ALMANAC WEEKLY
March 13, 2014
17
Lili Taylor and Gerard Hurley in The Pier
SCREEN SCREEN
RETURN TO THE EMERALD ISLE
Tall in the saddle National Theatre Live from London’s War Horse screens in Rhinebeck & Rosendale
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o you’ve seen the Steven Spielberg film, and you’ve wondered how in the world a story of such epic scale could have been rendered onstage – garnering wild critical and popular acclaim, plus scads of prestigious drama awards for both its West End and Broadway productions – with its lead character portrayed by…a horse puppet. Well, it must have worked, considering that some four million people around the world have attended live performances of War Horse, Nick Stafford’s stage adaptation of a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo about a boy and his horse separated by World War I, since its 2007 London debut. Over the next couple of weeks, you now have your chance – four chances, actually: one in Rhinebeck and three in Rosendale – to catch a taped performance of War Horse, presented by National Theatre Live from London and originally simulcast in England on February 27. Though it’s billed as the “original production” of War Horse, featuring the Handspring Puppet Company’s phenomenal ersatz equines, some members of the original cast have moved on to even bigger things. The role of Albert, the English farmboy who pursues his beloved steed Joey behind enemy lines, was first portrayed by Kit Harington, now better-known as Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones and starring at a cinema near you in Pompeii. Sion Daniel Young plays Albert in the current cast; catch him now before he gets too famous. National Theatre Live from London’s War Horse will be screened at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, located at 6415 Montgomery Street (Route 9), on Wednesday, March 19 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 general admission, $13 for seniors and students and $11 for Upstate members. For information call (845) 876-2515 or visit http://upstatefilms.org. At the Rosendale Theatre, located at 408 Main Street (Route 213) in Rosendale, National Theatre from London’s War Horse will be screened at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 23, at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 27 and at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2. Tickets cost $12 general admission, $10 for Rosendale Theatre Collective members. For information call (845) 658-8989 or visit http://rosendaletheatre. org. – Frances Marion Platt
of tactile detail typical of DreamWorks’ past oeuvre; we can make out every pore on Peabody’s realistically doggylike black nose. It won’t push any Pixar product off its perch at the top of the cartooning hill, but visually, Mr. Peabody and Sherman certainly succeeds at morphing the sketchy output of Jay Ward’s studio into an acceptably-modern-but-still-recognizable 21st-century format. The lead voice actors are up to the task, if not outstanding; more fun are some of the cameo roles, including Stephen Colbert as Penny’s father, Stanley Tucci as Leonardo da Vinci and Mel Brooks as Albert Einstein. Allison Janney gets to munch the most scenery as Mrs. Grunion, the nasty woman from Child Protective Services who wants to take Sherman away from Peabody. Stuffed to bursting into tweedy outfits in bellicose shades of pink, Grunion’s a ringer for that nadir of the evil education bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge, as portrayed by Imelda Staunton in the Harry Potter saga (minus the coy, breathy British accent). Conclusion: Mr. Peabody and Sherman is an enjoyable outing, so long as you remember that this is a dip into the world of Jay Ward and take nothing about it seriously. With its silly humor (including an occasional visual of characters being excreted out the rear ends of such constructs as the Trojan horse, which should greatly appeal to 8-year-olds),
its rollicking action and heartwarming ending, the movie is very kid-friendly – so long as you remember to have that little talk afterwards about not biting people or sticking them with swords. Oh, and change the subject if your little one asks you to explain Agamemnon’s joke about Oedipus. – Frances Marion Platt
Director Tom Krueger discusses You’re in Charge this Saturday at Upstate in Woodstock
If you’re old enough, you may remember actress Mary Kay Place as the wannabe country music star Loretta Haggers on the oddball 1970s TV soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – a role that won her an Emmy – and its two spinoff series, Forever Fernwood and Fernwood 2-Night. Or she may be more familiar from her roles in the movies Starting Over, The Big Chill, Citizen Ruth, The
Director Gerard Hurley discusses The Pier this Sunday at Upstate Films Rhinebeck
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his Sunday afternoon, Upstate Films Rhinebeck will host a special screening and question-and-answer session with screenwriter/actor/director Gerard Hurley (The Pride, 2008). Hurley will present his newest feature, The Pier, in which he plays an Americanized Irishman named Jack McCarthy who is duped into returning to his homeland by false tales that his long-estranged father Larry (Karl Johnson) is on his deathbed. Lili Taylor co-stars as an American tourist who provides some distraction from Jack’s battles with his dysfunctional family. The film was shot on location in Ireland, and you can catch the trailer at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jFuzMw1dWj8. Gerard Hurley’s The Pier will be shown at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 16 at Upstate Films, located at 6415 Montgomery Street (Route 9) in Rhinebeck. Tickets cost $10 general admission, $6 for Upstate members. For more information call (845) 876-2515 or visit http://upstatefilms.org. – Frances Marion Platt
Rainmaker, Manny & Lo or Being John Malkovich, or for her character Camille Cherski in the 90s TV series My So-Called Life. Place lends her stardust to the otherwiseunknown acting lineup of a new indie film titled You’re in Charge, the first feature by a seasoned cinematographer with strong mid-Hudson ties, Tom Krueger. O+ Festival board member Alexandra Marvar is also the film’s producer. The tale of an ex-con and his unemployed brother who imperil the family’s nest egg to launch a dubious business venture dispensing “alternative” medicines, the comedy was shot in Lafayette, Louisiana and is being lauded for its fabulous soundtrack and its authentic depiction of Cajun culture. You can watch the trailer at www.youtube. com/watch?v=RufuotMxFjo. Upstate Films Woodstock will be hosting the New York premiere of You’re in Charge this Saturday, March 15 beginning at 9:15 p.m., with writer/director Krueger on hand to talk about the film. Tickets cost $10 general admission, $6 for Upstate members. For more information call (845) 679-6608 or visit http://upstatefilms.org. – Frances Marion Platt
Ocean of Pearls this Saturday in Rhinebeck The monthly Movies with Spirit community film series will show the award-winning drama Ocean of Pearls, about the values that one places on one’s identity when challenged by assimilation, on Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah at 6436 Montgomery Street in Rhinebeck. Actor Omid Abtahi, known for his role in the 2012 political thriller Argo, stars as Amrit Singh, a gifted young surgeon in Detroit whose parents emigrated from India in the 1960s. Singh, a transplant specialist, is offered a chance to be the top surgeon at a hospital’s new transplant center. He is thrilled, but senses that his outward appearance as a practicing Sikh will get in the way. So he shuns his family and does the unimaginable for a
Sikh: he forsakes his turban and cuts his long black hair. But shedding his religious convictions proves far more complicated than he imagines. The semi-autobiographic film, written and directed by Sarab Singh Neelam, a Sikh gastroenterologist from Troy, Michigan, is a penetrating, universal tale of self-realization. The 2008 film runs 97 minutes and is rated PG-13. The screening will be followed by a discussion. Refreshments will be served. The monthly Movies with Spirit series seeks to stimulate people’s sense of joy and wonder, inspire love and compassion and support individual cultures, faith paths and beliefs while simultaneously transcending them. The films are screened in diverse houses of worship and reverence across Ulster and Dutchess Counties at 7 p.m., usually on the third Saturday of every month. The series has no religious affiliation. Attendees over age 12 are asked to contribute a suggested $5 per person to offset series expenses. For more information, call (845) 389-9201 or e-mail gerryharrington@mindspring.com.