Matilda and Monuments

In January we took a whistle-stop trip to NYC for Thing 2’s 10th birthday. It’s becoming a thing (we saw Annie last year). This year we saw Matilda.
You must go.
Really, you must.

I don’t know how you’ll do it, but try everything you can to go see this show. My Goodness… it’s a book-lover’s paradise. And oddly, the theater was populated by plenty of folks who (I gather) had never read a Roald Dahl book before by the way they gasped at Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and Miss Trunchbull (played by the marvelous Chris Hotch in terrifying drag).

Why, you ask, must you run out and find your way to New York?

Because of Tim Minchin’s lyrics and music and Matthew Warchus’ deeply inventive staging.

Minchin (who you may know from this, or this—neither for children’s ears) or from this (which children might not ‘get’, but could probably hear without their ears melting. If you watch the extended, uncut version you’ll hear the whole intro) is the über logical, science-loving, eyeliner-wearing, bed-head touting, happily-married, songster-comedian-genius behind STORM (again, not for children). We might think—based on all of that—that he would be a horrid, cynical lyricist for a play about a genius, quirky, lovely, loving magical, girl.

We would all be wrong.

He is absolutely perfectly wonderful.

Here.

Here is the Royal Variety performance, 2013.

And here is the 2013 Tony Awards.

See?

Lovely.

Do what you can, and if it tours, DO NOT miss it.

* * * * *

Recently my husband and I were able to sneak out for a mid-day movie. He’s been traveling a lot so any time together is a joy and a thing of beauty. We decided to see Monuments Men regardless the humbug reviews.

I don’t know what the reviewers thought they were going to see, but I got what I paid for.

This is a huge story. It could have been a mini-series. I’d guessed that they’d have to condense characters and truncate time-lines (which they did) and that it would be more of a marvelous lightly-done history lesson than a deep Schindler’s List-type movie. And it was. And it was lovely. Clooney’s cast was spot on (anytime you get to see Murray, Goodman, Balaban, Clooney, and Damon together, just go. It’ll be fun) if you have to be both entertaining and heartwarming at the same time, and Cate Blanchette can do more without speaking than anyone I’ve seen lately other than Jean Dujardin (who is also lovely in the film). I thought she was truly amazing in a small (but important, and true) part.

So, short version: if you don’t expect an epic, you’ll be happy to see a movie that makes you want to read the real story and entertains you for two hours.

Let me know what you thought—>