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| HERCULES this week | |
| Posted by: student_rush 12:03 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| I'll start by saying that I just don't think the Public Works is my cup of tea. I understand the impulse and spirit in which these productions are created, but they should be seen in community centers and schools across the city, not at the Delacorte. HERCULES suffers in much the same way as many other Public Works shows - a hundred bodies onstage, with crowd control taking the place of artistic direction. The professional (Equity) performances are all over the place: Krysta Rodriguez, Roger Bart, and Jeff Hiller acquit themselves nicely, but everyone else is considerably weaker. The muses are fun enough, but don't have the individual personalities as in the film. The book is a nightmare - certainly some fun material, but the actual plotting is garbage. The material from the film holds up as well as anything else in the Disney canon - the spirited orchestra drives the score, and each recognizable tune gets a well-deserved cheer. But in translating it to the stage, everyone has more or less phoned it in. I fail to see how critics can get past the noticeable flaws in the dramaturgy and performance, despite the well-intentioned community outreach. |
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| re: HERCULES this week | |
| Posted by: StageLover 03:43 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
| In reply to: HERCULES this week - student_rush 12:03 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| Why, because it's not Shakespeare? HOW DARE THEY? |
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| re: HERCULES this week | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 12:32 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
| In reply to: HERCULES this week - student_rush 12:03 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| I don't have an issue with the Public presenting something free of charge at the Delacorte, even if it falls more into the realm of community outreach than satisfying drama. It's free, and everyone's mileage will vary with this sort of thing. Regarding the issues you had with the material and some of the performances, my sense is that Disney wanted to use this partnership with the Public as a very (too?) early chance to see how this material plays on stage and what audiences respond to and what they don't. I imagine that no one is envisioning what was seen at the Delacorte as anything close to a final version of the show. These days, once a show is on its feet, even in an out-of-town tryout engagement, it can be very difficult and expensive to make the kind of major changes that many shows need at that point, even though these audiences are the first public audiences for the material and the whole point of putting the show up in Denver or Seattle or wherever is to try it out prior to Broadway. This is why we so often on this board read about shows trying out around the country and find that those same shows have many of those same problems in New York as they had elsewhere in their tryouts. This whole partnership with the Public sounds like a relatively low-cost way to get some early info on this material and make changes at a point when major changes can actually be made. |
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| re: HERCULES this week | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:24 am EDT 09/04/19 | |
| In reply to: re: HERCULES this week - JereNYC 12:32 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| Good explanation, good post; agree on all point. Thanks. | |
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| "Not at the Delacorte" - Why not? | |
| Posted by: earlybird 12:32 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
| In reply to: HERCULES this week - student_rush 12:03 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| I agree with many of your sentiments here. I agree that the spirit of the program is nice, but the huge number of bodies onstage doesn't yield very artistically satisfying productions (though I did enjoy Hercules more than Twelfth Night and As You Like it). But your comment that this shouldn't be done at the Delacorte is a little troubling. Part of the whole purpose of the program is to give these community groups the opportunity to perform in this iconic venue. It's a deliberate attempt to combat the kind of elitist mindset you yourself perpetuated with that comment. Why shouldn't it be done at the Delacorte? It's not like you paid a lot of money to see it. It's not like it cheapens the reputation of the Delacorte. And since Public Works is its own dedicated program, it's not like you are being denied the chance to see professional actors perform at the Delacorte in favor of amateurs. (Well, I guess you could make a case that this did happen last year when they did Public Works Twelfth Night as their 2nd SITP production - but that was the exception to the rule) . |
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| re: "Not at the Delacorte" - Why not? | |
| Posted by: student_rush 09:35 am EDT 09/04/19 | |
| In reply to: "Not at the Delacorte" - Why not? - earlybird 12:32 pm EDT 09/03/19 | |
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| I say not at the Delacorte because it’s an evening of community do-goodedness and not a comprehensive evening of theatre. For the same reason I wouldn’t put a fourth grade art class on display at the Delacorte. But I know I’m in the minority. |
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