Sunday, April 15, 2007

Thanks, I needed that!

Ooh, just had 2 wonderful shows in 4 days! My voice teacher & I went to Merry Widow Thursday night. Some quibbles about the costumes & make-up, and some of the blocking wasn't as lively as I could have wished, but the music was absolutely GLORIOUS!!! I love pretty much every note in the show, and hearing it live had me blissed out every time they got to one of the hits from the show. Work had been particularly aggravating that day; knowing I had Merry Widow to look forward to helped me get through the day, and the music most definitely did not disappoint!

Then this afternoon we saw a Condensed Mikado - no chorus, most of the chorus numbers and verses to all the remaining songs cut, Pish-Tush' material given to Go-To, so the show fit into an hour and a half. I was surprised at how very much I liked it. Perhaps because it was in a black box theater and the players were therefore that much closer to the audience, the actors' faces seemed much more mobile. It was certainly one of the most playful Mikados I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty - the actors were obviously having a lot of fun, which made it fun for us in the audience. I loved the characterizations, which might have seemed over the top in a traditional production but which were absolutely perfect in this context.

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