A Chorus Line

I loved this show. It was incredible. It combines the excitement and tension of auditions with an interesting psychological back-story for each character. What better two aspects of drama are there to combine? I loved every minute of it.


I really liked how the director and his voice-from-the-megaphone was a character all his own, with his own story and his own baggage that slowly plays out over the course of the show. I really liked how simple and elegant this show was. I wanted MORE- I wanted to hear everyone’s life story. I’m not sure why they chose to have no intermission and make it all one act. I could’ve watched three more acts of this show and loved every minute of it.

I know I’m always complaining about plays that are about plays, musicals about musicals. But I actually found it really endearing this time to focus on the chorus members and show that even for a non-speaking role, so much passion and life has led up to this audition moment for each person and everyone has different motivation and drive. I’m a sucker for all of it. This was a great show for me.

I’m fairly sure they either preserved or recreated the 1970s choreography. It would’ve been interesting to see more modern choreography since disco-era dancing is now dated. But it worked. I also particularly liked the choice the SF Curran Theater’s version made to have giant rotating mirrors as the backdrop, which proved incredibly powerful for those of us in the balcony who now saw an entire theater reflected behind each dance number. Very cool. I never stopped smiling during this show.

Insignificant Others

Insignificant Others is a modern day "Tale of the City" about five friends who move from the Midwest to San Francisco looking for love and adventure.

Yes, it’s a familiar plot. Yes, they moved from Ohio. Yes, I really really wished they would bust out at least one verse of “Why-o Why-o Why-o did we ever leave Ohio?” and give props to Wonderful Town. No luck. Instead, we got this:

The Good

• It’s been a long-time dream of mine to write a musical that takes place in the tech world. I’d love to see some choreographed typing and dancing around cubicles and modern office spaces. This show took a stab at it and actually did a whole musical number involving modern rolling office chairs! It was pretty great actually, they did some fun choreography and cleverly danced around each other as they navigated their chairs into different patterns. Only four dancers and chairs though, and nothing else but chairs and them on stage- still it made me smile and I was impressed.


• The main character, Margaret (played by Sarah Kathleen Farrell) has to really hold this show together. As the red-head fag-hag, she does one outrageous musical number after another, each time raising the stakes, until eventually she’s acting out an S&M scene in full leather. If she had been weak, this show would’ve crumbled. Instead, she was having a blast on stage and helped us have a great time too.


• There were two songs I loved. One is the up-beat very fun song “Heterosexual” where Margaret belts out her joy at finally finding a guy in SF to date who isn’t gay. Bringing in a kick-line and taking this song entirely over the top, gets a laugh out of everyone. This is also the tune that stuck in my head and I was singing days later. Next, I thoroughly enjoyed the song “Plumbing.” Upon discovering that her straight boyfriend is actually a transsexual, Margaret sings a dark tune about “the wrong plumbing” while her backup male dancers hold up actual plumbing pipes in different patterns to spell and insinuate things during her song. It was an impressive clever way to pull off a dance number.


• This show is constantly chiding Starbucks every chance it gets. Starbucks becomes more and more powerful throughout the show, beginning to sell groceries, oil, and even Chinese food. The little riff they sing each time Starbucks acquires a new product line was alright. But after drilling it into our heads through the entire show, having the final Starbucks riff come when a two-timing boyfriend finds himself “so busted at Starbucks” is pretty funny.

The Bad

• I think the first rule of theater is that no one singing alone on stage should EVER put their hands in their pockets. Don’t give these actors pockets if they’re going to do that. Luke’s ballads should be strong and powerful, instead he came across as scared and insecure. Too bad.


• The first act ends with a car crash. The second act begins with a song whose chorus tells us that “time heals all things.” We as the audience naturally assume a death has happened. Imagine our surprise when we learn that our male protagonist has instead “moved back to Ohio.” WHAT? That made no sense.

The Ugly

• I have never, in my entire history of seeing shows, been more distracted by a set. This set almost single-handedly ruined this show. It was a cartoony/childish construction of the façade of some SF houses, with a stylized Golden Gate Bridge backdrop. One problem- it never changed. Whether they were in an office, Rainbow Grocery, Starbucks, their apartments, a nightclub- same set. They just stood in front of the very colorful, very poorly made, very unaligned and off-perspective set. The set screamed “don’t take this show seriously, this is a spoof, this is silly.” The show tries to throw in a lot of serious songs and moments, which is totally thwarted by the set. Other problems… when they would open a window from the set, it didn’t line up with where the painted window was. Intentional no doubt, but ultra distracting! The lines weren’t straight on any window, the bridge changed perspective angle halfway across it- I spent way too much of this show being distracted by this cartoony set. Even a minimal set or a blank wall would’ve been more effective than what they have. Considering this show has been running for over a year now, I wish they’d invest a bit more effort in the set.

The Other Summer Movies

Well, I see you've covered most of the big summer movies so far, but there are a few left for me to tackle.

Iron Man

Let me first say that I tried everything I could not to see this movie. I had no interest in this film, I've never seen a Robert Downey Jr. movie, I had no knowledge of who Iron Man was, and nothing in the previews or story sounded interesting to me. I managed to avoid seeing this for weeks until I was back in Denver and every other
movie sounded worse so I finally gave in. I went into the theater expecting to hate every second of it and already hating that I was seeing it at all.


To my complete surprise this movie was amazing. It begins with an arrogant, corrupt, sleazy businessman, Tony Stark, who gets captured as a prisoner of war. Instead of having that experience transform him and give him the morals and values of a "superhero," Stark remains a complete jerk! It's wonderfully refreshing to not only see a flawed superhero, but I LOVED that he didn't spend any time waffling about whether or not to do what he's doing (Spiderman, Batman, etc). He just accepts his flaws and embraces life! It's great.

There are many other things that are great about this movie. I love that he openly admits his alterego at a press conference without trying to hide it. I love that he makes mistakes and we get to see him learn. This is almost more a movie about inventing and mechanical engineering, with minimal focus on fighting crime or saving people. I also, again to my total surprise, loved Gwenyth Paltrow's character. She plays his loyal assistant who keeps busy to avoid thinking about her own feelings, and he totally takes her for granted. It's a great dynamic and the film does a great job of drawing out awkward moments, glances, too much eye contact, etc. Bravo!

I never thought I'd say it, but Iron Man is probably my favorite superhero film of the modern era.


Kung Fu Panda

Well, it's no Horton Hears a Who, but how can you compete with that? Actually, Kung Fu Panda was a lot of fun. It's not easy to tackle such movie cliches as martial arts, wise sensais, discipline-filled dojos, etc when so much has already been done. But this movie dove right in and made its own place in the East Asian mantra teaching films.

You will laugh out loud. You will like it. Jack Black's Po is a loveable character. They step around a lot of obvious holes you expect them to fall into. There are two scenes that make this movie worth seeing. One involves the best computer graphics I've ever seen as the villain, Tai Long, escapes from a mountain prison where he is being held as the only prisoner, chained over a bottomless pit with a thousand guards standing by. That was amazing, believable, and well-earned. (Also Ian McShane, Deadwood's Swearengen, is the voice of Tai Long- which is a great bonus!) The second amazing scene is the montage where Po tries to grab the last dumpling from his wise master. A more intense and impressive battle over one food item can likely not be found in movie history. Well done! Yeah, it's worth seeing.

If You See Something, Say Something

On Friday I got an email about a secret Mike Daisey show that would take place at noon on Monday. Daisey and his director/manager/wife Jean-Michele Gregory were back in New York for one day doing a new show at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater. They'd just been in Sante Fe performing a preview run of the show. After Monday's performance they were off to DC to perform the show there for a few months before returning to New York again in the October to begin a run at the Public.
How often do you get a chance to see a great show on a Monday at noon, for free? Not often enough I say. So I went. The new show is called IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING. It's about the manhattan project, but also about 1,000 other things. This monologue was even longer than the last one. I couldn't believe it. Two Hours he spoke. And a packed house sat and listened. It's really very satisfying to be in Daisey's audience. He gives you two hours of good, clean input. And it's interesting to remember that his shows are theater. He's peforming. He's not just reading a script. In fact there supposedly isn't a script. Just an outline. I like to go to his shows and walk out and think, if that was theater, what else could be theater?

Summer is here

I've seen a few summer movies in between unbearably hot catering jobs. I'll start with the most recent.  

Wall-E

I really. really loved it.  I saw it twice already and selectively downloaded bits of the soundtrack.  I must have a place in my heart for sci-fi robot love stories like Wall-E and A.I.  They seem to confirm my belief that even as the world as we know it changes (like the polar ice cap forecast to disappear in September) the capacity to love remains.  The little Wall-E robot is so freaking cute and sweet.  I wanted to hold him.  I wish I had his attitude.  There's a poem taped to the wall of the cubicle I'm working in this week at 1800-catholic that basically says life is all about attitude.  It's 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.  I want to paste a picture of Wall-E next to this poem, and the next time I have to make a decision I want to remember him.  I'm also envious of how deeply Wall-E loves Eve.  I want to love like wall-e loves!  I dare you to download "It only takes a moment" after seeing Wall-E and make it through without crying.  Somebody should play this at their wedding.  

Pixar has won me over two summers in a row.  Overall, I think Ratatouille is a better movie because it's just so Chinatown-ish-ly flawless, but Wall-E has it's share of wonderful moments.  Do you think I should go back and watch the Pixar movies I've missed? I boycotted Toy Story because of Tim Allen and what I perceived to be his culturally conservative Home Improvement baggage.  I saw Finding Nemo and liked it, but then I didn't like The Incredibles.  Should I now go back and rent movies like Cars and Monsters, Inc. that I never really considered?  

The Strangers 

This a horror movie about a couple tormented by strangers who invade the house.  The only reason I saw it was because I really didn't want to see The Happening (which I ended up sneaking into right afterwards anyway.)  Midway through The Strangers I decided that I was not scared anymore.  The masks that the strangers wear are creepy, and the idea of them sneaking into my house and following me around got me at first.  But soon I got tired of being scared, and to the annoyance of my friend John, I started whispering that I wasn't afraid anymore.  I decided that if I was in this movie, I would just go to the front porch and start singing, inviting the strangers to come kill me.  Dying didn't scare me.  I'm afraid of other things, I kept telling John, though I couldn't name what exactly these things were.  Thinking about it now, I can think of one thing scarier than being killed my masked strangers: me accidentally killing strangers. 

The Happening

There's a big scene in the movie when everyone is at the train station escaping the mysteriously deadly plants.  The scene made me wish we traveled in trains more often, boarding them in places as awesome as Philadelphia's Union Station.  Pennsylvania always looks so freaking gorgeous in M. Night Shamalan's movies.  That is all I remember thinking about The Happening.  

Sex and the City

I thought Sex and the City was fun, you just have to approach it with a little sense of humor. The movie is so ridiculously over-the-top that the only real way to appreciate it is to sit back and relish it's insanity.  I read in reviews that the movie's jokes were flops, but I saw Sex and the City twice, and both times the audience laughed start to finish.  We laughed at the unintentionally funny parts and we laughed even harder at the intentionally funny parts.  (Yes, that sentence is correct.)  We laughed at the unintentionally funny parts because we enjoyed the camp of it all.  We laughed at the intentionally funny parts because we went into the movie determined to enjoy it.  (Just like Wall-E, we were good sports with great attitude, and it paid off.) 

Shortbus

After I saw Indiana Jones I came home and watched Shortbus, a non-pornographic movie about sex by John Cameron Mitchell. Pretty much the only reason I rented it was because one of the stars, Jay Brannan, lives in my building.


I watched it on my computer with an internet explorer window open the whole time. and so I wasn't really paying much attention to it. The best part about it is how in between scenes, the camera flies over this really cool animated model of New York.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I'd intended to go to see a new play by Neil LaBute tonight.  It was sold out, so I thought, why not Indian Jones instead?  

My verdict? Phantom Menace is to Star Wars as Crystal Skull is to Indiana Jones.  

I'd leave it at that, except I want to add that my heart aches for Karen Allen, who seems so happy to be in a movie again.  My only comfort is that she's probably making a lot of money.