The State of Theatre

So, over the last few weeks myself and Lauren have been on a playgoing marathon. We have seen 4 shows in a matter of weeks, which is actually more than we've seen for the past four months combined! And we've seen all of these recent 4 shows for free (or near free)! It's not that I'm cheap, Lauren actually says I have pretty high-maitenance tendencies, but when tickets for an Off-Bdwy show go for $70, there is no way any young professional with lots of loans to pay off can afford that.
It was great to be back in the theatre going mode again, however, the shows seen were quite a dissapointment.
First we saw Three Changes by Nicky Silver at Playwrights Horizons. Lo and I have a joint subscription there because you can get student tickets for only $10 a pop. Unbeatable subscription offer in the city. This play was a dark, dark, dark play whose sleaze seeps its way off the stage and slimes itself all over your body, so as you exit at the end of the play you feel as if you are covered with all that pinkish goopy stuff in Ghost Busters 2. The three changes refer to a new character intruding the lives of the main couple played by the excellent Dylan McDermott (He should be on the NY stage much more often...plus Lauren has a huge celebrity crush on him[I hope it is just a "celebrity" crush], so she would love to see him much more as well) and Maura Tierney (Who should probably not be on the NY stage much more often...I'll get to that later) After the third character enters their life, there is a suicide and a new family is formed. The play was very Entertaining Mr. Sloane-esque. The production got ripped by almost every professional reviewer, but Lauren and I both kind of enjoyed it. I think Lauren just liked staring at McDermott and as she pointed out, his terrible hair dye job. I just liked the dark, off-beat comedy in the play, and I loved that PWHorizons took a risk in producing something that isn't terribly commercial. Despite enjoying the show, I thought it was good, but nothing special at all...if that makes any sense. I do have a problem that PWHorizons is often using movie and tv stars in shows. It is hard to disassociate the actual star from their on-stage persona, especially when they don't do a terribly great job on stage, ie Tierney and Sigourney Weaver in a production from 2 years ago. I understand it's about getting butts in the seat, but come on, if you have an amazing acted play, it won't matter who is in it, and you will still get the butts in the seat. Quality should always come first!
Then we saw a new play Off-Bdwy called Wig Out! This was a good play but it didn't blow me away. It centers around a competition between two rival drag houses...yes as in drag queens! It was one of the most interesting topics I've ever seen put on stage. And the parts where they performed the actual drag shows were amazing!!!!!!! I thought the acting and casting were magnificent, especially Andre Holland who I can't wait to see more of in NY! Again, i disagreed with reviewers because they said the playwright is a new force to be reckoned with. However, i found the big fault of the production was in a script with giant holes in it, and for being extremely choppy. I feel if things were livened up in the script and made a lot more smooth, as in transitions from stories between the characters, to the actual drag routines, this play could have been the next big downtown phenomenon. It still may be, but i was disappointed that it didn't meet my expectations.
The same night we saw Wig Out! we headed out to see The Seagull on Broadway. This show has received some of the best reviews I have ever seen written before. I, however, thought it was terrible. I used to say I could always sit through a bad production of The Seagull just to see the ending which always gives me chills. Well, I take that back. All i wanted to do at the end of this production was to get the hell out of the theatre. Just yesterday, I finally read a review (Martin Denton's) of the show that agreed with me. I feel validated. I sent him an email commending his review and not being afraid to go against the grain of the rest of the critic world. He enjoyed my response and posted it on his blog. Yay, I've been published!!! Read my scathing response and click the link in his blog to read Denton's original review here:
http://www.nytheatre-i.com/2008/10/about-seagull.html
Last, Lauren and I saw a show called Ugo's Last Dance which our friend and my classmate Sing was in. What has become of theatre that the show with absolutely no budget was the only one that Lauren and I thoroughly enjoyed in our marathon! I didn't even completely understand the story, (To me it seemed like a Waiting For Godot, except the characters were clowns and they were waiting to go...or not go to Hell) but what they did with physical movement and song and puppetry was far more interesting than any of the other shows. If this show had the money and a little script re-working, it would be phenomenal!
Imagination people!!!!!! Creativity people!!!!! Isn't that what art is about? Isn't that why we have theatre? Isn't that how we in the profession want to entertain people? I hope, in the future, that people get sick of the same old that is produced all the time in Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Regional theatres and we can start funding more "artistic", imaginative shows that can be just as entertaining and a lot more fun to sit through!


P.S. Tomorrow I'm seeing The First Breeze of Summer Off-Bdwy at The Signature. Brandon Dirden, my very first acting teacher ever (he was in grad school, when I was a disgruntled undergrad music student exploring other art forms) is in the show. It will be the first time I have seen him act in 7 years!!!!!