Where We Stand at the WP Theatre 🎭

“Where We Stand” is a one woman show about an event that occurred in a small town, but has ultimately more to say about the world we currently live in.

The play is written and performed by Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The performance begins with her sitting amongst the audience, humming a song then once everyone is quiet, she begins to actually sing.

She has no name, but tells the story of a magical being she encounters one day.

The stranger is dressed in gold and additionally gifts her three golden things. The golden seed, golden scythe and golden spade are then used to transform her town into a utopia.

Of course, when dealing with magical strangers, these gifts always come at a cost.

The show is currently running at the WP Theatre and is directed by Tamilla Woodard. The stage is almost bare and Grays does not shy away from interacting with the audience, giving a very intimate feel.

She has a commanding presence on stage, though at times it was difficult to tell when she was playing the magical stranger and when she wasn’t. This muddled to story just a tiny bit.

The play itself is written as if it were a spoken piece. There’s a certain rhythm and rhymes found throughout that keep it interesting.

Despite this, it does begin to feel a little long as the play continues.

The overall message and its ties to society were not all together clear (at least to me), though I did see this at an invited dress rehearsal so it’s possible this has been cleared up. There is a bit of fun at the end involving the audience in which I got to participate in. 

This was definitely something to witness. It’s especially fun, when you get to voice your opinion, just remember to pay close attention. 

The Confession of Lily Dare at Cherry Lane Theatre 🎭

This is a highly entertaining show, but it does have a particular style that may not be for everyone. Some moments could have been cut, but it does have beautiful emotional moments. Once again this show may not be for everyone as it is campy. There is not much action as it is a bio of sorts, and there is a lot of Lily Dare’s life to get through. The tech aspects were great. The show is hilarious.

Little Women (2019)

Greta Gerwig does something different with her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”. With so many adaptations in existence, she needed to do something to stand out. The adaptation works completely.

Amy (Florence Pugh), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), Jo (Saoirse Ronan) and Meg (Emma Watson) are sisters growing up during the Civil War. Amy is the feisty, youngest sister who dreams of being the best artist; Beth is the musically talented sister with the most health issues; Jo is the writer who defies all traditional female roles and Meg wants to live a domestic life. The story begins in the future and is told via flashbacks starting seven years prior.

Apparently some found the use of the flashbacks confusing, but once the film truly gets going it’s easy to differentiate between the time periods. I’ve read the book so I knew what was the past and what was the future. Still, I thought it was easy to differentiate between the time periods regardless. Most of the scenes that take place in the past involve the sisters’ neighbor Laurie (Timothee Chalamet). The cinematography is also bleaker in the future as it matches Beth’s declining health.

Gerwig does a great job of making all the characters sympathetic. She also does a great job of showing that all the sisters’ life decisions are worthy in their own way because they’re living their truths. All the actresses do a great job as well. Ronan has the difficult job of portraying the strong willed sister that has few moments of vulnerability, and those moments she really lets her emotions through. Watson and Scanlen also do great in their roles. The standout for me was Pugh. She portrays Amy as a young girl all the way to being a young woman and she is able to portray that childlike wonder while also showing us her maturity once she’s of age.

The main focus of the film is womanhood. It shows that every woman might desire something different from someone else, and regardless of the decisions made, they’re valid. Some of the sisters also end up doing something vastly different with their lives than they initially imagined. The problems they faced as women growing up in the 1800s are in many ways still relevant today. Gerwig portrays all of these ideas masterfully.

The film has beautiful moments as well as heartbreaking ones. The sisters never feel like caricatures regardless of their life experiences.

Like a Boss (2020)

3 stars ✨

The entire cast of Like a Boss is talented and funny.

Salma Hayek as a rich makeup maven and a Tiffany Haddish as one of two women who own a cosmetics company are especially funny.

The premise is simple enough. The film is directed by Miguel Arteta who directed Hayek in Beatriz at Dinner. Haddish and Rose Byrne star as best friends who own their own makeup company. The company is at risk of going under. Desperate they turn to the biggest makeup mogul in town. Hijinks ensue.

Byrne’s Mel Paige and Haddish’s Mia Carter are introduced at the start via a photo montage. They have been best friends forever and as adults started their MM Cosmetic line. They had great online sales, but unfortunately the brick and mortar store is costing them money. Mel is usually overruled by Mia and the other two store employees played by Billy Porter and Jennifer Coolidge. With such a rambunctious crew, Mel has a hard time breaking the bad news to them.

Claire Luna (Hayek) discovers MM Cosmetics online and offers them a business deal that would solve their financial problems. Hayek is delightfully over the top in this role. Her outfits are colorful, her hair is red and she looks absolutely ridiculous. She plays it well

The deal she offers come with some downsides, but the financial payoff is too good to pass up. At least it is for Mel who jumps on the deal straight away. Mia is hesitant to hand over even a small portion of control to Claire.

Of course their friendship is put to the test.

There are funny moments found in the film and everyone handles the comedic bits in their own way. Haddish is unsurprisingly the comedic standout.

The entire cast is fantastic including the minor characters. Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge and Karan Soni were especially funny in their roles.

The film is refreshing in that men don’t come between the friends. The main stars are all women and the main focus is their friendship. Mel and Mia would do anything for each other. It’s not an Oscar winning film, but sometimes you just need to be entertained.

Bombshell (2019)

4 stars ✨

Roger Ailes was fired as the head of Fox News four years ago as multiple sexual harassment claims came out against him.

On July 6, 2016 former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against Ailes. She said was unlawfully fired for denying Ailes’s advances. More women came forward and an investigation was launched. Once Megyn Kelly came out saying that Ailes had made sexual advances toward her, his dismissal became inevitable. Two days later he was fired.

All of this came an entire year before #Metoo became a movement.

“Bombshell” is a dramatization of those events. It stars Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and Margot Robbie as the fictional Kayla Popsipil

The film has a distinct style. The camera is almost intrusive as it follows the characters around the set of a Fox News.

The film is nominated for an Oscar for makeup. This is highly deserved. The actors look pretty much identical to the real life people they are portraying.

The film is interesting to watch. It’s especially fascinating to see how many people at Fox News defended Roger Ailes and tried to make the women coming forward look like liars or vindictive people. Of course, this isn’t something new or something that has changed since then.