The Wiz

So I Netflixed The Wiz and watched it this week for the first time since I was a kid. WHOAH. Very, very strange movie--I've never seen the original stage version but Duncan said it was very different...and I guess it's set in Kansas? Which is sort of weird as well--Kansas is pretty white, isn't it? I will say, I like that they reset it in NYC, and there's a lot to explore there. But why make it so freakishly terrifying? That subway sequence, AAAAHHHH! Good Lord, it is terrifying! Creepy homeless peddler guy with his puppets that get bigger...and bigger...and then start CHASING them, Jesus! And then the trash cans and even the pillars start attacking them! Why in the hell would they make this for kids? That's actually my biggest criticism of the movie--it is not appropriate or interesting for kids (a very cold-feeling movie), and I don't get the G-rating. There are way too many long, boring stretches--what was in the LA water in the late '70s, Star Trek: The Motion Picture has the same problem.

But I don't think it's horrible, and I think its imdb rating (4.7) is way too low. It's got a definite adult sensibility--the part when they reach the Emerald City, with those gyrating disco dancers, is wild! Oz goes to Studio 54. I also liked the reinterpretation of the poppy scene, crack hos seducing them with heroin. (Again, this is for kids?!) The cabs--one of the "external reviews" listed in imdb said something about how this was a joke on how you can never find a cab when you need one in NYC. Uh, I thought it was about how specifically black people have a hard time getting cabs to stop, not that they're never around. (Which is also very clever.) Michael Jackson is fantastic as the Scarecrow--in fact the Tinman and Lion are also terrific. (Sadly, Diana Ross is deadly dull as Dorothy and far too old. Stephanie Mills would've been cute as hell.) Some of the numbers are great--I especially loved the Munchkin number with all those cheering, tumbling moppets. (Although when the first Munchkin reveals how they were "imprisoned"--they were caught tagging the playground and turned into graffiti--I had a sneaking sympathy for Evermeane. Little shits, stop vandalizing public property!)

Othello and Larson

Jason Kendall, Donna's husband, had a "Take Back the Park" event (in conjunction with his twice-weekly astronomy viewings) this past Wednesday, in response to a rape that happened in Inwood Hill Park over the weekend. (The PTB, I guess the PEP, were trying to squash afterdark activity in the aftermath.) A bunch of people came out, more than Jason typically gets for the astronomy viewings--we had hula hoopers there and everything. Jason set up the telescope and we got to see Saturn which was VERY cool--you could even see saturn moving, because the Earth is moving. So cool! I chatted with a newbie who's a fairly recent transplant to the neighborhood and it turns out she's from Baltimore and is a professor at Yeshiva University. I blathered on about history and Shakespeare and she invited me to see Inwood Shakespeare Festival's Othello with some of her students the next night.

So I was planning to go and then yesterday I got a call from my cousin Larson, who was in town for an interview and wanted to get together. I hated to bail on my new friend but Larson lives in Massachusetts and I haven't seen him since his wedding two years ago. I got to the outdoor space where ISF performs, at the edge of the park, and told her I couldn't stay until the end, explaining why, and she understood. I saw most of it but got Larson's text that he'd arrived during the last scene, so I missed the very end. NO GREAT LOSS. *Not* a great production--most of the leads were not impressive. The worst was the guy who runs the organization who cast himself as Othello. Judging from his picture it's difficult to tell if he is in fact black or part-black but he did put on a rather obvious wig with kinky curls. I don't even want to speculate why. The larger problem was that he just wasn't any good as Othello--not invested, no rage or despair, no focus or specificity. (And, really, way too old--Othello is not supposed to be THAT much older than Desdemona. It looked gross in the bedroom, frankly.) The "trance" bit was especially painful, although that's not the easiest bit to pull off. The scene in the bedroom was just so FLAT--like dude, you're about to KILL her, you look like you're disappointed the buffet ran out of sausage! Let's see some intensity! He totally metaphor-boated "Put out the light and then put out the light" by first gesturing with the light he had in his hand and then--yep--pointing to Desdemona. Thanks for breaking that down for us! *Headdesk* It might have been better if the Iago had been more murderously intense but he wasn't that great either--not as bad as Othello but you didn't feel his insane bitterness and rage. Desdemona was similarly disappointing, pretty flat. I will say, that's NOT an easy role to play--Des is such an angelic character--but I think she was sacrificing charm in order to make her seem more victim-like. The supporting roles were much better, including Cassio, Emilia, the Clown and Bianca. Emilia tore it up, although she didn't seem that experienced--but she was passionate. I was disappointed overall--I know they can get great talent out there, I saw Comedy of Errors with Elizabeth and Andy there last year and that was good, and CoE seems *much* harder than Othello.

So, I wasn't too disappointed to duck out early. Larson met me and we walked over the Indian Road Cafe for a quick bite and yacked about The Family. He had an interview here but sadly if he gets it, will not be moving to NYC--darn! SO great to see him! I love my cousins.