May 13, 2004

Rude Awakening

Damn mail-person...

I was happily sleeping (yes, at 1:30pm) and heard a buzz on my door buzzer. So I got up, groggily wondering who the hell it was, to press the button. At which time, whoever had been pressing the door buzzed more and longer, which isn't supposed to happen. Kept buzzing and buzzing and buzzing.

I put some pants on, threw on a shirt and pair of shoes, and went down to see what the fuck was going on.

It was the stupid mail-wench (not PC, but that's how I felt about it at the moment), with my TLA delivery. Hooray for 5.1 remastered "Sweeney Todd."

Speaking of Sondheim musicals, I saw "Assassins" last night at Studio 54. It was well done, well acted, well put together, and so forth. But what the hell? Watching it, my only question was, why the fuck do these people merit having a musical written about themselves? How many other musicals are there where you aren't really allowed to even like a single character in the show? Even in tragic opera, there's usually someone you're allowed to hate, but at the same time, there's supposed to be someone you feel sympathy for, too. Faust sells his soul because he cares too much, so you can sort of like him. I can't come up with another play where you're really not able to like any of the main characters.

And the asssassins?

These guys are just fuckin' insane.

Granted, there are some funny scenes and a few good laughs, but mostly, the reactions were awkward, rooted in tension or in enthusiasm for the performers -- but never once (in my opinion) in sympathy for a character. And you need that sort of connection to have riveting theatre.

I think it's very telling that there was no standing ovation at the end of the evening. Any of you have any better ideas as to why this is good theatre?

Posted by Jon at May 13, 2004 02:08 PM | TrackBack
Comments

And why do you need to like the characters in a show again? I've always thought that that was a faulty assumption on a lot people's part.

In real life, yes, it's helpful to like the characters in your particular drama, but when you're talking about a play, why is that necessary?

And, by the way, CHICAGO has been a big roaring success with a cast of unlikable characters, even the put-upon husband is too wishy-washy to be truely likable. Pity isn't the same. I'm not certain the characters in SWEENEY TODD are all that likable and yet that show gets produced all the time.

Posted by: Jere at May 14, 2004 12:27 PM