When I am sitting in a darkened theatre and an actor playing a dead president walks onstage, I usually let out a groan and try to comfort myself with the knowledge that I won't be awake for too much longer. I generally find that playwrights who tackle subjects of the not too far past tend to assume that audiences will automatically connect with the subject on stage because a) they lived through the events being re-created, or b) they are young history/politic buffs who just love this sort of thing. I fall into neither of those categories, and therefore have had to suffer while watching such snoozefests as "Nixon's Nixon" (a conversation between Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger on the eve of the resignation), "Golda's Balcony" (Golda Meir rambling about Israeli politics) and "The Accomlices" (evil FDR and American Government v The Jews). Why everyone was raving about those dry readings from history textbooks disguised as "drama" was totally lost on me.
So, I'm sure you can imagine how much I was looking forward to "Frost/Nixon" - what promised to be an oh so lively discussion between a talk show host I'd never heard of and a president I don't care much about.
Well, leave it to Brit Peter Morgan, the writer who made Queen Elizabeth interesting in "The Queen," to breathe life into American politics. And, in fact, just as Helen Mirren's brilliant acting made "The Queen"s a can't miss event, so does Frank Langella's Richard Nixon make "Frost/Nixon" a must-see.
Based on the little I knew about him, the basic image of Nixon that I had in my head was a man with pointy horns sticking out of his head, dancing around in flames, with his arms up in that signature pose. Well, Frank Langella totally erased that image from my head because get this - he actually makes Nixon into an extremely likeable and extremely sympathetic figure. I left the play basically wondering why everyone hates him so much. Sure, there was that little Watergate thing, but that seems like a bit of making a mountain out of a molehill.
Maybe it's because "Frost/Nixon" was written for a British audience who presumably know less about American history than Americans (ha... Americans knowing about American history... ha ha) but, he thankfully takes the time to explain all of the background information behind Nixon and his resignation, and everything leading up to the interview with David Frost - who we all learn all about. And he somehow manages to do this without making it feel like we're stuck in history class listening to a textbook. The play manages to be constantly riveting, leaving the audience wondering what is going to happen next - even if in the back of out minds we really do know all along.
Michael Sheen (aka Tony Blair in "The Queen") makes a very likeable David Frost. And Frank Langella, well... he is nothing short of brilliant as Nixon. His performance alone would make this play a must see. The fact that there is a compelling script and wonderful supporting performances is really icing on tasty tasty cake.
For some reason "Frost/Nixon" doesn't seem to be getting as much hype as I'd expect. I'm not sure why - maybe it's that the snob audience is still sleeping at the Hotel Beaumont (home to "Coast of Utopia") but "Frost/Nixon" is totally entertaining and the best drama of the 2006-07 Broadway season.
On Saturday, I finally went to see "No Child..." - Nilaja Sun's solo play about being a teaching artist in a school in the Bronx. I've been wanting to see it for a while and now since it's closing at the beginning of June, I finally went (with a tdf ticket). And I have to say that the show is indeed well worth seeing. The basic story is that Sun, through a government grant, is assigned to a nightmarish class in an inner city school and tries to get them to study and perform a play. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to figure out what happens. The play is funny and moving. Sun plays all of the roles including the narrating janitor, herself, and her entire class plus its teachers, the school principal, the school security guard, and a couple more characters. The play has been hyped a lot, and though I wasn't really looking forward to it, despite said hype (mostly because I never looking forward to solo plays), I thought this was well worth seeing. Well acted, well written, etc. Oh, and it's only 65 minutes long (well, with starting five minutes late, it's more like 70) - though to be perfectly honest, this was one of those rare instances where I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit longer. I didn't really want it to end.
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Monday, May 7, 2007
OMIGOD! It's A Musical!
(Written by me on April 28 - pre-the birth of this blog)
--------------------------
OMIGOD YOU GUYS!!! "Legally Blonde: The Musical" is like totally on Broadway now. It is so totally the best new musical ever since like "Wicked." It is like so good I so need to see it like forty more times.
(*muffled fighting sounds*)
Ouch! Out of my head! I apologize for that. I think I may have been momentarily possessed by some mysterious force. Such is the brainwashing power of "Legally Blonde" the new musical that opens on Broadway on Sunday. Try as you might, you just can't resist this musical's earnest sugary charms. It's like a big pink ball of cotton candy. You know it just colored spun sugar stuck on a lousy paper cone, but how can you resist its allure? And so you buy it and you eat it and your hands get sticky and your tongue turns pink, but do you really care? No. Because you are now on a sugar high and you're bouncing down the street happy as can be. Yeah, well that's sort of like "Legally Blonde: The Musical" - the show manages to be more than the sum of it's kind of mediocre parts.
For example, the score by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin? Not one of Broadway's finer moments. There are a few songs like "Omigod You Guys" and "So Much Better" that take one line of melody and repeat it so many times that the audience has it stuck in their heads for weeks to come. And there may be one or two, probably sung by Orfeh, that could generally be called almost good. But the rest of the score is surprisingly mediocre. It's certainly nowhere in the same league as O'Keefe's "Bat Boy: The Musical," even if he did copy himself a number of time for this score. The fact that "Legally Blonde" leading lady Laura Bell Bundy's voice often sounds reminiscent of "Bat Boy" leading lady Kerry Butler's voice doesn't help matters.
Speaking of Laura Bell Bundy, well... she's no Kristin Chenoweth. Chenoweth is the gold standard for the perky blonde role, and all the other blonde girls out there? Well, they just have live in her shadow. And so even though Chenoweth never actually played the role on Broadway (though she apparently did in developmental readings), it's oh so easy to imagine how brilliant she'd be playing the same character she always plays. Bundy is fine - she certainly works hard enough, and she even does finally win her audience over in the end, but she just has a certain aura of generic around her. Which I guess is actually a good thing for the producers of the show, because she will definitely be easy to replace. Just look at the list of ladies who've played Glinda in "Wicked" and you've got yourself tried and true replacements for Elle in "Legally Blonde."
Now, I would say the biggest disappointment for me was with David Rockwell's sets. Showing such promise with his marvelous creative designs for "Hairspray" and "All Shook Up," these are really bland. And flat. One particularly embarassing set piece - the storefront for the salon, which was just a flat piece that was lowered down on wires, actually swayed back and forth whenever someone went in or out of the door. Would it have killed them to somehow secure it the ground? It was just really embarassing. Very "tour" friendly perhaps, but certainly not impressive to look at.
So where does the show go right? Well, it has a first rate supporting cast. The biggest standouts for me were Chico and Chloe, who played Bruiser and Rugus... Elle and Paulette's dogs. Say what you will, but any time those dogs stepped paw on stage, all eyes (and awwwws) were on them. As far as humans go, the star was definitely Orfeh (who plays Paulette - hairstylist and friend to Elle), who stole the show whenever she was on stage (with only humans, anyway). I don't know if it was just that she had the best material or if it was that she just knew best what to do with it, but she easily stole the show from Bundy. Other notable humans were Christian Borle (charming as always, as the "nice" lawyer/boyfriend) and Andy Karl (an amusing UPS man and Irish step dancer).
Other than that, I'm not really sure what happens, but somehow when all of that ordinary sugar is plugged into that magical cotton candy making machine, something happens that science just can't explain, and a fun show pops out. Somehow, somewhere in the second act, the show changes from being "Okay" (said with a sigh) to "Cute!" (said with a smile). And we stop caring that the music is kind of bland and annoying. And we start to forget that Kristin Chenoweth isn't playing Elle and Laura Bell Bundy starts to seem pretty funny and appealing. And somehow we sort actually get involved in the story and start caring about what happens to these characters. And the jokes start to actually seem funny. The sugar rush somehow kicks in, the brain turns off, and the show just becomes mindless happy fun.
So no, "Legally Blonde: The Musical" is not OMIGOD like the best musical ever ever ever, just like cotton candy is not the best candy ever ever ever... well... maybe the latter part of the statment isn't exactly true... (mmm... cotton candy...), but it manages to mindlessly entertain its audience and puts smiles on our faces.
And unlike "The Wedding Singer" which did pretty much the same thing, and somehow flopped, this one is pretty much tailer made for the teenage girl audience...
OMIGOD did you see the yoga pants in the gift shop? I like totally need a pair.
(*bang* "Oh Mrs. Lovett? How about serving fresh pink meat pies this evening?")
...and will probably run forever.
--------------------------
OMIGOD YOU GUYS!!! "Legally Blonde: The Musical" is like totally on Broadway now. It is so totally the best new musical ever since like "Wicked." It is like so good I so need to see it like forty more times.
(*muffled fighting sounds*)
Ouch! Out of my head! I apologize for that. I think I may have been momentarily possessed by some mysterious force. Such is the brainwashing power of "Legally Blonde" the new musical that opens on Broadway on Sunday. Try as you might, you just can't resist this musical's earnest sugary charms. It's like a big pink ball of cotton candy. You know it just colored spun sugar stuck on a lousy paper cone, but how can you resist its allure? And so you buy it and you eat it and your hands get sticky and your tongue turns pink, but do you really care? No. Because you are now on a sugar high and you're bouncing down the street happy as can be. Yeah, well that's sort of like "Legally Blonde: The Musical" - the show manages to be more than the sum of it's kind of mediocre parts.
For example, the score by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin? Not one of Broadway's finer moments. There are a few songs like "Omigod You Guys" and "So Much Better" that take one line of melody and repeat it so many times that the audience has it stuck in their heads for weeks to come. And there may be one or two, probably sung by Orfeh, that could generally be called almost good. But the rest of the score is surprisingly mediocre. It's certainly nowhere in the same league as O'Keefe's "Bat Boy: The Musical," even if he did copy himself a number of time for this score. The fact that "Legally Blonde" leading lady Laura Bell Bundy's voice often sounds reminiscent of "Bat Boy" leading lady Kerry Butler's voice doesn't help matters.
Speaking of Laura Bell Bundy, well... she's no Kristin Chenoweth. Chenoweth is the gold standard for the perky blonde role, and all the other blonde girls out there? Well, they just have live in her shadow. And so even though Chenoweth never actually played the role on Broadway (though she apparently did in developmental readings), it's oh so easy to imagine how brilliant she'd be playing the same character she always plays. Bundy is fine - she certainly works hard enough, and she even does finally win her audience over in the end, but she just has a certain aura of generic around her. Which I guess is actually a good thing for the producers of the show, because she will definitely be easy to replace. Just look at the list of ladies who've played Glinda in "Wicked" and you've got yourself tried and true replacements for Elle in "Legally Blonde."
Now, I would say the biggest disappointment for me was with David Rockwell's sets. Showing such promise with his marvelous creative designs for "Hairspray" and "All Shook Up," these are really bland. And flat. One particularly embarassing set piece - the storefront for the salon, which was just a flat piece that was lowered down on wires, actually swayed back and forth whenever someone went in or out of the door. Would it have killed them to somehow secure it the ground? It was just really embarassing. Very "tour" friendly perhaps, but certainly not impressive to look at.
So where does the show go right? Well, it has a first rate supporting cast. The biggest standouts for me were Chico and Chloe, who played Bruiser and Rugus... Elle and Paulette's dogs. Say what you will, but any time those dogs stepped paw on stage, all eyes (and awwwws) were on them. As far as humans go, the star was definitely Orfeh (who plays Paulette - hairstylist and friend to Elle), who stole the show whenever she was on stage (with only humans, anyway). I don't know if it was just that she had the best material or if it was that she just knew best what to do with it, but she easily stole the show from Bundy. Other notable humans were Christian Borle (charming as always, as the "nice" lawyer/boyfriend) and Andy Karl (an amusing UPS man and Irish step dancer).
Other than that, I'm not really sure what happens, but somehow when all of that ordinary sugar is plugged into that magical cotton candy making machine, something happens that science just can't explain, and a fun show pops out. Somehow, somewhere in the second act, the show changes from being "Okay" (said with a sigh) to "Cute!" (said with a smile). And we stop caring that the music is kind of bland and annoying. And we start to forget that Kristin Chenoweth isn't playing Elle and Laura Bell Bundy starts to seem pretty funny and appealing. And somehow we sort actually get involved in the story and start caring about what happens to these characters. And the jokes start to actually seem funny. The sugar rush somehow kicks in, the brain turns off, and the show just becomes mindless happy fun.
So no, "Legally Blonde: The Musical" is not OMIGOD like the best musical ever ever ever, just like cotton candy is not the best candy ever ever ever... well... maybe the latter part of the statment isn't exactly true... (mmm... cotton candy...), but it manages to mindlessly entertain its audience and puts smiles on our faces.
And unlike "The Wedding Singer" which did pretty much the same thing, and somehow flopped, this one is pretty much tailer made for the teenage girl audience...
OMIGOD did you see the yoga pants in the gift shop? I like totally need a pair.
(*bang* "Oh Mrs. Lovett? How about serving fresh pink meat pies this evening?")
...and will probably run forever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)