http://www.artshouston.com/rss/ With more than 500 arts organizations, 300 galleries, and 12,000 visual and performing artists in the region, Houston continues to evolve nationally and internationally as a culturally rich city that provides residents and visitors with a diverse repertoire of visual and performing art. It is home to nine major performing arts organizations and is one of only five cities in the United States to have organizations dedicated to every performing arts discipline. Between its 5 major performing arts halls and Bayou Entertainment Complex, Houston is ranked second to only New York City in having the most theatre seats concentrated in a downtown area. http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=669 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=669 Playwright Ken Ludwig apparently never met an old joke he didn’t like, having made a career out of freshening up bits introduced to our culture by vaudeville in general and the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball in particular. To sit through Ludwig’s new spin on one of George Gershwin’s greatest symphonic works and the breezy movie classic it inspired, we guess he never met an old song, an old dance or an old movie he didn’t like either. An American in Paris represents a kind of return for Ludwig, who created what arguably was his funniest and most successful work from the ghosts of George and Ira Gershwin. Crazy for You essentially did what the Alley’s world premiere of An American in Paris hopes to do again: dish up a clever, usually farcical tale that allows the cast to recycle as many forgotten Gershwin songs as anybody can tolerate. Some of these songs, it turns out, are so wonderful that no one will complain; sadly for An American in Paris, others are so formulaic and lame that Ira Gershwin’s stretch-beyond-the-limits rhymes end up sounding no better than stupid. You picture the two brothers drawing up lists of impossible words – you know, like Dalmatian or xylophone – and then letting Ira twist some even more impossible rhymes around them. As seen last night at the Alley (which scheduled an unusually lengthy series of previews before inviting the media), An American in Paris runs on a simple but clever track. Thankfully, Ludwig backed away from an initial notion of lifting the whole movie onto the stage, standard-issue stuff these days, when most musicals are based on bestselling books or hit movies or some other pre-digested marketing juggernaut. No, to his credit, Ludwig wanted something better, a new story about the making of the famous film starring Gene Kelly and French discovery Leslie Caron. He spins a tale about the French entertainer who is part of the movie’s back story, one Michel Gerard, weaving in an often-touching love story between the tired, angry and drunk Gerard and a woman sent to get him onto the movie set by American movie producer Louis Goldman. Goldman shares with several other characters in Ludwig’s play a tongue-in-cheek spin on names of the real people involved. Louis B. Mayer mixed with Sam Goldwyn, two-thirds of MGM, get it, wink wink? As a vehicle for comedy, song and dance, Ludwig’s show breaks in half around intermission, and not in a good way. The first act is Crazy for You-caliber, plot-driven comedy bits coming fast and furious, slipping comfortably into songs and what some might say are too many tap numbers. Unfortunately, Act II takes its own sweet time being funny or pushing the plot along, letting some of those lesser Gershwin songs seem as empty-headed as they are. Especially painful are the back-to-back numbers by three timid men singing about their wish to be bad boys and then three women complaining about what men have done to them. Neither song adds anything to the storyline. Both should be expelled before the next production, since this is definitely a good enough show to go and grow from here. The world premiere cast is exemplary, led by the wonderful Broadway veteran Harry Groener, whom we remember from a revival of Oklahoma! something like a lifetime ago. As Gerard, even though his French accent comes and goes, Groener is likable and believable, a good thing since so much of what passes for plot here revolves around him. To his credit, Ludwig moves Gerard past being a drunk early on – another time, another place, the same playwright would surely have found numberless old routines to swipe. Maybe he’s come to understand that somebody just falling down drunk isn’t funny anymore. Since the Alley’s resident company is not devoted to or particularly adept at singing and dancing, virtually the entire cast of An American in Paris is “imported.” All are excellent, particularly in the reverential ballet lifted from the movie to the tune of Gershwin’s symphonic stroke of genius. The musical’s standouts include Kerry O’Malley as Gerard’s uptight American love interest Miss Klemm; Jeffrey Denman as another Goldman assistant, a lanky, bespectacled, tappin’-fool Donald O’Connor-clone known as Preston; Felicia Finley as Brooklyn-accented blonde bombshell Hermia and, perhaps best of all, Texas-born Meredith Patterson as Gerard’s ever-dancing niece Yvette, who has watched so many American movies she channels the voices of famous stars in famous scenes from Judy Garland to John Wayne. This is hilarious stuff, absolutely - worthy of Ludwig’s peculiar and prodigious talent for taking what’s old and making it seem new again. – John DeMers An American in Paris runs through June 1 at the Alley Theatre http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=668 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=668 The Texas Rep's production of You Can't Take It With You puts the “nut” in chestnut. Kaufmann and Hart's classic Pulitzer-Prize winning play, still a mainstay of high school theater programs and summer stock, has held on to its old warhorse status well considering the play's 80 year-old history. The story involves a family of charming eccentrics headed up by the kingpin nut Grandpa Sycamore. The wackadoodles come out of their closet when granddaughter Alice needs them to clean up and fly normal for her dreamy straitlaced boyfriend and his upper crust Wall Street loving family. The Rep got off to a sluggish start but thankfully sailed into their stride by the second act, when the trouble reaches a fever pitch. Once the pace perks up, director Craig Miller let's the mayhem run hog wild. The cast handles the zaniness—fireworks and all—with ample gusto. The production's strength lies in its solid ensemble chemistry. Jim Salners is suitably crusty as Grandma, the guy that just won't pay income tax and cannot miss a commencement ceremony. Other standouts include Kay Allmand and Justin O'Brien as the lovebirds Alice and Tony. Steven Fenley is a hoot as Kolenkohf, the paranoid Russian ballet teacher. Meghan Hakes' set design is simply stunning. Sitcoms were largely modeled after this screwball antics in this play. Although the sitcom is presently on its deathbed, Kaufmann and Hart's work lives on. The play's message—relax, do what you love, and let life come to you—feels as fresh as ever. The thought of living in Brooklyn on $3,000 a year, well that's fun too. The Texas Rep presents You Can't Take It With You through until May 25th. Call 281-583-7573. http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=667 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=667 Apparently this is the first movie made completely from recycled stock and public domain footage. Almost NSFW. 100 years in the future... Due to overpopulation and the effects of global warming, sex has been made illegal on the planet Earth. A crew of astronauts on a routine mission decide to take a detour to a far away system they've only heard about in rumors, a place inhabited by mythical female creatures who exist only to satisfy the desires of those who visit their planet. But all is not as it seems as danger awaits any man who dare enter "Sex Galaxy!" http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=665 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=665 "Works by Indian artists Subodh Gupta, Anish Kapoor, T V Santosh, Chintan Upadhyay, Riyas Komu, Raqib Shaw and Bose Krishnamachari attracted high prices at Sotheby's spring series of contemporary art auctions here (NYC), exceeding expectations with the total sale amounting to $1,748,500. The highlight of the May 14-15 auctions was a work by Gupta, one of the most important contemporary artists to emerge from India in a generation. His "Saat Samunder Paar VII" fetched $825,000, a record for the artist at auction. " Link Above is Gupta's Very Hungry God http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=666 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=666 Sotheby's hocked (heh) Triptych, a 1976 Francis Bacon for $86.3 million yesterday. The whole sale pulled in $320.6 mil with works from Warhol, Hirst and Koons among others. Link http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=664 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=664 Anyone interested in contemporary Korean art, check out Artontv (thats art-on-tv). The site will carry major art exhibition schedules, events, news, interviews with artists and other information related to the Korean art scene, through User Created Content. There is a mix of Korean and English so those of you who cant say this: 엔돌핀형흥, should be able to get around alright. http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=663 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=663 Opening June 28, Public Gallery will house both permanent and visiting collections of exclusively interactive and participatory art in a space near Birmingham, England designed by avant garde architect, Will Alsop. Anyone caught idly standing around in the galleries will be escorted out of the building. Link http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=662 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=662 In our touchy, post 9-11, photo-fearing world, Nick Adams was acquitted of interfering with police yesterday. Adams, a photographer for the Galveston County Daily News, was photographing an arrest at Mardi Gras Galveston when: "League City Police Officer Clifford Woitena, who was assisting Galveston police, pushed the camera into Adams's face while ordering him not to take photographs. Adams said he stepped back from the officer and that Woitena stepped toward him to keep the same distance. Adams identified himself as photographer and protested after Woitena prevented him from taking photos a second time, he said. Woitena then shouted that Adams was assaulting an officer and hurled the photographer to the ground, jamming his knee forcefully into Adams' face. Woitena testified that he did not see Adams' two, bulky cameras, that Adams failed to identify himself and that he tried to force his way through the police line." Evidence was presented that showed several images were intentionally deleted by police. Chron article here. http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=660 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=660 Murakami's My Lonesome Cowboy sculpture was expected to go for about $4 million at Sotheby's this week, but apparently it was much more popular than anyone could have anticipated. My Lonesome Cowboy was purchased for $15.1 million, in a winning bid called in by telephone. Click the image to view the totally NSFW sculpture. via NYT http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=659 http://www.artshouston.com/blog/?p=659 Dance is busting loose this weekend. Tonight Karen Stokes presents her ode to the great outdoors Green, a Discovery Green, the perfect locale. Read my Houston Chronicle piece here. It was especially meaningful to be able to write this piece because I was stranded in New York City with a bad case of the Jet Blues when the piece premiered. Randall Flinn has a new batch of work this Saturday and Sunday as well. Randy and I have been talking God and dance for some time now and I have learned a lot, a bit of which is my piece in today's Houston Chronicle here. http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=676 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=676 When Brown sat down with the staff of the August Wilson Center for African-American Culture to entertain the idea of a commission, the subject of Harris surfaced as a place to start. Brown recognized [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=677 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=677 Painter John Alexander grew up in Beaumont as “a bit of an oddball,” he says, playing in the trees and along the bayous while also obsessed with drawing and painting. After earning his MFA from SMU i [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=678 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=678 They toil away in dusty workshops. They dig through attics and flea markets and dollar stores. They spend their days knee-deep in papier mache and paint. They are eternal treasure hunters. They are [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=679 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=679 “Mommy, mommy! I love coming to play in New York!” said Monica Pope’s daughter of the newly opened Discovery Green park, according to Programming Director Susanne Theis. This reaction, she says, demo [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=680 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=680 Now in its 21st year as a presenter of new music in Houston, the Foundation for Modern Music has recently become fuel-injected under the artistic direction of pianist Adam Tendler. Revved up and spin [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=673 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=673 Dear Reader This month we continue our series focusing on sustainability on Houston with Tria Wood’s piece on Discovery Green Park, currently seeking LEED Gold certification. The park is a welcome [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=674 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=674 It would be inaccurate to call the guitar the Rodney Dangerfield of classical music instruments. That dubious honor must belong to the viola. As in, “What’s the difference between a viola and a tram [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=675 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=675 Welcome back, artful travelers! This column and the next few will delve into another specific genre of collecting, one that is most fascinating. We will examine works by women artists; in particular [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=681 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=681 Houston’s little-opera-that-could ended its 12th season much as it began its first, demonstrating the value of a smaller, leaner version of the grand musical form that offers young singers a chance to [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=682 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=682 The Suicide Kings held court at DiverseWorks as part of a developmental residency for their riveting new work, In Spite of Everything. Geoff Trenchard, Jamie DeWolf and Rupert Estanislao, the t [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=683 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=683 Now that the world premiere of Last Acts starring Frederica von Stade has enjoyed its final performance by Houston Grand Opera and moved on toward other productions as Three Decembers, i [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=684 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=684 The city’s most prominent troublemakers in theater have returned. The Catastrophic Theatre launched its inaugural play, Mickey Birnbaum’s Big Death and Little Death, in partnership with Univers [...] http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=685 http://www.artshouston.com/article.php?article_id=685 Harvey Littleton gave birth to the studio glass movement in 1962 in an attempt to take glass beyond its basic utilitarian aspects; but for decades, as an art medium, it has suffered like a redheaded s [...]