MOVIE: Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic

Title: Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic
Director: Liam Lynch
Starring: Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, etc...
Production Company: Black Gold Films
Year: 2005

Review: I like Sarah Silverman for the same reason most other guys do. She is cute, funny, has a cute squeaky voice like a teenager and a mouth like a sailor who hasn't seen land in over six months docking on a topless beach for porn stars.

Primarily a filmed stand up concert, Jesus is Magic showcases Silverman's self deprecating and socially challenging humor as well as her penchant for song while backed by her band, The Silvermen. Silverman is obviously working the Lenny Bruce angle of comedy here when she freely tosses around racial stereotypes and dimestore realizations about the absurdity of all religions. Though unlike Lenny Bruce's era where offensive language and adult subject matter was frowned upon across the board, dirty language and taboo subjects will make you laugh, but don't seem to have the lasting power they once did. Even when you are immediately offended by one of Silverman's jokes, your first reaction is to laugh while before the next punchline hits, you are simply laughing instead of fuming or thinking the way Bruce's humor caused people to do.

Jesus is magic is framed in absurd skits and musical numbers that take you inside the mind of Silverman's narcissistic showbiz persona, which is purposely made a caricature. Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk makes an appearance as Silverman's bumbling manager in a scene where she is outraged by the water chosen for her dressing room. Though some of the skits elicit a laugh, none of them are as funny as the stage material. At one point, Silverman offers up her most daring joke where she suggests that American Airlines change their slogan to "First to the towers." The great thing about her standup is that nothing is sacred. Blacks, Jews, Chinese, Jesus, Incest, Gays, AIDS. They all are fair game in the twisted mind of Silverman. The bad thing about this is that in our society, nothing really is sacred. The audiences of today are too quick to forgive and (more likely) forget, that social humor has become a tough game. Silverman masters it with her sweet voice and self-loving, innocent persona. Beauty and brains seem to be a good combination for standup comedy.

Even though I enjoy listening to Silverman wax comedic about anal sex and the quandary of Jewish people driving cars manufactured by companies with Nazi ties, I'm not so sure her stand up routine warrants a feature film. This Jesus is Magic clocks in at just a little over an hour, which makes me wonder if the Magic wouldn't have been better as a straight to video release or a HBO special. You will laugh out loud, just don't look at the price on your ticket stub until after you leave the theater.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

OPERA: The Midsummer Marriage

Title: The Midsummer Marriage
Composer: Sir Michael Tippett
Opera Company: Lyric Opera of Chicago
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis

Review: This production was the first opera I have ever attended. Eager and excited to experience one of the few forms of performance art that I have never been introduced to, my attitude aided in staying open-minded for an opera that has received poor reviews since it's debut in 1955. As most neophytes do, I expected a long, indecipherable story told through song in a language I am not familiar with. Instead, The Midsummer Marriage is sung in English, and only approaches artistic lyricism in the Libretto a handful of times. At first, the commonplace language was distracting to what I thought would be as cryptic in text as in content. As the first act unfolded, I learned to listen more to the sung delivery of the words and pay attention to the visual metaphors. Opera strikes me as group soliloquy, where every character announces in song their intentions and feelings for everyone to hear.

The Midsummer Marriage is the story of two lovers who are to be wed on Midsummer Day, a pagan holiday on the summer solstice. Mark, the groom, dreams of the forested clearing where he is to meet his bride, Jenifer, and their friends to celebrate their spiritual union. The entire opera takes place in the dream world, lending itself easily to metaphor and visual playfulness reminiscent, appropriately, of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. As the first act begins, Mark is dressed in all white, symbolizing the purity of the communion which is about to take place. When Jenifer arrives in the clearing, she is dressed for travel, carrying a suitcase. Conflicted, Mark seems unsure of what is happening. Before she can be swayed, Jenifer ascends a ladder to heaven to fully understand her transcendence of the self. Heartbroken and miserable, Mark descends into a nearby cave to assert his masculinity. The words of the forest elders who warn us of the dangers of breaking tradition, echo in the foreground.

We are then introduced to Jenifer's father, King Fisher, who is a prideful man that scorns the young lovers' friends, and attempts to lure them to be his spies with money. He then confronts the elders, trying to make sense of what has happened and gain access to the cave, where he is sure the lovers have gone to fulfill their every carnal desire. King Fisher negotiates with everyone around him through his secretary, Bella, who is carrying on a love affair with Jack, King Fisher's loyal laborer. The lovers return briefly at the end of the first act, only to swap destinations. Jenifer goes into the cave to find her own carnal masculine side and Mark ascends to the heavens where it is assumed he is to discover his more feminine side.

Act Two consists of beautiful dance numbers between the spirits of the forest and animals. Pagan love and consummation rituals are played out with lifelike costumes and skilled, fluid dancers interacting with the tone that the orchestra masterfully sets. Act two is a welcome, action filled respite from the heavy exposition of the first act. The most interesting aspect of the second act is the repeated theme of the female animal as sexual predator chasing the elusive male. Such an interesting theme for a work of art that was written in the 1950's.

Finally, in the third and final act, Mark, Jenifer, King Fisher, Bella and Jack all take the stage together with the cast of lovers' friends to act out a universal scenario of resistance to authority and parentage. With the aid and wrath of an oracle, there is a battle of wits between the forest elders and King Fisher. Fisher's unwavering loathful pride and proprietary attitude toward his daughter only rages and lashes out when the Oracle does not give him the answer he wants. The stage mechanics and design is its most colorful in the third act, and the Lyric Opera's orchestra is ceaseless with their beautiful and cataclysmic music.

Standout performances come from Joseph Kaiser, who plays the role of Mark, with his strong and confident tenor. Bella (Stacey Tappan) almost steals the show with her soprano voice and masterfully acted neuroses, overshadowing the comparably shrill soprano of Jenifer (Janice Watson). Finally, singing with an authoritative bass and acting with a fittingly grating bravado, King Fisher (Peter Rose) is the most interesting actor to watch as well as listen to. The entire cast does a fantastic job of responding to the lead characters' doubts and boasts with alternating clear and distance muffled chorus.

By the end of the production, I was successfully wooed by my first opera experience. The language simple, themes, heavily metaphorical and visual stage magic join together to construct a story so interesting, that even the laughable final scene starring the newly awakened Mark is forgivable, though not humorous.

Unfamiliar with Opera, I went into this experience with mind open and enjoyed what I saw. I don't know if Opera is necessarily my cup of tea, but I am more interested in seeing a traditional production if only to compare. Many of the references in The Midsummer Marriage were lost on me, but I did recognize the character of King Fisher as a reference to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Interestingly enough, I discovered while reading the show program that Eliot was the one who suggested that Tippett write his own Libretto. This explains the common, sometimes awkward, language used throughout the opera as well as the massive conglomeration of psychological, mythological and religious references.

Many regular opera goers don't seem to enjoy The Midsummer Marriage. They seem to be too steeped in tradition, which is humorous when you notice the themes of resistance and progressive attitude in this production. However, if you have never attended the Opera and live in the Chicago area, I recommend you give this one a try. Though maybe not your ideal way to spend an evening in the city, you will be sure to find something interesting and thought provoking (good or bad) in this production.


Rating: 3.75 / 5