Since
Wedding Singer held my evenings hostage for the last several months, I’ve not been able to get my regular theatre fix. So how do I spend my first mullet-free weekend of 2010? In Broadway immersion mode, of course. Thanks to TDF I saw three shows in two days -
Sondheim on Sondheim,
Next Fall and
Everyday Rapture. Oddly, all three have religion as a central theme (if you count Sondheim as a religion, which I do) and are super gay. How’s that for irony?
Though word of mouth has been decidedly mixed, I enjoyed the uneven quirkiness of
Sondheim on Sondheim (May 28, 8pm). I’m a confessed Sondheimite (not to be confused with a Sodomite, though the two groups naturally share an overlapping membership), so I guess it’s no surprise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect. The staging is often bland and pointless. One of the director’s favorite “staging” devices is having the cast aimlessly wander the stage in random formations, regardless of context or lyric. And its ballad heavy format nearly kills the second act. What saves the show from crossing into college lecture territory is the music, the performances (why is Norm Lewis not a star?) and the video clips of Sondheim describing his writing process. Why see it? Steve divulges some great dirt about his private life (damn, his mom was a c*nt!), Vanessa “Dorian Gray” Williams shows off her voluptuous rack and Barbara Cook demonstrates how old school charisma trumps our current cookie-cutter Broadway star blandness.
To be honest, I decided to see
Next Fall (May 29, 3pm) because it contains two of my favorite things - cute boys and a tragic death scene. Sadly, the boys weren’t all that cute and the death wasn’t all that tragic. I was so looking forward to a good “Love Actually” cry (dreamy Colin Firth proposing in broken Portuguese gets me every time). But was left disappointingly unmoved. I guess the play had some controversial subject matter (gay Christians, partner rights, etc.), but came off like a very good Lifetime movie only without the awesome cheese factor of a Valerie Bertinelli or Meredith Baxter Birney. I was never bored, but I didn’t really care all that much for the characters. They were all pretty much assholes or losers.
Sherie Rene Scott’s semi-autobiographical
Everyday Rapture (May 29, 8pm) is like a really great cabaret act on steroids AND crack. Granted, the unintelligible first number (I did not understand a single lyric in the opening) could easily be tossed or replaced. But what follows is a subversive, funny and personal account of how religion, morality and fame effect people in different ways. If you do not appreciate sarcasm or parody, stay away. Scott’s dry wit and delivery is nothing new to a jaded New Yorker, but will leave more naïve audience members confused and probably offended. Is it a Broadway show? Not really. And I think some of the show’s inherent intimacy is lost on that big, empty stage and ugly set. Extra props to Scott for the funky song choices and for featuring some curvy gals as her Mennonettes.
Though word of mouth has been decidedly mixed, I enjoyed the uneven quirkiness of Sondheim on Sondheim (May 28, 8pm). I’m a confessed Sondheimite (not to be confused with a Sodomite, though the two groups naturally share an overlapping membership), so I guess it’s no surprise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect. The staging is often bland and pointless. One of the director’s favorite “staging” devices is having the cast aimlessly wander the stage in random formations, regardless of context or lyric. And its ballad heavy format nearly kills the second act. What saves the show from crossing into college lecture territory is the music, the performances (why is Norm Lewis not a star?) and the video clips of Sondheim describing his writing process. Why see it? Steve divulges some great dirt about his private life (damn, his mom was a c*nt!), Vanessa “Dorian Gray” Williams shows off her voluptuous rack and Barbara Cook demonstrates how old school charisma trumps our current cookie-cutter Broadway star blandness.
To be honest, I decided to see Next Fall (May 29, 3pm) because it contains two of my favorite things - cute boys and a tragic death scene. Sadly, the boys weren’t all that cute and the death wasn’t all that tragic. I was so looking forward to a good “Love Actually” cry (dreamy Colin Firth proposing in broken Portuguese gets me every time). But was left disappointingly unmoved. I guess the play had some controversial subject matter (gay Christians, partner rights, etc.), but came off like a very good Lifetime movie only without the awesome cheese factor of a Valerie Bertinelli or Meredith Baxter Birney. I was never bored, but I didn’t really care all that much for the characters. They were all pretty much assholes or losers.
Sherie Rene Scott’s semi-autobiographical Everyday Rapture (May 29, 8pm) is like a really great cabaret act on steroids AND crack. Granted, the unintelligible first number (I did not understand a single lyric in the opening) could easily be tossed or replaced. But what follows is a subversive, funny and personal account of how religion, morality and fame effect people in different ways. If you do not appreciate sarcasm or parody, stay away. Scott’s dry wit and delivery is nothing new to a jaded New Yorker, but will leave more naïve audience members confused and probably offended. Is it a Broadway show? Not really. And I think some of the show’s inherent intimacy is lost on that big, empty stage and ugly set. Extra props to Scott for the funky song choices and for featuring some curvy gals as her Mennonettes.
1 comment:
i'm so jealous. i haven't seen a show in ages. we are going to see a show at least once a week when i get back. even if i don't sleep. must. see. shows.
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