Thornton Wilder's Our Town Give's Ann Patchett's Tom Lake A Wonderful Theater-centric Flavor

Thornton Wilder's Our Town Gives Ann Patchett's Tom Lake a Wonderful Theater-centric  Flavor 

by Elyse Sommer

Outstanding new cultural offerings tend to be outnumbered by those that are ho-hum. Even creators of  proven standouts (novelists as well as playwrights) now and then disappoint. Not so Ann Patchett,  author of the Pulitzer-Prize -winning Bel Canto and other top-drawer novels. Her oeuvre now includes  the better-than-ever Tom Lake.

While Patchett doesn't write John Grisham-like thrillers, she sure knows how to draw readers. Her storytelling mastery will have you turning the pages of this dual-timeline story about a farm family's interactions during the pandemic and flashbacks to 57-year-old Lara Nelson's life and love affair as an  actress thirty years ago.  

The role of Our Town's Emily, which launched and dominated Lara's long-ago life, and the parallels to Thornton Wilder's play, are linked in with wonderful subtlety. To be specific: The Nelson farm has a  cemetery like Our Town's Grover's Corners. The oldest daughter is named for the character whose  portrayal won her mother a chance to perform with a summer stock company located at a place called  Tom Lake.

Emily Nelson, the daughter, just wants to be a good farmer like her dad. But her  mother, like many  young people's parents, could tell stories of different aspirations in their younger lives. One of Emily's  two sisters is indeed a wannabe thespian.

Besides Our Town's pivotal link to Tom Lake's dual narrative, the author has also imbued the book with  a distinct Chekhovian flavor. Since the Nelsons grow cherries, their story evokes Chekhov's The  Cherry Orchard; and the fact that they struggle to keep the farm flourishing and that the Nelson sisters  are not too happily back together because of the pandemic channels my own favorite Chekhov play,  Three Sisters.

Despite the novel's theatrical episodes and frequent references to classical theatrical and fictional literature, Tom Lake is an easily relatable contemporary family drama. The episodes about Lara's youthful life and love affair with a charismatic actor who went on to become a famous movie star  makes for fascinating detours from Lara 's own eventual life as a happily married farm wife and  devoted mother.  
 
For theater buffs like me, details about life at that summer stock company are a special  treat.   However, Patchett manages to insure that readers understand and enjoy what's going on whether   they're familiar with Our Town's plot or the company's second production -- Sam Shepherd's Fool for  Love. By structuring the flashbacks between the farm and the theater company, she maintains a degree  of suspense and allows for something of a surprise ending.   

Tom Lake's beginning establishes that the Nelson girls know about their mother's early career and love affair. But busy as they are helping to harvest the cherries, boredom at the end of these work days, and  the news that their mother's movie-star lover has died, trigger their nudging her for full  details. Patchett makes brilliant use of this set up to create a  richly populated, absorbing and intelligent story. Bravo!
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Both hard cover and  digital  editions of Tom Lake are currently  available. There's also an audio book  read by Meryl Streep. (Where isn't Streep offering up her talents these days?)

Is the Theater Back to its Pre-pandemic Pleasures? By Elyse Sommer

 
Is the Theater Back to its Pre-pandemic Pleasures?

By Elyse Sommer

There are indeed signals for optimism that the worst of the pandemic is over, at least in the theater.    Long shuttered Broadway venues have reopened and this first comeback season was quite robust.  

The Tony Awards, the season's annual revenue-jumping event that almost didn't happen, did happen.   What's more, it was a justly praised success, even though the striking screenwriters allowed the broadcast to go on only if the host and presenters did not use a script. This made for a show that ended  on time and allowed some shows running on Broadway but not nominated to have a chance to strut  their stuff. Instead of at Radio City Music Hall, this year's event was held in the smaller historic Harlem movie palace that was a suitable site to showcase the diverse but all too timely issues dominating the  theatrical landscape.  

The two biggest winners, Kimberly Akimbo and Leopoldstadt, reminded us that ageism and anti-semitism remain toxic prejudices still with us. David Lindsay-Abaire's adaptation of his play and Tom Stoppard's epic family saga took the Tonys for best musical and best play.  

There were numerous surprise nominees, like the literally corny musical Shucked, which won over fun-hungry, pandemic-weary audiences and critics and became more than the dinner-theater musical it  would have been thanks to smart directing and casting. A surprise nominee who won was British  actress Jodie Comer. She nabbed best leading actress (in the solo play Prima Facie) from the multi-award winner Audra McDonald, who finally gave Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders a  Broadway stage life.

For a complete list of all the awards, see https://www.tonyawards.com/

Even though many of these nominees and winners received high praise from critics, most didn't fill all  the seats before the Tony jump started the usual day-after uptick in ticket sales. The win for Prima  Facie made it one of the best post-Tony sellers and people who missed seeing the play on  Broadway will be able to see it on screen, with Cynthia Erivo in the demanding role.

The many announced productions for next season do indeed support the optimism about bringing back the pleasure and excitement of theater before the long pandemic lockdown. Some of the more intriguing items on next season's theatrical menu include new plays by two of my favorite playwrights: John  Patrick Shanley and Paula Vogel. An as yet untitled play by Vogel will open at the Hayes Theater and  Brooklyn Laundry by Shanley at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Furthermore, Vogel's legendary How I Learned to Drive and Shanley's Doubt are coming back. The  Vogel revival reunites David Morse with Mary Louise Parker and some of the other original cast members at the Friedman Theater. Shanley's Doubt will star Liev Schreiber and Tyne Daly. While the focus on issues of tolerance is clearly here to stay, it was very much on the minds of golden oldie  storytellers like Vogel and  Shanley.  

https://playbill.com/category/broadway-news will point you to plenty of other upcoming   productions that will support the optimism about the return to normalcy.
 
But not so fast. We're hardly 100% back to full recovery. The constantly rising costs of putting on a  show have  done in The Phantom of the Opera's remarkable run at the Majestic Theatre. Costs and the  still slow return of tourists also did in Stomp, a modest downtown show that, like Phantom became as  much an event as a theater outing. This struggle to stay alive has rippled elsewhere. One of the Berkshire summer season's mainstays, the Williamstown Theatre, skipped a whole season of full-bodied new productions. In California, the Center Theatre Group is shutting down its Mark Taper Forum for at least a year.

 And so, while it's good and bad news when it comes to the theater, the news cycle in our daily lives  continues to be unrelentingly scary and depressing and repetitive. Consequently, I find it more comforting to spend time with fictional political influencers like President Conrad Dalton and  Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord of the seven-season series hit, Madam Secretary. While the  weekly crises that Tea Leoni's Secretary of State tackled reflected world events during the time the  series was first filmed, it still has incredible currency these days. Even when re-watched, the terrific  cast and production values still make for attention-holding, informative entertainment. The difference  between the series and real life is that disaster is always avoided -- and in the interest of doing the right thing. If only our real world were on such solid ground.

Among the other spirit-lifting series I've caught up with or revisited are the new addition to the superb  Danish political series Borgen; The  Dedicated  Survivor and the delightful Last Tango in Halifax.

Judy Blume's Ever-Expanding Audience & Relevance

Judy Blume's Ever-Expanding Audience & Relevance

by Elyse Sommer

I'm too old to have been part of author Judy Blume's ever-expanding fan base of girls from early grades to high school. Consequently, I didn't join the Blume reader bandwagon even when the most recent of  her three novels for adults was published in 2016. But Blume is clearly having a big, smartly marketed  moment in the spotlight, with a documentary film about her life on Amazon Prime and an adaptation of her most famous book currently in movie theaters.
 
The delightful Amazon Prime documentary Judy Blume Forever -- in  which  she  is  the  chief  narrator -- prompted me to catch up with her 2016 adult novel. The title, In the Unlikely Event, is aptly   borrowed from words used then by airline hostesses when issuing instructions for using safety  equipment in case of an emergency.  As the now 83-year-old Blume captured my interest in her very  full life and career path, I was so bowled over by Blume's brilliant storytelling  and  greater than ever  relevancy that I decided to devote this new blogspot feature to the book.   

Why Blume's 2016 Novel is Pertinent for Male Readers
 
Before going any further, I'm not ignoring my blogspot's male readers. Given the fact that Blume has  structured the novel to tell her story from the perspective of twenty characters, this big cast includes  teens as well as adults,  men as well as women. While women tend to read more fiction than men, the  pertinence of issues that come up within the novel's December 1951 to February 1952 time frame will trigger a universal response. Furthermore, if you did read In the Unlikely Event when it was published, you'll find rereading this novel more powerful and timely than ever. What was unlikely to happen in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1952 did happen. And to this day, all our lives continue to be a series of unlikely events that do happen.  

Blume's Ability to Connect with Readers Now Works its Magic on a More Diverse Audience
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 Judy Blume herself grew up in Elizabeth and experienced the plane disasters that drive the novel's plot as a teenager. Thus, Miri, the novel's key cast member, is a stand-in for Blume and the other characters are fictional versions of fellow students and the adults in her life. The way Blume portrays all of them  does indeed work for anyone reading the book. Her terrific storytelling captures the devastation of those events but also makes it a page-turning drama full of warmth -- even optimism, thanks to a jump 35 years forward.
 
 Navigating the details of those unlikely events as well as the multitude of personal dramas is not easy. But the author skillfully alternates between the historic events and the fictionalized subplots. She does  so by introducing each personal chapter with an actual article from one of two local newspapers, thus  effectively merging fact and fiction. Besides touching on every aspect of the characters' lives, the many authentic references to the fashions and culture of the times support its being fun as well as sad to read.   
Ultimately, In the Unlikely Event is timeless since all our lives continue to be a series of unlikely events that may actually happen. Theories voiced about the plane's pilots being foreign terrorists by students    in Elizabeth sound wild in the book. But two planes piloted by terrorists did crash into Manhattan's Twin Towers. 

 In the Unlikely Event more than holds up nowadays and I highly recommend reading it, whether for  the first time or again. The Kindle edition offers the plus of including a cast of characters that's arranged as a list of families and their members. Also, if you haven't seen the Amazon documentary Judy Blume Forever, it too is an invigorating experience, so don't miss it.

Post Script: I've already commented on some of the shows making news as part of the reopening of   pandemic-struck theaters in my last blogspot (Types of Shows That Keep Theater Alive). In case you missed reading that, scroll over to the column of older posts at the right of this posting. A lot of other  shows have opened and are planned. Here are a couple of websites where you can always check out  what's running and where:

https://www.playbill.com/ 
https://www.theatermania.com/

Types Of Shows That Keep Theater Alive

 
 Types of Shows That Keep Theater Alive

   --  By Elyse Sommer

Putting on a play or musical on Broadway, as well as elsewhere, has always been a high-risk cultural  enterprise. And yet, each season an array of old and new works are mounted in hopes of keeping the  fabulous invalid alive. 
 
Though the name that immediately springs to mind when considering a creative work's immortality is William Shakespeare, the sixteen plays that made him immortal were actually borrowed from other  sources like The Holinshed Chronicles, as he was acting as well as producing and writing. That said, to  this day some newly formatted or interpreted versions of one of those plays is on a stage or screen somewhere. What's more, his words are often quoted in nontheatrical settings.

While Shakespeare's works are the epitome of immortal storytelling, plenty of others can lay claim to  this sort of always rebootable afterlife. Chekhov and Ibsen created an even smaller oeuvre than the  Bard, but new presentations of their plays appear on some stage or screen often enough to support their  standing as part of the immortal canon -- such as the minimalist A Doll's House currently on Broadway.

But for super-adaptable, page-to-stage leaps, nobody beats novelist Jane Austen. This season, even her  unfinished last novel, Sanditon, has proved to be a perfect fit as a PBS costume drama spun out in  serial format. 

There are also some shows that gain immortality by virtue of their long life on Broadway. which made  them events for New York visitors, like a trip to the Statue of Liberty. Sadly, rising costs and the fallout of the pandemic have finally shuttered Phantom of the Opera; ditto for Stomp, a seemingly forever  tenant of the downtown Orpheum Theater.

Contributing to the theater's being dubbed an invalid but a fabulous one is its diversity in terms of   subjects and styles tackled each season. That means a new production of a favorite from the golden era  of musical theater is sure to show up. Working its ticket-selling magic this year was The Music Man,  starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.  Unsurprisingly, Stephen Sondheim, the recently deceased  bard of contemporary musical theater, began his surefire long afterlife with a stellar revival of  Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban as the demon barber. Since playwrights also had their golden era. an Arthur Miller play was likely to have another turn on Broadway. And, sure enough, a new production of Miller's iconic Death of a Salesman just ended its run in January.

Some musicals -- like Parade, which had only a brief run in its Broadway debut but sadly became  more relevant with the rise of anti-semitism -- have been given fresh Broadway runs, although the long afterlife of the immortals may still elude them.

Finally, the season has also allowed several new shows to knock on opportunity's door, not necessarily  for immortality, but for long enough to make a splash. Perhaps pandemic and bad news fatigue have  made Shucked, a musical that once might have been on the dinner show circuit, the musical that had  critics as well as audiences holding their bellies while laughing at the literally corny jokes. Seasoned  director Jack O'Brien's smart direction, a great cast and tuneful score, savvy marketing, and a theme of  tolerance made it all happen

 A more modest hit is a new solo show, Prima Facie. However, it was mostly praised for the  performance of soloist Jodie Comer rather than its content. Thus, the more name-brand fellow Tony nominees for best solo performance are likely to make Prima Facie's inclusion more honor than fact.  

Since this post has mentioned just a few of the varied menu of shows in the finally reopened theaters,  and the Tonys won't announce the winners until June, here's a list of award nominees:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/theater/tony-award-nominees-list.html
 

Post script: My most delightful recent onscreen experience was Amazon Prime's bio-documentary   Judy Blume Forever. While I'm too old to have read her many children's and young adult books, I  found the 83-year-old Blume, who narrates, most endearing. I'm also reading, and enjoying In the  Unlikely Event, her most recent adult novel.

PBS and Broadway Reboot Golden Oldies

PBS Makes Reboot of TV Golden Oldie, All Creatures Great And Small, into a  Feel-Good Screening Hit with Characters You Like and Admire 

--  By Elyse Sommer

We continue to be barraged by deeply disturbing events close to home as well as far away. Consequently, many of us, yours truly included, often turn it all off for a few hours of escape from  reality with enjoyable, soothing entertainment.  

As always, PBS Masterpiece has provided us with just what we need, at the right time: A Masterpiece  reboot of All Creatures Great and Small. The hugely popular stories written by British veterinarian James "Alf" White under the pen name of James Herriot were previously published as books, filmed  and televised.

While I'm old enough, I did not see the All  Creatures TV adaptation that aired between 1978 and 1990, nor did I read any of the Herriot books. But previous familiarity is not needed to tap into all the  pleasures of this long-ago favorite. If you never knew the three veterinarians around whom the stories  revolve, this latest permutation stands on its own with its smart blend of proven old pleasures plus a  full awareness of the times during which we are watching it now. 

That present is actually deepened and enriched now as the reboot smartly allows a darker mood to  nudge its way into Christmas dinner during the Season 3 finale. In short, this is exactly the right way to make a new version of an established hit fresh and successful again.

The gorgeous cinematography, script and performances won the first two seasons of seven episodes  each enough enthusiastic new fans to seed two more seasons. By the time, Season 3 ended, I too was  hooked. I can't wait to see what happens at Skedale House when Season 4 arrives next year, especially  after Season 3 nudged this update towards the more problematic aspects of the veterinarian household, the farmers' reliance on their animals' well being and the actuality of the Second World War bringing its painful memories and uncertain futures. The chief reason you don't need to be familiar with the original series is that in order to let some more painful events to darken the constantly feel-good subplots, the  characters needed to be reinterpreted. That is especially true of the women, who are very important here and add strong emotional resonance.

And so, we do know some of what to expect next year: Ben Vanstone, head writer and executive producer, is again in charge and the same outstanding cast will be back on board. That's the fictionalized James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph), Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), Siegfried's brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse), Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley), Helen Alderson (Rachel Shenton) and Mrs. Pumphrey (Patricia Hodge). Hodge replaced Diana Riggs, who died, and thus added another touch of sadness to blend with all fun and positivity. Tristan took off for active duty at the end of Season 3 and while we know he survived, we don't know how the war might have changed him.

If watching the series has made you curious to know more about its history, you can spend some time  with Herriot on the page as the books have never gone out of print. The digital edition I borrowed has a biography of the author that alone is worth a look. The 1978-1990 TV series is available on BritBox.

On Broadway, Golden Oldies Productions Often Feature Far Less Likeable Characters

Naturally, there are plenty of grittier stories to watch on screen courtesy of Netflix, HBO and other  streaming platforms.  And Broadway is doing its utmost to lure audiences back to theaters.  

Unsurprisingly, the re-openings on Broadway include some golden oldie revivals. The most common  lure back to live theater means a musical. Yet, when it comes to golden oldies here, the lead characters   are often not nearly as likeable as the Masterpiece reboot. Unlike the veterinarians in All Creatures   who always do the right thing, some of the most popular shows count on ear-pleasing tunes and ticket-selling stars to fill the seats, even if their characters are hardly kind and caring.  

Thus, the murderous Sweeney Todd is back. The ultra immersive Here Lies Love, about Imelda Marcos, the wife of the corrupt Philippines president, has finally made it to Broadway (ironically, a real Marcos  is actually back in power). The dishonest Professor Hill of The Music Man does reform, but it's Hugh Jackman, not his character's do-the-right-thing DNA, that will secure the show's ranking with golden-  era classics. For me, the one musical that also has consistent depth and fresh relevance whenever you  see it  -- not to mention its musical riches -- is Fiddler on the Roof. In fact, another way to pass the time meaningfully and enjoyably is to watch the wonderful documentary about that show, which is still  available to Thirteen's Passport members: Fiddled on the Roof--Miracle of Miracles.

Before I leave, a word about the first names of the Farnon brothers in the All Creatures Great and  Small that I highlighted in my blog post: Yes, their father was a Wagner opera enthusiast!

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PBS  makesk reboot  of TV Golden Oldie, All Creatures Great and Small ,  Into  a  Feel Good  Screening  Hit. . .On Broadway,  Golden  Oldiies Feature  Far  Less  likeable  Characters

--  By  Elyse  Sommer

 

  As  we ontinue  to  be  barraged  by  deeply  disturbing  news   close  to  home  as  well  as  far  away, many  of  us,  yours  truly  included,  have   often turned  it  all  off for  a  few  hours  of  escape  from  reality  with  enjoyable,  feel-good entertainment.  Thanks  to  a  terrific  reboot,  the  PBS   All Creatures  Great  and  Small  pleases   on  many counts:  It's  a  visual  treat,  rich  with  characters   who  always  do  the  right  thing   in  an  interesting  way.  And  yet,  for  all  its  nostalgic  pleasures  and  frequent  humor,  this   reboot   manage to   bring  the  reality  of   hard  times  and  an  approaching  war  into  the  world  of   the  Fannon  Brothers and  James  Herriot.

That  said,  Broadway  theater  producers  are  set  to get  back  to  normal   And  normal  has  decidedlyalways  meant not  just  new  shows  but  golden  era  hits  that  in  the  case  of  musicals  .rely  on  less  than  honorable  characters  to  rely  on  great  songs   to  fill  the  th  seats.. For  the  upcoming  such  revivals  include   the  murderous Sweeney  Todd ,  the  duplicitous  Music  Man  and  the  politically  corrupt  Ferdinand  Marcos's  wife  Imelda  in  the  hyper-immersive . Here  Lies  Love..

.https://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com/

PBS  makesk reboot  of TV Golden Oldie, All Creatures Great and Small ,  Into  a  Feel Good  Screening  Hit. . .On Broadway,  Golden  Oldiies Feature  Far  Less  likeable  Characters

--  By  Elyse  Sommer

 

  As  we ontinue  to  be  barraged  by  deeply  disturbing  news   close  to  home  as  well  as  far  away, many  of  us,  yours  truly  included,  have   often turned  it  all  off for  a  few  hours  of  escape  from  reality  with  enjoyable,  feel-good entertainment.  Thanks  to  a  terrific  reboot,  the  PBS   All Creatures  Great  and  Small  pleases   on  many counts:  It's  a  visual  treat,  rich  with  characters   who  always  do  the  right  thing   in  an  interesting  way.  And  yet,  for  all  its  nostalgic  pleasures  and  frequent  humor,  this   reboot   manage to   bring  the  reality  of   hard  times  and  an  approaching  war  into  the  world  of   the  Fannon  Brothers and  James  Herriot.
 

 

 

 

 

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That  said,  Broadway  theater  producers  are  set  to get  back  to  normal   And  normal  has  decidedlyalways  meant not  just  new  shows  but  golden  era  hits  that  in  the  case  of  musicals  .rely  on  less  than  honorable  characters  to  rely  on  great  songs   to  fill  the  th  seats.. For  the  upcoming  such  revivals  include   the  murderous Sweeney  Todd ,  the  duplicitous  Music  Man  and  the  politically  corrupt  Ferdinand  Marcos's  wife  Imelda  in  the  hyper-immersive . Here  Lies  Love..