We really don't care about theatre do we?

Timely revival - just this very minute off to the Old Vic to see 'Table Manners' from Ayckbourn's Norman Conquests.

hey jaymc and eazy, what is it about doctor atomic that has inspired you to commit to going to see it in the movie theater? john adams? atomic bomb? anything to do with seeing opera in the movies? i am curious... i can't get any of my friends to go see anything.

Let us know how it goes.

I thought I'd heard of Ayckbourn's name before and it finally hit this week that it was in connection to Alain Resnais, he adapted one of his plays to his last film Private Fears in Public Places. Really liked it myself but its lodged in my memory as the last time I heard a random punter act all angry at a film at the end of its screening. xp

hey jaymc and eazy, what is it about doctor atomic that has inspired you to commit to going to see it in the movie theater?

It came out of being a huge admirer of Peter Sellars, who directed the pre-Met productions of Doctor Atomic. Until the NYTimes articles a few weeks ago, I had assumed this would be his production. So that's what drew me in, but I'm still interested in seeing this new version.

Sellars understands as much as anyone alive about the fundamental nature of live theater. I heard him give a talk at the University of Chicago earlier this year and scribbled down everything I could -- typed up my notes in two parts: here and here.

Here's a camera-phone still from my current production of The Revengers Comedies:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z128/ericzieg/revengers4.jpg?t=1225481168

Well finally got to the theatre this evening for one of the 3 Ayckbourn Norman Conquests plays, which are being revived in London after 34 years apparently).

(Struck down by norovirus just as reached Old Vic theatre last week. Messy)

Pretty good...the first half dragged slightly, but the second half was excellent. It was impressively funny and cynical about the emptiness of middle-class life.

The eponymous anti-hero (?) Norman is a librarian - so it should be an ILX friendly.

Have now booked to see the two remaining plays of the trilogy.

i could go and see these for a fiver a time, being a local resident. the seats you get are really shit though, apparently.

I think they're definitely worth a fiver - even in Upper Circle restricted view seats.

I'd forgotten that the main problem with theatre as an art form is the rest of the audience - which tonight triggered all my prejudices of the upper middle classes - and included my pet hate, over-assertive/loud laughers.

anyone excited about the bridge project?

ooooh boy: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/arts/music/08oper.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

xp - yeah, but not sure if I should subscribe

hey jaymc and eazy, what is it about doctor atomic that has inspired you to commit to going to see it in the movie theater? john adams? atomic bomb? anything to do with seeing opera in the movies? i am curious... i can't get any of my friends to go see anything.

A big part of it for me is the desire to see contemporary theater (which includes new operas) without paying contemporary theater prices. Also a mild interest in John Adams (I've only heard Nixon in China -- on CD, 10 years ago -- but seeing as how I'm a big Glass/Reich fan, I've always wanted to get into his stuff more) and dramatic treatments of American history.

without paying contemporary theater prices

Apparently it still costs $24 to see the opera in the movie theater. I didn't go.

a decent seat at the real thing starts at $80

Yesterday, I saw a run-through of a stage adaptation of George Saunders's short story Jon at a theater here in Chicago. Opens in a few weeks, and it was really extrordinary.

WOW

xp I'll wait for the DVD.

have an extra for On the Town tomorrow

i saw dividing the estate last week and it was offensively bad. going to pal joey next friday and i'm psyched!

i could have predicted the first part. i wouldn't mind seeing martha plimpton, but i think i'll probably pass on that one.

i saw a great on the town just a few years ago in LA. i only got the tix really so my friend could see it.

Apparently, my parents went last night and say it's great, so I'm definitely going. Free ticket if you want to come too.

great I don't know about, but I had a great time on the whole. the LA show I saw (by the Reprise company, now run by Jason Alexander) was a lower-budget production, but with more heart and probably better, in no small part because everyone in the cast was a real actor, singer, and (most importantly) dancer, whereas some of the leads here obviously didn't have a lot of dance experience (maybe it was supposed to be part of the character, but i don't think so), and the choreography wasn't as fresh. and while i don't know how much time these guys took to rehearse, they needed books for dialogue, whereas the LA people did without after two weeks. and the production was a little awkward, at least at first - acting/singing in front of the orchestra, dancing on a riser behind it (at least everyone could see the latter well). the worst part was the totally, well, milquetoast Gabey (who the NYT liked). i mean, i guess he was touching in a moment or two and i know the character isn't supposed to be a stud or anything, but once you've gone Gene Kelly, you better be good in going back. and the Chip was simply boring. but the Ozzie was great, and the chemistry with Claire - the best voice in the house (per usual?) - was wonderful. the Hildy was a little broadway-brassy for my taste, but pretty good, and the Ivy, while adequate otherwise, was an accomplished dancer. i don't know whether to excuse dropping the midwestern-background-exposition with Ivy and Gabey (was that not in the play? don't remember), but the Madame Dilly, while going a little overboard on your standard-Broadway-all-broad-sex-references-are-obviously-hilarious brought the house down. and Michael Cumpsty (! - I had no idea) was great as Pitkin, of course. as was the orchestra, and ultimately you can't really fuck with that music/story.

or maybe i just had better seats in LA and have been ruined by seeing a lot of serious dance since that show

no, i think it was better

almost $300 for Guys 'n Dolls?! seriously?!

my professional opinion on pal joey: if you are going to charge $100 for a broadway ticket, pls to be getting actors who can SING on pitch and with some level of dynamic variance. i think it is bull that the "best" stages in the country put mediocre talent up. who is doing this casting? stockard channing can't sing - this i understand, and that is fine, because it's stockard channing in yr show and she's a sassy broad, etc. however, the rest of the cast should be GOOD. admittedly understudy for joey (last min fill-in) is new to it, but he just does not have the vocal chops, and i don't think he will grow into the role. linda english character: nice acting, but her top end sucked in the songs, and she had no sense of phrasing or artistry. it's really a shame because the throwback stuff is really fun to watch, and the production value was great, but i spent the whole time being pissed that they didn't cast the thing better and that i could think of a handful of people i know who could have done a better job in most of the roles. this is basically why i have a hard time liking most broadway stuff, not just this show, but man, is it frustrating to watch!

nb i didn't pay $100, but people do!!

otm

i think this is a big part of why i will always like opera better. and bc opera is taken more seriously i guess? sure, you get dud singers, but for some reason the whole thing just seems better to me. i have seen some crappy opera, too, but in general, the bad operas i have seen were still more entertaining/fulfilling than 90% of what i've seen on broadway in the past year. i think broadway just has some formula that they plug things into for each show, and for the most part they all come off as variations of the same bad experience.

they do, but not always - the singing tends to get better with more serious/operatic material, and more independent/one-off productions - Lincoln Center, Encores, etc. i've also seen really great musicals in DC (Arena Stage) and LA (Reprise). Roundabout seems to have become a bit too star-focused, a victim of its own success.

i don't expect too much from this Guys and Dolls, but I'm not sure I can resist

hey, what's this Musical Theatre Guild in LA?

forgotten gems and undiscovered treasures in staged concert format!

I think theyre selling this "Joey" on the "honest" book...

oh god don't get me started on f***ing greenberg and his heavy handed "omg this character is GAY!" crap.

o i didnt know about such things.

you around tnite, tza? i'll be at new-wave bar.

ok wow just looking at the wiki synopsis of this show it is now clear how much greenberg mucked it up. ugh. this makes me even more angry!

yeah, i'm around! new-wave bar = metropolitan?

yes! may not get there til 12:30....

i just know prevvious stage/film versions of PJ made him less of a 'heel'. u know, so audiences could 'identify.'

that brings me to a whole other issue that i feel theater should not dumb itself down for the masses. seriously, a character who is not necessarily 'feel good' is not someone you need to dumb down! jeez. it's not "challenging" because he is, oh i don't know, like 65% of men out there, and i resent that producers/directors/writers lower themselves to that kind of audience pandering.

not as inspired as the original production, but there are rush tix avail for black watch

ok, serious follow-up now on pal joey - tehresa, are your objections more professional than anything else? i mean, say you're definitely an opera/throwback person (not a contempo broadway person) and are sensitive to singing quality (and grew up with the original recordings), but $ are more fungible to you and you're not a singer yourself. would you enjoy this fairly well?

thankig u in advance

if you are sensitive to singing quality, i would not see it. you're definitely not going to get the satisfaction of the music you're used to with the og recording (this is based on me listening to clips of original for comparison). the vocal energy/sparkle/pizazz that makes throwbacks so fun just isn't there. if you enjoy the throwback fancy costumes, etc. enough that you can tolerate mediocre singing, i would see it. if you think martha plimpton is hot, i would see it.

haha, i had a crush on a martha plimpton character when i was a kid, and she sound mildly interesting, but i'd rather see her in a play (like the coast of utopia, which i never got to). i am thinking about getting tix for other people, tho. is the orchestra any good?

it's fine. nothing amazing, not bad. i find that setup so weird though (lofted on either side of audience). way to make it obvious that the orchestra was clearly an afterthought to your theater renovation!

thanks

i saw august: osage county yesterday -- i really liked it. loved it even

here are some images from my bf's production of Tennessee Williams' rarely performed "And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens". he directed it and i did the set and production design (and built it too!). the space was a traverse stage, which means there are banks of seating rising up at opposite sides of the space. unusually the seating is on the short ends rather than on the long ends. a very small space with about 70 audience members per night. the intimacy definitely worked in favour of the production. you really felt like you were right in candy's drawing room.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050371.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050395.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050465.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050531.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050691.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050664.jpg

one more:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/colinohara/P1050764.jpg

that's gorgeous! congratulations