I have loved Ethan Hawke since he so charmingly sparred with Winona Ryder in Reality Bites. So I went into the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center the other night to see him in the titular role of Macbeth with high hopes.

Well, I wasn’t completely disappointed.

The production, under the direction of director Jack O’Brien, is visually arresting. There are tableaux, rather than scenes. For instance, the feast Lady Macbeth serves to her guests toward the end of the play looks like Rembrandt might have painted it. It is beautifully lit, and its very painterly-ness adds a layer of artifice to the already artificial scene.

The witches are used in multiple roles, lending a foreboding to even the banal of scenes, as when the porter (an always excellent John Glover) talks of how too much wine ignites the desire but douses the ability. In a scene which usually serves as comic relief, the use of one of the witches in the part turns the scene darkly ironic.

The costumes are beautiful – studs and leather on the warriors, gossamer light golden capes on Lady Macbeth.

But you’ll notice that other than John Glover, I’ve yet to mention anyone’s performance. And that, in a play that is so much about character – is a problem.

There’s a lot of stage business that – to (mis)quote the play itself – seems to be signifying nothing, but only making sound and fury. Gongs and bird calls abound. Laughably dramatic chords ring out in key scenes – as if we need to an aural cue, pounding in our ears “this is big! Audience, pay attention.”

And therein lies the problem. The show is full of…busy-ness. Lots of running, and multi-media, and odd make up, and and and. But what there isn’t a lot of us are great performances. The actors mumble. They whisper. Consonants, it seems, are optional for many of them.

No one seems to be at the helm of this show. Unless you count the witches. And if they’re the focus of the play – well, I’m all about new interpretations of classic works…but really?

Not that it’s bad…it’s not. But it’s Macbeth. It’s Macbeth at Lincoln Center. It’s Macbeth at Lincoln Center with Ethan Hawke, and Brian D’arcy James and Malcolm Gets and Byron Jennings. It’s shouldn’t be “not bad,” it should be glorious.

Instead, it’s confusing, beautiful at times, funny when it shouldn’t be, and overall, disappointing.

Ah, well. My idea of Ethan Hawke as Macbeth – in Macbeth, just didn’t live up to the reality.

Reality, I guess, bites.

Tickets are available for Macbeth here. The show runs through January 12th.

Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary tickets to review the show but all opinions are the author’s point-of-view.

About the author: Nancy Friedman is a co-founder of Kidzvuz.com, a video website for kids 7-12. She writes about parenting, aging, and all things NYC on her own blog, From Hip to Housewife.

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The Culture Mom was invited to Memphis, Tennessee to participate in an informative few days with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The trip was sponsored by Expedia.  September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Expedia is doing their part in all of this by launching over 150 travel giveaways and exclusive hotel coupons to help travelers support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It’s such a great way to be a part of this amazing hospital and everything St Jude has created. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened in 1962 and was founded by the entertainer Danny Thomas.

The story goes… Danny Thomas’ wife had just given birth to their child. Danny – in the early stages of his career- could not afford the $50 to have them released from the hospital. He went to the nearby catholic church and prayed – If you help me, I will build a shrine for you – shortly he got a job for $75 and paid the hospital.  Years later… St. Jude – the saint for hopeless causes- was built.

We met with some of the doctors and staff of the hospital and it really puts you at ease to know that these passionate professionals at the height of their field are working hard to cure childhood cancer. Just knowing how much their jobs means to them shows they really aren’t jobs at all, but a calling… higher calling.

For me, reporting this story brings tears of sorrow and tears of ultimate joy. The amazing things going on at S.t Jude are nothing short of a miracle. Danny Thomas was a visionary and his mission to eradicate childhood cancer is much closer than we know.

While I was visiting Expedia hosted an “AROUND THE WORLD” themed party.

Food, crafts and even DANCE; Mikella of Travel Bare Feet taught dance from all around the world. Dance is a healing art!

The kids and their families enjoyed the food and music, as well as the social aspect of it all.

I played catch with one very special kid who stole my heart! It was humbling to see the strength these families had when faced with such a serious event in their child’s lives. I was counting my blessing every single moment.  St. Jude houses the families of the children being treated in the hospital and long term care families are hosted in the Target House.  The Target House is beautiful and no design element is spared. Each common room is sponsored by a celebrity or a corporation. From Shaun White and Tiger Woods to Proctor and Gamble. The apartments within the Target House are just right to comfortably fit a family of 4.

A few facts about St. Jude’s:

– -No family ever pays St. Jude fro anything. Not one single dime. Nothing.
– -Daily operating costs are 1.7 million, which is primarily covered by public contributions.
– -In 1962 – the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic Leukemia- the most common form of childhood cancer- was 4%. Today.. .survival rate 94%.
– -St. Jude is the FIRST AND ONLY National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted to children.
– -The Flu vaccine was developed at St Jude
– -St Jude accepts patients up to 18 years of age and cares for them for a lifetime.
– -Although there are only 78 beds in the hospital for in-patient care, they still see close to 7800 patients a year on an out-patient care basis.
– -Since patients come from all over the world no comfort food request goes unnoticed. Whether it’s a Chinese black chicken with noodles or mac ‘n cheese “just like grandma’s” the chefs at St Jude are dedicated to bringing every bit of comfort to these patients.
– The chefs also have a small volunteer run vegetable garden from which the harvest goes directly to the kitchens.
– The hospital walls are dripping with gorgeous uplifting murals, most times you forget that you are in a hospital.
– St. Jude offers counseling to siblings, and family members of the kids being treated. There is also a special day called “ siblings day” where the party is JUST for the siblings. Many times when there is a sick child, the siblings don’t get as much attention, St Jude has programs in place to address such issues.
– The kids go to prom.. complete with spa services, dresses, limo, red carpet… all in-house. But nothing is spared!

Facts about Target House:
– Built on property rented via the Catholic Diocese for $1 per year.
– Elephants everywhere- since Elephants represent good luck, There are elephant structures and painting and touches all over in every single room.
– Amy Grant donated and designed the Music Room so kids can continue their music classes while being treated at St Jude.
– When families are coming in, the staff asks the families for tips to keep the apartments “homey”- they include favorite colors, favorite characters so they can include that in the design.
– Since wall paper has chemicals that can harm the kids, wall paper is picked out but painted on precisely.
– There is a teen room – no adults allowed!
– 30 Riding toys for kids to ride around campus. Trikes and bikes and scooters and wagons! But no driving rules.. so watch out!
– Arts and Crafts room donated by Scott Hamilton. (my fave)
– There are special SPA, Hair, Gym rooms where kids get professional stylists to come in and do their hair, nails… etc.

Your environment effects your mood and this design therapy is significant… a detail that is lost in everyday life but oh so very very important.

As you can see… there is a lot of good going on over there in Memphis.  So what do you say… be a part of the EXPEDIA/ ST JUDE partnership. Go travel someplace and save money doing it. And don’t forget to enter to win one mama jama trip!

Maria Calaco is a dancer, choreographer and social media creative based in NYC. She also writes for multiple outlets including THE NEW YORK MOM.

Disclosure: Maria was invited on behalf of The Culture Mom to the Expedia event at St. Jude. All opinions are her own and we are grateful for her post.

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I am a huge dance aficionado. I love to go dancing, more Ballroom than club, and attend dance performances at the theater. My husband on the other hand does not like dance, watching or otherwise; according to him he just doesn’t get it. Because of his antipathy towards dance, I haven’t been able to attend many performances for the past seven years; that is how long we have been together. So when the opportunity presented itself to attend Forever Tango, I was very keen to attend, even though I knew I would be going alone.

The show started off slowly, with what I would term traditional Argentine Tango routines. The routines were interspersed with pieces played by the Orchestra or sung by Gilberto Santa Rosa, who is appearing for the first three weeks of the run. Some of the routines were more exciting than others, but there was an ebb and flow of excitement due to the fact that each routine was typically followed by an orchestra piece. The highlight of the first half was when Karina Smirnoff and Maxim Chmerkovskiy made an appearance. They are truly magnificent dancers. Their routine was technically challenging and showed why they are considered to be world class. The end of the first half was an upbeat Candomble routine which was a change from all the Argentine Tango music played up to this point.

The second half of the show came out with a bang. This half was more modernized Argentine Tango with a lot of lifts and tricks incorporated. The dancers really showed their skill-set and versatility in this half of the show. One could not help but admire the well placed flicks and kicks of the ladies and the trust of their male partners. Also, in the second half of the show there were groupings of routines keeping up the energy level of the show. My favorite piece of the night was the final couples’ routine called Romance del Bandoneón y la Noche performed by Victoria Galoto and Juan Paul Horvath. To call their routine amazing is probably too simplistic, but it definitely was.

All in all, it was a good night out with some pretty amazing dancing. I would recommend it for those 18 and over as well as for a good couples’ night out.

Forever Tango is playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre for ten weeks through Sunday, September 15, 2013. The show includes sixteen world-class tango dancers, one vocalist and an eleven-piece orchestra. Featured guest stars, dancers Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, will appear in the show through August 11. Singer Gilberto Santa Rosa is appearing in the show for the first three weeks of its run and singer Luis Enrique will also appear for three weeks beginning July 30.

To order tickets, call (212) 239-6200/(800) 432-7250, visit Telecharge.com or buy tickets in person at the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street). To receive a discount on tickets, please use code FTGNA603.

Whether you are flying solo like I was, or attending with friends or a significant other, Forever Tango is a good night out. You will see some pretty amazing dancing, and maybe come away with a few new moves of your own.

About the writer: Mikaela Walker is an avid traveler. You can read about her travels on her blog www.ivyleaguetraveler.com . She has two kids, a toddler and a teen, and loves experiencing New York City and beyond with them.

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On Tuesday, July 9th, I had the pleasure of attending a taping of the Today Show and watched the anchors race larger than life snails up a building playing skee ball with actor Ryan Reynolds to promote his new animated movie TURBO.

The film, which comes out on July 17th, is by the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. It’s a 3-D, animated comedy about a snail that has a freak accident that renders him with super-speed powers and enables him to win the Indy 500. It’s a story about making your dreams come true and is an inspiring tale for children. It also stars the voice talents of an incredibly talented group of actors including Paul Giamatti, Ken Jeong, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson.

On hand to judge the event were IZOD IndyCar Series Drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan.

We all cheered as the contestants played skee ball allowing their snails to race up the building. The competition was heated ( particularly on Twitter as Snoop Dogg tweeted Matt) as fans predicted which snail would win using hashtags #TurboMatt, #TurboSavannah, #TurboRyan, #TurboNatalie and #TurboWillie on Twitter. But while Matt was the fan favorite, it was Ryan who won the vertical race, declaring ,“In my defense, the film is called TURBO not ‘Matt Lauer.’ I had to win!!!!”

After Reynolds received his prize, Ryan walked over to the crowd and handed over his prize wreath to a young fan.

I was also invited to a private interview session with Ryan after the show where he answered questions about the film and talked frankly about the importance of having a strong support system in his life.  Since his character has a dream that’s not supported by his family or friends, he had this to say about following your dreams and keeping reasonable expectations:

…changed many times. That’s the great thing about being a kid is that you’re kind of at the mercy of a tremendous amount of whim.  So, for me it was one day I was going to be a professional baseball player.  The next day I was going to be a scientist.  Once I hit about 12 or so, I really wanted to be in this business.  I really wanted to do this, and I didn’t care if I got paid for it.  I didn’t care if I was a movie star.  I didn’t care any of it.  I just wanted to be able to make a living at this someday.  That was my dream and not unlike Turbo, I have those naysayers.  I have those people that say, “Don’t do this.  You’re never going to make it.  You’re a fool.  You should be going this direction.”  And everybody seems to have their own agenda for our kids, or your brother, or your sister, or whatever it is.  And the worst offender is ourselves.  We tell ourselves we can’t do it.  We’re not good enough.  We’re not smart enough or good looking enough.

You really have to usurp those thoughts and just kind of push forward and see what you can do. And for me it was just moving down to L.A.  That was the scariest thing, moving from Vancouver to L.A., and taking part in that system.  My expectations were always very minimal for myself.

I managed to thwart as much letdown as possible and that’s always served me really well, just keeping my expectations kind of reasonable.

TURBO races into theaters on July 17 in 3D! My boys and I loved it! Dream big! Visit the official website. Like Turbo on Facebook. Follow @GoTurbo on Twitter.

Disclosure: Milena was hosted by 20^th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation.  She was not compensated for this post and all opinions are her own.

Milena Barrett is a freelance writer and owner of Be Your Best Mom.com where she offers her readers reviews, giveaways and a smidge of real life parenting stories from her life.  She enjoys photography, art, and has a love/hate relationship with exercise. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband, two sons, and neurotic cat. You can follow her on Twitter at @barrettboys.

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On May 24th, the creators of Ice Age present their latest film Epic, which will be released in theaters nationwide.

I had a chance to interview the a few of the actors and find out what they thought about their characters after I attended the New York City Premiere. I also got to speak to director Chris Wedge and covered some of his thoughts on the film in my post about walking the green carpet. The funniest parts of the interviews came from actors Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd. They play Mub and Grub the snail and slug comedy duo in the film. Considering that these are both comic actors you can just imagine what happened at the interview. This was their first blogger roundtable interview and they had a lot of fun with it. Aziz had worked with director Chris Wedge before in Ice Age: Continental Drift so this was a project he was happy take on. Chris O”Dowd admits he wasn’t sure at first, but after meeting director Chris Wedge and seeing the early designs of the movie he just knew he wanted to be part of this magical world. This was O’Dowd’s first time in an animated film. Although for most of the movie their characters are together they actually recorded the voices separately. They had one session together and then O’Dowd did the rest in Ireland where he was on the set of another movie. I have to say their characters really steal the show. Who knew you could fall in love with a slug and snail?!

The next round of interviews was with actors Colin Farrell and Amanda Seyfried. Colin plays Ronin the leader of the Leafmen and father figure to Josh Hutcherson’s character Nod. Farrell also admitted that after meeting Chris and his team and getting a first hand look at the visuals got him on board to play the part. He loves the environmental message the script portrays in this battle of good versus evil. Colin joked about rolling around in the forest before coming into work to get him in the mood. He also answered some tough questions about lose and being a single parent since his character Ronin deals with similar issues. Seyfried’s character,M.K., is a strong willed teenage girl that also just lost her mother, something that Seyfried says she can’t imagine. When asked if she could relate to the character Seyfried said, “….this girl is somebody I can relate to because she’s very headstrong and honest and wants to know what it is she’s about.  And, I’m struggling with that every day.” An interesting insight to not only the character of M.K., but to Amanda herself.

Epic opens in theaters May 24th, 2013

Disclosure: All assets were provided by 20th Century Fox. I have not been compensated and all thoughts are my own.

Milena Barrett is a freelance writer and owner of Be Your Best Mom.com where she offers her readers reviews, giveaways and a smidge of real life parenting stories from her life.  She enjoys photography, art, and has a love/hate relationship with exercise. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband, two sons, and neurotic cat.

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Last Saturday my family and I had the opportunity to walk the green carpet at the Epic movie premiere in New York City. It was exciting to witness all the production it takes to put on a premiere. I’m sure you’ve all heard about Epic by now. It is a 3D CG adventure comedy from the creators of Ice Age and Rio. Epic explores the battle between good and evil and how it effects the natural world. The story unfolds as a teenage girl finds herself shrunk in a magical land that is right in her own backyard. She teams up with a crew of nature warriors to help them save their world.

Epic comes to theaters everywhere on May 24Th, 2013

(Pictured: My Family at the Premiere of Epic)

Take a peek at Epic:

Before the movie began director Chris Wedge addressed the audience and described his dream of making this film a reality. Wedge had attended an art exhibition with author William Joyce. Upon viewing the 100 year old paintings that depicted magical realms in the forest, Wedge was inspired. He recalls, “….there had to be a movie here.” He knew that Blue Sky Studios cutting-edge technology of animation was the right fit. Wedge was so enthusiastic introducing this movie at the premiere. You could see that he was truly proud of his work. Fortunately I got to learn more about him and his work during an interview session that happened after the show.

During the interview with Chris Wedge, Colin Farrell and Amanda Seyfried I learned more about Wedge’s vision for kids viewing this film. For Wedge, “…the idea behind the movie is that we would go to a place that seems familiar to us, but we would see the magic inside of it.” He would like for children to take a look around outdoors and see it from a different perspective. Maybe even imagine that birds aren’t just chasing each other, but that Leafman and Boggins are fighting. ” There’s magic out there that we just don’t pay attention to.” Colin Farrell agreed and said, ” …if kids want to go out and pick up a rock and see what lies underneath it and put the iPad down for five minutes, happy days, you know?”  Personally, I can’t wait to see Epic again. This time from a different perspective.

EPIC features an incredible cast including: BEYONCÉ KNOWLES, COLIN FARRELL AMANDA SEYFRIED, AZIZ ANSARI, PITBULL, STEVEN TYLER, JOSH HUTCHERSON, CHRIS O’DOWD, CHRISTOPH WALTZ and JASON SUDEIKIS.

Like Epic on Facebook

Follow @EpicTheMovie on Twitter #EpicTheMovie

Watch Epic videos on YouTube

Follow Epic on Instagram

Disclosure: All assets have been provided by 20Th Century Fox. The experience and thoughts are mine.

Milena Barrett is a freelance writer and owner of Be Your Best Mom.com where she offers her readers reviews, giveaways and a smidge of real life parenting stories from her life.  She enjoys photography, art, and has a love/hate relationship with exercise. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband, two sons, and neurotic cat.

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New York City is a vast metropolis with lots of nooks and crannies, and a plethora of things to see and do. No matter if you have lived in or around the city for years or have visited hundreds of times, there is still some aspect of New York left to discover. For those who have never been to the city, the sheer vastness of it can seem overwhelming. Figuring out where to start and what are the things that you cannot miss as opposed to the things that you shouldn’t is fairly complex. Attempting to be a resource for both the returning visitor and the first-timer is definitely a project destined to be difficult and would frustrate almost any who would try. The newly relaunching NewYork.com is planning to be such a resource.

For locals, or people who been to New York so many times that they are now adopted locals, the site will have a Secrets of NY section which discusses little-known facts and hidden treasures of popular New York attractions. There will also be sections on Real Estate and Jobs. For those looking for information on a new restaurant to try, there will be a listing of 20,000 restaurants on the site with ratings pulled in from Zagat. You can also book tickets to the theater directly on the site. NewYork.com has a direct relationship with the providers, so they don’t send you to a third-party site to make your purchase. They have a 24-hour call center, so if you are having problems with your purchase at 1 A.M. there will be someone there to assist you.

For visitors, NewYork.com can help you plan your trip, from the moment you land at one of the area airports, right up until the moment you leave. You can book airport transfers, hotels, dining reservations, attraction tickets and show tickets right on the site. As part of their descriptions of the various attractions, NewYork.com will include a section on what to tell a cabbie.. If you are planning to see a show, they will answer some of the questions that go into making your decision beyond just what is the show about; they will tell you where the theatre is, the show’s running time and if it is appropriate for kids.

The revamped NewYork.com will launch on May 29th and we are certain that it will become a much used resource for locals and visitors alike.

About the writer: Mikaela Walker is an avid traveler and writer of the blogs www.ivyleaguetraveler.com and www.teenandtoddlerintow.com. She loves experiencing New York City and beyond with her two children.

Disclosure: The writer was treated to a day of NYC sight-seeing, hosted by the folks at NewYork.com, but all opinions are certifiably her own.

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After submerging myself into new mommydom, I feel as though my brain stirred for the first time in 6.75 months.  This is by no means the fault of the city in which I live or the people in my life, by the way.  A night out at Lincoln Center Lyceum Theater’s latest production, THE NANCE , opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of the time, the joy of the burlesque, and the search for love in the automat.  And of course, who doesn’t love a cheesy vaudeville skit and pasties?

This is the first time my brain has been tickled in months and I loved the constant stream of racy double entendres and the dry sharp wit and vaudeville showmanship of Nathan Lane. Set in 1930’s New York, the play stars Nathan Lane as Chauncey Miles, a vaudeville performer whose stage specialty is the ‘nance’ routine. The twist here is that unlike most ‘nance’ performers of the time Chauncey actually is a homosexual, and openly so. Against his “better judgment” Chauncey meets and begins a relationship with Ned (Jonny Orsini), a naïve young man he meets at the notorious Horn & Hardart Automat. Ned becomes a fixture in Chauncey’s life as he joins the cast of the show at the Irving Place Theater. A staunch Republican and supporter of Mayor La Guardia, Chauncey’s private and public selves come under attack when the administration begins cracking down on burlesque houses, specifically on acts featuring the ‘nance’ for the moral protection of the masses. Nathan Lane is brilliant in the role of Chauncey, and makes you laugh from his first campy “Hi”.

The casting of Chauncey’s straight man, Efram (Lewis J. Stadlen) is the perfect balance, as are the choices of the leading ladies, Cady Huffman, Jenni Barber and Andrea Burns as they prance, preen and strut with attitude and insight.

A thoroughly good night out, as I reenter the adult conversation….”Meet me round the corner in a half an hour.”

The Nance is playing through June 16th. You can purchase tickets at Telecharge.

About writer Lisa Gerstel-Zach: A diverse and seasoned executive who has spent her career in Children’s and Family Entertainment via Publishing, Live Events and Broadcast before stepping back to take a much earned reprieve from the Corporate world in order to reinvent herself and remember why she moved to New York. She lives in the latest hip neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Disclosure: The writer received a complimentary pair of tickets to facilitate this review but all opinions are her own.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar

So I jumped at the opportunity to take my son for a special “back screen pass” to Treasured Stories by Eric Carle at The Symphony Space today.

Located on the Upper West Side, this was our first time to The Symphony Space (Broadway & 95th Street) Darren Critz, Director of Family Programs, explained, “Going to see the arts is easy to do. Families can roll out of bed and come here.”

During our theater tour, my three year old son had the opportunity to turn the stage lights on. It was a special treat to be able to see the puppets backstage prior to the show.

The special effects were very impressive. It was really fun and exciting to watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar bite into the various food items. The caterpillar was also adorable as he wriggled and climbed across the tree and kicked the left-over food.

My son enjoyed identifying each of the animals, what color and the sound each made during Brown Bear, Brown Bear….He also danced around in his seat. I enjoyed watching the students eyes moving back and forth as they recited each of the animals in the finale of that story.

We were unfamiliar with the final story, Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me. While the sets were beautiful, we did prefer the former two stories which we know by heart and were reciting along with the narrator.

We will definitely be returning to Symphony Space again. I’ve marked my calendar for KamiKaze FireFlies on January 12, 2013. I feel so fortunate that my son has been exposed to performances at such a young age and is able to be well-behaved and sit through stage shows.

The Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia’s new tour includes stops all over North America including shows in ME, VT, MA, CT, NY, ON, NJ, DC, BC, WA, CA, NM, AZ, NB, WI and more so you may still have an opportunity to catch it while it tours the country.

Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Check out their listing of events for the 2012-2013 season here.

Lainie Gutterman is the founder and editor of Me, Myself & Baby I.

Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary tickets in exchange for coverage but all opinions expressed are original and our own.

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I must stress that what happens in the film is the result of hard work, determination and not taking no for an answer. It is certainly not about LUCK. Quite the contrary. The characters are in a very unlucky situation and will do anything to create a change for their children in order to provide them with a better life.

Brief plot synopsis: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis play two determined mothers, one a teacher, who will stop at nothing to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.

During our half hour conversation with the filmmaker Daniel Barnz, along with cast members Viola Davis, Rosie Perez, Oscar Isaac and Maggie Gyllenhaal, we discussed how moms are naturally advocates for their children.

Watching Won’t Back Down now as a mom with a son who just entered a city preschool made it a very different experience than if I had seen it perhaps four or more years ago before having my child. I was curious how much Maggie Gyllenhaal thought about her own daughter Ramona who is a first grade student as she was portraying Jamie and here’s her reply:

“I think what happens when you become a mom or a parent is, without even meaning to, the whole spectrum of emotions that you have, investments, feelings about the world just widen so much. And now I have a second child, and it happened again even more, even greater. All of those feelings are just in me. So, yes, all those kind of feelings informed how I played Jamie and who she was. Those are things that you don’t know before you’re a mom. For example, you could reach into your pocket in a business meeting, and find a bag of Cheerios, you know? All of the things that just happen that you can’t really explain to someone. Look, I played mom before I was a mom. I think I did okay. But, it’s different now.”

Like me, Gyllenhaal doesn’t know if she would have been sobbing hysterical during the lottery scene while re-watching Waiting for Superman if she wasn’t a mom.

There were other things besides being a mom which drew Gyllenhaal into the movie. “When I read it, I thought, I have to do this movie, we can’t live in a democracy and not have an educated electorate. What tools are we going use to choose our leaders if we don’t educate the people in this country?”

Gyllenhaal is shocked over the controversy wrapped around Won’t Back Down. “I’ve made so many movies where I’ve braced for the controversy; I was ready, for it — movies about vibrators, S&M, the World Trade Center and all sorts of things.”

Gyllenhaal didn’t do much research regarding our country’s educational system until after wrapping the film. Her cast mate Rosie Perez works in public education through her charity, Urban Arts Partnership, and explained, “It’s difficult and disheartening when you walk into these schools and the first thing that the child sees is a metal detector along with a correctional officer with a gun. And a night stick. You wonder if the kids are feeling criminalized,” explained Perez.

She went on to make a very important statement. “One thing that people do not understand is that you may be born into poverty, but that doesn’t mean you’re born into a certain level of capacity. All these kids need is an opportunity. When you present them with the opportunity, they will rise to the occasion each and every time.”

As a society, we’re lucky for these celebrities who embrace a cause and help shed light on it to the larger population. As Jaime and Maile know, a little bit of “lady lucky” never hurts either.

Photo from L-R: Sarah from OneSavvyMom.net; Michelle from MomTrends.com; Monica from MacaroniKid.com; Rosie Perez; Viola Davis; Maggie Gyllenhaal; Lainie from TheCultureMom.com; Oscar Isaac; Eileen from LatinaOnAMission.com; Daniel Barnz

Do yourself a favor and go see Won’t Back Down which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 28, 2012 and has a running time of 121 minutes.

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Lainie Gutterman is the Editor and Founder of My, Myself and Baby and a NYC writer.  She is a also a contributor at BabyGizmo.com.  Her Twitter handle is @meandbabyi and she can be found on Facebook. 

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