This year marks the centennial of playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005). He, like his main characters in "The Price," Victor and Walter Franz, was born into an affluent Manhattan family. Circumstances changed for Miller and his fictional brothers when the stock market crashed in 1929. The effects of the Great Depression influenced Miller's life and were a major influence on his greatest works as well.
This year marks the centennial of playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005). He, like his main characters in "The Price," Victor and Walter Franz, was born into an affluent Manhattan family. Circumstances changed for Miller and his fictional brothers when the stock market crashed in 1929. The effects of the Great Depression influenced Miller's life and were a major influence on his greatest works as well.
To honor Miller, one of America's most acclaimed playwrights, the Center Theatre Group is presenting "The Price," written twenty years after his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Death of a Salesman" which premiered in 1949. The story takes place in New York in the mid 1960's. Victor Franz (Sam Robards) is awaiting the arrival of Gregory Solomon, an elderly appraiser, who will make an offer for the furniture and possessions of Victor's late father. The estate has been locked away in storage, but now everything must be sold before the old building that has housed them for 16 years is demolished.
Time is running out and Victor, a N.Y. policeman, still hasn't heard from his estranged brother, Walter (John Bedford Lloyd), a successful doctor. He has called Walter's medical office several times, but was never able to speak with him, so now Victor must handle the sale of long stored items on his own.
The first to arrive on the scene is Gregory Solomon (Alan Mandell), who like the actor, is 89 and still working. He's a spry old guy who makes an offer on everything, noting that the family may keep any personal items they wish to save, but the beautiful harp must be included in the sale price.
Next to show up is Esther (Kate Burton), Victor's wife who has come to be sure that her husband gets a decent price for the estate. As the play progresses and Walter finally shows up, we learn about the family secrets that caused the rift between the two brothers who, in childhood, had been close.
The Center Theatre Group chose "The Price" to honor Miller's memory since this play, like "Death of a Salesman," is able to "showcase Miller's uncanny ability to expose our deepest regrets and insecurities… reminding us that our lives don't always meet the standards of our dreams, but our choices, not our aspirations, determine our fates."
"The Price," directed by Garry Hynes, builds slowly, allowing everyone's pain and regrets to be revealed gradually before the long held resentments resurface. The title, "The Price," refers not only to the amount of money the family will make on the sale of the furniture, but more importantly the to the terrible price each of them has paid by not facing their personal demons long ago.
The set, neatly stacked from floor to ceiling with all types of furniture and personal items from the period, was designed by Matt Saunders.
"The Price," at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles at the Music Center, runs through March 22. For tickets and information visit CenterTheatreGroup.org or call 213-628-2772.
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"The Hunger Games" franchise is a box office force to be reckoned with. To date the global box office returns for the films in the series are over $2.2 billion. And now "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I" is available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand (as of March 6). To date, "MockingJay Part I" has already passed the $333 million mark at the box office in North America, making it the highest-grossing domestic release of 2014.
Based on the best-selling third novel by Suzanne Collins,"Mocking Jay" stars Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Julianne Moore, with Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland who reprise their original roles from "The Hunger Games" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."
In this latest installment we discover that the rebellion is growing and Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived and is recovering from the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell. Separated from some of her closest allies and fearing for their safety in the Capitol, Katniss finally agrees to be the Mockingjay, the symbolic leader of the rebellion.
Uncertain about whom she can trust she sets out to help District 13 rise from the shadows, all the while knowing that President Snow has focused his hatred into a personal vendetta against her and her loved ones.
The Blu-ray Combo Pack has many special features, including an 8-part feature-length documentary on the "Making of Mockingjay Part I." There is also a tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman, deleted scenes, a sneak peek for "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" and more. Price: $39.99 for Blu-ray/$29.95 DVD. Lionsgate, rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material.
