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Arts
Monday, December 12, 2016 — 5A
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ACROSS
1 On the __:
broken
6 Dressed (in)
10 Quail or turkey,
e.g.
14 Prefix with
economics
15 Impulse
16 “Yeah, sure”
17 Do over 60 in
Hawaii, say
18 Upsurge
19 Null and __
20 Locomotive
operators
23 Lao Tzu’s “way”
24 Republican org.
25 Singer for the
cops?
34 Flower painted
by van Gogh
35 Burns with hot
liquid
36 Mai __
37 One who shuns
company
39 Many a
Monopoly prop.
40 Kick out
42 “Brokeback
Mountain”
director Lee
43 Snoozing
46 Rank between
viscount and
marquis
47 Gridiron
adjudicator
50 Motor City labor
gp.
51 Preacher’s msg.
52 What 20-, 25-
and 47-Across all
are, in one way
or another
60 Billiards triangle
61 “Garfield” pooch
62 Paradises
64 Lotion additive
65 __ monster: lizard
66 “Rabbit food”
course
67 Remain
undecided
68 Staircase part
69 Sporty sunroofs
DOWN
1 Radio choices
2 Completely
engrossed
3 Bakery employee
4 Dissertation
5 It has a dozen
signs
6 Ice tray unit
7 Scientologist
Hubbard
8 Intensely eager
9 Divine-human
hybrid
10 Quitting hr. for
many
11 Double-reed
instrument
12 Flow-altering dam
13 Former Ford
models
21 Thumbs-down
votes
22 Like Eric or Leif
25 Rice dish
26 Home of the
University of
Maine
27 Jargon
28 Poker wager-
matching
response
29 Bellybutton
30 Baseball card
rival of Topps
31 On __:
rampaging
32 Mother-of-pearl
33 Owner’s
document
38 Morocco’s capital
41 Made heckling
remarks to
44 Snooze loudly
45 Mexicali money
48 Like warthogs
and walruses
49 Smallest number
52 Rolled-up
sandwich
53 In good health
54 Venerated
image
55 Proofreader’s
change
56 Irascibility
57 Jump
58 Move, in Realtor-
speak
59 Go off the deep
end
63 Vietnam War
protest gp.
By Michael Dewey
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/12/16
12/12/16
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Monday, December 12, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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FOR RENT
NBC
‘Hairspray’ could have benefitted from a little less conversation.
After the creative and ratings
success
of
“Grease
Live,”
NBC found themselves under
substantial pressure for their
next musical: “Hairspray.” Under
the direction of Thomas Kail
(“Hamilton”),
“Grease” raised the
bar for what a live
TV musical could
do. NBC reacted
by
increasing
the
scale
of
“Hairspray.” They
moved production
from a soundstage
in New York to the Universal
backlot in Los Angeles. They
had numbers both outdoors and
indoors and expanded the larger
production numbers. However,
“Hairspray”
couldn’t
quite
find energy in the expansive
production. There were certainly
successful production numbers
and very strong performances,
but technical issues and slower
scenes killed any momentum
other elements of the telecast
were building.
In
an
effort
to
expand
their production based on the
standards set by “Grease,” the
producers decided to set many
of their big musical numbers
outside,
leading
to
mixed
results. Having “Good Morning
Baltimore” take place as it’s
getting dark, with artificial light
attempting to make it feel like
morning, feels strange and out of
place. Still, the outdoor set, made
to look like a Baltimore street,
helped numbers like “Welcome
to the ’60s” feel like they were
taking place outdoors in the city
(the dark setting didn’t hurt that
number).
Like all of the live musicals
that came before it, the book
scenes dragged, preventing the
show from gaining any real
momentum. A lot of the big
musical numbers were good with
so much energy. Still, it seemed
like after every musical number,
there was a block of dialogue that
moved
slowly.
However,
the
show
ended
on
a
positive
note
with “You Can’t
Stop
the
Beat.”
That number is
probably a big part
of why the show is
as successful as it
is. It’s full of singing and dancing
and gives each character their
moment in the spotlight. It never
seems to stop.
Like
other
NBC
musicals
of the past, “Hairspray Live”
had a very strong cast, with
some performances verging on
extraordinary. Jennifer Hudson
(“Dreamgirls”)
took
on
the
supporting role of Motormouth
Maybelle and owned every second
she was on screen with two of
the best songs in the show, “Big,
Blonde and Beautiful” and “I
Know Where I’ve Been.” Her
voice is so pure and so strong
that she stole the show, much
like Audra McDonald did in
“The Sound of Music.” Kristin
Chenoweth (“Pushing Daisies”)
knows how to play a diva, and she
earned some of the biggest laughs
of the show as Velma Von Tussle.
Harvey Fierstein (who won a Tony
for originating Edna Turnblad on
Broadway) is clearly having fun
returning to his role, and that
helped bring Edna to life.
However,
there
were
also
performances that were passable
at best. Ariana Grande (“Scream
Queens”) took on the role of Penny
Pingleton and didn’t do much
with it. Sure, she has a good voice,
but there was so much comic
potential she left on the table. I
also have mixed feelings about
newcomer Maddie Baillio. On the
one hand, she didn’t do anything
wrong — her voice was fine and
she acted decently. But she didn’t
do anything to stand out as a lead
actress.
There’s still one element of the
“Hairspray” broadcast that’s very
difficult to reconcile: the horrific
technical
issues.
Throughout
the broadcast, seemingly small
mistakes kept piling up. During
“Mama I’m a Big Girl Now,” the
lights briefly blacked out on Tracy
in her bedroom. A minute later, the
set pulled up and revealed another
part of the scene. Later, there
were cuts to incorrect cameras
(including in the powerful number
“I Know Where I’ve Been”). Look,
I understand broadcasts like this
take substantial effort and are
extremely hard to pull off, but
wrong lighting and camera cues
are just lazy. With increased scale
comes increased difficulty, which
leaves no room for screwups like
that.
Though “Hairspray” is far
from the best musical I’ve seen,
it still holds a special place in my
heart. It was the first show I saw
on Broadway a decade ago, and
the movie is one of my favorite
movie-musicals. Still, this live
production was not nearly as good
as it could’ve been. They tried to
replicate the success of “Grease,”
but ended up with a show that
had some awful technical issues,
slow book scenes that nearly
overpowered the strong cast
and, overall, really good musical
numbers.
‘Hairspray’ is no ‘Grease’
ALEX INTNER
Daily Arts Writer
NBC’s TV musical moves from NY to LA with mixed results
B-
“Hairspray Live!”
Live Muiscal Event
NBC
“(Screenwriter
Gary
Wolfson) and I would talk
about movie ideas,” said “The
Pickle
Recipe”
producer
Sheldon Cohn in a recent
interview. “One night, out
of nowhere, Gary said, ‘My
grandma used to make these
unbelievable pickles. My sister
said she’d kill for the recipe.’
But his grandma never told it
to anybody, and she died. So
the pickles are gone because
the recipe’s gone. And I said,
‘that’s kind of a funny idea for
a movie.’”
So began the journey of
“The Pickle Recipe,” a feature-
length film about a desperate
grandson
stealing
his
grandmother’s prized pickle
recipe to pay for his daughter’s
bat mitzah. It opens in Ann
Arbor Friday at the Michigan
Theater.
Cohn is an alum of the
University of Michigan film
department
and
graduated
from what was then called
the Speech, Radio, TV and
Film department in 1977. After
working in advertising for most
of his adult life, Cohn began to
work on “The Pickle Recipe”
with seven other University
alums.
Cohn
emphasized
that he mostly enjoyed the
storytelling
components
of
filmmaking,
particularly
writing and editing.
“One of the most fun parts
was
the
writing
process,”
Cohn said. “Sitting with Gary,
whether it was my house,
his house, in my treehouse
smoking cigars. Just throwing
ideas back and forth — what if,
what if, what if.”
The pre-production of the
film as a whole was gratifying
for Cohn — after finding Lynn
Cohen, the woman who plays
the grandmother, Rose, on
YouTube, he reached out to
her to see if she would want
the part. She confirmed her
interest a day after she was
sent the script.
The entire film was shot in
Detroit and the surrounding
suburbs. Cohn said one of the
most important things for
him was creating a positive
representation of Detroit.
“We
saw
the
film
as
a
depiction
of
working
Detroit. And just the shots
of
neighborhoods
and
the
skyline were important to
get,” Cohn said. “People from
out of state say, ‘I didn’t know
Detroit looked like that!’ The
media has depicted Detroit
as burnt-out buildings and
vacant lots. They think Detroit
is horrible looking. We have
quotes from people saying
(director) Michael Manaserri
shoots Detroit with the same
affection that Woody Allen
shoots Manhattan. You can see
that, in the way we photograph
the city.”
“The Pickle Recipe” has
been screened all over the
country and audiences have
been very receptive to it.
According to Cohn, though,
the critical reception has been
less than ideal. “Not everybody
likes the film,” Cohn said. “If
you go on Rotten Tomatoes,
the critics, they’re not nice to
us … We didn’t sit there and
want to make ‘Citizen Kane.’
We wanted to make a fun,
enjoyable movie that was both
funny and emotional.”
Despite the negative critical
reaction, Cohn affirmed his
excitement to release the film
in Ann Arbor, with his fellow
University of Michigan alums
that worked on “The Pickle
Recipe.” He underscored the
importance of his education at
the University and the way it
gave him hands-on experience
filming that would help him
throughout his career.
“I got hands-on experience
with
equipment,
worked
with really good people and
professors
and
appreciated
what I did,” Cohn said. “My
career after U of M is working
at real projects. Learning how
to tell a story. Something I
kept in mind from Michigan
was, ‘is there anything I can
do to make it better?’ You
just have to keep working on
it until it’s as good as it can
be. I like working with the
people from Michigan, and I
love the idea that it’s going to
play in Ann Arbor. That’s very
sentimental.”
REBECCA LERNER
Daily Film Editor
Cohn on ‘Pickle’ and filming Detroit
University grad and filmmaker brings ‘Pickle Recipe’ to Ann Arbor
FILM INTERVIEW
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Is Jason Bateman the most typecast man of all time? We think so.
In
a
conference
call
promoting his recent comedy
“Office
Christmas
Party,”
actor and comedian T.J. Miller
(“Deadpool”)
talked
about
everything imaginable, from
his improvised comedic style
to stories of a wild Texan
house party. Needless to say,
the entire conversation was a
riot. Miller stars in the movie
as Clay Vanstone, the wilder
and relaxed brother of Jennifer
Aniston’s
character,
Carol.
Miller shared some of his own
crazy holiday party stories that
rival the chaos in the “Office
Christmas
Party”
trailer,
describing
one
particularly
wild Christmas.
“If you were at (this) party,
you were kissing or you were
missing out,” Miller said. “And
that was insane. I kissed 15
people, okay? Some of them
women, some of them animals.”
These
types
of
zany
stories
and
ridiculous
commentaries are what make
Miller so entertaining. His
ability
to
combine
absurd,
surrealist humor with gags is
unpredictable and stylistically
unique. For him, acting is about
improvising on the spot rather
than deep character studies
and Daniel Day-Lewis-esque
methods.
“I think by now actually
in Hollywood, if you hire me,
you know that I’m going to be
improvising,” Miller said. “So,
that’s either a good thing, or it’s
kept me from getting certain
jobs.”
On
the
set
of
“Office
Christmas Party,” improvising
was even encouraged.
“A lot of these lines are my
own, you know?” Miller said.
“But it was a great script by
great writers, and we also have
this guy, Robert Terbowski. He
was constantly producing post-
it notes with alternate lines.”
Miller placed great faith in
the writers and even admits
to
not
reading
the
script
beforehand. “I didn’t even read
the script before I signed up for
the project, because I’m not a
very good actor,” he said. “So I
don’t usually read the scripts.”
Miller is best known for his
roles as Weasel in the successful
superhero movie “Deadpool”
and Erlich Bachman in HBO’s
“Silicon Valley.” Although both
characters are fan favorites,
they aren’t the most virtuous of
people. Clay Vanstone, however,
does not quite resemble these
abrasive and arrogant roles that
feature a heavy arsenal of crude
jokes and clever insults. “This
was a good opportunity for me
to say to America, ‘I don’t just
play an abrasive blow-hard
asshole who sort of insults
anybody and everyone very,
very sharply,’” he said.
When asked what ingredient
Miller
is
in
the
“Office
Christmas
Party”
ensemble,
Miller
said,
“I’m
paprika.
Paprika. OK. P-A-P-R-I-K-A.
And paprika’s sort of the spice
that is its own kind of flavor,
but helps to enhance and
heighten the other flavors. I
was the ingredient that both
added something to the overall
film, but also helped sort of
enhance and elevate the flavors
of comedy around us.”
The
holidays,
for
many,
involve anxiety-inducing family
get-togethers and long plane
rides with negative emotional
return on investment. Miller
wants
audiences
to
escape
what could be a painful couple
of days and do what everyone
deserves to do after a stressful
2016: party hard.
“Right
now,
we
need
something to go laugh at that is
positive and inclusive, and even
a little bit more than that — it’s,
uh, just a party. It’s about a huge
party. It’s about everybody
coming together to party, and
that’s the message.”
“Office
Christmas
Party,”
for Miller, is a blissful escape
from the stressors of daily life
and holiday parties. “Have
too much eggnog, go and see
a funny movie or stay home
and watch something funny,”
Miller said. “It’s not time to
argue or fight with family this
Christmas season. It’s time to
go see a movie, you know? Just
take your mind off of it.”
WILL STEWART
Daily Arts Writer
T.J. Miller discusses lightening
the mood with ‘Christmas Party’
In a conference call, the actor discussed his role in the film
TV REVIEW
FILM INTERVIEW