'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! 

patricialesli@gmail.com 

Escape with American Pre-Raphaelites at the National Gallery of Art

 
William John Hennessy, Mon Brave, 1870, oil on board, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with Funds given by the Rembrandt Club. This is reminiscent of the works by the British Pre-Raphaelites who were featured in a show at the National Gallery in 2013. Here, the woman mourns her lover, lost to perhaps the American Civil War or the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). The artist, according to the label copy, made this to aid French peasants and includes a memorial cross and wreath with the French "mon brave" ("my brave one") and an iris flower, associated with France. The catalogue recognizes also the symbolism of the laurel leaves on top of the portrait for the soldier's heroism, the white roses included for chastity and love, the forget-me-nots, "lasting devotion." I must admit, at first glance her flowing locks were all I saw, thinking she was kissing herself in a mirror!The catalogue notes she almost appears hypnotized "reinforcing the underlying necrophiliac mood." Note the streaming window treatment continues the mood flow.

Aaron Draper Shattuck, The Shattuck Family, with Grandmother, Mother and Baby William, 1865 oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Given in memory of Mary and John D. Nodine, by Judith and Wilbur Ross, Here is the artist's mother and wife with their firstborn in the parlor of their summer home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts which the artist uses to convey the sanctity of a home during war. Paintings on the wall reemphasize his message in this work which omits the father, off to war Beneath the painting in the painting on the right (you have to see the original whose colors are more vibrant than seen here) is a rosary, the catalogue notes, unusual to be found in a Protestant home but which may belong to Mr. Shattuck's friend, the poet, Fitz-James O'Brien, killed in 1862 in the Civil War fighting for the Union. The catalogue notes Mr. Shattuck may have been influenced by Gone, Gone below.

Fidelia Bridges, Laura Brown in a Wingchair, 1867 oil on canvas, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Purchase with American Art Acquisitions Fund. Laura Brown's figure seems much too small for the surroundings, especially the chair which seems to swallow her. The lighting on the carpet does not appear to match the shadows cast by the sun. This is one of six works by Ms. Bridges in the exhibition, the only works by a woman in the display.

Thomas Charles Farrer, Sketching from Nature, 1861, pen and black and brown ink on paper, cut into the shape of an arch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Davis Hatch Collection. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In addition to his brother, Henry, who has several works in the show, Thomas's wife, Annie R. McLane, was an artist, too, but without representation in the show.

Thomas C. Farrer, Self-Portrait, Sketching, c. 1859, pencil on tan paper with Chinese white, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Several works in this exhibition are by Mr. Farrer who was Mr. Ruskin's student at Working Men's College in London before Mr. Farrer immigrated to the U.S. in 1858.  At age 19, Mr. Farrer made this of himself sitting in his boarding house in New York City.  The catalogue says Mr. Farrer was likely influenced by Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait which probably reflects the artist's image in a mirror and which was added to the London National Gallery in 1842.

Thomas C. Farrer, Gone! Gone!, 1860, oil on canvas, The Hon. William Gibson. The title and label copy tell the story behind this work painted just before the outbreak of the Civil War. A window opens onto the Hudson River behind the lady, and behind her is a painting of parting lovers by John Everett Millais which served as the model for Farrer's sad testimony to conflict.

John Ruskin, Fragment of the Alps, c. 1854–1856, watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper, Harvard Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Gift of Samuel Sachs. This is one of Mr. Ruskin's most celebrated works and shows his fascination with geology which he studied from childhood. He "firmly believed that the secrets of divine creation were contained in the rocky crevices and fissures of the earth," says catalogue copy. He was not the only artist intrigued by geology as illustrated by several works in the American Exhibition of British Art  of 1857-1858 in New York and Philadelphia. Rocks became the source of inspiration and subjects on canvas and paper and commanded much attention among these artists. many who were Mr. Ruskin's mentees.  Do you think they would support fracking if they were alive today?  See the youth below studying Mr. Ruskin's masterpiece today at the National Gallery.

 Ruskin's Fragment of the Alps attracts 21st century artists, too, July 9, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Henry Farrer, Winter Scene in Moonlight, 1869, watercolor and gouache on white wove paper, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Morris K. Jessup Fund, Martha and Barbara Fleischman, and Katherine and Frank Martucci Gifts, 1999. The catalogue has little to say about Winter Scene, the artist's earliest landscape watercolor. which seems oddly out of place, sharing space with flowers and verdant nature likenesses. Winter Scene reminds me of Nordic countries and the Phillips Collection's recent show, Nordic Impressions. Indeed, the wall copy says this nighttime scene is unusual for the American Pre-Raphaelites and may be a drawing of Brooklyn which was still rural where the artist, the younger brother of Thomas Farrer, lived. The brothers have several works in the exhibition.

William Trost Richards, In The Woods, 1860, oil on canvas, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Gift of Miss Mary T. Mason and Miss Jane Mason

Fidelia Bridges, Study of Ferns, 1864, oil on board, New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Jean E. Taylor. Ms. Bridges is the only female artist represented in the show which has six of her works on display.

William Trost Richards, Landscape, c. 1863–1864, oil on canvas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This is the museum founded by Alice Walton, daughter of the Walmart founder, Sam Walton, which is located at the birthplace and headquarters of Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Admission is free. I inferred from the wall copy that a critic's condescending remarks indicated his belief this was not worthy f Mr. Richards's inclusion in respectable artists' circles, but perhaps I am overly critical of the critic.

William Trost Richards, Path in the Woods, 1861, oil on canvas, private collection.

Henry Roderick Newman, 1843-1917, The Temple Door at Abu Simbel, 1900, watercolor, private collection. Here the artist depicts the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel in Nubia on the Upper Nile

Henry Roderick Newman, Ramleh, 1893, watercolor on paper, private collection. Ramleh, now a neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt, was formerly a fashionable resort where Mr. Newman and his wife wintered almost every year beginning in 1887.  After his first trip to Europe in 1870, they settled in Florence in 1874 where their home became a center for artists and tourists.  His Egyptian drawings commanded respectable audiences. If Egyptian art seems out of place here, Mr. Newman was the "last Ruskinian" and, as the wall copy says, the American Pre-Raphaelites "traded picturesque conventions for a quasi-scientific precision that was also charged with spiritual significance."  I still don't get it other than Mr. Newman was a Ruskin student and Mr. Newman liked Egypt and there you have it.  (I like Egypt, too, and that's why these are included here.)  Also, I believe Mr. Ruskin traveled several times to Mr. Newman's studio in Florence. Mr. Newman was also one of the "first significant American painters" to work in Florida.  He was born in Easton, NY. 

With the American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists and the Egyptians at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie
If ever I need a respite from Washington's heat, the National Gallery of Art is a perfect place to find escape and cool down amidst greenery and flowers in paintings by American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists which hang on the walls for a few days more on the ground floor of the West Building.

Like most of the exhibitions at the National Gallery, I want them all to stay so I can return and see the art anew. Especially for the Pre-Raphaelites, whether they are American, who are in the galleries now, or the British who came in 2013.

Whatever does "pre-Raphaelite" mean? Wikipedia says it much better than I:

The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite."

The sub-title of this show, Radical Realists, certainly does not conform to contemporary definition of radical, but in the 19th century, they were "radical," we are told.

From the rocks of the Alps to woody wanderings to Egyptian palm trees and monuments, you can lose yourself and travel to faraway places on these walls.
 
The  hardbound catalogue ($65) by curators Linda S. Ferber of the New York Historical Society and Nancy K. Anderson of the National Gallery has 312 pages and 210 color illustrations, with photos and brief biographical notes about the artists and patrons. Save $20 on a $100 purchase.

What: American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists 

When: Now through July 21, 2019, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday

Where: Ground floor, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, 4th at Constitution, NW, Washington, D.C.

Admission: No charge

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

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com