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| Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous | |
| Last Edit: ianx73 02:46 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
| Posted by: ianx73 02:45 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| Saturday I took in Yerma at the Park Armory. What an original, audacious production. Actors in a rectangular glass tank with amplification. I suppose the idea was that you’d be viewing the events of the play from a clinical distance, watching the actors strut and fret their hour upon the stage. As a concept it was chilling; in practicality it had it moments but became very off putting as the play went on. That said what an astonishing performance from Billie Piper. She goes from self-confident girl of the zeitgeist to a drenched, psychotic harridan desperately and self destructively seeking immortality and communal attachment through desperate but futile attempts to have a child. The rest of the cast was excellent and kudos to Simon Stone, the director A nice bonus was the lounge area at the Armory, where you can get a drink and comfortably sit and relax. The actors came out into the lounge and were very accessible. Billie Piper was lovely and talked with me about how she manages to pull this performance out of her self 8 times a week. Among those in the lounge were Holly Hunter, Mark Rylance, Timothee Chalamet and a slew of British actors whom I recognized but couldn’t place their names. All in all, a great evening in the theater Sunday was time for something completely different, that thing called Rocktopia in the same theater where Gypsy opened 59 years ago. A few years ago I would’ve asked huffily what was something like this doing on Broadway. In 2018, I don’t have to ask. This huge hunk of Boomer cheese could’ve been funny and camp for 20 mins but went on for over 2 hours. It was Andrea Bocelli PBS fundraiser meets Vegas lounge act meets Eurovision contest meets Cirque du Soleil without the acrobatics. I imagined Tony and Carmela Soprano going to this for their annual theater outing. Carmela finding the brief classical interludes "lovely and classy," while Tony rocked out to Don’t Stop Believing. It covered just about every bloated grandiose rock power anthem from the 70s and 80s from interchangeable groups like Styx, Foreigner, Journey and of course Led Zeppelin They used the cheesiest rear projections. The male singers were Jon Bon Jovi wannabes and the women were better but not by much. There was a Celtic violinist, who furiously and hilariously whipped her long blonde air as she frantically sawed on the violin. The classical music consisted of the usual greatest hits stuff including an absolutely horrific Nessun Dorma Finding out that this show originated in Hungary, made perfect sense. I know I’m being snarky but it was definitely a show that would’ve been the big hit in Eastern Europe |
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| re: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous | |
| Posted by: drummergirl 08:40 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous - ianx73 02:45 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| Yerma was brilliant, and Billie Piper was incredible. I'm so glad to have caught this show; I couldn't stay after the performance was over, and oh, how I'm sorry I couldn't! | |
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| re: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous | |
| Posted by: pagates 04:14 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous - ianx73 02:45 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| If this wasn't intentional, it should have been: "whipped her long blonde air" | |
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| re: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous | |
| Posted by: ianx73 10:02 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Weekend theater: from the Sublime to the Ridiculous - pagates 04:14 pm EDT 04/02/18 | |
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| Thanks for the close read | |
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