Lord Of The Dance

I think this will need all the luck it can get.

I loved Riverdance dance is something I am very passionate about. I hope I can see it. The tickets are very expensive!

I confess to having never seen Riverdance nor any of its incarnations, so I really didn't have much of an idea of what I was in for tonight, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for the horrifyingly tacky and gaudy display that I witnessed. Some of it was campy and I was able to derive a few laughs from the garish Vegas nature of the whole thing, but even to describe it as "Vegas" or "cruise ship" entertainment is an insult to those offerings.

The actual show aside, the lack of diversity in the cast was startling. Unless you are a Barbie doll, Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, buxom blonde, don't expect a callback from this casting department; there were one or two token brunettes, but that's as far as they were willing to go. The women don't play strong characters either. They strut around the stage, Miss America style, with Stepford Wives smiles plastered on their faces as they look cute and perky for the men. The men are also all white too, sparing anyone to have to dance as a mixed race couple, and they all look as generic Ken doll as you can get.

On top of all this, the sound system was atrocious. Not only was it too loud, but it sounded like the tapping and violin playing was piped in. Everything very well may have been happening live, but there was just enough of a delay with the system that it sounded canned and looked off with the dancers/musicians. I was sitting close enough in the orchestra (via TDF) that I should have been able to actually here the tapping and playing from the stage, but the sound design made that impossible.

I can see why it's so easy to parody Flatley and his troupe of dancers. You really don't even need to do anything expect present the material as is since it lampoons itself. And speaking of Flatley- the man doesn't appear until the finale! If you're a fan and are buying a ticket to see him then you will be sorely disappointed. I read that he's not performing at matinees, but really? He shows up for the curtain call and dances 16 bars. I know he's approaching 60, but they are marketing the show as Michael Flatley IN Dangerous Games (the title song is campy; the "singer" is given three numbers and would never have survived one round of auditions on American Idol. The couple in front of me and my friends turned around at intermission and said, "That singer must know one of the producers, right?".

The projections were the worst. No the costumes were the worst. Well, actually maybe the projections...no they were both the worst.

Youtube videos show blinding lights being projected into the audience members' eyes throughout the show, sorta like what might happen at a MSG concert. Did this happen tonight?

The lighting was like a cheaper version of what you might expect at an arena stadium tour, but it wasn't pointed outward at the audience much. No use of strobe lights either. The only way this lighting offended the eyes was on an aesthetic level.

And yes, there really were no red-headed women. The men wore a lot of hats so it's possible there was a red-headed male dancer, but the women were almost exclusively blonde.

WhizzerMarvin said: "The actual show aside, the lack of diversity in the cast was startling."

You do need to stick to Irish white people for this, lest you bring actual rhythm or, daresay, some sort of soul into the equation.

This is not "Riverdance". The original Riverdance was wonderful. This is a second generation knockoff and a really bad one at that.

I saw yesterday evening's performance via lottery (hooray for lottery) and I'm glad I went and I enjoyed myself. I had always wanted to see Irish step dance live, and I don't think there was ENOUGH of it in this show. He should not even have bothered to make a (terrible) story and just choreographed really good dance numbers instead. I don't disagree with WhizzerMarvin's review. I had already read similar reviews online and was thoroughly prepared to face the campiness. There is a lot of cheese and corn in this show. But like I said, I expected it and was able to laugh at the kitchy-ness of it all. Also the theatergoers near me did not know how to behave in a Broadway theater and it was a darn circus where I was sitting. There were people constantly taking photos or recording and the ushers had to keep telling the same people to stop. Seriously, just throw them out, it's in your right and it's the law! There was some lady yelling at other people to stop making noise with their food to the point that she was shouting (?!?). Then there was some idiot guy who kept hooting the whole time like he was at a football game and I'm surprised his wife didn't tell him to stop. Circus, I tell ya. In actual plays/musicals I would be pissed. But I was in a good mood, so I just found it all hilarious.

bwayphreak234 said: "What exactly is the storyline?"

Beats me if I get it, but something to the effect of the spirit (of the forest?) is threatened by some evil Irish step dancer dudes in funny costumes, who are led by a Dark Lord out to get the Lord of the Dance, who is the protector of that realm, so that presumably he can take over control. There are also good cyborgs, some barbie doll fairy ladies, Lord of the Dance's (very ripped) dancing merry men, and an evil projected cyborg head dude. Um........ It's terrible but also oh so hilarious. :)

Saw it tonight. After reading the comments here, I was expecting a trainwreck, so by that low bar I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoy synchronized movement like the Rockettes or cheerleading, and this was in that vein. Energetic and even dazzling at times. I was a little hazy on the story (there was a sprite and some good guys and bad guys, and they had a dance-off?) but just ignored any attempts at plot and focused on the dancing. Michael Flatley appears only briefly at the end, but his surrogates are just fine.

Whizzed....your review is your best yet. Thank you.