Hamilton - An Immigrant's Story

Broadway Musicals - My First Love

Even though my first blog post was about visual art, anyone who knows me knows that my greatest cultural love is musical theater.  I couldn't write another post without it being about a Broadway show, and the greatest musical I've seen in a long time is "Hamilton."

So many seasons have gone by where, that evening in June, I sit in my living room watching the Tony Awards and realize that I haven't seen any of the nominated shows.  Quite the contrast from when, before having children, I had seen literally everything.  Now that I'm not working, I go into the City every second Wednesday to have lunch with an old friend and take in a matinee.  What a great routine!  I've see these shows, starting in May, in this order:

"Fun Home" - see photo caption on blog introduction entry.

"The Visit" - so glad I saw this final Kander & Ebb musical starring the legendary Chita Rivera before its premature closing.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" - the best new play I've seen in many years. I'm listening to the recorded book now, and have gotten a copy of the book out of the library for my 15-year-old-daughter to read - Outstanding. SEE THIS SHOW!!! I'll try to do a full post on it shortly.

"It Shoulda Been You" - It was time for a light-hearted comedy, after three rather serious shows.  Tyne Daly was the perfect Jewish mother, and I admire the artistry of director David Hyde Pierce a great deal.  Also glad to have caught this before it closed.

"Hamilton"

This week, I'll see "Amazing Grace," and in two weeks, "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" (even though in principle, I'm against so-called "jukebox musicals").

Hamilton

The funny thing about my choosing which show I'll see is that I kinda just go by my gut - not really reading up on any of them until after I've seen the show.  That way, I go in with a fairly open mind.  I bought my full-price, partial-view ticket to "Hamilton" largely based on the President's recommendation, not knowing anything about the show other than he liked it, and it's a hot ticket.

So, I plopped into my far house left aisle seat at 2:00, and said to the guy sitting next to me, "Is your seat partial-view too?"  He said, "I don't know.  I work on the show and they just gave me whatever they had."  I said, "Well, forgive me if I lean over to see whatever's happening on stage right!  What do you do with the show?"  He said, "I'm writing a book on it.  Did you see it downtown?"  Gulp.  It was a transfer?  "No," I said, "This is my first time."  And then the lights dimmed, and I was immediately blown away.

At intermission, I turned back to the guy and said, wide-eyed and breathless, "Oh my God!  I didn't know!  I didn't know!"  He said, "You didn't know it was hip-hop?" and laughed incredulously.  I said, "I didn't know anything about it!  It's so awesome!"  Then, I interrogated him thoroughly and he good-naturedly answered all my questions.  When the show was over, he said, "I'm glad you liked it. Tell your friends!"  I said, "I don't think I have to.  I can tell no one and it will run for years."

On the train ride home, I watched these two YouTube clips.  They will give you a great idea about what the show is like if you haven't seen it yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaSD7NY3SCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wboCdgzLHg

I actually saw the understudy, Javier Munoz, in the title role, rather than the brilliant author and usual star player, Lin-Manuel Miranda.  From the video, I actually think that Munoz is actually better in the role.  But the show is so great, you can't lose either way.

Then, a week after seeing the show, it opened, and The New York Times review came out, opening with the line, "Yes, it really is that good."  Ben Brantley griped about all the hype the show is getting, but confessed that it is well-deserved.  People DREAM of reviews like that.  Here's a link to it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/theater/review-hamilton-young-rebels-changing-history-and-theater.html?_r=0

America Now

I love this tagline: "The story of America then, told by America now."  Watching the hugely diverse and immensely talented cast portray those young "radicals" worked so perfectly - it was inspiring and energizing.  And, I couldn't help but to think of my father.  I'm pretty sure he would hate this show, not seeing the parallel to his life as an Italian immigrant who came to this country at the age of 16 in 1957.  He wouldn't be able to sit through five minutes of the fast-paced rapping.  But it's all there: the work ethic, the drive, the idealism.  Hamilton and my dad could both be seen as Horatio Alger heroes. Bravo, Public Theater, for nurturing this show and bringing it to the masses.

Van Gogh Today

Biopic
I love the new management of the Garden Theatre in downtown Princeton.  Now that it's a non-profit movie house, it offers art films, National Theatre Live from London and other performing arts screenings, classic films, as well as first-run films.  Here's the link if you are interested in learning more about it or becoming a member: http://princetongardentheatre.org/

Recently, an artist friend and I attended "Exhibition on Screen: Van Gogh," which we loved - see link for more info:  http://www.exhibitiononscreen.com/vincent-van-gogh-a-new-way-of-seeing  .  The film was made in collaboration with Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum and commemorates the 150th anniversary of the artist's death.  It is a fascinating film, and left me thirsty to learn more about Van Gogh.

Biography
So, in my attic, I searched out an old volume that I've had for over twenty years, but for some reason, could never get into: "Van Gogh" by Pierre Cabanne.  I tried to read it when I bought it, which I think was sometime around 1986 (when it was first published in the US; it was originally written in French in 1961) and again around 1997, when I lived in Provence and visited Van Gogh's old haunts of Arles and St. Rémy.  After seeing this film, I was finally ready to read it.

As is always the case, for practical purposes, the book goes into a lot more detail than the movie does.  Now, after reading the book, I feel as though I understand this master who, aside from his artwork, is best known for sensational tidbits like his madness, and for cutting off his ear and sending it to a prostitute.  (In fact, he only sliced off a bit of his earlobe.)  I absolutely recommend both seeing the movie and reading the book!

The book selectively quotes many of Van Gogh's hundreds of letters to his brother Théo extensively, and I am very impressed by how matter-of-factly Van Gogh wrote of and spoke of his mental illness, although he never called it such, referring to it most often as his "nervous condition" or "madness." Regarding his illness, my favorite quote from a letter is, "...I am losing the vague dread, the fear of the thing.  And little by little can come to look upon madness as a disease like any other."  Van Gogh was a modern thinker in many areas, not just art.

Currently Showing
To add a third dimension to my recent study of Van Gogh, I came across this article in last week's issue of The Guardian:  (Sorry, but I can't figure out how to rotate the image.)

What a coincidence!  A very clever person decided to curate a joint exhibition of works by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, who was born only ten years after Van Gogh was born, and the Dutch artist, both of whom lived in France but never met. And of course, Van Gogh died much earlier.  The exhibit is currently in Oslo (where I hope to visit next summer, alas too late to see the exhibition) and then travels to Amsterdam.  I never would have thought of showing them together, but in reading this article, it's surprising that they have never been shown together before!

That's all for now - Thanks for reading!  Please follow my blog and comment below!

Introduction to my Blog: Cultural Impressions

Welcome to my Blog: Cultural Impressions

Being a great fan of live theater, especially musicals, cinema and books, I decided to start this blog in order to record my reactions to performances I've attended, movies I've seen, and books I've either read or listened to.

One of the most important functions of art is that it ties us all together, giving people, no matter how disparate, common ground from which discussions on the human experience can be launched.

So, please share your thoughts!  Thank you for reading!

Selfie taken in front of the lockers at Circle in the Square Theatre before a performance of  the 2015 Tony Award winner for Best Musical,"Fun Home," spring, 2015.  I worked in Circle in the Square's marketing department as an NYU grad student in 1987-88.  I visited with my friend, the star of the show and Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris, whom I know from his days playing "Tommy" on Broadway when I was working at Dodger Productions (1993), after the show.