The New York Musical Theatre Festival has already started its last week, and I’m ashamed to say I haven’t had a chance to go to anything nor do I have any idea how well they’ve been doing. I hope it’s been a relative success because I think the concept of such a festival is something that should have existed in New York long before now.
This week, along with the continuation of its main program, the festival is also featuring screenings of movie musicals at the AMC 25 on 42nd Street. There’s no Sound of Music or Chicago or Phantom of the Opera in this lineup, however. Instead, if you’re like me, you’ve already missed Neil Young’s Greendale, which screened yesterday and you were dying to see. And today you’ll miss Lars von Trier directing Bjork in Dancer in the Dark at 4:30 PM, which I have seen and loved even though they should hand out prozac at the door of the theater. Tomorrow is John Cameron Mitchell’s brilliant adaptation of his own show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. If you saw the stage show but never saw the movie, you really should try to get to this because it’s a great example of how different a movie adaptation can be from its source material while still retaining the essence of the original. Now Thursday, I am going to try to make The American Astronaut, which I’ve been wanting to see for quite some time and still isn’t available on video. But this has been a busy week, and doing so may be rough.
If you have the time, though, check out the schedule and help support the NYMTF. I want to have the chance to plan better and attend more next year. So yeah … do it for me. I thank you in advance.
Out of Focus 