Shows
Saturday's a matinee day, and so we had two shows
today: Forever
Tango in the afternoon, and
Reckless
in the evening. Forever
Tango is a dance show that Philip booked because
he couldn't get any tickets to the ballet; he figured at least I could watch
that. It was held in the Shubert Theatre (after which Shubert Alley was named).
All week we've been remarking on the Gestapo-like ushers in theatres, like Manny
on a roll: tickets please, up the stairs
to your left, see the usher in the centre aisle, nothing on the railing of the
balcony please, who's taking photographs? We will take your camera from you and
remove the photographs, turn off you cell phones in the
theatre. The ushers in the Shubert were a
refreshing change. We walked in the door; the man there took the tickets with
some reluctance, tore them, and off we wandered, no directions having been
given. There was a person standing at the bottom of the stairs, who barely
noticed us; we went up the stairs with no hassle. At the top, a lady told us to
see the gentleman in the centre, who gently reminded us not to place anything on
the balcony railing — no shouting — and we settled into our
seats.
The show was quite a change from the others. It was an Argentine dance show on tour, and so the entire production reflected a different culture, a less urgent, more stately culture. Broadway shows have one thing in common: they move, there's no dead time, scenes are changed by actors, by machines, so that the lights don't go out, the curtain doesn't come down, until intermission. This show was different. Lots of blackouts; the lights were all over the stage, so they were specials illuminating each musician, each dance couple; there was lots of darkness in general on the stage, very dramatic. There was an 11 piece orchestra on the stage consisting of four concertina players and a string quintet (two violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass), a pianist and a keyboardist who took care of everything from drum rhythms to piccolo sounds. There was one male singer. And there were (I think) six couples plus three solo dancers.
It was a tango show, and it was really interesting. Everything was extremely dramatic, melodramatic even, very Latin, very Valentino. There was one couple who did humourous dances, which were great comic relief; there were a couple of ballerinas whose moves were quite different; and the dance captain and his partner (one of the ballerinas) was fascinating to watch, because his back kicks were so high that they bopped her in the back of her head. She had very very long red hair, which she wore in a single ponytail, which was a good thing, because it acted as a cushion against his feet.
I'm not a connoisseur of tango, so I have no idea what the steps were, but it was interesting to watch the different styles. Some were very sultry; others dramatic, like silent movies, one was humourous, as I've said, some were graceful. One couple were very athletic, very quick, so that their leg kicks were so fast you hardly saw them, like the movements of birds. The whole show was a real change of pace, and very interesting.
Shubert Alley
We stopped by the Drama Book Shop one last time; we picked up sandwiches for lunch, and then we went back to the hotel to pack.
Philip packed while I worked on the computer. This time it wasn't that I was useless; I tried to help but he asked me not to. So I happily watched him. Then I caught a nap before the show.
The evening's performance, Reckless, was a revival of a play that's also been made into a movie. The main character was played by Mary Louise Parker. It's a zany comedy-thing that Philip whispered reminded him of John Guare's House of Blue Leaves, one of the plays Philip directed at Pearson (and one of the most successful ones as well). The story starts on Christmas Eve with a woman whose husband informs her that he's taken a contract out on her life and that she has to leave the house — he's had a change of heart — and she does, wearing nothing but her nightdress and slippers. She's taken in by a couple who are both very generous and very nice, a physical therapist and his paraplegic deaf-mute wife, and she eventually gets a job with them at a charity. The plot starts off crazy and gets crazier, with bodies piling up (the main character has the luck of a Jessica Fletcher) until she winds up in Alaska as a psychologist. Out there!
But it was funny. Definitely had moments. And the production was a very interesting one, rather Phillippian, with no real sets, just backdrops against the cyclorama and window frames that dropped down from the ceiling to indicate the passage of time. Very clever. Mary Louise Parker was (of course) excellent, and there was a surprise from Rosie Perez, who played the paraplegic deaf-mute. My only reservation was that I couldn't laugh for fear I'd have a coughing fit and disgrace myself; we had excellent seats, high up in the mezzanine but dead centre, and I had visions of my having to leave the theatre and sidling past 20 or so really angry knees. But it didn't come to that!
We decided to forego going out to dinner, but instead stopped by a deli on our way back to the hotel. We picked up another sandwich and something for me to eat in the morning, and then we went back to the hotel, arriving at 10:30. We ate, packed some more, and were in bed by midnight — quite a change from the rest of the time!
The show was quite a change from the others. It was an Argentine dance show on tour, and so the entire production reflected a different culture, a less urgent, more stately culture. Broadway shows have one thing in common: they move, there's no dead time, scenes are changed by actors, by machines, so that the lights don't go out, the curtain doesn't come down, until intermission. This show was different. Lots of blackouts; the lights were all over the stage, so they were specials illuminating each musician, each dance couple; there was lots of darkness in general on the stage, very dramatic. There was an 11 piece orchestra on the stage consisting of four concertina players and a string quintet (two violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass), a pianist and a keyboardist who took care of everything from drum rhythms to piccolo sounds. There was one male singer. And there were (I think) six couples plus three solo dancers.
It was a tango show, and it was really interesting. Everything was extremely dramatic, melodramatic even, very Latin, very Valentino. There was one couple who did humourous dances, which were great comic relief; there were a couple of ballerinas whose moves were quite different; and the dance captain and his partner (one of the ballerinas) was fascinating to watch, because his back kicks were so high that they bopped her in the back of her head. She had very very long red hair, which she wore in a single ponytail, which was a good thing, because it acted as a cushion against his feet.
I'm not a connoisseur of tango, so I have no idea what the steps were, but it was interesting to watch the different styles. Some were very sultry; others dramatic, like silent movies, one was humourous, as I've said, some were graceful. One couple were very athletic, very quick, so that their leg kicks were so fast you hardly saw them, like the movements of birds. The whole show was a real change of pace, and very interesting.
Shubert Alley
We stopped by the Drama Book Shop one last time; we picked up sandwiches for lunch, and then we went back to the hotel to pack.
Philip packed while I worked on the computer. This time it wasn't that I was useless; I tried to help but he asked me not to. So I happily watched him. Then I caught a nap before the show.
The evening's performance, Reckless, was a revival of a play that's also been made into a movie. The main character was played by Mary Louise Parker. It's a zany comedy-thing that Philip whispered reminded him of John Guare's House of Blue Leaves, one of the plays Philip directed at Pearson (and one of the most successful ones as well). The story starts on Christmas Eve with a woman whose husband informs her that he's taken a contract out on her life and that she has to leave the house — he's had a change of heart — and she does, wearing nothing but her nightdress and slippers. She's taken in by a couple who are both very generous and very nice, a physical therapist and his paraplegic deaf-mute wife, and she eventually gets a job with them at a charity. The plot starts off crazy and gets crazier, with bodies piling up (the main character has the luck of a Jessica Fletcher) until she winds up in Alaska as a psychologist. Out there!
But it was funny. Definitely had moments. And the production was a very interesting one, rather Phillippian, with no real sets, just backdrops against the cyclorama and window frames that dropped down from the ceiling to indicate the passage of time. Very clever. Mary Louise Parker was (of course) excellent, and there was a surprise from Rosie Perez, who played the paraplegic deaf-mute. My only reservation was that I couldn't laugh for fear I'd have a coughing fit and disgrace myself; we had excellent seats, high up in the mezzanine but dead centre, and I had visions of my having to leave the theatre and sidling past 20 or so really angry knees. But it didn't come to that!
We decided to forego going out to dinner, but instead stopped by a deli on our way back to the hotel. We picked up another sandwich and something for me to eat in the morning, and then we went back to the hotel, arriving at 10:30. We ate, packed some more, and were in bed by midnight — quite a change from the rest of the time!
Posted: Sat - October 9, 2004 at 10:56 AM
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Published On: Oct 10, 2004 05:17 PM
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Published On: Oct 10, 2004 05:17 PM