Theatre

B+

Hoo-rah!

• Truly amazing  performers packed an hour and half with non-stop ‘wow’ and ‘holyshithowthefuckdidtheyreallywhat?!’ moments
• Great on-stage chemistry– and they somehow came off as relatable instead of super-human circus freaks.
• Excellent job balancing superb group-efforts, and showcasing the unique strengths of individual performers.
• The stamina and variety was incredible. One guy finished what looked like a thoroughly-exhausting routine lifting and spinning himself with bands, then, still panting, was handed a guitar to play and sing a song. He wasn’t a great musician, but still, wow.
• I think I got more exhausted clapping than they did performing. Take that as a commentary on my relative level of fitness compared to them.
• With each ever-more-impressive feat, I kept wondering how they would manage a properly climatic finale. They succeeded.

Blech…

• some parts felt repetitive/too long
• some bits (like the guitar-playing) focused too much on showing us how multi-talented they are, instead of just focusing on where their BEST talents are.
• a little too much ‘acting’, reminding us that they are not actors

B-

Hoo-rah!

• The actress playing Erica Morini was superb– that’s my kind of old lady!
• Loved the bits about how to make/play/analyze violin. I’m a sucker for ‘how-to’
• Those feelings were compounded by having a very talented young violinist performing periodically through the show (clever device)
• Satisfying enough through-line and climax… I definitely puzzled over the ‘final question’ for some time.

Blech…

• either needed to be shorter, or have an intermission
• two actors and an okay script weren’t quite able to sustain interest for the full hour and forty minutes (felt claustrophobic at times)
• stakes didn’t feel high enough

I’m going to start giving little bitty reviews as I see shows. They will be structured very similarly to this, unless I’m terribly compelled to write more. Often when I’m reading a review, I’ll skip right to the bullet points at the end. So here’s my bullet points. We all live in the age of the internet– it is unlikely I will be the only place you can find anything about a show, so come here for a taste, google elsewhere for details.

B+

Hoo-rah!

• Charmingly imaginative
• Clown school rejects? Awesome.
• Touching through-line– teaching a bird-to-be about the world with all its danger and beauty.
• The clown (Ian) was a joy throughout– his tricks were indeed ‘very daaangerous’ (certainly to a five year old, the co-writer of the show)
• Leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling
• Alan Tudyk is a sweetheart, both onstage and in person after the show

Blech…

• a little too short
• a little  too repetitive

Why not, here’s some scores from most of the plays I’ve seen in my life thus far. Some of the plays I was involved with, but I’m not including the ones I’ve written. In general, my rubric follows the lingering effect the performance has had on me:

• D | pretty worthless experience
• C | vaguely enjoyed but had a significant problems with
• B | pleasant at the time, ephemeral impact
• A | world-shaking, glorious catharsis

I’ve organized them by location and approximately the order I saw them in (newest at the top):

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