Best Seat in the House

Carousel Dinner Theatre, currently showcasing the Elvis Presley musical “All Shook Up,” is going modern in ‘09! Their list of shows for the season includes the “The Full Monty” from May 6 through June 27, “High School Musical” July 1 through Aug. 29,  and “The Producers” Sept. 2 through Oct. 24. All three shows are 10 years old or less, and are known to be big crowd-pleasers. If you can’t wait until then, you can check out “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” in movie theaters. It’s one of the top box office hits of the year, and boasted the biggest opening weekend for a movie musical ever. I’ve never seen any incarnation of HSM, but I’m starting to think that I will really need to…if I’m going to consider myself a true pop culture afficionado!

Balancing those contemporary productions out, the rest of Carousel’s season includes some more traditional — but equally popular — titles: “My Fair Lady” from March 4 to April 25 and “It’s a Wonderful Life” from Nov. 4 to Jan. 2, 2010, as well as “Guys and Dolls” as part of the new Center Stage Series Oct. 26-31.

The season opens Jan. 7 with “Doo Wop: Life Could Be A Dream,” featuring lots of hits from the ‘50s. Also from that era will be “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” April 27 to May 2, also part of the Center Stage Series.

Heath Ledger as The Joker

The biggest — and probably the best — movie of the year so far is The Dark Knight, the action-packed, moody, riveting sequel to the 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins. It’s been awhile since a movie was such a must-see event, and although just about every aspect of the film is terrific, certainly the most memorable part for most audiences is The Joker. 

You notice I don’t say “the performance of actor Heath Ledger as The Joker.” That’s because the character is so spectacularly mesmerizing that it doesn’t feel like a performance at all…you never feel like you’re watching Heath Ledger. You’re watching this maniac called The Joker. It’s one of those performances that makes little kids want to be actors. 

So … here’s the question that’s been asked ever since the film came out: Will Ledger get an Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for the movie? My answer: Surely, he will. The question is more, would he have gotten a nomination had he not tragically died this past January, six months before the film was released and became the biggest box office hit since Titanic. Absolutely, he would have.

But will he win?

Well, rarely has a performance in a fantasy/comic book film ever had this good a shot. My guess is that he will become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch’s memorable turn as news anchor Howard Beale in Network was recognized in 1971.

And he couldn’t deserve it more. Whatever else the performance may be (iconic, scary, skillful), it is first and foremost the absolute definition of what the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award is meant to acknowledge. The Joker affects everything the main character (Batman/Bruce Wayne) does in the film. He doesn’t have as much screen time as you might think he does, but when he’s on screen, you’re completely captivated…and when he’s off screen, you’re on the edge of your seat wondering what this crazy lunatic is going to do next.

If you’re one of the few folks who has not seen the film, check it out.

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