Audiences who first experienced "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by way of the famous 1966 film version may come away from the current Best of Broadway production thinking they’ve seen an entirely different show. Anthony Page’s 2005 staging of Edward Albee’s 1962 play, which opened Friday at the Golden Gate Theatre after runs in Boston, New York and London, represents a significant departure from the brawling physicality portrayed by Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in the film.
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Tango No. 9, an ensemble specializing in Argentine tango music, particularly that by Astor Piazzolla, appears. Dancers Christy Cote and Chelsea Eng join the group. The performance is at 8:15 p.m. today at Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez St., San Francisco. Tickets are $16 to $18. Call (415) 454-5238 or visit www.noevalleymusicseries.com.
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So, what’s the San Francisco Conservatory of Music doing in Cowell Theater, performing an opera? We are talking about the Conservatory which just in September opened an $80 million "teaching, performance, rehearsal and practice complex" on Oak Street. Oops: no facility for dramma per musica. Too bad. Still, this exported production of Benjamin Britten’s 1960 "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" went through swimmingly Thursday.
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The mystique of Oscar can be so unfair. After winning an Academy Award for 2001’s "Monster’s Ball," Halle Berry has often heard critics and fans who say she still needs to prove herself by taking dramatic roles. Why do "Catwoman" when you can make something more meaningful? Because Berry isn’t interested in what other people think — she’s too busy trying to please herself.
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The thing about edgy ensemble comedy/action flicks is that they rarely live up to the hype, given their star power, or rarely have a good plot. "Smokin’ Aces" is an example. Starring Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta and singer Alicia Keys in her movie debut, the film is about a drugged-out Mafia turncoat who enlists low-life hitmen and thugs to try to kill him for a supposed million-dollar reward.
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"The Wind That Shakes the Barley," recipient of the Palme D’Or at last year’s Cannes film festival, is the latest from English director Ken Loach, a committed leftist who has spent much of his 45-year career turning his political meditations into popular entertainment. "Barley" is no exception.
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‘I did it!" Diane Rubin proclaims, a Julia Roberts smile lighting up her stunning, blue-eyed face. "These are my prized possessions — my favorite jewelry!" She pulls out two Oreo-cookie-sized shiny medals: one from the New York Marathon; the other, a brightly painted number from the San Diego Marathon. "I earned them," she beams, "I finished."A woman who seems to accomplish a whole panoply of things — with a surfeit of talent and flair, she’s the kind of tall, slender, sylph-like blonde who leaves stereotypes like Elle Woods and all the "Legally Blonde" acolytes in the dust.
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Give or take a few years, after a short decade the best of a great dancer’s career is over. The spirit is willing, the artistry is at its peak, but the body falls apart. (Normal human beings would experience a meltdown like that after a single day of class, rehearsals and performances.) This is not an appropriate topic in polite dance circles, but it’s the sad truth.
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How about some Islamic songs about love and friendship — would that come in handy just now? Against the sensational headlines and unceasing barrage of associating terrorists with millions of innocent people, a stunning, wonderful surprise awaited me in Morocco.
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"Journey From the Fall" has an air of authenticity about it, and for good reason. Writer-director Ham Tran meticulously spent years gathering the long-untold stories of what happened to millions of Vietnamese people after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. For many, it was just the beginning of their problems. "Journey From the Fall" reveals, in sumptuous, often horrifying detail, the lives of people forced into difficult futures — in re-education camps, where they suffered abuse and indignities, or fleeing on boats, where the terror of the unknown was equally real.
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