Alison Bechdel is deeply conflicted about her relationship with her father. As she puts it early in the remarkable musical Fun Home, “My dad and I were exactly alike. My dad and I were nothing alike.” That seeming contradiction defines the crux of the show, Alison’s struggle with her sexual identity and anguish over coming out as a lesbian to her parents. … [Read more...]
Stellar leads, soaring score make Slow Burn’s ‘Bridges of Madison County’ worth a visit
It is remarkable how music and its emotional uplift can elevate a story. A case in point is Robert James Waller’s potboiler best-selling romance novel, The Bridges of Madison County, which became an only slightly less gooey film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. Yet in the hands of composer-lyricist Robert Jason Brown, this steamy tale of an affair between an Iowa … [Read more...]
‘Finding Mona Lisa’ a wry look at the power of art
The point is made several times: The portrait that has captivated the world for 500 years, arguably the most famous painting in history, is merely “oil on wood.” But when Leonardo da Vinci applied the wood with 30 layers of oil paint, he created an image of La Gioconda, the silk merchant’s wife with the inscrutable smile, that continues to fascinate us. The alchemy of art … [Read more...]