Actor Ethan Hawke Documents The Music Man!
By Alan Samuel
Intimate portraits of artists can be vexing. Actor turned director Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise) comes of age with Seymour: An Introduction. Magical in all sorts of ways this look at a one man show from Mongrel Media is now entertaining arts lovers at The Fifth Avenue Cinemas.
Man of the hour Seymour Bernstein is loveable and engaging. Classical music is his bag and his home base is New York City. Enchanting is the music and the folksy anecdotes hit home. Done as a campy biography guests line up flesh out Seymour’s life including much younger friends in the arts scene. Scenes showing the master teaching students the ins and outs of composing and performing are fun to watch and actually quite insightful.
Expect to hear classic compositions from the masters. Up close and personal reveal the tricks of the trade, so to speak, along with the craftsmanship in building acoustically brilliant instruments. Piano man Billy Joel will be in awe of the accomplishments of this gentle giant of the classical music stage as will all those fortunate to see and hear this 89 year old wonder. Secrets of this profession are whimsically revealed into this charming look at a man with a dream and the musical accomplishments he was able to release on the world.
