Cate Blanchett IS Blanche Dubois

Last night, I went to BAM to see the new production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire". Simply put, it was stunning. I have read the play many times, seen more than a few productions and watched the movie countless times but last night I felt like I was seeing it all for the first time. And most of that is due to Cate Blanchett's remarkable performance as a character that too often becomes a caricature, Blanche Dubois. That was not the case in this production, masterfully directed by Liv Ullman. Blanche is real...almost too real. Which, in the end, makes this play the epic American tragedy it was always meant to be.

Blanche is played here as a fairly competent, cheerful and together woman (after all, she WAS a schoolteacher for all those years) who just now is beginning to teeter and fall under the weight of a lifetime of lies, disappointments and delusions, not to mention a healthy appetite for whiskey. Blanchett lives this transformation in a stunning three-hour tour plus de force of acting, as we watch her struggle with the demons and madness that slowly start to swallow Blanche whole.

However, this is not to say this "Streetcar" is a one woman show (another trap that other versions fall into). All the characters here are drawn out equally well and there are some unusual new twists to the interpretation of Mitch, Blanche's suitor, and Stanley, Blanche's pursuer. As Ben Brantley states in his eloquent review, this is not played as the battle of Stanley v. Blanche....it's more Blanche against herself. And when she loses, it is truly heartbreaking.

When a buzz show like this becomes a "hot ticket", I am usually wary of the hype. In this case, I can honestly state that the hype doesn't get the half of it. Cate is truly remarkable but as another playwright once said, the play is the thing. And here Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar" is restored with its author's original intent fully realized. This is powerful stuff and, if the theatre gods (aka Equity) have any mercy, the show will hopefully end up on Broadway next year for many more to see.

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On George

This is a clip from the UK's talent show, "The X-Factor" with finalist Joe McElderry doing a duet with George Michael. Though GM has certainly had his share of troubles in recent years, he can still sing like it's 1985. And the new kid's not so bad either.

Washington Square Road

This image comes from a book currently on my nightstand, Anthony Flint's "Wrestling With Moses". In the 1950's, city planner and master builder Robert Moses wanted to extend Fifth Avenue through Washington Square Park to connect with West Broadway, creating an express route through the village that would be called Fifth Avenue South.

This planned roadway that would have surely destroyed the heart of Greenwich Village looks almost quaint in this rendering. It's notable that, for an extension of heavily trafficked Fifth Avenue, there are only three cars visible. Of course, if this terrible plan had come to fruition, the park would be filled with the sound of bumper to bumper cars honking....just like the rest of Fifth Avenue. The reason this never happened is the topic of the book.

Jane Jacobs, a writer for Architectural Digest and a longtime Village resident, organized a group of local mothers and started a movement which not only killed Fifth Avenue South but also led to the cancellation of Moses's biggest potential urban renewal disaster, the scarily-named LOMEX (Lower Manhattan Expressway). This 6-lane superhighway would have sliced through Soho and the Lower East Side on what is now Broome street, carrying traffic from the Holland Tunnel to the Manhattan Bridge.

Anthony Flint's book is a true-life David & Goliath story. Moses, who had figured out how to manipulate the political, financial and social systems of New York to completely redraw the way the city was connected, was unstoppable...or so it seemed. Until, that is, Jacobs challenged him, killing the beast before it ate the Village and Soho. Of course, we now know how this all turned out but the book is still a very compelling read given the fact that it easily could have gone the otherway, like in the faux-pastoral picture above.

The Other New York City Tree Lighting

Last night, a beautiful Douglas Fir standing about 30 feet tall was lit up in Washington Square Park. This tree lighting ceremony is a Greenwich Village tradition that actually pre-dates the hubub up in Rockefeller Center by five years (the first tree went up in 1926). And though the tree doesn't have a billion lights on it or an ice skating ring under it, the Washington Square Arch and the Park itself make a beautiful backdrop for the tree. Frankly, it's a little nicer than being surrounded by skyscrapers and tourists that's for sure.

Anyway, the tree is lit from 4pm to 1am every day from now until Christmas so go check it out. And, if you're feeling very vocal about the holidays, you can join in the annual caroling in the Park, another 83rd old tradition that happens at 5pm on Christmas Eve. Happy Holidaze!

GLEE's Midseason Finale

So the GLEE kids turned it out last night with a great midseason finale. The only thing that sucked about it was that it means there will be no new GLEE til April. Argh! So in the meantime, I found myself trolling FOX's GLEE site for new stuff and found an adorable clip of Lea Michele telling us 10 things we didn't know about her. However, one thing we did know, after last night's episode, was her FUNNY GIRL obsession; easily the highlight of the episode was her rendition of the Bab's Classic "Don't Rain On My Parade". Whoa--the girl has pipes!

You can watch the full episode here...as I will be doing over and over again until spring 2010. In the meantime, there'a always a new season of AMERICAN IDOL.

But Do You Get Frequent Flier Miles?

Richard Branson unveiled his Virgin Galactic spaceliner this week that will soon be offering short, round trip flights to space and back. The animation below is a pretty spectacular indication of what this sort of trip maybe be like. One thing is clear...it ain't gonna be cheap. Tickets are 200K and are already available for booking at their new website. The first flights are expected in early 2011.

The Greenest City In The World?

As the Copenhagen Climate Talks continue today, there was a report issued that global warming is not slowing and that the last decade is the warmest on record in 150 years. So what can you do to keep the planet cooler? Move to New York. According to an article in City Scoops, New York City is one of the greenest cities on the planet.

Even with all those twinkling lights that are on, the city's per capita greenhouse emissions are a third of the rest of the country. If NYC was a state, it would rank 51st in per capita energy consumption. The reason is twofold; much smaller living spaces and, the most obvious one, no cars. The article also states that the city intends to lower greenhouse emissions by a third in the next twenty years.

Despite the city's green ranking and real greenness with so many parks, there is still one little problem regarding the future--the city is at sea level. As glaciers melt and oceans rise, Manhattan is likely to find itself battling the ocean more than the sun. And suddenly, those 6 floor walk-ups will have a lot more value.

The Shocking Truth About Gay Marriage

After much debate and delay, the adult day-care center up in Albany that's also known as the New York State Senate, voted against gay marriage last week. Shocker. Much like the Democrats on Capitol Hill, these legislators can't even agree who their leader is so it's no surprise they couldn't somehow get it together take a stand on the major civil rights issue of our era.

After defeats in California last year and Maine this year, the quest for marriage equality seems troubled lately. So the New York TIMES this weekend decided the movement needed a little pick me up. The TIMES, which has been running gay wedding annoucements for 7 years now, did a lovely feature in the Style section about a couple of guys who'd been together nearly 20 years and finally tied the knot, with their 7 year old son in attendance. The story is touching and sweet and, most strikingly, kinda ordinary. They are just a couple of nice Jewish guys trying to raise their son in a place that doesn't legislate hate (i.e. Connecticut). What's not to like?

What this article shows simply and beautifully is the truth about gay marriage....which is that there's nothing that shocking about it at all. What's shocking are the claims by right wingnuts that this will somehow lead to people marrying their pets or kids being taught gay sex in the first grade. Huh? Of course, these are the only arguments they can make because there's nothing to terrible or scary or immoral about two professional guys, living with their mother even, who love each other so much they decided they wanted to raise a kid.

This week, New Jersey's state legislators may consider a marriage bill. Politicans can speechify all they want about their "personal moral dilemnas" but really, when it comes down to it, I would honestly like to know how they can vote against something as beautiful as this? The picture above says it all.

The Mercury Theatre on 41st Street

Last night, I saw the movie ME & ORSON WELLES, a fictionalized film about Welles' landmark production of "Julius Caesar" that marked the stunning debut of his company of players, The Mercury Theatre. The movie begins with the company arriving at their new home on 41st Street, a playhouse on the fringe of the Broadway theatre district. I was thinking to myself, could they be referring to what is now the Nederlander Theatre, home to RENT for nearly a decade? Surely enough, the answer is yes.

The Nederlander has a history that reaches back even further than that. It opened in 1921 as the National Theatre where it featured plays by Lillian Hellman and Tennessee Williams. Then it was the Mercury from 1937-1940. After that, it was known as the Billy Rose Theatre and was famous for being the home to Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". It became the Nederlander in 1980 and then was semi-occupied for the next 15 years til "RENT" arrived as transfer from NY Theatre Workshop. And the rest, as they say, is Broadway history.

I'm always fascinated by the history of these old Broadway houses and the shows they hosted over their many years in existence. But I never would have guessed that Orson Welles and Jonathan Larson were somehow connected by the same playhouse on the edge of Times Square.

How To Send An Anvil Flying

Here's some totally silly hump-day material. What can I say...I'm a sucker for videos where people are blowing stuff up, up and away. :)