Category Archives: Reviews

The 39 Steps by John Buchan

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An amazing tale and a quick read! This is a classic tale of the mystery genre that has been the inspiration for several movies. The 39 Steps is an early 20th century story of intrigue, murder and suspense in Great Britain. The hero is a typically wealthy, idle young man (30 something) looking for a bit of adventure who bites off a bit more than he is able to comfortably chew. As he becomes more mired in this web, he meets, and is alternately befriended and hunted by, characters from all walks of life. Mister Buchan developes strong characters and spins a vivid tale which kept me on the edge of my seat till the very last paragraph.

By the way, you can get the ebook free at PlaneteBook.com

The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong

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A writer friend of mine, Joan Drury (she owns Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, MN) recommended this book to me during a recent trip. She said Qiu is one of her new favorite authors. It was a great recommendation!

The book is actually sixth in a detective series set in Shanghai, China with the main character, Chief Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police Bureau. The book’s author, Xiaolong, is a translator and poet who lives in the states now. This book includes many quotations of classic Chinese poetry, as well as some of his own.

I spent a lot of time in Shanghai during a previous job working with engineers and field associates developing, designing, constructing and starting up a manufacturing facility. The realism of Xiaolong’s scenes, his characters and their speech patterns appealed to me greatly. He created a tremendous mystery that would only work, in my evaluation, in the Chinese society. It was based on their history, honor and belief system.

Inspector Chen is a warm, human character that does his job well and I am looking forward to going back to read his previous adventures. I’ll also be checking out some of Qiu Xiaolong’s other writing from his website.

 

A Review of “The Book of Mormon” at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis

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“The Book of Mormon”, book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone.

Book of Mormon

My friend, Linda, in her on-going efforts to keep us up to date with theater wonderment, spearheaded the procurement of tickets to “The Book of Mormon” for us this weekend. This is a production that has been around now for a couple of years and seems to be perpetually sold out wherever it plays. This afternoon (Sunday, February 10, 2013) was clearly no exception as the four of us slogged through heavy, wet slush to get to the Orpheum Theatre from our parking ramp. The people came in bus loads for what promised to be a funny romp and stomp over the most well known religious practices of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons.

I’ll start out with a warning / disclaimer. If you are easily offended, have a dark attitude toward foul language, are deeply serious or spiritual or simply unable / unwilling to see comic relief in most every daily interaction we partake in, I suggest this is not the show for you.

If you’re still reading, I assume you’ve decided you’re game for all the above. The show is really irreverent and makes very heavy use of parody. In my view there were also several scenes, at the location of “call” that Elder Price and Elder Cunningham find themselves after training, that have so much actual and referred human misery on a daily basis it becomes difficult to laugh, even at the over-the-top raunchy jokes and musical lines. With that said, I can see the humor in almost anything and parodies of religion accompanied by bad language don’t bother me in the least.

I was very pleased with the cast of Mormon Elders “in training”. They were, with one exception, handsome, slender, talented singers and dancers…the picture of my expectation for door-to-door Mormon salesmen. The one exception, Elder Cunningham, was not slender, but he stole the show with quick, flexible witty delivery of his comic lines and had a very flexible tenor voice to boot. He clearly has the talent and energy to be in the top trio for the show, but I was even more impressed when I read that this show was his professional theater debut. I believe we will see much more of Christopher John O’Neill.

Mark Evans is a singer / actor with many credits to his name and I believe the Book of Mormon will be another star added. He brought energy, terrific dance moves, a marvelous and expressive face and beautiful delivery of prose and verse to the other star role as Elder Price. To round out my top trio in this play, Samantha Marie Ware, as Nabulungi at the Elder’s “call”, did a great job as the local enthusiasm builder and “text” junkie. She was a talented singer as well, but suffered from some high register flatting that might have been associated with the sound system, as I mention later.

The production itself was quite good. I loved the costumes for the song “Turn It Off Like A Light Switch”. Let’s just say that the quick addition of color to the black pants, white shirt, black tie was a real surprise and looked fabulous! The song is a great little lesson in how to keep all those pesky emotions organized and controlled. The setting for the “call” also provided opportunity for several costume changes. Baptismal white was one of my favorites. The only fault I have for the production is that the sound seemed like maybe it was pushing the limit of the speakers. There was some distortion that made it difficult to understand the words at times.

Finally, I always enjoy visiting the Orpheum Theatre. It’s a classic beauty and was wonderfully restored about 25 years ago. The beauty of the massive chandelier, suspended by a single chain, is always a thing of marvel for me.

Orpheum Chandelier

However, the comfort of the seats leave much to be desired and I sincerely hope that the next restoration takes into account theater goers need for a little additional leg room and proper back support.

If you don’t have tickets yet, check out the Hennepin Theatre Trust Box Office. I understand there is a lottery for a few $25 tickets prior to each show. You need to be there and respond really fast if your name is called!

A Review of “The Servant of Two Masters” by Carlo Goldoni

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I saw “The Servant of Two Masters” by Carlo Goldoni, presented by The Guthrie Theater, based on a recommendation from a friend who was familiar with the actor who played Truffaldino in the play. This play falls within the classic Italian comedy style called “Commedia dell’arte” and it’s author, Carlo Goldoni, was a well educated and prolific writer who was very successful in this genre in the 18th century. This style of play is characterized by having a handful of well known “types” in every production (from merchant, doctor / lawyer / professional to lovers, etc.) and, originally, the scripts tended to be heavy on scene setting, but light on written dialog. The success of these plays was very much dependent on the energy of the actors and their ability to excel at improvisation.

I love Italian opera, am a fan of the professionalism of Guthrie Theater productions in general and would love to live a life of comedy, but I was a newbie to this well established genre, “Commedia dell’arte”. After a couple initial “what the devil…” moments, I quickly proceeded to snickers, guffaws, eye rolls and was soon quite sold and thoroughly enjoying the evening.

The cast was so full of energy, at times it seemed like I was watching a slightly sped up previously recorded version of the play. I was impressed that they could keep the level of energy up throughout the play, which almost all the seven primary actors did. My favorite two characters in the play were Truffaldino, played by Steven Epp and Il Dottore, played by Don Darryl Rivera. Steven Epp brought tremendous energy and excellent improvisation skills to the servant, Truffaldino and Don Darryl Rivera played the short, round, impatient, professional father with great humor and pomposity.

The set was simple, but effective, with a couple of lighting effects that made the audience “ohh” and “ahh” at the right times and some simple sound effects that continued repetition made funnier. Costumes and hair are often excellent at the Guthrie and this production was no exception. However, I must say that, as a writer, the single thing that fascinated me the most  about “The Servant of Two Masters” was the language. I don’t speak any Italian, nor am I an expert of 18th century English, but I know when innuendo, jokes and double-edged meanings work in this time period. I think I must send my applause in two directions, to Constance Congdon for her adaptation of this work, and to the actors, for well played and placed verbiage and ad-lib lines. Huzzah to you both!

For me, this production worked on so many levels. It is classic Italian stage work that intrigued the actor, singer, verbal lover in me, but it is also accessible to people that would never sit through an opera or who might be bored to tears with a non-English language production of a 200 year old work. Take your Mom, take your teenager, take your boyfriend. I think they’ll all leave laughing.

A Review of “Fearless” by Edward Jakab

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FEARLESS
Kindle Edition
Published September 4th 2012 by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
ASIN
B0096CQ2SW
edition language
English
Sep 17, 2012
rating didn't like it it was ok liked it really liked it (my current rating) it was amazing
bookshelves glbt, read, romance, young-adult
status Read in September, 2012
format Kindle Edition
review A great read, and first book, by a promising new author!Edward develops his characters well and has a very authentic voice. There are plenty of family dynamics, school relationships and conflict within and between characters to keep the reader interested in this first love / coming of age story.

One of the things I particularly liked was the balance the author used for reactions to a gay character, both in families and in the school. They weren’t all negative and they weren’t all positive. Jake had many friends, from both sexes, that fully supported his boyfriend(s) and him, even to the point of some (OMG) kissing action.

A couple of times I did have to step back and wonder at how seemingly clueless Jake was in the “below the belt” department for an older teen gay boy, but that made for an easy exclusion of those awkward pawing scenes so prevalent in many coming out and male romance stories. The love scenes are tame, but the feelings seem sincere.

Jake’s family dynamics and the inevitable conflict therein are realistically developed without leaning too much on the absent father / over involved mother stereotype either. His younger sister, and confidant in all things “Drewish”, has a very sophisticated philosophy, but sometimes adults simply over-think the obvious.

Go take a look, we’ll be seeing more by Edward Jakab in the future!

Hookers and Blow

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Did I get your attention? That probably worked better than “cousin’s get together 2012″ or “MN State Fair music and the Summit Brewing Stage”.

I suppose that’s part of the reason the band named themselves “Hookers and Blow” in the first place. My cousin’s partner is very musical and has played with several bands around the Twin Cities including “Hookers and Blow” and “The Honeydogs”. We have a pretty tight knit group of cousins that enjoys getting together regularly on my Mom’s side of the family. This year, the state fair seemed like the perfect idea. What could be better than a corn dog and a beer after work on Friday night…well, just add a great cover band, hookers and blow…No, I mean add Hookers and Blow…a great cover band…well, you get the picture.

Steven plays trumpet and he’s on the far right of the picture in the grey t-shirt…playing the trumpet, duh.

The crowd was an eclectic mix, but I fit right in with my slightly paunchy stature and greying hair…hell, at least I have hair, look at the guy in front of me! As usual, only the women had the balls to get up and dance, although after an hour of drinking beer, several of the men around went up to dance as well…while holding their drinks…this makes for really funky dance moves, don’t yah know.

I’m pissed that I don’t remember the woman’s name that sang with them because she had a great voice and a presence on the stage that only a big beautiful woman can command. She surprised the crowd with a terrific rap piece about half way through the first set. The band itself really owned the Blondie, Stevie Wonder and Chicago songs that they played. I’m a little picky about weird sounding notes, rifs or lyrics and I heard none that night.

H$B (as their t-shirts proclaim) brought energy and music to the Summit stage this year at the fair and opened my eyes to another fun local band to look for on weekends when I want to just have fun!

If you’re looking for more information on the band go here -> Hookers and Blow.

Dojo Boys: Dragon and Crow, by Alex Akira

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Dojo Boys: Dragon and Crow is an engaging read, recommended to me by respected author and friend, Andrew Ashling. Alex Akira has written a complex story of romance, abuse and lives of Dojo training. The first of a two book series, Dragon and Crow is an entanglement of dance, karate, crime detective, child abuse and revenge, all played out within a complexity of character(s).

Alex does a respectable and believable job of developing a very complex, multi-personality character which the story revolves around. This group of personalities, especially, are real and affectionate, while creating lots of drama.

The editing is a bit of a challenge. The use of “whom” rather than who, throughout drove me a little bonkers, but it certainly will not stop me from reading the second half of  the story, which I just downloaded to my Kindle. 

The Invisible Hands – Part 1: Gambit (Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse, book 4)

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As Andrew Ashling moved toward completion of the first book in his second trilogy…or the fourth book in the second movement of his double trilogy set…I was looking forward to more of a lot of things. I got it all, plus kind of an interesting new surprise.

I love the depth of character development he brings to the warriors, pages, dukes, mothers, aunts, brothers, etc. that have been carried along through the four books. Andrew makes me laugh at the antics the besotted pages get into with both their boyfriends and their girlfriends. I still cringe at the new and nasty torture techniques and depth of descriptions he lays before us for those who have done (or thought…) terrible things which he deems punishable. And I am rubbing my hands together in glee as I get to know an additional brother / prince that will certainly play a significant role in the future books.

In the third book Andrew proved that he was a chess player in the story telling sense of the word. He handled a number of dissimilar plot lines and blithely moved them forward to completion without using the wave of a magic wand. In this fourth book he pulls out all the stops and proves that in triplicate. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the written history of a story that happened far away and not a yarn spun by a pencil chewer sitting at a computer terminal. My eyes and fears (yes, I meant fears) opened with the new realizations that Anaxantis made as he moved through the story. This heightens my enthusiasm for the fifth and sixth installments of what, seems like, could be a life long endeavor for Andrew.

Book four has made me look at Andrew Ashling with new admiration for his story telling ability, and retained love for the wit, humor and sexuality in his writing. Thank you once again for bringing entertainment to my life, Andrew!

A post re-blogged from friend David R. Weiss.

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I plucked a blog post from my friend, David Weiss’, site and re-blogged it here because I feel strongly about his writing and his subject. I have sung with his wife for many years and worshiped together with them in spiritual and physical presence.

If you are a supporter of social justice for all, including GLBT who are invisible to most people, even most other GLBT people, the movie David reviews can be both a trial and a testament. “Call Me Kuchu” is the story of a Ugandan queer’s life and death. Check out the rest of his site as well, including his written words.

A review of “Standing On Ceremony – The Gay Marriage Plays” directed by Wendy Knox

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I attended a production of “Standing on Ceremony, The Gay Marriage Plays” on Saturday, June 9, 2012 with my partner, Paul, and two good friends of ours, Jim and Diane. The play is a series of eleven one act shorts, by eleven different, talented writers. The set was very simple, but effectively used. Because of the simple set, the play relied heavily on the actor’s ability to create character, emotion, time and place with the written words. All of them did this well, and several did it extremely well. The director, Wendy Knox of Frank Theatre, did a marvelous job with this collection, creating an evening of various forms of discussion between actors, bringing important points around gay marriage arguments home with humor, wit and poignancy.

 There were three male actors and three female actors playing various roles in the eleven scenes. There was only one scene, called “On Facebook” by Doug Wright–he won a Tony for Best Play for his 2004, “I Am My Own Wife”, find the link to my review for this show here–that used all five actors at once. This scene was one of my favorites because I am such a social media addict! Who hasn’t seen that uncomfortable conversation thread that makes you want to jump in and state your hard developed philosophy in short snippets and emoji faces?

“The Marriage is Saved” by Joe Keenan, was another favorite with an especially strong performance by Aimee K. Bryant. “The Gay Agenda” by Paul Rudnick was full of spunk, rhetoric and emotion. “London Mosquitoes” by Moises Kaufman brought tears to the eyes of many, and the final scene, “Pablo & Andrew at the Altar of Words” by Jose Rivera had some of the most beautifully written, vision producing, poetry of love I have heard in quite a while.

If you are a supporter of Gay Marriage, or maybe if you are on the fence and would like a lively evening of fun with thought thrown in, please try to catch one of the final performances of this play on June 14, 15 and 16.