Last night NBC aired their annual Live Broadway musical adaptation, Hairspray Live! Following The Sound of Music, Peter Pan and The Wiz. The first three shows were produced on a soundstage in New York City (well Long Island) with no audience. The leads in the first two were not great but the producers wisely surrounded them with award winning Broadway vets. Last year's The Wiz was an improvement and a lot of fun. It was nice to see a show that isn't done that often. And the casting was more inspired. They very wisely cast an unknown actress in the central role of Dorothy and surrounded her with names.
Last spring, FOX aired Grease Live! which was a broadcast from the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, and used many outdoor sets on the lot and had a live audience incorporated into the gym and dance sequences as well as on the streets outside. It added an energy that some felt was lacking from NBC's broadcasts. I will admit that sometimes it seemed flat when a big production number ended and there was no applause, just silence and then cut to commercial.
So taking a cue from FOX, NBC aired Hairspray from the Universals Studios in Hollywood and also used the backlot for outdoor shots. Once again, they had a big search for an unknown actress to play Tracy and surrounded her with name talent. Harvey Fierstein recreated his Tony award-winning performance as Edna. Martin Short, Kristin Chenoweth, Derek Hough, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, Andrea Martin, Sean Hayes, Rosie O'Donnell and games by the original movie Tracy, Ricki Lake and Broadway Tracy, Marissa Jaret Winokur.
Hairspray is one of my favorite musicals of the last couple of decades. I love the score. Its got a great early 1960s sound. And the show is just plain fun. I love it! I think it was an excellent choice and since its not that old show they were able to have one of its original stars re-create this role.
There were some technical issues throughout with some shaky camera work, sound going out a couple of times, and some odd camera angles, or blocked shots. There was a moment in one of the dance numbers where a couple of dancers were blocking a shot of two leads in an embrace for instance. But I think that kind of adds to the excitement of doing it live. But then again I don't think I've noticed as many technical glitches as I did in this one. Lots of shadows on performers' faces too. The jail scene between Tracy and Link as one example. A couple times, Tracy was briefly out of her light in the Corny Collins Show stuff.
And I loved the retro commercials. Those were fun. The Reddi-Whip milk man had me scratching my head. Was that a thing back then? But then I realized they were dong retro style commercials. I loved the Toyota spot best. I have to say it was jarring to see Derek Hough finish a number and then walk directly to the camera and do an Oreos commercial.
Speaking of Derek Hough, I knew he could dance, but he can sing and act too!
I think Maddie Baillio did a great job as Tracy. I loved that they had a talent search to fund an unknown and she did a great job carrying the show. She had great energy, which Tracy needs. I really liked Dove Cameron as Amber too. Garret Clayton as Link was the weak link in the main cast. He looked and moved great. He had some killer moves on the dance floor but not the strongest actor up there.
I LOVED Harvey Fierstein and Martin Short as Edna and Wilbur Turnblad. Their second-act song, You're Timeless to Me, was a high point for me. A couple of sketchy camera shots but otherwise, perfection. Two old pros showing you how its done. THAT'S Broadway to me.
Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle? Singing I Know Where I've Been. Amazing! Brought the house down. But I felt she was a little small in stature to be Big Blonde and Beautiful. Still loved her though.
Kristin Chenoweth was great as always. And they clearly re-wrote her numbers so she could hit those high notes at the end.
Speaking of re-writes, there seemed to be some re-writes form the stage version. There was no Big Dollhouse number and Tracy was the only one to get arrested and go to jail. In the Broadway version all the women wind up in jail. But one of things I noticed with Grease Live! too was that they were doing a hybrid of the Broadway and movie versions of the show as opposed to doing a straight-up televised stage production.
The production design was amazing. Seriously, I loved the Baltimore street set with the Easter eggs in the names of the shops, Waters Plumbing, Divine Pet Food with a pink flamingo on the sign. Nice! And I totally geeked out when I realized that the two women escorting Tracy and Edna in and out of Mr. Pinky's were Marisa Jaret Winokur and Ricki Lake. But seriously, I loved the set design. So much goes into these live productions. And this one looked fantastic.
Picky stuff...in opening number, Good Morning Baltimore, it was clearly not morning but nighttime as the scene was done outdoors after sunset in LA. And since when are there mountains in Baltimore? You could clearly see the Hollywood Hills in the background. I know I'm being nitpicky but these are the kinds of things I notice. Like Billy Eichner as the news reporter with a couple of days scruff. That is a very NOW look. A TV host/emcee/reporter in 1962 would never go on the air looking like that.
Again, I'm being nitpicky. Most people wouldn't notice or care. And does it ruin the experience for me? No. It just takes men out of it when I see something that isn't period in a period piece.
I loved it overall! And I think this one is the best of the NBC shows so far. Nest year, Bye Bye Birdie with Jennifer Lopez.
Showing posts with label broadway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label broadway. Show all posts
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Why is London's West End so much cheaper and easier to access then Broadway?
Last week, I was in London for six days. Before I went on my trip, I bought tickets online to three West End shows. I got very good seats to all shows. I did not get discount tickets. I paid full price online just days in advance of my trip and had no trouble with sold out performances (except for one show which it turns out was just opening and in fact had tickets available for nights later in my trip when I had other plans). I did not pay more than $65 for a single ticket.
One of the shows I saw was The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time. I saw the Saturday evening show and sat in the balcony. I paid $62...full price. If I had bought those tickets for the Broadway production of the same show on a Saturday night, the price would $121. Orchestra seats for $134 to $197.
Why is Broadway so much more expensive? Even at half price, I would spend more for the Broadway production than the West End production. What? And on Broadway the big shows sell out. Oh! And I forgot to mention that this is a play and not a musical. They are even more expensive.
How is it that in London theater is so much more affordable? Think about it, for a family of four to go see a Broadway show like Matilda or Wicked on a Saturday night, it would cost them anywhere from $149 to $232 a seat depending on where the seats are. And there's also premium seating which is over $300 a seat. So that is a potential $728 for four orchestra seats. The of course there is the cost of driving into Manhattan from New Jersey or Long Island and parking. That's another $25 - $45. And then dinner for four. That can vary widely. So let's go on the assumption that the average cost with meal, drinks, dessert and tip is about $30 each (and that's conservative). You're talking another $120. Let's add that all up: $883. $883 for a family of four to go see a Broadway musical. And that's not counting drinks or snacks, souvenirs.
You'd need to take out a loan! What the hell? So, I'll say it again. Why is it so much more affordable to see shows on London's West End? Is it cheaper to produce there? Its a lot of the same shows. Bigger stars. Maybe its the unions her in the US and higher salaries to pay. I don't know. But something isn't right.
It used to be, over 100 years ago, that theater was the main form of entertainment. So it was much more affordable. Pre-radio, pre-movies, pre-television. Theater was the popular entertainment form.
Hell. Even when I started going to theater in the early 1980s, I remember buying two tickets to a big Broadway musical in the mezzanine of the Palace Theatre and only paying $32 to $35. When I lived in NYC in the 1990s, tickets were upwards of $60 - $75, but I could get half price tickets at TKTS. Or I could do standing room for sold out shows at $20 to $25. It was still affordable. Now a half price ticket can be over $100. WHAT!?
Again, why is London so much cheaper? DO they care more about theater there? Is it more common and not considered a special event like Broadway? Top price for Matilda and Wicked on the West End in 125 GBP which is $170. A lot but still less than Broadway and there are plenty of seats for way less than that.
C'mon Broadway, what gives?
One of the shows I saw was The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time. I saw the Saturday evening show and sat in the balcony. I paid $62...full price. If I had bought those tickets for the Broadway production of the same show on a Saturday night, the price would $121. Orchestra seats for $134 to $197.
Why is Broadway so much more expensive? Even at half price, I would spend more for the Broadway production than the West End production. What? And on Broadway the big shows sell out. Oh! And I forgot to mention that this is a play and not a musical. They are even more expensive.
How is it that in London theater is so much more affordable? Think about it, for a family of four to go see a Broadway show like Matilda or Wicked on a Saturday night, it would cost them anywhere from $149 to $232 a seat depending on where the seats are. And there's also premium seating which is over $300 a seat. So that is a potential $728 for four orchestra seats. The of course there is the cost of driving into Manhattan from New Jersey or Long Island and parking. That's another $25 - $45. And then dinner for four. That can vary widely. So let's go on the assumption that the average cost with meal, drinks, dessert and tip is about $30 each (and that's conservative). You're talking another $120. Let's add that all up: $883. $883 for a family of four to go see a Broadway musical. And that's not counting drinks or snacks, souvenirs.
You'd need to take out a loan! What the hell? So, I'll say it again. Why is it so much more affordable to see shows on London's West End? Is it cheaper to produce there? Its a lot of the same shows. Bigger stars. Maybe its the unions her in the US and higher salaries to pay. I don't know. But something isn't right.
It used to be, over 100 years ago, that theater was the main form of entertainment. So it was much more affordable. Pre-radio, pre-movies, pre-television. Theater was the popular entertainment form.
Hell. Even when I started going to theater in the early 1980s, I remember buying two tickets to a big Broadway musical in the mezzanine of the Palace Theatre and only paying $32 to $35. When I lived in NYC in the 1990s, tickets were upwards of $60 - $75, but I could get half price tickets at TKTS. Or I could do standing room for sold out shows at $20 to $25. It was still affordable. Now a half price ticket can be over $100. WHAT!?
Again, why is London so much cheaper? DO they care more about theater there? Is it more common and not considered a special event like Broadway? Top price for Matilda and Wicked on the West End in 125 GBP which is $170. A lot but still less than Broadway and there are plenty of seats for way less than that.
C'mon Broadway, what gives?
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Theater Etiquette (i.e. cell phone and other distractions)
So today I read yet another article about a Broadway performance interrupted by an audience member on their cell phone. Earlier this year, Patti Lupone stepped off stage and grabbed a cell phone from an audience member's cell phone because they were distracting her with her texting. Within weeks there was someone at the play Hand to God who walked up on stage and plugged his phone into a fake outlet on the set just before the play was about to start. He didn't know and was escorted out by the ushers. Ignorance is bliss in this case, I guess.
This week, during a performance of the play Sylvia on Broadway, a cellphone rang right at the climax of the play. The scene involved Matthew Broderick and Annaleigh Ashford. She spoke with playbill.com about the incident. In the play, she plays a dog. The phone rang, twice. They kept on with the scene. After the second ring, the woman answered the phone and start talking. The audience members started shushing her. Annaleigh's initial thought was concern rather than rage. She thought there must be some emergency she needs to take the call.
The woman left her seat but then stood in the hallway and continued her conversation where she was clearly heard. So Annaleigh did what she does whenever they have a cellphone ring in the house. In character as a dog, she barked at the audience and then said, "I think somebody is having a conversation in another room." It got a laugh and they continued. After two pages of dialogue, they couldn't go on any longer because the audience became really distracted by this woman. A man in the front row shouted, "Throw her out!"
Finally someone helped her get off the phone. So Broderick and Annaleigh told the audience we're going to go back in the play and pick it up if its alright with you and they did. Annaleigh has taken it well. No outrage like Patti Lupone, (who I don't blame for her response). Annaleigh has expressed concern that she hopes that nothing serious came up for the woman on the phone and that everything is okay. Also, that she won't do that again.
Being an actor, this hits home for me. I've never personally experienced this when I've been on stage. What are some of the things I have experienced with an audience? Audience members putting their feet up on the stage like a foot rest. As Lily von Schtupp says in Blazing Saddles, "Tell me Tex ma'am, are you in show business?" "No." Then get your friggin feet off the stage!"
I did show in the round last year. The stage was not on a lift. Same level as the floor. So audience members in the first row have to keep their feet tucked in to avoid tripping actors. One day, a special needs young man was seated point the front row. He kept blurting out periodically. It was off-putting to some of the actors who were getting riled. I could tell quickly that this was a special needs person and was not something he could help. At one point, he got up to go to the bathroom, and walked across the stage..while the entire company was on stage. Cast, not happy. I was thrown, but as I said, I could see who I was dealing with.
Another performance, we had a woman in the front row and get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of one of my scenes. Saw her out of the corner of my eye and it threw me for a second. My timing was a bit off, but I recovered. Later in the scene, she returned down one of the staircases from the lobby. Being a theater in the round, actors make entrances and entrances through the house. At this particular moment, several of the girls join the ensemble were on the stairs observing the scene between myself and my daughter. Rather than wait for them to clear, she pushed her way through the girls to get to her seat. She could have sat in an empty seat in the back and waited for a better moment to go all the way down front. She could have stood in the back and waited. I don't know what was so important that she just had to get all the way down to that seat at hat moment. But she did. And she took us all out of the moment.
It seems to be growing concern, and as Annaleigh said we need to educate audiences. Cell phones are way of life now and are not going away. I can understand younger people not having the courtesy to turn them off. They were practically raised in a society where they are a part of their lives. But older folks, really? You are old enough to remember when they didn't exist and you had no choice but to sit and be quiet.
Parents went out and left their kids with sitters and they didn't have to be connected for those two hours. They were fine. But now because the technology is there, they have to be in constant contact.
Can't it wait until intermission? What's an hour or two? And if you're really concerned about your kids that much, maybe you shouldn't go out and leave them alone.
I guess now, its about educating the audiences.
This week, during a performance of the play Sylvia on Broadway, a cellphone rang right at the climax of the play. The scene involved Matthew Broderick and Annaleigh Ashford. She spoke with playbill.com about the incident. In the play, she plays a dog. The phone rang, twice. They kept on with the scene. After the second ring, the woman answered the phone and start talking. The audience members started shushing her. Annaleigh's initial thought was concern rather than rage. She thought there must be some emergency she needs to take the call.
The woman left her seat but then stood in the hallway and continued her conversation where she was clearly heard. So Annaleigh did what she does whenever they have a cellphone ring in the house. In character as a dog, she barked at the audience and then said, "I think somebody is having a conversation in another room." It got a laugh and they continued. After two pages of dialogue, they couldn't go on any longer because the audience became really distracted by this woman. A man in the front row shouted, "Throw her out!"
Finally someone helped her get off the phone. So Broderick and Annaleigh told the audience we're going to go back in the play and pick it up if its alright with you and they did. Annaleigh has taken it well. No outrage like Patti Lupone, (who I don't blame for her response). Annaleigh has expressed concern that she hopes that nothing serious came up for the woman on the phone and that everything is okay. Also, that she won't do that again.
Being an actor, this hits home for me. I've never personally experienced this when I've been on stage. What are some of the things I have experienced with an audience? Audience members putting their feet up on the stage like a foot rest. As Lily von Schtupp says in Blazing Saddles, "Tell me Tex ma'am, are you in show business?" "No." Then get your friggin feet off the stage!"
I did show in the round last year. The stage was not on a lift. Same level as the floor. So audience members in the first row have to keep their feet tucked in to avoid tripping actors. One day, a special needs young man was seated point the front row. He kept blurting out periodically. It was off-putting to some of the actors who were getting riled. I could tell quickly that this was a special needs person and was not something he could help. At one point, he got up to go to the bathroom, and walked across the stage..while the entire company was on stage. Cast, not happy. I was thrown, but as I said, I could see who I was dealing with.
Another performance, we had a woman in the front row and get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of one of my scenes. Saw her out of the corner of my eye and it threw me for a second. My timing was a bit off, but I recovered. Later in the scene, she returned down one of the staircases from the lobby. Being a theater in the round, actors make entrances and entrances through the house. At this particular moment, several of the girls join the ensemble were on the stairs observing the scene between myself and my daughter. Rather than wait for them to clear, she pushed her way through the girls to get to her seat. She could have sat in an empty seat in the back and waited for a better moment to go all the way down front. She could have stood in the back and waited. I don't know what was so important that she just had to get all the way down to that seat at hat moment. But she did. And she took us all out of the moment.
It seems to be growing concern, and as Annaleigh said we need to educate audiences. Cell phones are way of life now and are not going away. I can understand younger people not having the courtesy to turn them off. They were practically raised in a society where they are a part of their lives. But older folks, really? You are old enough to remember when they didn't exist and you had no choice but to sit and be quiet.
Parents went out and left their kids with sitters and they didn't have to be connected for those two hours. They were fine. But now because the technology is there, they have to be in constant contact.
Can't it wait until intermission? What's an hour or two? And if you're really concerned about your kids that much, maybe you shouldn't go out and leave them alone.
I guess now, its about educating the audiences.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Dream Roles - My Bucket List
Ok. Been meaning to talk about this subject since I started this blog.
My dream roles. What are the parts I want to cross off my bucket list?
Here they are, in no particular order, just as they come to mind:
The Baker - Into the Woods
Applegate - Damn Yankees
Rooster - Annie
Roger De Bris - The Producers
Felix Unger - The Odd Couple
Kreton - A Visit to a Small Planet
Marvin - Falsettos
Alan - Baby
Jonathan Brewster - Arsenic and Old Lace
Henry Higgins - My Fair Lady
Charles Condomine - Blithe Spirit
Mason Marzac - Take Me Out
Mr. Macafee - Bye Bye Birdie
Hinesy - The Pajama Game
These aren't exactly dream roles, just ones I would like to play:
Harry in Company
Ensemble in Evita
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd
Twimble - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Benny Southstreet - Guys and Dolls
Dale Harding - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Arnold Wiggins - The Boys Next Door
Ones I'm probably too old for but I really wish I'd had a chance:
Cornelius Hackl - Hello Dolly
Albert Peterson - Bye Bye Birdie
George - She Loves Me
Chuck - Promises Promises
Charlie - The Foreigner
Snoopy - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Whats' that you say? Are there any that I have already played? Why, yes:
Harold Nichols - The Full Monty (And I want to do it again and again!) THE perfect part for me.
Charlie Brown - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Prince Dauntless - Once Upon A Mattress
The Scarecrow - The Wizard Of Oz
Scrooge - A Christmas Carol
Reuben - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
What are yours? Tell me in the Comments section below.
My dream roles. What are the parts I want to cross off my bucket list?
Here they are, in no particular order, just as they come to mind:
The Baker - Into the Woods
Applegate - Damn Yankees
Rooster - Annie
Roger De Bris - The Producers
Felix Unger - The Odd Couple
Kreton - A Visit to a Small Planet
Marvin - Falsettos
Alan - Baby
Jonathan Brewster - Arsenic and Old Lace
Henry Higgins - My Fair Lady
Charles Condomine - Blithe Spirit
Mason Marzac - Take Me Out
Mr. Macafee - Bye Bye Birdie
Hinesy - The Pajama Game
These aren't exactly dream roles, just ones I would like to play:
Harry in Company
Ensemble in Evita
Ensemble in Sweeney Todd
Twimble - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Benny Southstreet - Guys and Dolls
Dale Harding - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Arnold Wiggins - The Boys Next Door
Ones I'm probably too old for but I really wish I'd had a chance:
Cornelius Hackl - Hello Dolly
Albert Peterson - Bye Bye Birdie
George - She Loves Me
Chuck - Promises Promises
Charlie - The Foreigner
Snoopy - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Whats' that you say? Are there any that I have already played? Why, yes:
Harold Nichols - The Full Monty (And I want to do it again and again!) THE perfect part for me.
Charlie Brown - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Prince Dauntless - Once Upon A Mattress
The Scarecrow - The Wizard Of Oz
Scrooge - A Christmas Carol
Reuben - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
What are yours? Tell me in the Comments section below.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Arsenic and Old Lace and other classic comedies
Last night I saw Arsenic and Old Lace at Glendale Centre Theatre. A friend of mine was in the show and as it turns out a few friends were in the audience as well.
I first discovered Arsenic and Old Lace via the movie version on TV when I was around college age. It was my introduction to Cary Grant. Love him in this movie. So damn funny. I like the play too. Not as much as some of the other classic Broadway comedies of that era but I still like it quite a bit. I tend to like the older plays from the mid-20th century (Kaufman and Hart's plays, Neil Simon's a couple of decades later). So many great plays.
So many plays that were standards in community, stock, college and high school theaters all across the country for decades. But these days, maybe not as frequently performed, although still done on occasion. Now I sometimes hesitate when I go to see productions of this era these days. Afraid they may not stay true to the era they were written by modernizing some references or clothing styles.
I am happy to report this production did not disappoint in that department. There was one joke in the second act that referenced Judith Andersen, and I had to process it. Mortimer says to his aunts who are dressed all in black for a funeral service, that they look like Judith Andersen. And then I thought to myself. Judith Andersen. Older actress, British Dame. Known for Medea. Oh! And the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rebecca where she played Mrs. Danvers who was obsessed with the first Mrs. de Winter and is dressed all in black throughout the movie. Oh. Yeah. Funny! I wonder how many people in the audience got that. I'd say none based not he fact that it didn't get a laugh.
But back to the play. The pacing was good for the most part. There was one actor in the opening scene who did not have good pacing. I liked the actor playing Mortimer. He reminded me A LOT of Danny Thomas. I'm guessing if I told him that he would have no idea who Danny Thomas was. My one quibble with him was that he was considerably younger than the two actors playing his brothers. Both were also quite good as were the two aunts. What great parts!
The actor playing Jonathan was great. He looked scary and moved kind of like Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, (which is the main gag for his character). But he really had it down. He was funny.
The reason I'm going on about this is that about 10 years ago saw a production of Arsenic and Old Lace that was not good. And I saw it because I knew several people involved in it. In fact, they closed it down, re-cast a couple of roles and re-opened it. It was definitely better the second time around. But man, the first version. Yikes! I felt like the lead actors didn't get it. They didn't get the style at all. And this brings me to my point.
I feel that many actors who are a decade or more younger than me, don't get plays and TV shows from before the 1980s. Seriously. Like they don't know how to play comedy at all. And I'm talking about really good well-trained actors who are serious about their craft. And maybe that's my problem. Not that I don't take these plays seriously. But to me there is a whole style of acting that has gone out of favor. And its the kind of acting that I like. I feel like a relic.
I feel this type of play falls into the sitcom category as well. There were many plays on Broadway around the 1960s or so (like the Neil Simon plays) that come from the same type of humor...sitcom. Setup. Setup. Joke. Guaranteed laughs. But I think so many actors today don't grow with that so they don't get it. They try to dissect and analyze and approach it like a serious piece. And they miss the beats, the rhythms. Because all great comedy has a rhythm, a pacing, a style. You need to know this and feel it in addition to all the other acting research.
So I am happy to say that Arsenic and Old Lace at Glendale Centre Theatre got it right. It was a delight.
I first discovered Arsenic and Old Lace via the movie version on TV when I was around college age. It was my introduction to Cary Grant. Love him in this movie. So damn funny. I like the play too. Not as much as some of the other classic Broadway comedies of that era but I still like it quite a bit. I tend to like the older plays from the mid-20th century (Kaufman and Hart's plays, Neil Simon's a couple of decades later). So many great plays.
So many plays that were standards in community, stock, college and high school theaters all across the country for decades. But these days, maybe not as frequently performed, although still done on occasion. Now I sometimes hesitate when I go to see productions of this era these days. Afraid they may not stay true to the era they were written by modernizing some references or clothing styles.
I am happy to report this production did not disappoint in that department. There was one joke in the second act that referenced Judith Andersen, and I had to process it. Mortimer says to his aunts who are dressed all in black for a funeral service, that they look like Judith Andersen. And then I thought to myself. Judith Andersen. Older actress, British Dame. Known for Medea. Oh! And the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rebecca where she played Mrs. Danvers who was obsessed with the first Mrs. de Winter and is dressed all in black throughout the movie. Oh. Yeah. Funny! I wonder how many people in the audience got that. I'd say none based not he fact that it didn't get a laugh.
But back to the play. The pacing was good for the most part. There was one actor in the opening scene who did not have good pacing. I liked the actor playing Mortimer. He reminded me A LOT of Danny Thomas. I'm guessing if I told him that he would have no idea who Danny Thomas was. My one quibble with him was that he was considerably younger than the two actors playing his brothers. Both were also quite good as were the two aunts. What great parts!
The actor playing Jonathan was great. He looked scary and moved kind of like Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, (which is the main gag for his character). But he really had it down. He was funny.
The reason I'm going on about this is that about 10 years ago saw a production of Arsenic and Old Lace that was not good. And I saw it because I knew several people involved in it. In fact, they closed it down, re-cast a couple of roles and re-opened it. It was definitely better the second time around. But man, the first version. Yikes! I felt like the lead actors didn't get it. They didn't get the style at all. And this brings me to my point.
I feel that many actors who are a decade or more younger than me, don't get plays and TV shows from before the 1980s. Seriously. Like they don't know how to play comedy at all. And I'm talking about really good well-trained actors who are serious about their craft. And maybe that's my problem. Not that I don't take these plays seriously. But to me there is a whole style of acting that has gone out of favor. And its the kind of acting that I like. I feel like a relic.
I feel this type of play falls into the sitcom category as well. There were many plays on Broadway around the 1960s or so (like the Neil Simon plays) that come from the same type of humor...sitcom. Setup. Setup. Joke. Guaranteed laughs. But I think so many actors today don't grow with that so they don't get it. They try to dissect and analyze and approach it like a serious piece. And they miss the beats, the rhythms. Because all great comedy has a rhythm, a pacing, a style. You need to know this and feel it in addition to all the other acting research.
So I am happy to say that Arsenic and Old Lace at Glendale Centre Theatre got it right. It was a delight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)