If Jonathan Franzen had been available for an interview, you’d be reading a feature on his new book, “Freedom.” But considering President Obama was spotted toting an advance copy and Time magazine dubbed Franzen the “Great American Novelist” on a cover last month, the guy is busy. We understand, but still feel compelled to talk about his book — something Philly-based author Jennifer Weiner finds curious.
Danny Trejo feels like he’s been preparing to play the title character in “Machete” for over a decade — about as long as he’s been working with writer/director Robert Rodriguez. “Robert’s been training me for this movie since we did ‘Desperado,’” says Trejo, who’s appeared in eight of Rodriguez’s films. “He said, ‘Hey, you’re perfect for this character. That was 14 years ago. And so, you know, 14 years and 780,000 phone calls later — it was just like stepping into the guy.”
Every time the Ghost of Britney Spears puts on a new weave and speaks coherently for a couple of months, she has to go and creep us out again.
Drew Barrymore has had some duds for onscreen partners in romantic comedies — not that she’s about to name names. “The worst is when you’re kissing someone who is not a good kisser, and you’re trying to make it look good, and you feel like you’re just working on your own,” she says. Luckily her latest film, “Going the Distance,” pairs her with someone very near to her heart: ex-boyfriend Justin Long.
It’s been eight years since Tribe of Fools moved from California to West Philly, and now this troupe of minstrels are officially elder statesmen in the Philly Fringe.
The entire history of performance art, from mead- hall folly to classical ballet, turns up in the rollicking “4 Play,” the Flying Karamazov Brothers’ latest show, now ensconced in a cave-like set made of cardboard boxes.On Mondays, Jackie Burns doesn’t talk. It’s her day off, and she needs the vocal break.At this point, it’s fair to say that Nick Stuccio isn’t easily impressed. As producing director of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, he’s spent the past 13 years curating an international showcase of contemporary arts, traveling the world for something new — which, luckily, he still always finds.For over a year, actor Armando Batista scribbled away his feelings on identity and race in America in composition books. But it wasn’t until he shared the writings with his roommate that his one-man show, “M.A.C.H.O.?”, began to take shapeIt’s a book, a play, a Broadway musical, a film — and now the American Repertory Theater is rebooting the story behind “Cabaret” as an interactive theater piece.Not only has suave Don Draper held hearts hostage ever since the premiere of 1960s period drama “Mad Men” — the era itself has been an increasingly scintillating subject matter for avid followers of the show.Brandon Sanderson, the “young fantasy master” (as his publisher’s promotional material dubs him), was until quite recently somewhat of a major nobody. Just a short time later, he’s taken the reins of the most epic of epic fantasies, the “Wheel of Time” series; released a trilogy and a stand-alone novel; and has even started on a massive series of his own, “The Way of Kings.” You might say he’s a bit of a workaholic. “It’s been a lot of long hours,” says Sanderson. The off-Broadway show “Tales from the Tunnel,” playing at Bleecker Street Theatre, takes all of our simultaneously shared and unique experiences of riding the smelly, humid rails of the MTA and compiles them into a 90-minute play. With a vibrant cast of six that brings dozens of characters to life, this new production jumps between those riders rich and poor, young and old, new-age and old-fashioned. Of course, some tales are familiar — we all know that musician who thinks he has a good voice — but what makes “Tales from the Tunnel” refreshing is the power of the acting from the performers.While hardly its only charm, the seductive ease with which “Wife to James Whelan” unfolds at the Mint Theater Company would seem to be its greatest. Heavily plotted by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy, the 1937 work glides along so fluidly you almost don’t realize how much has happened by Act Three. James (Shawn Fagan) has left his small town of Kilbeggan and sweetheart Nan (Janie Brookshire), gone to Dublin and then returned to Kilbeggan to start a successful bus company.“In war,” said pre-Socratic playwright Aeschylus over 2,500 years ago,“truth is the first casualty.” Some things, apparently, never change.When having it all isn’t enoughFor the love of forced rhymesHaving fun out on the FringeHer mind is a muscle, her body is a pretzelThe ultimate drama queenThe story behind the diaries of the daring undeadView the Bard under the starsGirls’ night out at the JoyceFrom Neverland to KensingtonOutlook for Company One is pretty ‘Grimm’Howling with ‘The Hound’ and HolmesStranger than science fictionDivorce, write, publish, sellExperimental art needs a messageBehind the pottery wheel at First FridayPutting a bug in your earSPACE: The final (boring?) frontierBeing thankful for ‘What We Have’Third floor’s a charm at Adrienne TheaterTill death do these bachelorettes party‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ for West PhillyMeet your tour guide to ‘Sick City’Where there’s ‘Smoke’ ...It’s just a taped-off box — then he entersTurning ‘Ovo’ a new leafEating his wordsFour comedians walk into a park ...It’s ballet for a ‘new century’He will read youPilobolus’ antics bring comics to lifeWhen your back-up plan involves sequinsJudging a book by its coverWith Batman, siblings ‘Boogie Down,’ grow upDrink like a real (old) manA tale of Second CityGoing from ‘Wild Things’ to more ‘Dreadful Things’Public’s titillating ‘Tale’Aging gracefully and loathing itMary Callanan is so ‘Red Hot’The art of destructionA monster, a victim, a hell of a performanceCooking up a recipe for a magical storyDancing in the darkCreepy or funny?A sort of homecoming for ConanBack to ‘Zero’Unrequired summer readingA king among kingsJasperse dances the difference between the real and the fake25 years of Central Park’s SummerStageThe boys of summer hit the stageSummer arts previewBetter late art than everGet out to get culturedWhen circus arts meet modern danceA new crop of excellent men perform at ABTMysterious Happy HourIf you can’t beat ’em, conjoin ’emBourne again, and again, and againWalsh takes ‘Dusk’ for a wonderful spinThe art fair gets seriousA.R.T. knocks it out of the park again!The perfect ‘Kiss’Summer book lovin’Swim Pony taking the laboratory to the stageLyric lacking a little ‘Spirit’Coolidge presents a grander ‘Metropolis’Sisterhood of the traveling danceLooking for answers in an old coal mineThe misanthrope made in his mindThe guy who has the fans‘Emancipation’ frustrations‘Black and White’ and dance all over‘Memorial Day’ gets a poetic twistIt’s a race against the ‘Clock’When art imitates an unusual lifeJust a Queens girl ... but with a worldly twistA little Mohr on fatherhoodFulfilled ‘Promises’ of plucky nostalgiaLeaving a paper trail‘Trailer’ smash!Bringing the opera down a few notesFairy tales for a new generationThe ‘Ultimate’ experienceSex, drugs and poopy diapersMeet one heck of a ‘Mad’ motherloverAll the news that’s fit to printA new definition of performance art‘Osage County’ is really not too far from homeExplaining the Enron fail on stageOur reluctant revolutionariesStudents wanna be startin’ somethin’Second City delivers some first-rate laughsNo time for rest when they’re ‘Only Sleeping’When Woody Allen isn’t on the invite listA 25-year journey from sass to classBringing it back to lifeOnly ‘Rock and Roll’? Hell no.‘It’s alive! It’s alive!’Who made Hello Kitty into Goodbye Kitty? |
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In the July MMMpod, Young Veins talk about breaking away from Panic! at the Disco, Keith Lockhart talks about Buckwheat Zydeco throwing the Boston Pops for a loop, Zooey Deschanel talks about how Roy Orbison inspired a She & Him song, Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells talks about how awesome Funkadelic is, and we talk about how awesome Jimmy Cliff is, who in turn talks about Sam Cooke and divine intervention. An explosive show for July! Oh yeah, and we also test your knowledge of America songs in the MMMPod medley.
