06/30/09

Theater Review: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change—which had a wildly successful turn Off-Broadway before opening last week at the Westchester Broadway Theatre—is a light, loose production. The topic is broad: love. The show is a musical revue, allowing the characters to switch personalities and relationships as the need arises. The sets (mostly an assortment of tables and chairs, easily removed and replaced)...

Posted at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

06/24/09

The Hangover and Amnesia Cinema

Is it just me, or do you keep running into people who want to talk about The Hangover? Box-office numbers seem to support my theory, since it's held up considerably well for the three weeks it's been out, raking in $153 million so far. Movies don't stay at the top of the box office like that without good word-of-mouth, and I feel as if I've been overhearing these word-of-mouth recommendations for almost a month.

Sure, I've seen it, too. I've been told I have to just get over its raging misogyny because it's a "dude movie," and, I suppose if I ignore that, I can say that there are...

Posted at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

06/16/09

Don't Get Ripped Off at IMAX Movies

Over the next couple weeks, a bunch of summer blockbuster films—namely Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince—are being released into IMAX theaters. But buyer beware: Before you plunk down close to 20 bucks for the larger format, keep in mind that a lot of these so-called IMAX auditoriums don't have the gigantic, awe-inspiring screens that you're used to.

I know what you think when you hear the word IMAX: a towering screen, between six and eight stories tall, that makes you go "oh, wow!" as soon as the movie starts. And, until...

Posted at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments: 8

06/09/09

How'd We Do at the Tonys?

Being so close to Broadway, it's no surprise that so many local residents work every day on the Great White Way. We usually see a huge roster of them come Tony time. This year, the number of nominated neighbors was pretty small—but overall, they did very well.

Next to Normal was obviously our horse in the race. The musical, which has a typically Westchester theme about a suburban family dealing with personal crises, was produced by Mamaroneck resident Patrick Catullo. Catullo should be proud, because the production piled up 11 nominations and scored three wins. One of those statues went to Armonk resident Tom Kitt, who won a Tony for Best Original Score. Another Westchester native, White Plains's Jennifer Damiano, was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a...

Posted at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

06/02/09

More New Music!

I get e-mails from local musicians all the time. They tell me about gigs, new artists, new albums, whatever. They're a vocal, passionate, fun bunch of people, and their stuff is worth checking out. Here are a few from the most recent crop of releases to cross my inbox.

Jack Doyle
Hometown: Bronxville
Genre: Jazz and Standards
Bio: Doyle is a Broadway vet, with credits that include The Music Man, Young Frankenstein, and The Will Rogers Follies.
What's New: He's fresh off a stint at Manhattan's Triad Theater, where he launched the release of his new album, This...