Just Watched: Theatre

[ZapRowsdower]

By "theatre" (spelled "re", not "er"), I don't mean MOVIE theater, but I mean like... stage theatre. Like Broadway, off-broadway, Kodak Theatre, community theatre, college or even high school plays. There really is no section for this here, so I decided to make one up.

Wicked
Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, and on characters from "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Book: Winnie Holzman
Directed By: Joe Mantello
Venue: Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA

My expectations were quite high going into this. Everyone kept telling me what a great play it is. The premise was cool to me, as well. I always enjoy the opportunity to look at a story from different angles as well, like Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - so the premise intrigued me. Without having heard any unkind words about it, of course I'm expecting something great - or at least really, really good.

I was not disappointed. Beauty of the venue aside (Pantages is incredible), but the sets were amazing. Beautifully drawn backdrops, light bulbs - lighting in general, actually. Brilliant special effects (once again, complements of great lighting and set construction).

But what of the musical? Stephen Schwartz has a hit and miss record. I feel he hit the nail on the head when he and Alan Menken did Pocahontas and Hunchback, but let's face it - Godspell was terrible. I almost cringed when I saw he wrote the music and lyrics for this... but time, as it seems, allows for improvement. And Schwartz has improved quite a bit. The music was fantastic, the choreography was perfect, and all the performers (never seems to fail that we get the understudies) were fantastic.

Because of this, whenever I watch the Wizard of Oz, I will be viewing the witch in a different light. I respect the play because it adds a third dimension to that character - an insight into the side we never saw. This was a fantastic musical. If you have the opportunity to see it, go for it. 9/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

When we were in New York a couple of years ago, like all good tourists, we had to see a show on Broadway. We thought about seeing WICKED, but opted for THE PRODUCERS instead. No regrets, as the stage version of THE PRODUCERS, unlike the not very good recent movie, was fantastic. Hopefully will get a chance to see WICKED one day.
Ah, if only this thread and this site had been around in the heyday of when I used to go to the theater a lot more.
Here are some of the musicals, performances and productions, I've seen:
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, CATS (3x), PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2x), EVITA, HAIR, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (2x), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LION KING, THE WHO'S TOMMY, LES MISERABLES (2x), THE PRODUCERS, STOMP, BLUE MAN GROUP, CIRQUE DE SOLEIL: MYSTERE and CIRQUE DE SOLEIL: LOVE. There have been a few others, but that's all I remember off the top of my head.

We do have tickets to see AN EVENING WITH JOHN WILLIAMS in April of 2008. Yes, THAT John Williams! He'll be conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra who'll be performing music from his film career. Can NOT wait for that one. I'm sure they'll be doing a few selections from a certain space saga. ;D

[ZapRowsdower]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
From an adaptation by Christopher Bond
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Directed By: John Doyle
Venue: Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

I didn't find out until I got there that we were watching a different interpretation of this play than is normally presented. John Doyle had a unique design for it: the actors WERE the orchestra. If the actor was not involved in any specific scene, they remained onstage playing an instrument. Think Blast if it were done by Stephen Sondheim.

It looks to me like this was done on a much lower budget than most theatre productions I've seen. It was not the two-story set I was expecting, but rather a simple (yet well-decorated) backdrop, where a coffin was used as many different objects, including a dinner table and a doorway.

I think the simplicity worked in its favor... in my opinion, anyway. But having seen the movie, I'm familiar with the story. I'm sure there were others in the audience that may have been lost due to some of the blanks that needed to be filled. For instance - when someone had their throat cut, Mrs. Lovett would take a bucket of thick red liquid and pour it into another bucket. I believe this was done mostly for the sound effect. Also, the actor from then on would be wearing a white coat drenched in blood.

The actors were fantastic. I enjoyed Judy Kaye's performance as Mrs. Lovett. In fact, I caught more from her performance than I did with Helena Bonham Carter's. Quite possibly, Kaye's was the best performance I've seen on stage thus far. Also, David Hess made a fantastic Sweeney.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I still would like to see the traditional version of Sweeney Todd, complete with that contraption he sends his victims down. But this reinforces my belief that there's nothing like live theatre.

Next week, I got tickets for Phantom of the Opera.

[ZapRowsdower]

The Phantom of the Opera
Based on the novel "Le Fantome de L'Opera" by Gaston Leroux
Music by: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by: Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe
Book by: Richard Stilgoe, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by: Harold Prince
Venue: The Orange County Performing Arts Center (Segerstrom Hall), Costa Mesa, CA

I've been wanting to catch this forever, and finally got the chance to see it for the first time tonight. And it was absolutely amazing. This was a very beautifully-constructed musical. Joel Schumacher remained about 95% true to the musical - which is admirable, but nothing beats live theatre.

Visually, it was breathtaking. They went all out for sets, costumes, and obviously makeup. The chandelier was a great setpiece, and they used that stage in ways I have never seen a stage used. It was quite visionary.

The performers were great. Trained actors, who had performed on Broadway before, with beautiful singing voices. Much different from Gerard Butler's rough and gritty singing voice, each actor here seemed to have received substantial operatic training.

Overall, if you haven't seen this musical yet, you should. It's a classic of modern theatre. I can't comment on Andrew Lloyd Webber, not having seen any of his other works, but he hit a home run with Phantom of the Opera.

[Pulpmariachi]

What about Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, or Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat?

Actually, I hate Cats.

[ZapRowsdower]

Oh yeah... I've seen Joseph once. It was performed by a church in my area. It was pretty good. I still prefer Phantom. Never seen Cats, but I've heard terrible, terrible things despite its tremendous success.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Don't forget, Evita is a Webber musical as well.

Personally, I don't get the "hatred" for Cats. No offense, Pulp, but I think it's mostly theater snobs who blast it because of its tremendous success. I found it quite entertaining. And besides the live Disney musicals, it's a good introduction to the theatre for kids.
You should see it for yourself, Zap.

[Pulpmariachi]

None taken, Heiney. I just hated "Cats", the entire thing just annoyed me for some reason: the costumes, the music, the whole overall feel; though in my defense I'm nowhere near a theater snob. The last play I saw was "The Lion King" a year-and-a-half ago! MOst of the plays I've seen have been high school staged or recorded videos.

I've read a lot, but that's completley different....

Hey, Zap. I've heard good things about "Avenue Q." If you get a chance to see it, you should tell me how it was.

[ZapRowsdower]

Unfortunately, I missed Avenue Q when it was playing here last... but would definitely like to see it.