A Fresh Look at west Side Story

“West Side Story’ Finds a New Voice from an Old Source

By Skip Sheffield


As written, “West Side Story” is frozen in the amber of a bygone era of the mid-50s in New York City.
One the other hand the much-beloved musical revival that plays through Feb. 27 at Broward Center is a timeless love story borrowed freely from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and updated with some new twists.
The national touring production in residence in Fort Lauderdale is both old and new.
Arthur Laurents, the original librettist (with composer Leonard Bernstein and lyricist Stephen Sondheim) rewrote parts of the dialogue and lyrics in Spanish to complement the original English.
Laurents should be considered a national treasure. He also directed the Broadway show that opened in March, 2009 and just closed in January of this year. The national tour is directed by David Saint, the Broadway associate director.
This is the third major revival of a record-breaking, boundary-breaking, multi-Tony Award-winning show that opened on Broadway in 1957. If you count the 1961 movie, this would make it the fourth.
The bilingual dialogue makes sense considering half the characters are Puerto Rican. Most of us, especially down here, are used to hearing Spanish.
The original Jerome Robbins choreography has been restaged and in subtle ways re-envisioned by Joey McKneeley (“The Boy From Oz”).
As a result this “West Side Story” takes a fresh look at a musical theater classic more than 50 years old.
In the Romeo role of Tony is Kyle Harris, who is in a world terrific. I didn’t get to see Larry Kert in the original, but vocally Harris is the strongest Tony I’ve seen. Dramatically, as the smitten, conflicted leader of the Anglo gang The Jets, though a bit pretty, Harris is sufficiently believable as a romantic tough guy.
In the Juliet role of Maria is Ali Ewoldt, a lovely, delicate soprano who thrills the most when she is hitting operatic high notes.
Anita, the fiery older sister of Maria, is played with passion and depth of conviction by Michelle Aravena. This is the spotlight-stealing role that made stars of both Chita Rivera in the original and Rita Moreno in the movie, and Aravena goes toe-to-toe with these theatrical legends.
Anita needs a strong Bernardo, and German Santiago is just that guy; the proud, fearless but fair leader of the Puerto Rican gang The Sharks.
There are other joys in the show: Joseph J. Simeone in the Tybalt role of Riff; Alexandra Frohlinger as the tomboy Anybodys, who stuns with a gorgeous soprano on the reprise of “Somewhere,” and the entire singing and dancing cast, backed by a small but rich orchestra.
There may be some naysayers who contend “This is not the West Side Story I know and love,” but I dissent. Musical theater is a living, breathing, growing thing, and this is proof there is a lot of life yet in this contemporary classic.
Tickets are $25-$69 and may be reserved by calling 954-462-0222 or by going to www.broadwayacrossamerica.com.

Janiva Magness at Boston's

This appeared in Boca Raton Tribune last week, but I thought I would post it here for local FB friends. Janiva Magness is pretty special.

Speaking of Buddy Guy (who headlined the Garlic Festival in Delray Beach Saturday), he was the headliner at the very first Riverwalk Blues Festival in 1987. Back then the festival was held in the parking lot of the now-defunct Musicians Exchange.
Now the 22nd annual Riverwalk Blues Festival is set in the lovely Riverwalk area of Fort Lauderdale on the New River at Andrews Avenue Friday through Sunday. Music begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday with Big Poppa E and the E Band followed by Blues Dragon at 8:30 p.m. and the John Nemeth band at 10 p.m.
Big City Blues Band leads the action at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Headliners are Janiva Magness at 6:30 p.m. and Robert Randolph and the Family Band at 8:30 p.m.
Gates open at 11 a.m. Sunday Headliners are Superchikan and the Fighting Cocks at 6:30 p.m. and Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers at 8:30 p.m.
There is a lot more than this going on. Go to the web site at www.riverwalkbluesfestival.homestead to check it out.

Singer Janiva Magness is also playing Boston’s in Delray Beach at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15 as part of Frank Ward’s Blue Tuesday.
Lovely Janiva is a real blues survivor of the suicide of both her parents when she was just 16; an early pregnancy and the trauma of giving her infant up for adoption and homelessness before she found her focus in the blues. She is now one of the shining stars at Alligator Records, the world’s largest blues label, having won the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Blues Music Award in 2009. Her latest CD is “The Devil is an Angel Too.”
“I am very grateful,” said Magness in a telephone interview. “I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I get to do what I love to do and it is transcendent. I feel we need live music more now than ever before.”
As with all Blue Tuesdays at Boston’s, admission is free.
I went down to Fort Lauderdale to see Janiva Saturday. I was not disappointed. Her band is drum-tight and red-hot, and Janiva is pretty hot herself. In fact she’s just about the hottest 54-year-old mama I’ve seen, and when it comes to blues, she’s the real deal. She has lived the life.

Two Contemplative, Downbeat Films

By Skip Sheffield

It’s the opposite of a slam-bang action weekend in new film releases, with two contemplative, dare we say downbeat? foreign films.
The oddly-spelled “Biutiful” is generating the most interest because it has an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film (Spain) and its star Javier Bardem is a Best Actor candidate.
There is no question Bardem does a masterful job as Uxbal, a Barcelona hustler involved in shady dealings, mostly involving crooked cops and illegal immigrants.
On the other hand Uxbal is a loving father to two young children, whom he is raising as a single parent because of their mother’s mental illness and utter irresponsibility.
His wife Marimba (Maricel Avarez) has sunk so low she does tricks as a prostitute when she is not sleeping with Uxbal’s no-count brother.
If this weren’t grim enough, Uxbal is trying to carry on his chaotic ordinary life with the knowledge he has terminal cancer and only a couple months left to live.
Yes, Mexican writer-director Alejandro Guillermo Inarritu has really heaped the misery on his leading character, yet Bardem’s Uxbal soldiers on with stoicism and generosity, even as he is entering the terminal stages of illness.
So you see the title, which is Uxbal’s young son’s misspelling on a crayon drawing, is anything but “Beautiful.” The paradox, if you stick with the story through its two-and-a-half-hour length, is that this is a tale of redemption. It is a remarkable performance by Bardem, surely one of the best actors in the world today.



“Another Year” Unexciting but Reassuring

“Another Year” is an unexciting title for an unexciting film by British director Mike Leigh. That is meant in a good way, because “Another Year” is a film of great subtlety, anchored by two fine character actors.
Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) are a long-married couple still in love in the autumn of their years (the film is divided into the four seasons).
By contrast everyone around them is not happy at all. Gerri’s best friend Janet (Imelda Staunton) is almost comatose from depression. Tom’s old friend Ken (Peter Wight) is pretty much a lush with other bad habits. Then there’s Mary (Lesley Manville) who also drinks too much and struggles with depression.
Tom and Gerri, so different from the cartoon characters, are almost apologetic for being so darn content, with fulfilling jobs, useful hobbies, and a good relationship with their grown son (Oliver Maltman). In short, the challenges of life do not get Tom and Gerri down.
For that “Another Year” is a lovely, uplifting and gently entertaining film.

"Company Men" Hits Close to Home

“Company Men” hit a little too close to home for me.
I was never a high-paid executive, but I had a job that I loved at a newspaper I had served since I was a 12-year-old delivery boy. When the Boca Raton News closed its doors I was not so much surprised as resigned. My worst fears had become a reality.
That was about 18 months ago, but I still miss the old routine.
“Company Men” follows three corporate executives after they are arbitrarily laid off from the fictional GTX ship-building organization.
Writer-director John Wells picked a likely field for downsizing and outsourcing, because American ship-building is as sickly as daily-delivered newspapers.
Ben Affleck plays the archetypical young hotshot: Bobby Walker, regional sales manager of GTX and owner of Porsche, dream house in Connecticut and fat expense account.
“Guess what I shot today?” brags Bobby as he breezes into work.
When Bobby realizes nobody is interested in his golf game, he becomes defensive.
“What happened? Did somebody die?”
Yes Bobby, your career just died along with a host of your best buddies.
“We work for the shareholders now,” announces a grim-faced Craig Nelson as CEO.
Anger, shock, disbelief, rage and sorrow are the immediate reactions of Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones), who has been with the company since its formation, and Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper), a loyal company man if there ever was one.
For those of us who have been there, it is hard to feel sorry for these guys as they are knocked down to size. It is much easier to sympathize with the women in their lives, who for the most part prove more resilient and adaptable than the men.
It is richly ironic that Bobby is reduced to begging for a construction job from his gruff brother-in-law Jack Dolan, played with relish by Kevin Costner. Bobby deserves an humbling experience.
By contrast it is a lot harder on Phil Woodward, played with great gravity and inner turmoil by the strong, almost silent Chris Cooper.
For Gene McClary it is more a personal betrayal, and Tommy Lee Jones makes us feel his seething rage.
There is a faint uptick of hope in “Company Men” that keeps it from being totally bleak. As our economy struggles to regain its footing we can appreciate any little Atta boy we can get.
“Company Men” has been pretty much ignored in this year’s awards sweepstakes, but it is not a bad film, just very dark, with the cold slap of truth.

Prejudice Then and Now in "Clybourne Park"

Racial Prejudice Then and Now in “Clybourne Park”

By Skip Sheffield

White Flight: those were explosive works in the South during desegregation.
But white flight was not unique to the South. It happened all over the USA; anywhere citizens were fearful of minorities moving in and “breaking” their homogenous neighborhoods.
“Clybourne Park,” enjoying a premiere run through Feb. 6 at Caldwell Theatre, is about white flight and much more.
Playwright Bruce Norris has crafted two stories in two time periods 50 years apart. The first act is set in 1959 in the Chicago suburb of the title. Act Two is set in the same house in the same neighborhood in 2009. The cast of characters is different in each act, but they are played by the same actors who relate many of the same sentiments.
Russ (Kenneth Kay) and Bev (Patti Gardner) are a married couple on the cusp of major change. Their maid Francine (Karen Stephens) is in the process of packing up the couple’s possessions, for a sale is pending on their house.
Neighborhood vicar Jim (Cliff Burgess) has stopped by to offer some farewells and platitudes.
Russ is in a distinctly troubled state, talking to himself and uttering seemingly nonsense syllables, while his wife seems oblivious.
Russ becomes even more agitated when Karl (Gregg Weiner) and his pregnant, deaf wife Betsey (Margery Lowe) pay a call. It is not just a social call. Self-appointed neighborhood watchdog Karl has learned Russ intends to sell to a black couple. Karl sees the move as the first step in plummeting values and the ruination of the neighborhood.
The smiling reverend is not exactly neutral. He thinks his parish should buy the property to “preserve the character of the community.”
Caught in the crossfire are Francine and her good-natured husband Albert (Brain D. Coats), who are asked their opinions as “good negroes.”
“Clybourne Park” is billed as a comedy, and director Clive Cholerton and his cast do their best to delineate the laughs.
It is a comedy with bite however, rooted in a tragedy that is reveled toward the end of Act One. There are hidden meanings to the increasingly heated conversations, culminating in an explosive finale.
In Act Two Kenneth Kay has been reduced to a bit part as a hard-hat architect named Dan.
Karen Stephens and Brian D. Coats are now Lena and Kevin, head of the neighborhood association of the now black community. Lena is related to the family that moved into the house 50 years ago.
Gregg Weiner plays another pain in the butt character named Steve, who with wife Lindsay (Margery Lowe again) are the new owners of the house. They see it not as history, but a prime piece of real estate ripe for development.
Cliff Burgess plays another obsequious character: a Realtor named Tom. Patti Gardner is now a can-do lawyer named Kathy, representing the new owners’ selfish interests.
Things get darker and nastier as true feelings are revealed. Haunting the proceedings is the character of Kenneth (Andrew Wind) the late Korean War veteran son of the original owners.
“Clybourne Park’ was still finding its sea legs on opening night. The laughs were sometimes uneasy and a bit confused, but two powerful performances were already quite polished: Kenneth Kay’s smoldering, grieving father and Karen Stephen’s dual performance as ironically-knowing servant and a proud preserver of family history. The other characters are not as well-written, but they will no doubt come into sharper focus.
Tickets are $38 and $45 (students $10) and may be reserved by calling 561-241-7432 or visiting www.caldwelltheatrecompany.com.

Bad Stuff in "All Good Things"

“All Good Things” is the richly ironic title of a movie about very bad things like extortion, racketeering and murder.
“Good Things” is the fiction feature debut of Andrew Jarecki, maker of the unsettling documentary “Capturing the Friedmans” in 2003. The story is based on the real life drama of Robert “Bobby” Durst, the irresponsible, screw-up eldest son of a prominent New York real estate magnate.
The Bobby Durst character of David Marks is played by Ryan Gosling. Daddy Sanford Marks is played by stage and screen great Frank Langella.
The story begins in 1971 after David’s mother has met a violent death, of which we learn more later. Dressed in a tuxedo, David performs an emergency plumbing repair for Katie (Kirsten Dunst), a pretty, free-spirited coed and one of his father’s tenants.
The physical attraction is mutual and strong, giving David direction to his otherwise rudderless life. Against his family’s objections (“She’s never going to be one of us,” dad sneers), David marries Katie and they attempt to carve a new, good life in Vermont, running a health food store called All Good Things.
The idyllic period is short-lived. Dad arrives from New York in a chauffeured limousine. He has become a major landlord of seedy peep shows and questionable businesses in the pre-cleaned up Times Square area, and he demands that David rejoin the family business as a kind of bag man.
David protests weakly, and much to Katie’s dismay they return to New York. David quickly falls into his father’s shady business dealings while Kate attempts to better herself by attending medical school. Then she becomes pregnant and Bobby, to put it mildly, is not happy.
Katie Marks disappeared as did her real-life counterpart in 1982. David Marks is strongly suspected of foul play, but there is no body and no hard evidence. The story picks up again in 2000 when the case against David is reopened. There is no dramatic conclusion to this unsavory story of power, corruption, greed and lust. David Durst is still alive and well and it has been reported that he likes this film. While the powerful acting performances of Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst cannot be denied, the story is a real bummer man; the opposite of the American Dream.

"No Strings" Feel-Good Romp

“No Strings Attached” is the opposite of a bummer. It’s a feel-good, R-rated sexy romp about the power of true romance over mere animal attraction by director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”).
Adam (Ashton Kutcher) and Emma (Natalie Portman) are friends from early teen years at summer camp. They keep on bumping into each other until they both end up in Los Angeles in their early 20s. Adam is an aspiring script writer and Emma is working toward a medical degree at a teaching hospital. The mutual attraction that has been bubbling under the surface bursts forth in an erotic one-night stand that leads to another and another. In Elizabeth Meriwether’s witty script, the couple’s stereotypical sexual roles are reversed. Adam longs for cuddling and commitment. Emma wants slam, bam, thank you m’am and back to work.
“No Strings” has an entertaining supporting cast, lead by Kevin Kline as Adam’s aging Lothario movie-star dad Alvin. British actress Ophelia Lovibond amuses as Adam’s shallow ex-girlfriend and dad’s new flame. Rapper Ludicris shows he has both acting and comic chops as Adam’s roommate Wallace. Lake Bell is outstanding as Adam’s accommodating boss, who develops an awkward, funny crush on him.
Perhaps because I went into this with such low expectations I was pleasantly surprised at the genuine laughs amidst the raunchy material. “When Harry Met Sally” and “500 Days of Summer” said it better, but “No Strings” continues Natalie Portman’s roll as a formidable, sensuous starlet. Pretty boy Ashton Kutcher knows his limitations, and he cheerfully plays them to best advantage as an incurable romantic.

Pretty People, Pretty Songs, Predictable Story

The People and the Songs are Pretty, But “Country Strong” Story Weak

By Skip Sheffield


“Country Strong” could have been called “Country Song,” for it is a lot like a country-style weeper… drawn out to almost two hours long.
Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Kelly Canter, a country star who has been in and out of alcohol rehab for an unspecified length of time. We meet Kelly as she is being exhorted by her manager/husband James (real-life country star Tim McGraw) to make a comeback tour.
Kelly’s rehab sponsor, Beau Hutton (Garrett Hedlund) does not think this is a good idea. He feels Kelly is too fragile to face the rigors of the road, especially since the first stop is Dallas, where Kelly’s world crashed eight years ago. In a doubly tragic, foolish move, a pregnant Kelly had too much to drink before a concert and tripped and fell off the stage. The end result was a miscarriage.
This is a heavy burden for any woman to bear, and it would be presumptuous of me to say whether any person could ever completely get over such a trauma, even if she is given a baby quail by her husband to nurse.
Writer-director Shana Feste has already proved she has a way with a weeper with “The Greatest,” and if Kelly’s treatment were successful there would be no country song conflict.
And so with the enticement of an opening slot on the tour, Beau reluctantly goes along with the idea. Since this is a country song, you just know there is more lovin’ and cheatin’ about to go on behind the scenes.
Beau has been getting a little too close to Kelly. James knows this, but he has been messing around with Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester), the beautiful young ex-beauty queen who has also been offered an opening slot on the tour.
In case you are wondering what possibly could be Chiles’ problem, it’s simple: stage fright.
Now don’t laugh folks. Many a potential star has been extinguished because of stage fright, but that particular trauma is not explored. With Beau by her side Chiles is just fine.
But wait, you country-savvy people are thinking, won’t Beau and Chiles inevitably fall into each other’s arms? And won’t Kelly get jealous when she finds out?
Bingo! Go to the front of the country songwriting class.
The good news is that Gwyneth Paltrow has a lovely singing voice, and she is given some good songs to sing.
Garrett Hedlund’s voice is even better: a smooth, deep baritone that makes we green with envy.
As for Chiles Stanton, her strong suit is her beautiful doll-like face. Her voice is okay and she sings on key, but it would have been more effective if she were confident enough to sing harmony with Beau instead of unison.
That’s the musician in me, and most folks won’t be concerned by such matters.
So if you want to see a bunch of pretty people singing pretty, “Country Strong” is your movie. Just don’t go expecting to hear Tim McGraw, because he don’t, er doesn’t, sing a lick.