In honor of Mothra Day, PopCult presents a fan edit of the 1992 film, Godzilla vs. Mothra. Happy Mothra Day, everybody!
Month: May 2019 (Page 3 of 4)
Today we’re going to take a long look at the new FAO Schwarz flagship store in Rockefeller Center in New York. This store opened late last year, and tries to recreate the excitement of the original FAO Schwarz in New York, with loads of toys and displays scattered around its two full floors plus a mezzanine.
This was my first visit ever to FAO Schwarz, and it was a bit unusual. I went in not expecting to find anything that I collect at the moment. So I wasn’t disappointed when that proved to be the case.
I did find a vital, crowded toy store with a wide variety of merchandise, including a candy section provided by It’Sugar and people all over the store showing off flying toys and magic tricks.
Mrs. PopCulteer found some new Pusheen stuff, so we didn’t leave empty-handed.
With this photo essay I’m going to attempt to cram in as many photos as possible, and that means that I won’t be adding captions, because that makes the blog layout more than a little wonky. Instead I’ll add descriptive blocks of text between some of the photos, but many of them are self-explanatory and will just get a quick note. The text will describe the photo above it.
Much of FAO Schwarz is filled with exclusive plush items. There are also FAO-branded toys (many of which can be found at Kohl’s and other department stores now), and large sections devoted to Barbie and Transformers and Hatchimals. We were there the day that the Uglydolls movie opened, and there was a lot of that all over the store.
The layout of the place is open and filled with bright, shiny displays. Robots and rocket ships abound, and you’ll see giant plush all over the store. Let’s dive in…
The store is located right on one corner of Rockefeller Plaza, just half a block away from the entrance to NBC and the Rockefeller Center tours.
Above you see the 49th Street entrance. The building is laid out like an old-school department store, in terms of entrances and multiple floors.
There are demonstrations of toys and magic tricks going on all over the store, all the time.
This week we go back to April, 2013 for Radio Free Charleston, 183, “Defenders Of Bulletman Shirt,” with music from Albert Perrone, Saprogen and Radio Cult plus two trailers for local movies that were shown at the Keith-Albee Theater about a week after this show debuted. Host segments for this episode were shot at Tricon, a large comic book convention held in Huntington.
Our first trailer is for Ladybeard, an Apartment 2B Production, directed by David Smith, and featuring a cameo by yours truly. The other trailer is for “Trace Around Your Heart” Seth Martin and Friends and Ian Nolte created a stirring motion picture, sort of “A Star Is Born” with country music…and puppets.
In the host segments, you’ll see all sorts of sights and sounds of Tricon, including your PopCulteer cavorting with local convention guests, Jason Pell and Daniel Boyd (as seen in the image with this post).
You can read the full production notes HERE.
The PopCulteer
May 10, 2019
A little over a week ago I was privileged to witness an amazing performance.
One of the main reasons for our trip to New York was to see a limited run production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, starring Glenda Jackson in the title role.
We got to see Ms. Jackson last year in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, and she truly is an international treasure, and an acting icon. She is so much of an acting legend that she took on the role of Lear (for the second time–she did it a few years ago in London) without gender-flipping it. This was not “Queen Lear.” She played Lear in drag, and I couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job of it.
Due to the fantasy aspects of the story (it was based on a mythical King of pre-Arthurian times), this work lends itself well to diverse casting. Two other roles aside from Lear are performed by actors in drag: The Fool and The Earl of Gloucester. The cast is ethnically diverse and even included a deaf actor, and none of that detracted from this revelatory production of King Lear.
Lear is a tragedy with plenty of comic relief and shows the spiral of madness spurred by narcissism, vanity and duplicity. The story in a nutshell is that an aging King divides his Kingdom in three pieces, with plans to give one to each of his daughters. He asks each daughter to declare their love for him in order to see who gets the biggest piece.
The first two do so in a most insincere manner, but the third, his youngest and favorite daughter, Cordelia, declines at first, then declares that she could only love him as a daughter does a father. Enraged by her lack of enthusiasm, he disowns her, and marries her off to a King in France, dividing her share between the other two daughters.
Later the King, who is losing his grasp on reality, is turned out by both daughters, and loses his knights, helped only by one loyal aide and the fool. His estranged youngest daughter comes to his rescue, but things go bad.
Spoiler Alert: To quote the wrestler Tracy Smothers (and who shouldn’t quote a wrestler when discussing Shakespeare?)…everybody dies.
While generally, the play IS the thing, in this case the performances raise it to a new level. The director, Sam Gold, has updated the setting to something not quite contemporary, but to a more relatable imaginary era. The set design is both austere and spectacular, if you can imagine that. A score is provided by musicians seen on stage for much of the time. It was composed by Philip Glass. The cast is world class, with not a weak link among them.
Aside from Glenda Jackson’s Lear, Jayne Houdyshell also pulls drag duty as The Earl of Gloucester, Lear’s compromised ally. Tony-nominee Ruth Wilson does a dual turn as both the youngest daughter, Cordelia, and in drag as a Chaplinesque Fool, who sticks with Lear almost to the end.
John Douglas Thompson is another standout as Lear’s loyal aide, The Earl of Kent. However, the entire cast is remarkable and really manages to keep this production at an astoundingly high level of quality.
I got the feeling, during this performance, that I was witnessing a production of Lear that will take on a legendary status. I have a feeling that people will be talking about this for years, and Glenda Jackson’s portrayal of King Lear will became the pinnacle to which other actors aspire. Her performance transcends gender, as do those of Wilson and Houdyshell.
King Lear is playing at The Cort Theater, 138 West 48th Street in New York City until July 7.
After the show, your PopCulteer and his wife did something that we don’t normally do. We stuck around the stage door so that Melanie could meet some of her acting heroes. The wait was not in vain (although the lighting was far from ideal). Thanks to Ms Jackson for insisting that I get a photo.
That is today’s PopCulteer. Look for more of the New York Tour Diary all weekend long.
Your PopCulteer just got back from a trip to New York City.
Actually, I got back Sunday night, but I had a ton of stuff to catch up on before I could jump back into blogging, so I’m just now getting around to writing the tour diary. The purpose of this trip was so that Mel could see two of her theatre heroes, Glenda Jackson and Tracy Letts, in two different plays. While we were up there, I wanted to check out the new FAO Schwarz, and try something a little tourist-y. That’s us on Father Duffy’s Steps in Times Square at the right.
We managed to do all that. Normally our trips go flawlessly and everything works perfectly. That wasn’t so much the case this time, but we still managed to have an amazing time and got to do almost everything we wanted.
To go up we rode Amtrak’s The Cardinal, the train that runs from New York to Chicago (and back) but dips far enough South to include Charleston, as well as Cinncinnati, Washington DC, and several other major cities. We left very early in the morning on Wednesday, May 1, and found our way to our roomette. We wanted a quieter trip up, so we opted for the private room.
It was great, except that about an hour into the trip, we both dozed off, and when we woke up, we discovered that the air conditioner wasn’t working, and we were riding in the sauna car. We alerted the attendant, and they got the AC working, but it took another few hours to get comfortable.
Aside from that glitch, and the chronic lateness that occurs when freight trains in the coalfields flaunt the law and fail to yield to passenger service, it was a great trip. We got into Penn Station (above) in New York City just before 11 PM, and took a taxi to the hotel.
That’s where most of our problems started.
The Worst Hotel On The Planet
Okay, that header might be a little inaccurate. The Element on West 39th street in New York might not be the worst hotel in the world. Hell, it might be the best. It could be the worst. I’ll never really know because The Element Hotel on West 39th Street in Manhattan apparently likes to promise rooms to people, and then when they show up, tell them that they have no vacancies.
We had reservations. We had confirmation emails. We were told that we would have a great room with a fridge and a microwave for four nights. When we got there, we were among over a dozen guests who were told to sit in the lobby while they tried to get us a room somewhere “nearby.” One of the desk staff let it slip that we were only the latest batch of disappointed guests, and that they had been turning away guests who thought they had reservations all day. They blamed it on a computer glitch, but we later learned that it is standard practice at this hotel. Apparently somebody gets a bonus if occupancy stays high, so they overbook to make sure it stays that way.
We made friends with a couple from Australia, who flew halfway-round the world to discover that there was no room at the inn. They had to call back to Quantas, who had arranged their trip, and were having a hard time finding any place to stay. As with the many other dejected guests, we were told that The Element would cover our costs for that night. Later we discovered that they would only cover those costs if we agreed to return to The Element to finish out our stay. When asked if they could assure us that they would have rooms for the remaining three nights, we were told “probably.”
Sitting in the lobby there for more than two hours I began to imagine that The Element was operating on the same management principle as The Cheese Shop in the Monty Python Sketch, and that perhaps the building only contained the lobby and didn’t really have any rooms at all. I mean, how could you overbook a hotel over a dozen times in one night?
A little online research shows that The Element does this almost every night. We should have done that research first, but this trip came together quick and we didn’t dig deep enough. The overnight staff did the best that they could in a horrible situation–I gather they’ve had a lot of practice–but the best they could do was put us in a room at a Fairfield Inn, in Astoria, Queens.
Had we decided to come back to The Element to finish our stay, they would have covered the costs of that room, and the transportation to and from. However, they could not guarantee that, if we returned, that they would actually have a room then. It got to a point where there were so many strings attached, and so much shadiness surrounding the hotel, that we were not comfortable with the idea of staying there at all.
Disgusted, Mel got on her phone and booked us in the Hampton Inn on West 39th street for the three remaining days of our trip. It’s important to note that, with the lower cost of the Hampton, and even adding in the one night at the Fairfield Inn in Astoria, plus over a hundred bucks in cab fare, we still ended up saving money as opposed to if we had stayed at The Element for the four night stay that we had booked—the one that they lied to us about, remember. Not only is The Element a hotel run by people who habitually lie about how many vacancies they have, they are also too damned expensive. I should point out that the Hampton Inn was just up the street, less than half a block from The Element. They didn’t have anything for Wednesday night, but we booked them for the rest of our stay, and made do with what The Element had arranged for that night. We didn’t really have any choice by that time. It was closing in on 2 AM.
So, exhausted after a full-day train ride and more than a couple of hours in the Lobby at THE WORST HOTEL ON THE PLANET, we hopped in a cab and took off for the Fairfield Inn in Astoria, Queens.
Leaving The Worst Hotel On The Planet
Of course, the cab driver got lost on the way there. Not being as dishonest as The Element Hotel on West 39th Street in New York (which nobody in their right mind should ever book for a visit), the driver turned off his meter so the last few miles of him trying to figure out where the hell the hotel was were free.
We found our way to The Fairfield Inn, and were told that they had one room left. We just had to go downstairs and down to the end of the hall.
“Downstairs?”
Yes, our brief stay in Hip, Historic Astoria in Glamorous Queens, New York, was spent underground. Specifically, we were given “The Dank Corner Suite,” right next to the weight room.
Just check out that spectacular view.
To be fair, the Fairfield Inn was nice, clean, and devoid of the bedbugs the size of pugs that we were later told inhabit The Element on West 39th Street. Mel and I both slept the sleep of the dead, aided by the fact that it was after 2:30 AM before we could get settled in and we’d gotten up at 4:30 the previous morning to get ready for the trip. We enjoyed the complimentary breakfast the next morning, and checked out before noon so we could go check into The Hampton Inn on West 39th, which, unlike The Element actually had real rooms, not imaginary ones.
So let the first entry in this diary be a warning for you. If you are visiting New York City, never, under any circumstances, should you even briefly consider staying at The Element on West 39th Street. Talking with other guests at the Fairfield and the Hampton, we learned that The Element has the worst reputation in New York City for overbooking. It’s like they think they’re an airline or something.
We were also told that the staff will use passkeys to enter your room while you’re not there and take a dump on the bed. Now, that may not be reliable information, but if you go to Trip Advisor you can find gory photos of people’s bedbug bites. Okay, I was joking about them taking dumps on the beds. Not about the bedbugs, though. I think we dodged a bullet moving to a better hotel.
Once we got to The Hampton Inn, though, it was all sweetness and light and beauty, and double Hilton Points and while we lost a chunk of time from all the hotel fuss, we managed to have a great trip, which you will read about over the coming days.
Once we checked into a real hotel, we walked a couple of blocks for some New York pizza (seen left) and got ready for an evening of Shakespeare. Since we were so close to The Element, and had to walk by it to get almost anywhere, we had the added enjoyment of flipping them off every chance we got.
In Part Two of the NYC Tour Diary, I’ll tell you about seeing Glenda Jackson as “King Lear.” After that you’ll get the FAO Schwarz photo essay, a review of “All My Sons,” and more. Plus you can probably expect NY-centric Monday Morning Art for the next couple of months.
Last year Danny Boyd’s cult-classic movie, Paradise Park, was adapted into a musical by Danny and Larry Groce, and was presented by Theatre West Virginia. Tuesday on Curtain Call Mel Larch brackets a show about musicals that are based on movies with two songs from the recently-released cast recording (which you can buy HERE). Wednesday afternoon on The AIR, you can tune in as Curtain Call presents “Movies Go To The Musicals” You can listen at the website, or on this embedded radio player…
At 3 PM Mel Larch presents a new hour of great musical theater on Curtain Call. Movies have been used as the inspiration for musicals for decades, and this week Mel brings you examples of some of the best, and takes the occasion to bring you two tracks from the musical adaptation of the West Virginia cult film, Paradise Park.Mel provides background and trivia on each song and brings you a mix of big hits and obscure curiosities.
Check out the playlist:
Curtain Call 062
“Paradise Park” From Theatre WV’s Paradise Park
“Breakfast At Tiffany’s” from Cruel Intentions A 90s Musical
“Liza” From An American In Paris
“Great Big Stuff” from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
“What Do You Know About Love” From Frozen
“Trick Or Treat” from Halloween: The Musical
“The World Will Know” from Newsies
“Dances Turn Into Dreams” from Urban Cowboy: The Musical
“Somebody’s Got Your Back” from Disney’s Aladdin
“I Wanna Be A Producer” From Mel Brooks’ The Producers
“Beauty and the Beast” from Disney’s Beauty and The Beast
“The Teacher’s Argument” from Fame
“Dentist” from Little Shop of Horrors
“Never Ending Love” From Paradise Park
After the new hour of Curtain Call, stick around for two additional episodes from the Curtain Call archives. Curtain Call can be heard Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM and Saturday at 6 PM. An all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight, and an additional marathon can be heard Sunday evenings from 6 PM to midnight..
It’s time for two “mixtape shows Tuesday on The AIR so listeners can enjoy new episodes of Radio Free Charleston and The Swing Shift without having to listen to so much of me talking. All you have to do is tune in at the website, or on this embedded radio player…
RFC hits at 10 AM (with a replay at 10 PM– all times EDT) with a brand-new edition of the show. Now in its thirtieth year, Radio Free Charleston continues to bring you more local music than any other source.
This week RFC digs into the archives for the entire show, opening with a 27-year-old track co-produced by yours truly, and continuing, mixtape-fashion, with music from local legends like Hasil Adkins, Go Van Gogh, The Pistol Whippers, The Carpenter Ants, Punk Jazz and more. You’ll even hear a piece of music composed and performed by your PopCulteer himself.
Check out the playlist here:
RFCv4108
Three Bodies “Gardens of Hope”
600 Lbs of Sin “TJ’s Song”
Andy Park and the Kountry Katz “Attention”
Sahsa Colette and The Magnolias “Sweet”
Go Van Gogh “Planet of Psychotic Women”
John Radcliff “Somethings Got To Give”
Under The Radar “Krakatoa”
The Pistol Whippers “Lucky Boy”
The Carptenter Ants “Blessing”
Saprogen “Jam/Total Damnation”
Punk Jazz “Little Star”
Highway Jones “Shimmer”
Ovada “The Electric God”
Rudy Panucci “Jazz Sketch”
Hasil Adkins “Maybelline”
Psychedelic Shack remains in reruns this week. Tuesday at 2 PM we revisit Nigel Pye’s trippy mixtape that begins with some really trippy music by Roger Glover. Psychedelic Shack can be heard Tuesday’s at 2 PM, with replays Wednesday at 11 AM, Thursday at 5 PM and Saturday at 7 AM and the next Tuesday at 9 AM.
At 3 PM we have a special new, shiny edition of The Swing Shift that presents songs about New York City, in honor of your PopCulteer’s recent trip to The Big Apple. You can read about that trip when I start posting installments of the NYC Tour Diary later today. This mixtape might make a good soundtrack for the posts coming your way this week.
During this week’s show you will hear Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue and more, all singing the praises of the five bouroughs.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 7 AM, Thursday at 7 PM and Saturday at 9 AM, only on The AIR. You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.
Remember, you can tune in to The AIR at all hours of the day and night for a variety and quality of programming that you will not find anywhere else. Check PopCult regularly for details on our new episodes.
This week’s art is the second of two pieces which are exercises in high contrast lighting and negative space. You can see the first piece HERE. This week it’s a single dancer. with her shape suggested by highlights in a dark space. These two pieces were based on photos I found on a long-neglected drive that date back more than ten years, so I don’t remember who the models were. You can’t really see their faces in this minimalist approach, anyway.
As always, click the image to see it bigger.
Meanwhile, Monday on The AIR, 7 AM sees a marathon of Radio Coolsville with DJ Betty Rock. Then at 3 PM you can settle in for eight hours of great New Wave music with Sydney’s Big Electric Cat. At 11 PM you can spend your late night with eight hours of the best Progressive Rock of the last half-century on Prognosis.
You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…
In honor of Cinco de Mayo, and because your PopCulteer is actually on a train heading back from Manhattan and had to crank out a week’s worth of posts ahead of time, today we present Los Lobos, recorded live in concert from 1987 at The Ritz in NYC.
Here is the setlist for this show:
Will The Wolf Survive
We’re Gonna Rock
Come On, Let’s Go
Our Last Night
Walking Song
How Much Can I Do
Anselma
Buzz, Buzz, Buzz
Matter Of Time
Evangeline
I Got Loaded
Let’s Say Goodnight
Corrido #1
Serenata Nortena
Volver, Volver
I Got To Let You Know
My Baby’s Gone
Farmer John
Don’t Worry Baby
We launch our video time machine back to March, 2013, to bring you this epic episode of Radio Free Charleston. Above you see a very special episode of RFC. Our friend, international music superstar, Deni Bonet was in this edition of the show with a really cool music video. We also had a very special semi-animated performance by HARRAH, plus we had the Radio Free Charleston debut of Beggar’s Clan, who have just released a terrific new album that you can find at CD Baby.
We also offered up the return of Murfmeef and some trippy animation.You can read the original production notes HERE.
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