US – Sunday, March 14
The Grid
The week's releases
Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.
 
Music
Run this town
No living man but Jay-Z could get a sold out Boston arena so excited about New York City. But for two hours last night, the sold out crowd at the Garden was in an Empire State of Mind, as “The Blueprint 3” tour rolled into town.
 
My Television
Back in the trenches
Steven Spielberg makes strikingly vivid, breathtakingly poetic movies about some of the most terrifying conflicts in the history of man. The filmmaking aesthetic he pioneered with “Saving Private Ryan” — and continues to perfect in HBO’s new WWII miniseries, “The Pacific” — was born out of a desire to translate as honestly as possible his conversations with veterans on their combat experience.
 
The Word
Is nothing in her life real anymore?
When we first read that Heidi Pratt was firing husband Spencer Pratt as her manager, we thought, “Yay! Heidi’s new face is finally doing something right!” But then we found out that although she did fire Spencer, it seems like she’s replacing him with psychic Aiden Chase to take the reigns on her “career” — and then we got scared.
 
Movies
Pattinson: A vampire in Brooklyn
Robert Pattinson has been playing Americans so often that he has forgotten how to talk like a Brit. In his latest, “Remember Me,” the “Twilight” heartthrob stars as a soulful young New Yorker attending NYU, but he insists he didn’t need any help sounding like a native. “I’ve never had a dialect coach or anything,” Pattinson says. “Ironically, I’ve only had a dialect coach for this film I’m doing now, which I’m doing in an English accent. I guess I’ve forgotten how to do an English accent.”
 
Updated 19:02, July the 21st, 2009
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From left, Kennedy, van der Pol and Stiles star in “Vanities.”From left, Kennedy, van der Pol and Stiles star in “Vanities.”
Photo: JOAN MARCUS
 

Vain makeover

A new musical take on 1976 comedy is still stuck in the past

There was a time – 1976 – when a play that poked fun at three superficially similar Texas cheerleaders and their divergent life paths created a sensation off-Broadway.   While hardly edgy, “Vanities” was fresh, and, at the time, insightful.   The comedy, which challenged traditional feminine ideals, was topical.

Fast forward to 2009 to the Second Stage Theatre, where “Vanities, A New Musical” is currently in residence. Talk about a misnomer — there is nothing new about this musical.  Yes, a generic score has been slapped on, and Jack Heifner (who wrote both the play and the musical’s book) has reworked some material. But the peppy preppies have exceeded their shelf-lives.

Of the three, Joanne (Sarah Stiles) is the most traditional: the married life is what she wants and gets.  Kathy (Anneliese van der Pol) is highly organized but learns that life isn’t. Mary (Lauren Kennedy), the “slutty” one, ends up running an erotic art gallery.   But all they do is evolve from one stereotype to another.

It’s hard to invest in any of these paper-thin characters, whose overriding personality traits are underscored by Joseph G. Aulisi’s costumes. Judith Ivey’s direction is efficient but doesn’t provide any of the wit that’s so sorely needed.  

‘Vanities, A New Musical’
Through Aug. 9
Second Stage Theatre
307 W. 43rd St.
$30-$75, 212-246-4422
www.2ST.com

MICHAEL BRACKEN
 
 
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Music
MMMpod
The March MMMpod features conversation and music from Surfer Blood and The Allman Brothers Band (There's a double-bill you're not too likely to see. However, Gregg Allman does mention Hannah Montana!). We also speak with Vampire Weekend and the Dropkick Murphys.
 
 
 
Metro Life Panel
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