Bard's All's Well That Ends Well is a well done production

By Vanessa Ho

Last week I had the great fortune to be invited to the dress rehearsal for All's Well That Ends Well, the first of Bard's two studio stage productions (the other being Richard II), and was blown away by the opulent Rachel Ditor directed production.

The standout of the production is Lois Anderson as Helena. She plays the orphaned daughter of a renowned physician is living as ward to the Countess of Rousillion (Patti Allan) a kind and gentle woman who thinks of Helena as a daughter. Helena is in love with the Countess's cad of a son, Bertram (Craig Erikson), the new Count of Rousillion (after his father's passing).

Bertram is called to the court of the King of France who is gravely ill. Love-sick Helena follows Bertram and uses what she has learned from her father and goes to the court believing she can cure the king. If she does so, her only caveat is that she be allowed to choose any nobleman to marry. The king agrees and Helena is successful and chooses Bertram to be her groom in a scene that could be lifted out of the season finale of The Bachelorette.

Bertram is repulsed that he is forced to marry Helena who is lower in class than him being a physician's daughter that he runs off to fight in the Italian wars before consummating his marriage to Helena. Bertram becomes more of a jerk when he writes to Helena saying that never will he call her wife unless she gets his wedding ring off his finger and gets pregnant by him.
Helena follows Bertram to Italy and discovers that he is trying to seduce a girl in the town where he is stationed called Diana (Celine Stubel).

Diana resists his advances because he is married and when Helena reveals that he is Bertram's wife the devise a plan that will help Helena meet Bertram's conditions. I won't reveal exactly what happens for those that haven't read or seen the play but that is one of the problems of the play but not the production.

All's Well That Ends Well is considered one of Shakespeare's problem plays in where the denouement is not exactly plausible but Ditor added a prologue not in the play that helps draw some context into Bertram's and Helena's relationship that helps the ending make sense.

However, what makes this production of All's Well That Ends Well excellent is the performances, in particular Anderson. What makes Anderson a standout is as soon as Helena comes on stage, you just fall in love with her from the get go and hate Bertram for not loving her too. Erickson is appropriately sexy and charming as Bertram so that you can understand why Helena would fall in love with him but at the same be such a slime ball that you also hate him.

Other performances of note are Allan Morgan as LaFew, an old friend of the Countess and Scott Bellis as the boastful Parolles, a follower of Bertram's. Both deliver hilarious performances and have witty banter amongst each other.

As well, kudos to Ditor for placing this production of All's Well That Ends Well during Victorian times, an ear I am especially fond of. Mara Gottler's costumes are so lovely and I also enjoyed the use of the laundry lines on Pam Johnson's set design during the second act.While I may have only seen a dress rehearsal it was still an excellent performance and I urge you to go see it once it has opened.

All's Well That Ends Well opens July 2 at Bard on The Beach's Douglas Campbell Studio Stage and runs until September 19. Bard celebrates its 20th Season this year.

(500) Days of Summer shines brightly

By Vanessa Ho

Buzz for (500) Days of Summer coming out of the Sundance Film Festival this year was so positive that you wonder if the film could live up to its expectations when it had a wider release. The film not only delivers but it is all thanks to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's charming and winning performance.

Gordon-Levitt plays architect turned greeting card writer Tom Hanson and (500) Days of Summer recounts his courtship with Summer (a winning Zooey Deschanel), his co-worker from his greeting card company. Problem is Tom believes in true love and soul mates while Summer doesn't.

The script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber doesn’t tell your typical boy meets girl story, which is definitely part of the charm of the film. The narrative goes back and forth and back again in time as it tells the tale of Tom and Summer's 500 days together with all its ups and downs.

Gordon-Levitt, all grown-up from his days of TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun, is loveable as Tom that you really hope he gets his happy ending (he certainly deserves it).

Deschanel manages to take what could be an unsympathetic character when you consider her belief in love but she brings so much complexity and layers to Summer that you don't hate her when you know early on that she breaks Tom's heart. Plus, she and Gordon-Levitt have such sweet chemistry, especially during one of their dates that takes place at an Ikea, that you can't hate her for long.

The supporting cast also deserves some praise, in particular Chloë Moretz as Tom's wise beyond her 12-year old years younger sister. Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler deliver hilarious performances as Tom's best friends McKenzie and Paul respectively.

As well, director Marc Webb lovingly captures some beautiful Los Angeles architecture in one scene as Tom shares his passion for architecture with Summer.

If there is one thing you need to do this summer is make sure you reserve one day to go and see (500) Days of Summer.

Up soars

By Vanessa Ho

Pixar has done it again. Just when think that the Disney computer animation studio was due for a flop after nine consecutive critical and box office smashes.

And on the surface an animated movie about curmudgeonly 78-year old Carl Frederickson (voiced by Ed Asner) and an 8-yearWildnerss Explorer names Russell (charmingly-voiced by Jordan Nagai) seemed destined to be hits first box office failure but when you dig deeper, the movie is anything but.

Up's first five minutes will have you in tears so you know that the film is going to be good. What has you all emotional is how the story recounts Carl's life with his wife Ellie as they dream of adventures in Paradise Falls that is somewhere in South America. However, life gets in the way, they get older and Ellie passes away before that dream becomes a reality.

With Carl's home under threat of developers and himself being forced to move to a retirement community, Carl (a former balloon salesman) attaches 1000s of helium balloons to his home to finally embark on the South American adventure that his wife dreamed of as a little girl.

A hiccup in his plan is stowaway Russell, who was on Carl's front porch when the house floated up. Russell attaches himself to Carl as he just needs one more badge (Assisting the Elderly) so that he can become a Senior Wilderness Explorer. The pair does make it to Paradise Falls and encounter an exotic bird, talking dogs and a disgraced explorer (Christopher Plummer).

The movie is the first Disney Pixar 3D film and seeing Up in 3D isn't totally necessary. There were only a handful of scenes like when house floats away and some of action sequences that is neat but not worthwhile to pay the extra dough for the 3D glasses that are styled like the glasses that Carl sports. You don't need 3D to appreciate the colors of the balloons or on the exotic bird.

The real winner of this movie is the performance of Nagai as Russell. It is so adorable and innocent and filled with joyous naivety that as he and Carl go through their adventure, it elicited a lot of oohs and aahs from the audience. Russell is also animated so cutely that you just want to hug him.

Asner and Nagai made for a great voice team that elevated what is essentially a great buddy flick.

Also stay for the end credits for some Carl and Russell treats and don't be late for the film, you don't want to miss the Pixar short, Partly Cloudy, which plays before Up. I won't spoil plot details but let's just say clouds never looked so cute.