Bring It On

The plot for this musical is pretty simple.  Campbell is on the top of the world as one of the popular cheerleaders at her high school.  But due to redistricting, she has to go to an inner city school, totally different from her white, upscale, suburban school.  She is one of the few white girls in the school and so it is hard to fit in. 

But she tries to make new friends.  She convinces the cheerleaders at her new high school to compete against the same cheerleading squad she use to belong to.  See picture to the right for one of the cheerleaders of her new school and one of her new friends.


It is fun time.  The music, dancing and cheerleading acrobatic moves were energetic and enjoyable to watch.  It was a good time and I would see it again.  Max, maybe.

Opera-Romeo Et Juliette

In 1867. Charles Gounard took Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and turned it into an Opera.  Everyone knows the tragic story of the two young lovers. 

In this opera, the sets and costumes are from the era of Gounard rather than the earlier times of the original Romeo and Juliet timeframe of the 1500’s. 

This is the first Opera we’ve heard by Gounard and it was beautiful.  Even though we all knew the ending, we are swept up in the new love and sorrow of losing that love.  Wonderful.

Vigil

Kemp visits his Aunt Grace after 30 years because he receives a letter from her saying she is dying.  He has a sense of nostalgia of his childhood and in a way, staying with his Aunt helps him reminisce because she was part of that past.

Aunt Grace is played by Olympia Dukakis who is priceless in this role because she hardly says a word except at the end of the play.  The remainder of the time, she shrugs, makes faces and gestures. 

He at first sits with her, but then weeks and then months pass by and she seems to be getting better.  He then schemes ways to kill her and it is hilarious as she “dodges the bullet”.  I got it after a while.  She really isn’t his Aunt, but didn’t want to tell him because she liked the company.  His real Aunt was the strange woman he kept noticing across the street who always sat by the window as if she were waiting for someone.  At the end, he realizes that he has found home and they both “adopt” one another.

We definitely enjoyed it.  We don’t know if another actress would have provided the impact that Olympia had provided with her performance with just her body language and no dialog.  Great play.