Picks for June 2009

Theater: I could do an entire month’s picks on just the great theater I enjoyed in the last couple months. I took my daughter to see Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter in "Mary Stuart", which was my pick last month, and after that I saw "God Of Carnage" (which just won the Tony for Best Play), "Everyday Rapture" and "The Success of Failure (Or the Failure of Success)" (which was at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn). A couple months ago I saw the phenomenal August Wilson play "Joe Turner’s Come and Gone".

It’s been a magnificent season on Broadway, the best in years. "Joe Turner" was a play to savor—mystical, educational, emotional and literate, and just a wonderful night at the theater. I could not have enjoyed it more. "God of Carnage" was a riot, and so much fun. I laughed out loud the whole evening. Four great actors—James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden and Jeff Daniels—who you might have expected to be subtle and funny and intelligent unexpectedly turned out to be great physical comic actors. Sherie Rene Scott, who wrote and stars in "Everyday Rapture", a nearly one-woman show, is immensely likable. The songs are somewhat forgettable (except the riff on Mr. Roger’s theme song), and she’s not the greatest singer in the world, but… the whole Sherie Rene Scott package is very compelling. Look her up. I’m looking forward to more great plays through the fall, and there are some that I am determined to catch up with before they close.

My dad took me to my first Broadway play in 1970, when I was 14 years old, to see "Applause", starring Lauren Bacall. That was it for me. I was completely hooked. The following year I saw "No, No Nanette", starring Ruby Keeler and Jack Gilford (whose performance of ‘I Want To Be Happy’ is as vivid in my mind today as the day I saw it) and "Sleuth". I have a vague memory of "If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium", and I know I saw "Equus", because I remember my stepmother reaching her arm across three girls to cover our eyes during the nude scene. Since "Applause", there have been some plays that are indelibly burned in my memory—the original "A Chorus Line", the original "Burn This", the trilogy of "Angels In America" (perhaps my favorite all time Broadway experience), "Mnemonic" (absolutely fantastic), "I Am My Own Wife" (also fantastic—and we saw it in a near-empty theater, before it won the Pulitzer) "Long Day’s Journey Into Night" with Vanessa Redgrave, "Hamlet" with Ralph Fiennes, the last revival of "Oklahoma", Elaine Stritch’s one-woman show, Nathan Lane in "Guys and Dolls", Tom Stoppard’s "Coast of Utopia"—wow. I enjoyed that little journey down memory lane. Here’s to Broadway.

Book: "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. I can’t say I agree with every part of his hypothesis—there were a lot of bands who put in 10,000 hours and didn’t become the Beatles—but the combination of luck, upbringing, opportunity, perseverance and personality combining to create success in individual lives is a fascinating study.

Music: I am loving Elvis Costello’s "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane". It’s a humbling and exciting experience to have a Brit show us what is great about being an American musician. These complex but accessible melodies and rich lyrics are immensely satisfying. And what a great band—lot of old friends in there, playing at the top of their game. And so is Elvis.

Film/Television: I am adrift. Now that ‘In Treatment’ is over, I haven’t even turned the television on in a couple weeks. I miss Gabriel Byrne. I haven’t seen a film either. I’m a screen philistine.