What If?: When Meryl Streep / Michelle Pfeiffer Almost Starred in "Evita"

by Gabriel Mayora

On Christmas day, twenty-five years ago, Evita (1996) premiered nationwide in theaters. The musical adaptation was helmed by Alan Parker and international superstar Madonna was its leading lady. For her divisive star turn, the actress was famously awarded a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy over Frances McDormand (Fargo), who went on to claim the Academy Award in the equivalent category a couple of months later. Yet, Madonna’s name was left out of the Academy’s Best Actress line-up, suggesting the casting and Madonna's pop stardom may have proven too controversial for the group. 

Much like Effie White, Fantine, and Velma Kelly, Eva Perón is the kind of role that appears destined to win awards sight unseen. What happened, then?

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Review: Swoony "Cyrano" is a must-see

by Catherine Springer

There is a whole lot of love behind the new musical film Cyrano, directed by Joe Wright and starring Peter Dinklage. That's quite appropriate for one of literature’s all-time classic love stories. Screenwriter Erica Schmidt, who adapted the screenplay from her own 2019 stage adaptation of the classic Edmond Rostand play, is married in real life to the film's star Dinklage, who also played the title character in the off-Broadway production, while director Joe Wright is married in real life to Haley Bennett, who plays Roxanne, the object of Cyrano’s affection. While all four artists are consummate professionals, there is no doubt that a certain amount of personal affection seeped in during this project, as the end result is a sumptuous, warm and truly heartfelt ode to love, a beautiful work of art made by artisans unafraid to explore their passions.

The setting is seventeenth-century Paris and Roxanne, a beautiful but poor noblewoman, has fallen in love with a man she sees across a crowded theatre. When she finds out that the man is Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), a new cadet in the French army battalion stationed in the city, she calls upon her lifelong friend, Cyrano de Bergerac...

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Interview: Mike Faist on nihilistic teens, stardom, and "West Side Story"

by Nathaniel R

Mike Faist on his "transcendent" experience making West Side Story

The reinvention of West Side Story (2021) has been the subject of much conversation since it opened, from Spielberg's incredibly enduring career, to the health of the movie musical genre, to the complicated subject of its Oscar prospects since the 1961 picture was a sweeper. The one thing that's felt especially unanimous in the response, though, is the exciting work from a trio of Broadway breakouts making a very big leap into movie stardom: Tony nominees Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist and Tony winner David Alvarez (Bernardo). I had the pleasure of sitting down with our new Riff, Mike Faist a couple of weeks ago to discuss the movie and his career (well, sort of. Read on).

He was in great spirits, laughing frequently, and filled with praise for his co-stars. Coincidentally we had both just been back to a Broadway show for the first time since the shutdown. He describes theater as an important "communal empathy project" and West Side Story continues that tradition.

Faist is funny and thoughtful. He is also, as it turns out, self-deprecatingly aware of his caginess around certain topics, like, his future and stardom...

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West Side Story's Oscar journeys (then & now)

by Nathaniel R

3 of West Side Story's Oscar wins: SUPPORTING ACTOR (Chakiris), DIRECTOR (Robbins & Wise), SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Moreno)

The original West Side Story, which premiered on October 18th, 1961, and which we've discussed in great detail here, was a true four-quadrant blockbuster. It was not only the top-grossing film of its year but an all out Oscar smash. By the spring of 1962 West Side Story was so popular that it did a near complete sweep at the 34th annual Academy Awards ceremony, losing in only one of its categories: Best Adapted Screenplay (which went to the Holocaust courtroom drama Judgment at Nuremberg). But that wasn't all in terms of West Side Story mania. The very next month it competed for "Album of the Year" at the 4th Annual Grammys Awards (it had to settle for winning Best Soundtrack Album since "Judy at Carnegie Hall" took the top prize) and stayed at #1 on the Billboard album charts for almost an entire year (no joke).

How well will the new West Side Story fare? That's a difficult question because a lot of things have changed since West Side Story's initial movie run 60 years ago, including the popularity of musicals within mainstream culture, the number of Oscar categories, the nature of both Oscar campaigns and moviegoing, and even one role within the famous musical...

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Beauty Break: To Rita Moreno on her 90th Birthday

by Nathaniel R

Today marks 90 years since the blessed birth of the legendary EGOT winner Rita Moreno. With Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake upon us in theaters, the trailblazing Puerto Rican star is back in the spotlight. Not that light hasn't always followed her.... hell, emanated from her. Are we laying it on thick? Who cares, she deserves it!

As faithful readers know, the original West Side Story (1961) is my all time favourite so it was hard not to be skeptical / worried about the remake. Naturally then, the new rendition is taking me a bit of time to process but, in short, though some of the raves are hyperbolic, the movie is mostly a thrill. Of its many pleasures, the one that we most emphatically co-sign was uttered by Rita Moreno herself who said...

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