‘The Last Dance’ is a gift for starving NBA fans
The story behind The Last Dance, the Netflix 10-part series that takes us behind the scenes of the Chicago Bulls’ threepeat 1998 NBA season, is that it’s a timely gift to a world trapped indoors while COVID-19 rages. Over 500 hours of exclusive footage was shot back in ’97 as the Bulls started training for what was rumored to be Michael Jordan’s last season; the show was announced in late 2019 but rush-released (with Jordan’s permission) for avid viewers “looking to the sports world to escape and enjoy a collective experience” as society navigates the COVID crisis.
And it’s a great gift. From the prickly rivalries (chiefly with Bulls’ GM Jerry Krause and the Detroit Piston’s arch-rival Isiah Thomas) to the fantastic performance of an awe-inspiring team, this is a portrait of a somewhat unlikely crew with individual episodes focusing on Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, coach Phil Jackson, the Dream Team — but the central figure in all of it remains Jordan himself, both larger than life and down to earth, flawed (gambling is an issue) and funny, and always at the heart of the Bulls’ push. It’s a bittersweet portrait of a team wearing its heart on its sleeve. Plus, it provides a story of triumph when the world could really use one.
Shown on Netflix
Best seats in the house
Lockdown has been a great time to catch up on theater you’ve missed. From Resorts World airing Ang Huling El Bimbo on YouTube (for two days only), to London’s National Theatre streaming such award-winning plays as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show Fleabag and Benedict Cumberbatch playing the Creature in Frankenstein, there’ve never been better front-row seats than in your living room or sala.
Thanks to generous online links, we’ve had a chance to watch Hamilton (in a terribly fuzzy handheld version, overlaid with the Broadway soundtrack for better sound, but still: at least we get an idea of what the fuss is all about); to a locked-down Zoom tribute special celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday (Take Me to the World, with special appearances by Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lin-Manuel Miranda and others, shown on YouTube); to a spectacular, crystal-clear look at Cirque du Soleil’s O show provided by German television. Oh, there’s also Cats (ABS-CBN is streaming it until tonight; go to YouTube channel “The Shows Must Go On”), Grease, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Wicked and more. Quality may vary, but hunt around: you may be closer to a West End or Broadway production than you think.
