Palo Alto Weekly 07.29.2011 - section 1

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Arts & Entertainment gia’s latest beau. • Oscar Shapiro (Todd Wright), a financial backer who has begun to fear for his investment. • Johnny Harmon (a no-nonsense Joe Colletti), the show’s stage manager. This truly is an ensemble piece — a tribute to the collaborative nature of musical theater — and the cast works together admirably. If a few of the performers seem a bit green, it doesn’t matter. The group’s enthusiasm is evident, and under the sure hand of director Jay Manley, it produces a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Certain numbers stand out, of course. “What Kind of Man,â€? in which Carmen, Aaron, Georgia and Oscar lambast the Boston critics who have lambasted their premiere, provides the show’s first delicious pinch of Kander and Ebb strychnine, drawing the audience immediately into the backstage

fold. Risk (Carmen) has a second hit on her hands with “It’s a Business,� in which Carmen expounds on the pragmatic side of their artistic endeavor, backed by a delightful chorus of stage hands and seamstresses. The Act 2 opener, “He Did It,� is a tightly written exercise in creeping paranoia, and the staging — amazing what you can do with blankets and flashlights — is as effective as it is minimal. And “In the Same Boat,� a ditzy vaudeville pastiche from “Robbin’ Hood� that Cioffi encourages Aaron to rewrite time and again, pays off beautifully when it finally comes together late in the second act. Everyone, Cioffi included, joins in for the creation of a song-and-dance extravaganza that exceeds one’s expectations for the space-constrained Foothill production. Over the years, Manley has proven himself adept at staging large-scale

Broadway musicals in small venues, without losing the expansive feel of the original. It’s a skill that serves him well here, as the large Smithwick Theatre (the usual home of FMTs summer productions) is undergoing seismic retrofitting, forcing “Curtains� into the lovely but much smaller Lohman Theatre. Together with choreographer Dottie Lester-White, Manley has created a show that feels much bigger than the space it inhabits. The cast of 30-plus never seem crowded on the stage, assembling and scattering with no hint of traffic congestion. The dance numbers never feel “scaled back� and deliver plenty of punch. The Lohman venue does, however, pose a couple of challenges that are only partially met. Hidden somewhere behind the set, Mark Hanson’s five-piece combo does a decent job of covering the old-style Broadway accompaniments (originally scored for

Film festival

ish Community Center, and the 58 festival films in total, seem not to be there to resolve uncertainties. Far from it. Collectively, they appear to make a case that uncertainties can be desirable, even crucial, as unknowability turns into possibility and possibility turns into inclusiveness. The people inside the art are lovable clowns, traumatized youths, grandparents, matchmakers, seductresses and singers, and their stories are as tender as they are harrowing, as sweet as they are difficult. In some way or another, many of these stories have already been told. But perhaps they persist because they’re worth telling again. N

What: The 31st annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, with some screenings in Palo Alto Where: Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. When: Local screenings are afternoons and evenings, Aug. 1 through Aug. 7. Cost: Tickets are $12 general admission and $11 for matinees (4 p.m. and earlier on Monday through Thursday). Student and senior tickets are $10.50. A free Palo Alto screening of “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness� is at 4 p.m. on Aug. 3. Info: For more information, go to sfjff. org or call 415-621-0523 weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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see the conflicts, the struggle. And I’d hope that someone who is not Jewish would be able to watch and relate.� What is true of its sister films is undoubtedly true of “Polish Bar� itself: All is not necessarily as it seems. It’s not a parable of childhood, but it is about growing up and coming to terms. “There is no bar that’s exactly like the Polish bar, but it’s real,� Berkowitz said. “People in ‘Polish Bar’ are all trying to be good, but the film is not an easy film. It’s not a feel-good film. It’s tough. It can be really heartbreaking.� Heartbreaking, yes. But what is most heartbreaking is also most reassuring, in particular at moments of a mother’s insurmountable love, a stepfather’s words of wisdom or an Orthodox cousin’s honesty about family and faith. Ends are left untied, questions left unanswered. And somehow, that’s all right, with this film and others in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Maybe nobody knows what will become of the Jewish girl who has lost her mother and is taken in by a Gentile woman, the titular character of the wintry Polish drama “Joanna,� at great danger to both woman and child in Germanoccupied Warsaw. It also might be tricky to explain why political complicity, as detailed in the French World War II film “The Roundup,� is so painful to talk about. And no one can say for sure if Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel — Catholic priest, Jew and the subject of “Torn,� an Israeli documentary — will find true reconciliation between the seemingly antithetical halves of his religious identity. “I had struggled all my life with what it meant to be a Jew if I didn’t pray weekly, much less daily — if I sometimes believed in God and sometimes didn’t,� Joseph Dorman, director of the American biographical documentary “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness,� said in a director’s statement. “The important thing, in the end, is to wrestle with the ambivalences of identity. Only by doing so can we hope to hold on to our ever-shifting identities in any meaningful way.� The 29 films to be shown Aug. 1 to 7 at Palo Alto’s Oshman Family Jew-

two dozen instruments), but the synthesized horns can be distractingly cheesy at times. Scenic designer Joe Ragey gives the stage a sense of faded glory with a faux proscenium and a red main curtain that rises and falls for “Robbin’ Hood� rehearsals and performances. However, with limited upstage space, he relies on projections to suggest the “Robbin’ Hood� sets. This approach, sadly, fails to create the feel of a Broadway-bound 1959 production. But the strengths of FMT’s “Curtains� far outweigh its few shortcomings, just as Kander and Ebb’s songs — a few of which might seem tired or derivative if taken out of context — are the perfect complement to the non-

stop laughs of the script. “Curtains� is a must, not just for Kander and Ebb fans, but for anyone with a soft spot for the Broadway musical. N What: The musical “Curtains,� presented by Foothill Music Theatre Where: Lohman Theatre at Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills When: Through Aug. 14, with shows at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (except for July 31, which has a 7 p.m. show) Cost: Tickets are $26 general, $24 for seniors, $20 for non-Foothill students, $13 for Foothill students and staff, and $10 for kids under 12. Info: Go to foothillmusicals.com or call 650-949-7360.

David Finckel & Wu Han, Artistic Directors

“Innovative, engaging, and artistically excellent...â€? —gramophone FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC £™nxĂŠ ÂœĂ•ÂˆĂƒĂŠ,Âœ>`]ĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠUĂŠ­ĂˆxäŽĂŠnxĂˆÂ‡ĂˆĂˆĂˆĂ“ĂŠUĂŠĂœĂœĂœ°vVVÂŤ>°ÂœĂ€}ĂŠ -Ă•Â˜`>ÞÊ7ÂœĂ€ĂƒÂ…ÂˆÂŤĂŠ>˜`ĂŠ-Ă•Â˜`>ÞÊ-V…œœÂ?ĂŠ>ĂŒĂŠ£ä\ääĂŠ>°Â“°

This Sunday: Animal Blessing Sunday

THE 2011 FESTIVAL: Through Brahms July 22-August 13, 2011 / Atherton Menlo Park Palo Alto

Bring your pets for outdoor worship! An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ

Music@Menlo, the Bay Area’s premier chamber music festival, offers an incomparable musical experience— world-class concerts in intimate venues, innovative programs performed by a cadre of the world’s great musicians, and numerous free opportunities to engage with artists and explore classical music. ™ :M8:EI>DC6A 8DC8:GIH 7N LDGA9"G:CDLC:9 BJH>8>6CH ™ :C<6<>C< HNBEDH>6 6C9 A:8IJG:H ™ ;G:: 86;w 8DCK:GH6I>DCH 6C9 B6HI:G 8A6HH:H ™ ;G:: 8DC8:GIH 7N NDJC< 6GI>HIH ;GDB BJH>85B:CADŸH >CHI>IJI:

INSPIRATIONS A resource for special events and ongoing religious services. To inquire about or make space reservations for Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION:

www.musicatmenlo.org

650-331-0202

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