Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore, recently produced by Theater Emory, encapsulates a moment of time in early 1990’s IRA war-torn Ireland. Padraic is away, serving in the INLA, and has asked one simple task of his father, Donny: look after his cat (Wee Thomas) while he’s gone. The play opens with said cat, brain-dripping and quite dead, in the arms of Padraic’s childhood friend, Davey. Donny and Davey must decide whether to confess to the violent and self-obsessed Padraic that his only friend in the world – this cat – is dead, or cover up the truth.
Dark humor injects itself throughout the play, beginning with the duo’s mad decision and near-obsession to cover up the crime rather than confess and deal with the nasty consequences. Among their ideas: telling Padraic he’s merely sick, and substituting and shoe-polishing another cat. When Padraic arrives home, their plan is to tell him Wee Thomas has a disease that makes him smell like shoe polish and “get all orangey.”
I thought the entire ensemble was well cast, and the director effortlessly melded the stage crew as well. Thanks to vocal coach Cynthia Barrett for making the actors’ brogues, for the most part, crisp and clear. McManus was lucky to find actors up to the caliber and height of Tim McDonough. Mairead, the only female character, had a difficult task of playing with the boys and proving in the end to be an even more zealous maniac than Padraic, her love. I found Teissler the most difficult to understand, and for some reason chose to focus her gaze out beyond the audience above far stage left. Perhaps the choice was to invoke a dreamy sixteen year old with an eye to a future far from Inishmore, but I found it distracting. The easiest to understand, I thought, was Jonathan Durie, who (I think) was the only non-American on stage. A tip of the hat to Mark Cabus’s Christy, lollipop-wielding and eye-patched, entering with the most benign greeting, “How do!” only to take a sinister turn on Padraic with his henchmen. Krakovsky and Harland made a lovable duo backing up Cabus, and it’s too bad that the audience’s hearts had already been won over by the other comic team, McDonough and Read.
Not having read the script, I can only hope that a brilliant directorial turn was taken by Donald McManus in having Tim McDonough in character as Donny giving the curtain speech each night with Wee Thomas, very much alive, in arms. A beautifully subtle way to get the audience – and PETA – to both see a live cat from the get-go, and reassure that no animals will be harmed during the production. I found it off-putting and unnecessary, however, for an ASM to cook food for the cat onstage before show. At first I thought that the point was to get the smell wafting through the air, but the smell didn’t last. Then I thought it was to show off that the play had a working hotplate, but that’s not such a great feat. All in all, no one needs to see an ASM’s backside for a solid ten minutes. I chalked it up as simply confounding.
In Kat Conley’s beautifully designed set, the main piece is Donny’s home. The large roof beams were either an optical illusion or cunningly designed, as they looked quite heavy and I was shocked to not see them stretch to the floor behind stage. A great use of space in front of the stage, a rocky shore along the front of the set took us outside to the shores of Inishmore, and a steel structure at stage right became Padraic’s torture warehouse in Northern Ireland. Kudos to the poor actor having to hang upside down for a good ten minutes…not to mention his fellow actor who had no means of cutting him down if necessary, as the winch was operated from below. I thought the physical separation of playing space not only helped denote geographic distance, but helped drive home that Inishmore is an island, and there’s something isolated and self-sufficient about island dwellers: every man for him- or her-self.
Liz Waldman’s sound structure was thoughtful throughout. Highlights for me were the water-dripping with echo effect for the warehouse, and the live drumming for “The Patriot Game.” I could have done without “Are You Ready for a War?” sung by the full cast at the end. If the purpose there was to uplift audience spirits after a dark show…it was catchy, certainly, but too long, and uplifted nothing.
The costumes were unremarkable – with no offense meant to designer Ros Staib, who had a slim palette to work within, with blood-cleaning issues and lots of drab/dull scenarios to consider. A nod, certainly, to Mairead’s dress, made entirely of men’s shirts and ties.
I must take issue with Wee Thomas’s reappearance at the end of the show. By the time the cat comes home, the point of the play has already hit home: terrorism is a fool's paradise – pointless and creating needless hurt and confusion. Concretely put via the cat’s return: all this fuss for nothing. So, why the bright light and angelic chorus? All the audience needs to see is the cat appearing on the window ledge (pushed or tossed from below by a willing ASM). Pardon the use of this word, but: overkill.
I was fortunate to work on McDonagh’s The Pillowman at Actor’s Express some years ago, and had seen Theater Gael’s staging of The Cripple of Inishmaan. Though I hadn’t read this play nor seen it live before, I guessed it would be gripping, bloody, gory, unsettling…or all of the above. I was stunned to learn that McDonagh is quite young – just 40. He has a bevy of plays under his belt as well as – I think – In Bruges was his screenplay, yes? Seeing Theater Emory feature a young(er) playwright is a nice bookend to the 6x6 productions that will end the season. Theater Emory has done a lot to surprise in the past few seasons: showing Ad Hoc they can do musicals, too, and now some blood & guts. I look forward to Persuasion, the rest of this season, and beyond.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Celine, Her Mom, an Old Dude and Some Kids
First of all, we've been bamboozled. I was under the impression that Celine's show on the Oprah Winfrey Network was going to be a docudrama, what with "A New Show" being part of the title. No, no. The "new show" is her new show in Vegas. Man!!
12-15-2007 A New Day - The Last Concert. 723 sold out shows, 3 million+ spectators. What's next, Celine? The Taking Chances World Tour 2008-2009...with her ancient mom, her ancient husband, and her long-haired son. ...and when I say long-haired, I mean he's giving Zuma Rossdale and Paris Jackson a run for their money.
Jump-cut to screaming fans and Celine yelling, "Is that all right, ______??" (insert random name of city she's playing, because that's what she yells to her fans after every encore. Taking Chances boasted 133 sold out shows over five continents, blissfully ending February 2009.
Rene-Charles, also known as "RC," is the aforementioned long-haired son. ...and I hope you're sitting down, but he speaks French. Also blissfully ending with the concert: his long hair. He now looks like a normal blue-eyed boy. Back to her Florida home, where RC begins school and Celine begins invitro fertilization.
Cut to: Larry King, February 2010. "Are you trying?" (to have a baby), says King. "We're trying. We tried 4 times." Christ, I hope she means actual sex, not times of invitro. Damn, she means invitro. Cut to: the Oprah interview. She and Oprah crying, talking about her miscarriage and how they're on their 5th try. Invitro. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Have I mentioned that in and out of commercial breaks, the songs playing in the background are these exquisite midi file-type versions? Her hits and others. Truly awful.
So, the babies arrive October 23rd. Baby A and Baby B, to start - unnamed at birth. They are boys, eventually Nelson and Eddy. Perhaps a nod to Nelson Eddy, the late singer/actor? We'll never know - they didn't say, and Wikipedia won't confirm. The Vegas show is supposed to open 3-15-2011. Do THAT math. Less than five months, after gaining 60 some-odd pounds during pregnancy.
Celine, what's most difficult: delivering a baby or delivering a show? "Delivering a show." Wow.
We get to see her at home in Florida - big, white house on the ocean with a lot of big, white furniture. Even the twins' room has mostly white (with hints of green - she's no monster, for god's sake!) The living room includes one of those 60's round plastic chairs that you'd see in Ann-Margaret's room in Tommy. Awesome. At home: no show business. That's her rule. Two months before show, rehearsals begin. Celine says that during her pregnancy, she stopped vocal exercises because it would give her contractions, so she's well outta practice.
We also get to see her prep for breast pumping. No nip show, just prep. Pumping for her babies is what she loves about being a mom. Breast milk is food AND love.
BTW, I hope you're sitting down when I tell you that she's driven EVERYWHERE. I wonder if she knows how? Full-on limo, not just a big town car. Eff You, world.
Songs we get tastes of, trying out for the show: Open Arms, The Man in the Mirror, Ben (yes, there's a Michael Jackson tribute - as I said before, she's no monster). She tries Billy Joel's Good Night, My Angel, and she has a total mega breakdown. She can't make it through, and says she loves Billy Joel, but that song won't make the cut - the lyrics are too sad. She FEELS, yo.
Back at home, she's visited by the head designer from Versace. He arrives with personal gifts from Donatella herself (a handbag and sunglasses), from Milan, with a note. We get to hear about her worries over leftover baby fat - interestingly, easily seen in her normal clothes, but she is Spanx'd to the max or something because she's cutting a lovely figure in her gowns. She's a fan of the one-sleeve, one bare arm look. SO modern. Not.
We also get to see her 10-year old son's green-screen rehearsal for the James Bond montage - she'll have him with her onstage every night on film. Um, not really - his film will run while she has a costume change. Whatevs. Lovely bit of her telling us about how proud she is of him and how handsome he is, while he mock-mimes her the whole time. He pitches a fit - in french - I don't hear him speak anything else during the whole show, actually - that he's been given a break for the upcoming Chicago trip: no homework. Celine is in disbelief that THIS is her challenge: a kid who likes studying. Rene comforts her. He's a husband and father at home, not her manager. Ew.
Are you still sitting down? Celine's getting on a private jet. ...because it's time to fly to Chicago to The Oprah Show to announce her new show in Vegas. Worried about the babies travelling, but they're champs. Probably heavily drugged, too - who's to say.
Oprah tells her audience that this Celine appearance marks the most appearances EVER by a guest on the Oprah Show. Speaking of Oprah - you'll note that it's twice now the woman has been heavily featured on this program about someone else. Yes, we get it. This Celine program is on The OWN. She owns you. Also on this particular Oprah show - a woman with sextuplets. Random woman from somewhere USA with Celine, talking about how hard it is to raise multiples. Are you freaking kidding me? The millions of dollars and nannies help. Oh, wait - the random sextuplet mom doesn't HAVE millions or nannies. Celine just needs to yell for her ancient mom or some woman named Linda, and she's set. The Oprah appearance is live in Chicago literally the day before the Vegas show opens. Back on the plane to midi strains of Where Does My Heart Beat Now?
Driven from the private jet to Caesar's Palace, the marquee reads: Welcome Home, Celine. Thousands of fans/Caesar's employees line the driveway, steps and lobby to greet her & the fam. They have to move in to a penthouse there because her Las Vegas home is being renovated (because 4-month-old babies need room to roam) and isn't ready yet.
Costume fittings on-site next day: she doesn't want a lot of boob-focus. Food + Love makes her breasts bigger you see. There's also a super-short gold number. Let's just say, she shouldn't stand downstage in it. I lost count at about 8-10 costume changes throughout the show.
More family time - the babies are baptized on March 5th. Rene's three grown children (Anne Marie, Jean Pierre & Patrick, easily Celine's age) AND Rene-Charles are the godparents. It is at the church where we learn that the aforementioned Linda, who's always taking care of the babies, is her SISTER! Wikipedia tells me a few interesting things I'll interject here: Celine is one of 14 children (where are the others??) and Celine is Rene's third wife, and he had been divorced twenty years before he married Celine. He is 26 years her senior. "I know her since she was 12." Ew. It's a happy day, and as the babies are baptized, Stevie Wonder's midi'd "Overjoyed" plays as we fade to commercial.
Premiere day! Rene confesses that he's never been so nervous, and he hasn't been able to sleep. The rest of the production team says the same. Who's relaxed, but happy and can't wait: Celine! She sings "All Coming Back to Me" for sound check - and Celine loves her some sound checks.
Seriously, sit down: Celine does her own make-up. No joke. She's got a dresser, but didn't see another person touch her face.
12-15-2007 A New Day - The Last Concert. 723 sold out shows, 3 million+ spectators. What's next, Celine? The Taking Chances World Tour 2008-2009...with her ancient mom, her ancient husband, and her long-haired son. ...and when I say long-haired, I mean he's giving Zuma Rossdale and Paris Jackson a run for their money.
Jump-cut to screaming fans and Celine yelling, "Is that all right, ______??" (insert random name of city she's playing, because that's what she yells to her fans after every encore. Taking Chances boasted 133 sold out shows over five continents, blissfully ending February 2009.
Rene-Charles, also known as "RC," is the aforementioned long-haired son. ...and I hope you're sitting down, but he speaks French. Also blissfully ending with the concert: his long hair. He now looks like a normal blue-eyed boy. Back to her Florida home, where RC begins school and Celine begins invitro fertilization.
Cut to: Larry King, February 2010. "Are you trying?" (to have a baby), says King. "We're trying. We tried 4 times." Christ, I hope she means actual sex, not times of invitro. Damn, she means invitro. Cut to: the Oprah interview. She and Oprah crying, talking about her miscarriage and how they're on their 5th try. Invitro. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Have I mentioned that in and out of commercial breaks, the songs playing in the background are these exquisite midi file-type versions? Her hits and others. Truly awful.
So, the babies arrive October 23rd. Baby A and Baby B, to start - unnamed at birth. They are boys, eventually Nelson and Eddy. Perhaps a nod to Nelson Eddy, the late singer/actor? We'll never know - they didn't say, and Wikipedia won't confirm. The Vegas show is supposed to open 3-15-2011. Do THAT math. Less than five months, after gaining 60 some-odd pounds during pregnancy.
Celine, what's most difficult: delivering a baby or delivering a show? "Delivering a show." Wow.
We get to see her at home in Florida - big, white house on the ocean with a lot of big, white furniture. Even the twins' room has mostly white (with hints of green - she's no monster, for god's sake!) The living room includes one of those 60's round plastic chairs that you'd see in Ann-Margaret's room in Tommy. Awesome. At home: no show business. That's her rule. Two months before show, rehearsals begin. Celine says that during her pregnancy, she stopped vocal exercises because it would give her contractions, so she's well outta practice.
We also get to see her prep for breast pumping. No nip show, just prep. Pumping for her babies is what she loves about being a mom. Breast milk is food AND love.
BTW, I hope you're sitting down when I tell you that she's driven EVERYWHERE. I wonder if she knows how? Full-on limo, not just a big town car. Eff You, world.
Songs we get tastes of, trying out for the show: Open Arms, The Man in the Mirror, Ben (yes, there's a Michael Jackson tribute - as I said before, she's no monster). She tries Billy Joel's Good Night, My Angel, and she has a total mega breakdown. She can't make it through, and says she loves Billy Joel, but that song won't make the cut - the lyrics are too sad. She FEELS, yo.
Back at home, she's visited by the head designer from Versace. He arrives with personal gifts from Donatella herself (a handbag and sunglasses), from Milan, with a note. We get to hear about her worries over leftover baby fat - interestingly, easily seen in her normal clothes, but she is Spanx'd to the max or something because she's cutting a lovely figure in her gowns. She's a fan of the one-sleeve, one bare arm look. SO modern. Not.
We also get to see her 10-year old son's green-screen rehearsal for the James Bond montage - she'll have him with her onstage every night on film. Um, not really - his film will run while she has a costume change. Whatevs. Lovely bit of her telling us about how proud she is of him and how handsome he is, while he mock-mimes her the whole time. He pitches a fit - in french - I don't hear him speak anything else during the whole show, actually - that he's been given a break for the upcoming Chicago trip: no homework. Celine is in disbelief that THIS is her challenge: a kid who likes studying. Rene comforts her. He's a husband and father at home, not her manager. Ew.
Are you still sitting down? Celine's getting on a private jet. ...because it's time to fly to Chicago to The Oprah Show to announce her new show in Vegas. Worried about the babies travelling, but they're champs. Probably heavily drugged, too - who's to say.
Oprah tells her audience that this Celine appearance marks the most appearances EVER by a guest on the Oprah Show. Speaking of Oprah - you'll note that it's twice now the woman has been heavily featured on this program about someone else. Yes, we get it. This Celine program is on The OWN. She owns you. Also on this particular Oprah show - a woman with sextuplets. Random woman from somewhere USA with Celine, talking about how hard it is to raise multiples. Are you freaking kidding me? The millions of dollars and nannies help. Oh, wait - the random sextuplet mom doesn't HAVE millions or nannies. Celine just needs to yell for her ancient mom or some woman named Linda, and she's set. The Oprah appearance is live in Chicago literally the day before the Vegas show opens. Back on the plane to midi strains of Where Does My Heart Beat Now?
Driven from the private jet to Caesar's Palace, the marquee reads: Welcome Home, Celine. Thousands of fans/Caesar's employees line the driveway, steps and lobby to greet her & the fam. They have to move in to a penthouse there because her Las Vegas home is being renovated (because 4-month-old babies need room to roam) and isn't ready yet.
Costume fittings on-site next day: she doesn't want a lot of boob-focus. Food + Love makes her breasts bigger you see. There's also a super-short gold number. Let's just say, she shouldn't stand downstage in it. I lost count at about 8-10 costume changes throughout the show.
More family time - the babies are baptized on March 5th. Rene's three grown children (Anne Marie, Jean Pierre & Patrick, easily Celine's age) AND Rene-Charles are the godparents. It is at the church where we learn that the aforementioned Linda, who's always taking care of the babies, is her SISTER! Wikipedia tells me a few interesting things I'll interject here: Celine is one of 14 children (where are the others??) and Celine is Rene's third wife, and he had been divorced twenty years before he married Celine. He is 26 years her senior. "I know her since she was 12." Ew. It's a happy day, and as the babies are baptized, Stevie Wonder's midi'd "Overjoyed" plays as we fade to commercial.
Premiere day! Rene confesses that he's never been so nervous, and he hasn't been able to sleep. The rest of the production team says the same. Who's relaxed, but happy and can't wait: Celine! She sings "All Coming Back to Me" for sound check - and Celine loves her some sound checks.
Seriously, sit down: Celine does her own make-up. No joke. She's got a dresser, but didn't see another person touch her face.
"How Do You Keep the Music Playing" involves the real Celine wandering the audience, while a videotaped Celine performs a duet with live Celine. Rene says Celine herself thought it too pretentious, but he insisted. Double your pleasure, baby.
Day after premiere: Rene is Celine's biggest fan AND biggest critic. They have a critique session. Pretty much involving how she needs to move downstage in the top number to not get whacked by the falling drapery. It's actually a lovely effect that reveals the orchestra & singers. Rene proclaims, "This is the best show I've seen since I know you." She replies, "Come back tomorrow - I'm here every night." (NOTE - just for fun, went to see if that's true. Um, no, she does 4 shows a week AND it's going to cost you love three-figure range minimum, and don't think you can get tickets until at least New Year's.)
If you don't get tickets, here are some of the numbers you'll miss (among some I've mentioned already): Open Arms (opening number), Power of Love, This Is For You, The Reason, Declaration of Love, Love Can Move Mountains, All By Myself, River Deep/Mountain High, My Heart Will Go On (like she's gonna leave that one out). She reflects on "At 17," by saying that she was not a good looking teenager: bad teeth, extremely skinny, not good in school, didn't feel pretty. So, she feels for the teenagers out there. "Ne Me Quitte Pas," by Jacques Brel, is a song about love lost and strong despair. "One of the most emotional songs ever written," and she cries every night...and gets a standing ovation for it every night. Oh, the humanity.
Oh, and the James Bond montage. Goldfinger starts it, and it's just bad. Not her song at all. Oh, and she scats. She scats. Gonna crack into your bank account now??
Appropos of nothing, She loves her husband very much and says it's tough to live with her and it isn't easy because she's disciplined and she's intense. No shizz, Sherlock! Rene says that an interviewer asked Celine if she wants another baby and she answered that door is not closed. Celine ends with, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Am I ready to be pregnant in Vegas and perform? Stay tuned!"
Day after premiere: Rene is Celine's biggest fan AND biggest critic. They have a critique session. Pretty much involving how she needs to move downstage in the top number to not get whacked by the falling drapery. It's actually a lovely effect that reveals the orchestra & singers. Rene proclaims, "This is the best show I've seen since I know you." She replies, "Come back tomorrow - I'm here every night." (NOTE - just for fun, went to see if that's true. Um, no, she does 4 shows a week AND it's going to cost you love three-figure range minimum, and don't think you can get tickets until at least New Year's.)
If you don't get tickets, here are some of the numbers you'll miss (among some I've mentioned already): Open Arms (opening number), Power of Love, This Is For You, The Reason, Declaration of Love, Love Can Move Mountains, All By Myself, River Deep/Mountain High, My Heart Will Go On (like she's gonna leave that one out). She reflects on "At 17," by saying that she was not a good looking teenager: bad teeth, extremely skinny, not good in school, didn't feel pretty. So, she feels for the teenagers out there. "Ne Me Quitte Pas," by Jacques Brel, is a song about love lost and strong despair. "One of the most emotional songs ever written," and she cries every night...and gets a standing ovation for it every night. Oh, the humanity.
Oh, and the James Bond montage. Goldfinger starts it, and it's just bad. Not her song at all. Oh, and she scats. She scats. Gonna crack into your bank account now??
Appropos of nothing, She loves her husband very much and says it's tough to live with her and it isn't easy because she's disciplined and she's intense. No shizz, Sherlock! Rene says that an interviewer asked Celine if she wants another baby and she answered that door is not closed. Celine ends with, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Am I ready to be pregnant in Vegas and perform? Stay tuned!"
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