Held in the exquisite, community-driven Temple M in Sugar Hill, Harlem, “Eulogy for the Blackman”, directed by Michele Baldwin portrays the anonymous memoirs of various faces of the modern-day African-American male and is ironically held in a one time religious refuge on 141st and Amsterdam. In the first scene, Reginald L. Barnes prepares the audience with a dramatic and stereotypically comedic eulogy for a nameless man/men whom he had never met. Playwright Jamal Williams watched his well-written original from the mid-1990’s launch its second run on May 29th, 2009 with contemporary revisions including mentions of the 44th president and Osama bin Laden. The four cast members (two male and two female) performed their hearts-out, each breathing life into more characters than can be counted on one hand.
The intimate essence of community theatre resonated with an organic kitchen serving a homemade dish and non-alcoholic ginger-fizz that included herbs grown in the breath-taking garden, a true sanctuary in Harlem planted by French owner, Michel Madie . Blending the venue, production, and home cooking this event has the sense of transcending community and art into the living room of your own apartment…you will laugh, you may cry, and you should eat.
Salvador Dali has been in several documentaries, and directed and designed sets for many abstracts films, but Little Ashes is one of the first films about Dali’s life. Little Ashes opened up in New York theaters Friday, May 8th. Paul Morrison produced and Phillippa Goslett wrote the film that stars Robert Pattinson as Salvidor Dali , Javier Beltran as Frederico Garcia Lorca , and Matthew McNulty who plays Lui Burfuel. The three men along with Margarita (played by Marina Gatell) made up one of the most elite socialite groups in Madrid during the 1920′s.
The film follows the four friends as they struggle to define themselves as artists, and individuals in a world on the verge of change. One would think it would follow Dali as he breaks through the art world and becomes the famous surrealist painter that we know today. Instead, it sheds light on a side of the artist that he did not let on to until he found himself on his death bed, the relationship between Dali and Garcia Lorca.
Astoundingly expressive and entertainingly provocative, Little Ashes, quite surprisingly, won my fondest affection. I was taken aback by how keen Robert Pattinson was as Dali. I found his likeness decently believable and was shaken, even, by several moments in the film. Javier Beltran as Frederico Garcia Lorca was intoxicating, a beautiful actor and one I hope to see much more of. I encourage you to check this film out, as I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Lewis & Clark opened up for Bat For Lashes last Thursday at The Bowery Ballroom. The Pennsylvania folk band geared the crowd up perfectly for Bat For Lashes’ cosmic set. Unfortunately for the band by the time they were done playing we were all ready to shut up and listen to some music.
Amongst glowing plastic angels and a miniature version of the leg lamp in A Christmas Story, Bat For Lashes played one of the best shows I have ever seen. The intoxicating Natasha Kahn commanded your attention with her killer outfit and goosebump inducing voice. Aside from Morrissey fans, I have never seen New Yorkers that giddy. Glittered cheek fans danced their tales off to”Glass,” ”Horse and I,” “Whats A Girl To Do?” and “Pearls Dream” and listened with adoration to more intimate tracks like “Sleep Alone,” “Traveling Woman,” and “Peace of Mind.”
Society’s obsession with physical beauty and the ways in which it can wound people has been a subject on playwright Neil LaBute’s mind with works such as “Shape of Things” and “Fat Pig” and now his third, “reasons to be pretty“, which opened on Broadway April 2nd.
The play opens with Steph (Marin Ireland) and Greg (Thomas Sadoski), the protagonist of the story, in a heated word against word argument which ends with Steph calling the relationship over, moving out and moving on. It follows the ex-couple and their two friends as they struggle with their dead-end, blue collar jobs and ask questions like what does it mean to be a man? and what is the real gain in beauty, anyhow? LaBute, in a note, said, “it’s the first coming-of-age story [he's] written”. It’s about “making choices that are hard and adult and not easy.” Shaken by the break-up, Greg is forced to reexamine his life and the type of person he has become.
Piper Perabo plays Carly, an attractive security guard who is married to Kent, played by the quite astonishingly great actor Steven Pasquale. The raw and, at times, quite brilliantly awkward acting is so cleverly and simply enhanced by the scenic design of David Gallo.
Grab tickets. reasons to be pretty will be showing at the Lyceum Theatre until early September. Maybe post viewing you’ll dance a little harder, sing a little louder, talk a little more freely because life is about being brave and standing up for what we believe in.
April 7th marked the release of a piece of art. Youth Group, the Aussie band most famous for it’s 2006 single “Forever Young”, has done it again with The Night Is Ours. It is the fourth album for the platinum selling band and is a sure stand out from the rest. Tony Martin’s articulate statement of lyric is what distinguishes this Indie Pop Rock band from the rest. With tracks like “Friedrichstrasse” and “What Is A Life?”, it is undeniable that the album branches out into a deeper, darker side of the group yet maintaining the luminescent quality that has always allowed Youth Group to radiate through our hearts. It’s the magic of opposition that keeps us yearning for more from them. They pain your sole while making you smile.
Youth Group will be playing their last night of residency at Pianos for a very low ticketing price. I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity, leave weekday evening TV in your living room and venture out to Manhattan’s SOHO. Last week Fend covered the Tuesday night affair and found the small room in Pianos(despite the rain) packed with eager fans. Youth Group played some oldies like “Shadowland” and tracks from their new album, “Two Sides,” “All This Will Pass,” and “A Sign.” Although its clear we are all aging, for a moment even if its brief, you felt as though you really could live forever.
Interview with Youth Group’s Bassist Patrick Matthews:
Fend: Youth Group has taken up residency at Pianos, what are the benefits to a band doing something like that? How has the experience been so far? Where are you guys headed next?
The best thing about the Pianos residency is that we can play in NYC
four weeks in a row and live on the LES for 5 weeks. We’d be drinking at
Pianos anyway so we thought we might as well play a show or four there.
Another advantage of the residency is that you can build up a bit of an
audience over the month and also overcome some of those flukes of timing
that occur on trips – like when it snows the night you hit town and
everyone stays indoors!
We start a cross-country tour in May heading West!
Fend: Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?
The last couple of shows has seen three of us waiting around near the
stage for the fourth member, Danny (drums), to come meet us. We
experimented with an pre-show a capella version of “The Lion Sleeps
Tonight” but it didn’t take as a bonding ritual. It’s still around in
joke-form.
Fend: It has been said that the name Youth Group is a twist on the band Teenage Fanclub, true or false?
It could be true. Seriously tho’, no one remembers how it started – it’s
too long ago. It seems these days the name is meant to spur certain
types of people to say something along the lines of “You don’t look that
young”.
Fend: What inspired The Night is Ours to sound more somber than your past records? How do you think recording the album on a ship effected the tone?
Truth be told we only recorded some nautical noises, some clanging in
the hull, on the boat (a decrepit metal lighthouse-tender). The actual
recording of songs went on in a building, a 1920′s hall, just up the hill
from the ship. This hall overlooked a quiet backwater of Sydney Harbour
where the profoundly unseaworthy boat was moored. I didn’t think, myself
being quite cynical, that the location would have an influence on the sound
of a record – I thought a studio was a studio – but I’m intrigued to this day by
the fact that the album has this watery, echoey mood. It’s a bit of a mystery
but it’s no accident I suppose.
Fend: Youth Group has been together since the late ’90s, how have changes in the music industry since then effected you guys as a band?
The biggest changes in the music industry for me is the democratisation
of music with home-recording on PCs and myspace profiles etc. It’s like
the full realisation of punk. The other thing is the internet and
ipods killing off the CD and record stores. I guess Youth Group is
managing/coping in the digital age. We’ve got at least one member who can
use Pro-Tools and sampling software etc. so we’re not digitally excluded.
But I guess I have a real affinity for bands like The Walkmen who sound
like they’ve never even touched a mouse.
Fend: Acknowledging that all of your work is something to be proud of, do you have an all time favorite song to play live?
It’s 1979 on Long Island and Lyme disease has the suburban neighborhood on edge after neighbor Charlie (Timothy Hutton) has been diagnosed with the ailment. The onset of the disease spurs, out of necessity, his wife (Cynthia Nixon) to go work for the real estate company of next door neighbor Mickey Bartlett (Alec Baldwin). The two families’ intertwining relationships address love and lust, an idea that would seem to have no angles left unseen. Brothers Derick and Steven Martini as writers of the film, prove to have a fresh take on a concept that would seem to be obvious. The direction of Derick Martini is straightforward yet subtle, moving the film on unexpected paths and positions.
Rory Culkin as Scott Bartlett, son of Mickey and Brenda (Jill Hennessey) is sensational. It is obvious that Martini has an inherent eye for talent. His casting is impeccable, his scoring is sentimental, and his story line is inventively vivid. Lymelife won the coveted International Critics Award at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was released April 8th in NY and LA theaters. Check your local listings for a release near you. It’s a 2009 film you don’t want slipping by.
Exit The King, Le Roi se meurt, is a drama of absurdity where King Berenger the First struggles to come to terms with his 400 year reign coming to an end. Berenger was at one point able to command nature and force his will upon others, but when the audience meets Berenger he has been made aware that death is around the corner, his powers are slowly dwindling and his kingdom is falling. Geoffrey Rush is unbelievably endearing as the king, personifying a sort of irritating distress while remaining unquestionably lovable. Susan Sarandon and Lauren Ambrose, as the two queens of the king, maintain their polarized demeanors, creating continual depth and understanding.
Exit the King sets itself apart from “the Berenger Cycle” in that as the play progresses the characters start to dwindle, where in every other play by Euguene Ionesco progression leads to more and more characters and objects on stage. Ionesco has said he wrote Exit the King while he was sick and frightened of death which could atone for its break away from the avant-garde and its lean more towards the classical.
Under the direction of Neil Armfield and music by John Rodgers, stars like Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose and Andrea Martin, hands down, make the 14 week engagement one you don’t want to miss.
Lewis & Clark opened up for Bat For Lashes last Thursday at The Bowery Ballroom. The Pennsylvania folk band geared the crowd up perfectly for Bat For Lashes’ cosmic set. Unfortunately for the band by the time they were done playing we were all ready to shut up and listen to some music.
Amongst glowing plastic angels and a miniature version of the leg lamp in A Christmas Story, 
April 7th marked the release of a piece of art. 
Exit The King
