Profile for TheOnlyOne2

I was lucky enough to spend time living in Paris, in the Pigalle/9eme. Do not go to Moulin Rouge or any of those tourist cabarets in those few blocks along Blvd Clichy. It's touristy and trashy like Times Square. One of the interesting things about Paris that I haven't seen really in other major cities is that they have a solid community for solo shows. They even have schools specifically focused on the craft.

The cabaret culture is what has traditionally and continues to be what dominates Paris. I would try to tap into that, and read up on the many offerings. You can find them in French or English. If you like a mature, stunning, and modern show, then I would suggest is the new show called "Fantasma", by Savary and Zaffuto. There are also many traditional torch song shows if you prefer something less risqué.  If you speak French, there are also a handful of small theater productions. You just have to do a thorough search. 

As previously mentioned, Opera Garnier, Magodor, etc are all venues with great work. If you're looking to focus on music theater like you find in NYC, you'll have a difficult time. Aside from 1 or 2 productions like Le Roi de Lion (Lion King), it's just not a place you'd go for that experience. Most of Europe is the same. As musical theater is not a European art form. Most  dont have a lot of experience with it, even in a very large Euro city. If you're there at the right time, you could catch a touring show.

One thing I suggest on general in Paris is that you make time for walking aimlessly. I would do that a lot when I first got there, and discovered so much without a plan.  It has such a rich culture in the arts, and you'll find small galleries, or performance venues tucked away on a tiny street.

 

 Fantasma

https://www.theatredesvarietes.fr/spectacles/fantasma-circus-erotica/?fbclid=PAAabivPaK5zdH-9d26fK4TKWBUq_V2x6Tv-I5ashtxh1azerx4QNQPaSsYp0

I'm honestly shocked at how many of the reviews like the long monologue/song near the end of the shoe. I've watched it a few times in previews, and I dread it every time. 

I took my best friend to go see the show again and Act 1 was just under 90 mins. They've cut u believe 3 songs overall, ( I'll have to Doble check it might be only 2). Aside from that, they still have left in that 20 min monologue. My sis,who has never seen or read a show by MRJ, instantly asked if Clarence was the writer putting himself om the show, during intermission. I said yes, and then she was horrified by the never ending monologue.

People are just Loyd and uncouth in the theater. I sat in front of someone who laughed piercings loud when the rest of the theater was silent. Laughing is great but there still needs to be s level of control. You can't be distracting people from what's on stage. It's also annoying as an actor. 

Up In One said: "Saw White Girl In Danger Friday night - the earlier reported running time of 3 hours and 15 minutes has been pared down to 2 hours and 40 minutes including the intermission and it’s still too long. Where Strange Loop was personal and filled with genuine catharsis, White Girl in Danger plays more like a thesis dissertation, a concept in search of a stage format. In WGID Michael R Jackson examines and comments on the history and future of black female TV characters and actors, in a Candide-like satirical cavalcade. He envisions the character types and tropes of the past handing off their passive and abused history to their present and future more empowered versions. By presenting much of it as satire we are distanced from the character attachments made in Strange Loop until very late in the 2nd act when gears switch into sermon mode and the under-developed author/writer character literally stops the show to explain the point of the previous two hours. If only that heat and poetic specificity had been sprinkled throughout the proceedings, we may have had something that packed the punch of an Ain’t No Mo’- please someone bring that back before Tony’s.

In WGID we get a satire staged as a farce at break neck speed that doesn’t have the time to breathe and build our buy in. Rather than take us on a ride it seems to have left us in the bleachers to watch the characters careen around the track exhibiting moments of brilliance if we don’t blink. Those moments of brilliance are surrounded by repetitive bits that are either annoying or let the audience get ahead of the actors, leading to impatience. The idea of using three white girl types puts a structure in place where we quickly realize we are going to have to sit thru many scenes played out three times over with less pay off at each iteration. The effect might have been to build on a laugh but in the end it slowed down the proceedings, adding to the overlong running time. In an attempt at camp or severe underlining, the terms “All White” and “Blackground” are used in practically every line spoken. It not only gets in the way of many line deliveries but steals emphasis from new points being made. Because the satire is aimed at soap operas, sitcoms and Fox and CW nighttime series of the 90’s it also drops a laundry list of actor’s names as if dropping the names were enough to qualify for a laugh. The use of those names suggests some universal knowledge of the actors and characters they played. Between the triple replays of the three white girls, the over use of All White and Blackground and the name dropping they could have shaved 40 minutes form the play and used that time to make the piece more effective.

In his second time out with a musical, Jackson’s music is proving to be more serviceable to his concepts than interesting musically on their own. Except for his takeoff/rip off of the gospel number from Hairspray there are no exceptional “musical” moments to support why this should be a musical. The staging is more like air traffic control and choreography does not elevate things. This was the first time I’ve noticed inadequate lighting in a show. Perhaps it was due to last-minute changes, but many times actors were not lit. The sound mix for the musical numbers was also very frustrating, it emphasized the band over the lyrics. We had moments where you could not hear the lyrics and you could not see the face of the actor singing the lyrics.

As far as the performers were concerned only Tarra Conner Jones registered as exceptional. She plays the mother type (Mammie, Marla Gibbs, Nell Carter, Diahann Carroll) and has a lopsided amount of the song distribution. Her character’s purpose is to show how black female characters developed over time and Jackson makes her one in the same person on a journey not of her own making. In that one character and Tarra’s performance you see what could have been developed if the cyclone of concepts and bad comedy writing were not also whirling around the stage for 160 minutes. I do question where the dramaturg and director were in the development of this production. I wonder if a George C Wolf could have made better stage sense out of it.

They have two weeks until opening, I’m not sure enough can be done while also in performance. I think minimally they need to cut enough to allow the cast to slow down and still get everyone out of the theater at a decent hour. I am attaching a link to a September 2017 description of the show by the author before he was about to unveil the play to the public. Based on this I would say he has fulfilled the brief in presenting evidence but has yet to make it work on stage. PS: They should cut the pre-show and intermission videos - embarrassing.

White Girl In Danger at Adelphi University Performing Arts Center and Joe’s Pub 9/24 & 9/25 2017"

I agree with you on most of this Very thoughtful review. You can see the show in there, he just needs to get out of his own way. This is Tarras show and maybe another workshop could refocus that. Maybe cut out Keesha and make her a minor character,  and go with Nell observing the girls behavior from her vintage point in Act One as lunch lady and nurse. 

Some of these names are way too precious for Rose. Audra? Kristen? Donna? I love those women to bits, but they are not gritty enough, I'm sorry. Maybe Lea in 30 years if she let's out the demon that she's had to lock away for time being...

CZJ is someone I could see in the role. She had the boozy voice and the acting chops. Could she keep the voice up for a shoe that demanding 8 times a week?

Sheryl would be a great choice. My concern would also be her ability to do such a demanding show 8 times a week. Maybe if she had an alternate like Bette? It's been 20 years since she's done a broadway show, and that did not require the physical fitness this role does. If she could do it though I'd certainly go multiple times.

I feel like the only women I can think of are a little to late to play Rose. When I think of that rough voice she should have I can't call up many now. Debra Monk would have been great .

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "“Again I disagree it's not the same as sitting on your ass at home and watching a TV show. We're sharing space. Next time I'm in your home and you're hosting, remind me to push the away and walk out the door when I find it unsatisfactory. In that way I guessed be showing you that I didn't like the content you provided me for the meal. I'll just walk out the door without a word, like switching the channel. Would you do that? No it's unfathomable.”

LOL the two are not the same in any stretch. One is people getting together in a home and sharing a meal or just quality time.

The other is an entity charging me the money that I work for day in and day out and the expectation is something if quality. Especially when it’s the work of someone who in very recent history not only won Tony Awards but also a Pulitzer, and a ton of other awards. If something I paid for isn’t up to my standards, I can choose to either throw it away, ask for a replacement, or return it and ask for a refund. In this situation, your options are sit through garbage that you’re not enjoying, or leave and go do something you would actually enjoy.

Kim Cattrall said it best. “I don't want to be in a situation for even an hour where I'm not enjoying myself.” In this case, it was three hours. Let people do what they want with THEIR money. You don’t control people’s priorities or opinions."

Actually, they are very similar. Hosting people home is very theatrical, and spending quality time with someone and exchanging intimate feelings is exactly what happens in the theater, so have several seats. 

That's a quote from a tired show filled with priveleged white people which I personally cannot relate to. Years after they fluttered about peolles screens, now the writer is trying to make them more acceptable instead of just leaving them the basic b****** they were with abyssmal and offensive. But if thats where your go to mantras come from, go off sis.  And I'm not trying to control your opinion, I'm just sharing mine. If I think yours is a mess I'll say so. I saw a boring ass, I'll conceived show Off Broadway tonight, and they absurdly try to throw a black woman in to a character that that was written to be a white woman from the 60s to the 90s. Nothing about that choice made sense and was distracting, along with the mediocre musical itself. I hated it, but I didn't leave because it's rude, and I definitely wasnt going to demand my coins back because the creatives didnt satisfy my appetite. Like I said its a privilege to attend the theater.

In the end we don't agree that's fine, enjoy how you conduct your life babes. 

Kad said: "Life is too short to continue to sit through a show if you are truly not enjoying it. There is nothing rude or privileged about leaving at intermission, unless you are there specifically to support a loved one and they know you’re there. Nobody attends a show with the intent to leave halfway through."

 

The fact that you don't see the privilege... yikes. I'd debate that last sentence, because plenty of people in these threads are banging their keyboards waiting to talk **** about shows, lr hate watch them because they have an unchecked , miserable life. 

I need to stop I'm having too much fun battlin you heauxs lolz #pettynready

A.J. said: 

"I’m convinced they set her up to be the scapegoat.

Why else cast an unknown, with limited experience or following, who struggles to sing the score?"

Even if it was a set up I'm sure Linedy will be fine. She'll go out on tour because it's and easy sell to middle american audiences, do a couple readings for new shows, and get a concert or two at 54 below. 

WldKingdomHM said: "So what’s next for the Imperial?"

The way I hollered when I read this!!!!! 

I think one thing that is important to mention is thst actors can start to self doubt their abilities when they have a different voice. I know for me, I sometimes try to mimic the "accepted voice type" and get frustrated be abuse I just don't sound that way. I don't necessarily want to sound that way, I just think people will feel my singing is ugly or unworthy because I'm not making a similar sound. It's really actually quite scary. 

Also, I doubt we will ever hear brash, deep, powerful voices such as Ann Francine, Bea Arthur, Elaine Stritch, Phyllis Diller, and Cleo Laine (especially as she got older).  Another set of similar voices we don't hear much are Millicent Martin, Mazz Murray, or Linda Hart. In fact, Linda Hart was under appreciated during her the majority of her career. SHE IS A STAR! I would have loved hear her voice do more villains. Watching her live performance of Velma scared/and enthralled tiny me at the same time. 

You may disagree, but hearing darker skinned women sing in more legit scores is often relagated to white girls, so this contributes to why Audra voice is so "unique".