Sleight of Hand

By Richard Mineards   |   April 19, 2018
The Invisible Hand performers Jameal Ali, Mujahid Abdul-Rashid, Sarang Sharma, and John Tufts (photo by David Bazemore)

Ensemble Theatre has got a bona-fide hit on its hands with Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar‘s The Invisible Hand, directed by Jonathan Fox, at the New Vic.

The riveting 2014 drama features John Tufts as an American banker kidnapped by an Islamic group in Pakistan, who bargains for his life with guards by demonstrating how they can fund their activities by trading futures online rather than by collecting a multi-million-dollar ransom.

Charlie Corcoran‘s scenic design, evoking a decrepit prison cell, is superb, with Jean-Yves Tessier‘s effective lighting and Randall Robert Tico‘s sound adding immeasurably to the two-hour show.

London actor Jameal Ali, who played in the original off-Broadway production, as the toughened captor and Mujahid Abdul-Rashid, also in his Ensemble debut, as the imam, along with Sarang Sharma were all impressive in their roles.

In due course, the sophisticated and energized production moves to Frankfurt, Germany, as part of a co-production arrangement between Ensemble and the English Theatre.

Bride to be

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow had a wild celebrity-packed bachelorette party in Mexico at the weekend.

The Oscar winner, who is marrying Glee producer Brad Falchuk, 47, considers this wedding to be her first, having previously eloped with ex-husband, Coldplay rocker Chris Martin.

Good friend actress Cameron Diaz chartered a private jet for 12 guests to fly to Cabo San Lucas, where the amazons partied at the 1,000-acre Four Seasons Costa Palmas, where a 5-bedroom villa rents for $7,000 a night.

Among the partygoers, according to reports, were designer Stella McCartney, former Montecito resident Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson, and Reese Witherspoon.

“I never had a wedding before, so even though I’m 45, I sort of feel like a 21-year-old,” says Gwyneth, who also attended a black party engagement party for 400 guests at the Los Angeles Theater, including her mother Blythe Danner, 75, Steven Spielberg, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, and Liv Tyler.

Weight for It

Former Montecito Union School student and supermodel Gigi Hadid is suffering from Hashimoto’s disease, a condition that affects the thyroid, causing her to rapidly lose weight.

The 22-year-old peripatetic beauty, featured in Harper’s Bazaar May issue, says she wishes she still had her curvier physique.

“But, honestly, we can’t look back with regret – I loved my body then, I love my body now.”

Gigi says the disease, which affects 14 million people in the U.S., has forced her to healthily work out.

“When I had a more athletic figure, I was proud of my body because I was an amazing volleyball player and horseback rider.”

Her revelation comes on the back of her mother Yolanda‘s highly publicized battle with Lyme disease, which her younger sister, Bella, also a model, and younger brother, Anwar, also suffer from.

 

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