The Miracle Worker

In tribute to Patty Duke's passing earlier this year, I decided to watch the late actress's Academy Award-winning turn in The Miracle Worker. Duke portrays Helen Keller in this acclaimed adaptation, with Anne Bancroft playing Ann Sullivan, Helen's teacher (Bancroft also won an Academy Award for her role). Together they lead a phenomenal ensemble who leave audiences breathless from beginning to end with their fine dramatic performances.

The film features exquisite camera work from veteran director Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde), and there are many scenes that look as if they have been shot while the director was lying on the floor. This had the effect of making me feel as though I was watching the story play out through a child's perspective, much like a child Helen's age. The fight scenes between Ann and Helen are epic in emotion, especially given the lack of dialogue during these scenes. They are incredibly realistic and it was hard to believe these were actors employing rehearsed actions. I especially admired the cinematic shot during a scene that Ann is singing Helen to sleep. The scene shows Ann sitting at left, but the bulk of the view is of the bed with a resting Helen. The way the camera shoots this scene suggests a child looking up from the floor. There has been so much emotion and activity in the fight scene preceding this moment, that the scene exudes tranquility and innocence. Inga Swenson, who plays Helen's mother, gave an equally commanding performance, effectively expressing her desperate concern for her blind daughter's potential while also struggling to temper her smothering and at times misguided love.

The showstopper comes at the end of the film when Helen finally learns to associate objects with their proper name, the beginning of her ability to leave a world of darkness and join the human race. Despite its age, it remains an inspiring story. The Miracle Worker is a fast moving, well developed tale about regret, redemption, and the power of perseverance.

She Loves Me, Now on Broadway...

Earlier this month I saw the critically acclaimed Roundabout production of the musical She Loves Me. This revival of a 1963 adaptation of The Shop Around The Corner story is enchanting and has several likable characters and musical numbers that are wonderful and witty. Jane Krakowski plays the bubbly supporting character Ilona Ritter, and knocks it out of the park with a performance that involves rapid fire humor and quick on your feet physical work (she even does the splits.) While the premise and ending are predictable, the jokes and songs will make any person laugh and applaud upon curtain call.

Next week I will be viewing and reviewing The Shop Around The Corner, and I anticipate enjoying it as much as the live show.

UPDATE: She Loves Me will be the first Broadway musical to be streamed live online: https://www.broadwayhd.com/index.php/deliverable/r/she_loves_me_live. I highly recommend you check it out!

This is my first review of the new seasons of Game of Thrones and Veep.

Game of Thrones

"The Red Woman"

From the first few seconds of the premiere the viewers learned what they already knew for months... Jon Snow is dead. What else is new? As soon as Jon's direwolf Ghost starts howling, which makes the scene even sadder, Davos and the other Wildings take Jon's corpse inside and protect him from the Night's Watchmen who betrayed Jon in cold blood. Most of the episode focuses on getting viewers to a jumping-off point since nothing too significant has actually happened. All the action that happens is either a long recap from where last year's finale left off or simply a bunch of random plot developments jammed into one episode that many will find predictable and unnecessary. In other words, we all want the Dorne storyline to come to an end; we want to see Tyrion, Daenerys, and Arya do things that actually make us root for them; and we want to believe that the show hasn't hopelessly lost its way considering how awful the previous season was. The creators of the show, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have made it widely known that this season will diverge the most from the original books, which not too many people are thrilled about (what is taking George R.R. Martin this long to finish the books already!?). However, if Benioff and Weiss can find a way to prove to fans that the show can do well without the source material, and keep the story moving in a compelling and meaningful way, this could still be an amazing season in the making.

Veep

"Morning After"

Following the events of last season's unusual plot twist, President Selina Meyer and her political team find themselves in hot water due to the unprecedented electoral tie among the majority votes of each State; this could mean that Meyer will either remain President, lose to her opponent, or apparently her own Vice President (I don't understand entirely how that works in any political scenario, but on a show like Veep, it does). I mostly found this episode to be a refresher on who each of the characters are and how they continue to make a mess of America's political government as well as the country's stability. In comparison to where we are right now with the real Presidential race, art clearly imitates life quite well.

Favorites, such as Gary and Amy, portrayed by the incomparable Anna Chlumsky, continue to be on their A-game by providing priceless facial expressions and one-liners. White House punching bag Jonah, played superbly by Timothy Simmons, finds himself in a typical yet hilarious predicament working as the assistant for the same guy who was previously his assistant. This development makes me think about how politics, in general, works in terms of power rankings. Classic stuff.

I was nervous about what to expect when the episode began, because everyone believed that once Armando Iannucci resigned as showrunner (who knows for what reasons?) the show would fall apart. So far, that does not seem to be the case, but I will not jump to the conclusion that this will be the show's best season until I have seen enough episodes to prove otherwise. Until then, let's keep hoping they can bring on the laughs.