And you can tell everybody this is your song...

Last week Elton John earned the Hillary Clinton campaign over two million dollars in his solo performance at Radio City Music Hall. He was introduced the stage by President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea. It was a compilation of classics including Rocket Man, Bennie and the Jets, and Tiny Dancer. In his sequined blazer, red silk high necked blouse, and a major bling of a cross, he praised Hillary and their long standing rapport. Regardless of political standing, it is indisputable that Elton John gives a great performance. His voice is as sharp and melodic live as it is on his albums. It was exciting to see the president I am nostalgic for, but above all it was electrifying to be in the presence of one of the 20th Century's great musical phenomenons.

Cumming in America

A few weeks ago I attended an interview of renowned Scottish actor Alan Cumming at New York's Oxonian Society. With charm and wit he described the beginnings of his career at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and overcoming one professor's assurance of Alan's inevitable doom as an actor. He showed that professor by taking off from school for an acting gig. His career flourished both in cinema and on stage, as well as behind the scenes as a storyteller. Mr. Cumming discussed his unique encounter with Stanley Kubrik, playing a small role in Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrik's last film before death. At their first meeting Kubrik was surprised by Cumming's Scottish accent, convinced by the American one used in audition tapes. Mr. Cumming blamed the art of acting. Alan Cumming also provided some insight into Eyes Wide Shut that I most likely wasn't old or mature enough to grasp when it was released in theaters in 1999. At age 13, I simply remember writing off the movie as overtly sexual. But really, Eyes Wide Shut, while featuring a ton of nudity, is not sexual at all. Instead, in regards to this troubled couple, it's about all the pre-emotions of lust and desire and the post-emotions of guilt and possible dissatisfaction. I plan to revisit Kubrik's last work and see if my opinion has evolved.

The Jazz Age

"The Jazz Age" finishing up its run at 59E59 Theater is an intense portrayal of an alcoholic, jittery, diffident yet always hopeful F. Scott Fitzgerald, quick-tempered and quick-witted Ernest Hemingway, and fatefully erotic Zelda Sayre. As a huge fan of their novels but unfamiliar to their personal lives, I was able to draw from the Fitzgerald and Hemingway stage personae the voice in their literature. F. Scott's relationship with Zelda is a great explanation for the weaknesses of his alter ego Amory Blaine when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. Hemingway's writing effortlessly captures each moment in its time and I was surprised to learn the source of his realism stems from frustration with a fabricated world, particularly the Parisian society of the 1920s, the setting for a large portion of the play. The performances were passionate and the script was astoundingly sexual. The relationship between these characters is as fascinating as the individuals themselves.

Burning Memories at ICP

Currently at the International Center of Photography is an exhibit of newspapers-- the cover pages around the world headlining September 11, 2001. "Krieg gegen USA," "40,000 morti," "Un autre Pearl Harbor," were amongst bolded phrases pasted atop full page prints of a blazing World Trade Center or lamenting bystander. Revisiting the imagery of that fateful day reminded me how I've tried not to be reminded. For New Yorkers to heal, perhaps the only thing to do was look forward. One of the headlines from a French newspaper referred to New York as "le coeur du monde." Seven years on, it is evident the world has been reshaped. The post 9/11 northern world is no longer naïve to the disgruntlements and trajectories of our friends and foes afar.

Comment dit-on discount?

The craze for bargain hunting is not only an American obsession. At Mouton à cing pattes, a chain around Paris, one enters into what feels like someone's overstuffed garage. Sorting through the overflowing racks, the difference between this and a yard sale is that hanging on these racks are the creations of Moschino, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Alberto Ferretti to name a few. On your next trip to Paris venture into one of these shops and channel your patience, train your eye, and enhance your wardrobe. Dress like you own the town, pay like you're saving up because you owe the town money.

Cho-ing It All

This weekend famed comedian, Margaret Cho was performing at the Zipper Factory near Hell’s Kitchen. Margaret’s sketch, which thrived off mimicking her mother’s thick Korean accent has transformed to something along the lines of Burlesque. Mom jokes are out and jumping up and down naked while twirling your nipples is in. Cho’s theme was everyone is beautiful so the audience was presented with a strip tease from a drag queen with balls, an obese lady, a midget, and even Margaret Cho. While some of the performances were funny, like the character of the drunken raunchy drag queen stripper, I found the overall show to fall somewhere between boring and gratuitous. The stand-up comedy portion was lacking for anything more sophisticated than a sex-joke. Furthermore, the intention for sexy Burlesque felt a lot more like Vaudeville, a freak show of nakedness. It’s bold to test taboos and liberate the fear of a naked body, but ultimately I feel it is important to preserve a level of privacy and intrigue, and not to let it all hang out like in the words of my great Uncle, "used spaghetti."

Seurat at MoMA

One of the things I really love about the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan is the fact that people still get dressed up to go there. Patrons ease through the loft-like space past masterpieces and also past not so masterful pieces, in an old New York manner alike to classic Woody Allen films. Make your way there before January 7th to catch the Georges Seurat: The Drawings Exhibit. The top floor of MoMA has its’ walls covered in the conté sketches of the French Neo-Impressionist. The pieces are beautiful, ghost-like, portraits of a diverse 19th Century French society. I suggest following the exhibit with a late lunch at The Modern, the chic restaurant at MoMA.