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Recent Entertainment
Dec. 31st, 2022 08:15 pmI have a bunch of things to get caught up on writing about, and, of course, it will take a little time to write up my end of year summary.
Much of the past week was occupied with Yiddish New York, which will get its own entry. In the meantime I saw two shows at Signature Theatre in the past couple of weeks. The first one was Which Way to the Stage, which was a very clever show, as long as you are enough of a theatre geek to get the jokes. The story involves aspiring actors, their opinions about various shows and performers, sexual dynamics (especially between straight women and gay men) and drag queens. It was both funny and provocative, but you do have to be familiar with several shows, e.g. Rent, Avenue Q, Chicago, and Sunday in the Park With George.
The other show I saw there was their production of Into the Woods. There are a disturbing number of parents who think fairy tales = suitable for children. Which Sondheim is definitely not. I have to admit that this isn’t one of my favorite Sondheim musicals. For one thing, I find the title song to have all of the most annoying aspects of a commercial jingle. For another, I think it’s rather preachy. But it does have some pieces I like quite a bit, e.g. the wolf singing “Hello, Little Girl,” and the two princes singing “Agony,” including its reprise. And, of course, Signature always has top-notch performers, which is the main reason I’ve subscribed there for many years. I was disappointed that Nova Payton was not playing the witch at the performance I was at, but Maria Rizzo is no slouch either. As for other performances, I thought Alex De Bard was particularly good as Little Red RidingHood and Sheri Edelin was hysterical as Jack’s mother. Overall, it was enjoyable, but I prefer other Sondheim musicals.
And today was (well, still is for a little while longer) the ASST New Year’s Eve Story Blowout. The Voices in the Glen segment went very well, if I may say so myself. I told an Armenian folktale that I use the title “The Man Who Never Prospered” for. I was satisfied with the positive reactions to it.
Much of the past week was occupied with Yiddish New York, which will get its own entry. In the meantime I saw two shows at Signature Theatre in the past couple of weeks. The first one was Which Way to the Stage, which was a very clever show, as long as you are enough of a theatre geek to get the jokes. The story involves aspiring actors, their opinions about various shows and performers, sexual dynamics (especially between straight women and gay men) and drag queens. It was both funny and provocative, but you do have to be familiar with several shows, e.g. Rent, Avenue Q, Chicago, and Sunday in the Park With George.
The other show I saw there was their production of Into the Woods. There are a disturbing number of parents who think fairy tales = suitable for children. Which Sondheim is definitely not. I have to admit that this isn’t one of my favorite Sondheim musicals. For one thing, I find the title song to have all of the most annoying aspects of a commercial jingle. For another, I think it’s rather preachy. But it does have some pieces I like quite a bit, e.g. the wolf singing “Hello, Little Girl,” and the two princes singing “Agony,” including its reprise. And, of course, Signature always has top-notch performers, which is the main reason I’ve subscribed there for many years. I was disappointed that Nova Payton was not playing the witch at the performance I was at, but Maria Rizzo is no slouch either. As for other performances, I thought Alex De Bard was particularly good as Little Red RidingHood and Sheri Edelin was hysterical as Jack’s mother. Overall, it was enjoyable, but I prefer other Sondheim musicals.
And today was (well, still is for a little while longer) the ASST New Year’s Eve Story Blowout. The Voices in the Glen segment went very well, if I may say so myself. I told an Armenian folktale that I use the title “The Man Who Never Prospered” for. I was satisfied with the positive reactions to it.
