writing | The Sleepless Critic

REVIEW: Available on Amazon Prime Video, Unlikely friendships and big dreams fuel indie dramedy METHOD

Posted on July 30, 2022 by The Sleepless Critic

The pandemic put life on pause for awhile and for some, it has an interesting way of putting life into perspective and mull over what really matters. Perhaps it is to cherish time with family and friends or to realize that the future is now. It might have prompted regrets and an eagerness to fix the future in any way possible.

Rebecca Lachmansingh as Amy Photo by Andrew Quach/Method

College students Lydia and Amy are at a pivotal point in their lives. Both are ambitious with big dreams, but approach their goals in different ways. Amy decides to shake up her world while Lydia pursues her interests with her feet planted firmly on the ground. Their peculiar and abrupt chance meeting and awkward dialogue takes a moment to latch onto as if these two distinct young women speak different languages. Their observances and approaches to life are in such stark contrast, it is a wonder how they get along.

METHOD, an indie dramedy directed and co-written by Darya Amirshahi with Matthew Choi, is available now on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. The film is just under 90 minutes. Click here for more information.

First time director Darya Amirshahi captures the essence of the pandemic with this small cast spending much of their time in solitude and hints at the restlessness of this time. This quiet life has Amy crawling out of her skin while Lydia dares not to dream.

Jacqueline Yushkov as Lydia Photo by Andrew Quach

The title suggests multiple meanings in this film, but what first comes to mind is Amy’s dream to become an actress, a career she pursues impulsively and with some reckless abandon. Serious and steadfast, Jacqueline Yushkov as hardworking Lydia does not seem to indulge in anything other than sensibility and gawks at Lydia’s impulsiveness. Gradually, Lydia tempers Amy’s lofty goals.

Sharon Juhasz amiably depicts Amy’s worried mother and voices her concerns, but Amy is resolute. Rebecca Lachmansingh as controlling and occasionally harsh Amy makes some questionable decisions in the film, but Lachmansingh also brings naïve and idealism that garners some sympathy for her character.

Two unlikely friends discover with a little faith, less reckless abandon, and a few hard lessons, there is hope. The dialogue is farfetched at times and can benefit from having a bit more subtlety, but Yushkov and Lachmansingh work out its believability through their quirky chemistry and gradual understanding of each other.

METHOD, an indie dramedy directed and co-written by Darya Amirshahi with Matthew Choi, is available now on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. Click here for more information

REVIEW: Creativity runs wild in Andrew Garfield’s Oscar-nominated portrayal as Jonathan Larson in Netflix’s ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’

Posted on February 17, 2022 by The Sleepless Critic

Though at times he has traveled under the radar from stage to screen aside from his turn as our friendly neighborhood Spiderman, Andrew Garfield has most deservedly been on the map lately. Though he was sadly overlooked by the Academy as the emotional center of David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin’s 2010 acclaimed drama, The Social Network, Garfield has finally scored an Academy Award-nomination for the musical hit, tick tick…BOOM! available on Netflix. Garfield has a knack for dynamic performances and though everyone is looking at Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Garfield also brought a wealth of humor, quirkiness, and manipulative prowess to his portrayal of TV Evangelist Jim Bakker.

Once an Off-Broadway play, tick, tick…BOOM’s film adaptation is available now on Netflix and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film is currently Oscar-nominated for Best Actor for Andrew Garfield and Best Film Editing and Garfield has a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

As Lin-Manuel Miranda was once a struggling writer himself, it is not surprising he is the director of the Academy Award-nominated musical tick, tick…BOOM!, a fascinating semi-autobiographical story about Jonathan Larson, a struggling writer living in New York City years before he created his hit rock musical, RENT. A writer writes about what one knows and so much of this story offers glimpses into Larson’s inspiration for that wildly-successful musical.

However, this is about the struggle and this musical film is brimming with it. The painstaking work of creativity and all that could go wrong illuminates tick, tick…BOOM! as Larson struggles to keep it all together to achieve what at times seems impossible, especially in New York City. tick, tick…BOOM! is not only about Jonathan Larson’s frantic life, but it is also an ode to the writer and the struggle to live that extraordinarily competitive dream while just skirting out and skimming by trying to get a chance.

At its center is narrator and lead Andrew Garfield who brings a driving intensity and delivers an electrifying performance as the frenetic Larson on the eve of Larson’s 30^th birthday. The unconventional, deeply creative, and quick-thinking Larson divides his time between writing and working at the Moondance Diner. Look for Lin-Manuel Miranda as a short order cook. However, music and writing naturally pours out of Larson’s soul and he is often consumed by it at the expense of everything else. For forward-thinking Larson, turning 30 is a looming chasm that soaks up every ounce of his time until that odious deadline as he demonstrates in the catchy and memorable number, 30/90. Thirty is not old, but maybe Larson always felt like he was running out of time.

The musical features a dynamic, infectious, and multi-dimensional soundtrack about living in your 20s in New York City and how life changes. RENT’s influence is unmistakably evident in the lighthearted and humorous numbers, Boho Days and No More. It is also easy to recognize the roots that will develop Larson’s future work. Inside the Moondance Diner, Sunday features beautiful harmonies that include some of Broadway’s biggest stars. Therapy is a fantastic and humorous number about the miscommunication of love. The rap-infused Play Game depicts the struggle between living out the uncertainty of your dream or entering the corporate world which is a prevalent theme throughout the film.

tick, tick BOOM! explores the little victories, the bigger victories, and the gut-wrenching defeats in Larson’s personal and professional world. However, what is genuinely important becomes painfully clear and what truly inspires his work changes as the film progresses.

tick, tick BOOM! is currently streaming on Netflix. Click here for more information on RENT’s 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour.

REVIEW: Lyric Stage Company’s ‘The Last Five Years’ a shrewd and beguiling look at love

Posted on December 2, 2021 by The Sleepless Critic

Start from the beginning. No, start from the end.

Not certain which way is best to tell a love story, but Jason Robert Brown certainly makes a powerful argument by the innovative way this story is told as Lyric Stage Company ’s musical The Last Five Years continues through December 12 at the Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The show is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Directed intuitively by Leigh Barrett with eloquent musical direction by Dan Rodriguez, The Last Five Years describes an ardent romance between a promising writer and an up and coming actress. It’s blissful love at first sight when suddenly, life goes into overdrive.

Jared Troilo as Jamie and Kira Troilo as Cathy Photo by Mark S Howard/Lyric Stage Company

Having seen the 2014 film adaptation of the same name starring Broadway dynamos Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick, I had high hopes for this production and like Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, fell for both immediately. The Last Five Years is a compelling, poignant and multi-dimensional journey of love’s elation, humor, compromise, and struggle as life veers into unexpected directions. The Last Five Years doesn’t hold back in revealing the complex nature of this blossoming relationship, showing its vibrancy and its cracks in equal measure. How do two people stay afloat when life is throwing so many things at them in completely different ways?

Led by Dan Rodriguez on piano, Gregory Holt on Bass, Emily Dahl-Irons on Violin, Tom Young on Guitar, and Kevin Crudder and Javier Caballero on Violoncellos Photo by Mark S Howard/Lyric Stage Company

Intimately performed in theatre-in-the-round with a seamless six piece band, the beauty in Lyric Stage Company’s The Last Five Years is not only in its wonderful lead casting with married couple Jared Troilo as Jamie and Kira Troilo as Cathy, but in its unique depiction of time and place through a cosmic and multi-functional rotating stage and the engaging way it consistently involves the audience.

Jamie and Cathy are earnest and likable and their faults are seen and met with sympathy, heartache, and a degree of discernment when they don’t perceive their own shortcomings. It’s an intriguing and thought-provoking piece as it explores a kaleidoscope of emotions with intensity and realism and perhaps recognizing yourself in their shoes for a moment or two.

Jared Troilo as Jamie Photo by Mark S Howard/Lyric Stage Company

Having witnessed amazing Jeremy Jordan as Jamie in the film adaptation, Jared had a lot to live up to, but he captures the essence of Jamie’s endless humor, charm, and determination while adding his own contagious enthusiasm and captivating vocals. He is a gleeful and conspiring storyteller for The Schmuel Song and displays ego and earnest sincerity in If I Didn’t Believe in You. Kira’s soaring vocals depict Cathy’s fragility, sheer determination, and playful optimism in I Can Do Better Than That. Another highlight involves Kira reflecting on A Summer in Ohio, portraying Cathy’s dry sense of humor and insecurity. However, she is the most enchanting in Goodbye until Tomorrow.

Kira Troilo as Cathy Photo by Mark S Howard/Lyric Stage Company

Jenna McFarland-Lord’s enthralling set design and Karen Perlow’s mood-induced lighting reflects two sides of love through its multi-color backdrops such as violet, teal, and purple as well as floating gold rings that shine alone and in pairs.

Jason Robert Brown’s music ebbs and flows much like love from bright to poignant, confident to humbling, and from rueful to triumphant. No matter how love changes, it is always a memorable journey.

Lyric Stage Company presents Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years through December 12 at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, Massachusetts. Click here more information and tickets.