Cross Town Thoughts
Emmy nominations have some new names. The usual retread suspects. VEEP and Game of Thrones. Yes. But. This year’s additions include hilarious Anthony Carrigan, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara. Yay. Jodie Comer finally gets her due as Sandra Oh’s better half. And. The two best shows on television. Schitt’s Creek & Succession.
Look for newcomers Maya Hawke the only good Stranger Thing and Sharp Object’s Eliza Scanlen on next year’s list.
Tonys the best TV show. Actual talent on display from old classics Oklahoma or Kiss Me Kate. James Corden. Who new? He was great.
Big Little Lies. Season 2. Abusive husband replaced by abusive mother-in-law. Of course. Celeste takes the bait. Evil and dark, Meryl Streep is even better in the role than I’d predicted. Real. Resonates.
Rory woke up and commanded Canada’s course. Welcome back.
Trump’s nicknames do resonate. Sleepy Creepy Joe. Crazy Bernie.
But. When Trump dubbed Buttigieg Alfred E. Neuman, Mayor Pete had to Google it. For us oldsters, Mad Magazine, and its mascot are easy to conjure. That familiar face of our generation was derived from several drawings including a c. 1940’s postcard.
Have to admit. Trump nailed it with this one.
The long awaited battle. Night King v. Bran & Arya. Wind whistles as everyone anticipates in silence at Winterfell. Dragons spew fire and ice. Melisandre conjures her torches. Wights cross the flaming trenches. Winter is here. The invasion has begun.
Dark scenes of blood and gore. Then. At the crescendo. Piano infused slow motion vignettes. Gorgeous. A beautiful stand alone art film. And. Ultimately satisfying. Only rivaled by Cersei’s revenge last season.
Game of Thrones. Three more to go.
Queens ruled at the Oscars of 2019. Bohemian Rhapsody. Rami Malek walked like an Egyptian. Olivia Coleman in The Favourite. Adam Lambert my favorite of all Queens. Mad World. Lady Gaga reigned supreme.
Angela Bassett wins best everything in her stunning pink gown. Stupidest dress Kacey Musgraves’ pink mess. So yes. Another year. Another show.
Roma should have been called Agua. Rain water. Hose water. Drain water. Water dripping from laundry. From awnings. Standing water. Muddy water. Swamp water. Tea water. Sea water. Water breaking. Okay. We get it. Water is the metaphor. For what? Life? Men running through women’s lives and leaving them alone?
The movie did achieve an intimate portrayal. Exquisite filmmaking. Beautiful period art piece. It will probably earn an Oscar for Cuarón.
Nancy held her ground. And the FAA made the day. Air traffic controllers the tipping point. Shut show is over. For now. Pelosi wins this round.
A Pablo Neruda stanza shared today evokes the vast air of loss.
Es una casa tan grande la ausencia
que pasarás en ella a través de los muros
y colgarás los cuadros en el aire
Absence is a house so vast that you will pass through it and its walls and hang paintings in the air – my translation
No air space. Now it’s global.
Novel and stage play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. Later adapted by Giuseppe Verdi to La Traviata.
Tickets to the Metropolitan Opera. Christmas gift from our fils. Parterre box.
New production with James Levine’s replacement. Montreal’s Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Unique deathbed retrospective one venue set, it brings all of Violetta’s life into her room with the requisite pathos and an added Ballet Jeté ensemble just because. Bavarian soprano Diana Damrau cajoled Violetta’s lacrime in a controlled splendor. The crowd loved it and her.
The Lifespan of a Fact. Daniel Radcliffe. Cherry Jones. Bobby Cannavale. Studio 54 Theater. Yes. That same old disco venue. Clever staging. The takeaway from the play. Facts are not truth. Yet truth needs some facts. Writing was the star. The ensemble inimitable. Without them. No reason to go. Radcliffe supplied the crucial electric current. Jones the cerebral publishing glue. Cannavale the stalwart artist. Called a farce. Disagree. A witty composition on the vagaries of life. Without going down trite emotional trails. Consistently true to the conceit. Great.
And. Not once did Harry Potter occur.
To escape the news of the day, why not take A Trip to the Moon? Colby J. Herchel’s One Act Play based on a movie by Georges Méliès. Performed last night at Winslow Bar in the East Village. Herchel’s wistful book and joyful lyrics with song stylings by Julia Feinberg spot-on. A subtle comedic tone set by Nathanael Taylor. Tour de Force just Off-Broadway. Bien fait!
Side Trek . NYC 