It’s a mad mad mad mad post-modern world here at the Lark, where “Live” can mean different things. Often it refers to opera singers in NYC, or actors in London or on Broadway, who are performing simultaneously on their respective stages and on our screen.
Wry guy.
Sometimes, though – like when our (truly wonderful) On Stage at the Lark series is in swing – we proudly present actual performing humans, in the flesh. Producer Ellie Mednick is bringing great stuff to our stage in the coming weeks, starting with the brilliant Will Durst.
In an election year, this is the guy to see. The New York Times calls him “possibly the best political comic in the country.” Author, syndicated columnist, radio and TV commentator, stage and screen actor, radio talk show host, nominated for 6 Emmy Awards. Sample his down-to-earth outrageousness here.
We do NOT want this gentleman to show up and find us with nothing going on for St. Patricks Day. That wouldn't be good.
Next up is St. Patrick’s Day, and of course we are celebrating. On March 16 we have a great evening planned, starting with the documentary JIG. This is the first time the controlling body of competitive Irish dance has ever allowed an outsider to film this fiercely competitive world, and director Sue Bourne discovers an amazingly diverse range of characters, competing in the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships – a hot bed of dedication, hard work, obsession and passion.
Even the trailer is fascinating. View it here.
Following at 8pm are the fabulous Black Brothers, bringing Old Dublin street and music hall songs and historical ballads from the Irish, English and Scottish traditions along with songs from contemporary writers. Check them out here. Come for the music, the movie or both.
Details on our website. And there’s more coming in April (Jazz vocalist Paula West) and May (The Great Broadway Sing-Along) – so stay tuned…
Opening April 8: BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK and ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS.
Joanna Macy describes ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS succinctly: “This film connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering–stress, loneliness, and depression. It presents the localization movement as a systemic alternative to corporate globalization, as well as a strategy that brings community and meaning to our lives.”
If you see this film and it inspires you – or if you are already inspired – to go local and live green, don’t bother with woodsy outposts or far-flung villages. You’re better off in the West Village, NYC, where Bill Cunningham can be seen keeping excellent balance on a ricketly old bike, in spite of the shifting weight of the giant camera hanging around his neck. New York City is the greenest place to live in the United States. But Bill isn’t following fads, however enlightened. He’s not even following fashion. His mission is to chronicle personal style, and he’s been doing it for decades for his “On The Street” and “Evening Hours” columns in the New York Times.
Mr. Cunningham doesn’t accept a penny in payment from the Times: “If you don’t take their money, they can’t tell you what to do.” This is not because he is independently wealthy. He lives in a tiny space, sleeps on a cot with a milk-crate for a bedside table surrounded by files containing the negatives to his millions of pictures, having been for 60 years a resident of the artists’ studios above Carnegie Hall (in recent years the artists have been evicted). On bike or at the swankiest soirees, Cunningham moves fluidly through the social strata.
March is Member Madness at the Lark. We have a cluster of wonderful, award-winning documentaries coming up on environmental topics (see last post), with director screenings that are open to the public and FREE to members at all levels. Become a member at our affordable Individual level ~ $75/year ~ and attend director screenings for PLASTIC PLANET (3/18, Werner Boote joins us by Skype) and QUEEN OF THE SUN (3/26 & 3/29). See both and it’s like getting $20 off your already low membership dues! And there will be more special screenings to come.
Best of all, you’re supporting the Lark. We wouldn’t be here without community support, and we appreciate your help in keeping us aloft!
Our members do not resemble penguins, this being a casual environment, but nice linocut from Nicole Antrobus.
Filed under: Documentary
Documentarians have always been a feisty lot, risking life, limb and credit scores to bring ugly realities to the screen. And then it’s up to the rest of us. The theme of our current spate of wonderful, searching and accomplished docs might be waste: its perils, prevention, and some unexpectedly creative approaches. Oscar nominated WASTE LAND, Oscar winner INSIDE JOB and the wonderful CARBON NATION are now showing. Coming to our screen next week is PLASTIC PLANET; director Werner Boote joins us over Skype from Vienna for an audience talk-back on 3/18. And QUEEN OF THE SUN starts 3/25. This exploration of the bee crisis
The bee problem is worse than you think.
is from director Taggart Siegel, whose last film (THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN) won 31 international film festival awards. Three of our QUEEN screenings will include talks and panel discussions with local bee and environmental experts.
Here in the office, we haven’t had this many impassioned phone calls in support of such films since WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. People who see them are coming away sometimes angry, sometimes sad, but always energized and inspired to become agents for change, whether that means writing their representatives in Congress or buying local honey and throwing away their non-biodegradable drinking cups once and for all.
“Look at me – see a woman in frenzy. I am in love.”
It always gets our attention when someone says that. Especially when it’s Helen Mirren. She plays Phèdre in Racine’s eponymous play, translated into muscular free verse by Ted Hughes and presented on the stage of London’s National Theatre… and, of course, ravishing the big screen here at the Lark. The transmission is live except for a tape-delay due the time difference between here and London. Here’s the National’s quick but oh-so-juicy synopsis:
“Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is carnage.”
We are so, soooooo excited to be presenting what will surely be a stunning theatrical experience – and the first in a series of four live simulcasts from the National Theatre. If you’ve seen the Met Opera here, you know how thrillingly close the camera brings you to the skin and heart of each performance. Tickets are already selling briskly for shows on 6/25 & 27, so please call to order as soon as you can. Details on our website.
This week we’re showing Goodbye Solo (“grace…. the quality of exquisite attention, wry humor and wide-awake intelligence that informs every frame of this almost perfect film”) and Anvil! The Story of Anvil (“dredging the television of consolation from the swimming pool of disaster”). Two films that on the surface couldn’t be less alike. But both are unexpectedly moving, tender yet unsparing takes on the human predicament – and just downright really good films. Here’s your chance to compare and contrast: see both and tell us what you think.
Poor April. First that silly old King Numa Pompilius moves it from second to fourth place in the calendar by inserting January and February, back in 700 BC… and then along comes T.S. Eliot… oh, and the IRS…
Well, fortunately the Lark Theater is here to put things right. We start with the action thriller Taken, starring Liam Neeson, now playing. Mick LaSalle of the SF Chronicle says, “the level of skill that went into Taken is masterly…. There are different kinds of creativity. Taken evinces the creativity of expert craftsmanship.”
The creativity of expert craftsmanship… that reminds us… Have you seen Man on Wire? Ends 4/9. In lean times, reasons for supporting the arts can fall out of focus. That’s when we in the arts non-profit sector start shuffling around, spouting phrases like “economic importance of the creative sector”, “community-enhancement”, “jobs in the arts”, “tourism”, and so on. Forget it. Philippe Petit’s astonishing act of pure courage and grace says “art for art’s sake” like nothing else we can imagine – and I, for one, don’t want my arts any other way.
The Metropolitan Opera has put out a documentary about a group of people who aspire to a less literal lofty height. The Audition features the finalists of the Met’s National Council Auditions as they compete in this career-launching contest. We’re showing a premiere simulcast on 4/19, and an encore 4/22. Directed by Susan Fromke, who brought us Grey Gardens and Christo in Paris.
Sure, we subscribe to Netflix. But we know there’s nothing like film on the big screen – especially movies that were made for the big screen. In observance of this fact we’re showing The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz this month. No late fees! Details here.
Like so many, we were shocked and saddened at the passing of Natasha Richardson. We celebrate the work of this elegant and adventurous actress with Widow’s Peak, 4/17 – 4/21.
And that’s not all! Details on our Big Night event, Youth Film Festival, Twilight, and Live at the Lark Music events coming soon. Stay tuned…
Name that icon: “… The best known woman who has ever lived, the woman who was known to more people and loved by more people than any other woman that has been in all history…” In the words of a film journalist during her heyday, this was Mary Pickford.
A prolific and beloved actress – and the first to make more than one million dollars a year – she was also a pioneering film producer and a co-founder (with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith) of United Artists Studios. She had a huge impact on the development of film acting and on the shape of the nascent film industry – and she got the ball rolling in terms of the celebrity culture we now love and hate so very much (she and Douglas Fairbanks – “America’s unofficial ambassadors to the world” – being the ur-Brangelina).
Fall prey to the mystique and get behind the myth of Mary Pickford in May, at our mini-festival. We start with the West Coast premiere of Nicholas Eliopoulos’s documentary Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies on Friday, 5/1. Mr. Eliopoulos will join us for a conversation after the film. Then, just when your curiosity is piqued, we’ll show the Pickford classics My Best Girl and Secrets (5/2 – 5/6, showtimes to be announced).
And while we’re contemplating great women, let us not forget the most influential of them all: Your mother! We celebrate Mother’s Day early this year with a screening of The Joy Luck Club, Wayne Wang’s film based on Amy Tan‘s novel, on Thursday, 5/7.
Don’t be fooled: There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on in April too! As soon as a couple of scheduling details have fallen into place, we’ll share the news with you here (and of course on our website) ~ Check back soon.
