With music and lyrics by the Gershwin brothers, this classic of American musical theater was an afternoon of romance, some hijinks, and lots and lots of dancing! In 1930 in a dead-end town in Nevada, earnest Bobby Child tries to revive the theater he’s been sent to shut down. Captivated by Polly Baker, the town’s postmistress, and indulging in some theatrics of his own, he and the cast tap dance their way to a successful finale. Along the way are some all-time favorite songs such as “Someone to Watch over Me” and “Embraceable You.”
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
It isn’t profound drama, the plot is simple and predictable, but overall, it’s uplifting and a great respite from the politics of today. If you’re local, see it before it closes in early January!
SOME FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023
(courtesy Basmo)
I liked many of the books I read this year, so it’s hard to choose, but here are a few that have stayed with me. Happy reading to you!
NOVEL ABOUT A HOT BUTTON ISSUE
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer. F. Boylan
NOVEL BY A FAVORITE AUTHOR
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
NOVEL BY A NEW AUTHOR
Lessons in Chemistryby Bonnie Garmus
NOVEL THAT READS LIKE A MEMOIR
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls
MYSTERY
Exiles by Jane Harper
Runners up: Small Merciesby Dennis Lehane
And White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear
HISTORICAL NOVEL
Horse by Gwendoline Brooks
Runner up: Bookbinder by Pip Williams
NOVELLAS
Fosterby Claire Keegan
And Small Things Like These, also by Keegan
NONFICTION/MEMOIR
Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson
Runner up: Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel
To all my readers, best wishes for a most happy, healthy holiday season!
Note: Header photo of open book courtesy of Unsplash.
Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, this first novel portrays gritty daily life in Belfast and its environs. The tension between neighboring Catholics and Protestants is often escalated by seemingly random acts of violence. Cushla, a young elementary school teacher, lives with her alcoholic mother and helps occasionally at the bar owned by her older brother Eammon. The bar has its regulars, Catholics, but sometimes a Protestant wanders in.
One evening, barrister Michael Agnew, notices Cushla and strikes up a conversation which leads to involvement and then an affair. Michael is not only Protestant, but also married and considerably older. Theirs is a tender love story marked by absence, evasion, and affection.
Kennedy straightforwardly captures the small details in the setting. I found the first part a bit slow, but then the book gained momentum as one tragic event led to another. Kennedy grew up near Belfast and was a chef for almost 30 years before becoming a writer. Trespasses was the A Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year 2022 and also shortlisted for several other awards. It’s the first read from my summer list.
LIVE THEATER
Man of La Mancha(Asolo Repertory Theatre)
Don Quixote & Sancho (SarasotaHeraldTribune.com)
This run of Man of La Mancha has ended, but it was the all-time best production the Chief Penguin and I have enjoyed at the Asolo. This is not faint praise as the overall caliber of Asolo productions is always extremely high. The staging, the setting in a contemporary prison, the intricate choreography of fight scenes, the voices and sounds of actors and musicians, and the music itself combined for an engrossing performance. We were entranced! And hearing The Impossible Dream sung and then sung again two more times, we were uplifted. This play was a gift for our complex, polarized times.
We had almost front row seats for the Asolo Theatre’s action-packed performance of Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers. The early 17th century was the era of duels and only the slightest of slights could result in being called out. Thus, there’s plenty of slashing and smashing of swords, leaping, and jumping about, and even the occasional fisticuffs. This adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ work re-envisions and strengthens the role of women, especially Sabine. This Sabine, D’Artagnan’s sister, is herself an accomplished swordswoman and won’t surrender to just attending a convent school. She’s in there with the guys.
King Louis is ineffectual, his queen is clever, and arch enemy Cardinal Richelieu is conniving, while the musketeers, along with the exuberant D’Artagnan, are ever ready to defend and serve. It’s rollicking, fun, and even funny! Performances run through March 26.
In 1906, the work of Sigmund Freud was the subject of debate and controversy in the Viennese medical world. Young doctor Max Lieberman, a disciple of Freud, applies his theories and analyses to his patients and then to coming up with psychological profiles of murder suspects. Shadowing a very reluctant detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt, Max’s insights help solve a case, and the two become “partners in crime.” The murder scenes are graphic and even gruesome, and the crimes often revolve around religion, art, or the occult.
Over the course of three seasons, the relationship between Max and Oskar evolves from strictly professional to comrades to a genuine friendship. The title refers not only to the victims’ blood, but also to Viennese high society. Great attention is paid to, and great concern is evinced about one’s standing and one’s reputation in the community.
It took me a few episodes in Season 1 to become immersed in the series, but once I did, the Chief Penguin and I made it our focused viewing every evening. I also enjoyed seeing the evolution of Clara Weiss, Max’s former fiancée, from society belle to emerging career woman. Recommended!
Modern Chop is a welcome addition to the west Bradenton dining scene. Located close to Blake Hospital, it bills itself as a steakhouse, but it’s much more. Yes, several cuts of beef are on offer, but also seafood, pasta, and vegetarian dishes.
Short rib entree
The bar area was lively with lights and sound when we entered, initially giving me pause, but the hostess then led us to a slightly removed space with nicely spaced tables, large comfortable chairs, and quiet.
Our waiter was pleasant, and our foursome enjoyed everything we ordered. We shared an appetizer of fried calamari which was excellent, and then individually we sampled the impressive short rib with truffled potatoes and carrots, almond crusted rainbow trout with Béarnaise sauce, and bucatini with chicken in a gorgonzola sauce. It was an experience well worth repeating!
This weekend, for the first time in 30 years, three different religious holidays overlap. Jews celebrated the first day of Passover on April 15, that same day was Good Friday for Christians, and it’s in the middle of Ramadan for Muslims. Today is Easter Sunday! Whatever you celebrate or don’t, may you enjoy the annual renewal of spring!
Based on a 2017 novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, Pachinko is a history lesson in Korean Japanese relations between about 1930 and 1989 and a study of cultural identity. Set in multiple locations, Busan, Korea, and Osaka and Tokyo, Japan, it follows several generations of a Korean family who move to Osaka. Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and followed a policy of wiping out as much Korean culture as possible. This lasted until 1945. Even after the war, Koreans who had previously emigrated and settled in Japan were subject to prejudice and discrimination.
The series focuses on Sunja, a young woman in Busan, who falls in love with and becomes pregnant by Hansu, a rich, married man. When offered the opportunity to marry Isak, a stranger to her village, she accepts and moves with him to Japan where his brother and wife live. The series goes back and forth in time so that we encounter Sunja in 1989 as an old woman, her son Mozasu, who runs a pachinko (game) parlor in Osaka, and her grandson, Solomon. Solomon appears to have a successful financial career in the States but is currently on assignment to Tokyo.
Although it follows the basic threads of the novel, the series is quite different, particularly in its juxtaposition of past and present timeframes. As one example, the centrality of rice is played out ladled from a primitive stove and, in the next scene, scooped from a modern electric rice cooker.
This drama is an ambitious effort with a large Asian cast and different colored subtitles in Japanese, Korean and English, depending on who is speaking. Once I became familiar with the characters again, I found it compelling and even tear-inducing at points. There will be 8 episodes in all with the last two released later in April. Very much recommended!
Knoxville, a new musical, is more opera than theater, more sung than spoken. We were at the world premiere the other night, and it was an immersive and emotional experience. A study of ordinary life, faith, and death, it’s based on James Agee’s autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family. Viewed through the perspective of the adult author and the author as 6-year-old Rufus, it’s a story of a different time (1915) in a particular place (Knoxville, Tennessee), but its themes are universal.
The cast of characters and musicians (some doubling as actors) is large and diverse, and Jack Casey as young Rufus is just one standout. As always, the staging at Asolo is very creative. The use of a portable window frame throughout was especially effective.
The play was performed without an intermission and the hour and forty minutes just whizzed by! If you saw Our Town earlier this season, you’d probably agree with me that Knoxville is a companion piece—different time and place, but related themes. In both works, religion plays a prominent role.
Professional theater doesn’t get much better than this, and we in the Sarasota-Bradenton area are fortunate to be the beneficiaries. Tony Award-winning director and writer Frank Galati directs this production. It runs through May 11. Highly recommended!
