Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard- Page 2
Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
#25Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/16/12 at 1:27am
Finally caught it this week and I think I enjoyed it more than some of you, but still see the flaws. I was a HUGE [tos] fan and I really adore these actors.
I agree that the beginning stuff with 3D glasses and such didn't add much to the evening. There are a few moments of trying too hard, but I thought each of them had a clearly defined arc that developed nicely. I had difficulty at times connecting their stories to the rooms in the museums; the setting seemed to unnecessarily clog up the play. They could just tell their stories to the audience and not really deal with all the stuff about the birds and the bees.
Even with these criticisms I was just happy to see them onstage again and was moved by the end of the evening.
#26Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/16/12 at 7:43am
All four are adept comics, and they riff on the absurdism of 21st-century language and non sequiturs without being cloying, which I give them credit for. That sort of humor can have a ingratiating cutesiness that makes my stomach turn (are you listening, Diablo Cody?) especially for actors all hovering around 40, but they do it well.
But the main problem with the show, as others have pointed out, is that it almost entirely lacks focus, which wouldn't be such a huge problem if it wasn't set up explicity at the beginning with a "Here is what this show is about" framing device. They preface everything by taking us from the first amoeba, all the way through time, to us gathered in this one room together, everything that's happened in history to get us to this one moment, this now, this here, this this. And how do you live there, where we all are, be present, experience it, make the most of it? That's what the show is about.
And then for 90 minutes after that they whine and self-analyze and dwell and kvetch about their insecurities and pasts and hangups and issues, issues, issues. The show becomes completely about living everywhere *but* the now, here, this. And it's fairly relentless. There are laughs throughout, but after the first 50 uninterrupted minutes of angsty navel-gazing, it was a struggle to stay interested. After 80 minutes, I was ready for it to be finished. (Heidi's un-ironic song about being a proud attention whore actually made me despise her for about 5 minutes.)
When I saw [tos] at the Vineyard, I liked it a lot. I don't own the recording and have only revisited the material sporadically since then, but I remember leaving knowing I'd recommend it to people -- and did -- and can't say the same for this show. Nothing left the theater with me, not an idea, not a sentiment, not a melody, not even any especially funny jokes. They're not untalented. They just either don't want to or don't know how to explore an idea for all it's worth, so show is slight... and very forgettable :-/
#27Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/22/12 at 1:12pm
bump for more current reviews, as people seem to be interested again
#28Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/22/12 at 4:34pm
I saw it last night and really enjoyed myself!
To me the show WAS focused with the point being: To enjoy the now, it helps to see how we got here to this. I laughed a lot and found some moments to be profoundly moving. They're working on it. I hear last night had MAJOR changes from the night before. These are four consummate writer/performers doing amazing work - that alone was worth the ticket for me.
#29Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/22/12 at 4:43pm"Consummate?" They're pretty good, but "consummate?"
#30Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/22/12 at 5:33pm
"To me the show WAS focused with the point being: To enjoy the now, it helps to see how we got here to this."
Then perhaps some of the changes have included making those two ideas directly relevant to one another within the framework of the show. It's one thing to understand that connection objectively. I certainly did while watching it; it's the only thing that explains their choices and the show's structure. But the night I saw it, the two ideas were so disparate that making an intellectual connection between them was useless, as nothing in the material showed them to inform or reflect upon one other. The characters talked about change and growth in working through their various problems, but not once did I see a straight line drawn, thematically -- either explicity or implicitly -- from that idea to the idea they begin the show with.
I hope they continue to rewrite! The show's got a lot of potential. I just fear 75% of it may never be realized, as I felt when I saw it (about 11 days ago now) that they'd have a long way to go.
ricecrispietreat
Swing Joined: 12/6/11
#31Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard
Posted: 3/22/12 at 10:01pm
I saw it just a couple days ago and then again two nights after and totally agree that improvements have been made. I had an awesome time and was actually really moved by what they had to say. It could be the fact that I had already seen the material so it seemed clearer, but they did make changes. Im pretty sure Members Only was shortened, along with Hunter's song in the beginning. But they added in some stuff in the first scenes and Heidi's song at the end (which I loved). With those changes, a lot of which I'm sure forgetting right now, they were able to make the bigger picture a lot more obvious without feeling like they were shoving it down the audience's throat. Maybe they were too worried about doing that before and making the audience feel stupid or force fed, but it's gotten to a point now where it's just a lot clearer.
Bottom line: go see it!!! I honestly loved it, totally worth the time and money. Just as long as you're excepting a "theatri-concert" (little plot, no 4th wall) and have a good sense of humor (how could you not find these guys hilarious?) you will be glad you went.
edit to add: Double thumbs up to the whole cast for being so great when I met them in the lobby. They were all so caring and nice and were really quite interested in what I thought about the piece and ended up talking to each for quite a while. Sorry for being a little off topic lol it just really made me feel involved in the whole thing and love each of them a little more :)
Updated On: 3/22/12 at 10:01 PM
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