A Romantic Comedy that Goes Around the Globe

A romance that whirls halfway around the world, “Roundelay: A Comedy” skips back and forth from America to India, Kenya and the Caribbean as its multicultural characters either pursue love or run away from it. The Passage Theater Company’s production of R. N. Sandberg’s new play at the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton offers a pleasant, if somewhat hectic, sojourn with 10 individuals of varying ethnicities who all yearn for love.

The most adventurous is Tony, a young American of European descent, who recklessly flies off to India to rendezvous with the lovely Priya, whom he knows only hazily from their passionate online connection. Strangely oblivious to Tony’s pending visit, Priya contends with an unwanted marriage proposal from Gupta, a nice if stodgy doctor, and impulsively decides to take a trip to a seaside resort in Kenya. 

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Romantic Comedies that are Considered Classic

                   

The romantic comedy, or “rom-com”, has become a staple genre in which Hollywood can perpetuate upon couples, yearning for a breezy date. But, there is an inherent problem with the modern day romantic comedy. From the start, the film is not the question of whether or not the two gorgeous looking stars will get together, but how they will get together. The formula inevitably brings forth the structure of the two stars either meeting in a cute way or in a precarious situation. Then the relationship goes through its ups and downs as the leading lady will probably fall down in a “hilarious”, slapsticky way, while the guy probably takes off his shirt.

Then again, this was exactly the structure that some of the best romantic comedies of all time, from “The Apartment” to “Bringing Up Baby”, have followed. The question then becomes, why modern day “rom-coms” feel so contrived nowadays. It could simply be because the screenwriters of those movies try to appeal to the common denominator. These films, like fairy tales, are an escape from everyday life in which it is easy to meet the perfect man or woman at the top of the Empire State Building.

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For more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg Do?

 

 

The Latest Expansion on Hollywood's Romantic Comedy

   

Hugh Grant's latest venture into the romantic comedy genre already has a pretty impressive bunch of actors lined up, with Marisa Tomei, Allison Janney and Bella Heathcote already set to star, but now the project has landed two more great names to the cast.

J.K. Simmons and Chris Elliott, according to The Hollywood Reporter, have both signed on for roles in the Marc Lawrence-written and directed untitled film, which is currently aiming to start production in April. The trade notes that the film begins back in 1998 and centers on a character named Ray Michaels (Grant), a Hollywood screenwriter at the top of his game having just won an Academy Award. Unfortuantely, 15 years later he's left flat broke, divorced and without any ideas for new scripts. In order to just keep himself afloat he signs up to teach a screenwriting class at a small East Coast college, and winds up falling in love with one of his older students (Tomei) - a single mom who has gone back to school.  

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Increasing Romantic Comedy Films for Men

                      

Cinema has seen some interesting thematic changes over the past decade. The rise of 3D is one; the dominance of dark, brooding heroes in morally complex tales another. For a third, you could probably argue for the endless stream of sequels, prequels and spinoffs that dominate the multiplexes. But today, I’d like to talk about a more subtle development, and one that you might not have noticed. Today, I’d like to talk about the new recent direction of romanctic films, and about the Rise of the ManCom (and no, that’s not the title of the next Transformers movie).

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for a love story. Not any love story, mind – I’d much rather drink vomit from my shoes than watch The Notebook, or be kicked in the balls repeatedly over watching anything starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Romantic cinema needs to be more than emotional manipulation, or heartless, soulless stereotyping. It needs to tap into something more.

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For more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg Do?

'Different Animals' Shows Unique Romantic Dynamic

Tickets are now on sale for Upright Citizens Brigade alum Abby Rosebrock’s debut off-Broadway comedy Different Animals. The show opens on April 20 at the Cherry Lane Theater.

Playwright Rosebrock also stars alongside rising comics Cesa Pledger, Dirk Keysser, Brady Kirchberg, Maria Panoski and Sienna Sternick. The show will be directed by Bruce Ornstein.

Different Animals revolves around Jessica Tarver (Pledger), a rom-com devotee who finds herself with a failed business venture, disappointing marriage and adulterous Olive Garden tryst in a small South Carolina town. Also along for the ride are her husband Leo (Keysser), his unstable bisexual companion Molly (Rosebrock) and Jessica’s liberal activist Lutheran pastor friend William (Kirchberg).

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For more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg Do?
 

'For Love' Breeds a Dark, Blue Romantic Comedy

After recent excursions into Americana with the radio play of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” rural nostalgia with “Donnybrook!” and 20th-century institutional repression with “Airswimming,” the Irish Repertory Theater switches into high contemporary gear with “For Love,” a riotously tart and fiercely energetic production that opened on Tuesday. Billed as a “dark blue romantic comedy,” the play — a dramedy, really, only fleetingly romantic — plunges straight into Ireland’s fraught urban present.  

Consider the opening scene: A couple drunkenly stagger into an apartment — the woman clinging to a drink — and collapse on the floor, intent on sloppy, impassioned lovemaking. But the fellow blacks out, and the woman loudly curses, enraged at her unconscious date. Then she passes out. And there you have it: “For Love,” a portrait of women in their mid-30s struggling in recession-ravaged Dublin, might be called “Bad Sex and the City.” But that would be reductive. It is much, much more. 

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For more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg Do?

Cup of Coffee Heats Up Romance

If you love Tim Hortons, you’ll feel right at home during the world premiere of playwright Ken Brown’s new romantic comedy Double Double.

Directed by Michael Clark of Workshop West, Double Double sees two single parents Nell (Linda Grass) and Kevin (Jon Paterson) sneaking a few stolen moments together at their favourite Tim Hortons hangout.

Guido Tondino and Victoria Zimski’s set design was sponsored by Tim Hortons and looks like one of their coffee shops, right down to the tables and chairs.

If you’re interested in seeing a romantic comedy Canadian style – not under starry skies ’cause it’s too cold – but sipping a cuppa joe, check out Double Double playing at La Cité Francophone from March 22 to April 7.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $25. Call 780-477-5955 or online at www.workshopwest.org.

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For more information about a wonderful romantic comedy please visit What Would Meg Do?