You gotta hand it to Mr Fish. He carved out a career and reputation for himself. And people liked his Oklahoma, even if he did undermine the plot, make it difficult to see what was going on, turn the ballet grotesque, and ruin some of the soprano songs. But he provoked discussion and attention. And the event of the show: the picnic tables, the designer’s re-imagining of the circle in the Square as an all-encompassing Americana was definitely fun. And he did hit some fashionably dark notes.
And there was the free chili at intermission. That was the best.
You have to be odd, nowadays, to get the grants, the attention, and to be producer-worthy.
I think he’s smart; didn’t he work as Michael Kahn’s assistant for a good long while? So what look like mistakes or ignorance in his work is probably not. Michael Kahn knew correct textual interpretations of things. So Mr Fish’s are probsbly very willful choices.
It would be interesting to know what his artistic template is.
And I’m glad to hear he is giving work to the great Mary Testa. Heck, he’s creating jobs for many. Let’s hope he’s fun to work with. |
