Best Picture! 'Parasite' and more for 'Ford v. Ferrari'

Oh my gaaawwwwdddddddd....

Not that I've seen them all, but this is without question, "the best" this year.

It's not for the squeamish or those who want an easy flowing plot.  

It's for lovers of The Shape of Water. 

At the beginning, it's like a nicely winding stream, meandering along its path when yikers! Danger knocks and like a mammoth rock which separates the water in two, a geyser erupts and venom spews. 

Don't open the door!  (But, what's a movie without fear and trembling? And opportunity knocks, does it not?)

I must open the door! Which door?

Parasite is a screaming roller coaster ride which climbs and zooms 'til you reach zowee clouds and then you hurtle down the curves, rushing, rushing to the next scene. lurching, twisting and covering your eyes, afraid to look and ….oh, my   g o o d n e s s....

Hang on! You may need blinders.  Just ask Christine. She used her hands.

It's got a bit of humor, too: "Do I have to do the Miranda thing again?"

Outstanding music (by Jaeil Jung), acting, cinematography, and plot make Parasite the "best." 


Congratulations to writer/director Bong Joon-ho for bringing this to the U.S.

Parasite has been nominated for six Academy Awards, the first time a Korean film has been nominated for any Oscar.  The actors deserved nomination, too, but were overlooked by the Academy for, according to modern talk, racist reasons.

It's in Korean with English sub-titles and, to make a comparison, makes Knives Out (I know; not nominated) look like plastic forks. 
  
Others I wish had won nominations and Oscars are Christian Bale for Best Actor and Tracy Letts, Best Supporting Actor in Ford v. Ferrari, a winner for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Casting. No doubts!
 
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Olney's 'Miss You' embraces all

Valeria Morales, left, and Karmine Alers in Miss You Like Hell at Olney Theatre Center
Photo: Stan Barouh



For a show that's only 90 or so minutes without an intermission, Olney Theatre Center's Miss You Like Hell covers a lot of territory, racing through so many hot button issues, it's a fast socio-psychological study in what ails the nation and what ails you (but not me).

Illegal immigration, discrimination, suicide, mental health, sexism, family matters (including, but not limited to mother-daughter relationships), are all here. What have I overlooked? 

A lot to grasp in one show, but all is not totally droll since it's got humor. 

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes's main characters are a mother, Beatriz (Karmine Alers) who convinces her estranged 16-year-old daughter, Olivia (Valeria Morales) to go with her on a coast-to-coast journey and try and iron out some of their interpersonal difficulties and "find themselves."

While Beatrix, an illegal immigrant, suffers the silent anxiety of being discovered by ICE, Olivia endures suicidal tendencies. What better time to work it all out? Which they attempt with the help of convincing characters they meet on the road, who befriend them and provide sustenance to help overcome life's "evils," and find everybody. They become family of more than blood lines.

Dialogue between mother and daughter is ageless, the same (with some variation) likely to be found on parchment in the Middle Ages (sans the X-rated words.  What were X-rated words in the Middle Ages? But that's another script!)

Two of the most delightful new friends are a gay couple, Mo (Bradley Mott) and Higgins (Lawrence Redmond) whose humorous lines and duet "My Bell's Been Rung" contrast with dour first impressions.
 
Later, Pearl (Kayla Gross) is another stranger-now-friend whose strong and beautiful voice threatens to overtake the stars' and Yellowstone National Park.

Director Lisa Portes places nonspeaking cast members in scattered positions on a mostly shadowy stage until they start to emerge like butterflies, slowly gathering energy to float and soar, sing and dance.  (The harmonies are magnificent.) They use chairs as props, and sometimes they sit or stand on elevated levels which sounds hokey, but once I figured out what was happening, the effect was all right. 

While Matt Rowe's automotive and road sounds hum in the background, unobtrusive landscapes are projected up as moving backdrop (by Thomas Ontiveros). (Videos are so ubiquitous in theatre nowadays, it's an unusual production which doesn't have them. I guess the performing artists must try any and all additions to keep the audience, and especially younger members, in check.  Try the Symphony, for another.)
  
Walter “Bobby” McCoy directs the onstage seven-member orchestra which provides excellent accompaniment (per standard Olney fare).

Other cast members are Jyline Carranza, Carlos L. Encinias
Jay Frisby, Olivia Ashley Reed (also dance captain), Kara-Tameika Watkins, and Michael Wood.

The creative team also include Milagros Ponce de Leon, scenics; Ivania Stack, costumes; Pablo Santiago, lighting; Richard Lundy, production stage manager; Josiane M. Jones, director of production; Christopher Youstra, associate artistic director and director of music theatre; Breon Arzell, choreography.

Congratulations to Ms. Morales, a freshman at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, making her Olney debut!

What: Miss You Like Hell with music and lyrics by Erin McKeown

Where:  Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.

When: Through March 1, 2020, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees on Saturday, Sunday and one Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. An audio-described performance for the blind and visually impaired on Wednesday, Feb.12, at 8 p.m. and a sign-interpreted performance Thursday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. (Contact Julia Via at jvia@olneytheatre.org to confirm.)

Tickets: Begin at $42 with discounts for groups, seniors, military, and students

Ages: Olney rates this as "PG-13" but I rate it "R." Olney recommends a parent attend with children aged 13 and older; no parent necessary for those aged 16 and more. 

Language:  X


"Afterwords": Matinee post-show discussions on all Saturdays in February.


Free tickets with pre-registration for Erin McKeown's concert at the Olney Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.  She wrote the music and lyrics for Miss You Like Hell.
 
Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats

Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site

For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485
 

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A 'Gentleman's' romp in Alexandria

Chuck Dluhy is THE gentleman who steals the show in Little Theatre of Alexandria's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder/Photo by Matt Liptak

Attention, Theatregoers:  This is one of the season's best!

You like Sex? Murder? Whimsy? Action? Comedy? Scenes galore? A fantastic script? Glorious costumes?


Come to Little Theatre of Alexandria's production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder  and you shall find them. (But only on Jan. 31, Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 when seats are available. )

In the desirable setting in post-Victorian England (1909), this "gentleman"  soars, leaps, and celebrates a good time of hysterics, music, and fun.

Chuck Dluhy is the star attraction who "only" has nine roles as D'Ysquith family members, on his way up the family ladder, as it were.  While his "relatives" temporarily thwart his ascent, he devises means to uproot their positions in the inheritance line so he can slide into Position Number One.

Director Frank D. Shutts II does an excellent job molding Mr. Dluhy into the different characters which Mr. Dluhy handles with ease and hilarious heroics.  Backstage handlers are to be commended for stitching and switching him up quickly between scenes.  (Is this the same person?  Yes, it is!) 

Jean Schlicting and Kit Sibley's handsomely designed costumes and styling whet fancies and contribute to the show's success, made all the more enjoyable by the 12-member orchestra led by Christopher A. Tomasino, assisted by pianist Steven J. McBride Jr. 


Matt Liptak's backdrop for many and varied scenes is a rich and red floor-to-ceiling curtain which the staff easily transitions. Kirsten Apker's props are minimalist and perfectly adequate.

That I saw this Gentleman only last October in Reston and still revel in its charm and fantastic entertainment is testimony to its achievement.  After all, in 2014 it won four Tonys (including Best Musical) and was nominated for six more.


The play (by Robert L. Freeman based on the 1907 novel by Roy Horniman) is not entirely fictitious since H. H. Asquith (1852-1928) was the first Earl of Oxford and Asquith, and he was also UK prime minister from 1908-1916. Wikipedia notes, "it was a matter of family pride" for Lord Asquith that his family had an ancestor who served jail time for participating in a movement to reject the monarchy (1663). 

Other cast members, most with multiple roles, are

Katie Weig, Margie Remmers, Audrey Baker, Alexandra

Chace, Devin Dietrich, Drew Going, Kristen Jepperson, 

Derek Marsh, Allison Meyer, and Jordan Peyer.

The creative team also includes Steven Lutvak, music and
lyrics; Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, producer; Stefan Sittig, choreographer; Rob Cork and Nick Friedlander, stage
managers; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting design; David Correia, sound; Susan Boyd, hair and makeup; and Cheryl Sinsabaugh, dialogue coach.


What: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
 
When: Now through February 8, 2020. All shows sold out except for Jan. 31, Feb. 5 and Feb. 6.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Tickets: Start at $29

Language rating: G

Duration: About two hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission

Public transportation: Check the Metro website.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free theatre parking at the Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets (when the bank is closed).

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496
Business Office: 703-683-5778; Fax: 703-683-1378
asklta@thelittletheatre.com
 

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Last weekend for pastels in Washington

Paul Huet, A Meadow at Sunset, c. 1845, pastel on gray-blue paper, Purchased as a Gift in Memory of Melvin R. Seiden, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Edgar Degas, James McNeill Whistler, Henri Matisse, Roy Lichenstein, and Rosalba Carriera are some of the artists represented in The Touch of Color: Pastels at the National Gallery of Art set to close Sunday at 6 p.m.

Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, Claude Dupouch, c. 1739, pastel on blue laid paper mounted on canvas (on stretcher/strainer), Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Käthe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait as a Young Woman, c. 1900, pastel on laid paper, Gift of Robert and Chris Petteys, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

William Merritt Chase, Study of Flesh Color and Gold, 1888, pastel on paper coated with mauve-gray grit (on strainer), Gift of Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Claude Monet, Waterloo Bridge, 1901, pastel on blue wove paper, Florian Carr Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The beautiful colors, their mix, their shadows and images is a walk through galleries of a heavenly dream, a wonderland of bliss, yet contrasted with some works to render a "heavenly dream," one of imagination and reality. 

Feel the cold of the hurrying walkers who try to escape blustery winds in Fifth Avenue Bus (1914). Feel the anguish of the expressionless, shadow figures in George Luks' Breadline (1900) who sat in the bottom rung in the gap between America's rich and poor.  What has changed in a century?

George Luks, Breadline, 1900, pastel on paperboard, Corcoran Collection (Estate of Susie Brummer), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Everett Shinn, Fifth Avenue Bus, 23rd Street and Broadway, 1914, pastel and charcoal on rough wove paper, laid down on board, Bequest of Julia B. Engel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 
Portraits by Ms. Carriera (1673 or 1675-1757*), a Venetian who was one of the best known 18th century "pastelists," attracted royalty and travelers from Britain who journeyed to Italy to see her works and hire her on commission. 

According to the handsome free 16-page color booklet available at the Gallery show, pastels were considered an appropriate medium for women artists, delicate, sparing  artists' hands from oil paints. 

And as for subject matters, "flowers, figures, and landscapes" were considered satisfactory for female artists to paint. They  had few opportunities beyond pastels to exercise their artistic talents.

Several pastel groups formed, and one, the Pastel Society of London, found in 1898, thrives today.
When ill health befell him,  Édouard Manet turned to pastels which the Gallery literature says is easier to work with than oils. Degas' pastels in a gallery window captured the attention of Mary Cassatt which "changed my life,"  turning her towards impressionism.

Kaywin Feldman, the National Gallery director, noted at the opening of the display that pastel exhibitions are "extremely rare" and "can be difficult to show," but the National Gallery curators and staff managed to hang the pieces in fine arrangement and cloak any difficulties they may have encountered assembling and designing the presentation. 

The pastels are not loaned to other institutions because of their fragile states, and it's fortunate, once again, that Washington, D.C. can lay claim to the National Gallery of Art and its rich collections which are available for all to see at no charge.    

*Ms. Carriera is identified as "one of the most successful women artists of any era" by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Wikipedia (which differ on the year she was born).

What: The Touch of Color:  Pastels at the National Gallery of Art 

When: Now through January 26, 2020. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Where: The West Building at the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

How much: Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215
 

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NextStop Theatre presents MLK Jr.'s last night

Shayla Simmons and Curtis McNeil in NextStop Theatre Company's The Mountaintop/Photo by Lock and Company

What would it have been like for him at the Lorraine Motel with a housekeeper he had never met?

It's unlikely you would come up with a script bearing any resemblance to the show now playing at NextStop Theatre in Herndon. And maybe, like me, you had not envisioned his last night, or wondered about the script for The Mountaintop which is far better than expected.

Only two actors appear (Curtis McNeil and Shayla Simmons)  and their outstanding performances surely will net them and the director, Kevin McAllister, Helen Hayes nominations.


It always helps when an actor looks like the real-life character he (or she) portrays, and NextStop managers got it just right with Mr. McNeil's selection. He delivers a powerful, unforgettable performance, strengthened by costume designer Paris Francesca's attire of the white shirt and tie Dr. King wore in every picture or video in memory. 


Ms. Simmons is a sassy flirt, "Camae," a hotel maid here,who prompts lots of laughs on this surprising night with its sad ending. The two spend time in the motel room together, having some fun before life's tragedies convene to end it all.

Mr. King's weaknesses do not go unnoticed.

The mention of a cellphone is puzzling, but the pieces shortly fit together and hint at future dialogue.

It was shocking to hear Dr. King's age (1929-1968). He was only 39?  Every year his achievements grow in stature, recognized on MLK Jr. Day.

At the end, Mr. McNeil's wrenching portrait left him almost gasping for breath as he seemed to struggle to regain composure and receive the ovation from the standing audience.

Evan Hoffmann, scenic designer, and Alex Wade, properties designer, match their set to the actual room at the Lorraine (with the exception of the color; for some strange reason, they chose a peach, perhaps because the actual was a dull tan). 

Yaritza Pacheco's sounds not only frighten Dr. King, but their perfectly timed mad claps of thunder (it must have rained that night) jolt the audience, too.

Kudos to Mr. Hoffmann, also the theatre's artistic director, and Abigail Fine, managing director, who chose the production to educate guests and honor Martin Luther King Jr., in a prelude to Black History Month celebrated every February.

The award-winning playwright, Katori Hall, is from Memphis.

Other members of the creative team are Lynn Joslin, lighting; Samba Pathak, projections; Sarah Usary, production stage manager; Jordan Ross, rehearsal stage manager; Lynda Bruce, assistant stage manager; and Suzy Alden, scenic painter.

The Lorraine Motel, Memphis, now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum/Wikipedia

What: The Mountaintop by Katori Hall

Duration:  About 90 minutes without intermission

When:  Through Feb. 2, 2020 with the last show at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2. Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., and a Saturday matinee, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.  

Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. Lots of great restaurants nearby.

Tickets:  Start at $35. Front row tickets are free for local high school students and their teachers.
 
Language: Rated X 

Lighted, free parking: Available near the door. 

Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats

For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org

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