The weekend before this past recent one, I caught up with the rest of the nation seeing Pixar's latest film, Inside Out. The good news? This is right up there next to Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo as one of the studio's finest features. The bad news? Not much.
This is the story of 11-year-old Riley and the people in her head, literally. Inside Riley's mind are five emotions that control her every activity- Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Sadness (The Office's Phyllis Smith). But Riley's emotions soon take a chaotic turn when she moves with her parents from her old Minnesota home to a new place in San Francisco. Joy and Sadness tries to restore Riley's memory/mood balance while Disgust, Anger and Fear attempt ways to keep the little girl happy, with some dire results.
The work here by director Pete Doctor (Monsters, Inc., Up) is superb. The 3D animation is dazzling as always. Plus, composer Michael Giacchino delivers a brilliant score that may win him an another Oscar next year. The voicework by the previous mentioned actors fits each characters perfectly (especially Smith, whose character reminds me of Charlie Brown).
It's a film about finding happiness, heartbreak and all other things in the virtues of growing up. This is one of the best films of the year so far. If you haven't seen it, see it now. If you have seen it already, try to see it again.
Rating:****
Note: Try to arrive early before the feature for Pixar's newest short film, Lava. It's great too.
Parent Advisory: Inside Out is rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action. But it's still suitable for all ages.
Ever since the past few months when it was announced, I had some high expectations for the recently concluded New York City Center's "Encores! Off Center" production of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party because the 20's era jazz/rock/R&B score has been one of my best musical theatre scores that I have ever heard in my life. I also knew that they were going to make changes to the work just for this production (which ran from July 15th though the 18th). But when it came down to the final product, it wasn't the show that I envisioned but it worked pretty well as a more darker and sinister version of it despite the omission of some beloved songs from the original 2000 Off-Broadway show.
Based on the Roaring Twenties poem by Joseph Moncure March, this is the story of a couple working in vaudeville, blonde singer Queenie (Sutton Foster, sweet as always) and clown Burrs (Steven Pasquale). Their relationship is going now though the rough patches. To spice things up, Queenie decides to throw a party featuring their closest friends. Soon, trouble comes knocking when Queenie's friend Kate (Joaquina Kalukango) brings a special guest named Mr. Black (Brandon Victor Dixon). When Queenie meets Black, she sees an opportunity whether to start a new life with mysterious man or still live under the abuse of Burrs. The evening soon climaxes with a mix of violence, sex, drugs, gin and a gun determining who will pay the price for the night.
Director Leigh Silverman (who previously worked with Ms. Foster on Violet last year) and book writer Lippa shed a few pounds from the show's old text and with it, the production ran like a rushed high-speed Acela Express train for two hours. Sonya Tayeh's choreography was good enough and Clint Ramos's costumes and Donyale Werle's sets looked good enough. Much of Mr. Lippa's revamped score was grand, but without three of the classic well-known songs from the original production ("Queenie Was a Blonde", "Out of the Blue" and "How Did We Ever Come to This"), the show lost some but not enough of its punch as a result.
The acting ensemble really made their work cut out for them on the big City Center stage. Taking a between-season break from her role in TV Land's Younger and returning to her musical roots in her 40s, Ms. Foster was simply wonderful as the vamp dame with a style and voice reminiscent of Kathleen Turner. As Mr. Black, Dixon was debonair and brilliant with a top-notch singing voice to boot. Pasquale (best known for his fine musical work in the underrated Bridges of Madison County) had a devil of a good time as Burrs, increasing his rage as his jealousy of Queenie increases throughout.
Kalukango didn't try to copy Idina Menzel (who originated the role in 2000) but she delivered a standout performance with a knockout rendition of the second act curtain-raiser, "Life of the Party". Also great here was Foster's TV co-star, Miriam Shor, who was phenomenally funny as a lesbian who laments about finding a girl to flirt with in the number "A Old-Fashioned Lesbian Love Story". Somebody please make a Broadway role for her, stat.
In the end, it was still a nice respectable revival, despite a few losses. Hopefully in the future, some prestigious theatre company or regional theatre should revamp this show for the third time with more of the elements from the original work and less from this production to make it a better reworked revival the second time around.
Rating:***
Recommended Tip: Listen to the Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording of The Wild Party (2000, RCA Victor/Masterworks Broadway, on CD and Digital). Once you listen to that astonishing score, you'll simply can't wait to hear it all over again.
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