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The late great character actor Thomas Mitchell once told a reporter: "The actor who thinks onstage is a dead duck". In real life, thinking wrongly, believing wrongly, may also cause dead-duckiness in everyday living, as per Willy Loman. If you ponder “Death of a Salesman” significance in 2012, be assured; the late Thomas Mitchell's portrayal of Willy Loman six decades ago ranked as a virtual tie to a lot of folks for high end realization - (a director's task come true) - right along side that of the iconic master stage craftsman himself, the late Lee J. Cobb. Advanced scuttlebutt in and around New York theater hangouts these days (bars, cafes, the Equity Lounge!) has folks humming high praise for the fine actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's as the the up-coming Willy. There is no reason to think that this intelligent artist would not be equal in excellence to Cobb, Mitchell, et al. This Broadway effort is being captained by Mike Nichols; (ever hear of him)? As such, “Salesman” is being greeted with a tingling anticipation by ticket buyers and prospective buyers both. (Would any "real" Willy be able to pay the Ticket Price nowadays)? My own pre-visit impression is that it will be worth every hard-earned dollar to procure a seat.

Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock

Ms. Dunnock was Linda for Cobb's Loman and Mitchell's Loman

kevin martin
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The Bourne Identity
BETTE BOURNE, Actor and Deeply Human Being
"A LIFE IN THREE ACTS" starring :
Bette Bourne and Mark Ravenhill
Location: Saint Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn

Bette Bourne, (pictured above, left, with Mark Ravenhill) is one of Britain's busiest actors on the New York stage, and is wowing everyone with his "A Life In Three Acts". Honest, bright, ballsy, and full of sharp wit, "A Life In Three Acts" is a bio-work of Bourne's brave and deeply felt life journey (and it ain't over yet), ending up - after 2 fast hours - as a truly original piece of art. Bourne, hailing from England, soars through the clouds and lands beautifully on two solid feet. Throughout the evening, one finds oneself drawn into Bourne's imperfect reality, watching as he frankly bares his life and soul within a rapid 120 minutes, replete with memorable audio clips as Bourne remembers aloud for all to hear and feel. A most memorable moment is a scratchy but brilliant sound clip of Bourne's mother singing "Ave Maria" in the days of her young womanhood, and displaying warm and truthful emotion in the rendition. Contrast that memory with Bourne's reflection of life at home with Daddy (a boorish, frightened, abusive father) and you have a strong dose of a kid growing up fast. ("I always wanted to be an actor"). Bourne later grows in maturity - and emerges into his adulthood as a "queen". By evening's end, one realizes that this has been a very affecting, and at times, powerful journey,- a very theatrical yet human encounter. Also adding some stage enjoyment of his own to this thrilling experience is Bourne's very fine co-actor, Mark Ravenhill. Together, the duo does dazzling stuff for the heart.
Hurry! Fast!
Information Tel.(718) 254-8779 or visit artsatstanns.org.

Jan/Feb REVIEW: BAM these days is presenting "The Cherry Orchard", Anton Chekhov's touching, unsentimental masterpiece of familial interplay, so handsomely realized under the shrewd hand of Sam Mendez. A newly-writ version by Tom Stoppard, this is an Orchard ripe with excellence in areas of acting, lights and costume, as well as overall direction. There is little to complain about in this deeply human exploration penned by Chekhov in the last year of his life. The sensibility of time passing away to make room for new parts of living tend to echo in Chekhov's psyche. And, like the legendary goddess Psyche herself (who "uplifting her finger, said, 'Ah, hasten!- ah, let us not linger! Ah, fly! - let us fly!- for we must.")...., this Orchard blooms with truth-to-tell experience. As the skilled cast (led principally by the exquisite Simon Russell Beale as Lopakhin, a well-to-do family friend and local merchant neighbor of the Cherry Orchard owning family of Madame Ranevskaya) gracefully performs their respective roles in a 2-plus hour evening, the play comes more and more alive with rich emotion in each successive scene, realized with pleasing - and sometimes comedic effect. For it is known by now that Chekhov had intended this work about a land-owner, aristocratic woman, Ranevskaya (enjoyably rendered by the delightful Sinead Cusack)- to be as much filled with fine humor as with the stuff of tragedy. That, one may suppose, enables it into a tragicomedy for contemporary eyes and ears. To be reminded, "The Cherry Orchard" is a ride through a landscape of cultural oppressiveness and emotional pain, as Madame Ranevskaya - on returning from her 5-year Paris stay in a state of self-annointed pretense, inevitably watches her estate - with its beautiful natural wonders - being readied for auction, due to excessive debt, - or more specifically, the unpaid mortgage on the property (while she latches onto a pile of denial at the same time). It's likely that Ranevskaya has remained desperately grief-stricken throughout all those Paris years due to the earlier, tragic drowning of her young son while in Russia. In between these repeated bouts of agony there come richly poetic variations on the need, search, and loss of love - viz., Ranevskaya's contained yearning for her young, unsettled step daughter Varya's happiness by way of establishing contact with the financially secure Lopakhin. In typical Chekhovian form, Lopakhin does not respond in kind, and Varya - an extension of Ranevskaya's own romantic urgings, falls into sad disappointment. The slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune now fly about wildly - and all the rightful needs of the most human of human beings - Ranevskaya, Lopakhin, Varya, as well as other concerned needful souls such as Gaev (Paul Jesson), Trofimov (Ethan Hawke), Anya (Morven Christie), and Firs, the manservant (a star turn by Richard Easton) are set in abeyance as the world around them literally changes forever. There is a great deal of learning that goes on here - affecting the heart of anyone who ever sought after true love only to fall backward in honest surprise, regardless of class, social position, or otherwise. Chekhov really never fails us.
To round out the appreciation of this fine production, it is worthwhile to acknowledge the professional polish added by the work of the background music of Mark Bennett, Dan Lipton and Dana Lyn, and the positively effective lighting design and set design by Paul Pyant and Anthony Ward, respectively.

The Cherry Orchard - at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY

Red Glass Spinning Star

Thomas Mitchell

"The Death of a Salesman" - Arthur Miller's expressive compendium of the American Dream gone tragically astray,will hit the boards later this month at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, will star Philip Seymour Hoffmann as Willy Loman. Mike Nichols directs. (For TICKET info, CLICK anywhere HERE)!

Is There An ART Explosion In 2010?

Creating an Impression

In the next issue of cinemastage.com -

Get the Art & Performance update from our much esteemed, well noted
Art Man, Nikos Manhardt.

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(Art favoring Art)
GET EXCITED: >duh ?

WHAT ELSE ? Three excellent FILMS in TOWN that you MIGHT
like to have seen if you haven't seen them yet:

"The King's Speech, "The Fighter", "Town"
(yada yada yada)

(SEND your eMails to the eMail address below)

Looking down the road in ART for
for the rest of 2010 and/or
Has Obama stopped playing Chicken in D.C.?? - and like, will this president REALLY ever end the illegal
Iraq War?!? Will he ever stop pandering to Wall $treet, AND: Do we really better understand ourselves & the world we live in since that terrible day over 9 years ago - September 11, 2001?

Also in our April Spring 2010 issue:

A Very Special Interview - with You-Know-Ho!
(SURPRISE)! Stay tuned .......

And -

Did MICHAEL JACKSON live successfully?, Is Joe Lieberman a trigger happy political turncoat?, & JUST BECAUSE the Republicans have caused a rotten mess almost everywhere, Did ALL those Democrats deserve to be elected?: (So, is there some kind of "connection" here)?

In the next issue, you'll find out.