Broadway in Tucson Review: "The Band's Visit"

 "The Band's Visit" thrives in understated moments that build slowly up to colossal emotional payoffs.

Its characters stew in unfulfilled longings and grudging acceptance of their mundane day-to-day responsibilities. They are tormented by opportunities squandered and not only a lack of prospects, but uncertainty they would have the will to lunge after them should they come along again.

Sasson Gabay plays Tewfiq, the leader of a traveling Egyptian band set to play a gig in Israel.

Lost and baffled by cultural differences, the band stops to eat at a lonely diner overseen by Dina (Janet Dacal), who has a vague curiosity in the group that grows over time. Eventually, the bandmembers crash with the locals, comparing cultural and life notes in an improvised symphony.

Lithe and direct, the show cruises by at a brisk 90 minutes, with no intermission. Each of the 15 musical numbers are toe-tapping delights, with "Waiting," "Omar Sharif," "Something Different" and especially the post-bow concert powering through as show-stopping stunners that take the crowd by storm.

The musicality of the band members is as superb as their low-key acting, which breaks the live theater norm by saying more in empty spaces and mumbling than with grand gestures and enunciation.

Above all, the story and spirit of the show are about Dina's inner torment and whispered longings, punctuated with overpowering expressions of song and dance. Decal is up to the operatic challenge, belting out tunes with a fevered glory that mends hearts as it breaks them.

An offbeat, driven palate-cleanser, "The Band's Visit" is the polar opposite of the standards, and earns its place alongside them for its brave, genre-shattering methods. The lonely song of its soul is stark and true.

"The Band's Visit" plays through Feb. 27 at Centennial Hall. Purchase tickets here.

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Book Review: "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal"

 

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ben Mezrich's uncanny knack for scuba diving into an ocean of court documents and unearthing a compelling narrative is as skillful as Mark Zuckerberg's transformation of a dorm room website intoa billion-dollar business.

I was led to the book by the film adaptation, "The Social Network," and floored at how much better the book is than that ridiculously absorbing screenplay.

Mezrich deserves credit for taking numerous leaps of faith in imagining socially awkward moments and male bonding rituals in concocting his tale. Even if his vision of the betrayals, misunderstandings and epiphanies that led to Facebook's creation wasn't exactly spot-on, it's certainly the way it ought to have been.

In his matter-of-fact distance and comprehensive empathy for all of the characters who emerge, Mezrich paints convincing portraits of Zuckerberg, the Winklevosses, Eduardo Saverin and Sean Parker. All are complicated egotists whose divergent and blending interests created the monstrosity that the social network giant became. Without any of their help, no doubt it would have faded to black like Friendster or MySpace.

Mezrich's book, on the other hand, will stand strong even after Facebook's relevance has vanished. "The Accidental Billionaires" is an unqualified triumph, and it broke my heart when my time with it ended.

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PHIL ON FILM: "Dog"

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Book Report: "Ready Player Two"

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somewhat of a step back for Cline, the book is a worthwhile sequel for superfans of the first novel, which become a cultural phenomenon.

The story is plagued by a critical tone-deafness, as well as a protagonist whose plight is tough to care about because all he is doing is solving a problem he created. By opening a Pandora's Box of A.I. brain tampering while mass-producing Oasis immersion rigs, the hero drives away the love of his life and puts his mentor and just about everyone he cares about in jeopardy.

Cline follows the same formula he established in the first book, but scales down video game references in favor of obsessions with John Hughes and Prince. This time around, the contest is open to him alone, and there is an arbitrary time deadline he's racing against.

With nothing much at stake, it's sometimes a slog to lumber through the saga, in which seven shards must be collected -- each of them connected by obtuse riddles.

As with the first book, Cline's prose is riddled with stiff dialogue and dull humor.

A strange twist ending left me unnerved, and I credit Cline for the bold choice. It may make some feel alienated.

Despite my disappointment with the book, I enjoyed the experience. Cline is a natural, brisk storyteller, and his geeky enthusiasm is infectious. I would read a "Ready Player Three" if it comes.

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PHIL ON FILM: "I Want You Back"

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Arizona Theatre Company Review: "Women in Jeopardy"

The Bechdel Test-thrashing comedy "Women in Jeopardy" manages to wring two hours of humor out of a murder mystery concept. 

The focus is on three divorced middle-aged women who have forged an ironclad bond of mutual support and judgment.

Working from an insightful, irony-tinged script by Wendy MacLeod, the play maintains fluid momentum throughout its two-hour run, delighting the audience with wit and poise.

Julia Brothers plays the sassy, fatalistic Jo, who cranks out scene-stealing one-liners. Veronika Duerr, stepping in on short notice for Aysan Celik, is Mary, a down-to-earth taskmaster whose wry reactions to the shenanigans deliver continual smiles and smirks.

The third member of the trio is the flighty, impulsive Liz (Gail Rastrorfer), whose budding romance casts with the oddball dentist Jackson provides the focal point of the drama. Jackson's dental assistant has gone missing, the latest possible victim in a string of murders of young women.

Joel Van Liew does double-duty as Jackson and Sgt. Kirk Sponsullar, whose bumbling investigatory ways perks up the romantic interest of Mary. Van Liew's deadpan delivery of morbid material is deliciously effective.

Lurking on the periphery are young on-again, off-again lovers Amanda (Ashley Shamoon) -- and Trenner (Damian Garcia). Amanda, Liz's daughter, has an ill-advised camping trip planned with Jackson. Jo, Mary and Trenner conspire to undermine the trip and dig for evidence that backs up their belief that Jackson is the killer.

Elaborate lights and set switching keep thjigns lively, and scene-transition dances spark moments of unexpected joy.

Filled with surprising twists, incisive observations about gender and age issues and nonstop laughs, "Women in Jeopardy" is a lighthearted treat with messages to boot.

"Women in Jeopardy" plays at the Temple of Music and Art until Feb. 5. Buy tickets here. It plays in Phoenix from Feb. 10 to Feb. 27.

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Book Report: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ken Kesey's acid-tinged writing is incredibly incisive and intelligent. His exploration of not only the broken mental health care system of the mid-to-late 20th century, but the plight of mental illness in its varying forms.

Far ahead of its time -- probably even ahead of our time -- the devastating novel is even more rich and nuanced than the landmark Milos Forman movie adaptation.

Randle McMurphy, a walking id and embodiment of American excess, daring and longing, pretends to be insane to beat a criminal rap that has sentenced him to a work camp. Conniving and brimming with bravado, he rebels against the controlling, infantilizing infrastructure that crushes the hearts and minds of those who are committed.

The genius of the novel starts with the narrative device of telling the story through the ever-churning mind of Chief, a gentle giant whom others dismiss as a checked-out, mute man whose mind has been so scrambled that he can't process human interaction and has become a drone obsessed with mopping.

Instead, Chief is secretly a master of observation, nuance and intense feeling. He processes his surroundings for the reader, acting as the entry point.

In the Audible version, John C. Reilly's urgent narration gives listeners an even deeper, more nuanced access to Chief's inner workings.

A tragic and ephemeral experience, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" floored me with its style, substance and urgency. It was one of the rare books that broke my heart not only in its storytelling, but that it ended altogether.

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Broadway in Tucson Review: "Wicked"

The spell "Wicked" casts is tough to emulate. The tireless touring production is a traveling gift to musical theater lovers across the nation. 

Since debuting on Broadway in 2003, the adaptation of the Gregory Maguire novel has thrilled audiences, inspiring passionate devotion akin to that of a sports fan. The story turns "The Wizard of Oz" tale inside out, positioning the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, as the misunderstood hero.

Graced with a knockout soundtrack, edgy cinematography and a boundless sense of momentum, the show is as much a thrill ride as it is a moving drama of acceptance, perception and forbidden romance.

Elevated by ethereal performances by Talia Suskauer as Elphaba, Allison Bailey as Glinda and Amanda Fallon Smith as Nessarose, "Wicked" soars with an elegant majesty. 

Bailey, in particular, thrives in the role of the pompous princess, whose oblivious musings elicit continual chuckles from the crowd. Suskauer's choices with Elphaba are equally moving, drawing pathos for her plight of eputational martyrdom as she pursues some semblance of personal happiness while striving for the greater good for those she loves. Smith's character is one-dimensional, but played with magnetic verve by the smirking, seething actress.

Jordan Litz also impresses as Fiero, instilling a workmanlike nuance and sensitivity into his emotionally torn character.

Spellbinding stagecraft, with giant set pieces, stirring flying, makeup and pyrotechnics give the production an air of class and top-flight quality. Watching "Wicked" is a true modern rite of theater appreciation, and not only a status symbol but a transcendent experience that colors the way you experience all other shows. 

To see "Wicked" is to defy not only gravity, but the weights of society that drag people down and pin them into boxes. The hard choice is not whether to see the show, but whether or not you can stop yourself from going again and again until it takes flight to the next lucky town.

 "Wicked" is playing at Centennial Hall through Feb. 6. Buy tickets here.

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Book Report: The Real Sherlock

 

More of a brief podcast than a full-figured audiobook, "The Real Sherlock" is a smattering of interviews and historical factoids about Arthur Conan Doyle, an enigmatic figure who seemed to resent his franchise's popularity, tried and failed to become a politician and spent much of his later life crusading for spirtualism.

The story also delves into his early years, as a medical student, doctor and soldier. A renaissance man who juggled several interests and pursued passions with the vigor and agility -- and often, the gullability -- of a child, Conan Doyle emerges as the polar opposite of Holmes. It's as though he created the grounded, logic-driven detective to complete his own psychological deficiencies.

The Audible book would have benefited from broader sourcing. Many of the interviews focus on worshipful family members and actors who have played Conan Doyle and Watson. Some impartial observations would have helped ground the piece. Author Lucinda Hawksley does deserve credit, at least, for including some of Conan Doyle's embarrassing escapades, such as the time in which he defiantly defended the veracity of the Cottingley Fairies, which were crudely faked supernatural photos that were later debunked.

Despite the silliness of some of his more outrageous beliefs, a measure of respect emerges for Conan Doyle's magical thinking and acting. He was a creator and a storyteller, given to whimsy and impulse. The world was better off for his presence.

Book Report: "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oscar Wilde's horror story is a thin guise to bunch up and release his wry, cynical takes on life and love.

With little explanation or backstory, he tells a story of a man driven to insanity through vanity as a portrait shows his age and world-wariness as his own faith retains its youthful innocence and symmetry.

Symbolism abounds, but Wilde is more interested in flooding the zone with his sneaky little observations, which are rich with stinging truth.

The Audible version, narrated with sneaky verve by Russell Tovey, emphasizes Wilde's irreverence. 

An immensely funny book, it lacks dramatic impact but that doesn't much matter. The book flows well and always maintains its sense of mysterious intrigue. This is a fun book, and is filled with more one-liners than a vaudeville routine. A definite must-read.

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Broadway in Tucson Review: "My Fair Lady"

"My Fair Lady" set the template for the makeover rom-com. In the cynical and cleverly-penned tale, social powerbrokers take a woman off the streets and teach her to fit into high society.

The musical has been sparking smiles and belly laughs from audiences since Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison dazzled audiences in the 1950s. The touring production stays true to the show's roots, resisting the urge to modernize the well-honed beats and one-liners.

The dedication to tradition will likely please musical die-hards, who have likely seen the show and the film it inspired several times, and want things just they way they've always been. On the downside, the lack of evolution exposes some of the story's threadbare faults. 

Rampant sexism and stereotypes inherent in the script haven't aged well, even when spun for comedic effect. Some of the particularly wince-inducing moments occur in the first act, when Henry buttonholes Eliza into a measure of indentured servitude.

The upshot is that Henry -- played with masterful precision by Laird Mackintosh -- is the buffoon who is sure he's the genius, and the unwitting butt of the social experiment he's conducting. 

The show picks up steam after a bit of a stumbling, low-energy start, when the throwaway jokes fade into the background as the stakes rise and the nuances in the characters' conflicts deepen.

Fueled by a powerhouse lead performance by Shereen Ahmed, the production comes into its own in the second act as it continues to pick up momentum toward its emotionally-charged climax. She's got a powerful voice and uses it to cast an enchanting spell. Ahmed's show-stopping singing ability brings her solos to life in concert-style crescendos that echo through the audience.

Mackintosh's workmanlike showing paces the show, thanks to captivating chemistry with Kevin Pariseau as Col. Pickering. Scene-swiping Adam Grupper, swooping in as Alfred Doolittle, is always good for a smile.

The most awe-inspiring facet of the show is the production design. Thanks to clockwork-like orchestration from behind-the-scenes prop masters and smooth blocking by cast members, the set transforms massively from scene to scene, with towering backdrops and set pieces emerging and disappearing to fulfill the needs of the moment.

The makeup team, working in concert with Ahmed's acting, also deserves credit for the impressive transformation of Eliza from street urchin to society princess.

The melancholy conclusion speaks to female and low economic class empowerment, sending off the audience on a note of watershed social justice epiphany. This is a comedy with something to say, and its messages haven't faded since the 1950s. There's little doubt Julie Andrews would smile if she saw her show in this cast's able hands.

 "My Fair Lady" plays at Centennial Hall through Jan. 9. Click here to buy tickets.

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