The Oscars are just around the corner and we will be celebrating in our usual high/medium/low/mix-it-up style. Join us for our 8th Annual Awards Night Party! It’s the Oscars broadcast live on Feb. 26, with costume contest, auction and prizes. A delicious dinner from our great local restaurants, appetizers, desert and wine are all included in the ticket price.
This year’s costume contest brings a wealth of opportunity. Steampunks have HUGO. Those who favor casual yet chic clothing made from expensive fabric that drapes nicely can come as the modern-day characters from MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. Marilyn Monroe (MY WEEK WITH MARILYN) and Margaret Thatcher (THE IRON LADY) are both options; or just wear your usual Izod shirt, wind-breaker and baseball cap (MONEYBALL). Something for everyone.
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Tickets are $55 General ($45 for Lark Theater members), $75 VIP. They are going quickly, so we recommend you call in advance: 415.924.5111. Details on our website.
Zoe Wanamaker as Ranyevskaya in the Cherry Orchard from London's National Theatre. At the Lark 6/30 & 7/9.
Every young acting student has this conversation with a teacher at some point, on being assigned a Chekhov scene. You go off full of purpose, your little yellow Samuel French script in hand. The cover says “Uncle Vanya, A Comedy, by Anton Chekhov.” Or “The Three Sisters, A Comedy, by Anton Chekhov.” Or “The Cherry Orchard, A Comedy, by Anton Chekhov.” You read the play, read it again to see what you missed, go back and say, “Um – I don’t get how this is a comedy.” And the answer invariably comes back: “It’s the human comedy.”
Fast forward a decade or two, maybe you’ve had your heart broken, seen your ideals collide with reality, faced foreclosure – whatever. You’ve come out with a more nuanced, less grandiose idea of your place in the universe. And presto! You get it. It’s a comedy!
Chekhov was a doctor, and he treats his characters the way a good doctor treats patients – with an unsparing eye for disorders like pomposity, hypocrisy, and our tendency to waste our lives by sitting around worrying about whether we are wasting our lives. But also with tenderness and a non-judging, all-encompassing humor.
Just look at this face.
Then there’s Oscar Wilde, for a whole different (equally unsparing) take on human foolishness. This stuff is just flat-out hilarious, and no one has to tell you why. We are very happy to bring Broadway to our screen for the first time. I’m going to let the actors speak for themselves here. I’ll only say that Brian Bedford (brilliant classical actor) plays Lady Bracknell, in what is already being called a legendary performance.
Excellent and insightful New York Times review here.
Now comes the really good stuff. Warning: off-color language. The actors, in full costume and character, performing text from Jersey Shore. Don’t say I never gave you anything.
Jersey Shore Gone Wilde part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3 ~ part 4 ~ part 5.
And, as if all that wasn’t enough, here’s the brilliant Stephen Fry (you may know him as part of the defunct British comedy duo, Fry and Laurie – yes, Dr. House – or from a thousand other things). Click here to read his musings on Wilde and Chekhov, and for recordings of him reading Wilde’s fairy tales and Chekhov’s short stories.
Filed under: Big Screen, Classics, Film Appreciation, Lark Odds & Ends, Musings
She was the living embodiment of beauty, of glamor – perhaps more than anything, of romantic passion. She survived lifelong stardom, scandal, addiction, a host of serious illnesses, a handful of near-death experiences. She never had sex with a man she didn’t marry, and “how many girls can say that?” When her beauty no longer made her the white-hot centrifugal center of Hollywood, she used her still-unparalleled fame to fight HIV/AIDS at a time when its sufferers were being stigmatized and ignored. She packed more life and love into her 79 years than most of us can begin to imagine.
We love you, Elizabeth.
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It’s event season again here at the Lark, and we have a lot coming up. Our Family Film Series has been a great success. Sponsored by the Sellers and Koeppel families, the series has been our way of offering an easy and affordable afternoon activity for kids and parents alike. Tix are $5 for kids under 12, $6.75 general. As a special part of the series, on 1/29 & 1/30 we’ll have Sing-along WIZARD OF OZ, with SF Opera chorus member Kathleen Bayler leading us in song (same ticket prices except adults are $10 at the door, $6.75 in advance).
Part of our NT Live series, KING LEAR comes to our screen on 2/3 and 2/5. The title role in this most dark yet transcendent of Shakespeare’s works is taken on by that most humane, most nuanced, most astonishing actor, Derek Jacobi. We are proud to be able to offer this caliber of performance, and we hope you’ll join us.
On Feb. 6 we’ll have Super Bowl XLV live onscreen – great for families who like to gather friends together but prefer to skip the clean-up or who have kids too young for the sports bar. Our Sports Onscreen events have grown in popularity. Ticket price Includes one soft drink or beer, popcorn and hot dog or pizza. Join us!
By popular demand, we’ve added a showing of FELA! on 2/10 at 7:00pm. Tony Award winner and living legend choreographer Bill T. Jones helms this amazing production, which he says is “rooted in the big questions of my life, questions like creativity, transgression, rebellion, sensuality, history, race, power. And there’s something about the man that calls out for a very poetic treatment. His life is so mythic in its scale.”
Stay tuned for more – not least, our Seventh Annual Academy Awards Party, coming up on 2/27.
I AM LOVE is back. If you believe that passion conquers all (or if you think that idea belongs in the movies); if you’re into design, food, clothes, jewelry, Italian film or anything else Italian – you will not want to miss this beautiful and juicy film.
Star and producer Tilda Swinton says it’s about the inevitability of change and the indomitable forces of human nature that drive us to change (she talks compellingly about the film, and a few other things, here). In the face of what we gladly admit is probably a golden age of television, she offers this musing on melodrama:
“It’s about noticing behavior in an atmosphere of silence, rather than this preoccupation with the idea of explicit plot and dialogue. Melodrama in cinema used to rely on the idea of atmosphere, and I don’t think it’s been relied on much in the last thirty years. Television simply cannot rely on it in the same way — it can’t play the same game that cinema can.”
I AM LOVE is long on atmosphere and sensuality, from the John Adams score (Adams also composed NIXON IN CHINA, part of our coming Met Opera season) to the lovers rolling in wild herbs – no mere hay – to those famously sexy prawns. There are multiple treats here for all your senses. Enjoy.
And, of course, the big screen comes with a big, lush and lovely sound system, which you’ll want when you see THE CONCERT, because the music is thrilling. This Russian-Romanian-French comedy has been delighting our audience. It is, “at it’s musical center, as full of ripe emotion as Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. It’s also as darkly funny as a Slavic farce, a composition of sweet cacophony.” Yum!
Hope to see you soon for one or both of these wonderful films.
- French New Wave. Understand the seismic shift in filmmaking in the early 1960s that continues to influence independent film the world over. Thurs., Oct. 7, 1 – 4pm
- Ingmar Bergman was a master of a cinema of punctured spirituality and our tenuous place in the universe. His work offers an unparalleled exploration of the nature of the human soul. Thurs., Oct 21, 1 – 4pm
- Iranian Cinema. Iran has a greater percentage of women filmmakers than practically any other country, and its industry has learned to challenge prevailing systems in ingenious and stunning ways. Thurs., Nov. 4, 1 – 4pm
With a perfect record of predictions for the 2010 World Cup, Oktopus Paul was one among many remarkable performers we had the privilege of witnessing during this exhilarating series of sporting events. The Lark Theater presented three of the games live on the big screen, with two sold-out houses. It is thrilling to watch a live sporting event here in the dark on the very big screen with a house full of like-minded fans and an up-close view of the action. Today, Paul goes into well-earned retirement. But we will continue to bring you live sporting events; next up, Super Bowl 2011.
Meanwhile, it’s summer, and these breezy, fog-conditioned days won’t last forever. Come in and cool down with us Friday mornings through mid-August at Family Film Fridays, where tickets are only ONE DOLLAR for kids 12 and under, and only FIVE DOLLARS for everyone else. See our website for details on this and more.
And there are three more Met Opera greatest hits coming your way in the next few weeks: LA BOHEME, TURANDOT, and CARMEN. If you haven’t had the amazing experience of the Met onscreen – or if you haven’t seen one or all of these brilliant productions – we hope you’ll take this opportunity. We don’t need a psychic octopus to know you’ll enjoy your experience.
…but first a word about our sponsors. On March 7, 2010 the Lark Theater held its Sixth Annual Academy Awards Party. This year we were blessed with a beautiful day, so our elegant and imaginative party-goers didn’t have to worry about their Forties-style hat feathers drooping or blue body-paint running in the rain. We were also lucky to have unprecedented support from friends in the local merchant community, who generously donated delicious food, wine and an array of very special items for our live and silent auctions. Thanks to them we had our most successful Awards Night Gala ever.
Please follow the links for more information and frequent these terrific local businesses. We are grateful to ~
Akinoms Creations by Monika Eggen
Ambrosia
Balloon Delights
Bodhana Bed & Breakfast
Book Passage
Bryan’s Fine Foods
Burritoville
Cavallo Point
Mary Clyde
Courtyard by Marriott Larkspur Landing
Cuisine by Lela
DJ’s Chinese Cuisine
Donut Alley
E&O Trading Company
Emporio Rulli
Fabrizio Ristorante
Handley Cellars
Donna & Chuck Huggins
Il Fornaio
Jessie & Laurent
Eliza Haskins Koeppel
Korbel Winery
Left Bank
M Clothing
Magnolia Avenue Salon
Marin Country Mart
Marin Suites Hotel
Marin Symphony
Marin Theater Company
Tina McArthur
Melting Pot Larkspur
Mountain Home Inn
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
Peter Paul Wines
Pizzeria Picco
Red Robin Catering
Richard Rubenstein
Rustic Bakery
See’s Candies
Stacy Scott Catering
Stefano’s Pizzeria
The Tavern at Lark Creek
The Walt Disney Family Museum
Tutu School
Ward Street Cafe
Yankee Pier
YogaWorks
So, we were saying: We’d like to thank the academy for bringing back last year’s spectacular 60,000-pound Swarovski crystal curtain, with all-new topaz fringe. Against that clean, snappy white set – to die! Next year maybe a row of rubies? Also for a classy show across the board, and the lovely Mr. Baldwin and always delightful Mr. Martin. A marvelous time was had by all. ‘Till next year!
The Lark Theater celebrates our 5th Birthday on July 9, 2009.
Do you know the story of the Lark? It’s a good story – a local example of people stepping up to make a difference right on their own main street.
Marin is full of great, colorful little towns, but few have held on to their historic character as stubbornly as Larkspur. Downtown Magnolia Avenue is anchored at its South end by the Victorian mansion that houses Tavern at Lark Creek (cheers to the good people who decided to make the exquisite fare of the Lark Creek Inn affordable!), and in the North by the 1936 Art Deco cinema, the Lark. As recently as 2003, the proud people of Larkspur would hang their heads as they passed the Lark, which had been standing empty and dark for five long years.
Finally – as the wrecking ball loomed – they said “Enough! We won’t let this piece of our history, this place that could nourish our minds and souls, this place where we made out in high school while watching Mother, Jugs and Speed disappear forever!”
Executive Director Bernice Baeza and our nascent Board urgently pleaded the theater’s case all over town. Donations large and small poured in. Local residents came to do the hard physical work of tearing out the old, damaged interior and, later, to painstakingly hand-paint beautiful new Art Deco – style murals on our walls.
The Lark is still a labor of love by and for our community. Marin residents know their county is more diverse than is often assumed. In our audience are old and young, people of means and many who struggle, people from a range of interests and backgrounds. The staff, Board and volunteers of the Lark work hard to offer a wide variety of cultural programs and events to entertain and inspire. Just look over the list of our past productions. You’ll find something for everyone – and if we missed you, we welcome your suggestions.
So, on July 9th we celebrate. Come by for free cartoons, birthday cake and root-beer floats. And, if you haven’t yet, become a member of the Lark. If you’re a local resident, if you know how few historic, single-screen cinemas still operate in this country and it makes you sad, if you believe we need places to gather and reminded – through art, celebration and meaningful discourse – of our individual and collective potential, then the Lark Theater is your place and we need your support.
Time once again for the Lark Theater Name-That-Thing Quiz:
“It’s thin-skinned, temperamental…. Only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential can [it] be coaxed into its fullest expression. And when that happens, its flavors are the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient on the planet.”
Sounds like so many of us, no? Once the flush of self-recognition has cleared from your cheeks, you might remember this from Paul Giamatti’s soaring paean to Pinot in the wonderful film Sideways. Pinot sales went up 16% in the Western US when this movie came out. See it again with the haunting and thrilling flavors of locally-produced Pinot Noir still on your tongue at our Pinot Days at the Lark Theater event on 5/14. We’ll host three local producers (Ketcham Estate, Eno Wines, and Suacci Carciere), followed by a screening of Sideways. Tasting at 7:00pm, film at 8:00pm. Tickets are only $15. A fantastic date night and surely a memorable celebration of life, love and the noble grape. A co-production between the Lark Theater and Pinot Days.
Everyone and their mother will find something to enjoy during the first week of May, as we wind up to Mom’s special day. Gone With the Wind, Sing-along Mamma Mia, Joy Luck Club (a special celebration of mothers and daughters, sponsored by neighbors the Magnolia Avenue Salon and DJ’s Chinese Cuisine), a tribute to Mary Pickford (lots more on our Mary Pickford festival here), and – if she’s not one for the chick-flicks – Goodbye Solo are ALL playing during the first week of May. See our website for showtimes.
