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Thursday, December 1, 2005
A pair of “Nutcrackers”
There’s been no “Nutcracker” the last couple of years in the Grand Valley. People always watch for that around the holidays, but didn’t get it.
This year, we have two.
As mentioned before, the Academy of Dance and Monument Dance Theatre are doing “The Nutcrackerâ€? at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Fruita Middle School. That’s all the detail I have now.
Today, I found out that Broadway Elementary students, divided into three casts, are also doing “The Nutcracker”. Performances will be Dec. 9, 10 and 12-15 at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria. Tickets are $5 and are available from the school secretary, 254-6430.
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“Rent” review by Sarah Protzman
Posting this for Sarah:
By SARAH PROTZMAN Daily Sentinel copy editor
Not since “Moulin Rouge� has a movie left the audience so ready to hop in the shower and belt out lines into the proverbial shampoo bottle.
Written by Jonathan Larson and loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Bohéme,� director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) does a rousing job of bringing the popular stage version of “Rent� to life, with everything from fire — as tenants burn their eviction notices from apartment windows in the opening scene — to flirtation — as gay lovers Tom Collins and Angel dance down a New York avenue in “I’ll Cover You.�
“Those who haven’t seen Rent on the stage will sense they’re missing something, and they are,� Roger Ebert says in his review of the film. But, I would add, If you’re already a fan of the musical, there’s almost no chance you won’t like this effort.
The movie is cast mainly of its former Broadway performers, with the exception of Mimi, played by Rosario Dawson (Shattered Glass) and Joanne, played by Traci Thoms, who will appear in the forthcoming movie adaption of “The Devil Wears Prada.� Both of the women shine — Dawson in Mimi’s feisty pop tune “Out Tonight,� and Thoms in the lesbian fight song “Take Me Or Leave Me.�
If the voice of Mark (Anthony Rapp) sounds familiar, it’s because he sang on the Broadway soundtrack, too.
Some of the dialogue, lifted almost verbatim from the Broadway version, feels awkward and forced at first. But I soon lost myself in the wonderful performance of Broadway actor Jesse Martin as Collins, and tapping my fingers and feet to the rowdy Life Cafe rendition of “La Vie Bohéme.�
A few tracks are struck from the film so as to move the plot along, and those include … ah, nevermind. The film is so eye-catching and fast-paced that you won’t have time to notice. I had to consult the liner notes of the original Broadway soundtrack to remind myself of what was missing.
Contrary to popular belief, Larson, whose life in bohemian New York mirrored that of his “Rent” characters, was neither gay nor did he die of AIDS. Larson died the night before the first preview of “Rent,â€? on Jan. 25, 1996, of an undiagnosed aortic aneurism.
“Rent� is rated PG-13 for drug themes, sexuality and some strong language.
