I find a fatal flow in the logic of love...
Sunday night's donor party was fantastic! I had to make an impromptu trip to Ross to buy a dress, but it was only $20. I left the dress and the sweater I was going to wear at my apartment. Unforunately, I realized this when I was in San Clemente. I met some new interns at the party. I also saw my old bosses from last year but didn't talk much to them. One of them kept randomly disappearing. I'll see them again at the next donor party, so it's not too sad.
I ran into Preston while trying to get a ticket. He had two SRO tickets!! Yea! I got into the staff line to see if I could get a real ticket. I ended up sitting front row, house left. Not too bad! So yea Preston. I sat next to two girls I've hung out with before, Kim and Jen. Funny story involving them and finding a bathroom is to come later on in this review haha.
Now, onto the show. Directed by Franco Dragone, who has previously done a ton of work with Cirque du Soleil, this is a reimagining/new adaptation of the novella. Carmen has had many other incarnations in music. There is the famous opera, of course. Oscar Hammerstein II did his own version of it which isn't so bad. I've seen a scene from the movie. This new score has a lot of pop influences. The choreography is mostly Spanish dance, flamenco, tango and the like.
I did not like this musical. I wanted to like it. The technical aspects were alright. The lighting designer has an extensive resume, and made some really interesting color choices. The set was massive. There was a huge arena wall unit that was about the length of the stage that was curved. That got flown in and out. I've never seen something that large (and with working doors!) flown in before!! The costumes weren't incredible, but they fit the time period and moved well.
It must be mentioned, however, that Carmen's wig was atrocious. The San Diego Union Tribune review has a picture of Carmen and Jose. Every girl was a brunette excpet for Carmen. She was a curly redhead. Not only did it make her look like a gaudy whore, it was so unrealistic looking that it was distracting.
The cast was pretty talented. It was the material that was bad. The book was bad. The lyrics were predictable. The melodies were generic. Some songs didn't make sense. Relationships weren't clear. I didn't believe that Carmen was a great seductress. She didn't stand out enough from the other women, except in that they all had better hair than she did.
Part of my problem with this musical is the story itself. Jose uses Carmen to free himself from his horrible trapped world he has for himself back in Basque. Miceala, his wife back home, loves him almost to the very end. She goes and finds him, and they have an really odd duet, "What is My Heart?" Yes, Carmen uses him too. It's unclear whether she has real feelings for him when he comes to her in Act II. However, I don't think this show is very positive towards women. It didn't make sense to me, why Jose cheats on his wife with Carmen. I felt like their relationship was rushed. Jose is pissed off at being in the Spanish army because he is from Basque. It's a slap in the face, to have to fight for a queen he can't stand. Course, that is what you get when you lack self-control and brutually assault someone. It was either the army or 10 years in jail. Politically he needed to be free. But sexually? Romantically? He appeared to have a great relationship with Miceala! In fact, that was one of the few clear things to me. The opening moments of the musical showed them deeply in love and very devoted to one another.
The dialogue was boring. The book writer is also the choreographer, and her bio implied that she is probably a stronger dancer than writer. I couldn't believe some of the lines and conversations. Sooo predictable!
The ensemble was used on occasion in the most bizarre ways. For example, when Miceala is in a church singing about how she knows her husband needs her, there is a priest banging his head against the cross. On top of this cross was a small bat looking statue. I think I saw something similar at the Haunted Mansion store in Disneyland. There were three ensemble women dressed all in black that would appear upstage on the lower arena unit throughout the show. And during a tender scene between Escamillo and Carmen, there were at least two or three men just sitting idly onstage. Also, some of the ensemble interactions and background noises were awkward.
I was talking to my friend Mike during intermission, and he said that he's finding that theatre people don't like this show. Everyone else loves it. I think that's an accurate observation to make. Unless you can get rush tickets, I'd spend your money on something better. Go see The Deception instead, which is the next show opening at La Jolla Playhouse. It's a coproduction with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, a fantastic company based out in the midwest, I believe. Their coproduction of The Miser a couple of years ago (again with the Playhouse) got rave reviews.
I ran into Preston while trying to get a ticket. He had two SRO tickets!! Yea! I got into the staff line to see if I could get a real ticket. I ended up sitting front row, house left. Not too bad! So yea Preston. I sat next to two girls I've hung out with before, Kim and Jen. Funny story involving them and finding a bathroom is to come later on in this review haha.
Now, onto the show. Directed by Franco Dragone, who has previously done a ton of work with Cirque du Soleil, this is a reimagining/new adaptation of the novella. Carmen has had many other incarnations in music. There is the famous opera, of course. Oscar Hammerstein II did his own version of it which isn't so bad. I've seen a scene from the movie. This new score has a lot of pop influences. The choreography is mostly Spanish dance, flamenco, tango and the like.
I did not like this musical. I wanted to like it. The technical aspects were alright. The lighting designer has an extensive resume, and made some really interesting color choices. The set was massive. There was a huge arena wall unit that was about the length of the stage that was curved. That got flown in and out. I've never seen something that large (and with working doors!) flown in before!! The costumes weren't incredible, but they fit the time period and moved well.
It must be mentioned, however, that Carmen's wig was atrocious. The San Diego Union Tribune review has a picture of Carmen and Jose. Every girl was a brunette excpet for Carmen. She was a curly redhead. Not only did it make her look like a gaudy whore, it was so unrealistic looking that it was distracting.
The cast was pretty talented. It was the material that was bad. The book was bad. The lyrics were predictable. The melodies were generic. Some songs didn't make sense. Relationships weren't clear. I didn't believe that Carmen was a great seductress. She didn't stand out enough from the other women, except in that they all had better hair than she did.
Part of my problem with this musical is the story itself. Jose uses Carmen to free himself from his horrible trapped world he has for himself back in Basque. Miceala, his wife back home, loves him almost to the very end. She goes and finds him, and they have an really odd duet, "What is My Heart?" Yes, Carmen uses him too. It's unclear whether she has real feelings for him when he comes to her in Act II. However, I don't think this show is very positive towards women. It didn't make sense to me, why Jose cheats on his wife with Carmen. I felt like their relationship was rushed. Jose is pissed off at being in the Spanish army because he is from Basque. It's a slap in the face, to have to fight for a queen he can't stand. Course, that is what you get when you lack self-control and brutually assault someone. It was either the army or 10 years in jail. Politically he needed to be free. But sexually? Romantically? He appeared to have a great relationship with Miceala! In fact, that was one of the few clear things to me. The opening moments of the musical showed them deeply in love and very devoted to one another.
The dialogue was boring. The book writer is also the choreographer, and her bio implied that she is probably a stronger dancer than writer. I couldn't believe some of the lines and conversations. Sooo predictable!
The ensemble was used on occasion in the most bizarre ways. For example, when Miceala is in a church singing about how she knows her husband needs her, there is a priest banging his head against the cross. On top of this cross was a small bat looking statue. I think I saw something similar at the Haunted Mansion store in Disneyland. There were three ensemble women dressed all in black that would appear upstage on the lower arena unit throughout the show. And during a tender scene between Escamillo and Carmen, there were at least two or three men just sitting idly onstage. Also, some of the ensemble interactions and background noises were awkward.
I was talking to my friend Mike during intermission, and he said that he's finding that theatre people don't like this show. Everyone else loves it. I think that's an accurate observation to make. Unless you can get rush tickets, I'd spend your money on something better. Go see The Deception instead, which is the next show opening at La Jolla Playhouse. It's a coproduction with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, a fantastic company based out in the midwest, I believe. Their coproduction of The Miser a couple of years ago (again with the Playhouse) got rave reviews.