aradia22

I made one attempt to see The Who's Tommy and didn't win the lottery for either Saturday show. So far I haven't seen any of the Broadway musicals this season. I missed Lempicka because it closed so quickly and Suffs is the only one left I have any real interest in. But I will try for some of the others because nothing's really coming until Sunset Boulevard in October.

Are the contestants all idiots again? Is it worth watching this season? I might wait until the winter when I'm bored.

Taking the opportunity to post this

I saw Titanic at NYCC. I don't see it transferring with the current cast (though City Center has had a lot of transfers lately so never say never) so I will keep my thoughts short because no one really needs my opinion on a musical from 1997. Overall, I am glad I went. It was very well-cast and beautifully sung. It's probably going to be the best version of the show I see in my lifetime. But is it a great show? I didn't think so. The talent and charisma of the performers helped disguise it and the pace kept it chugging along but I could easily, EASILY see this show dragging, even if this production just had a bad day. It's more Grand Hotel than Nine. But not as good as Grand Hotel. The story feels very choppy. It's not just that it has a large scope or too many characters. It's that it isn't focused on the story it wants to tell. And it has flop energy. It's not as bad as any of these shows... but I was thinking of Doctor Zhivago, Paradise Square, and even Kelly while watching it. Some of the lyrics... ugh. And the way they chose to dramatize certain plot points. The tone was careening all over the place. I liked the romances and those parts were beautifully sung like everything else but they were ultimately rushed and pointless. Caroline and Charles running off to America to marry in spite of her disapproving father. Kate and Jim getting together because she wills it and needs a father for her baby. The actors tried to sell it but on paper, there's barely anything there. Frederick and the girl he's trying to propose to back home. The Straus relationship was much more grounded, but hot take... I didn't like that song. All the young actors (Chanler-Berat, Maliakel, Grayson, Salstone, Notartomaso) sell what feels like the heart of the show which is the crew dealing with the foreshadowing and then impending and then present disaster. I'd argue the trio of EJ, Ismay, and Andrews has some compelling material but it feels out of place. When the conflict and pathos come, they don't feel earned. The concert staging helps move things along rather than letting you dwell in how out of left field some of the beats feel. There aren't smooth transitions to this grab bag of ideas. It's also, you know, Titanic, so the show has to fight against the inevitability and the audience expectation. The weight of it hit me at the end only because I thought fewer people had died than the number they cited. I wasn't emotional though. It's too surface of a show for you to feel empathy. At best you can feel some sympathy as the show doesn't really ask you to care for individual characters so much as this group as a collective (which is tough because for most of the show they aren't acting as a collective so you ultimately only feel bad for them in the same way you feel bad for the victims of any large-scale disaster). Special shout-outs: Alex Joseph Grayson, Bonnie Milligan, Chuck Cooper, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jose Llana, Samantha Williams, Ari Notartomaso

I saw Uncle Vanya tonight at LCT and I want to get my thoughts out before I forget them. I will get back to Teeth and The Lonely Few at some point. Happily there were no cast absences tonight. I'm not going to go super in-depth because it's Vanya so I'll mostly talk about the performances. I will say that while I think it was a strong translation, it was both buoyed and weighed down by the original text. Schreck gave it much more of a flow and there are some really excellent moments, but there are also still moments that feel a little clunky and I can't really blame her for preserving those parts of the original play rather than writing something more naturalistic. I would like to get my hands on a copy of the translation so I can reread it. Anika Noni Rose was the most interesting to me because I've only ever seen that character as fairly shallow. A combination of the new translation and her performance gave Elena so much more depth. She becomes as shy as Sonia... a character who has an inner world that isn't much appreciated by anyone else (at least the male characters) because of her beauty. She's much more of a hothouse flower. The kind of girl who used to go to college for her Mrs. degree. Accomplished, educated, and sophisticated in her way but useless and chafing at her wifely role like a second wave feminist. I also got the sense that this translation was much more sympathetic to her as a young girl who got swept up into a relationship with an older, more powerful man. While they do play into the attraction between Elena and Astrov, she also comes across as a much more honorable character. And we're made to appreciate how even if she were to break her marriage vows, he doesn't know her (because she can't make herself speak intelligently around him and share her real self) and so it wouldn't be a love affair. I haven't seen Stereophonic and I know everyone can't get recognized every year but her performance was lovely and complex and deeply felt and stunning. I cried when she cried. William Jackson Harper was a great Astrov. I can see why he got the Tony nomination. There was a slight choppiness in that he shifts so much based on which character he's playing off of in the scene but he does a lot of heavy-lifting overall. I appreciated the way they teased out more of the environmental activist thread. The scenes with Sonia and Elena were perfect and lovely. I do think he had to carry some of the clunkier scenes where it was impossible to make the dialogue completely naturalistic. But there was still fun there when he played off Carrell and he found the humanity by just staying connected to it as an actor (even if I maintain that the dialogue still sounded clunky). I like that they let the play be complicated. Even with the force of Harper's charisma and the attraction between Astrov and Elena, he's just as much a nice guy as Vanya in that situation. Overall, I think they used the starry cast to their advantage as there was a lot of push/pull in the interweaving storylines rather than having completely lopsided audience allegiances. I thought Steve Carrell did a wonderful job. Again, some clunky bits he had to sell. But even though there were some recognizable tricks, I don't think he entirely went for cheap laughs or funny line readings. He managed to play Vanya as a nice guy but not so slimy or pathetic. It's that same quality that made the 40 Year Old Virgin work. He comes across as genuinely nice even when he's pursuing Elena so aggressively and he seems completely earnest in his feelings. And when he turns self-pitying and self-destructive, it's not the sad sack Vanya I've seen in other productions. There's still something honorable about him. Shreck's writing is really smart in moments that talk about the past and Carrell makes sure we hear those moments in the script. So Vanya comes across like a man who really has been conned by life and just wants some bit of happiness or to be able to put his head down and work and stop wanting. The way he softened around Sonia was quite touching and actually sold his affection for his sister which I don't remember really coming across in other productions. Alfred Molina was a proper pompous blowhard as Alexander. It's not a big role but of course, he's excellent in every scene. I appreciated that he didn't just chew the scenery and there were moments when he did soften like when Elena and Sonia beg him to go talk to Vanya. Also, all his dialogue sounded very natural... even when he's totally ignoring Elena to complain about his leg. Alison Pill was a great Sonia. She's shockingly 38 now but comes across much younger on stage. And she plays Sonia like an excited teenager. You can't help but get caught up in her adoration of Astrov even as disaster and heartbreak loom. I do think the ending is hopeful but whether or not you're Christian, it still feels poignant to count on a rewarding afterlife for all your suffering on earth. I don't remember if her relationship with Elena was quite like that in the original but I appreciated the way this production allowed us to see some female friendship on stage. The other actors were solid but their characters didn't register that much. Also, I sat on the right and there was a fair bit of the play when I was staring at the back of someone's head (I mean the actors) so that definitely could be affecting how I judge certain scenes and performances.

Agreed. I feel like the editors are starting to lean into more wholesomeness than drama these last two seasons. But they still love the KF and seeing people cry or get frustrated and lost rather than showing us strategy and what differentiates the racers (beyond sad backstories). I would also like to see more of the mingling and downtime if they need to pad out the episodes.

I like 90 minutes when I don't have a lot going on. If there are other things I want to watch, it can be a chore to find 90 minutes... especially since I'm rarely watching when it airs since it starts so late. But the challenge design needs to match the 90 minutes. If there are quick tasks, it needs to be a megaleg. Otherwise the tasks need to be a proper challenge and not one that feels incredibly repetitive.

I saw The Lonely Few tonight at MCC. The walk from the subway is endless. I will try to check back in with my thoughts soon but in case I get distracted, it was a lovely little show if you like your musicals to feel more like plays (though the book would be weak for a play. More on that later).

That was a fun finale. I can see why they put those last two legs together. With the challenge design, things were so tight it kept it feeling exciting even when the results became clear. The challenges in the penultimate leg were not that exciting (bartending, wakeboarding) but there were cute moments (Rod being so supportive of Leticia, Shane and Juan in the dune buggies) and good for Ricky for not giving up when it must have been brutal falling over and over again under pressure. I think he ended up having 20+ tries? Also, it knocked out Amber and Vinny so we could all be thankful for that. I thought they did a really nice job showcasing Philadelphia in a way they don't always do in the final leg. I'd be thrilled with this if I worked on the official tourism board. The mascots added a lot of personality to a task that wasn't really challenging aside from the cannon (though I think that played to the uniquely recognizable Philly mascots). They had colonial America themed tasks that incorporated re-enactors. And the locations of clue boxes made them drive around while also highlighting more notable locations. I wish things had shook up race placement a little more but otherwise, I thought it was a well-designed leg. It would have been a lot closer if Juan and Shane hadn't driven to NJ. Ricky being a former resident seemed like way more of an advantage than Cesar speaking Spanish because with things so close, they didn't have to stop and get directions or work things out on the map until the end since he knew where a lot of things were. But then, there are always going to be things that would have made a difference. If Rod had been able to memorize the preamble more quickly, they would have been out of there faster. I'm very happy with this outcome. Ricky and Cesar deserved all their success this race (and let's be honest, the other racers didn't put up much competition). I only wish, like last season, that both of the top two teams could win something because they were both pretty likable and deserving.

Had a bad week so I didn't get to rush Lempicka. I will always be curious about it now. Interestingly, I went on facebook and someone I went to school with produced it.

The Gold Derby interview with Yvonne and Melissa is interesting. They're more charming when they actually have time to talk. It's crazy the baby was born 5 days before the episode aired. I'm glad the IVF worked out for them with only one embryo. I wonder if covid affected the challenge design and how short the legs were. Though that seems like it's been a trend for a while. They mention through a lot of the interview that none of the tasks actually took that long.

This was a fun one. I think the challenges were better this leg and with everyone bunching up, the pacing wasn't as off. Though I was surprised when the final two teams were actually close enough to be at the mat at the same time since it seemed like the edit was trying to make us think the driver got the second to last team very lost (and I wasn't buying it). Putting the stones in order was a proper challenge. It was the sort of thing you'd see in the final leg. They were disoriented from all the jumping and sliding. It seemed like the clues were decently hidden so you had to really search for them. And they made the memory challenge properly difficult with tiny differences in the pictures (in addition to putting everything in the right order). Honestly, I don't blame the first two teams to get there for working with other people. I'm sure they were getting tired of going through the entire water course. I do wish Cesar had actually helped Melissa finish her puzzle. I wonder if it would have shaken up the placements more. But the episode still ended on a good note seeing they've moved in together and had a baby. The cacao task was also a proper challenge. I hope they didn't do too much damage to the trees with the way they were rampaging through there. Amber is very negative. Baseball didn't seem to slow anyone down that much though the editing was dramatic. It just seemed close between the teams so minutes counted for a lot. Ricky and Cesar get criticism but I don't think their success this leg had anything to do with speaking Spanish. I love that they're showing you don't have to be a thin or outwardly physically fit team to be athletic, or at least keep up with everyone else.

They got very lucky with this season aside from their exit. They're in a group that is terrible with self-navigation and not that great at tasks. They were able to do their alliance strategy and save themselves in the megaleg. And for all the complaints about the covid season, I think it affected the design of the tasks in a way that advantaged them as well. We didn't get a lot of tasks surrounded by people or crowds (except things like the balloon task) that really would have tasked Angie's ability to bear the heat. I don't think they would be competitive returning in a different season though maybe they might let Danny return with his sister. I don't think he's a huge fan favorite though.

I really felt the 90 minutes with this episode. I was fast-forwarding (just a little mostly at the end) because I didn't want to miss any funny comments but I might be fast-forwarding more the next episode if it's also like this. Part of it was that it was just a rainy day. Nothing looks as good and seeing everyone get drenched wasn't fun. But watching them play anything like pickleball or tennis was always going to be boring. You could tell that the players took it easy on them eventually... some were barely moving to chase the ball and they were clearly intentionally hitting it so their opponents could score a point. The fish pots were not that much better so I'm glad the pilots at least chose the seaweed task to bring some drama and make it interesting. I didn't think Rod and Leticia should have switched but I don't know why this was the one time he avoided the physical task. This was one leg where the joyful greeters at the mat made for one of the more fun parts of the episode. The stilt walkers were very impressive. The way they could bounce on one leg and dance like that without losing their center of gravity. There have been a lot of muscly or athletic guys in couple teams that try to give off positive energy. For instance, Todd from last season. Rod is one of the few that I genuinely believe. Even if it comes from a sports mentality of just moving forward, he seems pretty affable. He doesn't seem to let things get him down for long. I do enjoy watching Ricky and Cesar as well but it's easy to be positive when you're always winning. I do like Juan and Shane when they're around but they were a little forgettable this episode aside from the end.

I did see Teeth off-Broadway but I also sprained my ankle the same day so I'm going to need some more time to put my thoughts together. In the meantime, here's a quick review of El Nino at the Met Opera... it was bad. I fundamentally did not understand the musical palette that John Adams was using. Regardless of genre, humans are programmed innately and also socially to understand what sounds joyful or romantic or melancholy or threatening. This man was born in Massachusetts. He chose to compose a score that mainly sounded ominous and cold with occasional breaks for something that was vaguely... mystical (that's not the perfect word choice but you know, like chimes and layered chanting). It felt pretentious and weird. I needed to read the program to realize the woman in yellow was a SECOND Virgin Mary. It made no sense because the things she said felt contradictory to the first Mary and she behaved differently and had a daughter. Visually, it looked like a pageant. Like a church play or the kind of show you put on with very young children. It was probably wood but it looked like a cardboard set with thin fabric screens for projections and fabric also used to evoke water a few times. While the projections were used effectively, it felt like it was trying to look cheap. James Ortiz can do so much more with puppets. His Biblical angels, the girl with fire, and the dragons were very underwhelming. I did like the choice to give the angels LED eyes but the focus on 2D puppets and everything looking simple and homemade... it didn't feel like it helped sell an important vision. Especially for longer scenes, the immediate impact was lost and it quickly became dull to look at. In the same way, there were one or two nice costumes but they mostly looked simple and homemade. There were some nice dancing moments but lots of the show seemed underchoreographed like people were just told to do whatever. There was a bit in act 2 that looked like someone's arm was itchy... and then everyone started doing it. I don't know why but watching it absolutely INFURIATED me. If it had been a legitimate medical issue, I don't think I would have noticed, but having it be on stage as a bit of planned choreography it was just so annoying to watch this one dancer pull focus for no apparent reason. Ultimately, I felt annoyed that the show wasn't trying to make ANY kind of argument. What was it saying about Christianity? I did enjoy pieces of it like the parts taken from female poets to express the alien feeling of carrying a child and it briefly touched on how weird it was that Mary is 16 when this all happens but it doesn't interrogate anything interesting because it refuses to form its own narrative. It just vomits out references. Tell your own story. I did like the countertenors for once when they were the angels so I guess that's something. The singing was generally unremarkable.