| Movie Guide | | Posted Saturday, October 21, 2006 7:05:22 AM by Blog57 Team | | Near the end of Matthew Barney's visually spellbinding film "Drawing Restraint 9," the voice of his co-star, Bjork, repeats a life-affirming motto in broken musical phrases: "From the moment of commitment, nature conspires to help you." Those are some of the few words heard in this stately, ritualistic film, which takes place mostly on the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling ship afloat in Nagasaki Bay. A good part of the film follows Barney and Bjork, who are welcomed aboard the ship as Occidental guests and undergo elaborate preparations for a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony. These scenes infuse "Drawing Restraint 9" with an overt spiritual dimension that is a new element in Barney's work. And as a mostly nonverbal series of interconnected images with a soundtrack composed by Bjork, "Drawing Restraint 9" represents a significant advance from "The Cremaster Cycle." The uninitiated viewer can admire it simply for the majesty of its visual poetry.... | |
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| | | The car's the star | | Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006 1:17:54 AM by Blog57 Team | | IT IS, explains actress Marissa Dunlop, like going on the best fairground ride in the world. She is talking about the experience of riding in the flying car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in the musical show of the same name. The car really is the star of the musical which arrives at Liverpool's Empire Theatre for a two-month run from September 18. It does fly all over the stage carrying its passengers with it and always produces genuine gasps of amazement. The secret of its flight is just that - a secret. While cast and crew might know how it works, they are forbidden to talk about it. So it is one thing Ms Dunlop - playing the lovely Truly Scrumptious in the show - declines to reveal. .... | |
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| | | Open call for musical unity | | Posted Saturday, September 02, 2006 7:25:46 AM by Blog57 Team | | So I saw Hank Williams Jr. for the first time last weekend at the Coliseum. He played well, and delivered the knockout performance that he's known for. For the life of me though, I couldn't stop people-watching. It was fascinating seeing people who, under normal circumstances, are rational, polite and sane, change into something more akin to a six-foot-tall rhesus monkey. That got me to thinking about my own behavior at concerts, and the near-total behavioral change that overcomes some people when they attend live concerts with their friends. And we can't forget the beer. You're all thinking it. I'm just saying it. My own musical and fashion senses lie far from Bocephus and his fans. I'm a little bit (OK, more than a little) rock 'n' roll, they're a little bit country.... | |
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| | | Stage Scene for July 28, 2006 | | Posted Saturday, July 29, 2006 1:05:19 PM by Blog57 Team | | All reviews are by Chad Jones unless noted. Community theater productions aren't given star ratings. Here's the system: (four stars) ? don't miss it; (three stars) ? good show; (two stars) ? worth a look; (one star) ? stay home; (no stars) ? worthless drek Here's what's going on in Bay Area theater: Opening this week "Annie Get Your Gun" ? That rootin', tootin', shootin' wild woman claims you can't get a man with a gun, but she may be wrong. Find out as Foothill Music Theatre lassos Irving Berlin's classic musical. Previews today. Opens Saturday. Continues through Aug. 20 at Smithwick Theatre at Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. $10-$24. (650) 949-7360; http://www.foothillmusicals.com. "The Imaginary Invalid" ? Moliere's classic French farce is performed outdoors under the stars by Las Positas College.... | |
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| | | Deaf Man Hoofing: An Irreverent Start | | Posted Monday, July 24, 2006 3:06:38 PM by Blog57 Team | | You know you've found the Capital Fringe Festival when (a) you're watching an irreverent musical written and performed by a man who's lost most of his hearing, and (b) he has the whole happy audience doing a "strangedance" -- a random limb thrusting connoting the joy that absolutely has to be mined out of life. Apparently that's a hard-won attitude for Jay Alan Zimmerman, the creator, sole performer and subject of "Jay Alan Zimmerman's Incredibly Deaf Musical." Shortly after establishing himself as a professional composer, Zimmerman started losing his hearing; it's now limited to the lower portion of the piano keyboard and very little speech. .... | |
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