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Oct
23rdGender Blender
I’ll begin by saying that I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. And, to be fair, I am not a huge fan of remakes. All those facts aside, I have issues with the recent news that Laverne Cox has been tapped to play Frank N’ Furter. As a small tidbit of background, I used to go to Rocky Horror at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It was a staple of my teens and twenties, and the raucous energy of the 12th Street theatre in New York was intoxicating even on a slow night. I recently got to go to a Rocky Horror viewing party here in Nairobi, where my husband and I were among some of the only people who were actually dressed up. And, bless his heart, I got to fulfill a dream of making up someone as Frank. And it was beautiful. Of course none of the non-Americans in the room had any idea what was going on, and I was literally the only person doing the call backs, but the fact that it’s a film with staying power, that transcends oceans (the host of the party is a huge fan and he’s French), really says something about it. Who would have thought that the cast (mysteriously missing creator Richard O’Brien) would have been on the Today Show forty years later, talking about the anniversary of the film? It’s indicative of how far things have come in society and its embrace of what had previously been considered “fringe” culture. Much to my […]
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May
23rdSnakes on a Cross!
Andrew Lloyd Webber hates musicals. I don’t say this because he’s a hateful man, but he writes impossible musicals. After seeing Jesus Christ Superstar for the first time live last month on Broadway, my thoughts on ALW are only confirmed. This musical has suffered some scathing reviews (New Yorker, New York Times) but I wonder if the complaints about this musical are really not more a reflection of the musical itself, instead of this production? I don’t know who decides to write a musical about Jesus. Let alone the days that lead up to Jesus’ famous demise. Of course not all musicals are full of happiness and singing and dancing… lots of famous musicals have brutal third acts … but as a subject matter, it’s a difficult one. Then factor in the era in which it was made, and that 70’s flash doesn’t really go with Jesustime leprosy and brutalism. So just as a musical CONCEPT it starts off extremely strained. The idea of Disco Jesus Death is ridiculous, so when you’re putting on its musical representation, you might as well go WAY over the top. À la Samuel L Jackson in Snakes on a Plane! If no one thinks you’re taking yourself seriously, they’ll be less judgmental. That must have been the rationale for this production. But does it pay off? From the top, the post-Apocalyptic wardrobes, news ticker informing the audience of the Crucifixion Countdown, and video screen backdrop, the production team lets you know RIGHT AWAY that you are in for a DISCO CRUCIFIXION […]
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Feb
10thJohn Gabriel Borkman at BAM
I will admit that my original motivation in buying tickets to see this play was to placate Adam’s mother, who is an unabashedly huge fan of Alan Rickman. Once we realized that, on account of the impending storm, that Adam’s mother wouldn’t even be able to attend the show, I will admit too that we nearly didn’t go at all. But money is money, and money is tight, and if it meant that I might get to MEET Snape, Alan Rickman, then dammit we’d be the only people in the theatre on a snowy evening. Except that we weren’t! Amazingly, despite the abysmal forecast, there was little actual snowfall by the time we attended the 7:30pm show in Brooklyn, and the house was completely packed. Not an empty seat anywhere, New Yorkers refused to stay home. In lieu of Mrs Singh, David Gcame with us, and the three of us packed into our obstructed view seats. The set design seemed particularly funny considering the environment outside. It was sparse, and punctuated by huge white snow drifts that were the only dressing on the stage, which shone like black volcanic glass and echoed back little reflections of the white of the snow. There were three pieces of furniture as well, Victorian-style, in an otherwise colorless design, but the colors were still pretty muted. I really liked the sparseness. It ended up giving the sense that the whole cast of characters were always cold, and colorless, and that their footing was on a […]
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Mar
10thJean-Luc Macbeth – BAM 2008
We went out to see Patrick Stewart as Macbeth at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It’s been so popular that they’re actually moving it to Broadway. Who could resist? Jean-Luc Piccard playing Macbeth!? A lot of people that I’ve spoken with have complained about the fact that this is yet another Shakespeare play with a contemporary setting. People like their traditional Renaissance settings, and their swords and funnypuffy velvet pants. Honestly, it’s not ever a change that keeps me from the Shakespeare itself. Shakespeare is about words, and the words are what’s important, not the setting. And if the “hip” setting and costumes brings a new audience? Sure! I’m all for it! Trick those tweens into appreciating some Shakespeare! Fo’ Sho’. (It does, sometimes, pull away from the story, which I’ll mention later.) I’ll start off by saying that Patrick Stewart was everything I’d hoped. His presence is amazing, and his acting is superb and never once did I expect him to say “ENGAGE!” Very in character, and very consuming as that character. For me, the real heart of the story of Macbeth is the interplay between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They have, in my opinion, a very dark, seductive relationship where Macbeth is entwined by her lust (for power as much as for him) and he is thereby seduced into killing Duncan to seize the throne. The text between them is rife with double entendres. She implies that he’s less manly, or impotent if he doesn’t kill Duncan. But it’s still […]