B+

Hoo-rah!

  • A series of beautiful, intense, death-defying tableaux that encompass every incredible feat you could possibly imagine involving water in a one-million-gallon capacity theatre.
  • While there was always a ‘main event’ to focus on in the center, the performance is wonderfully designed for a theatre-in-the-round by making the entire ensemble perform symmetrical actions pinwheeling out. Thus, you get to see the stunning ‘secondary’ performances from nearly every angle, perfectly synced.
  • This is technically an absolutely genius show. One moment, there’s a 30-foot tree rising out of the water. The next, someone is flipping through the air from 80-feet up, landing in the water right where that tree just was. There was also a myriad of awe-inspiring choreography below the surface that either involved people breathing through oxygen masks, sticking their head in some kind of air-filled room, or breathing underwater (I have no idea…)
  • The lighting (done by my company’s namesake, Jules Fisher) was magnificent. I particularly appreciated the manner in which it plays off the audience and makes everyone look like part of the performance.
  • The lead dancer/actress had boobs! Real boobs. This may seem like a strange thing to call out, but this was a big deal to me for a couple of reasons. First, she was gorgeous and incredibly skilled. Second, there is a very narrow range of body-types you find in professional dancing, and curves (or any percentage of body fat for that matter) tend not to make the cut; typically you see flat, hard-as-a-board, super-skinny, super muscular women. I have no problem with that inherently, but the change was refreshing. It also made her super easy to pick out in a sea of 50 muscle-madness women.
  • When getting seated, I noticed the VIP seats have screens that show you backstage. I wonder if it keeps showing you that during the show? I would love that– like watching the ‘making-of’ disc of a movie while the movie is playing.

Blech…

  • The story was laughably cheesy and simple-minded. I think it’s really only stomach-able if you’re here on a date night and can project your own romantic, more nuanced narrative onto it. The story in a nutshell (spoilers!!!): girl loves a guy, he proposes, she isn’t sure, falls asleep on a park bench, has a wet dream, wakes up, marries him. Yeah…
  • A calloused man might say the show is ‘just a lot of splashing.’ I don’t disagree, but it was truly epic splashing.
  • The show was essentially over after only an hour, and the ‘wedding cake encore’ performance was clearly an addendum.