Good morning,
I haven’t shared a potpourri recently. Here goes:
THEATRE EMERGES
As you know, I love theatre. People are slowly returning and I couldn’t be happier!
A couple of months ago, I reported on some theatre in New York and Los Angeles. Recently, we saw several L.A. theatre productions, all but one Center Theatre Group productions at the Music Center, all of which have “moved on”:
King James. If you get a chance to see it, do it. It’s not about LeBron James. Rather, it’s about the friendship of two men, the ups and downs of their town, their team and their lives—with James’s comings and goings in Cleveland offering context.
Moulin Rouge. Big, boisterous, musical. Great dancing. And yet, see the Baz Luhrman movie starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (with John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec), instead. It’s better.
Mike Birbiglia in The Old Man in the Pool. It’s not really theatre, but a one-man show. Not really stand-up comedy, but a series of stories about life, growing up, and becoming the old man. I’m sure it will be on HBO before too long. If so, see it. In the meantime, catch his last show, The New One on Netflix, about his bouts with parenthood and bizarre health challenges.
The Prom. Great singing, dancing, and acting. Great message. The only negative is the score is entertaining, but forgettable. I’ll watch the movie because I love James Corden.
Hadestown. I’ll let Joyce Anderson comment on this one: “An amazingly demanding production with the talent and commitment that each and every player displayed serving as an inspirational model of pulling together as a community! I don’t think anyone stole the show. I think the show had an entire cast and crew of stars that gave their all at every moment to benefit the production as a whole. It worked, whether it was the musicians on stage, the dancers (all shapes and sizes bringing their own diverse talent to lift up the other) or the “leads”( all with crisp, clear voices and stellar character development in their movement quality).”
I am looking forward to seeing the new production of Oklahoma! this weekend, a darker version of the classic, based on the same book and lyrics, but showing Jud, Curley and the rest in a different light.
I’m not sure how many of you saw The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe when it was performed by Lily Tomlin in the 90s but it’s back, with Cicely Strong (of Saturday Night Live) in the lead role. I’m told the production is phenomenal. It’s currently at the Taper at the Music Center. I’ve been waiting for this one’s revival. And if you can’t tell the difference between soup and art, this is the show for you.
I’m also looking forward to seeing the new staging of 1776 next year. I really enjoy this musical, which, back when first staged with the Bicentennial, showed both the miracle of the founding and the challenges and hypocrisy involved in the compromises to make the nation. I’m reserving judgment on the idea of an all-female and non-binary cast. It feels almost kitschy but I’m hoping some new insights can be drawn. After Hamilton’s cast of color, it seems like this already has been done, but let’s see.
I’m also cautiously optimistic about the Back to the Future musical coming out of London. As many times as I’ve seen this great movie, I look forward to how it translates to the stage.
WE CAN HELP IN LITTLE WAYS
I made my morning coffee and poured in a “go cup” for my ride into the office. The cup is made from recycled material, as is the cap. The cup doesn’t feel as good as the more traditional waxy/plastic version. But I’ll use it because it helps in some small way to reduce the hydrocarbon waste of so much plastic.
I’m not prepared to go without many of the creature comforts of the modern world but I am willing to make small sacrifices. It doesn’t take much to make a small dent in the non-recyclable waste we generate. Both individuals and corporations need to think this way. While I have no patience for performative empathy, I think every little bit makes a difference in this case. We need to stop packaging everything in layers of plastic. One great question is why Gillette made it so damned hard to open a pack of razor blades. Why all the plastic?
DID WE BLOW IT AFTER THE FALL OF THE IRON CURTAIN AND THE SOVIET UNION?
There is no excuse for the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine and its devastating destruction of much of that country’s infrastructure and economy. The human toll of this brutal aggression has been severe. And while there is no justification for Putin’s war, with Russian citizens victims of a carefully curated propaganda machine, there is a bit of logic to their feeling that they are “on their own” and abandoned by the West.
When the Wall fell, the West was convinced it was “the end of history” and democracy won. That hubris may have caused a prolonged victory dance without the magnanimity that followed World War II. While George H.W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft are to be lauded for the “soft landing” of Soviet Russia and avoiding conflict in the short term, there was little planning for the long term. When we had the ability and the excuse to go the extra distance to incorporate Russia and the East into the community of nations, we missed an opportunity. In particular, we instead insisted on growing NATO. In doing so, it is not unreasonable for Russia to believe it was “on the outside” of the European system and, almost by necessity, found itself occupying the opposing pole in the world order.
There is reason to believe the Russian leadership is weakened and that there may be some opportunity to work with the successor(s) to Putin. I fear the war may drag on for some time. When it’s over, regardless of the outcome, I hope the Ukraine invasion will not turn us into permanent enemies, but we will seize upon the opportunity to partner in some ways.
In the meantime, as much as we believe we control a lot of what happens in the world, we also have to recognize the limits of our power to influence things. In this troubling year of rising autocracies, we should acknowledge that our brand of human rights and capitalism may not play so well around the world. We will need to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. As The Economist suggests:
“Western leaders need to be honest about how much influence they really have. The assumption that the rest need the West more than the West needs the rest is less true these days. In 1991 the G7 produced 66% of global output; today, just 44%. In hindsight it was hubris to think that dictatorships could be cured of their pathologies by battalions of human-rights lawyers and market economists. Leaders ought to be clear about right and wrong, but when they weigh up whether to impose sanctions on wrongdoers they should assess the likely results rather than the appearances of virtue.”
FINAL THOUGHT DURING THESE DAYS OF AWE
“Do Justice; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.” –Micah
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
While the West certainly did blow it in certain ways, it was also the accelerated and chaotic attempts of Russia to transition from their Soviet era economic and social constructs to more Western practices. Instead of a generation long plan to build the infrastructure and institutions that are necessary to support such a system, slowly opening the gates of a free market and open political discourse, the change was immediate. The clout that power centers and security centers had was threatened and they found ways to continue their control through a takeover of economic interests through massive corruption. I am not sure what, if anything, the West could have done to stop that process.