them because it shows how similar they are despite their backgrounds.  This is a movie that is definitely going to stay with me for a long time, especially since this is still happening on the border between Belarus and Poland, and I highly recommend it.

Daddio

Another trailer that really caught my attention was the one for Daddio so I decided to see it at the Broadway last night.  It is a dialogue heavy two-hander that takes place in one location in real time but it is far more compelling than it has any right to be!  A young woman (Dakota Johnson) lands at JFK and gets into a cab driven by Clark (Sean Penn) for the ride home to midtown Manhattan.  At first the two of them engage in desultory small talk but, when they are detained for an extended period of time by a serious accident on the highway, he begins asking probing questions about her life and relationships.  She pushes back against his unsolicited advice but, when he suggests that he is the perfect person to talk to because she will never see him again, she opens up which allows both of them to share a profound human connection.  The script is incredibly intelligent with razor sharp insights about the dynamic between men and women that are sure to provoke lots of conversations.  Both Johnson and Penn give brilliant and highly nuanced performances (in my opinion Johnson is an outstanding actress when given the right material) and their chemistry with each other is authentic as they spar back and forth.  Even though almost all of the action takes place inside a cab, the cinematography is very dynamic with shots that alternate between Johnson and Penn and employ many different angles and perspectives (I loved the use of the rear view mirror).  I also really loved the moody original score because it adds another layer of subtext to the dialogue.  This might not be for everyone because it requires a lot of engagement but my attention never wavered and I would highly recommend it (with the caveat that there is a lot of profanity).

Janet Planet

I was intrigued by the trailer for Janet Planet so I decided to see it at the Broadway yesterday.  I was really impressed with the performances but I sometimes found it very tedious to sit through.  Janet (Julianne Nicholson) is a free-spirited acupuncturist living in rural Massachusetts with her precocious 11-year-old daughter Lacy (Zoe Ziegler).  During the summer of 1991 Janet has an ill-fated relationship with a withdrawn and troubled boyfriend (Will Patton), reconnects with an old friend (Sophie Okonedo) who is fleeing a new age commune, and pursues a friendship with the guru (Elias Koteas) of this commune.  Lacy cannot bear to be away from her mother (she begs to come home from summer camp and even pretends to be sick to delay going back to school) but she spends most of her time on the periphery of Janet's life while silently judging her choices.  This is a very impressionistic examination of a codependent relationship between a mother and daughter in which newcomer Ziegler brilliantly portrays the loneliness of a child who inhabits an adult world while Nicholson is heartbreaking as a mother who loves her child but is being suffocated by her neediness.  The narrative is incredibly thin and, while that is not necessarily a bad thing, the characters need to be compelling to sustain interest.  Unfortunately, I found them both to be unlikable (Janet is aimless and Lacy is manipulative) and there isn't any growth or resolution (I was actually stunned when the credits started rolling).  The images are beautiful and I liked the use of natural sound instead of an original score but the pacing is so boring deliberate that my mind wandered frequently (I get that many of these scenes are meant to mimic the boredom of a child spending the summer with only adults for company but that makes it boring for the audience, as well).  I am definitely in the minority but this just didn't do anything for me.

Fly Me to the Moon

Last night my sister and I went to an early access screening of Fly Me to the Moon (another movie on my sister's list) and we both really enjoyed it!  With support for NASA's mission to the moon waning, a marketing expert named Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) is brought in to improve public opinion and ensure continued funding from Congress, much to the dismay of the launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum).  As the launch date approaches, the White House fears what a failure will mean for US-Soviet relations so Jones is coerced by a government official, Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson), to create a simulation of the moon landing as a contingency plan.  However, Jones comes to believe in the importance of the mission, and develops feelings for Davis, so will she continue to fake it?  This is a fun and lighthearted romantic comedy, with a charming performance from Johansson and amazing chemistry between her and Tatum (even though I did have a hard time believing that Tatum was smart enough to be a director at NASA), and it is a lot funnier than I was expecting (I laughed out loud every time Jim Rash appeared on the screen as the flamboyant director of the fake moon landing).  This also has more substance than I was expecting with a dark backstory for Jones and a more poignant one for Davis that really informs the decisions that they make.  The story is also really compelling because the filmmakers manage to create a lot of suspense about the moon landing (even though we all think we know what happened).  I loved the 1960s aesthetic in the production design, especially the clothes, hairstyles, and cars, and I was impressed with all of the scenes at NASA, particularly the launch of the rocket.  This is an incredibly entertaining summer blockbuster that I highly recommend!