I've discussed here periodically a series called National Theatre Live. For those who are just entering this stadium, the series is made up of live productions from the National Theatre in London that are streamed into movie houses around the world. In some places, they're actually streamed live, but in most locations (here in Los Angeles, for instance, with the eight-hour time difference) they delayed for later showing. But they're all recorded live during a performance, and beautifully done.
I have loved every production I've seen, but they've all be superbly performed and worth going to. Last week, for example, I saw (for the second time, since my friend hadn't seen it, and it good enough to see again) the play The Audience," written by Peter Morgan -- who wrote the movie, The Queen -- and for which Helen Mirren recreated her Oscar-winner characterization of Queen Elizabeth from that film in a story about Her Majesty's weekly meetings with all the Prime Minsters during her reign (other than Tony Blair who has dealt with in full detail in the movie). Others have included Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch, King Lear with Ian McKellan, the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, a stage-adaptation of the classic movie All About Eve with Gillian Anderson and Lily James. Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonnie Lee Miller (of Elementary) who played each others' roles on alternate nights, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with Daniel Radcliffe, and many more.
But my favorite was a repeat (SO happily because I missed it when originally done) of One Man, Two Gunvors, a farce that stars James Corden in the role for which he won a Tony Award when the play was performed on Broadway. I wrote about here in more detail -- but the good news, and reason for bringing this up is that National Theatre Live is bringing it back yet again! So, if you've missed both screenings over the years and want to see it, I wanted to be sure to pass along a heads-up so that you have another chance.
The story follows a totally dim-witted fellow who finds himself with two jobs at the same time, working for gangster rivals of one another, and he has to keep it a secret. There's more to the story as well, and the show throws pretty much everything into the mix, but at heart it's a French farce.
You can go to this link here to see more about the show and find how when and in what theater it will be playing in your area. Just enter your Zip code in the proper box. There are usually one or two screenings in an area, but near me they are having four -- and the first three in late July were totally sold out when I first checked. Happily there were a few seats left for the final showing in mid-August.
Here are two videos of the show. Neither of them do the show proper justice, but together they gave a reasonable sense of things, although there's much more of a story than these suggest.
The first is one I've posted here before, a gem of a virtuoso scene with Corden trying to figure out how to handle his dilemma.
I have loved every production I've seen, but they've all be superbly performed and worth going to. Last week, for example, I saw (for the second time, since my friend hadn't seen it, and it good enough to see again) the play The Audience," written by Peter Morgan -- who wrote the movie, The Queen -- and for which Helen Mirren recreated her Oscar-winner characterization of Queen Elizabeth from that film in a story about Her Majesty's weekly meetings with all the Prime Minsters during her reign (other than Tony Blair who has dealt with in full detail in the movie). Others have included Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch, King Lear with Ian McKellan, the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, a stage-adaptation of the classic movie All About Eve with Gillian Anderson and Lily James. Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonnie Lee Miller (of Elementary) who played each others' roles on alternate nights, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with Daniel Radcliffe, and many more.
But my favorite was a repeat (SO happily because I missed it when originally done) of One Man, Two Gunvors, a farce that stars James Corden in the role for which he won a Tony Award when the play was performed on Broadway. I wrote about here in more detail -- but the good news, and reason for bringing this up is that National Theatre Live is bringing it back yet again! So, if you've missed both screenings over the years and want to see it, I wanted to be sure to pass along a heads-up so that you have another chance.
The story follows a totally dim-witted fellow who finds himself with two jobs at the same time, working for gangster rivals of one another, and he has to keep it a secret. There's more to the story as well, and the show throws pretty much everything into the mix, but at heart it's a French farce.
You can go to this link here to see more about the show and find how when and in what theater it will be playing in your area. Just enter your Zip code in the proper box. There are usually one or two screenings in an area, but near me they are having four -- and the first three in late July were totally sold out when I first checked. Happily there were a few seats left for the final showing in mid-August.
Here are two videos of the show. Neither of them do the show proper justice, but together they gave a reasonable sense of things, although there's much more of a story than these suggest.
The first is one I've posted here before, a gem of a virtuoso scene with Corden trying to figure out how to handle his dilemma.
And here then are four minutes of highlights, including a bit of the scene above.
RSS Feed