next fall

Wow. Michael took Mr. Adam & myself to see the play "next fall". I really liked this show. What's it about ryan charisma? Well, it's a full length play (2 acts) which is a dying style on Broadway. And if that doesn't excite you. The play begins with a horrible car accident and you're in the waiting room. Slowly you meet the characters. The story revolves around a gay relationship (male) where one is an extremely devout Christian & the other is nothing. This isn't the only theme, but it's one of the big ones. As the story proceeds, we find out that the devout Christian is closeted has divorced parents, a born again father, and will come out... (wait for it)... "next fall." As we proceed we meet two other characters, the fag hag & the self loathing gay. Oh this play is full of dogma & hypocritical beliefs. So naturally, the hypocritical Christian gay states "he's not afraid to die because he accepted Jesus" well, he gets hit by a car. Oh this play pulls you in, chews you up and spits ya out. I secretly wished for one or two more scenes, but it leaves you to figure out what happened. It's heart wrenching, real and holds a mirror up to issues and situations that gay couples face regularly. Should you see this? Oh yes. Yes you should, it's so nice to see a dramatic gay play that isn't about HIV.

A Behanding in Spokane

My, my, my, my, my, my....my. Last night Michael took me to see A Behanding In Spokane. This play was written by Martin McDonagh, who also wrote The Beauty Queen Of Leenane & The Pillowman. The set was a run-down, flea bag hotel room. And the format was the newfangled 90 minute, no intermission show that is taking over Broadway.

First I need to tell everyone that Christopher Walken is creepy. Even as an old man, and he is no spring chicken, Walken is scary with a gun in his hand. And when I say hand, I mean his character has only one hand. That's the premise of this black comedy. A one-handed man is searching for 47 years for his hand he lost violently as a child. He searches the United States looking for people who have hands to sell. Now, yes this is gross. I won't tell you the outcome, but the small 4 man cast is really, really good. But I have to be honest, and with all sincerity. Walken made some bold choices for his role, his monologues (and there were many of them in the show) had some fun Walken(esque) deliveries. But I have to say, he didn't have much stagecraft going on. By that I mean Walken was being a film actor. I don't think he once used his horizon line. And he certainly didn't use a stage voice. Luckily the theater was small so that wasn't really an issue. But when you saw/heard him next to the other actors who were using stagecraft - it showed. Did I like this show? Hell yea! Should you see it? Yes, especially if you like a bit of a scare in a show.

Inglorious Bastards

So last Sunday night Mr. Adam & I rented Inglorious Bastards. I'm not a big war movie person, but it's nominated for an Academy Award and I do happen to like Quentin Terratino. I'm also somewhat squeamish so the gratuitous violence doesn't enrich a movie for me either. But let's dish...

This story is basically a fantasy story about what a small group of American Jews do to the Nazis. They torture, kill and maim them. It was a two fold story, while I love seeing the underdog win and I really did enjoy seeing the Nazis suffer. I really felt like two wrongs were not making a right. While one can never pardon such an atrocity as the Holocaust, I don't feel that the Jews becoming suicide bombers was a good answer. I found this movie a little gratuitous on the violence, but I did expect that from a Tarrentino film. I found the idea of a small band of Jews taking revenge upon the Nazis awesome.

So I'll say, I liked this movie. I did. I'm just not one for witnessing violence. Violence a group of people actually deserved.

GILEAD

Oh boy my pretties. I read a religious(ish) book. What would Madonna do? Dedicate an entire CD & tour to it? Anyway, this book is pretty good, not to mention a quick read. I'll admit, I didn't hate it. I really didn't. And those of you that know me, know how I feel about basically anything based in religion. It makes me ill. But we'll carry on. The story is an elderly father's (who happens to be a Reverend) letter to his toddler son. He knows he has a heart issue that will kill him sooner or later, probably sooner. Yes, I did cry at the end. But it's not the ending you expect. Yes the elderly die, but the death in the end isn't our main character, it's his best friend/confidant's death of old age. It killed me to read that part.

So the story is this complex. The narrator talks about his childhood, father & grandfather, friends, family and wife. Events that he felt shaped his life and world view. His father & grandfather were both Reverends as well. The narrators interpretations of the Bible and how they've changed over the years. There was some interesting insight in this book. Is it valid as the book is fiction? Well, to the extent that the Bible is valid. I believe the book deals with life in a small town, with small town thinking and small town death. Never breaking out of the narrow minds that bind people together whether or not they're good intentioned. Bad people are everywhere not just from "over there." Should you read this book? Eh, if you're a avid reader... sure.