Word: nicely
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Although the supporting cast cannot match the brothers' intensity or composure, its members are adequate. Byrd is not quite slimy enough as the money-hungry producer, but he does a nice job in his second-act apologies to Connell. Eliza Clark, who plays the brothers' mother, makes her inevitable appearance late in the second act. Her deadpan senility (She has come from Alaska to the oppressive Midwestern heat without removing her winter coat) is difficult to accept, but she wisely remains in the background during the fascinating resolution of the brothers' conflict...
...Princess Ida a hen, instead of a rooster, crows in the morning) comes Hilarion (Jose Alberto Calvo). Sadly, it becomes clear that Hilarion deserves Ida. While his rich voice is well suited to Sullivan's opera-style music, Calvo mangles Gilbert's complex lyrics beyond recognition. His voice sounds nice, but it would be nice to know what he is saying...
...multi-level set lets more actors to fit on the Agassiz's stage, and the costumes are pretty. In one nice touch, when Hilarion, Cyril and Florian crossdress, their ruffles match the gowns of their love interests. Something, however, went wrong with the choreography. Virtually all of the female chorus members move stiffly, as if they can only bend at the waist. They look odd and distract attention from the main action...
...first single woman is the Soviet moviemaker of yesterday, whose failed struggle made the new freedom possible. Her neighbor is today's film artist, whose pictures are as artless as a cry for help and as urgent as the dream of a better future. It would be nice if the U.S.S.R. could produce a few masterpieces, as it did 60 years ago. But happy endings are, after all, the stuff of movies, not moviemaking. And what Soviet filmmaker would dare hope for more than a resolute beginning...
...salt or sugar. Contrary to us, they want to live long; they like the way they live. We also want to live long, but it's because we don't like our life and we hope to live on into the next life. It would be nice to think that America has thrown open its doors and is waiting for us all to come over. But that's not the way it is. The Soviet Union has thrown open its doors, and it seems like all America has come here on a visit. So it goes...