To Kill A Mockingbird (Broadway) (2019)

Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird is finally on Broadway. It's a very engaging play though allegedly different from the original. Atticus isn't quite as I remember him in the movie. He is a flawed character, perhaps more close to the original character in the book. His moral compass is perhaps too strong, choosing to see the good in everyone to the fault of ignoring faults. He is a passive character whose moral convictions prevent him from striking out against those who would take advantage of him. In some ways, he is the moderate liberal who understands the detrimental effects of racism but refuses to fault the racists. He cannot believe that his neighbors in small town Alabama are evil. What seems obvious to the audience and the kids is hard for him to accept. That makes him a much more complex character than I remember. I'll have to pay a visit to the book.

The play is very Aaron Sorkin. The dialogue is fast and crowded. Jeff Daniels walks (paces) and talks (cross-examines). It is much funnier than the book/movie, which works on stage, but perhaps detracts a little from the seriousness of the subject matter. The set is simple but effective. Celia Keenan-Bolger is a fine Scout, but it is a little hard to get past the full-grown woman playing a 5-year old. That goes for all the kids played by adults. There are two musicians on stage, an organ and guitar. The music is atmospheric, probably unnecessary, but adds a nice light touch for a riveting night at the theater.

Show Me a Hero (2016)

This miniseries from the master David Simon is gripping. He exceeds at crafting and developing characters on all ends of the spectrum. He depicts life in Yonkers from the upper-class white side to the lower-class black side in public housing and then the integrated neighborhoods with the new contentious public housing. It matters that Simon's stories are inspired by real life. He is depicting a real slice of life in America, at times mundane but always real. When people want to see raw everyday America, they would do well to turn to Simon.

The choice of music is very fitting. For the most part, it's not performed music (diagetic) like in Treme. But it features lots of Bruce Springsteen in the Oscar Isaac scenes. And period hip hop in the projects scenes.

It is a timely story about race. They always are about race, actually. But this is very explicit. It is a true story about opposition to building federally mandated public housing in Yonkers, NY in the late 80s. Yes, recent racism in NY. It existed and exists today. You are made to see everyone's side of the story. Oscar Isaac plays the young mayor. He is always excellent, really inhabiting the life of this "hero." My favorite were the first few episodes with the nitty gritty local politics. But the development of Catherine Keener's character was also really engaging. The opening scene is also the ending scene, and while I kind of saw it coming, I was genuinely shaken by it. 

The Taming of the Shrew (The Public Theater) (2016)

This all-female production of a rather misogynistic play was interesting, but certainly strange. It is a twist to make outdated Elizabethan gender roles tolerable and accessible to a modern audience. Janet McTeer as Petrucchio is excellent. She plays a man well. And Cush Jumbo is versatile as Katherina both unruly and tamed. But what was weirdest about this production is the transposition of the Italian-set play to America, specifically Texas. They don't change any of the place names, but the costumes include cowboy hats and leather jackets and plaid. The set looks carnival themed. They read Shakespeare with a twang. Shakespeare is meant to be read with a British accent.

There is an inexplicable beauty pageant in the beginning and end of the play that definitely wasn't written by Shakespeare. It is used to cleverly jab Donald Trump. And maybe a knock at Steve Harvey too? But I'm not entirely sure where it fits into the play. The production is supposed to move away from Shakespeare's original reading of gender stereotypes, but a pageant seems to reinforce them. Unless it's all just to set up the very last moment when tamed Katherina has the title stripped away from her. Maybe that is the intention. I don't know, but it's kind of bizarre.