An Awkward "Awkward Moment"

Bromance Blooms in “That Awkward Moment”

By Skip Sheffield

The best I can say about “That Awkward Moment” is that it is not as lame as I feared. It actually has some laughs.

The film is aimed at twenty-someings, but we have all been there.

Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan star as three best friends in New York City. Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) work as book jacket designers and Mikey (Jordan) is a doctor.

Designing book jackets must really be lucrative, because the guys have a big, groovy pad down in Chelsea. The “Award Moment” of the title, written by first-time director Tom Gormican, is the point in time when a woman asks a man: is this serious?, or is it just a passing fancy?

For Jason and Daniel, just chasing girls is fine. Mikey has made the commitment of marriage to beautiful Vera (Jessica Lucas), but she has cheated on him and fallen for another man. She wants a divorce.

So like the men of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” the three modern musketeers make a pledge to swear off serious relationships and just have fun.

That’s easier said than done, especially when a guy finds himself falling for someone special.

For Jason it is Ellie, played by the adorably imperfect Imogen Poots. Ellie is a rich girl who has a job in that same lucrative field of publishing. For Daniel it is his gal pal Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis), who is quickly becoming more than just a friend.

Mikey still moons over Vera, and spends most of the film secretly trying to woo her back.

That’s pretty much it, except for standard frat-boy rude sex, booze and bathroom humor. While Zac Efron is the top-billed star, it is Miles Teller who is by far the more interesting actor. Unlike pretty boy Efron (who has put on a bit of weight, ladies), Teller has “character,” not the least of which are the prominent scars on his face and neck, resulting from a horrific car accident.

Michael B. Jordan is one super good-looking dude, and if you’ve seen “Fruitville Station” you know he can act, but his Mikey as written is the least interesting character.

In all “That Awkward Moment” is fair to middling. It could have been worse.

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"Aftermath" of Polish Holocaust

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The “Aftermath” of Evil

By Skip Sheffield

“Aftermath” is set in 2000, but the story, inspired by Jan Gross’ “Neighbors,” is firmly rooted in the Holocaust of World War II.

More than any other country, Poland was affected by the Nazi persecution of Jews. There once were 3 million Jews in Poland. A large number of those were part of the 6 million or more souls lost to the Holocaust.

Co-written and directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski in 2012, “Aftermath” tells the back story of 120 of those martyred souls in a small Polish town.

Pasikowski fashions the story as a mystery-thriller centered on brothers Franciszek (Ireneusz Czop) and Jozef (Maciej Stuhr) Kalina. Franciszek had left the town and fled to America 20 years ago, after the death of his father. Jozef remained in Poland, tending the family farm.

The film begins with the return of Franciszek to his home town to investigate strange circumstances involving his brother, whose wife has recently left him. Shortly after disembarking the bus, Franciszek’s luggage is stolen. It is a sign of more trouble to come.

Josef is in trouble with local authorities for destroying a road. The reason Josef ripped off the asphalt was that he discovered the road’s foundation was made with tombstones from a now-vanished Jewish cemetery. Though Josef is a devout Catholic, his moral outrage is such that he has taken it upon himself to save and restore the tombstones and recreate the cemetery.

This does not set well with the villagers. “Accidents” begin to happen to the Kalina brothers. When it comes time to harvest the wheat the community’s harvester is mysteriously “broken.” When the brothers decide to harvest the wheat the old-fashioned way, by hand, the field catches fire.

As the hostility of the villagers rises, so does the animosity between the two brothers. If it weren’t for the town’s kindly, tolerant older priest (Jerzy Radziwilowiez) the Kalina brothers would have no friends at all.

The truth is the town holds a terrible secret, and Jozef’s mission to make reparations to murdered Jews threatens to expose that secret.

“Aftermath” is quite controversial in Poland and banned outright in some places because it is perceived as anti-Polish. The truth of the matter is the Nazis were not the only villains in the Holocaust. They were aided and abetted by sympathizers and people fearful for their own self-preservation. An evil as monstrous as the Holocaust was, it tainted all around it. Rather than being anti-Polish, this film screams “Never again!”

Three stars

 

See "Parade," Get Educated

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See “Parade” and Gain Understanding

By Skip Sheffield

It sounds like a rather dubious premise for a musical. Man is unjustly accused of a heinous murder. Same man is exonerated of charges, yet falls victim to bigoted vigilantes.

Surprise, “Parade” has its lovely and loving moments and is always riveting entertainment. Slow Burn Theatre presents this little-known 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical through Feb. 9 at West Boca Raton High School Auditorium.

The book, by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown, is based on the true-life incident that rocked Atlanta in 1913. A man named Leo Frank, who managed a pencil factory, was accused of raping and murdering one of his employees, a girl named Mary Phagan. She was just short of her 14^th birthday. Thanks to an over zealous, politically ambitious prosecutor named Hugh Dorsey and an anti-Semitic newspaper writer named Tom Watson, the proudly Jewish Leo Frank was railroaded into a guilty verdict.

That was not the end of the misfortune that befell Leo Frank, as playwright Alfred Uhry and composer Jason Robert Brown meticulously recount in words and music.

“Parade” ran just 84 performances on Broadway, but courageous regional theater companies such as Slow Burn have breathed new life into the show. “The Parade” is indeed a show, directed and choreographed with compassion and understanding by Patrick Fitzwater, with precise musical accompaniment of challenging songs by Manny Schvartzman, lighting by Lance Blank, sets by Sean McClelland and costumes by Rick Pena.

Equity professional Tom Anello stars as Leo Frank, and in her first major starring role Ann Marie Olson plays his loyal wife Lucille.

The mood is set with the “Prologue: The Old Red Hills of Home.” The parade of the title is to honor Confederate soldiers. These folks are proud of their rebel heritage, and they don’t much cotton to Jew boys from New York City like Leo Frank. Though Lucille is also Jewish, she is a daughter of the South. Despite her best diplomatic efforts she cannot overcome the blind bigotry and hatred of Southerners still bitter about losing the Civil War.

Though the plot is dire, there are rays of light and hope in some of the tender ballads sung beautifully by Leo and Lucille and the marvelous Slow Burn chorus.

Slow Burn co-artistic director Matthew Korinko plays the role of despicable villain Hugh Dorsey. He does not make him a cardboard villain, but himself a victim of blind ambition.

Even more villainous is hate-mongering writer Tom Watson, played by Rick Pena doing triple duty. The always entertaining Jerel Brown also does triple duty in three widely contrasting roles.

The good news about the Leo Frank-Mary Phagan tragedy is that it led to the founding of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. The local ADL in fact held a talk-back after the first Sunday matinee.

Though it is dark and challenging, “Parade” is educational and provocative. It is yet another amazing show done by one of most daring, resourceful theater companies in South Florida.

Tickets are $40 adults, $35 seniors and $25 students. Call 866-811-4111.

 

A Loving, Lovely "42nd Street" at Wick Theatre

A Lavish, Lovely “42^nd Street” at Wick Theatre

Pure joy: that’s what the Wick Theatre production of “42^nd Street” is all about.

Wick Theatre, successor to Caldwell, has pulled out the stops for this bright, beautiful, lavishly-costumed big tap dance musical, based on the much-loved 1933 movie, which in turn was based on a novel by Bradford Ropes,

“42^nd Street” debuted in 1980 as the final effort by famed director-chorographer Gower Champion. The musical has enjoyed several revivals, but it has been several years since it has been seen in South Florida.

“42^nd Street” is essentially a Broadway star-is-born fable, with a naïve ingénue named Peggy Sawyer (the excellent Julie Kleiner) getting her one shot at stardom when a show’s vain, egotistical star Dorothy Brock (Aaron Bower) suffers an accident the day before opening night.

All of the characters are stereotypes, which is part of the show’s raffish charm. There is the bombastic, dictatorial yet realist director Julian Marsh (Jim Ballard), the seen-it-all playwright and den mother Maggie Jones (Missy McArdle), the obsequious co-author of the fictional musical “Pretty Lady” (Jeffrey Bruce), the friendly, supportive “Anytime Annie” (Alison McCartan), the rich gullible producer Abner Dillon (Alan Gerston) and the guileless juvenile male lead Billy Lawlor (Alex Jorth).

Director Norb Joerder and choreographer Ron Hutchins have cast the show with an eye for dancers, for “42^nd Street” is nothing if not a tap-dancing extravaganza. It does not disappoint. Combine this with lovable tunes like the title song, “We’re in the Money,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and the “Lullaby of Broadway” and you have a show that is virtually impossible not to like. Top it all off with the exquisite costumes from the Wick Museum and you have a theatrical treat that is downright intoxicating.

Tickets are $58 and well worth it. Call 561-995-2333 or go to www.thewick.org.

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An Afghan Veteran Comes Home to "Hummingbird Wars"

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A Funny, Topical “Hummingbird Wars” at Arts Garage

By Skip Sheffield

Two new shows stand in stark contrast this week in area theaters. “Hummingbird Wars” is onstage through Feb. 2 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.

“42^nd Street” is running through Feb. 9 at the Wick Theatre (formerly Caldwell) in Boca Raton.

The two productions could not be more different, but each is excellent in its own right.

“Hummingbird Wars” is a premiere production of playwright Carter W. Lewis’s latest work.

Lewis is a prolific, rising playwright whose work has been produced at prestigious theaters across the country, including the now-defunct Florida Stage, whose artistic director Louis Tyrrell now heads the theater program at Arts Garage.

“Hummingbird Wars,” directed by Tyrrell’s friend Greg Johnson of the Montana Repertory Theatre, is inspired by the ongoing war in Afghanistan and its aftermath.

Todd Allen Durkin plays Warren, a decorated Afghan war hero who has returned to his suburban Minnesota family. Warren’s family situation is as creaky and cracked as the foundation of their shoddy tract house.

You could say Warren is suffering from post-war traumatic stress syndrome, as he has been home a full year yet remains in a fog of depression and apathy. His family is of scant comfort. Between her job and various advocacy crusades, wife Mel (Jeri Hacker) is hardly ever at home.

Son Pete (Andrew Griner, Jr.), 15, is sullen and uncommunicative. Pete inexplicably “finds” guns in the house.

Kate (Gretchen Porro)), 19 has come out as a lesbian, and wants her girlfriend Tracy (Joline Mujica) to come and live with her.

Surprisingly “Hummingbird Wars” is quite funny, with Todd Allen Durkin basically playing a deadpan straight man to the nutty types around him. The play is quite short and performed without intermission, so if you don’t like it, you won’t have wasted much time.

Tickets are $25-$35. Call 561-450-6357.

 

Darkness in the Heartland

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A Very Dark “August: Osage County”

By Skip Sheffield

“Misery loves family”

That’s the tag line of “August: Osage County,” based on the 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, with screenplay by the playwright.

“August” is an actor’s showcase, and in this case director John Wells (“The Company Men”) has pit Meryl Streep against her entire family, but in particular eldest daughter Barbara, played by Julia Roberts.

You could call this stunt casting, because both Streep and Roberts are lovely women who are “uglied up” for their roles.

This is particularly true for matriarch Violet Weston, played by Meryl Streep. Not only is Violet a shaky, pill-popping, chain-smoking, extremely nasty person; she is dying of cancer. Streep had her head patchily shaved and dyed black with contrasting gray to simulate a chemotherapy patient. Most of the time she wears a ratty dark wig and scowls.

The family’s alcoholic, depressed patriarch, Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) was once a famous poet. Now he has disappeared and mom’s days are numbered. That’s why the family is summoned to hash things out somewhere in small-town Oklahoma.

A monumental soap opera of arguing, abuse, betrayal, cruelty, pettiness and even incest ensues. In fairness it is a first-rate cast playing horrible people. In time it is revealed that Barbara is separated from husband Bill Fordham (Ewan McGregor), a college professor who is having an affair with a young student. Violet’s sister Mattie (Margo Martindale) has a dark secret she has kept from husband Charlie (Chris Cooper) and “Little Charles” Aiken (Benedict Cumberbatch), who fancies Barbara’s younger sister Ivy (Julianne Nicholson). Middle sister Karen (Juliette Lewis) has a 14-year-old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin) who fancies pot and attracts the unwanted attention of Karen’s fiancé Steve (Dermot Mulroney).

If this all sounds intriguing, by all means see “August: Osage County.” Be advised there is no happy ending, only a final quote from one of T.S. Eliot’s darkest poems. For me, one visit was enough.

A Philosophical Romance

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Love in the Computer Age

By Skip Sheffield

And I love “Her”

It’s a line from a Beatles song and it is also the title of an oddly touching comedy-romance by director Spike Jonze (“Where The Wild Things Are”) from his original script.

This is the first time Jonze has directed his own script, and what a wildly imaginative and emotive script it is.

Jonze astutely cast Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a broken-hearted romantic who makes a living writing sentimental and sincere letters for those unwilling or unable to do it themselves at a Los Angeles company called Beautiful Letters.com. Despite the fact his longtime girlfriend has left him, Theodore continues to write convincing personal messages for anniversaries, thank-yous, condolences and so forth.

Theodore is a thorough technological geek, and when he learns about a new, extremely advanced computer operating system, he takes the plunge.

“It’s not just an operating system,” asserts the promotional pitch. “It is a consciousness.”

Psychological testing is required to power up the system so the computer will know the client’s likes, dislike, joys, sorrows and fears. The system is accessed via an ear phone and is given a voice, either male or female. Theodore chooses a female and names her Samantha.

In another astute casting decision, the voice of Samantha is spoken by Scarlett Johansson, an actress whose voice is every bit as luscious as her face and body.

Thereby lies the central dilemma for Theodore. The more Samantha knows about him and caters to his every desire and need, the more he falls in love with her- despite the fact she is not real.

This is also the source of some wry humor. Theodore’s friends think he is nutty. His ex-girlfriend (Rooney Mara) thinks he is seriously disturbed. Only Amy (Amy Adams in another inspired casting) is sympathetic to Theo’s plight.

“Her” is a witty, thoughtful movie for anyone who has loved and lost, or for anyone who just wants someone, or even just something, to love.

A Disney-Themed "Wizard of Oz"

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A Girl, Her Little Dog and “The Wizard of Oz”

By Skip Sheffield

Imagine the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” as a Disney theme park attraction. The special effects extravaganza running through Jan. 19 at Broward Center of The Arts is a lot like that.

This new version of “The Wizard of Oz” opened first in England in 2011 then had its North American premiere Dec. 20, 2012 in Toronto, where it continued through Aug. 18, 2013. It combines the best Harold Arlen-E.Y. Harburg songs from the beloved 1939 MGM movie with new tunes by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Danielle Wade, who was chosen by the Canadian public from her performance of the CBS reality show “Over the Rainbow,” is reprising her starring role as Dorothy Gale. Also reprising his Broadway role is a very talented dog named Nigel, portraying Dorothy’s scene-stealing pup Toto.

As in the movie, there is a prelude set on the Gale farm in Kansas, where we meet characters that will recur once a huge cyclone hits and lands Dorothy and her house in the Technicolor Land of Oz, crushing the Wicked Witch of the east in the process.

New songs, such as the opener “Nobody Understands Me” serve to flesh out the character of Dorothy and her motivations.

Dorothy’s sparkling ruby slippers figure even more prominently in this new book by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams. They even get their own theme song: “Red Shoes Blues,” sung by the Wicked Witch of the West and her Winkies.

Jacquelyn Pio Donovan’s Wicked Witch is curvier, sexier and funnier than Margaret Hamilton’s old prune in the movie.

The Scarecrow (Jamie McKnight), Tin Man (Mike Jackson) and Cowardly Lion (Lee MacDougal) are all younger and more attractive than their film counterparts.

Jay Brazeau is most kindly and appealing as the fraudulent Professor Marvel/Wizard of Oz.

Special effects and giant video projections play a big part in this show. As of opening night there were some problems with microphone levels, which should be sorted out by the time you read this.

None of the new tunes are as timeless and catchy as the 1939 score. Only the show’s finale, “Already Home,” is really lovely.

Speaking of lovely, Danielle Wade is, in a sweet and girlish way, though her singing is no match for the incomparable Judy Garland.

As family entertainment it is hard to fault this show, though the cinematic chemistry and magic of the 1939 movie may never be surpassed.

Tickets are $34.50-$89.50. Call 954-462-0222 or go to www.browardcenter.org.