The Cunning Little Vixen

We got tickets to the last performance of the Cunning Little Vixen by the Cleveland Orchestra! This was absolutely amazing!   No wonder there was national coverage by both the New York Times and NPR!   I've never seen anything like it!

The backdrop started off looking like the usual stage at Serverance Hall.  But it was just a projection of what is usually on stage!   There were 3 jumbo projectors that had flawless scrolling images between them.

The backdrop had holes and doors in it that allowed the opera singers to have animated animal bodies.  It was extremely clever!   It was like being in an impressionistic cartoon.

There were of  course people playing humans on stage.   The props that they had were even constructed to match the art style of the projections.   At one point a character threw a log into a face hole in the projected fireplace.  The fire projection then roared brighter.  It was a great effect!

This show was wonderful and I was extremely fortunate that I got to see it. Click below to see some of the behind the making of the Cunning Little Vixen.

Informed Consent

Just got back from seeing Informed Consent by Cleveland Playhouse.   It is the centerpiece of their New Ground New Theater Festival.   Good theater makes you feel something.  This was an amazing play, but it is not a cheery work.  In fact, I left feeling quite angry at the main character.   The play is based on a true story too.

Informed Consent is about a gross violation of informed consent.   The main character, Jillian, is a genetic anthropologist who lost her mother to early onset Alzheimer's disease.  She is going to develop the condition herself.   She gets a job to study an American Indian tribe for diabetes.  Blood to this group is sacred.   She then selfishly writes a hugely vague informed consent document and runs additional tests, embarrassing the tribe, causing emotional distress, and openly disagreeing with their mythology.

There are only 5 actors in the show who play multiple roles.  They also serve as chorus and narrator group.  This is an excellent show, especially if you are in the medical profession.   Informed consent is very very important.  This play shows how that violating it can break so many more things than trust.

Jersey Boys

Hi everyone! Quick post today.   We saw Jersey Boys this afternoon.   This is actually my third time seeing it.   I consider it to be one of my favorite musicals of all time.  I grew up listening to Motown and the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.   Steve and I danced to to "Too Good to Be True" at our wedding as our first dance.   The first time I saw the show, it was a present for our seven year dating anniversary.  

It's truly a wonderful show.   Gives a nice history of the group.   I think they even tweak the delivery of lines to fit with the times.  It's good to see a favorite show again.