If You're Not Enjoying the Show, You're Wrong

So said Steve Martin when he joined collaborators the Steep Canyon Rangers for a show at the Civic Center Saturday night. Martin has found himself a pretty good gig. It is clear that he still loves to make a crowd erupt with laughter and he obviously loves playing the banjo, so now he gets to hop on stage and play some music and tell some jokes without the pressure of making the audience laugh for an entire set.

The draw for the sold out show was Martin, which he himself recognizes as an odd proposition; he likened it to seeing an ad for Jerry Seinfeld performing original music for the bassoon and deciding you can’t miss it. But the Rangers deserve just as much credit for the success of the show as Martin.

The band includes Mike Guggino on mandolin, Charles Humphrey on bass, Woody Platt on guitar, Graham Sharp on banjo, and Nicky Sanders on fiddle. These are clearly life-long musicians who somehow manage to make playing a million miles an hour look easy. Compliments to the Rangers takes nothing away from Martin, who is a fabulous picker in his own right.

The set included several pieces from their joint albums such as “Daddy Played the Banjo,” “Me and Paul Revere” and “Go Away. Stop. Turnaround. Come Back.” The good-bye and good riddance anthem “Jubilation Day” was met with uproarious laughter and cheers. But the show was not all fast and furious. “Best Love” and “The Great Remember” the latter of which Martin performed solo, proved that bluegrass can be moving and reserved.

Martin spent a couple of numbers off-stage wherein the Rangers showcased their crisp, clear voices on the a capella “I Can’t Sit Down.” Following that hymn was the hilarious “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs.” Even if you don’t count yourself among them you will still enjoy it. As the clip reveals, Martin is not the natural singer that the Rangers are, but on other numbers he proves he can carry a tune.

The encore was the marathon “Auden’s Train” which Martin wrote using W.H. Auden poetry. The piece features fiddler Sanders tearing up the floor and displaying an adeptness that must be nearly unmatched in the bluegrass world.

The Rangers and Martin put on a very good show. The shtick  - Martin as the buffoon that the Rangers put up with – works and the music is fantastic. Let’s hope that they continue to collaborate and present great bluegrass music for years to come.

Shoulda Started Wedman

What movies do you know by heart? I don’t mean the ones you remember really well or from which you are able to recall some of the catchy lines. I mean the movies where you can repeat all the dialogue without turning on the subtitles.

For me, the movies I know by heart go back to my youth when I had all the time in the world to watch my favorite movies over and over again. I caught one of my by heart movies on TV today (thank you GMC – uplifting entertainment, read between the lines on that one!) and was immediately able to recite the lines despite not having seen the movie in years.

My by heart movies are Little Big League, The Parent Trap, and The American President. I loved them all the first time I saw them and I have not outgrown them. Little Big League is the kind of movie that does not get made very often. It is a family movie that is not animated and though the hero does not win in the end it is incredibly uplifting. Little Big League has lines that I can throw out to my brother to this day and he will know exactly to what I am referring. The homework scene is priceless, as is the running riddle: A cowboy rides into town on Friday, stays two days and leaves on Friday. How does he do it?

The Parent Trap – the reboot – is so much fun that I would have loved it even if I hadn’t been brought up on the Haley Mills original. Reboots are often attempts by the movie studio to reuse popular titles and avoid the risk that comes with original storytelling. In this case, the reboot was just as good if not better than the original.

The American President is a pretty typical romantic comedy: unlikely pair, barriers to staying together, and ultimately breaking down those barriers. What separates the The American President from run of the mill rom-coms is the excellent dialogue from Aaron Sorkin and the rich backdrop of White House politics. Each time I watch it I pride myself on remembering President Shepard’s climactic speech.

There is also a whole roster of movies that are close to by heart movies including The Sandlot, A League of Their Own, and Rookie of the Year. Yes, I love baseball movies. 

This is the point at which if anybody read this blog other than me that I would say please use the comments to tell me what movies you know by heart but since it's just me reading this I'll just tell myself what I already know.

On the off chance that anybody else reads this, the answer is: the horse's name is Friday.

"Caught" In The Act with Parsons Dance

The athleticism on display at Thursday's performance by Parsons Dance was a sight that could only be believed after seeing it live. Parsons Dance is a contemporary dance company run by choreographer/director David Parsons. The performance featured six pieces with a range of two to eight dancers and a variety of lighting and music to enhance the movement. Regrettably, the evening was only two-thirds successful.

"Envelope"

The performance got off to a slow start with the clunky "Round My World." Punctuated by plodding, digitized music from cellist and composer Zoe Keating, the only bright spot in "Round" was the lighting. Howell Binkley's ethereal lighting design created planes of light such that it began to appear that the dancers in the background were dancing behind a translucent screen. At the end of the piece, the dancers were lit from the front of the stage creating shadows on the backdrop and thereby increasing the dancing figures on stage from six to twelve. Alas, the lighting alone was not enough to start the evening off on an intriguing note.

The two-dancer jazz piece "Step into My Dreams" passed quickly, only to give way to "Kind of Blue," which proved to be the second piece of the evening that seemed to be never-ending. 

The pieces following intermission were the evening's highlights. The second act kicked off with Parsons' 1984 piece "Envelope." The lighthearted portrayal of losing identity within an organizational structure with the passing amongst the dancers of an almighty envelope was welcomed by the audience, at times with uproarious laughter. Commenting on the loss of identity with an exercise that requires conformity is Parsons at his best.

"Caught" is arguably Parsons' most well known piece and rightfully so. The performance features a single male dancer performing more than 100 leaps timed precisely with strobe lighting to create the illusion of flight. And if there was any doubt that dancing is an extremely difficult art, watching the dancer's stomach and chest heave in and out during the pauses between the leaps will prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

If only "Caught" had finished the evening. Another never-ending piece, "Nascimento," wrapped up the evening and was the fourth piece that failed to engage. "Nascimento" was long, featured bizarre musical passages, and needed to be edited for length even more than some of its' predecessors. 

Nothing can diminish the talent of the dancers. All were fluid and rarely was there any noticeable lapse in synchronization. Unfortunately, the talent got lost in the midst of long and underwhelming selections. The dancers held the evening together and their skill will continue to draw crowds that will overlook the disappointment of some of the pieces to focus on the display of raw talent.

A Most Amazing Gift

Talk about anticipation. The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines announced the 2012-2013 season a couple weeks ago and it will put a major dent in my pocketbook. Not only are we getting the current Tony winner for Best Musical, The Book of Mormon, but we are also getting the current Tony winner for Best Play, War Horse.

I have been listening to Mormon since the show exploded last year and it is back in my rotation, and better than ever, knowing that I will get to see the show live. War Horse, known for the magical life size puppets from the Handspring Puppet Company, will no doubt be better than the movie which came out late last year.

One of the returning shows is Les Miserables, which somehow I have not seen. The last time it was in town I was fourteen and it really was not on my radar. Since then I have become attached to it because I watched the 25th anniversary concert and a friend of mine gave me the music. I'll admit that I don't understand all of the  pieces of the plot and am hopeful that seeing the full show will fill in the gaps.

Million Dollar Quartet will also make a stop. And while I am not anticipating it quite as much as the others, the music of Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis will no doubt be a draw. The Civic Center's announcement event included a performance from the Chicago company and they brought the house down with familiar numbers such as "Hound Dog" and "Great Balls of Fire."


The other returning show in the Broadway Series is also the one that I will skip. That show is Jekyll & Hyde. Constantine Maroulis was a hit when he stopped here last year with Rock of Ages and that may help the show's chances. For me, Maroulis is not a draw, the story is not a draw, and I do not think I will regret my decision to put the funds towards one of the add-on options.


The add-on shows include Beauty and the Beast, Rock of Ages, and Jersey Boys. All wonderful options, but I am most excited to see Jersey Boys again. So much so that when they announced it my heart fluttered with delight. Jersey Boys has a solid story and music that gets toes tapping; if you have not seen it, you will not be disappointed.

All in all, no complaints. Next season will be amazing and will only further the case that Des Moines is a major player in the theater world. Just one of the many perks to living in Des Moines; that is, if the corn fields, ceaseless wind, and bitter cold just aren't doing it for you.

Get Up, Stand Up

Stand up comedy is a different animal. Comedy is not like a play or a musical where it will be essentially the same at each performance. And unlike a concert wherein you are familiar with the songs, with a comedian you never know what you will get at any given performance. Of course, you can know the types of routines they typically perform - they don't call it a routine for nothing - but because the audience is different every night, even a rehearsed comedian changes each night.

When Paula Poundstone performed at Hoyt Sherman Place on Friday night, she displayed how an adept comedian reacts to the audience and tailors the act to the type of humor the audience reacts to the most.

Poundstone incorporated stories about her children, pets, and habits with the dry wit that has characterized her comedy. Poundstone may not be an edgy comedian, she does not tell politically incorrect anecdotes, rather she is hilarious when expounding on regular activities. This quality makes it easier for the audience to relate to her.

The part of the act that was the most fun was when she latched onto several audience members and poked fun at their careers. In most cases, the people were game, and even when they seemed a little timid Poundstone was able to pull it out of them to the enjoyment of the rest of the audience. Then towards the end of the show, when she herself admitted she was in a strange mood, she laid down on the stage, propped her feet up on the stool and used her feet to act out the situations she had pulled out of those audience members. I am sure that sounds bizarre, but you had to be there.

Some of her prepared bits went on a couple minutes too long; the CNN and the cat stories could have been cut down, but that was a minor detail in an otherwise hilarious evening.

Poundstone was very gracious with her fans as well, staying after to sign merchandise, take pictures and listen to stories. She should consider herself welcome in Des Moines anytime.

As if the Presidential Campaign season wasn't bad enough...Enter Sarah Palin

Around these parts we have to wait for the free HBO weekend to catch Game Change, so my apologies for the fact that this is not exactly timely. Game Change, though it gathered mostly positive reviews, is not without flaws.

First the positives. Most notably, Julianne Moore is fantastic as Vice Presidential hopeful/media whore Sarah Palin. Much has been publicized about how Moore learned Palin's speech patterns and Alaskan drawl, but it is what Moore does when she is not speaking that is more profound. She manages to make Palin more than just the SNL caricature that we all know and love.

Woody Harrelson is a joy to watch as campaign adviser Steve Schmidt. It is Schmidt who suggests Palin as the game changing running mate to counter the immense popularity of Barack Obama. Harrelson masterfully displays Schmidt's realization of the error in his suggestion and his stubborn determination to make her work.

And yet Game Change lacks a clear vision of how to portray Palin. Throughout the course of the film, Palin transitions from a sympathetic character who is a small fish in a big pond to a woman under such pressure that she is on the verge of a breakdown to a ruthless individual out for her own celebrity. The one consistent message about Palin that runs through the film is that she lacks very basic knowledge of the world around her. The difficulty that the filmmakers faced was, of course, that we will never know the real Sarah Palin and crafting a consistent portrayal of her was a clearly a challenge.

Game Change is worth a watch on a free HBO weekend, and even if you pay for HBO, I would still recommend it. On a side note, the free HBO weekend has also allowed me to confirm that Sex and the City 2 is actually worse than the critics had let on.

Not as Bright as I had hoped...

Bright's Passage, songwriter Josh Ritter's first novel, is a book that I wanted to love. As always, with high expectations comes a greater chance of disappointment. So with a heavy heart I report that I did not fall in love with Bright's Passage. That said, the book is well written, but unfortunately does not overcome a cumbersome storyline.

The novel follows the story of Henry Bright, a young WWI veteran, and his travails following the death of his wife during childbirth. The misdirection in the plot comes to the fore when we learn that Henry is communicating with an angel who has manifested itself as a horse. What are we to make of the communication between the two? Is Henry simply hallucinating? Is he experiencing true divine intervention?

The ambiguity surrounding that question is the real stumbling block of the novel. The horse/angel device proved to be distracting at best and left me disconnected from the main character. It must be noted, I had great difficulty not picturing Josh Ritter himself as Henry Bright, but that is my issue not that of the author.

Plot aside, the book is beautifully written with long, descriptive passages that harken back to many of Ritter's best songs. Indeed, much of Ritter's music is closely aligned with a storytelling sensibility. Take a listen to "Temptation of Adam" or "The Curse" to get an idea.

The saga of Henry Bright would work perfectly as a song, but the story, when fleshed out to the length of a novel, loses the punch that makes Ritter's music uniquely satisfying.