"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," at LJ Playhouse
So, we saw the third performance ever of the Flaming Lips musical Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots last night at La Jolla Playhouse. I knew we were in for a wild ride when Des McAnuff, the director, came out and warned us that because the show is still in previews and it's the most technically ambitious show they've ever done, there might be "train wrecks." If such a thing occurred, he promised us theatrical anecdotes and a country folk dance lesson from the choreographer. He also said that if they made it all the way through without stopping, it'd be the first time. :D
To my surprise (and, I'll be honest, the tiniest bit of disappointment, given my folk dancing proclivities), there were no train wrecks. It was awesome. There were flying and dancing robots, a 14-foot tall robot puppet with a heart, incredibly smooth transitions with sets and frames and blackout drops moving in and out of the glowing proscenium. There was fabulous martial-arts themed choreography and fantastic puppeteering, the set, lighting, and sound design were fantastic, and the performers were all excellent. I can't remember the last time a piece of theatre so consistently delighted me. It's not perfect; my feminist antennae were twitching in re: the title character being overly exoticized and made the object of her story instead of the subject, but to be honest, I didn't really care about that while the beautifully integrated story, music, and stagecraft put me in a state of utter wonder.
So the story, told almost exclusively in song (selections from The Soft Bulletin, At War With the Mystics, and of course, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots), follows the love triangle comprised of Ben, the ex-boyfriend, Yoshimi, The Girl, and Booker, the affluent current boyfriend, and how they all deal with Yoshimi being diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma and subsequent treatment. The story is largely told from Ben's perspective as the Wayne Coyne stand-in for narrator, philosopher, and Walter Mitty, who imagines Yoshimi's treatments as fantastic martial-arts battles against pink robot cancer cells, with him as the giant pink robot who gains sentience and helps her. There's quite a bit of sciencey stuff about cancer treatments that was integrated without too much fuss by being placed over instrumental bits, and some quite poignant moments with Yoshimi's parents and Booker attempting to cope with Yoshimi's illness.
The second half could use a bit of refinement, since the opening number "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" is the least subtle Flaming Lips song ever, and it felt redundant as a piece of character critique, [Spoiler (click to open)]since Booker has already left Yoshimi by this point, though it is a killer dance routine. Also, what should be the most powerful moment of the piece, [Spoiler (click to open)]Yoshimi's death, doesn't really have space to breathe, partially because "Summertime," the song that follows it, is a pretty slight number that conveys little more than the passage of time. I'd rather they switched it with a song with more emotional heft. "Do You Realize??" would work there as well as at the very end- that's why God invented reprises, right? ;D
But those quite minor quibbles aside, if Yoshimi doesn't make it to Broadway or do well there, the world is a stupid place. The three principals are luminous and heartbreaking, the singing is marvelous, the visual and aural effects are splendid. It's a fabulous piece of theatre with glorious music, and I recommend it to anybody who loves the music of the Flaming Lips or rock musicals. It's not to be missed.
Smooches to All,
Mun42
To my surprise (and, I'll be honest, the tiniest bit of disappointment, given my folk dancing proclivities), there were no train wrecks. It was awesome. There were flying and dancing robots, a 14-foot tall robot puppet with a heart, incredibly smooth transitions with sets and frames and blackout drops moving in and out of the glowing proscenium. There was fabulous martial-arts themed choreography and fantastic puppeteering, the set, lighting, and sound design were fantastic, and the performers were all excellent. I can't remember the last time a piece of theatre so consistently delighted me. It's not perfect; my feminist antennae were twitching in re: the title character being overly exoticized and made the object of her story instead of the subject, but to be honest, I didn't really care about that while the beautifully integrated story, music, and stagecraft put me in a state of utter wonder.
So the story, told almost exclusively in song (selections from The Soft Bulletin, At War With the Mystics, and of course, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots), follows the love triangle comprised of Ben, the ex-boyfriend, Yoshimi, The Girl, and Booker, the affluent current boyfriend, and how they all deal with Yoshimi being diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma and subsequent treatment. The story is largely told from Ben's perspective as the Wayne Coyne stand-in for narrator, philosopher, and Walter Mitty, who imagines Yoshimi's treatments as fantastic martial-arts battles against pink robot cancer cells, with him as the giant pink robot who gains sentience and helps her. There's quite a bit of sciencey stuff about cancer treatments that was integrated without too much fuss by being placed over instrumental bits, and some quite poignant moments with Yoshimi's parents and Booker attempting to cope with Yoshimi's illness.
The second half could use a bit of refinement, since the opening number "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" is the least subtle Flaming Lips song ever, and it felt redundant as a piece of character critique, [Spoiler (click to open)]since Booker has already left Yoshimi by this point, though it is a killer dance routine. Also, what should be the most powerful moment of the piece, [Spoiler (click to open)]Yoshimi's death, doesn't really have space to breathe, partially because "Summertime," the song that follows it, is a pretty slight number that conveys little more than the passage of time. I'd rather they switched it with a song with more emotional heft. "Do You Realize??" would work there as well as at the very end- that's why God invented reprises, right? ;D
But those quite minor quibbles aside, if Yoshimi doesn't make it to Broadway or do well there, the world is a stupid place. The three principals are luminous and heartbreaking, the singing is marvelous, the visual and aural effects are splendid. It's a fabulous piece of theatre with glorious music, and I recommend it to anybody who loves the music of the Flaming Lips or rock musicals. It's not to be missed.
Smooches to All,
Mun42