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contents

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ICON

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

After producing a tribute to the late Jerry Herman—the composer behind great American theater musicals Hello Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles—Feinstein begins his next tour, Michael Feinstein “You’ve Got A Friend” From Gershwin to Carole King and Beyond, featuring vocalist Haley Reinhart. He talks with us about his new show, the genius of Jerry Herman (and Herman’s request that he produce his memorial, which Feinstein calls “a love letter”), today’s batch of singers, songwriters and Broadway composers, and his own comfort—and discomfort—zones.

Julio daCunha, Crucifixion-2 (Prophet), from The story of Basil Cesuescu, Consummate rascal and Pretender to the Throne of the Albanians (Part 1), 1977. Delaware Art Museum. © Julio daCunha.

The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, nightlife and mad genius.

Since 1992 215-862-9558 icondv.com facebook.com/icondv PRESIDENT Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com EDITORIAL Editor / trina@icondv.com

ESSAY

MORE FILM

A THOUSAND WORDS One Night Only

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Jen Ancker, Philly Sunset.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking to 25,000 civil rights marchers at the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March. This image was used for the poster of the movie “Selma” (2014), chronicling the epic march and the campaign for equal voting rights, inkjet exhibition print, framed: 22 x 28 in. Collection of the artist. © Stephen Somerstein

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Walking to Philly

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The 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote

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OPINION 7|

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano 26 |

ART EXHIBITIONS 6|

Votes for Women: A Visual History Brandywine River Museum of Art

28 |

The Phoenix Show: Inner Visions Phoenix Art Supplies 30 |

THEATER

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NEW BOOKS

20 | ON THE COVER: Michael Feinstein. Photo: Randee St. Nicholas. 4

NIGHTLIFE

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FOREIGN José

MUSIC

Delaware Art Museum

FILM ROUNDUP Color Out of Space The Traitor Vitalina Varela Zombi Child

Susan Danforth Rita Kaplan INTERNS Joey Fonseca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS A. D. Amorosi Robert Beck Jack Byer Geoff Gehman Mark Keresman

JAZZ/ ROCK/CLASSICAL/ALT

George Miller

Barney Wilen Quartet Amina Figarova Norma Winstone & John Taylor Benny Benack III Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Bobby Kapp

Susan Van Dongen

POP XXXTentacion The Bad Plus The Band

PO Box 120 • New Hope 18938 215-862-9558

ETCETERA 32 |

HARPER’S FINDINGS

FILM

32 |

HARPER’S INDEX

CINEMATTERS Portrait of a Lady on Fire

34 |

L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD

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AGENDA

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PRODUCTION Richard DeCosta

Peter Croatto

Julio daCunha: Modernizing Myths

Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

REEL NEWS Museo Parasite Pain and Glory Ford v Ferrari

Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net

Keith Uhlich

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a thousand words

STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

One Night Only

THE PART OF MAINE where I go to paint is an excellent place to decompress. It’s located at the top of the coast near Canada, where there’s not much to get compressed about. For me anyway—it’s not an easy life for the people who live there year-round. Washington County has 32,000 people in an area half the size of Connecticut. I’ve been told there’s a traffic light in Cutler, and I have heard rumor of another inland somewhere, but I’ve asked around, and nobody knows. I’ve been thinking of driving over there to get it off my bucket list. You have to wonder why a town with 507 people needs a traffic light. I gave a talk about my work last summer at the Peabody Library in Jonesport. It went well, although the audience was looking sparse when the time to start rolled around. There were six people, and two of those were the Program Lady and the Librarian (they brought the cheese and made the dip). I suggested we wait a little bit, as I knew some friends from the shipyard were coming, but the Program Warden was brought up on punctuality, and I only could negotiate another five minutes. Turns out there had been two times published, and another twenty people showed up about ten minutes into my talk, initiating a second wave of hellos, welcomes, and folding chairs clattering in from the hall. Some of the people didn’t know who I was. They had been lured by the sign out front, which only had my photo, date, and time. There’s not a lot to do in town on Thursday night. One guy’s wife got him to come by telling him I was Andrew Wyeth. I appreciated the bodies and began again. About half-way into the introductory portion of my talk—the part where I tell people

what I’m going to tell them right before I tell them—a guy raised his hand and asked if I was going to teach them how to mix colors. His finger wiggled in front of him as he said it. I told him no. It wasn’t clear if he was disappointed or relieved. I continued. The crowd was obliging, paying rapt attention, and making thoughtful comments. When I was done the presentation, I opened the floor to questions, and the color-mix guy lifted his hand again. He asked me what made Michelangelo so good. Okay now. It’s one thing to pose a question like that over a beer, and another to have it sprung on you in front of a crowd you’ve just spent an hour persuading you know something about art. I played for time by chuckling and asking if anybody wanted to field that question, but they sat looking at me as if it was something they had long wondered, and now they were on the verge of finally discovering a great secret. The truth is that I do have knowledge and experience, and I explain things fairly well. That’s why we’re here. This is a trust that has been placed in me, and I take it seriously. The question warranted a response that had more than art-speak behind it. I talked to them about how every person has capabilities, interests, and motivations. If they can get them all moving in the same direction, they can accomplish extraordinary things. Not just in art. Anything. I wasn’t sure that answered the Michelangelo question, but people nodded their heads as I talked, which was a positive sign. Everybody appeared satisfied with that explanation. Like maybe there’s no real personal value in being the best. The reward is in finding something you enjoy enough that you keep trying to get better at it. Michelangelo was way more gifted than any of us, but believe me, you wouldn’t want to spend four years painting the Sistine Chapel back in 1508. If someone comes away from one of my talks inclined to try something they never thought they could accomplish, it’s not only worth what I put into it, but it’s a pay forward for the time, effort, and knowledge I have been generously given by others. Regardless, the answer got me through the question, and everybody was pleased. It was a good place to wrap up the evening, so we all adjourned to the table with the cheese, crackers, and mystery dip, and stacked the chairs back in the hall before we left. n ICON | FEBRUARY 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

exhibitions

Margaret Mattheson, “Big Blue,” oil.

The Phoenix Show: Inner Visions

Untitled, from Lady Alethea Ogilvie, Exentrique Extraordinaire, 1968. Oil on canvas, 13 × 13 in. Collection of Shelly Levin. © Julio daCunha

Julio daCunha: Modernizing Myths

Stephen Somerstein, “Vote” written in sunscreen on the forehead of marcher Bobby Simmons, inkjet exhibition print, framed: 24x18. Collection of the artist. © Stephen Somerstein

Votes for Women: A Visual History Brandywine River Museum of Art 1 Hoffman’s Mill Rd. Chadds Ford, PA 610-388-2700 Brandywine.org February 1–June 7 This exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. Focusing on the last decade leading up to ratification in 1920, we examine the compelling imagery of the suffrage movement and how the suffragists spread their message—in the absence of televised and digital media—through magazines, political cartoons, posters, plays, parades and fashion. Presenting an inclusive historical narrative, the exhibition recognizes the significant contributions of women of color, which have been historically overlooked. And while the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, ongoing voting struggles persisted for marginalized communities following its ratification. An accompanying photography exhibition, Witness to History: The Selma Photography of Stephen Somerstein, continues the story about the ongoing struggle for voting rights with 55 photographs taken during the historic 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama—a turning point that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. 6

Delaware Art Museum 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 302-571-9590 delart.org February 29–May 10 Julio daCunha was born in 1929 in Bogota, Colombia. After completing his master of fine arts degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art, he arrived in Delaware in 1956 to teach at the University of Delaware. He places himself within the Spanish tradition of Arshile Gorky, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, and Francisco de Goya. At the University, daCunha served as department chair from 1966–1969 and taught until 1994, influencing generations of students. This Distinguished Artist Series exhibition will be assembled from the collections of the Delaware Art Museum, public institutions, and private collections showcasing the impact daCunha had on the community in which he lived.

Entanglements II, 1975. Oil on canvas, 33 3/8 × 39 1/4 in. Delaware Art Museum, Gift of Sewell C. Biggs, 1975. © Julio daCunha

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A juried fundraising art exhibition Phoenix Art Supplies, The Conservatory 4059 Skyron Drive, Doylestown March 7–21 Opening Reception March 7, 6–9 p.m. Phoenix-show.com This exhibit reached out to a broad artist community in Bucks and adjoining counties for original voices coming from unusual places. We looked for artists’ visions expressed in new and unique ways. The submissions range from detailed representations of the artist’s physical world, to vibrant, disturbing abstractions, to traditional infused with imagined realities. All profits from the exhibit go to “Hand-inHand” a program of the CFEVA in Philadelphia, bringing professional artists to over 750 children in crisis each year. With local homeless shelters, transitional housing facilities, and social service agencies, CFEVA provides a flexible arts curriculum that empowers youth to express themselves through art. In this way we help empower kids today and nurture the artists of tomorrow.

Charles A. Ladny, “Woman with Bird,” oil pastel.

opinion

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO REMOVE A PRESIDENT?

was when the House impeached him last year. Since then, more evidence, which Trump tried to suppress, has come to light. That evidence consists of administration officials’ emails that were obtained by the media pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Those BY JUDGE ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO emails demonstrate conclusively that Trump ordered a halt on the release January 23, 2020 of the $391 million within minutes of his favor request, and the aid sat undistributed until congressional pressure became too much for Trump to I DON’T BLAME PRESIDENT Donald Trump for his angst and bitterbear. ness over his impeachment by the House of Representatives. In his mind, This implicates two other crimes. One is bribery—the refusal to perhe has done “nothing wrong” and not acted outside the constitutional form a government obligation until a thing of value is delivered, whether powers vested in him, and so his impeachment should not have come to the thing of value—here, the announcement of a Ukrainian investigation pass. He believes that the president can legally extract personal concesof the Bidens—arrives or not. The other is contempt of Congress. sions from the recipients of foreign aid, and he also believes that he can If the request for the announcement of an investigation of the Bidens legally order his subordinates to ignore congressional subpoenas. manifested “nothing wrong” as Trump has claimed, why did he whisper it Hence, his public denunciations of his Senate trial as a charade, a joke in secret, rather than order it of the Department of Justice? and a hoax. His trial is not a charade or a joke or a hoax. It is deadly seriWhen the House Select Committee on Intelligence sought the emails ous business based on well-established constitutional norms. unearthed by the press and then sought testimony from their authors, The House of Representatives—in proceedings in which the president Trump thumbed his nose at the House. Instead of complying with House chose not to participate—impeached Trump for abuse of power and consubpoenas or challenging them in court, Trump’s folks threw them in a tempt of Congress. The abuse consists of his efforts to extract a personal drawer. Earlier this week, his lawyers argued that those actions were lawpolitical “favor” from the president of Ukraine as a precondition to the deful and that they imposed a burden on the House to seek the aid of the livery of $391 million in military courts in enforcing House subpoeaid. The favor he wanted was an nas. FROM ALEXANDER HAMILTON announcement of a Ukrainian inSuch an argument puts the vestigation of former Vice Presicart before the horse. Under the TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1792 dent Joseph R. Biden and his son Constitution, the House has “the Hunter. sole power of impeachment.” The When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, The Government AccountabiliHouse does not need the approval bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advanty Office—a nonpartisan entity in of the judiciary to obtain evidence tage of military habits—despotic in his ordinary demeanour—known to the federal government that moniof impeachable offenses from exhave scoffed in private at the principles of liberty—when such a man is tors how the feds spend tax revecutive branch officials. seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity—to join in the cry of danger enue—has concluded that Trump’s We know that obstruction of to liberty—to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Govrequest for a favor was a violation Congress is a crime. Just ask forernment & bringing it under suspicion—to flatter and fall in with all the of law because only Congress can mer New York Yankees pitching non sense of the zealots of the day—It may justly be suspected that his impose conditions on government great Roger Clemens, who was object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and expenditures. So, when the presitried for it and acquitted. We also direct the whirlwind.’ dent did that, he usurped Congress’ know that obstruction of ConThat was House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff's opening argurole and acted unlawfully. gress—by ordering subordinates ment at President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial: Those But, did he act criminally; and not to comply with House imwords were written by Alexander Hamilton in a letter to President George is it constitutionally necessary for peachment subpoenas—is an imWashington, at the height of the Panic of 1792, a financial credit crisis that the House to have pointed to a spepeachable offense. We know that shook our young nation. Hamilton was responding to sentiments relayed cific federal crime committed by because the House Judiciary to Washington as he traveled the country, that America, in the face of that the president in order to impeach Committee voted to charge Presicrisis, might descend from “a republican form of Government,” plunging him and trigger a Senate trial? dent Richard Nixon with obstrucinstead into “that of a monarchy.” The Constitution prescribes the tion of Congress when he refused bases for impeachment as treason, to comply with subpoenas. And bribery or other high crimes and the full House voted for an article misdemeanors. However, this use of the word “crimes” does not refer to of impeachment against President Bill Clinton when he refused to surrenviolations of federal criminal statutes. It refers to behavior that is so deder subpoenaed evidence. structive of the constitutional order that it is the moral equivalent of statuWhere does all this leave us at the outset of Trump’s Senate trial? tory crimes. It leaves us with valid, lawful, constitutional arguments for Trump’s imFor example, as others have suggested, if the president moved to Ruspeachment that he ought to take seriously. That is, unless he knows he will sia and ran the executive branch from there, or if he announced that be acquitted because Republican senators have told him so. Whoever may Roman Catholics were unfit for office, he would not have committed any have whispered that into his ear is unworthy of sitting as a juror and has crimes. Yet, surely, these acts would be impeachable because, when done violated the oath of “impartial justice” and fidelity to the Constitution and by the president, they are the moral equivalent of crimes and are so far rethe law. moved from constitutional norms as to be impeachable. What is required for removal of the president? A demonstration of In Trump’s case, though the House chose delicately not to accuse the presidential commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, of which in president of specific crimes, there is enough evidence here to do so. FedTrump’s case the evidence is ample and uncontradicted. n eral election laws proscribe as criminal the mere solicitation of help for a political campaign from a foreign national or government. There is no disAndrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jerpute that Trump did this. In fact, the case for this is stronger now than it sey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. ICON | FEBRUARY 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

nightlife FEBRUARY 5 – DUSTBOWL REVIVAL America’s funkiest, rootsy Americana ensemble, Dustbowl Revival, gives its upcoming album, Is It You, Is It Me, a polish with production from Sam Kassirer [Lake Street Dive, Josh Ritter] and a handful of topical tracks. (Steelstacks Bethlehem, steelstacks.org)

CURATED BY A.D. AMOROSI

18 – JAKE SHIMABUKURO

26 – HAYES CARLL/ALLISON MOORER

The man who redefined the sound of the ukulele goes further and farther on his next album, Trio, by turning the tiny

Two of progressive country music’s wittiest, literary-est pen-people and vocalists on one bill is more to bear. (City Winery Philadelphia, citywinery.com/Philadelphia)

ludes for his Einstein on the Beach opera with director Robert Wilson. Wilson furthered the notion of The Knee Plays by adding composer David Byrne to the mix, which would be part of his opera CIVIL warS. It’s just like Oprah— you get an opera, and you get an opera. Conducted by Donald Nally. (Harold Prince Theatre, annenbergcenter.org)

6 – TANYA TUCKER Country music heartbreaker Tucker (Delta Dawn) was once known only for her wild partying ways and her relationship with the late Glen Campbell. Now, tuned string instrument into a weapon of mass destructive power trio rawk. This sounds like fun. (Steelstacks Bethlehem, steelstacks.org)

20 – ANGELIQUE KIDJO After several seasons of covering David Byrne’s Talking Heads African-inspired songs from Remain in Light, Kidjo moves toward the music of Latin vocal legend Celia Cruz on a new album, however, she’s settled and has compacted all that living into a rough-edged voice, a cooler calmer head, and a first new album in decades, While I’m Livin’, that is as nuanced and chilled, as it is passionate and brusque. (World Café Live, worldcafelive.com)

If cut-and-paste, abstract sketch comedy is your cup of tea, Temple U alumni Tim Heidecker and Wareheim hold the key to your pleasure. (The Met Philadelphia, themetphilly.com)

13 – TOP OF THE WORLD: A TRIBUTE TO THE CARPENTERS I’m always loathed to place cover bands or acts on this page, but I have been feeling very sentimental lately, recalling the calming cosmopolitan pop of Karen and Richard. If this act even executes at half the speed of The Carpenters, it’s worth the trip. (Steelstacks Bethlehem, steelstacks.org)

14 – JURASSIC WORLD LIVE TOUR This action-packed Spielberg-ian floorshow sounds like either a spooky, goofy way to spend a Valentine’s Day or something couples with kids might love. (Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargocenterphilly.com) 8

Celia, and a stage show dedicated to Afro-Cuban rhythms and melodies. (Zellerbach Theatre, annenbergcenter.org)

21 – POST MALONE (WFC)

The program at Annenberg will include the Philadelphia premiere of Glass’ Music in Twelve Parts, Jenny Lin’s Glass Reflections, and the world premiere of The White Lama, a theatrical piece by Nikki Appino. Head into University City now and you’ll see Glass’ face on banners streaming from every streetlight. It’s very cool to witness if you are a long-time aficionado like me. (Annenberg Center, annenbergcenter.org)

While all Monkees fans have been loving the recent spate of Nesmith/Dolenz shows, the comical singer and drummer of television pop’s first band is always a delight to behold. And he tells great stories about the original Hollywood Vampires. (Sellersville Theater, st94.com)

26 – CELINE DION Between the death of her husband-manager and the very recent passing of her mother, powerhouse vocalist, and all-

The airy hip hop soul vocalist is an unstoppable streaming chart-topper, with his most recent album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, an evolution of his light but braggadocios tone. Plus, the magnificent Swae Lee is opening the Malone show, so make it a night. (Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargocenterphilly.com)

21/22 – THE CROSSING: THE KNEE PLAYS This kinetic modern classical choir piece starring Philly’s finest avant-garde choral, The Crossing, is the start of #GLASSFEST (see below) as it was originally crafted, by Philip Glass, as a set of inter-

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One half of Thievery Corporation, the acid jazz trip-hop soul-reggae toast of

2/21–3/14 #GLASSFEST PHILA

22 – MICKEY DOLENZ

10 – TIM & ERIC

28 – ROB GARZA

around titanic presence Celine Dion has had a rough time. Her new album, Courage, ticks off all the boxes a Celine Dion record always does. (Wells Fargo Center, wellsfargocenterphilly.com)

Washington DC takes a break from the other and has a cool, blue blast doing it. (World Café Live, worldcafelive.com)

28 – KASIM SULTON’S UTOPIA Before bassist/vocalist Sulton joins his long-time boss Todd Rundgren on tour in June (Philly’s Fillmore on June 2 and 3), he’ll take out the rest of Runt’s progressive rock ensemble for a complex soulful tour of Todd-ities. (Sellersville Theater, st94.com)

29 – CHRISTONE "KINGFISH" INGRAM: FISH GREASE 2: A JUKE JOINT TOUR Swamp blue’s hottest new guitarist takes a swig of the Winery. Plus, the CW needed two shows to accommodate all of the Fish Grease fans. (City Winery, citywinery.com/Philadelphia)

29 – THE CHRIS AND PAUL SHOW Leap Year Februarys don’t come around that often, so something fun is on the

agenda. I recommend The Chris and Paul Show, comedians Chris O’Neill and Paul Valenti wittily imaginative and highly physicalized sketch program they unveiled as finalists on NBC’s inaugural season of Bring the Funny. (Steelstacks Bethlehem, steelstacks.org) n

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valley theater

city theater

A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry’s wounding, healing drama concerns a 1950s Chicago family divided and united by economic pressures, racial tensions, and aspirational dilemmas. The Muhlenberg College production is supervised by guest artist Jeffrey Page, a dancer, opera director, and choreographer whose credits include Beyonce specials and the original Broadway production of “Fela!” the hit South African musical. He also launched a nonprofit that celebrates traditional and contemporary African movement. (Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, 2440 W. Chew St., Allentown, Feb. 20-23)

Fool for Love. The late, great playwright, author, actor, and cowboy Sam Shepard’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Obie Award for Best New American Play is a crushing look at two volatile, highly sexual past lovers attacking each other like rabid cheetahs out for blood. And it’s hilarious. Brenna Geffers directs. (EgoPo Classic Theater at the Latvian Society, 531 N. 7th Street, February 5-23)

Heddatron. A pregnant, bored domestic engineer escapes her robotic existence when robots kidnap her and force her to perform Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler,” in, of all places, a rain forest. Playwright Elizabeth Meriwether aggravates the absurdity by making Ibsen struggle to write “Hedda,” a revolutionary play about a revolutionary woman, while being taunted by a shrewish spouse and his rival, August “Miss Julie” Strindberg.. (Buck Theater, Lafayette College, 219 N. 3rd St., Easton, Feb. 21-23, 27-29) The Humans. A Manhattan apartment becomes a Thanksgiving hothouse as Scranton relatives endure dementia, bowel problems, and 9/11 trauma, all compounded by normal holiday and urban stresses. Playwright Stephen Karam grew up in Scranton, won a 2016 best-play Tony, and authored the screenplay for the 2018 film “The Seagull.” (Civic Theatre of Allentown, 527 N. 19th St., Feb. 7-9, 13-16, 20-23) Biloxi Blues. The middle play in Neil Simon’s autobiographical trilogy showcases a World War II tug of war between a sadistic sergeant and a sensitive soldier during basic training in Mississippi. (Pennsylvania Playhouse, 390 Illick’s Mill Rd., Bethlehem, Feb. 7-9, 14-16) Lombardi. A magazine reporter is frustrated, fascinated, and rewarded while profiling fabled coach/motivator Vince Lombardi as he prepares the Green Bay Packers for a 1965 game. (Lipkin Theatre, Kopacek Hall, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, Feb. 10-16) Into the Woods. Rapunzel, Beanstalk Jack, and other Grimm characters help a baker and his wife reverse a witch’s barren-womb curse in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s dazzlingly warped fairy-tale pilgrimage. (Samuels Theatre, Tompkins College Center, Cedar Crest College, 100 College Drive, Allentown, Feb. 20-24) Tartuffe. Moliere’s delightfully devilish title character is a spiritual con man who nearly ruins a wealthy family until a canny matriarch exposes his snakeoil tomfoolery. (Act1 Productions, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Feb. 20-23, 26-March 1) Blithe Spirit. Noel Coward’s wickedly witty work features an occult-researching novelist and his second wife tormented by his first spouse, who is resurrected from the dead by a wacky séance. Fun footnote: Coward played the novelist during a World War II tour. (Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, Feb. 21-23, 26-29)

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Playwright Rajiv Joseph’s witty, 2018 Obie Award-winning dramedy explores “the blurred lines between lies, history and conspiracy theories, as it tracks back and forth across 90 years of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.” The Wilma’s co-founder and artistic director, Blanka Zizka, takes on Joseph’s Tom Stoppardesque tale of foreign intrigue and lying ire. (The Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad Street, Through February 16) The Vertical Hour. Wordy and dry British playwright David Hare gets wordier and dryer when tackling the after-effects of President Bush’s Iraq War on a whip-smart American war correspondent-turned-professor and the dysfunctional-ly conflicted British family she’s marrying into. Lots of secrets and lots of sadness. (Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow St., Through February 16) The Bald Soprano. Maybe the now-defunct Brat Theatre Company brought Eugene Ionesco’s circularly repetitious avant-absurdist tragic-comedy back into theatrical vogue and advancing its tense oddity by performing it continuously for 24 hours in a loop. This unforgettable production set the stage, however, not only for The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium’s 2017 wooly execution of Ionesco’s first play but the IRC’s presentation of Ionesco plays such as Rhinoceros, Exit the King and The Chairs. Then again, it’s not as if the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium needed help being weird or genderbending. The IRC 2020 production will feature the same cast as its 2017 version: Sonja Robson and John Zak as the Smiths; Tomas Dura as Mary, the Maid; and Tina Brock and Bob Schmidt as The Martins; with Carlos Forbes as The Fireman. (The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium at the Bethany Mission Gallery, 1527 Brandywine Street, February 6–16) The Government Inspector. Russian-Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol penned an uproariously funny satire where corrupt government officials in a provincial tiny township freak out when they discover they’re about to be investigated. How will the town’s fathers make the inspector look away? (Penn Theatre Arts Program at the Bruce Montgomery Theatre at the Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street, February 13-16) Osceola. Hella Fresh Theater, an independent company, based in the Papermill Theater, presents playwright John Rosenberg’s tale of a housewife and mother of three, her simple-minded brother-in-law (who was kicked in the head by a horse), and a creepy hunting trip they take near the ghost town of Osceola on the Nevada / Utah border. What could go wrong? https://hellafreshtheater.com/ (Papermill Theater, 2825 Ormes St, Philadelphia, February 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and March 1)

Edith Piaf: Hymn to Love. Touchstone Theatre and Teatro Potlach, an Italian ensemble, reboot a solo show about the larger-than-life, legendary chanteuse. The 2015 version, which visited Touchstone, starred Potlach member Nathalie Mentha, a Swiss-born Italian, portraying Piaf, her boxer-lover Marcel Cerdan, and Paris-invading Nazis with the mesmerizing flair of an acrobat and a silentfilm femme fatale. Jason Hedrington, Touchstone’s musical director, provides accompaniment. (Touchstone, 321 E. 4th St., Bethlehem, March 5-8)

My General Tubman Playwright Lorene Cary and actor, playwright, and (in this case) director James Ijames continue the topical aesthetic trend (see the Oscar-nominated film Harriet) of looking at Black civil rights freedom fighter Harriet Tubman with a world premiere play. (Arcadia Stage at Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. 2nd Street, Through Mar.1)

— GEOFF GEHMAN

— A.D. AMOROSI

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new books

Perfect Little Children Sophie Hannah William Morrow

The Coyotes of Carthage: A Novel Steven Wright Ecco

All Beth has to do is drive her son to his soccer game, watch him play, and return home. Just because she knows her ex-best friend lives near the field, that doesn’t mean she has to drive past her house and try to catch a glimpse of her. Why would Beth do that and risk dredging up painful memories? She hasn’t seen Flora for 12 years. She doesn’t want to see her ever again. But she can’t resist. She parks outside of Newnham House, watches from across the road as Flora arrives and calls to her children Thomas and Emily to get out of the car. Except . . . There’s something terribly wrong. Flora looks the same, only older. Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three years old. Today, they look precisely as they did then. They are Thomas and Emily without a doubt, but they haven’t changed at all. They are no taller, no older. Why haven’t they grown? How is it possible that they haven’t grown up?

A blistering and thrilling debut—a biting exploration of American politics, about a political operative running a dark money campaign for his corporate clients Dre Ross has one more shot. Despite being a successful political consultant, his tactics have put him on thin ice with his boss. She exiles him to the backwoods of South Carolina with $250,000 of dark money to introduce a ballot initiative on behalf of a mining company. The goal: to manipulate the locals into voting to sell their pristine public land to the highest bidder. Under Dre’s cynical direction, a land grab is disguised as a fight for faith and liberty. As lines are crossed, Dre’s cutthroat campaign threatens the soul of Carthage County and the last remnants of his own humanity. “With this splendid debut, Steven Wright announces his arrival as a major new voice in the world of political thrillers. I enjoyed it immensely.” —John Grisham

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz Erik Larson Crown On Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally—and willing to fight to the end. Erik Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless.” It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London.

The Impossible First: Crossing Antarctica Alone Colin O’Brady Scribner

Breaking Hate: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism Christian Picciolini Hachette Books

The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals Joel Sartore National Geographic Limited edition

Prior to December 2018, no individual had ever crossed the landmass of Antarctica alone, yet Colin O’Brady was determined to do just that, though ten years earlier, there was doubt he’d ever walk again. Enduring sub-zero temperatures and pulling a sled that weighed 375 pounds—in complete isolation, through a succession of whiteouts, storms, and near disasters—he persevered. Alone with his thoughts for nearly two months—gripped by fear and doubt—he reflected on his past, seeking courage and inspiration in the relationships and experiences that had shaped his life. Honest, deeply moving, filled with moments of vulnerability—and set against the backdrop of some of the most extreme environments on earth, from Mt. Everest to Antarctica—The Impossible First reveals how anyone can overcome immense obstacles, and discover what matters most.

From a onetime whitesupremacist leader now working to disengage people from extremist movements, Breaking Hate is a “riveting” (James Clapper), “groundbreaking” (Malcolm Nance) exploration of how to heal a nation reeling from hate and violence. Told with startling honesty and intimacy, this is the inside story of how extremists lure the unwitting to their causes, and a guide for winning them and our civil democracy back. The author unravels this sobering narrative from the frontlines, where he has worked for two decades as a peace advocate and “hate breaker.” He draws from the firsthand experiences, revealing how violent movements target the vulnerable, and how the right interventions can save lives. Picciolini lays bare the ways in which “fake news,” social media propaganda, and coded language has polarized and radicalized an entire generation.

Sartore is committed to documenting every animal in captivity— with a focus on the growing number of endangered species and those facing extinction—by circling the globe, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of 12,000 species. Paired with the eloquent prose of wildlife writer Douglas Chadwick, and a foreword by Harrison Ford, Sartore's portraits are riveting: from tiny to mammoth, from the Florida grasshopper sparrow to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. With the accelerating pace of climate change and its devastating effect on wildlife habitat, he presents a more urgent argument for saving all the species of our planet.

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voices

This page is for you. We welcome submissions of essays, short stories, an excerpt from your book, and opinion pieces. Professional writers, experts, and amateurs are all invited to contribute. Send an email with the subject line VOICES to trina@icondv.com. Include your name, address, and phone number. If your piece is chosen to be published we’ll let you know and only print your name.

Walking to Philly By Jen Ancker

Walking to Philadelphia.

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR a city to be in your DNA? Both of my parents were born and raised in Philadelphia. The same goes for their parents. By the time I came around, my parents and most of the family had moved to South Jersey. Still, the city has always had a hold on me. When I was a kid, my grandparents would take me to the Italian Market. When my grandmother wanted sausage, the shopkeeper went to the sausage spool and unrolled the meat like a hose. Do you want an arm’s length of links? Two? Then it would be off to Di Bruno Brothers. Everyone knows Di Bruno’s now, but it’s hard to tell when you’re ten and haven’t been exposed to the Internet that you’re going to a famous shop. This was just the place where we got cheese. Oh, the cheese at Di Bruno’s! I don’t need to tell you about the cheese. My grandfather always made sure I got the prosciutto di Parma, too, even though my mother would make a fuss when we got home because it was so expensive. We’d walk around, and my grandfather would share stories from his childhood…like when my great grandmother used to pick out live chickens, and they’d take them in the back and return in a few minutes with the meat. Surprisingly, this didn’t kill my appetite. We’d go right to Termini Brothers Bakery to pick out dessert for later. And for right away. In my mind, Termini’s is like Willy Wonka for pastry. (Sure you’ve had the cannolis, but you have to try the tea biscuits. I’ve tried for years to recreate that recipe and come up short every time.) Oh, we weren’t done. My family has a sweet tooth, you see. We 14

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can’t get enough. The last stop was always to get water ice. NOT Italian ice. If I ever said Italian ice, I think my family would shun me. They already tolerate me having a nontraditional favorite flavor, chocolate. All through my childhood, it seemed like whenever my parents took me to do something local that was fun, it was in Philly: sports, concerts, museums, restaurants, Philadelphia had it all. It seemed surprising that tourists came to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell because I took them for granted. Then I put a camera in my hand, and I began to appreciate the beauty of the city. It has been said before, but it’s true—photography makes us stop and really see our surroundings and take a fresh look at things that have been there all along. When my father mentioned that there was a walkway along the Ben Franklin Bridge, we had to go there. How did I not know about this? As many times as I had gone over that bridge, I never imagined you could walk along it. He had the patience to take me there and wait around while I fiddled with the camera and walked back and forth between Philadelphia and New Jersey. Some of my favorite photos that I’ve taken of the city are from the outside looking in, like when I was walking on the bridge. I suppose that has always been my relationship with Philly. My grandparents and parents were Philadelphians, but I never was. And even though I’ve moved to the Lehigh Valley, with its own exceptional beauty, Philadelphia will always be special to me. n Find Jen Ancker’s photographs at jlphotographs.com.

City Hall From the Parkway.

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IN THE SUMMER OF 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United History also recognizes the significant contributions of women of color States Constitution was ratified, finally granting women the right to vote— and their community networks, which have been historically overlooked, although ongoing voting struggles persisted for marginalized groups followgiving the false impression that women of color were absent from the ing its ratification. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of this hisstruggle for voting rights. As a way to recognize these marginalized comtoric passage, cultural organizations across the country are organizing spemunities, the Brandywine commissioned a diverse group of women artists cial exhibitions, events, marches, and other centennial celebrations to create a mural of illustrated portraits featuring some of the women throughout the year. whose role in winning The long road to voting rights has been women’s suffrage, spanhistorically minimized ning the 19th and because of their race or early-20th centuries, ethnicity. played out very differFeaturing portraits ently from political of 14 local and national movements today. In figures with accompathe absence of televised nying biographies, the and digital media, the “Hidden Figures of the suffragists spread their Suffrage Movement” message through magamural includes Ethel zines, political carCuff Black, of Wilmingtoons, posters, plays, ton, Delaware, who was parades, and even a founder of Delta through fashion. ExamSigma Theta, the ining this compelling African American imagery of the suffrage sorority that marched movement and the imin the 1913 suffrage paportant visual straterade in Washington, gies that propelled it D.C.; Marie Louise Botforward, the Brandytineau Baldwin, a memwine River Museum of ber of Turtle Mountain Art in Chadds Ford, PA, Chippewa Band, who organized Votes for worked as an attorney Women: A Visual Histofor the Office of Indian ry, on view through Affairs; and Sofia de June 7, 2020. Veyra, a Filipina workFocusing on the ing diligently for Suffragists in Parade, ca. 1910. Bain News Service photograph collection, Library of Congress decade prior to ratificawomen’s rights in tion of the Nineteenth Washington D.C., beAmendment in 1920, this exhibition rediscovers the visual language of the fore organizing a suffrage campaign in her native Philippines. women’s suffrage movement with more than 200 artifacts on display. Serving as a companion to Votes for Women: A Visual History, an acDrawings, illustrations, and posters from museums, historical societies, companying photography exhibition continues the story of the ongoing and private collections provide the visual language to decode the complex struggles marginalized communities faced when voting following the passpolitical messages conveyed by suffragists. Early film footage, archival ing of the Nineteenth Amendment. “Witness to History: The Selma Phophotographs, and banners from rallies and marches—including the 1913 tography of Stephen Somerstein” presents 55 photographs taken by Women’s Suffrage Procession in Washington D.C.—enliven the presentaStephen Somerstein, then a 24-year-old student, during the historic 1965 tion, as well as examples of the costumes, clothing, sashes and other emcivil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama on March 25, blems of women’s activism worn by suffragists. 1965—a turning point in the civil rights movement that led to the passage “This exhibition picks up on the visual explosion of the suffrage moveof the Voting Rights Act. With five cameras around his neck and only 15 ment in the early 20th century,” notes Amanda C. Burdan, Ph.D., curator rolls of film, Somerstein documented this pivotal moment in history capat the Brandywine River Museum of Art. “With a younger generation jointuring photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent acing the cause, there was a dramatic shift in the marketing of the movement tivists— such as Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, John Lewis, and how the suffragists spread their message through the material culture and Joan Baez—as well as photos of his fellow demonstrators and the of the time—making themselves and their campaign more visible. Votes anonymous bystanders who had gathered along route. for Women: A Visual History not only highlights the success of these efAs the Votes for Women and Witness to History exhibitions will further forts, but also underscores how the imagery of the movement effectively illuminate, the visual lessons of the suffrage movement provided a model penetrated American culture, creating a renewed momentum towards the for later activism, including the civil rights and social justice movements finish line of ratification in 1920.” up to the present day, making this not just a centennial celebration, but a Presenting an inclusive historical narrative, Votes for Women: A Visual window into contemporary discourse. n 16

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interview A.D. AMOROSI

ichael

FEINSTEIN has standards. And he plays them, too.

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]

I RESPOND VISCERALLY TO ALL ART, ESPECIALLY MUSIC. I RESPOND EMOTIONALLY BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GENERALLY PAINS ME ABOUT CONTEMPORARY BROADWAY IS THE LACK OF HARMONIC INTEREST. I FIND A SAMENESS TO THE PROCEEDINGS THAT USUALLY SHUTS ME DOWN. EMOTIONALLY, IT’S HARD TO GET PAST THAT.

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WHEN NEW YORK CITY-BASED singer, pianist and archivist Michael Feinstein began releasing Great American Songbook albums dedicated to the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Burton Lane, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Hugh Martin, Livingston & Evans, Jimmy Webb, and Frank Sinatra starting in 1986, he became an avatar. His interest, perseverance, and dedicated performances of pre-rock standards of theater music, jazz, and pop paved the way for Harry Connick Jr., Josh Groban, and Michael Buble, swing dance, Broadway cast albums and present-day cabaret. While his scholarly background brought heft and historical authenticity to his albums and the bourgeoning new/old genre, that very thing made Feinstein into an encyclopedia of musical knowledge. Read his books—Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme; The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs; Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door; Must-See Musicals: 50 Show-Stopping Movies We Can’t Forget; and The American Songbook: The Singers, Songwriters & The Songs—for further proof of his erudition. This February, after producing a tribute to the late great Jerry Herman—the composer behind great American theater musicals Hello Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles—Feinstein will begin his next tour at the Keswick Theatre on February 7: Michael Feinstein “You’ve Got A Friend” From Gershwin to Carole King and Beyond. Featuring special guest vocalist Haley Reinhart, “You’ve Got a Friend” will look at pop from when and where the Great American Songbook left off—music from songwriters such as Bacharach and David, James Taylor, Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Carole King and many others. I caught up with Feinstein from his home in New York City. Before I hit on the music you play, I’d like to discuss the music you book or curate at Feinstein’s at 54 Below, Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Feinstein’s at Vitello’s. You’ve become as much of a presenter, as you are a player. How and why did that happen? It happened because I’ve always wanted to create the type of nightclub that I wished existed. It started in New York with Feinstein’s at The Regency, and it’s something that was unexpected, in the sense that other clubs happened after that. There were opportunities that presented themselves without effort on my part. I’m thrilled that such an opportunity happened. I’m enjoying it because I work with so many talented people that make it possible, as I would not be able to do it by myself. The answer is that I enjoy the experience of the clubs because I’m lucky to have people who can run them, and operate them on my behalf, even though I’m always mindful of the fact that my name is on the door. So, the buck stops here. Are you comfortable talking about your love of Jerry Herman, what he meant to theater, and what you might have planned for the memorial tribute you’re producing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre? The line-up is stellar—Kristin Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Sutton Foster, Kelli O’Hara, Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters, and a video tribute from Angela Lansbury. What moved you most about his compositions? Jerry and I were like brothers. We had a very close relationship. We loved to play four-hand piano together. Our styles dovetailed very nicely. We had a blast recording his songbook together. So, even though I wasn’t in constant contact with Jerry after he moved to Miami 15 years ago, we remained spiritually close. Before he passed he requested that I produce his memorial. That was an extraordinary gift to me, to be able to show love and appreciation for him in such an important way. This will be not only my love letter to him but the love letter of so many people assembled for this. In answer to your question about Jerry and his compositions, he was given, in my opinion, short shrift in his obituaries, that old saw, if you will, that he was writing hummable tunes like Irving Berlin. That was true, but that also takes away from the sheer genius of Jerry as a songwriter toward theatricality. Plot. Character. All of the things that were required to make his shows successful. He was a great musical dramatist. To reduce him to some-

one who wrote hummable tunes, to me, was a backhanded compliment. That does not acknowledge the talent he possessed. To be able to write a song such as “Bosom Buddies” is no small feat. Or “A Little More Mascara,” from La Cage. Or “Look Over There.” Or, “If You Walked into My Life.” These are all important dramatic character songs that moved along the plots of their shows. That some of these songs became hits is a testament to their indestructibility. I spoke with you in 1987 for the back-to-back Pure Gershwin and Remember: Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin, again for your series of Nonesuch songbooks, and your records on Jimmy Webb. Of all the composers you’ve tackled that best express who you are—which composers play to your comfort zone even while testing and challenging it? So many of these classic songwriters are very, very comfortable for me—their works are things that I know almost instinctively how to interpret. From Gershwin to Rogers, and Hart to Kern, to Mercer. So many. Cole Porter, sometimes, is challenging for me because the melodies are not comfortably crafted—they take odd twists and turns. I’m not talking about “So in Love” or some of the broad ballads. The patter songs can be very difficult. Noel Coward is very difficult for me. And I love Coward. But, it is interpretively challenging, finding the balance of archness and humanity that belie the words. You don’t sing a lot of Sondheim. What do you think of him? I love Sondheim, love his work, but I don’t love 100 percent of it. I thought the first act of Into the Woods was perfection, but didn’t like the second act. I felt much the same way about Sunday in the Park with George. As a songwriter and lyricist, he is supreme and timely. You talked about the dramatic Photo courtesy of Michael Feinstein. dynamism of Jerry Herman, and I’m curious to know if you find it in the work of current composers such as Pacek & Paul and David Yazbek. I respond viscerally to all art, especially music. I respond emotionally before anything else. And one of the things that generally pains me about contemporary Broadway is the lack of harmonic interest. I find a sameness to the proceedings that usually shuts me down. Emotionally, it’s hard to get past that. I find that harmony and sophistication in craft bring drama to one’s sense of character. And I find that lacking currently. For me, that was the flaw in Hamilton, which was a spectacular show in many ways, no question. However, to just endure the first 20 minutes or so with the same basic chords, repeated ad infinitum did not give me a musical underpinning that I pined for—something to match everything on stage. That’s just my sensibility. Although the opposite side of the coin are people who only have grown up listening to pop music. For them, Hamilton becomes the ultimate musical sophistication. That’s the irony.

Tell me about your current show. This is a show with Haley Reinhart, who’s a marvelous talent, a young contemporary singer who can do anything, and I appreciate that about her. She has a sensibility that gives her a wide palette, a broader one, perhaps, than even mine. This show will feature classic American songbook material, but it will also feature some of the songbooks beyond that—Bacharach & David, Carole King—because that body of work is as valid and classic now as that of the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s. There’s a lot of that music that is fresh now. We have the necessary distance from it to recognize that these songs stand up strong when interpreted in many ways by many people—separated from the original context. The fun of it, for me, is putting together a smorgasbord of different styles that will appeal to my fundamental audience and younger listeners to boot. The show is born out a desire to give a continuum and flow from classic music up to contemporary. Do you think that Haley is an anomaly in that her taste and range is broader than most contestants on shows such as The Voice and America’s Got Talent? I wouldn’t know [laughs], because I don’t watch those shows. There are people out there, though, who know how to sing lyrics—many are in country music as that’s very much about telling stories, recognizing the central nature of telling a tale. What’s the greatest challenge for you in interpreting newer music? If there’s a challenge, it’s in finding different instrumentation or recasting them in a different musical mode. Interpretively, they’re strong because the music and lyrics are strong. I’m just putting a different suit on the mannequin. I’ve had a lot of fun trying to put classic and contemporary things together. Like last year I tried putting together “You’ve Come a Long Way from St. Louis,” and “Runaway Baby” by Bruno Mars just to see how they work—that’s what I’m experimenting with. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it’s godawful. The audience is there to give me their opinion. But, the important thing is that I never, fundamentally, forget who I am, and trust that it all comes from a place of love and musicality. I remember years ago, I was touring with Liza Minelli when she had released the Results album that was produced by the Pet Shop Boys, and she had a big hit in England with “Losing My Mind.” So, a lot of young people were coming to see her, who only knew her from the context of Pet Boys Boys and electronic music. I asked her what she was going to do after she performed “Losing My Mind,” with these young people who don’t know the rest of her work. She laughed and told me, “Honey, all I’ve got to do is get them in the seats.” I get that. n ICON | FEBRUARY 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

THE OLDER I GET, the more I realize sex is a byproduct of relationship. The feelings leading to the act lift you to a higher plane. Though this is about a forbidden relationship in a time of rigid social rules, Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire captures the non-physical exhilaration that leads to physical ecstasy. It’s a sumptuous, beautiful wrecking ball of a movie. I loved every minute of it. At the end of the 18th century, painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant) arrives on the island of Brittany to paint the portrait of a young woman set to marry. It’s a difficult assignment, because the moody, mysterious bride-to-be, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), refuses to pose. Marianne has to masquerade as her walking companion, painting her based on lingering looks and furtive sketches. The women grow close in their brief time together. Marianne confesses her ruse to Héloïse, showing her the portrait. She’s shocked. This is how you see me? An ashamed Marianne destroys her work, angering Héloïse’s mother (Valeria Golino), who summoned Marianne to this opulent, dark abode for a gig straight from a Gothic novel. Marianne is set to leave in shame, when 20

cinematters

PETE CROATTO

Portrait of a Lady on Fire Héloïse says she will pose. Her mother gives the artist five days to complete the job. That’s when she will return from her trip, ample time for Marianne and Héloïse’s lives to be rocked. What unites Héloïse and Marianne is they yearn to live outside the roles society has assigned them. Héloïse is a portrait artist of the traditional class, hemmed in by the same rules as Marianne, who is set to marry a pre-approved suitor. When Héloïse’s mother departs, they experience an unknown freedom: A chance to live out loud beyond choosing the color of their dresses—Marianne, favors a burgundy red; Héloïse, a bright green. Sciamma features few quote-unquote big moments. There are telling lines, like when Marianne expresses her frustration at being unable to paint male nudes—so men can prevent women from accomplishing something—or when Héloïse falls under the spell of Marianne tinkering on harpsichord. The emotional wallop comes from Julien Lacheray’s exquisite editing and Claire Mathon’s cinematography. Takes linger, shots are framed with composition in mind, so you soak up the expressions and the dialogue. (Plus, Merlant has those dramatic eye-

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brows that express volumes about Marianne.) The sex scenes are anticlimactic, raw by design. A kiss is locked by a bridge cable of drool; we’re introduced to the sex scene with fingers probing a vagina. It came as a shock to me, because I’ve grown accustomed to love scenes with women wrapped in soft light and delicate caresses. Here it’s coarse and unforgettable, as it should be. Honesty and vulnerability are the stars, but it’s deflating to see the two women go back to normal and leave behind a lifetime of remorse. The object in the painting comes to life for a bit, but Marianne will never know the girl in the work. Whenever Héloïse sees her portrait, it will summon the elusive, remind her of the isolation of inequality. But that last shot puts a lump in your throat and a beat in your heart. We know, without anyone saying a word, that the agony was worth it. Both women have experienced true love. The sad part is those who won’t know that full rush of love. Héloïse and Marianne have the memories. Portrait of a Lady on Fire will inspire young girls seeking courage to be themselves, to live out the dreams countless women had to stifle. [R] n

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reel news

Museo.

NEW & SOON-TO-BE-RELEASED DVDS REVIEWED BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

Museo (Director Alonso Ruizpalacios. Starring Gael García Bernal, Leonardo Ortizgris, Simon Russell Beale, Lynn Gilmartin.) On Christmas Eve, 1985, thieves made off with 140 priceless Mayan artifacts from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. In this unorthodox heist movie, the criminals are not a crew of masterminds but two pothead dullards still living with their parents (think Cheech and Chong). When Juan (Garcia Bernal), gets a job at the Museum to fund his marijuana habit, he comes up with the crackpot caper and elicits his best buddy Wilson (Ortizgris). Like everything else in their hapless lives, nothing goes as planned. Adroitly directed, filmed, and scored, the story morphs through three distinct acts. First we experience the dire home life of the pair. Wilson cares for his mortally ill father while Juan will do anything to get back at his 22

overbearing, unaccepting father. The idea of stealing the nation’s most valuable heritage artifacts fits the bill perfectly, and might even score a ton of pesos. The actual heist, in an era with no motion detectors or security cameras, is pretty straightforward, yet dramatically staged. Ironically, the public outrage to the theft shows how strongly Mexicans identify with the ancient cultures that their Spanish ancestors looted and brutally destroyed. Next, the pair launches on a buddy road trip (in dad’s car, of course) to try to fence the priceless treasures. Like a grand travelogue, their visits to classic Mayan ruins and stunning beaches highlight the incredible beauty of Mexico’s natural and cultural heritage. The lighthearted tour de force through dysfunctional family life to daring caper, then through the heart of Mexican culture and countryside, artfully explores the more serious issues of

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family dynamics, cultural identity, and social values. In Spanish and English with English subtitles. (NR) HHHHH Parasite (Director Bong Joon Ho. Song Kang-ho, Jo Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam.) Drastic income inequality, class warfare, lying, deception, cheating, sabotage, and even brutal violence—director Bong Joon Ho unsheathes all the weapons in this dark and satirical comedy of two families, each with a son and daughter, on opposite ends of the economic and social spectrum. The Kims live in the dank basement of a rundown tenement, while the Parks live in a mansion with a staff of servants to tend to their every desire. To survive, the Kims must exploit every opportunity to the fullest. They piggyback on their neighbor’s unprotected wifi, and start plotting as soon as the college-aged son, KiWoo (Choi Woo-sik), is hired to

tutor the Park’s daughter in English. The Kim’s daughter, Ki-jung (Park So-dam), fabricates a sterling résumé as an art therapist for the troubled son, while conniving mom displaces the housekeeper and torpedoes the chauffer so dad can get the job. Like a cluster of tapeworms, the Kims thrive on the life force of the Parks, yet the Park’s lifestyle makes them equally dependent on low-wage servants to pamper and provide them with their needs. So who is exploiting whom the most? It’s hard to completely empathize with either family. As the intricate dependency develops, the Kim’s machinations spiral out of control with dreadful results. With plot twists leading to more unexpected consequences, the artfully crafted and delightfully acted film explores deep human feelings and emotions in a most unorthodox manner.In Korean with English subtitles. (R) HHHHH

Pain and Glory (Director Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz.) In this frank truth-telling journey into the dark night of old age, 70-year-old director Pedro Almodóvar flips a highly autobiographical coin. On one side we see the pain, depression, and diminished abilities of aging, while the other focuses on the nourishing memories of a life rigorously and gloriously lived. Banderas plays the aged and broken Spanish film director Salvador Mallo. A long list of debilitating ailments have pushed him to the edge of a physical and emotional abyss. For all his life, his gifted creativity molded him like a potter creating a masterpiece. Now, he’s lost his compass and wanders aimlessly in a fog of uncertainty with no sight of succor. He’s sustained emotionally by memories of his childhood with his loving mother (Cruz), a powerful woman who encouraged his creativity. When Mallo’s signature film from decades past is revived, the pride and guilt from his successes and failures, both professional and personal, come head on. The storyline slips episodically between past and present with Cruz lighting up the screen as Mallo’s young mother. Banderas takes on the affectations of Almodóvar (filmed in his own house with Banderas wearing his clothes) and creates a fully-spirited, independent character. The dynamic, animated synergy of the two actors and director, who have worked together for three decades, blossoms into a life epic that captures the spirit of youth, living, and old age with simplicity and beauty and power. In Spanish with English subtitles. (R) HHHHH Ford v Ferrari (Director James Mangold. Starring Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Tracy Letts.) This high-speed romp through the world of car racing is not about car racing. So rest easy if you’re not a

fan. And really, it’s not about which company can build the fastest cars. The high-octane, character-driven competition is between two men dedicated to excellence against the corporate ethos that values the bottom line above all else. It’s about the quest to build the fastest race car innovative engineering can make, despite opposition and subterfuge by corporate minions. And to put the best, most competitive man in the driver’s seat, even if he’s not the company PR department’s choice. In 1963, Ford tried to buy Ferrari Motor Company, but was scorned by Enzo Ferrari. Henry Ford II (Letts) declared war on his competitor and swore to beat him at all costs at the Le Mans’ Grand Prix 24hour endurance race, perennially dominated by Ferrari. He hired ace driver Carroll Shelby (Damon) who, due to a heart condition, had retired from racing and now designed high-performance packages for Mustangs. Shelby knew exactly where to find the man to race his redesigned, super-charged Mustangs. Ken Miles (Bale) operated a sports car garage in LA and burned up the race tracks in his spare time. They were the perfect team, but like adding nitro to the fuel, the volatile combo was sure to blow. Complex relationships proved more hazardous than a covey of cars flying around an oval at 200 mph. Both iconoclastic perfectionists, Shelby and Miles had to learn to consult and compromise, Miles and his wife had major issues to resolve about racing, and the Ford underlings always thought they were the ultimate authority on building and racing cars. Despite all the conflict and tangled subplots, director Mangold stays firmly in the driver’s seat and weaves a spellbinding tale of human drama and high-speed action. Both Damon and Bale create larger-than-life characters with heroic spirits who refuse to give up. (PG-13)HHHHH ICON | FEBRUARY 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

film roundup

Pierfrancesco Favino in The Traitor. Photo: Lia Pasqualino

KEITH UHLICH

Color Out of Space (Dir. Richard Stanley). Starring: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Tommy Chong. Loosely adapting an H.P. Lovecraft story, director Richard Stanley (who has been AWOL in fiction filmmaking since his unceremonious firing from 1996’s infamous remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau) turns in an uneven sci-fi thriller that is at its best when leaning into craziness. Most of the insanity comes courtesy try-anything leading man Nicolas Cage as the bespectacled patriarch of a family hunted by psychedelically light-infused space invaders. Few actors can so easily go, in the blink of an eye, from zero to one-hundredthousand, though Cage’s baseline is already way past normal. He makes a line like “I have to feed the alpacas!” come off like a dispatch from an asylum at the end of the universe. He’s the main reason to see Stanley’s creature feature. A hilariously marijuana-addled fount of exposition played by perpetual stoner Tommy Chong, as well as the gory, Cronenberg-lite fate gifted Cage’s onscreen wife, Joely Richardson, are two others. [N/R] HHH The Traitor (Dir. Marco Bellocchio). Starring: Pierfrancesco Favino, Luigi Lo Cascio, Fausto Russo Alesi. The verve of Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio’s latest belies his status as a cinematic elder statesman (80 years old as of this past November, and making movies for more than half that time). For two-and-a-half gripping, propulsive and provocative hours, Bellocchio immerses us in the life of Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), the Sicilian 24

mafioso who, after years of dedication to his criminal craft, defected in the 1980s and became an informant. Far from a staid biopic, the film is at every turn infused with a sense of rabble-rousing punkishness. A string of sequences detailing the systematic murdering of enemies of La Cosa Nostra is cheekily accompanied by a count-up clock. Elsewhere, lengthy scenes of Buscetta’s trial are staged to resemble unpredictable, confrontational theater performances—like Marat/Sade gone gangster. It’s an overall stunning piece of work, not least for the moral melancholy (a Euro-Italian complement to Martin Scorsese’s bracingly funereal The Irishman) that emerges in the powerful final scenes. [R] HHHH1/2 Vitalina Varela (Dir. Pedro Costa). Starring: Vitalina Varela, Ventura, Manuel Tavares Almeida. The great Portuguese writer-director, Pedro Costa, returns with what might be his most emotionally direct effort. Vitalina Varela follows the Cape Verde-born title character, who played a supporting role in his previous feature, Horse Money, as she travels to Lisbon to grieve over the husband from whom she has spent a good deal of time apart. As usual in Costa’s films, the main setting is the slums of the neighborhood of Fontaínhas, most often cloaked in chiaroscuro shadows that the people onscreen (many playing fictional variants on themselves) navigate as if winding their way through a labyrinth. Despair is everywhere, yet the movie itself is the furthest thing from despairing. The suggestive surreality that Costa has mined for an exhila-

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rating opacity in previous works is poignantly frank here, and Varela proves an indelible camera subject, the totality of the pain and glory of being human evident in her every look, in her every gesture. [N/R] HHHHH Zombi Child (Dir. Bertrand Bonello). Starring: Louise Labeque, Wislanda Louimat, Katiana Milfort. Bertrand Bonello follows up Nocturama, his incendiary black-comic vision of teenage terrorism, with this pointed horror story about the scars and sins of colonialism. A 1960s-set prologue details the enslavement of “zombies,” half-living, half-dead Haitians who are forced to work in sugar cane fields. One of these captives (based on a real-life Haitian man who was buried alive) escapes, wandering off to places uncertain. Fifty-five years later, a teenager named Mélissa (Wislanda Louimat), who may be the zombie’s daughter, enrolls in a private school, where she is conscripted into a mostly white sorority overseen by Fanny (Louise Labeque). Whether Mélissa is literally the progeny of the undead is left unanswered. Bonello’s point is that she at least bears the spiritual traumas of a people and a country exploited by others in the name of profit and other comparable demons. If that sounds like too-on-the-nose allegory (and it assuredly is, to some degree— imagine an even more professorial riff on Dario Argento’s Suspiria than the recent version by Luca Guadagnino), know that Bonello counters most of the heavy-handedness with the at once pleasurable and provoking aesthetic sensuality at which he excels. [N/R] HHH1/2 n

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CLOCKING IN AT 85 MINUTES, the minimalist, glamour-free growing up tale José is a slim, powerful film. It replicates what it’s like to wander toward your future in your late teens. For a lot of us, I think there’s a sense of what we would do when we’re a grown-up. For the film’s title character, this predicament isn’t filled with pie-eyed wonder. Each day teems with slowmounting dread. Life in Guatemala City for 19-year-old José (Enrique Salanic) is one of struggle, where he bathes with a cup and water, where religion offers purposeless martyrdom. It’s a relentless life. Mom (Ana Cecilia Mota) sells meat sandwiches on the street; José flags cars passing by the restaurant he works, and then serves the customers. They’re both up before dawn, riding in the back of pick-up trucks and well-used buses to repeat the cycle. Upward mobility is a foreign concept. The only joy José has comes from his afternoon trysts with Luis (Manolo Herrera), a hand26

foreign

PETE CROATTO

José some construction worker at a nearby flophouse, far from the neighbors’ stares and vicious gossip. They share moments at night or out of town, but a relationship conducted in the shadows is unsatisfying. Luis, who wants more, expresses that displeasure. But José can’t make the leap to a new life, which is understandable. It’s hard to see the light when you live in constant blight. José has kept his homosexuality a secret, but his God-fearing mother suspects something. It’s why she prays her boy stays on the right path, why she wails that she’d be lost without him. José has to contend with the expectations of previous generations, where everyone stays in the same neighborhood and works the same job and expects nothing more. No one strives in José’s life. When he asks a coworker if he’s going to stay with a nice girl who’s clearly interested him, the coworker scoffs at the notion. Even José can’t figure out what’s next for him. Should he look for sex as a break? Should he settle with the young professional who will let him live with him? José

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wanders the streets a lot, looking for answers in the same places. I suspect some readers will find José pokey or rudderless when those qualities define young adulthood. Movies and television shows—well, the bad ones—portray the ages of 18–21 with lesson-learning via tame debauchery or ill-advised hook-ups. A lot of that time is actually spent wondering why things haven’t happened, denying the reality that you don’t become 21, get a job, and enter the world of adult wonders. There is more growing up to do, more discomfort to endure. But it all helps us become interesting and interested. José may come from a world away, but he has a lot in common with the residents in any freshman dorm. Director Li Cheng doesn’t offer any simple answers, because there aren’t any. Only José can learn solve his problem. That is the ultimate compliment to the audience. He’s not told what to do and neither are we. It may not be cinematic, but, hey, that’s life [NR] n

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jazz / classical / alt / rock MARK KERESMAN

Barney Wilen Quartet HHHH Live in Tokyo ’91 Elemental Music French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen (1937-1996) was somewhat legendary in European jazz circles—he was perhaps best known to American jazz fans for his recordings with Miles Davis (the film soundtrack Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud, 1957) and Thelonious Monk (anoth-

the tune like a born surfer and in select moments BURNS. Wilen’s Quartet exudes class but knows when to kick hiney—the only flaw in this otherwise aces-back-to-back package is Gritz’s drumming gets a bit over-enthusiastic (or maybe it’s just too high in the mix) here ‘n’ there. That aside, Live in Tokyo is a real-gonegasser of a hard bop set, with a generous side portion of (very modern) swing. (14 tracks, 136 min.) elemental-music.com Amina Figarova HHH1/2 Persistence Am-Fi Pianist Amina Figarova was born in Azerbaijan and now calls New York home. Stylistically one could tag this with “post bop with minor overtones of fusion and hip hop” and, hey, that works. Figarova’s compositions are bright and engaging, and she’s assembled a sharp quintet to play them, including husband-flutist Bart Platteau, guitarist Rez Abbasi, and sharp-as-atack drumming-whiz Rudy Royston. Figarova is

ciously. Her compositions (all originals here) are economical, lively, varied, and memorable—pick to click for radio play: “I’ve Got No Time,” featuring a brief, droll rap by JSWISS and some sleek ‘n’ punchy swing. Also, “Lil’ Poem,” with its languid, slightly romantic ambiance and terse, elegantly twisty soli. (Take note, radio programmers!) Without any overt crossover moves, Persistence fairly demands a bigger/wider audience, albeit on its own terms. (7 tracks, 43 min.) AmFi-records.com Norma Winstone & John Taylor HHHH In Concert Sunnyside Why isn’t UK jazz singer Norma Winstone better-known on our shores? Perhaps it’s her unassumingly demure, unpretentiously elegant, musicianly approach—she doesn’t come across as a bigger-than-life (or tragic) figure. This Concert platter, recorded in 1988, captures her in a duo performance with the late UK pianist John Taylor (1942-2015), and it’s a gem. Winstone has a light, airy, occasionally wispy voice with a playful and expressive lower register—note the inspiring manner in which she respectfully toys with Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way,”

Barney Wilen, Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 1966

er soundtrack, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 1961, with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers). He also recorded with John Lewis and Bud Powell. February 1991 found Wilen and his foursome in Tokyo and the result is this two-CD set. Wilen had a distinctive style, fusing the muscular, shiny-toned Sonny Rollins sound with the classy lyricism of Stan Getz and aspects of the rushing wallop of early 1960s John Coltrane—essentially mainstream but not stuck in any era’s mud and not adverse to well-placed free flurries and joy-charged gruffness every so often. Wilen SURGES through these two discs, ably assisted by Olivier Hutman on acoustic and electric pianos; Gilles Naturel, bass, and Peter Gritz, drums. “Bass Blues” finds Wilen dredging deep into (what else?) the blues, while “L’ame Des Poetes” is a fascinating study in contrasts— Wilen’s band cooks with rare restraint beneath while Wilen testifies with a mix of casual Yank toughness and Gallic savoir-faire. “Mon Blouson” has Hutman channeling McCoy Tyner’s lyrical flights (sans most of MT’s percussive aspects—no imitator, he) while Wilen searches with gutsy elegance and careens with class. A true high point is Wilen’s chugging flights within “Besame Mucho” in which he rides the wave of 28

Photo: Eddy Westveer.

something of a relative rarity—she doesn’t feel the need to showcase herself with lots of soloing. Persistence is very much a group effort, with the focus on her compositions as opposed to the individual players. Make no mistake, however—there’s tasty soloing to be had. Figarova slightly recalls the late pianist Jaki Byard in that her solos are pointed, self-contained, and encapsulate bits of jazz history within. Figarova makes nice (as in: not cheesy) use of electric piano—sparing, as if carefully applying hues to a canvas, adding to the group’s overall texture (as opposed to long solos). Abbasi’s solos, with their bright, burred tone, are models of restraint as are those of Platteau, whose long, elegant lines color the canvas judi-

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wringing the song for all its worth albeit in a decorous manner. She sings the way Taylor plays—careful but never labored or fussy, letting the spaces between the notes (and words) say almost as much as what’s played. Another notable aspect of Winstone is she doesn’t overrely on the classic Jazz Singers’ Songbook— most pieces here are originals, her setting her lyrics to the melodies of jazz instrumental wizards Steve Swallow, Ralph Towner, and Egberto Gismonti, and while she often conveys forlornness, she sidesteps the whole masochistic, mybaby-treats-me-bad-but-I-don’t-care shtick. In point of fact, her lyrical vocal sorties on Taylor’s Latin-hinted “Coffee Time” (with references to “The Coffee Song,” to boot) are exhilarating, turning words into sighs and persuasive sounds whilst Taylor makes like a percussionist, slyly and understatedly, the both of them swinging

together smartly, dovetailing into each other’s lines. If you prize female jazz singers but are tired of the usual suspects, give this your prolonged consideration. (8 tracks, 59 min.) sunnysiderecords.com Benny Benack III HHHH1/2 A Lot of Livin’ to Do Self-released Sometimes it IS in the genes—Benny Benack is the third with his moniker, sharing it with his forebears in/from the Pittsburgh PA area. The senior Benack played in the Swing Era big bands of Raymond Scott and Tommy Dorsey and was a mini-legend for writing the “Beat ’em Bucs” theme song for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His grandson Benny is carrying on in

the family business with such as Joey De Francesco, Josh Groban, and bass ace Christian McBride. Benack at first seems virtually an anachronism—a jazz cat that sings in an unabashedly entertaining style while playing some bright, gregariously accessible bebop trumpet. But he pulls it off, mainly because he simply delivers the goods, not just coasting on nor calling-attention-to retro “style.” The third Benack’s vocal chops convey the mellowness of Nat “King” Cole and the confidence ‘n’ sass of the very young Sinatra. Fortunately, he doesn’t get overly consumed by a sense of forward-intothe-past, preferring to walk a line betwixt drawing from the past and being consumed by it (and sticking more to the former). His soloing on Ray Brown’s genially jive “Gravy Waltz” convincingly (yet subtly) carries the breezes of brass giants such as Clark Terry (jolliness), Freddie Hubbard (technique), and even Louis Armstrong (extroverted crackle). He follows with the a not-exactly-underplayed standard “The Shadow of Your Smile” wherein his muted horn is unfussy yet effectively elegiac. One

might swear the musing “Later On” was an obscure gem of yesteryear and not an original. Benack’s backing is understated (but solidly swinging) as well—McBride, pianist (acoustic AND electric, yes indeed) Takeshi Ohbayashi, and the oh-so- unfussy, lilting drumming of Ulysses Owens Jr. Elsewhere vocally, Benack recalls the smoky after-midnight balladry of Chet Baker while sidestepping even hints of imitation. Lot of Livin’ is, in the words of Jerry Lewis, a strange duck—it draws upon (classy) aspects of relevant pop and jazz history but looks forward on its own terms. (12 tracks, 61 min.) bennybenackjazz.com Ivo Perelman, Matthew Shipp William Parker, Bobby Kapp HHHH Ineffable Joy ESP-Disk This Brazilian Ivo Perelman saxophonist fellow has played with more heavyweight hep cats than you’ve had hot breakfasts this year—Peter Erskine, John Patitucci, Rashied Ali, Billy Hart, and Paul Bley, to name only a few. Perelman felt the call of free jazz, so he got with some veterans and did some—pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Bobby Kapp accompany him on this recording, released on the revived ESP-Disk label (the very same label that released music in the 1960s few if any major labels would touch, including The Fugs, Albert Ayler, and The Godz). Ineffable Joy consists of freely-improvised jazz—mos def not easy listening by any stretch of the imagination, but not a chore to get into either (relatively speaking). But if you want to blow away the cobwebs in your mind, this is the place. Perelman is very much in the mold of Albert Ayler and free-period John Coltrane—with lots of “out” playing. However, there is structure here, sometimes more implied than stated, and these lads play together, as opposed to “all playing at the same time.” Matthew Shipp is the straightest arrow here, spiky but very lyrical in the manner of McCoy Tyner and Don Pullen, with a subtle classical music influence as well. Drummer Bobby Kapp keeps the rhythm going, and bassist William Parker is the heartbeat that keeps it all anchored. Perelman has a deep, powerful tone that may remind some listeners of David Murray and, of course, ‘Trane. He’s soulful, albeit not in an obvious manner. Perelman doesn’t blitz, instead favoring an unhurried and focused approach, with well-placed squeals and skronk but never blows out just because he can. His quartet are old hands at this free jazz stuff. Ineffable Joy is full of just that—wild-andwooly, cathartic at times, but calm at the center of the storm. (8 tracks, 50 min.) espdisk.com n ICON | FEBRUARY 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV

pop

A.D. AMOROSI

XXXTentacion HHH Bad Vibes Forever Warners This might be a lousy way of expressing it, but the last few months have been a great time for moody, Nirvana-inspired, emo-punk, SoundCloud rappers. For better or worse, Tekashi 6ix9ine handed his prosecutors a get-out-of-jailearly card for cooperating with the law. The late Lil Peep’s Everybody’s Everything just dropped in connection with an emotional documentary of the same name. Trippie Redd’s mournfully narcissistic new “A Love Letter to You 4” is at the top of the charts one week after release. Then there is XXXTentacion, sad rap’s lo-fried king of pain. Gone since June 2018, gunned down over a Louis Vuitton bag of money,

XXXTentacion has an industry of release dates quickly growing flowers around his grave. As far as visceral, Cobain-esque expressions of pain and genuine fury (warranted or unwarranted) often mouthed in a cleverly executed, triplet flow of rushy, offbeat rhythm, XXXTentacion had the art form down cold. And when he slowed that flow to a crooning, alt-rock worthy purr, he was even more audacious. “Ex Bitch” has a gentle acoustic pluck and a melody line so delicious you could swoon, but the swoon factor soon stops, as you might guess from the title. Courting controversy from the very first lines, XXX talks about moving from one woman to another with curt, coarse frankness that won’t help his case when it comes to feminism. XXX isn’t looking to get right with God, either. Courting controversy in “Daemons” with a verse pulled from a previously leaded track, “Who The F– is God?,” XXX uses Jesus as a psychic scapegoat for suicide (an uncle who committed suicide, his own allusions to hanging himself in the past) atop a slow, lava-like gurgle of electric piano-led 30

lounge funk. While Joey Bada$$ muses about “Dancing with the devil in a burning room,” XXX uses a deep baritone sing-songy rap for his blame game that’s more numbingly biblical than it is sensible. That XXX turns to the Lord on the airy, clomping “Attention!” (“God, I’ve been up, I’ve been dead, yeah”) should be no surprise. Throughout his career, XXXTentacion has been stuffed like a turkey with chunky contradictions. Luckily, producer Singleton and these tracks give the rapper’s sweet, higher-pitched mumble breathing room. The Bad Plus HHHH Activate Infinity Edition Though drummer Dave King and bassist Reid Anderson, math-music’s rhythm twins lost their partner of 17 years in the Bad Plus, pianist Ethan Iverson, the pair found a new Bad keyboardist/pal in Philadelphia’s Orrin Evans. They recorded two new albums, including the December release of Activate Infinity. Call it a tale

of one rhythm section, or new chapters in a lifebook dedicated to progressive music-making: These recordings present Anderson and King in a rainbow of surprisingly subtle colors and shadings. Hewing closer to cool post-bop tradition than most of the Bad Plus’ previous efforts

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(including their first album with Evans, the math-rocking Never Stop II), the all-original Activate Infinity finds Evans mashing his sinister soulfulness into swift Monk-like runs (“Avail”), playful Guaraldi-isms (“Thrift Store Jewelry”) and pastoral Bruce Hornsby-ish themes (“The Red Door”) without losing sight of his unique tone. King, meanwhile, is an absolute monster. Higher in the mix than the fluid Anderson, he rumbles and rumbas with giddy complexity on “Avail,” crafts a wash of crashing cymbals, rolling toms, and quickly flitting snares on “Dovetail Nicely,” and elegantly sand-dances below Evans’ heady modal cocktail on “Love Is the Answer.” Though it doesn’t lack for quirk, there’s a breezy symmetry and easygoing melodicism to TBP’s new album that’s more handsome than it is histrionic. The Band HHHHH The Band: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Ume While Robbie Robertson’s fan base has been diverted by his woozily atmospheric solo album from late 2019, Sinematic, and his equally moody soundtrack to pal Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, I insist that you focus on the two CDs, Blu-Ray, two LPs and vinyl single-filled reissue of the guitarist-composer’s first finest work—also known as The Brown Album. Along with a shiny new overall remix from Bob Clearmountain, a handful of vibey, rough-hewn in-

strumental takes and a disc of their Woodstock live set, just hearing their entire sophomore album refreshed—the heart and soul of the hillbilly Americana movement at its start, unfettered and undistracted—from “Up on Cripple Creek” on down to “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is as magical as it is majestically muddy. n

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harper’s FINDINGS

INDEX

Knees in Asia are the most likely to have a fabella, and knees in Africa are the least. The humerus can be used to determine the sex of a Thai skeleton. A French courtship researcher retracted his paper titled “High Heels Increase Women’s Attractiveness,” and female Instagram influencers were found to face criticism for seeming both too real and too fake. Male greenveined white butterflies use volatile flower compounds to create the anti-aphrodisiac pheromone they transfer to females during mating to make them unattractive to other males. The loudest known avian vocalization was observed among male white bellbirds of the northern Amazon, who scream their crescendo directly at females perched next to them; the study’s authors expressed uncertainty as to why the females put up with the risk of hearing damage. Researchers denominated three essential categories of arrogance and found that narcissists are less prone to depression. Escapism predicts problematic online gaming. Scientists offered a path to freedom for an all-male colony of wood ants who were trapped for years in an abandoned Polish nuclear bunker but had continued to thrive because of cannibalism. Doctors expressed concern that men might unnecessarily second-guess medical advice by soliciting opinions from Reddit users about photos of their diseased penises. Itchiness makes Europeans about twice as likely to contemplate suicide.

Number of different forms of torture the Syrian government is suspected of having used during the country’s civil war: 72 Factor by which women are more likely than men to develop P.T.S.D. over the course of their lives: 2.5 Average penalty, in lost vacation days, for N.Y.P.D. officers the department finds to have committed domestic violence: 30 For officers the department finds to have been discourteous to a supervisor: 60 Rank of 2018 among the deadliest years since 1990 for cyclists in the United States: 1 For pedestrians: 1 Percentage of Uber riders who never tip: 60 Who always tip: 1 % by which male riders give higher tips to female drivers than to male drivers: 12 Value of the personal possessions that the average American lost while drinking alcohol last year: $192 That the average North Dakotan lost: $380 Percentage by which new plastic was more expensive than recycled plastic in 2018: 20 By which recycled plastic is now more expensive: 19 Number of grams of plastic that the average person ingests per week: 5 % of U.S. gamers who say they have skipped a meal to continue playing video games: 38 Who say they have skipped a shower: 25 Average number of minutes that teens in households making $100,000 or more per year spend on screens for leisure each day: 409 That teens in households making $35,000 or less per year do: 512 Number of states that have passed or proposed laws allowing students to take days off for mental health: 4 Chance that a millennial has voluntarily left a job for mental-health reasons: 1 in 3 That a Gen Z-er has: 1 in 2 % of U.S. schools that have at least one police officer stationed inside the school: 40 Factor by which U.S. public school districts’ spending on email-monitoring services has increased since 2013: 2 Min. number of U.S. colleges & universities that track prospective students’ web activity: 33 Minimum number of states that use artificial intelligence to grade student essays: 21 Estimated number of people who could go unaccounted for in the 2020 census because of an “increased climate of fear”: 4,000,000 Min. number of polling places that states in the South have closed since 2012: 1,327 Portion of those that were in Texas: 1/2 Percentage of Republicans who regard the Democratic party as “too extreme”: 76 Of Democrats who regard the Republican party as such: 76 Average effective tax rate, as a percentage of income, paid by the richest 400 households in the United States in 2018: 23 By the poorest half of American households: 24 Percentage of all public tweets from U.S. adults that come from people 50 and older: 29 Percentage of public political tweets that do: 73 Percentage of white Americans who say they follow local news very closely : 28 Of black Americans: 46 Portion of new digital New York Times subscriptions in 2018 that were for its cooking or crossword apps: 1/3 Percentage by which owning a dog lowers one’s risk of death: 24 Number of states expected to lose the majority of their summer state-bird populations by 2050: 7

n Children find bearded men strong but unattractive and apply the attribute of “brilliance” preferentially to men, but not if they are black. Reward-based laboratory experiments for assessing animal cognition may not test animals’ actual intelligence. Online cat-food recipes are often nutritionally inadequate or dangerous, and Canadians are bad at measuring portions of dog food. Korean researchers investigated the cognitive effects of pet bugs on the elderly and warned against pointlessly delaying bedtime. European eels retain magnetic memories of their juvenile estuaries’ tidal currents. A cold decorative vase is experienced as more luxurious than a warm one.

n Eleven thousand scientists suggested that the human population needed to be curtailed to combat global warming, and archaic mammals may have been nocturnal because they lacked scrota with which to maintain cool sperm. Mice who travel into space do not experience a drop in sperm quality, and rats can lower their stress levels by driving tiny cars. Migrating steppe eagles fitted with cellular trackers by Russian zoologists incurred massive international roaming charges. Welsh marine biologists trained shore crabs to navigate mazes and sampled the parasites of shore crabs at Mumbles Pier. Mussel cancer had crossed the equator, chytrid fungus had spread to frogs in the Peruvian Amazon, half of China’s pigs died or were culled in 2019 as a result of African swine fever, and a newly discovered virus was contributing to stumbling and seizures among bald eagles. The Wizard Rock, a boulder that had vanished from the Prescott National Forest, reappeared. Red deer on the Isle of Rum have been giving birth four days earlier each decade since the Nixon Administration. Five miles off the coast of Maine, lobstermen caught a white-tailed deer, fishermen in Montana caught a bobcat, and three North Carolina cows who had been swept away in a hurricane were found grazing on an island in the Outer Banks. A Scottish tourist was presumed dead after a tiger shark near Réunion was caught in possession of a hand wearing a wedding ring. 32

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SOURCES: 1 Syrian Network for Human Rights (Gaziantep, Turkey); 2 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; 3,4 Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (NYC); 5,6 U.S. Department of Transportation; 7–9 Bharat Chandar (Stanford, Calif.); 10,11 American Addiction Centers (Brentwood, Tenn.); 12,13 Plastics News (Detroit, Mich.); 14 Kala Senathirajah (Newcastle, Australia); 15,16 Limelight Networks (Scottsdale, Ariz.); 17,18 Common Sense Media (San Francisco); 19 National Alliance on Mental Illness (Arlington, Va.); 20,21 Qualtrics (Provo, Utah); 22 Future of Privacy Forum (Washington); 23 Brennan Center for Justice (NYC); 24 Washington Post; 25 Todd Feathers (NYC); 26 The Urban Institute (Washington); 27,28 Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (Washington); 29,30 Pew Research Center (Washington); 31,32 Gabriel Zucman, University of California, Berkeley; 33–36 Pew Research Center; 37 New York Times; 38 Caroline Kramer, Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto); 39 National Audubon Society (San Francisco).

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

CHANGE FOR A BUCK By Ed Sessa

ACROSS 1 7 11 14 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 33 35 37 42 45 47 48 49 50 53 54 55 58 59 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 74 75 76 81 82 83 85 86 87 91 92 34

Ports in a storm Queens stadium namesake HUN neighbor, to the IOC Wasn’t indifferent Reading disorder Car thief’s contact Cremona strings master How to handle fine china “In your dreams!” Encouraged through chicanery *Ball game record Was indebted to One way to solve crosswords Nomadic Kenyans Need an eraser, say __ New Guinea Near-eternity *One may be six feet long Asian holiday Leveled, with “up” Like many indie films Some interruptions Music to a matador’s ears “Try it” Diner menu info Apple starter *Historic site in Paris’ Latin Quarter Indian title of respect Early Earth life forms “The Great Dictator” Oscar nominee Jack As an example Either of two Indy 500 racers Not fulfilled Wanted poster listings Weaken Sheik’s land, in song Most ready for trouble Baltic people *Epithet for a fair British maiden Burden Yucatán “you” Ready for trouble __ Lingus “The Jungle” author Sinclair Smoothie berry Reliever’s stat Born, in some bios *Totally ripped Woodwind piece Courtroom pro

94 95 97 99 102

107 108 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 27 32 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 43

“The Black Cat” author Blood of the gods First name in furniture Intent look 1971 Stones hit, or what can be found in the answers to starred clues Level and plane Mix thoroughly, as oil and vinegar “Rabbit” series author Musician Minaj Poppycock E Street Band notable Van Zandt Hydrocarbon group Enjoy a run, perhaps Director’s challenges Most affected by a workout DOWN Baddies with pointy hats Actor Guinness Like cobras, but not pythons Web system allowing outside access Frasier’s brother Obeys a stick-wielding doctor Bad marks in high school? “If it fits” item Most popular Lead monitor, for short Word with line or hound Climbing gear Slanted column Islamic leaders “Can we see __?”: diner’s request *Car coolant carrier Thames campus Tennis drop shot Fleeced “... __ you home to dinner”: Shak. Flat fish Summit Motion maker: Abbr. Period of time Mrs. Gorbachev Roughly “Shoot!” Weimaraner’s complaint Eatery seen in the film “Manhattan”

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44 Car and Driver yearly listing 46 Can’t brook 51 Number of singers in The Chipmunks 52 Estate beneficiary 53 Cans for cons 54 Jeweler’s measure 56 Clown mascot’s first name 57 Thumper’s friend 58 Evening parties 59 Banking misjudgment 60 Property recipient, in legal language 61 *Tourist’s eye-opening experience, perhaps 62 Letter-shaped fasteners 64 Crayola color renamed Peach in 1962 66 Like a “Stat!” instruction 67 Way more than some 69 Composer Bruckner 70 Links army leader 72 Ovarian hormones 73 Frosty coat 75 Knowledgeable about 77 Manhattan, say 78 Causing avoidance 79 Peggy or Brenda of song 80 Hallucinogenic letters 82 Fork, for instance 83 Japan’s largest active volcano 84 Pondering, with “on”

88 89 90 93 96 97 98 100 101 103 104 105 106 109

Cars that sound like gems “__ you really just say that?” Run down a mountain Blathering “__ it!”: “Get moving!” Italian hot spot Hard work Berserk Pueblo people “That being the case ... ” Soapmaker’s supplies Just makes, with “out” Mailed Watch

Answer to January’s puzzle, INITIAL OFFERINGS

CALL FOR ARTISTS The Phoenix Show: INNER VISIONS. A juried Exhibition, Doylestown, PA. Submission Deadline Feb. 11, Opening March 7, $6,000 Cash prizes. Open to artists in the 6 adjacent counties to Bucks, including Allentown, Princeton & Philadelphia. phoenixshow.com ART

THRU 2/29 Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art presents large selection of work. 4920 York R., (Rte. 202), Buckingham Green Shopping Center, Holicong, PA. 215-794-4300. Silvermangallery.com

THRU 3/1 Beverlee Lehr: Late Ceramic Wall Works. New Arts Program Gallery, 173 W. Main St., Kutztown, PA. FriSun 11–3:00. Reception 1/17, 6–9:00; talk 7:30. Private 1-hr conversations with Lehr 1/17 &18 by appt. 610-683-6440. newartsprogram.org

THRU 3/15 Life of the Mind, an exhibition probing the cost of work. Burak Delier, Pilvi Takala and Vesna Pavlovi. Martin Art Gallery, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-664-3467. Muhlenberg.edu THRU 3/29 Evolution of the Spiritual | Europe to America. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org THRU 4/4 4th Annual Juried Show: Home. Closing reception 4/4, 6-9 pm. Bethlehem House Contemporary Art Gallery, 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-419-6262, 610-390-4324. BethlehemHouseGallery.com THRU 4/11 William Lamson, Badwater. Lafayette Art Galleries, Easton, PA. 610-330-5361. Galleries.lafayette.edu

THRU 4/30 Purseonality, A Stylish Handbag History, presented by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. Showing at Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and Moravian Museum of Bethlehem. HistoricBethlehem.org THRU 5/3 Color & Complexity, 30 Years at Durham Press. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org

THRU 6/7 Votes for Women, A Visual History. Rediscover the compelling story of the suffrage movement. Brandywine River Museum of Art, Route 1, Chadds Ford, PA. Brandywine.org/museum

3/7 The Phoenix Show: A Juried Exhibition, Inner Visions. 5 pm-6 pm, Artists and Sponsor Reception. 6 pm-9 pm, award announcement and opening reception.

agenda

The Conservatory, 4059 Skyron Dr., Doylestown, PA. Phoenix-show.com 3/9-3/21 The Phoenix Show: A Juried Exhibition, Inner Visions. 10 am-7 pm, Mon.-Fri. show hours. 10 am-2 pm, Sat. show hours. The Conservatory, 4059 Skyron Dr., Doylestown, PA. Phoenix-show.com

3/14 Young at Art, Explore creative learning that ignites imaginations, presented by Lehigh Valley Arts Council. A free day of family fun. 10 am-2 pm, Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Rd., Center Valley. THEATER

2/13-2/15 Lombardi. Northampton Community College, NCC Theater Department, Kopecek Hall, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, PA. 484-484-3412. Ncctix.org 2/19-3/1 Tartuffe by Moliére. Act 1 Performing Arts, DeSales University, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-282-3192. DeSales.edu/act1

2/15 Rennie Harris, Funkedified, History of Hip-Hop with a live funk band. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 2/20-2/23 A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry. Muhlenberg College Theatre and Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/theatre

2/22 Manual Cinema presents No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. 610-330-5009. Williams-center.org 2/27-3/2 The Little Foxes. Northampton Community College, NCC Theater Dept., Kopecek Hall, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem. 484-484-3412. Ncctix.org 3/5 Edith Piaf, Hymn to Love, a musical journey through 1930s–’50s France. Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689. Touchstone.org 3/12 Bandstand The Musical. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132. statetheatre.org 3/13 Earth’s Prehistoric Aquarium, giant puppets. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. 610758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org

DANCE

2/6-2/8 Master Choreographers. Muhlenberg College Theatre and Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-6643333. muhlenberg.edu/dance 3/15 Sleeping Beauty, Russian National Ballet Theatre. Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. Free event parking attached to center. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org MUSIC

2/9 Cathedral Arts presents, Vocal Chamber Ensemble of the Chester County Chorale. Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA. 610865-0727. Nativitycathedral.org

2/23 Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, “A Viennese Afternoon”. Soloist Fiona Gillespie, soprano. Works by Mozart and Haydn. Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. 610-434 -7811. PASinfonia.org 2/29-3/1 The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, 2020 Greg Funfgeld Family Concert: Noah’s Flood (Noyes Fludde). Packer Memorial Church, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-866-4382. Bach.org

3/22 Cathedral Arts presents, The Nativity Choral Scholars in Concert: Lauren Smith, Lauren Curnow Madigan, Joseph Mozingo, Ian Murphy. Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-8650727. Nativitycathedral.org MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 Founders Way Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org 2/5 2/18 2/22 2/29 3/1 3/5 3/6

The Dustbowl Revival Jake Shimabukuro Denny Corby presents You’ve Been Fooled The Chris & Paul Show Lehigh Valley Music Awards Carbon Leaf Scythian

DINNER THEATER THRU 2/29 Murder Mystery Dinner Theater: Cheers to Murder. Fridays & Saturdays, 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm, Peddler’s Village, routes 202 & 263, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-4000. Peddlersvillage.com Every Thurs.-Sat., Dinner and a Show at SteelStacks, Bethlehem, PA. 5-10:00pm, table service and valet parking. For more information, menus and upcoming events visit SteelStacks.org n

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