Show Boat at Lyric Opera Chicago- Page 3

[My Oh My]

Posted: 2/18/12 at 12:09am

I still like the boat, hehe. "Ugly" is a tad harsh to me, but I won't argue the point since it's perfectly valid. I do like that people around here take the time to explain; other theatre sites--which shall be nameless--are like huge clusterf*cks of opinion without a semblance of reason. Grrrr.

I've explained why the boat does it for me. I don't think it's because it's an abstract representation. Abstract isn't good cause it's abstract and abstract can be quite ugly and useless. Abstract is good for the secrets it discreetly tells and the interconnected feelings a large, diverse audience can suddenly feel at once, just to name a couple. I only mention it because it was the first thing that came to my mind when asking myself why the darn boat worked for me and "abstract" just isn't it.

Er...don't look at me that way! Doesn't everyone ask themselves why they like something and hold inner dialogue with themselves? Um...RIGHT?!

*Crickets*

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/20/12 at 3:04am

Justoldbill--thanks for replying about the set. I guess to me, from the 70s book about Show Boat, they don't look human-scaled. It's partly how the set seems to even use old postcard like ornamental borders--but as you say that may have been a concession to Ziegfeld fans.

My Oh My you're not alone there--I actually often sit up in bed when I can't sleep thinking about exceedingly lame subjects like specific show designs... I do think Jude's point makes some sense. While I wouldn't call it ugly either, it does seem like the drop curtains for other scenes are way more detailed than the suggestion of a boat provided.

[figaroindy]

Posted: 2/20/12 at 10:34am

My mistake - I thought I'd seen Met on TKTS when I was in the city, but maybe it was NYCO - I know it was an opera production (seems like it was a Carmen or Traviata, actually).