L’Elisir d’Amore this Saturday at Carib 5

February 6, 2018 by

Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino and Pretty Yende as Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore.

South African operatic sensation, Pretty Yende debuts a new role at the Met as Adina, the beautiful and wealthy farm owner who spurs the advances of a besotted village lad, Nemorino, played by American tenor, Matthew Polenzani. Fortunately, Dulcamara a traveling supplier of patent medicines arrives just in time with a ‘love potion’ to help Nemorino win his intended’s heart.
Bartlett Sher’s production of Donizetti’s L’ Elisir D’ Amore is charming, with clever comedic timing, subtly balanced with emotional and heart warming moments. Domingo Hindoyan conducts.
Since its premiere more than a century and a half ago, L’Elisir d’Amore has been among the most consistently popular operatic comedies. Considering the genre, the story’s ending is as much a foregone conclusion as it would be in a romantic comedy film today. The joy is in the journey, and Donizetti created one of his most instantly appealing scores for this ride. The music of Elisir represents the best of the bel canto tradition that reigned in Italian opera in the early 19th century, from funny patter songs to rich ensembles to wrenching melody like the famous tenor aria “Una furtiva lagrima.
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) composed more than 60 operas, plus orchestral and chamber music, in a career abbreviated by mental illness and premature death. Apart from this opera, the ever-popular Lucia di Lammermoor, and Don Pasquale, most of his works disappeared from public view after he died. But critical and popular opinion of his huge opus has grown considerably over the past 50 years. Felice Romani (1788–1865) was the official librettist of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and worked with many of the most popular Italian composers of the time. He collaborated with Donizetti on several of his best-known operas, including Anna Bolena and Lucrezia Borgia, and provided Vincenzo Bellini with all but three of his librettos.

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The Shape of Water

February 6, 2018 by

Academy Award® nominee Sally Hawkins (left) and Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water.

With 13 Academy Award® nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, The Shape of Water is the top contender for coveted Oscar® glory this year.
The film also copped 2 Golden Globe Awards® for Best Director and Best Screenplay from seven nominations received this year.
An unusual connection is forged, as Elisa, a janitor working in the government’s high security laboratory falls for the lab’s secret project- a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.
The Shape of Water stars Academy Award® nominees Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon and Richard Jenkins, Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer and Golden Globe Award® winner Michael Stuhlbarg and Dough Jones. Academy Award® nominee Guillermo del Toro directs in addition to sharing writing credits with Vanessa Taylor.

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Fifty Shades Freed

February 6, 2018 by

Newly weds Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in this third and final installment of the erotic Fifty Shades trilogy- Fifty Shades Freed.

Jamie Dornan and Golden Globe Award® winner Dakota Johnson return as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in this climatic chapter based on the world bestselling Fifty Shades phenomenon by British author E. L. James.
Bringing to a shocking conclusion events set in motion in the 2015 and 2017 blockbuster films that grossed almost $950 million worldwide. The film opens on the Palace Amusement circuit on Wednesday February 7 and just ahead of the US release on Valentine’s Day
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending even before it begins.
Also returning from earlier Fifty Shades instalments are Academy Award winner® Marcia Gay Harden, Eric Johnson, British singer/songwriter Rita Ora, Luke Grimes and Victor Rasuk among others. Joining the cast are Arielle Kebbel and Brant Dougherty. The film, directed by James Foley and is a Universal Pictures production.

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Amazing new Tosca, a big hit

February 3, 2018 by

Sir David McVicar’s ravishing new production of Puccini’s Tosca offers a splendid backdrop for extraordinary singing and compelling performances. This celebrated opera encores at Palace Cineplex in the Sovereign Centre, Liguanea, this Sunday, February 4, at 11:30 am.
The Met: Live in HD continued its twelfth season on Saturday last, with its Live in HD transmission of the Met’s new production of Puccini’s Tosca, taking in an estimated attendance of 93,000 in North America and earning a gross of $2 million. It was seen live on more than 900 screens. An estimated additional 157,000 people saw it live on 800 screens in 37 countries in Europe, 11 countries in Latin America, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Jamaica, Morocco, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Sir David McVicar’s new production of Tosca features Sonya Yoncheva in the title role, with Vittorio Grigolo as Cavaradossi, and Željko Lučić as Scarpia. The conductor was Emmanuel Villaume. Tosca tells the story of three people—a famous opera singer, a free-thinking painter, and a sadistic chief of police—caught in a net of love and politics. The production offers a splendid backdrop for extraordinary singing and compelling performances.
Tosca was the fourth of ten live transmissions to be shown this season. The next transmission will be Donizetti’s popular romantic comedy L’Elisir d’Amore on Saturday, February 10, starring Pretty Yende and Matthew Polenzani, whose character sings the popular aria “Una furtive lagrima”.

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Maze Runner: The Death Cure

January 31, 2018 by

A scene from Maze Runner: The Death Cure

This 3D action and adventure from Twentieth Century Fox marks the epic finale to the Maze Runner saga. Thomas leads his group of fugitive Gladers on their final mission fraught with risk and peril. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.

Based on the novel “The Death Cure” by James Dashner, the film is directed by Wes Ball, with screenplay by T.S. Nowlin. The cast includesDylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Walton Goggins, Ki Hong Lee, Barry Pepper, Will Poulter and Patricia Clarkson.

 

 

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New Palace Multiplex show times

January 23, 2018 by

Palace Amusement Company have made changes to changes to the schedule at Montego Bay based, Palace Multiplex cinema between January 24 and 30.Wednesday January 24 to Tuesday January 30.
The change has been necessitated by the limited State of Emergency declared in Montego Bay. As a result of the changes, shows will begin earlier than the usual times, but there will be only one show on weekdays at 5:30 PM while shows on weekends will be as follows, early matinees starting from 3:30 PM and later shows will start from 6:30 PM.
The changes is to facilitate the early closing of the cinema for the convenience of Patrons in area.

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Follies at Palace Cineplex – this Sunday

January 20, 2018 by

Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton in the National Theatre Live: Follies

“The unparalleled magic of Musical Theatre done well”- Vogue.
Eloquent desires, fantasy, nostalgia, regret and uncomfortable introspection are the intricate assembly of ingredients in Dominic Cooke’s highly anticipated revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s 1971 Tony Award winning musical.
Cooke’s stunning production will get to the heart of Jamaican fans on Sunday January 21, 2018, 11:30 a.m. at the Jamaica Stock Exchange listed Palace Amusement, Cineplex cinema.
NT Live is the world renowned National Theatre’s groundbreaking initiative to broadcast theatre live from the stage to cinemas around the world. Each performance is captured from select theatre’s in London’s West End and broadcast live (or ‘as live’, depending on location) via satellite to over 2000 venues in more than 40 countries including Jamaica. The success of NT Live has created more interest in going to the theatre.
The plot in Follies focuses on the reunion of a group of showgirls at the theatre where they used to perform. Thirty Years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. As they stand at the center of the soon demolished grandeur theatre, they begin to reflect on their younger days, recall past glories and survey fragments of the dreams they once cherished.

The stunning generation of Follies Ladies in the National Theatre Live: Follies

All that glitter, is not gold as these shimmering show girls might be lovely, but their real, bruised, older selves are far from perfect. Each character is juxtaposed with the shadow of their former self – who acts as a constant, often regret-filled reminder throughout the show of their future that was once for the taking – as storylines of decades-old love triangles, affairs, and past dreams come back to haunt them.
The cast is led by Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton, who plays the blond, petite and sweet-faced Sally Durant Plummer. She is still remarkably like the girl she was thirty years ago and although she is married to Buddy (Peter Forbes) she finds herself still in love with her former lover Ben (Philip Quast) who is now married to her Follies sister Phyllis (Janie Dee).
The opulent production has a strong cast of 37 and a 21-piece orchestra and is directed by four-time Olivier Award winning director, Dominic Cooke, a long-standing professional in theatre and television spanning over two decades.
The dazzling aesthetic of the show is down to designer extraordinaire Vicki Mortimer, who is responsible for the extravagant array of 160 costumes, 62 headdresses, and 129 pairs of tap shoes – adorned with some 600,000 Swarovski crystals.

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All the Money in the World

January 12, 2018 by

All the Money in the World features billionaire Paul Getty who is judged harshly for not forking up a $17 million-dollar ransom to rescue his kidnapped grandson (Paul Getty III) from Italian thugs.
Not realizing paying up is an open invitation to future exhortation, Michelle Williams (Gail Harris)- mother of Paul Getty III desperately tries to convince her son’s billionaire grandfather to pay the ransom, as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. The film is directed by Academy Award® winner Ridley Scott and stars Academy Award® Winners Christopher Plummer and Michelle Williams, Academy Award® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Romain Duris.
The Post is another thrilling drama opening this week at Palace Amusement. It surrounds the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post’s Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee, as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The script was written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, and the film features an acclaimed ensemble cast including multi Academy Award® winners Mary Streep and Tom Hanks, Golden Globe Award® winner Sarah Paulson and Golden Globe Award ®nominee Bob OdenKirk and Bradely Whitford.

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Jamaican stars in Paramount Picture’s hit ‘Downsizing’

January 12, 2018 by

Jamaican born actor Damiãn Garth Brown on the set of Downsizing

As scenes unfold in the new movie Downsizing starring Matt Damon, be on the lookout for Jamaica’s own Damiãn Garth Brown. When Norwegian scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a viable solution to overpopulation.
Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) quickly opt to abandon their stressful lives to get small and move to a new downsized community. Despite the euphoric lifestyle promised in a miniaturized world, wife- Audrey becomes intimidated by the irreversible process and decides to backdown. This decision triggers a wave of life- changing adventures, as Paul maneuvers being the size of an action figure.
Downsizing is released by Paramount Pictures. Multi Academy Award® winner Alexander Payne directs and writes the film with Academy Award® winner Jim Taylor. The film features an all-star lineup with Academy Award® winners Matt Damon and Christoph Waltz and Academy Award® nominee Kristen Wigg in leading roles. The film features Jamaican born actor Damiãn Garth Brown who is passionate about theatre is known for his performances in Doggy Daycare: The Movie (2015), Kim’s Convenience (2016) and several highly acclaimed productions in Toronto and Canada. He is a York University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/Theatre Arts. He has also received a Certificate in The Principles and Practice of Social Work from the University of the West Indies. Home in Jamaica is still precious for Brown who spent the recent Christmas holidays here with family. Oxtail, one of his favourites made the trip worthwhile.

 

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Taming of the Shrew on Sunday – Cineplex

January 6, 2018 by

Bolshoi Ballet’s The Taming of the Shrew-
Ekaterina Krysanova as Katharina and Vladislav Lantratov as Luciento.

With sturdy spins, spirited prancing and tempestuous connections, The Taming of the Shrew is the ultimate dance drama to witness for the start of the new year.
Conducted by Igor Dronov, The Taming of the Shrew was staged exclusively for the Bolshoi and will be shown this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. at Palace Cineplex and selected theatres worldwide. The Bolshoi Ballet continues the 2017-18 season with several amazing productions in the pipeline, including Romeo and Juliet, The ladies of the Camellias, the Flames of Paris and Giselle.
The ballet surrounds the household of Batista, and his strong will to set his daughters on the right side of love. Three suitors—Hortensio, Lucentio, and Gremio compete to serenade Batista’s youngest daughter- the lovely and docile Bianca. However, he declares that Bianca shall not marry until her older sister, Katherina, is wed. Despite being endowed with an attitude that frightens men off, Katherina finds pleasure in Petruchio who ‘seems’ able to quell her ferocity.
The cast is led by Bolshoi star Ekaterina Krysanova (Katharina) and Vladislav Lantratov (Luciento). Ernest Pignon-Ernest delivers a sleek architectural set and Igor Dronov leads the beautiful musical score.

Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain star in Molly’s Game.

Molly’s Game |Molly Bloom is an Olympic-class skier who runs the world’s most exclusive high stakes poker. Her players include; Hollywood royalties, sports stars, business titans, and unbeknown to her, the Russian Mob. Finding herself on the opposite side of the law, her only ally is her criminal defense lawyer- Charlie Jaffey, who learns there is much more to Molly than the news carry.
Molly’s Game is nominated for two Golden Globe Awards® including Best Actress and Best Screenplay. The film is based on a book by Molly Bloom, directed by Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin and stars Golden Globe Award® winner Idris Elba, Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain, and Academy Award® winner Kevin Costner.
The fourth entry in the Insidious series ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ opens this week. This horror flick is directed by Adam Robitel, with screenplay by Leigh Whannell, and stars Lin Shaye as Dr. Elise Rainer. The rest of the cast includes Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell;, Josh Sampson, Caitlan Gerard and Spencer Locke.

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