cubanmiamiboy

On Friday I went to see a one man play at one of my favorite spots, the Miami Beach Film Society. I got the idea of starting the "prettiest" thread after getting out of there and listening to my mom brag about how "beautiful" Monty was. Anyway...from the MMFS website: FRI, MAY 04, 8:30pm: “CINE-THEATRE” Miami Premiere! THE RAREST OF BIRDS A LIVE ONE MAN PLAY based on the Life and Work of Montgomery Clift Starring Omar Prince Written by John Lisbon Wood and Omar Prince Directed by Bill Fabris The characters represented in this play, both recorded and live, are performed by the actor playing Montgomery Clift. SETTING: The action takes place in a dressing room off the Freud movie set at Geiselgasteig Studios, a former psychiatric concentration camp in Munich, Germany . Director John Huston had locked Montgomery Clift, who is playing Sigmund Freud, in his dressing room to work off his inebriation. Clift ruminates about his life and career, revealing his drug and alcoholic addictions and his struggles with homosexuality. He was one of our greatest and most influential actors. The most idolized Matinee Idol of his time. And one of Hollywood's most tortured souls. He spoke six languages. Elizabeth Taylor begged him to marry her. He was friends with Picasso, Matisse and Gertrude Stein. He became the first uninsurable actor in Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe said that he was the only person more messed up than her. The show is a must-see for students of cinema, the Golden Era of Hollywood, movie buffs and historians, archivists of gay life and theater aficionados of all types. All of Monty's seventeen films and the major plays are mentioned in the play, as well as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Olivia De Havilland, John Huston, and Kate Hepburn, who appear as voiceovers in conversation with him. The Rarest of Birds, was penned by both actor and playwrights, John Lisbon Wood and Omar Prince and stars Omar Prince. The show runs approximately 75 minutes with no intermission. “AN EXTRAORDINARY REINCARNATION!” -Robert Windeler, Backstage “The theatre season has just begun, but star Omar Prince delivers a turn that must be remembered at the end of the season as one of its best.”-Doug Strassler, OffOffOnline.com “Prince manages to strip Clift's character bare with pitiless candor and a heartfelt honesty that is palpable as he drifts in and out of madness…As he jumps in and out of time and his own caricature, creating multiple vignettes, THIS TRAGEDY MOVES WITH A REMORSELESS BEAT AND PRIDE THAT BECOMES AS HYPNOTIC AS ITS SUBJECT MATTER.” -John Hogland, Theatrescene.net

Oh, I'm in!!

No we're not...not at all..! In any case, I was trying to limit the list to: 1-Less than five "mainstream" actors...(famous for more than their face), and 2-Those that, besides having made it to be considered "serious" actors, also had one of those doll-like faces...(which is why I pick the term "pretty" instead of "handsome" on purpose). II probably should take Dean out of that list. His beauty wasn't similar as the other three. For me it was more "handsomeness" than "prettiness". Yes... I will take him down and substitute him for one that I think better deserves to be up there: Mr. Tony Curtis. (And anyway, Dean hasn't gotten one single vote, so...) http://4.bp.blogspot...ny+Curtis+2.jpg There were many actors from Hollywood's Golden Era that were certainly very "handsome", although I wouldn't call them "pretty". The four in my first post have definitely almost a surreal look at one point..."inhumanly perfect" as dirac stated, something that others, like Clark Gable didn't have. In modern times I would establish the same difference using Brad Pitt vs. George Clooney as examples.

A group of friends, compossed by both genres, had a little discussion tonight post cinema in which we couldn't agree at all... So this are the contenders. Please, vote and let us know the "why" of your pick if you may... Who's the prettiest...? Clift. http://images2.fanpo...48-1024-768.jpg Newman http://www.comunicat...ul_Newman_2.gif Brando http://media-1.web.b...50-1AE6A31D.jpg Curtis http://4.bp.blogspot...ny+Curtis+2.jpg

Thank you all for your responses. I'm really interested in the early BT ballerinas, and all of them seem to have lots of material on the Internet, aside from books-(Tallchief, Kaye, Alonso, etc..). Hightower seems to have always been praised for her technique. I would love to hear from someone who got to see her dancing.

I know nothing about it personally, but I found a book on 4 of the American Indian ballerinas, by someone who knew them and interviewed them. You can see a preview of it here: http://books.google....epage&q&f=false hopefully that will work. If not it is American Indian Ballerinas by Lili Cockerille Livingston Thanks, Aurora. I read the available fragments on the website and so I could have a global idea of Hightower's whereabouts during her dancing years. She seemed to have shifted continuosly between companies-(de DeCuevas, Massine's, Denham, etc...)-and had a predilection for Nijinska's work. There also seemed to have been an impressive amont of works created by the choreographer for her back in the days which seem to be now sadly lost.

I'm intrigued about this ballerina and the reasons behind the absence of more info about her online. I don't find anything from Alonso's BT recollections, whereas she always speaks at large about Kaye and Markova. Can someone direct me to any reading source on her...? Does anybody has any recollections of her dancing back in the days..? http://www.ballerinagallery.com/pic/highto01.jpg Thanks in advance!

Very glamorous indeed..! Loved it loved it..!

Humm...for some reason DiCaprio has never made it for me neither physically -(it always looks to me as if his head/face has been compressed vertically)- or as an actor.

Wow...although I wouldn't doubt it. Russians seem to have kept their Giselle untouchable for a long time, and Olga's were latter additions, so I guess they are considered non traditional...? Also, they took place and developed out of Russia, so I guess they have never been performed there...? If you think of it, they neither do Sppessivtzeva's iconic three fish dives of Beauty-(aren't Russians probably the ONLY ones who don't perform them, actually...?)

It certainly is, BB...I love going there...the place looks like a sci-fi UFO on the inside...!

Thanks for the clip, canbelto. Wasn't this a performance that Bouder did somewhere in Europe a while ago, along with some ofther ballerinas guesting in the same role in a course of several days...? I remember a read about it, and saw a pic of all of them standing next to each other. Did that take place in Italy...? If so, maybe Fracci had something to do with the staging...? I have never seen a clip of the ballet of la Opera di Roma, but la Scalla does the Russian-pique turns version. I wonder if Fracci kept the version she danced in the video with Bruhn. She also seemed to be close to Dolin, from what we saw in the documentary.

Thanks, diane. I will try to catch more films. This one looks promising... http://www.mglff.com/films/view/23

Helene...BB, the production was done tastefully with huge projections than were shown all over the theater. Frank Geary's design of the New World Center has all this curved huge screens above and around the auditorium, which also is wrapped all around the orchestra, including sides and back. The two characters stood up in a platform above the orchestra. They were dressed in black, Bluebird wearing a black cape and Judith a sleek black sateen long dress, her long curly blond hair loose. The projections were beautiful, with all those huge flowers opening and dripping blood drops and the bloody clouds going all over us. More than one people screamed when the orchestra suddenly bursted to the last doors openings along with the dramatic change of lights and projections. I was REALLY impressed.

On friday night I went to the opening of the XIV Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. This year the festival will run from April 27 until May 6, 10 days in which over 65 films will be shown. On Friday I saw the 2012 the New Zealand drama Kawa, directed by Katie Wolfe. The film focuses on a man, Kawa, who has lived his entire life in the closet. Kawa is a successful businessman from a prominent family. He’s also a husband and the father of two children. Everything is turned around when his lifelong double life as a gay man in the shadows isn’t so secret anymore. I'm planning to watch more films if my schedule allows me to.

Tonight I went to the New World Symphony and their rendition of Bela Bartók's one act opera's "Bluebeard's Castle". I have never seen this dark work before, and was largely impressed by the moody, almost nightmarish tone of it. The orchestra was led by Michael Tilson Thomas, and the only two roles of the opera were sung by mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, as Judith and bass Eric Halfvarson as Bluebeard. The performance marked the U. S. premiere of a production directed by London-based video artist Nick Hillel, whose work was projected on screens built into New World Center. Powerful, beautiful, grand work this is. I enjoyed it a lot.

CNB Primera bailarina Barbara Garcia dancing the variation in her early 40's.

Let me add more. The Adagio/PDD from Diamonds The entrance of the Shades The three Shades waltz The entrance/diagonal grand jeteed entrance of Myrtha after the Willis sliding sequence. Giselle's Pas Seul final diagonal

Thanks, Aurora, for the clarification. Yes, definitely Danilova was older than Markova or Valdes in their clips. I see the step really clear in Collier's clip...the one that resembles more that of Markova. And of course, there are the small semi-professional ballet companies that have AD's who happen to know the Pas from their dancing days. I remember I posted a while ago a video of the whole pas as staged by Nina Novak to her students, and it was the same step by step. Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami still performs it-(I hope they will do it this year), staged by Magaly Suarez, who knows it from Cuba, although for some reason they change the diagonal, suppressing the gargouillades. This is from a 2008 performance. Here, the variation with the same substitution by Tuzer ballet.

Thanks, Quiggin for the lovely clip! Mme. Danilova, or course...always a star. I notice, though that she sort of simplifies a bit the variation, for instance, by the absence of the little ronde de jambes with the right leg during the pas de chat sequence-(very explicit in Markova's clip). I also love the kisses blowing detail. That was adorable! ;-) Thanks, Hamorah for your insight. Both Russian troupes ended up loosing such valuable material, substituting Ivanov for Vainonen-(Kirov/Mariinsky)-and Grigorovitch-(Bolshoi). Gorsky and Lopukhov had paved the path already for the substitutions, though. NYC lost it somewhere probably during the 60's-(I would love to know it the Pas was still danced by the time Lupe Serrano was in BT, and even if it went beyond her generation, to the likes of D'Antuono, given her early career with BRdMC. I think it's time for the Russians to reclaim their Ballet Master masterpiece. A full reconstruction needs to be done ASAP. Meanwhile there is always the Royal and CNB to keep things going.

Edited: double post.

Oh wow...a Cuban staging of a Russian ballet based in a Spanish novel to be premiered by such venerable British company...? I feel honored...GO, CARLITOS, GO!!

Thank you both duffster and sandik for your posts. It is no secret that I'm a huge fan of this Pas. I see a beauty in it probably just compared to that of Aurora's Wedding PDD-(if not more...)- and I never miss a chance to promote and spread its original conception, in an era where the whole ballet-(and this pas particularly)- has suffered so much stabbing. One of the things I value the most from my early ballet viewing was to place the Nutcracker in the same level as the rest of the classics, and here's where the Grand Pas plays its most important role. Along with the Snow Scene and the Waltz of the Flowers, the Grand Pas is a an essential part of the necessary technical elements to compete-(and even win)-over so many other works. Of course, there's also the fact that the PDD was part of the Cuban repertoire back from Alonso's early-(40's)- NYC days, even before she saw Markova dancing it, thanks to the photographic memory that Mme. Fedorova had of it from her dancing days at the Imperial troupe. I can't really say that I hope for a full "come back" of the Grand Pas, given that it is still alive and well kept in more than one troupe, but I would really love to see it nurtured and cherished by the whole ballet world as much as we nurture and cherish the Love Duet from SL. If anything, as I said earlier, I REALLY hope that Mme Alonso and Sir Wright's successors will honor their vision of it.

What I knew had to be somewhere finally makes its triumphant entrance in Youtube..! Here it goes, a text book perfect comparisson on the Sugar Plum Fairy Ivanov choreography, as danced by Alicia Markova-(who learned it first hand from N. Sergueev during the early 30's) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQk2NweiWa4&feature=relmfu And here, as it was passed along to Sir Peter Wright by Mme. karsavina And here-(at 0648)-, as Miss Viengsay Valdes is currently dancing it as taught by Mme. Alonso, learned via Alexandra Fedorova. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CnSR5ws4xA I hope the future AD's of both the British and the Cuban companies can value, treasure and keep passing along this almost extinct beautiful PDD.