Hand to God

I got to see Hand to God the other day at Dobama Theater.  I enjoyed it and all of it's dark humor, but it wasn't what I was expecting.   It was advertised as a cross between Avenue Q and the Book of Mormon, two shows that I really love.  This show had puppets and a religious theme, but that's where the similarities ended.

Premise: a widowed woman works for the church and is trying to put on a puppet show.  Her son, Jason has a puppet (Tyrone) that has a very dark streak, eventually leading the group to believe that he is possessed by the devil.   

Tons of dark religious psychology in this show.  Eventually, Tyrone is revealed to be a manifestation of Jason's pain for his father's death.   Also, lots of violence and a gratuitous puppet sex scene.   This show is definitely for the 21 and over crowd.   It's not a musical, so you don't go home with a song in your heart.   Tyrone's last speech actually reminds me of Puck's at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The effect is eerie and fascinating.   :If you like creepy plays, watch this.  If dolls and puppets scare you, or if the religious overtones hit close to home, I'd advise you to avoid it.   It's not every day you see a guy bludgeon his own hand with a hammer.

Something Rotten

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing Something Rotten.  We saw it on the final weekend, which is very unusual for us, but we had scheduling conflicts that couldn't be moved.   This is a really fun, original story for any fan of the Broadway musical genre.   Basically, two Brothers in during the Renaissance are writers in direct competition with William Shakespeare (who is portrayed as the David Bowie of his day).  With the gleanings of a soothsayer, they decide to write a musical, centuries before the genre is supposed its debut.  

The fifth number, A Musical,  garners multiple ovations in the middle of the first act.  Check out the link to see all the allusions to Broadway shows.  

The music is classic 1930's Broadway with lots of incongruous, campy, slapstick humor.  If it comes to your city, go see it!

Pelleas and Melisande

I went to see the opening night of Pelleas and Melisande with the Cleveland Orchestra.  There are performances tonight and Saturday, and I really recommend it.

The plot is what happens when family and lovers don't communicate and assume very bad things.   Golaud finds Melisande at a pond in the forest.  She is a survivor of some kind of trauma.   They get married with them not knowing much at all about each other.   Pelleas is Golaud's younger half brother, and he develops this childish crush on Melisande.  It is mostly flirting and games, and ends act 3 with a kiss.   Golaud kills his brother over this and eventually Melisande dies after childbirth.

The staging and music were way better than the plot.   It's Debussy, so the music is very beautiful.   The singers were among the orchestra, and the action was done in a box far back on the stage.  It was full of dancers, smoke, lights, and projections.  The glass went cloudy or clear with electric charge.   It was a pond, a grotto, and oftentimes a forest.  It was just as impressive (yes, intentional pun) as the director's previous staging of the Cunning Little Vixen.

The opera is 3 hours long.  90 minutes (acts 1-3), 20 minute intermission, and then 65 minutes for acts 4 and 5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWueJENDvwU