#1
Posted: 11/20/05 at 1:37am
I caught two shows today and enjoyed both. Spoilers ahead. It's a little long.
Matinee of Lord of the Flies at Wheelock Family Theater:
I'll confess that I've never been a huge fan of the book. The play is divided into three acts, with the latter two acts being much stronger. I felt the first act played a little awkward. All the boys had to be introduced, relationships were drawn, and it was a lot of prolonged fighting over leadership. The play itself tends to lean a bit heavily on the major themes, although I feel the same way about the book, so maybe it's not just the play.
That being said, I very much enjoyed the play. I was especially impressed the young actors. I was afraid of overacting, which can happen easily with "younger" actors. Pleasently surprised to find some wonderful performances, even more surprised at the English accents that flowed out so smoothly.
When the boys finally get rescued, it was eeriely creepy. For two and half hours, you're sitting there watching "proper" boys savagely turn against each other. When the navy officer spoke, I was caught off guard. I don't know if they purposely picked an actor with a deeper voice or what, but all of a sudden it hits home that they're just boys/teens. Is there a difference between how a man and a boy will interact in similar situations? The scary answer is perhaps not.
Night performance of Kiss of the Spiderwoman at Roberts Studio Theatre:
This review may be a bit biased, because I really adore Kiss of the Spiderwoman. It tends to get overlooked by Chicago and Cabaret, which are both fantastic. But Kiss has some beautiful ballads that pull at my heartstrings everytime I hear them.
The show is, by all means, not perfect though. The book, while it has some great scenes, transitions somewhat awkwardly. But, I feel that if you have great actors playing Molina and Valentin, then everything will end up okay.
This production does indeed have a wonderful Molina and Valentin. John King is so endearing and so sweet as Molina, which only made his hurt so much more poignant. Valentin can sometimes be overplayed as a jerk, but Brendan McNab offers a more human Valentin. The relationship between the two characters ultimately climaxes with "Anything for Him". I wasn't sure I was able to handle the tension, I was ready to scream "Touch him!" For me, the success of the show lies in how powerfully that scene is played. I adored it.
Christine Maglione was great as Aurora, she really picks up in the second act. I sort of wish that Aurora's scenes had more flash and glitter, just to contrast better with the grim prison, but I can understand the constraints of a regional theatre. Likewise, with a much smaller orchestra, I missed some of the orchestrations.
Overall, I had a good time at both shows. I would recommend both, although Lord of the Flies closes tomorrow. Kiss is through Dec. 4th. I paid $10, student rush, for each show, you can't beat that price!
Matinee of Lord of the Flies at Wheelock Family Theater:
I'll confess that I've never been a huge fan of the book. The play is divided into three acts, with the latter two acts being much stronger. I felt the first act played a little awkward. All the boys had to be introduced, relationships were drawn, and it was a lot of prolonged fighting over leadership. The play itself tends to lean a bit heavily on the major themes, although I feel the same way about the book, so maybe it's not just the play.
That being said, I very much enjoyed the play. I was especially impressed the young actors. I was afraid of overacting, which can happen easily with "younger" actors. Pleasently surprised to find some wonderful performances, even more surprised at the English accents that flowed out so smoothly.
When the boys finally get rescued, it was eeriely creepy. For two and half hours, you're sitting there watching "proper" boys savagely turn against each other. When the navy officer spoke, I was caught off guard. I don't know if they purposely picked an actor with a deeper voice or what, but all of a sudden it hits home that they're just boys/teens. Is there a difference between how a man and a boy will interact in similar situations? The scary answer is perhaps not.
Night performance of Kiss of the Spiderwoman at Roberts Studio Theatre:
This review may be a bit biased, because I really adore Kiss of the Spiderwoman. It tends to get overlooked by Chicago and Cabaret, which are both fantastic. But Kiss has some beautiful ballads that pull at my heartstrings everytime I hear them.
The show is, by all means, not perfect though. The book, while it has some great scenes, transitions somewhat awkwardly. But, I feel that if you have great actors playing Molina and Valentin, then everything will end up okay.
This production does indeed have a wonderful Molina and Valentin. John King is so endearing and so sweet as Molina, which only made his hurt so much more poignant. Valentin can sometimes be overplayed as a jerk, but Brendan McNab offers a more human Valentin. The relationship between the two characters ultimately climaxes with "Anything for Him". I wasn't sure I was able to handle the tension, I was ready to scream "Touch him!" For me, the success of the show lies in how powerfully that scene is played. I adored it.
Christine Maglione was great as Aurora, she really picks up in the second act. I sort of wish that Aurora's scenes had more flash and glitter, just to contrast better with the grim prison, but I can understand the constraints of a regional theatre. Likewise, with a much smaller orchestra, I missed some of the orchestrations.
Overall, I had a good time at both shows. I would recommend both, although Lord of the Flies closes tomorrow. Kiss is through Dec. 4th. I paid $10, student rush, for each show, you can't beat that price!
"The sense that everything's going right is a sure sense that everything's going wrong."
-The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
