Friendship Isn't What It Used To Be...
Your childhood friendships change over time. I'm only 13 and I can say that some of the friendships I developed when I was younger have either dissolved away or changed completely from what they were 5 years ago. Last night I saw Vanities, which tells the story of three childhood friends and how their friendship evolved over time. The three, and only, main characters are Kathy, Joanne, and Mary. Kathy, played by Anneliese van der Pol, was the girl who always had an organized plan, and as her life progressed she let go and let life take her wherever it wanted to. Joanne, played by Sarah Stiles, was the girl who led her life as expected: was a cheerleader in highschool, was a soirority girl in college, got married and had four children. Joanne was the typical housewife with the typical scummy husband. Mary, played by Lauren Kennedy, was the "Jenny" character (if you've ever seen Forrest Gump). What I catergorize as a "Jenny" or what Mary was in this case, is the person who doesn't like her past so she figures she's going to get as far away from it as she possibly can. Though you may not expect these women to be friends, they are, and Vanities tells the tale of this unexpected friendship.
The story begins in 1963, the fall of the senior year. The three girls are the cheerleaders and are getting ready for the pep rally and football game, but get sidetracked in thinking about what is going to happen to them after senior year. This is the audience's first introduction to the characters, and you can already get a general gist about their personalities. The second scene moves us five years later, to 1968, their last year of college. The girls are now in a sorority KKΓ and are having to choose the next group of girls to enter. But once again they get sidetracked by realizing that they really are going to be going to different places after college. Here, we see more of their personalities, especially with Mary and how she wants to get as far way as she possibly can, and the heartbreak that torments Kathy. Scene three takes us forward six years to Kathy's penthouse in Manhattan. A lot has changed with the girls now, and it is obvious that the changes strained their friendship. The conflict between them is obvious, along with the subtle hints that Joanne's husband isn't as truthful to her as she'd imagined. The fourth and final scene moves us to 1990, 16 years later, where at last Mary's past is put behind her at her mother's wake. Now that each of the girls has put their past behind them- Joanne's divorce, Mary letting go of her mother, and Kathy letting go of her organization- they finally reconnect with each other, and we can see the friendship rebuilt.
I like the story, but I thought that the book (Jack Heifner)could have used a bit more elaboration. They were points in the play where I was just wanting more out of the story- it didn't seem like the book gave enough detail. Another thing was that it could have maybe used more musical numbers (Music and Lyrics by David Kirshenbaum) towards the end, particularly in the end scene. Although the actors weren't really given much to elaborate on, I thought they did remarkably well. I was blown away by the love and energy these actors conveyed through their characters. I really saw the actors inhabit the characters, and feel what they were feeling, but most of all have fun with it. Aside from one line flub, which happens every once in a while, I thought the acting was flawless. Each of the women showed, through vocal tone and facial expression, precisely what the character was feeling. They were also remarkable as singers, and I loved each of their musical numbers. Annelise van der Pol really conveyed the hurt her character felt during her musical number, "Cute Boys with Short Haircuts". Not only did she convey the emotions, but she sang it so beautifully. Lauren Kennedy really showed how much her character wanted to break free during her number, "Fly Into the Future". And Sarah Stiles showed how content she was with her life in her number, "The Same Old Music". I particularly loved her performance in this song, she was so fun to watch and listen to. These three women gave stellar performances- full of the love and energy the characters had.
Not only did I fall in love with the performances, but I fell in love with the technical aspects of the show. The sets (Anna Louizos) were so innoventive, and so creative, and so beautiful. There were three revolving vanities, which turned around to create different aspects of each of the sets. They started out as vanities, then transformed into lockers for the first scene, another side was built as bookshelves or a closet for the second scene, then they had sculptures on the main vanity for the third scene, and as part of a funeral home for the first scene. I loved how they really used the vanities to their full potential. They had a lot of things come in through the fly space, mostly lights, and the rest of the sets slid on stage, presumably by wire. Their backdrop changed with projection technology, but it didn't look like projections, it looked real. I loved the sets, a lot. This show also had a lot of on stage costume (Joseph G. Aulisi) changes, where the girls would go to their vanities and change. I thought how the put all of the outfits together in one and then made it so it was just zipping up a zipper was smart and easy. The wigs (Josh Marquette) also played a vital role in show, they really communicated the age of the women, and I thought they did their job. I liked the lighting design (Paul Miller)and their use of subtle lighting and soft edge spots. Nothing kills a show for me more than a hard edge spot light, I just don't like the way they look. I thought the lighting design conveyed the mood and made it all look natural, like it should be. And the best thing to say about sound design (Tony Meoloa) is nothing all, but I will say that it did it's job and I could hear the actors perfectly.
Over all, I fell in love with this show. I loved how the director, Judith Ivey, staged the show- it was so real and yet so artistic. I loved the staging of the musical numbers, by Dan Knechtges, and how the actors had FUN. My belief is that when actors have fun and are full of energy, the audience has fun and is full of energy. This show was so fun, and so energizing.
The story begins in 1963, the fall of the senior year. The three girls are the cheerleaders and are getting ready for the pep rally and football game, but get sidetracked in thinking about what is going to happen to them after senior year. This is the audience's first introduction to the characters, and you can already get a general gist about their personalities. The second scene moves us five years later, to 1968, their last year of college. The girls are now in a sorority KKΓ and are having to choose the next group of girls to enter. But once again they get sidetracked by realizing that they really are going to be going to different places after college. Here, we see more of their personalities, especially with Mary and how she wants to get as far way as she possibly can, and the heartbreak that torments Kathy. Scene three takes us forward six years to Kathy's penthouse in Manhattan. A lot has changed with the girls now, and it is obvious that the changes strained their friendship. The conflict between them is obvious, along with the subtle hints that Joanne's husband isn't as truthful to her as she'd imagined. The fourth and final scene moves us to 1990, 16 years later, where at last Mary's past is put behind her at her mother's wake. Now that each of the girls has put their past behind them- Joanne's divorce, Mary letting go of her mother, and Kathy letting go of her organization- they finally reconnect with each other, and we can see the friendship rebuilt.
I like the story, but I thought that the book (Jack Heifner)could have used a bit more elaboration. They were points in the play where I was just wanting more out of the story- it didn't seem like the book gave enough detail. Another thing was that it could have maybe used more musical numbers (Music and Lyrics by David Kirshenbaum) towards the end, particularly in the end scene. Although the actors weren't really given much to elaborate on, I thought they did remarkably well. I was blown away by the love and energy these actors conveyed through their characters. I really saw the actors inhabit the characters, and feel what they were feeling, but most of all have fun with it. Aside from one line flub, which happens every once in a while, I thought the acting was flawless. Each of the women showed, through vocal tone and facial expression, precisely what the character was feeling. They were also remarkable as singers, and I loved each of their musical numbers. Annelise van der Pol really conveyed the hurt her character felt during her musical number, "Cute Boys with Short Haircuts". Not only did she convey the emotions, but she sang it so beautifully. Lauren Kennedy really showed how much her character wanted to break free during her number, "Fly Into the Future". And Sarah Stiles showed how content she was with her life in her number, "The Same Old Music". I particularly loved her performance in this song, she was so fun to watch and listen to. These three women gave stellar performances- full of the love and energy the characters had.
Not only did I fall in love with the performances, but I fell in love with the technical aspects of the show. The sets (Anna Louizos) were so innoventive, and so creative, and so beautiful. There were three revolving vanities, which turned around to create different aspects of each of the sets. They started out as vanities, then transformed into lockers for the first scene, another side was built as bookshelves or a closet for the second scene, then they had sculptures on the main vanity for the third scene, and as part of a funeral home for the first scene. I loved how they really used the vanities to their full potential. They had a lot of things come in through the fly space, mostly lights, and the rest of the sets slid on stage, presumably by wire. Their backdrop changed with projection technology, but it didn't look like projections, it looked real. I loved the sets, a lot. This show also had a lot of on stage costume (Joseph G. Aulisi) changes, where the girls would go to their vanities and change. I thought how the put all of the outfits together in one and then made it so it was just zipping up a zipper was smart and easy. The wigs (Josh Marquette) also played a vital role in show, they really communicated the age of the women, and I thought they did their job. I liked the lighting design (Paul Miller)and their use of subtle lighting and soft edge spots. Nothing kills a show for me more than a hard edge spot light, I just don't like the way they look. I thought the lighting design conveyed the mood and made it all look natural, like it should be. And the best thing to say about sound design (Tony Meoloa) is nothing all, but I will say that it did it's job and I could hear the actors perfectly.
Over all, I fell in love with this show. I loved how the director, Judith Ivey, staged the show- it was so real and yet so artistic. I loved the staging of the musical numbers, by Dan Knechtges, and how the actors had FUN. My belief is that when actors have fun and are full of energy, the audience has fun and is full of energy. This show was so fun, and so energizing.