Watched the play-in-a-play “Ibsen in Chicago.” European working class immigrants with secrets try to make it in America and put on the play “Ghosts.” Prima Donna character was pretty funny.
Type: Musical
Recommendation: Worth seeing!
Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4 stars
Negatives: Not many setting changes. Everything occured in a fictional theatre hall.
Story, Script, and Lyrics: Play-in-a-play where European working-class immigrants with secrets try to make it in America and put on the play Ghosts.
Cast and Theater Company: Typical Seattle Repertory Theatre production. Loved the prima donna character Helga (played by Kirsten Potter).
Venue and Set: Single setting in a run down fictional theatre hall.
Music and Audio: True to Seattle Repertory Theatre, no microphones were used but the performers projected well.
Watched the musical stage adaptation of Jane Eyre. Very dry, dense, and lukewarm … like most English literature. Would it kill them to lighten up (and do a tap dance routine lol)? Glad to have Paul with me to explain things and make jokes.
Type: Musical
Recommendation: See this if there’s nothing else playing in the city or if you like dry, dense, lukewarm theatre.
Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 3 stars
Negatives: The script and music was boring. Would it kill them to lighten up … and possibly do a tap dance routine? Ha!
Story, Script, and Lyrics: Life deals a bad hand to an Englishwoman but she still manages to stay positive and to persevere.
Cast and Theater Company: University production. Female lead (Jane Eyre) was pretty decent. Unfortunately, it was hard to gauge the performers’ talent because the musical was so dull. Furthermore, cast was critically low on male performers. I suspect it’s because Seattle Pacific University is a Christian (Methodist) university and therefore cannot attract enough gay students to enroll. In the words of The Producers, “Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay” … in theatre.
Venue and Set: Simple. Interesting angular stage.
Music and Audio: Microphones used (thank you!). Unfortunately, piano was the only accompaniment … so it basically sounded like rehearsal. As a piano player myself, props to the pianist for pressing on (no pun intended) throughout the entire score! His or her hands must have been bleeding. It’s a shame the cast didn’t acknowledge the pianist in the ovations.
