Review - Romeo and Juliet

A friend of a friend gave me a ticket to last night's Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet.  I thought, why not?  I think Condola Rashad is quite talented and I certainly love me some Shakespeare.  I don't think I've seen a theatrical production of R&J for years, but I've seen the ballet at ABT repeatedly over the years.  Plus, the show started at 7pm!  As a lazy old person, that was also a selling point.  :)

Well, I didn't really consider last night's performance to be a success.  There were certainly some pretty aspects and there was some nice acting here and there, which intermittently engaged me, but golly, this was a rather inert and passionless rendering of Romeo and Juliet.  I definitely got more passion in last summer's production at ABT.  All the production shots below are from the internet - they were all taken by Carol Rosegg and my standard disclaimer applies.

I think there's a good stage actor somewhere in Orlando Bloom, but perhaps this wasn't quite the right choice for him.  I did think he did well with the opening scenes, where he was a glib guy's guy, talking about love for talking's sake, and he had a nice rapport with Brent Carver as Friar Laurence.  But he had no chemistry, none, with Condola Rashad's Juliet.  And, once he started to try to be more 'intense,' it didn't come off well.  At one point, he was practically throwing a tantrum and started yelling at the audience members in the front row.  Which made the audience laugh.  I don't think that was the desired response for the 'banished' scene. 



Condola Rashad is lovely and also had some very nice moments, but perhaps overplayed the wide-eyed naivte.  There didn't seem to be a maturation to this Juliet as the play progressed, which was a shame.  And, vocally, to sound younger, she's pitched her voice a bit too high, and that also led to the rather static quality of the production as a whole.

Maybe a lot of the blame can be placed at director David Leveaux's feet.  It didn't seem as if he had much of an idea for the production, beyond 'hey, let's cast black actors as Capulets and white actors as Montagues.'  Nothing was really done with the multi-racial casting; the show was set in some sort of indeterminate place and vaguely modern time; and most everyone was allowed to pose and indicate rather than think and explore.  in fact, a lot of the time, when one character was speaking, the other actor would rather shut down, as if it wasn't their turn to act at the moment.  I think this added to the inert and rather bloodless telling of this story.  There were some very good performances, however, from Jayne Howdyshell as the Nurse and Chuck Cooper as Juliet's father.  The scene when everyone is discovering Juliet's 'death' was quite moving, I wish there had been more of that throughout the evening.  I generally enjoy Christian Camargo, and his Mercutio was beautifully spoken, but, well, he was wearing leather.  Really?  I believe I've mentioned my distate for the continued use of leather as metaphor in Shakespeare...
 

There were also a lot of gimmicky props and set pieces that didn't seem to really have anything to do with anything.  The bell?  Still no idea what it was for, and the fact that the actors were so tempted to lean on the bell cord should've been an indication that no one else knew what it was for, either.  The sand on the stage was confusing and the random bits of fire were just odd.  There was a stack of chairs to the side, which I guess was handy when someone wanted to pull one off the top to sit on it.  I don't know, the whole thing was a confusing mishmash.

Of course, no one was helped by the text, the script was cut to pieces - really, Mercutio's death scene is truncated and he's carried off stage while still speaking?!  Paris isn't in the final scene in the crypt?! - and there seemed to be a little rewriting, which really rather ticked me off.  There were a couple of lines that struck my ear and I thought, wow, I've never noticed that before.  Then I checked my copy of the play when I got home.  Well, no wonder I never noticed it before.  It was made up.  Not good.  The second act was so edited, there was really no way the end of the play could register, it came upon us too fast.

My seat neighbors mainly consisted of women who wanted to swoon at Orlando Bloom.  So, when the obligatory shirtless scene happened, there was much noice in the house.  Sigh.  I think that if the production had captured our attention and imagination earlier, there would've been much less of that.  The audience also laughed at inappropriate spots, like during entrances and exits from the house.  There was no policing of photos, so the camera phones were out throughout.  So, perhaps I was expecting too much.  Maybe this was just supposed to be some sort of event and not a serious retelling of a wonderful love story.  If so, drats.  I was in the mood for some wonderful Shakespeare.  I will temper my expectations in the future...

Thoughts on Fun Home

I was thrilled to get a ticket to last night's second preview of Fun Home - I'm an enormous fan of the creative team and most of the actors (well, all of the actors now, after seeing them in the show).  Since it's so early, though, I'll only offer a few brief thoughts:

I think Jeanine Tesori is a genius.  Truly.  Her scores are some of my very favorite ever and Caroline or Change was one of the best theatrical experiences ever.  I was so looking forward to hearing new music by Jeanine - I just find her work to be so smart, engaging, specific yet sweeping.  Glorious.  And the music in Fun Home just continues in that vein.  I was captivated from the very first song and the final notes of music were just awe-inspiring.  I really really hope this piece gets a cast recording, because I would love to hear everything again now that I know the story and how it unfolds.

I didn't know the source material at all, so I didn't know the story going in. I found it very compelling and enjoyed the perspective of this particular family.  And, Lisa Kron is also a genius, in my humble opinion.  Speaking of smart and engaging.  Her libretto was impressive, using existing text from the source material and yet adding her own idiosyncratic touches.  Wonderful, wonderful work. And her lyrics were also spot on.

Sam Gold has directed the company of nine beautifully, keeping the episodic nature of the piece moving beautifully.  If there were some sluggish moments in transition, I put that down as early preview-ness and I'm sure they will tighten up as they continue the run.  The set was spectacular and the other design elements were terrific as well.  I think this show is in fantastic shape for so early in the preview process.

The cast is flat-out wonderful.  Do Michael Cerveris or Judy Kuhn ever put a false foot forward?  I don't think so.  These complex, flawed people are sympathetically and beautifully portrayed.  And they broke my heart.  The three gals playing our main character at various stages of her life are fantastic.  The little gal is especially impressive.  Everyone was very good, though, with very specific choices that made these people very real to me.

I really enjoyed myself at Fun Home and would be very curious to check it out again later in the run.  I'd love to see how clues set at the beginning pay off at the end, which I didn't notice as well as I should have throughout.  Because of one annoying thing.  My experience was definitely marred by how freaking FREEZING it was in the theater.  I'm not exaggerating - the fan was blowing above me, so strongly, that my hair kept flying into my face.  If I hadn't just recently gotten a haircut, I would've had to find a ponytail holder in my purse to keep it from flying around.  I was wearing a warm blouse and a blazer, but I wish I had taken a scarf, hat and gloves.  Yes, it was that cold in there.  I think the gal sitting next to me kept getting annoyed by how I was shivering.  There were points during the evening where I had to remind myself to get out of my freezing head and pay attention to what was going on on-stage.  That's never a good thing.  The house was full, and there was no intermission, so I couldn't ask to be moved.  I hate having been so bothered by air conditioning, but there you have it.  The fact that I remember any of the show, despite my frozen icicle brain, is probably a testament to how good it truly is.  You should definitely check it out.  Seeing Tesori, Kron, Cerveris and Kuhn at the top of their game is ALWAYS worth supporting...

Another Queens adventure!

A few weeks ago, I received one of my travel e-newsletters (because I belong to many MANY travel website e-mail lists - I want to travel, goshdarnit!!), and this e-mail had an article called "The Best Things to Do in Queens Beyond the US Open."  Well, hello, that title piqued my interest immediately!  I forwarded the e-mail to my fellow intrepid Queens adventurer and we've been talking about trying one or more of the suggestions on their list ever since.  Finally, last Saturday, we had the time to check one out.

Along with a lovely gal pal and an adorable pug named Vito, my fellow intrepid Queens adventurer and I went to Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City.  I left myself about an hour to get there, considering I had to walk a bit to get to the right subway line, then had to change to another subway line.  Even though I got off at the wrong subway stop and had to get back onto the train (sigh. dumb.), I made pretty good time.  If only I had been sitting on the other side of the train, I could've gotten some amazing shots of graffiti near 5Pointz!  Next time.  Even without those photos, it was an amazingly stunningly gorgeous sunny day and the perfect day to explore the neighborhood.

Near the Vernon-Jackson subway stop on the 7 line, Gantry Plaza State Park is about twelve acres of gorgeous coast, looking directly across onto Manhattan.  The views were just lovely.  There are four piers, a dog run, some playgrounds, and many restored gantries and deserted railroad tracks.  It's  really a beautiful park, filled with unexpected treats, and I took hundreds of photos.  I'll include some below.

We just had a really lovely relaxing day, enjoying each other's company, strolling along the park, letting Vito make friends in the dog run, chatting with locals, enjoying Italian ices from a nearby ice cream truck, and we even explored a small flea market!  After the flea market, we wandered around the neighborhood between the park and the subway, which was also a lot of fun.  There are some really cute shops and restaurants along the way and I definitely want to go back.

After so many years of living in Queens and never really checking out much of my surroundings, I'm glad I've gotten out and about to see some new spots.  And I'm ever so grateful to have fellow intrepid adventurers, beautiful gal pals and adorable pugs to explore the spots with!  We'll definitely be checking out more of those suggestions sometime soon!  If I remember correctly, there may have been mention of a spot that serves deep fried pickles... :)

 

Wadin?