Friday, May 2, 2003

Do'h-Boys

One of my favorite character actors was the late, great Jimmy Finlayson — the only man to ever steal scenes from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Among Fin's many comic talents was an amazing capacity for double-takes that sometimes graduated to triple-takes and even quadruple-takes. He was a great "reacter," which made him the perfect foil for Stan and Ollie. Often, when one or both did something stupid or outrageous, he would give out with a loud, painful "D'oh!" His cry lives on in the vocabulary of one Homer Simpson as this article relates. [Warning: Beware of annoying pop-up ad. It's enough to make you go "D'oh!"]

• Posted at 11:43 AM · LINK

Some Things Are Coming Up Roses

I've just been reading the reviews of the new version of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. It's one of those times when you really get to wondering if all those folks who saw the same show were watching the same show. Ken Mandelbaum says of Ms. Peters, "Because she's not a natural powerhouse, she must push extremely hard in the dialogue and the glorious Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim songs, and she sometimes runs out of steam from all the effort." On the other hand, Andrew Gans says, "...this Rose shines, seduces, scares and shatters." On the other hand, Howard Kissel headlines his review, "No Gypsy in Her Soul" and says, "Peters still is too much a kewpie doll to be plausible as the stage mother who, in her sick drive for success, makes her daughter a stripper." On the other hand, Ben Brantley (He's The New York Times) says, "Bernadette Peters delivered the surprise coup of many a Broadway season in the revival of Gypsy that opened last night at the Shubert Theater." On the other hand, Charles Isherwood (he's with Variety; link not available) says, "The controversial casting of the downy-soft Bernadette Peters as the flinty Mama Rose proves to be, as many had feared, a miscalculation that all this talented performer's hard work simply cannot overcome." On the other hand, Michael Kuchwara says, "There's a steely quality here that Peters gets with icy accuracy, a single-mindedness that really defines who Rose is."

And so on and so on. Some thought she and the show were terrific. Some didn't see Mama Rose on the stage. The wide range of views is, of course, the norm. Opinions, after all, are just opinions. But these struck me as more conflicted than usual. Eventually, of course, I hope to see for myself.

• Posted at 10:15 AM · LINK

Facing Front

Stan Lee is among the guests tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live. By the way, Mr. Kimmel's ratings have improved a bit lately. I'm no longer hearing rumors that the network is discussing what they might put in his place.

• Posted at 9:45 AM · LINK

Winning the Wrong War

Good article by William Saletan about how George W. is attempting to pass victory in Iraq off as victory over the folks who flew the planes into the buildings.

• Posted at 9:09 AM · LINK