A SMELLY Affair - soap is your friend!

Personal hygiene is not optional! Dear God, Trish and I sat next to the smelliest man on earth last night at A Catered Affair. It was worse than a subway car full of homeless people in the middle of summer. His assault on my olfactory system prompted a theatre-going first for me - I asked to be moved to another seat. Yes, after five minutes breathing in this nasty man’s stench I suggested to Trish we speak to an usher about being moved. Anywhere. We were already in the second to last row of the balcony, so we really had nothing to lose. Since the reviews were mixed to negative and knowing the producers were heavily papering the house (supplying various outlets with complimentary tickets on the sly to give the illusion of a full theatre), we were sure we’d get seats somewhere. So we approached a friendly looking usher and explained our situation. She gave us a sympathetic look and said, “I’m sorry, but we’re sold out.” What the f*ck? How is that possible? I picked up TDF tickets that afternoon online! So we waited it out thinking there would definitely be no-shows. At 8:01 PM the theatre was completely full and we were left standing at the back of the balcony. I told Trish that I would rather stand for the whole show than sit next to that smelly guy. Then a miracle happened - praise, Jesus - a young usher came up to us and asked if we would mind sitting in a box seat. We said, “Hell’s no.” Actually, we said, “That would be great, thank you,” and followed her down to the front of the mezzanine. And thus I have been prompted to publish my first web poll. So please prove to me that I'm not just writing in a cyber void (it would also greatly improve my self-esteem) by scrolling down on the left and answering my "theatre pet peeve" poll.

Reviews be damned because I loved this show. I probably shouldn’t have read them or the chat board bullsh*t before seeing the show, but I honestly can’t understand how the reviews and public opinion on All That Chat could be so off base. The performances were spectacular, especially Tom Wopat (make room on your bookshelf for a Tony) and Faith Prince. The music was completely character and situation appropriate. No, there weren’t any bombastic power ballads. These characters are simple, salt of the earth, and their music reflected this. In fact, the music and book were so fully integrated that you almost didn’t notice when someone began to sing or when a song ended. Many reviews complained that there weren’t any “real” songs, just lots of recitative type snippets. I disagree. Maybe from my background in opera I’ve developed an ear more attuned to subtleties of melody, but there were definitely “real” songs in the score and actually very little that could be classified as recitative.

I can't say enough about the quality of the acting. The naturalistic approach to the material only emphasized the world-weariness of the characters and the joyless repetition that examplifies their mundane lives. The audience seemed completely riveted to the stage. The ninety-minute, intermissionless show seemed to fly by. On a side note, Prince's pushy, strong-willed mother hit a bit close to home for Trish and I. I can't believe this is the same woman I saw play Adelaide in the Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls. When did we get so old?

Wicked................again

Yes, I actually went to see Wicked again yesterday. That's viewing #3. I know, I'm worse than a 12 year old girl, right? Actually, I haven't seen the show since the year it opened and I was lucky enough to catch the healthy Chennie and Idina both times. Yes, they actually did perform together occasionally.

Trish had never seen the show so we decided to try for lottery tickets. On a whim, I went online to see if full-price tickets were available. First try, nothing - completely sold out. Second try two hours later - bingo - center orchestra seats in row G (obviously last minute house seats were released). Having just received my tax return and knowing I'd be getting paid for my Oklahoma! duties fairly soon, I decided to splurge and buy the tickets as a surprise for Trish and as an early birthday present for myself (hint, hint - Monday, April 14 is the big day so don't forget to mail those chocolates and gift cards so they get to me on time!). I met Trish at the theater anyway for our good deed of the day. We signed up for the lottery on behalf of Jeannie, an out of town visitor, to triple her chances of winning. Karma works wonders. Trish's name was called second and our gal from Delaware got her front row ticket. Trish actually signed up for two tickets, so we were able to sell the other one to a shy Japanese gal who accepted the ticket only after her auntie threateningly told her "If you don't use that ticket, I will!" Way to show some balls, auntie.

The show is in remarkably good shape considering it's been running for years, that it was the second show of a two show day and that a standby for a leading role was on (Lisa Brescia in for Stephanie Block's Elphaba). Things got off to a rocky start with Annaleigh Ashford's Glinda, but she found her groove by the Shiz entrance. Let's just say, I don't think she's a "real" soprano. Also, starting out I was concerned that she didn't "get" the comedy either because she kept "winking" at the audience after each punch line with an "aren't I funny?" look. Brescia started out a bit stiff acting-wise, but vocally solid. Thankfully, by "Loathing" she had relaxed into the role. What a clear, laser sharp belt on this gal. I'd be interested to see what she could do with the role were she able to perform it eight times a week. Supporting roles were strong, especially Morrible (although oddly she didn't sing a single note but used a highly effective sprechstimme approach), the Wizard and Nessarose, all of whom surpassed the performances of the originals I've seen.

Random thoughts:

David Burnham's Fiyero is pretty gay. I have nothing wrong with a gay dude playing straight, but butch it up, Mary. And his dancing in his opening scene - yikes. He did sound pretty amazing in the Elphaba duet, though.

Why does the Ozdust ballroom scene look like an 80's prom? Especially Galinda's pink frock. Also, I forgot how emotional the end of the scene is when Galinda swallows her pride and dances with Elphaba. I got a bit verklempt.

I still don't get the humpty-dumpty characters in Wiz-omania. I mean, I get that it's a show within the show, but the scene really doesn't do anything to advance the plot. And they look stupid. So there.

The levitation scene lost a bit of it's punch. The first two times I saw it, I was a weeping mess. This time, not so much. I think it's because Brescia didn't do the spoken, "It's not her you want, it's meeeeeeeee (slide into singing without a breath) So if you care to find me...." Ooh, I get boner just thinking about it.

Is it just me, or does the end of "No Good Deed" look like a Stevie Nicks' video with that wind machine and lighting going on?

The guy sitting next to Trish was audibly sobbing during several moments, most notably during the first act finale during Elphaba's cherry picker flight. When the lights came on at intermission, the crying dude turned to his girlfriend and the couple next to them and said something to the effect of, "I'm a (banker? or some other boring trade), but now I have a new dream," while gesturing to the stage. Ding, ding, ding - warning. Girlfriend better cancel the wedding shower and start preparing for his coming out party.

High school kids never change. There was a group there that couldn't stop "ooh-ing" during the kissing scenes.

The straight-tone-to-vibrato thing was out of control in the choral singing. It made the ensemble sound synthesized.

A group of four arrived 20 MINUTES LATE. Of course, they were also in the fifth row of the orchestra. Also, two gals, dead center orchestra decided to take a pee break an hour into the act. I can understand one having an emergency, but two? Did her friend have to go along to help wipe? One of these gals also climbed back to her seat 15 minutes after the second act had already begun, causing mumbled cursing from audience members all around.