"Ella" is on-stage at the Rep

My freelance review:

Arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time, Ella Fitzgerald comes alive again in Ella, the season closer for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

The time is July 1966 and the place is a simple concert stage in Nice, France, where Ella is rehearsing for an upcoming concert to be recorded for her posterity. At the urging of her manager and friend Norman Granz, the private Ella, at age 49, relunctantly laces her performance with "patter" about her life. Ella begins to reminisce, uncovering a past her public never knew.

Actress Tina Fabrique plays Ella with a lot of gusto, charm and beauty. Her voice is quite beautiful, too, as she reenacts over twenty of Ella's classic songs.

The entire play is acted out on the same concert stage, with Fabrique on-stage throughout. Act 1 offers a stressed Ella in rehearsal recounting her first big break at the Apollo Theatre at age 17, as well as subsequent details in her career and personal life, such as her challenges in raising her son. The entire Act 2 is Ella's big show -- including more songs and patter.

We get to know a lot about Ella Fitzgerald from this play. Her life was not overly dramatic, especially compared to so many of the big stars of today. Fabrique's Ella comments, "I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't sleep around. All I do is sing the songs."

Still, she had her share of ups and downs, including the death of her sister and the estrangement of her son.  Surprisingly, though, I didn't feel as strong of an emotional connection as I suspect there could have been had elements of Ella's patter been arranged differently.

The most memorable parts of Ella are the songs, with music ranging from the Gershwins, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter to Duke Ellington, Sonny Curtis and Johnny Mercer. Stand-out songs include "The Nearness of You," "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Blue Skies."

Ella plays through April 13 at the Rep.

"Bucket List" is very funny and sincere

My freelance review:

The new Rob Reiner film, The Bucket List, offers a lot of laughter (mostly courtesy of Jack Nicholson) and touching human drama. The film opens Friday; this is an early review.

Nicholson plays the typical Nicholson character, an over-the-top, over-confident, sarcastic soul. This time he's an extravagant corporate billionaire, always more focused on making money than his deeper needs. Suddenly diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and as the owner of a chain of hospitals known for "two patients to every room," he finds himself sharing a hospital room with a down-to-earth fellow incurable cancer patient, played by Morgan Freeman.

The chemistry between these two Academy Award-winning actors is substantial. As the story plays out, Freeman's character has a list of things he wants to do before he dies (his "list" of things to do before he kicks the "bucket") and Nicholson's character has the dough -- and before long the desire -- to finance the travels.

What basically follows is a male-bonding, buddy road movie, complete with plenty of laughs and inspirational moments.

It's challenging in films like The Bucket List to keep the overall tone sincere and believable, given characters as extreme as Nicholson's and a storyline that is a bit far-fetched. Fortunately, though, this film keeps it head above water and swims beautifully. Kudos to writer Justin Zackham for keeping the characters well-rounded and for not dismissing some of the supporting characters, such as Freeman's character's wife, who stands by as her dying husband leaves her and her children to travel with a stranger. Played by Beverly Todd, she brings a nice touch to the film.

One other nice touch is the beautiful original song, Say, by John Mayer.

Director Reiner delivers a really good film here. The Bucket List should be a big (and well-deserved!) crowd pleaser.

Leader of the band

I read the sad news tonight that Dan Fogelberg has died of cancer at age 56. He was a gifted artist who leaves behind a number of beautiful songs. Here are three of my favorites, tracks 6, 7 and 8 from his 1981 album, An Innocent Age:

And it's run for the roses as fast as you can
Your fate is delivered, your moment's at hand
It's the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance
And it's high time you joined in the dance
It's high time you joined in the dance
—Run for the Roses

I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And, papa, I don't think I said 'I love you' near enough
—Leader of the Band

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence, another 'auld lang syne'
—Same Old Lang Syne

Don't blink

My favorite song these days is Don't Blink by Kenny Chesney. It's a beautiful song with a nice little message about life.

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said all I can say is

Don't blink...

Life goes faster than you think

The Beatles and Willie

Another quote from my 7-year-old nephew Willie, from this afternoon:

Uncle Tom, have you ever heard of a group called The Beatles?

I think he's just discovered their music. Maybe he'll want to go as one of them for Halloween next year...

"Grace is Gone" is a touching human drama

My freelance review:

Watch for the film Grace is Gone, which played at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

John Cusack plays a loving but somewhat distant father whose military wife is killed in Iraq. He has two little girls and his task is to tell them of their mother's death. He's not used to being the decision maker in the family and struggles with how to tell them, so he abruptly takes them on a road trip to a Disney-type place before telling them.

This is a very touching, moving film and the actors (including Shélan O'Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk as Cusack's daughters) are terrific. This is Cusack's breakthrough film; he's officially grown up now, in my book.

The film's score, by Clint Eastwood, is beautiful. The title song, by jazz musician Jamie Cullum, is quite powerful and hypnotic. This music will be playing on my iPod.

Grace is Gone is the winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival from January. In his director debut, writer/director James C. Strouse has delivered a beautiful, appropriately-slow moving film that offers some insightful reflections on life beyond pro-war or anti-war sentimentalities.

"Into the Wild" takes you away

My freelance review:

The new film Into the Wild continues to be on my mind, almost ten days after seeing it.

As writer/director, Sean Penn has created a masterpiece. Adapted from Jon Krakauer's best-seller, Into the Wild tells the story of Christopher McCandless (played by the little-known but very talented Emile Hirsch), an upper-middle-class young man, just graduated from college, who rebelliously opts to donate his savings to charity, leave society and journey to the Alaskan wilderness to become one with nature.

And what a journey McCandless has! South Dakota, Arizona, Alaska, Mexico, California... the authentic and scenic locations come to vivid life thanks to cinematographer Eric Gautier, who produces some of the most beautifully captured pictures I have ever seen.

The story bounces around chronologically to great effect, providing balance to the generally-episodic nature of McCandless' trek. The stories and characters that unfold throughout the episodes add a lot of depth to the film. Through flashbacks and narration by McCandless' younger sister, we observe the dysfunctional relationship between McCandless and his parents, played by Marcia Gay Harden and the always-terrific William Hurt. It's interesting, in contrast, observing McCandless with the sweet, caring hippee woman (played by the endearing Catherine Keener) who provides a type of maternal relationship to him, and then later in the film with an Army retiree (tenderly played by Hal Holbrook) serving as his surrogate father.

And it's in such relationships that we see the ever-so-philosophical McCandless coming to life. At one point in his travels, he develops a buddy relationship with a farmer played by Vince Vaughn (demonstrating a considerably wider acting range than his typical film roles allow). McCandless also bonds with a talented young woman (played by Kristen Stewart) living in a California desert RV camp that attracts non-conformists and vagabonds. He takes to making music with her; a touching, soothing moment in the film has the two of them singing to the desert commune the John Prine song "Angel in Montgomery."

Also contributing to the overall mood of the film is the powerful soundtrack by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. His songs are haunting and fit the movie perfectly.

There's great appeal to watching this film. Beyond the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the music, the mood -- all of which are great -- there's something more. Perhaps deep down, at some point or another, each of us has had a desire or an impulse to run away, perhaps to leave civilization, to push our lives in another direction. Few of us, for various reasons, ever do. Witnessing the story of someone who has made this happen, I found an utter fascination to observe and to study -- and, for a few hours, to allow myself to be taken away.

I don't expect to find a better, more engaging film this year than Into the Wild.

Imagine

Today I listened -- really listened -- to the words of John Lennon's "Imagine." Quite beautiful -- and dreamy.

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

LiveFeed

I'm very excited about LiveFeed, a "bright-eyed, bushy tailed group of people out to make a difference" -- and also described as a St. Louis-based "grassroots organization dedicated to engaging the entertainment industry and its fans to promote hunger awareness and to provide a consistent, reliable flow of food to local food pantries."

I met some of the people in LiveFeed at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase last weekend, and the organization sounds terrific to me!

LiveFeed's first official event is a party featuring St. Louis singing sensation Javier Mendoza -- "a winner... a one-man Latin explosion... a hell of a nice guy" says the Riverfront Times -- on August 16. I'll be there as the official LiveFeed photographer for the event and hope that many of you will be there!

iPhone: The Music Video

Product reviewer David Pogue of The New York Times ditches his "made-in-hell-phone" for an iPhone -- and sings about it:

The Album Leaf

Today on iTunes, I was looking for something relaxing and different to listen to... something to play in the background while doing stuff at the computer and around the house. Well, I struck gold:

An album called In a Safe Place (iTunes link) by The Album Leaf.

What an incredible album! No vocals. Borderline hypnotic. Brought about a sense of both incredible focus and relaxation for me. And after listening to it a few times while editing photos and doing some other stuff at the computer, I took a short nap (something that's rare for me to do). Did the music relax me that much? Or did the focus enabled by the music make my mind tired? Or perhaps a little of both?

You don't notice where one track ends and another begins... you don't even think about that! The integration of the tracks creates such a complete listening experience.

More about The Album Leaf here and here. I think I've become a fan!

Darfur awareness and help

A lot of help is needed for people in Darfur, Sudan. Since 2003, 200,000-400,000 are murdered. 2-4 million are displaced to camps within Darfur and the neighboring country of Chad. Many of these people, including children, are malnourished and starving to death. Another 1 million Darfuris still live in their villages, under the constant threat of bombings, raids, murder, rape and torture. These are among the poorest people in Africa to begin with.

The United Nations and humanitarian groups like Amnesty International have a lot of relief workers on the grounds in Darfur and Chad offering help. But it is not enough.

As a small way to help, Yoko Ono has opened the songs in John Lennon's music catalog to be covered by a wide range of new and established artists. The resultant album is available for purchase on iTunes and in record stores. You'll find some outstanding covers and be offering help to others in the process.