Last weekend I saw Carrie (Friday, Ray of Light) and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Saturday, San Jose Stage). Carrie was by far the better of the two.
CARRIE: Flop? What flop? Ok, I know this has been significantly re-tooled from the infamous Broadway premiere. When I saw Carrie announced I got the new Marin Mazzie recording and really like the entire recording, every number. So many awesome ballads, and they really hit in the theater. Many got huge rounds of applause. Ray of Light’s production was outstanding. The set design is a large box with planks resembling gym bleachers. The two sides of bleacher rows open and close to create a more intimate feel for certain scenes. Clever projections are shown on the back wall, and the grain of the wood creates these muted, almost impressionistic images. They are really beautiful. The gym’s destruction is a simple but powerful and unexpected effect. I won’t give a spoiler, but let’s just say the actress playing Carrie better be standing in the right place. :-) I really can’t single out any actors, they are all uniformly good and well into their roles. Cristina Ann Oeschger as Carrie and Heather Orth as Margaret were exceptional, and Riley Krull as Chris and Courtney Merrell as Sue were also very good. The orchestra sounded great; they are unseen backstage. At least I think the music was live. I don’t have the Playbill but I don’t recall seeing any musicians listed and there were no monitors with a camera on the conductor for the actors, but during the curtain call the cast turned stage left and stretched out their arms. So I’m assuming there was a live orchestra back there. Overall, I loved this show, perhaps because I felt so awkward and lost in high school -- who wasn't?! -- and could identify with Carrie and the unprovoked abuse she endures. The house was packed, but if you get tickets, go see it. Highly recommended.
CHAD DEITY: Pro wrestling is one of my guilty pleasures – I’ve known a few pro wrestlers and have great affection for their profession -- so I was intrigued by this production. There is lots of exposition about the different character types and terms in the sports entertainment (i.e., heel, jobber, bumps, heat, etc.), most if not all of which I know. But the audience, well, just looking around, didn’t look like your typical wrestling crowd, so perhaps they learned something new. The reviews I’ve seen call this play, among others, “ridiculously funny.” I chuckled many times, but it is far from the funniest play I’ve ever seen. It didn’t take much to see through the sleazy and fickle promoter quickly changing wrestling champions and angles to satisfy ticket buyers, and playing on ethnic stereotypes when it suits the storyline. Again, as someone who has followed pro wrestling for a long time, I’m already well versed to how the industry works. (I was, however, not the biggest fan there; the two guys behind me, I thought this might be their first legit theater experience, they were happy to loudly note a few times when a move was incorrectly named: “That’s technically NOT a PowerBomb.” LOL) Amazing energy from the actors, doing some exceptional wrestling moves, particularly so since the audience was less than half full. Pro wrestling is most effective when the crowd is big, loud and really into the action, cheering the faces and booing the heels. It is the ultimate break-the-fourth-wall experience. Perhaps the low-energy inside the theater was due to the small crowd. The set is just a wrestling ring with steps and entranceways behind. Video and still projections are used throughout. The ring is low, just a foot or two off the ground, so my first row seat was just fine sight-wise. (Mini Spoiler: Try to grab one of the faux dollars Chad tosses out during his elaborate entrance: the back is a coupon for 2-for-1 tickets to another SJ Stage 2013-2014 production.) I left the theater content and happy at seeing a good show, but wondering what happened to the “ridiculously funny” show that was advertised.
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