Family tension got you down? Didn't find the new-edition Furby you were hoping for under the tree? Escape the drama of the holidays with some drama that's a little more constructive and creative — here are our top art picks for this weekend.
Presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center through January 20th
Forty years after his Broadway debut, Pippin returns to the stage in an imaginative new musical revival directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. He’s actually a lifelong pal says Paulus who saw the original production several times as a 10-year-old and has spent a lifetime listening to the original soundtrack recording. “It became the soundtrack to my life,” she says. Pippin tells the story of a young man on a quest to find meaning in his life. It features an all-star Broadway cast including Matthew James Thomas, Patina Miller, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise and the incomparable Andrea Martin. In previews now, the show doesn’t officially open until January 3rd. But from what I’ve seen in preparing a feature story, it seems Broadway-bound just like Paulus’ last musical—the Tony-winning Porgy and Bess.
American Vanguards: Graham, Davis, Gorky, De Kooning, And Their Circle, 1927-1942
On view at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy only through December 30th
Make the most of your holiday time off by visiting this stunning show of early American modern art at the Addison Gallery. Most art historians have long held that modern art didn’t take hold in this country until about the 1940s. But as “American Vanguards” robustly illustrates, it began as early as the 1920s with the arrival of enigmatic European John Graham. A tall, imposing figure who had been immersed in the European art world, Graham formed a circle of young New York artists who were drawn to his expertise. Here we see a host of artists before they were stars: Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and David Smith to name a celebrated few. For its scholarship, there’s never been another show like this.
In theaters Christmas Day
Les Miserables is among musical theater enthusiasts’ most beloved shows. Many have anxiously awaited the long-gestating film adaptation of the Cameron Mackintosh production. Exhale. It’s here and it’s superb. Hugh Jackman stars as Jean Valjean leading an all-star cast in director Tom Hooper’s (The King’s Speech) exquisitely shot film. The movie takes audiences where theaters cannot—up close for intimate glimpses into the euphoria and agony of love, loss and revolution. Stars Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne sing beautifully. Even Russell Crowe (derided by many critics, but not this one).
