Yeast Nation - My Review
Yeast Nation - My Review
Yeast Nation - My Review#1
Posted: 9/29/09 at 1:12pm
I posted this in the other thread (hence the quote I respond to at the end), but I figured with the late posting, it might have gotten lost in the shuffle. So, I started a new thread if anyone's interested:
I was at the Sunday performance and I definitely see some potential in the show. Yeast Nation certainly has its funny moments when it allows you to navigate through the plot. Unfortunately, too much of the narrative occurs in song, the erroneous and inconsistently use of a cliched Greek chorus, or through rapid-fire dialogue that doesn't allow its audience time to fully grasp what is going on. But even when you do catch on to it, the plot is hopelessly convoluted and the show's message(s) get lost in its own primordial "muck". About half the score is fun with a few real zingers such as "Stasis" and "Love Equals Pain", but the rest is as generic and unmemorable as any other Off-Broadway camp spoof number found in Bat Boy, Zanna Don't or Toxic Avenger. The show is obviously still trying to find its footing and I think once it decides what it's about, it may evolve into a show with its own identity and style. But for now, its loaded with way too many messages (the entire second act focuses on LOVE, but never really makes any point), allegories (parallels to the Anglo invasion of the New World did not escape me) and sketches for the audience to be able to weed out its purpose for being.
Like Urinetown, it does pay its hilarious homage to some musical classics, intentional or not. I definitely picked out fleeting moments of Cats, Legally Blonde, Oklahoma and what may or may not have been a deliberate nod to Carrie ("Love Equals Pain" instantly reminded me of "Unsuspecting Hearts" merging two Betty Buckley shows in one: Cats and Carrie), but if there were more, they might have been a little too esoteric or I was concentrating too hard on trying to sort out what was going on. There was even a character who was wigged to either represent Little Sally from Urinetown or Wednesday Addams (I'm not sure which was implied), but it was moot by the second act when her hair changed suddenly to Princess Lea from Star Wars, though I have no idea why. And if you count lighting, then Spring Awakening definitely left its mark in the design.
The acting was a little uneven, but there were some definite standouts. Andrew Keltz as Jan the Second has the voice of a young Daniel Jenkins if you close your eyes. Barbara Robertson made the most of Unnamed, the Old Deuteronomy of Yeast Nation, and she has yet to do anything but impress me. And Wendi Weber basically stole the show as the naive dim-witted yeast with a heart and a bottomless stomach, Jan the Famished.
The direction was a bit erratic with some really fun comedic moments, while others were too quick or forced to register a reaction from the audience. The only truly unforgivable misstep in this production were the overtly literal and downright ugly costumes. With a clearer exposition (and catchier opening number), there could be much more variety in the characters' costumes that could more clearly define their personalities while tying them together in various shades of the same color to form their sense of lineage and community. The splattered transparent neon green ponchos with a big fried egg velcroed to their chests underneath were just gaudy, uninspired and clumsy.
I went in with the mindset that it is a work in progress and that despite the buzz as being a "prequel" to Urinetown (though there seems to be no real connection in characters or plot), I treated it as a completely independent piece. I've a feeling they are trying to mirror Urinetown's juxtaposition of morality vs practicality as a comment on the historical irony of human nature, but it's not there yet. Despite the negatives, I wasn't actually disappointed and found some real entertainment value in the show, but it still has a long developmental journey ahead before its ready for New York audiences and critics. I don't want to put anyone off from seeing the show because it is fun. It's just not really coherent.
Replacing a score with what Hollmann describes as "mock operatic pretensions" is a new rock-oriented score that pokes fun at the pop-rock styles of the 1970s and 1980s.
Mmmmm...maybe a couple of times. There was a sort of Pippin-esqe number, but the score did not come across quite as deliberate in its approach to me. And the soliloqual final number for Jan the Eldest was just baffling. I just knew he kept saying "love" a lot, but that word was used in every other sentence throughout the second act.
re: Yeast Nation - My Review#2
Posted: 9/29/09 at 7:09pm
I haven't seen the show, but based on all that I've read from others, despite the near-rave reviews from Chris Jones and Hedy Weiss (both of whom are becoming more "rah-rah" about almost everything as the years go by), this show ain't going' no place. If the creators are REALLY lucky they will get a limited run produced at a small off-Broadway theater. It's just not commercial fare.
And yes, I was invited personally by the casting director to audition for the authors and the director, but was not cast. So I'll admit my cynicism is slightly altered by that. But still, it's a show about yeasts. And as happy as I would have been to have been in this production, I'm glad I won't have to face the inevitable disappointment when the show isn't picked up by New York producers. I wish them all the best though.
re: Yeast Nation - My Review#2
Posted: 9/30/09 at 10:11am
But still, it's a show about yeasts.
The fact that it is about yeasts isn't entirely relevant to its success. They are still characters just as there are characters in any other musical. It's why they chose yeasts to tell their story that needs to be clarified. It may not get picked up by New York producers now, but with a revised production, it could get picked up later. At any rate, much worse shows have seen the light of Off-Broadway and Broadway theatres. And given the opinions of MANY people around here, the mere fact that it has an original book and score should be sufficient to generate a cult following.
re: Yeast Nation - My Review#3
Posted: 8/15/11 at 3:35am
I really wanna get tickets to this but the site says there's no tickets available and to show up fifteen minutes ahead of time (I assume this is because many scalp tickes from the cancellation line), however, I was wondering if there was a more secure way of getting tickets - should I call or just show up?
If anyone has tickets for the 22 or 25 show, please PM.
Next On The List :: Clybourne Park, Once, Streetcar, BOM
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