Three-Penny Opera...
May. 6th, 2006 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatToday seems to be the day for writing in my lj. After not writing in it forever. Maybe because I can write and not have to listen to anyone? Just stay in the comfort zone of my own space for a bit? Was discussing the need for own space/down-time and the need to be constantly busy with CW this week. CW has to be constantly busy. She feels as if something is terribly wrong if she does not have a social engagement of some sort planned every frigging day of the week. Or someone does not call her. Someone doesn't want to do something. I, on the other hand, will go insane if I do not have at least one or two days a week in which I don't have to interact with people and can sit, read, think, sleep, ponder, draw, what-not. This my friends is the difference between introvert and extrovert personalities. An extrovert gets energy from other people. An introvert is drained by other people and needs to be alone to recharge. An extrovert is drained while alone and needs other people to recharge. Hmmm, sounds a bit like vampires and werewolves...it's not. Just in my weird brain. Methinks I've been reading too many urban goth books.
At any rate, saw Three Penny Opera with my pal Wales a couple of weeks ago. We had rear mezzaine seats, almost at the very top of the theater. At a discount, a good 20% off discount, these seats cost us $68. Not a cheap ticket this baby. In fact I remember looking at Wales half-way through and asking, okay, if our seats are $68, how much are front mezzaine? Or for that matter orchestra?
Wish I could say the production was worth the price of a ticket. But it's not. Let me be clear about this - I liked the storyline, what little I could make out of it, and the songs seemed fine, what little we could hear of them, as did the performances. What failed was the production - it did not sell to the rear mezzaine and in theater speak, that is BAD. If you can't sell the show to the back of the theater, you are dead. Was taught that in theater workshops while in sixth grade.
Modern theater is a bit different than theater was in Shakespear's time, when the adage was no doubt first coined. In today's theater world the expensive seats are orchestra and as close to the stage as possible. In Shakespear's time, the expensive seats were in the rear or in the mezzaine. There was a reason for this - to prevent the rich people from having to get hit with rotten tomatoes and be able to discretely leave if the show sucked. Or be able to throw rotten tomatoes and only worry about hitting the poor common folk below, points added if you actually did. Times have changed, the theater is less rowdy and if people don't like the show, they just leave.
That was what happened in this performance. At the intermission several people left. And when the show ended, there was no final curtain call - no applauding and standing ovation - which confused Wales a bit. She thought it was because the production was so embarrassingly bad. I thought it was intentional - ie. there wouldn't have been a call regardless.
Three performances stood out - Cyndie Lauper who plays Jenny, the individual who plays Lucy, and Jim Dale's MR. Peachman. When these guys were on stage - the show had energy. And they each have a solo performance that blows me away. Lauper's makes you want to cry. Lucy's - you almost die laughing and Dale's - a comedy tour de fource. He does an odd soft-shoe backward step that had me giggling. Couldn't hear most of his song though. Alan Cummings on the other hand...did not work in this role. I'm not sure why exactly. If it was his voice. Or just that he did not radiate enough charisma? Was quite astonished by this, because I happen to adore Alan Cummings.
Hearing was a major problem. I'd say it was the venue, but Wales and I saw Cabret in basically the same seats and in the same theater, Studio 54, two years ago and it was brilliant. We heard all the songs. All the lines. Everything. Not so here, I'm afraid.
When Alan Cummings was on stage - I barely could make out a word he said. Wales wondered if it would have been better if we were in the orchestra seats. I don't know. It shouldn't matter in any event. If the people in the rear can't enjoy the show, you don't have a show (that's why directors worth their salt will often watch dress rehearsals from the back of the theater as well as the front). It's not that he wasn't projecting - actually we could hear him better when he stopped projecting, when he projected all we heard was screeching. Same with Mrs. Peachman and everyone else. But Cummings was by far the worst. Wales and I both half wished we had a libretto so we could figure out what they were saying, we also were half-tempted to get the soundtrack - just to figure it out. Wales who has gone to more than one rock concert in her life time, said, "I wondered if I was going death, I couldn't make out a thing." So it was not just me. Part of the problem was the orchestration - the musical instruments often fought with the actors voices to be heard. Cyndia Lauper would launch into an achingly beautiful song, only to have her voice overwhelmed by an errant couple of flutes. Cummings would start a number, only to have the second half blotted out by piano.
Another annoyance - albeit minor, was the actress playing Polly Peachman's insistence on imitating Judy Garland's voice from the Wizard of OZ. At first, I thought I was imagining things. After a while it just grated. To such an extent, in fact, that in one scene, Wales and I were routing for her death. After the show, Wales turns to me on the street outside the theater and asks..."Was it just me or did she sound exactly like Judy Garland's Dorothy from a Wizard of Oz?" But I could have let that pass, if I could have made out what she was saying most of the time. The only character whose dialogue was audible was Lucy. I could hear Lucy. I barely heard anyone else.
Like I said, it's not the musical itself that I disliked, it was the production. I think the actors most likely did a good job. Loved the set design. Enjoyed the costumes. Liked how they would apply each other's make-up on stage. All of that worked beautifully. What did not work was the sound. And to some degree the direction of the piece. Too choppy in places. And far too slow in others. The first half almost put me to sleep - well it would have if I wasn't sitting in the most uncomfortable seats on the planet. Studio 54's seats are not made for human beings or anyone who has legs of any length. Tilted forward, with leg space of about two inches. They feel like being scrunched in the kiddie seat on an airplane. Again, if you are enthralled by the play, you can ignore this - like I did in Avenue Q and in Caberet. But when you aren't? Not so much. The second half, when Cyndie Lauper finally took the stage and Lucy was introduced and we got a lot less of Alan and Polly, things started to pick up a bit. Unfortunately by that time, they'd lost half the audience.
It's a shame. I saw potential here. And I love the storyline - Mac the Knife, his exploits, and making fun of operas. But from what I've seen in the reviews and what I've heard on the street?
I don't see this baby lasting much past the Tony's unless of course they fix a few things. If it doesn't last, know this, it won't be because of the content, the raunchy language, Cyndie Lauper, or the show's themes, it will because of the production's inability to present the show in a way in which the audience in the rear mezzaine can hear and enjoy it.
Do I recommend? Only if you have $200 bucks to blow and can afford for whatever reason the orchestra section.
Otherwise, skip it.
At any rate, saw Three Penny Opera with my pal Wales a couple of weeks ago. We had rear mezzaine seats, almost at the very top of the theater. At a discount, a good 20% off discount, these seats cost us $68. Not a cheap ticket this baby. In fact I remember looking at Wales half-way through and asking, okay, if our seats are $68, how much are front mezzaine? Or for that matter orchestra?
Wish I could say the production was worth the price of a ticket. But it's not. Let me be clear about this - I liked the storyline, what little I could make out of it, and the songs seemed fine, what little we could hear of them, as did the performances. What failed was the production - it did not sell to the rear mezzaine and in theater speak, that is BAD. If you can't sell the show to the back of the theater, you are dead. Was taught that in theater workshops while in sixth grade.
Modern theater is a bit different than theater was in Shakespear's time, when the adage was no doubt first coined. In today's theater world the expensive seats are orchestra and as close to the stage as possible. In Shakespear's time, the expensive seats were in the rear or in the mezzaine. There was a reason for this - to prevent the rich people from having to get hit with rotten tomatoes and be able to discretely leave if the show sucked. Or be able to throw rotten tomatoes and only worry about hitting the poor common folk below, points added if you actually did. Times have changed, the theater is less rowdy and if people don't like the show, they just leave.
That was what happened in this performance. At the intermission several people left. And when the show ended, there was no final curtain call - no applauding and standing ovation - which confused Wales a bit. She thought it was because the production was so embarrassingly bad. I thought it was intentional - ie. there wouldn't have been a call regardless.
Three performances stood out - Cyndie Lauper who plays Jenny, the individual who plays Lucy, and Jim Dale's MR. Peachman. When these guys were on stage - the show had energy. And they each have a solo performance that blows me away. Lauper's makes you want to cry. Lucy's - you almost die laughing and Dale's - a comedy tour de fource. He does an odd soft-shoe backward step that had me giggling. Couldn't hear most of his song though. Alan Cummings on the other hand...did not work in this role. I'm not sure why exactly. If it was his voice. Or just that he did not radiate enough charisma? Was quite astonished by this, because I happen to adore Alan Cummings.
Hearing was a major problem. I'd say it was the venue, but Wales and I saw Cabret in basically the same seats and in the same theater, Studio 54, two years ago and it was brilliant. We heard all the songs. All the lines. Everything. Not so here, I'm afraid.
When Alan Cummings was on stage - I barely could make out a word he said. Wales wondered if it would have been better if we were in the orchestra seats. I don't know. It shouldn't matter in any event. If the people in the rear can't enjoy the show, you don't have a show (that's why directors worth their salt will often watch dress rehearsals from the back of the theater as well as the front). It's not that he wasn't projecting - actually we could hear him better when he stopped projecting, when he projected all we heard was screeching. Same with Mrs. Peachman and everyone else. But Cummings was by far the worst. Wales and I both half wished we had a libretto so we could figure out what they were saying, we also were half-tempted to get the soundtrack - just to figure it out. Wales who has gone to more than one rock concert in her life time, said, "I wondered if I was going death, I couldn't make out a thing." So it was not just me. Part of the problem was the orchestration - the musical instruments often fought with the actors voices to be heard. Cyndia Lauper would launch into an achingly beautiful song, only to have her voice overwhelmed by an errant couple of flutes. Cummings would start a number, only to have the second half blotted out by piano.
Another annoyance - albeit minor, was the actress playing Polly Peachman's insistence on imitating Judy Garland's voice from the Wizard of OZ. At first, I thought I was imagining things. After a while it just grated. To such an extent, in fact, that in one scene, Wales and I were routing for her death. After the show, Wales turns to me on the street outside the theater and asks..."Was it just me or did she sound exactly like Judy Garland's Dorothy from a Wizard of Oz?" But I could have let that pass, if I could have made out what she was saying most of the time. The only character whose dialogue was audible was Lucy. I could hear Lucy. I barely heard anyone else.
Like I said, it's not the musical itself that I disliked, it was the production. I think the actors most likely did a good job. Loved the set design. Enjoyed the costumes. Liked how they would apply each other's make-up on stage. All of that worked beautifully. What did not work was the sound. And to some degree the direction of the piece. Too choppy in places. And far too slow in others. The first half almost put me to sleep - well it would have if I wasn't sitting in the most uncomfortable seats on the planet. Studio 54's seats are not made for human beings or anyone who has legs of any length. Tilted forward, with leg space of about two inches. They feel like being scrunched in the kiddie seat on an airplane. Again, if you are enthralled by the play, you can ignore this - like I did in Avenue Q and in Caberet. But when you aren't? Not so much. The second half, when Cyndie Lauper finally took the stage and Lucy was introduced and we got a lot less of Alan and Polly, things started to pick up a bit. Unfortunately by that time, they'd lost half the audience.
It's a shame. I saw potential here. And I love the storyline - Mac the Knife, his exploits, and making fun of operas. But from what I've seen in the reviews and what I've heard on the street?
I don't see this baby lasting much past the Tony's unless of course they fix a few things. If it doesn't last, know this, it won't be because of the content, the raunchy language, Cyndie Lauper, or the show's themes, it will because of the production's inability to present the show in a way in which the audience in the rear mezzaine can hear and enjoy it.
Do I recommend? Only if you have $200 bucks to blow and can afford for whatever reason the orchestra section.
Otherwise, skip it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-06 10:54 pm (UTC)As far as how long the show will last, it's only a limited engagement, which was going to only run till mid-June, but due to popularity has been extended to the end of June.
I do agree on Cyndi Lauper, though. Her rendition of "Solomon Song" in Act II, in particular, was heartbreakingly beautiful.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-07 02:07 am (UTC)http://www.scarlet.nl/~gugten/three-opera.html
where we had comp tickets in the third row! Unfortunately Sting was trying it unmiked and his unmiked voice doesn't make it to the 3rd row. He was getting sung off the stage by the chorus, even though he was clearly giving it his all. We didn't leave early, that is truly unforgiveable when you have comp tickets.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-07 03:00 am (UTC)It was horrible. Possibly the worste thing I've seen in a long time.
Can't imagine why they extended it. Possibly the star power? Don't recommend unless you can afford orchestra seats or have good connections.