Highly recommended, 'Mike Wallace' and 'Maiden' documentaries

 

 Mike Wallace is Here, a film by Avi Belkin/Photo by Magnolia Pictures

I don't know why I enjoy documentaries so much, but Mike Wallace is Here, Maiden, and Echo in the Canyon are the last three movies I've seen, and I've loved them all.

Mike Wallace is Here is the story of his news life beginning with acne (?) and his attempts to cover it up with radio broadcasting. From radio and advertising, his career soars, told in clips and interviews and separated by too many lines of color and flashbacks which are confusing at times.

I cannot imagine this film appealing to anyone under age 45 ("Who's Mike Wallace?") and certainly not to anyone who is not a news junkie since it's "hardcore," a glorification of his news life.  Omitted are his harassment of females at CBS and Mr. Wallace's racist remarks, but the content of the last half of the 20th century is valuable for American modern history and journalism classes.

It would have been better with subtitles of the names of all those he interviewed and the years of the interviews.  Most members of the audience likely can identify all, but in some cases, immediate identification would have helped and saved brain time. (Stick around at the end for the credits and IDs.)

Who knew Putin speaks English? Some of the other celebrities included in the film are Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, John Ehrlichman, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis (looking wonderful), Arthur Miller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Donald Trump, Ayatollah Khomeini (whose interview may have led to the assassination of Anwar Sadat), Salvador Dali (!), Larry King, and Oriana Fallaci (who's she?). His son, Chris Wallace of Fox fame, occupies just a snippet in the film, and none of Mike Wallace's four wives are screened.  Two are briefly mentioned. Also welcome would have been a note about Mike Wallace's death, when, where, and why. (He died in 2012 of natural causes.) When his son, Peter, was 19 and missing in Greece, Mike Wallace took off and found Peter's body below a steep cliff, lying on rocks in the water. His death was always intolerable pain for Mr. Wallace as it is for any parent experiencing this tragedy. I found myself wishing, wishing, wishing to see the entirety of most of the interviews (where can I go to find them?) since they were far too short, most, lasting just a few seconds.

Maiden, a Sony Pictures Classics release

On a more positive note is Maiden, about the woman, Tracy Edwards, who skippered the ship and a crew of women in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race (now called the Ocean Race). Clips and chronology of her story to obtain a boat and secure financing (from King Hussein of Jordan, no less, thanks to a chance encounter) make this an invigorating true-sail (could not resist). (Attention: Never turn down an opportunity to meet the great and not-so-great. Who knows where it will lead?)

Current interviews with the sailors and flashbacks to their 1989 roles make this a strong show and impetus for girls (and women) everywhere!  A must for feminist history classes.  Ms. Edwards and her crew became the first all-female staff to finish the race, winning several legs of the 33,000 mile journey which takes nine months to sail around the world.   Depression suffered by Ms. Edwards and Mr. Wallace receives considerable attention in both films.   Maiden's story is much easier to follow than the Mike Wallace film since Maiden's early clips are presented mostly in chronological order, while in Wallace, we go back and forth from here to then and back again and then up and down. (His hairstyle, color, and thickness help to keep viewers afloat.) Original music by John Piscitello (Mike Wallace) and Rob Manning and Samuel Sim (Maiden) is electrifying, capturing the moods and tensions of both films. Take a happy hanky to Maiden for its enthusiastic ending with audience applause. patricialesli@gmail.com

 

'Producers' deliver huge hit in Alexandria

Leo (Ryan Phillips) and Follies Girls (from left) Taegan Chirinos, Cheryl Bolt, Erin Pugh, Kathleen West, Shannon Robichaud, Colleen Kleveno) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Producers/photo by Matthew Randall

If any seats remain for The Producers by the time you read this, it will raise my eyebrows since words on the street travel faster than the digital or printed kind.

Take my words for it:  This is a sizzler of a comedy which will make you happy you came and enjoyed a good time at the theatre.

Leo (Ryan Phillips), left, and Max (Steve Cairns)  in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Producers/photo by Matthew Randall

Just the name Mel Brooks (still kicking at age 93; he's Jewish - keep reading) is enough to drive me anywhere to whatever of his is on stage, and fortunately for us locals, that means the Little Theatre of Alexandria to see the show that was such a movie hit, Brooks turned it into a Broadway musical which ran six years and won 12 Tonys. (Now, that's a reversal of the process.)


From start to finish, it's full of action and laughs with Steve Cairns as Max Bialystock, the once famous Broadway producer, who convinces a naive accountant to join him and produce a terrible play so they can collect big losses from their big flop. (Be careful what you wish for.)


Ryan Phillips is the accountant, Leo Bloom (and he does) whose sophistication throughout the show increases to match his growing awareness of the theatre world and how it operates. (His education in theatre performance at George Mason University is quite evident.)

 
       "You've mistaken me for somebody 
           with a spine." 

"There's a lot more to me than me."

Enter the playwright, a German named Franz Liebkind (Chad Ramsey), appropriately clothed throughout the show in lederhosen and wearing a mad Hitler helmet and a black beard, to take over and star in his masterpiece, Springtime for Hitler.

What's a play without sex? Not a fun play. Here comes the girly, flirty Ulla (Sirena Dib) who hypnotizes Leo and weaves her "magic."

And not to forget the director of the "loser of a play," Roger (Brian Lyons-Burke), always assisted by his able fairy, Carmen Ghia (Timothy R. Kingboth) who produce regales of laughter and whose sparkling diamond lapels can be seen from the rear of the theatre.

Costumers Jean Schlicting and Kit Sibley, assisted by wardrobe coordinator Robin Worthington, had their hands full, fashioning outfits for 21 cast members whose female ensemble wear sexy scanty designs as members of a chorus line before they are clad as little old ladies in flowered dresses (just below the knees, please) with white collars, gloves, hats, and, natch, pearls. 

The ladies' walkers become dance partners, and sounds emanate from the taps of their shoes clicking on the floors. (Ditto the accountants in these two memorable scenes. Stefan Sittig, choreographer, and Alan Wray, sound designer, exceed expectations.)

In addition to the heavyweights, the ensemble are the stars who carry the show and work to make it the "worst show" with the "worst directors and worst actors" (say, what?) because a flop which is not a flop but flips is a flop of a plan. (Huh?  You have to be there.) 

Dan Remmers has designed almost minimalist sets to avoid interference with the dialogue, and that's a good thing. 


Conductor Colin Taylor leads an orchestra of 22 members critical to the show's success. They play "upstairs," mostly hidden from view.

In 2015 I saw The Producers at the Olney Theatre and was happy to see it starting up in Alexandria because the "second-time around" is just as good and merry. 

Attention:  PC Police: It is not. But, why can't we still have fun?  Is it such a dastard world that we can't get off and enjoy a good time?

"Stop the world!  I want to get on!"

To quote Director Kristina Friedgen: Let's "laugh at ourselves more and allow others to laugh with us," or as Max puts it to Leo: "Smile and the world smiles with you."

Now, that's entertainment!
 
Members of the ensemble act in several different roles.  They are Drake Leach, Cheryl Bolt, Taegan Chirinos, Brian Delp, Chad Friedman, Rachel Hogan, Colleen Kleveno, Derek Marsh, Anne McPherson, Erin Pugh, Mike Sarisky, Brandon Steele, and Kathleen West.

Also, Courtney M. Caliendo and Shannon Robichaud who are dance captains.

Other crew members are David Correia and Mary Beth Smith-Toomey, producers; Haley Dandreaux, assistant director; Steven McBride, vocal director; Rob Cork and Nick Friedlander, stage managers; Tom O'Reilly, set construction; De Nicholson-Lamb, set painting; Russell J. Wyland, set decoration; Kirsten Apker, properties; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Larissa Norris, makeup; and Susan Boyd, hair and wig designs.

What: The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
 
When: Now through August 17, 2019. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.

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

Tickets: $29 to $34

Rating: PG-13. Language: "R" A few contemporary slang words are uttered infrequently. Adult themes.

Duration: Two hours with one 15-minute intermission

Public transportation: Check the Metro website which supplies information to LTA during Metro station improvements.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby. If Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets is closed, the bank's lot is open to LTA patrons at no charge.
 

For more information: 703-683-0496

patricialesli@gmail.com

Ursula's sculptures leave Women's Museum

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with Untitled (nine cones), 1976/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Tak, 2015, cedar, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, gift of Wilhelmina Cole Holladay/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with her little nothings (2000-2015)/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, little nothings (2000-2015) "experiments" that she collects and finds inspirational, sometimes leading to large projects. Among these elements are roots, corn, "knitting with pig intestines," a hat worn by her father in Ukraine, stomachs of cows (aided in one, by mice), a cutting from her brother's hair when he was three, and in the lower left corner, portions of a costume she wore on her arms to a party "with the nails being consequential"/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, standing beside her Zakopane, 1987/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with her Zakopane, 1987, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co. The pain of memory may cause her grimace, but art helps her conquer her pain/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, detail of Thread Terror, 2016, cedar and graphite, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co,/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, OCEAN VOICES, 2011-2012, cedar and graphite, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co./photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with her Droga, 2009, cedar and graphite, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Book with no words II, 2017-18, cedar, linen, and leather, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co, /photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard, PODERWAC, 2017, leather, cotton, steel and polyester batting, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co.This is about 10.5 feet high x 8.5 feet wide/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ursula von Rydingsvard on March 20, 2019 at the opening of her Contour of Feeling at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with her Collar with Dots, 2008, cedar and pigment, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong & Co/photo by Patricia Leslie

Compared to her favorite medium, cedar, Ursula von Rydingsvard is warm, vivacious and very much alive, adjectives which can also be applied to her cedar which is separated from its lifeblood, soil, when Ms. Rydingsvard works with it, enlivening it when she cuts, carves, slices, and glues it to fashion large-scale sculptures which can take a year to finish.

Cedar is Ms. Rydingsvard's lifeblood which she embues with her spirit and poetry to express her innermost feelings and emotions.  

She makes art for many reasons, including:

To survive living and all of its implied layers.

To ease my high anxiety, to numb myself with the labor and the focus of building my work.

     Because it's a place to put my pain,   my sadness.

Because there's a constant hope inside of me that this process will heal me, my family, and the world.

      Because it helps fight my inertia. 

For several months the National Museum of Women in the Arts has been the home of 26 of Ms. Von Rydingsvard's sculptures, nine works on paper, and a wall display. 

At the opening of the show, The Contour of Feeling, she led guests through a parade of her creations, large and sinuous, inviting observation and reflection upon her life which began in Deensen, Germany and continued in Poland where she, her five siblings, and parents lived in eight refugee camps over five years at the end of World War II.

After the war, the family was one of many rescued by the U.S. Marshall Plan  and Catholic charities, which brought the family to the shores of the U.S. and  helped it settle in Connecticut.

Art is a reflection of the lives of many artists, and Ms. Von Rydingsvard is no exception.  From her subconscious and memories of life in the refugee camps and the wooden barracks, it is no surprise that she uses wood to sculpt and release experiences which have shaped her life.

I believe most artists want viewers to interpret art for what it represents and means to viewers, not what it represents and means to the creators, a sentiment shared by Ms. Von Rydingsvard.  

On its web page, the museum quotes Mark Rosenthal, the guest curator and author of the exhibition catalogue who interviewed Ms. Von Rydingsvard:

Let it float and tell you what the piece needs to tell you, not what the curators are saying and not what the teachers are saying.

This is the her first solo exhibition in Washington and "the most ambitious" of her exhibitions to date, according to the museum. Her work is found in major museums throughout the U.S.

She received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Miami and a M.F.A. from Columbia University.

The show was organized by the Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Happy late Birthday to Ursula von Rydingsvard who turned 77 on July 26.

What: Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling
 
When: Closing Sunday, July 28, 2019. The museum is open Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and on Sundays, 12 - 5 p.m.

Where: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
 
For more information: 202-783-5000 or visit nmwa.org.

Metro stations: Metro Center (exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north) or walk a short distance from McPherson Square.

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Echo in the Canyon' will echo a long time

In Echo in the Canyon, Jakob Dylan interviews Tom Petty in Petty's last on-camera interview before he died of a heart attack at age 66 in 2017/Greenwich Entertainment

If you happen to be a singer, composer, songwriter, musician, producer, d.j., music teacher, music historian, performer, conductor, director, engineer, rocker and/or grew up during the 60s, Echo in the Canyon is a movie you'll want to see. (Or hear.)

It's a music doc all about the distinctive sounds emanating from Laurel Canyon near LA from 1965-1967 and led by Jakob Dylan (yes, his son and looking every bit like his dad) who interviews several stars from the era and current ones, too, like Brian Wilson, Michelle Phillips, Eric Clapton, Fiona Apple, and many more who sang for the Byrds, the Mamas and Papas, Buffalo Springfield, the Beach Boys, and more.

/Greenwich Entertainment

Somebody says (seriously) that Brian Wilson is better than Mozart.  I can see (or hear) that.  Rock on, Brian!

Many old and new clips of performances are included, but who was Frank Sinatra?  Or Nat King Cole?

Dylan and Norah Jones draw a blank when presented their predecessors' pictures in a gallery. 

But who is Jakob Dylan?  Before Echo I drew a blank but now that I've seen him, think Echo may be his breakout. 

Jakob Dylan and Jade Castrinos in Echo in the Canyon/Greenwich Entertainment


My only quarrel is the title.  I vote for Canyon's Edge or Edge From a Canyon or Edge something.  "Echo" just sounds a little too tame for all that happened and is included here.

It's a back and forth venture, for sure, and I am rushing to get the soundtrack right now! 

Andrew Slater directed and co-wrote with Eric Barrett. Congratulations, boys! 

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