Sunday, July 17, 2011

Links from 7/18 -- Civil Rights Era, Baseball, & the Century Cycle



Link

I thought that it would be easier just to share this old entry.  See the link above to go there.

What else was going on in 1957?


In 1957, nine high school students desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, AR.



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EN 190 Links for Fences



Above is a picture of the 2010 Broadway cast of Fences.  You may notice Denzel Washington as Troy.


There is no movie version of Fences, but here are some trailers from various productions, and below is another still from 2010 with Washington as Troy and Viola Davis as Rose.


Here he discusses this role:


Ah, here is a collection of scenes from that version!

http://www.youtube.com/user/FencesBroadway

James Earl Jones was the original Troy:

Here Jones is with Mary Alice, the actor who played Rose.  Courtney B. Vance of Law and Order:CI played Cory.


Kenny Leon directed another version at Boston's Huntington Theater.  Pictures follow below:



In 2007, Portland (OR) Center Stage presented this version:


This version is a film rather than a play filmed:


The last clip is a classroom version from Introduction to Theater at CUNY Baruch:


In 2008, Minnesota's Penumbra Theater staged Fences.  As you may have seen, Wilson worked with this company at one point.



Here are links to interviews with people who knew August Wilson, the author of Fences:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Nyi2szYFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KcLTgiZ68Y&feature=related

Below are some reviews of various productions.

Charles McNulty reviews a 2010 production at LA's South Coast Repertory:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/01/theater-review-fences-at-south-coast-repertory.html


Frank Rich's review from 1987 is here:

http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9b0de7de1f3df934a15750c0a961948260

Ben Brantley reviews the recent Broadway revival starring Denzel Washington:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/theater/reviews/27fences.html

Toby Zinman makes some interesting points:

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/index.php/main/article/august_wilsons_fences_in_new_york

Thomas Garvey reviews the Huntington's production here:

http://hubreview.blogspot.com/2009/09/huntington-swings-for-august-wilsons.html

See Carolyn Clay's review for another perspective:

http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/90186-black-beauty/

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Versions of Fences


Link

At the link above, you will find links to trailers from various versions of Fences.  Over the weekend, I will edit that old entry for your consumption.



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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Recent Reviews of Death of a Salesman



A director may have a compelling central idea for his or her production, but what do audiences and reviewers make of the idea?

Here are some reviews of recent productions of Death of a Salesman.  We'll start with Frank Rich's review of the Broadway version starring Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, and John Malkovich.  Note that at this time Malkovich was known for his work in the theater and that Hoffman was an unconventional choice to play Willy.

http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=950ce2d81e39f933a05750c0a962948260



Charles Isherwood reviews the Yale Rep version starring Charles S. Dutton:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/theater/reviews/05deat.html

John Lahr's review is here:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2009/05/25/090525crth_theatre_lahr

Blogger Tambay comments on these reviews:

http://www.shadowandact.com/?p=2778

Frank Rizzo's review is more positive:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940176?refcatid=33&printerfriendly=true



See these links for reviews of the versions starring Brian Dennehy:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/salesman.html

http://www.curtainup.com/salesman.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2005/may/17/theatre

http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=DEATH%20OF%20A%20SALESMAN%20%28PLAY%29&pdate=19990211&byline=By%20BEN%20BRANTLEY&id=1077011429728&scp=3&sq=death%20of%20a%20salesman%20dennehy&st=cse

Charles Isherwood's review is here:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117490674?refCatId=33

For reviews of other productions, see these links:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/nov/18/theatre-arthur-miller-death-of-salesman

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/may/07/death-of-a-salesman-leeds

http://newcitystage.com/2009/10/13/review-death-of-a-salesmanraven-theatre/

http://chitheatreaddict.com/2009/10/07/death-of-a-salesman-raven-theatre/

Enjoy!
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Arthur Miller 1915-2005



While I'm online, I will post some links about playwright Arthur Miller.  The picture above is of the author in 1949, the year that Death of a Salesman became such a hit.

Since Miller's plays were quite popular in the UK, the BBC has an excellent obituary.  You may also see clips of his plays at this site.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/233032.stm

The slideshow below gives you an idea of his career as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4258123.stm

The Guardian's obituary provides more background:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/feb/12/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries

Here British directors give their thoughts on Miller's legacy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/feb/12/arts.filmnews?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

The NY Times has collected its articles from the later part of his career:

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/theater/newsandfeatures/MILLER-REF.html

Or you may prefer to read Miller's own thoughts from 2001:

http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/miller/lecture.html

http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/miller/interview.html

Miller is also known for his short marriage to Marilyn Monroe.


Susan Doll's essay discusses The Misfits, a movie that Miller wrote for his wife towards the end of their marriage.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/marilyn-monroe-final-years3.htm

Another of Miller's most well-known plays is The Crucible, a play set during Salem's 1692 witch trials.  See this link for a review of a recent London production:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jun/03/the-crucible-review

I'll close with a picture of 1910s New York City.  It's incredible to see how crowded the city streets were.
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Historical Background for Death of a Salesman




Most of the pictures of 1940s Brooklyn that I've found so far are fairly urban.  The picture above is of trolleys somewhere in the borough (or section of the city).  Fewer people had cars, so more people took trolleys and the subway.  (Note that Willy has a car but Linda does not.)  Without television, movie theaters were common in most neighborhoods.  However, the rise of television would lead to the closing of many of these theaters.


Here is a picture of Ebbets Field where Biff played.  It is, of course, more famous for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 


In 1949, Jackie Robinson had already joined the Dodgers' major league team, thus beginning the process of integrating baseball.  Up until this point, no African Americans played in the major leagues. 


The following site will give you more of an overview of the 1940s:

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html

For more information about 1949, see this site:

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1949.html

This timeline focuses on NYC in the 1940s:

http://bigapple.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/11/nyc-decade-by-decade19401949the-war-and-the-aftermath.html

Sometimes it is more fun to look at the smaller picture.  The site below contains reviews of restaurants and nightclubs from the 1940s.  I can't get over how inexpensive the restaurant meals and drinks are! 

http://www.tipsontables.com/

Fashion is always fun!

http://retro-fashion-history.com/html/1949_fashion_and_vintage_cloth.html

http://1940s.org/fashion/

http://www.murrayonhawaii.com/nolan/fashionhistory_1940mens.html


Or you may prefer cars.

http://www.anythingaboutcars.com/1940scars.html

http://www.pbase.com/rpdoody/classic_american_cars_of_the_1940s

Movies are always interesting. 

http://theendofcinema.blogspot.com/2008/06/movies-of-year-1949.html

http://www.filmsite.org/1949.html

Here is a link to a movie trailer from that era:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHeiNUbaG7o

Here is a "Hit Parade" of songs from 1949:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6QfBXwdkA

FYAmuse, here are some pictures of Brooklyn today:



 Here is a picture of a family in Brooklyn:

Or this picture:

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Monday, July 11, 2011

Videos of Death of a Salesman






The picture above is from the original 1949 performance of Death of a Salesman.  Lee J. Cobb was Willy, Arthur Kennedy was Biff, and Cameron Mitchell played Happy.  Cobb later appeared in CBS' 1966 movie for television.  

See this link for a picture from that later production:  

The 1985 Death of a Salesman is harder to find, so I will send you a few other versions, starting with a 1951 version that Arthur Miller did *not* approve of!


Avery Brooks starred in a 2008 production at Oberlin College.  (He and the director Justin Emeka are both Oberlin alums.)


Starting with this YouTube, Brooks and Emeka discuss the production:




In 2009, Charles S. Dutton played Willy in Yale Rep's version:


Brian Dennehy played Willy in 2000.  This TV movie appeared on Showtime, another of our premium channels:




These pictures are from a 2005 production, also starring Dennehy.  This production was staged at London's Lyric Theater.  I think that my sister-in-law may have seen either this version or an earlier one at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.

David Mamet argues that Death of a Salesman is a Jewish play:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2005/may/07/theatre.davidmamet


This version from 1996 is British and appeared on the BBC:


DC's own Arena Stage also had a version of Death of a Salesman as part of an Arthur Miller festival in 2008:

The Ensemble Theater's 2008 version is here.  (This company is Australian.)


I'll close with the Raven Theater Company's 2008/9 version.  This company is based in Chicago.


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