Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 11, 2015

Mountain Views News Saturday July 4, 2015 
B2 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Mountain Views News Saturday July 4, 2015 
B2 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 
SEAN’S SHAMELESS 
REVIEWS: 


By Sean Kayden 

WHICH SHOWS TO 
WATCH THIS SUMMER 


Last week, I delved into why you should be 
watching True Detective season two. It’s dark,
gritty, well-acted and just plain good. This week,
I want to share my thoughts on some new originalprograms that have recently started up and areturning favorite that premiered this week. I willbe taking a look into HBO’s new comedy seriesBallers, USA networks brooding hacker drama,
Mr. Robot, and the arrival of the best show on 
television that no one knows about, season three 
of Rectify from the Sundance Channel.

HBO’s Ballers comes to us from the producersof Entourage, which returned this year on thebig screen to poor reception. Ballers is a sportsdramedy that explores the lives and families offormer and current football players, includingretired football star Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne”The Rock” Johnson), who is struggling to adjust tolife as a financial advisor. The series also stars John 
David Washington, Rob Corddry, Omar BensonMiller and Troy Garity. It’s a moderately light andentertaining addition to the HBO lineup. Whilethe show won’t be picking up any awards, DwayneJohnson is simply enjoyable to watch on the smallscreen. Known for his action roles in films, it’s 
terrific to see him do a little more acting with anideal balance of comedy and drama. Overall, ifyou were a fan of Entourage and are into football,
this show will do the trick. It’s not Shakespearehere people, but if you’re considering somethinglight to watch on a Sunday night, Ballers will mostcertainly fit the bill.

Many critics are hailing USA network’s Mr.
Robot as the best summer show. After two 
episodes, I may not consider it the best, but adamn good one. Created by Sam Esmail, Mr.
Robot follows a mysterious anarchist who recruitsa young computer programmer who suffers fromsocial anxiety disorder and forms connectionsthrough hacking them. Wide-eyed actor RamiMalek is convincing in the lead role as a young 

man who loathes today’s society and for goodargument to boot. Christian Slater pops up as thetitular character, but Malek is the main attraction 
here. The series pilot was a special one and Iunderstand why it had so much buzz surroundingit. Obviously, it’s a darker show than Ballers, butit’s worth seeking out since it’s so relevant totoday’s culture. As far as summer shows usuallygo, this one may have the potential to stack upwith the best of the year if it can continue to evolveand refrain from being a retread every episode asit airs each subsequent week. Presently, with itspolitical and cultural views as for something tocontemplate about, I say pull the trigger on Mr.
Robot. In the end, it may get you thinking which isa rare thing for summer shows these days.

After spending nineteen years on Death Rowfor the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend,
Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is going home. Hisconviction has been relinquished due to new DNAevidence, propelling him back into a world he nolonger knows. Having spent his adult life waitingto be executed, Daniel must now learn how to live 
again. But, his return into the outside world maybe as merciless as prison. He is disturbed by thepast, dogged by the present, and unclear of hisfuture. Rectify is absolutely magnificent. I amat a loss for words when I speak about the sheerbeauty of this one of a kind series. With incrediblestorytelling that I’d considered chill worthy tospectacular acting across the board (especiallylead actor Aden Young, who deserves an Emmy),
Rectify is the best drama on television handsdown. Season three started up this week (beforethis article was published) and I have high hopes itwill be the finest season yet. Unfortunately, like thefirst season, it will only consist of six episodes. Allthis means is that each episode will be extremelypivotal, no filler episodes here. Check out the firsttwo seasons on Netflix, I guarantee you will behooked after just one episode. 

On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse 
COMING HOME TO THE 
PLAYHOUSE 

By Artistic Director, Christian 
Lebano

 I’m just back from a vacation in 

Ashland, Oregon visiting friends 

and seeing shows at the Oregon 

Shakespeare Festival (OSF). I had 

the good fortune to work there in the 

1990’s and I still have many friends 

in the company. OSF is the largest 

theater in America. This season it 

is producing 11 plays in repertory 

and its company numbers over 500 

people – all paid! I saw three shows 

there, with a really fun production 

of the musical Guys and Dolls being 

my favorite (it will tour to the Wallis 

in the Fall so you will have a chance 

to see it.) My best friend is the head 

of their costume shop and she gave 

me a tour of the new production 

building – 78,000 sq. ft. of shops and 

storage. It truly is state of the art – 

they even have a 3D printer. It was 

impressive, to put it mildly – and 

jealousy-inducing!

 As I attended shows and, especially, 

as I toured the facilities, I couldn’t 

help but think about what SMP 

could accomplish with even the 

smallest amount of their resources. 

I fantasized about being able to 

produce theater and not have to go 

begging for props and furniture, to 

not have to cajole artists and artisans 

to work for less than they should be 

paid, to have access to the kind of 

production support that could make 

happen whatever we dreamed of in a 

show. Just once, I would love the chance to realize 

a show exactly as I imagine it in my head. 

Artistic leader of SMP, I am so proud of what we 

are accomplishing on our limited budgets and 

with our limited staff – we have been attracting 

remarkable talent to work with us, both on and 

off the stage. I made a promise to the Board and 

to you, our loyal patrons, that the shows at SMP 

would be as wonderfully realized as possible and 

I think our past season was a good example of 

how we are doing.

 We are about to launch our second season 

under my artistic leadership – I certainly have 

learned much this past year (I’ve made my share 

of mistakes, too – but never the same one twice, 

thankfully!) I still have much to learn, but I’m so 

excited to be a part of the growth of SMP. And 

I’ve heard from many of you that you like what 

you are seeing. We are very close to being able 

to announce the second half of our season. It is a 

As the 
tricky thing putting a season together – balancing 
the offerings against our resources and the 
availability of the shows (we were turned down 
again this year for a comedy that I would love to 
stage – I’ll try again for next year.)
The adage says “there is no place like home” 
and though I’ve been to the largest theater in 
America, I’m happy to be working for you at SMP. 
As one of our slogans says: “Come Home to the 
Playhouse”. I’m glad to be home – and I hope 
you’ll find your way “home” as well. 
. . .

 As you can see from the picture Always…
Patsy Cline is going to be fantastic. Tickets are 
selling well for this one already – don’t miss 
out, buy yours now! The show opens July 31. 
Remember we give 20% discounts for groups of 
10 or more who purchase their tickets ahead of 
their attendance date. Please call Mary Baville at 

626.355.4318 to arrange your purchase. 


Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown 

SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE BY 


wonderfully atmospheric and a cozySUSAN MEISSNER 

read. In this book Sergeant HamishThe author of A Fall of Marigolds

Macbeth is alarmed to receive a reportjourneys from the present day to World

from a woman in the small village ofWar II England, as two sisters are

Cronish in the Scottish Highlands.
separated by the chaos of wartime ...She

She has been brutally attacked andstood at a crossroads, half-aware that 

the criminal is on the loose. But uponher choice would send her down a path

further investigation, Hamish discoversfrom which there could be no turning

that she was lying about the crime. Soback. But instead of two choices, she saw 

when the same woman calls him back 
only one—because it was all she really

about an intruder, he simply marvels atwanted to see… Current day, Oxford, 

her compulsion to lie. This time, though,
England. Young American scholar 

she is telling the truth. Her body is foundKendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her

in her home and Hamish must sort 
vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel

through all of her lies to solve the crime. 
McFarland just when the elderly womanis ready to give up secrets about the war

BLIND DESCENT: THE QUEST TO 
that she has kept for decades...beginning

DISCOVER THE DEEPEST CAVE 
with who she really is. What Kendra

ON EARTH BY JAMES M. TABOR 
receives from Isabel is both a gift and a

In 2004, two great scientist-explorersburden--one that will test her convictions 

attempted to find the bottom of theand her heart.1940s, England. As Hitler 

world. American Bill Stone took 
wages an unprecedented war against

on the vast, deadly Cheve Cave in 
London’s civilian population, hundreds

southern Mexico. Ukrainian Alexander 
of thousands of children are evacuated to 

Klimchouk targeted Krubera, a freezingfoster homes in the rural countryside. But

nightmare of a supercave in the war-
even as fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree

torn former Soviet republic of Georgia.
and her much younger sister Julia find

Both men spent months almost tworefuge in a charming Cotswold cottage,

vertical miles deep, contending withEmmy’s burning ambition to return to

thousand-foot drops, raging whitewaterthe city and apprentice with a fashion

rivers, monstrous waterfalls, mile-longdesigner pits her against Julia’s profound

belly crawls, and the psychologicalneed for her sister’s presence. Acting at

horrors produced by weeks in absolutecross purposes just as the Luftwaffe rains

darkness, beyond all hope of rescue.
down its terrible destruction, the sisters 

Based on his unprecedented access toare cruelly separated, and their lives are transformed… logs and journals as well as hours of personal interviews,

James Tabor has crafted a thrilling exploration of man’sDEATH OF A LIAR (HAMISH MACBETH timeless urge to discover—and of two extraordinaryMYSTERIES # 31) BY M. C. BEATONmen whose pursuit of greatness led them to the heightsHamish Macbeth is a policeman in the small Scottishof triumph and the depths of tragedy. Blind Descenttown of Lochdubh, who occasionally bends the rulesis an unforgettable addition to the classic literature ofwhen it suits him or when it can help some of histrue-life adventure, and a testament to human survival 
fellow eccentric townsfolk.All 31 books in the series are and endurance. 

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