'Urinetown' is a blast at Dominion Stage

Urinetown's Ensemble at Dominion Stage/photo by Jessica Sperlongano

 

It may not be a "happy musical" but it's a daffy musical, a frolicking musical, one which entertains, and whizzes by with precise timing.

It's a comedy tonight!

Chris Christie and the bridge debacle, water problems in West Virginia and now other states, the French president and his three amours, and the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI are just some of the current news stories which come to mind. 

Where there are politicians, can greed, lies, money, and deception lie far behind?  And provide plentiful content to satirize on stage? 

Welcome, scandals!

And what's love got to do with it? Or, the poor? Pity.

"Darling," says Senator Cladwell exquisitely played by Michael Bagwell, to his daughter, Hope (Melissa Berkowitz): "What do you mean by 'love'?" 

If you are like me, you have been intrigued by the title, Urinetown, for a while, but don't let it fool you. It is not all "bathroom humor," as the program states. Far less than I imagined, and children, one as young as six or so, were present at the performance I attended, and laughed as much as the rest of us who love dancing (choreographed by Rikki Howie and Patrick M. Doneghy, also the director) and songs and whimsy and fun and lots of action and n'er a dull moment for your mind to wander. 

I had many "favs" among the large cast of characters (large casts are often more enthralling, don't you think?): Little Sally (Dana Robinson) and Miss Pennywise (Katherine Lipovsky) both exaggerating in exactly the right amounts; certainly, the narrator played by Christopher Guy Thorn, who as Officer Lockstock begins and ends the show with special  messages to the audience in his cop uniform with perfect cop sunglasses and assiduous mannerisms, assisted by the wild and wide-eyed Officer Barrel (Steve Custer).

Another who drew lots of laughs whenever he pranced (he did) on stage was Ian A. Coleman, McQueen, a dashing assistant, among one of his roles.  Several actors shouldered multiple parts.  More applause.

For a non-profit, the acting continues to embellish Washington's reputation as a growing theatre hub. And not a

big fan of musicals, I nonetheless found Urinetown engrossing and amusing.

The singing was fine, and not only will you hear gospel a cappella, but rock and roll trickles in and whiffs from Broadway like Lez Miz, West Side Story (dig that finger popping scene!) and was it my imagination? The Wizard of Oz?

Kevin Diana led a six-piece orchestra to enrich the night's presentation.

My only complaint is the mustache and wig for Old Man Strong (Matt Baughman) are a trifle overdone.  Costumes, lighting, and sets are well designed, and set changes occur in shadowy, silhouetted spaces without noisy accompaniment.

The program says the idea of this farce came from writer Greg Kotis's actual experience in Europe in the late 1990s when he ran out of money which he needed for a public urinal, circumstances which begged him to inquire of others:  "Spare any change?" 

The auditorium at the Gunston seats 426, and there is no reserved seating nor a bad spot in the house, so you have nothing to worry about. If you take children, proximity to the stage is all important, and their pupils may enlarge to match Officer Barrel's.

The remaining cast members: Michael Bigley, Teresa Danskey, Willie Garner, Ian Hoch, Kyle Keene, Lauren Kuhn, Matt Liptak, James Maxted, Larissa Norris, Joelle Thomas, Leslie Walbert, and Erica Wisniewski. The show is produced by Shawn g. Byers and Richard Isaacs. Christine Farrell is the stage manager.

Plot?  You need plot?  Just go, darling, and enjoy.  There is too much to write.  This only won three Tonys?  It must have been a competitive year.

"Yes, WEE can!"

Urinetown is your town is our town is "you are in town?"

What: Dominion Stage's Urinetown: The Musical

When: 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through January 25, 2014

Where:  Gunston Theater One, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206

How much: $20

For more information: 571-377-4697

Language:  G (Oh, there are a couple of "damns.")

 

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Civil War sculpture at the National Gallery of Art trumpets African-Americans' valor

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900), Jarek Tuszynski/Wikimedia Commons, 2009

It is not the solitary figure on horseback for whom the sculpture at the National Gallery of Art is named that draws the most attention.

It is the figures and faces of the 16 black soldiers who follow and precede him in unison, carrying bayonets on their shoulders, marching on Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 before 20,000 who came to send them off, to fight Confederates hundreds of miles away.

Listen carefully and you can hear the sounds the drummer boy makes as he leads the procession.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900). The model at the National Gallery of Art is on long-term loan from the National Park Service, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, N.H./Patricia Leslie

The work, called the greatest American sculpture of the 19th century, is well known as the Shaw Memorial, named after the aristocratic white colonel, Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) who commanded the first black brigade from the North, one of the first groups of black soldiers to fight for the Union Army. 

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society. From the Natiional Gallery of Art exhibition, Tell It With Pride

Massachusetts' Civil War black community originally objected to the white officer's leadership, however, the goals to defeat slavery and earn full citizenship took precedence.

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment left Boston and sailed for points south. In July about 600 members assisted other Union forces in attacking Fort Wagner, a guardian of Charleston's harbor.

Members of the 54th included sons of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Charles and Lewis, and men from northern states, southern and border states, Canada, and some runaway slaves.

Although they did not win at Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863, and half of the 54th Regiment were wounded or killed, along with Lt. Shaw, their heroism and dedication became part of America's legacy, to be brilliantly remembered and portrayed in the masterful bronze made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) which was unveiled at Boston Common on Memorial Day, May 31, 1897 where it stands now.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial in Boston in a state of disrepair (1973).  From the Natiional Gallery of Art exhibition, Tell It With Pride

The National Gallery's 54th memorial model is gold leaf patinated plaster, modified by Saint-Gaudens after the original was completed, and submitted in 1900 to international competition in Paris where it won the Grand Prize.  The sculptor made changes on the plaster model to soldiers' faces, the horse, and the allegorical figure at the top, commonly perceived as an angel who carries an olive branch and poppies.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the soldiers' bravery, the National Gallery hosts with the sculpture an exhibition through January 20 of photographs, letters, documents and other original material.  Two galleries of information outline the background and the making of the sculpture which took Saint-Gaudens 14 years to finish. When asked what took so long, he said it wasn't the execution of the piece but "the thinking about it," according to the catalogue.

Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) may have used this sword at the Battle of Antietam where he was wounded.  It and other original materials are on display at the National Gallery of Art through January 20, 2014/Patricia Leslie

The name of the exhibition: Tell It With Pride comes from an anonymous July 31, 1863 letter to Col. Shaw's parents conveying the horrible news of their son's death in battle: "The black soldiers marched side by side with their white comrades in arms to the assault.  (Tell it with pride to the world.)"

Rather than having only their son captured in art, the Shaws wanted the sculptor to express the mission of white and black soldiers together, all heroes united in their dedication to the cause.

The sculpture includes a Latin inscription, suggested by Lt. Shaw's father:  OMNIA RELINQVIT SERVARE REMPVBLICAM, variously interpreted as "He relinquished everything to save the Republic," "He left behind everything to save the Republic," and "He forsook all to preserve the public weal."

The same year the memorial won the Grand Prize in Paris, Sergeant William H. Carney, a Norfolk, Virginia native and member of the 54th, was honored as the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, 37 years after Ft. Wagner.

Sergeant William H. Carney, c. 1901-1908,  the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Photo by James E. Reed, American, 1864-1939, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.

Carl Cruz, the great-great-great nephew of Sergeant William H. Carney, with a photograph of Sgt. Carney, the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor.  Mr. Cruz said he and his siblings often played with the medal as children, not knowing its significance.  Another relative got Sgt. Carney's uniform, now "lost to the ages," Mr. Cruz said/Patricia Leslie

Instead of the elaborate ceremonies with the president in the White House which honor Medal of Honor recipients today, Sergeant Carney received his medal in the mail. 

Although severely wounded at Ft. Wagner, he managed to carry the flag upright throughout the conflict:  "Boys, I did but my duty; the dear old flag never touched the ground."

 The sculpture and event have been the subjects of articles and books, a movie (Glory), a song, and poems by many, including Robert Lowell and Paul Laurence Dunbar*, the first African American to gain fame as a poet and for whom Washington's Dunbar High School is named.

As a youngster growing up in the century after the conflict, Marine Lieutenant Timothy Fallon remembered the movie and the sculpture he saw with his family on a visit to the National Gallery of Art.  In 2011 with special Gallery permission and in a private showing with members of his family present, Lt. Fallon was permitted to touch the sculpture and recall its magnificence.  Blinded by an explosion in  Afghanistan,  he can no longer see it in person. Afterwards, Lt. Fallon wrote:

This piece should kindle pride in any officer who has led men into battle….The Shaw Memorial depicts only one officer, and the rest of the figures are the men who must do the majority of the fighting, bleeding, and dying….It has been 150 years since the Civil War, but this memorial to freedom fighters and the man who led them is as relevant today as it might have been the morning after the failed but determined  assault on Fort Wagner.

Assisted by survivors of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the Union attempt at Ft. Wagner was eventually successful.

*Robert Gould Shaw  published 1903 by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Why was it that the thunder voice of Fate
Should call thee, studious, from the classic groves,
Where calm-eyed Pallas with still footsteps roves,
And charge thee seek the turmoil of the State?
What bade thee hear the voice and rise elate,
Leave home and kindred and thy spicy loaves,
To lead th' unlettered and despised droves
To manhood's home and thunder at the gate?

Far better the slow blaze of Learning's light,
The cool and quiet of her dearer fane,
Than this hot terror of a hopeless fight,
This cold endurance of the final pain,-
Since thou and those who with thee died for right
Have died, the Present teaches, but in vain!

Tell It With Pride is organized by the National Gallery of Art and will be on view at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, a major lender for the exhibition, from February 21 – May 23, 2014.

The people of the United States are grateful to GRoW of the Annenberg Foundation and the Trellis Fund for making the exhibition possible. 

The catalogue, written by the National Gallery's Sarah Greenough and Nancy Anderson, assisted by Lindsay Harris and Renee Ater, is a history of the memorial and its making, and told in photographs and images with a list of the 1,500 members of the 54th regiment, their hometowns, ages, ranks, and whether they fought at Fort Wagner.  It is available in the shops.

I can't wait to return and see the exhibition again.

What:  Tell It With Pride:  The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial

When: Now through January 20, 2014, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday. 

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

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900)/Patricia Leslie

At Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington is another Augustus Saint-Gaudens' sculpture, the Adams Memorial with a replica at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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Movie review: 'Inside Llewyn Davis' is dark and depressing

Oscar Isaac and Cat in Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis/Photo by Alison Rosa ©2012 Long Strange Trip LLC

All right, already.

Yes, it's the Coen Brothers.

Yes, I loved Fargo and O Brother, Where Are Thou? but this?  This?

You gotta love folk music to enjoy Inside Llewyn Davis, and I am not a big fan.  The looooong songs to the finish were excruciating.  Pure agony.  This movie is for folk music fans and sadomasochists who like to stick themselves with pins, eat liver, and sleep on rocks.

I mean, did anything go right for him?  Anything?  Except the cat. 

What went right for him?  Oh,  There was the couple who welcomed him again into their home after he tore it apart.  This was real?

The sun didn't shine once.  I don't need this kind of down and out melodrama.  Life is melodramatic enough without having to endure more pain.

Girls just want to have fun and this ain't got any.

Actually, I know a guy who matches Davis in almost every respect, even looks, and he used to live in New York.  So negative and dark about everything.  Expects the worst of everybody and every circumstance, and you know what?  That's what he gets.  A vicious circle/cycle/whatever/ round and round he goes.  

Attitude is everything, baby.  He ain't got the right one.  Consider whom Davis "loved."  You would love something that spews this constant venom?  (Carrie Mulligan's performance was the best of the lot.) On your menu, self-inflicted wounds coming right up.

Actually, you may think your life is a lot better after witnessing this.

Llewyn Davis reminded me of all those fellows who hang out and play guitar on the streets of lower Broadway in Nashville.  At least, their attitude is right.  They think they have a future, and some of them do.



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Free stained glass windows concert at St. John's, Lafayette Square, Jan. 8

The Great Altar Window, the Last Supper, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, given by Katherine B. Steele in honor of her mother, Annie E. Steele.  The left panel was given by the children of Julia McLane Lockwood in her memory, and the right panel, a gift from the wife and children of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes in his honor.

 

This Blog

The public is invited to attend a free noontime organ concert on Wednesday at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square featuring music improvised from some of the church's stained glass windows by the associate director of music at the Basilica of the National Shrine, Richard Fitzgerald.

He will play Allegro Maestoso from the King Window; Variations on Sine Nomine, the Hagner Window; Scherzo on Basque Carol, the McCants Window; Adagio - Meditation, the Great Altar Window; and the Finale, the Smith Window.

Richard Fitzgerald

 

Last October Dr. Fitzgerald won first place in the Annual Competition in Organ Improvisation. A composer, recitalist, and vocalist, he has taught organ improvisation at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore and has performed in concerts throughout the U.S.

The featured concert windows were designed and crafted in Chartres, France and installed at St. John's between 1883 and 1885.  They depict the life of Jesus, the Gospel of St. John, and the Apocalypse.  Seven modern windows were added to the church from 1933 to 1987.

According to notes provided by Richard Grimmett, the King Window was a gift of Mary Rhinelander and her husband, John Alsop King, the president of the New York Historical Society from 1887 until 1900 who helped direct the selection and installation of the Lorin windows from Chartres. 

The Hagner Window was given in honor of Peter Hagner, a founder and member of the first vestry at St. John's, and his wife, Frances Randall Hagner, by their family.

Marion J. McCants gave her family's window, the first modern style stained glass window at the church, around 1933 in memory of her mother, Tallulah Mounceaux McCants, who was devoted to the mission of St. John's Orphanage.

The Smith Window was given by the family to honor Rear Admiral Joseph Smith who helped develop the first ironclad vessel commissioned by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, the USS Monitor, and who served as the St. John's senior warden for several years before he died in 1877.

St. John's hosts First Wednesday concerts every month from October through June. It is known to many Washington residents and visitors as the welcoming yellow church at Lafayette Square, the “Church of the Presidents.”  President James Madison, who served as president from 1809 to 1817, began a tradition for all presidents who have either been a member of or have attended services at St. John's.  A plaque at the rear of the church designates the Lincoln Pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War.

 

St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie

 

Other St. John's First Wednesday concerts, all starting at 12:10 p.m., are:

February 5: Soloists from St. John's Choir perform baroque music for Valentine's Day

March 12 (2nd Wednesday): Virtuoso Organist Dongho Lee performs Charles Ives's Variations on "America" and other works

April 2: The U.S. Air Force Strings conducted by 2nd Lt. Shanti Nolan, with Michael Lodico, organist, perform Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto

May 7: Easter music for trumpet and organ with A. Scott Wood and Benjamin Hutto

June 4: Organist Alan Morrison

 

Who on January 8:  Richard Fitzgerald, organist and composer

What:  First Wednesday Concerts (the second Wednesday in January)

When: 12:10 p.m., January 8, 2014

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16^th and H, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square, Farragut North, or Farragut West

Food trucks: Located two blocks away at Farragut Square

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico at 202-270-6265, Michael.Lodico@stjohns-dc.org.
 

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Movie review: 'American Hustle' is one of the year's best

 

Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Jennifer Lawrence in Columbia Pictures' American Hustle

So many good things have already been written and said about it and what more can I add except it's a really great film with so much comedy and fantastic music and excellent performances that you really must hustle and get to see it and find out what everyone's talking about.

I did not know Robert De Niro was going to be in the film, but his appearance was a nice surprise, and he is perfect for the part.  (I mean, who else would they get for the role?) 

Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale in American Hustle

That was Christian Bale?  The IMDB trivia site says he gained 40 pounds for the role.  Gulp!  He did.  With a little hustle, he reminded me physically of Marlon Brandon in the Godfather.

The movie is "loosely based"on the Abscam scandal of the 1970s and 1980s, and after reading the Wikipedia account, the film contains more truth than expected. 

I loved the way the injuries lasted and were not immediately wiped clean (?).  I loved the convincing few moments played by Patsy Meek, Richie's  mother.  Jennifer Lawrence was perfect as the jilted wife. (Someone's going to jilt her?)  

Hair design deserves kudos for making male hair more significant and attention grabbing than the women's which were basically the same (Amy Adams and Lawrence).
Consider how inauthentic Bradley Cooper (did you know he graduated from Georgetown with an honors degree in English?) would have been without the curls which the trivia site says were suggested by the wearer himself. 

Jeremy Renner's mane is several inches high.  (I wish I knew the name of the hairspray they used. They could sell that in the lobby and make more profit.) He had a 1950ish Elvis "come hither" look, leading me to wonder if the stylists got the decades mixed up.  He did handle a guitar. Wait... Elvis died in 1977.  Whatever.

The trivia site (is interesting) says some of the movie was improvised on the set and Amy Adams suggested the lesbian kiss (for Ben and Eric who crave that stuff).

It's the third film with De Niro, Lawrence, and Cooper together on screen, and their mix is great composition.  "You do it your way and I'll do it mine, and that's what life is all about."

Attention, Obscenity Police (like me):  The F-bomb plays a major role (the movie is rated R), however, it is not the gratuitous usage we heard in, say, Her. 

I really have no qualms about any portion. It was all thoroughly entertaining. You'll have fun. Now, go, go, go.

Herewith, Oscar nominations:

Best Picture

Best Director: David O. Russell

Best Actor: Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence


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Smithsonian photos to exit Jan. 5

James VanDerZee, GGG Photo Studio at Christmas, 1933, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Julia D. Strong Endowment and the Smithsonian, Institution Collections Acquisition Program

It's a great show for a family event over the holidays, and it's free.

What little or big child among us is not interested in pictures?

Tina Barney, Marina's Room, 1987, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, copyright 1987, Tina Barney, courtesy Janet Borden, Inc.

 

At the American Art Museum the Smithsonian presents a fascinating popular history of the U.S. in photographs, sure to fascinate even the least history-minded person in the bunch and as diverse as one could expect, with land, sky, city, and plenty of peoplescapes to intrigue.

Helen Levitt, New York, c. 1942, printed later, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, copyright 1981,  Helen Levitt

Joe Deal, Backyard, Diamond Bar, CA, from the Los Angeles Documentary Project, 1980, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Photography Museum of Los Angeles, copyright 1980, Joe Deal

 

To celebrate the 30th birthday of the Smithsonian's photo collection, guest curator, Merry Foresta, the museum's former curator of photography, studied 7,000 images in the collection, selecting 113 pieces for the show which are displayed in four sections: "American Characters," "Spiritual Frontier," "American Inhabited," and "Imagination at Work."

Robert Frank, Butte, Montana, 1956, printed 1973, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase

 

The name of the exhibition, A Democracy of Images, comes from Walt Whitman who believed the new picture-taking art form, which arrived in the U.S. in 1840, created possibilities for all Americans, Ms. Foresta said. He was right. More than the poet likely could have ever imagined, millions now take pictures using almost as many different kinds of equipment.

O. Winston Link, Living Room on the Tracks, Lithia, Virginia, Dec. 16. 1958, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Vladimir and Eileen Toumanoff, copyright O. Winston Link

 
At the exhibition's opening, Ms. Foresta briefly described the history of photography in the U.S. which early critics believed "was positioned to do miraculous things," and it did.  Ten years later people lined up to get their pictures made, so thrilled and amazed were they by the medium.

Jeremiah Gurney, Woman and Child, c. 1850, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

The creators designed many of the works for framing, to be hung as pieces of art in the home.

Guests to the show will recognize familiar photographs and see some new ones.  Some of the photographers are familiar (Sally Mann, Annie Liebovitz, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Ansel Adams) while others are not.  Some of the picture takers are anonymous like these from the San Francisco Police Department:

Unidentified photographers, San Francisco Police Department, c. 1942, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Richard A. Brodie and James F. Dicke II

A museum statement says the images "explore how photographs have been used to record and catalogue, to impart knowledge, to project social commentary, and as instruments of self-expression." 

 

It all ends Sunday, so rush is in order.

Robert Disraeli, Cold Day on Cherry Street, 1932, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Mr. and Mrs. G. Howland Chase, Mrs. James S. Harlan, Lucie Louise Fery, Berthe Girardet, and Mrs. George M. McClellan, copyright 1932, Robert Disraeli

 

For helping make the exhibition possible, the people of the United States are grateful to Saundra B. Lane, Lisa and John Pritzker, the Crown Equipment Exhibitions Endowment, the Margery and Edgar Masinter Exhibitions Fund, and the Bernie Stadium Endowment Fund. 

What: A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

When: Now through Sunday, January 5, 2014, from 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. every day

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and F streets, N. W. , First Floor, West

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-633-1000

Metro station: Gallery Place-Chinatown or walk 10 minutes from Metro Center

 patricialesli@gmail.com