The next time you are in Tarzana, California look for the āSalt Wellā Tavern. Be warned, however, as you enter this little Nirvana of rock and roll, you will not want to leave as it is the home of Ricki Randazzo and her band Flash. Meryl Streep is mesmerizing as the ageing singer as she and fellow rocker Rick Springfield team up with her small group and hold court, night after night entertaining with Springsteen era music.I will tell you, not only can the woman act, she can sing with the best of them! I left the theatre thinking this is one of the best rock and roll musicals I have seen.
To be fair there is much more to the story than song, but Rickiās commitment to her music and unusual life-style are the glue that hold this story together. A grocery store cashier during the day and a rock and roll diva at night, Streepās performance is superb, shocking (some) of us with her musical talents including the guitar playing. The closing scene as the credits roll is one for the ages, reminiscent of the final unrehearsed moments from her role in Postcards from the Edge, (if you are old enough to remember.)
Ricki and the Flash
Entertainment Rating: ★★★1/2
Rating: PG-13, a handful of lesser profanities, adult themed. throughout, several sexual innuendos
Possible Oscar Nominations: This should cement Meryl Streepās twentieth Oscar nomination and is my early favorite to win her fourth Oscar for Best Actress, Mamie Gummer Best Supporting Actress, and if there was an award for Best Rock and Roll Music it would win hands down.
While the music was enough to hold my interest, the story line has some interesting twists and turns. Ricki abandoned her young family to pursue her career and left three young children behind with their father played by Kevin Kline. Several decades have passed with minimal contact and virtually no visits. Suddenly there is a reason to return home to Indianapolis, and the fractured family relationship takes front and center. Her daughter Julie, played brilliantly by Mamie Gummer, is the center of the visit, with anger and angst exploding all around. Streep is at her best attempting to survive in the extremely difficult situation.
Ricki is Streepās stage name, her children know their Mom as Linda Brummell. There is one defining moment in an exchange with her son, who she did not know was gay. Glaring at her he says definitively, āMom, I was born gay, to which she responds, āI was born Ricki,ā and therein lies the story.
There is a resolution of sorts to the story, and not surprisingly it is the music that leads us from one end of the pinnacle to the other. The songs and the band are great, and Streep is great. Enjoy.
