You-review-it Monday: First weekend of 2011

January 3, 2011
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While I spent New Year's Eve at home (with an evening that included the Marx Brothers' "Monkey Business" on TCM), I did get out before and after.

Specifically, I caught "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre and Christopher Durang's "Why Torture is Wrong...and the People Who Love Them" at Theatre on the Square.

Thoughts on both in next week's Lou's Views column (you can find past columns at www.ibj.com/arts.)

I also filled some drive time with L.A. Theatre Works' plays-on-tape recordings of Jeffrey Sweet's "Flyovers " and Cassandra Medley's "Relativity." The former is a fairly familiar story--with a couple of twists--about a film critic returning to his small town for an uncomfortable reunion. The latter concerns a researcher in conflict with her mother, an  advocate for melanin science.

How about you? Did you make it out for the big night? Take holiday time to read a good (or not-so-good) book? Watch "True Grit" or "The Fighter" at the multiplex?

Your thoughts?

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  • HNY
    Hope BaughJanuary 3, 2011 11:52 AM
    On New Year's Eve day I made a list of my top three live theatre shows from 2010 plus three honorable mentions, and posted the list to my blog. That was a first for me. An odd but enjoyable experience.

    I am looking forward to all kinds of enjoyable theatre treats in 2011.

    I also saw and enjoyed "Spelling Bee" at Beef and Boards just before the year ended and wrote about it on my blog.

    (My New Year's weekend included a lot of writing!)

    I am sorry that I am not going to be able to see "Norway" at the Phoenix Theatre when it opens next weekend, nor Dance Kaleidoscope's "Elvis" show, so I'm hoping you will see and write about both, Lou. Do you take requests?

    Happy New Year to you, Lou, and to everyone that reads and contributes to this blog. I intend to keep checking it every day in 2011!

    Hope Baugh
    Indy Theatre Habit
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  • "The King's Speech"
    SusanJanuary 3, 2011 4:02 PM
    Oscar winning performances by Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. See this movie.
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  • H-U-M-O-R-O-U-S
    BarbaraJanuary 4, 2011 8:19 AM
    I caught the Bee at B&B too last week. I heard some of the music before on XM Broadway and wasn't real impressed. A friend saw it in New York and enjoyed it, but I still had low expectations going into it. Mom was pretty neutral about this one as well.

    We were definitely surprised at how funny and equally heart-warming the show was. DaRon Lamar Williams has an incredible voice and really stood out in The Prayer of the Comfort Counselor. Hope to hear more from Williams in the future.

    I still think the music is less than memorable - not iPod worthy at all - but it fits the story well and is enjoyable within the show's context. Definitely a good start to the 2011 B&B season. Now I can't wait to see Hairspray.
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  • Black Swan
    JaclynJanuary 4, 2011 6:18 PM
    I saw Black Swan starring Natalie Portman. As a movie it was well acted and directed, however, the story itself - while great - stayed with me long after the movie was over. While that is usually a good thing, in the case of this story (and I won't give any of the plot away here) I'm not sure it was a good thing.

    I would recommend the movie to anyone wanting a good move to see - but would caution anyone watching it to expect a dark film.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment

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