I haven't been keeping this up as well as I should, but for now, I'll just direct you to www.edgesanfrancisco.com, in the theatre section.
I'll probably write a review of the fairfax and pirate festivals this weekend, but until I know that I can, I don't want to put my other reviews up here.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Little Shop - I Lost the Program... so Abbreviated
It’s the timeless legend: Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl is with other boy. Other boy is mean. Boy is jealous. Boy meets plant. Boy enters into a Faustian pact with plant in order to secure financial and romantic success. There’s also a Jewish shop owner and a Greek chorus of three thrown in there. And puppets! Did I mention puppets? What could possibly go wrong?
Given the Nature of the Beast that is Little Shop of Horrors, there is a certain amount of forgiveness that one gives towards a production. After all, one of the main characters is a giant plant that needs to move and sing and be a force of nature on stage, something that germinates both awe and fear in the viewer. To top it all off, the music’s complex, the story’s difficult, and the characters, if miscast, can easily fall into stock two-dimensional comedy.
6th Street Playhouse’s production falters in a few of these points. While they create a believable world where plants can come to life and talk to nerdy flower shop boys, they lose steam when it comes to fleshing out the world in its entirety, leaving some characters undeveloped, some songs awkwardly done, and clumsy movement done by almost all of the human actors.
Indeed, it seems as if most of the rehearsal process was focused on the puppetry of the plant. A smart move; without a believable plant, there really is no show. (Then again, without the rest of the show rehearsed, there really is no show.) The plant, to put it simply, was amazing. Expertly sung and performed in plant suits, the experience was immediately absorbing and amazing – there was no question that a plant could move, (“Does this look inanimate to you, punk?!”) could threaten, and could sing like a mean green mother. When the plant started moving, all eyes turned.
Unfortunately, the rest of the show falls a little short. While the set design and costumes certainly take us into the world visually, and the onstage band adds an amazing energy, most of the time the characters fall flat of what they truly can be. Of course, there is some camp that is required when it comes to Little Shop; after all, it’s parodying B horror movies. However, that doesn’t mean the characters need to be that way the entire time. What makes show so endearing is that these people stay very truly grounded in their world, but can have hopes and dreams and human emotions. What the actors did, however, was mostly fumble with odd movements and choreography and songs (with some exceptions). The buzzword for the evening that I’m looking for here is “awkward.”
Again, this was simply a case of a great concept with not a great practical application. The show had the possibility of being truly amazing, but did not quite reach the top with the acting, direction, and choreography.
Given the Nature of the Beast that is Little Shop of Horrors, there is a certain amount of forgiveness that one gives towards a production. After all, one of the main characters is a giant plant that needs to move and sing and be a force of nature on stage, something that germinates both awe and fear in the viewer. To top it all off, the music’s complex, the story’s difficult, and the characters, if miscast, can easily fall into stock two-dimensional comedy.
6th Street Playhouse’s production falters in a few of these points. While they create a believable world where plants can come to life and talk to nerdy flower shop boys, they lose steam when it comes to fleshing out the world in its entirety, leaving some characters undeveloped, some songs awkwardly done, and clumsy movement done by almost all of the human actors.
Indeed, it seems as if most of the rehearsal process was focused on the puppetry of the plant. A smart move; without a believable plant, there really is no show. (Then again, without the rest of the show rehearsed, there really is no show.) The plant, to put it simply, was amazing. Expertly sung and performed in plant suits, the experience was immediately absorbing and amazing – there was no question that a plant could move, (“Does this look inanimate to you, punk?!”) could threaten, and could sing like a mean green mother. When the plant started moving, all eyes turned.
Unfortunately, the rest of the show falls a little short. While the set design and costumes certainly take us into the world visually, and the onstage band adds an amazing energy, most of the time the characters fall flat of what they truly can be. Of course, there is some camp that is required when it comes to Little Shop; after all, it’s parodying B horror movies. However, that doesn’t mean the characters need to be that way the entire time. What makes show so endearing is that these people stay very truly grounded in their world, but can have hopes and dreams and human emotions. What the actors did, however, was mostly fumble with odd movements and choreography and songs (with some exceptions). The buzzword for the evening that I’m looking for here is “awkward.”
Again, this was simply a case of a great concept with not a great practical application. The show had the possibility of being truly amazing, but did not quite reach the top with the acting, direction, and choreography.
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