Yippie-ki-ay, git along little dogies
"There are giants living in Columbus. One of them is named Aaron Donald Kint. He's not a "Fee Fi Fo Fum" kind of giant. No, Aaron Kint's giant-ness must be measured in increments equal to his enormously super-sized talent.
Columbus is already this country's 15th largest metropolis, yet the city felt bigger somehow to me after seeing Aaron's bacKspace troupe perform Top That at Columbus Dance Theatre last night. No, I don't mean square miles or population density bigger ... I mean world-class artistically bigger.
Top That is a uniquely clever hour and a half long experiment in top-quality, label-defying musical theater. It's an ever-twistingly unexpected yet impeccably tailored show that literally cross-dresses pop culture entertainment eras and genres. While Top That takes on the seemingly impossible task of interweaving the over-the-top campy-ness of drag queen-style musical parody, the surreal hyper-energy of a Richard Simmons workout video, a pimp-n-ho New York Fashion Week runway show, head bobbing pop songs from everywhere and everywhen, and the poignancy of a Shakespearean (rainbow-colored) love triangle tragedy, it still manages to remain reasonably narratively coherent and always, always, always fun.
Everyone who is a good friend or close relative of any Top That cast member should take that superstar out to dinner next week and thank him or her a thousand times for adding his or her splendipity to the show. At the ridiculously low ticket price of five dollars, you know that these starving artist types (read: dancers) are in it for love not money and could use a nice meal and some good old fashioned back (or butt, if they prefer) -slapping for a job magnificently done.
By the way, as you enter the theatre doors to see "Top That", there are multiple parental guidance posters warning that the show is filled with sexual-ness, social commentary, and even a little nudity. These three elements alone would entice me to see the show, but add an Aaron-mixed all-over-the-place soundtrack that not only kicks ass musically but also adroitly drives the plot line, extraordinarily designed, goddess-level-on-high lighting by Jenny Howard, phenomenal performances by every one of the cast members, and Aaron's multidimensional immensely infinite-to-the-outer-limits-forever talent, and, I'm telling you, this is a show that will be hard to top.
Go see "Top That"! It's playing again tonight at 8 and Sunday afternoon at 3. It is fantastic times many amounts of muchness.
IfYouGo,I'llSeeYouThere.ICan'tWaitToSeeItAgainFully,
James"
I'm really not sure who this guy is--I know he's been at every Wall Street show, I know he came to all three performances and the dress/tech rehearsals and filmed us several times, I know he's kind of creepy looking and doesn't smile or make eye contact too much, and I know that everyone else kind of knows him but not where from. Either way, he is all about hyphens and unilateral praise.
One person called me last night and apologized really genuinely for missing the show, and I had to forgive him because the reason involved alarms misset (something I'm used to) and sisters in the hospital (something I'm not). It was the most genuine apology I've ever gotten for something like this, and though it's still disappointing I didn't get to share the fucking awesomeness that was Top That! with him (and that no one else has bothered calling), it made me feel good.
I slept from 7:30 to 4:30 last night, getting up and taking an intense shower and going to Panera to breakfast and study; took several naps today and am finally tackling my room while watching the third presidential debate; will soon be doing homework and then going out to enjoy my first stress-free, exhaustion-free evening of a couple of weeks. Yum!
Also, apparently municipal courts don't care if you're a full-time student--arraignment's promptly at 8am on Friday [in Delaware, yeesh], and I can go suck it if/since I have class. Should be back for Biology lecture, at least, and I'll just spend the night up there Thursday and probably end up with a free tank of gas, or at least a lot of free food, so it's not all bad. Also, the general consensus is that this expedition was "retarded, but hilarious," a set of adjectives I can happily add to my repertoire of larks.