“FOR GREATER GLORY”

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 7:00PM in Boston. (Theater will be named on your ticket.)

The film is rated “R”  

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Cast:

Andy Garcia (“General Enrique Gorostieta”), Eva Longoria (“Tulita Gorostieta”), Peter O’Toole (“Father Christopher”), Oscar Isaac (“Victoriano ‘El Catorce’ Ramirez”). Santiago Cabrera (“Father Vega”), Catalina Sandino Morena (“Adriana”), Bruce Greenwood (“Ambassador Dwight Morrow”), Ruben Blades (“President Plutarco Elias Calles”), Nestor Carbonell (“Mayor Picazo”), Mauricio Kuri (“Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio”), Adrian Alonso (“Lalo”), Eduardo Verastegui (“Anacleto Gonzalez Flores”)

Synopsis:

What price would you pay for freedom? In the exhilarating action epic FOR GREATER GLORY, an impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film’s adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War — the daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century North America.

Tickets are FREE but expected to go quickly. You must have a ticket to attend this screening but a ticket does not guarantee seating–seating is first come, first served — GET THERE EARLY!

MOVIE SCREENING DETAILS

****************************************

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 7:00 PM

BOSTON, MA

RSVP CODE: JOYCEME8Z

TO DOWNLOAD A SCREENING PASS:

1) Go to www.gofobo.com/RSVP

2) Enter RSVP Code: JOYCEME8Z

3) Print pass and attend screening.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND’S
‘WRECKING BALL’ WORLD TOUR CONTINUES
IN US AND CANADA

TOUR TO HIT BOSTON’S HISTORIC FENWAY PARK
ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 14

TICKETS WILL GO ON SALE SATURDAY, MAY 19 AT 10:00 AM

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band made history on September 6, 2003 when they headlined the first ever rock concert at Boston’s Fenway Park.  Today, Springsteen and his band are excited to announce that they will celebrate Fenway Park’s 100th Anniversary by bringing the 2012 ‘Wrecking Ball’ World Tour to the legendary ballpark on August 14, pending city approval.

Tickets will be available at LiveNation.com, Etix.com, the Orpheum Theatre Box Office or by calling 800-514-3849.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band just finished the first U.S. leg of the tour barnstorming across the country and earning accolades for their stellar performances.  Rolling Stone called the show “epic,” the New York Times said “explosive” and the Boston Globe wrote of the concert’s “energy that bordered on superhuman.”  The ‘Wrecking Ball’ World Tour heads to Europe between May 13 and July 31 before the new dates begin.

Tour Dates:
August 14 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park (on sale Saturday, May 19 at 10:00 am, http://www.etix.com)
August 18 – Foxboro, MA – Gillette Stadium
August 24 – Toronto, ON , Canada– Rogers Centre
August 26 – Moncton, NB, Canada – Magnetic Hill
August 29 – Vernon, NY – Vernon Downs Raceway
September 2 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
September 3 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
September 7 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
September 8 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
September 14 – Washington, DC – Nationals Park
September 19 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
September 21 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
September 22 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium

Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball (Columbia) was released in March and debuted at #1 in the U.S. and 15 other countries.

“CHERNOBYL DIARIES”

Thursday May 24, 2012 at 8:00PM in Boston. (Theater will be named on your ticket.)

Running Time:  86 minutes

The film is rated “R” for “violence, some bloody images, and language.”  

Synopsis:

“Chernobyl Diaries” is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences with his groundbreaking thriller, “Paranormal Activity.”  The film follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an “extreme tour” guide.  Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago.  After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone.

Tickets are FREE but expected to go quickly. You must have a ticket to attend this screening but a ticket does not guarantee seating–seating is first come, first served — GET THERE EARLY!

MOVIE SCREENING DETAILS

****************************************

THURSDAY MAY 24, 2012 8:00 PM

BOSTON, MA

TO DOWNLOAD A SCREENING PASS

1) Go to  http://www.gofobo.com/rsvp/promotion/6285d39e48b751573d0312e9d83d9ffc

2) Print pass and attend screening.

“MEN IN BLACK 3” (3D)

Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 7:00PM in Boston. (Theater will be named on your ticket.)

The film is rated “PG-13”  

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Cast: 

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emma Thompson                       

Synopsis:

In Men in Black™ 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

Tickets are FREE but expected to go quickly. You must have a ticket to attend this screening but a ticket does not guarantee seating–seating is first come, first served — GET THERE EARLY!

MOVIE SCREENING DETAILS

****************************************

THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 7:00 PM

BOSTON, MA

RSVP CODE: JOYCEYG3G

TO DOWNLOAD A SCREENING PASS:

1) Go to  http://www.gofobo.com/rsvp

2) Enter RSVP Code: JOYCEYG3G

3) Print pass and attend screening.

THE FIRST 25 PEOPLE TO RESPOND (via “Contact Joyce” on home page) WITH THEIR FULL NAMES WILL BE NOTIFIED OF A PASS FOR TWO!

Tuesday, May 15 at 7:00 PM at a Boston Theater. (Theater will be named when notified.)

“BATTLESHIP”

Running Time: 131 Minutes


Opening Date: May 18, 2012

Rated: “PG-13” 

Synopsis: 

In Summer 2012, the battle for Earth begins at sea.

Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) directs and produces Battleship, an epic-scale action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.

Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lieutenant Alex Hopper, a naval weapons officer assigned to USS John Paul Jones; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of USS Sampson; global music superstar Rihanna, making her motion-picture debut as Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, Hopper’s fiancée and a physical therapist specializing in the rehabilitation of military combat veterans; Tadanobu Asano, as Captain Yugi Nagata, Commanding Officer of the Japanese destroyer Myoko and Hopper’s archrival; and Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane, Commander of the Pacific Fleet.

Supporting the cast are Hamish Linklater as Cal Zapata, a scientist who mans the international satellite station in Hawaii that searches the skies for signs of life; Jesse Plemons as Jimmy “Ordy” Ord, a boatswain aboard USS John Paul Jones; New Zealander John Tui as the ship’s engine room expert, Chief Petty Officer Walter “The Beast” Lynch; and, in his professional acting debut, U.S. Army Colonel Gregory D. Gadson, a battalion leader who lost both legs in Iraq in 2007.  Gadson plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales, an Army combat veteran and double amputee who begins his recovery just as the alien attack begins.

Inspired by Hasbro’s classic naval-combat game, Battleship is produced by Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir of Hasbro (the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises), Scott Stuber (Safe House, Couples Retreat), Film 44’s Sarah Aubrey (The Kingdom), along with Duncan Henderson (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Perfect Storm).  The action-adventure is written by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber (Red).

Tickets are FREE but expected to go quickly. You must have a ticket to attend this screening but a ticket does not guarantee seating–seating is first come, first served — GET THERE EARLY!

I have never laughed so long and so hard in my life. I may never need abdominal exercises again: I just saw the most obscenely funny show in town– MARY POPPERS now playing at MACHINE– otherwise known as The Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts. It’s the latest Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans extravaganza, a raucous, raunchy, madly funny take on everybody’s favorite flying nanny, but it’s really a trip through writer/performer/parodic genius Ryan Landry’s endlessly inventive, dazzlingly demented brain.

From the first glimpse up Ms. Poppers’ hoop skirt during an insanely staged entrance from on high, we know we’re in the land of Landry and anything goes. THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR CHILDREN, no matter how much they may need a nanny.  But what seriously damaged adult doesn’t need the brilliantly funny Olive Another as the primly improper Ms. Poppers, whose way with her wayward wards involves opening a crystal meth lab in the nursery?!

From there, it’s a mere trip wire away from explosive tap dance routines, Busby Berkeley-esque production numbers, flying puppets, and a ribald roundelay of references from Darth Vader to Maya Angelou. The choreography crackles (YAY Johnnie Pirroni)–pushing the pace to a breathless, tightly directed two hours. Things calm down briefly– only to make way for one of the ten funniest moments I’ve ever seen on a stage in Boston; I will just say that you may think twice before deciding to feed the birds.

The cast delivers some of the best comic and musical performances ever in a Gold Dust Orphans production. Olive Another as Mary Poppers manages to be both wildly over the top, and perfectly persnickety right down to the bottom of her bumbershoot. It’s clear Billy Hough as the very bawdy “Burt,” with a wicked gleam in his eye, can more than sweep your chimney.  The silver-voiced Grace Carney and Liza Lott shine as the naughty Banks children, while the ever delightful Penny Champayne kills as their haughty mother. Ryan is for once, almost staid in a pair of pants, playing straight man to his own pooch the adorable Rhoda; part Pomeranian, part Jack Russell, part Jack Benny– Rhoda, in a riotous cameo, steals the show with her doggie deadpan.

MARY POPPERS is Super Fabo Dragalicious Sexy and Precocious!

SEE IT through May 20 at MACHINE:  1254 Boylston Street, Boston.

YOU MUST SEE The Tony Award-winning Broadway show FELA now playing at Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theatre!! It’s a spectacularly inspiring hybrid: theater, music, dance, biography, history lesson, political rally, religious experience, and the first theatrical production I’ve REALLY wanted to write about in awhile. Directed and choregraphed by the great Bill T. Jones, FELA is the “story about how things are” as told by the late Nigerian musician and revolutionary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. His weapon of choice? A musical arsenal of African beats, funk, jazz, layered with simple but potent lyrics; Fela’s “hit” songs literally strike out at colonial imperialists and corrupt dictators in his native land.

Fela is played by the electric Sahr Ngaujah as a charismatic firebrand. We find ourselves in his private club in the late ’70′s called The Shrine– and Fela is the high priest. He breaks it down for us, beat by beat: drums, Latin and African rhythms, built on big band horns, and Fela himself on sax.  The stage is possessed by a red hot band, a phalanx of pelvically propelled dancers, a blistering tapper, and choreography that whips them all- and us- into a frenzy.

Video screens capture historical images of oppression, torture, starvation, chaos, as Fela roots us in the here and now recounting his courageous story of “sorrow, tears and blood.” Sometimes he picks up a spliff the size of a small submarine and smokes center stage; sometimes he commands us to rise up and dance, sing and shout. (I felt especially Caucasian at this part of the evening.) Fela disarms us with his sexiness and humor as he begins to tell the tale of the fair-skinned, tea-drinking  colonial guests who first move into his country; then “things start to go missing–ashtrays… petroleum…people.” These “guests” leave behind only “gonorrhea and Jesus.”

We are compelled as much by the tale as the tellers: this cast is sublime. Fela’s martyred mother and feminist leader is played by Melanie Marshall who sings an ecstatic aria of resilience and transformation called “Rain”; hers is a soulful, soaring, earthy, top to bottom ridiculously gorgeous voice. Paulette Ivory is stunning as Sandra a provocative young African-American rebel, who challenges Fela and blesses us with a voice of remarkable range, heart, and authority. The entire cast moves like one organism, powered by extraordinary energy, exuberance, and commitment. Fela is one of the most exhilarating and enlightening evenings I’ve ever spent in a theater.

DO NOT MISS “FELA” at the Cutler Majestic through May 6!! For tickets: 617-824-8000 or www.artsemerson.org.

WIN the ultimate HUMAN NATURE prize package!  The Motown inspired group will be live in concert on May 4th at The Orpheum Theatre in Boston.  Enter for your chance to win two tickets to the show, as well as sound check access before the show and the chance to meet the cast of HUMAN NATURE!

THE FIRST 2 PEOPLE TO RESPOND (via “Contact Joyce” on home page) WITH THEIR FULL NAMES WILL BE NOTIFIED.  No purchase necessary.  One entry / email address per person.  I will notify winners via email and you will pick up your tickets at will call.   You must present a valid picture ID at the time of ticket retrieval.   

Waiting for Chemo? Check out the Andy Warhol and over 500 pieces of art on the walls of Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute! I had my own chemotherapy at the Dana over 20 years ago. Not only have the therapies greatly improved over all that time, saving more lives than ever before–but so has the decor!  World class art now adorns the corridors– complete with an audio tour. It’s a revolutionary project that’s a win win for everyone involved– patients and their families, hospital caregivers, and the artists who are reaching an even greater audience, those for whom art may hold the key to life.

THE FIRST 25 PEOPLE TO RESPOND (via “Contact Joyce” on home page) WITH THEIR FULL NAMES WILL BE NOTIFIED OF A PASS FOR TWO!

Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 PM at a Boston Theater. (Theater will be named when notified.)

“THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT”

Running Time: 123 Minutes

Opening Date: April 27, 2012

Rated “R”

Synopsis: 

The director and writer/star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall reteam for the irreverent comedy The Five-Year Engagement. Beginning where most romantic comedies end, the new film from director Nicholas Stoller, producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Rodney Rothman (Get Him to the Greek) looks at what happens when an engaged couple, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, keeps getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle. The film was written by Segel and Stoller.

Tickets are FREE but expected to go quickly. You must have a ticket to attend this screening but a ticket does not guarantee seating–seating is first come, first served — GET THERE EARLY!