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Young love (and also pluggers)
1 day ago
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Return to NYC
So I'm back in NYC, have been for a few days now. It's been a really nice transition, especially since I have no roommate and all. I'm easing back into most things school related, although not theatre-going. No, siree. I did see some stuff in Rochester while I was home, but boy did I miss the variety and quality that NYC has to offer. Since I've been back, I've seen 2 plays and a movie of a play, and that's in 5 days. Yeah. Here's my thoughts:
The Bacchae (Shakespeare in the Park)
Well, it was certainly an experience. This is my first time seeing a show at the Delacorte, and although I had my difficulties getting there (it was quite an adventure relearning the subway system on my first day back, and THEN figuring out how to navigate Central Park. Can you believe I never went all last year?!) I had won the virtual line, but had gotten there to late to claim them, but I waited in the standby line and ended up getting tickets, and probably would have no matter what time I had gotten there, since there were still empty seats behind me. The experience of it all was very nice, the weather was beautiful and the park created a very nice ambiance to help me ease myself back into city life and theatregoing.
The show itself was a mixed bag. The Bacchae is very Greek, and I knew that going in, so I was expecting the minimal action and long monologues. And most of the individual performances were very good, especially Rocco Sisto and Andre DeShields, who each had a brief part, but really sold it well. Jonathan Groff was servicable and played much of the material uniquely, but overall, did not make that much of an impression. But the real problems with the show lay in the Chorus and its use of music. This version featured a brand new score by well known experimental composer Phillip Glass, and while there were some moments of transcendence (I really loved the exit music's use of changing time signatures), much of the music sounded repetitive and dull, often seeming weird for the sake of being weird. And because of this, it was very difficult to concentrate on whatever the chorus was saying, you really couldn't catch the words underneath the music, and therefore lost much of the reflection and meaning in the play.
Also, on a slightly unrelated note, there was some commotion in the audience, which may or may not have been related to the famous group of raccoons that live around the Delacorte, that fell during a crucial moment of the play which caused the whole audience to lose focus. There was no regaining it for the last 10 minutes or so, and I think the overall play suffered from this distraction, through no fault of its own.
9 to 5
Tuesday I won the lotto to go see 9 to 5 at the Marquis on Broadway. It was certainly a lot of fun, and had some great musical moments, but I found the book to be very lacking, and while it was humorous, the plot was kind of a mess. There were some great performances, though, particularly the 2 Tony nominees, Allison Janney and Marc Kudisch. They really know how to get the laughs going, and made the show much better than it should've been. Sorry to see this one closing so early, it deserved to run at least a full year.
Passing Strange
And then, this evening, I had the pleasure of going to the IFC Center and viewing Spike Lee's filming of the musical Passing Strange, the experimental rock musical written by musician's Stew and Heidi Rodewald. And boy, is it an experience. It's basically about what it is to grow up wanting to be an artist, and the power that one can make art have. And it is brilliant. I really do think that this is the first rock musical that I have seen that is actually grown up and adult with mature and difficult themes and a complex sensibility. It's a show that I can't wait to see again (probably when it airs on PBS in the next year or so) and it's a show that you want to share with your friends. It's truly an extraordinary achievement in terms of writing, definitely earning that Best Book Tony last year, and then the amazing performances from the tight ensemble just elevate it to a nearly perfect level. It's totally challenging and self-reflecting and just gives you something to THINK about, which is always so great to see in a musical.
The filming itself is beautiful, and Spike Lee really understood the message of the piece. The fact that most of it (I think) was from the final performance just means that the crowd was totally with the show and the performers are really giving it all (if you have any doubt just look at the sweat coming off of Coleman Domingo). There's a moment right after the curtain call where Stew, who's been narrating the show and providing commentary throughout, steps forward toward the cheering crowd, and the band's going crazy and he just takes it all in, and it really shows you the humbling power that you have when you make great art that really says something about the world. He goes on to kiss and embrace every person who's on that stage with them, and you can just feel the power of the collaboration. If you get a chance to see this taping, please do so without any hesitation. Just go in with an open mind and you will be thinking about it for hours afterwords, at least.
Well, that covers my entertainment news since I've been back in NYC. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and I do look forward to blogging more as I see more stuff throughout the year, hopefully writing here fairly regularly, assuming school doesn't get too much in the way. And I'm also tossing around the idea of doing entries on here that have to do with my exciting new vlogging project that's coming soon, so I'll keep you updated on that!
The Bacchae (Shakespeare in the Park)
Well, it was certainly an experience. This is my first time seeing a show at the Delacorte, and although I had my difficulties getting there (it was quite an adventure relearning the subway system on my first day back, and THEN figuring out how to navigate Central Park. Can you believe I never went all last year?!) I had won the virtual line, but had gotten there to late to claim them, but I waited in the standby line and ended up getting tickets, and probably would have no matter what time I had gotten there, since there were still empty seats behind me. The experience of it all was very nice, the weather was beautiful and the park created a very nice ambiance to help me ease myself back into city life and theatregoing.
The show itself was a mixed bag. The Bacchae is very Greek, and I knew that going in, so I was expecting the minimal action and long monologues. And most of the individual performances were very good, especially Rocco Sisto and Andre DeShields, who each had a brief part, but really sold it well. Jonathan Groff was servicable and played much of the material uniquely, but overall, did not make that much of an impression. But the real problems with the show lay in the Chorus and its use of music. This version featured a brand new score by well known experimental composer Phillip Glass, and while there were some moments of transcendence (I really loved the exit music's use of changing time signatures), much of the music sounded repetitive and dull, often seeming weird for the sake of being weird. And because of this, it was very difficult to concentrate on whatever the chorus was saying, you really couldn't catch the words underneath the music, and therefore lost much of the reflection and meaning in the play.
Also, on a slightly unrelated note, there was some commotion in the audience, which may or may not have been related to the famous group of raccoons that live around the Delacorte, that fell during a crucial moment of the play which caused the whole audience to lose focus. There was no regaining it for the last 10 minutes or so, and I think the overall play suffered from this distraction, through no fault of its own.
9 to 5
Tuesday I won the lotto to go see 9 to 5 at the Marquis on Broadway. It was certainly a lot of fun, and had some great musical moments, but I found the book to be very lacking, and while it was humorous, the plot was kind of a mess. There were some great performances, though, particularly the 2 Tony nominees, Allison Janney and Marc Kudisch. They really know how to get the laughs going, and made the show much better than it should've been. Sorry to see this one closing so early, it deserved to run at least a full year.
Passing Strange
And then, this evening, I had the pleasure of going to the IFC Center and viewing Spike Lee's filming of the musical Passing Strange, the experimental rock musical written by musician's Stew and Heidi Rodewald. And boy, is it an experience. It's basically about what it is to grow up wanting to be an artist, and the power that one can make art have. And it is brilliant. I really do think that this is the first rock musical that I have seen that is actually grown up and adult with mature and difficult themes and a complex sensibility. It's a show that I can't wait to see again (probably when it airs on PBS in the next year or so) and it's a show that you want to share with your friends. It's truly an extraordinary achievement in terms of writing, definitely earning that Best Book Tony last year, and then the amazing performances from the tight ensemble just elevate it to a nearly perfect level. It's totally challenging and self-reflecting and just gives you something to THINK about, which is always so great to see in a musical.
The filming itself is beautiful, and Spike Lee really understood the message of the piece. The fact that most of it (I think) was from the final performance just means that the crowd was totally with the show and the performers are really giving it all (if you have any doubt just look at the sweat coming off of Coleman Domingo). There's a moment right after the curtain call where Stew, who's been narrating the show and providing commentary throughout, steps forward toward the cheering crowd, and the band's going crazy and he just takes it all in, and it really shows you the humbling power that you have when you make great art that really says something about the world. He goes on to kiss and embrace every person who's on that stage with them, and you can just feel the power of the collaboration. If you get a chance to see this taping, please do so without any hesitation. Just go in with an open mind and you will be thinking about it for hours afterwords, at least.
Well, that covers my entertainment news since I've been back in NYC. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and I do look forward to blogging more as I see more stuff throughout the year, hopefully writing here fairly regularly, assuming school doesn't get too much in the way. And I'm also tossing around the idea of doing entries on here that have to do with my exciting new vlogging project that's coming soon, so I'll keep you updated on that!
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