It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

I love Jeff Buckley's voice and I really loved seeing the documentary about his life and music, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, at Sundance this year (it prompted me to listen to his album Grace, which is a masterpiece, on repeat for a month afterwards).  I decided that I needed to see it again now that it is in wide release and it was the second film in my double feature at the Broadway last night.  What I love about this documentary is that is framed from the perspectives of the women in his life who loved him.  His mother Mary Guibert details her struggle to raise him as a single mother and the difficult relationship he had with his father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, who abandoned him but also overshadowed him.  His girlfriend, experimental artist Rebecca Moore, recalls meeting him at a tribute concert for his father and describes their time together in the Lower East Side of Manhattan where he would spontaneously play at small cafes, such as Sin-é, which drew huge crowds and eventually brought him a record deal with Columbia.  She talks about his need to prove himself, his fight for complete artistic control, and the demise of their relationship due to his relentless touring schedule.  Another girlfriend, musician Joan Wasser, describes the intense pressure he felt to produce another album after the critical acclaim of Grace, the fight against his inner demons (now believed to be a chemical imbalance), and his move to Memphis in an attempt to find the peace needed to write new music before his tragic death.  These women, as well as friends and band members, provide deeply personal and emotional memories of Buckley and hearing them talk about losing him at such a young age makes his death even more heartbreaking (seeing his mother listen to the last message he left on her answering machine brought a tear to my eye).  I loved the use of never-before-seen footage of his performances as well as his own words and doodles from his journals.  If you are a fan of Jeff Buckley, this is definitely a must-see!

Note:  Stay through the credits for a bonus performance including, among other songs, an acoustic version of my favorite Buckley song "Last Goodbye" (sigh).

Cloud

Last night I decided to see a double feature at the Broadway and I began with Cloud because the trailer was so intriguing to me.  It is an intense and compelling psychological thriller and I honestly had no idea what would happen next at any given moment!  Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) has a menial job in a Tokyo factory but he also has a side gig as an internet reseller.  After he scams a couple (Masaaki Akahori and Maho Yamada) desperate to sell their health devices and makes a massive profit after marking them up on his resell site, he decides to quit his job, even after his boss (Yoshiyoshi Arakawa) offers him a promotion, and cut ties with the friend (Masataka Kubota) who introduced him to the resell business.  He moves to a large and luxurious house in a suburb, which angers the locals, with his girlfriend (Kotone Furukowa), who soon grows bored and leaves, and hires a personal assistant (Daiken Okudaira), who he eventually fires for snooping into his business.  As Yoshii becomes more and more unethical in his dealings, several of those with grievances against him are able to connect through an online forum created by his disgruntled customers in order to dox him and this culminates in an epic shootout in an abandoned warehouse.  The first two acts are a very slow burn as Yoshii antagonizes the people in his life in an attempt to create a better life for himself but then the final act turns into a tension-filled action sequence with so many twists and turns that it is almost impossible to keep track of anyone's motivations (there were audible gasps from my audience).  The character of Yoshii is absolutely fascinating because I initially found him to be unsympathetic, especially when he is ambivalent about selling knock-off designer products to unsuspecting customers for exorbitant prices, but then I questioned the extreme response of those with grievances against him and actively rooted for him to succeed in the ensuing battle but then found the ambiguity of his fate to be strangely satisfying (Suda's performance is understated but riveting).  I also found the cautionary tale about digital actions having analog consequences to be fascinating because people often hide behind seemingly anonymous user names to say and do things online they wouldn't have the courage for face to face.  I was captivated by this (even more than I was anticipating) and I highly recommend it!

Hello, Dolly! at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

Last night I spent a lovely evening under the stars at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre seeing a charming production of Hello, Dolly! This is a really fun old fashioned show with big song and dance numbers and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the turn of the century, the irascible Horace Vandergelder (Bryan Harper) decides to get married again so he will have someone to do all of the chores at his Hay & Feed Store in Yonkers, New York. His niece Ermengarde (Capri Gallacher) wants to marry an artist named Ambrose Kemper (Coleman Rowberry) but Vandergelder objects because he doesn't have a steady income. His clerk Cornelius Hackl (Jacob Nilson) is longing for an adventure in New York City so he convinces his fellow clerk Barnaby Tucker (Joey Thompson) to come along with him and they vow not to return to Yonkers until they have both kissed a girl. They soon meet Irene Molloy (Chloe Henry), who owns a millinery shop in NYC but wants a rich husband to take her away because she hates hats, and her excitable assistant Minnie Fay (Rebecca Varney). A recently widowed matchmaker named Dolly Gallagher Levi (Allison Brooks) is hired to find a wife for Vandergelder but she decides that she wants to marry him herself. She just needs to convince him! She eventually arranges for all of the couples to meet for a memorable evening at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in NYC and merriment ensues. One of the biggest highlights of this show for me was the live orchestra, under the baton of Marden Pond, because they sounded absolutely amazing! Another highlight was Brooks because she gives an incredibly charismatic performance as the irrepressible Dolly. She has a beautiful voice, especially in the song "Before the Parade Passes Me By," and she does a great job with all of the choreography but I loved her facial expressions as she bamboozles Vandergelder at the Harmonia Gardens because they are hilarious. Honorable mentions go to Henry, who also has a beautiful voice in the songs "Ribbons Down My Back" and "It Only Takes a Moment," and Thompson because he is an amazing dancer in "Dancing" and "Elegance" (it is really impressive how high he can kick). The energetic choreography is a lot of fun and the ensemble looks like they are having a blast in "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," and "Hello, Dolly!" (I loved the kickline). The set featuring pastel colored storefronts, several of which open up to become Vandergelder's Hay & Feed Store, Irene Molloy's Millinery Shop, and the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, in both Yonkers and New York City is fantastic and the period costumes, especially the opulent red gown worn by Dolly at the Harmonia Gardens, are dazzling. I really love these classic musicals and I definitely recommend getting a ticket for this production (go here) before the parade passes you by! It runs at the SCERA Shell on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through August 19.

Weapons

Last night my nephew and I went to see Weapons at the Broadway with a large and enthusiastic crowd and we both really enjoyed it.  Seventeen children from the same third-grade class at Maybrook Elementary School wake up at the exact same time in the early hours of the morning and disappear from their homes.  This event is viewed from the perspectives of Justine Gandy (Julia Garner), the teacher of all of the children who disappeared, Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), the grieving father of one of the missing children who blames Justine for the disappearances, Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), a troubled police officer involved with Justine, James (Austin Abrams), a homeless addict arrested and then assaulted by Paul, Marcus Miller (Benedict Wong), the principal of Maybrook Elementary School, and Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the only student in Justine's class who did not disappear.  All of their stories converge with Alex's great-aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) when she comes to stay with his family.  This is not as scary as I thought it would be but it is very unsettling and the use of different POVs that continually reframe the information creates an escalating sense of dread.  It is more like a mystery thriller with elements of horror and dark comedy (my audience laughed out loud multiple times) thrown in but the central mystery is incredibly compelling because I really wanted to know what happened to the children and I wanted to know how all of the characters were connected to their disappearance.  Unlike other recent horror films that come undone in the third act after slowly building an atmosphere of unease, the resolution of the mystery really worked for me and the final sequence is both disturbing and oddly satisfying.  The theme that collective trauma can be weaponized to cause even more violence is extremely thought-provoking and I was particularly struck by the need to find a scapegoat.  Everyone in the ensemble cast is outstanding but I especially enjoyed the intense and unhinged performance from Madigan and I was also very impressed by Christopher because he has such a haunting presence.  The hype for this is real and I definitely recommend it to fans of the genre (try to see it with a crowd).

Note:  I loved the use of "Beware of Darkness" by George Harrison in the opening sequence.

Daddy Long Legs at CPT

I fell in love with the musical Daddy Long Legs when I saw a production at HCT several years ago so I was thrilled to see that it was part of the 2025 season at CPT on the second stage. I tried to convince my sisters to get tickets with me to no avail (although they did get tickets to Pride and Prejudice on the second stage later this year) so I went on my own last night. CPT's production is absolutely enchanting and I loved it! At the turn of the century, Jervis Pendleton (Jacob Coates) is a young and wealthy trustee of the John Grier Home. An essay written by Jerusha Abbott (Mackenzie Turner), the oldest orphan at the home, impresses him and he decides to send her to college so she can achieve her dream of becoming a writer. He will pay her tuition and all of her living expenses on the condition that he remain anonymous and that she writes him a letter once a month informing him of her progress. Since she doesn't know his name, she refers to him as Daddy Long Legs because of the tall shadow she saw when he left the orphanage and he finds her letters to be charming. Against his better judgement he meets her without revealing that he is her benefactor and then falls in love with her. Jerusha also falls in love with him but, when she pours her heart out about her feelings for Jervis Pendleton in her letters to Daddy Long Legs, it creates confusion as he struggles to decide whether to reveal himself to her. I really love Jerusha as a character because she has such a thirst for knowledge and for new experiences so I definitely relate to her. I also love her growth and development as a character because, by the end of the show, she proves herself to be her benefactor's equal and he ultimately feels like she has given him far more than he gave her. Both Turner and and Coates, who have beautiful voices, give incredibly dynamic performances because they, quite literally, carry the show by themselves. Turner is so much fun to watch because of her wide-eyed wonder and her palpable yearning for more, especially in the songs "Like Other Girls" (my favorite in the show) and "Things I Didn't Know." Coates is also fun to watch because of his facial expressions, particularly his smitten awkwardness when Jervis and Jerusha first meet, his exasperation when he attempts to write to Jerusha only to throw the letters in the trash, and his jealousy every time Jerusha mentions her roommate's brother. The set features a large curving bookcase and window seat upstage and this creates an elaborate study for Jervis on one side as well as a location for the live band (Jason Anderson on guitar, Risa Bean on cello, and Jackie Ward on piano) on the other side. There are a series of platforms downstage with trunks and suitcases that are configured and reconfigured to become multiple locations for Jerusha. I think this is very clever because it shows Jerusha's transformation throughout the show. Jerusha's costumes and hairstyles are also very effective at showing her growth because they become more and more embellished and elaborate as the show progresses (I loved the attention to detail because her first costume at the orphanage has frayed hems and is too big for her). I had a smile on my face the whole time while watching this delightful show and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs on the second stage through September 2.