10/29/2003 » Tech

I saw 'Pieces of April' on Monday, indie flick about a Lower East Side punkster making Thanksgiving dinner for family. With Katie Holmes ('Dawson's Creek'), Derek Luke ('Antwone Fisher') and Sean something (Jack from 'Will and Grace'). Small scope, but excellent. I knew the streets well-- Rivington, Union Square. Katie Holmes is seriously cute, but her Valley Girl accent neither goes with the role nor lends her enough heft to play the character. Another casting of beauty over depth.

Saw 'Nine' on Broadway last night, post-Antonio Banderas, bad timing. Serious estrogen, 16 females and one male character. It's a revival; very 'Roman Holiday,' nice set with fountain and translucent panels, some decent but not Andrew Lloyd Webber-haunting music. But like 'Chicago,' completely lacking in new ideas. The plot, an actor with creative block who turns to the story of his wife and his mistress for inspiration for a film, was completely replicated in the book I read later that night, 'Show Business' by Shashi Tharoor. Bereft of novelty. Great singers, but low energy, with a small stage (Eugene O'Neill) the cast didn't really dance, again very much unlike ALW. Eartha Kitt purred well, vamped like a Tina Turner, but John Stamos (from 'Full House') was boyish and lacking in the masculinity required to pull off a Casanova role. There was a delicious beauty queen type, Jacqueline Hendy, with a luminous face and cut abs.