Today Matt and I saw Festen with my mom. (Weird, weird, weird.) The weather was awful this afternoon; it was pouring when Matt and I got to the theater to meet my mom. A sea of umbrellas filled the sidewalk and overflowed into the street. In order to have better chance of seeing my mom, Matt and I stood underneath the marquis of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater directly across the street, where The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (with David Schwimmer) has not yet opened for previews.
As we waited, a young woman came up to us and asked if we knew where Chita Rivera’s show was playing. I looked at Matt and then looked back at the young woman. “I thought that had closed?” I said. She walked away, puzzled. Then she hesitated, turned around and walked back. She showed us her ticket. It was, indeed, a ticket for Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, dated April 8, 2006, at the very theater in front of which we were standing.
Indeed, the show closed two months ago. I guess nobody told her.
I felt bad for her. I hope she hadn’t come from very far away.
That is HEARTBREAKING if she had. My mother and my sister were so moved by that show that they begged me to make time to come see it, but I never did. I think it must have some special significance for Puerto Rican women.
how was the show? lars van trier holds a special place in my heart. the movie was on IFC a week or 2 ago.
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Marc, the best way I would describe it was… weird. Very weird.
I saw the London production of Festen. It was very true to the film. It was painful and uncomfortable just like the film. But well done. I think it deserves more adjectives than just “weird” to describe it. It’s a “weirdness” that is part of too many people’s experiences, unfortunately.