A delightful production. By turns a gluttonous multimedia extravaganza and tantalizingly fictional tale based on Motown, Diana Ross and the Supremes. Phenomenal performances even from the third tier!
Dreamgirls – OCPAC
Reply
Tag Archives: Orange County Performing Arts Center
Xanadu – OCPAC
Down To Earth (1947) was a spiritual sequel to the film Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941, which in itself was remade twice – the 1978 Heaven Can Wait and the 2001 Down To Earth). The plot was recycled in 1980 to create the movie musical Xanadu as a vehicle for Olivia Newton-John that has now been adapted into a hilariously self-referential musical.
enjoyed Xanadu @OCPAC – it was..interesting. Yay for walk-on role! Lots of comedy and good one-liners! Very small cast and orchestra…(http://twitter.com/bullfrog117/status/6989842010)
According to Laura, the movie had about half good songs (written for Olivia Newton-John and fit her range) and the other half not-so good (that didn’t fit her voice). The musical keeps the good songs and extends it with brand new songs that perfectly fit the story.
Spring Awakening – OCPAC
Spring Awakening – OCPAC
It’s Rent but with German La Boheme influences!
Talkback with (some of) the actors
Ilse
Moritz
Hanschen
Swing (Krista Pioppi)
Wendla
Talkbacks need question screeners
- No self-undulating praise rambles
- No gushing adoration for the cast
- No “how to be an actor” questions
My question: Did you have any inhibitions mounting this production?
Spamalot – OCPAC
I love that the Knights Who No Longer Say Ni made a David Letterman joke, (I’m not throwing stones, I’ve slept with all the knights on my staff; stupid human tricks) and John O’Hurley LOST IT! It was beautiful and hilarious and the single reason worth seeing the whole show (I saw it in Vegas 2 years ago). But then…did O’Hurley really lose it or convincingly act like he lost it? Apparently they did the same joke the night before, but then when our friends saw it a week later, it was a completely different joke! So it’s improvised every night. So is O’Hurley acting surprised because he’s prepared for hilarity or is he not preparing and losing it?
A lot of my old review (viewable here Spamalot (The Vegas Edition)) still applies…tragically. Eric Idle just isn’t as good at adapting his material as Mel Brooks is (although that remains to be seen when Young Frankenstein comes around next year…I’m just saying so far).
The program had a fake program inside for the Finland musical that the show starts with (everybody hears Finland instead of England when the historian launches the show and they go into the traditional Fish-Schlapping Song!).
OCPAC put a giant foot out in front of the theatre. But they didn’t keep it primed during the run…they let it deflate and blow about during the day. At least we got to walk up to the theatre and start humming the Flying Circus theme song.
Spoiler Alert! (place and hold your mouse over the bar to see)
My biggest problem with the show is the whole Lancelot being gay thing. Now I'm a very open-minded individual, but the first time I saw that, it just displeased me. Sure there are funny jokes like: "Just think...in 2000 years this will still be controversial", but I just didn't like it for some reason. A friend of mine pointed out that there is a very small bit in the movie that alludes to Lancelot's homosexuality - when Lancelot saves Galahad from the tower of virgins, Galahad accuses him and Lancelot dismisses it. I guess I can live with it...and try not to rant about it if you ask what I thought...Also, there isn't any Bridge Of No Return. No killing the historian. No arrest at the end of the movie. They find the grail and have a big splashy wedding. 'I feel so...unsatisfied' (Rounders).
Legally Blonde – OCPAC
Basically they took the movie – which on it’s own is very smart and very clever – and made it all over the top instead of amplifying some moments and letting good moments from the movie stand. For example – the Greek Chorus of sorority girls? INSPIRED! But on the other hand…
- Emmett was around too much. Made her more blonde than she was in the movie. Fine he’s got a “Chip On His Shoulder” and a nice back story, but it makes her a weaker female role model.
- Callahan was too sinister too early. You never liked him at all, which makes his exit much more predictable.
- Adding the Irish bit took away from Vivian and Elle’s growing friendship, making her sudden transformation awkward. Sure the Irish bit is fun, but weird choice.
- Going to the restroom at the scene of the crime for the court finale was ridiculous.
But there were genuinely funny moments and phenomenal music by Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy) and Nell Benjamin (his wife).
It’s also nice to see that MGM On Stage is associated with the production…it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s the first time I’ve recognized that a movie studio other than Disney has a theatrical department.
The UPS guy was hysterical. Again, an over the top moment that worked. But the musical is plagued by over the top moments that flop as well. We give it a B-.
Fiddler On The Roof – OCPAC
Featuring Topol! Apparently there’s more than one Fiddler movie (one of which Topol was the star of). Sorry!
The most interesting aspect of seeing this show again after so many years (not since before I was in the show my sophmore year at OCHSA – as Avhram and a bottle dancer!), and especially now that I’ve thoroughly absorbed Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 movie, the Marvel comic adaptation), is the parallels between the two stories. Obviously research was required, and the following was thusly learned: Fiddler on the Roof is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Milkman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894 [placing them about a century behind Ms. Austen's tale]. Tevye the dairyman ([ˈtɛvjə], Yiddish: טבֿיה דער מילכיקער Tevye der milkhiker) is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem’s stories. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters (also called Tevye the Milkman or Tevye the Dairyman), about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with his six daughters: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze, Bielke, and Teibel. Yay Wikipedia! So they shortchanged one daughter and wrote lots of fun songs. But regards Pride and Prejudice, there are a lot of plot parallels that I suspect helped frame Sholem Aleichem’s stories:
Spoiler Alert! (place and hold your mouse over the bar to see)
five daughters, pushy mother, pushover father who loves his daughters, third daughter runs away to get married
Very fun production, great show, lots of fun. To life, to life, l’chaim!
A Chorus Line – OCPAC
Zach reminded me of Robin Williams and Alan Tudyk. It is also my opinion that he would look good with the thin beard.
The humor of Val’s lines and physicality was somewhat hindered by her unnecessary Lina-Lamont-esque accent. This is yet another example of the unfortunate tendency to play the broad comedy instead of aiming for subtle humor (has intellectual comedy died?!?!?!?!?!?).
Cassie performed extraordinarily well despite being ill and rather heroically managed to keep her coughing to a minimum.
While forewarned that there was no real guitar and that necessary “licks” were synthesized, I found the absence less annoying than anticipated (beyond the opening number). The fact that the lack of a real guitar didn’t glare out of any other numbers (to me, a non-musicians) is a testament to the phenomenal orchestrations of Marvin Hamlisch. Not to say the show should always be done sans (or synthed) guitar – it’s just an interesting alternative concept.
Judy Turner said she wanted to be Tina Turner….apparently Lana Turner isn’t a household name in America anymore…
Other than that, the show was an exemplary national tour (I still liked Brea’s regional performance better though).
Oh. And it was hilarious to watch a mother pull her daughter out of the theatre (with what I can only assume was a disgusted, outraged look on her face) during “Dance Ten, Looks Three (Tits and Ass)”. Although in partial defense (actually out of brute curiosity), I wonder how a parent is supposed to reliably find out if a show is appropriate for their child…I mean sure you can search the internet for details of the show and judge for yourself, but not all internet reviews are reliable judges of content. Of course I know this mom knew NOTHING about the show and didn’t ask anybody about it before bringing her pre-pubescent daughter to it. I hope she’s learned her lesson.