C4 Scott Mantz, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD
S
KLMNO “A MASTERPIECE!”
SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010 A critic trades notebook for script at Fringe fringe from C1 ©Disney/Pixar
INDISNEYDIGITAL3D AND AT THEATRES EVERYWHERE
,
Check local listings or Text TOY with your ZIP CODEto43KIX (43549) PRESENTED IN DOLBY SURROUND 7.1 IN SELECT THEATRES
“THE BEST ‘TWILIGHT’ MOVIE SO FAR!” – ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
my summer in rehearsals (50- plus hours of them!), with or without collaborators gone AWOL. But this year is different. Earlier in the decade, I was a re- viewer of Capital Fringe offer- ings. A T.S. Eliot-inspired tale of talking elephants? A multimedia Kabuki ghost story, with pup- pets? A Christopher Marlowe- meets-Mel Gibson skit? You name it, I reviewed it. I began to wonder: What was it like to be in- side Fringe — to contribute to the ferment that’s so much more whimsical, ecstatic and reckless than the theatrical establish- ment’s routine? I had been an avid college ac-
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A TWI-HARD TO ENJOY ‘ECLIPSE.’” – Alynda Wheat, PEOPLE – Alynda Wheat, PEOPLE
tor, but that was two decades ago. Still, I mustered up courage to approach festival Executive Di- rector Julianne Brienza, who connected me with Russ, then seeking actors for his show. A D.C. native whose encoun- ters with the kinetic vigor of rave parties prompted him to major in dance at the University of Maryland, Russ has appeared on a few local stages and stage- managed “Queen of the Bohemi- an Dream” at Fringe 2007. When the 2010 festival paperwork
! -Rex Reed, NEW YORK OBSERVER
“ABSOLUTELY MESMERIZING!”
(HIGHEST RATING) A film by Jan Kounen
MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes, Text Message ECLIPSE and Your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)
www.eclipsethemovie.com
NOW PLaying CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES AMERICA’S#
NO PASSES OR DISCOUNT COUPONS ACCEPTED
1MOVIE!
THE MIND-BLOWING MOVIE EVENT OF THE SUMMER HAS ARRIVED!”
“JUSTINTIME! ‘INCEPTION’ DREAMS
BIG...IT’S JAMES BOND
MEETS ‘THE MATRIX.’” PETER TRAVERS,
RICHARD CORLISS,
“SEE IT TWICE.”
LANDMARK’S BETHESDA ROW
CINEMA Bethesda 301-652-7273
SHIRLINGTON 7 Arlington 888-AMC-4FUN
AMC LOEWS
CINEMA ARTS THEATRE Fairfax 703-978-6991
WWW.COCOCHANELANDIGORSTRAVINSKY.COM JUANA ARIAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST TECH TIME:The technical dress rehearsal for “The Rave Scenes.”
deadline rolled around last fall, he applied to produce “The Rave Scenes,” a primer on electronic- dance-music culture. He shelled out $30 for the ap-
plication fee, $575 for the partici- pation cost and $200 for insur- ance. His show would become one of 137 in the 21
⁄2 -week festi-
val, which will conclude on Sun- day. But when a partial cast gath- ered for our first read-through on June 17, certain roles were yet to be filled. And Russ had penned only about three-quarters of the script: He was hoping to round out the text with input from his performers, who included fellow ravers and acquaintances from the arts and academic worlds. He certainly wouldn’t pick up
any useful dance-club lore from me, whose idea of a great Satur- day night is, say, rereading “The Pickwick Papers.” Still, I did my best to flesh out my character, a snarky raver known as “O.” The cast would ultimately number seven, including Russ, who would take one of the de- fecting actors’ roles. (We divvied
up the other’s lines.) The director aside, the only Fringe veteran was Pushkin, a busy local actor. The previous exposure had given both men a taste for the festival’s anti-elitist, throw-caution-to- the-winds exuberance. “I definitely drank the Kool-
Aid,” is how Russ put it. Despite their expertise, ready-
ing “The Rave Scenes” proved halting work. We would not have access to our stage — the Baldac- chino Gypsy Tent Bar — until the day before opening, so we re- hearsed in people’s homes and at AU. Sequences were blocked, and then wholly re-blocked. One day an actor didn’t show up because an electrical outage had locked his car in his garage. Rehearsals regularly devolved into wise- cracking. “I feel like I’m in el- ementary school,” I wrote cranki- ly in my notebook at one point. As for Russ’s concept for the
play — we’d be addressing the au- dience directly — that was con- ceptually tricky for some. “Think of it like dinner theater
Peter Travers
“SALT IS A RED-HOT THRILLER… HANG ON FOR THE RIDE.”
— without the dinner,” was his slightly cryptic explanation one day. I fretted. Assuming “The Rave Scenes” made it onstage with its quirky trappings — soap bubbles, Blow Pops, body glitter, a dance step called the Nordic Track — would it be an embarrassment? Maybe a pint-size version of Broadway’s “Moose Murders,” that legendary flop? My co-con- spirators were more phlegmatic —even a little inspiring. “This is Fringe,” Russ ob-
served. “It’s not supposed to be finished. It’s not supposed to be polished.”
Our castmate Ouida Maedel,
an actress and grad student who knew the New York International Fringe Festival, if not its D.C. counterpart, shrewdly noted that among “the most powerful things at something like a fringe festival can be seeing what works
“
—and also what doesn’t work.” Reassured on this score, I de- veloped a new fear: I would for- get my lines. When Maedel, act- ing as ad hoc costumer, brought in garb from her own raver past, I seized on a bright orange wig: If I radically altered my appearance, I figured, I’d leave Celia Wren, and her phobias, behind. On July 7 — a day of record- breaking heat — we finally walked onto the non-air-condi- tioned Baldacchino stage, next to the Fringe cafe, for our tech re- hearsal. As cars thundered down nearby New York Avenue, we lurched through a run-through. My wig was sweltering. The next afternoon — our opening, and Day 1 of Capital Fringe 2010 — the bar area hummed with activity. People were vacuuming and painting the floor; Brienza was Windex- ing tables. A staffer pulled an ice- laden cart toward the bar. We “Rave Scenes” performers
straggled onto the patch of dumpster-flanked asphalt, be- hind the tent, that serves as wing area and greenroom. We did a diction exercise about “Theophi- lus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter.” Then we were on. Panicked, I tried to focus on a maxim of Broadway actor Dick Latessa: “Listening is half of act- ing.” Concentrate on the other characters onstage — that will keep you in the moment. I guess it worked: I didn’t blank out. That night, we flubbed the odd cue, but the gaffes hardly registered on the nine audience members (one of whom wore painted-on green lederhosen, my castmates later reported). Two or three times as many
viewers showed up for subse- quent performances, laughing regularly at the play’s funny lines. Fringe enthusiasts packed the bar next door, and adrena- line-fueled excitement permeat- ed the air. As we act, the smell of cooking hamburgers wafts over from the cafe. Bartenders and patrons chat — not sotto voce. Ice cubes tumble loudly, and bottles clink. You almost have to shout to make your lines audible. The circumstances seem to epitomize the frustrating, but thrilling, essence of live perform- ance. Theater is an evanescent, space-bounded art. You slave for weeks to create an illusion. You worry, you memorize, you don orange wigs. Then it’s zero hour — and a few yards away, oblivi- ous drinkers sip Shiraz, while chefs slap beef patties on a grill. It feels rather glorious.
style@washpost.com
GRIPPING. SPINE-TINGLING. IT’S THE RARE PIECE OF POLITICAL FILMMAKING
THAT COULD UNITE THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT.” – OWEN GLEIBERMAN, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“ NOWSHOWING - CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR LISTINGS
AMERICA’S#1 COMEDY! “
”THIS YEAR’S COOLEST
Jeff Craig, SIXTY SECOND PREVIEW IN TOUCH WEEKLY “
ANIMATED COMEDY!” “Hilarious!”
A FILA FILM BM BY PPHIL IP NOYCE “ T”SAL PRODUCERSPRODUCERS
ECUTIVE HILLIP NOYCE “SAL LIEV SCHREIBEREV SCHREIBER CCHIWETEL EJIOFOR DANIEL OLBRYCHSKI NDRE BR GHER MUSIC MES NEWTTON HOWAARDRD EXEXECU IVERIC KIDNERIC KIDNEY MARK V HR DIAN
COLCOLUUMBIA PICTURE PR SENT
MBIA PICTURESPREESENTS IIN ASSOCI TION WIT RREL IVI Y MEDIA di BON VE TU A PI TUR MARK VAAHRAADIAN RYAAN KN KAVAANA GH WRI
DDIRECTEDIRE ED BBYY
IP NOYYCE BBYY
N ASSOCIAATION WITHH ELATTIVITTY MEDIA A di BONAAVENNTURRA PICCTUREESPRPRODUCODUCTIOTIONN HIWETEL EJIOFOR DANIEL OLBRYCHSKI AANDRE BRAUUGHER MUSICBYBYJAMES NEW ON HO NAUUGH WRITTTTENKURT WIMMERWIMMER PRODUCEDPRODUCED PHILPHILLIP NO CE
BBYY ORENZO di BONAAVENNTURRA SUNIL PERKSUNIL PERKASH LORENZ di BON VE TU CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES From The Beloved Best-Selling Books
MAKE A DATE YOUR DAUGHTER
TODAY TO SEE
WITH
“THEBEST THE
FAMILY FILM OF YEAR.”
Sunmee Choi · TOTAL LIVING NETWORK WARNING
EXCLUSIVE ENGAGMENT NOW PLAYING
LANDMARK’S
DEMAND ZERO. TEXT “ZERO” TO 77177
E STREET CINEMA Washington, DC 202-452-7672
SAT: 10:45, 1, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10, 12:15AM SUN: 10:45, 1, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10 MON-THU: 1, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10
TAKEPART.COM/ZERO •WWW.MAGPICTURES.COM
“THE BEST MOVIE OF THE SUMMER BY FAR.”
A.O. SCOTT, AT THE MOVIES
“CRITIC'S PICK. THE PERFECT SUMMER MOVIE.” ANNETTE BENING JULIANNE MOORE MARK RUFFALO
ANN HORNADAY
“MAKES A SWIFT, SOBERINGLY URGENT CASE . THE MOST IMPRESSIVE MATERIAL HERE
From the people who brought you “An Inconvenient Truth,” a film about our nuclear threat.
FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.” – ANN HORNADAY, THE WASHINGTON POST
WOULD MAKE FOR A NAIL-BITING JAMES BOND FILM.” – JOSHUA ROTHKOPF, TIME OUT NEW YORK
MIA WASIKOWSKA JOSH HUTCHERSON
Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
KidsAreAllRightMovie.com
WASHINGTON, DC © 2009
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATRES AND SHOWTIMES MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes - Text DESPICABLE with your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)! NOW PLAYING
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATRES AND SHOWTIMES Mobile Users: For Showtimes - Text Message RAMONA and your ZIPCODE to 43KIX(43549)
LANDMARK THEATRES E STREET CINEMA E St & 11th St NW 202/452-7672
MARYLAND
AFI SILVER THEATRE 8633 Colesville Rd
www.afi.com/silver
AMC LOEWS RIO CINEMAS 18 Gaithersburg, MD 888/AMC-4FUN
LANDMARK THEATRES BETHESDA ROW CINEMA 7235 Woodmont Ave 301/652-7273
REGAL CINEMAS ROCKVILLE CENTER 13 Rockville, MD 800/FANDANGO 248#
VIRGINIA AMC
COURTHOUSE PLAZA 8 Arlington, VA 888/AMC-4FUN
AMC TYSONS CORNER 16 Routes 7 & 123 McLean, VA 888/AMC-4FUN
AMC LOEWS SHIRLINGTON 7 2772 S Randolph 888/AMC-4FUN
REGAL CINEMAS KINGSTOWNE STADIUM 16
Across from WalMart 703/822-4956
INDEPENDENT
CINEMA ARTS THEATRE Corner of Main St & Pickett Rd 703/978-6991
RAVE MOTION PICTURES FAIRFAX CORNER 14 11900 Palace Way 703/378-6550
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS NO PASSES OR DISCOUNT COUPONS ACCEPTED CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES OR CALL FOR SOUND INFORMATION AND SHOWTIMES MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes – Text KIDS with your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76