Burn This

I am catching up on all the plays and shows that we’ve seen.  It has been over a year since we’ve seen this play and to be honest, I could not remember it.  So thank goodness for Google and I found reviews of this play and it all comes back to me.

Anna is a dance-choreographer who lives in a loft in Greenwich Village with two gay men, Larry and Robbie.  The play starts with Anna and Larry grieving after hearing that Robbie died suddenly in a boating accident.

Later that evening, Barton, Robbie’s brother bulldozes and staggers into their loft, drunk.  To me, Barton is not good enough for Anna, but there is this underlying attraction for one another.  They finally get together and Barton straightens out, but I still don’t think he was good enough for her.

It was okay and not memorable.

Fela

What a way to start the New Year!  We loved the music, but would we see it again? The music had an African beat with a jazz influence. The dancing was wild and I was exhausted just watching.  The women were dressed in colorful tribal short skirts that portrayed the primitive culture, mixed with sexual sophistication.  The men were dressed in skin tight pants, no shirt and a jacket.  Exuding sexuality as they danced with a lot of pelvic jerks undulations.

The main character is named Fela, pronounced Feelah.  He is the owner and main star of a nightclub that features dancing and songs that protest the oppressive dictatorship of Nigeria.

Fela begins to sing and talk about his life, but first he gets the audience to stand up to learn how to dance.  We are instructed to jerk our hips in a clock direction. So for example, if he says 1 and 8, we jerk our hips at 1 o'clock and 8 o'clock direction.  It was fun and loosened us up.

Fela went to school abroad and was influenced politically when he moved to the US.  It was during the 1960's, time of protests, Black Power, and Malcolm X. He marries a Black woman who pushes him to move back to Nigeria to protest the oppressive regime. It is hard for him because he is arrested and tortured many times. He thinks about leaving, but he stays because of the memory of his mother. She was also a political figure and was killed when Fela's home was invaded and she was thrown from their upper balcony. Her ghost convinces him that he serves a higher purpose to benefit his people.

The singing and dancing was powerful, but at the same time I felt there was too much overt sexuality and anger in the dancing. One girl looked like she was dry humping as she squatted.  Being in the first row, I could tell she looked almost embarrassed as she did it. Maybe it was the look of some of the audience members in the front row. Also, one of the other girls had this contemptuous, angry look as she turned upstage. Was she portraying the attitude of the oppressed?  I don't know, but it was a turn off.

We thoroughly enjoyed the music and dancing, but it wasn't enough for us to want to see it again.

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.

Opera-Cossi Fan Tutte

Cosi is an Opera Buffa first written by Mozart 1790.  It is amazing to me these operas are written so long ago and is still performed for audiences today.  Talk about immortality.  The title means “Thus Do They All” or “School for Lovers”.

Don Alfonso challenges his friends, Ferrando and Guglielmo to test the fidelity of their fiancees, Fiordiligi and Dorabella.  Alfonso  tells the young women that their fiancées have been summoned for active military duty.  They depart as the women declare their love and that they will wait for their return.

Ferrando and Guglielmo return to the town, but disguised as Albanians.  They begin to woo Fiordiligi and Dorabella, but they switch.  They woo each other’s fiancée to see which one will fail.  Slowly but surely Fiordiligi and Dorabella fall for their suitors and a there is a celebration of their engagements.

Ferrando and Guglielmo reveal who they are and the women are devastated.  But the men forgive their fiancées when Don Alfonso advises them to forgive and forget.

It was enjoyable, but we prefer the Italian operas. Also, I love Mozart’s music, but not too crazy about his Operas.  

Les Miserables

Translated, Les Miserables means The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones or The Wretched Ones. This story was written by Victor Hugo back in the 1860’s and after so many thousands of performances over the years, it has a nickname of Les Mis. 

Max and I have been going to the theatre for many, many years together and neither one of us had seen Les Miserables since it opened back in the 80’s.  There has been a recent surge in Broadway revivals. Over the past year we’ve seen Mary Poppins, Dreamgirls, South Pacific and now Les Miserables.

I knew this was going to be a dramatic show when the orchestra started with the opening number with stirring drums and brass and accompanied by a wonderful chorus of singers.  The combination was a musical experience that could be felt within, not just heard.  The story opens as Valjean is released from prison after serving 19 years on the chain gang for stealing bread for his little nephew.  He becomes embittered as he tries to continue with his life, but is shunned, distrusted and mistreated.  Finally a Bishop takes him into his home, feeds and clothes him.  In turn, Valjean steals from the Bishop and runs away.  But he is soon caught and faces prison for the rest of his life.  The Bishop again shows him mercy by telling the police that the stolen loot were gifts and by the way, gives him two more silver candlesticks that he had forgotten to take with him.  The stunned look by Valjean by the goodness and mercy given by this man makes him turn his life around to live a good life.  Total tearjerker! 

Eight years later and Valjean has remained hidden from the law and is now a wealthy mayor of a town.  He takes pity on one of the unfortunate women of the town who has died leaving behind a daughter, Cosette.  He adopts Cosette as his own daughter and moves to Paris because he is still running away from the law, in particular a policeman, Javert. 

Life progresses in Javert's life and 9 years later, Cosette is a young woman who falls in love with Marius, a young student who takes part in a revolution.  Now, I’ve always thought Les Mis was about the French Revolution, but it is about the June Revolution, which was 50 years later, lasting about 2 days.   

Valjean knows Marius is in serious trouble and he wants Cosette to be happy.  He sings a song, which is a prayer to God to protect Marius.  The song, “Bring Him Home” is such a loving, heartfelt, touching song.  “He’s like the son I might have known, If God had granted me a son”.   I’m thinking of Damian as I remember the lyrics and I pray to God that He brings Damian home safe and sound as he returns from Iraq next week.

Valjean joins the fighting at the barricade manned by Marius and the other students of the revolution.   When Marius is seriously wounded and all the other students are killed, Valjean saves Marius by escaping into the Paris sewers.  Javert catches Valjean, but lets him go so that Valjean can take Marius to the hospital.  Faced with the conflict of the mercy and goodness of Valjean and his own commitment to justice, Javert commits suicide.  Marius marries Cosette, who in turns learns that Valjean is not her real father.  The couple goes to Valjean just before he dies to let him know how much they owe him and love him.

Now, I am trying to keep this review condensed, but I have to mention the innovative way they portrayed Javert’s suicide scene.  Instead of just showing him jumping off a bridge (mattress below), they had Javert held up on wires and the backdrop switched to the dark river waters of the Seine as he revolves towards the darkness.  Then there was the tearjerker ending as Valjean dies, he sees visions of characters who have perished previously throughout the play as they welcome him to his next journey. 

To me, this was a very compelling performance and I enjoyed it immensely.  This is a top notch show that was not only entertaining, but it was a lesson in history.  Now I know why the musical has been such a classic success over the many years. 

When I asked Max how he liked it he said, “Yeah, I liked it.”  Now think about it.  There is an enthusiastic, “Yeah!  I liked it!” versus a “Yeah, I liked it” accompanied with a shrug.  So I pursued it and he said, “It wasn’t La Boheme.  So we have a mixed review on this one.