Film: Bethlehem

Will you like it when you walk out of this film? Perhaps not.

Will you remember this film? Probably forever.

The main characters are warmly treated and beautifully acted; the cinematography is intense and exciting. It is the story of an Israeli police spy and a Palestinian boy who are both friends and enemies.

The final film credits are fully detailed in both Hebrew and Arabic -- suggesting the delicate balance which the film successfully strikes in telling an intimate story of friendship and conflict between political foes.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bethlehem_2013/

Theater: Hi, Hitler

Description found online:

Hi Hitler, the title of this one-woman play is misleading. It’s not really about Hitler, the Holocaust or any of that. Instead, it’s an autobiographical work of a young German woman who is born into a “circus” and tries to run away to suburban respectability. She doesn’t really succeed, and winds up starting a circus of her own. And it’s hilarious.

Lucie Pohl (pronounced Lutzee Pole) was born in Hamburg, Germany, into a family of German artists and intellectuals. Her father, Klaus Pohl, is a German playwright, actor and director. Her mother, Sanda Weigla, is Romanian with Jewish roots and is the niece of Berthold Brecht as well as a professional singer. She has aunts, uncles and cousins who are also artists of one sort or another.

(continued at http://nytheatreguide.com/2013/10/theatre-review-hi-hitler-at-stage-left-studio/)

Theater: Driving with the Parking Break Up

Two solo performances featuring the actors' own original scripts. Beautifully done. We saw this show at 59E59 in NYC on July 11, 2014.

The description below was found online: http://www.southflorida.com/theater-and-arts/your-gay-boyfriend-blog/sf-fringe-festival-edinburgh-new-york-theater,0,7796050.story

Casey Dressler, also of Fort Lauderdale, is taking her one-act to Scotland as half of a pairing (the other work is by Miami-born-but-living-in-Los-Angeles Luis Sosa) under the umbrella title “Driving With the Parking Brake Up.”

...

“When we first met at New World [School of the Arts], we didn’t like each other,” says Dressler, recalling when she and Sosa were freshmen. “Then, we had to do crew hours in the costume shop, and then we fell in love. We’ve been best friends ever since. We’re like brother and sister. We talk every day.”

They always wanted to do a show together. The two decided that Sosa’s one-man-show about a gay Cuban dealing with his family and self-acceptance, titled “Mangos & Rice,” fit nicely with Dressler’s one-woman-show, “The Wedding Warrior,” about her work as a wedding planner in the Keys

“That title, ‘Driving With the Parking Brake On,’ speaks to both of our shows,” Dressler explains. “That’s the perfect metaphor for both of us. We would totally drive for an hour and then realize we have the parking brake on, because both of us have our heads up our asses. We’re both dreamers, and have our heads in the clouds sometimes. Luis’ story is a lot about his own life and his family and the struggle he has gone through. It’s very comedic, but it’s his personal story. My story is very much the same … a moment in my life where, if I think about it in retrospect, was a big growing time for me and dealing with a lot of difficulties, as well.”

Sosa and Dressler will also perform “Driving With the Parking Brake On” July 11-13 in New York during the East to Edinburgh Festival, a showcase of all the entries from the United States going to Edinburgh, at the 59E59 Theaters on the Upper East Side. Go to 59E59.orgfor more information.