"And if the perfect spring is waiting somewhere, just take me there, just take me there, just take me there..." ~bright eyes

Today I'm sharing some thoughts on a movie and a Broadway play.

The Descendants
This is such a lovely film. I love Alexander Payne, and this movie is a perfect example of what a talented director he is. One second your gut will be wrenched with laughter and the next with pain. You're not slammed in the face with sentiment, though; it's beautifully understated. George Clooney will surely receive an Oscar nomination for his nuanced performance of a clueless husband and father. The whole ensemble is strong, actually. I was really impressed with Shailene Woodley, who plays Clooney's oldest daughter with a nice mix of bitterness and vulnerability. Judy Greer is also wonderful (as usual). Go see this movie. I'm sure it'll be a big Oscar contender, and it really is lovely.



Seminar
I saw the Broadway production of Seminar yesterday, and I'm very glad I did. It's a good play (not fabulous, but good) featuring a very strong ensemble cast. I love Alan Rickman. Seriously. I could listen to him read the phone book for hours. That voice just kills me. His portrayal of Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies is perfection. He's giving a great performance in this show; he has such good inflection and timing. Lily Rabe further demonstrates how wonderful she is (I loved her in last year's Merchant of Venice opposite Al Pacino, for which she received a Tony nomination). Jerry O'Connell is an old favorite of mine, and it was fun to see him onstage. I'm used to seeing Hamish Linklater do Shakespeare (I've seen him in Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and The Winter's Tale), so it was weird to see him in a contemporary play, but he shone. Hettienne Park rounded out the ensemble with a solid performance. The play was an interesting look at the life of a writer, and the cast made it worthwhile.

Oh my goodness, I'm obsessed. I cannot wait. This gives me chills. Is it March yet?



By the way, on a completely unrelated note, how freakin' AWESOME is Homeland? It's the best show on television. Seriously. It just keeps getting better. Sunday's episode? Brilliant. It took the season in a completely unexpected direction, and I can't wait to see what happens next.


Maybe later this week I'll be able to gather a collection of coherent thoughts. Maybe not, though, because it's a busy week for me. I was able to enjoy the weekend and spend a lot of time with two good friends, so that was nice. Now it's full steam ahead.

"In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight, and all I see is him and me forever and forever." ~les miserables (claude-michel Schönberg & alain boublil)

Fun video time: I'm a huge Sarah Silverman fan, so when I discovered that she loves musical theatre, I got really excited. She's not the best technical singer, but she's so enthusiastic and charismatic that it doesn't seem to matter here. She starts off by singing "On My Own" from Les Miz, the most overdone musical theatre song ever, the song that every girl who knows anything about musicals has memorized (yes, of course I am one of the many who can sing the whole song by heart), but she makes it sound...fresh. It's lovely. I wish she did more of "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company (I love that song), because it seems perfect for her (both personality-wise and vocally). Anyway, I like this video.



In more Broadway related talk, Venus in Fur opened tonight, and I was glad to see that Isherwood gave it a rave in his New York Times review. Check out this great pull quote from his review about Nina Arianda, whom I also raved about:

"The flickering of those stage lights barely registers beside the incandescent Nina Arianda, the sensational young actress recreating the role that made her a name to watch when she first starred in the play Off Broadway. Portraying an actress giving the audition of a lifetime, Ms. Arianda is giving the first must-see performance of the Broadway season, a bravura turn that burns so brightly you can almost feel the heat on your face...."

I completely agree that she's giving the must-see performance of the Broadway season. It's one of the best performances I've ever seen. All the reviews are raving about her, and it makes me so happy. I don't want to get my hopes up so far away from the Tonys, but I'm feeling good right now about Ms. Arianda's chances.

"Tell me everything that happened, tell me everything you saw. They had lights inside their eyes, they had lights inside their eyes." ~stars

I first heard that song on Chuck, and I was reminded of it today because I saw the movie Like Crazy (which I enjoyed, by the way) and this song played during the credits.

I had a busy a Broadway week. I saw a show on Thursday, two on Saturday, and one Sunday. So I've been busy. Here are my reviews.

Venus in Fur
WOW, Nina Arianda is spectacular. Can I just talk about her for a minute? She made her Broadway debut last season in Born Yesterday and stole the show (from some pretty talented veteran actors onstage with her). She was nominated for a Tony and lost to Frances McDormand, but I thought she deserved to win. In her second Broadway performance, she is a complete tour-de-force. Venus in Fur is about two hours long with no intermission and features only two actors (Ms. Arianda and Hugh Dancy, whom I'll get to in a minute), who are both onstage the entire time, and I couldn't take my eyes off her for those two hours. She is currently giving one of the best performances I've ever seen (and I've seen a LOT). Seriously, this is one of those performances that are impossible to forget. She plays an actress, and she switches between her role and the role her character is playing so effortlessly and beautifully that it's a revelation to watch. The play flies by because she just grabs you from her first entrance and doesn't let you go. If she doesn't win the Tony this year I will be disappointed. She carries the show. Hugh Dancy (Mr. Claire Danes) is also giving a strong performace (even though Ms. Arianda overshadows him). He's a talented actor, and he doesn't disappoint here. The two have great chemistry together. The play is interesting and ambiguous, and it has it's imperfections, but it works because of the acting (I can't imagine anyone else playing Vonda). I can't wait to see what Nina Arianda does next, because based on her first two Broadway appearances, she's a true star.

Other Desert Cities
Nicole got me tickets for this show for my birthday, and I was really excited to see it, largely because I'm a big Rachel Griffiths fan (from Six Feet Under, Brothers & Sisters, and Muriel's Wedding). The play was written by Jon Robin Baitz (creator of Brothers & Sisters) and features features a stellar cast made up of Rachel Griffiths, Stockard Channing, Judith Light, Stacy Keach, and Thomas Sadoski. Our seats were in the front row, and because the stage is so low it was the absolute perfect place to sit. This is the best play I've seen this season. It premiered last season off-Broadway (with a highly praised sold-out run) and transferred to Broadway this month (with Ms. Griffiths and Ms. Light joining the cast). Here's the New York Times review of the original production (it's a rave). I'm so glad I was able to see this play. It's a complex, beautifully written portrait of a family. The actors pour their hearts into it; everyone onstage is crying by the end (real crying). Rachel Griffiths has a devestating meltdown onstage and you can see, hear, and feel her pain (and somehow, five minutes later, she's grinning like crazy during the curtain call). This is a lovely play.

Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway
This show is the new hot ticket of the season, and I definitely understand why. It's Hugh Jackman's solo show. There aren't very many multi-talented leading men left, but Hugh Jackman is one of them. He can sing, he can dance, he can charm the pants off of an audience. He's so charismatic that it's a joy to sit and let him entertain you for two hours. The show includes a wide variety of songs, including numbers from the musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, The Music Man (he sings all eight parts of "Rock Island" at once, even rapping part of it, and it's amazing), Guys and Dolls, Singing in the Rain, and Easter Parade, as well as songs like "Mack the Knife" and my personal favorite, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." There's a New York medley as well. He interacts with the audience and is just wonderful. I hope they film this one (I suspect they might). It's two hours of escapist fun.

We Live Here
Nicole and I saw this because we were interested to see Zoe Kazan's writing skills (she's an actress whom we've seen act in many plays). The play isn't bad. I had a hard time liking the characters, though, which meant I didn't care enough about them to really be invested in what happened to them. The dialogue is realistic and a couple scenes resonated with me, but overall it needs more work. Kazan has promise, though.

Overall it was a fabulous week of theatre.
I should probably write a Duran Duran review as well. Later this week.

"Darken the city, night is a wire. Steam in the subway, earth is a afire." ~duran duran


I love fall. I love feeling perfectly comfortable while walking around the city in jeans and a hoodie or a light jacket. I love seeing the leaves in Central Park start to change. But most of all, I love everything pumpkin. I love Dunkin Donuts' pumpkin muffins. And Jamba Juice's Pumpkin Smash (oh my goodness, it's pure deliciousness through a straw). Now that I've just about used up all the money on my Dunkin Donuts' gift card on pumpkin muffins, I made my own. They're almost as good (but not quite). I also made pumpkin pie shooters (basically pumpkin pie in a shotglass; no crust, no baking, super easy to make and super yummy). So yeah, I'm definitely enjoying fall.

And now for a quick picspam.

I don't think you've seen my babies in awhile. They're just as lovey as ever. Here they are cuddling and cleaning:

Jasper has a new funny habit; he climbs on my back and shoulders whenever he can. He has fallen off me, and he still keeps doing it. It's bizarre.

Finally, this is another one of the reasons I love living New York. I looked at my outfit this evening and realized that before I moved to New York, I would probably never have gone out in public wearing what I'm wearing now. Pink cropped sweatpants? Gold glitter TOMS? I probably would have felt ridiculous. But now, I didn't think twice about it. First of all, when walking anywhere in New York, even just down the block, you're sure to run into someone who's wearing a crazier outfit than you are. Second of all, no one cares. It's a wonderful feeling.

Tomorrow my awesome friend Bill is taking me to see Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden. Pretty freakin' amazing, right? I think I'll wear my gold glitter TOMS.