The performance on the 22nd was quite interesting, mostly because of the audience.
First of all, everyone thought they could come and go as they please at anytime during the show. The show already started about 10 minutes late, and half of the audience was still arriving about 15 minutes after that. As the show was going on there were about 5 people standing behind me having a full on loud conversation about which seat to sit in, until a bunch of people told them to be quiet. There happened to be a few empty seats next to us a few minutes into the production, and my boyfriend really wanted to move over, even though I told him that I knew those people were going to show up, which they did about 10 minutes later. So, we moved one seat back over. Finally, it seemed like everything began to settle, until a bunch of people around us began laughing at inappropriate times. When Nettie was taken away, they laughed. It just seemed like there were people giggling at times they really weren't supposed to. People would be talking during the show, until something they thought was funny happened, then the reaction would be CRAZY. I still will never understand why people go crazy when they hear a recognizable line spoken in a theatre, so they all had to say it together. Sometimes they would scream so loud that it was hard to hear what was going on in the show. On top of that somehow they let a woman in with a baby (yes, a baby...not even 1 year old). So, there was a baby crying. Three...yes THREE cell phones rang. Plus, the random person taking about 5 flash photos during "I'm Here." On top of that the little girl next to me kept asking her mother, "what did she say?" "what's happening?" Then, the scene between Celie and Shug....the second they started to kiss the mom says, "cover your eyes!" and precedes to hold the playbill over her daughters face for an extended period of time. These are not racial stereotypes, because it's not only one type of people who act like this in the theatre, and after all my boyfriend is black, and they annoyed the hell out of him, too. I just don't understand why it's not possible for people to sit still and close their mouths for 2 and a half hours of their life. You can talk, bitch, and move around all you want before the show...after the show, or even at intermission, but show some respect while the show is going on. Oh and I just have to mention this because I think it's funny...there were more people wearing wigs in the audience than onstage!
THE PERFORMANCE
Okay, so for some reason the understudies listed on the board in the lobby and the understudies announced in the theatre didn't match. But, two things I knew for sure was that LaTonya Holmes was on for Celie and Jenna Ford Jackson was on for Shug. I was lucky enough to see the obc, and LaTonya seemed to be channeling LaChanze. Sometimes I forgot that LaChanze wasn't the one performing. This wasn't a bad thing, as her acting was phenomenal, and her performance overall was spectacular. Jenna Ford Jackson had a spark about her that definitely made her shine. I would say her "What About Love?" was the highlight, though her "Push da Button" didn't impress me too much. It seemed to lack the oomph (haha oomph) that I had seen with the original cast. But overall, her voice has a very rich quality to it that I enjoyed. As for the set, the absence of the turntable really made no difference. Everything came straight on from the wings along the track, which worked well. Overall, the performance was wonderful, minus the audience. I'm glad we made the 5 hour drive, especially since I have family down there and also have never spent any time around ASU, which is really pretty. It was nice to revisit this beautiful piece of theatre I hadn't seen for two years.
Your fupa is showing.
