Orgasms...I can't even fake that I thought it was good.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 2:21pm

Looking for light-hearted fare at the end of a brutal week, encouraged by reviews that promised new insights, and seduced by essentially free tickets, I ignored that little voice in my head that kept saying, "This is a really bad idea..."

And that is how I came to attend a performance of Orgasms last night.

The place was packed, but it was packed with the kind of people one tends not to see at off or off-off bway shows. It reminded me of passing Chippendales and seeing droves of middle class, middle aged women (not that there's anything wrong with that...) about to go be titillated by a suggestive show.

Okay. I'm as open-minded as the next person, and although I consider myself to be a feminist, I am not humorless or pedantic. But five minutes into the show, as it became clear that large chunks of the audience were eating this **** right up, I leaned over and asked my friend, "Exactly who ARE these people who are finding this so easy to relate to?"

Orgasms latched onto every tired stereotype typically found in the more red state-ish and pedestrian comedy routines that have addressed "the difference between the sexes" for as far back as I can remember. There was nothing new. And what was even more unfortunate, was that it portrayed heterosexual men and women as basically wanting what they can get from their partner...women want material goods, flattery...even if false, and to have their every whim catered to by the male, who by virtue of his gender, is not as highly evolved. Women shop with wild abandon. Men watch sports on TV. Women have sex with men and perceive that act of intimacy as nothing more than a venue for manipulating to get stuff out of the man (say, a new car, for example). Men, on the other hand, don't like to talk, only care about sex...and are, by nature, generally clueless. At least that's how it is according to Orgasms. I have to ask again... With whom are these sterotypes okay???

I found some stuff to laugh at, but for the most part, I just really wanted it to be over. I hated this play, possibly as much as I hated The Kidney (off-off Bway a year or two ago). Maybe more. Loathed it, actually.

Orgasms is performed by two actors, one of each sex. I should mention that the male actor, whose name escapes me, was really rather appealing despite the abyssmal material he was working with. I thought he had a nice delivery and terrific comedic timing. I wouldn't mind seeing him appear in another, better show, in the future. The woman, whose name does not excape me, but which I have chosen not to print, is someone I will avoid like the plague. She had a really irritating delivery and an obnoxious affect. I disliked her intensely and have committed her name to memory...because seeing her once was more than enough.

Updated On: 5/29/05 at 02:21 PM

[Thenardier]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 2:36pm

I like your title.

[ally_kay_on_broadway]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 2:38pm

me too

[kas]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 2:58pm

orgasms? do women really have them? (ha ha.)

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 3:04pm

witty title!!!!!!

[orion59]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 9:09pm

Great review and very accurate. This was the worst show I've ever seen. It was one stale, over used joke after another based on the idea that men are driven only by their penis and women are superficial, manipulative creatures who use sex as a way to get what they want, which, apparently is just shoes and clothes.

This show reinforces every negative sterotype that makes up a bad realtionship between a man and woman.

The actress in it can only be described as annoying. Worst actress I have ever seen anywhere. She ahs no sense of comic timing...not that the show had much real comedy, she was overly affective and had no ability to distinguish one of her characters from another.

I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone except, maybe Corine or a group of women out for a bachlorette party.

[Corine2]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 9:23pm

Shows like this always suck. That other show about sex was one of the worst things I have ever seen.
Thanks for saving me the trouble of faking an excuse not to attend.


Updated On: 5/29/05 at 09:23 PM

[MissElphie]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 9:25pm

That title made my die...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/29/05 at 10:28pm

It sounds just dreadful...I'm sure it will run forever.
Brilliant thread title, by the way. I really DID LOL.

[etoile]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 1:47am

Could the problem have just been performance anxiety?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 3:22am

Premature enunciation.

[EternalJayJay]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 3:33am

I didn't see this "show," but when it was in Southern California a review came out in the Daily News with the headline: "Well, it wasn't good for me." The show got half a star (out of five) and I think they were being generous with that half a star from the sounds of it.

It's kind of funny to hear that it hasn't gotten any better.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 9:35am

I often wonder how certain things even get produced and find a home. Who thought this was a good enough idea to sink money in to? Sounds dreadful.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 9:42am

Because, if making money is what it is about...this just might be successful. Sex sells. And this is the kind of show that Joe and Mary from Sussex County, NJ, can go to and feed like they did something edgy and naughty, when actually it is just a reinforcement of the same old **** that we have been struggling to overcome.

The idea that people identify with the stuff in this show HORRIFIES me, but an awful lot of people in the audience seemed to find it...as god is my witness...meaningful.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 12:26pm

Playing in Rep with DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN and MENOPAUSE:THE MUSICAL?

[orion59]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 12:43pm

Sueleen, funny you should Defending The Caveman. That is exactly what I thought of after seeing Orgasms. Stale, overdone jokes based on gender stereotypes.

Itwas a bit frightening that many of the poeople in teh audience did relate. It makes me wonder about their relationships. If you can so easily realte to the fact that couples deceive one another, lie, manipulate and use sex as a weapon, then ether is somethings eriously wrong with your relationship. At first, I thought I just wasn't getting it becasue I am gay and can't realte to the male/female realtionship. Not true. This was just a bad show that nobody should be able to relate to.

Of course, many of the people in the audience did look like extras from an episode of The Sopranos so, I guess it has it's audience.

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 5/30/05 at 2:07pm

Can I just also reiterate that this title is hott.

[ken8631]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 8:02am

Oh no - just ordered free tix to it for tonight - wife wanted to see it. Any good places to eat near the theatre? Not familiar with that area. Maybe at least have a good meal?

[twogaab2]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 9:49am

I'll tell you how bad it was. I DIDN'T EVEN LIKE IT! (Wasn't it written by a gyocologist and his wife or something)?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 11:38am

"Because, if making money is what it is about...this just might be successful. Sex sells. And this is the kind of show that Joe and Mary from Sussex County, NJ, can go to and feed like they did something edgy and naughty, when actually it is just a reinforcement of the same old **** that we have been struggling to overcome."

Which is exactly why Oh! Calcutta! is one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. It's one of the worst shows I've ever seen, but everyone wanted to see the naked people regardless the material they were performing, so it ran for years and years.

[ken8631]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 12:32pm

Are they naked?

[BoxFive]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 2:21pm

I walked out!

[ken8631]

Posted: 6/24/05 at 3:38pm

Doesn't sound too good for tonight then!!! Ay least I see there is a diner nearby...

[ken8631]

Posted: 6/27/05 at 8:32am

Saw it - it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be (and yes, they were partially naked). Was kinda cute actually. Wife agreed it was sterotypical, but said most of those sterotypes are true! Like men having shorter memory, hating shopping, etc (I tend to agree). Didn't pay the $65 full ticket price (would rather see a discounted broadway play for that), but I'd say it was worth 1/2 price, which we didn't pay either. I did'nt see anyone walk out on Friday night, and the theatre down on Vandam street (small) was about 1/2 to 2/3 full. The diner across the street wasn't a bad place to catch a bite beforehand.

Anyway, I (we) actually enjoyed it.