Poptional Reading - Marisa LaScala Blog

10/04/11

Theater Review: My Fair Lady at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, NY

Photo by John Vecchiolla It's a tale as old as time: Boy meets girl. Boy takes an interest in girl. Boy tries to rid girl of her Cockney accent and pass her off as a Duchess at a society event, thereby changing society's expectations of her along with the male-female power dynamic of their relationship. Okay, fine, maybe that's not a tale as old as time, but it's a tale as old as 1914, when George Bernard Shaw first staged a production of his play, Pygmalion. Lerner and Loewe adapted the play into a smash Broadway musical (changing the ending in the process), director George Cukor turned the musical into a movie (keeping Broadway star Rex Harrison but swapping Julie Andrews for Audrey Hepburn, who mostly did not do her own singing in the film), and, now, My Fair Lady returns to the stage at the Westchester Broadway Theatre. Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn—those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Luckily, the actors hitting the boards at the Westchester Broadway Theatre are up to the task. Jennifer Babiak, who I thought was overshadowed a bit in the WBT's Jekyll & Hyde,... Read More

Posted at 10:33 AM | Permalink

09/27/11

Moneyball Movie Roundup: Box Office Results and Critical Responses to Moneyball, Directed by Former Mamaroneck High School Alum Bennett Miller

There are a lot reasons to check out Moneyball. It had Brad Pitt at his most Robert Redfordy. Jonah Hill does the hangdog-apprentice thing pretty well. And, of course, if you're interested in baseball—or the even more exciting game of baseball statistics—there's no other movie out right now with more baseball (statistics) in it. Read More

Posted at 03:00 PM | Permalink

09/20/11

How Westchester County Was Represented at the 2011 Emmy Awards

So, did any of you watch the Emmys on Sunday? If you did, I'm sorry. We all wasted three hours of our lives (although kudos to the ceremonies for ending on time). Basically, Modern Family won everything, and Jon Stewart picked up the rest. Boring! Unfortunately, the Lower Hudson Valley is not well represented among the talent in Modern Family. Our ranks were pretty much overshadowed by the sprawling, six-headed Hydra that is the cast of that show. If you're looking for your neighbors' names among the Emmy winners, you're going to be sorely disappointed. The best I can do is say that, while our local talent wasn't recognized, our local area was. For starters, Mad Men brought home the statue for Outstanding Drama Series. (You know, the award where Modern Family is ineligible.) It didn't bring home any acting or writing awards, but still walked away with the big prize of the night. And since the Drapers live in Westchester—at least some of them do—we'll take it. Mildred Pierce is the opposite situation. It doesn't take place in our area, being set in Hollywood. And it didn’t win the big movie or miniseries... Read More

Posted at 03:18 PM | Permalink

09/13/11

See Your Writer Neighbors—in Brooklyn

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be a champion of all the arts and culture that goes on outside the purview of New York City's five boroughs. But this upcoming weekend, everyone—even some of your neighbors—seems to be heading to Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Book Festival.The event, which takes place in downtown Brooklyn (right outside the Courthouse), pulls together writers—both Brooklynites and non-Brooklynites—organizing them into panels where they can read from their most recent books and discuss topics with writers who have covered similar themes and topics. Publishers, writers, periodicals, and illustrators also set up booths where you can browse and buy their wares. It is a bookworm's dream.This year, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Safran Foer, Colson Whitehead, Tom Perrotta, and Joyce Carol Oates will all be in attendance. But what local names can we find among the program list? Here are a few:Roxana RobinsonThe onetime or part-time Westchester resident reads from her book Cost as part of a panel on "family life gone awry in their fiction."Esmeralda SantiagoIf you're more of a history buff, Santiago, a Katonah resident, reads from Conquistadora as... Read More

Posted at 05:07 PM | Permalink

08/30/11

Northern Westchester Director Joe Berlinger Frees the West Memphis Three

Last week in this blog, we looked at the HBO documentary There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane and wondered whether or not a film like that could have any effect, either on an audience or on those appearing in it. What Joe Berlinger, a Chappaqua native and now Northern Westchester resident, proves is that, yes, an HBO documentary can have a tremendous impact. In 1996, Berlinger (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing for Crude, his film about Chevron's destruction of Ecuador) and co-filmmaker Bruce Sinofsky released a documentary to the cable channel called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills, about three teenagers known as the West Memphis Three: Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Damien Wayne Echols, and Jason Baldwin. The Three were convicted of murdering three second-graders. Echols was given the death penalty. "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is unique among courtroom documentaries in that the filmmakers, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, seem to have had complete access to both sides of the trial process, including private family meetings, conferences with lawyers, even sessions in the judge's chambers," Roger Ebert wrote at the... Read More

Posted at 10:15 PM | Permalink

	10/04/11 Theater Review: My Fair Lady at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, NY Photo by John Vecchiolla It's a tale as old as time: Boy meets girl. Boy takes an interest in girl. Boy tries to rid girl of her Cockney accent and pass her off as a Duchess at a society event, thereby changing society's expectations of her along with the male-female power dynamic of their relationship. Okay, fine, maybe that's not a tale as old as time, but it's a tale as old as 1914, when George Bernard Shaw first staged a production of his play, Pygmalion. Lerner and Loewe adapted the play into a smash Broadway musical (changing the ending in the process), director George Cukor turned the musical into a movie (keeping Broadway star Rex Harrison but swapping Julie Andrews for Audrey Hepburn, who mostly did not do her own singing in the film), and, now, My Fair Lady returns to the stage at the Westchester Broadway Theatre. Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn—those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Luckily, the actors hitting the boards at the Westchester Broadway Theatre are up to the task. Jennifer Babiak, who I thought was overshadowed a bit in the WBT's Jekyll & Hyde,... Read More Posted at 10:33 AM \| Permalink
	09/27/11 Moneyball Movie Roundup: Box Office Results and Critical Responses to Moneyball, Directed by Former Mamaroneck High School Alum Bennett Miller There are a lot reasons to check out Moneyball. It had Brad Pitt at his most Robert Redfordy. Jonah Hill does the hangdog-apprentice thing pretty well. And, of course, if you're interested in baseball—or the even more exciting game of baseball statistics—there's no other movie out right now with more baseball (statistics) in it. Read More Posted at 03:00 PM \| Permalink
	09/20/11 How Westchester County Was Represented at the 2011 Emmy Awards So, did any of you watch the Emmys on Sunday? If you did, I'm sorry. We all wasted three hours of our lives (although kudos to the ceremonies for ending on time). Basically, Modern Family won everything, and Jon Stewart picked up the rest. Boring! Unfortunately, the Lower Hudson Valley is not well represented among the talent in Modern Family. Our ranks were pretty much overshadowed by the sprawling, six-headed Hydra that is the cast of that show. If you're looking for your neighbors' names among the Emmy winners, you're going to be sorely disappointed. The best I can do is say that, while our local talent wasn't recognized, our local area was. For starters, Mad Men brought home the statue for Outstanding Drama Series. (You know, the award where Modern Family is ineligible.) It didn't bring home any acting or writing awards, but still walked away with the big prize of the night. And since the Drapers live in Westchester—at least some of them do—we'll take it. Mildred Pierce is the opposite situation. It doesn't take place in our area, being set in Hollywood. And it didn’t win the big movie or miniseries... Read More Posted at 03:18 PM \| Permalink
	09/13/11 See Your Writer Neighbors—in Brooklyn I know, I know. I'm supposed to be a champion of all the arts and culture that goes on outside the purview of New York City's five boroughs. But this upcoming weekend, everyone—even some of your neighbors—seems to be heading to Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Book Festival.The event, which takes place in downtown Brooklyn (right outside the Courthouse), pulls together writers—both Brooklynites and non-Brooklynites—organizing them into panels where they can read from their most recent books and discuss topics with writers who have covered similar themes and topics. Publishers, writers, periodicals, and illustrators also set up booths where you can browse and buy their wares. It is a bookworm's dream.This year, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Safran Foer, Colson Whitehead, Tom Perrotta, and Joyce Carol Oates will all be in attendance. But what local names can we find among the program list? Here are a few:Roxana RobinsonThe onetime or part-time Westchester resident reads from her book Cost as part of a panel on "family life gone awry in their fiction."Esmeralda SantiagoIf you're more of a history buff, Santiago, a Katonah resident, reads from Conquistadora as... Read More Posted at 05:07 PM \| Permalink
	08/30/11 Northern Westchester Director Joe Berlinger Frees the West Memphis Three Last week in this blog, we looked at the HBO documentary There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane and wondered whether or not a film like that could have any effect, either on an audience or on those appearing in it. What Joe Berlinger, a Chappaqua native and now Northern Westchester resident, proves is that, yes, an HBO documentary can have a tremendous impact. In 1996, Berlinger (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing for Crude, his film about Chevron's destruction of Ecuador) and co-filmmaker Bruce Sinofsky released a documentary to the cable channel called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills, about three teenagers known as the West Memphis Three: Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Damien Wayne Echols, and Jason Baldwin. The Three were convicted of murdering three second-graders. Echols was given the death penalty. "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is unique among courtroom documentaries in that the filmmakers, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, seem to have had complete access to both sides of the trial process, including private family meetings, conferences with lawyers, even sessions in the judge's chambers," Roger Ebert wrote at the... Read More Posted at 10:15 PM \| Permalink

Westchester's Pop Culture

10/04/11

Theater Review: My Fair Lady at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, NY

09/27/11

Moneyball Movie Roundup: Box Office Results and Critical Responses to Moneyball, Directed by Former Mamaroneck High School Alum Bennett Miller

09/20/11

How Westchester County Was Represented at the 2011 Emmy Awards

09/13/11

See Your Writer Neighbors—in Brooklyn

08/30/11

Northern Westchester Director Joe Berlinger Frees the West Memphis Three

Advertisement

About This Blog

Marisa LaScala

Elmsford, NY

Recent Posts

Archives

Feed

Advertisement

Alabama

British Columbia

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

North Carolina

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Washington

Washington DC

Wisconsin