Film noir was on the outs by 1957, but you can still see the genre's aesthetic impact on Alexander Mackendrick's black & white-lustered masterpiece Sweet Smell of Success. It was first written as a play and adapted for film starring Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker, an intimidating and influential newspaper columnist out to break up his sister's romance with a young jazz guitarist. It has since become a Broadway musical, starring John Lithgow as Hunsecker, and went on to win numerous Tony award nominations (winning one for Lithgow). Claire Trevor Theatre brings this singing and dancing smash to life in honor of late musical composer Marvin Hamlisch, rekindling the lost New York of 1952, the glorious golden age of jazz, and all the drama and intrigue that made the original a classic.
Sat., May 30, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 31, 2 p.m.; June 4-6, 8 p.m., 2015
Aimee Murillo is calendar editor and frequently covers film and previously contributed to the OCW’s long-running fashion column, Trendzilla. Don’t ask her what her favorite movie is unless you want to hear her lengthy defense of Showgirls.