JAMES FEINBERG’S GRANDKID’S EYE VIEW

James, 11 (second from left) plays young George Bailey in a holiday production of It’s a Wonderful Life by the New Jersey- based Theater Project, Union County College's Professional Theater Company. Photo: Hal Drucker

THEATER

 
Slava Pushes a Web Ball. Photo: Veronique Vial

Slava’s Snowshow
Helen Hayes Theater
240 W. 44th St.
212-944-9450
Through Jan. 4, 2009.

Without a doubt, the greatest mime, the greatest clown, the greatest actor who ever lived has to be Slava, the last-nameless star of Slava’s Snowshow, whose emotion can be conveyed by the manner in which he walks. He and his wide hat-clad entourage act and interact with the audience, creating a new kind of acting. If you don’t feel like getting picked up or tested by the main character or splattered with water from green umbrellas, get a seat in the very middle and nowhere near the aisles or front. But the show is hilarious, and hosts amazing moments and a finale of inflated proportions. What I mean by inflated, I’ll keep a secret. In any case, if you don’t want to miss something unlike any other show ever performed, Slava’s Snowshow is a must for any theatergoer.

Brian d’Arcy James is Shrek, Daniel Breaker is Donkey in the captivating Shrek, the Musical . Photo: Joan Marcus

Shrek the Musical
Broadway Theater
1681 Broadway @ 53rd St.
(212) 239-6200

Over the years there has been a rift between movies and musicals (if you’re not talking about slightly ill-staged, pop rock movies like Mamma Mia). Either some animated aspect of the movie can’t be produced onstage, or a song in the musical wouldn’t be popular onscreen, or some other tiny detail theater and moviegoers might not notice. But in spite of the rift, Disney and others continue producing stage musicals from animated movies, and on December 14 , 2008, Shrek the Musical sprang from it. This brilliant staging pays attention to the whim of every average Broadway visitor, releasing drama, hilarity, or villainous characters, like six-foot two Christopher Sieber as a dwarf-like Lord Faarquad who walks around on his knees. Much the same as the movie, with funny and incredibly emotional songs thrown in, Shrek is a show that can’t be missed. Among its talented actors are the lovely and versatile musical comedy star Sutton Foster as Fiona, who enjoys flatulence contests. Then there is an amazing puppeteer (John Tartaglia) who will leave you speechless, as will the rousing orchestra and spectacular set design. It also has some surprising moments. One thing is for sure: the taglines on the show’s numerous advertisements have a lot of appeal. “Everything’s Coming Up Ogres” as long as you come to the Broadway Theater to watch DreamWorks Theatricals. “Bring Ugly Back.”
[For Lily Feinberg’s Review of Shrek the Musical in Grand Times with your Grandkids.]

MOVIES

The Tale of Despereaux.

This is an exceedingly hard movie to review. It’s one of those movies that you watch and then fail to form an opinion afterward. Though very detailed, the storyline is somewhat complicated at points, and leaves out many of the most thorough and emotional parts of the book. However, it is very well animated and at points, funny. One of my problems with many children’s movies is that the adults in the movie force their acting- try to act realistic but end up sounding like they’re happy and angry at the same time, or strained and wishing they didn’t have to play this part. This is very apparent in the movie, especially with the narrator Sigourney Weaver (who, with a smug tone to her voice, quietly blurts, “We could say they lived happily ever after, but what fun is that?”) and the rat Roscuro played by Dustin Hoffman. Emma Watson as the Princess Pea, however, is fantastic, and Matthew Broderick in the title role displays his past skill, playing a misfit character (Broderick also played Simba in the Lion King movies). As good as they definitely are, the best actor and most intriguing character in the movie is by far Ciaran Hinds, who plays Botticelli, the evil leader of Ratworld (as opposed to the book, in which Botticelli is an ordinary rat who finds Roscuro shortly after his ill-timed birth). I give him my compliments on an excellent acting job. As I’ve said, you don’t really know what to think after this movie, but all in all I would say it’s pleasant and a good time for the whole family (Note to seniors: disregard the G rating).

MUSEUMS

Wire, Cloth, and a Little Genius for Luck.
Calder Revealed at the Whitney
Alexander Calder
The Paris Years
1926-1933
Through February 15, 2009

Clown with Balloon, from Calder's Circus 1926-31.
Wire, cloth, graphite, leather, lead, paint, and string, dimensions variable.
Whitney Museum of American Art: Photo: Sheldan C. Collins

Wire caricature portrait of Jimmy Durante.

There isn’t much you can do with a broken clothes hanger. That really should be a figure of speech: “As useless as a broken clothes hanger.” You can’t hang things on it, and you can’t use it for a lock-pick (only bobby pins work), and often you end up throwing it out because you can’t find your recycling bin. It’s a waste, a broken clothes hanger. It really is.

Perhaps that’s what artist and sculptor Alexander Calder was thinking when he dropped his painting career to make mobiles and sculptures out of scrap metal. Calder had two loves- the circus and odd faces- which are both plainly expressed in not only his sculpture but his paintings. After visiting Madison Square Garden to watch the circus, Calder created a huge fresco of oranges and reds (Circus Scene) to represent his clear feelings for the three rings. And upon entering the exhibit from Whitney’s gargantuan elevator we are greeted by faces we know well, but not in this shape- Durante, Coolidge and Medusa to name three - with foreheads and noses exaggerated and eyes reduced to pinpoints.

Calder’s mother was a painter and his father a sculptor, which shows one reason why he became a little bit of both. His parents had both worked in Paris before meeting in Pennsylvania and marrying, then moved back sometime after marriage. Though Alexander grew up in the US, he moved to Paris in 1926, where he accomplished a few of his greatest works, like Calder’s Circus, which took him five years to complete but in the end was worth it. A battalion of manipulated mini-sculptures performing a show made Calder famous throughout Paris. The Whitney has the entire circus on display and an old video showing the circus performed.

Calder was an incredible artist - however simple-looking his creations seemed - and I am glad to have seen a few of his actual works.

[See Additional Review of Calder in the Grand Times With Your Grandkids column.]