The Hobbit 2

Lincoln the Icon

Anybody who knows me knows of my admiration for Abraham Lincoln.  I even have Doris Kearns Goodwins' book, Team of Rivals, the source material for Tony Kushner's screenplay for Lincoln.  We know so much about the 16th President's life, but it was genius to focus on this great man's fight to abolish slavery.  What made it even more poignant was that he did it in the last few months of his life.

The cinematography is beautiful, the screenplay full of humor.  Lincoln was a very funny man, after all. (The movie shows even his Cabinet members were getting tired of his folksy stories. One even admits to not understanding what the Prez was talking about.)  It is a gripping history lesson as well.  There's the usual gridlock, partisan politics, even bribery and patronage jobs. (I would watch C-Span all day if politicians still talked the way they do in the movie.) And it was interesting to see how ordinary folk could just go to the White House and  speak to the POTUS.

What was appalling was the prevailing attitudes and ideas of the day about slavery and equality of the races.  To modern ears, the politicians' arguments against the 13th Amendment would make you cringe.  According to IMDB, Mr. Spielberg "has explained that during the movie's climactic scene in which the names of House of Representative members are being called to vote on the 13th Amendment, the names of many of the men who voted 'No' --for various reasons--were actually changed in the film so as not to embarrass the living descendants of these men whose reputations might have been stained by their negative vote-casting."  The scene where Lincoln quotes Euclid to his telegraph operators will make you reach for the tissues. He is clearly anti-slavery, but surprisingly, there is a later scene that expressed his conflicted feelings about racial equality.

Daniel Day Lewis is certain to get an Oscar nomination (if not outright win) for his portrayal of our 16th President.  He is our era's Lincoln.  We see a pragmatic, masterful politician.  We learn that even Honest Abe would resort to a little misinformation to get those votes.  I see possible Oscar nods for Sally Field ( I'm feeling more sympathetic towards Mary Todd Lincoln after this.), and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican who truly believes that blacks are equal to whites.  The outstanding supporting cast includes David Strathairn as William Seward, Hal Holbrook as Preston Blair,  Bruce McGill as Edwin Stanton, Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, James Spader as W.N. Bilbo ( a lobbyist working to get the Amendment passed), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Lincoln.  His insistence on joining the Union Army leads to a startling, heartbreaking confrontation with his father.

 I was afraid Steven Spielberg's film would come out too fawning (although I admit it would be hard for any director to make anything but a too-reverential film about the President.), but the result is a riveting political thriller that humanizes an iconic figure.  We need more statesmen like Lincoln, who just wanted to do the right thing.

The Normal Heart

05 June 2011 marked the 30 years since the Centers for Disease Control reported the first cases of AIDS in the United States. This year's Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play went to Larry Kramer's powerful play The Normal Heart. And rightfully so. The heartbreaking story of the chaotic, early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York City is told through the perspective of Ned Weeks, a writer turned activist trying to warn the gay community about this deadly disease. Weeks becomes founder of an HIV/AIDS advocacy group (similar to the Gay Men's Health Crisis). He embodies the playwright's condemnation of the homophobia that resulted in the slow government response to the emerging epidemic.
The set design is very simple, white walls etched with relevant words and names from that era. The names of AIDS victims are periodically projected onto those walls and the actors, bringing home the urgency of the health crisis as the list grew longer.
Photos after the show: This is Mark Harelik hailing a cab. He played Ben, the lawyer brother of Ned Weeks. Their relationship, although loving, is complicated by Ned's homosexuality.
Patrick Breen as Mickey Marcus, one of the opinionated members of the HIV advocacy group. (I saw him last year in Next Fall.)
Tony nominee Joe Mantello is Ned Weeks---the intense, forceful, cantankerous activist.
John Benjamin Hickey played a New York Times writer named Felix Turner, his closeted lover. Mr. Hickey deservedly won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons as Tommy Boatwright, also a member of the group. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, the play is actually funny.
Be prepared for an emotional ride. Bring tissues. One does not have to be gay to appreciate, and identify with, the human drama unfolding on stage.
I hadn't even heard of this play, until weeks before previews began, I saw their Facebook page. If enough people "liked" their page, they were going to donate $10,000 to Freedom to Marry. And they did. I had heard about the shameful official response to the AIDS crisis, but I never realized the extent of it until I saw the show.
Pushing Daisies' Lee Pace as Bruce Niles, elected President of the group despite his closeted status.
Congratulations to all the cast members for their brave, eloquent, stirring performances.
I didn't realize I would have such a visceral response to the show. The next day, out of the blue, I burst into tears as I recalled the experience. Now that's great theatre.
Broadway newbie Ellen Barkin was chosen Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Dr. Emma Brookner. What sealed the win for me? Probably her impassioned monologue directed at the powers-that-be who continued to ignore the epidemic.
This is a can't-miss production. Scientific studies have shown that we are all the same, no matter what the race, creed, sexual orientation, color. The Normal Heart proves that there is no such thing as normal or abnormal. The human heart is just about love, tolerance, and compassion.

The Normal Heart

The Normal Heart starts beating on Broadway April 19. Opening night is on 27 April. Set in New York City during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the star-studded cast includes Ellen Barkin, John Benjamin Hickey, Lee Pace, Joe Mantello, and Jim Parsons.

If you LIKE their Facebook page and fans reach 10,000, Givenik will donate $10,000 to Freedom to Marry.