The Return of the Pink Lady!

• Most importantly, Oscar and the Pink Lady starring Rosemary Harris began previews at the George Street Playhouse yesterday, January 15. It opens on January 18 and will run until February 10. We highly recommend you go and see this if you are in the New Brunswick vicinity! (And feel free to send us your thoughts on the play if you do!)

The Playhouse describe the play as:

[...] a remarkable tour-de-force performance! Set in a Children’s Hospital, this funny, touching and ultimately life affirming production is a testament to the human spirit and a celebration of the compassionate calling of those who work and volunteer in our hospitals and healthcare facilities. [...]

The GSP also have a nice little blog! Their latest post by Scott Goldman reports on all the important goings-on prior to yesterday's curtain-up:

[...] This past Sunday, Rosemary Harris had her final dress rehearsal for Oscar and the Pink Lady. What a treat it is to see this amazing actress fluidly move to play so many characters. In attendance were the tech staff (who have been working so hard to put this show up with just TWO WEEKS!), select members of the staff, and Ms. Harris' husband John Ehle (their daughter is Tony Award Winner Jennifer Ehle from The Coast of Utopia). As the director Frank Dunlop noted, it was the first time they were going to attempt running the show without stopping. Much has changed since their run in San Diego. The show was formerly in the round, keeping Ms. Harris moving all the time. Now at GSP, she's tailored her movement and facial expressions, making it all the more nuanced. Midway through the transformation has completely taken hold, and she comes so believable as a 10 year old boy it's truly astonishing. At the final moment of the show, there was barely a dry eye in the house. [...]

Their previous post of January 7 was also all about the life of Pink Lady director Frank Dunlop if you are interested.

Ticket information given by Playbill is as follows:

[...] George Street Playhouse is located in New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets, priced $28-$62, are available by calling (732) 246-7717. For more information visit http://www.gsponline.org/. [...]

Yes, so go see the play if you can! The Playhouse put it a bit more eloquently:

[...] There's an elegant simplicity to the show that is just so moving, it's hard to explain, so you'll just have to get out here and see it! [...]

• Whilst discussing the latest in the music world meanwhile, Hotpress slip in that:

[...] an earlier Pugwash track, ‘Anyone Who Asks’, appears on the soundtrack to the new Ed Norton and Jon Voight movie, Pride And Glory, which is released on March 14. [...]

....although this appears to be the only mention of a soundtrack at present.

• The Desert Sun, meanwhile briefly mentions the screening of Before the Rains at the PSIFF last Friday and Saturday:

[...] The film from India, "Before the Rains" was one of the most highly acclaimed films in the festival's largest programming section called "World Cinema Now" which included 77 new films from 38 countries.

The film, set during India's years of change - the late 1930's - premiered Friday night to rave reviews and was followed by a lavish gala at Palm Springs' hot new Tropicale Restaurant. [...]

• There continues to be a sea of articles relating to the Complete Jane Austen, the best of which being the New Yorker's which is a very nice read. They consider Pride and Prejudice to be 'especially well done...marked by good taste and exquisite restraint' and insist that by the end, 'you’ll be ripping your own bodice.' The guys at Film.com are particular 1995 version fans, considering it 'unlikely ever to be surpassed' and attributing it with 'starting the current Austen craze'. Other pieces come from The Washington Times, inRich, the Clarion Ledger, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Buffalo News - the latter describing Ms Ehle's performance as 'splendid'.

• Finally, a Coast of Utopia reader has reviewed the New York edition of the book on Amazon. Describing the book as 'challenging and enthralling', she says:

[...] This is what a play should be. Coast is challenging, engaging and demanding but in a way that leaves you wanting more. Stoppard has the highest respect for his audiences, a good thing, in this day of pandering to the lowest common denominator. Although he's been accused of didacticism, Stoppard leavens the heaviness with good doses of humor, not unlike G.B. Shaw. If you didn't get a chance to see the play performed, read it at the very least. [...]