Threaded Order Chronological Order
| A STRANGE LOOP (Spoilers) | |
| Posted by: student_rush 05:13 pm EDT 06/23/19 | |
|
|
|
| Count me in the nay-sayer camp. This piece is style over substance - lots of ideas being thrown at the wall without any clear structure or perspective. Much like HEAD OVER HEELS, the show is geared towards those who already (vocally) agree with all topics being discussed. In the case of STRANGE LOOP: Structural racism is bad! It sucks to have self-esteem issues! I wish parents would be supportive to their gay children! And in case you missed these subtle and nuanced points, our protagonist stands downstage center and yells all his points in the faces of his unsupportive parents. The playwright/composer isn't interested in subtext - it's all telling and zero showing. After these "emotional" outbursts, we have the (now expected) pause to indicate to an audience that we should applaud such a brash stance on (common sense, at least for these audiences) opinions. We get a criticism of the stereotype camp characters featured in Tyler Perry media, but the first time we are introduced to Usher's family (through his mind), we get larger-than-life cartoon figures: the dad is comically chugging a Colt 40 beer, the mother is a man in drag, the brother and his estranged girlfriend fight and scream. What is the point here? It's offensive and derivative when some artists draw broad-stroke generalizations, but funny when our protagonist does it? Unlike TITLE OF SHOW, this musical about someone writing a musical almost immediately loses this initial conceit; we are introduced to the idea in the opening song, but then each subsequent scene introduces plot that is completely separate from Usher writing a musical. We see his brief sexual affairs (which he hates, but keeps doing, and we feel bad for him?), his agent asking him to ghost-write a Tyler Perry gospel show, and a constant struggle with his family ... what does this have to do with A STRANGE LOOP, the musical within the musical? Much of my qualms with the structural integrity of the show could be overlooked if the music elevated or drove the (loose) narrative ... and yet from last night to this afternoon, I cannot remember a single motif. Not to be the guy from MERRILY, but it wouldn't hurt to have a hum-mum-mum-mum-mumable melody. We get some lovely harmony (all the performances are excellent) and many of the book scenes contain funny moments, but this collection of vignettes isn't strongly connected by a protagonist's clear need - or - vibrant musical themes. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: "Lots of ideas being thrown at the wall without any clear structure or perspective" | |
| Posted by: Dale 12:12 am EDT 06/24/19 | |
| In reply to: A STRANGE LOOP (Spoilers) - student_rush 05:13 pm EDT 06/23/19 | |
|
|
|
| An example is the scene where various historical figures from the past come alive ( Harriett Tubman, James Baldwin and including Whitney Houston in a expensive entrance ) and then nothing is done with the concept! | |
| reply to this message |
Time to render: 0.010491 seconds.