Dame Edna

I don't know what I was expecting, perhaps something campy and corny. Max had sent me a YouTube of Dame Edna taken back in 2005. The clip was funny, so I was looking forward to a unique show. She has purple hair and since purple is my favorite color, I figured she/he must have something right. I would be a good sport about the show.

The show as packed and apparently she has a cult following. When we sat down, the gay couple sitting next to us included a guy wearing a copy of her infamous glasses. She sings a song about her favorite son, Kenny. Based on her song's refrain "friends of Kenny" are gay guys. The audience was full of Kenny's friends.

I had tears laughing so hard, she was so funny. Max's usual barometer is whether or not he would pay to see it again. Hands down, he would. He would not only pay to see another show, he would pay for Don, Lisa and the kids to see it. Yes, even though this is a great character actor in drag, nothing was said or joked about that kids could not see. They may not "get it", but they could see the show.

If you view the YouTube clip, you will notice that she picks on an audience member. During our show, she picks on...sorry, interviews 4 people in the audience. One lady was seated on the other side of Max. Whew! We escaped the spotlight. She interviewed and joked with them about their name, where they lived, what kind of house they lived in and what they did for a living. Then on top of that, she had them come onstage to be interviewed on a couch similar to Johnny Carson, Jay Leno or even Oprah because HBO is filming this show for a Dame Edna reality show. The lady next to Max was giggling hysterically and would not go onstage. She finally relented after good hearted urging from the audience and Dame Edna herself. It was in good fun and no one was humiliated.

A unique aspect of the show is that her favorite flower is Gladiolas. So bouquets and bouquets of gladiolas are brought out as she tosses them out into the audience and into the "ashtrays" (balconeys) above her. Then those of us with the gladiolas would wave them in tune with her last song of the show and wiggle them as we gave her a standing ovation. Good show and lots of laughs. See it and enjoy!

La Traviata

We went to see La Traviata last Saturday night. We love, love going to the Opera with all the glitz and glamour. This time I decided to dress in a formal evening gown, just because I was in the mood. Prior to the Opera, we had dinner and drinks at Kendalls. Then the Opera. A nice Saturday night.

La Traviata is the normal Italian Opera scenario. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again, girl dies.

This Opera is about Violetta a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with Alfredo, an aristocrat who is obsessed with her. She leaves her previous life to make a commitment to Alfredo. She has to sell most of her possessions to maintain their life of ease, living in the country. One day, Alfredo's father meets with her to convince her to leave Alfredo because of the scandal it is causing his family. Alfredo's younger sister is planning to marry and her fiancee may leave her if the scandal continues. So Violetta leaves Alfredo to return to her previous life in Paris. In the final act, she lays dying and Alfredo and his father reunites with her.

In La Traviata there is a hit a minute. A couple of years ago we saw La Traviata and it brought tears to my eyes. In the second act there is the dance of the gypsies and a world renowned flamenco dancer. The performance of the gypsy dancers is a special favorite of Max's. This performance was good and all the singers were excellent. Maybe it was the acting, but I just didn't get the same passion as I did from the previous performance of the opera. Also, the gypsy dancers in this Opera was not as entertaining as the previous one we've seen.

Also, there were distractions in this audience. As we sat waiting for the performance to start, a large man and his girlfriend sat down in front of us. She was a small Japanese girl dressed in an authentic kimono. During the performance they were a major distraction because they kept leaning into each other, kiss on the cheek here and kiss on the lips there. I wanted to whisper to them that this is an opera, not a drive-in theatre. Get a room for goodness sake. Then there was a couple behind us who was talking. These tickets are expensive and for people to be so inconsiderate is mind-boggling.

But all in all, it was still had a thoroughly entertaining evening.

Oleanna

Oleanna was a new play at the Mark Taper Theatre, added after the season tickets were printed. We saw this play on May 31 which is during the preview part of the run. Three years ago our tickets were changed to the preview shows without really letting us know or giving us an option to change. After 20+ years of being season seat subscribers, we were a bit indignant (yes, we can be a bit snotty at times). But then we realized that the tickets were half the cost of the shows that were 3 or more weeks into the run of the play. Also, after a few plays we found that we still enjoyed the performances and we did not notice any degradation in quality.

So back to Oleanna. This is a two person play starring Bill Pullman (While You Were Sleeping, Independence Day) and Julia Stiles (Bourne movies) written by David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, The Postman Rings Twice, Wag the Dog, The Spanish Prisoner).

Taking place at an ivy league school, a student is meeting with her professor to discuss her potential failing grade and the frustration of just "not getting it". Even though the professor is pressed for time to meet his wife and their realtor to buy a house, he decides to stay and work with her and help build up her confidence. Through the dialog or what some people would say his pontificating, she somehow misinterprets his intentions. Or, does she?? Now at this point this could be controversial based on how people perceive the dialog between the two characters. But the dialog is wonderful, captivating and mesmerizing as the play progresses and the roles become totally reversed. There were several moments in the play where I could here audible gasps from the audience when the life of the professor is slowly destroyed.

Very good, thought provoking and enjoyable. Guys, and nowadays Ladies too...be very careful. If you are ever in a position of authority, never be in a room alone with the opposite sex unless they are your significant other.

Star Trek

Saturday, 5/30/2009. Alex came to visit and so we thought we would take him to see the movie, Star Trek. I think movies like this should be seen on the biggest screen possible rather wait until it comes out on DVD.

I've seen the original Star Trek series over the years and a couple of the movies with the original cast and crew. Max has not seen any of the shows or movies. He wasn't thrilled about going, but was going along for the ride.

Alex gave it a thumbs up and Max said it was surprisingly good since he had such low expectations. Star Wars or Star Trek or any fantasy/science fiction genre is not his preference.

I thought it was thoroughly entertaining as fresh new faces take on the likeness of the cast of the original series. It was very interesting that the technology shown in the series so many years ago is still considered high tech as it is portrayed in the movie today. The movie starts at the beginning...the maiden voyage of the impressive USS Enterprise. The crew begins to build as each member is introduced starting with Captain Kirk, Spock and so on. Despite initial personality conflicts and overcoming thrilling obstacles they team up to become heroes as they battle the villainous Klingons to save the universe. It ends with the obvious conclusion that there has to be another Star Trek movie, or what is wrong with the world?!?

Ain't Misbehavin

Sunday, May 10, 2009.

We were really looking forward to this musical, but it wound up being a bit disappointing.

This was a collection of songs from Fats Waller who was a jazz pianist from the 1930's. He died prematurely at 39 years of age because of his weight and excessive drinking. No plot or story. 4-5 singers singing his songs and a bit of dancing.

Max said. It is ok. I would give it a C+. I don't know if it was the quality of the singers or the songs. But I thought it was boring. I wouldn't see it again if it were free.

Gail said. I enjoyed it and each song kept me smiling and entertained. But it was just one song after another and none really turned up the bar evoking any strong emotions from me. I agree with Max. I was entertained, but I wouldn't see it again.