"A Flea In Her Ear" at the Irving Arts Center

A FLEA IN HER EAR
program

The Travelling Toe and 2 other theater enthusiasts journeyed to  Irving to enjoy the French farce "A Flea In Her Ear".  The play was written by Frenchman, Georges Feydeau.   Mr. Feydeau wrote over 60 plays during the era known as Belle Epoque - which means beautiful age - and was during the early 1900's prior to start of WWI.  

 Belle Epogue.

Georges Feydeau

The play centers around four couples:

Raymonde Chandebise and her husband Victor

Lucienne and her Latin husband Don Carolos

Antoinette the maid and her husband the butler, Etienne

Plus there are several other assorted characters in the mix, such as a nephew, a doctor, a hotel manager and his wife, the hotel maid and 3 other gentleman.

The story takes place at the turn of the century (the one in 1900) and chaos begins when Raymonde suspects her husband Victors of being unfaithful when a set of his suspenders are returned from a shady hotel know as the "Frisk Puss".   Needless to say the name of the hotel describes what goes on there.  So Raymonde, with the aid of her friend Lucienne, writes an anonymous love letter inviting Victor to the Frisky Puss for an rendezvous.  Victor thinking that in reality he was not the one to whom the letter was about, thought instead it should be go to his friend Tournel, who has a reputation as a rounder.   Victor then sends him off to the hotel in his place.  Next arriving is Don Carolos and Victor shows him the silly letter and Don Carolos immediately recognizes his wife's handwriting and becomes over wrought with jealousy. Victor's nephew, Camille, who has an unusual speech implement and no one can understand him, gets mixed up with the mayhem too.   

The second act all takes place at the Frisk Puss.  One after another of the cast arrives and then has to move from room to room trying to hide from one another.   One room has a revolving bed with a drunk ensconced in it and another has a strange man looking for love - or what passes for love in the Frisk Puss.  Add a bell man named Pouch, who is a dead ringer for Victor, and pandemonium ensues.

The third act returns to the Chandebise estate where all the confusion is cleared up about who is who and who is not having an affair and who is.  Victor and Raymonde recognize their mutual confusion over the suspenders and all is put right.

We three theater goers thought the staging was very ingenious as there was a need to have many doors opening and closing as part of the second act and it was accomplished with great fun and mirth.   The acting was very good and all the cast did a lovely job in their roles.   The costumes were spot on for the time period.  Another fun thing is that when each of the 2 acts pause for intermission, the actors remain in character talking to each other as the stage is set for the next act.   Just adds another fun dimension to this charming farce.  

The Dupree Theater is small but very nice.  Only negative comment is that there seems to be an issue with acoustics in the hall as the cast was not "miked" and it almost sounded like an echo at times.  But other than that, there were plenty of laughs to be had.   Go see it while it is still playing as it is worth the small price of the ticket.


Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional theatrical critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Deli Man" (movie critique)

DELI MAN
MOVIE POSTER

The Travelling Toe in full disclosure must reveal that she has a dear friend who lives in (gasp) Dallas.   So The Travelling Toe, taking life in hand, drove the Dallas highways and byways to meet dear friend for lunch and a movie.  The movie we saw, "Deli Man" at the Angelika Dallas location, is actually a documentary on the deli business.

Deli Man

The film is about the migration of the Jewish immigrants who came from Germany and Eastern Europe and established neighborhood delicatessens.  It also discussed the type of foods that were served and how they came to be part of the deli food culture.  At one time there were several thousand delis in New York alone. Now, according to the movie, there are only a total of 150 in all of North American.

The film interviewed current deli owners and they gave their views on what is like owning a deli what they issues they faced on a daily basis and the Jewish experience  that surrounded the deli culture.

One of the main focuses of the story was a young man, by the name of Ziggy Gruber.   He  grew up in New York working along side his grandfather in the family deli.  Ziggy knew from a young age that he wanted to be a chef and even at one time attended a professional culinary institution in London before returning home to work in the family deli.  

Ziggy Gruber
Kenny and Ziggy's Deli

Ziggy Gruber on Facebook

Ziggy decided to strike out on his own and eventually opened a deli in Houston, Texas - of all places.   But it has been very successful and part of that success has to do with Ziggy's larger than life persona.  He loves the deli business and ensures that his customers get the best food and the best service.  His deli in Houston is called Kenny and Ziggy's Deli.

Kenny and Ziggy's Deli

The Travelling Toe and dear friend were glad they had dined before the movie, because had we waited we would have gorged on any food available after seeing all those sandwiches piled high with meat, french toast, huge pickles, mounds of french fries and other deli goodies.  It was food paradise.

Road Trip to Houston anyone???????

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 2 toes up with a side of coleslaw.

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional movie or food critic and any opinions expressed for entertainment purposes only. 

Vadym Kholodenko guest artist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Music Director

On a Sunday afternoon, The Travelling Toe and friend attended the matinee performance of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.  Music Director, Miguel Harth-Bedoya was at the podium for the performance.

The concert consisted of three classical pieces.   The first selection was "Don Juan" written by Richard Strauss.  It is considered a tone poem.  The internet  dictionary defines a tone poem as:

                          an instrumental composition intended to portray a particular story, scene, mood, etc.

Dictionary

The poem of the same name that Strauss used as an inspiration for "Don Juan" was written by Hungarian poet Nikolaus Lenau in 1844.

Nikolaus Lenau

This particular piece of music required a full orchestra and that was reflected in the sweeping sound of the music.  The  brass section did get a workout on this piece and there was also a beautiful oboe solo bit.   As the music beings to conclude, it ends with dying somber notes to reflecting the death of Don Juan in the poem.  

Vadym Kholodenko

After a very brief pause to have the stagehands roll the Steinway grand piano into position, Miguel and guest performer, Vadym Kholodenko, made their way  to the stage.  

Mr. Kholodenko is well known and appreciated in the Fort Worth area as he was the 2013 gold medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. 

Van Cliburn Piano Competition

He performed Sergy Prokofeiv's Piano Concert No 5 in G Major.  Before the music begin Miguel and Vadym spoke to the audience members about the piece and it was very informative and helped us to better understand  what we were going to hear.  Additional Miguel announced that the concert was being recorded for a future album of the collaboration of the orchestra and Mr. Kholodenko to record the Prokofiev piano concertos.  

Sergy Prokofiev

This particular piece has 5 movements instead of the usual 3 or 4.  The first movement is up and down, fast and slow.  The second is like a delicate march.   The third movement is similar to the first but at a faster pace.  The fourth is very lyrical much like ballet music and the fifth being the finale is faster and almost like a polka.  In watching the performance, The Travelling Toe is for certain that there was not one key, black or white, that Vadym did not play.  It was a very technical piece but he brought life and feeling to it.  Excellent performance by the pianist and the entire orchestra - it was amazing.

Ludwig van Beethoven

After a short intermission, the orchestra wrapped up this amazing program with Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C Minor.  Even if you do not know classical music, you probably know the very famous 4 opening notes of this piece:

                                                    da   da   da   daaaaaa

Miguel must know this piece intimately as he conducted it without a reference musical score. The orchestra once again outdid themselves.   The effort was amazing as the music made by these talented musicians poured out from the stage and onto audience members, it was magic to hear.

According to the program notes by Jane Vial Jaffe,  this piece made history:

         the piccolo, contrabassoon and trombones were added for the first time in symphonic                 history

After playing all three very demanding pieces, The Travelling Toe is sure that the orchestra members were exhausted.     Well done mighty warriors!

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

   

Disclaimer:   The Travelling Toe is not a professional musical critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Singin' In The Rain" at the Artisan Center Theater

ARTISAN CENTER THEATER
PRESENTS
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

The Travelling Toe and 5 other musical theater enthusiasts attended the Saturday afternoon matinee performance of "Singin' In The Rain" presented by  the Artisan Center Theater located in the Mid-Cities town of Hurst.

The play is based on the popular 1952 movie of the same name staring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor.

Singin' in the Rain
Movie Poster

Gene Kelly

Debbie Reynolds

Donald O'Connor

The story line takes place in 1927 Hollywood where the movies being made were all silents and the rumor was spreading that the "talkies" were just about to be the big news.  The major stars of the silents were Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont.  They are portrayed on the screen and in real life as sweethearts - which they are not.   While out on a stroll, Don bumps into a fledgling actress, Kathy Seldon, and sparks fly.  While the latest silent movie "The Dueling Cavalier" is being made, the studio President decides to turn the movie into a singing and dancing musical called "The Dancing Cavalier".  As the microphones are being set up and used, they learn very quickly that Lina's screeching voice and off key singing will make the movie a laughing stock. Don and his sidekick Cosmo Brown and Kathy talk the whole night long and come up with the scheme to record Kathy's voice and singing over Lina's for this first movie.  The scheme works great until Lina finds out and makes the demand that Kathy continue to cover her voice.  Don decides to turn the tables on Lina and reveals that Kathy is the real "voice" of the movie.   Sigh.....another happy ending!

The screenplay for the movie was written by the amazing husband and wife team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green and the many wonderful songs throughout the production were written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed.   These are probably the most familiar songs"

        "Singin' In the Rain"

        "You are My Lucky Star"

        "All I Do Is Dream of You"

         "You Were Meant for Me"

         "Good Morning"


If you have never been to the Artisan Center Theater, you should go.  The Artisan is a family friendly community theater staffed with volunteers who serve as the crew and cast members, concession stand operators and all manner of support staff....none are paid.   They all do it for the love of Theater!

Artisan Center Theater

The stage is designed as a square and any scenery used is set-up  the sides so ingenious stage setting is a must.

In the movie, Gene Kelly sings and dances in the rain - well we got that too and it was nicely done.   Just ask those folks sitting in the front rows!  They even recreated the sofa routine.   There is some excellent tap dancing numbers in this production as well.  

The cast members rotate performances....one group performs on Monday, Friday and for the Saturday matinee and the other group performs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening.  The cast we saw were all very good and we did enjoy their performances.   The director did a nice job of staging the play.   One fun bit was that they projected black and white silent movies on large screens made with the cast members and it was so enchanting.   That was a nice touch and just added more fun to the production.

The Travelling Toe and friends had a wonderful time and were singing "Singin' In the Rain" as we left the theater.

This Day In Texas History

The Travelling Toe being a Fort Worth native is proud of the Western heritage of the region and shares this information with you dear readers.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, The Fort Worth Stockyards was incorporated this day, March 23, 1893. 

On this day in 1893, the Fort Worth Stock Yards were officially incorporated. The Fort Worth livestock market became the largest in Texas and the Southwest, the biggest market south of Kansas City, and consistently ranked between third and fourth among the nation's large terminal livestock markets for five decades, from about 1905 to the mid-1950s. When the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in Fort Worth in 1876 promoters built pens to hold cattle, but business leaders were already dreaming of packing plants and stockyards to make their community a permanent focus of the cattle industry. By 1886 four stockyards had been built near the railroads. Boston capitalist Greenleif W. Simpson, with a half dozen Boston and Chicago associates, incorporated the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company and purchased the Union Stock Yards and the Fort Worth Packing Company in 1893. In 1896 the company began a fat-stock show that has survived to the present as one of the largest livestock shows in the nation, the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show. An agreement with Armour and Swift brought in two of the nation's largest meatpackers, who constructed modern plants adjacent to the stockyards. By 1936 Texas had become the largest-producing state for both cattle and sheep, with Fort Worth as the industry's hub. The stockyards began to decline in the 1950s as the industry became more decentralized, and today the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District is primarily a tourist attraction.

Texas State Historical Assocation

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"Run All Night" (movie critique)

RUN ALL NIGHT
THE MOVIE POSTER

Three of the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe "ran" to the closest multiplex to see Liam Neeson in "Run All Night" before it left the area.  And at the end of the movie, we felt that we had run all night due to the continuous action taking place on screen.

Liam Neeson

Ed Harris

The story centers on a down on his luck hit man Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) whose ghosts of past murder victims now haunt him.   His friend and boss, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) has problems of his own controlling his son Danny (Boyd Holbrook) who wants to make drug deals with an Albanian mob boss.   Jimmy's estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman) gets involved in the action innocently as he is a limousine chauffeur and takes the thugs to Danny's house to seal the deal or get their money back.   Danny and his friend decide to take all the money and the drugs and a gun fight commences.  The 2 thugs are killed and then placed in Mike's limo to frame him for the murders.  Danny comes looking for Mike and Jimmy kills Danny before he can shoot Mike.  Jimmy pleads with Shawn to spear Mike's life and take his instead, but Shawn is unforgiving and unrelenting. Not only does Shawn use all his gang members to hunt for the 2 Conlon's but also, uses cops on his payroll and then he hires Mr. Price (Common) who is a paid assassin to take them both out - Mike first then Jimmy so he will see his son die.

Joel Kinnaman

Boyd Holbrook

Common

Nick Nolte

Bruce McGill

So, needless to say there are a lot of car chases, car crashes, bullets fly by, foot pursuits, a little knife work and lots of hand to hand fighting.

There are several good supporting actors that round out the cast, Vincent D'Onofrio as a good cop trying to get Jimmy to admit to his crimes, Nick Nolte as Jimmy's brother (he was hard to recognize with the grey beard and long hair but his gravelly voice gave him away) and Bruce McGill as Shawn's #2.

Does Mike get out for under the murder wrap?  Does Shawn get his revenge on Jimmy and Mike?  Does Jimmy pay for his sins?   The Travelling Toe will not tell as you will just have to see the movie for yourself to see how it all wraps up.   Would suggest wait till it comes out on DVD at a cheap rate.

The Travelling gives this movie 2 pinkie toes up with blisters from running all night.



Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional movie critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (movie critique)

THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
MOVIE POSTER

The Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe journeyed to the local multiplex to see "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" as we had seen the first movie and had enjoyed it so much so we just had to see this sequel.  

This movie picks up a few months after the first movie ends.

The action takes place in Jaipur, India and the main characters, retired British pensioners, have taken up new lives in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which is managed by Sonny (Dev  Patel). Due to the success achieved at the hotel, Sonny decides to open a second location.   He and Muriel (Maggie Smith)  fly to California to make a pitch for funding this new venture to a retirement center conglomerate, led by the President, played by David Strathairn. A decision to fund the project is tabled while the offer is being considered.   Sonny finds out that the company often sends an undercover inspector to determine if the company they are considering is worthy of the financial investment.  

Dev Patel

Maggie Smith

David Strathairn

Back in Jaipur, Evelyn (Judi Dench) and Douglas (Bill Nighly) are still friends with no benefits and Madge (Celia Imrie) is still looking for Mr. Got The Big Bucks and has 2 rich Indian suitors on the line.  The last of the couples in the mix are Norman (Ronald Pickup) and his girlfriend Carol (Diana Hardcastle), still trying to determine where their relationship is going.  And along the way Douglas' ex-wife, Jean (Penelope Wilton) shows up to finalize the terms of the divorce.  

Judi Dench

Bill Nighly

Celia Imrie

Ronald Pickup

Diana Hardcastle

Penelope Wilton

Two new guests arrive to check in to the hotel , one is an American writer Guy (Richard Gere - sigh) and the other an English woman, Lavinia (Tamsin Greig).  Sonny decides that Guy, being an American is the hotel spy, and begins to cater to him hoping they will receive the financing he needs to open the second retirement hotel.

Tamsin Greig

Richard Gere

As the story progresses more fun things take place and often chaos ensues.  

In the mist of all this intrigue, Sonny and his finance Sunaina (Tena Desae) are getting married and there is much to do and get done for all the various celebrations that place at an Indian wedding.  Then Sonny learns that his childhood friend has purchased the hotel that he had his eye on for the expansion.  Throw in Sonny's mother, Mrs. Kapoor, (Lillete Dubey) and Guy being attracted to each other and there are lots of story lines going on.

Tena Desae

Lillete Dubey

The movie starts wrapping up all the loose ends of the story during Sonny and Sunaina's wedding celebrations. Having never been to an Indian wedding, this was a joy to see and experience even on film as it was so much fun.  The dance sequences for the wedding were enjoyable to watch.  How they can choreograph all of those dance moves is amazing plus the clothes were a riot of vibrate colors and lots of gold jewelry was layered on.

Is "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" as good as the first?  Probably not, but it is still good and we all totally enjoyed it as for once the people in love and re-defining their lives were all over the age of 65! Just remember - love knows no age limit!

The movie was directed by John Madden - no, not the one who is into football!

John Madden

The Travelling Toe awards this movie 1 big toe and 1 middle toe up with henna paint on them.

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional movie critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

Celtic Magic with The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

FORTH WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS
CELTIC MAGIC

For the last several years the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra has celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a Irish themed program in their Pops series and this year was no exception.

Jeff Tyzik

Jeff Tyzik

This year guest conductor Jeff Tyzik, lead the orchestra through the first part of the program of Irish ditties to great enthusiasm from the audience.  The Travelling Toe was thoroughly captivated by the lush and emotional rendition of "Danny Boy"or it's true name "Irish Tune from County Derry".  The brass section was outstanding in this selection.  Mr Tyzik shared a story of how Percy Grainger found the folk song while visiting a pub in Ireland and loved it, then wrote the music and finally the orchestration. During a couple of songs several young ladies, in beautiful sparkly costumes, bounded on stage and danced traditional Irish dances - soft shoe and then hard (tap) shoe.   They were from the McTeggart School of Irish Dancing.   They were fun to watch and all performed beautifully.

After the intermission, Cathie Ryan and her band mates took the stage and more Irish music was celebrated.   Ms. Ryan, who often attends the North Texas Irish Festival, not only sang so wonderfully, she played the Irish drum and told great stories of Irish life and the songs being sung.  The band, Patsy O'Brien on guitar, Matt Mancuso on fiddle and Brian Melick, on percussion provided musical accompaniment and vocals as well.  One song in particular that The Travelling Toe enjoyed was "Johnny Be Fair" and also "The Wild Flowers" was most poignant.

All in all this music makes The Travelling Toe wish she had some Irish roots in her ancestry somewhere.  Next year plan to come to the Celtic show and be ready to celebrate all things Irish!

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional music critic and any opinions expressed foe entertainment purposes only.

Jeanne Robertson at the Winspear Opera House

JEANNE ROBERTSON

With 3 compadres, The Travelling Toe drove east to Dallas to see Jeanne Robertson, at the Winspear Opera House presented by the AT&T Performing Arts Center .  Ms. Roberson is a former Miss North Carolina winner, at 6 foot 2 inches, has beautiful short grey hair and an infectious smile.   Her humorous observations about life most times include stories about her husband, who she affectionately calls "left brain".  

She has DVD's, books, CD's available plus she has a program on Sirus XW satellite radio, and millions of fans on You Tube and Facebook.

The evening we saw Jeanne, she had suffered a fall and injured her knee....and from the effort it took for her to walk on stage with assistance she must have been in some serious pain...but the show must go on and she did.   She sat on a pillow  in a Cracker Barrel rocking chair and began to tell one amusing story after another.   The capacity crowd enjoyed the entire 90 minutes of fun and laughter.  When it was time to go she was assisted up out of her rocking chair and hobbled off stage.   What a Trooper!  One of the funny stories she told was called "Bama - got a sec?"  and if you know football you will know he story.  It was so funny and since Jeanne is an Auburn alum, it was priceless.

This is the second time that The Travelling Toe has been privileged to hear Jeanne in person and certainly hope she comes our way again.

Jeanne Robertson

Jeanne Robertson You Tube

Jeanne Robertson Facebook


***just a side note to the Winspear, we sat on the front row and the echo was awful...sometimes we could not understand what was being said...additional not enough ladies restroom facilities were included in the building...I guess male architects don't understand that women do get tired of standing in line to use the restroom!

"Chappie" (movie critique)

Chappie
Movie Poster

The Travelling Toe and one of the Friday Movie Mavens, braved going to the local multiplex during spring break when all the little munchkins were lined up to see the new release of "Cinderella" and saw instead "Chappie".

This movie is about robots taking over the world - yet again.  There must be a stock menu for screenwriters to pick scenes from that must be included in a movie about robots.

Earnest young software designer, played by Dev Patel, the maker of the  robot "Scouts" who partner with human law enforcement officers to control crime.  Meanwhile he is secretly working on AI (artificial intelligence) to upload to a Scout for a trial.
                                         

Dev Patel

                          check

Older, disgruntled engineer, Hugh Jackman, who's project is left unfunded and seethes with hatred for the young software engineer

Hugh Jackman

                           check

Bad guys, with the caring bad girl in a weird hair cut, needing to make the big score to pay the really bad guy what they owe him and then get out of town

Watkin Tudor Jones
(Ninja)

Yolandi Visser

Jose Pablo Cantillo

             check

(side note: "Ninja" one of the bad guys, has the skinniest legs The Travelling Toe has ever seen and she will not discuss the massive amounts of tattoos on the rest of his body)

Bando Auret
really bad dude

        double check


The female company president only concerned with the bottom line and if the stock is climbing and keeping the stakeholders happy.

Sigourney Weaver

              check


Chappie, the orphaned "Scout" that Dev saves from being crushed and then installs the AI software in it and leaves Chappie with the bad guys who teach him to become a robot "gangsta"...what?????

Sharlto Copley

           check


The movie was filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa and there are lots of empty and abandoned buildings to "play" in.  Needless to say, a lot of shooting, gun play, and not so pleasant things take place.  Chaos descends.  Does the hero save the day? Well sort of....but dear readers you will have to see it for yourself at your own risk.  Would suggest if you want to view this movie then rent it at a low price.

Johannesburg, South Africa

The Travelling Toe awards this movie one pinky robotic toe up with a chaser of Pepto.


Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional movie critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.