A Night At The Opera / A Day At The Races
The second win I scored in this trifecta came Saturday and Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. My Love Of My Life (LOML) and I used the past weekend to visit our friends Daniel and Donna. After first cementing our friendship with them at the 2008 Tony Awards, we've enjoyed opportunities to see them everywhere from London to our home turf. So it was our turn to repay the favor of a visit, which came over the weekend in Lexington. The third winning part of my weekend came after I thumbed through Keeneland's roster of races. In the seventh race, I noticed that the #7 horse was named Acronym. As a fan of acronyms personally -- I am SOB, after all -- I made my meager wager on this 8-1 shot to win.
Acronym not only led the pack for most of the race, but handily won. And I could not have left Kentucky or our fine friends any happier.
What a winning week.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Horses, Lexington Kentucky, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Opera, Races, Renée Fleming
SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #8 - La Bohème (2002, Broadway Theatre, New York City, NY)
Introduction: Hard as it is to comprehend that we're already 119 months into this "new" millennium, we are fast approaching the end of its first decade. While we have yet to agree on what exactly we should call the '00s, I'll take a cue from the fine folks at The Times of London and the BBC and henceforth refer to them at the Noughties. With that small introduction, I'm pleased to present my list of plays and musicals that wowed me the most during that time. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows I've seen over the last ten years, I give you my countdown of my 25 personal favorite shows of the Noughties. Credit inventive film director
Baz Luhrmann with a spellbinding genius for turning
La Bohème, one of the most enduring of operas, into a thoroughly accessible and excellent Broadway theatrical event, thanks in part to its unobstrusive overtitles.
Not since Dorothy landed in Oz have I witnessed as glorious a transformation from black and white to full blown color as I did during this ravishing production. The ingenious designs from
Catherine Martin,
Angus Strathie and
Nigel Levings popped at the very moment when love burst into full bloom.
The magnificent music from
Giacomo Puccini and libretto from
Giuseppe Giacosa and
Luigi Illica helped make believers out of those previously unitiated by opera and
Rent-heads alike.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for this performance.
Labels: Baz Luhrmann, Broadway, Catherine Martin, Giacomo Puccini, La Boheme, Opera, Rent, SOB's Favorite Shows Of The Noughties
Jerry Springer Finally Plays Carnegie HallFour long years after taking London's West End by
storm and winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas'
Jerry Springer The Opera finally gets its due in New York City.
But instead of playing Broadway as
originally planned, the f-bombfest and ode to America's trashy side will play just a couple blocks away with two consecutive nights at
Carnegie Hall.
Jerry Springer The Opera will perform tonight and tomorrow night.
Under the direction of
Jason Moore (
Avenue Q), this special concert presentation stars
Harvey Keitel stars as the once
disgraced Cincinnati mayor cum television host, while the incredible
David Bedella reprises his Olivier Award-winning West End role as the devil.
I caught this show during its original London run and found it less shocking than I think it was supposed to be. For some strange reason, I was downright bemused by the premise that Springer is assassinated and goes directly to hell, contending with all his trash TV has wrought. Maybe I've just watched "
South Park" far too many times. Bedella, by the way, was absolutely excellent.
While I've toyed with taking in this New York performance, I'll leave the few remaining seats to those who have never had the chance to see the show.
But if you are going, make sure your sensibilities are prepared, especially if they tend to be delicate. This show is hardly anything resembling family fare with everything from men with diaper fetishes to less than reverent depictions of Christ, all wrapped up in the
thousands of times you'll hear the word "f@#&."
Perhaps most shocking is that the entire piece is sung as an opera. Really.
At least there's truth in advertising.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: David Bedella, Jerry Springer The Opera, Musical, Off-Broadway, Opera
Susannah (The SOB Review) - Loring Playhouse, Minneapolis, MN**1/2 (out of ****)Credit Minnesota-based director Peter Rothstein with taking on difficult at best material and attempting to breathe new life into it.
When he's at his best, as he was three years ago with a mind-blowing
A Man Of No Importance or with last year's terrific production of
Floyd Collins, he can make even the most scaled-down version of a show seem larger than life and wring every last drop of raw emotion out of his cast. It doesn't even matter when orchestrations are pulled back to a smattering of instruments.
In my estimation, he's easily Minneapolis' most inventive director today, and
Theater Latté Da is extremely fortunate to have the benefit of his artistic vision. He's that gifted.
Unfortunately, inventiveness and vision alone can't make for a great or even good performance. In the case of his latest,
Susannah -- the reimagined opera by Carlisle Floyd -- the source material is anything but easy, even if it would seem to lend itself to a smaller production.
Yet the "new orchestration" by Joseph Schlefke strikes a surprisingly discordant note. To be frank, I found the music downright irritating. And while the audience should be thankful that a projection design is used to illuminate every word, in the end it serves as a major distraction, especially once you realize that you must rely on it entirely to decipher what's being sung.
This English-language opera is based on the Apocryphal Old Testament Book of Susannah. In it, the eponymous young woman is seen bathing naked by two elders from her tribe. When she confronts them, they threaten to accuse her of committing adultery unless she sleeps with them. Finally, the truth is learned when the prophet Daniel finds inconsistencies between the stories told by the elders.
In this
Susannah, as rough-hewn as its backwoods Tennessee setting, the innocent young woman (a radiant Meghann Schmidt) who's initially carefree and naïve is not quite as fortunate. Her moonshine-swilling brother Sam (Roy Heilman) advises her to confront her accusers at a revival meeting, but inexplicably, deserts her in her hour of need, forcing her to go alone.
Once at the prayer meeting, Minister Olin Blitch (portrayed here against type by a youthful Bryan Boyce) implores those who have sinned to come forward and confess. After nearly taking the bait, Susannah rushes back home where she's privately confronted by a lustful Blitch, who discovers just how virtuous Susannah has been all along.
Written at the time of Joe McCarthy's infamous witch hunts for Communist sympathizers, Floyd's work serves as a cautionary morality tale on levels beyond surviving the relentless Senator from Wisconsin. Indeed, Floyd himself said, "When religion becomes a shield behind which we practice cruelty and persecution, then we haven't gleaned very much from the gospels."
And so it's with that keen insight that this labored and perhaps a smidge too small production is ultimately redeemed. You've got to admire Rothstein for trying.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
This production closed on Sunday, March 4. Labels: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Opera, Revival, Susannah, The SOB Review, Theater Latte Da
The second win I scored in this trifecta came Saturday and Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. My Love Of My Life (LOML) and I used the past weekend to visit our friends Daniel and Donna. After first cementing our friendship with them at the 2008 Tony Awards, we've enjoyed opportunities to see them everywhere from London to our home turf. So it was our turn to repay the favor of a visit, which came over the weekend in Lexington. 
