Robert Ashley operas at La Mama starting on the 15th; i'm probably going to all three, if anyone wants to do drinks or dinner before or after one night shoot me an e-mail.
― ian, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 19:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Removable parts was awesome. Really touching but just when it started to get heart-wrenching it switched gears to keep you from being a sad sack. I really liked it!
Ian, I'm totally down.
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 07:14 (fifteen years ago) link
I might have time for one of those.
Not a big fan of LuPone's (current) voice, but Gypsy was worth the discount ticket. Now I gotta get a gimmick.
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:06 (fifteen years ago) link
*shaking head*
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:13 (fifteen years ago) link
what're yer gripes?
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:28 (fifteen years ago) link
the staging was horrendous, the acting was horrible. i thought benanti was lame and uninteresting and not tony caliber at all and lupone was screechy and over the top (but not in a good way, even for mama rose). i enjoy old musicals, so it's not that i just don't like the show, i just felt like it was some of the worst 3 hours of my life in that theater.
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:33 (fifteen years ago) link
wtf @ that sheep!
You're just not gonna see that on stage anywhere else, and American culture is poorer for it.
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:37 (fifteen years ago) link
wait american culture is poorer for not seeing bad acting and a shitty production?
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:44 (fifteen years ago) link
oh, c'mon. I'd hate to think where you'd place the 3 hours I spent seeing The Wild Party!
We live in a world where revivals of Grease run for years every decade.
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:47 (fifteen years ago) link
that doesn't mean that anything not hairspray or grease revival is automatically better!
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:49 (fifteen years ago) link
even if the show might be better on the surface, you still need a good production/cast. if you can't make me feel anything, i don't care how famous you are. even the bette midler tv movie was more moving imo.
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:56 (fifteen years ago) link
xp: It does if it has a song called "Have an Eggroll, Mr. Goldstone."
I'm not sure the audience even got that the June/Louise acts were sposed to be bad until the characters said so.
Sorry tza, I did get a mild case of goosebumps at "Everything's Coming Up Roses."
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:56 (fifteen years ago) link
I never saw any other version, but I recall Peter Riegert was Herbie opposite the Dreaded Bette. dnw Midler tho.
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:57 (fifteen years ago) link
plus, you felt disgust lol
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 14:58 (fifteen years ago) link
my audience "got it"
fwiw hairspray and this gypsy were both mounted by the same producers so i don't think you can really make any argument that one is inherently more artful in its intent, regardless of the date it was written.
i was not goosebumped by ecur.
― tehresa, Friday, 9 January 2009 15:03 (fifteen years ago) link
All sorts of variable persons and things are mounted by Broadway producers.
It's harder to screw up Gypsy than a John Waters film whose chief asset is the period music THAT'S REMOVED for a new score!
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 15:06 (fifteen years ago) link
(i decided against the gyllenhaal vanya mentioned above; going to cripple of inishmaan instead.)
― tipsy mothra, Friday, 9 January 2009 15:37 (fifteen years ago) link
good Irish miserabilism!
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 9 January 2009 15:46 (fifteen years ago) link
When I re-read your post saying "denis o'hare and maggie g in vanya", I started thinking of Denis Leary in Vanya. I'd like to direct that.
― Eazy, Friday, 9 January 2009 15:48 (fifteen years ago) link
obviously this is going to get me nowhere, but retooling a score to make a commercially viable adaptation (sorry, things don't go to bw unless they have some commercial goals in mind, even w/ the bw not-for-profits, and waters sold rights for it so he had to realize it was going to happen) is one thing that while artistically "questionable" is somewhat justifiable, but putting up a half-assed production (that did not receive good reviews the 1st time it ran at city center) and charging $125 for it is not acceptable to me.
― tehresa, Saturday, 10 January 2009 02:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Haven't read the Times review yet, but the summary for Hedda Gabler is
That the director Ian Rickson is responsible for one of the worst revivals I have ever, ever seen has me flummoxed.
― Eazy, Monday, 26 January 2009 16:10 (fifteen years ago) link
i have been trying to figure out how i feel about that production for the past week and i am just not sure. the pacing was REALLY weird. pj harvey's music was neat but i hate trying to put sound design like that in a straight play. it just seems so out of place. i feel like at times it was hard to forget her weeds character because her range was at times very similar to nancy botwin's more sarcastic/frustrated moments. i was really disappointed by peter stormare. i usually love him and expected a lot, but he was pretty awkward, not in a good way.
― tehresa, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:01 (fifteen years ago) link
maybe i should be glad i've seen weeds all of twice. that probably helped. otm re sound design.
i liked it though, had no expectations coming in and was just happy to go for free
― ambassador of france (jergins), Monday, 26 January 2009 17:34 (fifteen years ago) link
you know, i do feel that MLP's range can be very limited.
― Surmounter, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:36 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah i have certainly seen a lot worse theater in the past year. i didn't hate it. i don't usually agree w/ brantley anyway. i just haven't been able to say i loved it or hated it... i almost don't have much of an opinion at all.
― tehresa, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:37 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm currently deciding whether or not to spend 3 hours of my life at The Cherry Orchard
― Surmounter, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
can you do so for free? i'd say give it a shot if so.
― tehresa, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:41 (fifteen years ago) link
MLP did plenty of theatre before becoming a cable star, i dunno about her range tho
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 26 January 2009 17:44 (fifteen years ago) link
We care about (musical, mostly) theatre.
― The Unbelievably Insensitive Baroness Vadera (Ned Trifle II), Monday, 26 January 2009 18:17 (fifteen years ago) link
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45411000/jpg/_45411582__44409308_hair_body_pa-1.jpg
^^what people think of when they think of theater
― Eazy, Monday, 26 January 2009 18:20 (fifteen years ago) link
er, that'shttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45411000/jpg/_45411582__44409308_hair_body_pa-1.jpg
RIP Anna Manahan; really strong in The Beauty Queen of Leenane:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/arts/10manahan.html
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 10 March 2009 18:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Trying to figure if I want to gamble on Nathan Lane & Bill Irwin in Godot -- I have a $20 tix email.
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 13:45 (fifteen years ago) link
― Surmounter, Monday, January 26, 2009 12:38 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― tehresa, Monday, January 26, 2009 12:41 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
i didn't end up doing this. but i have no shame. just not my cup o tea
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 13:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Morbius just GODOIT
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:16 (fifteen years ago) link
The only WfG prod i've seen was Mike Nichols' 20 years ago w/ Steve Martin & Robin Williams (and Bill Irwin as Lucky)...
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link
this thread is quite frustrating because we all seem to be talking about wildly different things but i'm glad it's here nonetheless.
the next two months in glasgow have some great things upcoming:
anne liv young is bringing her newest thing "the bagwell in me" to the arches theatre festival which is also putting on Belgian troup Ontroerend Goed company's "Once and for All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen". excited for that.
talking of the Belgians, who are undoubtedly creating the best theatre in the world, the Tramway are mounting an international series (4 Belgian companies and none from anywhere else lol) comprising Jan Fabre's "Orgy of Tolerance", Victoria's "Venizke", C de la B's newest large scale work, "Ashes" and Wayne Traub's "Maria-Magdalena" (although i'm pretty meh about Traub).
i'm so psyched.
i was supposed to be heading to Antwerp to see the latest Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui piece but it seems that has been nixed for financial reasons.
my bf has been asked to direct quite a major thing based (loosly) on the early life of Louise Bourgeouis and i'm going to be designing it too. thriled.
― jed_, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:44 (fifteen years ago) link
still haven't seen anything by anne liv young. keep hearing things about her -- a couple of my friends know her/have worked with her
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:46 (fifteen years ago) link
sur, you just missed "sherry's march madness" which was a performance in the shape of a fucked up cocktail party (or something) in her own apartment in NYC. sonds pretty lol.
if you are interested you should add her company as a friend on facebook. she does lots of small scale things like that and posts invites to them to "fans" through fb.
― jed_, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:50 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, i guess she does that fairly often? one of my friends was in one of her apt pieces a little while ago. SHIRTLESS no less :)
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link
haha, her "snow white" ended with her getting two men in the audience to strip off and close-dance with her on stage (she was naked) while she told the rest of the audience to get out of the auditorium (which we duly did, she's not the sort of person you would defy). she was trying to get them naked too but they only went as far as SHIRTLESS.
― jed_, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 15:58 (fifteen years ago) link
i've just skimmed some stuff about her shows, and man, they would annoy me
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:17 (fifteen years ago) link
but you are easily annoyed.
― jed_, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:18 (fifteen years ago) link
well, ive had 25 years to get annoyed by stuff like that.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:19 (fifteen years ago) link
the line between annoying and innovative is an important one, nonetheless
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:21 (fifteen years ago) link
and long may it continue.
"stuff like that" doesn't really cover it. i've seen a lot of performance, most of it bad, and her work is pretty unique.
xpost
― jed_, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
some of my coworkers saw that one where she plays George and Martha Washington. on-stage cunnilingus etc... i was kind of annoyed i missed it
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link
obv I dunno, I'd have to see it. I'm a lot more wary of "innovative" tags than I was 20 years ago.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm interested in how performance art isn't called performance art anymore, so folks don't go into it with the same preconceptions.
― Eazy, Wednesday, 18 March 2009 16:40 (fifteen years ago) link