Rebel Prince

Shall We Dance?, a Japanese movie released in 1997 about a humdrum businessman who finds inspiration in ballroom dancing, was great. Now I read that it will be remade next year with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. Ugh. Not to disparage their talents, but this is exactly the kind of sweet, delightful movie that works so well in part because of its “everyday-ness”–the idea that our everyman protagonist, or you or me, can find ourselves capable of something beautiful and powerful (and fun), like dance. I don’t need or want star power to come in and make an overblown production of it. Anyway. Go rent Shall We Dance? before the remake comes to theaters. It’s cute, and deftly touches on aspects of both ballroom dancing and Japanese life.

Check out today’s Times article on dance in film. Some of the other upcoming movies it mentions look more promising.

[Update (15:37): In the comments, Stephen notes the recent intrigue regarding production of the remake. Wow, I had no idea.]

This reminds me: there is a volunteer program at Stanford in which students design and teach classes to local high-school kids on weekends. When I was a junior, I planned a course on this very subject, dance in film, but how many kids signed up for it? Two. (Those were the pre-Moulin Rouge/Chicago days.) It might have been interesting, very tutorial-like, to have just two students, but I decided to cancel it. Pity.

Honestly, I’m posting my Amazon wishlist only as a convenient indicator and reminder–for me, as much as you, the loyal reader–of current personal tastes and interests, not as an actual gift registry. (However, if you do find yourself inclined to make a purchase, who am I to stand in your way?)

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick to return to The Producers? Cross your fingers! From Playbill:

A spokesman for the show confirmed news that appeared in New York City’s dailies Aug. 6: That the musical’s original Bialystock (Lane) and Bloom (Broderick) will probably return to the show at the St. James Theatre for three months at the end of the year.

“Discussions have been happening but no deals have been signed,” a spokesman for the show said. An announcement about the return of the duo is expected shortly, if the details can be worked out.

A New Year’s Eve start date has been speculated, with a three-month contract. Since the stories appeared, people have been inquiring at the box office and on phone lines for early 2004 tickets, but tickets for the famed show are only on sale through Dec. 28 at the moment. The on-sale date for tickets after Dec. 28 will be announced soon.

In other musical news, a reminder of selected local engagements in the upcoming season:

• Wolf Trap: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Aug. 26-31)
• Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore: Hairspray (Sept. 9-21)
• National Theatre: Cats (Sept. 30-Oct. 26), Mamma Mia! (Nov. 20-Feb. 14), Urinetown (Feb. 24-Mar. 7, 2004)
• Kennedy Center: Bounce (Oct. 21-Nov. 16), The Producers (June 23-Aug. 22, 2004)
• Warner Theatre: Fame (Dec. 30-Jan. 4), Stomp (Jan. 6-11, 2004), Jesus Christ Superstar (May 4-9), Grease (June 1-6)

I check my website stats constantly. Seriously, I can’t stop looking at them. The referral log always has some interesting bits and bobs, so allow me to address a few issues. I’ve posted them on my 404 error page, which I’ll update as needed:

• If you arrived from a search-engine queery for “Nate Berkus” (and there are a lot of you), let’s settle this right now: yes, he is.
  

  The VOX®/OUT Voices of Style and Design is a year-long series of events honoring highly accomplished gay individuals, selected by the editors of Out magazine, whose works have come to signify American style. The 2002 honorees included:
  Nate Berkus, Chicago

  My thanks go out to a helpful Rebel Prince reader for bringing this to my attention. And that is all. I don’t have any pictures of him, okay? Cheeky monkeys.

• If you arrived from the Slate article on city blog maps (June 30, 2003), I’ve since restructured my archives, and the “intellectual nitpicking” in question can now be found here.
• I used to keep an updated Rufus Wainwright tour schedule online. I took it down a while ago, because he isn’t currently on the road, but when he starts promoting the new album this fall, you can be sure I’ll post whatever tour information is available.

Whew. Ladies and gentlemen, as you were.

The new IKEA catalog is out, and also available online (Flash required). Let the madness begin.

My current object of gadgetlust: the Samsung i500 Palm phone (Times review). Mmm. I’ve been looking to replace my old Kyocera Smartphone for a long while now. The i500 is a bit pricey though, especially considering all I really want out of the PDA functions is the contact management, and not so much the calendar and scheduling, or even the wireless web capabilities, etc. Hm. We’ll see.

Speaking of gadgets, albeit a very low-tech one, I left my umbrella on the Metro this morning. Grr. Oh well, it wasn’t even really my umbrella to begin with. One rainy day in June, I had swiped it from the umbrella stand inside the entrance to H&M, after discovering that my umbrella had been swiped from the stand while I was shopping. And that umbrella, in turn, was one I had taken a couple months ago in New York, during a similar unscrupulous switcharoo. Who are you people, taking my umbrella?! The lesson here: don’t leave your gear at the entrance to a crowded store, or only do so at your smaller, finer retail establishments. I swear, there’s some kind of cosmic redistribution of umbrellas going on.

I just filed a lost-and-found claim with Metro (which was easy enough to do online), but I think I’ll stop by Hechts after work anyway to get a nice new Totes, like my beloved automatic-closing original which I had before the recent spate of umbrella abductions. Maybe this time I should implant some kind of homing chip in the handle.

Update (18:35): Of course, now it’s all bright and sunny outside.

Tonight is gay Bravo night again. In related news, check this out:

NBC will once again showcase the cable hit on Thursday, August 14 at 9:30/8:30c. The re-cut half-hour special will lead into a special episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno later that night in which the show’s “Fab Five” give host Jay Leno a makeover.

Ooh, fun! (Thanks to Danielle for the heads-up.)

I had my doubts about Melanie Griffith taking over the role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago, but despite some technical flaws, the Times critic calls her the “most convincing” Roxie he’s ever seen:

The vultures who were expecting to see Ms. Griffith stumble, in other words, will have to look elsewhere for their fix of schadenfreude. “You’re a phony celebrity, kid,” Roxie’s lawyer tells her. Ms. Griffith, on the other hand, is definitely the real thing, with a persona that translates into a heartfelt presence onstage.

Full review here.