and all will know the wonder of purple summer
Just got in from seeing Spring Awakening at the Kennedy Center. I had an onstage seat- I was put in what amounts to the down right corner, and made friends with the adorable two guys who were sitting next to me. As they don't allow people onstage their bags or even a program to browse, it winds up being a choice of Make Friends or Stare Blankly Ahead. We chose the former. :) They were fabulous and made the wait fun, both before the show and for the last half of intermission.
The show itself was FABULOUS. I'd read the play during my semester at King's and been thoroughly underwhelmed (repression= bad, sex ed= good, shock me shock me), and I never felt like the cast album of the musical was any indication that the show lived up to the hype. Seeing it at last from three feet away, No, it doesn't do the show justice at all. I still find the plot a little eye-roll-worthy (yes, being a teenager sucks, get over it) and find the score patchy at times, but damn- when it's live, it's THRUMMING with energy and all the raw passion that everyone promised. The arrangements are just better and even though the sudden appearances of the hand-held mics were always a little silly, the SOUND of them really makes the show work. There was also a lot of really, really clever staging- ways to bring out moments, to use the set- that pinged little bells in my mind and made things click for me in a way that you just can't get without seeing a show on stage for yourself.
I caved to my inner teenaged fangirl and visited the stage door (which I knew well from the old 'Carmina Burana' days) and met the cast. In keeping with Tradition, my copy of Strong Poison is BEDECKED with the cast's signatures and sparked a number of fun conversations. I also saw the bookwriter/lyricist walk past, and according to an overheard conversation between Jake Epstein, the new Melchior, and his assembled family (there were like, SEVEN FAMILY MEMBERS who'd all come to town to see him open the show in DC, IT WAS ADORABLE THEY WERE SO PROUD AND BROUGHT HIM FLOWERS), director Michael Mayer was in town as well to give JE some last minute notes. MADNESS!
For now, I am off to Bedfordshire. Torchwood will wait. I may or may not be ducking out of work briefly tomorrow to try and find any other date with available stage seats that I can possibly make- sooner or later, we start rehearsing La Boheme for Wolf Trap, so I need to act fast.
BED.
The show itself was FABULOUS. I'd read the play during my semester at King's and been thoroughly underwhelmed (repression= bad, sex ed= good, shock me shock me), and I never felt like the cast album of the musical was any indication that the show lived up to the hype. Seeing it at last from three feet away, No, it doesn't do the show justice at all. I still find the plot a little eye-roll-worthy (yes, being a teenager sucks, get over it) and find the score patchy at times, but damn- when it's live, it's THRUMMING with energy and all the raw passion that everyone promised. The arrangements are just better and even though the sudden appearances of the hand-held mics were always a little silly, the SOUND of them really makes the show work. There was also a lot of really, really clever staging- ways to bring out moments, to use the set- that pinged little bells in my mind and made things click for me in a way that you just can't get without seeing a show on stage for yourself.
I caved to my inner teenaged fangirl and visited the stage door (which I knew well from the old 'Carmina Burana' days) and met the cast. In keeping with Tradition, my copy of Strong Poison is BEDECKED with the cast's signatures and sparked a number of fun conversations. I also saw the bookwriter/lyricist walk past, and according to an overheard conversation between Jake Epstein, the new Melchior, and his assembled family (there were like, SEVEN FAMILY MEMBERS who'd all come to town to see him open the show in DC, IT WAS ADORABLE THEY WERE SO PROUD AND BROUGHT HIM FLOWERS), director Michael Mayer was in town as well to give JE some last minute notes. MADNESS!
For now, I am off to Bedfordshire. Torchwood will wait. I may or may not be ducking out of work briefly tomorrow to try and find any other date with available stage seats that I can possibly make- sooner or later, we start rehearsing La Boheme for Wolf Trap, so I need to act fast.
BED.